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Rush started off his show stating that he was in a foul mood.

Chicago - Fears of nuclear radiation in Japan have now hit Chicago, after a plane landing at O'Hare Airport tested for positive for radiation, but an expert in the field cautioned that there was no risk to the public from the incident. A spokeperson for American Airlines confirmed that two planes from Tokyo tested positive for radiation Wednesday, one at O'Hare and one landing in Dallas. The radiation at O'Hare was coming from a routine medical shipment that was bound for Mexico. U.S. Customs said the radiation test was positive, but at no time was the radiation at unsafe levels....

An undercover TSA agent was able to get through security at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with a handgun during testing of the enhanced-imaging body scanners, according to a high-ranking, inside source at the Transportation Security Administration. The source said the undercover agent carried a pistol in her undergarments when she put the body scanners to the test. The officer successfully made it through the airport's body scanners every time she tried, the source said. "In this case, where they had a test, and it was just a dismal failure as I'm told," said Larry Wansley, former head of security at...

For the next 17 weeks, Durham's sixth-graders are playing fantasy football, the wildly popular game that has millions of participants nationwide. Most who play do so for bragging rights among their peers and the chance to win a few bucks. But these students are playing in teacher Lance Mangham's math class. It's a trend that is reaching classrooms across the country as teachers search for lessons that go beyond traditional textbooks and worksheets to tap students' interests.

This is the president who went to Dallas-Ft. Worth airport to welcome home the troops - comments are well worth reading...

Many of you probably saw the Facebook photos of this event. This is a great video of the event with music and still shots. Get the tissues ready. (I search and didn't see it posted)

This morning at DFW Airport, George and Laura Bush greeted 150 (very surprised) troops as they arrived home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Their expressions were so priceless! A few more pictures (larger size) here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=253292&id=361997510504 Confession - they made me cry.

Title says it all. Some great pics at the link!

Great photos at the link.

KVTT 91.7 FM has been a shining example of what a Christian radio station should be in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. KVTT whose call letters came to symbolize an acronym for "Keep Voicing The Truth" moved from 91.7 FM to 1110 AM on Sept. 28, 2009 and will now move into the history books on July 12, 2010 as another defunct listener-supported radio station ... I happened to listen to KVTT on 91.7 FM primarily when I was in college. The teaching and encouragement I received on a daily basis helped shape and mold me as a Christian man. I...

Imagine driving across the country without adding so much as scrape to your car only to dent your fender as you pull into the garage. That's kind of what happened to an American Airlines 777 Tuesday morning. The flight, fresh off an arrival from Sao Paulo, had just pulled up to the jetbridge at gate D32 and was nearly ready to deplane when something unusual happened. With the door open so passengers could exit, the aircraft began rolling backward -- ripping the door off the fuselage. "We do not know if the brakes were set (and did not work properly)...

Multi-Faith Weekend in the DFW area brought together Jews, Muslims, and Christians so that members of each religion could visit the synagogue, mosque, or church of the other two faiths. Once there, individuals would be allowed to observe or participate in a religious service as well as a time of questions and answers. The goal was said to be "greater understanding", but is it safe to allow oneself to mingle with "the enemy" so-to-speak? Wouldn't that be a dangerous thing to do? If not physically, then emotionally or spiritually? Is it safe for children, who are young and impressionable? or...

News clip

Here is a video report on a "serious and unacceptable" security breach that occurred in December at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Apparently, a security checkpoint was left unattended for at least 90 minutes on December 16: The Transportation Security Administration has launched an internal investigation after a security checkpoint at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was left unattended and unsecured for 90 minutes earlier this month. Three agents have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. The agency said the agents left the checkpoint at Gate E8 from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 16. Personnel from the...

