Investigations

Jason Harrison's Father Sues Dallas and the Police Officers Who Killed His Son

David Harrison, who's mentally ill son Jason Harrison died at the hands of Dallas police in June, filed a lawsuit on Friday claiming two officers used excessive force when they shot his son six times within minutes of arriving at the son's home on Glencairn Drive. Linda Turley, David Harrison's la ... More >>

Dallas County Health Director Disputes Misuse of AIDS Funds, Calls Media "Racist"

Dallas County Health Director Zachary Thompson gathered the media on Monday to address reports, from Unfair Park and others, that there was a federal investigation into the department's use of funding designed to treat people with HIV. To be clear, Dallas County Health Department Director Zach Thomp ... More >>

The Feds Will Investigate Dallas County's Use of AIDS Funds, Even If the County Won't Admit It

The Dallas County Health and Human Services Department has had a rough week. First, the state cracked down on the department for allegedly falsifying county STI records. The manager of HIV-STI division, Lashonda Worthey, has been fired, and the Texas Department of State Health Services is set to lau ... More >>

The Feds' Investigation Into Garland ISD's Visa Problems Could Cost the District Serious Cash

The outcome of the federal investigation into Garland ISD's H1-B program, which recruited dozens of bilingual teachers from foreign countries and is now sending many of them back, is uncertain. But if past federal H1-B cases involving school districts are any indication, it could cost the district. ... More >>

Dallas Drops Charges Against Uber Drivers

All those brave, lonely nights in the back of an Uber car, acting like just another kid who needed a ride, all of those limo violations, all of that pretending: It was all a waste. Dallas is dismissing all the citations police had filed against Uber drivers. Uber's attorney Joel Reese got the new ... More >>

Dallas Cops Shot a Schizophrenic Man in Rylie, But It Didn't Go Down Quite Like They Said

In initial reports, Dallas police said they had good reason to open fire on Bobby Gerald Bennett. The 52-year-old schizophrenic had been acting erratically, reportedly saying he wanted to be shot by police. When they arrived at his cul-de-sac in the Rylie neighborhood of far southwest Dallas just a ... More >>

A Fracking Truck Driver Who Ran Over a 14-Year-Old Boy in Fort Worth Has Been Cleared of Wrongdoing

Two days after 14-year-old Deston Bibbs was killed in a hit-and-run motorist as he crossed Sycamore Street Road at 9:20 p.m. on the night of April 25, his mother went to the media with a heartfelt plea. "Just turn yourself in already," DeShundria Parks

"I Was Skinny and Had Low Self-Esteem" -- Suspended Arlington Cop Admits to Previous Steroid Use

Officer Craig Hermans hasn't been arrested or charged in the federal investigation into an alleged steroid ring at the Arlington Police Department that's already led to the indictment of one colleague and the suicide of another. But he was questioned in connection with the investigation and remains ... More >>

Craig Watkins Thumbs Nose at a Court Order, Unveils New Theory of White People Law

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins started out with one question to answer. Now that he has defied a subpoena, he's got at least a couple more. Last week Watkins was ordered to appear in the court of state District Judge Lena Levario to answer an accusation that he brought criminal charg ... More >>

Isabella, This Four-Month-Old Boxer Mix, Was Skinned Alive in Southwest Dallas

Update at 4:59 p.m.: An initial investigation by Dallas Animal Services indicates the dog's injuries likely came from a "non-human predator," according to NBC 5. Original post:DFW Rescue Me is the organization that tried to save Justice, the four-month-old lab terrier found in Pleasant Grove, cover ... More >>

In the Race for District 33, the Bank of Domingo is Open (but Not for Kathy Nealy)

It costs north of a million bucks to win a U.S. House seat these days. Winning District 33, the new DFW block carved out of the totally riveting and not at all arcane redistricting process, should cost considerably less, thanks to a shortened primary and probably noncompetitive general. Still: It wi ... More >>

DPD Chief Brown Fires Stormy Magiera, A Dallas Police Officer Who Lived Up to Her Name

