OPINION

Great race. It pits a former Army Ranger whose base is McKinney against a Plano developer and long-time school board member.

This contest is backwards from many of the Tea Party insurgencies that aim to unseat profligate incumbents.

The anti-tax government buster in this one is the incumbent. Muns has tried to appear as tough on taxes as Self, but good luck there. It's like KBH trying to out-Rick Perry Rick Perry.

Our newspaper's recommendation was Muns, but I'm betting Self. Any takers?

Background: Collin County went 62 percent for McCain-Palin in 2008.

That's an idea that County Commissioner Maurine Dickey is going to bring up tomorrow to other members of Dallas County Commissioners Court.

With the North Texas Tollway Authority near its debt limit, Dickey wants to make sure the county is positioned to advance road projects if it needs to. She points out that NTTA Chairman Paul Wageman said last week that his agency has the financial ability to do maybe one more project; that probably will be the Southwest Parkway-Chisholm Trail in Fort Worth and Johnson County.

Read more and comment on the Dallas Transportation blog.

State lawmakers have been scrambling for ways to protect the buying power of the fuel tax even as cars get more efficient and require less gas. The concept under discussion in Austin has been to index the tax so it would automatically rise with inflation or the cost of construction.

But that's looking to be old school even before Austin gets seriously close to acting.

In Virginia, lawmakers are already looking at a newer idea of indexing the gas to the average fuel efficiency of the cars on the road. That's yet another way to make sure that car owners produce a steady amount of revenue and keep up their per-mile tax support for roadways.

What gas tax is the best gas tax? The one we have or something new? Read more and comment on the Dallas Transportation blog.

A few weeks ago I posted Green Line figures from DART that reflected the number of passengers delivered downtown during the morning rush hour. Those numbers tended to make ridership on the new Green Line look bad, by virtue of the relatively few downtown-bound riders.

For example, average weekday ridership for the morning rush:
-- Red Line coming south brought 3,316 downtown
-- Green Line coming from Deep Ellum brought 177 downtown

Now I have DART's overall station-by-station numbers for last year, and they tell a different story. If you look at total boardings, instead of the rush hour ridership that's typical for office workers, Green Line numbers are respectable. Fair Park ridership stacks up against many other, long-established stations.

Examples of average daily boardings by station from November:
-- Green Line's Fair Park station -- 1,467
-- Blue Line's Kiest station -- 1,204
-- Red Line's Forest Lane station -- 1,442

Away from the center city, the big numbers are at the end of both the Red and Blue lines, all of which top 2,000 a day.

I've posted the full report over on the Dallas Transportation Blog.

Those of us who write about transportation are poring over the DMN voters guide to compare the governor candidates' positions on the subject.

Of particular interest is what they say about high-speed rail. I see lip service at best. (I'm listing candidates without regard to party, figuring you readers know. Tell me if I'm wrong.)

Excerpting from the VG:

Q. Should the state invest in high-speed inter-city rail? Would you want to ask voters whether to set up a high-speed rail fund similar to California's?

Hutchison: Mobility within the "Texas Triangle" formed by Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and San Antonio is a huge challenge in the future. Soon, 75 percent of the population of Texas will live in this region, with 50 percent living on the I-35 corridor alone. I will work with state legislators to TRULY fund the Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund, which was created by the voters in 2005 but has yet to receive state appropriations. The area within the "Texas Triangle" is ideal for a system of high-speed and commuter rail. Using existing rights of way, and where possible existing rail infrastructure and existing facilities, should be the priority - and protection of private property rights must be a paramount consideration. This is a longterm strategy, but one that could help reduce highway congestion in the future.

Perry: Rail is just one component in our efforts to continue building a strong transportation infrastructure in Texas. I am supportive of efforts to establish rail in Texas, but it would be premature to ask voters to set up a fund for high-speed rail before we even know whether it would work. The California fund was authorized at $9.95 billion in general obligation bonding - it would be irresponsible to ask Texas voters to fund such a project before determining its feasibility. We need to first determine if High Speed Rail is feasible and then take responsible steps for financing. Due diligence must be done and we must remain fiscally responsible.

White: It is an exciting concept and one which I think deserves study. However, I want to focus my immediate attention on streamlining and decentralizing TxDOT and make sure our current transportation system is adequately funded.

OK, OK, if you must know, here's what Debra Medina said:

Can a political candidate get elected while supporting a boost in the motor-fuels tax? If the gas tax is off the table for a candidate, what's the solution for the transportation funding gap (as documented by various studies)?

Some polling suggests that the public doesn't want to hear about or pay the price of keeping up the highway system. Kay Bailey Hutchison's people have figured this out, and she won't even concede that TxDOT doesn't have the cash it needs. Conceding the problem would put her in the position of having to detail solutions.

One of her fellow Republicans -- rookie House candidate Geoff Bailey -- was willing to provide his own details this week in a meeting with our editorial board. He said the state should index the gas tax to rising prices so it won't lose buying power. His comments invited the inevitable RINO complaints, from commenters on the Dallas Transportation blog. (Go over there and join the discussion.)

Our editorial board is keenly interested in hearing solutions, not just talk, so Bailey got our recommendation. But, I ask: Does being plain spoken about this simple problem guarantee you can't get elected and help solve it?

... but it was the wrong base. Poll numbers from the left-leaning Burnt Orange Report's live blogging poll:

KBH: 60%
Medina: 30%
Perry: 3%
No clear winner: 7%

-- Item: Gadflies sneak into White House dinner and manage to lay their hands on the most powerful man in the world. Consequence: Officials vow to do better.
-- Item: Bad guy whose radical bent was known to federal officials manages to get on a U.S.-bound jetliner and attempts to blow it up with smuggled explosives. Consequence: Officials vow to do better.
-- Item: Bad guy escapes from state prison. Consequence: Two wardens are squeezed out of their jobs. Retirement, yes. But they're gone. Same result.
Conclusion: You pay a higher price for security failure in Texas than you do in Washington.

This newspaper's editorial board doesn't set out to make everyone happy with a Texan of the Year choice. That's certainly not why we picked Karl Rove and the Illegal Immigrant in the past. And we knew the 2008 choice of Craig Watkins was going to have some ideological blowback, though I didn't think it was going to be as nasty as it turned out to be.

After we made this year's choice of Heroes of Fort Hood, we knew the reaction was going to be different.

The list of reader nominees (see below) included large numbers of different military and Fort Hood themes. Our choice made at least these readers happy, of course. But I hope that in reading yesterday's editorial essay, most readers came away with a newfound respect for those who wear the uniform and give them support.

Thanks for your interest and input, everyone.

Keep reading for final list of reader nominees ...

Jump over to WFAA's website to see Texan of the Year nomination videos from:

John McCaa -- Nomination is USAirways hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who crash-landed his crippled jetliner into the Hudson River, saving all passengers aboard.

Gloria Campos -- Nomination is police Sgt. Kimberly Munley, who responded to the Nov. 5 shooting rampage at Fort Hood and was shot twice.

Shelly Slater -- Nomination is local artist Phil Taylor, who paints portraits of fallen soldiers and presents them to families in moving ceremonies.

We are down to the last finalist in our countdown, with the 2009 TOY to be published on Sunday. (Catch it online at 11 a.m. Saturday, FYI.)

Here is the updated list of nominations from hundreds of readers (who, by the way, continue to send in their ideas):

Thanks for your interest, everyone.

The  soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood and the surrounding cities
Casualties of Fort  Hood massacre
Police Sgt.  Kimberly Munley, hero of Fort Hood attack
Kimberly  Munley and Sgt. Mark  Todd, her partner and hero of Fort Hood attack
The military
Every man and woman in uniform
Mark A.  Gunst, Army major who headed a military trauma center in Iraq
Those who greet returning military at D/FW  Airport
Robert  Gates, defense secretary
High school ROTC students
Nancy  Carter, founder of Airport Cadet Angels of Texas, sends gift packages to troops
Brad  Blauser, who moved to Iraq to head Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids
Forrest R. Biard, WWII code-breaker

Keep reading for the rest of the nominees:

Our choice of Jerry Jones as a finalist for Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year has drawn more comments from readers than all of the other choices combined.

But every one of these JJ commenters said we've lost our minds in picking him. Said Bluemax:

Nominated because he charges $14 for a margarita, $8 for a beer and $6 for a hot dog? Ya'll are STUPID.

Sorry, Bluemax, but we stand by our pick. Jerry has an ego and ambition twice as big as his new stadium, but that's exactly why he's a consequential person.

Every TV commentator who's broadcast something out of the new stadium has had trouble putting the experience into words. This thing is on the map, big. It's impact, Texas style.

That's the essence of the criteria -- affected and influenced lives. We're not saying you have to like the guy. But how can you say he doesn't qualify?

I continue to be fascinated by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's comment to us that distribution of highway money is outmoded. Rural roads get too much, he suggested, and money should be shifted to fighting urban congestion.

A couple of readers from rural areas disagreed strongly, saying things aren't that swell out in the country and that both needs should be addressed.

Wrote Peter, who regularly drives from West Texas to metro areas (and hates the traffic when he gets there):

The road to Austin is more dangerous than any of them. The last 120 miles is all two lane, no shoulder (paved or unpaved), curving and hilly with very poor visibility for miles. It's grand getting trapped behind an 18 wheeler, old geezers hauling huge fifth wheelers and the RV'ers for 40 miles slowing down to 50 (going up hills) and speeding up to 70 (going down hills).

It causes me to take risks, passing when you really don't have enough road in front of you, just to get around them. If you don't take risks, you'll never get there.

What do you know of rural roads? Are they over-improved? Will you pass this link on to a friend in rural or small-town Texas?

Click back to the Transportation Blog here and join the discussion.

Thursday's paper started our Texan of the Year "countdown," with the first of nine daily editorials highlighting our finalists. The lineup that ran this week included a state senator, a quarterback, three arts patrons and a desposed chief of the state forensics board.

The countdown resumes Monday. Hint: It's a person people love to hate. (Actually, if you look around on dallasnews.com, you'll be able to fin the editorial. Seems our auto-publishing put it out already.)

The actual Texan of the Year for 2009 will be subject of a full essay on the Dec. 27 Points cover.

Another hint: All the finalists and the TOY are on this list somewhere. These are nominations from readers. Military and Fort Hood-related nominations were the most numerous, so we grouped them at the top. But don't read anything into the order.

Meanwhile, readers are still sending in their thoughts, and we're adding them to the list as a courtesy.

Thanks for your interest, everyone.

