Busch Wins Nationwide Race at Texas for 6th Time

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Kyle Busch is winning again in the Nationwide Series, at Texas and everywhere else, since getting back into a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Busch won his third consecutive Nationwide race by leading 91 of 200 laps Friday night at Texas, where he became the first six-time winner in the series at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked track. 

"It's fast. It just suits right into my style," Busch said. "It's such a fun race. ... It's also being part of this JGR team."

While driving a car he owned last season, Busch didn't win in the Nationwide Series. This year back in the Gibbs ride, since having engine problems and finishing 32nd in the opener at Daytona, he has four wins and a runner-up finish to push his series victory record to 55.

Busch, who described his Toyota as "flawless," Busch finished 2.27 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski in his Ford. Austin Dillon finished third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth, both in Chevrolets. 

"Definitely Kyle is really strong, he's a great driver for sure. But I think you have to look at the cars they have at Gibbs," Keselowski said. "I think last year was a bit of an eye-opener for us. ... Joey (Logano) won a bunch of races in that same car, and Kyle had the reverse fortune. I think that shows you the effort that Gibbs puts into the series, and they've been rewarded as they should for that effort."

Logano was a nine-time winner in 22 Nationwide races for Gibbs last season. Busch did have nine top-five finishes without winning in his car last season, and now is the first driver to win four of the first six Nationwide races to start a season. 

Even Busch acknowledged that the guys at Joe Gibbs racing sure make it seem easy.

"If you put an elite driver in an elite car, you should get elite results and that's what you've seen," Keselowski said. 

Busch now has 110 victories in NASCAR's three top series, including 25 in the Sprint Cup Series and 30 in trucks. 

Right before the start of the Nationwide race, Busch won the pole for Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Texas.

After sweeping both Nationwide races in Texas in 2008 and 2009, Busch won the spring race in 2010 before finishing second that fall to end his Lone Star State winning streak. 

Friday night's race featured a Texas-record 11 leaders and 22 lead changes. Busch led five times, including the final 31 laps after going back in front out during the last caution. 

Sam Hornish Jr. maintained the series points lead despite finishing 34th. He made contact with Jeremy Clements and spun into the infield grass with just more than 55 laps left, doing significant damage to his car. 

His lead over Regan Smith shrunk from 20 to two. Smith finished seventh. 

Alex Bowman, who was dealing with flu-like symptoms when he won the pole earlier Friday, finished 14th.

Eric McClure got out of his Toyota early in the race because of his own illness. He was replaced by Jeff Green, who had already parked his car after three laps. He drove McClure's car (14) to a 30th-place finish. 

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Amber Alert Issued for Cedar Hill Girl

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Cedar Hill police have issued an Amber Alert for a 12-year-old girl they believe is "in grave or immediate danger."

Sommer Brown is a black girl who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a black tank top and black basketball shorts.

Police believe she is with her mother, 43-year-old Lisa Elizabeth Brown, a black woman who is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 120 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a black blazer and a light green shirt.

Police said they believe the pair may be traveling in a gray/pewter 2006 Ford Expedition with a paper Carmax tag that reads 86P 3357 and expires on May 19, 2013.

"I'm worried for her safety and her well-being and ... we need to find her ASAP ... because I don't know what her mother could do to her," said Madison Dews, Sommer Brown's stepsister.

Cedar Hill police said Lisa Brown, an Atlanta schoolteacher who is currently on spring break, came to North Texas to try to get temporary custody of her daughter.

The girl's father was awarded custody about three weeks ago.

Police said Lisa Brown filed a police report accusing her estranged husband of sexually abusing his daughter. Cedar Hill police said they looked into the claims, found they were false and arrested Brown on suspicion of filing a false police report on Tuesday.

Brown bonded out of a jail on Wednesday and sought an emergency temporary custody order through family courts on Thursday but was denied, police said.

After the court denied her custody, Brown tried to take her daughter out of school, but the school denied her request because she doesn't have custodial rights, police said.

Investigators said Lisa Brown drove to her estranged husband's neigbhorhood in the 100 block of Hannah Circle at approximately 6 p.m. on Thursday and called her daughter.

Dews said she was sitting with her stepsister inside the house while she talked with her mother on the phone.

Her mother told her stepsister "how much she missed her, she couldn't live without her, and she wasn't going to live without her, and that she wasn't going to stop trying to get her," Dews said.

She said Sommer Brown went outside "because her mother begged her for a hug."

When Sommer Brown finally came out of the house, neighbors told police they heard Lisa Brown yelling at her daughter to get in the car. When she finally complied, Brown sped away, witnesses said.

Dews said she ran after the car, with her stepsister staring at her through the window.

"She was, like, looking at me like to see what our next step was going to be ... because she knew that she wasn't planning on leaving with her mother," Dews said.

Family members say their top concern is getting Sommer Brown home safe.

Dews said she wants to know that her stepsister safe and wants her back home. She also said she wants her stepsister to know that her family is looking for her, saying that she knows Sommer Brown doesn't want to be with her mother.

"She had no intentions on ever seeing her mother again," she said.

Police said Lisa Brown is not cooperating with police and has cut off contact with her lawyer, who was trying to get her to turn herself in and return her daughter.

Lisa Brown has ties to Houston, Atlanta and Chicago, according to Cedar Hill police.

Anyone with information on the Browns' whereabouts is asked to call the Cedar Hill Police Department at 972-230-5785.

NBC 5's Amanda Guerra contributed to this report.

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Seattle Snaps 3-Game Skid With 3-1 Win Over Texas

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Kyle Seager had a two-run double, Hisashi Iwakuma made it stand with 6 2-3 strong innings, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 on Friday night to end a three-game losing streak.

Iwakuma (2-0) got the better of his countryman and Texas starter Yu Darvish in the seventh all-time pitching matchup between the pair, both in Japan and the majors. Darvish (2-1) holds a 4-3 advantage when the pair match up on the mound. 

Iwakuma held the Rangers bats silent until the fourth inning when Ian Kinsler led off with a homer. That proved to be the extent of the Rangers' offense as Iwakuma and three relievers combined to shut down Texas.  

Tom Wilhelmsen pitched the ninth for his fourth save. 

Of Seattle's starting staff, Iwakuma has been one of the most consistent pitchers early in the season. He was perfect through three innings until Kinsler led off the fourth with a towering homer that barely cleared the glove of Raul Ibanez leaping at the wall in left. 

It was the most obvious example to date of the new dimensions at Safeco Field being a factor. 

A year ago, Kinsler's homer would have either been caught on the warning track or caromed off the wall, which has been moved in slightly and lowered to 8 feet. 

Instead of getting rattled, Iwakuma kept rolling. He retired the next five straight and eight of the final 11. Iwakuma left with two outs in the seventh after throwing 90 pitches, giving up just three hits and striking out six.  

Texas had a chance to get to Iwakuma in the sixth when Kinsler led off with a single and was called safe stealing second base by umpire Gary Darling when replays clearly showed he was out. 

With Mariners fans expressing their displeasure after the missed call was shown on the giant new video board, Iwakuma escaped the jam getting Lance Berkman and Adrian Beltre to pop out to the infield to end the inning.  

