DMN INVESTIGATES

Gov. Rick Perry has had some bad luck recently when appointing prominent Dallasites to state posts. Two of them soon got themselves arrested on charges of misconduct around young people.

The latest mess involves businessman Lee William "Bill" McNutt III (right), whom Perry named Texas Commission on the Arts chair in December. McNutt has since been arrested for trespassing at Southern Methodist University, reports Lori Stahl of The Dallas Morning News.

SMU says it warned him to stay away in 2008 after getting "multiple student complaints against Mr. McNutt alleging behavior that violates University policy, such as offering alcohol to minors."

McNutt, 54, graduated from SMU and was founding president of its Young Alumni Association, a governor's press release said. He worked in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush, according to the arts commission.

McNutt has resigned from the commission, The Daily Mustang is now reporting.

He's also a deacon at Highland Park Presbyterian Church.

The previous Perry-appointee mess involved Catherine Evans, a former Dallas County state district judge.

Perry named her Texas Youth Commission ombudsman in September. Several weeks later, she was charged with trying to smuggle a knife, a cellphone and prescription drugs into an East Texas TYC facility.

Please let me know if you get more information about what's going with either of these matters.

A recent brush with catastrophe at DISD's Samuell High School didn't teach several principals elsewhere in town any lessons.

After Samuell students fleeing a blaze found an exit chained shut, local fire officials performed surprise inspections on 31 public high schools. Eight were caught locking fire exits, reports The Dallas Morning News' Diane Rado.

Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, said he was "livid" about the findings and ordered principals to obey the fire code. But what are officials going to do about the crime concerns that led principals to lock doors in the first place?

The eight high schools cited for violations were:

* A. Maceo Smith
* Carter
* Kimball
* Molina
* Pinkston
* Roosevelt
* Skyline
* South Oak Cliff

Please let me know if you get more information about what's going.

Mesquite police and ISD officials stonewalled when The Dallas Morning News asked what they found on longtime school board member Randy Dobbs' district-issued laptop.

Whatever it was made Dobbs (right) resign, even though officials said he'd committed no crime. So reporter Karel Holloway did what good reporters do: She filed an open-records request. And now, at last, the tawdry truth is out, thanks to a ruling from the Texas attorney general:

Dobbs' laptop contained "hundreds of pornographic images and videos of clearly adult male subject," Karel reports today, citing a police report. "Dobbs was a participant in many of the images."

Last week's fire at Dallas' Samuell High School exposed the "fairly common" practice of chaining school exit doors, The DMN's Diane Rado reports today. Her main source: the State Fire Marshal's Office.

Principals, it seems, are creating firetraps in the name of preventing crime.

A chained door at Samuell temporarily trapped people who were trying to evacuate Thursday, though no one was hurt. The DISD Blog gave one teacher's scary account of the mess.

A Samuell official says the door was chained because locking it from the outside didn't provide sufficient security. Students inside would open the door, sometimes allowing weapons into the school.

Do you have a tip about fire safety? School security? Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

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College presidents quit in mid-semester all the time, right? Two weeks' notice is standard, right?

So there's no need for the University of North Texas and its president, Gretchen Bataille (pictured here), to explain why she is suddenly resigning, right?

The taxpayer-funded school's Wednesday press release and Bataille's "message to the UNT community" total 755 words and explain nothing.

The stonewalling continues today at the UNT Board of Regents meeting, as the Denton Record-Chronicle is now reporting: "When approached at the meeting for comment as to why she is resigning mid-year, with only a few weeks' notice, Bataille only shook her head, making it clear she did not want to discuss her reasons for leaving."

Can somebody please shed some light on this situation?

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My co-worker Holly Hacker recently introduced me to a terrific do-it-yourself reporting tool called Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas. It's maintained by the state's higher education board and contains a long list of unaccredited schools, diploma mills and more.

Holly used the list most recently for a story about Carrie Gordon, who is mayor of the little Dallas suburb of Balch Springs and a Dallas city planner. She likes to call herself Dr. Gordon, though her degree comes from a defunct correspondence school on the state list.

Previously, Holly wrote about Juanita Wallace (right), a local NAACP leader who recently lost a run for Dallas school board. She likes to call herself Dr. Wallace, citing a degree from a still functioning school on the state list -- Madison University.

Using degrees from such places is a crime if it helps you obtain any financial benefit "or gain a position in government with authority over another person, regardless of whether the actor receives compensation for the position," the state says. These ladies have not been charged with wrongdoing.

Do you have a tip about people using questionable degrees? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Remember Randy Dobbs (right)? He quit the Mesquite school board under a cloud last month because of something found on his district-issued laptop.

At the time, no one would say what that something was. So Dallas Morning News reporter Karel Holloway filed an open-records request. And now comes word that the computer's hard drive has been wiped.

When? Why? By whom? Mesquite school officials aren't explaining.

Do you have a tip about Randy Dobbs? Mesquite schools? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Texas has no shortage of amazing criminal justice stories. Here's the latest to hit my radar screen: State law says it's OK to show pornography to children -- as long as they're your children and the stuff is otherwise legal (no kiddie porn, in other words).

Now a Panhandle prosecutor wants the Texas attorney general's office to check his reading of the penal code section on showing harmful material to minors. An AG's spokesman said the matter is under review and declined further comment.

