News from the Lone Star State

[CaptinCrunch]

Suspect Arrested In Teen Girl's Stabbing Murder

HALTOM CITY, Texas -- Nearly two months after she was found stabbed to death, police have made an arrest in related to the murder of 14-year-old Lan Bui. The girl's body was found Feb. 7 in the courtyard of the Waldemar Apartments, where she lived with her family.

Halton City police Wednesday announced the arrest of Laverne Pratt, 44, who lived in the same apartment complex. Police questioned Pratt and his stepson Gustavo Flores, 19, the same week Bui was found stabbed to death.
"The affidavit supporting the warrant of arrest cites Mr. Pratt's own verbal admissions, witness statements; the blood of Lan Bui, which was found on some of Mr. Pratt's clothing, which was recovered from his apartment; and DNA evidence consistent with that of Lan Biu and Mr. Pratt that was on the material used to bind Ms. Bui's hands behind her back, on items found in a Dumpster near Pratt's apartment and on pantyhose material found on the ground near the body of Lan Bui," said Haltom City police Chief Ken Burton.

Police said Flores remains a possible suspect in the murder. Both men are in the Tarrant County jail on charges filed earlier in the investigation. Authorities still are trying to determine a motive for the murder.

[CaptinCrunch]

Armed Robbers Hit Dallas Restaurants
Police: Men May Become More Dangerous

DALLAS -- Fast-food restaurant robbers have hit three delis in southwest Dallas and could put the public in danger if they're not caught, police say.

The men are casing their targets and going in prepared, police say.
So far, no customers have been around when the robberies occurred during slow evening hours.

Employees are forced to participate, opening the registers for the armed men. At times, the employees have been forced into the back and locked up, police said.

Surveillance cameras have captured good images of the men strolling through a restaurant's doors.

Police are worried about the men's confidence and boldness.

"The suspects could be considered untouchables and, if they're getting away with one, they're going to get away with others, and it could put the patrons and owners in a life-threatening situation," Det. A.D. Mason said.

Police are asking that anyone who recognize the men call 911.

[TexasStooge]

RACE FOR THE CURE SATURDAY

FORT WORTH, Texas (Star-Telegram) - You'll be seeing pink in downtown Fort Worth on Saturday at the Tarrant County 5K Race for the Cure. Registration for the annual run, which starts at 8 a.m., is from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. in Sundance Square. Cost: $30. Early registration continues today for $25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Luke's Locker, 1540 S. University Drive.

Also, there's a party from 6 to 10 tonight sponsored by The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, 800 Magnolia St. Cost: $15. Sponsor: Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. One-quarter of the money raised this weekend goes for cancer research; the rest goes to Tarrant County agencies working with breast cancer. Information: (817) 989-2873 or http://www.komentarrant.org.

[TexasStooge]

Blue Angels highlight annual air show

By Chris Vaughn, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - With a blessed weekend forecast and the appearance of the Navy's poster-boy pilots, the Blue Angels, the Texas Thunder Air Show is expected to draw huge crowds to Naval Air Station Fort Worth.

Daily crowds of 100,000 and up have put the base's past air shows among the biggest attractions in North Texas.

"The local commands put up with a lot for us to have the air show, but it's important for our community relations," said Cmdr. Shawn Cook, the show coordinator. "It's a nice way to thank the local community."

The air show took three years off because of deployments and post-9/11 security concerns, but base leaders revived the show last year.

The Blue Angels' arrival in Fort Worth this week is the team's third air-show weekend of a long 2005 season, a national tour through more than a dozen states through mid-November.

The hotshot team and its support crew, hand-picked volunteers all, are the Navy and Marine Corps' ambassadors to the American public and are counted on as key recruiters.

Preceding the Blue Angels throughout the day will be two MiG-15s, an F-16 demonstration by Lockheed Martin pilots, air show veteran Jan Collmer flying the FINA Extra 300L, and a T-6 plane that trained Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

Back for a repeat performance from last year's show is a mock battle with F/A-18 Hornets, helicopters, paratroopers and pyrotechnics.

New this year is the Air Force jet car, a vehicle that weighs only 2,300 pounds but runs at 400 mph.

The only noticeable hole in the show will be a lack of large aircraft, such as a B-52 bomber or C-5 transport. Cook said "real-world" missions have made it nearly impossible to get those planes for air shows.

