Reed O'Connor

Dallas Settles With the Waste Industry, Killing Flow Control Once and For All

The final chapter appears to have been inked in the long, sorry saga of flow control, a moneymaking scheme that placed City Hall's imprimatur on the idea that southern Dallas isn't much more than a trash receptacle for the rest of the city. This week U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor entered his fi ... More >>

Burn It All Down

Buzz looks back on 2012 before the memories go where they belong: up in smoke.

Judge Halts Dallas' Flow Control Plan, Basically Calls City Hall a Bunch of Liars

A federal judge has ruled that the City of Dallas pretty much lied about every single aspect of its so-called "flow-control" trash program. Judge Reed O'Connor granted a permanent injunction against a new city ordinance that would have forced commercial haulers to take all their trash to the city- ... More >>

After Judge Keeps County's Suit Against Mortgage Processer in Dallas, a Nudge to Settle

​It's been close to five months since Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins went after Mortgage Electronic Registration System over what Watkins claimed were "tens of millions in uncollected filing fees owed to the citizens of Dallas County." But since then little has been said about the s ... More >>

So Much For Flow Control. For Now, At Least, as Federal Judge Dumps Waste Control Ordinance.

​It's been a couple of weeks since lawyers hired by the city and the National Solid Waste Management Association squared off in U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor's over the flow control ordinance that would have dumped all the city's solid waste at the McCommas Bluff Landfill. I say "would have" b ... More >>

We Checked and, Yup, Dallas's Flow Control Plan Is Still All About the Benjamins

Back in September, when the city passed its ordinance requiring commercial solid waste companies to dump in South Dallas's McCommas Bluff landfill, the proposal drew an unexpected foe: a group of Paul Quinn College students, led by school president Michael Sorrell, who protested in front of City Hal ... More >>

Talking Trash: Flow Control Ordinance Gets Delayed, and City Puts Out Trash Pick-Up Bid

​Like I said earlier this week, when city attorneys had city council members behind closed doors this week, one of their topics of conversation was the National Solid Wastes Management Association's federal antitrust lawsuit against the city over flow control -- you know, that ordinance steering a ... More >>

Next Week, Federal Judge to (Temporarily) Decide Fate of City's Flow Control Ordinance

Photo by Danny Hurley​Tomorrow, the Dallas City Council will go behind closed doors to meet with city attorneys about a host of legal issues staring down City Hall, among them: a long-going federal wrongful arrest suit about to get even more expensive (council will vote next week to pay Brown & ... More >>

Whistle-Blowers Claim City Misused Housing Money

Federal dough meant for affordable housing went to downtown.

Federal Judge Unseals Suit That Asks: Did Dallas Screw HUD Out of Hundreds of Millions?

​On June 10, 2010, I wrote a column for the newspaper about an official complaint brought to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by two Dallas developers alleging a decades-old pattern of racial discrimination and fraud by the city of Dallas, the county and other local entit ... More >>

After Awarding Dallas Realtor $3.12 Million in Land Deal Gone South For Mexican Consulate, Federal Judge Changes His Mind

Via.​Been a long while since we visited with Enrique Hubbard Urrea, the former consul general for the Mexican Consulate in Dallas who has since decamped for Culiacán, Sinaloa. But Courthouse News brings us news this afternoon involving Hubbard and the consulate and that multimillion-dollar court ... More >>

Once, He Ran West Dallas Drug Houses. For the Next 30 Years, He'll Be in State, Federal Prison.

Click to embiggen to see where some of the West Dallas Gator Boys' drug houses were​Back in August Sam told you all about Tyrone Weatherall, a leader of the West Side Gator Boys -- and an exotic animal collector -- who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distrib ... More >>

Brion Randall Won't Be Stealing Locals' Hard-Earned Millions For the Next 15 Years

Brion Randall​Based upon the handful of comments that just popped up on this 4-month-old Unfair Park item, some of his victims already know and have been celebrating the news: Brion Randall -- the Plano man who, from 2004 through '09, screwed some 30 folks out of around $6 million -- is going to f ... More >>

Judge Won't Dismiss Love Field Guard's Defamation Suit Against Radio Host

Rickey Smiley​Back in May, we directed your attention to the legal woes of Henry Robinson, a former Love Field security guard who claimed in Dallas federal court that The Beat-97.9 host Rickey Smiley cost him his job when he went questioned his heterosexuality. The whole thing stemmed from an inci ... More >>

Dallas's Mexican Consulate May Have a New Leader, But the Hits Just Keep on Coming

Mark GrahamFormer Mexican Consul General Enrique Hubbard Urrea​Dallas's Mexican Consulate began operating under new leadership earlier this month, but the dust-ups of tenures past continue to cloud the office's legitimacy. In the months since the former consul returned to Mexico amid accusations o ... More >>

Years After Suing County for Rights Violations, Jeffrey Ellard Will Have His Day in Court

Jeffrey Ellard's leg wound as pictured in 2006, a year before he (and the DOJ) sued the county​Back up to June 2006, when Matt Pulle recounted the tale of Jeffrey Ellard, a prisoner in the Dallas County Jail whose six-inch leg wound went unattended by medical providers and became, as Matt would de ... More >>

In Dallas District Court, that Preston Hollow Elementary Lawsuit You Forgot All About

Illustration by Brian StaufferWith little fanfare and hardly any spectators, the trial in the case of Graciela McKay vs. DISD wraps up this week in U.S. District Court, with a verdict expected as early as tomorrow. McKay is the Preston Hollow teacher who filed a federal lawsuit against the district ... More >>

The Case Against Farmers Branch's Election Methods Will Move Forward

Neiman Marcus Execs Get Very Sad When Their Security Guards Steal

Neimans' "Store Loss Prevention Specialist" Helped With Store Loss

Meet Dallas' New Federal Judge, More Than Likely