Ramiro Arriaga was getting gas at a Harry Hines 7-11 just after midnight on August 31 when a man walked up behind him, put a gun to his head, and pistol-whipped him. As the man held Arriaga to the ground, a second suspect, described only as a black woman, rifled…
Cigarettes are addictive and, while they don’t typically make people do crazy things the way, say, bath salts do, people often want them very badly. At least one of those people found their way to Smokers Choice, a discount smoke shop in Northeast Dallas this morning some time between 3…
When Jeff Medici was a financial advisor for Fidelity in Boston, he took his corporate team to a place called F1 Boston, a sort of racing-themed conference center where they learned to work together and trust each other by doing things like changing tires on Formula 1 race cars. When…
Two years ago today, just after 2 a.m., three men smashed through the glass doors of Henryk Kostman Fine Jewelry in a nine-story building on Turtle Creek Boulevard. A security guard was patrolling the grounds at the time, but was unable to stop the thieves from making off with nearly…
In the days after Deanna Cook was murdered while on the phone with 911, only to be found two days later by family members, DPD admitted that, yeah, things could have been handled a bit better. For starters, the dispatcher could have better communicated the severity of the situation with…
David Womble, a Dallas County maintenance supervisor, leaves an impression on his employees. In June, three of them sued the county for discrimination after one, Dennis Jones, was fired for having previously disclosed felony convictions while his white colleagues were not. Womble, the suit claimed, created a hostile work environment,…
With the NFL season set to kick off with tonight’s Cowboys-Giants matchup in New York, it’s easy to be distracted by debates about who has the better team or who will score the most points and lose focus of what really matters in professional football: money. By that measure –…
The Democrats are gathered in Charlotte for the quadrennial circle jerk in which they deliver bombastic speeches and anoint their presidential nominee. Last week, the Republicans did the same in Tampa. These respective echo chambers inevitably lead to an increase in the type of one-sided political babble that is entertaining…
If you watch a Rangers game on TV for more than about five minutes, you’re bound to encounter manager Ron Washington telling you wonderful things about Ace Cash Express. If you can ignore the glare from Washington’s shiny pate — he often appears sans baseball cap, even though he is…
Twice in two months, the city’s 911 system failed, and failed badly. In July, a family watched their Oak Cliff home burn to the ground as 911 callers were put on hold. Last month, a woman called 911 as she was allegedly being murdered by her ex-husband. Police were dispatched…
In June, as part of its ongoing effort to further endear itself to the driving public, the North Texas Tollway Authority announced it would post the names of its top toll violators for all to see. Done. The agency simultaneously announced it would be filing civil lawsuits against some of…
There are times when I’m particularly grateful I’m not a woman. Watching my wife give birth is one. Reading a consumer advisory about tainted tampons is another. Kimberly-Clark, the Dallas-based personal hygiene conglomerate, sent word yesterday that it is recalling large quantities of Kotex Natural Balance Tampons. Why, you ask?…
Being a Dallas County Commissioner is tough. You have constituents whining all the time about this and that, you have to read through a lot of boring paperwork, and those chairs around the horseshoe aren’t nearly as comfortable as they look. All that for a measly salary of a bit…
It’s easy to bemoan Dallas’ glacial progress on the bike plan that is supposed to, one day, connect the city with an extensive network of bike lanes, but credit should be given where it’s due. In the spring, it was the shared lane that randomly sprung up on Martin Luther…
Update on Sept. 5: Industry groups naturally dispute Schermbeck’s conclusions. A response from Steve Everly from Energy in Depth follows the original post. Original postMuch of the fracking debate has focused on if and how carcinogens like benzene and hexane find their way into the air and water supplies. Less…
On June 29, if you’ll recall, a DART paratransit van inexplicably plowed into a line of stopped cars on the Tollway. The first question upon seeing the crash was, naturally, What the hell is that driver on? Drugs or a cell phone?. The inside-the-bus video, which showed the driver’s placid…
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re probably not among Dallas County’s “Top 100 Serial Inebriates,” the recently compiled list of some of the area’s most hopeless alcoholics. These aren’t the people who overindulge on a Saturday night and have to sleep it off in the drunk tank. These are…
Over the weekend, the Texas Department of Transportation released its list of the Texas’ 100 most congested roadways, which breaks the news that LBJ, Woodall Rogers, and Central Expressway? All really congested. You knew that already, but did you know that drivers on the stretch of LBJ between Central and…
The Living Plaza project, the temporary installation of people, food and miscellanea in front of City Hall, has been breathing life into the desolate concrete wasteland at 1500 Marilla for more than a year now. It’s fueled by the type of creative energy one doesn’t expect from the great edifice…
In 1997, Blas Hernandez was convicted of drunk driving in Ellis County. It was his third DWI, making it a felony and, since he had two previous convictions for assaulting a public servant, they threw the book at him: Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison. Fast-forward to 2012. Hernandez,…
Lance Armstrong’s decision last week to stop fighting the doping charges leveled against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency wasn’t an admission of guilt, though it sure seemed that way: The next day was the deadline for contesting USADA’s evidence at an open hearing complete with a parade of witnesses…
When Debbie Denmon parted ways with WFAA last month, it wasn’t on the best of terms. The anchor/reporter had sued the station for discrimination after being passed over for a promotion in favor Shelly Slater, a thinner, white reporter. A few months after she lost, the station opted not to…
