By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
A 21-year-old fugitive who escaped from a Galveston prison hospital has been captured in the Dallas area. State prison officials say Joshua Duane Barnes of Amarillo was caught Wednesday morning by police responding to a call of a suspicious man in a park in Irving.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said a man later identified as Barnes fled as police approached. She said the man briefly barricaded himself in an abandoned house before surrendering.
Barnes escaped Saturday from the prison unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was sent after a fight. He's serving a 35-year sentence for seven burglaries and an aggravated assault charge and has a history of escapes.
Wrongly convicted Texas man sues lawyer over fees
A Texas DNA exoneree expected to receive nearly $4.1 million for his time in prison has sued his attorney, who wants $1 million from the settlement.
Steven Phillips filed his lawsuit last week against Kevin Glasheen, who successfully lobbied Texas legislators to boost settlements to the wrongly convicted.
Phillips spent nearly 25 years in prison for a rape and robbery he did not commit. He said Wednesday Glasheen deserves credit for the more generous compensation bill but that the attorney never performed legal work for him.
Under the old law, Phillips would have collected about $1.2 million. Under the new law, Phillips is due more than $4 million. Glasheen said he has earned his fee and expects to collect it.
OSHA claims BP failed to make plant improvements
Federal regulators warned BP that it failed to make all required safety improvements at its Texas City refinery where a 2005 explosion left 15 people dead.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, in a letter dated Aug. 3, gave the oil company until Wednesday to complete the changes.
BP spokesman Daren Beaudo told the Galveston County Daily News that the company believes it is "full compliance," but is working with OSHA on the concerns.
Beaudo says BP Products has completed more than 550 OSHA citation abatement requirements and process safety related recommendations.
BP, in an agreement with OSHA, promised changes at its Texas City refinery and paid a $21.5 million fine to settle safety issues cited by federal regulators
$10 million from Dell foundation for student data
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is giving $10 million to help Texas create a $60 million data system to track student performance. The foundation, created by Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell and his wife, and state officials announced the gift Tuesday.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that the system will give educators access to complete academic, attendance, disciplinary and state testing records for individual students.
Texas Education Agency officials say the system will allow teachers and principals to intervene early with struggling students. Officials say they will apply for $50 million in federal stimulus funds to help pay for the system.
The project could be available statewide in the next six years.