If you spend anytime downtown, do yourself a favor and read Peter Simek’s Q&A with Deb Mitchell, one of the principal designers of the park that sits between the Wyly and the Winspear. David Dillon, in the Dallas Morning News, has said the elevation difference between to the two buildings and the stairs it necessitates is a real problem with the park. Mitchell’s response to that? “We found the Wyly was high, but the Winspear was low. We discovered that in 2005, so it’s not like we never saw it, like we’re too dumb and we didn’t see it.”
1. Ticket 1310 producer Mike Bacsik was fired late yesterday for drunken tweets he made referring to “dirty Mexicans” after the Mavs lost to the Spurs earlier in the week. Here’s the thing: nearly every Ticket host could be fired if you transcribed the choicest words that have come out of their mouths on the air. I’m not saying what Bacsik tweeted was funny or ought to be overlooked. But I am saying if Gordon Keith had tweeted something similar, it WOULD have been funny, and he would not have been fired. So that was Bacsik’s biggest mistake: not being Gordon Keith. That and the record-setting meat ball he served up to Barry Bonds, which every story about his Twitter boner has mentioned.
2. If I told you that police investigating a murder scene in Lewisville found a chainsaw still running when they got there, would you want to read more? I wouldn’t blame you.
3. Okay, what if I told you that some bar patrons in The Colony chased down a guy after he slit a man’s throat?
4. Don Hill got 18 years, but Terri Hodge only got 12 months? I’m lousy with questions on this Wednesday.
5. But I’ve got just one more: hey, Rick Carlisle, why did it take you this long to sit Dampier and run Butler all night? Cause even a drunk-ass Mike Bacsik could have told you that you should have done that before the series with the Spurs got out of hand. Anyway, good win last night.
The Austin American-Statesman is reporting that Austin police chief Art “Spirit Fingers” Acevedo will remain in Austin. Word is that he may have gotten a nice raise to stay. WFAA is reporting that City Manager Mary Suhm will announce Dallas First Assistant Police Chief David Brown got the job as early as tomorrow.
Josh Hixson has the scoop on the Norma’s spot, and it is served with this shocker as a side item: Mayor Tom Leppert is the first Dallas mayor since 1986 who has not eaten at the place.
Little did the court know that Hodge spent the months prior to today’s sentencing hearing getting a blueprint of the prison tattooed on her body via a series of intricate codes and symbols that only she can figure out, thus no one’s the wiser. Plus, she only got caught in the first place because her older brother, Linc, was set up by a shadow government for a murder he didn’t commit, and is sentenced to die in a matter of days. Take that, justice.
Once upon a time North Texas had an airline called Braniff International for whom Tom Landry, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali made TV commercials. Then the colorful carrier went bust, putting 10,000 people out of work in the nation’s first major airline bankruptcy. Saturday, business analyst David Johnson–who made an award-winning documentary about Braniff for PBS called Tailspin–will screen the doc and moderate a panel discussion with some of the old airline’s principal players. Let’s just hope none of the 10,000 show up with tomatoes. We hear some of them are still pretty hacked off.
Newly minted Dallas Cowboy Dez Bryant has apparently told quite the tale to Yahoo! Sports, one of Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland asking him if his mom was a prostitute during a pre-draft visit.
The Dolphins are not commenting, other than for PR flack Harvey Greene to say, “It’s our organizational policy that we don’t discuss publicly the process we use to evaluate potential draft choices.”
I’ve never been drafted by the NFL, so I don’t know. But, “Is your mom a prostitute?” within the general list of questions all other NFL teams ask?
Disappointingly, he chose to go with @MayorLeppert. Not as good as our choice: @MayorOfHandtown. And, now that I bring it up, @comegetsuhm needs to happen. Step up, Mary Suhm.
UPDATE: It’s on!
Just hung up with attorney Michael Cramer. He said the hearing about Warrior Dash will start again at 5:30 (but we already knew this). He’s hoping they’ll have a decision by 7 or 7:30. He said it’ll be posted on the group’s website, Facebook, and Twitter. I asked him what happens after the decision’s made. “If it’s back on, great,” he says. “If not, then we have to see if we can go to the Court of Appeals in Dallas fast enough for this event to take place.” He said he assumed someone was working on whether or not the event could be moved to another county by this weekend.
When asked about worst case scenario and what happens to participants’ registration fees, he says, “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to my clients about that issue yet.”
Fingers crossed.
A politically minded FrontBurnervian points us to a Texas Tribune story that takes a look at why DISD has some of the best high schools in the state — and some of the worst. The short answer (and the title of the story): smaller is better.
In the current issue of the “print product,” Willard Spiegelman (aka the Good Professor), writes about the curious disposition of Stake Hitch, by Claes Oldenburg and his late wife, Coosje van Bruggen. You remember Stake Hitch, right? Big, red. About 5,500 pounds. The iconic sculpture used to stand in the Dallas Museum of Art’s Barrel Vault room. To this day, when I think of the DMA, images of Stake Hitch still come to mind, even though the thing was taken down and stuck in storage long ago. Thing is, though, the museum promised it would reinstall the piece and even set a deadline — a deadline that has come and gone. So what gives?
While we wait for an answer to that question, a Facebook page dedicated to the reinstallation of Stake Hitch has sprung up. Show it some love with your browsing and your clicking.
Or so he tweets. He is also just willing to take a challenge regarding any sport. I suggest curling.
Short answer: at this point, I’m not 100-percent certain they can. I will believe it’s possible until when (or if) the Spurs knock them off. But I’m not certain it’s going to happen. Anyway. After the jump, my longer answer.
Newspaper circulation numbers came out yesterday, and — surprise — they aren’t going up (except in the case of the Wall Street Journal). How did the Morning News do? It shed nearly 22 percent and now claims a daily circulation of 260,659. I’ve received several e-mails from people saying, “Wow. Can you believe that? End times.” Eh, not so fast. Back in 2006, Wick wrote a story for the “print product” wherein he charted a course for the News‘ survival. Obviously it was brilliant. That guy — he’s gifted. Four years ago, Wick wrote:
There was a reason for the circulation scandal of three years ago. The News — once again, operating on the delusion that everything is still the same — is still trying to maintain an inflated subscription and single-copy sales base for advertisers. The most expensive customer is the marginal one. That’s the customer who only subscribes if offered a very cheap price and then doesn’t renew. He then needs to be replaced to maintain the circulation base. The acquisition cost of a new subscribers is high and getting more expensive every year. … They need to go. All subscription discounts, prizes, contests, and other promotional gimmicks should be eliminated. Circulation must be allowed to float to its natural level.
At the time, the News’ daily circ was 480,484. Wick said its natural level was 300,000. But I can tell you he pulled that number from a dark, unattractive orifice. So maybe the real natural level is 260,659. I can tell you that A.H. Belo’s stock price doesn’t seem much affected by the news.
Solid rumor (good name for a band) has it that In-N-Out Burger is opening nine locations in the suburbs around Dallas. Over on SideDish, we are discussing the ins and outs of the plan.