Water Transportation

Port of Call

Truckin' Up the Trinity River

Mayor Tom: Man, What An Amazing Year! And It's Gonna Get Awesomer.

Downtown Dallas Will Have Big Balls

Wednesday Morning Wake and Bake

For Now, At Least, Mayor Leppert Won't Try to Sink the Inland Port

It's over.Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert just cried "Uncle!" in the battle over the Southern Dallas "inland port," an expandable map of which is available at right. Chris Heinbaugh, the mayor's spokesman, confirmed for me by e-mail mere minutes ago reports I heard yesterday afternoon that Leppert was pull ... More >>

Foster's Brook, or: The Dallas County Judge is Smarter Than He Lets On

This should be said: One of the heroes in the otherwise ugly stupid saga of the inland port development in Southern Dallas has been Dallas County Judge Jim Foster.First of all: He figured it out. A very good source close to the county commissioners told me, "He's like a little detective. He's quiet, ... More >>

Jim Foster Says They're Out to Get Him. Whatever Gives Him That Impression?

If this screengrab were at all legible, you'd see Dallas County Judge Jim Foster on the left speaking before the Senate transportation committee todayPerhaps you read Schutze's column "Democratic County Judge Jim Foster May be the Latest Target in the Inland Port Battle" in last week's paper version ... More >>

Skunked! C'mon, John Wiley Price, Jim Schutze Does Not Smell That Bad.

Last night, after that town hall meeting, I spotted Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price standing alone outside the Harold Wendell Lang Middle School. I approached him, because the commissioner had been ducking my calls and e-mails for a couple months, and I had some business to transact with ... More >>

Shaken and Half-Baked, or: John Wiley Price, There's a Reason God Invented Tape Recorders

Brandon ThibodeauxJohn Wiley Price is threatening legal action over Schutze's inland port stories.It was strange to pick up The Dallas Morning News today and learn that Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price has impugned the integrity of Dallas Observer columnist Jim Schutze. The commish accuse ... More >>

Somewhere, John Stemmons Sr. Is Shaking His Bony Fist and Laughing His Ass Off

Click the image to read the letter that more or less began the Trinity River Corridor Project in 1974.By now I'm way way too deep into the story of the Trinity River Corridor Project. I have actually developed a kind of side interest -- a hobby, maybe -- involving the history of the Trinity River P ... More >>

Judge Rules That John Wiley Price Can Take County Judge Jim Foster's Deposition

Dallas County Judge Jim FosterToday Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price made some progress in his legal battle against Dallas County Judge Jim Foster, who has been ordered to submit to a deposition so that Price might investigate whether he wishes to pursue a defamation claim against Foster ... More >>

During Debate, Atkins Explains, Look, He's For Hotel Because He Didn't Want to Waste a Vote

Sam MertenTennell Atkins and LeVar Thomas debated for an hour last night at Paul Quinn College in South Dallas, as the two candidates in the District 8 city council race offered opposing views regarding the inland port, the convention center hotel and giving more power to Dallas Police Chief David K ... More >>

Democratic County Judge Jim Foster May be the Latest Target in the Inland Port Battle

Sam MertenTennell Atkins and LeVar Thomas debated for an hour last night at Paul Quinn College in South Dallas, as the two candidates in the District 8 city council race offered opposing views regarding the inland port, the convention center hotel and giving more power to Dallas Police Chief David K ... More >>

Slumdog Millionaires

If the Morning News considers itself the "conscience" of southern Dallas, it has a lot of explaining to do.

Port Whine: Delays on Inland Port Part of Familiar Pattern

On a clear day, you can see why development in southern Dallas has been screwed forever

Congresswoman Calls Out John Wiley Price for Shaking Down Development Deal

Local pols back off a master plan that would have put the squeeze on a major southern Dallas development

What's Commish John Wiley Price's Real Beef With the Inland Port?

Local pols back off a master plan that would have put the squeeze on a major southern Dallas development

Dallas' Inland Port of Gall

Old boys act like a bunch of hicks over the inland port that could mean progress in South Dallas

Why is Mayor Leppert Putting the Brakes on Dallas' Inland Port Future?

The Perots have solid business reasons to slow down Dallas' inland port. But why is our mayor helping them?

Richard Allen brings jobs to the black community.That makes him racist?

