So, it took a couple of days, but Wonkette has a take on the whole Eddie Bernice Johnson thing, too, including a translation of this statement, “Had there been more ‘very worthy applicants in my district, then I probably wouldn’t have given it’ to the relatives.”
Wonkette’s translation: “All black kids in Dallas are dumb, except for the ones related to me or my employees.”
Fair or not?
News & Tech says the Dallas Morning News will put much of its website behind a pay wall in the next sixth months. It’s not going to be an easy transition, but it’s a necessary one. Here’s hoping the move (a trend among publishers) works.
A couple hours ago, Wick and I popped over to a new charter school called Laureate Preparatory that opened three weeks ago in the West End. Uplift’s CEO, Yasmin Bhatia, and its chief development officer, Deborah Bigham, showed us around the joint, which has a little more than 100 students right now and will have 480 once all grades are enrolled. I myself today dropped off my little girl for her first day of pre-K at Hexter Elementary. The halls of that place were raucous, ankle biters caroming off walls, giving each other the business, some of them in tears (my daughter). Contrast that to Laureate Prep. The kids were getting lunch when we visited. The place was literally as quiet as a church. Kiddos were lined up, holding their lunch trays, all polite smiles when I said hi to them. I mean, it was shocking. And it’s not just about behavior. The 15 Uplift schools in the area that were already in operation last year all outperformed their nearest DISD neighbor school (with all but three — Hampton Primary, Middle, and High — receiving an “exemplary” rating from the state). Then know this: Laureate Prep has a partnership with the Museum of Nature and Science. When the new museum opens in 2012, those kids are going to be able to walk across the street to it. Pretty cool.
All of which I mention because Laureate Prep still has openings in the 1st and 2nd grade.
It would hold 305 million people — or the entire population of the United States. (And it would need a lot more water.)
Last Friday afternoon, I walked into Central Market on Lovers Lane for possibly the last time. And, in retrospect, I feel lucky I was able to walk out.
After picking up a few items, including a thoughtfully selected group of ingredients from the salad bar, I was making the circle around the prepared-foods case when suddenly I found myself on the ground. I had fallen forward, my left knee slamming into the floor. The basket I was carrying also flew forward, propelling salad in all directions. Confused and embarrassed, I picked myself up and told the fellow shopper who had to come to my aid that I was okay. When I turned around, I was still embarrassed but no longer confused. Behind me was a puddle — and I do mean puddle — of spilled oil. My left foot had hit the oil patch and flung me forward.
Eventually, embarrassment would turn to disappointment.
The deal is finally done. Modern Luxury Media has been sold. The buyer is Atlanta-based Dickey Publishing, which controls Cumulus Media, the overlords of the Ticket. Modern Luxury will be managed by those same Cumulus folks. FOLIO has some more details, the most curious of which is that three years ago, Modern Media (of which Modern Luxury Dallas is a part) was sold for $243 million. The rumored sales price now? Just $20 million. (I’d love to be at the next Cumulus Christmas party to see how the Ticket guys get along with the Modern Luxury Dallas gang.)
While we’re at it, kudos to Brooks Egerton and Miles Moffeit for their Sunday piece about the shenanigans at Parkland. I was talking to a friend of mine over the weekend who is in the hospital compliance business, and he said that was the first time the Morning News got it right and on that level of detail. For those who are wondering why construction hasn’t yet begun over there, look no further than this story. Until the hospital settles with the feds (and it will have to settle, perhaps on a figure approaching $20 million), it doesn’t know how much cash it has to build.
Hello unto you, readers. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably gotten out of bed. I applaud you for that.
Perhaps your weekend left you a tad drained financially. If so, I recommend the following free or nearly free activities for your Monday:
Catch a few short avant garde films tonight at SMU’s Owen Arts Center. Much like Mr. Six, these little gems are short, weird, and mesmerizing. In Unsere Afrikareise, director Peter Kubelka documents a hunting trip to Africa, pairing sound with images in surprising and poignant ways. I realize that sounds artsy-fartsy, but it also happens to be true. Also, remember the late, great sitcom Dream On? Movies like this provide excellent fodder for your own Martin Tupper moments.
When was the last time you ate at Snuffer’s? Answer: not recently enough. Since you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and split an order of cheese fries with one or more friends. Why tonight? Because you can. Snuffer’s also has a late happy hour on Mondays. Just saying.
