Accidents and Disasters

As Sandy's Tab Comes Due, It's Time to Rethink Flood Insurance Everywhere (Including Dallas)

Two experts from the Monterrey Institute of International Studies have an op-ed piece in The New York Times this morning advocating the abandonment of the National Flood Insurance Program, which is about to stick us taxpayers for $57 billion in rebuilding costs from Hurricane Sandy. If the experts w ... More >>

The Lies Keep Rollin' on the Trinity River Toll Road

While I was away on vacation The Dallas Morning News published an editorial saying Angela Hunt, Scott Griggs and Sandy Greyson, our three brainiacs on the City Council, are stupid, don't know how to add and came up with all the wrong conclusions about the News' favorite project, the idea of building ... More >>

Scarf Sushi. Chug Sake. Appear Sophisticated.

State Farm Wants To Insure Johnson County, Texas, Against Frack-Water Induced Quakes

Like a good neighbor, State Farm wants to insure Johnson County homeowners against fracking-related earthquake damage. Cleburne, aka Lil' San Andreas, has experienced a string of quakes this summer. Which is weird because, before 2008, the area had absolutely zero history of seismic activity. State ... More >>

For the So-Cal Taco Truck, Feeding Tornado Victims Was a Lot Harder Than Expected

Tuesday evening, after tornadoes struck the metroplex, Scott Wooley, owner of the So-Cal Taco food truck, immediately started devising a plan to help the victims and relief workers. It's all part of his gratuitous spirit, which is partly a result of his fight with cancer several years ago. He's free ... More >>

Images from Forney Suggest How Much Worse Tuesday's Storms Might Have Been

Dallas photographer Danny Fulgencio rolled out early this morning to capture images from the aftermath of the tornado in Forney. "I started shooting at around 7 a.m., just after the curfew lifted," he tells Unfair Park. "These shots document the swath of destruction from yesterday's tornado which ... More >>

Environmental Chemist Wilma Subra on the Barnett Shale Bonanza and Its Costs

By 2008, the high price of natural gas, coupled with the novel combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, touched off a modern-day gold rush in the Barnett Shale. Regulators were caught on their heels. "They moved forward very rapidly, and state regulatory programs had a difficult ... More >>

Dallas Film Society Announces Its First 15 Selections into This Year's DIFF

(Clip from Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best) The Dallas Film Society announced the first 15 entries to be officially accepted into this year's Dallas International Film Festival, which occurs from April 12 to the 22.While many so far are documentaries, a few feel-goods have weaseled their way in, and ... More >>

Trinity Levees: Will the Feds' Money Crunch Leave Us Low and Wet?

​Am I in the happy-news business? Does a bear use air freshener in the woods? Look, I'm just bringing it to you like it is. As bad as the situation with the Trinity River levees may look locally, you should see what it looks like when you put it in perspective with national levee problems. We ... More >>

Water Rights Policies At the TCEQ Could Affect Your Lunch

It's tough being a gulf oyster. The BP oil spill devastated Louisiana oyster beds, and then a historic Texas drought reduced river flows into Galveston Bay, seriously increasing the bay's salinity. Predators and disease are thriving and threatening the already hobbled industry. Now the Texas Commis ... More >>

Mooney River: Once Again, D Magazine Misses the Trinity River Toll Road Story

​Hey, I was out of town last week when the August issue of D hit the streets -- well, given the magazine's target demo, perhaps we should say it hit the winding lanes and parkways -- with an essay titled "Let's Ditch the Trinity River Toll Road." Wow. Pretty remarkable. From the time of the ... More >>

National Weather Service Has Upped the Number of Tornadoes in the Area Last Week

Courtesy the National Weather Service​'Round this very moment exactly one week ago today we were all preparing to duck and cover beneath Kirstie Alley as hailstones the size of calf fries began forming in the skies above North Texas. Turns out, the weather was even worse than we thought the mornin ... More >>

Yet Another Reminder of the Tornado of 1957

Courtesy the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Photo Library​From time to time over the years we've revisited the tornado of 1957, which, at the time, was easily the best-documented twister in history. There's even a whole website devoted to the F3 that killed 10 and "carved a sixt ... More >>

Sit Inside the Eye

The Museum of Nature and Science and Some Cute Kids Team Up for Tsunami Fundraiser

​We'll admit that when we see a kid selling lemonade in the neighborhood we have to buy a cup and give the adorable rascal an extra dollar. It's going to be hard to resist emptying your wallet at the lemonade stand that will be in the Science Building lobby at the Museum of Nature and Science ... More >>

Katie Couric Wants You to Watch This Evening's CBS News Story About Dallas and Sendai

Twelve years ago, several DISD students went to Sendai for six days; the short film about their trip follows.​If nothing else, Mayor Dwaine Caraway's letters to and from Sendai following the earthquake and tsunami served to remind us of the long, deep connection shared between the International Fr ... More >>

Oh, Lordy: First Baptist's Jeffress Preaching About Quakes? I Think I'll Head Out of Town.

