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Re: “We need media that works — Cover Trump by going to work, not to war,” by William McKenzie, Sunday Opinion.
I hope your own and other media reporters read and take McKenzie’s advice to heart. I have unsubscribed to three major newspapers because their staff’s writing has not been reporting for years. It has been filed with their ideological opinions.
We need nutritious foods to live healthy lives. We need nutritious, honest and factual reports to let our own minds digest and evaluate the significance of those facts. Then, we can be informed citizens and do our job supporting those elected officials who we believe are doing right, telling them when we think that they are doing something wrong, casting our informed votes when we think they continue to do wrong by our citizens and replacing them with better suited elected officials.
I am tired of politicians. I want representative governments that care about our Constitution and our people.
Gary B. Lawson, Dallas
Re: “GOP sets speaker choice, but battle far from over — Losing candidate says he will win with bipartisan support,” Sunday news story.
So the Texas Republican Party’s response to a potential bipartisan House speaker is a resolution condemning “any effort by Republican Representatives to ally with Democrats to elect a Speaker.”
And we wonder why our country is so divided.
Russ Olivier, Dallas
I‘m not surprised that Rep. Dade Phelan was forced from his position as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Just the fact that he is honest and not an extremist Republican was too much for Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Thank you, Rep. Phelan, for being a voice of reason in the Texas House of Representatives.
Linda Vaughn, Richardson
I’m very sorry to see Rep. Dan Phelan relinquish his bid for speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. His was one of the very few voices of sanity in an otherwise packed chamber of extreme ideologues.
Phelan always tried to represent the people, not just the special interest lobbies and not just the anti-American ideologies promoted by the extreme right. He understood that the huge majority of Texans are far more centrist in their beliefs and desires.
It looks like the Texas House is about to get more ideological and less representative. Sad.
Thank you for your excellent service as speaker, Mr. Phelan.
Olan Knight, Murphy
Re: “Readers back free tuition — unlike some lawmakers,” Sunday Letters.
I agree higher education tuition is too expensive. But parents and students need “skin in the game” so some cost is necessary as long as it’s not crazy like it is now.
Those who argue college education is so beneficial that tuition should be cost-free could use the same illogical argument about food, housing and medical care. All of these items are more essential that a higher education, but should they be free based on their importance?
If college educators want to share their knowledge for free, that’s a good thing. Otherwise, who pays for a free college degree? Free is a misnomer.
Don Skaggs, Garland
Re: “Refine Gift of Free UT Tuition — Students deserve a shot, but they need skin in the game, too,” Nov. 25 editorial.
So, The Dallas Morning News wants students who don’t have to pay tuition because they come from families making less than $100,000 to have some kind of stake in their education? OK, then have those students coming from families making more than $100,000 also have the same, meaning these wealthy kids have to serve the community or choose majors in areas the state needs workers in. That only seems fair and appropriate.
Darryl Smyers, Dallas
Re: “‘City Hall must listen’ — Johnson’s address comes after passage of charter propositions,” Friday news story.
“City Hall needs to listen” is such a rich quote from this Dallas mayor. I am happy to buy him a hearing aid so he can be the first in City Hall, or wherever he is, to actually listen. Or just move along to Washington and let someone who does listen become our mayor.
Jack Bunning, Old East Dallas
Clearly, we have a mayor (“a man of few words”) who is mostly looking forward to his future political career and who, I believe, has disappointed the majority of us who originally voted for him. It is interesting that his emphasis on four P’s — public safety, parks, potholes and property tax relief — did not include the fifth “P” — people.
By that I am referring to the outrageous homeless issues in the city. Is it me or is the visibility of the homeless still starkly apparent on so many streets, under bridges and in green spaces across Dallas?
And is it not obvious that so many of these individuals are handicapped, either physically or mentally, and need to be off the streets and in facilities that can provide comfort and attention?
And by the way, the trash and waste surrounding them is not in keeping with the welcoming city that Dallas would like to share with the anticipated thousands of visitors, much less with its own residents.
So many thoughtful organizations are trying to give relief to this issue, but it is going to take the city to end it. Yes, illegal immigration is an important political topic. Is homelessness not just as important?
Dan Littauer, 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
Don Stone, a Dallas civic leader and strong supporter of the arts, died on Sunday. He was 96.
Angela Stone, Don’s youngest child, said her father was one of a kind, a rare mix of sweet and tough.
