HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-08-22 Euless Articles DISTRIBUTED TO: PAGEJOF�
AIA YOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG MChAWE DE LA CRUZ RIDGWAY(2)
1 YOUNG WDONALD COLLINS li'ILHITE GETCHELL LIBRARYADMIN LIBRARYREF ANIMAL CNTR
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1 BRIEFS
JIUCK_1N 1)141"'1 A
City of Euless team
1 has success at nationals
The City of Euless track team
had a successful meet,at the
TAAF State Games of America
last weekend in Hartford,Conn.
Brittany Carr finished first in
the girls intermediate 200 me-
ters with a time of 26.12 sec-
onds, third in the triple jump
(24 feet, 11 inches), fifth in the
400(1:09.08)and eighth in the
long jump(14-5'/2).
1 Chuck Davenport broke the
meet's boys midget shot put re-
cord with a throw of 42-6'/2.He
' won the javelin with a throw of
22.42 meters and was second in
the discus(72-8 meters).
India Faris won the girls ju-
nior shot put with a throw of
33-4,breaking the meet record
by one foot.
Baylor Southard won the
boys midget shot put with a
throw of 23-5,was second in the
800 (2:41.90), second in the
400 (1:13.30) and third in the
1 1,500(5:28.26).
Melinda Weaver
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I MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG MCKAMIE DE LA CRUZ RID GWAY(2) ;
YOUNG McDONALD COLLINS WILHITE GETCHELL LIBRARYADMIN LIBRARYREF ANIMAL CNTR
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People
' t
The Fon Worth Chapter of the
International Association of
Business Communicators elected its
2003-2004 board: Lori De La Cruz;
Tim Tune, PatricK-Grady,Lauren
Reis, Ken Roberts, Julie
Trowbridge, Pam Fry, Cecilia
Jacobs, Arden Dufilho and Pam
Huff.
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MAYOR CITYCOUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG MCILAMIE DELA CRUZ RID Gii'AY(2)
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DATE DISTRIBUTED `' ( 2�t, 3DATEOF ARTICLE 114' NEWSPAPER DMN
' E L LESS
Judge appoints trustee
' to run nursing home
A judge on Thursday ap-
pointed a state trustee to over-
see operations at a Euless nurs-
ing home after investigators
discovered that residents were
exposed to conditions that
threatened their health and
safety, according to the Texas
Department of Human Servic-
es.The Westpark Nursing Cen-
ter, at 900 Westpark Way,
failed to meet the nutritional
needs of its residents, did not
follow doctors'orders for resi-
dents and failed to provide liq-
uids and solid foods, said Bet-
tye M. Mitchell,commissioner
for long-term care for the De-
partment of Human Services,
in a statement released Friday.
Travis County District Court
Judge Darlene Byrne appoint-
I'II ed David French, a nursing
home administrator, to take
over the facility,which has 109
residents. Westpark Nursing
' Center officials could not be
reached for comment.
Debra Dennis
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MAYOR CITYCOUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM IIENNIG MCKAMIE DELA CRUZ RID GIVAY(2) '
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DATE DISTRIBUTED 13, I DATE OFARTICLE I O 3 NE►VSPAPER DMN
Tolls may be path
to i mp roved roads
project before work begins,even if s
the road will be built in segments '
i line environmental reviews for y
reconstruction of existing roads over numerous ears.
Congressman says bill projects,a process that can delay that had tollbooths.But the bill al- Dr. Burgess' bill, filed last
workfor months oryears. so gives more freedom in allowing month,would allow environmen- '
offers revenue option, "This bill could change the toll revenue from one highway to talreviews tobedone more quickly
would hasten projects face offunding transportation in be spent on improving another and in smaller segments as pro-
the United States,"said Dr.Bur- road. Such transfers currently re- jects are ready.
