Gunman robs guard outside Garland Wal-Mart
By MARGARITA MARTÍN-HIDALGO / The Dallas Morning News
GARLAND, Texas - A guard was robbed of a money bag Tuesday afternoon outside a Wal-Mart in Garland, police said.
The guard was walking toward an armored truck outside the store at Garland and Kingsley roads about 1 p.m. when a gunman ordered him to drop the bag and then sprayed his face with pepper spray, Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said.
The assailant was described as Hispanic and about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and was wearing a black baseball cap, a dark-colored jacket and blue jeans.
Anyone with information can call the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840.
News from the Lone Star State
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TexasStooge
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2 men found shot to death in Keller home
KELLER, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Two men were found dead Wednesday at a home in a rural part of Keller.
Police said they received a call about 10:30 a.m. from a woman reporting a death at a house in the 1100 block of North Main Street, also known as Highway 377.
When officers arrived several minutes later, they discovered two bodies with gunshot wounds. There were no other victims, and no one else was present at the house, police said.
Crime scene investigators are at the home, and consider the deaths suspicious.
The woman who called police is being interviewed, but police said she is not a suspect at this time.
KELLER, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Two men were found dead Wednesday at a home in a rural part of Keller.
Police said they received a call about 10:30 a.m. from a woman reporting a death at a house in the 1100 block of North Main Street, also known as Highway 377.
When officers arrived several minutes later, they discovered two bodies with gunshot wounds. There were no other victims, and no one else was present at the house, police said.
Crime scene investigators are at the home, and consider the deaths suspicious.
The woman who called police is being interviewed, but police said she is not a suspect at this time.
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Molester gets four 99-year sentences
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth court has handed down a sentence of four 99-year jail terms to be served consecutively to a convicted molester.
It took jurors only half an hour yesterday to find 23-year-old Jeremiah Sexton guilty.
Victims told the court about the sexual assaults.
One young girl took the stand and said she and Sexton had an intimate relationship that began when she was 17 years old. She said Sexton often asked her to act like a little girl in protest. She described how he forced her hands behind her back.
Three more girls took the stand saying Sexton sexually assaulted them - two of those girls for a period of years.
They said it happened on Sundays at the Baptist church they attended in Kansas.
One girl broke down in tears, recounting what happened to her between the ages of 8 and 12.
"He told me if I told anyone, he'd come and hurt me," she said.
Yesterday, the court convicted Sexton of kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old Arlington girl. He snatched her off the street and forced her into his car, as she was walking home from school.
Jurors saw the police's dashboard video of Sexton's arrest last February. After leading police on a high-speed chase he crashed into a mini van and a school bus before surrendering.
That's when the 9-year-old year stepped out the vehicle wearing nothing but a coat.
By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth court has handed down a sentence of four 99-year jail terms to be served consecutively to a convicted molester.
It took jurors only half an hour yesterday to find 23-year-old Jeremiah Sexton guilty.
Victims told the court about the sexual assaults.
One young girl took the stand and said she and Sexton had an intimate relationship that began when she was 17 years old. She said Sexton often asked her to act like a little girl in protest. She described how he forced her hands behind her back.
Three more girls took the stand saying Sexton sexually assaulted them - two of those girls for a period of years.
They said it happened on Sundays at the Baptist church they attended in Kansas.
One girl broke down in tears, recounting what happened to her between the ages of 8 and 12.
"He told me if I told anyone, he'd come and hurt me," she said.
Yesterday, the court convicted Sexton of kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old Arlington girl. He snatched her off the street and forced her into his car, as she was walking home from school.
Jurors saw the police's dashboard video of Sexton's arrest last February. After leading police on a high-speed chase he crashed into a mini van and a school bus before surrendering.
That's when the 9-year-old year stepped out the vehicle wearing nothing but a coat.
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54 arrested in warrant roundup
DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Fifty-four people were arrested early Wednesday during a joint warrant roundup conducted by Dallas police and Dallas County sheriff's deputies.
Dallas County sheriff's Sgt. Don Peritz said administrators were "extremely pleased" with the results.
"It worked due to the early morning hour and the number of officers that were involved," Sgt. Peritz said. "No one agency has the resources to do something like this on its own."
The roundup cleared 90 felony and misdemeanor warrants and 44 warrants issued from other jurisdictions, and more than doubled the number of arrests made on a previous similar joint effort.
Among those arrested was a 20-year-old man who was wanted on a charge of sexual assault of a child.
Sgt. Peritz said supervisors considered it one of the smoothest roundup operations in which the department has been involved, particularly because there were no forced entries and no injuries.
"You're putting 80 cops in a small area and they're going after over 650 warrants," he said. "The potential for problems is great, and the fact that we didn't have any problems is significant."
DALLAS, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Fifty-four people were arrested early Wednesday during a joint warrant roundup conducted by Dallas police and Dallas County sheriff's deputies.
Dallas County sheriff's Sgt. Don Peritz said administrators were "extremely pleased" with the results.
"It worked due to the early morning hour and the number of officers that were involved," Sgt. Peritz said. "No one agency has the resources to do something like this on its own."
The roundup cleared 90 felony and misdemeanor warrants and 44 warrants issued from other jurisdictions, and more than doubled the number of arrests made on a previous similar joint effort.
Among those arrested was a 20-year-old man who was wanted on a charge of sexual assault of a child.
Sgt. Peritz said supervisors considered it one of the smoothest roundup operations in which the department has been involved, particularly because there were no forced entries and no injuries.
"You're putting 80 cops in a small area and they're going after over 650 warrants," he said. "The potential for problems is great, and the fact that we didn't have any problems is significant."
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Recent home invasion may be linked to kidnapping
By ALAN MELSON / DallasNews.com
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police are investigating whether a home invasion last week that left two men injured is related to the December kidnapping of another family member.
Deputy Chief Alfredo Saldana said Wednesday that two men in dark clothing approached the victims, a 49-year-old man and his 24-year-old son, in the courtyard of their apartment complex in the 7900 block of Chariot Drive about 4 p.m. Friday. As the victims retreated, the suspects forced their way into the apartment and began beating the victims with blunt objects, including a baseball bat.
Investigators said the suspects demanded money, but it is unclear whether they got away with any cash or other items belonging to the victims.
The victims, who were not identified, were taken to Baylor University Medical Center with unspecified injuries. The 24-year-old was admitted, while the father was treated and released.
On Dec. 28, members of the same family were attacked and bound, and a 9-year-old boy was kidnapped from a residence in the 5400 block of Freestone, several blocks away from where Friday's attack took place. The boy was dropped off at a Northwest Dallas convenience store five hours later, and although his hands were scratched from being bound, he was otherwise uninjured, police said.
Saldana said investigators believe the incidents may be linked.
"We're trying to see if it's the same group that is targeting this family, or if they are separate incidents," he said.
The deputy chief said detectives, including those from the youth division, are talking to family members to learn more about any possible connection to the suspects.
He said the aggressive nature of the attacks is especially alarming.
"That was pretty brazen for them to make that type of assault at 4 in the afternoon," he said. "We're concerned, because they caused serious injury."
By ALAN MELSON / DallasNews.com
DALLAS, Texas - Dallas police are investigating whether a home invasion last week that left two men injured is related to the December kidnapping of another family member.
Deputy Chief Alfredo Saldana said Wednesday that two men in dark clothing approached the victims, a 49-year-old man and his 24-year-old son, in the courtyard of their apartment complex in the 7900 block of Chariot Drive about 4 p.m. Friday. As the victims retreated, the suspects forced their way into the apartment and began beating the victims with blunt objects, including a baseball bat.
Investigators said the suspects demanded money, but it is unclear whether they got away with any cash or other items belonging to the victims.
The victims, who were not identified, were taken to Baylor University Medical Center with unspecified injuries. The 24-year-old was admitted, while the father was treated and released.
On Dec. 28, members of the same family were attacked and bound, and a 9-year-old boy was kidnapped from a residence in the 5400 block of Freestone, several blocks away from where Friday's attack took place. The boy was dropped off at a Northwest Dallas convenience store five hours later, and although his hands were scratched from being bound, he was otherwise uninjured, police said.
Saldana said investigators believe the incidents may be linked.
"We're trying to see if it's the same group that is targeting this family, or if they are separate incidents," he said.
The deputy chief said detectives, including those from the youth division, are talking to family members to learn more about any possible connection to the suspects.
He said the aggressive nature of the attacks is especially alarming.
"That was pretty brazen for them to make that type of assault at 4 in the afternoon," he said. "We're concerned, because they caused serious injury."
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Uninsured wrecked cars to be impounded
By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas Police Auto Pound is where cars involved in accidents will end up, if their drivers don't have insurance.
A unanimous city council approved the new policy but not all were enthusiastic.
Some fear the flood of cars will overwhelm the crowded impound lot.
And some say it will unevenly hurt minorities and the poor because the cost of getting towed climbs fast.
The towing, storage and impound fee is $136. Then $20 a day storage fee every day after.
After 48 hours, there's a $50 notification fee to let the owner know, if he doesn't collect his car, it will be sold at auction.
Add that to the price of buying new insurance, just after an accident.
Some say, they should tow even for simple traffic violations.
"That's when it needs to be confiscated. If they do not have insurance, that's the law. The law is they have to have insurance," said council member Mitchell Rasansky.
This policy doesn't do that. But most say, it does make the point.
The tentative start date is April 1st; after that, uninsured drivers could lose their cars here for good.
By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - The Dallas Police Auto Pound is where cars involved in accidents will end up, if their drivers don't have insurance.
A unanimous city council approved the new policy but not all were enthusiastic.
Some fear the flood of cars will overwhelm the crowded impound lot.
And some say it will unevenly hurt minorities and the poor because the cost of getting towed climbs fast.
