The indictment against Terri Hodge has always looked much more damning than the evidence facing the rest of the gang involved in the City Hall corruption case, and it turns out that, well, it’s all true. Hodge admitted as much in her factual résumé, which she signed Monday as part…
For no other reason than sheer curiosity, I spent last night at WFAA studios for the taping of The Belo Debate featuring Republican gubernatorial primary candidates Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina. I just had to know why dozens of journalists would pack themselves into a storage room…
Described in today’s Wall Street Journal as “an obscure candidate” threatening to force a runoff between Governor Rick Perry and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Debra Medina sat down briefly with Unfair Park yesterday afternoon as she’s in town for tonight’s Belo debate. While Medina…
Attorneys for former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and Ray Jackson, who represented Hill during last year’s City Hall corruption trial, argued in court Thursday afternoon that any violations of U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn’s gag order issued shortly before Hill’s trial began were not willful, and therefore not criminal…
Two months before last year’s May 9 referendum on public ownership of the Dallas Omni Convention Center Hotel, we cautioned voters that one of the key selling points of the project — the erection of residential units, restaurants, shops, bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues surrounding the hotel — had…
While combing through the recent campaign finance reports filings due Friday, we took notice of the one turned in by former Republican Judge David Kelton, who lost his robe in 2006 to Carlos Cortez, switched parties and is now battling Dale Tillery and Baltasar Cruz in the Democratic primary for…
Earlier today, Irving Mayor Herb Gears e-mailed The Dallas Morning News to let them know that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “just called to inform me that pressing government business in our nation’s Capitol requiring his presence necessitates his having to postpone tomorrow’s planned events in the DFW area including…
That’s right. Wanna know why Johnny Gomez thinks he’s got a shot against incumbent Gary Fitzsimmons? Or why lawyer Clay Jenkins has been anointed by nearly every Dallas politico (including Fitzsimmons) as Jim Foster’s replacement? If so, the Preston Hollow Democrats (which are in desperate need of a Web site…
We admit that of the 14 contested primary races for Republican precinct chairs in Dallas County, the odds are that you aren’t paying attention to any of them, even if you live in those precincts. Heck, we hadn’t planned on it either until we discovered an intriguing battle up North…
First, the NBA All-Star Game. Then the Super Bowl. Could the Federation Internationale de Football Association’s World Cup in 2018 or 2022 be next? It’s not so far fetched now that Dallas has made the final cut as the USA Bid Committee has narrowed a list of 27 cities down…
Mike Rawlings and Mike Faenza of the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance briefed the City Plan Commission this morning regarding the city’s goal of diverting those living in homeless shelters into 700 new units of permanent supportive housing. Their appearance was timely after last night’s brutal weather caused the city to…
Good grief: Buzz just loves shenanigans, so it’s no wonder we found ourselves roped in by claims from Eric Johnson’s campaign that some of the petitions attached to state Representative Terri Hodge’s ballot application didn’t pass the smell test. It appeared as though Hodge, who submitted 610 signatures from registered…
An eclectic mix of folks packed the Bill and Margot Winspear Opera House last night as a jaw-dropping group of former Dallas Cowboys players reminisced during the taping of Glory Days, a television pilot scheduled to debut January 30 on KTVT-Channel 11 prior to finding a national outlet. Audience members…
We just love shenanigans, so it’s no wonder why we found ourselves roped in by claims from Eric Johnson’s campaign that some of the petitions attached to state Representative Terri Hodge’s ballot application didn’t pass the smell test. It appeared as though Hodge, who submitted 610 signatures from registered voters…
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle says he’s not interested in committing initially to any of the numerous job offers he’s received since announcing his retirement in November. He’s been approached mostly with consulting and teaching positions, he says, and no one has asked him to become the top cop someplace…
On Tuesday, state Senator John Carona said he’d “give consideration” to a mayoral run should Tom Leppert vacate office early in pursuit of Kay Bailey Hutchison’s U.S. Senate seat. A top Republican in the state and one of several names included among Leppert’s potential would-be successors in Sunday’s story in…
Word that a contractor working for Atmos exposed a water pipe (which eventually ruptured) at Olive Street and McKinney Avenue was enough to convince me to head over there to chronicle the chaos — most notably a traffic clusterfuck on the Woodall Rodgers Freeway service road. Vehicles dodged gushing waters…
Mayor Tom Leppert isn’t an easy interview to snag these days. At least, not for us here at the Observer. But that doesn’t stop us from catching a glimpse of the man whenever we get the chance, and, of course, capturing snapshots along the way. Yup, we’ve developed quite a…
Another front-page story last week in The Dallas Morning News criticizing the Dallas Police Department’s crime-reporting methods had the paper in a self-congratulatory mood, with the editorial board demanding “an independent external audit or a formal FBI review of Dallas’ crime-reporting procedures” and Steve Blow applauding his colleagues for revealing…
I know what you’re thinking: The year is almost over, and I need more Schutze! More Schutze you say? Me too, which is why I took a look back at his columns from ’09 and picked my 10 faves for your reconsideration and, well, appreciation. For those who don’t remember…
The Cypress Waters Municipal Management District officially became the city’s first such district — that is, one with the power to levy taxes and issue bonds — this afternoon at the management offices of the Billingsley Company as its board appointed officers for the MMD and instructed the city and…
For reasons we can’t explain, politicos are sticking by state Representative Terri Hodge in her bid for an eighth term in office despite the pending March 8 trial for her role in the federal corruption case involving affordable-housing developer Brian Potashnik. Her host committee includes longtime supporters, among them Dallas…
