Dallas, TX

Dallas shines light on its pension struggles

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2024

Dallas shines light on its pension struggles

Dallas has launched an information hub to assist the public in keeping up with and understanding the city’s progress toward funding pensions for city employees, police officers and firefighters.

Ensuring the city’s two pension systems, one for civilian employees and one for police and fire, are adequately funded represents a commitment to taking care of those who serve our city. Offering up-to-date information about the ongoing planning to address funding shortfalls may help alleviate some uncertainty both in the public and for those considering joining the city in public service.

It’s also important to avoid spooking the public, or worse, the police and fire departments with news they aren’t expecting. This hub keeps a record of what’s happening with the pension fund and what the next steps are.

Dallas has invested in projects to improve transparency before, often to good effect. The residential permit and crime dashboards help residents keep up with how the city is performing in responsibilities that shape Dallas.

This pension information hub can have a similar effect. Pension difficulties continue to pose a credibility challenge for the city, and greater transparency surrounding it can only be a good thing.

While many residents may have heard something about the city’s pension problems here and there, it can be difficult to follow and understand. Thankfully, the information hub does more than track progress, it also provides background information and explanations of what the pension systems are and how they work.

The hub explains, for example, that there are two pension funds for the city to deal with. The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, or DPFP, provides retirement, disability and death benefits for police officers and firefighters based on factors like rank and age. The Employee Retirement Fund, or ERF, does something very similar for other city employees.

If there’s one thing that could be improved, the hub could do with a little less financial jargon. Most people won’t understand the difference between actuarial value and market value relative to the funded portion of each pension, so it would be better to explain those things in simpler English alongside the technical information available.

On the hub, a letter from Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins promises a fiscally responsible plan by this fall. In 2017, the pension fund was at risk of complete collapse. The state stepped in and passed a stopgap measure to prevent that from happening, but stipulated that the city must come up with a 30-year plan to fully fund it within 7 years.

As it stands, it looks like Dallas will be able to meet that deadline, and the information hub will help residents follow its progress as it moves forward.

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

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Dallas, TX

Dallas, Mesquite police investigate double murder-suicide

Published

5 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

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DALLAS – A Dallas Police investigation into a double homicide continues after the suspected gunman was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Mesquite, authorities announced.

Double murder-suicide investigation

What we know:

Dallas officers responded to a shooting call in the 15800 block of El Estado Drive in Far North Dallas at 2:40 p.m. on December 11, 2025. The preliminary investigation determined that two people had been shot.

The victims were identified as 24-year-old Arlina Sander, who died at the scene, and 27-year-old Darvilease Washington, who was taken to a local hospital where he later died.

Detectives quickly identified a possible suspect and a suspect vehicle registered in Mesquite. As Dallas detectives prepared an arrest warrant, they were notified by the Mesquite Police Department about a shooting in that city.

Suspect found dead in Mesquite

The suspect in the El Estado homicides was found dead in the 1000 block of Craig Drive in Mesquite, having suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect’s vehicle was found in the driveway.

The Dallas County Medical Examiner has identified the man as 44-year-old Jonathan Lakill Mantoy Jones. His time of death was just after 5 p.m., according to the M.E. report.

What we don’t know:

The motives and circumstances surrounding the offense are still under investigation.

Dallas Police ask anyone with information to contact Detective Paul Johnson at 469-271-6328 or via email at paul.johnson@dallaspolice.gov.

The Source: Information in this article is from the Dallas Police Department.

Far North DallasMesquiteCrime and Public Safety

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Dallas, TX

Dallas-Fort Worth might see some sunshine on Sunday. Will the coming week be cloudy?

Published

18 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Dallas-Fort Worth might see some sunshine on Sunday. Will the coming week be cloudy?

After a gloomy Saturday, cold temperatures moved through Dallas-Fort Worth through the evening, though the area is expected to see some sunshine on Sunday.

Temperatures are forecast to reach a high near 43 on Sunday with early morning wind chills in the 20s or lower for parts of North Texas, according to the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office.

Nighttime temperatures are likely to drop to a below-freezing 28, with wind gusts calming down in the evening after reaching as high as 30 mph during the day.

The coming week is expected to be somewhat sunny, barring some cloud cover during the night.

Starting Tuesday, the weather is supposed to get warmer with daytime temperatures in the 60s and 70s.

The latest Dallas weather forecast from KXAS-TV (NBC5):

SUNDAY (HANUKKAH BEGINS): Partly sunny, breezy and much colder. High: 44. Wind: N 10-20 mph.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny and chilly. Low: 28. High: 53. Wind: SE 5-10 mph.

TUESDAY: Mixture of sun and clouds, mild. Low: 43. High: 63. Wind: S 10-15 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny and warmer. Low: 53. High: 71. Wind: S 10-20 mph.

THURSDAY: Plenty of sunshine, warm. Low: 56. High: 71. Wind: N 5-10 mph.

FRIDAY: Mostly sunny and pleasant. Low: 47. High: 67. Wind: SE 5-10 mph.

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Dallas, TX

Participants share their experience as BMW Dallas Marathon weekend begins.

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Participants share their experience as BMW Dallas Marathon weekend begins.

The BMW Dallas Marathon is in full swing this weekend. Events started Friday night and will run through Sunday.

Saturday morning included a 10K, 5K, and the kids’ 100-meter dash, but Sunday is the big day so many runners have been training for.

From young runners to older runners, thousands participated in Saturday’s events, including one of Santa’s elves.

“Santa made me work today,” said John Schmidt, who participated in the 5K dressed as Santa’s finest.

Myrna Besley came from Colorado to jog the BMW Dallas Marathon 5K on Saturday morning, pushing her grandson along the way.

“My daughter is a runner, we do this to go along with her, she’s way ahead of us, and she’ll be running in the marathon tomorrow,” Besley said.

Teachers Caroline Menzia and Emma Gayle took a break from the classroom to hit the pavement.

“We work hard every day in our job, and I don’t know, we wanted to push ourselves outside of our work, to do something for us that we can accomplish,” said Menzia.

Organizers said while a lot goes into planning this event, it’s important for runners to enjoy the journey it’s taken to get here.

“Have some fun, smile, it’s hard, getting to the finish line is not easy,” Jason Schuchard, president of the BMW Dallas Marathon, said. “But just relax, trust your training, and just remember to smile.”

If you’re one of the thousands of runners running on Sunday, organizers said to arrive early, stay hydrated, and stay warm.

“Come early, park early, make yourself comfortable, you don’t want to stress out,” said Dr. Logan Sherman, chairman of the BMW Dallas Marathon. “It’s going to be cold, so bundle up and any clothes or any items you want to discard before you get to the start, please know that you can discard it on the side of the corral right before you’re about to take off.”

There will be many road closures in Downtown Dallas on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit: https://dallasmarathon.com/.

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