By BJ Austin, KERA News & Wire Services
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-975684.mp3
Dallas, TX – The lawyer for Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price has two accountants standing by - ready to do their own investigative audit of the Commissioner's personal and public finances.
Ravkind: We've retained experts to go over the accounting because we want to know where the money came from any money and where it went.
Defense Attorney Billy Ravkind says the audit won't be quick or easy. He says the FBI seized much of the material the accountants need during raids on Price's home and office. Ravkind says it'll be difficult to get copies of everything in FBI custody.
The FBI is not commenting. Search warrants made available mention bribery, money laundering and tax evasion.
Ravkind says he cannot confirm published reports that 100 thousand dollars in cash was seized from a safe in his client's home.
Retail gasoline prices tumble 8 cents in Texas
Retail gasoline prices in Texas have tumbled 8 cents as travelers prepare for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
AAA Texas on Thursday reported the average price at the pump this week is $3.44 a gallon. That's 83 cents higher than a year ago.
Gasoline prices also have declined nationally, with the average cost at $3.54, down 7 cents this week.
Beaumont has the least expensive gasoline, at $3.38 a gallon. The association says the most expensive gasoline in the state is $3.48 a gallon in Amarillo.
AAA says nearly 2.7 million Texans are expected to travel 50 miles or more to holiday getaways this weekend, with most driving to their destinations.
Dad charged with attempted murder
A father accused of abandoning his 4-year-old son along a rural West Texas highway in the dark has been charged with attempted capital murder.
Prosecutors say the charge filed Thursday against Carlos Rico replaces the child endangerment charge he faced after his son was found along Interstate 20 near Sweetwater about 3 a.m. Tuesday. The 22-year-old is accused of choking the boy and leaving him on the road about three hours before he was found.
Rico remains in the Nolan County jail. It is not clear whether he has an attorney.
Police say the boy was picked up by a local high school basketball coach and taken to a hospital, where doctors removed at least 500 cactus spines from his body.
Sweetwater is about 125 miles southeast of Lubbock.
Record 236 Texas counties ban outdoor burning
The record number of Texas counties with outdoor burn bans has reached 236 as the drought continues.
A Texas Forest Service map Thursday showed southern and northeast parts of the state as the only areas without burn bans. Texas has 254 counties.
Texas in January 2006 had a record 221 counties with outdoor burn bans, but that mark was broken earlier this month during wildfires and lingering dry weather.
The Texas Forest Service says nearly 3.3 million acres have burned during the current wildfires season.
Agency officials are urging caution during the Fourth of July holiday weekend and use of fireworks.