No doubt you’re well aware that President Barack Obama was in El Paso yesterday, where he said that “genuine, comprehensive reform” was the only way to repair a “broken immigration system.” In his speech, posted in its entirety to the White House website, Obama insisted his administration’s doing what it…
Speaking of ethics at City Hall…So happens that Patrick stopped by Dallas City Hall Thursday, just as ad man Jake Schroepfer was giving his Happy Trails Dallas safety campaign presentation, which included that star-studded Junior Brown music video. Those photos come in handy this morning: WFAA’s Brett Shipp had a…
While I was on the phone with Chris Heinbaugh about the item just below this one, he mentioned that Mayor-Not-For-Long Dwaine Caraway informed his council colleagues today that he’s ready to go with that whole ad hoc ethics committee mentioned at the end of last week’s rather tense back-and-forth over…
Last June, we took a look at some moneymaking brainstorms Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm presented to the city council, which Suhm hoped would offset some of the $131-million budget shortfall with which she was faced at the time. Among them was one in particular that didn’t get very far,…
Just couldn’t hold this till item till 4:20, so sorry. But I’d meant to mention last week that the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (or NORML) was staging its part of the World Wide Marijuana March on May 7 on the Dallas…
Ed Oakley, who once sat in the District 3 seat at the Dallas City Hall horseshoe, is already listed among Scott Griggs’s supporters, alongside, of course, Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia, former Dallas ISD school board trustee Jose Plata, former Dallas City Manager Jan Hart Black and a host of…
Anti-gas drilling activist Raymond Crawford sends word this morning: Moments ago the Dallas County Commissioners Court voted to adopt a resolution demanding the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency do something about cleaning up Dallas’s air. Long story short: The county wants state and federal…
As the Texas Tribune notes today, in the wee small hours of the morning, the state House passed Carrollton state Rep. Burt Solomons’s HB 12, the so-called “sanctuary cities” legislation deemed an emergency item by Gov. Rick Perry. As the Trib’s Julian Aguilar sums it up, those who are for…
I called John Crawford, president of Downtown Dallas Inc., on Monday morning, about something — can’t remember, not important. But in between my leaving a message and his calling back, I received a press release: TM Advertising, which moved from Irving into the Comerica Bank Tower at 1717 Main Street…
Two years ago I posted a lengthy excerpt from the 1962 book The Prairie’s Yield – Forces Shaping Dallas Architecture from 1840 to 1962, published by Reinhold in conjunction with the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Among its authors was Hal Box, who, at the time, was…
Moments ago, an old Friend of Unfair Park sent along this obituary that appeared on Variety’s website last night: Guitar great Cornell Dupree died at his Fort Worth home Sunday at the age of 69. For those unfamiliar with the name, you’re certainly well-versed in his estimable body of work…
If nothing else, the Dallas City Hall federal corruption case provided us with a lesson on how you get tax credits to build low-income housing. Which should come in handy for those who want to follow this case filed in Dallas federal court on Friday: Monique Allen and UPCDC Texas,…
I swear to Go … well, OK, I promise there won’t be an item about Sex and the City creator Darren Star’s adaptation of Kim Gatlin’s book every day. But perhaps you recall: Back in early March Donald and Tim Wildmon’s American Family Association gave the series a pre-pilot publicity…
I’ve been trying, with no luck, to talk to Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia about why she’s endorsing Scott Griggs over Dave Neumann in the race for District 3’s seat at the City Hall horseshoe. Garcia served on several committees with Neumann during her tenure on the council — among…
Like I said, the Dalai Lama’s at SMU at this very moment, speaking about democracy, education and his hopes for a free Tibet. Watch it live here. It wraps shortly. He’s presently taking questions from the audience, which includes lots of high school students. I see the Lama got more…
About a month back we looked at docs the Texas Department of Transportation submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration in the hopes of landing some federal money dough for that loooooong-discussed Dallas-Fort Worth-to-Houston high-speed rail line. Long story short: The state wanted $18 million so it could begin ID’ing possible…
TNT’s still in and around town shooting that next-gen Dallas pilot; Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Patrick Duffy and the kids are due to wrap this week, after which network execs will decide whether to move ahead with a full series. (Word is they will — and sooner than anticipated.) But…
New Observer-er Leslie Minora was headed out to an interview moments ago when she got stuck waiting for a mini-motorcade passing in front of Unfair Park HQ on Maple Ave. She asked a Dallas Police officer what was going on. He told her: Why, that’s the Dalai Lama! Oh, right…
We first met Lubbock attorney Kevin Glasheen back in August 2007, when his client, Billy James Smith, became the first man exonerated through DNA evidence to file a federal civil rights and malicious prosecution lawsuit against the Dallas Police Department. Glasheen would go on to rep several more wrongfully imprisoned…
We’ve had this discussion on and off in recent months: With all the schools coming online courtesy the 2008 bond election, when oh when will Dallas Independent School District begin shuttering some of its existing campuses? Trustee Edwin Flores says perhaps as soon as the 2012-’13 school year; this morning,…
After council member Angela Hunt pushed the city council to form the gas drilling task force Dave Neumann only talked about, it’s time to assemble the dream team: Moments ago, Dallas City Hall sent word that it’s taking applications from those interested in serving on the task force. For those…
As soon as Saturday night’s broadcast of the 48 Hours Mystery devoted to the disappearance of Lisa Stone faded to black, the comments began pouring in. Because, as we noted last week, Stone’s longtime partner Sherry Henry spoke publicly for the first time, insisting time and again she had nothing…
