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…
You think Angela Hunt’s going to come up short of signatures? Really? That’s honestly what you think? Anonymized posts and e-mails to Unfair Park over the weekend have suggested the Dallas City Secretary’s Office is already finding a low ratio of valid signatures on petitions turned in last Friday for…
Just moments ago I spoke with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials at Lake Lewisville and at Corps regional headquarters in Fort Worth, all of whom have assured me there have been no “unusual” releases of water from the six Corps-controlled lakes upstream from Dallas on the Trinity River. But,…
Go look at the Trinity River today. The part where the city wants to build a toll road is under water. And if you can’t get out of your office, because maybe it’s pouring again, here’s our slideshow presentation — 18 photos all told, each one worth … well, you…
Dear Mexican, A friend asked me years ago to come up with a Spanish word or phrase that contains fewer syllables than its English counterpart. After years of thinking about this, the only one I could come up with is “Tengo sed” (three syllables) compared to “I am thirsty” (four…
I can’t stand reading The Dallas Morning News because it gives me a gigantic headache. Why would I pay to have something delivered to my doorstep every day when I always wind up wanting to hurl it back at the guy who threw it at me? Four days before the…
City council just broke for executive session. Consensus of long-time informed and insightful City Hall observers (which is to say, me and Bill Zeeble) is that Tom Leppert is real, real slick so far. Where Laura was a heat-seeking missile, he’s more like Wonder Woman’s invisible plane. He is very…
I’m all for the little guy and the common touch and all that, but I do think there are rules of decorum that we must all follow. It upsets me when I see the rules flouted in certain circumstances, even when the flouters may not know any better. Ignorance not…
I saw the little gotcha thing Wick Allison had Tim Rogers do over at FrontBurner about how one of the people gathering signatures for the Trinity toll road referendum turned out to have a criminal record for murder. I see that city council member Angela Hunt, the de facto commander…
OK, I know you already think I think I’m some kind of East Dallas Mahatma Gandhi or something. I really am not. I believe in profit and private property and free enterprise and all that junk. But it’s just sort of nice and a little refreshing once in a blue…
Dear Readers, Contrary to what some of ustedes think, racist gabachos or self-hating Mexicans aren’t my only fans. Many of our friendly neighbors to the Great White Norte also love the Mexican. In honor of my hometown Anaheim Ducks pounding on pussy Canadians to win the NHL Stanley Cup, I…
Thought I heard right. I had to get back to the office and listen to it again on tape. But, yeah. At the city council briefing today, your city council agreed to spend approximately $1.2 million of your money getting into the newspaper business. And common sense says it’s going…
Ed Oakley with some supporters who, sadly, could not vote for him to become mayor First I thought it was pretty amazing in 1995 when Carol Reed elected the city’s first black mayor. But in 2007 I think it may be more amazing she was able to elect a white…
You need more Scovells? We got ’em! Meet Dupree, who does not need a couch upon which to crash. I sit up in the cheap seats in the city council chamber collecting the political equivalent of sports trivia. This week I was there waiting for an item to come up…
Leo Chaney is a man worthy of being honored with a statue that dwarves tall buildings and small children. So sayeth Leo Chaney. Thank you, Leo Chaney, for giving us one of the more undignified moments in recent local history yesterday. I’m talking about the city council debate about the…
Only in Dallas. Ed Oakley, the Democrat in the June 16 mayoral runoff election, is running on a platform of tax giveaways for the rich, highways in the parks and demolition of housing for the poor. And he’s the liberal. Tom Leppert, the Republican, is running on the divine right…
Dear Mexican, So often when we see Mexican bands perform in the U.S. and Mexico, the crowd at some point starts chanting “¡Cu-le-ro (Ass-hole!)!” Why does the crowd yell “Cu-le-ro” at a band that they seemingly adore and paid a lot of money to see perform? Even fellow Latinos are…
Here I am, cooling my heels and other body parts in the city council chamber, waiting for Herroner, Laura Miller, to show up so that the council can debate Leo Chaney’s Park of Heroes. For some reason, the council says they can’t discuss the Park of Heroes until Miller gets…
Seriously, wasn’t Jack Pierce the name of a popular local band in the early 1990s? Three people get that joke. If you happen to hear the new anti-Ed Oakley ad on the radio, featuring the guy I wrote about a couple weeks go whose land was almost zoned out from…
I attended a typical East Dallas Dem-fest last week — a fund-raiser for U.S. Senate candidate (Cornyn’s seat) Emil Reichstadt. Got there for the tail-end of Emil’s remarks. Over the weekend what kept replaying through my head were remarks not by Emil but by lifelong loyal Dems with whom I…
Yesterday I was all worried about being shut out of a closed city council meeting that turned out to be a luncheon for officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. So today I got to go. And it was … odd. The guest of honor was John Paul Woodley…
Dear Mexican, Why do we always think Mexican men drink tequila and sing mariachi tunes, while the women are pretty señoritas? —Viva Mexico Dear Gabacho, Mexicans frequently blame ustedes for perpetuating various stereotypes about nosotros over the centuries, but a big part of the blame also falls on us. During…
