News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

FW officer stabbed by holdup suspect

By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth police officer was stabbed Thursday night as he and another officer were on an undercover assignment.

Police spokesman Lt. Dean Sullivan said the two officers had stopped at a 7-Eleven store in the 2500 block of East Lancaster Ave. to take a break when they witnessed a robbery taking place in the parking lot.

"The officers went to intervene, and when they approached, they observed the one male stab the other male in the stomach," said Fort Worth police spokesman Lt. Bob Convery. "The officer tried to invervene and was stabbed in the shoulder."

The second officer opened fire on the man with the knife. He was hospitalized in critical condition with three gunshot wounds.

The injured officer and the robbery victim—who was stabbed in the stomach—were also hospitalized.

Police said the officer's wounds were not life-threatening.

Names of those involved were not available.

[TexasStooge]

Bumper clue leads to hit-and-run suspect

By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8

GARLAND, Texas - There is pain and anger in the hearts of the family of Robert Bird.

The 30-year-old father of three had just started working as a stocker at Walmart.

Bird clocked out shortly after midnight but didn't make it far.

Garland police say a driver struck him, as he rode his bike home.

A driver discovered his body 4 hours later.

"He could have got to the hospital, he might be permanently damaged, but he might be living. He would be here with us," said Sue Barker, Bird's aunt.

Investigators did find an important clue tangled in the wheel of the damaged bike - part of a white bumper.

Officers searched a nearby neighborhood where they found a white car parked in an alley driveway.

The car had damage to the front right bumper and two broken windows.

"The man that was there did admit that he had been driving the night before that he did hit something, but didn't know what it was," said Officer Joe Harn from Garland Police.

But police question the man's story considering the extent of the damage to the car.

They've charged Ndaku Kalu with a third degree felony for failure to stop and render aid - a charge he could have avoided police say had he just called 911.

"What if it was a family member of his? What if it was his brother or his nephew? What kind of justice would he want seen done," said Barker.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas shooting victim has cheerleading dreams

Carol Cavazos, WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - A young woman who was wounded in a shooting spree that injured 10 others in downtown Dallas last weekend hopes to make a full recovery soon.

Soon enough to try out for the Mavericks dance team.

The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader says she was traumatized by the shooting - but not enough to keep her spirit down.

Amazement crosses Deanna Hernandez's mind every time she looks at the x-ray. A bullet that entered her lower back missed vital bone but remains in her thigh.

"The doctor said it was a 45. They could tell by the size of the wound," she says.

"They said if they were actually to do surgery then it would end up doing too much damage, as far as going through all the muscles, to actually get the bullet out."

Hernandez was one of 11 wounded in a shooting spree outside the Thomas & Leggitt Tavern last weekend.

It's been slow going for the 21-year-old UNT student who only last year was a Dallas Cowboy's cheerleader.

Hernandez had planned on trying out for the Dallas Mavericks Dance team at the end of July.

"Everything happens for a reason. So, if I'm not able to do it, I'm not going to be upset. I know God has another plan for me and that's His way of saying you don't need to do that right now. You need to focus on your career," she says.

The reason she's not cheerleading?

She says it was an issue with her weight and shape.

"It was a lot of my bottom area, but like I was telling my mother. 'My bottom half of me is what kind of saved my life,'" she says.

Dallas police are still searching for the man who opened fire on the party-goers.

[TexasStooge]

Woman remains in coma after wreck

By MARY ANN RAZZUK / WFAA ABC 8

AUSTIN, Texas - Friends and teammates of Austin College basketball player Elizabeth Kellum waited Friday night for any change in her condition.

The 22-year-old recent graduate has been in a coma since Tuesday, when she was in a violent car accident on U.S. 75 in Melissa.

"She is in stable but critical condition," said Terry Kellum, Elizabeth's father. "She is in a coma, and we're just praying everyday... just waiting to hear something good."

Terry Kellum is urging drivers to slow down—especially in Northern Collin County, where there's a lot of growth, but not enough roadways to handle all the traffic.

