Letters

Selling Luna’s soul Dallas City Councilman Chris Luna “sounds” like a very, very cheap prostitute selling not his body but his integrity [“Luna landing,” Laura Miller, April 18]. He gives Cinemark secret and confidential city-council information that enables Cinemark to initiate a lawsuit against the city Luna is supposedly serving,…

Ruffled feathers

It was a lovely spring day in lovely University Park, and the sun was shining, the breezes were blowing, and the birds were chirping. Which was a problem. It wasn’t a problem for the birds, of course. They were quite carefree–screaming their silly songs, mauling the mulberry trees, doing that…

Soul Power

A group of 35 people, mostly well-dressed women with folding stools clutched in one hand, wait outside the special exhibit galleries of the Dallas Museum of Art where the current exhibition is Pandora’s Box, the Women of Ancient Greece. The attraction today is not just the collection of kraters and…

Arlington Metro (Part II)

Debbie M. Price COMMENTARY Send not to learn for whom the broom comes I meant to write this column last week, but other things got in the way. That is the way it is with life–things get in the way of things. While some things can be handled quickly–a pink…

Arlington Morning News (Part I)

WEDNESDAY Today’s weather Measured civility, chance of scattered drivel Thursday Mostly fluffy, chance of pandering NEWS That was close Unabomber captured northwest of Arlington The eyes of babes Arlington youths draw the Unabomber SPORTS Hey Ross, over here To entice Mavericks, Arlington must bend over further than Ron Kirk OPINIONS…

Rent check

A federal jury has found that the City of Dallas violated outspoken landlady Christina Swann’s civil rights when it tried to demolish her apartment building. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jane Boyle ruled that the city violated Swann’s civil rights when code-enforcement agents walked onto her property and began boarding up the…

Buzz

Maybe she can talk to Bob These days, e-mailing Jesus is easier than reaching Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Just ask Linda Terrell, who has been working for two months on behalf of Denise Cowle, a Dallas woman who is dying of cancer and wants to meet cyber-god Gates as her…

Dallas’ lawyer joke

On the day the Dallas City Council settled the Cinemark lawsuit, the mood around the horseshoe was grim. This movie-theater thing was just so out of control. A simple vote two years ago to reject Cinemark’s Tinseltown proposal had led to a major lawsuit against the city and eight individual…

Letters

A kick in the ASKA I am an entertainment lawyer representing talented artists in the Metroplex, including ASKA. I have rarely seen an article as inappropriate, unsupported, and unprofessional as Michael Corcoran’s personal attack upon ASKA and the metal-music genre in general, in the April 11th Observer [“1996 Dallas Observer…

Hard lesson

Disillusionment has replaced dreams for many African-American parents who had hoped to send their children to an innovative private school promoted by a Milwaukee man. Some parents have told the Dallas Observer they no longer want to put their children into the school–which, outside of a leased, vacant school building,…

Epidemic of hope

Wayne Swearengin learned he had the HIV virus in 1989. Like everyone else diagnosed with the disease, he began searching for a drug regimen that would slow down the virus’ march. “I tried the AZT, but couldn’t tolerate it,” the 32-year-old Dallasite says. Since it was introduced in 1987, AZT…

Buzz

Water guns When Buzz got its water bill from Dallas Water Utilities, we were surprised to find inside it the informative pamphlet “Licensed to carry a handgun: Please read these reminders.” And once again our noses were rubbed in the nitpicking provisos and impediments to those of us who legally…

Letters

Choking on cheese I would like to commend Robert Wilonsky for his provocative expose of Paul “Mouse” Millender (“Mouse,” April 4). It was ingenious of Wilonsky to refrain from asking one difficult question. “Mouse” Millender benefited from the wonderful public-relations service provided by the Dallas Observer. Why is the attack…

Luna landing

Chris Luna, who is not a morning person, answered the phone with the slur of sleep in his voice. It was 8:30 a.m. Tuesday–the day before the big Cinemark vote last week–and there was, of course, only one question that needed to be posed to Luna on this matter. “So,…

Juvenile Injustice

Ron Carpenter was looking forward to going home. It was shortly before quitting time on a Thursday in early November and Carpenter, a maintenance man at an apartment complex in far East Dallas, was anticipating being greeted by his daughter, Autumn, a pixyish 3-year-old with silky brown hair. He loved…

Academy of Dreams

It was a dream of such irresistible appeal–so simple, so timely, so full of promise–it was amazing someone hadn’t dreamed it before. Why–the dreamer asked–should white children alone possess all the educational advantages, with an array of elite private schools designed to cater almost exclusively to their needs? Why couldn’t…

Buzz

Wrong time; far right place We were watching Big Sky’s unique lifestyles on CNN last week. You know–anti-government freemen, suspected Unabombers…is that Dick J. Reavis? Yep, it sure was. The Dallas-based author of Ashes of Waco and former Observer staff writer was trying his damnedest to get an interview with…

Letters

Taking the blame While one has sympathy for the Geffens over the loss of their daughter, it’s a bit of a stretch to blame Professor Joe Jaynes for the death of an 18-year-old college student–even one who was physically frail and “somewhat academically and socially immature” [“A tragic trip,” March…

Net profit

Alan Bonebrake, a Dallas chiropractor, doesn’t know much about the Internet, except that he wants to know more. “People keep telling me it’s the way to go,” says Bonebrake (yes, that’s his real name), who plans to advertise his services on the Net. Last month, Bonebrake, like thousands of others…

Mouse

Mouse recalls everything that happened to him on August 13, 1995. He remembers getting off work at the Galaxy Club in Deep Ellum. He remembers getting on his bicycle, only to find one of the tires flat. He remembers hitching a ride to his apartment, opening the door, sleepily trying…

Wish Woman

Sipping coffee at midmorning around Linda Terrell’s kitchen table is strictly a “come as you are” proposition. She hands you a well-worn mug, pours the stout black brew, and asks if you take milk or sugar. No fancy china cream-and-sugar set here. The half-gallon carton of milk is sitting in…

Buzz

Their boss is Goofy Who says Fort Worth Star-Telegram publisher Rich Connor can’t take a joke? Well, most of his employees, actually. The allegation was confirmed this week when Connor barred S-T reporters from participating in a skit in the Texas Gridiron Show. The show is the local media’s annual…