Morning News Prints Very Old News. This story in the paper today about the proposed teardown of I-345 made me scratch my head. It was written by Robert Wilonsky. The online headline: “Rawlings Says Dallas Hasn’t Given Up on Notion of Tearing Out Downtown Freeway.” Remember the five “W”s? One is missing: when. When did the mayor say that? The story begins in present tense (“Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says the city hasn’t given up …”). Then it switches to past (“But the mayor suggested that he’s not ready …”). And when a specific event is referenced (“The mayor’s remarks came during a meeting …”), the story doesn’t pin down when the event actually occurred. I stopped scratching my head when I remembered that Wilonsky wrote this story for the paper’s City Hall Blog five days ago. Good writing is hard to find in the News. That problem would be hard to remedy without firing a bunch of people. This sort of shortcoming, though — well, come on.
Six Flags Blames Manufacturer in Roller Coaster Death. Sharon Parker is the spokesperson for Six Flags. Sounds like a solid American working for a company I’ve heard of. Arnd von Waldow is the attorney for Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, the firm that made the Texas Giant’s trains. Whoa. Hang on. That dude sounds very, very German. Like more German than Götterdämmerung. Can I wager on the outcome of this fight if it goes to trial?
Elderly Plano Couple Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide. They were in their 80s. They were suffering through some medical issues. In the comments, Tea Partiers can make your Obama remarks.
Jim Schutze Praises Dale Hansen. Schutze posted this early yesterday. I’m just now reading it. And I’m posting it only to troll Eric Celeste.
