James Stephen Watts, 64, know as "Steve" to his friends was a quiet man.  A lover of animals,  he'd help a stray at anytime of day of night.  He was an antique collector and interior designer.   He lived in Kessler Park, a low violent crime rate neighborhood.   He was a soft-spoken man who had no known enemies.  No one could think of who would want to hurt Steve, let alone kill him.

Steve died the same weekend that there was a quadruple homicide in McKinney, so his story didn't get much news coverage.  But if it were a slow news week, it would probably headlined something like: "Kessler Park Man Beaten to Death in Home."   Police were surprised that they had not received any tips, even with a reward that was offered.  Six years later, you can barely find any reference to this murder on Google.  The case has truly grown cold.   What happened to Steve is clear to police, but the who and why have escaped them.

On March 12, 2004 Steve's brother made arrangements to visit him from another Texas city.   He arrived at the airport but Steve was not there to pick him up as planned.   He called Steve's cell phone but got no answer.  Steve's brother eventually took a cab to the house.  When he arrived the door was locked and no one answered.  Sensing that something was terrible wrong, he forced open the door.   Inside he found his brother, who had been beaten to death.   Missing from Steve's home were some small items of value.   The police questioned a few people vigorously, but there were no arrests and the case went cold.

The sad miscategorization of this crime is that there are news articles that lump Steve' death in with other unsolved gay men's murders.  This was a very personal crime, not a hate crime.

After 6 years police have no solid leads.  They assume the killer may be someone from Steve's personal life, but they are certain it was not a stranger.   If anyone has any information about this unsolved homicide, please call Det. John Davision of Dallas Homicide at 214-671-3687.

Dallas City Council has approved some interesting proposals during the August 12 meeting.  

They have authorized the rental of a venue for six terrorism awareness training seminars for first responders of Dallas Police, Dallas Fire-Rescue and other agencies of the North Texas area.  Although the funds are paid by the Dept. of Homeland security, the authorized fee can go up to $70,320.

Meanwhile in that same meeting, the council authorized an an increase in the contract with A & R Demolition for additional work due to unforeseen conditions encountered during the demolition of Reunion Arena.  Apparently 84 days was added to the contract as well as $49,800.  This brings the total days for demolition to 300, and the total cost to $2,138,800.  I know reunion area needed some updating, but one must wonder why we couldn't update it and continue to bring in revenue to the city?   Texas stadium was built in 1971.  Reunion arena was built in 1980.  Perhaps there were a few good years left.  In February, Councilwoman Angela Hunt said the city may have overlooked possible uses for the site.  "The Parks Department has a shortage of indoor soccer space and is seeking to build more facilities."  Hunt said.

I know that Dave Ramsey, the radio host  (heard on KLIF at 1pm) who gives seminars on becoming debt free came to Reunion in Feb of 2007.  Dave has multi-city tours yearly, and when he wanted to return in 2008, there was a delay in announcing his Dallas visit.  One caller to the radio show asked about it, and Dave explained that his staff is working on coming to Dallas but the venue he previously visited was being demolished and they were searching for a new venue.  Dave gave his presentation The Potter's House.
   
So with Dallas as the owner of Reunion Arena, presumably we would not have to pay $70k to rent a venue for terrorism training.  Are we having wrecker's remorse?

This article writen by Joanne Carroll

I'm not a fan of Beck.  I've listened and watched him several times, but he seems overanimated and without depth to me. Also, he seems to use Mark Levin's material from Liberty & Tyranny without attribution. 

Nevertheless, there has been selective outrage over Beck's recent comments regarding Henry Louis  Gates Jr.  A total of at least 20 advertisers have pulled ads from his Fox News program. 

What did Beck Say?  While discussing the arrest of the Harvard profession by Officer Crowley,and Obama's witless rush to judge that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly", Beck said:   "This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture, I don't know what it is ..." 

Beck continued  "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."

But wasn't it divisive when Keith Olbermann invited an angry actress named Janeane Garafalo on his show to dismiss conservative protestors as "a bunch of racists?" As Olbermann mumbled audible sounds of encouragement, Garafalo added: "Let's be very honest about what this is about . . .This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. This is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks."

That was race speech.  But ColorofChange.org didn't boycot Olbermann. Why weren't Olbermann's advertisers pulling out?

The outrage against playing the race card in politics is selective.  If you're on the left, you are the victims that need the watch groups to advocate for you.  But if you are on the right, you are the big bad racists who needs to be called out and punished.   We should consider boycotting the victims.
 

