Dallas ISD Free Food Benefit

Dallas ISD Free Food Benefit

Dallas ISD families can receive a free food benefit. Dallas ISD offers free meals to all its students making all families eligible to receive the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT), a one-time benefit provided by the State of Texas for eligible families to buy food.

The P-EBT of $285 per child is available for families that may have temporarily lost access to free and reduced-price meals because of school closures due to COVID-19. The amount is based on the average number of days schools are closed for the remainder of the school year.

Dallas ISD Free Food Benefit

More On Dallas ISD Free Food Benefit

Families who received benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in March of 2020 will have the benefit deposited into their account. Those families who are not receiving SNAP benefits but whose children attend Dallas ISD schools will have to fill out an application to receive the funds. You can apply for this benefit by visiting https://yourtexasbenefits.com/Learn/PEBT.

The Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer programauthorized through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, provides states a critical opportunity to provide support, efficiently and comprehensively, to families that rely on free or reduced-price school meals when school is open. Through P-EBT, states can issue eligible households an EBT card with the value of the free school breakfast and lunch reimbursement rates for the number of weekdays that schools are closed due to COVID-19 (estimated to be around $5.70 per day).

Eligible households include those with children certified to receive free or reduced-price school meals and children who attend schools that offer free school meals to all students. Schools must be closed for five or more consecutive days for families to participate.

Per the Townview Magnet Foundation website Dallas ISD is in need of volunteers for food distribution also. This is a positive step being taken beyond just Dallas ISD and we hope it continues in a transparent way.

Breaking: Blood Shortage At Carter Bloodcare

Dallas has a severe blood shortage and needs your help now!

If you made a New Year’s Resolution you have’t kept, here is an easy way to redeem yourself. Be a hero and donate whole blod today!

Carter BloodCare is taking walk-ins now through 3:30 in the parking lot of Episcopal School of Dallas (4100 Merrell Road).

Blood Shortage At Carter Bloodcare

Blood Shortage in Dallas

Carter BloodCare has been serving Dallas since 1951 when J.K. and Susie L. Wadley chartered the Wadley Research Institute and Blood Bank. They changed the name of the nonprofit organization in 1993 to BloodCare of Dallas. Fort Worth was being served by Carter Blood Center, founded in 1957 with grant support from the Amon G. Carter Foundation. 

Carter Bloodcare is recognized throughout the medical and research communities for providing a high quality of products and services to our hospital partners, community supporters and blood donors.

Their primary purpose is to provide life-saving resources to local hospitals in our regional communities. They are proud to be one of the AABB-accredited blood centers in the state, their laboratory is certified by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), and they are also licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Additionally, they are affiliated with America’s Blood Centers – a group of community blood centers providing half of the blood that is transfused in the United States.

Carter BloodCare is known for our commitment to quality, strength in industry expertise, and a passion for saving lives.

Please contact Other Side Dallas with other opportunities for our neighbors to serve their neighnors.

Chief Hall Listening Tour Goes Bad

Chief Hall started a listening tour and it went bad – quickly.

Chief Hall who was met with protests responded: “One of the things we can’t do, and I am here to speak to you, and if you don’t want to hear me, then there’s nothing that I can do for you if you don’t want to hear,” Hall said.

Hall continues to be under the impression she can dictate protestor’s feelings on her lack of command experience and poor decision making as evidenced by non-protest bystanders being hit by rubber bullets, officers assaulting a prone adult male recording events, and her lies about her Rules of Engagement at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

Her Sunday “conversation” outside city hall but cut her speech short as people in the crowd called on her to resign as has been done on Change.org with nearly 2000 people asking for her to leave office or Dallas City Council to remove her.

Chief Hall Talks At Protestors

A Dallas police insider complained Chief Hall was not even in uniform. The tweet made clear Dallas Police does not issue polos, but that there are two sets of rules – one set for Hall and one for everyone else.

