Articles for January, 2011
About the “Rogers Situation” at DISD, Ctd.
On Friday, we began a lively discussion about a story that ran on the front page of Saturday’s Dallas Morning News concerning how my daughter was admitted to a DISD pre-K program designed for at-risk and low-income kids. Over the weekend, I learned some information that leads me to believe Tawnell Hobbs, the woman who wrote story, deliberately omitted a very important detail from her report, a detail that didn’t fit her agenda.
Leading Off (1/17/11)
No More Mayor Tom: We knew it was going to happen, and now it’s official: Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert will not seek another term as the city’s top dog, and he hints at making a Senate run.
How big are Rick Perry’s ambitions? Speaking of moving on and moving up, Rick Perry may be prepping for a presidential run, and tomorrow’s inaugural speech may tip the governor’s hand. At least that is the opinion of a number of political watchers, such as Royal Masset, former political director of the state Republican Party:
“He’ll absolutely use the speech to talk to a national audience. It will be fascinating,” Masset said.
With West Dallas development looming, can existing neighborhoods be saved? There’s a simple reason why West Dallas is attractive to developers: cheap, cheap, cheap. But once the Calatrava Bridge opens and development gets underway, property values will likely skyrocket. In that scenario, what happens to the existing single family neighborhoods in West Dallas? Will longtime residents be pushed out, or will they cozy up against new, Uptown-style gentrification? That’s what makes the work of the Dallas CityDesign Studio fascinating. Can they figure out a way to make urban infill development something other than scrape and build?
Norma “Twinkle” Underwood Bayoud, R.I.P.
The LA Times is reporting that the darling of the 80’s Norma “Twinkle” (Underwood) Bayoud (pictured), 53, died Thursday in Palm Springs. During their heyday, Twinkle and her husband Bradley were the Bonfire of the Vanities couple of Dallas. They were the cover couple of Texas Monthly.
Twinkle’s dad, George Underwood Jr., was one of the original folks who thought there was potential in a plot of land called Richardson. Her ex- (Bradley) went on to become an international dress designer (Bradley Bayou). Her former sister-in-law Laura (Bayoud) Hunt is an established high-profile interior designer headquartered in Highland Park Village. Former bro-in-law George Bayoud is a behind-the-scenes, go-to-guy when it comes to politics and business.
After all the glitz calmed down, Twinkle’s proudest achievement was her children –Alexis Bayoud, Natalie Anthony and Shelley Buckner.
Our condolences to her family and friends.
About the “Rogers Situation” at DISD
In tomorrow’s paper, you will see a story by Tawnell Hobbs about a DISD Office of Professional Responsibility investigation into how my daughter got into pre-K at Hexter Elementary — or, as Hobbs calls it, “the Rogers situation.” Read Hobbs’ account for a fuller explanation of what went down. I think she did a pretty fair job of laying it all out. But here’s the gist: DISD’s pre-K is run with federal and state funds. The program is designed to serve low-income and at-risk kids. But state law allows tuition-paying parents to enroll their children if spots remain open after those first two groups of children have been accommodated. My daughter got one of those open spots at Hexter this year. An investigation into how that came to pass revealed that no rules were broken. The investigation also revealed that the admissions process for pre-K in DISD is more complicated and abstruse than I ever knew.
Mr. Wick Goes to Plano
I’m not sure our Supreme Leader Wick, aka Mr. Downtown/Park Cities, has ever ventured north of LBJ.
But he made an exception last night, heading to Ken Schnitzer’s Park Place Jaguar Plano for a bash marking D CEO’s January issue, which includes a 50-page special report on DFW’s technology industry.
After being assured that no, no passport or special papers would be needed to cross 635, Wick joined roughly 200 guests including the likes of Jim Von Ehr, the “father of nanotechnology;” Bill Carroll, dean of UT-Arlington’s engineering college; and Bill Sproull, CEO of the Metroplex Technology Business Council.
Guests like those in the photo by Matt Shelley (l.to r. Glenn Callison, Susan Arledge, and Joe Gammper) enjoyed fresh-rolled sushi catered by At Your Service. Many wonderful libations were consumed. Curtis Hite of co-sponsor Improving Enterprises gave a nice short talk. And, preparing to return to Dallas, Wick was overheard saying that he had enjoyed Plano very much, and looked forward with pleasure to visiting the region again, one day soon.
Raffle Tickets for Super Bowl XLV Packages Are the Hottest Game in Town
Super Bowl ticket raffles are popping up like after-Christmas sales. For instance, Ken Helfman over at Ken’s Man Shop is raffling off a Super Bowl XLV Package including
- Two tickets to Super Bowl XLV
- Brunch at Fearing’s the morning of the game
- Roundtrip from Fearing’s to the game in a Town Car and
- An autographed and framed Troy Aikman jersey
Only 1964 raffle tickets will be sold at $200 each with proceeds going to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital and The Bill Hunt Scholarship Fund. Who is Bill Hunt? He was Ken’s very first employee, who died in 1975.
How did Ken arrive at such an odd number of tickets? That’s the year when Ken’s Man Shop opened its doors.
The drawing is 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, so you better hop to it.
Patton Oswalt Rides Train at DFW
A certain bald-headed former journalist who likes to clip his fingernails in bars tipped me to Patton Oswalt not long ago. I’ve never seen the guy perform. I understand he’s funny. What I do know is that the guy can write. Read this essay he penned for Wired about geek culture. I disagree with him. But, still, them’s some pretty words.
