Cheating On Tests Goes High-Tech
FLOWER MOUND, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- School students for years have looked for ways to beat the testing system. Notes written on body parts or small scraps of paper have served as tools of choice in the past. Now, students have found a new way to smuggle test answers into a classroom.
Almost every teenager wants a cell phone equipped with a camera and text messaging services. The technology, though, has become a way for students to cheat on tests.
A large number of students at Marcus High School in Flower Mound carry cell phones. One student, senior Abby Berek, told NBC 5 that some students use the phones for more than chatting.
"Just that it's a lot easier than hiding a cheat sheet because you can just look at it really quick and put it back," Berek said.
Marcus principal Kevin Rogers said faculty and employees at the school are aware of the growing problem. Prevention, though, can be difficult.
"We're not dumb enough to believe that it's not happening, even though we don't catch them," he said. "So, we're constantly reminding teachers to be diligent on that."
Students use the phones to send text messages of questions and answers to each other or to photograph test forms. School officials at Marcus have banned the phones from classrooms.
"It has made me aware that there is another possibility out there, and that's something I need to be vigilant about when they're testing," English teacher Lou Ann Kemper said.
Officials also instituted a system of monetary fines for students who carry the phones to class. If caught, the students have to pay $15 to retrieve a confiscated phone.
The money collected from the fines goes toward the Student Activity Fund. The Marcus Student Code of Conduct states that any student caught on campus with a cell phone loses the device for the rest of the semester.
News from the Lone Star State
Moderator: S2k Moderators
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
1st Cavalry Troops Back Home After Extended Duty
FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- It's a few months later than originally planned, but troops from the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade are finally returning home.
Three planeloads of 1st Cavalry soldiers arrived Monday back at Fort Hood, where they were swarmed by family and friends after a brief outdoor ceremony on a picture-perfect day in central Texas.
The bulk of those troops were part of the 2nd Brigade, which had its tour of duty in Iraq extended twice by the Pentagon. They had been scheduled to be back before Christmas following a 10-month deployment, but they ended up spending about 13 months in the war zone.
"It was tough at times, but it went by quick" said Capt. Ryan Lowry, a West Point graduate from Queens, N.Y. "We were busy, so being busy made the time go by faster."
The same sense of time passing was not shared by his father. "Thirteen months of worry," said Joe Lowry, who traveled to Texas with his wife Ellen, daughter Aileen and young granddaughters Ellen and Clare. "This is great."
Monday's arrival of some 500 soldiers brings to about 1,500 the number of 1st Cavalry troops back at Fort Hood. The remaining 12,500 deployed soldiers in the division are expected to return home by April, said spokesman Spc. Joshua McPhie.
Capt. Lowry said the duty in Iraq, while hazardous, was on the whole a positive experience for him.
"It was rewarding being able to go over there and help the Iraqi people," he said.
Hundreds of people waited hours at the 1st Cavalry's parade ground for the soldiers to arrive. Children passed the time running around and climbing on antique tanks, while the adults fidgeted with anticipation. A buzz passed through the crowd as seven buses pulled up across the ground. When the buses drove away, they revealed the first of the returning troops lined up in formation and the onlookers began screaming and waving handmade signs.
The welcome-home ceremony lasted about five minutes, and then it was a free-for-all as parents and wives, girlfriends and children rushed out to find their soldier.
After his extended tour in Iraq, Sgt. Cedric Hairston came home to meet his daughter Kyaila, born five months ago. He cradled the tiny girl in his arms and peppered her with kisses.
"I can't let her go -- she's my baby," said Hairston, from Syracuse, N.Y. "I missed her birth, but I'm here now."
Hairston, whose tour of duty included being in Fallujah during November's heavy fighting to dislodge insurgents, said being home was a great relief.
"I feel safe," he said. "I don't have to watch my back so much."
Sgt. Joe Medina of Houston was all smiles as he held hands with his children Justin, 3, and Brianna, 2.
"It was rough," said Medina. "If not for the support back here, it would have been very difficult to get through."
About 20 family members turned out to greet Capt. Kevin Badger of Dallas, who summed up his Iraq experience with a single word: "tumultuous."
Badger hadn't seen his son Braxton, 10, and daughter Peyton, 3, since June.
"You're so big, so big," he said to Peyton while holding her close.
His wife Tea said he was gone only nine months, but it felt a lot longer.
"It was really hard," she said. "I don't think I've ever done anything like that before."
FORT HOOD, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- It's a few months later than originally planned, but troops from the 1st Cavalry Division's 2nd Brigade are finally returning home.
Three planeloads of 1st Cavalry soldiers arrived Monday back at Fort Hood, where they were swarmed by family and friends after a brief outdoor ceremony on a picture-perfect day in central Texas.
The bulk of those troops were part of the 2nd Brigade, which had its tour of duty in Iraq extended twice by the Pentagon. They had been scheduled to be back before Christmas following a 10-month deployment, but they ended up spending about 13 months in the war zone.
"It was tough at times, but it went by quick" said Capt. Ryan Lowry, a West Point graduate from Queens, N.Y. "We were busy, so being busy made the time go by faster."
The same sense of time passing was not shared by his father. "Thirteen months of worry," said Joe Lowry, who traveled to Texas with his wife Ellen, daughter Aileen and young granddaughters Ellen and Clare. "This is great."
Monday's arrival of some 500 soldiers brings to about 1,500 the number of 1st Cavalry troops back at Fort Hood. The remaining 12,500 deployed soldiers in the division are expected to return home by April, said spokesman Spc. Joshua McPhie.
Capt. Lowry said the duty in Iraq, while hazardous, was on the whole a positive experience for him.
"It was rewarding being able to go over there and help the Iraqi people," he said.
Hundreds of people waited hours at the 1st Cavalry's parade ground for the soldiers to arrive. Children passed the time running around and climbing on antique tanks, while the adults fidgeted with anticipation. A buzz passed through the crowd as seven buses pulled up across the ground. When the buses drove away, they revealed the first of the returning troops lined up in formation and the onlookers began screaming and waving handmade signs.
The welcome-home ceremony lasted about five minutes, and then it was a free-for-all as parents and wives, girlfriends and children rushed out to find their soldier.
After his extended tour in Iraq, Sgt. Cedric Hairston came home to meet his daughter Kyaila, born five months ago. He cradled the tiny girl in his arms and peppered her with kisses.
"I can't let her go -- she's my baby," said Hairston, from Syracuse, N.Y. "I missed her birth, but I'm here now."
Hairston, whose tour of duty included being in Fallujah during November's heavy fighting to dislodge insurgents, said being home was a great relief.
"I feel safe," he said. "I don't have to watch my back so much."
Sgt. Joe Medina of Houston was all smiles as he held hands with his children Justin, 3, and Brianna, 2.
"It was rough," said Medina. "If not for the support back here, it would have been very difficult to get through."
About 20 family members turned out to greet Capt. Kevin Badger of Dallas, who summed up his Iraq experience with a single word: "tumultuous."
Badger hadn't seen his son Braxton, 10, and daughter Peyton, 3, since June.
"You're so big, so big," he said to Peyton while holding her close.
His wife Tea said he was gone only nine months, but it felt a lot longer.
"It was really hard," she said. "I don't think I've ever done anything like that before."
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Guardian Angels To Meet With Dallas City Leaders
Group Hopes To Curb Dallas Crime
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- The Guardian Angels hope to be a part of the solution for the growing crime in the city of Dallas, but not everyone is greeting them with open arms.
The group will meet with Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle and Mayor Laura Miller on Tuesday in hopes of gaining the support of the city and returning their operations to Dallas.
City Hall is worried that wherever the Guardian Angels go, controversy is almost always close behind. But that isn't stopping the group from trying to woo city leaders into letting them patrol the streets of Dallas.
Wearing their trademark red berets and T-shirts, the group walked through area neighborhoods in an attempt to drum up support for their organization.
The organization started in New York City 26 years ago to remove crime from the city's subways and neighborhoods. The volunteers don't carry weapons, just radios. But that doesn't stop them from making citizens arrests.
The group's founder, Curtis Sliwa, said Miller should give them a chance to get trained and show what kind of difference they can make.
Miller said she's willing to listen politely, but isn't likely to change her opinion of the group.
Group Hopes To Curb Dallas Crime
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- The Guardian Angels hope to be a part of the solution for the growing crime in the city of Dallas, but not everyone is greeting them with open arms.
The group will meet with Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle and Mayor Laura Miller on Tuesday in hopes of gaining the support of the city and returning their operations to Dallas.
City Hall is worried that wherever the Guardian Angels go, controversy is almost always close behind. But that isn't stopping the group from trying to woo city leaders into letting them patrol the streets of Dallas.
Wearing their trademark red berets and T-shirts, the group walked through area neighborhoods in an attempt to drum up support for their organization.
The organization started in New York City 26 years ago to remove crime from the city's subways and neighborhoods. The volunteers don't carry weapons, just radios. But that doesn't stop them from making citizens arrests.
The group's founder, Curtis Sliwa, said Miller should give them a chance to get trained and show what kind of difference they can make.
Miller said she's willing to listen politely, but isn't likely to change her opinion of the group.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Serial Robber On The Loose
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Police are searching for an alleged robber who they said preys upon fast food restaurants, check cashing businesses and Radio Shack stores.
Police across the Metroplex say the man, who has been caught on tape, may be responsible for a rash of armed robberies at various locations in Dallas, Richardson and McKinney.
The man is believed to be driving a stolen black Lincoln LS, police said.
He has threatened to use what police believe is a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Dallas Police Department.
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Police are searching for an alleged robber who they said preys upon fast food restaurants, check cashing businesses and Radio Shack stores.
Police across the Metroplex say the man, who has been caught on tape, may be responsible for a rash of armed robberies at various locations in Dallas, Richardson and McKinney.
The man is believed to be driving a stolen black Lincoln LS, police said.
He has threatened to use what police believe is a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Dallas Police Department.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Judge says data system in chaos
County officials clash as computer woes persist with no fix in sight
By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - The new computer system that Dallas County recently installed continues to wreak havoc on the county court system, with no end in sight to the problems, a state district judge told county commissioners Tuesday.
And an effort by County Judge Margaret Keliher and Commissioner John Wiley Price to hire an outside computer consultant to help solve the problems led to an intense debate that degenerated into a session of furious finger-pointing by all the commissioners about who's to blame and what to do.
When county jail employees started to use the computer system Jan. 31 to book newly arrested inmates, the rest of the county, including the district attorney's office and the courts, remained on the old mainframe computer system. The old and new systems were supposed to be able to share information. But the county courts have been unable to access new information about arrests and other key data in the new system, delaying their ability to schedule court hearings or even determine which cases are probation-related, District Judge John Creuzot said.
When the new system started, Judge Creuzot said, "We were shut out. We had no information, and it has almost remained exactly the same to date."
He said county officials have promised court administrators every day that they would receive the daily jail chain reports listing newly booked inmates, but the courts still have not received them. He also said the problems have caused some people who post bail to wait several extra days before being released.
"It's unacceptable," Judge Creuzot said.
Mr. Price, who sits on the commissioners' information technology committee, and Ms. Keliher complained that they have been asking the county's administrator, Allen Clemson, as well as the company building the computer system, InfoIntegration, for information about when each phase of the new system would be ready, what it could achieve and how much it would cost for the last year, without getting satisfactory answers.
They pushed to hire an outside consultant for help, but others, including Mr. Clemson, said that would only slow down efforts to fix the immediate problem – getting the old and new systems to exchange data so county judges can get the information they need.
