When last we looked at the city of Dallas’s crime stats on November 13, there was just one number on the rise: homicides, up from 134 at the end of October 2008 to 141 at the end of October ’09. But when Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle presents the latest…
Speaking of local real estate deals …A few days ago a Friend of Unfair Park who’s in the commercial real estate business asked, “Ever heard of Eric Brauss?” Couldn’t say that I had. He then pointed me to Today Realty Advisors’ Web site, which details the dozens of transactions the…
Aside from that unsolicited non sequitur intended to illustrate Americans’ lack of faith in the judicial system, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins’s tête-à-tête with Stephen Colbert last night was notable only for how relatively straight it played. Colbert tried to draw Watkins offside early with a comment about his…
Four of the five defendants convicted last month of bribery and extortion in the City Hall corruption trial gained traction in their arguments regarding two counts as U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn agreed this morning to further consider overturning the jury’s verdicts on counts 18 and 19: conspiracy to commit…
Stephen Colbert’s people don’t like to talk about why they ask guests to appear on The Colbert Report. Trust me. We asked earlier today, when word came down that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has been booked for Wednesday’s show (which puts him between Tuesday night’s guests, author Sherman…
Seems the State of Texas isn’t terribly impressed with the way Halal Import Food Market handles its meat — and hasn’t been since, oh, 2001, when the Arlington grocer-warehouse first opened its doors. Which is why Attorney General Greg Abbott’s latest lawsuit against the East Pioneer Parkway-based store and distributor,…
Scared to flash your wallet this holiday season at the mall for fear somebody might nab it? Hate leaving your goodie bags in the car will result in a smashed-in window? (No, we’re not talking to you, NorthPark Center. Why do you ask? Oh … right.) Look, don’t worry: The…
View Larger MapLast week, council member Ann Margolin told a room full of Northwest Dallas residents that the city was going to start cracking down on crime at and around the intersection of Royal Lane and Dennis Road, where day-laborers while away the daylight hours in front of a convenience…
New statistics collected by the FBI show fewer hate crimes being committed in Dallas in 2008 compared with 2007. According to 2008 Hate Crime Statistics, which was released today, Dallas reported 17 hate crimes, which include crimes motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability. (As you may recall,…
There’s no place like home for the holidays — right, Perry Como? The Dallas Police Department couldn’t agree more: At this most wonderful time of the year, DPD once again launches its Home for the Holidays DWI initiative — since, after all, “December, historically, is the highest month of the…
Let’s end the week with a little journalistic quiz for all your Friends of Unfair Park out there. First, a little background.In October, D magazine published a lengthy feature headlined “The Woman-hating Culture Inside the Dallas Fire Department,” by Gretel C. Kovach. The story included copious details about how hard…
The Dallas Police Department media relations office announced moments ago that yet another DPD officer has been terminated by Chief David Kunkle. Here’s the missive that just dropped in our in-box:Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle terminated Police Officer Robert G. Ramsey, #8803, today during a disciplinary hearing. On March 6,…
No, not that one. The one featured in this video the Dallas Police Department just posted, in which a Big C convenience store at 2240 Irving Boulevard is robbed at gunpoint by two men, one of whom is a 21-year-old named Anthony Romo. (His accomplice is, thus far, unidentified by…
For all those Friends of Unfair Park who were convinced juror Nedra Frazier’s interview with Sam would get Don Hill and the others convicted in the Dallas City Hall federal corruption case a new trial, per a motion filed by Sheila Hill’s attorney, guess again. U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn…
Back in January, a Dallas-based company that sells bottled water — pardon, a “natural spring water … created from all natural ingredients including extracts of alfalfa stems and leaves, milk whey and enzymes from pineapple and papaya” — asked the University of Texas’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center if it wouldn’t…
The chief and council member attended a little meet-and-greet in Northwest Dallas last night — big turnout too, about 150 folks who didn’t come for the way-too-early-for-those Christmas cookies but to talk crime. Margolin, though, spent much of her time talking about ethics reform at Dallas City Hall — “a…
A couple of months, Schutze was all jacked up because someone on his street got a ticket for being parked the wrong way on a two-way street. Don’t look now, but seems the city’s done figured out that’s an awful easy way to make $45 a pop during these lean…
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle was at City Hall this morning for the first time since announcing his surprise retirement last week. Ostensibly, he came to discuss the newly updated crime statistics, but he kicked off a briefing of the city council’s Public Safety Committee by discussing his decision to…
The council’s Public Safety Committee’s got a noon meeting on Monday, and even before Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle’s surprise retirement announcement yesterday, they had plenty on their plates, including a look at the car burglary stats. There’s even a Top 10 List, with the truck stop at 7425 Bonnie…
When a big-city police chief announces a sudden early retirement, you expect a lot questions — most of which begin with “Why …”. Apparently, they were all answered last night. This morning’s press conference at Dallas Police Department HQ was more like an event held in honor of everybody’s favorite…
Last night, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle explained why, 30 minutes from now, he will hold a press conference to announce his retirement, effective April 30. After the jump you will find his letter to the department, in which he outlines strides made during his five-year tenure — including policy…
Courthouse News has the complaint, in which Everett Clemmer is going after Zhuoye Lighter Manufacturing Co., claiming that a defect in his son William’s lighter led to his death last year. From the suit, the key paragraph and cautionary tale:On or about April 10, 2008, William Clemmer was working at…
