On The Fence With Ken Kalthoff

Police say a Sunday night shooting spree in Garland and Mesquite left several innocent people wounded.  Bullets flew in three locations and in each one police say a dark colored sedan was seen pulling up when the shots were fired. 

A four month old baby was in the back seat of one car.  There was glass all over her car seat from the bullet shattered rear window but she was fine.  Her mother was cut by glass.  Her mother’s boyfriend driving the car was shot in the wrist.  That was around 5pm Sunday night on Buckingham at Shilo in Garland.

In a pick up truck, the driver was shot in the stomach.  His 9 year old son in the passenger seat was not injured.  That was around 9pm Sunday on Walnut at Plano Road in Garland.  Police say both cars were just sitting at stop lights when the suspect pulled up beside them going the opposite direction and started shooting.

The third shooting was around 10pm Sunday on the I-635 exit ramp to Oates in Mesquite.  There the witness saw the dark sedan pull up and heard gunshots but was not hit.  Police beleive all of the shootings are random acts of violence.  They do not have any connections between the victims at this time. 

Garland police want help to catch the suspect or suspects before random shots fly again.

7-1 UPDATE:  2 more shootings.. one in Plano on Tuesday 7-1,  one in Richardson on Monday.. all believed to be related, random.  Now police in all those cities are investigating, seeking help!

7-2 UPDATE: Garland police Tuesday night arrested Thai-An Huu Nguyen, 22 years old of Garland.

He was driving a dark color Honda Prelude, similar to what witnesses described. 

Still no motive know for what he’s accused of doing.

Old Dallas City Hall on Harwood Street will be renovated for a new UNT Law School. The building is where Lee Harvey Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby on live TV in 1963.

For years now the basement sallyport where Ruby confronted Oswald has been closed and off limits to the public.

The jail cell where Oswald slept the night before he died has never been open to visitors.

UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson says UNT’s plans for the Law School include opening those sites to the public. He says it will not be part of a formal museum, but will be preserved and available for people to walk in and visit free of charge.

Dallas is spending $16 million to repair the aging building before the state takes it over. The first public law school for North Texas is a big plum, too. Houston has 3 public law schools. The two law schools in North Texas are at private universities with much more expensive tuition.

Here’s a link to our 6pm story:

http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=269923

Dallas visitors we met Thursday at the grassy knoll said they would also like to visit the Oswald murder location.  A history teacher from Oregon walked up to me while we were preparing our report outside Old City Hall asking directions to where Oswald was killed.  He was disappointed that he could not go in and see it yet.  What do you think??

One of the largest crowds I’ve ever seen in the Dallas City Council Chamber jammed the Wednesday meeting and lined up to speak about a new animal control law.

Supporters and opponents demonstrated outside city hall before the meeting over the provision that requires animals be spayed or neutered. Owners must pay a $70 fee for those that remain unaltered.

Wednesday’s agenda was also one of the longest I have ever seen in 9 years of covering Dallas City Hall. It was the last business meeting before the City Council takes a July recess. (Wouldn’t a whole month off your job be nice??) The city seemed to be jamming a whole month of business into one meeting!

At first Mayor Tom Leppert tried to limit the animal control debate to just 15 minutes for each side because there was so much other business on the agenda. But Councilman Mitchell Rasansky complained about that and the others went along, allowing time to all the people who wanted to speak. With all the councilmembers comments the animal control debate lasted almost three hours. The councilmembers rarely limit their own comments, but this time Rasansky “called the question” twice! That’s a procedural move that ends the discussion and forces a vote. The city council has been discussing this issue for months. The members have had several chances to talk about it. Member Ron Natinsky tried to have the spay and neuter provision removed from the ordinance. That failed. Then the tougher ordinance passed. It also restricts dangerous animals and tethering of animals. Everyone agreed to those other parts.

Supporters believe sterilization will reduce pet over-population in Dallas. Strays are an enormous problem on the streets of many Dallas neighborhoods. Most animals taken to the City Shelter are put to sleep. Tons of animal remains are taken from the shelter to the landfill each year. Opponents believe the new rules will not be enforced, will not solve the problem, and unfairly charge responsible owners who are not to blame for strays wandering the streets of Dallas.

Here’s a link to my 5pm story:

http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=269314

What do you think???

For years neighbors along Lower Greenville in Dallas have complained about beer bottles and worse left in their yards after late night partying.

Now, expanded “RESIDENT PARKING ONLY” zones will help keep the visitors away on weekend nights.

Some neighbors complain it will forbid their friends from parking on their street, too.

Paul Fencl opposes the expanded zone saying the clubs and the fun they attract are what attracted him to the neighborhood years ago.

Activist Avi Adelman with the Belmont Neighborhood Association says he has more streets in mind to expand NPO even more around Lower Greenville.  Here’s a map of what’s been done so far:

What do you think??

Too Good To Be True..

That’s what the Feds say about Mortgage Fraud deals that have netted 9 people the past two days in North Texas and 60 across the country.  The government calls it Operation Malicious Mortgage.  The FBI and federal authorities from several other agencies have been running it since March 1st to crack down on mortgage fraud and in that time they report over 400 arrests nationwide.

According to a federal indictment, the latest North Texas case involves 11 incredibly overpriced houses that were purchased with values supported by allegedly crooked appraisers.  Straw buyers were recruited to apply for and receive the extremely large mortgages.  Then the defendants would quit making payments and abandon the properties, skimming big cash out of the deals, cheating the lenders.

Three of the 11 houses are in one block of Winterwood Lane in Far North Dallas.  Neighbors say the abandoned houses were a terrible problem a couple of years ago.  And the sky high sale prices artificially increased property tax values for the other houses.  All have since resold for much lower prices, some at auction after foreclosure.  One neighbor tells me they are still fighting to reduce their property tax appraisals to “fair” market value.

For sellers or potential buyers recruited to participate in such an “investment” scheme, the Feds warn, if it sounds to good to be true.. it is.  Thousands more of these potential mortgage fraud deals are under investigation.  So, beware!

Dallas is proposing an ACCIDENT RESPONSE FEE for non-residents unlucky enough to wind up in a wreck in Dallas.  City Councilmembers told their budget writers in May to find new revenue to help avoid a property tax rate increase.  This is one of the ideas they came up with.  City Manager Mary Suhm told me today she does not know exactly how much the fee would be but that she feels it is a fair way to assess the cost of city service on non-residents.  Councilmembers joked about the idea in a breifing today.  But they are desperate to solve a big budget shortfall projected for October 1st.  Also proposed is a fee to reserve best sellers at the library.   Many city services would be cut like street maintenance.  Dallas has been working hard to improve maintenance problems of all sorts that were allowed to worsen during past budget crunches.  Despite all the cuts and new revenue the city manager suggested today, some councilmembers are still urging a tax rate hike which Mayor Tom Leppert strongly opposes.

Here’s a link to my 6pm story on the budget talks today:

http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=266677

Here’s a link for today’s budget briefing document:

http://www.dallascityhall.com/council_briefings/briefings0608/budget_workshop_06182008.pdf

What do you think about it?

Dallas City Councilmembers say they want MORE red light cameras!

The cameras take pictures of vehicles that run red lights with a $75 penalty. Dallas has 60 cameras now. It planned to add 40 more. But citations dropped so low that those plans were put on hold and many of the original 60 have been turned off to save money while officials came up with a new strategy for using them. Officials presented their report Monday to the Dallas City Council Public Safety Committee.

At the original intersections there have been 56% fewer T-Bone wrecks as compared to before the cameras were installed. And there’s been a 60% drop in citations from those cameras.

With so much less red light running, revenue from the cameras is millions of dollars less than expected. But members of the committee said Monday they want more cameras, anyway.

It takes 3 citations a day to cover the cost of running the cameras. City officials say they’re having a hard time finding locations with enough red light violations to justify installing cameras. They say there’s been a “halo” effect from the existing cameras. Red light running is down in Dallas even at locations that don’t have cameras.

For now the city will add new cameras to 5 more intersections for a total of 65. They will move 23 cameras from places where violations are the lowest to different locations that would benefit from cameras. The committee endorsed the plan. But several council members said they believe there are many more intersections that could benefit from cameras. They told the city officials to look for more locations and cautioned against counting on revenue.

The elected officials all said it’s not about the money. They like the safety improvements.

Here’s the NBC5 story: http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=263832

Tell me what you think.

Thieves have victimized True Lee Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas twice in the past two weeks.  The latest crime occurred early Monday morning when burglars broke in and rolled a hidden safe out of a closet and then out of the church!! 

Surveillance cameras caught the hooded burglars but don’t do much to help put them in jail.  So the church is offering a thousand dollar reward for their arrest! 

A thousand dollars is no small sum for this humble church in the Dallas Fair Park area on Bertrand at Scyene.  Metal thieves damaged the church air conditioning June 1st.   But these burglars got away with thousands from the church.  Pastor Donald Parish wants them caught. 

Autopsy results indicate it was a murder-suicide that killed a Plano couple connected to a high profile steroids investigation and NOT an outside hit to silence the convicted dealer.  David Jacobs was sentenced to a fine and probation last month for dealing in performance enhancing drugs.  The NFL confirms he had spoken with investigators in a probe of possible steroid use by football players.  He and his on and off girlfriend Amanda Jo Erhart-Savell were found shot to death early Thursday in his Plano home.  Both were body builders.  The woman was a frequent model in fitness magazines.

Thursday police said that the woman had multiple gunshot wounds and that Jacobs had TWO gunshot wounds.  Can that be the result of suicide?  Friday the Dallas County Medical Examiner ruled Jacobs’ death was indeed the result of self inflicted gunshot wounds, one to the abdomen and one to the head.  Only one gun was found in the house and it was beside Jacobs’ body.  Evidently, Jacobs killed the woman with that gun, wounded himself in the abdomen, then killed himself with the shot to the head.

Jacobs won’t be talking anymore, but an NFL spokesman says the steroids investigation will continue.  He says it is premature to name any players but that any confirmed violations will receive discipline.

Volunteers last fall started to install a big irrigation system on Winfrey Point at Dallas White Rock Lake.  It was for 75 young trees planted in October by different volunteers.  In February we found the irrigation pipes exposed in open trenches and neighbor told us it had been that way for MONTHS!  Officials with The City of Dallas Park Department told me they would finish the system and correct sloppy work the volunteers had done.  They told me it was working in March.  Wednesday neighbor Hal Barker showed us dead and dying trees beside the lake that he says never received any water from the faulty irrigation system.  He says city mowers have repeatedly damaged the system and that the city never really got it working properly.  City park official Reginald Hurd told me the system DOES work but he agrees there have been many unfortunate problems and he promises again to make things right. 

Dallas plans a much larger show place park downtown along the Trinity River.  Hal Barker wonders if Dallas has a problem like this with a smaller park it already has, how will it ever maintain the giant new Trinity River Park.  What do you think??