News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Another West Nile Virus Death In Dallas County

rp4prez2008
/
(cc) flickr

Dallas County is reporting another death from West Nile Virus, the seventh this season.

“We know that the individual lives in the zip code 75159,” reported Dallas County Health Department Director Zach Thompson. “The individual was in their 50’s, late 50’s with underlying medical conditions.”

Thompson says he is in contact with the Centers for Disease Control about best practices and how to deal with the largest number of West Nile virus cases in the country.

Dallas County reports 130 human cases of the mosquito-borne illness. This latest death was in Seagoville.

Tarrant County has 106 cases and one death.

BJ Austin, KERA News

Another Dallas Police Shooting

An interrupted home burglary this morning in northeast Dallas ended with the 16th police shooting this year.

Officers say the owner of a home on Amanda Lane followed the suspect as he made a getaway in a green Honda SUV. The homeowner got the license number and called police.

The car was located a short time later at a motel parking lot on East Northwest Highway. As police arrived, the suspect backed into a car occupied by undercover officers, then tried to drive away. A uniformed officer fired multiple shots at the car. The suspect was not hit, but he was arrested.

No officers were injured.

BJ Austin, KERA News

Judge: Feds can auction horses in Zetas drug case

A federal judge in Texas is allowing prosecutors to sell more than 400 racehorses amid allegations the animals were used to launder profits from a Mexican drug cartel.

Fifteen people are charged in the investigation, which centers on the operation of an Oklahoma horse ranch. Among those in custody is Jose Trevino Morales. Prosecutors say he is the brother of two alleged leaders of the Zetas cartel.

Authorities seized 49 of the most valuable horses and claimed control of the remaining 414. Prosecutors said in court documents that four horses have died. Others have been injured due to overcrowding. Caring for the horses is also expensive.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks last week gave prosecutors permission to auction the horses and hold the proceeds until the case is resolved.

AP

George W. Bush's nephew joins Texas GOP leadership

George P. Bush has been named deputy finance chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

In a statement Monday, party chairman Steve Munisteri called Bush "a relatively young, dynamic, intelligent, and articulate leader."

Bush, 36, is the nephew of former President George W. Bush and the eldest of three children of ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. He co-founded Austin-based Pennybacker Capital, a real estate private equity firm.

Bush is on the board of directors of Hispanic Republicans of Texas, a nonprofit dedicated to electing Republican Hispanic candidates around the state.

He has been involved in several past fundraising efforts for conservative causes and other organizations. Bush is also co-founder of Maverick PAC, a political action committee working to engage next-generation GOP leaders from business, politics and law.

AP

Low IQ score focus of appeal to stop execution

Attorneys for a convicted killer facing execution want the U.S. Supreme Court to stop this week's scheduled punishment.

Lawyers for 54-year-old Marvin Wilson are asking the high court to reverse rulings from other courts that have refused to halt the execution despite a psychological test that put Wilson's IQ at 61. That's a score they insist indicates mental impairment and makes Wilson ineligible for execution Tuesday evening in Huntsville for killing a police informant in Beaumont 20 years ago.

State lawyers argue the result from a 2004 test is faulty and that all other tests showed his IQ above the impairment threshold of 70.

Wilson was condemned for the shooting death of 21-year-old Jerry Williams. Williams provided information that led to Wilson's drug arrest a week earlier in 1992.

AP