Forty thousand negatives taken by John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer were probably destroyed in the World Trade Center. But 30 prints taken from them are on display at The Sixth Floor Museum. Jacques Lowe followed JFK from his days as a senator through his brief presidency. His negatives, valued at $2 million, were stored in […]
Year: 2001
Jammed schools calling for help; Can DISD bond fix this? Lunch at 10:15, shifts for restrooms, patched roofs
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A At some schools, teachers know all the students. At Burnet Elementary, teachers don’t even know all the teachers. About 1,550 students crowd into Burnet to learn everything from their colors to multiplication tables in prekindergarten through fifth grade. The northwest Dallas school was designed for about half that […]
United in public, not in private; DISD trustees’ intense disputes on redistricting revealed in transcript
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 35A Dallas school trustees say they’ve found a way to coexist peacefully and effectively behind the high-profile chief executive they hired to turn the district around. But transcripts of closed meetings that came out in the battle over the redrawing of voting boundaries indicate that, at least on one […]
Judge: DISD broke open-meetings law; Ruling on closed-door talks could void redistricting vote
By Tawnell Hobbs Staff Writer Page 35A A judge ruled Friday that Dallas school trustees violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by haggling behind closed doors while redrawing district boundaries. Attorneys for the Dallas Independent School District and Latino plaintiffs who sued the board said the ruling by 191st Civil District Judge Catharina Haynes could […]
Rare heart-lung transplant may give woman new life; Operation is 2nd done at UT Southwestern
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 36A After surgeons filled the gaping cavity of Susan Gunia’s chest with someone else’s heart and someone else’s lungs, one of them noticed something different about her: “For all the time I’ve known Susan, this is the first time she’s not been blue.” Blue as in lips the color […]
2,000 lights to glow on ‘Peace Tree’
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 25A With a quick plug into an electrical outlet, the most visual signal of the impending holidays will get switched on Wednesday. At noon in downtown Dallas, the “Global Peace Tree” will be officially lighted at City Hall Plaza. The 18-foot-tall tree will be decked with 2,000 lights and […]
Despite educational success, Japan plans to change system; Some leery of radical reforms to country’s rigid school curricula
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1A TOKYO – From American shores, it’s hard to imagine that anything is wrong with Japanese schools. Japan has finished ahead of the United States through decades of test-score comparisons. And educational success has played a role in building the world’s second-largest economy. But Japanese leaders think their system […]
Q&A with Michael Beschloss: Tapes provide record of Johnson’s Vietnam dilemma
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1J When the White House’s elaborate taping system was revealed during Watergate, the immediate benefit was to enemies of Richard Nixon. The long-term beneficiaries, however, have proved to be presidential historians. Michael Beschloss’ new book, Reaching for Glory, is the second part of his trilogy examining the secret tapes […]
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Dropout study paints worse picture than state; Criticized report shows just over half of DISD students graduate
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 36A Barely half of all high school students in Dallas and Fort Worth schools graduate, according to a new study by a conservative think tank. That includes less than 40 percent of Latino students. Those numbers are sharply different from the numbers reported by the Texas Education Agency, which […]
A priest, a rabbi, and some ministers…: Clergy mix it up, theologically speaking, on longtime TV show
By Joshua Benton Staff Writer Page 1G One of the drawbacks of a life in ministry is that Sunday morning television – with all its political debates, spin doctoring, and ideological posing – is generally off-limits. “I’m usually busy on Sundays,” jokes the Rev. Tom Plumbley, senior minister at First Christian Church in Fort Worth. […]