The  soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood and the surrounding cities
Casualties of Fort  Hood massacre
Police Sgt.  Kimberly Munley, hero of Fort Hood attack
Kimberly  Munley and Sgt. Mark  Todd, her partner and hero of Fort Hood attack
The military
Every man and woman in uniform
Mark A.  Gunst, Army major who headed a military trauma center in Iraq
Those who greet returning military at D/FW  Airport
Robert  Gates, defense secretary
High school ROTC students
Nancy  Carter, founder of Airport Cadet Angels of Texas, sends gift packages to troops
Brad  Blauser, who moved to Iraq to head Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids
Forrest R. Biard, WWII code-breaker

Keep reading for the rest of the nominees:

If so, you're in a small minority of about 15 percent, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey that's posted on the Transportation Blog.

Top-line question:

Americans pay a federal tax of 18.4 cents on each gallon of gas to help fund transportation projects. Should the government raise the gas tax to help meet new transportation needs?
15% Yes
74% No
10% Not sure

Reader comments range from the sublime to this, from Dostoyevsky:

"I'd rather spend my money on alcohol, cigarettes, junk food, and concert tickets than on taxes. I won't live long enough to drive on the new roads anyway."

Chris W. is on the other end of the spectrum, saying:

"So people want to go places but they don't want to pay for it. The same guys complaining about roads not being there or too much traffic that complain about raising the out of date gas-tax. I think the cost of not doing anything costs more than the cost of doing something about."

Join the debate over on the Dallas Transportation Blog.

Looks like Kay Bailey Hutchison thinks you'd hate the idea.

Ever since Rick Perry said recently that Texas needs more money for roads, Kay  Bailey  Hutchison has been trying to paint him as a transpo-taxer.

Hutchison's campaign today stepped up the attack by citing TxDOT's ongoing research into a popular topic in transportation circles -- a tax on vehicle miles traveled (or VMT), a possible gas-tax replacement.

A Hutchison release says:

Rick Perry did promise to "raise some dollars" for transportation. We just didn't know he was thinking about installing  GPS devices in every car in Texas to charge Texans a Mileage Tax. But apparently that's exactly what Rick Perry's TxDOT is studying now. Check it out ... . It looks like Rick Perry does have something in common with the  Democrats in Washington.

What do you think? Would a per-mile tax be better than per-gallon?

Read on, for details ...

Criteria for Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year look for people with impact, and that could mean impact that you don't agree with. Time magazine looks at its Person of the Year similarly, having picked people like Hitler and Stalin for the annual recognition.

Some of our readers don't like that idea. Wrote Felicity Pearson of McKinney:

I'm not sure who to suggest, but I wish you'd limit your consideration to institutions, people or places that have had a POSITIVE impact on the state.

And from reader Dwight Henneberger:

I think it should ONLY be someone who had an influence for good. I vote for the FBI for foiling the Fountain Place bomber.

On the other hand, some readers jumped at the chance to use the recognition to take some whacks. Tony Laws of Dallas said:

My vote for Texan(s) of the Year (TOY) goes to all of our elected officials that seem to think that being elected to office, be it national, state or local, means disregarding their duty and responsibility as statesmen/women and, instead, operating with arrogant disdain for the state's constituency and maximum concern for their own personal advancement and monetary gain as politicians!

From the brouhaha over stimulus funds from the federal government to the guilty verdict assigned former Mayor Pro Tem Hill and his embarrassing group of con men and women, our elected officials have provided a strong argument for the axiom, "Everything is bigger in Texas," crooks especially!

Also seeing a half-empty glass was Erin Marckwardt, who wrote:

Honestly, I can't think of any Texan who's been in the news in the last year that I'm proud to have as a fellow Texan. It seems all the Texans in the news these days are mean-spirited and hateful, and promote a very negative image of what used to be one of the nicest states in the US.

Looking on the sunnier side was Betsy Whitfill of Dallas, who wrote:

Texan of the Year should go to that man who mows your parkway of leaves whlle he does his own; that neighbor who checks to see if you are OK after a storm; that nurse who gives you a pillow for when you cough after surgery; that driver who waves "thanks" when you give way. All of those Texans who express common decency and caring deserve this award. They make Texas a great place to live.

Who should we add to this year's list of nominees?

The Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year ideally is a person. OK, this editorial board has picked a place (Houston). But a thing?

Two readers have advanced nominations of things -- big things. Quoting them now:

-- From Tom Goss of Flower mound:

"My nomination is "The Wind Turbine". It has revived the economy of much of Texas by creating jobs and boosting the economy. It is showing the way to the rest of the nation on how to become more energy independent. It is providing a new and exciting industry for young Texans to enter and in which to develop a career. Finally, it is NOT a politician --- it definitely keeps its mouth shut while working hard day and night!"

-- From blog reader Virgil Meyer:

"Jerry Jones, Texas Stadium and the ramifications the stadium brings and will bring to the metroplex."

OK, I know. The writer mentioned the stadium AND Jerry. But he mentioned the stadium twice, and that's why I'm putting up a photo of only the building. And a picture of the stadium is easier on the eyes.

I can't remember a previous year when a thing got a mention from readers as worthy of discussion of one of the most consequential Texans for the year. Makes you think ...

Who should we add to this year's list of nominees?

Our editorial board will pick the TOY for 2009 and nine finalists in just a few weeks and publish profiles starting mid-December. Add your ideas on who we should consider, based on these criteria:

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music, architecture, ranching.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place this year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

You can take a look at some of the material from last year's feature on our updated 2009 page.

Keep reading for a list of ideas from readers so far, and add yours, please:

Readers were warmly touched by two stories from the same front page this week about people who sacrifice for others in awesome ways. And, by request, both of these names are now added as candidates for the 2009 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year:

-- Mark Seitz, a priest at St. Rita Catholic Church who gave a parishioner the life-saving gift of one of his kidneys.

-- Josie Toogood, 85-year-old chaplaincy volunteer who has visited patients at the VA Medical Center nearly every Friday for 42 years.

These acts of generosity represent the kind of God-inspired selflessness that leaves me breathless.

Every year, our readers offer up rich examples of people whose lives give testimony to charity and generosity.

Who should we add to this year's list of nominees?

Our editorial board will pick the TOY for 2009 and nine finalists in just a few weeks and publish profiles starting mid-December. Add your ideas on who we should consider, based on these criteria:

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music, architecture, ranching.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place this year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

You can take a look at some of the material from last year's feature on our updated 2009 page.

Keep reading for a list of ideas from readers so far, and add yours, please:

Our own erudite Bill McKenzie now finds himself on someone else's editorial page, essentially for his trash-mouthing of the governor (OK -- he only half-trashed him).

Bill made the case, in a column for our Texan of the Year feature, that Perry has been one consequential hombre this year and merits consideration.

Bil's trouble with the governor is not new to us around here. He grumbles about Perry coming and going.

Readers weighed in over the weekend on Texan of the Year candidates after editorial page editor Keven Ann Willey's column asking for ideas.

Getting lots of support were the military in general (as Tod Robberson had championed) and Fort Hood attack hero Sgt. Kimberly Munley. One reader made sure not to forget her partner, Sgt. Mark  Todd.

Wrote a blog commenter, Truth:

If not the Texas military, then the first responders. It did my heart good on a dark day to know that a WOMAN police officer took down this terrorist.

Our military is dealing with the most confrontational Congress and Administration since Clinton. They should be honored. They are all heroes.

Leslie Brosi emailed:

My recommendation is our Fort Hood hero, local police SGT. KIMBERLY MUNLEY.

A commenter on the Opinion blog, donnal, wrote:

I agree. Our military should go to the top of the list. Most of us really do appreciate fully their service and the sacrifices they make to protect us at home, and others abroad.

Click below to keep reading ...

The carnage at Fort Hood and flareups in Afghanistan bring into focus the sacrifice made by our armed forces.

Colleague Tod Robberson recently nominated the Texas military as a candidate for 2009 Texan of the Year. It's a good time to share his thoughts in getting this nomination on our list.

He wrote:

Texans in military uniform

Texas supplies far more recruits, in sheer numbers, than any other state in the country. Of the 10 top counties in the country for recruitment, three are in Texas.

They're not joining because of the bad economy. Even when times were good and the Iraq war was the scariest thing around, Texas consistently was a top supplier of recruits and combat soldiers. This state's enthusiastic contribution to the nation's defense is legendary within the military. Why Texans do it is well worth exploring.

Passengers and volunteer greeters at DFW Airport have been acknowledging the debt of gratitude this country owes for the sacrifice these soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors have made for their country, and it's time for this newspaper to acknowledge it too.

Amen, brother.

Sunday, with publication of (by boss) Keven Ann Willey's TOY column, we begin beating the drums in earnest for candidates.

Our editorial board will pick the TOY for 2009 and nine finalists in just a few weeks and publish profiles starting mid-December. Add your ideas on who we should consider.

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music, architecture, ranching.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place this year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

You can take a look at some of the material from last year's feature on our updated 2009 page.

Here are the ideas that have come in from readers so far:

Elizabeth  Warren, UH grad, oversight of TARP money for Congress
Maricruz  Aguayo-Tabor, teacher at Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy High School, Austin, and Milken Educator Award winner
Adelaida  Olivares, principal of the Freshman Academy at Del Valle High School, Austin, and Milken Educator Award winner
Mike  Feinberg and Kipp  Academy
Florence  Shapiro, state senator
Israel  Cordero, principal of Samuell HS, Dallas
Rawly  Sanchez, former principal of Adamson HS, now deputy DISD chief of staff
Dorothy  Gomez, principal of Molina HS, Dallas
Tony  Tovar, principal at Sunset HS, Dallas
UT-Arlington  Innocence Network
Farrah  Fawcett
Catherine  Hardwicke, movie director
Jerry  Jones
Jerry  Patterson, land commissioner
Julian  Castro, San Antonio mayor
Failed  Blue State carpetbaggers
Tea  Party folks
The  poor taxpaying chump
Bryan  Trubey, architect for Cowboys Stadium
Mary  Helen Berlanga and Rene Nunez, state board of education members
Y.E.  Yang,  PGA golf tournament winner
Bess  Enloe, Deedie Rose, Caren Prothro and Sarah Perot, ATT arts center fundraisers
Sam  Bassett, ex-chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission
Rick  Perry, governor
Kay  Bailey Hutchison, U.S. senator
Aldine ISD, winner of 2009 Broad Prize
House Speaker Joe  Straus
Melodie and Peggy  Pryor, community activists
Ed  Whitacre Jr., GM chairman, Ennis native
John  Carona, state senator
Dan  Branch, state rep
Kris  Kristofferson
The two-time teen mother
The do-nothing Legislature
Tommy  Lee Jones
Bill  Wittliff, screenwriter
Colt  McCoy
David  Daniel, UT-D president
Cameron  Todd Willingham, executed in 2004
Nolan  Ryan, Texas  Rangers GM
Dr. Nancy  Dickey, dean of the A&M medical school
Dr. Leonard  Pike, A&M researcher who developed the 10-15 onion
The jobless or downsized or uninsured Texan
The out-of-work soft-collar Texan
Willie  Nelson
Bob  Bullock
Sully  Sullenberger, hero  US Airways pilot

It's a fine day when a Texan of the Year nomination comes in for an educator. (Shouldn't we have a soft spot there?)

