STREET TALK

For years, the Texas Fire Code has contained an article specifying that construction products used in county jails must be non-toxic and fire resistive. But until recently, Dallas County hasn’t had any criteria for testing or grading the toxicity levels of building products. Now, thanks to Dr. W.T. Lowry, chief of the regulated substances section of the Dallas County Institute of Forensic Science, those test standards have been formulated. This month, the Dallas County Commissioner’s Court will vote on adopting the standards, thereby making Dallas County the only county in Texas-perhaps in the nation -with such straightforward requirements. Lowry has spent about two years on the study; he collected his data (air samples and samples from the remains of fires) with the help of the Dallas Fire Department.



Not everyone at City Hallwas pleased when the city’s70-foot Douglas fir Christmas tree was erected December 1.Several groups were upset about the price of the tree (it cost the city about $4,500) and claimed that the money could have been spent on more important causes. But city officials made the best of the situation. In January, when the treewas dismantled, they cut it into logs rather than disposing ofit, then distributed the logs tovarious city parks (includingday camp facilities at SamuellPark and buildings with fireplaces at White Rock Park).Following the “waste not-wantnot” theory, they even savedthe leftover wood chips for usein park gardens around thecity.



When Fred Blair resigned from his City Council seat January 3 to run for Dallas County Commissioner Jim Tyson’s seat, he added a hefty cost to the city’s budget. According to Dallas’ city charter, if a coun-cilmember resigns after February 7 during an even-numbered year, the remaining council-members can appoint his or her replacement (provided that no more than four seats need to be filled at a given time). If Blair had waited a little more than a month to resign, the city wouldn’t be required to hold a special election to fill his position (scheduled for April 7), which is estimated to cost the city about $20,000. But Blair couldn’t wait that long: The filing deadline for candidates for county wide office is February 6-just one day before the council resignation deadline.



Picture Scottish attire and you probably envision kilts, woolen leggings and tarns- stuffy, antiquated, un-American. Blah. Well, it’s time to re-evaluate. This month, a leading Scottish designer, Brian Redding, is bringing his creations to Dallas. In fact, the first SCAPA of Scotland store in the United States is opening in Highland Park Village.

If you’re wondering why someone would want to market woolens in our Texas climate, you haven’t seen the SCAPA designs. Sure, they’re made of natural fibers, but not necessarily wool. That, according to Redding, is what makes the move to Dallas logical. He recently has concentrated his work on a cotton summer line, and it’s Dallas-not New York or Los Angeles-that he believes is the perfect place to show it off.

Redding visited the United States last August to look for potential store locations in Boston, Atlanta, New York, Dallas and Washington, D.C. In addition to the marketability of the summer line (and the local economy), Redding says that he chose Dallas-and Highland Park Village in particular-because the shopping center reminded him of his first shop, which he opened 19 years ago in a small Scottish town on an Orkney island. The name SCAPA, by the way, was taken from the Scapa Flow off the Orkney Isles.