DMN INVESTIGATES

Scott Goldstein, one of the DMN's terrific crime reporters, reveals today that Dallas police have made it much harder for the public to research violent crime data online.

This isn't just a matter of protecting minors or sex-crime victims. DPD's search tool also has removed homicide from its drop-down menu of offenses.

Why? And where is this coming from --- the chief's office? Dallas City Hall?

So far, no one is owning it.

Do you have more info about this? Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

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DMN reporter Kevin Krause had an astonishing story in Saturday's paper: Some Dallas Country criminal court judges have been handing out virtual pardons for years when releasing convicts from probation. And these elected officials are not explaining themselves.

A little-known provision in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure lets judges turn back the hands of time. They may "set aside the verdict or permit the defendant to withdraw the defendant's plea," the code says, and they can "dismiss the accusation, complaint, information or indictment against the defendant, who shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense or crime of which the defendant has been convicted or to which the defendant has pleaded guilty."

Caveats: People convicted of certain violent or sexual crimes are not eligible. Also, judges and licensing agencies who later deal with pardoned probationers may consider their criminal histories.

Here's the fallout, as reported by Kevin: Former Constable Aurelio Castillo was convicted in 2000 of receiving an illegal campaign donation but now is free to run for county clerk, thanks to Judge Ernest White (above right).

And David Chang, a former Dallas police officer who was convicted in 1996 of stealing from motorists during traffic stops, was free to run for Balch Springs mayor in 2008 (he lost). His pardon came from Judge John Creuzot (lower right).

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."

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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1. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found levels of cancer-causing benzene in the air at North Texas sites impacted by Barnett Shale gas drilling, The News and other outlets reported. A state official said there was no "widespread air-quality issue." But the mayor of one Denton County town faulted the state's testing, saying it didn't get enough samples from populated areas because "I don't think they want to find anything."

2. The board of Dallas County's public hospital, Parkland Memorial, is standing by the bonuses -- I forgot, we're supposed to call these incentives -- paid to executives worth 19 percent to 31 percent of their base pay. That caused consternation last week among rank-and-file employees. The hospital had cut jobs recently and handed them merit raises of mostly 2 percent.

3. The Dallas County district attorney's investigation of misconduct allegations inside constable offices produced its first charges Wednesday. Among other things, Lt. Howard Watson was accused of coercing sex from two women in exchanging for not arresting them. He has been unavailable for comment.

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

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The reluctance of the Internal Revenue Service to discuss almost 1,000 suspicious claims filed by non-citizens from Texas for a first-time homebuyer tax credit leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

As I wrote today, IRS officials told Congress last fall that there are more than 160 active criminal investigations involving the homebuyer credit around the country. But where are those investigations? The IRS won't say.

Texas is disproportionately represented in the suspicious claims uncovered by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration? Why? Again, the IRS is mute.

IRS has made a point of saying that tax fraud is something they take seriously, and those who ignore the law will be held accountable. But so far, there has been only one prosecution and one civil lawsuit filed against tax preparers accused of filing fraudulent claims. Is that all there is?

Until the IRS talks, we're left wondering.

Remember the little boy pictured at right?

His name was Darrell "Tre" Singleton III. On a hot day in September, his mom left him in a vehicle while she worked. She apparently did this deliberately. He was a little over a year old, and he roasted to death.

Child Protective Services had known for a long time about problems with the mom, Keashia Matthews (below). She lost custody in the 1990s of her first two kids because of abuse and neglect. And a few months before Darrell died, CPS determined that she had been leaving him and two young sisters home alone.

Matthews promised to get day care. The case was closed. Didn't work out too well, did it?

So CPS set out to review its handling of the matter. I've been asking about results since October. "Nothing yet" has been the standard reply.

Today spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales acknowledged that the review was done but refused to discuss the findings.

"Any issues identified in reviews are handled internally," she told me in an e-mail. "If there are any policy changes as a result of the review of the case, I'll certainly let you now."