In a comment to the last post seeking nominations, reader Christina Garcia put up a name in this comment:

Lucy Hakemack, H. Grady Spruce principal. She is bringing that school back from the brink. Texas needs more people like her who keep their head down and do the work necessary to help the students of today become the citizens of tomorrow.

Ms. Hakemack has earned praise from reader/writers, other educators, our own editorial board, and other media.

Much of it credited her for improving the school's performance, as measured by test scores.

What other professional educators are making a difference in Texas schools? Aldine ISD, in the Houston area, outshone all other urban school districts in the country by winning the Broad Prize this year.

Not all achievement gets such attention. Who else needs some?

(And who is this Christina Garcia person?)

Our editorial board will pick the TOY for 2009 and nine finalists in just a few weeks and publish profiles starting mid-December. Add your ideas on who we should consider.

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music, architecture, ranching.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place this year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

Here are the ideas that have come in from readers so far:

UT-Arlington  Innocence Network
Farrah  Fawcett
Catherine  Hardwicke, movie director
Jerry  Jones
Jerry  Patterson, land commissioner
Julian  Castro, San Antonio mayor
Failed  Blue State carpetbaggers
Tea  Party folks
The  poor taxpaying chump
Bryan  Trubey, architect for Cowboys Stadium
Mary  Helen Berlanga and Rene Nunez, state board of education members
Y.E.  Yang,  PGA golf tournament winner
Bess  Enloe, Deedie Rose, Caren Prothro and Sarah Perot, ATT arts center fundraisers
Sam  Bassett, ex-chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission
Rick  Perry, governor
Kay  Bailey Hutchison, U.S. senator
Aldine ISD, winner of 2009 Broad Prize
House Speaker Joe  Straus
Melodie and Peggy  Pryor, community activists
Ed  Whitacre Jr., GM chairman, Ennis native
John  Carona, state senator
Dan  Branch, state rep
Kris  Kristofferson
The two-time teen mother
The do-nothing Legislature
Tommy  Lee Jones
Bill  Wittliff, screenwriter
Colt  McCoy
David  Daniel, UT-D president
Cameron  Todd Willingham, executed in 2004
Nolan  Ryan, Texas  Rangers GM
Dr. Nancy  Dickey, dean of the A&M medical school
Dr. Leonard  Pike, A&M researcher who developed the 10-15 onion
The jobless or downsized or uninsured Texan
The out-of-work soft-collar Texan
Willie  Nelson
Bob  Bullock
Sully  Sullenberger, hero  US Airways pilot

Click this to read 2008's TOY page, and earlier.

And maybe put a guy like Hank Gilbert in the governor's office?

The rancher Democrat announced his transportation plan yesterday in Fort Worth, including an 8-cent gas-tax hike and permanent indexing of the tax to cost of construction.

It came on the same day as doomsday scenarios laid out elsewhere in Fort Worth, before the Texas Transportation Commission. Money for roads continues to slide by the billions as cars use less fuel.

Coincidentally, regional transportation guru Michael Morris suggested to commissioners that traffic and roads might get so bad that voters could end up supporting raising taxes for roads.

Enter Gilbert. Does he have a chance with voters with his tax plan, as Morris might suggest? One trade-off Gilbert offering is to make it very tough to get more toll roads built. He has strong backing of anti-tollers across the state.

The question doesn't originate with me, but it goes to the heart of what I think about and write about, so I pass it along.

Urban affairs writer Aaron M. Renn has a piece on newgeography.com in which he addresses the notion of so-called hip, progressive cities. He lists Portland, Austin, Denver, Seattle and Minneapolis as consensus cool cities (in certain circles), and asserts:

As the college educated flock to these progressive El Dorados, many factors are cited as reasons: transit systems, density, bike lanes, walkable communities, robust art and cultural scenes.

But another way to look at it is simply as White Flight writ large. Why move to the suburbs of your stodgy Midwest city to escape African Americans and get criticized for it when you can move to Portland and actually be praised as progressive, urban and hip?

Ouch. This newspaper's editorial board has traditionally been for all those "multi-modal" ways of getting around town -- rail, hike, bike and the rest. Walkability is big. And we're for density, not sprawl. We were big for forwardDallas!.

I write a lot of those transportation pieces and, as a blogger, tout my car-less-ness whenever I can.

Are we all what Mr. Renn says we are?

More on the Transportation Blog ...

I'm going to put up the University of Texas-Arlington Innocence Network, whose students and volunteers helped gain the freedom of two wrongly convicted Dallas men. You read about it last week, and we publish an editorial for Wednesday's paper saluting the university-based effort.

This is the stuff a TOY is made of -- making a difference, overcoming adversity, etc. This outfit operates on a shoestring. Students involved in the project often pay their own travel and other expenses. The leader, criminology professor Dr. John Stickels, often pays the tab for filing fees and other costs.

At one critical point this spring, Stickels told me, "We were broke and I was broke," but volunteers needed money to travel to three different prison units around the state to interview inmates.

University President Jim Spaniolo stepped in and gave the project a $1,000 donation in a personal check. "It came at a fortuitous time," Stickels said.

This effort is a mark of distinction for the university and deserves solid support.

The UT-A project is now on our official list. Who else should we add? Put your ideas in a comment to this post or email them to me or to TOY@dallasnews.com.

Our editorial board will pick the TOY for 2009 and nine finalists in just a few weeks and publish profiles starting mid-December.

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music, architecture, ranching.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place this year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

Here are the ideas that have come in so far:

UT-Arlington  Innocence Network
Farrah  Fawcett
Catherine  Hardwicke, movie director
Jerry  Jones
Jerry  Patterson, land commissioner
Julian  Castro, San Antonio mayor
Failed  Blue State carpetbaggers
Tea  Party folks
The  poor taxpaying chump
Bryan  Trubey, architect for Cowboys Stadium
Mary  Helen Berlanga and Rene Nunez, state board of education members
Y.E.  Yang,  PGA golf tournament winner
Bess  Enloe, Deedie Rose, Caren Prothro and Sarah Perot, ATT arts center fundraisers
Sam  Bassett, ex-chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission
Rick  Perry, governor
Kay  Bailey Hutchison, U.S. senator
Aldine ISD, winner of 2009 Broad Prize
House Speaker Joe  Straus
Melodie and Peggy  Pryor, community activists
Ed  Whitacre Jr., GM chairman, Ennis native
John  Carona, state senator
Dan  Branch, state rep
Kris  Kristofferson
The two-time teen mother
The do-nothing Legislature
Tommy  Lee Jones
Bill  Wittliff, screenwriter
Colt  McCoy
David  Daniel, UT-D president
Cameron  Todd Willingham, executed in 2004
Nolan  Ryan, Texas  Rangers GM
Dr. Nancy  Dickey, dean of the A&M medical school
Dr. Leonard  Pike, A&M researcher who developed the 10-15 onion
The jobless or downsized or uninsured Texan
The out-of-work soft-collar Texan
Willie  Nelson
Bob  Bullock
Sully  Sullenberger, hero  US Airways pilot

Click this to read 2008's TOY page, and earlier.

To be more specific: Who is car-less by choice in this town?

No doubt a minuscule number, by choice, (and I sometimes count myself in that number). I would like to hear about these people.

Streetsblog has a link up to a site highlighting an artist's project in Los Angeles about car-less Angelinos, some -- but not all -- by choice.

There's a New York Times feature on the same subject, and a blogger in my hometown of Cleveland addresses it from a young person's view.

Read more on the Transportation Blog ...

Here is your updated list of nominees from readers for this newspaper's annual Texan of the Year feature. It will roll out in mid-December with nine finalist profiles followed by the full feature treatment for the 2009 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

Please add your ideas in a comment to this post, email to me or to TOY@dallasnews.com.

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music, architecture, ranching. Community organizing even.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place in the past year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

Here are the ideas that have come in so far:

Bryan  Trubey, architect for Cowboys Stadium
Mary  Helen Berlanga and Rene Nunez, state board of education members
Y.E.  Yang, PGA golf tournament winner
Bess  Enloe, Deedie Rose, Caren Prothro and Sarah Perot, ATT arts center fundraisers
Sam  Bassett, ex-chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission
Rick  Perry, governor
Kay  Bailey Hutchison, U.S. senator
Aldine ISD, winner of 2009 Broad Prize
House Speaker Joe  Straus
Melodie and Peggy  Pryor, community activists
Ed  Whitacre Jr., GM chairman, Ennis native
John  Carona, state senator
Dan  Branch, state rep
Kris  Kristofferson
The two-time teen mother
The do-nothing Legislature
Tommy  Lee Jones
Bill  Wittliff, screenwriter
Colt  McCoy
David  Daniel, UT-D president
Cameron  Todd Willingham, executed in 2004
Nolan  Ryan, Texas  Rangers GM
Dr. Nancy  Dickey, dean of the A&M medical school
Dr. Leonard  Pike, A&M researcher who developed the 10-15 onion
The jobless or downsized or uninsured Texan
The out-of-work soft-collar Texan
Willie  Nelson
Bob  Bullock
Sully  Sullenberger, hero American Airlines pilot

... without confusing the stuffing out of the Dallas public?

And would an $80 million downtown system pay off on the investment?

These questions lingered yesterday while I was putting together an editorial supporting the proposed downtown streetcar system. The edit also says the prospective new streetcar board should develop a plan that includes the Oak Cliff project and a timetable for staging them, if that's what it takes.

1) About dual light rail transit and streetcar systems. Portland is the poster child for running both, having been spotlighted by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and others. What I don't know is whether the streetcar system and LRV trains work logically together in Portland (or in other cities with dual systems). Are operations smooth and the public in tune? Is ridership robust?

Read more on the Transportation Blog ...

This newspaper's annual Texan of the Year feature will roll out in mid-December with nine finalist profiles followed by the full feature treatment for the 2009 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

Readers have sent their ideas over the months for who should be in contention. I'll begin the list today and keep it up in the weeks to come. Please add your ideas in a comment to this post, email to me or to TOY@dallasnews.com.

The nominee could come from any walk of life -- arts, sports, public service, law, politics, research, academe, business, social work, volunteering, civic affairs, philanthropy, etc. Think religion and literature, environmentalism and technology. Music.

Keep in mind that the distinction is for better or worse. Like Time magazine has traditionally done, we recognize impact players, for better or for worse. Also keep in mind that the impact in question must have taken place in the past year. This is not a lifetime achievement award.

The list of nominees from readers so far is heavy on politics. I'll rely on everyone to round it out better from different walks of life.

Here goes:

Bryan Trubey, architect for Cowboys Stadium
Mary Helen Berlanga and Rene Nunez, state board of education members
Y.E. Yang, PGA golf tournament winner
Bess Enloe, Deedie Rose, Caren Prothro and Sarah Perot, ATT arts center fundraisers
Sam Bassett, ex-chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission
Rick Perry, governor
Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. senator
Aldine ISD, winner of 2009 Broad Prize
House Speaker Joe Straus
Melodie and Peggy Pryor, community activists
Ed Whitacre Jr., GM chairman and Ennis native
John Carona, state senator
Dan Branch, state rep

... is far from made, in my view. I have qualms about the possibility of miscarriage of justice, and that's partly why I'm a death penalty opponent -- that awful possibility.

But we haven't heard the full and undistorted story about this tortured, politically tinged case. I'm dismayed that so many people are jumping the gun on it -- assuming the worst on the part of the state and suspending all skepticism where fire expert Craig Beyler is concerned. This extends to people in the media. How can we make conclusions until we know everything that's knowable? How can we fail to question Dr. Beyler's findings as though he is the last word in these matters? Is there no range of thought within the world of science or forensics?

Continue reading on the Death Penalty Blog.

The latest streetcar plan proposed for downtown is a good one, in my view. As laid out this week before a council committee, it would link the area around the convention center hotel to the commercial strip across the heart of downtown and then shoot up to the Arts District at the deck park over Woodall Rodgers.

I think it's an improvement over some routes earlier in the planning process. The ones in question went either N/S (roughly) or E/W thru downtown. I like the idea of linking to the Arts District. It would make no sense to do otherwise. Plus, Main Street is an easy choice over Elm (only a block away from DART in spots) or Commerce (too much traffic pouring into downtown on a one-way street). The route mapped out is a circulator loop that goes along both Commerce and Elm.

One important question is whether the starter plan ought to be confined to downtown. That is, the Oak Cliff Transit Authority has been trying to lash together its own streetcar plan, but generally feels like it's had to go it alone without help from downtown, according to Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce President Bob Stimson.

Why shouldn't the starter plan fuse both of those routes?

Read more on the Transportation Blog ...

The DMN editorial board has slammed Rick Perry for a lot recently, like his handling of the Willingham capital murder case, his quip about the Texas recession and his heavy hand in university affairs. I have written some of these, and with relish. He deserved both barrels for hitting the ejector button on the Forensic Science Commission chief, for example.

Were I to write something about Perry's political backpeddaling on the Trans-Texas Corridor, I'd slap him around there, too.

I have more of a problem with Kay Bailey Hutchison's failure to articulate any vision at all on transportation. Her statements on the subject have been overwhemlingly politically opportunistic -- essentially, what she's against -- and scarcely illuminating on what kinds of programs she would put forth.

See more on the Transportation Blog ...

.. to all those officials who worked quickly to line up school zone status for the downtown magnet school after student Kelsey McKinney wrote a column for this newspaper about the traffic dangers there.

Tracie J. Fraley, principal of Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, sent out this email:

A HUGE thank you to everyone for your time, commitment and work on our behalf. We are very excited that this is moving forward. I told Kelsey she has accomplished something in a very short time that I could not get done in 1+ years!

This is great to hear. See details, comments on the Transportation Blog.

How does a student cut through red tape at City Hall and get school zone designation for her high school?

It used to be called power of the pen. It's now power of the keyboard.

The issue involves Dallas' arts magnet school.

See details on the Transportation Blog.

... when it comes to the giant Dallas school district and City Hall?

So far, Kelsey McKinney, a high school student and one of this newspaper's volunteer "Student Voices" columnists, has made a big difference. And we hope there's more to come.

It has to do with getting school zone designation outside her downtown high school, Booker T. Washington.

Read details, join the discussion, on the Transportation Blog.

I ask the question in light of news that the French national railway SNCF has filed a detailed proposal to run an intercity high-speed rail line in Texas, from DFW to San Antonio.

A debate has been bubbling among experts and commentators about whether Texas is suited for this kind of service. There's a school of thought that it pays off only in high-density corridors, particularly in the Northeast.

Now the French say the numbers work, given a certain -- yet undefined -- public investment in infrastructure. Do you think it's viable? Would HSR service get your business? Or are driving or flying to San Antonio or Austin your preferred modes?

Read the discussion, and comment, on the Transportation Blog ...

It's a subject we've been following over on the Transportation Blog.

A student at Booker T. wrote a column for this newspaper asking for a school zone, fearing someone will get badly hurt by the furious traffic out there.

I'm trying to get an answer for student Kelsey McKinney (photo at right).

It's question that must weigh the safety of students vs. expectations of harried commuters who want to get on and off the freeway quickly. I know where I stand -- against a tragedy.

Go over to Transportation to leave a comment or toa look at the intersection of Routh Street and Woodall Rodgers Freeway, where the school is located.

Anyone reading this probably knows that the new Green Line service started by DART last week will be stopping right at Fair Park. Riders who get off will be steps away from the State Fair of Texas.

You can avoid traffic and parking problems by taking the train. For many of you, it would be the first time on rail service, but this one may be worth it. There are lots of lots to park at along the Red and Blue lines, and you'd take the train downtown to connect to the Green Line.

Plus, you can get a DART/fair combo ticket at some Krogers for $16, saving $3.

So I ask: Is is worth it to you to take the train this year?

I want to, but mi esposa is balking, not that she has anything against DART. She's got something against the fair. Not a fan of big, noisy, sweaty crowds.

That means I may be doing the fair all by myself via the DART train. As an editorial writer who writes a lot about transportation, I think it's my duty. I've ridden every foot of all the other DART lines, and it's important to do this one. It's also important to eat a proper corny dog.

Post your comments over on the Transportation Blog.

It's a good question, and you'll find the context and a discussion over on the Transportation Blog. Click over and see what you think.

My blog partner there, transportation writer Michael Lindenberger of the news department, asked the question for an upcoming story on the opening of DART's Green Line next week. He was seeking input from the public to help shape his piece (and we'll have to wait and see what he comes up with).

Meanwhile, on my own track, I've written an editorial expressing the position that rail transit is good for the metro area in a number of ways. Take development. You may have seen the giant mixed-use project at the Park Lane station, or Southside on Lamar, near Cedars. I posted recently about the transit-oriented development (TOD, to experts) in the Red Line's Richardson corridor. Meanwhile, Carrollton, Farmers Branch and Irving are busy trying to make the most of transit service heading their way. The new Baylor station has already hatched projects. The MLK and Fair Park areas are hopeful but more skeptical, as reporter Nancy Visser wrote today.

Our editorial doesn't go into Pollyanna mode on the prospects for TOD.

The answer is heck yes.

News from Austin may come as a provocation to situational toll-road critics, especially those whose blood last boiled because of Spanish money's interest in the 121 project that eventually went to NTTA.

TxDOT signed an agreement last week with a consortium headed by the Spanish company Cintra. It will put up money along with the Paris-based Meridiam Infrastructure Fund. The complete list of the LBJ project's partners includes the probable investment by the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.

After completion about six years from now, the new LBJ will be part free, part tolled, with the private developers getting tolling rights. The new roadway will have more free lanes, but the three tolled lanes will be VERY expensive -- like maybe 55 cents a mile to start off.

I don't see how this roadway gets built if not for this kind of exotic arrangement and outside capital.

See if you agree:

See details, join the discussion, on the Transportation Blog.

Lots of development is going forward in Richardson, with much of it related to DART's rail service. But there's a downside to this good fortune: increased pressure on roadways. North Central Expressway is getting the big pounding.

Just last seek TxDOT put out a list of the state's most congested roadways. North Central was among the top 10 twice: the segment from LBJ to Bush, and the segment from Bush to 121.

Consider the added traffic pressure coming to that area, mostly from projects in development along Central. The list should be the pride of Richardson, but that potential depends on making sure traffic doesn't become a nightmare.

See the list of projects and comment on my recommendations by clicking over to the Transportation Blog.

Have you registered as an organ donor?
If not -- or if you're unsure -- take 2 minutes to register.
A new law effective today makes it easier than you might think.
Completing this process could help your family if you're approaching death in a hospital. If you're registered, no one has to bring up the matter with your loves ones and ask for consent to harvest your organs.
Your answer will already be on record, via one click of the computer.
Why not do it today?
Here's the website (just click on the link): www.donatelifetexas.org/
Pass this on to a friend.

It's something we've supported on our editorial page and we've written about on this blog -- a "citizen reporting" program whereby drivers can report HOV cheaters to authorities.

Now, DART plans to get one started. News of the new program was contained at the bottom of the DART/TxDOT/NCTCOG "white paper" released last week on improving the HOVs.

Read more on the Dallas Transportation Blog ...

This is not meant to open a political debate.

It addresses the more mundane question of whether stimulus dollars are working yet in this community. The question isn't mine. It was tossed out the other day by skeptical next-door colleague Mike Hashimoto, who scoffed about stimulus in general. I told him money was flowing for transportation, but he kept up his scoffing and made fun of the "shovel-ready" verbiage and everything.

So, for in-house purposes, I looked into this a bit, beyond the big announcement in Cedar Hill last month and beyond a proud event in Burleson County.

Read details on the Transportation Blog ...

The city has a huge budget shortfall and desperately needs cash to avoid awful cutbacks in services and amenities.

Why not rescue parks by letting corporations put up names or logos in return for committing money for upkeep? Other cities are doing it or talking about it, including New York.

Sponsorship could require a package deal that pairs a high-profile park with obscure ones tucked into neighborhoods. The move could help the city officials stretch resources to ensure maintenance for parks not covered by sponsorships.

You could bet your rattlesnake-skin boots that Woodall Rodgers Park, now being developed, will put corporate names here and there in appreciation of gifts collected over the months. This is the reality of piecing together a project like this. Fountains, gardens, bandshells -- I'd be surprised if lots of features didn't tastefully acknowledge donations in some visible way.

