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Brandon Williams’ newest milestone is latest example of his growth with Mavericks
Dallas, TX
EPA test fish to see how pollution from Dallas concrete batch plants affects people’s health
Fish Trap Lake, five miles west of downtown Dallas, glowed with sunlight, ducks and geese swam, and a man with a fishing rod cast his line on a warm January morning. On the trail that loops around the 10-acre lake located inside a park, mothers with strollers walked to the sounds of rippling water and birds chirping.
Across the street from the park stands a row of industrial companies, including plants that turn sand, water and cement into concrete to build highways and subdivisions and high-rises in fast-growing Texas.
While fish is in the lake’s name, Janie Cisneros, 41, a mother and digital researcher who grew up nearby, says it’s common knowledge in the area to “catch them, don’t eat them.” Locals believe the lake is polluted from wastewater runoff from the nearby plants.
Cisneros, the director of the neighborhood association Singleton United/Unidos, said many residents who live nearby have long complained about pollution from the plants, and suspect that it’s contributing to health problems ranging from asthma to bronchitis to throat cancer. They also say the thousands of concrete batch plants located across Texas disproportionately impact low-income communities like theirs.
Desiree Rios
/
for The Texas Tribune
West Dallas’ Zip Code 75212, where 27,000 people live, is 68% Hispanic and 25% Black. Cisneros, wearing her signature cherry lipstick and black neighborhood association shirt, said that for decades a relentless stench has infiltrated the homes of residents in her working-class neighborhood.
Residents have long complained to the state’s environmental agency about pollution from the plants and say their concerns have been brushed off. But now their efforts have caught the attention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency has found that the air pollution and particulate matter from concrete batch plants can increase the risk of asthma and cardiac arrest if people inhale too much of it.
Now it has launched a pilot project — the first in Texas — that will survey air, water, and soil to determine how the combined pollution from this cluster of industrial sites impacts public health in two predominantly Black and brown Dallas neighborhoods: West Dallas and Joppa in South Dallas.
EPA says the project is expected to be completed by July 2024. The agency’s final report will be shared with the communities, the city of Dallas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency that regulates batch plants.
But before any of that can happen, the first step was going fishing.
Fish will be tested for heavy metals
By 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, three EPA scientists, wearing bright orange life vests, grabbed two Home Depot buckets, stuffing them with buoys and fish traps meant to capture predator fish like bass.
They boarded a small beige boat branded with the agency’s logo. When the boat’s motor refused to start, they paddled to the lake’s center.
Using cat food as bait, they cast their nets.
“[These nets] are just a really effective way to try and catch a lot of fish in a short amount of time,” said Rob Cook, an environmental scientist who has worked for the EPA for 12 years.
Desiree Rios
/
for The Texas Tribune
Cook, a 54 year-old who wore rain boots, reflective sunglasses and a straw hat, said the group needs to catch three to five catfish and predator fish like bass, all similar in size, for a reliable testing sample.
Nicholas Scott, 30, an EPA scientist who was on the boat with Cook, says they will filet the fish, freeze the filets and send them to a lab to test the tissue for heavy metals like lead and arsenic. The results from water sampling and the fish tissue analysis will help the EPA determine whether the lake’s water or fish are harmful to human health.
They paddled back to shore, leaving four red buoys floating in the lake, marking their nets’ location. Then they picked up trash around the lake for a couple of hours before rowing back out to retrieve the nets.
Kirk McDonnell, a spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — which stocks the lake with catfish, bass and other species — said in an email that because the lake is near industrial sites and sometimes receives flood water from the Trinity River, which is under a fish consumption advisory, the department’s Dallas-Fort Worth fisheries division has “speculated that fish contamination could be an issue with the fish currently in the lake.”
West Dallas resident Cynthia Medina, curious about the scientists’ activities, stopped by the lake during her lunch break. The petite 30-year-old said she’s interested in the test results because her husband comes to the lake regularly to fish.
“I tell him: Don’t take [the fish] home, we are not going to eat it. It is not safe,” said Medina, who has lived in the neighborhood her entire life and works at a nonprofit that connects children of color to books and promotes reading.
