City News Roundup

High-speed train is back in Texas Supreme Court and more Dallas news

Central Rail high-speed bullet train rail

The Texas Supreme Court has backtracked. They've reversed course. They've changed their direction.

Photo courtesy of JR Central

In this week's roundup of Dallas news, there's yet-another development on the high-speed rail project. There's bad news for Ken Paxton but good news for fans of Dallas trails. And there are two expos: one for job seekers and one for college hopefuls.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

High-speed rail in court
The Texas Supreme Court has backtracked on a case involving the Texas Central high-speed rail project between Dallas and Houston, and will review a petition from a landowner whose property will be affected if the rail is built.

The Supreme Court originally declined the case but decided to take it on after reviewing a petition from landowner Jim Miles.

The original 2019 suit Miles vs. Texas Central R.R. & Infrastructure, Inc. was ruled in favor of the property owner; that decision was overturned by an appeals court.

The case centers on whether Texas Central can legally call itself a railroad company. The petition claims Texas Central is not a railroad company because currently it has no track and does not operate trains.

If it is a railroad company, it has eminent domain and can acquire property where the route will be built.

Oral arguments are set to take place on January 11, 2022.

Sorry Ken
An Austin appellate court panel has ruled that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face whistleblower claims launched by former top aides who allege they were fired for reporting abuses of power.

Eight aides accused Paxton of bribery and tampering with government records, and within weeks, all eight resigned or were forced out of their jobs.

Paxton claimed he was immune from the Texas Whistleblower Act.

Job expo
The Office of Community Care is hosting a job fair for Dallas skilled labor employers to find qualified employees.

Employees can submit applications and participate in onsite interviews with 20 businesses, all of which have open positions.

The event takes place on Saturday October 23 from 9 am-12 pm, at the West Dallas Multipurpose Center, 2828 Fish Trap Rd., Dallas.

College expo
The annual Dallas Black College Expo takes place this weekend at Paul Quinn College.

Sponsored by Comerica, Toyota, American Airlines, US Army ROTC, Honda, Wells Fargo, Nickelodeon, Dallas Mavericks, and Credera, the Dallas Black College Expo is hosted by the National College Resources Foundation (NCRF).

Students can also get access to 40-plus colleges, highlighting historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other educational institutions.

A release says that the expo allows students to get accepted on the spot, get their college application fees waived, and receive scholarships. It can help high school juniors, seniors, and community college students looking to transfer to a four-year college but parents are encouraged to bring students as young as 6th grade to start their college planning.

The event includes seminars and American Airlines will be conducting interviews for jobs and careers.

It takes place Saturday October 23, from 10 am-4 pm at Paul Quinn College, 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd., Dallas.

New trail
Dallas has opened a new trail in south Oak Cliff.

Called the Honey Springs-Cedar Crest trail, it's built inside an old inter-urban rail corridor that was once part of a railway line that went to Corsicana.

Dallas County constructed and funded the 5-mile trail that comprises three separate trails, with one connecting to the South Oak Cliff Renaissance park currently under construction.

Adjacent to Cedar Crest Golf Course, the trail offers users scenic views of the downtown skyline.

Greyhound's new driver
The Dallas-based Greyhound bus service has been bought by FlixMobility, a transportation company based in Germany. It has been owned since 2007 by FirstGroup PLC of Aberdeen, Scotland.

city-news-roundup

closing the gaps

Texas no longer leads U.S. for racial progress, new report says

The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Dallas

The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center/Facebook

WalletHub's report is released annually ahead of MLK Day.

Texas has been overtaken as the No. 1 state that has made the most racial progress, according to a new study.

The Lone Star State led the nation in 2025, but now ranks in third place behind Georgia (No. 1) and Mississippi (No. 2). It also ranked No. 5 nationally in the list of states with the most racial integration.

WalletHub's "States That Have Made the Most Racial Progress" study is released annually ahead of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The report compares all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 22 relevant metrics divided into two main rankings: racial integration (which the study defines as "the current integration levels of white people and Black people") and racial progress (defined as "the levels of racial progress achieved over time").

The report's author clarifies that the study focuses only on the racial integration between Black people and white people "in light of racial tensions in recent years that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement."

"We released this report ahead of the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who played a prominent role in the Civil Rights Movement to end segregation and discrimination against Black people," the report says.

The study further divided each ranking into four main categories measuring the gaps between white people and Black people over time; spanning employment and wealth, education, social and civic engagement, and health. Texas performed the best in education and health, ranking No. 4 nationally in both categories, and it ranked in sixth place for its social and civic engagement. The state ranked 16th in the category for employment and wealth.

According to WalletHub, Texas has "done a lot" to reduce gaps in health outcomes for white and Black residents, such as reducing gaps in health insurance coverage, and reducing the share of Black Texans suffering from "poor health" and diabetes. It also notes that Texas "made the second-most progress when it comes to obesity," but it did not acknowledge the racial bias in body mass index (BMI) that has been increasingly flagged in recent years.

The report further praises Texas for reducing the gap in business ownership between white and Black Texans, and for its improvement in reducing discrimination in the parole system. WalletHub does not offer data behind the parole claim.

"It’s encouraging to look at the data and see that some states have made significant strides toward racial equality over the past few decades," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo regarding the overall report. "This change demonstrates that state-level policies and residents’ attitudes regarding equality have grown considerably better."

Though racial disparity gaps are closing between white and Black people, racial profiling and discrimination is still a major issue affecting Black people and other people of color across the country.

In 2023, a senate bill banned public Texas universities from having diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices and programs, prompting warnings of discrimination against Black, Hispanic, and other marginalized students, including those with disabilities.

The top 10 states with the most racial progress in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Georgia
No. 2 – Mississippi
No. 3 – Texas
No. 4 – North Carolina
No. 5 – Maryland
No. 6 – Florida
No. 7 – New Jersey
No. 8 – Massachusetts
No. 9 – Louisiana
No. 10 – New Mexico

wallethub texas report mlk day