InfoIntegration, Mr. Clemson said, "is a small company immersed in this complex cutover to the new system, and they do not have a lot of excess capacity and resources." He said that after the company fixes the immediate problem, it can take a step back and provide the kind of information sought by Mr. Price and Ms. Keliher.
Commissioner Mike Cantrell spearheaded the project but was absent Tuesday because his wife was having surgery. Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield chastised Mr. Price, asking why, if he had concerns about the new system, he hadn't raised them during the last year.
Mr. Price said he was repeatedly told by Mr. Clemson and InfoIntegration that they would provide the information, and he said he deferred to Mr. Cantrell, chairman of the information technology committee.
"We don't care where we get it from – we just need the info," Judge Creuzot said.
Several computer experts said that while glitches can often occur when a new computer system goes live, the extent of the county's problems raises questions about how well and how thoroughly the system was tested and why the county didn't run the old and new systems simultaneously for a few weeks to ensure that the system was working properly.
"Load testing is extremely challenging and expensive," said John A. Bielec, chief information officer at Drexel University in Pittsburgh. "You need to accurately simulate what the users will really do with the system when it's running." Another systems expert said it is important not merely to test a system to see that it works, but to test to see whether it works under stress.
Mr. Clemson said Tuesday that the system was tested, but at "low volume, not at full load."
Tonya M. Brenneman, president of InfoIntegration, said in an interview that the system had been tested extensively before it went live, and that the old and new systems ran parallel in January, before the old system was cut off Jan. 31.
She said running the two systems any longer would have caused extra workload for employees, who would have had to input data into both systems.
County officials clash as computer woes persist with no fix in sight
By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - The new computer system that Dallas County recently installed continues to wreak havoc on the county court system, with no end in sight to the problems, a state district judge told county commissioners Tuesday.
And an effort by County Judge Margaret Keliher and Commissioner John Wiley Price to hire an outside computer consultant to help solve the problems led to an intense debate that degenerated into a session of furious finger-pointing by all the commissioners about who's to blame and what to do.
When county jail employees started to use the computer system Jan. 31 to book newly arrested inmates, the rest of the county, including the district attorney's office and the courts, remained on the old mainframe computer system. The old and new systems were supposed to be able to share information. But the county courts have been unable to access new information about arrests and other key data in the new system, delaying their ability to schedule court hearings or even determine which cases are probation-related, District Judge John Creuzot said.
When the new system started, Judge Creuzot said, "We were shut out. We had no information, and it has almost remained exactly the same to date."
He said county officials have promised court administrators every day that they would receive the daily jail chain reports listing newly booked inmates, but the courts still have not received them. He also said the problems have caused some people who post bail to wait several extra days before being released.
"It's unacceptable," Judge Creuzot said.
Mr. Price, who sits on the commissioners' information technology committee, and Ms. Keliher complained that they have been asking the county's administrator, Allen Clemson, as well as the company building the computer system, InfoIntegration, for information about when each phase of the new system would be ready, what it could achieve and how much it would cost for the last year, without getting satisfactory answers.
They pushed to hire an outside consultant for help, but others, including Mr. Clemson, said that would only slow down efforts to fix the immediate problem – getting the old and new systems to exchange data so county judges can get the information they need.
InfoIntegration, Mr. Clemson said, "is a small company immersed in this complex cutover to the new system, and they do not have a lot of excess capacity and resources." He said that after the company fixes the immediate problem, it can take a step back and provide the kind of information sought by Mr. Price and Ms. Keliher.
Commissioner Mike Cantrell spearheaded the project but was absent Tuesday because his wife was having surgery. Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield chastised Mr. Price, asking why, if he had concerns about the new system, he hadn't raised them during the last year.
Mr. Price said he was repeatedly told by Mr. Clemson and InfoIntegration that they would provide the information, and he said he deferred to Mr. Cantrell, chairman of the information technology committee.
"We don't care where we get it from – we just need the info," Judge Creuzot said.
Several computer experts said that while glitches can often occur when a new computer system goes live, the extent of the county's problems raises questions about how well and how thoroughly the system was tested and why the county didn't run the old and new systems simultaneously for a few weeks to ensure that the system was working properly.
"Load testing is extremely challenging and expensive," said John A. Bielec, chief information officer at Drexel University in Pittsburgh. "You need to accurately simulate what the users will really do with the system when it's running." Another systems expert said it is important not merely to test a system to see that it works, but to test to see whether it works under stress.
Mr. Clemson said Tuesday that the system was tested, but at "low volume, not at full load."
Tonya M. Brenneman, president of InfoIntegration, said in an interview that the system had been tested extensively before it went live, and that the old and new systems ran parallel in January, before the old system was cut off Jan. 31.
She said running the two systems any longer would have caused extra workload for employees, who would have had to input data into both systems.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Report faults inmate health care at jail
Undetected illnesses, excess costs, risks to public cited in study
By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - A new study of health conditions at the Dallas County Jail says lapses in medical care worsen inmates' health, pose risks to jailers and the public, and cost county taxpayers unnecessary emergency medical expenses.
The report indicates severe systemic problems, including the way inmates with illnesses are screened; the potentially dangerous way they are housed; a serious shortage of medical and jail staff; and a virtually non-existent process to identify inmates with tuberculosis, a problem that poses risks to the public.
About 90,000 people were incarcerated in the jail during 2004.
The 52-page report includes 38 specific recommendations and suggests that the county review its contract with the University of Texas Medical Branch, which has handled health care at the jail since October 2003.
UTMB, which also handles health services for many state prisons, comes under particular scrutiny for its staffing decisions in the report, which notes that as a general practice, UTMB has reduced the number of higher-level trained staff members in favor of less-trained staffers – and has proposed reducing their number further.
UTMB officials said that although they had not seen the report, they welcomed the study. They produced their own report to the county late last year, contending that staffing and funding issues were a major concern.
Dr. Steven Bowers, UTMB's medical director at the jail, manages 17,000 inmates in nine facilities in Dallas and elsewhere for UTMB.
"How much of his time can realistically be devoted to the Dallas County Jail?" the report asks. "He is managing facilities other than the Dallas County facilities even though his full time position is funded through the county contract."
Other UTMB jail staffers also are used to staff non-county jails.
"Given the lack of staffing at the jail, this practice should be prohibited by contract language," the report states, "but it is not."
Though the county received the report on Feb. 1, officials have yet to make it public. The Dallas Morning News obtained a copy Tuesday.
The report, funded by the Meadows Foundation, was requested by County Judge Margaret Keliher, partly as a response to the near-death of James Mims, a mentally ill inmate whose psychiatric medications had been withheld for two months.
It was produced by Health Management Associates and written by Dr. Michael Puisis, a specialist in correctional health who is former medical director of Cook County jail in Chicago. He was also regional medical director for New Mexico's corrections system and has been a national consultant.
Dr. Puisis spent eight days at the jail, reviewed documents and medical records, interviewed UTMB and jail staffers, and interviewed officials from other agencies that are involved in jail health.
Pat Terrell, who oversaw the report for Health Management Associates, said she had been told by the county not to comment publicly about the report.
Under review
County Administrator Allen Clemson said the report is being reviewed by the district attorney's office, as well as the private law firm of Figari and Davenport, which the county commissioners hired Tuesday, to ensure that the report doesn't pose legal risks to the county in a civil lawsuit filed in December by Mr. Mims' family.
As a result, officials of UTMB and Parkland Hospital, as well as Sheriff Lupe Valdez, have not seen the report.
Attorney David Finn, who is suing the county on behalf of Mr. Mims' mother, said he has not seen the report. But he said he hopes it breaks a pattern of investigations followed by ineffective reforms.
"It reminds me of Groundhog Day," Mr. Finn said, referring to a 1993 film in which a character experiences the worst day of his life over and over. "When is somebody going to step in and do something?"
"It's terrible. It's shocking," Commissioner Maurine Dickey said of the report. "If we don't use this as a call to action, we are very remiss."
Ms. Keliher said the report "has highlighted that we have to address health care in the jail. Whether we stay with UTMB or do something different, the court will address the issue." She said the county will ask the consultants who produced the report for help in making changes.
Dr. Ben Raimer, chief physician executive of correctional health care services for UTMB, said the university has lost $500,000 a year through the contract with current staff levels.
Jack Smith, UTMB's director of operations, said UTMB has suggested a 40 percent staff increase – about 53 full-time positions – to improve the jail health-care situation. Owen Murray, UTMB's medical director, said that would obviously require a significant increase in funding by the county.
Problems occur from the time inmates are booked, the report indicates. Normally, new arrivals at a jail should be screened and receive a physical exam to weed out emergency or chronic conditions. Such screening is typically performed by nurses or other health-care workers. But in the Dallas County Jail, regular jail staff members conduct the screening.
"There are no medical policies governing how officers screen, and officers receive no training to screen," the report states.
Problems undetected
As a result, the report estimates, screening officials miss at least 35 percent of detainees with health problems, and as many as 25 people a day go through intake without having their mental illness identified.
Once housed, some mental health patients are sent by chance to closed observation cells that are completely out of sight of the corridors, a "dangerous practice," according to the report.
Some are kept in 23-hour-per-day lockup, without stimulation, similar to the isolation in a super-max prison, which has been known to lead to psychotic behavior. "To use these types of arrangements for known psychotic inmates can only make treatment more difficult and may prolong their disease or increase the severity of symptoms," the report said.
The report notes that the jail's tuberculosis screening program "is basically non-existent." This "results in the jail being a focus of amplification of tuberculosis spread both within the jail as well as into the community at large."
The doctor in charge of TB in the jail "has no experience in managing patients with tuberculosis, and he has so much else to do that he actually spends very little time managing people with tuberculosis."
The report also points out that frequent delays in medication for inmates with chronic illness result in many unnecessary hospital visits – trips that ultimately cost county taxpayers.
Undetected illnesses, excess costs, risks to public cited in study
By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - A new study of health conditions at the Dallas County Jail says lapses in medical care worsen inmates' health, pose risks to jailers and the public, and cost county taxpayers unnecessary emergency medical expenses.
The report indicates severe systemic problems, including the way inmates with illnesses are screened; the potentially dangerous way they are housed; a serious shortage of medical and jail staff; and a virtually non-existent process to identify inmates with tuberculosis, a problem that poses risks to the public.
About 90,000 people were incarcerated in the jail during 2004.
The 52-page report includes 38 specific recommendations and suggests that the county review its contract with the University of Texas Medical Branch, which has handled health care at the jail since October 2003.
UTMB, which also handles health services for many state prisons, comes under particular scrutiny for its staffing decisions in the report, which notes that as a general practice, UTMB has reduced the number of higher-level trained staff members in favor of less-trained staffers – and has proposed reducing their number further.
UTMB officials said that although they had not seen the report, they welcomed the study. They produced their own report to the county late last year, contending that staffing and funding issues were a major concern.
Dr. Steven Bowers, UTMB's medical director at the jail, manages 17,000 inmates in nine facilities in Dallas and elsewhere for UTMB.
"How much of his time can realistically be devoted to the Dallas County Jail?" the report asks. "He is managing facilities other than the Dallas County facilities even though his full time position is funded through the county contract."
Other UTMB jail staffers also are used to staff non-county jails.
"Given the lack of staffing at the jail, this practice should be prohibited by contract language," the report states, "but it is not."
Though the county received the report on Feb. 1, officials have yet to make it public. The Dallas Morning News obtained a copy Tuesday.
The report, funded by the Meadows Foundation, was requested by County Judge Margaret Keliher, partly as a response to the near-death of James Mims, a mentally ill inmate whose psychiatric medications had been withheld for two months.
It was produced by Health Management Associates and written by Dr. Michael Puisis, a specialist in correctional health who is former medical director of Cook County jail in Chicago. He was also regional medical director for New Mexico's corrections system and has been a national consultant.
