WFAA ran a piece last night about Child Protective Services taking an 11-month-old from the Occupy Dallas encampment behind Dallas City Hall yesterday; per Rebecca Lopez, investigators “already had an existing case.” But between that and the news about a registered sex offender occupying one of the more than 60…
Last month evangelical leaders gathered in D.C. for the Values Voter Summit, where disciples of the Pissed-Off Jesus harrumphed and yammered about how much America sucked. That’s when the bomb ignited. As you no doubt recall, Robert Jeffress was on hand to introduce Rick Perry. He warned that Mormon “cult”…
From what I can tell, Jessica Huseman and Shawn Williams were the sole media members to attend Eddie Bernice Johnson’s campaign kick-off held yesterday at the beleaguered Southwest Center Mall. The event was also attended by three council members: Pauline Medrano, Vonciel Jones Hill and Tennell Atkins, who referred to…
In case you didn’t already know this — and I didn’t — at 1 p.m. Wednesday will be the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Should last three minutes, so, no, this isn’t your standard test, but part of what the feds refer to as the Integrated Public…
Speaking of items out for bid by the City o’ Dallas …Over the summer we noticed that the city was looking for someone to snap up the naming rights to the Elm Fork Athletic Complex off Walnut Hill and Stemmons — you know, that 138-acre, 20-field soccer complex behind Malibu…
Dallas Habitat for Humanity, which already claims to be the biggest single-family home builder in the city, will knock down and build more than 500 more homes in a $100 million blitz on the city’s blighted neighborhoods. The project, called Dream Dallas, was formally announced today at City Hall and…
Ethics reforms, or at least the earnest discussion thereof, are in the air over at City Hall lately. Mayor Rawlings won his seat, after all, at least partially based on a “pro-ethics” platform (not something many people come out against, but still). Then a couple weeks back, council member Jerry…
Yesterday I couldn’t get anybody on the phone to talk about the city’s plans to raze La Marketa Cafe in the downtown farmers market plaza; this morning, everyone has something to say on the subject.Chief among them: Troy Thorn, assistant director for the Dallas Convention Center, which, for now, oversees…
Yesterday, after posting this item that asked when Dallas would finally implement mandatory watering restrictions in the midst of this historic drought, I spoke further with City Manager Mary Suhm, who reiterated: The city may indeed go to mandatory twice-a-week watering sooner than expected. But she won’t say exactly when…
Mayor Mike Rawlings called moments ago to discuss DPD’s announcement that it has in custody a 24-year-old registered sex offender who police say assaulted a 14-year-old girl at the Occupy Dallas encampment behind City Hall. City Hall has already issued an official statement concerning the investigation, but Rawlings wanted to…
Waaaaay back in the spring of 2006, the council’s Economic Development & Housing Committee was told: The food kiosk sitting in the middle of the downtown Farmers Market is “a visual barrier” and needs to come down. See that photo? That’s from this briefing, prepped in advance of the 2006…
During all the fuss, hubbub and ruckus over the Lower Greenville Planned Development District Ordinance requiring business owners to get late-hours specific use permits, there’s been one constant question: When the hell is Ship’s Lounge going to get its official okee-doke to stay open past midnight? Well, so glad you…
As of today, per city ordinance, you no longer have to water your lawn before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.; that rule’s only in place from April 1 till October 31. But according to the latest data, Dallas’s reservoirs are close to 25 percent depleted — 7 percent higher…
This morning, there was Rick Perry’s latest ad — he’s a doer, see, not a talker, or so he says (which is weird, because he’s not a talker … but a drinker, maybe). But lest we forget, from another GOP would-be, there’s a new Tom Leppert spot out there too…
My most terrifying night at Dallas City Hall involved a six-hour Redistricting Commission meeting, during which I was forced to eat 1,000-year-old, partially fossilized peanut butter crackers for dinner. It was harrowing. City Hall employees held their annual Halloween party in the plaza just outside the building today, which was…
But two weeks ago Jerry Allen kicked off a meeting of the Dallas City Council’s Budget, Finance and Audit Committee by boldly announcing that the city’s been “tainted by ethical acts, and the challenge for us is to find ways to establish a clear ethical standard and use it to…
Half the comments below are about Rick Perry’s appearance in New Hampshire Friday, when it appeared our governor began his weekend a little too hard and a little too early; strange stuff, and the clip follows for those who’ve yet to see it. It’s good for a contact buzz, if…
This just in: U.K.-based Great City Attractions, which was working with Dallas County and the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau to drop that giant Ferris wheel in Founders Plaza, has opted to roll away — for the time being, at least. No doubt, Schutze will be greatly disappointed. But after…
The plan to siphon off the water from Lake Palestine, which is just southwest of Tyler, has been around for close to four decades; in ’72 Dallas acquired the contractual rights to the lake, at a rate of 102 million of gallons of per day. In 2007, the city council…
Gov. Rick Perry’s record on racial issues has always been a little complicated. Earlier this month, there was that dust-up over his family’s Paint Creek hunting lease, which Schutze thought unfairly loaded up Perry’s shoulders with Southern-boy baggage. But back in 1990, during his run for agriculture commissioner, Perry ran…
It only took, what, a week? But here, at long last, is GOP pollster Frank Luntz’s presentation to the Dallas City Council, given last week during its retreat at the Arboretum. Mayor Mike’s chief of staff, Paula Blackmon, just sent it along, complete with the tiny-type data tables I didn’t…
The poster at right is for what could be the best Better Block event yet, scheduled to take place in and around the parking lot of R.L.’s Blues Palace No. 2 in the shadow of Fair Park — an institution. Jason Roberts, QB for Team Better Block, says there are…
