Star-Telegram
‘Students will win’: Fort Worth touts new school superintendent
Fort Worth leaders are largely throwing their support behind Fort Worth Superintendent Peter Licata, who was appointed to the post Tuesday by Texas Education Agency. Licata has spent most of his education career in South Florida, serving as...
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New leaders of Fort Worth ISD named as state takeover begins
The names of the 10 new state-appointed leaders of the Fort Worth Independent School District were announced on Tuesday morning, marking the start of a state takeover of the largest school district in Tarrant County. An early-morning press release...
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Second-graders broadcast book reviews in biweekly podcast
A class of Tarrant County second-graders are discussing books over microphones, broadcasting their reviews of popular children’s series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Magic Tree House through “a modern-style book report.” Students and educators at...
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Texas ICE shooting jury finds 8 guilty of aiding terrorists
In a victory for federal prosecutors pursuing a novel domestic terrorism case packed with political entanglements, a jury in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth on Friday found the investigation’s primary target guilty of attempted murder of a police...
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Law changing how people vote pivotal in Texas Senate runoff
A federal election law is in the spotlight in Texas and nationally, after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made it a key focus of the Republican runoff for U.S. Senate. Paxton is in a May 26 runoff against incumbent John Cornyn, who is facing his...
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Palo Pinto Mountains State Park finally set to open
After three years of construction-related delays, Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is set to open. After the Star-Telegram reported earlier Wednesday that the park’s website was taking reservations for campsites starting Sunday, March 1, Gov. Greg...
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Judge takes jury selection reins in ICE center shooting case
At times, the discussion on Monday inside a federal district courtroom in Fort Worth sounded as if it was from an AM radio talk show, with callers chiming in on hot-button political matters like guns, terrorism and antifa. At one point, the host, U.S....
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Texas experts stress content over time limits on kids’ screens
the digital world, screen time is almost unavoidable for children. Experts have tips for how parents can navigate the content their children are consuming and the amount of time they’re consuming it. Screens should be avoided for infants and toddlers...
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Hundreds join Walk for Peace homecoming for Buddhist monks
Hundreds of supporters lined the streets of east Fort Worth on Saturday morning to welcome the Buddhist monks home after their 2,300-mile Walk for Peace. By 7 a.m., a large group had already gathered at Eastover Park, where the monks were due to...
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Two Fort Worth schools recognized for academic success
Two elementary schools in the Fort Worth Independent School District are leading by example for surrounding Tarrant County schools on how academic growth can be cultivated as local leaders push to improve regional school performance. Alice Contreras...
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Display of his Vietnam photos just right, newsman Bob Scheiffer says
Emmy-winning CBS newsman Bob Schieffer shook hands, shared stories, signed autographs and posed for pictures at UT Arlington’s Central Library on Monday evening as the public got its first look at an exhibition of Schieffer’s photos, notes and letters...
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TCU’s Neighbor to Neighbor program: Leaders discuss reboot
As a newly formed neighborhood alliance aimed at addressing complaints of residents who live near TCU gains momentum, some community leaders say a much older, yet still useful program has been cast aside. TCU’s Neighbor to Neighbor program, formed in...
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North Texas begins to thaw, but more bitter cold on the way
Temperatures in North Texas climbed above freezing Tuesday for the first time in several days, but another round of bitterly cold weather is expected this weekend, according to the National Weather Service Fort Worth. Drivers were still having trouble...
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Half-inch of ice, 2 to 5 inches of snow possible in area
The most likely scenarios for this weekend’s winter storm are finally becoming clearer Thursday morning, and it’s not looking good. And time is running out to prepare your home and family for up to three days of subsoups, freezing cold. The extended...
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Hundreds gather for parade honoring MLK Jr.
Hundreds of people lined the sides of Houston Street in downtown Fort Worth midday Monday for the city’s annual parade honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The parade included dozens of floats, color guards, city leaders, politicians and shiny sports...
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All Western Parade to kick off Stock Show with 3,000 horses
The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo’s All Western Parade on Jan. 17 will have more than 3,000 horses, nearly 150 entries from around the country and a dozen marching bands including the TCU Horned Frogs and Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. The...
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Hegseth gives ‘warrior’ speech to Lockheed Martin workers
In fiery remarks at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter aircraft plant in Fort Worth, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke Monday of prioritizing defense spending, saying it was imperative to rebuild the “arsenal of freedom” by getting advanced...
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Alleged $1B fraud on backs of car buyers: ‘What are we going to do?’
Gee felt excited after she bought a 2019 Honda Civic at Tricolor Auto in Fort Worth — and relieved she finally had a reliable ride after her last vehicle was labeled as a hazard. The car wasn’t perfect. The inside smelled like marijuana and the front...
