Today, Michael Lindenberger and Roy Appleton report today on the ongoing effort to build a a starter streetcar system in Dallas (sorry McKinney Avenue trolley, we're not counting you in this).
They write: The initial focus has been on a downtown loop that' [...]
The Dallas region's long term growth and sustainability hinges on many things, but none more important than water.
Through many years of planning and work, Dallas should have enough water through 2035 thanks to conservation, reuse and new sources to the east like Lake Palestine and Lake [...]
Finding Dallas County property records is about to get a lot easier.
Currently, you have to go here to look up records using a person's name or company name.
But County Clerk John Warren wants people to be able to search more than [...]
Dallas County commissioners voted this morning to form an ethics task force.
Commissioner John Wiley Price said the county already has an ethics policy that is about 100 pages long that needs updating. The policy was passed in 1994, he said.
Commissioners noted that the city of Dallas recently updated [...]
Bob Clines, Dallas County's IT director, will step down on Dec. 31.
The county has been plagued with computer technology woes during and prior to Clines' tenure.
Clines said he's going to take a job in the private sector.
"I'm looking for an opportunity where I" [...]
Give Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway credit. He's not about to let go of the anti-saggy pants crusade.
Today, he's set to unveil part 2 of the pull 'em up campaign he launched more than a year ago.
The new message is for the' [...]
Recent events have led to discussions about government ethics.
Dallas city council members recently updated the city's ethics policies due to corruption within City Hall.
Dallas County, however, doesn't have a countywide ethics policy.
But on Tuesday, Dec. 1, county commissioners are scheduled to vote on creating' [...]
During a weeklong trip to China and Korea, Mayor Tom Leppert and an assortment of other delegates from Dallas touted the city as a great place for foreign investment.
According to a release from Leppert's chief of staff Chris Heinbaugh the mayor pushed for the [...]
The holiday will be starting a little early next week at Dallas City Hall.
All scheduled City Council committee meetings are canceled for Monday.
City Hall, meanwhile, will be closed Wednesday for a city furlough day and Thursday and Friday in celebration of Thanksgiving.
[...]On Thursday evening, the city plan commission denied a request to demolish two historic buildings on downtown's east side - the 508 Park Avenue building and an adjacent building at 1900 Young Street.
But the plan commission did not entirely slam the door on Colby Properties when [...]
On Monday, council member Angela Hunt screened a movie for the council's Transportation Committee.
The film, Contested Streets, presents a history of New York's congested avenues where people often have to jockey with cars and buses just to get to the other side.
As the film points out, it's a history [...]
I don't know what the ruling from the federal court in New Orleans will mean, but there are plenty of opinions.
Michael A. Lindenberger quotes CNN's report over on the transportation blog.
And Jim Schutze, who has followed the river for many a turn, weighs' [...]
This afternoon, the city plan commission will consider a permit for downtown's third video billboard.
Under a new ordinance, there are five available permits for the glowing and glittering billboards in downtown.
Some see them as a chic sign of urban growth. Others see [...]
Dallas City Hall very much hopes to build a huge water reservoir in Cherokee and Anderson counties around about the same place the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to create a massive nature preserve.
As you can imagine, you can't have both, and the fight over' [...]
Council member Ron Natinsky has been elected to the National League of Cities board of directors.
Natinsky was elected at last week's meeting in San Antonio and becomes one of 23 board members with the league, an organization dedicated to advocating on behalf of [...]
Dallas wants the World Cup to come back to town, and this morning the City Council will talk about ways to get it here.
Don't hold your breath, though. The earliest Dallas can win the cup is 2018, and it could be' [...]
No, it's not what you think. The budget passed way back in September.
The council will actually be talking about the city's drainage - getting water from your street into the sewers and sumps and on down the Trinity River.
Erosion is a big problem [...]
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price lashed out at a county vendor this morning that he said may have altered the outcome of a recent school board election.
Apparently, a local printing company was supposed to send out notifications from the elections office to [...]
The Dallas Morning News' photo staff has been patching together a time lapse video of the demolition of Reunion Arena.
Watch it stripped to nothing but the roof in just under a minute.
--Rudolph Bush/Reporter' [...]
As noted yesterday, Mayor Tom Leppert and a delegation from City Hall are traveling in South Korea and China this week on a trade delegation aimed at bringing investors and flights to Dallas.
Leppert's' [...]
Beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, the final demolition of Reunion Arena will begin. In a few day's time, all will be dust and rubble.
