NYC, GET READY FOR THE REAL DEAL

Good news for all of you Dallasites who struggle to find good Tex-Mex in the Big Apple. By this time next year, you’ll be able to order an El Rey or a Carolina’s at Mi Cocina without having to fly home. Mico just called to say, “It’s official. New York City is the center of the culinary universe and we plan to be there.” Mico leaves next week to scout for locations around “Park Avenue south between the 20s and 30s.” Best restaurant idea I’ve heard in a long time. (And I know Allison H. and David B. will be thrilled.)

MEDIA NEWS THAT ISN’T ABOUT THE DMN

Morning News employees aren’t the only ink-stained folk in Dallas who are unsure where they’ll be working in the coming months. Today comes news that Spirit, the inflight of Southwest Airlines, will no longer be published in Dallas (or Fort Worth, actually). More, for Those Who Care:
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DMN BUYOUTS

Haven’t yet seen a final list on who’s taken the buyouts at the Snooze or which have been accepted. But this is the most recent posting, i.e. yesterday, on the not-official buyout blog. According to this, an official list will “probably not” be released.

Update: A meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. or so this afternoon at the paper regarding the buyouts.

Update update: Another FBvian says that all departments are having meetings today but that managers won’t discuss buyouts at this time, which takes us back to the original information in this post about lists–”probably not.”

LIKE, THE NEW AUDIENCE

Speaking of toilets, I hate to admit it, but this is, like, the totally coolest thing I’ve seen on Unfair Park in maybe 4ever. Word. But, it, like, freaks me out to think that we’ll all be texting like this before I even have time to die for it. Even more freaky is that it makes a county commissioners court meeting sound interesting, a heretofore unknown phenomenon.

GOD ENDORSES DON HILL

So reports Gromer Jeffers Jr. over on the Bold Types blog. (And I’m filing for hazardous-duty pay for visiting that site.)

RE: WHO, US?

According to that Forbes list, we’re not even the global warming capital of Texas. That would be Houston.

RE: SU NOMBRE

In the current Dallas Observer, Matt Pulle notes that a Rose by Any Other Disingenuous Name has also alienated Democrats for her campaigning practices. Should be a slam-dunk to get “Rosita” off the ballot.

On the up side, this tiff indicates to me that the Hispanic vote in Dallas County carries increasing weight despite previously low turnout for that demographic.

WHO, US?

A FrontBurnervian reports (yes, you are everywhere) that at a benefit concert in Southampton last weekend, Don Henley introduced himself by saying:

“I’m from Dallas, Global Warming Capital of the World.”

As much as I’d like us to be capital of something, this honor belongs to Linfen in Shanxi Province. We only come in as 8th in the U.S.

RE: SU NOMBRE

A quick-acting Frontburnervian solves the problem:

I think it’s obvious that Kinky Friedman would have to be known as “Quinquito.”

RE: PERRY ATTACKS PARKS

A parks-loving FBvian thinks I should amend my previous post about needing “better” stewardship:

With Perry in charge, I’d say Texas deserves SOME stewardship. What he proposes is neglect.

SU NOMBRE NO ES “ROSITA”

County Commissioner Ken Mayfield has filed suit against Democratic opponent Rose Renfroe for listing her name on the ballot as Rose “Rosita” Renfroe. Texas Election Law requires that a nickname on the ballot has to be one that the person has “been commonly known by” for at least three years. Ms. Renfroe–a fixture in Dallas politics–ran as plain ol’ Rose in 2002.

Ms. Renfroe’s ploy could lead to a massive bout of nick-naming. How about Rick “Ricardo” Perry? Or Carol “Carolita” Strayhorne? (But how to translate Kinky?) Of course a Rose by any other name is still plain ol’ Rose.

PERRY ATTACKS PARKS AGAIN

It’s now a fair question whether Gov. Rick Perry just ignores the Texas state park system or actively hates it. The parks, and the Parks and Wildlife Department, have been suffering funding cuts throughout the Breck Model’s tenure, to the point that many of the state’s parks are in serious disrepair. Now, according to the Star-Telegram, which has been a bulldog in covering the parks debacle, the governor’s office has actually been trying to sell off 400 acres of park land at Eagle Mountain Lake in Tarrant County. To developers, energy and oil companies, whatever.

