The $800 Million Bond Is Now a $1.025 Billion Bond. The drama surrounding the $800 million bond proposal has been dragging on for months. Barrett Brown covered the debate back in January, when Mayor Rawlings made a case for delaying a vote until November, citing voter support, or rather the support of Dallas’ “civic sugar daddies” (Barrett’s terminology). Rawlings got his way with a delay, but then in recent weeks city council members have been trying to decide what was actually in the bond (street repair, rec centers, traffic signals, etc.) and how to divvy it up (equally among 14 districts or not). They couldn’t agree, so yesterday they just made the bond bigger. “We’ve got to fish or cut bait, and I’m for fishing.” said Rawlings.
Former Pastor at Grapevine Megachurch Died Hunting for Hidden Treasure. Paris Wallace was once a youth pastor at Fellowship Church, the enormous Ed Young-led congregation in Grapevine. Wallace left that gig and moved to Colorado years ago. Apparently his recent interests included hunting for the $2 million treasure supposedly hidden by eccentric author Forrest Fenn. Wallace’s wife, Mitzi, reported her husband missing last week and authorities believe a body they found on the Rio Grande to be his. Wallace isn’t the first to lose his life in pursuit of Fenn’s loot. And he may not be the last. While some (mostly authorities who are tired of dragging bodies out of rivers) are asking Fenn to call off the hunt, others are asking the author to keep it going. In fact, Wallaces’s wife Mitzi plans to pick up where her husband left off and search with her son. “Our treasure is the time we spend together,” said Mitzi.
A Few More Water-Cooler Conversation Topics. The moms of transgender children in North Texas are not giving up as the bathroom bill goes to a legislative session next month. A UTD study found that police officers’ likelihood of using deadly force goes up if the officers are divorced or in debt. And if those topics are too serious, maybe try the one about Jerry Jones meeting the Pope.