A variety of military aircraft will be on display, several of them locally based, as well as a Hornet simulator that shows what it feels like to take off from a carrier.

Proceeds from concessions and novelties sold at the show benefit the base's morale programs, such as the bowling alley, movie theater and gym.

Air show

• The Texas Thunder Air Show is Saturday and Sunday at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, on Texas 183 just north of Interstate 30.

• Parking and admission are free.

• Gates open at 8 a.m. Anticipated start is about 11 a.m., and the Blue Angels are expected to fly about 2:30 p.m.

• Random security checks or ID checks are possible, so bring your driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.

• No pets or coolers are allowed.

• Ear plugs are highly recommended, especially for children. And don't forget the sunscreen.

• Spur 341 on the west side of the base will be closed in midafternoon both days.

• For information, (817) 782-3094 or http://www.best-airshows.com.

[TexasStooge]

Newspaper carrier sexually assaulted

By Melody Mcdonald, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - A newspaper carrier delivering papers in downtown Fort Worth was sexually assaulted early Wednesday after a stranger pushed her back into her vehicle, jumped in and drove her to another location, where the assault occurred.

"It was a stranger-ambush type of assault," said Fort Worth police Sgt. Paul Ware.

The 23-year-old woman -- who is not being identified because she is a sexual assault victim -- was delivering newspapers about 2:40 a.m. near the bus station.

A man approached her at the corner of Main and Ninth streets, police said.

The man asked her for money and, when he discovered she had very little cash, he stated that it "wasn't enough," Ware said.

Ware said that the man then pushed her into her vehicle, then got in and drove her to the 100 block of East Hattie Street. The suspect then pulled her out of her vehicle and sexually assaulted her, Ware said.

Afterward, the suspect -- described as a 6-foot-2-inch, 250-pound black man wearing a khaki shirt and pants -- walked away, heading north. The woman drove to the nearest phone and called police, Ware said.

"We don't know of any other offense that can be linked to this," Ware said. "We don't suspect it is any type of serial offense."

Ware said detectives are in the preliminary stages of the investigation but are following up on all leads.

"We will process the evidence and contact people in the area to see if they possibly saw something," he said.

Anyone with information about the assault is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (817) 469-TIPS.

[TexasStooge]

Delapaz found guilty in fake-drug trial

By BRETT SHIPP / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Victims of the Dallas Police fake-drug scandal celebrated Thursday after a jury found former narcotics detective Mark Delapaz guilty of falsifying evidence.

Jurors deliberated less than an hour before returning with their decision that Delapaz had tampered or fabricated physical evidence by misusing a crooked confidential informant in one of dozens of cases related to the 2001 scandal.

Judge Mark Nancarrow read the verdict, which nearly two dozen wrongly-jailed civilians had been waiting three years to hear.

"Thank you, My God, for this verdict," said Erubial Cruz, who spent two months in jail because of the scandal.

Cruz is just one of the fake-drug victims who sat silently savoring special prosecutor Dan Hagood's attack.

"Mr. Delapaz never did any follow-up investigation," Hagood told the courtroom. "He turned over the videotape from August 4, he lied to detective Walker, he lied to Detective Gallagher, he lied regarding the field tests for goodness sakes - and we're to believe him?"

Defense Council Paul Coggins confidently countered, claiming the prosecution's case was weak.

"You've got to acquit," Coggins said. "The state can't meet that burden of proof; they can't come close to meeting their burden in this case. That's why we shut it down as fast as we did. It took a day, a couple of witnesses."

Coggins may now wish he had taken longer as the jury took only an hour to shut his client down. The verdict was difficult for them to accept.

"We still think he's innocent," Coggins said. "We've thought that all along, and we'll continue to think he's innocent."

In News 8's investigation, you might remember the devastated auto shop owner Yvonne Gwyn, whose wrongful arrest turned her life upside-down. Her tears Thursday afternoon meant something else.

"He destroyed my life completely, all my family," she said. "I have no more comments."

[TexasStooge]

Man lost in swirling Trinity River

FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) — A man is missing in the Trinity River in an area popular with kayakers for its swift current.

The man and three other out-of-town relatives tried to walk acoss the river Thursday night at about 9:30 p.m. at a low-level dam that crosses the waterway in Trinity Park.

