No one expects Dallas City Councilman Sheffie Kadane to be an expert on drug culture. He comes across as a staunch teetotaler, someone who associates marijuana with Reefer Madness-style hysteria, who would turn off The Wire in shocked disgust. Yet his role as a municipal policymaker requires at least a…
Anyone visiting Klyde Warren Park over the the weekend — and judging by the crowd at 10 a.m. on Sunday, attendance bordered on nonexistent — would have been struck by how closely the unbroken white sheet resembled an ice rink. Ironic, given park officials’ promise of an actual ice rink,…
So far, none of the two dozen earthquakes recorded in North Texas since the start of November have caused any serious damage. The Eagle Mountain Lake Dam is fine. Homes and businesses are intact, save for the occasional hairline crack. No one has been hurt. There’s no guarantee that won’t…
Following up on the blockbuster success of the Tea Party Coloring Book for Kids and its masterful sequel, the Tea Party II: Why America Loves You “social-activist coloring book for kids” St. Louis-based Really Big Coloring Books, Inc. has come through with another sure-fire bestseller: Cruz to the Future, a…
Now that Dallas has been exposed for almost putting Uber out of business to make Yellow Cab happy, Dallas still plans to do something about Uber. What will be done is not clear. The City Council’s Transportation Committee is scheduled to review Dallas’ car-for-hire regulations next month. In the meantime,…
For the past few months, the Texas National Guard and the Department of Defense have been in a public brawl over gay rights. And last week, it appeared that the Defense Department, along with gay couples, emerged as the clear victor. Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia are now complying with…
Driving in Dallas sucks for a lot of reasons (traffic, terrible drivers, humongous potholes, et al), but overzealous traffic cops aren’t one of them. This isn’t just the anecdotal experience of a guy who, having been ticketed three times in five months as a teenager in Richardson, discovered similar infractions…
Funding-wise, the Dallas Public Library is starting to recover from the financial crisis. After four straight years of cuts, the system has gotten more money in each of the past two years. The $22.4 million allotted for next year is far from the $32.4 million peak six years ago, but…
Pecan Lodge’s recent defection for Deep Ellum seemed to bode ill for the planned renaissance of the Dallas Farmer’s Market. Despite that, developer Brian Bergersen says things are actually looking up for the $64 million-plus redo. Bergesen, who purchased the long-struggling market from the city six months back, told the…
Imagine you’re Tom Pauken. You’re running a long-shot gubernatorial primary campaign against Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is better known, better funded and has already been christened “The Gov” by Texas Monthly. How can you possibly elbow your way into the narrow space to Abbott’s right? You do it the…
State Senator Troy Fraser had clearly been spoiling to tee off on Texas’ electric regulators. At a committee hearing Monday, Fraser excoriated Texas Public Utility commissioners Donna Nelson and Brandy Marty for proposing changes to the state’s electric marketplace that could cost Texans billions of dollars. In a series of…
Update at 1:22 p.m.: John Wright reports that the Human Rights Campaign has lowered Dallas’ score from 85 to 81 after realizing the city doesn’t have an “equal benefits ordinance.” We’ve included HRC’s full explanation for Dallas increased score at the end of the post. Original post Good news everyone!…
You’re right. Your mind, however warped it may be by traffic-induced rage, is not playing tricks on you. Dallas’ 1,500 traffic signals are just as terrible as you think they are, maybe more so. By the city’s own admission, they’re plagued by outages and are far more likely to topple…
Years ago, Dealey Plaza conspiracy man Robert Groden reportedly strolled into the center lane of Elm Street and taped down a white “X” to mark the spot where President John F. Kennedy was struck with the fatal bullet on November 22, 1963. It’s actually about about six inches too far…
The city of Dallas swears it wasn’t violating anyone’s free speech rights when it ticketed a half dozen activists last January protesting the soon-to-open Bush Library by holding political signs along the Central Expressway service road. As the city has explained in court, police were simply ensuring the safety of…
A week before the country pauses to remember the death of John F. Kennedy, conspiracy theorists and Dallas City Hall have agreed to a truce. Under the agreement, members of the Coalition on Political Assassinations will occupy a parking lot on the southeast corner of Market and Main, where they…
Right now, Dallas has right around 100 miles of hike and bike trails and counting. That’s impressive. Less so is their arrangement. They are, with a few notable exceptions, disconnected, less a cohesive network than a collection of self-contained pathways from nowhere to nowhere. The city of Dallas and the…
Wayne Christian is eying a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, the state agency charged with the twin tasks of regulating the oil and gas industry. So naturally, Christian is campaigning hard on his unwavering opposition to abortion. Christian, a former state representative from East Texas, touts his pro-life bona…
For too long, the defenders of Christian liberty in this country have huddled in their bunkers while liberals have launched salvo upon salvo at Christmas, reducing it to a bland and tasteless mush of pan-religious inclusiveness. Bill O’Reilly would scurry into the open from time to time to issue loud,…
At the outset of the most recent meeting of the Dallas City Council, Councilman Sheffie Kadane stepped to the dais and delivered the following prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the gorgeous day You’ve given us today. Guide us year-round to serve the Lord, let us glorify You in…
President Barack Obama was on the ground in Dallas for all of four hours on Wednesday. It would have been closer to five, but his departure from D.C. was delayed by an hour after bomb-sniffing dog reacted to what turned out to be anti-freeze in a vehicle parked near the…
In its first few weeks of existence, the Burleson chapter of Abolish Human Abortion focused its energies on the time-honored technique of standing outside abortion clinics holding disturbingly graphic signs. The results, as founder Jered Ragon recounts in a series of YouTube dispatches, were less than encouraging. Their first outing,…