She pointed to a shopping cart partially submerged near the lake shore. “I don’t know what those fish are eating.”
Scientist hopes study informs policy
Aimee Wilson, an EPA scientist and project manager in a navy striped blouse featuring an embroidered EPA logo she stitched herself, said the agency decided to conduct a cumulative impact assessment in Texas because TCEQ was proposing changes to the state’s concrete batch plant permits, which sets the air pollution standards companies must follow.
Those changes included lowering production limits, reducing dust coming from plants and setting minimum distance requirements from nearby communities, but did not take into account the cumulative pollution created by plants clustered close together, like those near Fish Trap Lake.
For years, environmental advocates have criticized the state for not taking into account the health impacts for people living near multiple concrete batch plants.
In 2021, Harris County attorney and Lone Star Legal Aid, a nonprofit law group, filed civil rights complaintswith the EPA alleging that the TCEQ discriminated against people of color and those with limited English proficiency in the agency’s permitting process to build new concrete batch plants and renew permits for existing ones.
“There hasn’t been a lot of studies on [cumulative impact],” said Wilson, who has worked for the EPA for 14 years. “So we want to see what’s there because we don’t know.”
While TCEQ announced its new requirements for concrete batch plants last week, before the EPA study was completed, Wilson hopes their work can help the agency develop better guidance and policies for how to consider cumulative impacts from industry in future permit decisions.
At noon, as the EPA scientists on the boat approached the lake shore, Cisneros, the neighborhood association director, waited with her two nephews and her mom to see what the EPA crew caught.
The group did not catch any of the fish they were looking for, but a local resident who caught a bass with a fishing rod donated it so the EPA can test its tissue.
Cisneros said the EPA’s attention to her community is a relief because at times she feels like her concerns are ignored by state regulators.
“The EPA is being brave,” Cisneros said earlier in the day while sitting with her 4-year-old daughter, Lila Rosa Bravero, under the park’s pavilion. “They are not fearing that this [project] might open up a can of worms.”
Disclosure: The Texas Parks And Wildlife Department has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/02/epa-concrete-batch-plants-study-dallas/.
Justin Sourdif gave Capitals fans one of the most fun individual efforts of the season, recording five points and scoring his first career hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Sourdif had fantastic chemistry with Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard in their first game together.
Now the question becomes – Can the Young Guns 2.0 keep it up against a usually-stingy, defensively stout Dallas Stars team?
With Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas out again due to injury, Brett Leason will make his season debut with the Capitals. Meanwhile, Dylan McIlrath will remain in the lineup.
The Stars come into on a six-game losing streak. Casey DeSmith will start in goal over Jake Oettinger while the Capitals will counter with Logan Thompson.
Puck drop for today’s game is scheduled for a little after 7:00 pm. The game’s national and on TNT.
I’m dedicating my work tonight to Callie. I love you, my sweet girl. 💔
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Lines
Washington Capitals
Beauvillier
Strome
Ovechkin
McMichael
Sourdif
Leonard
Dallas Stars
Duchene
Johnston
Rantanen
Tunnel shenanigans
1st Period
Puck is dropped. McMichael-Sourdif-Leonard and Fehervary-Carlson get the start.
Ilya Lyubushkin to the box for holding Jakob Chychrun at 2:44.
Stars’ Radek Faska goes 1 on 3 shorthanded and scores after Logan Thompson loses sight of a rebound. WHAT WAS THAT.
🚨
1-0 Dallas Stars
SHG: Radek Faksa (2). Assists: E. Lindell (14). Time: 3:06
Back to the power play and… Justin Sourdif gets tossed from the faceoff dot, starts screaming at the official, Connor McMichael comes in, says something, and he gets an unsportsmanlike doncut penalty, killing the rest of the team’s power play. You can tell Carbery is fuming.
The two teams are now playing four-on-four.
Puck bounces over Dylan Strome’s stick on a wide-open net down low after a great setup by John Carlson.
Stars are outshooting the Capitals 5-0, 5:30 into the first period.
