City News

Old Parkland installs a 9/11 memorial statue and more city of Dallas news

The sculpture is called "Non Sibi," which is Latin for "not for self."

Courtesy photo

In this week's wrap-up of Dallas news, the mayor returns for another decking, a 9/11 statue is erected, and COVID-19 numbers have mostly declined.

Here's what happened in city news this week:

Mayor strike two
One week ago, Mayor Eric Johnson suffered a big defeat when he tried to get an amendment passed by the Dallas City Council to cut salaries of city staff. In an unprecedented move, his amendment was defeated unanimously. And yet this week, he returned, bringing up the amendment one more time at city council's meeting on September 9.

Nothing changed: He was outvoted again, with the council choosing instead to cut $7 million in police overtime.

During the meeting, Johnson went off on the council, accusing them of playing a "cat & mouse game" and calling the vote an "exercise in theatrics."

The Dallas City Council will take a final vote on the $3.8 billion budget on September 23.

COVID-19 unit closes
Due to a recent drop in the number of cases, Parkland Hospital has closed its COVID-19 unit.

The Tactical Care Unit inside the hospital was serving as the epicenter for treating coronavirus patients, but the space will now revert back to surgical services.

Cases dropped in August although they're starting to climb slightly in September.

Southern Dallas sculpture garden
Dallas' Office of Arts and Culture, in partnership with the Department of Code Compliance Services (CCS), was awarded a $15,000 project grant from the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Summer 2020 Innovation and Implementation Fund.

The money will be used on a pilot project called Re: Imagine Vacancy, which will transform an abandoned lot in southern Dallas into a temporary sculpture garden. The majority of the grant will pay the artists and youth who work on this project. GARE is a national network of governmental jurisdictions working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all.

9/11 statue
In honor of the heroes on United Airlines Flight 93, Old Parkland has erected a specially commissioned bronze statue commemorating 9/11.

The monument by artist Chas Fagan stands at the new Freedom Place building in the Old Parkland campus, and features four statues representing Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick, Mark Bingham, and Tom Burnett who stormed the cockpit of Flight 93, plus a fifth statue symbolizing all who were aboard the flight. A plaque with the statue lists the names of all the passengers.

Rock the Vote class
As part of a new Legacy West University activation, Legacy West is hosting a "Democracy Class," in partnership with Rock the Vote and local attorney Jessica Vittorio. Class will be in session at Neighborhood Goods on September 15 and September 22 from 6-8 pm. This is a free nonpartisan event, open to all ages, but registration is required via Eventbrite, as spots are limited.

greenville-avenue

Fugitive News

Dallas Police Department arrests 99 fugitives in summer crime program

Dallas Police/Facebook

undefined

The Dallas Police Department has a new round of arrests in Operation Justice Trail, a coordinated effort led by Police Chief Daniel Comeaux to apprehend individuals with violent felony warrants, with 99 fugitives arrested and taken into custody during June.

The program is a partnership between the Dallas Police Department and the United States Marshals Service which began on May 1, with a goal to identify and take into custody violent criminals. During the firest month of May, a nearly-identical haul of 98 violent felons were arrested, and the initiative will continue through the summer.

“Our goal is simple: to make Dallas the safest large city in America,” Chief Comeaux says in a statement. “We know that a small percentage of violent criminals are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. By focusing our efforts on these individuals, we are sending a clear message—violence will not be tolerated in our city.”

These 99 fugitives, who collectively have 616 total arrests for crimes such as Assault on a Public Servant, Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Murder, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Sexual Abuse of a Child, Reckless Driving, and Stalking, were taken into custody by the Dallas Police Department Fugitive Unit and U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force between June 1–30.

Of those 99 fugitives, 22 were women and 77 were men. Three had arrests for Illegal Entry into the U.S., and one had an arrest for Alien Inadmissibility - Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Officials told Fox 4 that officers used "a combination of the city’s camera system and old-fashioned good police work" to make the arrests.

North Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a guaranteed $1,000 reward for tips submitted to the crime stoppers tipline that lead to the arrest of any individual with an existing felony warrant for specific crimes, until August 31.

politics