DMN INVESTIGATES

Dallas lawyer Ralph Janvey is the court-appointed receiver assigned to recover money that disgraced Texas banker Allen Stanford (at right) allegedly obtained by defrauding investors. Among those Janvey is seeking funds from are the many politicians who benefited from Stanford's generosity -- members of Congress and fundraising committees for both major political parties.

Janvey started asking them to pay up a year ago. Many have not done so, reports Dave Michaels of the The Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau.

Click here for Janvey's list of who has paid and who owes what.

A decade ago, federal transportation officials hired Traffic.com to install high-tech sensors that measure freeway speeds and volume. The data can trigger traffic-jam alerts to electronic signs and other equipment.

But state and local governments can't post the alerts unless they pay the contractor a fee, The New York Times reports today, citing a non-yet-public audit by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.

Never mind that taxpayers have committed more than $50 million to the project.

The transportation department responded to the audit, according to Times, by citing "nine letters from members of Congress -- many of whom had received frequent campaign contributions from executives at Traffic.com -- who demanded, among other requests, that it skip a competitive bidding process and give more money to Traffic.com."

The story does not identify the politicians. It says Traffic.com, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Navteq, didn't respond to a request for comment.

In case you're wondering, yes, Traffic.com alerts do appear on dallasnews.com.

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

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At DLA Piper, Dick Armey (right) made $750,000 a year lobbying for clients such as a wind farm that sought tax credits under the Obama stimulus package.

At FreedomWorks, the former House majority leader from Denton County makes $500,000 a year to proclaim, among other things, that "billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies have done little to make alternative energy sources more practical."

Dave Michaels, a reporter in The Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau, takes a long look today at Armey's dual roles.

While FreedomWorks is often "antagonistic to politicians of both parties ... the general disposition of the lobbyist is to be sweet to officeholders," Armey acknowledged. "This is always a problem, and people have struggled with it in Washington.

"Few have mastered it as I have."

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The fallout from the corruption verdicts against Dallas Mayor Pro-Tem Don Hill & Co. continues at City Hall, as we look at today's stories:

1. The Dallas City Council spent much of Monday talking about ethics reform, The News' Rudy Bush reports on the City Hall blog. Among the proposals: lobbyist registration, bans on lobbyist gifts and new requirements on zoning cases. The point of the last one: weakening the type of power that Hill, as a council member, wielded over developers who needed his approval for their projects in his district. The plan calls for multiple council members to weigh in on zoning cases.

2. I'm getting to this item a little late, and some of you may wish you hadn't ever seen it. The McClatchy newspaper chain found that Moody's Investors Service "punished executives who questioned why the company was risking its reputation by putting its profits ahead of providing trustworthy ratings for investment offerings." Doesn't restore your confidence in Wall Street, does it?

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Robert Crandall (right), AA's former CEO, is backing a U.S. Senate bill that would let passengers leave planes that have been stranded on the ground for more than three hours.

"Every responsible airline executive I know thinks these things are an outrage," he said yesterday, when he testified before Congress.

The bill was born in large part out of December 2006 storms in Texas, during which many people were stuck on parked American flights for more than eight hours. That led the Fort Worth-based carrier to talk of reform and a four-hour limit.

"Because no similar situation has occurred in the 80-plus years of American's history, it is a rule that may never be used again," the airline told Congress and reporters at the time.

But the rule soon turned out not to be a rule, as The Dallas Morning News' Terry Maxon reported in 2007.

The push for the federal law has largely been driven by California real estate agent Kate Hanni (right), who was among those stranded in 2006 and who founded FlyersRights.org.

The Air Transport Association, which represents major airlines, says new rules are a bad idea.

Do you have a tip about airlines? 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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Today's Hot Links focus on some lurking dangers:

1. A new study raises questions about the promotional campaign for a cervical cancer vaccine that Gov. Rick Perry unsuccessfully tried to mandate for Texas girls. Gardasil manufacturer Merck funded messages by medical groups that "did not address the full complexity of the issues surrounding the vaccine and did not provide balanced recommendations on risks and benefits," the study says. It was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

2. Lake-wrecking zebra mussels are emerging in North Texas, WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reports. What is to be done about these little pests, which can clog public water-supply pipes?

Do you have a tip about public health? Another subject? 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 star witness in the federal bribery trial, developer-turned-informant James R. "Bill" Fisher, took the stand yesterday. He continues to add texture to a narrative that leaves you feeling icky about how things get done at City Hall. (Follow today's testimony in Jason Trahan's live blog.)

1. "It's pay to play." There's your quote of the day from Fisher (shown at right), as prosecutors proceeded to walk him through a series of incidents where co-defendants, chiefly former Plan Commissioner D'Angelo Lee, hit him up for financial favors in exchange for votes. One example: Lee gave a not-so-subtle hint that he liked Fisher's colleague's swanky leather coat and volunteered his own coat size.

2. Details of Lee's antics may not be surprising to trialwatchers. This, however, may be: High-powered political consultant, Carol Reed, was among those advising Fisher to go ahead and pay a security firm run by deceased councilman James Fantroy at a time when the developer needed the official's votes. Columnist James Ragland notes the advice came after the conflict of interest had caused a ruckus publicly.

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

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Interesting how things aren't always what they seem. That's a theme in our stories today:

1. Dallas Congressman Pete Sessions has ripped earmarks. And yet he gave a sweet one worth $1.6 million to an Illinois company that wants to build a blimp the military could use, Politico reports. A former aide to Sessions just so happens to lobby for said company, which said it had no government contracting experience.

2. Were you one of the Texas parents who locked in cheaper college tuition for your kiddo by prepaying years ago? Well, that piggy bank is nearly broke, the Houston Chronicle tells us. The state comptroller asks you not to panic just yet.

3. Jury of your peers? A Dallas County judge said prosecutors unfairly eliminated minorities from hearing the death-penalty case of a black man, leaving only whites, The News' Jennifer Emily reports. This reminds me of our investigation team's 2006 series, Striking Differences. It found both prosecutors and defense sought to remove jurors based on race.

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The builder at the heart of the Dallas City Hall corruption trial, Southwest Housing Development's Brian Potashnik, was grilled yesterday about payouts he made to others whose political support he needed and received. The defense is trying to show that contracts Potashnik gave to Don Hill & Co. were no more unusual or improper than those, which he described as anything but bribes. Here are some highlights:

1. Potashnik was questioned about $5,000 he paid to sponsor a birthday party for state Sen. Royce West. He corrected the defense, saying the event was "for the education of underserved youth" in South Dallas. (You may recall West's son also had a paid job at Southwest Housing through an internship program that the senator sponsored, according to a 2005 story that Gromer Jeffers Jr. and I wrote.)

2. Potashnik gave at least $40,000 to a community book fair that former council member Leo Chaney Jr. founded to highlight black authors. When asked why in court, Potashnik testified that, "This is a charity we believed in." (Potashnik also hired Chaney's appointee to the city plan commission, Melvin Traylor.)

3. Remember my post last week about Potashnik giving money to a local church whose neighborhood support he needed? The amount could have been as much as $50,000, he testified. Was it a bribe, he was asked under oath. Potashnik replied no: "We were making an investment in the community, and we wanted money to be used to refurbish the church."

Are those transactions smart business? Is the defense onto something? Tell me in an e-mail or leave me a comment.

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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 stories of public interest feature a constable in trouble for policy violations and a state lawmaker in trouble for alleged criminal wrongdoing.

1. Dallas County administrators are starting to take action against constables who violated policy by doing work outside their precincts to boost their statistics, helping them lobbying for more staff. The News' Kevin Krause reports that constables -- such as Jaime Cortes, who did this most frequently -- will lose a total of 31 positions. The taxpayer savings: $1.7 million.

2. A grand jury indicted South Texas state Rep. Kino Flores on allegations he didn't disclose sources of income, real estate deals and gifts, including one from a lobbyist, the Associated Press reported.

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

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Be careful with your vehicles and what you do inside them, as two stories in the news show us.

1. Wouldn't you like a deal like this? A businessman whose companies have stripped vehicles and sold parts builds a troubled record that includes loads of unpaid taxes. Yet he manages to get exclusive contracts with two Dallas County constables ... to tow vehicles. He and the constables end up doing so at a rate greater than some of the area's biggest suburban police forces. And, as The News' Kevin Krause tells us, he faces no oversight.

2. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration kept private research that showed driver inattention from cellphone use was similar to that of drunken driving. The agency worried Congress would become upset because it wanted researchers simply to gather data, not lobby states for action. Consumer groups now accuse the government of cover up, The New York Times reports.

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

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The right to spend, and the right to bear arms: These are the Hot Links of the day.

1. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn uses more taxpayer dollars on travel than any of his colleagues. The Texas Republican says the Politico.com report was "a little bit of a cheap shot," according to WFAA-TV/Channel 8.

