Back Talk Lake Highlands

Convention center petition drive led by courteous, knowledgeable carpetbaggers

How's the petition drive to bring the convention center hotel to a vote going? Well, I was filling up at a 7-Eleven Sunday when I was approached by someone holding a petition supporting the proposed referendum on the hotel. While signing, I noticed I was number 18 on the page of 20 possible signatures, and the guy soliciting the names picked up two more signatures on different petition sheets just while I was filling up and signing.

I asked the guy if he was a volunteer or being paid; he politely said he was being paid. I asked if there were a lot of people like him in Dallas right now: "Oh, man," he said. "A lot." He then threw out a few details about the hotel project, and everything he said was correct and delivered in a courteous, non-pushy manner. In fact, he approached one woman with a petition, she told him "no thanks", and he told her "thanks" and just kept moving. The guy told me this is what he does professionally, going from city to city soliciting signatures for various referendums: "We were just in Reno, Nevada, getting signatures for a school issue," he said.

It's too bad politics in Dallas has come to this: We can't depend on the people we elect to let us have a say in the big, expensive projects of the day. Instead, we have to depend on someone with a bunch of money to hire people from out of town to give voters a chance to have our say.

Marines expect to run DRC Half — from Japan

Hopefully, in your October issue of Advocate, you read the story about the 30 or so Marines that the Dallas Running Club has adopted as so-called "running mates" in the DRC Half Marathon Nov. 2. One of the men who helped think up the whole idea, 2nd Lieutenant Ryan Bintz, was kind enough to send me this photo of the platoon. (Unfortunately it got here too late to make it into the magazine layout). I think you can get a better look by clicking on the photo. If you want to read the whole story, well, you can't read it on our web site yet as it's getting a makeover ... but I'll place the story after the jump for any of you who didn't get a chance to read it. 

DMN endorses Carol Kent

This week, the Dallas Morning News endorsed Carol Kent in her race for the Texas House of Representatives. Carol currently serves as a Richardson ISD board member and works for Baylor University. She has also worked as a teacher at Richland College, in addition to a wide variety of volunteer positions within area schools and the Lake Highlands community.

I first met Carol when our current college senior children entered Forest Meadow Junior High together. I have marvelled at her energy level, and I haved looked to her for advice often. She personally mentored my daughter, focusing on development of leadership skills and a servant's heart. I know of many other young people Carol has come alongside to guide (though I would never tell my daughter since she's convinced Carol thinks she's "special").

I don't know Mr. Goolsby, and I won't pretend to be an expert on all the issues facing the state legislature. But if Carol works as hard for the people of Texas as I have seen her work in Lake Highlands, we'll be lucky to have her in Austin.

Eat a pizza, help send a kid to Sky Ranch

Tomorrow, Tuesday October 1st, if you eat at Cici's Pizza (the one at Skillman/Whitehurst in the Fox & Hound shopping center) between 3:05 pm and 10:00 pm, they'll shell some of the proceeds to Lake Highlands Elementary to help raise a bit more money needed for the 2008 5th grade class to go to Sky Ranch October 29th. This is a good deal as it includes take out orders too. Just make sure and mention LHE and the good Cici's folks will set the receipt aside.   Bring the family!

Send us your cute pet pics

Got a mutt with an irresistible mug? A kitty with a quirky personality? Or maybe you have a potbellied pig or a parakeet. No matter what the species or breed, I want pictures of your pets. Your beloved BFF could be in for local fame and fortune. OK, scratch the fortune part, but he or she could be immortalized in the pages of your favorite neighborhood rag.

Jeb Hensarling moves to the front of the class

Hensarling, who represents the 5th Congressional district, usually doesn’t get much attention when those of us who speculate about these things do our pondering. But maybe it’s about time for that to change.

Hensarling has been one of the leaders of the House Republican resistance to the Bush Administration’s bank bailout plan. “You were being asked to choose between financial meltdown on the one hand and taxpayer bankruptcy and the road to socialism on the other and you were told do it in 24 hours,” he said. “It was just never going to happen.”

These are strong words, especially given how quiet, regardless of party, the rest of the Texas House and Senate delegations have been about the bailout. Which makes me wonder if Hensarling’s leadership on this issue -- the House rejected the bailout on Monday -- means he needs to be taken seriously as a senatorial candidate when Kay Bailey Hutchison quits to run for governor.

Fried chicken joint for the Town Center anyone?

Far North Dallas Advocate editor Marlena Chavira-Medford posted last week about Baton Rouge-based Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers and their plans to move the brunt of their operation to Dallas. Seeing as how the company intends to open as many as 40 Dallas-area locations over the next three years, perhaps we will see one in Lake Highlands Town Center. If you think a fried chicken-finger joint is not exactly what we had in mind, you might think again — everyone I know who's eaten there says it's finger lickin' go-od. 

Proposal to change GPA calculations

If you have a student who intends to go to college, major changes to the calculation of grade point average (GPA) and class rank are in the works which could dramatically affect his/her ability to enter the university of his/her choice.

The Texas legislature recently mandated a uniform method of calculating GPAs. Today, high schools use a variety of methods, using 4.0 scale, 5.0 scale, and (the RISD method) 100 scale. (If your child gets a 94 on all his tests and homework, he earned a 94 out of 100.) Lawmakers asked the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to develop a standard method for all schools, especially since students across Texas are guaranteed admission into UT, A&M, and other state schools if they earn a spot in the top 10% of their class.

Here's the glitch: the new proposal has two major differences from the way the RISD currently calculates GPA. No "quality points" will be given for Pre-AP (Advanced Placement prep) courses, which use more difficult college prep curriculum. And no grades earned for some courses, especially economics, fine arts, technology, health, career & technical, and physical education classes, will count.

So what's all the fuss? Many parents have worried, and RISD Superintendent Dr. David Simmons has argued in a letter to the Higher Education Coordinating Board, that excluding pre-AP classes disincentivizes enrolling in these challenging courses. It means the student LESS prepared for college is MORE likely to be accepted. In addition, many "non-core" courses actually do a great job of preparing students for college and for life and more clearly reflect the entire scope of their high school success. Ask any band mom, choir supporter, athletics booster, or tech geek if participation in these classes improves their well-rounded education and preparedness for the world of college and work, and you're likely to get a unanimous, rousing yes.   

The proposed changes will take effect for the graduating class of 2013, and do not affect students already in high school. If you'd like to weigh in on the issue, please send your letter to: Natalie Coffey, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, P.O. Box 12788, Austin TX 78711 or email [email protected] before the October 5 deadline.

Are police solving crimes?

There’s an interesting piece in Saturday’s Morning News about police “clearance” rates, or in other words, the percentage of crimes that are actually solved.

Essentially, Dallas police do a fairly good job or solving murders, solving about seven out of every 10, but the chances of them catching those responsible for home burglaries, beauty shop holdups, or car thefts is slim — for example, they solve about seven of every 100 burglaries.

Sun & Ski Sports coming to LH area

On my way to Studio Movie Grill at Royal and Central this weekend, I noticed activity in the retail space next door so I peeked my head in. The nice man studying blueprints inside verified that a new Sun & Ski Sports will open there (between 24 Hour Fitness and the theater, behind McDonald's) about November first. Famous for their snow ski gear and other athletic equipment and apparel, the retailer will lease about 20,000 square feet and hopes to attract shoppers from Lake Highlands, Preston Hollow, Richardson, and beyond. Considering how many LH families come back after Spring Break with the "racoon look" from snow goggles and sunglasses, I'd say they picked a good spot.