Spent the first half of my vacation in the Pacific northwest. Seattle, to be exact. I’d been there several times, covering Cowboys-Seahawks and Mavericks-Sonics after my initial trip in 1987 for, would you believe, Dallas Sidekicks-Tacoma Stars. But this time I really did Seattle. Some days I wanted to ride my…
Last night about midnight I was watching the Trinity River flow gauge in downtown Dallas on the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System Web page and saw that the flow was really spiking. So, even after a horrible day at home with flood and electrical crises of my own,…
Public officials are saying things now about the Trinity River in downtown Dallas that make no sense, are impossible to believe and may even be sort of crazy. Here’s the basic: The whole multibillion-dollar Trinity River project, Dallas’ Big Dig, is on hold and in trouble because the U.S. Army…
Dear Mexican: I was riding the local light rail when two female Mexicans sat down and started talking rapid-fire Spanish nonstop for 45 minutes! It seemed as if neither one stopped to take a breath of air. They were loud and could be heard the length of the train. Question:…
The concept of regionalism is a Trojan horse designed to gut the city in favor of the ‘burbs. If you ever doubted that, take a look at the very close bullet that downtown Dallas just dodged yesterday … we hope.For 26 years, ever since the founding of Dallas Area Rapid…
Hey, if Dale Hansen thinks it’s a good time to skeedaddle, who am I to quarrel? Let’s see, last summer I went to a river and a waterfall. This year … Seattle. Yeah, that sounds about right. Temperatures in the 70s. Fish to eat. Coffee to smell (but not drink). A…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Might Michael Irvin’s days at ESPN Radio be numbered? This isn’t sourced “breaking news”, but more so a simple putting two-and-two together and arriving at a common sense conclusion. And, no,…
The Trinity River toll road is dead. DOA. Cold. Clothespins on noses. The Trinity River toll road is no more. From here on out, it’s all bad money after good and proof our city is led by fools. Monday, the mayor of Dallas and a backup choir of politicians held…
It almost isn’t possible to describe what Mayor Tom Leppert and a line-up of loyal politicos were trying to accomplish this morning in the Flag Room of Dallas City Hall. Talk about lipstick on a pig.For weeks everybody has been wondering whether Leppert and the Dallas Citizens Council would be…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Trust me, you’ll be elated if David McDavid buys the Texas Rangers. Biggest reason: His dream is not to make more money, but to own a championship sports franchise in the…
Well, we have now officially turned our back on school desegregation. I’m sure some of you will be thrilled. Personally, I’m sitting here at my computer in the back corner of a darkened house at a quarter to two in the morning, and I feel more like throwing up.At a…
Tonight’s meeting of the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees will tell the tale — several, in fact. First, of course, we have the underlying question: Should the district gut the budgets of its enhanced schools — magnets and learning centers — in the name of equity for other…
Dear Mexican: My question is simple: Can you please confirm the fact that there are doctors, lawyers and other professionals living in Mexico? I’m a Mexican-American woman living in Chicago who had a HEATED discussion about that topic. My friend, who is a teacher at a local school, was of…
You can’t really understand Dallas politics without grasping the concept of the white-people deal. It’s a key element. I’ll give you an example. In 2000 a professional lobbyist named David Dean and his wife, Jean, bought a 1916 Georgian Revival home in the Swiss Avenue Historic District and announced they…
Former Dallas Observer ace reporter (and sometime-Unfair Park contributor) Matt Pulle has a great piece up today on the Texas Watchdog Web site revealing that in 2008 alone, state Sen. Royce West’s 10-person law firm billed the City of Dallas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the Dallas Independent School District, the…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *You’ll have to savor this offering like a cow with its cud, because this morning I’m headed out to the Byron Nelson to chug margaritas and chase girls in The Pavilion…
Dear Mexican: My wife and I have an argument going on about pirates. And since you’re the source for all things Mexican, I thought I’d ask: While I know there were Spanish and Portuguese pirates back in the early 1600s and 1700s, were there ever any MEXICAN pirates? Not pirates…
A concerted effort is under way to pit communities against each other—especially Hispanic against black—over public school resources in Dallas. It’s sort of like going to a starving village somewhere and spreading rumors about secret midnight feasts. It is not an effort with virtue in its heart. But, look, let’s…
On Tuesday of this week Dallas Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander responded to questions I had asked him last week for my column this week about per-pupil expenditures at high school campuses. Unfortunately, his response by e-mail reached me several days after my deadline had passed. Mr. Dahlander is…
Today’s meeting of the Dallas City Council’s Trinity River committee — during which the committee endorsed this alignment for the proposed Trinity River toll road – was dull and uneventful in ways that were of keen interest to trained Kremlinologists. By observing which members of the committee made eye contact…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Of the Texas Rangers’ hot start – they are 20-14 compared to 14-20 last year – the most amazing feat is pitcher Matt Harrison’s back-to-back complete games. If you’re looking for Nolan…
Last night’s decision by the Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees to delay voting on budget cuts for the district’s enhanced schools was more than just a stall. The debate leading up to that decision shed a little more light on the question most people watching all this have…
