Awww, there's an Ebola-related story this week, and it has a storybook ending. There's also a Love Field petition and more bad news about Texas Horse Park in South Dallas. Here are the highlights of city news around Dallas.
Ebola reunion
Now both Ebola-free, nurse Nina Pham reunited with her King Charles Cavalier Spaniel Bentley on Saturday morning. Joining them on their reunion were Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, who hosted a press conference during which Pham spoke to the local media for the first time since she got back to Dallas.
This was also the first time that Pham saw Bentley since he was placed in isolation. She took him home.
Horse park delays
The City of Dallas has delayed the opening of Texas Horse Park, the $12 million horse park in South Dallas. The reason: Infractions by its lead operator that include the removal of trees and not having proper insurance.
In a notice sent to Wayne Kirk and his River Ranch Educational Charities, the city's Trinity Watershed Management office cited him for "unauthorized vegetation and tree removal" and for building a barbed wire fence. The letter instructs him to fix the violations and get the proper insurance coverage or face possible termination of its contract with the city.
Kirk was convicted in 2011 for cruelty to a horse at his ranch in McKinney.
Missing woman update
Enrique Arochi, 24, the last known person seen with Christina Morris, has finally spoken out about his relationship with the missing woman. He told Channel 11 that he and Morris both graduated from Allen High School and were part of a group of friends drinking and dining at the Shops at Legacy in Plano on Saturday, August 30.
Just before 4 am Sunday, he and Morris were seen on surveillance video walking together in the shopping center parking garage.
"So we walked and we split and after I saw my car, I went to my car," he says. "I don’t know where she went, or if she went to her car. I just went to my car and left."
The reward for finding Morris has been raised to $25,000.
Wrong amendment
A new petition on Change.org is asking that the City of Dallas truly repeal the Wright Amendment, which it calls "merely a revision of the same sorts of anti-competitive regulations that have kept Dallas Love Field in a chokehold since the opening of DFW Airport."
The petition reads: "Despite attempts by multiple parties to repeal this ludicrous act, the compromise which was ultimately reached remains an affront to consumer choice. The Wright Amendment is still alive and well, despite what the media has said, and it continues to hinder competition at Dallas Love Field."
Delta Airlines will be evicted as of January 6, 2015, and other carriers like JetBlue that have formally indicated their interest in the airport have been unable to begin service due to lack of gate space.
"The existing airlines have done all in their power to fill gates, even (as in the case of United) if it means offering ferry flights on the smallest aircraft available, which cannot possibly be profitable in the first place, all to the detriment of the City of Dallas through loss of potential revenue through landing fees, as well as to residents who prefer the convenience of Love Field to the more hectic DFW.
"As Love Field poses no threat to the viability of DFW, restrictions on its size at the federal level are uncalled for, and every effort to repeal them must be undertaken immediately. Please help us in joining this fight to truly free Love Field and give DFW-area consumers a proper choice in air travel."
Cheaper Uber
Uber is cutting prices for its already super-cheap UberX service in Dallas. This is the third time UberX has discounted its price since Uber debuted in November 2013. An UberX trip from one Oak Cliff apartment to Maple Avenue currently costs about $7 versus $12.50 plus tip in a Yellow Cab.
UberX is getting cheaper.
