Texas News: August 1-15, 1996

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Texas News Archives (searchable)

• 8/15 - Corpus, State Murder Rates Declining: When Tejano singer Selena was shot to death in a motel parking lot on March 31, 1995, her fame kept her from becoming just another statistic.
  
  ....But in terms of Corpus Christi's homicide total, that's just what she was: one of 19 people killed in the first half of the year. Most, like Selena, were shot by acquaintances or relatives.
  ....Selena's slaying was perhaps the most noted homicide of 1995, one that added to the public's sense that society is growing increasingly dangerous.
  ....The numbers, however, indicate that murder is actually declining in many of Texas' urban areas.
  ....During the first half of this year, far fewer people died at others' hands in Corpus Christi and in the state's six largest cities.
  ....Homicides in the first six months of this year declined in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin and Fort Worth. Corpus Christi, the eighth-largest city by population, saw a drop from 19 to 8 from January through June.
  ....In El Paso, the fourth-largest city, killings in the first half of the year totaled only seven, less than a third of last year's 22.
• 8/15 - Congressmen Ask For Redrawing Order: Three Texas congressmen asked a federal court panel Wednesday to halt its own order redrawing 13 congressional districts and throwing out primary election results.
  
  ....The call for a stay by U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Gene Green and Eddie Bernice Johnson is the first step towards bringing the contentious Texas case back before the U.S. Supreme Court.
  ....If the three-judge panel refuses to reverse itself as expected, Jackson Lee, Green and Johnson will appeal to the high court.
  ....The Democrats are challenging the redesign last week of Jackson Lee's 18th District in Houston, Green's 29th in Houston and the 30th in Dallas held by Johnson.
• 8/15 - Some Showers Hit State: Summer showers dotted the Texas Hill Country and Coastal Plains - including the Houston area - on Wednesday, but a high-pressure ridge kept rainfall away from the rest of the state.
  
  ....Some areas west and southwest of the Houston metropolitan area had close to two inches of rainfall, the National Weather Service said.
• 8/14 - Deadly Arson Fire in Dallas: An arson fire raced through a freeway budget motel early Tuesday, killing a child and sending dozens of people leaping from second-story windows to escape the flames.
  
  
  ....The fire at the Budget Inn, near I-35 and Ledbetter in south Dallas, erupted at 12:20 a.m. and took nearly two hours to extinguish, officials said. Firefighters found 10-year-old Christina Knighten as they battled the six-alarm blaze, and the child died later of smoke inhalation at Methodist Medical Center.
  ....Twenty-two people were treated for injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken legs suffered while escaping, authorities said.
• 8/14 - Price-Fixing Trial May Move: San Angelo and Big Spring gasoline distributors will try to move their price-fixing trial out of Howard County in a two-day hearing beginning Tuesday.
  
  ....But one distributor said Monday he is confident the civil lawsuit from Attorney General Dan Morales will be dismissed before it gets to trial.
  ....San Angelo and Big Spring gasoline distributors were hit in March with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit alleging widespread, long-term price fixing.
  ....Morales accused six companies and three executives of conspiring to inflate Big Spring gasoline prices four cents per gallon.
  ....The companies face penalties of up to $1 million per violation, and the individuals could be hit with $100,000 fines for each violation.
• 8/13 - Flight Blows Tire: A Southwest Airlines flight carrying 114 passengers blew a tire on takeoff Monday afternoon from Albuquerque international airport but was able to land safely nonetheless in Midland, a spokeswoman said.
  
  
  ...."It was a routine, regularly scheduled landing," Southwest spokeswoman Ginger Hardage said in Dallas.
  ....The pilot on Flight 962 was apparently notified by the Albuquerque tower that a tire had blown on takeoff, Hardage said.
  ...."They flew past the tower in Midland to confirm that it was the one blown tire and then proceeded to have a normal landing. You have two tires on either side, and this was one of those four tires," she said.
• 8/12 - Opening of Terlingua HS Today Ends Marathon Bus Rides
• 8/12 - Irving Voters Want DART: A move led by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to get Irving to pull out of Dallas Area Rapid Transit failed. More than 57 percent of Irving voters were in favor of keeping DART and 43 percent against.
  
  ....Of the votes counted, a record 10,495 came from early voting. The pro-DART factions led 58 percent to 42 percent on early voting.
  ....Saturday's election came after months of pointed discussion over whether this Dallas suburb should dump the region's transit system.
• 8/11 - Texas Officials Fuming Over Transplanted Oregon Inmates
• 8/11 - Texas vs. Tobacco: Texas is taking on the tobacco industry in the Capital.
  
