Kevin Craig

Tom Leppert on the Trinity River Toll Road, Again Slicing the Truth with a Razor Blade

​I'm doing an informal poll. Is there anyone left out there who gives a rat's ass what former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert did or did not say about the safety of the Trinity River toll road project? Wait. Wait. I'm looking. I've got my binoculars on. A-ha! I do spy at least one rat's ass out there ... More >>

Dallas City Hall Fights to Keep its Trinity Secrets

What's in the emails we can't see? Lots of bad stuff, no doubt.

City Sues Texas Attorney General to Keep From Releasing Trinity Project Docs We Requested

All your solar-powered water taxis are belong to us, says Dallas City Hall.​OK, now we're really curious. We're talking to you, Dallas City Hall, about those Trinity River project emails and memos you're fighting to keep us from seeing. What, has someone been unduly candid in his or her assessment ... More >>

Trinity Levee Repairs on Track to Beat FEMA's Deadline, But Corps Stresses Approval "Cannot Be Guaranteed"

Photos by Sam MertenTrinity Trust Foundation chair Margaret McDermott Cook says Dallasites will be running from her as fund-raising for the Trinity project resumes.​It was all smiles and back-slapping this afternoon as the city, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Trinity River Corridor Project p ... More >>

Could It Be ... Solar-Powered Water Taxis? Nah. Just "Significant News" About Trinity Levees.

​City Hall just sent word: Tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. in the Flag Room, Mayor Dwaine Caraway, Trinity River Corridor Project Committee Chairman Dave Neumann and representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Trinity Trust Foundation and Trinity Commons Foundation will hold a press conference to a ... More >>

Wait a Sec. There's Something Wrong With the Levees? Somebody Tell Carolyn Davis ASAP!

Photo by Sam MertenThe six-headed Trinity monster (from left to right): Jill Jordan, Kelly High, Rebecca Rasor, Liz Fernandez, Col. R.J. Muraski and Kevin Craig​If little else, attending Trinity River Corridor Project Committee meetings is a constant reminder of the jaw-dropping ignorance of c ... More >>

The Horror, The Horror Behind the Latest Trinity River Piece in Dallas's Only Daily

​Trinity River Project stories are The Dallas Morning News on mescaline. The city's only daily does so well with other coverage. But then they drop one of those Trinity River tabs, and the walls go to rubber. This morning The Dallas Morning News publishes a story saying the federal share of the Tr ... More >>

Easy, Rider: Eddie Bernice Johnson Rewrites History In Interview About Trinity Exemptions

Sam MertenEddie Bernice Johnson, Tom Leppert and Kay Bailey Hutchson talking Trinity at City Hall several months back​We still have the South Dallas News in this town, only now they call it the DallasSouthNews. That's the name of the online publication Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson went to ... More >>

Liveblogging Today's Parks and Rec Meeting

You wanna see Rochester Park, you'd best hustle: It closes down in October for a big ol' levee redo.​All kinds of folks are crammed up in City Hall's sixth-floor Parks and Rec meeting room -- ladies who lunch, guys in suits, city officials and, of course, some dude who stinks pretty bad. It's so f ... More >>

Talkin' Trinity With the Corps Because Dave Neumann's Committee Clearly Doesn't Want To

Sam MertenLeft to right: Kevin Craig, Mayor Leppert and Dave Neumann.​Ever since Mayor Tom Leppert, City Manager Mary Suhm and Trinity River Corridor Project Committee chair Dave Neumann fired off a missive in which they claimed "public safety and flood control always come first," we've been t ... More >>

Mayor Leppert Says Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge "Will Be Finished as Promised" As Corps of Engineers OKs Construction on Approaches

Photos by Sam MertenKevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mayor Tom Leppert and council member Dave Neumann this afternoon at the Trinity Trust.​Supporters of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge breathed a collective sigh of relief this afternoon at the Trinity Trust as Mayor Tom Leppert ... More >>

Cracking the Mystery of TxDOT's Proposals to the Corps: Do Nothing and Build a Pile of Dirt.