DFW Security Checkpoint Left Unattended for 90 Minutes Agency suspends 3 agents, calls incident "serious and unacceptable" By GRANT STINCHFIELD Updated 8:05 PM CST, Thu, Dec 31, 2009 The Transportation Security Administration has launched an internal investigation after a security checkpoint at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was left unattended and unsecured for 90 minutes earlier this month. Three agents have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. The agency said the agents left the checkpoint at Gate E8 from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 16. Personnel from the airport's Department of Public Safety discovered the gate was...

Forget what you've heard about a glut of new houses on the market. For three years, Dallas-Fort Worth builders have sold more homes than they have constructed. So the inventory of finished new houses has fallen so low that homebuyers may encounter a shortage when next year's market kicks off.

Bozo came too close to the kids and got shot; not the famous clown, but a dog named "Bozo." Students at Bebensee Elementary School in Arlington were outside on a bus drill, when two dogs ran onto school grounds. Arlington police were chasing the two dogs when Bozo the boxer started getting aggressive. "They told us to get in line so we can get in the building," said Kayla Kilgore, a second-grader at the school. But when Bozo started nipping at police, an officer was forced to pull his gun and shoot Bozo, police said. "I just heard a gunshot,...

I was wondering if anyone is heading to the Tea Party in Dallas this week. I would like to go, but would have to pull my pre-k son out of school early and take the 20-month-old along too. As unpleasant as that sounds, I'm still considering it. :) Anybody else going to attend?

Statement as of 6:04 PM CDT on June 10, 2009 The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has issued a * Tornado Warning for... southwestern Denton County in north central Texas... northeastern Parker County in north central Texas... northern Tarrant County in north central Texas... southeastern Wise County in north central Texas... * until 645 PM CDT * at 604 PM CDT... storm spotters and Doppler radar observed a developing tornado near Springtown... moving east at 45 mph. This updates and replaces the previous Tornado Warning. * The tornado will be near... Reno and Sanctuary by 610 PM CDT... Briar......

Fast moving tornado on the ground in Flowermound.

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake gave many residents in the mid-cities area a good shaking Saturday morning. The U. S. Geological Survey reports the earthquake was centered in North Arlington, but felt mainly in Bedford, Euless and Irving. There have been reports of smaller aftershocks this afternoon, none have been reported as being as strong as the original earthquake this morning.

After the Call to Action, I began to put together a list of Freepers who identified their location as anywhere in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. I then sent out a FreepMail to all those I identified and posted information on the Texas board about having a Freep Meet for all DFW Freepers. About 30 of us have exchanged mail and determined that Saturday, April 25th is a pretty good night to meet. There's a Gun Show planned for that weekend at Dallas Market Hall, so if you'd like to come to the gun show and meet up with us afterward...

D/FW AIRPORT — A man aboard an American Airlines jet opened a door to the aircraft as it was waiting to taxi to a gate at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Tuesday afternoon. The 26-year-old passenger reportedly ran into the galley area at the front of the MD-80 jet and unlatched the door. That triggered the automatic deployment of an inflatable emergency escape chute. The man slid down to the tarmac and started moving toward Terminal C. The unidentified man was quickly apprehended by airline employees. The man was being questinoed by the airport's Department of Public Safety. Transportation Security Administration...

An American Eagle passenger jet landed safely at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport today after an alarm was triggered and passengers reported smelling smoke. Flight 3890 out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, made an emergency landing shortly after 1 p.m., and fire trucks surrounded the plane after it landed. Officials said a sensor indicated smoke in the cargo compartment, said Jamie Morrison, a CNN producer who was on the plane. American Airlines flight 2461 also issued an alert on Thursday after smoke was reported and landed safely at the airport.

Two drivers were shot dead and third injured on roads in northeast Dallas and Garland during Monday’s evening rush hour. Police were investigating four incidents Monday after the first shooting was reported about 5:40 p.m. in Garland on LBJ Freeway near Plano Road. Police are working to establish whether three of the shootings in Dallas are related to a Garland shooting that was the first reported fatality. “For whatever reason, this person is upset with something or someone and he’s taking it out on innocent victims going down the road and that’s very scary,” said Dallas police Sgt. Gil Cerda....

