Tennell Atkins

The City of Dallas Just Renamed its Convention Center After Kay Bailey Hutchison

A couple of speakers showed up at the 1500 Marilla this morning to ask that the City Council to hold off on a fast-moving proposal to rename the Dallas Convention Center after recently retired U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Former councilwoman Sandra Crenshaw called for a public hearing before a ... More >>

City Will Add 70 Miles of Bike Lanes by the End of 2014. Beyond that, Things Get Complicated.

The city of Dallas has been criticized at times for the agonizingly slow implementation of its 2011 Dallas Bike Plan. Two years after its adoption, only about 10 percent of the planned 1,127 miles of bike lanes and trails have been been put in place. That would seem to indicate that the city is behi ... More >>

Council Boots Gravel Plant Off Land Next to Elm Fork Soccer Complex

A few months ago, Joan Walne, chair of the city's Park and Recreation Board, sent a letter to the City Council to let them know that the board was not happy with a rock crushing plant right across the street from the $38 million Elm Fork Soccer Complex, which is set to open next year. They didn't l ... More >>

The Arts Are Worth $300 Million-Plus Annually to Dallas, According to The Arts

The Dallas City Council loves art. Sure, council members like getting dressed up all fancy and going to look at the pretty pictures as much as the next person, but they aren't so simpleminded as to think art is purely for aesthetic enjoyment. This is Dallas, remember, where our leaders are clear-hea ... More >>

Margolin: Horse Park Proposal Not What Voters Agreed To. Allen: But It'll Be "World Class."

​The council's Economic Development Committee kicked off its morning meeting by taking up the Texas Horse Park, which came up $14 million short in private funds but remains high on the city's to-do list. Hence, as we've noted in recent days, Park and Rec and the city manager's hope that the counci ... More >>

Mayor Awaits Report on Occupy Dallas; Group Vows It Won't Protest Omni, Vets Parade

Photo by Chris Howell​In the wake of two reports concerning the city's response to Saturday's arrest of eight Occupy Dallasites, some Friends of Unfair Park have asked: Is the city going to boot the protesters camping out behind Dallas City Hall, allowed by agreement following last month's trip to ... More >>

"Tired of Being Ignored and Insulted," Paul Quinn Students Round Up Powerful and Familiar Faces for City Hall Protest

Photo by Danny HurleyPaul Quinn College President Michael J. Sorrell at the flow-control protest before the council's vote last month​New Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings is in for the first serious grassroots challenge to his leadership -- a march on City Hall announced today by a broad-based coalition ... More >>

All The Sound and The Fury From Yesterday's City Council Debate Over Redistricting

Below, Anna told you all about how fugly it got 'round the horseshoe Wednesday afternoon and evening before the council finally voted, 9-6, to send a new map of districts to the Department of Justice. But many have asked to see the whole debate -- or, at least, what happened after Mayor Mike Rawling ... More >>

City of Dallas Has a New Budget, But Not Before Suhm Says She'll Deal With DFR Concerns

​When it came time for the city council to vote on the FY2011-12 budget moments ago, it wasn't without a few bumps in the road. Several council members told City Manager Mary Suhm they weren't at all thrilled with her plan to shuffle fire trucks with the intention of retiring one of them. And Suhm ... More >>

If Texas and OU Need More Seats to Stay at the Cotton Bowl, Well, There Is Room to Expand

​It's been all of three years, almost to the day, since then-Mayor Tom Leppert and Tennell Atkins played a game of catch on the Cotton Bowl field to formally commemorate the end of $57 million worth of redos, $30 million of which was paid for out of the 2006 bond program with the State Fair of Tex ... More >>

Council Checks Out Our Libraries, Some of Which (Hint: Bishop Arts) Will Get Quite Fancy

Corinne Hill​Yesterday we got 'round to covering the first half of the council's Arts, Culture & Libraries Committee meeting -- the part about how other cities spend more on their arts organizations than Dallas, and how we might be able to fix that. (Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette tax.) Th ... More >>

If Mayor Mike Comes Knockin' On Your Door Tomorrow, He Just Wants You Back in School

​Got a robocall from the Dallas Independent School District last night asking me to help round up any truants I might know of. Sorry, wish I could help. Turns out, it was just a precursor to tomorrow's kick-off of Operation Graduation, which is now in its fourth year and involves city and district ... More >>

Still No Consensus at City Hall on Converting Refuse to Revenue -- Or How to Do It

​Waste as opportunity, or waste as the perpetuation of racial and economic inequality? Unfair interference in the trash-hauling free market or the forward-looking future of refuse? Both sides have been hashing it out for a while now, but the Dallas City Council's black members will get back to ... More >>

Redistricting Commission Nixes Halstead's Map But Praises the Work of One Sam Merten

Photo by Anna MerlanAt right, a former Unfair Park-er makes the case for his map to the Redistricting Commission last night.​At last, an interesting Redistricting Commission meeting. And a vaguely star-studded one too. Among those in attendance at last night's meeting: council members Dwaine Caraw ... More >>

He's Mayor For Two More Hours ...

At 10 this morning at the Meyerson Symphony Center, Mike Rawlings officially becomes Dallas mayor, and Dwaine Caraway goes back to being just one of 14 council members who must travel sans security detail. Shortly after that, more than likely, Pauline Medrano wi ... More >>

Scott Griggs's Request for Change in Drilling Task Force Make-Up Falls on Deaf Ears

Photos by Leslie MinoraMayor Mike Rawlings and city council members pose for a photo op after their first meeting.​The post-inauguration celebration didn't last long, as Mayor Mike Rawlings and city council members new and old got straight to work at a 2 p.m. meeting. After a few housekeeping ... More >>

Council Told If The City Doesn't Pony Up for Studio, TNT Won't Shoot Dallas in Dallas

WireImageMary Crosby, Larry Hagman, former Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger director Michael Preece and Sheree Wilson at the auction of Hagman's memorabilia in Beverly Hills last week​Saturday morning we sneak-peeked an item that was just the subject of much debate during this morning's meeting of ... More >>

It's Time To Take Dallas In a New Direction, Say Mike Rawlings and All His Friends at City Hall

Photos by Patrick MichelsLois Finkelman was among the City Council members, past and present, who reiterated their support for Mike Rawlings today. Even casual campaign watchers will not be surprised to hear that Mike Rawlings has the support of all but a few current city council members, and plent ... More >>

Mayor Assembles Council Brain Trust, Or Something, to Review Ethics Rollback

City Attorney Tom Perkins and Mayor Dwaine Caraway at last week's council meeting​While I was on the phone with Chris Heinbaugh about the item just below this one, he mentioned that Mayor-Not-For-Long Dwaine Caraway informed his council colleagues today that he's ready to go with that whole ad hoc ... More >>

Days Before Council Considers Forming Gas Drilling Task Force (Or Not), Angela Hunt and Dave Neumann Join Hands in Support

Photo by Sam Merten​At long last, the Dallas City Council's set to tackle the subject: What to do about allowing natural-gas drilling on city property. According to a presentation prepared by city staff for Wednesday's briefing, the council can choose from one of the following options: form a task ... More >>

Maybe City Council Should Have Asked Some Questions Before Taking Drillers' Money.

Flanked by Cowboys Legend Roger Staubach, Mike Rawlings Kicks Off Mayoral Campaign

Photos by Sam MertenMike Rawlings and Roger Staubach​Mike Rawlings formally announced his candidacy for mayor this morning to a group of approximately 150 supporters in front of Dallas City Hall, claiming he'll utilize public-private partnerships to protect both the city's infrastructure and i ... More >>

Can't Believe You're Not on This List of People Who've Received Keys to the City of Dallas

​You have asked, and Frank Librio, the public information officer at Dallas City Hall, has answered by providing a recent sampling of the famous, infamous and who's-that?'s who have received keys to the city of Dallas. At last, a list I can get behind. Because, as I've been reminded more than once ... More >>

At City Hall, Dr. Kenneth Cooper Declares the Health of Dallas Children a "Disaster"

Kenneth Cooper at Dallas City Hall this morning​For a good hour or so this morning, there was a parade of people to the briefing-room podium at Dallas City Hall to discuss the Mayor's Youth Fitness Initiative, funded with $1 million worth of seed money from Oncor. Among those on hand: Mike Rawling ... More >>

Press Release o' the Day: Councilman Salazar to Present KISS's Gene Simmons With Key to Dallas

​No doubt you're aware that KISS's Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed (who I wouldn't Google Image search from the office too hard, if I were you) are among the myriad celebs hosting Super Bowl shindigs next week. Theirs is the Aces & Angels Salute to the Troops at Fair Park, which will lick it up ... 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 >>

At Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel's Topping Out Ceremony, Mayor Leppert Declares: "This Isn't the Dallas of J.R. Anymore"

Photos by Sam Merten​It seems like only yesterday that we were at the parking lot in front of the Dallas Convention Center to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new city-owned hotel, where Mayor Tom Leppert donned a bellhop's hat and twice shoveled dirt into a hole before a large "D" was pull ... More >>

Dallas City Fathers And The Army Corps Of Engineers Don't Speak The Same Language When It Comes To the Levees.