The area behind the Pappadeaux restaurant is open to the public, and it looks like the water is running over rocks that are submerged just a few inches.

But according to those with him, the 21-year-old man quickly walked into knee-deep water and was sucked into a swirl.

"He tried to swim to one of the shores, realized it was the furthest shore, went to the other one, but unfortunately that was where the water swirl was actually worse," said Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman Lt. Kent Worley. "He went under about 40 to 50 yards away from this lowhead dam, and that was the last they'd seen of him."

Dive teams searching for the man confirmed the water is very turbulent and they said its ferocity surprised even them.

The search was called off just after midnight and was set to resume at 7 a.m. Friday.

WFAA-TV reporter Yolanda Walker in Fort Worth contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Paddling stopped by Dallas ISD

Trustees vote down policy, 7-0; uniforms OK'd through 8th grade

By TOYA LYNN STEWART / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Paddling is out in the Dallas school district. Uniforms are in.

Dallas school trustees voted Thursday to end corporal punishment and to mandate uniforms for students through the eighth grade.

The trustees' 7-0 vote to end paddling came with little discussion. Trustee Hollis Brashear was absent during the vote, and trustee Lew Blackburn was present but did not vote. The policy change went into effect immediately.
Trustee Ron Price, who supports paddling, said the district had successfully provided alternative methods of discipline.

"I can support this action item and do away with corporal punishment," Mr. Price said before voting.

The 7-0 decision to mandate uniforms for nearly 120,000 students came with a bit more discussion.

Mr. Price urged his colleagues to support the move to mandate uniforms. He told them that while having uniforms wouldn't fix everything that's ailing Dallas schools, it was a step forward.

Mr. Blackburn disagreed. He said he is not in favor of a school uniform policy being adopted without more parental input. He wondered how uniforms would make schools safer or increase academic achievement.

Mr. Blackburn also disagreed with the way that policy was written. He told board members that the way the uniform policy was written, it eliminated options for parental involvement.

"I can see we're telling parents, 'You're not important enough.' ... We're telling parents, 'We do not want to hear your voice,' " Mr. Blackburn said.

He added that the policy left decisions about uniforms in the high schools solely to the principals.

Mr. Brashear agreed. He told the other trustees that the policy was "highly inappropriate" because it would allow high school principals to make decisions regardless of board decisions.

"We do not need to give principals authority to decide on uniforms," he said.

Trustees decided to amend the policy to include in the decision-making each campus' site-based decision making committee, parent-teacher groups and other administrators.

Still, Mr. Brashear said, further discussion about the policy is needed.

Before leaving the meeting, Mr. Brashear asked trustees to table the vote and further discuss the proposed dress code changes. Trustees voted 7-2 against that motion. Mr. Brashear and Mr. Blackburn voted in favor.

The two trustees weren't alone, though.

At least one person attending the meeting asked the trustees to hold public forums and continue their discussions. Another asked them to vote against uniforms. Someone else praised them for the idea and said she supported the change.

Diane Birdwell, a Dallas teacher and representative from the teachers group NEA Dallas, asked trustees to consider including uniforms in the policy change. She told them that NEA had surveyed its teachers and "75 percent of us are begging for uniforms and we need them at the high school level."

"I am begging you to reconsider uniforms for the high school level," she said.

Trustees have said they will revisit the policy and could consider mandating uniforms at the high school level in the future.

[TexasStooge]

Full load may lighten UTA tuition burden

Cost plan for UTD, UTA students to be considered today

By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON, Texas - Officials at the University of Texas campuses at Dallas and Arlington want to reward students who load up on classes and graduate on time.

If they don't, students might see their tuition and fees increase by up to 11 percent.

Governing regents for the UT System will consider new tuition plans today.

Students taking 12 credit hours a semester – less than a full load, but a common one – would be hit with the biggest hikes, while others would see smaller or no increases.

At UTD, a full load of 15 credits would cost about $3,416 a semester, or 3.5 percent more than last year. Students taking more than 15 hours would pay the same amount they did last year.

At UTA, students taking 15 hours a semester would pay 5 percent more than last year. Those who take a full load over the fall and spring semesters would get a $200 rebate. With the discount, the increase would be 1 percent over fall 2004, or $2,681 per semester vs. $2,650.

