Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 19

A wwwstar-lelegramcom 1 5B hope is this process will find a solution where the past and future Will Work Mike Surface Harris County Sports Convention Corp Dallas State Digest Story below DALLAS I Ford issues Dallas tit-for-tat decree Tuesday June 3 2003 1 Star-Telegram BWfflj Ford Motor Co fires back at the city of Dallas in an ongoing dispute over the safety of Crown Victoria patrol cars by police and about 85 percent of the patrol cars in the nation are Crown Victorias In the letter to Johnson Ford states that Dallas appears to expect a fuel system that will never leak regardless of the severity of the impact The company challenged Dallas to fmd a car that meets its standards our sympathies go out to those involved in these tragic accidents neither Ford nor any other auto manufacturer can eliminate the risk of fuel leaks in high-speed wrote Susan Cis-chke vice president of environmental and safety engineering Glenn White president of the Dallas Police Association said he was not sutt prised by response to forgo selling the city any more Crown Victorias Maybe buy back the ones they sold to he said have about 160 sitting on a lot ready to go Staff writer Eva-Marie Ayala contributed to this report Mary McKee (972) 263-4448 mmckeedstar-telegramcom By MARY McKEE STAR-TELEGRAM DALLAS BUREAU DALLAS Last week city officials announced that Dallas would stop buying Crown Victoria police cruisers because of ongoing safety concerns The automaker shot back Monday with a letter announcing that it sell any more patrol cars to Dallas because city officials hold unrealistic expectations for vehicles In correspondence to City Attorney Madeleine Johnson Ford said it will break off its business relationship until the city establishes reasonable expectations for the fuel system of the squad cars JR Rodriguez a Dallas attorney representing Ford said the decision is unprecedented with deep regret that Ford has to take that he said fact is the city has through its press conferences and letters stated expectations that Ford and no manufacturer can Johnson was unavailable for comment but her executive assistant said that city officials are reviewing letter Dallas officials have demanded safety modifications to the squad cars since police officer Patrick Metzler died in October after a drunken driver struck his Crown Victoria from behind and its gas tank exploded At least a dozen police officers have died in fuel-fed fires involving the Crown Victoria since 1983 raising safety concerns around the nation On Wednesday Mayor Laura Miller announced that the city would not buy any more Crown Victorias because of recent incidents involving fuel-fed fires On Thursday Johnson held a news conference to release a letter asking Ford to recall the vehicles and make safety improvements She also asked the federal government to reopen its investigation of the cars Dallas owns 750 Crown Victorias used Suspect in 1981 slaying is transferred to Dallas A man accused in a 22-year-old double slaying was brought to Dallas on Monday from his Huntsville prison cell authorities said George Washington Hicks 52 was transferred from the Goree Unit to the Lew Ster-rett Justice Center in Dallas where he is facing two counts of murder in the 1981 slayings of Roxann Jeeves 30 and her son Kristopher 5 Larry Forsythe executive chief deputy for the Dallas County Department began investigating the case more than two decades ago when he was a detective He continued to pursue the case and in 2001 DNA tests matched two hairs taken from the crime scene in rural southeast Dallas County to evidence in a San Antonio rape case Hicks is serving 80 years in prison for that crime Dallas County officials said they want to upgrade charges to capital murder punishable by death But they are restricted by the law at the time which said a person be charged with capital murder unless another crime was committed when the victims were killed authorities said Officials are continuing to search for a female companion seen with the suspect who might have more information about the crime Conjoined twins have party for 2nd birthday Conjoined twins Ahmed and Mohamed Ibrahim celebrated their second birthday on Monday with cake cookies toys and music in their room at North Texas Hospital for Children at Medical City Ahmed and Mohamed born in a remote village in Egypt arrived at the hospital in June 2002 to be evaluated by Dr Kenneth Salyer founder of the World Craniofacial Foundation and a team of specialists The twins who are joined at the crowns of their heads are Expected to be surgically separated this summer Their father who arrived in Dallas from Egypt last fall attended the party along with their caregivers and friends from the com-ipunity according to a hospital news release The twins are undergoing a tissue expansion procedure to prepare them for surgery which is scheduled to be performed at Medical Center 'of Dallas In late April tissue expanders were inserted under the skin on the heads and legs The expanders are essentially galloons that are filled weekly with saline causing the skin to stretch to provide more of it for wound i coverage STATE STAR-TELEGRAMR JEENA JACOB Searchers at Joe Pool Lake have been trying to find Leland Sellers of Irving who has been missing since a boating trip Sunday Drowning suspected at Joe Pool Lake search continues An Irving man is believed to have drowned Sunday afternoon after jumping off his boat without a life jacket to cool off police said HOUSTON Mexican immigrant shot dead by ranch hand A Mexican attempting to cross into the United States has been fatally shot by a ranch hand who mistook him for a wild hog officials said Monday The victim and i three other men including one of the relatives were resting under a huisache tree Sunday night said Lt Juan Hernandez of the Webb County office The men were crossing the 15000-acre Hurd Villegas Ranch about 16 miles east of Laredo and about 20 miles from the US-Mexico border Ranch hands hunting for feral hogs saw the migrants under the tree One of the ranch hands Juan Garza Mendoza fired a single rifle shot from more than 100 yards away and hit the victim in the abdomen Hernandez said Compiled from staff and wire reports LUFKIN Jury selected for officer '-f who had shuttle debris A jury of seven women and five men was chosen Monday in the federal trial of constable charged with stealing debris of the space shuttle Columbia after it disintegrated over Texas on Feb 1 1 killing all seven astronauts aboard Robert Hagan II 45 a I Harrison County constable for three years is accused of stealing US government i property His attorney Eldred Smith of Longview said i Hagan helped with the debris search in East Texas and had planned to return the material to a collection I site in Nacogdoches One of the two alternate jurors who was selected is a retired NASA engineer