Articles for April, 2010
Jason Roberts Cracks Open Dallas Development Code, Finds Obstacles To Pleasant Street Life
Joel Kotkin Jason Roberts is an effective urban advocate because he works in images: ‘I like cities that look and feel like this, and Dallas doesn’t. Why?’ It’s that “why,” like a four-year old pestering his or her parents to explain the world, that is so effective and annoying to the bureaucratic status quo. Today on Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, Roberts cracks open the Dallas Development Code and finds that many of the street pleasures enjoyed in other cities are either forbidden in Dallas, like fruit stands, or levied with huge fees ($1,000 per awning, canopy, café table, or flower stand). Why?
This is all a lead-up, of course, to Roberts’ urban performance piece this coming weekend, “The Better Block Project,” in which a stretch of Tyler Street will be transformed into the kind of place we would like our city to look like, this time asking, “if only. . .”
Man Kills Two in DWI Accident, While On Parole for Third Offense
This story has bothered me since I read about it this morning. I’m sure I’m not the only one that was angered and saddened to read that yet another family lost loved ones because a habitual offender chose to get behind the wheel and drive drunk.
And I know many think the answer to this is no refusal blood draws. And I do understand that the idea (or part of it) is to gather enough evidence to make it difficult to get the charge dismissed.
But I do know this: It is entirely too easy to step out of county lockup (anywhere, really, not just Dallas), and get into a car and continue driving after being charged with a DWI – even after being convicted. I know because we’ve seen so many cases such as John Patrick Barton’s – on parole for a third DWI when caught. Only in Barton’s case, it ended in death.
I’ve seen men with ignition locks convince family and friends to blow into it so they could start the car, even though they’ve been drinking. I’ve heard offenders talk about driving to their parole meetings and parking blocks away to make it appear they’ve been behaving according to the terms of their parole or probation and not driving.
And as a cops and courts reporter, I saw a man once nearly wipe out a family while barreling down a Fannin County highway — trailer attached to his truck – and a BAC almost twice the legal limit. He wiped them off the two-lane road. At a pre-trial hearing, he showed up both late and drunk.
So given all that, I’m not sure that a blood draw is what is going to prevent these instances. It seems to me that the biggest problem is not the before conviction, but the after.
InsideCorner Memorial Texas Rangers Opening Day Open Thread
Your Texas Rangers open the 2010 season at 1:05 p.m. against the Toronto Blue Jays. Scott Feldman will be on the mound. That traitor* Evan Grant will be in a press box nearby. And your thoughts are welcome in the comments. (I’m looking at you, Dr Pepper Presents Batface McGee.) Don’t make me engage in generic baseball talk alone!
*Totally kidding, even if it’s mostly true. Okay. Kidding about that, too. It’s only, maybe, a third true. Certainly less than half. Maybe like 48, 49 percent, but we’re splitting hairs now, and certainly getting off-topic. We would welcome back Evan and his vast collection of Hawaiian shirts in a second, if only he’d have us. Be strong, everyone.
St. Vincent Covers INXS’ “New Sensation” With Beck, Liars, Others
Okay, she’s maybe not as out front on this as the headline makes it sound, and this project — Record Club, which has previously taken on the Velvet Underground and Skip Spence — is certainly more Beck’s baby than anyone else’s. But Annie Clark’s Dallas expat status is the reason for posting it. So there you go.
Record Club: INXS “New Sensation” from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.
If You’re Actually Upset Texas Stadium is Getting Adiosed, Don’t Read This
Maybe I just didn’t get out to Texas Stadium often enough to be upset that it’s going away. Some people are obviously shaken by its passing. Or maybe I’m just not the nostalgic type. Either way, I couldn’t agree more with the open letter we ran in our April issue — good riddance. If you haven’t seen it, I’ve helpfully included it below.
Dear Mr. Stadium: Now that you’re getting blown to bits this month in a Kraft Mac & Cheese “Cheddar Explosion,” you’re maybe expecting us to wax nostalgic, tell a story about the time our father took us to a game in the 1970s, and how that was one of the only times we bonded as men. No dice, fella. Try Kevin Sherrington if that’s what you’re looking for. We, sir, could not be more delighted that you’re getting exploded. We’d rather throw a basket of newborn puppies off Reunion Tower than see you — you sorry, dank, decrepit, stupid-roof-having excuse for a stadium — survive for one more day. You deserve to be a pile of rubble. We hope it hurts. We hope they screw it up, so they have to dynamite you twice. Later, jerk.