Keep in mind that Texas parks lands are part of only about 6 percent of all land in Texas that is publicly owned, and 3 percent of that is for right-of-ways. So Perry wants to take from the 3 percent of public lands (mainly parks and historic sites) what little is already there.

Texas deserves better stewardship.

WHITE ROCK BRIDGE STRIKES AGAIN

The low trestle bridge on Garland Road near the White Rock spillway did the can-opener special on another 18-wheeler this morning. DART is going to remove the bridge, but not quite soon enough for close-cropped truck drivers.

THE HIGH-SPEED DATA WAR IN NORTH TEXAS

Until a tech-savvy FrontBurnervian passed along this article from Light Reading, I had never heard of AT&T’s “Project Lightspeed.” Nor did I know what a “cabinet farm” was. But now I do. Essentially, Comcast, AT&T, and others are installing lots of fancy equipment in North Texas, trying to bring data into houses as fast as they can.

STUART GENTLING, R.I.P.

Fort Worth-based artist Stuart Gentling died yesterday of a massive heart attack.

GREEN ROOM NOT CLOSED

A tip-passing FrontBurnervian had suggested otherwise, but the tip … it is false. Green Room = open for business. Call 214-748-7666 if you don’t believe me. And make a reservation while you’re at it.

LULAC GOLF

Where can you talk about the Mega March and ride in a golf cart at the same time? Here.

®

Take that, you trademark-infringing bastards. FrontBurner now has the “R” thingy.

TARANTINO’S CLOSES

Just got off the phone with Peter Tarantino. It’s true: he’s shuttered the restaurant’s doors. A sad day for the fiance and me. Tarantino’s was our favorite restaurant. Peter says his place never had significant capital behind it. The summer’s heat has been brutal. So, too, the reputation about Deep Ellum, that it remains a violent, thug-heavy neighborhood. “It just isn’t true,” Tarantino says. “The cops have really cleaned it up. People need to know that.”

RE: LAWYERS TO ROCK HARD

From the (trademarked) FrontBurner Nation:

“Local Attorneys Drop Suits for Poverty”

“Local Lawyers Dodge Rap in Jam for Poor”

“Lawyers Drop Their Briefs to Rock”

NEW MAGAZINE COMING TO DALLAS

It’s been a couple months since someone launched a magazine in Dallas. So into the void leaps ENVY Magazine, from the same folks who brought you ENVY Houston Magazine. In an e-mail going around, an ENVY representative says:

If you don’t already know, ENVY Magazine is launching in Dallas Sept. 7th and we will be on street boxes all over the city….the first Thurs of every month. Think of a young, hip D Magazine…that’s free! Inside will be interviews with Beyonce, Kinky Friedman and parties galore!

Yes, well, good luck with all that. Beyonce, Kinky, and parties galore. That is quite an editorial mix. No question.

I will say this for ENVY. They got themselves a MySpace page with a video of some very hot chicks wearing hardly any clothes doing aerobics. Two thumbs up.

RE: LAWYERS TO ROCK HARD

It’s a tough one. Tempted to go with Tort You Like A Hurricane. Maybe Sue-Sue-Sussudio. I’ll cop out and go with the easy choice: Scales of Justice.

WHY I’M WRONG

Here’s why Alabama seniors beat the national average on the SAT exam: not very many seniors even took the test. Meanwhile, over in Georgia, they’re exultant. I’ll be quiet now.

FREE DRINKS FOR FORMER DMN EMPLOYEES

A friend of FrontBurner who feels for the folks at the paper has arranged a deal for you guys. Tomorrow at NOW, if you show your Morning News ID and mention FrontBurner, you’ll get half off your bar tab from 5 to 6:30. We’re on deadline, so, alas, we won’t be able to join you. But here’s what we’d do if we could be there: order the expensive stuff.

RE: HOTLINE

Bless its heart, I don’t believe Hotline’s numbers for a second. For example, look at the SAT figures for Alabama (37) and Mississippi (33) next to those of Georgia (6), Florida (4), and South Carolina (3) — whatever these numbers mean, which isn’t at all clear.

Alabama (and I don’t say this just because I’m from Georgia) does far better than any New England state? Fat chance. Something’s screwy.