Countdown to the Population Count

Unfair Park was told this morning by a local government official that on Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau will officially release its list of the most populous cities in the U.S. Some media outlets already have theirs (don’t look at us), so they can prep pieces for their Thursday editions,…

Suffer from “Islamophobia”?

If so, we have just the news for you: On July 8, the Washington-based nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations is kicking off “a nationwide discussion of ‘Islamophobia,’ or fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims” with a panel discussion at the Crowne Plaza Park Central — same place where the…

The Perfect (Rocket) Summer Single

OK, so maybe we aren’t looking forward to all the “The Rocket Summer Blasts Off” headlines that are no doubt being typeset as we speak, but we must admit we’re impressed with the early success of Fort Worth’s Bryce Avary, 24, who goes by the moniker The Rocket Summer. After…

MediaWeak

Only a few weeks into her Anchorwoman gig in Tyler, and already everyone’s giving Lauren Jones a hard time. A few media tid-bytes this a.m.: ESPN is launching ESPN Deportes Radio, an all-Spanish-language radio network making its bow in three hot spots: Dallas, Knoxville and New Jersey. Says here that…

Much Ado About Nothing

We have a few questions about Tom Leppert’s inaugural speech, delivered yesterday at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and reprinted in its entirety after the jump (courtesy the city’s Web site). But chief among them is this: Why did Leppert say, “A well-known philosopher once said, ‘What is a…

Oh, DowntownDallas, the U.S. Government Wants Some Money. Like, Yesterday.

Unfair Park has learned that the U.S. government is going after the Downtown Dallas Improvement District and its parent nonprofit, Dallas CBD Enterprises, claiming they owe the Internal Revenue Service $48,072.48 plus $24,036.24 in penalties. That’s according to a federal lawsuit filed on Thursday, in which U.S. Attorney Richard Roper…

Downtown Fire

This is the view from Unfair Park HQ, facing downtown — specifically, Victory Plaza and the West End part of town, where a thick cloud of smoke’s filling the partly cloudy sky. By the time you read this we will no doubt know what’s on fire; but at the moment,…

Sword Fight

If you’ve been sitting on your hands rather than getting yourself over to the Heritage Auction Galleries in Oak Lawn, you’ve already missed your chance to bid on General Ulysses S. Grant’s gold-silver-and-diamond encrusted sword, which sold yesterday for $1.6 million. And according to the Associated Press, Lt. Col. George…

Blasts From The Past … Er, Present … Um, Future?

Hmmm, whatever happened to ol’ whatzizname? Um, ya know, Ben Grieve? Seems the former Arlington Martin High School stud and 1998 American League Rookie of the Year is still swatting homers, but settling for winning the home run derby at charity events like this one on Saturday in Frisco. Hmmm,…

And Your New (Update: Deputy) Mayor Pro Tem Is …

Dwaine Caraway will be named Your New Deputy Mayor Pro Tem in about 90 minutes, but you heard it here first. Jim Schutze just left the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, where Tom Leppert and his eight-piece band were inaugurified, and he sends back these “two amazing discoveries.” (Editor’s note:…

A Bittersweet Homecoming for Kristy Kruger

In a red dress with white polka dots, Kristy Kruger walked on stage at Uncle Calvin’s on Friday night looking like a spelling bee contestant from the late 1950s emerging from a time capsule, as if her favorite singer is Buddy Holly and her favorite drink is a root beer…

Your Weekly Creepy Dirk Video

Did you know Dirk Nowitzki turned 29 last week — June 19, actually? And, thanks to The Ticket’s Bob Sturm (and everyone else), who discovered a very “lovely dirk” homage on the YouTubes, this is how we’ve been celebrating ever since. –Robert Wilonsky…

Who is That Mosqued Man?

Imam Yusuf Kavakci is still collecting Interwebs friends two months after delivering a prayer on the Texas Senate floor. Remember back in April, when state Sen. Florence Shapiro invited Imam Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque to throw out the opening pitch on the floor of the Texas Senate?…

Grin and Bear It, Mr. Crain

That Zac Crain is one busy dude — running for mayor (well…), editing a magazine, writing a book. Wait .. you didn’t know the last part? Yeah — it’s a bio of the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott titled Black Tooth Grin: The High Life, Good Times, and Tragic End of…

The Case of the Purloined Playbill Page

A missing page in the Playbill for Spamalot, the Broadway tour currently playing at the Music Hall at Fair Park, has fueled a ferocious little fuss among the free magazine’s publisher, the Dallas Summer Musicals and Irving’s Lyric Stage. Lyric’s founder and artist director, Steven Jones, bought a full-page ad…

Free Kelly Clarkson!

She fired her manager. She canceled her tour due to slow ticket sales. She waged a very public battle with one of the most powerful men in the music business. Her released-in-May single’s all but gone by June. Now she’s on about her battle with bulimia, which is a sure…

Radio is a Sad Salvation

We’re all agreed that Glenn Beck, heard daily on KLIF-AM, is the opposite of “progressive,” right? Thanks to The Dallas Morning News’ Over the Top blog, I sucked down a Tio’s Tortas sandwich with my head buried in a just-issued 40-page study that says, among other things, Dallas radio audiences…

Brain Freeze

Today, hell officially freezes over. Is there a more scintillating event in sports than the National Hockey League Draft? OK, maybe hot-dog eating. Or Scrabble. Or lint-licking. Officially called The 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the waste of time tick, tick, ticks today and tomorrow from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio…

Jumping Through Hoop

Jesca Hoop, touring with the Spree beginning tomorrow night, won’t be anyone’s opening act for long. If you’re heading to the Polyphonic Spree show tomorrow night at the Granada, be sure to get there early — between 7:30 p.m. and 8 would be about right. Normally we skip opening acts,…

For the Kids

State District Judge Bill Mazur brought 50 volunteers into the CASA yesterday. The largest class of volunteers for Dallas CASA — almost 50 — was sworn in as officers of the court yesterday by state District Judge Bill Mazur of the 304th Juvenile District Court. In a state system of…