As of August 31, Dallas drivers have killed 31 pedestrians in 2015. That’s already more than 2014 (22) and almost double the number killed in 2013 (16). In 2015, at least one pedestrian has died in 13 of the city’s 14 City Council districts — only Sandy Greyson’s District 12…
As of late last week, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro was scheduled to visit Dallas City Hall tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29. But late last week neither HUD nor the Dallas mayor’s office would confirm or deny the visit. If the visit is still on, HUD…
For the sake of the record and now that a Dallas County grand jury has dismissed felony coercion charges against Dallas City Council member Scott Griggs, let’s go back and look at the level of dishonesty and trickery in the instigation of the charges, in the police investigation and in…
Women and children first, right? No? Women and children second? Forget about ‘em? Get the hell out of my way? Maybe somebody will tell me that special regard for women and children under extreme circumstances — lifeboats on the Titanic, that kind of thing — has eroded or at least…
Time for the bucket of cold water in our face treatment. Susan Hawk, the Dallas County district attorney currently on leave with mental health problems, is not going to come back and sit behind the desk and be the DA. Not successfully, if she tries. It’s just not a realistic…
A Dallas County grand jury has decided not indict Scott Griggs based on allegations that he threatened to “break the fucking fingers” of a member of the city secretary’s office because of documents Griggs felt were being improperly handled. In the run-up to April 16’s all Trinity toll road City…
It’s all downhill from here. No good will come of this. Time to cut our losses. There’s no more getting lucky. But enough about me. What about Dallas? Oh, well, Dallas. That’s another story. This last weekend I had one of those recurring experiences — I have them every once…
Before it was consumed by Ahmed Mohamed’s clock, Dallas’ broadcast media’s late summer obsession was listening to people complain about their water bills. “Four times higher,” The Colony’s Jim Budney told KXAS at the end of August. “Hasn’t been that much hotter, we’ve been watering the lawn with the same…
2014 was a good year for LGBTQ rights in Dallas. The city added limited insurance benefits for transgender city employees, made it possible for city employees to use the Family Medical Leave Act to take care of their same-sex partners and started on a path toward getting retirement benefits for the…
Did I just have a Hillary moment? Not sure. But I am sure of this: I have stumbled into some very persuasive evidence that HUD Secretary Julian Castro, shortly after his appointment by the president a year ago, cut HUD’s enforcement division off at the knees in a deal to…
So maybe I pulled a small deception on Ben Sandifer when I called him, something I did not fully disclose at the time. Or really disclose at all. But now I will. Sandifer, a somewhat reclusive person or at least one who does not actively seek the limelight, has emerged in…
Dallas barbecue institutions, apparently, are not safe from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, even when they’re located in Deep Ellum, one of the most liberal parts of one of Texas’ most Democratic cities. “Texas is what America is supposed to be,” Abbott said in front of a packed house. “America needs…
Ted Cruz continues, as Dan Rather told us when he stopped by the office last month, to be a desperado waiting for a train. Throughout Wednesday night’s second Republican debate, Cruz leaned on the ropes, stressing his extreme right-wing bona fides but refraining from attacking Donald Trump or any of…
Dallas went viral twice this week. Let’s hope our immune system can take it. First time was for the local visit of Donald Trump, champion of all angry white people everywhere on Earth, living, dead and unborn. Second time was for the handcuffed arrest of a ninth-grade student named Ahmed…
Why do I feel like I just got shot in the leg and now they’re sending me to a tailor? The North Texas Tollway Authority, which is in the toll road business, is now going to review the latest plan for the road the mayor wants to build on top…
If one member of the City Council gets his way, you may not have to head downtown to fight a traffic ticket next year. You might be able to do it in front of your closest justice of the peace. The problem, if you ask critics of Dallas’ municipal courts,…
Donald Trump With Robert Jeffress, Katrina Peirson and Scottie Nell Hughes American Airlines Center, Dallas Monday, September 14, 2015 Attending one of Donald Trump’s events is like stepping into an alternate-reality where the United States has reaped the whirlwind of years of nativism and indulging its worst impulses. He offers…
“Hi,” the woman says, in a voice that isn’t friendly. “What are you doing?” It’s a pitch black night in mid-August in Southeast Dallas. Marina Tarashevska wields a camera as she approaches the back of a black pickup. A man wearing a cowboy hat opens the driver’s door to get…
Last week without any prior public discussion, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings announced (see below) he was unilaterally turning over the planning process for the Trinity River Park downtown to philanthropists Rusty and Deedie Rose in exchange for a gift of $1 million. The mayor did say, “We must also continue…
On August 10, a soccer mom and dad say, a Dallas parks employee destroyed their league’s goal posts and then threw them into a creek that feeds into White Rock Lake. Members of the Dallas Park Board, meanwhile, maintained last week that they don’t know whether that’s true. In the meantime,…
Rick Perry is quitting the 2016 presidential race. The former four-term Texas governor, who also ran in 2011 for the 2012 nomination, never saw his campaign get off the ground this cycle. He performed better on the trail than he did in 2011, but wasn’t able to overcome the taint…
Hey, Mr. Jensen. I’m so ashamed. I feel terrible. I wrote all those stories about the city screwing you out of your home and warehouse in West Dallas and how Monica Alonzo, the City Council member for your area, ignored your repeated pleas for help. You kept saying, “I don’t…