The towing, storage and impound fee is $136. Then $20 a day storage fee every day after.
After 48 hours, there's a $50 notification fee to let the owner know, if he doesn't collect his car, it will be sold at auction.
Add that to the price of buying new insurance, just after an accident.
Some say, they should tow even for simple traffic violations.
"That's when it needs to be confiscated. If they do not have insurance, that's the law. The law is they have to have insurance," said council member Mitchell Rasansky.
This policy doesn't do that. But most say, it does make the point.
The tentative start date is April 1st; after that, uninsured drivers could lose their cars here for good.
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Frisco drivers may face $700 toll rise
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8
FRISCO, Texas - Should you have to pay for roads somewhere else in the state?
That question is leading to a battle for control in Collin County.
At issue: who will run state highway 121.
Tolls will help speed up construction of the main lanes between the Dallas North Tollway and North Central Expressway.
But leaders from several communities are on a collision course with state officials.
Bruce Smith works at a corporate headquarters in Legacy Business Park. He drives on 121 to Plano every day.
"Of course nobody wants to spend extra money," he says.
Frisco leaders want to keep tolls affordable for all drivers.
They fear if the state awards contracts to private companies, thousands of drivers like Smith would pay higher tolls.
They estimate the average driver who travels to and from work on 121 would pay $700 a year more in tolls under state control.
"Transportation is very expensive for us already. And I mean, if there are ways to save us money, they should look into that as well," said Smith.
"We want it to be the lowest possible rate it can be to pay for debt, maintenance and operation and improvements," says Mayor Mike Simpson.
But the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission has said that the responsibility of the state is to build roads, not keep tolls affordable.
"That's not our strategy. Our strategy is to let the consumer, the product, decide whether it's worth a buck or ten cents or two bucks a mile or whatever it is," said Ric Williamson, chairman of the State Transportation Commission.
Leaders from Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney and Collin County want the state to allow the North Texas Tollway Authority to operate 121.
They call the NTTA a known entity that will help keep tolls reasonably priced, and keep the money in Collin County.
"I think it's important to keep that money local. If I'm paying a convenience charge of a toll to drive on my local streets, I want that money to stay here in Collin County," said Jeanine Connolly, a driver.
State and local leaders across Texas want to build badly needed new roads.
But they don't have the money to do it.
The controversy here: should excess money generated from state highway 121 tolls be used to build new roads here in Collin County or anywhere in Texas it's needed?
By STEVE STOLER / WFAA ABC 8
FRISCO, Texas - Should you have to pay for roads somewhere else in the state?
That question is leading to a battle for control in Collin County.
At issue: who will run state highway 121.
Tolls will help speed up construction of the main lanes between the Dallas North Tollway and North Central Expressway.
But leaders from several communities are on a collision course with state officials.
Bruce Smith works at a corporate headquarters in Legacy Business Park. He drives on 121 to Plano every day.
"Of course nobody wants to spend extra money," he says.
Frisco leaders want to keep tolls affordable for all drivers.
They fear if the state awards contracts to private companies, thousands of drivers like Smith would pay higher tolls.
They estimate the average driver who travels to and from work on 121 would pay $700 a year more in tolls under state control.
"Transportation is very expensive for us already. And I mean, if there are ways to save us money, they should look into that as well," said Smith.
"We want it to be the lowest possible rate it can be to pay for debt, maintenance and operation and improvements," says Mayor Mike Simpson.
But the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission has said that the responsibility of the state is to build roads, not keep tolls affordable.
"That's not our strategy. Our strategy is to let the consumer, the product, decide whether it's worth a buck or ten cents or two bucks a mile or whatever it is," said Ric Williamson, chairman of the State Transportation Commission.
Leaders from Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney and Collin County want the state to allow the North Texas Tollway Authority to operate 121.
They call the NTTA a known entity that will help keep tolls reasonably priced, and keep the money in Collin County.
"I think it's important to keep that money local. If I'm paying a convenience charge of a toll to drive on my local streets, I want that money to stay here in Collin County," said Jeanine Connolly, a driver.
State and local leaders across Texas want to build badly needed new roads.
But they don't have the money to do it.
The controversy here: should excess money generated from state highway 121 tolls be used to build new roads here in Collin County or anywhere in Texas it's needed?
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Molester gets four 99-year sentences
By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth court has handed down a sentence of four 99-year jail terms to be served consecutively to a convicted molester.
It took jurors only half an hour yesterday to find 23-year-old Jeremiah Sexton guilty.
Victims told the court about the sexual assaults. The prosecution said there were 60 victims in two states.
One young girl took the stand and said she and Sexton had an intimate relationship that began when she was 17 years old. She said Sexton often asked her to act like a little girl in protest. She described how he forced her hands behind her back.
Three more girls took the stand saying Sexton sexually assaulted them - two of those girls for a period of years.
They said it happened on Sundays at the Baptist church they attended in Kansas.
One girl broke down in tears, recounting what happened to her between the ages of 8 and 12.
"He told me if I told anyone, he'd come and hurt me," she said.
Yesterday, the court convicted Sexton of kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old Arlington girl. He snatched her off the street and forced her into his car, as she was walking home from school.
Jurors saw the police's dashboard video of Sexton's arrest last February. After leading police on a high-speed chase he crashed into a mini van and a school bus before surrendering.
That's when the 9-year-old year stepped out the vehicle wearing nothing but a coat.
Sexton was first found guilty of assaulting girls in Kansas seven years ago.
As a juvenile, he got a second chance. He didn't even have to register as a sexual offender in Kansas.
He made a new life in North Texas but continued to prey on children - in church, and later, girls he abducted. But last year, he was caught by a sharp Grand Prairie police officer who saw Sexton assaulting a 9-year-old girl in a parking lot, a child he kidnapped as she walked to school.
"You are a serial predator it's as simple as that," said the judge.
"It's a great relief that he's not ever going to get out again and he won't victimize anyone else," said the father of two of the victims.
Cynthia Vega contributed to this story.
By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth court has handed down a sentence of four 99-year jail terms to be served consecutively to a convicted molester.
It took jurors only half an hour yesterday to find 23-year-old Jeremiah Sexton guilty.
Victims told the court about the sexual assaults. The prosecution said there were 60 victims in two states.
One young girl took the stand and said she and Sexton had an intimate relationship that began when she was 17 years old. She said Sexton often asked her to act like a little girl in protest. She described how he forced her hands behind her back.
Three more girls took the stand saying Sexton sexually assaulted them - two of those girls for a period of years.
They said it happened on Sundays at the Baptist church they attended in Kansas.
One girl broke down in tears, recounting what happened to her between the ages of 8 and 12.
"He told me if I told anyone, he'd come and hurt me," she said.
Yesterday, the court convicted Sexton of kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old Arlington girl. He snatched her off the street and forced her into his car, as she was walking home from school.
Jurors saw the police's dashboard video of Sexton's arrest last February. After leading police on a high-speed chase he crashed into a mini van and a school bus before surrendering.
That's when the 9-year-old year stepped out the vehicle wearing nothing but a coat.
Sexton was first found guilty of assaulting girls in Kansas seven years ago.
As a juvenile, he got a second chance. He didn't even have to register as a sexual offender in Kansas.
He made a new life in North Texas but continued to prey on children - in church, and later, girls he abducted. But last year, he was caught by a sharp Grand Prairie police officer who saw Sexton assaulting a 9-year-old girl in a parking lot, a child he kidnapped as she walked to school.
"You are a serial predator it's as simple as that," said the judge.
"It's a great relief that he's not ever going to get out again and he won't victimize anyone else," said the father of two of the victims.
Cynthia Vega contributed to this story.
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Breaking News
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - An overturned 18-wheeler on the ramp from westbound Interstate 30 to northbound Central Expressway is snarling rush hour traffic in the Dallas Mixmaster. Use alternate routes.
Live Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - An overturned 18-wheeler on the ramp from westbound Interstate 30 to northbound Central Expressway is snarling rush hour traffic in the Dallas Mixmaster. Use alternate routes.
Live Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse
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Violent deaths shock Keller residents
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8
KELLER, Texas — This community in northern Tarrant County is known for being a safe place to live. But Keller's 35,000 residents were reeling in shock and fear Wednesday after the bodies of two men were discovered inside a rented house.
Police said it appears to have been a double homicide.
Investigators spent about nine hours collecting eveidence from the crime scene in the 1100 block of North Main Street. A couple of guns were found at the location, but police could not say whether either was used in the shootings.
One of the victims was identified as Armando Perez, 22. The other dead man was believed to be a relative. Detectives said the two had been dead at least several hours, perhaps longer.
Neighbors said the crime reflects the negative effect of growth on the community that has more than doubled in size since 1990.
"We lived in Southlake probably 10 years before we moved up here," said Roxie Dotson, whose house is tucked away in a wooded area of Keller that still looks the same as it did 20 years ago, when she moved in.
"It's very quiet," she said.
From her vantage point, it's hard to tell how much much Keller has grown up around her in the past two decades—but it has, and while crime usually doesn't come knocking around here, it did on Wednesday morning.
"My son came in today and told me there's police cars all over the place, they've got it roped off," she said, adding that her initial fear was that it was either a drug bust or a murder.
About 150 yards away, a woman called 911 after finding two men shot to death in a back bedroom of a rented house about 10:30 a.m. Police said the woman was not considered a suspect.
Police believe the victims are cousins in their early 20s. There was apparently no forced entry.
"I don't know if they knew theier assailant or not," said Keller police Lt. Tommy Williams, who wanted to reassure the community. "We're still gathering information, but there's nothing to indicate that there's any kind of a pattern that this is going to continue with anyone else."
This is the second murder scene in six months in Keller. Before that, it had been 11 years.
