There were no Fair Park Fourth-goers to be found in the Esplanade Fountain this year, not like last year. All was calm and orderly as thousands marched into the Cotton Bowl, save those who didn’t want to ditch their baby strollers. And, yet again, the great Justin Terveen was on…
Beginning ’round 9ish last night, my Northwest Dallas neighborhood sounded like a war zone — more than usual, anyhow. (As one Facebook friend put it, it turned into a parlor game: Firework or Gunshot?) Clearly, news of the countywide burn ban and threats of Class C misdemeanor tickets for shooting…
Speaking of the Supremes …In January 2010 we listened in as the Supreme Court of Texas heard oral arguments in the case of City of Dallas. v. VSC, LLC, which is now close to a decade old. To sum up: In ’02, tow company VSC was in possession of 326…
As we were heading out the door Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas handed down opinions in two local cases, one of which we’ve written about before but neither of which is the “billion-dollar case” still awaiting a result. Let’s begin with this one: City of Dallas v Heather Stewart,…
Shortly after we recalled Bruce Springsteen’s rock-and-roll down an Oak Cliff bowling alley — almost moments after — news broke that Clarence Clemons had died from complications caused by a stroke suffered a few days earlier. At which point I cued up the ’84 Reunion stop and remembered-when yet again…
Two items-for-listening this morning: First up, a by-request; then, Schutze combs through his recordings archives and discovers he’s sitting on a JWP best-of.Here, to begin, is a segment that aired on The Ticket Friday morning — one week after Craig Miller and George Dunham acknowledged that they knew so little…
To those who helped made last night’s RoboCop-at-OCP HQ event happen — Downtown Dallas, Inc.; Brent Brown and his staff at the CityDesign Studio; the Dallas Film Society; and, of course, the promotions staff at the Observer — a mighty “much obliged” this morning. Couldn’t have done it without you…
A little while ago I saw this lengthy and occasional inside-baseball Q&A with Dallas Morning News publisher Jim Moroney in which he insists that life behind the pay wall’s just fine, thanks for asking. Sorry — that’s “subscriber content initiative.” Anyway. Says Moroney, since the pay wall was erected a…
Shame I only just found out about Sir Mitchell’s newly released Brobocop tee; I woulda have worn it tonight, as it’s no doubt much more comfortable than this helmet I espied on eBay. Ah, well. Next time. Oh, right, there won’t be a next time. Tonight’s screening of RoboCop in…
Rumors have long been circulating that something’s up with Valley View Center. Not sure what, exactly; no one’s returning calls (paging Greg Maloney). Even local commercial Realtors aren’t exactly sure. But … something. Involving the Macy’s spot. Like, say, this: On Thursday, per its agenda, the City Plan Commission will…
If you drove to Grapevine last night, entered the mall on the corner of Grapevine Mills Boulevard and Stars and Stripes Way, hurried past the Legoland, the Foot Locker and, outside the aquarium, two children strapped into some kind of bungee-jumping ride, pogoing slowly over and over again from floor…
Speaking of the Texxas Jam, as we’re known to do from time to time, while researching yesterday’s Fleetwood Mac attack at the Cotton Bowl in ’78 I stumbled across an Internet Movie Database entry for something called Texxas Jam ’78, which promises to be “the first real look at an…
So, the feds want Pettis Norman and Jon Edmonds to appear before a grand jury on July 20 — can’t imagine why. Oh, wait. My bad. And speaking of the Inland Port, for those who knocked off early for the Christmas holidays in ’08, after the jump is a doc…
Former Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa officially begins his new gig in Cobb County, Georgia, today. Hence, this morning’s piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “New Cobb superintendent’s job 1: Close students’ achievement gap.” Long story short: Cobb County, like most urban districts around the country, has seen an…
It’s likely you never knew Linwood Henderson by his real name; few did. For decades, since the late 1960s, he was better known by his other name: Cuzzin’ Linnie, or Cousin Linnie to the uninitiated. His was an estimable career that stretched all the way from KLIF (when it was…
Less than a month ago, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office dropped a small bomb shell amongst those who follow courthouse doings: Terri Moore, Craig Watkins’s first assistant, and Mike Ware, head of the Conviction Integrity Unit, would be stepping down July 1. At which point, Watkins promised, he’d announce…
At last night’s Gasland screening, an environmentalist activist of some note noted how much he enjoyed reading Unfair Park … for the Friday musical offerings, many of which were echoes of shows he’d once attended. Then, this afternoon, a request from another Friend of Unfair Park: Steive Nicks or Fleetwood…
Speaking of the wrongly imprisoned …On Saturday, we stopped to take note — belatedly — of the passing of Randall Dale Adams, whose October death didn’t reach newspapers till late last week. Adams, of course, was freed from prison in ’89 following the release of Errol Morris’s documentary The Thin…
Last Friday, in Judge Ken Molberg’s courtroom, attorneys representing Steven Phillips and Kevin Glasheen argued over money, which is what attorneys often do when they clash in courtrooms. At stake: around $1 million, which Glasheen says he’s owed by Phillips per an agreement they made three years ago. Phillips doesn’t…
Mayor Mike Rawlings took the mic before last night’s Observer co-sponsored Gasland screening and told the audience of council members, activists and concerned locals, “I will never vote to put any neighborhood at risk because of money.” And there are high stakes behind that sentence — tens of millions of…
The Colbert ReportGet More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video ArchiveOn Tuesday, you’ll recall, Dallas County went under a 90-day outdoor-burn ban, which includes shootin’ off fireworks within the city limits. Violators will be popped with a class-C misdemeanor ticket, which will be stuffed into your pocket if…
Those state-lawmaker types are a shifty bunch, eh? During the state legislature’s regular session, lawmakers debated a bill that would have required proof of citizenship or legal status for anyone applying for a new or renewed driver’s license. That way, argues sponsor Tommy Williams, a Woodlands senator, illegal immigrants couldn’t…
