Articles for May 11th, 2011
Mayoral Candidates Support Parkland
As I noted a couple days ago, I’m involved in an intricate conspiracy with Parkland Hospital and UT Southwestern to discredit the Dallas Morning News. Today, my fellow conspirators and I are prepared to share a bit more about the extent to which this effort has spread across city. As you’ll see from this letter of support for Parkland and UT Southwestern, which is signed by close to 300 people, including all four mayoral candidates (and Rep. Dan Branch, George Bramblett, Mary McDermott Cook, Robert H. Dedman Jr., Nash Flores, Howard Hallam, Lyda Hunt Hill, Walt Humann, Hunter Hunt, Lee Jackson, Veletta Forsythe Lill, Bob Kaminski, Earle Nye, Jim Oberwetter, Caren Prothro, and Jim Turner, among others), the Dallas Morning News — or, if you prefer, the Morning News or the DMN or the News — is screwed.
All kidding aside: most of the people who signed that letter are rich, and some of them even know what they’re talking about. I would love to know what sort of phone calls Jim Moroney is getting about his paper’s coverage of Parkland and UT Southwestern.
Update (3:49): I overlooked the names John Eagle and Carl Sewell on that letter. Both men are far too savvy to consider pulling their companies’ auto ads over such a thing. Right?
‘Honesty Doesn’t Pay in Dallas’: City Keeps Teen’s Money
Now that the WFAA story about the city of Dallas keeping $2,000 that was found by a Plano teen has gone national and been given the above headline by the Atlantic Wire, how long until she gets her money?
UPDATE: Answer: Less than 120 days.
More Layoffs at the Star-Telegram
Not good news coming from where the West begins. An alert FrontBurnervian points us to the Facebook page of Betsy Friauf, a former Star-Telegram writer. She has names of a handful of people who’ve been let go, and a lively discussion has ensued.
Robert “Tractor” Traylor, Dead at 34
Not everyone can imagine a time when Dirk Nowitzki was not a Dallas Maverick. But once upon a time, he was not. In fact, the Mavericks traded 6th overall draft pick Robert “Tractor” Traylor to Milwaukee in exchange for Dirk in 1998, paving the way for Big German to become number one in our hearts, if not our programs.
Traylor has been playing in Puerto Rico recently for the Vaqueros de Bayamon, who reported this morning that Traylor, 34, was found dead in his apartment.
University Park Residents Know How to Party
And this isn’t a street way off the beaten path, it’s an exit along 75.
Denton Lawyer Challenging Statutory Rape Law
The standard warning has been, you know, 15 will get you 20. But what if the minor in question looks older, and says he or she is older?
This is the premise for Denton lawyer Richard Gladden’s argument before a Texas appeals court – his client, he says, had consensual sex with someone who he thought was of legal age, and had no idea she was under age.
The challenge has caused many who are now on the registered sex offender list for the same reason. It’s also caught the eye of several rape crisis counselors, who believe that you should be able to tell a 13 year old from an 18 year old.
Gladden, however, says he’s prepared to go to the Supreme Court.
Things To Do in Dallas Tonight: May 11
Non sequitur question of the week: When’s the last time you picked up and played with a dead squirrel? Right, never. Ew.
Tonight brings together a couple of events that I really like, and luckily, they’re both at the Texas Theatre. Last month FrontRow reported that the Oak Cliff movie theater was interested in producing films as well as screening them, and now they’re hosting an eight week script development series that starts this evening. It’s co-run by the Dallas Screenwriters Association and led by a guy named Kelly Davis, who happens to be fairly new in town.
I was curious about Davis, so I called him up and found out that he’s a University of Chicago film school drop out (lest you forget, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese didn’t finish, either). He got a grant to make a film in Tokyo, and stayed there for eight years, working as a screenwriter and a script consultant for Fox Japan and the BBC. He returned to the States to work as a concept developer for HBO in New York, but after only three months on the job, he visited his mother in Fort Worth. And while he was here, he met a girl. Romance, people, it’s alive and well. Anyway, if you’ve been harboring an idea for a movie or you’re just looking for a creative outlet, finally putting it out there is incredibly satisfying. There are still a few spots open for tonight’s class.
On a more somber note, the late photographer Tim Hetherington, who was killed in April covering the conflict in Libya, was supposed to speak at this evening’s screening of his Afghan war documentary, Restrepo. Instead, the Texas Theatre will hold the screening in his honor in conjunction with the art exhibit XXI: Conflicts in a New Century, which features some of Hetherington’s still portraiture. Peter has more details on FrontRow. It’s free to attend, and all you have to do is make a reservation.
For more things to do tonight, go here.
DMN Bias on Rawlings Story?
In the elections business, candidates are always fearing the sneaky, last-minute, “October surprise” that will influence late-deciding voters. So it was interesting that, on Monday, just days before Saturday’s voting, the Dallas Morning News splashed a story across its Metro “front” with some nit-picking charge against mayoral hopeful Ron Natinsky, essentially part of a family feud involving Natinsky’s brother.
As a result when WFAA-TV ran the story last night that Zac mentioned–about some fairly substantial allegations against Natinsky’s foe Mike Rawlings–I thought for sure there would be a story about this in today’s DMN. Wrong. There was nothin’. Nada. Zippo. (They did have another story from last night’s Ch. 8 newscast, though, about fighting in a Seagoville classroom, so clearly it wasn’t a timing issue.)
I know people go nuts when the DMN is accused of bias in its news coverage, but this one seems pretty straightforward. The paper has endorsed Mike Rawlings for mayor, ringingly. It blew up a minor nit against Natinsky, one it sort of modified later. It’s ignored the Rawlings brouhaha in the paper and on the website–as of 10:05 a.m. today, anyway–even though its broadcast “partner” broke the story yesterday. You be the judge.
UPDATE: Rudolph Bush posted a story about the flap on the DMN website a little after 12 today.
Leading Off (5/11/11)
In-N-Out Opens in Frisco and Allen. People started camping out yesterday afternoon. I can’t make it out there, but I have an intern out in Frisco waiting to bring me an Invisible Man (two patties cooked medium, ripped to shreds, then eaten by someone else) and fries Roadkill style (fries are cooked normally, then put in a bag with four packets of ketchup, dropped to the floor, then stepped on). CAN’T WAIT.
Mike Rawlings and Parks Department in Trouble Over “Happy Trails” Safety Campaign. Not the actual campaign, which is fine, but how Rawlings’ friend Jake Schroepfer and his company Jake:Ferguson were awarded the contract to put it together. Brett Shipp has a stack of correspondence that is pretty damning. Which puts me in a weird spot, because it’s Brett Shipp.
Former Campbell ISD Superintendent Abused Company Card. Strike Franklin — and let’s pause a moment to take in the greatness of that name — allegedly charged trips to resorts, family vacations, Dallas Mavericks games, and pretty much anything else he wanted to (doctor visits, liquor, lawn equipment) on the district’s American Express. Current superintendent Ernie Phelps may be in over his head: “I tend to hope not,” he said when asked if there was any wrongdoing. “I will be shocked if there were.” Make sure you check the comments, because Campbell sounds like an absolute hornets’ nest.
Andrew Bynum Fined $25,000, Suspended Five Games For Foul on J.J. Barea. It’s a couple more games than most people thought it would be, but attacking Barea is like attacking Champ, so it’s not terribly surprising.
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