Articles for February, 2010
Josh Howard May Have Drunk His Way Out of Dallas
That’s what Eddie Sefko says here. Specifically:
They say Howard had a long night of partying on Jan. 19, the night after the Mavericks had won in Boston and less than 24 hours before playing the Wizards. The team officially said he missed the game against Washington on Jan. 20 with a stomach illness. But sources said team officials could not deny that it was a self-inflicted game off.
I would have liked to have seen how that would have shown up in the box score if everyone had been a little more forthright. “Josh Howard — DNP (booze flu).” And, b-t-dub, Howard is now back in my good graces.
The Kids Today
We got a résumé today from someone who graduates in May. In the “skills” section, she listed “the Internet” and “e-mail.” I’m curious. Should I just assume that her skills also include “pen” and “paper”? And what about “the telephone”?
Tim Rogers, With Help of Mystery Forecaster, Predicts Snow for Dallas Next Week
This is the shakiest prediction in the history of meteorology. But here’s the thing: I have a friend who follows some unnamed sports blog (behind a pay wall) on which a regular commenter often makes weather predictions. This commenter will oftentimes point out that he doesn’t trust our local forecasters, who, he says, use some computer models that fail us under certain circumstances. For instance, you’ll recall that a week or so prior to the Big Snow, our local forecasters were saying we wouldn’t get much white stuff, and the stuff we did get wasn’t going to stick. Our Mystery Forecaster said our local weatherfolk were wrong. And they were.
Well, now our Mystery Forecaster is calling for a “significant snow event” for the middle of next week. You heard it here first. Or you heard it on that unnamed sports blog first. Whatever. (Note: If it doesn’t snow like crazy next week, I’m deleting this post.)
Stephan Pyles, Sharon Hage Named Semifinalists for James Beard Award
As Jason mentioned in Leading Off this morning, Stephan Pyles has made the list of semifinalists for the 2010 James Beard Awards — twice. The man himself is a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef for his work at his eponymous Stephan Pyles restaurant. And his Samar, right down the street, is a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
The link Jason gave was to a story on nbcdfw.com, which said Pyles was the only chef in North Texas to be named a semifinalist. Alert FBvian Marcus had a look at the semifinalists list and noticed that the fine folks at nbcdfw.com missed Sharon Hage’s name. She’s a semifinalist in the Best Chef Southwest category.
Congrats to both. I’m sure Nancy will have a more extensive post on this in a bit over on SideDish.
John Carona Is The Only Sane Voice in Austin
After listening to the debates, it is apparent to me that all three GOP candidates are as irresponsible as their colleagues in the Legislature. Not one of them has addressed the endemic financial crisis that state government faces — the result not of the recession but of Republicans’ refusal to pay for government spending that has soared since they took over the Lege in 2003. Dallas state senator John Carona has been the only voice to speak up against the Republican hypocrisy on spending and taxes.
Carona’s call for fiscal responsibility echoes the old-line Republican Party of yesterday, the party of our parents’ generation – a party that seems, except for him, to no longer exist.
Want to argue? First, read the article. Also available on your local newsstand now.
7-11 CEO Joe DePinto to Go Undercover on CBS
Joe DePinto, the CEO of 7-Eleven, will be on the CBS show Undercover Boss on Sunday. He talked to D CEO last year about his attempts to change the public perception of his company and posed for pictures in the store at One Arts Plaza.
This TV show, which I have not watched, purports to give corporate big shots a chance to see how things really work because no one knows it’s the boss who is watching. But, um, there are cameras everywhere. Surely the low-level employees are trying to show off anyway?
Leading Off (2/19/10)
1. Here’s what a VP of a valet parking company told the Star-Telegram’s “Watchdog” about why the paper didn’t need to bother running a piece regarding two occasions on which thieves stole cars that the company’s employees had left unattended: “It’s like getting snow in Fort Worth on the Fourth of July. It’s so uncommon it’s probably not even worth telling them about it.” I’m pretty sure I’d want to read a story about summertime snow in North Texas.
2. Who supports Rick Perry? According to the Economist: “the sort of crowd where people discuss how to make their own ammunition because bullets are so expensive.”
