Ken Hutchenrider Defends Himself

The Richardson City Council held two days of meetings to hear City Manager Don Magner present his recommendations for the 2024-2025 City budget. I've had concerns about what impact a recent collapse in sales tax revenues and the cleanup costs from the May storm might have on the City's financial outlook. Magner listed high interest rates and lingering price increases from past inflation as additional concerns. Still, Magner pronounced, "I think it's a very good budget considering all of the factors that are working against us." I'll add, Whew! We escaped a budget catastrophe.

A Different Proposal for Form-based Zoning

Recently, in The Wheel I commented on a proposed redevelopment of Clay Cooley VW. I feared that it wouldn't foster the vision or conform with the form-based zoning for the Interurban District. It's adding a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot to its work underway to greatly enlarge the auto showroom already approved by the Richardson City Council.

Contrast that with another proposed redevelopment that came before the City Plan Commission on August 7. It's for "The Nest Wellness Village". This post is being written before that hearing, so by the time this is published, there will have been news that isn't included here. I just had some immediate thoughts that I wanted to get down on paper.

Wicked Little Letters (2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Wicked Little Letters (2024): In a 1920s English town, a spinster receives a series of letters filled with foul language. Her neighbor, a young widow, is accused. A woman police officer investigates the crime. Three great performances carry the light, entertaining drama. B+

Netflix

Fallout (TV 2024)

Rotten Tomatoes

Fallout (TV 2024): 200 yrs after nuclear war, people live underground in vaults. Above, there's a wasteland, where Lucy goes on a quest to find her missing father. The bad guys seem to be the ghouls, but really (spoiler) the bad guys are the ones running the military-industrial complex in the vaults. Based on a shooter videogame, it has more violence than plot or character development. C+

Prime

Richardson's Interurban District: "Coding the Vision"

Source: City of Richardson (2016).

I recently wrote about Clay Cooley VW repeatedly coming to the City of Richardson to ask for waivers, variances, and changes to the zoning on their property ("City Council Waits for a Sign"). Besides a 2022 request to expand the auto dealership, there are two outstanding requests for rezoning. One is to build a 39-foot pole sign and the other is to add a repair shop, a body shop, and a vehicle storage lot on the property. I'm back to add an important consideration that I neglected to mention in my post.

POTD: Pretty as a Picture

"From Table Mountain
Down to Cape Town's ocean blue,
New paths lie ahead."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 10 23 South Africa - Part 1

It's time to move to a new part of the world. Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cape Town, South Africa. That's Cape Town's famous landmark, Table Mountain, in the picture frame...and, of course, "L", pretty as a picture as always.

POTD: A Mosque Rises Out of the Atlantic Ocean

"Gathering of faith,
A hundred thousand hearts pray.
Moroccan splendor."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2023 09 22 Casablanca

Today's photo-of-the-day is of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco. It's a building of superlatives. From Wikipedia, "It is the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and is the 14th largest in the world. Its minaret is the world's second tallest minaret at 210 metres (689 ft). Completed in 1993, it was designed by Michel Pinseau under the guidance of King Hassan II and built by Moroccan artisans from all over the kingdom. The minaret is 60 stories high topped by a laser, the light from which is directed towards Mecca. The mosque stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean; worshippers can pray over the sea but there is no glass floor looking into the sea. The walls are of hand-crafted marble and the roof is retractable. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather together for prayer: 25,000 inside the mosque hall and another 80,000 on the mosque's outside ground."

As the mosque rises out of the Atlantic Ocean, the sun begins to get low. With that, we bid adieu to Morocco.