Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Angela Hunt and Jenny the Elephant: Talk about your odd couple stirring things up!

All right, let me start this off by saying that it has been years since I've been to the Dallas Zoo, it has been awhile since I've talked with Angela Hunt, I don't have any personal interest in Jenny the elephant or her future home, and I haven't had time to read every single post, story and comment that has been devoted to this issue. But after directing you to these links to what the DMN reported today concerning relocating the 32-year-old Jenny from the Dallas Zoo, what DMN columnist Steve Blow had to say about Hunt's meddling with Zoo decisions, and what the Dallas Observer's blog and readers had to say, I would like to say this: Wow. Leave it to a lonely, aging, soon-to-be-shipped-off elephant to spark more passionate concern among Dallas citizens than the typical city fiasco.

I encourage you to read the stories and formulate your own opinions, and I encourage you to do the reading even if you don't give a flip about elephants. Because the commentary says a lot about Hunt, about Blow, about a few of the other city council reps, and about what at least a segment of the population thinks about how the city is being run.

White Rock Marathon still needs a title sponsor

The Dallas Business Journal reported today that NexBank signed on as presenting sponsor for the White Rock Marathon. Back Talk reported this a month ago, by the way. When we did, I spoke with race chairman Chuck Dannis who reminded me they are still actively seeking a title sponsor. Securing a title sponsor makes a big difference when it comes to presenting that post-event check to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, he says.

Last year's sponsor was Wellstone Communities, backed out of sponsoring this year's event (which we also wrote about here.)

Grace Choi, 13, wins Dallas Junior Golf tournament; she's the youngest female winner ever

Neighborhood 13-year-old Grace Choi won the recent Dallas Junior Golf Championship at Tenison Highlands golf course, becoming the youngest winner of the girls' division dating back to its beginning in 1962. Choi's winning score of 219 even beat Scott Orsak, winner of the boy's division, by four shots. Choi will be an 8th grader at J.L. Long Middle School next month, and her parents own the dry-cleaning business on the corner of the building at Live Oak and Skillman that also houses the Tipperary Inn and the Wine Therapist. My sons are budding golfers, with one of them a member of Woodrow Wilson High School's district-winning golf team last year; they say they've seen Grace hitting the ball at Tenison and been blown away by her length and accuracy. She told the DMN that putting is her weakness, but with scores of 77-68-74 on the three-day event, she can't be too bad on the greens. Both Grace and her younger sister also have been members of the Lakewood Elementary and Long mathletes teams, with both frequently winning individual awards at the weekend meets during the school season.

As an aside, Lake Highlands resident Scott Akers recently took over as director of instruction at Tenison, and he has put together some excellent youth and adult golf instruction programs; my sons and a friend were in one of the classes and raved about what a great teacher Akers is. And Tenison's range is modern, with some of the stalls covered, so it's a good alternative to the neighborhood Top Golf setup when you're looking for more of a straight golf experience or plan to play a round on the course, too.

Gangster linked to White Rock area home invasion tells all to police

I’ve been loosely following the story about this “highly organized” gang responsible for a series of home invasions around Dallas — perhaps most notable were two that took place at White Rock Area homes. During one of said attacks, masked robbers brutalized an 81-year-old retired lawyer William McGarvey in attempts to learn where he kept his money (they crushed one of his ears with pliers and poured water over his face to simulate drowning).

The mob's mastermind was supposedly William Sedric Autrey, 39, former owner of the North Dallas nightclub Club X, who might have used the club to get info about potential victims. Earnest Lynn Ross, 43, is accused of being Autrey’s brutish co-conspirator, the one who inflicted, allegedly, aforementioned attack. Then they had a slew of both white-collar and street thugs working under them. This Morning News piece does a pretty thorough job of telling the story behind the gang’s formation and how police brought ‘em down — in a nutshell, Autrey got busted and brought down the whole operation in an effort to spare himself a life in the penitentiary.

This is a pretty fascinating case — I figure I'll be more closely following what happens next.

Run Dallas, run!

