Yesterday, Dallas Animal Services officials told the City Council there was progress in the effort to deal with the estimated 8,000 loose dogs roaming South Dallas. Still, Dallas Police Department Major Barbara Hobbs said Monday, the department needs more time to transition from enforcement to education with Dallas residents. Since Hobbs…
Dallas’ final crime numbers for 2016 are out and while crime remains historically low, Dallas’ murder clearance rate for the year, as reported by the Observer last month, took a dip last year to well below the department’s three-year average. Monday morning, interim Dallas Police Chief David Pughes told the Dallas…
The measure members of the Texas anti-abortion lobby are calling “the most important pro-life bill of the session” is officially on the books ahead of the 2017 Texas Legislative session. Late last week, state Representative Stephanie Klick and state Senator Charles Perry officially filed the Texas Right to Life-designed ban…
T.C. Broadnax is starting to get a handle on what he calls the challenge ahead. On Thursday, a little less than a month before he takes over the Dallas city manager’s office from A.C. Gonzalez, the Tacoma city manager sat down with the Dallas Observer for a discussion about his approach…
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is going to do this, apparently. Patrick formally announced Wednesday his plans to shepherd a so-called bathroom bill through the Texas legislature. If passed the bill would require visitors and workers at Texas’ public schools, government buildings and public universities to use the restroom consistent with the…
A controversial Texas mandate that some fetal tissue be buried or cremated after medical procedures remains on hold, at least for another three weeks. After a testy two-day hearing in Austin, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks said late Wednesday afternoon that he would not issue his final ruling on the…
Last summer, when a Collin County grand jury refused to indict McKinney Police Department officer Eric Casebolt, the teenage girl the officer threw to the ground made it clear that the case wasn’t over. Casebolt may have dodged criminal charges, but Dajerria Becton said she was determined to sue. Late…
In the end, it seems that the only concrete solution that will come out of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ Commission on Homelessness is another committee. Acting Tuesday afternoon on the commission’s final recommendations, the Dallas City Council’s Housing Committee agreed that the best way to pursue the commissions recommendations is forming…
As of a couple of months ago, it seemed as if former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was getting a break. On Nov. 18, Dallas County prosecutors agreed to dismiss domestic violence charges against Manziel stemming from an alleged early 2016 attack on then-girlfriend Colleen Crowley as long as Manziel…
Over the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, many people had time off to be with, or hide from, friends and family. But the cops and criminals didn’t take the season off. Here are a few crimes that you may have missed during the holidays. Bite-and-Run Dog Attack: Late…
The Dallas Cowboys’ regular season could not have gone much better. Behind rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, both long-shot MVP candidates, the Cowboys won 13 games for just the third time in team history. The club’s defense, maligned for most of the last three seasons, has come on strong…
Thursday afternoon, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System voted to allow members of the fund’s controversial Deferred Retirement Option Program to make limited, monthly withdrawals from their accounts. Thus ended a moratorium on withdrawals that began earlier this month. Members with DROP accounts will still not be allowed to make…
It can be painful to look two ways at once, unless you’re a gecko. But as we say goodbye to 2016 and embrace 2017 it’s a good time to examine those who’ve left, those who are leaving and those who’ll arrive in Dallas. Arrived or Arriving Dak Prescott — When…
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller will cap off an eventful 2016 with a trip to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Miller will interview with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Trump strategist Steve Bannon in hopes of becoming the secretary of agriculture, according to a statement released by…
Violence marred Dallas’ 2016. The city saw 163 murders through Dec. 19, up 30 percent from the 125 murders Dallas suffered by the same day last year. While the city has come a long way since Dallas’ body count peaked at 500 in 1991, the murder numbers, combined with a…
This much is clear from a viral video of a Wednesday arrest in Fort Worth: A Fort Worth police officer arrested two women, Jacqueline Craig and Brea Hymond. While making the arrest, the officer put a stun gun to Craig’s back, who is now, along with Hymond, in Mansfield’s jail, facing…
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is not done with the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled that the organization’s lawsuit against Abbott, filed last December after the governor had the FFRF’s secular nativity removed from the capitol, can proceed to trial. In his ruling, Sparks said…
The families of the officers shot and killed by Micah Johnson during a July 7 ambush following a downtown protest against police brutality are getting about $10 million from the Assist the Officer Foundation and The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings announced Tuesday. Dallas police Sgt. Michael Smith, Senior Cpl. Lorne…
Randy Gregory is practicing with the Cowboys this week, and that might the weirdest story out of Frisco in a season full of them. Gregory is beyond question is a fantastic pass rusher. Coming out of Nebraska, Gregory might have been the best pure pass rusher in the 2015 NFL…
In the end, there wasn’t much drama in Monday’s electoral college vote. Electors across the United States, despite showing a bit more independence than they usually do, ratified the coming presidency of Donald Trump, confirming that the New York real estate developer will take the oath of office on Jan…
On Monday, a Dallas County grand jury failed to reach a verdict in the manslaughter trial of ex-Garland cop Patrick Tuter, who killed Michael Allen Vincent while on duty in 2012. After the jury reported the lack of a verdict, Dallas County Judge Quay Parker declared a mistrial. Tuter and Allen’s lives…
Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston is back at it. In an attempt to build on the anti-Trinity toll road council coalition, Kingston is violating a longstanding council tradition and openly campaigning against one of his fellow sitting council members. Kingston’s target is District 6 council representative and Mayor Pro…
