1. Clock to wind down on private toll road contracts
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...s approved the North Tarrant Express. Also in Dallas, the North Texas Tollway Authority will handle the Trinity Parkway project, and likely Highway 161 as well. The I-69 project has been approved...

2. Mayor Leppert Ignored Trinity Parkway Warnings
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

When voters were preparing to decide the future of the Trinity toll road in the autumn of 2007, newly-elected Mayor Tom Leppert claimed again and again that he had been assured by the U.S. Army Corps

3. Hold On School Bond!
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

...iously derail the political fortunes of several newly minted Black power brokers and the Mayor. During the Trinity River toll road vote, I warned Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway of the risks he wa...

4. City Hall: Year in Review
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...sed for his seat. Blaydes later endorsed Ed Oakley in the mayor’s race and supported Vote No! in the Trinity toll road debate. Blaydes, who has diabetes, cited health as his reason for not runni...

5. The Dismal State Of Black Dallas
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

...asing the city’s tax base by developing the southern sector.  Throughout the campaign for the Trinity River toll road, I continuously pointed out that DCC types were behind the pro toll r...

6. What's the Rush?
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

I went to Tuesday’s Trinity River Corridor Project Committee meeting knowing exactly what I was going to write about: the Texas Horse Park. I had my story ready to write Monday until I looked

7. The Evolving Black Electorate
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

...es, the Black electorate is focused on winning elections and dealing with new challenges.  The recent Trinity River toll road vote and the recent Mayoral election have produced winners and losers...

8. Schutze Exposes DMN
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

In my column wrapping up the Trinity election, I cited a story by DMN transportation writer Michael Lindenberger, which helped address the many concerns about the toll road including its approval and

9. Saving the Caterpillars
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...ent was likely going to cause me to miss the council’s reaction to Angela Hunt after Tuesday’s Trinity election. My clock read 9:02 as I was able to finally exit into downtown. Normally, t...

10. Hunt Faces Council after Trinity Election; Suhm and Perkins Get Big Cash Bonuses
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

Vonciel Hill and Angela Hunt share a laugh in front of the Paparazzi; Hunt greets TrinityVote supporters Several TrinityVote volunteers and supporters attended Monday’s City Council meeti

11. Running From The Facts
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

... was Ms. Hunt’s campaign that sabotaged “Vote No” campaign signs to read “Pave The Trinity” instead of “Save The Trinity”. It was Ms. Hunt’s campaign th...

12. Pauken and Matthews on 1160 AM from 4 to 6 today
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

Tom Pauken and Sean Matthews will discuss the “Evangelical Divide” and the “Trinity River Project Victory” from 4 to 6 PM today on 1160AM. Pastor Laurence White, one of the m

13. DMN Was Convinced TrinityVote Would Win
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...tten and edited about how now that the voters had spoken and they didn’t want the tollway inside the Trinity River levees, that it was time for community leaders to get on board with that sentim...

14. Catching Up with the MLB Offseason
(Sports/Sam Merten On BASEBALL)

I’ve been a little busy with this Trinity toll road thingy, so it’s been a while since my last MLB post. I’ll cook up some thoughts on the MLB offseason and give a review of Jon Dani

15. Enlightment 1, Birkenstocks 0
(Viewpoints/Scott Bennett)

...ave a say is a good thing; so long as they say the right thing. Second, the only way we could ever put the Trinity behind us and move on was to have this election. Happily, 53% of the people said the ...

16. Message to TrinityVote Supporters: Thank You
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...gardless of the election results. We shed light on one of the most important projects facing our city, the Trinity River Corridor Project, after it had been cloistered at City Hall for nearly a decade...

17. Suits Prevail Over Citizens; Hunt Wins Battle of Integrity
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...great story by transportation writer Michael Lindenberger. He wrote that while the battle over whether the Trinity Parkway belongs inside the Trinity River park may be over, construction of the toll r...

