Leading Off
Dallas officer surrenders on misdemeanor warrant.
Officer Ali Toppa has been investigated by his employer at least three times in the four years he’s been a Dallas cop. He turned himself into the Irving Police Department on Thursday for a misdemeanor charge “of releasing a body-worn camera recording without permission.” The past investigations are troubling: he responded to a stolen vehicle call and made “unwelcome physical advances” toward the woman who called 911 in a motel room. He also turned off his body-worn camera and gave conflicting statements to internal affairs investigators, which led to a three-day suspension. In March 2023, a woman accused him of assault “while they were intimate at a hotel” in Trophy Club. Investigators asked her to report it there, which she did not wish to do. Irving hasn’t detailed the charge.
Two Dallas North Tollway lanes will be closed this weekend from downtown to SMU.
Other media outlets make you click to find the “Dallas highway” where there will be major traffic delays. Not me! It’s the Dallas North Tollway, and you don’t have to point your browser to a WFAA page that will autoplay an Adobe ad to find that out. From 10 p.m. today to 5 a.m. Monday, two lanes will be shut down in either direction from near Victory Park through the University Boulevard exit on the tollway.
Judge sides with police and fire pension, orders city to speed up spending.
Dallas may need to spend a lot more money shoring up the $3 billion police and fire pension shortfall based on a new accelerated timeline approved by a judge in Travis County. The city’s plan wanted to take five years to flow more money into the underfunded pension, but the pension board wanted it done in three. The judge agreed with the pension’s argument that state law dictated that the board must agree to the city’s plan, not the other way around; if the pension’s desire for a three-year step up becomes the path, it will cost the city $400 million more than the $11.2 billion Dallas proposed investing over the next 30 years. The city’s chief financial officer has said anything earlier than five years will result in cutting services.
Sunday’s high is 80.
I don’t know what to do with this weather, man. We have a sunny weekend ahead, with today’s high at 66. Tomorrow’s is 72. Sunday’s is, yes, 80. Next weekend should hang in the 50s, which seems a lot more reasonable for a standard November.