Metro

The Dallas Morning News

Communities covered in this edition ...
Plano
Appeals court rules against principals
in candy cane pen case. 3B

Section B
Irving
New schools chief
plans fast schedule. 3B

Friday, July 2, 2010

Dallas
2 more charged in
courier’s death. 6B
Lower Greenville
Workers begin
removing fire debris. 6B

INDEPENDENCE DAY IRVING

State
auditing
Lift ring ■ Chrysanthemums
are a full and fluffy
contracts
rst char
pattern of stars that
Panel’s scrutiny comes
ter bu ge hold their shape
after questions about
before fading.
Ou
Inner stars lawmaker’s use of car
Inner
burst By BRANDON FORMBY
bag Staff Writer
Outer bformby@dallasnews.com
Paper Inner burst
Burs

casing bag A Texas Transportation Com-

burst
charge mission subcommittee is auditing
t cha

Plastic Outer state contracts awarded to a group

casing stars ■ Comets have a big of North Texas companies. One of
head and noticeable tail.
those companies owns the cars
rge

Inside the shell that state Rep. Linda Harper-

5 There are two main types of shells: Brown and her husband drove un-
cylindrical and spherical. til recently.
Time fuse The audit of the contracts is in
the wake of questions surrounding
the Irving Republican’s use of a
2010 Mercedes E550 owned by a
state contractor, Durable Enter-
prises Equipment Ltd. Harper-
Ignition wires ■ Crossette is a
Brown has issued her own calls for
(electronic match) comet that splits into
small pieces.
an audit. It was unclear Thursday
if the review of the contracts — and
Inside whether Harper-Brown’s position
the See STATE Page 7B
mortar

4 3 Metal clips on
DALLAS POLICE
wooden slats

Shell
hold “electronic
matches” that
ignite fireworks
■ Palms are several
large comets with a
Funeral
answers
shells
trunk created by a
big, fluffy tail.

Lift
charge
Lift cone
1 pattern of color stars
Creating a major fireworks display
Master digital controller
A portable master controller
11 synchronizes music and
fireworks. It picks up a digital
firing code or recorded voice cue track from
music broadcast simultaneously over two-way
radio and a public address system. It then
transmits the code or voice cues to a field
controller.
Field controller
A pyrotechnician listens for voice
22 cues over a radio headset and flips
switches on an electronic field
controller to fire preselected mortars at the
appropriate times.This system can also operate
off an automatic digital relay.
The mortars
Fiberglass mortars ranging from
3
3 3 to 6 inches (8 to 15 cm) wide are
arranged in Dumpsters filled with
sand or in wooden racks boarded together
in large groups, or banks.
Ignition
Three to four seconds after the switch is
4
4 flipped, the time fuse ignites a burst
charge that ignites several layers and
patterns of “stars” with chemical compounds
that create colors as they burn. The spherical
design has one burst, but may contain several
inserts of “stars” that break at different times.
to come
Suhm says uniforms at
cop-killer’s service among
issues for investigator
■ Peonies are a loose
By JASON TRAHAN
that break up and and SCOTT GOLDSTEIN
drop. Staff Writers
2
Dallas City Manager Mary
Suhm said Thursday that there’s
not much she can say about con-
tinuing controversies surrounding
the funeral of David Brown Jr. un-
til an independent investigator un-
■ Spiral
tangles the truth.
“I have somebody hired as an
investigator to find that out,” she
The “break” said when asked about one of the
many odds and ends still causing
An electric charge ignites black
grumbling within the Dallas Police
5 powder in a lift cone beneath the
Department: why a handful of po-
shell. This propels the shell, which
burns into the center through a tube as the lice wore their uniforms to Brown’s
shell flies into the night sky. funeral against her wishes.
Suhm this week appointed Ter-
ence Hart, a former FBI agent and
prosecutor, to look into why top po-
See SUHM Page 2B
SOURCE: Melrose Pyrotechnics

McClatchy-Tribune

A brilliant
By ERIC AASEN
Staff Writer
eaasen@dallasnews.com
Mix in some gunpowder, add
some copper or sodium, wrap it with
cardboard and papier-mâché and …
GUIDE
See our listings of fireworks,
parades, music and more to
JACQUIELYNN
help plan your weekend.
FLOYD
jfloyd@dallasnews.com
dallasnews.com/metroblog

combination
Ka-boom!
You have your oohs and aahs.
Weather permitting, fireworks
will dance across the night sky
throughout North Texas this week-
end as we celebrate our nation’s in-
Pyrotechnics extravaganzas are bursting dependence.
Investigator
be precise.
“It’s all about the chemistry,” said
John Conkling, past executive direc-
tor of the American Pyrotechnics As-
sociation and adjunct professor of
can’t mend split
chemistry at Washington College in in police family
Maryland. “I love watching the fire-

I
But getting them to burst with the works show and looking for some-© have nothing but respect for
with science, art and chemistry right color at the exact moment is
part art, part science — chemistry to See CREATING Page 6B
the freelance jobs Terence
Hart has tackled involving the
city of Dallas. A shrewd former
FBI agent and prosecutor, he has
conducted thorough, objective
BUSINESS DOWNTOWN DALLAS investigations, most notably of the
Teardowns return victimization of innocent civilians
Almost shut down
last year, the razing Drivers may soon see fewer one-way city streets in the god-awful fake-drug
scandal.
The guy’s a pro. If you need an
of old homes for new
ones is revving up. 1D By STEVE THOMPSON to convert several of the Cen- “I think it’ll make it easier The street segments dis- outside eye to root out criminal
Staff Writer
sthompson@dallasnews.com
tral Business District’s one- for people to maneuver down- cussed Thursday are among malfeasance or corruption, he’s
way street segments to two- town,” said Jim Wood of more than a dozen proposed your man.
INSIDE
Dallas drivers are one step way flow gained the endorse- Downtown Dallas Inc., who for conversion to two-way I’m not sure, though, that a
Regional Roundup 2
Obituaries 4-5
closer to having it both ways ment of the City Plan Com- spoke at the meeting. “One- flow in coming years. monthlong investigation into the
Weather 8 on many downtown streets. mission’s transportation way streets are often confus-
A plan, long in the making, committee Thursday. ing.” See DRIVERS Page 6B See AFTER Page 2B
+ . . . . . . . .

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