As a general rule, it’s probably best to avoid driving through Cockrell Hill. Police in the tiny hamlet, a .6-square-mile splotch in the middle of Oak Cliff, wrote 7,890 traffic tickets last year, nearly two for each of its residents. That’s doubly true if you lack proof of insurance. Each…
Karen Cameron doesn’t spend much time in her front garden anymore. Her yard, though separated from Dallas Executive Airport by Ledbetter Drive and a winding, tree-lined front driveway, is made unbearable, or at the very least extremely unpleasant, by the roaring engines and noxious jet fuel that waft over from…
It’s entirely possible that the Dallas City Council will show up on Wednesday, argue for an hour or two, then decide that it’s not quite ready to vote on banning plastic and other single-use carryout bags, Dwaine Caraway’s March-vote-or-bust pledge be damned. But, thanks to a draft of the ordinance…
If there’s any North Texas suburb known for having a healthy amount of pedestrian activity — Wait, is there? — it’s definitely not Frisco. Frisco is better suited for people in cars. But while the city’s sidewalks tend to be empty, it appears that the city is dealing with another,…
Ever since his failed bid to be the Republican Party’s nominee for President in 2012, Governor Rick Perry has been busy selling the rest of the country on Texas’ economic policies, particularly as they relate to job creation. Perry’s message to businesses across the country has been clear: Move your…
In case you haven’t been following one of the stupider developments of the primary election cycle — and there have been plenty to choose from — Buc-ee’s is officially an issue in the race to become Texas’ next lieutenant governor. To recap: Buc-ee’s is a chain of enormous roadside convenience…
If Klyde Warren Park has proved one thing, it’s that if you make a formerly blemished urban space sufficiently cool and attractive, people will do yoga there. Other things, too. The point is, the people will come. The folks who run Fair Park have taken note. Last year, as part…
Last weekend, John Ratcliffe kicked off his final campaign push by running — and successfully completing! — a 5K fun run in Rockwall. It was a strategic move, a chance to mingle with potential Republican primary voters while simultaneously reminding everyone that he, unlike incumbent U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall, isn’t…
Greg Abbott has made it clear: He is not using his Latina wife as some sort of “prop” to woo Latino voters, and he’s outraged that a Lubbock City Council member may have suggested otherwise. Never mind that the only verification of the councilman’s comment came from an anonymous source…
Dallas City Council members had no trouble finding words to describe their feelings when confronted yesterday with a $9.6 billion to-do list of infrastructure needs that runs the gamut from streets to cultural facilities to flood management. “Unbelievable” was one. “Daunting” was another. Throw in “depressing” and “scandalous,” and you’ve…
The Dallas City Council never got around to passing the marriage equality resolution Scott Griggs introduced last year. But that’s OK. In many ways the resolution passed by today goes further. It doesn’t mention marriage, but it does formally place the council in “full favor of equal rights” for Dallas’…
Last month we introduced you to Chris Mapp, a U.S. Senate hopeful from South Texas who would go on to be crushed by John Cornyn in yesterday’s Republican primary. He’s the guy who referred to illegal immigrants as “wetbacks” and said that ranchers should be allowed to shoot them on…
In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary, there was a lot of chatter about how the Tea Party was losing its grip on Texas. It was a nice thought, that Ted Cruz’s antics and the constant demagoguing against the federal government had worn thin, nudging voters back to the…
Office Depot has earned a reputation in recent years for screwing over local governments. San Francisco got $4.25 million to settle claims that it overcharged for office supplies. Maricopa County claims $5.3 million in overbilling. Houston is demanding $6.6 million. All because a disgruntled corporate employee in Florida got himself…
Whatever “dramatic ideas” Dallas’ new task force will propose to revitalize Fair Park now that the summer amusement park has gone belly up are still months, if not years, away. In the meantime, the city is moving forward with smaller initiatives aimed at attracting visitors to the park. Key among…
When a few Dallas cops arrested a woman hanging out in the 4300 block of Colonial Avenue last year, it seemed obvious they weren’t catching a criminal who had a ton of money. Officers Charles Moreland and Clayton Edwards were working undercover on March 28 when they came across Amber…
In a wholly unexpected and incredibly bizarre turn of events, Republican lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick offered an endorsement of gay marriage so enthusiastic that he suggested doing away with heterosexual unions in the process. Patrick, heretofore the most conservative candidate in the race — a man who vociferously denies…
The Trinity River lakes were never going to be humongous. Seventy-five or 80 acres each, according to the Balanced Vision Plan developed for the Trinity River Corridor Project in 2003. But now the plans have been reduced to something so small — a couple of 20-acre ponds reaching a depth…
Dallas has three options to address its $900 million in street repair needs, all of them terrible. Here’s how Councilwoman Sandy Greyson laid them out during the transporation committee’s come-to-Jesus meeting on Monday: “We can put these things in our bond program and keep increasing our debt service. We can…
Last year, the city of Dallas abruptly shut down Project Reconnect, its $1.6 million effort to help ex-prisoners get housing and job training, amidst an investigation into nepotism and misallocation of funds. The Dallas Morning News reported that the inquiry centered on $91,000-per-year director Suanne Spires Durham and the possibility…
The main danger posed by Dallas’ tepid growth is, as Councilman Scott Griggs pointed out this week, that the city will find itself without enough tax revenue to maintain its sprawling infrastructure. Raise taxes and make repairs or let things decay, either response will drive people away, crunching the budget…
If Tink Nathan doesn’t belong in the Texas Legislature, we’re not sure if anyone does. The 72-year-old Republican from Kerr County, just northwest of San Antonio, has the whole package: scraggly frontiersman beard; monogrammed Texas flag shirt; an eponymous line of hunting products derived from deer urine. He’s the guy…
