Breaking Dallas News – Page 57 – The Other Side Dallas

December 20, 2020December 20, 2020

TEA Interferes In COVID19 Response Again

TEA COVID19 response at cross roads again.

Per a local school site, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is interfering in local direction again. COVID19 response plans have been shot down by Commissioner Mike Morath. He has rejected a proposal submitted by dozens of South Texas superintendents earlier this week that would have given districts the ability to continue a mostly remote instruction curriculum should COVID19 numbers surge over the winter break. While this decision does not impact Dallas now, it could if COVID19 numbers continue to rise.

South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley has faced a disproportionate number of COVID19 numbers. The Rio Grande Valley is just 4.7% of the entire Texas population, but accounts for 17% of deaths throughout Texas.

At a press conference Tuesday, Cortez and McAllen Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez outlined the plan, which would have included a waiver allowing districts to continue online instruction for 100% of families in areas with a hospitalization rate greater than 15% without having district funding affected. It also requested rapid COVID-19 tests be made available for priority students who do choose to attend on campus, with Cortez and Gonzalez citing potential superspreader events over the holidays as a chief motivator for the proposal.

TEA COVID19 Response and Funding

TEA has a long standing problem on the COVID19 question.

TEA has kept federal dollars meant for local school districts while demanding local schools be open despite the innovation shown, including here in Dallas.

Dallas ISD Trustees Mackey and Michiche have previously both publicly stated it is better if students stay home and learn virtually. COVID19 continues to hit school after school including shutting down two campuses and numerous classrooms.

December 17, 2020December 17, 2020

Shingle Mountain Fix

Dallas City Council Member Tennell Atkins reports the Shingle Mountain fix is starting. Per a statement by Atkins issued regarding removal of shingles at 9505 S. Central Expressway: “The removal of shingle material at 9505 S. Central Expressway today marks a new era in Southern Dallas.”

The City’s contractor, Roberts Trucking, will move the shingle material to McCommas Bluff Landfill. The landfill is prepared to receive this type of material, and plans to recycle it. The contractor anticipates the removal process will be complete by the end of March 2021.

The removal process is being supervised by Modern Geosciences to address environmental concerns associated with the removal. Air monitoring will occur on and off site to ensure air quality meets appropriate standards to protect human health.

Shingle Mountain Fix Is Still A Legal Issue

The city statement goes on saying,“While the City has settled with one of the property owners, the City remains in litigation with the remaining defendants.

“We are nearly at the end of a two year journey, involving the tireless work of the City’s legal team and various City departments. We are hopeful this process will alleviate concerns from surrounding community members and emphasizes the City’s commitment to a clean environment.”

Single Mountain has been a long term problem for the city,

December 14, 2020December 15, 2020

Dallas Democrats Audit Shows Almost No Financial Controls

Minutes into Monday night’s CEC Meeting, Dallas Democrats Audit showed major problems and no mention of the recent DWI arrest of Judge Audrey Moorehead.

A recent audit showed a quarter million dollars had not been accounted for when transferred to the Coordinated Campaign committee. Those funds were unaccounted for block walkers, literature, and other campaign expenses.

One Precinct Chair who provided us with information about the audit report noted the block walkers expense was particularly interesting since the committee had gotten away from block walking due to COVID19.

Additionally, Philip Courtney Hogan who oversaw the audit process noted a major risk for embezzelment which he desribed as “room for people to steal” that the Dallas Democrats allowed the Director of Finance to both write checks and reconcile monthly bank statements.

Reportedly, additional problems were listed including no Director and Officer insurance, problems with payroll taxes not matching – i.e. W-2 and 941 payment mismatches, and IRS 1099 Forms not being submitted to the IRS for paid block walking employees.

Dallas Democrats Audit Report

Other Side Dallas is working to get a copy of the audit report. If we are able to get a copy of these issues we will publish immediately.

Joanna Cattanach To Lead Development

Another interesting development is the appointment of Joanna Cattanach to be the Dallas County Democratic Party’s Development Director. In October, Cattanach returned a contribution to the staffer of a primary opponent in her own race she lost against Morgan Meyer.

