star-telegram.com: Arlington

Illegal immigrants can stay in Grand Prairie for now

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:33 CDT

By PATRICK McGEE

A woman, her son and two daughters who came to the United States illegally out of fear of criminals who killed their husband and father can stay in the country.

A deportation order will not be carried out for Ana Medrano and her children, ages 10, 13 and 18.

They will remain in the United States under the supervision of immigration officials, said the family's lawyer, Fernando Dubove.

"I am grateful to all of the people who put in their grain of sand" on the family's behalf, Medrano, 46, said of the decision, made last month.

"My children are also very grateful," Medrano added.

Gunned down

Medrano, husband Jose Arturo and their children were caught by the U.S. Border Patrol crossing into the U.S. in November 2006.

They were fleeing their native El Salvador, where, they say, a criminal gang shot at their house while they were inside.

The family believes that the attack was aimed at intimidating them into paying a local gang a "tax" on their 10 cattle.

The family fled hoping to reach relatives in Grand Prairie, but they were stopped in McAllen. Arturo was deported almost immediately, despite his protests that his life was in danger in El Salvador.

Eight months later, he was gunned down in his truck. The family showed a video of local news coverage of Arturo's slaying to the media, an immigration judge and immigration officials in their campaign to convince authorities that El Salvador is unsafe for them.

The video shows Arturo motionless and slumped out of his truck.

His baseball hat lies nearby, and yellow police tags dot the crime scene to mark where bullet casings were found. It was his 46th birthday.

About a month after Arturo was deported, Medrano and her family were bailed out of federal custody by their relatives. They stayed with them in Grand Prairie while they pressed their case to remain in the U.S.

Medrano gave a copy of the news video to federal immigration Judge Anthony Rogers and showed him her children's report cards when she appeared before him in February in Dallas.

Rogers made a ruling that technically allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to decide the Medranos' fate.

'The right steps'

Dubove said ICE will not act on an order of deportation.

"They are subject to regular review by Immigration, who could say: 'Hey, you know what? Things are safe. You have to go home now,'" he said. "But the reality is that's not going to happen. They're going to be here for a long time."

Nuria Prendes, field office director for ICE's Dallas office of Detention and Removal Operations, said in a statement that the decision was made on humanitarian grounds and is a "form of temporary relief from deportation that is granted only in the most exceptional cases."

Slideshow: Feds auction drug dealer's 7-room house

Mon, 12 May 2008 22:17 CDT

Capehart, LeBlanc re-elected in Arlington; at-large seats head to runoff

Sun, 11 May 2008 08:58 CDT

By Sally Claunch and Susan Schrock

ARLINGTON -- City Council members Sheri Capehart and Mel LeBlanc were re-elected Saturday, but the open, at-large District 6 and 7 seats will be decided by a runoff June 14.

Turnout was 5.6 percent of the 186,578 registered Arlington municipal voters.

At-large District 6

Robert Shepard, an attorney and former Planning and Zoning Commission member, garnered 47.2 percent of the vote in unofficial results. But it wasn't enough for a clear win over opponent Vera McKissic, an education minister at Cornerstone Baptist Church in southeast Arlington. McKissic won 36.8 percent of the vote.

The rest of the field was far behind, with political newcomers Dennis Hackler taking 6.5 percent of votes; Brian Willett, 5.5 percent; and Joseph Farah, 4.1 percent.

Shepard, 49, was the top money raiser with more than $35,000 in campaign contributions reported through early May. McKissic, 50, reported spending more than $30,000, most of it from a personal loan.

Shepard said: "With five candidates in the race, it's kind of impossible for it not to be a runoff. We'll gear up for the next one."

McKissic has recently been under attack by a former political consultant who sent computerized messages to more than 16,000 likely voters urging them to vote for anyone other than her. She was also targeted by an Arlington Police Association mailer that called her "confrontational."

On Saturday night, McKissic said she expected the race to be close, adding, "We'll just huddle up and start from ground zero."

