Plan branches out to save trees
City officials say they can't prevent property owners from cutting down trees, but they can provide incentives for keeping them. On Tuesday, the City Council will consider an ordinance that does just that. The proposed landscaping and screening ordinance also increases the amount of landscaping required at new or expanding nonresidential developments.

A moving account of history
The City Council meeting Friday afternoon looked a little different from the ones on Tuesday nights. Instead of Mayor Charles England presiding, Ron Murphy, a U.S. history teacher from Grand Prairie High School, called the meeting to order with the bang of a gavel.

Under the watchful eyes of former presidents
Some people decorate their offices with family photos. Others throw those inspirational posters up on the walls. That stuff is way too ordinary for the executive staff at the Palace of Wax and Ripley's Believe It or Not! As executives at the Grand Prairie museum conduct business, former inhabitants of the White House watch.

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06/01/2001

Philanthropy lies at the Corps of it all
Two years ago, Poranee "Pam" Kingpetcharat had a firm grasp on financial success. Just four years out of college, she was living in Los Angeles and making a six-figure salary. Her wardrobe included $30,000 worth of suits – enough to wear a different one every day for three months. There was just one problem.

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Girl, 5, in stable condition after incident at pool
A 5-year-old girl was in stable condition at a Dallas hospital Thursday after her mother pulled her from a pool at a Grand Prairie apartment complex when the child was seen floating, police said.

Bond plan emphasizes transportation
City officials plan to put a major emphasis on street-related projects during the next five years. Nearly 71 percent of a proposed $60 million November bond election will be for transportation projects, including new thoroughfares, highway frontage roads, repairs to existing streets, traffic signal improvements, alleys and sidewalks.

05/31/2001

Forum focuses on health
U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas, said Wednesday night that he would help efforts to attract or build a new hospital in Grand Prairie.

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New branch library's success in the cards
Nearly 1,000 new library cards – an average of more than 40 a day – were issued at the city's branch library during its first month of operation. In the four weeks following the April 22 opening of the Betty Warmack Branch Library in south Grand Prairie, 979 new patrons were registered, said Kathy Ritterhouse, the library's director. Branch users checked out 11,370 items.

Council halfway through project cuts
City Council members have reduced a proposed $115 million capital improvements project list to one totaling less than $90 million. But it will take a third meeting in as many days to whittle that down to the $58 million bond program that officials said they can afford without a tax increase.

Crews ready to level damaged flea market building
Twisted and charred sheets of metal marked where Grand Prairie and Arlington firefighters hacked their way into a 5,000-square-foot building at Traders Village on Tuesday.

05/30/2001

Youths, parents develop taste for free lunch program
If Travis Brady did not have the Charley Taylor Recreation Center to go to this summer, he said, he would be sitting at home – bored and eating junk food. But Travis has come to the recreation center for three summers, meeting new friends and playing games.

Paring down projects proves painstaking
Council members tentatively agreed to cut funding for new and expanded city buildings and upgrades to computers from a proposed November bond package. But they wrapped up a three-hour work session Tuesday with no solid decisions on how to reduce a $115 million proposed capital improvement program to less than $60 million.

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Fire destroys Traders Village building
Grand Prairie fire investigators will continue to sift through rubble looking for the cause of a three-alarm blaze Tuesday afternoon that destroyed a metal building containing five businesses at Traders Village.

05/27/2001

Bringing home adulthood
With school out for the summer, many students who left home for college nine months ago have returned to the nest. Suddenly, their newfound adulthood runs smack into parental rules. It can be a difficult adjustment to make – for the students as well as their parents.

Ukrainians taste Texas-style civics
Ukrainian dignitaries concluded a four-day visit to Grand Prairie on Sunday afternoon with a tour of the city's Nature Center.

Honoring those who died
Men and women who gave their lives for their country will be recognized during a memorial program Sunday at Dallas-Forth Worth National Cemetery. The veterans' cemetery is just east of Grand Prairie at 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway in Dallas.

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Council plans to whittle project wish list
City Council members plan to do a hatchet job on a $115 million list of proposed capital improvements projects next week. The council will spend at least two evenings cutting the list nearly in half as it prepares for a Nov. 6 bond election.