Charlie Furbush took over with two outs in the seventh and allowed a single and a walk, but Stephen Pryor struck out pinch-hitter Craig Gentry to end the inning.  

Darvish didn't throw well in Seattle during his first season and didn't start Year 2 much better. Darvish plunked Jason Bay for the first time with one out in the first, then gave up consecutive singles to Kendrys Morales and Ibanez, the second one scoring Bay. 

Justin Smoak flew out to deep center field for the second out, but Seager continued to show signs of breaking free from an early slump. Seager lined a shot down the first base line and off the tip of Mitch Moreland's glove for a two-run double. 

But that was it for Seattle's offense. Darvish didn't allow a hit after Seager's double and retired his final 12 batters before leaving after the sixth.  

Notes: Iwakuma walked Moreland with two outs in the fifth inning, the first walk he's issued this season. His streak of 18 innings without a walk was the second-longest in franchise history. ... In three career starts in Seattle, Darvish has a 7.71 ERA. ... Seattle OF Michael Morse had reduced swelling in his fractured right little finger on Friday and the team is staying with the same timeline that he could be back from the injury in less than a week. 

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West Hollywood Meningitis Patient Brain Dead; Health Officials Sound Warning

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Officials in West Hollywood are warning members of the public to protect themselves against  meningococcal infection, an illness caused by a bacteria or virus that can be fatal.

City Councilman John Duran held a news conference Friday afternoon alongside Chris Brown, director of health and mental health for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center, to sound an alarm.

Duran told NBC4 one of his long-time supporters -- a 33-year-old gay man -- had been diagnosed with meningitis two days ago, was hospitalized and is now in a coma. The man has been declared brain dead, Duran said, identifying the victim as Brett Shaad.

The man had attended an annual Palm Springs event known as the White Party, which took place over Easter weekend and draws thousands of gay men from across the country to the desert city, Duran said.

"If this resident was in fact in attendance at the White Party, it raises the issue, so we want to get the word out to any gay men that were at the White Party, that if they have any of these symptoms, go see their physician immediatly," Duran said at the news conference.

Duran said he didn't want to be alarmist, but wanted gay men and others to be on alert for signs of the disease, which can initially resemble the flu.

Dr. Maxine Liggins, area medical director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said people who think they may have been exposed should watch for a stiff neck, fever, headache, sometimes a rash, and generally not feeling well.

Duran suggested the West Hollywood case may be from a similar bacterial meningitis strain that circulated among gay men in New York City -- an outbreak that infected 22 people and has killed seven people since 2010.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials said they have not confirmed a direct connection between the Los Angeles-area case and the New York City strain.

Officials don't want to cause panic, Duran said, but are taking an active stance to avoid the delays in response to AIDS 30 years ago.

On Friday, the Equinox fitness club on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood sent a notice to members that a person who used the facility April 6 had been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Officials at the press conference confirmed the individual was the same man being treated at Cedars Sinai.

"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has assured us that there is virtually no risk of exposure in a health club setting," the email stated. "We are notifying you to let you know that Equinox members and staff are safe, we have taken all necessary safety precautions and we will continue to do everything we can to guarantee our members have the best fitness experience possible."

The email included a link to a letter sent by the Department of Public Health to the club.

Meningococcal disease can have severe health impacts and can progress quickly from flu-like symptoms, rashes and a stiff neck, so health officials say early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. If treated quickly, the disease can often be cured with antibiotics.

Last month, Orange County health officials warned public schools about an outbreak of meningococcal infections in Tijuana that began in January.

A teen was being treated at UC Irvine Medical Center for Meningocococcemia and had had all of her limbs amputed, prompting her parents to advocate for awareness about a vaccine that protects against the disease.

The bacteria -- Neisseria meningitidis -- that causes the bloodstream infection afflicting 18-year-old Kaitlyn Dobrow also causes meningococcal meningitis, an inflammation of tissue around the brain and spinal cord, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Infections from the bacteria can be spread from person to person through respiratory and throat secretions and are common in close quarters -- such as military barracks and college dormitories -- according to the CDC website. Person-to-person contact must be close – such as kissing, sex or sharing food – for the bacteria to spread.

Those who have been in close contact with a patient with meningococcal disease should be treated with antibiotics to prevent the illness from progressing, according to the CDC.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Kimbell Acquires Rare Maya Art Work

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The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth features all kinds of well known works of art.

And soon, the Kimbell will be showing off some rare Maya works that you can only find in one other museum in the U.S.

"We think they're about 690 to 720 A.D.," said Jennifer Casler Price, curator for Asian and non-western art at the Kimbell.

The nearly 1,300 year old art works remain in remarkably good shape, which makes them a huge addition to the museum's permanent collection.

"We can see that they are in superb condition, there's a little bit of restoration, but not much," Casler Price said. "All of the material that we see here is original."

Long before they became art works in collections the Palenque-style ceramic censer stands were part of ceremonies at Maya temples.

"They're a way of communicating with the ancestral realm, with the supernatural realm," Casler Price said.

The censers were ritually buried beneath temples and later excavated. However, the two shouldn't be considered a pair as they don't match.

"I think the skill and technical craftsman that we're seeing denotes these were made by the same hand and defiantly by a royal artist," Casler Price said.

The public will soon see that skill up close, although behind glass. One of the censers features three Maya Gods, the Maize God, with corn stalks near its ears, the Jester God, and the Jaguar God of the Underworld.

"So much attention to detail has been given to these, when you walk up you can see all of the hand modeling that's been done," she said.

The Kimbell already features many other works in its Precolombian collection from Maya artisans, but the censer stands Casler Price says will stand out.

"They're really going to become a center piece for the collection," she said.

With each detail and historical note free to see by the end of the month.

The stands will go on display beginning April 21 and will eventually be moved to the new Renzo Piano edition when it is completed later this year.

The only other censer stands known to be on display in the U.S. are in a museum in Los Angeles, so it's a rare find.

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Man Gets 7 Years for Stealing Obama's Teleprompter

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A career criminal who stole a truck containing President Barack Obama's audio equipment was sentenced Thursday to seven years in federal prison.

Sentencing guidelines called for a term of about three years, but Eric Brown of Richmond, Va., agreed to the longer sentence to avoid prosecution for 14 similar truck thefts in three localities. However, he could still face charges in Stafford County, which did not join Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties in the agreement.

Brown pleaded guilty in January to theft of government property.

"The theft of government property is a serious offense," Assistant U.S. Attorney Roderick Young said in court. "It's all the more serious when the property belongs to the White House Communications Agency."

Young acknowledged that seven years seemed like a long sentence.

"No it's not," U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney interjected.

Later, the judge said: "If I had to sum up Mr. Brown's character, it would be that he's a thief."

Young outlined Brown's "nightmarishly long" criminal record — three dozen convictions for crimes including burglary, drug possession, identity fraud and grand theft auto stretching back more than three decades. Most recently, Brown operated "a pretty serious one-man car theft ring," Gibney said.

In response to a question from Gibney, Brown said he targeted Ford F-350s and Ford F-450s because they were easy to steal. One of those trucks happened to be a 2005 Ford owned by the Defense Information Systems Agency and assigned to the White House, which was stolen from a Henrico County hotel parking lot on Oct. 16, 2011, a few days ahead of Obama's visit to a suburban Richmond fire station to promote his jobs plan.

