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…
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…
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke endorsed the ambitious economic recovery plan unveiled by his one-time opponent, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, during a Zoom conference call Friday. Announced Thursday, the “Build Back Better” plan aims to create 5 million new jobs in the U.S.’ manufacturing and technology sectors. It…
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…
A federal judge recently ordered children who have been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for more than 20 days to be released by July 17. But demonstrators protesting for immigration reform outside Dallas City Hall on Saturday say that order isn’t enough. “This is a victory, but it…
Amber Sims lives in what was once a freedmen’s town, built by people who were born into slavery and then emancipated. But very few remnants of the area’s history are left today, she said. Correcting racial inequities in Dallas starts with addressing that history, said Sims, the director of regional…
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Dallas County continues to rise, but the city’s two drive-thru test sites are set to lose federal funding at the end of the month. Texas is one of five states — the others are Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Pennsylvania — to have this funding cut,…
Wednesday, the Dallas City Council got its latest look at the novel coronavirus-sized hole that’s still being torn in the city’s budget. The damage, so far at least, is significant but seemingly surmountable. Amid all the numbers, however, was a stark warning from Dallas’ chief financial officer. For both the…
A year ago last Thursday, the town of Waskom in deep East Texas declared itself a sanctuary city from abortion. The move was as notable for its novelty as its glaring unconstitutionality, but it started a movement. At the urging of East Texas Right to Life director and provocateur Mark…
In the end, VisitDallas did enough. Wednesday afternoon, after months of back and forth between the city and the agency charged with marketing it, the Dallas City Council signed off on a five-year contract extension with VisitDallas by a 14-1 vote. The council’s vote came after a days-long email campaign…
Ten members of the Dallas City Council sent a letter to Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax on Tuesday with some big news for budget season: Dallas is going to take a serious look at how it budgets for public safety. For the first time in a long time, the city’s…
Everyone — the protesters, members of the Dallas City Council and the media — knows what they think happened on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge last Monday night. They experienced it themselves, heard about it from their friends and saw it on video. There are some details that need to…
More than 200 speakers and three rounds of interrogation of Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall later, and the Dallas City Council exited Friday night’s eight-hour, remote meeting with more questions than answers. Hall still can’t fully explain what happened on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Monday night, and the…
More than 600 protesters penned in and arrested by Dallas Police Department officers during an otherwise peaceful protest Monday night will not be charged with a crime, according to Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall and Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax. After rallying at Frank Crowley Courthouse just outside of…
After days of rallies, marches and clashes with police, the Dallas protesters calling for change after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police office paused Wednesday to air their grievances in front of audience that included members of Dallas City Council, Dallas County Commissioners Court and Dallas Police…
Monday morning, fresh out of meeting with Dallas police officials, Dominique Alexander said he and the protesters he helped organize wanted a specially called meeting of the City Council to fix what they believe is the city’s lack of police oversight. Tuesday afternoon, after another protest and hundreds of arrests…
The catalyst for the last four days’ protests in Dallas is new, if horrifyingly familiar. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauven allegedly murdered George Floyd, a black man, last month by kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. People in Dallas and around the world are angry. “I’m just enraged…
