By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – A 100 thousand dollar reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest or whoever has mailed 25 letters with "white powder" in them to North Texas churches, mosques and businesses over the past two weeks. Dallas FBI Agent Mark White says there's a one sentence message included that references Al Qaeda.
White: The meaning of this message is really unknown. This also dates back to December 2008 where letters were sent to the U.S. Embassies and Governor's offices. This person has committed a lot of time and money to getting this message out, but he has not clearly articulated the message. We don't know what he's trying to say.
White says the message and the North Texas postmark are the same in both batches of white powder envelopes. He says the powder was mainly cornstarch.
Anyone with information is urged to call the FBI.
Dallas Town Hall Budget Meetings Enter 2nd Week
The second week of Dallas town hall budget meetings begins tonight. More than 30 meetings are scheduled in neighborhoods throughout the city over the next three weeks.
City Manager Mary Suhm says her proposal to cut parks, libraries, and rec centers in these tough economic times is not very popular. But she says people at the meetings seem willing to look for solutions.
Suhm: Everybody understands that this is not just something that affects one segment of the population. We're all, in our personal lives, in our work, in our city, we all experiencing this. So if we can find a way to deal with it in the best way possible that best way is more easily found if we can talk to everybody about it.
A key question is whether citizens would support a tax hike to avoid some of the cuts. Suhm says we'll find out as the meetings go forward.
Graduation for 1st class in advanced DPS training
Training is complete for the first Texas Department of Public Safety trooper class taking part in courses that can put the law officers on the street in just eight weeks.
The first class of 29 troopers, in the advanced recruit school, graduated Friday in Austin. All had been police officers prior to DPS training.
DPS in February announced the agency had 400 vacancies and was offering experienced law officers a chance to become troopers in just two months. Previously, experienced law officers had to join rookies to complete the regular training course that was nearly seven months long.
The eight-week trooper school, for current Texas and eligible out-of-state law officers, is a first in the 75-year history of the agency.