When last we visited the Mercantile Continental Building, the Landmark Commission was on its way to designating it a historic landmark against the wishes of its owners, Forest City, the company responsible for the Merc redo and the next-door Element. Forest City had hoped to give the Continental an extreme…
In this week’s Dallas Observer column in which I surmise that Wade Phillips is entering his last season – win, lose or drawl – I tell the story of riding up a training camp elevator with the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach. Sounds riveting, I know. But wait, there’s more! Watching Wade interact…
It’s the eve of training camp at the Grand Hyatt hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk and—despite a coaching career on the verge of a nosedive—Wade Phillips is headed up. In less than 24 hours he’ll begin trying to deliver on his promise of tougher accountability. But as he steps…
Leaking dollars: Buzz is not what you’d call a materialistic person. A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou is paradise enow for us. Still, there come moments when we’re gob-smacked by how much money other people make and become a little bit envious. OK, a large bit…
A silver bracelet dangles from her wrist as she clasps her cell phone in her left hand. She wears sparkling gold sandals, which reveal freshly painted maroon toenails. Her black sleeveless blouse and pressed blue jeans look recently laundered. Denise Way looks nothing like the stereotypical homeless person—soiled, weathered, beaten…
Just got back to my desk to find a copy of the highly critical Adult Basic Education Department Audit about which we wrote yesterday. So, as always, the full document follows after the jump. And while there are a whole mess of figures to sort through, per the auditor’s concerns…
It took long enough, but the Dallas City Council finally got around to the parking-lot booting ordinance — and it passed council almost unanimously. There was but one “nay” vote: newcomer Ann Margolin, who said, well, “I understand there has been a lot of work to get this done, but…
The city council this morning approved three-year contracts totaling $5.3 million with 14 area nonprofit groups — including The Salvation Army and Central Dallas Ministries — to provide assistance to those on the verge of becoming homeless and folks recently finding themselves homeless. The council’s Quality of Life & Government…
I headed out to Arlington this morning for a detailed tour of Cowboys Stadium, the guts of which I’ll pour into a Dallas Observer cover story on Sept. 10. While I’m there, obviously, I’ll get some answers and insights into the video boards. I heard owner Jerry Jones on 105.3…
Waaaay back in May ’07 I wrote about the late, great John Peel — the Liverpudlian who made a stopover in Dallas in the early 1960s before becoming “The Most Important DJ in Rock History,” per the subtitle of the book by and about the great man behind, natch, The…
You probably had no idea that since May 30, the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs has been holding town hall meetings to discuss the Asian American Cultural Center. Then again, you probably didn’t know the city was hoping to build an Asian American Cultural Center. You’re forgiven: It was but…
A little more than one month after a report by Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General accused epidemiologist and longtime Gulf War Syndrome researcher Robert Haley and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center of wasting millions and failing to live up to the terms of a five-year, $75-million…
Early this morning, Lt. Kimberly Stratman, who works in the Dallas Police Department’s Family Violence Squad, called with the breaking news: The DPD has decided to take over the investigation of the cat killings in Northwest Dallas — which, from tales shared and found, sounds far more widespread than the…
Those new “Most Interesting Radio Station in the World” promo spots are sheer genius. I’m only typing LOL because I actually laughed out loud. Whoever does the tag line – I think it’s Gordo? – absolutely nailed it. “I don’t always listen to the radio. But when I do, I…
As expected, Paul Quinn College is making good on its threat to take the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools all the way to federal court for tossing its accreditation. Two days after the SACS denied Paul Quinn’s appeal, the 137-year-old school sued the association in Atlanta federal court, claiming…
Earlier this month, Harvard economic pro Ed Glaeser wrote a series of pieces for The New York Times’s Economix blog in which he argued that a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston wouldn’t be economically viable. (Keep in mind, this was all hypothetical, since the Obama administration’s “Vision of…
Two weeks ago, at the last minute Mayor Tom Leppert — or was it City Secretary Deborah Watkins … or Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway? — added to the Dallas City Council’s agenda several controversial rules changes that were tabled the night before they were to be discussed. One of…
Random thoughts after a roller-coaster, thrilling, frustrating, sweat-stained best game of the Rangers’ season: *From 0-4 to 2-4 to 7-4 to 7-5 to 10-5 to 10-9, seriously, what a damn entertaining baseball game. *Elvis Andrus turns 21 today. His baseball IQ turns 219. *I watched the game at a bar, so…
We end the day where we began the day, if only because we’ve finally spoken with Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander concerning the critical internal audit of the Adult Basic Education Program, funded last year with $3.7 million in grant money. We were expecting to post the audit…
Maybe you recall the story of Thomas Hannon, who was arrested by Dallas police officers in August 2007 on charges of possessing drugs and a weapon at a LBJ Freeway hotel. Hannon, of course, was guilty of no such thing: A videotape that surfaced just as he was set for…
Christopher Moore, the prof quoted in today’s paper about the physics of punting as it relates, to, oh, I dunno, low-hanging video screens in overwrought football domes, offers plenty more info on his blog concerning hang time and kicking angles; rrrrrrriveting stuff. But, for a moment, back to the Dallas…
So, yeah, one of the Jonas brothers was at the W Hotel in Victory Park yesterday guest-judging American Idol’s Dallas final auditions. Can’t recall which one — Joe, maybe? Nick? Gummo? Tito? Doesn’t matter. But this, er, news (?) has me significantly more interested: Reports E!, Neil Patrick Harris “is…
