The response to my article here last week about school reform proves one thing. I’m doing a poor job presenting school reform. The entire issue, in fact, is being framed in the responses to the article as a kind of combination civil rights question and job security dilemma for teachers…
Everybody in school politics always says it’s all about the children. That’s almost never true. If you don’t believe me, you should have been there last night. At a spirited, sometimes cantankerous meeting in the auditorium of James Madison High School in South Dallas, prominent black elected officials, former officials…
The op-ed page of our only local daily newspaper is full of talk today about the national Republican Party’s big overnight discovery and wake-up call: in a document called the “Growth and Opportunity Report” published by the Republican National Committee, Republicans are being informed that they are reviled, feared and…
Every year something happens that nearly prevents me from going to South by Southwest. This year was no different. A professional obligation on Thursday was threatening my travel plans, and I was considering giving it all up, joining in the chorus, of “It’s too crowded,” or whatever and staying in…
Welcome to Alice Column, in which Alice Laussade writes stories about things on (roughly) the same day of (roughly) every week, making it (roughly) a column. Got an idea for a column? Start your own blog and write it up, you lazy shit. Lots of people have lots of questions…
Dear Mexican: I’m living in Mexico part of the year. I’m learning Spanish but can’t say I understand or speak it well. I’m curious about a phrase on a T-shirt in an expensive shop in Puerto Vallarta. It had interesting artwork on it and the phrase “Soy Como la Chingada…
Sure, historic preservation is a great idea, if people could just decide what history to preserve. In a recent decision to make East Dallas homeowners rip out native plants and replace them with sod, the Dallas Landmark Commission has come down solidly on the side of stupid history. The commission…
Photo by Allan Hayslip Known for his sophistication as a DJ, Reid Robinson (a.k.a. Woodtronic) gets groovy, laid back gigs spinning at spots like the Perot Museum and outdoor shows in Dallas Arts District. Not to say he can’t pump (and punk) it up if needed…you can also see him…
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has scored points in disparate places with his man’s man campaign against woman-beating, from New York Magazine to the metro page of today’s Dallas Morning News — all of it much deserved, if you ask me. A guy like Rawlings, Class of ’76 at Boston College…
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…
On the op-ed page of The Dallas Morning News this morning, two local epidemiologists with national/international reputations weigh in for more aerial spraying to combat West Nile disease. Robert Haley, the Gulf War Syndrome expert, and James Luby, an expert on St. Louis encephalitis at UT Southwestern, call for some…
Well thank goodness Friday has finally arrived so we can have a little privacy here on the lawn, without all those damned readers butting in. Normally when they’re around I don’t like to do inside baseball, because, you know, it just makes them get all anxious and nattery. Then that…
Story in The Dallas Morning News this morning touts Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington as the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country between July, 2011, and some unspecified date in 2012. Hold on, Dallas. That’s not us. In fact the sad saga of our own city’s growth, not mentioned in the story,…
Welcome to Alice Column, in which Alice Laussade writes stories about things on (roughly) the same day of (roughly) every week, making it (roughly) a column. Got an idea for a column? Start your own blog and write it up, you lazy shit. Allergies are total assholes. They’re bigger assholes…
Dear Mexican: I would be interested in hearing your point of view regarding our raza always voting for someone with a Latino last name, without even considering if the vato/vata is qualified for a particular office. Often I hear comments like, “If he is Latino, it makes up for all…
A few weeks ago I had coffee with a guy from another state who was here looking into some local political issues. At one point he kind of bent forward across the table and said in a lowered voice, “I understand there used to be some group here called ‘The…
Showing up to see a starving local rock band from the neighborhood is a nice gesture within itself, but to show up ready to work…for free…well, that’s support worth noting here. The DFW rock scene, specifically, has been pretty lucky to have James Villa showing up the last 12 years…
So this is easy, isn’t it? Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins himself will prove whether he’s a crook or not by refiling or not refiling his big case against Al Hill III. What’s it going to be? Either he does follow through on his threat to refile, because he…
So Trinity East, the gas drilling company that did a secret deal with the Dallas city manager to drill on city-owned parkland, is threatening to sue an environmental group because the group demanded more transparency about previous drilling operations. The drilling company has threatened to sue the Texas Campaign 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…
There are signs — hints, indications, wisps of smoke in the wind — suggesting we might get out of the JFK 50th observations in one piece after all. I’ve been quick to suggest Dallas would blow itself to smithereens with a bizarre compulsion to shut down free speech at Dealey…
So who is this Democrat judge, Lena Levario, who not only stands up to Democratic Party golden boy Craig Watkins, our embattled district attorney, but holds him in contempt of court? Does she not understand the most basic tenet of Dallas County Democratic Party philosophy — that Dr. King died…