Leading Off (4/5/10)
1. On his blog, Pete Oppel makes the kind of unsubstantiated, left-field speculative prediction that could just become a self-fulfilling prophesy: Mary Suhm is thinking of retiring. His argument is based on the timing of budget woes, Trinity River Project delays, the hiring of a new police chief, and the recent retiring of the city’s CFO David Cook, who Oppel calls the “Ying to her Yang.” Though Suhm strikes me as the kind of person who likes to leave on highs.
2. Remember when Joel Kotkin was in town? Our friend Patrick Kennedy at Living Car-Free in Big D isn’t too impressed, and he has taking the time slice and dice a piece Kotkin wrote for Forbes about Texas’ future prosperity. What’s Kennedy’s beef with Kotkin? Well, to start, “Kotkin routinely displays all the writerly hypocrisy of unprincipled, think-tank whorishness.” Trust me, it gets better.
3. About that Broad Prize DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said the district would win by 2010, yeah, he meant 2011. So bug him next year.
Group Threatens 30 Governors, Perry One Of Them
First, can I just say that the world should officially go on pause when the offices of D Magazine shut down for holidays?
So this group, The Guardians of the Free Republics, sent letters to 30 governors telling them they had three days to vacate office, or else. Or something. They say they’re for the peaceful dismantling of government, and they want certain governments removed. The FBI and Homeland Security can’t for the life of them figure out, apparently, what exactly the “or else” portion of this threat would be.
Among the 30 asked to obligingly leave already is Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The Department of Public Safety is investigating the letter, and nobody’s saying what it said. I’ve been doing some reading around, and consensus is nobody quite knows what this group wants, or what it’s Plan B is. I’ve been trying to decipher this for the past 30 minutes.
Does Anyone Have More on This Jumper, Ctd.
A perusal of the Dallas Police Web site shows something has been going on since about 3:50 at the corner of Pacific and Bryan. And about 40 minutes ago, DART tweeted that they had been asked by DPD to shut down the DART light rail line between Akard and St. Paul stations, and then a few minutes later also between Pearl and West End. Everything opened back up about 20 minutes ago, though.
The Dallas Morning News has more, but apparently the jumper was on a parking garage near Akard and Pacific, on the 5th floor.
Does Anyone Have More on This Jumper?
From a FrontBurnervian at the corner of Main and Akard. Maybe. Or maybe another corner.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Dallas Police To Charge Erykah Badu with Disorderly Conduct
Rebadudonkulous or good and righteous? WFAA (hat tip to DC9 At Night, who sent up the Twitter alert first) is reporting that the Dallas Police are planning to charge Erykah Badu with disorderly conduct over the “Window Seat” video. There’s apparently going to be a press conference at 4:30 p.m. The story is, as they say, developing – so much so that WFAA just has a breaking box on the Web page right now.
Allen McGill Awaits Sentencing Today in the Dallas City Hall Bribery Case
Allen McGill, who pled guilty to his various charges associated with the Dallas City Hall bribery case last year, is to be sentenced today. I follow Dallas news. I’ve paid attention to the trials. But am I the only one that is starting to feel like the case is the proverbial clown car, and the people associated just keep piling out?
I mean, a bunch of people have already been sentenced, he’s about to be sentenced, Terri Hodge is gonna be sentenced later, and there’s still more.
Ludacris Goes Door to Door in Dallas
I’m trying to imagine what I would do if I heard a knock at my door and I asked, “Who is it?” and a voice came from the other side, saying, “It’s Ludacris.” Not sure I’d open the door. Anyway, here’s video of Ludacris getting the word out in Dallas about the 2010 Census. (PS: If you found this post by searching info about many various matters, congratulations.)
Ludacirs 2010 Census Dallas, TX from DTP TV on Vimeo.
(h/t Unfair Park)
Programming Note: Posting Frequency to Drop Off in a Few Minutes
In observance of Good Friday, the D Empire will close its doors early today.
Things You See While Moderating Comments
There are spider things out there that robotically post comments to blogs, hyperlinking the author’s name to some commercial website or another. Here’s one of my favorite such comments. Remember “All your base are belong to us“? I’m trying to promote this phrase as a similar meme: “Great entry, it isn’t the first time i come accross your weblog, i at all times find it searching info about many various matters.”
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