Alas, it won't explode as many of us had hoped.
According to a city press release: A&R Demolition will bring in Advanced' [...]
It's going to be a long goodbye for Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle.
As I write this, the Dallas council's public safety committee is saying thanks for the memories to a man who isn't retiring from his post until April.
"I've got some golf clubs," said council member [...]
Mayor Tom Leppert and a delegation from City Hall have jetted off to China and South Korea to talk trade.
There are few things on the checklist, including attempting to secure a daily direct flight from mainland China to DFW. There is also hope [...]
Just as suddenly as it began only 48 hours ago, Dallas lawyer David Finn has quit his campaign for district attorney.
In a letter just faxed to me, Finn said he's throwing his support in the GOP primary behind Republican Danny Clancy.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Danny is" [...]
Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said Friday that he would consider running in a special election for Senate.
"If the opportunity comes up, and as was mentioned in your intro, we don't know that that would be the case, then I'll go ahead and look" [...]
Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who heads the city's public safety committee, offered his thoughts this morning on the retirement of police chief David Kunkle and the process to replace him.
Caraway said City Hall should not concern itself with candidates' ethnicity or sex' [...]
Late last night the phone rang and a very angry council member in District 8's Tennell Atkins was on the other end.
Atkins was furious elected officials like himself learned through the grapevine that Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle planned to announce his retirement' [...]
Republicans have their candidate for Dallas County District Attorney.
Former Criminal Court Judge David Finn is running for the GOP nomination for that post in March. When he becomes the Republican nominee, he'll challenge incumbent Democrat Craig Watkins in the general election.
Finn's candidacy emerges after former Assistant District Attorney Toby Shook' [...]
For some time now, it has been clear that UNT was shifting core operations from Denton to Dallas.
Lots of work has been put into the southern Dallas campus and a masterplan around that. Also, the downtown offices on Main Street and the future law school on [...]
A walk through City Hall today is like a tour of the nation's services, with crisp uniforms in navy, olive green, white and tan around every corner.
The ranks are all here too, from the junior R.O.T.C. member to the stars on their shoulders generals.
I had the [...]
Dallas County residents can now subscribe to a free service to protect their homes from criminals who try to take them by filing bogus deeds with the county's clerk's office.
County Clerk John Warren announced the county's fraud alert service this morning during the county commissioners' weekly meeting.
You' [...]
Gary Fitzsimmons, the usually mild-mannered district clerk, went ballistic today after county commissioners voted 3-2 to dissolve an information technology steering committee.
He and County Clerk John Warren have millions of dollars of IT projects in the works and told the commissioners they need the committee to help [...]
The plaza in front of Dallas City Hall is being prepared today for the annual Veterans Day Parade tomorrow.
The flowers and flags frame a stage lined with the names of the men and women killed at [...]
The Dallas Voice's John Wright has a follow-up to his item last week charging Mayor Tom Leppert had slapped the gay community in the face by joining First Baptist of Dallas.
This has been John's story from the start, so I'll just point you to his' [...]
Dallas wants the World Cup to come back to town a few years from now, say 2018 or 2022, and Mayor Tom Leppert says he needs some help.
The clock is already ticking on the selection process and public support is an important [...]
Way back in summer '08, the Dallas City Council passed a tough new ordinance restricting "junk" signs they said clutter store windows and bring down the appearance and safety of whole neighborhoods.
Of course, the writing was on the wall even then that this wouldn't stand [...]
Last week, we reported that copper thieves caused light outages along the southern end of the Katy Trail.
Now comes word the lights are back on.
Work Thursday and Friday got the lights shining again after the thieves damaged electric wiring plates on light poles.
City spokesman Frank Librio says [...]
With a handful of opposing votes, the Dallas City Council has passed its most sweeping package of ethics reforms since 2000.
In four separate votes, the council passed ordinances requiring lobbyists to register, limiting campaign contributions from developers, diluting individual council members' power over zoning and requiring annual disclosure of gifts' [...]
The Dallas City Council is set to vote this morning on a series of new ordinances intended to increase transparency at City Hall and diminish individual council members' power over zoning.
The reforms come in the wake' [...]
Plans to shut down all lanes of I-35E, scheduled for Sunday and Monday nights, have been postponed. Details over at the Dallas Transportation Blog.
--Michael Lindenberger/Reporter [...]
Nine lights along the southern end of the Katy Trail should be back on by Friday night, city officials said Thursday.
