Arlington, TX

The Department of Transportation has temporarily placed concrete barriers near Texas 360 and Brown Boulevard/East Avenue K because the road is starting to crumble. Heavy rains have caused the northbound ramp to deteriorate. The guardrail is leaning and the retaining wall has buckled. TXDOT says the ramp is safe for motorists and the barriers are just a precaution to keep drivers away from the crumbling portion of the road. Repairs are set to begin in mid-October and may take up to two months to complete.

The capital murder trial of Charles Reynard Dickens is underway. The Mississippi man is accused of killing Leon Williams, his drug supplier, and Stefferon McNeal, who was riding with Williams, at the Grand Manor Apartments near UTA last December. Dickens was trying to rob Williams of some crack cocaine, when there was an argument that ended with the shootings. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.

More than 1,500 people paid tribute to Summit High School football player Dozie Njeako on Tuesday. Njeako collapsed and died during a football game last Thursday. A cause of death has not yet been released.

A woman and two cats were removed from a north Arlington home on Wednesday. City officials say the house was filled with animal waste, fleas, and several years worth of trash. The owner of the house, David Ousley, says he has been working for over a year to clean up the property and find assistance for the woman, who is a family friend, but she refused to let him inside the house. In the past year, he has removed more than 280 bags of trash from the back yard and several dead cats. He finally asked the city for help in the matter. The home had been without running water since 2003. The unidentified woman had been filling water bottles at her neighbor’s house, where she also sometimes watched television and used the internet. She was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and may face misdemeanor charges.

Beware of a scam artist. Officials warned Wednesday that a woman, who calls herself Ashley, is going door to door selling book and magazine subscriptions. She claims that she is raising money to help University of Texas at Arlington theater students go to London to do a re-enactment of the British television comedy Fawlty Towers. UT-Arlington police are investigating.

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