Yesterday we got word that John McKeon, the president and general manager of The Dallas Morning News since October 2007, was leaving, which publisher Jim Moroney confirmed via email. At which point a press release went out, leading with news of fourth-quarter 2011 earnings (“decrease of four to five percent…
We were reminded just last week: First Presbyterian Church plans not only to install a recording studio inside 508 Park Avenue, a nod to the building’s storied history as one of only two spots where bluesman and myth Robert Johnson recorded the music that serves as rock-and-roll’s backbone, but to…
I met Friend of Unfair Park Noah Jeppson for breakfast this morning and traded him a bagel for a stack of his maps to the downtown tunnels; I got the far better deal. Way back in June, you may recall, we noted that Jeppson was attempting to kickstart efforts to…
Yesterday our new New York Times contributor offered eight ways the Dallas Cowboys can win the NFC East tomorrow night, each one a thoughtful, stat-driven how-to. The New York Daily News counters this morning with one of those (yawn) things-we-hate-about lists, which, as you can see, even graces the the…
As conceptual renderings are my kryptonite, here’s one that landed in the inbox late yesterday — a look at what Wood Partners says it will build on that vacant lot at 1836 W. Davis, not so long ago the site of the Cliffwood Apartments. The address, of course, is familiar:…
Doesn’t seem all that long ago that Edwin Cabaniss first told us about his plans for the old Kessler Theater on W. Davis; sweet fancy mayor, has it really been more than two years since Tom Leppert put his shovel into the dirt? From risky concept to necessity to institution…
We said it before: Downtown Dallas is starting to look a little like Lil’ Las Vegas. The subject spurred a little back-and-forth during a staff dinner last night, during which someone mentioned the story in yesterday’s paper about our even more illuminated skyline. Said urban planner Larry Beasley, it’s not…
Speaking of new grocery stores …Last we’d been told, the Central Market replacing the old Borders (which replaced an old Safeway) in Preston Royal would be open come “mid-winter.” But as you can see from the photo I snapped a couple of nights ago, it’s looking awful close to opening…
Two questions this morning about Trader Joe’s plans to build its first Dallas location on the site where once the Arcadia stood: Does this kill the food-trailer park Madison Partners had planned for the site, and what does this mean for the old Whole Foods spot everyone thinks is going…
Speaking of historic buildings ….A few days ago a friend of the show sent word that she’d seen workmen inside 108-year-old David Crockett Elementary, which had fallen into a state of grave disrepair in recent years. I reminded her: Back in August, Good Signature Management bought the building from the…
For some — local preservationists, say, or music fans — one of the biggest stories of 2011 was First Presbyterian Church’s purchase of 508 Park Avenue; at last, the long-ago Brunswick Records regional office in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and possibly Charlie Parker recorded no longer had that hellhound…
Way back in May we took a long, hard look at HALFF Associates designer Francois de Kock’s Belleview Connector, a proposed bridge — and “dramatic icon” — that might one day link Riverfront Boulevard to Jack Matthews’s South Side of Lamar. One day. Maybe. Last I looked, which was a…
3700 Ross remains closed for another week, but I did just talk to Dallas Independent School District trustee Edwin Flores about something I mentioned last week: DISD’s decision to yank from the City Plan Commission’s docket a zoning request for the proposed Jose “Joe” May Elementary School on Webb Chapel…
Ten months ago, Mark Cuban dismissed Bob Ortegel as the Dallas Mavericks’ color commentator, insisting, “Sometimes you’ve just got to freshen things up and try some different things.” Ortegel, who had more or less been the voice of the team for the past 23 years, handled his firing with great…
I seem to recall there was some discussion in October about West Dallasites famous enough to include in that parade of giant puppets scheduled to march across the Margaret Hunt Hill during opening-weekend festivities planned for early March — ah, yes, there it is. So happens the West Dallas Chamber…
If, by some chance, you have not seen Dale Hansen’s annual “Thank God for Kids” segment that aired last on Channel 8, it’s above. It began making the rounds early this morning, in large part because of what Hansen acknowledged a few minutes into his essay about how children who…
Back in June, the plot of land near the Cityplace DART station at Haskell and N. Central Expressway was a vacant lot with a big hole and a big plan. It would be the future site of a trolley turntable, a novelty attraction to be sure, but with the purpose…
Speaking of your deep-felt desire for retro arcading …Well, I was going to give Steve Brown the credit, till a quick search reveals it was former Observer-er Merritt Martin (sniff) who actually broke the news two days ago that Austin-based Kung Fu Saloon is due to take over the former…
As blogs go, Unfair Park is a mostly safe, well-lit space, free of the black-hearted cynicism that infects so many other blogs. (Except when Rick Perry parts his lips.) (Oh, and when Schutze shows up.) (And Patrick! Can’t forget about Patrick.) (Anna and Brantley have a little darkness in their…
At long last, Crescent Holdings has decided how to fill that property at McKinney and Olive, which, per its announcement this morning, the Crescent has been sitting on for more than 15 years with the intention of developing “when we believed the market was ready,” in the words of bossman…
That was quite the Heritage Auctions infomercial ABC aired during prime-time last night: Unfair Park’s cross-the-street neighbor got a shout-out during The Great Big American Auction every, oh, 23 seconds, by my count, as folks in need used the local auction house to sell off rare family heirlooms, including Ty…
First, he restored honor; then, he restored courage. Now — well, next summer, actually — Glenn Beck sets about “Restoring Love,” the moniker he’s bestowed upon his next rally announced on his now-locally based webcast yesterday. Long story short: It’s a community-service thing scheduled to be capped with “speakers, music…