Dallas will implement a  city-wide daytime curfew for students this week.  All students up to age 17, inside the Dallas city limits, are subject to the law.  As a conservative with some Libertarian views, this is an interesting topic to ponder.

From 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on school days, a police officer is obliged to determine if the student has a defense to prosecution, as defined in the ordinance (for example, school is not in session, or student is on a field trip) for being out of school.  If not, nothing happens and the student is free to go.

Some say this is a violation of civil liberties.  We could make a case for that, certainly.  But lets define Liberty.

Liberty is a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the right to act according to his or her own will.

This ordinance is not to restrict the freedom of an individual, although it does assume that they don't know what's best for themselves.

As adults, we can see clearly that an education leads to skills, which leads to gainful employment and purpose in life.  But young people, who have the propensity to skip school are not able to grasp this path.  So as adults, we are trying to shape and mold their futures in a positive direction.  Being out of school when a student should be in class leads to unhibited actions, they might not otherwise take.  They are bored and want to entertain themselves, thus opens the door for potentially downtrodden behavior that affects, not only the student, but society as well.  So the intent or this ordinance is not to restrict, but to guide.

So I ask you, where should school age children be on a school day?

 This article written by Joanne Carroll

Dallas has a released a new budget for 2009 -2010.  There are some interesting estimates for certain departments.    One that stood out was under the Dallas Water Utilities section. 

This article written by Joanne Carroll

DART Level Boarding.  Financially Unlevel

.

DART has recently started their “Level Boarding Project”.  It is a several day project per platform, to shape the platform to be level with the SLRV cars.  These are the new Super-Light-Rail-Vehicles that have a low floor.  They are longer and have a greater passenger capacity.

These cars accommodate wheel-chair passengers, strollers and bicycles without a lift since they are level with the platform.  The cars have a place to hang a bicycle, as well as straps to hold onto for standing passengers.  This increases the passenger capacity from the usual 75 people per car to a 100 person capacity, and up to 200 people if most were standing.

Over all this is a great idea, but it was an afterthought.  This came about years after DART had created the ramp platform at the front of every train for the disabled.

So how much is it costing to re-shape the platforms to be level with one car per train?   It’s an astonishing amount, considering that there aren’t hoards of people with strollers, bicycles and in wheelchairs inundating the train’s operator at every stop.

The construction was performed in three lots.  Lot One included 12 platforms at $90,533 each, to total  $1,121,423.   What could possibly cost $90k per platform?  The breakdown on these overpriced speed bump are:
Demolition-$12,941.
 Site Preparation-$2,400.
Metal Fabrication $5,800.
Special Use Platforms (humps) $62,392.  And this is only Lot One.

In the General Requirements Section of the proposal there is a whopping $12,000 allocated to “Maintenance and Control of Pedestrian Traffic”.  But on the platform,
there were just a  few signs, some
barriers  and guys walking around
in orange vests.  Not a lot of
“Maintenance and Control” going on.

 

Lot Two has manholes grates that cost $13,493 each.

Lot Three’s cost varied from $103k for the Walnut Hill platform to $779k for the Union Station platform.  There is a “Tree Pruning Laborer” that makes $35 per hour and a “Tree Pruning Foreman” that makes $46 per hour.  I don’t recall a lot of trees overhanging the Union Station Platform.

Aside from the cost, the newly formed platforms have a grade that is unmarked and curbs that protrude into the walk area with no signs or special painted markings.  So you may end up in a wheelchair by tripping over the oddly
placed curbs.  Then you             
could use the SLRV cars,
once the stanchions are    
removed.

 

Stanchions are the center
pole in the middle of the
door of the new rail cars.
They make the door width
only 24”, when a standard,
non-motorized wheelchair has a base of 28”.  So there will be more labor involved to remove those poles once the platform leveling is completed.

So what did all this platform rearrangement cost?  How about $4,043,333.    Yes that’s 4 million dollars, not including the purchase price of the SLRV rail cars.   Nor does it include the tear-down costs of the current ramps at the front of the platforms. 

 There doesn’t seem to be enough demand from “wheeled-traffic” to make these accommodations fiscally sensible.   I ride DART daily and don’t see the operator frequently loading and unloading passengers from the current handi-ramp.  Trains are not running late due to the boarding of wheeled passengers.  Wheeled passengers are not left behind on the platform crying because they couldn’t be accommodated.  But we all helped pay for a $62k hump. 

