Company Activities and Information

Oncor's "Phantom Tax" Windfall May Become Permanent as Bill Hits Texas House Floor

Oncor, the Dallas-based sticks-and-wires utility, has collected half a billion dollars from ratepayers since 2007 for federal income taxes. But according to a report, the IRS hasn't received a dime. In fact, most of that cash has gone to its struggling parent, Energy Future Holdings, which is march ... More >>

Report: Customers Have Forked Over $500 Million to Cover Oncor's Phantom Tax Payments

Dallas-based utility Oncor has collected half a billion dollars from ratepayers to cover federal income taxes it has never paid. Last year alone, customers paid $230 million to reimburse the utility for a "phantom" tax bill, according to a new report from the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power. T ... More >>

Snuffer's to Rebuild Iconic Greenville Location

The original Snuffer's location at 3526 Greenville Ave. is going away soon. But, not to worry your little cheddar fries-laced arteries. The old spot is coming down so a new spot can go up. Late Sunday night Snuffer's announced via their Facebook page plans to rebuild: "In March 1978 we were buildi ... More >>

Hedge Fund Says Tottering, Dallas-based Electricity Giant is Screwing Creditors

Aurelius Capital Management, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund and perpetual pain-in-the-ass for distressed companies like Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings, sued the massive utility in federal court Tuesday for $725 million. It claims Energy Future made some sweetheart intra-company loans even as ... More >>

The Strange Case of Jeff Baron, Domain-Squatting Web Pioneer Turned Legal Crusader

On November 9 at a downtown Dallas law office, some 153,000 Internet domain names hit the auction block. The winning bidder was an entity known as Trans, Ltd., which put down $5.2 million and scooped up the names over the objections of their previous owner, Ondova, LLC. That auction never should ha ... More >>

Justice Departent Swoops in to Prevent Parking Monopoly in Dallas (and Elsewhere)

If you've ever wondered who controls any given parking lot downtown, the answer is probably either Central Parking Corporation or Standard Parking Corporation. Central owns more than a dozen locations there, according to its website. Standard owns several more, though its website doesn't say exactly ... More >>

Our Largest Electricity Generator Looks Like It's Preparing for Bankruptcy

Market seers think Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings, which owns the state's biggest power generating assets, might be engaging in a little prebankruptcy housekeeping. The latest sign? It's repayment of an inter-company loan. Energy Future isn't a single, vertically integrated giant like it was w ... More >>

Will the Firewall Protecting Oncor From Its Basketcase Parent Company Keep It From Getting Burned?

Oncor, the transmission company that runs power lines and electricity meters, is just about the only good thing Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings has going for it. Energy Future's generation arm, Luminant, the largest unregulated power generator in Texas, has seen its coal-fired power plants preci ... More >>

So There's a Good Chance Energy Future, Texas' Largest Power Generator, Goes Broke

A major credit-rating agency is expressing grave doubts about the ability of the state's largest nonregulated power generator to pay off its debt. Energy Future Holdings, the Dallas-based parent company of power generator Luminant, transmission company Oncor and retail electricity provider TXU Ener ... More >>

The Race For Dallas ISD's District 1 School Board Seat Is Going to Be Very Interesting

​Like I was saying, or writing, earlier this morning ...When Edwin Flores announced he wasn't going to seek re-election to the Dallas Independent School District board two weeks ago, the District 1 trustee said he'd hold off on making an endorsement. At the time, only one other candidate had annou ... More >>

Warren Buffett Calls His Investment in Dallas-Based Energy Future Holdings a "Big Mistake," At Risk of Being Wiped Out

Warren Buffett, the inimitable Jesus of Investing, got it wrong, he admits. Investing in the highly leveraged buyout of Texas utility TXU by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs was a bad bet, plain and simple, he told his shareholders in a letter Saturday. And if things at the former TXU (now ... More >>

Hostess Is Going Bankrupt. Again.

Hostess, the Irving-based maker of beloved school-lunch snacks like the Twinkie and the Ho-Ho, is in financial trouble, according to the Wall Street Journal. A source tells the paper that the processed food giant will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as soon as this week. Hostess also owe ... More >>

DISD's Latest Budget-Gut Guesstimates, and Central Admin Staffers to Get Buyout Offers

Lynn Moak briefs Dallas ISD trustees Thursday afternoon.​Last night, Robert teased us all with the news that Lynn Moak, from Dallas ISD's lobbyist-consultant group Moak Casey & Associates, would be taking a seat before trustees this afternoon with an update from Austin on the Legislature's att ... More >>

Wall Street Journal: Blockbuster's Chapter 11 Filing Could Come "In Next Few Days"

​Today could be the day Blockbuster officially files for bankruptcy. So reports The Wall Street Journal, echoing that earlier Los Angeles Times piece that said CEO Jim Keyes had been in Hollywood at August's end briefing studio heads on the inevitable next chapter in the beleaguered Renaissance To ... More >>

Blockbuster's Financials Worse Than Expected. But It Does Get Debt Repayment Extension.