I asked Marissa to explain what right she had under state law to withhold this information. That was a couple of hours ago. I'm still waiting for an answer.

Matthews remains free on bond. The initial injury-to-a-child charge against her has been changed to murder.

She has told Channel 8 that a person who was supposed to pick up her son never showed up. "I never expected him to be there all day," she said.

Here's a loose end from the long holiday weekend: Federal banking regulators ordered Dallas-based Jefferson Bank to end its many "unsafe or unsound banking practices and violations of laws and/or regulations."

Bank chairman Barry Orr blamed the bank's problems on the the lousy home-building market and "a significant fraud loss," The Dallas Morning News' Brendan Case reported. What kind of fraud? All Orr would say was "customer fraud, not internal fraud."

Jefferson Bank's management team was dismissed as of Sept. 1. The institution agreed to follow Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. orders but did not admit wrongdoing.

Readers, can you tell us more about what's going on here? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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You're a high-risk patient. You need a swine flu vaccine. Your doctor has none. Where can you get help?

We're hearing this anguished question over and over again. The Texas Department of State Health Services knows the answer -- and isn't sharing it.

Its Web site has the obligatory FAQ section, but this question isn't on the list.

Another section of the site is labeled "H1N1 vaccine distribution," with categories for allocations by county, to local health departments and to private providers. But there are no links -- only the words "coming soon."

Early this morning, my colleague Jeff Weiss asked state health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams: "Why does the state not post on its Web site the names of every provider that you've ordered vaccine shipped to and the amount of vaccine that you have had shipped there to date?"

Her only responses:
* "We are working on a county-by-county list of totals. Hopefully we will be able to post those numbers soon."
* "Providers receiving vaccine at this point are getting amounts to serve their own patients. They are reaching out to their own high-risk patients and are quickly exhausting their supplies, which are limited right now due to national production."

So all most people know is what we've been able to figure out so far: Dallas County's health department is having a mass clinic tomorrow, aimed at high-risk people without insurance. And Farmers Branch entrepreneur Jeff Vitt (right) is selling vaccines for $20 a pop to anyone who walks through his door.

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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Channel 8 investigative reporter Brett Shipp recently brought to light what we'll call the Mystery of the Disappearing DWI case. The main character was Collin County prosecutor Kerrie Walker (right, trying to get away from Shipp), who -- for reasons she wouldn't explain -- took over a subordinate's drunken driving prosecution, presented no witnesses and essentially forfeited the case.

Now Walker has quit the DA's office. Collin County District Attorney John Roach says he's investigating.

Walker is a former Frisco police officer. She graduated from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 2007, according to the State Bar.

Do you have a tip about Kerrie Walker? DWI prosecutions? 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 about government computers:

1. Longtime Mesquite school board member Randy Dobbs (right) has resigned because of something -- officials won't say what -- that techies found on his district-issued laptop, The Dallas Morning News' Karel Holloway reports today. Among the things you're not supposed to do with the equipment: Use a fake identity; use it for commercial purposes; political lobbying; download porn. Mesquite police say they found no evidence a crime was committed.

2. The civil (uncivil?) war among Dallas County elected officials escalated further yesterday as County Judge Jim Foster seized the contents of Constable Jaime Cortes' computer, reports The News' Kevin Krause. Cortes' lawyer said the move was illegal. Said Foster: "If there is not something on that computer that they don't want anyone to know about, then what is the problem? There is nothing on my computer that I would be embarrassed to share with any investigator."

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

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Call me confused. Today's Hot Links show just how confused:

1. I used to think that the beautiful new complex rising up downtown (right) was called the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. That's what the group's Web site says, after all. But today I read Michael Granberry's story in The Dallas Morning News and learn that AT&T is paying to put its name on the thing -- and that the word "Dallas" is gone. What's the price tag? No one will say.

2. I used to think that DART's new Green Line was going to improve mobility downtown. But today I read Michael Lindenberger's story in The Dallas Morning News and learn that some trains are now sitting still for up to 10 minutes during rush hour.