This article written by Joanne Carroll

James Stephen Watts, 64, know as "Steve" to his friends was a quiet man.  A lover of animals,  he'd help a stray at anytime of day of night.  He was an antique collector and interior designer.   He lived in Kessler Park, a low violent crime rate neighborhood.   He was a soft-spoken man who had no known enemies.  No one could think of who would want to hurt Steve, let alone kill him.

Steve died the same weekend that there was a quadruple homicide in McKinney, so his story didn't get much news coverage.  But if it were a slow news week, it would probably headlined something like: "Kessler Park Man Beaten to Death in Home."   Police were surprised that they had not received any tips, even with a reward that was offered.  Six years later, you can barely find any reference to this murder on Google.  The case has truly grown cold.   What happened to Steve is clear to police, but the who and why have escaped them.

On March 12, 2004 Steve's brother made arrangements to visit him from another Texas city.   He arrived at the airport but Steve was not there to pick him up as planned.   He called Steve's cell phone but got no answer.  Steve's brother eventually took a cab to the house.  When he arrived the door was locked and no one answered.  Sensing that something was terrible wrong, he forced open the door.   Inside he found his brother, who had been beaten to death.   Missing from Steve's home were some small items of value.   The police questioned a few people vigorously, but there were no arrests and the case went cold.

The sad miscategorization of this crime is that there are news articles that lump Steve' death in with other unsolved gay men's murders.  This was a very personal crime, not a hate crime.

After 6 years police have no solid leads.  They assume the killer may be someone from Steve's personal life, but they are certain it was not a stranger.   If anyone has any information about this unsolved homicide, please call Det. John Davision of Dallas Homicide at 214-671-3687.

Dallas City Council has approved some interesting proposals during the August 12 meeting.  

They have authorized the rental of a venue for six terrorism awareness training seminars for first responders of Dallas Police, Dallas Fire-Rescue and other agencies of the North Texas area.  Although the funds are paid by the Dept. of Homeland security, the authorized fee can go up to $70,320.

Meanwhile in that same meeting, the council authorized an an increase in the contract with A & R Demolition for additional work due to unforeseen conditions encountered during the demolition of Reunion Arena.  Apparently 84 days was added to the contract as well as $49,800.  This brings the total days for demolition to 300, and the total cost to $2,138,800.  I know reunion area needed some updating, but one must wonder why we couldn't update it and continue to bring in revenue to the city?   Texas stadium was built in 1971.  Reunion arena was built in 1980.  Perhaps there were a few good years left.  In February, Councilwoman Angela Hunt said the city may have overlooked possible uses for the site.  "The Parks Department has a shortage of indoor soccer space and is seeking to build more facilities."  Hunt said.

I know that Dave Ramsey, the radio host  (heard on KLIF at 1pm) who gives seminars on becoming debt free came to Reunion in Feb of 2007.  Dave has multi-city tours yearly, and when he wanted to return in 2008, there was a delay in announcing his Dallas visit.  One caller to the radio show asked about it, and Dave explained that his staff is working on coming to Dallas but the venue he previously visited was being demolished and they were searching for a new venue.  Dave gave his presentation The Potter's House.
   
So with Dallas as the owner of Reunion Arena, presumably we would not have to pay $70k to rent a venue for terrorism training.  Are we having wrecker's remorse?

This article writen by Joanne Carroll

I'm not a fan of Beck.  I've listened and watched him several times, but he seems overanimated and without depth to me. Also, he seems to use Mark Levin's material from Liberty & Tyranny without attribution. 

Nevertheless, there has been selective outrage over Beck's recent comments regarding Henry Louis  Gates Jr.  A total of at least 20 advertisers have pulled ads from his Fox News program. 

What did Beck Say?  While discussing the arrest of the Harvard profession by Officer Crowley,and Obama's witless rush to judge that the Cambridge police acted "stupidly", Beck said:   "This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture, I don't know what it is ..." 

Beck continued  "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."

But wasn't it divisive when Keith Olbermann invited an angry actress named Janeane Garafalo on his show to dismiss conservative protestors as "a bunch of racists?" As Olbermann mumbled audible sounds of encouragement, Garafalo added: "Let's be very honest about what this is about . . .This is about hating a black man in the White House. This is racism straight up. This is nothing but a bunch of tea-bagging rednecks."

That was race speech.  But ColorofChange.org didn't boycot Olbermann. Why weren't Olbermann's advertisers pulling out?

The outrage against playing the race card in politics is selective.  If you're on the left, you are the victims that need the watch groups to advocate for you.  But if you are on the right, you are the big bad racists who needs to be called out and punished.   We should consider boycotting the victims.
 