Randall County District Attorney James Farren's request grew out of a divorced Dallas-area woman's experience. Her three grade-school-aged daughters were living with their dad earlier this year when he allegedly got liquored up late one night and showed two of them porn on his computer. They later told a counselor, who alerted authorities. Amarillo police investigated, found the girls believable and sought advice from the DA's office before proceeding.

Farren concluded that that his hands were tied. No search warrant ever got issued, so there's been no independent look at evidence.

"We have to convince the Legislature to review this issue," Farren told me.

State Sen. Bob Deuell, a Republican from Greenville, said he will push for change in the next legislative session.

"It's not going to be an easy issue," he warned. Why? There will be talk that the state is trying to dictate what parents can teach their children.

A fair amount of ink and indignation has flowed from my newspaper of late in defense of J.D. Mayo (right), who was fired in the spring as Skyline High School's basketball coach after 33 years and nearly 700 wins. "Bizarre" and "distasteful," Metro columnist James Ragland wrote of the firing. "This is personal," said sports columnist (and Skyline grad) Jean-Jacques Taylor.

Now DISD beat reporter Tawnell Hobbs has the school district's investigative report on Mayo. Among its conclusions: He let his son -- who has a drug possession record -- run a for-profit basketball training program at Skyline's gym while paying no rent.

Mayo's response: He suspects he lost his job because he's one of the Dallas Independent School District's last white basketball coaches.

Do you have a tip about J.D. Mayo? DISD? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Is the sky falling? Fear not, Chicken Little. It was only the ceiling at a north Oak Cliff school attended by 740 little kids.

A relatively new facility called Kahn Elementary (right) was the place, The Dallas Morning News reports. It happened not long after classes let out yesterday afternoon.

"There were some students in there up until about 10 minutes before this happened," DISD's spokesman told Channel 8. "We're just fortunate that this wasn't worse."

School officials say they're investigating.

Do you have a tip about DISD construction and maintenance practices? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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I'm starting to sound repetitive. Because once again, stories over the weekend remind me of my colleagues' State of Neglect series, which exposed how Texas' network of government agencies and regulators often operate with industry insiders first in mind.

1. Back in 2002, The News' Doug J. Swanson told you how Texas lets doctors keep licenses despite criminal behavior and other misconduct. The state pledged reforms after the stories, et cetera et cetera. Fast forward seven years. Enter another News reporter, Brooks Egerton. And you can guess where I'm headed. My question this morning: Is anyone in a position of power dialing the Texas Medical Board to ask why it let these doctors remain active?

2. A Boston firm seeking a billion-dollar contract from the Texas State Board of Education has given gifts to two key members who then failed to disclose them, News freelance writer Jeff Horwitz writes. Explanation from one of the two: He thought he had received the gifts out of friendship, not because he served on the board. The other member declined comment, which was probably a smarter move.

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Hot Links looks today at how money gets spent in Austin:

1. Gov. Rick Perry's re-election campaign is paying "volunteers" to recruit more "volunteers," The Dallas Morning News' Gromer Jeffers reports today. My favorite quote in the story is from Dallas County Republican Party chairman Jonathan Neerman (right), who was a volunteer in Perry's 2006 campaign and said there were no cash rewards then. "I want my check," he said.

2. The $19 billion Texas Permanent School Fund is the second-largest educational endowment in the country. It pays for textbooks and other school supplies. And the State Board of Education has taken to rejecting the investment advice of the fund's professional staff and hiring a consulting firm that cost much more than the competition, free-lance writer Jeff Horwitz reports in The News. The key advocate of these moves: board member Rick Agosto (right), a San Antonio Democrat who had prior business contacts with the consultant. He denies wrongdoing.

Do you have a tip about politics? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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In today's Hot Links, Dallas-area TV stations show public employees endangering schoolkids on roadways.

1. Channel 8 obtained dash-cam video of a Dallas police response that sped through active school zones and past school buses. Doesn't Chief David Kunkle's strict speeding policy apply here?

2. Channel 11 reported that a Dallas County Schools bus driver lost a mentally disabled child for about two hours. Happy ending: The Oak Cliff boy apparently was asleep on the bus the whole time. Do drivers not check all their seats at the end of a route? What if this had happened in hotter weather?

Do you have a tip about schools and transportation safety? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Sometimes the best stuff in The Dallas Morning News is in the briefs. Read on through today's Regional Roundup for three of my favorites:

1. Remember Lori Bailey (top right)? She used to be in the paper all the time as Dallas FBI office spokeswoman. Now she's gone -- and on probation for DWI after a wrong-way crash on the Dallas North Tollway.

2. Remember Jose Merced? Probably not. He's the Santeria priest who sued the city of Euless over its ban on sacrificing goats (lower right) and other critters. And he has won a major round in his freedom-of-religion court case.

3. Someone's going to have a doozy of a time explaining how this happened: An Eagle Mountain Elementary School third-grader slipped out of school on a bathroom break, found an unlocked employee's van with the keys inside and went on a five-mile joyride.

