Lake Highlands People (Newspaper) - August 25, 2006, Dallas, Texas SPORTS TAB Check out the 200607 season ENGAGEMENT Soon to say WEEKEND The Vanished rock Granada 3B I FRIDAY AUGUST 25 COM VOL 3 ISSUE 33 ONE QUARTER Economic Seeds Sprout Budget growth possible tax break are signs of payoff By Peter Simek Staff Writer One tax dollar out of every eight collected by the city of Dallas comes from a prop erty within a mile of the State Thomas district in Uptown Dallas said Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans who oversees economic development and housing for the managers office That is enough reason to believe that the citys efforts in the past couple of decades to grow Dallas business and commercial base are begin ning to pay off he added Twothirds of the tax base increase comes from new construction and com growth Evans said which reverses a trend we were hoping to reverse It used to be In a word Evans says den is responsible for the growth that may bring about the citys first tax rate reduction in eight years Highrise developments that lead to more retail development along transit lines the sion new and Targets Pinnacle Park These are all seeds Evans said The growing tax base has enabled City Manager Mary Suhm to propose a bil lion budget a million increase over the 200506 budget and to suggest a 25 cent per tax rate decrease Last week Mayor Laura Miller proposed taking that tax break even further to a dollar cut but faced tion from the rest of the council During a briefing on Aug 14 council members said they wanted the extra funds to be earmarked for public safety quality of life and other city needs before a property tax cut Evans said the city should soon be able to offer a larger tax cut as more projects come on line We want to grow the gen eral fund and address key issues Evans said adding that the forthcoming budget proposes bringing 85 per cent of Dallas streets to an adequate standard First we need to see a whole lot more development Evans pointed toward new tax increment financ ing districts for Fair Park and the Design See CITY Page DEVELOPING LAKE HIGHLANDS Business Environment Takes Strides Still Slow Retail restaurant choices remain limited Hannah Robertson 4 reaches out for a balloon dog from Shelley Pruitt during the Early Childhood PTA member ship drive at Lake Highlands Christian Church Wallace Students Reflect on First Week of School Excitement anxiety closely linked to By Sarah P Henry Staff Writer Sara Anderson was less than impressed with her first week of school at Wallace Elementary in Lake Highlands not because class was too hard she loves her teacher and cant wait to get past the kindergarten review of the first few days and on to the more difficult material but because she and the rest of her classmates havent been allowed to go out for recess because of the tem every day Its the only time I get to see my friends from my old class she said Mom Erin Anderson said her daughter is just learning how all her friends wont be in her class every year Despite the lack of recess the Andersons said they are very pleased with Wallace I grew up here in Lake Highlands said Erin who also happens to be the daugh ter of local Councilman Blaydes I moved back to raise my family here This is a school thats committed to neighborhood families and its a great place to be We wouldnt want to be anywhere else Nick excited about his year at Wallace because his new rank ing allows him to check out two library books this year instead of just one Susan Arends Nicks mother has two children at Wallace and said what makes the pal Jeremy Gilbert Ive heard teachers in the work room say such good things about him and hes not even there she said Keeping parents students and teach ers happy has got to be a cult job but he does it She credited Gilbert for Wallaces high teacher reten tion rate saying the school only has three new teachers this year Michelle Dishman is the PTA president at Wallace this year and is excited about all the events planned including the annual carnival the fall frozen food fundraiser as well as the Hoops in the Highlands basketball tournament See SCHOOL Page By Bruce Felps Staff Writer While local business devel continues to make positive strides in Lake Highlands with the arrival of a new restaurant and projects like the redo of the Kingsley Square shop ping center for some the change is too slow and piecemeal Business and community leaders say only a complete of the community from repairing aging ture to revising its laws to a wholesale grass roots support of local busi ness will spark broad scale redevelopment Michael Miles chairman of the Dallas Northeast Chamber of Commerce said that road repairs improved street conditions and easier access northward across the LBJ Freeway are key to attracting businesses the organizations Lake Highlands economic devel committee has focused its efforts on sup porting such city programs as the Forward Dallas comprehensive plan and the city managers rec 2006 Capital Bond Program Thats part of the process toward improved retail and restaurants the Lake Highlands resident said The most people agree that the intersection of Audelia Skillman Whitehurst and LBJ just doesnt work We need more open access to connect Lake Highlands north of LBJ and we need a bridge over it Judge Juggles Between Home Court Reelection bid presents new hurdle Michael Miles believes better street conditions could give area eco nomic development a big boost Miles also said that the dry status pre vents restaurants from mov ing Into the area There are these little pockets in the old strip cen ter design three on four corners of an intersection in Lake Highlands and some real gems in those pockets like a little Thai place at the corner of Piano Road and what is now Walnut Hill he said A lot of that is that its a dry area Peter Columbo owner of Italian Restaurant said he competes on an uneven playing field with dining establishments in wet areas He has to main tain an annual private liquor license to serve beer wine and mixed drinks and account for private club memberships for his patrons which adds another layer to bookkeeping and accounting he said He also lacks buying lever age when shopping for liquor beer and wine to stock his restaurant Private clubs by law are limited to a See BUSINESS Page By Bruce Felps Staff Writer State Judge Susan Rankins rulings carry almost as much authority at home as they do in her court In each tion Rankin must weigh the evidence look into the peti eyes and derive a fair decision The difference however lies in the longterm tions of her rulings At home her daughter Amanda might pout for an hour after a ruling goes against her In Family District Court lives can change for ever Rankin a republican assumed the bench in January 1997 when President George State Judge Susan Rankin with her daughter Amanda COURTESY PHOTO W Bush who was acting gov posed in both bids ernor at the time appointed her to fill a vacancy She was elected to the post during the 1998 general elections and re elected in 2002 She ran She presides over cases custody dis putes Child Protective See RANKIN Page School Zone STAFF PHOTO JEREMY Lake Highlands Elementary Will Irby helps a fellow student and his father cross the schools driveway Irby is part of the School Safety Patrol program that allows under adult sion to act as crossing guards WEEKEND filmmaker Bent Hamer was really interesting because he liked to let the scene play out in front of the camera without doing a lot of editing I discovered thats really whats great about it that your performance can be unadulterated 55 Matt MM on playing in Factotum WEATHER Partly Cloudy Sunny Partly
