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 a grab bag: congressfolks on both sides of the aisle making controversial statements; we may have Colin Allred to kick around for one more Senate race; North Texas-related news from the Lege; the latest about the Tarrant County Jail death investigations (nobody died this time); our Republican overlords are trying to investigate a Plano mosque out of town; the Keller ISD split plan dies without even a whimper, but the lawsuits aren’t over; the Sands people aren’t getting a casino in their planned Irving resort (yet); the Tarrant County DA won’t prosecute the Modern; The National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington is now open; and music news from the Metroplex including my favorite music festival in these parts. And more!
This week’s post was brought to you by the music of Dead Can Dance. Their last album was came out in 2018 but they did tour in 2022, so there’s hope still for more music from them. If you’re into goth, post-punk, darkwave, classical-adjacent, or early-adjacent music and you don’t know them, check them out.
Let’s start with some national news with local connections and go on from there:
- The DMN interviewed the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, a former representative in the Texas House. He’s also an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, one of the big churches in North Texas associated with MAGA Republican politics and Ken Paxton’s church home.
- Congressman Pat Fallon (R-Frisco) got caught saying young people today will need a second job instead of Social Security in their old age. On one hand, my generation assumed we had more chance of meeting alien life than of collecting what we put into Social Security. On the other hand, what a time to put your foot in your mouth about this.
- Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas) is in hot water for referring to Governor Abbott as “Hot Wheels”. Pick your poison: The Texas Tribune, the DMN editorial wagging a finger at her, the Dallas Observer’s “we love you but STFU” and then their readers’ response (the readers are mostly in favor of mocking Abbott).
- Crockett is also fighting to keep the Dallas office of the Department of Education open.
- Former local representative and 2024 Senate candidate Colin Allred is considering a run for John Cornyn’s seat. I’m currently indifferent; while I’m not sure how a guy who couldn’t beat Ted Cruz can beat John Cornyn without changing his strategy, it does make a difference if Cornyn gets primaried out by Collin County’s favorite boy, Ken Paxton. Call me when we have a real primary on the Democratic side.
- Speaking of Paxton, earlier this month he opened an investigation into the City of Dallas as a “sanctuary city” based on some comments by our interim police chief (more on that situation below). I haven’t seen anything else since this announcement came up, so maybe this is just the usual Republican handwaving. As noted in the linked KERA article, there’s a bill in the Legislature that would render this question moot, so it really does seem like a tempest in a teapot. (Also, Interim Chief Igo is Black, which is a factor for MAGA types.) The Texas Tribune has more.
- Lone Star Left has a video of State Rep Brent Money (R-Greenville) talking about how murky date rape situations can be in discussions around a bill defining consent to sex. Money’s current seat was previously held by former Rep. Bryan Slaton, whom you may recall was expelled from the House for getting a staffer too drunk to consent and having sex with her. I’d ask what’s in the water in Greenville, but I think we already know.
- Local gadfly journalist Steven Monacelli has a piece about the Gateway scandal in the Texas Observer, which I note in particular because of the responses of State Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth), a pastor at Fort Worth’s Mercy Culture church.
- I was out of town on March 23, so I missed the Queer and Trans Liberation March. They had an estimate 800 marchers. Good for them.
- Earlier I mentioned that we’d be talking more about the interim chief of Dallas PD. He’s one of five officers on the short list for the permanent job as chief. I don’t know enough about any of the finalists to have a strong opinion. We should have our answer by the third week of April; until then the candidates will be interviewing and doing public meet and greets.
- I have been remiss in reporting much on the Pepper Square story, which is a run-down shopping center at the intersection of Preston Road and Belt Line. The powers that be want to develop it into a mixed-use development. Neighbors claim it’ll be a traffic nightmare–not that I notice traffic is bad there on my way home from the Plano HEB where we pick up curbside every week or two–and are highly opposed. More than 50 neighbors spoke up at Wednesday’s council meeting against the rezoning, but City Council passed it anyway, though in a much smaller form than originally planned (868 apartments vs 2300). See more from the Dallas Observer which notes the involvement of Dallas HERO and the impending retirement of D11’s council member, WFAA (video), real estate site Candy’s Dirt, which has a lot of details and implications for how the vote will affect the future of D11. The DMN also had an editorial hoping that the nastiness of this struggle will be over with the vote. You wish, DMN.
- Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson started the Republican Mayors’ Association, and KERA has the details on how it’s been spending money. It has raised more than half a million dollars, but despite telling the IRS it’s spent about $330,000, all that KERA can find a little over $10,000 directly on candidates and $6,500 to local conservative groups. More details at the link; they did their homework.
- This week I learned that Dallas is the second-worst metro area in the US for low-income housing, after Las Vegas. We have 14 affordable homes for every 100 families at or below the federal poverty level. A year ago, that number was 17. Statewide, the number is 25.
