As the vaccine “debate” has gained speed in the aftermath of a measles outbreak centered on Disneyland in California, reaction from the libertarian right has been fascinating. Senator Rand Paul stuttered something about vaccines needing to be voluntary and walked up to the thoroughly debunked “vaccines can cause mental disorders”…
“City loses historic tree at White Rock Lake Park,” that’s the headline on a statement sent out by the city regarding the loss of the biggest black willow tree in Texas, which, until January 30, had lived at White Rock Lake for more than 170 years. You’d think, reading that,…
The fallout that’s come from state lawmakers Kevin Eltife’s and Stephanie Klick’s introduction of legislation that would legalize low-THC cannabis oil for use by Texans with intractable epilepsy is a prime example of what happens when you fight the symptom rather than the disease. The two Republicans’ bills are tailored…
Another train line through a bottlenecked downtown. Increasing bus and train frequency, even a little. Late-night service, even if it’s just on the weekends. These are the things DART riders want, at least according to the long-term survey the agency has commissioned as it plans the next decade. Those things…
It’s hard to understand how the city of Dallas’ mandating 10 minute rest breaks every four hours for construction workers could be controversial. As City Council member Dwaine Caraway put it in December, all the workers are asking for is a break. Nevertheless, Jerry Allen, Rick Callahan and especially Lee…
Finally getting what Austinites have enjoyed for a while now, people looking for parking in the city of Dallas can get real-time data about prices, what spaces are available and even, depending on the space they want to park in, reserve it in advance. The city manager’s office, as it…
Last week, Mayor Mike Rawlings’ former chief of staff Adam McGough officially announced that he’s running for the Lake Highlands District 10 City Council seat soon to be vacated by Jerry Allen. Almost immediately, murmurs began on social media about the fact that, at least until recently, McGough’s two school-aged…
In a speech at the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars Mid-Winter Convention, Governor Greg Abbott announced that today is Chris Kyle Day. Kyle, the so-called American Sniper, was killed February 2, 2013, by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh at a shooting range. Kyle recorded more than 160 kills during the…
Not willing to cede the spotlight to Teddy Bear, everyone’s favorite talking porcupine, the Fort Worth Zoo’s 15-foot-long, 1,500-pound saltwater crocodile named Salty got in on the Super Bowl prognostication game Thursday. While it’s disappointing that the flesh used to tempt Salty — the zoo’s “long snapper” — isn’t that…
With a simple announcement in The Roundup, the city of Fort Worth’s employee newsletter, Cowtown did something that is, for North Texas, pretty revolutionary. The city extended the same spousal benefits to everyone, regardless of the sex of their spouse. “Since the city’s retirement ordinance does not specifically define ‘spouse,’…
Eutopia — which Unfair Park can’t help but pronounce as Eww-topia — is, or was, a swingers club located in a half-million dollar home near AT&T Stadium. The city of Arlington didn’t have a problem with that in and of itself, but has now sent James and Mary Self, who…
Further confirmation of what all of us who live here already know comes from the 2015 National Apartment Index: All of our buildings are full, and our rents are even more too damn high than they used to be. Marcus and Millichap, the research firm that does the annual index,…
This whole thing started, as many squabbles are sure to over the coming years, with comments from newly elected Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Patrick said that the two open carry bills most popular with gun wing of his party, the ones that would…
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, acting through his attorney Billy Ravkind, has pulled his application for a taxpayer-paid lawyer. Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn reset a hearing to evaluate Price’s claims of indigence after Price didn’t show up to court — apparently with Ravkind’s blessing. Lynn was aggravated,…
Sheffie Kadane’s quest to get the city to stop fluoridating its drinking water is over. For months, the Dallas City Council member, aided by the likes of DogsAgainstFluoridation.com, has warned of the dangers of continuing to do something that Dallas dentists say has strengthened local kids teeth for almost 50…
Barring any last minute action by the United States Supreme Court, Robert Ladd will be executed Thursday night by the state of Texas. Ladd, convicted for the 1996 murder of Vicki Ann Garner, will be the second inmate on Texas’ death row killed in 2015. Texas’ highest criminal court, the…
Rachel Hardy Johnson is nothing if not audacious. The 35-year-old Mansfield woman currently facing corpse abuse and theft charges in Tarrant County, stemming from decomposed and desiccated bodies found in her funeral home, has now pleaded guilty to stealing food stamps. See also: Multiple Bodies Found Inside Abandoned Funeral Home…
Much to the benefit of downtown dogs and their owners, Harwood Park, one of the primary fixtures of the city of Dallas’ downtown park plan is one step closer to actually happening. The Belo Foundation, stepping in for a city it said doesn’t have the money to buy the properties…
As one might have expected, knowing that Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price was expected in federal court Tuesday, the morning’s regularly scheduled commissioners’ meeting was one member short. Much to U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn’s chagrin though, it wasn’t Price who missed the meeting — Theresa Daniel was absent…
Kevin Eltife and Stephanie Klick are taking the safest approach possible to an issue that, for them, is politically dangerous. The two legislators, both Republicans, have put themselves behind legalizing the narrowest sliver of medical cannabis. The Tyler state senator and Fort Worth state representative want to OK the use…
Buried deep within Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus’ nearly 1,000-page budget is a measly little $2.5 million item of great interest to North Texans, the “TexNet Seismic Monitoring Program.” Unfair Park was duly excited when we first caught wind of the plan, from the Texas Tribune. Surely, we…
Plano’s anti-discrimination ordinance is under attacks from all sides. Four local state representatives plan to introduce a bill that will void the ordinance as well as any similar laws passed by other cities. The Texas Pastor Council has collected 7,000 signatures in an attempt to force the Plano City Council…
