The Observer is Hiring a Social Media Editor

The Observer has an opening for a part-time social media editor. This twenty-hour/week position combines journalism with social-media skills to increase the Dallas Observer’s audience and serve as its online public face. The social media editor manages the Observer’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, among others, with the expectation of continued…

Crime, Race and Suspicion Converge on NextDoor in Merriman Park

The Merriman Park/University Manor neighborhood, which sits at the northern tip of White Rock Lake in the liminal space between Lakewood and Lake Highlands, is on alert. In recent days, a handful of residents, most of them with homes that back up to DART’s White Rock Station, have had their…

The Dallas Morning News Puts Up Another Paywall

Starting Tuesday, content on The Dallas Morning News’ two major websites, DallasNews.com and SportsDayDFW.com exists behind a metered paywall. Any reader hoping to view more than 10 articles a month on the sites can expect to be asked to pay for a digital subscription — or adopt one of the many easy…

One Rich Dude Now Owns the Two Most Expensive Homes in DFW

Andy Beal, amateur mathematician, noted high-stakes poker player, failed space entrepreneur and Dallas richest human, made a big splash in January when he bought Tom Hicks’ former estate — listed for $100 million, the highest price in Texas history — in Preston Hollow. He wasn’t done shopping. Last week, as…

Texas Horse Racing Is Fighting for Survival

Thanks to a last minute injunction stemming from a lawsuit filed by the Texas Greyhound Association, the Texas Racing Commission did not have to make the decision Tuesday that will decide the future of horse racing in Texas. The commission tabled a discussion that would’ve decided whether or not to keep…

On the Line with the ‘Cliffhangers’ of Reunion Tower

The most iconic feature of Dallas’ skyline is the geodesic sphere atop the Reunion Tower. The 259 high-output LEDs around this ball form patterns for holidays, sports victories and various remembrances. But someone has to keep the sphere in shape — cleaning windows, inspecting the light nodes and changing the…

5 Pieces of Advice for Andy Beal, the Guy With the $100 Million House

Andy Beal, he of enormous banking wealth and modest fame from his second life as an amateur mathematician, high-stakes poker player and failed space entrepreneur, has purchased what was listed as the most expensive home in Texas history — Tom Hicks’ sprawling, 25-acre Preston Hollow estate. Being that Preston Hollow…

Unsocialized: 2015’s Texas Social Media Wrecks

The best thing about the incessant deluge of crap to which we are now subject thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Gmail push alerts, Google alerts and Instagram, among many, many others, is the daily occurrence of something untoward, accidental or just silly slipping past a public figure’s social media goalie…

Dallas Isn’t Very Good at Fighting Blight

Every so often, city officials descend on a particularly dismal corner of southern Dallas, say a few words about the neighborhood’s bright future and then gaze appreciatively while hulking construction equipment tears apart a decrepit house or apartment complex as TV cameras roll. It’s an attention-grabbing and even useful spectacle. Far…

What Median Rent Will Get You in Dallas

Although you are already well aware, either because you are one of the 66 percent of Dallasites who rent your home or because you’ve wondered at the bewildering number of luxury apartments sprouting up around the city’s core, the point bears repeating: The rent is too damn high. This is true…

Meet Joe Pappalardo, the Observer‘s New Editor

Please welcome back for a return engagement, Joe Pappalardo, who takes over as the Observer’s editor on December 7. Longtime readers with good memories — we’re pretty sure they exist — will remember Joe from his time as a staff writer here 15 years ago. He recalled us fondly, as…