The attention of the country, or at least that segment of it that’s politically aware enough to pay attention, is focused squarely on the U.S. Supreme Court,which this week is debating a pair of potentially momentous cases. Hollingsworth v. Perry, which was argued today, could do away with California’s Proposition…
During six years with Tom Thumb, Shaun Garcia says he worked hard, rose up the ranks and earned a reputation as someone who could turn struggling, theft-plagued stores around. He started as a stocker at the Lewisville store then quickly earned a series of promotions, first to assistant night manager,…
Police say that a February prank by members of the SMU chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon crossed the line from run-of-the-mill college-kid stupid to illegal, criminally stupid when they held a rival frat member against his will for more than four hours, punching and kicking him and, according to the…
The Texas House and Senate took up legislation Tuesday to address a drought-induced water crisis. A proposed bill out of the House would pull $2 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to implement a 50-year water plan. Municipalities and water districts could apply for funds the state would prioritize…
Maybe you’re not a Yiddish speaker, but you need a handy illustration of the concept of “chutzpah.” In Spanish: cojones. Or in English, if you insist: king-sized brass balls. If you need a real-world demonstration of this cross-cultural concept, you have only to look at how your state-level bureaucrats have…
Ted Cruz has barreled into Washington with the force of a crazy, toupee-haired meteorite smashing through the Capitol dome. But for all his rhetoric about Obama and communists and how they are pretty much the same thing, Cruz has distinguished himself from fellow wingnuts by keeping relatively silent on the…
Stealing Apple products in bulk is always a dicey proposition. Short of brazen daylight raids on the Knox Street Apple Store, which actually seem to be fairly effective, products made by the world’s leading producer of consumer electronics tend to be closely monitored by retailers. But here’s a tip for…
Locals and outsiders alike have been heaping praise upon the Perot Museum of Nature & Science since it opened in December, not just on the dizzying array of interactive exhibit halls but on the building itself. It was designed by architect Thom Mayne to be both a natural outgrowth of…
Barrett Brown’s current stint in federal prison can be linked, in a way, to his mother. It was the FBI’s treatment of her that prompted the YouTube rant and Twitter tirade in which Brown threatened a special agent and his family, which in turn led to the heavily armed raid…
It took a house burning to the ground and a woman being murdered, plus an additional six months, but Dallas police have finally acknowledged just how abysmally run its 911 call center was. Deputy Chief Scott Walton said as much today during a briefing before the City Council’s Public Safety…
Not so long ago, the Dallas Magpies were perennial cellar dwellers in the U.S. Australian Football League, hovering near the bottom of the 35-team organization since the club was established in 1998. Then, something changed. “How’d we get good so quickly? It’s just chemistry, a good mix of guys,” says…
On Saturday afternoon, a panhandler, whom police later identified as 59-year-old Isaiah Caldwell, was working the traffic coming off Interstate 35 on Marsalis Avenue in East Oak Cliff when another panhandler, a 42-year-old woman, arrived at the same spot. She quickly offered a suggestion: Rather than compete with one another…
The couple started arguing on Saturday, around 3 in the morning, in a house near Fair Park. The man told the woman he hadn’t forgotten their past arguments, all the times she had “disrespected” him. He shoved his palm hard against her face and forced her down against a desk…
Kelly Helleson will no doubt think twice before performing any roadside cavity searches on evidently law-abiding citizens. In January, the Texas Department of Public Safety fired the state trooper for her unusually thorough probe of two Irving women, a decision that severely limited her opportunities to conduct such searches. Now,…
Over the past several years, in shopping malls and storefronts across the country, entrepreneurs have begun operating what are called sweepstakes parlors. They look and smell like miniature casinos, and they’re lined with terminals featuring electronic games that bear an uncanny resemblance to slot machines, video poker and other games…
City Council chambers erupted in applause Thursday afternoon as the Plan Commission voted to deny controversial drilling permits to natural gas producer Trinity East. It was a victory for drilling opponents, to be sure; it means the permits will take 12 votes to get past the City Council, instead of…
For the third time in four days, Dallas police held a press conference about the string of rapes in Lake Highlands. Still no answer for who was responsible for three rapes over the past month, but the investigation has made progress, DPD Major Jeff Cotner told the press this afternoon…
Head down Central Expressway at or near rush hour, and you’re guaranteed to spend awhile sitting in traffic. There’s no guarantee, though, that any other route will be quicker, so drivers are left to sit and wait and wonder. You won’t have to wonder for much longer. DART is rolling…
The Arlington Police Department recently got permission from the FAA to use the two small, battery-operated drones they purchased last year using grant money from Homeland Security. Presumably, the drones will mostly be used to hover over Jerry Jones while he’s at work, clipping him in the head with a…
Occupy Dallas, the local champion of the 99 percent, persists in vestigial form as small band of activists who stage occasional temporary demonstrations. The semi-permanent-City Hall-squatter’s-camp version of the movement died in November 2011 when it was raided by police as part of a nationwide crackdown on Occupy. Since then,…
Russell Weinstein was waiting on a train at Arapaho Center DART station one afternoon last February, en route to the first day of a new job, when he was caught in the middle of a shootout between police and and a gun-wielding bus passenger. Weinstein was relatively lucky. Another bystander…
It’s been almost eight years now since the tiny Denton County town of Clark took on a corporate sponsor and officially changed its name to DISH, Texas, after the satellite network. In return, the town’s 55 homes got free cable service for 10 years, plus a DVR. It must have…
