No doubt you’ve forgotten all about plans to widen and two-way The Expressway Formerly Known As Central downtown — a plan that’s been around since ’05 but didn’t get really rolling till January 2009. But City Hall hasn’t put it aside; far from it.This week the council’s consent agenda includes…
A day after WFAA-Channel 8 spread the word that the enormous Ultimate Super Bowl party planned in the Southwest Center Mall parking lot was no more — folded at the last minute amidst dirty politics and safety concerns — council member Tennell Atkins held court this morning in the atrium…
This morning, the 7-year-old who lives in my house and I got way tangled in downtown traffic — hundreds, if not thousands, of anti-choice protesters filled the streets, with Dallas police officers blocking off every other intersection between the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Earle Cabell…
On January 7, Oncor filed with the Public Utility Commission a rate-hike request: It wants to jump your electricity bill by around $5 a month. Said Chief Operating Officer Charles Jenkins: So sorry, but we have no choice! “The proposed new rates reflect both the investments we’ve made and the…
Before the Dallas City Council voted to back Dave Neumann Wednesday and wait till October to vote on XTO Energy’s gas drilling proposals, we did get a little more insight into where the council stands right now. Angela Hunt, for instance, mentioned why she was for extending the city’s leases…
That’s not exactly what happened, sure, but this afternoon in Washington, D.C., at the 79th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk delivered the keynote address to a lunch-time audience that included “my mayor” Tom Leppert. Following the mayors’ trip to the White House…
Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway just sent The Official Announcement: He’s decided not to run for mayor after all. His statement follows, but I also spoke to Caraway about his decision — one he came to, he says, after speaking with his family and concluding that now was not the…
I was looking for something completely unrelated on the Dallas County Civil District Court website this afternoon when I came across the petition you’ll find after the jump, which was filed one week ago today. In it, attorney Haakon Donnelly — on behalf of, among others, the Dallas Police Association,…
Mayor Tom Leppert hasn’t formally announced his candidacy for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s gig just yet, but he hired Republican fund-raiser Shelly Carson last year as his finance director and paid her nearly $75,000, according to campaign finance reports. Carson has yet to return a phone call placed to her office…
We’re back in not-so-executive session, breezing through the rest of the council’s agenda so Mayor-For-Now Tom Bailey Leppert can hop a flight for his swan song at the US Council of Mayors. First, though, Dave Neumann apologizes for his last motion to defer the gas drilling applications till October 12…
I’m wedged into the corner of the briefing room at City Hall — no complaints, because really, Brad Watson needs his legroom. The council’s running through its various opening proclamations — Delia Jasso just introduced Oak Cliff’s Better Block Bunch right now, including Jason Roberts and council challenger Scott Griggs,…
On Monday we took a couple of looks at bcWORKSHOP’s public-art installation known as 5750Dallas, intended to spark a conversation about homelessness and consumption and so forth. It certainly got noticed — by Dallas Code Compliance, which wants ’em vanished by week’s end, per last night’s WFAA lead-off piece. Shouldn’t…
As you’ll no doubt recall, Brian and Cheryl Potashnik were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn the week before Christmas. The couple, of course, was among the first to take guilty pleas in the Dallas City Hall federal corruption case that eventually landed former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill…
Between court hearings and cover stories, we couldn’t spare a warm body to attend this morning’s Trinity River Corridor Project Committee, the first since December 7. On the agenda: an update on the Standing Wave and Santa Fe Trestle projects, about which a Friend of Unfair Park will occasionally ask…
Soon as I got back to the office, Jim Rogers showed up with a press release and a photo. Rogers, the first president of the Bryan Place Neighborhood Association perched in the shadow of downtown, came by to announce that he’s running for Dallas City Council — the District 14…
This morning’s hearing got started an hour late, and court’s in recess till 1 p.m. — I’ve sent Intern Jesse to cover the afternoon portion of the proceedings. Should be interesting: Shortly before Judge Laurine Blake called for the noontime lunch break, City Secretary Deborah Watkins was on the stand…
Just rode up to the briefing room with Tennell Atkins, who — and I’ll try not to take it personally — seemed awful anxious for those elevator doors to open on five, and we’re shooting the breeze in the gallery as the rest of the Economic Development Committee trickles in…
Off to the George Allen in a few for that 9:30 court date I told you about last week, during which attorneys representing the city, Keep the Dollars in Dallas and those contesting the election allowing for the wetting up of Dallas will hash over some legal matters, baby. Top…
Patrick Michels, our go-to guy on all things having to do with XTO’s efforts to drill for oil and gas at Hensley Field, is presently occupied, and so, once more, it falls to me to point out what some Friends of Unfair Park have mentioned in the comments below: On…
At this very moment, Mayor Tom Leppert — for now — is taking part in the annual Elite News MLK Parade, after which he will fly to Austin for Governor Rick Perry’s inauguration. When he returns Wednesday, there will be a budget workshop at which time City Manager Mary Suhm…
Perhaps you’ve heard by now. It’s official: Mayor Tom Leppert has decided not to run for a second term. On his website, he explains:Since 2007, I’ve had one of the best jobs in the world: Mayor of Dallas. In that time, I have worked with committed Council colleagues, talented city…
I’m guessing the male “potential candidates” for mayor listed in a Wednesday Dallas Morning News article have personal lives. They’re probably in relationships or unmarried singles. Some of ’em might have kids. Others could have ailing or aging parents they’re responsible for. Maybe one or two once had or is…
