Special to The Dallas Examiner
DALLAS
(AP) – A Texas police officer charged with murder in May in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards may be facing two aggravated assault charges in an unrelated incident.
Court records appeared in the Dallas County online court system last week listing charges of aggravated assault by a public servant against former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, but it was unclear from those records whether a grand jury has considered them.
A spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney said the office is not allowed to discuss ongoing investigations.
Oliver was off duty when he drew his gun and pointed it at the ground after his car was struck in April. Dallas police did not file charges.
In the fatal shooting of Edwards, a Black teenager who was leaving a party, Oliver was fired and charged with murder.
DALLAS
The 23rd annual Water-Wise Landscape Tour will be held on Oct. 14 and is open to all landscapes of Dallas Water Utilities customers. The tour will feature front yard landscapes. Back yard landscapes may be included at the discretion of the homeowner.
All entrants must agree that their landscapes may be photographed for publicity and educational purposes. All winners must agree to be present to answer visitor questions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on tour day.
A Dallas County Master Gardener volunteer will assist on tour day. Demonstration gardens and commercial landscapes will not be eligible for prizes or volunteers on tour day.
Judging will be based on design, water conservation and maintenance.
• Design: aesthetic appeal; composition and use of color and plant variety.
• Water conservation: efficient irrigation/water use; use of non-vegetative materials such as fences, walls, walks, etc.; use of native or adapted plants; reduced turf area and use of mulches.
• Appropriate maintenance: landscape tidy, meaning healthy, disease and pest free plants; have no weeds and plants are pruned appropriately.
The tour is co-sponsored by City of Dallas Water Utilities and the Dallas County Master Gardener Association Inc.
The deadline to enter is Aug.18. Entries will be judged in late August.
To enter, visit https://savedallaswater.com, complete the online Call for Entry form, upload a minimum of three current photographs of your landscape, including at least one overall view, or download a the form from http://www.savedallaswater.com/pdf/2017wwlt_cfe.pdf, complete the form and mail with the minimum of three current photographs, including at least one overall view of your landscape, to:
City of Dallas Water-Wise Landscape Tour
1500 Marilla Street, Room 2AN
Dallas, TX 75201
Or fax to 214-670-5244
For more information, call 214-670-3155 or e-mail tour@savedallaswater.com.
DALLAS
The city of Dallas will hold a series of public meetings in July to inform residents about the Assessment of Fair Housing and provide an opportunity for all to participate in the AFH planning process.
AFH is an analysis of fair housing data, an assessment of housing issues and contributing factors and identification of fair housing priorities and goals specific to Dallas.
Examples of fair housing issues include regional demographics, segregation, racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, access to opportunity, disproportionate housing need, publicly supported housing, access to persons with disabilities and fair housing enforcement and outreach capacity.
Residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations andchurches in the Dallas metropolitan area are encouraged to attend and provide input. Those unable to attend can submit comments by email to bronson.inyabri@dallascityhall.com or by mail to:
Fair Housing and Human Rights Office
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla, Room 1BN,
Dallas, TX 75201
Meetings will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m at the following locations:
• July 11 – District 1
Kidd Springs Recreation Center
711 W. Canty St.
• July 24 – District 2
Arlington Park Recreation Center
1505 Record Crossing Road
• July 8, 2017 – District 3
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center
5150 Mark Trail Way
• July 18 – District 4
Beckley Saner Recreation Center
114 W. Hobson Ave.
• July 10 – District 5
Pleasant Oaks Recreation Center
8701 Greenmound Ave.
• July 17 – District 6
West Dallas Multipurpose Center
2828 Fish Trap Road
• July 27 – District 7
Juanita Craft Recreation Center
4500 Spring Ave.
• July 20 – District 8
Highland Hills Branch Library
6200 Bonnie View Road
• July 12 – District 9
Lochwood Branch Library
11221 Lochwood Blvd.
• July 13 – District 10
Audelia Road Branch Library
10045 Audelia Road
• July 25 – District 11
Anne Frank Elementary School
5201 Celestial Road
• July 31 – District 12
Timberglen Recreation Center
3810 Timberglen Road
• July 26 – District 13
Walnut Hill Recreation Center
10011 Midway Road
• July 29 – District 14
Roseland Homes Recreation Center
1949 N. Washington Ave.
For updates and more information, visit www.northtexasrha.com.
HOUSTON
(AP) – A Houston park that for decades was the only one in the city that allowed Black residents was rededicated Saturday after undergoing a $34 million restoration.
Local and federal money, along with donations, provided the funding.
The updated site includes a new fitness and recreation complex, a new swimming pool and improved walking and picnic areas. New tennis courts and a splash pad are also part of the upgrades.
Mayor Sylvester Turner led rededication ceremonies at the Emancipation Park property, bought more than 140 years ago by ex-slaves who pooled their money to raise hundreds of dollars.
“Can you imagine the folks back then saw the vision to purchase this property for $800, and look at where we are today,” Turner said. “The men and women who first brought this park into being were just a few years removed from slavery. Yet they knew what they wanted and they set about to build it.”
On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston to declare Texas slaves free, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The park was used to celebrate Juneteenth, commemorating the abolition of slavery and thus picking up the name Emancipation Park.
Houston acquired the park in 1918 amid racial segregation lasting until the 1960s.