Texas

Letters to the Editor — Reasonable debate, renaming streets, Texas heat, Congress

Published

12 months ago

November 27, 2023

Letters to the Editor — Reasonable debate, renaming streets, Texas heat, Congress

Speech intolerance at colleges

Re: “At the Thanksgiving table, disagree better — Utah governor joins others in promoting healthier ways to debate without breaking families or the nation,” by Spencer Cox, Monday Opinion.

I agree wholeheartedly with Cox about our inability to disagree without demonizing people who hold a different opinion. I believe much of this intolerance for opposing viewpoints began at college campuses many years ago when students who disagreed with a visiting speaker would not allow them to speak. In many cases these interruptions were actually encouraged by much of the faculty.

I can remember a time when open debates on any subject were not only tolerated but encouraged at colleges and universities. I’m not sure when this changed but intolerance of differing viewpoints at these places is now almost the rule rather than the exception. It’s encouraging that so many like Mr. Cox are finally sounding the alarm so maybe it’s not too late.

Les Gregory, Frisco

Street-name changes’ impact

Re: “Street’s renaming rejected — Panel cites location, process concerns over plan to honor boy slain by officer in 1973,” Nov. 17 news story.

Another reason to not rename the street is that besides loss of physical history, now it seems, 100-year-old street names are available to change for whatever reason that comes up. Many rightfully bring up the economic and logistical impacts to their homes and businesses. But there’s something more. Once destroyed, both structures and street names are soon forgotten. Forever.

I want to add that street-name changes also bring a disconnect to the past. Once Jim Miller Road is changed, it is lost, and the stories of 100 years of people and places along that road that are in publications and city map heritage are lost. That should matter.

Mike Sundin, Old East Dallas

Time running out on climate

Re: “Report: Warming no longer ‘an abstract future issue’ — U.S. heating 60% faster than rest of world as whole, it says,” Nov. 15 news story.

On Aug. 31, 2020, The Dallas Morning News published a letter to the editor written by me in which I warned that “the grave consequences of the climate crisis are not somewhere in the future. They are here now.”

On Nov. 15, 2023, more than three years later, I read on the front page of this newspaper, this story about the National Climate Assessment, a scientific report that comes out every four to five years. In that report, climate scientists concluded that climate change is no longer an abstract future issue, but, rather, is concrete, relevant and happening right now.

My conclusion in 2020 and the scientific conclusions of today appear to be the same. The main difference is that more than three years have passed. I wonder how many destructive wildfires, catastrophic weather events, food shortages, population migrations, and deleterious effects on health and safety will have to occur before people demand bold, aggressive action by their governments to combat man-made, global warming pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in 2022, was a strong step in the right direction. However, it will take time for all the benefits of this legislation to take effect, and time is running out.

Alan Kazdoy, Far North Dallas

Separate religion from science

Creationism is not science. There is absolutely no scientific basis for it to be included in any science textbook. That Texas is still debating the merits of evolution vs. creationism is very disheartening to say the least.

Maybe someday we can manage to separate religion from science. Maybe we can to separate myth from reality, too.

Brian Bowles, Dallas/southwest Oak Cliff

New Congress members needed

So we now have people elected to the U.S. Congress who behave like thugs and hooligans, don’t we? I propose we recall them home and ask Hollywood to bring back The Jerry Springer Show so they can have the job they are most suited for.

Who votes these people in? They fight and posture in addition to not getting done anything productive that will benefit the nation.

Can we, please, elect people who understand and practice statesmanship so we can be proud of our leaders again? The nation needs voters to think as upstanding citizens and not people addicted to cultlike figures.

We are losing the respect of our allies and our enemies rejoice because we are behaving like them. May God help us.

Anastasia Campbell, Little Elm

Abbott and the Bible

Gov. Greg Abbott purports to be a Christian, if I remember correctly. Supposedly he believes in following God’s word, as found in the Bible. Leviticus 19:33-34 counsels, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

And Jesus himself stated, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. … Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

The Rev. James R. Bridges, Fate

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Texas

TCU Volleyball Dominates Texas Tech on Senior Night

Published

5 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

TCU Volleyball Dominates Texas Tech on Senior Night

A common theme for No. 22 TCU has been their complete dominance on their home floor this season. The Horned Frogs finished the year 14-1 at Schollmaier Arena. On Friday night, in front of over 3,000 fans, TCU swept Texas Tech (25-14, 26-24, 25-11).

The four seniors honored by TCU were Melanie Parra, Cecily Bramschreiber, Stephanie Young and Ashlyn Bourland. All four players found ways to contribute as Parra finished with 14 kills and seven digs. Bramschreiber filled up the stat sheet with four kills, four aces and seven digs. Both Young and Bourland got an ace.

Both teams traded points in the early going, but Bramschreiber sparked a 7-2 run to give the Frogs a 16-9 lead. TCU hit .417 in the first set and dominated the first set capped off by a Becca Kelley ace.

In set two, Texas Tech made things much closer jumping out to a 8-5 lead. A 4-0 run from TCU put them back in front. This set included multiple runs and it was Tech that got it to set point leading 24-22. TCU was able to end the set on a 4-0 run courtesy of kills from Jalyn Gibson and Parra paired with aces from Bramschreiber.

