Summoning Your Anxiety: In-Person Jury Trials Have Started in Collin County

Though it isn’t the “packing the courts” some politicians fear, for McKinney’s Jeff Willis it’s more than scary. “I was very uncomfortable, borderline scared,” the 58-year-old former firefighter said. “In this environment with COVID cases spiking? Packed in a room with 65 to 70 strangers? I mean, something just wasn’t…

For One Disenfranchised Dallas Voter, the System Failed to Deliver

While you spent last night glued to election results, Jody O’Callaghan soaked her frustration with Dallas County’s voting process in a Colorado hot tub. “I’m furious,” she said. “Because of a bogus system that’s beyond broken, my voice wasn’t heard. It’s my right, my responsibility and my privilege to vote…

Magician David Magee Is Minding His Own Business

David Magee promises he won’t read your mind. But no doubt, he will blow it. On an entertaining and sometimes eerie September Saturday night in Fort Worth, the long-time DFW mentalist downsized his grand Las Vegas show into an intimate experience and pulled off his niftiest trick yet: He made…

Defendants, Lawyers and Justice Suffer as Pandemic Shuts Down Trials

For 16 years, Bill Price has successfully defended the city’s prostitutes, drug dealers, drunk drivers and the occasional client accused of murder. But against COVID-19 and a dormant criminal justice system, even the gold medal weightlifter-turned-litigator is powerless. “This virus has crippled the courts,” says the veteran defense attorney. “There…

Is Shelley Luther a Hero or Villain? Why Not Ask Her Wallaby?

Scratch below the surface — beneath the cavalcade of supporters, piles of cash donations, President Donald Trump’s approval and Sen. Ted Cruz’s cameo “mullet” — and Dallas’ pandemic martyr has herself an optics problem. Even for Shelley Ann Luther, defiant owner of Salon à la Mode and America’s viral “hero”…

DFW Goes Plumb Crazy During COVID-19 Crisis

Advice from DFW plumbers during the COVID-19 crisis: stop flushing weird stuff down the toilet. Because of our bizarre, virus-fueled run on toilet paper, many area residents are being forced to resort to alternative options. Kleenex. Wet wipes. Paper towels. Napkins. No reports yet of leaves or corn cobs, but…

Shoulda Put a Ring On It: Cowboys’ Jason Garrett Faces a Win or Die Season

To the drumbeat of blue-balls fans tortured by a quarter-century of frustrating foreplay, and the backbeat of construction clangabang violently serenading the team’s annual state-of-the-union address, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones set the tone for the 2019 season by … pretending to be deaf. Eschewing traditional softball questions for a…

The 10 Most Memorable Songs in Texas Rangers’ History

Forecast to lose 90-plus games this season, your Texas Rangers may be unwatchable. Thanks to elder statesman Elvis Andrus, they also might be unlistenable. Andrus, the affable, comedic shortstop who suddenly is the longest-tenured Ranger, will turn “walk-up music” on its, um, fin this season when he approaches the plate…

Dallas Is Building a Great Wall to Keep Out the … Noise

What are we gonna build? “A wall!” Who’s gonna pay for it? “Mexi … er, TxDOT!” Residents in Lake Highlands are getting some long-sought peace and quiet, thanks to the construction of a giant, gaudy wall. Not the one at the heart of President Donald Trump’s controversial national emergency, but…