18. Rufus Right, Sam Wrong on Trinity Toll Road Vote
(Viewpoints/Tom Pauken)

DallasBlog columnist Rufus Shaw called it correctly the day before the election on the Trinity Toll Road referendum when he predicted that the Angela Hunt proposal to block the Trinity Toll Road proje

19. San Antonio rollback fails, other district bonds pass
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...asily. Fort Worth ISD passed its bond issues. Dallas voters appear to have supported a toll road along the Trinity River. ...

20. The Toll Road Prevails
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

...en deliberately confused by other African-Americans working for Angela Hunt. I believe both sides of the Trinity toll road vote engaged in cherry picking the facts to suit their electoral agenda.&nb...

21. Trinity Vote Predictions
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

Proposition 1 total votes: 59,327 Votes FOR: 34,232 (58 percent) Votes AGAINST: 25,095 (42 percent) Final destination for the toll road: Industrial Boulevard The bottom line is that the Vote No!

22. Park and Toll Road Can’t Coexist: Vote FOR Proposition 1
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

Park or toll road? Let the voters decide. That was TrinityVote’s message from the beginning. In The Dallas Morning News’ latest and 523rd editorial urging voters to vote no, they tried t

23. Vote No! Starts Making Sense
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

... then. So let me take you back to May 29, 2002. It was a special briefing of the City Council called the Trinity Summit. Notable attendees were Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan, Director of the Tr...

24. DMN Responds to Industrial Editorial, Trucks on Toll Road
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...had to toss a couple questions her way. Nelson, who has been writing a lot of the editorials regarding the Trinity referendum, responded to questions I had about an earlier editorial about the differe...

25. NTTA Does It Again
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...d me interested as any information related to the toll increases could potentially be tied to the proposed Trinity Turnpike. So I clicked on the FAQ, and I was happy with what I saw. The first item sa...

26. Corps Contradicts Statements Made by Leppert
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Trinity Corridor Project Manager Gene Rice said the current toll road alignment has not been approved, according to KERA. This is the second time this week that KERA has e

27. Transportation Chair Destroys Vote No’s Claim about Project Pegasus
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...elieving that Project Pegasus depends on a reliever route. In fact, Morris’s 10 reasons to build the Trinity Parkway was published in The DMN and no. 5 says “creates opportunity to rebuild...

28. More Vote No! Deception
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...eckfessel, who was debating against Angela Hunt, admitted that a large gift had recently been given to the Trinity Trust Foundation. This was brought up when a great question from the audience was a...

29. Dallas North Tollway's Impact on Little Mexico
(Viewpoints/Guest Viewpoint)

...le Mexico was better known to them as Frog Town because of the frequent floods they experienced before the Trinity River levees were constructed. A more noticeable name for Frog Town among Hispanic fa...

30. I Thought They Were Better Then This
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

...ng about the lack of southern sector economic development that was promised to the Black community in this Trinity River project since the 1998 vote.  But building the toll road has never been th...

31. Political Activists Engage Leppert and Caraway; Council Recesses to Regroup
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...cilmember Al Lipscomb at Wednesday’s City Council meeting to address the upcoming Nov. 6 vote on the Trinity toll road referendum. The result was a heated exchange between Deputy Mayor Pro Tem D...

32. The Mayor and Me: Round 3
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

Every time I go to a Trinity-related event, I prepare myself for the potential of walking out with no story because I’ve heard this stuff a hundred times. Sooner or later, there simply won&rsquo

33. DMN Responds to Floodway vs. Floodplain Controversy
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

Some people following the Trinity toll road debate were alarmed at last Sunday’s DMN editorial, which sent a mixed message when it came to the distinction between a floodway and a floodplain. I

34. Who Will Win?
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

...politics is absolutely certain what side will prevail at the polls in the battle over the toll road in the Trinity River project.  Because of a changing electorate and a political community still...

