Finally, after nearly two months being kept on life support, Marlise Munoz will be allowed to die. Just after 4:15 p.m., a Tarrant County Judge sided with Munoz’ family, declaring her legally dead and ordering her removed from support. The decision came after less than an hour of debate. Fort…
The circumstantial evidence against Charles Stobaugh is damning. His estranged wife, Kathy, was last seen on the night of December 29, 2004, setting out for his isolated farmhouse to discuss their divorce, set to be finalized the next day. Add in his domineering personality and his evident heartburn at the…
For 15 months, Sidelines Private Sports Lounge provided what it billed as “South Side’s Version of Upscale,” which included drinks, dancing, Madden tournaments and exotic dancers performing on the establishment’s prominent stripper pole. The problem, according to Dallas police, is that it was operating illegally, and it was doing just…
With the appointment of Governor Rick Perry’s former chief of staff to the Public Utility Commission, it seemed all but assured that we were headed toward a multi-billion-dollar subsidy for electricity generators — an energy tax based on questionable assumptions about how much juice Texas will actually need in the…
Yesterday, with the state’s attention still glued to Wendy Davis’ Trailergate, competing groups attempted to roll Greg Abbott’s wheelchair into the gubernatorial debate. First came James O’Keefe’s latest undercover video showing a Battleground Texas volunteer identified as attorney Lisa Wortham (the “Lewisville Team Leader”) saying “I’m really wondering how this…
Consolidating Dallas ISD’s administrative departments, currently sprawled across 32 buildings in various states of disrepair, is a no-brainer. Putting them in a $13 million downtown office tower, as district administrators are proposing, is probably as good an option as any. Trustees just aren’t sure that doing so one week after…
Google “Colten Moore” and you’ll find that there are two young North Texas men of that name currently making headlines. One, 24, from Krum , just scored an inspiring snowmobiling victory at the X Games, one year after brother Caleb was killed trying to do the same. The other, 18,…
Jim Mitchell is a voice of moderation on The Dallas Morning News’ editorial board, generally sticking to the middle ground and getting major points for not being Tod Robberson. True to form, the argument he lays out today on the DMN’s opinion blog, that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis’ aggressively…
A good politician knows how to do two things: pander to his base and, on occasion, be able to get things done. With that in mind, we predict a bright future for TCU student body President Cody Westphal. TCU students have long complained about the university’s abrasive, single-ply toilet paper…
Mark Crutcher, the founder of Denton’s Life Dynamics, is famous for using clever (i.e. underhanded) strategies in his fight to end abortion. But his new venture, which debuted this weekend at Dallas’ March for Life, is quite direct. Dubbed Bikers for Life, the organization aims to use motorcycles to keep…
It’s not often that Texas Governor Rick Perry has occasion to wax at length about his views on drug policy, but when you find yourself in Davos, Switzerland, on a World Economic Forum panel devoted to the “drug dilemma,” there isn’t much else to talk about. This morning’s discussion (it…
When Dallas Police Chief David Brown quietly changed department policy to give cops who open fire on suspects three full days before making a statement, the rationale was that studies show that the stress an officer experiences during such an event can negatively affect their immediate recollection of it. It’s…
Just how strict is Yellow Cab about putting safe, responsible cab drivers on the road? That answer depends on which day you’re talking to Yellow Cab. On Tuesday, for instance, Yellow Cab’s owner Jack Bewley gave a long speech at City Hall’s special transportation meeting touting how safe and responsible…
Marlise Munoz is, as she has been for the past two months, in a Fort Worth hospital bed, being kept alive by machines. A Tarrant County judge could decide tomorrow whether she is legally dead, thus allowing her family to pull the plug as they all agree she would have…
It’s late in the morning, New Year’s Eve, and most of Dallas is still reeling from another of the Cowboys’ trademark December meltdowns, their team sent home early yet another year. For the city’s vast army of professional sports yappers, Christmas has come again. Inside the Central Expressway studios of…
ESPN Dallas’ Jean-Jacques Taylor has a glowing profile of SMU men’s basketball coach Larry Brown. Brown, Taylor explains, has built a recruiting pipeline that’s already funneling top local talent (Kimball’s Keith Frazier, Prime Prep’s Emmanuel Mudiay) to the Mustangs. He’s helped score a TV contract with ESPN. He’s put together…
For those who think free speech is an absolute right that shouldn’t be lightly trifled with, this morning’s City Council meeting offered an unpleasant spectacle. It wasn’t so much that the council voted 10-4 to pass an ordinance outlawing “conduct that is intended to distract the attention of motorists” (i.e…
Like air marshals’, the identities of Argyle ISD’s “marshals” will remain secret. This anonymous contingent of staff members, known only to school administration, the local police, and the Texas Department of Public Safety, has been authorized to possess handguns on campus to respond to the threat of an “active shooter.”…
This morning, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved a $3.3 million contract, mostly for pulling tires from the Trinity River. Everyone agreed that the thousands of abandoned tires that litter the greenbelt (3,000 were recovered during a minor city-led cleanup last summer) need to be removed. The discussion, then, turned…
Water levels in Lake Texoma are plummeting, beaching marinas, revealing heretofore submerged signs of human habitation and turning once-pleasant stretches of water into desolate moonscapes. Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which administers the lake and controls outflow through the Denison Dam, chalk up Texoma’s depleted state to…
As far as we know, Texas Governor Rick Perry and conservative radio host Sean Hannity are still staunchly opposed to gay marriage. That said, it was impossible to glean that from the way they cooed over one another on Hannity’s radio show this afternoon. Hannity, you see, is planning to…
ERCOT, the manager of Texas’ electric grid, issued an emergency alert Saturday. Apparently, a single power plant malfunctioned, went offline and single-handedly cut into the 2,300 megawatts of extra capacity we keep on reserve for just such occasions. To keep that number from plunging further, ERCOT called on its demand-response…
