In a speech at the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars Mid-Winter Convention, Governor Greg Abbott announced that today is Chris Kyle Day. Kyle, the so-called American Sniper, was killed February 2, 2013, by former Marine Eddie Ray Routh at a shooting range. Kyle recorded more than 160 kills during the…
Friday was the last day of school at Prime Prep Academy, according to state administrators assigned to pull the plug on the charter school founded by ex-Cowboy Deion Sanders. After two and a half years of legal fights, actual fights and assorted controversy, the Texas Education Agency finally said enough…
Not willing to cede the spotlight to Teddy Bear, everyone’s favorite talking porcupine, the Fort Worth Zoo’s 15-foot-long, 1,500-pound saltwater crocodile named Salty got in on the Super Bowl prognostication game Thursday. While it’s disappointing that the flesh used to tempt Salty — the zoo’s “long snapper” — isn’t that…
Remember, back a few years ago, when Craig Watkins’ reputation as a crusading do-gooder district attorney was still relatively intact? When he could credibly present himself — on The Colbert Report for example — as someone helping to restore public faith in the criminal justice system? In case you needed…
What a beautiful week we had. Temps in the high 70s, sunny skies, patio lunches — it was damn pretty. You got your bike tuned up, your picnic basket packed up, and you’re geared up for a kickass outdoor weekend. I am now here to crush your outdoor weekend dreams,…
With a simple announcement in The Roundup, the city of Fort Worth’s employee newsletter, Cowtown did something that is, for North Texas, pretty revolutionary. The city extended the same spousal benefits to everyone, regardless of the sex of their spouse. “Since the city’s retirement ordinance does not specifically define ‘spouse,’…
Eutopia — which Unfair Park can’t help but pronounce as Eww-topia — is, or was, a swingers club located in a half-million dollar home near AT&T Stadium. The city of Arlington didn’t have a problem with that in and of itself, but has now sent James and Mary Self, who…
The two cases of Bud Light in the bed of John Werthing Jr.’s, pickup were still cold when Hutchins police pulled him over around 8 a.m. on September 30, 2013. A clerk at a Shell gas station had called in a shoplifting complaint a few moments before; a man matching…
Further confirmation of what all of us who live here already know comes from the 2015 National Apartment Index: All of our buildings are full, and our rents are even more too damn high than they used to be. Marcus and Millichap, the research firm that does the annual index,…
This whole thing started, as many squabbles are sure to over the coming years, with comments from newly elected Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, Patrick said that the two open carry bills most popular with gun wing of his party, the ones that would…
One week after Longview Police Department officers shot and killed a mentally ill teenager in the lobby of their own police station, the department has released a surveillance video that captures the teenager’s death. It does little to clear things up. The police say Kristiana Coignard charged at officer Glenn…
In a region with poor public transit but plenty of available parking at the bar, it’s no longer surprising to learn that someone in law enforcement was arrested for driving drunk. That doesn’t make it OK that a longtime Dallas Police Department officer allegedly drove while under the influence in…
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, acting through his attorney Billy Ravkind, has pulled his application for a taxpayer-paid lawyer. Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn reset a hearing to evaluate Price’s claims of indigence after Price didn’t show up to court — apparently with Ravkind’s blessing. Lynn was aggravated,…
In the elevator of a sleek Dallas office building indistinguishable from any other downtown or uptown, an elderly businesswoman with a head of teased blond hair stares at Christina Jones. Dressed in jeans, with her hair pulled back in a no-frills ponytail and a bicycle helmet in hand, Jones looks…
Sheffie Kadane’s quest to get the city to stop fluoridating its drinking water is over. For months, the Dallas City Council member, aided by the likes of DogsAgainstFluoridation.com, has warned of the dangers of continuing to do something that Dallas dentists say has strengthened local kids teeth for almost 50…
Barring any last minute action by the United States Supreme Court, Robert Ladd will be executed Thursday night by the state of Texas. Ladd, convicted for the 1996 murder of Vicki Ann Garner, will be the second inmate on Texas’ death row killed in 2015. Texas’ highest criminal court, the…
By the ordinary laws of Internet fame, the universe should have long ago forgotten Teddy Bear the talking porcupine. It’s been three years his emergence as a viral celebrity, roughly 8.6 billion years in Internet time. Adorable though he may be, with his vaguely anthropomorphic squeaks and amusing dietary quirks,…
Rachel Hardy Johnson is nothing if not audacious. The 35-year-old Mansfield woman currently facing corpse abuse and theft charges in Tarrant County, stemming from decomposed and desiccated bodies found in her funeral home, has now pleaded guilty to stealing food stamps. See also: Multiple Bodies Found Inside Abandoned Funeral Home…
Much to the benefit of downtown dogs and their owners, Harwood Park, one of the primary fixtures of the city of Dallas’ downtown park plan is one step closer to actually happening. The Belo Foundation, stepping in for a city it said doesn’t have the money to buy the properties…
Two years ago the Texas Legislature slipped into the state budget an item mandating a thorough review of certain civil forfeiture proceedings. Civil forfeiture — the process state and federal prosecutors use to seize property from suspected criminals, whether they’ve been convicted or not — is a source of perpetual…
As one might have expected, knowing that Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price was expected in federal court Tuesday, the morning’s regularly scheduled commissioners’ meeting was one member short. Much to U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn’s chagrin though, it wasn’t Price who missed the meeting — Theresa Daniel was absent…
Kevin Eltife and Stephanie Klick are taking the safest approach possible to an issue that, for them, is politically dangerous. The two legislators, both Republicans, have put themselves behind legalizing the narrowest sliver of medical cannabis. The Tyler state senator and Fort Worth state representative want to OK the use…
