Williams Run was supposed to be a sterling example of the latest thinking in affordable housing when Virginia McGuire convinced state officials to approve her plans to buy and rehabilitate the place in December 2000. Unlike public housing, where the poor are concentrated in problem-ridden complexes, Williams Run was going…
The old television series M*A*S*H ran through about 4 billion episodes, each with the same story line–war bad, wisecracking disdain for authority good–before viewers tired of the show. Ah-nold earned fame by uttering “I’ll be back,” a singular tribute to our appreciation of redundancy. Even General Douglas MacArthur understood America’s…
Buzz, admittedly, is at times a bit naïve–naïve in this case being a polite word for “dumb.” For instance, we naïvely thought that to be a cheerleader required only that you support the home team, know how to say “rah!” and don’t look like Buzz. We were wrong about that…
The Sheep Are ListeningAccess to this tripe: “It’s pretty sad when one of the greatest achievements by a Dallas musician is getting impregnated by Paul Simon…” Hell, it’s even more sad that this is the writer’s perception and that an editor would post this shit (2002 Dallas Observer Music Awards,…
Almost 7,000 people voted in this year’s Dallas Observer Music Awards, and while I have absolutely no numbers to back it up, I’ll go ahead and say I’m fairly certain it’s the highest turnout for this election in quite some time. At least in the five years or so I’ve…
It hit him when two weeks had gone by and he hadn’t won a single race. “When am I gonna win?” Marlon St. Julien, one of Lone Star Park’s all-time leading jockeys, would ask himself. Then more weeks passed. And more. People started talking. Trainers backed off from hiring him…
Let’s play Big City Newspaper Editor. I’ll ask a question, and you try to answer it correctly–in other words, answer it the way a man in charge at, say, The Dallas Morning News would answer it. Got it? Good. The question is simple: If you were an editor at a…
In one of the greatest movies ever made, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, King Arthur confronts the enchanted Black Knight, an indestructible character who challenges Arthur to a sword fight. Arthur begins lopping off the knight’s limbs one at a time, but he refuses to quit. Finally reduced to…
Where He BelongsNo hope, and rightfully so: It is comforting to know that Edwin Debrow Jr. (“12-year-old Killer,” March 28, and “Boy in the Big House,” April 4) is still behind bars. Let’s hope he will remain there for the rest of his life. There should be no “small cause…
Last August, shortly after returning as chief executive officer of Enron Corp., Ken Lay sent an e-mail to employees asking them to “Lay It On The Line” and answer a few questions about the company. Within days, Lay received more than 4,000 responses from around the world, covering issues that…
Governor Rick Perry has ordered the Department of Public Safety to begin monitoring the state’s 49 narcotics task forces following allegations that some of the drug teams were little more than vigilantes run amok. “What the DPS involvement will do is make sure all the bases have been touched,” says…
“What do you know about the Dixie Mafia?””Nothing…They’re not like the organized crime families. There’s a bunch that deals drugs. There’s a bunch that hijack trucks and commit armed robberies…They’re not associated with each other. The only thing they have in common, they’re all violent criminals.”–from Tishomingo Blues It is…
All of you staunch Laura Miller supporters who think that changing Dallas to a “strong mayor” form of government is a good idea now that she’s in the hot seat, please repeat after Buzz: “Ron Kirk, strong mayor.” Doesn’t sound quite so appealing now, does it? Well, it could be…
Juicy KissesThe gentle Billy Jack: I’m really surprised that a war has broken out between the Dallas Observer, Billy Jack Ludwig and Ms. Biederman (Letters, March 28) over the Observer’s unfortunate use of the term “goofball.” Apparently, the Observer is jealous because Billy Jack has enjoyed many juicy kisses with…
“Sometimes it gets a little crazy. A couple of years ago, our owner hired this guy to ride a buffalo onto the arena floor every time we scored a touchdown. We forgot to tell our players about it, and one of them got run over. Busted a couple of his…
There is no way to put it delicately: One day, Brittany Pollard found out that she–a distant relative–had once been a he. And for many reasons, it was one revelation too many. Pollard, fresh out of a psychiatric hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown at 13, had learned that the…
David Hale Smith had a good story, but no one wanted to hear it. The Dallas-based literary agent was telling publishers in fall 2001 that the fading-star tale of Houston’s Enron Corp. would ultimately produce a good book. No one bit. “The book editors in New York would say things…
There’s an old maxim in the reporting business that states, “If your grandmother says she loves you, check it out.” This rule was tattooed on Buzz’s soul by our college newspaper adviser, a cranky old nicotine-stained newsman who, rumor had it, would hurl typewriters at student reporters who got sloppy…
The Real Ron KirkRacist and sexist: I’m writing to clarify a couple of points in an otherwise extremely good article about Ron Kirk (“Ron Kirk’s Crying Game,” March 14) and the way he bullies his way into getting whatever he wants by “playing the race card,” in which I am…
From our two or three forced visits to Sunday school, Buzz knows that if you do something good for the poor, you’re not supposed to “sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets.” Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t brag about…
From the counter at Mingus’ only bank, the teller could see a tall skinny guy in baggy clothes, hat turned backward, eyes sunken in. His buddy looked just as scruffy, and they were banging on the glass door. “Hey! Let us in! Hey!” they hollered. The teller reached for the…
The first was Patrick Timothy Richardson. On a September Sunday in 1999 on Colgate Avenue in University Park, the 39-year-old accountant suddenly vaulted over the sofa in his den and wildly assaulted his wife of 13 years. The Richardsons’ three young children gaped in horror as he slammed a lamp…
