Texas News: April 16-30, 1996

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• 4/30 - All Areas of Major Crime Down in Texas
• 4/30 (early) - Man Charged in Boy's Disappearance: A man who remained inside his house for four days while neighbors searched frantically for a missing 8-year-old boy was charged Monday with aggravated kidnapping in the child's disappearance.
  
  ....Robert Lee Bolling, 32, was arrested Sunday in Vidor after police bloodhounds led authorities to his house. The missing boy was found, apparently unharmed, inside one of Bolling's closets.
  ....Bolling, who has no criminal record, was charged with aggravated kidnapping Monday and held in lieu of $250,000 bail, said Orange County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Trish Journeay.
  ....She said a motive for the abduction had not been determined, but officials anticipated filing sexual assault charges.
  ....The boy was reported missing last Wednesday from the house where he lived with his aunt. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies joined the search, and at least 500 people scoured the neighborhood just outside Vidor.
• 4/30 (early) - TAAS Results Show Gains: About 6.7 percent of students in this year's senior class, or 12,579, haven't yet passed all sections of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills required for them to receive their diplomas.
  
  ....But compared with last year's senior class, a slightly bigger percentage so far have passed the exit-level state test.
  ....The percentage of 10th-graders passing the exam on their first try also is up, as is the percentage of 11th-graders passing the exam.
  ....Preliminary results of the March exam were released Monday by the Texas Education Agency.
• 4/30 (early) - Gang Task Force Opens Conference: Police, prosecutors and prison authorities from around the nation gathered Monday for a three-day conference to exchange information on how to deal with gangs - both in prison and on the streets.
  
  ....The National Major Gang Task Force, a group created in 1993 to help authorities share information on gangs, is holding its second annual meeting through Wednesday. About 400 people were expected to attend.
  ....A key topic this year will be discussion of the merging of street and prison gangs which officials say have become aligned in an attempt to control drug traffic.
  ....Officials say street gang members are joining other gangs when they're sent to prison. Once they're released, they take a loyalty to the prison gang back to the streets.
  4/30 (early) - De Leon Man Arrested in Fatal Shooting: A De Leon man is in custody following the fatal shooting of anArizona airman early Sunday morning.
  ....Pedro C. Cisnero, 28, of De Leon, remains in the Comanche County Jail on a bond of $500,000 after arraignment on Monday.
  ....Cisnero is the chief suspect in the slaying of 24-year-old Paul AnthonyGomez.
  ....Gomez was found in his home at 5 a.m. Sunday by members of the De LeonPolice Department, Comanche County Sheriff's Office and Texas Rangers.
• 4/29 - Drought Keeping Texas Panhandle Thirsty
• 4/29 - Ground to Be Broken on George Bush Tollway: When ground is broken Thursday in Dallas on the President George Bush Tollway, it will mark the first time in Texas that a state highway project under construction will be converted to a toll road.
  ....It was in the late 1950s that a planner envisioned a highway in the middle of nowhere that would serve and guide future growth north of Dallas.
  ....It's finally beginning to take shape. Court battles, financing problems, land development and skirmishes between cities are to blame for the decades-long delay, officials say.
  ....The 26-mile, $1 billion project will forever change how Dallas moves and sprawls. When completed in 2004, the Bush Tollway will run from Garland to Irving, arcing through seven northern suburbs and three counties.
  ....Formerly known as State Highway 190, the toll road 15 miles north of downtown Dallas will provide sorely needed east and west access through what is the Dallas region's heaviest growth path. For regular-users of Lyndon Baines Johnson Freeway, the tollway is expected to mean about 20 percent less traffic for the state's busiest freeway.
• 4/29 - Airman Killed in De Leon: A 24-year-old airman was fatally shot in his hometown of De Leon early Sunday.
  
  ....Paul Anthony Gomez, who was on leave from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, Ariz., was killed by multiple gunshots fired about 5 a.m.
  ....De Leon Police Chief Wayne Parsons II said a suspect left the scene and a county-wide search was conducted. The Comanche County Sheriff's Office and Texas Rangers assisted in the search.
  ....At 6:30 a.m., police found the 28-year-old suspect hiding on the De Leon Peanut Company grounds. The suspect was apprehended without incident and is in custody at the Sheriff's Department.
• 4/28 - Texas faces $4.5 billion cost to house 52,000 'rookie' criminals: It will cost $4.5 billion to house the 52,000 criminals who entered the Texas prison system in 1995, according to a new report on prison economics.
  