St. Hedwig has homes on large lots and a longtime tradition of rural living. And folks there want to keep it that way. “We want to be able to maintain as best we can the reason we moved out here in the first place,” said Kathy Palmer, the city’s planning and zoning commissioner. But a new master plan and recently updated zoning maps are no match for a proposed route of Trans-Texas Corridor 35 that would slice straight through the city of about 2,000 people and create headaches for several city departments, officials said. With neighboring Wilson County, St. Hedwig...

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport may serve as a key landing point for hundreds of medical patients airlifted from New Orleans to Metroplex hospitals beginning Sunday, as Hurricane Gustav moves into the Gulf of Mexico.Additionally, if Gustav hits New Orleans, the former Delta Air Lines satellite facility near Terminal E would end up serving as temporary living quarters for 800 federal relief employees who were stationed at New Orleans' Louis Armstrong Airport as the storm approached, officials said."This is going to be a huge team effort," said Brian Magana, D/FW spokesman.The first patients are tentatively scheduled to arrive early Sunday -- D/FW...

Officials at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport may consider closing one of the airport’s terminals as they grapple to keep costs down in coming months. Airport officials are putting the final touches on its budget for fiscal 2009, which begins in October, and they’re planning a lot of belt-tightening, thanks to an estimated 7 percent decrease in airline traffic. American Airlines, which operates a hub at D/FW and accounts for more than 80 percent of the facility’s flights, is reducing its capacity later this year because of record fuel prices.

Member of the Texas Sunset Commission today recommended 'radical' changes in the administration of the Texas Department of Transportation, including placing the troubled and controversial agency into a four year legislative 'receivership' and abolishing the Texas Transportation Commission, which runs TexDOT, and appointment of a Transportation Commissioner who would be answerable to the Legislature, 1200 WOAI news reports. But Sunset Commission member Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio) suggested going one step further. "What I am hearing form the public is that they are wanting to see an elected commissioner," she said to loud applause from the TexDOT opponents who...

Drivers who get safely off Interstate 35E after arriving in Dallas from Austin or San Antonio have a certain look of relief – like they just outran a buffalo stampede. Only on I-35, the stampede is trucks. The white-knuckle experience helps make the case for some kind of reliever road, even a tolled one. Making that same case has been a harder sell for U.S. highways along the Gulf Coast and East Texas. Drivers there can judge their own level of congestion, and they have insisted that their mostly rural corridor doesn't warrant the major undertaking of a parallel turnpike....

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 726 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 TXZ118-133-240100- TARRANT TX-JOHNSON TX- 726 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR... NORTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY SOUTHWESTERN TARRANT COUNTY AT 726 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A HISTORY OF TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF GRANBURY...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. ON ITS PRESENT COURSE...THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST JOHNSON AND SOUTHWEST TARRANT COUNTIES AFTER 8 PM. A SEVERE WEATHER WARNING IS LIKELY AS THIS STORM APPROACHES TARRANT AND JOHNSON COUNTIES. CITIES IN THE PATH...

President, Laura Bush going back to Dallas By WacoTrib.com staff | Thursday, April 10, 2008, 03:11 PM Laura Bush announced today that she and her husband will move from their Crawford ranch back to the D/FW area after a 14-year absence, according to this Dallas Morning News story. In the “who-didn’t-see-that-coming-department,” the DMN’s political blog uses the opportunity to take a potshot at Waco. Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: Headlines, Around Central Texas, Around the state, National news, Politics Comments By Whew April 10, 2008 3:35 PM | Link to this Does this mean we...

FORT WORTH -- The Trans-Texas Corridor is now so controversial, merely uttering the words in most political circles is taboo. "We're calling it a 'regional loop' because you can't say 'Trans-Texas Corridor' in the state of Texas anymore," said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "The Trans-Texas Corridor is a lightning rod," he told visiting state representatives this week while explaining how the corridor would connect to regional highways by 2030. Opposition to the proposed construction of a $184 billion network of toll roads during the next 50 years is so strong statewide that...

