Dallas cops act like terrorists in black communities, at least according to the gadfly speaking to City Council on a recent Wednesday. “Realistically, councilmen and councilwomen, this has reached genocidal proportions,” the man added. Councilman Lee Kleinman decided to let that one go. The gadfly pressed on. “For us in…
The Texas Department of Transportation really, like seriously this time, thinks it’s time for you to stop using your phone while you drive. They would also like all of us to stop eating, grooming and reading — although presumably not road signs — while operating our various means of conveyance…
Alex Smith is the executive director of the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority, the agency that oversees the North Texas public mental health care system. He’s made his living deciphering the ins and outs of the very messy system here, and is well versed in what it takes to properly…
Remember Justin Lookadoo? Unfair Park forgives you if you don’t. We’ve done our best to purge the esteemed The Dateable Rules author from our memories as well. Here’s a primer: Lookadoo is the uber-douche Richardson High School invited to give their students “faith-based” dating advice like, “Be mysterious. Dateable girls…
Texas, as you may have intuited, is hot, but Texas prisons, as you may have heard, are hotter. Since 2007, 14 inmates, including nine in 2011 alone, have died from heat-related illnesses, according to a 2014 report from UT Law School’s Human Rights Clinic. Larry McCollum’s death received most of…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turk. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. October 2011. Luis Chamagua woke up, showered, ate cereal and headed for school. Typical morning. “I always…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turk. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. In Game 4 of this year’s short but impressive playoff run, the Dallas Stars were down 2-0…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turkyilmaz. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. Pete Delkus always thought he’d be a pitcher. But as he and his big arm rose through…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turkyilmaz. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. Somehow a mosquito has sneaked into Jenny Land’s home. This shouldn’t have happened. Land sprayed garlic in…
In this week’s Dallas Observer we profile 20 of the metro area’s most interesting characters, with new portraits of each from local photographer Can Turkyilmaz. See the entire Dallas Observer People Issue here. Dallas Police Chief David Brown didn’t need to be told there was unrest. The barest recitation of…
I was still relatively new to Dallas when we produced our first People Issue, in 2012. Still, when we asked our writers to suggest potential subjects, I expected to know most of the names and faces they proposed. As the issue came together, I did know many — the Mavs’…
This afternoon, the Dallas City Council voted unanimously to kick in more than $4.4 million from sports arena tax-increment financing district funds to begin some of the more rudimentary tasks necessary to rehabilitate the dystopian pseudo-urban wasteland that is Victory Park. The money is but a small part of the…
It’s a tradition for many college kids, getting wasted before, during and after campus football games. And at SMU, students may now do so without stuffing their Natty Lights and other fashionably lowbrow domestics into their pockets. After a long battle of negotiations between administration and Aramark, the concession company…
The Year of the Bible in Flower Mound is at its midpoint, and Mayor Tom Hayden says it’s been more successful than he could have imagined. Since he delivered the proclamation at a Town Council meeting last December, more than a million people from 80 different countries have visited the…
North Texas will be heavily represented in ESPN the Magazine’s upcoming Body Issue, according to the Associated Press. In addition to some athletes you might expect — the Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka and the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Megan Rapinoe — the issue’s “Bodies…
Kolten Parker/San Antonio Express-News via Washington Post For the last week or so, as America’s mayors and well-heeled urbanists descended on our fair burg, we have touted ourselves as the bonafide Florence in Texas, a cultural oasis in a vast desert of philistines. Well, kind of. Turns out we still…
The 15 dogs that survived an early morning house fire in East Dallas on Tuesday appeared to be well cared for, and other than the two being treated for possible injuries related to the fire, all appear healthy, Dallas Animal Services manager Jody Jones says. A husband and wife lived…
Cloyd Ray Knight III had a great run. He began to perfect a process to make phony $100 bills in 2004, operating what amounted to a small print shop out of his Arlington home. Knight began by applying a layer of acrylic paint to newspaper print paper. Then he would…
In a presentation to the Plano City Council Monday night, the Texas Department of Transportation outlined its plan to convert HOV lanes on U.S. 75 between Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway in Dallas and McDermott Drive in Allen to mixed-use toll lanes. The plan would allow single-occupant vehicles access to HOV…
Summer is upon us, which means public health officials in Dallas are well into their annual battle against West Nile. Mosquitoes throughout the county are being trapped and tested to detect the spread of the disease. Ponds and sizable puddles are being treated with larvacide or stocked with mosquito-eating minnows…
It may comes as a surprise, but as more of the Trinity River project becomes actually worth using, the security concerns facing the area become more complex. To that end, with help from a grant by the Caruth Foundation through the Trinity Trust, the Dallas Police Department is conducting a…
Back in 2006, William Clark Perschman robbed 18 banks in Dallas. He would put a T-shirt over his head to conceal his identity, and it earned him the less-than-stellar nickname of “T-Shirt Bandit.” He was caught and went to federal prison. Five years later, he was released on a supervised…