  ....Tony Fabelo, who heads the state's Criminal Justice Policy Council, delivered the report Friday at a Texas Citizens' Action Roundtable discussion at City Hall in San Antonio.
  ....The estimate is for the 279,000 years - an average of about 5.3 years per inmate - that the 52,000 inmates will be in the state prison system.
  ....A major prison construction program increased prison capacity from about 38,000 in 1986 to 145,000 by the end of last year.
  ....In the past five years, the number of prison units went from 40 to 114. During that same time, prison operating costs went from $700 million per year to $2.2 billion.
  Fabelo, who advises Gov. George W. Bush and the Legislature on criminal justice policy, is espousing crime prevention programs, especially for children.
• 4/28 - Texan pays $34,500 at Kennedy auction for worn saddle: John McCall, who likes to collect things, admits that he paid $34,500 for a worn saddle that's worth hardly anything at all.
  ...."It's a beat-up saddle," McCall told the Austin American-Statesman on Friday. "If I went out to sell it today, I'd probably get $25 for it."
  ....But this particular saddle once cradled the hips of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and so it like hundreds of other items at the Sotheby's New York auction took on a value far beyond its practical worth.
  ....McCall, president of Austin-based Armstrong-McCall, a privately held beauty products company, bought the item by phone Thursday during the auction.
• 4/28 - Magistrate favors rejected obese job applicant: A federal magistrate has ruled that an obese woman was improperly denied a driving job by a bus company because the management believed she walked too slowly and awkwardly.
  ....U.S. Magistrate Frances H. Stacy decided last week that Texas Bus Lines of Houston violated the Americans with Disabilities Act because it relied on a doctor's opinion that the 345-pound applicant did not move fast enough to help passengers in case of emergency.
  ....Stacy ruled that the company should have evaluated the doctor's opinion in light of the disabilities act, said attorney Sharona Hoffman, who handled the case for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The act forbids employers from denying an applicant a job because of a perceived disability.
  ....Texas Bus Lines lawyer Timothy Mashburn of Austin said the company would appeal the ruling.
• 4/27 - Officials Offer Tools, Incentives to Improve Reading
• 4/27 - Arrests Made in Mass Slayings: Two prison inmates and a third man have been charged with capital murder after a six-year investigation of what police call the city's worst mass shooting, according to a broadcast report Friday.
  
  ....Fort Worth television station KXAS reported that another prisoner also is a suspect in the 1990 slayings at the Glass Key Cafe nightclub during a night of high-stakes gambling.
  ....Eight people were shot, five fatally, early May 14, 1990, when three masked assailants carrying assault-style weapons opened fire inside the club during a dice game.
  ....About $250,000 reportedly was changing hands at the time of the attack.
  ....The three suspects charged with capital murder in the Glass Key case are Malcolm Griffin, 24, and Julian Burt, 26, who are serving time for unrelated crimes, and Anthony Fennell, 23, KXAS reported. Police believe Griffin and Burt were the triggermen, the station said.
• 4/26 - Selena's Popularity to be Studied, Explained
• 4/26 - Computers to Ease Immigrants' Wait: Immigrants waiting to enter the United States through El Paso and other locations soon will find the process quicker and easier as a result of an ongoing overhaul of visa application procedures, officials said Thursday.
  
  ....A new computer system that will allow complete electronic processing of visa requests is being tested by U.S. agencies and could be in place worldwide as early as the turn of the century.
  ....In time, the DataShare system will "speed the flow of qualified immigrants" into the country, said Chris Sale, deputy commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
  ....DataShare allows the INS and the U.S. Department of State, which work together on processing visas, to electronically exchange information needed to evaluate and approve applications.
  ....Ultimately, it is expected to eliminate the need for paper shuffling, with files being shipped back and forth by mail, and the time-consuming practice of manually entering data into each agency's computer.
  
  
• 4/26 (early) - Molester Ruled Ready for Castration: A paroled child molester who says he wants to be surgically castrated has been ruled competent to undergo the procedure.
  
  ....The results of a psychiatric evaluation performed on Larry Don McQuay since his parole two weeks ago have been turned over to state officials.
  ....Marcia McLain, director of specialized supervision with the state parole division, said the finding means McQuay can enter into an agreement for voluntary castration.
  ...."He is a suitable candidate for both chemical and surgical castration," Ms. McLain said.
  ....McQuay, a self-described "monster" who claims to have molested some 240 children, was paroled under mandatory release rules April 9 after serving six years in prison for assaulting a San Antonio boy in 1989.
  ....McQuay is living in a privately run jail in San Antonio, where the psychiatric exam was done.
• 4/26 (early) - Governor Enrolls in Donor Program: Rodney DeBaun, 39, was stricken by a virus that destroyed his heart muscle. He's alive today because of the generosity of another Texas family who donated their son's heart for a transplant.
  