3. Chef Stephan Pyles is nominated for a James Beard Award, while his Samar is a best new restaurant nominee. Happy to report some insignificant fluff after being reminded of this and this.
Arts of Collin County Saves Millions on Construction
When last we checked in with the Arts of Collin County, the organization pushing to construct a joint arts complex for Plano, Frisco, and Allen was bidding out the project in hopes that lower construction costs would enable them to get under way sooner.
ACC executive director Mike Simpson was expecting that costs would come in under $80 million, far less than the costs of constructing the first phase (a 2,100-seat theater) were originally estimated to be. Well, Simpson’s wildest dreams came true, the nonprofit announced today. The construction bid came in at $69.9 million. That’s $16 million less than than they were projecting early last year.
So Simpson has shrunk the deficit necessary to get dirt moving by April to just $5 million. They have $57 million pledged years ago by the three cities, and they’ve raised about $10.4 million in donations. If that math doesn’t add up it’s because some of those donations aren’t payable until construction is under way or after it’s completed.
Who wants to buy some naming rights? I suspect they’re looking at you, AT&T.
Streetcars Coming to Dallas
By now you’ve perhaps heard the news that Dallas is getting $23 million in federal funds to get a street car line up and running. Patrick Kennedy over at Living Car-Free in Big D offers the best analysis of the deal I’ve read. (Okay, it’s the only analysis I’ve read.) He’s also got some pics of streetcar lines in other cities so that you can imagine what ours might look like.
The Snow Must Go On
An alert FBvian sends in this picture taken at Flagpole Hill. The place is littered with the bottoms of snowmen. Our FBvian says it reminds him of Easter Island.
RE: Frisco’s New Affordable Housing Projects
Krista, folks up in Frisco sure have some strong feelings about that Section 8 Housing.
Leading Off (2/18/10)
1. A fight broke out between a couple boys on a bus yesterday. The bus driver pulled over, told the boys to get off, and then started driving again. That’s when a 15-year-old girl went to the front of the bus and asked that it be stopped. Somehow, she was able to force the door open and then fell out. The bus then ran over her. She died on the scene. No jokes here.
2. On a lighter note: Frisco, the land of the privileged is becoming the land of the little less privileged as council members voted 4-1 to support new affordable housing projects. One group of people who were there to fight it was the Frisco Citizens Opposed to Unreasonable Development. Sweet name. But I think if they called themselves Awesome People Who Would Like to Keep Their Awesome City Awesome, they could’ve maybe won their case. Just a thought.
3. The Dallas Police Department is launching another round of its “knock-and-talks.” These “knock-and-talks” (how much talking is really going on?) are a way for officers to search a home without a warrant, all they need is permission from the homeowners. There have been problems with this process in the past, but this time, we’ve been assured, it will work. Oh, also, if you see officers knocking on your door, all you have to do to keep them from searching is ask if they have a warrant. So there’s that.
Tom Leppert’s Idea of a Summer Internship
Here at D, we rely on a crack team of college-age interns to handle the bulk of fact checking and occasionally write articles. It’s a lot of work, and, like most internships in the media biz, it’s unpaid. Such is the life of a young reporter-in-training. So you can imagine my surprise when I opened an e-mail from the people at Education is Freedom on behalf of Mayor Tom and his summer internship initiative: They want us to hire high school kids (so young!) and pay them at least $9 an hour, 40 hours a week, for eight weeks ($2,880!). And cover travel costs. And set up one-on-one sessions with executives. Which sounds awesome, but (more…)
Knockouts, Confessions at a Fat Tuesday Gathering
There was an ebullient, truth-telling mood in the room when 200 business leaders turned up at Hotel ZaZa Dallas last night for D CEO magazine’s quarterly Happy Hour. Among those in the heavy-hitting crowd: e-Rewards founder Hal Brierley, political consultant Carol Reed, Thomas Group chairman Michael McGrath, Habitat for Humanity CEO Scott Begin, and retail real estate guru Herb Weitzman. Check the jump to find out who’s in this photo–and more dope about the Fat Tuesday gathering.
Home |
Masthead |
News from D |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Subscribe |
Advertise |
Privacy Policy |
Customer Service |
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index