The Texas Tribune: Advocates Seek Mental Health Changes, Including Power to Detain


Matt Rainwaters for Texas Monthly


The Sherman grave of Andre Thomas’s victims.







SHERMAN — A worried call from his daughter’s boyfriend sent Paul Boren rushing to her apartment on the morning of March 27, 2004. He drove the eight blocks to her apartment, peering into his neighbors’ yards, searching for Andre Thomas, Laura Boren’s estranged husband.






The Texas Tribune

Expanded coverage of Texas is produced by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization. To join the conversation about this article, go to texastribune.org.




For more articles on mental health and criminal justice in Texas, as well as a timeline of the Andre Thomas case: texastribune.org






Matt Rainwaters for Texas Monthly

Laura Boren






He drove past the brightly colored slides, swings and bouncy plastic animals in Fairview Park across the street from the apartment where Ms. Boren, 20, and her two children lived. He pulled into a parking spot below and immediately saw that her door was broken. As his heart raced, Mr. Boren, a white-haired giant of a man, bounded up the stairwell, calling out for his daughter.


He found her on the white carpet, smeared with blood, a gaping hole in her chest. Beside her left leg, a one-dollar bill was folded lengthwise, the radiating eye of the pyramid facing up. Mr. Boren knew she was gone.


In a panic, he rushed past the stuffed animals, dolls and plastic toys strewn along the hallway to the bedroom shared by his two grandchildren. The body of 13-month-old Leyha Hughes lay on the floor next to a blood-spattered doll nearly as big as she was.


Andre Boren, 4, lay on his back in his white children’s bed just above Leyha. He looked as if he could have been sleeping — a moment away from revealing the toothy grin that typically spread from one of his round cheeks to the other — except for the massive chest wound that matched the ones his father, Andre Thomas (the boy was also known as Andre Jr.), had inflicted on his mother and his half-sister as he tried to remove their hearts.


“You just can’t believe that it’s real,” said Sherry Boren, Laura Boren’s mother. “You’re hoping that it’s not, that it’s a dream or something, that you’re going to wake up at any minute.”


Mr. Thomas, who confessed to the murders of his wife, their son and her daughter by another man, was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to death at age 21. While awaiting trial in 2004, he gouged out one of his eyes, and in 2008 on death row, he removed the other and ate it.


At least twice in the three weeks before the crime, Mr. Thomas had sought mental health treatment, babbling illogically and threatening to commit suicide. On two occasions, staff members at the medical facilities were so worried that his psychosis made him a threat to himself or others that they sought emergency detention warrants for him.


Despite talk of suicide and bizarre biblical delusions, he was not detained for treatment. Mr. Thomas later told the police that he was convinced that Ms. Boren was the wicked Jezebel from the Bible, that his own son was the Antichrist and that Leyha was involved in an evil conspiracy with them.


He was on a mission from God, he said, to free their hearts of demons.


Hospitals do not have legal authority to detain people who voluntarily enter their facilities in search of mental health care but then decide to leave. It is one of many holes in the state’s nearly 30-year-old mental health code that advocates, police officers and judges say lawmakers need to fix. In a report last year, Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit advocacy organization, called on lawmakers to replace the existing code with one that reflects contemporary mental health needs.


“It was last fully revised in 1985, and clearly the mental health system has changed drastically since then,” said Susan Stone, a lawyer and psychiatrist who led the two-year Texas Appleseed project to study and recommend reforms to the code. Lawmakers have said that although the code may need to be revamped, it will not happen in this year’s legislative session. Such an undertaking requires legislative studies that have not been conducted. But advocates are urging legislators to make a few critical changes that they say could prevent tragedies, including giving hospitals the right to detain someone who is having a mental health crisis.


From the time Mr. Thomas was 10, he had told friends he heard demons in his head instructing him to do bad things. The cacophony drove him to attempt suicide repeatedly as an adolescent, according to court records. He drank and abused drugs to try to quiet the noise.


bgrissom@texastribune.org



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Jason Bateman gives Ernest Borgnine's estate a new identity

Markus Canter and Cristie St. James, who share the title luxury properties director at Prudential in Beverly Hills, like Jason Bateman's real estate sense. The actor got privacy, potential and a knoll location for $3 million.









Actor Jason Bateman and his wife, actress Amanda Anka, are dropping anchor in the Beverly Crest area with the purchase of the estate of Ernest Borgnine for $3 million.