The truck had no White House markings on the exterior, but inside it was loaded with speakers, microphones, a teleprompter, a laptop computer, podiums and other items used in presidential appearances. The van was empty when it was recovered on the other side of town the next day, and some of the items were later recovered at Maryland pawn shops.

An FBI agent said in court papers that an informant told investigators that Brown had sold a Department of Defense laptop to another person, and that he saw in Brown's possession several storage tubs containing audio equipment — some of it bearing the presidential seal. When the source confronted Brown about the theft, Brown said: "Man, I got that truck. I don't do no playing."

Brown apologized in court before Gibney imposed the sentence.

Defense attorney David Lett said the sentencing agreement "gives Mr. Brown the opportunity to start anew if he wants to do so."

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Mom Caught on Tape Throwing Baby on Bus

Police are investigating after a video of a mother throwing her baby on a city bus goes viral.

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Police in Connecticut are looking for a mother seen tossing her baby on a city bus in an alarming video posted on YouTube.

The disturbance happened on a bus Wednesday morning along Albany Avenue in Hartford, according to officials.  

For several minutes, the mother sat, with her baby on her lap, and screamed at a woman a few seats up and passengers recorded it on their cell phones.

Seconds later, the situation grew more heated. 

The mother tossed her baby into the people sitting across from her, then ran down the aisle and got into a fight with that woman she had been arguing with. The video also shows the baby holding her ears throughout the ordeal.

NBC Connecticut showed the video to people who ride the bus and live in the area around Albany Avenue and they were appalled.

"It's alarming, especially being parents. You think we would have more control, especially in a public place," Gary Williams said. 

In addition to YouTube, the video has been posted on Facebook.

"It's really looking bad for Hartford," Ebony Mitchell said. "You got a kid, that's the first thing you got to think about."

Hartford police and Connecticut Transit are investigating.

The bus company  told NBC Connecticut the driver did everything right and stopped the bus right when the fight got physical.

Police said the mother and the baby walked off the bus seconds later. 

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Investigation Into Bus Rollover Continues

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Federal investigators spent hours at the Cardinal Coach Lines headquarters in Grand Prairie Thursday night, and they could return several times over the next few weeks.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators combed through evidence like maintenance records and log books.

As the bus was towed away from the scene, the video clearly showed one tire that was blown out. Some passengers told NBC 5 they heard a loud popping sound before impact. That could have been a tire blowout.

"We've heard stories passengers heard a loud pop so we will be looking at tire safety and looking at the equipment on the bus itself," said former Department of Transportation official Brigham McCown.

But others passengers said they did not hear or see anything wrong in the seconds before the crash.

Charter Bus Passenger Speaks About Crash

Dan Risik was one of 13 Cardinal Coach Line passengers taken to Baylor Medical Center in Las Colinas in Irving.

Casino Trip Organizer Killed in Bus Crash

Family friends described Sue Taylor, who went by the name "Casino Sue," as a "firecracker" of a woman.

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The bus driver, Loyd Reive, has been working as a commercial driver for nearly 20 years, according to his family.

NBC 5 dug through court records and discovered Reive was behind the wheel in a deadly bus crash in 2001. He swerved around an accident on I-35 and struck and killed a Good Samaritan who was trying to help victims. A grand jury chose not to indict him.

Reive remains in the intensive care unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Calls and messages to Cardinal Coach have not been returned.

Passengers Injured, Organizer Killed

At least two people were killed and 40 were hospitalized due to the crash, including casino trip organizer Sue Taylor, 81, of Hurst.

Taylor and Paula Hahn, 69, of Fort Worth, died in the crash, DPS said.

Family friends described Taylor, who went by the name "Casino Sue," as a "firecracker" of a woman.

"We're devastated," Janet Denham said.

Her friends said Taylor often planned casino trips and would entertain her guests with games during the road trips. Her daughter told NBC 5 that her mother had been organizing the trips for 10 years.

Information from area hospitals had 13 patients still recieving treatment at Parkland, three at Baylor Irving, one at Baylor Dallas, and one at Methodist. All patients were trated and released at the UT Southwester St. Paul Medical Center. Las Colinas Medical Center did not respond to calls for updates on the seven patients transported there.

Dan Risik, who spoke with NBC 5 both from the scene of the crash and later from his home, said he feels "very lucky" to be alive after the crash.

"After hearing what I've heard and seeing what I've seen in person, I feel extremely fortunate to be virtually injury-free -- a few scrapes, whatever," Risik said. "Other than that, I feel very lucky."

Deadly Texas Bus Crash Coincides with Safety Crackdown

The charter-bus crash that killed two and injured dozens outside Dallas on Thursday happened in the middle of an aggressive push by federal regulators to shutter unscrupulous carriers and ramp up safety inspections.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has shut down more than a dozen private bus companies — nearly half of which it deemed "imminent hazards" — over the past couple months. Last week, the agency announced it was deploying a team of more than 50 safety investigators throughout the country to conduct a wider examination of "higher risk" carriers, including many small charter operations. The FMCSA also asked local police to join the crackdown by boosting traffic enforcement.

The inspection teams headed out into the field on April 1, with orders to target 250 companies with lackluster safety records, according to the American Bus Association, a trade group whose officials were briefed by federal authorities.

Among the carriers already shut down by the FMCSA was Fung Wah, a popular discount bus service between New York City and Boston that had a history of crashes and safety violations.

It's not clear whether the owner of the bus that wrecked Thursday, Cardinal Coach Line, would have been targeted in the crackdown had the crash not happened. According to FMCSA's online record system, Cardinal Coach Line was given a "satisfactory" safety rating in 2009. In the past two years, none of the company's five buses has been in a crash, the records say. But the company's two inspections over that period found violations that resulted in putting a bus and/or or a driver out of service.

Read more on the federal bus safety crackdown here.

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Calif. Teens Arrested on Sexual Assault Charges After Girl's Suicide

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Three teenage boys are under arrest, facing possible charges in connection with what police say was the sexual assault of a 15-year-old female California high school student.

Attorney Robert Allard, who represents the girl's family, says the teen committed suicide after photos of the alleged attack at Saratoga High School in Saratoga were published online.

"Based on what we know, she was unconscious, there were multiple boys in the room with her," Allard said. "They did unimaginable things to her while she was unconscious."

On Sept. 10, 2012, eight days after the alleged assault, the girl, Audrie Pott, committed suicide.

We don't normally identify victims of sexual assault or suicide, but have used the girl's name in this report with her parents' permission. They are hoping the story will help prevent something like this from every happening to anyone else.

The family's attorney says the girl took her life after learning that her attackers took photos during the assault, and then published them online and showed them around school.

Allard said, in the days that followed the attack, the girl wrote on her Facebook page, "The whole school knows…. My life is ruined."

The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office would not comment on the case because the suspects are minors.

The sheriff's department tells NBC Bay Area all three boys are 16 years old and were arrested on charges of sexual battery on Thursday.  Two of them were arrested on the Saratoga High School campus Thursday morning and the third was arrested in Gilroy.

