Articles for August, 2005
MORE REASONS NOT TO REMOVE D’ANGELO LEE
Another media report for the City Council to ignore, from CBS11:
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SPEAKING OF RACISM
It really was inappropriate for Laura Miller to call for D’Angelo Lee’s removal from the Plan Commission. I mean, all we’ve got is media reports. Media reports! That’s all!
[shaking head slowly]
CLEAR PROOF THE FBI IS RACIST
The man you see here is Ruben Bohuchot, the DISD technology chief whose shady practices the FBI is investigating. Have a good look at Bohuchot. What do you see? No, not the jowls. Yes, that’s right! He appears to be Latino! So the FBI not only has it out for black people, but they also want to run the Latinos out of town. I ask you: WHEN DO THE RACE RIOTS BEGIN?
RE: SMELL OF BURNING
An resourceful FBvian points us to the “active incidents” page of Dallas Fire-Rescue, which said, “One-alarm structure fire at Bedford and Esmalda in West Dallas.”
WHAT’S THAT I SMELL BURNING
A FBvian in the Bank of American building says that from their windows, looking west, they can see a major fire burning. I don’t see any news of it online yet. Anyone?
FREE TICKETS FOR KATRINA VICTIMS
An annoucement from the Texas Rangers:
The Rangers are offering free tickets to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama residents for the rest of the season who may be in the area to escape Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Residents of those states may present their drivers license at the box office to receive complimentary tickets for their families.
RE: CUBAN AS REAL ESTATE INVESTOR
Yesterday, I posted an unfounded rumor about Mark Cuban buying land by the Greyhound Station. I was right. But I was wrong. Turns out Cuban did invest in some real estate, but it’s the Greyhound property on Lamar, not the area by the bus station. Nope. Cuban’s plot is across the street from Gilley’s in the ever-broadening entertainment district around SouthSide. No word yet on plans for the property. Developing.
RE: OBSERVATIONS ABOUT KATRINA KOVERAGE
A Sooner FBvian defends James Aydelott:
Do NOT screw with James. I went to junior (Lewis and Clark rules!) and senior high (Go Cardinals! BOMAR! Whooo!) with him. He’s been reporting the weather as long as I’ve known him. Even in eighth grade, you would ask him, “James, what’s the weather going to be like tomorrow?” and he’d do an entire forecast. Good man. Not as hot as Kristine Kahanek at Channel 11, but hotter than Troy Dungan.
RE: JAY MCGRAW
Someone who’s actually seen Jay’s Renovate My Family says Erica made an appearance on the show. Sure enough, she and her sisters are “construction team experts,” which means they run around wearing hard hats. Erica’s other credits include “Triplet 1″ in Battle Dome, “Triplet 2″ in Juwanna Mann, and “a Hollywood Chick” in Nudity Required.
CRIME WATCHING
A dog-having FrontBurnervian wants to know what was up last night:
I was wondering if you had heard any good police gossip… So I know I live near Reverchon Park and all, but I prefer to call it the Gallery District of Uptown. Sounds less sketchy that way. Anyway, last night I was taking my dogs out to do their business at little on the late side, probably 11:30ish, when I saw two police helicopters with search lights flying around. I was outside no more than 2 or 3 minutes when one of the search lights stopped on me. Very ufo. Heard anything that would warrant two helicopters?? I need to know if I should be looking for dead bodies by the creek.
Is someone knows something, let me know
JAY MCGRAW MAKES PAPA PROUD
Dr. Phil’s son Jay McGraw was single. He won’t be for much longer. Jay proposed to Erica Dahm on Friday with a 5-carat ring that he designed. Erica is one of the Dahm triplets, who were Playboy playmates in December 1998. You can find the picture of her in its context here (photo by Chad Doering). She’s the one in the middle. No. Wait. She’s on the left. Or is she the one on the right? Doesn’t matter.
(Thanks to a news-scanning FrontBurnervian for the link.)
RE: RANGERS CHEATING
A baseball-watching FBvian shoots down the conspiracy and suggests why Buehrle might have floated it in the first place:
For various reasons, Ameriquest is more of a park for hitters than, say, U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago and others; Ranger road games, as is the case with everyone else, include interleague games, which means pitchers hit, which means lower batting average on the road for them, as well as for other hitters who aren’t used to the NL; David Dellucci, Gary Matthews Jr., Sandy Alomar Jr. and Laynce Nix have higher batting averages on the road than at home this year, now why are they being screwed in this conspiracy? Kevin Mench has 12 HRs at home, 11 on the road. Dellucci has 10 HRs at home, 12 on the road. Michael Young has 10 HRs at home, 9 on the road. Rod Barajas has 4 HRs at home, 9 on the road. Matthews has 8 HRs at home, 8 on the road. The Rangers as a team have 127 doubles at home, 125 on the road.
Name one CHW starting position player hitting above .280? Can’t? That’s because there isn’t one. Compared to the rest of the AL, CHW’s offense is more or less ranked in the lower half of a number of categories. However, Buehrle’s team is in first place and the Rangers are not. Why the hell is Buehrle complaining? Maybe it’s something along the lines of he got his ass kicked yesterday.
