12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, May 13, 2006

Safety experts have scheduled three child car seat inspections in Dallas and Plano. The first, sponsored by State Farm Insurance and Safe Kids Collin County, will be today at the Plano Police Department, 7501 Independence Parkway. No appointment is needed. The second, sponsored by General Motors and the Dallas-Area Safe Kids Coalition, will be Friday at Powell Chevrolet, 8008 U.S. Highway 67 at Wheatland Road in Dallas' Red Bird area. Call 214-456-2059 to make an appointment. The third, sponsored by State Farm and the Dallas-Area Safe Kids Coalition, will be May 20 at the Women, Infants and Children Clinic, 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in South Dallas. No appointment is necessary. All car seat safety checks will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Parents are asked to bring their cars and their children.

From staff reports

Investigators have released the names of a couple found dead Thursday in a house that had been set on fire. Racine Espinoza, 21, and Leonel Garcia, 40, were found dead in a house in the 2400 block of Irion Street. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office ruled Ms. Espinoza died of smoke inhalation. Mr. Garcia died of blunt force trauma to the head, investigators said. The two were apparently beaten before the house was set on fire or while the fire was being set, said Fort Worth police Lt. Dean Sullivan. Firefighters were called to the home shortly after 6 a.m. Thursday. No arrests have been made.

Debra Dennis

The fire that nearly destroyed a church early Friday may have been started by a pot left on a burning stove, investigators said. The fire at the Clark Temple of Praise in the 1200 block of Richmond Avenue was reported about midnight Thursday. Church members looked on as the walls and roof of the 65-year-old building collapsed. The congregation is now looking for a place to hold Mother's Day services. No one was hurt. The building was originally used as a YMCA facility. Clark Temple's congregation moved in 30 years ago. "Tonight [Friday night] we'll be across the street with a prayer meeting," said the Rev. Kenneth Clerkley. "We had planned on tearing down the building and rebuilding. Now it's just sooner."

WFAA-TV

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority has added 12 new buses with extra room for bicycles. The buses added to the fleet will have three bicycle racks instead of two, the North Texas Clean Air Coalition announced this week. The coalition encourages riding a bike to improve air quality. Vehicle emissions in North Texas contribute an estimated 50 percent of the ozone-forming emissions in the region, according to the coalition. Ozone season is May 1 through Oct. 31.

Marissa Alanis

A Garland man suspected of trying to kidnap a woman from a car wash Friday led police on a chase to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where he ran from his disabled pickup and jumped from a bridge headfirst, a Garland police spokesman said. Michael Roberts, 47, was in stable condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital, facing a charge of attempted aggravated kidnapping, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, said Officer Joe Harn. The 32-year-old woman, whose name was not released but who also lives in Garland, was treated at Baylor Medical Center at Garland for cuts and bruises suffered when an assailant grabbed her and beat her with a gun as she was vacuuming her car about 2:30 p.m. at 3010 Buttermilk Way, Officer Harn said. The man, whom police identified as Mr. Roberts, let the woman go when he saw a bystander call 911. He then drove west on Bush Turnpike into the airport, where he drove through a toll booth before police used "stop sticks" to puncture his tires, Officer Harn said.

Margarita Martín-Hidalgo

Heath's Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday recommended denial of developer Rob Whittle's proposal for more than 100 townhouses on 21 acres. The unanimous decision means it would take a three-quarters majority vote of the City Council to approve the proposal. The council is scheduled to discuss the measure during its next meeting, set for 7:30 Thursday night.

LaKisha Ladson

A former youth minister of an Irving Baptist church was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for having sex with a 15-year-old female congregation member. According to court testimony, Robert McClurg, a 35-year-old married father of three, had sex with the girl even after he was confronted by the girl's parents and continued after he was arrested in 2002 and released on bond. He was convicted of two charges of sexual assault of a child. Mr. McClurg, who was a youth minister at Plymouth Park Baptist Church at the time, testified that he was a sex addict and asked for probation. Prosecutor Michelle Willbanks called Mr. McClurg "a parent's worst nightmare" and asked jurors in closing arguments to sentence him to the maximum 20 years in prison.

Robert Tharp

Three bank robbery suspects and a murder suspect from North Texas were arrested at a hotel in West Memphis, Ark., police said. Wayland Perry, 27, of Arlington was arrested Thursday on a murder warrant issued in October out of Texas. Arrested on a bank robbery charge were Chuck Oliver, 37, of Arlington; Darren Mack, 22, of Grand Prairie; and Edward Crain, 23, also of Grand Prairie. West Memphis police had received a tip that armed suspects might be in the area. Police said more than $18,000 in cash and two weapons were recovered from the hotel. All four men have waived their right to an extradition hearing, and law enforcement officials are making arrangements to bring them back to Texas.

Associated Press