Articles for March, 2011
Leading Off (3/8/11)
Securities Firm Fined $500,000. In the first case of its kind, according to the Bond Buyer, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Southwest Securities Inc. half a million bucks for paying unaffiliated individuals to solicit municipal securities business for it. As you might know, that violates Rule G-38. I once broke Rule F-27, and I rather enjoyed it.
New Lead in Amber Hagerman Murder. Police confirm they have new information, thanks to a child pornography bust in a small Texas town. Amber Hagerman, of course, was the 10-year-old girl who was killed 15 years ago and gave her name to the Amber Alert system.
Ann-Margret Is Coming to Town. The Dallas International Film Festival (3/31-4/10) has announced that Ann-Margret will receive its Dallas Star Award. She will get the award at the festival’s opening night. The following night, the festival will have the honor of world-premiering her latest film, Lucky.
Wrestling News. WWE Superstars taped its Thursday show last night at the AAC. Here are the results. I like this format. For instance, the Mavs could tape a game tonight, we could learn on a message board what the result was, and then we could all watch the game on Friday.
Leading Off Is DMN-Free Today. Finally, if you didn’t notice, your favorite early morning FrontBurner feature was compiled today without use of the Dallas Morning News, whose paywall was officially erected this morning. I think we can all agree — subscribers and non-subscribers alike — that the phrase “officially erected” makes us a feel just a little uncomfortable.
Proof That People In Lubbock Really Do Hate Craig James
In late January, Glenn put up a post on this blog about Craig James’ claim that the Mike Leach firing at Texas Tech wouldn’t hurt his designs on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat. James said, “I feel very confident about our position. Most people in Lubbock support my position. We did what any responsible parent would do. We did the right thing.”
Except not so much. The D.C.-based public opinion research firm Lincoln Park Strategies has conducted a poll of our friends in West Texas, and James doesn’t fare so well. For the poll, 401 likely general election 2012 voters in the West Texas metro regions of Lubbock, Odessa-Midland, and Amarillo were surveyed March 2 and 3. The findings:
Our early poll indicates that James would have quite a difficult path to victory in West Texas, as 62 percent of survey respondents have either never heard of him or do not know him well enough to form an opinion. Furthermore, only 8 percent hold a positive opinion of him, while 30 percent maintain an unfavorable view. These high unfavorable ratings this early in the contest will have a James campaign starting in the unenviable position of having to work to get his positive name identification up 22 points, just to break even with his detractors.
While the entire region is not overly friendly territory for Craig James, he has an especially acute problem the Lubbock area. Indeed, 52 percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion of James including 35 percent who are very unfavorable. Furthermore, 71 percent of voters in Lubbock with an opinion on the matter say Coach Leach did not deserve to be fired; which includes 29 percent of voters who put the blame squarely on James’ shoulders for using his influence at ESPN to have Leach fired.
In sum, these findings suggest that voters care about the Texas Tech issue and will weigh the situation as they consider supporting Craig James for Senate in 2012.
Surprise! Rick Perry’s Slush Fund Produces Slush
There is seemingly no end to the tales of woe emananting from the Governor’s Emerging Technology Fund. Yesterday the News revealed that the executive director, who had no apparent credentials for the job, was playing footsie on the side. Meanwhile, the Austin American Statesman was hot on the trail of David Nance, a Perry crony to whom the governor directed a $2 million federal grant. Guess what? The money is spent, and there is nothing to show for it. But Nance was able to pay himself $250,000 a year while it lasted. You want some waste and fraud in government? Look no further than your Texas governor.
Who Owns A. H. Belo?
Nice to know that somebody believes in newspapers. The list is after the break.
Splitsville for Kenny Goss, George Michael?
Quite a soap opera erupted in England today after a newspaper reported that Dallas art guy Kenny Goss has split from longtime boyfriend George Michael because of the singer’s “wayward lifestyle.” Michael phoned a TV station to deny the report–which was picked up by a web site called Showbiz Spy–going so far as to brand the story “complete bull****.” We’ve asked the Dallas publicist for Goss and the duo’s Goss-Michael Foundation here to comment, but haven’t heard back.
Mike Orren on the Dallas Morning News‘ Paywall
The paywall officially goes up tomorrow. Pegasus News founder Mike Orren shares the letter from Jim Moroney to his staff, along with Orren’s thoughts on same. Have a look, and then let’s discuss this tomorrow.
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: March 7
Back in the saddle again. I watched so much Deadwood this weekend that I’ve got the Wild West coming out my ears. I just finished the episode of season three where a new cook comes to town, ousting poor Richardson and his antler god with her superior peach cobbler (this is not a spoiler, people, don’t get huffy). And thinking of food, as seems to happen often, brings me to today’s first offering.
It’s the first Monday of the month, and I feel obligated to remind you that once again the Screen Door is offering a choice of two complimentary small plates during dinner hours. These are new, off-menu items, so essentially you’re chef David McMillan’s guinea pig. But did you feed your adorable pet rodent grilled flat iron steak with hominy, beef jerky, and charred chilies? No. Make a reservation ASAP.
Leading Off (3/7/11)
Mark Cuban Taps Charlie Sheen For New HDNet Show: Reason why Mark Cuban is a promotional genius #591: The Mavericks owner and high-definition pioneer is in talks with Charlie Sheen to develop a new talk show or reality show on his HDNet television network. Can’t see you see Cuban’s goofy grin all the way through this quote:
“You’ve got somebody that everybody has a whole lot of interest in who’s doing some interesting things, to say the least, and we always look for interesting programming by featuring interesting people doing interesting things.”
