News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

City proposes pay raise for Dallas officers

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Chief David Kunkle probably said it best, "You get what you pay for."

Just last week, he had to fire officers for misconduct, and may have to fire six more this week.

However, the Dallas Police Department hopes a proposed pay increase for officers could change that.

The starting pay of officers would increase around $3,000, bonuses will be offered for officers who stay five years or longer and there would pay incentives for officers who got extra training and education.

The department would also reestablish tuition reimbursement.

Officers don't seem to be the only ones who would appreciate such a change.

Mary Watkins said drug dealers and prostitutes have been driven out of her southeast Dallas neighborhood because of an increase of officers patrolling her neighborhood. She thinks that is reason enough for police to earn more money.

"I think they deserve it because they are putting their lives on the line each day when they go out," she said.

Dallas police are some of the lowest paid in the area.

"If police officers were to get paid what they are worth, then all of them would be paid well over a million dollars," said Lt. Malik Aziz, Black Police Association. "But instead we pay entertainers and sports figures that."

Police won't get rich on the new plan the city is proposing, but they stand to make more money. New recruits would make about $42,000 a year.

"Hopefully, that will help bring in better candidates," said Lt. Rick Andrews, Dallas Police Executive Lodge.

There would also be $2,500 to $5,000 bonuses for officers who stayed from five to 10 years. All officers would get tuition reimbursement and certain lower ranking officers would get a 2.5 percent raise, but, the new plan does not give senior officers any incentives.

The challenge the city faces is how to stretch a limited budget to give new officers more money but also reward senior officers.

"My view always is pay them a fair wage so they feel like they are treated fairly," Chief Kunkle said.

Several years ago, Dallas voters turned down a pay increase for officers and firefighters, which left the department struggling to find recruits. The six police associations have asked for a pay raise for all officers, but they may have to settle on bonuses and other incentives if the proposed plan goes through.

[TexasStooge]

'Deck park' proposed to top freeway

By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Great cities have great parks—but that's exactly what's missing in downtown Dallas.

We know that sprawling freeways are impressive. So are towering skyscrapers. But there is precious little green space in the downtown district.

All that could change just a year from now when planners from the city's private sector hope to break ground on the Woodall Rodgers "Deck Park."

The 4.7 acre landscaped area built above the freeway linking North Central Expressway and Interstate 35 would include a concert area, children's garden and a dog park.

A walking path would link uptown and downtown Dallas and would eventualy connect to the popular Katy Trail.

Aluminum and glass-panel canopies would help curb highway noise.

And to enjoy the great outdoors while still working, free wireless Internet access is planned.

The proposed park has an estimated $71.6 million price tag. The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation says it has already secured $20 million from the private sector and hopes that the city will match that amount.

The foundation says it is confident it can raise the remaining funds.

A news conference was set for Wednesday morning at the Dallas Museum of Art to detail the park plans and to outline fundraising efforts.

[TexasStooge]

Man shot dead near downtown Dallas

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Dallas police were looking for two men linked to the shooting death of a third man Wednesday morning.

The shooting was reported shortly after 6 a.m. in the doorway of a house in the 1900 block of Caddo Street, just north of downtown.

The victim died at the scene.

Witnesses said two men fled through an alley.

[TexasStooge]

Several officials lean against WRR swap

Dallas: Panel considers trade, but mayor has no interest in deal

By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Swap WRR-FM's 101.1 frequency for cash and convert it into a noncommercial radio station?

No way, say two of Dallas City Council's top-ranking members, including the mayor. Several other council members, to varying degrees, also are expressing reluctance. The council would vote on any such change.

Such pushback comes as the council-appointed Commission on Productivity and Innovation begins investigating a frequency and license swap involving WRR, a city-owned commercial station primarily broadcasting classical music.

To date, noncommercial Christian radio station KVTT-FM (91.7) is Dallas' primary suitor, and some city officials estimate a deal could be worth up to $50 million for City Hall.

"I have no interest in doing so," Mayor Laura Miller said of a frequency swap. "We vetted that issue more than thoroughly several years ago, and I think we should leave it alone and spend our time on bigger, more urgent issues. What's wrong with having the city's only classical station in the middle of the dial, with a strong signal?"

Said Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia: "I have some concerns about the way this is going. It just doesn't make sense. I don't think the argument to switch is strong enough.

"Why should I want to change an asset that's been a great asset for us?"

Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill, however, says the idea interests him, while acknowledging, "it certainly is a very difficult and emotional issue.

"I can't say out of hand, 'I don't want to talk about it,' " Mr. Hill said. "I would want to hear some more information about it."

Council members may be reluctant to entertain this latest frequency trade foray – the council in 2003 rejected a different swap proposal – because past proposals were riddled with flaws, such as WRR trading for a signal weaker than the 100,000-watt powerhouse it now uses, said Larry Davis, chairman of the Commission on Productivity and Innovation.

And while a noncommercial license would restrict how WRR could broadcast advertisements, such a license would allow the station to generate funds in other ways, such as membership drives and fundraisers. Such a change may help preserve on-air classical music in Dallas for decades to come, Mr. Davis said.

"This proposal differs significantly from past proposals. The signal would be comparable," he said. "Classical music is the perfect format under a noncommercial license. Everything I have seen so far tells me the city needs to pursue it further."

Understands wariness

KVTT representative Martin Greenberg says he isn't surprised that some council members are wary of a signal swap, especially since WRR listeners tend to be passionate about the station.

"But when the facts are known about this arrangement, I feel even the most skeptical council member will feel comfortable about it," Mr. Greenberg said. "It's just a good proposal for everyone involved. I hope [the council] considers it, and asks questions and debates it."

Clayton P. Henry, president of the nonprofit Friends of WRR organization, says he's open to a signal swap if WRR and another station could reach a fair deal.

Mr. Davis, meanwhile, says he expects city staff to provide his commission with requested information – signal strength comparisons and coverage maps, for example – in the next two weeks. City staff may then brief a council committee on the issue within the month or possibly in August after council members return from their July recess, Mr. Davis added.

Ms. Miller targeted City Manager Mary Suhm's office for pushing a WRR frequency swap, writing in an e-mail that "the city manager wants to pursue selling the radio station and has for awhile."

Ms. Suhm said, however, that neither she nor her office is driving the issue.

"I certainly welcome the productivity commission taking another look at it," Ms. Suhm said. "But I'm not spending staff's energy on it."

Council members say they're curious to learn more about what Mr. Davis' commission is discovering and what city staff will present them. But they'll require some convincing.

Council member Linda Koop says she needs to learn more about WRR's signal strength and projected revenues as a noncommercial station before forming an opinion. Council member Gary Griffith echoed her concerns, adding that Dallas must also investigate the future value of WRR and the effect that competition, such as satellite radio, will have on the station's worth.

Waits for briefing

Council member Angela Hunt says that she's looking forward to a staff briefing on the issue but that many of her District 14 constituents are opposed to substantially altering WRR's operations.

"And I tend to agree with them," Ms. Hunt said.

"It's something worth looking at," council member Ed Oakley said of a frequency trade. "The problem in the past is that it's never been an equitable deal. And I agree that if we made money off a deal, the money should stay in a cultural endowment."

Several other council members agreed that money generated from a frequency swap should be set aside in a special endowment or fund that exclusively benefits the arts – and not, for example, City Hall's general fund.

And while council member Mitchell Rasansky says he'll listen to any WRR-related proposal, he's doubtful anything will persuade him to support a frequency trade.

"We should probably do nothing. I don't want to give up anything. We have a jewel of the Nile in WRR as it is now," Mr. Rasansky said.

"Constituents are calling me and they say, 'Please, please, please don't change WRR,' " council member Pauline Medrano said. "While it's maybe worth looking into, right now at this point – and I've talked to some but not all of my council colleagues – I don't think there's the support there. I don't think it's the time right now."

[TexasStooge]

Austin spammer faces over $10M in penalties

AUSTIN, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - A former University of Texas student and his partners will face civil penalties and attorney fees of over $10 million after a federal court found they bombarded Internet users with millions of e-mails under at least 250 assumed names, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Wednesday.

In addition to the fines, Ryan Pitylak and partners Mark Trotter, Gary Trappler and Alan Rafaeli agreed to follow strict limitations if they ever send commercial e-mail in the future, including clear identification of unsolicited advertising as "spam."

Mr. Abbott said Mr. Pitylak and his partners, operating under the names Leadplex Inc., Payperaction L.L.C. and Eastmark Technology, Ltd., illegally used misleading e-mail subject lines to trick Internet users into thinking the messages contained important information. By law, commercial e-mails must clearly state they are advertising.

