Rudy Bush

Toll Road Taking its Toll

The "Vengeance" of the Trinity Pavers

He's Schutze. He Scores.

The Polemicist

Exactly Where is the News in The News About Lynn Flint Shaw?

ForwardDallas! Not So Fast.

And You Think We're Obsessed With Angela Hunt

First George W. Bush, Now Kwame Kilpatrick. Dallas, How Lucky Can One City Get?

The Friends of Unfair Park know what's happening. Just this morning, one of them hopped on a four-month old item about Detroit's disgraced ex-mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, to warn Dallas about his impending arrival -- just as soon as he gets out of the joint. Unfair Park had reported last September that ... More >>

Hey, Tell That Awesome Story About Meeting Mayor Tom Leppert Again

In his campaign to unseat District 7 freshman council member Carolyn Davis, Libertarian John Jay Myers is using the city's plans to build a publicly owned convention center hotel as a key issue, posting the footage you'll find after the jump to his Web site a couple weeks ago. Thanks to Trey Garriso ... More >>

DCVB President and CEO Phillip Jones Caught Lying About Commitment Attributed to Convention Center Hotel

Sam MertenIf Jones was lying about this, how much of what he's said can be trusted?After several requests, the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau finally in March gave us a breakdown of the room nights that DCVB president and CEO Phillip Jones and other pro-hotel'ers claimed were contingent on bui ... More >>

With "Considerable Regret," Mary Suhm Breaks News of Ramón Míguez's Resignation

Assistant city manager Ramon Miguez, for three more daysIn the memo below, written by Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm and sent to Mayor Tom Leppert and the city council (as well as other city officials), you'll find a list of all Assistant City Manager Ramón F. Míguez's accomplishments -- as well as ... More >>

Hunt Proposes Trimming Meals, Travel, Copies and Lube From Council Budget. Wait. What?

Angela Hunt​This is probably what happened: Angela Hunt got a phone call yesterday afternoon from Rudy Bush at The News, who wanted to know why the council person was one of seven to sign a letter telling Jerry Allen and the mayor, that, look, they'll cut their own budgets, thanks very much. Hunt, ... More >>

And If City Council Members Stay for the Whole Meeting, They Get a Gold Star

​Two weeks ago, at the last minute Mayor Tom Leppert -- or was it City Secretary Deborah Watkins ... or Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway? -- added to the Dallas City Council's agenda several controversial rules changes that were tabled the night before they were to be discussed. One of those proposed ... More >>

Design for Lying: How Can The News Talk Toll Road Design When There Ain't One Yet?

Wonder if Schutze ran into Angela Hunt when she was out snapping photos of the flooded Trinity River​Rudy Bush has a story in this morning's Dallas Morning News attempting, thank goodness, to do the reporting that Bruce Tomaso did not do yesterday in his blog item about flooding and the proposed T ... More >>

The News' Answer on Trinity Toll Road Flooding Begs the Question

Wonder if Schutze ran into Angela Hunt when she was out snapping photos of the flooded Trinity River​Rudy Bush has a story in this morning's Dallas Morning News attempting, thank goodness, to do the reporting that Bruce Tomaso did not do yesterday in his blog item about flooding and the proposed T ... More >>

City Council's Handing Out Money Today

​We're in the midst of a staff meeting, but The News' Rudy Bush, of course, is at City Hall keeping tabs on the council's doings. And this morning, he offers two updates on items that first appeared on Unfair Park. First off: The council unanimously approved to give Deloitte LLP the $2 million it ... More >>

News CEO Jim Moroney on His Decision to Close the Paper's Southern Dallas Facility

​When A.H. Belo Corporation released its third-quarter financials on Friday, included high in the press release was this note: "As part of the Company's ongoing efforts to realign its business and reduce expenses, The Dallas Morning News will close the packaging facility as it consolidates product ... More >>

More Details Concerning the Joint Venture That May (or May Not) Lead to Statler's Revival