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

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For today's Hot Links, let's catch up from the weekend:

1. Another family is accusing child psychiatrist William Olmsted (right) of misconduct with their daughter. And they're likewise mad at the Texas Medical Board, saying that it did nothing after they complained. Last week, Dallas Morning News writer Diane Jennings reported that the board let Olmsted keep his medical license after a Dallas County court put him on probation for molesting a girl. Board officials won't talk about why they chose this disciplinary route.

2. The Plano Chamber of Commerce wants residents to shop within the city, News reporter Theodore Kim reports. Seems that sales tax revenue has plummeted as new shopping magnets have beckoned further north. How long will it be, do you think, before Frisco starts losing out to the next big thing even further north? What will be the first Dallas suburb in Oklahoma?

Do you have a tip about doctor discipline? The Texas Medical Board? Other professional disciplinary issues? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Public safety is the name of the game today:

1. Dallas City Council member Dwaine Caraway (the frowning guy in the suit) and Police Chief David Kunkle (the animated guy with the badge) say they're going to fix problems that Dallas Morning News reporters Steve Thompson and Tanya Eiserer exposed Sunday: Cops aren't counting all car burglaries, which skews crime stats.

2. Read deep into my colleague Kevin Krause's roundup today of Dallas County Commissioners Court activity, and you'll see that two top security officials have quit under fire. But county officials are saying precious little about why emergency management director Robie Robinson and security chief Alonzo Banks quit.

Do you have a tip about Dallas police practices? Dallas County safety officials? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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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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Mystery is the word of the day for Hot Links:

1. Who killed pastor Carol Daniels (right) in her Christ Holy Sanctified Church? Why? And why are authorities warning other pastors to be wary in the little Oklahoma town of Anadarko, about 200 miles north of Dallas? The authorities aren't talking publicly.

2. Why has the Dallas County Precinct 5 constable's office been the target of so many criminal investigations? Kevin Krause, who covers Dallas County for The Dallas Morning News, traces the ugly history back almost a decade on the paper's crime blog.

Do you have a tip about a mystery? 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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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.

Two stories from The Dallas Morning News are shining a light in corners I didn't even know existed. And a third nearly made me lose my breakfast.

1. Dallas County's tax office holds secret hearings at which you can gain title to a vehicle with no evidence of ownership, Kevin Krause reports today. A big beneficiary of the process is County Commissioner John Wiley Price, a car collector.

2. Children as young as 10 are on Texas' public sex-offender registry, Diane Jennings reported in Sunday's paper. Other states will put kids as young as 7 on the lists. Diane did a great job of showing the lifelong consequences to everyone in a family in which two boys molested their sister.

3. Can someone tell me how children could be locked up and starving in a Dallas motel bathroom without someone in the outside world noticing? Scott Goldstein reports on a horror story that unraveled only when one of the parents sought police aid.

Do you have a tip about the tax assessor? Child abuse? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Six Flags Over Texas spokeswoman Sharon Parker announced Saturday's restart of the Texas Giant roller coaster with this written statement:

"On Friday, the ride was thoroughly inspected by Six Flags engineers and an inspector from the Texas Department of Insurance and has been cleared to reopen."

The insurance department begged to differ with part of that statement.

"We did not do any inspections," department spokesman Jerry Hagins said today. "We do not have any inspectors."

Regular readers of this blog already knew as much from Thursday's post about the wooden coaster's safety woes. It was shut down most of last week for reasons Parker initially would not explain. Later she said that hot, dry weather had caused track misalignment.

Hagins said recent news coverage did lead the insurance department to ask Six Flags to have the ride checked. In Texas, amusement parks' insurers hire the inspectors who certify -- usually once a year -- that rides are safe.

So I went back to the Six Flags spokeswoman for clarification. Her reply: "The Texas Department of Insurance gives final approval for the ride once a third party inspection is completed and passed."

To which Hagins clarified further: "We don't give final approval for a ride." The state merely issues a sticker after getting a signed statement from the insurer's inspector.

