Some school districts already had a tough time recruiting substitute teachers, and the coronavirus pandemic may make it even trickier. Thursday, Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announced the district will offer virtual-only courses from Sept. 8 until Oct. 6, with the option of tacking on another four weeks. After that,…
Dallas Independent School District will not have in-person classes or sports training until at least Oct. 6, Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said just minutes ago. Speaking at a news conference broadcast live on Facebook, Hinojosa said the board of trustees in two weeks will consider whether to stay with online-only classes…
Until recently, Aaron Escajeda had never been to Dallas. He grew up in El Paso and worked at a settlement home, surrounding him in the flow of immigrants. So, when he came to the Big D with 15 of his classmates from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs…
One week after the start of the fall semester, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stopped offering in-person classes. Within that time, 130 students and five employees contracted the coronavirus, according to NPR. Soon, many North Texas colleges are also opening their doors to in-person learning, and Mimi…
The Dallas Police Department stood by the claims made in its after-action report on the response to police brutality protests despite friction from the Public Safety Committee at a special called meeting on Tuesday. The department, as well as the Office of Community Police Oversight, is investigating 50 use-of-force complaints…
Last month, Gainesville City Council members voted unanimously to remove one of the town’s two Confederate monuments. In a 4-1 decision Monday morning, Cooke County Commissioners opted to keep the other. Activists from grassroots organization PRO Gainesville say the Confederate statue, which towers over the courthouse lawn, is a testament to…
Foolproof coronavirus tracking continues to elude Texas. Sunday, Dallas County reported a spike of more than 5,000 additional COVID-19 cases after the state’s health department unloaded a backlog of previously unreported positives. The majority of those date to July, when the county was already setting record highs in daily case…
Rubin Sasavi, a Dallas activist, lay on his stomach with his hands in front of him. Sasavi had come out on the evening of June 1 to protest police brutality following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Now a cloud of tear gas was…
North Texas club owners are becoming increasingly exasperated with Gov. Greg Abbott over his June executive order that closed the state’s stand-alone bars. Now, they’re ramping up calls to reopen or to receive some form of financial assistance. Thursday, Dot’s Hop House & Cocktail Courtyard in Deep Ellum posted a…
Thursday, Dallas teachers caravanned to a school board meeting to demand that in-person classes be delayed until January 2021. Members of a local teachers union and their supporters held the demonstration to urge Dallas ISD to keep schools closed. Rena Honea, president of Dallas’ Alliance/AFT union, said that it isn’t…
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…
Earlier this year, Dallas hair salon owner Shelley Luther entered the national spotlight after she was jailed for defying state and local orders to close her business. Now she could be sliding into a Texas Senate seat. Saturday, Prosper state Sen. Pat Fallon received the Republican nomination for the U.S…
Returning to school is never fun, but the coronavirus pandemic has made it exponentially more surreal. Last week, the Texas Education Agency released guidance stating that masks must be worn in the classroom. It also said that face shields can be used in certain educational contexts. But Dr. Erin Carlson,…
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…
Take a glance at those two photos above of Texas Democratic Senate candidate MJ Hegar. While they’re quite similar, discerning eyes might detect slight differences between them. For instance, in the photo on the left, she looks like a 44-year-old veteran awarded a Purple Heart after a National Guard medivac…
Texas Democrats are gearing up to lick a ton of envelopes. Monday, the Texas Democratic Party announced it would mail more than 815,000 absentee ballot applications in August to eligible voters, such as seniors and people with disabilities. The move is part of its vote-by-mail program, which aims to send…
Thursday, Texas Democratic Party officials were featured on Pod Save America, a progressive political podcast. The show’s co-host opened with a familiar question: Is this the year Texas turns blue? Manny Garcia, the party’s executive director, answered without hesitating. “Hell yes,” he said. He would say that naturally, and 2020…
Nearly five months have passed since the coronavirus pandemic first hit North Texas and everything is still topsy-turvy. Trying to keep up with the latest developments can give a person whiplash. Here’s Dallas County in a nutshell today: The daily coronavirus case rate is decreasing. Monday, Dallas County Health and…
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…
Monday, the Trump administration announced it would be shaving four weeks off the deadline for people to respond to the 2020 census, effectively ensuring certain minority communities will be undercounted. Democratic lawmakers nationwide have complained that the move could hurt their chances of reelection since the census alters the way congressional…
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…
