Volume 63, Number 51
Azle News
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
THE
www.azlenews.net
Graduation photos Page 2A
Longtime director retires Page 1B
Softball girls fall Page 11A
Attacker shot dead by Tarrant deputy BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN A man who brutally attacked his younger brother, mother, and grandmother with a knife was shot and killed by a Tarrant County Sheriff’s deputy Monday, June 1, in Timberlake Estates. Kamal Hisham Dajani, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident at 11:41 p.m. according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Dajani’s mother and grandmother were each airlifted to John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment of serious, possibly critical injuries. Dajani’s younger brother sustained less serious injuries; he was transported to a Fort Worth hospital by ground ambulance.
County, who transferred it to Azle PD. That’s something that happens often, depending upon which cell phone tower a 911 call hits. Pippins disputes earlier reports that Azle PD requested assistance from TCSO, although the two agencies frequently and willingly assist each other on calls. The call Pippins said the call was dispatched Azle Police Chief Rick Pippins said as soon as it was received and two the initial 911 call went to Tarrant Azle officers immediately responded
– one from the northwest part of the city and the other from the police station. However, TCSO Deputy Christen Jarvis became aware of the call and he, too, responded. Because he was only a quarter to a half mile from the location, he arrived before the Azle officers.
son described that 911 call as a domestic disturbance that sounded pretty violent. “Our deputy arrived and encountered two victims outside the residence – a male and a female – who were visibly injured,” Anderson said. “Those two victims told him another victim was inside the house with the suspect.”
First on scene Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Ander-
PLEASE SEE MAN, PAGE 5A.
High water closes lake, park BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN Three months ago, many people thought Eagle Mountain Lake might never return to being...well, a lake. A brave person wearing combat boots and carrying a large machete might, after all, have walked from the boat ramp at Oak Harbor Estates, through weeds a couple of stories high, straight across to Pelican Bay. But prayers have been answered, and now the lake overfloweth. At Shady Grove Park Monday evening, June 1, entire families were swimming and picnicking at tables they accessed by wading through calfhigh water. Water was inches from covering the floor of the newly-rebuilt pier next to the park’s boat launch, and almost all boulders around the launch were submerged. City of Azle officials decided to close Shady Grove Park at 8 p.m. that day until flood waters recede. Eagle Mountain Lake was closed May 29 due to high water. On the afternoon of Monday, June 1, the picnic tables at Shady Grove Park PLEASE SEE NO, PAGE 3A. could only be accessed by wading through calf-high water. Officials closed the park.
Photo by Carla Noah Stutsman
Try, try again
Library Kicks Off Heroic Reading Clubs
Bridge to close South Stewart St. BY CARLA NOAH STUTSMAN After 13 years of false starts, it appears that the Texas Department of Transportation will actually begin work to replace the bridge over Ash Creek on South Stewart Street in midJune. A planned start date of June 8 has already been pushed back about a week, and a completion date of November has likewise been adjusted to “early next year.” TxDOT spokesperson Val Lopez indicated the project is imminent, however. To facilitate removal of the existing bridge and construction of a new one, South Stewart Street will be closed to all traffic between the old laundromat to just past Azle Wild West Stables & Arena. As a result, all traffic to points beyond the bridge from Main Street will be detoured to FM 730 South, back to South Stewart Street. Young reader Daniel Cohee joins forces with (l-r) Mia “Batgirl” Gordy, Brittany “Elastigirl” Culver, and While that detour route was decided Averie “Supergirl” Womack on the June 1 blast off day of the Azle Memorial Library’s summer reading by TxDOT, it is supported by the city programs. For more information, fly over to www.azlelibrary.org. Photo by Mark K. Campbell of Azle.
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This Week in Azle History
The “shortcut” to navigate around the bridge reconstruction is discouraged because it winds through several residential streets and presents dangers – from children playing in streets, to 90-degree turns and limited visibility at several intersections. The city first entered into a contract with TxDOT for replacement of the bridge in 2002, after an audit deemed it to be deficient, according to city officials. In the mid-2000s, the two entities entered into another contract for improvements to the Ash Creek channel where it passes beneath South Stewart Street. This time, the project is expected to cost $1.15 million. The new bridge will be lengthened and raised compared to the existing one, and the channel below the bridge will be widened, too. TxDOT awarded the contract to Ragle Construction. Questions should be address to TxDOT at 817-399-4300.
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10 Years Ago In June 2005, Walmart and Walgreens were under construction on FM 730 North, filling local needs that had lingered since K-Mart closed in 2003.
20 pages plus supplements
$1 Azle, Texas 76020