Delapaz accused of stealing money
Fake-drug testimony barred; defense says there's no evidence
By ROBERT THARP / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Prosecutors on Monday sought to raise questions about how former Dallas police narcotics Detective Mark Delapaz handled more than $46,000 in police drug money as his trial neared the end of the punishment phase.
Outside the jury's presence, a Department of Public Safety witness testified that he believes Mr. Delapaz stole some of the police money used to purchase drugs. The judge ruled the testimony inadmissible, but prosecutors said they might call other witnesses to testify on the matter.
In the five weeks before the undercover detective was placed on leave Nov. 30, 2001, DPS Sgt. Frank Saldovar said, Mr. Delapaz spent $46,000 making drug purchases with discredited informants. The work yielded no arrests or search warrants, and Mr. Delapaz had the seized drugs immediately destroyed, he said.
"I think he was stealing some money," Sgt. Saldovar said. He added that according to street values at the time, Mr. Delapaz paid too much for the drugs he claimed to have purchased. Sgt. Saldovar said there was no "legitimate law enforcement reason" for destroying the evidence.
Mr. Delapaz's attorneys objected to jurors being allowed to hear the information, saying that an FBI forensic audit of their client had found no evidence of financial wrongdoing and that the actions were not a specific violation of department procedures.
Special prosecutor Dan Hagood wants the additional evidence brought before the jury to demonstrate other improper actions by Mr. Delapaz before he is sentenced.
He said the way Mr. Delapaz moved swiftly to have the evidence destroyed raises questions because at the time of those drug deals, he had been instructed by his supervisors to stop working with at least one of the informants.
"Not one human being is arrested. Not one search warrant is obtained," he said. "It's in violation of two orders. It's something the jury is entitled to hear. ... The whole purpose is to disrupt the drug business, not to pay them."
But attorney David Finn noted that Mr. Delapaz had not been indicted for stealing. "They have not indicted Mark," he said. "They're trying to get the jury to believe somehow ... that Mark was profiting from those inflated prices."
District Judge Mark Nancarrow ruled that jurors could not hear the testimony from Sgt. Saldovar, although Mr. Hagood indicated that other witnesses – including one of the confidential informants – could be called to testify about it.
Mr. Delapaz was convicted Thursday of lying to a judge to obtain a search warrant for one of the cases later found to be flawed because police informants planted fake drugs on innocent people. He could face up to 10 years in prison.
In other testimony, more innocent victims of the fake-drug scandal told jurors how their arrests shattered their lives.
In all, more than two dozen innocent people were arrested by Mr. Delapaz in 2001 and faced charges that could have sent them to prison for life. Three of the informants have admitted fabricating phony drugs and setting up innocent people for arrest.
Mechanic Jose Vega was working under a van when police arrested him in August 2001 and charged him with possession of 49 pounds of cocaine that turned out to be fake. Mr. Delapaz had claimed in his reports that an informant had retrieved two packages of cocaine from an area above the toilet in the mechanic's bathroom, yet Mr. Vega testified that the bathroom had nothing but a toilet and a sink.
To pay for a defense lawyer, Mr. Vega's wife went to work preparing meals for laborers. His mother-in-law took out a loan on her home, and friends and relatives chipped in, he said.
News from the Lone Star State
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TexasStooge
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Escapee, warden's wife found in Texas
OKLAHOMA CITY, Ok. (The Dallas Morning News/AP) - The wife of a deputy prison warden who disappeared 10 years ago along with a convicted killer has been found unharmed in East Texas but doesn't appear to be in any hurry to return to her old life, authorities said.
A tip generated by the TV show "America's Most Wanted" led law enforcement to a mobile home in Campti, Texas, where escaped convict Randolph Dial was arrested Monday, said Salvador Hernandez, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.
The assistant warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, was found a short time later working at a chicken ranch elsewhere in the county, agents said. Once described by the FBI as an endangered missing person, Parker was not arrested.
"As far as I know, she has no intention of leaving," Shelby County Sheriff Newton Johnson told The Oklahoman late Monday. "She said she wants to stay on the farm and raise chickens."
Dial, 60, was taken into custody without incident. A loaded pistol was found on top of a nearby table, the FBI said.
Investigators initially thought Parker, 42, was kidnapped and held against her will by Dial, who escaped Aug. 30, 1994, from the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite in southwestern Oklahoma.
Two days later Dial, who was convicted of the 1981 murder of a karate instructor, was charged with unlawful flight to avoid confinement, the FBI said. Parker's husband, Randy Parker, was a deputy warden at the prison but has since transferred. The couple have two daughters.
After being found, Bobbi Parker did ask an FBI agent about her daughters and husband, Johnson said. She appeared healthy and unharmed, the sheriff said.
It wasn't clear if Bobbi Parker and Dial remained together in the past 10 years. The pair managed five large chicken houses in a rural area less than 15 miles from the Louisiana border, The Oklahoman reported.
"It's the kind of place where, if a guy just wanted to blend in and not be found, he could do it here," Johnson said.
Dial, a renown sculptor and painter with a master's degree in art, obtained trusty status in prison, meaning he could stay in minimum security housing outside the prison walls.
Dial ran an inmate pottery program with Bobbi Parker. He used a kiln in the Parkers' garage and had full access to their home during the day. The morning of Bobbi Parker's disappearance, her husband saw Dial working in his garage as he left.
When he returned for lunch, he found a note from his wife saying she went grocery shopping. When his wife had not returned home that evening, Randy Parker called the prison and discovered Dial also was missing.
Bobbi Parker's mother received a phone call from her later that night traced to Hurst, Texas. "I can't talk now," she said, crying. "I'm OK. Tell the kids I'll see them soon."
A day later, she made a second call, this time from Fort Worth to a friend. It was the last message her family got from her. "I've got 30 seconds to talk," she said. "I want you to call my home. Tell the kids I love them and I'll be home soon."
Randy Parker, who is now warden at the William S. Key Correctional Center at Fort Supply in northwestern Oklahoma, couldn't immediately be reached for comment late Monday by The Associated Press.
In 2000, Randy Parker said his wife was not afraid of Dial, but was not "overly friendly" toward him. Dial is "personable," yet conniving, he said then. "I always saw him as a coward, just an absolute coward," Parker said. "He always tried to run a con on people."
OKLAHOMA CITY, Ok. (The Dallas Morning News/AP) - The wife of a deputy prison warden who disappeared 10 years ago along with a convicted killer has been found unharmed in East Texas but doesn't appear to be in any hurry to return to her old life, authorities said.
A tip generated by the TV show "America's Most Wanted" led law enforcement to a mobile home in Campti, Texas, where escaped convict Randolph Dial was arrested Monday, said Salvador Hernandez, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.
The assistant warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, was found a short time later working at a chicken ranch elsewhere in the county, agents said. Once described by the FBI as an endangered missing person, Parker was not arrested.
"As far as I know, she has no intention of leaving," Shelby County Sheriff Newton Johnson told The Oklahoman late Monday. "She said she wants to stay on the farm and raise chickens."
Dial, 60, was taken into custody without incident. A loaded pistol was found on top of a nearby table, the FBI said.
Investigators initially thought Parker, 42, was kidnapped and held against her will by Dial, who escaped Aug. 30, 1994, from the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite in southwestern Oklahoma.
Two days later Dial, who was convicted of the 1981 murder of a karate instructor, was charged with unlawful flight to avoid confinement, the FBI said. Parker's husband, Randy Parker, was a deputy warden at the prison but has since transferred. The couple have two daughters.
After being found, Bobbi Parker did ask an FBI agent about her daughters and husband, Johnson said. She appeared healthy and unharmed, the sheriff said.
It wasn't clear if Bobbi Parker and Dial remained together in the past 10 years. The pair managed five large chicken houses in a rural area less than 15 miles from the Louisiana border, The Oklahoman reported.
"It's the kind of place where, if a guy just wanted to blend in and not be found, he could do it here," Johnson said.
Dial, a renown sculptor and painter with a master's degree in art, obtained trusty status in prison, meaning he could stay in minimum security housing outside the prison walls.
Dial ran an inmate pottery program with Bobbi Parker. He used a kiln in the Parkers' garage and had full access to their home during the day. The morning of Bobbi Parker's disappearance, her husband saw Dial working in his garage as he left.
When he returned for lunch, he found a note from his wife saying she went grocery shopping. When his wife had not returned home that evening, Randy Parker called the prison and discovered Dial also was missing.
Bobbi Parker's mother received a phone call from her later that night traced to Hurst, Texas. "I can't talk now," she said, crying. "I'm OK. Tell the kids I'll see them soon."
A day later, she made a second call, this time from Fort Worth to a friend. It was the last message her family got from her. "I've got 30 seconds to talk," she said. "I want you to call my home. Tell the kids I love them and I'll be home soon."
Randy Parker, who is now warden at the William S. Key Correctional Center at Fort Supply in northwestern Oklahoma, couldn't immediately be reached for comment late Monday by The Associated Press.
In 2000, Randy Parker said his wife was not afraid of Dial, but was not "overly friendly" toward him. Dial is "personable," yet conniving, he said then. "I always saw him as a coward, just an absolute coward," Parker said. "He always tried to run a con on people."
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Man arrested in missing-money case
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - An arrest has been made related to the disappearance of thousands of dollars from the federal currency plant in Fort Worth.
Donald Edward Stokes, 39, is now in federal custody - but he did not go easily.
Stokes took off in his blue Volkswagen on an 80 mile-per-hour chase on Saturday morning after an officer in Oklahoma City stopped him on a routine traffic violation. Police said Stokes raced down access roads and then literally through a truck stop.
"He came within ten feet of a family that was there in the parking lot, so it was a very dangerous situation," said Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Charlie Phillips.
Inside the car, police found $79,000 in cash. The Secret Service said Stokes could only account for the origins of about $15,000 of the money.
"He claims $15,000 was winnings he got out of Reno," said Kent Chrisman of the Secret Service.
For more than a decade, Stokes worked inside the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth. When federal investigators first interviewed him they found $240 which later turned out to be stolen from the plant. By that time, Stokes had left North Texas.
Money inside the plant is inventoried carefully during the printing process. That leads many to a question: If Stokes was stealing money, was he doing it alone?
The Secret Service investigation continues.
"To determine if there's someone else involved inside the bureau of engraving and printing in Fort Worth, (and) that they may have helped him, or if there is someone else involved," Chrisman said.
Since first covering this story last Friday, News 8 received several calls from workers at the Fort Worth facility, concerned about the qualifications of many of the plants' 800 employees, as well as security inside. The disappearance of money is being investigated by the plant itself, the Secret Service and the Inspector General.
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - An arrest has been made related to the disappearance of thousands of dollars from the federal currency plant in Fort Worth.
Donald Edward Stokes, 39, is now in federal custody - but he did not go easily.
Stokes took off in his blue Volkswagen on an 80 mile-per-hour chase on Saturday morning after an officer in Oklahoma City stopped him on a routine traffic violation. Police said Stokes raced down access roads and then literally through a truck stop.
