Go ofo go

Bike sharing company funds freebies for Dallas' Paul Quinn College

Students at Paul Quinn College are going to ride, baby, ride.

Photo courtesy of Ofo

Facebook is full of people complaining about Dallas' bike-sharing programs but a college just south of downtown Dallas is only too happy to get on board. Paul Quinn College has entered into a generous partnership with ofo, the China-based bike sharing company with yellow bikes, which will operate its dockless bike sharing program on campus and offer free rides to Paul Quinn students for the spring semester.

Paul Quinn President Michael Sorrell welcomes the bikes as a key tool for his students and staff.

"We are thrilled to have ofo bikes on campus for our students and staff to use," Sorrell says in a release. "Our hope is that by providing these bikes for our students, we will begin to change their relationship with transportation and sustainable living practices."

He calls Ofo "an amazing company," with a compelling vision.

"We are proud to welcome them into the Quinnite Nation and applaud their commitment to building bridges and creating access," he says. "This partnership is going to be a game-changer for our students and community."

Everett Weiler, the GM for ofo in Dallas, states that the partnership with Paul Quinn is part of its mission to provide bikes to each and every community in Dallas.

"From its inception, ofo has been committed to ensuring that all communities in which it operates have the ability to access our bikes," he says. "Connecting people to jobs, school, cultural amenities, and transit, bikes provide a crucial transportation option in many communities and ensure that every resident of Dallas has equitable access to all that Dallas has to offer."

He calls President Sorrell a "visionary leader" who immediately appreciated the value of ofo to his student body and staff. "We are thrilled to be working with him," Weiler says.

Founded in 2014, ofo is the world's original and largest station-free bicycle-sharing platform. The company was created for sharing, and aims to unlock every corner of the world by making bikes accessible to everyone. To date, ofo has connected users to more than 10 million bikes in over 250 cities across 20 countries, and has provided over 200 million global users with 6 billion efficient, convenient, and green rides. The company recently partnered with the JJ Barea Foundation to donate 600 bikes to Puerto Rico in support of hurricane relief efforts.

Weed News

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Dallas over decriminalization of marijuana

Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife

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The City of Dallas has been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for its efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

According to a release, Paxton has sued the city for adopting a city charter amendment that would decriminalize marijuana-related offenses and prohibit police from enforcing Texas law.

That amendment was Proposition R, or Dallas Freedom Act, which decriminalizes possession of four ounces of marijuana or less. Voters passed the amendment in the November 5 election, with 67 percent voting in favor.

The lawsuit, filed against the Dallas City Council, alleges that Proposition R is unconstitutional and violates Texas drug laws criminalizing any amount of marijuana.

Paxton says that cities can't "pick and choose which state laws to follow." He's proposing a permanent injunction to stop Proposition R from going into effect.

"The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them," says Paxton in a statement. "This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”

Before the recent election, possession of two to four ounces of marijuana could result in a punishment of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Ground Game Texas, the activist nonprofit that has also helped get marijuana decriminalization on the ballot in elections across Texas, first got the issue on the ballot in July with the necessary 50,000 signatures.

Dallas is not the only city to be sued; Paxton also filed lawsuits against five other cities in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos in January for their ballots and policies decriminalizing marijuana.

Both Austin and San Marcos had a judge overturn their cases, according to a FOX 4 report.

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