Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 299, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 28, 2015 Page: 1 of 36
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INSIDE TODAY
ALSO INSIDE
i
UNT’s Schoblocher leaves softball program / Sports, IB
Texans deal with storm
damage as death toll rises
State, 3A
Krum, Pilot Point near state tournament berths / Sports, IB
Denton Record-Chronicle
An edition of JJaUa^Portmtg
DentonRC.com
Vol. Ill, No. 299 / 36 pages, 4 sections
Thursday, May 28, 2015
One dollar
Denton, Texas
Fracking battle in Texas not over
In addition to nullifying Denton’s
ban, HB 40 greatly limits the ability of
Texas cities and other local govern-
ments to write local rules pertaining to
the oil and gas industry. Many legal ex-
perts call the new law sweeping and un-
precedented.
In a prepared statement, Todd Sta-
ples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas
Association, said “the clarity and consis-
tency” of the new law would keep com-
munities safe.
“We are confident in House Bill 40
because lawmakers were thoughtful
and deliberate in stipulating, more
clearly than ever, appropriate roles for
the state and local governments in reg-
ulating the oil and natural gas industry,”
Staples said.
The association and the Texas
the gate at a Denton natural gas well
site for a short time Wednesday morn-
ing, stepping aside only after Denton
police asked them to do so.
Many of the people who blocked the
Vantage Energy well site on Denton’s
west side had volunteered in the citi-
zens campaign to ban fracking in the
city, said Tara linn Hunter.
“They worked very hard,” said Hunt-
er, who was the campaign’s volunteer
coordinator. “They are very angry”
Vantage was the first operator to
ff ack in Denton after the state effective-
ly nullified the local citizens’ initiative
last week with the passage of House Bill
Protesters picket well
site in Denton where
fracturing has resumed
7
/
/
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe
Staff Writer
pheinkel-wolfe @ dentonrc. com
The fight over fracking in Texas cit-
ies is continuing. Anti-fracking activists
are searching for a legal strategy to chal-
lenge the constitutionality of a new
state law that appears to overturn the
ff ack ban that Denton voters passed last
November.
On a second front, protesters picket-
ed a Denton well site where hydraulic
fracturing has resumed. And others are
planning an anti-fracking rally on the
City Hall lawn in the near future.
About a dozen protesters blocked
■ #
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fracimnu
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40.
Some activists have speculated, in-
cluding on social media, that the new
state law may not be challenged first by
Denton, but by another Texas city af-
fected by HB 40.
Al Key/DRC
Gas well workers set up for hydraulic fracturing at a well site on the south-
east corner of the intersection of Nail Road and U.S. Highway 380 several
miles west of Denton on Wednesday.
See FRACKING on 7A
Death of
student
still a
mystery
TODAY
IN DENTON
Floodgate photo op
.....
i
30 percent chance
of thunderstorms
High: 85
Low: 69
Three-day forecast, 2A
W j
INSIDE TODAY
y
♦
Autopsy report lists
cause as undetermined
DentonTlme
V
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* V
Dressing
the part
1 v
By Jenna Duncan
Staff Writer
jduncan@dentonrc.com
The Tarrant County Medical Examin-
er’s Office was unable to determine a cause
of death for Marqualla Melvin, 21, the Uni-
versity of North Texas student who was
found dead in her apart-
ment last month. ft-1-ti—
¥ f k ■T l>,
According to the au-
topsy report, there was
no trauma, no anatomic
cause of death and the
only chemical that was
positive on her toxicolo-
gy screening was etha-
nol, which is natural in
decomposition. The cause and manner of
her death will forever be fisted as “unde-
termined.”
Part of the problem in identifying the
cause of death was that Melvin’s body was
decomposing before it was found, said
Linda Anderson, public information offi-
cer for the medical examiner. Friends and
family say Melvin was last seen the morn-
ing of April 8. She was found in her bed on
April 11, and the autopsy report said the
body had “moderate” decomposition.
Friends and family said they were con-
founded by the death because Melvin was
seemingly healthy. They said she didn’t
drink or do drugs, had no history of chron-
ic illness and focused on her schoolwork.
Anderson said it is common to not be
able to find a cause of death when an au-
topsy can’t be performed soon after death.