By TONY HARTZEL gess,who noted that the recon- quire Congress to act. The bill does not contain refer-
Transportation Writer struction of State Highway 183 In addition, federal laws re- endum process on instituting new k
IRVING — Texans may see in Irving and the mid-cities quire environmental reviews of an tolls. Dr.Burgess said he intends
more road construction in the could begin years earlier than its entire highway reconstruction for the proposed legislation to al-
future, but they also could see projected start date of2014.
more tollbooths to help pay for "We must do more to respond '
faster progress. to increasing transportation `
A bill filed by U.S. Rep. Mi- needs."
chael Burgess, R-Highland Vil- If the bill passes,toll money
lage, would give states more would pay for the widening and
freedom to place tolls on existing
highways.It also would stream- '
i
low communities to have a large Texas appeals to be shifting to- 20 percent of federal gas taxes fi- largely because ofits size;only Cal-
3
role in determining whether tolls ward toll roads.While the state tax nance mass transit projects nation- ifornia took abigger cut.
are needed. on gasoline has not been raised in Wide. In addition, the state gets Texans in congested areas such
""That's something that would about a decade and the federal gas back only 86 to 88 percent of the as Dallas-Fort Worth have voiced 1.
have to be under a local option. tax even longer,officials view those gas tax revenue it should receive support for toll roads if it means
You would have a significant pub- fund-raising options as less efi- from Washington,D.C.,while vir- getting roads built,he said.
lic education task ahead of you to tient. tually everyother state has a higher "We've gotten a long way on gas
do that," said the representative, At the state level,25 percent of level of return,said John Johnson, taxes," Mr. Johnson said. "But
who held a news conference on the all gas taxes help pay for public chairman of the Texas Transporta- compared to toll features,it's very
final day of the sixth annual Texas schools,and another portion helps tion Commission. inefficient."
Transportation Summit. fund the Texas Department of Federal transportation budget '
Transportation philosophy in Public Safety.At the federal level, cuts slashed revenue for Texas E-mailthartzel@.dOasnews.com
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIAI HENNIG AICKAMIE DE LA CRUZ RIDGWAY(2)
YOUNG A&DONALD pCOLLINS IVILHITE GETCHELL LIBR�AfRYADMIN LIBRARYREF ANIAfAL CNTR
DATEDISTRIBUTED ' D DATE OFARTICLE NEWSPAPER Fff'ST
' REGION "It was some kind of prob-
lem in the wire,"he said."It
' -Underground cable causes went bad and needed to be
power outages in 3 cities replaced.That caused three
A faulty buried cable feeders—electrical equip-
caused power outages Friday merit that helps transmit elec-
t night to homes,traffic lights tricity—to be kicked off"
and restaurants throughout Withers said the scope of
Euless,Grapevine and Col- the outage could not be mea-
' leyville,authorities said. sured in blocks or streets.
The outages,which affected "There were-a couple of
more than 2,000 customers, houses here and a couple
were reported along Farm there—not whole areas but
Road 157,Mid-Cities Boule- Pockets of each town,"he said.
vard,Texas 121 and Glade The electricity went out
Road in Euless.Colleyville throughout Colleyville's 130-
authorities reported outages home Thornbury subdivision
' along Texas 121.In Grapevine, Found dinnertime,resident
outages occurred in areas Jerry Cook said.
along Texas 121 and Texas 360. `We couldn't cook anything
The outages began about 6 here so I went down to a bar-
p.m.Power was restored to becue place to get ribs for sup-
er,and the were out of elec-
Y
about 60 percent of the cus_ P
tomers by 830 p.m.,TXU tricity,too,"he said.
Electric spokesman Scott —Ben Tinsley
' Withers said.
The faulty cable was found
in Hurst,although no cus-
tomers in that city were affect-
ed,he said.
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG MCKAMIE DELA CRUZ RIDGH'Al'(2)
YOUNG AIcDONALD COLLINS ll'ILHITE GETCHELL LIBRARYADMIN LIBRARYREF ANIMAL CNTR
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fransit ..
The conference was Spon- Tarrant County Commis-
sored by the editorial boards sioner Glen Whitley, the
of the Star-Telegram and The transportation council chair-
Dallas Morning News a day -man, said the media's interest
after any of the area's in transportation is welcome.
