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Dallas, TX
Dallas mayor calls City Hall debate ‘silly games,’ defends review of options
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson pushed back Sunday against friction over City Hall’s future as “silly games” meant to “muddy the waters,” saying exploring relocation options is routine due diligence, not a backroom scheme.
In his weekly newsletter, Johnson outlined his most detailed case yet for studying whether Dallas should move City Hall, saying speculation and sensational coverage have distorted the debate.
“Those who are more interested in muddying the waters than dealing in facts are working overtime, trying to make normal stuff sound nefarious,” Johnson said.
The mayor said the core issue is simple: the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall is aging, expensive to maintain and ill-suited for modern government operations.
“Dallas City Hall isn’t in good shape,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t meet the needs of a modern big-city government — or, really, of any modern workplace.”
He said the building’s design anchors a government district that leaves a large stretch of downtown inactive after business hours.
Why now?
Broader changes in Dallas’ urban core make it the right moment to reconsider the city’s headquarters, Johnson said, pointing to:
- Redevelopment of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
- The rise of the city’s financial district, dubbed “Y’all Street.”
- The expected departure of AT&T’s downtown headquarters in the coming years.
“This city is at an inflection point,” Johnson wrote. “It’s the right time to ask what kind of urban core Dallas wants to have in the coming decades and then start building it.”
He said that’s why he sided with the majority of the City Council in a recent 9-6 vote directing city staff to explore options, including repairing the building or relocating City Hall.
Johnson said that is a common step to gather information before any major decision is made.
Consultants estimate fully modernizing the current building could cost more than $1 billion over 20 years. Less expensive repairs alone may not produce a more effective workplace, he said.
“You can’t consider the viability of any one option in a vacuum without knowing what your other options are,” he said.
Downtown boost
As he has before, Johnson said redeveloping the City Hall site could increase the city’s tax base and spur development in a largely quiet part of downtown.
He said Dallas has moved its city government headquarters several times in the past and cited other civic projects, such as Klyde Warren Park and the American Airlines Center, that helped reshape Uptown and Victory Park.
Johnson also took issue with news coverage highlighting “5,000 pages of emails,” saying standard city procedures have been portrayed as suspicious. Instead of “tabloid-style articles about boogeymen,” Johnson wrote, “you deserve straight talk and clarity.”
The Dallas Morning News, after reviewing the internal messages, reported last week that city officials and outside advisers discussed relocation scenarios and took a few council members on site tours that had not been publicly announced.
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Johnson said consultants and city officials involved in evaluating City Hall — including AECOM, CBRE, the Dallas Economic Development Corp. and the city manager’s office — are carrying out the council’s direction to review options.
Criticism of their work reflects political disagreements, he said, not flaws in the process.
Arena speculation
Opponents of a possible City Hall move have said the push is tied to finding a new home for the Dallas Mavericks.
Johnson rejected that. “The team wants a new arena. That has never been a secret,” he wrote.
He said no formal proposal for an arena at the City Hall site has been presented to the council. That echoed what Mavs CEO Rick Welts told The News in a recent interview.
“There’s no basis to characterize an entirely unknown, and as yet hypothetical, deal as a ‘giveaway,’” Johnson said.
He chided some relocation opponents who wanted an outside assessment of City Hall’s condition but are now attacking its findings.
“It is ironic that some of the same voices who most loudly demanded an outside facility condition assessment are now the loudest critics of the result,” Johnson wrote.
He called for a focus on long-term planning. “It’s time to put aside the pettiness,” he said, “and start talking about a real vision for this city’s future.”
Dallas, TX
Battery case against Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale closed
Arike Ogunbowale was arrested in March for allegedly punching a man outside a nightclub. Stacy Revere / Getty Images
A misdemeanor battery case against Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale has been marked closed, according to court filings obtained by The Athletic on Wednesday.
Ogunbowale was arrested in March for allegedly punching a man outside a Miami nightclub just hours after winning an Unrivaled championship with Mist BC. According to the court documents, the case was dropped nolle pros, which means the prosecutor no longer wished to pursue criminal charges. The closing judge was Betsy Alvarez-Zane.
