Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 51

I Section Page 10 I Star-Telegram I Tuesday September 10 1996 Air Force Association chapter comes through with flying colors BY FRANK PERKINS Star-Telegram Staff Writer Congratulations to the Fort Worth Chapter of the Air Force Association for winning two national awards and for having two of its members singled out for outstanding achievements The awards were won at the association's recent national convention in Washington DC The chapter was selected to receive the association's first education growth award for its outstanding "Visions of Exploration" program founded three years ago by Chris Conley then the chapter's vice president for education Last year the program was expanded to 56 Tarrant County area schools Jake Huffman now is in charge of the project The chapter also won the association's national award for best communications program Its quarterly newsletter Focal Point is a constant winner and source of compliments from other chapters The award also recognizes the chapter's interaction with other civic organizations the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and the city's government Ron Stephen the chapter's past president won the association's National Exceptional Service Award for his leadership during his two-year term and Chuck Kucera won the Medal of Merit for his work as programs vice president Kucera was singled out for his annual black-tie events featuring prominent guests One such guest was Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison RTexas The Air Force Association is an independent nonprofit aerospace group organized in February 1946 to promote greater understanding of national defense issues It is a grassroots organization of 321 sanctions against Iraq The Young inspected 35 merchant vessels and halted six of them from transporting sanctioned cargoes to the Iraqis He is a graduate of WI' White High School in Dallas and has a bachelor of science degree from Texas University Navy Ensign Jerry A King son of Dennis and Nancy King of Fort Worth recently received his commission as a naval officer after completing Officer Candidate School at Pensacola Fla King joined the Navy in February 1996 He is graduate of Southwest High School and has a bachelor of business administration degree from Texas University a Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Bobby Blankenship son of Bobby and Gail A Blankenship of Fort Worth recently re enlisted for three years while serving with Strike Fighter Squadron 81 at Cecil Field Fla The 1991 Boswell High School graduate joined the Navy in May 1992 MILITARY Notes chapters in the United States and overseas It has more than 175000 members Navy Lt Paul Rawley son-in-law of Herb Kensing of Hurst has returned to his home port of San Diego after completing a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf aboard the destroyer John Young He was among 370 sailors aboard the young that steamed 30000 miles during the deployment enforcing US economic Three sentenced to federal terms in Lisa Rene case Housing authority seeks grant Judge decries 'heinous crime' but notes cooperation in plea agreement I "a'': 1 I 1 4iii 1 ik' I IT: r44ti440--: 411bv v1r- 4 tril--4 r)) 'rt dr l'f 4 rwo i 1 cw 11')'! t') itt 2''-4 ir ir 4 i :1 1 P- 1 lir ft its if 7 4 4::::: i 4" 11011 4 o000 r0044k- I 1 1 i -tP2' i i I :1 i': i i it i 1 r( ci i al 1( I ti I 1 i i 1 i a i 1 i i 11 1 IA 1 i it 1 i i 1 1 A A 1 1 ti a 1 s' Nt 1 14 ti 1 si it 1 I I 2 1 I I 1 1 1 i I 1 i I 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 i 1 1 1 I 1 Ii 1 i' Ii i 1' PI 1 I I I I I' 1 any more heinous crime than the one you participated in" Means said Demetrius Hall of El Dorado Ark who turns 21 next week was sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy to commit kidnapping He could have received a maximum of 33 years for his role in the crime which included cleaning a hotel room of evidence while Rene was being killed Means announced Demetrius Hall's sentence after the defendant's mother asked for mercy reminding the judge that she may lose her older son to the death penalty Orlando Hall's case is being ap pealed "If you would just have mercy and not take both of them away from me I would appreciate it" Betty Hall said Holloway 25 of Pine Bluff was sentenced to 15 years for acting as an accessory to kidnapping after the fact and aiding interstate travel to further a racketeering enterprise He could have received a maximum of 20 years Holloway bought a plane ticket so that Webster the gang's "enforcer" could travel to Texas to avenge the $5000 theft Holloway provided money to rent motel rooms once Rene was abducted and taken to Arkansas Means found Holloway the least culpable of the group but said that he too could have prevented Rene's death "The hardest part for me to understand the part that our community cannot forgive not completely is the fact that you saw Lisa Rene in that motel room tied up You saw Lisa Rene sitting there praying for her life You did nothing It's not inappropriate