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Help is on the way for southeast Fort Worth neighborhood
Lavern Walker and Barbara Smith stood in front of Wesleyan Hill Park in southeast Fort Worth on a Wednesday afternoon in November. Nearby, a couple relaxed in lawn chairs in the shade of a tree. Across the street, a man was grilling in his backyard....
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Arlington family begs ICE to release man with disabled son
The family of an Arlington man arrested by immigration authorities is demanding his release so that the man can care for his disabled son. The man, Maher Tarabishi, is the primary caretaker for his son Wael, who has Pompe disease, a rare condition...
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Texas laws related to taxes, squatters and AI start Jan. 1
Jan. 1 ushers in a new year and more than two dozen new laws that include measures related to property taxes and artificial intelligence. The latest batch of new laws comes after lawmakers met for much of 2025, adjourning for the final time in...
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Loved ones, music, soothing bath: Death as she planned it
Laura Williams was a planner. She planned for the butterflies she raised in her backyard in Duncanville. She planned for power outages at her home, buying a portable generator just in case. She even planned her death. Shortly after Williams went to...
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Mom struggling to buy gifts thankful for Goodfellow Fund
Mirna is struggling as a single parent. Like so many in today’s economy, she simply has a hard time making money for groceries and bills. She loves her four children dearly and wants them to have a great holiday season. The holidays can be dark times...
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Lockheed Martin rolls red carpet for Finland’s 1st F-35 jet
Government officials and military leaders from all over the world gathered on Tuesday at a hangar inside the Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production facility in Fort Worth to roll out the first in a series of F-35A Lightning II jets for Finland’s...
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Freedmen community wants to preserve its past, control its future
Jeff Pointer leaned against the green Mosier Valley Park sign as the afternoon sun brightened the park on the northeast side of Fort Worth. The area was once the site of a community center that was the heart of a historic Black community founded by...
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Arlington council removes LGBTQ protections in ordinance
The Arlington City Council narrowly voted to remove protections for LGBTQ+ residents Tuesday as part of an amendment to its anti-discrimination ordinance. The City Council, which voted 5-4 to remove LGBTQ+ protections, first decided to temporarily...
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BNSF’s fight against $85B merger: Are jobs on the line?
BNSF Railway, which employs nearly 3,000 people at its Fort Worth headquarters, is lobbying against a colossal merger proposal by two competitors that would reshape the nation’s freight rail network and potentially impact the industries that rely on...
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How Ross Perot Jr. helped raise $209,000 for Fort Worth kids
FORT WORTH A downtown Fort Worth civic club with a history of pranks and high jinks celebrated a more subdued Christmas this year, welcoming national business leader Ross Perot Jr. and raising $209,000 in an hour Dec. 3 at its annual charity holiday...
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New laws on ivermectin, tests, bathrooms to start
More than a dozen laws passed during a special legislative session earlier this year take effect on Dec. 4, governing things like the STAAR Test and access to medications. We break down a handful of them. Here’s what to know. Texas’ new congressional...
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Family mourns mom killed in domestic violence case
Tonishea Harris was a fashionista with a unique laugh, always put together and a mother of two young children expecting her third child. She hoped to pursue interior design using her skill for organizing, family members said. Tonishea was shot and...
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Trump is considering push to extend Obamacare subsidies
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly denounced the Affordable Care Act as a “disaster,” is considering backing an extension of insurance subsidies tied to the health law that are set to expire at the end of the year, according to a senior White...
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Deadly horse virus threatens North Texas after Waco outbreak
The Texas Department of Agriculture is warning horse owners to take precautions with their herds after a deadly virus was detected at a rodeo event in Waco last week. At least 18 equestrian events in North Texas and beyond have been canceled to...
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SNAP recipients face uncertainty as program remains in limbo
It was only 9:30 a.m., but the Broadway Baptist Church’s food pantry was already at capacity. The pantry wouldn’t officially open until 10:30, but hungry people had begun lining up at 9 a.m., eager to shop for essentials that they couldn’t...
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Cowboys’ Marshawn Kneeland dies by suicide, police say
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland has died at the age of 24, the team announced. The Texas Department of Public Safety and Frisco police said he died by suicide after a police chase. DPS released the following statement Thursday...
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As FWISD takeover looms, Houston families share concern
Last month’s announcement that the Texas Education Agency is taking over the Fort Worth Independent School District prompted a wide range of responses from parents. Some were horrified, while others expressed guarded optimism. Still others said they...
