Microsoft PowerPoint

Judge Dismisses Charges against Al Hill III after Craig Watkins Refuses to Answer Questions

Update, 3:52 p.m.: The Dallas Morning News' Jennifer Emily tweets that the case against Hill has been dismissed. Judge Levario cited Watkins' refusal to testify as part of her basis for dismissal. Original post: Craig Watkins wasn't sick today, and contrary to the inexplicably wrong tweets from o ... More >>

Good News About the Trinity Toll Road: Eventually, We All Die

At some point during last evening's North Texas Tollway Authority/Texas Department of Transportation Incredibly Boring Event, I realized I was having almost as much fun seeing all the same old pro-toll road partisans again as I was running into my fellow usual-suspect road-haters. These things have ... More >>

Fret Not, as Plans to Renovate Old Dallas High School Downtown Remain on Track

​Sunday's supposed to be my last day 'round here, but I just may stick around till Monday. The reason: The just-posted agenda for Monday's meeting of the council's Economic Development Committee promises that Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the city's Office of Economic Development, will walk council th ... More >>

Homes for the Homeless: MDHA's Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Dallas By 2015

Photo by Stephen Masker​One of the more intriguing council briefings tomorrow will be given by an old friend of Mayor Mike Rawlings: Mike Faenza, president and CEO of the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance. The title of his PowerPoint isn't very sexy -- "Permanent Supportive Housing Plan" -- but conta ... More >>

What Does Mayor Mike, City's "Plan For Growth in Southern Dallas" Consist Of? Everything.

From Wednesday's briefing, a look at Bishop Arts in 1982 and today​Turns out there's nothing at all random about the day the city chose to debut its Seeds of Change website devoted to Southern Dallas. It comes just three days before Mayor Mike Rawlings unveils his so-called Southern Dallas Economi ... More >>

Turns Out, It Isn't So Easy Making It Easier to Let Vendors Sell on Downtown Dallas Streets

Via.Not so fast ...​Here, as promised Friday, is the PowerPoint presented to the city council moments ago concerning efforts to make it easier for street vendors to set up shop in downtown. No surprise: For the most part the council members on the Quality of Life Committee were all for Interim Ass ... More >>

Council to Consider Easing Antiquated Restrictions on Downtown Street Vendors

Flickr: Robert TorzynskiDowntown Dallas Inc. would like downtown to look and taste a bit more like, say, midtown Manhattan.​Tomorrow morning, I expect, we'll post the PowerPoint that goes along with a simply titled but nonetheless intriguing item that appears on the council's Quality of Life Commi ... More >>

Texas Transpo Commission Gives OK to Move Ahead With $700-Mil Redo Of IH-30, IH-35E

​Moments ago, Ed Pensock, the interim director of the Texas Turnpike Authority, explained to the Texas Transportation Commission down in Austin why Dallas so desperately needs the so-called Horseshoe Project -- otherwise known as the redo of IH-30 and IH-35E over the Trinity River, once part of Pr ... More >>

Paul Quinn President, Regional Chamber Prez Ask Council to Delay Vote on Flow Control

Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell​Anyone who's even glanced Unfair Park in the last few months knows by now that City Manager Mary Suhm and Mary Nix, head of Sanitation Services, are hoping that the city council will vote tomorrow on a proposal that will force all solid-waste haulers to ... More >>

Pure Imagination: At Its First Meeting, Council's Arts & Culture Committee Talks New Revenue

​I'm dialed into the inaugural meeting of the council's Arts, Culture & Libraries Committee, tasked by Mayor Mike, as you'll recall, with finding "alternative funding sources" to help make Dallas "a smart, cultured and creative city." And God bless her, Maria Munoz-Blanco, director of the city ... More >>

Trinity Committee Goes Behind Closed Doors to Discuss That $15 Mil the Corps Wants Returned

​It took Rebecca Rasor, director of the Trinity River Corridor Project, all of, oh, 15 minutes to walk the council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee through that PowerPoint we previewed this morning -- you know, the one in which the U.S Army Corps of Engineers is demanding the city pay ba ... More >>

"Commit!" to This Sneak Preview of Dallas Regional Chamber's Plan to Rescue DISD

Commit!'s no Dallas Achieves, swear​At its August 11 board briefing, Michael Casserly, executive director of the D.C.-based Council of the Great City Schools, told the Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees: It could be a good, long while till you find a suitable replacement for Mi ... More >>

How an Evolution Denier Shaped Texas Board of Ed's Science-Book Decisions Yesterday

​The State Board of Education met yesterday to debate which supplemental materials the state should use to update its outdated science textbooks. To make things easier, before the meeting, the board's choices were narrowed down by allegedly reliable panels of stakeholders. But when it came t ... More >>

The Office Grill: Perfect Escape from Cubicle Hell

Staying late at this office is no problem.

"Leveraging Our Resources," or: If You Read One Council Briefing All Day, Make It This One

The Dallas skyline circa 1982, as depicted in this morning's economic development council briefing​At the end of February, city and council officials explained Dallas's meager 0.8 percent population growth over the last decade thusly: "The third-largest city in Texas is simply built out." Which le ... More >>

Artists Explain Themselves Before City Makes Its Call On Ross Ave. Underpass Proposals

Photos by Patrick MichelsJoe O'Connell and Blessing Hancock with a model of their proposal for the Ross Ave. Underpass.​After the comments began streaming in on yesterday's preview of the public art proposals for the Ross Avenue Underpass, there was no way we'd miss a chance to hear direct from t ... More >>

Elm Street Improvements Treated to Cool Reception from Deep Ellum Crowd Last Night

Photos by Patrick MichelsEllumites pore over City Hall's plans for narrower streets, wider sidewalks and, eventually, two-way traffic on Elm and Commerce.​A crowd of Deep Ellum residents and business owners got a look at City Hall's latest plans for turning one-way Elm and Commerce Streets into mo ... More >>

Read the Dallas Independent School District's "Budget Reduction Plan Version 2.0"

The scene at 3700 Ross Avenue today, courtesy the district​Jim -- lucky -- is at 3700 Ross at this very moment, where the trustees are doing a little math involving employees and enrollment. Moments ago, Carla Ranger wanted to know: If enrollment has dropped, why has the number of employees grown? ... More >>

Upcoming Beer Events, With Varying Degrees of Relevance To St. Patrick's Day

​Thank God we thought better of the notion of giving up beer for Lent. Not only would "grouchy and mean-spirited" be an understatement in describing what our attitude would be if faced with more than a month without a pint, but we'd miss some great events coming up -- not to mention the Meddlesome ... More >>

Tour Tomorrow's Municipal Building Annex Today! If, That Is, The City Can Afford It.

A look at the proposed lobby for the Municipal Building Annex redo, whenever that happens​By now you're no doubt aware that the old Municipal Building downtown, otherwise known as the ca.-1914 City Hall, is where the University of North Texas hopes to put the UNT Dallas College of Law, which still ... More >>

Council Due to Hop on Complete Streets for a Bike Plan Ride to a Better Block This Afternoon

Danny Hurley​Patrick's liveblogging this afternoon's meeting of the council's Transportation and Environment Committee, whose agenda reads like an Unfair Park greatest-hits: City of Dallas Complete Streets Initiative Update, 2011 Dallas Bike Plan and The Better Block Project. You might wanna peru ... More >>

Checking Out the Future of the Library

​Wasn't so long ago that the Dallas Public Library system appeared to be on life support, a victim of yet another round of city budget cuts. But at City Hall yesterday, during the council's Quality of Life Committee meeting, Interim Director of Libraries Corrine Hill insisted: Quite the contrary. ... More >>

Brother, Can You Paradigm? A Look at a New Plan For Troubled Dallas Neighborhoods.

