The secret story behind the story of the Dallas municipal judge fracas is that judges in the city courts don’t run their own courts anyway. Ticket lawyers do. I have been talking about this to lawyers familiar with the municipal courts — lawyers who work there sometimes, not all the…
Michelle Rodriguez spent a few years doing night shifts at 99.5 The Wolf, and a little while working part-time in the promotions department, before moving to KSCS-FM 96.3 for nights. She’s there because DFW radio legend Smokey Rivers saw her natural on-air talent, but she still manages to jump into…
Make us believe you mean it, Mitt. Bring back the draft. For the better part of a week, I have been reading all these thinly veiled suggestions by Mitt Romney that President Obama isn’t enough of an ass-kicker in the Middle East. His aides have been telling reporters that a…
The first whispers of fall blew through Dallas this weekend. There we were, eager to pull on boots and jackets. How quickly we toss the lightness of summer when we make contact with that first dip in temperature. These days are perfect for quiet afternoons of exploring. A trip across…
The 911 problem itself is bad enough, but the mayor and the police chief are about to drive me crazy. At our house we record the news and watch it right before going to bed. It’s worse than chips and spicy salsa. Night after night we are subjected to these…
This is a personal letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dear Prime Minister: My name is Jim Schutze. I am a columnist for the Dallas Observer. I write about local things here. My politics are sort of all over the place, but I have always considered myself a great…
Dear Mexican: Is it just me, or has what to call our friends from south of the border become a partisan issue? While taking in both political conventions, I noticed that Republicans invariably use the word “Hispanics” while Democrats are far more likely to say “Latino/a.” Is there some nefarious…
Last year, Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm and Mayor Mike Rawlings locked arms to push through a so-called “flow control” law, now locked up in a lawsuit, forcing commercial trash haulers in Dallas to use the city landfill instead of commercial dumps. Mayor Rawlings was candid about why. He admitted…
Ed Spoto helms Crossroads Audio, which provides many of the mics, PAs, lighting systems and rigs you see at local shows and festivals. Locally, his client list includes acts like Bowling For Soup, Erykah Badu, The Denton Blues Festival and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Nationally, Spoto, his wife Ashley (who…
Pretty good time this morning on Get Off My Lawn on KNON Radio (7a.m. every Monday), where I talked about a bunch of stuff but especially this morning’s upcoming Dallas City Council budget briefing where a council member will be introducing the proposed new Cheryl, Tim and Ruth Law. The…
Well, sugars. I hope you took advantage of the karmic energy being passed around town this weekend. Saturday was perhaps the most beautiful day of all time and space and had Dallas in the best mood I have ever seen. The scene was set, whether you found yourself tapping out…
Look, I’m not even the world’s biggest fan of political conventions, because they make me feel like I’m trapped in a cubicle with a car salesman. What’s to believe about an event where they hire a consultant to do the balloon drop? But with these two conventions freshly behind us,…
Great editorial this morning in The Dallas Morning News, coming about as close as the News is ever going to come to endorsing the will and wishes of a neighborhood over development plans that would violate those wishes. It puts Mayor Mike Rawlings into a most useful kind of focus…
Dear Mexican: I know that most Hispanics in the United States are in favor of the DREAM Act, but what if this is a setup by the feds for a sting operation? It appears that our president will do anything to pander to the Hispanic vote. I’m wondering what could…
I see everything through flood control. The world. Why? You become what you do. If you take a guy like me and make him a flood-control reporter his whole life, he’s going to come out with a flood-control point of view. Or drainage. Take your pick. No wonder nobody ever…
Guilty little secret time. I’m glad the Dallas County Commissioners voted themselves a 4 percent pay raise Tuesday. I would appreciate it if we could keep this just between us here on Unfair Park, because it’s not exactly the best thing for me to be saying out loud in terms…
It should come as no surprise that I am a fan of Labor Day. Initially called to honor the impact and importance of the American worker, the celebration now calls for leisure, and we are all about elevating leisure here at The Overserved. These September festivities, as much about one…
Pins and needles, waiting for the Democrats to open in Charlotte. I am so worried the Obama campaign might stumble on an editorial from The Dallas Morning News and actually read it. Well, not that worried. That would take a lot of stumbling. But what a shame if they did…
See also: Jazz man Damon K. Clark on a living wage for musicians Wendell Sneed has toured with Wilson Pickett, Etta James, The Chi-Lites and played in Dallas funk band the Soul Seven, but more recently, he’s been working with the Dallas Museum of Art, and hosts Jazz in the…
I had a private little laugh and moment of startled disbelief while my wife and I were watching Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last night. Romney described his father as having started out in life as an apprentice “lath and plaster carpenter,” a term so arcane…
The big City Hall racial blow-up over a reform of our very screwed up municipal court system — subject of a sort of weird editorial in The Dallas Morning News this morning — is probably a harbinger of worse things to come. Which is probably good. In all its attempts…
Dear Mexican: What is the reason for the colors of the Mexican flag? Is there any razón it resembles the Italian flag, minus the águila y serpent? El Girafe Dear Male Giraffe Gabacho: What’s now the Mexican tricolor is technically older than the Italian tricolore — although Italian kingdoms had…
