DMN INVESTIGATES

Not a rant -- a tip.

Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

What we have so far: A small plane crashed this morning into the Echelon office complex in northwest Austin. Austin TV station KVUE says the building that was hit is at 9430 Research Blvd.

The IRS has offices there, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

And the FBI has a field office elsewhere in the complex, at 9420 Research Blvd.

CNN, citing an unnamed official, says: "The pilot of the plane had set his house on fire beforehand, stole the plane and crashed it intentionally."

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

A little over a week ago, I was blogging about safety issues at Dallas-based Southwest Airlines.

Now my investigative reporting colleague in Washington, Dave Michaels, is breaking a story about similar problems at Fort Worth-based American.

"Federal regulators have failed to correct mounting and long-standing maintenance deficiencies at American Airlines despite receiving detailed complaints about the carrier's problems," Dave writes, citing a report due to be released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.

The Federal Aviation Administration responded by saying it has been working with American to "elevate its maintenance practices" and was strengthening its oversight of other carriers.

FAA officials proposed a $2.9 million fine Wednesday against American Eagle for flying inadequately repaired planes, The Dallas Morning News' Eric Torbenson reported.

AA and Southwest say they're proud of their safety records.

Let's add this up and see how safe we feel about a certain Dallas-based airline -- and the government employees who are supposed to oversee it.

The latest: Federal regulators suspect Southwest Airlines, for several years, flew dozens of jets whose fuselage repairs didn't follow approved procedures.

Previously:
1) A football-sized hole (right) opened up the fuselage of a Southwest plane last summer, forcing an emergency landing.
2) Also last year, the Federal Aviation Administration found that a Southwest maintenance contractor used unapproved parts.
3) Southwest was fined in 2008 for flying six jets with fuselage cracks.
4) A cozy relationship between regulators and the airline repeatedly let Southwest avoid punishment for safety violations, a 2008 federal watchdog investigation found.

I'll stop for now. If you need more scary stories right away, go to dallasnews.com and type these terms into the search box: Dave Michaels (investigative reporter in our Washington bureau) and Southwest Airlines.

Southwest says safety is its top priority.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

The holidays are approaching, so if you're flying make sure your drivers license or passport isn't going to expire soon. If you find out it has, you might be able to still go with a minimum of trouble.

I researched the issue officially after a reader contacted me asking what she should do about her son's outdated ID.

The Transportation Security Administration does have procedures in place if this happens. Make sure you bring your expired photo ID and any renewal paperwork to the security checkpoint.

Also, be prepared for additional screening. Several years ago, I lost my own license on a trip. Fortunately, I still had my outdated one in my wallet and I was able to board after some an additional pat down screening.

Every follow-up story on last year's 17-fatality bus crash near Sherman seems scarier than the one before. In October, it was the National Transportation Safety Board's long list of crimes and errors that preceded the disaster.

Now here's the latest, from Dallas Morning News reporter Jason Trahan: Texas DPS officials say 5-Minute Inspections, the Houston company that issued the bus' inspection sticker, routinely awarded such certificates without actually inspecting the vehicles.

5-Minute Inspections' Web site says: "need a quick inspection? tired of dealing with crooks? Come see the 5 Minute Inspection TEAM!"

Readers, do you know of other businesses that are doing this? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

There's an astonishingly long list of crimes, errors and other things that went wrong before last year's bush crash near Sherman killed 17 people, Dallas Morning News reporter Todd Gillman details today.

Here's a partial list of National Transportation Safety Board findings, in chronological order:

* Federal authorities ordered the bus company off the road because of safety violations.
* Owner Angel de la Torre re-registered it under a new name, ignored the order, and was operating without a permit or insurance.
* A Houston garage that inspected the bus about a week before the crash didn't notice an illegal retread tire on the front axle and wasn't equipped to inspect heavy vehicles.
* Bus driver Barrett Broussard drank alcohol and used cocaine shortly before departing Houston. He had previously been fired from another bus company after testing positive for cocaine.
* The tire suffered a puncture and operated -- underinflated and undetected -- for many miles. Pressure gauges aren't required for pre-trip inspections, and older buses such as this one don't have pressure warning systems like those in newer cars.
* The bus lacked seat belts, and some passengers were ejected in the crash.

