Dispatches from Dallas, September 20 edition

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think.

This week, in news from Dallas-Fort Worth, we have another grab bag: a lot of election news including the failed maneuvers to keep early voting out of Tarrant County colleges; budget and tax news from Dallas, Fort Worth, and the counties; juvenile justice in Dallas and Tarrant counties; what’s going on with Fort Worth ISD after the mayor of Fort Worth called them out; trouble at UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth as a cadaver scandal is rooted out; Robert Roberson’s shaken-baby capital murder case moves closer to an execution despite the science behind his conviction being discredited; Denton County’s shelter screws up big time; and more.

Several stories this week have warnings for what you’ll see if you click through. Please read responsibly as some of these stories deal with sensitive subjects and could be traumatizing.

This week’s post was brought to you by the music of Postmodern Jukebox. Their current tour is missing Dallas, but will be at the Tobin in San Antonio just before Thanksgiving. They give great show, so check them out!

  • Last-minute news that appeared while I was writing this post: Dallas PD Chief Eddie Garcia is retiring after 3 1/2 years, and after a promise that we’d keep his salary at parity with other major Texas Departments until 2027 so they couldn’t poach him. I wish him well but I’m worried about what this says about the dysfunction in the city’s upper management.
  • Tarrant County thought about removing universities and colleges from its list of early voting locations, but after students protested and Democratic candidates said they’d sue, the county backed down and kept all the college and university locations. The Texas Tribune has more. The Star-Telegram waded in with an editorial on the backhanded way County Judge Tim O’Hare tried to manage axing the college locations (he waited until the Democratic commissioners were out of town). And GOP Chair Bo French said the quiet part out loud: the GOP wanted those college sites closed because it improves Republican chances; see also: the Texas Tribune again. The GOP also censured Republican commissioners who voted for the college locations. The censure comes in lockstep with complaints from Republican PACs whose names you already know.
  • Having lost on the colleges, O’Hare got his way on kicking voter registration folks out of public buildings. I guess now that highs are mostly only in the 90s it’s OK to make people stand outside for hours in the sun.
  • Related: This Bud Kennedy op-ed in the Star-Telegram lays out a list of acts of malfeasance that Kennedy thinks is eventually going to cost the GOP its dominance in Tarrant County.
  • Tarrant County commissioners also gave themselves raises, along with other officials including the Sherriff, and lowered the hospital district tax rate, apparently without discussing it with the hospital.
  • Meanwhile, Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig publicly tested voting machines in front of concerned citizens, ballot board members, and county employees. He was hoping to convince everybody that the election will be conducted fairly and properly. Good luck with that, Mr. Ludwig.
  • The Tarrant GOP is getting its man: in the bizarre case where GOP Chair Bo French refused to seat an elected precinct chair because he claimed the guy was a secret Democrat, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the GOP could fill the precinct chair position on a temporary basis while the actual suit continues.
  • Noncitizen voting isn’t actually happening in Texas, according to known pinko commies the Heritage Foundation.
  • Texas Monthly has a piece on abortion abolitionists, the folks who want to try women who have abortions for murder. We knew it was coming, and here they are. I mention it to you because the article talks about how this issue played out in the ousting of north Texas House rep Stephanie Klick, who was also a target over the Paxton impeachment.
  • The DMN has an explainer on which items on your ballot actually affect reproductive rights and your (in)ability to get an abortion in Texas.
  • Dallas County commissioners passed a resolution supporting trans folks and calling on the Lege to codify trans rights and stop persecuting them. Good luck with that, folks. The DMN’s headline discusses LGBTQ folks before getting to our trans neighbors in the subhead.
  • As our host noted, Richardson Democratic state Rep. Ana Maria Ramos is running for House Speaker. Good luck with that, Rep. Ramos.
  • At an event here in Dallas, the House Education Chair says vouchers are coming.
  • As our host also noted, Attorney General Paxton pulled that 2016 opinion that suggested the State Fair could ban guns because a private organization runs it. That didn’t help him with Thursday’s ruling here in Dallas County which says the State Fair can go on without guns. I expect him to have appealed by the time you read this post even if I don’t have it documented.
  • Wandering over to the City of Dallas, we passed a budget this week. The DMN has the details including an update on Skillman Library. The original budget planned to close Skillman, which is a few miles from where I live; a revised version took some funds from South Dallas, which got the DM to write an editorial on why saving a library in north (white) Dallas with funds intended for south (Black) Dallas is a bad idea. The council ended up using funds intended for east (historically Latine but gentrifying) Dallas, which is close to Skillman’s actual neighborhood, instead.
  • Related: The Texas Supreme Court forced Dallas to drop three anti-HERO proposals from the charter amendment section of the ballot in November. For those who don’t remember, this is about the three amendments Monty Bennett is sponsoring to tie the hands of the council and redirect a bunch of money into DPD’s coffers.
  • The City of Fort Worth also passed their budget.
  • The Tarrant County Appraisal District also passed their budget even though local school districts complained about it.
  • You know who didn’t pass their budget? DART, which is in trouble as member cities consider reducing their contribution. Meanwhile, a new study shows how DART spent its money in 2023 and where it went physically as well as in terms of budget.
  • The Dallas County juvenile justice scandal gets worse every time I read something about it. Now the state has found kids were illegally put in solitary confinement. See also the Texas Tribune. Meanwhile local advocates are demanding the county clean house. Good luck to them, and I mean it sincerely and not at all sarcastically.
  • Speaking of kids, Tarrant County has found an alternative to Youth Advocate Programs, which they canned beginning this month because YAP talked about diversity and equity on their web site.
  • The Star-Telegram had a piece on the life of Anthony Johnson, who died in the Tarrant County jail earlier this year. And there’s another campaign to get the full video of Johnson’s death out.
  • Meanwhile, in the matter of Chasity Bonner’s death in the Tarrant County jail, the Tarrant County DA has asked both her family and the Star-Telegram to withdraw requests for an autopsy report. He’s also requested that the Attorney General’s office withhold the report. Despite the fact that the autopsy said Bonner died of natural causes, the DA wants to withhold on grounds of an ongoing criminal investigation.
  • Unsurprisingly, Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who is both Black and a Democrat, and known for getting into it with County Judge Tim O’Hare, planned to meet with the Department of Justice about deaths in the jail.
  • Jumping back to Dallas, we have a DMN op-ed by a Black community leader and pastor on how ForwardDallas needs to support existing neighborhoods, especially in the historically underserved neighborhoods of the city. He specifically mentions the Little Elm-Northpark disaster where old regulations were applied to new buildings when new ones designed to protect neighborhoods would have required changes to plans or forbidden them altogether. The Dallas Free Press has a related article about how ForwardDallas has failed to help a neighborhood in far southeast Dallas where an elementary school and homes close to an industrial area can’t get traction to find out, much less, stop, whatever’s going on nearby in an industrial zone.
  • You may remember that Dallas and other cities in the Metroplex have tried to rein in short-term rentals but have been shot down by the Lege and the state judiciary. Less than a year after the Dallas ordinance limiting STRs was struck, Dallas residents with headaches from STRs have no real recourse.
  • This is a horrible story with a north Texas connection: a teenager from Stephenville was sentenced to 80 years for child porn and violent imagery, most of which he’d bullied other kids into performing and sending on Discord. Use care in reading this article: among other acts, the article refers to the injury and killing of animals.
  • Fort Worth ISD continues to generate news around its superintendent and board after Mayor Mattie Parker called them out. The board met this week to review her performance in a closed session. And the crisis generated an editorial from the Star-Telegram telling the board to get off the fence and make changes whether or not they fire the superintendent.
  • UNT is also in the news. They’re eliminating faculty groups to comply with the state’s DEI ban; eliminating in-class voter registration drives; reducing their budget to make up for rising costs and an enrollment dip; and dealing with a covert photographer at one of their gyms who’s posting pictures of women working out on a “lewd website”.
  • UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth was the subject of an NBC News expose about their use of unclaimed bodies in Tarrant and Dallas counties without trying to contact family members. The program saves the counties money on cremation and some bodies are used in other facilities, which earns money for UNT. The story contains discussion of how bodies are used in medical research, so read accordingly. Both Tarrant and Dallas counties have torn up their agreements with the center; UNT has closed the program and fired the leadership, which is the least everybody involved could do.
  • In case you didn’t know, 2024 is the hottest summer ever and Tarrant County is in moderate drought.
  • You may remember that Hood County was having some problems with its bitcoin plant. Now the folks who run it want to expand the power plant, to the dismay of its neighbors. Inside Climate News and the Texas Tribune have more.
  • In Arlington, drillers have come back for a third bite at the apple after fracking near homes and a day care was rejected again.
  • Dallas has failed at lead remediation and the DMN’s editorial board calls it a fiasco.
  • As our host has noted, Amtrak is getting a grant of almost $64 million for that long-awaited high-speed line between Dallas and Houston. Meanwhile, north Texas leaders want a high-speed rail authority in hopes of getting rail operating both in the Metroplex and to Houston.
  • It took a few days but Grand Prairie got its water cleared of that foam we mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
  • This is pretty chilling in light of the racist lies Trump and Vance are telling about Haitians in Ohio: Popular Information explains what mass deportation would actually entail. It’s really ugly, friends.
  • The case of Robert Roberson, the east Texas father convicted of capital murder on the basis of discredited “shaken baby” science, is in the hands of the Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Abbott. 86 House representatives have signed a letter asking for clemency for Roberson; other supporters include author John Grisham, who says Texas is about to execute an innocent man. The execution is set for October 17.
  • Collin County’s favorite boy Ken Paxton is hiding the details of his real estate purchases from the state, and therefore from us.
  • You may remember a company called Street Cops who were going to train law enforcement in Lewisville and Collin County until it was pointed out that the training was bigoted and taught unconstitutional maneuvers. The town of Crandall in Kaufman County has a Street Cops course booked for January, but now that the Dallas Observer has alerted them to the scandal, they may cancel.
  • This Sherwood News article about regional grocery chains focuses on Texas favorite HEB and has some thoughts from Randall Onstead, formerly of Randall’s, which is now owned by Safeway.
  • This is another really upsetting story so be careful about clicking through: Denton’s animal services euthanized an elderly family pet who escaped his yard without consulting a vet and in violation of their own hold policies. Unsurprisingly, the city announced an independent review of policies and procedures at the shelter.
  • Here’s a nun update for our host: The Bishop of Fort Worth says an ‘odor of schism’ is rising between the Church and those nuns in Arlington. Specifically, they’ve rejected the authority of the order the Vatican put in charge of them and affiliated with the traditionalist (read: pre-Vatican II) Society of Saint Pius X.
  • The Oak Lawn neighborhood here in Dallas is the home of north Texas’ first affordable senior housing for LGBTQ folks. May there be many more!
  • The latest on the planned Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth is that it’s moving from the neighborhood where Opal Lee grew up to the historic Southside Community Center, which they’re planning to purchase from the city.
  • Frisco is upgrading Toyota Stadium to the tune of $182 million, to be completed in 2028. The city council also approved incentives for mixed-use development around the stadium. It’s not my tax money so I’m not complaining.
  • My favorite area museum, the Kimbell, has acquired a long-lost painting by Artemisia Genteleschi. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
  • In sad news, local musician Joshua Ray Walker, who has been fighting cancer, is now facing lung cancer with a probably Stage IV diagnosis. I wish him well and need to drop some money in his GoFundMe, and complain again about how most folks in this country aren’t as lucky as I was with insurance to cover their cancer care.
  • Last but not least, the DMN tells us about all the State Fair food, not just the flashy finalists. And on a related note, Texas Monthly explains that until this year, the State Fair didn’t make the judges try the semifinalists before voting, which I feel like explains some things. If Ken Paxton fails on getting guns back in the Fair, maybe I’ll check it out myself.

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