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As Jason indicated today in Leading Off, the DMN ran a story about former Trammell Crow CEO Don Williams taking country clubbers to the woodshed for not doing more to develop South Dallas. One thing the paper neglected to report, however, was when Williams blasted the idea of city of Dallas funds going to pay for the proposed Trinity Forest Golf Course. (Probably just wasn’t enough room to get that part in there.) The Dallas City Council has scheduled a final vote on the golf-course proposal next month.

D: The Broadcast,  9 a.m.
Hosted by Lisa Pineiro, Pat Smith, Suzie Humphreys and Courtney Kerr

• Christine Allison, president of D Magazine, talks about The Big Read Dallas, a monthlong literacy program that has the city coming together to read one book in April
• The Weekend Insider
• 10-year-old singing sensation Griffin Tucker

D Living , 10 a.m.
Hosted by Hilary Kennedy and Kimberly Whitman

• Christine Allison talks about encouraging the city to read — and talk
  about — Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451
• Gourmet cotton candy spinning with Fluff Pop
• Create an Easter tablescape

Click to watch D-TV live
Live streaming D: The Broadcast from 9 to 10 a.m. and D Living from 10 to 11 a.m.

D-TV is available on all local cable providers.
AT&T 47 | DirecTV 47 | Dish 47 | Charter 22 / 746 (HD) | Time Warner 24 / 429 (HD) | Verizon 18 / 518 (HD)

The Future of Dallas: Like Mumbai or Portland? Speaking to an audience of prominent developers yesterday at the Dallas County Club, that’s how the former CEO of the Trammell Crow Co., J. McDonald Williams, characterized the alternative paths facing the city in how it confronts the growing gap in economic equality and opportunity between the northern and southern sectors of Dallas.

“We spend money on the Arts District,” he said. “We spend money on … the Calatrava bridges. We spend money on a two-city-block downtown park.

“Those are all good things, but the truth is, we live in a world of limited resources. We are going to have to have a public conversation about how resources get prioritized.”

The city’s elite ignore the changes taking place at their peril, he said.

“You can’t isolate yourself out here in Highland Park for very long,” Williams said

Sounds like there’s at least one rich guy that Jim Schutze wouldn’t call a clown

Dallas Mavericks Still Can’t Shave. As mentioned yesterday, there was a barber standing by at the American Airlines Center last night, in the hopes that a Mavs victory would bring the team’s win-loss record to an even 36-36, enabling Dirk and Co. to remove the glorious beards they’d sworn to grow until they got back to .500. But instead the Indiana Pacers blew them out, 103-78. Now they’ve got to beat the Chicago Bulls (who just ended the Miami Heat’s 27-game win streak) and then the Lakers (the team they’re chasing for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference) at the Staples Center. Should they even bother packing their razors for the road trip?

Texas Rangers Concessionaires Are Trying to Kill You. That is the only rational conclusion to be drawn from the Ballpark at Arlington’s unveiling of the new “Beltre Buster” burger (named for third baseman Adrian Beltre) that’ll be on offer in the upcoming season. It’s a pound of beef with 8 ounces of bacon. “Although nutrition information wasn’t provided by the team, one dietitian estimated that one Beltre Buster burger contained roughly 2,800 calories, 185 grams of fat and 6,000 milligrams of sodium. That’s more calories than a healthy adult male should eat in an entire day, plus more than double the fat and nearly triple the recommended sodium intake.”

Dr. Kern Wildenthal, target of a sort of guilty-until-proven-innocent jihad by Dallas’ daily newspaper over his expense reporting, has thanked friends and supporters for standing by him in the face of the “misleading and false information.”

In an email sent yesterday afternoon, the former president of UT Southwestern Medical Center referred to a recent “Open Letter” of support that appeared as an ad in both the Dallas Morning News and the Austin American-Statesman. The ad was signed by hundreds of prominent Dallasites, including former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and her husband Ray, Laura Miller and Steve Wolens, Caren Prothro, Ruth and Dr. Ken Altshuler, and—this one had to sting the DMN— Mrs. Burl Osborne.

