Council just wrapped discussing that police helicopter sale; Sandy Greyson, concerned about terrorist what-ifs, wanted it pulled from the consent agenda for further discussion, but the sale sailed through. This item’s about something a little further down the agenda. As in: Last week, in the comments of this item about…
I said it the other day: The fact we can now trim down and embed City Hall videos will come in mighty handy on days when Dwaine Caraway goes off on self-proclaimed “tirades,” in this case yesterday’s 35-minute harangue involving the decision to shutter five city pools, two in his…
Celina-based American Craig James wears many hats, every last one of them red white and blue. He’s an SMU legend. He’s a former New England Patriot. He’s a father who will go to any lengths to make sure his son gets the playing time he deserves, even if those lengths…
Speaking of Wai-Wize …As Jim points out, between Brett Shipp and yesterday’s News, there’s plenty out there right now concerning the amount of money Willis Johnson, Duke Hamilton and the Wai-Wize-men have made off the city of Dallas, Dallas County and Dallas Area Rapid Transit, among other government entities with…
I mention this in the comments below, but the 5.91 percent increase in our Dallas Water Utilities bill comin’ this fall won’t be the last one any time soon. Matter of fact, per this morning’s council briefing, this is but the first — and the smallest — in the foreseeable…
Mary Suhm was right about one thing: When I asked her Thursday where she saw the council pushing back on her proposed FY2011-12 budget, she said, well, probably pools — specifically, her suggestion that the city shutter five of its 17 pools in the coming fiscal year. Those pools: Bonnie…
At 9 this morning, City Manager will present to Mayor Mike Rawlings and the city council the FY2011-12 budget first shown to media Thursday afternoon; watch Suhm’s presentation here, during or after. And: The entire 571-budget is available here for those interested in taking longer, harder looks at proposed additions…
The end is near … sort of. The city’s Redistricting Commission is inching towards putting together a city map it can forward on to the city council, and everyone — the public and commissioners alike — is trying to get in a parting shot before then. Last night’s meeting was…
A blow has been struck in the name of fun: Owners of the ultra-lounge Plush fought for their right to party and won today at the City Plan Commission, when the panel voted to extend the club’s specific use permit (SUP) for one year. As we mentioned yesterday, the club…
On the other side is the budget briefing handed to media members when we arrived at City Manager Mary Suhm’s fourth-floor conference room for a 3:45 meet-the-presser. Long story short: She managed to balance the budget without cutting too much, she said, thanks to the state taking less than originally…
Yesterday City Hall put out the call: It’s now accepting entries in something called the 2011 Dallas Great Streets Visual Essay Contest. Which is …? Well, long story short, the city wants you to take up to six pictures or shoot a video no longer than two minutes in length…
The Woodall Rodgers Deck Park is still a good year from opening; as you can see in the construction-cam screengrab of moments ago, there are still 64 concrete crossbeams in need of installation, and that won’t happen till October. Crews will spend the summer waterproofing, and fireproofing, the deck. The…
First, let me apologize for the headline — I was listening to Billy Bragg and friends on the way into work this morning, and it could not be helped. Now, then. It’s been a whole two days since last we discussed flow control — I know, right? — which, as…
CBS Early Show’s Marysol Castro’s in town — can’t imagine why. Oh, right. It’s hot. Still, not so hot that two high-school footballers can’t spend their after-practice hours toiling in the sun — one on a construction site, the other decorating doorknobs with fliers, both hoping to buy a car…
Behind closed doors this afternoon, the back-to-work Dallas City Council will be briefed by city attorneys on a handful of lawsuits, all of which we’re quite familiar with: City of Dallas v. Museum of the American Railroad (which, last we looked, is close to being settled); Marcus Wood, et al…
Redistricting Commissioners Elizabeth Jones and Domingo Garcia, who have tough and thankless jobs for which they aren’t paid a penny, are displeased with me at the moment for nay-saying their incomplete maps. Garcia chided me in the comments, writing that it appears I’ve graduated from “the Rupert Murdock school of…
Earlier this summer we told you about how state lawmakers slyly tucked into the school-finance bill a new law requiring illegal immigrants to prove their legal status before receiving a driver’s license. Although civil libertarians and certain pinko newspaper guys decried the legislation as unnecessary, it actually contained some protections…
Reason I missed Sanitation Services head Mary Nix last week was because she was on a plane bound for California — Roseville, specifically, site of a “resource recovery” facility that converts trash into renewable energy. Which means … get ready … we’re about to talk about flow control, the proposed…
One month ago, Jim broke down exactly how Kathy Nealy spent the $270,000 paid her by Mike Rawlings’s campaign: $50,000 to phone-bank workers, $15,000 on “religious outreach,” $65,000 on the so-called “walk program” and so on. A few days later it was revealed that Rawlings, whose campaign offices were visited…
Early last month, Leslie dropped by the Landmark Commission’s Fair Park Task Force meeting during which Friends of Fair Park President Craig Holcomb introduced us to the cell-phone tour signs that’ll be planted around Fair Park — 60 of ’em, looks like. That’s from the Landmark Commission’s agenda for today’s…
Back in April Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm warned the city council that the state’s $27 billion budget shortfall would end up having significant impact on the city’s coffers. On Wednesday, Assistant City Attorney Larry Casto, the city’s Director of Legislative Affairs, will outline to the council exactly how it…
Still having a hard time figuring how Mayor Mike or his staff could schedule a dinner with the council tomorrow night — the same night as one of only two gas drilling task force public hearings. A couple of council reps think it’s important enough to mention to their constituents…
