10 of 14 Council Members Support ‘Defunding’ DPD. The Dallas Police Department budget used to be sacrosanct. Yesterday, 10 of the city’s 14 council members signed a memo that requested that the city manager include ways to shift funding from the department toward community initiatives in the upcoming budget process. The council meets today for the first time since last Friday’s disastrous meeting, and they will already vote on $1.4 million to fund a police bait vehicle and auto theft training program that is on the agenda.
Two North Texas Confederate Monuments Coming Down. The statues are on the grounds of the Tarrant and Denton County courthouses, and they were erected in 1953 and 1918, respectively. For those who still need to hear this, it is not an erasure of history but a removal of monuments that glorify a false history and symbolize a commitment to the ideals of society predicated on White supremacy. Or, as Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks put it, the monument “was erected in 1953 as a reminder to the Black citizens of this county and of this state that the rules of Jim Crow were still in effect.” Good riddance.
Seven More COVID-19 Deaths in Dallas County. The victims range from a woman in her 30s to a woman in her 80s, and all but one had preexisting conditions. The county also matched its highest number of new cases, but Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said this may be related to expanded testing capacity. He still urged residents to continue to social distance, wear masks, and avoid large crowds. It is also now possible to see which North Texas nursing homes were hit hardest by the disease.