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

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

Our blog has featured a couple of items on complaints with the North Texas Tollway Authority's billing system. The most common we've received: The agency doesn't keep track of toll payments then assumes drivers haven't made good, levies a stiff late fee and sics a bill collector on them.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's watchdog columnist, Dave Lieber, reported this weekend on similar complaints he's hearing. One reader was told he could be arrested if he didn't pay up.

A top NTTA official says the fees -- $25 per toll violation, plus other costs -- are needed to cover its collections operation. But state Sen. Jane Nelson is skeptical.

"It's gotten out of hand," she told Lieber. "What really bothers me is this is not supposed to be a revenue source for the NTTA."

The implication: Funding is tight as NTTA expands with more toll roads. Nelson also told Lieber that when she's made inquiries about this with agency officials, "They've been very defensive."

Do you have an experience with NTTA's billing system? Post a comment.

With this morning's Hot Links, we wonder about the behavior of men with guns:

1. Attention family-violence victims in Dallas: Was Mickey East (right) the detective assigned to your case? Did he work it or just stash the file in his garage? That's the question raised by Dallas Morning News reporter Tanya Eiserer's story today. East has been put on auto-pound duty while officials reassess more than 2,000 cases. This mess comes close on the heels of another massive DPD review -- of crime reports the police labeled unfounded without investigating. That probe followed an investigation by Tanya and colleague Steve Thompson into car-burglary claims that were ignored.

2. How tight is security at U.S. airports? An American Airlines passenger flying from San Antonio to Thailand via Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has been arrested while changing planes in Japan. Seems he had a loaded handgun in his bag, the Japan Times reports. U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials say that the security breach occurred in San Antonio and that they're investigating.

Do you have a tip about Mickey East? The Transportation Security Administration? Send me an e-mail and let me know. Or join the conversation by commenting below.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

Hot Links today make the world seem somehow upside down.

1. The more you need help, the less likely you are to get it. That seems to be the logic transportation officials are using in deciding how to spend federal stimulus money. Reports USA Today: "Dallas trails only Los Angeles in miles of bad roads, yet it has received less than 1% of the $530 million that Texas approved for road repairs." A TXDoT official says our roads are so bad that fixes would cost too much to be eligible for funds.

2. The Dallas Morning News' Victor Godinez has a fascinating back story today about the Perot family confidant who's accused of insider trading. Reza Saleh, it turns out, helped rescue Perot employees from a prison in his native Iran 30 years ago. Now he's adding to the embarrassment facing Perot-affiliated investments this year. My colleagues Gary Jacobson and Brendan Case wrote a few months ago about the multi-billion dollar collapse of a family hedge fund.

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

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.N

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

The EPA said Wednesday it will conduct an administrative review of the controversial standard for ozone that the agency, under the previous president, adopted in 2008.

Translation: The Obama administration thinks its predecessor dropped the ball on the air pollutant that aflicts the most Americans -- residents of Dallas-Fort Worth and Texas' other big metro areas included.

The 2008 standard allows no more than 75 parts per billion of ozone, which cooks up when the sun heats industrial and vehicle emissions, in the air you breathe. That was lower than the previous standard from 1997, which allowed no more than 80 ppb (actually, 85, with rounding of the numbers.)

That might look like a significant step forward for clean air, and that's how the Bush administration portrayed it. The problem, however, was that the EPA's external science advisors, recruited mostly from universities and private research groups, unanimously said anything more than 60-70 ppb would endanger public health.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

In today's Hot Links, we see why I a) have a fear of flying and b) am glad I'm not Dan Morales' ex-wife.

1. American Airlines is rejoining Southwest on the list of carriers facing regulators' ire over maintenance practices. According to The Wall Street Journal, the FAA suspects that AA mothballed a plane to hide defects. The move reportedly occurred as regulators investigated possible improper repairs to at least 16 MD-80s. American says allegations of impropriety "misrepresent the facts." Southwest, meanwhile, recently got permission to keep flying dozens of planes with unauthorized parts. Back in the spring, you may recall, the FAA made both airlines cancel hundreds of flights over inspection and repair issues.

2. Dan Morales (right), the Texas attorney-general-turned-federal-felon, secretly made a key to his ex-wife's house and entered it without permission, Texas Lawyer reports. Now a judge has ordered ol' Dan, who was freed from prison on probation, to have no contact with his ex. Remember why he went to prison? Tax fraud (not telling the IRS about his personal use of political contributions) and mail fraud (related to his pursuit of fees in the state's multibillion-dollar tobacco lawsuit settlement).

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

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

Today's Hot Links begin with another look at household dangers. Then we move on to a scare in the air:

1. See the red ring around this little boy's neck? It's a reminder of the window-blind cord that nearly killed him a few months ago. His family, the Yearouts of Garland, say last week's federal recall of several brands of window blinds didn't go far enough in addressing strangulation risks, The Dallas Morning News' Ray Leszcynski reports. The Yearouts now advocate banning corded products from day-care facilities in Texas. Thinking about all this took me back to my recent post on killer bassinets.

2. Is part of the Southwest Airlines fleet about to be grounded? The News' Eric Torbenson says the hometown air carrier is about out of time to resolve its latest maintenance mess.

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

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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.

Use social-networking media to get your news? Follow the blog or me on Twitter, or join our Facebook group.

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.

Like social networking? Follow us on Twitter at DMNInvestigates and ReeseDunklin. You can also join our Facebook group at DallasNews Digs.

Change is coming to the Dallas North Tollway and to the criminal courts, as today's Hot Links show.

1. The North Texas Tollway Authority is taking new steps to warn wrong-way drivers, Dallas Morning News transportation writer Michael Lindenberger reports. Read Michael's blog for more discussion about whether the blame for recent crashes lies entirely with drunken drivers or also with tollway design.

2. The recent Supreme Court decision requiring lab analysts to testify in court about their findings is a huge boost for crime suspects, The Washington Post reports. "This is the biggest case for the defense since Miranda," a defense lawyer tells the paper. Legal-minded readers, are you seeing any local impact yet?

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

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at "DMNInvestigates."

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.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at "DMNInvestigates."

Like sand through the hourglass, these are the Hot Links of our day:

1. If you missed this yesterday, don't miss it now: My enterprising colleagues Lee Hancock and Katie Fairbank showed that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has known for decades about sand issues related to Dallas' levees. But now, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the agency is finally digging for more info. That could mean many millions in extra expenses for the Trinity River Corridor Project.

2. Friday's Hot Link #2 wondered about the safety of DART's automated systems that are supposed to keep trains from getting too close to one another. Here are some answers from transit agency spokesman Morgan Lyons, courtesy of Dallas Morning News transportation writer Michael Lindenberger. These questions are on our minds, of course, because of last week's Metrorail disaster in DC that killed nine people.

Do you have a tip about the Trinity project? Commuter trains? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at "DMNInvestigates."

Michael is dead. Farrah is dead. And I don't feel so good myself. But it's not the passing of two wacky celebrities that has me down in the dumps. It's today's Hottest Link:

1. Arlington police suspected Jason Farrington of fracturing his baby's skull in March. But they didn't think they had enough evidence to arrest him. Child Protective Services let Mom take baby home from the hospital after she promised Dad wouldn't live with them. Now 4-month-old Jayden Farrington is dead, Dallas Morning News ace crime reporter Steve Thompson reports. And Dad is finally in jail.

2. Also lost in the celebrity shuffle: There's growing evidence that a technology failure contributed to the commuter-train crash that killed nine people Monday in the nation's capital, The Washington Post reports. How safe are similar systems here?

Do you have a tip about CPS? Commuter trains? Another subject? Send me an e-mail and let me know.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at "DMNInvestigates."

