Last night Mike Davis at Dallas Progress broke the news that Lynn Flint Shaw has been named as the new Chair of the DART Board of Directors.  Mrs. Flint Shaw was appointed in 2003 by the Dallas City Council to represent Dallas on the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) Board of Directors. She recently served as Chair, Bond Campaign Strategic Advisory Committee, 2003 City of Dallas Bond Campaign and helped spearhead the effort to get the most recent Dallas bond initiative passed as well. Mrs. Flint Shaw initiated a promising city council bid last year before bowing out due to personal reasons.  I have seen her in action and can say that DART will (continue to) flourish under the leadership of Lynn Flint Shaw.

I was tipped off today on a song that the Vote No! Save the Trinity folks are hoping to use to defeat the Trinity Parkway Referendum.  It's a rap produced by local talent urging citizens to get out and defeat the proposition. The ad is scheduled to run on local hip hop stations K104 and 97.9 The Beat, but I don't think it's made it to air yet.  According to one person I spoke with, some of the Trinity Vote (Yes) people were upset by the ad and are contemplating ways to create backlash against it. Local gospel rapper Dooney (Peculiar Records) performs the song which urges"...ease up on the traffic, ease up on the taxes, November the 6th come out by the masses."  Dooney has also produced a song for Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway titled "Pull Yo Pants Up." My take on the song; fine work as always by Dooney.  Peculiar Records has had a link on this site since the beginning.  Well produced music, insightful lyrics, it's hard to believe that they packed so much information into 60 seconds.   And don't think they just picked some random cat to read some words that ...

Oak Cliff is easily the most scenic part of Dallas. And with all due respect to Cedar Hill, Oak Cliff truly is where the Hill Country begins. I just bought a bike and I can tell you that there are more than enough hills to challenge walkers and riders. To that point, I knew the Kiest Park loop couldn't be my only non-street riding option. Katy Trail gets all the pub but I was sure there had to be something else out there. Enter Shadow Johns and DORBA - Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association. DORBA, which was founded in 1988, maintains 14 hike and bike trails throughout North Texas, including trails in Mc Kinney, Garland, Grapevine, and Cedar Hill. Shadow Johns is the steward for two trails located in Oak Cliff: Boulder Park Trail (located at the corner of Hwy 67 and Red Bird Lane) and Oak Cliff Nature Preserve Trail. Oak Cliff Nature Preserve (OCNP) is a 119 acre tract of woodland and prairie habitats near Kiest Park. The land is protected by the Natural Area Preservation Association (NAPA), and was donated to NAPA ...

               TrinityVote has cleared the first hurdle in their efforts to force a vote on the tollroad portion of the Trinity River Project.  The group turned in 80,000 signatures of registered Dallas voters who support a November referendum regarding the road project.  The Dallas City Secretary must now verify that at least 48,000 of the signatures are from valid Dallas voters.  According to the TrinityVote website "We've already checked them, and we have more than enough." Though current mayor Tom Leppert and former mayors Ron Kirk and Laura Miller are against the effort, TrinityVote has a number of strong allies (note to Mr. Leppert: line up opposite of Laura Miller whenever possible).  Angela Hunt and company count former council members Don Hill, John Loza, and NAACP President Casey Thomas as supporters.  Rickey Smiley also used his airwaves to bolster the number of signatures. Those who were against Ms. Hunt and TrinityVote -which includes the Dallas Morning News - said it was time to move on and get the project underway.  Even if it is not the project that voters passed back in 1998.  You could almost hear a collective laugh from the Dallas establishment ...

My post regarding the 15-year old that was shot by a DART officer has garnered a huge amount of comments at Pegasus News.  You can view the reactions here .  I still haven't read much by way of follow up to this sad story.  Sad for the boy's family, sad for the officer who killed him.

Another young black male has died at the hand of gunfire, this time by a Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police officer.  15 year-old Bobby Walker was fatally shot around 3:20 a.m. on Sunday morning at the Ledbetter Station near the VA Hospital.  According to Monday's Dallas Morning News article, the Carter High freshman "leapt from the bushes" and attacked DART officer Stephanie Branch before being shot by officer Niksha Owens.   Walker was pronounced dead at Methodist Dallas Medical Center about 4 a.m. I don't want to rush to any judgments here, so I have a few questions: 1. Did the 2nd officer try to physically intervene before resorting to fatal gunfire? 2. Did the shooting officer at any point feel as if she had a non-fatal shot at the suspect without endangering the officer? 3. What is a 15 year-old boy doing out at 3:20 a.m.? 4.  Shouldn't two police officers generally be able to subdue one juvenile suspect?  5.  What was the ethnicity of the two officers?  It ALWAYS matters. I will reserve commentary for a later date , but for now I pray for the families of Bobby Walker and ...

