Kimberly Thorpe

WSJ on The New-Look Paul Quinn College

Photo by Kimberly ThorpeMichael Sorrell​Not so very long ago it looked as though Paul Quinn College on Simpson Stuart Road might not be long for this world, following the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' decision to yank its accreditation. Appeals were made; lawsuits, filed. And the e ... More >>

Dallas, Show Me the MoneyGram!

Kimberly Thorpe​Speaking of things that make the mayor happy ...MoneyGram International is moving its HQ from Minnesota to 2828 N. Harwood. It's bringing 75 people to Dallas; could grow to double that in coming years. Says Mayor Tom Leppert in an official release just dispatched by Chris Heinbaugh ... More >>

Mayor Tom on Why Dallas is Good For Business and Why Mayor Tom's Good for Dallas

Kimberly ThorpeMayor Tom talks about sending iPods to corporate CEOs in this morning's interview.​This morning, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert talks to something called The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel about why Dallas "is on a roll." It reads, in part, like a Mayor Tom best-of -- part personal histor ... More >>

Leppert: "Downtown Dallas Is a Turnaround Play That Shows No Sign of Letting Up."

Kimberly Thorpe​Sadly, we were unable to attend D-Spotting Downtown Dallas's Membership Forum wingding this afternoon at Union Station. So I asked Mayor Tom Leppert's chief of staff, Chris Heinbaugh, if he could provide the mayor's remarks: "The State of Downtown Address." And so he did, along wit ... More >>

Six Months After La Familia Bust, Dallas Boss Pleads Guilty to Meth Trafficking

Kimberly ThorpeSome of the drugs and money seized by law-enforcement officials in the fall of 2009​We were there in October of last year, when the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the I.R.S., the U.S. Secret Service and Texas Air National Guard -- and every other law-enforcing acronym -- ... More >>

Better Off Deadbeat

Look, Mary Suhm Knows What We Want in a Top Cop. So Why's She Pretending to Ask?

Kimberly Thorpe​Public meetings often take on the tone of the most disgruntled citizen present, and last night was no exception. However, City Manager Mary Suhm tried to pretend she was genuinely interested in hearing from the 25 folks who showed up at Dallas City Hall last night to participate in ... 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 >>

Dallas County Commissioners Decide to Leave Security Issues With County Administrator

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeThe Dallas County Commissioners Court at today's meeting​So, yes, the Dallas County Commissioners Court did discuss privatizing security at all Dallas County courthouses and other county-owned-and-operated buildings. Problem was, the commissioners couldn't agree on what to ... More >>

Someone Spent Last Night Setting Downtown Dallas's Trash Cans on Fire

Kimberly ThorpeOne of a handful of trash can fires set downtown last night​Downtown Dallas was on fire last night -- at least, its trash cans were. Six or seven of them, to be more exact. That's what firefighters say. We saw four for sure -- the first one around 9. The trash can at the corner of G ... More >>

And The Winner Is...

​Not a bad week, comment-wise--especially considering how everyone is pretty much huddled up in their cubicles this time of year trying to clear things before the holidays...right?It helped that newswriter (and alcohol lightweight) Kimberly Thorpe decided to seek tolerance-building advice so she ... More >>

Finally, It Looks Like a Christmas Tree

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeThe hulking metal tree at Main Street Garden​ Snow fell this morning in downtown Dallas beginning just after 8 a.m. Heavy, wet flakes caught in folks' hair and soaked their business suits. While the flakes turned to puddles on the ground, there was a special feeling this m ... More >>

On Its 37th Anniversary, We Remembered One Thing: Spaghetti Warehouse Is Still Open!

