Oscar Black, a 58-year-old cattle rancher outta Weatherford, offered folks a pretty good deal: If you were to give him some of yer money, well, he’d invest it for ya — to the tune of 12 percent in annual returns, hot damn. Only, there was one problem: Black, who owned…
‘Bout a month ago, we mentioned Chuck Norris’s column in which he kinda, sorta suggested that just maybe it was time he ran for president of Texas. A sentence from that piece — in which Norris wondered, “Will history need to record a second American Revolution?” — prompted this Charles…
Cool that Dallas Mavericks’ guard Jason Kidd was named the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week. Last week he passed Magic Johnson for No. 3 on the all-time assist list, dished out 20 dimes against the Suns on national television and generally upgraded his room-with-a-view in the Hall of…
For those who missed it on Friday, SMU president R. Gerald Turner announced, via a statement posted on the university’s Web site, that the school’s endowment has taken a significant hit in recent months: “a total decline of 25% from July 1 – February 28,” he wrote in a letter…
Three years ago, we ran a piece in the paper version of Unfair Park about a scam called BioPerformance Fuel — otherwise known as mothballs you were supposed to drop into your gas tank to rev up mileage per gallon. The Texas Attorney General didn’t take kindly to that. Which…
Eminem’s new video for “We Made You” went viral this morning. That’s a blurry screen grab above. Tony Romo probably thinks it’s awesome, except maybe that part where he’s throwing Jessica Simpson a hamburger touchdown toward the end. I except the video should be on DC9 any moment now…
Last time Friend of Unfair Park PeterK directed our attention to a vintage Dallas photo for sale on eBay, we drove up the $9.99 opening bid to a whopping sale price of $23.50, what a deal. This one’s not quite so action-packed as a four-alarm fire in the Wilson Building,…
Merten’s going to two Mayor Tom Leppert-Anne Raymond convention center hotel debates this morning — no doubt to add to his voluminous photo album, so those seeking special poses speak up now. And Schutze is swamped with a cover story, which leaves no one to cover this morning’s meeting of…
A Friend of Unfair Park forwards along this Texas Observer (no relation) cover story concerning the plight of Curtis Severns, a Sherman man accused by fire investigators of torching his own Plano gun shop — even though there are plenty of arson experts who’ve said that’s awfully unlikely. Severns is…
Dallas-based Blockbuster finally filed its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, reporting, yet again, a net loss of $374.1 million even while same-store revenues increased nearly 4 percent. But, as expected, the video- and game-rental company also warned investors that if it doesn’t get its revolving loan…
View Larger MapOn Wednesday, the Dallas City Council is expected to get a look at a deal hashed out between the Dallas City Attorney’s Office and the Texas Attorney General’s Office’s following the latter’s yearlong look into how the city manages the W. W. Samuell Permanent Foundation, the Samuell Trust…
Seriously, who are these guys decked out in red? *The starting pitcher (Kevin Millwood) throws six shutout innings, the first Ranger to do so since Charlie Hough in 1989. *The 20-year-old shortstop (Elvis Andrus) gets a hit in his first at-bat and ranges on the first-base side of second, turning…
The Deep Ellum Arts Festival took over Main Street all weekend, with work for sale from hundreds of local artists, and all the live music and turkey legs you’d expect from a street festival.More shots of folks out in Deep Ellum are up in our slideshow here, thanks to photographers…
How’s this for Elvis Andrus’ Major League debut? A two-out double down the right-field line, with reigning American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee on the mound and former President George W. Bush in the TV booth offering his thoughts on Fox4. Not bad, I say. Especially for a 20-year-old – third-youngest…
Not exactly the type of skin we’re used to on this blog, but intern Kelly was brave enough to meander through Texas Motor Speedway over the weekend. Her report from the mayhem and mullets … I wearily ventured into the world of NASCAR last Friday, knowing I’d stick out like…
As promised, here’s Danny Hurley’s slide show from Texas Day, complete with another Mayor Tom close-up for our pal Jack E. Jett, Governor Rick Perry as Big Brother and this Janine Turner-Dana Wheeler-Nicholson two-fer. …
Minutes after two jets shook our loins with a flyover, the 43rd President of the United States strode to the mound – the mound, not the rubber – and fired a ceremonial first-pitch strike to Rangers’ outfielder Josh Hamilton. The Prez, who somehow received nary a boo, then autographed the ball…
Over the weekend, a Friend of Unfair Park was griping about how the missus made him get rid of all his vinyl — ’bout 500 classic titles, more or less, each of which went for a buck a pop at a garage sale till the encroaching closing time reduced the…
In 1978, the city of Dallas and Dallas County signed an agreement concerning the operations at the county jail — an agreement that’s been revised four times, most recently in 1997. Which, as far as City Auditor Craig Kinton is concerned in his latest audit, is far too long to…
First pitch in T-minus two hours … *When I stepped on the field at 9 a.m. it was 39 degrees. Factoring in the northern howl of about 30 mph and it felt, ya know, about 0. *You know it’s a different, bigger day when you get on the press elevator…
Even as the Dallas City Council considers spending half a million on yet another downtown Dallas master plan, it’s worth noting a report released morning by the Brookings Institution that lists Dallas as one of the “Most Decentralized” major cities in the U.S. Which is to say: Sixty-seven percent of…
View Larger MapSpeaking, as we were late last week, of deserted area malls, today comes word that the city council’s trying to figure out what to do with the Shopping Center Formerly Known as Red Bird. Otherwise called Southwest Center Mall, the joint was once a jam-packed jewel upon its…
