u/dallasmorningnews

Architecture critic Mark Lamster of The Dallas Morning News writes:

A few years ago, when I learned of a proposal to take a former Ku Klux Klan meeting house in Fort Worth and remake it as a community center, I did not think it was a good idea. I was familiar with the building, a brooding, derelict structure of tan brick built in 1925 on North Main Street, on the route from downtown to the Stockyards. It is an ugly thing, designed for intimidation.

For those who know its history, just passing by produces a sense of unease, raising the specter of a violent, racist past that can seem eerily present.

But, the design for the building has me convinced that saving — and reimagining it — is the right decision. Reborn as the Transform 1012 Center for Arts and Community Healing, the 35,000-square-foot cultural hub will have a 250-seat theater, rehearsal studios for theater and dance, educational spaces, craft workshops, an interfaith chapel, a cafe, an outdoor amphitheater and administrative space for local organizations.

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Jamie Landers and Sally Avila Edwards of The Dallas Morning News write:

An administrative judge ruled District Judge John Roach Jr. must be removed from overseeing the next phases of Karmelo Anthony's murder trial.  

The hearing began at 9 a.m. inside the Collin County courthouse in McKinney. Judge Sid Harle, an administrative judge out of San Antonio, was presiding. 

Roach was at the helm in June when Anthony, 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco. 

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The Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars have reached an agreement that resolves the outstanding legal matters between the two organizations, the teams announced Monday.

A yearlong breakdown in the Mavericks' and Stars' relationship came to a head last October when Dallas' NBA franchise filed suit against the city's NHL team over control of the American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks alleged the Stars were in breach of a clause in their 1998 franchise agreement that required their corporate headquarters to be located within the city of Dallas, while also claiming the Stars obstructed further maintenance and improvements to the arena.

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Jessica Ma and Maryam Ahmed report:

More than 20,700 Texas students have returned their school vouchers. Over two-thirds were previously enrolled in public schools.

Proponents promised that vouchers would help families leave cash-strapped public schools. The data, which was obtained through a Dallas Morning News records request, paints a clearer picture of whether the Texas Education Freedom Accounts are meeting that goal.

Education experts say the numbers confirm their early warnings. Getting approved for a voucher is a starting point. Actually using it proves challenging, critics say.

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Our Manuel Mendoza reports:

Dallas Black Dance Theatre has ratified the first collective bargaining agreement with its unionized dancers, the parties jointly announced Tuesday, ending two years of strife that cost the company more than $800,000. 

Ironically, the dancers who joined the American Guild of Musical Artists in April 2024 will not benefit. After they filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, they were fired by executive director Zenetta S. Drew, who has since retired, and replaced with a new group of performers. 

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Justin Jones, the Dallas Independent School District officer shot at a Sam's Club parking lot in northwest Dallas on Thursday, has a long history of service in the city. 

According to Jones' Texas Commission on Law Enforcement license, the 39-year-old officer has worked for the district since June 2010. His 16 years of service are marked by five certificates and awards, and more than 100 training programs — including a novel deescalation tactic called "verbal judo" that garnered media attention back in 2015. 

Jones is assigned to W.T. White High School on Ridgeside Drive in northwest Dallas, where just under 2,000 students are enrolled. Parents and students who were on campus Thursday said Jones is an integral part of the school community, and said they look forward to supporting him through his recovery.

Jones was driving on the interstate near the high school Thursday morning when someone on the freeway flagged him down to help a "man in crisis," Dallas Police Department Chief Daniel Comeaux said. 

Read more from Sally Avila Edwards here.

The North Texas Irish Festival is leaving Fair Park for Denton 42 years after its move to South Dallas.

“One of the largest Irish festivals in the country and one of the largest cultural celebrations in DFW,” as Visit Dallas calls the annual event, is moving to the North Texas Fairgrounds, which occupies 33 acres less than 2 miles from downtown Denton. The deal for next year’s event, to be held March 13-14, was only signed in recent weeks. But organizers told me this week they’ve long been looking elsewhere, and for a variety of reasons.

The move comes 43 years after the North Texas Irish Festival kicked off at a now-defunct Oak Lawn bar, where an expected crowd of 80 turned into 600. A year later, in 1984, the festival, operated by the nonprofit Southwest Celtic Music Association, moved to Fair Park to accommodate crowds that often exceeded 30,000, even in the days just before COVID shut down the world in March 2020.

“We’ve been looking for a different place for several years,” said Sheri Bush, longtime president of the all-volunteer Southwest Celtic Music Association and the festival’s entertainment director. “Fair Park has been our home for a long time, and we loved it, but it became untenable for a number of reasons.”

Read more from Robert Wilsonky.

A ban on the sale of halal foods. Hijabs forbidden in public schools. Required school lessons on the "violence and political domination of Islam."

Some Texas Republicans have offered an early blueprint of a legislative agenda targeting the hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the state with new laws that would make practicing their faith essentially impossible.

The plan is part of a broader effort by Republicans to stop what they call the "Islamification of Texas," a political narrative describing the perceived growth in Muslim influence and communities. Critics, however, called the plan an attack on freedom of speech and religion that has left Muslims and other non-Christians vulnerable to harassment and violence.

At a conference this month hosted by the far-right grassroots organization True Texas Project, several Republican lawmakers and activists warned of a "Muslim invasion" that seeks to replace Christians across the country.

Read more from Sarah Bahari.

Two months after Frisco banned some public comment at City Council meetings, the council debated how it might bring back such input with new rules.

At a Tuesday work session, the council – now under a new mayor – considered various options. The issue boiled down to what to do about public comment on non-agenda items, which was paused after months of contentious and rowdy meetings. Council members discussed limiting those comments to one meeting a month and requiring speakers to sign up ahead of time. 

They were divided on whether to cut speaker time from five minutes to three minutes, and whether to move public comment on non-agenda items to separate town hall meetings, like Frisco’s school district does.

Read more from Angela Mathew.

Leaders at the Texas comptroller’s office received an email Tuesday directing them to create priority lists of employees they’d cut under potential staff reductions. 

The Dallas Morning News reviewed the email, which comes in Don Huffines’ first few days as acting comptroller after being appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott last month. 

Huffines has campaigned on shrinking state government with his own version of the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, making it a campaign priority in the comptroller’s race, where the Dallas businessman faces state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt in the November election.

Read more from Aarón Torres.

Tension simmering between neighboring North Texas cities over a proposed data center reached a flashpoint Tuesday night at a planning and zoning meeting in one of the state’s richest neighborhoods. 

The more than 4-hour meeting was contentious, with the crowd audibly laughing at times over the developer and commissioners as they spoke.

Immediately before the vote to approve the project, multiple people shouted “Shame!,” at the commissioners. Then, the larger group erupted in gasps and shouts as every commissioner raised their hand in approval.

Tuesday’s scene played out in Westlake as it greenlit plans for its first data center when the town’s five-person planning and zoning commission unanimously voted to recommend it. 

Read more from Lana Ferguson.