Do you have a tip about something wacky? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Difficult questions about pregnancy linger in my mind from the weekend papers, even though the newsprint's already on the recycling pile:

1. Why does Texas lead the nation in repeat teen pregnancy? Bob Garrett of The Dallas Morning News' Austin bureau looked at several factors in Monday's paper. Among them: Only Utah and the Lone Star State require state-funded clinics to get parents' consent before giving their teens birth control. And Utah at least tells young people on a state Web site to go to Planned Parenthood if they don't want to involve their parents.

2. Have you ever thought about what you'd do if you were pregnant and knew the baby was doomed? Over the past two Sundays, my colleagues Lee Hancock and Sonya Hebert traced one family's journey in words, photos and video. If thus stuff doesn't haunt you, have someone check your pulse.

Do you have a tip about matters of life and death? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Robert Peters (right), the former DISD principal we wondered about in this morning's Hot Links, has surfaced: He is a principal in the Manor school district, just outside Austin.

Officials there say he has "cooperated fully" with the Dallas district's investigation of TAKS cheating at Lang Middle School.

Dallas district boss Michael Hinojosa tells a different tale. He says Peters quit cooperating and bears some responsibility for the scandal, as my co-worker Tawnell Hobbs reported in The Dallas Morning News.

There's still no word on who at the East Dallas school actually changed hundreds of students' answers on the state test.

Watch this blog and Tawnell's DISD blog for more on this and other evolving stories.

Today's Hot Links look at twists in ongoing Dallas scandals:

1. What has become of Robert Peters? He was principal of Lang Middle School (right) but "left" DISD after a TAKS cheating scandal recently came to light, my co-worker Tawnell Hobbs reports. Dallas school district boss Michael Hinojosa says Peters bears some responsibility for what happened and has quit cooperating with investigators. Teachers probably aren't responsible and students definitely aren't, Hinojosa adds. Check out Tawnell's DISD blog, where skeptical commenters are already having a field day.

2. Hold your breath: The FAA says Southwest Airlines can take until Christmas Eve to replace unauthorized parts on its planes, as The Dallas Morning News' Eric Torbenson reports.

Do you have a tip about Lang Middle School? Robert Peters? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Today's Hot Links are swerving all over the road:

1. In January of last year, Dallas Plan Commission member Neil Emmons wrote Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert (right) a letter. He urged him to push for disclosure requirements for local lobbyists, as my colleagues Jason Trahan and Gromer Jeffers Jr. reported Sunday. Leppert wouldn't talk for that story. But today, lo and behold, with the City Hall corruption trial grinding on, he is proposing some reforms.

2. Here's the sound of another nail being banged into a box that looks a lot like Paul Quinn College's coffin: Dallas Morning News reporter Holly Hacker explains that the region's only historically black college has lost its accreditation appeal.

3. Why are all those baby bones lying around outside a mobile home in southern Tarrant County? The trailer sits on a street -- I'm not making this up -- called Tranquility Circle.

Do you have a tip about local lobbyists? Paul Quinn College? Baby bones? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Why is the RISD boss gone? What is the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas going to do with a priest who got in trouble as a stockbroker? Read Today's Hot Links:

1. The Richardson school district is back in session today. And David Simmons (pictured at right) is being paid $300,000 not to be superintendent any more, as Dallas Morning News reporter Jeff Weiss explains. Why? School board members suggest that the payoff is the most efficient way to get rid of Simmons, who quit Aug. 3. And why did they want him out, given that the district has a balanced budget and four straight years of "recognized" status? They aren't giving much of an explanation.

2. Securities regulators told William Warnky last week not to work as a stockbroker because he defrauded a former client and disregarded an order to repay him $50,000. What will become of Warnky's other career as a priest? We're waiting to hear from Dallas Episcopal Bishop James Stanton or his No. 2, Bishop Suffragan Paul Lambert.

Do you have a tip about RISD? David Simmons? The Episcopal Diocese of Dallas? William Warnky? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Several interesting items from the weekend. The first three we'll bring you have a trend in common: peculiar financial transactions involving public officials.

1. What is going on in the offices of Dallas County constables Jamie Cortes and Derick Evans? The News' Kevin Krause brings us another in an increasing list of stories on their activities, which always seem to involve vehicles or a towing company they're employing.

2. Dallas' Mexican consulate office is under investigation for financial improprieties, The News' Alfredo Corchado tells us. Similar allegations arose a few months ago. Trend or coincidence?

3. Tarrant County College trustee Robyn Medina Winnett was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting, the Star-Telegram reports. It's the latest unflattering headline for TCC's administration.

4. Haven't heard from former U.S. House Majority Leader and Texas' own Dick Armey in a while. Talking Points Memo's Muckraker blog explores how Armey's lobbying firm apparently received blowback from his advocacy group's role in organizing health-care protests.

Do you have thoughts or tips to share? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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The state's academic testing program in grammar and high schools has fed a running argument over whether it puts emphasis more on scores or learning. Critics surely will seize on this data analysis by The News:

1. Holly K. Hacker's Sunday story found half of college-bound graduates from some North Texas high schools earned less than a C average their freshman year. That includes middling results from kids at Dallas' nationally recognized magnet school. The state's higher education commissioner said it was a "serious problem" that students are "stunned when they arrive on a college campus." Look up your school with this online database.