December 14, 2020December 13, 2020

Will Dallas Repeat Reneé Hall Errors with Brackney?

Dallas appears to be repeating the Reneé Hall errors by naming RaShall M. Brackney a finalist for Dallas Police Chief. Hall has officially left her duties as police chief under a cloud of questions from her own officers. She accelerated her departure timeline after we reported on inappropriate behavior between she and convicted felon Dominique Alexander.

Brackney on the other hand may be coming to Dallas and could just be Reneé Hall 2.0 when it comes to listening to the public. Broadnax announced his list of finalists last week.

In October, the Interim Minister and Board for the Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville wrote a letter to Brackney – a reported “expert on harm reduction, procedural and restorative justice practices, and community-police relations” about what appears on its face to be a case of racial profiling by her officers. Her response was a press conference where she called for the termination of both the church pastor and the entire board.

Brackney’s full press conference can be seen here.

Brackney comes to Dallas as local neo nazis act with impunity vandalizing city property and Dallas City Council can not decide if they will hold police accountable or just defund them in line with social-justice activists’ wishes.

Meanwhile Brackney is considered a finalist for our top cop role – coming from a department that has a bad history of dealing with protests and counter protests.

The Charlottesville (VA) Police Department is having the same issues with officer accountability as Dallas has had with Chief Hall’s lies about the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge incident.

Dallas has a long history of protests and Dallas Police in responding, but the thinking of TC Broadnax on this one is confusing – especially given the recent problems with Reneé Hall.

As a person on social media noted “of all the people in the world to go to war with, I feel like “the reverend at the unitarian church” was a bad choice for the Charlottesville Police Department.”

Brackney History

Brackney’s Charlottesville biography states prior to her appointment as the Chief of Police she retired as a 30-year veteran from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and served as the former Chief of Police of the George Washington University.

Comment was sough from Charlottesville Police public information unit, but there has been no response as of time of publish.

December 14, 2020December 13, 2020

Texas HB196 A Focus For Texas Legislature

A source in Austin reports State Representative Terry Meza‘s Texas HB196 will be a focus for the Texas legislature in the upcoming session starting in January 2021. One Republican said it was “better than Christmas.”

Meza sparked a backlash when she proposed changes to the state’s “castle doctrine,” through Texas HB196, which allows the use of deadly force to protect property.

Facebook has numerous posts attributed to Meza regarding HB196. Calls and emails to her office were not returned so these statements have not been validated.

Privately Republicans are rejoicing saying Democrats have stepped in the muck again.

The point to rising crime numbers throughout Dallas and other cities including officers being attacked and the Democrats filing a bill to stop citizens and home owners from protecting their own property.

One legislative staffer said Denton County had to arrest Dallas’ serial killer because their police chief is in a relationship with a BLM activist with a felony record. Instead of protecting the public, they are filing HB196 which looks to protect criminals.

Some Democrats complain too continuing a pattern of infighting since Election Day when Democrats failed in their expectations to be leading the state house in 2021.

We just lost every winnable seat possible and we have state reps thinking HB196 will bring the suburbs back to voting for us. Democrats continue to say ‘we did it‘ while losing winnable races.

Meza’s bill filing comes just as a local Democrat and criminal judge was arrested for DWI.

Texas HB196

The specific text of Terry Meza’s bill can be found here and is included below.