M. staunchest transportation "The Regional Transporta-
advocates were vocally criti- tion Council supports the
,.ystecal of it Some of the members enlargement and acceleration '
F of the Regional Transporta- of the process,"he said.
tion Council,which is the offs- ; Some attendees also
a cial planning agency for Northurged l
Texas, feared that the media expressed concern about the
event would ignore the coun- newspapers'original call for a
for
cil's year-round, behind-the- single government entity A
f �; scenes work on a regional rail being given complete control
y
s stem of the entire regions trans-
area
rans- z
j "There is a great diversity portation needs. Those needs
' of opinion.I'm not sugar-coat- are under the supervision of
• , By the ing that," said Morning News Dallas Area Rapid Transit and
end of theeditorial editor Keven Willey. the Fart Worth Transportation '
Texas Transportation Summit, "gut to me, that shows the Authority, both council mem-
220 people sign pledge need for us to get together." hers•
cards in support of a regional- By the end of the meeting, Instead,many elected lead-
system or agree to serve on a 220 people had signed pledge ers have said they favor keep-
committee. cards or agreed to serve on a ing DART and the T and con- a
committee,Willey said. nectmg them— as well as the
By GORDON DICKSON 'Follow-up meetings will be fledgling Denton County
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER held in the fall and Spring,and Transportation Authority —
IRVING — More than 400 area leaders hope they can with a government partner
North Texas elected leaders agree on a regionwide trans- that oversees only commuter
packed an invitation-only con-+ portation system before the rail service. � y
ference Friday to talk about 2005 Texas legislative session Star-Telegram editorial
what it would take to build a begins. Then they can lobby page editor Paul K.Harral said
regionwide transportation sys- for funding to build the sys- the design of the system is up
tem to serve the rapidly growingtem, to the experts, as long as they
area. Friday's discussion ended meet their deadline. i
They were asked to think the three-day Texas Trans- "The goal all along has
beyond their cities' boundaries portation Summit, which fea- been a process," Harral said. h
and help create a system oftared many nationally known "In my opinion; the ultimate
trains,buses and other forms of transportation experts and solution is a single [trans-
transportation. More than 3.1nil= drew more than 1,100 atten- portation] authority. But if we
lion new residents are expected dees from across the state. can meet the region's needs
to move into the Metroplex by Several transportation another way, then what's the
2025, bringing the population to advocates said they had no problem?"
more than 8 million. Planners problem with the newspapers' ONLINE:North Central Texas Council of
say that if local leaders don't campaign as long as the Governments,www.nctcog.org
start building a transit systeru Regional Transportation Gordon Dickson,(817)685-3816
now,the area will become hope- Council continues to be the gdickson@star-telegram.com
lessly choked with traffic.
- lead agency,
"We need to go about 30,000 "We have a process in
feet in the air and quit looking at place. We're spending $2 mil-
our city limits ... and look at the- lion to study the issue. Until
region,"former Fort Worth May-. that study comes back, we
or Kenneth Barr said. - haven't identified a need,"
l Scores of attendees signer; Collin.County judge Ron Har-
pledge cards expressing person-,, ris said.He is chairman of the
al support for a-regionwide sys North Texas Clean Air Steer- ' k
tens. Others agreed to serve on, ing Committee.
one of 10 committees set up to
study specific details, such as
{
where to build commuter rail
lines and how to pay for them, i
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIA1 HENNIG MCbAMIE DE LA CRUZ RID GWAY(2)
' YOUNG McDONALD COLLINS WILHITE GETCHELL LIBRARYADMIN LIBRARYREF ANIAIAL CNTR
DATEDISTRIBUTED c�� I , 3 DATE OF ARTICLE y I I I C'7 NEWSPAPER FIVST
Cheers & Jeers'
Cheers:To Euless police and fire officers who visit-
ed our National Night Out block party.Special cheers
to Officer Hoerth for organizing the effort,Jim Long
for cooking holt dogs, Freddy Gonzalez for the bounce.
houses,and all the neighbors who came out to make
' the party a great success!
Lisa Gonzalez,Euless
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AIA YOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG MCKAMIE DE LA CRUZ IZIDGIVAY(2)1
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Think �
re lonall on transit
g
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By ANNE CANBY ortation policy-makers makers must identi-
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM I , Congress needs P P y
to return more f1'
funds to maintain existing levels of
For much of last week,state of the federal funds generated by service and secure the local match
and local officials, trans- area commuters to the North requirement to receive federal sup-
portation agencies and Texas area. port for new rail corridors.
others met in Irving to dis- Officials may want to tap into new
cuss transit in Texas and ■ Land use and development that state legislation passed this year that
—in a meeting hosted jointly by The promote walkability and anchor tran- would allow vehicle registration fees
Dallas Morning News and the Star- sit. and other revenues to support a 1
Telegram — the specific issues in ■ Technology that can manage regional transportation authority.