2. Should students have the right to carry concealed weapons on college campuses? Is Texas going to give the gun lobby its big break on this issue? The Wall Street Journal has an interesting national roundup today.

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

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A number of grassroots groups are out to scuttle the application of John Hall, a former top Texas environmental official, to be regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. That's because Hall has been working as a lobbyist for more than a decade, representing big petrochemical companies, Waste Management, and other firms that frequently clash with anti-pollution activists.

The opponents contend that Hall -- who has made as much as $9 million as a lobbyist since 1998 -- is hopelessly conflicted out of running the EPA in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. They also weren't thrilled with his tenure as chairman of the old Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, predecessor of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, from 1991-95.

They plan a press conference Tuesday morning outside the EPA's regional office in downtown Dallas.

Hall defends his performance in state office and his work as a lobbyist. He says he has scrupulously avoided conflicts of interest.

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

1. Judges must not hear cases involving major campaign contributors, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. So what do we do in Texas with litigation involving billionaire home builder Bob Perry, who has given big bucks to all nine justices on the state's highest court?

2. Many new details of the tainted-syringe scandal are emerging in a ProPublica/Chicago Tribune report. It paints a chilling picture of problems at the Food and Drug Administration. Among the four people who've died is a Texas toddler.

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.

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

1. Oh, wait. Hold on. Looks as though the government has reconsidered and decided it will investigate the collapse of the Cowboys indoor practice facility that injured about a dozen people and left one coach paralyzed permanently. The agency conducting the review still isn't saying much to Brandon Formby and Brooks Egerton.

2. You see this? The much-hyped King Tut exhibit has drawn only 600,000 visitors, considerably below hopes of 1 million. The Dallas Museum of Art blames the attendance on the economy, Michael Granberry writes. I don't remember other major entertainment attractions, like sporting events, having such problems.

3. The Texas House is tightening ethics rules -- targeting lobbyists and political-action committees -- and directing state auditors to oversee how federal stimulus dollars are spent, Emily Ramshaw reports.

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. I'm always interested when a lawmaker speaks candidly about dealings with lobbyists. Doesn't happen often. State Rep. Jim Pitts of Waxahachie explained to The News' Robert Garrett today why he sponsored a bill that would have saved one of his ex-colleagues' clients big bucks. "I was just trying to help [him] out."

2. A state rep says he will call for an impeachment vote on Texas' highest criminal court judge, Sharon Keller, before the legislative session ends. The last several months haven't been pleasant for the controversial judge.

3. So what are the state senators up to? The Star-Telegram reports that a group of them has asked Gov. Rick Perry to review Texas' environmental agency, which they say is too close to the businesses it regulates. Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth cites the agency's recent decision to renew the permit for TXI's Midlothian cement plant. An agency spokesman says it has "aggressive enforcement" that is "leading to a cleaner environment."

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. Can Dr. Alfred Gilman make Texas' cancer-research dreams come true? Dallas Morning News science expert Sue Goetinck Ambrose says he's quitting as dean of UT Southwestern's medical school in hopes that he can. But funding is a huge question mark, as Sue recently showed.

2. Big corporations that questioned whether fossil-fuel emissions contributed to global warming ignored their own scientific advisers, The New York Times reports.

3. URGENT! Can we get an investigative reporter to check this out? Seriously, this Austin American-Statesman headline is the funniest thing I've seen in a newspaper for a while:

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

The budget debate is ramping up in Washington, with some big-name (and big-dollar) defense programs like the F-22 fighter (at right) and 2,000 Fort Worth jobs on the chopping block.

Winslow Wheeler of the Center for Defense Information's Straus Military Reform Project - a respected military spending watchdog - this morning issued an analysis of the Government Accountability Office's new report on the growth in defense spending and the Pentagon's response to the GAO.

Both documents will give you some useful context as you try to make sense of the back-and-forth between defense industry lobbyists and proponents of Pentagon cuts.

A man dubbed the "Chinese Warren Buffett" ran a Ponzi scheme that took millions from investors in the Dallas area and beyond, federal regulators said today. A judge in Dallas has frozen his assets.

Toronto-based Weizhen Tang targeted Chinese Americans and Chinese Canadians, authorities say. Similar complaints are pending in Canada. His Plano companies include WinWin Capital Management.

On his blog, Tang admits hurting investors but denies stealing.

Tang raised up to $75 million, the feds say. That's real money, but still a far cry from claims involving the politically well-connected Texas billionaire Allen Stanford. In a new interview with ABC, he denied wrongdoing, cried and threatened to punch a reporter.