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 election news; deaths and their aftermaths in the Tarrant County Jail; Dallas city charter updates; schools news; Texas history; and where to get your nude hiking on in North Texas. And more!
This week’s post was brought to you by the music of the Kleptones, who have just released the 20th anniversary remaster of A Night at the Hip Hopera, their fantastic take on Queen. Check it out on Bandcamp if you’re at all into Queen or mashups or hip hop.
First, let’s talk about the runoff next Tuesday. Early voting ends Friday and if you haven’t already cast your ballot, please get out there and vote! The Dallas Morning News has an overview of area races and recommendations. The Star-Telegram also has endorsements in area races. And if you want an alternative overview, check out the Dallas Observer’s rundown.
There are also a host of analyses and coverage of individual runoff races from various outlets: CD 12; two on HD 97; HD 33; Tarrant County precinct one; and the only race I had on my ballot, the Dallas County sheriff runoff on the Democratic side, where there’s no Republican running so the winner of the primary will cruise through the general. I’ve been getting a lot of texts from the candidates in the Sheriff race, some clearly official and others more mud-slinging and probably unofficial from somebody supporting Lupe Valdez.
We also have three stories about where money is coming from in the runoffs, specifically on the Republican side. First, the Star-Telegram introduces its readers to Mssrs. Wilks and Dunn and their contributions to candidates. Second, the DMN has a story about Greg Abbott giving $2.3m to voucher supporters in the runoff. Last, but not least, the Texas Tribune has noted the appearance of a new big donor in Texas politics: Miriam Adelson, part-owner of the Dallas Mavericks and casino magnate. She’s giving to Dade Phelan, by the way, so it’s going to be interesting to see who survives and gets the big bucks from her in the general.
The other news that I have found compelling and upsetting is the death of Anthony Johnson in the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth back in April and its ongoing fallout. The short video of the incident leading to his death can be found with this KERA story; I didn’t watch it but I’ve read the descriptions. The two jailers involved were fired but reinstated Thursday evening by Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn because the firing didn’t follow state civil service procedures. The two jailers are currently suspended.
The Star-Telegram has additional coverage (also including the video). We’ve already seen a protest since the video was released, and Tarrant County commissioners want both better communication and better tactics (some of which are not actually better) at the jail to prevent future incidents.
To put this death in context, as mentioned in a number of the articles on this case, there have been more than 60 deaths in the jail since 2017. One recent case in the news this week was the death of a 63-year-old man with mental health problems in February. I don’t know whether this death counts toward the total number I’ve seen but this week Tarrant County approved a $1.2 million settlement to an inmate who gave birth in the jail to a baby that later died. And while the defendant discussed in this case is still with us, the family of this 21-year-old with the mental capacity of a child is trying to get him moved to a care facility before he becomes another statistic. One of the problems with many of these cases is that there is no mental health care available for these defendant/patients.
The DMN also has a relevant piece covering the death of Tony Timpa in DPD custody back in 2016. That story led me to this AP series from April about lethal restraint, also a factor in the death of Anthony Johnson. I literally found the AP investigation as I was writing this story so I haven’t read it yet. But I suspect that, like reading about the deaths in the jail in Tarrant County, it’s going to be frustrating and upsetting because there’s no easy answer to how to keep inmates from dying from poor jail conditions, warehousing mentally ill folks, and bad police practices.
In other news:
- Dallas finally has an idea of the city charter amendments that might be on the ballot in November. It’ll take a while for Council to work through them, so we don’t know which ones will survive that process yet.
- One of the items that may make it to the voters is a change to let the city offer a contract to the police chief. Axios explains what Dallas is paying to keep Chief Garcia in the absence of a contract.
- Former City Manager T.C. Broadnax has acquired two more of his Dallas staff for Austin: Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune and Chief of Staff to the City Manager Genesis D. Gavino are both leaving. Meanwhile, as expected, Majed Al-Ghafry, Assistant City Manager, is moving on to become City Manager in DeSoto.
- D Magazine explains Dallas’ pension shortfall, which is currently $3.3 billion.
- We had the NRA in town over the weekend. I didn’t want to read about it, but if you do, the Texas Tribune, KERA, and WFAA have the details about what happened in the convention hall and the protestors outside.
- KERA has coverage of County Judge Tim O’Hare’s state of the County speech. Two highlights: bringing more businesses to Tarrant County and reducing the population at the Tarrant County jail.
- The latest in the Rashee Rice case: the photographer who was allegedly assaulted by Rice has filed an affidavit of non-prosecution. The investigation is ongoing.
- Here are a number of stories about the woes of our North Texas school districts involving the lack of money and students. We’ll start with an overview; declining enrollment in Plano means four schools may be closed; the first draft of Arlington ISD’s budget for next year is $29 million in deficit; and in addition to school closures, Richardson ISD is facing problems as renters are being priced out of the area.
- If you’re looking for something more cheerful about NTX schools after that, skip this item. Carroll ISD in Southlake is, unsurprisingly, fighting the Biden administration’s additional Title IX rules protecting sexual orientation and gender identity. They’re also complaining about the current status of the civil rights investigation into Southlake schools from April 2021. In other area school news, the ACLU has filed a discrimination complaint against Princeton ISD for refusing to let a school Pride group meet on campus. And you may remember that Grapevine-Colleyville ISD settled with a Black principal they wanted to fire back in 2021 and the trustees mouthed off, so the former principal sued for violation of the settlement. His claims were dismissed and now GCISD is about to sue him for legal fees from that suit.
- Meanwhile, 70 years after Brown v Board of Education, school segregation in Dallas and Fort Worth continues. This one is worth a read; the discussion of the national studies is supplemented with discussion of specific schools in FWISD.
- This profile of Mark Melton, who founded the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, was interesting.
- Good and bad news about poverty and homelessness: CitySquare, a major group in poverty reduction here in Dallas, is out of money and will close at the end of the year. Also covered by the DMN. Meanwhile, Hotel Miramar in Oak Cliff is progressing toward its planned use as a supportive facility for the chronically homeless. And the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness says Dallas and Collin Counties have ended veteran homelessness, meaning they get homeless vets into housing in less than 90 days.
- I’ve been living in Dallas for more than five years and I had never heard of Kleberg-Rylie, a neighborhood in southeast Dallas, until now, so I wouldn’t be surprised if residents’ allegations that they’re neglected by the city are true.
- I don’t expect to make it to 2050 so it’s not a personal worry, but the numbers in the study about how many older people will be exposed to extreme heat (99.5 F) in that year widened my eyes. Climate change and an aging population are two problems that make each other worse.
- Tarrant County has found its first West Nile mosquito of the year. ‘Nuff said.
- Curious how Dallas picked up two professional women’s sports teams in 2024? This Dallas Observer story will fill you in.
- Today I learned about Hernandez v Texas, a 1954 case that affirmed that Mexican-Americans could serve on juries in Texas and that their rights were protected under the Fourteenth Amendment. Shocking fact from this article: a sitting Justice referred to Mexican-Americans as “greasers” from the bench.
- The Washington Post has an interactive story about the conflict between the Texas Rangers’ version of a shootout in South Texas in a hundred years ago and the version of the Tejano families of the men the Rangers killed. Come for the pretty graphics and the corrido, stay for the Texas State Historical Association controversy.
- Billy Porter is going to be the first Grand Marshal of the Dallas Pride Parade. If you know, you know.
- The Modern in Fort Worth has an exhibit focusing on Afrosurrealism and Afrofuturism: Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940. I’m looking forward to visiting.
- And last but not least, after finding out about nude beaches and the lack of good ones in North Texas, I’m pleased to report that there’s a naturist RV park in North Texas, about 45 minutes northwest of Fort Worth. News someone who sunburns less easily than I do can use!