Free Republic

South Texas is not only going to get its first interstate - it is also going to get a second and a third. State transportation officials knew one of three southern highways - U.S. Highway 281 in Hidalgo County, U.S. Highway 77 in Cameron County or U.S. Highway 59 in Webb County - would eventually become part of an interstate stretching from the Texas-Mexico border to Texarkana, in the northeast part of the state. Only Webb County is currently served by an interstate. The state's Trans-Texas Corridor plan calls for an Interstate 69 extension linking South Texas to points north,...

... "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...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced a Wednesday-Thursday swing through Texas, where polls show him in a tight race with national front-runner John McCain. On Wednesday, Huckabee will be in Plano for a 7:30 p.m. rally at the Collin County Community College’s Spring Creek campus. Thursday will begin with an 8 a.m. rally in Houston, with additional details still to be worked out. Huckabee also will attend a private fundraiser at noon before moving to San Antonio to visit the Alamo at 4 p.m. and lead a 7:30 p.m. rally at St. Mary’s University.

PLANO – Republican presidential primary contender Mike Huckabee received a major vote of confidence Sunday from the pastor of one of the nation's largest churches. Pastor Jack Graham told the congregation of Prestonwood Baptist Church before Mr. Huckabee's sermon that Christian values have a crucial role in the political process. Although Dr. Graham said his church doesn't endorse candidates, his praise for Mr. Huckabee was unambiguous. -snip- Dr. Graham said the sermon from Mr. Huckabee, who is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, was a message of "God's word from God's man."

The man who clothes-lined bicyclists in Mae Simmons Park will not be going to jail.This week, Judge Jim Bob Darnell sentenced David Knape to 600 hours of community service and three years probation. Knape pleaded no contest.In February, Knape strung wires between trees at the park, and placed broken glass and other obstacles on the bike trail. He was apparently trying to harm bicyclists as a way to protect the wildlife.

Leaving was closing the door on all of that... It took me almost nine months to recover from the process, but once I was outside I began to remember why I was in the ministry to begin with. It was not to fight with family members... but to reach a world desperate for the Good News of Jesus Christ. I started to gain the strength of the early days of my faith for a new era in my life. I started to dream again. In September of 2006 Christ Church, Plano, finalized a negotiated settlement for its withdrawal from the...

Jason Cargo’s unorthodox route toward Catholic priesthood — which culminates in his ordination this Saturday at the Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dallas — has led the Plano native on a less-traveled, but rewarding journey from Texas A&M University to the Vatican and back to Dallas again. Jason, a 32-year-old who graduated from Plano East High School in 1993, said being a priest wasn’t on his list of career options as a senior in high school. “The thought never crossed my mind,� Jason said. “When I was a child, I was always enchanted by the weather. When...

The Journey of Christ Church, Plano: Part II My paradigm for leadership has shifted from Moses to Abraham. Our church is starting to grow again. The spirit of worship is here. The studies and small groups are filled with Christians and seekers, new and old, eager to come under discipleship and training for the life of faith. But right now Abraham is our iconic saint... walking by faith. I have learned to be a different kind of leader the last six months. Our decision at the end of June of 2006 was unlike any decision I had ever made. Before...

Probably one of the most amazing finishes in the history of high school football. Plano East High School (North Dallas suburb), down 41 - 17 to John Tyler with 2 minutes and 42 seconds left in the game, starts an amazing comeback to with a TD and three straight successful onside kicks. With 24 seconds remaining the unthinkable happens. You have to see it for yourself. You WILL NOT believe it! VIDEO -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHkABO0VwCg Just AMAZING! You will notice that the game was played at Texas Stadium in Irving, home of the Dallas Cowboys. --- This reminds me of our (Princeton...

