Longtime Deep Ellum Landlord Don Blanton Died Last Weekend

Barry Annino passed along the news last night: Don Blanton, longtime Deep Ellum property owner, died last weekend of a heart attack at his second home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The funeral will take place January 5 at noon at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home, followed by a graveside service, with military…

PlainsCapital Gets $87.6 Million Christmas Gift From Hank Paulson

Like it wasn’t already hard enough — which is to say, eff-you impossible — figuring out how the banks are spending their bailout billions. Today comes word that the Treasury Department’s dropped $4.7 billion more in 92 local banks, proving that the TARP can always stretch just a little bit…

Feds Offer to Help Grow Small Businesses in Dallas’s Inner-City

Good news this afternoon for small businesses in the inner-city: The U.S. Small Business Administration has placed Dallas on its burgeoning list of cities tapped to participate in its Emerging 200 initiative, which IDs companies “that show a high potential for growth” and shows ’em how to, ya know, grow…

The Worst Cowboys Song Ever and “The Oddest” High School Game Ever

Know Your Dallas Cowboys, apparently, has an endless supply of videos from the Dallas Cowboys Christmas ’86 album. This one, featuring some old-timers, is particularly appropriate, given Texas Stadium’s tepid adios on Saturday night. And, in other local football news — actual news — in the spirit of Christmas, may…

Winona Ryder Was a Trend-Setter

Dallas Parkway-based Leadsonline.com got an awfully nice plug in today’s New York Times piece about the rise in shoplifting during The Great Depression II: Electric Boogaloo. And what, exactly, does the company do? Helps retailers and law enforcement officials track stolen goods as they surface online and elsewhere; hence the…

Final NFL Quarterback Rankings

According to the Pro Bowl, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner are the two best NFL quarterbacks of 2008. According to me, nonsense. Warner has the best receivers in the league and throws in the worst division in football. Manning was steady, but hardly spectacular. My rankings, which take into account quarterback…

From Dirk Nowitzki, Peace and Joy

Danny Bollinger’s the man who documents the moves of your Dallas Mavs; if you’re not following his fantastic photog blog, which goes more behind-the-scenes than the Wizard of Oz, you’re missing out. A week after this festive photo of Dirk Nowitzki snapped at a charity event made the rounds, Danny…

OU Gotta Be Kidding: Oklahama to Face BYU at Jerryworld in ’09?

That’s what The Oklahoman is speculating this afternoon: OU and Brigham Young will kick off the 2009 college football season at Jerryworld in Arlington. And Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops didn’t do much to stifle the speculation when asked for a comment today. Said Stoops, “Has that been released? All…

Penny for Your Transmission? Or, Why Charter’s About to Drop WFAA.

A Friend of Unfair Park points us to this announcement from WFAA-Channel 8 concerning its being dropped from Charter Cable come New Year’s Eve, and wonders, “WTF?” So happens, reports Television Broadcast today, that the local brouhaha is part of a larger battle between Belo and Charter, which is likewise…

Hey, Dill, Merry Christmas

After the jump, courtesy the folks at Firehouse Dallas, The Carol of the Christmas Pickle — a nod to this most mysterious of holiday traditions. Says it’s been viewed ’round 30 thousand times since debuting two weeks ago, though first I heard of it was during the annual “Dallas Christmas”…

BREAKING NEWS: Luis Yanez Making Pro Boxing Debut at AAC

I do weird things while (only technically, it appears) on vacation. Like, for example, wonder if the sport of boxing is alive and wonder if Duncanville fighter Luis Yanez is well. The answer: Yes. And Yes. A lil’ boxing birdie whispered to me this morning that Yanez – who flamed out amidst…