By BJ Austin, Omar Garcia KERA News
Dallas, TX – Two Dallas Cowboys employees have settled with team owner Jerry Jones. They were injured when the Valley Ranch practice tent collapsed in high winds last year.
Attorney Frank Branson says scouting assistant Rich Behm and special teams coach Joe DeCamillas each get five million dollars from Jones. That's in addition to the 24 million they shared from the now-bankrupt companies that designed and built the "tent building".
Branson hopes the settlements send a message.
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Branson: I hope this will be a lesson to the manufacturers of not only this product, but other products, that people are not going to accept the ill-gotten gains they are making from shabbily constructed product putting people in harm's way.
The tent collapse left Behm a paraplegic. Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis suffered a broken neck, but was not paralyzed.
Both men still work for the Cowboys.
Arlington Cracks Down On Truants
Students in Arlington may want to think twice before skipping school this year.
The Police Department is teaming up with local businesses to spot truants. More than 100 have pledged to call 9-1-1 if they see students hanging out when they should be in school.
The school district's Amy Casas says the partnership will help kids stay in class and out of trouble.
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Casas: Some kids don't come to school each and every day like they're supposed to, so definitely having that extra help, and having those eyes and ears not only from the police department, but the community helps a great deal.
Police say truancy is directly related to property crimes, graffiti and gang activity.
Officers will use a special hotline to see if students have a valid excuse to be off campus. If not, they'll be returned to school and their parents will be notified. Chronic truancy could result in a ticket and fine. In the worst cases, parents could face neglect charges.
Arlington PD Truancy Page: http://is.gd/eMiJ8
TRE Commute Derailed Until Wednesday
Commuters on the Trinity Railway Express are "catching the bus" for part of the ride today and tomorrow.
The T's Joan Hunter says a freight train derailed last night near downtown Fort Worth, damaging the adjacent TRE tracks.
"Buses" are taking eastbound commuters from downtown Fort Worth to the North Richland Hills station, where they continue on rail. Westbound commuters catch the bus at that station to proceed downtown. Hunter says the bus drivers are working hard to keep the TRE schedule.
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Hunter: They also call the conductors ahead of time and let them know that they have a busload of riders so that they will be sure to wait for them. So, basically it means that the trains across the corridor are running five to ten minutes behind.
Seven freight cars derailed. Three overturned, spilling coal. Hunter expects track repairs to be completed by late tomorrow, and the commute should be back to normal Wednesday morning.