The incident occurred at 4:22 a.m. on March 5 outside the nightclub E11even, according to the police report. Ogunbowale, a four-time WNBA All-Star, was being escorted out of the club as a result of an unrelated altercation when she allegedly punched a man with a closed fist, causing him to fall to the ground. She was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery.
Police said footage captured at the scene confirmed the victim’s account. Ogunbowale was taken into custody without incident.
“We are pleased that the State Attorney’s Office has exercised its discretion and elected not to move forward with this matter,” Ogunbowale’s attorney, Mitch Schuster of Meister Seelig & Schuster, said in a statement. “Ms. Ogunbowale is a person of outstanding character, and we are excited that these charges have been dismissed so she can resume her focus on her professional career.”
This was Ogunbowale’s second season with Unrivaled. She played in the 3-on-3 league’s inaugural season with Vinyl BC. She was selected with the fifth pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft by the Wings. Ogunbowale re-signed with Dallas in April on a multiyear deal.
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Dallas, TX
Dallas Cowboys Might Be On List of Teams Interested in Jadeveon Clowney
With the second wave of free agency underway, it’s just a matter of time before former Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney finds a new home.
Clowney is one of the most high-profile players left on the open market and easily the best free agent out of Dallas. The former No. 1 overall pick is coming off a season in which he tallied 8.5 sacks, which was tops on the Cowboys.
When it comes to possible landing spots for Clowney, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports “some of his former teams” remain interested in Clowney, although he did not say which squads exactly, which means Dallas could be one of them.
“I gather that some of (Clowney’s) former teams are interested in him, which is pretty easy when you’ve played for as many teams as he’s played for,” Garafolo said. “So, let’s see about Clowney here in the near future.”
Clowney has played for seven different teams during his career, with the Cowboys, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans all on that list.
Would Cowboys re-sign Jadeveon Clowney?
We know Clowney liked his time in Dallas and he would be interested in coming back.
“Oh man, it was great. I enjoyed Dallas, playing on primetime every week. It was a great experience, man, and playing on Thanksgiving and Christmas was special for me. A lot of people watching, a lot of families showing up, and I had a great time playing for Dallas,” Clowney said.
We also know that, despite all the Cowboys’ additions at edge rusher, a team can never have too many. That’s especially true when Dallas has some question marks with their current ones.
The jury is still out on what a rookie in Malachi Lawrence and a second-year player in Donovan Ezeiruaku will be in 2026, and Rashan Gary is no sure thing, either, after he didn’t sack any quarterbacks in the second half of last season.
But owner Jerry Jones didn’t seem like he thought a Clowney return was in the cards after the NFL owners meetings.
“It’s real hard when you look at how Clowney came on last year in the snaps he gave us,” he said. “It’s real hard not to have a place there for Clowney, but you can’t have it all. You just can’t have it all. If things go right for us, we’ve already made a signing, we’ve made trades, we think that’s the better way to go. And, of course, we got the draft. It can very easily answer some of that question.”
There also seemed to be an indication that one of the reasons Clowney might not re-sign in Dallas is because he isn’t a good scheme fit in Christian Parker’s defense.
“He led the Cowboys in sacks last season and in January seemed like a prime candidate they would like to retain. But the move to a new scheme with DC Christian Parker seems like the Cowboys will look to other edge players first without completely shutting the door on Clowney’s return,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote.
The veteran would definitely push back on that notion, though.
“I walk in every year and play well on every scheme and every team I’ve been on,” Clowney said. “I want to continue to do that going into year 13. Showing people wrong and proving that I can still play at a high level. It don’t matter where I end up, where I play at, just know I’m coming to show you again and prove people wrong again.”
Whatever the case may be, it would appear based on Garafolo’s reporting that there is at least a chance Dallas might be a team interested in bringing Clowney back. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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Dallas, TX
The Strokes Aren’t Coming to Texas, but Cover Band Different Strokes is Playing Friday
Dylan Santos Green
The Strokes, the Grammy-winning band whose music dominated rock music in the early and mid-2000s (and likely still dominates your bad Hinge dates’ playlists), announced a world tour to pair with their forthcoming album, Reality Awaits. Strokers, as the band’s cult following calls itself, were disappointed when Texas was left off the map. The closest they’re coming is Manchester, Tennessee, for the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival — 725 miles, or a 10-and-a-half-hour drive away, if you contemplated it. But Different Strokes, a local Strokes cover band, is playing a much closer and much more affordable show at Granada Theater on Friday, May 8.
Different Strokes, comprised of Dallas musicians Cory Graves, Dev Wulf, Hunter Cannon, Eric Nichelson and Colin Beams, is breaking a two-year hiatus, returning to the stage ready to rip “Reptilia.” The band, which formed 10 years ago, was derailed by Graves’ frequent commitments to his full-time gig playing with the Vandoliers. But Graves left the cowpunk band earlier this year, meaning it was time to get the (cover) band back together.
“I called all the guys back, and everyone was really excited,” Graves tells us. He says it took them little time to find a venue to host, but the timing of Granada adding them to the calendar was chismet.
“We booked this Granada show several months ago, and as soon as we posted, the Strokes announced a new album and tour, and we had no idea,” he says. “It’s just really good timing for us. There’s no dates anywhere around here, and all I see is people on [the Strokes] Facebook pages complaining.”
Hopeful Strokers prayed the band might be announced as a headliner for Austin City Limits, though they topped the bill in 2025. To the dismay of leather jacket-wearing Texans, though, the lineup released this week does not include Julian Casablancas and company (though it does include Dallas’ own Cure for Paranoia). This leaves Different Strokes as the best available option for anybody in the Southwestern United States who wants to feel the rush of those opening chords on “What Ever Happened” live.
Casablancas must have a really severe aversion to good barbecue and a wide-brimmed hat, because the Strokes haven’t played in Dallas since a show at the Globe Life Field in 2022. Before that, it had been two decades since their last show in the region at the now-demolished Bronco Bowl in Oak Cliff in 2002, when the band only had one album out.
Plus, Different Strokes won’t play any of the deep cuts you don’t like, and all the ones you do.
“Their fans are so culty and rabid that we do get a lot of requests for super obscure deep cuts,” Graves says. “You never get that with another band.”
They certainly won’t skip the 2000s radio hits that’ve been removed from the real Strokes arena tour setlist, either.
“This band already has a fan base, so you show up and everyone’s pleased to hear these things that they already love so much and just maybe don’t get to see all the time,” Graves says. “In the case of The Strokes, if you see [them], they’re going to play a stadium. You’re going to pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket. You’re not going to be able to stand front row with The Strokes probably, but you can come right up to the stage for us.”
Ahead of the show, the cover band has added the latest Strokes’ release to their repertoire, rehearsing Reality Awaits’ lead single, “Going Shopping,” last week in preparation. It was their first rehearsal in years, but the dust brushed away easily, and they’d already played a secret and surprise set at the Seegars Deli opening a week before, with zero preparation.
“We played 50 people or something, just to kind of shake off the nerves,” Graves says. “We didn’t rehearse for that one. We all just showed up and expected each other to know the part. It was good reassurance that we still had it.”
Graves and other members of Different Strokes have had run-ins with real members of the Strokes band, smoking cigarettes with drummer Fabrizio “Fab” Moretti outside a show in Deep Ellum for his side project, Little Joy, in 2008, and chatting with lead guitarist Nicholas Valensi after his solo show at Trees in 2016. The latter Strokes member jokingly recommended the guys of Different Strokes buy wigs to really sell it.
And though cover bands get a bad rep, Graves, a seasoned, internationally touring musician who contributed to five Vandoliers albums, says they’re undeniably fun to play in.
“Cover bands are kind of divisive. When musicians are young, they take themselves way too seriously,” he says. “You get to a certain point where you’re older, and you don’t care as much about the posturing. Cover bands are just really super fun. There’s no stress, there’s no pressure.”
Different Strokes will play at Granada Theater on May 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. The band will only be playing music by The Strokes, but they will not be wearing wigs.
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