Consumers who responded to the e-mails revealed information about themselves after being assured their privacy would be protected. The attorney general said the defendants sold the users' information to other companies, who kept that information to use for other purposes.

“Today’s crackdown effectively shuts down one of the worst spam operators, and sends a warning to others who would engage in spam e-mailing for profit," Mr. Abbott said.

Mr. Pitylak, who said he recently graduated from UT-Austin and has settled a similar suit with Microsoft, said he is selling his $430,000 house and a 2005 BMW to help pay the fines and legal bills. He professes he is now an anti-spammer, and is offering his skills to Internet companies to help them fight spam.

The case was originally filed in federal court in Jan. 2005 under the federal CAN-SPAM law as well as the Texas Electronic Mail Solicitation Act and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

CAN-SPAM, which stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003, was passed by Congress to curb the threat of spam to e-mail networks in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Officer killed, deputy wounded in East Texas shootout

Gun-wielding suspect killed by officers

TYLER, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — A Smith County constable was fatally shot and a sheriff’s deputy was wounded after responding to a domestic disturbance call Wednesday, officials said.

The alleged attacker was shot and killed by officers after coming out of his house with a weapon just before 2 p.m., said Smith County Sheriff J.B. Smith. Officials identified the gunman as 52-year-old Joseph Earl Walsh.

"At some point, he exited the residence carrying a weapon and made threatening advances toward the officers," said Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Jean Dark. "They in turn took appropriate action."

Sheriff's Lt. Charlie Baker identified the slain lawman as Precinct 4 Constable Dale Geddie. Geddie was 46.

Geddie, who was a former sheriff's deputy, won the constable's seat and took office January 1.

Baker said Deputy Daniel Leon, 34, was undergoing surgery at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. No condition was immediately released.

"We just want everybody to know that we're sorry for the policemen's families, and we feel for them," said a man who identified himself as Shawn Walker, stepson of the alleged gunman. Walker said he did not know what sparked the violence.

"When the policemen showed up, my sister was a home, and he (Walsh) shot him," Walker said.

The shooting happened after two officers had arrived at the home and called for backup.

Officers on the scene told the Tyler Morning Telegraph that Walsh had a rifle and had threatened not to be taken alive. Martin had said authorities were negotiating with him.

Records showed Walsh had an October 1998 arrest for assault/family violence. The victim was his wife, Cathy.

Baker wasn't sure whether she was the woman who safely emerged from the house Wednesday, along with another person.

Federal, state and local officers had surrounded the house, which has metal bars on the windows, and snipers were positioned in the area. Some neighbors were evacuated, and others were told to stay inside their homes away from doors and windows.

Traffic was blocked on U.S. Highway 271 near the residence, according to the newspaper.

Smith County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Wiginton told the paper that Walsh was armed with a deer rifle and at least 150 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition.

Before the standoff ended, an officer who was trapped near the house was evacuated in an armored personnel carrier, and blood was visible in the vehicle when the door opened, the newspaper reported. The DPS said all officers who were in danger near the house had been evacuated.

The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Man charged over deputy shooting

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A man has been charged with attempted capital murder of a Tarrant County Sheriff's Department deputy who was shot in the face and hip outside a Fort Worth grocery store on Monday.

Dominic Tutt was arrested at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital this morning.

He has a criminal history, which includes federal and county weapons charges, as well as theft charges.

Deputy Michael Beeson was shot while working as an off-duty security guard at the Carnival Food Store in the 4600 block of East Lancaster Ave, in East Fort Worth.

There was an exchange of gunfire.

Tutt showed up wounded at the hospital where he's been ever since.

Beeson is in stable but guarded condition today.

His face is familiar to thousands of visitors at the Tarrant County Courthouse, where he regularly works the security detail at the building's entrance.

[TexasStooge]

Sheriff: Truck carried $12M in marijuana

GARLAND, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - Two Houston men were arrested after over 10,000 pounds of marijuana were found in an 18-wheeler along Interstate 30 in Garland, a Dallas County sheriff’s spokesman said Wednesday.

Dallas County sheriff Sgt. Don Peritz said Jorge Luis Gaytan, 33, was driving the truck along I-30 near the Chaha Road exit around 11 p.m. Tuesday when it was pulled over by sheriff’s deputies for failing to drive in a single lane of traffic.

After a Garland police drug dog was brought to the scene and signaled the possible presence of drugs, deputies discovered the marijuana in the trailer in individual 50 to 75-pound packages.

