Canton Responds. Colbert, Your Move.

Remember when Stephen Colbert dissed Canton? The tiny town responded on Friday and I missed it. If you missed it, too, here it is/was. (Hey look, it made HuffPo.) Those who care know The Colbert Report airs tonight on Comedy Central at 10:30. I wonder if there will be a retort (pronounced re-TOR, natch, cause that’s how I do).

New Dallas ISD Grading Policy: This Whole Thing Has Been a Matter of Miscommunication

On Friday afternoon, I called Dallas ISD spokesman Jon Dahlander to get him to explain this new grading policy, which was starting to make my head spin. Dahlander said he needed some time to familiarize himself with the new policy, a draft copy of which had been published. He said he’d get back to me (which I knew he would). So I told myself to reserve judgment until I heard the full story. Then, Saturday, Superintendent Michael Hinojoso seemed to defend what appeared to me indefensible. Still, I waited. But Sunday brought J-Floyd’s column, and I just couldn’t hold my fingers any longer. I twisted off.

I should have waited one more day. Because I just got off the phone with Dahlander, who did a lot to clarify this situation in my mind. The draft version of the policy was passed to the DMN before it was ready for public dissemination. The district offices were closed Friday, so clarification didn’t come as quickly as it should have. Below, you’ll learn the truth. In short, though, this entire thing has been overblown.

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Borders Books & Music in Allen Is Big. Really Big.

A while ago, in my semi-super-awesome sum-up of area bookstores, I made mention of the Borders on Lovers Lane clearing out the center of the store for some music download stations. Turns out, Borders was just getting started. In yesterday’s DMN, Maria Halkias gave the lowdown on the beefed-up bookstore in Allen. Someday, I’ll roadtrip up there to give a firsthand account.

SMU Law Students Love Them Some SMU Law

Texas Lawyer asked students to evaluate their educational experience at the nine ABA-accredited law schools in the state. Guess which school got the best reviews? Yup.

Lisa Garza’s Actions Speak Louder than Her Words

Yes they do.

Oh, Goodie. Another Thing For The Magazine Industry To Worry About.

Want to read magazines page by page without having to buy them? Welcome, Mygazines.com, wherein user scan publications, upload them, and share for all to see. Of course, magazine publishers (and editors and art directors and sales people and production people and circulation types and all other magazine employees) aren’t so enthused.

Not a Good Week to Be a DMN Scribe

Wednesday is the deadline to accept buyouts at the Dallas Morning News. On that day, managers will discover that they are way short of their buyout goal. That means lay-offs will come shortly thereafter. Coming on the heels of the TexMo layoffs, where Sam Gwynn was let go and everyone had to take a salary cut (the company said 2 percent, but staffers there say it’s as much as 10 percent for some folks), it ain’t a good week for the wordsmiths. How are we doing within the D Empire, you ask? Great. Awesome. Just working away, under my desk, typing with one hand, holding onto my effing hat with the other.

Update: I should have pointed you to this website, which is keeping track of the buyout as it unfolds.

Petition to Save Ross Avenue

An e-mail sent by a member of one of Dallas’ more well-known families (think ornithology) made its way to me over the weekend. It asks people to sign the petition to save Ross Avenue. I sympathize and was thinking of signing, but then I saw the group’s slogan: “Let’s preserve Dallas’ history and the name of one of its’ oldest streets, Ross Avenue.” The first two apostrophes? Solid work. But the third got away from them. So Im’ still undecided.

Leading Off (8/18/08)

1. Central Dallas Ministries has an interesting way of combating homelessness: giving people homes, via its Destination Home project. I’m fairly sure I’ve just ordered a cold, tall glass of haterade from some commenters.

2. Are you wondering what became of all those downtown parks the city was talking about a few years ago? They’re still coming. When? I’m going to play it safe and go with “eventually.”

3. Nastia Liukin missed out on another gold medal, settling for silver in the individual uneven bars final after a tiebreaker I still don’t fully understand. She also failed to medal in having a name I can type correctly the first time.