Said Wildenthal in his email:

The organizers of the “Open Letter” felt that its publication was necessary because, with one exception, media stories concerning the recent reports from an independent external auditing and accounting firm (Grant Thornton LLP) and from the UT System’s newly appointed chief of internal audits had neglected to provide a balanced and fair account of the key findings and central conclusions of the auditors’ reports.

The fundamental conclusions of the new external and internal reports were similar to all the official UT System and UT Southwestern audits that had been conducted in previous years – namely, that my activities, expenses, documentations, and reimbursements were reasonable and appropriate; were of clear benefit to UT Southwestern; and were in conformance with UT rules and standards. These findings were as expected, but it was nevertheless very gratifying to have them confirmed and finalized. As the “Open Letter” noted, the auditors determined that the few over-reimbursements I had inadvertently received through clerical errors and oversights over the last ten years ($6,176) were actually outweighed by fully substantiated, reimbursable expenses which would properly have been paid by UT Southwestern, but for which I had paid personally ($17,139).

For some individuals it would no doubt be of interest for the recent reports of Grant Thornton and the UT System to be described and analyzed in detail, along with explanations of how these in-depth reviews have answered and corrected earlier mistakes, omissions, and misinterpretations (and I can provide this if anyone wishes to know more details). However, I have come to realize that perpetuating a public debate on this issue is fruitless.

D: The Broadcast,  9 a.m.
Hosted by Lisa Pineiro, Pat Smith, Suzie Humphreys and Courtney Kerr

• Spring fashion with Ashley Burghardt
• He Says, She Says: Ed Young, senior pastor of Fellowship Church
• Chiropractor Jeff Manning on protecting ourselves from weekend injuries

D Living , 10 a.m.
Hosted by Hilary Kennedy and Kimberly Whitman

• Hilary Kennedy takes flight with Peter Pan’s Cathy Rigby
• Landscape architect Marc Funderburk talks spring flowers
• Parigi chef/partner Janice Provost cooks with organic produce

Click to watch D-TV live
Live streaming D: The Broadcast from 9 to 10 a.m. and D Living from 10 to 11 a.m.

D-TV is available on all local cable providers.
AT&T 47 | DirecTV 47 | Dish 47 | Charter 22 / 746 (HD) | Time Warner 24 / 429 (HD) | Verizon 18 / 518 (HD)

Mavs Tempt Fate By Inviting Barber To Indiana Game. If they win, the players who have vowed not to shave until the team’s record hits .500 can get rid of their awesome, majestic beards. So inviting the barber is a bit like publishing the championship parade route. By deductive reasoning, that means it was Laura Miller’s idea, as usual. Favorite part of that story: the barber is O.J. Mayo’s, who is going to leave him tickets and “said he doesn’t know his barber’s last name.” I really don’t know why that made me laugh, but it did, and then I typed my reaction, because why not, I guess.

Bees Check Into Fort Worth Hotel. It’s the Budget Suites of America on Northeast Loop 820, if you need to cancel a reservation. How many bees? I don’t know. A Randy Owens described the amount as both “a big swarm” and “a cloud of bees,” but I don’t know the conversion rate on that. The hotel’s response? “Zero response,” Owens said. He further described the response, or lack thereof, as “inadequate,” which seems to be a bit of a back pedal on Randy’s part. Also, according to that story, Owens carries caution tape with him, so I would have to categorize him as “inordinately prepared for odd emergencies” and “someone who more than likely has at least one pocketknife on him at all times, and probably in a holster of some sort, possibly in a bandolier along with other pocketknives and maybe a harmonica and definitely some waterproof matches and a compass.”

I’m About To Link To A Story About War Dogs Who Need Adoption To Distract Krista Nightengale, Our Managing Editor, From The Fact That I Am Late On Not One But Two Assignments. Here it comes, right … here.