Dr. Puisis spent eight days at the jail, reviewed documents and medical records, interviewed UTMB and jail staffers, and interviewed officials from other agencies that are involved in jail health.
Pat Terrell, who oversaw the report for Health Management Associates, said she had been told by the county not to comment publicly about the report.
Under review
County Administrator Allen Clemson said the report is being reviewed by the district attorney's office, as well as the private law firm of Figari and Davenport, which the county commissioners hired Tuesday, to ensure that the report doesn't pose legal risks to the county in a civil lawsuit filed in December by Mr. Mims' family.
As a result, officials of UTMB and Parkland Hospital, as well as Sheriff Lupe Valdez, have not seen the report.
Attorney David Finn, who is suing the county on behalf of Mr. Mims' mother, said he has not seen the report. But he said he hopes it breaks a pattern of investigations followed by ineffective reforms.
"It reminds me of Groundhog Day," Mr. Finn said, referring to a 1993 film in which a character experiences the worst day of his life over and over. "When is somebody going to step in and do something?"
"It's terrible. It's shocking," Commissioner Maurine Dickey said of the report. "If we don't use this as a call to action, we are very remiss."
Ms. Keliher said the report "has highlighted that we have to address health care in the jail. Whether we stay with UTMB or do something different, the court will address the issue." She said the county will ask the consultants who produced the report for help in making changes.
Dr. Ben Raimer, chief physician executive of correctional health care services for UTMB, said the university has lost $500,000 a year through the contract with current staff levels.
Jack Smith, UTMB's director of operations, said UTMB has suggested a 40 percent staff increase – about 53 full-time positions – to improve the jail health-care situation. Owen Murray, UTMB's medical director, said that would obviously require a significant increase in funding by the county.
Problems occur from the time inmates are booked, the report indicates. Normally, new arrivals at a jail should be screened and receive a physical exam to weed out emergency or chronic conditions. Such screening is typically performed by nurses or other health-care workers. But in the Dallas County Jail, regular jail staff members conduct the screening.
"There are no medical policies governing how officers screen, and officers receive no training to screen," the report states.
Problems undetected
As a result, the report estimates, screening officials miss at least 35 percent of detainees with health problems, and as many as 25 people a day go through intake without having their mental illness identified.
Once housed, some mental health patients are sent by chance to closed observation cells that are completely out of sight of the corridors, a "dangerous practice," according to the report.
Some are kept in 23-hour-per-day lockup, without stimulation, similar to the isolation in a super-max prison, which has been known to lead to psychotic behavior. "To use these types of arrangements for known psychotic inmates can only make treatment more difficult and may prolong their disease or increase the severity of symptoms," the report said.
The report notes that the jail's tuberculosis screening program "is basically non-existent." This "results in the jail being a focus of amplification of tuberculosis spread both within the jail as well as into the community at large."
The doctor in charge of TB in the jail "has no experience in managing patients with tuberculosis, and he has so much else to do that he actually spends very little time managing people with tuberculosis."
The report also points out that frequent delays in medication for inmates with chronic illness result in many unnecessary hospital visits – trips that ultimately cost county taxpayers.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Classes help individuals stay safe
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - Tuesday's discovery of the murder of a missing mother and son here in North Texas is just the latest case that points to the dangers in today's society.
That's why a highly specialized local school trains people to spot trouble and avoid danger. Experts said if you are just not paying attention, you can be perceived as someone to be a target.
North Texas businessman Dave Nicastro said the best defense is to be prepared.
"Walk to your car in a diagonal, make sure no one is around it, open your door, get inside, lock the door, start your car, put your seat belt on then drive away," said a training presentation offered by Nicastro's company Secure Source.
The scenarios seen in Secure Source's classes are just demonstrations. But more often, those threats are becoming real.
Nicastro's firm employs former military personnel and Secret Service agents who teach celebrities, executives and business owners how to avoid becoming a crime victim.
"We train them to first of all recognize that security is their responsibility, and from there have a simple plan that you can follow to avoid a situation," Nicastro said.
News 8 asked Nicastro to show what he teaches.
One particular scenario starts with road rage: a suspect is trying to run his target's car off the road. Instead, the driver reacts by taking sudden evasive moves, flipping around, and driving off - all maneuvers taught in the Secure Source classes.
"We all have a lot of tools that we may have in our vehicles," Nicastro said. "It could be GPS tracking devices, obviously a cell phone ... but don't just get out of the car and try to confront the person yourself."
Whether it's a kidnapping, a carjacking or an assault, Nicastro said many criminals first case their victims.
"They often look at places that we call 'choke points' - places you have to go every day on your way home from the offices where they can stop and attack you."
Dr. Nathan Graves is a popular urologist, business owner and multimillionaire. His concerns about safety led him to the classes.
"It can happen anywhere, any time, at any place," Graves said.
He is among thousands of Americans taking safety into their own hands by learning the elaborate evasive driving maneuvers, hand-to-hand combat and shooting skills.
Such training is open to anyone, but it's not cheap. The classes cost about $1,000 a day per person.
Nicastro said his classes have helped people around the world identify threats and avoid danger.
By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - Tuesday's discovery of the murder of a missing mother and son here in North Texas is just the latest case that points to the dangers in today's society.
That's why a highly specialized local school trains people to spot trouble and avoid danger. Experts said if you are just not paying attention, you can be perceived as someone to be a target.
North Texas businessman Dave Nicastro said the best defense is to be prepared.
"Walk to your car in a diagonal, make sure no one is around it, open your door, get inside, lock the door, start your car, put your seat belt on then drive away," said a training presentation offered by Nicastro's company Secure Source.
The scenarios seen in Secure Source's classes are just demonstrations. But more often, those threats are becoming real.
Nicastro's firm employs former military personnel and Secret Service agents who teach celebrities, executives and business owners how to avoid becoming a crime victim.
"We train them to first of all recognize that security is their responsibility, and from there have a simple plan that you can follow to avoid a situation," Nicastro said.
News 8 asked Nicastro to show what he teaches.
One particular scenario starts with road rage: a suspect is trying to run his target's car off the road. Instead, the driver reacts by taking sudden evasive moves, flipping around, and driving off - all maneuvers taught in the Secure Source classes.
"We all have a lot of tools that we may have in our vehicles," Nicastro said. "It could be GPS tracking devices, obviously a cell phone ... but don't just get out of the car and try to confront the person yourself."
Whether it's a kidnapping, a carjacking or an assault, Nicastro said many criminals first case their victims.
"They often look at places that we call 'choke points' - places you have to go every day on your way home from the offices where they can stop and attack you."
Dr. Nathan Graves is a popular urologist, business owner and multimillionaire. His concerns about safety led him to the classes.
"It can happen anywhere, any time, at any place," Graves said.
He is among thousands of Americans taking safety into their own hands by learning the elaborate evasive driving maneuvers, hand-to-hand combat and shooting skills.
Such training is open to anyone, but it's not cheap. The classes cost about $1,000 a day per person.
Nicastro said his classes have helped people around the world identify threats and avoid danger.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Districts share info on steroid dealer
But Heritage coach won't reveal names of alleged customers
By GARY JACOBSON and GREGG JONES / The Dallas Morning News
GRAPEVINE, Texas - Grapevine-Colleyville school officials shared information Tuesday with Carroll school district about an adult steroid dealer who may be selling to athletes in both districts.
But Colleyville Heritage High School football coach Chris Cunningham has no plans to share the names of Southlake Carroll and Grapevine high school football players alleged to have bought steroids from that same dealer, district spokeswoman Robin McClure said.
Mr. Cunningham got those names during an investigation of steroid use at his school. Nine Heritage athletes, seven of them football players, admitted in December that they had used steroids during the previous school year.
The revelations that there was possibly a common adult dealer, known as "Big Mike," and that Mr. Cunningham had names of Carroll and Grapevine football players who allegedly used steroids were contained in documents released to The Dallas Morning News on Monday.
"I think it's a serious situation, and it's something we're looking at very closely," said Julie Thannum, communications director for the Carroll school district. Yesterday, she went to the Grapevine-Colleyville administration office to pick up copies of the same documents released to The News under the Texas Public Information Act.
Carroll football coach Todd Dodge did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Ms. Thannum said that the information provided by Grapevine-Colleyville had few details but that Carroll ISD would cooperate with law enforcement agencies to help identify the dealer.
She said she was not surprised by Mr. Cunningham's reluctance to share student names given to him in confidence. "I understand that teacher-student relationship," she said.
Mr. Cunningham, through Ms. McClure, said Monday night that he had the names of a Carroll football player and a Grapevine player given to him by one of his players. They all used the same steroid dealer.
The Carroll football team went undefeated last season, winning a Class 5A state championship and finishing No. 1 in the National Prep Poll.
Herschel Tebay, commander of the Tarrant County Narcotics Unit, said his group continues to investigate leads about the adult dealer. He said that with an additional school district involved, investigators might get more tips from parents and others.
But Heritage coach won't reveal names of alleged customers
By GARY JACOBSON and GREGG JONES / The Dallas Morning News
GRAPEVINE, Texas - Grapevine-Colleyville school officials shared information Tuesday with Carroll school district about an adult steroid dealer who may be selling to athletes in both districts.
But Colleyville Heritage High School football coach Chris Cunningham has no plans to share the names of Southlake Carroll and Grapevine high school football players alleged to have bought steroids from that same dealer, district spokeswoman Robin McClure said.
Mr. Cunningham got those names during an investigation of steroid use at his school. Nine Heritage athletes, seven of them football players, admitted in December that they had used steroids during the previous school year.
The revelations that there was possibly a common adult dealer, known as "Big Mike," and that Mr. Cunningham had names of Carroll and Grapevine football players who allegedly used steroids were contained in documents released to The Dallas Morning News on Monday.
"I think it's a serious situation, and it's something we're looking at very closely," said Julie Thannum, communications director for the Carroll school district. Yesterday, she went to the Grapevine-Colleyville administration office to pick up copies of the same documents released to The News under the Texas Public Information Act.
Carroll football coach Todd Dodge did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Ms. Thannum said that the information provided by Grapevine-Colleyville had few details but that Carroll ISD would cooperate with law enforcement agencies to help identify the dealer.
She said she was not surprised by Mr. Cunningham's reluctance to share student names given to him in confidence. "I understand that teacher-student relationship," she said.
Mr. Cunningham, through Ms. McClure, said Monday night that he had the names of a Carroll football player and a Grapevine player given to him by one of his players. They all used the same steroid dealer.
The Carroll football team went undefeated last season, winning a Class 5A state championship and finishing No. 1 in the National Prep Poll.
Herschel Tebay, commander of the Tarrant County Narcotics Unit, said his group continues to investigate leads about the adult dealer. He said that with an additional school district involved, investigators might get more tips from parents and others.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Fire destroys building at explosives plant
GODLEY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - No injuries were reported after an explosion and fire at the Owen Oil Tools manufacturing facility in Johnson County.
The initial alarm from the plant in Godley was issued at 11:20 a.m. Wednesday. Company officials asked that the use of cellular telephones in the area be restricted because their transmissions have the potential to set off sensitive explosives.
Aerial views indicate the the fire was restricted to one of the smaller buildings at the 1,100 acre site.
Dark smoke rising from the site could be seen for miles around.
A pickup truck parked next to the building was also on fire.
Owen Oil Tools manufactures explosives that are used in drilling oil and gas wells.
The company's Web site says it employs 200 people at the Godley facility, 17 miles south of Fort Worth on the Hood-Johnson County line.
WFAA-TV contributed to this report.
