Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas

The newest addition to the Dallas skyline is the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge.  It will not open to traffic till the end of March, but they have been celebrating the completion of the bridge this weekend.  Yesterday morning was a 5K & 10K run.  Brian and I ran the 10K, on the way back over the bridge I stopped to take a couple of pictures.

The weekend is here

We finally made it to Saturday.  This is lake at Ben Gill park yesterday afternoon.

Today will be a busy day.  Running in a 10K race this morning.  The race is the Trinity River Levee run that will go over the new Margaret Hunt Hill bridge in downtown Dallas.  The Tigers baseball team plays at noon in Forney.  Tonight is the Terrell Police Departments Awards banquet that the Citizens Police Academy Alumni are putting on for the department.

Skywatch Friday-Rail service coming to Terrell?

Amtrak and TXDOT have announced they will be conducting a feasibility study to start a new passenger rail service between Dallas-Ft. Worth and Shreveport, LA.  The new line could include stops in Forney, Terrell and Wills Point. Read the full press release here. 

I am not sure how often I would take the train to Shreveport, but I would love the opportunity to take a train into Dallas all the way to the airport.

This was taken just this week, just south of Highway 80 looking south. This is the along the ROW for the Highway 34 bridge over 80.

We have had Springlike weather for a while.  High temperature today is supposed to be 75, a cool front will move in and lower temperatures to the 60s tomorrow.

Theme Day-Electricity....or lack of

The March theme is electricity.  My pictures are from the vault.  A transformer blew down the street from me a while back, leaving us without electricity for a few hours.  I guess this would be electricity, fail.

Click here to view thumbnails for all City Daily Photo Theme Day participants

Click here to check out a picture from Don J.   It's a great shot of the dangers of electricity and electrical accidents. While on is site, take a look at some of his other work, and let him know you stopped by. 

Tigers battle Pirates

The Tigers opened up district play last night in Mesquite against the Poteet Pirates.  Terrell kept the game close, but they could never get the big hit.  They lost the game 5-1.

Smile

It's not unusual to see photographers using the buildings in Terrell as a backdrop for photos.

Not a very productive day

I spent to much time playing around on the computer yesterday waiting for the Daytona 500 to get rained out.  The Tigers picked up their first win Saturday afternoon against Wills Point.  They have their first district game tomorrow night against Mesquite Poteet.  

I will figure out how to do these types of pictures one of these days.  Both pictures are of Tigers pitcher Tyler Horn. 

Cowtown Saturday

Today is the Cowtown half, full and ultra marathons in Ft. Worth.  Yesterday was the 5K & 10K.  Last year I ran the 5K, this year I went for the 10K.  This is one of the larger races that we run.  Running is always fun, but the finish area is a cluster. Saturdays results are here.

Tournament time

The Tigers are playing in the Wills Point baseball tournament.  Yesterday it was a pair of games, the first against North Forney, the second against Ferris.  This afternoon they take on host school Wills Point.

Skywatch Friday

It got up to 82 degrees yesterday in Dallas.  The sunset was nice but it didnt want to hang around while I went to get my camera.  More Skywatch Friday sites are here. 

Terrell after dark

Almost as exciting as Nick at Nite.

The Tigers begin tournament play today in Wills Point. Their first game is at noon against Palmer.  Follow the baseball and softball Tigers on Game Changer.

Tigers drop opener

The Tigers held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 6th inning but they couldn't hold on to the lead.  They lost the game to North Forney 6-4.  Despite the loss, there were several bright spots in the game for the Tigers. Next up is the Wills Point tournament, the Tigers first game is Thursday at noon against Palmer.  

Back to work

I went back to work on Friday, but that really didn't count since I held my own court telling everyone where I had been.  So yesterday was a classic Monday.  

Best breakfast in town

Kountry Kitchen has the best breakfast in town.  It's hard to resist a short stack, biscuits with sausage gravy and a side of bacon........with a diet coke.

You can tell election season is on its way.  Notice the sign in the window.