The Dallas Running Club is an outstanding organization, especially for those who live in the White Rock area … and who are totally masochistic. I say that with no fear of objection because I’ve experienced the pain first hand. I signed up for the club so I could get in on the marathon-training program. When I did so, I questioned my sanity. Signing up for marathon training in the middle of Texas’ August? Brutal. I couldn’t believe it when I showed up for the first meeting in mid-July and the Winfrey Point building was packed wall-to-wall with other crazies just like me. What is wrong with us? I asked myself then … and again around mile seven Saturday morning.

Despite its location in a city that sees a good three months of 100-degree temperatures, Dallas Running Club just hit the 3,000-member mark making it the third largest running club in the U.S., behind New York Road Runners and Atlanta Track Club.

Saggy pants II: Illinois town pulls up on Dallas to fine offenders $25

Remember a few months ago when Dallas mayor pro tem Dwaine Caraway came up with the bright idea of passing a city ordinance banning saggy pants? The idea wasn't exactly laughed away here, but suffice it to say that saner heads prevailed and today, Dallas has one less dopey, toothless ordinance than we could have had. In Lynwood, Ill., however, city leaders weren't quite as thoughtful as our own here in Dallas — that city passed an ordinance fining saggy pants offenders $25 for anyone showing three inches of more of their underwear in public. Predictably, the ACLU has jumped into the fray, claiming that the ordinance targets "young men of color", even though I've seen a veritable rainbow of skin tones and underwear colors in my observation of the Texas trend. Anyway, young adults in Lynwood don't like the ordinance, saying it infringes on their personal style. One prospective offender said the city, instead, should be focusing on making the area look better, assuming I suppose that looking at other peoples' underwear somehow contributes to that goal.

DISD ethics policy: Participate in the survey to suggest changes

You might remember a few weeks ago when DISD's ethics policy was the subject of a few unfavorable stories: school board chair Jack Lowe was prominently (and unflatteringly) the big star of that imbroglio, since his company, TD Industries, has several million dollars in contracts with DISD — a fact critics (particularly the DMN) found inappropriate. Well, DISD established a committee to look into the ethics policy, and part of that process is distributing a survey to the public asking questions about what the policy should look like. If you'd like to participate in the survey, which will take you probably two minutes tops if you are  pretty quick typist (a few questions ask for a written response), here's the link.

Dog bites postman: Our neighborhoods are among the U.S. leaders

Want to know the country's most dangerous routes for a U.S. postman? Just look around: The Dallas postal service region ranks third in the country in terms of dogs biting carriers, according to a DMN story (check out the accompanying video, too). In 2006, 35 dog bites were reported; in 2007, 41 dog bites were reported. In 75206 and 75214 alone, seven carriers were bitten by dogs apparently not properly restrained by their owners. And that, carriers told the News, is the problem: Some owners don't seem to care whether their pets take a chomp out of the postman; even if a dog does bite a carrier, Texas apparently leads the nation in lax penalties for offenders, postal workers told the News. Interestingly enough, if a carrier is bitten, the dog is quarantined for 10 days to check for rabies; if rabies isn't found, the dog is released to its owner, and the postal service is notified; then the postal carrier has to check for recidivism himself or herself. According to postal officials, threatening to stop home mail delivery stops the loose-dog problem 99% of the time; the other one percent, though, continue to create a big problem.

Hillside: Daddy tricycle derby

I had to scoot out of the Hillside Fourth of July celebration to get to the Little Forest Hills parade, and left before one of the main events: the daddy tricycle derby. From what I can gather, a few brave Hillside dads stuck baby bottles in their mouths and hopped on tricycles, trying to be the first ones to pedal their way around a cone and back to the starting point.

I didn't get to experience it or take any photos, but thanks to Hillside neighbor Elaine Bartlett, you can laugh for yourself at these photos.

Dallas electricity bills going up

It’s for a good cause, though -– to build new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from west Texas to Dallas. Someone has to pay for the $4.83 billion initiative, which means each of us will have about $4 tacked on to our bills each month. No word yet on when the fee will start or how long it will last.

Ideally, all of this extra electricity will increase supply, which should eventually lower the cost. Regular visitors here know how skeptical I am of the deregulated electricity market in Texas, so I don’t expect the price to go down. Still, we have the advantage of knowing Texas will be in the forefront of green electricity, which is impressive. Texas leads the country in wind-energy production, and when this transmission is built, we’ll produce more wind-generated electricity than the next 14 states combined.

 

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