Our first real introduction to First Baptist Dallas’s Robert Jeffress was in the fall of 2008, when the downtown pastor came under fire for referring to Mormon Mitt Romney a member of a “cult.” That came up today on FOX News, where Jeffress is a frequent guest and where he…
Turns out, the Dallas Independent School District’s decision to take away teachers’ collaborative planning time — a very reluctant budget cut — has necessitated a change to schools’ start times next year, which begins August 22. So here’s the deal: School’s starting just a little bit later next year, which…
Well, that was certainly…unexpected. Last night I went to the SMU-hosted Global Summit on Ending Corporal Punishment and Promoting Positive Discipline and wound up being treated to a presentation by none other than kiddie performer Raffi, who, as it turns out, is a children’s-rights advocate when he’s not entertaining the…
There was a long stretch during the early ’90s when I wrote what felt like piece after piece after piece about Dallas’s estimable, almost entirely forgotten but ultimately influential garage-rock scene of the 1960s. I was obsessed with the likes of The Chessmen (featuring a young Jimmie Vaughan and Doyle…
As noted yesterday, the Living Plaza makes its return to the front of Dallas City Hall on Wednesday — this one a collaborative effort amongst city workers eager to keep alive William H. Whyte’s vision of a vibrant space replacing the moribund one that exists now. So, then, perfect timing:…
There was a time, in 2007 and ’08, when you couldn’t escape the name Sam Zell, the billionaire who, in December 2007, bought media giant Tribune Company … and then swiftly brought it to its knees by taking it into Chapter 11. The reason for the bankruptcy: The parent company…
10. Was worried when Dirk Nowitzki left the court during an early timeout. But I think it was more potty break than finger finagling. He dribbled left. He made a hustling save with a lefty tap. A Fraulein finger is zero excuse. 9. And that’s precisely why I hate Dwyane…
A Friend of Unfair Park asked the other day if I was “lining up some 70s aerosmith/journey/boston type cruzin music for the Forest Lane Reunion next week.” Well, as a matter of fact…I do have something lined up for tomorrow’s weekend-listening adios. But this one can’t wait, because you never…
I mentioned this in passing on Tuesday, but just got the Official Release, so here’s the reminder: You can now redraw the city’s council districts, and, hey, who knows — yours might be just the puzzle the city winds up going with. The redistricting website has all the info you…
Last Friday, Robert offered a first look at some of the big names that had applied to sit on the city’s gas drilling task force: Margaret Keliher, Royce West II, Betty Culbreath, the train-bedeviled Chico Grimes and more. This morning, Linda Koop and the handful of other members on the…
Moments after I posted that piece on the Living Plaza in front of Dallas City Hall a few weeks ago, one Friend of Unfair Park took a look at the commissary and crowd and proclaimed it little more than “a bit” — a one-time-only event after which “the plaza will…
At this very moment, Nolan Estes is at his home in Austin filling out a questionnaire sent to the handful of finalists for the position of interim Dallas Independent School District superintendent. It was dispatched to him by DISD board president Lew Blackburn, who, Estes says, called him yesterday and…
When the NBA All-Star Game came to Dallas in February 2010 I got to hop in a Hummer limo. Driven by a big guy. Who had no use for road rules, or police barriers. As he ran over a bunch of traffic cones and headed toward a security barricade in front…
A fellow Dallas Independent School District parent, who recalls Tuesday’s sparring match between Carla Ranger and newly installed board president Lew Blackburn, suggests I take another look at the prolific Ranger’s blog. That’s because, moments ago, she posted yet another item about the interim superintendent debate — this one suggesting…
That’s how CBS News’s Don Teague recaps yesterday’s good news for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro, which, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, added more jobs between April 2010 and April 2011 than any other part of the country — 83,100, to be exact. Teague’s report, which aired this…
I know he and the Mavericks and even LeBron James are downplaying it, but I’m worried about Dirk Nowitzki’s finger entering tonight’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals here in Miami. Just because it’ll be different. “I’ll be fine,” Dirk says. “It’ll be okay.” But he loves to dribble left…
As Patrick noted Tuesday, the Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees has narrowed down its short list of interim superintendents and hopes to name Michael Hinojosa’s temporary replacement by no later than Monday. And while newly installed board president Lew Blackburn won’t say who’s on that list of four…
I hope Mayor-For-Now Dwaine Caraway brought back pictures from his trip to Nigeria, where he’s been for the past eight days to attend the swearing-in of President Goodluck Jonathan and tend to some business. He’s back this evening, and in advance of his return sends word that, why, matter of…
10. Ate dinner last night at Prime Italian on South Beach. In the midst of ridiculous opulence in the form of $20 valet parking and $100,000 cars, it was relatively affordable. $125 for a steak and a couple drinks. Thumbs up. 9. They also offered prime Kobe steak for $30 an…
Hooray for Wendy: Thankfully, once in a while the political system churns out a Wendy Davis, the 48-year-old Senate freshman from Fort Worth who filibustered Governor Rick Perry’s legislative session to a grave Sunday night. How was this going to end otherwise? Perry has engineered the session as a vicious…
MIAMI—The Dallas Mavericks, America’s Team. Get used to it, because the Mavs are going to win their first-ever NBA championship this summer. And they’re going to do it as a beloved underdog, resolute in revenge and cheered by a country during their redemption. As much as Americans love sequels and…
The white paint on Felix Losada’s home in West Dallas is wearing away. His brittle wooden porch swing seems ready to snap at any moment. Old but neatly maintained, the house fades into a swath of similar homes, worn and seemingly attached to the ground by winding roots rather than…
