D

Clinton To Sue To Halt Texas Caucuses?

The Star-Telegram reports that the Clinton camp has “raised the spector of an ‘imminent’ lawsuit” over Texas Democratic caucus rules. That’s one way to keep from losing. To say that it seems desperate is only to note the obvious. At this point the Clinton people may no longer care how their tactics play in public.  

Cityplace Fire

If you’re wondering why there are news ‘copters hovering over Cityplace, it’s because there’s an electrical fire at the DART station there. About 20 passengers were on the train, many were treated for smoke inhalation. No other injuries reported.

Dallas Mavericks to Hire Larry Brown

Well, they will sometime around the middle of June. After last night — and I promise, I’m not knee-jerking — it’s clear the Mavs don’t have enough time to get on the same  wavelength with each other and, more important, coach Avery Johnson. So … I figure they get knocked out in the first round, or squeak into the second. Avery is fired/resigns and Cubes, unable to improve the team substantially through the draft or free agency, does the next best thing and gets a coach with playoff experience and something to prove and somebody who, even better, will quit as soon as it’s time to reload/rebuild. That someone is … me. But he’ll hire Larry Brown anyway.

The News That Simultaneously Makes Children Rejoice and Parents Whimper in Misery

Get your antacids and vomit bags ready—Six Flags opens tomorrow! Park CEO Mark Shapiro gave an interview to the Star Telegram about the business of roller coasters what visitors can expect at the park this season (besides miserably hot temperatures and long lines).

Dallas Fed Predicts Good Things For Texas Economy

The bottom line:

A Texas recession isn’t in the forecast.

For the full report, go here.

Brooke Burns Makes Her Way to Your Television Soon

I’m falling way behind the cultural curve. That’s the only way to explain why I’m just now finding out about Miss Guided, a new sitcom ABC will air in a couple of weeks. It looks different from most other sitcoms in that a) it’s shot with a single-cam, and b) it looks like it might actually be funny. The Dallas connection, if you must know, is that it costars Dallas native Brooke Burns. Check out the trailer and decide for yourself. (Photo from here.)

Paul Burka Is Dumbfounded

The TexMo Senior Executive Editor read Christine Allison’s previously discussed op-ed about her decision to vote Obama. “Words fail me,” he wrote at the outset, surprised that the “[epitome of] bedrock Dallas Republicans” is going to vote Democrat. Commenters to his post seem to be roughly 53 percent from supportive, like-minded individuals, 44 percent from word-of-caution second-guessers, and 3 percent ranting loony. (That direct link might be broken; if so, go here and scroll down to Sunday.)

Morning News Employees Can Rock the Vote — But Not the Caucus

An alert FBvian points us to a post on Romenesko. It’s a memo from George Rodrigue to the staff telling everyone they have to vote for Obama. (Just kidding.)

Good News For America: Talk Radio Audience Is Down

The bombastic broadcasters of fear and loathing have lost 18% of their audience in the last three years. (What does this mean for Talk Radio 570 KLIF?) Meanwhile, NPR is doing fine. The key paragraphs from the Media Audit report after the jump:

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Chris Broxton Does Not Like Avery Johnson

He is the registrant listed for the just-launched Fireavery.com. Tough loss last night. Eric has been sitting on my couch and ranting about it for the past 30 minutes.

Kidd Kraddick Is an “Elfin” Multimillionaire

In the March issue of GQ, Alex Pappademas wrote about his visit to a radio convention. The story isn’t online. But it includes a scene wherein Pappademas met Kraddick. The takeaway? Pappademas described Kidd as “elfin,” said he wears “fancy laceless John Varvatos Converses,” and reported that when he asked Kidd if he was a millionaire, Kidd’s response was: “Oh — multi.” I guess we already knew that, though. Except for the part about the Converses, which I had to look up to know what Pappademas was talking about.

Big, Mysterious Announcement out of DFW Airport Turns out to Be Nothing

I feel so used, so cheap. Yesterday, I put up a post about a supposed big deal out at the airport this morning. You know what the big announcement was? The Texas Ballet Theater will visit China this fall. I guess technically that’s an “international announcement.” But come on, guys.

Friday Fun

A friendly FrontBurnervian passed along this week’s Friday Fun. It’s called Sheep Dash. The object of the game is to tranquilize sheep as they dart across the screen. You’ve got to nab all five in the shortest amount of time. If you tranquilize a non-darting sheep, you get penalized three seconds. Don’t worry about aiming. It’s all about reaction times. And it’s one of those games that you place once, get frustrated, then play approximately 27 more times trying to better your score. Post your best in comments; honor code system applies. Have fun.