A Plano woman found not guilty by reason of insanity in the 2003 drowning of her two daughters is now mentally stable and can leave a state hospital, a Collin County judge ruled Thursday. State District Judge Mark Rusch signed the order releasing Lisa Ann Diaz from Big Spring State Hospital in West Texas after a little more than two years. Judge Rusch said Ms. Diaz must remain on medication and continue treatment on an outpatient basis.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, with his job on the line because of the spiraling Mark Foley cyberspace page sex scandal, was duped Tuesday into letting a stranger into his Plano home -- a serious security breach. Hastert literally let his guard down and allowed in his house a hustling, self-promoting evangelist little known in this country, the Houston-based K.A. Paul, who at 7:30 a.m. arrived at the speaker's home with a camera-wielding associate. How Paul and his aide, Dennis Ryan, got to Hastert's door is a tale of apparent chance. How the publicity-hungry Paul and Ryan walked through it...

As I hinted I would do, I attended the 9:15am service at Christ Church Plano on their first Sunday outside the Episcopal Church. But the only thing I noticed that was different from past Christ Church services was the sermon and the conclusion. Even 1979 ECUSA BCPs remained in the pew racks. The sermon was noteworthy, however. Rector David Roseberry began, “Well, how was your week?” The theme, taken from the Gospel reading of Mark 8:27ff., was “If you want to follow, then follow,” not attempt to lead or manipulate Christ as Peter did. Fr. David told that in his...

Christ Church Episcopal in Plano, one of the largest Episcopal congregations in the United States, has announced that it will leave the denomination over what it sees as the Episcopal Church's leftward drift. Church leaders publicly announced the plan Monday, five days after the end of the denomination's national convention in Columbus, Ohio. At that convention, the national church elected a new presiding bishop, a woman who supported the 2003 confirmation of a gay bishop in New Hampshire. She also supported the creation of locally authorized blessings for gay unions.

Will "Brokeback Mountain" play in Plano? In the movie's first weekend in the Dallas suburb where the 2004 Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ" earned some of its biggest grosses, the answer appeared to be yes. After setting a record for the per-theater average for a dramatic movie in limited openings in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, critically acclaimed "Brokeback Mountain" faced its next obstacle as Focus Features expanded the so-called gay cowboy movie to strategically selected smaller cities. The movie, directed by Ang Lee and starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two ranch hands...

The Plano school district is fighting back against national television and radio talk show host Bill O'Reilly, saying he falsely accused a school of outlawing the colors of Christmas. Mr. O'Reilly told his television audience Friday that a Plano school told students they could not wear red and green because they are Christmas colors. "That's flat-out fascism," he said during a segment on The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel. School district officials say Plano schools have never prohibited green and red clothing and are demanding a retraction. The issue of how to handle the holidays at school has...

(MCNS)--Attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit today against the Plano Independent School District for a discriminatory policy that censors the Christmas religious expression of students and their parents. “The policy is a perfect example of politically correct extremism,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “School officials have gone so far as to prohibit students from wearing red and green at their ‘winter break’ parties because they claim they are Christmas colors. Even the plates and napkins must be white. The district’s policy is ludicrous to even the most common observer.”

PLANO – The Ismaili Muslim community announced Tuesday that it is building a $6.5 million worship and community center in Plano, where it has found a warm welcome. Gov. Rick Perry flew in to lay the first ceremonial brick for the center's foundation. It was a symbolic gesture since the site for the new center will be a few miles northeast of the Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, where the foundation ceremony was held. The governor, who is friends with the Ismaili Muslims' spiritual leader, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, said he was honored to participate. "Our culture is...

5) INTERFAITH DINNER - ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ABOUT BIBLE AS A BOOK TO BE TAUGHT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS DATE: Monday, June 6 TIME: 6:30 PM to gather, with dinner at 7:00 PM LOCATION: Juan's Tex Mex Restaurant 6150 Frankford Rd. (near Preston Rd.) COST: $6.00 plus the cost of your dinner (off the menu) RSVP to:interfaithdfw@aol.com or call us at (972) 523-8080 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE BIBLE AS A BOOK TO BE TAUGHT IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS Does this violate the increasingly narrowing separation between church and state? Who produces the current curriculum in use in Odessa? What is...

