By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief is asking federal prosecutors to review findings of a police inquiry into a recent gay bar raid. Chad Gibson suffered a severe head injury when Fort Worth police and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agents inspected the Rainbow Lounge on Sunday.
Both the TABC and the Fort Worth Police Department are currently investigating to find out exactly how the 26-year-old was injured.
Expressing confidence in Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead's investigation, the mayor said Friday that he also wants James T. Jacks, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas to review the department's findings, once they're complete, to make sure they were thorough and impartial.
Gas Price Drop
Retail gasoline prices are falling this week heading into the July 4th holiday.
The weekly AAA Texas gasoline price survey released yesterday shows the average price of regular unleaded self-serve fell by four cents this week to $2.49 per gallon. It also fell four cents nationally to an average of $2.63.
Auto club spokeswoman Sara Schimmer says July 4th is the time of year when gasoline prices often peak. If so, they've peaked at a level nearly $1.50 per gallon below last summer's high.
Texarkana has the cheapest gasoline in this week's survey at $2.43, seven cents below last week. The highest was in El Paso, where the average price fell three cents to $2.58 per gallon.
Death Sentence
A man has been sentenced to death for a second time in the 1989 slaying of an 81-year-old Dallas woman.
Mark Robertson was sentenced yesterday. He'd won a second sentencing hearing after a federal appellate court ruled that his original jury had been given confusing instructions on how to consider his punishment.
Robertson shot Edna Brau between the eyes in 1989 as she slept on the couch.
Robertson is already serving two life sentences for killing her grandson, Sean Hill, while they were fishing, and convenience store clerk Jeffrey Saunders.
Brau's son, John Brau, told the Dallas Morning News after the verdict that Robertson was a "cancer to humanity" who has only cared about himself.
Burning Palm Trees
Officials are looking for the culprit in a bizarre palm tree torching spree.
Since May, 30 trees have been set ablaze on the island. Galveston Fire Marshal Gilbert Robinson said calls of burning palm trees have increased recently.
Now, tree service owner Greg West is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to charges.
"We just got hit by a hurricane, and the only thing that lived were the palm trees," West told The Galveston County Daily News. "I want to put the reward out, so it might change somebody's mind to turn them in."
A conviction for arson is a second-degree felony, which carries a possible jail term from two to 20 years and a $10,000 fine.