As Texas Faces Cuts at Public Schools, Federal Money Sits Unused: I think this lead from the Wall Street Journal says it all: “As Texas schools scrounge for cash to buy supplies and threaten to lay off teachers, $830 million in education funding earmarked for the state is sitting at the federal Department of Education.” So why are Texans wasting their time rallying for independence, when they should bring the pitchforks and torches to the steps of the state capitol to demand relief for their children’s schools?
North Texas Tollway Authority Defends Its Late Fee Bully Tactics: The North Texas Tollway Authority claims that if a pending bill reduces the amount they are able to charge users for late fees passes it will threaten the “integrity” of its system. I’d love to see credit card companies use the same rationale for charging the kinds of exorbitant fees that the NTTA gets away with.
12-Year-Old Son of Local Magazine Editor Types Blog Post
My boy’s school is closed for the day, so I dragged him to work with me. Today’s the last day of our deadline for the April issue. Attention to this deadline has kept me from the blog. So I gave my boy an assignment: “Write a blog post about what it is you think I do here at D Magazine.” Here is what he typed up. I didn’t edit it.
Today I went to my dads office and I have witnessed some things that are top secret, because if I told what they were my “dad” would get fired. Okay now that I have you hooked I will tell you what they are. He will get his work done on time, but in the proses of doing so he will take periodic brakes, like walking around the office in his socks for about 10 to 15 minutes. But his favorite thing to do is talking with his best office BUDDY and telling jokes. And to me the only resin things get done around here is because of their beast boss, Wick. He will stop at nothing to get this “dad” of mine to either write a story or mess with the sentences and make sure they are spelled write. But all in all D Magazine does a pretty good job!
P.S. But if you ask me i would say that this company could do way better off with a different editor or a person to take his place. Also feel free to send money for this wonderful blog post.
Cheaters Interrupts a Kickball Game at Tietze Park
A same-building-working FrontBurnervian sends in this report from the field:
Around 7:30 pm, in the middle of my kickball game at Tietze Park off the M Streets, a live filming of Cheaters ensued. For 30 minutes, a rather large black man barreled through three fields in an attempt to dodge obscenities, car keys and jewelry from two very upset women. One of which (from what we gathered) turned out to be his baby mamma.
A YouTube video is attached, and was sent to me courtesy of a fellow teammate. You will find the complete throwdown behind home plate, with my team (light blue) in the background. I might add that the icing on the cake was the fact that an hour later, the “cheater” gentleman returned (minus camera crew) to look for his own missing car keys… and whatever dignity he left behind.
That video, and a photo, is after the jump. (Note: there is, as you may have guessed, a bit of NSFW language in the video. Just so’s you know.)
You Haven’t Voted in the Best of Big D Readers’ Choice: Food and Drink Poll?
Well then, you’re the only one. Thousands upon thousands of ballots have been cast so far, and there’s still more than a week to go in this first round of our annual Readers’ Choice poll. You can vote up to once an hour through March 13.
Remember that you don’t even need a full-fledged computer to do it. Just wake up on Saturday morning, reach for your smartphone on the nightstand, and vote from the comfort of your own bed. Then fall asleep again for an hour and do it all over again, if you like.
The vote tallies remain close enough that any of our nominees still has a chance to come out on top, if their supporters will turn out in force. Even some of the write-in candidates are polling well.
Things to Do in Dallas This Weekend: March 4-6
The vast majority of my friends ditched me for a 14-hour plane ride to Tokyo this morning. Cue this song. If any world-traveling FrontBurnervians have suggestions for fun, off the beaten path things to do over there, I promise not to keep them to myself out of spite. In other news, it’s the freaking weekend. And there is never anything not exciting about that, especially because there’s so much to do.
Friday
Apparently, there’s a whole plethora of people who can’t even wait until after Mardi Gras to get their green on. St. Patrick’s Day is officially March 17, but the North Texas Irish Festival kicks off this evening in Fair Park and continues all weekend. Obviously, there will be plenty to eat and drink, plus music, dancing, and probably more men in kilts than you can shake a stick at. Click here to download a discount coupon for tonight’s festivities.
If the festival sounds like a bit much after a long day, there’s a performance by Celtic rock group The Killdares at the Kessler Theatre. I’ve been listening to these guys since my best friend’s dad went to an Irish festival ten years ago and came back with their CD. Finally, in an amusing-but-temporary turn of events for those who just want to drink, the sports bar formerly known as Brackets is now “McBrackets.” Needless to say, the pub will be pouring St. Patty’s-themed specials tonight.
Understanding the Sonogram Bill Is Hard
Last night, the state House finally approved a version of a bill that would require women seeking abortions to also have a sonogram. The Senate passed its own version of that bill. I’ve been peppering Timothy Dickey, State Rep. Rafael Anchia’s communications director, with questions, and he’s been pretty helpful, except for the fact that every question answered makes it harder to wrap my head around this bill.
As it stands, the House version apparently requires a sonogram, but the woman is not required to look. So far, apparently, they want the sonograms to be free, but they’ve built no funding into the bill for it. When I talked to Dickey yesterday, he said they were still debating who would pay — and that so far, the woman would, but she’d also be given a list of clinics that offer the service for free, or that accept Medicaid.
This raises a whole series of questions, though: If the state pays, what’s to prevent someone with no health insurance from claiming they want an abortion, just so they can get a sonogram? If the state pays, won’t that still raise the specter of the state, essentially, paying for some step in the abortion process?
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