There are thirteen candidates who have officially filed for the office of mayor in Dallas.  Here are those who have filed and their names as they will appear on the ballot. Dallas Mayor (Place 15)  John Cappello        Sam Coats       Zac Crain     Evelyn "Windy-Fitzgerald" Daniel       Jennifer Gale         Gary Griffith          Roger Herrera        Don Hill          Darrell Jordan        Tom Leppert     Ed Oakley              E. Edward Okpa Max Wells     I have also updated the City Council races that have been covered here over the last few months.  The names are as the will appear on the ballot. District 3  Charletta Rogers Compton     Irby Foster Joseph Hernandez      Kawana Lynn Dave Neumann          Angela G. Phillips Joe Tave        Rena Renfroe      Victoria D. Walton    Linda F. Wise District 4 Dwaine Caraway            Gloria Stinson Hogg    Kimberly Jackson          Eugene Thomas    District 5 Betty J. Culbreath         Jesse Diaz Vonciel Jones Hill          Jurline Gates Hollins  Larry Holton                 Don Robinson                 Camile D. White        Yolonda Faye Williams District 7 Carolyn Davis          Kevin Felder     Helene McKinney      Sharon Middlebrooks   Donald R. Parish      Billy J. Ratcliff LaShonda Dyanne Young  District 8  Tennell Atkins         Sandra Crenshaw Clara McDade          Michael D. Rdgers, Sr.     Charles R. Rose       ...

In Thursday's Dallas Morning News, Tony Hartzel, who is by far the best writer at the news, wrote a piece (City may ax DART reps) about Laura Miller's desire to shake up Dallas' appointees to the DART board of directors.  The mayor threatened to replace the 8 board representatives with city council members if they did not start taking the city's interests into account. I'm with the mayor on this one.  DART rail is in its 10th year, and is now one of the model light rail systems in the country.  Although rail transit is now the rage of North Texas, many of the cities building trains stations were laughing at Dallas' foray into rail a decade ago. Now that riding the rail is ‘in’, the focus is on Carrolton, Plano, and Rowlett, and not Oak Cliff, where the Red Line and Blue Line made names for themselves. Dallas has a right to be upset.  The city contributes 51.5% of the sales tax revenue that makes DART run.  Thus the city is able to appoint 8 of the boards 15 members.  At stake is the future of rail in the area, including a vote on the authority's 2030 plan.  If Dallas' appointees are putting ...

Today in a News Release, Southwest Airlines announced changes that will be made as a result of the bill passed in Congress repealing the Wright Amendment.  The bill was passed on September 29, 2006, and then written into law by President Bush.  The Wright Amendment has restricted flights in and out of Dallas Love Field since 1979. Southwest will serve an additional 25 destinations from Dallas Love Field with one-stop/same plane service as a result of the new legislation.  After eight years, Southwest and other airlines will be able to provide non-stop flights to airports outside the formerly restricted areas.  New destinations for Southwest include Baltimore/Washington, Chicago Midway, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Phoenix, and San Diego. According to the news release, Southwest will offer a $99 one-way introductory fare between Dallas Love and their 25 new destinations.  Apparently, Dallas travelers are now truly free to move about the country.

As the terms of four Dallas City Council Members expire, and Mayor Laura Miller rides into the sunset, I think about the difference in Southern Dallas now verses 6 to 8 years ago.  Most any candidate runs on a platform of change, when seeking to be elected to a city post.  The candidates for the city council seats will promise more economic development for their districts, and the mayoral candidates will ALL promise a new commitment to the Southern Sector.  I'm going to focus on the status of some of these promises, and contrast them with activity in other areas of town; beginning with local highways. In my W-2 job, I drive around Dallas all day everyday.  I get to watch new building projects from start to finish, as I pass them during my drive about the city.  It makes me wonder if the council members ever leave Dallas City Hall, or their own council districts to see that the disparity amongst the north and south are real, not just the tired cliché that it has become. As you travel the main highways of the south, Interstates 35 and 20, and Highway 67, the freeways have changed little themselves, with the exception of HOV lanes ...