Recent editorials from Texas newspapers

Here are excerpts from recent editorials in Texas newspapers:

Longview News-Journal. Sept. 29, 2019.

It isn’t obvious to us exactly how highway projects make it from conception on paper to concrete reality. We know there is no set process that guarantees approval for funding, regardless of need. It has something to do with political power but is more than that, too.

Whatever the secrets, it appears Gregg County has found the correct formula as 11 significant projects either partly or wholly within the county have been added to the state’s list of goals for the next 10 years. Harrison County to our east will also see major improvements.

This is huge news. It means long-needed projects can move forward from the concept stage to actual planning and, eventually, the letting of bids and construction. It means state transportation officials have decided these projects should be completed. It means there will be no more discussion about the worthiness of the proposals.

Getting to this point is a major achievement, one worthy of celebration.

The projects total almost $300 million and every one of them is tied to solving problems that have been the cause of fatal accidents, are near school campuses or along designated truck routes. All of them are designed to make our highways and streets safer and more efficient. All will make Gregg County a more inviting place to live and do business.

Most of them also are long overdue.

The list includes $150 million to rework the left-exit interchange between I-20 and U.S. 259, which has long been a dangerous and difficult place to navigate. Also included is a plan to widen Texas 42 from two lanes to four between I-20 and U.S. 80. This is another hazardous area that has long needed to be made safer.

In fact, safety seems to be at the heart of the work, with road-widening the primary focus of six of the projects. Moving people and goods is, of course, the point of road building but the primary concern is doing so as safely as possible.

That seems to be what engineers used as their first objective in devising all the projects.

Still, there is work to be done before we fully celebrate these successes. Appropriations from the state Legislature must be allocated, and that is where problems can occur.

The Texas Department of Transportation and Texas Transportation Commission that gave this list final approval have their priorities, but individual politicians can bring pressure to bear. That could lead a project here being swapped for another one there. Or the overall budget can be cut, forcing TxDOT to remove some projects in favor of others.

Until the votes are taken and spending bill is approved, nothing is a certainty.

The fact Gregg County has gotten this many projects this far is an accomplishment, though, and a big one. Many people have worked diligently, and for many years, to get us to this point.

But the work is not finished. Now, these projects must be guided through the process with care. Local officials who have worked to get us here must watch to keep progress on track. Road building is often not the sexiest item on the agenda but in these cases it should be.

The officials who have gotten us this far are to be congratulated. The work ahead will improve our area’s quality of life and lead to growth.

This is huge news. But we must remember there is still work ahead - and that includes making sure we get to completion of these needed projects.

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The Dallas Morning News. Sept. 30, 2019.

When Dallas lost out on its bid to become at least half of Amazon’s HQ2, it represented a setback for the region, but it also created an opportunity.

We could learn from what we lacked and prepare for a future where the world’s biggest and most dynamic companies cannot afford to say no to what our city and our region have to offer.

Dallas has learned this lesson before. When Boeing selected Chicago over us in 2001, it marked a moment when Dallas had to face the fact that it didn’t have the cultural amenities nor the vibrant downtown that Chicago offered.

Look at us since then. Downtown is transformed. People populate its streets night and day. Gorgeous new parks have bloomed from parking lots. The Arts District is among the finest in any city in America. We answered the challenge.

The challenge presented by Amazon’s rejection was different, and in certain ways, more daunting.

Despite our wealth and growth, we simply do not have the workforce that major technology companies need. The truth is most cities off the coasts, absent our own capital, don’t have that either.

Part of the pitch our region made when we were courting Amazon was to build an “Amazon University” with the support of local colleges. The idea was to work together to ensure that we could grow, right here, the sort of tech talent that Amazon needs.

When we lost out on the deal, this page urged local leaders to build it anyway.

“Dallas didn’t win this fight, but that doesn’t mean the city should accept defeat. As the nation advances technologically, more companies requiring tech employees will emerge. It gets a lot of attention when a company promises 50,000 jobs. But when 10 employers bring 5,000 jobs each, the benefit is the same. Why not do the work to encourage all of them to move here,” we asked.

