Articles for May, 2009
What James Moroney Thinks About the Future of Journalism
If you missed what he said yesterday to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, here’s a PDF of his speech. Sounds to me like testing the waters for a newspaper bailout.
Update: I was half-kidding about the newspaper bailout idea. It’s funny because it’s true.
Leppert’s “Vote No” Radio Ad Wants You to “Fight the Powers That Be”
We’ve all seen Mayor Tom Leppert’s “Vote No” commercial—stark white backdrop, piano softly playing in the background (you know, this video), but I hadn’t paid much attention to the Leppert ads airing on local radio stations. This morning on my way to work, I was listening to KRNB, and immediately following Brian McKnight’s “Anytime” (you know you like it—and he’s playing at the Meyerson July 8) came an ad from Leppert. A kind of ’70s funk/groove played in the background as he urged folks to vote no and, at the end of the ad, the lyrics to the background music were: “Fight the powers that be.” Really, Tom Leppert? Really? Since when is the mayor of Dallas not synonymous with “the powers that be”?
“Dewhurst Bill” Will Allow You to BYOB to Any Restaurant: And Dallas Restaurateurs Are Mad
The Dallas Restaurant community is fightin’ mad. We’re having a great discussion on a new liquor law that could ruin their businesses. It is dangerously close to becoming a reality. Somebody call the New York Times.
What George W. Bush Thought of His D Magazine Cover
Wick Allison Pulls Himself Out of the River Long Enough to Write Something — For the DMN
Every year around this time, Wick disappears for about a month to go fly-fishing at some super-secret, ultra-exclusive camp somewhere in upstate New York. Think Augusta National, only with fishing poles instead of golf clubs. If Martha Burk knew what Wick did every spring, and where he did it, she’d show up with a bullhorn and let him know just how distasteful she thinks it is.
All of which I provide as background so you’ll understand why I was so shocked to see this morning that Wick took time away from the trout to type this op-ed for the Morning News about why you should vote “yes” this Saturday on Prop 1 (which, again, to be clear, means to cast a vote against the convention hotel). I will say this about Wick’s piece: if he casts his line as well as he casts his argument against the hotel, then surely the rivers of the Empire State will soon need restocking.
(Hey. You gonna begrudge a man a little brown nosing during these tough economic times?)
Duke Nukem Forever Maker Gets Nuked Forever
A trickily named FBvian alerted us to the fact that local gaming concern 3D Realms has shut down. Notable because 3D Realms is…
…the guys who have been “making” the game Duke Nukem Forever for over TWELVE YEARS. It was originally supposed to arrive ten years ago, when PCs were as big as suburban houses and the Pentium III was imaginary.
Go here for more.
Leading Off (5/7/09)
1. Police arrested Cristal Taylor on fraud charges Wednesday morning — at Dirk Nowitzki’s Preston Hollow home. Good timing. He doesn’t really have anything else on his mind right now. Christ. When reached for comment, Chris Webber said “a true warrior, a dog” would never let a criminal like Taylor in his home.
2. Judge Carlos Cortez says Judge Eric Moye assaulted him at the courthouse yesterday afternoon. Moye says “nuh-uh,” and the Texas Rangers are investigating. TNT’s Kenny Smith said he didn’t want to overreact, but added, “It feeds the stereotype that this guy is playing a little soft.”
3. In Krum, in a weird turn of events I still don’t fully understand, city hall employees discovered decades-old nude photos of former police and fire chief Conrad Shiftlet. Charles Barkley, on hearing the news, smirked and said, “One of the keys to being a great player is having so much confidence in yourself.”
New Dallas Blog for Your Eyes: RenegadeBus
I don’t know what it says about me as an editor and our crazy, topsy-turvy Internet-y world that I learned about the new arts and culture blog RenegadeBus, not from its operators, two of whom are contributors to D Magazine, but from Jerome Weeks on KERA’s Art&Seek blog. But it says something. I fear it says that RenegadeBussers Joan Arbery and Peter Simek, who are in-laws, probably say bad things about my professional capabilities at family gatherings. For this they will, of course, pay dearly.
Meantime, check out their new site (word of which has spread faster than they had intended). Zac, I suggest you check out Peter’s story about the night the smoking ban went into effect. Good stuff.