Dallas will implement a  city-wide daytime curfew for students this week.  All students up to age 17, inside the Dallas city limits, are subject to the law.  As a conservative with some Libertarian views, this is an interesting topic to ponder.

From 9:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on school days, a police officer is obliged to determine if the student has a defense to prosecution, as defined in the ordinance (for example, school is not in session, or student is on a field trip) for being out of school.  If not, nothing happens and the student is free to go.

Some say this is a violation of civil liberties.  We could make a case for that, certainly.  But lets define Liberty.

Liberty is a concept of political philosophy and identifies the condition in which an individual has the right to act according to his or her own will.

This ordinance is not to restrict the freedom of an individual, although it does assume that they don't know what's best for themselves.

As adults, we can see clearly that an education leads to skills, which leads to gainful employment and purpose in life.  But young people, who have the propensity to skip school are not able to grasp this path.  So as adults, we are trying to shape and mold their futures in a positive direction.  Being out of school when a student should be in class leads to unhibited actions, they might not otherwise take.  They are bored and want to entertain themselves, thus opens the door for potentially downtrodden behavior that affects, not only the student, but society as well.  So the intent or this ordinance is not to restrict, but to guide.

So I ask you, where should school age children be on a school day?

 This article written by Joanne Carroll

Dallas has a released a new budget for 2009 -2010.  There are some interesting estimates for certain departments.    One that stood out was under the Dallas Water Utilities section. 

This article written by Joanne Carroll

DART Level Boarding.  Financially Unlevel

.

DART has recently started their “Level Boarding Project”.  It is a several day project per platform, to shape the platform to be level with the SLRV cars.  These are the new Super-Light-Rail-Vehicles that have a low floor.  They are longer and have a greater passenger capacity.

These cars accommodate wheel-chair passengers, strollers and bicycles without a lift since they are level with the platform.  The cars have a place to hang a bicycle, as well as straps to hold onto for standing passengers.  This increases the passenger capacity from the usual 75 people per car to a 100 person capacity, and up to 200 people if most were standing.

Over all this is a great idea, but it was an afterthought.  This came about years after DART had created the ramp platform at the front of every train for the disabled.

So how much is it costing to re-shape the platforms to be level with one car per train?   It’s an astonishing amount, considering that there aren’t hoards of people with strollers, bicycles and in wheelchairs inundating the train’s operator at every stop.

The construction was performed in three lots.  Lot One included 12 platforms at $90,533 each, to total  $1,121,423.   What could possibly cost $90k per platform?  The breakdown on these overpriced speed bump are:
Demolition-$12,941.
 Site Preparation-$2,400.
Metal Fabrication $5,800.
Special Use Platforms (humps) $62,392.  And this is only Lot One.

In the General Requirements Section of the proposal there is a whopping $12,000 allocated to “Maintenance and Control of Pedestrian Traffic”.  But on the platform,
there were just a  few signs, some
barriers  and guys walking around
in orange vests.  Not a lot of
“Maintenance and Control” going on.

 

Lot Two has manholes grates that cost $13,493 each.

Lot Three’s cost varied from $103k for the Walnut Hill platform to $779k for the Union Station platform.  There is a “Tree Pruning Laborer” that makes $35 per hour and a “Tree Pruning Foreman” that makes $46 per hour.  I don’t recall a lot of trees overhanging the Union Station Platform.

Aside from the cost, the newly formed platforms have a grade that is unmarked and curbs that protrude into the walk area with no signs or special painted markings.  So you may end up in a wheelchair by tripping over the oddly
placed curbs.  Then you             
could use the SLRV cars,
once the stanchions are    
removed.

 

Stanchions are the center
pole in the middle of the
door of the new rail cars.
They make the door width
only 24”, when a standard,
non-motorized wheelchair has a base of 28”.  So there will be more labor involved to remove those poles once the platform leveling is completed.

So what did all this platform rearrangement cost?  How about $4,043,333.    Yes that’s 4 million dollars, not including the purchase price of the SLRV rail cars.   Nor does it include the tear-down costs of the current ramps at the front of the platforms. 

 There doesn’t seem to be enough demand from “wheeled-traffic” to make these accommodations fiscally sensible.   I ride DART daily and don’t see the operator frequently loading and unloading passengers from the current handi-ramp.  Trains are not running late due to the boarding of wheeled passengers.  Wheeled passengers are not left behind on the platform crying because they couldn’t be accommodated.  But we all helped pay for a $62k hump. 

This article written by Joanne Carroll