Fort Worth names new police chief

FORT WORTH — A veteran of the Phoenix police force was appointed as Fort Worth's new top cop on Tuesday.

Jeff Halstead will take over as chief of the Fort Worth Police Department if he is confirmed by the city council. Halstead most recently served as commander of the Phoenix Homeland Defense Bureau.

He has been a part of the Phoenix force for two decades after working his way up the chain of command from a rank-and-file officer.


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DFW Home Prices Drop

slide in U.S. home prices gained speed in August.

And home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area dipped lower as well.

Home prices fell by a record 16.6 percent in Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller's monthly housing report.

In the D-FW area, prices fell 2.7 percent in August from a year ago in the benchmark home survey.

Out of the 20 markets Case-Shiller tracks, "13 of them had their annual returns worsen from last month's report," S&P's David M. Blitzer said in the survey. "As seen throughout 2008, the Sun Belt markets are being hit the most."

None of the cities Case-Shiller follows had an increase in home prices from last year.

The sharpest declines were in Las Vegas and Phoenix ­ down more than 30 percent.

The D-FW area had the smallest home price decline of all the cities in the report. But the annual dip in home values here grew slightly from July to August.



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Hip Pocket Theatre closes season with 'The Last Lake Rat’ about Lake Worth

Oct 14, 2008

By PUNCH SHAW

FORT WORTH — What is Lake Worth worth to you?

The answer will probably go a long way toward determining your level of interest in The Last Lake Rat, which opened at Hip Pocket Theatre on Friday night.

This sweet and gentle Valentine to a body of water, and the memories still floating there, was written and directed by Hip Pocket co-founder Johnny Simons. He has subtitled the piece "a handmade home movie musical collage," and that describes it pretty well. This 50-minute work is more a musical revue or song cycle than a stage show.

DK

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American Airlines and the Fort Worth Airpower Foundation Host Sixth Annual Sky Ball Fundraiser

Oct. 10, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas-- American Airlines and the Fort Worth Airpower Foundation (FWAPF) are once again uniting to support the families of North Texas military personnel and pay tribute to the "Greatest Generation," the veterans of World War II. This year more than 600 American Airlines and American Eagle employee volunteers will help host the sixth annual Sky Ball on Saturday, Oct. 11, at American's Alliance Airport (AFW) maintenance hangar to raise funds to benefit the families of area service men and women. This year's celebration will include a celebrity appearance by actor Gary Sinise, star of CSI-New York and Lt. Dan in the film Forrest Gump.

DK

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More than 1,000 Louisianans in Tarrant are waiting to return home

Olidge Narcisse is grateful, but he has one big problem with the city of Fort Worth: It’s not home.

Narcisse, 49, who left his home in the New Orleans area Sunday night to avoid Hurricane Gustav, is one of more than 1,000 south Louisiana residents staying in Tarrant County shelters and waiting for the bus ride back home.

"I love the city from what I’ve seen so far," Narcisse said Wednesday afternoon. "But when more money is going out than what is coming in, you begin to miss home."

South Louisiana residents fleeing Gustav began arriving in North Texas on Sunday night. The hurricane hit Monday morning.

Late Tuesday, President Bush authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide individual assistance to Louisiana residents of several parishes. The assistance can include grants for temporary housing, home repairs and other "serious disaster-related expenses," according to FEMA.

Low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration also will be available to cover residential and business losses not fully compensated by insurance, according to the agency.

By late Wednesday, buses, cars packed with sleeping bags and groceries began pulling away from Tarrant County.

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Appeal denied for Texas death row inmate who admitted killing 5 in Tarrant County

Quick - August 18, 2008

A Tarrant County man who confessed to killing five relatives has lost a federal court appeal of his conviction for fatally shooting his two stepchildren while they slept.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholds the conviction of Terry Lee Hankins and moves him a step closer to execution for the 2001 slayings of Kevin Galley, 12, and Ashley Mason, 11. Their bodies, and the body of their mother, 34-year-old Tammy Hankins, were found in their mobile home in Mansfield, about 20 miles southeast of Fort Worth.

After Hankins was arrested in August 2001, he told police where to find the decomposing bodies of his father and half-sister, with whom he had a child and was expecting another. He said he fatally shot Earnie Hankins, 55, and bludgeoned Pearl "Sissy" Sevenstar, 20, in the fall of 2000.