"He came within ten feet of a family that was there in the parking lot, so it was a very dangerous situation," said Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Charlie Phillips.
Inside the car, police found $79,000 in cash. The Secret Service said Stokes could only account for the origins of about $15,000 of the money.
"He claims $15,000 was winnings he got out of Reno," said Kent Chrisman of the Secret Service.
For more than a decade, Stokes worked inside the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth. When federal investigators first interviewed him they found $240 which later turned out to be stolen from the plant. By that time, Stokes had left North Texas.
Money inside the plant is inventoried carefully during the printing process. That leads many to a question: If Stokes was stealing money, was he doing it alone?
The Secret Service investigation continues.
"To determine if there's someone else involved inside the bureau of engraving and printing in Fort Worth, (and) that they may have helped him, or if there is someone else involved," Chrisman said.
Since first covering this story last Friday, News 8 received several calls from workers at the Fort Worth facility, concerned about the qualifications of many of the plants' 800 employees, as well as security inside. The disappearance of money is being investigated by the plant itself, the Secret Service and the Inspector General.
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Safe Stolen From Nightclub With Over $30,000 Inside
Large Safe Weighs 1,200 Pounds
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Police are looking for thieves they say took a 1,200-pound safe from a Dallas nightclub early Sunday morning.
Investigators and the owners of the Lizard Lounge in Deep Ellum are trying to figure out how it happened.
"These guys managed to work their way into the office without tripping any of the perimeter alarms, so we assume that somebody went up into the attic while we were still open for business," said owner Don Nedler.
Nedler thinks the thieves climbed into the rafters and waited for the bar to close. After closing, he believes the thieves dropped down into his office and stole the safe.
Inside Nedler's office was about $20,000 worth of electronic equipment, but the thieves didn't touch any of it. They only took the safe.
The owner said the thieves got away with more than $30,000.
Officers said the thieves have taken safes from at least two other nightclubs, Club One and Seven, in the area over the past two years.
Nedler told NBC 5's Crystal Valleta that he believes those who are responsible for the thefts are delivery personnel.
"It was someone who knew their way around the kitchen. They used our dolly ... they used our four-wheeler ... they knew how to gain entrance into the building ... they knew where the safe was," said Nedler.
Whether or not it is a delivery person behind the robberies is something the Dallas police are investigating. Meanwhile, Nedler plans to install motion detectors in his attic on Tuesday.
Large Safe Weighs 1,200 Pounds
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Police are looking for thieves they say took a 1,200-pound safe from a Dallas nightclub early Sunday morning.
Investigators and the owners of the Lizard Lounge in Deep Ellum are trying to figure out how it happened.
"These guys managed to work their way into the office without tripping any of the perimeter alarms, so we assume that somebody went up into the attic while we were still open for business," said owner Don Nedler.
Nedler thinks the thieves climbed into the rafters and waited for the bar to close. After closing, he believes the thieves dropped down into his office and stole the safe.
Inside Nedler's office was about $20,000 worth of electronic equipment, but the thieves didn't touch any of it. They only took the safe.
The owner said the thieves got away with more than $30,000.
Officers said the thieves have taken safes from at least two other nightclubs, Club One and Seven, in the area over the past two years.
Nedler told NBC 5's Crystal Valleta that he believes those who are responsible for the thefts are delivery personnel.
"It was someone who knew their way around the kitchen. They used our dolly ... they used our four-wheeler ... they knew how to gain entrance into the building ... they knew where the safe was," said Nedler.
Whether or not it is a delivery person behind the robberies is something the Dallas police are investigating. Meanwhile, Nedler plans to install motion detectors in his attic on Tuesday.
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TexasStooge
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Dallas Apartment Complex Without Water For Weeks
Residents Carrying Water In
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Residents of one Dallas apartment building say they can't go without water for much longer.
The residents of the complex on Pine Street say the city turned off the water two weeks ago. The water was disconnected for overdue bills.
Since the water was cut off, residents have been buying water and hauling it in.
"We don't have water to flush the toilets. We don't have water to drink, cook with or even bathe with." said resident David Favors.
A crisis intervention group has tried to work with the owner of the complex to get the water turned back on.
Residents Carrying Water In
DALLAS, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Residents of one Dallas apartment building say they can't go without water for much longer.
The residents of the complex on Pine Street say the city turned off the water two weeks ago. The water was disconnected for overdue bills.
Since the water was cut off, residents have been buying water and hauling it in.
"We don't have water to flush the toilets. We don't have water to drink, cook with or even bathe with." said resident David Favors.
A crisis intervention group has tried to work with the owner of the complex to get the water turned back on.
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Teen Charged With Raping Pizza Delivery Driver
FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- A North Texas man is behind bars after being charged with raping a pizza delivery driver.
Police said the attack happened Friday afternoon in Glenn Heights, when the driver was making a delivery to the man.
The victim told police the man forced her into the backyard, sexually assaulted her and then robbed her.
Police arrested the 19-year-old attacker on Saturday.
The teen has been charged with aggravated sexual assault.
FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- A North Texas man is behind bars after being charged with raping a pizza delivery driver.
Police said the attack happened Friday afternoon in Glenn Heights, when the driver was making a delivery to the man.
The victim told police the man forced her into the backyard, sexually assaulted her and then robbed her.
Police arrested the 19-year-old attacker on Saturday.
The teen has been charged with aggravated sexual assault.
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rainstorm
TexasStooge wrote:Man arrested in missing-money case
By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8
FORT WORTH, Texas - An arrest has been made related to the disappearance of thousands of dollars from the federal currency plant in Fort Worth.
Donald Edward Stokes, 39, is now in federal custody - but he did not go easily.
Stokes took off in his blue Volkswagen on an 80 mile-per-hour chase on Saturday morning after an officer in Oklahoma City stopped him on a routine traffic violation. Police said Stokes raced down access roads and then literally through a truck stop.
"He came within ten feet of a family that was there in the parking lot, so it was a very dangerous situation," said Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Charlie Phillips.
Inside the car, police found $79,000 in cash. The Secret Service said Stokes could only account for the origins of about $15,000 of the money.
"He claims $15,000 was winnings he got out of Reno," said Kent Chrisman of the Secret Service.
For more than a decade, Stokes worked inside the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth. When federal investigators first interviewed him they found $240 which later turned out to be stolen from the plant. By that time, Stokes had left North Texas.
Money inside the plant is inventoried carefully during the printing process. That leads many to a question: If Stokes was stealing money, was he doing it alone?
The Secret Service investigation continues.
"To determine if there's someone else involved inside the bureau of engraving and printing in Fort Worth, (and) that they may have helped him, or if there is someone else involved," Chrisman said.
Since first covering this story last Friday, News 8 received several calls from workers at the Fort Worth facility, concerned about the qualifications of many of the plants' 800 employees, as well as security inside. The disappearance of money is being investigated by the plant itself, the Secret Service and the Inspector General.
its taxpayer money, and its ashame
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TexasStooge
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Arlington man charged in teen's death
By MARY ANN RAZZUK / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas — Arlington police filed a murder charge Tuesday in the case of a teenage girl who was found dead at her home last month.
Ronald Michael Hill, 32, is charged with killing 15-year-old Ingrid Smith.
Ingrid's stepfather returned home on March 15 to find her dead. Her throat had been slashed.
Hill was arrested Friday on a parole violation charge after police found evidence linking him to the victim.
According to arrest and search warrants, Ingrid and Hill had become acquainted in a telephone chat room. They developed what appeared to be a sexual relationship that continued for about two months.
Last Friday, detectives conducted another search of the girl's home in southeast Arlington.
"An investigator at the scene noticed on the caller ID a phone number," said Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour. "From there, we were able to get some more information about the suspect and his relationship with the victim, and today filed a charge of murder against the suspect."
The investigation shows that Hill had purchased condoms and a pregnancy test prior to Ingrid's death.
Gilfour said detectives have been working "day and night" to solve the case.
Ingrid was a sophomore at Mansfield Timberview High School.
By MARY ANN RAZZUK / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas — Arlington police filed a murder charge Tuesday in the case of a teenage girl who was found dead at her home last month.
Ronald Michael Hill, 32, is charged with killing 15-year-old Ingrid Smith.
Ingrid's stepfather returned home on March 15 to find her dead. Her throat had been slashed.
Hill was arrested Friday on a parole violation charge after police found evidence linking him to the victim.
According to arrest and search warrants, Ingrid and Hill had become acquainted in a telephone chat room. They developed what appeared to be a sexual relationship that continued for about two months.
Last Friday, detectives conducted another search of the girl's home in southeast Arlington.
"An investigator at the scene noticed on the caller ID a phone number," said Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour. "From there, we were able to get some more information about the suspect and his relationship with the victim, and today filed a charge of murder against the suspect."
The investigation shows that Hill had purchased condoms and a pregnancy test prior to Ingrid's death.
Gilfour said detectives have been working "day and night" to solve the case.
Ingrid was a sophomore at Mansfield Timberview High School.
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Arlington police detonate pipe bomb
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas - Authorities in Arlington had to detonate a pipe bomb Tuesday evening after a city employee found it in a field and took it to police.
In many cases, the suspicious device turns out to be nothing, but in this case it actually contained explosives.
The city employee was surveying property in West Arlington when he noticed the device, picked it up and took it to police headquarters at the Ott Cribbs Public Safety Center on Division Street.
"One of the officers put his flak jacket over it just in case it did explode," said Arlington Police Lt. Blake Miller.
A bomb squad from Fort Worth was called in to assist, and when the tactical team was in place, they detonated the device.
"It looked like a homemade pipe bomb that anybody could make," said Arlington Fire spokesman Alan Kassen. "It could have caused a large explosion."
No one was injured, but police said there is a safety lesson to be learned.
"When people find these types of devices, they need to leave them where they are," Miller said. "Even just the transporting of the device could cause it to go off, especially if it's older ... and has been there 10-15 years."
About four years ago, there was a rash of pipe bombs found in different places around Arlington. In this case, police have no idea who the bomb belonged to or why it was left in the field, but an investigation will continue.
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA ABC 8
ARLINGTON, Texas - Authorities in Arlington had to detonate a pipe bomb Tuesday evening after a city employee found it in a field and took it to police.
In many cases, the suspicious device turns out to be nothing, but in this case it actually contained explosives.
The city employee was surveying property in West Arlington when he noticed the device, picked it up and took it to police headquarters at the Ott Cribbs Public Safety Center on Division Street.
"One of the officers put his flak jacket over it just in case it did explode," said Arlington Police Lt. Blake Miller.
A bomb squad from Fort Worth was called in to assist, and when the tactical team was in place, they detonated the device.
"It looked like a homemade pipe bomb that anybody could make," said Arlington Fire spokesman Alan Kassen. "It could have caused a large explosion."
No one was injured, but police said there is a safety lesson to be learned.
"When people find these types of devices, they need to leave them where they are," Miller said. "Even just the transporting of the device could cause it to go off, especially if it's older ... and has been there 10-15 years."
About four years ago, there was a rash of pipe bombs found in different places around Arlington. In this case, police have no idea who the bomb belonged to or why it was left in the field, but an investigation will continue.
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10-year saga ends with arrest, questions
Fugitive says he used fear to keep warden's wife from fleeing
By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
CENTER, Texas – A convicted killer who escaped from an Oklahoma prison with a deputy warden's wife in 1994 was back in jail Tuesday after a tipster led the FBI to an East Texas chicken farm where the pair lived and worked.
The arrest ended one chapter of the Randolph Dial escape story but it didn't end speculation about what kind of life he and Bobbi Parker, a wife and mother of two daughters, shared for almost 11 years.
Mr. Dial said after his arrest – and police said they have no cause to doubt – that he brainwashed Ms. Parker into staying with him by threatening her family.
"I promised her that if she did not try to get away, that I would be sure that I would not try to do anyone harm," Mr. Dial said.
Some people in the rural East Texas community said Ms. Parker appeared to be free to come and go as she pleased. Others said that Mr. Dial appeared to watch her closely and that she often looked scared.
Mr. Dial, 60, was arrested Monday night as he was cooking dinner in the mobile home where the two lived near the crossroads towns of Sardis and Campti, east of Nacogdoches. Investigators found a .32-caliber pistol on a table and a .410-gauge shotgun next to the door.
Ms. Parker was mowing grass at a nearby chicken house where the two had been working as farmhands.
FBI Agent Terry Lane of Lufkin said the tip about Mr. Dial's whereabouts came via "a circuitous route" from the Orange County district attorney's office and a Texas Ranger in Beaumont.
The tipster who provided the information that led to Mr. Dial's arrest was shown photos that had been distributed on America's Most Wanted and other TV crime shows. Authorities declined to identify the tipster or say where he was from. They said he will probably get a $25,000 reward.
Shelby County sheriff's Capt. Mike Tollett said Mr. Dial told authorities that he and Ms. Parker had been live-in hands on the chicken farm about five years.
"You couldn't have picked a better place," Capt. Tollett said. "This was a remote area. Your cellphones don't even work out there. It's in the middle of nowhere."
Mr. Dial told reporters that Shelby County had been "a great place to live. I recommend it."
Ms. Parker, the wife of a deputy warden at the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite, and Mr. Dial disappeared on Aug. 30, 1994. At the time, Mr. Dial had served less than nine years of a life sentence for the 1981 murder of a karate instructor in Broken Arrow, Okla.
Ms. Parker, now 42, was not arrested when authorities picked her up near the old cream-colored mobile home where the two lived. Red roses bloomed outside the door near a "Beware of Dog" sign. Mr. Dial and Ms. Parker lived together, and she stayed with him all this time out of fear for her family's safety, said Salvador Hernandez, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.
Ms. Parker and her husband, Randy Parker, have two daughters.
"Indications at this time are that she was being held against her will the entire period," Agent Hernandez said. "Initial interviews indicate Dial made statements that her family was in danger through contacts he had."
Agent Hernandez said FBI agents were present when she was reunited with her husband, who is now warden of William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply, Okla.
"They said the reunion went well," he said.
Mr. Parker was unavailable for comment, said Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Artist with mob ties?
The mobile home is surrounded by woods and five chicken houses. Mr. Dial was there alone, dressed in sweat pants, when police arrived about 6:20 p.m. Monday.
His disheveled appearance and his job as a farmhand belied the life he had lived as a self-professed hit man with mob connections, an accomplished artist and ladies' man.
Mr. Dial had been married at least four times since the early 1960s and was known to be a smooth talker. After all, he had virtually talked his way out of prison.
In fact, he had talked his way into prison.
In 1986, five years after the murder he committed, he turned himself in to police in Las Vegas. He said he believed that assassins were after him and that he wanted to be locked up. He had never been a suspect in the 1981 slaying of the karate instructor, but his confession sent him to prison and eventually led him to his rendezvous with Ms. Parker.
Mr. Dial, a sculptor and painter with a master's degree in art, persuaded prison officials to make him a trusty so he could start an inmate art program. He told the warden that he could make money for the cash-strapped prison by selling art to the public.
Ms. Parker was appointed to supervise the program, which was housed in a garage in her home just outside the prison walls. The two disappeared from the home in the Parkers' red minivan, later found in Wichita Falls.
Mr. Dial told reporters that he had forced Ms. Parker to accompany him on his escape. He said he hid on the van's floorboard and held a knife against an artery in her leg as they drove away.
"You get the impression that if you cross me, you will rue the day," he said. "I think she believes that. I think she still believes it."
FBI agents interviewed Ms. Parker and took her to a hospital in Nacogdoches to be checked before putting her up for the night at a hotel in an undisclosed location, Capt. Tollett said.
FBI Agent Lane said Ms. Parker is a victim who was terrorized into cooperating with a prison escapee.
"She is not in anybody's custody. She is a victim. She can do whatever she wishes to do," she said.
Authorities declined to identify the pair's employer but said the farmer had no clue about Mr. Dial's identity.
"He said they'd been good workers, just took care of the chicken houses, did work and maintenance, made sure the feed machinery worked – normal chicken farm routine," Capt. Tollett said.
The chicken farm owner allowed them to live in the aging mobile home, which had a window air conditioner, he said.
Investigators said they notified Ms. Parker's family that she had been found alive and unharmed. Family members immediately drove to East Texas for a reunion.
"She wasn't very talkative. She was pretty upset," Capt. Tollett said.
Mr. Dial told authorities that he and Ms. Parker had lived and worked in Houston for a brief period before moving to Nacogdoches, said Capt. Tollett. There, Mr. Dial told police, he and Ms. Parker got jobs as live-in ranch hands through a help-wanted ad. The chicken farmer hired them "about five, six years ago" to care for chickens he raised on contract with Tyson Foods.
Authorities said neighbors knew of the two but never saw much of them.
"From what we've been able to learn, he didn't get out much. He didn't drive. He just kind of stayed there on that place. They did have a vehicle – a little, older Nissan pickup. But she drove," Capt. Tollett said.
For now, Capt. Tollett said, Mr. Dial "is staying" with the story that he kidnapped Ms. Parker.
"Their story is that he kidnapped her. That's what they're staying with: 'I kidnapped her.' He didn't say how. He may be protecting her. I don't know."
Josephine Nichols, who lives across a dirt road from the mobile home, said she often saw Ms. Parker going to and from work.
"She was friendly, but she acted like she was scared all the time," Ms. Nichols said, adding that Mr. Dial often walked around his yard carrying a shotgun. "It's like he watched her with a gun all the time. It was pitiful. He wouldn't let her out of his sight."
Workers at the Big M Trading Post said Ms. Parker used the name Samantha Deal. They said she stopped there often to cash paychecks. The store is a short distance from where Ms. Parker and Mr. Dial were found Monday night.
Store employee Tammy Brown said Ms. Parker showed up about a year ago and asked if the store would cash her paychecks. Mrs. Brown said she and her store manager wondered why the woman didn't use a bank. They said she told them that she didn't want to get that far away from her invalid husband.
"This is all making so much sense now," Mrs. Brown said. "She'd always come in here and want to cash a $250 check from her boss. The check would always be made out to her, Samantha Deal. We always thought it was strange that she wouldn't go to the bank, but she just wouldn't. She was not held captive, by no means whatsoever."
Mrs. Brown and store manager Patti Hall said Ms. Parker never talked much.
"She didn't seem like nobody who was in fear for her life to me," Ms. Hall said.
Staff writers Scott Parks and Arnold Hamilton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fugitive says he used fear to keep warden's wife from fleeing
By LEE HANCOCK / The Dallas Morning News
CENTER, Texas – A convicted killer who escaped from an Oklahoma prison with a deputy warden's wife in 1994 was back in jail Tuesday after a tipster led the FBI to an East Texas chicken farm where the pair lived and worked.
The arrest ended one chapter of the Randolph Dial escape story but it didn't end speculation about what kind of life he and Bobbi Parker, a wife and mother of two daughters, shared for almost 11 years.
Mr. Dial said after his arrest – and police said they have no cause to doubt – that he brainwashed Ms. Parker into staying with him by threatening her family.
"I promised her that if she did not try to get away, that I would be sure that I would not try to do anyone harm," Mr. Dial said.
Some people in the rural East Texas community said Ms. Parker appeared to be free to come and go as she pleased. Others said that Mr. Dial appeared to watch her closely and that she often looked scared.
Mr. Dial, 60, was arrested Monday night as he was cooking dinner in the mobile home where the two lived near the crossroads towns of Sardis and Campti, east of Nacogdoches. Investigators found a .32-caliber pistol on a table and a .410-gauge shotgun next to the door.
Ms. Parker was mowing grass at a nearby chicken house where the two had been working as farmhands.
FBI Agent Terry Lane of Lufkin said the tip about Mr. Dial's whereabouts came via "a circuitous route" from the Orange County district attorney's office and a Texas Ranger in Beaumont.
The tipster who provided the information that led to Mr. Dial's arrest was shown photos that had been distributed on America's Most Wanted and other TV crime shows. Authorities declined to identify the tipster or say where he was from. They said he will probably get a $25,000 reward.
Shelby County sheriff's Capt. Mike Tollett said Mr. Dial told authorities that he and Ms. Parker had been live-in hands on the chicken farm about five years.
"You couldn't have picked a better place," Capt. Tollett said. "This was a remote area. Your cellphones don't even work out there. It's in the middle of nowhere."
Mr. Dial told reporters that Shelby County had been "a great place to live. I recommend it."
Ms. Parker, the wife of a deputy warden at the Oklahoma State Reformatory in Granite, and Mr. Dial disappeared on Aug. 30, 1994. At the time, Mr. Dial had served less than nine years of a life sentence for the 1981 murder of a karate instructor in Broken Arrow, Okla.
Ms. Parker, now 42, was not arrested when authorities picked her up near the old cream-colored mobile home where the two lived. Red roses bloomed outside the door near a "Beware of Dog" sign. Mr. Dial and Ms. Parker lived together, and she stayed with him all this time out of fear for her family's safety, said Salvador Hernandez, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma.
Ms. Parker and her husband, Randy Parker, have two daughters.
"Indications at this time are that she was being held against her will the entire period," Agent Hernandez said. "Initial interviews indicate Dial made statements that her family was in danger through contacts he had."
Agent Hernandez said FBI agents were present when she was reunited with her husband, who is now warden of William S. Key Correctional Center in Fort Supply, Okla.
"They said the reunion went well," he said.
Mr. Parker was unavailable for comment, said Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Artist with mob ties?
The mobile home is surrounded by woods and five chicken houses. Mr. Dial was there alone, dressed in sweat pants, when police arrived about 6:20 p.m. Monday.
His disheveled appearance and his job as a farmhand belied the life he had lived as a self-professed hit man with mob connections, an accomplished artist and ladies' man.
Mr. Dial had been married at least four times since the early 1960s and was known to be a smooth talker. After all, he had virtually talked his way out of prison.
In fact, he had talked his way into prison.
In 1986, five years after the murder he committed, he turned himself in to police in Las Vegas. He said he believed that assassins were after him and that he wanted to be locked up. He had never been a suspect in the 1981 slaying of the karate instructor, but his confession sent him to prison and eventually led him to his rendezvous with Ms. Parker.
Mr. Dial, a sculptor and painter with a master's degree in art, persuaded prison officials to make him a trusty so he could start an inmate art program. He told the warden that he could make money for the cash-strapped prison by selling art to the public.
Ms. Parker was appointed to supervise the program, which was housed in a garage in her home just outside the prison walls. The two disappeared from the home in the Parkers' red minivan, later found in Wichita Falls.
Mr. Dial told reporters that he had forced Ms. Parker to accompany him on his escape. He said he hid on the van's floorboard and held a knife against an artery in her leg as they drove away.
"You get the impression that if you cross me, you will rue the day," he said. "I think she believes that. I think she still believes it."
FBI agents interviewed Ms. Parker and took her to a hospital in Nacogdoches to be checked before putting her up for the night at a hotel in an undisclosed location, Capt. Tollett said.
FBI Agent Lane said Ms. Parker is a victim who was terrorized into cooperating with a prison escapee.
"She is not in anybody's custody. She is a victim. She can do whatever she wishes to do," she said.
Authorities declined to identify the pair's employer but said the farmer had no clue about Mr. Dial's identity.
"He said they'd been good workers, just took care of the chicken houses, did work and maintenance, made sure the feed machinery worked – normal chicken farm routine," Capt. Tollett said.
The chicken farm owner allowed them to live in the aging mobile home, which had a window air conditioner, he said.
Investigators said they notified Ms. Parker's family that she had been found alive and unharmed. Family members immediately drove to East Texas for a reunion.
"She wasn't very talkative. She was pretty upset," Capt. Tollett said.
Mr. Dial told authorities that he and Ms. Parker had lived and worked in Houston for a brief period before moving to Nacogdoches, said Capt. Tollett. There, Mr. Dial told police, he and Ms. Parker got jobs as live-in ranch hands through a help-wanted ad. The chicken farmer hired them "about five, six years ago" to care for chickens he raised on contract with Tyson Foods.
Authorities said neighbors knew of the two but never saw much of them.
"From what we've been able to learn, he didn't get out much. He didn't drive. He just kind of stayed there on that place. They did have a vehicle – a little, older Nissan pickup. But she drove," Capt. Tollett said.
For now, Capt. Tollett said, Mr. Dial "is staying" with the story that he kidnapped Ms. Parker.
"Their story is that he kidnapped her. That's what they're staying with: 'I kidnapped her.' He didn't say how. He may be protecting her. I don't know."
Josephine Nichols, who lives across a dirt road from the mobile home, said she often saw Ms. Parker going to and from work.
"She was friendly, but she acted like she was scared all the time," Ms. Nichols said, adding that Mr. Dial often walked around his yard carrying a shotgun. "It's like he watched her with a gun all the time. It was pitiful. He wouldn't let her out of his sight."
Workers at the Big M Trading Post said Ms. Parker used the name Samantha Deal. They said she stopped there often to cash paychecks. The store is a short distance from where Ms. Parker and Mr. Dial were found Monday night.
Store employee Tammy Brown said Ms. Parker showed up about a year ago and asked if the store would cash her paychecks. Mrs. Brown said she and her store manager wondered why the woman didn't use a bank. They said she told them that she didn't want to get that far away from her invalid husband.
"This is all making so much sense now," Mrs. Brown said. "She'd always come in here and want to cash a $250 check from her boss. The check would always be made out to her, Samantha Deal. We always thought it was strange that she wouldn't go to the bank, but she just wouldn't. She was not held captive, by no means whatsoever."
Mrs. Brown and store manager Patti Hall said Ms. Parker never talked much.
"She didn't seem like nobody who was in fear for her life to me," Ms. Hall said.
Staff writers Scott Parks and Arnold Hamilton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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TEA stiffens school rating system
Many more schools will be 'unacceptable'; bill could spur privatization
By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas - The number of schools the state considers failing will skyrocket next year under a tougher accountability system approved by state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley.
And a new Senate proposal could pave the way to dozens or hundreds of those failing schools being taken over by private companies.
"I'm not concerned about how many schools become 'unacceptable,' " said state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, chairwoman of the Senate education committee. "I'm more concerned about what happens in the classroom that makes them unacceptable."
The confluence of two distinct shifts in the Texas education world has some wondering whether schools are being set up for failure.
"There are people out there promoting the idea that public schools are bad," said John Cole, president of the Texas Federation of Teachers. "You'd almost forget that we have a president who ran on the idea that he had fixed the schools in Texas."
Dr. Neeley formally approved the new system Monday after more than a month of consideration by Texas Education Agency committees and staff members. Starting next year, the passing rate schools have to reach to be "academically acceptable" will increase by 10 percentage points in reading, writing, social studies and science. In math, the required passing rate will increase 5 points.
That – combined with other changes in the accountability system – will make it much harder for schools to stay out of the ratings gutter. Last year, 92 Texas schools were labeled unacceptable. If the new standards had been in place, 1,213 schools would have received the tag. Texas has about 7,700 public schools.
"Our goal is to bring our schools up to a really good standard," TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said.
It's unlikely that the number of failing schools would reach 1,213. Scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test generally improve every year as teachers figure out how best to teach to the test. Those improvements will probably reduce the number of unacceptable campuses by several hundred.
But if Ms. Shapiro's bill becomes law, many of those schools would be managed by private – perhaps for-profit – companies. Under her proposal, any school that is rated unacceptable for two years must be removed from the control of the local school board and handed off to "alternative management."
The most likely candidates for such management would be school management companies.
The best-known is Edison, a for-profit company that has managed public schools in Dallas and elsewhere. It's received mixed reviews; many of the districts that've worked with Edison, such as Dallas, have severed ties to the company.
For-profit fears
Ms. Shapiro emphasized that "alternative management" does not necessarily mean a for-profit company. "It could be a group of parents that wants to do a better job," she said. "It could be UT-Austin or UT-Dallas or a school with a college of education. I think we're focusing too much on the potential of a for-profit management team."
But her bill includes language that appears to favor established companies over upstarts. The bill requires anyone wishing to take over a school to have "documented success in whole school interventions that increased the educational and performance levels of students in low-performing campuses."
Her bill is a Senate substitute to House Bill 2, the school finance bill passed last month by the Legislature's lower chamber. The House bill contained a similar private-management provision. But instead of tying takeovers to the "unacceptable" label, it targeted schools whose test scores ranked in the bottom 5 percent of the state.
That change makes Dr. Neeley's change to the definition of "unacceptable" more important. Under current law, schools rated unacceptable for several years can be subject to dissolution by the commissioner. But that tool has been used rarely.
Ms. Shapiro's proposal removes much of the commissioner's leeway in determining whether intervention is appropriate.
"I just think we need a stronger plan," Ms. Shapiro said. "We've talked about low-performing schools for an awfully long time and said that, over a period of time, they would change. And they haven't."
Whether her assertions are correct come down to what, exactly, it means to be "unacceptable." Texas has had a school-rating system since 1993, but what it takes to earn the state's lowest label has changed in most years since then. Nearly every school in the state has seen dramatic increases in state test scores over that time, and the state's standards have increased to match them.
Over the last decade, the rating system has kept the number of failing schools relatively low – generally 50 to 150.
But prominent players in education policy – led by former Bush education adviser Sandy Kress – believe that number is too low. Mr. Kress, a former Dallas school board president, has said the state's system should identify about 10 percent of schools as poor performers.
"This is a bigger jump than anyone was looking for," said Whit Johnstone, Irving's director of testing and research, who served on a statewide committee that recommended a smaller increase in standards than what Dr. Neeley chose. "Resources are finite, and you can't spend as much money as you want to move everything along at the same time," he said.
Challenges ahead
He said dealing with the increases would be difficult for districts such as his. Irving would have had several schools slip to unacceptable status had the standards been in place last year.
"A 10-percentage-point increase in the passing rate is pretty significant," he said. "It's not going to be a simple thing for any school district."
Some educators said there's little evidence that removing schools from the control of school districts increases their quality.
"If charter schools are to serve as an example of the effectiveness of the private sector, I think the results have been very mixed," said Maria Whitsett, executive director for accountability in the Austin school district. "I don't believe we can assume privatization is a blanket solution."
Staff writer Russell Rian contributed to this report.
Many more schools will be 'unacceptable'; bill could spur privatization
By JOSHUA BENTON / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN, Texas - The number of schools the state considers failing will skyrocket next year under a tougher accountability system approved by state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley.
And a new Senate proposal could pave the way to dozens or hundreds of those failing schools being taken over by private companies.
"I'm not concerned about how many schools become 'unacceptable,' " said state Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, chairwoman of the Senate education committee. "I'm more concerned about what happens in the classroom that makes them unacceptable."
The confluence of two distinct shifts in the Texas education world has some wondering whether schools are being set up for failure.
"There are people out there promoting the idea that public schools are bad," said John Cole, president of the Texas Federation of Teachers. "You'd almost forget that we have a president who ran on the idea that he had fixed the schools in Texas."
Dr. Neeley formally approved the new system Monday after more than a month of consideration by Texas Education Agency committees and staff members. Starting next year, the passing rate schools have to reach to be "academically acceptable" will increase by 10 percentage points in reading, writing, social studies and science. In math, the required passing rate will increase 5 points.
That – combined with other changes in the accountability system – will make it much harder for schools to stay out of the ratings gutter. Last year, 92 Texas schools were labeled unacceptable. If the new standards had been in place, 1,213 schools would have received the tag. Texas has about 7,700 public schools.
"Our goal is to bring our schools up to a really good standard," TEA spokeswoman DeEtta Culbertson said.
It's unlikely that the number of failing schools would reach 1,213. Scores on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test generally improve every year as teachers figure out how best to teach to the test. Those improvements will probably reduce the number of unacceptable campuses by several hundred.
But if Ms. Shapiro's bill becomes law, many of those schools would be managed by private – perhaps for-profit – companies. Under her proposal, any school that is rated unacceptable for two years must be removed from the control of the local school board and handed off to "alternative management."
The most likely candidates for such management would be school management companies.
The best-known is Edison, a for-profit company that has managed public schools in Dallas and elsewhere. It's received mixed reviews; many of the districts that've worked with Edison, such as Dallas, have severed ties to the company.
For-profit fears
Ms. Shapiro emphasized that "alternative management" does not necessarily mean a for-profit company. "It could be a group of parents that wants to do a better job," she said. "It could be UT-Austin or UT-Dallas or a school with a college of education. I think we're focusing too much on the potential of a for-profit management team."
But her bill includes language that appears to favor established companies over upstarts. The bill requires anyone wishing to take over a school to have "documented success in whole school interventions that increased the educational and performance levels of students in low-performing campuses."
Her bill is a Senate substitute to House Bill 2, the school finance bill passed last month by the Legislature's lower chamber. The House bill contained a similar private-management provision. But instead of tying takeovers to the "unacceptable" label, it targeted schools whose test scores ranked in the bottom 5 percent of the state.
