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J.J. Barea Is Coming Back to the Mavs For Some Reason

Posted in Sports & Leisure Oct 29, 2014 at 4:36 pm Zac Crain

The fan favorite from the 2011 title team was bought out of his contract by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. Today he signed with the Mavs for the veteran’s minimum. The Mavs will release Gal Mekel to make room for the — hahahahahaha — 6-foot Barea. (I am 6 feet tall, and I am at least two but more like three inches taller than Barea, at least based on the time I stood next to him after practice). I’m a little concerned the team is starting to get a little The Expendables in its roster construction, but honestly this is not a huge deal, probably.

ANYWAY, now the Mavs may try to finally roll out the all-point guard lineup I’ve long advocated for. And, in that scenario, fingers-crossed, they’ll play Barea at center.

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Sam Wyly in More Hot Water Over Art Sales

Posted in Local News Oct 29, 2014 at 2:47 pm Peter Simek
'Trimming the Sails' by Montague Dawson, F.R.S.A., R.S.M.A. (British, 1895-1973)

Just eight days after filing for bankruptcy, former Billionaire Sam Wyly sold $320,000 worth of art at Christie’s auction house. His lawyer said the timing of the sale was inadvertent, but lawyers for the Security Exchange Commission, who successfully convicted the Dallas man for trading stocks held in offshore accounts for 13 years and reaping at least $550 million in illegal profits, say the sale of the art is evidence that Wyly is trying to liquidate his assets. The SEC filed a letter in federal court today calling for a freeze in Wyly’s assets. The namesake of Dallas’ Wyly Theater is on the hook to pay back the feds something in the $187.7 million range.

Joseph Guinto went in depth on the Wyly case back in 2013, and followed-up on the fallout from the trial back in May. Just last week, Wyly was making headlines again for trying to get a judge to loosen up his court-ordered budget of $10,000 per month. Of course, after hearing about the art sale, my first thought was, “What kind of art did Sam Wyly collect?”

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Does Your Dallas ZIP Code Speak for Itself?

Posted in Local News Oct 29, 2014 at 12:22 pm Ali Finney

We all probably think we’re familiar with the ZIP code 90210, but a new interactive map from Esri called ZIP Lookup lets you get a little closer to that famous ZIP and your own, should you be so inclined. The premise: ZIP Lookup culled all the big data that marketing companies use to target certain demographics to come up with 67 marketing identities that pinpoint us exactly somewhat well.

These maps include everything from where we shop for groceries to what computers we buy, giving us a little more info than the judgmental map of Dallas did earlier this summer. Here’s what Esri’s ZIP Lookup had to say about a few Dallas neighborhoods:

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Jan Gehl, The Guy Who Helped Make Copenhagen an Urbanism Poster Child, Will Speak in Dallas Next Spring

Posted in Local News, Transportation, Urbanism Oct 29, 2014 at 11:10 am Peter Simek

You may or may not have heard that this coming spring the Congress of New Urbanism is holding its 23rd annual conference right here in DFW. Today, the group announced their keynote speaker, Jan Gehl. Gehl is an architect, author, and urban design consultant noted for his influence in pioneering the so-called “human scale” movement, advocating for the rethinking of built environments that place priority on pedestrians and cyclists. A resident of Copenhagen, he has been instrumental in that city’s emergence as a model of walkability, and he has also worked on acclaimed projects in Manhattan, London, and Melbourne, including the  pedestrianization of Broadway.

Gehl’s 1971 book Life Between Buildings is considered a landmark in the field. For a taste of what he will bring to Dallas, check out this trailer for a film that explores themes and ideas contained in that book.

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D Magazine’s 40 Greatest Stories: Suburban Expedition

Posted in D Magazine's 40th Anniversary, Home & Garden, Local News Oct 29, 2014 at 8:00 am Jason Heid
Illustration by Ricky Ferrer

When reading John Bloom’s July 1987 story, “Misty Crest: On the Frontier of the New American Dream,” what struck me was how strange it was to have a neighborhood in southwest Arlington written up as a hot new development. A-Town seems like an aging former starlet past her prime, while everybody now goes gaga for her much-younger counterparts in Collin County.

Bloom pokes fun at the absurdity of navigating among subdivisions with “Glades” and “Glens,” “Villages” and “Creeks” in their names — regardless whether there are any actual glades or glens or villages or multiple creeks in the vicinity. At the time, one of the homes he ventured out to look at had an asking price of $96,850, about the median for Dallas-Fort Worth at the time. Twenty-seven years later, houses in the same neighborhood are going for somewhat more, but generally sticking pretty close to today’s median.

I asked Bloom what spurred him to write this piece, which we are honoring as one of the 40 greatest stories ever published in D Magazine. He responded:

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Leading Off (10/29/14)

Posted in Local News Oct 29, 2014 at 6:29 am Michael J. Mooney

Amber Vinson is Back. I feel like this part of the inevitable Ebola book(s) and movie(s) will be covered in a cheerful montage.

Two Convicted Killers Set Free. Stanley O. Mozee and Dennis Lee Allen were both serving life sentences for the 1999 murder of a pastor when their convictions were overturned due to what sounds a lot like some disturbing prosecutorial misconduct.

Mavs Lose Close Season Opener to Spurs. Ugh. With 1:37 left on the clock, Dallas was winning. Chandler Parsons missed a three-pointer as time expired. I’m sure Zac will be along later with a venn diagram or something that explains this game, and, if we’re lucky, the whole season. Or franchise. Or — oh! — maybe the history of the rivalry with the Spurs. He could definitely do something solid with that. It could turn into the kind of material mere mortals might confuse for the hilarious ramblings of a mad man. But yeah, anyway, rough start.

A Story That Will Make You Feel Emotions. If you’re into that sort of thing.

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Meet the Antigay Bully Arrested at DFW Airport in Last Week’s Viral Video

Posted in Crime Oct 28, 2014 at 4:36 pm Jason Heid

The man pictured above is identified on a police report as 27-year-old McCleish Christmas Benham. He is the man who was arrested for the assault depicted in the video that went viral on Friday, and who was not taken down by actor Paul Rudd.

Are you most surprised to learn that:

A) He was apparently drunk at the time of the incident.

or

B) His middle name is Christmas

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There Was No Debate About the Trinity Toll Road at the Stemmons Corridor Business Association Luncheon

Posted in controversy, Economy, Transportation, Urbanism Oct 28, 2014 at 9:16 am Peter Simek
A recent rendering of what the Trinity River Project will look like when the city hands out LSD to anyone who wanders underneath the Continental Bridge.

The stage was set: the Three Generals of the Trinity Toll Road — former City Manager Mary Suhm, former city council member Craig Holcomb, and North Central Texas Council of Governments transportation director Michael Morris — in the same room as a council member who rides bikes with Better Block’s Jason Roberts and the guy who launched the campaign to tear down I-345. And all five were going to have a moment on the mic — all in front of the rapt, gracious attention of an old-school Dallas business association. It sure felt like a potential moment.

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Poll: When Will Texas Have a Blue Governor?

Posted in Politics & Government Oct 28, 2014 at 9:00 am Jason Heid
Greg Abbott photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr, Wendy Davis photo: Al Garman/Flickr

Wendy Davis very likely will not be elected governor of Texas on November 4. Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate, leads significantly in most the polls. For all the hopes of Democrats of eventually turning our state blue, it’s not going to happen in 2014. So will the GOP ever lose its residency in the governor’s mansion?

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