Student has all the answersJunior who conquered new SAT 'just has a history of being perfect'09:27 PM CDT on Friday, April 22, 2005By APRIL KINSER / DallasNews.com Erin Yu had to look twice as she checked her SAT score online last week. A perfect score – 2400 – beamed from the computer screen next to her name. "I was like, 'Oh, my God!' " said Erin, a 17-year-old junior at Plano Senior High School. "I was in a good mood for the whole day." Erin was the only student in North Texas to ace the new college entrance exam, one...

In 2003, after Episocpalian gay bishop Robinson was elected, a group of concerned Episcopalians and Anglicans met in emergency session, in Texas, to strategize how to respond -- through formally breaking away or other strategies.They received this letter from Rome: October 9, 2003 From Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger The Vatican, on behalf of Pope John Paul II I hasten to assure you of my heartfelt prayers for all those taking part in this convocation. The significance of your meeting is sensed far beyond Plano, and even in this City from which Saint Augustine of Canterbury was sent to confirm and strengthen...

At Abu Ghraib, Armin Cruz handcuffed defenseless Iraqi men together in a sexually humiliating embrace. He put his foot on their backsides and pushed, to simulate homosexual thrusting. He forced them to low-crawl across a cement floor, scraping their genitals until it hurt. In Plano, he was an after-school counselor at Christie Elementary School. He was known to sprawl on the floor with kids for hours, helping with homework, coloring pictures, playing cards. He was gentle, his co-workers say, and patient. Mr. Cruz, a military intelligence analyst and 24-year-old college student from Plano, was sentenced in September to eight months...

PLANO, Texas -- Some Plano parents are furious that swingsets are disappearing from school playgrounds. The Plano Independent School District told NBC 5 that all swingsets have been removed from all elementary schools throughout the district because of safety concerns. Parents said taking the swings out is taking the fun out of being a child. Kristine Conley said the move is a disappointing sign of the times. "Well, sure it can be dangerous. It's just as dangerous as riding a bike and falling down. But, it is just part of growing up," Conley said. The Plano ISD said the move...

U.S. Department of Justice opens inquiry into Plano school’s restrictive Christmas policy Preliminary inquiry announced one day after lawsuit filed by ADF and LLI Release Date: 2004-12-16 Primary Category: Religious Freedom ADF Media Relations 480-444-0020 PLANO, Texas—The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it is opening a “preliminary inquiry” into the Plano Independent School District. The announcement comes one day after attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund and Liberty Legal Institute filed suit against the district for its restrictive policy against religious Christmas expression (www.alliancedefensefund.org/story/?id=566). “Though the DOJ has made no determination about the merits of this case, their...

PLANO, Texas -- A judge has ordered public schools in the Dallas suburb of Plano to let students distribute "religious viewpoint gifts" to classmates at Friday's holiday parties. Thursday's order by federal Judge Paul Brown came a day after four families filed a lawsuit accusing the school district of banning Christmas and religious expression from their children's classrooms. The lawsuit charged that the Plano school district engaged in "unconstitutional and illegal actions" -- from prohibiting candy canes and pencils with religious messages to banning red and green napkins at holiday parties. School district attorney Richard Abernathy denied the claims and...

A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week that allows students in Plano, Texas, schools to hand out religious messages during classroom holiday parties, decorate in Christmas colors and use religious-themed holiday decorations.     U.S. District Judge Paul Brown said the Plano Independent School district couldn't restrict students and their parents from handing out candy with religious messages. Last year, the school district wouldn't allow the dispersement of such candy, and when it threatened to do so this year, the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute filed a lawsuit that claims the students' religious liberties are being infringed upon. [snip]...

A public school district in Texas has informed its students and parents of a ban on candy canes with religious messages, pencils with the name of Jesus inscribed on them, and -- of all things -- red- and green-colored decorations at holiday parties. That action has resulted in a pair of surprise gifts under the district's tree: a federal lawsuit filed by parents and students -- and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to a press statement from the Plano, Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute, an "unconstitutional censorship policy" is being enforced by the Plano Independent School District....