Mr. Gaytan and passenger Fabian Lara, 32, were arrested and face charges of possession of over 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Both men remained in the Dallas County jail Wednesday afternoon; bond has not been set, Sgt. Peritz said.

An investigation is under way to determine the origin and destination of the marijuana, which was estimated as having a street value of about $12 million, he said.

[TexasStooge]

Arlington child starvation trial begins

By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON, Texas - Testimony began Wednesday in the trial of an Arlington woman accused of starving a 9-year-old boy.

Davontae Williams weighed 35 pounds when paramedics responded to a 911 call at his home on July 26, 2004.

Prosecutors said Davontae was tied up, beaten and forced to live in a pantry. He ultimately died from malnutrition, they said.

Lisa Coleman, 30, who lived with Davontae and his mother, is on trial for capital murder. She is accused of depriving the boy of medical care, inflicting physical injury and failing to provide food or medical care.

Tarrant County assistant district attorney Mitch Poe apologized for the graphic and grim images that the jury would see over the next few weeks. He said the boy was emaciated with bruises across his body.

“You’re going to see massive injuries,” Mr. Poe said during opening statements. “His ear had been practically knocked off (and) was partially hanging. This was not a natural death - this was a death with trauma.”

Prosecutors are seeking a death penalty for Ms. Coleman. Marcella Williams, 25, also faces capital murder charges in the death of her son.

Michael Heiskell, an attorney for Ms. Coleman, told the jury that his client and the boy’s mother were ill-prepared to raise children, particularly a child with developmental problems.

He said Ms. Coleman is a victim of sexual and physical abuse and does not have the mind of a murderer.

“This is going to be an emotional case, (but) the facts of the case should not be weighed down by emotion,” Mr. Heiskell said. “You will hear a story far different from the one they told you - a story that’s replete with sadness and sorrow.”

[TexasStooge]

Nurse accused of sexually assaulting stroke victim

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8

FORT WORTH, Texas - In Fort Worth, a trial of sexual assault is in its third day. What's unusual about the case is that Tarrant County prosecutors allege the assault occurred by a nurse, inside of a hospital.

The case gets more bizarre because of the victim. She was a 65-year-old woman, the victim of a stroke, and was unable to defend herself, or hardly able to talk about what happened to her.

She's not sitting at the prosecutor's table. She's not in the courtroom. If she were in court, she'd be hard to understand. In this case, the prosecutor is in essence talking for her.

At Hugeley Hospital, on October of 2003 the charges say, the woman was sexually assaulted twice in one night. Nurse Kenneth Wayne Downs is accused of the crime.

Today he took the stand in his own defense. “I valued my licensure and valued my oath to take care of my patients to the best of my ability,” said Downs.

Prosecutor Robert Foran argued that Downs has changed his story since he was interviewed by detectives after the incident.

The hospital won't comment on the case, but it has filed motions to keep some evidence out of the public record, in a civil case against Downs.

The hospital wants to keep some of the evidence secret, saying it was part of a review they did for a peer review group.

This case is significant for other reasons as well. A police report involving the same nurse and another patient was filed 3 months before this incident. The nurse did not work for the hospital but for a temp agency. The hospital argues it is not liable for the nurse’s actions.

[TexasStooge]

Fort Worth Alliance Airport sees rapid growth

By BRAD HAWKINS / WFAA ABC 8

FORT WORTH, Texas - Seventeen years after Fort Worth Alliance Airport opened on the edge of Denton County, the area has become one of the fastest growing in the state.

Construction crews are extending the main runway at Alliance and more growth is on its way.

David Hughes, a Fort Worth resident, hears the planes day and night, big and small, and doesn't mind.

“It's just starting to build. You've got a golf course community, you've got Texas Motor Speedway and you've got Alliance Airport.” said Hughes.

Those big businesses don’t want homes in their industrial neighborhood, and the changes in zoning have divided the Fort Worth City Council.

But now the Alliance area is evolving-- more residential areas are bringing more retail.

Hillwood, which developed and now operates Alliance for Fort Worth, says military jets account for most takeoffs and landings now.

Still, the FedEx sorting hub is growing and the city is extending the main runway for them and other cargo companies.

“This was a completely rural area, there was no residential development when the airport was built.” said David Pelletier, a resident of Hillwood.

