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• Storm buries northeast, causes 3 deaths
  

• 4 families displaced by apartment fire
  By CYNTHIA NEFF

  ARLINGTON -- Four families were displaced Sunday after a two-alarm fire that started in the wall between two apartment kitchens spread to the shared attic, fire officials said.Forty firefighters fought the blaze, which began about 11:10 a.m. in a quadriplex at LÂ’Atrium on the Creek apartments on Carter Drive near East Park Row Drive, said Arlington Fire Department Battalion Chief John McQueary.No one was injured; the 15 people displaced were being helped by the apartment management and the Red Cross. Firefighters salvaged about 90 percent of the apartments' contents, McQueary said.The cause of the fire was under investigation, but it may have been an electrical problem, he said. A damage estimate was not immediately available.

• Green campaign gains 'mo' on military bases
  By DAVE MONTGOMERY

  WASHINGTON -- No one would mistake them for tree-huggers, but America's professional warriors are marching in step with environmentalists and conservationists, and green is rapidly becoming the "in" color, not just for the Army but throughout the U.S. military.On Monday, the Air Force will dedicate the largest solar array in North America at Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base, on the same day that a C-17 transport plane is to make the Air Force's first cross-country flight using a blend of synthetic fuel.Giant wind turbines rise from the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Army leaders are embracing hybrid vehicles, fuel cells and other emerging technologies, to help troops on the battlefield and to curb fuel consumption.To the pleasant surprise of some environmental groups, the military services have rescued endangered animals that make their homes on training bases or bombing ranges, wresting some bird species back from the brink of extinction."They care about the environment as much as the rest of us," said Brock Evans, president of the Endangered Species Coalition, while acknowledging that his statement "sounds like an oxymoron."The military's unlikely alliance with the green movement began well over a decade ago, but it's expanded dramatically in recent years with the soaring price of fuel and President Bush's pledge to lessen America's dependence on foreign oil.Part of it stems from genuine social awareness, military leaders said, but there's a hefty financial incentive as well: Cutting soaring fuel and energy costs is essential to help hold the line on wartime military budgets.The Defense Department is the largest energy consumer in the United States, racking up an energy bill of $13.6 billion last year, up from $10.9 billion the year before. The military services and other components of the defense establishment consume the equivalent of 340,000 barrels of oil a day, or 1.5 percent of total U.S. energy consumption.Accordingly, every branch of the service is curbing consumption and moving away from conventional energy sources.The measures range from insisting that soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines turn off the lights in the barracks to exotic research into future technology. Military researchers are looking into new designs for ships, aircraft, land vehicles and propulsion systems with an eye toward cutting energy costs."In essence, the Army is building green, buying green and going green," said Tad Davis, deputy assistant Army secretary for environment, safety and occupational health.The Air Force plans to showcase its latest go-green contribution with this month's ribbon-cutting to dedicate 140 acres of solar panels at Nellis, near one of the most gaudily lighted cities in America: Las Vegas. The solar array could save the Air Force $1 million annually in energy expenses.The simultaneous coast-to-coast C-17 flight will advance the service's expanding program to lessen its dependence on oil. The Air Force has been testing aircraft with a 50-50 blend of synthetic (derived from natural gas) and conventional fuels and hopes to certify the service's entire fleet for the synfuel blend by 2011.Other undertakings are in the works, Air Force Assistant Secretary Bill Anderson said. The service has asked industry for proposals "pushing the envelope to the next level" to create a round-the-clock source of alternative power at bases.The Air Force is also looking into the feasibility of equipping a base with a small nuclear power plant. But Anderson acknowledges that that idea "is very much in its infancy."The Army's energy strategy includes measures to pare consumption and reduce pollution, Davis said. The service, for example, switched out fire-suppression systems in its Stryker combat systems to get rid of ozone-depleting halon, which could contribute to global warming.Army officials are looking into next-generation hybrid vehicles and alternative power sources on the battlefield -- possibly wind or solar -- to reduce the need for conventional fuel.An important side benefit in war zones would be lessening the dependency on fuel-truck convoys, which face the threat of ambushes or roadside bombs."Every time we send out convoys we put American lives at risk," said Al Shaffer, deputy director of defense research and engineering for the Defense Department.

• Nonprofits seldom scrutinized by AG's office
  By DARREN BARBEE

  Some Texas nonprofit organizations go through donors' money in peculiar, if not galling, ways.In 2005, a Garland charity that aims to keep people off drugs spent $1.22 million on "race parts" connected to its sideline in NASCAR truck racing.Another Texas charity employed a woman so hardworking that a court official said she was paid 63 weeks' worth of wages in a single year.Then there was a Flower Mound ministry that used a third of its donations to compensate its CEO -- an average of $71,000 a month -- while handing out a relative pittance for grants: $35,000 for the year.All are red flags of potential mismanagement or abuse, ones that are hard to miss, say experts on nonprofits.Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office apparently did.The office enjoys a national reputation for being aggressive in its oversight of the state's more than 60,000 nonprofit organizations. With nonprofits being asked to shoulder more of the burden for healthcare, disaster relief and social services, it's a vital role.But for the first nine months of this year, the office's Charitable Trusts Section has opened four cases against nonprofits. Over a 33-month stretch ending this October, it says it began 23 investigations, many the result of complaints and news reports.Even when the office hears about potential problems, though, it often plays wait and see, a Star-Telegram examination found. At times, it has taken no action after receiving multiple complaints about a Texas charity or even when one is sued by other states.The office could easily argue that it is overwhelmed and outgunned. It is responsible for keeping in line everything from local food banks, charitable bingos and research centers to multimillion-dollar hospital chains and art museums. Such Texas nonprofits control assets worth $136 billion and employ hundreds of thousands of workers, according to the National Center on Charitable Statistics and the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations.What's more, the attorney general represents the public's interest in probate cases involving nonprofits, such as challenges to charitable bequests.When the office opens a case, it can involve thousands of documents and take months to complete. The brunt of the work is done by six attorneys and two investigators in the Charitable Trusts Section.The staffing has been about the same for more than a decade. In that time, though, there's been a 59 percent increase in the number of Texas charities that file financial information with the IRS, according to TANO."It's pretty much impossible, given the state's budget for the attorney general's office, to have enough staff to conduct a regular review of all of those tens of thousands of nonprofit organizations," said Jan Soifer, an Austin attorney and former chief of the Charitable Trusts Section.In the aftermath of scandals involving sham Katrina and 9-11 charities, there is also growing pressure to crack down on nonprofits misused to enrich insiders. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has called for tighter oversight of nonprofits and recently asked six televangelists, including Tarrant County-based Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn, to provide information about their operations."The intensity today of the focus on the nonprofit sector, from the federal and state government, is as intense as I've ever seen it," said Bruce Hopkins, a Missouri attorney who has served as an expert witness on nonprofits for the Texas attorney general.But Texas doesn't plead a lack of resources.Jeff Rose, deputy first assistant attorney general, says that the Charitable Trusts Section is challenged by the variety and number of nonprofit organizations it oversees. However, he says it is adequately staffed to do its job.Asked what would be on his staff wish list, Rose responded, "I don't think it does us any good to speculate about that."The office is keeping an eye on nonprofits, he said, "and getting involved where necessary."