Team UNT Dallas Gathers For Hourlong Back-Patting This Afternoon At Historic Campus

Photos by Andrea GrimesTexas Governor Rick Perry grins it up for the UNT Dallas crowd.​Governor Rick Perry visited the new University of North Texas at Dallas campus today off Camp Wisdom Road in South Dallas to mark the school's first-ever Founders Day. This afternoon marked the opening of the fi ... More >>

iWatch So You Don't Have To: Liveblogging Today's Public Safety Committee Meeting

​Afternoon, Friends of Unfair Park. Here I am in bristly cold City Hall prepared to bring you the latest in how Dallas is going to keep you safe. Or, how you're going to keep your damn selves safe with iWatch. Between that and Dwaine Caraway's magic crime-reducing cameras, we should be set. See so ... More >>

Minority Council Members Say Leppert "Mischaracterized" Their Support of Love Field Concession Contracts Delay in Campaign E-Mail

Sam MertenThe seven who claim the mayor needs to be clear when talking about their stance on the Love Field concession contracts (from left to right): Delia Jasso, Dwaine Caraway, Pauline Medrano, Carolyn Davis, Tennell Atkins, Vonciel Hill and Steve Salazar​On Monday, we told you about an e-m ... 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 >>

Mayor Leppert Just Stopped Checking His E-Mail to Chime In on the Love Field Concessions

Sam MertenMayor Leppert, five minutes into the presentation.​Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano began this afternoon's Love Field Concession Committee meeting by letting folks know why the committee was formed -- to clear up "perception issues reported by the newspaper" -- and what the groun ... More >>

Turns Out, Paul Quinn's New "Urban Farm" Is Also a New PepsiCo "Social Business Initiative"

The former football field at Paul Quinn College, now an urban farm​A couple of weeks back we noticed, courtesy some video from Central Dallas Ministries' Larry James, that Paul Quinn College was in the midst of transforming its football field into a two-acre "urban farm," in the words of school pr ... More >>

City Council, Its Feelings Hurt, Defers Vote on No-Bid Contracts at Love Field

Gilbert Aranza addressing the Dallas City Council moments ago.​The council just wrapped up its discussion of those concession contracts at Love Field -- but there will be no vote on them today. The council -- which is taking awfully personally the suggestion that it's not being very transparent -- ... More >>

Social Media Tools: Once Again, Why Did Leppert Hire D.C. Dude to Run Web Site?

Laura Reed Martin, who manages the Issues and Crisis Division at The Reeds, PRC.​As we told you at the end of Monday's item about Mayor Tom Leppert's new Web site, consultant Laura Reed Martin was supposed to get back with us about the decision to hire Washington, D.C.-based Stan Olshefski to ... More >>

Hodge Admits to Receiving More Than $30,000 From Potashniks, Using Campaign Contributions For "Personal Benefit"

Hodge landed herself quite a deal.​The indictment against Terri Hodge has always looked much more damning than the evidence facing the rest of the gang involved in the City Hall corruption case, and it turns out that, well, it's all true. Hodge admitted as much in her factual résumé, which s ... 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 >>

MartyB Can't Even Get a Second Grader to Throw Him the Ball, But Mayor Tom Will!

Photos by Sam MertenEight-year-old Kendall Tubbs, a second grader who's had type 1 diabetes since she was 3 years old, managed to upstage appearances by Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus "MartyB" Bennett and former Heisman Trophy winner and Woodrow Wilson High School grad Tim Brown at this morning' ... More >>

Turns Out Jury in City Hall Corruption Trial Isn't the Only Ones Learning About CHDOs

It's good to know CHDOs are doing some good 'cause the City Hall corruption trial is teaching us that they're naughty.Among the dozens of acronyms we've grown accustomed to hearing throughout the City Hall corruption trial is CHDO -- Community Housing Development Organization -- which is why yester ... More >>

Council Doesn't Want to Raise Taxes, Cut Key Services to Trim Budget. Good Luck With That.

Sam MertenThe city's budget is $190 million in the hole because of "revenue erosion," according to CFO Dave Cook.The Dallas City Council yesterday afternoon wrapped up a lengthy discussion on how best to tackle the city's $190-million budget deficit by agreeing that a tax increase and making cuts to ... More >>

Old Red Bird Mall's About to Get a Fresh Look from the Urban Land Institute

View Larger MapMoments ago, the Dallas City Council approved spending $120,000 in economic development grant money so the Urban Land Institute can "assess redevelopment options" at Southwest Center Mall. As we noted earlier this week, the council's Economic Development Committee took a peek at the p ... More >>

Lets Talk | What Woodshed? | The Young and the Restless | Getting to NO | Buzz |Buyer Beware

When Al Lipscomb's the Voice of Reason About the Convention Center Hotel, We're All Screwed

Sam MertenLeppert was too focused on the hotel votes to enjoy today's performance by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre.In separate 10-2 votes, the Dallas City Council approved developer and operator agreements with Matthews Southwest and Omni Hotels for the convention center hotel, leaving the $525 mil ... More >>

A New Year's Resolution for Carolyn Davis: Get Better at Fund-Raising, Math

Brian Harkin Whilst searching city records, we stumbled upon council member Carolyn Davis's semiannual campaign finance report. She filed the document November 17, which was nearly two months ahead of the January 15 deadline. Since Davis is hardly the model of punctuality when it comes to filing r ... More >>

Sentimental Journey

City Hall to voters: Shut the hell up

Cotton Bowl No Longer Toilet Bowl

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert Maintains His Lite-Rock Rhetoric

The Unholy Trinity: Kirk, Miller and Leppert