Email Author Patrick Michels

Awards

• 2011 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published August 26, 2010

  "Asylum Denied"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published April 8, 2010

  "Dandy Rotten Scoundrel"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published August 26, 2010

  "Asylum Denied"

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2011 Stories by Patrick Michels

• "Eater X" Dominates Again at the Lewisville's Tamale Eating Championship

  published Sep 29, 2011

  Behind the counter of every Taco Bell, there's a slew of people who fancy themselves champions of food, but once a year in Lewisville, the real champions arrive, ready to relieve suburban Dallas of it... More >>

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  COVER STORY

  Small-Town Muckraker Joey Dauben Will Run the World Some Day. Just Ask Him.

  published July 14, 2011

  On a Wednesday morning in late March, Joey Dauben and his team are gathered at his little blue-trimmed cottage in Palmer, the town where Dauben... More >>

• Hunker Down for Hubble

  published June 23, 2011

  It's one of Hollywood's lesser-known rules: The spacewalking astronaut out repairing the satellite always gets it. Could be aliens, could be... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Before the Mavs' Parade, Fans Sweated in the Streets While Local Officials Fawned

  published Jun 16, 2011

  After hanging out along the parade route for a while this morning, Nick and I ducked into the convention center for what we'd been told would be a half-hour interview session with the Mavs before they... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  A Liveblog As City Council Meets Its First Round of Finalists for the Gas Drilling Task Force

  published Jun 14, 2011

  Welcome back to Dallas City Hall for the epic second episode of the gas drilling task force selection process, where the ad hoc committee of city council members will be meeting candidates for face to... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Winstar Hosts Another Nathan's Qualifying Contest This Weekend, Now With a Prize for Top Women's Finisher

  published Jun 10, 2011

  With less than a month left before this year's Nathan's Famous hot dog eating championships at Coney Island, just a handful of qualifying contests remain for big eaters hoping to qualify for the big... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Party Boy: Michael Manos, Or "Mordan Stefanov," Cuts a Deal Before Trial Starts

  published Jun 08, 2011

  Since we caught up with him last, not a whole lot has changed for Michael Manos, the aspiring nightlife starlet and entertainer who threw extravagant parties back in those halcyon days of Bella and Bi... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  UT-Arlington Researchers Plan Study On Gas Drilling Operations' Affect on Water Quality

  published Jun 08, 2011

  Last month, we mentioned a far-reaching University of Texas at Austin study of complaints about gas drilling operations that's just now getting underway. Meant to connect the dots between air, soil an... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  If Buyouts Were Fine for Teachers, Says Local Lawmaker, Why Not Offer to Students Toor

  published Jun 07, 2011

  Last night in Austin, state Rep. Sid Miller laid out a novel solution for Texas's troubled school budget: the Taxpayer Savings Grants Program, a reward of nearly $5,000 for any parents who'll do us al... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Rawlings Says "Scrape, Beg, Borrow, Steal" for Trinity Project; Kunkle Says He Can "Say No"

  published Jun 06, 2011

  In the comments earlier today on Unfair Park, there was no shortage of speculation as to what the two mayoral hopefuls would cover in their next debate: City Manager Mary Suhm's job security, dead r... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  While Hinojosa Applied for Georgia Job in Secret, Texas Lawmakers Considered Making Superintendent Searches More Public

  published Jun 03, 2011

  Right now, DISD trustees are meeting once again in closed session (Leslie drew the short straw on this one) to discuss their pick for an interim superintendent once Michael Hinojosa exhales his first ... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  This Morning, Council Members Took First Look at Gas Drilling Task Force Hopefuls

  published Jun 02, 2011

  Last Friday, Robert offered a first look at some of the big names that had applied to sit on the city's gas drilling task force: Margaret Keliher, Royce West II, Betty Culbreath, the train-bedeviled C... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  It's Time To Take Dallas In a New Direction, Say Mike Rawlings and All His Friends at City Hall

  published Jun 01, 2011

  Even casual campaign watchers will not be surprised to hear that Mike Rawlings has the support of all but a few current city council members, and plenty of former ones as well. Maybe to underscore t... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  DISD Board Narrows Its List of Interim Superintendents, Say They'll Decide By Monday

  published May 31, 2011

  Brand-new Dallas Independent School District board president Lew Blackburn emerged from executive session this afternoon to announce the trustees have narrowed their list of interim superintendent can... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Overground Opens A New Skater Haven in the Cedars with Saturday's Tribute to Legendary Jeff Phillips

  published May 27, 2011

  Decades after he helped make Texas skateboarding famous around the world, Jeff Phillips' legacy still shapes young skaters in Dallas. This Saturday, pro skaters from around the country are reuniting f... More >>

• With This Week's Cover, A Look at Fraud and Investment in Dallas After the Financial Crisis

  published May 27, 2011

  This week's cover story in the Paper Version of Unfair Park covers complaints from a series of investors around the world who say they placed millions of dollars with a group of Dallas men, expected h... More >>

• In Legislature's Final Days, Lawmakers Extend Court Protections for Polluters

  published May 26, 2011

  Update at 3:37 p.m. Friday: Looks as though the bill's author in the Senate plans to strip Bonnen's amendment out of the bill before it goes to the governor's desk. Amid these "late nights and high ... More >>

• This Polka Dance Is Your Chance

  published May 26, 2011

  Part steamy small-town jamboree, part honest-to-God Czech cultural celebration, the National Polka Festival in Ennis is one of your best chances... More >>

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  Investors Trust Judge Joe Ashmore, But His Trust Doesn't Pay Back

  published May 26, 2011

  For three months last year, Muhammet... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Hinojosa Looks On As DISD Trustees Discuss What to Do About Interim Superintendent

  published May 25, 2011

  Whoever set the table before last night's DISD board meeting had to be kicking themselves once the trustees got started, with dead-serious Carla Ranger yet again calling for soon-to-be-ex-Superintende... More >>

• Comptroller's Office Looks at NewSpace Industry in Texas at the End of the Shuttle Era

  published May 23, 2011

  When the space shuttle Endeavour touches down in a little more than a week, NASA's shuttle program will come down to just one more mission: Atlantis's launch set for July. It's the moment private sp... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Alone, Together: David Kunkle and Mike Rawlings Square Off in Mayoral Debate

  published May 20, 2011

  After Mike Rawlings wrapped Ron Natinsky's endorsement this morning at the Adolphus, he joined fellow Dallas mayoral hopeful David Kunkle for lunch with the Dallas Regional Chamber and paying guests f... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Tonight At Barry Whistler Gallery, Campania In-Felix Takes On Italy's Troubled Land

  published May 19, 2011

  While filmmaker Ivana Corsale was growing up in Sicily, the Camorra crime network was slowly transforming a region just north of her home, known as the Campania felix, into a toxic wasteland with de... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Kunkle: Free The Trinity Docs! And Other City Hall Ethics Proposals Unveiled This Morning.

  published May 19, 2011

  Backed by a new group of law-enforcing backers calling themselves "Crime Fighters for Kunkle," former Dallas police chief and mayoral hopeful David Kunkle took a minute this morning to cast himself... More >>

• Sharpen Your Cheesy Mind

  published May 19, 2011

  We've all been there: Dressed in your black-tie best, small forks lightly clanging on miniature plates, light conversation about politics or art,... More >>