Kimberly ThorpeIf you haven't been to the Spaghetti Warehouse in a while, it looks exactly as it did the last time you were there.​The Spaghetti Warehouse celebrated its 37th birthday on Wednesday with an all-day draft special and a Beatles cover band -- and, if you were born in 1972, a slice of c ... More >>

Bodies to Hit the Floor in the Old West End Marketplace Beginning Saturday

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeDr. Roy Glover, chief medical director and spokesperson for Bodies: The Exhbition. You can check out more photos in our slide show.​You shouldn't be grossed out by the cadavers and bones on display at the new Bodies: The Exhibition, which has already taken over the first f ... More >>

A Call for a Justice Revival from Dallas Market Hall Keeps the Faith Despite Low Turnout

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeA gathering of local religious leaders and Sojourners staffers kicked off last night's Justice Revival at Market Hall.​It's not an uncommon scene: A Christian pop band plugs in and coos about Jesus's love to the faithful flock, which sways with arms raised to the heave ... More >>

If They Can't Get People to Come to Victory Park, Well, There's Always Cattle

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeWhatever you do, do not look at the video board behind you.​On my commute to work this morning, I noticed something peculiar about Victory Park Plaza. Standing over the dull pavers, corralled Longhorns grazed on a bit of straw, while two men on horseback watched over. Turn ... More >>

DCVB CEO Proposes a Sort of "Hospitality Tax" to Fund Marketing City, Convention Center

Kimberly Thorpe Mayor Tom Leppert at the DCVB meeting this morning. In case you couldn't tell who this is.​The annual meeting of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau kicked off with drama and class -- a few notes played on a grand piano, a few notes sung from an opera. If you're goin ... More >>

Will There Be Life in the Old West End Marketplace? Well, Yes and No.

Photos by Kimberly Thorpe​Usually there's nothing to see at the locked-up West End Marketplace save for the giant cowboy-boot-wearing lizard, a remnant from Planet Hollywood days, which ended in 2001. And he's seen better days -- so too has his tail, the tip of which has vanished. Today, thoug ... More >>

Inside a Santeria Feast Day

Kimberly ThorpeA suburban Dallas Santeria feast ceremony​Santeria is a religion practiced by one to five million people in the United States; still, because of its clandestine nature, estimates of practitioners of the Afro-Cuban religion vary widely. Some Euless residents were shocked to learn tha ... More >>

Today, Two More Wrongly Imprisoned Men Took Their First Steps as Free Men

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeClaude Simmons and Christopher Shun Scott outside the House of Blues, shortly after their release from prison today. Check out more photos here in our slide show.​The courtroom was filled with tears, then cheers: Two men who spent 12 years in prison for a crime they didn't ... More >>

When the DEA Busted Up La Familia, They Hauled In Plenty of Guns, Drugs and Dough

Photos by Kimberly Thorpe​You're looking at 220 pounds of methamphetamine, 4.5 kilos of cocaine and $660,000 in cash; there was also quite the assortment of machine guns hauled in. The whole stash was seized in North Texas yesterday from more than 80 members of a violent Mexican drug cartel known ... More >>

Getting Educated at the Policy Boot Camp

Photos by Kimberly Thorpe​It doesn't sound like a buzzword or a catch phrase -- at least, not like "Obamacare" or "Socialism." But heading into the next election season, keep an eye out for it: "educated voter." That was the phrase being bandied about Saturday, when Unfair Park headed to Lak ... More >>

State of the DISD Address, or: You Can't Have the Good Without Some of the Bad

Kimberly ThorpeAt the Belo Mansion this morning, Michael Hinojosa touched on everything from educational gains to the juvenile curfew.​Last time we checked, there wasn't much to laugh about when it came to the state of public education in Dallas. But leave it to Dallas Independent School Distr ... More >>

Dallas City Hall Needs a Bike Rack

Photos by Kimberly ThorpeJason Roberts, organizer of today's bike ride to City Hall, and his official proclamation​This morning, Angela Hunt made a discovery: Dallas City Hall has no bicycle rack. "It's nuts!" said Hunt, who was standing with other bikers on a chilly morning in the plaza. "We ... More >>