Allard says two of the boys are students at Saratoga High School and the third is a student at Christopher High School in Gilroy. 

All three are being held at Juvenile Hall until a detention hearing on Monday or Tuesday, but as of yet, have not been charged with a crime.

The girl's parents, who didn't find out about the attack until after their daughter's death, want the boys prosecuted as adults.

"What these boys did is beyond unconscionable," Allard said. "They should be held to the highest standard of the law to make sure this never ever happens again."

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More Police Expected at UT-Austin After Bomb Threat

AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 1: A general view of the University of Texas tower in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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The University of Texas at Austin will increase police presence on campus after an anonymous bomb threat.

The university said no additional information indicated that the bomb threat is credible, however, over the next few days there will be an increased police presence in and around campus buildings.

The campus is scheduled to remain open and all campus activities will continue as planned.

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Rape Suspect Was Linked to Peeping Tom Cases

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Investigators say the man suspected in three rapes in Lake Highlands was suspected in other crimes across North Texas, including peeping on a teenager in a public bathroom.

Cesar Benitez, 33, also known as Pino Porcayo, was charged in March with three sexual assaults in February and March. Police said DNA evidence connected him to the attacks and that Benitez had admitted to all three offenses.

Court documents show that Benitez was suspected in several peeping Tom cases in Allen, McKinney, Plano and Dallas last year. Allen police arrested Benitez in May on suspicion of voyeurism, or disorderly conduct.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by NBC 5, Benitez was caught on surveillance video in April 2012 running from an Allen Target store after he was questioned about being in the women's restroom.

According to the affidavit, a 13-year-old girl was using the restroom when she dropped her phone in the stall. When she picked it up, she spotted a man on the floor of the adjacent stall looking at her. She immediately notified the store, and someone in the store snapped a photograph of him as he ran out of the store.

The store's surveillance cameras also captured images of Benitez

Allen police shared the information with other departments. Plano reported similar crimes and released store surveillance video and photographs of a man believed to be Benitez who was peeping in a Kohl's.

Allen police Sgt. Jon Felty said Benitez was identified in the Target peeping case because officers had assisted him with a broken-down car a few weeks earlier and had gotten his personal information.

"His car was disabled, and we had done a motorist's assist, so we realized he had been in our city," Felty said.

Allen police, who had a warrant in hand, had Benitez under surveillance in Rockwall in May when he was arrested.

"He attempted to do the same thing in a Target store and was arrested," Felty said.

Voyeurism is a disorderly conduct charge, which is a misdemeanor citation. Benitez's bond at the time was only $1,500. The fine was only $500, Felty said.

There is no record of Benitez spending time at the Collin County Jail for such an offense under his name or his alias of Pino Porcayo. It's possible he bonded out and paid the fine in Rockwall.

Plano police never filed a case for the incident at Kohl's.

Felty said the case shows the importance of reporting anything suspicious, because you never know who the person committing an offense might turn out to be.

In a year's time, "there are definitely some correlations between the two," Felty said.

Benitez is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $4.5 million bond. He is also being held on an immigration detainer by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Goat's Head Delivered to Wrigley Field

Clearly this fellow is to blame.

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The head of a goat was delivered to Chicago's Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon, officials confirmed.

The "intimidating package," as reported by Cubs officials, was found at about 2:30 p.m. outside Gate K and addressed to franchise owner Tom Ricketts.

The package didn't appear to have been deliveredby the U.S. Postal Service, Cubs spokesman Julian Green said.

The delivery comes in the midst of the organization's ongoing negotiations with the city and small business owners regarding a a five-year, $300 million plan to renovate the Friendly Confines.

The Billy Goat Curse dates back to Oct. 6, 1945, when tavern owner Billy Sianis bought a box seat for his goat, Murphy, for Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field to help promote his establishment. When he was ordered to remove the goat, he claimed to place a curse on the team that would prevent it from ever hosting another World Series at Wrigley Field.

Dead goats were found hanging on the Harry Caray statue outside the field in 2007 and in 2009.

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Birthday Teen Hit in Chest by Softball Dies

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A California high school student who had just turned 16 years old on Wednesday died after being hit in the chest with a softball during a physical education class, officials confirmed.

The teen -- identified as Taylor Dorman by friends, fellow students and Ramona High School principal Tony Newman -- collapsed on a school field in Ramona after being struck by a ball Wednesday morning..

Newman confirmed that Wednesday was the 10th grader's birthday.

Dorman was airlifted to Palomar Hospital. Details on the teen's condition at the time of his transport to the hospital were not immediately released.

The county medical examiner's office will determine Dorman's official cause of death at a later time, as well as confirm whether or not possible contributing medical conditions played a role in his death.On Wednesday night some students gathered at Ramona High School to mourn the sudden loss of their classmate. Students signed a memorial poster for Dorman and placed flowers near the poster.

Last May, an 18-year-old student at Mission Hills High School in San Marcos died suddenly after collapsing in the school gym.

In that instance, senior football star Anthony Vaeao was playing basketball with friends when he fell to the ground. He was rushed to hospital and was pronounced dead a short time later.

In August 2012, a report released by the medical examiner's office determined Vaeao's cause of death stemmed from a heart problem, with obesity listed as a contributing factor.

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Teaming Up to Put Technology in Classrooms

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At a time when state education funding is up for discussion in Austin, North Texas school leaders are looking for new ways to fund their technology programs by working with local businesses.

Superintendents from the Northwest, Lewisville and Irving school districts showed off their work with technology in the classroom to a large group of Fort Worth business leaders on Tuesday. Technology initiatives that put laptops and iPads in students' hands were among the highlights of the meeting.

"We have to look to business leaders, educators, parents, community leaders and collectively bridge the here-and-now with the future our kids are going to live in," Northwest Independent School District Superintendent Karen Rue said.

The school districts hope to partner with and, in some cases, continue to partner with business leaders in order to expand technology offerings to students, a goal they say benefits both sides.

"Business leaders know the skills and the skill sets they want future employees to have," Rue said. "They also recognize that there is no better investment than today's students."

Jon Gustafson, of defense contractor Lockheed Martin, said the growing need for a skilled workforce requires students to get on the right track well before college.

"We represent the aerospace industry, and it's critical that students have the skills we need to be successful," he said. "It's critically important that they make the right career choices and that we provide the right infrastructure to enable them to be successful."

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Association of School Administrators and national representatives from the Committee for Economic Development, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, also attended the meeting.

"The education system needs to be innovative and it needs to reflect this economy that we live in now," said Michael Petro, CED executive vice president. "We think what they've done here in these communities is something that might be replicable in communities across the country."

Chamber of Commerce CEO Bill Thorton said leaders from other school districts had hoped to attend but were tied up in Austin working on the legislative front.

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Speedway Campers Ready for Potential Severe Weather

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The first big race weekend of the year is about to get the green flag at Texas Motor Speedway.

Hundreds of people have already parked their RVs and trailers and set up tents, just in time for potentially severe storms to roll through.

TMS officials say about 1,000 campers have set up their belongings, with about 90 percent dropping everything off and set to return later in the week. Everyone who is staying knows that rough weather is headed their way.

"We already knew; we came prepared," said Bobby Rosier, of Waxahachie.

