Arlington News

“I want some of the attributes Chief Whitmire has in my final pick”

College Station's police chief finalists are among the leading law enforcement professionals in the state, according to those who have worked side by side with the candidates. via Theeagle.com

“They're saving lives, that's the reason they're here”

As Dallas city leaders consider scaling back their red-light camera program, officials in Arlington and other Tarrant County cities say the cameras have improved intersection safety and are planning to expand their programs.

The Dallas City Council plans to meet soon to discuss the issue after city administrators reported that they have turned off more than 10 cameras because that city's program isn't paying for itself.

Dallas red-light camera revenues are below projections, and the city may move some cameras to generate more revenue, Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia said. Read more

Pro-Line International sold 149,641 square feet of industrial space to Beauty Elite Properties at 2121 Panoramic Circle in Dallas. via The Dallas Morning News

Five General Motors Corp. plants are warning the company that they could go on strike in the next 10 days if local operating agreements aren't reached, GM spokesman Dan Flores said Friday. via WSBT

“I do believe there are some Obama supporters changing their positions”

The power of persuasion could be important Saturday and beyond for Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. via Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“We're trying to make the right decision for Arlington.”

After three months of searching, the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau still has not found a new director.

The group wants to expand its search, and it asked the City Council on Tuesday to supplement its budget by at least $300,000. Some of the additional funding would pay for visitor research and a possible trip to Phoenix or Houston to meet with former Super Bowl planners.

'Our search process has been expensive, and that was unanticipated,' said Pam Roach, chairwoman of the bureau. Read more

ARLINGTON -- Two people died in separate traffic accidents Monday in Arlington. They were the fifth and sixth traffic fatalities in the city this year.

Police said Hurst resident Ronald J. Crumbliss, 34, died in a two-car crash about 1:40 p.m. in the 8100 block of South Cooper Street. Crumbliss was a passenger in a Ford Taurus driven by Lettie Cunningham, 27, of Arlington. The southbound sedan attempted to turn east onto Turner Warnell Road when it was hit by a northbound pickup driven by Rolando Dominguez, 47, of Fort Worth, police said. Read more

For the better part of a decade, they moved their north Arlington drug-distribution business from house to house, apartment to apartment, to avoid detection. They never had more than $300 of crack cocaine in any location. Larger stashes were hidden nearby in air-conditioning units or telephone relay boxes.

It is believed that they sold up to 2 pounds of crack each week, along with an undetermined amount of marijuana.

But in 2006 a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Arlington Police Department caught six people with suspected ties to the drug operation. On Monday, April Denise Lenard, Belinda Kaye Coleman and Keith Anthony Woods were sentenced in federal court. Lenard got 17 years, six months in prison. Coleman got nine years, and Woods got 12 years, seven months. Read more

DALLAS -- Some folks go to musicals (like Wicked, for instance) for escapist value, and others prefer musicals with a deeper, more artistic bent (almost anything from the Sondheim oeuvre), but I have never figured out why anyone would care about the 1978 musical Working.

Adapted from the Studs Terkel book by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, Working sets the stories of ordinary paycheck earners, like you and me, to vignettes and music. It aims for inspirational, suggesting that those who contribute to building a skyscraper or cleaning its floors deserve to have a legacy as important as great achievers (say, da Vinci), but I've always found it an almost condescending reminder that most of us are schmucks just going through life's motions. Read more

“It kind of spurred us on to find a bigger solution.”

By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News jmosier@dallasnews.com Mayor Robert Cluck said Arlington plans to collaborate with other cities on ways to eliminate trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in tap water. via Denton Record-Chronicle

“It didn't pay the salary of the Spanish professor or the chemistry professor, and it didn't maintain the buildings”

By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News hhacker@dallasnews.com Tuition and fees will increase an average of 5 percent to 13 percent next year for undergraduates at University of Texas campuses, in many ... via Dallas Morning News

“Our falling unemployment, coupled with this month's significant job gains, indicates the sustained health and vitality of the Texas economy.”

Texas jobless rate dropped to 4.1 percent in February - a low not seen since the mid-1970s, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Thursday. via KVUE.com

It is a strange experience to have met and spent time with a person who police believe is capable of hiring someone to shoot and kill another human being. In December 2004, I met a very nice lady named (Vera) Elizabeth Guthrie-Nail at the annual Christmas party given by my husband's Frisco, TX employer. Read this story to find out more.

February 27, 2008, the Oprah show featured Daniel and Amanda who are Freegans in Nashville, TN. I was privileged to have several email conversations with Freegans Daniel and Amanda Burt after they read my article Freegan Lifestyle: Oprah and Lisa Ling Report. Read more about this fascinating couple.

The current concern about drugs in our drinking water has just become very personal to me because I own a house in Arlington, Texas and I have a fatal allergy to Meprobamate, which is one of the drugs found in the drinking water in many cities. The mayor of Arlington is refusing to disclose the drugs found in the Arlington water supply. Read more to find out my conversation with Arlington officials.

“Traditionally, golf courses have not been the most environmentally friendly neighbors”

By JAKE BATSELL / The Dallas Morning News jbatsell@dallasnews.com Jay Stine thinks of the bobwhite quail as an old friend. via The Dallas Morning News

A 16-year-old will face charges of murder and two counts of attempted murder after a fatal shooting at a party over the weekend, Arlington police said Tuesday. via Denton Record-Chronicle

“It's a noble action on their part.

'Once those donors get that money back in the mail, it should make them feel very good about the candidates they originally supported.”

Some North Texans don't have to file their tax returns to get big refund checks in the mail.

Dozens of area residents who donated to the campaigns of Republicans Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are getting some of that money back.

After ending their presidential bids in February, Romney and Giuliani began returning $84,920 and $53,200, respectively, to Tarrant County donors, according to a Star-Telegram analysis of Federal Election Commission data.

'It's a very interesting action on the part of Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani that their people sent back donations they didn't use,' said Allan Saxe, an associate political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. 'It's a noble action on their part. Read more

“To date, a slowing national economy has not impacted the Dallas-Fort Worth commercial office market as severely as expected”

Demand for office space in Dallas-Fort Worth has started the year out on a high point. via The Dallas Morning News

ARLINGTON -- A portion of westbound Interstate 30 traffic will be moved to temporary lanes tonight as the huge Three Bridges project enters a new phase. Drivers will still have three lanes in each direction from Collins Street to Ballpark Way. But expect delays as motorists adjust to the changes, which will likely remain for months.

Weather permitting, workers will move concrete barriers and shift westbound traffic to temporary pavement on the north side of the road at 9 p.m. On Wednesday night, eastbound traffic will be shifted to the old westbound lanes. Read more