"It's an experiment, but we're pretty optimistic it will serve students well," UTA Provost Dana Dunn said.

Some Texas universities are moving to flat-rate plans, where students pay the same price no matter how many hours they take. UTA officials considered that approach but worried that students would sign up for lots of classes and then drop some, making it hard to plan and budget, Dr. Dunn said.

Some college students have said it's unfair to charge more to students taking fewer classes. Many engineering students say a 12-hour schedule is challenging enough, and some students who work say they can't handle a full load.

The tuition plans may be viewed online at http://www.utsystem.edu/bor/meetings.htm.

[TexasStooge]

Job growth slows in Texas

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - The Texas unemployment rate edged up to 6 percent in February as job growth fell by more than half compared to January.

The Texas Workforce Commission said Thursday that nonagricultural employment increased by 8,800 in February. While the commission said it was the sixth straight month of job growth, it was just 40 percent of the January increase.

The 6 percent jobless rate in Dallas-Fort Worth was unchanged from January to February.

The commission estimated 664,500 unemployed Texans in December. The estimates do not include people who have stopped actively looking for work.

The state's jobless rate remained higher than the national figure of 5.4 percent in February, although the national figure increased by two-tenths of a percentage point over January.

Texas employment officials continue to focus on the rate of job growth, saying they are encouraged by the numbers. Texas Workforce Commission chairwoman Diane Rath said the state has generated more than 200,000 jobs since the upturn of the Texas economy in July 2003.

The job growth rate over the last year is at 1.5 percent, the commission said.

"Job growth continues to be the focus of the Texas labor market, as Texas employers have added jobs in 17 of the last 19 months," Rath said.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits were down 29.5 percent compared to January and 20.5 percent compared to February 2004.

The professional and business services sector added the most jobs in February at 6,200. Government added 3,800 jobs, and education and health services added 2,800.

The biggest drop came in trade, transportation and utilities, which lost 1,700 jobs compared to January. Natural resources and mining—which includes the energy industry—was unchanged in February.

The following are the preliminary February unemployment rates with revised January figures in parentheses for Texas metropolitan areas. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.

• Abilene 5.0 (4.9)
• Amarillo 4.6 (4.5)
• Austin-Round Rock 5.1 (5.1)
• Beaumont-Port Arthur 7.9 (8.1)
• Brownsville-Harlingen 8.9 (9.1)
• College Station-Bryan 4.5 (4.7)
• Corpus Christi 6.6 (6.6)
• Dallas-Fort Worth 6.0 (6.0)
• El Paso 8.5 (8.5)
• Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land 6.1 (6.1)
• Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood 6.0 (5.9)
• Laredo 6.5 (6.5)
• Longview 5.8 (5.8)
• Lubbock 4.6 (4.7)
• McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr 9.2 (9.7)
• Midland 4.4 (4.4)
• Odessa 5.6 (5.7)
• San Angelo 5.0 (5.0)
• San Antonio 5.7 (5.7)
• Sherman-Denison 6.1 (6.1)
• Texarkana 5.8 (5.9)
• Tyler 5.3 (5.7)
• Victoria 5.8 (5.8)
• Waco 5.4 (5.4)
• Wichita Falls 5.3 (5.4)

[TexasStooge]

Police chase ends at Dallas school

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Five teenagers are in custody after leading police on a chase through Northwest Dallas Thursday afternoon.

Officials said the teens, ages 13-14, were in two separate vehicles that officers identified as stolen. Police pulled over one vehicle, but the driver of a Dodge Caravan led officers on a slow-speed chase through residential streets, running red lights and narrowly evading other vehicles.

The pursuit ended when the suspects leaped out of the still-moving minivan in the parking lot of Edward H. Cary Middle School in the 3900 block of Killion Drive, near Marsh Lane and Walnut Hill Lane.

Two of the men were captured immediately; a third ran into the the school. Because he was wearing a red shirt and dressed similarly to the students—and because it was not known whether he was armed—the school was placed in lockdown.

Three of the teens have been charged with theft, and the two drivers are charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle.

No one at the school was injured; police said no weapons were involved in the incident.