Anyway, I see from his Twitter feed that he’s in Dallas. Or maybe Fort Worth. The airport spans both cities, so it’s hard to tell. Here’s what he wrote:
@pattonoswalt: I’m just the Tom Cruise of the Dallas/Fort Worth “A” Gates Skylink™ Train. Who wants to be my Rebecca DeMornay? #15secondloveaffair
His schedule indicates he will be in Austin tomorrow. Perhaps he’s just passing through. In any case, if you cross paths with him, tell him he’s a geek.
Things to Do in Dallas This Weekend: Jan. 14-16
Friday’s finally here, and we have little time to waste on pleasantries. Why? Because there’s too much to be done this weekend. So let’s get to it, shall we?
Good Deed of the Day: Learning to Merge
I’m considering this my good deed for the day, possibly the week. It’s not as good as the time I gave a homeless woman my lipstick so she’d look good when she met up with her fellow, but it’s probably going to do a whole lot more people a lot of good.
I’m going to explain merging – specifically on to LBJ from a highway on ramp. (more…)
Police Called Out for Traffic Mess on Strait Lane
A savvy shopping FB-er reports that police are turning people away from a mega-estate sale at 10647 Strait Lane. According to our turned-away-source:
“Apparently the organizers didn’t organize parking. The police officers are being very rude and claiming that no one can go because they’ll tow cars. The neighbors are complaining about the traffic, so they called the officers. It’s just a big mess.”
Well, at least the economy must be doing better — people are shopping.
Shoe Drops in the Eddie Bernice Johnson Scandal
Jack Fink at CBS11 reports that DFW vice president Don O’Bannon resigned yesterday over the scholarship funneled to his daughter by the Congresswoman. O’Bannon oversaw minority contracts at the airport. Eddie Bernice is a beneficiary of the program through Hudson News (and, coincidentally, she also sits on the Congressional aviation subcommittee).
This is only the beginning. Eddie Bernice will probably slide through, but her grandsons — scholarship receipients themselves — may have committed mail fraud in their applications, which is why I awarded her the title of Worst Grandmother in America.
Leading Off (1/14/11)
Our Air Is Bad for Your Lungs. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has been designated by the EPA as a “serious” violator of air quality standards. The area is just as bad as Houston, apparently, which just got the same designation. I have to question this, because seriously, have you smelled Houston? It smells like dirty diaper and feet.
Hutchison Retires, and the Prognosticating Begins. After yesterday’s announcement that Kay Bailey Hutchison would retire when her term expires, pretty much everyone — including us — began wondering who would run for that seat. The Star-Telegram, in addition to Tom Leppert, also says Joe Barton is eyeballing a run.
Fort Worth > Dallas. A vanity plate spelling out FT WORTH beat out one that said DALLAS at yesterday’s auction at Cowboys Stadium, by $3,500. I don’t have an explanation.
Citizens Arrest! OK, not really. But if you illegally park in a handicapped spot in Plano, the chances are really good you’re gonna get caught and ticketed. By a citizen.
50 Degrees Is Warm(er). It’s been a frigid week, but temperatures are supposed to warm up this weekend. Well, relatively, anyway. Am I the only one who thinks living in Texas should absolve one from having to see temperatures below 32 degrees? Maybe someone can declare this an emergency item for the legislature.
Last Day to Vote for Miss Texas to Win America’s Choice
Photo courtesy of Miss America Organization
Ashley Melnick (pictured) is a 2007 Southlake Carroll graduate, a TCU senior on the Dean’s List and Miss Texas. She’s in Las Vegas competing for the Miss America crown that will be decided Saturday night. But before you go thinking the pageant is still run like the Gary Collins days, think again. The Miss America organizers have finally joined the 20th 21st century and created a new program that allows us normal, overweight folks with crooked teeth to put our two cents in.
You have four different ways that you can vote for Ashley –
- Text “MATX” to 24470
- Vote next to Miss Texas’ video at MissAmerica.org/VideoContest
- “Like” the “Vote for Miss Texas 2010″ video at Facebook.com/MissAmericaOrganization (under the Video Contest tab
- “Like” the “Vote for Miss Texas 2010″ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF1jOD9_wZc
If she gets the most votes, she’ll make it into the finals. But you’ve got to move quickly because voting ends today! No, it doesn’t cost anything to vote, but “you may vote once per contestant per voting method.”
P.S. — Check out her video and you’ll see Ashley is more like a spunky Eva Longoria than a Bess Myerson type.
Kay Bailey Hutchison To Run for Dallas Mayor?
As Glenn mentioned below, Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced she will not seek another term in the Senate. I’m just going to throw this out there. If you don’t like it, you can throw it right back. But perhaps this announcement is the first step toward her running for mayor. Or maybe with a question mark: perhaps this announcement is the first step toward her running for mayor?
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: Jan 13
Somehow, someway, I managed to run out of gas in 20-degree weather last night. I won’t bore you with the details, but I will tell you that a friendly NTTA Road Service agent stopped by and gave me enough gas to get to the next station. All I had to do was fill out a form with all the pertinent info on my car. It was then that I had a realization: I have no clue what my license plate number is.
So I figure I can do one of two things to remedy this situation – actually learn what my plate number is (sounds like an awful lot of work, doesn’t it?), or just buy a sweet, new plate with an easy-to-remember line like “GIDDY UP,” or “2FAST 4U,” or even “AMERICA.” How does one do that? By going to the Great Texas Plate Auction over at Cowboys Stadium tonight. They’ve got 33 unique license plates up for grabs (which you can peruse here), all of which are good for at least 25 years and are completely transferable. And perhaps best of all, you can get into Cowboys Stadium for free.
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