The longer runway will allow the heaviest cargo planes to take off on hot summer days. Most of them are bound for Europe and Asia.

For the people who live around here, State Highway 156 will be moving, and the new runway extension will also be landing new development.

Nearby, a JC Penny will soon anchor a new retail center. The area has gone from cattle to trains, then trucks and planes, and now record growth.

[TexasStooge]

Girl says man lured her into prostitution

Dallas: Defense attorney says 13-year-old isn't credible, lied about age

By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - At 10 years old and on Dallas streets by herself, the runaway scanned the downtown bus station for a friendly face. Instead, she said, she found the man who would become her pimp.

"He walked up and said, 'Don't I know you?' " the girl, now 13, testified in Ronnie Bluain's trial Wednesday. "I said, 'No.' He said, 'Come take a walk with me.' "

Mr. Bluain, 34, took her back to his northeast Dallas apartment, where she said she lived with him and other young women. She said the rules were simple: Give Mr. Bluain all the money, don't talk back and use a condom.

The girl worked as a prostitute for three weeks in April 2004, having sex with men for $40 and giving all of her money to Mr. Bluain, according to court testimony.

Mr. Bluain is already serving a 20-year prison sentence for aggravated assault and previously served 10 years in prison for a 1989 murder conviction. Because of his criminal history, he faces up to life in prison if convicted of a single charge of compelling prostitution.

Defense attorney Roger Haynes said the girl is not believable and questioned whether she had deceived Mr. Bluain by concealing her age. Mr. Haynes noted that the girl had testified in an earlier hearing that she had kept her true age a secret from Mr. Bluain and had initially told police that she was 18.

The girl, whose name is not being published because she is a minor, initially denied that Mr. Bluain had sex with her but recently changed her story and told investigators that he had, Mr. Haynes said.

A friend of Mr. Bluain's, Bryce Fortson, also testified that he asked the girl several times about her age and that she always responded that she was 18.

The girl has below-average intelligence and comes from a broken family, police investigators and a social worker testified.

Even after she was picked up by police and returned home, she ran away again two days later and has since lived in a shelter for sexually abused youths and with a foster family.

"We'd talk about running away and meeting guys on the streets," testified Carolyn Smith, a caseworker at a Dallas County shelter for sexually abused youths. "She seemed not to comprehend the severity of her behavior. She just didn't understand."

Family members have shown little concern about what the girl has gone through, Ms. Smith said. No relatives attended the trial Wednesday.

Prosecutor Tim Gallagher said the girl's flimsy family support system is typical of such cases.

Because of that, child prostitution offenses can be difficult to prosecute because the victims are sometimes reluctant to testify and often disappear by the time a trial begins.

"The victims are often throwaway children," he said. "They're chronic runaways. The pimps know that, and they try to delay the cases."

Testimony is to continue today.

[TexasStooge]

Kunkle to fire up to 5 more officers

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle is expected to fire as many as five police officers and one civilian Thursday in afternoon disciplinary hearings.

"Many of these are issues are significant issues of misconduct," Chief Kunkle said Thursday morning. "I anticipate some of them will result in termination."

Last Friday, Chief Kunkle fired three police officers and two sergeants who had been accused in three separate incidents involving allegations of retaliation.

"I wanted to group those incidents together because I think they had a common theme," he said. "I wanted to make a statement that the officers misused the power of their position."

In Thursday’s cases, the involved officers have been accused of a variety of misconduct ranging from indecent exposure to driving drunk.

[TexasStooge]

Ex-trooper found not guilty in sexual assault

McKinney: Man faced charges of indecency, aggravated sexual assault

By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News

McKINNEY, Texas – A former Texas Department of Public Safety trooper accused of indecency and having sex with a teenage girl was found not guilty of the charges on Thursday.

Tears filled the eyes of Granver Lee Tolliver Jr., 26, as State District Judge Charles Sandoval read the verdict.

The girl, 15, is not being named because she is a minor. She testified at the opening of the trial Tuesday that she lost her virginity to Mr. Tolliver in 2003. He lived across the courtyard from her family in a McKinney apartment complex. She was 13 at the time of the alleged assault and claimed that Mr. Tolliver told her he was 16. She said she later learned that he was actually 24.

Mr. Tolliver pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual assault ranging from sex to varying degrees of fondling. In testimony on Thursday, he denied all charges.

