It took nearly six years after leaving office for George H.W. Bush to have a functioning North Texas highway named for him. His son could do it in less than five. State Representative Dan Branch has taken it upon himself to see that that happens. On Friday, just before the…
At the end of January, city staff arranged to have the entire City Plan Commission bused to three city-owned sites where Trinity East Energy hopes to drill for natural gas on parkland. This was so commissioners could see for themselves just how drab, un-park-like and eminently frackable they all are…
Last week’s City Council meeting, at which City Manager Mary Suhm was alternately grilled and applauded over her side deal to allow natural gas drilling on city parkland, was an amazing piece of political theater. How could it not be, what with Vonciel Jones Hill donning her preacher voice and…
The idea behind McKinney Senator Ken Paxton’s proposed legislation really is pretty ingenious. The whole school-choice voucher idea — essentially a guise to funnel public money to religious schools — invariably runs afoul of constitutional challenges. So, lately, that movement has shifted its strategy quite successfully by avoiding public coffers…
Attorney General Greg Abbott posted the above political ad to his Facebook page this afternoon. We present it without comment, other than to wonder if Abbott and Glenn Beck have ever been seen in the same place together. Think about it…
A couple of weeks back, we stumbled upon the city’s campaign to educate drivers about its new cyclist-protection ordinance. It consisted of a single, poorly designed brochure posted to the Dallas Police Department’s website that was more concerned with admonishing cyclists to behave than anything else. It was quickly taken…
Yesterday, Collin County state Representative Jodie Laubenberg filed a bill that would ban all abortions after 20 weeks, calling it the “Preborn Pain Act.” The bill is premised on deeply questionable science which claims that fetuses can feel pain at that point in a pregnancy, and ignores a heap of…
Right now, there’s a push underway in the Texas legislature to impose term limits on the state’s elected officials. A bill, filed by Representative Lyle Larson, a San Antonio Republican, is currently being mulled by a House committee. A similar proposal by Tyler Republican Kevin Eltife is being considered in…
The White Rock Dog Park is a wonderful place, and not just because it was the the first official off-leash space in the city. It’s a friendly place reliably thronged with good-natured canines and the people who love them. It’s part of what makes White Rock Lake such a gem…
Back in December, Governor Rick Perry announced with much pomp and circumstance that he would support the passage of a “fetal pain” bill this session in the Legislature. “Fetal pain” is one of the pet legislative projects of pro-life group Texas Right to Life this year; it’s a total ban…
If you’re tired of seeing the Reverend Robert Jeffress’ elfin little face at every turn, it might be best to avoid the highway for awhile. The pastor, along with one of his most charming quotes — “What they [homosexuals] do is filthy” — will be appearing on a billboard along…
In June, after months of debate and a glaring need, the Dallas City Council passed an ordinance regulating the 300 or so boarding homes that provide — or sometimes merely purport to — shelter and support to the mentally ill. The ordinance addresses a wide range of issues, from sexual…
The budget ax brought down by the state legislature in 2011 gouged a huge chunk from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which lost more than a fifth of its funding. The result was layoffs and a reduction in staffing and hours of operation at a number of state parks…
State Representative Helen Giddings was one of several Democratic lawmakers invited to the Governor’s Mansion Monday afternoon for a reception hosted by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. But she never showed up. Giddings declined the invitation to protest the requirement that she undergo a background check before being admitted to…
On Wednesday, we watched together as the Dallas City Council sort of, kind of, attempted to ask City Manager Mary Suhm and City Attorney Tom Perkins a couple of questions. Namely: Why did Suhm quietly sign a side deal with energy company Trinity East, pledging to help it drill on…
The $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts set to go into effect on Friday — assuming Congress doesn’t reach an alternative deficit reduction deal — was designed to be so stupid and indiscriminately painful that any rational human being would do whatever possible to avoid it. But rationality is not…
In the wake of Barack Obama’s reelection victory last Novembers, Republican lawmakers in several swing states — Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconson — introduced bills that would change the way the state’s electoral votes are awarded, from a winner-take-all system to a proportional one in which presidential candidates are…
The city of Dallas is “maybe a year or two” away from considering a plastic bag ban, assistant city manager Jill Jordan told City Council members on Monday. First there will be a study to figure out its potential impact and exactly how many bags plastic bags there are in…
On Friday, we told you about a memo Mary Suhm sent to the City Council, in which she insisted that she had “had the authority to sign a non-binding letter with Trinity East,” the company which has been trying so very hard to drill in city-owned park land and floodplains…
Melissa Kingston worked late on Tuesday night, finally leaving her office at Friedman and Feiger at 8 p.m. or so. On her way home, she decided to make a quick detour to the Spec’s liquor store at Central and Walnut Hill. She had just pulled up to a stop sign…
Before City Manager Mary Suhm struck a secret side deal with natural gas producer Trinity East to drill on parkland in the Trinity River floodplain, there were two lesser-known gas wells situated in Irving that Dallas stood to collect royalty checks on. According to Railroad Commission of Texas documents, Irving,…
This is day one of the Battle of Texas, which is mostly marked by a website launch. Battleground Texas, the Democratic Party’s efforts to shake the GOP hold on the state, officially starts today. The site comes with a nifty graphic showing a red Texas filling up with blue (it’s…