The winner will succeed Councilman Steve McCollum, who did not seek a fifth term.

At-large District 7

The District 7 race was even closer. Former Arlington school district Trustee Michael Glaspie will face certified public accountant Jimmy Bennett, 47.

Bennett, a community volunteer, won 42.9 percent of the vote, and Glaspie, a minister at Mount Olive Baptist Church minister, had 44.8 percent.

Bennett, a first-time candidate, reported spending more than $26,000 on his campaign through early May. Glaspie, who served 17 years on the school board, reported spending more than $29,000.

The youngest candidate in the race, Robert Martin, 19, won 12.4 percent of the vote.

The winner will succeed Mayor Pro Tem Ron Wright, who did not seek a fifth term.

Southwest Arlington District 2

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Sheri Capehart won a fifth term decisively over opponent John Jenkins, with 64.3 percent of the vote to his 35.7 percent.

About 6.5 percent of registered southwest Arlington voters turned out.

Capehart, 59, said she will continue working to improve roadways and sidewalks so that children have safe routes to school. She said she will also keep working to ensure quality development.

Area police are on the lookout for underage drinking

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:37 CDT

By Mitch Mitchell

The combination of graduation ceremonies, Memorial Day weekend and the end of school makes May and early June the second-biggest party season of the year behind Christmas, police said.

Through June 8, officers will aggressively search for parties with underage drinkers and will adopt a zero-tolerance stance on such activities, Arlington, Grand Prairie and Fort Worth authorities said in a statement.

"If you're under 21 and you've had any amount of alcohol, you're going to jail," said Sgt. Donald Fulbright of the Arlington police. "We're cracking down."

If a teen drives away from a party after drinking alcoholic beverages and hurts or kills someone, the adults supervising that party could be held partly responsible.

"More and more, we're responding to locations where parents are providing the alcohol, thinking that kids are going to drink anyway and we might as well provide it here where we can control it," Fulbright said.

Underage drinkers and any parents or adults who facilitate their illegal and dangerous behavior will be targeted, police said.

Criminal and civil penalties may apply.

Charges could include minor in possession, public intoxication and providing alcohol to minors.

This year, four fatal wrecks in Arlington have involved alcohol, and test results are pending in three more, Fulbright said.

On Feb. 22, a Dodge Ram driven by Brandon Lee Burchfield of Arlington veered into oncoming traffic in the 600 block of Debbie Lane and collided with a vehicle driven by a mother of three, Nogaelda Zavala, 38, of Alvarado. Zavala was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

Two of her children were trapped in the car with Zavala while she was dying, according to relatives.

Burchfield faces intoxication-manslaughter and intoxication-assault charges, police said.

"We're not saying that parties are bad," Fulbright said. "Parents must make it clear that there is going to be no alcohol and if you bring some, we're calling your parents and having them pick you up and take you home."

Kennedale students making leaps in district foundation's fundraiser

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:37 CDT

By Eva-Marie Ayala

Here's a deal to jump on.

Or jump for.

On May 23, Kennedale students, school staff and even city employees will participate in what organizers hope will become an annual Jump-a-Thon fundraiser for the Kennedale ISD Educational Foundation.

Participants are looking for sponsors to make donations for each six-minute interval they jump-rope. The maximum amount of time students can jump is one hour. Money raised will go to the foundation's innovative-teaching grants, which are given out twice a year. Organizers note that if $10 is raised for each student in the district, that would bring in about $30,000.

A grand video

The students at Ben Barber Career Tech Academy are making their mark with video production this year.

Recently, a team from the school won the grand prize in the annual Teen VideoFest, created by Tarrant County Public Health and conducted with the help of the Lone Star Film Society. Students are encouraged to submit a video about a health issue facing today's teens and offer ways to address the concern.

Drake Hurr and Tyler Terhall, both of Legacy High, and Jeremy Lester of Mansfield High produced a video called Talk About It, which encourages their peers to be aware of others and how one can make a difference by reaching out to those feeling isolated. More than 70 videos were entered.

