Coronavirus Comeback

Apple reopens 5 stores with limited service in Dallas-Fort Worth

Your friendly neighborhood Apple store is back — sort of.

After a coronavirus-imposed hiatus since March, Apple stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area reopened Wednesday, May 27 — but with limited service and access inside.

Stores throughout Texas are among roughly 100 that are reopening this week across the U.S. While some will offer full, in-store service, others will offer only curbside storefront access. (What is the difference between curbside and storefront? Apple says, "Curbside allows for customers to stay in their vehicles. Storefront has customers walk to the front of the store for services and assistance.”)

All five Apple stores in Dallas-Fort Worth are open for curbside and storefront sales and service only. They are:

Knox Street, Dallas
NorthPark Center, Dallas
Galleria Dallas
Southlake Town Square
University Park Village, Fort Worth

“For customer safety and convenience, most stores will offer curbside or storefront service only, where we provide online order pickup and Genius Bar appointments,” Apple says in a statement. “We are committed to reopening our stores in a very thoughtful manner with the health and safety of our customers and teams as our top priority, and we look forward to seeing our customers again soon."

About a dozen stores in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, meanwhile, opened for in-store sales and service. Fingers crossed for DFW.

In a May 17 blog post, Deirdre O’Brien, head of retail at Apple, outlined the measures being taken to boost health and safety at the company’s stores. They include requiring face coverings for employees and customers, performing temperature checks, limiting the number of people allowed in a store, and deeply cleaning surfaces and products.

“Our commitment is to only move forward with a reopening once we’re confident we can safely return to serving customers from our stores,” O’Brien wrote. “We look at every available piece of data — including local cases, near and long‑term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials. These are not decisions we rush into — and a store opening in no way means that we won't take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant.”

Customers are encouraged to check local store websites for updates.

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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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