Roxie Dotson's grandson, Matt Briseno, said crime is a little unsettling—but inevitable. "With all the new development going on out here, eventually it's bound to happen," he said. "It's going to move from the city to out here."
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8
KELLER, Texas — This community in northern Tarrant County is known for being a safe place to live. But Keller's 35,000 residents were reeling in shock and fear Wednesday after the bodies of two men were discovered inside a rented house.
Police said it appears to have been a double homicide.
Investigators spent about nine hours collecting eveidence from the crime scene in the 1100 block of North Main Street. A couple of guns were found at the location, but police could not say whether either was used in the shootings.
One of the victims was identified as Armando Perez, 22. The other dead man was believed to be a relative. Detectives said the two had been dead at least several hours, perhaps longer.
Neighbors said the crime reflects the negative effect of growth on the community that has more than doubled in size since 1990.
"We lived in Southlake probably 10 years before we moved up here," said Roxie Dotson, whose house is tucked away in a wooded area of Keller that still looks the same as it did 20 years ago, when she moved in.
"It's very quiet," she said.
From her vantage point, it's hard to tell how much much Keller has grown up around her in the past two decades—but it has, and while crime usually doesn't come knocking around here, it did on Wednesday morning.
"My son came in today and told me there's police cars all over the place, they've got it roped off," she said, adding that her initial fear was that it was either a drug bust or a murder.
About 150 yards away, a woman called 911 after finding two men shot to death in a back bedroom of a rented house about 10:30 a.m. Police said the woman was not considered a suspect.
Police believe the victims are cousins in their early 20s. There was apparently no forced entry.
"I don't know if they knew theier assailant or not," said Keller police Lt. Tommy Williams, who wanted to reassure the community. "We're still gathering information, but there's nothing to indicate that there's any kind of a pattern that this is going to continue with anyone else."
This is the second murder scene in six months in Keller. Before that, it had been 11 years.
Roxie Dotson's grandson, Matt Briseno, said crime is a little unsettling—but inevitable. "With all the new development going on out here, eventually it's bound to happen," he said. "It's going to move from the city to out here."
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Hotel removes mural after complaints
By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - At the Hotel ZaZa in Dallas, they called it art. But others said the large mural featuring an image of two armed Ku Klux Klansmen was offensive, and claimed the hotel ignored their complaints until the media got involved.
Hotel ZaZa is private property. That gives the owners the right to put up almost any art they choose.
But hotel patron Rodney Blu, who is black, asked why the management selected an image particularly shocking to African Americans. Blu said it depicts two generations of American terrorists: a Klansman and his son.
"I said, 'Hey, there's a picture of a Klansman out here? Why y'all got that up here?' They said, 'It's not what you think it is.' I said, 'How can I be mistaken? It's a picture of a Klansman and his son with shotguns.'"
The image was a small part of a larger collage—clearly meant to shock. Blu said the mural also featured "ladies with their breasts exposed, men in ballet poses up against each other."
When News 8 went looking, the mural was gone, and the wall freshly repainted.
Blu said he and others have been complaining for three years with no effect—until he called the media.
ZaZa Hotel manager Matthew Green did not indicate when he received the first complaints about the mural. Contacted via e-mail, Green said that he "left a message with the owner of the hotel," who was "in China and unreachable" until Tuesday.
"Art is always subjective," Green added. "We would never intentionally offend anyone."
"It's not art; It;s not art," Blu said. "Those pictures were picked out for a reason, and this one was left there for three years—despite our complaints—for a reason."
The hotel said it will reinstall the mural after the offending photo is replaced.
Blu isn't asking for an apology. He said he got what he wants: the ability to walk through the halls of the hotel without being confronted by a disturbing image of armed Klansmen.
By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - At the Hotel ZaZa in Dallas, they called it art. But others said the large mural featuring an image of two armed Ku Klux Klansmen was offensive, and claimed the hotel ignored their complaints until the media got involved.
Hotel ZaZa is private property. That gives the owners the right to put up almost any art they choose.
But hotel patron Rodney Blu, who is black, asked why the management selected an image particularly shocking to African Americans. Blu said it depicts two generations of American terrorists: a Klansman and his son.
"I said, 'Hey, there's a picture of a Klansman out here? Why y'all got that up here?' They said, 'It's not what you think it is.' I said, 'How can I be mistaken? It's a picture of a Klansman and his son with shotguns.'"
The image was a small part of a larger collage—clearly meant to shock. Blu said the mural also featured "ladies with their breasts exposed, men in ballet poses up against each other."
When News 8 went looking, the mural was gone, and the wall freshly repainted.
Blu said he and others have been complaining for three years with no effect—until he called the media.
ZaZa Hotel manager Matthew Green did not indicate when he received the first complaints about the mural. Contacted via e-mail, Green said that he "left a message with the owner of the hotel," who was "in China and unreachable" until Tuesday.
"Art is always subjective," Green added. "We would never intentionally offend anyone."
"It's not art; It;s not art," Blu said. "Those pictures were picked out for a reason, and this one was left there for three years—despite our complaints—for a reason."
The hotel said it will reinstall the mural after the offending photo is replaced.
Blu isn't asking for an apology. He said he got what he wants: the ability to walk through the halls of the hotel without being confronted by a disturbing image of armed Klansmen.
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North Lake zoning gets council's OK
Dallas: Coppell, Irving say housing, retail plan would burden services
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
Mind your own turf and keep off ours.
That's the message Dallas delivered neighbors Coppell and Irving, as the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a zoning change on a small but lucrative land tract that it controls several miles outside its core city limits.
The zoning change effectively allows developer Billingsley Co. to proceed with plans to create a massive housing and retail development on the land, tucked between Coppell and Irving and curling around North Lake.
The size, scope and features of the project, however, will probably face future Dallas council votes, and legal proceedings filed by Coppell and the Coppell Independent School District further occlude the land's future use.
Officials from the two suburbs say the development's potentially thousands of residents, although technically living in Dallas, would be an unfair burden on Coppell schools and roads and on public services in Coppell and Irving.
"It's totally incompatible with its surroundings," said Robert Freilich, an attorney representing opponents of the rezoning. "Dallas' actions are totally arbitrary from a regional perspective."
Said Coppell Mayor Doug Stover: "We expected there'd be a lot of biased council members because of a lack of information."
Mr. Freilich also questioned whether the land in question is safe – toxins are present there, he said – and lamented the proposed development's density and lack of open space. Irving Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Beth Van Duyne described the proposed development as potentially containing twice the population of Addison in one-eighth the space.
Kirk Williams, an attorney representing the Billingsley Co., countered, "We have an adjoining city attacking the jurisdiction of the city of Dallas. ... All this allows us to do is continue the planning process."
The land dispute is intensifying, as Dallas attorneys this week filed a petition in county court seeking an investigation of Coppell city and school district condemnation claims, as well as depositions from officials of both entities.
Coppell city and school officials in November filed condemnation proceedings against the Billingsley Co. in attempt to seize some of its land.
Company owner Lucy Crow Billingsley described Coppell's actions as "scare tactics" and a "land grab." She vowed to fight on in hopes of one day creating Cypress Waters, which today calls for 4,700 housing units and retail developments.
In 2004, Billingsley Co. purchased about 350 acres of land near North Lake from TXU.
"We clearly have to protect our property. We have the ultimate right for zoning," Dallas council member Ed Oakley said after the vote.
The mood Wednesday was charged.
During the hourlong debate, City Council member James Fantroy waved a videocassette in the air and accused Mr. Stover of saying last month that he'd be willing to work with Dallas City Council members – those who aren't going to jail.
"I don't know anyone on this council who's on the way to jail," Mr. Fantroy said.
The FBI is investigating several Dallas City Council members, as well as city commission appointees and private business people, as part of a public corruption investigation.
"That was a lighthearted comment that was made," Mr. Stover said, acknowledging that he made it, but adding that it referred to Dallas' Plan Commission, not the Dallas council. "It was just taken out of its context."
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller expressed hope that all parties will work together amiably.
"We've been trying in a very good-faith way," she said, noting that the city's three mayors have in her opinion done so to date.
Dallas: Coppell, Irving say housing, retail plan would burden services
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
Mind your own turf and keep off ours.
That's the message Dallas delivered neighbors Coppell and Irving, as the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a zoning change on a small but lucrative land tract that it controls several miles outside its core city limits.
The zoning change effectively allows developer Billingsley Co. to proceed with plans to create a massive housing and retail development on the land, tucked between Coppell and Irving and curling around North Lake.
The size, scope and features of the project, however, will probably face future Dallas council votes, and legal proceedings filed by Coppell and the Coppell Independent School District further occlude the land's future use.
Officials from the two suburbs say the development's potentially thousands of residents, although technically living in Dallas, would be an unfair burden on Coppell schools and roads and on public services in Coppell and Irving.
"It's totally incompatible with its surroundings," said Robert Freilich, an attorney representing opponents of the rezoning. "Dallas' actions are totally arbitrary from a regional perspective."
Said Coppell Mayor Doug Stover: "We expected there'd be a lot of biased council members because of a lack of information."
Mr. Freilich also questioned whether the land in question is safe – toxins are present there, he said – and lamented the proposed development's density and lack of open space. Irving Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Beth Van Duyne described the proposed development as potentially containing twice the population of Addison in one-eighth the space.
Kirk Williams, an attorney representing the Billingsley Co., countered, "We have an adjoining city attacking the jurisdiction of the city of Dallas. ... All this allows us to do is continue the planning process."
The land dispute is intensifying, as Dallas attorneys this week filed a petition in county court seeking an investigation of Coppell city and school district condemnation claims, as well as depositions from officials of both entities.
Coppell city and school officials in November filed condemnation proceedings against the Billingsley Co. in attempt to seize some of its land.
