DMN INVESTIGATES

I've found there is very little help out there for people who owe money on old bills.

There are a number of churches and charities which help when a current utility bill is beyond a person's resources. That helps keep the lights and water on.

But in the case of Todd and Shirley Ritrovato of Greenville, the utility debt was 14 years old. and created when their daughter was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.

The Ritrovatos have known they owe the money for the past two years, but have not had much extra money to pay it. The couple lives on less than $700 a month, along with food stamps and housing assistance.

I've had some readers interested in helping out. If that's you, Hunt County Shared Ministries is willing to handle any donations for the couple. The address is 3724 Oneal St
Greenville, TX, 75401. Make sure you mark it for the Ritrovatos.

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?

Do you have thoughts on the executive pay? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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Tad A. Camp is a former sheriff's deputy, private investigator, non-profit official and entrepreneur. He'll tell you about that in his online biography.

What Camp fails to mention in his biography is that he left law enforcement after being accused of beating his wife. Luckily The News' Steve Thompson filled in information gaps for us.

The omissions matter because Camp is seeking publicity for his newest business. He wants to speed missing-child cases by letting parents proactively store and share information about their little ones that could be used in the event of something terrible.

Donna Norris -- the mother of Amber Hagerman (right), the Arlington girl whose abduction and slaying inspired the Amber Alert system -- is one of his business partners. She said Camp disclosed his past to her, "and I'm OK with that ... It's just a shame that someone has to bring it up, because all we're about is saving children's lives."

"Could you direct me to a woman's organization that needs business clothes--years ago I heard of one that desires such for women from various stations in life that need such to enter the business world --many thanks," a reader from Mesquite asked.

Yes, I do know of a group. Attitudes & Attire offers clothing, shoes and toiletries for women in need. The group can be reached through its website at www.attitudesandattire.org.

Texas law says only charities and nonprofits can hold raffles. But that hasn't stopped some law-enforcement folks -- such as Dallas County Constables Derick Evans and Jaime Cortes from using them to raise campaign cash, The Dallas Morning News' Kevin Krause and Ed Timms reported over the weekend.

Some of the constables' employees say they've been pressured to sell the tickets. The constables, through their lawyers, deny wrongdoing.

Do you have a tip about constables? 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."

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

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My recent column on Spokes for Folks, which takes donates bicycles, refurbishes them and gives them to the needy, resulted in a large number of bicycles donated.

"If you know of others needing bikes I have a lot to repair. And while the repairs will take time, we will need homes to give them to when the repairs are finished," said Pamela Jackson, who has been the public face for the group.

The bug to help seems to go along genetic lines in this charity. It was first started by a high school student, whose brother later took it over and parents helped out. Now, Jackson's father is learning to repair bikes.

"He was a tremendous help last Tuesday, changing tubes and tires on bikes so I could get them to Sunset High School on Wednesday," she said. The Oak Cliff high school got a delivery of six bikes that day.

If you want to donate a bicycle or know someone who needs one, contact the group at spokesforfolks@aol.com

Pamela Jackson, who is currently the public face for Spokes for Folks, says she's gotten promises of about two dozen bicycles for the charity since I wrote about the group.

One of the nicer donations is a beautiful bike that is about 50 years old and in pristine condition. A man brought it to Jackson and told her that his wife had loved it very much when she was alive.

He asked for it to be given to a young girl, a wish that Jackson promises to honor.

Spokes for Folks refurbishes bicycles and then gives them away to people in need. If you would like to donate write spokesfolks@aol.com

Baylor Health Care System's main partner in its doctor-owned hospitals was silent in today's story because the company declined comment.

But United Surgical Partners International's relationship with the not-for-profit Baylor system goes back a decade, mirroring the growth in physician-owned hospitals (Baylor Medical Center at Frisco shown in photo) and ambulatory surgical facilities.

Baylor chief executive Joel Allison is on the board of directors of USPI as is former Baylor CEO Boone Powell Jr. Allison receives no compensation for his board service, according to USPI's financial filings with the SEC. Powell received $35,000 in cash and another $11,000 in stock awards from USPI in 2008.

Former Baylor executive Brett Brodnax is an executive vice president for Dallas-based USPI and its chief development officer.

I aced college geography. But I wouldn't have been able to find Mbabane, Swaziland, on an African map before reading a Fort Worth Star-Telegram story about two Cowtown city council members who are traveling there this week at taxpayer expense.

