Improbably, the Mavericks have managed to claw their way back into the playoff hunt after a season-long funk. With 11 games to go, they are a game-and-a-half out of the final Western Conference playoff slot, currently occupied by the Lakers, and have been gaining fast, winning nine of their last…
When a planned Downtown Dallas-to-McKinney bike tour was abruptly cancelled last month — this the one that would shut down 30 miles of Central Expressway — riders who had paid their registration for the race were promised a prompt and full refund, assuming they didn’t want to take a free…
The ongoing legal war of many fronts among Dallas-based Luminant, the state of Texas, the EPA and environmentalists is mostly a war of incremental victories.This week, EPA arose victorious. Next month or year? Anybody’s guess. Just know that this time, nobody (except the EPA) is totally happy with the ruling…
Police in riot gear guard the dugouts, preparing for the worst with German shepherds at heel. This is Philadelphia in 1980, after all. It’s the top of the ninth. Two strikes. Two out. Bases loaded. Human rocket Willie Wilson of the Kansas City Royals hugs the plate, curiously dressed in…
Somehow, Dallas police weren’t convinced that Hendri Boykin was the hopelessly lovestruck 19-year-old he made himself out to be. He had a gold engagement ring and told the officers who visited his apartment Tuesday afternoon that he was “going to ask my girl to marry me,” stammering nervously in the…
There was a minor furor in the media last year when a study conducted by a researcher at Standford’s medical school concluded that organic fruits and vegetables are no healthier than their conventionally raised counterparts. This wasn’t quite as newsworthy as the headlines made it sound, since the study was…
Last month, when the city finally released details about plans to privatize the Dallas Farmers Market in hopes of making it a going concern, it prompted celebration among the many who have been dismayed by the market’s stagnation and demise. The proposal calls for a number of improvements, the most…
From time to time, we’ve been bringing you updates on the single greatest lawsuit ever filed in Dallas County: the Liberty County couple suing “Angel,” a self-proclaimed psychic (as if there’s any other kind) and a host of media outlets over reports they had a bunch of bodies buried at…
When I was growing up a few blocks away from the Spanish Village shopping center in Far North Dallas it was, if never booming, at least heavily trafficked. It was the site of Chuck’s Hamburgers, where we’d walk for lunch when my junior high got out early for end-of-semester exams…
DART’s police force may spend more of its time tracking down fare jumpers than a typical law enforcement agency, but they are real, licensed peace officers with all the associated powers. Like carrying firearms. A DART police trainee was learning how to use his this morning at DART PD’s Corinth…
Halid Amer played a small but significant role in the collapse of the housing market late last decade. He had help, to be sure, from slews of unqualified borrowers, overleveraged banks, absurdly loose credit and free-handed monetary policy, but it was the actions of Amer and people like him that…
The attention of the country, or at least that segment of it that’s politically aware enough to pay attention, is focused squarely on the U.S. Supreme Court,which this week is debating a pair of potentially momentous cases. Hollingsworth v. Perry, which was argued today, could do away with California’s Proposition…
During six years with Tom Thumb, Shaun Garcia says he worked hard, rose up the ranks and earned a reputation as someone who could turn struggling, theft-plagued stores around. He started as a stocker at the Lewisville store then quickly earned a series of promotions, first to assistant night manager,…
Police say that a February prank by members of the SMU chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon crossed the line from run-of-the-mill college-kid stupid to illegal, criminally stupid when they held a rival frat member against his will for more than four hours, punching and kicking him and, according to the…
The Texas House and Senate took up legislation Tuesday to address a drought-induced water crisis. A proposed bill out of the House would pull $2 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to implement a 50-year water plan. Municipalities and water districts could apply for funds the state would prioritize…
Maybe you’re not a Yiddish speaker, but you need a handy illustration of the concept of “chutzpah.” In Spanish: cojones. Or in English, if you insist: king-sized brass balls. If you need a real-world demonstration of this cross-cultural concept, you have only to look at how your state-level bureaucrats have…
Ted Cruz has barreled into Washington with the force of a crazy, toupee-haired meteorite smashing through the Capitol dome. But for all his rhetoric about Obama and communists and how they are pretty much the same thing, Cruz has distinguished himself from fellow wingnuts by keeping relatively silent on the…
Stealing Apple products in bulk is always a dicey proposition. Short of brazen daylight raids on the Knox Street Apple Store, which actually seem to be fairly effective, products made by the world’s leading producer of consumer electronics tend to be closely monitored by retailers. But here’s a tip for…
Locals and outsiders alike have been heaping praise upon the Perot Museum of Nature & Science since it opened in December, not just on the dizzying array of interactive exhibit halls but on the building itself. It was designed by architect Thom Mayne to be both a natural outgrowth of…
Barrett Brown’s current stint in federal prison can be linked, in a way, to his mother. It was the FBI’s treatment of her that prompted the YouTube rant and Twitter tirade in which Brown threatened a special agent and his family, which in turn led to the heavily armed raid…
It took a house burning to the ground and a woman being murdered, plus an additional six months, but Dallas police have finally acknowledged just how abysmally run its 911 call center was. Deputy Chief Scott Walton said as much today during a briefing before the City Council’s Public Safety…
Not so long ago, the Dallas Magpies were perennial cellar dwellers in the U.S. Australian Football League, hovering near the bottom of the 35-team organization since the club was established in 1998. Then, something changed. “How’d we get good so quickly? It’s just chemistry, a good mix of guys,” says…
