City News

Library book sale and Beto visit lead this chapter of Dallas city news

Beto will be in town.

Courtesy photo

Dallas ISD went back to school, and just like that, summer is over. This week, a Dallas police officer was arrested, and a top official at City Hall resigned. For book lovers, there's a big weekend coming up. Meanwhile, Beto weighed in on kneeling.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

Police officer arrested — again
Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Joe Ramos was booked into Dallas County Jail on August 22 for Indecency with a Child by Contact, a first degree felony. He was released after posting $5,000 bail.

Senior Corporal Ramos has been with Dallas Police Department since July 1997. He is now on administrative leave while an investigation is underway.

This was not Ramos' first such arrest. CBS/DFW reports that Ramos was indicted in 2006 on similar charges. He was accused of molesting 6- and 8-year-old children. A jury acquitted Ramos in one case, and another was dismissed after a child victim was unable to testify. He was reinstated to the Dallas Police Department in 2007.

Economic Development chief resigns
Raquel Favela, Dallas' Chief of Economic Development and Neighborhood Services, has resigned.

Favela came to Dallas in April 2017, and worked with city manager T.C. Broadnax on a number of initiatives, including creating a Comprehensive Housing Policy that aims to overcome patterns of segregation and poverty, and leveraging private investments for Red Bird Mall and Nokia's new North American headquarters.

"Under her leadership, we have been able to strengthen our focus on fundamental neighborhood services, and identify short-term and long-term solutions to address revitalization efforts and economic development due diligence and strategies essential to the sustainability of our community," Broadnax said in a statement.

In her letter of resignation, Favela hinted at working in economic development on a national level.

"As I now have the chance to do this on a national platform for other communities struggling with similar issues, I must seize that opportunity," she wrote.

Her last day is September 3.

Big book sale
This weekend is the Dallas Public Library's mega-book sale, hosted by The Friends of the Dallas Public Library, a nonprofit that supports library programs.

Items for sale include books, CDs, and DVDs. The sale raises funds for programs such as English language learning, GED classes, and the Mayor's Summer Reading Challenge.

It also serves as a recruitment tool for the Friends. Members get access to special discounts; non-members can join for $25 during the sale.

Hours are as follows:

Friday August 24 — 11 am-6 pm
Saturday August 25 — 10 am-4 pm
Sunday August 26 — 1 pm-4 pm

Cultural Plan needs your 2 cents
In an effort to support artists and improve the ways Dallasites experience art and culture, the City of Dallas' Office of Cultural Affairs has a new Cultural Plan and is inviting public comment at a series of meetings.

The plan is a 100-page document that outlines the city's intention to create a sustainable arts community. It details six priorities that will become the city's guiding principles moving into 2019 and beyond. These include concepts such as equity, diversity, a sustainable arts ecosystem, and communication.

The public meetings will be held at the following locations:

September 6, 6-8 pm at Bachman Lake Library
September 7, 10 am-12 pm at Dallas Museum of Art
September 8, 10 am-12 pm at Southwest Center/Redbird Mall
September 10, 6-8 pm at Moody Performance Hall
September 11, 12-1 pm webinar broadcast from the Latino Cultural Center
September 11, 6-8 pm at Fretz Park Library

Beto O'Rourke defends kneelers
In a viral video that has garnered more than 15 million views in two days, Beto O’Rourke, Texas' Democratic senatorial candidate, defends the hotly contested anthem-kneeling phenomenon brought forth by Colin Kaepernick 2016, comparing those who have knelt to the major actors in America's civil rights movement.

When asked during a public forum if he finds the protest offensive, O'Rourke makes a nod to the military service members and veterans before telling the constituent, "My short answer is no, I don’t think it's disrespectful."

As cheers break out in the room, he draws parallels between the modern-day protestors demonstrating against police brutality and Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders, and the young girls who died at the hands of a racist bomber in Birmingham, Alabama.

O'Rourke is running for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Republican Ted Cruz. The election is in November. A new poll by NBC finds O'Rourke trailing Cruz by only 4 points.

O'Rourke will be in Dallas on August 25 for an event called "Bands For Beto" at the Granada Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.

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family values

Dallas sees Texas' biggest one-year jump in cost of raising kids

Courtesy of SmartAsset/iStock

Raising a child in Dallas will cost parents over $23,000 this year.

Raising a child is not an easy or inexpensive feat, and a new study has determined Dallas parents are saddled with the second-highest costs for childrearing in Texas, with expenses jumping higher than any other metro statewide since 2025.

SmartAsset's latest report, "Cost of Raising a Child in Major U.S. Metros – 2026 Study," calculated year-over-year changes in the annual cost of raising a child (factoring in childcare, additional housing costs, food, transportation, medical costs and other necessities) in the 48 largest U.S. metro areas. MIT's Living Wage Calculator was used to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to that of a childless household with two working adults.

Childrearing costs in Dallas-Fort Worth have grown 4.5 percent since last year, totaling $23,340 for a family of three in 2026. That's over $1,000 more than what it took to raise a child in 2025, and it's $1,414 higher than what it took in 2024.

This is how SmartAsset broke down the cost for raising a child in Dallas:

Cost of childcare: $10,736
Cost of food: $1,826
Other expenses: $10,778

Though Dallas has the second-steepest costs for raising a child in Texas, the metro is actually much more affordable than most other places in the U.S.: DFW ranked 39th in SmartAsset's national list of cities with the highest childrearing costs in 2026, making it the 10th most affordable U.S. metro for raising a family.

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont in California topped the list with the highest childrearing costs in the U.S., at $43,171. The cost for raising a child in this California metro soared nearly 11 percent higher since last year.

Memphis, Tennessee ranked dead last as the most affordable U.S. metro for raising a child in 2026. Families will spend less than $20,000 to raise a child in Memphis, only 3.24 percent more than what was needed in 2025.

Raising a child in other Texas metros
It may come as no surprise that Austin is the most expensive place to raise a child in Texas, and it appeared as the 31st most expensive U.S. metro for families. Parents will spend nearly $25,000 to raise a child in the state's capital city, which is $703 higher than it was a year ago.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-New Braunfels is the most affordable metro in the Lone Star State for raising a family, and it's the third-most affordable place for raising a child nationwide. San Antonio parents will spend $21,393, or $448 more than last year, on their childrearing costs.

Houston also ranked among the top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child, landing in 7th place nationally, with childrearing costs adding up to $22,605 in 2026. That's only $737 more than last year.

The top 10 most affordable U.S. metros for raising a child in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Memphis, Tennessee ($19,922)
No. 2 – Nashville, Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tennessee ($21,216)
No. 3 – San Antonio-New Braunfels ($21,393)
No. 4 – Birmingham, Alabama ($21,684)
No. 5 – Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, Virginia ($22,314)
No. 6 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia ($22,470)
No. 7 – Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands ($22,605)
No. 8 – Richmond, Virginia ($22,658)
No. 9 – Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky ($23,270)
No. 10 – Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington ($23,340)

family dallas fort worth arlington smartasset reports livability