State Rep. Jim McReynolds has sent a letter to the Texas Department of Transportation saying he thinks TxDOT should drop the idea of tying the Trans-Texas Corridor in with plans for routing Interstate 69 through East Texas. McReynolds says tremendous negative outcry from his constituents and other East Texas residents has made it clear to him no one wants infrastructure that massive and disruptive to the quality of life to be built, taking big swaths out of the Pineywoods countryside. "Within the past several weeks, I have personally attended every TxDOT hearing held in my district regarding this proposed corridor,"...

Driving down to Austin lately has become a real trip. I-35 is usually packed for most of the 185 miles, and what used to take three or four hours now can take five or six. Flying down can take almost as long, when you figure in airline security delays, more flight delays, and the time it takes getting into and out of crowded airports. But what if it took 45 minutes to travel from the Metroplex to Austin by train or an hour to make a trip to Houston? Advocates of high-speed rail lines are floating these ideas once again...

... "It ain't over until Texas says it's over," Huckabee said of his long-shot campaign. "We win Texas and it all changes." Huckabee told a crowd of about 1,000 at Collin County Community College in suburban Dallas that he is the best choice for conservative voters in "the largest Republican state in the country." He promised to ban abortions and gay marriage and reform the tax code, prompting the loudest applause lines of his 50-minute speech. ... His pitch found a receptive audience among Texas conservatives, but Huckabee has struggled to win endorsements and votes from what he called the...

Push for higher gas tax could follow chief's death The death of Ric Williamson, the fiery, whip-smart chairman of the state transportation commission, could upend the still-roiling debate over toll roads in Texas in the new year. Mr. Williamson died Saturday of a heart attack at age 55, sending shock waves through the nearly 15,000-employee department he led as well as the political and policy circles where his combative style and pro-toll-road agenda had engendered enormous change – and criticism. Always careful to credit Gov. Rick Perry, a close friend and former roommate, Mr. Williamson emerged as a lightning rod...

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport has been shut down this morning because of technical problems during one of the busiest times of day in what is typically one of the busiest weeks of the year.A communications glitch shut down traffic shortly after 7 a.m. West side communications have been restored, airport spokesman Ken Capps told WBAP radio at 7:50 a.m. Ground stops were still in place on all flights departing for the airport, according to the FAA and flightstats.com. "Gate holds" and "taxi delays" are still in place on flights departing from D/FW, the FAA said on its site."Hopefully, East side communications...

At least two people were injured after a tanker truck exploded on Interstate 35E near Swisher Road in Lake Dallas on Thursday. The fire caused the interstate to shut down in both directions about 2 p.m. in the 1000 block of I-35E, Lake Dallas police said. The truck was heading northbound on I-35E when it hit a median and spilled gas onto the southbound lanes, TxDOT said.

Many North Texas Verizon customers had trouble using their wireless devices Friday afternoon. The company's wireless service crashed affecting most of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The Interstate 69 corridor, a Mexico-to-Canada concept discussed since 1991, has received government recognition as a "corridor of the future," a designation that immediately means $800,000 in federal money for studies. Local officials say it could mean more trade in South Texas. The corridor -- a 2,680-mile international trade route from Mexico to Canada also known as the Trans-Texas Corridor-69 -- was one of two designated Tuesday as corridors of the future. Interstate 10 from California to Florida also received recognition. Hailed as a route that would facilitate trade resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement, I-69's Texas portion...

DALLAS — A new Texas law went into effect at midnight Friday that could put dog owners behind bars for up to 20 years if their pet fatally attacks someone. Just hours before earlier, a six-year-old Dallas boy was mauled to death by his family's dog. The mother of Scott Warren said the family had had the pit bull since Scott was a baby. Kressie Warren said Friday's attack was the first time the dog had snapped at anyone. But, she says, with a young daughter in the house, now her only child, it will be the last. "It's going...

