Harris County

Legislators to Consider Measure for 17-Year-Old Capital Murderers as Jake Evans Trial Looms

The Parker County district attorney is keeping an eye on the Legislature's special session. Next month, Jake Evans' case is scheduled to go to trial. The 17-year-old kid from a gated community in Aledo is accused of methodically gunning down his mother and his little sister then calmly phoning 911. ... More >>

It's Time to Cry Over Spilled Milk: the Texas Raw Milk Bill is Now Dead

There's a bit of bad news for raw milk drinkers. You'll have to continue the trips out to the farm for your creamy elixir fix. Currently Texas law stipulates that raw milk can only be purchased on the farms where it is produced. A bill introduced this legislative session, HB 46, would have changed ... More >>

Looks Like Dallas Police Will Soon Have the Power to Perform Wiretaps

The Wire, David Simon's epic examination of power, corruption and narcotics in a major American city, was not set in Texas. It couldn't have been. Not because cities here don't have those things (they do) but because local police departments aren't allowed to go around wiretapping drug dealers. Und ... More >>

In the Wake of Kaufman Slayings, Dallas County Prosecutors Encouraged to Ammo Up

The murder this weekend of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, two months after assistant DA Mark Hasse was gunned down in broad daylight, has Texas prosecutors on high alert. The Associated Press reports today that district attorneys throughout the state are taking extra ... More >>

As Texas' 500th Execution Approaches, Death Penalty Opponents Ramp Up Calls For Reform

On an August night in 1998, Douglas Feldman pulled his Harley up next to an 18-wheeler that had just cut him off on a highway in Plano. Feldman shot and killed the driver, Robert Everett, then paused on his way home to murder an Exxon tanker driver named Nicholas Velasquez. A week or so later, he ki ... More >>

Texas House Rep Allen Fletcher Files Bill To Tackle Non-Existent Problem of Sex-Selective Abortion

With the shiny new session of the Texas Legislature a mere six days away, your lawmakers are gearing up to debate some important issues, like handsy TSA agents and whether we should drug-test people who have the audacity to file for emergency welfare relief. But, as ever, some legislators are most ... More >>

Harris County Is Drowning in Drunk People's Blood. Dallas, Thankfully, Is Not

Last week, Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos asked Attorney General Greg Abbott for some advice. County law enforcement has dutifully taken blood samples from suspects in certain intoxication-related offenses (driving drunk with a child in the car, for one) as required by state law. No ... More >>

While Awaiting Trial, Teens in Dallas County Jail Being Kept in Their Cells 23 Hours a Day

Each year, a handful of Dallas county teenagers accused of crimes are "certified," meaning they're being charged as adults and will appear in adult criminal court. While they await trial, they sit in Dallas county jail. We've learned that while in jail, these teens are kept in their cells for 23 hou ... More >>

That Dallas-Houston Bullet-Train Proposal Needs More Money Before it Can Start Costing Money

There was a lot of buzz back in May when a group led by the Central Japan Railway Co. and former Harris County Judge Robert Eckels announced plans to raise $10 billion in private funds to establish a bullet train linking Dallas and Houston. TxDOT, too, has been looking at high-speed rail, and is in ... More >>

Dallas is All Like, 'Voting, Why Bother?'

Turns out, the people of Dallas don't care much for voting -- Dallas County ranked fourth in the state (out of 254 counties) for the fewest ballots cast among voting-age people. Even Harris County had a slightly better turnout, which unfortunately means the Asshole of the Universe, has us beat at so ... More >>

Refugees Are Flooding to Texas

Texas has become the top destination for refugee resettlement, with Dallas the second largest hub, according to recent statistics. It became the main destination for resettlement as of last year, rising from number five in 2001. In an article earlier this week, the Houston Chronicle reported that T ... More >>

DoJ: Texas's New Election Maps Seek to Deny Hispanics Voting Rights, Especially in DFW

​Overnight, several Friends of Unfair Park sent different versions of the same story, which says: The state quite deliberately submitted to the Department of Justice new election maps that discriminate against the Hispanic voter -- especially in Dallas-Fort Worth. As in: "There is direct and circu ... More >>

Purple Hazed

Pledge took beating, not oath, to become Omega Psi Phi.