This Is Your Brain's Health Center

Kimberly ThorpeOh, so this is what they mean by "Bush's brain."​So, you're busy reading this blog at your desk (or on your phone ... at a stop light ... or in the HOV lane). At the same time you're replying to an e-mail, checking your voice mail, answering a coworker's question and doing whatever ... More >>

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Far as Mayor and DART Prez Are Concerned, the Green Line's All About Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Kimberly Thorpe​Mayor Tom Leppert and other city officials got their first ride on the much-anticipated Dallas Area Rapid Transit Green Line this morning. The first four stops on the $1.8 billion, 20-station, 28-mile line will officially open Monday -- following tomorrow's Super Saturday spectacul ... More >>

Dallas's Police Car of the Future?

Kimberly ThorpeCheck out more shots of this cruiser of the future in our slide show.​A few years down the road, you just may get pulled over by a Dallas Police officer driving this hot new number. If nothing else, it's on the DPD's wish list -- appropriate in the hometown of RoboCop.The first purp ... More >>

Major League Gamers Are Back at the Hilton Anatole, and They Ain't Playing Around

Kimberly Thorpe"James ClouD," left, with Major League Gaming competitors Michael Green and Brenna Pierson, both 24​The Major League Gaming Pro Circuit has rolled into Dallas: Yesterday, scores of gamers (and their parents) checked into the Hilton Anatole, where the competition is being held this w ... More >>

Paul Quinn's President is Defiant in Wake of Ruling: "There is No Doomsday Scenario."

Kimberly ThorpePaul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell​Turns out, Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell was available to talk to us today, following the news that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools refused to reinstate the the 137-year-old institution's accreditation. Not ... More >>

This Side of the Highway's Grass May Be Greener, But Is It Edible?

Kimberly ThorpeThe bountiful harvest along 635.​ Since so many of you were wondering, we're passing along word the Dallas District Office of Texas Department of Transportation is checking to see if the grass growing on the side of the highway is viable for livestock feed. After we wrote about this ... More >>

Hay Now: In Dallas, a South-Central Texas Ranch Hand Got Tumped Over and Pissed Off

Kimberly Thorpe​Anyone who's driven south of town knows most of the state's suffering from a severe drought, especially south-central Texas. And without water, there can be no hay. So Monday morning before dawn, a ranch foreman from Harwood headed north to Bonham to buy some for the cattle and oth ... More >>

Last Night, Pete Sessions Turned Health Care Debate Into an Easy-to-Swallow Pill

Kimberly Thorpe​The debate surrounding the proposed health care bill can seem distant. The bill is some 1,000 pages. Those who claim to have read it become experts either for or against the legislation. But last night, a cherry-faced, white-haired politician successfully tied this unwieldy documen ... More >>

Job Hunting, One Dallas Intersection at a Time

Kimberly Thorpe​Kwaku Twumasi had been out of work for seven months when he decided to try a new approach to job hunting -- right, the very one you see above. The 34-year-old SMU Cox School of Business graduate had exhausted the more traditional routes of job scouting, like mailing resumes and net ... More >>

This American Life's Ira Glass Points Toward the "Wide-Open" Future of Journalism

Kimberly ThorpeThis American Life's Ira Glass signed books and DVDs for Mayborn'ers late into the night Saturday in Grapevine.​For Ira Glass, the 50-year-old host of Chicago Public Radio's This American Life, doing radio is like talking on the phone to somebody late at night. "There's an intimacy ... More >>

How a Local Rally For Obama's Health Care Proposal Turned Into a Rally Against It

Kimberly ThorpeQ Coleman, a Dallas Tea Party member and one of those who outnumbered the MoveOn.org'ers at Senator Cornyn's office today Local MoveOn.org members had penciled in on today's schedule a protest in front of Senator John Cornyn's Spring Valley Road office, during which they had hope ... More >>

Third Time's Not a Charm for Fired Dallas Cop. Also: Bolton Won His Suit Against Dallas?

