Dallas Jail Could Pass Inspection & Nightly Roundup

By BJ Austin, KERA News

Dallas, TX – Inspectors with the State Jail Standards Commission will announce Wednesday morning if the Dallas County Jail has passed inspection.

County Commissioner John Wiley Price is optimistic the jail WILL pass this time. It's failed every inspection since 2003.

Price says inspectors took a preliminary look a couple of weeks ago.

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Price: Their commentary was this is the best the jail has looked in 15 years. The main thing was fire safety. They ran all of those tests. They were very impressed, and we feel very confident.

Smoke detectors and evacuation were the only negatives in the last inspection. Previous problems included jail staffing, sanitation, maintenance and medical care. Price says it's taken years and 178 million dollars to get the jail up to standards.

Sheriff's Freeway Patrols Off Budget Cut Radar

Only one Dallas County Commissioner is ready to get rid of the Sheriff's Freeway Patrol Program to save six million dollars.

The county is working to close a 23 million dollar budget gap, and Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield says "local police" should resume traffic duties on Interstate 30, and freeways to the south.

But Michael Morris with the regional Council of Governments told Commissioners that Deputies clear wrecks and get traffic moving faster than the local officers did. And, that's worth a lot.

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Morris: Because of the reduced clearance times, we took a conservative estimate, you have almost a hundred million dollars a year in annual travel time savings.

Morris offered possible funding from the Regional Transportation Council to help keep the program going. Sheriff Lupe Valdez is confident the program is off the chopping block.

Tarrant County Budget Balanced - 6 Layoffs

Tarrant County Commissioners do not plan to raise the tax rate next fiscal year, and the budget is balanced.

County Commissioners say there won't be merit raises next year, but employees will get a lump sum payment of three percent. Six employees are getting layoff notices.

To balance the budget, the county is using four million dollars from a fund made up of unexpected revenue or expenditure savings.

Tarrant County Commissioners will officially set the tax rate and vote on the budget September 14th.

New Low-Cost Carrier At DFW

Virgin America will begin nonstop service from DFW airport to Los Angeles and San Francisco starting in December.

DFW CEO Jeff Fegan says passengers will see a "big benefit from increased competition."

The San Francisco-based Virgin America becomes the fifth low-cost carrier to operate out of DFW Airport. That group does not include Southwest Airlines, based at Dallas Love Field.