More traffic means more accidents.

Kellum's car was cut off by an 18-wheeler changing lanes, according to Melissa police investigators.

The basketball player from Austin College in Sherman swerved to avoid the semi and collided with another 18-wheeler on northbound U.S. 75.

Kellum suffered head injuries and was flown by helicopter ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Shortly after that accident was cleared, a motorcyclist crashed nearby on the southbound side of the same highway.

Police told News 8 this stretch of highway has seen numerous accidents and even fatalities due to road construction, excessive speed, and too few lanes to handle all the traffic.

Libby Kellum's father worries that aggressive drivers will jeopardize the safety of others like his daughter.

[TexasStooge]

$16,500 fine proposed for nail salon

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

As Patricia Mathis flips through the inspection findings, her disgust builds and her heart sinks.

"I'm angry because I know in my heart that this is the reason why I lost my friend. I firsthand have had to watch what her family has gone through," she says.

Mathis' friend Kimberly Jackson died in February.

Her death certificate shows Jackson died from a heart attack due to a staph infection on her foot that infected her blood.

Jackson's family and Mathis say Jackson told them she got the cut that became infected during a pedicure in July 2005 at Angel Nails on McCart in Fort Worth.

Following Jackson's death, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation inspected Angel Nails and found many sanitation violations.

"It's a very serious situation and they could lead to infections for consumers," said Brian Francis of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

In February, inspectors found Angel Nails failed to disinfect tools and implements.

There was no hot water in the salon and no antiseptic or disinfectant to stop bleeding from cuts.

Also, salon staff didn't sanitize the whirlpool foot spas that can breed bacteria if not cleaned properly before each customer.

Mathis says that Jackson, a paraplegic, would roll her wheelchair up to the spa and put her feet in the basin.

Inspectors returned in April and found Angel Nails still didn't disinfect implements or have a disinfectant and antiseptic on hand to treat cuts.

These violations, the number and nature of them warrant a large penalty.

So TDLR proposes a fine of $16,500 and a six-month license suspension for Angel Nails.

Neither Angel Nails owner Dinh Tran nor his attorney returned phone calls or e-mails to News 8 for comment.

In addition to the violations and proposed fine by the state, the family of Kimberly Jackson has also filed a lawsuit against the salon.

Mathis reflects on the loss of her friend and how her death might've been prevented.

"This guy simply didn't do what he was supposed to do and it didn't have to be this way," she says.

[TexasStooge]

Hit-and-run driver nabbed in Addison

ADDISON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — Witnesses said a vehicle jumped the curb and slammed into six cars around 3 a.m. Saturday at the Logan's on Belt Line restaurant at Montfort Drive.

Two of the damaged vehicles damaged were Addison police units.

Officers with guns drawn ran out to confront the suspect, but he drove away—only to be nabbed a short distance away.

The unidentified man was placed in handcuffs and taken away for questioning. Charges against him were pending.

No one was hurt.

WFAA-TV photojournalist Mike Zukerman contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Thieves steal headstones from Dallas cemetery

Bert Lozano, WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Family members of Monico Saucedo made an outrageous discovery at his grave site.

He was buried beside his father at Oakland Cemetery, one of Dallas' oldest graveyards.

On Memorial Day, a family member noticed the vet's headstone had gone.

The World War Two veteran died in 1968.

"My uncle was a veteran of World War Two. He went and fought for his country and now there's nothing left to show he was here even," said Saucedo's nephew.

The family believes the headstone was stolen but don't understand why. They say it was a simple flat stone.

They reported it missing to the cemetery's caretaker but didn't get any help.

The caretaker said headstones are rarely stolen or vandalized.

But some believe there is a problem.

Mike Platerro is having to replace two missing headstones.

"I'm in the process of buying a headstone for my aunt and my cousin up on the hill," he said.

Also, he recently found his father's headstone knocked over.

"People they come and do drugs and whatever because there is a park right over there, they'll jump the fence at night," he added.

The caretaker says the cemetery is trying to raise money for a new fence.

