Dallas, TX
Letters to the Editor – Election issues, Dallas City Hall, Laura Miller, Ranger statue
Election headlines
Recent headlines: Dallas Morning News, Wednesday, “Hundreds of Voters Turned Away at Polls” and ”Residents frustrated after being redirected to their assigned sites.”
The Texas Tribune, Wednesday, “In Dallas County, frustration and confusion after GOP forces switch to precinct-based voting.”
VoteBeat Texas, Tuesday, “Primary voters frustrated and confused after Dallas County switches to precinct-based voting.”
All this despite the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court spending $1 million on a voter outreach campaign to alert voters to the changes.
Thanks, Dallas County Republicans, you’ve wasted our time and money!
Kimberly Farrar, Richardson
An egregious fraud
Having recently voted in the 2026 Texas primary elections, I should feel a degree of satisfaction for meeting my civic duty and my obligation as a U.S. citizen. Why is it that I feel as if I am perpetuating an egregious fraud?
The rules governing this election obligate me to declare that I am either a Democrat or a Republican before I am allowed to participate. I am neither. What are my options?
I can play along, pick a side and vote for the candidates on my ballot that I truly support while being unable to express that same support for other candidates because their names do not appear. Or I can join the vast majority of my fellow citizens and choose not to participate at all.
I was always taught that in a democracy, elections are fair and free. How can elections be considered fair when (by rule) the names of half of the candidates are not even on my ballot?
May the best candidate win, even if I was never given the chance to vote for him/her.
Wayne Hardey, northwest Dallas/Disney Streets
Needs more transparency
Re: “City Hall debate is a rerun of AAC debacle — We need to slow down, insist on transparency and get this right,” by Laura Miller, Wednesday Opinion.
Laura Miller is right about everything! There isn’t enough transparency about the deal with City Hall. The iconic building is unique and one of a kind and should be repaired and preserved.
I.M. Pei personally mixed the concrete to a specific color to appear warm in the Texas sun. The city council should be ashamed of allowing the building to get into such bad shape.
Paul Taylor, Dallas/Oak Lawn
No Cowboys Stadium in Dallas
If my memory serves, Laura Miller singlehandedly quashed Jerry Jones’ desire to build Cowboys Stadium in downtown Dallas. The tremendous benefits Dallas residents would have received were innumerable, and it would have enhanced property values in an area that desperately needed that.
I find it ironic that Miller is opining on anything related to building in Dallas.
Michael DeMott, Frisco
Laura Miller had the right idea
I grew up in Plano, and I live in Richardson now, so I’ve been observing Dallas up close for nearly seven decades. One thing that sticks out is that Dallas is really good at building glitzy shiny structures, but it’s not good at taking care of them.
I read about City Hall, the futuristic building built in 1978 that is becoming unusable largely due to lack of maintenance. Now, they are trying to decide if the building is worth saving, or do they need to build yet another. They build designer bridges, but can’t fix streets and can’t replace aging water lines.
One of the things I learned in business is to make sure what you have is right and is working properly before branching out into new ventures. It’s that way with infrastructure.
Infrastructure isn’t glamorous, but we certainly notice when it fails. It’s crucial to a modern city.
Years ago, Miller ran for mayor partly on a platform of fixing Dallas’ aging infrastructure. She was ridiculed as the “pothole mayor.” I think she had the right idea.
Steven Ritchey, Richardson
Not a fan of Texas Ranger statue
Re: “’One Riot, One Ranger’ statue finds new home — Sculpture removed from Love Field in 2020 now at Globe Life Field,” Tuesday Metro & Business story.
As a 50-year fan of the Texas Rangers baseball club, I was extremely disappointed to learn of the relocation of the banished Texas Ranger statue to Globe Life Field. The statue was removed from Love Field for the systemic racist history it represents, as the Rangers are well known for abusing minorities, especially the Mexican-American communities.
Given the ongoing ICE raids and roundups of anyone who looks brown or black, the statue’s new location at the ballpark is questionable at best and insulting at worst to the large Latino fan base the Ranger baseball team enjoys.
The public relations office really struck out with this boneheaded idea. They should have read some Texas history or the book, Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers.
Tony Torres, Garland
Love letter to Dallas
My most perfect day. I was high up in the mountains and came upon a green pasture filled with wildflowers, including beautiful columbines. There on my left was a worn-down home and Aspen trees, glittering silver to green in the cool gentle wind. And on the ridge before me was a full-grown porcupine just wandering across, coming from the Aspens and heading to the snowcapped mountains. I was 14 and it was a perfect day, time and moment.
Hold unto these moments. You never know when they can come around. The summer days lumbered on, like the porcupine, but way too quick, it was back to school. Back to W. T. White among my friends.
I miss my youth in Dallas. Times in the creek on hot summer days. Crawling under the wired fence to watch Jesuit High School games, a snowball fight with Dallas police and so much more.
This is my love letter to Dallas.
James K. Waghorne, Wichita Falls
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OTAs will begin for the Dallas Cowboys on June 1 and will run through June 11. Mandatory minicamp will begin shortly after that, with the team working out from June 16-20. Training camp will follow in late July, which is when the fight for a spot on the 53-man roster will really heat up.
Dallas made some big changes on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, which will make for some interesting position battles. There will also be a few areas on offense where someone can steal a spot at the bottom of the depth chart. That said, here are three undrafted free agents to keep an eye on as they attempt to steal a spot on the 53-man roster.
