Here is the Texas Education Agency’s July 31 letter to the Dallas Independent School District, informing superintendent Michael Hinojosa and school board president Jack Lowe that the district now has a babysitter looking over its slumped shoulders. The letter, which district officials have kept hidden, warns the DISD that if…
Justin Terveen Alternate head: “There’s your D Spot. Now, kneel on it.” Unfair Park’s favorite photographer, the great Justin Terveen, doesn’t just shoot breathtaking photographs of the city’s skyline. Sometimes, he’s more about the ground-level action. Like, take this photo from Saturday morning, snapped at 2:04 in the a.m. in…
It’s been a little more than a year since ex-White House Counsel and so-close Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers returned to work at her old law firm, Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell on Ross Avenue. Haven’t much heard from the former Dallas City Council member in a while; last we…
That’d be at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s 9th Clinical Team Conference, which kicks off on October 23 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas downtown. And, look, that’s just a guess. We don’t have access to the guy’s datebook; could be the Dallas attorney already has his tickets (if…
Which one of these doesn’t belong? You guessed it. The Maverick. The Redeem Team has been staggering so far in The Olympics. Thanks in no part to Dallas Maverick Jason Kidd. While Dallas native Chris Bosh has at times been the best U.S. player on the court, Kidd at times…
Jaap van Zweden was named the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s music director in February of last year; he’ll finally assume the position next month. Preceding the handing over of the baton, the Julliard-trained violinist and prolific recording artist will be the featured artist for the 2008 Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Opening Gala…
The state’s Commission of Education, Robert Scott This morning, Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander confirmed for me that Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott has appointed a special monitor to straighten out the Dallas school district’s academically unacceptable high schools. Dahlander didn’t know about the Texas Education Agency’s…
View Larger Map Two things that stunned me as I read this story about the closing of the Metro Diner: It’s closing? On Saturday?!?! W. T. F? Haven’t been in a couple of months, but it’s my son’s favorite breakfast spot — my father’s too, after we convinced him to…
Starr Spangler, which is her real name — swear I know, shocking that the DFW would land yet another resident on a reality show; those things are littered with locals. Still, CBS’s The Amazing Race is probably the most watchable of the lot — and it just got a little…
Armadillo Aerospace The artist’s conception of the so-called “Quad” layout vehicle, which Armadillo entered in the X Prize Cup 2006. In February 2007, Time magazine ranked id Software’s John Carmack high on its list of space cowboys with a legit shot at getting into space, which, as I’ve always understood…
A small pond hidden in the midst of the Great Trinity Forest This morning’s meeting of the city council’s Trinity River Corridor Project Committee looks interesting all the way around: They’re talking Trinity River Park Design Guidelines (which we covered here and here), the Gateway Projects in the Trinity River…
Dallas Fed prez Richard Fisher Following yesterday’s stock slide — down to 11,479.39, a 1.6 percent drop — more hold-your-breath news this a.m., concerning both housing starts (dismal) and commodities. But as Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher told Dallas’ Only Daily on Sunday: “I expect us to have a rough…
It wasn’t your fault, dude. Smile. Or not. Not that the Rangers made him out to be a scapegoat. And not that the move shouldn’t have been made. But since firing pitching coach Mark Connor the Rangers’ pitching is somehow even worse than terrible. Connor was canned Aug. 1. In…
Over the weekend, Pete Oppel sent me this link to an item he wrote about — hang on, hang on — Jenny the elephant. Insists the former News-man, Paul Dyer, director of the city’s Park and Recreation Department, has come up with an option for the elephant that doesn’t involve…
Looks like Mr. Funny Guy’s done the serious business of clarifying Friday’s Dallas Morning News story about the Dallas Independent School District’s homework’s-for-suckers policy that isn’t, not really, kinda-sorta, maybe just a little? For now, then, a deep, though also deeply suspicious, sigh of relief amongst those of us with…
Brian Harkin Luis Yanez On Saturday night in Beijing, the dreams of Olympic gold fizzled for Duncanville boxer Luis Yanez. Today there was an interesting piece on Yanez in The New York Times that suggests the tension between Yanez and his Olympic coaches is emblematic of the problems on Team…
This is what PETA wants you to see just before hitting the head at DFW International. No, for reals. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals today shot Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s CEO Jeff Fegan a money-making proposal. The organization would like to help the airport, currently in the…
Wake me up when the Cowboys lose to the Redskins. I’ll make you a bet. On the morning of Dec. 14, hours before the Cowboys host the New York Giants, you won’t be able to recall even two of the opponents on Dallas’ preseason schedule, much less any of the…
Joanne Jacobs is a former education-beat reporter at the San Jose Mercury News who left the paper to write the 2005 book Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School That Beat the Odds, about a charter school in San Jose hellbent on educating…
T. Boone Pickens T. Boone Pickens has himself a new acquisition this a.m.: the McCommas Bluff Landfill on Youngblood Road, which the City of Dallas owns and plans to shut down in 2042. Actually, to be more specific, Pickens’ Clean Energy Fuels, which distributes natural gas for transportation in the…
Interesting headline on the front page of The Wall Street Journal: “Price-Fixing Makes Comeback After Supreme Court Ruling.” Which is bad news for retailers and, you’d think, consumers. But turns out, yes, manufacturers are indeed allowed to set minimum prices for their goods after nearly 100 years of being told…
Just a tip: The best time to get yourself killed in the City of Dallas is between 6 p.m. and midnight on a Wednesday, if I’m reading my January-July YTD homicide statistics right, and I’d like to think that I am. (So you can forget what I wrote in May,…
