Dallas, TX

Letters to the Editor — Willie Mays, Gateway pastor, trash pickup in Dallas

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2024

Letters to the Editor — Willie Mays, Gateway pastor, trash pickup in Dallas

Mays a Giant among players

Re: “A true legend of the game — Giants center fielder inspired generations of baseball players and fans,” Wednesday news obituary.

Willie Mays, along with Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, two of the greatest Major League Baseball players ever, often murdered the Brooklyn Dodgers. But whenever they played in Ebbets Field, they always received standing ovations.

I attended a game in Brooklyn where Mays hit three home runs, each farther than the previous one. The third one went deep into the center field stands. One can only guess how far it would have gone if the stands were slightly lower.

The great announcer Vin Scully said the catch Mays made in center field against the Dodgers in Ebbets Field was one of the greatest plays he ever witnessed in his many years of broadcasting.

On top of all his accomplishments on the field, frequently after day games at home, Mays would play stick ball in Harlem with neighborhood kids. Say hey!

Jerry Frankel, Plano

Pastor should redress wrongs

Re: “Pastor quits amid sexual abuse claim — Woman’s allegations span ‘80s period from when she was 12 to 16,” Wednesday news story.

Robert Morris was married and a pastor at the time the alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl took place. And this was said to have continued over a period of four years. We live in a day and age when it seems that all one has to do is “repent” of a crime and you’re good to go.

Morris is accused of stealing the innocence of a young girl in order to satisfy his own sexual pleasure. Has anyone asked how this affected the life of Cindy Clemishire? Genuine repentance leads to a desire to redress wrongs.

When someone becomes a Christian, he should have a desire born out of deep conviction to do good, and that includes making restitution whenever possible.

Will Morris walk away from this scandal holding onto his fortune, his pastorate, his fame and his good name, or will he demonstrate that his repentance is genuine? Only time will tell.

Jean McNeal, Dallas

Disturbing news

Reading about allegations against Robert Morris was truly disturbing. I have friends and family members who refuse all religious affiliation and avoid all politics and voting. They believe both churches and politics are overrun with corruption. This news does appear to support their point of view.

Thomas Kelly, Lantana

Where is city’s money going?

Re: “Council must get city manager hire right — How effectively (or not) Dallas runs hinges on this one person,” by Jennifer Staubach Gates, Sunday Opinion.

Dallas is now considering eliminating trash pickup from alleys due to a budget shortfall. In Gates’ op-ed, I learned that Dallas’ budget has increased by 62% in the past 10 years. Now, due to this out-of-control spending, we are poised to lose a service that the city has always been able to provide in the past.

This is an excellent opportunity for the council to take Gates’ advice to prioritize providing the basic services that have always been part of what Dallas offers its residents, and end the waste and luxury programs that we can no longer afford.

Stephen McKeown, Northwest Dallas

Keep alley trash pickup

Re: “Alley pickup may be trashed — City Council to hear briefing on idea to shift challenging garbage collections to curbside,” Tuesday Metro & Business story.

I understand that the city would like to make some changes to save money. It could have started with better investments for the Dallas Fire and Pension Fund or withholding the payoff to the former city manager.

The plan to eliminate alley pickup in parts of Dallas where it is currently available is a mistake. Correct me if I am wrong, but we do pay the city of Dallas for sanitation pickup. Doing away with alley pickup in Lake Highlands, where our alleys are wide enough to accommodate it, will create significant problems.

Our neighborhood will become a parking lot for trash cans, clogging streets and sidewalks. With 62 homes on my street, this will add 124 trash cans to our sidewalks, creating an eyesore and a safety issue. Our houses do not have garages and driveways in the front like those in Houston and San Antonio.

The added trash cans will obstruct walkways, making it difficult for pedestrians, including children and the elderly, to navigate safely. This change will not only degrade the appearance of our neighborhood but also pose hazards that could be easily avoided by maintaining the existing alley pickup system.

John Astin Gardere, Dallas/Lake Highlands

Dallas no longer a clean city

In my travels to various European cities, I have always been impressed by how free most of them are of litter and trash. Dallas was once such a city. No more. The homeless population is partly the blame, with all the trash and junk they create, but that is not the only factor. I frequently see trash blowing out of pickups and trash trucks and I also see car parts and other debris that never gets collected.

As I look around our streets and highways there is trash that has not been cleaned up for months. The litter along our highways is an embarrassment and shows lack of pride in our city.

I’m aware of the cost to resolve this issue, but our citizens deserve better. I would hope our city leaders make this a priority in the very near future. A local program that would call attention to this, such as “Don’t Mess With Texas,” might be coined for our city. This blight cannot be ignored.

Kenneth N. Lott, Dallas

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Dallas, TX

Dallas Stars blow out Anaheim Ducks as offense explodes for third straight win

Published

10 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Dallas Stars blow out Anaheim Ducks as offense explodes for third straight win

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jason Robertson had two goals and an assist, and the Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks 8-3 on Friday night for their third straight win.

Roope Hintz and Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist, and Oskar Bäck, Sam Steel, Ilya Lybushkin and Adam Erne also scored for the Stars. who are an NHL-best 13-2-4 on the road. Mikko Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen each had two assists, and Casey DeSmith had 23 saves.

Ryan Poehling, Beckett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund scored for the Ducks, who have lost four of five. Lukas Dostal gave up four goals on seven shots before he was pulled with 5:41 left in the first period. Petr Mrazek came on and stopped 14 of the 18 shots he faced the rest of the way.

The Stars’ eight-goal output tied a season high, matching their 8-3 win at Edmonton on Nov. 25, and was the most the Ducks have given up.

Bäck gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal 2:37 into the game after the Ducks turned the puck over behind their net.

Poehling tied it 55 seconds later, scoring in close on the rebound of a point shot by Radko Gudas.

Hintz put Dallas back ahead at 4:42, getting a pass from Robertson in the slot, sliding backwards and firing a shot past Dostal for his 11th.

Steel pushed the Stars’ lead to 3-1 with 7:19 left in the first, scoring past Dostal while crashing into the net and dislodging it. The goal was confirmed after a review.

Harley made it a three-goal lead 1:38 later as he got a pass from Rantanen and scored from the right circle.

Robertson scored in front on a power play with 8:50 remaining in the second, and then put a backhander past Mrazek from the right circle 4 minutes later to make it 6-1. It gave Robertson a team-leading 22 goals.

Erne made it a six-goal lead with 1:30 left in the middle period.

After Sennecke pulled the Ducks back within five 1:01 into the third, Lybushkin got his first of the season 41 seconds later to extend the Stars’ lead to 8-2. Granlund capped the scoring with 5:38 remaining.

Up next

Stars: Host Toronto on Sunday.

Ducks: Host Columbus on Saturday.

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Dallas, TX

Don Stone, Dallas philanthropist and arts advocate, dies

Published

22 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Don Stone, Dallas philanthropist and arts advocate, dies

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.

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Dallas, TX

Daniss Jenkins sparks rally but Detroit Pistons fall in OT to Dallas

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Daniss Jenkins sparks rally but Detroit Pistons fall in OT to Dallas

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.

‘Dallas’ unit leads Detroit back from big deficit

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.

Ausar Thompson ejected in second quarter

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.

Duncan Robinson exits with left knee injury

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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