"We know the weather is coming. We know it's going to be pretty bad," said Chris Thomas, of Duncanville.

Rosier and Thomas, who have season passes, have camped out at the speedway for years, and they've got a plan for Wednesday morning's storms.

"Plan is to sleep in the car for tonight," Thomas said. "When everything passes over tomorrow in the morning, we'll get everything set up, and we'll be ready to roll."

Race weekend and bad weather is nothing new for the dedicated NASCAR campers.

"A lot of tents blow across here," said Hoby Smith, who is in his eighth year of camping at the racetrack. "We've fished a lot of tents out of the creek over there. We've lost one in the creek too."

This time, Smith is confident that duct tape, zip ties and T-posts sunk a foot and a half into the ground will keep his family and tents safe from wins as high as 60 mph. He said he is also comfortable knowing he'll be informed if something really nasty heads their way.

"We're not really worried," he said. "We got the weather (radio), the Wi-Fi. Track people come by every so often, keep us updated."

TMS officials say they watch the radar closely, not just for what might affect the track and its races, but also for the hundreds camping on grounds.

The speedway says they will be watching and will send security out to warn campers if severe weather rolls into the area. Concourses will be opened, as will the tunnels used to drive toward pit lane. There are also structures throughout the campsites where bathrooms and showers are located.

"We've got the tornado shelter right there at the bathroom," Smith said.

And while everyone here is ready for the worst, they're more focused on the days after.

"We make it through tonight, we're home free," Smith said.

"We'll be ready to go, start partying -- that's what NASCAR does," Thomas said.

As many as 15,000 people could be camping out at the race track by the time the Nationwide Series starts to race on Friday night. The NRA 500 is the premiere Sprint Cup event scheduled for Saturday night.

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Old Parkland to Stay Open, Surprising Commissioners

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Dallas County commissioners learned Tuesday that part of the old Parkland Hospital will be reused even after the new $1.27 billion replacement hospital opens next year.

That fact was not included in a briefing prepared for Tuesday's meeting with commissioners by Parkland officials. Commissioners pried it out during intense questioning about progress on the new hospital.

"Why haven't you said anything to this court? Why? Why are we having to probe and finding out this way as opposed to you bringing it to us?" Commissioner John Wiley Price asked.

"Perhaps we were not clear in our communication; I apologize for that," said Cobie Russell, Parkland board member.

Commissioner Elba Garcia said plans to reuse the old buildings also caught her by surprise.

"I personally do not know about these changes," she said. "I didn't know they were taking place."

Parkland officials said outpatient clinic patient demand has already exceeded projections for 2017, when 243,817 visits were forecast.

Last year, Parkland clinics treated 314,325 people, 28.9 percent more than the 2017 projection.

Parkland's interim chief financial officer, Ted Shaw, said a new outpatient clinic to help meet that demand was to be included in the new hospital, but it would have cost $165 million, more than Parkland could afford.

Commissioner Mike Cantrell said the trend toward higher patient demand was anticipated when voters approved the new hospital in 2008.

"We knew what was taking place, so this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody," Cantrell said.

"Commissioner Cantrell, I can only tell you that the numbers that were in the plan, the volumes that were in the plan, were far less than what we're actually experiencing," Shaw said.

Now, Parkland plans to spend $12 million for a bridge across Harry Hines Boulevard between the old and new hospitals and $25 million to renovate two 1980s buildings for an expanded clinic at the old hospital campus.

"They're pretty good buildings," Russell said. "They work well. We've talked to the physicians that work in those buildings, and they find those agreeable buildings."

Cantrell interrupted Russell.

"Everyone hearing that? When we're trying to build a $1.2 billion facility? We did not hear that," Cantrell said about the need for a new building years ago.

"And as a board we didn't either," Russell said. "Things have changed."

Parkland officials also said emergency room visits have soared far higher than forecast, with more than 195,000 in 2012 compared with the prediction for 2017 of around 153,000.

Commissioners thought new Parkland clinics in outlying areas would help reduce visits to the Parkland emergency room and the central hospital clinic.

"You do that by building clinics in the community," Price said.

Parkland already operates seven clinics around Dallas County for preventive and minor medical care.

County Judge Clay Jenkins said the Pleasant Grove area, miles from the nearest Parkland Clinic, has a large population eligible for care from the public hospital.

Jenkins said it is not clear where Parkland plans to get the money to renovate the old hospital buildings for clinic space now.

"And we need to address that, so if this money is coming out clinics and it's not in a budget we've approved, that's a concern," Jenkins said.

Russell said plans are due to be finalized at an April 22 Parkland Hospital Board meeting and she would return to commissioners with more details in May.

Price said it appears important decisions have already been made without records to support it.

"They're making decisions every day based on information that they don't have solidified in terms of writing, and I'm just very concerned," Price said.

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Navistar Closing Garland Plant, 900 Out of Work

Tammy Mutasa, NBC 5 Garland Reporter

The Navistar plant in Garland will close its doors in a couple of weeks leaving a few hundred employees to figure out their next move.

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In a matter of weeks, a Garland plant that employed 900 people will close its doors for good.

Production has officially stopped at Garland location of the Navistar International Corporation. The entire operation will shut down in May 31, putting 900 people out of work. So far, only a small workforce remains on the job to shut down the plant.

Navistar's Garland location is an assembly plant that also manufactures service trucks.

After 15 years in Garland, the trucking company said they decided to consolidate and move production to Ohio and Mexico. The company said they would be cutting costs by millions of dollars by shutting down the Garland plant.

"It seems like the curse of death whenever I'm going to work for somebody because of the circumstances and that's just the way its' worked out," said Navistar worker Jeff Houghton who will be without a job on Friday. Houghton says he has witnessed company shutdowns three times in the last 15 years of his life.

"People are disgruntled about it," said Ryan Goss, "But they've given us a pretty good time frame in which to plan, a lot of us want to go back to school, find other jobs."

The Garland Chamber of Commerce is working with Texas Workforce Solutions, trying to help those who will be out of work. They recently hosted a job fair for 400 production workers and 15 area companies.

"It's a function of "what do want to do?," said Paul Mayer, CEO of the Garland Chamber of Commerce. "If you want to go to work, and you're motivated, and there are jobs for you, we have to do a better job of marketing the available jobs."

No word on who will take over the Navistar building, but city officials tell NBC 5 a high profile broker is aggressively trying to find new buyers.

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511 Traffic Information System in the Works

Ken Kalthoff, NBC 5 News

The 511 hotline and 511DFW.org website will bring together information from several different cities and agencies serving the Central Expressway corridor and hopes to help drivers navigate the area.

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Drivers who use Central Expressway in Collin and Dallas counties will soon have a new source of traffic information.

The 511 system will provide information by telephone and on the Web. The system will be up by the end of April for several months of live testing, with a big promotion to come this summer.

The system is a joint project of several cities and transportation agencies that are combining their information for the first time.

"The idea of pulling it all together at one location is new," said Mark Ball, Dallas Area Rapid Transit spokesman.

"It started in San Diego recently; the Dallas-Fort Worth area would be the second one," he said. "Our goal, of course, is to make this such an important point for the public to take advantage of that we'd see it grow and become a bigger regional program."