Chris Mulder, Mr. Tolliver's attorney, told jurors that the girl "has never told the same story twice." She denied having a relationship with Mr. Tolliver during the initial police investigation, which began in January 2004 after the girl's mother became suspicious after reading her daughter's diary.

During the trial, the girl told jurors she "wanted to protect him [Mr. Tolliver] and keep him safe."

The jury considered a charge of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of indecency with a child. Another count of indecency with a child was presented but never given to the jury for deliberation.

[TexasStooge]

Locals react to Dallas police firings

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Melonie Lynch owns the car wash just a few blocks from the Dallas police department where she washes the cars of some officers.

She says she's surprised by how many officer's chief David Kunkle has fired.

"It bothers me to know that someone is out there with a badge that could be corrupting the city and community," she says.

Last Friday, Kunkle fired five officers for abusing their powers.

Today's firings deal mainly with officers who broke the law. Two female officers were fired for drunk driving, a homicide detective was fired for indecent exposure, a sergeant was fired for failing to report a threat to supervisors and a civilian dispatcher was fired for pleading guilty to three counts of wire fraud.

"I don't care if you are a police officer if you are not doing your job you know you should be fired. If I wasn't doing my job I'm going to get fired. If there's corruption there I think he is going to get rid of it," said Lynch.

Scott Lin who owns the liquor store two blocks from DPD headquarters. He says officers he deals with are friendly and professional. He says they shouldn't all be painted with the same brush.

"They are individuals, so I wouldn't say all of the police would be like that, just some individuals."

But Chief Kunkle says officers should be held to a higher standard and those who tarnish the badge will no longer be Dallas Police officers.

[TexasStooge]

Is TAKS test cheating wide spread?

By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8

A new study, which was initiated to probe the possibility of cheating on TAKS tests, found possible testing irregularities in nearly 1,000 Texas schools.

Allegations of cheating in 2005 led the Texas Education Agency to hire a Utah test security company, Caveon, to analyze TAKS test scores. The company looked for unusually high increases in test scores, unusual patterns of answers and papers with similar wrong answers.

The result found 984 possible irregularities in Texas schools, including 112 possible problems in the Dallas Independent School District, 23 in Plano, 15 in Kennedale, 14 in Fort Worth, 10 in Highland Park and nine in Richardson.

Despite the report, none of the districts News 8 spoke with said they believed it was a serious problem. In fact, some said the findings might be more of a positive than a negative.

"The report that was presented even suggests there could be excellent teaching going on in classrooms where these situations are happening," said Donny Claxton.

All the possible problems found within Highland Park were for unusual test score gains. The district said they believe that is only proof of good teaching.

And in fact, the consultants study said many of the irregularities could be explained that way.

But in Dallas, most of the questions were about many students having the same wrong answers. The irregularities were also concentrated in the 11th grade on the test that students must pass to graduate.

While that could mean they are copying off each other, that my not be necessarily true.

Caveon emphasized that although they found unusual patterns, they said it was not 100 percent proof of irregularities.

[TexasStooge]

Burleson stabbing suspects may be bike gang members

BURLESON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Police are calling on the public to help identify two men who are key suspects in a stabbing in Burleson.

The white men are seen entering a store, just after 9 p.m. on March 28th.

Police say the clothes they are wearing may indicate affiliation with a motorcycle gang.

A man was stabbed outside Denny's at 868 N.E. Alsbury, which is next to the store.

Police are not releasing the name of the man but say he has been treated and has now recovered.

Anyone with information should contact Det. D. Raines or Det. Brackett of the Burleson Police Department on 817.447.5300, ext 315 or 325.

[TexasStooge]

Trinity bridge bids far exceed budget

Dallas: City refuses to go over, will ask Calatrava for scaled-back design

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News

Construction bids for the first of three skyscraping bridges planned to span the Trinity River came in at twice the budgeted price Thursday, leaving Dallas officials with two options: raise the extra funds or go back to the drawing board.

Dismayed city officials said Thursday evening that they would not break the bank, and instead would ask the bridge's designer – world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava – to make major, cost-saving revisions.

The earliest a redesigned Woodall Rodgers bridge bid could be awarded is December, officials said. If Mr. Calatrava wants to start from scratch, it could take much longer.

"We're going to build a bridge, a Calatrava bridge. But we're not going to spend any more money than we've got to build it," City Manager Mary Suhm said. "We have a contract with Calatrava that says he will design a bridge for our available resources. If this bridge doesn't meet our budget, he'll redesign it."

