Articles for August, 2011
Driver Database Fails to Reduce Number of Uninsured Motorists
Remember three years ago when everyone just knew that a massive database designed to tell law enforcement whether or not you were insured would reduce the number of uninsured motorists on the road?
Turns out, not so much. About 1 in 4 drivers don’t have insurance. Dallas County has the highest percentage. According to this Dallas Morning News article behind the paywall, evidently the program did well for the first two years, then started stagnating.
My theory? The fear factor worked well for the first year or so. Then people, being people, realized that they rarely got pulled over, and rarely got in accidents. Ergo, the likelihood of getting ticketed wasn’t a big enough threat to get them to continue to purchase insurance.
Your Morning Roblet
What? You’re eager to be robletted? Stop whatever you’re doing, and check out this Texas Tribune database of public schools. You can see how the school compares to others in its district and across the state. See how experienced the teachers are and how much they’re paid. See how much the school spends on its students. Good stuff.
Leading Off (8/25/11)
Time to Adopt a Pet. The city of Dallas has decided to reduce adoption fees for certain people (seniors), certain pets (those over 6 years old), and certain occasions. The fees for dogs will go from $85 to $43 and cats will go from $55 to $27. Some people say the city didn’t go far enough with its reductions. My husband found our dog, a purebred Samoyed, at a shelter in Oklahoma. The dog was perfectly healthy at 3 years old, my husband was a graduating college student, and it just so happened that May was “half-off” month. We got our pet for $25. Low fees go a long way.
It rained! And the land rejoiced. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop this heat wave.
Boy Scout Honored for Saving Brother. I’m really bad under pressure. Like, really bad. That’s why I never excelled in basketball. (I was a little more comfortable with the ball than my friend who treated it like a hot potato and would touch it as little as possible. We lost a lot). Anywho. Reid Vaenuku plugged his phone in to charge one night, and it started a huge fire. His family (which consists of nine members) ran outside. His brother, however, thought it was a joke and went back to sleep. Reid noticed his brother was missing and ran in and got him out. He got the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms, which only 250 other scouts have been given, because he is great under pressure.
Aubree-Anna Stinson Joins Our 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas 2011 Finalists
I’ll make this quick. We discovered a problem in the system that counted your votes for the Week 1 semifinalists in our 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas contest.
The good news is that we caught the problem and still have a record of each and every vote cast. To be fair to those affected, we’ve decided to advance four of the women from the first week into the final round of voting. Don’t stress out. We have it under control. We’ve fixed the problem and all other rounds will proceed normally.
So please congratulate Aubree-Anna Stinson, who earned a spot in the finals.
Remember to keep voting daily for our semifinalists. You can do it on your computer and on your smartphone.
Car Submerged in Lake Ray Hubbard Contained Bones
NBC is breaking the very creepy news here.
Most Eligible Dallas: Starring Potential “Most Beautiful Women in Dallas”
Check Episode 1 of Dallas’ new reality show, Most Eligible Dallas, to see last year’s 10 Most Beautiful contestant, Kat Reilly. (She’s part of the blondetourage that Courtney, uh, loved having around at Teddy’s Room.) Check out all the episodes to see this year’s 10 Most Beautiful contestant, Tara Harper. We’ve also got curly girl Morgana, sleek and sultry Susan, sweet and silly Purvi, and hotrod Hollie. Take a look-see and vote for your favorite. Don’t forget you can vote once a day every day.
Guess How Many Executions Rick Perry Has Overseen
The Washington Post says he holds the record. So, how many executions do you think that is? (Answer after the jump.)
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Aug. 24
I don’t remember exactly what went down during my first ever Upright Citizens Brigade show. I just remember that it was in the first weeks of my time in New York, it was funny, and I’d dragged a visiting friend from Texas— the politically conservative sort—and there was a long sketch ripping on George W. that only seemed to confirm my belief that I’d finally come to the right place. Afterward, it rained, which was appropriate.
It probably won’t rain tonight. Not that that’s news. But should you find yourself trolling around Richardson this evening, there’s a free UCB show at UTD’s University Theater. It’s the touring company, so the big names you might find at their rabbit hole in New York obviously won’t be appearing. Still should be a good time, though, as these people are generally considered hilarious. Again, it’s free, but seating is limited. So show up early.