[TexasStooge]

Popular Oak Cliff grill closing

Only 3 weeks remain for diners to get chicken-fried steak fix

By MARK WROLSTAD / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - As soon as the door opens at 11 a.m., the lunch line starts backing up along the scarred counter, snaking past the ready-poured tea, the mile-high pie, the greens and cornbread, the piping-hot meat and gravy – made from pan drippings the real way.

But faithful customers from every station in life and every part of Dallas won't have the famous chicken-fried steak to chase around their blue plates for long.

Gennie's Bishop Grill, a down-home cafeteria-style shrine for 34 years with hard-boiled conservatism and decades of friendly mementos plastered on its walls, will close its north Oak Cliff kitchen in three weeks.

Owners Rosemarie and Gus Hudson have sold the 1927 brick building, which will be renovated as an upscale hamburger joint.

The Hudsons' marriage is just a year older than the lunch-only restaurant, and the two decided it was time to give up their complementary, well-worn roles: she at the cash register dishing out endless warmth and wisecracks and he manning the ovens in the back.

A handwritten sign told the diner's finest how close they were to the end of the line: "The Fat Lady Will Sing April 21."

"We're not going to be able to survive!" customer Ann Brow complained as she reached the front of the line Thursday. "We're going to come to your house!"

Mrs. Hudson reassured her. "You tell me when," she said. "We'll put the feedbag on."

"Where do you get chicken-fried steak like this?" asked Ann Bull as she and her mother, Ms. Brow, settled in at their table.

The women were regulars long before 1990, when the restaurant moved from a small, deteriorating house across North Bishop Avenue.

Ms. Hudson's mother, "Gennie" Thompson Purcell, opened the place in 1971 and was called "the mother of home cooking in Dallas." She moved to Shreveport, La., in 1979 to open another restaurant and died in 1993.

"It's breaking our hearts that they're closing," Ms. Brow said. "There just won't be a place like this again."

The effervescent Mrs. Hudson is ever the center of good-natured banter as she rapidly makes change, and customers seem ready for an extra helping these days.

"I've spent years telling them what they want to hear," she joked, her green eyes flashing. " 'All this low-calorie food is great for your heart.' "

Beda Casstevens, an original customer, couldn't leave without getting a "last chance" copy of the restaurant's cookbook.

"I'm teary-eyed," she kidded Mrs. Hudson. "Of course, all that mascara would run if she got teary-eyed."

"We're gonna miss you, honey," a man called out.

"The next job I can get at my age is greeter at Wal-Mart," Mrs. Hudson, who's 57 and was raised in Oak Cliff, said a moment later.

During a rare lull, she turned more serious.

"Somewhere between bittersweet and euphoric," she said of closing a local landmark. "You can't do something like this for so long and pretend you won't miss it."

In ball cap and apron, Mr. Hudson hovered over two mammoth iron skillets in the kitchen.

He quickly corrected a joke about being the brains of the operation. "No, this is the brawn," he said, laughing.

Mr. Hudson, 67, said he has "the best restaurant job in Dallas, if you have to work" – less than 12 hours a day, weekdays only.

Mr. Hudson regularly vented his conservative opinions on yellow legal pages posted near the restaurant entrance. It didn't run many off.

"People say, 'I hate your politics, but I can't stand not to eat here,' " said Mrs. Hudson, wearing a diamond-studded "W" pin in support of President Bush.

Now the couple can indulge their shared love of golf and his love for classic cars.

They'll move to the town of Clifton in Bosque County, where they bought an old bank that's been refurbished into a home.

The Hudsons have tried to sell the restaurant for a couple of years. Last May, their son Gus III – from Mr. Hudson's previous marriage – died of a heart attack at 46.

He might have kept the restaurant going, they said, but two younger sons weren't interested.

The couple met while working at Monte's Steak House on Zang Boulevard in the late 1960s. They later bought the place and renamed it Rosemarie's, operating it and Bishop Grill until closing Rosemarie's in 1997.

"Gennie's" actually was misnamed all these years.

The sign painter misspelled "Ginny's" – short for Virginia – in 1971, and Ms. Purcell couldn't afford to have it repainted, her daughter said.

By any name, the eatery's run is nearly done.

"A little part of Dallas history gone," said Will Gant Jr., 42, who went to school with the Hudsons' sons.

Sylvia Webster said she doesn't discuss politics with the Hudsons, but she plans to visit them after they move. They and their restaurant have been special, said Ms. Webster, who also has dealt with a son's death.