North Texas. traffic more efficiently. In addition, low-cost strategies
This is an important step in the ■ Citizen participation. such as employer-purchased transit
effort to produce regional solutions Although many local entities have benefits and better public informa- 1
to what has become a regional prob- adopted such principles, they also tion like transit schedules and maps
lem in the area and all over the Unit- must take action as a unified region with private advertisements can actu- j
ed States: the lack of transportation and commit real funds to these ally create a revenue source for the 1
options. efforts to create a better place to live. the Fort Worth Transportation
Timing is crucial because lawmak- At the federal level, Congress Authority, the Trinity Railway
ers such as Republican Sens.Kay Bai- requires and provides incentives for Express and Dallas Area Rapid Tran-
ley Hutchison and John Cornyn and such practices through the federal sit. 1 N.
a Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dal- transportation law — TEA-21 — and Technology tools such as Intelli-
las, are on key committees that will the administration awards federal gent Transportation Systems can
reauthorize the Transportation Equi- transit dollars based on criteria that manage road traffic more cost-effec-
ty Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) reflect those same concepts.
in the comingyear.. Fortunately, North Texas is not vice. and provide faster transit ser
-
Inadequa transit funding already starting from scratch It can leverage �cThese efforts not only make trans-
is costing the region billions in traffic its recent track record and other
congestion,on, health care due to oor assets in the fierce competition for Portation options more attractive to
g P commuters — they also build good
air quality,and vehicle ownership. federal transit dollars. will among taxpayers who want pub-
Most recently, the Surface Trans- Federal funds are crucial for the lic money to be invested responsibly.
portation Policy Project found that region to develop its emerging rail Congress is poised to either really
network. Ridershi
P g ams, cost-effec-
North Texas is the third most expen- help or really hurt.
sive lace in the nation for personal tiveness, transit-oriented land use
P P and time savings for area projects are The House Appropriations Com-
transportation. mittee—of which Rep.Kay Granger,
all reviewed to determine who will
The average family in the Fort R Fort Worth,is a member—recent-
be awarded construction dollars.
i Worth and Dallas area spends 21 per- ly approved a funding bill that threat-
cent of its take-home a trans- North Texas is one of 50 metro
pay on areas in the country pursuing higher- ens to undercut the government's
portation. That rises to as much as capacity rail service.ice. commitment to public transit. 1
j 40.2 percent for low-income families. Funds earmarked for transit would
1With the number of people in
Now is the time for Metroplex North Texas expected to grow by 65 barely keep pace with inflation,
decision-makers to adopt afive-point despite a 20 percent increase in hi
plan for better transportation that percent during the next 25 years, the wa Pfundin . A program s ecificalll t
features: question that summit participants y g P g P y ,
must now ask is not whether North
■ Regional cooperation. Texas will grow but how.
■ A viable multi-modal transit
I network. In the short term, regional trans-
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MAYOR CITYCOUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIAI HENNIG MCIiAMIE DELA CRUZ RIDGf6AY(2)
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for bicycle and pedestrian improve-
ments would be eliminated.
We need Congress to build on the
strong foundation of TEA-21 by
returning more of the federal funds
generated by area commuters to the
North Texas region.
Although it is home to a quarter of
the state's population, Fort Worth-
Dallas directly controls only 2.6 per-
cent of the state's apportionment of
' federal transportation funds.
For local transportation priorities
to move forward,TEA-21 reauthoriza-
tion must provide a greater portion
' of federal funds at the regional level.
After all, these dollars would be
better spent at home.
' Anne Canby is president of the Surface Transportation
Policy Project(STPP),a coalition of national,state and
local organizations www.transact.org
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIRI HENNIG MCKAMIE DE LA CRUZ RIDGIfA3'(2)
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I NORTHEAST TARRANT ' z
s
6
General fundi budgets,
Nine out of 12 area municipali-
ties plan to increase their gen-
I eral fund budgets next year.