That change makes Dr. Neeley's change to the definition of "unacceptable" more important. Under current law, schools rated unacceptable for several years can be subject to dissolution by the commissioner. But that tool has been used rarely.
Ms. Shapiro's proposal removes much of the commissioner's leeway in determining whether intervention is appropriate.
"I just think we need a stronger plan," Ms. Shapiro said. "We've talked about low-performing schools for an awfully long time and said that, over a period of time, they would change. And they haven't."
Whether her assertions are correct come down to what, exactly, it means to be "unacceptable." Texas has had a school-rating system since 1993, but what it takes to earn the state's lowest label has changed in most years since then. Nearly every school in the state has seen dramatic increases in state test scores over that time, and the state's standards have increased to match them.
Over the last decade, the rating system has kept the number of failing schools relatively low – generally 50 to 150.
But prominent players in education policy – led by former Bush education adviser Sandy Kress – believe that number is too low. Mr. Kress, a former Dallas school board president, has said the state's system should identify about 10 percent of schools as poor performers.
"This is a bigger jump than anyone was looking for," said Whit Johnstone, Irving's director of testing and research, who served on a statewide committee that recommended a smaller increase in standards than what Dr. Neeley chose. "Resources are finite, and you can't spend as much money as you want to move everything along at the same time," he said.
Challenges ahead
He said dealing with the increases would be difficult for districts such as his. Irving would have had several schools slip to unacceptable status had the standards been in place last year.
"A 10-percentage-point increase in the passing rate is pretty significant," he said. "It's not going to be a simple thing for any school district."
Some educators said there's little evidence that removing schools from the control of school districts increases their quality.
"If charter schools are to serve as an example of the effectiveness of the private sector, I think the results have been very mixed," said Maria Whitsett, executive director for accountability in the Austin school district. "I don't believe we can assume privatization is a blanket solution."
Staff writer Russell Rian contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Police seek 'fishing hat robber'
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Federal authorities need your help in nabbing a serial bank robber.
The robber struck again Tuesday morning at the Compass Bank in the 4200 block of Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas.
Authorities said it's the fifth robbery so far for the "fishing hat robber", who got his nickname because of his attire during holdups.
The suspect is described as an African-American male around 30 years old, six feet tall, and 200 pounds.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Federal authorities need your help in nabbing a serial bank robber.
The robber struck again Tuesday morning at the Compass Bank in the 4200 block of Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas.
Authorities said it's the fifth robbery so far for the "fishing hat robber", who got his nickname because of his attire during holdups.
The suspect is described as an African-American male around 30 years old, six feet tall, and 200 pounds.
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TexasStooge
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- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Jail computers face cost overruns
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - There are more problems for the new computer system that's supposed to track prisoner information between the Dallas County jail, courts and prosecutors.
When the new network went online, glitches caused delays in releasing jail prisoners who posted bond - but now the concern is over possible cost overruns.
"So we're saying you do have a $400,000 overage that needs to be addressed," county administrator Allen Clemson told commissioners on Tuesday.
The company building the network, InfoIntegration, turned in the bill for work since the system went live January 31, but commissioners scrambled to learn who approved the work since they didn't.
County Judge Margaret Keliher asked, "What have I paid for? Where am I on this project, at what cost?"
Commissioners learned that apparently when people in the various departments wanted functions added to their computers, InfoIntegration just added them.
"Then, when different departments start saying 'I need this,' we really didn't have the mechanism to start pulling everybody back," said commissioner Mike Cantrell.
But commissioner John Wiley Price expressed frustration in how the overrun happened.
"It's a sweetheart deal; it's open-ended," Price said. "I can't get basic questions answered."
Cantrell, who is spearheading the project, said there are no secrets.
"Nothing's been done in the back room or behind closed doors," he said.
Confusion over the deal remains, since no one from InfoIntegration was available for questions Tuesday. Meanwhile, sheriff's department officials said there are still delays in finding and moving around prisoners.
Commissioners are to get another report next week on how much taxpayer money has been spent so far on the computer system.
By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - There are more problems for the new computer system that's supposed to track prisoner information between the Dallas County jail, courts and prosecutors.
When the new network went online, glitches caused delays in releasing jail prisoners who posted bond - but now the concern is over possible cost overruns.
"So we're saying you do have a $400,000 overage that needs to be addressed," county administrator Allen Clemson told commissioners on Tuesday.
The company building the network, InfoIntegration, turned in the bill for work since the system went live January 31, but commissioners scrambled to learn who approved the work since they didn't.
County Judge Margaret Keliher asked, "What have I paid for? Where am I on this project, at what cost?"
Commissioners learned that apparently when people in the various departments wanted functions added to their computers, InfoIntegration just added them.
"Then, when different departments start saying 'I need this,' we really didn't have the mechanism to start pulling everybody back," said commissioner Mike Cantrell.
But commissioner John Wiley Price expressed frustration in how the overrun happened.
"It's a sweetheart deal; it's open-ended," Price said. "I can't get basic questions answered."
Cantrell, who is spearheading the project, said there are no secrets.
"Nothing's been done in the back room or behind closed doors," he said.
Confusion over the deal remains, since no one from InfoIntegration was available for questions Tuesday. Meanwhile, sheriff's department officials said there are still delays in finding and moving around prisoners.
Commissioners are to get another report next week on how much taxpayer money has been spent so far on the computer system.
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TexasStooge
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Jurors mull sentence in beating case
By MATT STILES / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Jesse Chaddock's supporters say the incident at a Deep Ellum nightclub that left David Cunniff partially paralyzed was a "bar fight" ending in tragedy.
But prosecutor Toby Shook on Tuesday urged jurors – who found Mr. Chaddock guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity when he assaulted Mr. Cunniff – to impose a life sentence.
What happened to Mr. Cunniff in July at Gypsy Tea Room was no tragedy, he said.
"That is a horror show – written, directed and starring Jesse Chaddock," he said, recalling Mr. Cunniff's broken neck and the difficult rehabilitation that has allowed him to regain limited use of his legs and hands.
Jurors began deliberating Mr. Chaddock's sentence in the morning. By late Tuesday they sent a note: "Judge, we are making some progress but we'd like to understand what happens if we don't reach a consensus."
Visiting Judge Ron Chapman replied that, if the panel deadlocked, a mistrial would be declared. The indictment would remain, he said, so a future jury presumably would decide the case after a new trial.
The jury, which took just less than three hours to convict Mr. Chaddock, was to return to its deliberations Wednesday morning.
The panel began discussing Mr. Chaddock's punishment after hearing his defense attorney argue for leniency, urging jurors not to impose a lengthy, or arbitrary, sentence.
"This isn't about revenge. Justice isn't about revenge," Phillip Hayes said, reminding the panel that probation is an option. "It's about doing what's right."
The punishment phase capped a weeklong trial. Jurors sided with prosecutors, who alleged that Mr. Chaddock assaulted Mr. Cunniff – and that the incident was related to an affiliation with a local skinhead organization called the Confederate Hammerskins.
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Chaddock was unprovoked when they say he attacked Mr. Cunniff after an Old 97s concert, repeating a pattern in which he and other skinheads engaged in aggressive behavior and fights.
Mr. Shook told the jury that Mr. Cunniff was pummeled as he lay on the nightclub's concrete floor, his neck broken and head bleeding.
Mr. Chaddock, who testified, offered a different account, though he admitted starting the fight. He said he punched a verbally agitated Mr. Cunniff to defend a friend and himself. He and the larger Mr. Cunniff then grabbed each other, moved backwards and fell awkwardly to the floor, perhaps causing the serious injury.
Mr. Hayes sought during the trial to rebut prosecutors' contention that Mr. Chaddock was a skinhead – a critical point in countering the organized crime charge.
Mr. Chaddock's supporters testified that the Dallas heating and air-conditioning worker quit the group years ago. They said he began covering racist tattoos. Others described him as thoughtful, caring and generous – characterizations that didn't jibe, prosecutors said, with his actions.
But a veteran Dallas police officer told the jury that he believed Mr. Chaddock was still a member. Jurors also heard details of several previous fights at local bars, including one in which Mr. Chaddock admitted stabbing a security guard in 1996 after he and other skinheads beat a Hispanic man in Lower Greenville.
"Do you think Jesse's learned his lesson?" prosecutor Andy Beach said after stomping on the floor, simulating the 8-year-old fight.
"You think he's done inflicting pain on people?"
By MATT STILES / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Jesse Chaddock's supporters say the incident at a Deep Ellum nightclub that left David Cunniff partially paralyzed was a "bar fight" ending in tragedy.
But prosecutor Toby Shook on Tuesday urged jurors – who found Mr. Chaddock guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity when he assaulted Mr. Cunniff – to impose a life sentence.
What happened to Mr. Cunniff in July at Gypsy Tea Room was no tragedy, he said.
"That is a horror show – written, directed and starring Jesse Chaddock," he said, recalling Mr. Cunniff's broken neck and the difficult rehabilitation that has allowed him to regain limited use of his legs and hands.
Jurors began deliberating Mr. Chaddock's sentence in the morning. By late Tuesday they sent a note: "Judge, we are making some progress but we'd like to understand what happens if we don't reach a consensus."
Visiting Judge Ron Chapman replied that, if the panel deadlocked, a mistrial would be declared. The indictment would remain, he said, so a future jury presumably would decide the case after a new trial.
The jury, which took just less than three hours to convict Mr. Chaddock, was to return to its deliberations Wednesday morning.
The panel began discussing Mr. Chaddock's punishment after hearing his defense attorney argue for leniency, urging jurors not to impose a lengthy, or arbitrary, sentence.
"This isn't about revenge. Justice isn't about revenge," Phillip Hayes said, reminding the panel that probation is an option. "It's about doing what's right."
The punishment phase capped a weeklong trial. Jurors sided with prosecutors, who alleged that Mr. Chaddock assaulted Mr. Cunniff – and that the incident was related to an affiliation with a local skinhead organization called the Confederate Hammerskins.
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Chaddock was unprovoked when they say he attacked Mr. Cunniff after an Old 97s concert, repeating a pattern in which he and other skinheads engaged in aggressive behavior and fights.
Mr. Shook told the jury that Mr. Cunniff was pummeled as he lay on the nightclub's concrete floor, his neck broken and head bleeding.
Mr. Chaddock, who testified, offered a different account, though he admitted starting the fight. He said he punched a verbally agitated Mr. Cunniff to defend a friend and himself. He and the larger Mr. Cunniff then grabbed each other, moved backwards and fell awkwardly to the floor, perhaps causing the serious injury.
Mr. Hayes sought during the trial to rebut prosecutors' contention that Mr. Chaddock was a skinhead – a critical point in countering the organized crime charge.
Mr. Chaddock's supporters testified that the Dallas heating and air-conditioning worker quit the group years ago. They said he began covering racist tattoos. Others described him as thoughtful, caring and generous – characterizations that didn't jibe, prosecutors said, with his actions.