87R1395 JCG-D

	By: Meza	H.B. No. 196



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the use of deadly force in defense of a person or
	property.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Sections 9.32(a) and (c), Penal Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(a) A person is justified in using deadly force against
	another if the actor:
	(1) is [~~if the actor would be~~] justified in using force
	against the other under Section 9.31; [~~and~~]
	(2) is unable to safely retreat; and
	(3) [~~when and to the degree the actor~~] reasonably
	believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:
	(A) to protect the actor against the other’s use
	or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or
	(B) to prevent the other’s imminent commission of
	aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, or aggravated
	sexual assault[~~, robbery, or aggravated robbery~~].
	(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), a [A] person who is
	in the person’s own habitation [~~has a right to be present at the~~
	~~location where the deadly force is used~~], who has not provoked the
	person against whom the deadly force is used, and who is not engaged
	in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not
	required to retreat before using deadly force as described by this
	section.
	SECTION 2. Section 9.41, Penal Code, is amended to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 9.41. PROTECTION OF ONE’S OWN PROPERTY. (a) A person
	in lawful possession of land, including a habitation on the land, or
	tangible, movable property is justified in using force against
	another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the
	force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other’s
	trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property.
	(b) A person unlawfully dispossessed of land, including a
	habitation on the land, or tangible, movable property by another is
	justified in using force against the other when and to the degree
	the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to
	reenter the land or recover the property if the actor uses the force
	immediately or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession and:
	(1) the actor reasonably believes the other had no
	claim of right when he dispossessed the actor; or
	(2) the other accomplished the dispossession by using
	force, threat, or fraud against the actor.
	SECTION 3. Section 9.42, Penal Code, is amended to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 9.42. DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY. A person is
	justified in using deadly force against another to protect land,
	including a habitation on the land, or tangible, movable property
	if the actor:
	(1) is [~~if he would be~~] justified in using force
	against the other under Section 9.41; [~~and~~]
	(2) [~~when and to the degree he~~] reasonably believes
	the deadly force is immediately necessary:
	(A) to prevent the other’s imminent commission of
	arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the
	nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime; or
	(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing
	immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated
	robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the
	property; and
	(3) [he] reasonably believes that:
	(A) the land or property cannot be protected or
	recovered by any other means; or
	(B) the use of force other than deadly force to
	protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or
	another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
	SECTION 4. Sections 9.32(b) and (d), Penal Code, are
	repealed.
	SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
	effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
	before that date.
	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.

December 13, 2020December 14, 2020

Drinks On Brink Zoominar This Tuesday

24 Hour Dallas is holding a Drinks On Brink Zoominar this Tuesday, December 15, 2020.

Join 24HourDallas as they host Drinks On The Brink, a free Zoominar that explores Dallas’ independent bars and how they might navigate the coming months. Guest panelists include Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson of Dallas’ Economic Development office, Stephanie Keller Hudiburg, the Executive Director of the Deep Ellum Foundation, and Jeff Brightwell, a partner at Dot’s Hop House.

You can register for this event at no cost to you here.

Neighborhood pubs, taverns, bars, and saloons have played pivotal roles in United States history. Paul Revere was known to frequent Boston’s Bell In Hand while first President George Washington favored Williamsburg’s Christiana Campbell tavern. The ideas, treaties, and revolutions that have shaped our nation have often been crafted and confirmed with a tip of a glass.

COVID19 and public health issues are concerns, but independent bars, pubs, and restaurants need financial relief they need to weather the pandemic. A major concern is what ideas, treaties, and revolutions are being lost with independent bars being lost to a pandemic.

24 Hour Dallas: Drinks On Brink

This is just the latest effort by the 24 Hour Dallas coalition to bring attention to issues hitting the Dallas service industry the hardest. 24 Hour Dallas had Seize The Night – Carpe Noctem – and race consciousness events in the summer and has existed to assist the Dallas service industry since 2015.

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020

Democrat Audrey Moorehead Arrested For DWI

Dallas County criminal court judge Audrey Moorehead was arrested Tuesday night on a charge of driving under the influence, according to Farmers Branch police records.

About 10:43 p.m., Farmers Branch Police officers were called to the 13500 block of Midway Road. Upon arriving on scene they found a white Cadillac had struck a light pole. Judge Audrey Faye Moorehead was placed under arrest on a DWI charge and taken to the Farmers Branch jail.

Moorehead was released on bond the following day. It has not been determined if Judge Moorehead presided over other criminal cases in the days that followed.

Audrey Moorehead

Moorehead assumed office in Dallas County in 2018. She presides over County Criminal Court 3 and is also listed as member of the Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors.

Moorehead did not face opposition in the 2018 Democratic Party primary, but looks to have insider status. Earlier in the year statewide Democrats nominated Terri Hodge to be a representative of the Democratic Party in the Electoral College.