Company owner Lucy Crow Billingsley described Coppell's actions as "scare tactics" and a "land grab." She vowed to fight on in hopes of one day creating Cypress Waters, which today calls for 4,700 housing units and retail developments.
In 2004, Billingsley Co. purchased about 350 acres of land near North Lake from TXU.
"We clearly have to protect our property. We have the ultimate right for zoning," Dallas council member Ed Oakley said after the vote.
The mood Wednesday was charged.
During the hourlong debate, City Council member James Fantroy waved a videocassette in the air and accused Mr. Stover of saying last month that he'd be willing to work with Dallas City Council members – those who aren't going to jail.
"I don't know anyone on this council who's on the way to jail," Mr. Fantroy said.
The FBI is investigating several Dallas City Council members, as well as city commission appointees and private business people, as part of a public corruption investigation.
"That was a lighthearted comment that was made," Mr. Stover said, acknowledging that he made it, but adding that it referred to Dallas' Plan Commission, not the Dallas council. "It was just taken out of its context."
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller expressed hope that all parties will work together amiably.
"We've been trying in a very good-faith way," she said, noting that the city's three mayors have in her opinion done so to date.
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TexasStooge
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Road plan in Highland Park fuels passions
Many don't want wider Mockingbird; officials deny funding pressures
By KRISTEN HOLLAND / The Dallas Morning News
HIGHLAND PARK, Texas - Highland Park residents say it's bad enough that town officials want to widen a two-mile stretch of Mockingbird Lane.
That they won't admit it, frustrates them even more.
"We don't want to widen Mockingbird," Mayor Bill White told about 150 upset residents at Monday's standing-room-only council meeting. "We are not proposing, nor are our engineers proposing, to widen Mockingbird. Maybe I'm talking semantics."
But Mockingbird resident Emily Shackelford said that's exactly what's happening.
"I just spent time looking at the plans, and there is widening," she said, explaining that the intersection closest to her home will be 3 feet wider under the proposed plan.
Carrie Covert, a zoning commission member, said the town's explanation that the street won't be wider because they're not taking any land from residents is misleading. Whether land is taken from the town's right of way – as is proposed – or homeowners' front yards, Mockingbird will be wider, Ms. Covert said.
"Whether it's 6 inches or 2 feet, it is widening," she said.
To a person, residents said they would support the project if the road really needs to be rebuilt. But it can't involve widening.
"Mockingbird Lane is a pipe, and it's only so big," said John McGowan. "These plans expand that pipe dramatically. These plans are inviting people to use Mockingbird."
Several homeowners said the town is pushing the project because of Dallas County's funding requirements. The County is putting in a maximum of $2.1 million to help cover the estimated $12 million to $15 million cost to rebuild the thoroughfare.
Mr. White has disputed the assertion that the county has dictated what the town must construct, but a December 2004 letter from former Dallas County Commissioner Jim Jackson raised questions.
In the letter to Mr. White, Mr. Jackson wrote that while Dallas County "didn't do the plan and made no specific requirements ... we simply required the project to support additional capacity. That can be done through several incentives including left-turn lanes."
The current plan calls for widening the roadway from 30 to 31 feet to between 32 and 34 feet along most of Mockingbird. The stretch from Lomo Alto Drive to the Tollway would expand to between 36 to 38 feet wide so that an additional lane could be added.
The plan also calls for adding left-turn-only lanes at every intersection between Hillcrest and Preston and flaring driveway entrances all along Mockingbird so that homeowners don't have to stop to turn into their driveways.
The project was almost put on hold indefinitely last month because Dallas Water Utilities hadn't decided what to do with a water main running underneath the road. The main, which officials estimate is 70 to 80 years old, stretches down the middle of Mockingbird from the Dallas North Tollway to Airline Road, two blocks west of Central Expressway.
The department has since decided to repair its main by inserting a smaller pipe inside the existing line.
Although a few residents mentioned that their property values would diminish should council members approve the proposal as is, most of the more than two dozen speakers Monday rallied around safety, aesthetic and quality-of-life concerns.
Resident Ken Reimer said that there are just too many unanswered questions to move forward.
"This is a huge project, and there's no renderings, no master plan, no vision," he said. "Have they considered anything that slows down traffic? Did they ask the citizens what they want Mockingbird to look like? Is there a vision?"
"I'd like to see some rendering of what residents want Mockingbird to look like," Mr. Reimer said.
Cynthia Beaird said that she would rather the town control its own destiny than do something that so many are against to secure outside funding. The room erupted in cheers when the Lorraine Avenue resident stood up and explained that it's her pleasure to be stuck in traffic on Mockingbird.
"I don't think we want better traffic flow," she said. "Better traffic flow means more cars."
Many don't want wider Mockingbird; officials deny funding pressures
By KRISTEN HOLLAND / The Dallas Morning News
HIGHLAND PARK, Texas - Highland Park residents say it's bad enough that town officials want to widen a two-mile stretch of Mockingbird Lane.
That they won't admit it, frustrates them even more.
"We don't want to widen Mockingbird," Mayor Bill White told about 150 upset residents at Monday's standing-room-only council meeting. "We are not proposing, nor are our engineers proposing, to widen Mockingbird. Maybe I'm talking semantics."
But Mockingbird resident Emily Shackelford said that's exactly what's happening.
"I just spent time looking at the plans, and there is widening," she said, explaining that the intersection closest to her home will be 3 feet wider under the proposed plan.
Carrie Covert, a zoning commission member, said the town's explanation that the street won't be wider because they're not taking any land from residents is misleading. Whether land is taken from the town's right of way – as is proposed – or homeowners' front yards, Mockingbird will be wider, Ms. Covert said.
"Whether it's 6 inches or 2 feet, it is widening," she said.
To a person, residents said they would support the project if the road really needs to be rebuilt. But it can't involve widening.
"Mockingbird Lane is a pipe, and it's only so big," said John McGowan. "These plans expand that pipe dramatically. These plans are inviting people to use Mockingbird."
Several homeowners said the town is pushing the project because of Dallas County's funding requirements. The County is putting in a maximum of $2.1 million to help cover the estimated $12 million to $15 million cost to rebuild the thoroughfare.
Mr. White has disputed the assertion that the county has dictated what the town must construct, but a December 2004 letter from former Dallas County Commissioner Jim Jackson raised questions.
In the letter to Mr. White, Mr. Jackson wrote that while Dallas County "didn't do the plan and made no specific requirements ... we simply required the project to support additional capacity. That can be done through several incentives including left-turn lanes."
The current plan calls for widening the roadway from 30 to 31 feet to between 32 and 34 feet along most of Mockingbird. The stretch from Lomo Alto Drive to the Tollway would expand to between 36 to 38 feet wide so that an additional lane could be added.
The plan also calls for adding left-turn-only lanes at every intersection between Hillcrest and Preston and flaring driveway entrances all along Mockingbird so that homeowners don't have to stop to turn into their driveways.
The project was almost put on hold indefinitely last month because Dallas Water Utilities hadn't decided what to do with a water main running underneath the road. The main, which officials estimate is 70 to 80 years old, stretches down the middle of Mockingbird from the Dallas North Tollway to Airline Road, two blocks west of Central Expressway.
The department has since decided to repair its main by inserting a smaller pipe inside the existing line.
Although a few residents mentioned that their property values would diminish should council members approve the proposal as is, most of the more than two dozen speakers Monday rallied around safety, aesthetic and quality-of-life concerns.
Resident Ken Reimer said that there are just too many unanswered questions to move forward.
"This is a huge project, and there's no renderings, no master plan, no vision," he said. "Have they considered anything that slows down traffic? Did they ask the citizens what they want Mockingbird to look like? Is there a vision?"
"I'd like to see some rendering of what residents want Mockingbird to look like," Mr. Reimer said.
Cynthia Beaird said that she would rather the town control its own destiny than do something that so many are against to secure outside funding. The room erupted in cheers when the Lorraine Avenue resident stood up and explained that it's her pleasure to be stuck in traffic on Mockingbird.
"I don't think we want better traffic flow," she said. "Better traffic flow means more cars."
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
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- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Trustees ready to sign off on middle school shift
Dallas ISD: Many parents upset about plan to move sixth-graders
By KENT FISCHER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - About half of Dallas public school sixth-graders will move from their elementary schools to middle schools next year under a proposal that trustees are expected to approve tonight.
The reconfiguration would send sixth-graders from 56 elementary schools and learning centers to 17 middle schools, beginning next school year.
DISD officials say the shift has educational benefits for sixth-graders, but many parents are upset by some part of the plan – either having to shift to a new school or having a sixth-grade child in the same school as eighth-graders.
The shift is part of a larger plan to adjust school attendance zones and feeder patterns as the district prepares to open 12 schools in August.
The proposal will allow the district to reduce crowding at many elementary campuses and make more efficient use of space at larger middle schools, district spokesman Donald Claxton said.
He said the shift to middle school also has educational benefits for sixth-graders.
"We'd like to get those kids into a secondary school environment sooner," he said.
The National Middle School Association says most middle schools around the country already have sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders together in the same school.Research by the association states that most principals believe that a middle school with grades six through eight is ideal when coupled with programs that allow teachers to team up and provide special programs, like small group work. Mr. Claxton said DISD plans to do some of those things. Sixth-graders generally will not mix with older students at their new schools, he said.
"They'll be in separate sheltered areas," he said. "We've heard the parents' concerns, and we've tried to address them."
All but four middle schools will house sixth-graders by the 2007-08 school year, according to DISD's Web site.
The change is causing anxiety among some parents who want their children in smaller, more intimate elementary schools. One parent group suspects the move will lead to the closures of its learning center in the coming years. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has already put forth a plan to close two small, expensive learning centers in southern Dallas.