from the Johnson Space Center in Houston who 1 worked 23 years for the space agency ft i No other drownings have been reported at Joe Pool Lake this year Parked cars filled the grassy median on Lake Ridge Parkway as friends and relatives exchanged stories about Sellers Newsom one of seven children said Sellers is an avid boater and usually a strong swimmer Matt Darr said Sellers was an outgoing person who kept a smile on his face was so nice that he would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed Darr said Nathaniel Jones (817) 548-5414 njonesiSstar-telegramcom Mark Agee (817) 548-542) rmageestar-telegramcom By NATHANIEL JONES and MARK AGEE STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERS GRAND PRAIRIE -Search teams scoured Joe Pool Lake unsuccessfully Monday for the body of a 41-year-old Irving man who is believed to have drowned Sunday afternoon officials said Grand Prairie police game wardens and volunteer divers called off the search for Leland Sellers about 7 pm while a group of about 50 of friends and relatives waited on shore for confirmation of his fate touched a lot of said his daughter Jamie Newsom 21 are here to show just how much they loved The search teams which are also using dogs will resume the search this morning said Detective John Brimmer police spokesman Sellers was boating with his fiancee about 1:30 pm Sunday when he jumped in the water without a life jacket to cool off relatives said The two were in the southern part of the lake near Lake Ridge Parkway The boat drifted Sellers was unable to reach it and his fiancee could not get the engine started to get back to him before he went under police said Nelson honored with title LEADERS Continual from IB naking state government to fit a lservative agenda But appearance with te Sen Judith Zaffirini a Laredo mocrat and progressive helped him strike a favorable contrast with the two other top Republican leaders Gov Rick Perry and House Speaker Tom Craddick Dewhurst emerged with an image as a pragmatic problem-solver who willing to meet with his political losites and to compromise when A few days after the disabled-hts group staged its televised nonstration complete with the WHURST Sen OH Harris a Republican who represented Dallas for 27 years and who now lobbies and practices law in Austin Harris and others have pointed out that Dewhurst was well-served by his chief of staff Bruce Gibson a former state representative and one-time Bullock aide and by communications director Dave Beckwith who worked in the White House for then-Vice President Dan Quayle and later with US Sen Kay Bailey Hutchisoa Because the lieutenant governor sets the agenda and makes the committee appointments members are generally shy about directly criticizing the officeholder However some members grumbled privately that Dewhurst entered into a deal with Craddick to deliver the votes necessary to deregulate university rates But such dissension was rare During die campaign one Republican senator proclaimed opponent Democrat John Sharp the superior candidate but later praised Dewhurst's stewardship as lieutenant governor good to be out of the doghouse" state Sen John Carona R-Dul-las said last month when he was invited to join a news conference with Dewhurst JohMorltzT(5tZ) 476-4294 3 jmoritz5tar-telegramcom first session as the presiding officer ended Proffitt once a top aide to former Democratic Lt Gov Bob Bullock said the remark was more than an oflhand jest Dewhurst won last election without endorsements from the business lobby or the major newspapers Some state Republican senators were worried that he was simply using his vast personal fortune estimated at about $300 million to buy one of the most powerful offices the surprise of just about everybody in this place he was totally engaged on every Proffitt said When the legislative session began in January Perry suggested that Dewhurst and Craddick the first-term speaker might be too green to tackle the vexing task of overhauling the school finance system but Dewhurst charged on Even as Perry and Craddick were insisting that the topic should be put off for a special session Dewhurst laid out a plan that the Senate unanimously approved It died in the House but Dewhurst won praise for his tenacity and initiative think done a lot better than some may have expected but he stepped up and showed a lot of ership even if it meant going againrt some of the said former state just take any nonsense from the good said Whitmire who is known as one of the premier good boys During the 140-day legislative session that ended Monday Nelson chaired tire Senate Health and Human Service Committee and helped shepherd the budgets for health and human services agencies through the Senate Finance Committee She was also a key player in the successful effort to pass legislation ensuring that physicians receive prompt payment from insurance companies and for limiting the cash awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice lawsuits The finance chairman Amarillo Republican Teel Bivins praised Nelson for her work on the budget with tenacious professionalism during a time when the state faced a severe cash crunch and many agencies were asked to absorb deep budget cuts "I take my hat off to her for that work ethic" Bivins said Nelson was chosen president pro tern because she is the most senior senator who has not already held the post After being sworn in Nelson accepted the assignment to serve until January 2005 "1 am honored by this" she said John MorltT (5l2Mt6-4294 By JOHN MORITZ 5TAR-TELEGRAM AUSTIN BUREAU AUSTIN State Sen Jane Nelson won the praise of her colleagues Mon- day for her tenacity dedication and humor as they nominated her to be pres-jj ident pro tempore of the 31-member chamber Though largely a ceremonial post the president pro tern of the Senate is responsible for running the chamber when the lieutenant governor is unavail-J able and acts as governor if the two top state officers leave the state 5 One of four female senators Nelson was elected to represent a large section of Tarrant County and part of Denton County in 1992 She came to Austin with the reputation of being a Republican ide- ologue But the former member of the state board of education demonstrated that she could be an aggressive voice for her conservative constituents without resorting to partisan infighting The senior member IIous- ton Democrat John Whitmire said he chose to have his seat on the chamber's floor next to Nelson saying the proximity me a better senator" lie recalled that as a freshman a decade ago Nelson could go toe to toe with what he Jailed the male In the Senate note cApral UfVm refused to leave because Terry would not meet with them longtime political observer and strategist Tony Proffitt sidled up to one of staff members and said: "Tell your boss he might have saved the Texas Republican Party from itself" On Monday the day.