"The food brings you here," she said, "and the friendship keeps you here."

[TexasStooge]

Grapevine-Colleyville mulls steroid tests

Grapevine-Colleyville chief to seek public input on policy

By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Grapevine-Colleyville Superintendent Kay Waggoner said Thursday that she will make a recommendation to the school board about whether the district should test students in extracurricular activities for drugs, including steroids.

At a board work session, Dr. Waggoner said her recommendation at the April 25 board meeting will be based on community feedback.

"For a program to be effective, community support and understanding is crucial," Dr. Waggoner said. "To do this without getting a voice from our parents and community would not be effective."

The school district has been under scrutiny since a Feb. 4 story in The Dallas Morning News revealed that nine Colleyville Heritage students admitted using steroids.

Tom Thompson of THE Lab, which conducts drug-testing programs for more than 40 districts, spent most of Thursday's work session explaining how the programs operate. Mr. Thompson said his company charges $14 per test for illicit drugs and $120 per test for steroids.

"I think we need to be very careful before we determine that drug testing is what we'd rather have, as opposed to more teachers in our school system," board member Charlie Warner said.

[TexasStooge]

Stolen money leads to currency plant worker

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8

FORT WORTH, Texas — Eight-hundred employees work at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing facility in Fort Worth. They print billions of dollars of money every year.

And at least one insider has been stealing some of those greenbacks.

Federal agents have issued a warrant for Donald Edward Stokes, who has worked at the plant for more than a decade.

Secret Service agents talked to Stokes last fall when a block of 100 $50 bills called a "strap" disappeared.

He later failed a lie detector test.

Last month, agents went to Stokes' house in Keller to talk to him again.

Two pieces of incriminating evidence point to Stokes. When agents went to interview him, they patted down his denim jacket and found a wad of $20 bills. The bills had been stolen from the printing plant.

Then, Stokes' wife told investigators about his Volkswagen Beetle. In his trunk, she said she found two straps of bills and an additional grocery bag with bundles of money.

If Stokes did steal money as charged, there's also a question of whether he acted alone.

"People realize the ramifications for having money stolen from this type of institution, and the Inspector General's office is acutely aware of that," said Secret Service spokesman Mark Lowery.

Leroy Warren, chair of the NAACP Federal Sector Task Force, says there is a problem at the Fort Worth plant. "What you got in there is a situation where buddyism, cronyism and nepotism is ruling the place instead of management."

Warren said he has talked to dozens of workers as part of an NAACP investigation of the printing facility. He is critical of the entire management structure in Fort Worth.

"They need to take a broom and sweep the top management out and put some people in there who are competent and rsponsive and concerned about the taxpayers' money," Warren said. "These are taxpayers' salaries; these are taxpayers' jobs. The taxpayer ought to be first."

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing had no comment about the investigation.

[TexasStooge]

$60 million tax plan targets downtown Dallas

By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Downtown Dallas may soon get an injection of new money and energy. Channel 8 News has learned details of an ambitious plan that city officials will unveil next week.

The blueprint is designed to supercharge redevelopment in the city's core.

from Dallas Economic Development
While redevelopment in downtown Dallas is picking up speed, some fear new projects may stall as tax incentive funds dry up.

The city now has a plan to create a new source of money.

Dallas officials want to create a new Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district. As the property values go up, the city taxes the additional tax revenue and puts it back into projects in the same district.

The Downtown Connection TIF would generate an estimated $123 million over its 20 to 30 year life.

"It takes everybody's very long wish list and puts it into a tool that allows us to do everything," explained Dallas City Council member Veletta Lill of District 14.

At the top of that wish list is the Mercantile Bank complex.

Officials will ask for $60 million in TIF funds. The developer would save the building's landmark clock tower along with two other structures; one of them would become a parking garage.

The middle buidling of the complex would be demolished to be a retail thruway. That deal includes the Continental and the Atmos Energy buildings as well.

Other projects would extend the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority trolley line to the DART light rail network and and help fund the proposed park to be built over Woodall Rogers Freeway.

Developer Ted Hamilton knows what this incentive can do. The City Center TIF helped him restore several buildings, including the old Dallas Power & Light. He's excited at the potential of the Downtown Connection.

