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America’s Worst Driver Comes to Dallas

What? You’ve never heard of the Travel Channel show called America’s Worst Driver? The show goes from city to city, pitting contestants against each other in driving challenges. The worst driver in each city gets his car — his own personal car — destroyed. Dallas is one of the eight cities on the show. So intern Ashley Oates conducted an actual journalism-style Q&A with Charlie Parsons, one of the producers of the show, to see what was what:

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St. Mark’s Students Demonstrate Lack of Common Sense

There are dozens of St. Mark’s kids walking through the Arts District right now, where it is approximately 27 degrees. That’s below the temperature at which water freezes. And to a man, they are all wearing shorts. I’m just saying, Cistercian kids would have enough sense to wear long pants. Go, Hawks!

The Perils of Flying

First comes news that American Airlines will start charging coach passengers $8 for blankets and pillows (but you get to take them home and you get a coupon for $10 off a $30 purchase at Bed Bath & Beyond!), then we hear that Southwest is being investigated by the FAA for a third time in two years. I still think it’s safer for me to fly rather than drive, and no one offers me a pillow and blanket when I’m in the car. So, really, I don’t think it’s all that bad.

Leading Off (2/9/10)

1. Former Houston mayor Bill White and hair care magnate (a phrase I enjoy typing) Farouk Shami had what might be their only debate last night in Fort Worth, as they vie for the chance to be ignored by everyone in the governor’s race. If you missed it, there’s a live blog right here.

2. The mayors of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington are all on the same page regarding their priorities for Super Bowl XLV. The weird thing? It’s page 275 from The Da Vinci Code.

3. “An off-duty police officer is accused of hitting two bar workers and pulling a gun on them because they refused to let him back inside after closing.” Kind of getting deja vu, as that’s exactly how my career in law enforcement ended. Now, I just fight crime in my spare time.

A Coming-Out Party for the Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates

Going into tonight’s statewide TV/radio debate between the leading Democratic primary candidates for governor, the line was that former Houston Mayor Bill White would play things cautiously, while businessman Farouk Shami would be spoiling for a fight. That’s not exactly the way things played out, though. Both candidates took full advantage of the opportunity to introduce themselves to an electorate that’s been focused til now mainly on the GOP race. Shami proved himself an earnest if eccentric novelty act, no real threat to the frontrunner. And White, for his part, lived up to his advance billing as a serious, carefully spoken centrist–a business-oriented Democrat who could have a lot of appeal to Texas moderates and independents in the general election.

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Observer: “D Magazine Has Guts”

No, no, no. Not THAT Observer. The other one. The statewide pub. They dug our Simmons story. (They’ve written extensively about Waste Control Specialists’ operations and have a story out now about how WCS disposed of some waste they weren’t supposed to.)

24 DISD Elementary Schools Recognized by State for Success

Last year, the TEA recognized eight distinguished elementary schools in DISD. This year the district gets 24 on the list. It will be interesting to see how the DMN plays this story tomorrow. Think it’ll make front page? Front of Metro? The list of the district’s distinguished schools follows after the jump.

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Waste Control Specialists CEO William Lindquist Didn’t Dig Our Harold Simmons Story

In the February issue of the “print product,” Laray Polk wrote a story about Harold Simmons and one of his companies, Waste Control Specialists (WCS). The story is titled “Dallas’ Evil Genius,” referring to the clever way in which Simmons has figured out how to get the federal government to pay him to clean up his own mess using WCS. I received a letter in response to the story from the CEO of WCS, William Lindquist. As you might imagine, he didn’t like the story. After the jump, you’ll find his letter, with rebuttals from Laray in blue:

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Coming Soon: Wakeboarding on Fish Trap Lake

The Trinity Trust Foundation held a media roundtable and lunch today, which really just served as an opportunity for an update that everyone is still working on all the various components we’re familiar with: the horse park, the Audubon Center, the trails, etc. They’re still doing good things. Though one thing to look out for: The Dallas Watersports Complex. They’ve apparently obtained 13 of 15 permits needed to open, and since they are going to be located on Fish Trap Lake – about a mile from the bridges and the levees and the toll roads and the rest – we are officially allowed to be excited about it. If you want a sneak peak, their cable system is on display right now at the Dallas Boat Show.

