Update: Star-Telegram Has Already Laid Off 17 Newsroom Staffers

An addendum to the downsizing at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: According to several sources, 17 staffers in the newsroom were let go this morning, among them managing editor Gary Hardee, science writer Carolyn Poirot, arts writer Todd Camp, Lifestyles columnist Mary Rogers, travel editor Judy Wiley and three librarians. Writers…

South Side on Lamar Developer Gets First Crack at Convention Center Hotel

Wow, we were way off: Woodbine Development ain’t getting the convention center hotel after all. Matter of fact, it finished dead last among the three contenders being considered today by the city council’s Economic Development Committee during its closed-door executive session. The top choice: Matthews Southwest, which, as we noted…

Ross for Boss! And He’s Got Charts!

“The Return of Ross Perot?” asks a The New York Times blog post this morning — which means, awesome, it’s time to whip out my ironically purchased Ross for Boss T-shirt that’s held up remarkably well 16 years later. The Times site actually links to David Broder’s Washington Post column…

Dimming at the Star-Telegram, As 130 Staffers Are About to Lose a Job

As mentioned below, The McClatchy Company this morning announced it’s laying off and buying out some 1,400 employees amongst the dozens of papers that make up the newspaper chain. Moments ago, the McClatchy-owned Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced precisely how many of its employees will be excised during the coming days:…

North Dallas is Good for the Jews

Shalom, Y’all Good thing I didn’t let my subscription to Jewish Living lapse (got it for my bar mitzvah, along with a bunch of savings bonds and fountain pens). Because now I know that North Dallas is No. 5 on the list of the Chosen People’s top 10 neighborhoods in…

The Ghost Town Inside Downtown Dallas And How to Deal With It

Snapshots from an abandoned downtown: water damage in an unspecified hotel and exposed wiring. Another interesting item on the council’s Economic Development Committee agenda: discussion of a pilot program aimed at dealing with the vacant and abandoned buildings downtown, 10 of which were inspected from June 5-13 in preparation of…

Gallagher Kills Audiences Dead

Noah W. Bailey Gallager has actually turned into a sledgehammer, turns out. Ten minutes into last night’s sold-out (!) Gallagher set at the Granada Theater, I wondered if I’d somehow ended up at Nokia Theater in Grand Prairie for the Friday-night performance by another legendary comedian: Bill O’Reilly. The night…

Eat the Rich

Mayor Tom, reading to the kids earlier today at the opening of Bookmarks. But, surely, you have a better caption than this one. So, this afternoon I go over to City Hall to pick up some stuff — a thick file of personal e-mails that will go off like an…

NBC’s Tim Russert Has Died at 58

Hell of a thing. This morning, before posting the T. Boone Pickens item below, I came across an interview the Dallas billionaire gave to Charlie Rose last year. Turns out, on that same episode was Meet the Press host and NBC’s Washington bureau chief Tim Russert — who died today…

When You See Ian Beach, Please Tell the Chef He Rocks

Greg Allen The Buck Pets were, from left: Ian Beach, Andy Thompson, Tony Alba and Chris Savage. So, a few hours after I posted that item yesterday about the Grand Hyatt DFW being all that and then some, one “Danny Explosion” dropped this comment concerning the highly rated hotel and…

Courtesy Children’s Medical Center, Actual Helpful Videos on YouTube

Parents, take note: This morning, Children’s Medical Center Dallas has begun the process of posting to the YouTube several videos intended to assist moms and dads with questions about everything from strep throat to potty training to obesity to “sudden cardiac failure in student athletes.” (Really could have used the…