The gated country English compound sits on a half-acre knoll. The 6,148-square-foot home features a formal entry hall, a grand staircase, a paneled library, an office, a den, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. There is a guesthouse and a swimming pool.


Bateman, 44, stars in the comic film "Identity Thief," released this month. He is known to generations of TV viewers for his roles in "Arrested Development" (2003-present) and "Valerie," later retitled "The Hogan Family" (1986-91). Anka, 44, has appeared in "Bones" (2008), "Notes From the Underbelly" (2007) and "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1996).








Borgnine, who died last year at 95, is remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in "Marty" (1955) and his work in the title role as commander of a madcap crew in the sitcom "McHale's Navy" (1962-65). Until 2011 he was the voice of Mermaidman on "SpongeBob SquarePants."


The estate came on the market in October for the first time in 60 years priced at $3.395 million.


Billy Rose, Paul Lester and Aileen Comora of the Agency in Beverly Hills were the listing agents. Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency represented the buyers.


Where pair spent days of their lives


Soap star Peter Reckell and his wife, singer Kelly Moneymaker, have sold their custom-built, eco-friendly home in Brentwood for $3.35 million.


Before building the 3,345-square-foot house, the couple had the existing home on the site torn down, crated and shipped to Mexico for reuse by Habitat for Humanity. Then they designed and built a three-bedroom, four-bathroom contemporary that uses solar power.


Green elements include a photovoltaic system with battery backup, skylights, recycled glass terrazzo floors with radiant heating, recycled denim and organic cotton insulation, bamboo cabinets and doors, a roof garden and a water reclamation system.


A temperature-controlled wine cave and a recording studio are among other features.


Along with an indoor/outdoor koi pond, a meditation fountain and a solar infinity pool, outdoor amenities include a 16th century East Indian temple that was turned into a pavilion.


"This is my sanctuary," Reckell said. It frames views of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.


Reckell, 57, played Bo Brady on "Days of Our Lives" from 1983 through last year. The show began in 1965. He also appeared in "Knots Landing" (1988-89). He is an avid environmentalist and bikes to work.


Moneymaker, 42, is a former member of the music group Exposé. She was inspired to build an environmentally friendly home because the carpet and other elements in the old house bothered her allergies and affected her voice.


Public records show they bought the property in 2003 for $1.14 million.


Daniel Banchik of Prudential's West Hollywood office was the listing agent. Scott Segall of John Aaroe Group represented the buyer.


Another rock owner for home


Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton has made his mark on L.A.'s real estate scene of late, buying the old Elvis Presley estate in Beverly Hills at year-end for $9.8 million.


But flying under the radar was his bigger off-market purchase midyear for a property in Bel-Air at $25 million, public records show. Area real estate agents not involved in the transaction say Morton plans to take down the existing home and build another on the site. The estate had belonged to Joseph Farrell, who founded National Research Group Inc. in 1978 and brought market testing to Hollywood. Farrell died in December 2011.





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Athletes cash in on California's workers' comp









SACRAMENTO — In his seven-year career with the Denver Broncos, running back Terrell Davis, a former Super Bowl Most Valuable Player, dazzled fans with his speed and elusiveness.


At the end of his rookie year in 1995, he signed a $6.8-million, five-year contract. Off the field he endorsed Campbell's soup. And when he hung up his cleats, he reported for the National Football League Network and appeared in movies and TV shows.


So it may surprise Californians to find out that in 2011, Davis got a $199,000 injury settlement from a California workers' compensation court for injuries related to football. This came despite the fact Davis was employed by a Colorado team and played just nine times in California during an 88-game career, according to the NFL.





Davis was compensated for the lifelong effects of multiple injuries to the head, arms, trunk, legs and general body, according to California workers' compensation records.


He is not alone.


Over the last three decades, California's workers' compensation system has awarded millions of dollars in benefits for job-related injuries to thousands of professional athletes. The vast majority worked for out-of-state teams; some played as little as one game in the Golden State.


All states allow professional athletes to claim workers' compensation payments for specific job-related injuries — such as a busted knee, torn tendon or ruptured spinal disc — that happened within their borders. But California is one of the few that provides additional payments for the cumulative effect of injuries that occur over years of playing.


A growing roster of athletes are using this provision in California law to claim benefits. Since the early 1980s, an estimated $747 million has been paid out to about 4,500 players, according to an August study commissioned by major professional sports leagues. California taxpayers are not on the hook for these payments. Workers' compensation is an employer-funded program.


