Email Author ANNA MERLAN

2012 Stories by ANNA MERLAN

• JCPenney Is Being Sued For Loving Martha Stewart Too Much

  published Aug 16, 2012

  Actually, JCPenney is being sued for "tortious interference," as its competitor Macy's tries to stop Martha Stewart Living from setting up shop anywhere at all besides Macy's. The lawsuit, filed to... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Report: Don't Major in the Humanities, You Broke Idiot

  published Aug 16, 2012

  A new report submitted to the Texas Legislature says that Texans who earn their bachelor's degrees in the humanities have higher levels of debt and lower earning potential than people who get degrees ... More >>

• Man Says He Was Tased For Not Fitting In Squad Car. Police Say He Was Really High On PCP.

  published Aug 15, 2012

  Bad things began to happen to Terrence Hill around this time last year. His troubles began when he went to move into a new apartment but was instead given a totally different unit, one with broken ai... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Ex-Komen VP Karen Handel is Writing a Memoir Called "Planned Bullyhood"

  published Aug 14, 2012

  Karen Handel is back, and she's bringing 304 pages with her. Susan G. Komen For The Cure's ex-vice president of public policy, who resigned in February after an enormous flap over Komen's attempt to p... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Highland Park Will Be Having None of Your Tacky Artificial Grass, Thank You

  published Aug 13, 2012

  Highland Park's city council has decided to ban fake plastic grass from the town's front yards, a scourge which according to one city official has overtaken at least three (3) properties. The Morni... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Dallas County Declares State of Emergency, Requests Planes for Aerial Pesticide Spraying

  published Aug 10, 2012

  Dallas County escalated its war on mosquitoes today, with County Judge Clay Jenkins declaring a state of emergency and requesting that five planes be made available from the Texas Department of Emerge... More >>

• Texas Plans to Use Medicaid Expansion it Rejected to Pay For Women's Health Program

  published Aug 10, 2012

  In early June, Governor Rick Perry was quick to announce that no state of his would be taking any of that tyrannical federal money to expand Medicaid coverage. Yet court documents filed by outgoing H... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  What Does A "Playful" Gavel Grab Look Like, Anywayr John Wiley Price's YouTube Channel Is Here To Show Us.

  published Aug 03, 2012

  The folks over at the Morning News' City Hall blog alerted the world yesterday to County Commissioner John Wiley Price's Youtube channel, namely a video in which he calls out the "mainstream media" f... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Judge Blocks Texas' New Voter Registration Laws, Calls Registration Drives "Vital"

  published Aug 03, 2012

  A U.S. District Court judge in Galveston yesterday blocked five parts of Texas' new voter registration laws, all of which were aimed at curtailing large voter registration drives. Voting for America a... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  After Dueling Presentations, City Council Still Isn't Quite Sure What To Do About Gas Drilling

  published Aug 02, 2012

  We promised you a throwdown during yesterday afternoon's gas drilling hearing before the city council, the first step towards an updated ordinance on drilling within city limits. Dallas Drilling, mea... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Medical Examiner's Report: James Harper Was Shot By Police In the Chest, Abdomen and Elbow [Updated]

  published Jul 31, 2012

  WFAA is reporting that the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office has just released their report on the fatal police shooting of James Harper, whose death brought hundreds of people out into the str... More >>

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  While Awaiting Trial, Teens in Dallas County Jail Being Kept in Their Cells 23 Hours a Day

  published Jul 30, 2012

  Each year, a handful of Dallas county teenagers accused of crimes are "certified," meaning they're being charged as adults and will appear in adult criminal court. While they await trial, they sit in... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  The Dallas Police and Fire Pension Keeps Paying its Advisers More Despite Bad Returns

  published Jul 27, 2012

  Our cover story this week deals with the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System, the owners of the much-argued-about Museum Tower project in the Arts District. In researching the story, we obtained a dra... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  The Dallas Police and Fire Pension's Big Real Estate Gamble

  published July 26, 2012

  Things have gotten so bad, someone went and made a sticker out of it. One of the biggest feuds Dallas has seen in years has everything... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  After a Deadly Shooting by Dallas Police, a South Dallas Neighborhood Shows Up and Speaks Out

  published Jul 25, 2012

  A southern Dallas neighborhood flooded the streets in outrage late yesterday, after a 31-year-old man was shot dead by a Dallas police officer during a chase from a suspected drug house. Police say ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  In Speedy Press Conference, Sen. Royce West Says Dez Bryant Did Not "Commit Family Violence"

  published Jul 24, 2012

  Just before 2 p.m. today, the conference room in state senator Royce West's law office looked like a game of journalist Tetris, as some two dozen reporters and ten news cameras crammed around a long ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Live Twitter Chat with Rep. Dan Patrick About Women's Health Quickly Got Hilariously Hostile

  published Jul 24, 2012

  @MitraSalasel @mimiswartz #txhealththat's is doctor choice if he chooses I repeat it is not in our bill or required-— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) July 24, 2012 @DanPatrick @MitraSalasel @mimiswa... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rep. Louie Gohmert Would Like to Clarify Some of the Weird Stuff He Said About the Aurora Shooting

  published Jul 23, 2012

  Friday morning's horrific shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater moved a number of Texas politicians to tweet, Facebook and press-release their condolences. 1st District U.S. Representative L... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Dallas Animal Services Still Overheated and Understaffed

  published Jul 20, 2012

  Good news first: the kittens have their own room now. Bad news: most of those kittens are still going to die. Every few months, the Animal Shelter Commission gets together for a progress report fro... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Is the Bush Institute's Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon Program Too Little Too Later

  published Jul 18, 2012

  At right you see former First Lady Laura Bush, cheerily painting a door at a health clinic in Zambia. The photo was taken earlier this month by a staffer at the Bush Institute, part of the press surr... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rick Perry Less Than Excited To See Obama In Texas, Suggests He Should Apologize for AG Holder's Comments On Voter ID Law

  published Jul 17, 2012

  President Barack Obama will be in Texas for approximately five minutes today, attending some fundraisers in San Antonio and Austin. An LGBT Leadership Council event in Austin costs anywhere from $25... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Braulio Cerda, Who Allegedly Tried to Kidnap Pleasant Grove Grandmother, Should Probably Go Ahead And Change His Profile Photo

  published Jul 16, 2012

  Pleasant Grove grandmother Elizabeth Smith, 45, had a wild hour last night, after a 3 a.m. trip to the corner store to get medicine and food for her grandbaby turned into an attempted kidnapping foll... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Dallas Police & Fire Pension Fund Decides Maybe Not Quite So Much of Their Money Should Be in Real Estate

  published Jul 12, 2012

  At the ungodly hour of 8:30 a.m. today, the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System board of trustees held their monthly meeting. We decided to join them, both due to our love of waking up in what was ba... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Glenn Beck Will Somehow Be "Restoring Love" At Cowboys Stadium On July 28

  published Jul 11, 2012

  Honest to God, we have no idea what's going to happen at Glenn Beck's upcoming three-day-long "Restoring Love" rally at Cowboys Stadium. None whatsoever. When Robert Wilonsky first tipped you to t... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Now Texas Wants its Women's Health Program to Ban Doctors from Talking about Abortion

  published Jul 11, 2012

  As Governor Rick Perry vows not to take any of that filthy federal money to expand Medicaid in Texas, state lawmakers may also have to find another $39 million next year to keep the Medicaid Women's H... More >>