The Irving Police Department is currently investigating a murder that occurred at the non-profit agency, Irving Cares. At approximately 10:29 a.m. on Dec. 28, officers responded to the 400 block of S. Nursery in reference to a stabbing.

When officers arrived, they located a 55-year-old female victim inside of the location suffering from multiple stab wounds. Officers also made contact with the 47-year-old male suspect who was being detained by a security guard. The victim was transported to a local hospital where she was later pronounced deceased.

According to the initial investigation, it appears as if the suspect and victim are husband and wife and arrived at the location together. After speaking with an employee, the suspect, for an unknown reason, became angry and started stabbing the victim. The suspect was stopped and detained by a security guard until the police arrived.

The victim has been identified as 55-year-old Sharon Elizabeth Gooden of Irving. The suspect has been identified as 47-year-old Roy Lee Gooden of Irving.

The investigation is ongoing; therefore, a motive is unknown and details are limited. Roy Lee Gooden was booked into the Irving Jail on one count of murder.

The Irving Police Department is reporting that crime in Irving has declined for the eighth consecutive year.

Irving’s crime rate decreased an additional 7.5 percent, with significant reductions projected in the burglary and robbery categories. Current projections show a 23 percent reduction in burglaries and a 10 percent reduction in robberies.

Chief Larry Boyd attributes this continued reduction to an intense focus on known offenders and the use of crime data to strategically deploy resources. Strong community involvement, which is vital to maintaining safe neighborhoods, and proactive code enforcement are also key components of this continued reduction.

These are just a few methods of policing that have been utilized to achieve our success.

In 2007, Irving reported the lowest crime rate in its recorded history and the crime rate has continued to set new record lows each year, including 2012. These continued reductions in crime could not have occurred without the hard work and dedication of the men and women of the Irving Police Department and the responsible actions and cooperation of Irving residents.

Source: City of Irving

By Jess Paniszczyn

As teenage boys, they left farms and ranches journeying to far flung regions of the world they never before knew existed and never again visited. World War II did not merely disrupt their lives, it completely remolded them.

Now in the winter of their lives, they find camaraderie in remembering those exciting and terrifying days when they were young, everything was new and the world was theirs.

Sitting at a line of tables pushed together in PJ’s Café, a small group of veterans whose lives once revolved around the defense, flying or maintenance of B-24 Liberators tell stories over breakfast as their children and grandchildren listen.

“My first mission was in August ’44, and I stayed there until ’45,” Don McClelland, a tail gunner for the 389^th Bomb Group, said. “I flew 31 missions for sure, but I think I flew 35, really. I flew other missions for other crews. If they thought they were going to have a bad time that day and weren’t going to get to come home… If they had families and I was just single, I said, ‘I’ll go fly your trip.’ And the next day they flew, and they didn’t come back. That’s the way it works.

“Mostly from that time, I remember the cold. But the fear of the flight didn’t seem to enter my mind. It was kind of exciting to fly those missions. There was a lot of fun involved. But I never really thought about how I could get killed doing these things. I could have been killed doing the things I did, and I don’t know why I did some of them.

“I was 18 and a half years old. I enjoyed flying and the excitement. But I was too dumb to think of the consequences of what I was getting into. I’d just go ahead and do it, and not even think about it. That is how wars are won, by the young people who don’t have good brains, who just kind of do things and don’t think about consequences.

“I’ve been extremely lucky. I’m a God fearing person, and God’s in control. He was with me all the time I was over there.”

“You had an angel flying with you, too,” Raymond Landtroop, a pilot for the 389^th Bomb Group, added, laughing.

“On my fourth mission we went to Saarbrücken,” Raymond said. “That was the largest railroad marshalling yard in Germany. We had a shell that went through our left wing and didn’t explode. If it had of, I wouldn’t be here. Normally, they did explode.

“Anyway, I bombed that place five times. About every two weeks we’d go hit it. They’d rebuild it, we’d go over and tear it out. They’d rebuild it, we’d tear it out. Any time a train wanted to go from one side of Germany to the other, they had to go through Saarbrücken. So if we kept it tore up, they couldn’t go.”

“Our other targets were ball bearing factories and machinery factories,” J.D. Morrison, an aircraft mechanic with the 492^nd Bomb Group, said.

“We bombed a synthetic oil refinery in Poland,” Raymond said. “That was a long way over there. We clobbered it good. Smoke came up to 20,000 feet then leveled off, because the wind was blowing. I guess. That’s the only time I ever went to Poland.”

Little did I know I had met a real life celebrity. Don McClelland served during the war with actor Jimmy Stewart.