The Dallas Center for the Performing Arts continues to troll for sponsorships. The DCPA's website says:

Whatever the target market and business needs of the partner, the Center can facilitate a broad spectrum of sponsor objectives. Some of these include:

* On- and off-site visibility
* Sampling opportunities and special promotions
* Single or season events and lead or subsidiary sponsorships
* Hospitality vehicles for exclusive client and corporate entertaining
* An affiliation with an internationally recognized performing arts center

The DCPA buildings and real estate are city-owned. Why not extend the concept to city-owned parks? I mentioned the idea, absent details, to my Edit Board colleagues yesterday, and they looked at me like I came from Ohio or something.

Our blog readers were breathing fire after NTTA's decision last week to raise tolls by 32 percent. Many vowed to toss their TollTags, boycott the tollways and commute on free surface streets.

Will you be one of them?

Tollway boycotters would be joining people like blog reader Jason, who wrote:

They won't be making any more money off of me. ... I'm leaving earlier from now on, and y'all can drive off a cliff where your next toll road will end without funding.

Some readers say their toll bill is well over $100 a month and that a "few minutes" difference in commute time is worth the savings in money. Is the "few minutes" true?

Read our calculations on the Transportation Blog ...

Should Dallas-area HOV users help identify HOV lawbreakers by reporting their license plates to authorities? Could this discourage others from using the lanes illegally or barging in and out of them?

Results from a program in the Seattle area suggest the answer is yes. The Washington State DOT calls it the HERO program. The agency's Website describes it this way:

Drivers can report a HOV lane violator by e-mail or phone. We then send educational materials about HOV lane usage to the registered owner of the vehicle reported violating the occupancy requirement.

First-time violators are sent an educational brochure. Second-time violators are sent a letter from WSDOT. Third-time violators are sent a letter from the Washington State Patrol.

Read more on the Transportation Blog.

If you saw Obama throw out the first pitch at last night's All Star Game, you perhaps have an opinion of his pitching motion. Mine is this: A little work in the bullpen is in order. See for yourself:

Compare that to his immediate predecessor, and tell me whose motion is better.

Obama, for his part, explained his outing this way, in this ESPN story:

"I did not play organized baseball when I was a kid and so, you know, I think some of these natural moves aren't so natural to me," Obama said.

Meanwhile, on the Baltimore Sun's editorial blog, writer Andy Green theorizes that the White House somehow mandated a certain camera angle for the first pitch. Interesting conspiracy theory.

And it's inevitable how even a first pitch gets political, and interesting how the righties and lefties both beat up on Fox, like a Newsbusters writer accusing Murdoch for going easy on the president, and a Huffington writer accusing Fox of screwing up Obama's moment.

The gentleman from Kentucky, my esteemed colleague Michael Lindenberger, eased into the TTI urban traffic congestion report with a somewhat upbeat rendering. It was the right headline based on the figures in the biennial report.

On the editorial page, meanwhile, we addressed the same report more from the harried driver's eye view, and you know what that can look like. As opposed to glass half full, we said, Through the windshield, the glass looks dry as an El Paso July.

So what's your view? What do you see from the pavement you travel?

Read more on the Transportation Blog

Ken Herman of the American-Statesman is right. This one got under my radar: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thinks soccer is becoming the national pasttime.

Excerpt from the Herman column:

"This is a country of 300 million people and soccer is becoming the sport," Reid told the BBC's Sean Wheelock. "Especially if you are under 25 years in America, soccer is the sport for most people."

It gets crazier. Another excerpt:

"We're trying to undo a lot of the bad stuff during the last eight years, and Obama has done very well at doing that, projecting an image around the world that America is a country of liberty and justice and freedom and all that kind of stuff," Reid said.

I never thought of this as a foreign-policy strategy. Play more soccer, improve international relations. Shoot, why not? Ping-pong worked for Nixon in China, kind of.

The Herman column mentioned one other thing that shows just how in the dark I've been on global issues. Last excerpt:

I'm sure you noticed this past weekend that Finland's Taisto Miettinen won the Wife-Carrying World Championships in his home country, ending Estonia's 11-year reign.

Here's proof he's not lying.

Again. News to me. The sport of wife carrying. It's a big deal, with training and everything. But I never heard of it. Hard to admit for a media guy.

DART is responsible for operation of the HOV lanes around Dallas, but that doesn't mean members of the agency's board like them any more than the public does.

The nagging problem area is the LBJ/U.S. 75 vicinity. I'd say it has become something of an embarrassment. Little upright plastic pylons are supposed to separate main lanes from HOVs in long stretches, but at a meeting today of the DART board's planning committee, member Mark Enoch said the part of LBJ he drives often has more broken pylons than good ones.

See more on the Transportation Blog.

That question bugged me since the announcement last week that President George W. Bush was making a Fourth of July appearance and address in tiny Woodward, Okla.

Why didn't he do this for free? I don't get it. The Fourth is a community event, and any curious or public-minded citizen of Woodward had to have been interested in hearing a former president, under the right conditions. Minimum admission of $25 for a bleacher seat would rule things out for many families. High rollers could pay $500 and get close-up seats. No sitting public servant would dare charge.

This is not a good message. I was disappointed in the former president, whom I like and voted for twice.

There is only one acceptable explanation: that promoters couldn't see any way out of a logistics nightmare if seeing Bush was free and followup entertainment was by paid ticket. The event schedule indicates he was the leadoff attraction.

Still, he could have given some kind of post-executive order to make access to his speech free or he wouldn't show.

We're halfway through the year, time to take stock of Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year candidates.

This is a solicitation for ideas from your, our readers.

Who has been a consequential Texas this year? I stress this year.

Somebody in the world of business, maybe? Sports, research, education, arts and letters, Hollywood? Environment, philanthropy, transportation, public service?

One hundred eight-one lawmakers had their shot during this year's legislative session. Anyone surface there for you?

Please, don't give us the name of a time bomb that blows up on us. A&M President Elsa Murano, for example, was one of our 10 finalists for 2008. She didn't make it halfway through 2009 in her post.

We also held up Brownsville ISD and its superintendent, Hector Gonzales, for praise. He's also in a political squeeze, and it may yet cost him his job.

I think the rest of last year's finalists are on steadier ground -- at least I hope. Laura Bush, for example.

Give us your ideas. Think broadly, beyond Dallas/Fort Worth and other metro areas. Try Detroit (Red River County), San Jose (Duvall County) or Cleveland (take your pick between one in Austin County and one in Liberty County).

Think internationally, too. Just think.

Our editorial in Friday's paper was positive about the second annual city Independence Day celebration under the name Fair Park Fourth. And we asked readers to share their opinions afterward.

So, what is your critique?

Bigger? Better? Traffic? Cotton Bowl as viewing area? Good vantage points for fireworks? Food? Entertainment? Carly Patterson's singing? Security? Overall atmosphere?

Over on the Transportation Blog, I've asked for information from transit users on obstacles they see to public transportation, be it train or bus.

Saturday's editorial page has an editorial saying nice things about new hike and bike trails, sidewalks and bridges to DART train stations.

Here's an example of what we're talking about. It's a footpath worn into the grassy road shoulder along Greenville Avenue north of Blackwell Street. This is not too far south of the Park Lane train station.

Why isn't there a sidewalk here?

View Larger Map

Read more about this over on our blog devoted to transportation.

A new survey of drivers ranks Dallas/Fort Worth as the second-worst area nationally for road rage.

Could that be true? Do you put any stock in these surveys?

Details on the Transportation Blog.

University officials and lawmakers from across the state enjoyed the post-session afterglow at a bill-signing today by Gov. Rick Perry at UTD.

It was an important moment for higher education, which, i think, is still marveling at the good fortune during the lawmaking session.

The legislation on the table in front of the governor was HB 51, which this newspaper backed with gusto. It sets up a research fund to reward the seven "emerging research universities" -- including UTD, UTA and UNT -- for their own successes in landing research grants. That's big for North Texas' ambition to build a Tier One university on par with UT-Austin or A&M.

Both higher ed chairs were there -- Rep. Dan Branch of Dallas and Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo. Along with Sen. Florence Shapiro, they shepherded the legislation through their committees and houses, with results that I think might have surprised even them. Add in the hundreds of millions that lawmakers got in the budget-making process, and I would agree with many of the superlatives that officials offered up during the bill-signing in UT-D's Natural Science and Engineering Research Lab (the product of incentive funding itself).

From Perry: "Never has there been a greater session for higher education in our state."
From Branch: "This legislation will be a game-changer for Texas. ... We're in a position where the whole higher-ed world is watching. ... We'll be bringing the best intellectual capital here. ..."
From Shapiro: "This state stepped up to the plate. ... Not cutting funding at this point, in this economy, is very, very rare. ..."

Over on the Transportation Blog, we've been updating progress on the local option transportation issue in Austin.

The latest: Expect to see Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and dozens of other elected and civic leaders from North Texas to be in Austin tomorrow to rally for the plan, now being negotiated by state lawmakers. Leaders from Austin and San Antonio will be on hand as well.

One organizer says expect up to 200. They are filling up at least two buses in D-FW to get folks to the Capitol. Representatives of the Dallas Citizens Council and Greater Dallas Chamber are expected to attend.

Also read about lines in the sand drawn by John Carona in the Senate and Linda Harper-Brown (with whom I'm having a little tiff) in the House.

... for anyone open for a new something to do in Dallas this weekend.

Mostly it's for people who have been curious about this year's excitement in the Meyerson but have put off making a visit.

This is the final weekend of the DSO's first season under new maestro Jaap van Zweden. I can tell you, the orchestra and audiences are energized. The music sounds lush, crisp and dramatic.

Do yourself a favor if you haven't visited. Go tonight or tomorrow. I heard the program live last night on WRR. I think it's a stirring finale to a remarkable year.

Our columnist Scott Cantrell had a more sophisticated take on the night, of course. The headline on his review calls the program a "mishmash," but that's a reference to the lineup, not the sounds. Excerpt from his review:

Tchaikovsky wrote no choral part for the 1812, but van Zweden used Igor Buketoff's arrangement with chorus singing the Russian hymns and folk song that figure prominently in the piece. Prepared by David R. Davidson, the Dallas Symphony Chorus filled the Meyerson Symphony Center with sounds rich and stirring.

The Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) is a setting of a Friedrich Hölderlin poem contrasting heavenly bliss with earthly struggles. Van Zweden had both chorus and orchestra shaping phrases and caressing the voluptuous harmonies most lovingly.

There's that word "stirring" again.

I stopped in to say hello to first-year Dallas Symphony Orchestra president Doug Adams yesterday just as he was getting word out of the cancellation of the orchestra's 2010 European tour. Ouch. A fine time to pick to introduce myself to him. It's a hard thing to announce just a few months after making a big to-do out of the tour.

