Articles for April, 2010
What To Do in Dallas Tonight: April 20, 2010
Need more ideas for tonight? Here you go.
Jim Schutze Kicks Steve Blow in the Jeans
In case you missed it, Jim Schutze predicted the future a few weeks ago. He said Steve Blow would write an “Aw, shucks, the Trinity Project is still wonderful” column. Steve Blow did just that (though a week past Schutze’s predicted deadline). Imagine, then, Schutze’s delight as he put up this post yesterday, pointing out how Blow’s column could have been better.
Here’s what I don’t understand: did Blow not read Schutze’s prognostication? Your city columnist should be reading the Observer’s blog, right? Especially the posts that are about him. Because you can do that from Sunnyvale. Right? So how do you write that column about “doomers” and “gloaters” without mentioning by name the biggest gloater in the city, Jim Schutze — a guy who preemptively called you out for writing the very column you just turned in? I just don’t get it.
Perry’s Border Program: $153,000 Per Arrest
So far the governor has spent $4 million on a camera program that has led to only 26 arrests. According to Brandi Grissom (who wishes she could arrest her parents for giving her that name) of the Texas Tribune:
In 2008, the cameras were expected to generate 1,200 arrests, $25,000 in cash forfeitures, 50,000 incident reports and 4,500 immigration referrals. Under the grant objectives, the coalition was supposed to install 200 cameras. Instead, that year 13 cameras generated three arrests, zero cash forfeitures, eight incident reports, and six immigration referrals.
Meanwhile, in Cameron County alone, the sheriff’s department seizes 6 to 7 tons of narcotics every year — without the cameras. Could the money have been better spent? “I don’t need the cameras,” says Sheriff Omar Lucio. “I need the manpower.”
Denny Hamlin Gets His Guns Up at Texas Motor Speedway
It tickles me that in this age of political correctness, when we can no longer call the TX-OU game the Red River Shootout, winners at the Texas Motor Speedway still get to do this.
Leading Off: Minor League Hockey Edition
The Allen Americans are fighting to stay alive in the CHL Southern Conference semi-finals. Last night they lost 4-3 to the Odessa Jackalopes in overtime. The best-of-seven series is tied 3-3 with the deciding game Wednesday in Odessa. In case you didn’t know, the Americans are the Dallas Stars’ CHL affiliate and they play in the new Allen Event Center. If the Americans pull through tomorrow, they’ll face the Northern Conference Champions, which will be either the Rapid City Rush or the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Go, Americans. (Dumb name. Wish we had Mudbugs. Or Gamecocks. Or Something Clever.) Recap of last night’s game below. (more…)
Leading Off (4/20/10): Stealing Neighbors’ Extremely Weak WiFi Signal Edition
1. Dallas County has the highest HIV infection rate in the state. Still. But it’s getting better. Sort of.
2. If someone wants to loan me a roll of high-speed tape, I’ve got a few projects in mind. One may or may not be codenamed “SUPERCAR.”
3. “Pregnant Volleyball Player Loses Discrimination Complaint.” Or, as I would have written the headline: “Gigantic Waste of Time, Money, and Common Sense Finally Stops Being All of Those Things.”
NY Magazine Touts New Jonathan Woods Book
Dallas writer Jonathan Woods gets a major plug this week on the magazine’s Approval Matrix for his Bad Juju and Other Tales of Madness and Mayhem, which the magazine calls
“hallucinatory, hilarious, imaginative noir.”
Which will fit very nicely in bold letters above the title of the paperback edition.
Woods will do a reading at Legacy Books on April 29 at 7 pm.
Angela Hunt Giving Birth Right Now. Seriously.
And you can follow along. Sort of. Talk about dedication to your constituents.
What Prompted This?
Found this little note taped to the door of Lamps Plus on Knox Street. I wonder what they mean by “extreme circumstances.”
One Candidate, One Question: Danny Clancy, GOP Candidate for Dallas DA
Over the weekend, I shot a quick e-mail to Danny Clancy, Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins’ Republican opponent, with one question.
The question: If elected, do you plan on continuing the Convictions Integrity Unit, as it functions now?
Clancy’s answer:
The simple answer is “Absolutely – Yes”, but I’ll take it a step further, and tell you we’re going to carefully screen every case to ensure for the future, and so the citizens of Dallas County can feel confident, that the mentality of prosecute and convict at all costs, is a thing of the past. A prosecutors job is to seek justice, and I will not allow the innocent to be prosecuted.
Watch the Tea Party Grow in Texas and Nationally
Over at Slate, Chris Wilson went through more than a year’s worth of Meetup.com Tea Party invites to chart the explosion in the movement, which you can watch on a cool map here.
Last Week to Vote for the Best of Big D Readers’ Choice Poll: Nightlife
Only one week remains until we shut down our 2010 Best of Big D Readers’ Choice Poll on the best nightlife in Dallas. Remember that you can vote once a day, every day through April 25 on such important matters as the best dive bar, sports bar, dance club, and bar food in the city.
So what are you waiting for? Hop to it.
Playboy Names UT America’s #1 Party School
I guess it’s good to be Number One in something.
The verdict is in. The number one party school is the land is the University of Texas at Austin. Big-time sports, gorgeous babes, great academics in an awesome town: Texas has it all. It’s good to be a Longhorn.
True that.
Leading Off (3/19/10)
1. The Trinity River levees need $150 million worth of work, and according to a new city plan, that money will come from a variety of sources, including the 2006 bond program and the Trinity River toll road (a whopping $15 million — keep holding onto that dream, folks). All in all, we should have this whole broken levee thing wrapped up by late next year, which in Trinity-time means late next decade. Oh wait, I’m sorry, “glooming” and gloating over the Trinity has been officially called off. Someone better tell Schutze.
2. Lawn obsession has reached new levels of insanity in Plano, specifically the Ridgeview Park neighborhood. That’s where an HOA is demanding a resident couple destroy their prized collection of bluebonnets and re-sod their front lawn. I guess front yard gardens don’t have much of a chance in Plano anytime soon.
3. Calls to abuse hotlines and attendance at abuse shelters show significant increases over last year, and the rise in abuse can’t be explained by the economic downturn alone, says this piece in the Star-Telegram. Volunteers at call centers also say that abusers seem more vicious. So be careful out there.
Steve Blow Puts Everything in Perspective
I hope the Army Corps of Engineers reads Steve Blow’s column in today’s paper. It begins:
I’d like to officially cancel two parts of the Trinity project:
Gloat and gloom.
This is a major development. (Hat tip to Jim Schutze, whose prediction took longer than expected to come to fruition but was eerily spot on. Makes me wonder if Schutze snuck into Blow’s house while he was out shopping at the Piggly Wiggly and wrote his column for him. Genius.)
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