2. Current and former members of the non-profit that runs the Alamo has been squabbling over finances. That brings this to light: The state may own the landmark, but no agency provides management oversight. That worries San Antonio's mayor, The News' Marjorie Korn reports.

3. News reporters aren't the only ones who fight for records. An audit released this morning shows the FDIC wouldn't share documents with the State Auditor's Office as part of a review of the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending.

Do you have thoughts or tips to share? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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What a weird week in the Richardson school district.

Superintendent David Simmons (shown at right) abruptly resigned at a board meeting Monday after what appeared to be a rosy tenure. And resigned weeks before the start of a new school year.

The board president, Kim Quirk, said that she and her colleagues weren't happy with a focus on test scores and wanted a leader with a "more strategic vision." Seems an ambigious explanation. But Simmons, for his part, chose not to speak.

Did he do something wrong? Did someone do him wrong?

Now this: Simmons signed an agreement to receive a separation payout $300,000 that also calls for him and his former employers from making "disparaging remarks" about each other, The News' Jeffrey Weiss reports.

For $300,000, it is only fair and reasonable that taxpayers get more answers.

There's a lot in the news today. Let's start exploring what's out there:

1. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is saying "mistakes were made" in the controversial raid on a Fort Worth gay bar after an internal report rips agents, The News' Scott Goldstein reports. However, the report seems to tiptoe around one of the biggest complaints -- allegations of excessive force. One patron, you may recall, sustained a brain injury in the incident, which sparked protests and national news coverage.

2. Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller remains on the witness stand in the City Hall bribery trial, which you can follow on Jason Trahan's live blog. In testimony yesterday, she described defendant Don Hill as an official bristling at ethics reforms. Other interesting nugget: Developer and Miller supporter Brian Potashnik fed her negative information about his employee-turned-rival James R. "Bill" Fisher, yet she said she was in the dark about similar unflattering details regarding him.

3. Beyond Dallas, we have a series of ethics scandals making news: a NASA official who steered millions to a consulting client, resignation calls for University of Illinois trustees and a House Democrat who got sweet deals on loans.

Do you have thoughts or tips to share? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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That's probably a trio of topics you wouldn't have expected to see in a headline. Let's read on:

1. Good news, bad news at the Dallas City Hall bribery trial, The News' Jason Trahan tells us. If you're Don Hill: You probably look more favorable to jurors after you were heard doubting the ethics of your co-defendant, D'Angelo Lee, on phone conversations secretly taped by the FBI. If you're Lee: Your co-defendant is heard doubting your ethics on phone conversations secretly taped by the FBI.

2. Supporters of the federal stimulus package said it was a chance to make $65 billion in repairs to crumbling, aging bridges. Want to guess where I'm headed next after that set-up? The Associated Press found that nearly half of the ones slated for funding are in good shape and wouldn't have qualified for money in normal circumstances. Best use of the stimulus?

3. This isn't our typical watchdog story to highlight: Lewisville High School cheerleaders had illegal drugs, such as Ecstasy, at a weekend clinic, KXAS (NBC-5) reports. As school district officials investigate, they should ask this of themselves: When was the last time they tested cheerleaders for drug use? District policy allows it, and athletes have been subjected to it after reports of steroid abuse.

Do you have thoughts or tips to share? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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We have updates on some stories that have been in the news in the last few months -- and been the subject of our blogging:

1. The legendary football coach at Mesquite High School who pawned more than $100,000 in school equipment agreed to plead guilty late last week if the felony charges against him were reduced, The News' Matthew Haag reports. Questions still remain, though: Like why didn't the school board get to the bottom of this sooner? And why isn't the district's auditor digging deeper to root out other hints of financial fraud?

2. Did your schools see an improvement in the latest TAKS tests? Mine did. But don't forget this: The grading got easier this year, as some kids who failed were counted as having passed, The News' Holly K. Hacker explains.

3. We're learning a major narrative of the upcoming trial of the state's highest criminal court judge, Sharon Keller. She was the one who closed her office before a death-row inmate could file a last-minute appeal, ensuring his execution. The narrative: Did computer crashes really delay the inmate's lawyers from completing paperwork sooner? Keller is trying to raise those doubts, the Austin American-Statesman tells us.

Do you have thoughts or tips to share? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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A couple days ago, I wondered what was behind complaints that the University of Texas at Dallas sent to the Collin County district attorney's office regarding possible misconduct in the campus police department. UT Dallas and prosecutors weren't commenting publicly. So it was difficult to know what was going on.

The News' Holly K. Hacker reports today that the ex-police chief, Colleen Ridge, was allegedly using her university SUV to tool around town on personal errands and using a work credit card for unauthorized purchases. And then there's this: Ridge also used her position to benefit a private business venture with her husband and may have had her employees do labor for it.

A lawyer for Ridge, who was put on leave and then resigned, denies the allegations. The chief had strong performance reviews over time, the lawyer added.

Other police employees who were put on leave -- some were subsequently fired -- say they were treated unfairly by UT Dallas. Officials were upset that they didn't blow the whistle sooner, but a lawyer representing some of them say they were merely following Ridge's orders.

Here's a question to ponder as this continues to unfold: What were Ridge's supervisors at UT Dallas and the University of Texas System doing to oversee her?