The lights were knocked out when one or more thieves attempted to break open a wiring plate to steal copper.
Copper theft had [...]
Neil Emmons has served 8 years on the powerful Dallas plan commission, twice as long as any sitting member.
In that time, he made lots of friends and more than a few enemies as he pushed for restricting development - particularly in residential areas - with historic [...]
Come next weekend, Mayor Tom Leppert will be the keynote speaker at a pricey motivational seminar- or "leadership summit" if you prefer - at Fair Park called Elevate Dallas '09.
The event from Keith Craft Leadership Shapers promises to elevate "the way people think so they'" [...]
In today's paper, I wrote about Wednesday's council discussion on creating a single-family rental property registration program.
Dallas City Hall spends millions of dollars a year trying to clean up properties owned by absentee landlords who let the weeds grow wild and the paint peel away.
Now, the Dallas City Council [...]
Perhaps you recall a little tussle some months back over what to rename Industrial Boulevard.
After all was said and done, Cesar Chavez got the stiff arm and the City Council's preference of Riverfront Boulevard was ushered in.
According to City Hall, today's the day the change [...]
Mayor Tom Leppert has reached out to the city's gay community in a number of ways, including hiring an openly gay chief of staff, marching in the annual pride parade and meeting often with the local Log Cabin Republicans.
But his decision to join First Baptist Church [...]
Lots of people use the Texas DPS driver's license office at Dallas City Hall for renewals, new licenses and a host of other identification needs.
Now, DPS plans to scale back the office's services.
According to a press release, the office on the first floor of 1500 Marilla [...]
Parts of the Katy Trail have gone dark due to the return of copper thieves.
Dallas parks officials confirm that copper thieves stripped wire from lights along the southern end of the trail recently.
Nine lights along the trail near Reverchon Park are currently out, said [...]
Late last night, the Dallas City Attorney's office posted its latest, and maybe last, draft of City Hall's ethics reforms.
The draft follows the framework laid out by Mayor Tom Leppert for creating new restrictions on lobbyists, campaign [...]
If you've been following progress in Mayor Tom Leppert's Southern Dallas Task Force, you know there has been some griping about City Hall failing to put its money where its mouth is.
Ever since a sharply worded letter to that' [...]
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Former Council member Mitchell Rasansky is pondering whether to run for the Republican nomination for county judge.
"If I don't think I could offer some sort of financial advice to the commissioners, I won't go down there," Rasansky told me earlier [...]
As you may recall from last week, Mayor Tom Leppert pushed the council to vote quickly on a massive and detailed package of ethics reforms.
Many on the council asked the mayor to slow down, saying the complex issues at question deserved more thought.
CM [...]
Newer renderings of the proposed Continental Avenue pedestrian Bridge have eliminated the streetcar that you see peeking out from behind the trees here.
That doesn't mean the streetcar plan for this bridge is totally dead, but it is looking less and' [...]
Mayor Tom Leppert and his counterparts in Fort Worth and Arlington are declaring Saturday 2009's lung cancer awareness day. To raise awareness for the fight against lung cancer, there will be a walk at River Legacy Park in Arlington .
Here are the details from the LUNGevity [...]
This morning, the city's Trinity River committee is taking up a few items like design of the Continental Avenue pedestrian bridge and an update on the levee situation.
Not on today's list is discussion of construction of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, [...]
An important zoning plan intended to set the framework for developing a huge swath of far southern Dallas is back before a council committee today after being tabled by the full council a couple of weeks ago.
The plan is important because it [...]
The Woodall Rodgers Freeway downtown is scheduled to be closed tonight to early Monday for demolition of the St. Paul exit ramp.
The westbound lanes will close at 9 p.m. and the eastbound lanes at 10:30 p.m.
The [...]
Mayor Tom Leppert's deputy chief of staff, Paula Blackmon, will soon be leaving City Hall to take up a new position at the University of North Texas at Dallas.
Blackmon has been a key member of the mayor's staff since his election and her departure [...]
For those of you following the Lake Fastrill/Neches River fight between the city of Dallas and the federal government, there's a bit of news.
The last time we checked in, the U.S. Supreme Court had demanded responses [...]
During Wednesday's big back and forth on ethics reform at Dallas City Hall, lots of proposed amendments got left on the cutting room floor.
I've included all of them that make sense as stand alone items and broken them down into the three reform categories of' [...]
