A couple of weeks back, Nicole Porter at Texas Prison Bid’ness took note of the state’s impending budget shortfall and concluded that, more than likely, it’ll result in the closing of some private prisons and jails. Sure, but which ones? Well, writes our old pal Scott Henson today over at…
I know this is skipping way ahead first thing on a Monday, but I see here that next Wednesday, the Dallas City Council will vote to settle that federal lawsuit Dallas Police Department crime-scene detective Roosevelt Holiday brought against the city and DPD at the end of ’09. For those…
U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn sentenced former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill to 18 years in federal prison, calling his conduct “outrageous and unacceptable.” His wife, Sheila, who Lynn said was “right in the thick of it,” was given nine years. Earlier this evening, Lynn sentenced ex-City Plan Commissioner D’Angelo…
The U.S. Attorney’s Office sends word: Inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service have arrested 62-year-old Norris Lynn Fisher, alleging that he used the mail to swipe more than 100 properties valued at $1 million from their rightful owners. After the jump, you’ll find the affidavit from a postal inspector…
OK, so Sam’s still working on his John Wiley press conference piece. But here’s something even better, if I do say so myself: Precinct 5 Constable Jaime Cortes’s lawsuit, just filed in Dallas County District Court, in which he calls for the removal of Dallas County Judge Jim Foster. We’d…
If you were downtown over the weekend, you couldn’t miss it: Dallas was overrun with cheerleaders in town for the National Cheerleaders Association’s All-Star National Championship at the Dallas Convention Center. It’s an annual affair a team from suburban Chicago always attends — but they ain’t coming back next year,…
Back in May, we directed your attention to the legal woes of Henry Robinson, a former Love Field security guard who claimed in Dallas federal court that The Beat-97.9 host Rickey Smiley cost him his job when he went questioned his heterosexuality. The whole thing stemmed from an incident at…
So, ’round 3ish tomorrow, expect the latest update in the case of the City of Dallas v. the Museum of the American Railroad. At 2:30 p.m. tomorrow a hearing been scheduled in Associate Judge Teresa Guerra Snelson courtroom, during which city attorneys and lawyers representing the museum will face off…
Back in July 2007, the tale of Dallas Area Rapid Transit police officer Susan Craig merited but a few sentences in the regional roundup. The story then: “Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials said Officer Susan Craig falsely claimed that a rider she arrested Monday had kicked her in the head…
It’s been almost three years since we first told you the sordid story of Anand Jon Alexander, the one-time designer to the stars who came to town promising women, many of them under-age, modeling jobs right before he sexually assaulted them. Women would come forward telling the exact same story…
As Pete mentioned a few weeks back, Roky Erickson’s got a brand-new album forthcoming — True Love Cast Out All Evil, due in April and featuring as his backing band Okkervil River. Hard to keep track of Roky’s comebacks at this late date, but this one appears ready to stick…
More than a few Friends have wondered in recent days why Angela Hunt, Pauline Medrano and the City Attorney’s Office are, as we first reported, currently drafting an ordinance to shut down improperly permitted Lower Greenville bars masquerading as restaurants. In the words of Friend of Unfair Park “Sanguine” on…
Chris McGuinness called a little while ago, and he’s decided to set up a tent in the Dodie’s Seafood Cafe parking lot after all. There’s even going to be live music courtesy the Donavan Foy Band; downbeat’s at 7 p.m. sharp. Because danged if the longtime Lower Greenville restaurant owner’s…
Speaking of crime stats …City Hall sends word this morning that City Auditor Craig Kinton’s look-see into how the Dallas Police Department handles its cash turned up a crime: “Approximately $17,000 was misappropriated by a DPD employee between Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 and FY 2008.” The report doesn’t name names,…
This morning the city council’s Public Safety Committee will take a longer, harder look at the 2009 crime stats. At most meetings, they’re just tallied up and dropped into the chart you see up above. But this morning council members will be briefed on the rise and fall of crimes…
About an hour ago, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster summoned a few members of the media, including Sam, to the commissioners court in order to discuss Danny Defenbaugh’s investigation into the alleged misdeeds of Constable Jaime Cortes. Sam will be along shortly with his notes from his interview with Foster,…
Didn’t see this coming: Jibreel Rashad’s guilty! Rashad, of course, was among the myriad defendants named in the feds’ indictment in the Dallas City Hall corruption case, and, like those who came before him — those who pleaded guilty or those who were convicted — he’s looking at a stay…
As he prepared to board an airplane bound for Austin at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday night, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster received a flurry of phone calls related to the now-infamous meeting that Dallas County Constable Jaime Cortes had with approximately 30 of his deputies. With Dallas County Sheriff…
Reaction to Terri Hodge’s plea deal with the feds continues to trickle in, with Angela Hunt telling us this afternoon that she has withdrawn her support of Hodge “for obvious reasons” and now supports Eric Johnson in the March 2 Democratic primary. (Update: Hunt, Craig Watkins, Royce West, Rafael Anchia…
Democratic precinct chair and former City Plan Commissioner Neil Emmons was certainly not alone in his support of Terri Hodge in her bid for an eighth term in Texas House District 100, as Hodge’s endorsements included several of the city’s most notable politicos. But even after Hodge pleaded guilty in…
Back in December, Business Resources Corp. filed suit against Dallas County claiming officials hired Virginia-based GTSI to preserve county docs (birth records, death certificates, etc.) at a cost of $17.5 million over seven years — even though the county didn’t take bids on the contract and GTSI doesn’t do the…
The in-box is filling up with NBA All-Star Weekend party announcements — no actual invites, though, which is just as well, as that’s the weekend I’m planning a spiritual retreat or a lost weekend of drinking, either/or. The most recent: a three-day “epic extravaganza” spread out at the Ghostbar and…