Well, that hasn’t quite happened yet, but Dallas and the state have taken a valuable step forward.

As reporter Melissa Repko wrote last week, community colleges in Dallas County and elsewhere in Texas will work with Amazon Web Services to create a new degree program that will prepare students for careers in cloud computing.

Joe May, chancellor of the Dallas County Community College District, deserves credit once again for a forward-thinking effort about getting Dallas students the job skills they need as early as possible in their lives and at a price that will not cripple them with debt.

DCCCD will join 22 other community colleges next year in offering a two-year cloud computing degree. As Repko reports, the skills taught to get that degree can lead to well-paying jobs that stand the chance of lifting young people from Dallas ISD and other ISDs out of poverty.

What’s more, having a well-trained and ready workforce means the next time Amazon or another major tech company comes knocking, we will be ready.

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Houston Chronicle. Oct. 1, 2019.

For many of us, hateful words and acts of prejudice from another person are where the conversation ends.

For Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, they are where the conversation began.

Back in 2008, when a Sikh family accused Harris County deputies of handcuffing them, roughing them up and even likening them to terrorists while responding to the family’s 911 call about a burglary, then-Sheriff-elect Adrian Garcia seized on the teachable moment.

He met with members of the Sikh community, pledging diversity training when he took over as sheriff, but also asking people of the Sikh faith to consider serving in law enforcement.

Dhaliwal answered the call. Sikhism, the world’s fifth largest religion, is a monotheistic faith centered around equality, service and justice - ideals Dhaliwal believed were vital to police service. He worked his way up from detention officer to deputy, even earning a bit of celebrity in 2015 after persuading the sheriff’s department to make religious accommodations in its dress code that allowed him to grow out his beard and wear a Sikh turban, among the articles of faith kept by men and women that distinguish observant Sikhs.

Locally and nationally, he became a “walking lesson in tolerance and understanding,” as Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner called him. A “trailblazer” and a “hero,” as Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

Not everyone agreed with the dress code change, though. Alan Bernstein, who handled communications for the agency at the time, said half the emails from the public seemed supportive and the other half were opposed. One went so far as to say he’d never “pull over for that terrorist,” Bernstein recalls.

The danger, the controversy, the constant looks of suspicion and curiosity didn’t stop Dhaliwal. Indeed, they seemed part of what inspired his mission to educate people about the Sikh faith as he went about his law enforcement duties.

“When people don’t understand each other, that’s when some of the prejudice and bias comes in. I think he invited those questions because he wanted people to understand,” said Dena Marks, senior associate director of the Southwest Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League in Houston. “Sometimes, some of us suffer from ignorance. It’s always better to educate and create understanding than to push people away when you feel they’re in need of some understanding.”

Of course, that’s not easy. It requires superhuman patience and a lot of empathy. Dhaliwal had them in abundance - part of the reason he was so special, so beloved, and now, so mournfully missed.

Dhaliwal, a 42-year-old married father of three, was shot to death Friday during a routine traffic stop, allegedly ambush-style by a man later discovered to be a felon with a lengthy criminal record.

People across the area have poured their sorrow into social media posts full of stories, pictures and videos of the deputy who called most everyone friend.

One story tells of Dhaliwal encouraging a 4-year-old boy who wanted to become a police officer to “follow his dreams.” A video shows the deputy playfully letting a young deaf boy handcuff him at a restaurant. Another shows him after Hurricane Harvey coordinating a couple dozen truckloads of donations from the Sikh community for first-responders and Houston schoolchildren.

Public funeral services are scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Berry Center in Cypress, with a religious ceremony planned for 10:30 a.m. and a law enforcement memorial at 11:30 a.m.

As much as Dhaliwal’s tragic death is a reminder of the dangers law enforcement officers face daily to keep us safe, it’s also a reminder of Dhaliwal’s hopeful legacy.

He was the embodiment of the values that bind us here in Houston, the most ethnically diverse city in the country. Tolerance. Acceptance. Understanding.

A good man is gone from this world, but his lessons live on in those whose lives he touched and those who know his story.