Subject: Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse

• Signed, Unsealed, Almost Delivered

  October 1, 2007

• Got Time to Kill? Here's That 166-Page City Hall Indictment You've Been Waiting For.

  October 1, 2007

• Take a Progressive Tour of Dallas, More or Less

  May 20, 2008

• Preservation Dallas Launches Effort to Save 508 Park Avenue, Asks City to Back Off

  Last week, while working on this week's cover story in the paper version of Unfair Park, I discovered that the owners of 508 Park Ave. have filed with the city a permit to tear down the former Warner Brothers Film Exchange, built in the late 1920s. Long story, available soonish in a rack or on a computer screen near you, short: The city's cracking down on vacant downtown building's worst code violators, and it considers the building in which Robert Johnson recorded in June 1937 among the worst o

  January 21, 2009

• Publicity Paul

  July 24, 1997

• U.S. Attorney Set to Announce Arrest in "Amarillo White Powder Letters" Investigation

  Federal Bureau of InvestigationOne of the letters sent to a Chase branch, accompanied by a white powder later ruled to be calciumLast night, the U.S. Attorney's Office sent word that at 11 a.m. today there would a media conference at the Earle Cabell Federal Building downtown "to announce developments in a pending investigation." This morning, a second missive arrived with further details: Acting U.S. Attorney James Jacks; Robert Casey Jr., the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Dallas office;

  February 3, 2009

• If an Anti-War Protest Marches Through Downtown Dallas and No One Is Around to Hear It, Does It Make a Sound?

  Kimberly ThorpeAnti-Iraq War protestors marched through downtown Dallas on Saturday. Yesterday, about 35 people marched from City Hall to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse to protest the Iraq War, which began six year ago. They dressed in black shirts and pants and wore white masks over their faces to represent the dead. From their necks, they hung cardboard signs with names of the many soldiers who have died in the war. The Dallas Peace Center organized the march.The processi

  March 22, 2009

• So Help You God, Don Hill

  Hey, Don Hill, who just joined your legal defense team? You don't say.Earlier this afternoon, Ken Carter at Focus Communications sent along an invite to a Sunday-night prayer vigil in front of the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse -- where, so happens, one week from today former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and his missus, Sheila Farrington, finally go to trial in the City Hall corruption case in which four folks have already pleaded guilty. Hill's got quite the all-star lineup ready

  June 15, 2009

• The Night Before Their Trial, Don Hill and Sheila Farrington Talk to God in a Parking Lot

  Kimberly ThorpeIf nothing else, we now have a hundred new pictures of Don Hill praying, as he was tonight outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building with wife Sheila and friends.Former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill's public corruption case finally heads into an Earle Cabell Federal Building courtroom tomorrow morning, shortly before the Dallas City Council is sworn in at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center one mile away. But tonight, just outside the building on Commerce Street downtown, he go

  June 21, 2009

• Brian Potashnik Will Appear in Federal Court -- To Testify Against Don Hill (Now, a Live Blog)

  Cheryl and Brian PotashnikI'm at the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse waiting for the afternoon session of the City Hall corruption trial to launch. The feds presented their case this morning. The only substantial news was a confirmation that affordable housing developer Brian Potashnik will, as expected, testify against former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and former city plan commission member D'Angelo Lee.The government's case paints Potashnik as having been a willing, even avid c

  June 29, 2009

• Prosecution Hands Over Key Witness to Defense Without Proving Don Hill's Guilt, Bolsters Case Against D'Angelo Lee

  Sam MertenD'Angelo Lee crosses Commerce Street in front of the Earle Cabell Federal Building Thursday afternoon.The second full day of testimony from affordable housing developer Brian Potashnik strengthened the prosecution's case against former city plan commissioner D'Angelo Lee in the City Hall corruption case, but federal prosecutor Marcus Busch concluded his direct examination of Potashnik Thursday without directly linking former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill to Lee's alleged criminal activity.

  July 24, 2009

• How City Hall Really Works: Notes from the City Hall Corruption Trial

  Once again, this more or less provides the perfect description of the testimony now being heard in the federal City Hall corruption trial.​O.K., I want to give you an example of the very good lawyering being done by the defense in the City Hall corruption trial going on right now at the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse. The witness on the stand this morning is the same guy who was on at the end of the day yesterday: Jerry Killingsworth, director of the city of Dallas's Housing Dep

  August 5, 2009

• With FBI Informant's Credibility in Question, Prosecution Decides It's Laura Miller Time

  Sam Merten Miller crosses Commerce Street this morning, along with husband Steve Wolens and daughter Alex.Moments ago, folks standing outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse got a sneak peek at the prosecution's next witness in the City Hall corruption trial: former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, accompanied by her husband, former State Rep. Steve Wolens. Finally.Federal prosecutors continued to gain little traction Wednesday in the City Hall corruption case against

  August 6, 2009

• Far As Al Lipscomb's Concerned, Jury Oughta "Dump" Case Against Don Hill and Others, Feds Should Apologize to Fantroy's Wife

