Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 362, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 2015 Page: 1 of 32
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INSIDE TODAY
ALSO INSIDE
WM
UNT giving summer facelift to Mean Green Village / Sports, IB
Afghans: Taliban’s Mullah
Omar died two years ago
International, 6A
■
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Jones says Cowboys at camp with pep in their step / Sports, IB
Denton Record-Chronicle
An edition of JJaUa^Portmtg
DentonRC.com
Vol. Ill, No. 362 / 32 pages, 4 sections
Thursday, July 30, 2015
One dollar
Denton, Texas
Travis’ campaign reports flawed
source of political donations violates
Texas campaign finance laws, accord-
ing to Natalia Ashley, the executive di-
rector of the Texas Ethics Commission,
the state agency that keeps records on
campaign contributions and expendi-
tures.
Travis, who plans
to run for re-election
in 2016, recently filed
his campaign finance
report but failed to
document who donat-
ed $53,500 of the
$55,630 that Travis
listed as the fund bal-
ance in his campaign account. Travis,
who was elected to a four-year term in
2012, told the Denton Record-Chron-
icle that he self-funded his last cam-
paign and accepted no donations.
The Texas Ethics Commission re-
quires candidates to report who donat-
Some information
about finances appears
to be undocumented
DIGITAL EXTRA
“My personal funds
were used in my first
campaign for sheriff ”
— Denton County Sheriff
William Travis
Go to DentonRC.com to see a list of
Sheriff Will Travis’ political contributors
from January through June 2015.
>
By Christian McPhate
Staff Writer
dmcphate @ dentonrc.com
William Travis has spent the last
three years of his term as Denton Coun-
ty sheriff expanding the county jail,
traveling to Austin to combat marijua-
na legislation and keeping county
streets safe for pedestrians in places
such as Lantana and Robson Ranch.
Since January 2012, Travis has re-
ported more than $79,000 in political paign finance reports must account for
contributions. According to his reports, political contributions, loans and pre-
he did start accepting political contri- cisely how the candidate spends his
butions this year as he prepares to run campaign funds. Candidates don’t have
for re-election. His most recent report to reveal the source of contributions of
for the first six months of this year, filed less than $50, but candidates must
on July 15, reports donations of $2,130. -
Failure to accurately report the See TRAVIS on 3A
Ashley said that candidates’ cam-
Travis
ed to their campaign fund, who lent
them money or whether they lent
themselves money for a campaign. But
a review of Travis’ campaign finance re-
ports shows he has not filled out the le-
gally required form to disclose that he
lent money to himself.
DCTA
to get
system
on own
TODAY
IN DENTON
mwm,
t
i i"
w
Mostly sunny with
triple-digit heat
High: 100
Low: 79
Three-day forecast, 2A
-
OZONE ALERT
r
Ozone levels are expected
to be high enough today
to be unhealthy, partic-
ularly for sensitive groups.
Conserve energy and limit
driving and use of power
tools to help lower emis-
sions that contribute to
smog.
0L
Agency ends joint deal,
will obtain positive train
control for its operation
'\
1
By Bj Lewis
Staff Writer
blewis @ dentonrc. com
Denton County Transportation Au-
thority officials plan to obtain a rail safety
technology system for the A-train on their
own.
INSIDE TODAY
F
Photos by Al Key/DRC
Texas Woman’s University student Leticia Landeros talks to kids Wednesday at Village East Apartments after she
gave them lunches provided by a program that is in partnership with one of her classes.
DCTA officials had been working on a
partnership with Dallas Area Rapid Tran-
sit and the Fort Worth Transportation Au-
thority to implement a positive train con-
trol system for all three agencies, but re-
cently DCTA officials pulled out of the deal
and decided to take on positive train con-
trol on their own.
‘What drives a lot of the tech solutions
for DART and The T [Trinity Railway Ex-
press] aren’t necessarily going to be the
things that apply to DCTA,” said Raymond
Suarez, DCTAs chief operating officer.
The A-train is DCTAs commuter rail
connecting Denton to Carrollton and al-
lows passengers to connect with DART to
continue traveling into Dallas.
PTC refers to train control technology
that would prevent train-to-train colli-
sions, over-speed derailments, incursions
into established work zone Emits and the
movement of a train through a main line
switch in the improper position.
