City News Roundup

Composting company wants to hear your excuses and more Dallas news

If you're not doing this, then here's your chance to explain why.

Photo courtesy of Turn Compost

This roundup of Dallas news is brimming with info including a new parade in downtown Dallas, a possible new train route from Dallas to Atlanta, and new crosswalks in South Dallas. Other tidbits include the resurgence of omicron, the resignations of not one but two school district superintendents, and some scholarship money for college hopefuls. Last but not least, a composting company wants your opinion. You matter!

Here's what's happening in Dallas this week:

South Oak Cliff football
The city of Dallas honored South Oak Cliff High School's Golden Bears football team, who won the school's first football state title in December, and earned Dallas ISD's first state championship in more than 60 years. The celebration took place at Dallas City Hall Plaza with remarks from ex-Dallas Cowboys Russell Maryland and Charles Haley, plus video appearances from Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, and Greg Ellis, plus Barbara McCoy, a 1979 Women's World Championship Basketball Team and South Oak Cliff alumni. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has declared January 22 "South Oak Cliff Day" and the city will host a parade in downtown Dallas.

Dallas to Atlanta train
There's a new transportation proposal that would make it easy to get from Dallas to Atlanta via Amtrak train. The proposal from Canadian Pacific Railway Limited and Kansas City Southern railways includes two new routes: New Orleans to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Meridian, Mississippi, to Dallas. Connecting these routes to the I-20 Corridor passenger rail route would connect Dallas to Atlanta, and thus the entire East Coast.

School superintendent resignations
Dallas ISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa is resigning. His last official day is December 31. He's held the position since 2015, but was previously in that role from 2005-2011. He's supposedly running for mayor of Dallas in 2023.

Fort Worth ISD superintendent Kent Scribner is also resigning. He plans to retire in 2022.

Omicron 1
Dallas County state courts have delayed civil jury trials until the end of January, and the state appellate court in Dallas has pushed back its return to in-person oral arguments once again in response to the current surge of COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant. The daily tally of cases has increased dramatically in the past few weeks; for example, on January 13 Dallas County Health and Human Services reported 5,833 new positive cases and 13 deaths.

Omicron 2
There are two new free COVID-19 drive thru testing locations in Dallas:

Owenwood Farm and Neighbor Space at 1451 John West Rd. Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 am-6 pm.
New Birth Baptist Church, 444 W. Ledbetter Dr., Dallas. Hours: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 8 am-5 pm.

Residents are required to have an appointment and can sign up for testing at DOCSHealthTesting.com. There are no requirements for testing and results can be expected in 48 to 72 hours.

South Dallas crosswalks
Six intersections in South Dallas will soon sport red-and-white crosswalks featuring the phrase "All Black Lives Matter." The first has already been installed at 2800 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Other locations include Al Lipscomb Way & South Ervay Way; Al Lipscomb Way & South Harwood; Al Lipscomb Way & Malcolm X Blvd.; Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. & Colonial Avenue; and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. & Jackson Boulevard. There'll be an official unveiling on January 17 at 12:30 pm, hosted by Kirk Myers of Abounding Prosperity Inc., and Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua.

College scholarship contest
The "Don't Mess with Texas Scholarship Contest" is accepting applications for the 2022 school year. Any Texas high school senior currently attending public, private, or home school who is planning to attend an accredited Texas college or university in fall 2022 is eligible to apply. Judges will select winners based on the students' proven results in leading projects or events focused on educating communities about the importance of keeping our state clean and litter-free. Sponsored by Buc-ees and iHeart Media, the contest will award a total of $9,000 in scholarships in May 2022. Submit applications online at dontmesswithtexas.org by March 31 at 5 pm.

Fun little survey on why you hate composting so much
Turn Compost, a service company that picks up food scraps from restaurants, businesses, and residents, is seeking your opinion. The company is making a presentation at a national composting conference in Austin on food waste, and they need to offer some reasons why people won't compost. They've created a quick survey on Survey Monkey - only six questions, come on, it's easy - and are seeking feedback. Go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/5GDM9KB to anonymously share your anti-composting thoughts.

city-news-roundup politics

happy go lucky plano

Dallas neighbor dazzles on new list of happiest cities in America

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

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A new happiness study has ranked Plano one of the happiest cities in America this year, and it once again landed on top as the happiest city in Texas.

Plano has moved up on the list and ranks as the 16th happiest U.S. city in 2026. Last year, it was 17th.

WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.

Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Plano across the three key dimensions:

No. 15 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
No. 22 – Community and environment
No. 72 – Income and employment

Plano and its residents have continued improving their city year after year, whether its through opening new bakeries and restaurants, inviting fun pop-ups for locals, or having a strong job market.

Plano's happiness far outshines the rest of North Texas; according to WalletHub, Irving is the 70th happiest city in the country, the third-happiest in Texas, and the second-happiest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Garland ranked farther behind as No. 92 nationally, and more DFW cities ranked even lower: Grand Prairie (No. 106), Dallas (No. 111), Fort Worth (No. 113), and Arlington (No. 119).

The report additionally found that Dallasites spend the third-most amount of time at work in the nation. The city ranked No. 180 in the national analysis of U.S. cities with the "fewest work hours."

WalletHub also emphasized that money doesn't buy happiness — after a certain point.

"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."

Six-figure earners in Plano aren't necessarily as happy as those who don't make as much, as a separate financial study from SmartAsset revealed these big earners are only taking home about $72,653 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.

This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:

No. 39 – Austin
No. 128 – Houston
No. 135 – Lubbock
No. 137 – El Paso
No. 140 – Laredo
No. 143 – Amarillo
No. 150 – Brownsville
No. 154 – San Antonio
No. 155 – Corpus Christi

wallethub plano reports