“[It’s common] when there is no
d
ir
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*
Dedicated fans step into
the shoes of characters
from any number of
fantastic worlds.
d
1 :
*
Denton Time
, J
_
Al Key/DRC
Arianna Yanez, 13, takes a photo with her mother, Annie Yanez, at the floodgate below the dam at Ray Roberts
Lake on Wednesday. The volume of water being released from the lake has been decreased from 7,400 cubic
feet per second to 4,000 as the floodwaters are funneled to the Elm Fork of the Trinity River from the lake in
Denton County. The forecast for today is a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, partly sunny,
with a high near 84, according to the National Weather Service.
out & ABOUT
Melvin
Authorities identify slain woman
M
The Denton County
Office of History and
Culture will open an
exhibit featuring the
medical collection of Dr.
vestigator for Denton County.
Officer Orlando Hinojosa, spokesman
for Denton police, said officers were dis-
patched to the 400 block of Bernard
Street at about 9:35 a.m. Tuesday after
someone in the complex called 911 to re-
port hearing gunshots.
When officers arrived, they found San-
tibanez in a gray four-door sedan and the
man lying in the parking lot beside the car.
Police believe the man shot Santibanez
and then shot himself, Hinojosa said. The
two were married, he said.
The man was dead at the scene, Hino-
josa said. Santibanez was removed from
the vehicle and taken by the Denton Fire
Department to Denton Regional Medical
Center, where she later died, Hinojosa
said.
By Megan Gray-Hatfield
Staff Writer
mgray @ dentonrc.com
The woman who was fatally shot in an
apparent murder-suicide Tuesday morn-
ing at The Oaks apartment complex in
Denton was Ericka Santibanez, 41, of
Cross Roads, authorities said Wednesday.
Santibanez’s death was ruled a homi-
cide by the Tarrant County Medical Exam-
iner’s Office.
The name of a man who was found
dead at the scene has not been released
pending notification of a family member,
according to Troy Taylor, chief death in-
William McCormick on
Tuesday.
Police said Wednesday they do not
know if the couple had children. No addi-
tional details regarding the department’s
investigation into the shooting have been
released.
Santibanez’s death marks the first ho-
micide of the year in Denton, police said.
Page 3A
LOCAL
Denton police will have a
safety conference for
faith-based organizations
on Saturday.
MEGAN GRAY-HATFIELD can be
reached at 940-566-6885 and via Twit-
ter at @MGrayNews.
See MELVIN on 7A
Page 2A
DISD names newest elementary after Bell
FIND IT INSIDE
1C
CLASSIFIED
The board unanimously voted to name
the school Catherine Bell Elementary
School on Tuesday night. The school will
open for the 2016-17 school year along
with Braswell High School.
Bell said she had no idea her name was
even under consideration. She said when
Burns called Wednesday morning to share
the news, she continued to ask why she
was selected.
“I’m just dumbfounded. I’m just on
cloud nine,” Bell said. “This is an honor. It
By Britney Tabor
Staff Writer
btabor@ dentonrc.com
Catherine Bell said a Wednesday
morning phone call brought an answered
prayer.
Alone in her Southeast Denton home,
she said she called out to God. She said she
lost her high school sweetheart and hus-
band of 54 years, Harry, last June. In 1985,
her son, 28-year-old Larry “Bubba,” died
of an aneurysm. Bell said she asked God,
“What’s next?” and “Why am I here, Lord.”
Shortly after her prayer, Bell said she
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COMICS
4C,8C
CROSSWORDS
Tm just dumbfounded. I’m just on cloud nine. This is
an honor. It really is. ”
— Catherine Bell, retired Denton ISD educator
6C
DEAR ABBY
7A
DEATHS
6A
OPINION
IB
SPORTS
7C
TELEVISION
received a call from Denton ISD board know, I broke down and cried,” said Bell, a
President Barbara Bums that the district’s retired Denton ISD educator and long-
newest and 23rd elementary school would time community activist,
be named after her. The school is being
built on Villa Paloma Boulevard in the lit- thanked God and said, “I love you.’
tie Elm area, about 14 miles east of Den-
ton.
2A
WEATHER
She said she looked up to the heavens,
‘It really did help my day,” Bell said. “I
just said, ‘I can’t believe this.’ I said, ‘you
‘I had to catch my breath, and you answered that [prayer] quick.’”
See BELL on 7A
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 299, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 28, 2015, newspaper, May 28, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124933/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .