Articles for February 22nd, 2011

Construction Update: Dallas City Performance Hall

Lisa Collins has this week’s construction update.

photo-7Once completed, the Dallas City Performance Hall will serve as a home for the dozens of performing arts organizations in Dallas with no official performance space. The building’s massive concrete walls have taken up the majority of construction efforts since its groundbreaking. The concrete walls must be poured on-site, so the freezing temperatures put a hold on construction.
Although remedies exist, such as adding hot water or using a heating element beneath, those treatments can be costly, especially for a city-funded project on a tight budget.
Despite the minor setback, McCarthy employees worked weekends to make up for lost time and are currently in coordination meetings to get back on schedule.
“This week is a big focus on getting our pours accomplished,” said McCarthy’s project manager Wesley Moncrief. “We’re hitting our dates on what we want to pour, permitting the weather’s good for us.” —Lisa Collins

posted by Krista Nightengale | February 22nd, 2011 1:13pm | filed under Local News | 1 Comment »

Advice to Senate Hopeful Leppert: Save Your Money

UPDATE: Lela Pittenger of Driftwood wrote to say I erred here calling Elizabeth Ames Jones the only woman running in the GOP Senate primary. Pittenger is also a candidate.

The Dwaine Caraway flap that Tim mentioned this morning isn’t the only issue that could haunt Tom Leppert’s U.S. Senate bid, which, if the experts prove correct, may be taking center stage soon. Just as Sarah Palin was called a quitter for failing to complete her Alaska governor’s term, Leppert could be viewed similarly, adding insult to injury in his case by leaving a guy like Caraway in charge.

But another, maybe bigger, millstone around Leppert’s neck is Washington Mutual bank, which he served as a director while it was becoming the biggest failed U.S. bank ever. It’s believed the FDIC may soon bring litigation against Washington-based WaMu, which specialized in the type of super-risky ARM home loans that played a big role in the economic crash. Daily headlines about that would give Leppert’s opponents some nice ammunition. After all, directors do–or at least should–bear some responsibility for a company’s actions.

These Achilles’ heels aside, the Dallas mayor would also bring a few pluses to a potential Senate run.

(more…)

posted by Glenn Hunter | February 22nd, 2011 12:42pm | filed under Business, Local News, Politics | 15 Comments »

Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: Feb. 22

I love vanity license plates. I’d never get one, but I’m continuously fascinated by how dumb most of them are. Prime example: the Mercedes I saw yesterday on my way home with the plate “MBENZ.” Duh.

Anyway, this morning I followed a dusty lime green Beetle with the vanity plate “Ecosse” for a good stretch of highway. Turns out that Écosse is not only the French word for Scotland, but could also refer to an old Scottish Formula One racing team. Intended or not, I appreciate someone who uses their vanity plate to drop some knowledge. Unlike this guy. The funniest part is that it’s on a Ford Focus.

Speaking of knowledge, did you know that the Gipsy Kings don’t actually sing entirely in Spanish? It’s a dialect called Gitane, a mix of French, Catalan, and Spanish. Hear them do their flamenco thing tonight at the Meyerson and then celebrate National Margarita Day at Jorge’s Tex-Mex right down the street. The restaurant is offering free boozy samples from 1 pm ’til close.

Other NMD festivities: Hacienda on Henderson is pretty much unbeatable with $2 margaritas every single Tuesday, holiday or not. If you feel like making your own at home, SideDish has you covered.

And there’s your evening, folks. As always, find many more things to do tonight right here.

posted by Liz Johnstone | February 22nd, 2011 11:59am | filed under Things to Do in Dallas | 2 Comments »

Leading Off (2/22/11)

Dwaine Caraway Will Be Dallas’ Next Mayor. Interesting story about how some on the City Council tried to oust Caraway as mayor pro tem so that he won’t get the big office when Tom Leppert steps down early (which the smart money says he will). You can guess why the ouster failed. Yup. Racial politics. And accompanying the story is a sidebar of Caraway’s greatest missteps. I’m going from memory here, but I think Rudy Bush overlooked one. Didn’t Caraway get engaged to his current wife but neglect to tell her he was still married? I can’t wait for this guy to run a City Council meeting. We’re in for a treat.

Dallas County To Get Hosed by Redistricting. Preliminary Census figures suggest that we will lose two seats in the state House. Come on, people. This is unacceptable. I want everyone to go home tonight and redouble your copulative efforts. We need babies!

Sex Offender Gets Pwned. Michael Grogg walked into the North Richland Hills police department with his head bleeding. While it’s not entirely clear what happened, it sure seems like Grogg got what he had coming to him.

posted by Tim Rogers | February 22nd, 2011 6:56am | filed under Local News | 26 Comments »