After completing jury selection yesterday, the prosecution began laying out its case this morning in the felony animal cruelty trial of former animal shelter manager Tyrone McGill, who is currently on administrative leave and continues to draw a paycheck from the city of Dallas. “This is not a difficult case,”…
In the wake of two reports concerning the city’s response to Saturday’s arrest of eight Occupy Dallasites, some Friends of Unfair Park have asked: Is the city going to boot the protesters camping out behind Dallas City Hall, allowed by agreement following last month’s trip to the courthouse? The short…
A few weeks ago we noted that developer Craig Hall finally wants to build in the Arts District — 25 years after he first came to the city with those extraordinary renderings of that spiraling tower. But he has maintained for months that the proposed Hall Arts Center, which would…
At long last, that proposed Greenville Avenue bowling alley, next to Good Records, just went before the Dallas City Council — its last hope following the City Plan Commission’s gutter ball over the summer. But District 14 rep Angela Hunt — who, along with Pauline Medrano, birthed the Lower Greenville…
The chief clerk in Judge Gracie Lewis’s courtroom confirms: Jury selection is set to begin this morning in the trial of Tyrone McGill, the former Dallas Animal Services manager indicted in August 2010 on charges of animal cruelty for his alleged role in allowing a trapped cat to die within…
Pretty lackluster episode of Saturday Night Live last night — and no, that isn’t a cue for you to go on about how the show hasn’t been worth watching since (insert whatever era during which you first saw the show). It’s been strong lately, a nice mix of “funny ha-ha”…
Used to be, a business situated too close to a school, church, hospital or daycare center that wanted to sell booze couldn’t, except as a private club. But in the fall of ’09, those rules shifted slightly, when the council said businesses bigger than 50,000 square feet could try to…
WFAA ran a piece last night about Child Protective Services taking an 11-month-old from the Occupy Dallas encampment behind Dallas City Hall yesterday; per Rebecca Lopez, investigators “already had an existing case.” But between that and the news about a registered sex offender occupying one of the more than 60…
Last month evangelical leaders gathered in D.C. for the Values Voter Summit, where disciples of the Pissed-Off Jesus harrumphed and yammered about how much America sucked. That’s when the bomb ignited. As you no doubt recall, Robert Jeffress was on hand to introduce Rick Perry. He warned that Mormon “cult”…
From what I can tell, Jessica Huseman and Shawn Williams were the sole media members to attend Eddie Bernice Johnson’s campaign kick-off held yesterday at the beleaguered Southwest Center Mall. The event was also attended by three council members: Pauline Medrano, Vonciel Jones Hill and Tennell Atkins, who referred to…
In case you didn’t already know this — and I didn’t — at 1 p.m. Wednesday will be the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Should last three minutes, so, no, this isn’t your standard test, but part of what the feds refer to as the Integrated Public…
Speaking of items out for bid by the City o’ Dallas …Over the summer we noticed that the city was looking for someone to snap up the naming rights to the Elm Fork Athletic Complex off Walnut Hill and Stemmons — you know, that 138-acre, 20-field soccer complex behind Malibu…
Dallas Habitat for Humanity, which already claims to be the biggest single-family home builder in the city, will knock down and build more than 500 more homes in a $100 million blitz on the city’s blighted neighborhoods. The project, called Dream Dallas, was formally announced today at City Hall and…
Ethics reforms, or at least the earnest discussion thereof, are in the air over at City Hall lately. Mayor Rawlings won his seat, after all, at least partially based on a “pro-ethics” platform (not something many people come out against, but still). Then a couple weeks back, council member Jerry…
Yesterday I couldn’t get anybody on the phone to talk about the city’s plans to raze La Marketa Cafe in the downtown farmers market plaza; this morning, everyone has something to say on the subject.Chief among them: Troy Thorn, assistant director for the Dallas Convention Center, which, for now, oversees…
Yesterday, after posting this item that asked when Dallas would finally implement mandatory watering restrictions in the midst of this historic drought, I spoke further with City Manager Mary Suhm, who reiterated: The city may indeed go to mandatory twice-a-week watering sooner than expected. But she won’t say exactly when…
Mayor Mike Rawlings called moments ago to discuss DPD’s announcement that it has in custody a 24-year-old registered sex offender who police say assaulted a 14-year-old girl at the Occupy Dallas encampment behind City Hall. City Hall has already issued an official statement concerning the investigation, but Rawlings wanted to…
Waaaaay back in the spring of 2006, the council’s Economic Development & Housing Committee was told: The food kiosk sitting in the middle of the downtown Farmers Market is “a visual barrier” and needs to come down. See that photo? That’s from this briefing, prepped in advance of the 2006…
During all the fuss, hubbub and ruckus over the Lower Greenville Planned Development District Ordinance requiring business owners to get late-hours specific use permits, there’s been one constant question: When the hell is Ship’s Lounge going to get its official okee-doke to stay open past midnight? Well, so glad you…
As of today, per city ordinance, you no longer have to water your lawn before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.; that rule’s only in place from April 1 till October 31. But according to the latest data, Dallas’s reservoirs are close to 25 percent depleted — 7 percent higher…
This morning, there was Rick Perry’s latest ad — he’s a doer, see, not a talker, or so he says (which is weird, because he’s not a talker … but a drinker, maybe). But lest we forget, from another GOP would-be, there’s a new Tom Leppert spot out there too…
My most terrifying night at Dallas City Hall involved a six-hour Redistricting Commission meeting, during which I was forced to eat 1,000-year-old, partially fossilized peanut butter crackers for dinner. It was harrowing. City Hall employees held their annual Halloween party in the plaza just outside the building today, which was…
