Like father, like son: Anyone remember former Texas Rangers pitcher Mike Bacsik? Not that one, this one. Too bad The Dallas Morning News didn’t pen its own Mike Bacsik piece for this morning’s paper — Bacsik being, like, the Washington Nationals pitcher who served up Barry Bonds’ 756th homer last…
As Rob Allyn’s folks haven’t yet had much luck — they’re workin’ on it, sure — if anybody out there has a means of getting copies of the television ads that ran in 1998 urging people to vote for the Trinity River bond issue, I sure wish that person would…
Read The Dallas Morning News’ coverage of the Minnesota bridge collapse closely for the story you will not see: What is the truth behind the claim of the Trinity toll road/signature bridge boosters that all of the major freeway bridges in downtown Dallas are slated for replacement, anyway? I’m so…
Yes, and we’re gonna run this again and again and again. Another interesting day Trinity toll road-wise. I appeared on (actually, was heard on) Krys Boyd’s show on KERA-FM (90.1), Think, with Dave Levinthal of The News to discuss the toll road referendum. Snag yer podcast here, but as usual,…
Dave Levinthal of The Dallas Morning News and I will be on KERA-FM (90.1)’s Think at noon today to “discuss” the TrinityVote petition campaign and Mayor Tom Leppert’s allegations of fraud by signature gatherers. As usual when I appear on the radio, I will be wearing my Speedo and a…
Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans say “¡Ojalá Dios quiere!”? Ojalá refers to Allah, the Muslim god, and Dios is the Christian god. Do Mexicans want to cover their bases and get a double blessing, or maybe they can’t make up their minds? ¿Qué pasó con los dos dioses? —White Paddy…
It’s a different city now. Fundamentally. Here’s why. Last weekend the city secretary ruled that a citizens group had met the legal test for calling a referendum on building a major high-speed, limited-access toll road through the proposed river park downtown. But don’t get all lost in that. You’ll hear…
Flood, Karen Kunc (2002) Cheat Sheet on Petition Signatures Total number of signatures collected by TrinityVote: 91,000 Of those, total number certified by City Secretary Deborah Watkins as valid: 52,500 Total number required by law to call a referendum on the Trinity Toll Road: 48,000 Surplus of certified signatures: 4,500…
I just spoke with Angela Hunt, who told me something quite stunning about the allegations of fraudulent signatures being leveled against the TrinityVote petition campaign. She said she had been informed that none of the allegedly suspicious signatures is among the 48,000-plus signatures that have been certified as valid by…
They did it. In an hour or so, City Secretary Deborah Watkins will certify that TrinityVote has gathered and exceeded the statutory requirement of 48,000 signatures on petitions calling for a referendum on the Trinity River toll road. At this hour, the word I get is that Watkins believes Angela…
Just left City Hall, where I was nosing around a bit. Sounds to me like the verification process for the Trinity toll road referendum petitions will be over long before Sunday. Indications I got were that the city had hoped to make an announcement today but that now it’s going…
I leave town for one week, and all sorts of misbehavior happens. I can’t say I am surprised, but I am disappointed. Over at FrontBurner, Tim Rogers has been engaging in wishful journalism again about how the TrinityVote petition campaign will come up short of the required signatures to force…
Dear Readers, You love us, you really love us! Mere moments after publishing my July 12 column (in which Know Nothings had their say on the failed Senate amnesty bill), ustedes bombarded the Mexican with letters expressing your disgust toward those pendejos. Space prohibits the printing of all, so let’s…
Last week, thinking about how great the newly opened Old Red Museum is downtown—and then thinking about the fact that it’s under the Dallas County Board of Commissioners—I was reminded of a favorite Bible verse, Matthew 7:6. “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your…
Dear Mexican: Why don’t Mexicans ever drop their Spanish? Even third- and fourth-generation Mexican-Americans still speak the language to some degree or another. I speak Japanese, but I’m losing it quickly, and when my mother passes on, so will my language. The typical Asian-American kid may attend Chinese, Korean, or…
Well, now I feel stupid, because this sounds like I’m bragging about my kid, which really would be stupid at this point. I only wrote the item yesterday saying he was going to run with the bulls at Pamplona because I couldn’t make myself stop worrying about it. Anyway, he…
I am keeping up with Pamplona bull running news this week, because my son, Will, is over there and determined to run with the bulls this weekend. This is the latest news: “Charging bulls gored seven people and seriously injured several others Thursday as this year’s San Fermin festival in…
Dear Gabachos: You love us, you really love us! Mere moments after the Senate allowed an amnesty bill to collapse like the peso’s value, ustedes bombarded the Mexican with typo-heavy valentines. To commemorate America’s latest amnesic spell regarding its immigrants and assimilation (previous examples include the Chinese Exclusion Act, the…
I waited two weeks. Maybe in that time, I thought, the city’s big-hair media (The Dallas Morning News editorial page, D magazine, PaperCity) might acknowledge that they were totally wrong. At the end of last month TrinityVote, the group seeking a referendum on building a toll road in the river…
In my column last week I wrote, “Blaming the Corps is a way for New Orleans to dodge its own responsibility for its demise” about Katrina. Since then, the paper version of Unfair Park has received angry missives from New Orleanians accusing me of blaming the victim. Well, you know,…
Trust your eyes. Go with common sense. If you’ve seen pictures of the Trinity River flooded from levee to levee in downtown, believe your gut: It’s a fat angry cottonmouth snake inside your house. If you have driven over the river, I don’t have to tell you: That slimey thick-shouldered…
Dear Mexican, I welcome the inclusion of a nice big scoop of chopped habaneros in the bland casserole that is America. Must admit, however, it gave me pause the other day when I saw an all-too-typical familia of recent arrivals at K-Mart: mom, pop and four kids less than 5…