This technology requirement was ap-
proved by Congress in 2008 with the Rail
Safety Improvement Act. It is an effort to
improve the safety of rail operations across
the U.S. after the crash of a Metrolink pas-
senger train and a Union Pacific freight
train on Sept. 12, 2008, in California,
which resulted in the deaths of 25 and in-
juries to more than 135 passengers.
PTC was also viewed as a necessity af-
ter the Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia
earlier this year
Lunch chats offer benefits
r it
wi
K* 'ill
By Jenna Duncan
Staff Writer
jduncan @ dentonrc. com
Picking through a box of Sourlicious
Golden Raisins, 11-year-old Kyleigh Bar-
rett discusses various book and movie
series with Leticia Landeros, a graduate
student at Texas Woman’s University.
Kyleigh is excited because she gets to
watch Twilight soon, after reading all of
the books in that series. Landeros tells
her she’s lucky because now that all of
the movies are out, Barrett can watch the
four films back-to-back.
They chat at the end of a picnic table
at the Village East Apartments, where
volunteers bring lunches that are free to
school-age children. The two are getting
different benefits from the half-hour in-
teraction.
For Kyleigh, it’s a full lunch on a day
she might not have one when visiting her
mom, and for Landeros it’s getting a
child to open up, a skill she’ll need when
she becomes a teacher.
After Kyleigh and another eight chil-
dren leave, TWU assistant professor Gi-
na Anderson asks Landeros about her
experience.
l
Denton’s North Branch
Library will welcome
creative-minded folks
Saturday for the Creative
Women’s Conference.
Denton Time
OUT & ABOUT
V
*r
M
A garage sale is planned
from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Saturday inside Erwin
Hall at Denton’s First
Presbyterian Church.
Proceeds from the sale
will benefit Denton
Christian Preschool.
Juan Rodriguez, 5, and his sister, Blanca, 9, eat lunch provided by a program
in partnership with a class at Texas Woman’s University, at the Village East
Apartments on Wednesday.
“[Kyleigh] was really quiet, and I was and talk and give one-on-one attention
curious if she’d stay shy or she’d talk for them to open up.”
back,” Landeros tells her professor. “I -
learned, sometimes you have to sit down See LUNCH on 5A
Page 3A
See DCTA on 5A
FIND IT INSIDE
Council tables vote on gas well setbacks
1C
CLASSIFIED
6C
COMICS
3C, 6C
CROSSWORDS
5C
DEAR ABBY
such as a schools, churches or hospitals. 1,200 feet about two years ago. The mea- But the Planning and Zoning Commis-
The hearing wrapped up by 11:15 p.m., and surement from a gas well begins from the sion suggested a setback of 750 feet after
the meeting adjourned before midnight. edge of the construction zone, not the its public hearing on the matter last week.
The Denton City Council postponed Residents spoke as the council consid- wellhead itself,
late Tuesday its vote on reducing the re- ered whether to change three subchapters The City Council received a staff rec-
quired distance between gas wells and of a city ordinance dealing with setbacks ommendation to revert back to its previ- erty developer may build from an existing
homes and businesses after more than 30 to meet requirements of Texas House Bill ous setback distance of1,000 feet for new gas well. City staff recommended a reverse
residents spoke at a special public hearing. 40. The law requires municipalities regu- wells. The council adopted that setback setback of 500 feet, while Planning and
In a 7-0 vote, the council tabled until lating oil and gas operations do so in a five years ago. A provision of HB 40 says Zoning sought a 225-foot reverse setback,
this Tuesday its decision whether to re- fashion that is “commercially reasonable.” city rules that have stood for five years and DALTON LaFERNEY can be reached
duce the distance, known as a setback, be- Denton’s setbacks between new gas allowed energy development are consid-
tween gas well sites and “protected uses,” wells and existing protected uses was set at ered “commercially reasonable.”
By Dalton LaFerney
Staff Writer
5A
DEATHS
4A
OPINION
dlaferney @ dentonrc.com
IB
SPORTS
A key focus of discourse Tuesday was
reverse setbacks” — the distance a prop-
4B
TELEVISION
2A
WEATHER
at 940-566-6872 and via Twitter at
@daltonlafemey.
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 362, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 2015, newspaper, July 30, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124468/m1/1/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .