Reunion Tower will finally be reopening “soon,” with a slew of renovations planned to make it bigger and glossier. Judy Pesek, a partner at the design firm responsible for the project, laid out the planned renovations to a crowd gathered on the tower’s observation deck. The renovations will include a…
Wrigley, the grande dame of the gum world, is getting a little edgier with the announcement of Alert Energy Caffeine Gum. It’s about four cups of coffee edgier, since that’s the amount of caffeine in a single pack — eight pieces with 40 mg of caffeine apiece (a cup of…
Good job, McDonald’s. You’re kicking around the idea of making breakfast available all day, finally catching up with every single person who’s ever had breakfast and realized it should be eaten all day every day. It’s taken you long enough, and frankly we’re not sure why you’ve kept such a…
News has been buzzing the last couple of weeks about food that will slowly kill you. First it was red meat getting the flak, along with liver, but now eggs, the breakfast staple and vegetarian go-to for protein, are also to blame. All of this is coming from the April…
If you’ve ever found yourself in the Dallas Arts District and in need of an immediate caffeine injection, we have good news for you. The AT&T Performing Arts Center has announced that Pearl Cup, the much-loved local coffee house, will be the official coffee vendor for the museum café in…
Last night, the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees approved a resolution “opposing legislative efforts to diminish graduation standards and academic rigor.” Basically, they don’t like HB 5, the Texas House of Representatives-approved bill that would reduce the number of tests students take to graduate, and basically create separate college- and…
Three years ago, when Jake Heggie finished the music for the opera Moby-Dick, he didn’t expect to return to the source material. But the book is big enough to have its own gravitational pull. Last night was the world premiere of Heggie’s Ahab Symphony at the Murchison Performing Arts Center…
The Texas Education Agency will go ahead with a new performance rating system, Education Commissioner Michael Williams announced on Tuesday. The new system will score schools on an A to F scale in hopes of closing the achievement gap between white and minority students. “I have heard the criticism of…
This weekend brings the very first Bondage Expo Dallas. With classes like “Knots for Novices” and “Tying for Speed and Efficiency,” there’s something for still-not-quite-everyone, from the curious Fifty Shades of Grey reader to the experienced strap-tightener. BED goes for three days, and even features a “Play Party” on Saturday…
Until Tuesday, beloved Sunset High School Principal Anthony Tovar intended to resign at the end of this school year, a development seized by critics of Dallas ISD who say so-called reforms are driving away top talent. But then Tovar rescinded, saying he would stay on as principal. All was well…
U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert is once again contributing to the public discourse, drawing connections between the attack during the Boston Marathon and immigration reform. On CSPAN’s Washington Journal today, Gohmert, a Republican from East Texas, expressed concern over ethnicity-shifting terrorists aiming to abuse the U.S. immigration system: “We know that…
Mexico owes Texas water. And as the current drought presses onward, Texas politicians are trying to turn up the heat to get Mexico to pay. Last Friday, the Texas House voted unanimously on a resolution that the federal government should pressure Mexico deliver water to the United States. The same…
A former student of Rick Halperin says she isn’t buying accusations outlined in a federal lawsuit that he slept with students or secretly loved Hitler. SMU student Moumita Rahman, who graduated in 2004 and now runs her own law practice in New York focusing on immigration and political asylum, had…
Up to 50 Dallas ISD schools could have a changing of the guard next year, as principals announce their resignation or retirement. Superintendent Mike Miles has placed heavy emphasis on principal reform, including replacing those who underperform. But around a dozen principals are not going quietly into that good night…
Sometimes the Internet is excessively dumb, like yesterday when half of Twitter was announcing #NowThatchersDead and the other half was heartbroken because they thought it was #NowThatChersDead. And other times the Internet can be pretty heartwarming. A good example of the heartwarming Internet is Thomas C. Marsh Middle School’s College…
U.S. Representative Steve Stockman is not a subtle man. We could go so far as to say he has a flair for the dramatic. He is, after all, the man who brought Ted Nugent as his plus-one to the State of the Union address, and compared the Earth to a…
Yesterday the State House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1, a new state budget of $193.8 billion, by a lop-sided vote of 135-12. One of the more surprising parts of the bill’s passage is the approval of an anti-private school voucher amendment, passed by a vote of 103-43. The amendment,…
News came out yesterday that former Spring Branch ISD high school teacher Kathanna Culp, 28, is accused of having sex with one of her students and of supplying him and his friends with pot and alcohol. This follows last month’s story about a Dallas teacher Jessica Guilbeaux, 31, accused of…
Tonight, the fourth annual Dallas Comedy Festival begins at the Dallas Comedy House (coincidence or conspiracy?), and it’s looking good, y’all. While many of Friday and Saturday’s workshops have sold out, there are still tickets available for the performances. We’ve picked out some of the most interesting ones below; feel…
We reported last September that Dallas would finally get a look at The Book of Mormon, the Tony-winning musical from the creators of South Park that has left critics raving and some elderly audience members leaving at intermission after realizing what sort of performance they bought tickets to. The AT&T…
A new bill introduced in the Texas Senate would allow counties to open their own holding centers for juvenile law-breakers. Teenage offenders are currently held in lockups operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Senate bill 511, authored by state Senator John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, would give counties the…
April Fools’ Day is creeping up to us. To celebrate, Gavin Industries and Mixmaster, the future-award-nominated culture blog of the Dallas Observer, have teamed up to bring you Spaceballs on the roof of the Sundown at Granada. Seriously, we swear: Please join us Monday, April 1 at 9 p.m., so…
