City News Roundup

Protests gather over Roe vs. Wade abortion ruling and more Dallas news

From a pro-choice rally at Dallas City Hall in 2013 and here we are again a decade later.

Photo by Melissa Bonnet

It was a busy week in local and national news with a jam-packed Dallas City Council meeting where they passed a number of initiatives including scooters and new Mayor Pro Tems. There was good news about the high-speed train but very bad news from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

Roe vs. Wade
The Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion that has been in effect since 1973. Specifically, they ruled on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, upholding Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban and overturning Roe v. Wade, leaving reproductive rights to be determined by the states.

This would be the same SCOTUS that on June 23 said that states don't have the ability to regulate guns. Guns no; women's bodies, yes. The same SCOTUS that is also talking about reconsidering Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell — rulings that protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage.

So there are protests. Protests in Dallas, protests in Austin, protests everywhere:

On Friday June 24, there's a small one in downtown Dallas at 6:30 pm at 1014 Main St., to rally, resist, and reject this attack on reproductive and abortion rights.
On Sunday, June 26, there's a big Rally for Reproductive Freedom at 5 pm when gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke joins pro-choice organizations in hosting a statewide rally for reproductive freedom at Pan American Neighborhood Park, 2100 E. 3rd St. in Austin.
On Wednesday, June 29, there's a Rally for Abortion Justice at 12 noon at Dallas City Hall, hosted by a coalition of groups that include The Afiya Center, Jane's Due Process, Fund Texas Choice, Texas Equal Access Fund, Avow, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood.

For more extensive abortion coverage, visit Home With the Armadillo, the Substack publication by writer Andrea Grimes.

Scooters
Scooters are back. Dallas City Council voted to bring back electric scooters after a two-year absence, with a new set of regulations that include a mandatory lamp in front and red reflector on the rear, plus designated zones where scooters are prohibited or must be driven at reduced speed. Scooters must be parked standing upright on concrete or in designated spaces, and cannot be parked in intersections, on roadways, sidewalks, private property, or public parks. Children must wear helmets, and cannot ride them on city sidewalks or in public parks.

High-speed train
The high-speed train between Dallas and Houston got the greenlight from the Texas Supreme Court on June 24, which ruled that Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure Inc. and Integrated Texas Logistics Inc. are "interurban electric railway companies" with the power to use eminent domain, and can use that authority to acquire land for the route.

Smart Glass
Smart glass has been installed at DFW Airport's new "High C" gates, on the heels of a four-gate expansion at Terminal D, which opened last May. The project will add five newly renovated gates to Terminal C. The Smart Glass is by View and uses artificial intelligence to automatically adjust in response to the sun, maximizing access to natural light and outdoor views while blocking heat and glare and reducing energy consumption from lighting and HVAC.

View Inc. has had some tough times but its Smart Glass is now at a number of airports including Boston, San Francisco, New York LaGuardia, Charlotte, O'Hare, Phoenix, Seattle-Tacoma, Memphis, Bozeman Yellowstone, and Missoula.

Mayor Pro Tems
New Mayor Pro Tems were elected for the next term of the Dallas City Council, something that happens every year. Council Member Carolyn King Arnold was elected Mayor Pro Tem, replacing Chad West. Council Member Omar Narvaez was elected Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, replacing Jaime Resendez.

Trinity River National Water Trail
The Dallas section of the Trinity River National Water Trail will officially open with a ribbon-cutting on June 25 at 10 am at Trammell Crow Park, 3700 Sylvan Ave. Trammell Crow Park is one of 21 official canoe launches along the 130-mile water trail, giving outdoor enthusiasts a means of launching a canoe, kayak of raft into the river. The Trinity River National Water Trail became official on October 22, 2020 when Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt signed the National Parks Service recommendation to create the 130-mile Trinity River National Water Trail, one of only 33 National Water Trails in the nation. A map is available at TrinityCoalition.org.

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Texas ranks among worst states to have a baby, new report says

Photo by Camylla Battani on Unsplash

The best places to have a baby are in the Midwest and the Northeast, not the South, according to the report.

Texas might be a family friendly state, but it certainly isn't baby friendly, according to a new WalletHub study.

Texas earned a dismal rank as No. 45 in WalletHub's 2026 report "Best and Worst States to Have a Baby," which compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 31 "baby friendliness" metrics, such as affordability, health care accessibility, infant care costs, and others.

The top five best states to have a baby, in order, are: Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

Texas ranked 7th worst overall in the U.S. because of how expensive it is to have a child in the state, and because of its low prevalence of healthcare professionals for mothers and children relative to other states.

Across the four main categories in the report, Texas landed 47th nationally for its medical costs, 42nd in healthcare quality, and its baby- and family-friendliness both ranked 34th best in the country.

WalletHub says the average cost for a conventional delivery in the U.S. comes out to more than $15,700, and families with health insurance have an average out-of-pocket cost of about $2,600. The report doesn't break down state-by-state charges, but it ranked Texas 35th and 36th respectively in the national comparisons of states with the lowest costs for hospital cesarean and conventional deliveries.

The cost of childcare is another factor bringing down the state's overall performance, as WalletHub says Texas has the 23rd "best" annual cost of early childcare on average.

Here's how the report broke down the rest of Texas' ranking:

No. 27 – Parental leave policy score
No. 27 – Infant mortality rate
No. 28 – Rate of low-birth weight
No. 44 – Midwives and OB-GYNs per capita
No. 36 – Pediatricians and family medicine physicians per capita
No. 33 – Childcare centers per capita

According to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo, expecting families should consider living in the states that "minimize costs while providing top-notch care for both newborns and their mothers."

"[The best states] also continue to be good environments for parents even long after the birth, with high-quality pediatric care, affordable and accessible child care, and a strong economic environment that makes providing for a child easier,” Lupo said.

Mississippi (No. 51), Alabama (No. 50), Florida (No. 49), New Mexico (No. 48), Nevada (No. 47), and South Carolina (No. 46) all join Texas at the bottom of the list as the worst states to have a baby.

wallethub texas reports families