Articles for February 16th, 2010
AT&T’s CEO: U.S. Needs Lower Taxes, Less Regulation
Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s CEO, was the speaker at the World Affairs Council luncheon today at the Fairmont, and his message was pretty clear: In business, less is more.
How can American companies be more attractive for international capital investment? (more…)
Win a Date With a Professional Bull Rider
Don’t forget, kids. We’re running a contest that ends at noon on Friday. There’s a big PBR event at Cowboys Stadium. You could win tickets — and a cowboy.
Exxon Adds 2 Billion Barrels of Oil (Equivalent)
So says the Wall Street Journal. It’s the biggest reserves they’ve had in a decade. The Irving-based oil giant was able to do this because of new natural gas finds. But this is the less-happy part of the lead:
the company found less new oil deposits than it depleted last year
They’re counting even more on the XTO Energy deal.
Bataille to Supporters: Keep Believing In UNT
The rumor mill’s been in overdrive since Gretchen M. Bataille abruptly resigned her position as president of the University of North Texas on Feb. 10. In an interview this afternoon, Bataille, the first female president in UNT’s history, remained mostly circumspect about her reasons for stepping down. But she implied that the resignation, which takes effect Feb. 28, had little or nothing to do with moving the university system offices to downtown Dallas, as some have speculated.
SLANT 45 Kids Like Bling, Too
It’s not “official” yet, but filmmaker Mark (Stop the Presses) Birnbaum apparently has been selected to do the full-length feature documentary on SLANT 45, the service-learning project for Super Bowl XLV that kicked off this morning with a big deal at Arlington ISD’s Berta May Pope Elementary School. Former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston is leading the mega-effort, which aims to involve more than 20,000 elementary kids in at least 45,000 “service-learning” (read: community help) hours in DFW. But what really got the project-participating Pope kids excited this morning was when Johnston let some of them handle his heavy gold Super Bowl ring. Nine-year-old Gabriel Ochoa (pictured wearing the ring with Zack Gehring, 10) said like Johnston he too enjoys playing football, adding: “I love being quarterback.”
Photo of Erykah Badu Killing It At All-Star Weekend Festivities
Her people sent over a couple of photos, and since her Carole King cover was a highlight of a (not Dallas’ fault) pretty lackluster Saturday night, I thought I’d go ahead and post one. But I would have probably posted it for the hat alone.
Erykah Badu's cover of "You've Got a Friend" -- and the accompanying video from tons of NBA Cares events -- was a tribute to Haiti relief efforts. Badu releases her fifth studio album, New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh on March 30. Photo credit: Carla Sims
Gary Schneider Takes the Reins at Channel 11 (and Channel 21)
The full release is after the jump, but here’s the short of it: Gary Schneider had been running the show at KTVT and KTXA since Steve Mauldin left for LA. Now he’ll officially continue to run the show.
Scouting Report: Your New Dallas Mavericks
If you are a Dallas Mavericks fan, you’ve no doubt heard the big weekend trade (Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton, and Quinton Ross for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson) dissected over and over again, at least how it will affect the Mavs on the court. I won’t add to that. Here, instead, is a scouting report on potential off-the-court matters of interest, for whenever beat reporters have a slow day.
Caron Butler: Becomes the only Maverick to have appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s couch. Why? He had a troubled childhood (arrested 15 times before the age of 15) and basketball saved him from a further life of crime. His semi-official nickname: Tuff Juice. He likes to chew straws (preferably from McDonald’s) and used to be addicted to Mountain Dew.
Brendan Haywood: Pretty non-controversial player, unless Etan Thomas is on the same team. Haywood and Thomas got into at least three fights with each other during practice while Washington Wizards teammates. And he also probably shouldn’t blog ever again. Extremely unofficial nickname: Brenda.
DeShawn Stevenson: Lots of material here: Has some really interesting tattoos, even by pro athlete standards. Once called LeBron James “overrated,” then aligned himself with Soulja Boy in an astonishingly one-sided “feud” with James and Jay-Z, which did little more than make James get the giggles. Was involved in a beard-growing contest with now-former Mav Drew Gooden. Those are just the highlights.
Harold Simmons to Build Golf Course On Top of Nuclear Waste Dump?
By now you’ve read our story by Laray Polk about Harold Simmons and his nuclear waste disposal site in West Texas. It’s titled “Dallas’ Evil Genius.” State Senator Eliot Shapleigh, who represents El Paso, put up an article on his website citing our story and calling into question the wisdom of letting Simmons bury tons of waste (nuclear and otherwise) in a spot where scientists have serious concerns about possible contamination of groundwater.
But Congressman Mike Conaway has toured the site and is decidedly more sanguine about it. He jokingly said: “We’re thinking about golf courses on top of some of the stuff you’ve done and a resort kind of thing, once you’ve got all this stuff buried and contained that will make use of that surface.” To which I say: don’t give Simmons any ideas.
Leading Off (2/16/10)
1. The saga of Willis Willis continues in an Austin courtroom today. Dear Texas Lottery Commission: Seriously, give this awesomely named fella his paper already. Sincerely, Charles “Bananas” Foster
2. The Sixth Floor Museum has obtained what it’s calling the best home movie footage of JFK’s arrival in Dallas on — nope. Can’t finish that sentence. Sorry. Unless someone comes forward with a gun, a picture of someone besides Lee Harvey Oswald holding said gun, and a signed confession from the aforementioned, why are we still talking about this? Even Oliver Stone doesn’t care anymore.
3. While at Cowboys Stadium, I saw many crimes of fashion. As it turns out, one woman in town for the game committed a literal crime of fashion, making off with $90,000 worth of furs, and possibly a walk-on part in the next Young Jeezy video.
BONUS: Speaking of the ASG, here is one last video from the gang at The Basketball Jones, with a cameo from Herr Dirk Werner Nowitzki.
TBJ Does Dallas: All-Star Valentine’s Day from The Basketball Jones on Vimeo.
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