Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Sheffie Kadane's political woes

Kadane, who represents Lakewood on the city council, has only been in office since May. But he has already wracked up what seems like a full term's worth of aggravation:

• His performance during the Trinity toll road campaign was undistinguished, to say the least. And voters in his District 9 were mostly on the other side of the issue.

• Dallas' Only Daily Newspaper, which usually spares Kadane from any sort of criticism, took him to task this week for not appointing enough members to city commissions and boards. "Mayor Tom Leppert, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway and District 9 council member Sheffie Kadane have made 11 appointments to their 18 allotted positions -– the lowest among council members," wrote The News. (And what's The News doing criticizing Mayor Park Cities?)

• And now, residents of the Maplewood neighborhood (just west of White Rock Lake and between Fisher and the DART tracks), appear ready to get an early start on beating Kadane in 2009, acquiring the outwithsheffie.com Internet address. The neighbors are upset that Kadane blocked council approval of a zoning overlay for their area this week, which would have limited the size and scope of new home and teardown construction. Most of the overlay had previously been approved by the city plan commission.

I talked to Maplewood's Ryan Berube, who led the push for the overlay, and he said he doesn't think Kadane understands the issue -- and if he doesn't understand the issue, he shouldn't be on the council. In this, Berube pointed to the recent overlay decision in Casa Linda, where residents got only part of what they asked for. He said that that the Casa Linda residents that he talked to were also upset with Kadane, and for many of the same reasons.

Whole Foods update: How does Fall 2009 hit you for store completion?

I stopped by the meeting Whole Foods had with the Lakewood Neighborhood Association board of directors the other night, but we've already reported here in great detail what the traveling Whole Foods team has been talking about with neighborhood groups. About the only specifics that came out of the meeting is that timetable is this: review by the City Plan Commission late February/early March, completion of all city approvals by April/May, and then 10 months of construction (assuming good weather, etc.). Assuming that the development is slowed somewhat by inevitable issues (think about your last home improvement project and then multiply by 10,000 since this is a big commercial project), I would expect that sometime in fall 2009, we'll be traipsing through the new store with our paper or hemp bags (now that Whole Foods is phasing out the disposable plastic ones). We'll have more information next week on the site plan, the issues with conformance with the Planned Development district, and some thoughts about the relevance of the PD to development today.

TV news directors, aren't you ashamed of yourselves?

I woke up this morning, and it was raining. Somehow, the ice storm of the century missed us.

So what did I see when I switched through the four local stations? Wintry blast! Winter weather closings! Freezing rain!

At best, this kind of reporting is silly. At worst, it's irresponsible. Can anyone who works for a TV station defend this foolishness? Or do you think your audience is really that stupid?

Because this is what bad winter weather really looks like:

The hows and whys of historic preservation in Dallas

We've added a short essay from our resident historic preservation expert, Norm Alston, to the Back Talk Extras feature on the sidebar on the right.

Norm doesn't think preservation is a lost cause in Dallas, despite the setbacks we've suffered over the past several years (the Hard Rock on McKinney, the Dr Pepper plant, and the like). In fact, he sees quite a few silver linings, including an increased commitment from the city.

It also includes one of the best explanations I've ever seen about why developers and builders have so much trouble with the concept. They're not necessarily opposed to preservation, says Norm. It's just not something they do often enough to understand.

Wine review: Ajello Bianca 2006

Those of us who love cheap wine love to share cheap wine finds, which means I've been getting whispers about Sicilian wine for a couple of years.

The quality of Sicilian wine has improved dramatically in the past decade, while prices have stayed pretty much the same. That's because Sicily gets very little respect from the wine snobs. In addition, most Sicilian wine is made with grapes only a master sommelier has ever heard of, which makes it more difficult to sell

The Ajello is a perfect example of all of that. It's cheap (list price is $12, and I'm told it's probably available for around $10 at Goody Goody) and it tastes great. Really, really great. It's a white wine, but without any of the off-putting turpentine flavors in similarly priced pinot grigio. Instead, it's clean, clear, and crisp, with a mineral-like finish. Don't expect much fruit -- just a bit of lemon (and you have to look for that). This wine is ideal for shellfish or grilled scallops, any kind of grilled chicken or even just drinking on a slow afternoon.

