In its own peculiar way, yesterday’s editorial in the city’s only daily newspaper was the perfect expression of the dilemma Dallas faces in choosing a new bureaucrat to run the city: Most of the people who even talk out loud about the topic are afraid to say out loud what…
Hey, I have a reader challenge for you. I need your take on something. A week ago I told you the city sent a letter to the owner of a car wash on MLK telling him it was planning a project and his property “will be needed for the project.”…
Surfer Blood. Vampire Weekend. Imagine Dragons. Bowling for Soup. Slightly Stoopid. I’ve ignored every single one of these bands for one reason and one reason alone: terrible band names. In this culture, we have so many things competing for our attention at all times that your brain naturally has an…
A scathing federal report on housing policy in Dallas, unveiled this week after two City Council members demanded copies from the city attorney, has stirred local debate about federal desegregation law. But that debate raises two questions. See also: The Feds Say Dallas City Hall Has Promoted Racial Segregation in…
Dear Mexican: I find myself at odds with my peers because I don’t like coffee or coffee drinks. I need to find a substitute beverage that will be tasty yet somehow hip. I’ve heard that Mexicans have magical chocolate drinks called atole, champurrado and chocolate, but I don’t know what…
Last week late one afternoon I had a long chat with Sam Merten, former colleague, now the spokesman for Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, about a letter the city sent to a South Dallas businessman, also a guy I have known for years, threatening to take his business away from him…
Editor’s Note: Shea Serrano is an award-winning music writer and goofball whose recent exploits include Bun B’s Rapper Coloring and Activity Book. In his new column, he writes about his life and times. Here’s what you need to know about Robert Sylvester Kelly: He’s the fucking best. At singing. At…
Sarah Jane Semrad’s first local show was Course of Empire. And so it began. Nowadays, SJ is easily one of the most important and hard-working people in our local music community. She’s marketing director at KKXT-FM 91.7, a station riveted in local music support, where it’s pretty damn satisfying to…
Yesterday in its first official response to a federal investigation that found Dallas guilty of misappropriating funds and furthering segregation, Dallas City Hall said the feds were in on the whole thing themselves from the beginning: “It is important to note that HUD has given final approval of all projects…
You own a business and the land it’s on. You get a letter from the city. It says the city needs your property for a project. Stuffed in the same envelope is a little pamphlet explaining how the city can force you to sell even if you don’t want to…
Bob Dylan is being sued. For supposedly being racist. Could the harmonica enthusiast born Robert Allen Zimmerman — the man whose ejaculate created national treasure Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers — truly be a bigot? Sure, he could be. Or maybe his comment likening Croatians to Nazis was misinterpreted or…
Elected officials and city staff in Dallas colluded over a decade to break federal housing and civil rights laws and promote and worsen racial segregation across the city, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has found, dealing City Hall a scathing, and potentially costly, blow after a…
The Kennedy commemoration is behind us; I have written too much about it. Now I have a confession to make, and I sincerely hope the conspiracy authors and scholars with whom I have been talking over the last year will not take this as a betrayal or a sign of…
So now eight years after this began the city finally shows its hand, and we learn the solution to a very old local riddle: Why in the world eight years ago was the city of Dallas sending armies of cops and code inspectors out to harass two guys who had…
From behind the counter at Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Jerry Kay Weeks greets visitors from China, Germany, Amsterdam, London and Australia…and that was just last week. The Original Ernest Tubb Record Store is a Top-3 must-see in Nashville for music fans. And long before Nashville called to his soul, Tubb…
Editor’s Note: Shea Serrano is an award-winning music writer and goofball whose recent exploits include Bun B’s Rapper Coloring and Activity Book. In his new column, he writes about his life and times. The biggest concern in my life recently is that every show on my DVR is the regular…
I have a column coming up in this week’s newspaper calling Austin radio personality Alex Jones a “Jeremiah,” which is supposed to be a good thing — that is, a prophet calling to awaken his people from their slumber and corruption. But I admit, it’s a tough swallow, even for…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
The only truth-teller Friday was Alex Jones, who said the whole thing was a lie.By now all of the responsible parties are congratulating themselves for the seamless passage of the 50th Kennedy Assassination Anniversary event at Dealey Plaza last Friday and especially for the way the massive security apparatus worked…
1:52 p.m.: Spent the last couple hours freezing my intellect off with Austin provocateur radio host Alex Jones and a gang of about 150 of his “InfoWars” followers who matched to Dealey Plaza chanting “No more lies.” I called ahead to a foreign documentary crew inside the barricades to tell…
Not that the office of district attorney isn’t political anyway. In the old days when the Republican old guard dangled the local district attorney on puppet strings, the office functioned as a kind of collection agency for the well connected. Walk away from a deal with one of those guys,…
Getting pretty stoked, have to admit it, pretty revved up for the 50th Kennedy Assassination Celebration downtown tomorrow. Lots more calls coming in from the curious. Friend called from New Jersey asking if there will be a parade. Had to tell him no, sadly. They were afraid they wouldn’t be…
