By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX – A 24 year old man is under arrest and charged with the sexual assault of a 14 year old runaway at the Occupy Dallas camp behind City Hall.
The runaway teenager from Garland told Dallas detectives she claimed to be 19 years old when she met the man and had sex in a tent.
Police say Richard Wayne Armstrong was already a convicted sex offender when he allegedly had sex with the minor runaway. He is also charged with failure to register as a sex offender.
Texas Drought To Continue Another Year
Texas state senators are hearing sobering news on how a record-breaking drought will continue - and the costly measures needed to keep up with future water demand.
State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon testified Tuesday that the drought that began in October 2010 should last at least another year.
He said Texas had its hottest summer ever and tied with Oklahoma for the hottest in U.S. history. Rising temperatures means increased evaporation in reservoirs, further depleting already decimated water stocks.
Through September, Texas averaged only 8.5 inches of rain, nearly 13 inches less than normal, the driest in state annals.
Carolyn Brittin of the Texas Water Development Board urged implementing a plan to bolster future water stocks but said estimated costs have increased from $31 billion in 2007 to $53 billion today.
Reputed mobsters charged with taking over Irving company
The FBI says a financial fraud case shows that mobsters are moving "from the back alleys to the boardrooms."
Reputed mobsters, including the son of former Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo D. "Little Nicky" Scarfo, were charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Five lawyers and an accountant were charged along with Nicodemo S. Scarfo. Federal authorities say the group took over FirstPlus Financial Group, an Irving based mortgage company, had it buy shell companies they ran and took the money out.
Authorities say the scheme brought them $12 million between 2007 and 2008.
One of the reputed mobsters' purchases with the money: A yacht named "Priceless."
FBI Special Agent Michael Ward says the allegations show organized crime has evolved.
Scarfo Jr. is due in a Camden federal court this afternoon.
Texas students gain in math; reading scores flat
Fourth and eighth-graders in Texas are doing better in math, but gains in reading proficiency remain elusive.
That's according to results released Tuesday on the Nation's Report Card. Results show Texas students lagging behind the national average on reading scores. For eighth graders, the average score was three points below the national average.
Texas students exceeded their national peers in math - by seven points in eighth grade. Math scores have been improving steadily over the past two decades.
Reading performance gaps between white students and black and Hispanic students in Texas were unchanged in comparisons to 1992 and 1998. In math, however, those gaps have narrowed.
The results are based on the National Assessment on Educational Progress, administered by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
N TX Food Bank Launches Campaign
The North Texas Food Bank launches its Holiday Campaign Tuesday at the grand opening of its new warehouse.
Food Bank Director Jan Pruitt says the new warehouse has a huge refrigerated area that will allow more fresh produce to be collected and distributed. She says that's part of the Food Bank's "ReThink Hunger" strategy: healthier, smarter and stronger.
Pruitt: Healthier means nutritious food to our community, especially the families we serve that are people who are food insecure. Smarter is being more efficient and doing it better. And stronger is about building capacity.
Pruitt says demand at the Food Bank is up 30% because of the recession and continued high unemployment. She hopes to raise seven million dollars during the Holiday Campaign. Pruitt says that would help finance Food Bank operations through next spring.
The North Texas Food Bank serves 13 counties.
Land deal: North Texas getting new state park
A more than $7.1 million land sale has been completed for a planned state park in North Texas.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Tuesday announced it has closed on the purchase of more than 3,300 acres of Cross Timbers region land from several owners.
The sale, which closed last week, involves property that straddles the Palo Pinto County and Stephens County line near Strawn, about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Officials say an agreement is in the works to use Tucker Lake in the planned state park.
No projected opening date has been announced.
Funds for the purchase came from the 2008 sale of the former Eagle Mountain Lake State Park.