The Coming Squeeze on City Budgets

Community Impact.

Community Impact has a straightforward report on the coming challenges for Richardson's finances. The bottom line: "Richardson could see a budget shortfall in the next few years due to the statewide cap on property tax increases."

POTD: Alley of the Frogs

From 2025 06 01 Puebla

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Puebla, Mexico. It shows a street lined with colorful shops and restaurants. It's home to a weekend antique and handicraft market. Why it's called Alley of the Frogs, well, I think that's a relic of history long gone. Something about regular flooding or something.

Another photo is after the jump.

POTD: Biblioteca Palafoxiana

From 2025 06 01 Puebla

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Puebla, Mexico, in a public library founded in the 17th century. It houses thousands of rare books, naturally.

It's also colorful. Another photo showing that is after the jump.

The Amateur (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Amateur (2025): Rami Malek stars as a low-level CIA analyst whose wife is killed and wants revenge, only to uncover a bigger crime involving the CIA itself. Malek lacks the killer instinct, leading to gimicky methods to take out his wife's killers. That's the only thing novel about this. B-

Hulu

Council Recap: Development Priorities

The Richardson City Council met Monday, February 2, 2026. There was one agenda item that I particularly wanted to witness. That was: "9. PRESENT AND DISCUSS THE CITY COUNCIL’S CURRENT DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES." I'll get to it in a minute, but let's dispense with the other agenda items first, or at least the one I have something to say about.

The Worst Places to Eat in Richardson Last Month

Graphic by City of Richardson.

The City of Richardson is rightly regarded as having some of the best and most diverse dining options in north Texas ("Eat & Drink"). But that doesn't mean every restaurant in Richardson exceeds in every measure. Here is a list of the worst places to eat in Richardson last month, based on the City of Richardson's Health Department Restaurant Scores from inspections last month. Not all Richardson restaurants are inspected each and every month. Only those inspected last month are ranked here. Only the lowest scores are shown.

Random Thoughts: Championing Richardson's Marwan Marouf

2025-10-06: Public speakers were out in force today at the Richardson Texas City Council meeting to speak on behalf of Marwan Marouf, a community leader from Richardson, TX, who was detained by ICE on Sep 22, 2025, while dropping his son at school. His detention coincided with the denial of his green card application, which cites decade-old accusations of providing "material support" to the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) through his volunteer work and nominal donations in the 1990s.

POTD: Puebla's Calle de los Dulces

From 2025 06 01 Puebla

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken in Puebla, Mexico, along a (mostly) pedestrian avenue known for its wealth of candy stores. It's Calle de los Dulces.

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"Footsteps slow themselves
when sweetness fills the senses.
Commerce yields to joy."
— h/t ChatGPT

POTD: Bike Lanes in the Sky

From 2025 06 01 Puebla

Today's photo-of-the-day was taken on the road into Puebla, Mexico. Above us was an elevated lane dedicated to bicycles. Really. I can't say what the usage is or the economics of doing it this way, but it sure looks cool. According to PedalPowerTouring.com, "Puebla definitely outdoes itself by adding a bike-path and propping it up high in the sky, about one or two stories over the car traffick. Not only do we get to enjoy stress-free riding, we also get a great view!"

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"Stress-free bike riding,
a phrase rare as quiet streets,
made literal here."
— h/t ChatGPT

POTD: Real del Barro

From 2025 05 30 Mexico City

Today's photo-of-the-day was from Real del Barro, a restaurant in Mexico City. It's where we were served an appetizer of ground up grassphoppers on a small, flat taco shell. That's all I remember.

Bonus photos are after the jump.