Still, arts organizations are on hard times. With endowments typically losing a quarter to a third of their value, it takes a toll on operations. Orchestras nationwide are feeling the pain. The Getty Museum this week announced a cutback of more than 200 jobs.

Just a few weeks ago, after a visit to Severance Hall to hear the Cleveland Orchestra (Do it if you ever can), I read the news that the Cleveland's music director was taking a voluntary $300,000 salary cut and the orchestra was leaving a few positions open. That was sad news indeed for one of the nation's Big Five orchestras.

Doug Adams said the DSO contemplates no such move affecting the musicians. Good. The orchestra is on the right trajectory and has been noticed far and wide under new maestro Jaap van Zweden. An invitation to Carnegie Hall next year is proof.

In fact, van Zweden's star power helped pull in hundreds of people last Saturday for a "pick-your-seat" open house at the Meyerson for subscribers and prospective subscribers. He was on hand to meet and greet.

The orchestra had never done this and was surprised at the turnout. What follows is a summary of the event from the DSO's Stacie Wheelock Adams:

"We had 700 people. They came to meet and mingle with Jaap, enjoy Mary Preston's performance on the organ and of course, "pick their seat" for next season. Surprisingly, the biggest draw was the behind the scenes tours of the Meyerson.

See our Transportation Blog for thoughts on today's coming-out party for the long-awaited Woodall Rodgers Park.

Dear readers,

I'm spending nearly all my blog time contributing news and perspective to our website's new Transportation Blog. Yesterday I put up an item about conservatives and rail transit.

In that the Opinion Blog's readership is oriented toward politics and robust discussion of public issues, I thought you might find it of interest.

The reference point is legislation heard in the Texas House to split the DISD in two. Local officials seem hostile to it, going back to when Michael Hinojosa was quoted on the DISD blog last month.

What do you think? Would two smaller districts necessarily be a gain?

Me, I think back to Wilmer-Hutchins. Small and bad. It's a matter of goals, standards, leadership, accountability and wise use of resources.

I think larger bureaucracies can become unwieldy from an administrative standpoint, making it easier for corrupt bureaucrats and worker bees to milk the system.

But if you keep the education part of it focused building by building and minimize micromanaging from central admin, I think district size shouldn't matter.

Building size and class size do matter, I believe. A school needs a sense of community, and it's hard to build that say, in a high school with 3,000 kids. Half that is easier. Class size isn't debatable. Make them smaller and make them better.

Update: At some levels, class size is an interesting debate. My perspective is the good teacher and her/his ability to know each student's strong and weak points and address them appropriately. A lot has to do with the teacher's effectiveness in doing so, but if you don't have time enough to go around, something is going to suffer. You prioritize your time, and some kids are pushed down on the list.

Here is my final nose count among North Texas sentaors on John Carona's local-option transportation bill (SB 855):

Carona -- voted yes, in committee last week
Florence Shapiro -- voted yes, in committee
Wendy Davis -- voted yes, in committee

Kip Averitt -- "strongly in favor," he told me
Jane Nelson -- "reviewing it," her office told me
Bob Deuell -- "I lean toward supporting it, and I'm trying to resolve some of the issues my constituents have raised," he told me
Craig Estes -- Undecided. "I continue to be cautious in any approach that would increase the tax burden on our citizens," he said in a statement.
Royce West -- "I am not a supporter at this time, but I'm not against," he told me. "We need to work out how the least of us will be be able to afford the local-option taxes. We've got to have a safety net."
Chris Harris: "I am currently reviewing SB 855 and believe that our area is in desperate need of new transportation solutions, he said in a statement. "While I am in favor of allowing the local communities to choose how they address those needs, I am still working to address my constituents' concerns with this legislation."

The bill should be eligible for floor action on Wednesday. To make headway this session, it has to go over to the House as soon as possible. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst needs to let this baby go to the floor for debate.

Update on where North Texas senators stand on John Carona's local-option transportation bill (SB 855), which could reach the floor next week:

I await only Cris Harris of Arlington, as I have been all week. His office promises me a call or statement. Three senators called me from the floor this week, and two had their offices provide statements.

I did find Harris' answer on a candidate questionnaire he filled out before last year's election. It went like this:

Q. Do you favor the goal of expanding the regional transit network so more people can commute by rail? If so, what funding sources do you advocate? Please be specific.

Chris Harris: This is a local option, and I would support local cities' decisions. I would want to be sure that the DART line through Irving to DFW says on schedule.

For the rest of the metroplex delegation, here's my tally:

Carona -- voted yes, in committee last week
Florence Shapiro -- voted yes, in committee
Wendy Davis -- voted yes, in committee

Kip Averitt -- "strongly in favor," he told me
Jane Nelson -- "reviewing it," her office told me
Bob Deuell -- "I lean toward supporting it, and I'm trying to resolve some of the issues my constituents have raised," he told me
Craig Estes -- Undecided. "I continue to be cautious in any approach that would increase the tax burden on our citizens," he said in a statement.
Royce West -- "I am not a supporter at this time, but I'm not against," he told me. "We need to work out how the least of us will be be able to afford the local-option taxes. We've got to have a safety net."

UPDATE: Sen. Harris' office sent this statement just now:

"I am currently reviewing SB 855 and believe that our area is in desperate need of new transportation solutions. While I am in favor of allowing the local communities to choose how they address those needs, I am still working to address my constituents' concerns with this legislation."

Give me some numbers:

1) What year will the Trinity toll road open (Tom Leppert has pushed for 2013):
2) What year will boat ramps open on the new Trinity lakes:
3) If Leppert's job-approval rating could be measured, what would it be among likely voters:
4) Barack Obama's job-approval rating was 65 % at inauguration and 56 % today. What will it be at year's end:
5) The Dow was at 8700 on Jan. 1, 6500 on March 9 and 7,700 yesterday. What will it be at year's end:
6) Texas unemployment was 6.5 % in February (up from 4.5 % a year previous). What will it be at year's end:
7) What are the odds your next car purchase will be an American model:

Colleague Michael Lindenberger reported on one of my favorite topics yesterday -- the CNG vs. diesel debate over at DART.

Now, it seems, the decision over choosing one technology or the other has been put off until later this year, probably no later than December, says DART's Morgan Lyons.

That gives board members at least eight months of relief from the high-pressure CNG sales job by Mayor Tom Leppert and energy mogul Boone Pickens, who has been hyperactive across the nation pushing his gas and wind. It's also a good political move at a time the board is gathering comment on possible fare increases. I opined a bit ago on the inevitability of those increases or service cuts, if DART falls in line with other transit agencies nationwide.

Buying the more expensive CNG buses and infrastructure would be tough to justify now. It would look like profits for Boone at the expense of the little people. (For the record, our editorial page backed CNG; I wrote it, with reservations.)

DART board members were running scared the past few months as Leppert-Pickens pincers movement closed in. In talking to them, you could tell DART board members didn't want to cross either a rich mayor or a billionaire who helped Swift-boat a presidential candidate into oblivion.

Reminder to fellow DART riders: The agency is taking comment now on the possible fare increases. If you like, send your comments on the increases to me and I'll make sure DART sees them.

Morning update on the positions that North Texas senators are taking on John Carona's local-option transportation bill (SB 855), which could reach the floor in the next few days:

Carona -- voted yes, in committee last week
Florence Shapiro -- voted yes, in committee
Wendy Davis -- voted yes, in committee
Kip Averitt -- "strongly in favor," he told me
Jane Nelson -- "reviewing it," her office told me
Bob Deuell -- "I lean toward supporting it, and I'm trying to resolve some of the issues my constituents have raised," he told me
Craig Estes -- Undecided. "I continue to be cautious in any approach that would increase the tax burden on our citizens," he said in a statement.

I continue to be in touch with the following senators' offices, asking for interviews and/or statements:
Royce West
Chris Harris

UPDATE: While waiting for a callback or statement from Sen. Harris, I dug out his answer to a candidate questionnaire he filled out for us last summer. It was for his re-election bid. Here it is:

Q. Do you favor the goal of expanding the regional transit network so more people can commute by rail? If so, what funding sources do you advocate? Please be specific.

Chris Harris: This is a local option, and I would support local cities' decisions. I would want to be sure that the DART line through Irving to DFW says on schedule.

SECOND UPDATE: Sen. West called from the Senate floor and told me, "I am not a supporter at this time, but I'm not against. We need to work out how the least of us will be be able to afford the local-option taxes. We've got to have a safety net."

to improve the way we move ...

Here is what I know about the positions that North Texas senators are taking on John Carona's local-option transportation bill (SB 855), which could reach the floor this week:

John Carona -- voted yes, in committee last week
Florence Shapiro -- voted yes, in committee
Wendy Davis -- voted yes, in committee
Kip Averitt -- "strongly in favor," he told me
Jane Nelson -- "reviewing it," her office told me
-
I continue to be in touch with the following senators' offices:

Royce West -- TBA
Bob Deuell -- TBA
Chris Harris -- TBA
Craig Estes -- TBA
-

UPDATE: Dr. Deuell called from the Senate and told me, "I lean toward supporting it, and I'm trying to resolve some of the issues my constituents have raised."

... to improve the way we move

Whither the DFW delegation on Sen. John Carona's local-option bill for roads and rail? The measure may go to the Senate floor for a vote this week.

Background: It passed Carona's transportation committee Wednesday by a 7-2 vote. All three North Texas senators -- Carona, Florence Shapiro and Wendy Davis -- voted in favor.

Six other senators represent parts of the metroplex. I'm interested in where they stand on the legislation. I will call Royce West, Bob Deuell, Chris Harris, Jane Nelson, Kip Averitt and Craig Estes and report back.

If the metroplex delegation is split on the bill, that will make the job extremely difficult in the House.

improving the way we move ...

To me, the most exciting transportation-related project on the horizon has been the Woodall Rodgers Park, now the beneficiary of stimulus money (as pointed out by colleague Ted Kim yesterday).

The new money will help with the PR. There hadn't been doubt recently that the park would get built, and the city has moved ahead with related utility work. Now, the stimulus money helps deflect criticism that too much of our fuel taxes are creating an expensive Uptown playground while traffic congestion goes unaddressed elsewhere.

OK ... BUT federal law requires a portion of highway money to be used for enhancement stuff. And I can think of few better things to enhance downtown.

My vision: The deck park over Woodall Rodgers develops as a true town commons for downtown. (The Trinity has potential, but why am I skeptical about grand things happening in a floodway?)

Because the Woodall park is right next to the Arts District, foot traffic should help the district from being a campus for the elite. The arts facilities need the plebeians spilling into the district and livening things up. The new trolley routes need to make sure of that.

