Referenda

In No, It's the Ad Man vs. the Dictator

Dallas Citizens Council will once again try to anoint our next mayor: There are good reasons to give a damn.

Dallas Is Just One of Five U.S. Cities Where Southern Sudanese Are Registering for Next Year's Independence Vote

Photos by Patrick MichelsAlong with a roomful of election workers, Ater Malekjob, left, and Lawrence Mogga are coordinating voter registration in Dallas for next year's referendum on independence for Southern Sudan. An unremarkable northeast Dallas office park, just outside the 635 Loop, is one of ... More >>

What (Pardon, Who) Do the Trinity River Project and Tom DeLay Have in Common?

Bill Ceverha​In my narrow and twisted personal universe, everything is about the trinity River Project, even today's closing arguments in Austin in the money laundering trial of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Follow me into the labyrinth. People ask me all the time, "Who's behind thi ... 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 >>

Texas AG's Office Tells City Attorney and Park Board: Just Try to "Unlawfully" Sell Samuell Properties, And You Will "Face Legal Action"

Flickr user: Jay Gunn​When W.W. Samuell left the city of Dallas thousands of acres of park land upon his death in 1937, he left very explicit instructions: "Real estate to the City of Dallas Park Board for park purposes - not to be sold." Yesterday we broke the news that the Park and Rec board wil ... More >>

Progress Dallas Says It Has More Than Enough Signatures to Force Wet-Dry Vote

Flickr user: lopolis​Right about now Progress Dallas's peoples are at Dallas City Hall dropping off the petitions it says will most definitely trigger a local option election allowing Dallas residents the opportunity to vote for drenching the dry parts of town in beer and wine. Progress Dallas say ... More >>

Mayor Tom Leppert Should Just Fess Up: The Trinity Toll Road Is Dead And Done

The News Points the Finger at Angela Hunt. She Points One Back.

How Dry I Am? Not Very if Progress Dallas Has Anything to Say About It

​ You sit yourself down in a restaurant, a real find, one that has taken you to parts unknown: aka Oak Cliff. You're exhausted because your GPS was on the fritz and you had to actually ask for directions three times, which violated every man law you hold sacred. You could use a beer or three, so ... More >>

The News Finally Tells the Truth on the Toll Road, But Where's the Gotcha?

Before the Supreme Court of Texas, a Question: What's a Dallas Referendum Really Worth?

​We kicked off yesterday by previewing Dallas's "billion-dollar" case before the Supreme Court of Texas: City of Dallas v . Kenneth Albert, a 13-year-old consolidated suit involving hundreds of firefighters demanding thousands in back pay. The city says it's immune from being sued; the attorneys o ... More >>

Feeling sorry that the politically gifted Don Hill got convicted of corruption. Please don’t.

Last Night in Oak Lawn, a Call "to Forge a Proud and Dignified Civil Rights Movement"

Alexa SchirtzingerAt last night's "Day of Decision Rally," timed to coincide with the California Supreme Court's ruling on Proposition 8, the cries of "We're here! We're queer! Get used to it!" rang out above the roar of traffic at the corner of Cedar Springs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue. "Se-pa-rate, c ... More >>

Convention Center Hotel Promoters are a Bunch of Get-Along Business Guys Who May Not Even Realize Their Own Deception

The Mayor and His Pro-Hotel Friends Want You to Vote No Early Because "The Future of Dallas is in Our Hands Right Now"

In my inbox this morning, I received an e-mail from the Vote No! group, who are packaging Proposition 1 and 2 together. For those needing clarification, Proposition 1 will approve a charter amendment prohibiting the city from "owning, financing, constructing, or operating a hotel or other lodging f ... More >>

At What Point Will Both Sides in Hotel Fight Make It About, You Know, the Hotel?

The ad above began airing on local television stations this morning and represents the third installment from the anti-hotel group in what has become an extremely pricey effort funded largely by Harlan Crow to thwart the city's plans to build a publicly owned convention center hotel. It features t ... More >>

Wednesday's Planned Construction on Convention Center Hotel Canceled; Bond Issuance Appears Unlikely Before Vote

Voters can thank the bond market for the opportunity to endorse or kill Mayor Tom Leppert's convention center hotel project at the polls May 9.Since the Dallas City Council approved the developer and operator agreements for the convention center hotel, the Vote No'ers have been eagerly awaiting an ... More >>

Nyah, Nyah, Nyah: We Told You the Trinity Project Wouldn't Work

Mayor Tom Leppert's Campaign Strategy for the Convention Center Hotel? Blame It On Harlan Crow. Then Rinse and Repeat.

