Articles for December 4th, 2012

Body Found in White Rock Lake

Apparently the body was found near the Arboretum. Updates as they come in.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 4:03pm | filed under Crime | (0) Comments »

A DART Train Gets Wrapped With Mavericks

This time-lapse video gets a bit tedious after the …..JESUS WHEN WILL THIS THING END? If this video is any indication, it takes weeks or months to wrap a DART train. I think Jim Jackson was on the original design.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 3:30pm | filed under Sports, Transportation | (0) Comments »

T.D. Jakes’ MegaFest to Move to Dallas

MegaFest, the 100,00-attendee religious conference spearheaded by Dallas evangelical T.D. Jakes, will take root in Dallas for the first time in 2013.

The move was announced in late October at the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau’s annual meeting; a press conference today helped flesh out some of the details, including:

- guests will “fill every square inch” of the Dallas Convention Center and American Airlines Center Aug. 28-30, said Phillip Jones, president/CEO of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau
- the city expects $41 million in economic impact
- 77 percent of MegaFest’s attendees – at its most recent Atlanta iteration – came from out of town (read: full hotels, restaurants, shops)

Jakes had always shipped more than 1,000 volunteers and employees to Atlanta for the event, because Dallas’ infrastructure – hotels, transportation, convention halls – was substandard, he said. The festival’s contracted to Dallas for 2013, 2015, and 2017, but the latter events could be moved if next year’s event doesn’t meet Jakes’ standards, Jones said.

While the event is a Christian event, the economic impact is what has city officials salivating.

“In Atlanta, a retailer told me he sold more shoes, hats, and dresses when I was in town than for any other event,” Jakes said.

For more information, head to the MegaFest website.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 2:45pm | filed under Business, Celebrity, Religion | (0) Comments »

Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Dec. 4

Jenny Holzer’s new installation at the Modern.

I managed to plow through a season and a half of Revenge in approximately three days. All I can think about are schemes, and how great it feels when they fall into place. Obviously, my schemes are all for good. I purchased three Christmas presents last night, which makes me about 100% better at this holiday planning thing than I was at this time last year, and we’ve got a fun series cooking for FrontRow that I’m really excited about. Stay tuned.

Until then, tonight’s got plenty to keep you occupied. If you haven’t made a trip to the Modern Museum in Fort Worth recently, this is a good evening for it. Why? Artist Jenny Holzer is the featured guest for their Tuesday lecture series. I caught her PROTECT PROTECT exhibit at the Whitney in New York a few years ago (which I really only found out able about thanks to inescapable subway advertisements, honestly) and have been interested ever since. The Modern will unveil a as-yet-untitled new installation of her work (lighted text, running through central gallery) this month, and Holzer will talk a bit about that tonight as well as reflect on her lengthy career. As always, admission is free, and Café Modern is open for dinner and drinks.

Closer to home, the Magnolia is screening a couple of good films tonight. For one, there’s our Big Movie movie, Singin’ in the Rain. If you’re in a funk and this musical doesn’t life your spirits, I fear you might be a lost cause. The movie theater has also has a copy of Jimi Hendrix’s vaunted 1969 Woodstock concert, which they’re showing it in honor of the 70th anniversary of his birth alongside a newly restored documentary about the road to Woodstock and what it took to get Hendrix as a headliner. This is your last chance to catch it here on a big screen (and in surround sound). And since it’s been far too long since my last visit, I’d want Union Bear for dinner and drinks.

For more to do tonight, go here.

posted by Liz Johnstone | December 4th, 2012 11:17am | filed under Things to Do in Dallas | (0) Comments »

Hostess CEO Won’t Take a Pay Cut

As his company circles the drain, Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn will continue to make $125,000 a month, the New York Post reported over the weekend.

The rest of the Irving-based company’s remaining employees were hit with an eight percent pay cut – at Rayburn’s hand – but since the CEO isn’t technically an employee of the company, he’ll keep his $1.5 million annual salary thankyouverymuch. A company spokesman told the Huffington Post that since Rayburn was brought in as a restructuring advisor to help with the company’s bankruptcy woes, his title precludes him from the cuts. Never mind the fact that the company’s fortunes have crashed and deliciously burned since Rayburn came on in March, apparently.

One bit of comfort for the 18,000 people losing their Hostess jobs: Rayburn didn’t accept his bonus, which would’ve paid between $375,000 and $1.125 million.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 10:48am | filed under Business, controversy, Enemy List, Food | (0) Comments »

On KTXD, Troy Dungan Gets To Work Blue


This morning, the experiment began. I popped over to explain on The Texas Daily how our new partnership with KTXD will work. Joining me and host Jeff Brady were Troy Dungan and Tracy Rowlett. For my money, Troy had the best line. If this is the way they do business over there, I think this marriage will be a long and happy one.

posted by Tim Rogers | December 4th, 2012 10:40am | filed under Media | 19 Comments »

George W. Bush Is About to Address a Conference at the Dallas Fed, and You Can Watch it Live

Former President George W. Bush is scheduled to speak at a George W. Bush Presidential Center-hosted symposium on immigration and economic growth at the Federal Reserve of Dallas in about 10 minutes. You can watch it here. If anything of note pops up, I’ll update this post.

UPDATE: Bush spoke for about five minutes. My takeaway: immigrants, they ain’t that bad.

