News

With an ongoing federal investigation into the health care practices at the Dallas County Jail, numerous litigious inmates are, it seems, jumping on the bandwagon, alleging to be the victims of medical neglect. These are largely pro se federal lawsuits, with their scribbled allegations calling to mind some sort of…

A concerned Friend of Unfair Park called early this morning with the news that City Plan Commission chair Betty Culbreath is in “grave condition” at a local hospital, following emergency surgery last night. Apparently, Culbreath had a routine procedure done earlier in the week that went awry, forcing the surgery…

This is among the dozens of photos of South Dallas ACORN presented to council members in its report on South Dallas neglect for the past, oh, century or so. If it’s the last day of school before summer break, the kids must be cleaning out the lockers and throwing their…

This the new Lucy Ewing. Are you excited? Because I swear we will cover every aspect of the Dallas movie, from pre-production to its first screening on an airplane, here’s today’s utterly inessential tidbit: Seems Jessica Simpson, who actually grew up in the area, has been Jock-blocked from the role…

LeAnn Rimes is all grown up and ready to disco all the way to England. The other day I was browsing the import section at Tower Records and stumbled across something that had a decidedly homegrown flavor: the new LeAnn Rimes album, Whatever We Wanna. It was a little odd…

This 6-year-old will kick your ass if you don’t vote for him. Afraid that voting for Dallas’ own Sam in the Meow Mix House over and over again on company time might start to raise some red flags over in IT? Well, there’s another local whippersnapper who desperately needs your…

Because it’s only logical that someone would confuse a credit-rating provider with a coffee house. Really. A Friend of Unfair Park’s with a coffee buzz sends the following item about the bad blood brewing between South Side of Lamar coffee house-performance space Standard & Pours, winner of a Dallas Observer…

Leo Barron Hicks is the administrator of the embattled South Dallas/Fair Park Trust Fund that’s getting its much-needed overhaul approved by the city council tomorrow. Seven months after Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans suggested substantive changes were on the way for the beleaguered 19-year-old South Dallas/Fair Park Trust Fund, the…

The Stoneleigh Court Apartment Hotel was built in 1923. It probably won’t get a facelift till 2016. Tomorrow, the city council will likely vote to give the Stoneleigh Hotel $2.5 million so its owners can rennovate, remediate and otherwise redo the 83-year-old Maple Avenue hotel. That money will come from…

If you don’t have to wake up early tomorrow, then you have no excuse to skip the Band of Horses concert at Hailey’s tonight. Noah W. Bailey lauded the Seattle band in his recent interview with lead singer Ben Bridwell, though we were unable to make room for stories about…

In her postcard from D/FW Airport, whistleblower Susan Heath alleged multiple violations of the Clean Water Act. In short, she says, that stinks. Almost seven years ago, former Dallas Observer writer Miriam Rozen chronicled how Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was polluting Trigg Lake, the lake at the airport’s southeast corner…

Edward Mendoza is out as executive chef of Kitchen 1924, Lakewood’s ode to the generic kitchen. “Edward and I, for the last month or so, the relationship started to sour a little bit, and I was being told ‘no’ a whole bunch,” says Kitchen 1924 founder Shawn Horne. “He wanted…

If anything good came out the tragic incident at the Stone Street Theatre two weeks ago, when a man shot 11 people after a fight over a woman during a private party held in the space, it stems from the adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. After…

Do you know this woman? If so, did you know she used to be very, very, very famous? No? Well, now you do. Did you know one of the most famous actresses in the world lives in Dallas? Says so in the latest issue of India Today, which is more…

In what’s turning out to be a multi-part series called “No, Really, What’s a TIF,” we offer part two, which consists of Sharon Boyd’s response to last Wednesday’s offering from a Friend of Unfair Park with intimate knowledge of tax increment financing districts. And, of course, that Friend’s response stemmed…

Zayra Alvarez played the Dallas Observer Music Awards in 2005. That’s much cooler than being on a TV show trying out for Tommy Lee’s band. Seriously. Rock Star: Supernova debuts on CBS July 5 and features some dozen hopefuls vying for a spot in an “all-star” band with Tommy Lee…

Congratulations are certainly in order for Sheriff Lupe Valdez after she passed her mandatory state law enforcement exam on her second try yesterday, knowing that if she flunked it would generate another round of ugly headlines for her department. Still, rather than modestly announce the good news and move on,…

This infamous comic from the 1940s is among the 11,000 Heritage Auction Galleries will begin selling in August. Ain’t gonna be cheap. This week, Unfair Park’s favorite across-the-street neighbor–and recent Dallas Observer cover story subject Heritage Auction Galleries–sold a $100 bill for $2.1 million (hell, I got a nickel I’ll…