Alone in the kitchen over my first coffee, I finally got what the border story was about. This was before President Donald Trump backed down on separating children from their parents. I had been thinking it was about everything else. Call me a slow learner. The dog-walking helped. And the…
As President Donald Trump did his best to worm his way out of a self-inflicted crisis Wednesday afternoon, issuing an executive order that halts the separation immigrant children from their parents if the parents are arrested crossing the U.S. border, two of Dallas’ biggest companies made it clear that they…
President Donald Trump announced early Wednesday afternoon that he will end the policy of separating immigrant children from their families, initiated by the Department of Justice in April. An executive order, which the president said he would sign later in the day, will call for children and families detained trying…
Someone slashed a gay pride flag over the weekend that flew outside the Denton home shared by activists who support transgender people, immigrants and people of color. The vandal spray-painted “FAGS” on the house’s garage door. Police say that happened sometime after 11 p.m. Saturday, just hours after Deborah Armintor stepped outside…
Score this round for First Baptist Dallas. Big. Less than a week after seeing two billboards celebrating the title of pastor Robert Jeffress’ “Freedom Sunday” sermon — “America Is a Christian Nation” — taken down by New York City-based Outfront Media, the church is putting up 10 times as many…
My visit Tuesday to the great Dallas Whitewater Feature on the Trinity River confirmed an impression I have been developing for some time — a grand connecting theme in all of the architectural wonders brought to us by the city’s old guard leadership, from woodland trails to the great Margaret…
Late last week, Outfront Media took down a couple of billboards it owns in Dallas. Normally that wouldn’t be news, but the ads on these billboards belonged to First Baptist Church of Dallas and depict its pastor, Robert Jeffress, so a storm began brewing immediately. That storm struck in earnest…
The Observer had a chance Monday to talk with Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Dallas, about a recent decision by Outfront Media to take down a couple of billboards promoting his upcoming “America Is a Christian Nation” sermon. At the end of our interview with Jeffress, we asked him about…
After being empty for nearly two years, the former Walmart Neighborhood Market on Lowest Greenville is finally being replaced. Rather than being excited about the excising of a longtime neighborhood eyesore, however, Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston and nearly 1,000 supporters have signed a petition to tell the proposed occupant,…
Former Mrs. Highland Park Dena Miller, national director of the Trumpettes of America, has a message for all her detractors on social media. “I’m a mom, tweeting from Dallas. I’m not a bot, you dumbass!” she says. Sometimes that’s hard to believe. Miller’s Twitter feed resembles something a Russian operative might…
Like it or not, the Dallas City Council is coming to your neighborhood. After nearly an hour of scattered, often confusing debate, the council signed off a plan to hold one City Council meeting in the afternoon and evening every month. It’ll also conduct meetings in different locations throughout the…
Before Vice President Mike Pence hit the stage Wednesday for the second day of the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, the congregation of thousands sang a few worship songs. In one, this lyric stood out: “Yes, I shall see him, see him face to face / and tell the story…
The 2018 annual meeting, as the denomination’s yearly shindig is called, probably could’ve come at a better time for the Southern Baptist Convention. This week’s events at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center downtown come fresh on the heels of a series of scandals centering on Paige Patterson, the former…
The Trinity Trust Foundation, now calling itself the Trinity Park Conservancy, has posted a job notice (see below) for a construction manager, citing among the club’s previous accomplishments the construction of the Margaret McDermott Bridge that carries Interstate 30 across the Trinity River downtown. I thought they might want to…
After a number of high-profile dog attacks, including the summer 2016 mauling death of Antoinette Brown in South Dallas and an April attack near Fair Park, Dallas is prepared to strengthen its dangerous-dog ordinance and establish criminal penalties for owners whose dogs attack. Under a proposal from Dallas Animal Services,…
When Dallas City Attorney Larry Casto walked into his new, seventh-floor office at Dallas City Hall in October 2016, a pair of swords dangled over his head. Dallas faced two existential threats, both with roots going back decades. Either could have bankrupted the city. Less than two years later, thanks…
Dallas City Council meetings, long a haven for politicians, lawyers, journalists and others who can’t find honest jobs, could be getting a little more open, pending a Wednesday council vote. Like many big cities, all four of Dallas’ council meetings are held in the morning. Beginning at 9 a.m. on…
For nearly a year, West Dallas state Rep. Eric Johnson has tilted at a 50-something-year-old windmill, hoping state leaders would finally take down a plaque emblazoned with the “Children of the Confederacy Creed” that sits in Austin’s Capitol building. This week, his campaign received a boost from outgoing Texas House…
“Keep America American,” says the bold-face red font on the flyers dropped in an Arlington neighborhood this week. Some were also found in San Antonio late last month. Police in Arlington do not know who distributed the flyers — which call immigrants criminals and encourage people to report them to…
It looks like Dallas’ bike-share regulations are going to get in just under the wire before the City Council’s July recess. The council agreed Wednesday to a June 27 vote on the rules the city will impose on the bike companies that have been operating in the city without regulation…
It’s a common refrain, one you’ll hear often if you’re unfortunate enough to attend many Dallas City Council meetings. When one of the council members wants to talk at length about something with city staff, he or she will often request to do so “offline.” That means the council member…
Again Monday morning, President Donald Trump made it clear that he’s willing to use one of the few absolute powers belonging to him as president in ways that benefit him as he fights special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign and administration. Trump has pardoned political lackeys who kept…