A NEW DALLAS STAR
Adam just showed me an amazing book he’s reviewing for the print edition of FrontBurner called Through the Eyes of the Gods: An Aerial Vision of Africa, published by National Geographic. The photographer is none other than Bobby Haas, once the other half of Hicks & Haas and still a well-known investor in financial circles. But that’s like saying that Charles Ives was well known as an insurance executive. Like the composer, Haas has found his true calling, and his is behind a camera. Wait ’til you see these photos. Wow.
RE: GULF COAST RELIEF
Gotta love those FrontBurnervians. Here’s a contact for anyone interested in heading east to help with the rebuilding effort, which will be massive. S.A.V.E. is a stereo/audio company, but its president organizes groups of relief workers and is looking for folks who will sign on to assist in rebuilding. Call Tim Boyd, president of S.A.V.E. Office: 972-226-6100 Cell: 972-880-7470
COME CLEAN, RON PRICE
One FrontBurnervian wonders aloud about one of our school board members:
Ron Price admitted last week to the FBI and the News that D’Angelo Lee approached him with some under-the-table land deal that he refused to accept. Wow, that is first-hand knowledge. Would you think Mr. Price would do his civic duty and file a first-hand knowledge ethics complaint against Mr. Lee? Fat chance but a little public ridicule ala Saul Alinsky tactics would do Mr. Price good. One would have thought Mr. Price would not have waited until the FBI interviewed him last week to speak out against Mr. Lee. One would have thought he would have reported Mr. Lee to the FBI as soon as Mr. Lee offered that bad deal to Mr. Price, right?
Sounds right to me. What do you have to say to that, Ron?
BILL BLAYDES DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW
One of the puzzlements of the current FBI brouhaha is why unaffected City Council members have been so silent. They haven’t seemed insulted or angry or even upset. Now we’re starting to learn why. Seems other Council members have found their own, perhaps more sophisticated, ways to dip their fingers in the honeypot. Bill Blaydes, for example, represents the DISD in property acquisitions. Think there might be some conflicts with the City of Dallas? Sixty-eight times Blaydes has failed to file disclosure forms specifying his conflicts, even though he has had them. Why? Maybe he doesn’t want you to know why, and that’s why he hasn’t filed.
By the way, the newspaper talks about “city ethics rules.” Let’s get the terminology straight. These are city ordinances. That means they are laws. City Council people like Bill Blaydes are violating the law–and neither the City Attorney nor the District Attorney is doing anything about it.
RE: OBSERVATIONS
A news-watching FBvian says:
Jane McGarry also mispronounced “Biloxi,” even though the reporter she was throwing to said it correctly every time.
Heck, maybe I got my anchors confused. I was flipping pretty quickly. Apologies to Hays if that’s the case.
RE: SIXTH FLOOR
Nicola Longford has definitely been named executive director of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The recall message was the result of user error. No worries.
COWBOYS AND THEIR ENDORSEMENTS
Need a little help, FrontBurnervians. We’re trying to recall every Cowboy (current or former) who has done an endorsement. The more obscure the better. Randy White and Safari Waters Ranch, for example. If they’ve done a radio ad or a TV ad or a print ad for someone, we want to hear about it. E-mail me with your suggestions.
WELL SHIVER ME TIMBERS
Welcome back, Wick.
WELL SHUT MY MOUTH
District judge Nathan White apparently doesn’t think citizens should question the police. He issued a gag order to prevent the family of Edgar Vera from raising hell over his death at the hands of Allen police, who had arrested him for–hmmmm–a seat-belt violation. What’s worse, attorney Steve Salazar, representing the Veras, seems to think that’s okay. I guess he’s more worried about having to practice in front of the judge again than about his client’s First Amendment rights. There is no lawsuit. There is no criminal indictment. There is nothing to gag. Somebody needs to deliver this overreaching judge a slap on the wrist.
OBSERVATIONS ABOUT LAST NIGHT’S LOCAL KATRINA KOVERAGE
My Fair Lady and I have relatives in New Orleans (whom we still haven’t heard from), so I was eager to learn as much as I could last night about the storm. After flipping through the local newscasts, I offer these insights, for what they’re worth:
–James Aydelott has an unfortunate name. It’s pronounced “ate a lot,” more or less. “James ate a lot in the weather center …” Not good when people are dying.
–Also not good when people are dying: bragging about your own flesh wounds. J.D. Miles wrapped up his report by melodramatically saying, “A piece of flying metal hit me and my camera man. I have a gash on the back of my head and possibly a concussion.” But he never showed us the “gash.” And, worse yet, he made a pun about “the Big Easy breathing easy” after the storm passed.
–Note to Heather Hays: the city in Mississippi is “Beh luk see,” not “Beh lock see.”
–Jane McGarry insists on calling thieves “crooks” and referring to cars “wrecking into” things. Is it just me?
–I love the Southwest Airlines anti-Wright spot about the outdated laws. They must run that thing on every channel three times during the 10 o’clock news.
ARE THE RANGERS CHEATING?
Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle thinks so. God, I hope not. To cheat and still suck so bad would be really embarrassing.
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