You may have missed this item deep inside The Dallas Morning News' metro section today: The University of Texas at Dallas forwarded complaints against its own police officers to the Collin County district attorney.

The action comes two months after UT Dallas' police chief, Colleen Ridge, resigned. A few weeks ago, the assistant chief and an officer who had been on leave were fired. Another employee also quit, and one more remains sidelined.

That's a lot of HR paperwork. But what makes this potentially criminal?

UT Dallas and prosecutors continue not to discuss it publicly. News reporter Holly Hacker did manage to narrow things down after receiving a letter from the University of Texas System's lawyers seeking permission from the state attorney general to keep records about the complaints private.

The UT System lawyers indicate the police matters involve these multiple choices: a) ethical questions, b) standards of conduct, c) financial reporting and/or d) internal accounting practices.

If you know the correct answer, post a comment or e-mail Holly or me directly.

The Texas Attorney General's Office today filed a consumer-fraud lawsuit against the college-prep software company that I first raised questions about in April.

The suit targets the Coppell-based SAT and ACT Test Prep Center and its operators, a Cedar Hill couple named Frances Stuart and John Joseph Stuart (at right, after his recent arrest on unrelated charges -- more on that below).

I just tried to reach the Stuarts at the Coppell business and got a recording saying that the phone had been temporarily disconnected. I also left a message for them at the Student Resource Center, a virtually identical business that Frances set up in May, using a downtown Dallas address.

My original blog post about consumer complaints led me to do a little digging about the Stuarts. I discovered that John had been convicted of sexually exploiting a child in Arizona, was a registered sex offender -- and had failed to tell police that he was working at the prep center. Cedar Hill police responded by arresting him.

The AG's office says the Stuarts' telemarketers made calls to several states, "falsely telling parents that their children had expressed an interest" in test-prep software. Many who bought the material "discovered that the CD they received matched an outdated, 2006 version that was offered by a nationally recognized company" for far less.

The Stuarts have previously denied wrongdoing. I last heard from them early this month, when Frances posted a comment on another of my blog posts and told me to "go to hell."

I saw the documentary, "Food Inc.," last week. It was a great piece of reporting, exploring the rarely seen underbelly of our food-production system and how Corporate America's influence is creating consequences felt by you and me. The film resonated when I saw these stories over the weekend:

1. Food and Drug Administration data found that "deviations" from good food-manufacturing processes were found in nearly a third of 16,500 safety inspections during the last fiscal year, the Chicago Tribune reported.

2. So you want to eat organic food and are willing to pay the higher price. Can you be sure you're getting what you're buying? The agency responsible for ensuring such authenticity is overworked and understaffed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Do you have a tip these or other subjects? Send me an e-mail or leave me a comment.

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Today's Hot Links touch on books, religion and traffic.

1. Who are the Texas textbook advisers saying that Thurgood Marshall and Cesar Chavez are not major figures in U.S. history? One is a Massachusetts evangelical named Peter Marshall, whose Web site would be happy to sell you books, DVDs and more. The other is a North Texas evangelical named David Barton, whose Web site would be happy to sell you books, DVDs and more.

2. Most of America lives in major metro areas. But we urbanites and suburbanites aren't getting our fair share of federal transportation stimulus money, a New York Times analysis suggests.

Do you have a tip about textbooks? Stimulus spending? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Let's catch up on a couple of mind-bending education stories that you probably missed over the holiday weekend:

1. George Orwell would have appreciated this: Some students who failed the TAKS test are counted as passing for purposes of new school accountability rankings, Dallas Morning News reporters Holly Hacker and Jeffrey Weiss showed. Why? A formula predicts that these failers are likely to pass the next time. What if the prediction is wrong? No problem. The schools' rankings don't drop.

2. Charter schools are privately run, but we taxpayers finance them. So the government exercises fiscal oversight, right? Wrong, reports The Dallas Morning News' Matthew Haag. Onto that stage steps Imagine Schools, a nationwide charter school management company with a real estate program that some officials say hurts students. It's planning to expand into McKinney next year. State officials OK'd the move despite concerns that Imagine lacked non-profit status.

Do you have a tip about school testing? Charter schools? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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There's an interesting new twist to Dallas ISD's controversial use of a program touted as prepping local students for Ivy League colleges.

Come to find out, the Academic Success Program's biggest backer, trustee Edwin Flores (at right), brought it to Dallas after its founder had approached him about securing its intellectual property rights more than 10 years, reports The News' Lori Stahl.

Flores, a patent lawyer, said he did no work for Tom Urquidez. The businessman went on to make at least $250 in donations to the trustee's school board campaign in 2005. His son piloted the program in Flores' district.

It's the latest turn for the $2 million Academic Success Program. Lori continues to tell us that despite promoting itself as a way to give a boost to low-income or would-be first-generation college kids, the program recruited students who didn't really need it: valedictorians and salutatorians, or those from middle- and upper-class families. That included Superintendent Michael Hinojosa's son.

Do you think Flores and Hinojosa should recuse themselves from today's DISD board discussion about expanding the program?

Here are the stories giving me chills on a hot Texas morning:

1. Another month, another mass-transit disaster: This latest one, which killed at least seven people in the nation's capital, was supposed to be impossible, The Washington Post reports. A computer should apply brakes automatically if trains get too close. Another mystery: The driver of the train that crashed had a clear line of sight but apparently never braked, either. Was she incapacitated? Using a cell phone, like the drivers I wrote about last month?

