Oscar Ramirez looks older than his 30 years. He is reserved and wears a simple blue button-down shirt and jeans. His skin is weathered, and crow’s feet frame his dark brown eyes. His nails are bitten down, and his arms are sporadically etched with small, thin scars. Life has been…
Last week, we told you about 13-year-old Gaby, who was given an order of deportation from immigration Judge Michael Baird. Gaby is from Honduras, and will be sent back this fall after having been in the United States for less than a year. Her court appearances will have taken place…
In February, Mayor Mike Rawlings created a task force to fight against what he calls Dallas’ “barbell economy.” Dallas is a wealthy city, experiencing 68 percent GDP growth between 2000 and 2012, but it is also a city with pockets of concentrated poverty that promote blight and toxic stress for…
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott rejected a request from Republican state Representative Jason Villalba to investigate Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins’ use of asset forfeiture funds to make good on a February 2013 traffic accident Watkins caused. Abbott told Villalba that he can’t initiate an investigation based solely on…
A line of people was snaking around the back of the office building by the time Catholic Charities staff rolled in at 7 on Saturday morning. Most were teenagers and young adults accompanied by their families. Several were alone, here to solve their substantial legal troubles on their own. Some…
An analysis of data compiled and released by The New York Times surmises that, despite the hopes and claims of groups like Battleground Texas, Texas is unlikely to become a Democratic stronghold, or even a consistent battleground, anytime soon. The reason? Unlike other southern states that have seen swings in…
He’s still in his 20s, but Amarildo Gonzalez has worked construction in the Dallas area for several years now, traveling the metro area repairing foundations and doing other work. He’s worked through rain and ice storms, but the brutal Texas summers are by far the worst — especially with Texas’…
On November 21, 2013, 13-year-old Gaby entered the United States via Hidalgo, Texas. She had journeyed there, alone, from Honduras. She was apprehended by border patrol, and after a stay in one of the federal shelters, was released to her two parents, who live in Dallas…
Over the objections of their Park Cities neighbors, the Dallas City Council voted this afternoon to approve a zoning change that will allow for the construction of a new luxury mid-rise apartment building on Cole Avenue site currently occupied by the Saltillo Apartments. See also: Highland Park, Fighting Luxury Apartment…
Ixar, a slight, gangling teenager, nervously fidgeted in his chair as Judge Michael Baird stared him down. Babies’ cries could be heard echoing through the halls, but it did not break the formal tension within the courtroom. Ixar’s eyes flashed between the translator and Baird. He had come a long…
We already knew homosexuality was pretty much the same thing as alcoholism. But now, top Texas GOP leaders inform us that allowing gay marriage would be akin to allowing polygamy, incest and pedophilia, according to a brief filed by members of the Texas Conservative Coalition in support of Texas’ ban…
After receiving the presentation from the city attorney’s office and the Dallas Police Department that we told you about on Monday, the Dallas City Council affirmed its unanimous distaste for sex offenders but raised questions about whether the city should enact tougher restrictions on where registered offenders can live. See…
Back from its July recess, a divided Dallas City Council took up work again on a package of regulations for cabs and ride-sharing services that aims to bring the city up to date with the changing transportation landscape. Wednesday’s hearing was one more step toward a final vote on the…
On Tuesday afternoon, with summer vacation on the wane, a sparse a handful of families could be found at Fair Park’s entrance at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, en route to the aquarium or the Texas Discovery Gardens. Further into the park, there was a man sitting on a bench…
If the point of a plastic bag fee is get people to stop using plastic bags, then it may not make sense to give the bags away to people who can’t afford the fee, though the Texas Department of State Health Services says poor people on federal aid shouldn’t have…
It’s been six months, 11 days, and, oh, about three-and-a-half hours since City Manager A.C. Gonzalez was voted into office on a promise to shake things up at City Hall, and it’s finally happened. The city announced today that Gonzalez has injected new blood into upper management by bringing in…
Dallas Police Chief David Brown never gave a terribly convincing defense of an ordinance barring protesters from demonstrating near highways. He said it was intended to protect the safety of motorists who might be distracted by a sign-waving demonstrator, but as council member Philip Kingston highlighted as the City Council…
For the last month, Dallas has been buzzing with plans to temporarily shelter thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children. Some 60,000 kids are expected to flow into the United States this year, and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins’ hotly debated plan would have provided temporary relief for stressed border resources, in…
On Thursday, the city of Dallas’ Fair Housing Office released a presentation outlining its specific policies regarding dress codes and other means of potential discrimination at bars, restaurants and other public accommodations. There’s nothing new in the guidelines, which were seemingly reiterated in response to the multiple charges of racism…
We’d be remiss if we didn’t start this post by saying that Unfair Park is not an entomologist. Not even close. That being said, looking at the address of locations being sprayed to combat West Nile, we think we’ve noticed a pattern. Mosquito control measures this year had focused on…
Local protests have increased in recent weeks against the expected influx of thousands of unaccompanied Central American children, part of an unprecedented surge of kids fleeing poverty and violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. As resources are stretched at the border, at Lackland Air Force base and other shelters,…
If there’s one thing Unfair Park has taken away from the high-stakes civic lesson that’s been the Cityplace Sam’s Club case thus far, it’s this: The notices sent to homeowners telling them about proposed zoning changes in their neighborhoods are terrible. The notices are meant to let people who own…