“He was just the most wonderful man I ever knew, just generous to a fault, smart, charming. He influenced so many people,” she said.
Stone gave widely across North Texas, including $500,000 to endow college scholarships for musically gifted Dallas ISD students. Stone also held leadership positions at several North Texas arts organizations, including the Dallas Public Library, Voices of Change, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Fine Arts Chamber Players, Orchestra of New Spain, the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Shakespeare Dallas and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.
“He just believed that all of our lives would be so much poorer without music, art and theater. He said in our country we have the freedom to support whatever we want and that we needed to support the arts so that they would continue to exist,” Stone said.
Stone, a businessman who lived in Turtle Creek, worked for Sanger Harris, which later became Macy’s. He was a 2018 TACA Silver Cup Award honoree for his arts and culture advocacy in North Texas.
Maura Sheffler, president and executive director of The Arts Community Alliance (TACA), said in a statement that Stone’s legacy will continue to inspire the local arts community.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Don Stone, a devoted champion of the arts whose leadership and generosity,” she wrote.
Stone’s wife of over 72 years, Norma, died in June. She was the one who first got her husband involved in the arts, according to their daughter Angela.
Michelle Miller Burns, the DSO’s president and CEO, said the Stones had a profound impact on the DSO.
“It is with such a heavy heart that I received news of Don Stone’s passing earlier this week. Don was a devoted patron, a donor and a board member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and his leadership and generosity really have helped shape the Dallas symphony across five decades,” she said.
In 1980, Stone served as DSO’s chairman of the Board of Governors and helped launch efforts to raise $80 million for Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and secure architect I.M. Pei.
In 1997, the Stones launched the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund and committed $1 million to continuously support new works. Some of the works supported through the fund include this year’s world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s requiem For Everything You Keep Losing. The fund also supported a Grammy award-winning violin concerto by Aaron Jay Kernis co-commissioned with the Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Melbourne Symphony.
“I think it is rare for a couple who so firmly believes in the future of classical music and creating opportunities for new musical voices to be heard to really put support behind that in a meaningful way to fuel that process, to ensure that it can come to fruition,” Burns said.
She said the DSO will continue the Stones’ legacy by commissioning new works through the Norma and Don Stone New Music Fund.
Stone is survived by his children Michael, Lisa and Angela, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. The family will have a private funeral.
Arts Access is an arts journalism collaboration powered by The Dallas Morning News and KERA.
This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The University of Texas at Dallas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and KERA retain full editorial control of Arts Access’ journalism.
Where is Cade Cunningham in the MVP conversation?
Following the Pistons’ big win over the Boston Celtics, Omari and Bryce break down the improvements they’ve seen from the franchise star player.
DALLAS — A late comeback attempt fell short for the Detroit Pistons.
They fell to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime, 116-114, after recovering from a third-period 18-point deficit. A dunk by Anthony Davis gave the Mavericks the lead for good with 1:32 to play in overtime.
Cade Cunningham (29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) missed a short jumper with 7 seconds left that would’ve tied the game at 116, and Jalen Duren (17 points, 13 rebounds) couldn’t convert two offensive rebounds into a tip-in basket. Davis corralled the rebound with 0.9 seconds left, and the Mavericks called timeout.
The Pistons fouled Davis after the inbounds pass with a foul to give. Daniss Jenkins, who scored 11 points after halftime, stole the second inbounds pass with 0.6 seconds left but didn’t have enough time to get a shot off.
The Pistons trailed by 18 points with five minutes to play in the third quarter. Their bench unit was instrumental during a 31-11 run that gave the Pistons the lead again, 99-97, midway through the fourth quarter. They held Dallas to 38.5% shooting and forced nine turnovers in the second half.
No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg gave his Mavericks the lead, 110-109, with under 20 seconds to play with a midrange jumper. Isaiah Stewart was fouled by Davis on the other end with 3.4 seconds left, and he split the trip to the line to tie the game at 110. Klay Thompson missed a floater at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
Down 86-68 with 4:57 to play in the third quarter, coach J.B. Bickerstaff looked to the end of his bench for a spark. Jenkins, Marcus Sasser and Paul Reed checked into the game for the first time in consecutive order, joining Ron Holland and Javonte Green. The Pistons have a Dallas-centric roster — Holland, Sasser and Jenkins are all from the city, and Cunningham is from nearby Arlington.