Stormy Magiera, no longer a Dallas officer​In the end, the posting to the Dallas Police Department's Facebook page, made moments ago, probably comes as no surprise. But as of today, Stormy Magiera is no longer a Dallas Police officer. The announcement comes days after the officer, decorated by Chi ... More >>

As Brinker Tries to Explain Komen's Split From Planned Parenthood, an Inside Account

As you know by now, locally based Susan G. Komen for the Cure has cut off its funding to Planned Parenthood, meaning it'll no longer help pay for mammograms for women who can't afford them; why, there's Nancy Brinker herself above, attempting to explain Komen's "new granting strategies" concerning i ... More >>

DPD Chief Puts Officer Who Shoved Protester on Restricted Duty, Opens Investigation

From the video of Stephen Benavides being shoved off a sidewalk planter last Saturday​This morning, Brantley spoke with ​Stephen Benavides, the protester who spent several days in jail on charges that he assaulted a police officer and resisted arrest. We also posted that video now making the ro ... More >>

Chambers of Secrets: Lunacy and Paranoia Reach Fever Pitch at Dallas County. Again.

​We're all innocent until proven guilty. The police can investigate hell out of somebody, and that person may turn out to be pure as the driven snow. But there's another reality in the world having to do with an old cop saying: "Crime makes you stupid." Frankly, the behavior of Dallas County J ... More >>

Occupy Dallas Addresses Need to Keep a Clean, Safe Camp Amidst Sexual Assault Allegations

Photo by Anna MerlanOccupy Dallas protestors outside Lew Sterrett yesterday following the arrest of 23 at a downtown Chase bank branch​Several news outlets have reported in recent days that the Dallas Police Department is investigating the possible sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl at the Occup ... More >>

The John Wiley Price Investigation: Setting the Record Straight In More Ways Than One

​I need to correct an error and an omission. Yesterday I posted an item identifying the lawyer who defended Dallas County Judge Jim Foster from an intimidation attempt by Commissioner John Wiley Price as Ken Barr. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ken Barr is a former mayor of Fort Worth and member of the ... More >>

BREAKING NEWS: Former Richardson Berkner High School Star and Standout NFL Cornerback Aqib Talib Involved in Garland Shooting

Aqib Talib​And you thought Dez Bryant getting booted from the mall was trouble? After a March 21 altercation involving his sister, his mother, his sister's boyfriend, two guns and at least five shots fired, former local high school football star and Tampa Bay Buccaneers' cornerback  ... More >>

As Feds Reveal Results From Operation Broken Trust, a Look at the Local Greatest Hits

​This morning in D.C., Attorney General Eric Holder met with the media to discuss Operation Broken Trust, a wide-ranging crime-bustin' effort conducted by an alphabet soup's worth of agencies intended to "protect American investors, to ensure the strength of our markets, and to prevent financial f ... More >>

Dallas PD: Sexual Assault Cold Cases Will Be Reopened Only With Victims' Involvement

​Victims of unsolved sexual assaults committed prior to 1996 will now need to contact the Dallas Police Department should they wish for DNA analysis to be conducted in hopes of identifying their attackers. In a press release sent out today in advance of an afternoon press conference with Deputy Ch ... More >>

Award-Winning Animals

Craig Watkins Just Can't Seem to Please Anybody.

Evan Smith Puts Craig Watkins on Witness Stand, or: The Entirety of Yesterday's Interview

TribLive featuring Dallas DA Craig Watkins from texastribune on Vimeo.Whilst browsing the Vimeo moments ago, I came across the entirety of Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Evan Smith's chat with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins yesterday at the Austin Club. It was just posted. We posted a ... More >>

Be Careful What You Ask: Judge Foster Spills the Beans About an Alleged FBI Investigation of John Wiley Price and the Inland Port

In a sworn deposition filed in Dallas today, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster is quoted saying he has spoken with the FBI "on many occasions" concerning an ongoing FBI investigation of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and the southern Dallas "inland port" project. Reached for comment this ... More >>

Running up That Hill for the Last Time (sniff)

Since it doesn't appear we'll have further need for this tremendous photo, here it is one last time. Stay strong, Don Hill. You are still No. 1 -- by which we mean, No. 3 -- in our book. Here's the first official statement from Don Hill, who -- with 570 out of 577 precincts now reporting in -- will ... More >>

Tracy Rowlett's Tired of the FBI Investigation at City Hall

Don Hill Has "Courage." So, Thanks, FBI!

