Fred Baron, R.I.P.

The plaintiffs’ attorney and major Democratic donor died this afternoon. Our condolences to his family and colleagues.

Steve Blow Is Next in Line for the Rogers Ride

Best day ever for me?

When a Headline Tells the Wrong Story: Piling on DISD

Donald Keith Johnson was arrested at 2 a.m. today for smoking crack while driving. Bad move. You might expect a headline such as: “Man Smokes Crack While Driving.” Or: “Crack Smoker Busted Behind Wheel.” I’m partial to the second, actually. But the DMN went with this headline: “Dallas Teacher Accused of Smoking Crack While Driving.” Because, yes, the guy is a DISD teacher. Or was.

Here’s the thing, though. If, say, an employee of Exxon Mobil were caught doing the same thing, the headline wouldn’t read “Exxon Engineer Accused of Smoking Crack While Driving.” Johnson wasn’t smoking crack at school. He wasn’t caught high at school. I’d argue that his occupation is part of the story and it deserves mention, perhaps even in the lead. But not in the headline.

Again, this is one of the reasons why, if you get your news from the newspaper, you have a more negative impression of the school district than people who get their news from other sources. Remember that study I told you about back in April?

Esquire Makes Local Political Endorsements

Yes, I find it strange, too. But here you have it: Esquire — that renown renowned political magazine (?) – makes its suggestions on how you should vote.

Jeez Lady; Didn’t Your Ma Teach You To Cover Your Mouth?

At a time when everyone’s being urged to stay healthy with a flu shot, a woman we’ll call Coughin’ Karen is doing everything she can to make you sick. A sixty-something housewife sort in slacks and a sweater, this grey-haired menace struck yesterday at the Bed Bath & Beyond store off Park Lane and North Central Expressway. For 20 minutes she threaded the aisles with a shopping cart, coughing and spitting and hacking so loud that everyone in the big store could hear her–and, here’s the rub, never once covering her mouth. Think of all the folks–from the patrons to the cashiers–that she might have infected, then all the family members they infected in turn. I mean, if they’re serious about this Holy War thing, Osama bin Laden and his boyz could learn a thing or two from Coughin’ Karen.

Quick Goes Weekly, Local Folks Impressed

Got a sneak peak last night at the new weekly edition of Quick, which I believe hits boxes today. Passed it around the bar to some young folks. Showed the ladies at home. Passed it around the office today. The consensus was: “Nice.” Everyone agreed the focus on events, nightlife, youth culture, and entertainment is appropriate. Everyone liked the three pages of drink specials. Everyone loved that Gordon Keith, Ben and Skin, and Alibaster were still columnists. Everyone liked the idea of a dating and sex column. Really, not too many complaints. In fact, Ol’ Man Allison nearly spit his coffee. “I LOVE it!” he declared. He also wanted me to mention that earlier this year we had serious internal talks about producing something just like this. We decided that if we did it, the DMN would throw its resources behind a similar product and bury us with money and greater circulation. Looks like we were right.

Highland Park Teaches Kids How to Ride With a Drunk

Merritt Patterson has a story that would be funny if it weren’t true: her second-grader was taught in school how to ride in a car with a drunk driver. In response to the mom who was was recently arrested in the carpool line for DWI? Perhaps.

Channel 5 Doesn’t Like “Bitches” Either

Peppard can’t write the word, and Meredith Land can’t say it:

Leading Off (10/30/08): Digital Latte With Zac Crain

First slurp: Detective Mike Walton has had a bad run of luck lately. While trying to close the case on a string of high-profile Uptown burglaries, Walton first spit the bit on a search warrant request, cutting-and-pasting from an unrelated sexual assault investigation. Now he accidentally included the words “of a homicide” in a subpoena relating to phone records. Somewhere in there, he also wrote another warrant request that didn’t show enough probable cause for a search.

“These are mistakes of the mind, but not of the heart,” said Dallas police Capt. Jack Bragg, who probably has tried to write a crime novel in his spare time at some point. I’d assume it’s about a hard-as-nails ex-police captain, booted off the force for a crime he didn’t commit, scratching out a living as a small-time private investigator. Only now, the case he’s working on and the case that ended his career as a cop have converged, giving him one last chance at redemption — or one more chance to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! Again, that’s just a guess.

Second slurp: Man, the Morning News just can’t get enough of raccoons lately. First, there was the raccoon that staged a home invasion in Kessler Park. You could call him a bandit. Now comes video of a “friendly neighborhood raccoon” that likes playing with dogs. This raccoon is actually called Bandit.

Which reminds me of the time Tim Rogers killed a squirrel. Only because Matt Pulle was talking about that yesterday and kept referring to the varmint T-Roge popped as a “raccoon.” Potato, potahto.

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