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Officers who saved baby after crash say faith guided them
Fort Worth police officers who rescued an infant from an overturned car say prayer and faith guided them through the tense moments. Sgt. Ryan Nichols and Officer Edwin Bounds were on duty about 9:30 a.m. when a car rolled in front of them on...
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Buddhist monks embark on walk of peace to Washington, D.C.
Clad in brown robes, some barefoot, with simple packs in their shoulders, 19 Buddhist monks began their 2,300-mile walk of peace from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to promote national healing, unity and compassion. Community members lined up outside...
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State to take over Fort Worth ISD, commissioner says
The Texas Education Agency will take over the Fort Worth Independent School District because of years of failing ratings, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Thursday morning. The move means that Fort Worth ISD’s elected school board...
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Motel blamed for neighborhood’s crime problems
Talk to enough people who live or work in Fort Worth’s East Lancaster corridor, and inevitably you’ll hear about the Eco Motel. The property at 3201 E. Lancaster Ave., which also does business as the Cowtown Inn, has long been seen by locals as a...
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What Ross Perot Jr. knows about tariffs despite rhetoric
future looks bright for the Texas economy, and lawmakers are listening to small businesses when it comes to things like tariffs, Ross Perot Jr. assured chambers of commerce leaders gathered Wednesday in Irving. Perot, the businessman and real estate...
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Delay for return of hostages’ remains angers Israel
Israeli officials and hostage families have accused Hamas of violating the new ceasefire deal by failing to immediately return the remains of many of the former captives still in the Gaza Strip. The truce agreement called for the immediate handover of...
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Early intervention school at TCU hopes to expand
A laboratory school in Fort Worth that primarily serves children with Down syndrome calls itself “a hidden gem,” although it doesn’t want to remain hidden. The KinderFrogs School at Texas Christian University serves 35 students who are 18 months old...
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After deadly weekend, Garcia discusses steps to counter violence
Fort Worth Police Chief Eddie Garcia talked about new plans in the works to address violent crime after a deadly weekend with four separate homicides, including a shooting at a bar in the city’s West 7th district that killed one man and injured five...
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18,000 homeowners incorrectly flagged over tax exemption
Gutierrez worked extra jobs and overtime for 15 years to get her red brick onestory home paid down in half the time. She is semi-retired from her clerical job, but never lost the habitual organization that made her so valuable throughout her...
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Retired teacher helping Fort Worth with its reading problem
Reading is the buzzword of 2025 in the Fort Worth school district, with good reason. After years of students struggling to read at grade level, district, city and county officials have doubled down on improving literacy, with Tarrant County...
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Fort Worth ISD to add turnaround model at struggling schools
Officials in the Fort Worth Independent School District plan to adopt a school turnaround model that will give extra funding to seven lowperforming campuses. The district is facing the possibility of state takeover after years of lackluster academic...
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Foster Grandparents program provides ‘bunch of love’
Wanda Fields sung and danced with 2-year-olds on Monday morning as they waved colorful scarves and ribbons, helping them get their wiggles out before sitting down for story time. She helped a girl identify the eyes, ears and mouth on her baby doll....
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More parents switch to homeschooling 5 years post-pandemic
A little over a year ago, Angela TePaa’s family was in the middle of a few transitions at once. TePaa, her husband and her two kids were moving in with TePaa’s mother to help care for her. At the same time, TePaa’s daughter, Kyoni, was going into...
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TX state Rep. Talarico launches campaign for US Senate
Texas Rep. James Talarico is running for U.S. Senate, as Democrats try and flip the statewide seat held by John Cornyn. Talarico, an Austin Democrat, has been a member of the state House since 2019. He officially launched his campaign on Tuesday, amid...
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Here’s what passed, what didn’t as special session ends
Texas lawmakers have wrapped up their second special session, advancing a new congressional map, doing away with the STAAR test, and approving abortion restrictions and over-the-counter ivermectin, among other policies. Other proposals, like a ban on...
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Soul food restaurant gets grant as a culinary landmark
Drew’s Place Restaurant has been a fixture in Fort Worth’s Como neighborhood since 1991. The restaurant, at the corner of Horne Street and Curzon Avenue, is owned and operated by Drew and Stephanie Thomas and their daughter, Krystal. It is known for...
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FWISD taxpayers could see lower property tax bills
Fort Worth Independent School District board members approved a tax rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year that will result in a decrease in most property owners’ tax bills due to additional homestead exemptions that are expected to go into effect this...
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Parents reflect on closing of Fort Worth schools
On a hot August afternoon, students dressed in cowboy hats and boots trickled out the front door of Riverside Applied Learning Center a few at a time as the school’s assistant principal called their names. On the sidewalk, several teachers, some also...
