Helen Pigg was still relatively spry back in 2011, at least for an 81-year-old. She was healthy and active, the historian for an association of retired Richardson school teachers and a supporter, online at least, of various progressive causes from the abolition of nuclear weapons to attacks on Chick-fil-A for…
First, a trigger warning: If you count yourself among that small sliver of the human race for whom the sight of adorable baby animals induces uncontrollable retching, DO NOT PLAY THE ABOVE VIDEO. For the rest of you, enjoy the Fort Worth Zoo’s new Asian elephant, who was born on…
It doesn’t take much to impress a water engineer. For Robert Mace, an administrator at the Texas Water Development Board, the highlight of the year was gulping down a tall glass of lukewarm water. “It could have used a couple of ice cubes,” he says, but otherwise it was clean…
When WFAA’s Jonathan Betz announced in May that he was leaving the station after five years to work in New York. The only question was For whom?. “I can’t say exactly where I’ll be working yet, but I’ll still be doing the news,” he cryptically told Uncle Barky at the…
Officer Craig Hermans hasn’t been arrested or charged in the federal investigation into an alleged steroid ring at the Arlington Police Department that’s already led to the indictment of one colleague and the suicide of another. But he was questioned in connection with the investigation and remains on administrative leave…
San Antonio’s Northside ISD, which became the focus of national controversy when an intensely evangelical high school sophomore refused to wear her RFID-equipped student ID because it was the Mark of the Beast, is not the first school district to track students’ whereabouts using geolocation technology, nor will it be…
As expected, the Texas House passed new, restrictive abortion restrictions this afternoon, sending them on to the Senate for final approval, but not before Democrats could launch a statewide bus tour, and not before this pro-choice protester could scream at lawmakers from the gallery. Unlike the clamor that arose after…
The Swiss Avenue Place Apartments, near the intersection with Peak Street, are several blocks and several social rungs away from the ritzy end of the East Dallas boulevard. The cars aren’t as nice, the surrounding homes not as well kept. There’s a lot more crime, too, mostly car break-ins, domestic…
The Texas House just passed sweeping abortion restrictions. Once they pass the senate, the procedure will be banned 20 weeks post-fertilization, and all but five abortion providers in the state will be forced to close thanks to a medically unnecessary requirement that they meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers…
Walter Lippman-Avilez was hoping for a quick traipse through customs when he stepped off his Aeromexico flight from Mexico City just after 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The Guatemalan’s previous trip to the U.S. had gone smoothly enough, after all, and he saw no reason why this one shouldn’t be…
Police still don’t know who bound, gagged and murdered 6-year-old Alanna Gallagher, whose naked body was found wrapped in heavy plastic along a Saginaw street last week. Their road blocks and search warrants have so far turned up nothing conclusive. In the meantime, the media now have a new, probably…
It’s a science, folks: State Senator Wendy Davis is way more attractive than the rest of her colleagues in the Legislature, with the possible exception of Wayne Smith. Capitol watchers have known this for years, but it wasn’t until the rest of America set its eyes upon Davis’ filibuster that…
Compile a list of Dallas ISD’s best elementary schools, the ones that convince affluent young parents to forsake the lure of private schools or the suburbs, and Lakewood Elementary will rank at or near the top. Spend a moment browsing through the Texas Tribune’s public schools explorer. Its students crush…
Thomas Tapp lives in L.A. now, but not so long ago he was doing parkour, the insanely acrobatic form of free running, on the walls and planters and pillars of downtown Dallas. A couple years back, he and his twin brother got banned from the UTD campus for being too…
Death has the habit of sneaking up on its victims, catching them unaware and robbing them of a chance to collect their thoughts and give some final, purposeful statement of celebration or regret. If they are afforded that chance, the words tend to be delivered to a friend or family…
The stars at night in Texas may be big and bright, but good luck spotting them over the glare of its increasingly sprawling cities. This picture was snapped by a crew member aboard the International Space Station, some 240 miles up. Here’s how NASA describes it:…
On April 4, 2012, in an act of mind-boggling cruelty, a 4-month-old lab-terrier mix was doused in lighter fluid and set on fire. The puppy suffered third degree burns to 70 percent of his body and died of its injuries 10 days later. Police eventually fingered four young men they…
Alan Carter is one of a dying breed. The 53-year-old’s a newspaper carrier who plies his trade every morning well before dawn, delivering some 400 copies of The Dallas Morning News to the diminishing segment of the population that still gets its news printed on paper. It’s a lonely job…
From a purely tactical standpoint, Democrats maintained momentum during this summer’s abortion debate. The impassioned testimony delivered by hundreds of pro-choice women into the wee hours of the morning, Senator Wendy Davis standing for 11 hours to deliver an epic filibuster, the party’s David vs. Goliath victory — all stand…
The weather on Sunday evening was unseasonably temperate for Dallas. The heat of the day, which barely cracked 90, faded rather quickly. By 6:30 p.m., it was pleasant enough for a quartet of diners at Campisi’s downtown location to dine al fresco. At least it was pleasant until Allen McRae…
The chances of a Lamborghini and Ferrari crashing into one another on a random stretch of Fort Worth highway have to be remote. But it appears the accident yesterday, at I-30 and Henderson, suggest it wasn’t exactly random. Judging from reports on DFW Scanner, both cars appear to have come…
The only crime Dallas police saw Fred Bradford Jr. commit when they came upon him on the night of April 21 was failure to wear a bike helmet. But, judging by the way he lurked next to the black sedan parked in the alley behind Kwick Stop Liquor in South…
