Black mold, raw sewage and neglected trash piles are plaguing inmates stuck in one of Denton County Jail’s so-called “quarantine pods,” according to a local activist and scholar. Coronavirus-infected inmates are also allegedly deprived of functioning masks; they often must reuse the ones they do have, some of which are filled…
In 2016, Tony Timpa had a run-in with the police. As he stood outside a porn shop on Mockingbird Lane, Timpa called the cops, telling them he was scared, off of his medication and suffering from mental illness. By the end of the night, the 32-year-old Timpa was dead, dying…
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…
Saturday, more than 300 bars across the state say they will participate in Freedom Fest, an event its organizer has dubbed “the biggest bar protest in Texas history.” Chris Polone, the owner of Fort Worth’s The Rail Club Live, arranged the festival to challenge an executive order that forced the…
Dallas police will no longer be allowed to fire “less lethal” weapons into crowds nor use tear gas to herd peaceful protesters on city streets, police Chief U. Renee Hall announced Wednesday morning. The chief issued a general order restricting the use of the weapons as anger continues to simmer…
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…
Amid weeks of protests over police brutality, a poll released Tuesday shows that a majority of Texans support law-enforcement reform. The poll, which was conducted by Progress Texas and Public Policy Polling, showed that 73% of respondents agree police brutality is a “serious or somewhat serious problem.” Ed Espinoza, executive…
Dallas ISD’s plan for what the coming school year will look like is becoming clearer. Monday, the district released details of a proposed calendar for the upcoming school year. The updated calendar moves the first day of school to the Tuesday after Labor Day, moves the end of the school…
Another racist monument will soon be dismantled. Last week, Gainesville City Council voted unanimously to uproot a Confederate statue from a local park. Over the past few weeks, PRO Gainesville, a local grassroots organization, has protested for the removal of the town’s two Confederate statues. Founder Torrey Henderson said she…
The Dallas Morning News’ newsroom is looking to unionize, journalists at the newspaper announced Monday morning. Newsroom employees, along with those from the newspaper’s sister publication, Al Dia, requested voluntary recognition of the Dallas News Guild from parent company A.H. Belo. That request marks the first major step in forming a…
Scott Danbom slides behind the ivories and takes a seat. During any given summer, the former Centro-matic pianist might be sharing the stage with the likes of Sarah Jaffe or Alejandro Escovedo. They could be playing any number of sold-out festivals in New York City or Europe. In normal times,…
Mask mandates are slowing the spread of the coronavirus in North Texas, a new report shows. Dr. Rajesh Nandy, a biostatistics and epidemiology professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, will release the report by Monday. He said his findings indicate that mask mandates are working to…
Historic places all around the city – places that make Dallas Dallas – are at risk of being erased from the city’s landscape. Every year, Preservation Dallas, an organization focused on preserving and revitalizing historic spaces in the city, publishes a list of local, endangered areas. By highlighting these places in…
Amid weeks of demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd, a coalition of community activists and faith leaders who marched through the streets of Dallas is now looking to promote “policies to support the protest.” One of the coalition’s main goals is to reallocate police funding into historically underfunded…
Schools in Dallas County will be online-only until at least Sept. 8, following an order by county health officials. Dr. Philip Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, issued the order Thursday afternoon. The order, which applies to both public and private schools in the county, allows teachers,…
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…
Dallas ISD officials are pushing back on a charter school’s plan to move its Oak Cliff campus to Paul Quinn College. Officials at KIPP Oak Cliff Academy plan to move the high school, which is operating in a shopping center in Oak Cliff, to the college campus in the spring…
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…
Perry Eakles has worked at Gate 5 at the State Fair of Texas for the past six years, managing the flow of pedestrians, cars and handicapped parking. If you ask him, though, he’ll say it was mostly the flow of joy. Eakles was one of the final conduits between mundane…
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…
