No tax-rate increase, no defunding of the police department — much — and added revenue from increased property values are among the highlights of the proposed Dallas budget for 2020-21. City Council members got their first chance to probe City Manager T.C. Broadnax’s budget plan during a briefing Tuesday. Starting…
Formally ending Dallas City Council’s recess summer recess, Mayor Eric Johnson restructured the Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs, removing its only Latino representative, Paula Caldwell Blackmon. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam McGough is Blackmon’s replacement. District 12 councilmember Cara Mendelsohn has also been appointed to serve as the committee’s…
Despite protesters’ continued calls to defund the police, Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax says he never had any intention to lower the law enforcement budget. In fact, federal funding from the CARES Act passed by Congress to help counter the ongoing economic crash means the Dallas Police Department could see…
The number of murders in Dallas is on track to surpass 200 for the second year in a row, and the pandemic’s economic damage threatens to drive many more renters from their homes. Affordable housing in the city is already in short supply. No wonder then that Dallas City Council…
U.S Rep. Colin Allred said it’s clear now that Texas reopened too soon and with too few precautions. “Though you can’t predict a pandemic, it didn’t have to be this way,” he said. Allred, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and representatives from Richardson Independent School District and UT Southwestern Medical…
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department has fumbled a few times with its COVID-19 protocols. First, employees were told not to wear masks because that would frighten the inmates. Then, the department started issuing its employees one disposable mask per week and told them to sanitize them with alcohol or Lysol…
Council Member Adam Bazaldua is working to rename a section of R.L. Thornton Freeway after a more deserving person – Juanita J. Craft. Even if you don’t know who Craft is, her name probably still sounds familiar to you. A recreation center at Baylor Scott Hospital bears her name, as…
Earlier this year, 200 people packed into Old Parkland to hear city leaders talk about the future of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. DART had some pretty big projects coming up, like the overhaul of its bus system and the D-2 downtown subway, and they were working toward major public transit…
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says numerous complaints have been made about businesses where masks, among other things, cannot be worn all the time. Some of these businesses are bars in every sense of the word, but they’re open and are at risk of spreading the coronavirus. Jenkins called these…
At the beginning of July, North Texans gathered outside the Dallas Police Department’s headquarters for a candlelight demonstration in support of changing the name of Lamar Street to Botham Jean Boulevard in honor of the man murdered in his apartment by now-former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger in 2018. Now, community activists…
In 2016, Tony Timpa had a run-in with the police. As he stood outside a porn shop on Mockingbird Lane, Timpa called the cops, telling them he was scared, off of his medication and suffering from mental illness. By the end of the night, the 32-year-old Timpa was dead, dying…
U.S. cities are experiencing budget shortfalls amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Congress has greenlit about $3 trillion in coronavirus relief, Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams said most American cities have been left behind. “Cities have been on the front line of the battle, and we are being hit hard,” he said…
Amid weeks of protests over police brutality, a poll released Tuesday shows that a majority of Texans support law-enforcement reform. The poll, which was conducted by Progress Texas and Public Policy Polling, showed that 73% of respondents agree police brutality is a “serious or somewhat serious problem.” Ed Espinoza, executive…
Amid weeks of demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd, a coalition of community activists and faith leaders who marched through the streets of Dallas is now looking to promote “policies to support the protest.” One of the coalition’s main goals is to reallocate police funding into historically underfunded…
Historic places all around the city – places that make Dallas Dallas – are at risk of being erased from the city’s landscape. Every year, Preservation Dallas, an organization focused on preserving and revitalizing historic spaces in the city, publishes a list of local, endangered areas. By highlighting these places in…
MJ Hegar will battle Republican incumbent John Cornyn for his U.S. Senate seat in November. Tuesday, Air Force veteran Hegar defeated Dallas state Sen. Royce West in the Democratic runoff for Senate. The last time Texas sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate was in 1993. But Hegar told her…
After a longer-than-usual wait, the primary runoff elections are finally here. Back in March, Gov. Greg Abbott postponed the elections because of the pandemic. Now, with COVID-19 numbers surging, Dallas County residents are ready to head out into the hot, Texas-summer heat to cast their votes. Daniel Bradley, the central count manager…
It was almost two years ago that off-duty Dallas police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, while he was watching television in his own apartment. Guyger said she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own and thought he was a burglar. Two years later, protesters against…
On Saturday afternoon, as Independence Day celebrations were getting started in backyards across Dallas, about 40 people gathered in Klyde Warren Park. Protesters stood holding signs that read “Say Their Names” and “Black Lives Matter” as the afternoon sun beat down on them. “Many Black people are not connected to…
This week, the Dallas Police Department modified its general orders to allow the release of videos from officers’ body cameras within 72 hours of critical incidences. On Thursday, panelists discussing justice and the Black Lives Matter movement said this change is a step in the right direction but that there…
It’s no secret that Texas is having trouble getting a handle on the coronavirus. Cases are surging and plans to reopen the economy just got rolled back. In a virtual conference on Wednesday, state Democrats called Gov. Greg Abbott’s response to COVID-19 reckless and urged him to mandate the use…
Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that students would be returning to public schools this fall. But as COVID-19 cases surge in Texas, Rena Honea, the president of the teachers union Alliance-ATF, said she has concerns about sending kids back to school. Honea and Joanna Cattanach, Democratic candidate for…
