Judge: Crackdown on Illegals Illegal

Federal Judge Sam Lindsay’s smackdown of Farmers Branch and its anti-illegal immigration law came as no surprise.

Months ago, the judge minced no words when he issued a preliminary injunction, forbidding the city from enforcing the law. It sought to restrict illegal immigrants from renting homes.  The judge’s ruling Wednesday made that temporary injunction permanent.

Judge Lyndsay summed up a long written order by saying it’s the federal government’s sole responsibility to enforce the nation’s immigration laws and determine who is here legally.

Both sides are very passionate in this debate, so that makes it an interesting story to cover.  And I’ve been there from the beginning, when then-city councilman Tim O’Hare first brought up his controversial idea and the issue exploded, landing Farmers Branch in the national spotlight.

Now, Councilman O’Hare is Mayor O’Hare, and he won with widespread support of the city’s voters.

Critics say it’s not only unconstitutional, but also a waste of money. They say taxpayers have doled out more than a million dollars for lawyers to defend an ordinance which has never been enforced and may never be.  Mayor O’Hare says the correct figure is more like $700,000.

Whatever the exact number, a hundred thousand here and a hundred thousand there adds up.  And the legal fees won’t get any cheaper if it goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which it could.

I wonder if backers of the crackdown will decide at some point that it’s just not worth the cost, especially with no guarantee of an ultimate victory.

A lot of other cities are watching.  The new mayor of Carrollton, for example, is in touch with O’Hare and is interested in cracking down on illegal immigrants in that city. But it’s taxpayers in Farmers Branch who will foot the legal bill for now.

They say there are two sides to every story. I don’t know if that’s true, but it sure is in this case.

It’ll be a fascinating legal fight to watch, and we’ll try to continue to provide people with unbiased reporting all the way.  We give you both sides.  You decide who’s right.

Raid in Hurst: Should Gambling Be a Crime?

I’m a little surprised that my story from over the weekend about a raid on a gambling house in Hurst is generating so much buzz. Twenty-two comments, at last count, at the bottom of the web story.

To some, it might seem like overkill. A “SWAT team” going in and raiding the place — a house that had been converted into a professional poker operation off Highway 10, also called “Hurst Boulevard.”

Police hauled the 10 organizers and employees to jail and charged them with engaging in organized crime, a felony. The customers got misdemeanor citations, something similar to speeding tickets, and were allowed to leave.

Investigators seized the cards and chips and several large Texas Hold ‘Em tables as evidence. They also recovered about seven thousand dollars in cash.

A victimless crime? Yes and no.

Yes, everyone was there voluntarily. Nobody gets hurt. Police found no drugs or guns in the house.

But no, the argument can be made that the state is the victim. Do you really think the operators paid taxes on their thousands of dollars in profits?  Organized gambling, where the house keeps a cut, is against the law.

The debate seems to be whether it really rises to the level of sending in undercover cops and a SWAT team to shut it down.  In defense of the police, how else are they going to do it other than simply ignore it?  (20-30 cars parked in front of a house every night is hard to ignore.) The cops are just enforcing the law that we as a society passed.

Yes, there are more serious crimes out there. A lot more serious. And police enforce those laws, too.

Think gambling should be legal? Marijuana too? And what about prostitution? Those could also be considered “victimless” crimes.  Laws change all the time. Example, prohibition…

So it seems to me that if someone wants to criticize the law, that’s fair game.  It’s a lot’s more on target than blasting the cops for doing their jobs.

What do you think?

Does Anyone Fax Anymore?

I was working on a story the other day when someone asked me for my fax number to send a written statement.

It occurred to me it had been months, if not years, since anyone faxed me anything.

These days, “What’s your e-mail?” has replaced “What’s your fax number” as the favored way to send information.

Just an observation.  I’m not sure what this means but it is interesting how these things change over time.

Judge: Apologize or Go to Jail

Former Dallas City council member James Fantroy got a 30-day prison sentence today for embezzling money from Paul Quinn College.

Interestingly, the judge told him if he would have admit his guilt and apologize, his jail sentence will be suspended. Fantroy would still have to spent 180 days confined in his home.

The case stems from the FBI’s public corruption investigation at Dallas City Hall, but the charges against Fantroy ended up having nothing to do with his work at City Hall.