According to court documents, he lied about his sister's whereabouts, saying he had sent her to a home for pregnant mentally-challenged women. However, he had stored her body in a plastic ice chest, then hid it in a car at his father's auto shop.

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Grand Prairie Man Hit By Lightening at Joe Pool Lake near Dallas

July 15, 2008 - GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- A Fort Worth man died overnight after he was struck by lightning while camping at Joe Pool Lake, near Dallas.

Police say Dexter Leonard was hit Tuesday evening while rushing to load his camping gear in his car after a storm broke over Lynn Creek Park at the south Grand Prairie lake. He was taken to Arlington Memorial Hospital in nearby Arlington, where he died early Wednesday. Full Story

Fort Worth Named Top 10 Places to Live & Launch 2008

Fort Worth Named Top 10 Places to Live & Launch in 2008 by Fortune Small Business.
Chosen based on economic conditions and natural natural beauty as well as nearby cultural centers.

Report: Dallas-Fort Worth won't see big home price declines

Report: Dallas-Fort Worth won't see big home price declines
11:08 PM CDT on Thursday, April 10, 2008
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com

While North Texas' housing market decline has accelerated in recent months, analysts are still betting that the Dallas-Fort Worth area won't see measurable price declines.

Indeed, the latest report from mortgage insurance firm PMI Group says that D-FW is one of the last places in the country likely to see a drop in home prices during the next couple of years.

There's less than a 1 percent chance that home prices will fall here, according to PMI's spring risk index report, which was released Thursday.

At the same time, PMI says that 13 of the nation's top housing markets have more than a 60 percent likelihood of home price declines.

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Storms Damage Businesses & Homes in DFW

HURST, Texas — Hundreds of Texans spent Thursday cleaning up from overnight storms that snapped utility poles, peeled roofs from buildings and sent trees crashing into homes in West Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Full Story

April 10, 2008, 8:41PM

Fort Worth is a Launching Pad for business

Fortune Magazine has named Fort Worth as a "launching pad for businesses."

Students interested in starting a business will not have to go far to find a start.
Fortune Small Business recently ranked Fort Worth the ninth-best place in the nation to "live and launch" a business. David Minor, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, said this designation will attract students to Neeley's entrepreneurship program. Minor said the ranking shows Fort Worth has a vibrant entrepreneurial environment and will boost the reputation of the entrepreneurship program. "It's now a destination school for entrepreneurs," Minor said.
Brad Hancock, assistant director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, said Fort Worth has always been a maverick, and this designation shows that its pioneering, spirited atmosphere is now being recognized.

Fort Worth Approves Change in Deal with Bank

"Fort Worth will be giving its bankers a smaller cut of gas drilling revenues under a new agreement unanimously approved Tuesday with JPMorgan Chase, which handles the city's mineral leases."

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Rainwater's 'Single Worst Investment'

Sometimes even billionaires make bone-headed moves. Richard Rainwater, the legendary Fort Worth investor, has seen a 70% decline in just two months on some $100 million he put into troubled home lender Thornburg Mortgage . Rainwater calls it the "the single worst investment of my career.

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Fort Worth May Back Down from Planned Fees for Developers

"A consensus is building among land developers and city staffers that would scale back the proposed road impact fees on new construction in Fort Worth.

New homes in most of Fort Worth would see an impact fee of $1,500 under the proposal, with lower fees in two regions of town and no fee in most neighborhoods inside Loop 820. Under the original proposal, the area inside Loop 820 would have been largely exempt, but the fees in other areas would have ranged from a few hundred dollars to a maximum of $6,102."

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Banks in D-FW Feel the Pinch of Weaker Loans

"After a decade-long run of growth, Dallas-Fort Worth banks were reminded in 2007 that what goes up can come down."

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Learn more of Dallas and Fort Worth from your DFW Realtor.

The Dolly Johnson - 45th Annual Antique Show

March 8-9, 2008
Will Rogers Memorial Center
3400 Burnett-Tandy
Fort Worth, TX 76107

"For a new spin on presidential politics, the March 8-9 Dolly Johnson Antique Show will feature “Antiques and Their Presidents” at the 45th annual show in Fort Worth Texas. Over 50 exhibitors from across the nation will arrive at the Will Rogers Memorial Center with American antique furniture and accessories, including many treasures identified by presidential eras, from Washington to Ike."

