RE: ‘JESSICA’S LAWS’

Wow, that didn’t take long to hear from the damned. After the jump, the most cogent response. (more…)

ONE THING THAT’S WRONG WITH ‘JESSICA’S LAWS’

It would increase already stringent penalties for some first-time child sex offenders. I’m not an advocate for sex offenders by any means, but I do know that in Texas a 17-year-old high schooler who has sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend is a sex offender for life the second she tells the cops. And there’s no defense available to him in court.

MARK CUBAN WILL NOT OWN THE CHICAGO CUBS

I know what you’re thinking: who said he would? Well, this afternoon, Radar Online, a magazine that’s folded twice already, though not yet for reasons of credibility. Anyway, the Chicago Tribune says there’s no truth to the report. Too bad. As a lifelong Cubs fan–man that would have been sweet to see someone who actually cares about the franchise owning it.

When I told Rod a couple hours ago about the Radar piece, he had a different reaction. “The only thing separating Cubs from Cubes is one letter. And that letter stands for ‘ego’.”

CHANGES AT THE MANSION?

A tip-passing-along FrontBurnervian passes along a tip: Shane Krige, managing director at the Mansion, is leaving to take over similar duties at the Plaza in NY.

Nice.

LINEUP FOR AFI DALLAS

Perhaps you saw in the print version of FrontBurner that the AFI film festival is coming to Dallas. Or maybe you’ve heard it elsewhere. If not, you should know. It’s a big deal. We’ve been remiss in announcing that the lineup is out and easy to navigate thanks to their handy Quickguide. Check it out. (That is, check out both the Quickguide and the festival itself.)

DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART CFO RESIGNS

Remember when we broke the news about the financial kerfuffle over at the DMA? Sure you do. Well, I checked in with them to see how things were coming. Here’s what the museum has to say:

The resulting detailed investigation is complete. It revealed some personal charges made on the DMA corporate credit card that were not repaid in a timely manner. The amount was considered immaterial and it is being reimbursed in full.

Chief Financial Officer Robert E. Robertson, who has been on paid administrative leave during this investigation, has resigned from the Museum effective February 12, 2007. Melissa Henderson, CPA, has joined the DMA management team as interim Chief Financial Officer.

We are gratified that our system of checks and balances was effective in disclosing this inappropriate business practice and we have put additional safeguards in place.

Hmm. “Charges not repaid in a timely manner”? Is that like what Gloria Orapello did?

VIKING TO PUBLISH, ROB ALLYN TO WRITE…

…the memoirs of Vincente Fox. Here’s the announcement: (more…)

BACK TO YOU, PAUL

RE: JENKENS & GILCHRIST

Somone who knows someone who’s an insider at Jenkens & Gilchrist passed the following email along to FrontBurner. As the someone pointed out to us, the email paints a different picture than the article in today’s DMN:

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POLICE, STING TO ROCK DALLAS

Nancy, since we’re sharing rock star photos, I thought I’d use the upcoming Police show as an excuse to drop this hot pic of Sting on you (members of the Police Fan Club can buy tickets tomorrow to the June 26 show at the AAC; the rest of the general public has to wait till Saturday). The pic was taken backstage at Smirnoff. Sting smelled really good. And, as you can see, we had a contest to see whose biceps were bigger. Sting won.

OH, THE INJUSTICE OF JUSTICE

I have my doubts about Dallas DA Craig Watkins on a lot of issues, but one thing I’m liking is his stand on DNA evidence review. I’m all about the DNA. (That could probably be phrased better.) Anyhow, Watkins may be more alone in his position than he thinks among prosectors. Texas district attorneys — including some former Dallas prosecutors — aren’t happy at all about what Watkins is doing, and they don’t like criticism of their DNA destruction practices. (Tough toenails.) Scott Henson over at Grits for Breakfast has the low down.

RE: JENKENS & GILCHRIST

More fallout from the possible/rumored dissolution of J&G. Or maybe it’s just coincidence. An insider FrontBurnervian sends this:

As a follow-up to your posts yesterday regarding the demise of Jenkens, it may also be interesting to some to note that the (non-Jenkens) lawyer largely responsible for Jenkens’ dissolution–David Deary–is also causing another firm to “dissolute” in the coming weeks as well: his own. And it’s curious that the April 1 dissolution of his own firm comes a mere 2 days prior to the payment date for the Jenkens settlement.

Deary was the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the class-action suit against J&G, the suit that netted them $81.55 million. The insider says Deary is headed to another firm and taking a couple of associates with him.

D MAGAZINE MAKES PRETTY MAGAZINES, WINS AWARDS

You probably don’t read the magazine NewsStand Resource. But it’s a national trade publication that covers the newsstand industry. The magazine just handed out awards for best covers in several categories. Guess who won the Best in Show award, across all circulation groups. Go ahead. Guess. Oh, okay, I’ll tell you: we did, with our “Parched” cover, from September 2006. A sloppy kiss and a high-five for Todd Johnson, our design director, and Elizabeth Lavin, our staff photographer who shot the image. It’s a privilege to work with them.