Early Voting Ends Tomorrow

A reminder that early voting for the May 10 election ends tomorrow. Voting hours will be from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at the HPISD Building at 7015 Westchester Drive. There are 10 parking spots reserved for voters.

On the ballot are 2008 Board of Trustees candidates Joe Taylor (Place 6) and John Townsend, (a.k.a. “JT”) (Place 7) and John R. Bunten, Jr., (Place 7), and the HPISD’s
$75.4 million bond issue.

For more information on the bond, visit:
http://www.hpisd.org/SearchResults/hpisd/BondIssue/tabid/2524/Default.aspx

No News Yet From Lakeway

Three of HP’s doubles teams are on the tennis courts right now, nearly seven hours after their scheduled start. No scores to report yet.

Initial Super Bowl Host Committee Sponsors Named

I sat near HP Mayor Bill White and UP Mayor Blackie Holmes at this morning’s press conference among 100 or so other area business and civic leaders at a press conference announcing the four $1 million Founding Sponsorships and official logo of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. That’s the largest dollar value of confirmed Host Committee Sponsorships in history more than two-and-a-half years before the game.

The Founding Sponsors that made up the great start for the host committee were: the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ted and Shannon Skokos, The Staubach Company, and (Ross Perot, Jr.-led) Hillwood Development Company.

As for the logo? Average - it’s a logo. As for the stadium — Wow. It was my first time to see it up close. Pictures to come in a later post.

Highland Park Cops Taking a Survey or Something?

An Overheardian is wondering if others have experienced this in Highland Park. I’ve had very little interaction with HP cops, I usually get pulled over by the UPPD and they know I’m the one that writes that column so they don’t ask, they just write the ticket.

In the past two weeks, I have had a conversation with two different women about being pulled over by an HP officer for speeding. The first thing they asked one of them was, “do you work” and the second, “where do you work?” Do you think this is strange? Wouldn’t a more important question be, “are you aware that you were driving over the posted speed limit?” Why would they need to know your working status? Does your work status or place of employment dictate whether or not you receive a ticket? One friend is a stay at home mom and the other is a work friend. One drives a Mercedes and one drives a Kia. One is white and one is black. Curious…

Anyone?

President’s Niece Helps Feed Children

First niece [and technically, former first granddaughter] Lauren Bush is leading a campaign to feed starving children in Rwanda.

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Re: Humble Parkie Mom is a Billionaire’s Girlfriend

I received this from an Overheardian clearly misreading my post:

You’ve got balls. I wouldn’t cross her.

I wasn’t crossing her. I was helping her spread the word about her billionaire boyfriend new show. She should be thanking me.

A Fast-Food Chain? In the Park Cities?

Announcement from Chick-fil-A:

Chick-fil-A, the nation’s second-largest chicken restaurant chain (based on sales), will open its newest inline restaurant concept in metro Dallas on May 21, featuring an expanded menu that includes a wider selection of beverages and dessert selections as well as the chain’s newly enhanced chicken strips and entrée salads.

          Located at 6423 Hillcrest Ave. in the Hillcrest Village shopping center across from Southern Methodist University, the new Chick-fil-A restaurant is the latest example of the chain’s forward-thinking expansion philosophy to more closely mirror the demographics where new inline restaurants are located.

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We Won… Something

Today I received our annual letter from the Texas Press Association informing us that we’ve won at least one first-place prize in the 2008 Better Newspaper Contest. Unfortunately they aren’t any more specific than that, because they want us to attend the summer convention on June 21. It’s in beautiful Arlington this year, so we’re bound to be there.

Congratulations to our editorial staff for excelling at whatever it is we excelled at.

Sunny Skies

Forbes is reporting that Dallas is one of 10 “recession-proof cities.” In fact, the Lone Star state dominated the list, with the Big D ranking 10th behind San Antonio, Austin, and Houston.

One of the claims that Texas is doing well (comparatively) is “the availability of land–and, in some cases, little zoning–helped keep prices in these cities low. Instead of competing for homes, Texans could move to a new subdivision a little farther out.”

Cheerleaders Chosen

Look out — there are some new girls in town.

Freshman Cheerleaders for Highland Park High School 2008-2009
1st Row: Sydney Muller, Lauren Bailey, Maggie Ausburn, Ainsley Clarke, Michelle Nash
2nd Row: Catherine Smith, Baylor Wilson, Taylor Cardenas, Farris Groth Ann-Marie Hickey
3rd Row: Wendy Watson, Grace Ballard, Lucie Morren, Courtney Reynolds, Michal Krikorian

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Scots Tennis Postponed For Now at Lakeway

Sports editor Chuck Cox is finally at Lakeway this afternoon after a long journey from Dallas. He’s there to cover the HP tennis’ four doubles teams at the UIL State Championships, but arrived to find them delayed without a single match played yet. The same rain and heavy winds that made the drive from Dallas so difficult has kept the tournament northwest of Austin from starting.

We’ll have some on-site reporting later this afternoon once play gets underway.

Fiesta Fiesta

If you’re not spending your Cinco de Mayo doing the typical social events, such as A Special Evening with Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons at the Meyerson or The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary Fashion Show and Luncheon at the Hilton Anatole, spend the evening from 4 p.m. t0 2 a.m. at Mattito’s celebrating the Mexican holiday with the salsa and meringue band Carabali, plenty of rumbaritas, and a mechanical bull. By the way, the bull is sponsored by Tequila and has a mean buck.