Choking on cheese I would like to commend Robert Wilonsky for his provocative expose of Paul “Mouse” Millender (“Mouse,” April 4). It was ingenious of Wilonsky to refrain from asking one difficult question. “Mouse” Millender benefited from the wonderful public-relations service provided by the Dallas Observer. Why is the attack…
Chris Luna, who is not a morning person, answered the phone with the slur of sleep in his voice. It was 8:30 a.m. Tuesday–the day before the big Cinemark vote last week–and there was, of course, only one question that needed to be posed to Luna on this matter. “So,…
Ron Carpenter was looking forward to going home. It was shortly before quitting time on a Thursday in early November and Carpenter, a maintenance man at an apartment complex in far East Dallas, was anticipating being greeted by his daughter, Autumn, a pixyish 3-year-old with silky brown hair. He loved…
It was a dream of such irresistible appeal–so simple, so timely, so full of promise–it was amazing someone hadn’t dreamed it before. Why–the dreamer asked–should white children alone possess all the educational advantages, with an array of elite private schools designed to cater almost exclusively to their needs? Why couldn’t…
Wrong time; far right place We were watching Big Sky’s unique lifestyles on CNN last week. You know–anti-government freemen, suspected Unabombers…is that Dick J. Reavis? Yep, it sure was. The Dallas-based author of Ashes of Waco and former Observer staff writer was trying his damnedest to get an interview with…
Taking the blame While one has sympathy for the Geffens over the loss of their daughter, it’s a bit of a stretch to blame Professor Joe Jaynes for the death of an 18-year-old college student–even one who was physically frail and “somewhat academically and socially immature” [“A tragic trip,” March…
Alan Bonebrake, a Dallas chiropractor, doesn’t know much about the Internet, except that he wants to know more. “People keep telling me it’s the way to go,” says Bonebrake (yes, that’s his real name), who plans to advertise his services on the Net. Last month, Bonebrake, like thousands of others…
Mouse recalls everything that happened to him on August 13, 1995. He remembers getting off work at the Galaxy Club in Deep Ellum. He remembers getting on his bicycle, only to find one of the tires flat. He remembers hitching a ride to his apartment, opening the door, sleepily trying…
Sipping coffee at midmorning around Linda Terrell’s kitchen table is strictly a “come as you are” proposition. She hands you a well-worn mug, pours the stout black brew, and asks if you take milk or sugar. No fancy china cream-and-sugar set here. The half-gallon carton of milk is sitting in…
Their boss is Goofy Who says Fort Worth Star-Telegram publisher Rich Connor can’t take a joke? Well, most of his employees, actually. The allegation was confirmed this week when Connor barred S-T reporters from participating in a skit in the Texas Gridiron Show. The show is the local media’s annual…
Robert Dorrell, a part-time state-licensed massage therapist, says he has grown tired of fielding telephone calls from misguided–not to mention overexcited–prospective customers, who mistake his service for a massage parlor. Typically, Dorrell says, the errant callers “ask me if I’m going to give them a hand job.” Dorrell is blaming…
For more than a year, chicken tycoon Bo Pilgrim has been casting about East Texas for a place to build his next processing plant. But the reputation of Pilgrim’s Pride as one of the state’s worst polluters has doggedly pursued his company, causing doors to slam in communities that do…
Reading, writing, research I’m writing to commend you on the truly comprehensive article written by Laura Miller [“The truth about Townview,” March 14]. I am a graduate of the TAG Magnet here in Dallas, and I am also African-American. I attended TAG from 1988 to 1992 while living with my…
Steve Hatchell answered the telephone in his hotel room last Thursday evening full of good cheer. And, hey, why not? The 49-year-old commissioner of the new Big 12 athletic conference was in New York City for an extended weekend. He was staying at the Marriott Marquis, a big, glitzy hotel…
What, me pander? It’s hard to say what’s more ludicrous: the Morning News’ slobbering coverage of the Nordstrom department store’s arrival in Dallas or managing editor Stu Wilk’s dismissal of the suggestion that the paper was sucking up to a major advertiser. The News’ treatment of the store’s opening was…
Vernon Johnson is leaving his $125,000-a-year gig as superintendent of the Richardson Independent School District at the end of March to become the chief executive officer at Voyager Expanded Learning Inc. To hear him describe it, leaving the school district to take a job in the public sector–working for a…
On his birth certificate, Dwight Martinek uses his legal name, the one that reflects his grandparents’ Czech roots. But on the streets of the East Texas town of Canton, Martinek–a large, ponytailed, sculptor-turned-theme-park promoter–introduces himself as “Wild Willie.” Sure, the handle’s hokey. Martinek borrowed it from a now-defunct Western-style department…
Driving west on Highway 67, Victor Morales has the sun at his back and a St. Patrick’s Day parade on the horizon. Early this Saturday morning, the grandson of Mexican immigrants stuck a shamrock in his lapel, slipped a toothbrush in his pocket and set out in a 4-year-old Nissan…
Four years ago, Greg Vaughn’s 13-year-old daughter, Holley, came to him with an age-old problem: the-night- before-the-term-paper’s-due blues. “You’ve got to help me,” a panicked Holley said to her dad, after apologizing for waiting until the last minute. Her assignment was to write about Sam Houston, the colorful, controversial president…
School for scandal As a guest-substitute language-arts and college-prep teacher at Townview Magnet Center [“The truth about Townview,” March 14] for an extended assignment shortly after the school opened last September, I got a bird’s-eye view of the excitement, concerns, and challenges the students and teachers experienced as they embarked…
Looking at him, standing in front of a roomful of college kids, there is absolutely no question that this is the Pied Piper of local higher education. “Everyone with us?” he says, eyeing his students as he rocks back and forth on his brown loafers, shirt sleeves rolled up in…
Short fuse Columbia Pictures publicists for Dallas’ hometown-to-Tinseltown success story, Bottle Rocket, recently ran afoul of People magazine critic Leah Rozen. Rozen called Rocket a movie of “raffish charm,” and compared its feel to that of The Brothers McMullen. She added, in print, “There’s a note at the bottom of…
