During his bid for Denton County sheriff in 2016, Republican Tracy Murphree boasted he would beat up any transgender woman who dared to enter a public restroom occupied by his daughter. Now, a transgender woman is aiming to take Murphree’s job. A week ago, former law enforcement supervisor Freyja Odinsdottir announced…
Shelley Luther could soon be trading her shears for a state Senate seat. Saturday, at a pro-law enforcement “Blue Lives Matter” rally, the Dallas hair salon owner announced that she would be running for District 30 in a special election. In a video from the event, Luther spoke to supporters…
The internet is a tool people can use to reach their full potential, says Jaime Resendez, vice chair of the Dallas City Council’s Workforce, Education and Equity Committee. It has become vital to employment and education. But some areas of Dallas don’t have adequate access to this important tool, and…
First it was one, then it was two, then it was more than a dozen. Kevin Betts, owner of North Texas’ Novel Coffee Roasters, said that over the past three weeks, numerous shipments of his company’s fresh-roasted coffee were either delayed or lost in the mail. Customers have been understanding,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Texas’ Capitol grounds could soon lose seven Confederate memorials if Democratic state lawmakers have their way. In a letter sent Monday to their Republican chairs, eight Democratic members of the state’s House and Senate administration committees called for the memorials’ removal. The letter comes after protests over the police killings…
On a humid Tuesday morning in mid June, more than 100 parents, daughters, sons and activists gathered on the steps of the Tarrant County courthouse. The county’s commissioners were convening for a vote on a controversial agreement between the sheriff’s office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and members of…
MJ Hegar is aiming high. Tuesday, the decorated Air Force veteran won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate with 52.1% of the vote, defeating Dallas state Sen. Royce West by more than 4 percentage points. She was confident she’d win the runoff, but Hegar said during a phone interview Wednesday…
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…
Candace Valenzuela, a member of the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD Board of Trustees, defeated retired Air Force Col. Kim Olson Tuesday in the Democratic runoff for Texas’ 24th Congressional District. In a speech to supporters via Zoom, Valenzuela emphasized her background and how it informed her decision to run for Congress…