Trying to keeps things alive, TCU wasn’t met with much resistance from the Red Raiders in the third set. The Frogs kept up the pressure with multiple runs to build a massive 17-8 lead. Bourland picked up her first career ace and an attack error ended things.

It was a fun night for the seniors that played in front of the TCU crowd for the last time. The 14 wins at home tied the school record for most wins at home in a single season. They also picked up the most wins in a season since 2015. What Jason Williams has done for this program in such a short time has been remarkable to watch.

The Frogs move to 19-7 overall 11-5 in conference. They still are fifth in the Big 12 standings with two games to go. They will travel to Morgantown on Wednesday to take on West Virginia at 6 p.m. and then to Cincinnati on Friday at 1 p.m.

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Texas AG sues Dallas for decriminalizing marijuana

Published

13 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

Texas AG sues Dallas for decriminalizing marijuana

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit Thursday targeting the blue city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalizes marijuana.

Paxton alleges that Proposition R, which “prohibits the Dallas Police Department from making arrests or issuing citations for marijuana possession or considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure,” violates state law.

The attorney general argues in the lawsuit that the ballot measure is preempted by Texas law, which criminalizes the possession and distribution of marijuana. Paxton also claims the Texas Constitution prohibits municipalities from adopting an ordinance that conflicts with laws enacted by the state legislature.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow,” Paxton said in a statement. “The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them.”

Paxton called the ballot measure “a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution” and threatened to sue any other city that “tries to constrain police in this fashion.”

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A flower bud of marijuana. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

The lawsuit comes after interim Dallas Police Department Chief Michael Igo directed Dallas police officers not to enforce marijuana laws against those found to be in possession of less than 4 ounces.

Ground Game Texas, a progressive nonprofit group that campaigned in favor of the ballot measure, argued it would help “keep people out of jail for marijuana possession,” “reduce racially biased policing” and “save millions in public funding.”

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A mature marijuana plant begins to bloom under artificial lights at Loving Kindness Farms in Gardena, Calif., May 20, 2019. Paxton has sued the city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that Attorney General Ken Paxton has apparently chosen to waste everyone’s time and money by filing yet another baseless lawsuit against marijuana decriminalization,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director for Ground Game Texas.

“Judges in Travis and Hays counties have already dismissed identical lawsuits filed there. The Dallas Freedom Act was overwhelmingly approved by 67% of voters — this is democracy in action.”

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Since January 2024, Paxton has filed lawsuits against five Texas cities that decriminalized marijuana possession, arguing these policies promote crime, drug abuse and violence.

Chris Pandolfo is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital. Send tips to chris.pandolfo@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.

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Tre Johnson, Texas Longhorns Scrape Past Saint Joseph’s to Win Legends Classic

Published

21 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

Tre Johnson, Texas Longhorns Scrape Past Saint Joseph’s to Win Legends Classic

The Texas Longhorns are heading back to Austin with some early-season tournament hardware in hand.

Tre Johnson battled through another poor shooting night but closed the game out for Texas once again, scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the Longhorns to a 67-58 win over Saint Joseph’s at the Legends Classic championship round in Brooklyn Friday night.

Transfer guard Julian Larry sparked the Longhorns late, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Arthur Kaluma added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Kadin Shedrick had 10 points and six rebounds.

The Hawks were led by Rasheer Fleming, who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 20 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. Xzayvier Brown added 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting.

The Longhorns jumped out to an 11-6 lead after seven early points from Kaluma. St. Joe’s started out cold from the field but controlled the game with hard-nosed defense and the occasional press while dominating the offensive glass. This was highlighted by a possession where the Hawks got four consecutive offensive rebounds but only scored one point as a result.

Johnson stayed aggressive on offense for Texas but was off on his shot and was impacted by the on-ball defense of St. Joe’s.

Mark, Pope and Johnson all hit a triple for Texas in about a two-minute span ahead of halftime to give the Longhorns their biggest lead at 32-26 but the Hawks responded with a free throw from Haskins 3-pointer from Brown before halftime to cut the lead to 32-30.

The defense from the Hawks ramped up even more, as the Longhorns were stuck in the mud on offense and had little to no ball movement. St. Joe’s was hardly much better, but its defense continued to set the tone and eventually swung the momentum.

Larry then hit back-to-back triples as the two teams traded buckets on five straight possessions. Consecutive dunks from Ajogbor and Fleming but the Hawks in front 50-46 with 8:25 to play, but Larry continued to take over. He hit 1,000 career points with a driving layup before finding Kaluma for a corner triple to put Texas back in front at 51-50.

It didn’t stop there for Larry, who found a cutting Shedrick for a dunk before diving on a loose ball down at the other end to secure possession for Texas, which had built a 55-52 lead with 3:13 left. The Longhorns used the momentum to put together an 8-0 run, which essentially sealed the win in a game where scoring felt hard to come by.

Johnson then closed the game out with six points in the final 4:11 of action, including a pullup jumper at the foul line to put Texas up 63-55 with 1:19 left.

Texas will host Delaware State on Nov. 29.

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