Email Author Ann Zimmerman

1997 Stories by Ann Zimmerman

• The Few, the Proud, the Battered

  published December 25, 1997

  At 3 a.m. on a humid night in early October, Gabriel Cortez's screams awoke his fellow cadets in the Bravo Company barracks at the Marine Military... More >>

• Getting the lead out

  published December 4, 1997

  Shortly before Thanksgiving, parents at Dallas Independent School District's Preston Hollow Elementary School got some alarming news. Their... More >>

• Stained glass

  published November 27, 1997

  The man on the phone speaks in conspiratorial tones. His name is Martin Barkley, a 40-something divorced father of two who has devoted so much of... More >>

• The cats of war

  published November 20, 1997

  Gene Reitnauer devoted her life and Wise County home to caring for abused and abandoned exotic felines. Now, after a protracted legal battle... More >>

• Hypocritic oath

  published November 6, 1997

  Explosive" and "heartbreaking" are what former Dallas City Council member Jerry Bartos calls a secret meeting Fort Worth power brokers held... More >>

• Conspiracy Theory

  published October 30, 1997

  Robert Groden, JFK assassination researcher, has had way more than his 15 minutes of fame. In the mid-1970s, he painstakingly created an... More >>

• In the dumps

  published October 23, 1997

  Councilman Don Hicks is between a dump and a hard place. Pleasant Grove homeowners are furious with Hicks because for the last several... More >>

• The (W)right to Fly

  published October 16, 1997

  It takes a lot to shock Jerry Bartos, but what the former city council member and foe of government waste, special interests, and dirty politics... More >>

• Trendy health

  published October 2, 1997

  It has to be one of the oddest moments in the annals of modern medical diplomacy. Standing over platters of cheese cubes and bowls of... More >>

• Zen in the den

  published September 11, 1997

  Last week my husband had an important business meeting. I wanted to make sure it went well, so before leaving for work, I walked through our house... More >>

• Rumors of war

  published September 11, 1997

  Susan Allen came home recently to find city procedures for recalling a city councilman stuffed in her mailbox. As president of the Moss Farm... More >>

• Rolling along

  published August 14, 1997

  Rahim Minkah is finally on a roll. Six months ago, the Southern Dallas Development Corporation sandbagged the former Black Panther's plan... More >>

• Dumped On

  published August 7, 1997

  On a ferociously hot day in July, Harold Cox carefully affixes aluminum siding to his modest home on a hilly, tree-shrouded street in Pleasant... More >>

• Jurist imprudence

  published July 17, 1997

  Misty Murphy was terrified. It was her very first trial in her short career as a defense attorney, and she was facing a jury in the courtroom of... More >>

• Bar none

  published June 19, 1997

  Born with severe cerebral palsy, Evaristo "Pee Wee" Vela walks with a halting gait. He communicates with jerky hand movements, or shakes of the... More >>

• A Dream Deferred

  published May 29, 1997

  The weed-choked, two-acre vacant lot on East Ledbetter Drive was once ground zero in South Oak Cliff's crack cocaine epidemic. In the late 1980s,... More >>

• Going for the jugular

  published May 22, 1997

  On April 1, Chewy, a rare Asian leopard, bled to death after being bitten in the neck by Sikio, a cougar with whom Chewy had shared a cage for 13... More >>

• A Lot of Gas

  published May 15, 1997

  In the fall of 1994, independent oilman Sanford Dvorin cracked open a Dallas County Yellow Pages and sent a letter to every person connected with... More >>

• "It's our turn to be heard"

  published April 17, 1997

  Yvonne Gonzalez's eyes were brimming with tears. To the small group assembled at her office conference table, it was clear that she was moved; it... More >>

• Treed off

  published April 10, 1997

  On Wednesday, April 16, shortly after the Dallas City Council begins its weekly meeting, Mayor Ron Kirk will smile for the cameras and accept a... More >>

• Sultan of swat

  published March 13, 1997

  Around 6 p.m. each day, the neighborhood kids begin to gather at Russell Fish's tiny North Dallas apartment, which is decorated with educational... More >>

• Boomer bust

  published February 27, 1997

  In the early 1980s, when oil was king, Bill Brosseau was the industry's crown prince. Just 35 years old and worth $10 million by his own... More >>

• Late Bloomer

  published January 30, 1997

  Last summer, Pat Stone phoned her daughter, T.J., and told her she had something very important to talk about. Pat and her husband, Dan, were... More >>

• Rough waters

  published January 16, 1997

  Like their counterparts in the Dallas area, Preston Hollow Elementary School educators were excited to be selected in 1995 as a model site for the... More >>

• Cat Fight

  published January 2, 1997

  When veterinarian Dr. Claudia Alldredge first saw the tiger, she was shocked. Too weak to roll over or stand up, all the four-month-old cub could... More >>