But a veteran Dallas police officer told the jury that he believed Mr. Chaddock was still a member. Jurors also heard details of several previous fights at local bars, including one in which Mr. Chaddock admitted stabbing a security guard in 1996 after he and other skinheads beat a Hispanic man in Lower Greenville.
"Do you think Jesse's learned his lesson?" prosecutor Andy Beach said after stomping on the floor, simulating the 8-year-old fight.
"You think he's done inflicting pain on people?"
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TexasStooge
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With deaths, Tasers under scrutiny
Some say tools are as dangerous as the methods they're meant to replace
By JASON TRAHAN and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Billed as an alternative to more violent control methods such as neck holds, batons and sidearms, Tasers increasingly are coming under scrutiny as deaths linked to their use add up, suggesting they could be as dangerous as the tools they were meant to replace.
But many policing experts say Tasers remain their best option for subduing people and every nonlethal policing method will end in some deaths. Fort Worth police – and others in North Texas – said they would continue to use them.
The Tarrant County medical examiner has not determined what led to the death of Eric Hammock on Sunday night after he was shocked twice after a foot chase with an officer who accused him of trespassing. Mr. Hammock is the second man to be killed in a Taser-related incident involving Fort Worth police within the last five months.
"We are waiting for the medical examiner to make an informed decision, rather than react to hype surrounding this technology," said Lt. Dean Sullivan, Fort Worth police spokesman. "Until there's something to show us that this particular piece of equipment isn't safe for our employees or the public, we'll keep using them."
He said Fort Worth officers have used the department's 549 Tasers 180 times since they were issued in 2001. He said that 223 times, all an officer had to do was show someone the Taser to persuade them to back down.
"Those are all times when we've been able to minimize the potential of injury to the suspect and officer doing their job," he said. "If we don't have that option, sometimes deadly force is the only other."
Firm defends weapons
Arizona-based Taser International, which has sold thousands of its hand-held units to police agencies nationwide, said in a statement that its products are safe and that the devices have not directly caused any deaths.
"Until all the facts surrounding this tragic incident are known, it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions on a cause of death," said Steve Tuttle, a company spokesman.
The medical examiner ruled that cocaine intoxication killed Robert Guerrero, 21, who died in November after a Fort Worth officer used a Taser on him when he refused to leave an apartment closet. He was suspected of stealing electricity.
Depending on who is counting and how, dozens to more than 100 people have died in the United States after being jolted with about 50,000 volts of electrical current by Tasers.
Conventional wisdom among policing and medical experts is that when deaths have occurred involving Tasers, in most instances the person hit was either high on a lethal amount of drugs, in bad health, or both.
"It's a tough issue," said Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle, who added that he continuously follows Taser news and research. "What I've seen suggests that departments continue to find the tool valuable and have made minimal or no changes to their policy and use."
Amnesty weighs in
For Amnesty International USA, Tasers are already a problem.
The human rights organization "supports the development of nonlethal alternatives to firearms, and we believe that police officers should have every tool necessary to do their jobs safely and effectively," Dr. William F. Schulz, the group's executive director, said in a statement last week. "However, it has been difficult to engage in an honest debate about Taser usage when the truth seems to be as elusive as an independent, comprehensive medical study supporting claims that Tasers are generally safe."
On Friday, Amnesty International attributed 103 deaths, up from a previous estimate of about 70, to the devices since 2001. Their ease of use and portability have also led to abuses, according to the human rights group, such as police using them on schoolchildren, the elderly and uncooperative – not necessarily violent – prisoners.
But Taser, which says it is cooperating with a Securities and Exchange inquiry into its safety claims, cites its own studies.
"While we understand the concerns of the public concerning the topic of in-custody deaths following the use of Taser technology, there are medical experts who dispute the few cases, out of tens of thousands of life-saving uses, where a Taser device has been cited as a contributing factor to an in-custody death," said Mr. Tuttle.
The company refers to a October Department of Defense report that concludes that Tasers are among the safest alternatives available to law enforcement to subdue violent individuals.
In the months after that report, Taser-related deaths continued to surface. Agencies and studies report different numbers of Taser-related deaths, often because reporting is incomplete or contributing factors such as the health of a victim hit by a Taser is factored into the number of deaths differently.
In February, Chicago police temporarily stopped giving new Tasers – about 200 are still in use in the field – to officers after a man died when an officer used one during a confrontation. A few days earlier, a 14-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest when a Taser was used on him after he attacked staffers at a youth home. He survived.
In late January, the Lucas County sheriff's office in Toledo, Ohio, stopped using Tasers after a man died after being shocked five times when he fought Toledo police officers who confronted him about loitering on the grounds of an art museum. He was also zapped at the jail when he fought deputies there.
"There's no plans anytime too soon to utilize them again," said Jon Rogers, internal affairs director for the Lucas County sheriff's office. "Until the sheriff feels more comfortable and finds out the result on the autopsy, he's going to err on the side of safety."
Lack of research
The problem is that there is no definitive, credible study either clearing or permanently condemning the technology, said Tom Barrett, a former Coast Guard admiral and vice president of the Virginia-based Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that evaluates technology-related issues and has studied Tasers.
For instance, the institute's examination of the 72 deaths that appeared in Amnesty International's report found that "in no instance was stun gun employment singularly indicated or implicated as the specific cause of death, although the application of stun devices could not be ruled out as a possible contributing factor."
"No device is a 100 percent safe," Mr. Barrett said. "In terms of the state of the research, there's some that suggests that it was not likely to be lethal to healthy adults. There is no broad-based, scientifically peer-reviewed research that examines all of the associated issues with this to the level that needs to be done.
"But having said that, they are relatively safe compared to some of the alternatives."
Local usage
Grand Prairie policymakers are considering bolstering that department's Taser cache, from nine to as many as 50, at a cost of about $1,000 each, including training.
During the last two years, the department has had great success preventing death and injuries to officers and those they deal with by using Tasers, said Sgt. John Shaw, a Grand Prairie training supervisor.
"We've been able to defuse at least 10 situations where Tasers were used when deadly force would have been the only alternative – suicidal people, violent attacks on police officers, people who are disturbed or under the influence of narcotics," he said. "Officers aren't getting hurt as much, they're not having to fight as much, as a direct result of the Taser."
Sgt. Shaw said he's eager to see the results of a University of Wisconsin-Madison study, funded through a $500,000 U.S. Justice Department grant, on how Taser jolts affect pigs' hearts.
"If they link this equipment to death, naturally you'll have to rethink the deployment," he said. "It completely takes away the nonlethal character to the weapon."
Some say tools are as dangerous as the methods they're meant to replace
By JASON TRAHAN and TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas - Billed as an alternative to more violent control methods such as neck holds, batons and sidearms, Tasers increasingly are coming under scrutiny as deaths linked to their use add up, suggesting they could be as dangerous as the tools they were meant to replace.
But many policing experts say Tasers remain their best option for subduing people and every nonlethal policing method will end in some deaths. Fort Worth police – and others in North Texas – said they would continue to use them.
The Tarrant County medical examiner has not determined what led to the death of Eric Hammock on Sunday night after he was shocked twice after a foot chase with an officer who accused him of trespassing. Mr. Hammock is the second man to be killed in a Taser-related incident involving Fort Worth police within the last five months.
"We are waiting for the medical examiner to make an informed decision, rather than react to hype surrounding this technology," said Lt. Dean Sullivan, Fort Worth police spokesman. "Until there's something to show us that this particular piece of equipment isn't safe for our employees or the public, we'll keep using them."
He said Fort Worth officers have used the department's 549 Tasers 180 times since they were issued in 2001. He said that 223 times, all an officer had to do was show someone the Taser to persuade them to back down.
"Those are all times when we've been able to minimize the potential of injury to the suspect and officer doing their job," he said. "If we don't have that option, sometimes deadly force is the only other."
Firm defends weapons
Arizona-based Taser International, which has sold thousands of its hand-held units to police agencies nationwide, said in a statement that its products are safe and that the devices have not directly caused any deaths.
"Until all the facts surrounding this tragic incident are known, it is inappropriate to jump to conclusions on a cause of death," said Steve Tuttle, a company spokesman.
The medical examiner ruled that cocaine intoxication killed Robert Guerrero, 21, who died in November after a Fort Worth officer used a Taser on him when he refused to leave an apartment closet. He was suspected of stealing electricity.
Depending on who is counting and how, dozens to more than 100 people have died in the United States after being jolted with about 50,000 volts of electrical current by Tasers.
Conventional wisdom among policing and medical experts is that when deaths have occurred involving Tasers, in most instances the person hit was either high on a lethal amount of drugs, in bad health, or both.
"It's a tough issue," said Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle, who added that he continuously follows Taser news and research. "What I've seen suggests that departments continue to find the tool valuable and have made minimal or no changes to their policy and use."
Amnesty weighs in
For Amnesty International USA, Tasers are already a problem.
The human rights organization "supports the development of nonlethal alternatives to firearms, and we believe that police officers should have every tool necessary to do their jobs safely and effectively," Dr. William F. Schulz, the group's executive director, said in a statement last week. "However, it has been difficult to engage in an honest debate about Taser usage when the truth seems to be as elusive as an independent, comprehensive medical study supporting claims that Tasers are generally safe."
On Friday, Amnesty International attributed 103 deaths, up from a previous estimate of about 70, to the devices since 2001. Their ease of use and portability have also led to abuses, according to the human rights group, such as police using them on schoolchildren, the elderly and uncooperative – not necessarily violent – prisoners.
But Taser, which says it is cooperating with a Securities and Exchange inquiry into its safety claims, cites its own studies.
"While we understand the concerns of the public concerning the topic of in-custody deaths following the use of Taser technology, there are medical experts who dispute the few cases, out of tens of thousands of life-saving uses, where a Taser device has been cited as a contributing factor to an in-custody death," said Mr. Tuttle.
The company refers to a October Department of Defense report that concludes that Tasers are among the safest alternatives available to law enforcement to subdue violent individuals.
In the months after that report, Taser-related deaths continued to surface. Agencies and studies report different numbers of Taser-related deaths, often because reporting is incomplete or contributing factors such as the health of a victim hit by a Taser is factored into the number of deaths differently.
In February, Chicago police temporarily stopped giving new Tasers – about 200 are still in use in the field – to officers after a man died when an officer used one during a confrontation. A few days earlier, a 14-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest when a Taser was used on him after he attacked staffers at a youth home. He survived.
In late January, the Lucas County sheriff's office in Toledo, Ohio, stopped using Tasers after a man died after being shocked five times when he fought Toledo police officers who confronted him about loitering on the grounds of an art museum. He was also zapped at the jail when he fought deputies there.
"There's no plans anytime too soon to utilize them again," said Jon Rogers, internal affairs director for the Lucas County sheriff's office. "Until the sheriff feels more comfortable and finds out the result on the autopsy, he's going to err on the side of safety."
Lack of research
The problem is that there is no definitive, credible study either clearing or permanently condemning the technology, said Tom Barrett, a former Coast Guard admiral and vice president of the Virginia-based Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that evaluates technology-related issues and has studied Tasers.