  Sam MertenAl Lipscomb, who was told during a trial break by Laura Miller that he was looking "dapper as always," stands outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building yesterday afternoon.Once again, we found former council member Al Lipscomb in the courtroom at the City Hall corruption trial yesterday, and he predicted the jury will "dump" the case. "The jury's gonna say, 'You've taken our time up on all this crap here. There's a hell of a lot of involvement. We don't know. They've all taken money,

  August 7, 2009

• Don Hill's Latest Defense: He Just Wasn't Powerful Enough to Influence Deals

  Sam MertenWhat, them worried? D'Angelo Lee, Don Hill and Sheila Farrington outside the federal courthouse​[Editor's note: Jim's on deadline, and Sam's on vacation. So Trey Garrison's down at the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse live-blogging the City Hall corruption trial for Unfair Park today. Jim's back tomorrow; till then, take it away, Trey.]Don Hill's defense attorney, Ray Jackson, spent the morning building on a main part of their argument that Jim so brilliantly summarized l

  August 10, 2009

• Big Fisher: Schutze is Back at the City Hall Trial As the Feds' Informant Takes the Stand

  Sam MertenDon Hill and the missus, Sheila Farrington​Victor Vital, Sheila Farrington Hill's attorney, is cross examining Allen McGill, Darren Reagan's partner in the Black State Employees Association of Texas (BSEAT), which prosecutors have characterized as a fake union and extortion scam. McGill, a defendant in the City Hall corruption case, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the prosecutors. All this, incidentally, is a prelude to the testimony of afforable-housing developer and FBI

  August 11, 2009

• Hey, Jim, Only 50 More Witnesses to Go

  ​Just got back to the computer to find a note from U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn's courtroom deputy, who says that since last we were in the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, the judge met with prosecutors and defense attorneys -- separately -- to see about picking up the pace of the already drawn-out federal City Hall corruption trial. Maybe, maybe not: According to the e-mail sent to local media, both sides combined have indeed whittled down their respective lists of witnesses

  August 14, 2009

• Yet Again, Bill Fisher's on the Stand in Federal City Hall Corruption Trial -- And Former Mayor Laura Miller Gets a Shout-Out

  Sam MertenFormer Dallas Mayor Laura Miller outside the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, when she testified in the City Hall federal corruption trial a few weeks ago​Victor Vital, attorney for Sheila Farrington, began the morning's proceedings in the federal Dallas City Hall corruption trial by asking affordable housing developer Bill Fisher several questions about whether he hoped the jury in this case would render a "just and merciful" verdict. Finally the judge told him to mov

  August 18, 2009

• Turns Out Jury in City Hall Corruption Trial Isn't the Only Ones Learning About CHDOs

  It's good to know CHDOs are doing some good 'cause the City Hall corruption trial is teaching us that they're naughty.Among the dozens of acronyms we've grown accustomed to hearing throughout the City Hall corruption trial is CHDO -- Community Housing Development Organization -- which is why yesterday afternoon's briefing to the city council's Housing Committee titled "Impact of CHDOs in the City of Dallas" caught our eye. To our disappointment, the trial wasn't discussed, although witness Jer

  August 18, 2009

• Up the Sleazy River At the Dallas City Hall Corruption Trial

  August 27, 2009

• Up the Sleazy River At the Dallas City Hall Corruption Trial

  August 27, 2009

• U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn Locks Courtroom and Denies Access to Surrounding Area Until Verdict in City Hall Corruption Case

  U.S. District Judge Barbara LynnMuch like Wednesday afternoon, I got another itch to sit in during the day's last couple hours of jury deliberations in the City Hall corruption case, but I was quickly disappointed upon seeing Don and Sheila Hill in the lobby of the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse. Turns out the jury stopped deliberating at 1:30 p.m., and worse yet, the two co-defendants and their lawyers were banned from the 15th floor. Victor Vital, Sheila Hill's attorney, told m

  October 2, 2009

• Stay Tuned: The Verdict Is In! (Update: Don Hill's Guilty of Extortion, Bribery and More)

  Sam MertenFour of the five co-defendants, from left to right: D'Angelo Lee, Sheila Hill, Darren Reagan and Don Hill​Sam's on his way to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse, where, at around 10:30 a.m., we'll find out what says the jury in the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial. Which means those of you who selected "October 1 through October 7" in our contest are one step closer to that The Wire boxed set win. Stay tuned, as a live blog is forthcoming.Update at 10:38 a.m.:

  October 5, 2009

• As Hills Look Forward to Appeal, Don Says Brian Potashnik "Did What He Had To Do"

  Sam MertenAt approximately 10:40 this morning, a packed courtroom on the 15th floor of the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse filled with friends and family of the co-defendants, members of the media and lawyers sits abuzz with anticipation. This is it. Finally. U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn enters and announces that the jury has reached unanimous verdicts on all counts against Don and Sheila Hill, D'Angelo Lee, Darren Reagan and Rickey Robertson. "I recognize the tension and press

  October 5, 2009

• How the Feds Convicted Don Hill

  October 15, 2009