It's almost a 'super TIF,' and I think it will really really help revitalize downtown in one big fell swoop," Hamilton said.

Lill said the Downtown Connection could give Dallas the kind of boost another big Texas city has recently seen.

"People say, 'I was in Houston five years ago and it doesn't look like it does today.' Well, here in downtown Dallas five years from now, it won't look anything like it does right now," Lill promised, and the proposed new TIF could set the wheels in motion.

[TexasStooge]

Teen killed when dispute turns violent

By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8

ARLINGTON, Texas — Arlington police were investigating a shooting Friday evening that claimed the life of a 15-year-old boy.

Witnesses said the victim—an 8th-grader at nearby Ousley Junior High School—was shot in the head after a dispute over a girl.

According to police, two groups of teens were fighting in a neighborhood brawl in the 6500 block of Spencer Drive when one of them pulled out a gun.

The shooter was still at large late Friday. Investigators questioned several witnesses and indicated that they may know who they are looking for.

Police said they did not believe the incident was related to gang activity.

[TexasStooge]

Defendant says brawl provoked

Man accused of beating at club testifies he was defending friend

By MATT STILES / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - A man accused of beating a Lakewood contractor last year in a Deep Ellum nightclub took the stand in his defense Friday, telling jurors he never meant to seriously hurt anyone.

Jesse Chaddock, an admitted one-time skinhead who faces five to 99 years in prison, told jurors that he was defending a smaller friend when he punched David Cunniff last summer after a concert at the Gypsy Tea Room.

He said the ensuing brawl, which left Mr. Cunniff partially paralyzed, wasn't the result of an unprovoked, one-sided attack – and it had nothing to do with a violent skinhead group, as prosecutors allege.

"I didn't want anybody to get hurt," said Mr. Chaddock, 28, whose voice wavered as his eyes filled with tears. "Words can't describe it. I'm responsible for that?"

Mr. Chaddock's account came as the trial entered its fourth day. He's charged with engaging in organized criminal activity related to the incident.

Prosecutors began cross-examining Mr. Chaddock on Friday afternoon, but testimony ended early after a juror suffered an anxiety attack. The case is scheduled to continue this morning, with closing arguments likely to come after Mr. Chaddock's testimony.

During his testimony, Mr. Chaddock explained how he'd cut ties to the skinhead group years ago. He said the men with him at the nightclub weren't currently affiliated with the group.

He told jurors the fight began with Mr. Cunniff exchanging heated words with one of Mr. Chaddock's friends.

"I believed that his intention was to start a fistfight – a physical confrontation," he said.

The 5-foot-9 Mr. Chaddock said he tried to intervene. That's when Mr. Cunniff turned toward him aggressively, he told the jury.

"I punched him," he said, referring to the 6-foot-3 Mr. Cunniff. "The guy is bigger than me."

He said the two men then grabbed each other, with Mr. Cunniff driving him backward. The pair fell awkwardly, he said, and Mr. Cunniff smashed his head against a stair, resulting in the serious injury.

Mr. Chaddock admitted punching Mr. Cunniff at least twice as he got up from the floor. But the blows were a defense reaction to the melee, he said. He didn't know until days later that Mr. Cunniff was badly hurt.

He denied a story told by Mr. Cunniff's 19-year-old daughter, who testified this week that Mr. Chaddock straddled her father, pummeling him with his fists, grabbing him by the collar and hitting him some more. Another witness – a 22-year-old college student – told a similar story.

Mr. Cunniff was a quadriplegic for several months after the incident. With physical therapy, he has regained limited use of his feet and hands. He testified Wednesday that he didn't remember much of the incident.

During the brief cross-examination, prosecutor Toby Shook asked Mr. Chaddock whom the jury ought to believe – someone associated with a racist group or the student?

Mr. Chaddock likened the differing statements to a childhood game of telephone, in which people's accounts can change over time the more they are passed on to others.

His story also differs from prosecutors' theory that Mr. Chaddock belongs to the Confederate Hammerskins, a white-supremacist skinhead group, and that he brutally attacked Mr. Cunniff as fellow gang members watched.

For much of the day Wednesday, Mr. Chaddock's friends supported this contention, telling jurors that the heating and air-conditioning worker had quit the group and tried to cover many of his racist tattoos.

