Email Author Leslie Minora

2012 Stories by Leslie Minora

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  FEATURED STORY

  Top Chef Texas Recap: The Crying Game

  published Feb 09, 2012

  There have never been more tears on Top Chef, including in our very own eyes, as there were throughout last night's episode. The crying wasn't from cutting raw onions. It wasn't from sliced fingertips... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  The Remaking of Vickery Meadow

  published February 9, 2012

  Ray Mali dresses neatly in a collared cotton shirt, jeans, clean sneakers and a bulky leather jacket that doesn't keep him quite warm enough.... More >>

• Comerica Donates $15,000 Worth of E-Books and Readers, Setting a Trend, Rawlings Hopes

  published Feb 07, 2012

  With its budget shrinking and shrinking over the past several years, the Dallas library system has an acute need for a Daddy Warbucks. Several, actually. More specifically, branches need deep-pocketed... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Ken Robinson Says He's Leaving His $16 Flower Mound House Without a Fight

  published Feb 06, 2012

  Seven months after citing an uncommon application of the law of adverse possession and moving into an abandoned suburban homestead in Flower Mound, Ken Robinson is on his way out. At a hearing this mo... More >>

• Exoneree: Guantanamo Bay Is "Peanuts Compared to What's Going On In" Texas

  published Feb 03, 2012

  As "the death chaplain" at Huntsville prison, Reverend Carroll Pickett has counseled 95 prisoners, one at a time, on the day the state has scheduled to end their life. Death by lethal injection, the c... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  An Afternoon at the New Perot Museum, a Peek Inside the Geologically Striated Gray Cube

  published Feb 02, 2012

  A Perot Museum of Nature & Science curator wound us through the fourth floor of the partially completed space, calling upon visitors to imagine the 80-foot-long dinosaur that would soon occupy where h... More >>

• Judge Phyllis Lister Brown Will Soon Get a Shove Off the Bench or a Day in Court

  published Feb 02, 2012

  The city of Dallas wants Municipal Judge Phyllis Lister Brown to leave her job as soon as possible, as evidenced by the city attorney's latest petition, which says the temporary restraining order allo... More >>

• An Iraqi Family Torn by Violence Settles Into an Apartment Complex That Needs Them Too

  published Feb 01, 2012

  Rasmiya AlGhrawi greets guests with big hugs and a series of kisses from cheek to cheek and back again. She's a mother and grandmother to both her own family and to anyone who walks through her door a... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Man With The $16 House Faces Eviction, But Says, "It's Not Over Till It's Over"

  published Jan 31, 2012

  Surely you recall for the tale of The Man With the $16 House, a September cover story about Kenneth Robinson, who occupied a $340,000 Flower Mound home for the cost of filing paperwork with Denton Cou... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Craig James Reveals Tax Records, Proves That Even In Bad Years He's Way Overpaid

  published Jan 26, 2012

  Quick test: When you think Craig James, what comes to mindr A. SMU and New England Patriots football player and long-time sports announcer. B. Texan, father, husband. C. Who the hell is Craig Jamesr... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Calling Shotgun on Where and When to Drill

  published Jan 25, 2012

  OK, let's get this straight: If a natural gas company wants to sink a well within 1,000 feet of your Dallas home, that would be bad. Not healthy. Not safe. Stop it. But what if you don't care whether... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Drilling Industry Reps Not Thrilled With Latest Dallas Task Force Recommendations

  published Jan 20, 2012

  MasterPlan Consulting's Dallas Cothrum, the eyes and ears at Dallas City Hall for several energy companies interested in drilling in the city limits, is becoming quite prolific. Last week, we posted t... More >>

• Last Night's Top Chef: Texas Included the Best Elimination Challenge Ever

  published Jan 19, 2012

  Crispy skinned black chicken, perfectly moist, claw still attached, over fois gras and tiny cubes of beet, their blood-like juices splattered on the plate as though the unusual dark poultry underwent ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  The City Council's Ousted Muni Judge Brown. She's Not About to Leave Bench Without a Fight.

  published Jan 18, 2012

  In the end, the Dallas City Council voted this morning to remove Municipal Court Judge Phyllis Lister Brown from the position she's held for 17 years. But she's not about to go quietly. Far from it. ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Top Chef Texas Highlights: A Bitchfest Battle at Restaurant Wars

  published Jan 12, 2012

  It happens every season. It brings out the worst in most chefs and the best in few. The winner is never predictable. The loser is often a heartbreaking surprise. The Top Chef Restaurant Wars legacy he... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Dublin Dr Pepper is Dead; Maple & Motor and Oak Cliff's Soda Gallery are among the Mourners

  published Jan 12, 2012

  Jack Perkins, co-owner of Dallas burger institution Maple & Motor, appreciates that a swig of Dublin Dr Pepper is just the thing to wash down a delicious burger. Once every few weeks since he opened h... More >>

• As Gas Drilling Task Force Begins to Wind Down Deliberations, Who's Fracking Whomr

  published Jan 11, 2012

  As he does every week, Dallas Cothrum of MasterPlan Consulting sat in the front row of the city's gas drilling task force meeting yesterday, attentively tuning in, occasionally sighing and taking note... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Oak Cliff Girl Mistakenly Deported to Colombia Returns, Leaving Trail of Unanswered Questions

  published Jan 07, 2012

  At 11 a.m. Friday morning, Lorene Turner got the call: Her granddaughter, Jakadrien Turner, who had run away from her Oak Cliff home and her life as a student at Kimball High School, was on a flight h... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Top Chef Texas Highlights: Make Delicious Barbecue, in Texas -- No Pressure.

  published Jan 05, 2012

  Last night's Top Chef delivered the most Texan of any conceivable Texas challenges: make barbecue that doesn't suck and do it at one of the state's best barbecue restaurants, Salt Lick in Austin. Oh, ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  After 31 Years Locked Up, Ricky Dale Wyatt is Free But Not Quite Exonerated

  published Jan 04, 2012

  Ricky Dale Wyatt, wearing a sharp suit and yellow tie, walked out of the Frank Crowley Courts Building this afternoon after 31 years in prison -- the longest stint served in Texas before having a conv... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Citibank Drops Suit Against DA Craig Watkins, Who Will Agree Not to Sue Them Either

  published Jan 04, 2012

  Last week was a bit embarrassing for Craig Watkins as his personal debt to Citibank became a public matter when The Dallas Morning News reported that he owed more than $15,000 in credit card bills, th... More >>