As some front pages informed us last week, the Warner-Lambert Co. has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and has agreed to pay a $10 million fine for hiding faulty drug-making processes from the Food and Drug Administration. The more typical front page–not to mention TV news program, where the motto…
No justice in DeSoto I just happened to pick up a copy of your publication in which you published an article titled “The Chief, The Scotsman, The Swindler, and The Killer” [November 16]. It is evident to me that the residents of DeSoto are the type of people who lock…
They say a woman was refused a table at Star Canyon until the valet came in and whispered to the hostess that she was driving a red Porsche. All of a sudden, a table was available. They say a man who had been unable to get a reservation called Star…
No devil in Mr. Fisher Buzz was mesmerized by Neo-Democrat Richard Fisher’s recent Viewpoint column in The Dallas Morning News: “Why I won’t run against Phil Gramm for Senate seat.” Fisher assures us that the Democrats think he’s swell: “The president’s chief political strategist, Dick Morris, called to tell me,…
A small red car pulls up in front of the modest Oak Cliff house, its driver watching, waiting–this time for hours. It’s a scene that’s happened many times–and one that puzzles some of the neighbors, who don’t understand why this nondescript home is such a point of fascination for those…
The wind kicks up suddenly and swiftly out of the south, sending dirt into the eyes and mouths of the dozen or so construction workers outside a Bronco Bowl that still looks abandoned. It’s late November, more than a year after Danny and Tony Gibbs bought the venerable old Oak…
It is Tuesday. It is garbage day. More importantly, it is recycling day–at least in this North Dallas neighborhood, where once a week city sanitation workers travel the streets to gather old newspapers, plastic, and aluminum, all in the name of saving the environment. At least that’s the way it’s…
Judging the judge Your November 9 story [“The judge lawyers love to hate”] attempts to explain Judge Candace Tyson’s low bar poll ratings. Miriam Rozen’s investigative reporting suggests this is the result of the following: 1. She drives a Mercedes Benz; 2. She favors tight-fitting, brilliantly colored outfits of the…
Peace in Washington, peace (maybe) in Bosnia, the Dow hit 5,000, and now we’ve all stuffed ourselves with turkey and can start worrying about how to get everything done before Christmas. Not. Don’t touch that dial and don’t take your eyes off that sausage factory in Washington. The Republican budget…
Barron Storey is searching for a painting, determined to find a specific piece of his work among the many stashed away in a hall closet. He bends down, flipping back one piece after another–beautiful and abstract paintings that make up his as-yet-unfinished “Dream Series,” portraits he did for Time magazine…
A case of elephantitis Haven’t things in Dallas gotten so much simpler since everyone became Republican? Besides ending those tiresome differences of opinion on how to deal with matters such as the homeless, welfare, and gays, there were all those little hassles. Like phone numbers. In the old days when…
When it comes to Dallas, some things never change. This fall, once again parts of the city seethed with discontent as council members struggled to mobilize their disenfranchized constituencies to win bigger pieces of the power pie. But this time there’s a profound difference: the skin colors are reversed, and…
Whee! Spin City. Who’s responsible for shutting down the federal government and quite possibly sending the financial markets into a hopeless tizzy? “You hit me first.” “Did not.” “Did too.” “Did not.” “Did so.” We live in a great nation. Amen. Actually, taking the popular, fail-safe, appearin’-as-wise-as-a-treeful-of-owls, plague-on-both-their-houses position here…
A thankless job After spending years trying to motivate city employees to do their job, I think Mr. Burkleo [“Demolition man,” November 2] should be commended for continuing to keep Dallas clean–it is such a thankless job. Code enforcement has been a political football for years. While city officials talk…
What did Mayes say? News won’t tell Once again, The Dallas Morning News has patronizingly handled a sensitive story by telling readers far too little to let them make up their own minds. The story is the secret tape-recording of a phone conversation involving City Councilwoman Charlotte Mayes. The News…
Glen Coleman’s killer was not one for subtlety. When Coleman’s body was found, somebody had plugged him so many times with a .45 that bullet holes riddled virtually every part of the corpse. A coroner could not say exactly how many times the murderer pulled the trigger, but as many…
Sometime in the early hours of October 18, a computer hacker infiltrated the Nation of Islam’s Internet website and electronically altered the homepage with insulting graffiti, triggering an online debate about “cyber hate crime.” The homepage’s greeting was modified to: “Welcome to the nation of Murderers Homeb0y pAge,[sic]” and other…
Ratings madness Earlier this month, KXAS-Channel 5 did a hilarious, dead-on send-up of television’s penchant for hysterical coverage of dubious trend stories–particularly when it involves the use of hidden cameras and disguises–to pump up ratings during sweeps week. In this case, Sabrina Smith, the perky blonde member of the Public…
Staff writers Miller, Rozen take awards for investigative, business-news stories The Dallas Observer has won two Texas Katie Awards for outstanding journalistic achievement in the Dallas Press Club’s annual statewide contest. Announced at a November 11 ceremony, the Observer awards came in the major-market newspapers competition, open to all Texas…
It’s a shame that Colin Powell decided not to run; I think he would have contributed a much-needed lowering of the rhetorical temperature on the Republican side. I accept Powell’s word that his decision came from looking into his own soul and finding that he did not have the passion…
Holly Keiser was sitting on the living-room sofa, watching the evening news, when the story broke: a Dallas public-school teacher had been suspended from her job, supposedly for telling her black fifth-graders to “Go back to Africa.” At first blush, Keiser couldn’t imagine the story was true. What schoolteacher in…
The News’ Paul Quinn problem In columns past, BeloWatch has sounded alarms about how the Belo Corporation–which has a strict conflict-of-interest policy for lowly reporters and editors–allows its top brass to ignore those same rules. Belo CEO Robert Decherd, for example, personally made two contributions to the 1994 U.S. Senate…