On Your Mark

Waiting for the start of the Heart and Sole 5K yesterday at Winfrey Point on White Rock Lake.  It was cold, wet and windy, but still fun.  This was the second year we ran this race, the final hill is a killer.

Back to basics

Now that I am done driving into Dallas every day, I can get back to doing fun stuff.  Last night it was watching the Terrell JV team scrimmage against DeSoto.

Skywatch Friday-Verdict in

My shot of Dallas. Visit other Skywatch Friday sites here.  The trial is over.

For those of you who have been wondering...

I received my notice to appear at the Federal Court in Dallas on Jan 17 for Federal Court duty.  I thought it would be neat to show up, see what it was like an get a day off of work.  They herded 56 people into the court room.  I should have known I was in trouble when I was placed in the first row. Sure enough I was picked, juror #4, sitting front row, center....wonderful.

For the next 5 weeks, I learned more than I wanted to know about mortgages, title companies, wire and bank fraud.

During the opening argument by the prosecution they mentioned the name Eugene Lockhart, I thought that name sounded familiar, then Cowboys Realty and Americas Team Mortgage was mentioned.  I hadn't heard of those before, but I knew this had to tie into former Cowboys players.

Sure enough, it did.  Eugene Lockhart played for the Cowboys and the Patriots in the 80s & 90s.  He pleaded guilty last year to mortgage fraud and testified in this case to hopefully shorten his sentence.

The case included 11 defendants, 6 plea bargained last year, including Lockhart, and the remaining 5 were part of this trial.

For over 4 weeks we heard testimony from home buyers, bank officers, home builders, and escrow officers. We also heard from expert witnesses, character witnesses, family members, and another former Cowboy Kevin Smith.

After listening to all of the evidence, and deliberating for a day and a half we decided that 4 defendants were guilty of either conspiracy, bank fraud or wire fraud.  We could not come to a verdict on one defendant who was only charged with conspiracy.

While I am not happy that I ended up missing so much work, I am not upset that I was picked. I am going to miss showing up for jury duty early and talking to the other jurors about their life and families.

How many countries in the world have a system like ours, where each person can get a fair trial?  Say what you want, but we all have a role to play, it's what makes our system work.  

I just hope I don't get a summons for a while.

In a fog

Still no verdict, we go back for day 2.

The Terrell Police Department has its own Facebook page.  Be sure to check it out and give it a "like".  Give Terrell Daily Photo a "like" while you are there.

Direction needed

One thing I will not miss is driving in downtown Dallas.  Hopefully, today is the last day of court. We start deliberations this morning.  I am ready to go back to a normal work schedule.

Terrell ISD has named the two finalists for the open Athletic Director/Head Football Coach position.  Click over to the Terrell Tribune to find out who they are.

Hay

Closing arguments begin today! If deliberations start today, it could be a long night.

The Terrell Tigers baseball team will try to scrimmage tonight against Kaufman.  If the field is unplayable because of the rain, they will move it to Kaufman.  They also had a problem with a light pole Friday night.  That also has to be fixed before they can play.

The boys soccer team hosts West Mesquite,  varsity starts at 7PM.  The girls team, who are off to a 12-1-3 start, will play West Mesquite.

		Wills Point Baseball Tournament
			Feb. 23rd, 24th & 25th
	1. Wills Point				4. Terrell
	2. Ovilla Christian				5. Ferris
	3. Palmer				6. North Forney
Thursday
24-Feb
	12:00		Terrell	vs	Palmer
	2:15		Ovilla Christian	vs	North Forney
	4:45		Ferris	vs	Ovilla Christian
	7:00		Wills Point	vs	North Forney
Friday
25-Feb
	12:00		Terrell	vs	North Forney
	2:15		Terrell	vs	Ferris
	4:45		Palmer	vs	Ferris
	7:00		Wills Point	vs	Ovilla Christian
Saturday
26-Feb
	10:00		Palmer	vs	North Forney
	12:15		Wills Point	vs	Ferris
	2:30		Palmer	vs	Ovilla Christian
	4:45		Wills Point	vs	Terrell