The team won $500 for the grand prize and $500 for taking first place in the mental-health category. Meanwhile, the boys' video will be part of the health department's permanent collection for educational use by others in the community.

Earlier this year, a group of students produced a music video at Ben Barber with the help of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. You can see that video at the Star-Telegram's education blog, Extra Credit.

Battle of the Books

Now here's a mind game for you.

Last week, Mansfield had its sixth annual Battle of the Books, a districtwide quiz for elementary students.

Throughout the school year, students can elect to participate in campus book clubs or teams reading from a predetermined list of books.

They learn to read for comprehension and details so they can be the first to answer questions about the stories.

On Wednesday, about 500 students gathered at the Anderson Education Complex for the daylong battle. Coming out on top were the Davis Raging Readers from Davis Elementary.

TIME FRAMES

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:40 CDT

Mother's Day 1924

Perhaps on Mother's Day 1924, Marie Cole Greene fondly perused the pages of this Baby Mine booklet in which she had carefully recorded special information about her newborn son. Alvin C. Greene Jr. was born on Nov. 4, 1923, in Abilene.

Two days after his birth, he weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Little did Marie Greene realize that her own mother, librarian Maude Cole, would nurture a love of books and writing in the boy that would mold him into a luminary Texas author. This passion for the written word spawned A.C. Greene's career in newspapers, radio and television.

He became a recognized authority on Dallas and Texas history and, before his death in 2002, wrote 27 books, including Personal Country, The Santa Claus Bank Robbery and 900 Miles on the Butterfield Trail.

The A.C. Greene Papers include original manuscript materials, short stories, poetry, screenplays, newspaper columns, research materials, correspondence, photographs and mementos such as this baby book.

Source: A.C. Greene Papers

The University of Texas at Arlington Library offers a diverse collection of materials on the history of Texas and the Southwest. Each week, readers get a glimpse of the past with an image from Special Collections. 817-272-3393, library.uta.edu/spco.

Lending her voice to help out others

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:38 CDT

By Angie Summers

ARLINGTON -- Her apartment at The Claremont is filled with books, music boxes, mementos and photographs from her travels all over the world.

Two things, however, reflect Adell Campbell's life these days.

The first is a copy of Pablo Picasso's famous sketch Don Quixote framed on her dining-room wall. It's appropriate for Campbell, who fights battles for the mentally and physically disabled and the elderly.

The second, a box of newspaper clippings, reflects her thirst for knowledge and is full of possible topics for her radio program.

For 2 1/2 years, Campbell has educated and entertained listeners with The Eyes of North Texas. The radio broadcast airs twice a week on North Texas Radio for the Blind, part of the nonprofit Reading and Radio Resource Center that produces radio programs and textbooks on tape for the visually impaired.

Campbell, 84, isn't the type of person who sits still and lets life pass by. She will be honored Monday with the Outstanding Advocate for Older Americans award during a reception hosted by the Tarrant County Area Agency on Aging.

What is North Texas Radio for the Blind?

The radio serves about 3,000 listeners who -- because of vision, learning or physical limitations -- cannot read for themselves. The center produces and broadcasts informational programs such as mine, community updates and readings of newspapers, magazines, newsletters and books every day of the year.

How can people hear your program?

Any listener who is certified as print-impaired by a physician or social worker can receive a special agency-supplied receiver, which will decode our signal that is carried by KERA/90.1 FM. Listeners will have to live within 70 miles of towers located at Cedar Hill, but the device is provided free of charge.

What type of issues do you examine?

When I first started doing this, the station manager told me, "You have no limitations. You are only limited by good taste."

We've had programs about cultural events, current events and just informational programs. Some of them include the Fort Worth Zoo, the Dallas Museum of Art, an Egyptologist, self-defense for the disabled, a senior citizens crime watch patrol, grandparenting and a program by Sam Nix about teaching history through rap music. Some upcoming shows will include Matt Fagan, who will discuss the Big Thicket National Preserve; and Nancy Stoner, a senior attorney and director of the Clean Water Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

How did you get involved in helping the mentally and physically disabled and senior citizens?

