The land of opportunity still exists in America, and it’s in Texas. At least, that’s what Governor Rick Perry told nearly 200 folks gathered this afternoon at Union Station for the Texas Economic Development Summit. Less government results in fewer hurdles for businesses, Perry said. “Bottom line: The word’s out…
At the conclusion of his poorly attended campaign stop in Plano on Saturday, Houston Mayor Bill White addressed the rumors that he’ll take his $6 million in campaign contributions and head over to the governor’s race if Kay Bailey Hutchison hasn’t left her Senate seat by the January 4 filing…
Adams’ family: If you didn’t notice when Texas Republican Party chair Tina Benkiser stepped down last month to join Governor Rick Perry’s re-election campaign as a senior advisor, you’re forgiven. Buzz didn’t pay it much attention either. But when the State Republican Executive Committee recently elected radical right-winger Cathie Adams…
When we spoke with juror Nedra Frazier hours after she helped convict Don Hill, his wife and three others in the Dallas City Hall corruption case, she mentioned Hill’s denial about owning a fax machine as “the one thing that stuck out” during his testimony. After she referred to it…
As the Dallas City Council reached the end of its painfully long discussion about the proposed ethics reform, Dave Neumann said, “It was productive for the council to go through this briefing, but that’s OK.” Yup, the council began its agenda meeting this morning chatting about fine points of the…
If you didn’t notice when Texas Republican Party chair Tina Benkiser stepped down last month to join Governor Rick Perry’s re-election campaign as a senior adviser, you’re forgiven. We didn’t pay it much attention either. But when the State Republican Executive Committee recently elected radical right winger Cathie Adams to…
If nothing else, the city council’s hastily planned ethics reform briefing early this morning showed that this group is capable of a spirited debate. For the most part, Mayor Tom Leppert has been able to keep everyone, with the exception of Angela Hunt and former council member Mitchell Rasansky, on…
Houston Mayor Bill White’s speech Saturday afternoon in Plano was initially as insipid as the front of the brochures handed out at the door touting his experience as a Sunday school teacher. “I’m here to work for you, and that’s about it,” White said at the Baker Bros American Deli…
NFL Hall of Famer and Fox broadcaster Troy Aikman braved the stiff winds and cool temperatures Thursday night while promoting the kickoff of the inaugural Friends of the Katy Trail membership drive. Joined by his two daughters, 7-year-old Alexa and 8-year-old Jordan, Aikman graciously signed various items carried by the…
As the city council continues to discuss ethics reform in the aftermath of 23 guilty verdicts in the Dallas City Hall corruption trial, we thought it would be worthwhile to take a gander at the money that consultants and lobbyists are already required to report. Because Carol Reed’s name came…
A few hours after she and 11 other jurors found Don Hill and his four co-defendants guilty of 23 of the 29 charges against them in the Dallas City Hall corruption case, Rowlett resident Nedra Frazier gave me a behind-the-scenes peek at the deliberations. Much like my lengthy interview with…
A little more than 24 hours after a jury found Don and Sheila Hill guilty on a total of 12 counts in the City Hall corruption case, the two sat down with me for a lengthy interview at the offices of Baker Botts on the 11th floor of Trammell Crow…
On Tuesday, DMN’er Gromer Jeffers reported on one of the paper’s 423 blogs (apparently they have one named after the Portland Trail Blazers) that Dallas County Republican Party chair Jonathan Neerman (and the target of the plot to blow up Fountain Place, according to one fine journalist) will not challenge…
It’s been described as the largest federal corruption case in the history of Dallas, but you wouldn’t know it from the paltry number of people who observed the three-month trial. Most days former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and the other four defendants, their legal team and the jury…
Eight-year-old Kendall Tubbs, a second grader who’s had type 1 diabetes since she was 3 years old, managed to upstage appearances by Dallas Cowboys tight end Martellus “MartyB” Bennett and former Heisman Trophy winner and Woodrow Wilson High School grad Tim Brown at this morning’s second annual Passport to Health…
At approximately 10:40 this morning, a packed courtroom on the 15th floor of the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse filled with friends and family of the co-defendants, members of the media and lawyers sits abuzz with anticipation. This is it. Finally. U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn enters and announces…
While fast forwarding through a TiVo’ed version of Friday night’s 6:30 p.m. rerun of The Office on KDFI channel 27 (the one where Ryan burns his cheese pita in the toaster oven), none other than Mayor Tom Leppert appeared in a commercial break for yet another ribbon cutting — this…
In response to DMN’er Sherry Jacobson’s story about the city’s frustrating permit process and its effect on neighborhood farmers markets, council member Angela Hunt has requested the investigation of the permitting processes in other cities so the city council can consider changes as soon as possible. Ed Lowe, owner of…
Much like Wednesday afternoon, I got another itch to sit in during the day’s last couple hours of jury deliberations in the City Hall corruption case, but I was quickly disappointed upon seeing Don and Sheila Hill in the lobby of the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse. Turns out…
Southern Methodist University and Dr. Robert Tafel have agreed on an undisclosed settlement regarding the lawsuit filed by Tafel and attorney Gary Vodicka in which they allege that SMU defrauded residents of the 350-unit University Gardens Condominiums in a land grab for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. “Dr. Tafel…
Council member Angela Hunt has nominated Dr. Bill Peterson, a professor of biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, to replace term-limited Neil Emmons on the city plan commission. Peterson’s term as Hunt’s appointee to the city’s senior affairs commission expired Wednesday, and Hunt expects the city council to approve the…
On a whim, I headed over to the Earle Cabell Federal Building and Courthouse yesterday afternoon for the day’s last two hours of jury deliberations in the City Hall corruption case. Sure, the odds of catching a verdict while I was there were slim, but I thought I might get…
