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How the Army's flub let a felon become a foster parent in Texas
On paper, Gregory McQueen must have seemed like a great candidate to become a foster-care parent in Texas.
A married man and Army veteran, McQueen had served as battalion representative on a task force to prevent sexual harassment at Fort Hood in central Texas.
But some important information didn’t show up in a state background check before a foster-care agency hired McQueen and his wife last March to care for abused and neglected children.
Two years ago, former Army 1st Sgt. McQueen pleaded guilty to more than a dozen military charges for attempting to run a prostitution ring in Fort Hood. As part of the plea deal he was demoted to private, sentenced to 24 months in prison, was stripped of his retirement pay and received a dishonorable discharge.
That record should have kept him out of the foster-care program, the state says.
Read the full story from investigative reporter Terri Langford.
Previously: The Air Force admits that a lapse allowed the Sutherland Springs shooter to buy guns.
Commentary: Congress must shore up a criminal background check system, writes Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams.
Old strip buildings in Deep Ellum will give way to high-rise with apartments and shopping
Construction will start in the next few weeks on an urban style mixed-use development in Dallas' popular Deep Ellum district.
The one-block project by North Carolina-based Crescent Communities will replace a strip of old industrial buildings at Canton Street and Malcolm X Boulevard just east of downtown.
The seven-story development will bring apartments and streetfront retail to an area that's seeing widespread new development.
Designed by Baltimore architect Hord Coplan Macht, the building mimics early 20th century industrial and commercial properties. Blackwell said the project — called Novel Deep Ellum — "borrowed from Deep Ellum's Continental Gin buildings and Henry Ford's Model T plant a block away.
The nuts and bolts: Here are seven things to know about the new Ikea store opening in Grand Prairie.
Texas families distraught about losing children's health care if Congress doesn't fund CHIP
Three-year-old Zachary Ogletree doesn’t speak. But after two years of therapy, he’s learned other ways to communicate with his family.
Zachary, who was diagnosed with severe autism as a baby, is one of 8,000 Denton County kids enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It covers 9 million children, including over 400,000 in Texas, whose parents make less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level but too much to qualify for Medicaid.
Zachary’s mother depends on CHIP to pay for the 20 hours a week he spends in therapy. He’s learning to communicate beyond sign language and picture cards and to master basic life skills such as holding a fork and spoon. Without CHIP, each session would cost $410. Ogletree said regular therapy is crucial for his development.
“If he doesn’t have that schedule, it really messes him up,” she said. “It throws everything off and makes him misbehave. He doesn’t want to eat or do anything.”
Read the full story from Austin bureau reporter Jackie Wang.
And: A Baylor Law grad with connections to ranching and the Bush family will lead the EPA's Dallas office.
Photo of the day
A collection of vintage Christmas ornaments and decorations are displayed in the home of Caroline Nelson.
Nelson is drinking in the holiday season, and she's got plenty of mugs and holiday spirit to go around.
The Park Cities collector doesn’t wait for December to roll around to start thinking about raising a glass to Christmas. She does so year-round while hunting for vintage ceramic Santa mugs to add to her collection, which is closing in on 200 pieces.
In the five or so years since she started buying the drinkware, the collection has become a full-blown passion.
“I really like to buy them, and I don't want to stop. So what do I do?"
Around the site
New York: A man detonated a pipe bomb strapped to his body Monday in the New York City subway system near Times Square.
Sick days: A flu outbreak has caused a two-day shutdown at Sunnyvale ISD.
Throwing out the baby: A breastfeeding Houston mom says Spirit Airlines kicked her off a weather-delayed flight.
Crime: A Southlake Parks and Rec board member has been arrested on a child sex assault charge.
Ex-cop on trial: A murder trial started Monday for a Former Farmers Branch officer who chased down and shot two teens who broke into his SUV
Finally,
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price wasn't impressed with longtime television reporter Brett Shipp's entry into politics, saying his chances of winning the 32nd Congressional District seat now held by Pete Sessions were like an ice cube's chances in hell.
Price and Shipp have clashed over some of Shipp's stories, including pieces in the aftermath of the years-long federal public corruption case against Price. Earlier this year, the powerful Democrat was acquitted on bribery charges and a jury deadlocked on tax evasion counts. Federal authorities declined to retry Price on the deadlocked counts.
When asked the question on Sunday's edition of Lone Star Politics on KXAS-TV (Channel 5), Shipp smiled, but seemingly struggled for a complete answer, though time was running out on the segment.
"I love John Wiley Price, and I welcome his comments," he said.
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