Apparently Beck Malenstyn has returned to the Capitals because one of the commentators said he just made a play. Lmao. No one on the Capitals even wears no. 47.
Sam Steel ailing and holding his left arm after a big hit by Ethen Frank.
At intermission: The Stars lead 1-0. The Caps didn’t really do anything in the first period. They were there. They existed. But that was about it. Shots on goal are 10-8 Dallas.
2nd Period
Puck is dropped.
Ilya Lyubushkin and Brandon Duhaime throwing punches at each other after the play at 1:12. Lyubushkin is going down the tunnel due to a cut on his nose.
John Carlson… just watching a pass through the paint to his man, no stick lift or anything, just chillin.
🚨
2-0 Dallas Stars
Goal: Sam Steel (7). Assists: T. Harley (14), M. Duchene (6). Time: 2:37
Ryan Leonard fakes a dump-in and almost scores with a crazy shot to the far side from center ice.
Brandon Duhaime and Ilya Lyubushkin drop the gloves right off a faceoff at 12:53. Duhaime punches Lyubushkin about 5 times hard in the back of the helmet. Hope his knuckles are doing okay. The Caps crowd is finally into it, though.
Logan Thompson stops Roope Hintz on a two-on-none breakaway after Nic Dowd fails to get the puck deep. Caps look awful.
Mikko Rantanen slashes Justin Sourdif at 15:55. Caps going back to the power play.
At intermission: The Stars lead 2-0. Dallas leads in shots on goal 20 to 13.
3rd Period
Puck is dropped.
Anthony Beauvillier takes it hard to the net, and gets two opportunities but can’t whack the puck through.
Nic Dowd to the box for hooking at 4:57. The Caps look awful. Just listless. Can’t get anything going. A lot of standing around.
4 shots by the Stars on the power play. Thompson keeping the Caps close.
McMichael ices the puck at the end of the kill.
Caps have one shot on goal through the first 7:03 of the third period.
Jason Robertson rips one hard off the post. Thompson is flopping all over the place to keep the puck out.
McMichael and Duchene trade opportunities down the wing off the rush.
Beauvillier sends a horrible pass backwards to Matt Roy in the defensive zone, turnover to the Stars’ Steel, and Wyatt Johnston scores easily in front of the net. YIKES.
🚨
3-0 Dallas Stars
Goal: Wyatt Johnston (24). Assists: S. Steel (9). Time: 2:37
Caps pull Thompson with 2:26 remaining. Why not?
Alex Ovechkin scores his 915th career goal via a one-timer at the top of the left circle.
🚨
3-1 Dallas Stars
Goal: Alex Ovechkin (18). Assists: J. Carlson (23), J. Chychrun (17). Time: 17:41
Capitals pull Thompson again.
Timeout Washington with 1:20 remaining.
Comment below. Refresh for live updates during the game. The thread will be closed shortly after the game is completed.
Dallas, TX
Brandon Williams’ game-winning 3-pointer tops Kings, breaks Mavericks’ road losing streak
SACRAMENTO — The Mavericks were shorthanded the last time they fell to the Kings.
That fact remained true Tuesday night without P.J. Washington, but they brought reinforcements back to Sacramento with Anthony Davis and Brandon Williams, a duo that missed the last meeting at Golden 1 Center just 11 days ago.
When the Mavericks needed him most, Williams delivered. He drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer with 33.3 seconds left to help the Mavericks to a 100-98 win in front of a national audience.
“Just shot it with confidence,” Williams said. “I could kinda see it in Cooper’s eyes that he was gonna get off of it so I just had to be ready to shoot. Regardless of what my percentage says, I’m always ready to shoot.”
The Kings had three chances to take the lead following Williams’ clutch triple, but Dennis Schröder and Russell Westbrook went cold and missed 3-pointers. Sacramento regained hope when Naji Marshall missed a pair of free throws with eight seconds left, but DeMar DeRozan couldn’t convert on a running triple at the final buzzer.
It appeared as if rookie Cooper Flagg would be the one to save the day once he connected on a turnaround bank shot, but DeRozan temporarily stole the moment away from the Mavericks rookie by drilling a contested midrange jumper over the outstretched hands of Marshall.
The shot appeared to be the one for Sacramento to sandwich a five-game losing streak with another rare win. However, Williams’ shot proved to be the difference maker and the Mavericks escaped with their first road win since Dec. 1.
Williams entered the night shooting a career-worst 18.8% from beyond the arc. He only had three conversions out of his last 18 3-point attempts since Dec. 18, but he was relieved once he saw the ball snap through the net on his final attempt of the night.
“It’s been a minute since I hit a 3,” Williams said. “It kind of felt good for the ball to go in. It was like 30 seconds left so we had to finish the game out for me to really feel good.”
Dallas trailed by as many as 12 points, but rallied after halftime to force their 28th clutch game thanks to its 30-point third quarter.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd pointed to turnovers and the Kings’ shotmaking ability as primary reasons why his team suffered a 113-107 loss on Dec. 27. It was a game that marked the Kings’ last victory, which was followed by six straight losses.
Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) yells back towards a group of fans after the Mavericks win over the Sacramento Kings in an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.
Scott Marshall / AP
It appeared to be the same story for Tuesday’s defeat as Dallas coughed the ball up 17 times, which led to 19 points for Sacramento.
The Kings (8-29), who sit at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, aren’t the best team but for some reason they have the Mavericks’ number through the first two meetings of the season. Sacramento will visit American Airlines Center for the season finale on Feb. 26.
Tuesday marked the first of a three-game road trip for the Mavericks, who snapped their seven-game losing streak in opposing arenas.
The Mavericks were led by Flagg, who played through an injury scare and finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Davis added 19 points and 16 rebounds. Williams added 18 points off the bench, but none were more important than his rare triple that gave the Mavericks the edge for good.
Flagg, who’s already one game shy of the 37 he played as a freshman at Duke, has been quite durable despite minor bumps and bruises throughout the season. That appeared to be in jeopardy in the third quarter when his left knee collided with the left knee of Kings forward Precious Achiuwa.
Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg lays on the court after suffering an injury to his knee against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.
Scott Marshall / AP
After going through a series of tests to assess the strength of his knee, Flagg returned to the game, which was the best case scenario for a Mavericks roster who’ve had more than their fair share of injuries this season. Washington missed Tuesday’s game with a right ankle sprain suffered in Saturday’s win over Houston. Flagg said his knee was a little swollen, but assured that “it’ll be alright.”
Davis provided a much-needed boost on the boards along with Daniel Gafford, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds. Davis has seen his fair share of shooting struggles so he’s familiar with what Williams is going through this season, but he said a game-winner is a confidence booster.
“That’s when you find it,” Davis said. “Those are the shots that lead to carryover shooting and carry over confidence for the rest of the season, so even if he was lacking confidence, which we know that he doesn’t, plays like that…you find confidence in plays like that.”
The Mavericks will look to build on their momentum Thursday against the Utah Jazz. Williams also missed the last loss to the Jazz on Dec. 15, so he’s looking forward for the opportunity to avenge that loss as well.
On Twitter/X: @MikeACurtis2
Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
It became Dallas County’s new, contemporary facility to house accused criminals in 1993. Today, close to 7,000 men and women each day either serve time, wait for trials, or transfer to state prison inside the county’s Lew Sterrett jail.
The elected leader of county government, Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins, says it’s time for a new facility — and it will cost billions to build it.
“We’ve got to begin planning and doing the work, because we can’t wait until this jail is absolutely just failing,” said Jenkins.
Expansion and development in and around downtown Dallas have the county keeping quiet about future locations.
“So we are looking at sites, and I think we’ll have land purchased this year,” Jenkins said. “And a land purchase in the relative scheme of things is a very insignificant financial amount of this.
“When I’m talking about starting on planning and building of a jail, I’m talking about something that will open perhaps 8 or 9 or even ten years from now.”
To complete a new facility in 10 years, Jenkins said the costs will be in the billions, based on a desire to build a jail that offers mental health and substance abuse treatment, trying to end the cycle of folks filling the jail, arrested over and over again for non-violent crimes.
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