Buried between the lines in a 246-page document released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today is a significant national story about the future of flood control in American cities. I doubt very many reporters will dig it out. I’ll give you the thumbnail sketch. You may wish I…
Today, a commenter on a previous blog item of mine about GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested it was mighty mysterious that President Obama doesn’t have any sexual peccadilloes in his closet when so many Republican presidential contenders seem to. “Joshua,” the commenter, suggested the “Chicago mob of politicos” probably…
Dear Mexican: Having been called a “gabacho” by “Mexicans” much lighter than I and “wetback” by those whose parents (or themselves) crossed several rivers as they migrated west to California, I’m curious as to which group you believe I should hold in the greatest disdain. While Anglo wetbacks are much…
The 50th anniversary of the murder of President John F. Kennedy in Dealey Plaza is still two years off, but somebody is already trying to shut down the plaza for the entire week of November 22, 2013. I’m not sure who yet. It’s either the Sixth Floor Museum or City…
I am in contact with a woman whose identity I have agreed not to divulge, a middle-aged affluent Republican homemaker in the snooty Park Cities portion of Dallas, who says that she has not had an affair with Herman Cain. Of course I found her story difficult to believe at…
Welcome to Local Music ‘Mericans, where we get to know the people more behind the scenes in Dallas/Fort Worth local music. Local Music ‘Mericans officially debuted on November 16, 2010. Close enough for rock and roll, as far as some sort of an anniversary commemeration is concerned, right? Our first…
I have been thinking a lot lately about dog shit. It seems to be the answer to one of my more persistent inner puzzles. Dog shit is a surprisingly deep topic. Dallas enacted a so-called pooper-scooper law in 1997, a moment in local history I remember well, because I got…
“I’ll have the omelet please, and black coffee,” I told my waiter. I was researching Dallas’ best breakfasts and hoped a luxury hotel version from the Mansion on Turtle Creek would make the cut. My waiter asked what kind of filling I wanted with my eggs, and I responded that…
Del Frisco’s Grille opened this weekend in Uptown. The restaurant sits next to Private Social, in the same building, for a fine-dining one-two punch. The menu at each restaurant is different, and so is the look and feel, but they’re still going to compete for the neighborhood’s high-end discretionary spending…
Oh, no. The ice-driving season is about to come back to Dallas for its annual reign of terror. We’re all going to die. When I moved to Texas from Michigan about 100 years ago, the common wisdom was that people from the North knew how to drive on ice and…
Dear Mexican: GOP Senator Mel Martinez authored a decent compromise bill to resolve the growing illegal immigration problem. He broke up the group of 11 million illegals into three classes. Those in the United States for two or fewer years would be expelled. Those in the country for two to…
Riddle: What does the city of Dallas have in common with Westchester County, New York? This is a hard one. They’re a county. We’re a city. They’re Yankees. We’re not. Their median home value is $559,800, according to the census. Ours is $128,800. Getting tired of this? OK, I’ll tell…
Wolf Blitzer of CNN takes on the Republican candidates tonight for the second foreign policy debate. This is the do-or-die moment for our homeboy: Either Rick Perry repairs his fortunes and escapes the back-bench or he’s toast. Perry’s people know that, so our governor is going to be all-in tonight,…
Welcome to Local Music ‘Mericans, where we get to know the people more behind the scenes in Dallas/Fort Worth local music. Tom Morningstar’s art can be seen adorning the walls of a few Gaston-area spots of Deep Ellum: The Elbow Room, Big-E’s Convenience Store (killers tacos there, by the way),…
Excuse me. Pardon me. Sorry to bother you. Got a second? Hey, I’m not asking for money. I just need a favor. Do you know this guy, Frank Librio? Would you be able to get in touch with him for me? He’s the spokesman for the city of Dallas. Very…
Star-Telegram Washington bureau reporter Maria Recio has a story today asking various Texas politicos how much Governor Rick Perry has embarrassed the Lone Star State. The answers don’t vary a lot. If this were a story about fishing, some people would have their hands out about shoulder width apart and…
On November 10 I wrote a column for the paper about documents leaked to me from within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicating that the corps has no faith in repairs to the Trinity River levees being proposed by the City of Dallas. I can show the documents to…
Dear Mexican: Why is Mexico such a dump? Just to name a few of the problems: stray dogs running all over the place, piles of trash burning in the street, blown-out tires hanging from cactus by the side of the road, shredded plastic shopping bags plastering every fence, rampant corruption…
Last week the city council shot down a six-lane bowling alley on Lower Greenville Avenue next to Good Records, denying zoning for a $1.5 million project there because activists told the council the bowling alley and attached bar would draw hordes of loud drunken outsiders to the neighborhood. Really? We…
Wait. The “occupy” part of Occupy may be over, but that’s not the story. The story is what the movement has accomplished already. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has evicted Occupy from Zuccotti Park. Our own mayor is making it plain that the Occupy Dallas camp behind City Hall is…
I wasn’t going to write about Penn State, because I’m some guy in Dallas and who cares what I think? But Dallas Morning News columnist Jacquielynn Floyd has written about it in today’s paper, so in my book that gives me permission. Most of the people writing interesting things about…
Welcome to Local Music ‘Mericans, where we get to know the people more behind the scenes in Dallas/Fort Worth local music. When it comes to local music scene contributors, Andy Odom is one for whom we made the call to bend the behind-the-scenes rule of this column slightly on his…
