Dallas, TX

Facing the heat in Dallas | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

15 mins ago

July 19, 2024

Facing the heat in Dallas | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Fourth in a series previewing SEC football teams

DALLAS — University of Arkansas Coach Sam Pittman understands another 4-8 record won’t cut it in 2024, and he’s not shy talking about his status entering the season.

“I’m popular now, the wrong way,” Pittman said in the electronic media room on Thursday at SEC media days. “I’d say I’m hot. I’m at the top of those [hot seat] lists. … What’s fair is fair.”

This comes after Pittman led the Razorbacks from a 3-7 mark in 2020 at the tail end of a 20-game SEC losing streak to a 9-4 finish and four trophy game wins in 2021.

“If you’re going to get patted on the back, you’re going to get punched in the gut,” Pittman added.

Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong said players don’t pay attention to “hot seat” lists, but a tidy solution exists for the Hogs to turn down the heat on their head coach.

“At the end of the day, this is Arkansas football, and we’re trying to go win not only for ourselves, but for our fans, the state,” Armstrong said. “I know they’re waiting for a great season. So we’re not too much focused on the ‘hot seat’ thing. If the team is focused on winning, there is no hot seat for him. We go out there and win, those talks won’t happen.”

The Razorbacks are not likely to be chosen among the contenders in the SEC when the media’s projected order of finish is released on Friday. In fact, Arkansas will probably rank in the lowest tier of teams along with Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

Pittman sounded fired up about wanting to discard the remnants of the 4-8 season.

“If we can take 4-20 to 9-4, we can deal with 4-8 too, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Pittman said, referencing the Razorbacks’ record in 2018-19 immediately before he was hired. “I’m very excited about the Arkansas Razorbacks.”

End Landon Jackson, a returning defensive captain, said the players won’t worry about media expectations.

“Whatever the media thinks about our team doesn’t really matter because we’re a whole new team,” Jackson said. “College football is a different game now.”

Quarterback Taylen Green, who Pittman said was “hand picked” by offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, compared his recruitment to where the media might pick the Razorbacks.

“We’ll just use it as motivation,” Green said. “You know growing up and being recruited, I wasn’t really highly recruited. So just proving the doubters wrong and proving ourselves right is something that we like. We like being the underdog and just proving ourselves.

Jackson pointed out how the NCAA transfer portal can change the identity of a team quickly, and he thinks that could apply to the 2024 Razorbacks.

“Taylen, for example, wasn’t here last year,” Jackson said. “Nobody knows for sure how he’s going to be for our team, but I think he’ll be phenomenal. Another guy, JJ [JaQuinden Jackson] at running back, I feel like he’ll be great for our team. We’ve got so many transfers in that we’re not the same team. Not even the same coaching staff.”

It will be incumbent on the Razorbacks to have a better record in one-score games, where they went 1-5 last season and 3-3 the year before.

“Those games can change a season all the way around,” Armstrong said. “We lost a lot of close games, and if I’m not mistaken Missouri went 5-0 [actually 4-0] in close games last year.

“You can see how they went the distance in their season. So I feel like those close games really are a major focal point in having a winning season or a losing season.”

Pittman said closing out tight games has been a point of emphasis in the team’s preparations all offseason.

“We have to figure out how to finish, win the close games,” he said. “We have got figure that out. We feel like we’re well on our way to getting that accomplished.

“I think a lot of that has to do with how we approach play calling, how aggressive we are on defense. … Whether you can run the football or not.

“Last year, we didn’t do a whole lot well on offense. It was a little bit more of a grab bag. What are we doing well right this moment instead of staying with it or what we thought the game plan would be because it wasn’t working. I think a lot of it had to do with the offensive line and the running backs, which I think we’ve shored up those two spots.”

Jackson said contributing on a successful team is a key reason why he returned for his senior year.

“My first year at LSU, we had a mediocre record,” he said. “Then, first year at Arkansas we were 6-6 before going to the Liberty Bowl. Then last year was a bad season.

“I really want to finish my college career with a bang. … Since I was a kid, my main goal was to play in the SEC and not just play in it, but dominate the SEC.

“That was my goal as a kid before any thoughts of the NFL. Now my goal obviously is to go to the NFL, but I’ve got to complete my initial goal. I really wanted to come back and have a dominating season as a team, not just as an individual player, and really get those wins.”

The Razorbacks will not play perennial power Alabama, which has won 17 consecutive games in the series, but they have added new SEC member Texas.

Arkansas will not wear the mantle of having the toughest schedule in the nation as it has claimed many times in the last couple of decades, but it’s still a rugged slate.

“We have seven top 25 teams on the schedule, so it’s probably a lot better year than it’s normally been,” Pittman said. “Nah, you know Andrew [Armstrong] said it on the plane on the way over, he said, ‘Hell, coach, they’ve got to play us too.’

“So we do have a good schedule. It gives us more opportunities, and it gives us more opportunities to make a splash. And any time you play top 25 team and you win, it’s a splash and it’s a hit and so it gives us a lot of opportunities and that’s how we’re looking at it.”

Returning defensive captain Landon Jackson said the Arkansas players aren’t worried about the media’s expectations from the 2024 Razorbacks. “Whatever the media thinks about our team doesn’t really matter because we’re a whole new team,” Jackson said. (AP/LM Otero)

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Dallas, TX

Dallas County judge’s proposal for “neutral third party” review of Juvenile Justice Center rejected as divisive

Published

7 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

Dallas County judge’s proposal for “neutral third party” review of Juvenile Justice Center rejected as divisive

DALLAS COUNTY — So who’s telling the truth about conditions inside Dallas County’s Juvenile Justice Center?

It is the question of the moment following new accusations from community activists who claim that the children being held there are subjected to “inhumane” conditions.

Now, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is suggesting a new path to transparency, saying “all the information that comes out is negative. And then the juvenile director will have a press conference and say it’s all untrue. Get the data to a neutral party so that everybody knows what is actually happening.”

Jenkins suggests allowing a neutral third party, such as representatives of a university, access to data compiled from observation sheets, logs of each juvenile’s activity throughout the day.

“Then we’ll know what is true, right? So if you’re saying that the news media is treating you unfairly and it’s not true, then turn over your data to a neutral person,” Jenkins said. “Let’s see what is true.”

The issue of conditions inside the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center surfaced anew in recent weeks. Earlier this month a group called Dallas Black Clergy and other supporters began calling for substantive change to the system.

“It’s time to protect our kids,” said activist Rev. Dr. George Mason. “We aren’t asking for the Henry Wade to be turned over to the Ritz Carlton hotels. We are simply asking for an end to the neglect, squalor and callousness that the current conditions reflect.”

A young woman who spoke at that weekend gathering but was afraid to share her name claimed that she was denied feminine products. She says she was a first-time offender and is still traumatized by the time spent in the county’s juvenile facility.

“Being locked down like an animal, worse than an animal, animals they get to go outside, the time I was here, I didn’t get to go outside … I was here for three and a half months.”

The accusations caught the community’s attention, and the Henry Wade Executive Team responded with a press conference of their own, reading from prepared statements and taking no questions.

“Youth are afforded the opportunity to participate in indoor and outdoor recreation seven days a week,” insisted DeAndra Jones, Deputy Director of Detention Services.

Meanwhile, Darryl Beatty, Executive Director and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for the Dallas County Juvenile Department had this to say to the community: “The statements and allegations being leveled against our detention center that youth are being subjected to any mean treatment and humane treatment is categorically false.”

Again, who’s telling the truth?

“It’s time for adults to quit saying they are being victimized by the media. That is ridiculous,” said Jenkins, who also serves on the Juvenile Board. “What we are seeing is that kids are being victimized by poor performance.”

The friction between Dallas County Commissioners and its Juvenile Justice arm has been building for months, with Jenkins’ proposal apparently viewed as another attempt to access data that Henry Wade’s leaders have repeatedly refused to provide.

In response to CBS News Texas’ request for a response to the Jenkins’ proposal, Executive Director Darryl Beatty responded via email, stating, “they are aware that as a result of the prior ruling of Judge Eric Moye, the Commissioners Court does not have the right to thousands of statutorily confidential observation sheets. They repeatedly make variations of this request in an effort to indirectly receive the same information through a third party like a university study group, that they may not receive directly. Their requests seemingly benign to the general public, promotes division rather than unity.”

Beatty’s statement went on to say that “the facility is not perfect. I contacted TJJD [Texas Juvenile Justice Department] and requested early audits of the facility when concerns were raised. I have attempted to address matters that have come to my attention and put plans in place to move the Department forward. Moreover, I provided proper state oversight authorities with these very documents a year ago to assist in the effort to investigate and support our detention center.

I think that what would be more helpful is for the Commissioners Court to stop withholding funding for programs and systems that are critical to the success of the department.”

More is surely to come.

Robbie Owens

Robbie grew up in northeast Texas, in a tiny town where her family’s history spans six generations.

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Dallas, TX

Well-dressed ‘Derby Desperado’ bank robber hits Dallas-area banks

Published

15 hours ago

July 18, 2024

Press Room

Well-dressed ‘Derby Desperado’ bank robber hits Dallas-area banks

Authorities in North Texas are asking the public’s help to identify a bank robber they dubbed “Derby Desperado” for his dapper duds.

Wearing a light-colored fedora, dark suit and surgical mask and gloves, the robber hit banks this month in Dallas and Garland, the FBI’s Dallas division said in a news release Wednesday.

At 1:30 p.m. July 3, the suspect approached the counter at Texans Credit Union, 7220 Telecom Parkway, in Garland. Speaking loudly on a cell phone, the suspect presented a note to the teller demanding money, then fled in a dark SUV, the FBI said.

More than a week later, at 1:45 p.m. July 12, the same suspect robbed the Capital One Bank at 2903 Forest Lane in Dallas, presenting a note demanding money. The person again fled in a dark SUV.

The suspect is described as a stocky male with light or white skin, roughly 5 feet 7-inches to 5 feet 9-inches tall, green or hazel eyes, and thick, dark eyebrows.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI’s Dallas office at 972-559-5000. Tips can also be submitted to tips.fbi.gov. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

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