8 January 9 - 15, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents As Dallas enters 2025, council members have made it clear that finding a manager is a top priority. Why it wasn’t for the last 10 months is one question. How long this pro- cess will continue to take is another. Charlotte Jones in America’s Sweethearts A boatload of media has been produced about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders over the years, but few peeks into the world have been as intimate as Netflix’s documentary se- ries America’s Sweethearts, which debuted earlier this year. The documentary revealed the good and the bad that comes with being a DCC, but the cheerleaders and directors Judy Trammell and Kelli Finglass ultimately were shown to be beautiful, focused, devoted advocates for the blue and white. Charlotte Jones, on the other hand, did not win rave reviews. (She’s Jerry’s daugh- ter. Two Jones’ on the Bum Steer list. Who could have seen that coming?) There were the whispered “Bless her heart”s when a cheerleader dared to gain a pound or 2. Then there was the scene where Jones insisted a promising dancer be cut from the team days before their first show because of her short stature. In each epi- sode, Jones came off as a mercurial, antifem- inist bully leading an organization that claims to be about female empowerment. Perhaps more indefensible, though, were Jones’ comments about cheerleaders’ pay. Although the salary of a DCC isn’t public knowledge, we have some rough guesses. In America’s Sweethearts, former Cowboys cheerleader Kat Puryear stated she made less than a Chick-fil-A employee. HuffPost has reported the cheerleaders make $12.50 per hour and an additional $400 per game. The idea of full-time hours for part-time pay in professional cheerleading has drawn crit- icism, but Jones defended the choice in the documentary. “They’re not paid a lot. But the facts are that they actually don’t come here for the money,” Jones insisted. “They come here for something that’s actually bigger than that to them.” Financial experts estimate the Dallas Cowboys organization tops $1 billion in rev- enue each year. How ‘bout you pay them girls, Charlotte Jones? North Texas Higher Education Few institutions garnered worse headlines this year than North Texas universities, spe- cifically the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at Dallas. At UTD, pro-Palestine protests led to ten- sion between the university’s administration and the student newspaper staff. Between ex- orbitant prices for public records requests and the firing of the Mercury’s editor-in-chief, Gre- gorio Olivares Gutierrez, UTD drew attention from First Amendment rights groups after the newspaper staff went on strike. “UTD’s removal of Gutierrez and the de- nial of his appeal are antithetical to basic con- ceptions of a free student press and incongruous with the public university’s bind- ing legal obligations to uphold Gutierrez’s and other students’ First Amendment rights,” said a letter to administrators from The Student Press Law Center and the Foundation for In- dividual Rights and Expression (FIRE). UTD’s treatment of its student journal- ists appears to echo complaints of a stifled academic environment that faculty reported to FIRE during a campus survey about free speech. Nearly half of the UT Dallas profes- sors who answered the survey reported they have “recently toned down something they wrote for fear of causing controversy,” and more than half of the respondents reported that academic freedom is “not very” or “not at all” secure on UTD’s campus. But it was UNT that really couldn’t catch a break. Controversies surrounding Texas’ DEI ban, a creep photographing female students in the gym and the Health Science Center’s sell- ing of unclaimed bodies made for less-than- flattering headlines about the Mean Green. The last scandal was revealed by an NBC News exposé, gaining national attention and resulting in the program being terminated. Still, for as much PR rehab UNT has to do in light of the Health Science Center fi- asco, there is little to be done to heal the in- dividuals whose loved ones’ bodies were “frozen, cut into pieces and leased out across the country.” ▼ TEXAS LEGISLATURE NEW YEAR, NEW RULES SOME NEW TEXAS LAWS AREN’T SO BAD. BY ALYSSA FIELDS T he first day of the year always marks a new beginning. It also means new laws, many of which were approved in the 88th Legislative Session and went into effect on Jan. 1. The new laws usher in the end of safety inspections for non-commer- cial vehicles and new data protections, among other changes. The Texas Legisla- ture meets every two years in odd years for 140 days to vote on proposed bills. In the last session, in 2023, more than 1,000 bills were approved for immediate effect. Other strag- glers were enforced in 2024, and the final few become laws this new year. The 89th legislative session will begin Jan. 14 and end June 2. This year, a record 1,500 bills were pre-filed on the first day. Last session, lawmakers cast votes on 11,807 bills. Here are the ones becoming laws on the first day of 2025. More Data Protections House Bill 4, drafted by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, offers data protec- tions against companies. The law provides safeguards for “personal and sensitive infor- mation” that is collected, stored or sold by companies. Personal information is defined as content that can be directly traced to an individual and is not already publicly avail- able. Sensitive information relates to an in- dividual’s sexuality, ethnicity, religion, genetic and health information and other private matters. In essence, the law requires large companies to disclose their data col- lection methods and uses, and allows con- sumers to opt out of data collection and sale for targeted ads and profiling. It also allows consumers to delete or correct any personal information collected. Some organizations are exempt, such as state government agen- cies, nonprofits, higher education institu- tions and small businesses. No More Vehicle Inspections This year, Texas will join 13 other states that do not require annual safety inspections. House Bill 3297, introduced by Republican Rep. Cody Harris of Palestine, aims to save drivers time and money by putting the re- sponsibility for maintaining their vehicles in their hands. Previously, driving without a valid inspection sticker would result in a misdemeanor charge and a fine of up to $200. Renewing a yearly inspection used to cost $40 for the inspection, $7 for the state inspection fee and an afternoon in an auto shop waiting room. Now, Texans will pay $7.50 for an Inspection Program Replace- ment Fee. Drivers will be wholly responsible for their brakes, lights and tires. And police officers will still be ticketing for faulty equipment, so keep your tail lights on and your windshields intact. Reintroducing Emissions Tests Part of the comprehensive safety inspection that becomes optional in 2025 is an emissions test for gas-powered vehicles between 2 and 24 years old. An emissions test measures the amount of pollutants and greenhouse gases emitted by a vehicle. Standards for emissions were established in 1994 by the Environmen- tal Protection Agency. Eradicating state in- spections also eliminated required emissions tests, but certain counties have reintroduced mandated emissions testing, including Dallas County. Other counties working to improve the air quality in North Texas by monitoring vehicle emissions are Collin, Denton, Ellis and Tarrant counties. Dallas has been working on the issue since 2018, when it launched the Breathe Easy Dallas program. In 2023, the city in- stalled 40 air quality monitors as part of the program. Put “improving the air quality” on North Texas’ New Year’s resolutions list. A New Judicial District House Bill 3474, drafted by Republican Rep. Jeff Leach of Plano, establishes the 477th ju- dicial district to cover Denton County. Den- ton has been expanding its judicial structure for many years, including construction of a new courthouse and the addition of another grand jury. Rewriting the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure The Texas Code of Criminal Pro- cedure, a 1,656-page document, sets the rules for every facet of criminal proceedings. It was originally adopted in 1966 and has been periodically amended. House Bill 4504, drafted by Democratic Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso, revises the text of the code without changing the meaning. The updates will restate the duties of police offi- cers and their conduct with the public and rules for trying cases in local courts and clearing criminal records. None of the laws will change, but there will be technical re- writes to simplify the language for better understanding. >> p10 Unfair Park from p6 Getty Images America’s Sweethearts revealed the good and the bad of the DCC lifestyle. Courtesy of CMT A few remaining laws from the 88th State Legislative Session in 2023 will go into effect on Jan. 1 of the new year.
