Editor Staff – Page 5 – The Other Side Dallas

September 13, 2021September 16, 2021

Cash For Vaccinations

Dallas Independent School District is offering cash for vaccinations to students and staff who get the COVID19 vaccination.

DISD is believed to be the first district in Texas to offer students ages 12 and up cash incentives for voluntarily getting vaccinated. The district said they will give fully vaccinated students a $50 gift card that can be used the same as cash.

Teachers are eligible for a larger incentive of $500.

As of September 13, Dallas Independent School District reported 1,546 confirmed cases of COVID19 among students and 650 additional cases in staff.

The district is enforcing a mask mandate despite being forbidden by the governor and his executive order banning such mitigation efforts.

Dallas schools have more than 140,000 students and an infection rate of just over one percent.

Other large districts like Arlington and Frisco have less than half the student population of the Dallas ISD and are reporting hundreds of more infections among students leading to higher infection rates – both Arlington and Frisco are three times as much as Dallas. Neither Arlington or Frisco has a mask mandate.

Cash For Vaccinations Details

The announcement of the student vaccination incentive comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Dallas County Health officials have raised the COVID19 alert to level red and reported that hospitalizations are rising at the fastest rate since the pandemic began, among all age groups, including children.

Participation in the student vaccination incentive is entirely voluntary and based on the personal preferences of students and their families. The information provided will help the district determine how many students who are eligible have been fully vaccinated and facilitate the contact tracing and quarantine processes, which are different depending on vaccination status.

More information can be found here.

September 9, 2021September 9, 2021

Crime Up And DPD Overtime Down

Dallas crime up and DPD overtime is down per a Dallas City Council vote earlier which removed additional funds from the Dallas City budget.

City Council is putting the finishing touches on next year’s budget which will be finalized on September 22, 2021.

The biggest fireworks were when Dallas Police Department’s overtime budget was cut by $10M and moved into city reserves awaiting results of an audit. The vote was 8-7 in favor of defunding the department and ignores recent failures of officer availability to respond to three children assaulted last week.

Crime Up And DPD Overtime Down – Again

Citizens can still contact their member of City Council prior to the final vote on September 22, 2021.

August 31, 2021August 31, 2021

COVID19 Coverup At Harry Stone

It appears a COVID19 coverup at Harry Stone is not new, but ongoing. This follows our reporting earlier this summer about a teacher assaulted by a student and questions about financial misuse of student activity money at the Dallas Independent School District southern Montessori campus.

The Dallas ISD dashboard currently shows two staff cases of COVID19 at Harry Stone, but in written conversations with six school parents there are allegations the number may be as high as twenty-two with seventeen student cases.

In one instance a parent reports the school nurse asked the parent not to submit positive COVID19 case history so that the district dashboard would not reflect the case.

The parent said in a written email, “She told me just to let [the student] do course work online and the student would be fine. I pressed the issue because the student was lethargic and didn’t want the student to work while sick and also didn’t want the student to be counted absent. They didn’t want to have to document a case and I wonder how many parents they did that too.”

Another parent indicates their child was diagnosed COVID19 positive, but does not have any possibility of community transmission. They only go to and from Harry Stone and do not otherwise go out.

Four separate parents have stated in similar stories that personnel at Harry Stone Montessori Academy privately confirming multiple students and staff members testing positive, but that they are not sharing the information with parents. It is not clear if they are sharing the information with Dallas ISD administrators either.

COVID19 Coverup At Harry Stone Continues Bad History

Earlier this summer we reported on a large percentage of teachers leaving Dallas ISD’s South Dallas Montessori campus. That resulted in dozens of calls and emails that show teachers are leaving due to campus assaults by students of staff members.

Two Zoom meetings were held by Trustee Maxie Johnson who stated he thinks parents are racist for bringing up assaults against teachers. We have reached out to Mr. Johnson for comment repeatedly without success.

August 20, 2021June 21, 2022

Indie Centrist Candidates Coming

Two North Texas Democratic incumbents may be facing indie centrist candidates in the upcoming 2022 election after gerrymandering says two sources close to Austin decision makers.

US Representative Colin Allred and State Senator Nathan Johnson may face not one, but two, candidates in the 2022 general election.

Indie Centrist Candidates

Allred has benefited from official administration visits like Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh’s summer visit, but may still be gerrymandered into a tougher district making his progressive voting record harder to defend.

Nathan Johnson, similar to Allred won in 2018 riding an anti-Trump wave, that may not exist in 2022 with Trump off the ballot.

Since 2020, many local Republicans have been associated with QAnon and the GOP voting losses of suburban women voters to Democrats over the past four years. The most recent in North Dallas is probably Barry Wernick.

The Republican Party currently has four candidates running for office in Texas Congressional District 32 per Ballotpedia. They are Montgomery Markland, Brad Namdar, Ricardo Salazar, and Gary Slagel.

No candidates are listed for State Senate District 16, but the Dallas County Republican Party, suffering from its own dysfunction, currently lists candidates who lost their primary races back in 2018.

Additionally, Don Huffines, who lost his re-election bid against State Senator Johnson four years ago, is aggressively running for Governor taking swings at Greg Abbott over the border and the electric grid failure. It is not obvious who would be running for his old seat, but his brother was Dallas County Republican Chair.

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021

Governor Greg Abbott Spreads COVID19 In McKinney

Texas Governor Greg Abbott spreads COVID19 in McKinney, Texas at a fundraiser at Heritage Ranch on earlier this week.

Abbott attended a fundraiser for the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch and the video above clearly shows him in close contact with dozens of other unmasked attendees at the venue.

A statement from the governor’s office said that everyone Abbott was close with has been notified of possible exposure to COVID19. He is currently being treated with monoclonal antibodies at the Governor’s Mansion.

The Governor’s spokesman would not comment about Abbott’s personal responsibility. The Texas Governor has said personal responsibility should be the standard on whether or not to wear a mask.

Abbott Spreads COVID19 In Schools Too?

Abbott is fighting against mask and vaccine mandates in Texas and issued an executive order prohibiting businesses and schools from requiring masks or vaccines to enter.

Abbott has retreated recently on COVID19 response requesting FEMA mortuary trailers and out of state medical responders, but denied Dallas area hospitals for the same request last week.

Texas is currently averaging 14,453 new cases per day, according to a seven-day rolling average.

Dallas ISD has stated they will require masks on campus and continued despite court action appearing to uphold the Governor’s executive action.

On Monday, Iraan-Sheffield ISD, a district about an hour south of Midland, Texas announced it would shut down its three campuses until August 30th. Bloomburg ISD and Waskom ISD also are shutting down campuses in light of COVID19 numbers in rural Texas.

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021

Governor Abbott’s COVID19 Retreat?

Has Governor Greg Abbott’s COVID19 retreat finally come?

Per a release yesterday it appears so though his spokesperson won’t admit it.

Abbott who last week denied Dallas area hospital’s request for emergency staff is now asking other states for both staff and supplies as COVID19 is hitting Texas hard.

Texas is actively seeking out-of-state health care personnel to help with the latest COVID19 surge. Abbott has also asked hospitals to voluntarily postpone elective medical procedures.

One physician in a Facebook post openly spoke about triaging pediatric trauma victims because of a lack of bedspace and not being able to accept patient transfers because local pediatric facilities are being used by adults.

COVID19 Retreat

While Abbott is asking other states for assistance in fighting coronavirus his leadership at Texas Education Agency is still balking on mask requirements. Austin ISD and Dallas ISD have both announced they are moving forward with mask requiements anyway.

August 8, 2021August 8, 2021

Amber Guyger Conviction Upheld

Dallas Police Department officer’s Amber Guyger conviction upheld in the Fifth Court of Appeals. Guyger shot and killed her neighbor Botham Jean, inside his own apartment in 2018, failed in this first murder conviction appeal.

Guyger is serving a ten year sentence for the murder of Botham Jean.

Jean, a Black man who lived in the same apartment building as Guyger was eating ice cream in his apartment when she entered and shot him in September 2018.

Amber Guyger Conviction Upheld

Guyger, who is white, testified that she thought she was entering her own apartment and thought Jean was an intruder. She was later fired from the Dallas Police Department after the shooting.

Guyger’s lawyers argued her 2019 trial was not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Guyger committed murder. Their argument was she had a “reasonable belief” that she was in her own apartment. If jurors believed she had a “reasonable belief” she was in her own home, she would have been allowed to use deadly force in self-defense.

Guyger can still raise the case to Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals, but Thursday’s ruling is a setback to Guyger’s attempt to receive a reduced sentence. As it stands, she could be eligible for parole as soon as 2024.

There has been no public comment from Dallas Police Association (DPA) or its President Mike Mata. After the incident, Mata was accused of tampering with evidence after he aked that a police cruiser camera be turned off while he spoke to Guyger.

Mata was not charged by a Grand Jury who heard evidence and was cleared of any wrong doing. At the time he sadi he welcomed an Internal Affairs investigation believing he would receive the exoneration he ended up receiving through the court system.

During the Guyger murder trial, prosecutors used security camera video to suggest the DPA acted improperly when Mata arrived on the scene after the shooting.

Other Side Dallas has been covering Dallas Police misconduct since its founding and will continue to do so.

August 5, 2021August 6, 2021

Governor Abbott Denies COVID19 Response Resources

Govenor Abbott denies COVID19 response resources requested by Dallas area hospitals battling coronavirus admissions.

Hospitals in Dallas and throughout North Texas say they need hundreds of additional emergency staff to deal with a surge of COVID-19 cases. The state is denying their request for emergency personnel.

“Local governments across Texas now have access to more than $10 billion in federal Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds that are available to pay for urgent COVID-19 response needs, including medical surge staffing,” said Chris Van Deusen, director of media relations for DSHS.

He continues “… As always, emergency response begins at the local level. Encouraging health care facilities to utilize the resources already available within their communities will ensure the response can be as flexible as possible. They can work with their cities and counties to ramp up or shift necessary staffing as needed throughout this phase of the pandemic. Most health care facilities have relationships with staffing firms, but we can help connect them with the firms we used, if needed.”

Abbott Denies COVID19 Response Resources Despite Losing Republican Friend

Abbott’s move comes after Dickinson City Council member and State Republican Executive Committee member H. Scott Apley, 45, died in a local hospital around 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.

He was admitted to the facility in Galveston on Sunday with “pneumonia-like symptoms,” and was hooked up to a ventilator as his condition worsened.

Texas Republican Party Chairman Matt Rinaldi asked the Apley family be “lifted up in prayer,” but neglected to mention the fact that Apley’s death was COVID19-related or that he actively discredited attempts to slow the infections.

Apley is a staunch conservative and devout Christian. But based on his social media activity, Apley didn’t believe COVID was going to affect him or his family, and appears to have ties to the QAnon movement increasing in numbers in the Texas Republican Party.

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021

Almost 700 New COVID19 Cases

There are almost 700 new COVID19 cases in a rolling seven day period said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.

Hospitalizations in the area are up also. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services – more than twice as many COVID19 hospitalizations are happening now as on July 18 and more than four times as many as on July 3.

Last year, Texas was one of ten “hot zone” states where COVID19 infections were surpassing expectations.

Per Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council President Stephen Love a majority of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 are not vaccinated. He encouraged everyone to get vaccinated.

700 New COVID19 Cases

The 700 new COVID18 cases represent the highest seven day average caseload of new infections since February 2021.

August 2, 2021August 2, 2021

Goldman Sachs William Mundinger To Take Over City Department

Dallas City Manager TC Broadnax will announce Goldman Sachs William Mundinger, II to serve as Executive in Residence for the Department of Sustainable Development and Construction (SDC).

It is rumored that Mr. Mundinger will support SDC’s reorganization and transformation.

Goldman Sachs William Mundinger

Mr. Mundinger previously worked at Goldman Sachs where he was National Director of Development, Environmental, and Construction Services. There he provided development and oversight services in Dallas, the East and West Coasts and internationally.Mr. Mundinger will report to Dr. Eric A. Johnson, Chief of Economic Development and Neighborhood Services, whose tenure has been marked by inconsistency throughout.

If the appointment occurs, Mundinger will begin his tenure with the City of Dallas in mid August.

The appointment is expected to receive some negative attention and rumors of insiders controlling Dallas given Mundinger’s past employment with Goldman Sachs.