Nitpicking the RISD Bond Election

The board of trustees of the Richardson school district (RISD) called for a $170 million bond election for May 14, 2011, to fund infrastructure and other capital items for RISD's 55 schools. The bulk of the bond will go for things like A/C, heating, roofs, plumbing, computer networking equipment and servers. Passage of the bond will not require a tax increase for RISD taxpayers. (The Wheel offered an early look at this election here.)

The Dallas Morning News's editorial writer Rodger Jones has come out against the bond. Well, he doesn't explicitly reject it. He nitpicks a few items, implying they are frivolous and should not be paid for as capital assets. Like uniforms for athletics and JROTC programs. And electronic devices, which Jones dismissively calls "kiddie calculators."

After the jump, the context in which this bond package was crafted.

One and Done for Berkner, Lake Highlands

From 2011 02 Playoff Basketball

It was a rough night for the Rams and Wildcats boys basketball teams. The two RISD representatives in the UIL tournament both lost in the opening round. Berkner lost to Garland Naaman Forest 44-40 in the opening game of a double-header at JJ Pearce High School. Lake Highlands lost the second game to Garland Lakeview Centennial 98-74.

Berkner, District 9-5A champions and the #1 seed in the bidistrict matchups, fell behind early to Naaman Forest. While they narrowed the gap, they never could quite close it. Lake Highlands, the #4 seed from District 9-5A, had much the tougher matchup, going up against Garland Lakeview Centennial, the #1 ranked team in the state. Lake Highlands made it close for a quarter, then fell behind big in the second quarter. They played Lakeview Centennial even in the second half, but never made a run, with Lakeview Centennial maintaining a lead of about twenty points for the rest of the game.

Photos from both games can be found here.

Why Aren't We Talking About Superintendents?

Dallas's new state legislator Stefani Carter weighed in on the crisis facing public education funding in Texas. In doing so, this freshman legislator demonstrated how little she can be counted on to offer practical solutions to the crisis. Her comments came in an interview with The Texas Tribune's editor Evan Smith. Unfair Park's Rob Wilonsky highlights the money quote from Carter on the subject:

"Says Carter, instead of talking about laying off teachers: 'Why aren't we talking about superintendents? Why aren't we talking about administrators?'"

After the jump, why this is wrong in multiple ways.

Late Winter / Early Spring in the Steger Garden (2011)

From Flowers

Lake Highlands Beats Richardson, Makes Playoffs

From 2011 02 LHHS vs RHS Basketball

The Lake Highlands Wildcats boys basketball team won a District 9-5A tiebreaker Friday night against the Richardson Eagles, 95-57. It was all Wildcats all the time. Trey Bingham was unstoppable, leading all scorers with 33 points. Malcolm Oaks led Richardson with 16 points. Richardson ends their season with an 8-6 district record (15-17 overall).

With the win, Lake Highlands (8-6 district, 19-13 overall) secures the fourth and final playoff spot in District 9-5A. The Wildcats will be tested early in the playoffs. They are scheduled to play Garland Lakeview Centennial, the state's #1 ranked team, Tuesday night at JJ Pearce High School. (Berkner plays Garland Naaman Forest in the first game of a double-header.)

For a look at more photos from the Lake Highlands - Richardson game, look here.

"Wal-Mart Lady" Challenges Bob Townsend

Ian McCann reported that a single candidate had filed for the May 14th election for each of the seven seats on Richardson's city council. On Thursday, one of the ballot places became an official race, as Diana Clawson filed to run against Bob Townsend in District 1 (southeast Richardson).

You may remember Clawson as the "Wal-Mart Lady." She was one of the principals who fought against Walmart building a Super Center in Richardson at Arapaho and Jupiter. Instead, we got the Block 24 apartments. I've often wondered how much tax revenue Richardson left on the table due to that successful action. Walmart remitted to Texas more than $1.4 billion in sales taxes in 2010. Richardson gets only a tiny fraction of that, from the Neighborhood Market on Buckingham Rd. No word yet on whether Clawson will adopt a NIMBY attitude on future Richardson growth and development opportunities.

Fact-Checking the Fact Checker

"Why are all the speakers white? ... All of you are white. Go to hell."

By now, everyone has heard about John Wiley Price's racist outburst:

"Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price smiled, glared and rolled his eyes as he listened to several speakers Tuesday accuse him of being deceitful and duplicitous in his behind-the-scenes maneuvering to replace the county's popular elections administrator [Bruce Sherbet]. But when the final speaker, Dallas lawyer Jeff Turner, took the podium and referred to Price repeatedly as the county's 'chief mullah' and used the word 'tribal' in his remarks, Price's famous temper got the better of him."

This part of the story is easily dealt with. Was John Wiley Price out of line? Yes. Was he provoked? Yes. Does that justify his outburst? No.

After the jump, an important detail that was lost in the colorful exchange.