  ....Thanking such families Thursday, Gov. George W. Bush said he has enrolled in the organ donor program and hopes other Texans will do the same.
  ...."We're here ... to encourage Texans to give a gift that costs nothing but means everything. A gift that is often, literally, the difference between life and death," Bush said.
  ....The governor proclaimed this Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, saying that some 2,000 Texans currently are on transplant waiting lists.
• 4/26 (early) - State Rep. Munoz Must Avoid Alcohol: The conviction of State Rep. Sergio Munoz, D-Mission, on a drunken driving charge will mean no alcohol for two years, a monthly urine sample for his probation officer and about $20 a month to pay his fine.
  
  ....Munoz, 44, was sentenced to two years' probation and fined $500 this week by Travis County Court-at-Law Judge Wilfred Aguilar.
  ....Munoz can pay the fine over two years and gets to keep his driver's license.
  ....He also must pay about $200 in court costs, perform 40 hours of community service work and attend an alcohol counseling program.
• 4/25 - Corpus Prayer In Schools Suit Settled: The Corpus Christi Independent School District has agreed to a partial settlement of a 1993 federal lawsuit over district policies regarding student gatherings, specifically prayer vigils.
  
  
  ....The district agreed to pay 17 students and their parents $6,000 and stipulate on the record that future campus prayer gatherings known as "See You At the Pole" events are not disrupted, said school district attorney Shirley Selz.
  ....After a 1992 incident that prompted the suit, the prayer events have been held on Corpus Christi campuses for the past three years without incident, Selz said.
  ....The Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville, Va., civil liberties group that specializes in defending religious freedom, said the settlement was a warning to other schools.
  ...."Government attempts at intimidation or interference with the students' prayers will not be tolerated," Kelly Shackelford, a spokesman for the group's Dallas branch, said Wednesday.
• 4/25 - Texas Motor Speedway Hits Bump: The Texas Motor Speedway has hit a bump in the road.
  ...A judge has issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the Fort Worth Sports Authority from issuing bonds for the speedway after a nearby school district protested tax abatements for the project.
  ....The Northwest School District, which would lose more than $1 million in property taxes, is seeking an injunction to stop the sports authority from acquiring the $110 million facility near Alliance Airport.
  ...."The order means nothing," the speedway's general manager Eddie Gossage said. "It has no impact; construction goes on."
  ....Gossage said the sports authority will pay "every penny" of taxes it is required to pay.
  .....On Tuesday, Travis County Judge Suzanne Covington granted the 14-day restraining order.
• 4/25 (early) - Pasadena Attack Squirrel Keeps Mail From Being Delivered
• 4/25 (early) - Dallas McDonald's Keeps Toughs at Bay with Classical Music
• 4/25 (early) - Morales to Up Heat on Tobacco Lawsuit: Attorney General Dan Morales has notified the tobacco industry he intends to amend his recent civil lawsuit to include an allegation of deceptive trade practice.
  
  ....The notification came in a two-page letter mailed the same day the state's lawsuit was filed last month in federal court in Texarkana, according to a report in Wednesday editions of The Wall Street Journal's Texas Journal.
  ....The letter alleged that tobacco companies engaged in "a pattern of and practice of false, misleading and deceptive acts" by suppressing or failing to disclose to smokers the hazards of cigarette smoking.
  ....The tobacco companies manipulated nicotine levels in tobacco and aimed advertising at children, Morales says.
  ....The deceptive trade count would add a powerful legal weapon to Morales' 10-count civil lawsuit, in which the state seeks recovery of an estimated $4 billion it paid out in tobacco-related Medicaid claims.
• 4/25 (early) - Health Officials Rule Out "Mad Cow Disease": State health officials say they have found no evidence that the recent death of a man in East Texas could have been caused by so-called "mad cow disease."
  
  ....Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a fatal illness occurring in cattle that has drawn widespread attention after creating a cattle industry crisis in Great Britain. It has not been found in the United States.
  ....Scientists have been studying the case histories of people who died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Encephalopathy, or CJ disease, which gives its victims symptoms similar to those of cattle with mad cow disease. Both diseases cause muscular and nervous system malfunctions.
• 4/25 (early) - Glickman to Visit Panhandle: Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman will visit the Texas Panhandle area and south-central Kansas on Friday to inspect drought damage to the wheat crop and talk with farmers.
  