Now a major battle is brewing in Sacramento to make out-of-state players ineligible for these benefits, which are paid by the leagues and their insurers. They have hired consultants and lobbyists and expect to unveil legislation next week that would halt the practice.


"The system is completely out of whack right now," said Jeff Gewirtz, vice president of the Brooklyn Nets — formerly the New Jersey Nets — of the National Basketball Assn.


Major retired stars who scored six-figure California workers' compensation benefits include Moses Malone, a three-time NBA most valuable player with the Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and other teams. He was awarded $155,000. Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, formerly with the Dallas Cowboys, received $249,000. The benefits usually are calculated as lump-sum payments but sometimes are accompanied by open-ended agreements to provide lifetime medical services.


Players, their lawyers and their unions plan to mount a political offensive to protect these payouts.


Although the monster salaries of players such as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning make headlines, few players bring in that kind of money. Most have very short careers. And some, particularly football players, end up with costly, debilitating injuries that haunt them for a lifetime but aren't sufficiently covered by league disability benefits.


Retired pros increasingly are turning to California, not only because of its cumulative benefits but also because there's a longer window to file a claim. The statute of limitations in some states expires in as little as a year or two.


"California is a last resort for a lot of these guys because they've already been cut off in the other states," said Mel Owens, a former Los Angeles Rams linebacker-turned-workers' compensation lawyer who has represented a number of ex-players.


To understand how it works, consider the career of Ernie Conwell. A former tight end for the St. Louis Rams and New Orleans Saints, he was paid $1.6 million for his last season in 2006.


Conwell said that during his 11-year career, he underwent about 18 surgeries, including 11 knee operations. Now 40, he works for the NFL players union and lives in Nashville.


Hobbled by injuries, he filed for workers' compensation in Louisiana and got $181,000 in benefits to cover his last, career-ending knee surgery in 2006, according to the Saints. The team said it also provided $195,000 in injury-related benefits as part of a collective-bargaining agreement with the players union.


But such workers' compensation benefits paid by Louisiana cover only specific injuries. So, to deal with what he expects to be the costs of ongoing health problems that he said affect his arms, legs, muscles, bones and head, Conwell filed for compensation in California and won.


Even though he played only about 20 times in the state over his professional career, he received a $160,000 award from a California workers' compensation judge plus future medical benefits, according to his lawyer. The Saints are appealing the judgment.





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'Silver Linings' leads Spirit Awards with 4 prizes


SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — The oddball romance "Silver Linings Playbook" was named best picture Saturday at the Spirit Awards honoring independent film, Hollywood's last pre-game show before the Academy Awards.


"Silver Linings Playbook" led with four wins, including best actress for Jennifer Lawrence and director and screenplay for David O. Russell.


Lawrence is the best-actress favorite at Sunday's Oscars for her role as a young widow in a shaky new relationship with a man fresh from a mental hospital.


"The Sessions" earned two acting prizes, for John Hawkes as a man in an iron lung hoping to lose his virginity and Helen Hunt as the sexual surrogate helping him through it.


The award for best supporting actor went to Matthew McConaughey as a flamboyant stripper in "Magic Mike."


In barely three years, Lawrence has risen from a relative unknown to superstar hero of "The Hunger Games" franchise and potential Oscar winner at just 22. Her quick ascent began with another Spirit Awards nominee, "Winter's Bone," which won the top honor at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and earned Lawrence her first Oscar nomination.


Lawrence said she loves independent film for the thrill of freezing with the crew in the middle of the night because they all believe in a story.


"That's why I do what I do. I love that feeling. I mean, I'd rather be warm," Lawrence said.


McConaughey, also a best-actor nominee at the Spirit Awards for "Killer Joe," is a Hollywood A-lister but a relative newcomer to key film awards.


"I had to take my pants off to win a trophy," McConaughey said, adding that five of his last six films were independent productions and the "most creative fun of my acting career, hands down."


Hunt, also nominated for supporting actress at the Oscars, was coy backstage about what she'll be doing before Hollywood's big night.


"I will be eating breakfast and getting dressed," Hunt said of her day at the Oscars, where she previously won as best actress for "As Good as It Gets." ''I don't have any plans, but I'm going to put a dress on."


"Silver Linings Playbook" filmmaker Russell noted that his initial trip to the Spirit Awards was 19 years ago, when he won the prize for best first film for "Spanking the Monkey."