The topsy turvy world of Dallas government always surprises.
After the council returned from lunch, District 1 council member Delia Jasso made a motion to reconsider an earlier failed vote to defer the ethics ordinances.
We are waiting for a vote on her motion - which would put off a vote on [...]
It looks certain that, after today, lobbyists will be registering at City Hall and disclosing some of their contacts with elected and appointed officials.
But the final package of ethics reforms is still taking shape, and it isn't yet clear what will be on the books and what will be left' [...]
In an 8-7 vote, an effort to defer proposed ethics reforms at City Hall has failed.
Council members who voted to defer said the proposed reforms are being rushed through without enough deliberation about the strength of the proposed ordinances or how effective they will be.
The key vote came from council [...]
Ever since Don Hill and the FBI became familiar with one another, there's been talk about toughening up ethics standards at City Hall.
Today, the City Council will be taking up several proposals from Mayor Tom Leppert and several proposed amendments from council members that are [...]
Council members Angela Hunt and Dave Neumann told Mayor Tom Leppert that his extensive ethics reform package should be tabled to assure a stronger ordinance and more input from the public.
"I really do worry that we will not have the best drafted ordinance as possible," said Hunt, a strong proponent [...]
City Council members are discussing various amendments to sweeping ethics proposals being pushed by Mayor Tom Leppert.
Right now they are talking about changes offered by council members Linda Koop and Ann Margolin.
Leppert wants the council to vote on an ethics package on Wednesday.
Council members have various concerns about the proposal. [...]
The city of Wilmer wants to bring a little fun to one of the county's nature preserves.
It's called disc golf. It's a growing sport and it even has its own governing body -- the Professional Disc Golf Association.
Wilmer is asking for [...]
A little skating rink in Southern Dallas might not seem like a big deal to most people. But it's a very big deal to Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who has all but said it will be closed over [...]
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There was some confusion about an element of yesterday's ethics proposals involving campaign contributions, and I'm sorry to say I was among those confused.
As proposed, the limits would work like this:
There can be no campaign contributions to council members from applicants with pending zoning cases from' [...]
This morning, it looked like the council would take a key portion of today's ethics discussion behind closed doors.
That hasn't happened although I'm not sure why.
Council members are hashing out now whether to tighten restrictions on moving zoning cases for a vote of the full council.
The proposal would require' [...]
The most important portion of today's discussion on ethics will be a proposal to require three council members to "second" a zoning motion before it can be brought before the full council for a vote.
Why is that important? Because it is an effort to break up the traditional hold that [...]
A key point from council member Angela Hunt in the lobbyist registration discussion.
Instead of requiring disclosure of gifts, why not get rid of gifts altogether, she asks.
"Why don't we just eliminate a lot of the bureaucracy and say if you're a lobbyist and you have business before the city you" [...]
Council member Carolyn Davis is quite animated about the plan to require lobbyists to register.
She wonders, "What is the intent? Are we trying to stop a (city plan commissioner) from taking bribes."
Well, yes and no.
"The intent is for the public and the council to know who is lobbying whom," [...]
The Dallas City Council is presently discussing a proposal to require lobbyists to annually register with the city and file quarterly reports on who they lobby and what they spend.
This could get interesting.
But it appears the most important portion of today's briefing on ethics reforms at City Hall [...]
It's been a bumpy year for the little skating rink on Ledbetter Drive.
City Hall wants out of the skating business, but Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway has done everything in his power to keep kids rolling.
Meanwhile, the federal Housing and [...]
In a rare Monday meeting, the Dallas City Council will be briefed this morning on a series of ethics reforms aimed at curbing the potential for corruption at City Hall.
Much of the proposal revolves around requiring lobbyists to register, restricting the [...]
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During his eight years on the Dallas City Council, Mitchell Rasansky was best known for being tight with the taxpayer's buck.
He was no different with his own business, and when he left City Hall in June, Rasansky found himself with $175,000 in campaign' [...]
An plan to apply new urbanist principles to the area around the Dallas UNT campus isn't likely to get out of council today.
It's not that the city isn't committed to building up this area up as a walkable, transit-linked series of neighborhoods. I think it' [...]
Earlier this week, I wrote about the expanding subsidy deals City Hall wants to cut to redevelop the eastern edge of downtown.
The council, with one vote in dissent, just approved $17.5 million in tax increment financing to have Cleveland-based developer Forest City restore the Continental [...]