Current' Proposed'
Euless S20 $21.4
Grapevine $3$5 $392,
Bedford $22.2.1, $2i n
N.Richland Hills
I Richland Hills $37 . $3B,
Haltom City $146 5141
colleyville
Watauga $75 S8A.
Hurst $X'2 $24.5•."
Flower Mound $276 . 5293
Trophy Club
Roanoke $49 $56
In millions SOURCE.Municipalities
STAR TELEGRAM
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MAYOR CITYCOUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIA1 HENNIG MChAMIE DELACRUZ RIDGIVAI(2)
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Trustee:
1
Home's
1 troubles
1 are inpast
1 A court-appointed "We have even brought in
trustee of a Euless extra dietitians to help us
nursing home says the out," said Donna Harrel, the
1 facility will be in compli- nursing home's interim
ance before he leaves. administrator.
By MITCH MITCHELL Directors of EMSCO of
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER Euless, the corporation listed
1 EULESS — Operations at as the home's owner; could
Westpark Nursing Center not be reached to comment.
were taken over by a court- The survey conducted in
appointed trustee Friday in late July by state officials
1 the wake of allegations that indicated that residents were
some residents had suffered not receiving adequate food,
dramatic weight losses. that doctors'orders were not
At least six residents had being followed and that resi-
tlost between 7 percent and 12 dents were not being assisted
percent of their body weight m�
The survey also found that
in the previous one to three
1 the nursing home was not
months, according to a state
survey. One weighed 77 current with payments to one
pounds. of its food sellers, did not
have enough food to serve its
Trustee David French was
1 residents and had staff
asked by state District Judge
me
Darlene Byrne to oversee members who did not know
operations at the nursing which residents needed help
with meals or had special
home because the Texas
1 diets.
Department of Human Ser-
vices determined that care at The survey is available to
the public and can be picked
the home was substandard,
up at the nursing home.
according to the report.
"This is not at all a bad Ethel Preciphs, 80, who
nursing center," French said
has lived at the home for 18
Saturday. "The immediate months and is leaving to live
jeopardy to these residents with a daughter in Waco,said
1 she has no complaints.
has passed."
The negative survey `They've always treated
results were due to the me real well here,"she said.
1
French emphasized that he
actions of employees who no
is working for the court, not
longer work at the facility, at
the nursing home.or the state.
900 Westpark Way, French
Before I leave here, this
said. The home has started
1 home will educating its staff of about and anyonee who has family
in compliance,
100 employees on how to pre-
vent such problems. here should not worry, he
said.
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111A]'OR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG A1ChAMIE DELA CRUZ RIDGIVAY(2)
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Sign apartment lease,
get health insurance
Apartments trying to draw
tenants are offering every-
thing from free rent to
Caribbean cruises.
I Mission Pointe Club
Apartments in Euless is offer- '
ing health insurance,and in '
the first week,there have
been several inquiries,prop- t
erty manager Paige Wiseman
said.The idea came from a ,
trade show.
. The 260-unit Mission '
Pointe complex,917 Del Paso
St.,was built using state hous-
ing tax credits.Many of the
residents had to meet income.
requirements.
The complex is facilitating
the Children's Health
Insurance Program,or CHIP,
through the Texas
Department of Health and
Human Services.The pro-
gram provides medical,dental
and vision insurance for chil-
dren.
The program is open to
anyone who meets the income
requirements.Many who are
in the program make too
much,or their families make
too much,to qualify for
Medicaid.Last year,more
than half a million Texas chil-
dren were covered by the pro-
gram.
Chet Brooks,director of
customer relations,said that
he has not heard of apart-
ments facilitating CHIP but
that he knows of employes
who have inquired about
wanting to help their workers
learn more about the pro-
gram's benefits.
—Andrea jares '
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG MChAMIE DELA CRUZ RIDGIFAY(2)
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REGION
Briefs
EULESS
' Mobile home seriously
damaged in fire
A fire Monday evening seri-
ously dainaged a Euless mobile
home in the 100 block of Kevin
Drive and displaced three adult
' residents,a Fire Department
spokeswoman said.
Three fire trucks,two ambu-
lances and about B firefighters
responded to a fire that appar-
ently started in a front living
room and spread to a kitchen
and a bedroom,Euless Fire
Department spokeswoman
Christine Cox said.