My ideal: The deck park's band shell gets a major sponsor and becomes THE venue for public performances in this town. Free ones. Like a real Central Park.

UPDATE: From Joanna Singleton of Jackson Spaulding PR: "The performance pavilion has actually been donated by the John Muse family and it will indeed host free concerts and other cultural events that will make the Park a central gathering spot for everyone from those Uptown residents to families from Frisco to Waxahachie coming in to town for the day."

I should have known that. I checked, and it's been in my own paper.

improving the way we move ...

Overlooked one legislative matter on transportation with big local impact: Yesterday's committee passage of a bill by Sen. Robert Nichols (SB 17) to rein in public-private-partnerships in building toll roads. The bill stregthens the local NTTA's hand in picking toll projects to build.

Our newspaper's editorial board has welcomed the advent of private competition for toll roads. In North Texas, bidding that pitted NTTA against the Spanish firm Cintra for the lucrative 121 project netted an upfront payment of $3 billion for rights to the road. No other region in Texas has that kind of transportation money at its disposal right now.

Arguments for and against such competition have played out spectacularly over the months. Sen. Wendy Davis, in casting the lone "no" vote yesterday, touched on one of them, saying that competition ensures the public gets the best value for the money.

I'll add this: The 121 money will be used to build not only free roads, but other projects ranging from rails to trails. I agree with those NTTA supporters who hate the PPP competition that a strong NTTA benefits the region. Yes but ... a strong NTTA will go on to build yet more toll roads only. (Aside: Those same NTTA toll roads are subsided by fuel taxes and local government.)

Nichols, a former transportation commissioner, is seen as an oracle on this issue, and his bill is destined to pass. Because of his hard pushing against PPPs, a vote for his bill somehow looks politically like a vote against toll roads. Alas, it's really not.

... blogging to improve the way we move

More thoughts on Collin County's posture in the transportation world: We ran an editorial today chiding Collin County for being an outlier in regional transportation planning. And we've gotten blowback from Commissioner Joe Jaynes, who, in a comment posted to the edit, said the issue had moved "light years" beyond that depicted in the piece.

Here's what's up: Collin officials are talking with others about regional cooperation in planning toll roads. Time will tell where things end up. But that doesn't change the fact that it has taken a big stick -- John Carona's -- to bring this about.

That said, I want to give a nod to Collin County for possibly shaking things up on planning for Loop 9, the so-called Big Doughnut around the metro area. The loop passes across northern Collin County. NTTA gets first dibs on it, under a new state law (that's another sad story), but the agency could take its sweet time getting around to serious planning. All the while the cost of the road rises with land prices.

Enter Collin County commissioners with formation of their own tollway agency and stated determination to push the planning ahead on its own, if need be. That may end up lighting a fire under NTTA and TxDOT, which wouldn't be a bad thing.

That makes me want to add a Loop 9 asterisk to the phrase about settling the "game of brinksmanship."

Still, a Collin tollway authority makes no sense for operating a leg of a regional loop. By that thinking, we could end up with a series of bit players operating the length of the multi-county toll road.

... blogging to improve the way we move

Good news out of Sen. John Carona's transportation committee: Members passed his Texas Local Option Transportation Act by a vote of 7-2 this morning and sent it to the full Senate.

Big victory for the senator in getting this financially and politically tricky bill moved along so quickly.

Interesting geographical split. Yes votes came from Dallas (Carona), Collin County (Shapiro), Fort Worth (Davis), Austin (Watson), San Antonio (Wentworth), El Paso (Shapleigh) and Jacksonville, in East Texas (Nichols). Both no votes came from Houston (Ellis, Huffman).

Houston did not seek to be covered in the bill. All other metro counties could pick from a list of revenue "tools" and ask for voter approval to build rail and highways. The Houston opposition will make for interesting politicking on the Senate floor.

For me, one of the most interesting elements of the hearing was Sen. Shapiro's strong, detailed endorsement of the legislation. That was good to see. We have butted heads in the past over her hostility to previous versions of local option bills (the former sales tax approach, most notably). But today she offered the most emphatic support of any member of the committee.

... blogging to improve the way we move

Getting back to the public transit community on DART fare hikes (I was in Austin yesterday and neglectful on this site):

For starters, here's one take on the subject from a writer for the Eastfield College newspaper. The idea is to raise fares for trains, not buses.

And addressing reader comments by my blog post, I'll boil down this way ...

1) DART's honor system. I agree with jamesn and disagree with Chuck Bloom on the honor system. Ticket cheats are rare, in my experience. I think it would be a waste of resources to install machines, fencing, gates, etc. Transit systems that have this stuff still have cheats.

The New York Times has reported that turnstile jumpers there routinely ignore tickets.

2) I agree with Chuck that the ticket machines are a mess. They must have been made in some foreign country where they do things backwards.

3) I question Peterk's assertion that DART may increase fares to cut down on ridership. DART's mission is mass transit and offering an option to cars. I've seen no evidence of a conspiracy to deter ridership.

... blogging to improve the way we move

Whither North Texas rail ...

I got a briefing in Austin yesterday on the Texas Local Option Transportation Act, which would give this region the tools to build regional rail and better roadways. It has a rugged way to go, given the complexity. I can tell you, too, that the legislation is being revised to address lingering concerns.

One obstacle is Collin County leadership -- specifically on the Commissioners Court -- where there is hostility or indifference to the move. One such member is Joe Jaynes, who sits on the policymaking Regional Transportation Commission. He cast one of four votes last year against an RTC resolution asking state lawmakers to pass a local-option bill.

I find it ironic considering the transportation achievements he claimed in his re-election campaign last year.

Joe can speak for himself, but I can't get his position. This would be local control at its finest. Why not give voters the option to raise more revenue to bring rail to commuters in Collin County. I don't get politicians who don't want to let the people decide -- especially in fast-growth Collin County. I get on DART's Red Line at its third southbound stop, and many times it's already full.

C'mon, Joe!

... blogging to improve the way we move

Picking back up on the subject of whether the public will pay more for transportation, a survey last month by the engineering-design firm HNTB indicates the answer is yes.

I bring this up because critics have targeted a survey taken in behalf of the North Texas-backed Local Option Transportation Act, by Sen. John Carona. That survey also shows strong backing of the idea of paying more for better rail and roads and less congestion.

... blogging to improve the way we move

DART man's take on the DART fare hikes (if they happen):

I have this alter ego that has been displayed on the Community Opinions pages of our newspaper. I am DART man, whose preferred mode of transport is non-auto. I don't own one and don't want to.

The potential fare hikes won't slam me (unless my company makes me share the cost of my free train pass). But think of the thousands of riders who don't have a car because they can't, as opposed to me, who won't.

Perspective is in order: Transit agencies across the nation are doing fare increases at this awful time of joblessness and hardship. The irony is that ridership is spiking.

Some transit agencies are making drastic service cuts, which I hope we can avoid here. I'd guess it will come down to that choice for board members. Revenue is falling, and costs are going the other way.

Members of the public who want to talk to their board reps about this, look here.

... blogging to improve the way we move

This newspaper published an editorial on Monday referencing the results of a telephone survey that butressed the case for a local-option improvements for transportation funding. (The Star-Telegram published an edit, too.)

I've since had spirited conversations with a VP from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Justin Keener, in Austin. You could call him a think-tank guy, and I can vouch for his grounding in transportation.

He can fill in the gaps on this, but he has a critical take on the poll. I expect he'll comment on this posting.

I'll add this: We know this was a poll commissioned by a group hired to advocate. As such, we declined to use questions that pushed too hard. One described commuter trains as having "modern, air-conditioned coach rider cars" with "internet service, comfortable chairs and tables where you can work or relax." What, no cafe mocha?

Of course 85 percent of respondents wanted one of these trains. We didn't use this question and others because of the rosy picture they painted. Justin has thoughts on other questions.

Bottom line: It's good for rail backers -- this newspaper, et al -- to hear from critics. Some business leaders helped torpedo the half-cent plan for rail two years ago, and their input in mapping out today's local-option menu helped make it stronger and bring some critics on board.

The Dallas rep has just explained his HB 51 to his own Higher Education Committee, and now the presidents of UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington and UNT are sitting at the witness table and testifying for the bill. The legislation helps this region start boosting a state university to UT-Austin or A&M status. The mechanism is a new funding formula that rewards local effort in hiring faculty talent and landing major reseach grants.

To watch the hearing, go to this House site (click LiveStream).

Other North Texans who testified were Donna Halstead, president of the Dallas Citizens Council, and Robert Best, chairman of the Greater Dallas Chamber. He called getting a funding formula to build a national research university here is the chamber's "No. 1 priority" this legislative session.

... blogging to improve the way we move

The transportation story of the day is the workup from Michael Lindenberger and Rudy Bush on roadway delays and the Trinity River levees.

I'm glad I'm not Tom Leppert, with hopes of the Trinity Parkway becoming a legacy project. (BTW, the editorial board is pro-Trinity project. And I think it would be a great civic asset, done right.) Leppert is an impatient guy, but he's trying to push a very patient Corps of Engineers.

The reality is sinking in that Katrina has changed everything that civic leaders hoped to do around the river. I'm comforted by the word "meticulous" in our story. The Corps had better be careful. One breach of the dike (ok, levee) and the whole downtown could go under.

The story makes me wonder what UT-D President David Daniel is thinking. He headed a group of national engineers who did a post-mort on Katrina levee breaks in New Orleans. Subsurface weakness of the levees there was a big focus area.

Some studies dwelled on the culprit of trees planted on the NOLA levees. If a tree could weaken the structure, I'm sure that bridge footings and Oncor towers could cause problems along the Trinity.

... blogging to improve the way we move

High speed to anywhere?
Backers of high-speed rail service to Dallas -- and County Commish Maurine Dickey is maybe the biggest proponent around here - hope that stimulus money may be a, well, stimulus. Advocacy groups abound.
I hope we do have bullet trains across the Texas landscape some day. But the stimulus money? I have doubts, since other states are a lot farther ahead of Texas. And Texas isn't fashionable in Washington today.
There is the thought that the stimulus money will be concentrated on projects that can actually move ahead - like in California.
If manna would fall in Texas, the questions are:
-- would the line go into Dallas, or right into D/FW Airport (which would make lots of sense). The RTC is still wrestling with that question, I think.
-- Would the Texas T-Bone be the blueprint? It's had mojo for some years now, owing to the work of Dean International. It's got a big list of cities up and down the I-35 corridor.
But some people in Houston don't like the sounds of having to go thru Temple to reach Dallas. Houston also doesn't like the looks of Washington's official rail map, which connects it to New Orleans, period.

... will dish out millions to local ventures, according to an announcement he made here this week. I don't anything about these outfits, but I hope they get a boost from the gov's fund and create tons of local jobs.

I think it's a workable concept, but skeptics abound on placing bets on tech ventures and businesses that promise to expand or relocate.

(See Slater's take on Countrywide, a beneficiary of Perry grants in return for putting a HQ in Richardson. Don't know how many jobs created/left.)

Critics raise good points, and the governor knows it. That's why he makes these trips and announcements during legislative sessions. He makes the case for stimulating smart businesses, but lawmakers have to replenish his funds.

Again, I don't know if the local ventures that just got money are smart bets or not. Anyone know?

... but that's not the half of it.

Elsa Murano is the second 2008 Texan of the Year finalist to burst into headlines in a negative way. I can blame colleague Michael on this, as he championed her candidacy with the edit board.

Embarrassed to say, I was the one who pushed another TOY finalist, Brownsville ISD Superintendent Hector Gonzales.

Jeez, we're vetting people about as well as Obama's crew does.

UPDATE: I just reviewed our list from last year. I think Laura Bush is our best bet to stay out of trouble.

This editorial board sat down with a member of the Transportation Commission, Bill Meadows, and four TxDOT staffers yesterday to discuss the financially and politically complicated business of building roads. One thing they were proud of was public input on stimulus projects.

It's ironic that at the same time, lawmakers with pitchforks were at it again in Austin. It looks like lots of them figured out they weren't getting a showcase stimulus project. Too much road resurfacing, not enough ribbon-cutting. Since that's hard to explain back home, the CYA political move is to fire off a mean resolution at TxDOT.

But the real motivator is wailing from anti-tollers. See the comments to the Statesman's coverage. Lawmakers are over-reacting to the peanut gallery again.

Some of them should move to Dallas-Fort Worth and try to come up with a way, absent tolls, to move traffic around here. As for the dominant complaint that stimulus money is going "to build toll roads," get this: Toll projects need multiple sources of money. The ultra-complicated LBJ rebuild project involves resources from the state, city, DART, feds, Dallas police/fire pension fund AND foreign equity.

That's where the crazies come in, with the word "foreign." Well, if they want the state to build these roads the old-fashioned way, by crackie, they ought to go to Austin and redirect the target of their protests. Higher taxes would do the trick. Then we wouldn't need Spaniards to bail us out. Of course, clamoring for higher taxes doesn't exhilarate the soul like hollering about foreigners does.

No, I'm not in the tank for Cintra. I just love the heck out of taking the Bush tollway to D/FW Airport. I would pay twice the tolls to get to the airport on time. I would pay higher taxes. But if the Legislature won't raise gas taxes to build these roads, I've got to have an alternative.

Update: I'm sorry for my intemperate remarks. See comments below.

This just in from state Rep. Brian McCall: Come fall, he will be teaching a course in SMU's graduate program. It will be called "The Use (and Misuse) of Power in Politics."

Brian has a book coming out from the University of Texas Press on the power of the Texas governor. He got his PhD from UT-Dallas a few years back and wrote a dissertation on the same subject.

He shared his thoughts on the governor's office two years ago in a Q&A with this newspaper.

What some of us like about him in our shop is that he filled out a candidate questionnaire for this newspaper last year even though he had only a Libertarian opponent. Didn't have to.

Check out the answer on a death penalty moratorium. Still waiting for him to file a bill. That would be something coming from a conservative Republican.

I like to visit the opinions website of Russia's most famous daily, Pravda, to pick up ideas for enlightening and enlivening our opinions site. I can't decide what's most inspiring from today's Pravda. Could it be:

-- the scolding that Texas justice gets from the society that perfected the Gulag, or
-- the use of cheesecake on the opinions site. (Something we could use to "increase pageviews," as they say?)

From this corner, the mayor looks like a political cripple. Chances for quick turnaround appear about as good as the Dow's.

Consider the latest bad news on the Trinity River levees. Like it or not, that has turned into Leppert's project. He has staked so much on an accelerated opening date for the tollway that he won't be able to distance himself. It looks to me like he's scrambling for scapegoats, and the Corps of Engineers is a handy one. It's easy to pick on engineers.

Add that to:
-- the embarrassing appearance of a takeover bid at DISD
-- the proposed convention center hotel's being stuck in neutral by the bond market
-- the unsuccessful try to pressure DART to buy buses that run on Boone Pickens' natural gas.

Ther mayor is not without ambition and badly needs a win. He has been in a big hurry to get one. Question: Where is it going to come from?

That's "anti-gang fighter," actually.

See for yourself, on a webcast at 10.

Carona and Craig Watkins will announce an initiative described this way in a news release from the senator's office:

Senator Carona recognizes the dangerous threat that gangs pose to Texas communities, especially in areas that are frequented by youth. To combat this threat, law enforcement and criminal prosecutors need additional tools to deter gangs' illegal activities.

On March 3rd Senator Carona will file legislation, modeled after the successful Drug Free Zones concept, that will create designated areas within which the punishments for criminal gang activity will be increased. These areas include schools, playgrounds, and universities, as well as other popular areas for young people. This "Gang Free Zones" legislation will be
an essential part of our efforts to combat gang-related crime in our state.

I guess the trick is properly defining "gang activity." I'm not sure I see it, based on a cursory look at the bill, SB 1256.

Another metro area spawns a move to solve traffic problems by raising money locally. San Antonio has two bills to rally around -- one from Rep. Mike Villareal (HB 1674) and one from Sen. Jeff Wentworth (SB 942).

DFW is pushing Sen. John Carona's SB 855, which this newspaper supports as a strong concept in the works. Since Carona chairs Senate Transportation, he will be the lead architect on this.

Police in McKinney had the good sense not to.

A committed Dem, Mom was an Obama voter (after holding out for Hillary, then Joe). From her observation post in Cleveland, the economic picture isn't good.
I know she hoped that Obama's rescue mission would feel like the second coming of FDR, but I think she has doubts today about its direction. She has passed along this YouTube rant against Obama's housing bailout plan and reports she is beginning to lean that way.
It's probably a bad feeling to know the income tax on your Social Security is helping to bail out irresponsible home-buyers.

In all the financial gloom, I'm thinking DART board members feel good about one thing: not jumping into a purchase of expensive CNG buses last month. They decided to put that decision off because of lingering questions about revenue and whether they could get a better bus price in a rebid. (I think many members also feared that the Boone Pickens Express was rushing them toward a bad decision in favor of buses that use his natural gas.)

Now, jeez. The revenue picture may become a nightmare just like it is for school districts, cities and other levels of government. What sets DART apart is that people depend on mass transit to keep their jobs. It will be painful to see service yanked out from under some of them, and it probably will come to that.

DART will have to justify service cuts at the same time it spends money to complete the Orange Line to Irving and the Green Line north and south, from Carrollton and through the Fair Park area and into The Grove. And a second downtown alignment is planned to route all those trains through the CBD. Rail service would be a mess without that.

Tough balancing act. But there will be political blood on the wall if the new rail service is delayed, like it was for some communities after sales taxes fell post-Sept. 11. Like I said, tough balancing act.

We at the Ed Board visited with folks from Communities in Schools the other day. I wonder if any readers of our blog have had experience with the group. If so, what can you tell us?

Background: The organization posts a staff member on a public school campus to help with at-risk students. That person acts at mentor, problem-solver, coach, go-between, community liaison and any other role that works.

Source has sent document showing that State Commission on Judicial Conduct has filed five charges against Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller stemming from the Michael Richard "we close at 5" case.

Notice of Formal Proceedings.pdf

The hills to climb yet for supporters for a truly regional rail plan include:
1) Getting broad support in southern Dallas. Rafael Anchia and Roberto Alonzo attended John Carona's announcement of his bill filing on Monday, but no black state lawmakers were there. Dallas City Council and RTC member Vonciel Jones Hill was present for unveiling of the plan, which allows local elections on money to build rail and roads.
2) Getting broader support in Collin County. No state lawmaker from Collin County was there. The county is booming, yet most of it has no transit service. Frisco, McKinney and Allen leaders have consistently supported getting rail service, but they don't have a strong voice in the Legislature. They also don't have a friend on the Commissioners Court. That's why the bill (SB 855) is written so commissioners MUST put a transportation vote on the ballot under certain conditions.

Credit Barack Obama for resisting a radical turn to the left by ruling out a return to the Fairness Doctrine. The money quote from a Fox News report:

"As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told FOXNews.com. That was after both senior adviser David Axelrod and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left open the door on whether Obama would support reinstating the doctrine.

Not that I was worried about censorship or anything ...

And I hope Obama has the backbone to hold back rambunctious House members on this one. They certainly got away from him on some stimulus stuff.

Overlooked this week on our Dallas ISD blog, a link to this headline on a TOY finalist from last year:

Suspended superintendent targets four trustees in $10 million defamation lawsuit

Seems Brownsville's Hector Gonzales, whose district just won the best-in-nation Broad Prize for Urban Education, is highly crosswise with his board. We were picking up the odor of nasty politics last year while gathering information for our TOY editorial on BISD.

Another irony: The BISD board itself won a 2008 award from the National School Boards Association. It was for urban school board excellence.

... on what America is able to produce.

Go to line 127 in Division A of the stimulus bill. Covers purchase of uniforms, belts, backpacks, tents, tarps, parachutes and bandages for Homeland Security. The language says the government can't buy such an item "if the item is not grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States."

The crying shame is imbedded in a definitions paragraph that says (my emphasis) covered items include::

(A) clothing and the materials and components thereof, other than sensors, electronics, or other items added to, and not normally associated with, clothing (and the materials and components thereof);

Get it. We Americans can figure out how to sew shirts and roll bandages. But the hard stuff like radios? Need to import those.

Ross Perot was right.

... so I've dug a little deeper.

She's an educator in special ed (as is my son) and couldn't believe I favored more roads at the expense of education in the stimulus bill. My complaint was that you know where road money goes but can't control what kinds of checks school administrators write.

So in the interest of domestic security, I'm shifting my position. Mi esposa said that lots of the education money goes right to her area of special ed. I checked the bill (it takes awhile to load), and, sure enough, she's right. In Division A, Title VIII, page 127, you'll see $12 billion going to fully fund IDEA programs to assure a free and appropriate education to special-needs kids.

I've been short-sighted. That special ed money could accomplish big things -- like maybe getting mi esposa some help at school so she won't have to be writing reports until midnight on the services kids should get.

I wonder if $12 billion is enough.