Earlier in the day, I asked the Six Flags spokeswoman what was done to get the Texas Giant ready to roll again. This was the reply: "We have no further comment."

Six Flags Over Texas is talking more since yesterday's post about the problems that have shut down its famed Texas Giant roller coaster for most of the week.

Spokeswoman Sharon Parker said today that hot, dry weather caused misalignment of the wooden track. The ride will remain closed all day today, she added.

But she did not initially answer this question: Did any riders report pain or injury when the ride was stopped Monday afternoon?

Late today, she emailed this response: "Our First Aid department did not inform me of any."

Amusement parks must tell the Texas Department of Insurance about all injuries that require a physician's attention, TDI spokesman Jerry Hagins said. But they only need to file reports quarterly, so there's no way to get new info today.

State officials do not inspect the rides or require owners to notify them when safety problems arise.

The state does require owners' insurance companies to hire an inspector. That person must perform an annual check and certify to the state that rides are fit to operate.

Six Flags Over Texas now says the Texas Giant roller coaster will remain closed all day today -- the third straight day of a mysterious safety problem at the Arlington amusement park.

But spokeswoman Sharon Parker won't talk about what's wrong, beyond saying that staff "detected an error with one of the cars on the track."

What kind of error? "I haven't been given that information yet," she told me. "I'm just holding tight until the engineers provide me with that information."

Why aren't they telling people more? Parker's response:

"Our priority right now is getting to the root of it and making sure that we get it up and running safely. To me that's the No. 1 priority. I'm in constant communication with them. When the time is appropriate they will let me know, and I will convey that information to you guys. Until that time there is nothing else to share."

The ride is scheduled for a $10 million renovation next year, as my newspaper reported in March.

No major injuries were reported on the ride last year, according to this terrific searchable database published by the San Antonio Express-News. It covers all injury reports that Texas amusement parks must make to the state Department of Insurance.

Six Flags made headlines last month when its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection.

How did these guys get from Point A to Point B? That's the theme of this morning's Hot Links:

1. Last year, Susan Hyde lost her paramedic's certification and her kids because she subjected them to dozens of medical treatments they apparently didn't need. This year, Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie hired her as a patient care assistant, according to Dallas Morning News reporter Jon Nielsen. How and why did this happen? Hospital officials won't say. One possibility is that a background check focused only on criminal records -- and Hyde doesn't have one.

2. Addison-based Debt Relief USA said it could help you with your bills. Then it filed for bankruptcy, The News' Pamela Yip reports. Click here for updates on that case and a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general. Also note that the Addison company is not affiliated with a New Jersey one that operates the Web site www.debtreliefusa.org. (I confused the two earlier.)

Do you have a tip about background checks? Bankruptcy? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

Tommy Gonzalez became one of Texas' most handsomely compensated public administrators last week. The Irving City Council likes him so much -- the mayor calls him perhaps the nation's best -- that it threw in a $150,000 loan with sweet interest rates.

So why won't Gonzalez talk about the pay or loan?

He has failed to respond to multiple requests for comment left by The News' Irving beat writer, Brandon Formby, during the last week. These went to Gonzalez via phone and e-mail, to his secretary and to Irving's public information officer. Two print stories and several blog posts have published.

Residents have spoken up. So have several council members. Why no Gonzalez?

We know he's got opinions on other topics.

Here's a look at some of today's top public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. The Dallas power company Oncor wants us to pay for "smart" electrical meters that most of us don't have, writes Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Steve McGonigle writes. Oncor also wants some victims of power surges to pay for damage traced to fire ants in a transformer, Channel 8's Brad Watson reports. How smart will the state's Public Utility Commission be in refereeing these matters?

2. For months, authorities in Paris (the northeast Texas version) called Brandon McClelland's death a murder. Some activists said the black man was the victim of a hate crime. Now the two defendants are free, and there's some question about whether anything more than an accident occurred.

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

My latest story about the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapse adds to a growing list of unanswered questions.