- Fort Worth is ending its ten-year contract with the waste management company blamed for biosolid pollution in Johnson County early. The contract started in 2019 but they’re buying out the contractor for $2.4 million. Meanwhile, the contractor has produced a study saying it’s not responsible for the PFAS “forever chemicals” in Johnson County. There will be more lawsuits before it’s over.
- Fort Worth has a new City Hall. They repurposed the old Pier One building for $226.5 million instead of building a new one.
- Fort Worth PD has been supposed to investigate deaths in the Tarrant County jail under the Sandra Bland Act. That hasn’t been happening and it looks like there will be no consqeuences. Also the Tarrant County DA thinks outside investigations aren’t necessary in every jail death case and is asking Attorney General Ken Paxton to issue a ruling on whether investigations are needed if a death happens outside the jail (e.g., in a hospital).
- Tarrant County Commissioners got into a slapfight earlier this month because Commissioner Alissa Simmons mentioned some DEI words in a proclamation honoring social workers. It ended with an amended proclamation along party lines getting rid of mentions of forbidden DEI terms and mentions of immigration reform and ending gun violence.
- A Tarrant County man has been arrested for slur-laced death threats against Commissioner Manny Ramirez, a Republican.
- Have an update about the Tarrant Regional Water District’s upcoming projects.
- As you may have heard, Keller ISD is giving up on its plan to split because the money isn’t there. The threat of the split has ended with a whimper rather than a bang, but there’ll be lawsuits over the attempt for the foreseeable future. The Dallas Observer has a timeline of how it all went down.
- Meanwhile, over in Coppell, Ken Paxton is suing Coppell ISD over an edited video where a Coppell official appears to say he’s ignoring state standards around so-called “Critical Race Theory”. The Texas Tribune article on the suit says the video comes from Accuracy in Media, which doesn’t lead me to have any confidence in it.
- Dallas Area Rapid Transit advocates met in Plano this week to oppose the funding cuts to DART proposed in the Legislature. This is, as you may recall, an ongoing issue and I expect to have more by the end of the session. Related, in good news, Paul Wageman, the Uber lobbyist, is out as Plano’s DART representative.
- Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton have gone all out against the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), which is building development in Josephine, on the eastern edge of Collin County. Abbott using consumer protection laws to stop EPIC from performing funeral services (DMN and KERA) because they’re unlicensed, having let their license lapse and partnered with a licensed local funeral home instead. Paxton is investigating the Josephine development without specific allegations. And Abbott has opened a separate investigation about securities fraud (which I guess is not something Paxton could do with a straight face) against land purchasers in the Josephine project. Newsweek, which is not your mama’s magazine by that name but a conservative outlet under the shell of that older name, has some national coverage about Abbott’s actions. It’s not a good look.
- If you’re interested in the mayoral race in McKinney, KERA and the DMN have primers for you.
- Bad news for the Sands people: they had to ask the City of Irving to drop the bid to put a casino in their development to get approval for their zoning proposal for their destination resort. The casino would have remained on hold until (if) the voters amend the state constitution to permit casino gambling. No word on whether the Sands folks, who own the controlling share in the Mavericks, will move the team there after their contract with the American Airlines Center expires.
- In Fairview, which has been wrangling for months with the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) over a proposed temple that its neighbors don’t want, the LDS church has submitted a new plan for the temple with a lower steeple instead of suing the city for religious discrimination. Last year’s timeline of the matter from the DMN has been updated.
- Gateway, Robert Morris’ old megachurch, has been sued in federal court by former members for how it spent tithes. A federal judge ruled this week that the suit shouldn’t proceed to discovery and the judge is now considering whether to dismiss it.
- The Tarrant County DA has declined to prosecute anybody over the kiddie porn accusations ginned up by the Dallas Express against the Sally Mann exhibit at the Modern in Fort Worth. I hope that’s the end of that.
- The National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington held their grand opening earlier this week with a slew of dignitaries. Pick your coverage: the Fort Worth Report, the DMN, the Star-Telegram, KERA, or this two-minute AP video about the museum.
- The Como Motel, a mid-century architectural gem on Central Expressway north of 635 with a storied history (rumor has it Townes Van Zandt wrote “Pancho and Lefty” there) has been knocked down. The culprits are the Pappas Bros., who own two lots next door.
- The Dallas International Film Festival lineup is out. The festival takes place from April 25 to May 1 and there are some interesting-looking films premiering. This is the festival’s first year as an Oscar qualifying festival, which has amped up the quality and quantity of films.
- In music news, Dallas icon Erykah Badu is going to release her first studio album in 15 years. And local-made-good Charley Crockett, whom I really enjoy and whom I may have missed my chance to see in a more intimate venue, has just put out his major-label debut.
- Last, but not least, the DMN went to the North Texas Irish Festival earlier this month to learn about the Uilleann pipes, which are the Irish form of bagpipes. As a long-time festival-goer, I strongly recommend you check out NTIF next year. The date for 2026 hasn’t been announced but it’s usually the first weekend in March.