Dallas Observer staff writer Ann Zimmerman has been awarded one of the nation’s most prestigious newspaper writing prizes by the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In a separate competition, staff writer Kaylois Henry has received second-place recognition for feature writing from the National Association of Black Journalists. Zimmerman’s award…
Clearing the air On behalf of Downwinders At Risk, I want to thank Rose Farley and the Dallas Observer for devoting so much time, energy, and space to covering TXI’s burning of hazardous waste at its Midlothian cement plant, immediately south of Dallas [“Ill wind blowing,” June 12, “Something in…
Davy Jones liked to party. Hell, everybody in Austin did back in the early ’80s, and if you weren’t careful, your days could disappear into a haze of pot, noxious stimulants, beer, and pills that invoked such a hellbroth of effect and counter-effect that you might think yourself sober–at least…
H. Ross Perot Jr. had just bought the Dallas Mavericks in May 1996 when the basketball team’s top executive quit. The son of Dallas’ most famous billionaire was in a bind. As he often does, Perot Jr. turned to his longtime chief lieutenant, Frank Zaccanelli, and put the fiery Italian…
Dave Gardner swears he’s not planning to blow up City Hall, but some offhand comments he made about bombs have created an explosive situation in the City of Dallas’ Code Enforcement department. On June 24, Gardner, who has worked in code enforcement for three years, was fired after a city…
Poised for the 20th century Sure, Buzz picks on The Dallas Morning News on select occasions. But every so often we detect small signs that editorial writers at Dallas’ Only Daily are evolving beyond the Stone Age. So Buzz is encouraged that the DMN has signaled a sea change in…
For the past month, callers trying to reach Roland Edison at the headquarters of A&M Records in Los Angeles have been told he is out of the office or on vacation. But he has not just been taking a little time off: The A&M Records vice president of urban promotion…
Ignoring the evidence Your writer chose to trivialize and ignore the factual and scientific information Texas Industries (TXI) provided the Dallas Observer [“Ill wind blowing,” June 12 and “Something in the air,” June 19]. Instead, she used anecdotal information to present a very biased two-part story. The “hump” the Downwinders…
Prince Jake never met a stranger. That much is apparent watching the three-legged dog work the waiting room of a Balch Springs veterinary clinic, nuzzling everyone in sight. A black cocker spaniel–a stuffed toy compared to the 90-pound Jake–cowers beneath a chair, fearful of becoming an appetizer. No chance. Even…
Sammy Allen stands meekly and hopefully outside the screen door of his family’s house in South Dallas, calling out, “Daddy! Daddy! It’s Sammy, Daddy!” Sammy’s 11-year-old nephew comes to the door. “Hey, it’s Sammy Tee,” he tells the boy, trying to come across as a treasured relative, one who sets…
Attorney Dennis Eichelbaum’s law firm is paid about $650,000 a year to serve as general counsel for the Dallas Independent School District, providing routine legal advice, handling lawsuits, and things of that nature. Not surprisingly, disgruntled citizens with a beef against the district sometimes name Eichelbaum personally as a defendant…
Who needs an agent? Virtually lost in the guilt-addled celebration of Timothy McVeigh’s death sentence was more evidence that Dallas author–and former Dallas Observer staff writer–Dick Reavis may be one of the most ingenious book promoters Buzz has ever seen. Reavis left the Observer to write a book on the…
There will be no sweetheart deal in Austin for Dallas businessman William “Sonny” Oates this year. Last Friday, Governor George Bush vetoed a nifty little piece of legislation that would have made Oates a small fortune and cost the citizens of Texas millions of dollars in new document filing fees…
Ill wind blowing I commend your paper on having the guts to bring to the attention of the public the hazards of the cement-kiln industry [“Ill wind blowing,” June 12]. It has always amazed me how these filthy businesses could work and make money in a state that has the…
Jeanne Rivers does not profess to be a scientist, but she does know that her six-year-old son, Shawn, didn’t have tungsten and trichlorethylene in his blood two years ago, before the family moved within shouting distance of Texas Industries’ Midlothian cement plant. Now, there are traces of the potentially harmful…
Dallas screenwriter Gretchen Dyer fully expected that some heterosexuals would resist the plot of her debut feature, Late Bloomers. The film, which was directed and co-produced by her sister, Julia Dyer, concerns two middle-aged women who unexpectedly fall in love while working at the same suburban high school. But she…
WFAA’s Catholic channel Buzz is in awe. We know Doug Fox, Channel 8’s mustachioed warbler, has worked in this town for a long time. But even we couldn’t have guessed that Fox has sources from beyond the grave. Fox’s connections to the dark side surfaced about two weeks ago while…
Born with severe cerebral palsy, Evaristo “Pee Wee” Vela walks with a halting gait. He communicates with jerky hand movements, or shakes of the head, or by grunting yes and no. Earlier this year, when Vela came to live in a Dallas home for people with AIDS, supervisors worried about…
What could Michael Irvin and Erik Williams be thinking? Why would two guys with reputations steeped in strippers, sex toys, and baby oil–not to mention drugs or alcohol–want to mix it up in civil court with KXAS-TV Channel 5 and the Dallas Police Department? Big Nate Newton, the Cowboys’ motor-mouthed…
Support in the aftermath Thank you for the excellent story on the sexual assault case against Richard Sanchez Jr. [“The lies that bind,” May 1]. So often when cases of sexual assault are reported, the public’s shock soon wears off, and the stories fade in their minds. This case, which…
Part One Beneath the smokestacks of Texas Industries’ Midlothian plant, four giant kilns operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The massive ovens burn at the hellish temperature of 2,800 degrees–hot enough to bake rock. A mixture of limestone, shale, sand, and water is blended and cooked until…
A bevy of barristers First we learned about employees padding their overtime. Then came reports that a roofing company was being paid to not fix leaky roofs. How many other ways can the Dallas Independent School District blow taxpayer money? On lawyers, of course. For a few years now, DISD…
