RIP Craig Watkins

Former Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, 56, dies at his home

Former Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins

Dallas South News

Craig Watkins, a former Dallas County District Attorney, died on December 12; he was 56. According to Fox4, he passed away at his home on Tuesday morning. Cause of death was not known.

Watkins was elected in 2006 and served as District Attorney until 2015. After he left office, he opened his own law firm on MLK Boulevard in South Dallas.

Beyond his history-making status as the first Black DA for Dallas, Watkins created a Conviction Integrity Unit that earned national praise for its exoneration of inmates who'd been imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. According to NBC5, the unit reviewed more than 300 cases and helped free 25 wrongly convicted inmates.

He was also a hero in the animal advocacy world as the first elected official in Dallas to take the animal cruelty issue seriously, creating an Animal Cruelty unit led by acclaimed prosecutor David Alex - a unit that subsequent DA Susan Hawk allowed to flounder.

A Dallas native, Watkins was a 1990 graduate of Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, and received his law degree from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth in 1994.

Current Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement that he was "saddened to learn of the passing of my former colleague Craig Watkins. Craig was bright and ambitious and for his life to end so prematurely is a tragedy, however, he leaves behind a powerful legacy."

"He made history as the first elected African-American district attorney in Texas," Creuzot said. "His fierce focus on the prosecution of child abuse cases and his creation of the first Conviction Integrity Unit in the nation are testaments to his vision and ability to effect change. Craig was perfectly human, and those who knew him are better for it. I am proud to have known him, to have worked with him, and to have been elected to the same office he held. He will be missed.”

Park News

Dallas' Crawford Memorial Park receives $1.5M grant for upgrade

dallasparks.org

Crawford Memorial Park

A park in southeast Dallas received a million-dollar-plus grant from the state of Texas: Crawford Memorial Park, located at 8700 Elam St., was awarded a $1.5 million Urban Recreation Grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), which will go towards a comprehensive improvement project executed by the city of Dallas.

The Dallas Park and Recreation Board voted to accept the funding at a meeting on November 7. It will help fulfill a plan to improve the park that has been on the city's agenda since at least 2018.

Established in 1964, Crawford Memorial Park currently includes gardens, paved trails, a playground, athletic fields, and courts. It's also a part of the City of Dallas trails system. Its unique environmental characteristics include 266.2 acres with 27 acres of black land prairie, 49 acres of post oak savannah, a 1.4 mile-long Prairie Creek, and an Austin chalk escarpment area with exposed outcroppings.

The park is also designated as a "signature park" — a regional attraction and landmark that's part of the city's park system.

Improvements will include an all-abilities inclusive playground; picnic sites with shade; exercise complex, restrooms, outdoor furnishings, signage, and parking lot resurfacing at Prairie Creek Drive.

A 12-foot-wide, 0.95-mile hard-surface trail will connect the new amenities to existing pathways that feature two pedestrian bridges, one of which spans Elam Road.

The total budget for the project is $7,632,933, which includes funding from the grant and the 2017 bond program. Dallas Park and Recreation will oversee the design and construction.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant. It will not be used to just fund a project. It’s an investment in this park and our entire park system. Parks bring people from all walks of life and from all areas throughout the city to get fit, stay healthy, socialize, and relax," said Dallas Park and Recreation Department director John D. Jenkins.

“This grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife will help provide these additional amenities that will not only serve the local community, but the city as a whole," said Dallas City Council Member Jaime Resendez of District 5, in whose district the park is located.

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