His son Matthew, an inspiration for "Silver Linings" because of his battle with bipolar disorder, was a year old at the time, and was in the crowd to watch his father claim his awards.


"He gave me this movie, so I want to thank him, Matthew, for this movie," Russell said.


"Silver Linings Playbook" centers on the relationship between a man (Bradley Cooper) just out of a mental hospital and a young widow (Lawrence). The film is up for best picture at the Oscars, where Russell is nominated for adapted screenplay and director and Cooper and Lawrence are in the running for the lead-acting honors.


The film's producers said they had expected fellow Oscar best-picture nominee "Beasts of the Southern Wild" to win the top Spirit Award and that they have no expectations of winning the big prize at the Oscars, where Ben Affleck's CIA thriller "Argo" is the best-picture favorite.


But they gushed praise for filmmaker Russell.


"Your brilliance as a filmmaker is without peer. Your spirit of collaboration knows no bounds," said "Silver Linings" producer Jonathan Gordon.


Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke's old-age love story "Amour" won for best international film, a possible prelude to the Oscars, where his film is the favorite to win the foreign-language prize and is nominated for best picture.


"I have the impression I am the oldest man in the room," the 70-year-old Haneke joked in a room filled with young filmmakers.


Among other winners:


— Best first film: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," from director Stephen Chbosky, who adapted the picture from his novel.


— First screenplay: "Safety Not Guaranteed," Derek Connolly.


— Cinematography: "Beasts of the Southern Wild," Ben Richardson.


— Documentary: "The Invisible War," directed by Kirby Dick.


— John Cassavetes Award for best film made for less than $500,000: "Middle of Nowhere," directed by Ava DuVernay.


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Drone Pilots Found to Get Stress Disorders Much as Those in Combat Do


U.S. Air Force/Master Sgt. Steve Horton


Capt. Richard Koll, left, and Airman First Class Mike Eulo monitored a drone aircraft after launching it in Iraq.





The study affirms a growing body of research finding health hazards even for those piloting machines from bases far from actual combat zones.


“Though it might be thousands of miles from the battlefield, this work still involves tough stressors and has tough consequences for those crews,” said Peter W. Singer, a scholar at the Brookings Institution who has written extensively about drones. He was not involved in the new research.


That study, by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, which analyzes health trends among military personnel, did not try to explain the sources of mental health problems among drone pilots.


But Air Force officials and independent experts have suggested several potential causes, among them witnessing combat violence on live video feeds, working in isolation or under inflexible shift hours, juggling the simultaneous demands of home life with combat operations and dealing with intense stress because of crew shortages.


“Remotely piloted aircraft pilots may stare at the same piece of ground for days,” said Jean Lin Otto, an epidemiologist who was a co-author of the study. “They witness the carnage. Manned aircraft pilots don’t do that. They get out of there as soon as possible.”


Dr. Otto said she had begun the study expecting that drone pilots would actually have a higher rate of mental health problems because of the unique pressures of their job.


Since 2008, the number of pilots of remotely piloted aircraft — the Air Force’s preferred term for drones — has grown fourfold, to nearly 1,300. The Air Force is now training more pilots for its drones than for its fighter jets and bombers combined. And by 2015, it expects to have more drone pilots than bomber pilots, although fighter pilots will remain a larger group.


Those figures do not include drones operated by the C.I.A. in counterterrorism operations over Pakistan, Yemen and other countries.


The Pentagon has begun taking steps to keep pace with the rapid expansion of drone operations. It recently created a new medal to honor troops involved in both drone warfare and cyberwarfare. And the Air Force has expanded access to chaplains and therapists for drone operators, said Col. William M. Tart, who commanded remotely piloted aircraft crews at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.


The Air Force has also conducted research into the health issues of drone crew members. In a 2011 survey of nearly 840 drone operators, it found that 46 percent of Reaper and Predator pilots, and 48 percent of Global Hawk sensor operators, reported “high operational stress.” Those crews cited long hours and frequent shift changes as major causes.


That study found the stress among drone operators to be much higher than that reported by Air Force members in logistics or support jobs. But it did not compare the stress levels of the drone operators with those of traditional pilots.


The new study looked at the electronic health records of 709 drone pilots and 5,256 manned aircraft pilots between October 2003 and December 2011. Those records included information about clinical diagnoses by medical professionals and not just self-reported symptoms.


After analyzing diagnosis and treatment records, the researchers initially found that the drone pilots had higher incidence rates for 12 conditions, including anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and suicidal ideation.


But after the data were adjusted for age, number of deployments, time in service and history of previous mental health problems, the rates were similar, said Dr. Otto, who was scheduled to present her findings in Arizona on Saturday at a conference of the American College of Preventive Medicine.


The study also found that the incidence rates of mental heath problems among drone pilots spiked in 2009. Dr. Otto speculated that the increase might have been the result of intense pressure on pilots during the Iraq surge in the preceding years.


The study found that pilots of both manned and unmanned aircraft had lower rates of mental health problems than other Air Force personnel. But Dr. Otto conceded that her study might underestimate problems among both manned and unmanned aircraft pilots, who may feel pressure not to report mental health symptoms to doctors out of fears that they will be grounded.


She said she planned to conduct two follow-up studies: one that tries to compensate for possible underreporting of mental health problems by pilots and another that analyzes mental health issues among sensor operators, who control drone cameras while sitting next to the pilots.


“The increasing use of remotely piloted aircraft for war fighting as well as humanitarian relief should prompt increased surveillance,” she said.


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Jason Bateman gives Ernest Borgnine's estate a new identity

Markus Canter and Cristie St. James, who share the title luxury properties director at Prudential in Beverly Hills, like Jason Bateman's real estate sense. The actor got privacy, potential and a knoll location for $3 million.









Actor Jason Bateman and his wife, actress Amanda Anka, are dropping anchor in the Beverly Crest area with the purchase of the estate of Ernest Borgnine for $3 million.


The gated country English compound sits on a half-acre knoll. The 6,148-square-foot home features a formal entry hall, a grand staircase, a paneled library, an office, a den, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. There is a guesthouse and a swimming pool.


Bateman, 44, stars in the comic film "Identity Thief," released this month. He is known to generations of TV viewers for his roles in "Arrested Development" (2003-present) and "Valerie," later retitled "The Hogan Family" (1986-91). Anka, 44, has appeared in "Bones" (2008), "Notes From the Underbelly" (2007) and "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1996).








Borgnine, who died last year at 95, is remembered for his Oscar-winning performance in "Marty" (1955) and his work in the title role as commander of a madcap crew in the sitcom "McHale's Navy" (1962-65). Until 2011 he was the voice of Mermaidman on "SpongeBob SquarePants."


The estate came on the market in October for the first time in 60 years priced at $3.395 million.


Billy Rose, Paul Lester and Aileen Comora of the Agency in Beverly Hills were the listing agents. Richard Ehrlich of Westside Estate Agency represented the buyers.


Where pair spent days of their lives


Soap star Peter Reckell and his wife, singer Kelly Moneymaker, have sold their custom-built, eco-friendly home in Brentwood for $3.35 million.


Before building the 3,345-square-foot house, the couple had the existing home on the site torn down, crated and shipped to Mexico for reuse by Habitat for Humanity. Then they designed and built a three-bedroom, four-bathroom contemporary that uses solar power.


Green elements include a photovoltaic system with battery backup, skylights, recycled glass terrazzo floors with radiant heating, recycled denim and organic cotton insulation, bamboo cabinets and doors, a roof garden and a water reclamation system.


A temperature-controlled wine cave and a recording studio are among other features.


Along with an indoor/outdoor koi pond, a meditation fountain and a solar infinity pool, outdoor amenities include a 16th century East Indian temple that was turned into a pavilion.


"This is my sanctuary," Reckell said. It frames views of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.


Reckell, 57, played Bo Brady on "Days of Our Lives" from 1983 through last year. The show began in 1965. He also appeared in "Knots Landing" (1988-89). He is an avid environmentalist and bikes to work.


Moneymaker, 42, is a former member of the music group Exposé. She was inspired to build an environmentally friendly home because the carpet and other elements in the old house bothered her allergies and affected her voice.


Public records show they bought the property in 2003 for $1.14 million.


Daniel Banchik of Prudential's West Hollywood office was the listing agent. Scott Segall of John Aaroe Group represented the buyer.


Another rock owner for home


Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton has made his mark on L.A.'s real estate scene of late, buying the old Elvis Presley estate in Beverly Hills at year-end for $9.8 million.


But flying under the radar was his bigger off-market purchase midyear for a property in Bel-Air at $25 million, public records show. Area real estate agents not involved in the transaction say Morton plans to take down the existing home and build another on the site. The estate had belonged to Joseph Farrell, who founded National Research Group Inc. in 1978 and brought market testing to Hollywood. Farrell died in December 2011.