Saucedo's family says they will also replace the headstone and hope it won't be taken again.

[TexasStooge]

Rent-to-own homeowners finally close on properties

By BOB GREENE / WFAA ABC 8

A city program aimed at helping low income families to rent-to-own their homes was in serious jeopardy after major accounting mistakes by the Dallas Housing Authority.

People in the program were at risk of losing what they'd worked for years toward.

But today, that all changed.

The joy of home ownership - it's much greater when you've been waiting almost 20 years to close on your dream home - like Wanda Williams.

She's one of nearly 40 people who have finally got the chance to take ownership of the houses they put so much time, work and money into as part of the city's Turnkey Program.

A program that promised to be the way some low income families could rent-to-own their own piece of the American dream - but a program that almost fell apart leaving these people out in the cold.

"It was just one thing after the other, but finally no more," said Jayne Patterson.

That is due in part to Debra Kroupa and the United Housing Program.

"DHA (Dallas Housing Authority) was trying to evict the families out of their homes," she said.

The program was meant to be a way families could move into homes and assume the remainder of the mortgage left by the previous owner, she added.

"At the end of 25 years, the home would be paid for," she continued.

She says somewhere along the way things got messed up. The Dallas Housing Authority lost track of who had paid what.

After more than eight years of legal battles, United Housing Program and DHA came to a settlement.

Today, each of these people, including Wanda Williams, couldn't be happier.

She finally gets to turn the key and open the door to "her" home.

"To actually say it belongs to me, you just don't know how overjoyed I am," she said.

Dallas Housing Authority chose not to comment on their accounting breakdown saying only that they are glad this problem has been resolved.

[TexasStooge]

Vet warns of pet fatalities in North Texas heat

By BOB GREENE / WFAA ABC 8

As temperatures begin to heat up, health risks are abound for not only humans, but their pets as well.

Veterinarians say they have seen more cases of canine stroke and warn that owners may not even know their dogs have the symptoms.

Jeny Tobias said she considers herself a good pet parent.

"Anybody who has dogs, or any animal that you really love, they're like your child," she said.

However, she said she was surprised to learn in mid-June that her pit bull puppy, Cocoa, suffered a heat stroke while out on a walk.

"We brought her to the emergency room and they said her temperature was 110," she said.

Cocoa died at the veterinarians, and two hours later another puppy of Tobias' also died after going for a walk while out in the heat.

"They said he had also had heat stroke," she said. "He just didn't pass out."

Antwan Walker, the veterinarian who treated Tobias' puppies, said unfortunately the animals' deaths aren't unusual in such high temperatures.

"Every summer you get your cases," he said. "You get one or two here or there, but in the past week we've had four or five that have come in for heat stroke."

Walker said a contributing problem in heat-related pet deaths is that many owners fail to understand how important it is to keep their pets cool with available water and shade during the hottest parts of the day. He also said dogs getting their exercise in the heat, and the breed of the dogs can also play roles in heat stroke deaths.

"Smushed-in-nose dogs like Boston Terriers, pugs [and] small breed dogs like that are more prone because they already have respiratory problems," he said.

Tobias said the death of her two puppies has alerted her to the dangers of North Texas heat. She also said she plans to keep her new puppy nice and cool.

[TexasStooge]

Guest dies in Dallas house fire

By BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas fire officials are investigating a fatal house fire that killed one person Sunday afternoon.

The one-alarm blaze in the 4400 block of Hall Street started at about noon in a two-story, red-brick home. Dallas Fire-Rescue Lt. Joel Lavender said while a visitor was upstairs, the homeowner smelled smoke, ran outside and called 911.

Firefighters were unable to rescue the homeowner’s guest, Lt. Lavender said. The names of the homeowner and guest were not released Sunday.

The Dallas County medical examiner’s office will determine a cause of death. A cause of the fire was not determined Sunday.

