Craig Watkins on The View

My barber gave me the heads up that Dallas DA (and fellow customer) Craig Watkins was going to be on "The View" sometime soon. Thanks to Jennifer Emily of the DMN, I found out it was tomorrow.

We were talking about what's next for Craig. The only show left is Oprah.

There's always good info in the barbershop - some things never change.

The barbershop:

Where

happens

Craig Watkins on The View

New TV Ad - Enough is Enough

Check it out - let me know what you think.

New TV Ad - Enough is Enough

Join Me and Save Dallas! Mega Event - Is Dallas Ready?

If you haven't already heard, we are having a mega event to urge people to Vote NO and Save Dallas.

We expect 500+ people. BRING YOUR VOTER CARD OR LICENSE WITH YOU!

Vote No and Save Dallas!

When: Wednesday 4/29 – music starts at 4PM
City Hall Plaza
Akard and Young Street, at the fountain
Rally Location (Google Maps) http://tinyurl.com/saveourcitydallas

Add to your outlook calendar (link)

Many of you moved to Dallas and live here because of the opportunities available to you. You moved here because Dallas is a growing city.

Dallas has been losing everything of value to the suburbs.
*We lost the Cowboys to Arlington.
*Nokia Theatre is in Grand Prairie.
*The Texas Motor Speedway is in Fort Worth instead of on I-20 in Oak Cliff.
*Don’t you want to do things in Dallas?

More than $2.5 billion dollars of economic impact and $800 million in direct spending is waiting for us if we VOTE NO! One group is trying to prevent that from getting to Dallas.

If Dallas becomes less business-friendly, we lose. The economic future and opportunities of our generation depends on whether or not we VOTE NO!

We didn’t like the last Mayor because she shot down every project and now we have a Mayor with great ideas for a great city. We need to have his back!

** HOW IT AFFECTS YOU **
Dallas will be become a ghost town.
We won’t be able to bring back and build up South Dallas, Oak Cliff, Pleasant Grove, and West Dallas unless we VOTE NO!

No more places in Dallas like West Village, Mockingbird Station, and Uptown.

If Dallas can’t bring big events to downtown, finance economic development, and recruit companies, this city will dry up! The more we lose, the more jobs leave Dallas, and the less opportunity you have to succeed. That’s not why you came to Dallas!

** HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO **
The haters have more money but we have more people!

If you want Dallas to continue to grow, you need to come to our rally on Wednesday April 29th in front of City Hall.

Music starts at 4PM and the speakers start at 5:30–guest speakers include Veronica Torres - Chair for the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber Young Professionals group, Michael Davis of Dallas Progress blog, Ron King of PartyChaser.com/Trinary Media, and others.

Are you going to let one group stand in the way of YOUR future?

Come hang out with your friends and learn why we must fight for our city.


** IMPORTANT LINKS **
Early Voting: April 27, 2009 - May 5, 2009
http://www.dalcoelections.org/may92009/EARLYVOTINGLocations.html

Election Day: Saturday May 9th.

Check your voter registration by name or address
http://www.dalcoelections.org/voters.asp

Demonstration of Touch Screen Voting Machine (Flash player required)
http://www.essvote.com/flash/demo.html

Services Available to Voters with Special Needs in Texas
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/services.shtml

State of Texas Early Voting Rules
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/earlyvote.shtml

Google Map of All Dallas Early Voting Locations
http://tinyurl.com/alldallasearlyvotingspots

Join Me and Save Dallas! Mega Event - Is Dallas Ready?

Early Voting Starts Today

Here's all you need to find a place to vote. Election Day is Saturday May 9th, but early voting is in full effect. Don't forget to Vote No on Prop 1 and 2, and to vote for your city councilperson.

Early Voting: April 27, 2009 - May 5, 2009
http://www.dalcoelections.org/may92009/EARLYVOTINGLocations.html

Election Day: Saturday May 9th.

Check your voter registration by name or address
http://www.dalcoelections.org/voters.asp

Demonstration of Touch Screen Voting Machine (Flash player required)
http://www.essvote.com/flash/demo.html

Services Available to Voters with Special Needs in Texas
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/services.shtml

State of Texas Early Voting Rules
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/pamphlets/earlyvote.shtml

Google Map of All Dallas Early Voting Locations
http://tinyurl.com/alldallasearlyvotingspots

Early Voting Starts Today

FREE Dallas Women's Heart Health Fair on Saturday!

On Satruday, there will be a FREE Dallas Women's Heart Health Fair on Saturday, April 25 from 9AM - 4PM at Fair Park (Automobile Building)

The Sister to Sister Foundation will be offering free screenings – cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, BMI, etc. – with free on-the-spot counseling by a medical professional, plus cooking and fitness demos, educational seminars, exhibit booths, tons of prizes and more. Even parking is free. See attached pics for details.

Baylor is prepared to offer 1,500 FREE comprehensive screenings (that’s huge – and this lab work would typically cost $100 or more at your doctor’s office).

Heart disease is the #1 killer of all women (more than the next six cancers combined!).

Bring a loved one to this great community event!

FREE Dallas Women's Heart Health Fair on Saturday!

EXCLUSIVE: Hotel Showdown Debate

You heard it here first:

On Sunday April 26th, there will be a Convention Center Hotel debate at Friendship-West Baptist Church. It will feature members of the Dallas City Council and the Mayor on one side and hopefully the other side will show up.

Be there - this is last major debate in southern Dallas that is solely focused on the issue of the Convention Center Hotel.

Friendship-West Baptist Church
2020 W. Wheatland Rd.
Dallas, Texas 75232 (map)

Sunday, April 26th
2PM - 4PM

UPDATE: Gromer Jeffers of the Dallas Morning News will be the moderator.

EXCLUSIVE: Hotel Showdown Debate

This is Our City-Vote NO!

From RIP Dallas. This is our city!

This is Our City-Vote NO!

Young Motivated Professionals vs. Internet E-thugs

Some of the stupid comments and blog posts that are out there imply that if you work for are related to someone well-known you can't be a part of a grassroots or organized movement. I guess I should just be happy with my board seat and going to the club and never speak out, and the people that started RIP Dallas should do the same.

If people in our positions sit idly by and never vote and never say anything, we're branded as do-nothings and typical generation (x/y/millennials/fill in the blank). When we do get together for good, the haters want to do a bunch of ridiculous attacks on the character of individuals that are part of this movement.

Some people feel that the "Grim" character was over the top. Well, that's their problem.

Let's get to the real deal; there are a whole host of internet-based e-thugs who have never volunteered a minute of their lives.
Newsflash: If you're on a board at City Hall, you're a volunteer. A lot of the people involved volunteer and donate time and resources to many organizations. Who do you think spends their time trying to make this a better city? If any of the e-thugs have the guts to go down to City Hall, sign up for time, and let their opinions be known. All it takes is a quick call to the City Secretary's Office. One catch: you have to use your real name. That’s the same thing done by the people who spoke on behalf of RIP Dallas.

Does Crow Holdings have young people willing to take a stand? Still looking and waiting. RIP Dallas was 200+ deep at City Hall this morning. City Hall was at capacity, and dozens of us were in the Flag Room.

This is not some phony group; we come from all corners of the city. We volunteer, and we eat drink and spend money in the city of Dallas. We are hundreds deep and with our friends thousands deep.
Whether you all like the signs or not, these are young professionals that organized themselves to participate in the process. We vote, and our friends vote. Hate that.

Young Motivated Professionals vs. Internet E-thugs

Enough is Enough

This is a new ad from the group Enough is Enough, a group organized to support voting against Prop 1 & Prop 2. There was a big press conference today kicking off their support of the Convention Center Hotel.

I think the ad is pretty cool...here's the website.

Enough is Enough

Economic Recovery Workshop is Monday!

By now, you have heard about Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson's Roadmap to Recovery workshop.

“The Roadmap to Recovery” workshop will help North Texans access economic
recovery funding. The workshop is designed to bring together representatives of financial organizations and federal and state agencies, who will share information on ways for North Texans to access economic recovery funding.

Three panels of agency representatives will be followed by a question-and-answer session. I will be moderating one of the panels.


Date: Monday, April 20, 2009

Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location: The Music Hall at Fair Park
909 1st Ave.
Dallas, TX 75210 (map)

Agencies that have confirmed that they will be represented include:

Internal Revenue Service
Taxpayer Advocate Service
Texas Department of Transportation
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. General Services Administration
U.S. Small Business Administration
U.S. Social Security Administration

Financial organizations that are sending representatives include Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas and the Dallas Small Business Development Center. John Podvin, an attorney at Haynes and Boone, LLP, will speak about the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and newly-created Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP).

