Last Monday, at the end of the first day of the Dallas City Hall corruption trial in federal court, I thought I picked up a little note of letdown in the press corps. I even heard one reporter sniff that the government’s bribery accusation against former Dallas City Council member…
The defendants’ legal team in the Dallas City Hall corruption trial filed today a list of the exhibits it plans to introduce when it’s their turn at bat. The list, which you will find in its entirety after the jump, strongly reinforces two major themes that defense lawyers already have…
I will miss some of this morning’s testimony in the City Hall corruption case, because this is the day of the Observer’s weekly story meeting. But based on what has happened already in court, a certain summary or caution is appropriate.Yesterday’s surveillance tapes played for the jury were exculpatory of…
I’m at the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse waiting for the afternoon session of the City Hall corruption trial to launch. The feds presented their case this morning. The only substantial news was a confirmation that affordable housing developer Brian Potashnik will, as expected, testify against former Dallas Mayor…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope of merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Ventured down to the Mavs’ draft last night and it was … sad. Not the selection of Rodrigue Beaubois – though underwhleming – but more the lack of buzz. I remember…
Dear Mexican: You once asked why Mexican bands don’t hit it big in the good old U.S. of A. I think the simple answer is that there are no Mexican Mouseketeers. You don’t get to be Justin Timberlake by picking a guitarrón. Slater from Saved by the Bell doesn’t count…
As we mentioned earlier, tonight’s jam-packed Dallas Independent School District board of trustees meeting has this among its hot-button agenda items: the naming of an elementary school after Dallas lawyer and longtime Latina activist Adelfa Callejo. Opponents of naming a school for Callejo will offer the document you will find…
Uh-oh. I’m back in the sand. Just can’t keep away from that stuff. I should see a doctor about my sand obsession. I will. Later.Right now I am staring at a table of Trinity River soil boring results I just received from the City of Dallas, and I am just…
Whether you’re at the end of you’re rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *If you saw the abortion that was Joe Buck Live on HBO Monday night, know this: It could have been much worse. How’s that? Guess who Buck begged and pleaded to…
Call him the Dallas Wowboy. In my years as a sportswriter I’ve come to appreciate lots of athletes. For the most part, I could comprehend and sorta explain their greatness. Troy Aikman’s mechanically flawless accuracy. Jason Kidd’s uncanny peripheral vision. Josh Hamilton’s forearm-powered bat speed. But for David Magee, I…
Dear Mexican: I write to you with a doubt similar to the one that Incensed in Chicago felt a couple of weeks ago, when her friend couldn’t believe that Mexicans worked in professional, white-collar jobs. I live in Tijuana, and of the gabachos that put roots here, you can’t find…
I was injured by last week’s storm, personally wounded in a way that burdens me with a sense of grievance. I am uneasy. But I am having trouble putting my finger on the exact nature of my grievance. I did notice that the 10 p.m. TV news didn’t say, “Vicious…
Matt Doherty hasn’t done much to put SMU back on the college basketball map. He is, however, powering the Ponies to the top of the Twitterverse. SMU urges its coaches to connect to its community. Events. Fund-raisers. Handshakes. Blogs. But you get the feeling Doherty Tweets not because he has…
Spent the first half of my vacation in the Pacific northwest. Seattle, to be exact. I’d been there several times, covering Cowboys-Seahawks and Mavericks-Sonics after my initial trip in 1987 for, would you believe, Dallas Sidekicks-Tacoma Stars. But this time I really did Seattle. Some days I wanted to ride my…
Last night about midnight I was watching the Trinity River flow gauge in downtown Dallas on the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System Web page and saw that the flow was really spiking. So, even after a horrible day at home with flood and electrical crises of my own,…
Public officials are saying things now about the Trinity River in downtown Dallas that make no sense, are impossible to believe and may even be sort of crazy. Here’s the basic: The whole multibillion-dollar Trinity River project, Dallas’ Big Dig, is on hold and in trouble because the U.S. Army…
Dear Mexican: I was riding the local light rail when two female Mexicans sat down and started talking rapid-fire Spanish nonstop for 45 minutes! It seemed as if neither one stopped to take a breath of air. They were loud and could be heard the length of the train. Question:…
The concept of regionalism is a Trojan horse designed to gut the city in favor of the ‘burbs. If you ever doubted that, take a look at the very close bullet that downtown Dallas just dodged yesterday … we hope.For 26 years, ever since the founding of Dallas Area Rapid…
Hey, if Dale Hansen thinks it’s a good time to skeedaddle, who am I to quarrel? Let’s see, last summer I went to a river and a waterfall. This year … Seattle. Yeah, that sounds about right. Temperatures in the 70s. Fish to eat. Coffee to smell (but not drink). A…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Might Michael Irvin’s days at ESPN Radio be numbered? This isn’t sourced “breaking news”, but more so a simple putting two-and-two together and arriving at a common sense conclusion. And, no,…
The Trinity River toll road is dead. DOA. Cold. Clothespins on noses. The Trinity River toll road is no more. From here on out, it’s all bad money after good and proof our city is led by fools. Monday, the mayor of Dallas and a backup choir of politicians held…
It almost isn’t possible to describe what Mayor Tom Leppert and a line-up of loyal politicos were trying to accomplish this morning in the Flag Room of Dallas City Hall. Talk about lipstick on a pig.For weeks everybody has been wondering whether Leppert and the Dallas Citizens Council would be…