If the price holds up against the weak dollar, this is definitely a candidate for the 2009 $10 Wine Hall of Fame.

Philip Wuntch fans rejoice: His take on Heath Ledger and more here

Longtime DMN readers who also love the movies will recognize the name Philip Wuntch: He's the guy who reviewed movies for the News for 30 years, prior to retiring a couple of years ago. Philip was at the News when I was there, and I had a chance to see him in action; he was a nice guy and talented writer all of the time. I always put value in his reviews; somehow, his opinions almost always mirrored mine. I was sorry to see him go, because it just makes playing Russian roulette with my $10 movie tickets a little too exciting. But another former DMNer, Pete Oppel, is publishing his own blog, and lo and behold, there's Philip contributing reviews and commentary. His take on the death of Heath Ledger is vintage Wuntch: Some inside information, some career review and some personal commentary. It's good to have him back.

A glimpse at the Lakewood Whole Foods

This is the first site plan that Whole Foods submitted to the city for its Lakewood store on the old Minyard's site. Jennifer Hiromoto, who is overseeing the project for the city's department of development services, passed it along with a couple of caveats. First, it's not final, and she expects to get a revised site plan by the end of this month, after Whole Foods finishes meeting with neighborhood groups in the area. Second, the proposal asks for a change in the lot's zoning along Abrams Road in regard to how close the parking lot can be to the street (what's called a setback). Yes, that sounds dull and arcane, but it may turn out to be a major sticking point.

If anyone would like a copy of the site plan, send an email here. I'll send you a tiff version later today. We've highlighted the pertinent parts of the proposal on this version; the one on file with the city isn't necessarily easier to read, but you will be able to manipulate it any way you want.

Finally, our crack Back Talk correspondent Norm Alston attended the meeting Whole Foods had with a local neighborhood association last night. He says attendance was very good -- they had to go and get extra chairs. His report follows after the jump. Pay attention toward the end. That's where the setback came up.

Who's ready to help pick the new Trinity River project logo?

I guess this is a classic "chicken and egg" discussion: Which comes first, the Trinity River Project or the Trinity River logo? I suppose it doesn't take a lot of intelligence to figure that one out, does it? Naturally, the logo comes before any development or even completion of the plan.

So now that the logos are out in the public for consideration, thanks to this DMN story, I guess we have the opportunity for fair comment (and I mean on the logos, not on the development). I can't really say that I have a favorite among the three; none of them really say "Trinity" to me, despite a couple of probably over-thought-out attempts. But I can't really get too snarky here, because one portion of our business is designing logos/ads/etc. for businesses, and we don't always hit the mark, either. But I guess if forced, at gunpoint, to select one, I'd go with the top one on the left simply because it's the most simple design; the others are kind of overwrought with a little too much deep thought.

Busting DISD's bureaucracy - meet the guy who is trying to make that happen

DISD's bureaucracy-meister visits the monthly Public School People meeting Feb. 28, so mark your calendars if you're interested in learning about implementation of the Dallas Achieves initiative from one of the guys who knows it best. Arnie Viramontes' speech is titled "Busting the Bureaucracy", which would be quite a trick if he could pull it off. The meeting is 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce, 10707 Preston Road @ Royal (behind the bank buildings on the southwest corner). As always, come as you are and bring your lunch, if you want, and come loaded with questions.

Viramontes, if you recall, was drug behind the publicity bus for awhile after reports surfaced that his wife — also a DISD employee — would end up reporting to him indirectly after DISD's last admin office reshuffle. After some public complaining, DISD reversed course and reassigned Ms. Viramontes. I'm sure he'll have something to say about that at the meeting, too.

Two weeks and counting if you're a Studio Movie Grill fan

Studio Movie Grill opens Feb. 4 at Royal Lane and Central, bringing the company's successful format close to the neighborhood. Opening day features a number of first-run movies, including 27 Dresses, Cloverfield and The Bucket List. If you aren't familiar with how the place works, the main difference between a regular theater and the movie grill is that you receive food service at your seats, which are organized around small tables — it's similar to what the Granada offered years ago when Keith McKeague was running it (anyone know what McKeague is up to now?) The new Dallas location — the company's fifth in the area — is behind the McDonald's at Royal & Central in a strip center that seemingly has had a hard time getting going despite 10 or so years of seasoning.