Narrowly divided Arlington City Council votes 5-4 to scrap LGBTQ protections ... and other news

The Arlington City Council voted 5-4 Tuesday night to suspend protections for its LGBTQ residents that are enshrined in the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance. The speakers in support of reinstatement emphasized that Arlington residents are stronger together and the city will only be a community if everyone is accepted. In other news, as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gears up for his race to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn next year, his move leaves a large field of candidates vying for the position of the state’s top attorney. Four Republicans and three Democrats will face off in the March 3 primary to whittle down the field to one nominee for the November contest; Lt. Gov Dan Patrick wants to lower the age requirement for senior property tax exemptions from 65 to 55, a tax plan that could shave hundreds off of tax bills for more than a million homeowners; and for years, officials at the highest level of Dallas city government knew crime was a problem at Roseland, a public housing complex in Old East Dallas. In twenty eighteen, the city entered into a special agreement with Dallas Housing Authority to keep crime in check. That arrangement was different from what was at the time a new, aggressive plan to protect the public at high-crime private properties. Police reports show that since the agreement was signed, at least seven people have been killed at Roseland, including a nine-year-old girl. Twenty others were wounded by gunfire. A Dallas Morning News investigation shows that over the following seven years, the agreement was never fully followed, and the violent crime at Roseland persisted. The News found numerous ways in which D-H-A and the city fell short in addressing crime and protecting residents, including failures to follow their own agreement. See the full investigation at dallasnews.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices