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Roundup:Dallas Omni Convention Center Hotel Opens

By BJ Austin, KERA News & Wire Services

Dallas, TX – In downtown Dallas Friday, more than a thousand people celebrated the opening on the new Omni Convention Center Hotel. Ed Netzhammer, the hotel's managing director was Master of Ceremonies.

Netzhammer: We now have the new Omni Dallas, the best hotel in Texas.

No one was more proud than hotel architect Scott Lowe.

Lowe: And to see people actually using it and actually functioning the way it was designed to is wonderful to see.

The 23 story, 500 million dollar hotel attached to the Dallas Convention Center took two years to build. Operators say they have already booked 300 thousand "room nights."

Dallas Honors Veterans

Veterans Day in downtown Dallas saw hundreds of people lining the street for the annual parade.

Michelle Lopez came from Fort Worth to honor Veterans, including those in her own family.

Lopez: I'm so proud to be here. When you hear all this stuff about Occupy this, Occupy that, I'm so glad we have a lot of people that support our veterans. My husband is retired Army Reservist, my son-in-law currently is stationed in England in the Air Force. My daughter graduated from the Air Force Academy. Two Pearl Harbor survivors were grand marshals of the parade.

Parkland Board Wants More Info On Interim CEO Candidates

The Parkland Board of Managers wants more time and more information before deciding who will be Interim CEO of the County hospital.

The Board met this afternoon, and "could" have named a selection.

In a message to Parkland employees, Board Chair Dr. Lauren McDonald said board members do not want to make a decision until fully satisfied the three finalists have been thoroughly examined.

No word on when a decision might be expected. Dr. Ron Anderson's last day on the job is December 31st. He has been Parkland's chief for more than 25 years.

Feds End Supervision Of Dallas County's Jail

A federal judge has ended court ordered agreement that had called for Dallas County's jail to be monitored by the U.S. Justice Department because of a lack of adequate medical and mental health care at the facility that resulted in inmate injuries and deaths.

The Justice Department announced Thursday its supervision of the jail has concluded after various improvements were made at the facility.

The improvements include a 45 percent reduction in jail deaths, a nearly doubling of staffing levels in all medical disciplines and health screenings for all inmates upon arrival and then on a yearly basis.

The jail had been under the Justice Department's supervision since 2007.

Dallas County Jail is the seventh largest jail in the U.S., with more than 6,300 inmates on a daily basis.

Son, 10 of slain Fort Worth officer changes name

A North Texas boy whose police officer father was killed in the line of duty has changed his name to honor his dad.

A judge in Fort Worth on Thursday approved 10-year-old Justin Nava changing his name to Henry Nava III.

Fort Worth police Officer Henry "Hank" Nava was fatally shot in 2005. A parole violator convicted of the killing was sentenced to life in prison.

The officer's widow, Teresa Nava-Salazar, says the couple's son approached her about a year ago asking to be allowed to have his father's name.

The boy says some of his friends started calling him Henry even before the name change was official.

Pedestrian struck, killed by train in Carrollton

Authorities say a pedestrian has been struck and killed by a commuter train operating in the Dallas area.

The Denton County Transportation Authority says the accident happened Friday morning in Carrollton as the man walked along the tracks.

The name of the victim wasn't immediately released. DCTA says nobody on the train was hurt.

The accident is under investigation.

2 West Texans charged with buying, selling baby

Two West Texas women have been arrested for allegedly buying and selling a 7-week-old infant on an installment payment plan.

Abilene police say the mother, 29-year-old Joana Delacruz Huerta, and the woman accused of buying her baby, 27-year-old Marilu Munoz, were charged Thursday with the sale or purchase of an infant, a third-degree felony.

The women remained in the Taylor County Jail on Friday. Bail has not yet been set. No attorneys were listed for either woman.

Police Sgt. Lynn Beard says Huerta reportedly sold the baby for $2,000 on an "installment plan" with scheduled payments.

The infant, whose gender wasn't released, was taken into custody by Child Protective Services.

If convicted, both women face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.