for you to pay a stiff price for so callous an act" Federal law does not provide for parole BY LAURA VOZZELLA Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH A federal judge sentenced three men yesterday to 30 25 and 15 years in prison for their roles in the brutal 1994 abduction-slaying of Arlington teenager Lisa Rene In sentencing Steven Beckley Demetrius Hall and Marvin Holloway US District Judge Terry Means said he weighed the most heinous crime that he could imagine against the "substantial assistance" provided to prosecutors by the three under their plea agreements Beckley Hall and Holloway testified against co-defendants Orlando Hall and Bruce Webster who received the death penalty in separate trials Orlando and Demetrius Hall are brothers Beckley received the stiffest sentence of the three and the harshest tongue-lashing from Means who said the 24-year-old Irving man deserved the death penalty and probably would have received it had he gone to trial Means could have sentenced Beckley to a maximum term of life in prison without parole for the crime of kidnapping resulting in death Beckley Webster and the Hall brothers donned camouflage clothing and abducted the Lamar High School honor-roll student from her sister's apartment on Sept 24 1994 to avenge a theft of $5000 by Rene's brothers in a drug deal according to previous testimony Beckley raped Rene helped hold her captive in Pine Bluff motel rooms and caught the teen when she tried to run away from the edge of a grave dug in an Arkansas nature preserve With Orlando Hall and Webster Beckley beat Rene unconscious with a shovel and buried her alive "Mr Beckley I can't imagine A meter box barely hangs on its mount at Whispering Oaks Public housing officials say it would be too expensive to repair the complex's many electrical sewer plumbing and structural problems ryas" iig41: i i ri ll 'e: 1: 141' htli 1 I f- 111611E 1 t' 1' I' A I Iii TA :1 1 7 i ikl Officials to reapply for demolition funds BY NICHELE HOSKINS Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH The Fort Worth Housing Authority expects to meet today's deadline to apply a second time for federal funds to demolish the nearly va- cant Whispering Oaks public housing complex housing officials say The housing authority delayed razing the east Fort Worth building when it was denied demolition funds last year because of a lack of money Yesterday afternoon housing officials were completing the grant application The eventual demolition of Whispering Oaks is part of a national effort by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to rid cities of dilapidated public housing HUD's plans focus on tearing down the nation's worst public housing units 30000 by the end of the year 100000 by 2000 and replacing them with town house-style apartments As of yesterday all but one resident of the complex had moved out said Herbert Davis of the Fort Worth Housing Authority The housing authority deemed the complex unsafe and too costly to repair The complex at 5658 Lancaster Ave is fenced in and some apartments are boarded up Parents whose children attend St Rita's Catholic School across the street worry that if the complex stays empty too long it will attract vagrants Tim Bicknell has two children ages 10 and 11 at St Rita's He and other parents gathered more than 100 signatures on a petition to have the 77-unit complex razed The pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school has about 200 students many of whom also live in east Fort Worth he said "It's affecting the kids at school but also the environment they're growing up in" Bicknell said Barbara Holston executive director of the housing authority said her staff is working on a request to HUD for $15 million "The housing authority has always wanted to be a good neighbor" she said "It was never our intent to leave the building there indefinitely" The grant money would be used to demolish the apartments build 77 units elsewhere to replace them and reimburse the housing authority for the cost of relocating residents she said Whispering Oaks is one of Morales says BY CARLOS SANCHEZ Star-Telegram Austin Bureau 1 AUSTIN A state program A' that uses the threat of license sus pension to collect past-due child support generated $332 million $13 million more than expected during its maiden year Attorney General Dan Morales said yester' day I State officials were able to collect more than $16 million in Tarrant County alone the fourth-highest collection rate in the state Morales said Sive the law took effect last September the attorney general's programming money or delaying an activity to come up with the money" she said "It becomes more of a hazard and an exposure to us to not knock it down" The new complex will not be built on the same site because HUD forbids rebuilding public housing in areas with high concentrations of minorities or in economically depressed areas unless it is part of a concerted neighborhood revitalization effort Holston said Bicknell wants to maintain at least the same level of safety near the school