GODLEY, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - No injuries were reported after an explosion and fire at the Owen Oil Tools manufacturing facility in Johnson County.
The initial alarm from the plant in Godley was issued at 11:20 a.m. Wednesday. Company officials asked that the use of cellular telephones in the area be restricted because their transmissions have the potential to set off sensitive explosives.
Aerial views indicate the the fire was restricted to one of the smaller buildings at the 1,100 acre site.
Dark smoke rising from the site could be seen for miles around.
A pickup truck parked next to the building was also on fire.
Owen Oil Tools manufactures explosives that are used in drilling oil and gas wells.
The company's Web site says it employs 200 people at the Godley facility, 17 miles south of Fort Worth on the Hood-Johnson County line.
WFAA-TV contributed to this report.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
EXAM TIME
Sick and injured children take TAKS, get a sense of normalcy in the bargain
By Cynthia L. Garza, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - She said she felt good Tuesday morning, so 16-year-old Andrea Truax put on jeans, a T-shirt, a matching beanie and a paper mask covering her mouth and nose and went to school.
After walking two blocks, she rode the elevator to the sixth-floor classroom at Cook Children's Medical Center.
Inside a small office, she settled in -- pulling out a bottle of apple juice and slipping off the mask -- and waited for test instructions to begin.
Truax is recovering from a bone marrow transplant, but on Tuesday morning, she was just like any other high school junior in Texas and taking the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills English language arts exit exam.
She faced the TAKS with her chin up, even though she was 600 miles away from her home in El Paso. "I think that it's good that I can take it up here, so that next year I don't have to worry about having to take it, so I can graduate," said Truax, who has leukemia.
She needs to take -- and pass -- the TAKS exam to get her diploma. But as a straight-A student at the top of her class, she wasn't too worried.
Throughout Fort Worth, dozens of sick or injured, home- or hospital-bound children take the TAKS each year.
There are children with broken bones unable to get out of bed. And children with cancer or sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis.
Deciding when a child is ready for school, or able to take a state assessment exam, is usually a team decision made by doctors, teachers, parents and the student, said Karen Ario, program coordinator for special-education services for the Fort Worth school district.
School, just like any medicine or therapy, is something that helps the children feel better and helps them to recover.
"School is normal. It's a normal part of their day instead of sitting in their room and thinking about how bad they feel," said Barbara Grant, who has taught at the Cook Children's school for 16 years.
Many children and their parents look forward to returning to a regular school routine, which may include TAKS testing.
Cook Children's has three full-time teachers. Pre-kindergartners to high school seniors circulate through the one-room school's morning and afternoon sessions every day.
Although Truax does most of her schoolwork independently, she and her mother are glad she has the opportunity to go to school.
"The walls were driving us crazy," said her mother, Dorothy Truax, about spending too much time in the hospital without schoolwork. "It was actually good for her to have something to focus on."
A devastating accident or illness can initially push any thoughts of school right out of a parent's head, Grant said.
Sometimes the teachers take awhile to approach the parents and child.
"There's an awful lot of roller-coaster rides, so it depends on where you are in the roller coaster as to what you worry about the most," Dorothy Truax said.
"There are ups and downs in this type of illness, and when things are going well then you want to be sure she doesn't get behind in school," Truax said. "But then when things don't get well, you realize school is minor."
'I like to keep up'
The children and teen-agers at the hospital make their way -- on foot, using crutches or wheelchairs, in pajamas -- to the hospital classroom, which overlooks Fort Worth's west side.
Kenneth Nwankpa, 12, would have taken the seventh-grade TAKS writing exam Tuesday, but the doctors and teachers didn't think it was a good idea because of the medications he's taking.
Kenneth, who has sickle cell anemia, is recovering from a bone marrow transplant. He has good days and bad days, he said.
Today was a bad day, and despite feeling nauseated, he dressed in jeans, a gray and red T-shirt along with a red do-rag on his head and went up the elevator to the classroom.
"I force myself to get up and to go school because I like to keep up," Kenneth said. Dressing in street clothes is also a big deal to him.
The classroom is a social hub, which draws out the curiosity in the children.
There, they realize they are "not the only one without hair or with an IV or wearing pajamas," all the time, Grant said.
There are all kinds of kids here -- of all colors and ages -- who come from across Texas for treatment.
There are kids bedridden because of broken bones. There are kids with cancer and cystic fibrosis, and children who have had kidney transplants or brain and spinal cord injuries.
Only a handful of the children schooled at Cook Children's will take the TAKS in any given year, Ario said.
The three teachers -- who have among them 40 years of teaching experience -- are all special-education certified and know how to adjust the curriculum when needed.
At her own pace
To Andrea Truax, the thought of not being able to do schoolwork is horrible. But being sick has put things in perspective.
"School's always been really important, but at that time it was more like, OK, what am I going to do to get better -- am I going to live, am I going to die?" Truax said. "I mean you hear cancer and you think the worst."
Her treatments have been successful, so she can focus on her studies and on getting well enough to go home.
In her bedroom at the Ronald McDonald House near the hospital, heavy textbooks are strewn across her bed and a laptop computer sits on a nearby table.
Truax works on an evening schedule fit for a teen -- sleeping late and doing homework for long stretches in the afternoon into the late evening.
In a way, she thinks this routine is "better because I can finish faster and finish at my own pace."
She's thinking about the future and heading home in a few months. She's also excited about graduating and college.
Because she's moving at such a fast pace with her independent study, she'll probably finish school a semester early next year.
Sick and injured children take TAKS, get a sense of normalcy in the bargain
By Cynthia L. Garza, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - She said she felt good Tuesday morning, so 16-year-old Andrea Truax put on jeans, a T-shirt, a matching beanie and a paper mask covering her mouth and nose and went to school.
After walking two blocks, she rode the elevator to the sixth-floor classroom at Cook Children's Medical Center.
Inside a small office, she settled in -- pulling out a bottle of apple juice and slipping off the mask -- and waited for test instructions to begin.
Truax is recovering from a bone marrow transplant, but on Tuesday morning, she was just like any other high school junior in Texas and taking the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills English language arts exit exam.
She faced the TAKS with her chin up, even though she was 600 miles away from her home in El Paso. "I think that it's good that I can take it up here, so that next year I don't have to worry about having to take it, so I can graduate," said Truax, who has leukemia.
She needs to take -- and pass -- the TAKS exam to get her diploma. But as a straight-A student at the top of her class, she wasn't too worried.
Throughout Fort Worth, dozens of sick or injured, home- or hospital-bound children take the TAKS each year.
There are children with broken bones unable to get out of bed. And children with cancer or sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis.
Deciding when a child is ready for school, or able to take a state assessment exam, is usually a team decision made by doctors, teachers, parents and the student, said Karen Ario, program coordinator for special-education services for the Fort Worth school district.
School, just like any medicine or therapy, is something that helps the children feel better and helps them to recover.
"School is normal. It's a normal part of their day instead of sitting in their room and thinking about how bad they feel," said Barbara Grant, who has taught at the Cook Children's school for 16 years.
Many children and their parents look forward to returning to a regular school routine, which may include TAKS testing.
Cook Children's has three full-time teachers. Pre-kindergartners to high school seniors circulate through the one-room school's morning and afternoon sessions every day.
Although Truax does most of her schoolwork independently, she and her mother are glad she has the opportunity to go to school.
"The walls were driving us crazy," said her mother, Dorothy Truax, about spending too much time in the hospital without schoolwork. "It was actually good for her to have something to focus on."
A devastating accident or illness can initially push any thoughts of school right out of a parent's head, Grant said.
Sometimes the teachers take awhile to approach the parents and child.
"There's an awful lot of roller-coaster rides, so it depends on where you are in the roller coaster as to what you worry about the most," Dorothy Truax said.
"There are ups and downs in this type of illness, and when things are going well then you want to be sure she doesn't get behind in school," Truax said. "But then when things don't get well, you realize school is minor."
'I like to keep up'
The children and teen-agers at the hospital make their way -- on foot, using crutches or wheelchairs, in pajamas -- to the hospital classroom, which overlooks Fort Worth's west side.
Kenneth Nwankpa, 12, would have taken the seventh-grade TAKS writing exam Tuesday, but the doctors and teachers didn't think it was a good idea because of the medications he's taking.
Kenneth, who has sickle cell anemia, is recovering from a bone marrow transplant. He has good days and bad days, he said.
Today was a bad day, and despite feeling nauseated, he dressed in jeans, a gray and red T-shirt along with a red do-rag on his head and went up the elevator to the classroom.
"I force myself to get up and to go school because I like to keep up," Kenneth said. Dressing in street clothes is also a big deal to him.
The classroom is a social hub, which draws out the curiosity in the children.
There, they realize they are "not the only one without hair or with an IV or wearing pajamas," all the time, Grant said.
There are all kinds of kids here -- of all colors and ages -- who come from across Texas for treatment.
There are kids bedridden because of broken bones. There are kids with cancer and cystic fibrosis, and children who have had kidney transplants or brain and spinal cord injuries.
Only a handful of the children schooled at Cook Children's will take the TAKS in any given year, Ario said.
The three teachers -- who have among them 40 years of teaching experience -- are all special-education certified and know how to adjust the curriculum when needed.
At her own pace
To Andrea Truax, the thought of not being able to do schoolwork is horrible. But being sick has put things in perspective.
"School's always been really important, but at that time it was more like, OK, what am I going to do to get better -- am I going to live, am I going to die?" Truax said. "I mean you hear cancer and you think the worst."
Her treatments have been successful, so she can focus on her studies and on getting well enough to go home.
In her bedroom at the Ronald McDonald House near the hospital, heavy textbooks are strewn across her bed and a laptop computer sits on a nearby table.
Truax works on an evening schedule fit for a teen -- sleeping late and doing homework for long stretches in the afternoon into the late evening.
In a way, she thinks this routine is "better because I can finish faster and finish at my own pace."
She's thinking about the future and heading home in a few months. She's also excited about graduating and college.
Because she's moving at such a fast pace with her independent study, she'll probably finish school a semester early next year.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
How far Trimble Tech has fallen
By Bob Ray Sanders, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - Often I use this space to extol the virtues of public education, as I have no trouble finding eager students defying the odds and teachers and administrators who go far beyond the call of duty to touch children's lives.
As a product of the Fort Worth public school system, I'm one of its greatest advocates. I spend a lot of time on campuses throughout the city and all over North Texas because I truly believe in supporting our educators and trying to encourage our young people.
That is why this a difficult column for me to write.
I debated all weekend whether writing about an experience Friday at a Fort Worth high school would be in the best interest of the students, teachers and administrators. I decided that it would be.
To say that I was shocked by what I saw at Trimble Technical High School that afternoon would not begin to explain how utterly disappointed I was in the students and in the adults who should have had more control of them.
It was the worst behavior I have ever witnessed by students on any campus, and I've been on some rough ones.
Keep in mind that three years ago, Trimble Tech became Fort Worth's first and only "exemplary" high school, based on statewide standardized tests results. It is reported that students from all over the city are eager to go to this school, which has no attendance boundaries.
Last year, the school dropped a couple of notches in the academic ratings, and now I can understand why.
I had gone there for a Black History Month program. Fort Worth City Councilman Donavan Wheatfall was also a guest that day.
Even before entering the school -- and we arrived at slightly different times -- both of us had been bothered by the number of students who seemed to be wandering outside the building.
Perhaps they had early dismissals, I thought, or were involved in some special program that took them off campus in the afternoon. So I dismissed my initial concern.
Inside, an unusual number of people were walking the halls, but again, it was a special day, and perhaps students were busy getting ready for the program.
Then I heard a female monitor as she stopped four girls headed for the back of the auditorium.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Are you some of our students? You don't look like any of our students."