Fired Voice of Big Tex Knows How To Craft a Sound Bite.“I’ll tell you, this is the first day I’ve been at a loss for words since I’ve been in this business — and that’s 42 years,” Bill Bragg said. He then said “Howdy, y’all” to no one in particular for the next 45 minutes, punctuating each utterance with an increasingly desperate laugh, before heading out into the parking lot and lobbing Fletcher’s Corny Dogs in the air, then casually blowing them out of the sky with the pearl-handled pistol he keeps in his boot.

#Breaking Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approves merger between American Airlines and US Airways but rejects CEO’s $20M severance.@nbcdfw

— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) March 27, 2013

Judge says approving severance would “muddy the water” and “add multiple layers of additional review” makes for confusion.

— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) March 27, 2013

Judge: “That’s my ruling. I’ll provide a written explanation with more details as soon as possible.”

— ScottGordonNBC5 (@ScottGordonNBC5) March 27, 2013

From Gordon’s piece:

Lane said he supported the merger in general but suggested the bonus plan for Horton, who has agreed to step down within a year of the completed merger, and other top employees, violates bankruptcy law and instead should be part of the airline’s reorganization plan to be submitted later.

“I’m not trying to pile onto Mr. Horton, but it’s an intellectual issue,” Lane said. “If I pass it now, the argument is it’s a done deal.”

Lane didn’t object to the actual severance payment but agreed with the trustee that the timing of it seemed to violate prohibitions in the bankruptcy law.

“I am bound by the way Congress drafted the statute,” Lane said, adding that he was worried about setting a bad precedent that lawyers in future cases will try to capitalize upon. “There are many, many smart lawyers out there,” Lane added. “It’s not hard to imagine.”

OK, it’s actually part of the city’s new slogan, “Big things happen here,” or something. I think. It also could be the start of the Notorious B.I.G. tribute I’ve been requesting since — at least — 2007. I’ll have to check my records on that.

For the fashion spread in the April issue of the print product, photographer Scott Womack and Director Nora Mezioud from Hacon Square Studios captured images of model Chloe Hundelt interacting with animals including a wolf, a rabbit, and a camel in a school-room setting. I don’t pretend to understand the concept behind the shoot, but it makes for some pretty pictures.

There was also a monkey involved in the proceedings, but his photos didn’t make the cut for publication. You can see him for yourself, however, in the above behind-the-scenes video produced by Hacon Square Studios.

Last night’s game was fun to watch. This highlight reel doesn’t even have the best play, a fast-break, no-look behind-the-back assist from Mike James to Dirk. (I confess that I went to bed at the end of regulation — so old). You know what’s also fun to watch? This.

Note from Brad: After last night’s win against the Clippers, the whole 35-36 team is only one game away from shaving. (That that one game comes against the 44-27 Pacers is insignificant. Completely not even worth noting. Also not worth noting: the game after that is against the Bulls. Really, really not worth noting: the game after that is against the Lakers. And why am I even mentioning this next whisper of a fact: the game after that is against the second-hottest team in the NBA, the Nuggets. I guess what I’m saying is beat the Pacers.)

D: The Broadcast,  9 a.m.
Hosted by Lisa Pineiro, Pat Smith, Suzie Humphreys and Courtney Kerr

• Self defense expert Mike Johnson
• Suzie Says So: Have a question for Suzie?  Ask here
• Chef Shaun Collins cooks Irish Lamb Stew

D Living , 10 a.m.
Hosted by Hilary Kennedy and Kimberly Whitman

• Unique Easter egg decor and fillers
• Chef Chad Martin of Hotel St. Germain recreates a luxurious Titanic-themed meal

Click to watch D-TV live
Live streaming D: The Broadcast from 9 to 10 a.m. and D Living from 10 to 11 a.m.

D-TV is available on all local cable providers.
AT&T 47 | DirecTV 47 | Dish 47 | Charter 22 / 746 (HD) | Time Warner 24 / 429 (HD) | Verizon 18 / 518 (HD)