Election headlines

Recent headlines: Dallas Morning News, Wednesday, “Hundreds of Voters Turned Away at Polls” and ”Residents frustrated after being redirected to their assigned sites.”

The Texas Tribune, Wednesday, “In Dallas County, frustration and confusion after GOP forces switch to precinct-based voting.”

VoteBeat Texas, Tuesday, “Primary voters frustrated and confused after Dallas County switches to precinct-based voting.”

All this despite the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court spending $1 million on a voter outreach campaign to alert voters to the changes.

Thanks, Dallas County Republicans, you’ve wasted our time and money!

Kimberly Farrar, Richardson

An egregious fraud

Having recently voted in the 2026 Texas primary elections, I should feel a degree of satisfaction for meeting my civic duty and my obligation as a U.S. citizen. Why is it that I feel as if I am perpetuating an egregious fraud?

The rules governing this election obligate me to declare that I am either a Democrat or a Republican before I am allowed to participate. I am neither. What are my options?

I can play along, pick a side and vote for the candidates on my ballot that I truly support while being unable to express that same support for other candidates because their names do not appear. Or I can join the vast majority of my fellow citizens and choose not to participate at all.

I was always taught that in a democracy, elections are fair and free. How can elections be considered fair when (by rule) the names of half of the candidates are not even on my ballot?

May the best candidate win, even if I was never given the chance to vote for him/her.

Wayne Hardey, northwest Dallas/Disney Streets

Needs more transparency

Re: “City Hall debate is a rerun of AAC debacle — We need to slow down, insist on transparency and get this right,” by Laura Miller, Wednesday Opinion.

Laura Miller is right about everything! There isn’t enough transparency about the deal with City Hall. The iconic building is unique and one of a kind and should be repaired and preserved.

I.M. Pei personally mixed the concrete to a specific color to appear warm in the Texas sun. The city council should be ashamed of allowing the building to get into such bad shape.

Paul Taylor, Dallas/Oak Lawn

No Cowboys Stadium in Dallas

If my memory serves, Laura Miller singlehandedly quashed Jerry Jones’ desire to build Cowboys Stadium in downtown Dallas. The tremendous benefits Dallas residents would have received were innumerable, and it would have enhanced property values in an area that desperately needed that.

I find it ironic that Miller is opining on anything related to building in Dallas.

Michael DeMott, Frisco

Laura Miller had the right idea

I grew up in Plano, and I live in Richardson now, so I’ve been observing Dallas up close for nearly seven decades. One thing that sticks out is that Dallas is really good at building glitzy shiny structures, but it’s not good at taking care of them.

I read about City Hall, the futuristic building built in 1978 that is becoming unusable largely due to lack of maintenance. Now, they are trying to decide if the building is worth saving, or do they need to build yet another. They build designer bridges, but can’t fix streets and can’t replace aging water lines.

One of the things I learned in business is to make sure what you have is right and is working properly before branching out into new ventures. It’s that way with infrastructure.

Infrastructure isn’t glamorous, but we certainly notice when it fails. It’s crucial to a modern city.

Years ago, Miller ran for mayor partly on a platform of fixing Dallas’ aging infrastructure. She was ridiculed as the “pothole mayor.” I think she had the right idea.

Steven Ritchey, Richardson

Not a fan of Texas Ranger statue

Re: “’One Riot, One Ranger’ statue finds new home — Sculpture removed from Love Field in 2020 now at Globe Life Field,” Tuesday Metro & Business story.

As a 50-year fan of the Texas Rangers baseball club, I was extremely disappointed to learn of the relocation of the banished Texas Ranger statue to Globe Life Field. The statue was removed from Love Field for the systemic racist history it represents, as the Rangers are well known for abusing minorities, especially the Mexican-American communities.

Given the ongoing ICE raids and roundups of anyone who looks brown or black, the statue’s new location at the ballpark is questionable at best and insulting at worst to the large Latino fan base the Ranger baseball team enjoys.

The public relations office really struck out with this boneheaded idea. They should have read some Texas history or the book, Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers.

Tony Torres, Garland

Love letter to Dallas

My most perfect day. I was high up in the mountains and came upon a green pasture filled with wildflowers, including beautiful columbines. There on my left was a worn-down home and Aspen trees, glittering silver to green in the cool gentle wind. And on the ridge before me was a full-grown porcupine just wandering across, coming from the Aspens and heading to the snowcapped mountains. I was 14 and it was a perfect day, time and moment.

Hold unto these moments. You never know when they can come around. The summer days lumbered on, like the porcupine, but way too quick, it was back to school. Back to W. T. White among my friends.

I miss my youth in Dallas. Times in the creek on hot summer days. Crawling under the wired fence to watch Jesuit High School games, a snowball fight with Dallas police and so much more.

This is my love letter to Dallas.

James K. Waghorne, Wichita Falls

We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here.

If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com

ATLANTA – A Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale was diverted to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Friday night following a reported security threat that resulted in a passenger being removed from the plane by police.

Southwest flight diverts to Atlanta

What we know:

Southwest Airlines Flight 2094 landed safely in Atlanta at approximately 9:06 p.m. after diverting from its original path to Florida. According to a statement from Southwest Airlines, the aircraft was diverted to respond to a “possible security matter.”

The airline confirmed that a specific passenger was removed from the flight by the Atlanta Police Department.

What they’re saying:

Southwest Airlines emphasized their commitment to safety following the disruption.

“Southwest Airlines Flight 2094 landed safely at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) Friday evening after diverting to respond to a possible security matter,” a Southwest spokesperson said. “We appreciate the professionalism of our Flight Crew and apologize to our Customers for the delay. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the Safety of its Customers and Employees.”

What we don’t know:

It remains unclear exactly what the “passenger in question” did or said to trigger the security response. 

Officials have not confirmed if any dangerous items were actually found on the aircraft. 

Additionally, the current status of the detained passenger and whether they face charges has not yet been released by the Atlanta Police Department.

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The E.W. Hagler Boys & Girls Club is hosting the Stop the Violence Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 7, at 1903 Division St.

The tournament, which begins at 9 a.m., was organized by the teens themselves, who said they are tired of seeing violence in their neighborhoods.

The event was created by Xzavier Neal, a senior at ARC who has been a Boys & Girls Club member since fourth grade.

“I watched how violence has changed not just my life, but a lot of my peers’ life and how it’s taking people, not just from me, but a lot of people in my community,” Neal said. “And I didn’t like it. It’s really sad.”

Neal brought the idea to Amisha Webb, a Life and Workforce Readiness Program Specialist at the Boys & Girls Club.

“He said, you know, Ms. Misha, we can’t continue to be a product of our environment and not having positive role models,” Webb said. “And I said, okay, well, what does that look like? And he was like, I want to do a basketball tournament.”

Webb said she is proud of the students involved in organizing the event.

“I’m extremely proud of all of them, just for the simple fact that they are thinking outside the box and trying to find new ways to be impactful,” Webb said.

Community organizations including GAP Ministries and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office will be present at the event with services and support for families. Webb said teen homelessness is on the rise in the community.

Neal said the goal is to bring more young people through the doors of the Boys & Girls Club.

“I see negative stuff every day so much. I just want to see a day full of positive stuff,” Neal said. “That’s my plan.”

“I’d rather go out and do something than sit here and just talk about it and watch it happen,” Neal said. “If I can make a change, we’re going to change it.”

The tournament is Saturday at the E.W. Hagler Club on Division Street, beginning at 9 a.m. Concessions and a raffle will also be available to support the Boys & Girls Club and its violence prevention services.

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