"Yeah, we go to school here," one of the girls said as they kept going.
"Then you need to get to where you belong," the monitor said, indicating that they did not belong in the auditorium at that time.
I was encouraged early on by meeting three engaging students.
One was in a wheelchair, and although short in stature, he had a giant of a voice and was obviously quite smart. He hopes to have his own radio show one day.
Another was interested in journalism; the third told me that he was headed to New York over the weekend to audition for the theater department at New York University.
They were the three brightest spots for me that day, for disaster was in the making as students began to enter the auditorium.
The noise level was incredible, but I've heard that before. It sometimes takes a while to quiet down several hundred high school students.
But the unruliness persisted for the length of the program.
Even though the principal positioned himself at the edge of the stage, like a centurion with a walkie-talkie, the audience paid no heed. He remained in that spot throughout the program yet was seemingly disregarded by his students.
One student actually lounged on the floor in front of the stage, and I saw no one tell him to take seat.
As the disorder continued unabated, Wheatfall said to me, "This is like something out of Lean on Me," referring to the movie about the true story of an inner-city New Jersey high school in which a new principal gets the nickname Crazy Joe for his sometimes unorthodox ways of restoring discipline.
How I wished a Crazy Joe or any other adult could have seriously taken charge that day.
Despite the continued ruckus, the program started with a presentation by a faculty member playing the saxophone. The lack of respect shown him was appalling.
Because I was seated in the front row, I did pick up a few strains of what he was playing. Appropriately, it was Misty, for I truly felt that it was crying time.
When he took the microphone to introduce his second tune, I heard nothing of what he said.
At one point, Wheatfall turned to the girls seated behind us and asked, "Would you do me a favor? Would you please be quiet for the rest of the program?"
As I was being introduced, the councilman whispered to me, "Well, I'll pray for you."
I told the students I had heard that Trimble was an exemplary school and sure hoped they would show it before the council member got up to speak.
A few people heard at least part of my remarks because when I referred to "my Hispanic brothers and sisters," a large group of students in the back third of the auditorium cheered and applauded.
Of course, I know high school students tend to segregate themselves based on race and ethnicity, so that was no surprise.
Wheatfall, who stood on the floor rather than the stage, started his presentation by paraphrasing an old spiritual.
"Hush! Hush! Somebody's calling our names," he said.
He did manage to get some semblance of attention, but it was far from ideal.
After the program, a student came up to apologize for the behavior of her classmates.
"You don't have to apologize for the behavior of others," I told her.
Perhaps what I witnessed during those two hours on campus was an aberration -- an anomaly that occurred only once on a particular crazy Friday afternoon.
What I left feeling, however, was that I had been on a campus out of control, one where it would be difficult at best for learning to take place.
Maybe one day the students, faculty and staff will prove me wrong.
By Bob Ray Sanders, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - Often I use this space to extol the virtues of public education, as I have no trouble finding eager students defying the odds and teachers and administrators who go far beyond the call of duty to touch children's lives.
As a product of the Fort Worth public school system, I'm one of its greatest advocates. I spend a lot of time on campuses throughout the city and all over North Texas because I truly believe in supporting our educators and trying to encourage our young people.
That is why this a difficult column for me to write.
I debated all weekend whether writing about an experience Friday at a Fort Worth high school would be in the best interest of the students, teachers and administrators. I decided that it would be.
To say that I was shocked by what I saw at Trimble Technical High School that afternoon would not begin to explain how utterly disappointed I was in the students and in the adults who should have had more control of them.
It was the worst behavior I have ever witnessed by students on any campus, and I've been on some rough ones.
Keep in mind that three years ago, Trimble Tech became Fort Worth's first and only "exemplary" high school, based on statewide standardized tests results. It is reported that students from all over the city are eager to go to this school, which has no attendance boundaries.
Last year, the school dropped a couple of notches in the academic ratings, and now I can understand why.
I had gone there for a Black History Month program. Fort Worth City Councilman Donavan Wheatfall was also a guest that day.
Even before entering the school -- and we arrived at slightly different times -- both of us had been bothered by the number of students who seemed to be wandering outside the building.
Perhaps they had early dismissals, I thought, or were involved in some special program that took them off campus in the afternoon. So I dismissed my initial concern.
Inside, an unusual number of people were walking the halls, but again, it was a special day, and perhaps students were busy getting ready for the program.
Then I heard a female monitor as she stopped four girls headed for the back of the auditorium.
"Who are you?" she asked. "Are you some of our students? You don't look like any of our students."
"Yeah, we go to school here," one of the girls said as they kept going.
"Then you need to get to where you belong," the monitor said, indicating that they did not belong in the auditorium at that time.
I was encouraged early on by meeting three engaging students.
One was in a wheelchair, and although short in stature, he had a giant of a voice and was obviously quite smart. He hopes to have his own radio show one day.
Another was interested in journalism; the third told me that he was headed to New York over the weekend to audition for the theater department at New York University.
They were the three brightest spots for me that day, for disaster was in the making as students began to enter the auditorium.
The noise level was incredible, but I've heard that before. It sometimes takes a while to quiet down several hundred high school students.
But the unruliness persisted for the length of the program.
Even though the principal positioned himself at the edge of the stage, like a centurion with a walkie-talkie, the audience paid no heed. He remained in that spot throughout the program yet was seemingly disregarded by his students.
One student actually lounged on the floor in front of the stage, and I saw no one tell him to take seat.
As the disorder continued unabated, Wheatfall said to me, "This is like something out of Lean on Me," referring to the movie about the true story of an inner-city New Jersey high school in which a new principal gets the nickname Crazy Joe for his sometimes unorthodox ways of restoring discipline.
How I wished a Crazy Joe or any other adult could have seriously taken charge that day.
Despite the continued ruckus, the program started with a presentation by a faculty member playing the saxophone. The lack of respect shown him was appalling.
Because I was seated in the front row, I did pick up a few strains of what he was playing. Appropriately, it was Misty, for I truly felt that it was crying time.
When he took the microphone to introduce his second tune, I heard nothing of what he said.
At one point, Wheatfall turned to the girls seated behind us and asked, "Would you do me a favor? Would you please be quiet for the rest of the program?"
As I was being introduced, the councilman whispered to me, "Well, I'll pray for you."
I told the students I had heard that Trimble was an exemplary school and sure hoped they would show it before the council member got up to speak.
A few people heard at least part of my remarks because when I referred to "my Hispanic brothers and sisters," a large group of students in the back third of the auditorium cheered and applauded.
Of course, I know high school students tend to segregate themselves based on race and ethnicity, so that was no surprise.
Wheatfall, who stood on the floor rather than the stage, started his presentation by paraphrasing an old spiritual.
"Hush! Hush! Somebody's calling our names," he said.
He did manage to get some semblance of attention, but it was far from ideal.
After the program, a student came up to apologize for the behavior of her classmates.
"You don't have to apologize for the behavior of others," I told her.
Perhaps what I witnessed during those two hours on campus was an aberration -- an anomaly that occurred only once on a particular crazy Friday afternoon.
What I left feeling, however, was that I had been on a campus out of control, one where it would be difficult at best for learning to take place.
Maybe one day the students, faculty and staff will prove me wrong.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Commissioners split over road package
By Max B. Baker, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - Tarrant County Commissioners argued over raising taxes to sell bonds for transportation projects Tuesday, especially if too much of the money is spent at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium or at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Commissioner J.D. Johnson voiced the strongest opposition to the proposed transportation package, with Tarrant County Judge Tom Vandergriff and Commissioner Roy Brooks also saying they are not quite ready to support selling up to $200 million in bonds.
Johnson said he is worried about the possibility of raising property taxes to pay for projects in selected areas while struggling to find ways to pay for essential county services and to build other needed projects.
"I definitely don't want to pay more taxes for Jerry Jones' stadium," Johnson said. "It may be that we can't afford the bond issue on the things we must do."
Commissioners Glen Whitley and Marti VanRavenswaay defended the proposed transportation bonds, saying it is wrong to think that most of the money would go to ease traffic at the speedway or at the football stadium.
Whitley said Interstate 35W and Northeast Loop 820 on many days become heavily congested during rush hour and that anticipated growth in east Tarrant County demands that commissioners be proactive.
"That's ridiculous," Whitley said. "We are talking about transportation projects that help the community 365 days a year. ... That [the Cowboys stadium] doesn't have anything to do with it."
Without the extra transportation money, Whitley said, traffic congestion will worsen, and the quality of life will decline. He said the state only has money for about one-third of the roads that need to be built.
"We have a chance to get ahead of the tremendous growth we know is coming to Tarrant County," Whitley said. "If we don't put money into it, it won't happen."
Commissioners are already discussing a bond package that tentatively includes a new civil courts building, additional jail space, and expanded juvenile and medical examiner facilities.
They hope to put the package before voters this fall.
County Administrator G.K. Maenius said Tuesday that he expects the other projects to cost between $130 million and $140 million.
If the package is approved by voters, money to pay for those projects would be raised by selling general obligation bonds. County staff members have been striving to draft a package that would not increase the county's property tax rate of 27.25 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Whitley has suggested adding another $200 million for transportation. He is not recommending that the county develop a specific list of projects but that the money be spent on projects that are regionally significant.
Maenuis provided commissioners with a report Tuesday suggesting that a total proposed bond package of $330 million would raise the county property tax rate by about seven-tenths of a cent, to 27.95 cents of assessed value.
"The voters can make up their own minds," VanRavenswaay said.
But Johnson said voters in his precinct are "choking with taxes" and will look at transportation bonds with the question: "What's in it for me?"
He said he is also worried that the state Legislature will pass down some of the costs of its programs to the county while also passing legislation that will cap increases on property tax appraisals, limiting how much new money the county can raise.
"I want to make sure the governor isn't going to kill us and that the Legislature isn't going to kill us," he said.
By Max B. Baker, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - Tarrant County Commissioners argued over raising taxes to sell bonds for transportation projects Tuesday, especially if too much of the money is spent at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium or at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Commissioner J.D. Johnson voiced the strongest opposition to the proposed transportation package, with Tarrant County Judge Tom Vandergriff and Commissioner Roy Brooks also saying they are not quite ready to support selling up to $200 million in bonds.
Johnson said he is worried about the possibility of raising property taxes to pay for projects in selected areas while struggling to find ways to pay for essential county services and to build other needed projects.
"I definitely don't want to pay more taxes for Jerry Jones' stadium," Johnson said. "It may be that we can't afford the bond issue on the things we must do."
Commissioners Glen Whitley and Marti VanRavenswaay defended the proposed transportation bonds, saying it is wrong to think that most of the money would go to ease traffic at the speedway or at the football stadium.
Whitley said Interstate 35W and Northeast Loop 820 on many days become heavily congested during rush hour and that anticipated growth in east Tarrant County demands that commissioners be proactive.
"That's ridiculous," Whitley said. "We are talking about transportation projects that help the community 365 days a year. ... That [the Cowboys stadium] doesn't have anything to do with it."
Without the extra transportation money, Whitley said, traffic congestion will worsen, and the quality of life will decline. He said the state only has money for about one-third of the roads that need to be built.
"We have a chance to get ahead of the tremendous growth we know is coming to Tarrant County," Whitley said. "If we don't put money into it, it won't happen."
Commissioners are already discussing a bond package that tentatively includes a new civil courts building, additional jail space, and expanded juvenile and medical examiner facilities.
They hope to put the package before voters this fall.
County Administrator G.K. Maenius said Tuesday that he expects the other projects to cost between $130 million and $140 million.