Sam Merten​In case you missed it, Michael Lindenberger reported in Saturday's Dallas Morning News that the Texas Department of Transportation finally submitted its proposals to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aimed at solving the soil issues currently stalling construction of the approaches t ... More >>

Defense Uses Factual Résumé, Church Donation and Ties With Leo Chaney to Fluster Key Witness In City Hall Corruption Case

Sam MertenVictor VitalLow-income housing developer Brian Potashnik appeared frustrated and confused Monday in the federal City Hall corruption trial as a trio of defense lawyers rattled the prosecution's star witness while attacking his previous testimony. Near the end of a long day on the stand, he ... More >>

The Easy Answer to the Trinity River's Levee Problems? Just Blame Katrina.

Sam MertenKevin Craig of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wasn't given a chance to speak when Mayor Leppert and other politicos announced a two-year, $29 million levee study.After Mayor Tom Leppert announced the need to pony up $29 million to study Dallas's levees resulting from "unacceptable" ratings ... More >>

Who knew sand flowed under the Trinity? Everybody but the folks building bridges there.

Mo Money Mo Problems: Leppert's Got Some "Good News" for the Council About Trinity

Sam Merten In February, Mayor Tom Leppert and Kevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- and tomorrow, they're holding a repeat performance Earlier tonight, a few of us local media members found in our respective in-boxes a draft of remarks Mayor Tom Leppert is expected to deliver Mo ... More >>

A Backward Way of Moving Forward on the Trinity

Corps Approved Bridge Without Geotechnical Data, Still Trying to Solve Sand Mystery

Sam MertenKevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flanks Mayor Tom Leppert as he tells the press about the levees' "unacceptable" ratings.After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its report on the city's levees, we were baffled to learn that construction on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bri ... More >>

Report on Trinity Levees Shows A Failure of Dallas' Leadership

The latest word from the Army Corps of Engineers is sure to result in one thing: a run on rubber rafts at Costco

Corps of Engineers' Yogi Berra, "This Project Isn't Going to End Until It's Completed."

Courtesy the City of DallasThe Pantanal arriving in Houston with the first shipment of steel for the Margaret Hunt Hill BridgeJudy Schmidt at Dallas City Hall forwards along the following message from Mayor Tom Leppert: Till he hears otherwise, Santiago Calatrava's Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is getti ... More >>

Tom Leppert, the Trinity River Remix

Someone not named "Jim Schutze" just posted the above video to YouTube -- just in time for the Friends of Unfair Park who've not yet read Schutze's very related column in this week's Observer. An excerpt, to whet your appetite:At the end of last week, I had a detailed and helpful conversation with K ... More >>

Corps Warns that Trinity River Levees Pose a Flood Risk to Downtown, but is City Hall Listening?

Somewhere, Jim Schutze is Off Doing a Happy Dance

Sam MertenMayor Tom Leppert and Kevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of EngineersMayor Tom Leppert reluctantly addressed local media this afternoon regarding City Manager Mary Suhm's earlier announcement that the Trinity River levees will be rated "unacceptable" in 34 of 170 areas by the U.S. Army Co ... More >>

Corps' Liaison Unveiled at Trinity Meeting, Faces Tough Questions from Rasansky

Sam MertenHalfway through the presentation, Carolyn Davis apparently heard all she needed to know about the corps and said adios.Yesterday afternoon, the council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee learned about the inner workings of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from their newly appointed ... More >>

Corps' Attention to Detail Could Jeopardize More Than Just the Toll Road. The Whole Effin' Trinity Project Could Die!

flickr member: puuikibeachThe entire Trinity River Corridor Project, including the Texas Horse Park, is tied to the approval of the toll road by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At least, that's what proponents of the Trinity Turnpike want you to believe."Attention to detail delays Army Corps of E ... More >>

Trinity Chairman Sees "Many, Many Obstacles" With Turnpike Project

Sam MertenFrom left to right: Gene Rice and Kevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dan Chapman of HNTB and project manager for the NTTA and Rebecca Dugger, director of the Trinity River Corridor Project As Schutze mentioned earlier, the council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee m ... More >>