On The Fence With Ken Kalthoff

Irving Letter Carrier Phillip Smith delivered himself to Irving Police Headquarters Wednesday for questioning. 

He could face criminal charges for boxing up a little Chihuahua that wanders his street and delivering the dog to Irving Mayor Herb Gears.  The Mayor found the dog Sunday after it chewed it’s way out of the box on his front porch.  The dog was somehow wounded.

Tuesday, The City of Irving delivered the dog back to its owner, a family that lives across the street from the postman.  Mayor Herb Gears says he thinks the postman deserves punishment for the stunt.

The mayor says the dog was not treated properly and that the postman knew the rightful owner when he took the dog.  But some of Smith’s neighbors have started a legal defense fund for him. And Wednesday, we saw the dog wandering in the street again!

I’m “On The Fence,” a marvelous device that can also be used to keep dogs in their own yards.  Let me know what you think by clicking “Comments” below.

UPDATE: 5-1-08.  Mr. Smith tells me he was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty today.  He posted bond and plans to fight the charges.  He also told me the Chihuahua we saw on the street Wednesday was NOT the SAME dog, but a different one that also runs around there, too. 

Is that taxi next to you on the road belching air pollution?  Dallas County Judge Jim Foster says almost 9 out of 10 are suspect.  He says 87 percent of the 2200 taxicabs in North Texas had fake or improper emission inspections.  Foster says it came to light in a crackdown on testing stations that issue fake inspection stickers for vehicles that can not meet emission requirements.

But the people who run Cowboy and Ranger Cab companies say that just can’t be true.  They have 300 of the 2200 taxis.  They say their cars are inspected monthly, repaired when needed by their own certified mechanics and tested properly by emission inspectors.  These cab people insist they are doing all they can to operate clean running taxis.

The federal government recently made clean air standards tougher.  The Dallas County Judge says North Texas will also be tougher on inspection stations that issue fake stickers.

Let me know what you think by clicking “Comments” below.

Dallas animal control officials tell us too often, cute little puppies end up like this poor dog, tied to a cinder block all day with no food or water.

City Councilmembers tell me animal control is their number one citizen complaint.  The city shelter put nearly 30,000 unwanted animals to sleep last year and about 15,000 more were picked up dead on the road.  Animal overpopulation is an enormous problem in Dallas.  The city has just opened a larger animal shelter to better handle all the strays.  The city’s Animal Shelter Advisory Commission has also been working for years on changes in the city code to fight the problem. 

Monday, the Dallas City Council Quality of Life Committee endorsed the Shelter Advisory Commission’s recommended set of tougher animal control laws.  It includes mandatory spay or neutering, a limit of 6 pets per home, restrictions on tethering or confining animals and on keeping dangerous dogs.  The spay and neutering rules require a $500 annual fee to keep a dog that is not fixed.  Dog breeders and show dog owners jammed city council chambers to protest.

 They claim responsible pet owners are being punished.  The fee for keeping a dangerous dog is just $50 under the proposed rules.

Members of the Shelter Advisory Commission say they are trying to discourage dog breeding in Dallas.  Commission member Susan Oakey told me; “There are way too many animals and this is the first step.  If my house was flooding, the first thing I would do is turn off the water.”  Councilmember Elba Garcia said; “The day that someone in this city complains to me that we can’t find an animal or pet to adopt, I will lead the charge to reverse this ordinance.”

The Quality of Life Committee endorsed the code changes but agreed the fees should be reviewed before the final vote of the full Dallas City Council later this summer.

From “On The Fence” I’d like to know, what do you think?  Click “Comments” below to leave your thoughts. 

UPDATE:   I’ve heard that Chicago is looking into similar spay/neuter requirements.  Here’s a link to the Chicago Suntimes:  http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/920422,CST-NWS-SNEED29.article

The Texas Transportation Commission has decided to cut road maintenance by nearly $5 BILLION over the next 10 years. 

You may see fewer cones.  The goal now is maintaining about 87 percent of Texas highways at “Good or Better” condition now.

After the funding cut, between 2009 and 2019 to goal will be to maintain just 80 percent of road at Good or Better.  One in five will fall below that standard.

New road construction will not stop and TxDOT says North Texas will actually get more than its normal share of new construction because toll roads will increase construction dollars for the region.  But North Texans will also pay tolls to use some of those new roads.

Dorothy Patton has just moved from Louisiana.  She says the roads in Texas are better than Lousiana.

As usual, I’m still “On The Fence,” but I wonder how much longer Texas will have better roads???

Click “Comments” below to tell me what you think!

North Texas is trying every possible way to reduce air pollution.  New and tougher federal clean air rules will make it even more difficult than it already was going to be to meet the restrictions in the near future.  So Dallas is resorting to an attack on lawn mowers and taxi cabs! 

A city official told me that the EPA has determined that the average gas lawn mower emits as much pollution each hour as 11 automobiles on the road!! So to get gasoline mowers off the road, Wednesday the Dallas City Council approved a plan for a gasoline lawn mower trade in.  Homeowners will get a 30 percent discount on a new cordless electric mower in exchange for surrendering their gas mowers.  The date for the big trade in has not been set yet.

The City Council also chipped in $325,000 in grant money toward a joint program that will urge taxi companies to trade older vehicles for less polluting new ones.  Two thousand taxis in North Texas are just a tiny fraction of all the vehicles on the road but that’s an example of how officials say they are looking for every possible clean air improvement.

See my story here: http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=243945

Click “Comments” below to let me know what you think.

Darren Reagan says he’s under pressure!  Pressure from the government and from his poor health.  Maybe you remember Darren Reagan?  He’s accused of funneling bribes to former Dallas City Councilman Don Hill.  Both of them strongly deny it.  Reagan is separately accused of fraud for improperly renting a house to his own mother in law with rent money that came from federal housing assistance.  Reagan was due to start trial on the fraud charges Monday morning but he did not show up.  Federal Marshals found him at home, brought him to court, the judge allowed him to visit a doctor and later the judge delayed his trial until June because of Reagan’s diabetes problems.  During the day Monday however, Reagan ran from reporters trying to speak with him.  His health seemed sufficient for that exercise? 

Tuesday, Reagan returned to court to visit the pre-trial release office and he says comply with the judge’s orders.  This time, however, he called reporters in advance so we would be sure to find him and he calmly answered questions at the courthouse. 

Reagan says he was worried about how previous reports might appear to potential jurors.  He says he was not aware of federal rules that forbid taking federal rental assistance money through family members.  He also says the whole fraud case is just a government effort to make him plead guilty in the bribery case. 

One of Reagan’s closest associates already has pleaded guilty in the bribery case and is bound to testify against Reagan and against Don Hill. 

I’ve done stories about Darren Reagan for years.  He’s been a community activist, protesting issues like the firing of Former Dallas Police Chief Terrell Bolton.  He was the leader of the Black State Employees Association of Texas.  The non-profit group developed an Oak Cliff shopping center where tenants accused Reagan of skimming money.  The government now says there were no members in BSEAT, just Reagan and some other officers!  I asked Reagan about that Tuesday and he said membership information was private. 

I’ve done stories about Don Hill for even longer.  He was a very well regarded Dallas City Councilmember.  He ran for mayor.  The government says Reagan provided money to Hill from a third party who was a government informant.  Reagan and Hill deny any wrongdoing, and they’ve never been convicted of anything before.  Federal prosecutors decline any comment on the latest developments.  They limit their information to court room remarks and court filings. 

I’m being VERY careful to stay “On The Fence” on this to see all I can on both sides.  And it gets more interesting every day!  What do you think?  Click “Comments” below and let me know!  Or send me an e-mail at ken.kalthoff@nbcuni.com 

See the video here: http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=243528

Friday night, a pregnant thoroughbred and her foal died on a Dallas freeway.  The accident happened around 6:30pm.  The horse trailer broke loose and was hit by another car.  It was 9:30 before the freeway was cleared.  People who saw it complained about slow response and inhumane treatment of the animal on the freeway for so long.  Firefighters worked to free the horse from the damaged trailer.

 Dallas Police say they called the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department because by law in Texas, sheriff’s deputies remove livestock from the road.  The Sheriff’s Department refused to respond.  It says it does NOT deal with injured animals in the road.  The Sheriff’s Department says it has a veterinarian under contract to respond to such situations in its jurisdiction immediately for quick treatment of injured animals.   I reached that vet and he says Dallas Police DID call him almost immediately but that the owner of the horse on the scene refused his help, insisting on another vet.  The owner tells us he was hoping at least to save the foal of the pregnant thoroughbred.  The owner says his vet took a long time to arrive but concluded that the animal should be put down and the foal could not be saved.  A Tex DOT front-end loader finally removed the animal from the road. 

“On The Fence” it seems like a sad situation for all involved.  What do you think?  Let me know by clicking “Comments” below.

Texas cities rely on sales taxes for some of the services they provide.  North Texas cities have enjoyed years of growth in sales tax revenue. 

But combing through the records at Dallas City Hall I found that Dallas sales tax money has started falling.  I checked into it more and found that in the past two months, many North Texas cities have seen declines in sales tax money.  Click the link below to check the latest figures for your city.  Many of them are down.

Dallas city leaders are sick of high weeds along Dallas freeways that are maintained by the State of Texas Department of Transportation.  Tex DOT only mows between 4 and 6 times a year and says it does not have money for more frequent mowing. 

It says other cities like Richardson have taken on freeway landscaping themselves at their expense and Dallas can do the same. 

Dallas says it is a state responsibility.  City leaders are considering an appeal to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, the panel that considers the performance of state agencies and whether those agencies should even continue to exist!  It is a new way to pressure Tex DOT. 

What do you think?  Should Dallas just pay for more attractive freeways or fight with the state to do the job?  After our stories on NBC 5 about this today, it did not take long for the war to continue with opposing viewer e-mail.  One says that “Going Green” means less mowing and it is ”Phony Baloney” to even raise this issue.  Another says homeowners would be fined for code violations over high weeds like Tex DOT allows.

Post your thoughts by clicking comments below, and also weigh in on the NBC5i.com poll by clicking here.

Any of you who’ve driven through the southbound merge of 183 John Carpenter Freeway and 35E Stemmons know it is a very tough driving spot.  The merge of two freeways happens very quickly at freeway speed.  The driver of a concrete truck says he was head south when another driver cut him off around 3pm Friday afternoon. 

The concrete truck lost control and crossed OVER the center median.  On the northbound side of 183 the concrete truck hit a motorcycle and then landed ON TOP of an SUV.  In the SUV, a 41 year old woman was killed.  It took over an hour to rescue a 5 year old girl from the back of the SUV. 

The motorcycle rider and the truck driver survived in critical condition.  Police hope the driver of the concrete truck can provide more information to help them find the driver who cut in front of the concrete truck.  

Here’s a link to the video:

http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=239484

I’ve driven through there many times.  I’m NOT ”On The Fence” this time.  That’s a lousy merge and if someone did cut off a concrete truck there, I hope police find that driver!  What do you think??