“They come with new skills and new ideas,” Bush said. “Immigrants fill a critical gap in our labor market, and they work hard for a chance at a better life.” He went on to say that “America can be a lawful society and a welcoming society at the same time,” and that immigration needs to be handled with “a benevolent spirit.”

The conference continues throughout the day, and you can watch the whole thing through the link above.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 9:48am | filed under Politics | 4 Comments »

The Observer Has Some Ideas For Our New TV Station, and They Aren’t Half-Bad

Yesterday we announced that we were creating/partnering up for/branding a TV station. The Observer took that as an opportunity to dream up some of our programming, which is a great idea because I considered doing it yesterday then figured they’d probably do it anyway and it would be funnier.

Some of their ideas:

Simek’s Survival: D Magazine Arts Critic Peter Simek becomes an unlikely candidate for wildlife exploration as he is dropped into nature’s depths and forced to fight his way out. Will his delicate aesthetic sensibilities and shiny loafers protect him from rattlesnakes, bear attacks and the sinister world of poisonous plants? Tune in on Tuesdays, at 1:30 p.m., to find out that they won’t.

This, I would watch. Peter’s Long Island upbringing is sure to be an asset when dealing with snakes.

Male Grooming with Mike Mooney: (Running time: 24 seconds.)

I envision some sort of D Moms crossover where Mooney learns the difference between shampoo and conditioner.

Most Beautiful Women vs. Best Doctors: A Real World-Road Rules-style competition reality show, shot on location in exotic locales like Garland and that one parking deck on Main Street that’s always empty.

As long as The Miz is involved.

There’s also one about Wick, which I’ll politely leave alone.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 9:22am | filed under Appreciation, Awesome Things, Business, Media | 10 Comments »

Texas Drought Worries Escalate

Source: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Only a quarter-inch of rain fell – on average — across Texas in November, prompting meteorologists and climatologists to worry about a second (third? fourth? thousandth?) wave of the state’s crippling drought. The rain report for Dallas-Fort Worth for the month was even more bleak – .05 inches, according to the Star-Telegram, the fifth-driest on record.

So where does that leave us? If you look at the fancy map atop these words, D-FW is in much better shape than most of the state. The Panhandle and far South Texas are still mired in droughts of epic proportions, far worse than our area. Take a closer look, though, and the picture becomes less clear.

(more…)

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 8:49am | filed under Environment, Hold On To Your Effin Hat, Meteorology, natural disasters | (0) Comments »

Rick Perry Strategist Blames Candidate’s Back Pain For Poor Showing in Presidential Race, Not His Inability to Speak in Complete Sentences

The Governor and a pal, presumably pre-back pain. Source: Ed Schipul

We’ve had some fun with Rick Perry in this space for the past year. Finger guns, real guns, gosh, probably even water guns. Too much fun. GUN FUN. Well, it turns out all that fun may have been at the expense of the governor’s health, so I can’t decide: more funny or less funny?

From the Washington Post:

Perry underwent back surgery in July 2011; [longtime Perry strategist Dave] Carney said that the governor was told it would only take two weeks to recover. Instead, it took four months. The governor announced his campaign in August to great fanfare, but ended his campaign in January after a series of lackluster debate performances.

“The whole campaign was built on a very aggressive, arduous schedule of travel in order to make up for lost time,” Carney explained. The pain made it hard for the governor to sleep, “more difficult to study, more difficult to be comfortable.” However, he said painkillers did not play into Perry’s debate missteps, as some have speculated.

In addition, seemingly out of nowhere:

“It’s just a fact, it’s not an excuse,” the strategist added. “We passed tort reform in Texas, so we can’t actually sue the doctors for what they told him.”

They’re totally gonna sue some doctors.

posted by Bradford Pearson | December 4th, 2012 8:00am | filed under Competence, Politics | 3 Comments »

Leading Off (12/4/12)

DISD Teachers Are Mostly Happy With Their Jobs. Sorta. Maybe. DISD gave its employees the opportunity to take a survey and let administrators know how they feel about their workplace. This DMN story says the results were positive. Sixty-seven percent of employees took the survey, with 76 percent of the respondents saying they believe that “their school’s key actions are focused on what is best for students,” 65 percent saying they would recommend their school as a place to work, and 70 percent saying they look forward to work each day. What the DMNstory doesn’t say is that the survey wasn’t anonymous. Teachers had to log into a system with their ID to fill out the survey. So yeah. Many grains of salt needed here. UPDATE (10:50): That link goes to a blog post. The full story (paywall) addresses the survey’s methodology: “Some employees expressed concern about anonymity because they had to sign in with their district employee identification numbers to take the survey. [Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford University Graduate School of Business who reviewed the district’s results] said that the best climate surveys don’t require respondents to use identifying information to complete them and are conducted by third-party organizations. Dallas ISD conducted the survey through its evaluation and assessments department.”

Arboretum Still Looking for Parking. The search for a parking solution now appears to have jumped across Garland Road. And hamburger magnate Jack Keller is involved. Some longtime businesses (Walton’s, the Personal Touch Tree Center (the place with all the wood)) might need to move. Listen, as long as they keep the thing off Winfrey Point, we’re headed in the right direction.

Another Donkey Killed With Bow and Arrow. Someone in Fort Worth needs to go to jail for a long time.

Dallas Man One of 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders. Speaking of people who need to go to jail.

posted by Tim Rogers | December 4th, 2012 6:29am | filed under Local News | 1 Comment »