The city of Dallas has enacted a curfew for the Deep Ellum, downtown and Uptown areas, effective from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., beginning Sunday and continuing for the “next several days.” Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall made the announcement at a news conference Sunday afternoon after the city…
When it came down to it last night, 10 or so hours into Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the political will just wasn’t there. Despite the novel coronavirus, the pandemic that’s followed its arrival on U.S. shores and the inevitable hole it will tear in Dallas’ current and future budgets, the…
Dallas is taking a shot, maybe not its best shot, but a shot, at lessening the city’s role in the global climate crisis. Wednesday, the City Council unanimously passed Dallas’ first-ever Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan. “I grew up partially in the shadow of a lead smelter plant in West…
Multiple Dallas City Council members decided not to show up to Tuesday’s scheduled meeting of the city’s ad hoc COVID-19 economic recovery committee. Without a quorum, the meeting couldn’t go on, so it adjourned without getting a briefing on “Dallas First,” an initiative favored by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, which…
There’s reopening and then there’s reopening, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson told reporters Tuesday afternoon. It’s one thing for businesses and other public facilities to be open. It’s another for Dallas residents to have the confidence to use them. Dallas’ economy, in traction thanks to COVID-19, won’t get going again until…
Four months into 2020, the year Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall was supposed to address the city’s violent crime problem, and violent crime is still up in Dallas over the same period in 2019. Things aren’t all bad, according to the chief, but Dallas’ multi-faceted plan to drive down…
This is a story about the dangers posed by spunky people. In these terrible times, this story should offer comic relief. But, uh … nah. Probably not too comic. The Trinity Park Conservancy, a very spunky private group charged with raising money for a fancy new city park on the…
About 500 Dallas employees have been furloughed as the city continues to fight its coronavirus budget crunch, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and City Manager TC Broadnax announced Friday. The furloughs have been handed out across 10 departments, according to a letter from Broadnax to city employees. “The city manager notified…
The Dallas City Council got its first significant look at the havoc the novel coronavirus pandemic is likely to wreak on Dallas’ budget Wednesday. The short-term outlook for the city isn’t great. The long-term could be even worse. Here’s the big takeaway: According to city staff, Dallas’ budget for fiscal…
Over the next couple of weeks, as Gov. Greg Abbott loosens Texas’ statewide coronavirus restrictions and Dallas’ city and county orders fall away or turn into guidelines, it’s going to be on residents themselves, in part, to stay safe from COVID-19. As it turns out, visitors to Dallas’ parks and…
Dallas renters who are in over their heads because of the COVID-19 pandemic can feel a little more secure in their homes. Wednesday, the Dallas City Council passed both a mortgage and rental assistance package, as well as tougher protections for those facing evictions. Beginning in May, Dallas residents who’ve…
Beginning Thursday, Dallas Park and Recreation officials are restricting weekend use of the Katy Trail to certain people each day based on the first letters of their last names. The plan is part of an effort to reduce congestion on the trail and enforce social-distancing measures the city and Dallas…
No massive wave of evictions caused by the coronavirus has hit Dallas yet. Maybe it never will. But the threat of mass eviction is already becoming a template for everything else coronavirus, from unemployment to economic stagnation to mortality. If it happens, how big will it be? If it’s big,…
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson trusts us. He really does, just not enough to leave the city’s parks open on Easter weekend. At 9 p.m. Friday, all Dallas parks will go dark. They’ll stay that way until 7 p.m. Monday. The city’s trails will remain open for those who need a…
The novel coronavirus-inspired era of good feeling is over, at least among Dallas County’s local politicians. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson are still reading from the same script, pushing caution and safety above all else. Officials one rung below them on the County Commissioners Court…
There’s one really attractive exception to Dallas’ stay-at-home order. Sure, it lets you get out and shop for essentials and go get takeout, but that stuff’s banal. The big thing, the “Get Out of Jail Free” card, is the county and city orders’ exception for those seeking outdoor exercise, either…
Barring something truly unforeseen, you, dear renter and reader, are still obligated to fatten your landlord’s pocket sometime in the next couple of days. For all the stimuli that have been pushed out and all the hollering from the left about your plight, there’s little relief on offer for those…
Until Monday night, Wednesday was going to mark a sea change in Dallas civic life. For the first time, Dallas workers were going to be guaranteed paid sick time — one hour for every 30 hours they worked. It’s couldn’t have come at a better time, either. Then the courts…
Let’s begin with a stipulation: Everyone wants the coronavirus pandemic to end, as early and as benignly as possible. There is nothing to be gained from the kind of physical and economic suffering COVID-19 is inflicting on the planet. That desire leads us to seek out information that confirms our…
North Texas took several more steps down an uncharted path Wednesday, attempting to further stem the tide of the novel coronavirus. Gatherings of more than 10 people are banned in Dallas County, Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax will have emergency powers until April 29 and most city meetings are canceled…
On Tuesday, maybe for the last time in a long time, Americans voted. Florida, Arizona and Illinois residents cast their ballots as their state governments did the best they can to keep voters and poll workers safe. In Ohio, which also had a primary scheduled for Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine…
Starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday, all city-owned playgrounds, golf courses and tennis centers will close to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Dallas, Mayor Eric Johnson announced Tuesday. The city’s open park space and trails will remain open. Public health officials say that getting some fresh air in the…