If the package is approved by voters, money to pay for those projects would be raised by selling general obligation bonds. County staff members have been striving to draft a package that would not increase the county's property tax rate of 27.25 cents per $100 of assessed value.
Whitley has suggested adding another $200 million for transportation. He is not recommending that the county develop a specific list of projects but that the money be spent on projects that are regionally significant.
Maenuis provided commissioners with a report Tuesday suggesting that a total proposed bond package of $330 million would raise the county property tax rate by about seven-tenths of a cent, to 27.95 cents of assessed value.
"The voters can make up their own minds," VanRavenswaay said.
But Johnson said voters in his precinct are "choking with taxes" and will look at transportation bonds with the question: "What's in it for me?"
He said he is also worried that the state Legislature will pass down some of the costs of its programs to the county while also passing legislation that will cap increases on property tax appraisals, limiting how much new money the county can raise.
"I want to make sure the governor isn't going to kill us and that the Legislature isn't going to kill us," he said.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Police plan draws opposition
By Bill Teeter, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - A controversial proposal to give police officers special bargaining rights sparked heated debate Tuesday among city leaders amid opposition from civilian employee groups.
The City Council voted unanimously to delay deciding until at least next week whether "meet and confer" rights for police should be put before voters on the May 7 ballot.
Employee groups went on record Tuesday opposing the proposal, and some council members questioned the potential divisiveness, the effect on the city budget and the need for additional public debate.
Some council members questioned whether their colleagues were unduly beholden to the police association, which has donated thousands of dollars to several campaigns in years past.
"I'm already seeing the wedge being driven between the public and civil servants and the rest of the employees of the city," Councilman Donavan Wheatfall said.
Wheatfall said residents should be given a chance to comment on the proposal before the council decides.
Police representatives say meet and confer status would allow negotiations beyond the state's civil service restrictions that now govern police and firefighters.
It differs from collective bargaining used by labor unions in that neither side would be required to negotiate or go to binding arbitration, unless otherwise specified.
"I'm not saying anything is broken, I'm saying we can do better," Lee Jackson, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, told the council.
Jackson said the provision would enhance the current system of informal talks between the association and the city. Some policy changes brought about by meet and confer would benefit other employee groups as well, he said.
A meet and confer system -- which is used in Austin and Houston, among other cities -- is a formal way of negotiating employment conditions, including compensation and benefits.
It would allow local conditions of employment for more than 1,300 Fort Worth police officers to be tailored to local issues, he said.
Mayor Mike Moncrief and at least three of the eight council members -- Jim Lane, Chuck Silcox and Clyde Picht -- support the proposal.
Five favorable council votes are needed to send the issue to voters.
Jackson said the campaign leading up to the May election would provide a forum for public discussion on the issue.
"All we ask for you to do is give us the opportunity to educate the public for the vote," Jackson said.
City Manager Charles Boswell strongly opposed the measure, saying lengthy employment contracts could lead to a loss of flexibility in budgeting and more cost to taxpayers.
He said a meet and confer system is not needed, because the current system is working well. He urged the council to let the police association put the issue before voters through an alternative method, which requires a petition of registered voters.
Boswell said a council vote to call the election could be perceived as support for the proposal.
Bruce Simon, president of the General Employees of the City of Fort Worth, told council members that the proposal is a veiled attempt at collective bargaining.
"It is our opinion that they are being greedy and not considering the other employees or the taxpayers," Simon said.
Minnie Nealy Hodge, president of the Coalition of Retired Employees, said the Police Officers Association appears to be using its power to gain special benefits.
The issue of meet and confer status has been raised repeatedly for more than a decade.
"I'm still hearing what we heard then, the fear of the power of the police association," Hodge said.
Several council members, however, said the system would be good for the city and should be decided by voters.
"The council in considering this in no way diminishes the other employee groups," Picht said. "There's plenty of time between now and May 7 for the public to come to a decision."
Councilman Jim Lane, who also supports meet and confer, said voters could consider the issue when it votes on the eight council seats and mayor's office in May. Neither Lane nor Picht are seeking re-election.
Councilwoman Wendy Davis opposed placing the item on the May 7 ballot.
In discussing the issue, she alluded pointedly to political activities by police officers and firefighters and noted that she had not received political or financial backing from those groups.
"There are politics of power here by the police and fire departments," Davis said. "Anybody who doesn't see that isn't being truthful.
"If we put this on the ballot, we are giving it tacit approval."
A review of campaign finance reports filed since 2003 shows that the police association's Committee for Public Safety has contributed to the proposal's four supporters -- Moncrief, Silcox, Lane and Picht.
Moncrief received $30,000, Picht $3,000, Silcox $2,500 and Lane $5,000 during that period, records show.
Councilman Ralph McCloud, who has not indicated his position on the issue, received $3,000 from the committee, records show.
Council members contacted about the contributions said they do not affect their decisions.
"Anyone who knows me knows I have represented police officers and members of the military in my work for years," Lane said. "And I always support labor issues."
Jackson said the police association is not trying to hurt other employees or force council members' hands. Delaying the issue to a special election later would cost more than $200,000, he said.
By Bill Teeter, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - A controversial proposal to give police officers special bargaining rights sparked heated debate Tuesday among city leaders amid opposition from civilian employee groups.
The City Council voted unanimously to delay deciding until at least next week whether "meet and confer" rights for police should be put before voters on the May 7 ballot.
Employee groups went on record Tuesday opposing the proposal, and some council members questioned the potential divisiveness, the effect on the city budget and the need for additional public debate.
Some council members questioned whether their colleagues were unduly beholden to the police association, which has donated thousands of dollars to several campaigns in years past.
"I'm already seeing the wedge being driven between the public and civil servants and the rest of the employees of the city," Councilman Donavan Wheatfall said.
Wheatfall said residents should be given a chance to comment on the proposal before the council decides.
Police representatives say meet and confer status would allow negotiations beyond the state's civil service restrictions that now govern police and firefighters.
It differs from collective bargaining used by labor unions in that neither side would be required to negotiate or go to binding arbitration, unless otherwise specified.
"I'm not saying anything is broken, I'm saying we can do better," Lee Jackson, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, told the council.
Jackson said the provision would enhance the current system of informal talks between the association and the city. Some policy changes brought about by meet and confer would benefit other employee groups as well, he said.
A meet and confer system -- which is used in Austin and Houston, among other cities -- is a formal way of negotiating employment conditions, including compensation and benefits.
It would allow local conditions of employment for more than 1,300 Fort Worth police officers to be tailored to local issues, he said.
Mayor Mike Moncrief and at least three of the eight council members -- Jim Lane, Chuck Silcox and Clyde Picht -- support the proposal.
Five favorable council votes are needed to send the issue to voters.
Jackson said the campaign leading up to the May election would provide a forum for public discussion on the issue.
"All we ask for you to do is give us the opportunity to educate the public for the vote," Jackson said.
City Manager Charles Boswell strongly opposed the measure, saying lengthy employment contracts could lead to a loss of flexibility in budgeting and more cost to taxpayers.
He said a meet and confer system is not needed, because the current system is working well. He urged the council to let the police association put the issue before voters through an alternative method, which requires a petition of registered voters.
Boswell said a council vote to call the election could be perceived as support for the proposal.
Bruce Simon, president of the General Employees of the City of Fort Worth, told council members that the proposal is a veiled attempt at collective bargaining.
"It is our opinion that they are being greedy and not considering the other employees or the taxpayers," Simon said.
Minnie Nealy Hodge, president of the Coalition of Retired Employees, said the Police Officers Association appears to be using its power to gain special benefits.
The issue of meet and confer status has been raised repeatedly for more than a decade.
"I'm still hearing what we heard then, the fear of the power of the police association," Hodge said.
Several council members, however, said the system would be good for the city and should be decided by voters.
"The council in considering this in no way diminishes the other employee groups," Picht said. "There's plenty of time between now and May 7 for the public to come to a decision."
Councilman Jim Lane, who also supports meet and confer, said voters could consider the issue when it votes on the eight council seats and mayor's office in May. Neither Lane nor Picht are seeking re-election.
Councilwoman Wendy Davis opposed placing the item on the May 7 ballot.
In discussing the issue, she alluded pointedly to political activities by police officers and firefighters and noted that she had not received political or financial backing from those groups.
"There are politics of power here by the police and fire departments," Davis said. "Anybody who doesn't see that isn't being truthful.
"If we put this on the ballot, we are giving it tacit approval."
A review of campaign finance reports filed since 2003 shows that the police association's Committee for Public Safety has contributed to the proposal's four supporters -- Moncrief, Silcox, Lane and Picht.
Moncrief received $30,000, Picht $3,000, Silcox $2,500 and Lane $5,000 during that period, records show.
Councilman Ralph McCloud, who has not indicated his position on the issue, received $3,000 from the committee, records show.
Council members contacted about the contributions said they do not affect their decisions.
"Anyone who knows me knows I have represented police officers and members of the military in my work for years," Lane said. "And I always support labor issues."
Jackson said the police association is not trying to hurt other employees or force council members' hands. Delaying the issue to a special election later would cost more than $200,000, he said.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Paschal teacher on leave since his arrest resigns
By Amie Streater, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - A popular Paschal High science teacher who was accused by police of growing marijuana in his garage has submitted his resignation, the Star-Telegram has learned.
A copy of Philip Blake Sills' resignation letter, dated Friday, was given to the newspaper late Tuesday in response to an open-records request.
The letter is only two lines long and states that Sills, 45, is leaving the district "for personal reasons." The resignation is effective Aug. 1.
Sills has been with the district for 19 years.
Superintendent Joe Ross declined to comment Tuesday on the resignation.
Sills did not return a phone call to his home.
Sills, who taught Advanced Placement environmental systems and honors biology, had been on administrative leave since his arrest Nov. 16. He will continue to collect his pay through July, school district officials said.
Police reported finding marijuana plants growing in the garage of Sills' Fort Worth home. Officers discovered the plants while searching for a truancy suspect.
According to the police report, when confronted with the plants and additional evidence collected from his home, Sills told police that it was a "botany experiment."
The Tarrant County district attorney's office later dismissed the police case, saying officers lacked probable cause to search Sills' property.
But when the case was dismissed, Sills' future with the district became murky: Neither state law nor district policy gives the district the power to fire Sills based solely on the arrest.
The school district's Case Review Committee declined to return Sills to work, but administrators would not discuss the matter publicly.
The ongoing silence has frustrated students and parents who have attended board meetings to ask that Sills be returned to the classroom.
Two Paschal parents and senior Stephen Cox spoke at Tuesday's board meeting in support of Sills. Cox gave trustees copies of a petition that he said had the signatures of 360 students and parents asking that Sills be reinstated.
"He is one of the best teachers I have ever had," Cox said.
Because Sills' job status was not on the board's agenda, trustees could not discuss the matter, and they did not disclose Sills' resignation.
Later, when told about the resignation, Cox said he was not surprised.
"We knew the district was trying to force him to resign," Cox said. "I'm sure he decided it just wasn't worth it anymore."
Sills' arrest has been reported to the Texas State Board for Educator Certification. It was not clear late Tuesday whether his teaching certification could be in jeopardy.
In other business Tuesday, trustees agreed to accept the sale of the former Temple Beth-El to Leyla Nourian and Robert Ritter for $425,000. A previous bid from Historic Southside Inc. for $525,000 "failed to materialize, due primarily to lack of funding," according to school district documents. Those were the only two bidders for the property, records show.
The vote was 5-4. Voting no were Trustees Chris Hatch, T.A. Sims, Camille Rodriguez and Juan Rangel.
The district paid $950,000 for the property in May 2000.
