CARROLLTON- FARMERS BRANCH

LARA SOLT/DMN

Graffiti covers a bench on the Katy Trail near Airline Road in Dallas. Friends of the Katy Trail said the group will work with local officials to remove the graffiti.

Two retired teachers from the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District filed suit Thursday to prevent the school district from spending any more money on legal fees related to the seating of trustee Richard Fleming to the school board.

The request for an injunction, filed in Dallas County district court by Shirley Demus Tarpley and Rachel Rhodes Lewis, focuses on the Texas Open Meetings Act. The teachers contend that the school board didn't properly vote on the filing of an appeal related to Fleming's election.

For weeks, residents of the school district have argued about the process and the wording of the vote at a Sept. 10 school board meeting. Under a judge's ruling in his favor, Fleming claimed the Place 4 seat, four months after he ousted longtime trustee John Tepper in the May election. The board is appealing that decision because a land survey, conducted after the election, showed that Fleming lived outside the district. Under state law, a trustee must have lived in the district for six months before an election. The dispute inspired a series of legal actions that prevented him from serving on the board until September. The case has cost the district about $230,000 in legal fees and other costs.

Dianne Solís

The University of North Texas will break ground on a new stadium at 11 a.m. Saturday. The multi-purpose facility will be next to the Athletic Center just west of Interstate 35E. The centerpiece of the university's Mean Green Village, the stadium will have luxury suites, a Spirit Store, a corporate deck and a Touchdown Terrace, as well as capacity for 30,000 fans and more tailgating space.

Before the 3 p.m. kickoff of the UNT-Army football game, first responders to the shooting at Fort Hood and wounded soldiers will be honored for their service. West Point cadets will parachute into the stadium with the game ball. At halftime, Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, will administer the oath of enlistment to 14 university ROTC students.

Deborah Fleck

Grapevine will hold a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. today at State Highway 26 for Grapevine Mills Trail, which was formerly Gridiron Way.

The roadway connection to Grapevine Mills Mall became necessary with the postponement of the second phase of the State Highway 121 north project.

Grapevine worked with the Texas Department of Transportation to solve the access problem. TxDOT staff expedited approval and Grapevine designed and constructed the roadway. The goal was to open the roadway before Thanksgiving.

Deborah Fleck

Katy Trail users discovered graffiti Thursday morning covering signs, stone benches and trash bins along the pathway.

Vandals had struck the area near Airline Road on the border of Dallas and University Park.

Eric Paulson, a spokesman with the Friends of the Katy Trail, said that area isn't frequently defaced because it's well-lighted.

He said his group will work with the Dallas Police Department and city Park and Recreation officials to remove the graffiti.

Jon Nielsen

A segment on the slaying of North Richland Hills resident Marianne Wilkinson will be aired on America's Most Wanted. The North Richland Hills Police Department has been working with the television show to develop leads in the case.

The show will air at 8 p.m. Saturday on KDFW-TV (Channel 4).

Deborah Fleck

A 51-year-old Oklahoma woman was killed in a hit-and-run crash while trying to cross Stemmons Freeway early Thursday, Dallas police said.

The woman was struck about 6 a.m. near Hi Line Drive, just north of downtown Dallas, in the northbound lanes of the interstate.

Police say the woman had just been released from the Dallas County jail, where she had been held on a misdemeanor charge. Her name was withheld pending notification of her family.

Police said Thursday they had no vehicle description and no suspects. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 214-670-5817.

Jordan Hofeditz

The Texas Department of Public Safety says a Plano pilot survived the crash of his small plane near Mineola.

The DPS identified the pilot as 36-year-old Michael Anthony Thern.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the single-engine plane apparently clipped some tree tops and crashed about 4:45 a.m. Thursday a half-mile north of Wood County Airport, between Mineola and Quitman.

Vinger said the pilot was hospitalized with two possible fractured ankles and lacerations.

The Associated Press