Fantroy is a sick man, and his failing health no doubt played a role in the judge’s sentence.

I’m just wondering what the reaction is from the public. Certainly seems like a light sentence. What about the judge’s comments that he would waive the jail time?

The argument could certainly be made that a crime is a crime, and whether a criminal has remorse or not shouldn’t play a major role in his sentence.

Word from Fantroy’s attorney is he plans to apologize. But with the judge forcing him into it, how will we ever know if he’s sincere, or just trying to avoid going to jail?

What do you think?  For background, I’ve posted the entire news release from the U.S. Attorney’s office below.

Frantic Mother Waits Hour for Ambulance

What took Fort Worth’s ambulance service, Medstar, an hour to arrive after a panicked mother whose baby had stopped breathing called 911?

My TV story tonight already ran long, and I didn’t have time to squeeze in some of the details I would have liked… So for all you out there that want some more information, here you go.

A MOTHER’S CALL FOR HELP

Nancy Milliken’s 13-month-old girl Aidyn had briefly stopped breathing and was having a seizure.

“She was just shaking, and she wasn’t breathing, and she was turning blue.”

But because the baby started breathing again and seemed to be stable, Medstar gave the call a low priority — Priority 3.

Frantic when an ambulance never came, the mother called 911 back three times!

“Do you know when somebody is going to be here?”

DELAYED RESPONSE

The first two ambulances that were dispatched got diverted to higher-priority calls.  There was a rash of emergencies at the same time, said Jack Eades, Medstar’s executive director.

Eades apologized for the delay and said he offered no excuses.

A third ambulance, dispatched later from JPS Hospital to the family’s home in far west Fort Worth, got stuck in traffic on I-30.  It finally arrived an incredible 59 minutes after the mother’s first 911 call for help. 

Nearly a full hour!

PRIORITIZING CALLS

Obviously any ambulance service has to prioritize calls.  The really sick or injured people need help before those who can wait.  Triage 101.

Medstar says a preliminary review indicates the dispatcher gave the call the correct priority.

But nobody can argue that an hour is a reasonable amount of time to wait for an ambulance in any emergency.  The “goal” for Priority 3 calls is to arrive in 15 minutes or less.

DELAY IN CALLING FIRE DEPARTMENT

The other part of this story is why Medstar waited 44 minutes to ask the fire department for help. Ironically, there’s a station just a few blocks away. Once dispatched, firefighters were able to arrive within minutes to help before paramedics finally got there.

The truth is firefighters are usually dispatched on Priority 1 and 2 calls, not on Priority 3.  So dispatchers followed protocal.

But why not send firefighters in such an extreme case? Sure would have made a lot of sense, and director Eades all but admitted so.

PARAMEDIC SHORTAGE

Medstar has battled response time problems on and off for years. The basic problem is a shortage of paramedics. Medstar has 20 empty positions right now.  It is stepping up recruitment efforts, offering to pay for recruits to go through 8 months of training. But many young paramedics choose to work for cities that run their own ambulance service, where they can make more money and better benefits.

HAPPY ENDING

As it turns out, this story has a happy ending. The baby is fine. Doctors say she did have a seizure from a high fever caused by a virus. But no lasting damage.

Let’s hope if there’s another delay this long, that story won’t have a more tragic ending.

UPDATE: New Info on NorthPark Shooting

I just spoke with a friend of Mary Boyd, the woman who was shot in the face at NorthPark Center on Friday night.

The friend, Christina Adcock, is acting as the family’s spokeswoman.  She says Boyd is doing better today and “grateful to be alive.”

She also offered new details of the shooting.

Boyd was in her Ford pickup waiting to pick up her daughter from the movie theater when a gunman approached her passenger door and said, “Open the door, I have a gun!”

The truck was already running, so a panicked Boyd put it in drive and sped off. The gunman followed, firing two shots before he fled.

Boyd was hit by one of the bullets. It went through one side of her cheekbone, went through her sinuses, ricocheted off her other cheekbone and came out her ear, barely missing her brain.

Boyd never lost consciousness and tried to call 911 but couldn’t see the number on her cell phone. So she drove to the nearby valet stand at Nordstrom, and they helped her.