Mr. Calatrava, along with city consultants, originally estimated the 1,800-foot Woodall Rodgers "signature" span would cost up to $57 million. The lowest of three bids unsealed by the Texas Department of Transportation on Thursday was $113 million.

"Obviously I'm very disappointed that the bids came in this high," Mayor Laura Miller said. "If it was $60 or $65 million, we could've handled it. [Mr. Calatrava] will have to give us a new design that is within our budget, at his own cost."

Experts blame the difference and the relatively low number of bids on soaring prices for steel, concrete and fuel, as well as the risks associated with building a one-of-a-kind architectural feat.

Others say Mr. Calatrava has a reputation for breaking budgets. The Milwaukee art museum he designed ended up costing nearly four times its original estimate. A footbridge for Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, Calif., came in almost 70 percent over budget, according to local media reports.

And some advocates of the downtown parks project fear the unexpected costs could jeopardize construction of a second planned Calatrava bridge at Interstate 30 and foil plans for a third Interstate 35E bridge altogether.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Calatrava said the architect was in meetings and couldn't be reached for comment. But Dallas officials were quick to say they don't blame him for the cost overrun.

Disappointed officials

When Mr. Calatrava's firm and city consultants came up with their most recent price estimate in the fall of 2005, they tried to take rising steel prices into account, Trinity River Project Director Rebecca Dugger said. Mr. Calatrava made cost-saving changes to the Woodall Rodgers and I-30 bridges, including replacing steel decks with concrete decks, and welded connections with bolts. The I-35E bridge – the third and costliest – has not yet been designed or funded.

The soaring costs reflected in the low bid didn't come as a complete shock to Dallas officials. In March, a high-ranking individual close to the project told The Dallas Morning News that Dallas would never get a $57 million bid. The official said the city would be lucky to get one between $75 million and $85 million and that it would probably be closer to $100 million.

The $113 million bid came from Williams Bros. Construction out of Houston. Evansville, Ind.-based Traylor Bros. and Austin Bridge and Road bid $122 million and $133 million, respectively.

Ms. Dugger said she was very disappointed with the bids. She said it's unclear how much Mr. Calatrava would need to change – somewhere between minor tweaks and a complete overhaul.

Such changes could include scaling down the project's height "from 400 feet to 300, or even 250," Ms. Dugger said, and making it less complex.

"I love this design, and I hate to think we're going to have to get away from it," she said. "I thought it was going to be somewhere closer to what we estimated."

Rising costs

It's a trend Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, sees every day: government agencies struggling with broken budgets in their construction projects.

The reason? Steel costs spiked by about 50 percent in 2004 and haven't fallen much since. Concrete costs have been rising at double-digit rates for a couple of years. And mounting diesel fuel and asphalt prices have compounded the problem.

But there's another factor in projects like this one, Mr. Simonson said – an eye-catching and highly challenging design.

"As contractors look at what they are being called on to do, they may have quite a different idea about time and equipment than the architect, who doesn't actually do the building," Mr. Simonson said.

State transportation officials agreed that the Calatrava project has had a high profile. But there's been concern because Mr. Calatrava's designs use techniques and materials many local contractors haven't worked with before.

Steve Owen, a spokesman for Traylor Bros., wouldn't speak specifically about the construction company's $122 million bid. But he acknowledged that the complexity of the project could have bumped up the estimate.

"It's been a tough couple of years trying to predict and anticipate what a project is likely to cost," he said. "When you have a very unique design that is exciting and interesting ... that can sometimes impact the pricing."

'Bumpy ride' ahead

Ms. Suhm said she and other city officials would spend the next three weeks checking the bids to see exactly what factors drove up the price. Originally, a contract was to be awarded later this month. Now, the bids opened Thursday will likely be rejected.

"This is an issue all contracting people are dealing with," Ms. Suhm said. "Even the cost of doing a plain-Jane TxDOT bridge has gone up 35 or 40 percent."

The $57 million set aside for construction of the Woodall Rodgers bridge includes $28 million from the city's 1998 bond program, a $12 million donation from Hunt Petroleum and $8 million from federal transportation appropriations. The remaining $9 million comes from a combination of state and regional grants and other contributions.

Trinity Trust Foundation President Gail Thomas said she had remained optimistic about the cost – until she got word of the bids.

"I just said, 'Oh my goodness. Whoa. This is going to be a bumpy ride,' " Ms. Thomas said. "But we're committed, and we're going to build this bridge."

