News

DART Couple days back, Dallas Area Rapid Transit debuted its new railcars — the Super Light Rail Vehicles, as they’re technically referred to. Word of the $200-million Osaka, Japan-designed railcars has reached Wired’s Autopia blog today, where it points out that “currently all but one stations have platforms that do…

David Byrne’s sketch for Julio, the singing robot created by Dr. David Hanson They ain’t answering the phone this afternoon over at Hanson Robotics in Richardson this afternoon. Makes sense: Dr. David Hanson’s no doubt in Madrid at this very moment, with head Talking Head David Byrne, as the twosome…

Another Tom Leppert photo, another caption-writing contest — winner gets a Walker, Texas Ranger Season 5 boxed set! Mayor Tom Leppert opened today’s council meeting, the last one before the council takes off the month of July, with his first “State of the City Address.” Ironically, the morning open-microphone session,…

Wyatt Cenac, now available Daily Three weeks ago, Wyatt Cenac debuted as the newest regular correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. And, turns out, the hilarious 32-year-old New Yorker grew up in Dallas and went to high school at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. Cenac…

After the jump, a detailed look at how and why Matthews Southwest was selected to become the developer for the convention center hotel — including interviews with Assistant City Manager A.C. Gonzalez and Jack Matthews…

Imagine what Avi could do inside Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. ‘Bout a month ago, Barking Dog Avi Adelman posted this video of “taggerettes” putting marker to a Shell station on Lower Greenville; a better version of said tape went to the police. Turns out, Avi notes, one of the…

Just a programming note, for those with nothing better to do at 10 this morning. On WFAA-Channel 8, like you didn’t know. –Robert Wilonsky…

Joe Hammeke’s a pro photographer best known for his pictures of skateboarders, most of which appear in Thrasher, for which Hammeke’s also a contributing writer. Like, in the new issue, he’s got a piece headlined “Dangerous Technology,” which isn’t online but which documents a recent trip he made to Dallas…

I hope Dallas’ Lennon Madzima did not prepare your income tax returns. Because the feds allege today that Madzima falsified some 1,100 returns since tax year 2004, with the amounts in question somewhere in excess of one … million …dollars. Like this, from the Justice Department this afternoon: According to…

The City Hall duo at The Dallas Morning News has been all over Mayor Tom’s proposed changes to the council’s rules of procedure, highlighted by today’s story about some council members’ concerns regarding one of the 18 suggestions, which would remove the morning open-microphone session. Of no surprise to us,…

Keven McAlester, at right, with Roky Erickson. One day we’ll get a different picture of Keven. One day. Couple weeks back, we posted the new Old 97’s video for “Dance With Me” off the band’s latest, Blame it on Gravity. It’s an impressive piece of work, not only because it…

Is the DFW a “cybercity?” Damn right: No. 5 in the whole U.S.A., according to AeA, which is only “the nation’s largest technology trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry.” Today, AeA released a report titled Cybercities 2008: An Overview of the High-Technology Industry in the Nation’s Top…

Apparently, the Sundance Channel made the most of its trip to Dallas: Last week on its Big Ideas for a Small Planet series, it featured the Current Energy store on Knox Street. Tonight, during an episode devoted to the “Animals,” the show takes a trip to the recently opened Dallas…

Several locals working for Plano-based Frito-Lay done got themselves a U.S. Patent for a “novel flavor additive.” Only, if I read the lengthy government document correctly, I’ve done this by accident many, many times. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, toasted corn flavor additive (“TCF”) is made…

Maguire Energy Institute director Bruce Bullock The first person quoted in today’s Los Angeles Times story about the weekend oil summit in Saudi Arabia is Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at SMU. Says Bullock of the slight rise in oil output and slight dip in gas prices:…

Every week there’s something new about T. Boone Pickens, who’s yet to get back to Unfair Park about that interview request, aw. One day he’s farming wind; the next, he’s gonna sell water to Dallas; the next, he’s donating more of his fortune to Oklahoma State University. But this may…

The “approachable” Lisa Garza, from next week’s episode of The Next Food Network Star. It’s getting harder and harder to give one warmed-over damn about The Next Food Network Star, which Suze’s Lisa Garza should have won before this fourth season ever started. Because from jump she should have been…

A view of the new Mercantile complex, The Element, taken from the original historic building The Mercantile Place on Main’s been open since March, and some 20 percent of the 66-year-old, 31-story building’s occupied — impressive, given the cheapest one-bedroom apartment in the all-rental rehab with 213 units is going…

In this self-portrait, even Angela Hunt’s hard hat is red. Or she’s joined Devo. As we pointed out earlier, a city council committee is looking at spending about $700,000 over 36 months to track sanitation workers with GPS devices. As far as we’re concerned, save the GPS for truants (see…

For those who don’t get the cable teevee, the Dallas iMedia Network, available solely through Time Warner, aired a few days back a “round table” featuring no less than Curtis King from the Black Academy of Arts and Letters, Jac Alder from Theatre Three, Charles Santos from TITAS, Dallas Cultural…