​Just rode up to the briefing room with Tennell Atkins, who -- and I'll try not to take it personally -- seemed awful anxious for those elevator doors to open on five, and we're shooting the breeze in the gallery as the rest of the Economic Development Committee trickles in -- Natinsky another of ... More >>

Head of Economic Development Explains $2 Million Grant Proposed for North Oak Cliff

Click to embiggen the map of the area that would be impacted by the proposed $2 million economic development grant.​On Friday we sneak-peeked that proposed $2-million economic development grant proposal intended to "support emerging development opportunities in North Oak Cliff." Before Wednesday's ... More >>

Sharaku Sake Lounge and Izakaya: An Inspired Way to End a Workday.

What I Learned About Bullies, And Their Parents, When I Wrote A Book On The Subject

​Friday I'm going to this thing at the home of garden designer Robert Bellamy called "Light a Fire," some kind of dinner deal to make people more aware of the problem of bullying of gay kids and suicide. I do things like this because I'm a great guy and my wife makes me go. She has been a friend ... More >>

Council to Step Inside Grand Ricchi Today

inside the former LTV Tower as it crawls toward a rebirth as The Grand Ricchi​'Bout a month back we got a sneak peek at the Grand Ricchi, Leobardo Trevino's planned hotel-slash-"office condo" slated to move into the former LTV Tower. When all's said and done, Trevino's supposed to spend somewhere ... More >>

Dallas City Council Members Angela Hunt and Pauline Medrano Have A Plan To Help Rid Lowest Greenville Avenue Of Crime. If Only They Can Get Neighborhood Businesses To Cooperate.

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 >>

"Students of Promise" Keepers: More on Dallas ISD's Proposed Changes to Magnet Admissions

​Yesterday, I mentioned that some Dallas Independent School District parents are concerned about a proposed change to magnet admissions that would allow room for "students of promise"; today it's in the paper, where trustee Edwin Flores "acknowledged that a proposed change would reserve 10 percent ... More >>

Cut to the Chase With Today's Liveblog of the City Council's Public Safety Committee

​Afternoon, Friends. I'm up here in City Hall's good old room 6ES for the council's Public Safety Committee meeting we told you about earlier today -- on the menu are that upcoming police women reality-docu show and the Dallas Police Department's pursuit policy. The cameras and media types are her ... More >>

Live Blogging Judgment Day (Maybe) For Love Field Concessions Contracts at City Hall

​It's another Wednesday morning here at City Hall, and love is in the air -- special proclamation time, and the house is packed with folks in matching T-shirts (I've got 10 bucks for the first one that can get the mayor to put one on over his suit), PowerPoints at the ready. Not so fast though, k ... More >>

A Blunt Opening to Today's Public Safety Committee Meeting Liveblog

​Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway opened today's Public Safety Committee meeting with a gift to his fellow committee members -- what appear to be candy-scented, hold the phone, rolling papers. As the city council members bumbled with tearing open what looked like metallic Airhead wrappers, Caraway nam ... More >>

DISD Trustee Vows to "Challenge" Super About Number of People Working in Central Office

Dr. Lew Blackburn​There are a couple of comments worth pulling out frrom yesterday's item about Dallas Independent School District's $23 million budget surplus. Among 'em: Mike MacNaughton, founding member of Dallas Friends of Public Education, recaps yesterday's budget briefing at Albert Sidney J ... More >>

DISD Says It's Finishing the Year Up $23 Mil?

​The Dallas Independent School District's board of trustees will receive yet another briefing on the 2010-'11 budget Thursday -- here's that PowerPoint for those who like to get head starts on such things. But today, the district sends word that this year's budget wraps up with a ... this can't be ... More >>

Mayor Tom Leppert Welcomes Windpower Expo to Dallas, A "Quiet" Green Energy Leader

Photos by Patrick MichelsMayor Tom Leppert welcomed wind power players to this week's convention, telling them Dallas has quietly become one of the country's leading green cities. Texas is already king of the hill when it comes to turning wind into electricity, and for folks who work in the industry ... More >>

DISD CFO Says Budget's Balanced, District's Better Off Than City of Dallas, But, Still ...