A reader asked what D/FW does to recycle. He sees a lot of recycling efforts at other airports, but not as much here. He sent a letter to the Airport Board to try to get the information but didn't get a response.

It turns out they do a lot of recycling. Tons of it.

Specifically, more than 7,813 tons of material since 1996. The airport collects recycling all over the place, too. There are 86 public-use newspaper recycling containers, 76 public-use plastic bottle recycling containers and 80 administrative office mixed paper-recycling bins.

The airport has almost doubled its primary recycling collection from 550 tons to 978 tons annually, Magana said.

A reader wrote that the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has consistently overcharged him at terminal rates of $17 a day on his TollTag - even though he was parking in the Express North lot, which charges $10 a day.
He tried to explain the error to the operators at the exit tollbooths, but he couldn't prove that he had parked in the cheaper lot. He complained, but the problem has continued for months.

"That's an extra $7 a day for each person paying this," he said. "There is no incentive to fix their system when you figure how much they've been making on this."

The airport says there is a faulty data connection in its computerized system, so information is not always relayed from the Express North lot to the toll booths at the airport exits. When that happens, customers are charged at the higher terminal rate.

The airport is working on fixing the connection. Airport spokesman David Magana said the problem "should be corrected by the end of the month."

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.

A caller let Problem Solver know that he was tired of seeing that the southbound High Occupancy Vehicle lane on Central Expressway has been shut down in parts of Allen and Plano for "no discernible reason."

There is a reason why the lane is not being used. It was shut down last October from Bethany Drive in Allen to Park Boulevard in Plano so that a contractor could build a wide center support for a bridge at Parker Road.

The closure is necessary to keep workers safe as they do the work, Hartzel said. "We're hopeful to get this back open by October," he said.

Several readers frustrated by roadwork have called and written to complain. For instance, Samra Jones Bufkins asked about construction on Loop 288 in the Denton area, saying the process has been "interminable."

"Stores and restaurants have gone out of business because the access was impossible, and traffic backed up horribly," she said. "In fact, it looks complete, but orange barrels and barricades block off up to two lanes in each direction. It's a finished road, but we can't drive on it. Why has this been allowed to go on so long?"

The $39 million project has been underway for more than three years, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

"We understand motorists' desire to use the new section of Loop 288, and we hope to have the portion from Interstate 35E to McKinney Street open by the Fourth of July weekend," said spokesman Tony Hartzel. The entire project should be completed by September.

He said that even when roads look finished, there can be additional work items to complete. "In this case, contractors are working to finish irrigation work and safety-related issues such as pavement striping and signal light timing before the road can open

Here's a look at public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere that gave me pause at breakfast:

1. Recession? What recession? Irving's City Council voted last night to pay City Manager Tommy Gonzalez more than $390,000 a year. That makes him the highest paid city manager in the area and maybe the state, my dogged colleague Brandon Formby reports. Gonzalez made news last week with text messages saying the Dallas Cowboys organization "pushes things thru" City Hall and built a practice facility that "probably never was structurally sound enough." He made those observations shortly after the facility collapsed; Brandon obtained the texts with an open-records request.

2. Frontiers of outsourcing: Southwest Airlines has reversed course and will use a company in El Salvador, Aeroman, to perform some "heavy" maintenance work.

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

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

1. More public servants in legal trouble: News broke late last night that two Dallas police officers are under criminal investigation for allegedly beating up a prisoner in the city's drunk tank, Tanya Eiserer reports. They were apparently caught on video, too.

2. Transportation officials blame the increase in wrong-way driving deaths on the Dallas North Tollway primarily on drunks behind the wheel, Scott Goldstein tells us. They're taking safety measures, but a MADD rep says it's not enough. What do you think?

3. The Texas Department of Transportation is a frequent whipping boy of residents and politicians frustrated over congestion and construction. Sometimes it's deserved, sometimes it's not. But Michael Lindenberger's story raises the question: What happens if the agency can't be rescued from closure?

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

Here's a sign that the federal stimulus package is reaching into North Texas: Funding for local transportation projects.