2. Another week, another higher-ed exec getting paid by taxpayers not to work: Tarrant County College Chancellor Leonardo de la Garza has quit with two years left on his contract -- but still will receive $700,000, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The story lacks much context; go to the Fort Worth Weekly for that. Last week, Elsa Murano quit as Texas A&M boss. Here's her deal, as reported yesterday by my colleague Holly Hacker: "She will be on leave for a year and keep her president's $425,000 salary, plus an additional $295,000, and she agreed not to sue. She plans to return as a professor, at a $260,000 salary."

Do you have a tip about mass transit? Higher ed? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a couple of stories about schools and rules that caught my eye in The Dallas Morning News this morning:

1. "Severe testing irregularities" mean that hundreds of Dallas middle-schoolers must retake the state math exam, The Dallas Morning News' Tawnell Hobbs reports. A preliminary report suggests that students are not to blame. I can't help but recall The News' 2007 investigation showing that cheating was widespread on the TAKS test. At the time, state regulators insisted otherwise.

2. Trainers say high school football coaches should ease up on twice-daily summertime practices to keep from killing students, The Dallas Morning News' Terrence Stutz and Brian Davis report. Need a reminder of how deadly the heat can be? Read this News investigative report about a Dallas high school student who died of heatstroke after a single practice in August 2004.

Do you have a tip about cheating? Football practice? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here's a look at public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere that had me asking some questions over morning coffee:

1. Will we never know where $15,000 in missing ticket revenue in Mesquite ISD's athletic department went? A secretary responsible for depositing it quit after questioning, and the internal auditor said costs to dig deeper were twice as much, The News' Matthew Haag reports. It's the latest financial scandal for Mesquite sports.

2. Why did Cheryl Potashnik miss a pretrial conference Monday in which all defendants charged in the FBI's Dallas City Hall public corruption case were present or had written excuses? Speculation is the co-owner of Southwest Housing Development Co., who along with husband Brian is accused of bribing public officials, may have struck a plea deal, The News' Jason Trahan tell us.

3. How will Texans vote on a proposal to limit eminent domain powers of government? Protect property owner rights? Or leave government with its ability to seize land and give it to private developers?

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

We were reminded of how Rick Perry, through his longevity, has become perhaps Texas' most powerful governor through his appointment powers in two of today's public-interest stories from The News and Web-o-sphere:

1. One backdrop to Texas A&M president Elsa Murano's resignation is an emphasis among Perry friends and associates in commercializing research, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Perry, an A&M alum, is said to exert influence in other ways. This increasingly upsets the faculty members "by what they perceive as a command-and-control management style" by the Perry-picked chancellor and Board of Regents.

2. The state Insurance Commissioner, Perry appointee Mike Geeslin, will decide how much State Farm Insurance owes -- if anything -- as part of overcharging complaints on homeowner policies. The options: The state consumer advocate's office says $785 million plus interest; the Texas Department of Insurance says $250 million plus interest; and State Farm says zip.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Another Monday. Another month ahead. Here's a look at some of the public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. The city of Dallas' budget deficit just got a little worse. The Trinity River toll road and park project will require $29 million and 20 additional months to test the shaky levees, Michael Lindenberger reports. City council members have already had trouble letting go to favored programs.

2. Texas lawmakers have spent lots of time this session trying to tweak controversial college admissions rules. Up in Illinois, legislators have been much more hands-on, a Chicago Tribune investigation found: They've influenced which students get into the University of Illinois and even overruled the admissions department.

3. The former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman kept enforcement staffers from pursuing cases against companies and punishing violators. The Washington Post reports his predecessor is trying to increase such investigations of abuses linked to the financial crisis.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

As we wind down for the weekend, here's a DISD-themed look at some of the public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Parents, teachers and students continued to their fight to preserve jobs at DISD magnet schools and learning centers, Holly Hacker reports. District officials say the cuts are needed to save federal funds, but even the feds have challenged those claims.

2. Another public servant in hot water: A DISD hall monitor was jailed after allegedly waving a gun and threatening a woman during a road rage incident, Tanya Eiserer tells us.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Before everyone breaks for Memorial Day, let's take a look at a few of the public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Carla Ranger -- the popular, watchdogging Dallas ISD board member -- learned this week that she would lose her job at the Dallas County Community College District after two decades of service. The Dallas Observer's Robert Wilonsky asks the right question: Why? Her bosses aren't talking. But she is. She blogged that she was given no warning, that it "appears someone has ordered my removal" and that "it smells of politics."

2. State lawmakers are bogging down as they try to reform eminent-domain laws allowing property seizures for, among other things, economic development, Marcus Funk reports.

3. The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts -- the shimmering new home to the opera, ballet and theater shows -- may not get a $1.7 million public subsidy as soon as it hoped, City Hall reporter Rudy Bush blogs. Question: Does the center need the subsidy at all, given the city's budget woes?

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Let's catch up on a few of the public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. I'm a few days behind in posting this unbelievable child-safety story. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that despite the FDA's claim that a chemical in baby bottles is safe, agency e-mails show regulators "relied on chemical industry lobbyists to examine bisphenol A's risks, track legislation to ban it and even monitor press coverage."

