As mentioned in this week’s cover story, one of the reasons former council member Ed Oakley says he lost to Tom Leppert in the ’07 mayoral runoff was his decision to run a negative campaign in the final weeks. Oakley’s negativity climaxed with taking a cheap shot at Leppert by…
To be clear, council member Jerry Allen didn’t tell Sam, “When the hotel fails, I’ll be off council, so I can’t be held accountable.” Rather, Sam had asked him: What happens if the city drops $500 million on the hotel and it doesn’t post the promised profit? To which District…
This week’s cover story in the paper version of Unfair Park outlines the events leading to the upcoming election May 9. Here’s a look at the milestones that led Mayor Tom to this point. …
George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation Mark Langdale won’t tell Time how much the ex-president’s raised for his SMU library — or who’s given to the cause of reshaping his legacy. But the magazine this morning notes that sources close to Bush are reporting he’s done pocketed $100 million since…
In my inbox this morning, I received an e-mail from the Vote No! group, who are packaging Proposition 1 and 2 together. For those needing clarification, Proposition 1 will approve a charter amendment prohibiting the city from “owning, financing, constructing, or operating a hotel or other lodging facility,” and Proposition…
Best. House Energy and Commerce Committee Meeting. Ever. From this morning in D.C.: “The Bowl Championship Series: Money and Other Issues of Fairness for Publicly Financed Universities.” Smokey Joe Barton of Arlington wants to ditch the BCS and go to a college-football playoff system, and he’s got the legislation to…
So, this morning we heard Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway’s reasons for supporting the convention center hotel. Today, on her Web site, Angela Hunt offers several reasons why she’s against it. She also has some words for those who insist that Dallas will become a “ghost town” without the…
Last week, when District 13 city council candidate Ann Margolin started circulating to the media a copy of a $482,337.09 federal tax lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service against Brint Ryan, who’s also running for Mitchell Rasansky’s soon-to-be-vacated seat, I contacted the IRS for further explanation. At the time,…
We missed the pro-convention center hotel wingding in front of Dallas City Hall last night. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway did not. Here’s his pitch for the hotel, and it apparently has something to do with … cell phones?…
Ron Steinhart, chairman of Enough is Enough, at the group’s press conference not only talked about the negative personal attacks aimed at Mayor Tom Leppert, but he also referred to “inaccurate and misleading statements” from the anti-hotel campaign. Yet when he spoke with the Observer in late March for today’s…
Vanity Fair contributing editor Nancy Jo Sales has a lengthy “Web exclusive” about the post-presidency of George W. Bush — specifically, how he’s looking to “reshape his legacy,” both alone and with the assist of former White House colleagues. From Bush’s March 17 speech in Calgary, Sales offers this highlight:The…
Just hours after releasing its first radio ad, featuring Roger Staubach, the Enough is Enough’ers unleashed their first TV spot. Dunno how effective it’ll be, though I do know of at least one 5-year-old who thinks it’s a riot.Enough is Enough Convention Center Hotel TV Ad from Dallas Observer on…
As we mentioned yesterday, tomorrow’s cover story in the paper version of Unfair Park features Mayor Tom Leppert. One of the more fascinating interviews we grabbed while researching the piece was with former city council member Donna Halstead, who since 1998 has been president of the Dallas Citizens Council. She…
I like the title of the first Enough is Enough radio ad: “Really.” Oh, really? Really. Anyway. As we’ve noted before, Roger Staubach’s part of this pro-hotel group, and his is the voice heard at the end of the 60-second spot. But before you get to Captain Comeback’s pitch, there’s…
We’ve received a lot of feedback thus far regarding yesterday’s item in which we revealed Jerry Allen’s thoughts concerning Mayor Tom Leppert, the convention center hotel and the Trinity River toll road. The most buzz, and rightfully so, came from the statement he gave us after he was asked about…
Last night, Governor Rick Perry served as moderator for a most special event at the Special Events Center in Garland: a conservative three-way during which radio chat-show hosts Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt and Mike Gallagher rated and debated Obama’s First 100. (High marks and high fives all ’round, though there’s…
Perhaps, for its next ad, the R.I.P. Dallas folks could use a Woody Guthrie song — “This Land is Your Land,” maybe. Or Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction.” Or The Specials’ “Ghost Town.” Till then, bulls on parade through Victory Park…
While researching our upcoming cover story on Mayor Tom Leppert, which will appear in the paper version of Unfair Park Wednesday, we sat down with Lake Highlands city council member Jerry Allen, who announced in a recent council meeting that he believes anything that comes out of the mayor’s mouth…
If you’re meeting up with friends later today, Jarrod Atkinson has a joke for you to try. He told his rendition through a megaphone Saturday afternoon, before a crowd outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and it went a little like this:”Knock knock.”Who’s there?”Inflation.”(Confused pause from the audience)”That’s right,…
Last night, at 7:48 to be precise, a certain Eleventy Billionth Blog’er sent me a note in which she posed the question: “Is it just me, or is this weird?” The this, in this particular case, was a link to the Vote No Dallas, where, Bethany noted, Angela Hunt’s mug…
The Vote No’ers yesterday began airing their second TV ad, which features Mayor Tom Leppert and Dallas citizens Joanne and Bob Goodfellow, whose hot sports opinions regarding the convention center hotel are lacking to say the least — as in, they’re mute throughout the entire 30-second spot. So we gave…
Smokey Joe Barton’s Wednesday afternoon tweet from a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing has been making the rounds, as the Arlington congressman does seem awful proud of hisself for stickin’ it to Secretary of Energy Steve Chu — the same dude who won the Nobel Prize in Physics…