Fort Worth News Sources

• Fort Worth Star Telegram
• NBC5i
• CBS 11 TV
• Google News Results for Fort Worth
• WFAA News
• Fort Worth Topix

Eagle Mountain Lake

Eagle Mountain Lake is a popular lake located in Tarrant County bordering Azle and Fort Worth. Many people live along Eagle Mountain Lake, as there are many master planned communities and new homebuilders offering custom homes in the Eagle Mountain Lake area.

Location: On the West Fork Trinity River, just north of Fort Worth and Lake Worth in Tarrant

County Surface area: 8,738 acresMaximum depth: 47 feetImpounded: 1932

Water Conditions
Current Lake Level

Conservation Pool

Elevation: 649 ft. msl
Fluctuation: 2-9 feet
Normal Clarity: Clear in the lower end near the dam, stained in the upper end
Reservoir Controlling Authority
Tarrant Regional Water District
10201 North Shore Drive
Fort Worth, Texas 76135
(817) 237-8585

Aquatic Vegetation
Very little at present; controlling authority has initiated attempts to establish native aquatic vegetation in the reservoir.

Predominant Fish Species
Largemouth bass
Spotted bass
Channel catfish
White bass
White crappie
Lake Records-->Stocking History

Statewide regulations apply to all fishes.
Angling Opportunities
Eagle Mountain has most of Texas' most popular sport fishes including largemouth bass, spotted bass, channel catfish, flathead catfish, white bass, and white crappie.

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History Maker Homes Happy Hour - Fort Worth TX

Valley Brook Estates - Fort Worth Texas by History Maker Homes is having a Happy Hour Feb. 21, 2008 from 4:30 - 6:30 to toast the unveiling of our new model and welcome center.

Fort Worth Home Builders

UFO in Fort Worth Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas - Faced with reports of a massive UFO that was being chased by jet fighters, Air Force Reserve officials have reversed themselves and now say their fighters were training nearby the night dozens of Stephenville-area residents reported seeing the unearthly air show two weeks ago. (Full Story)

Home Sales Drop Biggest in 19 Years

North Texas new-home sales fell by the largest amount in 18 years in 2007, according to figures released Friday by the housing-tracking firm Residential Strategies.A glut of inventory, tougher requirements for loans in the last half of the year and a fiercely competitive market all contributed to the worst nose dive since the real estate crash of the late 1980s. Fort Worth Star Telegram

Bass Hall - Things to Do in Fort Worth Texas Jan. 2008

Bass Hall houses the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Opera, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and Cliburn Concert. The 2,056-seat hall features lively entertainment throughout the year.

Events for 01/13/2008 to 03/13/2008
Rhapsody on PaganiniMiguel Harth-Bedoya, ConductorYevgeny Sudbin, PianoPresented by: Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Dates / Times:
Sunday, 01/13/2008 2:00 PM
ALPHA REVwith The Fieros (formerly The Valentines)Presented by: Bass HallPerformance to be held in McDavid Studio, 301 East 5th Street

Play! A Video Game SymphonyMiguel Harth-Bedoya, ConductorPresented by: Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Dates / Times:
Saturday, 01/19/2008 8:00 PM

An Evening with Vickie WinansPresented by: Bass HallCo-presented by:The Greater Fort Worth Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Committee
Dates / Times:
Monday, 01/21/2008 7:00 PM

John HammondPresented by: Bass HallPerformance to be held in McDavid Studio, 301 East 5th Street
Dates / Times:
Saturday, 01/26/2008 8:00 PM

André Watts, pianoPresented by: Cliburn Concerts
Dates / Times:
Thursday, 01/31/2008 7:30 PM

Fort Worth Real Estate

Fort Worth puts inspection info online

Biz Journals The city of Fort Worth's Web site is adding information about inspection reports for restaurants, day care facilities and pools.

Fort Worth Real Estate
Fort Worth Homes

Livestock Show Rodeo in Fort Worth

Saddle up, Fort Worth, it's rodeo time! Dallas Morning News - Dallas, TX, USA The Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show Rodeo in Fort Worth is about to launch its 24-day run at the Will Rogers Coliseum Complex.