Initially, the information will focus on the Central Expressway corridor and provide drivers with accurate, real-time information to help them choose alternate routes, which may include the feeder road, surface streets, toll roads or DART rail.

"Compared to a number of other roads, you can't find these unique things like you can on this piece of Central Expressway," Ball said.

A study suggests saving fuel, time and pollution expense in North Texas could be 20 times more than the $8 million being invested to start the 511 program.

"Pollution is a problem for this area," Ball said. "If we don't do something about cleaning it up, we lose federal funds, so here is the perfect opportunity where groups are working together to solve that problem."

More: 511 DFW website

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Woman Linked to Fraud or Victim of Bogus Boss?

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A 29-year-old woman who said she found a job through LinkedIn, a professional networking web site, is now facing felony fraud charges for trying to cash a fake check.

Tara Vaughns said she has been victimized by a criminal posing as an employer, but the Allen Police Department told a very different story.  Now the case will head to a grand jury in Collin County on Tuesday to decide if there's enough evidence to move forward.

Vaughns said she moved to Texas a few months ago from South Florida to live near her family.  She said she had purchased a monthly subscription to LinkedIn's premium job seeker service to help her on the job hunt, and finally found one.

"I was real excited," Vaughns said.

For $500 a week she could work at home as a personal assistant.  She said her first order of business was to purchase a computer, printer and Internet services so she could set up shop and work for her new employer.

"I researched it, found the best prices," said Vaughns. "And I sent her the information and she was satisfied with it."

Emails Vaughns provided to NBC 5's Consumer Unit shows the equipment, minus rebates, totaled less than $1,000, but the check she received from this employer was $2,600.  Vaughns said she was suspicious.

She gave NBC 5 a copy of what she said is an image of the check.  It had a New York address, a Florida phone number and it was sent from Chicago.  There were also various type faces. Vaughns said she called the bank listed on the check and that call eased those fears.

But when she pulled into the drive-thru to cash it, a bank associate told her it was counterfeit.

"He was like, 'We have to hold this check for a fraud investigation,'" she said.

Vaughns said she immediately emailed the employer from the drive-thru lane. 

"I attempted to cash the check and its (sic) not a good check," Vaughns wrote, signing the email "concerned and embarrassed."

"I drive off and then I get bombarded by the Allen Task Force of seven police officers with their guns drawn," Vaughns said. "I was just like, in shock.  I didn't know what to do."

She said she was booked, taken to jail and bonded out five days later.

 "It was so embarrassing, because I never did anything," Vaughns said as she cried.

She said after her arrest she never heard from her employer again.

A Large Criminal Enterprise

Allen police believe Vaughns could be connected to a multi-state fraud ring now operating in North Texas.

"We have indications, and by action, that this is involved in a large criminal enterprise that covers many states," said Sgt. Jon Felty, the public information officer for the Allen Police Department, who added only three officers, not seven, with no guns drawn, were at the scene.

Felty then described how the ring operates.  He said men typically break into cars to steal credit cards or checks before being passed off to females who actually use the credit cards and cash the checks.

There have been arrests in Texas, but the operation isn't based in this area.

"As best as we can tell it's based in the state of Florida," said Felty.

That's where Vaughns lived before moving to Texas.

Police said there are other coincidences also.  According to police, Vaughns pulled into the lane of the drive-thru that is furthest from the teller, where individuals are harder to see clearly and identify by sight.  Vaughns drove a light-colored car with a Florida license plate, just as police said others involved in the fraud have done, and that she was also carrying $5,000 in cash.

Vaughns told NBC 5 she was going to buy a car that afternoon with the cash, which she withdrew from her IRA and other personal accounts.  She showed NBC 5 those receipts.

"The receipts are inconsistent with her story," said Felty.

He also said Vaughns' supposed employer did not exist and the email correspondences and LinkedIn job searches were fabricated.

LinkedIn declined to comment on this case, but did provide a statement via email.

"LinkedIn's policy is to not allow fake profiles," wrote LinkedIn spokeswoman Krista Canfield. "If we're made aware of a false profile, we take appropriate action by restricting, suspending or terminating/deleting that account."

Canfield said the company's policy is outlined in the user agreement and members can report inappropriate posts or profiles.

Vaughns said she never did contact LinkedIn to report what had happened.

"All I know is she passed a forged document and the only victim in this case is the elderly gentleman in New York State who's out over $50,000 because the bank account that she had on that check is his bank account," said Felty.

But Vaughns' attorney, Scott Edgett, said she too is a victim.

"She has nothing to hide," Edgett said. "She did everything that she was supposed to do for her job, and she's the one that sat in jail for five days and is facing a third-degree felony conviction."

If the grand jury finds there's enough evidence to indict Vaughns, and the case moves forward, she could ultimately face up to 10 years in prison.

"I left a really good situation to come to Texas for what I thought would be a bigger life and it's just been a nightmare," Vaughns sobbed.  "I can't wait to leave here and I'm stuck because of this."

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Man Pulls Out BB Gun as Obama's Motorcade Passes: Cops

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President Obama called on residents of Connecticut and the nation to urge Congress to vote on gun control proposals on Monday during his speech at the University of Hartford.

After Connecticut Legislation, Some in Newtown Turn Focus to Washington D.C.

Members of Sandy Hook Promise plan on lobbying lawmakers in Washington to pass stricter gun control legislation.

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A man was taken into custody Monday afternoon after he pulled out a BB gun as President Barack Obama's motorcade passed by, according to Connecticut authorities.

Police noticed the man acting suspiciously, pacing back and forth, before he pulled out what looked like a rifle, Bloomfield police said. The man's name has not been released.

President Obama was in Connecticut Monday afternoon to meet with families who lost loved ones during the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December.

He later delivered an address at the University of Hartford, calling on Congress to bring new gun control propoals to a vote.  

"Connecticut has shown the way, and now is the time for Congress to do the same — this week," Obama said in the speech, noting a sweeping gun law just enacted in the state.

Police said the man who was arrested on Monday was standing in an intersection a few miles away from the university, watching Obama's motorcade leave. 

The exact charges that were filed and the suspect's name have not been released.

The man will be in court on Tuesday.

 

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Louisville Takes NCAA Title in Thriller

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The Louisville Cardinals entered the NCAA Tournament as the best team in the country and they're exiting it the same way.

Louisville came back from 12 points down in the first half and became NCAA men's basketball champions for the third time in school history in a thrilling 82-76 win over Michigan on Monday night in Atlanta.

"This team is one of the most together, toughest and hard-nosed teams," coach Rick Pitino said. "Being down never bothers us. They just come back."

The victory capped a memorable day for Pitino, who promised his team he would get a tattoo if they won the championship. Pitino found out earlier on Monday that he will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and then doubled down on the honor by becoming the first coach ever to win national titles at two different schools. As if that wasn't enough, he also tied John Wooden on the all-time wins list with his 664th career victory.

Louisville guard Michael Ware, whose right leg snapped in a freak injury during the regional final, cheered on Monday's game from the sidelines with his leg propped up on a chair. After the win, he took to the court on crutches to celebrate -- and cut a strand from the game's basketball net to mark the achievement.

"These are my brothers," Ware said. "They got the job done. I'm so proud of them."

The milestone win did not come easily. The Cardinals went down 12 points in the first half thanks to one of the more unexpected twists in any title game.

Michigan guard Trey Burke, who won every national player of the year award, left the game with two fouls and the Wolverines turned to little-used freshman Spike Albrecht for most of the first half. Albrecht, who averaged 1.8 points per game this season, hit all four threes he tried and scored 17 points to turn the game on its ear.

Luke Hancock turned it right back. Hancock hit four straight threes to close out the first half and Louisville trailed by just one point heading into the break. After the break, the game was a seesaw affair that ultimately turned thanks to Peyton Siva and the Cardinals' work on the boards.

Siva scored 14 of his 18 points after the break and was a relentless source of pressure for a defense that rattled the normally unflappable Wolverine offense. And the Cardinals had an 11-1 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in second chance point after second chance point.

None of those was bigger than a Chane Behanan putback with 1:52 to play to put the Cardinals up by eight points. Behanan took the ball back up through several Michigan defenders and put in the hoop to deflate one of Michigan's many attempts to grab control of the game.

You can find flaws with how the Wolverines played in the second half, especially some foul management in the final minute that coach John Beilein came about because he thought the team was already in the bonus when they were one foul short. But Burke was spectacular, scoring 17 points and making a block after running down Siva that was called a foul in the most egregious of the many questionable calls by an officiating crew that was not up to the championship stage.

As good as Michigan was, though, Louisville was simply better. They took some big shots from Michigan and walked through them like the experienced tournament team that they are.

Siva, Hancock (who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player), Behanan and Gorgui Dieng all had huge moments in the second half while the younger Michigan team wilted under the pressure of the situation. The Cardinals, who rallied from 12 down against Witchita State as well, proved their mettle on Monday night and made it clear how deserving they are of the title as the best team in college basketball.

All in all, it makes for a day that Rick Pitino won't soon forget.

Josh Alper is also a writer for Pro Football Talk. You can follow him on Twitter.

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Opening Day at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

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Apr 8, 2013

The Honor Flag will be raised for the second time this year in Kaufman County.

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Apr 8, 2013

With more than 2,300 signatures and counting, a group of Far North Dallas...

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North Dallas Neighbors Protest Potential Walmart

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Rumors of a Walmart store opening on the border of Dallas and Richardson have neighbors taking sides and fighting back.

"Since all this has started, I've completely boycotted any kind of Walmart shopping," said Dorothy Wernsman of Dallas, who lives in a neighborhood close to the proposed site, at Coit and Arapaho.

"Why do we need another Walmart? There are already two to three Walmarts within a two to three mile radius," she added.

"We already have so many other Walmarts in the area, it seems they're competing against each other."

For about two weeks, Wernsman has been circulating an online petition through the site Change.org.

By Sunday evening, more than 2,300 people had signed their names in support of her cause.

People supporting the petition are vowing to boycott the store if it opens.

Wernsman and other opponents argue that the proposed location is a poor choice, saying it will add traffic to residential areas and squeeze out small businesses.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has not officially confirmed its intentions to move into the Far North Dallas location.

However, tenants at the shopping center say they were told about a year ago to prepare to find other locations.

John Marshall, owner of CrossFit Richardson, says his business will be relocating by the end of May 2013.

He sees the shopping center as a great fit for Walmart and adds he'll likely be a shopper as well.

"I don't think this is anything new to them, and if done right, I think it will be an asset to the neighborhood," Marshall said.

Petition supporters admit they're not focusing on trying to block the store, but to convince the Wal-Mart corporation that the area is a bad fit for their brand.

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Honor Flag Flies Monday for McLelland

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The Honor Flag will be raised for the second time this year in Kaufman County.

This time, the flag will honor Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, who was shot to death on March 30 in his home in Forney. McLelland's wife, Cynthia, was also killed.

The service to fly the flag will begin Monday at noon. The flag will remain at the top of the flagpole outside the Kaufman County Courthouse for 24 hours. Organizers told NBC 5 that the flag would fly at full height because they believe McLelland would not have wanted it at half-staff.

In February, the flag was raised for Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was killed outside the Kaufman County courthouse in a shooting.

$200K Reward in Kaufman County Murders

New electronic billboards advertising a $200,000 reward for information in the Kaufman County murders of Mark Hasse and Mike and Cynthia McLelland have gone up around North Texas.

Thousands Gather to Remember McLellands

Thousands of people filled First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale to remember Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia.

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McLelland is the first Honor Flag honoree who has previously handled the flag. He touched the flag during the ceremony for his friend and colleague Mark Hasse.

McLelland Family Remembers Slain DA

The mother of slain Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, Wyvonne, remembers the conversations she had with her son.

The two spoke every week, a few times a week. She said the family man loved his wife Cynthia and his job, dearly.

"He never hung up the phone and didn't say 'I love you,'" Wyvonne McLelland said, choking back the years. "He was a great son, never any trouble. He just liked what he did."

McLelland says her son always did what he set his mind to. Ever since the murder of his best friend and top prosecutor, Mark Hasse, he was set on finding the killer.

"This is the bad thing, he meant to end this. Mark was one of his best friends. He was going to end this," she said.

NBC News will have an extended interview with the McLelland family on "Today."

Investigations Continues, Public Assistance Wanted

The investigations into the murders of both top Kaufman County prosecutors continue with no arrests.

Sheriffs and other law enforcement in the area have said very little about either investigation, and have set up a tip line (877-847-7522) and billboard campaign to get the public involved in sharing information.

A reward fund, including money from the Governor's office, has reached $200,000 for information leading to an arrest in the McLelland case.

NBC 5's Ray Villeda contributed to this report.

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Woman to Honor Mother With Boston Marathon Run

Andres Gutierrez, NBC 5 News

Felicia Scott from Weatherford will run the Boston Marathon place of her mother, Iris Stagner, who was killed in bike accident last year.

Woman to Honor Mother With Boston Marathon...

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A Parker County woman says she'll be running her first marathon in her mother's place.

Seven months ago, Iris Stagner -- an avid cyclist and competitive runner -- received news that she qualified for this year's Boston marathon. 

However, she never got to cross that marathon's finish line. 

Three days after receiving the letter, Stagner was biking across a bridge over the Brazos River, two miles west of Mineral Wells, when a pick-up truck struck from behind and killed her.

Now her daughter, Felicia Scott, plans to take her mother's place in the marathon, running among the more than 20,000 people who plan to participate this year.

After explaining the tragic circumstances to marathon officials, Scott was given the okay to take her mother's place.

During the past few months, Scott has been training at the Lake Mineral Wells State Trailway. Although she has never qualified or finished a full marathon, she's about to attempt to complete one because of her mother.

"I need to do something, I'm trying to do something to keep her legacy alive -- this is probably the best I can do," Scott said.

Stagner's legacy does live on in a painted white "ghostbike" that sits a few yards from the accident scene and now serves as a memorial to Scott's opportunity to run in her place.

"We should be there watching my mom do it and not me -- so that'll be hard," Scott said.

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Margaret Thatcher Dies After Stroke

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Margaret Thatcher, British Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, circa 1990.