Vatican Reporter Warns University of Dallas Against ‘Taliban Catholicism’

John Allen Jr. is a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. You may remember seeing him on CNN frequently when the Catholic Church was picking a new pope following John Paul II’s death.  He visited the University of Dallas (in Irving) last week and delivered what he describes as his “standard stump speech” wherein he talked about extremes among members of the Church– from “Catholicism Lite” to “Taliban Catholicism.” One member of the faculty took issue with his characterization.

Some in the audience chuckled, but others weren’t so amused. One younger faculty member rose during the Q&A period to offer a thoughtful, and heartfelt, challenge:

“To say things with clarity is not to be the Catholic Taliban,” she said, adding that she found the phrase “profoundly offensive.”

“There are no suicide bombers in the Catholic church,” she said, Continue reading "Vatican Reporter Warns University of Dallas Against ‘Taliban Catholicism’"

Welcome “FrontRow” to the D Fold: A Daily Review of the Dallas Arts

We have been hinting for some time about plans brewing for increased arts coverage on D Magazine.com. Now we are proud to announce the launch of that coverage: FrontRow. You could say FrontRow is the latest edition to the D blog family, but we like to think it is a little more than that. The site is a source for reviews and criticism, previews and suggestions, interviews and conversation about what is worth taking note of in the arts in North Texas. We hope to grow it into an ongoing conversation about what is happening in the Dallas arts and what it means for our city. And we hope you will contribute. Twitter about your latest concert experience. Contribute your own reviews to our comments and win free tickets to upcoming events. Tell our critics how utterly wrong you think they are. Check-in and stay tuned as we grow this thing out. In the near future, look for the launch of our band performance series, as well as hosted events, like film screenings and lectures. We hope you find FrontRow useful and engaging. So go ahead – check out the little guy.

How Not To Screw Up Valentine’s Day This Year

Use our gift guide and our dining guide.

Some Dallas Art Fair End Notes

I stopped by the tail end of the Dallas Art Fair Sunday evening. A few notes and observations:

• The Public Trust owner Brian Gibb was sporting a white apron in keeping with his gallery’s butcher shop theme for the fair. He said his big surprise of the weekend was when he served up a couple of Charley Harper prints to former first lady Laura Bush, who was browsing through his space with an entourage of secret service personnel.
• Close to closing, there was still what I thought was a pretty good crowd milling about in the isles and stales, but when I bumped into Billy Zinser of Marty Walker Gallery, he said the place was actually emptying out, and it had been even more crowded for most of the weekend. Two gallerists I spoke to said they expected Sunday’s crowds to taper off, but attendance seemed to stay very strong throughout the fair, and spirits were high. Now let’s just hope people bought stuff.
• Richard Patterson’s piece, which I mentioned earlier, did make it to the show – next to the Warhol and mounted in a Plexiglas case, which fit over the canvas. I imagine the case was there as a play on the idea of painting as object / canvas as sculpture, thus creating a kind of encased pedestal on the wall, but it also looked like those protective screens they put up around über-paintings like the Mona Lisa. Perhaps Patterson’s playing with both ideas – but who knows, maybe there was some practical explanation. I enjoyed the ambiguity. The actual canvas is dominated by a vibrant yellow and orange cat-man-character who is surrounded by a scattering of various colors, tones, images and textures. And that’s where I’ll stop talking about this thing. I’m taking the “I need more time with the work before I say anything about it” out.

Leading Off (2/8/10)

1. It’s the day after Christmas for the North Texas Super Bowl people. So get ready for all of this talk: “As soon as this game is over, we’re on the clock,” said Bill Lively, North Texas host committee president and CEO. “Every tick will sound like an explosion.”

And this: “Not only are we going to be ready, we’re going to be enthusiastic,” Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said last week. “On Monday, the clock really starts. I think we see the potential for this year, and I think more and more we’ll focus on doing such a good job.”