Houston Jewel Heist Victim Sues Dallas Gold Buyer That Paid Millions For Stolen Goods

On Monday we told you the story of Jason Clay Kennedy and the Brothers O'Brien, who, on February 5, disabled a Houston jewelry store's alarm and video surveillance system and sawed through six inches of steel and concrete and made off with $6 million in 22-carat gold, Rolex watches and precious ston ... More >>

Dallas PD Nabs Watauga Man Suspected of Taking Part in Dozens of Mammoth Jewel Heists

Dallas County Sheriff's DepartmentKelvin O'Brien​Moments ago, Dallas Police spokesman Senior Corporal Kevin Janse sent out a handful of over-the-weekend updates. Among them was this brief concerning an arrest made early Sunday morning:On 9/25/2011 at 1:45 a.m., Dallas Police Officers received info ... More >>

Last Night, a First Step Toward Solving, Or Not, the Problem With ICE's Secure Communities

​Tuesday night, the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council's Task Force on Secure Communities (hold on, gotta catch my breath after that pithy title) held a pilot meeting at the Dallas County Community College's Bill J. Priest Campus to discuss ICE's controversial fingerprint screeni ... More >>

Hop Aboard The Houston-to-Dallas High-Speed PowerPoint on Display Yesterday

From the presentation given yesterday to Harris County officials concerning a Dallas-Houston-etc. high-speed rail line​Back to that Houston-to-Dallas bullet train for a second ...Erik Noriega, manager of communications for the Greater Houston Partnership, was kind enough to send me Central Japan R ... More >>

Dallas ISD's Long and Winding Road to Broad Prize Just Hit a Dead End

​Perhaps you've seen the promotional materials -- they've been everywhere during the past five years, as the Dallas Independent School District (and superintendent Michael Hinojosa, especially) eased on down that Road to Broad, so named for the $2 million award given to urban school districts who ... More >>

Too Much of a Bad Thing: Internet Lures Kids into Porn Addiction

"Pole Tax" Dances Into Texas Supreme Court

Last spring, The Lodge made a big show of presenting the state with a big check that's been sitting in escrow ever since.​As you no doubt recall, the state of Texas has been trying for years to find a way to make its so-called "pole tax" stick. The first time around, a judge slapped down the $5-pe ... More >>

How Much Did You Pay to Defend Don Hill?

Sam MertenFormer Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill outside the Earle Cabell, moments after the guilty verdicts were handed down​Schutze and Merten are off in darkened corners finishing their City Hall corruption trial wrap-up (as in, What does it all mean?), so I'll refer you to KXAS-Channel 5's piece ... More >>

There Will Be Blood: Come September, the DPD's No-Refusal Weekend Goes Full Time

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle tells Unfair Park he expects to launch the so-called no-refusal program full-time in September after key legislation passed Sunday that makes obtaining a blood search warrant easier."That was the hold up," says Kunkle, who explains that the old law stipulated that on ... More >>

In Texas, Is Blue the New Red?

Texas Ain't No Toss-Up, Says NBC Producer Following Mix-Up

Harris County GOP Boss Says Fred Baron's Money is "Tainted"

Just Put Down the Tomato and Back Away Slowly -- and Panic! Or Don't.

Mapes to Clinton: Remember the Alamo!

Still an Aryan Blood Brother

Two murders and two life sentences won't alter one convict's allegiance to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas

Divide and Conquer|Disgusting Bleeding Hearts

If Anand Jon Comes Back to Dallas, He Might Not Be Leaving

See, Houston Does Want to Be Like Dallas

Houston: A Donkey Move

Hell to the Chief

High on the Hog

In Texas, shoot as many feral pigs as you like. Just don't let your dog bite them.

Here She Comes to Save the Day

Cell Disease

Being sick in Dallas County's troubled jail can be a death sentence

Hard Words for Software

DCAD spends $5.5 million developing its own computer program. Why?

Rusty's Pity Party

Plus: Havard...Again

Sisters in Crime

Female authors find a lucrative trade in Texas lawlessness

Life Without Father

Inmates on Texas' Death Row leave behind immeasurable pain and countless victims--including their own families

Inhale With Hale

Itinerant pro-pot candidate Steven Hale is down again, but not out

The Way of the Gun

The untold story of why Lenell Geter was freed

Out of Mind, Out of Sight

For a growing number of Texas kids with mental illnesses, the only place to get help is behind bars.

Buzz

What makes Bobby run?

Make 'em Pay

Spurred by a horrifying wave of teen violence in the '90s, Texas today spends more money than ever to lock up young criminals. Are we getting our money's worth?

Prisoners of Love

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative says it can rehabilitate Texas prison inmates through God--a conservative evangelical Christian God, to be more precise

Parting shots

A triple murderer freed from prison runs into his old nemeses on the way back to the pen

Unlucky strike

Less than two years after Billie Bob Harrell Jr. took the $31 million lottery jackpot, he took his own life

Down-home Drudge

Harvey Kronberg, the Avis of Austin political reporters, tries harder with Web gossip

Cheating death

A notorious murder-for-hire ex-con may have reached the end of his road in Dallas