Could high-speed rail service with a stop in the Hillsboro area be a reality by 2020? That is the goal set by the Texas High-Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation (THSRTC) following the final planning and design charrette in Fort Worth. The charrette preceded the 10th annual Transportation Summit held in Irving Tuesday through Friday, August 7-10. THSRTC board members met in Houston in May at the Continental Airlines headquarters for the first of the charrettes. Attending were eight international suppliers of high-speed rail for nine different systems in France, Germany, Korea and Spain. In addition, 14 consulting firms of varying...

Texas needs the Trans-Texas Corridor because of its surging population, a representative for Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday while speaking in Cleburne. Plans are to build the multi-lane highway and rail system parallel to Interstate 35, north-south through the center of the state. Kris Heckmann, deputy director of Perry’s Legislative Division spoke at the Cleburne Civic Center at the invitation of the Johnson County Republican Women for their monthly meeting. Every decade since World War II, Texas’ population has increased by at least 20 percent, Heckmann said. In 1990, the state’s population was 16.5 million, and today the population is...

It's not the least bit hard to describe the choice that Texas Transportation Commission members will face Thursday at their meeting in Austin: (1) Agree with the overwhelming preference of this region's elected officials and allow the North Texas Tollway Authority to build the Texas 121 toll road in Denton and Collin counties, or (2) award the lucrative project to the apparent favorite among state toll road devotees, the Spanish company Cintra.From here, it's an easy decision: Pick NTTA.But there is reason to worry that in the boiling pot of Austin politics, the commission may see things differently. Because of...

But compromise doesn't affect six projects slated for Harris County AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry on Monday signed legislation that slows down his ambitious plans for building toll roads but does not halt them completely. Perry and the Legislature got into a stare-down last month when lawmakers sent him a bill that put serious restrictions on building toll roads in Texas and constrained policy set by the Texas Transportation Commission, which is run by the governor's appointees. Perry said he would veto the bill and threatened to call a special legislative session if lawmakers did not send him compromise legislation....

AUSTIN – Lawmakers broke camp Monday, taking it on faith that Gov. Rick Perry won't slam the brakes on a compromise toll road bill. Monday's session finale came and went without Mr. Perry signing the bill, which imposes a partial two-year freeze on private toll road deals. Lawmakers did not try to override his veto on their initial bill to overhaul the state's toll policies. Many involved in the contentious toll road debate were expecting Mr. Perry to approve the bill by now because his office was closely involved in hammering out the compromise. Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody said the...

House, Senate passage seem likely The careening vehicle that has been this legislative session's toll road overhaul appeared to pull into the garage about 4:35 p.m. Thursday. At that moment, Republican state Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, after spending several moments huddling on the floor with Sen. Tommy Williams, sponsor of Senate Bill 792, affixed his signature to a compromise version of the bill, and the two shook hands. "We've got a deal now," Williams, R-The Woodlands, said about an hour later. "This is really going to move transportation issues forward, particularly in large metropolitan areas." The deal was among...

AUSTIN -- Key negotiators were still working Wednesday night to hammer out a compromise version of a toll-road moratorium bill that Gov. Rick Perry won't veto. Earlier Wednesday, Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, said a compromise between the House and Senate versions of a transportation bill had been negotiated, but key House members quickly insisted that a deal had not been reached. The compromise version would require both chambers' approval. Perry vetoed a toll-road moratorium bill last week, citing concerns that it would cost the state federal funding of transportation projects. Different versions of a second moratorium passed both chambers last...

Toll road compromise reached By Ben Wear | Monday, May 14, 2007, 08:10 AM Lawmakers, representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation and others have reached agreement on major toll road legislation that will be laid out this morning in a meeting of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. But there could be a backlash. Many legislators had said this session that what they didn’t want was to be presented with a large “agreed-upon” transportation bill late in the session with little or no time to absorb it. That’s exactly what they’re getting, however. The bill, in this instance,...