Best Southwest cities ask Legislature for more dog control power

July 8, the Cedar Hill City Council joined its Duncanville counterpart in officially memorializing the Texas Legislature to allow cities to have more control over specific breeds of dogs.

Cedar Hill City Councilmembers specifically disavowed wanting to ban pit bulls or other types or breeds of dogs, but said they do want the freedom to be able to enact certain controls on certain types of dogs, such as additional fencing requirements.

Currently, Texas law prohibits cities from enacting any breed-specific ordinances.

Today Newspapers will have an editorial column on the issue July 17.

Ironically, last night, after being at another event in Cedar Hill, I saw a pit bull running loose in DeSoto on my way home.

Some not-so-good economic news for Cedar Hill

A second major retailer in six months with a Cedar Hill location has filed for Chapter 11 protection.

As a New York Times news analysis predicted about a month ago, Linens ’n Things has filed for bankruptcy, joining Bombay, which went out of business last fall.

And, it will be closing its Cedar Hill store, at the Plaza in Cedar Hill, as part of its reorganization. That’s one of five Dallas-area stores, 10 in Texas, and 120 across the country it will shutter, while planning to stay in operation as a company during the bankruptcy process.

<blockquote>“The significant deterioration in the mortgage, housing and credit markets and the resulting impact on the retail marketplace, particularly the home sector, has overwhelmed the operating and merchandising improvements that we have made over the past two years,” said Robert J. DiNicola, Linens Holding executive chairman, in a statement.

“We are making the strategic decision to use a Chapter 11 filing to proactively address our capital structure and ensure that our stores will remain well stocked while we work through the steps to align the capital structure of the company with the realities of today’s business environment,” DiNicola said.</blockquote>

The company has a total of 589 stores in the U.S. and Canada; Canadian stores are not affected by the filing.

Like Bombay and other home furnishing retailers, the recent housing crunch is believed to have contributed to Linens ’n Things’ problems.

TxDOT may need to fix southbound U.S. 67 service road in Cedar Hill

Right now, just north of the Pleasant Run intersection, the southbound U.S. 67 service road adds a third lane that becomes a right-turn lane into Best Buy’s parking lot. But, it’s a right-turn only lane, one that you then lose before you get the right-turn lane for Pleasant Run.

More than once, wanting to turn onto Pleasant Run, I have found myself getting in the first right-turn lane, then saying a mental “Oops” and hoping I don’t look like an idiot.

Beyond that, though, I see a situation similar to that when Cedar Hill got its big wave of economic development on FM 1382 about five years ago. Traffic was hugely backing up on the offramp from southbound 67 to 1382, with the end result that the Texas Department of Transportation had to extend the length of the offramp by several hundred feet.

Well, with continued growth in shopping at Uptown Village, more and more people are going to use the Pleasant Run access to the center. I think TxDOT needs to get rid of the inset curb between the two right turn lanes, create a single right-turn lane, and extend it back further than where it starts now.

Dogwoods!

This is why the city of Cedar Hill has given Audubon Texas $1 million, plus donated land to Audubon, for the preservation of Dogwood Canyon.

I’ll admit getting a bit lucky with this shot; I didn’t notice the butterfly had flown into the center of the cluster of flowers while I was in the middle of shooting.

More photos in the April 10 Cedar Hill Today.