2. Stories like this one just make me think of one thing: Black 47. The band from the Bronx couldn’t play a St. Patrick’s Day concert without a least six off duty cops shooting their pistols in the air. The moral of the story is always the same: stay away from places where booze and cops mix.

3. You always thought UT Dallas was the state school that wasn’t a national sports power house. You obviously don’t think much of chess.

This Is Not a New Dallas Police Cruiser

But you may see it around town in the coming months. It’s the Dallas PD patrol car they’re using for Code 58, the new action comedy series shooting (and set in) Dallas. It stars Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks. More TK.

Carolyn Shamis, Dallas Realtor Extraordinaire, R.I.P.

Just heard that Carolyn passed on last night in her Turtle Creek home, details soon on DallasDirt. (Not liking this week at all, folks.)

DISD, Preservationists Headed to Mediation Over Oak Cliff Christian Church

We’ve got the play-by-play on today’s court hearing over here on our new Oak Cliff blog. Consider it your link to the “right side of the river.”

A Postcard From Rod Dreher

Rod Dreher, you’ll remember, was formerly of the DMN. He left Dallas for Philadelphia a few weeks ago and is now suffering withdrawals from certain of Big D’s pleasures. He explains, after the jump:

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Win a $175 Gift Card to WoodFire Kirby’s

Here’s how. Enter the sweepstakes. While you’re doing that, you might as well pick up a subscription to D Magazine (one year for $18). Hurry up, because this offer is only good through February 14.

Promoting A Female Goddess

St. Vincent pokes fun at the endless gushing over her indie-chick rock guitar-goddess status in her latest video for the song “Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood.” Well, to be exact, St. Vincent just performs in the video. Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein take care of the funny bit, playing two jealous employees at the fictional “Women and Women First” used bookstore. The video is after the jump, as well as a little Sleater-Kinney throwback to spice-up your Friday morning.

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Biggest Poker Game in Texas?

Pokerati brings us news of a poker tournament going down this Sunday at Gilley’s. More than 1,000 people are expected, and the grand prize is a $10,000 entry to the World Series of Poker. Not sure how they’re staying on the right side of the law with this, but shuffle up and deal.

Crush of the Week: Hassie Harrison

While perusing SweetCharity, I was introduced to the young woman you see here, Hassie Harrison, granddaughter of Caroline Rose Hunt. I see from her Facebook page that she’ll graduate from SMU this year. Also, she’s female.

Leading Off (2/5/10)

1. Tim complained that today’s Dallas Cowboys just don’t know how to get in trouble like the players of yesteryear. Then Deon Anderson gets himself arrested for pulling a gun on a man. Now Michael Irvin has been slapped with a lawsuit alleging he raped a woman in Florida. Since many journalists are comfortable defining two instances as a trend, I’m ready to call it: Tim Rogers has cursed America’s Team.

UPDATE: Irvin was fired by ESPN radio.

2. Downtown Dallas doesn’t have enough problems, what with being strangled to death by the highway ring, and all those self-important jaywalkers? Some genius has to drop a water jug off a building for kicks?

3. Calm down, Zac. The Morning News didn’t say “everything’s bigger in Texas.” They said “everything will be bigger.”

New Name Revealed in Geis Murder-Suicide

More than a year later, the Dallas Police Department has released a few detailed reports from the scene of Jeanmarie Geis’ murder-suicide. Included in these reports are interesting aspects of the case that were withheld while I was researching the May 2009 story chronicling the events leading to Geis’ death. While police still have not closed the case or released the results of DNA tests taken from evidence found at the scene, one piece of information really jumped out at me. On the day Jeanmarie and her two children were found shot to death in their North Dallas home, someone scratched the word “Justice” and the name “Spence” into the family’s kitchen cabinets.

Jump to read the reports Continue reading "New Name Revealed in Geis Murder-Suicide"

Choice Cuts: A Dallas Art Fair Preview

The second Dallas Art Fair opens tomorrow at F.I.G., and they let us media types in today to check it out. I’ll share some thoughts and images if you jump with me.

(Photo: The window looking into The Public Trust’s space at the Dallas Art Fair.)

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