The attack was totally random, Adcock said, adding the family would like to thank the doctors and staff at Baylor Medical Center for all they have done for her.

NorthPark Mall Statement

In my last post, I mentioned that a NorthPark spokeswoman had not returned my phone calls from Friday night after the shooting.

Over the weekend, the mall issued the following statement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NORTHPARK MANAGEMENT COMPANY

OFFERS A $25,000 REWARD

DALLAS, Texas – On Friday night an incident resulting in a personal injury occurred in NorthPark’s far north parking lot, 50 feet off Park Lane. It appears to have been a spontaneous and random act.

The Dallas Police Department is responding to all questions with regard to the matter, and NorthPark is cooperating fully with the police in their investigation. The management of NorthPark Center takes the safety and well being of each of our patrons very seriously, and has always undertaken to provide the highest level of security. We will continue to do so. Lawless acts of any kind will not be tolerated at NorthPark Center, and anyone engaged in criminal activity at NorthPark Center will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

NorthPark Management Company is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspect. The DPD report number is 145046-V. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 214.760.8477. This reward will remain in effect for one (1) year.

Our heartfelt wishes are with the victim and her family.

For Information Contact:

Christine Szalay

NorthPark Center

 

 

NorthPark Mall Bans Reporters from Shooting Scene

It’s the kind of story that gets peoples’ attention, and understandably so.

For new details, click here.

For mall statement, click here.

A woman waiting for her daughter outside the movie theater at NorthPark Center was shot in the face Friday night. Police have made no arrests and don’t seem to know a motive.

I was one of the reporters sent to the scene to try to gather information about what happened for NBC 5.

When we arrived, we saw lots of police cars outside the mall. We parked and started to get out our camera.

Two mall security guards and a mall manager quickly swarmed around us.

“Off the property,” the manager said. “You need to get off the property.”

Pit Bulls Attack; Should They be Outlawed?

Tonight I covered a very sad story about two pit bulls that viciously attacked a little 3-year-old Fort Worth girl.

Details of the attack were too gruesome to put on TV. But let’s just say it will be a miracle if she survives.

This isn’t the first story like this I’ve covered, and I’m just wondering if pit bulls should ever be around young children.

I’m all for protecting people’s rights to have pets, but I just think pitbulls are vicious by nature.

How many children have to be mauled or killed before people decide pit bulls don’t make good pets.

Just my opinion. What do you think?

The War on the Texas-Mexico Border

Just across the Texas border in Mexico, the drug war appears to be spiralling out of control.

Cities like Ciudad Juarez, just across from El Paso, are virtual war zones.

This weekend, the Juarez police director was assassinated, and seven men were murdered in a nearby town in suspected drug-related violence. And that’s despite the presence of thousands of Mexican Army troops.

So far in Juarez this year (and it’s only May), 300 people have lost their lives.

I have gone to the border several times over the years to report on the drug violence there.  I was there in 1997, soon after the death of drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes. That was the last time things were this bad.

I reported on Carrillo Fuentes, whose nickname was “Lord of the Skies” because he controlled a fleet of planes to smuggle drugs.  His death kicked off a turf war.  His brother Vicente won, according to U.S. law enforcement officials.

This most recent violence is attributed to a battle between Vicente and rivals from the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

The next few weeks could be key. Thousands more Mexican soldiers are expected to arrive in and around Juarez. And that could help calm the bloodshed, at least for awhile.

The very real fear, of course, is that Mexico will lose the little control it now has, and the violence will spill across the border into Texas.

Remember, Juarez is just one city along a very long border. Other cities, like Nuevo Laredo across from Laredo, Texas, have also seen widespread violence.

For now, it appears the government of President Felipe Calderon is serious about continuing its drug crackdown.  Just days ago, Calderon attended the funeral of a top federal law enforcement official for Mexico’s equivalent of the FBI, who was gunned down in Mexico City, presumably at the hands of the drug lords.

Optimistic government officials says it’s a sign of desperation from a cartel that is on the run.

But in the past, the drug barons have proven they are better armed than the government and have, in effect, controlled large sections of the border where local cops and politicians are on their payroll.

So many billions of dollars are at stake, I can’t help but think where there’s a demand (in the U.S.), someone will step up to supply it.  The drug war, it seems, is nowhere near over.