The Perots have solid business reasons to slow down Dallas' inland port. But why is our mayor helping them?

Mayor's New Pro-Hotel Pal Can't Defend Leppert's Promises During Trinity Campaign and Advocacy of Inland Port Delay

Sam MertenEd Oakley ran a below-the-belt ad attacking Tom Leppert in his attempt to beat him in the mayoral runoff. Now he's joined a group formed to defend Leppert against the negative attacks from the anti-hotel group. Got it?As mentioned in this week's cover story, one of the reasons former coun ... More >>

Be Careful What You Ask: Judge Foster Spills the Beans About an Alleged FBI Investigation of John Wiley Price and the Inland Port

In a sworn deposition filed in Dallas today, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster is quoted saying he has spoken with the FBI "on many occasions" concerning an ongoing FBI investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and the southern Dallas "inland port" project. Reached for comment this ... More >>

Maybe Northern and Southern Dallas Should Consider a Free-Trade Pact

In a sworn deposition filed in Dallas today, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster is quoted saying he has spoken with the FBI "on many occasions" concerning an ongoing FBI investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and the southern Dallas "inland port" project. Reached for comment this ... More >>

Good News -- Really -- From the City Hall Corruption Trial

In a sworn deposition filed in Dallas today, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster is quoted saying he has spoken with the FBI "on many occasions" concerning an ongoing FBI investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and the southern Dallas "inland port" project. Reached for comment this ... More >>

The Biggest (and Funniest) Revelations So Far in the Federal City Hall Corruption Trial

Carol Reed​Everybody knew it was about "pay-to-play" at City Hall. Don Hill, a former city council member and 13 alleged confederates are accused of strong-arming real estate developers for money.But nobody knew...1. Carol Reed's name would come up. Reed is the top political guru and campaign cons ... More >>

Still a Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On

Brandon Thibodeaux​Lots of speculation going on around town about whether the next shoe to fall in Dallas's ongoing City Hall corruption woes may be a Gucci to the head of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. Today, matter of fact, Kevin Krause has posted a tidbit on The News's City hall ... More >>

The Inland Port Files For Chapter 11, Which Doesn't Surprise Given The Economic Climate And The Political One (aka John Wiley Price)

Brandon Thibodeaux​Lots of speculation going on around town about whether the next shoe to fall in Dallas's ongoing City Hall corruption woes may be a Gucci to the head of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. Today, matter of fact, Kevin Krause has posted a tidbit on The News's City hall ... More >>

Who is Clay Jenkins? We'd Like to Know Too, But He Ain't Talkin'.

Claire JordanIt took 11 days and a lot of effort from us just to get a statement from Clay Jenkins, who wants to replace Jim Foster as county judge.​Fifty-two votes. That's all that kept Clay Jenkins from securing the Democratic nomination for county judge on March 2. Instead, he'll take on fo ... More >>

Was County Judge Jim Foster Really the Disaster His Own Party Claimed. Maybe, Maybe Not.

Claire JordanIt took 11 days and a lot of effort from us just to get a statement from Clay Jenkins, who wants to replace Jim Foster as county judge.​Fifty-two votes. That's all that kept Clay Jenkins from securing the Democratic nomination for county judge on March 2. Instead, he'll take on fo ... More >>

Who the Hell is Clay Jenkins, And Why Am I Being Told to Vote for Him for County Judge?

Claire JordanIt took 11 days and a lot of effort from us just to get a statement from Clay Jenkins, who wants to replace Jim Foster as county judge.​Fifty-two votes. That's all that kept Clay Jenkins from securing the Democratic nomination for county judge on March 2. Instead, he'll take on fo ... More >>

Something Stinks About the News' Position on Moving Smelly Businesses Along the Trinity

Claire JordanIt took 11 days and a lot of effort from us just to get a statement from Clay Jenkins, who wants to replace Jim Foster as county judge.​Fifty-two votes. That's all that kept Clay Jenkins from securing the Democratic nomination for county judge on March 2. Instead, he'll take on fo ... More >>

Wade Emmert Counting on Dissatisfaction With Both Parties to Land Him in County Judge's Seat

Wade Emmert​Just came back from an interesting chat with Wade Emmert, the 40-year-old lawyer who is the Republican candidate for Dallas County Judge in the November election. I asked him how a Republican can win in what everybody is now calling a Democratic county."I don't think it's such a Democr ... More >>

The Word on John Wiley Price: Judas

​Southern Dallas, especially the ministerial leadership, seems to be pretty locked up behind mayoral candidate Mike Rawlings. In explaining that to myself, I do allow for Rawlings's charismatic personality and his track record on community issues. He's got things going for him. (Well, maybe no ... More >>

Suddenly, the Morning News Cares About Minority Neighborhoods

Anyone smell a rat?