Justin Terveen​When last we spoke to Tom Keen, the Plano attorney who counts among his clients the Hong Kong-based owners of the old Statler Hilton downtown, it was one long year ago. And, as far as Keen was concerned back then, Hamsher International just wanted out: "Our preference," he told me, ... More >>

Thirteen Sue City Over Racial Discrimination; City Denies "Years Old" Allegations

It's been too long since we've seen Dallas Water's mascot, Perry the Pipe​A couple of hours ago, Rudy Bush posted a lawsuit 13 Dallas Water Utilities employees have filed against the city, in which they allege all manner of racial discrimination. According to the docs, the litigants -- who are eit ... More >>

News Finally Replaces Dave Levinthal

​When last we spoke with Dallas Morning News editor Bob Mong, about sales reps overseeing editors, he mentioned that A.H. Belo was hiring a handful of investigative reporters. At which point we wondered: Did that include replacing Dave Levinthal, who hopped off the Dallas City Hall beat in July to ... More >>

Behind the Constables Investigation, JWP, KwanzaaFest and an Accommodation

​I want to confess in advance. I, Jim Schutze, am a party to the KwanzaaFest scandal. It's all going to come out now. I knew this would happen. I'm ready for my hands-over-the-face paddy wagon shot now. Rudy Bush has posted excerpts from the findings of Danny Defenbaugh, the private investigator l ... More >>

Natinsky Suggested Closing Main Street to Cars. To Which One Man Says, "Unh-Unh."

This framed picture of downtown Dallas in 1945 is actually available for purchase on eBay -- right now, for the low, low price of $7.​Rudy Bush directs our attention back to the musings of Patrick "Car Free" Kennedy, whose "perfectly happy workout" we interrupted on Monday when Kim returned from D ... More >>

Audit Figures Out How Dallas PD Civilian Employee Stole $17,000 Out of Petty Cash

​Speaking of crime stats ...City Hall sends word this morning that City Auditor Craig Kinton's look-see into how the Dallas Police Department handles its cash turned up a crime: "Approximately $17,000 was misappropriated by a DPD employee between Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 and FY 2008." The report does ... More >>

Wine, Wine, Wine (Beer Too): Once More, a Petition Push to Make All of Dallas Wet

Flickr user: lopolis​A little while ago, Rudy Bush posted an item about a new push to allow beer and wine sales citywide, thus eliminating the so-called "dry" parts of town in which booze can't be sold for off-site consumption. Big news, to be sure, but also old news: I called Gary Huddleston, the ... More >>

Why Is It, All of the Sudden, That Today's Starting to Feel Like 2007 All Over Again?

​Doing some Trinity River research this week, I came across an item posted on Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert's Web page talking about how the outcome of the 2007 toll road election was a real kick in city council member Angela Hunt's ass. Hunt, of course, sponsored the unsuccessful referendum. "The vo ... More >>

What in the Wide World of Sports Does a HUD Secretary Know About Levee Safety?

HUD deputy secretary Ron Sims has quite the résumé, but what does any of it have to do with the Trinity River?​Unintentionally hilarious item in The Dallas Morning News today: "Council's Frustration Spills Over," by Rudy Bush on the Metro front, in which council member par excellence Ron Natinsk ... More >>

Regarding Those Levees, Let Me Break Out My Tin-Foil Hat And My Crystal Ball

​In the weeks ahead I'm going to be tied up with some stories that will demand a lot of my time, so, I'm sorry, I'm just not going to have time to do my regularly predictable clockwork swat-down reaction pieces to Dallas Morning News stories on the Trinity River project. I wondered if it would be ... More >>

The Latest Stack o' Council Memos: No-Bid Contracts, Policing the Protesters and More Retiring City Employees

Brian HarkinIn May, Vonciel Hill voted to keep concessions at Love Field in the hands of one company, whose CEO contributed to her campaign. ​Every so often I like to post the pack of memos Frank Librio sends to council and media at the end of every week; below are the ones that went out late Frid ... More >>

So, If The Mayor's So Unhappy With Love Field Deal, What's He Gonna Do About It?