Chief Hall Continues To Gaslight

Chief Hall spoke to protesters, hoping to have a conversation about needed changes in policing. Instead, the protesters wouldn’t let her talk.

Chief Hall Met By Protestors

“I was on my knees with my hands up and was tear gassed,” one protester said.

The meeting with protestors appears to be one more attempt to change the narrative. Late last week Chief Hall dropped a video via Dallas Police saying DPD was taking a knee with protestors as opposed to on them.

Take A Knee Gaslights Dallas

“Take A Knee” comes to Dallas in the form of a new gaslighting video from Renee Hall and Dallas Police Department.

The new video just released by the Dallas Police Department begins with the statement — “To the communities we serve: We hear you.”

It asks residents to “work together to end racism” and join the department to #TakeAKnee.

Included in the video is Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo as well as other Chiefs and County Sheriff’s across the country joining protesters. The video goes on to say, “Before we can move forward we need to pause… to listen before we speak.” The video includes images of officers from other departments embracing protesters. It includes images of other officers taking a knee as crowds cheer. The video continues saying “Black lives do matter”.

Take a Knee

Dallas police spokesman were unavailable for comment as to whether or not Chief Hall learned this level of gaslighting from Donald Trump during his Dallas visit.

Dallas police have a long history, like Derek Chauvin, of taking a knee into citizens’ backs. It is particularly deceptive for Chief Hall to coopt that phrase given her own violent tendencies and poor command judgements.

We have provided descriptions of officers shooting rubber bullets at bystanders, beating a prone citizen filming activity, and lying about their actions on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

Take A Knee

One viewer noted “she had to get footage from elsewhere because all she did was yell and tear gas people.”

Another viewer said this was just to save her budget and perhaps her job.

Visit Dallas Sucks Another Five Years From City of Dallas

Visit Dallas wins. Taxpayers Lose. City Council Surrenders.

Visit Dallas Wins Another Five Years

Dallas City Council by a vote of 14-1 voted to continue the Visit Dallas contract without putting it out to bid or serious structural reforms.

In January 2019, Visit Dallas was the subject of an audit showing six figure executives salaries and money spent on benefactors neices and nephews as city ambassadors while studying abroad. The audit found Visit Dallas did not demonstrate how it had spent $ 30M in Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) revenue and Dallas tourism public improvement district cash. It also had not made payments to the city for improvements to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Currently multiple members of the Dallas City Council are calling on the City Manager to Defund Dallas Police, yet only one, Cara Mendelsohn, had the backbone to vote to Defund Visit Dallas. Mendelsohn was the only Council Member voting against this contract with a negative Return on Investment for the City of Dallas.

Visit Dallas Operations

The operations of this group are easily called into question, but worse, they openly advertise things to do in other parts of the Metroplex. Currently their website advertised hotels in Denton and Frisco, i.e. City of Dallas taxpayers are subsidizing tourism to assist other cities’ tax base.

According to one email that made the rounds of several Facebook groups including our page, Other Side Dallas, VisitDallas, the DBA for the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, has a long history of misusing taxpayer funds, creating misleading reports, promoting tourisms for cities other than Dallas, and has always been incompetently led under previous leaders who were all forced to resign due to financial irregularities and whose current CEO faced similar issues in Pittsburgh.”

None of these issues were addressed.

Generous Crêpes That Captivate

Enjoy crêpes sure to captivate your taste buds for FREE. That’s right – lunch at no cost to you.

Whisk Crêpes Cafe in Dallas offers free Nutella crêpes every Thursday for everyone and they are divine if you are dealing with the stressed of COVID19, the George Floyd protests, or just Dallas area traffic. These are a great way to get you one step closer to the weekend.

Additionally, Julien Eelsen offers free crêpes every day to displaced service industry workers and those on the frontlines of COVID19.

They have a great menu supplemented by a great wine selection available for purchase and pick up. The dining room is still closed, but the kitchen is certainly open.

Whisk Crêpes
Nutella crêpes for free on Thursday
Free nutella crêpes on Thursday.