They also explained how Mr. Chaddock had numerous friends who are ethnic minorities – something that wouldn't have been allowed by members of the group, which in the past has been linked to violent assaults and vandalisms at synagogues.

"I lived with him, and I didn't see anything like that," said Kerry King of East Dallas, a friend and former roommate who is Jewish. "I really don't think that if he was in a skinhead group that he would be living with a Jewish girl."

[TexasStooge]

Pastor jailed on child assault charges

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A Grand Prairie clergyman has been arrested on sexual assault charges.

Jerry N. Castle Jr., the pastor of Faith Tabernacle Church, was arrested Thursday night on seven counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, police said.

The alleged victim is the 12-year-old daughter of a family the pastor has known for two years.

Police said the assaults took place at Castle's home in Grand Prairie and involved sexual relations over spring break.

Castle is being held at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center in Dallas. A judge set bond at $50,000 on each of the seven counts.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas-based missionaries killed

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - Two missionaries with ties to the Dallas area were killed this week in the South American country of Guyana. Robbery was thought to be the motive.

The couple, Richard and Charlene Hicks, were found dead in their home Thursday in southern Guyana, near Brazil. Their house had been burned down, and Mr. Hicks was severely burned. Mrs. Hicks' body was found a few yards away. Evidence of foul play was found, authorities said.

Mr. Hicks, 42, and Mrs. Hicks, 58, met in Dallas in 1990 while Mr. Hicks was studying linguistics. The couple married two years later. Records show they last lived in Duncanville before moving to Guyana.

The couple were Scripture translators for Wycliffe Bible Translators, a not-for-profit organization that serves non-English-speaking people worldwide. They had been working in Guyana for about 10 years.

No arrests had been made in the couple's deaths. There have been reports in the area where they lived that a gang of Indian youths had been robbing farms and businesses.

"We are not sure yet what exactly happened, but the house was torched. We have sent in a team of crime scene experts," Deputy Police Chief Henry Greene said.

A representative from Wycliffe's Dallas office said local members would not comment. Calls to Wycliffe's national headquarters in Orlando, Fla., were not returned.

Kenneth Glover, a spokesman for the Guyana Bible College, with which the Hickses maintained close contact, said the couple had worked for about nine years in Guyana's southwest region, translating the Bible into the Wapishana language spoken by thousands of indigenous Amerindians in the region bordering Brazil.

Mr. and Mrs. Hicks were raised in missionary families, according to Wycliffe. Mr. Hicks was a native Canadian but was raised in South Africa during his parents' missionary work. Mrs. Hicks grew up in Missouri and Arkansas and was also a missionary in Mexico.

Their families could not be reached for comment Friday night. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks had no children.

[TexasStooge]

Graffiti: A growing blemish in Dallas

By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Graffiti is showing up on more walls, homes—and even on hard-to-reach freeway signs—in Dallas. City leaders are calling for a strategy to battle what they call a blemish.

Police and city officials say they've seen a sharp jump in the spray painted eyesores since January.

"It's really not gang graffitti, it's mostly tagging," said Dallas City Council member Veletta Lill. "And it's malicious vandalism."

Vacant buildings are choice canvases, but homes, shops and apartments are getting hit, too.

Oak Lawn resident Karla Ortiz has seen taggers defacing dumpsters and walls across from her home. "The graffiti's there like every weekend," she said, noting that the perpetrators appear to be young people under age 16. "Even before we can call the cops, they're out of here. They like to spray and take off."

The taggers are getting more audacious. Motorists on Interstate 30 downtown have been shocked to see large freeway signs defaced.

How did they get up there? And how could they do it without being noticed?

If the signs can't be cleaned, the Texas Department of Transportation may need to budget $40,000 to get each replaced.

Ground level tagging is costly, too.

To fight graffiti, the city wants it removed or cleaned up right away. But that's a double punch for property owners.

They are not only the victims of vandalism, but they have to foot the bill for cleaning it up.

Louise Doe, the manager of the Atrium Apartments in Oak Lawn, knows this all too well. Her complex currently sports a new coat of paint—one of many since the start of the year.

"I don't know how in the world we hope to keep up with it with so much going on," she said, adding that police need to get tough on the vandals.

City leaders say they're creating a plan to fight this blemish before it gets out of control.

Many, however, think that point has already been reached.