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Gunfire and deadly crash rattle the Las Vegas Strip









LAS VEGAS — A spectacular predawn crash on the Strip — triggered when bullets fired from a black Range Rover peppered a Maserati — hit this resort city right between the eyes. In the end, three people were dead and a major intersection under lockdown during a three-state manhunt for the shooters, leaving even casino veterans used to the extraordinary scratching their heads.


The mayhem was sparked, witnesses told police, by a quarrel early Thursday at a hotel valet stand.


The two vehicles left the Aria resort hotel and were heading north on Las Vegas Boulevard at 4:20 a.m., an hour when the casino marquees shine brightly but the gambling thoroughfare is largely empty. At Harmon Avenue, occupants inside the Range Rover opened fire on the Maserati, police said.





The silver-gray sports car, which was struck several times, sped into the intersection at Flamingo Road, ramming a Yellow cab. The taxi exploded, killing the driver and a passenger. Four other vehicles in the intersection were also involved in the crash and explosion, but officers offered no details.


"Omg Omg Omg that car just blew up!" one witness tweeted shortly after the crash, posting a photo of the wreckage. "God Bless their Souls! Omg!"


The driver of the Maserati died later at a hospital, police said. A passenger in the vehicle received minor injuries and was being interviewed by investigators. At least three others were also injured.


Police in Nevada, California, Arizona and Utah were on alert for the distinctive black Range Rover SUV, described as having dark-tinted windows, black rims and out-of-state paper dealer plates.


"We are going to pursue these individuals and prosecute them," Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie said at an afternoon news conference. "This act was totally unacceptable. It's not just tragic but unnecessary — the level of violence we see here in Las Vegas and across America."


Authorities had not publicly identified the dead. But a Las Vegas television station late Thursday identified the taxi driver as Michael Boldon, 62, who the station said had recently moved here from Michigan to care for his 93-year-old mother.


The victim's son, who drives a limousine, told Fox News 5 that he last talked with his father after 3 a.m., and later called his cellphone shortly after the crash to warn him to avoid the Strip. But there was no answer.


The station also identified the driver of the Maserati as Ken Cherry, a rap artist from Oakland who also is known as "Kenny Clutch." The station quoted family members identifying Cherry as the driver. An Internet video of a Cherry song called "Stay Schemin" shows two men in a vehicle on the Strip.


Police had more questions than answers.


"It began with a dispute at a nearby hotel and spilled onto the streets," said Capt. Chris Jones of the Las Vegas Police Robbery and Homicide Division.


The morning's events threw the Strip into disarray all day. The gambling boulevard's busiest and best-known intersection was cordoned off by yellow police tape until nightfall, keeping traffic and curious pedestrians away from the carnage. Even skywalks were blocked off.


While slot machines beeped and card games continued inside casinos around the accident scene — including the Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Paris Las Vegas — hotel bell captains were fielding questions from tourists who had awakened to news of the crash and the Strip shutdown. The alleys and side streets between nearby hotels were clogged with pedestrians who inched along on narrow sidewalks, past delivery doors, many making their own paths between the landscaped bushes and palm trees.


Even casino industry workers were thrown into turmoil. Hotel maids and dealers who finished their midnight shifts after dawn were left without bus service home. "I'm stranded," said Tiruselam Kefyalew, 25, a maid. "What a day to leave my cellphone at home."


Limousine drivers who normally prowl the city's gambling core improvised detours. Some said the police blockade would cost them $500 or more in lost business and tips.


"Most people understand, but you have your complainers," said Jim DeSanto, a limo driver who waited for fares outside Bally's casino. "Those people will complain, even when everything is perfect."


Well after noon, guests peered out nearby hotel windows and others leaned into the street to glimpse the crime scene.


"Hey, honey, it must have happened right here," one man told his wife as they left Caesars around noon. The tourist, who would only say that he had arrived from Tampa, Fla., the previous evening, had looked out his hotel window at 4:30 to see a vehicle in flames.





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'Parade's End' keeps British TV invasion going


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Stoppard is sitting on the patio of a Sunset Boulevard hotel, bathed in California winter sunshine, framed by bamboo landscaping and looking very much out of his element in Hollywood.


The acclaimed British playwright professes to feeling that way as well, despite having pocketed a Writers Guild of America lifetime achievement award the night before for his screenplays, including the Oscar-winning "Shakespeare in Love."


