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 Owners Might Be Making Big Mistake in Search for New GM
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on X for the latest news.
Follow
Dallas, TX
Petar Musa’s Brace Not Enough as FC Dallas Draws LA Galaxy 2-2
For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
-
Virginia2 minutes agoVirginia’s special election redistricting battle is next week and has national impacts
-
Washington8 minutes ago
The Church of Jesus Christ has announced its 384th temple
-
Wisconsin14 minutes agoWisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
-
West Virginia20 minutes agoThis week in West Virginia history: April 19-25
-
Wyoming26 minutes agoIdaho semitruck driver involved in fatal accident at Wyoming FlyingJ – East Idaho News
-
Crypto32 minutes agoUpcoming ‘Bitcoin’ Movie With Casey Affleck, Gal Gadot Probes Satoshi’s Identity
-
Finance38 minutes agoHong Kong reasserts role as safe haven in global finance amid Iran conflict
-
Fitness44 minutes agoHow the 3-3-3 Rule Helped Me Stick to an Exercise Routine