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Investigative journalism in the public interest. That’s what we focus on in Dallas-Fort Worth and throughout Texas. Join the conversation. Help us expose the problems and provide solutions. March 2010
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Problem Solver: Various exemptions available to help homeowners with property taxes Dallas man with 14 convictions, Alan Todd May, accused of running an oil and gas Ponzi scheme Report: End stenography, start digital recording to promote courthouse access and transparency They won't talk: Why are Dallas police limiting your ability to search for violent crime data? Consumer protests lead Oncor to seek independent testing of smart meters' accuracy Fort Hood shooter's lawyer asks: Is Army treating Nidal Hasan differently because he's a Muslim? Memory Lane: Scenes from the life of Nicky Sheets, the Realtor who now admits tax evasion They won't talk: Dallas County judges White and Creuzot silent on why they pardoned convicts Another Rick Perry appointee charged with misbehaving around youth; latest case at SMU Problem Solver: Man shuts off electric meter, but still gets bill; refund finally granted Recent Comments
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March 8, 2010
Several people wrote to me about the property tax exemptions asking if the over-65 exemption is available outside Dallas County. The short answer is yes. There is a statewide exemption for people over 65 years old that knocks $10,000 of your home's total valuation for school taxes. And depending on where you live, it can be worth far more. Many cities and counties also will cut your taxes if you're over 65. To get instructions on how to apply and find out whether you deserve a refund, call your county tax appraisal district. Some numbers for appraisal district workers in nearby counties include: Dallas 214-631-0910; Ellis 972-937-3552 and 866-348-3552; Denton 940-349-3810; Tarrant 817-284-8242; and Collin 866-467-1110 and 469-742-9200. ![]() ![]() The entry "Problem Solver: Various exemptions available to help homeowners with property taxes" is tagged: Problem Solver; Dallas County Appraisal District; Denton County Appraisal District; Tarrant County Appraisal District; Ellis County Appraisal District; Homestead exemption; over 65 exemption; over-65 exemption; property taxes March 5, 2010
The Securities and Exchange Commission identifies the guy as Alan Todd May and is suing him, alleging that his Prosper Oil & Gas is a Ponzi scheme. Prosper's Web site includes lots of pretty pictures of drilling rigs. DMN reporter Eric Torbenson says the company started up after May was released from prison in 2007. May made the news at least once before: While locked up for credit card fraud and parole violations, he was suspected of using a jail pay phone to set up "bogus trade shows in Houston, Austin, Dallas and Denver and getting people to mail him entry fees," the Houston Chronicle reported in 1995. ![]() ![]() The entry "Dallas man with 14 convictions, Alan Todd May, accused of running an oil and gas Ponzi scheme" is tagged: Alan May , Alan Todd May , Eric Torbenson , Ponzi scheme , Prosper Oil & Gas , SEC , Securities and Exchange Commission March 4, 2010
Then you'll want to read the rest of this blog post. "Court administrators would have difficulty justifying courts' continued dependence on stenographic reporting if they were to describe the process by which the majority of state trial courts create, produce, and maintain the official record of the hundreds of thousands of court proceedings annually," a national association of court officials concludes. The Conference of State Court Administrators' report begins with provocative questions. What, it asks, would ordinary people say "if they learned that thousands of staff are assigned to individual courtrooms to make this manual record even though few cases are appealed? How might they react if they learned that the manual recording of those proceedings is made in a media that could be interpreted into written English only by the individual making the record? ![]() ![]() The entry "Report: End stenography, start digital recording to promote courthouse access and transparency" is tagged: Conference of State Court Administrators , court reporter , Darlie Routier , death row , digital recording , National Association of Court Reporters , official court record , public access , Rowlett , stenographer , stenography , Texas Office of Court Administration , transparency , trial transcript , verbatim record
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. If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook. ![]() ![]() The entry "They won't talk: Why are Dallas police limiting your ability to search for violent crime data?" is tagged: crime data , crime statistics , crime stats , Dallas City Hall , Dallas police , online access , Scott Goldstein , violent crime March 3, 2010