The City Council has approved a $2 million subsidy to assist accounting firm Deloitte in moving about 470 employees from Irving to downtown Dallas.
The item was passed unanimously, with council members calling it a small price for what will be a long term boost to [...]
A few years ago, the City Council passed an ordinance aimed at limiting the impact of billboards on the city's landscape.
But bit by bit, the council has allowed new billboards to crop up, many of them digital or wrapped around buildings downtown.
This morning,' [...]
So reports our College Sports blog.
A new college football bowl game will be played at Cotton Bowl stadium in Fair Park after the 2010 regular season.
Tom Starr, who has been working with Dallas officials on the [...]
The press conference was going smoothly enough.
Mayor Tom Leppert, standing with Heisman trophy winner Tim Brown and Cowboy Martellus Bennett, announced a plan to bring awareness to the fight against diabetes.
The small crowd in City Hall's flag room listened to a brave little girl, Kendall [...]
Tomorrow, the City Council takes up master planning for the area around the University of North Texas' Dallas campus.
It's a plan the city hopes will bring development and new urbanist principles to the vast open stretches of the city's far southern edge near Lancaster.
It revolves' [...]
While the City Council's Transportation committee takes up the idea of making Dallas' streets more friendly to those not inside of a car, it's worth asking what exactly a "complete street" is.
The folks over at completestreets.org have an answer.
They also have' [...]
Interested in thinking more deeply about Dallas' Trinity project?
The Dallas Philosophers Forum is. Led by Irene Klaver, director of UNT's philosophy of water project, they'll be talking through the role of water in a city and its place in the culture.
Here's the plan: To think [...]
In a story in this morning's paper, I looked at the expanding subsidy deals for the Atmos and Continental buildings.
The city's hopes to bring new life to the eastern edge of downtown have hinged largely on a heavily subsidized and controversial deal to redevelop [...]
Thanks to the constant rain, construction at Main Street Garden at Harwood and St. Paul streets is a little behind schedule for its planned opening in early November.
But tonight the folks over at DowntownDallas plan to [...]
During last year's Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl, fans in crimson and orange alike had their cars illegally towed from lots outside of Fair Park.
This year, City Hall doesn't want to take any chances on another embarrassment at the State' [...]
The City Council's Budget and Finance committee will get a heads up today on the city's wins, losses and holds when it comes to federal stimulus dollars.
Among the big wins, as you may have already heard, are funding for new cops, homelessness prevention and alternative [...]
Shawn Williams reports on Dallas South News: In a community meeting at the atrium of Southwest Center Mall on Monday night, the public was informed that after months in foreclosure, Southwest Center Mall has a new owner. When Councilman [...]
It's that dreaded time of the year.
Your Dallas County property tax bill will soon be arriving in the mail.
John Ames, the county's tax assessor-collector, says his office began mailing 2009 tax statements on Monday. The statements "haven't been mailed this early in over'" [...]
Last month, the city's Economic Development committee proposed altering a subsidy deal with Forest City, developers of the rehabbed Mercantile Building, so they could rehab the nearby Continental Building as well.
The total tax increment subsidy (plus interest) for the Continental adds up to $22.5' [...]
A different shakedown controversy is still alive and well in Dallas County.
County Commissioner John Wiley Price got his wish last week to continue a deposition of County Judge Jim Foster that he says was stymied by Foster's lawyer [...]
Mayor Tom Leppert and Trinity Trust president Gail Thomas announced a $5 million gift this morning that will help fund the Dallas CityDesign Studio, a City Hall-based center intended to enhance the city's beauty and function.
The gift, from Rusty and Deedie Rose, will be [...]
Seems like just a few days ago when the Trinity Trust announced $10 million to convert the Continental Avenue Bridge into a pedestrian park.
This morning, they're gearing up again for yet another announcement' [...]
Word is quickly moving through Dallas City Hall that former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill was convicted of taking part in a conspiracy of bribery and extortion.
Hill once was one of this building's most powerful politicians, an affable insider who wielded sway thanks to deep divisions' [...]
A federal jury has just announced a verdict against former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill.
He is guilty of conspiracy and bribery.
--Rudolph Bush/Reporter [...]The verdict will come shortly in the trial of Don Hill.
Meanwhile, back at the scene of the alleged crime, 1500 Marilla, a series of ethics reforms proposed by Mayor Tom Leppert remain in limbo.
The reforms would require strict disclosure from lobbyists and more input from the council on [...]