​Speaking of the city's $131.1-million shortfall ...That very subject came up last night at the first DISD Budget Town Hall Meeting held at Walnut Hill Elementary, where school district staffers, principals and board members far outnumbered parents. (There were, maybe, 10 people in the audience no ... More >>

Liveblogging Today's Economic Developments

Something about this reminds us of the phrase "squeaky wheel gets the grease."​After an hour spent in exile while the city council's Economic Development Committee spent an hour talking about The Mall Formerly Known as Red Bird, we're finally down to business -- and, no mention of what they decide ... More >>

At City Hall, It's Back to the Drawing Board On Community Garden, Downtown DART Plans

​Well, soon as the Trash-Attack Code Compliance crew cleared out, this afternoon's party at City Hall sure died fast. Blame it on this bummer of a PowerPoint from DART, explaining the long-term impact of having flat sales tax revenues over the last 10 years, referred to simply as "The Lost Decade" ... More >>

The City's About to Clamp Down on Unpaid Tickets. As In: No Registration For You.

Flickr user: vgsgeek​Here's a friendly little heads-up from your pals at Unfair Park: If you've received a citation from the Dallas Police Department and haven't taken care of it, you might want to settle up sooner than later. That's because the city's this close to signing a contract with Dallas ... More >>

The City's Budget in Just Under 45 Minutes

Courtesy Angela Hunt​You know why it seems like Angela Hunt's always on Unfair Park? Because she's the only council member with a regularly updated Web site to which she posts items of significance to Dallas residents. Hey, Carolyn Davis gets herself a blog, we'll post the hell out of it; same for ... More >>

City Misses Samuell Trust Reports Deadlines; Texas AG Threatens Dallas With Legal Action

Once a popular hangout at the Samuell Farm, the Pavillion is a rotting, open-door shell of its former self.​Long story short: Since March 2008, the Texas Attorney General's Office has been investigating precisely how well the city of Dallas is taking care of the park properties and money left to t ... More >>

Plethora of City Attorneys Unable to Push New Demolition Ordinance Past Committee

Sam MertenCity plan commissioners Neil Emmons (right) and Robert Ekbald (left) watched as Katherine Seale of Preservation Dallas spoke this morning to the Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee.Much to the chagrin of the half dozen city attorneys attending this morning's Zoning Ordinance Advisory Comm ... More >>

Reeds Confirmed as "High-Priced Lobbyist" Pushing to Allow Car Booting Without Receipts

Save Deep EllumUpdated at 3:07 p.m. As we mentioned yesterday, the freshly inaugurated city council is set to approve a booting ordinance after the Economic Development Committee voted unanimously June 16 to put a modified version of the staff recommendation on tomorrow's addendum. This didn't mak ... More >>

We Know Where Those Downtown Streetcars Might Go. But How Will We Pay For 'Em?

Courtesy Justin CozartIn 1945, Dallas city and transit officials, among them Mayor J. Woodall Rodgers, introduced "the first of twenty-five new, silent, streamlined street cars."It's been a year since the word "streetcar" started circulating through the halls of City Hall; as Jim noted upon his retu ... More >>

Mayor Leppert on City's Budget Woes: "We Just Gotta Deal With it and Move Forward."

Mayor Tom Leppert kicked off today's budget briefing by acknowledging that "the challenges will be significant" as the Dallas City Council finds ways to eliminate a $190-million deficit. He stressed that national and international issues are the cause of the shortfall, and the mayor likened it to th ... More >>

Better Now Than Never, the City Council's Gonna Get a Civics Lesson Tomorrow

Here we are, one full decade -- 10 years, count 'em, one-10th of a century -- into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and City Of Dallas's Trinity River Corridor Project, and tomorrow the city council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee has a briefing scheduled that I would summarize as, "The C ... More >>

Hey, Look, They've Already Built the Convention Center Hotel -- In Miniature!

We See England, We See France...

Hey, Frank Librio, pull up your pants

A Good Idea, But...

The Granada Theater as a live music venue only works in theory