as when the complex was fully occupied "Our main concern was illegal activities as far as vagrants living there possibly causing harm to the children" he said "We felt secure as long as people were there" Martha Goines the remaining resident said she's preparing to move to another public housing complex this week She wants an extra bedroom in her next apartment to start a low-cost clothing boutique but so far her request has been denied Whispering Oaks is as accessible to vagrants as it is to her but she isn't afraid "I don't feel unsafe I'm not here because I'm so brave" Goines said "I just know God's watching over me" Star-Telegram I JEFFERY WASHINGTON Most of the units in Whispering Oaks complex are boarded up and the lone resident is planning to move UT-Arlington delays move of business offices Postponement of shift to downtown building allows university to keep cost at initial estimate applied to HUD last year for the money to close demolish and rebuild local officials only got permission to close Holston said Funds to refurbish public housing ran dry last year because of HUD budget cuts Holston said There is more federal money available this year Holston said but even if Fort Worth doesn't get the grant the housing authority will demolish the complex using money from modernization funds The cost of demolition is estimated at $200000 "It'll put us in a position of re seven public housing complexes run by the Fort Worth Housing Authority Whispering Oaks was built in 1963 and purchased by the housing authority in 1987 Housing officials say that property inspections before the purchase did not reveal the apartments' many structural problems A 1994 study showed that it would cost more to repair the facility's many sewer plumbing electrical and structural problems than to build new housing When the housing authority license-yanking nets over for $300000 will include a new roof an additional stairwell in the back upgraded heating and air conditioning and a new elevator Also several offices and a conference room will be added the flooring replaced and the front of the former store will be remodeled After renovations are complete university business offices now housed in Davis Hall and a social work outreach center will move to the Watson's building The empty space in Davis Hall will be used for student-oriented business services such as academic advising and career services The purchase of the building has been hailed by local leaders as a positive move towaid downtown revitalization Downtown Arlington a nonprofit group representing private-sector downtown revitalization efforts is working with a design team to provide pedestrian links from the university to the downtown area it BY NANCY BARTOSEK Star-Telegram Stall Writer ARLINGTON The University of Texas at Arlington has de- layed until spring the move of its business offices into the former Watson's department store in downtown Arlington When the 2081I-square-foot building was purchased in July officials said they hoped to move about 70 people in by January But yesterday Dan Williams vice president for finance said that date was "a bit optimistic" "It looks like the folks in business affairs will be moved over by the end of the spring semester and settled in by the end of summer" Williams said "Since we're going to do most of the work in-house we have to schedule things when they can be worked in" The delay will allow the univer'sity to keep costs at the original estimate of $300000 to $600000 Williams said Major renovations on the building which was purchiised $33 million it's real hard for me to understand what his numbers are" Goodman said for example that he has heard reports that Morales brought people from field divisions into Austin to aid in the license suspension program resulting in an overall drop in total child support collections during that time Goodman said that Morales still has "more than 850000 cases sitting in his office" Morales said the program created by legislation sponsored by Goodman brought 32884 cases into a paying status office has filed petitions to suspend 1379 licenses issued by the state Some 208 licenses were taken from parents who showed an unwillingness to pay a total of more than $2 million in past-due support Morales said in a statement Most of the suspensions were driver's licenses Six Tarrant County residents owing a total of $34000 had their driver's licenses suspended Morales said Among the licenses suspended this year are a plumber's license a funeral director's license and an embalmer's license Morales said "The first year of our license sus pension program has been an overwhelming success" Morales said "Not only did we exceed our $20 million goal but as a result of our efforts approximately 38400 children are receiving the benefits of child support payments" But Rep Toby Goodman RArlington whose legislative committee has recommended taking the child support program away from the attorney general's office was unimpressed by yesterday's news "I'm glad for whatever success he's having" Goodman mid 1.