Oh boy, a good race! I know that politics is in dreadful disrepute, but the prospect of a fine, old-fashioned duke-out over some real stuff–not just the spin on stuff–gets the juices stirring. Rep. John Bryant, a populist Democrat, has announced he’s running against Phil Gramm, the part-time senator for…
Mickey Mantle never saw himself as a hero, never felt comfortable in the role, and he rebelled against it all his life. After he had been out of baseball for several years, he was contacted by the New York Yankees, who wanted information from him for a publicity package they…
Head erect, shoulders squared, Dr. Linda Norton walks purposefully into a packed courtroom in Belton, Texas, to take her seat on the witness stand. For the next hour and a half, Norton, a forensic pathologist, will lead the hushed courtroom on an exacting and graphic tour of the bruises and…
Better not pout Buzz sometimes wonders if North Dallas is even aware that there’s a world out there. Usually, of course, it doesn’t matter. Bosnia, the budget battle, and peace in Northern Ireland, are, as we said, Out There. But every once in a while, something happens Out There that…
Vernon Johnson, the superintendent of the Richardson Independent School District, looked glum as he sat with other school administrators on a stage before an agitated audience of 550 people. Johnson had mostly kept his mouth shut and listened during the town-hall meeting that ran for well over two hours last…
The NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) battle, where residents rise up against something they fear will drive down their property values, has become an art form in the Dallas suburbs. I like to think of Plano as the NIMBY capital of the world, probably just because I get the…
Picking on peaceniks It is apparent that Glen Warchol gave no thought to the reasons behind a toy gun buy-back [“Buzz,” November 16], instead finding it easier to belittle the “peaceniks” and save himself the time it might take to reflect upon the event. It would seem obvious that our…
Fellow Texans, I have been to Seattle in the state of Washington and seen wonders there. Seattle is the home of ecological correctness, good living, and a lot of coffee junkies. OK, so lots of places have environmentalists, the good life, and coffee, but try this: There is a Massage…
Darryl Fourte stands at the corner of Denton Drive and Storey Road, looking a bit like Wesley Snipes on a secret mission. With one hand on his hip, the other clutching a black walkie-talkie, Fourte surveys the skid marks on the road before him through a pair of sleek, dark…
Zion met Koani at The Rusty Bucket. Sometimes they would play darts, sometimes they’d sit together drinking a cup of klah. They lived 1,500 miles apart, but they were together every day, for hours. They fell in love. They lived once upon a time, last year, on the Internet. “Koani”…
In the spartan room that serves as Michael Stiles’ office, the only hint of color is in the former principal’s necktie–a busy pattern of black, white, and brown children dressed in rainbow hues, their hands interlocking like paper dolls on a blue silk background. In contrast, the walls, bookshelves, and…
Most non-profit agencies do not employ private investigators, scrounge through people’s trash, or use hidden cameras to pursue their quarry. But the Trinity Foundation has never been typical. A small, religious enclave in East Dallas that runs a ministry for the homeless, Trinity has also forged a formidable reputation over…
KERA’s Wanderer You’ve got to hand it to KERA president Richie Meyer for coolness under fire. Late last month, The Dallas Morning News, no less, reported on an anonymous letter circulating about Meyer and his wife, KERA vice president Susan Harmon. The letter–heavily excerpted in the News coverage by Manuel…
It was the morning of August 19, the day before my due date, and if this kid was anything like the last, I knew he’d be arriving the next day, right on deadline. I was ready. A naturally obsessive person, I had been certifiably manic since going on maternity leave…
Can Morning News keep its hands clean–while getting personal? The Dallas Morning News has stepped into the personals business–including “900” numbers, as well as “men-seeking-men” and “women-seeking-women” advertising. After years of shying away from a realm it clearly considered too controversial–the ads offended some advertisers and readers–the News has made…
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…
