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There are very few sightings these days of mountain lions, which once roamed all over the state, but evidence has convinced experts this is the first ever in Dallas County in modern history. For those who have long pooh-poohed the idea of a mountain lion roaming around North Texas, chew on this. A Rowlett woman recently posted on her Facebook page a trail camera video of a mountain lion walking down a dirt road at night. The spooky image showed a big cat with a long tail that touched the ground, a feature that distinguishes it from a bobcat for...

A tornado damaged neighborhoods in Rowlett, Texas, outside of Dallas in December, but unfortunately for one family, that wasn't then end of the destruction. After a mistake in Google Maps led a construction crew to the wrong house, Lindsey Diaz's home was demolished as she was in the process of applying for a builder's permit to repair the damage caused by the tornado.

Sen. Ted Cruz and a cadre of Texas elected officials are in Rowlett Wednesday to view the destruction heaped on Rowlett by Saturday’s ferocious tornadoes.Cruz, a Republican presidential contender, was joined by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, state Rep. Cindy Burkett, R-Sunnyvale, state Sen. Bob Hall, R-Canton, and Rockwall County Judge David Sweet on a tour of affected neighborhoods with Rowlett Mayor Todd Gottel.In front of Rowlett City Hall, Cruz shook hands with Mayor Todd Gottel.“My prayers are with you,” he said.The tour of the damaged areas began on Rowlett’s Harbor Drive, where Gottel told Cruz about Saturday’s emergency...

Sen. Ted Cruz will visit Rowlett Wednesday morning, where he will tour areas hit by Saturday’s deadly tornadoes.He will be joined at 9:30 a.m. by the city’s mayor, Todd Gottel, at Rowlett City Hall. A spokesperson for Cruz said he planned to get an update on the storm’s impact from area officials before visiting affected neighborhoods.“Our prayers are with the families of everyone who lost loved one and who lost homes,” Cruz told me before a rally in Cisco.The senator said he was proud of how North Texas residents were helping the victims of the storm.“It’s amazing to see Texans...

I am seeing all kinds of Breaking News stories about severe weather in Texas. Is everybody OK? Please check in, if you can. Be safe!

<p>DALLAS — Darlie Routier, the suburban homemaker on death row following the fatal stabbings of her two young sons, will be allowed to have new forensic tests on evidence in the 12-year-old case.</p> <p>A federal judge in San Antonio granted testing a bloody sock with human hair that was found near the crime scene. The judge also gave permission to run four fingerprints through a national database and new analysis of a butcher knife presented at trial as the murder weapon and fibers from another knife. The decision signed Nov. 5 comes months after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals allowed for testing of some pubic and facial hairs.</p>

http://cbs11tv.com/localstories/local_story_124103153.html CBS 11 | cbs11tv.com Testimony To Begin Monday In Rowlett Capital Murder Trial May 3, 2004 9:30 am US/Central Testimony is set to get underway Monday in the case of a Rowlett teen, charged with capital murder in the beating death of a donut shop owner. Prosecutors are planning to ask jurors to hand 19-year-old Anthony DeWayne Doyle a death sentence for the January 16, 2003 beating death of Hyun Mi Cho. In a confession to police, Doyle, who was 18 at the time of the offense, says he ordered two-dozen donuts and two-dozen burritos from Chaha Donuts...

Texas missionary killed in Iraq 12:43 PM CST on Tuesday, March 16, 2004From Staff and Wire Reports FORT WORTH — A Rowlett man is one of four U.S. missionaries killed in a drive-by attack in Iraq. The Virginia-based Southern Baptist International Mission Board identified the dead Texan as David E. McDonnall, 28, of Rowlett. McDonnall died Tuesday morning on a helicopter that was transporting him to a military hospital in Baghdad after four U.S. military surgeons worked for six hours to save his life, the mission board said. McDonnall's wife, Carrie Taylor McDonnall, 26, remains in critical condition, the mission...

Routier appeal rejected 05/21/2003 Associated Press AUSTIN - The state's highest criminal court Wednesday upheld the conviction of Darlie Routier, a homemaker in the Dallas suburb of Rowlett who was arrested two weeks after her sons were killed in 1996. In a 75-page, unanimous opinion, the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected claims by Routier's attorneys that her conviction should be reversed because the record of her 1997 trial was plagued with inaccuracies and prevented her attorneys from raising important legal questions. Darlie Routier Her attorneys also have said her rights were violated because her lead trial attorney had a conflict;...

