FrontBurner

Read Cynthia Martinez’s side of the story here. Spoiler Alert: she moved to the Park Cities for the schools.

Don Carty, the ex-AMR CEO who’s now chairman of Virgin America, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson, says he’s “confident” the feds will OK a new investment group for the discount airline. Approval is important for Virgin, which targets business travelers, because it’s been dogged by controversy since two big U.S. hedge funds sold their 76 percent stake in the airline earlier this year. Virgin rivals say that means the California-based carrier is really controlled by Branson’s Virgin Group Ltd., which would be a violation of rules against foreign ownership of domestic airlines. So, is there a timetable for the U.S. Transportation Department to OK Virgin’s new shareholders? “God only knows,” Carty (pictured) joked last night, hosting a party for a local nonprofit at his home in Dallas. DOT’s plate is “pretty full” right now, he added, including with a pending decision on the American Airlines/British Airways alliance.

1. Michael Irvin was caught on cellphone video having sex in a bathroom at Cowboys Stadium. Or it was a guy wearing an Irvin jersey. Hard to tell. And if you’re offended by such material, you simply need not follow that link. But you’re going to follow that link, aren’t you?

2. Listen, you guys can rename me César ChÃ¥vez (hard to get those accents right). But can we just get over this already? I’m sick of hearing every month of another plan to name another road after the guy.

3. Remember yesterday when we told you that there’d been a rash of cheese overdoses at Parkland? We perhaps now know why. A grandmother in Rowlett has pled guilty to selling the stuff out of her home. According to the News, cops found eight guns, at least 9 ounces of heroin, and more than 3,000 capsules containing cheese. And the feds are want to seize her four cars: a 1978 Rolls-Royce, a Mercedes-Benz, a Jaguar, and a Cadillac Escalade.

An alert FBvian saw that $575 million figure and thought it was high. He did some research — and sure enough, it is. He contacted Editor & Publisher, which has run a correction: “In fact, as of December 31, 2008, A.H. Belo said it had accrued $17.096 million for future contributions to future pension payments, which it estimated could range from between $17.1 million and $91 million.”

And Generation Y will save us.

Holding his own generation at fault, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher told a gathering of Texas Christian University alumni this morning at Northwood Country Club in Dallas that the Baby Boomers are “one of the most selfish generations. We wasted our children’s future.” He said it is disgraceful that the Boomers allowed Medicare and Social Security’s unfunded future obligations to reach their present level — about $104 trillion.

But he has confidence that his children’s generation has learned that it will have to save more, that it will have to find a better balance between consumption and savings, than did the Boomers. The Facebook-addicted, self-absorbed, ‘shower-me-with-praise,’ texting-obsessed Millennials? Really? (He may be right.)

As for our current economic state, Fisher reiterated that he is cautiously optimistic, with “stress on the word ‘caution,’” especially considering that “consumption and credit [are] on a slow crawl out of Purgatory.”

1. Cowboys win! Cowboys win! But let’s be honest: should anyone be all that excited when the quarterback of the team the Cowboys just beat — and not exactly decisively — is this guy?

2. I’m not positive who to be angry at when an unlicensed SUV driver plows into a daycare van packed to the gills with 20 kids, driven by another unlicensed driver. As I tend to do, I’m going to play it safe and be angry at everyone. Except the kids.

3. If you live in a house that is a constant source of police attention, often because neighbors hear gunfire, it is a bad idea to angrily point anything at officers who are drawing down on you, even if it is only a cellphone. You will die.

During the recent discussion about the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, his last profanity-laced words were discussed in our comments. So when I saw this article about Texas making the last words of Death Row inmates publicly available, I was hoping I could see for myself what he said.

But Willingham’s statement has the last bit omitted, due to that very profanity. Reading quickly over a number of the statements on the list of executed offenders, the first thing to hit me is the truth of the old saying: There are no atheists in foxholes.

UPDATE: I neglected to mention that the Texas Forensic Science Commission will review Willingham’s case on Friday, for all the good it will do him.

Another Monday, another big Dallas info-outsourcing company is snapped up in a multibillion-dollar deal. This time, Affiliated Computer Services is going to Xerox for $6.4 billion. The acquisition is part of a consolidation trend in the industry–and yet another sign of business confidence in an improving economy.

1. People looking to save a lot of money and time should probably think twice about jumping on the Green Line to Fair Park. The ride costs $4, and it takes longer than you might think. Of course, those folks who really don’t have a dime –or a minute–to spare probably have no business going to the Fair anyway.

2. Sloan Creek Middle School is closed today because more than 250 kids were absent on Friday. Officials believe most of those had the flu. That amounts to one in three kids enrolled in the school. I know we’re all going to be fine and all, but I have had a “cold” I haven’t been able to kick for about two weeks, and I can’t get ideas of The Stand out of my head. Darn you, Stephen King.

3. Attempted bombing suspect Hosam Smadi’s s old roommate from Italy, Texas, made his television debut last night. Joshua Childress wasn’t what I expected, and I’m not even sure what the purpose of his appearance was. Obviously, he wasn’t able to shed any light on a situation that all but defies explanation. But, heck, he wasn’t even able to remove his silly hat during the interview.

It was a pretty big deal yesterday when the fifth-generation Toyota 4Runner had its worldwide debut at the State Fair of Texas. In an era of hybrids and Smart Cars, the 4Runner (pictured) is one of the last truly rugged off-road SUVs. Toyota General Manager Robert Carter, in town for the unveiling, said momentum in the vehicle business has picked back up again, with the U.S. market set for about 10.5 million sales this year and 11.5 million in 2010. Toyota itself should exceed its sales targets this year and next, he added, and, even though gas prices have come down, “people are buying vehicles as if it’s $4 a gallon–and they’re intending to drive them for five to seven years.” Starting price for the 2010 4Runner, by the way, is less than for the ’09–roughly 28 big ones.