Opinion & Commentary

The U.S. Supreme Court today has ruled against the city of Dallas in its lawsuit over the proposed Neches River Reservoir — an 11th hour reprieve for the state’s last wild river. It’s a two-word ruling – “certiorari denied” – but it means the city is out of luck on…

It will be really interesting to see how city staff handles this week’s stunning announcement of a $23 million federal grant to fund a trolley connecting downtown with North Oak Cliff. This is not at all where the staff wanted to go. Last October I covered a city council briefing…

Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *I’m setting the over/under on Tiger Woods saying the word “sorry” in this morning’s sanitized statement at 4.5, and I’m taking the under. I’ll also be shocked if he cries. At…

Can’t let this pass without pointing something out. Two stunning stories that have come down the pike in the past 24 hours — the awarding of a major federal grant for trolley in Oak Cliff and the success of preservationists in forcing DISD to back down, at least temporarily, from…

Dear Mexican: People talk about the costs of illegal immigration on our society. What about the savings? Has there been any research into how much more a meal at a restaurant would cost without Mexicans cooking and washing dishes? What percentage increase would we see with supermarket produce if migrant…

Trying to get to my post at Unfair Park. Big weather issues here. See photo. Huge branch the size of the Sears Tower fell on wife’s car. Worse: I had inadvertently left money bag containing $1 million-plus in rubles on top of car, part of inheritance I received recently from…

Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *The combo of weather and injuries and chicken shits is diminishing NBA All-Star Weekend. No Kobe Bryant. No Allen Iverson. No LeBron James in the dunk contest. Silver lining: Mavs’ icon…

Doesn’t it seem like only yesterday that Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price was telling everybody that County Judge Jim Foster was wacky? Now who wears the wacko jacket every week at commissioners court? This week Price harangued Foster for wanting to direct the county’s constables to carry out background…

Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: UPDATE: I’ve been saying for months – starting back in October – that Michael Irvin’s 103.3 FM ESPN radio show was a dead show talking. Don’t look now – um, apparently some…

Unfair Park has waited all day for a response from Larry Friedman, one of several lawyers representing embattled Dallas County Constable Jaime Cortes, concerning a digital sound recording somebody made of a meeting yesterday involving Cortes and 30 of his deputies. At 9 this morning he said he would get…

Dear Mexican: How can a formerly proud Latina like myself feel proud to be Mexican again after my beloved relative was murdered in Mexico by narcos while visiting? I still have love for my heritage, and I understand that many Mexican people live in desperate situations because they have no…

Third date time hanging out together. High hopes. True story. So we go to dinner and a couple drinks. Bueno. Go back to her place not far from my house in McKinney. Perfect. She takes the initiative. Sets the mood. Color me desperate horny intrigued. Not big on baths, but…

Interesting story inside The Dallas Morning News today about cuts in the federal budget for the Dallas Trinity River levee project. I’m not saying The News story is any kind of propaganda. Just saying there’s more there than meets the eye. Here is what is sort of buried or smooshed…

Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *One month into 2010, how’s your New Year’s resolution going? Mine? I was gonna be more positive and less cynical and … oh, screw it. Resolutions never last or else they’d…

[Editor’s note: Tonight, Jim spoke with sources familiar with the negotiations between the Museum of the American Railroad and the city. Among those to whom he spoke is Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm. His update follows at the end of this item. But, long story short, reports Jim: “This has…

Well, as usual, The Dallas Morning News prints stuff, and then it’s up to me to come along behind them and do clean-up on the story. What am I? Their journalistic janitor? Mariana Greene, The News’s garden editor and author of a column called “Gardening Fool,” has a story in…

Today’s offering will be short and not-so-sweet. Reason? Commute from McKinney, Texas to Fitzhugh and 75, Dallas: 1 hour, 37 minutes. Rain. Wrecks. And the HOV phenomenon. Goes like this: People cavalierly ignore the rules of the road and drive their solo vehicles in the HOV lane. Cops pull a stake-out and slow…

Why do so many Mexicans work for Taco Bell and El Pollo Loco? Don’t they know they only add a false credence to the belief that this is Mexican cuisine? The bastardizing of the truly great and diverse food of Mexico by the money-hungry corporations of the United States, I…

So, that was why Richard Allen stood us all up at the altar a week ago. I think I feel…better. Strangely. It’s kind of like: Good news, the groom’s not dead. Bad news: The groom’s not coming. I got the answer to the mystery Wednesday morning when Allen confirmed to…

Over the last year, whenever I have spoken with Richard Allen, CEO of The Allen Group, he has been open at times, guarded at others. But I have to say today, when he and I talked about his entry into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, he sounded better than he has in…