  ....Glickman will tour damaged wheat fields near Tulia, Texas, then meet with growers in Dimmitt. Arrangements for the Kansas visit were incomplete.
  ....The prolonged dry weather has threatened the spring harvest. The Agriculture Department reported this week that more than two-thirds of the Texas crop and 58 percent of the Kansas crop were in poor condition or worse.
• 4/24 - State Pumps Nearly $5 Million into HIV Drugs for the Poor
• 4/24 - Group Protests Interracial Adoption Ruling
• 4/24 - Elgin "Church/State" Issue Resolved: Residents in Elgin, a town of nearly 5,000, say they are ready to get on with their lives after two high school coaches were accused of crossing the line between church and state separations.
  
  ....The issue, heated by a lawsuit, was resolved Monday night when the Elgin School Board voted to extend the coaches' contracts and to settle the lawsuit.
  ....Athletic director and football coach Eddie Baca's contract and baseball coach Brad Osborn's contract were up for review before the lawsuit was filed last month by the American Civil Liberties Union.
  ....On votes of 4-3, Baca got a two-year extension on his contract; Osborn got a one-year extenion.
  ....Both were accused of bringing their religions into the locker room - leading team prayers, playing Christian music and posting biblical verses. They also were accused of trying to coerce student athletes into attending church and other religious activities.
  ....Baca admitting using Christian music and prayer, but said he never coerced any students to participate in religious activities or to attend his church.
  ....Osborn also denied those accusations.
• 4/24 (early) - New Automated Alert System Announced: Gov. George W. Bush and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice have announced a new, automated system for alerting crime victims of the location and status of their assailants.
  
  ....Bush said Tuesday that the new system, for which the state is seeking bidders, would be accessible 24 hours a day and would automatically warn victims of domestic abuse and stalking when their abusers post bail or are released.
  ...."This system will allow frightened victims of rape, domestic violence or other violent crimes to know instantly that the criminal who victimized them is behind bars and know exactly where he or she is located," Bush said.
  ...."Many crime victims have told me that knowing the whereabouts of the criminals who attacked them is important to their peace of mind and ability to live normal lives."
  ....The Criminal Justice Division of the governor's office will pay for the expected start up cost of $30,000 and the Criminal Justice Department will run the system.
• 4/24 (early) - Bullock Says Name Used Without Approval: Fellow investors in a new long-distance telephone company are using Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock's name to get business without his knowledge or approval, he said.
  
  ...."I don't know a thing about that," Bullock told The Dallas Morning News.
  ....Three lobbyists told the newspaper earlier that company representatives had used Bullock's name while soliciting business for Lone Star Long Distance Inc.
  ....An investor in Lone Star, Ricky Knox of Austin, said he had mentioned the lieutenant governor's name while selling the company's services to lobbyists. Knox said he did so only after he was asked the names of the investors.
  ....Bullock presides over the Senate and is one of the state's most powerful elected officials, prompting some lobbyists and the director of a government watchdog group to question his involvement in the company.
• 4/23 - Ranger Again Has a Mayor: Once again, Ranger has a mayor and full slate of commissioners. The two remaining commissioners filled the gaps Monday.
  
  ....In lightning-fast action, they nominated and elected themselves mayor and mayor pro tem and appointed three other commissioners.
  ....Finance Commissioner Bill Guess will serve as mayor, with Commissioner Red Jones filling the mayor pro tem's vacancy. They appointed Jesse Brown as police and fire commissioner; Eddie Wallace as water, sewer and sanitation commissioner; and Margaret Green as finance commissioner.
  ....In other business, they removed former Mayor Ronnie Ainsworth from the board of the Ranger Economic Development Corp., and returned Dr. Paul Riffle to the board.
  ....The Fort Worth CPA firm of Rylander, Clay and Opitz was hired to conduct the 1995-96 audit.
• 4/23 (early) - Morales Calls Requirement Unconstitutional: Attorney General Dan Morales said Monday it is unconstitutional to require marriage license applicants to swear they are not delinquent in child support payments, as required by a new state law.
  ....Morales said that the law, approved last year, illegally infringes on Texans' right to get married.
  ...."We believe it is very likely that a court considering a constitutional challenge to the Texas statutes would ... conclude that they burden a fundamental right," Morales said.
  ....The marriage license provision was one of several passed in an effort to beef up child support enforcement laws.
  ....Morales said federal courts have ruled that people have a fundamental right to get married and governments cannot do anything to significantly interfere with that right.
• 4/23 (early) - Fort Worth 'Leash Law' Causes Stir: If a barrage of telephone calls is any indication, the fur could fly at City Hall on Tuesday when council members are scheduled to vote on a so-called "cat leash law."
  