By Amie Streater, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - A popular Paschal High science teacher who was accused by police of growing marijuana in his garage has submitted his resignation, the Star-Telegram has learned.
A copy of Philip Blake Sills' resignation letter, dated Friday, was given to the newspaper late Tuesday in response to an open-records request.
The letter is only two lines long and states that Sills, 45, is leaving the district "for personal reasons." The resignation is effective Aug. 1.
Sills has been with the district for 19 years.
Superintendent Joe Ross declined to comment Tuesday on the resignation.
Sills did not return a phone call to his home.
Sills, who taught Advanced Placement environmental systems and honors biology, had been on administrative leave since his arrest Nov. 16. He will continue to collect his pay through July, school district officials said.
Police reported finding marijuana plants growing in the garage of Sills' Fort Worth home. Officers discovered the plants while searching for a truancy suspect.
According to the police report, when confronted with the plants and additional evidence collected from his home, Sills told police that it was a "botany experiment."
The Tarrant County district attorney's office later dismissed the police case, saying officers lacked probable cause to search Sills' property.
But when the case was dismissed, Sills' future with the district became murky: Neither state law nor district policy gives the district the power to fire Sills based solely on the arrest.
The school district's Case Review Committee declined to return Sills to work, but administrators would not discuss the matter publicly.
The ongoing silence has frustrated students and parents who have attended board meetings to ask that Sills be returned to the classroom.
Two Paschal parents and senior Stephen Cox spoke at Tuesday's board meeting in support of Sills. Cox gave trustees copies of a petition that he said had the signatures of 360 students and parents asking that Sills be reinstated.
"He is one of the best teachers I have ever had," Cox said.
Because Sills' job status was not on the board's agenda, trustees could not discuss the matter, and they did not disclose Sills' resignation.
Later, when told about the resignation, Cox said he was not surprised.
"We knew the district was trying to force him to resign," Cox said. "I'm sure he decided it just wasn't worth it anymore."
Sills' arrest has been reported to the Texas State Board for Educator Certification. It was not clear late Tuesday whether his teaching certification could be in jeopardy.
In other business Tuesday, trustees agreed to accept the sale of the former Temple Beth-El to Leyla Nourian and Robert Ritter for $425,000. A previous bid from Historic Southside Inc. for $525,000 "failed to materialize, due primarily to lack of funding," according to school district documents. Those were the only two bidders for the property, records show.
The vote was 5-4. Voting no were Trustees Chris Hatch, T.A. Sims, Camille Rodriguez and Juan Rangel.
The district paid $950,000 for the property in May 2000.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Area deaths are linked to diesel soot
By Scott Streater, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
The Dallas-Fort Worth area ranks 14th in the nation in the number of people who died from inhaling diesel fumes, according to a new study whose authors say is the first to quantify deaths linked to diesel exhaust.
The study by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit group based in Boston, calculates that 205 Dallas-Fort Worth residents die each year from long-term exposure to diesel fumes.
Houston ranks No. 6. New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago are at the top of the list.
Diesel emissions contain soot that's linked to thousands of premature deaths each year. Diesel exhaust also contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, which can scar the lungs and trigger asthma attacks.
Overall, 879 Texans -- more than two people every day -- die prematurely each year from to diesel-vehicle emissions, making the state No. 5 nationwide in such deaths. More than 20,000 Americans die prematurely each year from breathing diesel emissions, according to the study.
"This is a significant risk and threat to public health," said Conrad Schneider, co-author of the study.
But critics were quick Tuesday to point out what they say are flaws.
The study is based on 1999 emissions data and does not take into account the $120.6 million the state has spent since 2001 retrofitting "off-road" diesel equipment like bulldozers with pollution-control equipment, said Andy Saenz, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Saenz also said the study fails to mention that all 254 counties in Texas meet federal health-based standards for microscopic-particle pollution.
Diesel-industry representatives argue that the study exaggerates the number of diesel emissions sources. They cite a federal study that calculated that diesel emissions make up less than 5 percent of all air pollution sources.
"That means over 95 percent of the particles out there are coming from other sources," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a nonprofit group that represents diesel-equipment manufacturers. "It's really hard to understand exactly where some of these health-risk numbers come from."
But Schneider and others said the issue is not the number of air pollution sources but the effect of each on air quality. The study reveals that diesel emissions are seven times more likely to cause cancer than all other air pollution sources combined.
"We can confidently say that reducing diesel exhaust in our environment will improve public health," said Dr. Howard Frumkin, chairman of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University in Atlanta, which did not contribute to the report.
Clean-air advocates note that schoolchildren are at greatest risk.
Every day, millions of children who ride the bus to and from school are exposed to high levels of diesel exhaust, especially while waiting to board on the bus ramp.
The federal government estimates that 24 million children ride to school each day in 450,000 school buses, the vast majority of which are powered by diesel engines. The average school-age child spends 90 minutes each weekday in or waiting for a school bus.
Regional leaders estimate that 1,500 school buses in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties were built before 1993, when technology that can reduce emissions became available.
A pre-1993 diesel bus emits as much soot, on average, as 114 cars, the federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
"Children are the most vulnerable because they are exposed to diesel fumes more than anyone else, and their lungs are not well developed," said Tessie Holloway, regional executive director of the American Lung Association of Texas, which was not involved in the study. "If the long-term exposure occurs at an early age, the damage is irreversible."
IN THE KNOW
Diesel exhaust and health
Diesel exhaust is a mixture of particles and gas that contributes to an array of environmental health concerns. It contains:
• Nitrogen oxides, the chief man-made contributor to ground-level ozone. At high concentrations, ozone triggers asthma attacks and aggravates emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory problems.
The Metroplex cannot meet federal ozone standards and faces a 2010 deadline to comply or face potentially severe sanctions, including the annual loss of hundreds of millions in federal transportation dollars.
• Microscopic particles so small that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, 3,000 of them would fit inside the period at the end of this sentence. These fine particles are small enough to sidestep the lungs' natural defenses; they build up in the lungs over time and have been linked to respiratory diseases and cardiovascular problems.
The EPA says the particulate matter causes an estimated 15,000 premature deaths nationwide each year.
SOURCES: Environmental Protection Agency; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• Diesel exhaust and health. 5B
By Scott Streater, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
The Dallas-Fort Worth area ranks 14th in the nation in the number of people who died from inhaling diesel fumes, according to a new study whose authors say is the first to quantify deaths linked to diesel exhaust.
The study by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit group based in Boston, calculates that 205 Dallas-Fort Worth residents die each year from long-term exposure to diesel fumes.
Houston ranks No. 6. New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago are at the top of the list.
Diesel emissions contain soot that's linked to thousands of premature deaths each year. Diesel exhaust also contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, which can scar the lungs and trigger asthma attacks.
Overall, 879 Texans -- more than two people every day -- die prematurely each year from to diesel-vehicle emissions, making the state No. 5 nationwide in such deaths. More than 20,000 Americans die prematurely each year from breathing diesel emissions, according to the study.
"This is a significant risk and threat to public health," said Conrad Schneider, co-author of the study.
But critics were quick Tuesday to point out what they say are flaws.
The study is based on 1999 emissions data and does not take into account the $120.6 million the state has spent since 2001 retrofitting "off-road" diesel equipment like bulldozers with pollution-control equipment, said Andy Saenz, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Saenz also said the study fails to mention that all 254 counties in Texas meet federal health-based standards for microscopic-particle pollution.
Diesel-industry representatives argue that the study exaggerates the number of diesel emissions sources. They cite a federal study that calculated that diesel emissions make up less than 5 percent of all air pollution sources.
"That means over 95 percent of the particles out there are coming from other sources," said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a nonprofit group that represents diesel-equipment manufacturers. "It's really hard to understand exactly where some of these health-risk numbers come from."
But Schneider and others said the issue is not the number of air pollution sources but the effect of each on air quality. The study reveals that diesel emissions are seven times more likely to cause cancer than all other air pollution sources combined.
"We can confidently say that reducing diesel exhaust in our environment will improve public health," said Dr. Howard Frumkin, chairman of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Emory University in Atlanta, which did not contribute to the report.
Clean-air advocates note that schoolchildren are at greatest risk.
Every day, millions of children who ride the bus to and from school are exposed to high levels of diesel exhaust, especially while waiting to board on the bus ramp.
The federal government estimates that 24 million children ride to school each day in 450,000 school buses, the vast majority of which are powered by diesel engines. The average school-age child spends 90 minutes each weekday in or waiting for a school bus.
Regional leaders estimate that 1,500 school buses in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties were built before 1993, when technology that can reduce emissions became available.
A pre-1993 diesel bus emits as much soot, on average, as 114 cars, the federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
"Children are the most vulnerable because they are exposed to diesel fumes more than anyone else, and their lungs are not well developed," said Tessie Holloway, regional executive director of the American Lung Association of Texas, which was not involved in the study. "If the long-term exposure occurs at an early age, the damage is irreversible."
IN THE KNOW
Diesel exhaust and health
Diesel exhaust is a mixture of particles and gas that contributes to an array of environmental health concerns. It contains:
• Nitrogen oxides, the chief man-made contributor to ground-level ozone. At high concentrations, ozone triggers asthma attacks and aggravates emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory problems.
The Metroplex cannot meet federal ozone standards and faces a 2010 deadline to comply or face potentially severe sanctions, including the annual loss of hundreds of millions in federal transportation dollars.
• Microscopic particles so small that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, 3,000 of them would fit inside the period at the end of this sentence. These fine particles are small enough to sidestep the lungs' natural defenses; they build up in the lungs over time and have been linked to respiratory diseases and cardiovascular problems.
The EPA says the particulate matter causes an estimated 15,000 premature deaths nationwide each year.
SOURCES: Environmental Protection Agency; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• Diesel exhaust and health. 5B
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
War letters inspire memoirs
By Bill Fairley, Special to the Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas - In 1989, Fort Worth resident Max Lale returned to the World War II battlefields of Europe with eight other old soldiers at the invitation of journalist Bill Moyers, who was filming a documentary about the war's final year.
Lale was a logical choice. He served five years in the Army, 15 months of which were in almost constant combat. He survived four major European battles and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Besides, Lale and Moyers were old friends with East Texas journalism ties.
Moyers was interested in preserving the stories of aging World War II veterans. He, and others, encouraged Lale to write his memoirs. When Lale reluctantly complied, Moyers wrote a foreword for the book, Max's Memoirs, which was published by Eakin Press of Austin.
Max's Memoirs describes Lale's childhood in Oklahoma. He was born Aug. 31, 1916, in Shawnee and grew up near Seminole Indian Nation land. One of his earliest memories is of picking cotton from sunup to sundown. When he was 5, his mother and father, Laura and Newton Lale, moved the family to Cushing, Okla., where Max entered school.
When he was 10, the Lales returned to Shawnee, and Max graduated from Shawnee High School in 1932. Two years later, with $35 in his pocket, he hitchhiked to Norman, where he entered the University of Oklahoma. He majored in journalism and enrolled in ROTC.
At OU, he met Georgiana Aspley, a Denison native, who was studying to become a teacher. She also played the trombone quite well. (She was sorely disappointed when she was not allowed to play in all-male Pride of Oklahoma marching band.) The courtship became serious between Lale's junior and senior years.
After working at part-time jobs, including at newspapers, Lale graduated in 1938 with a journalism degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves. And he and Georgiana married.
He was obligated to serve a year in the Army as a reserve officer, but volunteered for active duty in 1940. Because of his ROTC training and summer camps at Fort Sill, Okla., he was prepared to become an artillery officer.