They led an 11-3 run to cut the deficit to 10, tallying four steals during the stretch — two for Green and one each for Jenkins and Reed. Cunningham checked in for Green to open the fourth quarter, and the run continued. A 3-pointer from Jenkins, coast-to-coast layup by Holland and midrange jumper from Jenkins extended the run to 21-7, cutting the deficit to 93-89 with under 10 minutes to play.
As he has done several times this season, Jenkins rose to the moment in the final period. An entry pass from Jenkins to Holland created an open layup to slash Dallas’ lead to two, and Jenkins made a layup over three Mavericks defenders to tie the game at 95 with 7:46 remaining and push the Pistons’ run to 27-9.
With 59 seconds left in the fourth, a pair of free throws from Jenkins extended the Pistons’ lead to 3, 109-106. He played 11 minutes and 32 seconds in the final period, second only to Cunningham, and overtime.
The Pistons lost Thompson — their primary defender on Flagg — midway through the second period after an exchange with an official.
With 5:09 remaining before halftime, Thompson tied up Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard under the rim and was whistled for a foul. Thompson didn’t like the call and got in the ref’s face, and was instantly ejected. NBA rules make it an auto-ejection when a player makes physical contact with an official.
It was a strong start for Thompson prior to the ejection, as he had eight points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in nine minutes of play. Stewart entered for him in the second quarter.
In all, it was a rough night for the Pistons regarding the officials. Cunningham was whistled for a tech late in the second quarter after disagreeing with a call, and Bickerstaff was whistled for a tech during halftime after arguing with an official.
With 11:08 to play in the third quarter, Robinson suffered a knee-to-knee collision with Mavericks wing Naji Marshall. Robinson limped off of the floor and was initially ruled “questionable” to return until he was downgraded to “out” in the final period.
Robinson finished with two points and two rebounds, shooting 1-for-7 overall and 0-for-5 from 3. He missed two games in early December with a right ankle sprain.
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PHILADELPHIA – It was evident in July and August that Dallas Goedert was going to be a big part of the Eagles’ offense in the red zone. It felt that way most summers, but this time, with first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo in place, the Eagles are dialing up plays for the tight end.
“I think when I get a ball in my hand down there, I’m tough to tackle, I can find my way in, fight my way in,” said Goedert. “It’s just that our red-zone philosophy has changed a bit. We used to run a lot, a lot of quarterback sneaks, things like that down there. We’ve tried to find ways to get me the ball, which is really cool, and I’m gonna keep trying to make them work.”
So far, Goedert has nine touchdown catches. According to NFL Research, five of his touchdowns were thrown behind the line of scrimmage this season, the most by a non-running back in the Next Gen era.
“He’s such a physical guy,” said Patullo. “His determination to just get yards and have an impact on anything, whether it’s in the pass game, whether it’s gadgets, whatever it may be. He’s really dynamic with the ball in his hands. So anytime you can get the ball in his hands, obviously, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
However, the touchdown math didn’t add up for Goedert. He thought eight was the magic number to break the record for most TD catches by a tight end in franchise history, owned by Pete Retzlaff, but Retzlaff had 10 in 1965, meaning Goedert needs one more to break that dusty, 60-year-old mark.
“I thought it was eight, but I was wrong, so I thought I already had it,” he said.
Reminded that he would have had it already had he not dropped a wide-open throw to him in the end zone on Sunday, which would have given him a career-high three in one game, he winced, then answered.
“Yeah, scars right there,” he said. “That one hurts.”
With three games left, and with his heavy involvement in the red zone, it is reasonable to expect that the record will at least be tied, perhaps even broken.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “Anytime you can break a record, obviously things are going well for you. Obviously, winning is the most important thing and I want to do whatever I can to help win. If they’re giving me the ball down there, I’m gonna try to score. It would be a cool thing to have.”
Goedert’s production in the low red zone is a reason the Eagles lead the NFL in red-zone success, converting close to 70 percent of their trips (25-for-36) inside the 20 into touchdowns. The tight end has nine of those 25 red-zone TDs.
“We’ve had different things for me in the red zone throughout my career here, a lot of them just haven’t got called,” said Goedert. “Once they started calling them, I tried to make sure they worked so they could keep designing and calling other ones. Any time you go in the huddle and hear that play, knowing you have the opportunity to get in the end zone, it gets you kind of excited, for sure.”
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