Dallas, TX

From pot to police, Dallas faces a real charter danger

Published

4 months ago

August 14, 2024

From pot to police, Dallas faces a real charter danger

The Dallas City Council’s first pass at proposing charter amendments was a swing and a miss.

From an unnecessary “preamble” that reads as a parody of progressive priorities to big raises and longer terms for council members, residents should be wondering what their City Council is up to.

We hope the July break put some council members in a better mind to actually focus on charter amendments that help the city run more efficiently while delivering excellent service.

Today, the council gets a second chance to do just that. And as much as we would like to encourage them to focus their energy there, we are worried that a more serious problem has taken precedence.

There are four proposed amendments to the charter that came not from the City Council but from petitions passed around by two interest groups. All of these amendments, if passed and placed in the charter, would represent serious dangers to our city. The council must focus its political efforts now on ensuring these proposals fail.

The first amendment would “legalize” possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana. If you don’t know how much marijuana 4 ounces is, it means you’re in business. Police Chief Eddie García has strongly warned that passing this referendum would be bad public policy that would make Dallas less safe.

But the pro-legalization group Ground Game Texas is trying to use Dallas’ charter amendment process to score some political points. “Legalize” is a loaded term here. State law trumps city ordinance, and possession is illegal in Texas. But even as a symbol, such an amendment could prove problematic for police trying to do their jobs.

As worrisome as that is, there are three amendments put forward by the group Dallas HERO that might be worse. These could actually do major damage to the city’s budget and its representative government.

The amendments are complex but would (a) require Dallas to hire 1,000 more police officers by charter, (b) set up the city manager to either double her salary or be fired based on a public survey, and (c) permit residents to sue the city based on failure to comply with its own charter.

If any of those sound reasonable to you, dig into the details.

Dallas already budgets to hire more than 200 cops each year. The problem is actually filling the jobs. There just aren’t enough recruits. And even if there were, there is no way the city could add 1,000 officers immediately without shuttering parks and libraries and letting potholes bloom.

A public survey to either overly reward or outright fire the city manager would be a disaster — so subject to political manipulation that it would leave the city facing ugly annual campaigns over how to fill out the survey.

Finally, the idea that any resident could sue the city for any perceived failure to comply with the charter would lead to massive legal costs for no purpose at all.

None of these amendments should be part of our city charter. They are each so legally dubious that we hope they wouldn’t survive a challenge.

But even the outside possibility that they might become part of the charter should focus the mind of City Council members and civic leaders against them.

We need a lot of political energy aimed at explaining to voters why these proposals would be a train wreck for the city.

Given that, the council needs to narrow its own focus on proposed charter amendments to the absolutely essential. Because come November, voters need to be fully informed about things that could really hurt Dallas.

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

Hania Aamir explains why she abruptly left her Dallas meet-and-greet

Published

7 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Hania Aamir explains why she abruptly left her Dallas meet-and-greet

After her Dallas meet-and-greet ended abruptly, leaving fans disappointed, Hania Aamir explained in an Instagram story that she left early because an event organiser allegedly verbally abused her and her manager, Maida Azmat.

In a detailed Instagram story, Aamir maintained that she loves and respects her fans, and that the event ending suddenly was unfortunate. She said she was proud of the fact that her fans had built a community of love, trust and support, and therefore offered some transparency regarding the matter.

“Everyone saw videos of me walking to the crowd and taking pictures and everything was fine. When I was going back to my seat I heard one of the organisers verbally abuse my manager. So I walked up to her and asked what had happened and told the man (one of the organisers) that he cannot speak to her like this. She was so distraught that she went backstage. I followed her to make sure she was okay and Fahad [Mustafa] being a gentleman also came to check up on her.”

Backstage, the Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum actors started taking pictures with fans, however, Aamir said the event organiser in question chased after them, allegedly calling them names and telling them to leave the premises.

“[He] called off the security protocols, and verbally assaulted us even more (people had to hold him back). We were rushed out by our promoter Arif Khan to not further escalate anything and we managed a personal means of transport to get back safely to the hotel.”

Aamir emphasised that no one had the right to disrespect another person, regardless of their position. She continued that just because women were in male-dominated fields, it was wrong to assume that someone could get away “with almost anything” without the women taking a stand for themselves.

“Thirdly, we as a fraternity put in a lot of effort to make our fans happy. And such people with their theatrics are mostly trying to paint us black. I don’t know, maybe it does something for their ego. But promoters/ organisers need to step up and make sure such clowns don’t ruin the events and the experience for the fans and the artists.”

The Mere Humsafar actor also called on media outlets to show responsibility with their journalism and stop levelling allegations against artists without facts.

“Last but not the least, I would like to apologise to every single one of you who came. And I dearly love every single one of you. I am sorry things had to end this way. Just have to get through with the bad days I guess.”

Support from entertainment industry

Soon after Aamir’s statement, she was flooded with support from the entertainment fraternity, with many decrying the disrespect she faced.

Fellow actor Yashma Gill reshared Aamir’s story and said, “Like always, immense respect for Hania Aamir and Maida Azmat for handling the situation not only professionally but also with bravery.”

Gill added that there was no place for disrespect in the entertainment or other industries. “Let’s call him out so no one ever has to go through the same because of him or people like him again.”

Actor Maya Ali said, “Disrespect is unacceptable at any cost or under any circumstances. I am so proud of you for handling this situation with such grace. It’s truly disappointing that some individuals failed to show respect to our Pakistani stars and their teams.”

Actor and internet personality Umer Khan, popularly known as Ukhano, shared pictures of him with both Aamir and Azmat, and said, “No one should have the right to disrespect our stars”.

Khan added that Aamir always devoted herself to her craft and fans, which is why she is “Asia’s most influential artist”, and that Azmat had been his mentor since he started working and inspired him with her professionalism.

“If some third-class promoter can’t show respect and love to our stars then everyone should walk out and boycott such promoters. We stand with you.”

Actor and musician Azaan Sami Khan said, “It’s unfortunate to see the artist being blamed without understanding the complete context.”

Actor Namreen Khan echoed others’ sentiments and wrote, “No one has [the] right to disrespect artists. Hania Aamir is a gem of a person! Her love and respect for fans and people is no secret.”

Radio personality Anoushey Ashraf also said that there was no room disrespect and abuse for anyone.

“Artists are our pride and assets. Am sorry you had to experience this. At the end of the day, people show their own upbringing and mindset when they decide to disrespect a woman (and many a times one from media).”

Filmmaker Nabeel Qureshi said, “This has always been the case with the majority of promoters. In the end, it’s the artists and fans who have to suffer, while the promoters still manage to benefit the most.”

Actor Hira Khan wrote, “No, you can’t put everything on the artist because it’s easier for you to do so!”

Fashion stylist Aarinda Noor, who dressed Aamir for the event, said, “No one has the right to disrespect anyone! It’s very easy to escalate negativity and extremely difficult to understand the responsibility.”

Aamir’s Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum co-star Fahad Mustafa has not commented on the situation yet.

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Dallas, TX

Here is everything you need to know for Sunday’s Cowboys and Eagles game

Published

17 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Here is everything you need to know for Sunday’s Cowboys and Eagles game

The Dallas Cowboys are undefeated this season in games played where they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Whether or not that continues to hold true over the final two weeks of the regular season will be of extreme fascination.

Up next for the Cowboys is their final road trip of the year, a venture to face a division rival in the Philadelphia Eagles. It was the Eagles’ loss last week to the Washington Commanders that served as the final straw that eliminated Dallas from the playoffs, and as a result, Philly all but took themselves out of contention for the top seed in the NFC.

Still though, a win would give the Eagles the NFC East title, their first since 2023. Whenever the division is secured it will mark the 20th consecutive year that the NFC East has seen its reigning champion fail to repeat so Philly will in all likelihood be the team carrying that burden next year.

Cooper Rush, CeeDee Lamb, Rico Dowdle and co. will have their hands full on offense while Micah Parsons, Marist Liufau and DaRon Bland look to help Dallas continue their form on defense. Even with the season being effectively lost before it was official we have seen the Cowboys playing hard and it stands to reason that this will continue in the City of Brotherly Love.