City News

New project coming to old Collin Creek Mall Plano and more Dallas news

Prototypical entrance of Collin Creek Mall in Plano.

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This compilation of Dallas news, right before the holiday lull, is jam-packed and includes updates on the so-called Shingle Mountain, evictions in Dallas, a major mall in Plano, and a holy ceremony hosted by DART to usher in a new rail line.

Here's what happened in Dallas this week:

Shingle Mountain
After nearly two years of litigation, the city was allowed to begin removing "Shingle Mountain," 98,000 tons of abandoned asphalt shingles at 9500 S. Central Expwy. According to a release, Roberts Trucking will move the shingle material to McCommas Bluff Landfill, which plans to recycle it. The removal is being supervised by Modern Geosciences to address environmental concerns, and is anticipated to be complete by the end of March 2021.

The city remains in litigation with the Blue Star Recycling, the company that put the shingles there in the first place.

Eviction Initiative
The City of Dallas Office of Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, is reminding residents of the Dallas Eviction Assistance Initiative program, which consists of education, training, and legal representation to Dallas renters who are negatively impacted by COVID-19 and cannot pay rent to remain in their homes.

The reminder comes because the federal moratorium on evictions comes to an end on December 31. But Dallas' program continues into 2021.

Eligibility requirements include:

Must live in Dallas
Must be at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines
Must be negatively impacted by COVID-19

Apply for assistance by calling the Northwest Texas Legal Aid hotline at 1-888-529-5277 or visiting www.lanwt.org.

Collin Creek Mall
At its December 8 meeting, Plano's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a plan to take a plot of land along Alma Drive at Collin Creek Mall previously designated for a new JCPenney store and allow the owner to build apartments instead.

The owner is mega-developer Centurion American, aka Mehrdad Moayedi (Statler Dallas hotel, Braniff hotel), who wants to build up to 300 independent living units for seniors as well as up to 2,300 multifamily units. It's now up to the Plano City Council to sign off.

Demolition of the original Collin Creek Mall began in 2019. It'll be replaced by up to 3,100 new residential units, office, restaurants, and hotel.

Expand DISD teacher profile
Dallas ISD is partnering with the University of North Texas Dallas in an effort to recruit more males of color to teaching as a profession. It gives Dallas ISD students the opportunity after graduation to attend UNT Dallas and come back fully certified to teach at Dallas ISD schools. "Research shows that students who have teachers that look like them have higher rates of success," says John Vega, a deputy chief at DISD. Schools that are part of the program include Sunset High School, W.T. White High School, W.W. Samuel High School, and Lincoln High School, with Bryan Adams High School coming on board in fall 2021.

DART's holy incantation
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and Archer Western Herzog (AWH) commemorated construction of the future Silver Line Regional Rail project with a "First Concrete Ceremony" on December 16. The event took place near the intersection of Preston Road and the Keller Springs Road, a mile northeast of the future Knoll Trail Station in Dallas.

According to a release, the ceremony included a long-held tradition by the Walsh Group, parent company of AWH, of placing "Miraculous Medals" in a project's first concrete pour. This is a Walsh Group tradition for more than six decades, so don't even think about not doing it. Cue the Gregorian chanting:

"The Miraculous Medal is an oval-shaped depiction of Mary according to Saint Catherine Laboure's vision. The gesture of placing Miraculous Medals symbolizes an inspiration to successfully complete the job safely and to make it as miraculous as the Medal itself."

The $1.2 billion Silver Line will be a 26-mile project crossing seven cities between DFW Airport, Grapevine, Coppell, Dallas, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Plano, and includes 10 new stations. It's scheduled to debut in 2023 — and now with Mary's blessing.

Planting trees
Dallas developer Crow Holdings, in partnership with the Texas Trees Foundation and the City of Dallas, planted 50 trees at Dallas' Walnut Hill Park at 10011 Midway Rd. on December 4.

"The destruction from last year's tornado to the tree canopy transformed neighborhoods and parks, but not for the good. More than 700 mature trees were lost at Dallas city parks in 2019, and it would take 5,200 new trees to replace them. Thanks to Crow Holdings, we are 100 trees closer to reaching our goal," said Janette Monear, CEO at the Texas Trees Foundation.

US attorney resigns
Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, is resigning from the Department of Justice. She was appointed by Donald Trump and had been in that office since November 2017. Some of her high-profile cases include corruption charges against former Dallas City Council members Dwaine Caraway and Carolyn Davis, and Larry Duncan, former board president of Dallas County Schools.

Her last day will be January 8, 2021; gotta get those holiday benefits. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah will assume the role of Acting U.S. Attorney.

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Texas tragedy

Camp Mystic drops summer reopening plan over outrage by families, lawmakers

Memorial Service Held For Young Camper Killed In Hill Country Floods

Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Camp Mystic on Thursday, April 30 halted reopening plans on the Texas river where floodwaters killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors, backing down in the face of outraged families and investigations that accused the all-girls Christian camp of dangerous safety and operational deficiencies.

The decision, a striking reversal of the camp owners' determination to reopen, follows weeks of testimony in court hearings and legislative investigations. Those hearings laid bare the camp’s lack of detailed planning for a flood emergency, reliance on poorly trained staff, and missed chances for an evacuation that came too late as floodwaters ripped through the camp over the July 4 weekend last year.

“We never imagined a world without our daughters, and no decision made now can change that," Matthew Childress, father of 18-year-old counselor Chloe Childress who died, said in a statement.

The camp’s owner, Dick Eastland, also died in the flooding.

“No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” Camp Mystic said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed Thursday that the camp has withdrawn its application.

The decision was praised by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who opposed the camp's reopening while investigations were ongoing.

“I am thankful to hear that, today, the Eastland family withdrew their application,” Patrick said in a statement. “Given the tragic circumstances, this is the correct decision to protect Texas campers and to allow time for all investigations to be completed.”

The families of the victims packed the court and legislative hearings, often wearing “Heaven’s 27” pins with photographs of their daughters. They listened to the details of missed flood warning signs, the descriptions of the flood and the decision to leave the girls in their cabins until it was too late. The testimony included video of the raging floodwaters as a girl repeatedly screamed for “help!” somewhere in the distance.

Edward Eastland, one of the camp directors and a member of the Eastland family that owns and operates the 100-year-old camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River, offered a tearful public apology to the victims’ families on Tuesday.

“We tried our hardest that night. It wasn’t enough to save your daughters,” Eastland said, with the victims' families sitting behind him. “I’m so sorry.”

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong.

Texas health regulators have said they are investigating hundreds of complaints against the camp's owners. The Texas Rangers are also looking into allegations of neglect, according to the Texas Department of Safety, although the scope of the state’s elite investigations unit was not immediately clear.

The camp, established in 1926, did not evacuate as the storm rolled in and was hit hard when the river rose from 14 feet (4.2 meters) to 29.5 feet (9 meters) within 60 minutes.

summer camp politics texas weather texas flood