News & Notes: Most Likely an Electrical Fire on Greenville, Dallas Rebounds and AG Candidate Makes Demand

A few housekeeping items with which to end your long thumbs-up, thumbs-down kinda day:

There's been no Official Word from Dallas Fire-Rescue concerning the cause of this morning's fire on Lower Greenville, but one city official to whom I spoke this evening says all evidence points toward an electrical fire. We will update as soon as we get something from Jason Evans or Joel Lavender in the public information office ...

Forbes has just posted its list of "Cities Where the Recession is Easing." Most of Texas's major cities fare well (it's the "poster child for economic recovery"), with Dallas coming in at No. 3 due in large part to the fact some say "jobs are projected to jump 7.19% in three years." ...

In response to yesterday's breaking-news item concerning a Tarrant County jury's ruling that home-builder Bob Perry pay a long-suffering Mansfield couple $47 million (which, lookie here, made international news), Democratic Texas Attorney General candidate Barbara Ann Radnofsky is demanding Greg Abbott return the more than $1 million in campaign donations he's received from Perry since 2001. Best part of the press release: the fact is feels it necessary to define "incestuous." ...

And, as a personal aside, some of you may be aware that for a few months three years ago I had the profound honor of sitting in Roger Ebert's chair on At the Movies with Ebert & Roper. Every week I would go to Chicago to tape the show and, on occasion, would visit with Roger after screenings or at film festivals; he would communicate via pad and paper or, more often, a nod or a gesture. He was kind, warm and gracious; so too his wife Chaz. If you missed his appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show today, as I did, Gawker provides a few highlights well worth your time.