Joan Kimber, PTA president at John F. Kennedy Learning Center, said moving sixth-graders out of that school will leave the building nearly half empty. A half-empty learning center, she said, is easy to close.
Timing concerns
"We're just finding out about this, and the vote is this week," Mrs. Kimber said. "I suspect an ulterior motive."
Mr. Claxton said the district began laying the groundwork for the changes more than two years ago. Three schools made the switch this year, he said. An additional 17 schools will also be changed down the road.
"We began holding public meetings about this two Novembers ago," Mr. Claxton said, "and it has come before the board for discussion numerous times over the years."
Trustee Joe May has met with parents from Kennedy Learning Center. He said the district did not do a good job of explaining the intent of the changes.
"The main concern I heard was the splitting up of the kids," Mr. May said. "The other thing I heard is they didn't have a comfort level with the sixth-graders being moved to a school with eighth-graders."Parent Marilyn Sanchez plans to complain about the proposed changes at tonight's meeting. Two of her children would have to leave Stemmons Elementary School, which she says is about a half-mile from her home, to go to Tolbert Elementary, about 1 ½ miles away.
"I need to cross a railroad track and two major streets just to get to Tolbert," Ms. Sanchez said.
The proposal also would affect Ms. Sanchez's daughter, who would leave Molina High School to attend Kimball High School.
"She will be separating from her graduating class," Ms. Sanchez said, adding that she is aware of the necessity to shift boundaries to deal with overcrowding.
"But the way they do it, shuffling students from one area to another – we haven't solved anything," she said.
Students in mind
Trustee Edwin Flores said that he understands parents' concerns but that the plan is the best option for the most students.
"The conversion sixth to eighth also provides us the opportunity to add more pre-K," he said. "Pre-K is the key to closing the achievement gap, because we can get more kids into the system younger."
Staff writer Tawnell D. Hobbs and Vanesa Salinas of Al Día contributed to this report.
Dallas ISD: Many parents upset about plan to move sixth-graders
By KENT FISCHER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - About half of Dallas public school sixth-graders will move from their elementary schools to middle schools next year under a proposal that trustees are expected to approve tonight.
The reconfiguration would send sixth-graders from 56 elementary schools and learning centers to 17 middle schools, beginning next school year.
DISD officials say the shift has educational benefits for sixth-graders, but many parents are upset by some part of the plan – either having to shift to a new school or having a sixth-grade child in the same school as eighth-graders.
The shift is part of a larger plan to adjust school attendance zones and feeder patterns as the district prepares to open 12 schools in August.
The proposal will allow the district to reduce crowding at many elementary campuses and make more efficient use of space at larger middle schools, district spokesman Donald Claxton said.
He said the shift to middle school also has educational benefits for sixth-graders.
"We'd like to get those kids into a secondary school environment sooner," he said.
The National Middle School Association says most middle schools around the country already have sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders together in the same school.Research by the association states that most principals believe that a middle school with grades six through eight is ideal when coupled with programs that allow teachers to team up and provide special programs, like small group work. Mr. Claxton said DISD plans to do some of those things. Sixth-graders generally will not mix with older students at their new schools, he said.
"They'll be in separate sheltered areas," he said. "We've heard the parents' concerns, and we've tried to address them."
All but four middle schools will house sixth-graders by the 2007-08 school year, according to DISD's Web site.
The change is causing anxiety among some parents who want their children in smaller, more intimate elementary schools. One parent group suspects the move will lead to the closures of its learning center in the coming years. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa has already put forth a plan to close two small, expensive learning centers in southern Dallas.
Joan Kimber, PTA president at John F. Kennedy Learning Center, said moving sixth-graders out of that school will leave the building nearly half empty. A half-empty learning center, she said, is easy to close.
Timing concerns
"We're just finding out about this, and the vote is this week," Mrs. Kimber said. "I suspect an ulterior motive."
Mr. Claxton said the district began laying the groundwork for the changes more than two years ago. Three schools made the switch this year, he said. An additional 17 schools will also be changed down the road.
"We began holding public meetings about this two Novembers ago," Mr. Claxton said, "and it has come before the board for discussion numerous times over the years."
Trustee Joe May has met with parents from Kennedy Learning Center. He said the district did not do a good job of explaining the intent of the changes.
"The main concern I heard was the splitting up of the kids," Mr. May said. "The other thing I heard is they didn't have a comfort level with the sixth-graders being moved to a school with eighth-graders."Parent Marilyn Sanchez plans to complain about the proposed changes at tonight's meeting. Two of her children would have to leave Stemmons Elementary School, which she says is about a half-mile from her home, to go to Tolbert Elementary, about 1 ½ miles away.
"I need to cross a railroad track and two major streets just to get to Tolbert," Ms. Sanchez said.
The proposal also would affect Ms. Sanchez's daughter, who would leave Molina High School to attend Kimball High School.
"She will be separating from her graduating class," Ms. Sanchez said, adding that she is aware of the necessity to shift boundaries to deal with overcrowding.
"But the way they do it, shuffling students from one area to another – we haven't solved anything," she said.
Students in mind
Trustee Edwin Flores said that he understands parents' concerns but that the plan is the best option for the most students.
"The conversion sixth to eighth also provides us the opportunity to add more pre-K," he said. "Pre-K is the key to closing the achievement gap, because we can get more kids into the system younger."
Staff writer Tawnell D. Hobbs and Vanesa Salinas of Al Día contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Strayhorn gets Democratic cash
Exclusive: Many donors think independent bid is their only shot at unseating Perry
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – Bernard Rapoport is a loyal Democrat who has helped bankroll a generation of party candidates. This year, he's putting his money on Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
"The thing we have to worry about right now is who has a shot," said the Waco insurance executive. "And the only two people who seem to have a shot at it are Strayhorn and [Gov. Rick] Perry."
Mr. Rapoport is not alone among Democratic donors who face a dilemma in this year's governor's race: By backing Mrs. Strayhorn's independent bid, they are draining money from the nominee of a party that badly needs rebuilding.
A Dallas Morning News analysis of Mrs. Strayhorn's latest campaign report found that more than half of her largest contributions in the just-ended reporting period came from givers with a history of backing Democrats. About 12 percent came from reliable Republican donors. Contributors who have given to both parties accounted for 16 percent of her money.
Many of Mrs. Strayhorn's givers are longtime sources of Democratic money, not only big-dollar trial lawyers who have filled her campaign coffers but also party stalwarts.
Over the past two reporting periods, they include Mr. Rapoport ($10,000); former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes ($20,000); Austin auto dealer Roger Beasley ($10,000); McAllen beer distributor Greg LaMantia ($51,000); McAllen travel-center executive Joe Phillips ($25,000); and Dallas investment adviser Cappy McGarr ($6,000).
"It's worse than sad. It's damn near tragic," said Charles Elliott, a political science professor at Texas A&M University at Commerce and a former member of the State Democratic Executive Committee.
"Some fairly heavy hitters and middle-sized Democrats are throwing money at her ... and we have absolutely nothing with which to entice them on our end."
Former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell and former Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage are vying to represent the party's long-shot efforts in a state where a Democrat hasn't won statewide office since 1994. Spokesmen for Mr. Gammage and Mr. Bell said they are confident they will have sufficient money to challenge Mr. Perry in November.
"The Democratic donor base has yet to figure out that it would be easier to walk barefoot over the Himalayas in winter than it will be for Carole Strayhorn to get elected governor of Texas," said Jason Stanford, a spokesman for Mr. Bell. "Politics is a futures game. We're focused on how we get there."
Jeremy Warren, a spokesman for Mr. Gammage, said the eventual Democratic nominee must convince voters he is a viable candidate.
"What's happening is that money is going to the 'anybody but Perry' contingent, which right now is Strayhorn," he said. "It's our job to demonstrate that a Democrat can be a credible opponent and can win. And right now folks don't believe that."
Singer and author Kinky Friedman is also running as an independent for governor.
For her part, Mrs. Strayhorn says she welcomes the backing of both Republicans and Democrats, and has rebuffed suggestions that she will draw disproportionate support from one party. In a cross-party appeal, the Republican comptroller has dropped specific mention of her GOP party affiliation in the latest round of TV commercials on her candidacy as an independent.
The News analyzed contributions to Mrs. Strayhorn in her latest finance report, which covers the second six months of 2005. The review included every donor of at least $2,000 to see which legislative and statewide candidates they supported in the past five years.
Of the $2.4 million raised by Mrs. Strayhorn in the latest report, $1.94 million came from donors giving at least $2,000. And of that total, 52 percent came from contributors who gave exclusively or almost exclusively to Democrats in the past five years. Twelve percent gave primarily to Republicans and 16 percent gave to candidates in both parties. Nineteen percent had either given no money or gave only to Mrs. Strayhorn.
Mrs. Strayhorn's smaller donors are more evenly divided. A spot check of contributors giving from $50 to $250 indicates that more than a third previously gave only to Mrs. Strayhorn; about a quarter gave to Republicans and about one in five to Democrats.
Austin Democratic consultant Jeff Montgomery said one reason Mrs. Strayhorn's campaign treasury has so much Democratic money is support from trial lawyers, traditionally the party's biggest source of campaign cash.
"The trial lawyers are supporting the direction of the party, and they're supporting Strayhorn," he said.
Nevertheless, the analysis of Mrs. Strayhorn's most recent report indicates that even excluding her trial lawyer donations, she still received more than twice as much from Democrats as Republicans.
Mr. McGarr, who has given Mrs. Strayhorn $12,000, said he's backing her because of personal friendship and her support of higher education.
"Democrats are not monolithic, particularly when you live in a Republican state," he said. "I am a Democrat. I raise money for Democrats. But Carole has done a great job as comptroller, and I think she'd do a great job as governor."