Kimberly ThorpeDPD Chief David Kunkle testifying today at Fernando Perez's administrative reinstatement hearingThe hearing for once, twice, three-times-a-fired-Dallas cop Fernando Perez just wrapped -- and Administrative Law Judge Willie Crowder upheld the termination. And thus ends the tale of Fern ... More >>

Just Say, 'No, Thank You | Same old Song And Dance | Jungle Seizure

A Week After Losing Its Accreditation, the Fate of Paul Quinn College Still Up in the Air

Kimberly ThorpePaul Quinn College president Michael SorrellMore questions than answers remain about the future of Paul Quinn College a week after its president announced the institution's loss of accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Michael Sorrell last Friday explain ... More >>

Just Say, 'No, Thank You | Buzz

Before the Opening Statements, Sheila Farrington's Proposed Final Jury Instructions

Kimberly ThorpeSheila and Don Hill at last weekend's prayer vigilMoments from now in U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn's courtroom, opening statements will be delivered in the public corruption case against former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill, his wife Sheila Farrington Hill, former Dallas City ... More >>

President of Paul Quinn College on the Loss of Accreditation: "It is Not Time to Write Paul Quinn's Obituary." Students Say: "It Sucks."

Kimberly ThorpePaul Quinn College president Michael SorrellPresident Michael Sorrell of Paul Quinn College earlier this afternoon addressed a room full of anxious students, alumni and curious reporters regarding news that Paul Quinn College has lost its accreditation. The news broke yesterday after ... More >>

Don Hill Files Motion to Dismiss, Claiming Government Withheld Exculpatory Evidence

Kimberly ThorpeDon Hill and Sheila Farrington filed a prayer of their own in federal court yesterday.Late yesterday, Don Hill's PR man, Ken Carter, sent to media an objection filed in federal court in which the former Dallas mayor pro tem and his wife, Sheila Farrington, want U.S. District Judge Bar ... More >>

Hill Gets a Second Court Date to Follow the Long, Hot Summer of a Public Corruption Trial

Kimberly ThorpeSeriously, we have dozens of pictures like this one from last night's prayer vigil. And by the end of the summer, we'll have run every one.This morning, a Very Special Unfair Park Correspondent -- which is to say, Herschel Wilonsky, my dad -- found himself in U.S. District Judge Barba ... More >>

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 ... More >>

What Happens When You Kill Your TV

Kimberly ThorpeThere are about 219 Victory Park jokes to be had here. So, have at it.At noon today in Victory Park, a group of enviro-activists dressed for Halloween dropped to the concrete to rather dramatically mark the end of analog television. The switch from analog to digital television was sup ... More >>

Says DNA Exoneree Jerry Lee Evans of His Freedom, "I Knew It Would Come One Day"

Kimberly ThorpeSaid Judge Carter Thompson to Jerry Lee Evans, "It's the court's hope that your next 23 years are happier than the past 23 years."After spending 23 years in a prison cell for a crime he did not commit, Jerry Lee Evans's first order of business is a Big Mac from McDonald's. So said the ... More >>

This Weekend, Dallas Police to Make Drunk Drivers an Offer They Can't Refuse

Kimberly ThorpeMADD director Mary Kardell and Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle at this morning's press conferenceA word of caution before you head out for the long Memorial Day weekend: It's also No-Refusal Weekend. Which means? Well, if Dallas police pull suspect you're drinking and driving, you'll ... More >>

This Morning, a Drive to Remember Fallen Police Officers Stopped at DPD HQ

Kimberly ThorpeSome of the gang unit officers who served with Senior Corporal Norm Smith, who was killed in JanuaryEarly this morning, a Canadian police officer parked his Hummer H3 in front of Dallas Police Department headquarters on South Lamar Street. This was no surprise visit. A crowd of about ... More >>

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