By BJ Austin, KERA News
Dallas, TX – A state appeals court in Dallas has overturned a lower court's decision that cleared the way for a "gay divorce".
Last year, Judge Tena Callahan ruled the men - married in Massachusetts -- could legally divorce in Texas. The judge said the state's prohibition of same sex marriage violates the Constitution's 14th Amendment "equal protection" clause. The appeals court rejected that.
Peter Schulte is the attorney for one of the men.
Please download Adobe Flash to load audio player.
Schulte: This ruling today really doesn't give our clients the relief that they need: an actual divorce. Because as we move forward and the laws change in different states, avoidance action, we still believe, is not the way to go. And so we're going to keep pushing forward until we exhaust all of our legal avenues.
One appeals judge wrote that Texas district courts do not have subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a same sex divorce case.
The State Attorney General had intervened, arguing that because Texas doesn't recognized gay marriage, a Texas court cannot grant a divorce.
TRE Running On Track
Repairs have been made to the Trinity Railway Express tracks near downtown Fort Worth.
Afternoon TRE commuters will NOT have to take the "bus" between the Richland Hills Station and downtown Fort Worth.
Seven cars jumped the track Sunday night. Three overturned, spilling coal and damaging the adjacent TRE tracks.
Arlington Commuter Buses Get New Life
Arlington's commuter bus service to and from downtown Fort Worth will run for a third year. A 65 thousand dollar grant from the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation is keeping the city's only "mass transit" rolling.
Three buses began serving a Park and Ride lot at I-20 and Park Springs in September of 2008 as a one-year pilot program to improve air quality by cutting vehicle emissions.
The program now averages 400 "boardings" a week.
Dallas Man Admits Multi-Million Dollar Swindle
A 35 year old Dallas man has pleaded guilty in a multi-million dollar oil and gas scheme.
Federal prosecutors say Joseph Blimline admitted he conspired to defraud nearly eight thousand investors throughout the U. S. in a 485 million dollar scheme. In a second case, Blimline also pleaded guilty to bilking Michigan investors out of 50 million dollars.
He faces up to 20 years on each charge. A sentencing date has not been set.
Natural Gas Cabs Move Up At Love Field
Dallas cabbies who drive compressed natural gas vehicles will soon move to the front of the line at Love Field.
A federal judge has rejected a move by the Association of Taxicab Operators to stop the city ordinance, adopted last March.
Mayor Tom Leppert says the idea is to encourage "green" cars and clean up the air. He says about 73% of ozone-causing pollution in Dallas-Fort Worth comes from cars and other mobile sources.
The Taxicab Operators have said the "front of the line" plan would likely put some cabbies out of business - those who can't afford an expensive conversion to natural gas, or a new CNG cab.
Court Setback For Dallas "Wet" Vote Opponents
Opponents of the November referendum to make all of Dallas "wet" say they will take a local appeals court setback to Texas Supreme Court. The Fifth District Court of Appeals declined to intervene in the "beer and wine sales" election.
Opponents, including several South Dallas pastors and a coalition of package stores, do not want to open up "dry" areas for retail sale of beer and wine. They claim the City Secretary failed to property certify signatures on the petitions that forced the election.
Backers of the "wet" vote say the opponents' lawsuit if frivolous, and an attempt to deny Dallas residents the right to vote on the issue.
The issue is on the November 2nd ballot.
Defendant Slits Throat In Court
The Dallas County Sheriff's office is investigating how an inmate got two small "safety" razor blades into a courtroom, and managed to slit his own throat as a Judge was sentencing him.
47 year old Marcial Anguiano of Duncanville had asked the court from probation after pleading guilty to cutting his niece with a butcher knife. But the judge, noting his five previous stints in prison, gave him 40 years.
That's when he cut his throat and began to bleed profusely. Bailiff's quickly attended to the man, who was taken to the hospital, alert and talking.
Kim Leach, with the Sheriff's Department, says Anguiano did not cut any major arteries. She says an investigation will determine if he was able to get the razor blades into the courtroom because of human error or policies that need to be changed.
Rare Amoeba Kills Tarrant County Boy
A seven year old Arlington boy is dead after contracting a rare amoeba infection on a family outing.
Kyle Lewis and his family went swimming last week in the Paluxy River in Glen Rose.
Tarrant County health officials say the amoeba found primarily in warm, stagnant water enters through the nose and attacks the brain. It is almost always fatal.
It does not live in salt water, or swimming pools and hot tubs that are treated with chlorine.
Ten case of the rare infection have been reported in Texas since 2000. The most recent was in Lee County in 2005.