Articles about Automotive
Leading Off (3/11/13)
Police Need Help Cracking Murder Case Involving Senior: A 79-year-old woman in East Dallas was found slain in her home Saturday, and police are turning to the public for help. There were signs of forced entry, but no word on whether the residence where the woman was found was burglarized. And Bernie Tiede’s locked up, so you can scratch him off the list of suspects.
Should UNT Dallas Open New Law School When Law Grads Can’t Find Jobs? That’s one of the questions put to Ellen Pryor, associate dean for academic affairs at the new UNT Dallas College of Law, which is set to open in the old Dallas City Hall in August 2014. Her answer? Well, yes, of course, but she adds that in the current economic and education environment, UNT Dallas is in a unique position to rethink the value and shape of legal education.
Trends: We Like Driving, Botox: The tranquility of the country and the distance between Dallas and Fort Worth contribute to the percentage of North Texans with “mega-commutes,” daily drives of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles. And all that driving makes the lunch hour one of the few times during the day to take care of little errands, you know, like face-lifts.
The NRA 500 Is Coming to the Texas Motor Speedway This April
Source: Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway officials announced today that the Texas 500 will be renamed the NRA 500, further engraining every stereotype non-NASCAR fans have about NASCAR fans. It is the second time the National Rifle Association has sponsored a NASCAR race, following September’s American Warriors 300 in Atlanta. The announcement came during the track’s annual media day.
“The NRA has been involved in the sport for several years and a partner of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. for many years in various aspects, and this race entitlement is just another extension of that business relationship,” track president Eddie Gossage said in a statement. “We look forward to another successful partnership with the NRA for our April race week of activities.”
NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre echoed Gossage’s remarks in a video: “The NRA 500 is the latest announcement in the long history of a growing partnership between the NRA, Speedway Motorsports and the NASCAR community. NRA members and NASCAR fans love their country and everything that is good and right about America. We salute our flag … volunteer in our churches and communities … cherish our families … and WE LOVE RACING!”
So much America in just one paragraph. I wonder if this is what Gossage was talking about back in January when he vowed to make the speedway more fan-friendly. Less smoking, more guns!
Race is April 13.
Brad Holt Would Like to Sell You His Sex Machine, a 2004 Saturn Ion Coupe
Brad Holt is a senior videographer up at UNT, creating pieces for the school’s marketing department. He also owns a 2004 Saturn Ion Coupe, a car that he’d very much like to sell. The 26-year-old decided to combine those two parts of his life with the above ad, which he posted to YouTube Monday. Watch it. (Waiting.)
Holt and I chatted via email yesterday about the ad, which is, let’s say, different. Jump for the interview:
Zat Crane Eez in Trouble!
What I’m hoping is that the manufacturer of this crane is French. That way, my headline makes sense. Sorta. Anyway, my mind grapes were squeezed by the “Zac Crain” and “that crane” thing. Moving on.
Margaux Anbouba is an intern for D Home, D Weddings, and D Moms. Last night, she was driving down Turtle Creek when she espied the terrifying sight you see here. A crane had apparently tried to hoist a load too heavy and was tottering toward the creek at the intersection of Turtle Creek and Cedar Springs. Margaux says she passed the scene twice, once at 6:30 and then again at 9:30, by which time two other cranes had taken up positions on either side of the tipping crane (which makes me think of a tippling Crain), presumably to effect a rescue mission.
So um. Just thought you’d enjoy that.
Houston Street Bridge to Close March 11
The Sylvan Avenue bridge into Oak Cliff is closed. The I-30/I-35 corridor Horseshoe is about to become an unrelenting helltrap of traffic. Union Pacific is routing cars and trucks all over West Dallas so it can perform track maintenance. So what’s closing one more entry point into Oak Cliff gonna do? From Roy Appleton:
 Come March 11, there will be one fewer option for crossing the Trinity River in Dallas. The city will close the Houston Street Viaduct that Monday for construction of the downtown-Oak Cliff streetcar line.