2. The U.S. Department of Education is reviewing gender-bias complaints that boys sports get a disproportionate amount of good equipment and facilities at Colleyville Heritage High School, the Star-Telegram reports.

3. Are you trying to make sense of the federal legislation designed to crackdown on credit-card companies and provide consumers relief? The New York Times has a helpful primer.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

It's Monday. We have a theme for today's edition of Hot Links: Open government. So let's dive in:

1. The News' Dallas City Hall reporters used the Texas Public Information Act to make an interesting discovery. City officials, in asking the Attorney General's office to reject a request for convention center hotel records, seemed to acknowledge having information it once said didn't exist.

2. A federal appeals court's ruling questions whether Texas' Open Meetings Act violates government officials' free-speech rights. The Austin American-Statesman reports that several states now fear that transparency and accountability may come under attack there.

3. We've blogged about proposed legislation that would restrict the public's ability to check whether public-school teachers have criminal histories. Ryan McNeill reports that a major teachers union drafted some of the bills and gave thousands in campaign contributions to the lawmakers pushing them.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

It's Monday. So let's catch up on a few public-interest stories that caught our eye this weekend in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. A man held in Collin County jail for 83 days for missing jury duty was released Saturday after his case was profiled by DMN Problem Solver columnist Katie Fairbank. She had found a series of mistakes by court officials that contributed to his stay.

2. The Los Angeles Times is publishing an interesting series on how school officials can't -- or won't -- get troubled teachers out of the classroom. The latest installment looks at those with past allegations of sexual misconduct. It reminds me of a 2006 News series that explored how teachers with criminal records managed to get hired in Dallas ISD.

3. In New Jersey, roughly 40 cents of every dollar spent by government comes through contracts awarded to companies outside the normal bidding process, an Asbury Park Press investigation found. This left me wondering what the figure for Texas might look like -- higher, lower?

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Let's catch up on a few of the public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Dallas ISD faces a robbing-Peter-to-pay-Paul quandary. Make cuts in 31 specialized programs, including magnet schools and learning centers? Or give up $105 million in federal funding? Tawnell D. Hobbs posted a district report, and Jon Nielsen grabbed board member reaction. The Dallas Observer weighs in, too.

2. AARP has a theory about Texas' high electricity prices, and deregulation is only partly to blame, Elizabeth Souder tells us. The group thinks bills in the Texas Legislature would help, but those haven't been voted out of committee.

3. The city of Fort Worth has failed to collect $167 million in traffic fines during the last five years, the Star-Telegram reports, and some may have to be written off. I'm always scared my permanent record will be ruined if I don't pay. Silly me.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a few days ago that schools with suspected cases of swine flu -- or whatever we're supposed to call it -- shut down for up to two weeks. More than 700 schools in 24 states took it to heart, including Fort Worth and Lewisville ISDs.

Today, the acting head of the agency, Richard Besser, reversed course: "Anyone who closed their school based on our recommendation, we no longer feel that closure is warranted."

Besser said swine flu's symptoms are milder than first thought, so schools should close only if so many teachers and students are sick that it is impossible to operate. "The big focus now is on identifying children who are ill," he said, and asking parents to keep them home for at least seven days, according to Bloomberg News.

Meanwhile, the Texas health department says hospital ERs are overcrowding with people who "may have nothing more than seasonal allergies or mild colds," according to the Associated Press. Swine flu symptoms, the state is emphasizing, are a fever above 101 degrees, cough and sore throat.

Wonder why they would've panicked?

UPDATE: Texas health officials confirmed this afternoon the first death of a Texas resident with swine flu, a woman who lived in Cameron County, home to Brownsville. She had "chronic, underlying health conditions," the state said.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. I understand why people are concerned about swine flu. But how about a little perspective? Other kinds of influenza kill tens of thousands of people around the U.S. every year, as this government report reminds us.

2. No Child Left Behind, the law that Dallas' W touted so highly, isn't closing the achievement gap between whites and minorities, The New York Times reports.

3. Texas appears ready to join many other states in protecting reporters who protect their sources, writes Dallas Morning News reporter Terrence Stutz.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Are you a laid-off worker searching for your next job? Are you a college student wondering about your future career?

Economic statistics -- largely pessimistic these days -- may hold clues to which industries are prime for job creation in Texas. Our latest installment of Citizen Watchdog column by Jennifer LaFleur (right) finds that health and education are two with such opportunities.

Jennifer recommends two resources: The College Board, a nonprofit association of colleges, universities and other educational institutions, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Do you have a suggestion for a Citizen Watchdog column? Send us an e-mail.

Remember my recent post about consumer complaints against a Coppell company that sells test-prep software? Well, now I've learned that it hasn't been paying sales tax.

I called the Texas Comptroller's Office after I couldn't find The SAT and ACT Prep Center in the state's online database of sales taxpayers. The comptroller will investigate, spokesman R.J. DeSilva said.

Company co-owner John Stuart gave me this reason for not paying: "We don't sell in Texas."

But the Better Business Bureau in Dallas says it has received complaints from Texas and around the country.

