Dallas has water on the brain, and that probably won't change for at least another day, with thunderstorms forecast for Saturday. If you're waterlogged and want to see someone else more miserable than you, this WFAA video of stuck traffic should do the trick.
But there were other stories in the big city this week, and we're here to sum up the highlights:
White endorsement
District 10 is one of the four districts requiring a run-off vote on June 13, in order to elect new city council members. In District 10, candidate Adam McGough just received a significant endorsement: from former opponent James White.
McGough, who's running against Paul Reyes, previously was in support of the toll road. But this week he changed course.
"I have talked to thousands of residents in my district, and they overwhelmingly oppose a large toll road within the Trinity levees," McGough said in a statement. "Based on the opinions expressed to me from district residents, and the information available, I support moving forward with plans to implement the Dream Team's charrette while taking the steps to withdraw Alternative 3C."
If McGough were to get elected, that will give the anti-toll road forces a majority on the city council.
Belmont changes hands
Developer Monte Anderson made a deal to sell the Belmont Hotel and surrounding four acres to Dallas-based Behringer Lodging Group. Anderson's development of the property was a key step in the gentrification of the neighborhood.
The new owners, who say they love the history and Charles Dilbeck's architecture, will improve the 64-room hotel and bar. The property includes the restaurant Smoke and the Clairevista health club and gym. New co-owner Jeff Burns says they hope to recapture some of the original downtown views the hotel had before Sylvan Thirty developer Brent Jackson came in and obliterated them.
Oak Cliff gateway
Dallas-based Alamo Manhattan has a proposal to create a "gateway" to Bishop Arts at the intersection of Zang Boulevard and Davis Street that would include five-story apartment buildings, restaurants and retail. The project would be right at the Bishop Arts stop for the Dallas Streetcar, and more important, would raze Zoli's NY Pizza Tavern as well as Ten Bells Tavern.
The gateway project is projected to cost $55 million. Alamo Manhattan, also the developer behind the redevelopment of the Mason Bar in Uptown among other projects, is asking for $11 million in future tax reimbursements from the city. Bishop Arts residents are not amused.
White Rock Lake trails
There's more nature hijinks going on in the White Rock Lake area, this time in the Flag Pole Hill Woodlands, where a member of the White Rock Valley Neighborhood Association has been trying to create a multiuse trail, described as "a shady walk."
But city documents obtained by nature muckrakers Ted and Hal Barkley show that the trail will be 4 feet wide and entail removal of vegetation in the park. The documents also reveal a paper trail with city staffers.
"All senior planning staff of the Park Department have been involved in the process, with much misunderstanding of who/what/when/how," reads an entry on the Save Flag Pole Hill Woodlands Facebook page. The only people not involved so far are the public.
City council candidate Adam McGough scored an endorsement after changing course on the toll road.
