BEST BEST HAIR SALON DALLAS OBSERVER 17-TIME WINNER BEST COLOR SALON ALLURE MAGAZINE 32 Years Serving Dallas Celebrating West Village 214-750-5667 • www.avalon-salon.com UNLIMITED TACOS ARE BETTER TOGETHER Adam Jones, Ph.D. / Creative Commons It’s a good thing too, Council said, be- cause the harsh schedule and lack of work- ing equipment are two of the main reasons the department loses employees. “We have a schedule that is very difficult to operate,” he added. On top of making the service better for residents, Council said, “What we’re trying to do with this is improve work-life balance of our staff and make this a better operation for them.” But change doesn’t always come easy, he said, and some with the department have al- ready shared their concerns. Some crew members want to know if hours will be re- duced, while others have concerns about potential layoffs. Council said he’s tried to assure everyone that neither of these will happen. As for residents, Council said some may have been on the same trash and recycling schedule for up to two decades. So, the new routes, which will impact 56% of customers, may take some getting used to at first, he said. “The change that they will see is actual days of collection,” Council said. “There will be no reduction in the service being delivered; rather, it’s just a change in the actual day.” Next month, the city will start sending out information to residents about the spe- cific changes. This information will also be available online and through city staff by calling 311. ▼ PRISON LIFE SENTENCE T U.S. JUDGE IN TEXAS SENT AN ARYAN CIRCLE GANG MEMBER TO PRISON FOR LIFE. BY PATRICK STRICKLAND he way federal authorities tell it, Jesse Paul Blankenship burned a tat- too off another man’s skin with a metal rod he’d heated with a blowtorch. He also participated in a kidnapping and opened fire on two people in their home. Between 2010 and 2021, federal authori- ties say, Blankenship had “put in work” for the Aryan Circle, one of the country’s most notorious neo-Nazi prison gangs. Now, he’s headed to a federal prison with a life sentence, the U.S. Department of Jus- tice in East Texas announced in a press re- The Aryan Circle has spent decades growing into one of Texas’ most feared prison gangs. lease earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield is- sued the life sentence some 10 months after the court convicted Blankenship of racke- teering conspiracy, kidnapping in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit kid- napping in aid of racketeering. Blankenship, a 39-year-old from Mis- souri, moved up in the leadership ranks of Aryan Circle throughout his time in the gang, eventually gaining enough authority to order fellow members to carry out violence, the DOJ in East Texas said in the release. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who advocate harm to oth- ers, and to specifically target the leaders of violent gangs,” U.S. Attorney Brit Feather- stone in the Eastern District of Texas said in the release. Fred Milanowski, the special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Dallas, said the case “demonstrates that members of violent gangs that engage in heinous crimes will be held accountable.” Founded as a rival splinter group of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas in 1985, the Aryan Circle has gained a reputation as one of the most brutal prison gangs in Texas and beyond. Throughout the last three and a half de- cades, the gang has grown in size as it spread throughout the prison system. Authorities say it’s been involved in murders, attacks on law enforcement, methamphetamine traf- ficking and other crimes. While the gang regularly traffics in arms and drugs, the Anti-Defamation League watchdog has said Aryan Circle members have also committed hate crimes against people of color and the LGBTQ community, among others. “Though their main motivations are those of an organized crime group, they live up to the hatred implicit in their white su- premacist beliefs as well,” the watchdog says in one report. The ADL says the Aryan Circle is the sec- ond-largest prison gang in Texas. TACO 'BOUT A GREAT TIME CELEBRATE WHILE SAVING WITH OUR DISCOUNTED GROUP TICKETS CONTACT US ENERGY SQUARE PLAZA • TACOLANDIADALLAS.COM COMPANY OUTINGS • BIRTHDAY PARTIES • SPECIAL OCCASIONS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12 EXPERIENCE D MAGAZINE BEST IN THE USA HARPER’S BAZAAR BEST BRAZILIAN WAX LUCKY MAGAZINE 5 7 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER SEPTEMBER 22–28, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014