Work has begun underneath the bridge. The system must be operating by Oct. 31, 2014, under terms of the federal grant that is funding more than half of the $48 million project. During construction, traffic will be rerouted from the Houston bridge to the nearby Jefferson Boulevard Viaduct, which will become two-way.
The Houston crossing now carries traffic from downtown to Oak Cliff, while traffic runs the opposite direction on Jefferson. Once the streetcar line is operating, the century-old Houston Street Viaduct will reopen to other traffic, said Keith Manoy, the city’s chief transportation planner.
It’s good news for the city, and for folks west of the Trinity. But these next couple of years are going to be a bear.
Dallas’ Corbin Corona Becomes the Latest in a Long Line of Clown Musicians
Dallas now has its own entry into the Rebecca Black/”It’s Thanksgiving” Wall of Honor. His name is Corbin Corona and, as you can tell by the headline, he’s a clown. Back in October he released his video “Oh My,” which (poorly) name-drops Al Biernat’s:
“I’m out here in the streets all day, lifestyle sh*t I’m talking Al Biernat’s”
Undaunted by the need for talent, Corona forged ahead, releasing a video for “SuperStar” in late December. This week it’s found its way to a variety of blogs, through a well-placed link on Reddit’s “Cringe” page. A YouTube comment sums up the video well: “great. now I have to know you exist.”
To save you all the time of watching the video, I look the liberty of live-blogging my first viewing of it:
Electric Vehicle Owners in Texas May Soon Get Slapped With Fees
In an effort to raise funds for a dwindling road construction pot, state officials are considering a $100 fee for all electric vehicles in Texas, a measure that would be one of the first of its kind in the United States. The logic, according to the Texas Tribune, is that since electric vehicles don’t use gas, the funds garnered from any fuel tax go uncollected from electric vehicle owners. And they’re still using the roads.
“I think we need to make sure that electric vehicles that tear up our roads pay their fair share,” said state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo.
Okay, that makes sense. You know what would also help? Raising the fuel tax even one penny. Texans currently pay 38.4 cents in state and federal taxes per gallon, good for 38th in the country. (Alaska has the lowest combined taxes, at 26.4 cents.) Those taxes haven’t been touched in 20 years, leaving inflation and increased fuel economy in their wake. A 1-cent increase – federally – would draw tens of billions in revenue. It’s not apples-to-apples, but if this $100 fee was passed on to the roughly 2,000 electric vehicle owners in Texas, it would raise $200,000 a year. That would make for .0011Â percent of the state’s $16.94 billion 2010 transportation budget.
“EV drivers really want to pay their fair share but it seems ridiculous from a policy standpoint,” Jay Friedland, legislative director for Plug In America, a California-based electric car advocacy group, told the Associated Press regarding a similar law in Washington. On the one hand the state has given out sales tax exemptions to encourage residents to buy more electric vehicles, he said, while charging the fee on the other hand. He suggested a per-mile fee, if any at all.
It also seems unfair to single out electric vehicle users who, as the Tribune points out, pay taxes on their electric use. Any sort of vote on the measure has not yet been scheduled.
Leading Off (12/17/12)
Dallas Morning News: ‘Affirm The Right of Gay Couples to Marry:’ As the Dallas Voice points out, as recently as last year, the Dallas Morning News refused to publish paid same-sex wedding announcements in their Weddings section. On Sunday, the newspaper came out in support of same-sex marriage in this editorial.
Is It Time For Sobriety Checkpoints? Every legislative session since 1994 has dealt with the controversial proposal to introduce police checkpoints as a way to address drunk driving. Looks like it will do so again.
Can We At Least Agree That Guns Are Scary? Of course we can’t. This is Texas. But listen. They’re scary when someone threatens to shoot-up a local high school. They are scary when a burglary turns into a Wild West shoot out and no one knows what the hell happened. They are scary because when a mentally disturbed man can only get his hand on a knife, no one dies, but when he can grab a gun, local TV news channels scramble to find the local connection. There’s always a local connection.
Should Josh Brent be on Cowboys’ Sideline? I know, I know. Phil Simms says the ‘boys are “special.” Tony Romo has now thrown for 25,000 career yards. The team is somehow tied for first place. And Jerry Jones is even trying to look good by donating $5 million to the Perot Museum of Nature and Fracking. But here’s the real Monday morning question coming out of the Cowboy’s weekend: should Josh Brent have been on the sideline during the Cowboys’ win over the Steelers Sunday? Former quarterback and CBS analyst Boomer Esiason doesn’t think so. He tweeted:
“Am I the only one that is wondering what in the world the Cowboys are thinking with Josh Brent on the sideline?”
My guess as to the Cowboys’ thinking: suicide, and ways to avoid it.
Lakewood Stop Sign Voted the “Dumbest in Dallas,” Wins Award From Fancy City Magazine
Source: Reddit
A co-working FrontBurnervian pointed us to Reddit yesterday, where some tech-savvy Lakewood residents were discussing the merits of a new stop sign.
The sign – at the intersection of North Brookside Drive and Tremont Street, adjacent to Lakewood Country Club – drew such reactions as:
- “What a waste! I think I ran it the other day, didn’t even realize it was there.”
- “best part is that within a day of them going up, there was a wreck because of the stop sign…”
- “Brookside sees traffic flowing in and out of the Hollywood Heights neighborhood during typical rush hour periods, but very few cars drive on Tremont, so the stop signs took people by surprise.”
Google Maps shows – pretty conclusively – that this probably isn’t an intersection worthy of a stop sign. Most likely the efforts of  an overzealous neighbor with a kid who just learned how to ride a two-wheeler, IMO.
Thankfully, someone was thoughtful enough to brand the sign, and give it a highly-regarded, award-winning magazine’s stamp of approval:
State Fair of Texas Picture of the Day: Oct. 19
photo by Jason Janik
Check out our daily guide to having fun at the State Fair.
Jump if you’d like to learn a little about Jason Janik, the photographer who again this year shared with us his outstanding work from the State Fair of Texas.
“Hunk” Illustrates Dallas Parking Scrap
The guy pictured here, who the ladies upstairs contend is quite a “hunk,” is a professional model from the Kim Dawson Agency named Cole Swearingen. Cole didn’t really get beat up. He just looks like he did, thanks to Heather Henry’s makeup and the stellar photography of the famous Elizabeth Lavin. And, that he’s on this cover at all is due to our Creative Director Todd Johnson and Art Director Hamilton Hedrick, the pair who cooked up the concept along with Elizabeth.
We think they did a bang-up job–sorry–illustrating the cover story in D CEO’s September issue. The article’s about how valet parking is ingrained in Dallas culture and how a single, well-connected valet company, Jack Boles Services, has dominated the business here for decades. But now, the story shows, the big dog is being hounded by a pack of younger, scrappier, maybe hungrier upstarts. Who knew so many people want to get their hands on your car?
Ruptured Gas Line Shuts Down Streets in Downtown Dallas
Take a late lunch, or prepare for a long one. A gas line that ruptured just before 11 a.m. on Main Street near the Neiman Marcus building has prompted emergency crews to block off several of the surrounding streets. Steer clear of Main Street at Field, Akard at Elm, Commerce at Ervay, and St. Paul at Main.
Live Blogging My Wait at DPS
I lost my driver’s license a couple of weeks ago. A stomach bug is keeping me away from the office today, so I thought I would invest my afternoon in getting a new license. (I don’t want to get my co-workers sick, but I’m not so concerned with everyone here.)
I entered the Department of Public Safety office in Carrollton at 12:45 and was issued Ticket 078. I have no idea when I will be helped, because the big screen says Tickets 431, 211, 054, and 512 are currently being served. I’d estimate there are 75 people with me in this lobby. Good times.
State Fair of Texas Picture of the Day, Oct. 3
The State Fair auto show was buzzing on a beautiful Monday afternoon. photo by Jason Janik
Check out our guide to plan your own trip to Fair Park.
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