Tommy Dunn Jr., DT
Cowboys On SI writer Mike Moraitis recently noted that Dallas signed three defensive linemen as undrafted free agents, proving that defensive coordinator Christian Parker wants to create more competition there. One player to keep an eye on is Tommy Dunn Jr. out of Kansas.
Listed at 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, Dunn is a developmental nose tackle prospect known for his ability to defend the run. His main competition will be second-year player Jay Toia, but since Toia was drafted under the previous defensive staff, the two will have a fair battle on their hands.
Langston Patterson, LB
Linebacker remains one of the thinnest spots on the Dallas roster. Their starters at inside linebacker are DeMarvion Overshown and Dee Winters. Behind them, the Cowboys have rookie third-round pick Jaishawn Barham and second-year linebackers Shemar James and Justin Barron.
There’s a possibility they add another veteran to the mix, especially given Overshown’s injury history. They could also stick with their current group, which would give Langston Patterson a realistic shot of making the team.
The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Patterson isn’t considered a great coverage linebacker, but he has a nose for the ball in the run game. He could also stand out as a special teams ace, which might be his best path to a roster spot.
Michael Trigg, TE
Entering his fourth season in the NFL, Luke Schoonmaker is considered a potential cut candidate. The 2023 second-round pick hasn’t established himself as a consistent threat, which leaves the door open for Michael Trigg to steal a spot.
Trigg played for USC and Ole Miss before finally hitting his stride with Baylor. In 2025, he recorded 694 yards and six touchdowns on 50 receptions. He boasts a massive catch radius and could be used as a vertical threat. Trigg has the best shot out of all UDFAs at making the team and could wind up being a long-term player in the NFL.
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Dallas, TX
Dallas police seek two people of interest seen leaving Deep Ellum shooting that injured five
Dallas police are asking for the public’s help identifying two people seen on video leaving the scene of a shooting in Deep Ellum that injured five people earlier this month.
The shooting happened at 10:23 p.m. on May 5 near Commerce Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, according to the Dallas Police Department.
Police said a man opened fire, shot five people, and fled. Three victims were taken by Dallas Fire-Rescue, and two were taken by private vehicle to a hospital. All were in stable condition.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective L. Kebart at 214-671-3668 or Lauren.Kebart@dallaspolice.gov.
About two hours later, on May 6, a second shooting occurred at Elm Street and North Crowdus Street, killing 26-year-old security guard Joseph Gray. Police said Gray was breaking up a fight when 23-year-old Detorius Tarver opened fire. Tarver was arrested at the scene and charged with murder.
Police shut down Deep Ellum after the second shooting.
CBS News Texas will provide updates as more information becomes available.
The Dallas Cowboys will hold Organized Team Activities (OTAs) starting on June 1 and we would expect there to be some roster moves made after OTAs conclude on June 11.
This will be the first real opportunity we get to see the rookies and veterans on the same practice field, and that might be bad news for one of the Cowboys’ veterans.
That veteran is tight end Luke Schoonmaker, who has been nothing short of a disappointment since being taken with a second-round pick in 2023.
Not only has Schoonmaker not been a consistently good blocker during his career, the 27-year-old hasn’t offered much as a pass-catcher. Excelling in at least one of those areas is key for a depth tight end, yet Schoonmaker isn’t particularly great at either thing.
His play on the field is just one reason why Schoonmaker’s days with the Cowboys could be numbered.
Why Schoonmaker could get cut after OTAs
Along with his disappointing career that has so far spanned three seasons, another reason for Schoonmaker’s bleak outlook in Dallas is his contract situation.
The veteran is entering the final year of his deal and it looks like he is going to need a miracle to have a future with the Cowboys. And, there is an out in Schoonmaker’s contract this year, with the deal having a minimal dead-cap hit of $389,396.
Why would the Cowboys make the decision to cut Schoonmaker before letting him play out the final year of his deal? Well, it’s because of a pair of undrafted free-agent signings.
The more impressive of the two is Baylor product Michael Trigg, who the Cowboys clearly think very highly of after giving him a massive UDFA deal that includes $280,000 guaranteed.
Trigg is intriguing, to say the least. He has elite measurables for a tight end, and he was an explosive playmaker for the Bears, with Trigg going off for nearly 700 yards and six touchdowns in 2025. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer is clearly impressed with him.
“Talk about Michael Trigg first, we’ve all seen the highlight reel catches and things that he did at Baylor — it’s impressive,” the Cowboys head coach said. “You talk about a guy that can stretch the field vertically and make game-changing ‘wow’-type plays attacking the middle of the field. I think that jumps out at you.”
There’s also DJ Rogers, who showed improvement in each of his last three seasons at TCU and culminated his college career with 319 receiving yards and two scores. Schottenheimer is especially a fan of Rogers’ versatility.
“I love the versatility that DJ brings,” Schottenheimer said. “You see him play some Y, some F, some fullback.”
Given the fact the Cowboys added a pair of tight ends after the draft suggests the team isn’t totally content with its current lot.
Getting a chance to see Trigg, Rogers, and Schoonmaker side by side at OTAs might be enough for the Cowboys to decide it just isn’t worth keeping the veteran around, especially because doing so could take key reps away from the rookies. We’ll find out if that is the case in a little under one month.
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