Council Recap: All Budget

The Richardson City Council held a work session July 24-25 focused solely on development of the 2023-2024 budget. Attendance by the public was sparse. There will be public hearings on the proposed tax rate and budget in mid- to late-August.

Oppenheimer (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Oppenheimer (2023): Biopic of the "father of the atomic bomb." Morally conflicted, he developed the A-bomb to beat Hitler to it, but afterwards tried to put the genie back in the bottle. The era's anti-Commies are the ends-justify-the-means bad guys. Smart, compelling blend of history and science. A-

#OscarWorthy

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023): I didn't expect to like it, but I did. The original was a modern take on an old-timey serial. That take still feels modern with Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the costar. Harrison Ford is too old, the plot predictable, but the action scenes deliver. A-

Semiannual Campaign Finance Reports

In Texas, officeholders and candidates for local offices must file semiannual reports. In addition, candidates who have an opponent must file two pre-election reports, one 30 days before the election and one 8 days before. Political action committees have these same deadlines to file.

The Wheel has previously looked at the 30-Day reports (twice: here and here) and the 8-Day reports here. Today we look at the July 15 semiannual reports.

POTD: Library of Celsus

From 2022 11 02 Ephesus

This photo-of-the-day is from the ancient city of Ephesus, Turkey. It shows the pre-eminent structure standing (again) in the city, the facade of the Library of Celsus. "It was the third-largest library in the Greco-Roman world behind only those of Alexandria and Pergamum, [and is] believed to have held around 12,000 scrolls." Is it too late to submit this library to be used as inspiration for the renovations to the Richardson Public Library?