  ....Members of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services adopted several proposals Friday that could be considered by the Legislature when it convenes in January.
  ....Among the proposals are:
  ....-A ban on tobacco advertising within 1,000 feet of schools, day care centers, churches and playgrounds.
  ....-A ban on unsupervised vending machines dispensing tobacco products in areas accessible to minors.
  ....-A ban on free samples or coupons redeemable for tobacco products on property accessible to the public, at publicly sponsored events or through the mail.
  ....-Anti-smoking classes in public schools.
• 8/11 - Judge Dismisses 'Silly' Lawsuit: A judge has dismissed a "silly" lawsuit filed by a mother and her son seeking damages from the Houston school district after a music teacher paddled the boy with a broken cello for being tardy.
  
  ....State District Judge William Bell ordered sanctions on Friday against Alice and Mark Anthony Ramirez who continued their case despite repeated warnings from Houston Independent School District attorneys that state law does not permit such legal actions against school districts.
  ....Bell dismissed the case and assessed $15,000 in penalties against the plaintiffs, who did not appear for the hearing Friday.
  ....Bell told attorneys that he might view the case differently had there been any evidence of real injuries from the spanking.
• 8/11 - Feds Talks to Austin Cops: Police Chief Elizabeth Watson has confirmed that several of her officers were interviewed by federal agents but says she's unsure of the focus of the inquiry.
  
  ....Federal investigators have interviewed as many as 10 Austin police officers in simultaneous inquiries begun after a local cocaine bust and after an employee in the police department's photography lab was fired, unidentified officials told the Austin American-Statesman.
  ....Watson, who said "a bunch" of officers had been called, cautioned that the federal inquiry should not be considered evidence that any officer has committed a crime.
  ...."I have no information at all at this time of any criminal wrongdoing by any of my officers," Watson told the newspaper for Saturday editions. "There is no internal investigation going on, and I have no reason at this point to believe there will be any need for an internal investigation."
• 8/10 - More KayBay on Tube than Phil? Texans who watch primetime coverage of the Republican national convention in San Diego probably will see more of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison than Sen. Phil Gramm.
  
  
  ....Hutchison is scheduled to give a primetime speech on Tuesday while Gramm's appearance in primetime, according to a spokesman, will be limited to a "campaign video" from the Republican presidential primaries.
  ....Larry Neal, Gramm's spokesman, said all the Republicans who ran against Dole in the primaries would be lumped into the video, which will get a primetime airing.
  ...."The reason (for Gramm's absence) is none of the presidential candidates are speaking," Neal said. "Each of them has been asked to participate in the campaign video which will be broadcast in prime time."
  ....Not only would that rule out a speech by Gramm, who generally received less-than-rave reviews for his primetime convention speech four years ago backing former President Bush, it also will remove former Republican candidate Pat Buchanan from a speaking role.
• 8/10 - Texans Safer at Work: It was safer for Texans to go to work in 1995, with the number of on-the-job deaths hitting a six-year low, according to a new report.
  
  ....Highway accidents now are the most frequent cause of worker deaths, accounting for 23 percent of all workplace fatalities, the Texas Workers Compensation Commission said.
  ....Workplace homicides were the leading cause of job deaths from 1991 to 1993, but those have fallen nearly 35 percent in the past two years, the commission said.
  ....However, homicide remains the leading killer of women workers, accounting for 45 percent, or 13 of the 29 deaths of women.
  ....Overall, 475 Texans were killed on the job in 1995. That was 22 fewer than occurred in 1994 and the lowest total since the state's annual study began in 1990.
• 8/10 - Not Many Students Transferred from "Mediocre" Schools: Only 25 Texas public-school students took advantage of a new program that allows them to transfer out of mediocre schools, the Texas Education Agency says.
  
  ....The TEA, which surveyed all the state's school districts, told The Dallas Morning News for Friday editions that students in 1,010 low-performing schools were given the option to transfer for the upcoming school year.
  ....Despite that, only 25 students opted to do so, the agency said.
  ....Education officials said the so-called "Public Education Grant" program was stymied by a lack of interest by parents and a large number of school districts that turned down transfer requests.
• 8/10 - New Appeals in Selena Case: Defense attorneys for the woman convicted of killing Tejano star Selena filed a 58-page appeal Friday, contending her conviction should be overturned because of numerous trial errors.
  
  ....The appeal was mailed Friday morning to the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston, defense attorney Patrick McGuire said.
  ....It outlines 16 points of error on which the defense contends Yolanda Saldivar's murder conviction should be tossed out and a new trial granted.
  ....Ms. Saldivar, who managed Selena's boutiques, was convicted in October of gunning down the singer March 31, 1995, at a Corpus Christi motel. She is serving a life sentence at a women's prison in Gatesville.
• 8/10 - New Texas Curriculum Being Designed: Texas educators are creating a new statewide curriculum designed to focus more on what students should know and less on how teachers should teach.
  
  ....While the Essential Elements were reviewed in 1990, it's been over a decade since the State Board of Education made significant changes in the foundation for the curriculum taught in every Texas school.
  ....In 1995, the Texas Legislature recognized the need for an updated set of academic skills, and directed the SBOE through Senate Bill 1 to develop essential knowledge and skills.
  ....By April 1997, the SBOE is expected to replace the EE by adopting the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills as a basis for instruction in school districts across the state.
  ....TEKS will then serve not only as the state's academic criteria, but also as the basis for textbook adoptions, staff development and state-mandated tests like the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills.
• 8/9 - Study Shows Violent Crime Down in Concealed Gun Areas
• 8/9 - One Man, One Vote Concept Taken to Extreme in Denton
• 8/9 - SFA President Defends Spending: The president of Stephen F. Austin State University has challenged suggestions the school's athletic spending is out of control and places the university at risk.
  
  ....A state auditor's report presented in May to a legislative subcommittee said, in part, that the school is spending nearly half of all student-service fees for athletics and suggested "the university risks an adverse impact on activities more closely related to its mission."
  ....The report and committee meeting were first reported by The Daily Sentinel in Nacogdoches last month.
• 8/9 - Bush Decries Loss of Amtrak: Gov. George W. Bush says he's disappointed in Amtrak's plan to close a Texas route, saying communities had counted on the passenger railroad's longterm commitment.
  
  ...."He claims they're losing a lot of money," Bush said Thursday after a telephone conversation with an Amtrak official. "I didn't argue with the man. I was just displeased."
  ....U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, chairman of the Senate subcommittee with Amtrak oversight, said she doesn't think Amtrak should cut the Texas Eagle.
  ..."The Eagle represents 80 percent of the passenger rail service to Texas ... It enjoys strong grassroots support in Texas and growing ridership," she said. "The cities along the Texas Eagle route had invested their money and enthusiasm to enhance Amtrak service."
  ...Mrs. Hutchison said she'll work closely with Amtrak officials before they take final action in September.
• 8/9 - Feds to Lift NAFTA Delay: Federal officials are close to lifting a controversial delay on a NAFTA provision that would allow Mexican trucks free rein in border states, a top transportation official said Thursday.
  
  ...."We have been meeting on a continual basis trying to resolve some of the concerns, and we're getting very, very close," said Rodney Slater, head of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration.
  ....Slater, testifying during a congressional subcommittee hearing on NAFTA issues, would not provide a deadline for a resolution but said, "We're going to be able to come to closure on this issue in a very near time."
• 8/8 - Cleburne OKs Drug Testing for All High School Athletes
• 8/8 - Sweetwater Smelling Sour Thanks to Unwanted Visitors
• 8/7 - Veteran Takes Over Reins of Texas Rangers
• 8/7 - Texas' Newly Revised Redistricting Map Being Studied
• 8/6 - Dallas Superintendent Resigns: The superintendent of the Dallas public school system, which has been rocked this year by racial tensions and scandal, announced Monday that he will resign to become president of a nonprofit foundation.
  
