NorthPark Crime Reports To Increase By At Least One

In the May issue of D, Trey Garrison wrote a short piece about the rising crime rate at NorthPark, anecdotally kicked off by the tale of Jody Dean’s stolen pickup. How prophetic we turned out to be. Just yesterday morning, according to multiple sources, Eiseman Jewelers was broken into. No reports (yet) on what or how much was taken.

Why You Think Dallas ISD Stinks: Because You Read the Paper

A very alert FrontBurnervian points us to news of a soon-to-be-released study done by the National School Board Association’s Council of Urban Boards of Education. (Deep breath.) The study’s title: “What We Think: Parental Perceptions of Urban School Climate.” The central finding: if parents rely on newspapers for information, their opinions about school safety, teacher quality, and academic success are less positive than those of parents who get their information from other sources. Why? Here’s an example:

[C]rime stories often linked a victim or criminal to a nearby school, even if the crime did not occur on school grounds or those involved were no longer students.

Surely a decent newspaper would never make such a mistake, right? On April 16, the DMN ran a story about a kid who died most likely from a cheese overdose. The online version came with the headline “‘Cheese’ Heroin Likely Killed 18-year-old Dallas Man.” But the print version ran with this headline: “‘Cheese’ Likely Killed W.T. White Student.”

Thing is, the deceased hadn’t been an active student at White for about 18 months. The paper ran a correction, but I’m sure it did nothing to change the perceptions reinforced by the erroneous headline.

Weird. We Were Just Talking About How Crazy Dale Hansen Is.

Didn’t see this when it happened, but I’m glad someone caught it when Dale Hansen suggested the Cowboys sign Osama Bin Laden, just so the sports-blogging world could be exposed to his temperamental lunacy. Says Michael David Smith at AOL’s FanHouse: “I’m not familiar with Hansen’s work, but based on this video clip, I’d have to conclude that he’s unhinged.” No, Mike, I’d say you’re pretty much up to speed.

UPDATE: A fingers-of-fury-having FBvian pointed me toward better video here.

Luke Wilson’s Next Flick

I saw over on Big Screen Little Screen that Luke Wilson’s Henry Poole Is Here is slated for theatrical release August 15. And then I clicked on the link to watch the trailer. Color me concerned.

Dallas City Hall = Pleasant Experience

I went to Dallas City Hall this morning to get a new driver’s license (my wallet was stolen on a recent trip to New  York) and was pleasantly surprised when a lady came around welcoming us to city hall and passing out bottled water and snacks to those waiting. I actually only had to wait about thirty minutes, but I was thirsty and that water was nice to have. I did find it strange that no one bothered to ask why I needed a new license nor did they test my vision.

Re: Recap: Quick’s Big Thing

Follow the jump for a few very blurry pics of last night’s backstage access. And the lovely gentleman who took his wine back. Gotcha!

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Quick’s Big Thing: A Recap

Last night, Quick had its first music awards shindig at the Palladium. A few of the ladies on staff and I went to give it a gander. That’s right: girls’ night out. We’ll sort it all out after the jump.

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Tom Hicks, Sports, and NFL Draft Questions (alternate headline: This One’s For the Ladies)

Those of you who are NFL draft fans (or fans of local sports live blogs in general) may remember Zach from New York, a big contributor to last year’s draft live blog. He’s a frequent FB commenter who now is trying to transform the web site for our dorky poker friends (dork name, The Batfaces) into a more general sports blog. This morning he posted an open letter to Tom Hicks (pictured at left) that I think speaks for all Rangers fans. Worth a read.

Also: You should know that, for the first time in about 10 years, family obligations will cause me to miss the first hour or so of the draft, and a “friend’s” birthday party will cause me to miss much of the second round. This makes me so sad it’s really absurd. To that end, even though I got a lot of great feedback from last year’s draft dorkout, I’m wondering if I want to go through the trouble this year. It’s for your entertainment people. So I ask: Do you want to see the monkey grind his draft organ? Comments are on and stuff.

Re: Byron Nelson Round One

Normally FrontBurner doesn’t work on Saturdays. We’ll make an exception tomorrow (and Sunday). Here is a tease for Anthony Pulido’s report tomorrow:

I will focus on the new 17th, where the majority of cross-armed accountants in Oakley sunglasses will be mumbling things under their breath about the hot girls they are too old to get and cursing the wealthier men in the elite sky boxes above them. Hopefully it will be a much cleaner and friendlier atmosphere than yesterday, but I seriously doubt it. If anything, I will try to see if this 17th green really comes to fruition as being the new party scene.

I was able to use my press pass to get into one of the elite sky boxes on the 17th where I made friends with a nice gentleman in charge of said sky box, who told me I could set up shop there to cover the 17th all week long. But I doubt I could write anything about the people in there because just about everyone in the place probably knows Wick Allison.

Byron Nelson Round One: “There Will Be Blood Booze.”

We don’t know who Anthony Pulido is. But a couple weeks ago, out of the blue, the guy sent Eric a hysterically profane e-mail, demanding that we let him cover the EDS Byron Nelson Championship — by which he meant the newly energized Pavilion — for FrontBurner. Who are we to stand in the way of citizen journalism? So we armed Anthony with press credentials, and cover it he did. He titled his round one report “There Will Be Blood Booze.” Before you jump, a warning: adult language ahead!

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Friday Fun

Happy, Friday, you non-Byron Nelson-watching FrontBurnervians. Today’s Friday Fun is mindless entertainment. It’s called Doeo. The object is to mouse over the Doeos as they pop up on the landscape. The trick is to concentrate and refrain from dancing to the lounge-y, psychedelic-y tunes. Enjoy.

Leading Off

1. Frisco now has more than 100,000 people. This adjusted number came about when the U.S. Census people were finally allowed to count shoppers in Ikea as Frisco residents.

2. North Texas school districts, including Plano and Carrollton-Farmers Branch, are spending more money to educate parents on how they can better prepare their students for school. Do me a favor: read the quotes of the hard-workin’ Stacey Camp, a Plano mother, and tell me, you think she listens more to Rush, Mark Davis, or she just keeps Fox News on in the background all day?

3. On Live 105.3, Jerry Stackhouse tells a great story about why he thinks New Orleans head coach Byron Scott is a punk. When earlier this year Scott told Stack, “Talk to me when you get a ring,” Stack replied, “If I played with Magic and Worthy and Kareem, I’d have a ring, too.” Game 3 tonight.