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Ninth West Nile Death Reported In Dallas County

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Dallas County is reporting a ninth death from West Nile virus: this one in Duncanville.

Health officials say the patient had the more serious neuroinvasive strain of the mosquito-borne illness.

Dallas County reports 141 human cases of West Nile virus.

Tarrant County has 123 cases and one death: Denton County, 62 cases and one death.

Collin County reports 11 human cases of West Nile, no deaths.

BJ Austin, KERA News

Ted Cruz To Address Republican National Convention

Texas U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz will be among the "headliners" addressing the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Wednesday that the former state solicitor general will address the Aug. 27-30 convention along with four other conservative notables, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

Cruz is a tea party darling who upset Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst for the Republican nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Dewhurst was backed by Gov. Rick Perry and much of the Texas GOP establishment but lost a July 31 runoff election to Cruz by 13 percentage points.

Cruz advances to the November election against Democratic former state Rep. Paul Sadler. Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.

AP

Country star Randy Travis accused of DWI in Texas

Randy Travis was charged with driving while intoxicated after the country singer crashed his car in Tioga and was found naked and combative at the scene, that’s according to police.

Police say Travis refused sobriety tests, so a blood specimen was taken. The test results are pending.

Travis reportedly made threats against Texas Highway Patrol troopers and was not wearing clothes at the time of his arrest.

Grayson County Sheriff's Sgt. Rickey Wheeler said Travis also faces a charge of retaliation or obstruction.

Travis was released on bond this morning pending an appearance before a judge in Sherman, about 60 miles north of Dallas.

AP

Dallas Applauds Red Light Camera Success

This is National Stop On Red Week. At a Dallas City Hall observance, Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano says the city’s five year old red light camera enforcement program is working.

“The latest statistics show a 55% reduction in red light related accidents on intersection approaches with a red light camera,” said Medrano.

Dallas has cameras at 42 intersections. People who run the light are caught on video and receive a $75 ticket in the mail.  The fines cover operating costs for the cameras. Any revenue left over is split evenly between the city and state.  

Critics have called the red light cameras nothing more than a revenue raiser.  But, Police Chief David Brown says the cameras have proven to be efficient and cost effective in changing peoples’ behavior behind the wheel.

BJ Austin, KERA News

American Airlines Pilots Say No To Contract Offer

Pilots for American Airlines have rejected the company’s latest contract offer.

American’s Bruce Hicks says the next move will be in bankruptcy court.  The judge next week is to decide if the airline can cancel the pilot’s existing contract and implement its own terms for pay and working conditions.

“The term sheets would call for reduction of approximately 400 pilot positions over time as the productivity changes would become effective,” Hicks said.

Hicks says those reductions would not happen if the contract had been approved.

Tom Hoban with the Allied Pilots Association says pilots just could not give any more after major concessions to avoid bankruptcy in 2003.

“We refer to this as the lost decade in terms of career expectations,” Hoban said.. “You had pilots take salary cuts anywhere from 25% to 50% for this management team.”

Hoban says pilots are likely going from bad to worse in the short term. The union is backing an American merger with US Airways.

The Transport Workers Union mechanics and related workers approved their new contract offer Wednesday.  

BJ Austin,  KERA News

Rabid Deer On Parker Co Golf Course

Parker County officials want to get the word out about a rabid deer.

Sheriff Larry Fowler says official test results came back yesterday. The young buck was found last week at the Sugar Tree Golf Course displaying classic signs of rabies.

Sheriff Fowler says the deer was frequently seen near the golf course, and would allow people to pet him and hand feed him.

Anyone who had contact with the deer near Sugar Tree Golf Course and the nearby housing subdivision from July 14th through August 2nd should contact the Parker County Sheriff’s Animal Control division.

BJ Austin, KERA News

Sleeping Dallas Teenager Wounded In Drive-By Shooting

Dallas Police say a 16 year old girl, asleep in her bedroom, was shot in an apparent drive-by shooting on Bellcrest in south Dallas early this morning.

According to police, people inside the house said they heard gunshots and bullets shattering windows. The teenage girl was shot in the torso. She is reported in good condition. Five others in the house were cut by flying glass from the windows.

Detectives say they have no motive and no suspects.

BJ Austin, KERA News