Lale recalls that he was fortunate to brush shoulders with outstanding young Army officers such as Lt. William Westmoreland, later to become commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam and Army chief of staff. At Fort Sam Houston, Lale came under the command of Maj. Maxwell Taylor, who later also became Army chief of staff. Taylor commanded the 101st Airborne Division that landed behind German lines in Normandy and also fought valiantly during the Battle of the Bulge.
During Lale's 15 months of combat in Europe, he wrote almost daily to Georgiana, and she wrote back frequently. She kept all his letters -- from Sept. 6, 1944, through Nov. 16, 1945, the date he returned to the States. In his letters, Lale described his battlefield experiences and confided his innermost feelings about soldiering and the swirl of events around him. He brought a reporter's eye to noteworthy events. Lale wrote 217 letters from Europe in addition to 13 he wrote just before sailing for Europe aboard the Queen Elizabeth with the 401st Field Artillery Group.
Georgiana's letters were filled with love, hope, and news of home and family.
Lale left the Army and returned to journalism, working at newspapers in East Texas.
In fall 1995, Max Lale gave his WWII letters and other personal papers to the Special Collections Division of the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.
Source: Max's Memoirs and Interviews
By Bill Fairley, Special to the Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas - In 1989, Fort Worth resident Max Lale returned to the World War II battlefields of Europe with eight other old soldiers at the invitation of journalist Bill Moyers, who was filming a documentary about the war's final year.
Lale was a logical choice. He served five years in the Army, 15 months of which were in almost constant combat. He survived four major European battles and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Besides, Lale and Moyers were old friends with East Texas journalism ties.
Moyers was interested in preserving the stories of aging World War II veterans. He, and others, encouraged Lale to write his memoirs. When Lale reluctantly complied, Moyers wrote a foreword for the book, Max's Memoirs, which was published by Eakin Press of Austin.
Max's Memoirs describes Lale's childhood in Oklahoma. He was born Aug. 31, 1916, in Shawnee and grew up near Seminole Indian Nation land. One of his earliest memories is of picking cotton from sunup to sundown. When he was 5, his mother and father, Laura and Newton Lale, moved the family to Cushing, Okla., where Max entered school.
When he was 10, the Lales returned to Shawnee, and Max graduated from Shawnee High School in 1932. Two years later, with $35 in his pocket, he hitchhiked to Norman, where he entered the University of Oklahoma. He majored in journalism and enrolled in ROTC.
At OU, he met Georgiana Aspley, a Denison native, who was studying to become a teacher. She also played the trombone quite well. (She was sorely disappointed when she was not allowed to play in all-male Pride of Oklahoma marching band.) The courtship became serious between Lale's junior and senior years.
After working at part-time jobs, including at newspapers, Lale graduated in 1938 with a journalism degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves. And he and Georgiana married.
He was obligated to serve a year in the Army as a reserve officer, but volunteered for active duty in 1940. Because of his ROTC training and summer camps at Fort Sill, Okla., he was prepared to become an artillery officer.
Lale recalls that he was fortunate to brush shoulders with outstanding young Army officers such as Lt. William Westmoreland, later to become commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam and Army chief of staff. At Fort Sam Houston, Lale came under the command of Maj. Maxwell Taylor, who later also became Army chief of staff. Taylor commanded the 101st Airborne Division that landed behind German lines in Normandy and also fought valiantly during the Battle of the Bulge.
During Lale's 15 months of combat in Europe, he wrote almost daily to Georgiana, and she wrote back frequently. She kept all his letters -- from Sept. 6, 1944, through Nov. 16, 1945, the date he returned to the States. In his letters, Lale described his battlefield experiences and confided his innermost feelings about soldiering and the swirl of events around him. He brought a reporter's eye to noteworthy events. Lale wrote 217 letters from Europe in addition to 13 he wrote just before sailing for Europe aboard the Queen Elizabeth with the 401st Field Artillery Group.
Georgiana's letters were filled with love, hope, and news of home and family.
Lale left the Army and returned to journalism, working at newspapers in East Texas.
In fall 1995, Max Lale gave his WWII letters and other personal papers to the Special Collections Division of the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.
Source: Max's Memoirs and Interviews
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Osteopathic's closing crowds other hospitals
By Mitch Mitchell, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas - This is the season of full hospitals, according to emergency room workers across Tarrant County.
Flu season is normally a busy time of year for hospitals, physicians and nurses. But the past few months have been especially lively for Tarrant County health care providers because of the October shutdown of Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas.
"The closure of Osteopathic has impacted our census tremendously," said Susie Hood, emergency services nursing director at Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth. "On Monday, we saw 130 patients in 24 hours. Routinely, we average between 105 to 115. We saw almost 3,000 in January, which is a new record for us."
Hospital personnel are seeing a mix of patients with the flu, cardiac difficulties and upper respiratory distress. While an increase in patients during flu season is an annual event, other hospitals are having to absorb the patients that were once cared for in the 265 beds provided by Osteopathic Medical Center.
"The hospitals that remain open are really being flooded by patients who need medical care," said Phyllis Norman, vice president of patient care for Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital.
By Mitch Mitchell, Star-Telegram Staff Writer
TARRANT COUNTY, Texas - This is the season of full hospitals, according to emergency room workers across Tarrant County.
Flu season is normally a busy time of year for hospitals, physicians and nurses. But the past few months have been especially lively for Tarrant County health care providers because of the October shutdown of Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas.
"The closure of Osteopathic has impacted our census tremendously," said Susie Hood, emergency services nursing director at Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth. "On Monday, we saw 130 patients in 24 hours. Routinely, we average between 105 to 115. We saw almost 3,000 in January, which is a new record for us."
Hospital personnel are seeing a mix of patients with the flu, cardiac difficulties and upper respiratory distress. While an increase in patients during flu season is an annual event, other hospitals are having to absorb the patients that were once cared for in the 265 beds provided by Osteopathic Medical Center.
"The hospitals that remain open are really being flooded by patients who need medical care," said Phyllis Norman, vice president of patient care for Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Taser May Not Have Caused In-Custody Death
HOUSTON, Texas (KPRC NBC 2) - A police Taser gun may have not caused the death of a man being taken into custody, as was first thought, Local 2 reported in an exclusive story Tuesday.
Officers said they were forced to user a Taser and restrain Joel Dawn Casey Friday during a violent struggle with two Precinct 1 deputy constables at his mother's home in the 4700 block of Meyerwood. He was being arrested on a mental health warrant.
Officers did not know Casey had a weak heart. His heart stopped beating after he was shot with the 50,000-volt Taser gun. But preliminary autopsy results indicate that did not kill him.
"What they're describing to me is not consistent with what some people have are Taser-caused heart attacks or heart failures," said Joe Owmby, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Early autopsy results showed Casey had a broken hyoid bone, which could be an indication that he suffocated or strangled to death. The hyoid is a horseshoe-shaped bone located near the windpipe that supports the muscles of the tongue. A broken hyoid bone is often found in strangulation victims, but Owmby said it's too early to make that call in this case.
"It indicates that force was placed against the hyoid bone and it broke. How that happened, I don't know, so that's why I'm not prepared to say whether it's consistent with strangulation because I don't really know what happened," he said.
Statements by the arresting officer and at least one witness did not mention force applied to Casey's throat during the fight.
Owmby is still reviewing the evidence and said he will meet with the medical examiners in the next few days to go over the autopsy results.
Casey's mother declined to comment Tuesday. She said she wants to see the official autopsy report first. It could be weeks or months before that report is made public.
Casey had a history of mental illness. His mother called Precinct 1 deputy constables to pick up Casey Friday. That's when they say he became combative.
In a statement Monday, the Casey family said they thought the Taser gun and struggle contributed to his death.
HOUSTON, Texas (KPRC NBC 2) - A police Taser gun may have not caused the death of a man being taken into custody, as was first thought, Local 2 reported in an exclusive story Tuesday.
Officers said they were forced to user a Taser and restrain Joel Dawn Casey Friday during a violent struggle with two Precinct 1 deputy constables at his mother's home in the 4700 block of Meyerwood. He was being arrested on a mental health warrant.
Officers did not know Casey had a weak heart. His heart stopped beating after he was shot with the 50,000-volt Taser gun. But preliminary autopsy results indicate that did not kill him.
"What they're describing to me is not consistent with what some people have are Taser-caused heart attacks or heart failures," said Joe Owmby, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Early autopsy results showed Casey had a broken hyoid bone, which could be an indication that he suffocated or strangled to death. The hyoid is a horseshoe-shaped bone located near the windpipe that supports the muscles of the tongue. A broken hyoid bone is often found in strangulation victims, but Owmby said it's too early to make that call in this case.
"It indicates that force was placed against the hyoid bone and it broke. How that happened, I don't know, so that's why I'm not prepared to say whether it's consistent with strangulation because I don't really know what happened," he said.
Statements by the arresting officer and at least one witness did not mention force applied to Casey's throat during the fight.
Owmby is still reviewing the evidence and said he will meet with the medical examiners in the next few days to go over the autopsy results.
Casey's mother declined to comment Tuesday. She said she wants to see the official autopsy report first. It could be weeks or months before that report is made public.
Casey had a history of mental illness. His mother called Precinct 1 deputy constables to pick up Casey Friday. That's when they say he became combative.
In a statement Monday, the Casey family said they thought the Taser gun and struggle contributed to his death.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Officials Rescue Hundreds Of Abused, Neglected Animals
Police: Filthy, Squalid Living Conditions For 200 Animals In E. Texas Puppy Mill
CHESTER, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Hundreds of dogs and other animals have been rescued from abuse and neglect at what authorities say is an East Texas puppy mill.
Harris and Tyler county officers and Houston Humane Society volunteers Tuesday raided the place in the small town of Chester, 93 miles northeast of Houston.
They found what they described as filthy, squalid living conditions for more than 200 starving dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals.
Investigators say many of the dogs yelped in pain amid the carcasses of other animals. The animals were taken to the Humane Society for treatment. No arrests were made, but the investigation continues.
Police: Filthy, Squalid Living Conditions For 200 Animals In E. Texas Puppy Mill
CHESTER, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Hundreds of dogs and other animals have been rescued from abuse and neglect at what authorities say is an East Texas puppy mill.
Harris and Tyler county officers and Houston Humane Society volunteers Tuesday raided the place in the small town of Chester, 93 miles northeast of Houston.
They found what they described as filthy, squalid living conditions for more than 200 starving dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals.
Investigators say many of the dogs yelped in pain amid the carcasses of other animals. The animals were taken to the Humane Society for treatment. No arrests were made, but the investigation continues.
0 likes
-
TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Texas Senate Considers Privatizing Some CPS Functions
AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE CBS 42) - The head of a think tank says it might be more expensive, but Texas should consider privatizing some functions of Child Protective Services. Former judge Scott McCown also suggested that route to lawmakers if it would be good for the children of Texas. But McCown, who's with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, says the state should first have a test run on privatization.
The Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee met to consider a CPS reform bill. The proposal by Senator Jane Nelson of Lewisville would privatize certain CPS functions and does not include a test program. Investigations would not be privatized. The bill also calls for hiring additional caseworkers and support staff and implementing new technology to reduce the load on CPS workers.
AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE CBS 42) - The head of a think tank says it might be more expensive, but Texas should consider privatizing some functions of Child Protective Services. Former judge Scott McCown also suggested that route to lawmakers if it would be good for the children of Texas. But McCown, who's with the Center for Public Policy Priorities, says the state should first have a test run on privatization.
The Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee met to consider a CPS reform bill. The proposal by Senator Jane Nelson of Lewisville would privatize certain CPS functions and does not include a test program. Investigations would not be privatized. The bill also calls for hiring additional caseworkers and support staff and implementing new technology to reduce the load on CPS workers.
0 likes
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests