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Dallas, TX
How far did the cover-up of abuses at Dallas County youth lockup go?
The shocking conclusions of a state investigation into a Dallas County juvenile lockup have cast new light on the stubborn resistance of the county’s Juvenile Board to investigate or release records when concerns surfaced publicly last year.
While state investigators confirmed some allegations and ruled out others, its main findings validated what some of us feared: a cover-up that seems to have stretched to the top of the Dallas County Juvenile Department.
Over the course of several years, county officials skirted state rules by using a “Special Needs Unit” to keep youths secluded in cells for up to five days without due process, according to state investigators. The youths spent “the vast majority of their days” inside the cells — sometimes the full day — without access to education, showers or outdoor recreation.
State regulators called what was happening “systemic neglect” and stated that “multiple facility staff, educators, and administrators (past and present) were aware.”
There are plenty of alarming lines in this report. This is, perhaps, the most disturbing: “There was pervasive falsification of documents regarding observation checks and school attendance rosters implying an intentional attempt to conceal the practice within the facility.”
Darryl Beatty, the former director of the county’s Juvenile Department, may not have had an active role in creating these policies and practices, but he should have been aware and had “ample opportunity to take action,” according to state investigators.
In our view, so did the Dallas County Juvenile Board, the governing body over the Juvenile Department. Allegations had been piling up for some time, from this newspaper and other quarters, about the treatment of youths in lockup. The Juvenile Board’s response all along: It’s the job of the state to investigate, not ours.
“Neither the Board nor I ignored red flags,” Judge Cheryl Shannon, chair of the Juvenile Board, told us in an email. “The Board did not have direct information on which to respond. The Board was left to make decisions based on information received from the media. The majority of the Board decided that the best investigatory approach was to refer all allegations to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.”
It’s curious that the board last year rejected requests from the Commissioners Court, the body that funds the Juvenile Department’s budget, to review anonymized “observation sheets” from the detention center at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center. The majority of the Juvenile Board fought the request even though two members of the Commissioners Court who asked for records — County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins and Andrew Sommerman — are also Juvenile Board members.
We can’t say what the Juvenile Board knew. What we can say is that there was so much smoke that the board should have also investigated what was going on in its own house, if anything to put an immediate stop to any potential mistreatment or crimes. The state investigation took a year to complete.
We hope those found to have falsified records are fired and prosecuted. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot told us his office had received records of the investigation and is reviewing them.
The Juvenile Board’s failure to hold the Juvenile Department accountable for the care of young people in its custody is incompetence at best and gross negligence at worst. At any rate, it is inexcusable.
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
Ross Tower, a 1.1 million-square-foot, 45-story tower at 500 North Akard Street, appears to be up for sale.
Matt Murphy, the director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Texas office advisory group, said in a LinkedIn post that the tower is being marketed to investors. Ross Tower has recently undergone a modernization through a $14 million capital improvement program that upgraded the building’s elevator system, improved common areas and replaced the cooling tower, according to the post.
The building is 60 percent occupied, according to Murphy, and features tenants like the Dallas Regional Chamber, CoStar, Munsch Hardt and Grant Thornton, according to the Dallas Morning News. The asking price wasn’t listed by Murphy in the LinkedIn post, and the outlet noted that the Dallas Central Appraisal District pegged the property at upwards of $99 million for tax purposes.
Recent bets on Downtown Dallas properties cite their proximity to Uptown, where the city is seeing a flourishing financial district. A key enticement for prospective buyers looking to bolster the tenant roster, according to the post, is that the in place rents are 15 percent below market.
In the post, Murphy said that the combination of lower rents for class A space, available square footage with companies exiting downtown, and the thriving Uptown Dallas area just a few blocks away, give the tower solid fundamentals for the right buyer.
The tower is currently owned by a partnership that includes Bandera Ventures of Dallas, HPI Real Estate and Second City Real Estate. The joint venture purchased the tower in 2015, and it was renovated in 2018, according to the post.
The tower was named Lincoln Plaza until 2013, and was formerly the headquarters of multinational oilfield products company Halliburton. Ross Tower is the 14th tallest building in the Dallas skyline.
As Uptown’s Y’all Street continues to grow, building owners are beginning to look at cashing in on the influx of new companies as an option. Hillwood Urban is currently exploring a sale of Victory Commons One, who just signed Scotiabank as a new tenant.
— Hunter Cooke
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DALLAS – After Norway won on Tuesday at Dallas Stadium, its star player has one more stop to make before heading out of town.
Erling Haaland and his teammates visited a Western wear store in the West End.
It’s already changing things for the store owner.
Y’all can kiss my Dallas
What we know:
Just hours after the Norway’s star striker helped his team advance in the World Cup, Haaland had one more goal in Texas – becoming a cowboy.
He and several of his teammates visited Wild Bill’s Western Store in Downtown Dallas.
The store’s owners Cody and Julie Newport told FOX 4 they got a heads-up about the special guest and had part of the floor roped off when Haaland walked in.
He ended up buying multiple hats. He traded cleats for cowboy boots and swapped his jersey for a shirt that says, “Y’all can kiss my Dallas.”
What they’re saying:
“Did he know anything about cowboy hats?” FOX 4’s Peyton Yager asked the store’s owners.
“No. He knew nothing,” Cody Newport said. “Actually, he was sitting in this chair. And we had someone fit him for a cowboy hat.”
Wild Bill’s owners said Haaland and his teammates gravitated to some of their beautiful exotics.
Haaland also purchased a buckle with a longhorn for his belt and branded his initials and jersey number onto his purchases.
“He was saying this is literally the only time I have and the only time in Dallas,” Julie Newport recalled. “He had an amazing time, and we gave him that.”
“We exude the Dallas welcome, the southern hospitality. For him to want to come in and hang out is everything,” Cody Newport said.
Big picture view:
Haaland shared photos of his visit to Wild Bill’s on social media, earning millions of views and likes.
That “Y’all can kiss my Dallas” shirt is nearly sold out in the store, with many of Haaland’s fans snagging gear of their own. And online sales are rolling in.
The store expects a new shipment of the shirt on Thursday to replenish the racks.
The owners said that normally their customers are 90% tourists. But after Haaland’s post, they are starting to see customers come in from North Texas.
The Source: FOX 4’s Peyton Yager gathered information for this story by interviewing the owners of Wild Bill’s Western Store in Dallas.
Dallas, TX
Dallas City Hall named to World Monuments Fund’s ‘Irreplaceable America’ list – Lake Highlands
Dallas City Hall
Dallas City Hall has been recognized as one of 10 heritage places included on the World’s Monuments Fund (WMF) “Irreplaceable America” list.
The list highlights significant locations across the United States, ranging from landmarks and colonial buildings to Indigenous heritage sites, that face urgent preservation needs. Dallas City Hall, designed by I.M. Pei, was built following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as part of an effort to rebrand the city and look toward the future.
In addition to being named to the Irreplaceable America list, Dallas City Hall has also been placed on endangered lists by Preservation Texas and Preservation Dallas. As uncertainty remains over whether the building will be renovated or demolished, its inclusion on the Irreplaceable America list comes at a pivotal moment.
“Dallas City Hall is irreplaceable as a major civic anchor in downtown Dallas,” said Zaida Basora, vice president of the Save Dallas City Hall Coalition and executive director of AIA Dallas, in a press release. “Not only is this an architecturally and historically significant building, but it has all of the elements to serve as a catalyst for the kind of development and revitalization that the southern area of downtown Dallas needs.”
The nationwide open call for nominations resulted in 75 submissions. Nominations were evaluated based on cultural significance, urgency of conservation needs and the potential community benefit of preservation.
The World Monuments Fund is an independent organization dedicated to protecting culturally significant places around the world. For more information about Irreplaceable America, visit the organization’s website.
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Syra Castillo is a recent graduate from Southern Methodist University and is the Lake Highlands Editor. She is a Dallas native and is passionate about local news. She studied English, journalism, and Italian while at SMU. She spends her time with family and tries to discover new places to eat across the city. You can email her at scastillo@advocatemag.com.
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