Articles for September, 2011
Law Man Walking: Nature Treks With Bill Holston
This week, our man Bill tackles the wilds of Harry S. Moss Park.
No Country for Old Cattlemen
Really interesting (and very sad) story from my friend Brantley Hargrove over at the Dallas Observer today, about the toll this horrendous drought is taking on smaller ranchers across the state. With no meaningful rainfall in a year, the herds are thinning dramatically and an industry is partially cannibalizing itself.
“Sale barn owners are disturbed by the number of young, productive cows with years of calving ahead of them, all headed to meatpacking plants — an indication Texas cattle ranchers are cashing out.”
Pretty good (in that same sad way) slideshow of the reporting trip around Texas here.
Leading Off (9/29/11)
Rangers Start Playoffs Against Rays on Friday. The Rangers secured the No. 2 seed thanks to Mike Napoli’s homer, so: REMATCH. How did it come about, on a wild last night in the bigs? “Evan Longoria’s walk-off homer in the 12th [against the Yankees], just moments after Baltimore scored two in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Red Sox, means that Tampa will head to Texas for the first round.” I still am behind on my DirecTV bill, and also behind on calling them to switch service to my new place, so I followed on Twitter, via tweets such as “NAPOLI” and “Oh god. Oh Jesus God.” (Sawx fan).
Arrest Warrant Issued in Denton for NFL Quarterback Impersonator. Stephan Pittman was arrested in D.C. for impersonating Eagles backup QB Vince Young, so now Denton prosecutors have issued a warrant for his arrest, too. Pittman received deferred adjudication after a sexual assault in Denton in 2009; his D.C. arrest means it has been deferred until right about now. So Denton is officially, really, pretty much the only place where someone like Vince Young is wanted these days. NAILED IT.
“Pilots Report More Laser Attacks in North Texas.” Now there is a headline. I’d click-thru that even if I was 90 percent certain there was a virus on the other side, or a recording of an old Jean-Jacques Taylor-hosted edition of The Soul Patch. Come on. Laser attacks. As for the story, there’s been a lot this year, and especially a lot recently. And this: “In a written statement, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith emailed ‘aiming a laser at any aircraft is an extraordinarily dumb thing to do.’” Smith hit “send” and muttered something under his breath, and checked LinkedIn again, for the 20th — but not last — time of the day. He then stared at the picture of his kids for a good long time, until his eyes got sort of glassy, then listened to the Arcade Fire for the rest of the day with his eyes closed. I mean, probably. I’m not his biographer.
DA’s Office Nabs 14 of 17 Members of “Sophisticated” Theft Ring. The retail theft operation centered on TJ Maxx, apparently. In this story, authorities called it “major and sophisticated.” Which are probably the first two words that come to my mind when someone says “TJ Maxx.”
Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak Comes to Dallas
There have been 14 cases reported in Texas (four in Dallas County and two in Tarrant County), with at least two deaths in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The tainted cantaloupes from Colorado probably won’t hurt most healthy adults, according to this, but they could kill elderly people or individuals with compromised immunity, and they aren’t good for pregnant women.
Robert Gates at SMU’s Tate Lecture Series
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates fielded questions last night from CNN’s David Gergen. The Boomer Brief has a good recap of the evening, including what Gates thinks is our biggest national security concern. Recommended.
The First Of Many (Hopefully) Go Rangers Posts
Somehow we’ve been remiss in our attention to the Rangers, so much so that we neglected to talk about the fact that they’ve managed to become, for the second year in a row, the American League West Champions. And furthermore, they’re in the hunt for home field advantage. In fact, with yesterday’s win over the Angels, the Rangers maintained their one-win lead over Detroit for home field advantage in the ALDS.
And who do we want to root for right now? The Red Sox, says Evan Grant, in a column you can read if you can scale the pay wall.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Sep. 28
Walgreens is by far my favorite pharmacy for reasons that have nothing to do with their ability to fill a prescription, though they do that well. I like it because it’s been a friendly and hospitable place whenever I’ve done something ridiculous in one of their parking lots. Like get towed. That was four years ago at the Oak Lawn location, and it was not my car or parking decision, though the experience did spark the grudge I’m still holding against any and all Dallas cab companies past, present, and future. And then there’s last night at the Walgreens on McKinney, when I slammed the car door on my ankle and then hopped out without my keys, phone, or wallet. They let me use their phone, and then they let me loiter until my heroic father brought me the spare clicker. As a bonus, I now have the Redbox selections memorized.