Hodge had previously served a year in prison for felony tax evasion secondary to bribery.

December 12, 2020December 12, 2020

Lawyer Richard Reynolds Sentenced

Lawyer Richard Reynolds who concealed bribes to officials in the Dallas County Schools system was sentenced this week to six months in prison.

In a June guilty plea, Reynolds admitted he used his law firm to help facilitate and conceal some of the bribe payments made by school bus camera company owner Robert Leonard to Dallas County schools superintendent Rick Sorrells. Leonard and Sorrells are currently serving seven-year terms in federal prison, for their roles in the scheme which involved more than $3 million dollars in bribes and kickbacks.

Dallas Independent School District may have similar issues. The former DISD Chief Internal Auditor stated that there were millions in overcharges and a former employee filed an affidavit stating overcharges were finding their way into the pockets of trustees.

Lawyer Richard Reynolds And DCS

Reynolds had no other connection to the school “system” that provided transportation to multiple school districts in the area.

Dallas County Schools (DCS) was a taxpayer funded school bus transportation government agency. It was founded in 1846 and offered full service and/or supplemental student transportation services to other government entities and localm private, and charter schools in and around Dallas County, Texas. They also served part of Denton County as well. DCS was one of the top student transportation fleets in the nation and operated a fleet of approximately 2,000 buses. They transported more than 75,000 children to and from school safely each day.

December 12, 2020December 12, 2020

Four Friday Night Shootings

There were four unrelated Friday night shootings in approximately twenty-three minutes that Dallas Police responded. The result is two people dead and two more injured.

Friday Night Shootings – A Reflection Of Larger Trend

Dallas has been a hotbed of crime all year long, prior to COVID19 becoming a contributing factor.

Earlier in the year members of City Council cut police overtime for arts and environmental projects despite Dallas’s murder and violent crime rates. Locally Dallas is on pace for more murders this year than last which broke local records.

Dallas Police have had issues staffing the 9-1-1 call center and there have been multiple allegations against Chief Reneé Hall that go unaswered by city officials.

December 10, 2020December 10, 2020

Reneé Hall Runs Away

Reneé Hall runs away from her controversial management of Dallas Police Department after we reported on of two subordinate officers accusing her of an inappropriate relationship with Dominique Alexander.

Despite pledging to serve the remainder of 2020, her resignation was announced earlier today with Lonzo Anderson, appointed Interim Chief of Police starting December 15, 2020.

City officials from the Mayor’s Office and City Manager’s Office continue to avoid questions about her tenure or the most recent allegations.

Reneé Hall Runs Away Again

Hall has been under heavy criticism since it was learned she was not providing proper supervision to officers during the June Gorge Floyd protests and lied about the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge events both at the time and later in official After Action Reports.

Hall’s resignation has led to thirty-six applicants for the Chief of Police position.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax invited the group of seven candidates chosen from a pool of thirty-six applicants from across the U.S. The candidates named finalists are:

Albert Martinez – Director of Security for Dallas Catholic Dioceses/Former DPD Deputy Chief
Avery Moore – Assistant Police Chief, Dallas Police Department
Eddie Garcia – Chief of Police, San Jose, California
Jeff Spivey – Chief of Police, City of Irving, Texas
Malik Aziz – Major, Dallas Police Department
Reuben Ramirez – Deputy Chief, Dallas Police Department
RaShall Brackney – Chief of Police, Charlottesville, Virginia

Interviews between candidates and council members will be pre-recorded and published on the city’s social media and cable TV next week.

An additional fifty-five organizations ranging from police unions to neighborhood nonprofits will participate in stakeholder panel interviews with the candidates beginning December 15, 2020.

Broadnax says he expects to select and appoint the next chief before the end of the year.

Mayor Johnson has recently emphasized public safety including his state of the city address: “We need more robust law enforcement strategies,” Johnson said in his speech at Fair Park, in South Dallas. “The violent crime reduction plan that I asked for last year simply has not worked. … It is my expectation that whoever becomes the next police chief will be accountable to you and will work with you to make our city safer.”