More or less First comes the disclaimer: Buzz is not exactly a business whiz. Our long-term financial strategy is this: Earn money. Spend it. Borrow more money. Spend it too. Die young. So we’re probably not the best source to glean useful information from the 1998 annual report of A.H…

Model citizen Proving that nothing inspires good citizenship like running for office, District 2 city council candidate Pete Vaca has finally paid off more than $1,800 in back taxes to the city. Vaca, whose name means “cow” in Spanish, hoofed it (rim shot) down to the city tax office on…

Wishful thinking If you can’t beat him, find him a new job. That seems to be the strategy among Mayor Ron Kirk’s opponents, who continue to float Kirk’s name for a variety of jobs–other than mayor, of course. The Dallas Morning News last week reported rumors that Kirk is considering…

Al’s pals Anonymous sources within U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins’ office say he is angry at how The Dallas Morning News is covering the federal bribery indictment against city council member Al Lipscomb. Those close to the case call the reporting “just bullshit.” “They’re doing ‘[a] day in the life of…

Ahem. We don’t mean to brag (big lie), but if you take a close look at the federal corruption indictment against city council member Al Lipscomb and cab company owner Floyd Richards, you may notice that the Dallas Observer receives a little credit. On page 15, the indictment notes that…

Waiting for George-o How long can George W. Bush run for president without running for president? By forming an exploratory committee, Bush can start raising money for his inevitable presidential run yet continue to avoid those annoying tasks that a presidential candidate must perform–campaigning, for instance. Bush, the Mario Cuomo…

Round 2 Think Albertson’s effort to build a humongous grocery store in Old East Dallas died when the City Plan Commission voted unanimously to reject its rezoning request last month? Think again. The grocery store chain has already sewed up one influential ally in its bid to have the city…

Dallas’ most wanted Buzz is resting a lot easier tonight, knowing that men like Brad Lapsley can’t escape the reach of Dallas law. At 71, Lapsley, a former missionary in Ethiopia who once served on the Dallas school board, may not look like a hard case–except for that school board…

Assumption of risk Here’s a health tip for all you youngsters out there: If you don’t want to risk a raging case of herpes, never have unprotected intercourse with anyone in the NBA. OK, so that one’s a bit obvious. Apparently, however, some people are clueless, and one of them…

Was it something we said? Buzz really hates it when our targets turn the tables on us. We were ready to scorch state Rep. Jerry Madden after someone from the Richardson Republican’s office called the Dallas Observer last week and asked us to please stop sending a complimentary copy of…

Party pooped Well, this is just great. Just when we thought we had our New Year’s plans down, The Turn: America at the Millennium goes belly-up and Buzz faces greeting the end of the century with Dick Clark and a bottle of cold duck. Frankly, we hesitated at taking a…

Let’s not Was the Houston Chronicle making a snide prediction about the vapid speech Gov. George W. Bush gave at his inauguration, or was it just a Freudian slip? Buzz is referring to a typo in a Chronicle story that appeared before the event. The inauguration’s theme was “Together We…

Firewalk with him “Meet the challenge of a single evening and transform your entire life.” The last time Buzz heard an offer like that, we became engaged to be married. (Happily! Happily!) Now that Buzz has cleared our social calendar for, oh, the next decade, maybe we will take this…

Coals to Newcastle It’s not easy to survive on the mean streets, especially in a tough burg like Highland Park, where crime is a way of life and the peace is shattered nightly by the sound of barking gats blazing away in nocturnal leadfests. Sorry, Buzz is feeling noirish. Apparently,…

Dallas 1998. Think back with us to the unique, exciting moments over the past year. Really, we mean it. Think back with us. Better yet, think back for us, because, frankly, Buzz’s memory is not what it was before we discovered beer many, many years ago. Let’s see. We recall…

Calling Mr. Grant Forget the millennial fervor. Forget that the Super Bowl is just weeks away. For Buzz, the best part of the new year is that January 1 is the scheduled start-up date for TXCN, A.H. Belo Corp.’s all-news, all-Texas cable channel. We’re not so dweebish as to become…

Fire two Last week, Buzz saluted city council member Don Hicks for nominating former Councilman Chris Luna to the new city task force on ethics. (That would be the Chris Luna whose character is so flawed that it even offended his former fellow council members–not an easy thing to do.)…

Every man for himself Lame duck Attorney General Dan Morales has often stood alone. As a conservative Democratic legislator, he crossed ways with the Democratic leadership in Austin. As attorney general, he went against the wishes of many Hispanic activists by not challenging a court decision that overturned the UT…

Father of the year Upon returning to the team he abandoned for money at the end of the 1996 season, once-and-future Dallas Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown told local scribes that God brought him and his loving family back to Texas Stadium. Brown was contemplating retirement and seeking a little guidance…

Go ahead, make grandpa’s day Someone once said that the only things invariably fatal to a political career are being found in bed with a dead woman or a with live boy. We’d like to add a third to that list: getting crosswise with old people. You would think that…

If at first you don’t succeed… So Jesse Diaz is all set to attempt yet another ascent up the greasy pole and run for the Dallas school board seat so quickly vacated by Don “See ya later” Venable. That leads to the obvious question–no offense to Diaz–Is this the best…

The Thrilla on Marilla, Part 2 Buzz is not a regular at Dallas City Council meetings, but after sitting in on last week’s session, that may change. This isn’t because of any newfound fascination with City Hall, we’re ashamed to say. It’s because we’re swine, and we would hate to…