Bernard Klimist, a Victoria lawyer who hosted a fundraising reception for Mrs. Strayhorn, said he anticipates that her independent candidacy will pull campaign contributions with equal success from donors in both parties.
Felix Covington, a Brenham horse breeder who gave $7,500 to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tony Sanchez in 2002, said he opposes the Republican governor and hopes Mrs. Strayhorn can oust him.
"I don't believe Perry is helping Texas. He's got his own agenda, his own friends, and he's done more damage than good," said Mr. Covington. "I think Carole Strayhorn has the best chance of getting him out of there."
Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black has defended the governor's record, citing lower taxes, job gains and education improvements, among other accomplishments.
Exclusive: Many donors think independent bid is their only shot at unseating Perry
By WAYNE SLATER / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – Bernard Rapoport is a loyal Democrat who has helped bankroll a generation of party candidates. This year, he's putting his money on Republican Carole Keeton Strayhorn.
"The thing we have to worry about right now is who has a shot," said the Waco insurance executive. "And the only two people who seem to have a shot at it are Strayhorn and [Gov. Rick] Perry."
Mr. Rapoport is not alone among Democratic donors who face a dilemma in this year's governor's race: By backing Mrs. Strayhorn's independent bid, they are draining money from the nominee of a party that badly needs rebuilding.
A Dallas Morning News analysis of Mrs. Strayhorn's latest campaign report found that more than half of her largest contributions in the just-ended reporting period came from givers with a history of backing Democrats. About 12 percent came from reliable Republican donors. Contributors who have given to both parties accounted for 16 percent of her money.
Many of Mrs. Strayhorn's givers are longtime sources of Democratic money, not only big-dollar trial lawyers who have filled her campaign coffers but also party stalwarts.
Over the past two reporting periods, they include Mr. Rapoport ($10,000); former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes ($20,000); Austin auto dealer Roger Beasley ($10,000); McAllen beer distributor Greg LaMantia ($51,000); McAllen travel-center executive Joe Phillips ($25,000); and Dallas investment adviser Cappy McGarr ($6,000).
"It's worse than sad. It's damn near tragic," said Charles Elliott, a political science professor at Texas A&M University at Commerce and a former member of the State Democratic Executive Committee.
"Some fairly heavy hitters and middle-sized Democrats are throwing money at her ... and we have absolutely nothing with which to entice them on our end."
Former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell and former Supreme Court Justice Bob Gammage are vying to represent the party's long-shot efforts in a state where a Democrat hasn't won statewide office since 1994. Spokesmen for Mr. Gammage and Mr. Bell said they are confident they will have sufficient money to challenge Mr. Perry in November.
"The Democratic donor base has yet to figure out that it would be easier to walk barefoot over the Himalayas in winter than it will be for Carole Strayhorn to get elected governor of Texas," said Jason Stanford, a spokesman for Mr. Bell. "Politics is a futures game. We're focused on how we get there."
Jeremy Warren, a spokesman for Mr. Gammage, said the eventual Democratic nominee must convince voters he is a viable candidate.
"What's happening is that money is going to the 'anybody but Perry' contingent, which right now is Strayhorn," he said. "It's our job to demonstrate that a Democrat can be a credible opponent and can win. And right now folks don't believe that."
Singer and author Kinky Friedman is also running as an independent for governor.
For her part, Mrs. Strayhorn says she welcomes the backing of both Republicans and Democrats, and has rebuffed suggestions that she will draw disproportionate support from one party. In a cross-party appeal, the Republican comptroller has dropped specific mention of her GOP party affiliation in the latest round of TV commercials on her candidacy as an independent.
The News analyzed contributions to Mrs. Strayhorn in her latest finance report, which covers the second six months of 2005. The review included every donor of at least $2,000 to see which legislative and statewide candidates they supported in the past five years.
Of the $2.4 million raised by Mrs. Strayhorn in the latest report, $1.94 million came from donors giving at least $2,000. And of that total, 52 percent came from contributors who gave exclusively or almost exclusively to Democrats in the past five years. Twelve percent gave primarily to Republicans and 16 percent gave to candidates in both parties. Nineteen percent had either given no money or gave only to Mrs. Strayhorn.
Mrs. Strayhorn's smaller donors are more evenly divided. A spot check of contributors giving from $50 to $250 indicates that more than a third previously gave only to Mrs. Strayhorn; about a quarter gave to Republicans and about one in five to Democrats.
Austin Democratic consultant Jeff Montgomery said one reason Mrs. Strayhorn's campaign treasury has so much Democratic money is support from trial lawyers, traditionally the party's biggest source of campaign cash.
"The trial lawyers are supporting the direction of the party, and they're supporting Strayhorn," he said.
Nevertheless, the analysis of Mrs. Strayhorn's most recent report indicates that even excluding her trial lawyer donations, she still received more than twice as much from Democrats as Republicans.
Mr. McGarr, who has given Mrs. Strayhorn $12,000, said he's backing her because of personal friendship and her support of higher education.
"Democrats are not monolithic, particularly when you live in a Republican state," he said. "I am a Democrat. I raise money for Democrats. But Carole has done a great job as comptroller, and I think she'd do a great job as governor."
Bernard Klimist, a Victoria lawyer who hosted a fundraising reception for Mrs. Strayhorn, said he anticipates that her independent candidacy will pull campaign contributions with equal success from donors in both parties.
Felix Covington, a Brenham horse breeder who gave $7,500 to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tony Sanchez in 2002, said he opposes the Republican governor and hopes Mrs. Strayhorn can oust him.
"I don't believe Perry is helping Texas. He's got his own agenda, his own friends, and he's done more damage than good," said Mr. Covington. "I think Carole Strayhorn has the best chance of getting him out of there."
Perry campaign spokesman Robert Black has defended the governor's record, citing lower taxes, job gains and education improvements, among other accomplishments.
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TexasStooge
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State to pick up Medicare slack
Texas will buy medicine for low-income residents as drug benefit plan battles hiccups
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas pharmacists can fill prescriptions for many low-income customers and bill the state directly to avoid administrative glitches in the new Medicare drug benefit program, state officials announced Wednesday.
Gov. Rick Perry made the state the medicine buyer of last resort for about 320,000 seniors and disabled Texans – about 34,000 of whom live in Dallas and Tarrant counties – after receiving federal assurances that Texas would be reimbursed.
The assurances are good for at least the next three weeks. But they can be extended if the launch of the Medicare drug program remains bumpy, state and federal officials said.
"Today's action will allow us to make sure low-income Texans get the medications they need without any delay," said Albert Hawkins, the state's Health and Human Services commissioner.
Three Democrats in the Legislature and state pharmacist associations that had been pressing Mr. Perry to act welcomed the state's intervention.
Still, Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, expressed doubt that the new Medicare system would be glitch-free by Feb. 15. That's the target date for ending states' involvement, after which all the bills are to be paid by prescription drug plans – private insurers under contract to Medicare.
"I think we need to do away with that cutoff date," Mr. Naishtat said.
A leading advocate for the elderly in Dallas said help was needed for low-income seniors and disabled Texans.
"We're delighted that Texas will be helping lower-income seniors. ... But they represent only a small portion of the many older Texans who are running into problems with Medicare's new drug plans," said Molly Bogen, executive director of the Senior Source in Dallas. "Medicare itself needs to be doing far more to educate seniors about the new benefit and to make sure they can use it."
About 42 million Americans are eligible for the new Medicare drug benefit, said Tony Salters, a spokesman in Dallas for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Of them, 6 million are "dual eligibles," – that is, low-income seniors or disabled people who received their prescription drug benefits through state-run Medicaid programs but are being switched to a Medicare drug plan.
All of them were supposed to have been automatically assigned to a drug plan and notified of the change. If they aren't happy with the random assignment, they may choose another plan.
Since Medicare's drug coverage began Jan. 1, there have been reports that some dual eligibles have been overcharged or have left their pharmacies without getting prescriptions filled. Frustrated pharmacists have stayed at work after hours.
"The last three weeks have been the longest three weeks of my life," Austin pharmacist Tammy Gray said. "It's just been unbelievable the strain that it's put on us."
Ms. Gray spoke at a Capitol news conference to call for emergency action. Mr. Naishtat, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, scheduled the event to pressure Mr. Perry.
About 20 minutes before the news conference started, Mr. Hawkins announced that Texas had joined 25 other states and the District of Columbia in offering temporary coverage while the federal government works out the kinks in the plan.
"I believe they heard our pleas," Ms. Van de Putte, a pharmacist, said of the Perry administration.
Mr. Coleman, though, said he believes that Mr. Perry "responded because of this press conference today." The Republican governor should have acted sooner, he said.
"There have already been people harmed because we didn't act soon enough," Mr. Coleman said.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said it would have been "fiscally irresponsible" for Texas to agree to pay for poor Medicare beneficiaries' drugs, even temporarily, until it received a federal guarantee that states could recoup the costs.
It didn't receive that assurance from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt until Tuesday, she said.
Federal officials have been unable to answer state queries about how widespread the problems are, and Mr. Perry must keep in mind other unexpected costs, such as those associated with the hurricane relief efforts, Ms. Walt said.
"While Mr. Coleman may only have to address one constituent group, the state addresses many constituencies and has to look at all of the issues that the state is facing," she said.
Some seniors have been confused about which drug plans to choose.
While poor people who used to get drugs from Medicaid were automatically assigned to a Medicare drug plan last month, Medicare beneficiaries who aren't poor have until May 15 to choose a drug plan. Those who miss the deadline could be hit with higher monthly premiums when they do enroll.
The penalty would increase monthly premiums by 1 percent for every month beneficiaries wait to enroll. The deadline is designed to encourage people to enroll, particularly healthier senior citizens and the disabled who use few prescriptions.
