Because he has sickle cell anemia, Michael Phillips sat in a wheelchair Friday morning in court, his lawyer at his side. At 57, his black hair was in a short afro, his scraggly beard white. Today, he was being officially exonerated for a crime for which he served 12 years…
The number of abortions being performed in Texas has dropped moderately, clinics offering abortions are vanishing rapidly and women seeking abortions must travel much farther to get an abortion, according to almost 18 months of data compiled by researchers looking at the effects of Texas’ passage of some of the…
On any given day, the 10th floor of the Earle Cabell Federal Building in downtown Dallas is filled with men, women and children waiting to appear before an immigration judge. On certain days, like yesterday, many of them are Central American children, having arrived at the United States border, alone,…
Just about two weeks ago, all seemed lost for a group of residents who were upset about a Trammell Crow development plan that included building of a Sam’s Club near Haskell Avenue and U.S. 75. Zoning for the development had already been approved, so the City Plan Commission’s July 10…
Blame it on the Texas heat, summertime relocations or more cash-strapped Dallasites: Whatever the root cause, local pet owners are increasingly giving their animals up to shelters. And during the summer months, more animals tend to escape from their homes and are brought to the shelter as strays. Between the…
In 2011, there were 44 abortion clinics in Texas. By September, providers expect that number to drop to somewhere around six. While big-name health organizations like Planned Parenthood are trying to open new clinics that comply with strict state laws or challenge lawmakers in court, a scrappy protest group Stop…
There are, out of the tens of thousands of homes and apartment units in the city of Lewisville, a total of 466 places where a registered sex offender can legally reside. Theoretically. In reality, since all or almost all of these homes, which fall outside the city’s 1,500-foot sex-offender buffer…
Forget the measles and chikungunya. If you’ve perused the Children’s Medical Center website in the last few weeks, you know that there’s another, more troubling outbreak threatening to undo us all: selfies. The hospital has devoted itself of late to the psychology of selfies. Doctors there are worried about their…
The Colony has steadily moved up in the prestigious ranks of best DFW suburbs, and it’s been designated as a “Playful City USA,” which means the Humana Foundation thinks there are lots of playgrounds here. But the suburb’s idyllic veneer was cracked this week when 14 johns, seven escorts and…
Last week, the first Dallas resident came down with West Nile fever. It’s news, but it’s also to be expected. The virus has been in Texas since 2002, and every summer carries the potential for cases (and lots of spraying). Even though West Nile’s 2012 summer was unprecedented, the virus…
From the realm of obvious stuff that is interesting nonetheless comes a study by UCLA’s Williams Institute that shows the simplest economic effect marriage equality would have on Texas. The study takes a look at the number of same-sex couples in the state and the effect their being allowed to…
The man from California who called himself Old School seemed like a legitimate customer because he actually smoked the crack he purchased. That was Earnest Jones’ test to make sure he wasn’t selling to an informant. “He made quite a few buys from me,” says Jones, who was a street…
How many Walmarts does a city need to thrive? People living in the hip circle of neighborhoods surrounding downtown Dallas say we have enough Walmarts, Walmart-affiliated stores and other big boxes to sustain us and it’s time to consider some development that isn’t a giant box and acres of ashphalt…
As they’ve been doing on each third Saturday for months, advocates for the open carrying of firearms gathered — semiautomatic weapons in tow — at Dealey Plaza over the weekend. As usual the demonstrators, who call themselves Come and Take It Dallas, handed out literature and preened with their armaments…
The Texas Education Agency is still investigating the Deion Sanders-founded and publicly funded Prime Prep charter school, after officials announced plans to revoke the school’s charter for mishandling funds intended for the school lunch program. Prime Prep is appealing and hopes to stay open. But school lunch funds are just…
The Fort Worth Police Department has come a long way since 2009, when it marked the 40th anniversary of the landmark Stonewall riots, sparked by the ill-conceived, poorly executed raid of a New York gay bar, by conducting an ill-conceived, poorly executed raid of the Rainbow Lounge. The department reprimanded…
Fidel Akagbusu, a Lake Highlands gas station clerk, was talking to a customer late Monday night when the pop-pop of gun fire pierced the quiet. His head snapped to his right, across six lanes to the strip mall on the corner of Audelia Road and Forest Lane. He saw a…
Dallas Independent School District has some important things to tell you, stuff that doesn’t get reported in the regular old media, so the district is looking at getting into the news media business, Superintendent Mike Miles said this week. Or we guess he said it. The Dallas Morning News said…
Governor Rick Perry’s sending the National Guard to the border may not be the best idea. Sending soldiers to perform law enforcement functions usually doesn’t end well. That being said, at least there’s a certain logic to it. Perry perceives the influx of undocumented kids crossing the border as a…
And we’re not just talking about the unaccompanied Central American variety. A new report by the Center for Public Policy Priorities zeroes in on a national study ranking child well-being. Several factors come into play, including health care, education, parental employment, and standard of living. See also: – It Really…
If you more than glance at the website for NuVision Pharmacy, you might start having second thoughts about having the Dallas-based company compound your pharmaceuticals. Why, you might wonder by looking at the home page, did quality testing have to be expanded to check for endotoxins? Why is the “about…
In Dallas, the political atmosphere for payday lending reform is optimistic. After three years of ordinances limiting lending practices, the local movement has spread to 17 other cities across the state. Today, Dallas City Councilman Jerry Allen went before the Amarillo City Council to try and recruit that city to…