I found a bunch of people who were getting the short end of the stick, and that made me mad.

What is a major issue the elderly face?

I call it the hidden fear. Many times, the elderly person may be on food stamps and struggling to get by. But they refuse to try and get better services or more money that they may qualify for. They are so afraid they will lose what little they have that they won't try for more. We need to educate the elderly about what services are available and how to get them.

What do you hate about getting older?

After a certain age, you become invisible. It aggravates me that if I go into a store with a younger person, they will automatically ask the younger person questions, as if I cannot hear or see well when I'm right in front of them. There's also a lack of respect. It doesn't matter whether we deserve it or not, the elderly should get respect.

Adell Campbell

Whatever floats their boats

Sun, 11 May 2008 07:37 CDT

ARLINGTON -- Contestants entered 138 boats in the 19th annual Cardboard Boat Regatta at Hurricane Harbor on May 3. Proceeds from their entry fees and other funds collected for the event go to River Legacy Foundation programs.

BRIEFS

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:38 CDT

Rig blowout kills 1 man, injures 5

SAN ANTONIO -- A man has died after he and five other workers were injured in a drilling rig blowout in a Southwest Texas oil field. Jesse Beltran died early Friday, a day after the blast three miles southwest of Carrizo Springs, officials said. All five of the others injured have been treated and released, said a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center. The Premium Oil Co. drilling crew was working the rig when the drill bit hit a gas pocket, said Carrizo Springs Fire Marshal Joe Rodriguez. The bit caused a spark that ignited the gas about 10 a.m. Thursday.

Carrizo Springs is about 100 miles southwest of San Antonio.

-- The Associated Press

Cash, drugs vanish from property room

GALVESTON -- The disappearance of cash and drugs from the Galveston Police Department's property room has led to the dismissal of 16 cases and a Texas Rangers audit of 2,100 other cases. Local officers began a criminal investigation after about $18,000 in cash and an undisclosed amount of cocaine, hydrocodone and Ecstasy disappeared from the property room last month. A civilian employee was fired, but no one has been charged with a crime. City officials have declined to identify the fired employee. Charges likely won't be filed until the state's investigation is complete, City Manager Steve LeBlanc said.

-- The Associated Press

3,000 bighearted volunteers help make olympics special

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:37 CDT

By Angie Summers

When Twila Meyer started dating her husband, volunteering with Special Olympics was part of the package.

Jim Meyer's aunt was born with Down syndrome, and his whole family donated time to the nonprofit organization.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the couple continue to give back.

They will be among nearly 3,000 volunteers who will greet, time, stage, escort, measure, pass out water and do anything else that's required during the Special Olympic Summer Games starting May 22 at the University of Texas at Arlington.

That's one volunteer for each child and adult with mental disabilities who will come from all over the state to compete.

It doesn't take much skill, Twila Meyer said, just an open heart.

"We're huggers; that's our job," she said.

The couple assists athletes competing in the pentathlon, but also gives high-fives, runs the track or just cheers for all the athletes.

About 2,800 athletes will compete in track and field, basketball, cycling, gymnastics, soccer and tennis.

The Games get under way May 22 and continue through the afternoon of May 25.

The Summer Games are the largest of the statewide competitions, which are held four times a year in various venues. They are staged in a city for three consecutive years before moving to another.

The Summer Games have also been held in San Marcos.

Arlington is a favorite spot for the organization because it has enough accommodations for athletes, families, coaches and supporting staff, said Andi Baca Kelly, Special Olympics public relations coordinator.

Plus, we're a generous bunch.

Kelly said residents are willing to volunteer their time.

"All you have to do is just show up," Meyer said.

"It's a big deal for these athletes because they train all year long to make it."

No experience is required, but there is a brief orientation.

All ages are welcome, but volunteers ages 8 to 14 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Children younger than 7 are encouraged to help by cheering for the competitors.