The trip is part of Fort Worth's Sister Cities program, which sends a delegation to seven locales around the world to glad-hand and talk a little business. Fort Worth has provided about $350,000 in public funding toward this and usually pays the cost of a couple of elected officials to attend -- in this case, two to Swaziland at a cost of nearly $10,000.

The timing could not have been worse. Just last week, the council approved budget cuts and fee hikes for residents. One of the traveling council members insisted, "This is not about tourism. This is about AIDS in Africa and the significant issues that are faced in that part of the world. It is very important we have these exchanges."

The Sister Cities trip reminded me of other recent examples of big-ticket municipal travel -- Rowlett, Dallas and Mesquite. Leaves you wondering taxpayers believe they're getting a good value, or whether they'd like their neighborhood library open a few more hours.

Do you have tips to share about Sister Cities travel or other trips your local city officials are taking? Leave a comment or e-mail me.

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That's the question from several readers whose e-mails landed in our DMN Investigates inbox this afternoon.

Late last week, a hidden-camera video showed Baltimore employees of the community group -- which has faced voter-fraud allegations since the '08 elections -- giving dubious advice to a man and a woman posing as a couple.

The advice? How to cover up their purported jobs in prostitution on tax forms.

FOX News was the biggest outlet to jump on the story, and ACORN was again left defending itself. As the furor has simmered with additional videos, some GOP-minded commentators accused other media of downplaying or outright ignoring the controversy. That's probably what led to the e-mails we received today.

A reader, who was interested in donating a bicycle, asked for a website for the group Spokes For Folks, which I wrote about in this week's column.

But the group doesn't have one. If you are interested in donating a bike, bike parts or money, you'll need to contact Pamela Jackson through e-mail at spokesfolks@aol.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The common theme is investigations. Let's take a closer look at today's stories:

1. State regulators are now investigating the car-towing company used by two Dallas County constables that has created controversy in recent weeks, The News' Kevin Krause reports. The company -- which has no county oversight -- is run by a troubled businessman who also has an auto salvage shop.

2. Protections for federal employees who blow the whistle on corruption were expanded yesterday, USA Today tells us. Most can now request that a jury hear their case, excluding intelligence agency employees. Advocates wanted protections for all workers.

3. Perhaps the biggest story in Dallas is the City Hall bribery trial. But it's not the only corruption case in the courts. A suburban D.C. jury is deliberating the fate of former U.S. congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana.

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

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Three very different stories. But they all come back to money: how to get it, or how to keep it.

1. One of the feds' star witnesses in the Dallas City Hall bribery trial, Southwest Housing Development's Brian Potashnik, finished four days of testimony yesterday. Some observers and blog commenters thought Potashnik stumbled at times to show Don Hill personally benefited from contracts given to associates. But Unfair Park's Jim Schutze had a different take.

2. Speaking of the Dallas City Council, some of its members are reluctant to trim their own office budgets amid a $190 million shortfall, The News' Rudy Bush reports. I'm sure city workers and residents will sympathize.

3. College sports' umbrella organization, NCAA, is facing lawsuits from former athletes who accuse it of cashing in on their likenesses in video games without sharing the proceeds. A ranking member of a Congressional panel has questioned why the NCAA still receives tax-free status as a nonprofit when it acts more like a commercial enterprise.

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

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Despite promises last month to spruce up the bronze cattle and cowboy sculptures at Pioneer Plaza, it's still looking really shabby.

A recent tour of the second-most visited site in Dallas showed that the light was still broken and was topped with a milk crate and traffic cone. The trail was so eroded that wiring and sprinkler lines were exposed. Some of the sculpture pedestals looked dangerously unearthed. There was graffiti on the trash can. The water fountain was out of order. And cigarette butts and beer bottle tops peppered the ground.

Weirdly, there was also a pair of pants resting on the trail. You'd think someone would need those.

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

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

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

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

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

Dallas Catholic Diocese officials are releasing new information about the strange series of events that cost a church on the University of Dallas campus about $128,000.

First, they have disclosed the name used by a man who received the funds: William "Bill" Ryan. They describe him as white, in his 60s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds, with wavy, graying hair. He is "very personable and animated," and has "a distinguishable New York accent."

The officials say he is a "con man" who posed as a parishioner and probably is using a fake name. They say they have no photo of him -- but maybe somebody reading this does?

Ryan and three others the diocese won't name received a series of Western Union payments in New York "over three and a half months," diocese spokeswoman Annette Gonzales Taylor said.

She said the FBI has dropped its inquiry into the matter without coming to any conclusions about what happened. The FBI would not confirm or deny that.

A reader using the name "Taxpayer" left a comment Thursday wondering why the Plano Economic Development Board removed most all its meeting agendas and minutes from the city's Web site.

"PLANO SHOULD BE ASHAMED," the reader wrote, "OTHER CITIES HAVE THEIR RECORDS ONLINE!"

I first touched base with our Plano beat writer, Ted Kim. He told me the Plano Economic Development Board recently overhauled its Web site. That could explain the limited number of agendas and minutes, he said.

Then I contacted Sally Bane, the board's executive director. I e-mailed her a link to the blog post with the comment and asked four questions:

Another day, another roundup of public-interest stories in The Dallas Morning News and around the Web-o-sphere:

1. This leaves you with more questions than answers: Dallas County Judge Jim Foster testified that FBI agents have asked him about colleague John Wiley Price multiple times, but he did not elaborate further during a deposition this month. So is this a formal investigation? What are the allegations? Why would agents go to Foster? For his part, Price didn't appear worried when Kevin Krause interviewed him.

2. Another man walked free after he was cleared by DNA-based evidence in Dallas County, Jennifer Emily tells us. Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation to increase compensation to those wrongly convicted.

3. Texas has had some characters of televangelists. Robert Tilton was perhaps the biggest. His speaking in tongues and pitching for donations were always striking. His empire collapsed like several of his contemporaries, but he's still toiling in Florida, Scott Parks reports.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A cool new online tool lets you check out those phone solicitors who say they're raising money for law enforcement.

The Texas attorney general's office built this little database, which shows that donations to many of the fund-raising groups are not tax-deductible. And a lot of the donations go to overhead, not to needy cops.

"Each year, many generous Texans provide financial support to organizations that purport to benefit peace officers and their families," AG Greg Abbott said. "The online resource launched today ensures contributors have easy access to these organizations' financial information. As a result, Texans can make informed decisions and determine the percentage of their dollars that will actually benefit peace officers."

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."

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.

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

1. Looking for broader perspective on the case of the North Texas soldier accused of killing five fellow troops in Iraq? Check out this award-winning investigation by the Hartford Courant.

2. Federal law bars nonprofit groups from engaging in partisan politics. But it apparently allows a foundation funded by some of Gov. Rick Perry's wealthiest backers to court pastors at election time, according to Dallas Morning News writer Wayne Slater. Here's a tax filing by the Niemoller Foundation, which dubbed its wooing campaign the Texas Restoration Project.

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

Non-profit groups around the nation have made questionable loans to their executives, an Internal Revenue Service investigation is finding.

IRS officials won't name targets. But they say they're focusing on loans over $100,000 -- and are troubled by "loans with no real terms for repayment or loans where there are terms for repayment but no follow-up if the repayment is not made."

The Dallas Morning News reported in January on a local arts exec who got a loan of more than $500,000: Jeremy Strick (right), who recently became director of the Nasher Sculpture Center.

The lender was his previous employer, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. A written contract required him to repay any balance when his employment ended.

But Strick -- who quit his MOCA job under pressure in December, as the museum's finances crumbled -- now says he didn't meet the contract's terms. "When I left, we changed that," he told me.

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

1. Dallas auditors found the city could have saved itself at least $2 million, if not a little more, by revising a contract overseeing its use of the county jail. As the number of prisoners dropped, the city's costs went up, The News' Rudy Bush reports.

2. A foundation started by U.S. Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington has spent most of its money on staff salaries and administrative costs, rather than on donations to charitable causes as he once promised, The Washington Times reported. The foundation has also raised contributions from industries that his House committee regulates. A spokesman told The News the fund-raising was "perfectly legal."

3. More public servants in trouble. More Dallas police officers. Chief David Kunkle fired four of them over misconduct, The News' Tanya Eiserer reports, including one indicted last month after accusations he shot at a woman's vehicle following a road-rage incident.

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

When I first heard the term Ponzi scheme years ago, I thought someone was talking about the Happy Days guy. Maybe you did, too.

Few are confused now. Not after authorities accused seemingly successful financiers, Bernie Madoff and Texas' own Allen Stanford, of running the Ponzi investment shams that looted thousands of folks of their life savings.

The IRS promised increased enforcement of offshore bank accounts, which Madoff and Stanford had used to park billions, and sought to recover the income taxes that went unpaid.

The IRS is starting to follow through, opening about 100 criminal investigations into wealthy Americans who use Swiss bank UBS. The New York Times also reports that agents are even preparing indictments.

It has me wondering: Do any of you have leads on offshore accounts or Ponzi-style schemes that we should check out? Drop me a line if you do.