Just down the street from my current favorite Uptown hangout, there’s the McKinney Avenue Contemporary, where something called the Plutonian Games Expo is going down this evening. It’s a theatrical competition based on Babylonian metaphysics and astrology in which each team represents a planet in our solar system. The nine teams (Pluto has been reinstated for the purposes of this competition) do their dramatic thing while you, the attendees/audience, act as judge and jury. The winning team gets the Rod of Asclepius. How much does this thing cost? If you’re lucky, not much. You’ll roll a pair of dice, and the numbers you get determine the ticket price. It also has the potential to be somewhat educational, as you’ll get a crash course in occult theater and the Babylonian astrology on which the games are based.
And since I’m already talking about theater, I’ll remind you that the Dallas Theater Center production of The Tempest is still going on over at the Wyly. It’s a nice early show tonight, and tickets are a steal. FrontRow’s Shakespeare scholar and critic extraordinaire, Lance Lusk, enjoyed it quite a bit. I like the Lost-y elements. Miss that show.
For more to do this evening, including a free wine tasting at the best wine bar in Dallas, go here.
Principals Ruled Immune in Court Case About Totally Made Up Thing
Back in 2004, some kids in Plano tried to hand out candy canes at Christmas with this story about how candy canes having a Christian origin and reminding people that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” or some such thing. The principals at those schools put the kibosh on the handout, saying that it might offend some students and that the district policy precluded handing out such materials. Well, the parents of some of those children sued. And the case has been winding its way through the court system and appeals process ever since, with the most recent ruling giving the principals involved immunity from damages.
And yes, as a journalist, I like freedom of speech, and am awfully fond of the First Amendment. But, well, the story that started this whole mess? Not even true. Not even a little bit.
Leading Off (9/28/11)
Football Player Returns. Last week, Azle Junior High student Alex Templeton’s heart stopped after he made a tackle and landed on the cleat of the opposing player. The quick actions of several people saved him. He was an honorary captain at his team’s first game last night. He says he’ll try out for football his freshman year. His dad says they’ll talk about it. Remembering back to my teenage days, I remember my parents telling me they’d talk about something. It always led to a no. In this case, I completely understand that.
Smart Meter Towers Are Offensive. I’m so glad the city is switching to these smart meters. Without them, I don’t know what I would blog about. So the new complaint is about the five-foot “graveyard”-esque towers. Neighbors are angry! It’s ugly! Property values are plummeting!
Skyline Gets Highlighted. Notice anything different about the skyline last night? Chase Tower lit up the sky with its new blue outline. The plan is for this to be a permanent change. I know we added our D sign recently, but we can’t be outdone. I’m thinking it’s time we take it to the next level—let’s get some red lights, perhaps a unicorn, and, oh, let’s make it really pop and get a 500-inch projector that shows Most Eligible Dallas on a constant loop.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Sep. 27
One of my screenwriting professors in college told our class that only firsts and lasts belonged in scripts, because those are the only things that are dramatic and exciting. And of course, as I was consistently informed on the playground during my formative years, first is the worst. I decided this was not necessarily true, since I loved being first at everything and generally considered it a pretty good time.
I promise I’m going somewhere with this. It’s the one year anniversary of Cavalli Pizza’s McKinney location, and they’re celebrating with a wine dinner. Five courses and Italian vino; pretty straightforward. I only mentioned it because Cavalli in Irving was the first place to produce Verace Pizza Napoletana Association-certified pies. North Texas now has two one other (Dough doesn’t count, since only San Antonio is certified), and while my friend Mark has refused to try both Cane Rosso and Dough out of loyalty to Cavalli. I’ve had all three. I do love the prosciutto and arugula pie at Cane Rosso. But sometimes it’s nice to remember the first slice of something special (though a point has been tweeted to me that I should clarify: their McKinney locale isn’t VPN certified; just the Irving one.)
