North Texas News & Commentary from KERA Podcasts

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Trumix.com listings available of North Texas News & Commentary from KERA Podcasts Build your own playlists with this podcast. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Changes Policy Federal deportation policies that affect criminal aliens, notably in Irving, has just changed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has tightened its rules regarding locally jailed inmates it will screen for deportation. It says it'll no longer look at those arrested for minor, Class C, misdemeanors. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Here Are Holiday Travel Tips Dallas/Fort Worth international airport, among the busiest in the world, gets even busier for the holidays. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports on what passengers should know for easier navigation of the crowded terminals. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Anger/Forgiveness Many of us place a high value on forgiveness, but commentator Chris Tucker notes that many highly successful people just aren't ready to make nice. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Bridge Maintenance The bridge collapse in Minneapolis over the summer focused the need once again on the need to upgrade the nation's infrastructure. Commentator Sterling Burnett thinks it's a valid concern, but he can't say the same for a proposal to pay for the work. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas School Board Moves Closer to Adopting Merit Pay for Teachers The Dallas School Board seems poised to approve what is often controversial - merit pay raises for teachers. Dallas is among more than a dozen districts nationwide that received federal funds for that purpose. The board could vote in 2 weeks. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sinking of the Texas Clipper After nearly 30-years as a training vessel for students at A&M-Galveston, the Texas Clipper tomorrow (Nov. 17) will be sunk in the Gulf of Mexico for use as an artificial reef. Texas has done the same with oil and gas production platforms since the 70s, but after 4-million dollars and 10-years in the making, the Clipper is the longest and largest project to date. And as artificial reef specialist Bob Murphy of the Parks and Wildlife department told KERA's Sam Baker, it's a project with uniq ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas Stars Shake Up Front Office The Dallas Stars' upper management shake-up - with changes in the General Manager and President - are designed to inspire more wins for the moribund hockey team. But the new co-General Managers and even owner Tom Hicks aren't sure it'll all work. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Breast Cancer Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects in fighting or recovering from a serious illness is trying to sustain a positive attitude throughout the ordeal. Circumstances recently forced commentator Sheron Patterson to question her efforts up to that point. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Early Endorsement for Dallas County Sheriff Even though a candidate must win the primary race to get to the general election, Republican candidate for Dallas County Sheriff, Lowell Cannaday, is acting like he can skip that step entirely. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports Cannaday's been endorsed by some police groups to defeat incumbent Democrat, Sheriff Lupe Valdez, next year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Karen Hughes Karen Hughes next month will leave her Bush Administration job as undersecretary of state. She was hired to enhance the image of the U-S in the greater Middle East, but Commentator Lee Cullum says the odds were never in Hughes's favor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website N.Texas Boasts Most Bollywood Screens In N. America Hollywood is big. Bollywood is bigger. Bollywood's the nickname for the song-and-dance filled melodramas from India, where nearly a thousand films are produced each year. That's 5 times the number produced in Hollywood. Now, Texas boasts the largest chain of Bollywood outlets in North America. The chain, called Fun Asia, has been so successful, it was just purchased by a giant theater operation from India. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Runoff elections for Fort Worth City Council Dist. 9 and Tx. House Dist. 97 Voters in Fort Worth now must wait until December 11 to determine who succeed Wendy Davis in representing City Council District 9. Election officials have asked for that same date for a runoff to fill the unexpired term of retiring Fort Worth lawmaker Anna Mowery in Texas House District 97. That race pits Democrat Dan Barrett against Republican Mark Shelton in a staunch GOP District, but Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy told KERA's Sam Baker Barrett's chance are better agains ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Remembering Marchel Ivery Funeral services were held earlier this week for Dallas saxophonist Marchel Ivery. He died last week at age 69. David Okamoto looks back on Ivery's career and influence. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas Voters OK Trinity Toll Road In the high profile & controversial Trinity River ballot issue, the 'No' side has prevailed. By a 53 to 47 percent margin, voters ok'd current plans for the high-speed toll road inside the levees. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Traffic Congestion No matter how the Trinity Toll Road issue had ended at the polls yesterday, no one disputes the traffic problems facing the Metroplex that were raised in the debate. In his commentary, Dr. Khaled Abdelghany, an SMU assistant professor in environmental and civil engineering, says finding solutions has been an issue urban areas have put off long enough. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Trinity River Will Impact Inustrial Boulevard Traffic planners say if voters reject the Trinity Toll Road, the most likely alternative is a highway along Industrial and Irving Boulevards. Such a speedway, paralleling the Trinity river on Dallas's downtown side - just outside the levee - could cost hundreds of millions of additional dollars. But there would be other benefits. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ft. Worth Supt. discusses $593.6 million school bond package Voters will decide a number of school bond issues across North Texas November 6th. The Fort Worth school district is seeking one of the largest at 593-point-6-million dollars. It's the first bond package since 1999. The scandal that followed over mismanagement of school construction projects shook public trust - a cloud still hanging over the district. Superintendent Dr. Melody Johnson told KERA's Sam Baker the district has put enough safeguards in place to merit the public's trust on a bo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Judge Delares Mistrial In Holy Land Case A juror in the federal Holy Land Foundation trial tells KERA the prosecution made a travesty of justice in the case. A judge declared a mistrial, because the jury could not agree on the guilt or innocence of the defendants accused of funding the Middle East terror group Hamas. Prosecutors say they will try the case again, but the juror tells KERA's Bill Zeeble it might be a waste of time and money. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Armenians In his January 17th press conference, President Bush again took issue with a House panel resolution against the killing of Armenians during World War One. Commentator Lee Cullum says he's right. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Southwest Airlines Launches New Boarding Process Monday marked the first day travelers flying with Southwest Airlines out of Love Field used the company's new boarding process. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rare Butterfly Spotted in Texas A sighting of a rare butterfly in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas has enthusiasts in a flutter. On Monday, a visitor to the Falcon State Park photographed a Telea Hairstreak butterfly. Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist Mike Quinn says this is the first reported sighting of a Telea in the United States since 1935. "We try to document all the plants and animals in Texas, so this is another one to add to the list and learn about and consider whether it needs protection or not, where i ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Immigration Issues Settle In North Texas Immigration enforcement is a responsibility of the federal government. But increasingly in North Texas, cities are becoming involved. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports from Irving, where a controversial immigration policy has raised new tensions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Open Enrollment At least two candidates for president have unveiled proposals for health care reform in recent days. Commentator Jennifer Nagorka says the attention being paid to the subject comes not a moment too soon. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Hutchins CDBG Officials in Hutchins today hoped to learn 2-road projects using federal money could begin this year. But KERA's Sam Baker reports Dallas County Commissioners have left unclear when the work can begin and who will do it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: A Day That Will Not Live In Infamy It's been two decades since a violent incident in Midlothian drew national attention. Commentator Tom Dodge hopes no one ever forgets it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Cuba President Bush's recent statements about Cuba did not sit well with commentator Lee Cullum. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Federal Indictments Handed in Dallas Corruption Case In what may be the biggest public corruption case in Dallas history, nine remaining defendants are expected to turn themselves in to federal officials this morning. Seven did yesterday, and said they're not guilty. All were named in federal indictments handed down after a lengthy FBI investigation into alleged bribery and extortion in Dallas city hall. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Students Demonstrate New Fitness Test The Texas Education Agency has chosen the physical fitness assessment tool that'll be used to evaluate some 4 million Lone Star State students next Spring. And it showed it off at a Richardson school. The new law evaluates student's physical activity, with the long term hopes of improving health. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GM Strike Ends, Local Workers Pleased Local G-M plant workers have expressed relief that their short strike is over. It essentially ended in the middle of the night - early Wednesday morning - when the United Auto Workers and General Motors reached a tentative contract agreement. For morning shift workers, their first day back is today. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website This I Believe: Rebecca Spears recognizes the impact of words on our beliefs and on our actions. In her essay for KERA's This I Believe, she describes how they give us meaning in a confusing world. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Auto Workers Strike GM, Arlington Plant With Monday's national walkout by GM's United Auto Workers, more than 25-hundred employees at Arlington's General Motors plant are on strike. Retiree and health benefits, along with job security, are driving the standoff. This is the first national strike by auto workers in 31 years. KERA's Bill Zeeble prepared this report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Holy Land Foundation Trial's Outcome Carries A Lot Of Weight Legal experts around the country say whatever the outcome, the Holy Land Foundation trial could change the way our government prosecutes terrorists. Five Holy Land members stand accused of secretly sending money to the Middle East terror group Hamas. The jury's still deliberating a verdict, after a long weekend off. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Dying Laughing Funerals are sad occasions, but commentator Rawlins Gilliland says some have provided unintended moments of humor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Helicopters in News Coverage Dallas business owner and former broadcast journalist David Margulies shares his concerns about the use of helicopters in radio and television news coverage. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Governor Commutes Sentence In a rare legal move, Governor Rick Perry stopped last night's scheduled execution of Kenneth Foster, the getaway driver in the 1996 murder of a San Antonio man. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: The Exception Commentator Jerome Weeks reviews a new novel with mass murder at its center. "The Exception" is a success overseas, but Weeks says it's not quite the novel it could have been. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Katrina survivors call Dallas home two years on Two years ago, Reunion Arena and the Dallas Convention Center became emergency shelters for tens of thousands Hurricane Katrina evacuees arriving hourly from the Gulf Coast. Many remain in north Texas. KERA's Catherine Cuellar reports some are making progress, while others still need help. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA's This I Believe: Servitude It's tempting to define greatness by the magnitude or high profile of people's actions. However, in his essay for KERA'S This I Believe William Holston understands that greatness is more often found in humble circumstances. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas County Reinstates Elderly Tax Exemption Dallas County Commissioners have reinstated a 69 thousand dollar homestead tax exemption for homeowners 65 or older. That's on top of the property tax freeze for seniors already approved. KERA's Bill Zeeble has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Unwelcome to the Girl's Club Women have often complained about a lack of gender parity in the workplace - and with good reason. But commentator Rawlins Gilliland says men can make the same complaints. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Challenges in Educating Immigrant Students Immigrant children can face special challenges in getting an education. In Texas, more than 732-thousand students last school year spoke limited English. That's not an actual number of immigrant students. Schools by law can't ask about citizenship, but it is an idea of how many children need extra assistance integrating into English language schools. In our "School Days" series, KERA's Sam Baker visits a Dallas school district center helping foreign born children get the educational start t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Increasing America?s Domestic Fuel Supply Amid the search for new forms of fuel, commentator Sterling Burnett believes one sources is being all but overlooked. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Random Drug Tests Increase In Texas The Dallas Independent School District predicts that the number of parents asking the district to randomly test their children for drugs will double. The concept of school drug testing - once highly controversial - has gained popularity across Texas. The number of districts now taking part in a federally funded program will grow to 20 this fall. KERA's Bill Zeeble takes a look at why. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas leads Texas in all-female public education Some parents and their daughters have found a way to avoid the distraction presented by boys at school. They're enrolling in an increasing number of all-girls public schools opening in Texas. The first was the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School in Dallas. KERA's Catherine Cuellar talked to students and educators there about why the experience works. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Jane Austen Popular culture can't seem to get enough of writer Jane Austen. Commentator Lee Cullum considers the reasons why. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Carrizo Oil & Gas to drill on UT-Arlington campus About 500 homeowners who live near the University of Texas at Arlington crowded town hall meeting about the Carrizo Oil and Gas company's plans to drill on campus for natural gas in the Barnett Shale. KERA's Catherine Cuellar was there and reports on the hopes and fears of UTA officials and neighbors. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Texas Begins Inspection of Minnesota-Style Bridges Inspectors from the Texas Department of Transportation's Bridge Division are fanning out across the state. This week they began inspecting bridges similar in construction to the failed bridge in Minnesota. Texas is home to 16 steel deck truss bridges that carry vehicular traffic. They're the type that collapsed in Minnesota. State transportation spokesman Mark Ball says these bridges tend to be older. One in Erath County dates back to 1906. Ball says the bridges are recognizable becaus ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rural south needs more doctors to treat AIDS Texas has the largest HIV population in the country with the lowest reimbursement for Medicaid. Experts say that's part of the reason only a small number of doctors are willing to treat AIDS patients. KERA's Catherine Cuellar has more on what some patients go through to get treatment, especially if they live in rural areas. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Texas Calls "Deficient" Bridges Safe DALLAS, TX (2007-08-02) Any Texan who saw or heard news reports about the Minneapolis bridge collapse must have had a moment when he or she wondered - could something like that happen here? After all over half of Texas bridges are more than 30 years old. Mark Ball, a spokesman with the Texas Department of Transportation says drivers her have nothing to worry about. But wait a minute. The state transportation department's own report released last fall says 20 percent of Texas bridges- 10- ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website More Unacceptable Schools in Dallas and Fort Worth The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has delivered some disappointing news to Dallas and Fort Worth school districts. Both have more academically unacceptable campuses this year than last. The TEA says it reflects a trend statewide. In releasing ratings for school districts across the state the TEA said more campuses overall earned the top rating of exemplary this year. But those with the lowest rating of academically unacceptable also shot up. In Dallas two additional schools earned the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website D.A. probe into Trinity petition won't likely halt vote Leaders of Dallas activist groups who disagree about the placement of a road in the proposed Trinity River park seem to agree that political banter between Dallas County district attorney Craig Watkins and mayor Tom Leppert are just distractions from a referendum that's unlikely to be derailed, as KERA's Catherine Cuellar explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas County Sheriff and D.A. Want Bigger Budgets Both the Dallas County D.A. and Sheriff each want millions of dollars more from Commissioners for their budgets next year. KERA's Bill Zeeble reports they're not likely to get it all. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas County may freeze seniors' property tax rate In two weeks, Dallas County may freeze the property tax rate for senior citizens. County commissioners are divided on how to best protect seniors while making sure county services are still adequately funded, as KERA's Catherine Cuellar explains. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Explosion Raises Questions About Downtown Industrial Sites On Thursday, federal investigators sifted through charred rubble at the site of a downtown Dallas chemical fire. Explosions at Southwest Industrial Gases closed down major highway interchanges yesterday, filled the skies with think black smoke and catapulted metal canisters and shrapnel into the air. Three people were hurt, but Dallas Fire Marshall Debra Carlin says the outcome could have been worse. She tells KERA's Shelley Kofler the incident will prompt a city discussion about locatin ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Holy Land Foundation Trial's Third Witness On the 2nd day of testimony in the Holy Land foundation trial, a prosecution witness testified about a pile of mysterious data tapes found buried in the backyard of his recently purchased home. More from KERA's Bill Zeeble Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Texas Democrats The recent fundraising success in the state of some of the party's presidential candidates would seem to indicate hope for Democrats in Texas. Or does it? Here's commentator Lee Cullum. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fire and chemical explosions in Dallas force I-30, I-35E to close Dallas police and fire-fighters have evacuated a half-mile radius southwest of downtown Dallas. That follows a fire and explosions at a welding supply company. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Commentary: Universal Health Care The idea flopped during the Clinton administration, but commentator Tom Rodgers believes the time has come to revisit universal health care. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Young Democrats convene in Dallas About 1,000 young leaders, including more than 70 international delegates, are in Dallas this week for the Young Democrats of America's national convention. KERA's Catherine Cuellar reports on how the conference is viewed by local Democrats, and what participants hope to accomplish. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Southwest Airlines' Herb Kelleher, Colleen Barrett to Retire Southwest Airlines has announced the retirement next spring of founder and current Executive Board Chair Herb Kelleher, and President Colleen Barrett. 