First it was schools that banned the singing of Christmas carols. Then another banned carols played only by instruments with no lyrics being presented. Now a school district has banned the colors red and green from a "Winter Break Party," requiring parents to bring only white plates and napkins.

Last year, school officials told 9-year-old Jonathan Morgan he couldn't give classmates Christian-themed candy canes at his elementary school's "winter break" party. On Thursday, a federal judge told him he can. U.S. District Judge Paul Brown in Sherman ordered the 52,000-student Plano school district to let students distribute "religious viewpoint gifts" at school parties scheduled for Friday.

A religious liberties law firm accused Plano school officials today of violating students' constitutional rights by forbidding them to hand out candy canes and pencils with religious messages on them. Attorneys with the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute said they planned to file a federal lawsuit claiming the district has an unconstitutional censorship policy that victimizes students.Several parents and students planned to discuss their concerns at an afternoon news conference. Attorneys intended to notify the district of the lawsuit at that time and file the petition later Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sherman.Plano schools spokeswoman Nancy Long did not immediately...

A morning bank robbery in Richardson turned into an area-wide search for at least two suspects armed with automatic weapons who police said fired on numerous officers during a pursuit. The men are still at large, and by 1 p.m. authorities believed the two men had fled to Wylie, but were unsure what vehicle the men may be driving.

PLANO; Police were searching for three heavily armed men who fled the scene of a bank robbery in Richardson Thursday morning and fired several shots at pursuing officers. At least three police cars became targets for the gunmen in the minutes following the bold holdup at the American First National Bank at 400 N. Greenville Ave. just one block away from Richardson police headquarters.

Bobcat captured from patio deck of Plano home Officers now going after three kittens12:05 PM CDT on Thursday, August 19, 2004 Associated Press PLANO – Life is on the wild side beneath the backyard patio deck of Gail Grau's Plano home. Animal control officers called to the home Wednesday captured a mother bobcat. Now, they're going after three bobcat kittens they believe are under the back deck. Animal Trapper Cliff Moore and his crew has removed part of the deck to search for the kittens. Grau said she first noticed the mother about two weeks ago, but didn't call animal...

Greetings, FReepers!SerpentDove here. I will intersperse photos along with my report. Last night, June 8, 2004, Dallas FReepers had the distinct honor of meeting and dining with the Big Enchilada, Jim Robinson! We met at Cozymel’s Mexican Restaurant in Plano. For those of you who have never met Jim in person, he is everything you would expect and more. Lightning shoots from his eyes and fingertips, and he went around all night telling everyone to “knock it off.” :-))) No, in actuality, Jim is a kind-faced man with smiling eyes, a gentle demeanor, and a sincere laugh. It...

Perhaps no one person aside from Mel Gibson himself has made a more noteworthy effort to promote "The Passion of The Christ" than a Texas couple who purchased 6,000 tickets to the film and gave them away to the community. Arch Bonnema, a member of the Dallas-area Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, happened to be invited to a preview of The Passion when a friend had to back out at the last minute. The film had such an impact on him that he wanted to share it with as many people as possible. "I have been a Christian all of...

Bob Ray Sanders - In My Opinion On hearing the radio news or seeing the morning newspaper headline "Bush pardons ex-mayor for role in bank fraud," no doubt many of the president's critics immediately put on their cynical caps. I can imagine them saying, "There he goes again, protecting his rich buddies while turning his back on the little people." Not this critic. I knew there had to be more to the story. There had to be something other than patronage that would prompt the president to make such a potentially controversial decision in this highly charged election year. Without...