Now one of the biggies, Oncor, is asking the PUC for independent testing of the accuracy of its new smart meters (right), Dallas Morning News reporter Eric Torbenson says. State Sen. Troy Fraser, chair of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, recently responded to complaints about the meters by asking that their installation be halted. He also urged the PUC to suspend the monthly fee consumers pay for the meters until independent testing is conducted. Oncor, in its letter to the PUC, says the meters are accurate and blames an unusually cold winter for higher bills. ![]() ![]() The entry "Consumer protests lead Oncor to seek independent testing of smart meters' accuracy" is tagged: accuracy , consumer protest , independent testing , Oncor , Public Utility Commission , PUC , smart meters , Troy Fraser March 2, 2010
Galligan complains, among other things, that the Army is gearing up for a death-penalty trial but has refused his request for a "mitigation specialist" -- an expert who could address extenuating circumstances that might spare Hasan from capital punishment. Col. Morgan Lamb denied the defense request "because the mitigation specialist also happens to "What is the rationale for such disparate treatment? One can't help but wonder - is it because [Hasan] is Muslim?" Elsewhere on the blog, for reasons I don't understand, Galligan uses President Obama's middle name (Hussein) when referring to him and misspells his first name. How does the Army respond to the defense claims? "Fort Hood officials have no plans to comment on personal blogs related to the November 5, 2009 incident," says an e-mail I just received from post spokesman Tyler Broadway. ![]() ![]() The entry "Fort Hood shooter's lawyer asks: Is Army treating Nidal Hasan differently because he's a Muslim?" is tagged: Army , Barack Hussein Obama , capital punishment , death penalty , defense attorney , Fort Hood , Fort Lewis , John Galligan , massacre , mitigation specialist , Morgan Lamb , Muslim , Nidal Hasan , Nidal Malik Hasan , Obama
About a year ago, former DMN reporter Gretel Kovach did perhaps the definitive take on Sheets, his star Realtor wife, Eleanor Mowery Sheets (right), and their long history of financial troubles. Among my favorite details in the D Magazine piece: The trustee in one of their bankruptcy cases details "what he considered the 'most notorious' example of a pattern of shifting assets to avoid payment: Nicky flew his lawyer in a twin engine plane owned by Nicky's JNS Investments to Odessa for a hearing, where he argued that he was just Eleanor's penniless underling." A creditor's lawyer heard about it and went after the plane, "but by the time he had tracked it from a recently vacated hangar at Dallas Love Field to the Addison airfield, it had been repossessed" by someone else. Eleanor's Web site, before it was taken down, praised her hubby's tax acumen this way: "Nicky creates the aggressive marketing strategies for our business with an enormous foresight into new trends and technologies. He has a great capacity for staying ahead of the industry and is the creator of many of the formative business transactions we do -- getting people together I'd never have thought of, doing land trades and arranging beneficial tax solutions for buyers and sellers." The IRS recently tried unsuccessfully to auction the couple's North Dallas home. The "property appraisal and liquidation specialist" was listed as Mary Beth Justice. Her Austin workplace was targeted -- a day after the auction, coincidentally -- by suicide pilot Joe Stack. ![]() ![]() The entry "Memory Lane: Scenes from the life of Nicky Sheets, the Realtor who now admits tax evasion" is tagged: auction , Austin , bankruptcy , D Magazine , Eleanor Mowery Sheets , Gretel Kovach , Internal Revenue Service , IRS , Joe Stack , John Nicholas Sheets , Nicky Sheets , real estate agent , Realtor , suicide pilot , tax evasion , terrorism March 1, 2010
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 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). ![]() ![]() The entry "They won't talk: Dallas County judges White and Creuzot silent on why they pardoned convicts" is tagged: Aurelio Castillo , Balch Springs , clemency , Code of Criminal Procedure , constable , county clerk , criminal court , Dallas County , David Chang , discharge , dismissal , district judges , Ernest White , John Creuzot , mayor , pardon , probation February 26, 2010
The latest mess involves businessman Lee William "Bill" McNutt III (right), whom Perry named Texas Commission on the Arts chair in December. McNutt has since been arrested for trespassing at Southern Methodist University, reports Lori Stahl of The Dallas Morning News. SMU says it warned him to stay away in 2008 after getting "multiple student complaints against Mr. McNutt alleging behavior that violates University policy, such as offering alcohol to minors." McNutt, 54, graduated from SMU and was founding president of its Young Alumni Association, a governor's press release said. He worked in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush, according to the arts commission. McNutt has resigned from the commission, The Daily Mustang is now reporting. He's also a deacon at Highland Park Presbyterian Church. The previous Perry-appointee mess involved Catherine Evans, a former Dallas County state district judge. Perry named her Texas Youth Commission ombudsman in September. Several weeks later, she was charged with trying to smuggle a knife, a cellphone and prescription drugs into an East Texas TYC facility. Please let me know if you get more information about what's going with either of these matters. ![]() ![]() The entry "Another Rick Perry appointee charged with misbehaving around youth; latest case at SMU" is tagged: Bill McNutt , Catherine Evans , chairman , George Bush , George H.W. Bush , Highland Park , Highland Park Presbyterian Church , Lee William "Bill" McNutt III , Lori Stahl , minors , ombudsman , Rick Perry , Ronald Reagan , SMU , smuggling , Southern Methodist University , Texas Commission on the Arts , Texas Youth Commission , trespassing , TYC , University Park , Young Alumni Association February 25, 2010
That's what happened to Damian McDowan. He shut off his own meter and left town for four months, but then he received a bill of $409 for usage from TXU Energy. He paid, but argued for seven months that it was an erroneous charge. Finally in frustration, he called me. He was ultimately refunded his money. ![]() ![]() The entry "Problem Solver: Man shuts off electric meter, but still gets bill; refund finally granted" is tagged: electricity , meter , Oncor , Problem Solver , tampering , TXU Energy , utilities
After Samuell students fleeing a blaze found an exit chained shut, local fire officials performed surprise inspections on 31 public high schools. Eight were caught locking fire exits, reports The Dallas Morning News' Diane Rado. Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, said he was "livid" about the findings and ordered principals to obey the fire code. But what are officials going to do about the crime concerns that led principals to lock doors in the first place? The eight high schools cited for violations were: * A. Maceo Smith Please let me know if you get more information about what's going. ![]() ![]() The entry "Eight more Dallas schools caught locking fire exits" is tagged: A. Maceo Smith High Schoo , Carter High School , chained doors , chains , Dallas Independent School District , Diane Rado , DISD , fire code , fire exits , fire safety , Kimball High School , Michael Hinojosa , Molina High School , Pinkston High School , Roosevelt High School , Samuell High School , Skyline High School , South Oak Cliff High School , superintendent
Company officials aren't saying what the future holds after a killer whale lived up to its name yesterday at SeaWorld Orlando. Horrified tourists watched as trainer Dawn Brancheau (right) perished, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Tilikum, the orca that killed her, had been involved in the deaths of two other people -- a trainer in 1991 and a visitor who sneaked past security in 1999. SeaWorld isn't saying much today on its Web site -- just this: "SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego will be open Thursday, February 25 as scheduled (SeaWorld San Antonio is not yet open for the season) but Believe shows and Dine with Shamu experiences at all SeaWorld locations have been suspended; no decision has been made for future dates at this time." Do you have a tip about amusement park safety? Send me an e-mail 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 entry "SeaWorld's killer whale kills again. Now what? " is tagged: amusement park , Dawn Brancheau , killer whale , orca , Orlando , San Antonio , San Diego , Sea World , SeaWorld , Tilikum , tourism , tourist , tourist attraction , trainer February 24, 2010
First he wrote the book Beyond Duty, explaining how he accidentally killed a family in Iraq and how depression nearly killed him afterward. Then, shortly after the Fort Hood massacre, he told me that shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had been seeking to have psychiatric patients on the base prosecuted for war crimes. That wasn't a popular thing to say at the time, given that a Hood higher-up had recently called Hasan a "hardworking, dedicated young man who gave great care to his patients." Speaking up also meant Meehan had to reveal that he had been a psych patient at the Central Texas post. His latest soul-baring appears this week in The New York Times, where he also issues a challenge to us civilians: "In recent months I've been trying to honor the lives I took by writing and speaking in public about my experience, to show that those deaths are not tucked neatly away in a foreign land," Meehan writes. "They may seem distant, but they are not. Soldiers bring the ghosts home with them, and it's everyone else's job to hear about them, no matter how painful it may be." ![]() ![]() The entry "Retired Fort Hood Capt. Shannon Meehan is speaking out again about the human costs of war" is tagged: Army , Beyond Duty , depression , Fort Hood , Iraq , massacre , Nidal Hasan , Nidal Malik Hasan , psychiatric patient , psychiatrist , Roger Thompson , Shannon Meehan , war crimes
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."
