On and off the last few days I’ve spoken with the folks in the Redistricting Office to see if they’ve gotten their hands on Delia Jasso’s amendment to the previously voted-upon map — you know, the whole reason the council will stop down Wednesday to argue over reopening that mighty…
Right now we were supposed to be at the Earle Cabell for a federal hearing over Occupy Dallas’s camp-out behind Dallas City Hall. Alas, that was not meant to be: Friday’s agreement, which said the Occupiers could occupy City Hall’s bathrooms and kept the city from making good on its…
We kicked off the day with yet another look at Public Works’ plans to make over Riverfront Boulevard from Cadiz and Continental, otherwise known as Dallas’s Avenue des Champs-Élysée. Assistant Public Works Director Alan Hendrix just led the council through the PowerPoint; no need to rehash the history. Instead, as…
This story in last week’s paper served to remind us of what we’ve known for months: Sooner than later, the Dallas Independent School District’s trustees would begin discussing closing campuses to make up for the second round of budget cuts, a guesstimated $30 million worth, due to hit in the…
I swear this recently reopened Sportatorium isn’t an afterthought; and bless those of you still posting in Thursday’s item — hey, there’s Merten. Efforts are underway to better reboot this thing sooner than later. But in the meantime, feel free to fill Joe Tone’s inbox with random observerations and enders…
On the other side is City Auditor Craig Kinton’s just-released look-see at the amount of overtime paid to Dallas-Fire Rescue personnel. And, for the most part, it’s good news: In FY2008, he says, the city forked over $10.7 million in overtime, but just two years later that figure dropped by…
Bob Curry, chair of the city’s Urban Forest Advisory Committee, came to the council’s Quality of Life Committee this morning with a warning: Come spring, we’ll learn how many Dallas’s trees will be lost to devastating summer weather. He said: Look no further than Houston. Down there, he said, there…
Here, as promised Friday, is the PowerPoint presented to the city council moments ago concerning efforts to make it easier for street vendors to set up shop in downtown. No surprise: For the most part the council members on the Quality of Life Committee were all for Interim Assistant City…
Something about the Omni ribbon-cutting photo below, featuring Larry Hagman and Linda Gray and Not-Mayor Tom, gnawed at Friend of Unfair Park Ed D. all weekend. Then, last night, it hit him: In October 2010, at the topping-out ceremony for The People’s Hotel, Leppert said: “The bottom line is, this…
Waaaaay back in April 2010 we got our first loving look at the city’s plans to widen Riverfront Boulevard, which, like I need to tell you, is now considered the “Gateway to the Trinity River” intended to connect downtown, the Trinity, the Design District and the Cedars. But there was…
Thirteen days from now, Doyle Bramhall was to return to the Granada, scene of this performance in 2007. But that show will not take place: The Dallas-born singer-songwriter and drummer — a former Chessman with Jimmie Vaughan, a frequent collaborator with Stevie Ray (“Life by the Drop,” one among many…
It’s been a long while since we’ve looked at a historic photo of the city for sale on eBay, and since there are just two days left in the auction, we’d best hustle. Besides, this is an intriguing offering: a beautiful, expansive aerial look-see at Cedar Springs Place when the…
Someone once asked: “Which Neil Young shows would you like to see officially released?” To which one of the answers was: Neil Young & The Restless at the Bronco Bowl on January 14, 1989 — “My personal Neil holy grail.” And without a doubt, this is among the most adored…
On November 2, City Manager Mary Suhm told Unfair Park that the city would initiate Stage 1 water restrictions sooner than later; but exactly when, she would not say, only that the council would be briefed on the subject November 16. But in a memo sent to council moments ago,…
This afternoon, U.S. District Judge David Godbey helped City Hall and Occupy Dallas come to a verbal agreement that protestors can not only keep camping outside City Hall, but can also use City Hall restrooms and keep their current signage — two issues disputed in the lawsuit seeking a temporary…
A lawsuit filed by three Dallas exonerees against their high-powered personal injury lawyer has finally come to an end after more than two testy years. The dispute was over fees charged for more than tripling state compensation for the wrongfully imprisoned. According to Lubbock attorney Kevin Glasheen, who represented a…
This morning, Brantley spoke with Stephen Benavides, the protester who spent several days in jail on charges that he assaulted a police officer and resisted arrest. We also posted that video now making the rounds in which Benavides can clearly be seen being shoved off a planter by an off-duty…
I’ve been regretting all day we didn’t have a warm body to spare to send to the ribbon-cutting of The People’s Hotel, aka the downtown Omni. Then this arrived, courtesy the good folks at Weber Shandwick: Larry Hagman and Linda Gray — in town shooting Dallas, of course — joining…
Our Stephen Masker was at City Hall today for the annual Dallas Veterans Day Parade — an “emotional” event, Stephen reports, no surprise there. “And a proud moment too,” he notes, “to see so many vets pass by, waving to the crowd. Everyone was holding American flags — smiling, waving,…
Yesterday we confirmed the existence of council member Delia Jasso’s amended council-districts map she hopes will replace the version the city submitted to the Department of Justice at the end of October. Actually, we were told, it wasn’t really a map, more like a redo of District 1, with Jasso…
The property rights law of adverse possession is normally a dry topic, a chapter covered in law school to be forgotten immediately after final exams. This will not be the case for about 100 SMU law students who attended a Wednesday evening lecture by Ken Robinson, the Flower Mound man…
Tomorrow morning, I expect, we’ll post the PowerPoint that goes along with a simply titled but nonetheless intriguing item that appears on the council’s Quality of Life Committee agenda for Monday morning: “Downtown Vending.” Rumor’s been circulating for a long while now that efforts are underway to rewrite the section…
