If Carlos Melendez has mental problems, that’s news to him. Sitting on a wooden bench outside State District Judge Mike Snipes’ courtroom, the 20-year Air Force veteran can’t explain why exactly he was accepted as an inaugural member of Dallas County’s veterans court—the latest so-called “specialty” court aimed at preventing…
Team president Nolan Ryan predicted a World Series victory for the Texas Rangers during a rally held this afternoon at the home plate gate outside Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. After general manager Jon Daniels issued brief comments to the few hundred fans gathered for the “Rangers Red Rally,” which celebrated…
Citing the Beatles song “The Long and Winding Road,” Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters this afternoon that he was “very restless” as the sale of the Texas Rangers was stalled by bankruptcy and a courtroom auction. “Nobody thought it would be that long, and nobody thought it…
Despite the rain early on Saturday, I found myself at the All About Uptown Festival for the third-straight year, and it wasn’t until checking out the festival’s website just now that I realized it’s only the third year of its existence. Not a heckuva lot has changed since 2008 –…
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and Republican challenger Danny Clancy stared each other down and traded barbs this afternoon at the Belo Mansion during their first debate, and tensions peaked when Watkins was asked what three issues the two candidates can agree upon, along with what three issues separate…
While Mayor Tom Leppert has dismissed headlines surrounding the budget as “perpetuated unfortunately by politics,” we pointed out that he’s been sending out campaign e-mails and mailers in a desperate effort to secure enough votes among his colleagues to prevent a tax hike. Despite his campaigning, eight council members agreed…
As we mentioned last week, Mayor Tom Leppert spiced up his State of the City address with, among other things, some harsh comments directed toward the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Not only did he claim the corps is “not accountable to the citizens of Dallas,” Leppert urged them to…
Longtime Dallas Love Field Airport food and beverage concessionaire Gilbert Aranza has accepted the city’s offer to extend his lease through the remainder of the new terminal’s construction, according to a statement just released by Aranza. As requested by the Dallas City Council, we signed an agreement with the City…
Gov. Rick Perry said concealed handgun laws have made Texas safer during a campaign stop at McClelland Gun Shop yesterday afternoon while receiving endorsements from the National Rifle Association and the Texas State Rifle Association. He also continued to milk his story about killing a coyote with a handgun while…
Just two days after suffering the worst defeat of his short political career, Mayor Tom Leppert offered something different from his typical canned State of the City address that we’ve grown accustomed to hearing around this time of year. “I am very optimistic about the state of our city, but…
In advance of the 3 p.m. press conference at Dallas Police Department headquarters during which the dash-cam video that Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway doesn’t want you to see will be released, Mayor Tom Leppert weighed in on the incident briefly at this afternoon’s State of the City address at…
As Robert pointed out below, Go Oak Cliff hosted the inaugural Blues, Bandits and Barbecue street party and Better Block Redux this weekend around the Kessler, where a clay conceptual model of Stevie Ray Vaughan was on display. While I didn’t see Anderson Cooper roaming around, there were plenty of…
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White criticized Gov. Rick Perry for failing to find the funds to pay for an additional 1,000 local law enforcement officers and 250 state troopers near the border — part of White’s six-point plan for border security. Speaking this morning at the Hyatt Regency with Dallas…
Even though Mayor Tom Leppert won an important battle when Angela Hunt voted on August 18 against a plan to extend the concession contracts at Love Field Airport for three well-connected Democrats — U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, state Rep. Helen Giddings and former Dallas Citizens Council director Gilbert Aranza…
“Do a tax rate increase.” That’s how City Manager Mary Suhm sums up the feedback from Thursday night’s budget meeting at Edna Rowe Elementary. “That’s pretty universal when we’re at town hall meetings,” she says. Despite the overwhelming number of residents pleading for a tax increase to restore Suhm’s budget…
Although investigators aren’t linking him to the series of white powder mailings throughout North Texas, Michael Wayne Patterson was arrested Thursday by federal law enforcement officers and was detained today pending an August 30 detention hearing, according to U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks. Patterson’s handwriting and fingerprints were found on…
Gotta Love it: Here’s a little vocabulary note for city council member Carolyn Davis: One of the definitions of the verb to “swing” is “to influence decisively.” For instance, the “swing vote” is the vote that decides an issue’s outcome. Ergo, you can’t have a 13-0 vote and call one…
With statewide races wrapping up in a couple months, it seems awfully premature to start the discussion about who’s interested in replacing the winners four years down the road. But, as D’s Wick Allison pointed out Monday, former State Rep. Steve Wolens has kept nearly $1.2 million in campaign contributions…
Tyrone Weatherall, the 35-year-old leader of the “West Side Gator Boys,” pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, according to U.S. Attorney James Jacks. Weatherall’s West Side Gator Boys was a Dallas drug trafficking and criminal street gang that operated as…
As I said after Mayor Tom Leppert’s huge convention center hotel victory, the man simply knows how to win. So that, combined with a sneak peek at Angela Hunt’s thoughts, didn’t make me fret about missing the big vote on the concessions at Dallas Love Field Airport. However, had I…
Tomorrow, finally, the city council will be briefed once again on the concession contracts at Dallas Love Field Airport that has the council is split along racial lines. Mayor Tom Leppert failed to mention the racial taint attached to the issue in an e-mail we received from his campaign this…
The Texas Rangers held a presser a presser at the Ballpark in Arlington Friday afternoon to announce the club’s “Stretch Drive Pricing” initiative, which includes lowering prices on beer, soda, hot dogs, hats and parking — or “five of the basic staples in life,” according to Chuck Greenberg. The newly…