"I was always nervous coming here. The first time I was terrified," he said. "I'm trying not to sound nauseatingly self-deprecating, but I don't think of myself as being a terrific screenwriter or even a natural screenwriter."


Combine that, he said, with the local entertainment industry's perception that "I'm some different kind of animal," a high-minded artist to whom the words "intellectual" and "philosophy" are freely applied.


But if Hollywood can be forgiven anything, it should be that. Stoppard has created a remarkable wealth of two dozen-plus plays, including "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," ''Travesties" and "The Real Thing," and he's counting on more.


He looks like a proper man of letters, with unkempt gray hair, a comfortably unstylish cardigan and a delicately shaped mouth that hesitates, slightly, before dispensing exacting thoughts on the art of writing (without pretension: he relishes a snippet of "Ghostbusters" dialogue.)


Stoppard also is the master behind "Parade's End," a five-part HBO miniseries (airing Tuesday through Thursday, 9 p.m. EST) that was lauded by U.K. critics as "the thinking man's 'Downton Abbey'" after its BBC airing.


Adapted by Stoppard from a series of novels by British writer Ford Madox Ford, "Parade's End" features rising stars Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock Holmes" and the upcoming "Star Trek" movie) and Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") in the juiciest of roles.


Like PBS' "Downton Abbey," it's set in the early 20th century among aristocrats and encompasses World War I's shattering effect on the social order. Romance is provided by the triangle of Cumberbatch's tradition-bound Christopher, his unfaithful wife, Sylvia (Hall), and a suffragette (Australian newcomer Adelaide Clemens). The uniformly impressive cast includes Janet McTeer, Miranda Richardson, Roger Allam and Rupert Everett.


Stoppard rejects the oft-made comparison to PBS' "Downton" as unfair to it and its writer-creator, Julian Fellowes: "I was embarrassed by it because it's so condescending of Julian's work. He's a good writer and he's done a superlative job," he said. It's also a misguided comparison because "Downton" is heading toward season four and "Parade's End" is "five episodes and that's it, forever."


The self-effacing Stoppard leaves it at that. But there's a wider gap between the two: "Downton" is an easy-to-digest soap opera, while "Parade's End" is a challenging, nuanced view of a slice of British society and a set of singular characters, all dressed to the nines in the heady language of literature.


"There's a wonderful richness to the language and a beauty, which I think is the brilliance of Tom Stoppard, and also this very beautiful language of Ford Madox Ford," said director Susanna White.


The heedless, acid-tongued Sylvia has dialogue to relish, something Stoppard cannot resist.


"The line I like best comes straight from Ford: (the public) likes 'a whiff of sex coming off our crowd, like the steam on the water in the crocodile house at the zoo,'" he said, adding gleefully, "What a line!"


Although careful to credit the novelist with that particular zinger, Stoppard said "Parade's End" is the first adaptation in which his dialogue and that from the original text have become intertwined in his memory.


He attributes that to the year he spent forming Ford's intricate novels into a screenplay, often crafting original scenes, and the several more years he spent helping bring the series to fruition with the producers and White ("Generation Kill").


"It's the closest thing to writing a play which isn't a play that I have ever been involved with," he said.


The stage has been the Czech-born Stoppard's chief occupation since leaving journalism in his 20s. But he's made a number of detours into film, either as a screenwriter or a behind-the-scenes script doctor. His latest big-screen project is the adaptation of "Anna Karenina" with Keira Knightley.


Stoppard's insistence that he isn't an outstanding scriptwriter stems, in part, from his reticence. Then there's what he calls the differing "schools of eloquence" represented by film and plays.


"I envy and admire movies which are eloquent without recourse to long speeches," he said, citing several lines to illustrate his point. One comes from "The Fugitive" ("I don't care," Tommy Lee Jones says after Harrison Ford insists he didn't kill his wife), another from "Ghostbusters."


Bill Murray is confronted by "this kind of Amazonian ghost goddess, spooky thing, and he goes, 'This chick is toast,'" Stoppard said, with a delighted smile.


"It's the sense that precisely the right words have been uttered," he explained.


That's how fellow scribes feel about him. One L.A. film and TV writer said she regularly rereads the famed cricket-bat speech from "The Real Thing," about the challenge of writing, for joy and inspiration: "If you get it right," the character Henry says, "the cricket ball will travel two hundred yards in four seconds, and all you've done is give it a knock like knocking the top off a bottle of stout, and it makes a noise like a trout taking a fly. What we're trying to do is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might travel."