President Bush pardons former Plano mayor03:51 PM CST on Monday, February 16, 2004Associated Press PLANO - President Bush has pardoned a former mayor of this North Dallas suburb who pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 1996. David B. McCall Jr., 79, admitted he was involved in more than $25 million in fraudulent loans made at the Plano Savings and Loan Association, which failed in the mid-1980s. Bush pardoned McCall on Saturday, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday. McCall, who is battling cancer, slipped into a coma three days ago, his wife, Nellie, said Monday. She declined to comment on the...

A man from Wilsonville makes the difficult decision to leave the Episcopalian Church after it consecrates an openly gay bishop The Marine Corps has left its mark on Robert W. Hawkins. He stands, even sits, straight and tall. His graying hair is trimmed close to his head. When he speaks, it is with an abiding sense of authority and that, he'll tell you, is the root of the problem. Hawkins, 48, a resident of Wilsonville and a former major in the Marines, is now a former Episcopalian. He's made the painful decision to walk away from the church that he...

<p>PLANO, Texas — Dissident Episcopalians upset over the consecration of a gay bishop formed an unprecedented national protest group Tuesday — a network of conservatives who pledged to work with each other and oppose church leadership.</p> <p>Yet the creation of the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes stopped short of a schism with the Episcopal Church, raising the prospect of church-by-church fights for authority and control.</p>

<p>PLANO, Texas — Today, a founding group of more than 100 conservative Episcopal leaders will adopt a charter "to give hope to the orthodox of the Episcopal Church, with some sense there is a future."</p> <p>The closed-door meeting, essentially a constitutional convention to create a "church within a church" for theologically orthodox Episcopalians, will also elect officers, a steering committee and draw up plans for various bishops to offer "adequate Episcopal oversight" to conservative congregations that request it.</p>

<p>Episcopal conservatives, making good on their threats to form an ecclesiastical and legal shelter for theologically orthodox believers, meet today and tomorrow in a Dallas suburb to hammer out the details.</p> <p>About 120 people, including bishops and representatives from 12 dioceses, will gather at Christ Episcopal Church in Plano to draw a charter for a "Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes."</p>

<p>Episcopal Church officials yesterday announced a $3 million shortfall in the church's 2004 budget, caused chiefly by parishes and dioceses withholding funds to protest the ordination of a homosexual bishop.</p> <p>The shortfall equals 6 percent of the $48 million in revenue the church had expected this year. Church officials, according to documents obtained by The Washington Times, have revised the budget to $45.1 million.</p>

Man on death row could face new sex charges02:04 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 26, 2003By TIM WYATT / The Dallas Morning News A man serving time for the 1993 abduction-murder of a Plano girl snatched from a soccer field may face new charges of molesting children before an appeals court rules whether his death sentence should be carried out. Acting on information culled from media interviews given by Michael Blair in the last year, Collin County authorities said Tuesday that they filed three charges with Dallas prosecutors that involved two additional victims of the admitted pedophile. “We initiated...

Man charged in area girls' deaths Ohio child killer suspected in '80s slayings of Christi Meeks, Christie Proctor and Roxann Reyes 05/22/2003 By TIM WYATT and ROY APPLETON / The Dallas Morning News Plano police on Wednesday charged a convicted child killer in Ohio with capital murder in connection with the abduction and slayings of three Dallas-area girls more than 15 years ago. The trail in the strangulation deaths of Christi Lynn Meeks, 5, of Mesquite; Christie Diane Proctor, 9, of Dallas; and Roxann Hope Reyes, 4, of Garland had gone cold. But police revived the cases by bringing three...

Any Upcoming PRO-Troops, PRO-Bush Rallies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area? If so, where and when?

Plane lands on Central Expressway 07/31/2002 From Staff Reports A small airplane scheduled to arrive at the Addison Airport early Wednesday morning made an emergency landing on Central Expressway in Plano. Plano police said the plane ran out of gas around 1 a.m. and landed in the southbound lanes of Central near Collin Creek Mall. The pilot, a man, and two women were aboard the four-passenger aircraft. No injuries were reported. The pilot told police he was looking for a place to land, and saw that there was no traffic on the freeway. A wrecker was called in to...