Leading Off (Booker T Item), Ctd.
(This item demonstrates — again — why we need to get comments up and running.)
I understand that the district has to do whatever is necessary to get that $105 million. You can’t just leave that money on the table. But here’s the thing: it makes sense that spending per student would be higher at Booker T. Isn’t that, in fact, the whole point? Classes are smaller. Cellos and pianos are needed. Oil paint ain’t cheap. That’s why students audition to get in to that school. It’s an exceptional school that teaches exceptional students. And so an exception ought to be made.
Thank you, federal government, for demonstrating the law of unintended consequences.
(Wait. That last sentence I wrote makes me glad we don’t have comments. Never mind.)
Leading Off (Booker T Item), Ctd.
Yes, Tim, the Booker T. Washington parents, kids, and staff are concerned today. Got a call from my daughter, a freshman there, as soon as she got inside the school.
“DAH-DEEE! They’re going to close the school and Townview, too. I know because I heard it from two kids.”
Yes, I’m proud she got a second source. Nevertheless, I thought I should call Jon Dahlander at DISD. Here’s the story: to get the $105 million in federal funds that are at risk, no school can be over-funded (by more than 5 percent) or under-funded (by more than 10 percent) from the average per-student expenditure of the district. If you’re spending $100 per student on average, no school can be funded at $89 per student, and no school can be funded at $106 per student. Booker T is over-funded to the point they would need to lose approximately 13 positions to get within the levels where DISD doesn’t lose that $105 million in funding. Now, everyone is trying to be creative on how this can be done. Can you move teachers and administrative people out (and, they hope, to other schools), or just teachers? Can students be added? This is all being explored. Still, as my as my daughter texted, “the whole school is freakgo out.” As Adam once said, developing.
Some Good News About DISD
To provide a little balance to the bad news I referenced this morning, here’s something for your eyes: today kids from 12 Dallas ISD high schools will participate in the first-ever academic signing day, celebrating the fact that about 275 seniors from those schools will be the first in their families to go to college. Full release after the jump:
Kudos to the DMN for Cowboy Collapse Reporting
A print-loving FrontBurnervian makes a point with which I wholeheartedly agree about item No. 1 from Leading Off:
The Dallas News story about the Cowboys practice facility is why newspapers must be saved. I read the story and while it’s difficult to put together the finger pointing, it’s still very interesting. Nobody but a team of dedicated reporters could have pulled together such a complete account in less than 96 hours. The sad part is that most people will look at that story and think “Too long, will not read.” No TV reporter would have spent the time and effort doing that level of research for a 3-minute story, and even the most dedicated blogger would have given up the chase. Unfortunately, now all the local Dallas TV stations will report the news as fact and give little or no credit to the DMN, and other blogs will summarize the story and devalue the level of reporting done by the DMN in this case. I applaud you for doing neither and actually offering comment that made me want to read the story.
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Trey’s Review of Star Trek
If I tell you it’s more than 1,200 words long, would you think Mr. Garrison liked it? Would you also believe I didn’t go through and ital stuff? Good, you’re prepared to jump.
Leading Off (5/6/09)
1. Everyone involved with the construction of the collapsed Cowboys practice facility is distancing from the thing, including the engineer listed as responsible for its design. That same engineer was listed as having overseen the design of a big warehouse in Philadelphia that collapsed in a 2003 snowstorm. Let’s put it this way: everyone who sues will win. If you’re a rookie and you don’t make the final roster, you can probably bank on a successful claim that mental anguish cost you your spot.
2. As the DISD board tries to figure out what do about the three seats that should have been up for a vote this Saturday (you’ll recall that the A.G. ruled trustees cheated when they recently extended their terms), more bad news trickles out of the district: Booker T. Washington could lose as many as 13 magnet teachers.
3. A new report says almost one in five Dallas homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. What the report did not say: Eric is also struggling to come to terms with the fact that the new bald guy in the office is cuter than he is.
Mavs/Nuggets Live Blog Over at InsideCorner
Check in here if you want to read me, FreeDarko’s Bethlehem Shoals, and probably a few others discussing Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals. And click here if you don’t.
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