“I flew tail gunner for Jimmy Stewart, he was the pilot,” Don said. “I was part of his crew. He was 34 years old when he was flying. I was only 18. One time I said, ‘What’s an old man like you doing flying these missions?’ He said, ‘You watch your mouth, boy. Don’t be talking to me like that. You don’t treat me like an old man. I can do just as good as you can.’

“He was very friendly and very intelligent. He was in the Chief of Staff Division, so he helped plan the missions the night before. Everyone liked him. If you got in trouble and you had to tell him your story, you’d better be truthful. If he caught you lying, he had no use for you.

“After the war, he went back to movies. You’ve probably seen It’s a Wonderful Life. That was one of the best ones he made.

“He lived in a neighborhood with Doris Day on one side and Lucille Ball on the other side. But when [his wife] Gloria died, he said his life was over. He went into hibernation. So he just lived upstairs in his big house. He was very reluctant to allow people to come pay him visits. But I was one he’d allow to come visit. We were good friends.

“I had a lot of respect for Jimmy Stewart, because he wanted to do his part during the war.”

Sitting further down the table, the sons of the World War II veterans, pilots and veterans themselves, discuss their fathers.

“I worry about their stories being lost,” Larry Landtroop said. “Dad has kind of kept a record of his missions. We are putting together a ‘diary’ if you will, so hopefully we will have a whole diary of what he did.”

“Just listening to them talk is so amazing,” Billy Jack Davis, a friend and Army veteran, said.

“When they did all this, about half of them were teenagers, and the rest were in their 20s,” Wally Gray said. His father, Col. Howard W. Gray joined the Army Air Corps in 1935 and was assigned to the Training Command 2^nd Air Force during WWII. Col. Gray is a deceased member of the group. “They were just young guys.”

“You couldn’t get a guy today to go on that many missions that dangerous,” Billy Jack said. “He wouldn’t do it.”

“Twenty five percent of those in the 8^th Air Force who flew missions came back,” Larry said. “Seventy-five percent of them were either shot down and captured or killed.”

“It was more dangerous to be in the 8^th Air Force than it was to be a Marine on Iwo Jima,” Billy Jack said. “They would go out on a 1000 plane mission and lose 10 percent. That is 100 airplanes with 10 men on an airplane - that is 1000 guys gone in one day.”

“There were over 250,000 lost in the 8^th Air Force,” Larry said.

“Just letting them talk about this, you see smiles all around. We are glad we were able to make these guys’ Christmas. They may not get a chance to do this again,” he added.

“We want everyone to know how proud we are of them, of what they did and the risks they took,” Billy Jack said.

“If it wasn’t for them, we might be speaking German now,” Larry said.

The North Texas Commission recently announced the election and appointment of its new officers, executive committee and directors to its board. Former Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief will serve as the 2013 chairman of the North Texas Commission; and David Tesmer, senior vice president, Advocacy and Community Benefit for Texas Health Resources, will serve as the vice chairman. Plano Mayor Phil Dyer will serve as treasurer, Gray Mayes, director, government relations, Texas Instruments, will serve as secretary and Holly Reed, regional vice president for AT&T, will be the immediate past chairman.

The following directors remain on the Executive Committee for 2013:Sandra Doyle, director, public affairs, Atmos Energy, Dan Hagan, managing director/corporate affairs, American Airlines; Dan Johnson, city manager, City of Richardson Bob Pence, president and CEO of Freese and Nichols, Inc., Stephen Tolerico, chief marketing officer, Sewell Automotive Companies, Kevin Ward, general manager, Trinity River Authority, Julie Wilson, vice president, urban development, Chesapeake Energy Corporation; Hal Thorne, OnePrime, will serve as general counsel and will serve as immediate past chairman.

Newly appointed board members are Cathy Altman, attorney, Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal LLP, Steven Bristow, vice president, community relations and advocacy, Methodist Health System, Rick Chess, president, Encore Enterprises, Jim Cline, public works director, Denton County Transportation Authority, Arnim Dontes, executive vice president for business affairs, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Brad Gorrondona, chairman, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, RaDonna Hessel, president & CEO, Grapevine Chamber of Commerce, Margaret Keliher, formerly of Texas Business for Clean Air, Stephen Knobbe, vice president, HNTB Corporation, Rick Lee, principal, HKS, Inc., Steve Love, president and CEO, Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council, Bobbie Mitchell, North Central Texas Council of Governments Board president and Denton County Commissioner,Michael Schulman, partner, Locke Lord LLP, Jonathan Seyoum, vice president operations, The Original Pancake House, Whitney Smith, chairman, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Beth Van Duyne, City of Irving, Kathy Wilkins, vice president, Alliance Operating Services and Renee Wilson, business development manager, United Technologies.

Source: North Texas Commission