Tag Archives: Dallas

Lots of people were affected by that Dallas ransomware attack

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Not great. Computer hackers accessed the personal information of at least 26,212 Texans in a ransomware attack on the city of Dallas, according to an official disclosure made public Monday, three months after the breach. The city’s notice to the … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, August 4 edition

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

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 another grab bag: Texans, and specifically North Texans, with J6 arrests and convictions; the return … Continue reading →

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Will Dallas join the Death Star litigation?

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It remains to be seen. Council members Chad West and Adam Bazaldua told The Dallas Morning News that they know of no plans as of Thursday for Dallas to get involved in the legal challenge of HB 2127, but both … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, July 28 edition

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in news from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, we have a grab bag of news on regular beats: ransomware, Collin County’s favorite hometown … Continue reading →

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What does Mike Miles have against libraries?

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I do not care for this. Superintendent Mike Miles, appointed in June by the Texas Education Agency to lead Houston ISD, will eliminate librarians and media specialists from the 28 campuses under his New Education System and an additional 57 aligned schools that opted … Continue reading →

Posted in School days | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Dispatches from Dallas, July 21 edition

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in news from the Metroplex, a big police expose in the DMN, the seventh anniversary of the July 7 Dallas police ambush, … Continue reading →

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The scooters come back to Dallas

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see how it goes this time around. Electric scooters had a rough go in Dallas following their 2018 introduction. The “micro-mobility” options pissed off plenty and led to a spike in hospitalizations. So in 2020, the two-wheeled vehicles were yanked … Continue reading →

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Major League Cricket

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

America’s newest major league makes its debut today. While cricket has flourished in England and some of its former colonies, it has never taken off to the same degree in the United States, where some have perceived it as impenetrable. … Continue reading →

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You sure you wanna join the NES now?

Posted on July 8, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Consider your answer carefully. Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles met with dozens of school principals Thursday to walk them through his plans for “wholesale systemic reforms” and offered those who signed up for his New Education System one last chance … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, July 7 edition

Posted on July 7, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from DFW, a mass shooting in a historically Black neighborhood in Fort Worth, the return of a former statewide candidate … Continue reading →

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Some schools want in on the Miles Plan

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Not too surprising, all things considered. Over 50 Houston ISD schools voluntarily signed up for Superintendent Mike Miles’ sweeping New Education System, joining the 28 campuses required to be part of the reform program Miles launched his first day in … Continue reading →

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Dallas improves its cybersecurity

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Good to see. The Dallas City Council approved a nearly $4 million deal Wednesday to get a new system that alerts the city’s information technology department of possible cyber attacks. The approval comes as the city is nearly two months … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, June 30 edition

Posted on June 30, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in news from the Metroplex: updates on the Dallas cyberattacks and two other hacks with DFW connections you may not have heard … Continue reading →

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The Chron asks the “will what Mike Miles is doing actually work” question

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Join the club. Superintendent Mike Miles has swept into Houston in recent weeks with confident claims that his strategies to overhaul the largest school system in Texas can quickly spur positive results at long-struggling schools. That’s mostly because his agenda … Continue reading →

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I still don’t get how Mike Miles is going to do what he says

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Let’s start with the big plans that appointed HISD Superintendent Mike Miles is touting. Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles unveiled a dramatically expanded plan for the district at a Thursday board meeting, announcing 150 schools will see “wholesale systemic reform” … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, June 23 edition

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week (and from last week) in news from the DFW area: election results from the June 10 runoff; the Dallas short-term rental ordinance; … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, June 9 edition

Posted on June 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in news from DFW, we have a grab bag. Who’s in and out in the Democratic primary for CD-32; Collin County is … Continue reading →

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A more general look at ransomware attacks

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This WaPo story, which I found by googling around for more news on the Dallas ransomware attack, has some great general information on this recent plague, which I thought you’d find useful as well. The ransomware attacks that pose a … Continue reading →

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Mike Miles and the Board of Managers

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It’s official. Former Dallas ISD superintendent Mike Miles − described as a military-minded leader who pushes reform − is the state’s choice for the new Houston ISD superintendent. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced his long-rumored decision Thursday morning, the … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, June 2 edition

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. In DFW-area news this week, we’ll be talking about Ken Paxton, who’s local to Collin County, updates on the Dallas ransomware problem, trouble in … Continue reading →

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Yet another Dallas ransomware update

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’re three weeks out, how are things going? Three weeks after Dallas was hit with a ransomware attack, city officials still haven’t publicly explained the full scope of the breach or the city’s progress toward restoration. The ransomware attack hit May … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, May 26 edition

Posted on May 26, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week, in DFW-area news, another smorgasbord, including the ongoing effects of the ransomware attacks, runoff elections, the aftermath of the Allen mall shooting, … Continue reading →

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Some dough for downtown

Posted on May 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

It would be nice. With just days left in this year’s regular session of the Texas Legislature, Houston-area lawmakers are fighting for a measure that would likely provide several billion dollars to expand the George R. Brown Convention Center and … Continue reading →

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Dallas data leak threatened by ransomware attackers

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Not good. An online blog post by a group claiming responsibility for Dallas’ ransomware attack says a leak of employees’ personal information and other data stored by the municipal government will happen soon. In the post Friday, Royal noted the … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology, science, and math, The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Meet Mike Miles

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Houston Landing profiles the man who seems poised to be the imposed Superintendent of the taken-over HISD. A hard-charging education leader devoted to shaking up the status quo in struggling school districts appears poised to become the superintendent of Houston … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, May 19 edition

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in DFW-area news, we have a smorgasbord: follow-up on the Allen mall shooting, election cleanup, more on Thomas and Crow, MUD shenanigans, … Continue reading →

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Does the TEA already have a new Superintendent in mind?

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Mayor Turner thinks so, and wants the TEA to be more up front about its intentions. Pressure is mounting on the Texas Education Agency to name the superintendent who will soon oversee the Houston Independent School District as the nearing takeover prompts growing … Continue reading →

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And another Dallas ransomware update

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Recovery is a long and painful process. In the immediate aftermath, the attack forced the city to take offline the police and fire department’s computer-aided dispatch system, the police department’s website and the city’s website. The city also closed its … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, May 12 edition

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in DFW-area news, two big stories: the mass shooting in Allen and local election results. Plus, updates on the Dallas ransomware situation, … Continue reading →

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Another Dallas ransomware update

Posted on May 11, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

More specific info, but still a lot we don’t know. Dallas’ top information technology official says the city hasn’t found any signs yet that personal information from employees or residents have been leaked after a cyberattack last week. Bill Zielinski, … Continue reading →

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Dallas ransomware update

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

As of the weekend, things still weren’t great. A ransomware attack from a prolific group called Royal has caused outages for many of Dallas’ systems for the past three days. Websites remained down and first responders continued to rely on … Continue reading →

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City of Dallas hit by ransomware attack

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

A bad day for them. The city of Dallas said Wednesday afternoon they found a number of their servers compromised with ransomware. The city’s security monitoring tools notified the Security Operations Center of the ransomware attack, the city said, and … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, May 5 edition

Posted on May 5, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in DFW-area news, some big stories: Colin Allred is running against Ted Cruz, the City of Dallas is under a ransomware attack, … Continue reading →

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Dispatches from Dallas, April 28 edition

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

This is a weekly feature produced by my friend Ginger. Let us know what you think. This week in news from the DFW area, book bans (local and statewide), election administration, some scary climate predictions for Galveston, more Six Degrees … Continue reading →

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