The Red Cross is providing
' temporary lodging,and food
and clothing for the mobile
home's residents,a husband and
wife and an adult relative,Cox
' said.
No one was in the home
when the fire started,she said.
' A neighbor called the Fire
Department at 616 p m.Mon-
day to report flames and smoke.
Euless firefighters reported that
' the fire was under control at
6:54 p.m.,Cox said.
Neighboring residences
were not damaged,she said.
—Mark Thompson
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIAI HENNIG MCKAMIE DE LA CRUZ RIDGWAY(2) '
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E ' r
Tax rate
EH—E—B slashes of Ata rate of per$100
assessed property value,,
school taxes for the owner of
! an average-priced house with
no exemptions will be$2,095,
sehool
1compared with $2,045 last
t(tAlx year.The average value of a '
house in the school district is
s $126,176, compared with
s
ByJEI`NIFERRADCLIFFE A new budget $119,594 last year, according to '
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER district documents.
® includes funding
BEDFORD — Trustees vot-
for a second year of incen-
ed unanimously Monday to tives for Hurst-Euless-Bed-
Trustee Jeff Burnett said
' c
cut 5 cents from the property ford employees with good he's pleased to be among the
tax rate to help Hurst-Euless- attendance.
Bedford residents who may be Tarrant County districts able
e struggling in the bad economy. ung,'Buinger said. to lower tax rates.
Across-the-board budget H-E-B recently cut more "Of the eight districts in ' 4,
cuts,increased property values than$2.4 million from its bud- this county that are lowering
and additional state funding get. Part of those cuts came their rates,H-E-B is lowering it
allowed trustees to decrease from streamlining bus routes more than anyone,"he said.
the rate to $1.66 from.$1.71 per and switching health-care It took a great deal of plan'
$100 of assessed value. plans. ning,officials said.
"It's three things converg- But the district's state fund- "We are very proud," board
ing," Superintendent Gene ing increased by $2.5 million President Faye Beaulieu said.
Buinger said. "It's the best of this year, which helped allow Jennifer Radcliffe,(817)685-3875
all possible worlds for our tax- for the tax rate decrease. jradcliffe@star-telegram.com
payers."
The tax rate will support a
$115.4 million budget, which
includes $2.4 million for
employee raises and $1.4 mil-
lion for employee health insur-
ance stipends.
That's 2.7 percent higher
than last year's $112.4 million
budget.
The budget also includes i
$575,000 in funding for a pro-
gram that gives financial
incentives to employees with
good attendance. The pro-
gram's structure will remain
the same as last year: Employ- '
ees can earn up to $2,500 in x
matching savings funds if they
miss four or fewer days of
work and contribute to a sav-
ings plan through the district.
More than 360 employees
participated in the program
last year — the first time it ' k
was offered. They earned
more than $500,000 in match-
ing funds—nearly twice what '
the district expected. g
But attendance increased
dramatically, making it money
well-spent,officials said. '
"It's a problem we like hav-
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MAYOR CITYCOUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIAI IIENNIG MCKAMIE DELACRUZ RIDGIi'AY(2)
' YOUNG AICDONALD COLLINS II7LIIITE GETCHELL LIBRARYADAIIN LIBRARYREF ANIMAL CNTR
DATE DISTRIBUTED : L '7 DATE OF ARTICLE NEWSPAPER FWST
' NORTHEAST
AFTER HOURS
' JOY UONOVAN
' Down yellow brick road
EULESS—The classic tale
of Dorothy,the yellow brick
road and the Great Oz will
' continue this ,veekend as The
Wizard of Oz continues its
run at the Villages of Bear
Creek Amphitheater,1951
' Bear Creek Parkway.
Showtimes are 8:15 p.m.
Friday and Saturday.Euless
' Parks and Community Ser-
vice Department and
Starlight Performing Arts
Theatre and School are pre-
senting the classic musical
based on the MGM film star-
ring Judy Garland.