Sam MertenThere's this "one individual" Leppert tossed under the bus. Then he threw it in reverse and ran him over a few times for good measure. Mayor Tom Leppert and Anne Raymond of Crow Holdings and Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel made another campaign stop at the Bachman Recreation Cen ... More >>

Surrounding Development Sold As "Key Component" to Convention Center Hotel Project, But What Do We Know About It?

We know we're getting this. But what else?When the Dallas City Council started the process of selecting a site for the convention center hotel in August 2007, it was stressed that the location "foster economic development in the downtown core through retail and entertainment establishments." Sure, ... More >>

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

Mayor Tom Leppert Isn't the Only One Who Made False Promises During the Trinity River Toll Road Campaign

Bill BetzenCouncil members Tennell Atkins and Dwaine Caraway do Mayor Tom's dirty work back in November 2007.In the comments of a blog item regarding council member Tennell Atkins's questionable campaign finance reports, someone using the name "joe" suggested that, along with being a hobbit, my moti ... More >>

Anti-Convention Center Hotel Group Files Temporary Restraining Order Against City

Sam MertenWe've been hearing for some time that the Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel would be seeking a temporary restraining order sooner than later to keep the city from proceeding with the convention center hotel without a proper vote. Turns out, sooner was yesterday: Citizens Against th ... More >>

Northern Exposure: Dallas "Right to Vote" Insists It Won't "Hamstring" the City. Right.

Unite Here!, the New York City-based labor organization gathering signatures for a referendum on subsidies to developers, tells me it will turn in its petitions tomorrow -- and with plenty more than the required 20,000 signatures. City Secretary Debra Watkins told me this afternoon it isn't clear ... More >>

Angela Hunt Wants to Reevaluate the City's Toll Road Investment Because This is Cash We "May Be Dropping Down a Rabbit Hole."

Brian HarkinAngela Hunt isn't shocked about the funding issues with the Trinity Turnpike, especially since she knew about them before the vote in November 2007.After reading Friday's story in The Dallas Morning News regarding the nearly $1 billion funding gap for the Trinity Turnpike, Angela Hunt de ... More >>

Crappy Bond Market Could Make Convention Center Hotel Referendum Relevant

Patrick MichelsEven though Mayor Tom is committed to building the hotel before the May 9 vote, Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez says it won't happen until the bond market turns around.While the city council continues to face delays regarding the selection of an operator for the convention cente ... More >>

Hurrying the Hotel

City Hall plows ahead with convention center hotel despite petitions

Bond and Gagged: Or, Why the Convention Center Hotel's Far From a Done Deal

Caraway Not Exactly Carried Away with Facts About Convention Center Hotel

Dallas Summer Musicals and the Center for the Performing Arts Battle It Out for Broadway

DSM says CPA will cannibalize other theaters. CPA says DSM is afraid of competition. We say 'bout time rich people fought rich people.

Tom Leppert Keeps Delivering One Shocker After Another

Pave it to save it?

Politicians Uniting Behind the Trinity Toll Road

Who Knew the Trinity Toll Road Debates Were So Entertaining?

Taking the Bait

Jim's Laughing His Widdle Head Off

Go With Your Gut

Do you really see a freeway somewhere out in that flood?

Do Lies Come with that Shake?

Truth Held Hostage, Day Eight. (Damn, That Sounds So Dramatic!)

You, Snooze. We Lose.

Turns Out, We Can Afford to Vote on the Trinity River Toll Road After All. Sorry, Tom Leppert, But You Are Wrong.

Ed Oakley Takes Our Weekly Mayoral-Candidate Rankings Seriously. That Can't Be Good.

Well, Wouldya Lookit Who Wants a Vote on the Trinity River Toll Road

Sam Coats Whips Out His Fresh Eyes...

What Would Ron Kirk Do?

Kiss Ass or Kick Ass -- It's Your Choice

Mitchell Says No

So what about the dogfight on the Trinity River Project?

Following up

Singing the blues at the courthouse

Letters

Letters from the issue of April 10, 2003