  ....The provision that's gotten the hair up on some backs is part of a proposed ordinance to help curb animal overpopulation. One councilman said he doesn't see much support for the measure calling for the restraint of cats.
  ...."The reaction of my colleagues seems to be 'This is stupid' to 'It ain't going to work,' " said Councilman Chuck Silcox, adding calls to his office have been running 3-to-1 against the provision.
  ....Councilman Jim Lane said he's gotten more than 100 calls from opponents to the measure.
  ....City health officials and advocates of the provision requiring pet cats to be restrained said the proposal has been misunderstood. They said it requires cats to be confined to their owners' property and is not meant to force felines to be kept on a leash at all times.
• 4/22 - A Million Hispanic Voters Expected to Turn Out
• 4/22 - Elgin Unshaken by Prayer-in-School Lawsuit
• 4/21 - Funeral Home, Family Battle Over Body Theft
• 4/21 - Texas Democratic Party names executive director: A McAllen attorney and a member of the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign team has been named executive director of the Texas Democratic Party.
  ....Jorge Ramirez, 35, was named to the post Friday during the State Democratic Executive Committee meeting in San Antonio.
  ...."Jorge Ramirez will be a tremendous asset to the Democratic Party in Texas," said party chairman Bill White. "He has a past which has prepared him to provide the necessary leadership the state party will require in this presidential election year."
  ....Ramirez worked in 1992 as part of the Clinton-Gore campaign, organizing voter turnout efforts in the Rio Grande Valley and in Houston.
  ....Born in McAllen, Ramirez holds a law degree from Harvard. He most recently worked as an environmental and occupational safety attorney for Texas Rural Legal Aid, Inc.
• 4/20 - Sweetwater ISD Withholds Payment: The Sweetwater Independent School District is withholding payment to a construction company involved with the new intermediate school.
  
  
  ....Sweetwater trustees decided to hold up the final $233,000 payment to Monterey Construction Company of Wolfforth until the company can document reasons for a delay in completion of the new school.
  ....According to SISD Business Manager Henry Vinson, the promised completion date of Aug. 15, 1995, for the new school was exceeded by seven months.
  The school was officially completed on March 26.
  ...."The job came out very good and there is not any problem with the workmanship," Vinson said, "but there is a penalty clause in their contract for not finishing it by a specific date."
  ....During Thursday night's meeting, the board requested a detailed report on the delay from Monterey Construction.
  If the clause is exercised by school trustees, it would mean a difference of $30,000.
  ...."The $30,000 question should be answered by the next board meeting," Vinson said.
• 4/20 (early) - Appeals Court Holds Anti-Affirmative Action: A federal appeals court agreed Friday to put on hold an anti-affirmative action ruling that had stopped Texas universities from considering students' race in admissions and scholarships.
  
  ....The stay was granted until May 13 by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The judges said that would give the state time to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
  ....After the state files its appeal, the stay will remain until it is acted on by the Supreme Court, said Ron Dusek, spokesman for Texas Attorney General Dan Morales.
  ....If the high court decides to hear the case, the stay will continue until the case is decided, Dusek said. If the court does not hear the case, the stay would be dissolved.
  ....The stay, signed by 5th Circuit Judge Jerry E. Smith, means universities in states under the court's jurisdiction - Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi - again may being considering race in making student decisions, Dusek said.
• 4/20 (early) - San Antonio Fed Building Different After Bombing: The federal building here bore three obvious reminders Friday of the Oklahoma City bombing exactly a year before: a yellow-ribboned tree outside, a silk floral wreath inside and a new metal detector.
  
  ...."I'm saddened to see it," attorney Cynthia Orr said at 9:02 a.m., the moment of last year's blast, which killed 168 people. "We'll never be completely safe from those with hatred or evil in their hearts at any given time."
  ....The detector, which wasn't staffed, was in place because construction will force the relocation of some magistrates' offices from the adjacent courthouse.
  ....The building doesn't house the FBI, Internal Revenue Service or U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, three agencies many anti-government groups consider enemies.
• 4/20 (early) - Austin Limits Tobacco Vending Machines: Only businesses catering to adults will be allowed to have tobacco vending machines under action by the City Council.
  
  ....And even in the businesses frequented by those 18 and older, the machines will have to be 25 feet away from the entrance to prevent children from running in to make a quick purchase.
  ...."We don't let (children) vote at this age. We don't let them consume alcohol. We ought not to encourage them through access and availability to use tobacco," said Mayor Bruce Todd, an ex-smoker who sponsored the ordinance.
  The measure was approved 7-0 Thursday and takes effect in 10 days.
• 4/19 - SPY Annoys Texans with Most Annoying Designation
• 4/19 - NRA Says Texans with Concealed Guns Mainstream
• 4/19 (early) - Survey: Texas Teachers Tired: Tired of low pay and bureaucratic red tape, 44 percent of Texas teachers are thinking about quitting their jobs, according to a survey by the state's largest education group.
  
  ....Working conditions have forced 30 percent of the state's educators - about 78,000 teachers - to take outside jobs to help make ends meet, the survey shows.
  ....And it has caused a decline in the number of male teachers - from 18 percent in 1986 to 14 percent in 1996.
  ...."This is a depressing statistic since Texas schools desperately need more male role models, not fewer," said Richard Kouri, president of the 90,000-member Texas State Teachers Association. "Serious consideration by the Texas Legislature to bring Texas teacher salaries up to the national average will go a long way in recruiting and maintaining more male teachers and will be an incentive to discourage second jobs outside the classroom."
  ....The average teacher salary in Texas is $31,223, according to the Texas Education Agency. The National Center for Education Statistics shows the national average at $34,149.
• 4/19 (early) - Thousands Take Advantage of Pre-Paid Education: The state's new prepaid college tuition plans, locking in future tuition costs at today's price, were purchased for 41,000 Texas children during the program's first sign-up period.
  
  ....State Comptroller John Sharp, whose office oversees the Texas Tomorrow Fund, said Thursday that purchases will total about $372 million.
  ....He said more than 81 percent of the contracts were for senior universities, and 11.6 percent for the junior-senior college plan. Just over 5 percent were for two-year community colleges, and nearly 2 percent for private colleges.
  ....The program allows Texans to pay college tuition for a student in advance and guaranteeing to pay the costs when that student reaches college age. Payments may be made in a lump sum, in monthly installments over a five- or 10-year period, or in monthly installments until the prospective college student is graduated from high school.
• 4/19 (early) - Texas Monkeys Still Being Tested: Health officials tested blood samples Thursday from some of the 50 monkeys that remain under quarantine at a facility where the Ebola virus killed one primate and caused 49 others to be euthanized.
  
  ....Initial tests indicated one of the remaining monkeys may also be infected, but officials were awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  ...."At this point it's a wait and see," said Dr. Mike Kelley, chief of the state Health Department's Bureau of Communicable Disease Control. "They all look healthy, but we don't have any new lab results."
  ....Preliminary results from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Md., detected Ebola in the additional monkey, said research scientist Dr. Peter Jahrling.
• 4/19 (early) - NRA Denies Deliberate Conflict: Call it coincidence or chance, but the National Rifle Association says it didn't deliberately schedule its annual meeting on anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing and the fiery climax to the Waco siege.
  
  ....The NRA said it expects about 30,000 people to attend the annual meeting on its 125th anniversary Friday through Sunday at the Dallas Convention Center.
  ....The meeting will begin the same day as the third anniversary of the deadly end of the 51-day standoff near Waco between federal authorities and the Branch Davidians and exactly one year after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City.
  ....A Washington-based foundation Thursday accused the gun rights group of sending a message of extremism with the event's timing. The Fairfax, Va.-based NRA denied any connection.
• 4/18 - Collins Finally Speaks Out: Former Texas prison chief Andy Collins says a Houston company and a New Jersey company got extraordinary contracts under his watch and admits he had hoped to go to work for either of them after his retirement.
  
  
  ....Collins, who has spoken little since allegations arose that he improperly awarded a contract to a third company for which he eventually did work, told the Texas Monthly for its May issue that there were more problems at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice than the contracts with which he dealt.
  ....The magazine's May issue hits newsstands April 25.
  ....Questions over a $33.7 million contract with Canadian firm VitaPro Foods surfaced just after Collins retired from TDCJ last year.
  ....After he left the department, Collins joined VitaPro in a $1,000-a-day consulting job. He resigned when the contract questions later arose.
• 4/18 - Minority Enrollment Will Probably Drop: Minority enrollment in some colleges or universities could drop 30 percent this fall unless a federal court halts the effect of an anti-affirmative action decision, Texas Higher Education Commissioner Kenneth Ashworth said Wednesday.
  ...."That's why we're hoping there'll be a pretty quick decision, because the admissions process is going to go on. The schools are going to fill their fall enrollment. And there are projections that (there) maybe as much as a 30 percent reduction in minority enrollments in some institutions just as a result of this," Ashworth said.
  ....According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, there were 406,466 students enrolled in Texas four-year public universities in fall 1994. Of them, 261,119 were white, 71,401 were Hispanic and 36,012 were black.
  ....Of 400,323 students enrolled in community colleges that year, the last for which an ethnic breakdown is available, 244,750 were white, 41,767 were black and 80,130 Hispanic.
  ....Texas has asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans for a stay of the court's decision against race-based student admissions, while the state takes the legal battle over the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• 4/17 - Ranger Mayor Pro Tem Resigns: Mayor Pro Tem Phil Tankersley resigned Tuesday, three days after the mayor went down in a recall election.
  
  ....The resignation leaves Ranger with no mayor and only two members of a four-person City Commission.
  ....Remaining on the commission are Billy Guess and J.J. "Red" Jones. Buddy Johnson resigned in September.
  ....Tankersley's letter of resignation stated: "It is time to let you select a council to care for the needs of the town. With this in mind, I tender my resignation as water, sanitation and sewer commissioner of the city of Ranger effective immediately."
  ....Tankersley, an employee of the Ranger school district, was serving his second term on the commission.
  ....The commission is scheduled to meet Monday. Because the city only conducts elections every two years, none will be held in May. That leaves Guess and Jones to decide who is mayor and who is mayor pro tem, said Ranger's attorney, Claudia Clinton of Abilene.
  ....Once that decision is made, Guess and Jones will appoint three members to fill out the commission.
• 4/17 - Big Springers Ponder Prison Ramifications: About 300 people packed the Dora Roberts Community Center Monday to hear the facts about a proposed sale of the city's share in three privately owned prisons.
  ....After almost two hours of discussion, council members voted 4-1 to sign a letter of intent to negotiate with Midtex Detentions Inc. and Cornell Corrections Inc., Houston.
  ....Midtex and Cornell have offered $4.3 million, including $600,000 that will compensate the city's retirement fund when city employees who work at the prison are transferred to Cornell Corrections.
  ....The proposal calls for a 30- to 35-year lease between the city and Cornell. The city will continue to receive $300,000 yearly, plus an additional $155,000 as long as the Federal Bureau of Prisons sends federal prisoners here.
  ...."We'll get $3.7 million for contracts and agreements and we'll be getting one more arm's length away from the prison business by transferring the 280 employees," Mayor Tim Blackshear said.
  ....Blackshear said he wants the council to select a committee to work on negotiations with all parties including City Manager Gary Fuqua, attorneys, the bureau of prisons, Cornell and Johnny Rutherford, president of Midtex, at the next City Council meeting Monday.
• 4/17 (early) - Texas Ebola Poses No Threat to Humans
• 4/17 (early) - Bush Wants Look at Drug Laws: Gov. George W. Bush is asking his advisers to look at conflicting state and federal drug laws at a meeting this month with Texas and U.S. law enforcement officials.
  
  ....While U.S. Customs allows people legally to bring large amounts of narcotics, stimulants and sedatives into the country with prescriptions, Texas law enforcement officials are arresting people for possessing those same drugs.
  ....The Texas Narcotics Control Program in the Governor's Criminal Justice Division is organizing the April 26 meeting at which the prescription drug issue is expected to be discussed, said Bush spokesman Ray Sullivan.
  ....A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration guideline allows a person to bring a controlled substance into the country if it is for personal use and is properly labeled with a prescription.
  ....Customs considers a three-month supply to be a reasonable amount.
• 4/17 (early) - Power Outage Affects Thousands: Tens of thousands of customers in a four-state region who lost power Tuesday due to an outage linked to a power plant in the Texas Panhandle were virtually shut down by the loss of electricity.
  
  ....Power was expected to be fully restored by Tuesday night, said Bill Crenshaw, a spokesman for Southwestern Public Service Co.
  ...."I was sanding a car and I just had to stop," said Anthony Romo, manager of Al's Paint and Body Shop in Clovis, N.M. "We run power tools with air, and the compressor ran out of air and couldn't keep up with me."
  ....About 24,000 customers who lost power had it restored by mid-afternoon, the Amarillo-based company said. Officials couldn't provide specific numbers on how many of its approximately 350,000 customers were affected.
• 4/17 (early) - Neighbors Tired of UT Parkers: People living north of the University of Texas want student commuters to find somewhere else to park than the neighborhood's narrow public streets.
  
  ...."We have literally become a parking lot for UT. It's just a nightmare," said Robert Morris, president of the North University Neighborhood Association.
  ....The association wants city officials to allow resident-only parking weekdays in hopes of eliminating bumper-to-bumper parked cars and clogged roads.
  ....The City Council has ordered staff members to review the neighborhood plan and prepare a resident-only parking ordinance for consideration. The Urban Transportation Commission is recommending the resident-only parking program.
• 4/16 - Teachers' Union Urges Reading Guarantee: A Texas teachers union Monday urged schools to guarantee students can read by the end of third grade and stop passing those who can't.
  
  
  ....Backed by poll results that show most Texans oppose passing students who haven't mastered basic skills, the Texas Federation of Teachers called for earlier intervention for students with reading problems.
  ....Their plan, called Basics First!, would give teachers more authority to end social promotions and promote intervention to teach reading before students leave third grade.
  ....But a state lawmaker who led school reform efforts said social promotions had already been banned and that student testing will identify districts which fail to teach reading skills.
  ....Ninety-three percent of Texans favored requiring school districts to "make sure no student leaves third grade unable to read" and 69 percent favored requiring districts "to intervene when students fail to learn.
  ....The Harte-Hanks Texas Poll surveyed 1,001 Texans for the teachers group. There is a 3 percent margin of error.
• 4/16 (early) - Ebola Found in Texas Monkeys: The deadly Ebola virus has struck several monkeys imported into Texas from the Philippines, public health officials confirmed Monday as they worked to contain the outbreak at a primate quarantine facility.
  
  ....Doctors have no reports of bites or scratches to monkey handlers at HRP Inc., in Alice, Texas, but are watching the employees carefully as a precaution, said state epidemiologist Dr. Diane Simpson.
  ....Two monkeys out of a shipment of 100 have been found sick so far.
  ....Federal experts diagnosed the Texas illnesses Monday as similar - although not an exact match - to the Ebola strain that decimated a Reston, Va., monkey facility in 1989. That's good news because the Reston strain appears less deadly to people than the killer Ebola found in the wild, explained Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesman Bob Howard.
• 4/16 (early) - State's Minority Scholarship Program Scrapped: Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Kenneth Ashworth has decided to scrap the state's minority scholarship program following last month's court ruling that sharply limits affirmative action.
  ...."We have to abide by the new law, but I don't like it," Ashworth told the Houston Chronicle in Monday's editions.
  ....Ashworth will inform the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Thursday that the state no longer can use affirmative action to desegregate its colleges and universities in Texas.
  ....Last month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the University of Texas Law School's admissions policy, saying the school failed to justify favoring some racial groups. The decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by four white law school applicants.
• 4/16 (early) - Evangelist, Wife Plead Guilty: A Dallas-area television evangelist and his wife have pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a tax fraud investigation, federal officials announced Monday.
  ....The Rev. W.V. Grant Jr. and his wife, Brenda, signed a statement admitting that he used $75,000 in church-related funds to make payments in 1990 on his home and another house he bought as an investment.
  ....Grant also admitted that in the years leading up to 1990 he failed to report at least $375,842 in income, on which he owes taxes between $70,000 and $120,000.
  ....Grant, pastor of the Eagles Nest Family Church in southwest Dallas, pleaded guilty to one count of willfully filing a false tax return. Mrs. Grant, pleaded guilty to one count of misprision of a felony for not reporting her husband's activities.
• 4/16 (early) - Helicopters Crash, 3 Crew Members Dead: Two Army helicopters on a night training mission crashed on the sprawling Fort Bliss military reservation, killing three crew members and injuring a fourth, Army officials said Monday.
  ....The Fort Bragg, N.C.-based OH-58 Kiowa helicopters went down at about 9:50 p.m. MDT Sunday on McGregor Range, a firing range and training area on the northern portion of Fort Bliss, said post spokesman Capt. Thomas Collins.
  ....Details of the crash were not released and officials said they could not immediately determine whether the aircraft had collided.

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