Winners and Losers This Week in Dallas (6/17/16)

Blood was shed in the production of this week’s look at who’s up and who’s down.

Winners

Prospects of a Dallas Civil War
As Peter noted the other day, as promising a start as is the CityMAP study about the future of the highways around downtown Dallas, it further demarcates another battlefront — joining the Trinity Park/Toll Road, the future of Fair Park, even the hiring of the next city manager — in the fight between Dallas City Council factions. +345

Texas Rangers
The team has the best record in the American League, is off to the best start in franchise history, and as of today has a nearly 97 %  chance of making the playoffs. Oh, and yesterday pitcher Colby Lewis nearly threw a no-hitter. +627

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Tip of the cap to you, sir! pic.twitter.com/PT7KgwyDdA

— #VoteRangers (@Rangers) June 16, 2016

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The Heat, My God, the Heat
I know, and we haven’t even hit 100 degrees yet this year. Remember that this hot weather can be deadly. Look out for friends and neighbors who might not have the resources to keep their houses cool. +98

Chris Kyle
The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals declared this week that the estate of the fame Navy SEAL sniper doesn’t owe former Minnesota Gov. Jess Ventura $1.8 million for Kyle allegedly lying about having decked Ventura in a fight. +1.8 million

Target
Kudos to the national retailer’s PR and marketing teams for so brilliantly choreographing this appearance by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo at the Target store at Cityplace on Wednesday night that they hoodwinked the Dallas Morning News into producing free advertising (including a video) on their behalf. +9

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Losers

City of Dallas
The report detailing the failures of city governance that contributed to the death-by-mauling of Antoinette Brown is difficult to read. Just try to shake off this description by a Dallas police officer that the Morning News noted: “I’ve seen a lot of dog bites, but these … I’ve never seen anything like this. She looked like she was attacked by a shark.” -1 million

Danny Fulgencio
The Advocate photographer was covering the protest of Donald Trump’s rally at Gilley’s on Thursday night, and after taking a rock to the head, he came out of it looking like he’d been in a war zone. -5.5

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I don’t believe I’ve ever posted a selfie before, but this seems as good a time as any. When I volunteered to photograph a Trump rally and protest in Dallas, I figured I might see blood. I didn’t expect to see my own. In short, I got nailed by a rock. I didn’t see it coming or who threw it. Cops rushed to me, as did fellow media people. Before I got patched up, I learned a valuable lesson: It’s difficult to give an articulate interview to a swarm of journalists when you have blood streaming into your eyes. Once bandaged, I went back to photographing protesters and counter-protesters. The irony is not lost on me that I recently returned unscathed from covering a war zone, and that I only had to drive 10 minutes from my home in Dallas to join the ranks of journalists injured while trying to do their jobs. Many, many thanks to everyone who has expressed concern for my wellbeing. Know that I’m fine… but if anyone wants to come over and process all these photos for me, that’d be swell. Take care of each other out there. And, as I’ve repeatedly told my four-year-old, “Please don’t throw rocks.”

A photo posted by Danny Fulgencio (@danny.fulgencio) on Jun 16, 2016 at 9:02pm PDT

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The Dallas Morning News
Trading in the versatility of the Roman alphabet for the inscrutability of nouveau hieroglyphics, George Bannerman Dealey’s Rock of Truth ran emojis as a kicker on the front page. -131

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Emojis used as a kicker on the front page of @dallasnews. The end times are nigh. pic.twitter.com/kvoQs3gp1s

— Jason Heid (@jasonheid) June 15, 2016

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Lee Kleinman
We learned that the Dallas city councilman has a “Haters” list on his Twitter account that includes fellow council members Philip Kingston and Scott Griggs, sometime-FrontBurner contributor Wylie H. Dallas, the Dallas Observer‘s Jim Schutze, and our very own Wick Allison and Zac Crain. Kleinman said that, in hindsight, he should have named the list “Users that aggressively spew vitriolic comments about me and about the good work done by the City.” -23

Fort Worth’s Blind Alligator
Poor reptile is stumbling around, running into docks because he can’t see, and now he faces the further indignity of being relocated as a public “nuisance.” Talk about cold-blooded. -12