DMN INVESTIGATES

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.

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The financial news coming out of Dallas County's public hospital last fall left an impression that money was tight.

Parkland Memorial eliminated 200 jobs and laid off 100 workers. Employees who remained only received modest merit raises, and top officials volunteered not to take any. And the hospital increased residents' taxes to pay for a new $1.2 billion campus.

That impression sure seems wrong today. The News' Sherry Jacobson reports that 27 of Parkland's executives received bonuses over the holidays -- presumably the same ones who'd months earlier declined merit raises. These bonuses ranged between 19 percent and 31 percent per person, and totaled nearly $2 million.

I should warn you against calling these bonuses. Incentive is the preferred noun, Parkland's board chairwoman says. That's because the executives met job-performance goals -- like reducing the hospital's hideously long emergency room waits, blamed in the death of one man in 2008.

To those improvements, I'm sure everyone will say, "Job well done." But will everyone agree with bonuses incentives that are worth -- as the chart I posted on the jump shows -- more than some people make in a year?

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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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Does wearing a black robe mean never having to say you're sorry? Do you deserve a taxpayer-funded car allowance? Today's Hot Links make me wonder:

1. Sharon Keller says she would do it again. The presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (at right, waiting for her misconduct trial to begin) testified Wednesday that there was no reason to keep the court open late in 2007 for a death-row inmate's last-minute appeal. Hours later, the killer was executed. Now that the tables are turned and she's facing trial, Keller faces possible removal from the bench. And this isn't the former Dallas County prosecutor's only legal woe; another stems from her failure to list millions in personal assets on a financial disclosure form, as my colleague Steve McGonigle's investigation showed.

2. The Dallas suburb of Richardson spends more than $800,000 a year on employee car allowances, Dallas Morning News reporter Ian McCann finds. Many of the employees do lots of on-the-job driving -- but some are just getting perks. How does this compare to what other cities do? Are city-owned car fleets a better alternative?

Do you have a tip about judicial conduct? Car allowances? 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.

It's trickling down into the public sector and ramping up again in the corporate world. Here are a few examples from The Dallas Morning News and the Web-o-sphere:

1. Employee indignation over job cuts and executive compensation is increasing at Dallas City Hall, The News' Rudy Bush reports. City workers warn that losing 800 more of them is "nothing short of sabotage" if Dallas wants to maintain services for residents. City Council members bristled.

2. Over in the private sector, Citigroup has found a way to outsmart the Obama administration's effort to restrict bonuses for muckity-mucks at bailed-out firms: Roll that cash into their base salaries. Well played, Citigroup.

3. And Star-Telegram columnist Mitchell Schnurman gives us a stunning example of a merit (?) raise. Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon got a new contract and pay hike even though the company's stock fell nearly 60 percent. His take: $112 million. Wonder if my bosses would go for that?

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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.

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.

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.

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.

Hope you've had a good start to the weekend. Here are some of today's interesting stories in The Dallas Morning News:

1. AIG's public skewering over its post-bailout bonuses isn't deterring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both plan to pay more than $210 million in incentives to its workers. They were given more than $60 billion-with-a-B in government aid after loan defaults hammered them. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said: "It's an insult that bonuses were made with an infusion of cash from taxpayers."

2. The Texas Education Agency is investigating the severe paddling that sent a Lincoln High student to the doctor with multiple bruises and welts. Dallas ISD police didn't push a criminal case nor did administrators give the state a heads-up. A TEA official said: "It seems that this has been mishandled since the beginning."

3. Another public servant is in legal trouble. A judge granted a protective order against a Dallas police spokesman whose wife accuses him of abusing her son and threatening to kill her. "I'm going to find that family violence has occurred," the judge said.

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