An early one was: Why didn't the thunderstorm of May 2 wreck other structures nearby (right)?

Ensuing ones included: Who was the final engineer of record? What happened to the city of Irving records that should show this? (See my colleague Brandon Formby's update on this issue.)

Did the Cowboys know when they hired designer/manufacturer/builder Summit Structures in 2003 that one of the company's other big tentlike facilities had recently collapsed in Philadelphia, just six weeks after opening? Did Summit workers themselves build the Irving facility, or was the labor subcontracted? If so, to whom?

Newer questions include: Why did the Cowboys, many months before the Irving disaster, hire building-collapse expert Charles Timbie -- the engineer who diagnosed design flaws behind the Philly warehouse failure? What exactly did he tell the team was wrong? Why did the team turn to a second consultant, a non-engineer and former drug dealer named Jeffrey Galland? Which of his recommended fixes were not done and why?

The Cowboys are giving a blanket "no comment" to all my questions. Canada-based Summit isn't answering much of anything but did have local spokeswoman Laurey Peat put out this statement over the weekend (click below to read the whole thing):

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.

Memo to State Fair of Texas boss Errol McKoy (right): Refusing to answer simple questions about matters of public record just encourages investigative reporters to dig.

Our new "They won't talk" feature focuses on McKoy today because he wouldn't tell Dallas Morning News staff writer Michael Lindenberger what the fair's expenses were last year. The issue arose because the fair says it's launching a year-round amusement park on the midway.

The State Fair of Texas is a tax-exempt corporation. It will have to disclose its expenses to the IRS soon enough if it hasn't already -- and that filing will be a public record. So why stonewall the public now?

The fair's latest available filing is for 2007. It shows, among other things:

* Expenses were about $40 million -- $5.5 million more than revenues.
* McKoy's salary plus extras totaled about $568,000.
* At least six other fair employees earned over $100,000.

Today we launch a regular feature that spotlights officials who won't talk.

Dallas Museum of Art boss Bonnie Pitman (right) is our first subject. She has refused for months to answer basic financial questions about the King Tut exhibit, which closed yesterday. It fell far short of attendance projections, as Dallas Morning News reporter Michael Granberry reported.

The News had to file a series of formal records demands just to get the taxpayer-subsidized DMA to claim that it and the city of Dallas would lose no money on the deal.

But the museum won't let us see any records to back that up. Why? Pitman and her staff say they promised the exhibit's for-profit organizers absolute confidentiality, as I reported yesterday. Museum officials say they can't even tell us how many people saw Tut for free.

Pitman initially said she'd do an interview for Granberry's story but backed out at the last minute. Too busy, her PR lady said.

My first question about the collapse of the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility was why Saturday's storm caused no other major structural damage nearby (right).

Since then the questions have multiplied: Why did the Cowboys hire a designer/builder that had just suffered a collapse of another of its large steel-framed, fabric-wrapped buildings, in Philadelphia? What happened to the city of Irving records that are supposed to show which engineer approved the design? Is it a coincidence that other records show the same engineer supervised design of both failed structures?

Our latest story makes me wonder: Is anybody in government going to seriously investigate what happened here?

No answers so far. So we'll keep digging. Thanks to all who've joined the conversation here in recent days.

Some of today's interesting stories in The Dallas Morning News to help your water cooler conversation:

1. Dallas ISD is mum on why its police force dropped an investigation in the severe paddling of a Lincoln High student. The DA's office, though, is talking. "We never heard back from them," said Terri Moore, Craig Watkins' second-in-command. Decide for yourself whether DISD made the right call.

2. One public servant is in legal trouble. A state judge in El Paso allegedly bartered with defendants: His help for their money or sex. The feds arrested him at his home Thursday.

3. Our Austin bureau has a full report on an item we blogged yesterday: The Texas Senate's approval of a bill to use to $12 million to beef up the foster care system. Dallas Sen. John Carona recently adopted two foster kids and backed the plan, "I've seen what these children are put through."

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