Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 249, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 8, 2015 Page: 1 of 24
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ALSO INSIDE
Lady Falcons fall to
team they’ve beaten
twice this season
Sports, IB
‘Rent’
comes due
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Denton Record-Chronicle
An edition of JJalla^Pornttui
DentonRC.com
Vol. Ill, No. 249 / 24 pages, 3 sections
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
One dollar
Denton, Texas
City examines
homelessness
Charlie Nolet,
owner of The
Loophole and
II Charlies,
speaks to
City Council
members
during a pub-
lic hearing
Tuesday on a
proposal that
would ex-
pand Den-
ton’s smok-
ing ban to
include bars.
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cal homelessness after hearing a pre-
sentation from the city staff Tuesday af-
ternoon.
Dani Shaw, Denton’s human servic-
es coordinator, told the council that a
coalition of social service groups has
been working on new initiatives to tack-
le the problem.
As Denton has grown, so has its
Council vows to tackle
issue; smoking ban
hearing draws crowd
m fc
# 1ft
%
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe
Staff Writer
pheinkel-wolfe @ dentonrc. com
Denton City Council members
agreed to stay focused on addressing lo-
_
See COUNCIL on 9A
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Al Key/DRC
_
Transit
contract
set to be
renewed
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Consultant working
month to month
for county for now
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By Bj Lewis
Staff Writer
blewis @ dentonrc.com
Denton County commissioners are
set to renew the contract of transporta-
tion consultant John Polster and his
firm, Innovative Transportation Solu-
tions.
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For the moment, Polster and his
firm will work on a month-to-month
contract while the details of the con-
tract are negotiated and a final agree-
ment is signed.
“It didn’t come as any surprise to me
that they would compare very well to
other [firms],” County Judge Mary
Horn, long a supporter of Polster and
his firm, said Tuesday.
Since its inception, the transporta-
tion consultant contract has always
been funded from interest earnings on
road bond money, but the interest the
county is earning has fallen and will not
be able to sustain the pay for the consul-
tant position.
While there was some chatter
among commissioners at Tuesday’s
meeting about funding the contract,
Horn was not worried about it, at least
not this year.
“We’re fine for the next year with ac-
cumulated earnings,” she said. “We will
take a look at it in future budget years.”
Duties of the consultant and his firm
include providing-leadership and man-
agement of the county’s transportation
program, assist in identifying transpor-
Al Key/DRC
Jose Moran, center, was at the wheel of the tractor-trailer that ran over his 22-year-old son, Daniel, on Tuesday at Argyle High School. Flags at the
campus are flying at half-staff for the second time in a week. Tuesday’s accident was near the site of a building collapse Thursday that killed one worker.
2nd death at building site
than a week ago.
Daniel Moran, 22,
of Haslet was killed in
the accident involving
a tractor-trailer driv-
en by his father, Jose
Moran.
Troy Taylor, chief
death investigator for
Denton County, said Daniel Moran was
directing a tractor-trailer alongside his
grandfather Bonifaco Moran when his
foot somehow got caught and he was
Argyle ISD halts construction
Father at wheel
in fatal accident
at Argyle campus
11
The board voted 6-0 to retain a safe-
ty consultant to represent the district
and advise the board regarding all con-
struction projects and its contract with
construction manager Northstar Build-
ers Group and architect Corgan Associ-
ates Inc.
In open session, board President Er-
ic Fields asked the president and chief
operations officer from Northstar
By Britney Tabor
Staff Writer
btabor@dentonrc.com
ARGYLE
The Argyle school
board voted unanimously to retain a
safety consultant and to suspend all
construction work following the deaths
of two workers in less than a week at an
Argyle High School construction site.
The two separate votes were taken dur-
ing an emergency board meeting Tues-
By Megan Gray-Hatfield
Staff Writer
mgray @ dentonrc.com
ARGYLE — A father is grieving the
loss of his son after accidentally running
over him with a truck Tuesday on the
campus of Argyle High School, where a
construction worker was killed less
Moran
day.
See ACCIDENT on J1A
See ARGYLE ISD on 11A
See COUNTY on 12A
Some like religious freedom law as-is
STATE
NATIONAL
TODAY
IN DENTON
The effort to improve the
fives of America’s foster
children may hinge on
whether agencies can
recruit enough skilled,
dedicated foster parents
who buy into the concept.
Page 3A
corporations and negatively affect
tourism.
Texas’ Religious Freedom Resto-
ration Act of1999 allows a Texas resi-
dent to sue state and local govern-
ments if he or she feels that a govern-
ment entity is burdening their reli-
gious beliefs or practices. Lauded as
“carefully crafted” by gay rights advo-
cates, the act explicitly states it can-
not be used to undermine federal or
state civil rights or take precedence
over local ordinances.
The proposed amendments do
not explicitly say the law can’t be used
to justify discrimination based on
sexual orientation, mirroring the
original language of the laws passed
recently in Indiana and Arkansas
that sparked boycotts and strong op-
position. Those states’ Republican-
controlled legislatures both revised
their laws last week.
Krause said his proposed amend-
ment would give constitutional
strength to Texas’ law. It would also
trump local laws, including cities’
nondiscrimination ordinances al-
ready in place, such as Houston, Dal-
las, Austin and San Antonio.
Dozens of states have similar reli-
gious freedom laws, largely modeled
after a federal law enacted in 1993
with broad bipartisan support. Texas
is one of 29 states that have no pro-
tections for gays and lesbians in non-
discrimination laws. Similar debates
are going on in other statehouses, as
Texas legislators vow
to fight changes they
fear would backfire
•-Ini
An ambitious House
proposal seeks to pour $3
billion extra into Texas
schools.
By Eva Ruth Moravec
Associated Press
AUSTIN — Texas lawmakers and
top business leaders vowed Tuesday
to kill two proposed constitutional
amendments they say will promote
anti-gay discrimination and could
lead to backlash similar to recent re-
actions in Indiana and Arkansas.
Opponents say the proposals,
sponsored by Republicans Rep. Matt
Krause and Sen. Donna Campbell,
would morph the business-friendly
Lone Star State into a costly state for
30 percent chance of
p.m. thunderstorms
High: 80
Low: 68
Three-day forecast, 2A
Page 3A
FIND IT INSIDE
1C
CLASSIFIED
INTERNATIONAL
8C
COMICS
4C,8C
CROSSWORDS
Iraqi forensic teams have
started exhuming bodies
from mass graves believed
to contain soldiers killed
by Islamic State militants.
Page 8A
6C
DEAR ABBY
11A
DEATHS
FOCUS ON EDUCATION 4A-5A
10A
OPINION
IB
SPORTS
7C
TELEVISION
See RELIGIOUS on 12A
2A
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 249, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 8, 2015, newspaper, April 8, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124725/m1/1/: accessed July 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .