The End Seems Near for Downtown Dallas’ Confederate Memorial

We’ve been here before, but Dallas’ Confederate war memorial, the one that dominates Pioneer Plaza between City Hall and the convention center, appears to be in its final days. Dallas city staff gave City Council members three options Wednesday for what to do with the 60-foot behemoth. The council could…

Want to Truly “Back the Blue”? Try Backing Their Unions.

Stephen Young has a great piece up on our website now analyzing police staffing in Dallas and whether we need more, fewer or the same number of officers than we already have. As he explains in his story, the overall problem of police staffing is surprisingly complex, with many moving…

Bob Stoops Reportedly Set to Be Named Head Coach of Dallas XFL Team

Dallas’ XFL franchise is set to make a far bigger front-office hire than anyone could’ve expected when Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment announced plans to revive its football league in December. According to multiple media reports, the league will announce that former University of Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops will be…

Beto O’Rourke Comes Out of His Cocoon With Oprah

Former El Paso U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke ended his vagabond run on Tuesday afternoon, emerging from the haze of dentist appointments, morning runs and road trips to sit for an interview with Oprah in Times Square PlayStation Theater. The interview isn’t set to air on the media maven’s Oprah Winfrey Network…

Nearly Everyone Agrees Dallas Needs More Cops. How Many Is Enough?

Repeat the words enough times and the message becomes fact: Dallas needs more cops. Ask the mayor. “Dallas needs more cops.” Ask a City Council member. “Dallas needs more cops.” Ask the cop unions. “Dallas definitely needs more cops.” Ask Dallas’ only daily newspaper. “We’re scared, so Dallas needs more…

Texas Legislature Rolls Out Its Plan to Help Victims of Sexual Assault

Sexual assault survivors and advocacy groups joined with Republican and Democratic legislators at the Texas Capitol on Monday to tout 20 filed or soon-to-be-filed bills aimed at helping victims of sexual assault seek justice in the aftermath of their attacks. The proposed changes begin in both the House and Senate…

Have a Dallas Misdemeanor Warrant? Time to Raid the Pantry.

The bad news for traffic scofflaws and anyone else walking around with a Dallas C misdemeanor warrant is that it’s warrant roundup time. The good news is, this time the city’s offering a discount on your warrant fees, if you’re willing to go through a little trouble. If you’ve got…

Dallas County Flu Season Claims Its Sixth Death

Dallas County health officials announced late Friday that an 89-year-old Dallas resident is the sixth person in the county to succumb to the flu this month. Dallas County Health and Human Services doesn’t release any additional information about virus or infection victims. Each of the six Dallas County deaths this…

Let’s Revel in What the Mavs Pulled Off Thursday Afternoon

It’s hard to overstate what the Dallas Mavericks pulled off Thursday afternoon. In exchange for disgruntled point guard Dennis Smith Jr., Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan and two future first-round draft picks, the Mavs acquired center Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr. from the New York Knicks. Porzingis,…

Dallas Catholic Diocese Releases List of Credibly Accused Priests

A little more than three months after promising this day would come, Dallas’ Roman Catholic diocese made good Thursday, releasing the names of 31 priests with ties to Dallas who were the subjects of credible allegations of sexual abuse. Joining with Dallas, dioceses across the state released the names of…

In Some Circumstances, Should Cops Show Less Restraint, Shoot Sooner?

In the Tuesday morning television coverage of the four Houston police officers who were shot the night before, the most heartbreaking and infuriating words came from Joe Gamaldi, president of the Houston Police Officers Union. “We are sick and tired of having targets on our back,” Gamaldi said. “We are…