Free Republic

John O’Connor’s The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster is a work of mourning. Bigfoot, as O’Connor, a journalism professor, illustrates, is thriving—if by “Bigfoot” we’re talking about the legend of Sasquatch and the communities that have sprung up to seek out the hairy, towering primate said to lurk in the depths of America’s few remaining old-growth forests. It’s that Bigfoot, the symbol, who, O’Connor argues, flourishes and does so because of how much we’ve lost. This Bigfoot is a black armband commemorating everything from the environmental devastation wrought on the continent to the dearth...

On May 7, voters who have twice elected Ms. Miller mayor will decide whether to approve Proposition 1, which rewrites vast sections of the city charter and grants her significant new powers effective in September. Laura Miller the "strong mayor" could hire and fire public employees, appoint most of the city's hundreds of board and commission members and draft the municipal budget – duties today controlled by Dallas' city manager or the council. And unlike the unelected city manager, whom the proposition would dismiss, a strong mayor would answer directly to Dallas residents instead of a horseshoe of council representatives....

The losing Cowboys are fixing to defect again, the police chief and city manager were shown the door, a 350-pound gorilla made his own grand exit, and the hometown daily, former employer of the ex-reporter now ensconced in City Hall, is pinning Pulitzer Prize hopes on a pitiless exposé of everything gone wrong. It has been that kind of year for Big D, Texas's second biggest - oops, third biggest - city; San Antonio gained a 6,000-person edge to slip in with just over 1.2 million, behind Dallas's longtime archrival, Houston. "You know, I didn't like it," said Mayor Laura...

School fight may wound Perry in '06 Thursday, May 20, 2004 In the recent 28-day special session called by Gov. Rick Perry, the only consensus was that no one liked the governor's plan — long on sin taxes and short on new money for schools. Even several Republican legislators marvel at how Perry has angered people and groups across the state. Some think the special session was just for show, and to set legislators up to take the blame for failure to revamp school finance and lower property taxes. The public is apparently cooling on the governor as well. In...

Miller wins; bond props pass easily 05/04/2003 By WALT ZWIRKO / Dallas Web Staff The first returns in Saturday's municipal election show Dallas Mayor Laura Miller leading in her re-election bid, while voters in the region's largest city also were deciding the fate of a wide-ranging, $555 million bond issue to upgrade city streets, improve parks and libraries and provide funding to the arts. Dallas voters also picked a new City Council and filled two contested positions on the school board. Ms. Miller had 61 percent of the vote, while her challenger, Councilwoman Mary Poss, trailed with 35 percent, based...

Close Window From dallasobserver.com Originally published by Dallas Observer Feb 06, 2003 ©2003 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved. Farm TeamsDallas officials weigh competing proposals for troubled Samuell FarmBY CHARLES SIDERIUS Peter Calvin Hugh Brooks has a plan for keeping the "farm" in Samuell Farm, if anyone is interested. Dallas park officials would probably prefer that you not read this article. You can't really blame them, though. You might not be interested in publicity either if you were talking about replacing most of a pastoral Dallas park with 40 soccer fields and 1,600 parking spaces--all of it belonging to...

Miller camp says Bush photos to move to noncampaign site Mayor: Intent wasn't to make it appear that president endorsed her 01/25/2003 By JIM FRY / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON - Even as White House officials Friday accused Iraq of "willful defiance" and the president declared homeland security efforts unfinished, a key adviser deep in the West Wing was worrying about another "crisis." The flap over White House photos on the Dallas mayor's Web site. It wasn't a "situation room" situation, but two of the president's closest confidants were involved. Mayor Laura Miller's campaign agreed Friday that it...

Pictures have RNC frowning Miller asked to remove Bush photos from Web site; Poss is critical 01/24/2003 By COLLEEN McCAIN NELSON / The Dallas Morning News Pictures of Laura Miller and President Bush pose a problem now that the Dallas mayor's race is under way, according to the Republican National Committee. Party officials have asked the mayor to "cease and desist" using photos that show the smiling president with Ms. Miller and her husband. The pictures, which are reproduced on Ms. Miller's campaign Web site, were snapped last year when she visited the Oval Office. Tom Josefiak, the RNC's...

Protections for gays, lesbians proposed Dallas ordinance would prohibit bias in jobs, housing, services Dallas Mayor Laura Miller is proposing an anti-discrimination ordinance that would offer gays and lesbians protection in hiring, housing and public accommodations such as hotels and restaurants. Ms. Miller said Saturday that the ordinance would go beyond the city's current protections against discrimination in its hiring and employment practices. Under the proposed ordinance, employers with more than 15 workers would not be allowed to hire, fire or in any other way discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation. Proprietors of hotels, theaters and other...