As we head into the giving season with its charity balls, donation requests and soup kitchen holiday events, the needs seem pretty dire. Between the homeless, battered women, abandoned animals and countless refugees around the world, you could donate your entire paycheck for a few months straight. So instead of…
He’s witnessed so many executions, it’s hard to remember them all. But certain memories stand out. There was the man who fought so hard he had to be restrained and carried–convulsing–to the death chamber. The one who’d done so many IV drugs the medical team had to shoot the lethal…
An artist’s work is deemed inappropriate and yanked from the walls of the public library. An 82-year-old woman faces jail time because she can’t afford to pay $1,900 in code enforcement fines. Hispanic activists scramble to educate parents after the city demands the names, addresses and phone numbers of every…
Now that we can finally look forward to cooler weather—we hope—spending time outside without a pool is actually appealing. To mark the tenth anniversary of the Katy Trail, Friends of the Katy Trail presents the first Katy Trail Days Festival, a week-long succession of live music, picnics, Halloween activities for…
Ann Patchett’s fourth and most critically acclaimed book, Bel Canto, is set in South America but takes place entirely in an opulent living room during a private party overtaken by terrorists. It’s based on the Peruvian hostage crisis in 1996, but Patchett manages to create a vivid world within that…
On top of sales and profits, business owners in certain industries may soon face additional, more sleuthlike priorities—digging up government records, investigating employees’ identification paper trails and even firing large numbers of workers. Since the Department of Homeland Security last month announced new immigration enforcement rules that would require employers…
Laura Sanchez glances at the gold watch on her wrist. She looks up and smiles stiffly. She only has an hour, she says, fidgeting with the pearl ring on her finger. And then she has to catch a flight to Monterrey, Mexico. She needs to escape; she needs to stop…
The 17th annual Genesis Women’s Shelter Golf Classic takes place Thursday at the Prestonwood Country Club, 15909 Preston Road. The tournament, founded in 1990 by Ellen Terry Realtors, has raised more than $500,000 to help provide food, clothing and counseling for battered women and their children. Sponsorships begin at $2,500,…
Jacoby James’ palms were sweating. It was almost his turn. As a camera flash illuminated the curtains in front of him, he waited to have his senior picture taken at the Academy of Irving. The photographer’s assistant beckoned. Wishing he weren’t so nervous, James stepped forward. The woman directed him…
Before my parents’ divorce, they began taking Latin dance lessons together. When my mother told a friend about their evenings gliding across the dance floor, the friend raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is it working?” In the end, not even the sultry, sensuous tango could save that relationship, but it…
As a girl growing up in Mumbai, Niloufer Bustani viewed the United States the way generations of ambitious youngsters always have, as the pinnacle of opportunity for those who want to make their mark on the world. Now, she’s not so sure. After earning a master’s degree at the University…
My overriding memories from Giza’s pyramids are of sweating profusely under an enormous, life-sucking sun, attempting to keep my eyes clear of vast quantities of dust, and fending off swarms of relentless vendors hawking tours and mementos. Sure, it was cool to see the towering wonders of the world and…
Most people arrested and imprisoned in the United States are assigned lawyers to help them navigate the legal process. Not so for immigrant detainees facing deportation. The proceedings are civil, but many people are detained while their cases wend through immigration court. Some detainees find lawyers through nonprofits such as…
Howard Stern fans might recognize the voice of Craig Gass from his call-ins as “Sam Kinison calling from Hell,” and. “Al Pacino” and “Al Pacino’s baby.” Gass, whose parents and sister are deaf, learned to speak by imitating television characters. See him at the Addison Improv, 4980 Belt Line Road,…
Click here for more photos from this story Elias dangles the dead iguana by the tail. His friends close in around him, watching hungrily. With a knife he slices through scaly green skin and peels it back to reveal bloody meat, dark red and glistening in the sun. Working…
What’s not to like about the combination of 1920s Hollywood and murder? Theatre Three’s opening musical this season features Fatty Arbuckle, the famous director prosecuted for killing a starlet, and Desmond Taylor, a director who was himself murdered. They’re just supporting characters, but it’s not a bad backdrop. Mack and…
After more than six months of operating with two judges instead of four, the Dallas immigration court is finally getting one replacement. Still, Judge Richard Randall Ozmun of El Paso will be arriving in October to a court that’s so backlogged that new hearings are being scheduled as far out…
Up for seeing art, but not down with the big-museum entrance fees or a drive to Fort Worth? The Latino Cultural Center is presenting its fourth annual juried art exhibit, and it’s free. Hecho in Dallas/Made in Dallas features 11 local professional artists showing work in various mediums, including painting,…
I reached the pinnacle of my acting career in eighth grade, when I was cast as the turtle in Urashima Taro, a Japanese fairy tale. Since this was Kabuki, traditional, stylized Japanese theater, all of us wore thick white makeup and elaborate costumes—my best friend was “the four seasons,” and…
Oh, Canada: Buzz is not from Dallas. We’re not a huge fan of the live music scene, and we detest nostalgia, so the wrangling over the future of Deep Ellum always sounded like so much real estate development talk to us. But…goddamn. As little as Buzz the philistine cares about…
Imagine your husband goes on a fishing trip with some friends and comes upon a dead body in the river. Rather than interrupt their male-bonding fun, they figure they’ll just forget about it until they get back a few days later. Perfectly acceptable decision, right? The girl will still be…
You gotta respect a movie that’s managed to garner the keywords, “action,” “comedy,” “fantasy” and “horror” all in the space of a couple of hours. And Evil Dead 2 really is all those things. As described in the plot outline on IMDb.com, “a young man named Ash takes his girlfriend…