To RSVP for the workshop:

please call Congresswoman Johnson’s office in Dallas at (214) 922-8885 or e-mail recovery.ebjohnson@mail.house.gov.

To submit a question to the panelists:

e-mail recovery.ebjohnson@mail.house.gov, specifying which agency or financial organization to which the question is directed.

Economic Recovery Workshop is Monday!

Accountability not Required

Do the anti-hotel people really think that the funder of the Prop 1 referendum should not be accountable for talking with the people?

Check out this clip from Channel 8's Inside Politics and see for yourself:



Learn the truth about the hotel issue at Vote No Dallas.

Accountability not Required

Mercantile Place Grand Opening

Tonight, I got to attend the official grand opening for the Mercantile Place.

Mercantile Place actually consists of three buildings: Wilson Place, The Merc, and Element. The opening was for The Merc and Element.

The Element is a brand-new building, and the Merc is the fully restored and updated Mercantile National Bank Building. The Merc was once the largest building west of the Mississippi River for some time. This is the building with the multicolored spire which was recently lit for the first time in years.

I found our tour guide to be extremely knowledgeable of the history of The Merc. I had to leave before I got to check out the Merc's vault, but I did get to see some amazing spaces.

I focused more on the views than on the inside of units. I will tell you that the finishes were top-notch (marble, granite, the works), and units featured Viking stoves and Bosch washers and dryers in each unit. The pictures here include the last penthouse in the Merc building which was recently leased. The cost: $6,300 per month. Rent for other units start from $1,299, which is reasonable for downtown in any city.

Check out the pics.

Mercantile Place Grand Opening

Comparing Saint Louis to Dallas?

A lot of the opponents of the hotel keep saying that the Dallas convention center hotel will fail, and they compare Dallas to St. Louis.

Nobody that reads this blog is dumb enough to believe that St. Louis is comparable to Dallas.

Since a lot of the opponents like stats, let's look at stats from the US Census:

Population Saint Louis: 347,181
Population St. Louis MSA, MO/IL: 2,808,611
*note that St Louis includes both the Missouri and Illinois sides

Population Dallas: 1,232,940
Population Dallas MSA: 4,226,003 (excluding Ft Worth and Arlington)
Population Dallas-Fort Worth MSA: 6,300,006

2007-2008
Population growth of St. Louis Mo/IL metro: 11,245
Population growth of DFW metro: 146,532

So our population growth number is 13 times that of St Louis metro, and we're twice as large on a metro basis and 3.5 times bigger on a city to city comparison.

We haven't begin to compare other factors like the strength of the economy, weather, etc.

Look at the metro stats for yourselves (link), and ask yourself: how are they comparable again?

Comparing Saint Louis to Dallas?

Baseball Icon Passes Away

Anybody that likes baseball knows the name Harry Kalas. In addition to doing play-by-play and commentary

Yesterday, Harry passed away doing what he loved - being in the booth, getting ready to call a game.

For me, I spent many nights as a kid holding my trusty little AM radio listening to Kalas call Phillies games...way past my bedtime. He also was the voice behind a lot of NFL films clips.

My two favorite Kalas calls of all time:

Phillies win 2008 World Series





Mike Schmidt hits 500 home run (0:48)



ESPN's take on Harry Kalas.

Baseball Icon Passes Away

Newspaper Attacks Local Black Churches

The Dallas Observer is at it once again with their attempts to attack the Black church under the guise of journalism. They have now taken it an extra step, which is to call the IRS and try to ask "questions" that will put the churches in hot water with respect to their tax exempt status.

Whenever a church tries to speak about an important political or social issue, you always have termites crawling out of the woodwork; these kinds of people try to make a big deal about it. So I guess if you disagree with someone's views, and you don't personally value the concept of church, it's OK to demonize them however you see fit. This time, it's centered around the issue of the Convention Center Hotel.

A lot of people have been wondering who are the writers that are running around stirring up animosity against Black churches in Dallas. The main person stirring up the IRS angle is with the Dallas Observer and his name is Sam Merten (pictures below):



He is the main writer that you will see running around with the Vote Yes crowd.

