After years of attempting to tighten security at DISD, a citizen’s budget committee has recommended that the district consider eliminating metal detectors from the district’s middle and high schools. The DMN reports that the proposal was buried in the unveiling of new Supt. Mike Miles’ big Destination 2020 plan last week.

The citizen’s budget proposal, if eventually enacted by DISD’s school board, would supposedly speed up the movement of students into and out of schools, reduce the manpower required to man detectors (generally two to four staffers or volunteers are required to staff each detector) and save lots of money. Alternative schools (typically filled with students who have caused disturbances at neighborhood schools) would continue to have detectors.

The group suggests polling principals and teachers about the detectors and adds that installing security cameras “may prove to be meaningfully more effective at a lower cost to school budgets and culture.”

The DMN’s story points out that during the past three school years, the TEA reports that there have been at least 21 incidents of guns being found in DISD schools and 24 instances where illegal knives were confiscated (blades longer than 5.5 inches).

It’s not known where the metal detectors were responsible for identifying the weapon in these instances or whether having detectors deters students from attempting to bring weapons to school.

So the point to ponder here is whether the “mental insurance” provided by having a couple of metal detectors at a few of the school’s entry points outweighs the cost of providing the “insurance.”

I wasn’t able to attend last night’s Dallas Park Department meeting. But I’m told by my colleagues who did attend that the Winfrey Point parking issue wasn’t on the agenda.

I’m not sure why or how that is, especially considering that the meeting was held at Winfrey Point. I can understand that the meeting has probably been planned for some time, and the main topics — improvements to the trail, the White Rock Dog Park, etc. — took precedence. But really? No talking about the elephant in the room?

Anyone disappointed in the lack of parking discussion last night will happily inhale Jim Schutze’s most recent Observer column on precisely this topic.

Schutze begins his reporting by talking to master naturalist Becky Rader, whom Rachel Stone quoted in her first report on the parking issue. Schutze’s takeaway from Rader:

“When the buffalo arrived here on their annual migrations it took the herd three days to pass through Dallas. That’s millions and millions of animals. … The patch of land at White Rock Lake that city officials want to turn into a parking lot is a tiny window on that enormous past.”

Schutze, who is married to Dallas Morning News garden editor Mariana Greene, shows respect for the appeal of the arboretum.

“In a city where we sometimes complain there’s little to do outdoors, the arboretum has become a rare treasure. It’s the place where tens of thousands of citizens go every year because they yearn to pause, hand in hand, to smell the flowers. Zillions of flowers.”

He also, however, criticizes the arboretum’s reaction to neighbors who took it to task.

“From the moment the arboretum first ran into resistance, its own internal culture was on high display. It dug in its spiked heels and lifted its bejeweled fists. The arboretum hired a naturalist with absurdly exaggerated credentials, and he cranked out a report for them saying that Winfrey Point was a piece-of-crap vacant lot choked with weeds.”

And then, Schutze points out the unforgivable sin.

“To the defenders of Winfrey Point, the most appalling thing about the response of the arboretum and park board was that it meant they knew nothing of the decades of research and activism that had gone into safeguarding Winfrey Point as a natural treasure.

“The Dallas Arboretum, this supposed temple of botanical wonders, did not know and did not care that entire teams of experts and dedicated citizens had fought for decades to preserve Winfrey Point.”

Schutze also interviews Matt White, the author of “Prairie Time: A Blackland Portrait,” who reaches a similar conclusion that I did last week — it’s not just about the prairie land.

“It’s parkland that is being taken away. … White Rock Lake is Dallas’ Central Park. … For the elected officials who are willing to give that away, I think it’s a violation of the public trust.”

These are only a few of the highlights. Take a few minutes to read the column in its entirety.

I never heard of Timothy Oulton until about five minutes ago, when my inbox informed me, “The British are coming…” but I already like it. British designer Timothy Oulton is opening a store in the former Potter Art Metal Studios building on Central Expressway at Henderson.

The designer has shops in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and this will be the first one in Texas, which we love. You know how we like beating Houston on these things.

A store grand opening is June 21.

Four passes to the 2012 HP Byron Nelson Championship just landed on my desk. They can be used for any day of the tournament (today through Sunday).

The 1st person to email “I Love the Advocate” to mriney@advocatemag.com gets four one-day passes to the tournament and 20 food & beverage vouchers.

On your mark, get set, GO! …

Hotel Palomar opens its evening wine hour to the public from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, May 17, for “Wellness Winedown.” The event features low-calorie refreshments, skincare, extreme yoga demos, fashions and a free core fusion class at 7:15. The event benefits “Attitudes and Attire,” and guests are asked to bring a $20 donation or a gently used handbag.

The White Rock Lake Foundation Golf Tournament starts at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Tenison Highlands Golf Course. 

Bike to Whole Foods Friday and receive a free breakfast taco and coffee from 7-9 a.m.

Walk to fight blindness at the nation’s largest VisionWalk Saturday at White Rock Lake. The 5K-walk registration begins at 9 a.m., and the walk begins at 10 a.m.

The White Rock Spring Games  are from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Norbuck Park. Students in grades 1-8 from seven neighborhood schools will compete in team events, while attendees of any age are invited to compete in individual events. The event includes live music and food to purchase, with proceeds benefiting local PTAs. Registration costs $125.

The third-annual A Peep at the Coops Tour is from from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, starting at the Stonewall Gardens and Outdoor Science Lab. The self-guided tour includes 13 coops, and guests can purchase maps for $5 at Stonewall Gardens. There will also be educational seminars and a raffle to win a mobile chicken coop.

The neighborhood festival Lakewoodstock is from noon-8 p.m. Sunday at the Lakewood shopping center. The free event has live music, art, food and games.

On Sunday, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., the White Rock East Garden Tour showcases nine gardens in Casa Linda Estates, Forrest Hills, and Little Forrest Hills.  A plant sale is from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Casa Linda Park. Tickets for the tour cost $10.

The Shropshire Music Foundation is holding a benefit concert Sunday from 5 -7 p.m. benefiting war-affected children around the world. The event, at the Garden Café, features live music and light refreshments.

In 2010, Advocate published this graphic of proposed trail improvements. The plan doesn't appear to have changed much since then.

Dallas Parks and Recreation Wednesday hosted a meeting to discuss plans for White Rock Lake, specifically regarding improvements along the trail from Mockingbird to the Bath House on the northeast side of the water, as well as the White Rock Lake Dog Park, which Joanna Raines reports on here.

The city announced plans to begin rebuilding the existing trail northeast of the lake rather than building a new trail along the shoreline (as the city did along the west side of the lake). A 2006 bond program, allocated $1.8 million for phase one of the trail and parking reconstruction, for the area from Mockingbird Point to the Bath House Cultural Center, so this is the most imminent of intentions discussed at tonight’s meeting.

And though these trail improvements are on the brink of happening, a few people are calling for the city to rethink the plan.

Several of the meeting attendees argued that revamping the existing trail is a waste and that pedestrians and cyclists will not use it. Comments (paraphrased) included:

You will never get people off that road. (more…)

Tonight at 6 p.m., Dallas Park Board member Gerry Worrall hosts a meeting at Winfrey Point to address the recent parking vs. park dust-up, of course, as well as other improvements to White Rock Lake. One of the focal points of the meeting is the White Rock Dog Park, and thanks to dog park events chairman Stephen Foster, we have a sneak peek at what the city has planned.

Mess and mud will be reduced in the areas marked with “improved surface” (click on the rendering for a larger view), which will soon be artificial turf. A dog bath outside the gates and new restroom facilities also will improve the park’s sanitation, Foster says.

What is now a waterfront with jagged rocks will be replaced with safe, sloping stairs — a “dog launch,” on the first rendering, which is depicted in detail in the second.

To address the problem of parking, the gravel lot will be transformed to concrete.

The total cost of the project is $1.2 million. City of Dallas bond funds are providing $800,000, and the rest comes from donations.

The purpose of the renovation is to make the park cleaner, safer and more accessible, Foster says.

The former Blockbuster space at Belmont and Greenville has been hollowed out as part of its transformation, along with the former Whole Foods building, into a Walmart Neighborhood Market.

A friend claims we spend too much time on the blog talking about the soon-to-be-new Trader Joe’s on Greenville, so instead of talking about Trader Joe’s today, I thought I’d devote a few minutes to talking about the new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market taking the place of the former Blockbuster and Whole Foods on Lower Greenville at Belmont.

I drove by the site this afternoon, and construction is underway big-time. Both the former Blockbuster and Whole Foods buildings are primarily shells, with the insides and much of the floors having been torn out. The parking lot also appears to have been torn out in many places, but the overall building footprint doesn’t appear likely to change much. Based on what I’m seeing, construction-wise, it looks like the new store will open sometime this fall.

So there you have it — no discussion of Trader Joe’s today. Although, if you are looking for a Trader Joe’s update, there’s no construction going on yet just down Greenville, where the Trader Joe’s will be located.

Registration for the December MetroPCS White Rock Marathon opens June 1. The price is lower if you register early, before July 31, by the way. To celebrate the onset of marathon training season, the WRM folks will host a 6.4 kilometer race at the Bath House at White Rock Lake Thursday, May 31 at 7 p.m. Why 6.4 km. you may ask? It’s a beer-sponsor thing. The DWRM Kickoff 6.4 is presented by Miller 64.

The race is limited to 500 participants.

Runners and walkers will receive a technical training shirt and entrance into a post-race party, featuring Miller 64 aplenty, I assume. Wear your favorite Dallas White Rock Marathon race shirt to be entered in a drawing for a free 2012 full or half marathon entry.

You can register for $20 race day at 6 p.m. or online for $15 online.

The new White Rock Marathon course is set to be publicly viewable by June 1.

Taste Addison, the three-day food festival, kicks off this Friday, from 6 p.m. to midnight. This year’s event will feature food from more than 60 Addison restaurants, live music, celebrity chef demonstrations and wine tasting seminars, carnival rides, midway games and more.

The 5th person and the 10th person to email “I Love the Advocate” to mriney@advocatemag.com get four passes to the festival and a gift card to either On the Border or Nate’s Seafood and Steak House.

On your mark, get set, GO! …