mclark

UPDATE: It gets even worse. The man SWAT pulled off the South 1st overpass yesterday after he rained rocks and bricks down on Ben White traffic has been charged more than 30 times across at least three Texas counties over the last 3 decades. Smith County (Tyler): two state jail felony evading arrests, multiple trespasses, drug possession, false ID to police -- twice. Got jail time in 92% of cases. Dallas County: a state jail felony theft, a felony assault pleaded down to a misdemeanor, more trespasses, false ID to police again. Got jail time in 80% of cases. Travis County (Austin): 14 cases. 8 felony arrests. 0 jury trials. Every felony reduced, dismissed, or never filed. Got jail time in just 29% of cases. Travion Washington is from Tyler and apparently moved to Dallas before settling in Austin. A quarter century of fake names, trying to grab weapons from police, and walk-outs by prosecutors. Yesterday, bricks off an overpass at lunchtime.

Who Is Driving the City Hall Debate? by Cara Mendelsohn Former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings is once again attempting to position himself at the center of Dallas politics, this time with a campaign to demolish City Hall. It is fair to ask why a former mayor, who already had eight years to shape Downtown Dallas, now believes he should continue directing the city’s future through newspaper ads, social media campaigns, websites, and coordinated pressure aimed at influencing the current City Council. Dallas voters elected a City Council to make decisions. Thousands of residents have expressed support for preserving City Hall, yet a small group of influential insiders continues acting as though their voices should outweigh those of the people who actually live here, pay taxes here, and vote here. Mr. Rawlings recently said, “we have got to force a change on this.” That statement captures the problem perfectly. Who exactly is “we” and who gave anyone the authority to “force” a change on Dallas residents? Is the campaign’s intent to provide political cover for councilmembers willing to support the demolition of City Hall? This is not how democracy is supposed to work. If residents want to preserve City Hall, modernize it, or redevelop Downtown while retaining the building, they deserve the opportunity to make that determination through a transparent public process, potentially including a citywide vote. What they shouldn’t face is a top-down campaign orchestrated by former officials, powerful organizations, and business interests attempting to predetermine the outcome before the public has complete information. The public still has not received a fully transparent comparison between renovation, modernization, adaptive reuse, and demolition with replacement costs. Assertions continue to be repeated as fact without complete engineering analysis, clearly defined scopes, or reliable lifecycle comparisons. Dallas taxpayers are being asked to accept sweeping conclusions while major questions remain unanswered. City Hall is not just another office building. It is a functioning civic asset with hardened infrastructure, redundant utilities, complete emergency operations, and decades of taxpayer investment already embedded into the structure. It is also one of the most recognizable civic buildings in Dallas and an internationally known work of architect I.M. Pei. Most importantly, redevelopment and preservation are not mutually exclusive. Dallas can revitalize Downtown while preserving City Hall. Great cities around the world successfully integrate historic civic architecture into thriving redevelopment districts. Demolishing a landmark civic building should not become the default, simply because influential voices prefer a different vision. What is especially troubling is the increasingly aggressive effort to pressure councilmembers through campaigns backed by organizations with enormous political and financial influence. Some councilmembers appear more interested in impressing wealthy power brokers than representing their constituents. That is disappointing, but it also explains why many residents feel disconnected from decisions being made about their city. The future should not be decided by noted voices of the past with a marketing campaign. Dallas residents deserve transparency, facts, and open public debate by currently elected officials, not a campaign to “force” an outcome desired by special interests. If demolition of City Hall is the right path, simply present all the numbers, all the options, and all the tradeoffs, and let the people decide.

AB Hernandez won all three events today — long jump, high jump and triple jump. He continues to steal from young women. Shameless.

AUSTIN MAN murders his parents and brother inside their home Thursday morning -- just months after prosecutors dismissed his weapons charge. Travis County prosecutors had Joshua Dahan in custody twice before. They let him go both times. March 2024: Police respond to a reckless driver call and finds Dahan unconscious in his Mercedes. The car reeks of marijuana. A Glock 23 sits in plain view on the front passenger seat. He admits the gun and weed is his. - Charge: Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon - Outcome: DISMISSED, July 2025. July 2024: Arrested again, this time on a felony drug charge -- while the gun case was still pending. - Outcome: DA REJECTED. No charges filed. So nine months after the weapons charge was dismissed, he murders his family.