Again, if you see this person in your church he may attempt to report them to the IRS.

The churches that Merten has called the IRS in an attempt to ask "questions" are two of our most prominent in DFW: Concord Missionary Baptist Church and Highland Hills United Methodist Church. The Observer has also written about Friendship West Baptist Church and others in the past. Nine times out of ten, it's in a negative light.

What you are seeing is the level that this so-called paper will stoop to for political victory. They have been writing articles and posts like this for some time.

I also believe that it is an attempt to scare other Black churches into falling in line during the future.

For the record, the anti-hotel group spoke at Concord four months ago. They knew that the Vote No crowd would not be there, but went ahead and spoke anyway. Sounds like they both had an opportunity to me.

For decades, newspapers and other media have constantly attempted to intimidate Black Churches. The Black Church will remain unbroken and unbowed; yet it's good to know whom your enemies are.

Newspaper Attacks Local Black Churches

Arrest in Chané Waldron Case!!

As you may have heard, there has been an arrest in the murder of Jessica Chané Waldron.

The low bail is very troubling to me but all we can do is leave it up to God and the justice system.

Lt. Craig Miller of DPD and head of the homicide unit, couldn't have said it better.

“It’s just a tragic loss of a life and so much potential.”

I can't thank the Dallas Police Department enough, and to the person that gave the tip...a whole lot of people are grateful to you.

Arrest in Chané Waldron Case!!

Last Day to Register to Vote!

Today is the last day to register to vote in the upcoming May election.

On Dwaine's site, there are several links with respect to the upcoming election. While you're there, check out the 20-point plan and achievements during his first term.

Last Day to Register to Vote!

The First Ads from Vote No! aka Build the Hotel

We have ads too! And they feature people that live in Dallas!

It's on! And the case will be made over the next 31 days as to why you should vote no on Propositions 1 and 2. Link to Vote NO - Keep Dallas working!

Here's the ad:

The First Ads from Vote No! aka Build the Hotel

Brint Ryan Donates $1 Million to UNT-Dallas!

UNT alum and philanthropist Brint Ryan has donated $1 million to the University of North Texas-Dallas. This makes Brint the first member of the UNT Dallas Founders Circle.

Brint Ryan is the founder of Ryan & Company, a large tax services firm based in Dallas. Brint is also a Dallas City Council candidate for District 13, which includes Preston Hollow and parts of Northwest Dallas.

According to the press release, UNT-Dallas president-designate Dr. John Ellis Price said the gift is the largest from a private individual in the nine-year history of the Campus.

Brint realizes that in order for colleges to thrive they need resources, and that education is a vital requirement for the success of Dallas' youth. He made a similar donation to the UNT's main campus a few years back.

To me, this is very important. It shows that people north of the Trinity are equally interested in the success of colleges in southern Dallas.

Kudos to Brint for his generous contribution! We need more people to step up in the same fashion.

Brint Ryan Donates $1 Million to UNT-Dallas!

Jessica Chané Waldron: 1/27/85 - 3/29/09

As you know, the memorial for Chané Waldron took place last Friday.

After the memorial was over, a lot of us stayed at the church for close to an hour. I talked to family and friends that have concerns about everything from patrols to the lack of coverage about this case, as well as the broader issue of security in Downtown Dallas.

There are a few plans underway to increase the reward money beyond what is out there now. Over 8,000 people read the posts last week; I hope someone who read comes forward with whatever info that they have.

I hope this shines a light on the issues that are still apparent in Dallas.

I have also taken note of those that have shown zero interest in this crime, and I may address it in the future. This is not the time.

I appreciate the work being done by Dallas Police to solve this case. The best way to honor the life of this young woman is to bring the killers to justice and make downtown a safer place. Thank you to her family for allowing me the opportunity to speak and share in this time of grief. We aren't giving up.

Jessica Chané Waldron: 1/27/85 - 3/29/09

Chané Waldron - Upcoming Memorials

Candlelight Vigil
Thursday April 2nd
9PM
Southern Methodist University - Laura Lee Blanton Building

6185 Airline Rd (map)
(there have been different e-mails out there but I can confirm the vigil is still on)

Memorial
Friday April 3rd
10 AM
St. Luke United Methodist Church
5710 E R L Thornton Fwy (map)
Dallas, TX 75223

Chané Waldron - Upcoming Memorials