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Amy Martyn

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It Turns Out That Arlington Cops Don't Like Being Yelled at by People Holding Pistols

By Amy Martyn
Dec 31, 2014

Cop watchers, or the people who follow cops around with cameras to catch them doing something wrong, were predictably outraged after one of their own got arrested by the Arlington Police Department this weekend. "A copwatcher with a black powder revolver was kidnapped and hauled away like a dog catcher...
Who Made "Ouija Board" the Most Googled Gift in Dallas? Show Yourself in the Comments.

By Amy Martyn
Dec 30, 2014

People in other, more normal cities bought each other cool gifts like Beats headphones and men's Uggs for Christmas. Popular toys and games in the rest of America were Legos, Cards Against Humanity and the Xbox, all fine choices. But in Dallas, for some reason, there appears to have been...
Dallas Police Praise Body Cams But Still Haven't Released Footage from Controversial Shooting

By Amy Martyn
Dec 29, 2014

Whether it's a police union rep or an activist who says their neighborhood is terrorized by the police, pretty much the safest opinion either side can have is that all cops should wear body cameras. Activists like the idea of cameras because they argue that the footage will bring more...
Jail Visits, Deion Sanders, Frisco and Vaginal Mesh: Updates from 2014 Stories

By Amy Martyn
Dec 26, 2014

The news just keeps rolling on, and not every story has a neat ending. Sometimes it pays to stop and take a look back to see what's happened with stories we reported during the year. That time is the day after Christmas, when all the new newsmakers are sneaking in...
Cyclists Say an Angry French Defense Contractor Punched Them; Cops Write Tickets

By Amy Martyn
Dec 23, 2014

Three friends were riding their bikes along Turtle Creek after a night out early Saturday when, they say, a French couple in a black Volkswagen pulled up behind them and started honking. While that sounds like typical Turtle Creek driver behavior (minus the French accent), they say the motorist then...
Deion Sanders' School Is Getting "Enhanced Non-Lethal" Handguns. What Could Go Wrong?

By Amy Martyn
Dec 22, 2014

In July, all of the TRUTH-haters in the media reported that Deion Sanders' disaster of charter school was being "shut down." But we were wrong. Prime Prep is still open and participating in sports. Not only that, Prime Prep has proudly become the only school in the country to equip...
As Deaths Mounted, the FDA Dithered in its Probe of Dallas' USPlab's Diet Supplement

By Amy Martyn
Dec 19, 2014

It was over four years ago when agents from the Food and Drug Administration began hearing disturbing complaints about USPLabs, the corporation headquartered in Dallas that sells "nutrition" powder, dietary supplements and other products to bros trying to beef up their builds. Customers complaining of bad reactions included a 16-year-old...
A "Missing" Parking Sticker, a Bus Ride and a Miscarriage: A Dallas Towing Nightmare

By Amy Martyn
Dec 18, 2014

To seasoned Dallas apartment renters, towing horror stories are a fact of life. But for a 23-year-old woman who recently moved here from Atlanta, towing was something she says she never thought about -- not until her car had been towed from her own apartment parking lot the day she...
In Another Texas Vs. Endangered Species Battle, Texas Wins Again

By Amy Martyn
Dec 16, 2014

Every winter, the world's only flock of wild whooping cranes flies into Texas and stays along the Texas Gulf Coast, using water near the Aransas Pass. Maybe one day in the future, Greg Abbott can require the whopping cranes to obtain a permit before they take advantage of our state's...
At Dallas' Town Creek Condos, Poor Residents Are Getting Kicked to the Curb for Christmas

By Amy Martyn
Dec 11, 2014

Just in time for the holidays, the people left at a run-down apartment complex in Lake Highlands have been hearing a lot of different things about whether they have to pack their bags and get out, and when. The week before Thanksgiving, the occupants of the Town Creek Condos were...
Presby Would Like the Media to Please Stop Rehashing Its Ebola Crisis

By Amy Martyn
Dec 9, 2014

When Texas Health Presbyterian was still in the middle of its Ebola public relations fallout, hospital officials had an ever-shifting series of explanations for why Thomas Eric Duncan was initially misdiagnosed and sent home. The hospital had at first made a subtle suggestion that the misdiagnosis was a nurse's fault...
Dallas County Jail Telephones Cost Extra If You Pay with a Credit Card. Is That Legal?