Tomorrow, the role of Laura Miller will be played by Tom Leppert.​So tomorrow's shaping up to be a very interesting Dallas City Council meeting: As Rudy Bush wrote yesterday, the mayor's mighty unhappy with the no-bid concession contracts being doled out to Dallas Love Field Joint Venture and Huds ... More >>

City Hall Wants to Make It Very Clear: We Don't Need No Lousy Bids at Love Field

A conceptual rendering of Love Field after it undergoes its extreme makeover​Still haven't heard from City Attorney Tom Perkins concerning the legal above-boardness of those no-bid concession contracts at Love Field Airport, which the council will vote on tomorrow. But outta nowhere a a little whi ... More >>

The Update on the Statler Hilton Is That There Is No Update on the Statler Hilton, Sorry

Justin Terveen​On Wednesday the council will get an update from Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the Office of Economic Development, about projects that may get an infusion of foreign cash via the City of Dallas Regional Center, which we told you about back in October. (Long story short: Foreign investor ... More >>

Mayor Leppert's Comments on Christian Radio Show Add to Speculation of Senatorial Run

Sam MertenWe'll stop reading into Leppert's comments when he stops giving us good reasons to.​Those not listening to KVTT-1110 AM yesterday around 2:30 p.m. missed Mayor Tom Leppert's appearance on Point of View, a nationally syndicated Christian conservative talk show based in Dallas. We were ... More >>

Hunh. And You Wonder Why I Call Him Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Carried-Away.

Sam Merten​This morning Rudy Bush and Tanya Eiserer posted a great story on The Dallas Morning News's Web page about Dallas city council member Dwaine Caraway pressuring the Dallas Police department to lay off a gambling house where Caraway and his father play poker. The story includes a strong qu ... More >>

Mayor Insists He Had No Idea Willis Johnson's Lobbying for Concessions Company

​Patrick Michels​Shortly after I posted this morning's item about the Love Field Concessions Committee meeting, I got an e-mail from a Friend of Unfair Park that contained what you'll see after the jump: an Official City of Dallas Lobbyist Registration Form submitted on April 13 by Willis Johnso ... More >>

Angela Hunt Thinks She Has Support to Punt Love Field Concession Contracts to August

flickr member: Angela HuntWill Hunt and Mayor Leppert kiss and make up if she votes against lucrative contract extensions for concessionaires at Love Field? We may have to wait until August to find out.​Angela Hunt, revealed in last week's Observer as the swing vote on the controversial conces ... More >>

It Would Appear the Former Preston Royal 7-Eleven Has a New Bagel-Sellin' Tenant

​Yesterday, Rudy Bush mentioned that Doug's Gym on Commerce Street downtown is getting a new neighbor: a 7-Eleven, oh thank heavens. Should be open in late August or early September.But before that, that former 7-Eleven in Preston Royal -- shuttered because, among other reasons, "it wasn't facing ... More >>

The First in What'll Probably Become a Series About Fight Over Crime Near Farmers Market

Tanya Ragan sent this billboard, which has popped up near Dallas Farmers Market and was paid for by an unspecified number of landowners.​Back in May there was a story in The News about attempts to ID so-called "chronic offenders" downtown who are "having a hard time complying with the laws in Dall ... More >>

Consultant Says Part of New Love Field Concessions Proposal "Just Doesn't Make Sense" and Extending Contracts is "Fairly Common"

Airport consultant Pat Gleason​As Mayor Tom Leppert told DMN'er Rudy Bush last night, there will be at least four options for the city council to evaluate at Wednesday's briefing about the Dallas Love Field Airport concession contracts, two of which contain the mayor's input. We asked Leppert's ch ... More >>

City Manager Mary Suhm: Call for Tax Hike "Pretty Universal" at Budget Town Halls

Sam MertenMary Suhm​"Do a tax rate increase." That's how City Manager Mary Suhm sums up the feedback from Thursday night's budget meeting at Edna Rowe Elementary. "That's pretty universal when we're at town hall meetings," she says. Despite the overwhelming number of residents pleading for ... More >>