' Tickets are$8 in advance
at the Midway Recreation
Center,300 W.Midway Drive,
and$10 at the gate.Call(8170
' 685-1666,or visit the Starliot;
Performing Arts Theatre and
School at www.starlightper-
formingarts.org. 'hr
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IMYOR CITYCOUNCIL CITYATTORNEY CRIM HENNIG AICKANIIE DELACRUZ RIDGII,A)'(2)
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DATEDISTRIBUTED <l ' U DATE OF ARTICLE - G NE11'SPAPER FII ST
1XU
bl" lls rise
by 3.7 B
percent
By GRAM DYER ® TXU Energy says it needs
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER to'raise electric rates for
AUSTIN — TXU Energy customers the second time this year because of
can expect to pay about $3.61 more per the high cost of natural gas.
month for electricity under a rate hike '
approved Thursday,the second increase The utility blamed higher natural gas
this year. prices for this year's increases.
The 3.7 percent increase adopted by "Historically looking, natural gas
the Texas Public Utility Commission prices are still higher today than they
comes on top of a 12 percent increase were a year ago," TXU spokeswoman
adopted in March by the PUC. All told, Kimberly Morgan said. "We waited as
] the average monthly electric bill now long as we could [to file for a rate x
1 comes to$101 in the Metroplex.The rate increase]. We hoped that gas prices
increase takes effect immediately. More on ELECTRICITY on 16A
i
would go down, but they Worth and other municipali- '
didn't" ties in utility cases, said the
The rate hike applies only cost of TXU's electricity is
to customers in the company's significantly higher under the
traditional Metroplex service new deregulation law than it
` territory. Under the Texas was under the old regulated
deregulation law, the state's system — even when natural
i former monopoly utilities gas prices are roughly equiva-
must charge a regulated rate lent.
in their home territories until She notes that the underly-
at least 2007—although com- ing price of natural gas that '
petitors are free to undercut drove the most recent rate
them with cheaper electrici ty• hike is $5.36
per million
< Attorney Kristen Doyle, British thermal units. By con-
who has represented Fort trast, the underlying cost of
I
I
s
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MAYOR CITY COUNCIL CITYATTORJVEY CRIM HENNIG MCK.4MIE DELA CRUZ RIDGIVAY(2)
YOUNG McDOjV,,ILD COLLINS fVILHITE GETCHELL LIBRARYADMIN LIBRARYREF ANIMALCINITR
DATE DISTRIBUTEDNEWSPAPER FKST
DATE OFARTICLE
natural gas in rates on Dec.31, Check your rates from requesting another
2001 — the last day of the old Consumers can compare increase until 2004.
regulated system—was$5.31. TXU Energy's electric rates with TXU's Morgan said that
That's about a I percent dif- other providers'rates at even with the new increase,
ference. www,powertochoose.com,a the company's rates remain
Nonetheless, the portion of Web site maintained by the the lowest among the state's
rates attributable solely to the Texas Riblic Utility Commission. former monopoly utilities.
cost of fuel has gone up nearly "Competition is still good
40 percent over the same peri- for consumers,"she said.
od, Doyle said. TXU's overall "Competitive rates are The three-member Public
rates have increased nearly 10 demonstrably higher than the Utility Commission adopted
percent. regulated rates based on the TXU's new rates with little
And this has happened same conditions,"she said. discussion. PUC members
despite a 6 percent rate reduc- But company officials say have often said that if rates
tion promised by the legisla- that unlike the rules of the old charged by the former monop-
tive authors of deregulation. system, TXU can no longer oly utilities go too high, cus-
Gas prices have also recoup past losses if it under- tomers can get cheaper elec-
decreased since TXU made its charges for fuel. And even if tricity from a competitor.
most recent rate request, fuel costs increase again this But consumer advocate
Doyle said. vear, new rules prohibit TXU Tim Morstad said that
because 90 percent of con-
sumers have remained with
their former monopoly elec-
tricity providers, there's not
enough competition to keep
electricity prices down.
"And the PUC has not
turned down any rate increase
over the last 18 months,"
said Morstad, a representative
of Consumers Union, publish-
er of Consumer Reports mag-
azine. "The PUC hasn't taken
a strong, tough look at any of
the background information
on the rate increases like they
used to."He said the commis-
sion has been "on autopilot"
when it considers requests to
raise rates.
R.A.Dyer,(512)476-4294
rdyer@star-telegram.com