Deputies charge man in shooting

Denton County sheriff’s deputies have charged a man with attempted capital murder and two counts of assault after he allegedly fired a .380-caliber pistol at an in­vestigator responding to a family violence call Thursday.

Ronnie Lee Nash

Ronnie Lee Nash, 31, of the 900 block of Doc Holiday Road near Sanger, was being treated at a hospital emergency room Thurs­­day before being booked into Denton County Jail.

Sheriff’s spokesman Tom Reedy said a woman called 911 from a mobile home park about 8 a.m. She said her son had as­saulted her and was beating his girlfriend. She said he had a gun.

Investigative Sgt. Roger Griggs said Deputy Jose Pena and Investigator Larry Kish arrived about the same time. Kish heard the call go out and was nearby, so he responded to back up the deputy, Griggs said.

The mother lives in a mobile home and her son and his girlfriend were staying in a travel trailer behind the mobile home, Griggs said.

Report: County’s growth slows

Numerous cities add few if any new residents in ’07

Denton County added more than 14,000 residents in 2007, but many cities showed little or no growth over the year, according to population estimates released Thursday.

In Denton — which in census estimates last year ranked as the ninth-fastest-growing large U.S. city — growth was sluggish. The city added 500 people after growing by nearly 3,000 in 2006.

“That’s kind of a surprise,” Mayor Mark Burroughs said of Denton’s anemic growth rate. “That’s not the impression that one gets” from the level of traffic and construction in the city.

The North Central Texas Council of Gov­ernments released the data as part of its yearly population report. The 2008 report — based largely on housing market indicators — shows growth continued in North Texas last year but at a slightly slower pace than in 2006.

Duane Dankesreiter, research manager for the council of governments, said the report reflects a slowdown in the housing market. Builders constructed fewer homes last year while vacancy rates rose, he said.

“I would suspect that next year everything is going to catch up,” Dankesreiter said. “The builders have done a great job of absorbing [occupying] the market so we don’t have a lot of empty homes.”

The report estimates population changes from Jan. 1, 2007, to Jan. 1, 2008, in a 16-county region.

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