Posted on Wed, Mar. 27, 2002 State's highest criminal court hears Darlie Routier's appealBy The Associated Press AUSTIN - Convicted child killer Darlie Routier should get a new trial because the transcript of her 1997 trial is filled with problems and prevents her attorneys from raising important legal questions, her attorney argued Wednesday. "This whole record (transcript) issue is so outrageous," said her attorney, Stephen Cooper. "It impacts other fundamental constitutional rights of my client, to boot." Arguing before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Cooper said questions surrounding the trial transcript prevent him from probing whether a conflict...

Rowlett mayor convicted of DWILeader fined, given 2 years' probation07/23/2003By STEPHEN TERRY / The Dallas Morning News A Dallas County jury found Rowlett Mayor Shane Johnson guilty Tuesday of driving while intoxicated in January. Judge Dan L. Wyde sentenced Mr. Johnson, 31, to two years' probation. Mr. Johnson also will have to pay an $800 fine and participate in community service. Mr. Johnson, who has held several local radio marketing and account positions, became Rowlett's youngest mayor when he was elected in 2000. "I am mayor elected, and I will continue to be," Mr. Johnson said moments after Tuesday's...

Rowlett police fire nonlethal weapon to end standoff 05/30/2003 By STEPHEN TERRY / The Dallas Morning News The Rowlett Police Department's first use of a firearm against a suspect in years may have saved the man's life. Confronted Tuesday by a distraught man wielding an assault rifle, officers calmed him as much as possible, then fired a 40 mm foam rubber projectile. Result: The situation was defused, and the suspect suffered only a bruise. "This won't always work," said Lt. Dean Poos, a police spokesman. "But that one launcher we purchased has paid for itself in saving a human life."...

Call the cops: 3-year-old steals hearts of Rowlett police officers Parents say visits to department have aided boy's cancer recovery 02/05/2003 By STEPHEN TERRY / The Dallas Morning News Meeting William Grant Swoger has been a honey of a deal for the Rowlett Police Department - and especially for Officer Amy Sifuentes, whom the 3-year-old cancer survivor calls his "Honey Cop." "The first time we met, he called me Honey," Officer Sifuentes said. "His mother told me not to worry about it because he called his nurse in the hospital Honey Doc. And he is now calling those in...

Police: Man admitted to killing doughnut-delivery woman 02/04/2003 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News An 18-year-old Rowlett man lured a doughnut-delivery woman to his mother's home to rob her and then beat her to death with a baseball bat when she had no money, a detective testified Tuesday. Rowlett police Detective Keith Needham testified during an evidentiary hearing that Anthony Doyle, charged with capital murder, wrote out a 10-page confession. Mr. Doyle wrote that he'd been out of work and needed money when he attacked 37-year-old Hyun Mi Cho, the detective said. Ms. Cho, an employee of...

Rowlett mayor arrested on DWI charge 01/31/2003 By STEPHEN TERRY / The Dallas Morning News Rowlett Mayor Shane Johnson was jailed early Friday on a charge of driving while intoxicated in that lakeside community. He was released about three hours later after his attorney signed a writ promising that the mayor would appear in court, Sgt. Dean Poos said. Sgt. Poos said allowing release on a writ is standard procedure in such cases. COURTESY PHOTO Mayor Shane Johnson Mr. Johnson, 31, also posted $270 bond on a Dallas warrant for his arrest for not taking care of a speeding...

Man accused in fatal beating of woman Police: Suspect dumped body after robbery bid in doughnut delivery 01/18/2003 By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News ROWLETT - Police arrested an 18-year-old man Friday in the beating death of a woman who was found in a trash can across the alley from his home. Authorities said they would charge Anthony D. Doyle with capital murder in the case, Rowlett's first homicide since 1999. The victim was Hyun Mi Cho, 37, an employee of nearby Chaha Donuts. Rowlett police Sgt. Dean Poos said the incident appeared to stem from a...

Prosecutors assail Routier claims, criticize analyst DA's office responds to legal filing that seeks retrial in child slayings 01/09/2003 By HOLLY BECKA / The Dallas Morning News Dallas County prosecutors said in a legal filing Wednesday that convicted killer Darlie Routier is the only person who cannot be ruled out as having left a bloody fingerprint on a table near her slain sons. Prosecutors also attacked the credibility of a forensic anthropologist who told Ms. Routier's attorneys that he thinks an adult probably left the bloody print. Prosecutors made the assertions in their 400-page response to a legal filing...