Jim Keyes​Now we know why Blockbuster put off announcing its second-quarter financials last night: Says the downtown-based video-and-game-rental giant (well, once), it was getting its noteholders to sign off on a deal allows the company to keep $42.4 mil in debt payments for another few weeks. Tha ... More >>

Apparently, Judge's Ruling in Rangers Chapter 11 Case is the Rorschach Inkblot of Sports

​Yesterday afternoon, after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Lynn delayed the sale of the Texas Rangers to Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan's Rangers Baseball Express pending some changes, both the Texas Rangers Baseball Partners and the first lien lendors had their reps send press releases huzzah-ing ... More >>

The United States Trustee Breaks Down (And Tears Apart) the Rangers' Bankruptcy Filing

Sam MertenChuck Greenberg, Tom Hicks and Nolan Ryan at Monday's press conference formally announcing the Chapter 11 filing on Monday​Below you'll find one of many docs submitted to the federal bankruptcy court this week concerning Your Texas Rangers' voluntary Chapter 11 filing, done with the inte ... More >>

Your Texas Rangers Unveil Plan to Complete Sale of Team to Chuck Greenberg, Nolan Ryan

​Moments ago, John Blake, exec veep of communication for Your Texas Rangers, sent word that there is, at long last, a plan in place that will finally give Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan's Rangers Baseball Express control of the team. And, yes, it does involve "a voluntary, 'prepackaged,' court-sup ... More >>

Richard Allen on Logistics Hub's Chapter 11: "It's a Good Project. It's Just a Timing Issue."

Richard Allen​Over the last year, whenever I have spoken with Richard Allen, CEO of The Allen Group, he has been open at times, guarded at others. But I have to say today, when he and I talked about his entry into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, he sounded better than he has in some time -- more confidant ... More >>

Tom Hicks's Acquisitions Venture Tries One More Time to Acquire Something

​Tom Hicks has been all kinds of busy making deals; alas, none of 'em Rangers-related. Instead, it's his publicly traded investment company, Hicks Acquisitions, making news this week, as once more he tries to keep the venture from being delisted by the New York Stock Exchange, which threatened to ... More >>

While Rating City's Hotel Bonds, Moody's Says Dallas Is "Vying For a Relatively Fixed Number of Conventions" Among "Strong Competition"

Brian HarkinDo you think President Obama ever imagined his stimulus package would help Dallas build a convention center hotel? This guy sure did.As the city's hotel development corporation prepares to sell what is now $505,230,000 in revenue bonds to build the convention center hotel, Moody's Invest ... More >>

Moody's Blues: Dallas Independent School District's Bond Credit Ratings Slip

In a subscription-only story published this morning, The Bond Buyer notes that both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's have downgraded their ratings of the Dallas Independent School District. Both still consider the district a relatively safe investment, but the downgrades reflect a ... More >>

Blockbuster Reports Drop in Total Revenue and, Worse, Same-Store Sales

All week, Wall Street has been anxiously anticipating Blockbuster's first-quarter results, which were released moments ago. Analysts didn't expect good news from the Dallas-based company, whose efforts to reinvent itself we've documented at great length in recent months. And the news is indeed mixed ... More >>

Southwest Airlines, a Symbol of Freedom

Southwest Airlines announced this morning that it's living up to that old motto, offering nearly every single employee what CEO Gary Kelly calls an "early out" in the wake of a first-quarter net loss, the Dallas-based carrier's third straight decline. Southwest today announced a first-quarter '09 ne ... More >>

Alas, Not Even Sarah Palin Could Keep Neimans From Losing Money

Blockbuster Wins Some, Loses a Lot

DART: The Feel-Good Bond Sale of the Year! Or Not.

Review: Cafe R&D

Café R&D serves up pretty, tasty dishes, but where's the meow mix?

Items of Interest, Far As You Know

Burger Joint Love Shack Coming to Victory Park

Chef Tim Love says nothing's worse than a crappy burger

Standard & Poor's A Little Concerned About A.H. Belo Spin-Off

On the Brinker

Back on Its Heelys

Belo Corp. Now a Split Personality

Belo: The Good, The Bad and the Fugly

Blockbuster Almost Done Making "Triple Play." Didn't That Star Billy Baldwin?

Still Plenty of Smoke to Be Cleared in TXU Deal

Closing Up the Storehouse

At Least the Trees Will be Happy

Going Liquid?

Chapter 7 isn't the EC's lucky number

That's News to The News

Odds & Ends

Changing Chapters

Sipango sees another chef shift

Have It Your Way

Jeanie Terilli is expanding her domain

Sushi wars

Two Deep Ellum sushi bars are locked in raw battle

Is this any way to run an airport?

Black bookseller Robert Crews once ran a thriving store at D/FW. Now he's in court fighting to save his business, thanks to airport policies that boost local minorities and squeeze airport concessionaires

Slim Pickens

An angry wife does to T. Boone Pickens what his corporate victims could only dream of

Don't cry for me, Amarillo

T. Boone Pickens Jr. has lost millions, been booted out of his own company, and his wife wants a divorce. Miriam Rozen chronicles the downward spiral of the once-fearsome Learjet Cowboy.

Letters

Rushes