Well, If You Ever Wanted to Run the Dallas Farmers Market, Here's Your Big Chance

​Two months ago Intern Elliot broke the news that City Manager Mary Suhm was considering putting Dallas Farmers Market (and Fair Park) in the hands of a private operator, a la the city's deal with the Dallas Zoological Society last year. At the time, there was no time line for what that might happ ... More >>

Caraway Wants to Make It Clear: "The Majority Has Spoken" About Beer, Wine Sales

​Dallas, at least as of this very moment, is all-wet when it comes to the off-premise sale of beer and wine. And as Rudy Bush noted this morning, there hasn't exactly been a rush to the Oak Cliff Municipal Center's permit office -- in large part because of the city and county's hoop-heavy permitti ... More >>

You're a Mean One, Mayor Grinch: Leppert Taking Hunt Out of Committee Chair Not Nice

flickrBut the opposite of this.​I have been keeping my mouth shut for months about this deal between Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and city council member Angela Hunt concerning committee assignments and Hunt's ability to care for her new baby. But today there's a good story about it by Rudy Bush on th ... More >>

Don't Expect Fireworks When the City Council Takes Up Gas Drilling Proposals Tomorrow

Patrick MichelsCouncilman Dave Neumann says his plans to postpone a decision on XTO's gas drilling permits tomorrow are still set. "Honestly, I think it'll be anticlimactic," he says.​Robert already alerted us to that item on tomorrow's council agenda regarding XTO Energy's proposal to drill at tw ... More >>

Well, Fracking Fans, That Was Anticlimactic. But Caraway Did Address That Police Call.

The Dallas City Council kicked off the afternoon with a few minutes in executive session, and it didn't take long for Mayor Leppert to bring up the SUP application for XTO Energy to drill at Hensley Field -- the one we expected Dave Neumann to push for deferring for a few months. Quicker than that, ... More >>

City Hall Gives Gene Simmons a Big KISS

Photos by Patrick Michels​Well, that was ... surreal.When I left Dallas City Hall at 4:50 this afternoon, Gene Simmons was still there -- in the mayor's fifth-floor conference room, surrounded by cameras and politicos and one or two fans who'd managed to work their way into the room. Laid out befo ... More >>

Caraway, Cluck and Moncrief Tell Perry: Do "Not Pass the Buck" When Balancing Budget

​Late yesterday, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm and I had a long talk about several subjects, one of them being her efforts to trim the budget, yet again, this go-round anywhere from $60 to $110 million -- depending, she said, upon how much the state and feds take from the city. But, she said, she ... More >>

Gilbert Aranza's Not the Only One Unhappy With Love Field Concessions Bid Process

One of the Love Field Modernization conceptual renderings​Yesterday on the City Hall Blog, Rudy Bush noted that Love Field concessionaire Gilbert Aranza has sued the city in an effort to halt its efforts to find new food-and-beverage and retail concessionaires. As we noted last month, the city rec ... More >>

Council Pays Tribute to Leslie Allen Davis, the Nicest Public Speaker Ever to Grace City Hall

Earlier today, in an item he's since updated, Rudy Bush noted the death of Leslie Allen Davis, among the rare regulars at the city council's public-speakers podium whose presence was welcomed by city officials. They've long been charmed by his warm wishes. How Davis died remains a mystery: The polic ... More >>

Before He Talks to Council, Meet Frank Luntz

Perhaps by now you've seen Rudy Bush's item about Frank Luntz, one of two speakers lined up to address the city council at its Arboretum retreat today. Among pols and media folks, Luntz is a pretty well-known guy -- after all, he's the man who, in 2003, told George W. Bush to start referring to "glo ... More >>

Before We Get (Another) Plan for Downtown's Parks, the Bridge Club Should Get a Clue

​Tale of two cities on today's front pages: Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic at The New York Times, presents a big-canvas panoramic of Rio Park in Madrid, Spain, where they entombed a highway to bring a river back to life. Linking Madrid's vast and wonderful new park to trends in Europe ... More >>