Low on dough, Don Hill's finally talking about that danged ol' FBI investigation. Yeah, right -- what FBI investigation? Well, he brought it up. This afternoon, at a mayoral forum hosted by the Stemmons Corridor Business Association, Don Hill mentioned that he has been the subject of an FBI investig ... More >>

Mayor Names New DHA Board Chair. Fascinating.

The mayor today named Betty Culbreath as the next chair of the Dallas Housing Authority board. S'gonna be fun. Just got a call from Mayor Laura Miller, who says she has appointed a new chairperson to the Dallas Housing Authority board. And it's none other than Mayor Laura fave Betty Culbreath, who's ... More >>

A Culbreath of Fresh Air, Vanished

You know what's odd? Yesterday, we linked to City Plan Commission chair Betty Culbreath's blog, where she wrote on Wednesday about the possible reasons behind the Dallas Housing Authority's decision to get rid of CEO Ann Lott. In her post, Culbreath wrote that she knows "for a fact a Professional pl ... More >>

Re: DHA Has a Lott of Nerve

Betty Culbreath, chair of the City Plan Commission, seconds the emotion that Ann Lott's ouster as Dallas Housing Authority CEO has something to do with the city's wanting to sell Little Mexico to a private developer. (Michael Davis at DallasProgress pointed us in Culbreath's direction.) Indeed, she ... More >>

Dallas: Broken. Fixed. Broken. Rinse. Repeat.

In the brand-new issue of Governing magazine, which is published by Congressional Quarterly, there's a 3,000-word piece that asks, "Can Dallas Govern Itself?" Hard to imagine it takes 3,000 words to say "no," but we read on anyway and found a few things to share--not the least of which is the third- ... More >>

The Big Thaw

Collin County's cold case squad empties its file of unsolved murders

Leading man

Don Hill could be a contender

The Pyramid Crumbles

Last week we detailed the sketchy claims Irving-Based BioPerformance made about its "non-toxic, non-flammable" miracle fuel pill made out of toxic, flammable mothballs. We also examined the company's shady marketing tactics that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott decided violated the state's weak an ... More >>

Tick-tock

Waiting for Fed-o

Firewall

Yesterday, Dallas Fire Rescue released the findings of an investigation into cheating at the training academy that raises more questions than answers, while simultanously serving as a treatment for a movie best described as "Crash meets Backdraft ." First, some background: In October, trainee Desmon ... More >>

A Real Double Feature

The only thing better than attending the opening of the AMC NorthPark 15 last night would have been running into Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and D'Angelo Lee, former member of the Dallas City Plan Commission--you remember, the two men who essentially kicked off the FBI investigation at City Hall. (I know ... More >>

Credit Risks

As we explained earlier this year, the FBI investigation into bribery at City Hall and beyond had everything to do with how affordable housing developers needed to garner political support at all levels before they could receive millions of dollars in tax credits from the state. With elected officia ... More >>

Paper Trails

Morning News waits and waits to acknowledge CBS-11's scoop of an ethically challenged state rep

True truisms

Hanging with a bad crowd

Feelin' groovy

...and ineffectual

Clueless

No one knows who murdered Brent Gutheinz. Thanks to a sloppy investigation, it's likely no one ever will.

Investigating the Investigation

Bolton must have his terms confused

O.J. Confidential

High-profile P.I. Bill Dear believes he knows who killed Nicole Simpson. It's not who you think.

Wading in

The FBI looks into DFW's pollution woes

Lack of confidence

Highland Park officers would like to get rid of their chief, if they could only figure out how

Letters

Dallas Confidential

The Texas Troubadour's Fatal Rendezvous and other amazing stories from the police department's cold case squad

Reader beware

Combatants in DISD's political battles play spin-the-media

BeloWatch