If you’re in Fort Worth or up for a little drive, the Modern opened a cool-sounding exhibit of paintings by Richard Diebenkorn over the weekend. The show is comprised of pieces from his Ocean Park series, large-scale works he created based on the aerial landscape of Santa Monica. I haven’t had a chance to check it out in person yet, but tonight is a prime opportunity. The museum will stay open late for their free Tuesday night lecture series, which usually features other artists and scholars. This evening, however, the guest is Gretchen Diebenkorn Grant, Diebenkorn’s daughter. She was in her early twenties when her father began the Ocean Park paintings and lent her insight to the curators during the planning stages of this exhibit, which also happens to be the largest of the artist’s work ever.
As always, if you’d like more, you can go here.
Publicis Dallas Brings CiCi’s Pizza Account to Its Cool Plano Office Space
Congratulations to Publicis Dallas, not just for having one of the coolest offices in Dallas-Fort Worth, but for now landing the CiCi’s Pizza account.
The Coppell-based pizza chain should generate plenty of work for Publicis, given that CiCi’s CEO Mike Shumsky told me last year that his company has identified 73 markets nationwide in which its low-cost buffet restaurants would work, and that they hope to add 500 new units during the next eight to 10 years.
Dallas-based Richards Group was also reportedly in the running for the account. CiCi’s was looking for a new agency after bringing in a new chief marketing officer last year. As Stan Richards, principal of the Richards Group, recently told me (when we were discussing other matters): “Anytime the CMO changes, the agency is in jeopardy.”
A new CMO likes to signal a new direction right away, which usually means a new ad agency. Richards said he wasn’t surprised when his own firm lost Red Lobster as a client last year, after that restaurant chain hired a new CMO. ”It’s one of the hazards of the industry. The average life of a CMO is under two years, so it’s a constant issue,” Richards says.
I’m sure then that Publicis hopes CiCi’s remains happy with its CMO. And that they can keep the company’s penny-pinching target customer happier than this guy.
A Milestone for Indefatigable Business Columnist
When Robert “Bob” Miller began his journalism career at the Dallas Morning News, they 
were writing on typewriters and there was cigarette smoke in the newsroom and Harry Truman was president. Miller was assistant city editor when the JFK assassination happened, at his desk on the Sunday that Ruby shot Oswald (it was Miller’s birthday to boot). He’s said to have been the first DMN editor to OK women covering hard news, back in the day when they let pregnant women go once they started “showing.”
Yesterday afternoon, Belo bigs including Robert Decherd, Jim Moroney, Bob Mong and George Rodrigue joined scores of Miller’s current and former colleagues and friends at the TXCN studios to help the business columnist (shown in photo by Jeanne Prejean) celebrate his 60th anniversary with The News. After listening to everybody talk about him, the wise-cracking 87-year-old quoted the Big Band singer Helen O’Connell, who once said: “If I’d have known it was an era, I would have paid more attention to it.” Congrats to Miller, who’s still playing the pioneer’s role–showing all the boomers and Great Recession-era types how to work into their 80s (hey, buck up and get used to it) with integrity, enthusiasm, humor and class.
Southwest Airlines Boots Actress Leisha Hailey From Flight For ‘Excessive’ Lesbian Kiss
Remember when Southwest Airlines wasn’t kicking rock stars and actresses off flights for behavior unbecoming a “family” airline?
Leading Off (9/27/11)
Cowboys Kick the Crap Out of Redskins. Rookie kicker Dan Bailey scored all the Cowboys’ points last night, but the real story was Tony Romo. Despite having a broken rib and a punctured lung and a still-healing clavicle and a nasty case of plantar fibromatosis and kidney stones and a little psoriasis in his eyebrows and a prolapsed uterus, Romo led the Boys to an 18-16 victory. If you haven’t yet seen what he did on third down and 21, talk to YouTube. It’s worth a watch. Oh, and here’s what he said on the field after the game, in response to a question about how he played through the pain: “This is football. It’s football season, usually we play football. So, good.”
Big-Time Burglar Busted. Kelvin O’Brien was good at his job but not quite good enough. The Carrollton man’s last heist netted him and his compadres $6 million in gold and diamonds. But then a woman recognized him in an Uptown bar, and the coppers got the drop on him. If this guy and his crew ever get out of jail and hook up with Rica and Chato, watch out. (How’s that for a callback?)
Plano, Frisco School Districts Not As Awesome as You Might Think. The Bush Institute today will release a study that it says is the first of its kind. It looks at how U.S. suburban school districts compare with their international peers. The news is not encouraging. But whatever. I’d like to see those Chinese kids meet ours on the gridiron.
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