A half-decade ago, Dallas County came this close to signing off on a contract that could’ve banned in-person visits at its county jail. Tuesday, by a unanimous vote, the Dallas County Commissioners Court approved a plan that will see county jail inmates charged just $.01 per minute for phone calls…
Show me a silver lining, I will find you a cloud. From 2014 to last year, the Dallas public school system became a state leader and role model for its ability to turn around failing schools. That’s the silver lining. The cloud is what happened next. As soon as the…
Airbnb, Vrbo and the rest of their short-term rental brethren appear set to head down the same road traveled by Uber and Lyft five years ago. The Dallas City Council wants a task force, one that will make sure the city gets its cut and will respond to concerned neighbors…
Dallas is nowhere close to fulfilling an ambitious plan to create a citywide network of bicycle lanes. In 2011, the City Council adopted a plan to create 1,300 miles of bike routes, including bikes lanes, street markings and multipurpose trails, that would promote “wide-spread use of bicycles” in the car-centric…
The city is proposing implementing new restrictions and raising fees to address safety concerns about its “Dockless Mobility Program.” The program allows five companies — Bird, Jump, Lime, Ojo and Wheels — to blanket the city in scooters that can be picked up, rented by the minute and then dropped…
If it seems like just yesterday that the Iowa Democratic Party was making a mockery of their caucus’ treasured first-in-the-nation status thanks to their inability to count votes or name a winner — it isn’t. But it’s close. Things are just getting started and, already, Texans are about to get…
A little over a year ago, The Dallas Morning News hired a new editorial page editor, Brendan Miniter, from the (George W.) Bush Presidential Center (Library) in Dallas. Ever since, the page has been embarrassing. And I guess it would be fair to wonder who is embarrassed. Clearly not the…
A crowd of more than 5,000 people roared as Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders stepped out from behind a curtain Friday night and made his way to the lectern at Mesquite Arena. “You know, I was thinking, I have never been to a rodeo in my life, but I do…
Dallas’ housing authority’s efforts to redevelop a slew of public housing projects hit a snag this week after residents protested that they weren’t adequately notified. On Monday, DHA’s board considered adopting changes to a long-term planning document formalizing details about the plan. But after hearing complaints from angry residents who…
First Baptist Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress is not a stooge. In fact, if one even raises the idea that he’s totally in the tank for President Donald Trump, providing evangelical cover for keeping kids in cages, hush money payments to porn stars and absolutely anything else Trump decides to during…
David Brown, the former Dallas police chief, is one of a handful of candidates being seriously considered to be Chicago’s next top cop, the Tribune reported on Thursday. The Chicago Police Board is reviewing candidates and will select three to forward to the mayor. Other top prospects include a deputy…
A former Dallas Police Department officer was found not guilty Thursday of charges related to a 2017 shooting in which he killed a woman at an Old East Dallas apartment complex. After deliberating for two days, a Dallas County jury acquitted Christopher Hess, 42, of a single count of aggravated…
Nationwide, instances of white supremacist groups handing out leaflets and posting flyers in public places more than doubled last year, and Texas is one of a handful of states leading the pack. Those are among the conclusions included in an Anti-Defamation League report on white supremacist propaganda released this week…
Never let it be said that Dallas isn’t doing its best to make things easier on you, dear residents. Later this month, thanks to the city’s largess, you’ll be able to experience all the fun of a municipal court proceeding, right in your own backyard. That’s right, everyone in Dallas…
Sometimes somebody just rings the damn bell. Two young guys who are smart, one an analyst at the Manhattan Institute in New York and another an urban developer here in Dallas, co-wrote an op-ed piece recently that rang the bell loud and clear on DART, our regional transit agency. The…
Sometimes somebody who actually knows a thing or two looks at a story on the TV news and just can’t stay still about it. Documentary filmmaker Dustin Grant has been working for a year on a film about Jim’s (benighted) Car Wash on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in South…
Dallas’ natural gas provider, Atmos, is requesting an $18 million rate hike. It’s the biggest yet and comes on the heels of a protracted pricing dispute with the city. Atmos claims the rate increase is necessary to fund the replacement of the city’s aging pipeline network. It will raise consumer bills…
A Dallas County jury is deliberating whether to make former Dallas Police Department officer Christopher Hess the third DFW police officer sent to prison for an on-duty police shooting in as many years. Hess shot 12 times at Genevive Dawes, hitting her five times and killing her on Jan. 18,…
Dallas’ hometown team in the Overwatch League, the Dallas Fuel, opened the 2020 competitive season with a two-day festival at the Esports Stadium Arlington. After a less than stellar 10-18 season in 2019, capped by a disappointing 12-loss streak, the Fuel hoped to clinch a pair of wins at home as the first chapter in a redemption story.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, forever at war with affordable healthcare, women’s personal autonomy and reality, added a new foe to his list Monday afternoon: California. Three years after the fact, Paxton is making his objection to the Golden State’s ban on state-paid travel to Texas his office’s newest cause célèbre,…
The Dallas City Council wants much tougher penalties for those caught participating in street races in the city. Dallas city staff, and its police department, appear ready to oblige. Monday afternoon at City Hall, Dallas Police Department and city staff filled in the council’s public safety committee on just what…
Thursday afternoon, Dallas got hit with a punch that’s been on its way for long time. A Dallas County jury found that the city, thanks in large part to former city manager Mary Suhm, owes drilling company Trinity East somewhere between $23 and $33 million for accepting $19 million from…