[TexasStooge]

For family on Juneteenth, grief, not joy

1981 drownings cast pall over celebration of slaves' emancipation

By CLAIRE CUMMINGS / The Dallas Morning News

MEXIA, Texas – Pamela Beachum stood silently at the edge of Lake Mexia, staring between the trees with her fisted hands on her hips.

She doesn't come to this spot often – especially around this time of year. Nor do other family members. Ms. Beachum stepped away from the water and wiped away tears.

"They pulled his body out right here," said her cousin, Judy Freeman Chambers.

It has been 25 years since Ms. Beachum's 19-year-old brother, Carl Baker, and two other young black men drowned in Lake Mexia while being arrested at the 1981 Juneteenth celebration. They were in an overloaded boat with three Limestone County law enforcement officials when it capsized less than 100 feet from shore.

The officers, who suspected the youths of smoking marijuana, swam to safety. The three young men drowned, even though family members said they could swim. Initial reports said they were handcuffed, but a hearing officer later concluded they were not.

The officers were later acquitted on charges of misdemeanor negligent homicide in a case that threw national attention onto Mexia. The county eventually settled out of court with the families.

Mr. Baker's lifeless body was found tangled in a trotline in three feet of water near the entrance of Booker T. Washington Park.

The bodies of Mr. Baker's uncle, 18-year-old Anthony Freeman, and Steve Booker, 19, were found near the site of the Juneteenth celebration, one of the state's oldest. For decades, black families have gathered here to commemorate June 19, 1865, when a Union Army major general informed Texas slaves that they were free under the Emancipation Proclamation, signed two years earlier.

But for Mr. Baker's family, the celebration isn't about freedom anymore. Juneteenth remains the day they continue to mourn their loss.

"You know, we may ride through here or something, but we don't come out here to celebrate anymore," Ms. Chambers said. "Not since then."

There's a tree in Booker T. Washington Park that the family used to claim each year on the week of Juneteenth. Under that tree, relatives bonded over homemade ice cream, fried fish and tales of life outside Mexia.

"It was bigger than the Fourth of July," Ms. Chambers said. "Our whole world would stop for a week in June."

Her grandmother served as the crux of this large family – many of the women have seven to 10 children – and made sure the Juneteenth tradition was kept.

"Everything just goes back to her," Ms. Chambers said. "She's just a strong black woman. ... I know everything that I am is because of her. She just kept the family together."

Ms. Chambers, who is now a Mexia City Council member, left her home in Alaska early in 1981 so she could make it in time for the Juneteenth celebration. It would be the first time she shared the customs with her children.

When she arrived, Ms. Chambers embraced her cousin Carl. Mr. Baker asked about life in Alaska. She said she was paying for her son to learn how to swim.

"He said, 'Oh, cuz, you don't have to do that. I know how to swim. Don't pay that money out. I'll teach him how to swim,' " she said.

"So that's how I knew Carl knew how to swim."

'Dark and handsome'

Family members remember Mr. Baker as "dark and handsome." He'd go to Waco and buy a new outfit just for Juneteenth, said his sister, Ms. Beachum.

He had graduated from high school the year before and held a job. He took care of the family children. He was an ordinary guy.

"He would have made someone a great husband," said Ms. Beachum, now 45.

Mud covered the campgrounds that year, making it especially tricky for cars to travel over the rickety one-way wood bridge above the lake. That's why the officers took a boat instead.

Mr. Baker's body was the first one recovered.

Friends ran to the large tree where his family was camped. Mr. Baker's mother, Evelyn Jean, lost her second child in three years that day. Her oldest, Belvin, died at 22 of a heart attack.

"You don't know how strong you can be at times," she said. "But you can be strong when you have to be. ... God puts that in us."

In Mexia last Friday, Milton Morgan hosed down the cement slab under the tabernacle where about a hundred worn wooden chairs awaited speeches and sermons.

Rusty tin roofs cover the small booths where fish and chilled beer are served each year. Labels like "Ice Cream" scrawled in faded paint top the leaning concession stands.

The park's timeless appearance is part of its charm and historic value, said Mr. Morgan, president of the Limestone County 19th of June Organization.

