A Family Thing

Fort Worth declared one of America's 10 best cities to raise a family

Fort Worth is where you want to be if you're raising a family.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth CVB

Those born and raised in Fort Worth sure are lucky. Our city was just named the third best in America to raise a family.

A study conducted by SmartAsset, a personal finance company, considered factors like high school graduation rate, unemployment rate, crime rate, price of child care, cost of living, and percentage of the population under age 20 to determine the rankings. Texas dominates with five cities in the top 10. Besides Fort Worth, Arlington comes in at No. 4, El Paso at No. 8, and Corpus Christi tied with Austin at No. 9.

Fort Worth is the highest ranking Texas city thanks to its high-quality schools and amount of young people; 31 percent of Forth Worth's population is under 20. Just down the road, Arlington offers ideal qualities for families, including a low unemployment rate of 4.3 percent and a high reading and math proficiency of 79.7 percent.

Compared to the other top Texas towns, Austin boasts the highest proficiency in math and reading (81.5 percent) and the highest high school graduation rate (90.1 percent). It also has the lowest poverty rate (14.5 percent) and unemployment rate (4.2 percent).

El Paso boasts the fifth lowest crime rate of all the cities in the study, and in Corpus Christi, housing is relatively affordable, only requiring 22 percent of income.

While they don't crack the top 10, Texas' other large cities, San Antonio (No. 11), Dallas (No. 14), and Houston (No. 19), land in the top 20. The No. 1 spot goes to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

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Crime News

Professor at TCU in Fort Worth charged with possession of child porn

Photo by Christopher Gower on Unsplash

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A theology professor at Texas Christian University has been charged with possession of child pornographpy.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Charles Kilby Bellinger, 62, a professor of theology and librarian at the Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, allegedly stored pornographic images of children on his work computer.

Bellinger was charged via criminal complaint with possession of child pornography and arrested on October 4, said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.

The DOJ began a federal investigation after TCU’s IT staff reported they had detected pornographic images with concerning file names, including “infant” and “toddler,” on Bellinger’s work computer.

Investigators found multiple sexually explicit images of pre-pubescent minors on a hard drive and an SD card removed from Dr. Bellinger’s office.

At a detention hearing on Thursday, an agent testified that law enforcement also seized multiple encrypted devices from a locked safe in his office. Forensic investigation of those devices is ongoing.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Like all defendants, Dr. Bellinger is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Fort Worth Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit conducted the investigation with the TCU campus police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aisha Saleem is prosecuting the case.

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