February Sweeps Wrapup

My in-box overfloweth with press releases from the local TV stations touting their successes in the just-completed ratings period. I would be a fool to try to deliver any sort of analysis when Uncle Barky has already weighed in.

Leading Off

1. Ashley Benson (left) will star in the Lifetime movie Fab Five, about the McKinney cheerleaders who supposedly ran the squad to the point the cheerleading coach who tried to discipline them resigned in frustration. (Of course, she sold the story to the network, so it only takes her side.) Based on everything I know about this, which is nothing but the photo at left, I give the project a B+.

2. Two cities in North Texas were in the top three in the nation in the category of “fastest-growing labor force.” Congratulations, Frisco (No. 1) and McKinney (No. 3), although what you’re going to do with all those babies, I have no idea. (Hello? Is this thing on?)

3 . Words cannot express how furious I am with Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, who did not play Jason Kidd in the last half-minute of the tight contest with the Spurs, which the Mavs lost, 97-94. For a link, please read the many excellent posts about this at the DMN’s Mavs blog. And then comment away. Please. Vent. For me.

Update: Read Marc Stein’s take. Also, read the take of the great Buck Harvey in San Antonio. And please don’t say this was done because Kidd can’t shoot. His 3-point shooting percentage is higher than both Josh’s and Stack’s this year.

Caption This, Because I Have No Words

Courtesy of Shutdown Corner.

Angie Harmon Hearts John McCain

Dallas native Angie Harmon is speaking out who she’s voting for, and it ain’t Obama (gasp).

“There are a lot more people in L.A. voting for McCain than you think,” Harmon said in the newest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now. “We have an underground Republican Party!”

I would insert a joke here, but I don’t want to offend Jessica.

Arthur Laffer: Demo Win Would Lead To ‘Fiscal Crisis’

Tax-cutting economist Arthur B. Laffer, creator of the “Laffer curve” and the father of supply-side economics, isn’t really a partisan guy. He was an adviser to Ronald Reagan, sure, but he also voted for Bill Clinton twice and calls JFK “as great a president as we ever had.” That said, Laffer predicts that if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton is elected president this year, we’re in for “one of the biggest fiscal crises of my lifetime. … We will face what they call in Hawaii ‘the Big Kahuna,’ because we will be changing the face of America very dramatically.” Jump now to find out why. (more…)

Clinton Campaign Press Office: ENOUGH ALREADY!

Aghaljoiweljelpeskl. I’ve had it! Right now, I count 45 e-mails in my inbox from the Clinton campaign in the last several weeks. And that’s not including the ones I’ve already deleted. I understand alerting voters when The Hill Dawg is making an appearance around town, but do we really need to know that Sean Astin and Grammy Award-winning artists La Mafia are endorsing her? Answer: No. It’s enough to make a girl vote Obama, or even—gasp!—Republican. I have no idea how I got on the e-mail list, but I sure know how to get off it. Un. Sub. Scribe.

Model Ali Michael Gains 5 Pounds, Gets Sent Home

We’ve talked here before about Colleyville gal Ali Michael. Last time, it was about the controversy over her “semi-nude” fashion photos. Now comes this: casting directors for Paris runway shows sent her packing because her legs were “too plump.” I don’t know a whole lot about fashion, but I do know legs. Ali, your gams look great. Keep eating, girl.

McCain At TI

In about one hour, John McCain will speak at a TI employees “Town Hall” meeting. Don’t know if it’s open to the public, but anyone who wants to might try.

UPDATE: What to expect if you do go.

Where We All Should Have Been Last Night

At Ghostbar. Erykah Badu and Dave Chappelle were there, and we’ve got the photo gallery to prove it. Sidenote: Nice work, Willie Nixx. Oh, and hi Amber Campisi.

James Fantroy Guilty

So reports the DMN. He shoulda used the Clay Davis defense.

Welcome to Dallas, Brad Richards

As FrontBurner’s Resident Sports Expert®, I’m very excited about the Stars’ latest trade. Why? Because at 27, Brad is in the prime of his career. He helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win a Stanley Cup in 2004, scoring 12 goals and a league-leading 26 in 23 post-season games. He set an NHL record that post season with seven game-winning goals, earning him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He’s a solid two-way center who plays well at either end of the ice. Oh, and also, he looks like this:

Oh, and welcome to you, too, Johan Holmqvist. Excited to have you here also.

How “March Madness, Dallas Edition” Was Won

In the Pulse section of our March issue, we included an NCAA Tournament-style bracket pitting various Dallas-related people, places, and things against one another. After the jump, a look at how the tourney shook out. (Note: I can’t find the link, or else it hasn’t been posted. So grab a copy and cozy up to your computer, CueCat-style.)

UPDATE: Here’s the bracket.

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