For now, the right words for Stoppard would be those of a new play, the first since "Rock 'n' Roll" from seven years ago. He has no regrets about immersing himself in "Parade's End," but is ready for the solitude needed to find the right story for the stage.


He used to steal away to a house in France until the air travel became too much. Now he makes do with a "small, shabby cottage an hour-and-a-half from London, which in theory is supposed to be my French house. But it's not far enough away" to evade commitments, social and otherwise. ("I'm Mr. Available," he laments.)


It's welcome assurance to hear the guild lifetime award he received Feb. 17 doesn't signal a halt for Stoppard. It did pull him up short, at least briefly.


"I was quite surprised. Though I am 75, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I haven't thought of stopping yet."


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Online:


http://www.hbo.com


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Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org and on Twitter (at)lynnelber.


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Well: Savory Pie Recipes for Health

Pie is an indulgence often saved for holiday time. But this week Martha Rose Shulman shows us how to bake a pie and eat it too, without the guilt. She offers savory vegetable pies, showcased in whole grain crusts. She writes:

This week I slowed down and made pies: savory ones filled with vegetables … I used a number of different crusts for my winter pies. My favorite remains the whole wheat yeasted olive oil crust that I have used before in this column, but I also worked with a simple Mediterranean crust made with a mix of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and olive oil. And for those of you who are gluten-free, I made another foray into gluten-free pastry and produced one I liked a lot, which was a mix of buckwheat flour, millet flour and potato starch. It had a strong nutty flavor that worked well with a very savory, very vegan, tofu and mushroom “quiche.” They are all simple to mix together and easy to roll or press out. And if you don’t feel like dealing with a crust, just use Greek phyllo. The important things, after all, are the savory vegetables inside.

Here are recipes for a pie crust and four savory winter vegetable pies.

Whole Wheat Mediterranean Pie Crust: A simple Mediterranean crust made with a mix of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and olive oil.


Mixed Greens Galette With Onions and Chickpeas: A tasty way to use bagged greens in a dish with Middle Eastern overtones.


Goat Cheese, Chard and Herb Pie in a Phyllo Crust: A garlicky mix of greens and your choice of herbs inside a crispy phyllo crust.


Tofu Mushroom ‘Quiche’: A vegan dish with a deep, rich flavor.


Winter Tomato Quiche: Canned tomatoes can be used in the off season for a delicious dinner.


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Fewer Americans are stuck in underwater mortgages









Nearly 2 million Americans got out of negative equity positions as home prices rose last quarter, according to new estimates.


Negative equity fell to 27.5% of all U.S. homeowners with mortgages in last year's fourth quarter, compared with 31.1% during the same period a year earlier, according to data from real estate website Zillow.


"Underwater" homeowners -- those who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth -- have played a counterintuitive role in the housing market’s recovery, helping boost home prices in an unexpected way.





Rather than walking away from their properties en masse, many of these borrowers have continued paying their home loans, even when they are stuck in high-interest-rate loans.


As foreclosures have eased, for-sale inventory has plummeted. In many markets, the level of competition for a home is now so severe, it’s reminiscent of the bubble days.


“Freed from negative equity, homeowners will have more flexibility, and some will likely choose to list their home for sale, helping to ease inventory constraints and moderating sometimes dramatic, demand-driven price increases in some markets,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.


“But negative equity is still very high,” Humphries said, “and millions of homeowners have a very long way to go to get back above water, even with current robust levels of home value appreciation in most areas.”


Some experts are predicting the supply constraint will remain in place this spring, when the traditional home-selling season kicks off.


According to estimates by Zillow, about 13.8 million homeowners were still underwater on their homes in the fourth quarter of 2012. That was down from 15.7 million a year earlier.


U.S. homeowners with mortgages were collectively underwater by more than $1 trillion at the end of 2012.

Home prices are rising rapidly in the West, and Zillow forecasts that of the nation’s biggest metro areas, Los Angeles -- which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties -- will produce the most homeowners freed from negative equity, with 72,696; followed by the Inland Empire, with 62,407; Phoenix, with 43,044; and Sacramento, with 33,356.


The Los Angeles area has a lower percentage of borrowers underwater -- 24.3% -- than the national average. The Inland Empire has about 43.8% of mortgage holders underwater.


ALSO:


2012 was a banner year for housing affordability


One-third of U.S. homeowners have no mortgage


Banks step up efforts to forgive mortgage debt in California





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