KZPS: Now the Best Radio Station Ever?

Dunno which is the bigger news: that Clear Channel-owned KZPS-FM (92.5) is going commercial-free, with a single sponsor paying for an hour’s worth of broadcasting at a clip, or that the classic-rock mainstay is switching formats. Says here that KZPS has brought on four initial sponsors — Southwest Airlines, AT&T,…

Sam Coats, You’re Movin’ On Up

Ed, couldn’t you have found a mayor people actually voted for? And one they remember? C’mon — you’re loaded. Only a political reporter would ever say this: Sam Coats is super hot. This week, the afterthought candidate became the rage of the local blog world after he debuted two pitch-perfect…

Pure Evil

I will never forget the first major crime story I covered. The images never go away, and maybe they aren’t supposed to. They snap me back to realities about my world. A Seattle-area man had murdered his wife and kids, then traveled south to Tacoma, where he gunned down his…

Show Them the Money. Like, Now.

Luis Galvan Several immigrant workers were schlepped to Alabama, then returned to Dallas with worthless checks. In the paper version of Unfair Park this week, we write about a group of immigrant workers who were stiffed for two weeks of construction work and left stranded and broke in Alabama. Attorney…

Jim Schutze Loves a Little Back Talk

One of my own favorite reads is Back Talk, the blog for the Advocate magazines, and not just because it gets a lot of posts from Jeff Siegel, who is one of the city’s most acute political observers. It also just tickles the hell out of me that the publisher…

Junius Heights Could Use Some Hot Fuzz

Knock on wood, somebody, quick! It’s been three months since my car was broken into (for the second time) in my little corner of Junius Heights in East Dallas. I do miss my friendly stereo thieves, who brought excitement to otherwise lame Friday and Sunday nights last winter. And I…

Mavs in Seven

Ah, those were good times, weren’t they? This weekend, it gets even better. I know, the Dallas Mavericks won 67 games and recorded one of the most amazing regular seasons in NBA history, while the Golden State Warriors barely squeaked into the playoffs with 42 wins. Should be a sweep,…

The Road to Menudo is Paved with Tripe

The question: “Want to be part of the legacy that released 32 albums and sold over 20,000,000 records worldwide and sold out Radio City Music Hall for 13 consecutive nights?” The answer: Well, hell, yeah. Yeah, well, wait till you hear the rest: Tomorrow at Valley View Center, from 11…

Southwest by Southwest

Paula Abdul doesn’t like Southwest Airlines. Allegedly. Very allegedly. Some Southwest Airlines notes this morning, as I prep for an afternoon flight to Austin: Says here that CreditSights analyst Roger King figures now would be as good a time as any for the Dallas-based airline to get involved in a…

The Performance Before the Punch

By now, you’ve surely seen the scene at Trees on October 19, 1991, when Nirvana performed at the late club on Elm Street and the Greatest Concert Ever deteriorated into an infamous onstage brawl. (I know, you were there — you and 148,924 other people.) But what you probably haven’t…

Tom Dunning Goes Both Ways

Phil Romano, like several other prominent Dallasites, loves him some Giuliani — which you can get on a sandwich at Eatzi’s. Gary Griffith isn’t the only local to throw his arms around Rudy Giuliani — which he did again, by the way, in a campaign missive sent to would-be voters,…

Best Mavs Video Ever. Ever.

With all due credit to the greatness of Mavs Moneyball, which is where I first spotted this thing, here’s my new favorite Dallas Mavericks video of all time — because, damn it, you can’t beat five friggin’ minutes worth of bloopers. So slam dunk the hunger, order a taco and…

A Local Man Specializes in the Threat of “The Random Actor”

Dan Korem specializes in telling good people how to find the bad ones among them. Well, that sounds…pleasant. All week, ever since news broke of the massacre on the Virginia Tech campus, Richardson’s Dan Korem has been fielding calls from frightened university and the media, because, for better or for…

The Best Just-Turned-21-Year-Old Singer-Songwriter in Town

Sarah Jaffe’s opening for Bill “Smog” Callahan tonight at the Sons. Take your sons. And your daughters. Couple of musical notes this lovely p.m.: Seems yesterday, whilst touting tonight’s Bill Callahan gig at the Sons of Hermann Hall, I neglected to mention the local-fave opener — one Sarah Jaffe, whose…

Sooners and Longhorns, at the Cotton Bowl Just a Little Longer

From SportingNews.com on February 27: [Dallas] thinks it will keep the Texas-Oklahoma game in that dump of a stadium because the two schools realize the enormity of the game’s tradition, and because the city is putting a $50 million band-aid on the facility. Here’s your choice, Texas/OU: money or tradition…

This One’s For You, Angus Wynne

Let the fun surround you. Seriously. Do it now. All ya gotta do is go to the great WMFU’s blog, where today them fine folks from New Joizy have, for whatever reason, posted three cuts from a 1967 giveaway album that serves as both a guide to Six Flags Over…

Mrs. “Strong Arm” Takes a Bow

Sue Loncar, right, plays West Texas divorcée Lu Ann Hampton Laverty. And she’s good. That’s why she’s laughing. Last laugh kinda thing. The buzz around the theater community started before opening night: Sue Loncar’s good. Not just kinda, sorta OK/decent in the Preston Jones play Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander…

Spike ’Em, Cowboy

Last we heard of Jay Novacek, the ol’ Cowboys cowboy retired to his ranch in Wyoming, herdin’ cattle and tendin’ to his young’uns. Update: WTF? Apparently Novacek is attempting to use his 6-foot-4 athleticism for further athletic glory, qualifying for the main draw of the AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Dallas…

Poker? Officer, I Barely Even…

The Dallas Morning News just got around to writing about the weekend poker-room raids conducted by the Dallas Police Department — the result of “an investigation and a citizen complaint,” as DPD Deputy Chief J.A. Bernal told our old Friend Dan Michalski immediately following the raid on the Audie Murphy…

The Rangers are No Hit. Literally.

“Going through a big-league lineup three times without anyone getting a hit — that’s pretty impossible.” So said Chicago White Sox leftie Mark Buehrle moments after beautifully blanking Your Texas Rangers last night, throwing a no-hitter that was one fifth-inning walk away from being pitch-perfect. And even then, he managed…

Definitely Dallas

In recognition of his continued charity work, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was summoned to center court before last Saturday’s All-Star Celebrity Slam Jam and presented a bling-blingy diamond necklace by comedian Bill Bellamy. In T-minus two months, Cuban will be handed a far more valuable hunk of precious minerals…