Your week-ending farewell comes a little earlier than usual this week with good reason: Twenty years ago today, at around this very time, I was sitting at my desk at the Dallas Times Herald writing for the afternoon edition the front-page obituary for Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died in a…
Fifteen days ago, Blockbuster spokesperson Patty Sullivan told Unfair Park: The company’s delay in releasing its what turned out to be dismal second-quarter stats had absolutely nothing to do with a pending prepackaged bankruptcy. “There will be no news announcing that,” she said. Not until late yesterday, anyway, because that’s…
In late June, the Better Block project — which, in April, transformed the dangerous intersection of Kings Highway, W. 7th Street and N. Tyler Street into a pedestrian-friendly plaza — reached the pages of the Houston Chronicle. And, some time after that, it found its way to Anderson Cooper’s producers…
Andy Keller — The Bag Monster, c’mon — called this morning. Wanted to talk about his visit to Dallas tomorrow, part of his nationwide tour to get people off the single-use plastic bag. I asked him, straight off: “So, where exactly are you staging this happening?” He’ll be wearing 500…
Over on City of Ate, Hanna just posted an invite to a Ramadan break-fast tonight, one in a series being sponsored by the Dallas Islamic Center. Last week’s all-you-can eat was at the Unity Church; tonight’s shalom-y’all will be at Congregation Kol-Ami in Flower Mound. Based upon his comments in…
Because an intern’s always up for a free meal, we sent ours to that PETA lunchtime giveaway in front of Dallas City Hall — where, from the looks of things, meatless weenies were quite the draw. Another two looks on the other side, with, no kiddin’, a slide show to…
Local author and historian Rusty Williams took note of my item about Willis Winters’s Fair Park history yesterday and sends word: He’s got his own brand-new look-back on shelves now, Historic Photos of Dallas in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Yes, please.Says Rusty via e-mail, “The book documents a period…
I’ve heard plenty about Champ d’Or over the years — you know, that “mixed-use estate” perched on 256 “developable acres” out in Hickory Creek (that’s Denton County). But I’ve only seen one or two exterior photos of the joint, currently on the market for $69.9 million — a steal, man…
About two months back, Dallas Independent School District trustee Carla Ranger blasted the district’s no-grade-lower-than-a-50 policy (again), this time by insisting it violated state law. Ranger’s comments followed a ruling by State District Judge Gisela Triana-Doyal, who slapped down 11 Houston-area districts’ similar min-grade requirements. Three years after the district…
Just spent the morning filling out a job application, just in case Ambit Energy’s hiring. Because in case you haven’t seen it yet, Inc. magazine put Jere Thompson Jr.’s company at the very tippy-top of its list of America’s fastest-growing companies. And how’d Thompson — grandson of the 7-Eleven founder,…
Perhaps you vaguely recall the press conference during which architect Phillip Johnson stood with Michael Piazza to announce his plans to build upon the Cathedral of Hope grounds a so-called Interfaith Peace Chapel — which Johnson called “the finest job I’ve ever had in my life. … a big civic…
Theresa O’Donnell, director of Sustainable Development and Construction for the city of Dallas, called a little while ago to discuss developers’ concerns over a City Hall proposal to hike building permit fees. She says she was “surprised and disappointed” by the letter several high-ranking members of the North Texas Commercial…
If nothing else, this is proving to be a very good week for cheapskate vegetarians (or, really, people who just like free food). Because, like I said Monday, at week’s end the folks responsible for yesterday’s egg-stremely productive protest at the West Village Albertsons will be back at the DART…
You probably don’t remember, but back in October 2008 there was a very brief discussion at Dallas City Hall that maybe the council mightcouldaoughta ban the single-use plastic bag. Which went nowhere after council member Linda Koop said the city’s not gonna outlaw the bag, but will instead educate “people…
Back in June, upon the occasion of the release of City Archivist John Slate’s Historic Dallas Parks, I mentioned yet another history book was forthcoming from Arcadia Publishing: Willis Winters’s Fair Park. At the time there was no release date set, only “closer to the State Fair of Texas,” but…
Earlier this month, the city council’s Economic Development Committee was briefed on something called “Effective Business Strategies to Support Sustainable Growth.” Translated, that means hiking building inspection fees in order to “recover the true costs of delivering services to our customers” — to the tune of $169,925 in the coming…
It’s getting close to that most wonderful time of the year — when the fall teevee season commences. Later today we’ll post a few peeks from Hal Samples and my visit to the set of Lone Star, the so-far-so-great (based on the pilot, at least) FOX series currently shooting all…
Over on DC9 yesterday, Pete posted the latest Smile Smile video, “Truth on Tape,” which is a very naked, guest-star-laden clip shot entirely at the Rachofsky House. So, then, funny thing: When Pete passed along the clip, I went to the Rachofsky House’s website, only to find the following heads-up:…
Things I’ve learned today: “Two hours” can, on occasion, mean “10 hours.” That’s the way baseball go. And: You can live without Unfair Park, but I, clearly, cannot. So, yes, after an eight-hour break, much of which I wasted on a “refresh” button and half this bottle of Balcones Baby…
As I watched our server erase comments and kill items, I’ve spent the better part of the last hour staring at this calming photo of White Rock Lake taken yesterday by Dallas photographer David McGhee, who was kind enough to let me share it with the Friends of Unfair Park…
Well, seems we’ve had a significant server crash that has made posting impossible till now. And some of you may have noticed comments posted this morning have disappeared. I assure you — they haven’t been deleted, though they do, for the moment, seem to have taken up residence in the…
While I had Mayor Tom Leppert on the phone Monday evening, to discuss the walkout by six council members before the tax-rate hike briefing even got going, we talked for a few minuts about his opposition to a property tax hike. He acknowledged: Yes, some council members are leaning that…
