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The NYTimes‘ Peter J. Henning does a great job analyzing the S.E.C. case against Dallas’ Wyly brothers. Conclusion: It won’t be easy for the feds to win.

It’s summer. In the words of Kiss, kids “want to rock and roll all night, and party every day.” Okay, I’m old. Anyway, that first thing might prove difficult this weekend. Starting tonight, Dallas police are cracking down on kids under the age of 17 who are out and about after midnight. If your kid gets picked up, expect to make a drive to police headquarters to retrieve her. Oh, and bring your checkbook. The fine can be as much as $500.

Do you look like Governor Rick Perry? Even a little bit? His opponent, Bill White, may have a job for you. Low/no/no idea if you get pay, but you get lunch, allegedly.

So, as we have learned last week, Mark Cuban was interested in being a bidder when the Rangers were auctioned off. But today we learn that the Greenberg-Ryan offer has been “substantially enhanced,” and if it’s deemed kosher, there may not be an auction.

Cuban and other potential bidders aren’t happy. Cubes’ attorney says that the Mavericks’ owner would bid aggressively if an auction were to take place, and might even best the new offer from Greenberg-Ryan, which sounds like he was more than just casually interested in possibly owning the team.

Sidebar:  I’d call Tom Hicks many things – some of them even printable – but “beleaguered” isn’t one of them – maybe because it sounds sympathetic. This is a pickle all of his making.

Happy Friday. You’re in the home stretch!

If you’re among those with time and money to burn this afternoon, drive yourself to Gypsy Wagon and get first dibs on the items at its rummage sale. Perhaps you will find a new pair of cowgirl boots. If so, you really have no choice but to wear them out tonight, and your first stop should be the Feast of Saint Martha at The Grape. Do it. Your friends will be jealous.

1. You know, I understand the need to report the ever-unfolding investigation into the suicide of Coppell mayor Jane Peters, and the murder of her daughter Corinne. She was a public figure, and she apparently misused taxpayer money prior to her death. But when an anonymous donor gives the town money to pay for her debts, shouldn’t she stay anonymous?

2. Jessica Simpson is rumored to be in contention to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol. Because obviously, that’s an equal trade.

3. You know, sometimes, when I’m bored and daydreaming, I will think about how I’d knock over a liquor store, or a bank – what I’d do to avoid capture, where I’d go, what I’d wear. But you know what? I never considered merging two of my favorite movies – Sugar and Spice and Fame – in my planning. Thanks to these folks, I kind of have an idea how it’d play out. Band of roving dancers? I admire their moxie.

4. Alex Rodriguez has about 25 million reasons he objects to the auction of the Rangers.

5. It’s Friday, and to be honest, about 2:30 I will find myself watching the clock and wishing I had a flask to add to my Sonic slush (hint: Tito’s with cranberry slush is pure win. You’re welcome).  Would you like to listen to what I listen to when I watch the clock? Well, here you go.

A couple of CEOs with opposing takes on healthcare reform squared off today at a luncheon put on by the right-leaning National Center for Policy Analysis. Parkland Memorial Hospital’s Dr. Ron Anderson said the new law is a case of “The Good, the Bad, and the Potentially Ugly.” The good: 32 million newly covered, for example; patient choice may be enhanced. The bad: 25 million still uninsured, including many illegals; hospitals like Parkland may get less dough. The potentially ugly: Medicare cuts are coming; expansion of Medicaid will over-burden states already under financial pressure.

The NCPA’s John Goodman saw less to like in the new reform law, calling it a “really, really radical” plan under which costs will explode, providers will be severely squeezed, and incentives will be skewed in all the wrong ways. Despite their sharply differing views Goodman and Anderson are said to be friends, and the Parkland CEO concluded that more robust dialogue–like today’s confab at the Belo Mansion–could be just what the doctor ordered. “We really need a bipartisan solution” to healthcare improvement, Anderson said. “And if we came together and worked together across the aisle,” he added, we just might come up with one.

I suppose it’s no real secret about my feelings regarding the rapidity of the use of the death penalty in this state, as well as the questions surrounding the Todd Willingham case. But I find it disappointing and disconcerting that a few simple questions by the Dallas Morning News’ Rodger Jones were dismissed by John Bradley, who heads the Texas Forensic Science Commission.

Jones details in the DMN’s Death Penalty blog the list of questions he submitted, which to me are a chance for Bradley to clear the air and answer some of his critics. Instead, he dismisses Jones as sounding like a New York lawyer, and refuses to answer the questions.

Are the questions really that  hard?

An alert FrontBurnervian sends the below photo from the construction site of the Woodall park. Yesterday he noticed a big hole in one of the retaining walls. Water poured therefrom. Today, part of the wall has been demolished.

Yesterday morning the hole pictured was about 60% smaller and it looked like it was not a planned issue. This morning the hole is significantly larger and there is still a drainage line pumping out water from the wall. I’m no engineer, but I say something is screwed up.

I’ve got an e-mail in to the Woodall park folks to see what’s up.

UPDATE: Turns out, all is going according to plan. What they’re doing is demolishing the old retaining walls, which is where the support beams for the deck will go. This isn’t new construction they’re taking down. We should see beams going up in the first or second week of August.

Good morning, gentle readers. I hope this message finds you well and in good spirits. Speaking of spirits, let’s get right to the point: tonight is Bourbon and Cigars night at Screen Door.

I happen to have several friends who enjoy their bourbon. Most of them are hardened financial journalists, and because I’ve never enjoyed the taste, I always assumed they drank it as a form of self-punishment. However, I am open to the possibility that I simply haven’t tasted good bourbon yet. Perhaps I just need to find one that suits me. That’s where this event comes in. If you’ve always been curious about this pungent brown liquid but were afraid to try it, here’s your chance to do so in a safe, controlled environment. With cigars. And food.

Too many vices under one roof? Consider heading to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden for Fast Lane at Cool Thursdays. Or eat for a good cause at the Feast of Saint Martha at The Grape. Or, if you’re in the mood for a movie, you might check out Herb and Dorothy, the first installment of FrontRow’s film series.

Click here for other wholesome options.

1. Listen. I’m notorious for my inability to read a map. I know it’s hard. So I can almost understand how someone misread a map and labeled two stores in far North Dallas as being in a wet area, thus allowing them to sell alcohol. However. It’s not like no one has ever talked about this before. I’m thinking even I could figure this one out.

2. I like the way this guy thinks. First, he uses a toy gun to commit a robbery. Second, he’s cool that the pharmacist only gives him two bottles of hydrocodone. (Call me greedy, but if I’m doing a robbery, I’m going to expect more.) Third, when he’s confronted by the manager, he offers splitting the haul. Of course, in the end, he’s arrested. But still. He seems like a good guy.

3. I am going to leave you this Thursday morning with this: a story about a group of classmates from Woodrow Wilson’s 1969 class who took a mom of a fallen Vietnam soldier to view her son’s name on the Vietnam Memorial. It’s such a sweet story of a mom and a group of friends who never forgot the young soldier, who died 40 years ago.