The poor Dallas Pedestrian Network, otherwise known as Vincent Ponte’s downtown tunnels and skyways. So unloved, so unwanted — and if you believe the Downtown Dallas 360 plan (not to mention Laura Miller and Mary Suhm and Jack Gosnell), the leading cause of the death of downtown. Hence the closed-door…
After Dwaine Caraway got done excoriating Paul Dyer over the city’s decision to close five pools in the coming fiscal year, two in Caraway’s district, the head of Park and Rec told the former mayor to get used to the idea. Because, look, said Dyer: The city owning and operating…
Back to the animal shelter for a second …One other thing interim assistant city manager Joey Zapata and I touched on briefly yesterday was an item on the council’s agenda for next week involving the lowering of adoption fees at Dallas Animal Services. Because right now, it’s kinda pricey for…
For now, at least, you can forget about the city spending an additional five figures to study the Dallas Wave, which Schutze calls in this week’s paper version of Unfair Park “the unbelievably screwed-up man-made kayaking rapids” in the Trinity River. No doubt you recall: A few weeks ago the…
Straight off, City Hall spokesman Frank Librio would like us to clarify something he told Anna yesterday: It’s not that new Dallas Animal Services director Jody Jones isn’t ready to handle media requests, as we noted, it’s just that she’s “focusing on operations at the moment and not handling media…
Several Friends of Unfair Park, including a grumpy one below, have asked if we’ll make mention of Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fisher’s speech given in Midland yesterday. Sure, absolutely, happy to. Because, first, I’m a big fan of Fisher’s — anyone who mentions…
Of the myriad lawsuits involving the city, Doug Moore v. City of Dallas et al is among the most expensive — and getting a little more pricey all the time. This case, for those not keeping score at home, has already cost the city $2.5 million, paid to the state…
Got an email this morning from City Hall that Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson would be stopping by for a “a special ‘thank you’ event for her many years of service on behalf of the City and citizens of Dallas.” Alas, we couldn’t make it; too busy filling out scholarship applications…
Anna’s gotten to know the city awfully well in a very short amount of time — that’s what sitting through every single redistricting meeting will do to and for you. And she was there for four hours last night, even though she’s got a cover story due, like, now. And…
Speaking of flow control …On the other side you’ll find a letter that Juanita Wallace, president of the Dallas branch of the NAACP, sent to Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 chief Al Armendariz in which she decries the city’s proposal that would force all solid-waste collectors to dump their trash…
In November of ’09 we were introduced to St. Louis-based housing developer McCormack Baron Salazar, which was hired by The Real Estate Council to take a long, hard look at potential for development along the DART Green Line in Fair Park-South Dallas and the piece of the Blue Line that…
A few weeks ago we looked into whether some Park and Rec workers got a little too chainsaw-happy in the Great Trinity Forest — specifically, near the soccer and baseball fields in the Gateway Park on the west side of Jim Miller Road. It was brought to our attention by,…
Speaking of Rick Perry video round-ups …On the other side you’ll find two clips. First up is last night’s Daily Show, in which Jon Stewart dissects the Texas governor’s entry into the presidential race over the weekend. Stewart, like Gawker, “confuses” Perry with Josh Brolin in W. But, look, says…
As you should be well aware by now, attorneys Andy Siegel and Leland de la Garza are trying to overturn the November 2010 referendum that made it legal to sell beer and wine citywide. That case is scheduled to go to trial next month. All that remains is a single…
A disheartening report by the Dallas Police Department shows that crimes against senior citizens have increased in the past year, with rates for July 2011 15 percent higher than during the same time last year. Lieutenant Herbert Ashford presented the numbers at this morning’s Senior Affairs Commission Victimization Committee meeting,…
The city warns, via its Hike & Bike Trail Facebook page, that it’s “preparing to collect data on cyclists’ speeds on Dallas trails.” And … that’s about that. So I called Park and Rec’s second-in-command, Willis Winters, for further information — such as, for starters, what does the city intend…
The New York Times just posted one in a series of national-press pieces since Saturday questioning Rick Perry’s role in the so-called Texas Miracle. Read it or don’t; your call. But the photo with the story — Perry watching himself play football for A&M courtesy Electronic Arts, which is expanding…
Back in February, the city auditor in Austin, Ken Mory, took a long, hard look at hotel occupancy taxes down there and noted that folks renting out their homes to vacationers weren’t paying what he believed to be their fair share. At which point, Mory called Dallas and said: Hey,…
On the other side you’ll find the stack of memos City Hall sent Saturday morning, and, as usual, it’s a mixed grab bag of goodies covering some familiar topics. As in: Assistant City Manager Forest Turner kicks things off by telling Mayor Mike and the city council that we’re gonna…
In mid-May, Ray Washburne explained his attraction to former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty thusly: “He’s got a great story to tell.” This was in a Wall Street Journal piece about how Pawlenty was attracting big-money men such as Washburne — co-founder of Mi Cocina, owner of the Highland Park Village,…
For two years Matt Miller, executive director of the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter, fought with the city of Dallas in federal court over the 2008 ordinance that prohibits store owners from covering the top two-thirds of their windows with advertisements. The IJ brought the suit on behalf of several…
Last week, you may recall, I asked Frank Librio, Dallas City Hall spokesman, if Dallas had any plans to follow its neighbors’ leads and clamp down on water use. To which he responded: “The lakes are currently 84% full and we continue to monitor conditions daily. The City’s conservation program…