90.1's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Stay At Home Dads Times may have changed, but commentator Matthew Broyles has found some people have yet to adjust. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Interview with Dallas County Judge Jim Foster During a recent meeting of Dallas County Commissioners, John Wiley Price accused County Judge Jim Foster of being derelict in his duties. It wasn't the first negative comment made about the alarm company owner's lack of experience since his victory in the Democratic tide that swept Dallas County elections in November. At issue with the Price comment was Foster missing a vote on the fate of now-former Constable Mike Dupree following allegations of sexual misconduct and other charges. Foster ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website International Women's Peace Conference Attracts More Than One Thousand to Dallas Beginning Tuesday, more than one thousand delegates from around the globe will meet in Dallas, developing plans to achieve something that may seem impossible - peace. The International Women's Peace conference has attracted Nobel Prize winners, elected officials, philosophers and organizers from 43 countries and 34 US States. In Dallas, they'll spend six days brainstorming strategies to improve human rights, eliminate genocide and treat the psychological effects of terrorism. Conference ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Something There Is That Doesn't Love A Wall As America struggles with what to do about its illegal immigrant problem, commentator Tom Dodge tells of one educator who feels he's found an answer. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website North Texas Regional Crime Prevention Summit to convene The North Texas Regional Crime Prevention Summit convenes July 7 at Mountain View College in Dallas - the major focus being how to begin or improve neighborhood crime watch programs. Dallas Police Sgt. Cheryl Cornish of the Interactive Community Policing Coordination Unit said such programs have become quite popular. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Polyphonic Spree Review The Dallas-based Polyphonic Spree has released its third CD. Commentator David Okamoto has a review. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Texas Senator John Cornyn Visits Flooded Texas The timeline isn't certain, but U.S. Senator John Cornyn says financial help is on the way for residents of a Haltom City Trailer Park. A little girl recently drowned in flood waters there. 90.1's Bill Zeeble toured the area with Cornyn who also talked about the President commuting Lewis Libby's sentence. He did not discuss his new political challengers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Kellogg's Cereal Advertising One of the country's top makers of breakfast cereal recently announced a change in how and what it markets to children. But commentator Michael Tate of Dallas is not impressed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website North Texas braces for record June rainfall The national weather service expects a new record for rainfall to be set today or tomorrow, making this the wettest June on record in north Texas. KERA's Catherine Cuellar talked with people working round-the-clock at the National Weather Service in Fort Worth and emergency operations centers in Dallas and Denton to learn how they're handling so much water. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Texas schools to phase out TAKS: Pt. 1 Texas lawmakers in the recently-ended legislative session voted to switch out the controversial TAKS test with end-of-course exams. Plano state senator Florence Shapiro led the push for the change - which won't be immediate. She told 90.1's Sam Baker the change will be phased in beginning with freshmen in 2011 and much to do in the interim. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Texas schools to phase out TAKS: Pt. 2 But would end-of-course exams have made a difference for the Texas high school seniors who failed the TAKS and did not graduate? 90.1's Sam Baker put that question to Michael Sorum, Chief Academic Officer for the Fort Worth School District, where 617 Fort Worth district seniors are now in tutoring for another shot at their diplomas. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Clinics participate in National HIV Testing Day KERA's Catherine Cuellar gets an HIV test for National HIV testing day to help those considering an HIV test know what to expect. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Plan B for Iraq The commanding general for U.S. forces in Iraq expects to assess by September if the current troop increase is having any impact on political reconciliation between Iraq's warring factions. Commentator Lee Cullum is not optimistic. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Anyone But Them Many forces drive the American electorate, but commentator Chris Tucker says that one of the strongest is the desire to have someone - anyone - other than the candidates we have at the moment. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas mayor Tom Leppert's inaugural address Dallas mayor Tom Leppert's inaugural address June 25, 2007 at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Tom Leppert Retired construction company executive Tom Leppert officially becomes mayor of Dallas today. Commentator Victoria Loe Hicks wants to remind him of a campaign promise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas City Council Runoffs in Districts 3, 7 & 8 Voters in Dallas Saturday will settle a runoff for mayor and 4-others for seats on the City Council. 90.1 last week told you about the runoff in District 5 between Betty Culbreath and Vonciel Jones-Hill. This morning, we examine the remaining runoffs for the District 3 seat held by mayoral runoff candidate Ed Oakley and Districts 7 and 8 represented by outgoing council members Leo Chaney and James Fantroy. Neither Dallas Examiner Managing Editor Gordon Jackson nor Oak Cliff Tribune editor A ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ed Oakley busy in the Dallas mayoral runoff KERA's Catherine Cuellar spent time with Dallas councilman Ed Oakley on the last day of early voting for the mayoral runoff. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tom Leppert's Busy Final Days Of The Dallas Mayoral Runoff Early voting's over. There are just 4 days left before Saturday's runoff election in Dallas, and the latest poll shows the mayor's race is neck and neck. KERA spent time with both candidates hoping to become the city's next leader. 90.1's Bill Zeeble reports on Tom Leppert's campaign. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Conversations at a Reunion Tom Dodge recently attended his high school reunion. He tells which one and what happened in this commentary. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas Boasts Elite Search And Rescue Task Force The state's newest urban search and rescue team - Texas Task Force-Two - just became operational, and is based right here in Dallas. Thanks to a federal grant, it boasts high tech rescue tools it could not afford otherwise. 90.1's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas Supt.: Active role for Mayor? Along with crime and economic development, education has been a recurring issue in the Dallas mayoral runoff race between city councilman Ed Oakley and businessman Tom Leppert. Leppert, in particular, has advocated a more active role in support of education, albeit with few details as to how he'd go about it. Mayors in Chicago, New York and Boston actually run the school districts - some in cities like Los Angeles and Seattle would like to - but not so in Texas where the legal line's clear ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Betty Culbreath and Vonciel Jones-Hill want to represent south Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill finished third in the Dallas mayoral race, which will be decided next week. Representation of his district will also be decided in the runoff between two community leaders well-known in south Oak Cliff. 90.1's Catherine Cuellar talked with candidates Betty Culbreath and Vonciel Jones-Hill about their ideas and the future of District 5. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Life: What Were The Odds? We've all said it one time or another: "You never know what life will bring next." Here's commentator Rawlins Gilliland. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas City Council Fields 7 New Members I'm Bill Zeeble. With the 4 contested Dallas City Council races in the southern sector settled, fully half the city council's brand new, with a freshman leader. These newcomers face the same impending issue, according to District 5 Council person-elect, Vonciel Jones Hill. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ed Oakley concedes in Dallas mayoral race Trailing almost 20% the entire night, Ed Oakley's watch party celebrated the end of the campaign, but not a victory. Oakley failed to match Leppert in fundraising efforts, but still generated 1.8 Million dollars in donations - making this the most expensive mayoral race in Dallas history. Despite the efforts of 250 Oakley volunteers working to get out the vote yesterday, turnout was hampered by rainy weather. Oakley's negative TV ads and endorsement by Democrats in a historically non-part ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas Mayoral Finalists Hold Live Broadcast Debate The 2 finalists for Dallas Mayor faced off last night in a live debate on KERA TV&radio, and Channel 11 television. 90.1's Bill Zeeble joined a watch party in Deep Ellum with 8 neighborhood residents who were let down by both candidates Ed Oakley, and Tom Leppert. Here's his report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: The Shakespeare Riots While Shakespeare has remained popular for centuries, commentator Jerome Weeks reviews a book about a moment in particular that stands out. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website North Texas Wins Super Bowl-45 for 2011 Regional cooperation and the new Arlington stadium are being credited with giving North Texas the edge in the competition to host the Super Bowl in 2011. 90.1's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: The Question U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales'first round of testimony before a Senate panel raised eyebrows - both in Washington and in the classroom of commentator Mel Hays. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Judge Stops Farmers Branch Ordinance A federal judge has stopped today's implementation of a Farmers Branch ordinance that could fine landlords for renting apartments to illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, leaders in Farmers Branch say they won't back down. 90.1's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Cullum Rebuttal/Trinity River Project Commentator Lee Cullum a few weeks ago expressed concern about a proposal to change the Trinity River Corridor Project in Dallas by moving a planned toll road outside the river's levees - the subject of a petition drive underway for a public vote on the issue. In her rebuttal, Dallas City Councilwoman Angela Hunt explains the reason behind the desire for change. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Trinity Vote campaign hopes to relocate tollway During Dallas elections, volunteers asked voters to sign a petition to change the Trinity River corridor project. The Trinity Vote campaign wants a citywide referendum November 6th to decide if a planned toll road should be built inside or outside the levees along the river. KERA's Catherine Cuellar reports on the potential impact of the petition drive. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: The Judgement of Guns in Schools The Governor's recent comment about possibly revisiting the issue of concealed handguns concerned commentator Dawn McMullan. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA Post-Election Analysis Analysis of elections in Farmers Branch and of mayoral and city council contests in Dallas with Sam Baker, KERA Senior News Editor, Dallas Examiner Managing Editor Gordon Jackson, KERA Reporter Bill Zeeble and Lori Stahl, Senior Journalism Lecturer at SMU.. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tom Leppert to face Ed Oakley in Dallas mayoral runoff In Dallas' 11-way mayoral election, Tom Leppert led in votes and funds, trailed by councilman Ed Oakley. Now both candidates are preparing for a runoff. KERA's Catherine Cuellar has more. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Farmers Branch Approves Controversial Anti Illegal Immigration Measure 68 percent of Farmers Branch voters ok'd the ordinance that makes it illegal for landlords to rent apartments to illegal immigrants. 90.1's Bill Zeeble has more Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Voters Will Decide Ordinance Issue In Farmers Branch One of this Saturday's hottest local races - the Farmers Branch anti-illegal immigration ordinance - is drawing national attention. For the first time in the country, citizens will decide a controversial immigration measure that many say is a federal, not local, issue. Item 29-oh-3 could punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants. Yesterday, Farmers Branch Mayor Robert Phelps urged citizens to reject the ordinance. Whatever the election result, officials expect immigration concerns wi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Farmers Branch Among the items on Saturday's ballot in Farmers Branch is an ordinance against landlords renting apartments to illegal immigrants. Writer Tom Rodgers speaks against the situation in this commentary. KERA offered the Support Farmers Branch group an opportunity to present an opposing view, but received no essay by the deadline for broadcast. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website TV campaign ads in the Dallas mayoral race With about 2-days before polls open Saturday, you'll likely see no shortage of TV ads from candidates for mayor of Dallas - although of late, most of the ads have come from few of the candidates. Three of the most well-funded candidates - Sam Coats, Tom Leppert and Max Wells - seemed to have bought the most air time. I talked about the messages in those ads with Dan Schill, an assistant professor of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at SMU. Schill researches and teaches Political ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bonnie Pittman to be Dallas Museum's first female director Dr. John R. Lane has announced he will retire as McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art this time next year. The DMA board unanimously selected Bonnie Pittman, the current deputy director, to succeed Jack Lane next summer - making her the DMA's first female director. Lane joined the DMA in 1999 as the institution prepared to celebrate its centennial. Most recently, Lane secured the donation of contemporary collections from the Rachofsky, Rose, and Hoffman families, and oversaw the m ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Hillary 1984 Commentator Chris Tucker believes a recent film that caused a stir on the internet reveals much about how our politics and our society are changing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commentary: Legislative budgeting Now in the homestretch of the session, state lawmakers are working on their chief duty - crafting a new state budget. But commentator Jennifer Nagorka wouldn't mind legislators stepping back a moment to reflect on how they manage numbers and money. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dallas'predominantly African-American southern sector will elect all-new council reps Outgoing Dallas mayor Laura Miller was unpopular with many black voters living south of I-30 in Dallas. Her departure coincides with turnover in all four Dallas council districts currently represented by African Americans. As KERA's Catherine Cuellar reports, the sweeping change is seen as both a challenge and an opportunity. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website KERA's This I Believe You could buy and read dozens of books on the subject in search of an answer, but, as she wrote in her essay for KERA's This I Believe, Lori Holman of Fort Worth found the key to being a good parent was closer to her than she realized. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download |