For instance, the institute's examination of the 72 deaths that appeared in Amnesty International's report found that "in no instance was stun gun employment singularly indicated or implicated as the specific cause of death, although the application of stun devices could not be ruled out as a possible contributing factor."
"No device is a 100 percent safe," Mr. Barrett said. "In terms of the state of the research, there's some that suggests that it was not likely to be lethal to healthy adults. There is no broad-based, scientifically peer-reviewed research that examines all of the associated issues with this to the level that needs to be done.
"But having said that, they are relatively safe compared to some of the alternatives."
Local usage
Grand Prairie policymakers are considering bolstering that department's Taser cache, from nine to as many as 50, at a cost of about $1,000 each, including training.
During the last two years, the department has had great success preventing death and injuries to officers and those they deal with by using Tasers, said Sgt. John Shaw, a Grand Prairie training supervisor.
"We've been able to defuse at least 10 situations where Tasers were used when deadly force would have been the only alternative – suicidal people, violent attacks on police officers, people who are disturbed or under the influence of narcotics," he said. "Officers aren't getting hurt as much, they're not having to fight as much, as a direct result of the Taser."
Sgt. Shaw said he's eager to see the results of a University of Wisconsin-Madison study, funded through a $500,000 U.S. Justice Department grant, on how Taser jolts affect pigs' hearts.
"If they link this equipment to death, naturally you'll have to rethink the deployment," he said. "It completely takes away the nonlethal character to the weapon."
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
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- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
Plano ISD to alter religious message rule
Students could swap religious messages in suit settlement offer
By KIM BREEN / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas – Plano students can exchange religious and other messages during school hours following a policy change approved Tuesday as part of an effort to settle a federal lawsuit.
Plano school officials plan to reach out today to parents who filed the lawsuit to try to settle the matter, said Superintendent Doug Otto. The parents said the district violated students' free speech and religious rights on several occasions.
Despite the policy change, Dr. Otto said, the district is not admitting fault but is interested in "restoring trust in those, however few, who have come to view the district with suspicion."
Parent and lawsuit plaintiff Doug Morgan isn't sold.
"If you were expecting me to be feeling jubilant and festive and victorious, I don't have any of those emotions," he said.
Attorneys for the parents said the changed policy doesn't appear to go far enough. Still, they said, they are willing to talk to the district about settling the case.
"I'm glad we're going from no free speech to some free speech," said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Liberty Legal Institute, a religious-rights law firm representing parents and students named in the December lawsuit. "It is at least a step in the right direction."
The district has been struggling to walk the line between free speech and neutrality about religion since an elementary school party in December 2003.
Student – now plaintiff – Jonathan Morgan was not allowed to hand out candy-cane pens with a religious message attached.
Liberty Legal filed suit against the district and some staffers on behalf of Jonathan, as well as other students and parents with similar complaints a year later.
"This litigation has placed Plano ISD teachers in a compromising position in which they feel they must be constitutional scholars regarding the First Amendment and religion," Dr. Otto said.
The district's former distribution policy allowed students to exchange pre-approved materials by leaving them on a table in the school. The new policy also gives students the opportunity to exchange materials that have not been approved at certain times during the day, depending on students' age.
Elementary students, for example, can exchange items before and after school in certain areas, and during recess and designated school parties. Secondary students have more opportunities, including during passing time in the hallways.
Principals will learn about the changes today.
Dr. Otto said that the policy has been changed to be less restrictive but that he would not go so far as to say the former policy was flawed.
"The recommendation [to change the policy] is not made because the district believes it has violated anyone's constitutional rights or that it is intimidated by the plaintiffs or fearful of losing the case," he said.
Mr. Shackelford said he had not seen the policy changes.
Before passing the policy changes unanimously Tuesday night, some school board members said the revised rules strike a balance between protecting students and preserving their rights. Board member Allan Bird said he wished people with problems would try to work them out with school leaders "rather than always making it a legal issue."
School district attorneys filed an answer to the lawsuit in federal District Court on Tuesday that states the case is not about First Amendment rights or hostility toward Christianity.
"This lawsuit is about a group of adults' stated goal of being able to proselytize their religion unregulated and uninterrupted to students in elementary schools, including the classrooms, during the school day," the answer says.
Staff writer Paula Lavigne contributed to this report.
Students could swap religious messages in suit settlement offer
By KIM BREEN / The Dallas Morning News
PLANO, Texas – Plano students can exchange religious and other messages during school hours following a policy change approved Tuesday as part of an effort to settle a federal lawsuit.
Plano school officials plan to reach out today to parents who filed the lawsuit to try to settle the matter, said Superintendent Doug Otto. The parents said the district violated students' free speech and religious rights on several occasions.
Despite the policy change, Dr. Otto said, the district is not admitting fault but is interested in "restoring trust in those, however few, who have come to view the district with suspicion."
Parent and lawsuit plaintiff Doug Morgan isn't sold.
"If you were expecting me to be feeling jubilant and festive and victorious, I don't have any of those emotions," he said.
Attorneys for the parents said the changed policy doesn't appear to go far enough. Still, they said, they are willing to talk to the district about settling the case.
"I'm glad we're going from no free speech to some free speech," said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Liberty Legal Institute, a religious-rights law firm representing parents and students named in the December lawsuit. "It is at least a step in the right direction."
The district has been struggling to walk the line between free speech and neutrality about religion since an elementary school party in December 2003.
Student – now plaintiff – Jonathan Morgan was not allowed to hand out candy-cane pens with a religious message attached.
Liberty Legal filed suit against the district and some staffers on behalf of Jonathan, as well as other students and parents with similar complaints a year later.
"This litigation has placed Plano ISD teachers in a compromising position in which they feel they must be constitutional scholars regarding the First Amendment and religion," Dr. Otto said.
The district's former distribution policy allowed students to exchange pre-approved materials by leaving them on a table in the school. The new policy also gives students the opportunity to exchange materials that have not been approved at certain times during the day, depending on students' age.
Elementary students, for example, can exchange items before and after school in certain areas, and during recess and designated school parties. Secondary students have more opportunities, including during passing time in the hallways.
Principals will learn about the changes today.
Dr. Otto said that the policy has been changed to be less restrictive but that he would not go so far as to say the former policy was flawed.
"The recommendation [to change the policy] is not made because the district believes it has violated anyone's constitutional rights or that it is intimidated by the plaintiffs or fearful of losing the case," he said.
Mr. Shackelford said he had not seen the policy changes.
Before passing the policy changes unanimously Tuesday night, some school board members said the revised rules strike a balance between protecting students and preserving their rights. Board member Allan Bird said he wished people with problems would try to work them out with school leaders "rather than always making it a legal issue."
School district attorneys filed an answer to the lawsuit in federal District Court on Tuesday that states the case is not about First Amendment rights or hostility toward Christianity.
"This lawsuit is about a group of adults' stated goal of being able to proselytize their religion unregulated and uninterrupted to students in elementary schools, including the classrooms, during the school day," the answer says.
Staff writer Paula Lavigne contributed to this report.
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TexasStooge
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Bedford library woes draw outside interest
National, state groups want budget-strapped city to restore service
By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News
BEDFORD, Texas – National and state library officials converged on Bedford on Tuesday to help local leaders and volunteers find ways to reopen the city's library, which city officials temporarily closed last week after a controversial property tax rollback.
Carol Brey-Casiano, president of the American Library Association, said Bedford City Manager Chuck Barnett was open to fundraising suggestions to temporarily fund the library and committed to finding ways to try to permanently reopen it. The library was the first in the country to close in at least 15 years, Ms. Brey-Casiano said.
"They're facing a complex budget situation," Ms. Brey-Casiano said. "But this is essential to the community, and we wanted them to remember that.
"Other communities have overcome this. There are solutions for Bedford."
In addition to the library, a divided City Council last week closed Bedford's water park, pool and Bedford Boys Ranch Activity Center and laid off 50 city employees. Officials also decided to cut back on park maintenance, such as mowing. All of the closures are planned for six months until the city can balance its current budget.
Members of the library associations said they are unable to donate money to the Bedford effort but can offer assistance through the Saving America's Libraries program.
About 30,000 Bedford residents have a public library card. Volunteers for the Friends of the Bedford Public Library said Tuesday that they would galvanize those supporters.
Officials say it would cost about $105,000 to reopen the library for 20 hours a week for about six months.
"We are going to raise that money. We just have to," said Jim Davisson, vice president of the volunteer group. "A number of people who voted for the rollback didn't believe that this would happen. I can't believe that they wanted this."
He said the group would meet Thursday to come up with specific fundraising ideas, which could include tapping the business community.
"It took some time for the shock of the election to wear off, but we have to get past that and make this happen," Mr. Davisson said.
The Bedford library currently is open only for book returns. William C. Martin United Methodist Church in Bedford is considering adopting the library's summer reading program, church officials said.
By a margin of just 10 votes, a property tax rollback was approved in March that city officials say made it necessary to make the roughly $3 million in cuts to balance the current budget.
After years of keeping the property tax rate stable, council members approved a 27 percent increase in the tax rate, from 38.9 cents to 49.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Members of a group called Bedford Citizens for Responsive Government pushed for the tax rate to be rolled back to around 40 cents. They say they don't believe the budget cuts are needed because they're not convinced the city's budget is as tight as city officials contend.
Mr. Barnett said that he hopes to find the money to reopen some facilities when he begins planning next year's budget in a month but that it may include a proposal for higher taxes.
"The goal is to reopen everything," he said. "But to do that we'll have to go through the same exercise, which may include increasing taxes."
National, state groups want budget-strapped city to restore service
By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News
BEDFORD, Texas – National and state library officials converged on Bedford on Tuesday to help local leaders and volunteers find ways to reopen the city's library, which city officials temporarily closed last week after a controversial property tax rollback.
Carol Brey-Casiano, president of the American Library Association, said Bedford City Manager Chuck Barnett was open to fundraising suggestions to temporarily fund the library and committed to finding ways to try to permanently reopen it. The library was the first in the country to close in at least 15 years, Ms. Brey-Casiano said.
"They're facing a complex budget situation," Ms. Brey-Casiano said. "But this is essential to the community, and we wanted them to remember that.
"Other communities have overcome this. There are solutions for Bedford."
In addition to the library, a divided City Council last week closed Bedford's water park, pool and Bedford Boys Ranch Activity Center and laid off 50 city employees. Officials also decided to cut back on park maintenance, such as mowing. All of the closures are planned for six months until the city can balance its current budget.
Members of the library associations said they are unable to donate money to the Bedford effort but can offer assistance through the Saving America's Libraries program.
About 30,000 Bedford residents have a public library card. Volunteers for the Friends of the Bedford Public Library said Tuesday that they would galvanize those supporters.
Officials say it would cost about $105,000 to reopen the library for 20 hours a week for about six months.
"We are going to raise that money. We just have to," said Jim Davisson, vice president of the volunteer group. "A number of people who voted for the rollback didn't believe that this would happen. I can't believe that they wanted this."
He said the group would meet Thursday to come up with specific fundraising ideas, which could include tapping the business community.