  
  ...Despite the controversies, Chad Woolery, a graduate of Abilene Christian University, said leaving was his own idea. He will become president of the Dallas-based Voyager Foundation, which supports education for gifted students in urban areas.
  ..."I was absolutely not pressured to leave. I had an opportunity. It's just the timing of it happens to be now to lead this national foundation," he said.
  ...Woolery said he was offered the presidency of the Voyager Foundation 1-1/2 weeks ago.
  ...But for Dallas school trustees and employees, the announcement came seemingly from nowhere just a week before classes are scheduled to begin.
  ...Board Vice President Kathleen Leos got her first word on Woolery's departure in the form of a telephone rumor at 3:30 p.m. Monday, 1-1/2 hours before she appeared at his news conference.
  ..."I certainly don't want to stand in the way of someone who has been given a better offer. I was just very surprised at the timing," she said in an interview after the news conference.
  ...But Woolery assured that his departure will not disrupt school operations, although no effective date for the resignation has been set.
  ..."The change will be happening quite soon, as soon as the board is able to make a transition," he told reporters at an afternoon news conference.
• 8/5 - Jerry Jones Squares Off with Dart: Jerry Jones is locked in another battle over tradition and big bucks. His opponent this time, however, is the area's mass transit agency and not the NFL.
  ...The Dallas Cowboys owner is spearheading a campaign to persuade this city of 170,000 residents to drop its transit system.
  ...Voters in Irving and three other northern suburbs of Dallas will decide Aug. 10 whether to withdraw from the 700-square-mile Dallas Area Rapid Transit system.
  ...A poll published Sunday in The Dallas Morning News indicated Jones may end up losing his fight. The telephone survey found that 57 percent of Irving voters support DART, while 32 percent want the city to pull out. The poll was conducted July 26-31 with a 4.5 percent margin of error.
  ...DART is supported from the proceeds of a 1-cent sales tax in each member city. If Irving breaks free, its DART sales tax would be unnecessary by 1999.
  ...That would provide an opportunity for Jones to seek public sales-tax financing of his scheme to expand Texas Stadium to 104,000 seats, add a retractable cover to the hole in its roof and develop a mega-entertainment complex on surrounding acreage.
  ..."The real issue is what the sales tax is going to be used for," said James Spriggs, executive president of the Greater Irving Chamber of Commerce and a leader of the pro-DART forces.
  ..."They've had their Cowboy and now we have our Cowboy," said Irving Mayor Morris Parrish.
  ...Staubach, now a Dallas businessman, said: "Working families, commuters and low-income people rely on DART to get to work. The handicapped and elderly need DART to reach health car, shopping, churches and employment. Business counts on DART to get employees to and from the workplace."
  ...But anti-DART forces are unimpressed.
  ..."We have an albatross hanging around our neck in which we are paying more to DART than we're receiving in benefits," said C.C. "Red" Cavnor, a former City Council member.
  ..."Just look at all the empty buses," he said. "This is not an issue of Texas Stadium. This is not about Jerry Jones. This is not about personalities. This issue is about common sense."
• 8/4 - Freon Costs Have Drivers Steamed - An estimated 30 million car owners across the United States have to deal with dwindling supplies of Freon, a popular refrigerant that comes in handy during long, hot Texas summers.
  