In the latest installment of our Citizen Watchdog column, Jennifer LaFleur shows us a new online tool that we can use to keep track of the $2.2 billion in funding for new roads, bridges, bike paths and walking trails due to Texas.

The Texas Department of Transportation is operating the site. The information is organized by county. After clicking on a particular project, you can pull up a construction schedule, location map, funding breakdown and construction company in charge.

Jennifer used the TxDOT site to find that Harris County leads the state so far in the number of projects with 18. Tarrant County has the highest dollar amount, more than $1.2 billion.

Did you find the TxDOT site helpful? Did you spot an interesting trend? Leave us a comment and let us 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.

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

1. They're not calling it another exoneration, but that's what it amounts to: Antrone Johnson won a retrial Wednesday for a sexual assault that the original prosecutor's notes say never happened, The Dallas Morning News' Jennifer Emily reports. Dallas County DA Craig Watkins says he won't retry Johnson. (Sidebar: Anybody out there know what has become of the defendant's original lawyer, Vivian Ray Davis, who was convicted of bribing another prosecutor and surrendered his law license?)

2. DA Watkins, meanwhile, is warring over money with powerful fellow Democrat John Wiley Price, The News' Gromer Jeffers Jr. reports. What will the outcome of the budget fight mean for justice?

3. Here's a breaking story I want to know more about: American Airlines pilot fails breath test and is barred from operating a London-Chicago flight.

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

I called out State Fair of Texas boss Errol McKoy (right) yesterday because he wouldn't answer a simple question: What were the fair's 2008 expenses? The fair, as a tax-exempt business, must disclose such matters in a public IRS filing. But it hasn't filed for 2008 yet.

McKoy, to his credit, has had a change of heart. He called to say that the expenses were about $33.7 million, with revenue of about $40 million. Much of the profit was set aside for a planned year-round amusement park, McKoy said.

Why didn't he answer my colleague Michael Lindenberger's question? McKoy said he was just trying to wrap up an interview and steer attention back toward a DART press conference about light rail service to Fair Park.

"I have absolutely nothing to hide," McKoy said. "We sure will work to cooperate with you."

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

1. Information = immunity for airline workers who report safety violations. But government regulators have tolerated "inconsistent use" and "potential abuse" of the reporting program, The Dallas Morning News' Dave Michaels writes. His story is based on a federal safety audit that began after a Texas mechanic checking on an oil leak was sucked into a jet engine.

2. Abuse of mentally disabled people at the Corpus Christi State School was far worse than state officials claimed, records obtained by Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Emily Ramshaw show.

3. I see Dallas smokers toss their butts on the ground every day, and it drives me nuts. But is San Francisco's new plan -- a 33 cents-per-pack trash tax -- the way to go?

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

DART warned its drivers in a memo seven years ago not to use cell phones while operating a bus or train. But you don't have to look far for reports that the policy is ignored.

A reader of my blog post yesterday said DART should follow Massachusetts' lead and ban drivers from carrying the things. Massachusetts acted after a Boston trolley driver crashed while texting

, injuring 49 (lower right).

"It bothers me, especially given the driving habits of some DART operators, that many of them wear Bluetooths (Blueteeth?) or talk on handsets while driving," the reader wrote. "Driving distracted when you're hauling people seems criminally stupid."

DART spokesman Morgan Lyons says violators face the full range of discipline, including termination. He says there is no talk at the transit agency of banning bus and light rail drivers from carrying phones.

DART changed course in 2000 and began allowing drivers (except Trinity Railway Express engineers) to carry cell phones on duty, the memo shows. But the phones were supposed to be out of sight, turned off and used only in emergencies.

Here are a couple of public-interest stories from around the Web-o-sphere:

1. Dallas' venerable Majestic Theatre is in deep trouble, Channel 8 reports. DSM Management Group is punting control back to the city at a time when the overall economy stinks and the Majestic is about to face new competition from the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts.

2. Worried about those bus/train drivers who love their cell phones too much? Massachusetts is cracking down after a trolley operator who was texting his sweetheart injured nearly 50 people in a crash. Should DART follow suit?

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