"It took some time for the shock of the election to wear off, but we have to get past that and make this happen," Mr. Davisson said.
The Bedford library currently is open only for book returns. William C. Martin United Methodist Church in Bedford is considering adopting the library's summer reading program, church officials said.
By a margin of just 10 votes, a property tax rollback was approved in March that city officials say made it necessary to make the roughly $3 million in cuts to balance the current budget.
After years of keeping the property tax rate stable, council members approved a 27 percent increase in the tax rate, from 38.9 cents to 49.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
Members of a group called Bedford Citizens for Responsive Government pushed for the tax rate to be rolled back to around 40 cents. They say they don't believe the budget cuts are needed because they're not convinced the city's budget is as tight as city officials contend.
Mr. Barnett said that he hopes to find the money to reopen some facilities when he begins planning next year's budget in a month but that it may include a proposal for higher taxes.
"The goal is to reopen everything," he said. "But to do that we'll have to go through the same exercise, which may include increasing taxes."
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TexasStooge
- Category 5
- Posts: 38127
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
- Contact:
The 2005 Dallas/Ft. Worth Breast Cancer 3-Day Is Two Months Away
- Register Now to Make a Difference in the Fight Against Breast Cancer
DALLAS, Texas (PRNewswire) -- This year, more than 200,000 women and men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will lose their lives to the disease. In Texas alone, approximately 12,860 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to American Cancer Society statistics. These are women and men this community knows and loves. Individuals wishing to take a bold step toward a cure should register now for the 2005 Dallas/Ft. Worth Breast Cancer 3-Day.
"The Dallas/Ft. Worth 3-Day may seem far away, but we encourage those interested in participating to register now," said Howard Sitron, Breast Cancer 3-Day vice president and chief operating officer. "The more time participants have to raise money and train for the event the better, because walking 60 miles is anything but a casual stroll. The more training, the more fun and successful the 3-Day will be, and the less likely participants are to experience discomfort or injuries on the event."
The 3-Day offers Texas residents the chance to make a personal difference in the fight against breast cancer while being part of an exciting and challenging event. Participants join together for three days and walk 60 miles in a life-changing display of courage and commitment.
"Through this experience, I hope to raise awareness about breast cancer and inform others that it can happen to them, their moms, friends, aunts, daughters, wives, even dads or brothers," said Elaine Bixby, 2005 Dallas/Ft. Worth 3-Day participant.
Breast Cancer 3-Day participants commit to fundraising, training and dedicating an entire weekend to help raise awareness for the cause. Coaches and volunteers make sure participants have the training and resources needed to prepare mentally and physically, as well as generate fundraising ideas.
Taking place in 12 cities nationwide, the Breast Cancer 3-Day will raise millions for breast cancer research and patient support programs. Net proceeds from the 3-Day will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to fund breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment programs and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund to provide an endowment for breast cancer initiatives. Visit http://www.The3Day.org or call (800) 996- 3DAY for registration and donation information.
The Komen Foundation is an international organization with a network of more than 75,000 active volunteers working through local Affiliates to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. A global leader in the fight against breast cancer, the Komen Foundation fulfills its mission through support of innovative breast cancer research grants, meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach programs around the world. Together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has raised nearly $740 million for the fight against breast cancer.
The National Philanthropic Trust, the event manager, is an independent public charity dedicated to increasing philanthropy in our society. Founded in 1996, NPT is one of the 100 largest charities in the United States. Since its inception, NPT has raised more than $850 million in charitable assets, and made more than 10,000 grants to U.S. and international charities totaling $365 million.
Contact
Wendy Hicks
816.512.9364, whicks@beap.com
Amy Marsili
816.512.9574, amarsili@beap.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: The National Philanthropic Trust
- Register Now to Make a Difference in the Fight Against Breast Cancer
DALLAS, Texas (PRNewswire) -- This year, more than 200,000 women and men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will lose their lives to the disease. In Texas alone, approximately 12,860 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to American Cancer Society statistics. These are women and men this community knows and loves. Individuals wishing to take a bold step toward a cure should register now for the 2005 Dallas/Ft. Worth Breast Cancer 3-Day.
"The Dallas/Ft. Worth 3-Day may seem far away, but we encourage those interested in participating to register now," said Howard Sitron, Breast Cancer 3-Day vice president and chief operating officer. "The more time participants have to raise money and train for the event the better, because walking 60 miles is anything but a casual stroll. The more training, the more fun and successful the 3-Day will be, and the less likely participants are to experience discomfort or injuries on the event."
The 3-Day offers Texas residents the chance to make a personal difference in the fight against breast cancer while being part of an exciting and challenging event. Participants join together for three days and walk 60 miles in a life-changing display of courage and commitment.
"Through this experience, I hope to raise awareness about breast cancer and inform others that it can happen to them, their moms, friends, aunts, daughters, wives, even dads or brothers," said Elaine Bixby, 2005 Dallas/Ft. Worth 3-Day participant.
Breast Cancer 3-Day participants commit to fundraising, training and dedicating an entire weekend to help raise awareness for the cause. Coaches and volunteers make sure participants have the training and resources needed to prepare mentally and physically, as well as generate fundraising ideas.
Taking place in 12 cities nationwide, the Breast Cancer 3-Day will raise millions for breast cancer research and patient support programs. Net proceeds from the 3-Day will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to fund breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment programs and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund to provide an endowment for breast cancer initiatives. Visit http://www.The3Day.org or call (800) 996- 3DAY for registration and donation information.
The Komen Foundation is an international organization with a network of more than 75,000 active volunteers working through local Affiliates to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease. A global leader in the fight against breast cancer, the Komen Foundation fulfills its mission through support of innovative breast cancer research grants, meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach programs around the world. Together with its Affiliate Network, corporate partners and generous donors, the Komen Foundation has raised nearly $740 million for the fight against breast cancer.
The National Philanthropic Trust, the event manager, is an independent public charity dedicated to increasing philanthropy in our society. Founded in 1996, NPT is one of the 100 largest charities in the United States. Since its inception, NPT has raised more than $850 million in charitable assets, and made more than 10,000 grants to U.S. and international charities totaling $365 million.
Contact
Wendy Hicks
816.512.9364, whicks@beap.com
Amy Marsili
816.512.9574, amarsili@beap.com
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Source: The National Philanthropic Trust
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TexasStooge
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- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
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Man Convicted Of Sex Assault On Flight
Sentencing Set For June 24
DALLAS, TX/BOSTON, Mass. (KXAS NBC 5) -- An Arizona executive was convicted on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman seated next to him on a flight from Dallas to Boston.
Deepak Jahagirdar, 55, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was convicted by a federal jury after a six-day trial and five hours of deliberations of sexually abusing and having abusive sexual contact with the 22-year-old woman.
Jahagirdar, who was ordered held until sentencing on June 24, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the sexual abuse charge, three years in prison on the abusive sexual contact charge, and a $500,000 fine.
The woman, traveling alone and returning home from a vacation in Texas in March 2002, told authorities that she fell asleep early on the Delta Air Lines flight and awoke to find that Jahagirdar had covered her with a blanket, unbuttoned her pants and had his hand inside her.
The woman left her seat and alerted the flight crew. Jahagirdar, a marketing manager for a health care company, was arrested by Massachusetts State Police when the flight landed at Logan International Airport in Boston.
The woman's DNA was found on Jahagirdar's hands, according to prosecutors.
Jahagirdar testified during the trial that the contact was consensual.
The case was transferred to federal jurisdiction because the assault occurred in mid-flight. Jahagirdar was arrested on the federal charges at his home on Jan. 13, 2004.
Sentencing Set For June 24
DALLAS, TX/BOSTON, Mass. (KXAS NBC 5) -- An Arizona executive was convicted on Tuesday of sexually assaulting a sleeping woman seated next to him on a flight from Dallas to Boston.
Deepak Jahagirdar, 55, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was convicted by a federal jury after a six-day trial and five hours of deliberations of sexually abusing and having abusive sexual contact with the 22-year-old woman.
Jahagirdar, who was ordered held until sentencing on June 24, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the sexual abuse charge, three years in prison on the abusive sexual contact charge, and a $500,000 fine.
The woman, traveling alone and returning home from a vacation in Texas in March 2002, told authorities that she fell asleep early on the Delta Air Lines flight and awoke to find that Jahagirdar had covered her with a blanket, unbuttoned her pants and had his hand inside her.
The woman left her seat and alerted the flight crew. Jahagirdar, a marketing manager for a health care company, was arrested by Massachusetts State Police when the flight landed at Logan International Airport in Boston.
The woman's DNA was found on Jahagirdar's hands, according to prosecutors.
Jahagirdar testified during the trial that the contact was consensual.
The case was transferred to federal jurisdiction because the assault occurred in mid-flight. Jahagirdar was arrested on the federal charges at his home on Jan. 13, 2004.
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TexasStooge
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- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 1:22 pm
- Location: Irving (Dallas County), TX
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ID Theft Ring Busted
WEATHERFORD, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Weatherford police closed the book on a sophisticated stolen-identity theft ring with the arrest of two suspects Tuesday. Police believe the suspects have been engaged in the ID-theft ring for years.
Weatherford police displayed about 12 stolen ID cards, fraudulent checking accounts, Social Security cards and check-printing paper stock.
The suspects in the case obtained the identity information from stolen mail and home burglaries, according to investigators. The suspects used the personal information to create bogus checking accounts.
One investigator said there could be "hundreds" of fraudulent checks with a face value of "thousands" of dollars in circulation.
The suspects also used the counterfeit accounts to purchase merchandise, which they later returned for cash or gift cards.
Two suspects are in custody, and police said they likely will make more arrests. Most of the victims, according to police in the Parker County town west of Fort Worth, Texas, live in smaller towns across North Texas.
"They may focus on the smaller towns because of the fact that they think it may take a little longer for those things to be noticed," Weatherford police Detective Wendy Field said.
The suspects purchased a tanning bed and a leather sofa, among other items, according to investigators.
WEATHERFORD, Texas (KXAS NBC 5) -- Weatherford police closed the book on a sophisticated stolen-identity theft ring with the arrest of two suspects Tuesday. Police believe the suspects have been engaged in the ID-theft ring for years.
Weatherford police displayed about 12 stolen ID cards, fraudulent checking accounts, Social Security cards and check-printing paper stock.
The suspects in the case obtained the identity information from stolen mail and home burglaries, according to investigators. The suspects used the personal information to create bogus checking accounts.
One investigator said there could be "hundreds" of fraudulent checks with a face value of "thousands" of dollars in circulation.
The suspects also used the counterfeit accounts to purchase merchandise, which they later returned for cash or gift cards.
Two suspects are in custody, and police said they likely will make more arrests. Most of the victims, according to police in the Parker County town west of Fort Worth, Texas, live in smaller towns across North Texas.
"They may focus on the smaller towns because of the fact that they think it may take a little longer for those things to be noticed," Weatherford police Detective Wendy Field said.
The suspects purchased a tanning bed and a leather sofa, among other items, according to investigators.
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