The Texas Attorney General's office now says it, too, is reviewing consumer complaints about the company.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. News reporter Katherine Leal Unmuth's story about inadequate teacher training asks two big policy questions. We'll discuss one here: Who should be most responsible for vetting prospective teachers' academic credentials -- the Texas Education Agency or local schools doing the hiring?

2. Still nervous about eating peanuts and pistachios? In light of recent salmonella outbreaks, a new study by an ex-FDA official recommends an overhaul the nation's food-safety system, The Washington Post reports. The pitch: standardize basic safety rules, improve coordination by streamlining inspectors at all levels under one parent agency, and spend $350 million over five years on underfunded states and cities.

3. The state estimates that about 3 percent of Texas nursing homes have no sprinkler systems, or lack sufficient ones, to prevent fires. A House bill by state Rep. Carol Kent of Dallas would add $3 million in funding for fixing the safety hazards, Robert Garrett of The News' Austin bureau reports. But, we wonder, how are the nursing homes still operating?

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Happy Tax Day! Now sober up and consider this question: Is your tax preparer a crook? No problem, a Fort Worth Star-Telegram investigation finds. It focuses on a woman who has a history of financial crime but continues to work as a storefront tax preparer -- a profession that Texas and most other states don't regulate. Nor are there national standards, the IRS admits. The Fort Worth woman now faces charges that she helped clients cheat the IRS out of millions by claiming bogus dependents and bogus business expenses.

2. Plano ISD is shelving a proposal to quit penalizing middle-schoolers for cheating or late assignments, Dallas Morning News reporter Matthew Haag reports. This comes just a week after Matt showed, using an open-records request, that teachers were dubious about the plan.

3. Dallas investor Barrett Wissman has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, The New York Times reports. Wissman (right) is cooperating with an ongoing investigation of corruption in the New York state pension fund. Wissman reportedly was a managing director for HFV Asset Management, a money manager for Dallas' big-name Hunt family. The Times reports that the Carlyle Group, the prominent private equity firm, is also under scrutiny in the New York investigation.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. OK, the good news first: No one has been hurt since stadium lighting poles (like the one pictured here) started falling at Texas high schools. But the rest of this investigative report from Cox Newspapers is terrifying. Denton, Tarrant and Ellis counties are among those where tragedy nearly has struck. The steel poles have a common -- and unregulated -- manufacturing lineage.

2. Bedford resident Jan Tidwell, a reader of this blog, sent us a frantic post yesterday. The local power company wanted to chop down her old oak trees. Dallas Morning News reporter Sherry Jacobson and videographer Nathan Hunsinger hustled to craft these balanced looks at the situation. Is Oncor overzealous in cutting trees near power lines? Or are homeowners like Jan putting shade ahead of safety?

3. We've been trying to avoid the White House puppy story, reasoning that there were too many other reporters covering this trivia. But Dallas Morning News reporter Jeffrey Weiss changed our mind today with a look at the risks associated with the Obamas' North Texas-bred pooch.

Here are a few public-interest stories catching our eye in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. A law firm hired by Dallas ISD found "no evidence of criminal or intentional wrongdoing" in the past practice of giving unofficial Social Security numbers to employees while they awaited real ones, The News' Kent Fischer reports. Some district employees had failed to return the fake SSNs, one of the issues that originally caught the Texas Education Agency's attention.

2. The U.S. Treasury Department said yesterday that the budget deficit is nearing $1 trillion-with-a-T. That puts it within reach of previous estimates that it would hit $1.2 trillion for the entire budget year.

3. We've been blogging steadily about legislative efforts that would curtail government accountability by making private state workers' date-of-birth information. Supporters say they're trying to prevent ID theft. But the legislation does nothing to help investigate or tighten penalties for cases like these: Hackers comprised a Houston company's customer data system.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

When some fellow reporters and I investigated whether Dallas Independent School District was hiring people with criminal records, we found a long list of employees with a history of fraud, felony drug offenses, aggravated assault and child endangerment.

The school district itself was supposed to research employee records, but its system was riddled with holes and often ignored district and state rules. So, the newspaper took a crack at it.

The reporting matched courthouse criminal conviction records with names, addresses and dates of births of school employees. We found that DISD was not doing its job and hiring people with criminal pasts to work with your children.

Unfortunately, the ability to do that sort of investigation could soon be a thing of the past if some lawmakers get their way.

Monday. Back to the grind. Here are some of today's interesting stories from The Dallas Morning News and around the Web to help your water cooler conversation:

1. A year after the Federal Aviation Administration forced airlines to ground a series of planes, inspectors are again examining Fort Worth-based American Airlines' fleet. The News' Dave Michaels and Eric Torbenson report that inspectors began last week a special audit prompted by what an FAA official described as "several issues that came up that gave us some cause for concern."

2. The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston received $44,000 in improper royalties for classroom materials used in a statewide pre-K program it runs, the Houston Chronicle reports. The other problem is, university officials had told lawmakers last year they hadn't taken the payments. A state senator and representative are now calling for a review.

3. The White House may require new management at companies that seek federal bailout assistance, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday. Some critics say he has a double standard because, unlike the ouster of GM's chairman last week, he hasn't pushed for leadership change in the banking industry.

Did I miss a good story? Or do you have a tip? Send me an e-mail and let me know.