News
Drolen Rollin’ Out of TV?
STATICStatic’s favorite local morning news show took another hit recently. CBS-11 This Morning typically lags behind Channels 4, 5, and 8 in the ratings, and the on-air personalities tend to come across like people with nothing to ...
Monitoring Truancy
Some advocates think Texas’ treatment of tardy students is a crime.PETER GORMAN
Last spring at a truancy court appearance in front of Johnson County Justice of the Peace Pat Jacobs, a 17-year-old high school student who routinely skipped her last class of the day was ordered to wear an ankle monitor to con...
Trail Trouble in River City
KEN WHEATCROFT-PARDUEWhile I haven’t covered all 40 miles of Fort Worth’s Trinity Trails, I’ve biked the lion’s share of that meandering ribbon. My all-time favorite ride is crossing the river from east to west via the low-water dam near 4t...
Worth Questioning
Arlington Heights residents want more answers about the Bass-backed arena.ERIC GRIFFEY
Mayor Betsy Price is on television a lot these days. She stars in a commercial pushing three ballot proposals for funding a multi-purpose arena planned for the Cultural District. She even has a memorable catchphrase, touting th...
Ducking the Questions
Republicans turn shy over debates and editorial board meetings.DAVE MCNEELY
It’s not all that unusual for front-runners in political contests to duck debates. That’s part of political gamesmanship. The front-runner may want to avoid giving opponents an opportunity to raise questions he or she might...
Grading on the Curve
STATICTransCanada, the Canadian builder and owner of some of the worst pipelines in both Canada and this country, including the Keystone pipeline network that would transport tar sands bitumen, has been lauded for its “leadership�...
Sow, Reap
Chesapeake and Range Resources are fighting legal challenges in other states.PETER GORMAN
Chesapeake Energy and Range Resources, two major gas drillers that pretty much packed up and left Tarrant County once the Barnett Shale’s best days were gone, are in hot water in other parts of the country. Chesapeake faces c...
Down to the Wire
The Wendy Davis-Gregg Abbott race hasn’t been pretty, but this is Texas.ERIC GRIFFEY AND JEFF PRINCE
Winning the Republican primary in the Texas governor’s race these days is almost like being handed the keys to the mansion. Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the top office since 1991. Since then, Republican governors Geor...
Scared/Silly
A local gun rights group says it carries loaded semi-automatic rifles in public to show it’s ludicrous. Others agree with the ludicrous part.CHRISTIAN MCPHATE
In a Home Depot parking lot near AT&T Stadium in Arlington, a small group of people, mostly in their mid- to late 20s, stand by pickup trucks filled with flags. It’s a Saturday afternoon in late September, and they’re g...
How Many Times?
STATICJust a few weeks ago, Static was lamenting that Corrections Corporation of America, the largest private prison outfit in the U.S., probably would get the contract to run a new 2,400-bed family immigration detention center to be...