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FBI arrests fugitive mom of missing Everman 6-year-old
The FBI has arrested the Everman, Texas, woman who is accused of killing her disabled 6-year-old son Noel RodriguezAlvarez before fleeing the country for India in 2023, FBI Director Kash Patel announced Wednesday. Cindy Rodriguez-Singh was placed on...
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Benbrook neighbors fear disaster from floodplain development
Ryan Reagan of Benbrook doesn’t necessarily consider himself an environmental crusader. He understands progress and understands why his city, a growing suburb on the western edge of Fort Worth, would want to add another residential development on...
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Deal expected to create largest TV, film studio in Texas
Fort Worth has seen a boom in film and television production over the last few years, and it’s about to get a whole lot bigger. Through their company SGS Studios, “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan and 101 Studios CEO David Glasser are partnering...
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TCU Chancellor Pullin says new job is ‘basket of surprises’
Almost two months into his new role, TCU Chancellor Daniel Pullin said he feels like a student every day. Leading a university through a major growth initiative, while navigating the shifting landscape of higher education, there’s something new to...
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Charges of ‘blatant, racist power grab’ voiced at hearing
A boisterous audience overwhelmingly opposed mid-decade redistricting as elected officials and community members took their turns addressing a panel of Texas House lawmakers in Arlington. The crowd packed an auditorium at UT-Arlington Monday night,...
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Displaced tenants demand access to belongings
One month after a six-alarm fire displaced 800 residents of The Cooper Apartments, some tenants attending a protest took matters into their own hands Wednesday and entered at least one apartment to retrieve belongings. Gretchen Rea, who lived in...
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Texas lawmakers tackle redistricting, floods, hemp rules
Lawmakers are back in Austin for a monthlong special legislative session, focused on redistricting, flood mitigation and response, and laws around consumable hemp products. The issues are just some of the topics before lawmakers after they adjourned...
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Fort Worth kids sell jewelry, raise thousands for flood aid
Coco Grieshaber, an 8-yearold Camp Mystic alumna, threaded beads into a homemade bracelet at her dining room table, sharing memories of the Texas summer camp that she left four days before flooding devastated the area on Fourth of July weekend. She...
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Fort Worth foot traffic: What’s behind the resurgence?
Downtown Fort Worth is busier than it’s been in a long time. Restaurants are busy, hotel bookings are increasing, and more businesses are filling up once vacant storefronts. The number of people walkDowntown’s ing around downtown is up roughly 25%...
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Fort Worth Zoo celebrates hatching of rare animal
The Fort Worth Zoo is celebrating another conservation success with the hatching of critically endangered gharial crocodiles for the third year in a row. Zac Foster, supervisor of ectotherms, stands in front of the gharial exhibit Wednesday morning....
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Texas flood: Over 100 dead, 5 girls still missing from camp
At least 87 people have died in Kerr County in the hills of Central Texas, and five campers and a counselor remained missing on Tuesday from a Christian girls summer camp on the Guadalupe River after a torrent of rain thrashed the region before sunrise...
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Mother charged with killing son now on FBI’s Most Wanted list
More than two years after a 6-year-old Everman boy went missing, his mother has been added to the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. Authorities have been searching for Cindy Rodriguez-Singh ever since she fled from North Texas to India with...
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Shooter pleads guilty to murder of TCU student
In a downtown Fort Worth courtroom, Philip Smith recounted the toll of his son’s murder. The fear and anger. The profound torment that Wes Smith’s killing had stirred. “Your actions caused catastrophic, monumental mourning,” Smith said on Thursday...
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Fort Worth Fire Department battles 6-alarm apartment fire
The Fort Worth Fire Department battled a record-setting 6-alarm fire that started Monday afternoon at an apartment complex at 1001 W. Rosedale St. and displaced more than 800 residents. The Fire Department was called to the Cooper Apartments, on the...
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Do protests drive social change? Experts weigh in
One of the most fundamental rights in a free and open democracy is the right to peaceably assemble and protest. In the 1960s, protesters took to American streets demanding social change, political change and an end to war, and it seems as though we’ve...
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Abbott signs property tax relief bills into law
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed three property tax exemption bills into law Monday to the delight of his Robson Ranch Republican Club audience. Surrounded by about 20 state legislators, including House Speaker Dustin Burrows of Lubbock, Abbott signed...
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Arrest made in 1994 Irving cold case murder, police say
More than 30 years after a North Texas woman was stabbed to death in her apartment, her former neighbor has been arrested as a suspect in the cold case murder, Irving police said. Megan Johns’ coworkers alerted her apartment complex when she failed to...
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