  ...Freon, also known as R-12, can no longer be manufactured in the United States or imported because it is thought to destroy the Earth's ozone layer.
  ...The retail price has zoomed to $25 to $35 per pound, including the markup of shops that install it.
  ...This could mean using $105 worth of Freon if an "O" ring has failed and the air conditioning system needs to be completely refilled. The total job could run $150, compared with $29 or $30 a couple of years ago.
  ...People who haven't had their air conditioners worked on in the last three years are "just shocked," Oscar Arce, owner of an air conditioning shop, told the Houston Chronicle.
  ...For those who don't want to pay that kind of price and insist on staying cool on the freeway, there are two options.
  ...They can do a potentially expensive conversion to the R-134a coolant used in new cars. This coolant can be bought without a license for as little as $3 a pound.
  ...Another option is to search out a mechanic who will install one of the new alternates to Freon and make some changes needed in the air conditioning system for that coolant.
  ...A 30-pound cylinder of Freon now costs $556, Arce said. During a period in May when buyers were panicking, the price went up on almost a daily basis. A hefty federal tax is part of that cost.
  ...About 3-1/2 years ago, a 30-pound cylinder of Freon of the type used by shops could be purchased for $29, Arce said.
  ...An official of the Hi-Lo auto parts chain predicts that the 30-pound cylinders eventually will sell for $800.
• 8/3 - 1960s Gas Prices Flood Dallas Gas Station- Gas at 1960s prices brought 1990s traffic jams and long waits to a suburban Dallas service station Friday.
  ...Rod Rabadi's Midway Exxon lowered gas prices for all grades to 31 cents a gallon as Nissan "turned back the clocks to the 1960s" to celebrate 31 years in business.
  ..."We had a limit of $25 per vehicle," said Rabadi. "That means a little bit less than 80 gallons. At the end a big mobile home came in. It had two tanks, big tanks. It took the most gas for the day, about $22 worth."
  ...Customers began lining up an hour before the cheap gas went on sale at 8 a.m., and traffic backed up for three miles on the nearby LBJ Freeway.
  ...By Rabadi's estimate, about 750 people bought 9,700 gallons of gas during the five-hour promotion. Usually, the station sells about 8,000 gallons in a 24-hour period.
  ..."Luckily there were no injuries and no one was hurt" as some customers waited as long as two hours in 90-degree heat for their turn at the pump, Rabadi said.
• 8/2 - Ex-cop in Dallas Not Indicted: A former Dallas police officer fired after he was videotaped beating a kidnapping suspect was not indicted by grand jurors Thursday in connection with the incident.
  ....A Dallas County grand jury declined to indict former officer Steven O'Brien, who was videotaped during the June 20 pursuit of Roy R. Trujillo.
  ....In the video, captured by a television news crew in a helicopter, O'Brien appears to be kicking and striking Trujillo, who had already been shot in the leg and was handcuffed.
  ....Dallas Police Chief Ben Click last month fired O'Brien, a youth crimes detective, citing excessive use of force.
• 8/2 - "Demon" Molester Indicted Again: Convicted child molester Larry Don McQuay, the self-professed "demon" who claims he wants to be surgically castrated, was indicted Thursday on further molestation charges.
  ....A Bexar County grand jury indictment charges McQuay with three counts of indecency with a child involving a then 9-year-old girl in 1989.
  ....McQuay, 32, has said he has molested scores of children. He was paroled in April under mandatory release rules after serving six years for the 1989 assault of a 7-year-old San Antonio boy.
  ....The alleged victim in the new indictment is a female relative of that boy, said Bexar County District Attorney Steve Hilbig. If convicted, McQuay could face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
  ....As he was taken Thursday afternoon to be booked into Bexar County Jail, McQuay told reporters the new charges are "justifiable."
• 8/2 (early) - Perry Encourages Hunting: The drought that's baking crops and forcing sales of livestock has Texas farmers and ranchers hunting for other income.
  ....And hunting could be just what they're looking for, Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry says.
  ....Perry said Thursday that hunting leases may be providing a more important source of farm and ranch income than ever this year.
  ....Despite the dry weather, wildlife officials are predicting a good deer and turkey hunting season across much of the state.
  ...."Although ranchers have sold off many of their cattle and other livestock due to a lack of feed, competition among wildlife species for existing forage remains acute," Perry said.
• 8/2 (early) - Austin Council OKs Network: The Austin City Council has granted a franchise to build a high-speed, two-way telecommunications network in the city.
  ....Thursday's 7-0 vote will allow a private company to build the network to every home and business. The network could carry two-way video, high-speed computer transmissions, Internet connections, regular voice telephone calls and cable television signals.
  ....The company, CSW Communications, plans to use fiber optic and coaxial cable lines to build the system at a cost of at least $150 million.
• 8/2 (early) - Concorde Stops in Lubbock: The world's fastest jetliner gave more than 1,000 spectators a cause for pause Thursday with a rare stop in the West Texas agricultural hub of Lubbock.
  ....After all, it's not every day the supersonic Concorde lands on a strip surrounded by cotton fields.
  ...."He's probably saying, 'I'm supposed to land on that postage stamp down there?' " onlooker Don Dunlap said of the pilot guiding the famed jet into Lubbock International Airport. "It probably looks more like the deck of an aircraft carrier than what he's used to."
  ....The British Airways jet's rare inland trip is part of a package designed by Excel Travel here. The Concorde first flew from New York to Dayton, Ohio, where it unloaded another similar tour before making the two-hour hop to Lubbock.
• 8/2 (early) - UT Tower Deck Still Closed: Thirty years after Charles Whitman killed 16 people on a shooting spree in 1966 from the University of Texas tower, the observation deck where he stood to fire remains closed to the public.
  ....Despite recent movements by student groups to reopen the Tower, the Whitman shootings and a total of seven suicides and two other deaths in the years since still color UT administrators' decision to keep it closed.
  ...."I do not anticipate a plan to reopen it," says Jim Vick, UT vice president of student affairs.
  ....Vick said there have been on and off discussions about the reopening of the Tower but security concerns still stand.
• 8/1 - Judges in Redistricting Case Drawn Their Own Map