Last night in Austin, state Rep. Sid Miller laid out a novel solution for Texas’s troubled school budget: the Taxpayer Savings Grants Program, a reward of nearly $5,000 for any parents who’ll do us all a solid and take their kids out of public school. Under Miller’s plan, parents would…
Must be the day for getting rid of lawsuits involving the city of Dallas. The feds already sent their heads-up that the city’s going to fork over $2.5 million related to ambulance over-billing, and now the Institute for Justice sends word that that lawsuit over the 2008 sign ordinance prohibiting…
No doubt you’ve heard by now that this morning’s meeting of the Dallas County Commissioners Court was interrupted by a Dallas County Commissioner who threw a tantrum that included name-calling (you … you … bobos!) and the ol’ take-me-to-jail-I-effin’-dare-you gambit. Mauine Dickey’s outburst, captured by Channel 8, is after the…
No doubt some of you are aware that for the last couple of years or so, the city of Dallas has been entangled in a federal whistle-blower suit instigated by a former auditor at City Hall. Douglas Moore revealed that he’d discovered the city and Southwest General Services of Dallas…
This Friday, shortly before the council goes on summer vacation, we’ll get our latest peek at City Manager Mary Suhm’s FY2011-12 budget “snapshot,” following the mid-May look-see that said she’s still around $60 million short of funding the need-to’s. Speaking of: Last Friday Suhm sent to council a lengthy memo…
When Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100-meter gold medal in the 1988 Olympics, it was awarded to second-place finisher Carl Lewis. When Carter High School was ripped of its 1988 Texas State 5A Football Championship, it was given to the team it beat in the title game — Converse Judson…
Right now, Dallas Area Rapid Transit policy prohibits the sale of booze ads on its trains and buses for no reason other than earlier boards thought that’d just be a good idea. Or, as it was explained during a DART board meeting last month, its “predecessors determined that alcoholic beverages…
Simple. If their reserve players don’t perform better, the Mavericks will lose the NBA Finals. And that starts tonight in Game 4 at the American Airlines Center. Jason Terry has to be more productive than the player who has shot only 38 percent and failed to produce a 20-point game…
The Cowboys are on the verge of making the final decision to relocate their 2011 training camp from San Antonio to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington because of the ongoing NFL lockout. But one change that apparently won’t be made this season is the voice of Cowboys Stadium. That said, even the return of…
From the extremely loud to the completely silent …Yesterday was a momentous anniversary that passed without any notice whatsoever: It was the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park. Coincidentally, though, one YouTuber marked the occasion by posting some Brownie 8mm footage of the…
This is how loud Mavs playoffs games were at Reunion Arena. And this is how regular season games sound at the American Airlines Center, where, writes The New York Times’s Alan Schwartz, “it is hard to tell if the Mavericks’ favorite machine during these playoffs is Dirk Nowitzki, their star…
Following their acceptance of superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s resignation, the Dallas Independent School District board unanimously selected current district CFO Alan King — who’s all of six month into his job — as the interim superintendent. “He’s done a great job … and I’m looking forward to him doing an even…
In the comments earlier today on Unfair Park, there was no shortage of speculation as to what the two mayoral hopefuls would cover in their next debate: City Manager Mary Suhm’s job security, dead rabbits and Sunday’s Dallas Morning News piece on the Trinity River tollway among them. And sure…
Leslie’s at the Dallas Independent School District board meeting at this very moment, where the trustees will more than likely announce who will temporarily take Michael Hinojosa’s place now that he’s off to become a Georgia peach. Shocking — they’re in closed session. Ah, but speaking of: The district just…
Back in October, Sam wrote for the paper version of Unfair Park a lengthy piece about Dallas County’s relatively new veterans court, which gives second chances to soldiers who come home from war — some damaged in some way, many broke, most alone — and turn to drugs or lives…
Say this for Deborah Watkins: The city secretary always hops on the phone whenever we have a question. And I’ve gotten to see her in action quite a bit in recent months — including on the witness stand, when the attorneys trying to re-dry Dallas got her to testify about…
Took a couple of weeks, but I just received my copy of An Epic Swindle: 44 Months With a Pair of Cowboys, Daily Mirror columnist Brian Reade’s just-published-in-the-U.K. 338-page recap of Tom Hicks’ disastrous run as co-owner of Liverpool FC. So far, so good, though I feel like I’ve already…
Speaking of over-the-weekenders, the morning paper had a pay wall piece Saturday about Governor Rick Perry’s “call to prayer for a nation in crisis” scheduled for August 6 in Houston, otherwise known as The Response. Perry’s invited the nation’s governors to join him; doesn’t sound like the RSVPs are flying…
Saturday morning we sneak-peeked an item that was just the subject of much debate during this morning’s meeting of the council’s Economic Development Committee: the fact that the city’s going to sink $235,000 in Jack Matthews’ Cedars TV and film production facility, in addition to the $100,000 he got last…
Couple years ago I alerted you to a tennis phenom in our midst. At the time, Keller 14-year-old Mitchell Krueger was just trying to find his way onto the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids. Over the weekend, he came this close to winning the French Open. Not the French Open…
Cash Sirois just sent this local sports-star-studded pep talk, which played on the American Airlines Center’s big-screen before the second quarter of Mavs-Heat Game 3. This proved much easier to watch than Mavs-Heat Game 3. Among those making an appearance: Troy Aikman, Mike Modano, Roger Staubach, Ron Washington and a…
Been a little concerned obsessed with the Mavs. But I did catch some Rangers baseball Saturday afternoon. Saw enough of Derek Holland to say “Wow!” And apparently he isn’t alone. After swooning without Josh Hamilton, the Rangers tumbled from their 9-1 start into mediocrity. Don’t look now, but they’re back…