But in Washington, a few Republican lawmakers have joined scores of Democrats in pushing for an extension.
Staff writer Robert Moos in Dallas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Texas will buy medicine for low-income residents as drug benefit plan battles hiccups
By ROBERT T. GARRETT / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas pharmacists can fill prescriptions for many low-income customers and bill the state directly to avoid administrative glitches in the new Medicare drug benefit program, state officials announced Wednesday.
Gov. Rick Perry made the state the medicine buyer of last resort for about 320,000 seniors and disabled Texans – about 34,000 of whom live in Dallas and Tarrant counties – after receiving federal assurances that Texas would be reimbursed.
The assurances are good for at least the next three weeks. But they can be extended if the launch of the Medicare drug program remains bumpy, state and federal officials said.
"Today's action will allow us to make sure low-income Texans get the medications they need without any delay," said Albert Hawkins, the state's Health and Human Services commissioner.
Three Democrats in the Legislature and state pharmacist associations that had been pressing Mr. Perry to act welcomed the state's intervention.
Still, Rep. Elliott Naishtat, D-Austin, expressed doubt that the new Medicare system would be glitch-free by Feb. 15. That's the target date for ending states' involvement, after which all the bills are to be paid by prescription drug plans – private insurers under contract to Medicare.
"I think we need to do away with that cutoff date," Mr. Naishtat said.
A leading advocate for the elderly in Dallas said help was needed for low-income seniors and disabled Texans.
"We're delighted that Texas will be helping lower-income seniors. ... But they represent only a small portion of the many older Texans who are running into problems with Medicare's new drug plans," said Molly Bogen, executive director of the Senior Source in Dallas. "Medicare itself needs to be doing far more to educate seniors about the new benefit and to make sure they can use it."
About 42 million Americans are eligible for the new Medicare drug benefit, said Tony Salters, a spokesman in Dallas for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Of them, 6 million are "dual eligibles," – that is, low-income seniors or disabled people who received their prescription drug benefits through state-run Medicaid programs but are being switched to a Medicare drug plan.
All of them were supposed to have been automatically assigned to a drug plan and notified of the change. If they aren't happy with the random assignment, they may choose another plan.
Since Medicare's drug coverage began Jan. 1, there have been reports that some dual eligibles have been overcharged or have left their pharmacies without getting prescriptions filled. Frustrated pharmacists have stayed at work after hours.
"The last three weeks have been the longest three weeks of my life," Austin pharmacist Tammy Gray said. "It's just been unbelievable the strain that it's put on us."
Ms. Gray spoke at a Capitol news conference to call for emergency action. Mr. Naishtat, Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, and Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, scheduled the event to pressure Mr. Perry.
About 20 minutes before the news conference started, Mr. Hawkins announced that Texas had joined 25 other states and the District of Columbia in offering temporary coverage while the federal government works out the kinks in the plan.
"I believe they heard our pleas," Ms. Van de Putte, a pharmacist, said of the Perry administration.
Mr. Coleman, though, said he believes that Mr. Perry "responded because of this press conference today." The Republican governor should have acted sooner, he said.
"There have already been people harmed because we didn't act soon enough," Mr. Coleman said.
Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said it would have been "fiscally irresponsible" for Texas to agree to pay for poor Medicare beneficiaries' drugs, even temporarily, until it received a federal guarantee that states could recoup the costs.
It didn't receive that assurance from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt until Tuesday, she said.
Federal officials have been unable to answer state queries about how widespread the problems are, and Mr. Perry must keep in mind other unexpected costs, such as those associated with the hurricane relief efforts, Ms. Walt said.
"While Mr. Coleman may only have to address one constituent group, the state addresses many constituencies and has to look at all of the issues that the state is facing," she said.
Some seniors have been confused about which drug plans to choose.
While poor people who used to get drugs from Medicaid were automatically assigned to a Medicare drug plan last month, Medicare beneficiaries who aren't poor have until May 15 to choose a drug plan. Those who miss the deadline could be hit with higher monthly premiums when they do enroll.
The penalty would increase monthly premiums by 1 percent for every month beneficiaries wait to enroll. The deadline is designed to encourage people to enroll, particularly healthier senior citizens and the disabled who use few prescriptions.
But in Washington, a few Republican lawmakers have joined scores of Democrats in pushing for an extension.
Staff writer Robert Moos in Dallas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Alabama man executed for Texas slayings
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - An Alabama man who was part of a ring that shuttled drugs from Texas to his home state was executed Wednesday for the slayings of four people in Houston nearly 14 years ago.
When asked by a warden if he had any final statement, Marion Dudley did not respond, kept his eyes closed and never turned his head toward witnesses in the chamber, which included one of his survivors and relatives of one of the people killed.
Eight minutes later at 6:16 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.
Prison officials said while he wasn't combative, Dudley had to be carried to the chamber by officers after he refused to leave a death house cell voluntarily.
Dudley, 33, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., had said he wasn't at the house the night of June 20, 1992, where six people were shot, four of them fatally, in what authorities said was a drug dealer ripoff.
Dudley, who had a record in his home state for burglary, assault, receiving stolen property and violating probation, was the first Texas inmate put to death this year.
Nineteen convicted killers were executed in 2005 as Texas maintained its notoriety as the nation's most active capital punishment state. Another inmate is set for lethal injection next week and three more next month. They are among more than a dozen Texas prisoners with execution dates in the first five months of this year.
Dudley's lawyer had hoped the U.S. Supreme Court would stop his punishment, arguing prosecutors improperly withheld from defense attorneys at his capital murder trial a letter to Alabama parole officials regarding an inmate from that state who testified against Dudley. But the high court rejected the appeal a few hours before the execution.
The two survivors identified the then 20-year-old Dudley as one of the three gunmen who barged into the home of Jose Tovar, 32, and his wife, Rachel, then 33.
In a recent interview on death row, Dudley said they were wrong.
"I was not," he said.
Jose Tovar was fatally shot in the head, as were his wife's son, Frank Farias, 17; Farias' girlfriend, Jessica Quinones, 19, who was seven months pregnant; and a neighbor Audrey Brown, 21, who had just stopped by to visit. Rachel Tovar and another friend, Nicholas Cortez, 22 at the time, survived.
All the victims were bound with towels or strips of sheets, hands tied behind their backs and nooses around their necks. Rachel Tovar managed to crawl to a neighbor's house for help.
After watching Dudley die, Tovar, 48, said she "can be at peace, knowing that I represent my family, my children, my husband."
"There's a little relief in me," she said, tears running down her face. "But the nightmares will always be there... I lived this going on 14 years and there's not ever going to be something to help me forget it. It's never going to go away."
Maricella Quinones, whose sister died in the gunfire, said she believed justice was not done with Dudley's death.
"The bad is he didn't die like my sister did," she said.
Besides Dudley, Arthur "Squirt" Brown, of Tuscaloosa, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Now 35, he remains on death row. A third man, Tony Dunson, also from Alabama and 19 at the time of the shootings, received a life sentence.
Police said the three previously had been at the Tovar house to buy drugs and knew drugs and money were there. Brown ran the ring that for nine months had been moving marijuana and cocaine from Houston to Tuscaloosa, authorities said.
A mini-van used as the getaway vehicle was recovered in the Alabama city, where evidence showed they bought a new Jeep SUV with cash, eventually traveling to Louisville, Ky., and Columbus, Ohio. About 21/2 weeks after the shootings, Dudley and Dunson were arrested in Fayetteville, N.C.
"My number one problem was women," Dudley said from death row. "I was running around. Everything went downhill from there... I just wanted to get money, easy money. And once you start getting easy money, it's so hard to slow down."
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - An Alabama man who was part of a ring that shuttled drugs from Texas to his home state was executed Wednesday for the slayings of four people in Houston nearly 14 years ago.
When asked by a warden if he had any final statement, Marion Dudley did not respond, kept his eyes closed and never turned his head toward witnesses in the chamber, which included one of his survivors and relatives of one of the people killed.
Eight minutes later at 6:16 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.
Prison officials said while he wasn't combative, Dudley had to be carried to the chamber by officers after he refused to leave a death house cell voluntarily.
Dudley, 33, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., had said he wasn't at the house the night of June 20, 1992, where six people were shot, four of them fatally, in what authorities said was a drug dealer ripoff.
Dudley, who had a record in his home state for burglary, assault, receiving stolen property and violating probation, was the first Texas inmate put to death this year.
Nineteen convicted killers were executed in 2005 as Texas maintained its notoriety as the nation's most active capital punishment state. Another inmate is set for lethal injection next week and three more next month. They are among more than a dozen Texas prisoners with execution dates in the first five months of this year.
Dudley's lawyer had hoped the U.S. Supreme Court would stop his punishment, arguing prosecutors improperly withheld from defense attorneys at his capital murder trial a letter to Alabama parole officials regarding an inmate from that state who testified against Dudley. But the high court rejected the appeal a few hours before the execution.
The two survivors identified the then 20-year-old Dudley as one of the three gunmen who barged into the home of Jose Tovar, 32, and his wife, Rachel, then 33.
In a recent interview on death row, Dudley said they were wrong.
"I was not," he said.
Jose Tovar was fatally shot in the head, as were his wife's son, Frank Farias, 17; Farias' girlfriend, Jessica Quinones, 19, who was seven months pregnant; and a neighbor Audrey Brown, 21, who had just stopped by to visit. Rachel Tovar and another friend, Nicholas Cortez, 22 at the time, survived.
All the victims were bound with towels or strips of sheets, hands tied behind their backs and nooses around their necks. Rachel Tovar managed to crawl to a neighbor's house for help.
After watching Dudley die, Tovar, 48, said she "can be at peace, knowing that I represent my family, my children, my husband."
