Last Days to Vote on the Best Shops in Dallas

What a long strange trip it’s been, since last week when we opened the voting on the Best of Big D Readers’ Choice 2010: Shopping. There’s only a short time left, but you still have all weekend to mobilize your friends to support their favorites. The poll doesn’t turn back into a pumpkin until the stroke of midnight at the end of Sunday. You can vote once a day, every day in 26 categories.

There remain many extremely tight contests under way. The winners in categories such as best gift shop, comic book store, shop for affordable women’s clothing, and lingerie shop are likely to come down to the final hours. A mere handful of votes may prove decisive.

So go here to make your voice heard. And do it again tomorrow. And again Sunday.

And then come back for more on May 24 when we launch the poll for Best of Big D Readers’ Choice 2010: Services.

Leading Off (5/14/10)

1. The new child booster seat law that went into effect in September with warnings will net parents a ticket on June 1. It requires a booster seat for children younger than eight or shorter than 4 foot 9. This also means I was just a few inches shy of looking really stupid in a car.

2. A group has already begun a grass roots campaign for North Texas to host the Olympics in 2020. They point to the fact that the area won’t require any major building campaigns for the events themselves, and the fact that the massive amounts of lodging needed for the games could be built into the Trinity River Corridor Project.

3. Do you watch American Idol? Do you really want to meet local boy Casey James, who is in the top three? You have a few choices: show up at the AT&T Store in Grapevine at 10:30, be at the Keys Lounge in Fort Worth at 1 p.m., the Stockyards at 4 p.m., or the Wildflower Festival in Richardson at 9:30 p.m. Or you can get sick and go to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, but you have to hurry. My favorite story? This one by Fox, which mentions he will attend an event with the mayor of Cool. Related: I now have a new Foursquare goal.

4. This just in: Craigslist attracts nut jobs. Still.

5. Dear Dallas: Jonathan Braddick just wants to share his car. But you’re being kind of mean and don’t want to buy in to his car sharing idea, even though really cool cities have similar enterprises. But I thank Jonathan Braddick, not just for his enterprising spirit, but also for the inspiration for today’s Friday Morning Ear Worm.

Dallas Morning News Says Caraway Interfered in Police Investigation

I’m sure there’s a logical explanation, but apparently Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway tried to intervene on behalf of a south Dallas resident who regularly holds sizable poker games at home, the Dallas Morning News says. If it’s true, I can see where some might get a little upset. He’s a man that has been advocating the shut down of a scrap metal yard for various and sundry reasons. He’s been on the record about wanting to just round up some bulldozers and scrap houses that offended. So, yeah, some might think it’s a smidge hypocritical to advocate for a house that’s been a consistent source of complaints, according to DMN findings. Why is this house different?

Texas Horse Park

Like I mentioned, the people with the Texas Horse Park treated us media types to some great views of where the park is being built. The 12-minute helicopter ride was wonderful (even with a bit of wind) and gave us a great idea of how big the park will be. The group is about $80,000 short of its $1,000,000 challenge, which ends the 15th.
To see pics and find out some fun facts about the project, take the jump.

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Bird’s Eye View of the Texas Horse Park

This would be Glenn snapping some pictures of the soon to be built Texas Horse Park. We were given a tour in a helicopter. The group is close to reaching its million dollar goal, which would put it on track for breaking ground in fall 2011. I’ll have a more comprehensive recap later.

Isn’t It Pretty What a Town Without Football Can Do?

Meet Brock, Texas. Nestled in Parker County, it should worship at the foot of football (if footballs had feet. Which they don’t. That would be weird. But roll with me, k?), but it does not have a football program.

Not only does it not have one, it doesn’t want it. As the Star-Telegram’s Bud Kennedy tells it, they’ve voted. Twice. Both times it was about 60% against, 40% for. And the town is apparently not the only one in Texas to not field a football team.

Now, me? I love me some football. I cannot wait until Fall, when the air gets cooler (sometimes) and you take your place on the bleachers and yell yourself hoarse on a Friday night, only to repeat the yelling (with obscenities, this time) on Saturday when you watch your favorite NCAA team play.

But the schools mentioned in Kennedy’s piece say not having the football program has allowed the students and teachers to focus on academics. But I do have to wonder – does this make some of the other schools with both powerhouse football teams and academic excellence (say, Highland Park for example), the exception to the rule, or just proof that it depends on the community, the school and the students?