Police Still Investigating Crash & Midday Roundup

By KERA News & Wire Services

Dallas, TX –

Police in a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth say they are continuing to investigate a weekend car accident that killed four when the vehicle crashed through a fence and hit a tree before landing upside down in a pond.

Southlake police Officer Roderick Page said Monday that accident investigators could take up to 10 days to finish a report on the Saturday crash. The crash killed a 56-year-old man and woman, a 38-year-old woman and a 35-year-old woman.

The car was a 2008 Toyota Avalon, among the models recalled last month over concerns about gas pedals getting stuck on floor mats and causing sudden acceleration. Pages says he does not know if the owner had taken the car in for repairs or adjustments.

Texas truck fees draw scrutiny

Texans may love their pickups, but a top state transportation official says it's not fair for truck owners to pay lower state registration fees.

State Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, wants to overhaul the schedule of registration fees that charges truck owners about $4 less than car owners.

Lawmakers this year took steps to make fees for most vehicles a flat $50.75 a year, but didn't implement the changes until Sept. 1, 2011.

Pickett and House and Senate colleagues will soon hold joint hearings on transportation funding, and registration stickers are being discussed. The first meeting is Feb. 1 in Austin.

High school football player found dead at track

A 17-year-old high school football player from Fort Worth was found dead, a day after the boy prepared a rib-eye roast for Christmas dinner for his family.

Xavier Ramirez died at the Paschal High School track on Saturday, after he had gone to a coin-operated laundry to wash clothes for his mother. Coach Matt Cook told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he believes Ramirez went for a quick jog while waiting for the laundry to finish.

The boy's mother, Maria Martinez, said her son had a heart condition.

Ramirez played on the offensive line for the football team. He also sang in the school choir and was on the powerlifting team. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office had not determined a cause of death.