Dwindling attendance

In a city of 6,500, the organization depends on people retuning from out of town each June. But attendance is lower than it used to be.

In the 1970s, the park would be packed with more than 20,000 people at times. Mr. Morgan said he expected 2,500 to 3,000 this weekend, about the same as last year.

Some here have speculated that the 1981 incident has kept people away. Mr. Morgan said his organization is focused on keeping the spirit of Juneteenth alive with young people who would rather party than remember history.

"That's what the 19th of June is supposedly about ... helping the youth to try to move on," he said. "Let them know where we come from and why we're here."

City Manager Kyle McCain said the city has moved on, too, but the deaths will always be associated with Mexia.

"You don't forget something like that," Mr. McCain said. "You don't forget it because it's one of these things that is an influence on the future. You don't want some things to happen again for any reason."

The young men aren't being forgotten this year. Mr. Baker's niece, Lamika Beachum, made T-shirts with their photos to hand out in their memory.

And Mr. Baker's family gathered this weekend at a home in Mexia, as they usually do in June these days. But it's only to celebrate Father's Day and their grandfather's birthday.

As Mr. Baker's mother put it, Juneteenth is "just another day."

"Nobody knows until they lose a child, what it is to lose a child," she said. "And I know the loss."

[TexasStooge]

Arlington woman guilty in starvation death case

FORT WORTH, Texas (The Dallas Morning News) - A Tarrant County jury found an Arlington woman guilty Monday in the 2004 starvation death of a 9-year-old boy.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding Lisa Coleman guilty on charges of capital murder and injury to a child. Prosecutors said at the trial's opening that the 30-year-old woman beat, tied up, neglected and eventually starved Davontae Williams.

The Arlington boy was found dead nearly two years ago at the Arlington apartment he shared with his mother, her girlfriend Ms. Coleman and his two sisters.

Assistant District Attorney Mitch Poe said earlier this month that Davontae weighed 35 pounds when found, and his body was stiff, emaciated and underdeveloped. He also had extensive wounds, including cuts and bruises in various stages of healing, Mr. Poe said.

The boy's mother, Marcella Williams, 25, also faces capital murder charges in the death of her son.

The punishment phase of Ms. Coleman's trial starts Monday afternoon. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Dallas Morning News staff writer Debra Dennis contributed to this report.

[TexasStooge]

Man shot outside grocery store

By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Police were questioning two Fair Park-area grocery store employees after they chased a man out of their store Monday morning and shot him as he fled to a nearby post office.

At 10:45 a.m., police were called to the U.S. Post Office at 3055 Grand Avenue after a man showed up there with a bullet wound in his left arm, said Sr. Cpl. Donna Hernandez, a Dallas police spokeswoman.

After some initial confusion about the location of the shooting, officers determined that the man was involved in a confrontation inside the Grand City Grocery across the street.

As the trio were running across Grand Avenue, one of the employees shot the man, police said. He was in stable condition at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, police said.

Sr. Cpl. Hernandez said that investigators were unsure what led to the shooting.

The store employees were detained for questioning, but had not been charged.

[TexasStooge]

Admitted drug dealer set to die for triple slaying in Fort Worth

LIVINGSTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) -- Condemned prisoner Lamont Reese acknowledges a disreputable past.

"I'm no angel," Reese said from a tiny visiting cage outside Texas death row. "I can tell you that. I was selling drugs. That's what I did. I sold crack for so many years."

But he said he's not a killer, wasn't the gang member as he was portrayed at his trial and wasn't involved in one of Fort Worth's bloodiest shootings in recent times.

Reese, 28, faces lethal injection Tuesday evening in Huntsville for the slayings of three men outside a convenience store in 1999. Two others were wounded in the gunfire.

In a recent interview at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, home of death row, Reese said an innocent person was being put to death.

"They said I was the ringleader," he said. "I was not at the crime... They're saying I killed those guys. I had no idea who they were."

Lawyers went to the federal courts, challenging the constitutionality of the lethal injection drugs, to try to keep Reese from becoming the 12th Texas inmate executed this year and the second of three scheduled to die this month. At least a dozen others have dates over the next four months for trips to the nation's busiest death chamber.

On the evening of March 1, 1999, Reese's girlfriend, 18-year-old Kareema Kimbrough, walked out of a convenience store about four miles southeast of downtown Fort Worth and drew the attention of several men who were drinking and playing dice outside the place, according to police. Reese emerged a few moments later from the store and became angry with the men flirting with Kimbrough.

The couple then went to a house where they met up with three others, including a pair of juveniles, and armed themselves with handguns and assault rifles. Kimbrough, who Reese describes as his wife and who brought her 2-year-old son with her, was behind the wheel and dropped off the four near the store.

The gunmen sprayed the scene with bullets. Kimbrough swung back, retrieved her friends and they all sped off together.

Anthony Roney, 26, Riki Jackson, 17, and Alonzo Stewart, 25, were killed. A 24-year-old man and 13-year-old boy were wounded.

A day after the shooting, police caught a break investigating another shooting. A man told them some of the people involved in the store shooting were bragging about it, and when he told them they were crazy, he got shot. That led to the arrests of Reese, Kimbrough and the others. Detectives found ammunition in Reese's car that matched bullets found at the shooting scene.

"The evidence in court was pretty clear that he was the triggerman," said Sean Colston, one of the Tarrant County district attorneys who prosecuted Reese.

From death row, Reese said he wasn't at the convenience store but was "at a dope house in the same neighborhood." He also said some 20 minutes after the time of the shootings, he and Kimbrough were seen on a surveillance tape at a video store, checking out a movie, suggesting he couldn't have been involved in the gunfire. Defense attorneys at his trial produced the tape and also took issue with some of the prosecution witnesses, described as drug addicts and felons.

Jurors didn't buy the defense, returning a guilty verdict, then deliberating for about two hours before deciding Reese should be put to death.

Reese, who said his lawyers advised him to not testify at his trial, said he thought jurors were swayed by testimony indicating the shootings may have been gang-related.

"I wish I had testified," he said.

Reese grew up in Louisiana and said he spent much of his childhood in state custody there after his mother was sent to prison,

Kimbrough, now 26, is serving a life prison term on a capital murder conviction. The three others, including the two juveniles who were charged as adults, agreed to plea bargains and are serving sentences ranging from 35 to 50 years.

Scheduled to die next is convicted murderer Angel Maturino Resendiz, a former FBI Ten Most Wanted fugitive set for lethal injection June 27 for the fatal stabbing of Houston-area physician Claudia Benton in December 1998.

Benton, killed at her home in the Houston enclave of West University, is among at least 15 victims police in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Illinois have linked to Resendiz.

The Mexico native, who became known as the "Railroad Killer" because many of the attacks were near railroad tracks and because he was known to hop on trains to travel around the United States, has claimed to have committed even more killings.

[TexasStooge]

Activists protest after store owners shoot man

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - New Black Panthers activists began protesting outside the Grand City Grocery store in the 3100 block of Grand Avenue after police said an altercation with the store owners led to a man being shot.

Witnesses said the victim was assaulted outside the store and then ran across the street to a Dallas post office parking lot, which is where police said two of the store owners fired several gun shots.

The victim had paid for his groceries and told the store owners he was leaving several times before the incident, police said. However, sources said there had been a history of tension between the owners and the victim.

The Grand City Grocery owners closed the store down early as protestors chanted "You wrong, you gone."

Protestors argued the shooting was not justified.

"It don't matter what happened," said Darrin X, a New Black Panthers activist. "What matters to me is they ran across the street and chased that man down and they shot him. They didn't have no reason to do that. He wasn't on their property no more. If he's running, then he's leaving the scene. He's running away."

Authorities said the victim is in good condition and he was taken to Baylor University Medical Center.

Dallas police are questioning the owners of the store.

[TexasStooge]

Toy guns spur banning debate

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - While the Dallas City Council ponders the idea of banning toy pellet guns that looks similar to real firearms, a group of concerned citizens took on the fight themselves and picketed a southern Dallas store Monday.

"We don't want to picket you, but we will if we have to," said Peter Johnson, SCLC. "Please take these guns off the shelves and stop selling them."

The airsoft toy pellet guns look like real firearms except for a red tip that is required on toy guns by federal law.

Dallas police want a tougher city ordinance to control them, especially with juveniles. Some on the council want to go further.

"We ought to prohibit the sales of these toy or imitation guns, period," said Leo Chaney, Dallas City Council.

But the city attorney questions if a sales ban would put the city in conflict with federal law.

An Army Store in Dallas that sells the airsoft toy guns, but not to anyone under 18 without a parent present, said it would oppose a total sales ban.

"It all gets down to the responsibility of the person that possesses the weapon," said Mike Green, the Army Store.

Enthusiasts use the airsoft guns for recreation and many said they don't want the city to overreact.

"Don't carry it out in public," said Brandon Gaines. "Just use it like you use a paintball gun. Use it in a recreation area, not in a city environment..."

With the debate volume turning up, the council wants some kind of proposed ordinance to look at by August.

[TexasStooge]

Fort Worth council approves Wright resolution

By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH, Texas — The City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday encouraging Congress to amend and eventually eliminate the Wright amendment’s flight restrictions at Love Field.

The Dallas City Council is scheduled to approve the same resolution and a formal agreement on June 28. The Fort Worth City Council is scheduled to vote on the agreement on July 11 after returning from a two-week break.

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller and other local officials plan to lobby Congress about the changes during the upcoming weeks.

“When you’re enjoying your days off, we will be walking the Hill,” Moncrief told the council Tuesday.

Fort Worth council members praised the work of Moncrief and Miller in striking an agreement last week that many didn’t believe was possible.

“What was accomplished was historic,” said council member Jungus Jordan. “We sincerely appreciate what you’ve done.”

The compromise was reached by the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Currently, most nonstop flights from Love Field are only allowed to go to destinations within Texas and eight other states. The federal law went into effect in 1980 to protect the newly built Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The proposed changes include allowing Southwest to institute through-ticketing immediately to all 50 states and the District of Columbia and eliminating the Wright Amendment restrictions against most long-haul flights in 2014.

In exchange, Dallas would limit the number of gates at Love Field to 20 and ban flights from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Southwest would receive 16 gates and American and Continental Airlines would split the remaining four gates.

Other language would also discourage Southwest and American from expanding to other airports within 80 miles from Love Field until 2025.

Dallas and Fort Worth began discussing changes to the Wright amendment earlier this spring after members of the North Texas congressional delegation told them to find a compromise or the restrictions would be revisited in Washington D.C.

Moncrief said now that local leaders have found a solution, he hopes that Congress would approve the changes verbatim once the language is finalized this month.

“Congress likes to tinker,” he said. “I’m afraid it could loosen a thread, and the whole thing could come unraveled.”

[TexasStooge]

Dallas sees rise in illegal casinos

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas -- If you hadn't noticed, gambling is now a sport. With Texas Hold'em as a major selling point, card games now have treasured spots on sports networks. And illegal gambling is a growing crime.

A friendly game of poker with baloney sandwiches on the side is now a business. Casinos run by entrepreneurs are proliferating. If they make money - they're illegal. And that's what they're doing.

The drama of an underground casino poker in Dallas County: This is a business where chips are sold, alcohol is served, a kitchen prepares a full meal, and the house takes a cut of the pot. That means the game is illegal under Texas law.

We watched with our News 8 undercover camera from a players seat, as players, many of them very young, placed their bets. We saw money bet, pots won, and winnings paid out. Whose pockets it all ended up in wasn't clear.

This place, called Top Shelf Unlimited, straddles the border between Dallas and Garland. Like many of its competitors, this mini casino is in an industrial park. It goes unnoticed because the games don't start until 7 p.m.

The neighboring businesses are closed for the day. Police often find out about undergound casinos almost by accident.

“Usually it's somebody getting mad at the person that's running the game, and it can be for a variety of reasons. That's usually how we find out about narcotics. One person will get mad at another, and we get a call, and we go investigate,” said Officer Joe Harn of the Garland Police.

In a nondescript industrial park in Dallas, this unmarked address on Walnut Ridge in Dallas blends right in. But there's a telltale security camera, a buzzer, and a guard at the door. It has the mystique of a prohibition speakeasy.

Inside, heads look up from the tables as regular players notice a stranger in their midst. Plasma monitors on the wall - and what appear to be a bar and kitchen, indicate this is a permanent business.

On the net the place is identified as a club. Recent winners are listed - and their "point" totals published.

There's little question this is a big money game.

Gambling like this is illegal in Texas. When police discover it here - they shut it down. If liquor is being served, alcohol laws could be being violated too. And, with Texas Hold'em, there's a new element.

“I think we do see a rise in the younger people gambling, playing cards because of Texas Hold EM,” said Officer Harn.

In the parlors we visited, we couldn't tell how much, if any, money was going to the house. However, some of the clientele were not old enough to legally drink or gamble even in states where casinos are legal. For some people gambling can be an addiction, and for these younger players, illegal casinos could be an entry into a devastating habit.

[TexasStooge]

Parent accused of hitting football referee

By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8

GRAPEVINE, Texas - A man coaching a high school football summer league could face charges for unsportsmanlike conduct after he allegedly attacked a referee during a game in Grapevine.

Two teams were playing a game of seven-on-seven touch football when a coach threw a punch after the referee threw a flag.

"He gave me a shove in the chest," said 58-year-old Culley Phillips, a mortgage banker that was serving as the referee for the game. "Then I remember hearing the bells ringing so to speak."

Phillips has been a referee for high school football for 30 years. While he said games can get rough on Friday nights, he said he was surprised at the man's reaction Saturday after he stepped onto the field and said he wanted to talk to Phillips.

"When he was about 10 yards on the field I threw a flag," he said.

Phillips said that was when the man punched him.

"My nose and my lip were bleeding profusely at that time," he said.

Seven-on-seven games are not organized by schools and usually parents run the teams.

It was a parent from Wylie that could go to jail for allegedly attacking the referee.

"I don't want it to happen again," Phillips said. "I don't want somebody sitting on the sideline as an official waiting for someone to come out of the crowd and pop them a good one. You can't officiate that way."

Grapevine police are investigating the incident, but authorities said the man will likely face a Class A misdemeanor assault charge for allegedly hitting the referee.

[TexasStooge]

Fate tops list of fastest-growing Texas cities

By PAULA LAVIGNE / The Dallas Morning News

Fate continues to realize its destiny as a booming 'burb, and this time it's a chart topper statewide.

No other city in Texas surpassed Fate's 63.4 percent growth, but plenty of other North Texas cities posted high population percentage gains, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Small towns on the fringes of the metro area, such as Fairview, Celina, Melissa, Prosper, Murphy and Royse City, all saw significant gains in their population between 2004 and 2005.

Frisco, the largest city among the top 20 fastest-growing in Texas, grew by 13.5 percent.

Nationwide, Fort Worth stood out among cities with more than 100,000 people by adding 21,000 residents from 2004 to 2005 – more than any other fast-growing city in the nation's top 25.

Mayor Mike Moncrief said the population boom in Fort Worth has been impressive, but city leaders also need to remain cautious. The council should work to ensure that the city is prepared for the influx, he said, and doesn't let it get out of control.

"We want quality growth, not sprawl," he said. "We have our hands full."

There was only one change among rankings in the nation's 10 largest cities. San Antonio continued its upward climb and is now the nation's seventh-largest city, with about 1.3 million people. Dallas is still ninth, with 1.2 million. Those counts are for the cities only, not the metropolitan areas.

Jeff Mosier contributed to this report.
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ALSO ONLINE:

- North Texas Population Data