​I'm really worried about what the Reverend Robert Jeffress is going to say at Dallas First Baptist Church Sunday about the quake in Japan. I live within a three-mile radius of First Baptist, and I'm afraid I won't be far enough away. The ad for his sermon that appeared here on Unfair Park ye ... More >>

Failure Is an Option We Should Consider

​Those images of the out-of-control nuclear plants in Japan are hard-wired to our own situation in Dallas. Their tragedy is our challenge. The question is whether we see the wire in time. City council member Angela Hunt has succeeded in forcing Mayor Dwaine Caraway to put the issue of natural ... More >>

Fearing's To Donate Portion of Profits to Japan Relief

Fearing's this weekend plans to donate a portion of its proceeds to Japanese tsunami relief efforts, becoming one of the first area restaurants to publicly announce its charitable giving plans. ​Spokesperson Bonnie Crail said she didn't know the exact percentage of profits the restaurant inte ... More >>

More Party Ideas for Those Who Can't Make It to the French Quarter

Please don't eat the baby.​ Yesterday we posted a list of Fat Tuesday happenings around town, and now we've got a few more events worth mentioning. If you haven't decided where you're going to indulge in a Cajun feast or down hurricanes and shots, here are a few more suggestions for where to ... More >>

BREAKING NEWS: They Caught the White Truck Killer

R.I.P, Ernie and Elisa​A while back I wrote about a motorcycle accident on 75 that killed two of my friends, Ernie and Elisa Santos. Today I come bearing bittersweet news: The driver of the white pickup, whose recklessness was the first domino that caused the accident, has been arreste ... More >>

Though Untainted by Oil, Texas Gulf Fisheries Still Suffer BP Spill's Effect

​Seafood industry watchers say it's still too early to assess the long-term effects of this summer's gulf oil spill, but agree the disaster spelled a setback for Texas' fishermen, oystermen and shrimpers. Speaking at a panel this morning at the Southern Foodways Alliance's annual symposium, f ... More >>

Why's Leppert So Pissed Off at the Corps of Engineers? Because He Can't Handle the Truth.

​O.K., I've been laughing up my sleeve over the mayor's whining remarks last week, complaining that certain unnamed "federal partners" aren't being very nice to him. Hanging around City hall last week for various dumb events, I was able to chat up a couple of people who are keeping quite close ta ... More >>

Coasting Through Recovery

SMU, UT Researchers Think They've Found Cause of North Texas Quakes

Courtesy SMUSeismologist Brian Stump installing equipment to find the cause of the quakes near DFW Airport​SMU just sent word: Its seismologists, Brian Stump and Chris Hayward, joined by researchers from the University of Texas, have found evidence that could very well link those North Texas earth ... More >>

Comfort in Time of Grief for Local Haitians

Kimberly ThorpeChristelle Joseph, born in Haiti and now living in Irving, hasn't been able to reach her family in Haiti since last week's earthquake​Haitians living in the Dallas area came together last night to grieve for a country wrecked by last week's earthquakes (and this week's aftershocks) ... More >>

At SMU, An "Emergency on Campus"

A Friend of Unfair Park sends this, via SMU's Twitter account:Alert: SMU Main Campus Only: There is an emergency on campus. Please shelter in the nearest building now. Do not go outside. Will update.Just checked The News site, where it notes only that "a student says a professor has told them it is ... More >>

What the Frack?

This morning's Wall Street Journal investigates the cause of the 18 earthquakes that have rattled the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 2008 -- from just east of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport down to Cleburne most recently -- and concludes, well, ya know, not really sure. Because on the one han ... More >>

Pretty Sure I Saw the Dallas Tornado Play the Cleburne Quake at Cobb Stadium Once

Brian Stump, the Albritton Professor of Geological Sciences in SMU's Dedman College and part of the team set to study the recent Cleburne quakes, wants you to calm the eff down. Seriously. It's all right. Nothing to worry about. It's nature, for God's sakes. Right, Prof. Stump?The recent earthquakes ... More >>

A Killer F5 Tornado Rips Through Dallas County -- How Ready Are We for this Nightmare Scenario?

"State of Disaster": Dallas's Emergency Planners Do Not Like Ike

You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Gustav.

Gustav Isn't Screwing Around, and Neither is the City of Dallas

When the Levee Breaks|God's Gyroplane|White Mavs Can't Jump

New London Disaster, Redux

More Bad Medicine

When Evacuees Become Residents, Part 2

Millions for Thousands

When Evacuees Become Residents

Bad Medicine

Why Houston Hates Dallas

Press Releases...With a Kick!

Laissez les bon temps rouler

Buzz looks for love in all the wrong places

Long Road Home

Dang, some good news

Generosity warms Buzz's cold heart

Shipshape?

Awash in oil, the Spanish victims of a tanker disaster seek justice from a Texas company

Mogwai

Happy Songs for Happy People (Matador)

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty

Now that he has some time on his hands, Herbert Lee Madison has a few lessons to consider

Bad-ass Storm In A Glass

Category 5, Hurricane Grill New Orleans Oyster Bar

Hurricane Warning

There's more to like about the Hurricane Grill than just the 45-ounce hurricanes