In 2019 the Dallas Observer noted “there’s something great about an establishment that dives into what it knows and loves” and we agree. Too many establishments try to be everything for everyone. Whisk brings the best of France and these very thin ‘pancakes’. As would be suspected they serve both sweet and savoury versions and can meet almost any eater’s hopes for a great meal.

More crêpes

Pop Up crêpes

Additionally Julien Eelsen and Whisk will be supporting the “I Have A Dream” Foundation on Friday, June 12 with a pop up crêpery at 2422 Victory Park Lane from 11AM to 2PM. This is a great chance to enjoy great food and support a great cause.

The Other Side Dallas team plans to continue to post about both local community, political, and entertainment information.

Budget Memo May Bottom Dollar Police

A budget memo released Tuesday may reorganize next year’s budget for the Dallas Police Department. In the memo Council Member Adam Bazaldua said “We hear many of our constituents’ calls to ‘defund’ the Dallas Police Department.”

The memo asks City Manager T.C. Broadnax to redirect dollars from the police department. It states: “We ask you to present options that reallocate public safety funding…”.

The city is scheduled to hold a budget workshop next week on June 17, during which the council members say they want to hear new ideas.

The memo was signed by all but four council members. In perhaps another sign of the political divide between north and south Dallas, all four represent more affluent north Dallas. Those who did not sign include Adam McGough, Cara Mendelsohn, Jennifer Staubach Gates, and David Blewett.

Budget Memo

Budget Memo Preface

Beyond the upcoming budget memo for the next fiscal year though is a discussion taking place at today’s meeting on expanding the Police budget by an additional $6.5M.

Budget Memo Increases Police Budget By $6.5M

Police budget issues have become a hot point since Dallas Police have been found to be assaulting innocent bystanders at George Floyd protests and also caught lying about police activity at those events.

Fans Heartbroken Over Cancelled Fair Park Fireworks

According to a NBC DFW report, the annual Fair Park Fourth celebration in Dallas has been canceled.

Organizers cited the novel coronavirus pandemic and public safety fears as reasons for canceling the annual celebration.

In a tweet, organizers said ” We look forward to Fair Park Fourth in 2021.”

Fair Park Fireworks

Fair Park News

The State Fair of Texas will not open the Midway over the holiday weekend.

“We’re doing that so that our team can fully focus on the scenarios surrounding this year’s State Fair of Texas in hopes that we will still be able to open the fair,” said Karissa Condoianis, senior vice president of public relations for the State Fair of Texas.

She continued: “At this time, we are not planning to operate the Midway on July Fourth.” Later this week, we will bring other entertainment news.

Community Police Oversight Board – June 9

The Community Police Oversight Board will meet on June 9th from 5:00 pm-7:30 pm. However, they have not responded to numerous people who have requested to speak.

With less than eight hours prior to the meeting no agenda or details on the public comment period has been released to those asking for these details. Again, the City of Dallas and Dallas Police Department appear to be stifling comments.

Community Police Oversight Board

Those wishing to comment can include their comments in the comments section here and they will be forwarded to the City of Dallas and Community Police Oversight Board. As has been noted in other places, the City of Dallas has repeatedly stifled public discussion and lied about official actions by the police department.

Watch or Listen to Community Police Oversight Board

You can watch it here: https://dallastx.swagit.com/dcn-95-live/

You can also listen to the meeting by Dialing: 408-418-9388
Access Code: 146 561 3416

If you would like to file a complaint Please email: ocpo@dallascityhall.com.

BREAKING: Police Funding Announcement Today

Dallas Police funding is up in the air. Rumors swirl that Dallas City Council will defund DPD after Mayor Pro Tem Adam Medrano indicated a noon announcement today.

Chief of Police Renee Hall’s office had no comment.

Dallas Police Funding

Dallas Police Issues

Citizens have taken a tougher stance on the police budget since the inappropriate shooting of peaceful protestors on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Additionally both past issues of local police violence and the recent use of force against bystanders has caused alarm.