She said raising more private dollars to meet the new price tag is out of the question, and going back to the drawing board is the only solution. And she vowed that the city would still get two Calatrava bridges – though most officials agree the fate of the third is up in the air.

"I'm not worried; we'll just go back for redesign," she said of the Woodall Rodgers bridge. "I think Santiago Calatrava is a genius, and anything he pulls out will be fabulous."

[TexasStooge]

Signs of cheating at 114 area schools

State asks campuses to check '05 TAKS scores that raised suspicions

By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - A state-sponsored analysis has flagged 114 North Texas schools as having suspicious scores on the 2005 TAKS test – scores that could suggest cheating by students or teachers.

Dallas, the area's largest district, led the way with 39 schools. Plano ISD, with nine schools on the list, had the area's second-highest total. Fort Worth ISD had seven, the Lewisville and Richardson school districts each had six, and McKinney ISD had five. Five charter schools also made the list.

Texas Education Agency officials are quick to point out that inclusion on the list is not conclusive evidence that cheating occurred.

"We're not pointing a finger," said Shirley Neeley, the state education commissioner. "We're just saying, 'Folks, once again it's been pointed out there may be some testing irregularities.' We're asking them to just double-check."

The analysis was performed by a Utah company named Caveon. Statewide, it found 609 schools with suspect scores.

Caveon flagged schools for review if their scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills showed certain characteristics, then put them into one of four categories:

• Schools where students had extreme, statistically unlikely one-year gains in test scores.

• Schools where students answered questions in unusual patterns – for instance, getting all the easy questions wrong and the harder questions right.

• Schools where test documents had an unusual number of wrong answers erased and replaced with correct ones.

• Schools where large numbers of students had identical or virtually identical answers – suggesting they may have copied answers from one another.

It was that fourth category that tripped up the most schools, particularly in lower-income areas. For example, of the 39 Dallas schools flagged, 32 had groups of unusually similar answer sheets.

"We are always reviewing our processes for test security and seeing what we can improve," Dallas ISD spokesman Donald Claxton said.

In contrast, schools that had unusually large test-score gains were more likely to be in the suburbs – including in traditionally high-performing districts like Highland Park and Carroll.

"It's kind of like the old axiom, 'No good deed goes unpunished,' " said Neil Wellman, director of assessment for Lewisville ISD. Five of that district's six flagged schools showed unusual gains, but Dr. Wellman said they were earned honestly.

"We can explain those gains: We just did a lot of teaching," he said.

A letter from Ms. Neeley dated May 31 notified school districts if their campuses were on the list. The letter asked districts to perform "any investigations you deem necessary" but stressed that factors other than cheating could be at work.

TEA hired Caveon last summer after a series of Dallas Morning News stories found evidence of educator-led cheating in many Texas schools. Later investigations found proof of cheating in the Dallas, Houston and Wilmer-Hutchins school districts. Wilmer-Hutchins will be shut down permanently later this month as a result of the cheating there.

[TexasStooge]

Is TAKS test cheating widespread?

By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8

A new study, which was initiated to probe the possibility of cheating on TAKS tests, found possible testing irregularities in nearly 1,000 Texas schools.

Allegations of cheating in 2005 led the Texas Education Agency to hire a Utah test security company, Caveon, to analyze TAKS test scores. The company looked for unusually high increases in test scores, unusual patterns of answers and papers with similar wrong answers.

The result found 984 possible irregularities in Texas schools, including 112 possible problems in the Dallas Independent School District, 23 in Plano, 15 in Kennedale, 14 in Fort Worth, 10 in Highland Park and nine in Richardson.

Despite the report, none of the districts News 8 spoke with said they believed it was a serious problem. In fact, some said the findings might be more of a positive than a negative.

"The report that was presented even suggests there could be excellent teaching going on in classrooms where these situations are happening," said DISD spokesman Donny Claxton.

All the possible problems found within Highland Park were for unusual test score gains. The district said it believes that is only proof of good teaching.

The consultants' study said many of the irregularities could be explained that way.

But in Dallas, most of the questions were about many students having the same wrong answers. The irregularities were also concentrated in the 11th grade on the test that students must pass to graduate.

While that could mean they are copying from one other, that may not necessarily be true.

Caveon emphasized that although they found unusual patterns, the results aren't 100 percent proof of irregularities.