![]() ![]() The entry "Open-records revelation: Mesquite school board member Randy Dobbs' laptop contained adult porn" is tagged: Karel Holloway , laptop , Mesquite Independent School District , Mesquite police , MISD , open records , pornography , Randy Dobbs , Texas attorney general February 23, 2010
Recently, for example, it denounced the introduction of full-body scanners in airports as a violation of Islamic rules about modesty. Its Web site carries many press releases on a variety of civil rights issues. But CAIR has been quiet about the recent deportation order against Richardson resident Nabil Sadoun (left), a longtime member of the group's national and DFW chapter boards. When I asked national CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper for an interview, he responded with this e-mail: "Peace. Perhaps speak to his attorney. She is the best source of information on the case." Hooper did not respond when I followed up with written questions about CAIR's view of the deportation case and its relationship with Sadoun. Sadoun's attorney, Kimberly Kinser of Richardson, didn't respond to my phone call and e-mail. ![]() ![]() The entry "Muslim activist group CAIR is unusually quiet about longtime board member's deportation" is tagged: Abdurahman Alamoudi , Brighter Horizons Academy , CAIR , civil rights , Council on American-Islamic Relations , deportation , Hamas , Holy Land Foundation , Ibrahim Hooper , imam , Islamic Society of North Texas , Jordan , Kimberly Kinser , Mousa Abu Marzook , Muslims , Nabil Sadoun , Richardson , suicide bombings , Syria , terrorism , Tulsa , United Association for Studies and Research
Principals, it seems, are creating firetraps in the name of preventing crime. A chained door at Samuell temporarily trapped people who were trying to evacuate Thursday, though no one was hurt. The DISD Blog gave one teacher's scary account of the mess. A Samuell official says the door was chained because locking it from the outside didn't provide sufficient security. Students inside would open the door, sometimes allowing weapons into the school. Do you have a tip about fire safety? School security? Send me an e-mail 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 entry "Are fire-exit doors chained at your school, too?" is tagged: chained doors , chains , Dallas Independent School District , Diane Rado , DISD , DISD Blog , exit doors , fire hazard , fire safety , firetraps , Samuell High School , school security February 22, 2010
"Never give way to remorse, but immediately say to yourself: that would merely mean adding a second stupidity to the first. -- If you have done harm, see how you can do good. -- If you are punished for your actions, bear the punishment with the feeling that you ARE doing good -- by deterring others from falling prey to the same folly. Every evildoer who is punished may feel that he is a benefactor of humanity."
Bourque was arrested Sunday with Daniel George McAllister (lower right). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives blames the two for a string of 10 recent church fires in East Texas. The two men used to attend a Baptist church in the East Texas town of Ben Wheeler that was not torched, says Dallas Morning News reporter Richard Abshire. ![]() ![]() The entry "Church arson suspect likes Nietzsche and bonfires " is tagged: arson , ATF , Ben Wheeler , church fires , Daniel McAllister , East Texas , Facebook , Friedrich Nietzsche , Jason Bourque , MySpace , Nietzsche , Richard Abshire , Tyler , Van High School February 19, 2010
The 1986 legislation started as a favor to IBM and "made it extremely difficult for information technology professionals to work as self-employed individuals, forcing most to become company employees," The Times reported. "Many software engineers and other such professionals say that the law denies them the opportunity to become wealthy entrepreneurs and that it makes it harder to increase and refine their skills, eventually diminishing their income." Joe Stack, in the note he posted online before flying a plane into IRS offices in Austin yesterday, said those who wrote the law "could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave." ![]() ![]() The entry "The tax law that suicide pilot Joe Stack hated" is tagged: Andrew Joseph Stack III , Austin , IBM , Internal Revenue Service , IRS , Joe Stack , plane crash , software engineer , suicide attack , suicide note , suicide pilot , tax law February 18, 2010
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. If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook. ![]() ![]() The entry "Do you have a tip about the Austin plane crash?" is tagged: Austin , Echelon , FBI , KVUE , plane crash , Research Boulevard
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. ![]() ![]() The entry "Update on why I'm afraid to fly: American Airlines, Southwest and regulators are all under fire" is tagged: American Airlines , Dave Michaels , Department of Transportation , FAA , Federal Aviation Administration , inspector general , maintenance , safety , Southwest Airlines |
I WAS THERE THE DAY OF THE TRAGIC EVENT
Is there any relation between Alan Todd
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This is probably part of the NEW MATH b
Brooks,
I guess the plot contin
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I worked for Pros
John Galligan is as much of a traitor t
I worked at Prosper for a short time an
Brooks,
I was an former employe
Generate your own electricity, or quit