35. Dallas iMedia Features Discussion on Trinity Referendum
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...Media Network’s anchor program “iN Dallas” will feature discussion of the highly-debated Trinity Toll Road referendum Monday, Oct. 22. The live hour-long program will be cableca...

36. Too Much Misinformation on Trinity River Project
(Viewpoints/Guest Viewpoint)

As one who has been deeply involved in the Trinity project for the past 15+ years, I can’t adequately express my frustration over the volume of mis-information being circulated on this blog and

37. Leppert Must Condemn Dugger
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...ation (SCBA). The SCBA sent out invitations for a “community information meeting” for a “Trinity River Project update and facts” presented by city employee Rebecca Dugger, dire...

38. Jim Schutze Takes Center Stage in Trinity Toll Road Debate
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...Dallas Morning News as a City Hall reporter, profiled Schutze in his story, “Local columnist propels Trinity toll road debate,” and D Magazine’s Eric Celeste blogged his response on ...

39. The Battle of the Mailers
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...te No’s newest mailer, which reads, “The Angela Hunt Plan: Leading Dallas down the road to new Trinity taxes.” This time, instead of money flowing down the Trinity River, the money i...

40. Enlightment , Schutze and the Trinity
(Viewpoints/Scott Bennett)

My side is not on the ballot. My side thinks the Trinity Park will be a very large homeless shelter without any shelter and the lakes are more likely to breed mosquitoes that sprout sails. My side alw

41. Neumann Disrespects Hunt and Coats
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...onday on Dallas Arena, revealing Neumann had changed the format of his Oct. 29 community meeting about the Trinity River Project and upcoming toll road vote. It turns out Neumann, chair of the Trinity...

42. Why I Will Vote AGAINST the Angela Hunt Plan
(Viewpoints/Guest Viewpoint)

...One of our city’s most important civic projects hangs in the balance due to a referendum to halt the Trinity Parkway Project.  I plan to vote no and the Chamber has adopted a position to vo...

43. NTTA Deals Another Blow to Leppert and Vote No!
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...n explanation about why the recent addition to the Dallas North Tollway cost $264 million and the proposed Trinity Turnpike’s cost is at $1.3 billion and rising since both roads are nearly the s...

44. Big Effort, No Fire
(Viewpoints/Rufus Shaw)

The entire Black political establishment has lined up in support of keeping the toll road in the Trinity River project.  But with the vote less then a month away, the Black electorate appears les

45. The Ultimate Irony: NTTA Sinks Vote No!
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...een the City of Dallas and the NTTA. There seems to be a huge debate as to whether or not to call this the Trinity Parkway or the Trinity Toll Road. Judging from this document, I’m calling it th...

46. Citizens Council and Businesses Bankrolling Vote No! Campaign
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

... in money raised is no shock to those following the campaign. Angela Hunt has said from the beginning that TrinityVote would not be able to compete with the big businesses backing the opposition. Wh...

47. Notes from the Campaign Trail: TrinityVote Dominating Debates
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

.... No matter who is speaking for Vote Yes! or Vote No!, the crowd support is clearly on the Vote Yes! side. TrinityVote has an all-star lineup of debaters while the opposition can’t get one perso...

48. Vote No! Caught Providing False Information
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...“The thing that you’re gonna vote on says if you vote yes, you will kill the road known as the Trinity Parkway," Natinsky said. "If you vote no, you will leave things the wa...

49. Leppert's Jedi Mind Tricks
(Viewpoints/Sam Merten)

...ity. Jeffers cited the city’s push to add an adjoining hotel next to the convention center and the Trinity toll road campaign. Even though Jeffers wrote “continuing the work of former ma...

50. Leppert Talks with Dallas Blog: Round 2
(Dallas Blog/DALLAS BLOG)

...ions rather than include it in a column. I spoke with Mayor Leppert again last night, this time after a Trinity toll road debate at the Fairmont Hotel sponsored by the Dallas Democratic Forum. My t...