Meadows Foundation

The North Dallas Plot to Take Over DISD

Rich, white, North Dallas businessmen are plotting to take over Dallas' schools. Maybe this time it'll work.

Bid Document: Dallas PD Wants 300 More Surveillance Cameras in 27 Parts of Town

​Scanning the city's inscrutable bids website this morning in the hopes of finding that not-there-yet Dallas Farmers Market RFP, I came across this instead: a 102-page request for proposals from the Dallas Police Department, which is looking to significantly step up its arsenal of video surveillan ... More >>

Michael Sorrell Revived Paul Quinn College (and Almost Died Doing It)

Dallas' only historically black college was on the brink of collapse. Now the students are protesters, the football field is a farm and the president is the star.

Dumped On

How will City Hall's garbage dump vote turn trash into treasure? Ask the Reverend Stephen Nash.

Want to Get More Involved in the Dallas ISD? Then Here You Go. But It Ain't Free.

​Over the last couple of weeks I've received numerous emails suggesting I sign up for something called Leadership DISD, which promises to develop "education-focused, informed leaders within the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) service area who affect positive change and help to lead suppo ... More >>

And Now For the George W. Bush Institute's Second Initiative: "Middle School Matters"

See, Thomas C. Marsh -- middle school does matter.​Way back in September, Laura Bush stopped by North Dallas High School to introduce the George W. Bush Institute's education initiative intended to change "the way America's public school principals are identified, recruited, selected, prepared, ... More >>

Meadows Foundation to Give Park and Rec $73,000 to Fund a Fund Development Director

​I saw on the City Hall blog that Meadows Foundation is calling a morning press conference to announce a grant that will allow the budget-strapped Park and Rec Department to "bring in a director of development this fall to pursue grants and donations for the City of Dallas Park and Recreation need ... More >>

Meadows Foundation Gives Deck Park Half a Mil For TBD Arts Programming

​Two months ago, Chase pledged $3 million to the Woodall Rodgers Deck Park -- for, specifically, the crescent-moon-shaped, 15-foot-wide Promenade that will span the length of the 5.2-acre park currently under construction. But, as we noted two weeks later, there's still much fund-raising left to d ... More >>

On This Day of Service, Emmitt Smith and Family Lend a Helping Hand on Congo Street

Courtesy Pat and Emmitt Smith CharitiesBrent Brown, left, with Pat and Emmitt Smith and their kids on Congo Street near Fair Park this morning​Since June 2008, Brent Brown and his bcWORKSHOP have been rebuilding a handful of century-old single-family homes that line Congo Street, in the Jubilee Pa ... More >>

The Trinty River "Poses a High Risk to Recreational Users"? That Can't Be Right.

The Trinity River looks fine to us in this conceptual rendering of the Standing Wave whitewater-maker.​Environment Texas, an Austin-based research group, made available today a report on Texas rivers that lists the state's most dangerously polluted waterways, particularly those fouled by chemicals ... More >>

Chief David Kunkle's Letter to DPD

​Last night, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle explained why, 30 minutes from now, he will hold a press conference to announce his retirement, effective April 30. After the jump you will find his letter to the department, in which he outlines strides made during his five-year tenure -- including po ... More >>

Paul Quinn Starts Semester With Small Number of Students But a Large Pile of Cash

​Struggling to remain viable since losing its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation this summer, Paul Quinn College yesterday announced a major fund-raising milestone. The historic black college has raised more than $1 million since July, when the Texas Legislative Black Caucu ... More >>

Water, Water Everywhere: KERA Kicks Off Its Yearlong Look at the Trinity River

Courtesy Margaret A. Purse/KERAA Trinity River Navigation Company stock certificate from 1892As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, KERA's working on an enormo Trinity River project with pieces for radio, TV and Internets. Today, we got a sneak peek at a major slice of the pie, which includes everyt ... More >>

Odds and Sods: Of Michaels, the Meadows Foundation and the Eternal Sunshine of Downtown Dallas

While we wait for Sam to post from the city council briefing -- where, for the first time, the entire council will discuss the smoking ordinance -- a few random notes. First, a Friend of Unfair Park points us toward the latest earnings report from Irving-based arts-and-craft emporium Michaels Stores ... More >>

Studying the Dallas School Board and the "Theory of Action for Change"

One of the more astounding discoveries I have made about the Dallas school board is that its recent behavior has been based on a so-called "theory of action for change" -- part of a program called The Reform Governance® Framework run by an outfit called the Center for Reform of School Systems (or ... More >>

DISD Trustees May Make Cutbacks in Democratic Process

DISD trustees may try to cancel next year's school board election to preserve the status quo and the superintendent

Honoring What's Left of Dallas' Past

Are the Cameras Looking Up in Downtown?

Keeping an Eye on Downtown

Goodbye, Groovy East Dallas

How Jim Schutze forsook his hippie-dippy days and learned to love the snout house

Cool, Uncool

The city council decides our future this week

Jesus in a Mullet

Del Hendrixson's uncertain journey from convict to Dallas gang guru

If You Can't Argue the Facts...

Plus: Every Picture Tells a Story

The Ex-Con Game

How do we deal with the staggering number of prisoners re-entering society? Ned Rollo thinks he knows. He should. He's been there.

Bilbao Envy

Meadows' show of Santiago Calatrava's designs is one big missed opportunity

Locked In

Trinity Works says it helps poor people find housing and jobs. But an Observer investigation reveals questionable policies that do little except ensure its clients never leave.

Easy Target

The DTC's A Christmas Carol is a show loaded with blanks

Nurturing Nature

New growth blooms at the Dallas Nature Center at last

Sibling Rivalry

The sister cities finally split up for "Gallery Night"

Blink

The mothers of invention

Blink

MAC dandyBox-office buzz

Against the wall

Despite regional rivalries and hard times, the Fall Gallery Walk has picked up its pace

Blink

Guerrilla tactics; The teacher as artist; Mastered disaster

Critics' choice

Four Exposition Park galleries make their bid to enhance the local arts scene and fail

Bucking Crazy

Want in on the dirt floor of rodeo's marquee event? A guy in Mansfield has your ride.

The garden of life

In East Dallas' Little Asia, a community blooms in fields of litter

One Fine Mess

Elected by no one, John Scovell and a clique of Dallas business leaders brought you DISD's most infamous cast of characters: Yvonne Gonzalez, Dan Peavy, Bill Keever, and Sandy Kress. Thanks a lot.

Lost Art

Dallas' most compelling art museum is hidden away in an old East Dallas firehouse

Why Dallas Can't Dance

Ballet Dallas may finally succumb to years of self-inflicted mediocrity