"There's a little relief in me," she said, tears running down her face. "But the nightmares will always be there... I lived this going on 14 years and there's not ever going to be something to help me forget it. It's never going to go away."
Maricella Quinones, whose sister died in the gunfire, said she believed justice was not done with Dudley's death.
"The bad is he didn't die like my sister did," she said.
Besides Dudley, Arthur "Squirt" Brown, of Tuscaloosa, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Now 35, he remains on death row. A third man, Tony Dunson, also from Alabama and 19 at the time of the shootings, received a life sentence.
Police said the three previously had been at the Tovar house to buy drugs and knew drugs and money were there. Brown ran the ring that for nine months had been moving marijuana and cocaine from Houston to Tuscaloosa, authorities said.
A mini-van used as the getaway vehicle was recovered in the Alabama city, where evidence showed they bought a new Jeep SUV with cash, eventually traveling to Louisville, Ky., and Columbus, Ohio. About 21/2 weeks after the shootings, Dudley and Dunson were arrested in Fayetteville, N.C.
"My number one problem was women," Dudley said from death row. "I was running around. Everything went downhill from there... I just wanted to get money, easy money. And once you start getting easy money, it's so hard to slow down."
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TexasStooge
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UNT student charged with soliciting minor online
By DONNA FIELDER / Denton Record-Chronicle
DENTON, Texas - Denton police arrested a 23-year-old university student on a charge of online solicitation of a minor Tuesday night.
Brandon James Perry, a University of North Texas student from Carrollton, was in city jail Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Detective Sgt. Scott Jenkins said juvenile detective Scott Miller went online into a general chat room Tuesday evening, claiming to be a 14-year-old Denton girl.
“At one time, he was talking to nine men who were all making inappropriate comments to her,” Jenkins said.
The detective was using computer software that captured all the conversations.
The suspect sent a picture of himself to the police officer, posing as the girl, and told her he wanted to meet her at Southlake Park and that they would have sex in his car, Jenkins said. The detective agreed to meet him at the park.
When the man arrived at the park in a car he had described, he didn’t find the girl he was expecting but several police detectives. They took him into custody on the charge, which is a state jail felony.
Denton police have used the ruse to arrest several men in the past few months. All believed they were making a date to have *** **** * 14-year-old girl. Jenkins said the first of the suspects recently entered a plea bargain for three years incarceration.
A large number of men apparently troll the internet looking for young girls to solicit for sex, and parents should monitor their children’s internet activity, police say. A new law allows police to take predators off the street before they actually are able to commit their intended crime.
“That’s a lot of jail time for a date with a minor that you didn’t even get to have,” Jenkins said.
By DONNA FIELDER / Denton Record-Chronicle
DENTON, Texas - Denton police arrested a 23-year-old university student on a charge of online solicitation of a minor Tuesday night.
Brandon James Perry, a University of North Texas student from Carrollton, was in city jail Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Detective Sgt. Scott Jenkins said juvenile detective Scott Miller went online into a general chat room Tuesday evening, claiming to be a 14-year-old Denton girl.
“At one time, he was talking to nine men who were all making inappropriate comments to her,” Jenkins said.
The detective was using computer software that captured all the conversations.
The suspect sent a picture of himself to the police officer, posing as the girl, and told her he wanted to meet her at Southlake Park and that they would have sex in his car, Jenkins said. The detective agreed to meet him at the park.
When the man arrived at the park in a car he had described, he didn’t find the girl he was expecting but several police detectives. They took him into custody on the charge, which is a state jail felony.
Denton police have used the ruse to arrest several men in the past few months. All believed they were making a date to have *** **** * 14-year-old girl. Jenkins said the first of the suspects recently entered a plea bargain for three years incarceration.
A large number of men apparently troll the internet looking for young girls to solicit for sex, and parents should monitor their children’s internet activity, police say. A new law allows police to take predators off the street before they actually are able to commit their intended crime.
“That’s a lot of jail time for a date with a minor that you didn’t even get to have,” Jenkins said.
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TexasStooge
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Brothers sentenced for illegal computer exports
By TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News
A federal judge has sentenced two Palestinian émigrés to prison for illegally selling computers to customers in countries under strict trade embargoes for sponsoring terrorism.
U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay handed a 6-year term to Ihsan "Sammy" Elashi on Wednesday and a 5 ½-year sentence to Hazim Elashi late Tuesday, for their roles in selling desktop and laptop computers to clients in Syria and Libya from 1995 to 2000.
Both men were found guilty of violating U.S. export laws in July 2004 after a three-week trial that also drew convictions for three other Elashi brothers. Those three brothers were also convicted last year on additional charges of doing business with a high-ranking leader of Hamas, a Palestinian militant group.
"We're very satisfied with the sentences," prosecutor Jim Jacks said as he left the courtroom. "And we think they're very appropriate for what the defendants were convicted of."
Family members and friends of the Elashi brothers left the courthouse without comment, but attorney Marlo Cadeddu said they were "clearly disappointed in the outcomes, as am I."
The jury in the 2004 trial convicted Ihsan "Sammy" Elashi on 15 criminal counts, and acquitted him on 15 others.
Wednesday's six-year sentence, however, was stacked onto a previous 4-year term he has been serving for running a side business after his family's firm – InfoCom – was barred from exporting from the U.S.
Ms. Cadeddu said that prosecutors treated the two companies as completely unrelated entities, despite the fact that Ihsan Elashi's side company would not have existed but for its InfoCom roots.
The separate charges effectively gave her client a 10-year sentence.
"I believe that the government manipulated the sentence by charging them separately to get an extraordinary long sentence for violations of this type," Ms. Cadeddu said.
Ihsan Elashi, who has been in custody for more than three years, won't begin Wednesday's sentence until his first term ends later this year.
At the same 2004 trial, Hazim Elashi was convicted on nine counts of intentionally violating U.S. Export laws, and acquitted on 11 others.
His attorney, Jeff Kearney of Fort Worth, said his client's shipping of "low-grade desktop and laptop computers didn't violate national security controls.
"Because of that finding, it increased how much prison time he faced," Mr. Kearney said. "And that will be the main thing we'll be focusing on in his appeal."
Mr. Kearney said Hazim Elashi has already spent 38 months in jail, and that Wednesday's sentence means he will serve another 18 months before he's released.
Hazim Elashi will also face deportation after his prison release. It was unknown Wednesday whether Ihsan Elashi might face deportation after serving his time.
The two brothers worked as salesmen at InfoCom, a Richardson-based computer services company, and were not tied to additional accusations that they were tied to a Hamas leader.
But brothers Bayan, Ghassan and Basman Elashi – and InfoCom – were found guilty in April of conspiring to launder money with Mousa Abu Marzook, deemed a terrorist by the U.S. government. They have yet to be sentenced from either trial.
Ghassan Elashi and six other men face even more federal charges of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas through the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation.
By TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News
A federal judge has sentenced two Palestinian émigrés to prison for illegally selling computers to customers in countries under strict trade embargoes for sponsoring terrorism.
U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay handed a 6-year term to Ihsan "Sammy" Elashi on Wednesday and a 5 ½-year sentence to Hazim Elashi late Tuesday, for their roles in selling desktop and laptop computers to clients in Syria and Libya from 1995 to 2000.
Both men were found guilty of violating U.S. export laws in July 2004 after a three-week trial that also drew convictions for three other Elashi brothers. Those three brothers were also convicted last year on additional charges of doing business with a high-ranking leader of Hamas, a Palestinian militant group.
"We're very satisfied with the sentences," prosecutor Jim Jacks said as he left the courtroom. "And we think they're very appropriate for what the defendants were convicted of."
Family members and friends of the Elashi brothers left the courthouse without comment, but attorney Marlo Cadeddu said they were "clearly disappointed in the outcomes, as am I."
The jury in the 2004 trial convicted Ihsan "Sammy" Elashi on 15 criminal counts, and acquitted him on 15 others.
Wednesday's six-year sentence, however, was stacked onto a previous 4-year term he has been serving for running a side business after his family's firm – InfoCom – was barred from exporting from the U.S.
Ms. Cadeddu said that prosecutors treated the two companies as completely unrelated entities, despite the fact that Ihsan Elashi's side company would not have existed but for its InfoCom roots.
The separate charges effectively gave her client a 10-year sentence.
"I believe that the government manipulated the sentence by charging them separately to get an extraordinary long sentence for violations of this type," Ms. Cadeddu said.
Ihsan Elashi, who has been in custody for more than three years, won't begin Wednesday's sentence until his first term ends later this year.
At the same 2004 trial, Hazim Elashi was convicted on nine counts of intentionally violating U.S. Export laws, and acquitted on 11 others.
His attorney, Jeff Kearney of Fort Worth, said his client's shipping of "low-grade desktop and laptop computers didn't violate national security controls.
"Because of that finding, it increased how much prison time he faced," Mr. Kearney said. "And that will be the main thing we'll be focusing on in his appeal."
Mr. Kearney said Hazim Elashi has already spent 38 months in jail, and that Wednesday's sentence means he will serve another 18 months before he's released.
Hazim Elashi will also face deportation after his prison release. It was unknown Wednesday whether Ihsan Elashi might face deportation after serving his time.
The two brothers worked as salesmen at InfoCom, a Richardson-based computer services company, and were not tied to additional accusations that they were tied to a Hamas leader.
But brothers Bayan, Ghassan and Basman Elashi – and InfoCom – were found guilty in April of conspiring to launder money with Mousa Abu Marzook, deemed a terrorist by the U.S. government. They have yet to be sentenced from either trial.
Ghassan Elashi and six other men face even more federal charges of funneling more than $12 million to Hamas through the now-defunct Holy Land Foundation.
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