In the mood for something else? Find other things to do in Dallas.
For years, the Washington bureau of the DMN slumbered along, producing occasional and unoriginal thumb-suckers for the op-ed page parrotting the conventional Beltway wisdom of the day. Its contributions were so minor and so predictable that one can be forgiven for forgetting it even existed. Executives in Dallas must have been tempted during the crash to follow their cousins around their country and close it down entirely. We should be thankful they didn’t. Now ensconced as bureau chief, Todd Gillman is doing fresh and original reporting like the Eddie Bernice Johnson story that shows how important a pair of watchful eyes in Washington bureau can be.
The phone call is coming. The problem with Congress is that when its members have been there too long, they start to think it’s their money. So disbursing scholarships to students who don’t happen to live in one’s district but do happen to be one’s grandchildren begins to seem perfectly normal.
Those Ethics Committee investigators will also find the documentation trail interesting in Eddie Bernice’s minority interest in the Love Field Hudson News concession. It is held by a “blind trust” in her name. These trusts are supposed to be administered by a third party for investments in the public market. The Hudson News concession is a private business. The Congresswoman just happens to sit on the Aviation Subcommittee. The document trail will show us just how blind that “blind trust” is — and how much she’s made off it over the years.
With the aid of some artful gerrymandering, Dallas’s Congressional seats have become permanent sinecures. Eddie Bernice has been there 17 years. That makes her a youngster compared to Joe Barton, who was first elected in 1984, when a good part of the electorate wasn’t even born. By comparison, Pete Sessions has only been there 13 years (although I’ll grant that it seems much, much longer). Term limits, anyone?
Give a big round of applause for this next set of beauties competing in our 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas 2010 competition.
Up now: Pilar Sanders (mom of five and wife to Deion Sanders), Becky Parks (lake-loving aerobics instructor), Kat Reilly (6’1” retired volleyball girl/sports enthusiast), Reshoo Patel (Bollywood dance teacher/accountant), and LeeAnne Locken (animal-adoring TV host).
Go see their sparkly smiles and select your favorite. Then vote once a day every day to help her make it to the finals.
Congrats to last week’s 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas finalists! Bina Palnitkar Patel, Ashley Burghardt, and Alex Tran garnered the most votes. Their supporters returned each and every day to cast votes.
Unfortunately, we were forced to say goodbye to Lauren Kingsman and Laurence Car-Moebel. As hard as it was to select the 20 women we’re featuring online, it’s been even harder to say goodbye to those who don’t make the final round. We’ve truly enjoyed getting to know them all.
To show even more love to Bina, Ashley, and Alex, come back Sept. 13-20 for our final round of voting. The three women with the most votes from each semifinals week will be here, competing for one of the top 10 spots. And don’t forget to vote for our Week 3 semifinalists in the meanwhile.
1. Eddie Bernice Johnson is in a little hot water for awarding scholarship money to her relatives. But wait. It’s all a big misunderstanding. When Johnson awarded scholarship funds from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to her relatives, she didn’t realize that wasn’t the right thing to do. Oh, okay. Sorry Ms. Johnson. We’ll leave you alone now.
2. Now it’s official: Southlake quarterback Daxx Garman, who probably still really lives in Oklahoma, has been rendered ineligible and will not play with the Southlake Dragons. My only question: what do we gain by continuing to pretend that high level high school football isn’t a mini-version the whorish economic engine that NCAA division one sports has become, putting a diploma bow tie on the pork of any given school’s endowment? I mean, who are we protecting? How is this different than the parents of a tennis star, or future race car driver, or a hockey player, or a soccer player who move across the world to let their teenage prodigies play in the most competitive sporting environment available? Let the mofo play. Or let’s start a club football league and be done with these inequitable residency pressures. That’s my HSO. Moving on.
3. I think this story misses the point, if only slightly. Sure it’s bad a woman left her eight month year old in the car alone on the hottest day of the year. But if it was 72 degrees with blue skies and an easy breeze, please, don’t leave your eight month year old in the car.
“Ryan,” Sometime FrontBurner Commenter, Decamps For Another Non-FrontBurner Blog
In the comments of Rhonda’s post, occasional FrontBurner commenter “Ryan” decided to bid our land of hyperlinks a hasty adieu. You know what, I’ll just let him tell it:
That, folks, is courage. After the jump, a tribute to Ryan and FrontBurner’s time together.
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