Judge Clay News

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is running for another term

Judge Clay: great or the greatest?

Courtesy photo

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is filing for re-election as the top official in Dallas and will kick off his campaign on November 13.

Jenkins has been Dallas County judge since 2011 and is currently in his third term.

"I am filing for re-election because there is still a lot of work that needs to be accomplished in Dallas County," Jenkins said in a statement. "From fighting back against COVID-19 to making sure our children have access to quality education and health care, I am ready to continue this fight alongside the people of Dallas County."

"The resilience our community has shown during these difficult times has been inspiration to me and my family," he said.

Judge Clay helped shepherd Dallas through some of the most difficult situations including the pandemic and the big freeze in February.

If you're a news site, you're not supposed to weigh in on politics so let's put this in question form: Is Judge Clay the greatest politician of our time or the greatest politician of all time?

High points and achievements over the past year include:

In March 2020, concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in North Texas as the pandemic was on the rise, Jenkins took the lead by executing an order requiring individuals who live within Dallas County to shelter at their place of residence.

In April 2020, when the Hobby Lobby chain defiantly ignored the law, because crafts are so essential, he shut 'em down.

In April 2020, to try and stop the spread of COVID-19 cases, he introduced the concept of wearing masks, which he did with an amusing little show-and-tell using items he picked up at his house, including a "free gimme scarf" from a Dallas Cowboys game, a ski balaclava, and a pillowcase.

In May 2020, he provoked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to write a petty letter complaining about the mask ordinance.

In October 2020 and throughout the onset of COVID-19, he championed the idea of following science to combat the pandemic spread, despite the contradictory behavior of state officials.

In January 2021 and in ensuing months, he rapidly established clinics for COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

In February 2021, he worked with ERCOT on troubleshooting effects of the big freeze.

In August 2021, he prevailed in a challenge by Governor Greg Abbott over the mask mandate, and when he won, he was gracious.

In September 2021, he stuck up for women following Texas' extreme new restrictions on abortions, calling it "an unconstitutional law that sets up a cynical scheme to sidestep the Constitution by rewarding a $10,000 bounty to citizens who invade the privacy of pregnant people and their doctors," he said.

His current term ends on December 31, 2022. The primary is March 1, 2022 and the election is Tuesday November 8, 2022.

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Bird News

Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas initiates action to save birds from dying

Reunion Tower

Downtown Dallas skyline, all lit up.

Reunion Tower, the little ball on the Western edge of downtown Dallas, is famous for its sassy light shows illuminating the Dallas skyline. But in recent years, the building has followed a bird-friendly policy of dimming its lights, and that dimming is about to get underway.

From October 1 through October 21, Reunion Tower will observe the following lighting schedule:

Sundown to 11 pm: lower its lights
11 pm-6 am: go completely dark
6 am-sunrise back to dim

The building enacts these changes to protect birds that are migrating through Texas.

Dallas is on the path of the Central Migratory Flyway, which extends from the Northwest and heads diagonally southeast through Mexico.

Every fall and spring, nearly two billion birds travel through Texas. The bird migration is one of the largest on the planet, and takes place at night. Light attracts migrating birds, making them vulnerable to collisions with buildings and causing them to become disoriented and distracted.

Birds get pulled into urban areas, collide into buildings, and die. Volunteer surveys - in which people go out and count actual dead bodies - in cities such as Dallas, Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth, finds hundreds of dead birds every night. It adds up to nearly a billion birds killed in the U.S. each year.

Dallas-Fort Worth is the third most dangerous area in the U.S. for migratory birds to travel through; Chicago is No. 1, followed by Houston which is No. 2.

As this map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows, Dallas and Houston are both massively lit, representing major obstacles to the success and survival of the birds' migration.

Lights Out Texas was initiated as a statewide effort in Spring 2020 to protect birds from light pollution by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and BirdCast, with the essential support of founding Texas partners Houston Audubon, the Dallas Zoo, and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

According to Audubon, the actual critical migration period through Dallas is September 6 through October 29. A glittery skyline is surely pretty, but downtown should just shut it down during those times.

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