City News
May 1 is Election Day for city council seats and more Dallas news
This roundup of Dallas city news is dominated by crime. It includes updates on a Dallas rapper who was shot and killed, a police dog who was shot and killed, and a woman killed in a street racing accident. Meanwhile the approval by the Dallas City Council of a new development in Turtle Creek should be described as a crime.
Most important, there's an election coming up.
Here's what happened in Dallas this week:
Election Day
Saturday May 1 is Election Day for a variety of races including all 14 seats on Dallas City Council. Patch.com has a fantastic (except for the occasional typo) two-part summary of the candidates, with part 1 covering Districts 1 through 7, and part 2 covering Districts 8 through 14.
Turtle Creek development
At its April 28 meeting, the Dallas City Council approved a request by developer Lincoln Property Co. to mow down a modest condominium complex and replace it with an obnoxious condominium complex.
The Turtle Creek Terrace Condominiums at 3215 Carlisle St. were built in 1964 and provide one of the few remaining affordable options in the area. The proposed replacement, Lincoln Katy Trail, provoked concerns about its destruction of green space and the possibility that it will spawn more high-rises in the neighborhood. Seven homeowners associations in the area opposed it, as did ordinarily influential groups such as the Dallas Homeowners League and the Oak Lawn Committee.
The project was repeatedly rejected by the Dallas City Council and the Dallas City Plan Commission, but that was when Philip Kingston was still the council member representing District 14, and Paul Ridley was his appointee on the Plan Commission. Now the district is represented by David Blewett.
Ridley, who is now running against Blewett for the city council seat, explains why the approval of the development is detrimental for the neighborhood:
I warned voters that Mr. Blewett is against neighborhoods, and he has now proven it with today's City Council vote, which ignored the concerns of neighbors. Disregarding the near universal opposition of neighbors to the Lincoln Katy Trail project on Carlisle, many of whom testified in opposition at today's council meeting, Mr. Blewett voted to approve the rezoning for the massive development in Oak Lawn. I voted against this project two years ago because it violates the Oak Lawn Plan — which has guided the development of Oak Lawn for 40 years — will remove 115 units of much-needed affordable housing from an increasingly expensive neighborhood and destroy a tree canopy of one hundred mature trees. The incumbent gave the developer everything they asked for, not even attempting to obtain any concessions that would make the project more compatible with the neighborhood. With approval of this one zoning case, Oak Lawn will now likely be threatened by a succession of such projects asking for high-density zoning, potentially changing forever the character and quality of life in Oak Lawn.
Second Mo3 arrest
A second man was indicted for the murder of Mo3, the Dallas rapper who was shot and killed on I-35 in November 2020: Devin Maurice Brown was identified as the armed person wearing the ski mask. Kewon Dontrell White has already been arrested for first degree murder.
Street race death
A woman was shot and killed while watching idiotic street racers. Lynetta Washington, 54, was shot on April 25 at about 10:40 pm near the intersection of Duncanville Road and West Ledbetter Drive, where 60 vehicles were blocking the intersection to perform what Fox 4 calls "stunts." The Dallas Police Department is issuing hundreds of citations every weekend, which don't seem to be making much of a dent. Maybe after some more people die. There is a street racing bill supposedly up for consideration by the Texas House. If passed, it would allow authorities to seize certain vehicles.
Police dog killed
Mesquite police have charged a 16-year-old in connection with the death of a K9 officer named Kozmo, who died during a search for felony suspects as Mesquite PD assisted Balch Springs police.
According to Fox 4, the dog "was released" to help track the suspects. Officers found the suspects, but no Kozmo, who was found dead after an extensive search with trauma that indicated an assault. So maybe don't release the dog in the first place?
The city is flying its flag at half-mast which will surely make the dead dog feel better.
HP gets new 2-way radio
Highland Park Department of Public Safety (HPDPS) has a new radio platform, the Project 25 Digital Radio System (P25), part of a greater partnership with the City of University Park and the Garland-Mesquite-Rowlett Sachse (GMRS) P25 public safety consortium.
The previous radio system, a commercial grade UHF digital radio, had reached the end of its service life and lacked the interoperability and functionality needed to meet P25 compliance standards for public safety radio communications, according to a release.
Funding was made possible by the Highland Park Capital Improvement Plan, and in cooperation with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Transit Related Improvement Program (TRIP).
