Police have charged Jimmy Dale McClour in the death of a 74-year-old man found in a Carrollton home last week.

The Tarrant County medical examiner's office has determined that James Roberts died from strangulation and suffocation, according to Carrollton police.

Mr. Roberts's body was discovered Sept. 11 when police were conducting a welfare check at a home in the 3000 block of Glen Hollow Circle. Later that night, Mr. McClour, 55, was arrested after he was seen driving a car registered to the same address and led police on a short chase.

Mr. McClour has been charged with murder, fraudulent use/possession of identifying information, and evading arrest/detention. He is being held in Denton County Jail.

Wendy Hundley

The Dallas Housing Authority Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a deal to repay $221,894.62 in federal funds that the agency could not document.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General found in December that the agency could not account for nearly $3.8 million in federal payments. But the DHA has provided documentation for most of the funds.

Kim Horner

Two northbound entrance ramps on Interstate 35E will be temporarily closed from late tonight to early Thursday for construction work.

The northbound I-35E ramp to the Dallas North Tollway and the northbound Wycliff Avenue ramp will both be closed from 8 p.m. today to 5 a.m. Thursday to allow for continued renovation at the southern section of the tollway.

Officials from the North Texas Tollway Authority said motorists at the south end of the tollway will be able to enter at the Harry Hines Boulevard and McKinnon Street entrances.

Blanca Cantu

A 50-year-old Greenville man has been convicted of possessing child pornography and faces up to 30 years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney's office said Tuesday.

Steve Kelby Samples was charged with transporting, shipping and possessing child pornography after an undercover FBI agent downloaded images from Mr. Samples' computer in September 2006, said Kathy Colvin of the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas. In January 2007, federal agents seized a computer containing child pornography from his Greenville home, she said.

Mr. Samples pleaded guilty to the possession charge last month and was convicted last week on the other charges, Ms. Colvin said.

In addition to prison time, Mr. Samples could face up to a $500,000 fine at his sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 18 before U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle.

Authorities said the case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national program intended to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

Scott Goldstein

Raylon Perkins, a 20-year-old Everman man, died Tuesday at a Dallas hospital from injuries he suffered the day before in a Grand Prairie traffic accident.

The accident happened about 5:30 p.m. Monday on northbound Highway 360 north of Camp Wisdom Road, police said.

Mr. Perkins was riding in the back of truck, sitting on top of a mattress in an apparent effort to hold it in place. A wind gust flipped the mattress, knocking Mr. Perkins out of the truck. He hit his head on the roadway, police said.

The truck driver, Terriel Scanterbury of Euless, was cited for having an unsecured load, driving with an invalid license and not having insurance, police said.

Tanya Eiserer

Former auto mechanic and laborer William Murray, 39, is scheduled to die today for the 1998 strangling and rape of 93-year-old Rena Ratcliff during a burglary at her home in Kaufman County, just outside Dallas.

If the sentence is carried out, Mr. Murray will be the ninth Texas inmate executed this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state.

Prison officials said widespread power outages in the Huntsville area caused by Hurricane Ike were not affecting the scheduled punishment. By Tuesday, power had been restored to the Huntsville Unit, where lethal injections are carried out.

Mr. Murray's lawyer said appeals in the courts had been exhausted. A clemency request was rejected 7-0 by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, spokeswoman Maria Ramirez said Tuesday.

Associated Press

Lancaster trustees on Tuesday unanimously approved a technology-based math program to be used in seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade algebra classes.

The program, which was developed by Texas Instruments, uses a wireless system to transmit students' work on graphing calculators to the teacher. The cost of the program is $124,000 for two years, and includes teacher training, online resources and an implementation coach from Texas Instruments.

District officials plan to begin using the system in classrooms by the end of October.

The McKinney City Council on Tuesday adopted a $275.2 million budget for fiscal 2009 that adds 45 employees, raises water and sewer rates, and increases recreation fees.

The general fund, which covers daily operating costs, outspends projected revenues by $7.2 million, which will be covered by funds left over from 2008. The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

The property tax rate remains unchanged at 58.55 cents per $100 valuation. The city tax bill on a $211,729 home, the city's average, would be $1,239, up about $28 from last year's average tax bill because of property value increases.

The average residential water and sewer bill will increase about $11. The new rates will take effect in October.

Elizabeth Langton

Mesquite ISD has asked police to look into new information surrounding the investigation of a former Mesquite High School football coach accused of pawning district property.

Steve Halpin repeatedly pawned district property between January 2007 and April 2008, according to a Mesquite police investigation earlier this year. The school district declined to press charges because all items were accounted for, and Mr. Halpin quietly resigned.

But district spokesman Ian Halperin said new information has surfaced within the last few days and involves "discrepancies in inventory." He said items are missing but declined to detail the inventory, saying he did not want to hinder a police investigation.

Holly Yan

A suspicious package delivered to a Plano office building prompted an evacuation Tuesday while the bomb squad investigated.

The 16-ounce bottle containing an unidentified liquid was sent to a building that houses a ViewPoint Bank call center in the 2100 block of Custer Road.

Police would not describe the package or say how much liquid was inside. They did not disclose whether any notes were delivered with the package.

ViewPoint Bank employees reported the suspicious package about 9:15 a.m., Plano police Officer Rick McDonald said. Police evacuated the area as a precaution.

About 1:45 p.m., bomb squad members removed the package. Officers took the bottle out of the package, and the liquid was sent for analysis.

Richard Abshire