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Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died following a stroke, her spokesman confirmed to NBC News. She was 87.

"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," spokesman Lord Tim Bell told NBC News.

For full world news coverage, visit NBCNews.com.

Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister. The conservative leader led Britain from 1979 to 1990 and was a close ally of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Her life was immortalized in the 2011 biopic "The Iron Lady."

"It was with great sadness that l learned of Lady Thatcher's death," U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said on his official Twitter account. "We've lost a great leader, a great Prime Minister and a great Briton."

Buckingham Palace said, "The Queen is sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher and Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the family."

Visit The Guardian for a liveblog of reaction to Margaret Thatcher's death.

Refresh for more updates.

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Opening Day at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

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Apr 6, 2013

Hundreds came to pay respects for popular teenager killed in early morning wreck.

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Apr 6, 2013

Tarrant County educators packed into a handgun class hosted by the...

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Brittney Griner is ready to take Mark Cuban up on his offer to draft her.

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Kaufman Co. Men Deny Threat Allegations

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Two Terrell men accused of threatening county officials in unrelated cases both say they are upstanding citizens who would never hurt anyone.

Investigators say Nick Morale, 56, phoned in a threat to a tip line established for the investigation into the deaths of the Kaufman County district attorney and his wife.

Morale told NBC 5 that he called the Crime Stoppers tip line with a warning, not a threat. He said he wanted to report a conversation he had with a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Paris, Texas, but ended up leaving a partial message because his dog knocked his phone from his hand.

He said the gang member told him that a judge and Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland were the targets of the Jan. 31 shooting that killed Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse. Morale said he chalked up the conversation to boastful ranting until McLelland and his wife were found shot to death in their home.

Morale said he then decided to call Crime Stoppers to tell someone what he had heard. He said he called the tip line and said, "The next victim is judge" before his dog knocked the phone out of his hand. The phone fell two stories and broke, he said.

Robert Miller, 52, was arrested Thursday on a charge of a terroristic threat in connection with a Facebook posting and an email. Investigators said the posting made a threat to the safety of an assistant district attorney.

Miller said he sent what he called an op-ed of the Kaufman County courthouse and members of the district attorney's office to news media, including NBC 5. In an interview, he denied that the post was a threat of any kind.

The Facebook post contains harsh words for courthouse employees and warns that a specific assistant district attorney could be the next prosecutor targeted.

Miller said he only referred to the prosecutor by name because the person was listed third on the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office's website, beneath the names of McLelland and Hasse.

In the post, Miller suggested that the assistant district attorney seek other employment, perhaps in another state.

He said the post was his opinion and that interactions at the courthouse prompted him to write the post. It was only intended to be an expression of his First Amendment rights, he said.

Neither Miller nor Morale are suspects in the McLellands' deaths or are connected to them in any way, say authorities investigating the case.

Both say that the current climate of fear and a zero-tolerance stance for anything that can be construed as a threat against the courthouse is what landed them behind bars.

Miller and Morale are each being held on a single count of making a terroristic threat, which can carry state and federal penalties. Bond for each was set at $1 million.

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Police, Kyle Foundation Host Handgun Class for Educators

Andres Gutierrez, NBC 5 News

Tarrant County educators packed into a handgun class hosted by the Dalworthington Gardens Police Department and The Chris Kyle Foundation.

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Tarrant County educators packed into a handgun class hosted by the Dalworthington Gardens Police Department and The Chris Kyle Foundation.

The class, held in the Kennedale High School Performing Arts Center on Saturday, was designed to help educators who wanted to complete their concealed handgun license course.

"We want that feeling of safe -- we want them to have options out at their home, out in the public," Dalworthington Gardens Police Chief Bill Waybourn said.

Chief Waybourn was collaborating with Chris Kyle to instruct teachers in self-defense through a partnership between the department and the Chris Kyle Foundation.

That plan was tragically put on hold when Kyle was killed in February. Saturday would have been Kyle's first class.

Educators from across Tarrant County turned out today to complete their course.

Kindergarten teacher Darnesha Young said the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary prompted her to attend the class.

"I consider my students my babies," Young said. "The first thing I thought was, 'that could have been me,' so that's why I'm really here today."

Jeanne Curtis, the principal at Arlington's Miller Elementary School, has had her concealed handgun license for 13 years and sees having other CHL educators in a school as another layer of security.

"Parents would feel safer that, 'alright the administrator in charge, not only does she love my kids, but she is going to give her life for them -- if it's necessary for them,'" Curtis said. "And shouldn't I, if I'm willing to give up my life for my children at school, be able to defend it first?"

During Saturday's class, Chris Kyle's widow, Taya, and his brother, Jeff, spoke to the class in honor of the fallen Army sniper.

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Chicago to Pay $55K to Tasered Pregnant Woman

An attorney says this is a recent photo of Tiffany Rent during her current pregnancy.

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The city of Chicago will reportedly pay a $55,000 settlement to a woman who claimed she was shocked with a stun gun while eight months pregnant, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Tiffany Rent, 31, filed suit against the city after she was shocked with a stun gun by a police officer in front of her two young children in June. 

Rent said she pulled into a handicapped parking spot in the Walgreen's lot on the 110 block of South Michigan Avenue while her fiance ran into the store. She then got out of the car to re-seat her 3-year-old when a Chicago police officer began writing her a ticket.

Police said she tore up the ticket and threw it at the officer. When the officer asked her for identification, police said she refused to comply.

Police said the officer deployed his stun gun when Rent tried to put her car in gear and drive away.

"I don't think that it should have went this far," she said. "It just makes me afraid of the Chicago Police Department because there's other women that may have went through this or that's going through this."

Attorney Keenan Saulter further argued a parking ticket is not a reason to use a stun gun.

"A parking ticket," he said. "Not even a moving violation, but a parking ticket should not involve someone pulling out a Taser."

The accused officers claimed they did not know Rent was pregnant, but the officer who deployed the stun gun is under review.

Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said stun guns should be used when overcoming assault or preventing escape and "you can't always tell if somebody's pregnant."

Rent gave birth in July to a baby boy named Joseph.
 

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High School Senior Mourned by Hundreds

Patric Alva, NBC 5

Friends, classmates and family mourned the loss of Fabian Gonzalez, a senior at Townview Center High School in Dallas, during a candlelight vigil on April 6, 2013.

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Friends, classmates and family mourned the loss of a high school senior who died in a late night car accident on Saturday.

Fabian Gonzalez, 18, was a senior at Townview Center High School in Dallas. Gonzalez, better known as "Fabo" to friends, lost control of his SUV on Walton Walker Blvd. around 12:15 a.m. on Saturday.

Dallas police say he was going too fast and lost control along a curve. The SUV flipped over into the opposite traffic lane where another vehicle struck the SUV. Gonzalez died at the scene.

On Saturday night, more than 100 classmates, friends and families held a candlelight vigil to remember Gonzalez at Townview High School.

Friends say he was a DJ and was set to DJ the high school prom in two weeks. He was also an avid basketball player.

Friends wore shirts with his photo and brought signs, flowers and candles to the vigil. Classmates shared stories and Gonzalez's parents were seen consoling one another while taking the scene in.

Gonzalez was two months from graduation and friends say he will be sorely missed.

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