Watch Carefully as The Dallas Morning News Tippy-Toes Away from John Wiley Price

​If you are a regular reader of The Dallas Morning News, Dallas's only daily newspaper since 1991, and if you are following the federal corruption investigation of John Wiley Price, the county's most powerful black politician, then from here on out you need to put on your magnifying specs and ... More >>

Some SALT to Season Those Subpoenas

​So, the feds want Pettis Norman and Jon Edmonds to appear before a grand jury on July 20 -- can't imagine why. Oh, wait. My bad. And speaking of the Inland Port, for those who knocked off early for the Christmas holidays in '08, after the jump is a doc you might want to read (or re-read) this mor ... More >>

Fun With Audio, Part 2: EBJ and JWP Talk About the Inland Port, Kathy Nealy, Ross Jr. (and Me)

​This weekend I have been sitting around ruminating on the last three years of reporting I have done on the Inland Port story, which now seems to an element in the FBI corruption probe of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price. By the way, I happen to know the FBI has been hearing about this ... More >>

The John Wiley Price Affair: Suddenly, a Few People Are Looking a Whole Lot Smarter

​Last week I was talking to a very well-known Dallas television investigative reporter about the Dallas County federal corruption probe. I won't name him here, because it was a personal call to discuss something else. But he made a point that kept coming back to me all through the long holiday ... More >>

Oh, There's Former County Judge Jim Foster's Deposition ... On John Wiley Price's Website

From then-Dallas County Judge Jim Foster's Septemner 2009 deposition​Back in May '09 we ran a few pages from the first part of then-Dallas County Judge Jim Foster's deposition taken by County Commissioner John Wiley Price's attorneys concerning those "shakedown" comments Foster made to Schutze whi ... More >>

Unintended Consequences, or: How Our John Wiley Price Reporting Helped Birth a Bad Bill

​Our coverage of the Inland Port scandal in Dallas may yet produce some new federal law. If it does, I don't think it's going to be anything we will be bragging about. Yesterday Wilonsky posted a 2-year-old deposition he found on the website of embattled Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley ... More >>

Mike Rawlings Vowed to Clean Up Dallas, But the Feds Are Spilling Dirt Everywhere

To keep his promise, Dallas' new mayor will have to distance himself from the city's political machine. Good luck with that.

Price Investigation's Royal Pains

"Queens for a day" could be a sign that feds are getting really ambitious.

The Perots Gave Willis Johnson's Wai-Wize Its Start, and It's Been Hot Ever Since

​Digging back through old files, I can see some patterns emerging that I missed back in the day. For example, the connection between Willis Johnson, the luckiest radio host in the world, and Ross Perot Jr. Johnson is a close personal and political associate of Dallas County Commissioner John ... More >>

JWP Rally, Making a Judas into a Saint

​I hate to say I told you so ... no, wait, that's a lie. I love to say I told you so. A week ago I said in column that we were about to see a lot of high opera in the John Wiley Price FBI corruption investigation. The season opens Saturday with Aida. As Unfair Park has reported, The National ... More >>

Inland Port, Executive Airport Land on Council's Radar During Talk of Economic Development

Karl Zavitkovsky​Before the council's Economic Development Committee got 'round to talking about Dallas's employment figures -- and it was a brief briefing -- familiar Unfair Park figure Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the Office of Economic Development, gave the council an hour-long-plus overview of wh ... More >>

The Inland Port Is Still Screwed. Score One for the Perots.

​I guess if you took a pickax and a fire hose to it, you could have dug out a little bit of the truth from this morning's City Hall briefing on the inland port, but you needed to have your tall rubber boots on. Before we wade into the bullshit, please allow me to tell you what's really going ... More >>