By Amy Martyn
Dec 5, 2014

Most people don't realize that Texas has had a pretty cool law on the books since 1985 that bars merchants from charging customers extra for paying by credit card. The famously annoying credit card surcharge feels like it's everywhere, and Texas is just one of a handful of states where...
Dallas Officials Say Bringing Save-A-Lot to Underpopulated Section of Southern Dallas Will Convince People to Move There

By Amy Martyn
Dec 5, 2014

For the past few years, the Dallas City Council says it's been trying to develop a vacant lot on Simpson Stuart and Bonnie View roads, in a section of Dallas south of Loop 12 that is 22.5 square miles but home to just 27,500 people. What the relatively low-population area...
Texas Businesses Starting to Realize Water Is Valuable Resource

By Amy Martyn
Dec 3, 2014

In Texas' business-friendly climate, no industry spokesperson wants to be the weakling who admits that maybe water is sort of important. But it appears that some tough guys are finally letting their guard down. Last week, a rice farmer gave an interview in which he wasn't so coy about water,...
Texas Parks Will Have Clear Skies 141 Years from Now Under Half-Assed State Plan

By Amy Martyn
Nov 28, 2014

After all of us and our children are dead, Texas will finally get this pesky ozone problem under control. That's according to a state clean air plan that the Environmental Protection Agency just rejected but Texas environment officials are continuing to defend anyway. Texas environment officials, go pat yourself on...
Captive Audience: Counties and Private Businesses Cash in on Video Visits at Jails

By Amy Martyn
Nov 26, 2014

Kristina Leisey's former fiance sits in jail in Hopkins County on a drug-possession charge, his link to the world outside a telephone and frequent calls to her. "He's trying to call every day, sometimes two or three times a day," Leisey says. "He doesn't understand how much it adds up...
Dallas Tows That Went Horribly So Wrong That Someone Was Maimed Or Killed

By Amy Martyn
Nov 25, 2014

A Dallas tow company called Longhorn Wrecker may soon owe the state $88,900 in fines over towing violations. Reached for comment a few weeks ago, a bitter company representative said it was "all bullshit" and that his company had never been in trouble before. He apparently wasn't taking into account...
Dallas Hero Decides Against Illegally Evicting Poor a Week Before Thanksgiving

By Amy Martyn
Nov 24, 2014

There are heroes all around Dallas. Today, let's highlight the work of Ari Nessel, a developer who has decided against suddenly evicting all the residents of a Lake Highlands condo building he recently purchased. "Tremendous progress has been made, and it's because of the pioneers like Mr. Nessel," Dallas City...
Highland Park Tells Dallas to Make Our Buildings More Predictable in Katy Trail Development Suit

By Amy Martyn
Nov 19, 2014

Rich people, we learn time and time again, do not like living near tall buildings or lowlifes who rent their homes, even if those tall buildings are fancy condos, occupied by lowlife renters who are also rich. Of course, the well-to-do usually come up with a better excuse for why...
Thirty-Seven White Supremacists Were Running a Massive Meth Ring in North Texas, Feds Say

By Amy Martyn
Nov 14, 2014

More proof that the white man is under attack: a bunch of local white supremacists are facing criminal charges for allegedly dealing meth in North Texas and beyond. As far as white supremacist drug gangs go, this one appears to be relatively diverse. Some of the people in the meth...
Dallas County Officials Say Video Won't End Regular Jail Visits. Can We Believe Them?

By Amy Martyn
Nov 13, 2014

In October 2012, Travis County officials promised that bringing video visitation to the local jails wouldn't affect anything else about jail visits. "We're not changing anything else from what we're doing," Travis County Major Darren Long told the county commissioners before they voted to approve a contract with Securus, the...
Here's TxDOT's Agreement with the Private Tollway Company That Has Eminent Domain Powers

By Amy Martyn
Nov 13, 2014

In January, before many people were aware that a little-known corporation with the powers of eminent domain wanted to build a private toll road through the rural communities east of Lake Lavon and Lake Ray Hubbard, the Texas Department of Transportation was promising in a written agreement to help the...