Articles for April 17th, 2012
Larry Brown Reportedly Agrees to Coach SMU Basketball
Apparently. More TK. All anyone knows right now is that he will quit for capricious reasons in 2014.
Harold Simmons Has a Water Problem at His Radioactive Dump
In 2010, Laray Polk wrote a story for us about Harold Simmons titled “Dallas’ Most Evil Genius.” It was about the Dallas billionaire’s efforts to bury radioactive waste in West Texas — with a little help from politicians to whom he contributed money. At the heart of the matter is whether the site Simmons has chosen is an appropriate place to bury that kind of waste. Polk spent a fair amount of time digging around in West Texas, trying to figure out whether the dump site lies atop an aquifer.
Now State Representative Lon Burnam is trying to answer that same question, just as the radioactive waste is being prepared for shipment. Polk doesn’t think Burnam will get his answer. But based on research she did for our story, she sees trouble ahead. Buckle up for some hydrology talk after the jump.
Craig James Polling Decently In Personal Race to Have His Maker Give Him a Fist Bump, According To Him
Via Dallas Voice, from Friday night’s debate, after being asked if his personal faith would get in the way of supporting same-sex civil unions (something supported by 61 percent of Texans):
“You know, I have said also, as I start every speech that I’ve done now for four months, my goal in life is that when I meet my maker, he says, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant, period.’ It’s not to become a United States senator. So whenever I make the decisions and the things that I just talked about there [in the clip], all of us are free to make decisions in this country, and all of us will be accountable to God for those, including me. I do support the marriage between a man and a woman, and my faith is my core, and anyone who doesn’t support their core and what they believe … This country was founded on the principles of Christianity, and I’m never gonna back away from that.”
At least it’s good to know James’ goal is not to become a United States senator, because that’s going pretty poorly.
I See You, Big German Traffic Reporter
SHUT IT DOWWWWN!
Wilber the White Rock Goose Has Been Kidnapped
The following is from my neighborhood Yahoo message board. I have not confirmed the details with any relatives or associates of Wilbur.
Urgent: Wilbur Goose, star and leader of the big goose gaggle at White Rock Lake is missing, along with 3 of his friends. Appears to be a goose-napping! Looks like they were taken sometime Sunday. If anyone has any information, please contact us immediately at 972-890-4429. If you live in the Dallas area, please re-post!! Thank you!!
Your Reading Assignment for Today: Texas Monthly on George W. Bush’s “Lost Year”
I don’t want to hear any bellyaching. Yes, the story is 10,331 words long. Yes, it will take you more than two minutes to read. Try to concentrate. This is important.
In the May issue of Texas Monthly, you’ll find a story titled “Truth or Consequences” about Dan Rather’s infamous report on George W. Bush’s Air National Guard. As the magazine says: “Joe Hagan [the writer] finally gets to the bottom of the greatest untold story in modern Texas politics, with exclusive, never-before-seen details that shed fresh light on who was right, who was wrong, and what really happened.” The story, which runs right through Dallas, delivers. My favorite moment: an explanation as to why Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to the Supreme Court. There is no way that seeing this in print can make Miers happy.
If You Lost a Postcard From 1914, I Found It
While walking past the First Baptist parking garage today, hoping for another glimpse of Robert Jeffress in his ill-fitting suit, looking like Josh Baskin at the end of Big, something on the ground caught my eye. It was a postcard with an old steamship on it. Previously, the most interesting things I’d seen on the ground around there: a tag from a fancy wig for black ladies and an old remote control.
I picked it up and flipped it over and, I guess I already spoiled the suspense, it was postmarked May 3, 1914, in Detroit. And it’s addressed to a Mrs. Henry Miller, referred to in the salutation as “Hattie.” From the real estate empire family? I can’t tell. Anyway, but if you’re missing it, it’s on my desk. If you’re some sort of weird, steam-punky time traveler, on the other hand, and the postcard is the key to unlocking some world destroying riddle, it is absolutely not on my desk, and I’m just making up stories again. Pics after the jump.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: April 17
It IS Kelly Kapoor story hour. (Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers, in Matt & Ben.)
I don’t really watch The Office anymore, but I used to. As obnoxious as she is, Kelly Kapoor is one of my favorite characters–I mean, think of all the great stuff she says. And then that old episode, Drug Testing, when she launches into a crazy monologue and Dwight just shrieks, “This is not Kelly Kapoor story hour!” A) This is how I imagine some of my friends feel about me 45% of the time, and B) I wish it was the Kelly Kapoor story hour, kind of all the time. Probably because I don’t actually have to hang out with her.
Anyway, the actress Mindy Kaling, who plays Kelly and whose book I read not too long ago, got her comedy break with an off-Broadway show she co-wrote and starred in with a funny friend from college, Brenda. (Tip: those are apparently good to keep around.) It’s called Matt & Ben, and it’s about that time the screenplay for a movie called Good Will Hunting fell from the sky and into the collective lap of a pre-Oscar Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. This version of events actually explains a lot. Echo Theatre, as part of their Echo Reads series, presents a staged reading of the play at the Bath House Cultural Center. This means good times for all. And yes, Matt and Ben are played by ladies. This is my pick. Go check this out, if only to see where a great funny brain got off the ground. Also yes, I realize that’s sort of a weird image.
SMU Does a Little Bragging
Today at noon, you will feel a slight shift in the gravitational field, as Dallas power concentrates itself at the Dallas Federal Reserve. About 400 business and civic leaders (Fed president Richard Fisher, SMU president Gerald Turner, SMU board chair Caren Prothro, trustees Carl Sewell, Ray L. Hunt, and Michael Boone, etc.) will gather for a presentation on a newly completed study titled “Dallas and SMU: The Power of Partnership.” As part of the university’s centennial, it wanted to detail its own economic impact on the city. Here’s my summary of their summary of the report (which follows after the jump): SMU is lucky it managed to keep June Jones.
Economic Impact
The economic impact section of the report was prepared by Dr. Bernard Weinstein, associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute in SMU’s Cox School of Business and an adjunct professor of business economics, and Dr. Terry Clower, director of the Center for Economic Development and Research at the University of North Texas.
Highlights of findings are:
Leading Off (4/17/12)
Mavericks Lose in Third Overtime. If I seem a little sleepy today, it’s because the Mavs took a long time to lose to the Jazz last night. Utah center Al Jefferson had the game of his life, scoring 28 points and grabbing 26 rebounds. Meanwhile Delonte West got a technical foul for giving Utah’s Gordon Hayward a wet willy.
New Details About Deadly Mud Run. People are coming forward to talk about their experiences in the Mud Run, the Saturday race during which a man named Tony Weathers died. Where runners had to cross the Trinity River, Mia Walters described the scene like this: “I was in that water, and it was terrifying. The only other thing I saw was crying, panic-stricken people around me. All I could feel was people grabbing at me because they were so scared because they were drowning.”
Tom Leppert’s Campaign Is Flush With Cash. Of all the Republicans running for Senate, Leppert has the most money on hand. He has raised $6.99 million. But he got $3.6 million of that sum from himself. If he extends this economic model to the country at large, I say we elect him.
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