This is also a momentous day, because the Texas Theatre is finally using their 35 mm projector as a tool for good rather than to inflict a Biblical plague of cheeseball ’80s thrillers. They’re screening Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, a great film about filmmaking that, like most good movies, I discovered late. More New York nostalgia ahead: the little video store near my apartment on Mulberry Street (I know, how quaint— it’s closed now) had a decent collection of foreign DVDs, and I was dating a guy who loved Fellini and hated people who fed squirrels with equally impressive passion. I picked up all the weird French movies I needed for class and brushed up on my Italian directors. As it turns out, movies make better boyfriends than boys who really like Fellini. I’m looking forward to seeing this on film, on a nice big screen.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Nominate Your Favorite Nurse
Voting ends soon in our 2012 Excellence in Nursing awards. If you know a nurse who deserves recognition for his or her fine work, follow the link.
Leading Off (8/24/11)
Dallas Hits 100 Degrees For 57th Day. Not a record, yet. But it is the second-most number of awful days. (You can hit the link if you want, but it won’t tell you much more, and you have to pay.)
Trucks Carrying Hazardous Materials Kicking Area Drivers in Jeans. Out near Texas Motor Speedway yesterday, a truck carrying jet fuel caught fire and burned all afternoon, so part of 114 is still closed. And very early this morning, a semi overturned just north of Colorado on I-35, so all northbound lanes were closed as of right now. I will be cursing about one of these in about 15-20 minutes.
Rick Carlisle Threw Out First Pitch at Last Night’s Rangers Game. Which I only bring up because it looks like there might not be an NBA season, which on the one hand is sort of OK, because it means the Mavericks stay champs longer. On the other hand — no basketball? Ugh. I’m not becoming a Cowboys fan. I’m just not. And on the other other hand, I’ve already had to pay for my Mavs tickets for the so far fictional season, and given the financial climate around my house, I would sort of like to see some payoff for that.
A Mother Goes to College — And Leaves Her Son There
Some of you may recall this FrontBurner essay written by Alex Schultz about refereeing kids’ basketball games in Plano. Alex was 17 when he wrote that. Alex went off to USC this year, and his mother, Melissa, wrote an essay on the NYT’s Motherlode blog about how hard it was to drop off her baby in that faraway land. Recommended reading.
If Not the Cowboys, How Do You Pick Who to Root For In the NFL?
If you’re me, you pick college football. If not, and you still need some guidance on who to root for in the NFL, Gawker has provided a very convoluted but somewhat amusing flowchart to help you decide.
The decision process for becoming a Cowboys fan is, um, rather truncated.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Aug. 23
If there was ever a perfect time to submit the op-ed piece you wrote sometime in the last century to the New York Times online opinion desk, it’s now. Because whatever diatribe you’ve got stuffed in a desk drawer absolutely cannot get more inane than this. It sounds like it was written by a middle schooler. A middle schooler with a thesaurus fetish.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch. Carve out a moment during your day to stop by the Dallas Center for Architecture’s Context/Contrast exhibit. It’s about examining just how well new buildings do (or do not) attempt to be a part of a city’s larger historical context, and it opened in New York City before landing here. Not only does it feature three of the Manhattan’s historic neighborhoods, but there’s a special section devoted to Dallas. Which makes sense, given the nutty construction going on around here. And this evening, the DCFA will host a panel discussion about the current state of historic preservation with several of our city’s experts on the subject. Veletta Lil, member of the Board of Advisers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will moderate.
Something else I find interesting: the Dallas Theater Center has taken half a page from the Dallas Opera’s playbook, presenting the first in a series of movie screenings related to their upcoming season. You can see the The Tempest, the stage version of which will open at the Wyly September 9, tonight at the Studio Movie Grill. It’s the Julie Taymor version, of course, starring her pet project. There will be a Q&A with the DTC cast, as well.
For more to do this evening, hop along over here.
Bush or Perry? Take the Audio Quiz.
The folks at The New Republic have put together an audio montage to test your cochlea. See if you can distinguish between Will Ferrell, Rick Perry, Josh Brolin, and George W. Bush.
Dallas Legend L.M. Kit Carson Joins Bill for Thursday’s Paris, Texas Screening at the Kessler Theater
This Thursday FrontRow will close out its latest film series, “Dallas, Outlaws, and the American Dream,” with a screening of Wim Wenders Paris, Texas, a movie that was written by Dallas’ L.M. Kit Carson and stars his son, Hunter Carson. We have just confirmed that both Hunter and Kit will join us for the screening on Thursday, and we’ll chat with the pair in a post-film Q&A.
But that’s not all, as with all of our Kessler Theater screenings this summer, the night will be opened with a performance by Barry Kooda. Then, before the feature, we’ll screen the short film “For Rent” by local director Madison Liane and staring none other than Paris, Texas star Hunter Carson.
Doors open at 6 p.m. You won’t want to miss this. Here’s all the info you need.
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