Dallas, TX
Cowboys at Falcons: The good, the bad, and the ugly from Week 9
And there you have it. The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season is likely over after the 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. We can put any rational thoughts of making the postseason this year to bed and start looking towards the future, even though there is still half of the regular-season to play this year.
This matchup against the Falcons was once again a bad all-around performance for the Cowboys if you’re only looking at how things stand presently. If you’re looking at it with the future in mind though, there’s actually some good we can take away from this loss. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the good, bad, and ugly after Dallas’ Week 9 loss.
THE GOOD – 2025 NFL Draft season starts early
Prepare yourselves, 2025 mock drafts for the Cowboys will start to pop up pretty regularly now that they have dwindling odds of making the playoffs after the 27-21 loss to the Falcons. This team really has nothing left to play for the rest of the season other than selecting as high as possible in the 2025 NFL Draft. The higher the pick, the better the player. This might be the only thing worth keeping track of the rest the year. Right now, it’s looking as if they will be a shoo-in to end up with a Top 10 selection.
THE BAD – Only at the halfway point in 2024
There is still half of the 2024 NFL regular-season to play, but for the Cowboys it feels like it is already over. Yes, they still have to play out the remainder of their schedule this year, but there is little hope they can turn things around to make the playoffs. That means things will probably start getting worse as the season progresses, making this team even harder to watch on a week-to-week basis. That’s especially true if they decide to try to finish the year strong, which will only hurt their draft position in the 2025 NFL Draft.
THE UGLY – Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury
Normally, the thought of Dak Prescott sidelined for any amount of time would be detrimental to the team’s success week in and week out. 2024 though isn’t a normal season for the Cowboys. This year has been bad from the start and it hasn’t really gotten any better over time. What Prescott’s injury does though is open the door for the Cowboys brass to start evaluating younger players with the future in mind. The opportunity to evaluate a few backups who could have starting potential could be invaluable for the draft/free agency. CeeDee Lamb’s injury might also be an issue to monitor,
Dallas, TX
Ken Paxton sues Dallas over voter-approved amendment to decriminalize marijuana
DALLAS – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the City of Dallas after it adopted a voter-approved charter amendment that decriminalizes possessing less than 4 ounces of marijuana.
About 67 percent of Dallas voters approved Proposition R in the November election.
The amendment prohibits Dallas Police from making arrests or issuing citations for possession of up to 4 ounces marijuana. It also blocks the smell of marijuana from being used as probable cause for search or seizure and prohibits the use of city resources for THC tests, except as a part of a violent felony or felony narcotics investigation.
The City of Dallas directed the city to comply with the amendment earlier this week.
Recreational marijuana is still illegal in Texas.
Paxton’s lawsuit says that municipalities cannot refuse to enforce Texas drug laws.
“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow. The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them. This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.” wrote Paxton in a statement.
The lawsuit is far from a surprise.
In January 2024, Paxton sued cities who passed similar measures, including Denton, Austin, San Marcos, Killeen and Elgin.
Judges overturned Paxton’s lawsuits against Austin and San Marcos.
The lawsuit against the city names Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, city council members, interim city manager Kimberly Tolbert and interim police chief Michael Igo.
On Tuesday, Dallas City Council member Cara Mendelsohn proposed adding a clause to the amendment stating that Proposition R would not be enforced unless the state legalized marijuana. Council members voted against it.
“This is such a waste of your tax dollars. 4oz of marijuana is illegal in TX & USA. Now [Ken Paxton] will have to waste his time suing [The City of Dallas] and the city will waste tax dollars defending a losing case. We’ve put ourselves & the [Dallas Police Department] in a terrible position to violate our oath of office to uphold the law,” Mendelsohn wrote in a social media post.
Paxton’s office is requesting a trial to issue a permanent injunction to stop the city from implementing Proposition R.
Dallas, TX
Letters to the Editor — Educated students, power source subsidies, Dallas Wings, Cowboys
Schools need driver’s ed
Re: “Dallas County Grads Likely Won’t Earn Enough — Study finds that students aren’t leaving school with skills, education sufficient to support themselves,” Monday editorial.
All of us who live in Dallas have a vested interest in the future success of our kids. There have been some disconnects between local schools and the needs of local businesses.
In my industry, auto sales, we’ve had a shortage of quality technicians and sales people. Many local schools have outstanding auto tech programs, and graduate students who could become very successful sales people. Both of these jobs have the potential to pay six figures within a relatively short period of time. Often a technician is making more money than his classmate who pursued a four-year degree.
The disconnect comes with graduating students who can be hired and covered by insurance. An applicant without a driver’s license is not employable in our industry as they are uninsurable. Driver’s education has been removed from most high schools, leaving the task of getting a driver’s license up to the student on their own time.
A student who lives in a family that can afford a car for them to practice in and the expense of the class has no issues getting a driver’s license. Unfortunately many students don’t have the available car, time nor money to do this.
Don Herring, Dallas
Students lack stability
You state fairly that students aren’t pursuing skills, education sufficient to support themselves.
It’s hard when the economically insecure are consumed with problems such as hunger, lack of shelter, poor living conditions, health issues and sleep deprivation.
Children need some stability to perform at all in school. Texas ranks last in most measurements supporting families. A struggling entrance almost guarantees a struggling exit and nonperforming results.
James Roberts, Dallas
Stop subsidizing power
Re: “Abbott supports more nuclear power — Office calls for supply chain upgrades, research network to turn vision into reality,” Tuesday news story.
I support no tax subsidies for nuclear plants (or for fossil plants or solar and wind farms or electric vehicles).
Are we now talking about equal opportunity power source subsidies? What ever happened to the idea that the government should not be picking electric power source winners and losers by providing subsidies?
Since when should the government be subsidizing private industry? Shouldn’t power sources be chosen based on the economic benefits those sources bring to the market place rather than government subsidies?
Government subsidies distort the real price of electricity hidden by the taxes we pay. There must be compelling evidence such subsidies are in the public interest, and the real cost of the subsidies must be disclosed.
Thomas L. Darte, Greenville
Learn from voucher failures
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have already declared their intention to have the Texas Legislature vote on school vouchers. Why can’t Texas politicians learn from other states that have tried school vouchers and eliminated them due to the high cost of the program?
Arizona enacted school vouchers in 2022 and this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of voucher spending.
Texas public schools need adequate funding, and that is where the governor’s focus should be. Rural school districts are to be congratulated for opposing the governor’s support of school vouchers.
Jack Noteware, McKinney
People have spoken
Re: “School voucher crusade is anything but conservative,” by Glenn Rogers, Nov. 13 Opinion.
Thank you, Glenn Rogers, for your thoughts on the continued push for school vouchers. Once again, Gov. Greg Abbot and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick seem willing to go to any extremes to promote their own agendas and that of their billionaire donors.
It doesn’t seem to matter to them that the people have spoken through their representatives against vouchers. As Rogers points out, it ‘s our public schools and teachers who are paying the price for their unyielding crusade. Quit holding them hostage!
Adele Younkin, Grapevine
Wings need seats
Re: “Can Bueckers have Clark-like impact?” by Kevin Sherrington, Sports Quick Take.
I’m delighted that the Wings got the first pick in the WNBA draft. Paige Bueckers is an excellent possible first choice, although there are other strong candidates.
Bueckers’ college coach Geno Auriemma hurt his credibility with his persistence that Bueckers was better than Caitlin Clark. He’s had to eat his words in many interviews since.
There has never been a player like Clark. Bueckers’ stats don’t compare; in fact, she’s not even in second place. Kelsey Plum is.
Wait till end of WNBA season next year and compare Bueckers’ rookie stats to Clark’s. Let’s see if it’s close. And you can’t ever overlook how Clark makes all the other players around her better and her enormous fan appeal.
A real disaster is that the Wings stadium only holds 6,000 seats. Can’t compare fan appeal if you don’t have seats to sell.
Larry Huddleston, Cedar Hill
Cowboys’ sky already fell
Re: “Is sky falling? Cowboys make some progress, but can’t catch Texans after metal falls,” by David Moore, Tuesday SportsDay column.
Is the sky falling? Nope, the sky fell several weeks ago. It fell when Jerry Jones decided to make the second worst decision in his career. Namely paying Dak Prescott millions, and now Prescott is smiling all the way to the bank.
Don Skaggs, Garland
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
Dallas, TX
Dallas Mavericks host annual turkey giveaway
DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks started the season of giving with the team’s annual turkey giveaway.
The Mavs players who took part in Wednesday’s holiday giveaway really put a smile on people’s faces.
This is the sixth year that the Dallas Mavericks have teamed up with Kroger for the Mavs Turkey Giveaway.
Some 300 families served by Buckner International, a faith-based nonprofit, were each given an entire Thanksgiving meal complete with a turkey and all the fixings.
People were extremely grateful for the food and celebrity interaction.
“Honestly, I feel very blessed,” said recipient Ruby Martinez. “It’s very nice for their part to come out on their day off and come out and help the community. It’s very big from their part.”
“Whenever I was a little kid, I wasn’t in a very fortunate situation to have a lot of turkey, a lot of sides, a lot of food at the table,” said Mavs player Derek Lively II. “For me to give back, it means a lot to me just to make a little bit of a difference in somebody’s day.”
The famed Maniacs were also on hand to entertain people as they waited in line.
One woman in line said the event made her forget her financial troubles for a bit. She left with food and a bunch of autographs.
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