Turtle Creek People (Newspaper) - November 3, 2006, Dallas, Texas NEIGHBORS Chef Getting shows mussel SCHOOLS fc EDUCATION gets Superior rating Budgets musical IB I FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3 PEOPLE NEWS VOL 3 ISSUE ONE QUARTER Fight Blues Down Ballot Democrats push for local upset in Tuesday election By Peter Simek Staff Writer This year the hope for Democrats is that the party takes back the state from the bottom up whining local judi cial races and smaller seats rather th an taking outright con trol of Congress or the Texas governors mansion guberna hopeful Chris Bell told a crowd of supporters at an Oct 25 fundraiser in Oak Cuff He was simply referring to the quiet revolution being staged by the Democrats by challenging Republicans on many races However difficult the task Bell said he still thinks he has a shot at toppling Gov Rick Perry Tuesday In 2002 and 2004 only a handful of judicial races were contested dozens are up for grabs In fact the Democrats have fielded more contenders for judicial seats than they have in decades said Dallas Democratic Party Chair Darlene Ewing because they believe the national climate is right to sway disillusioned vot ers away from the GOP The fact that were bogged See BLUES Page Voters Guide to Judicial Races Dallas Bar Associations poll reveals leaders Most voters know very little about the judges they are asked to elect Who does know them Their peers The following table shows the preferences of the Dallas Bar Associations members in this years races We list only the choice of the DBA in each case unless their votes fall within 5 percentage points Tests Supreme Court 44th District Court David Kelton District Court Charles Stokes District Court Jay Patterson District Court Robert Frost District Court See RACES Page STAFF MICHAEL BROADBENT Flying Top While most runners donned traditional run ning attire Elvis impersonators werent far behind at last Saturdays Elvis John Turner and Tracy Nokes ran the Elvis in full jumpsuits paying homage to The King Even Hank Nokes got into the act with some sideburns of his own The run which started from Reverchon Park raised money to fund cerebral palsy research Keepers Of The Code Inspectors keep the peace one phone call at a time By Paige Real Estate Editor In Highland Park the main complaint is drainage in Dallas its trash but no mat ter where code con can get neighbors hot under the collar Code wars We certainly have some of that Some peo ple attempt to use code for their own personal agenda said Bob Curry community service coordinator for Dallas code compliance department But every call will be looked at residents can expect that from us And if Curry suspects a bat tle between neighbors he said hed try to nip it in the bud Well actually try to get ahold of the parties and say Hey whats going on You know we have instances where well have a common property line a driveway or a fence and there are sometimes going to be disagreements said James Fisher director of Public Works and town secretary for Park And those are generally things that were talking a couple inches this way or that It might not seem much to you but to the peo ple involved its everything Epic battles over fence lines and setbacks keep the code compliance departments from both cities on their toes Last year alone Dallas received 26000 calls about weeds according to City Halls quarterly publication of Code Compliance Briefs thats without counting the thousands of other calls to the citys anonymous 311 service for junk motor vehicles sub standard building structures animal calls or any of the other codes that fill STAFF PHOTO MICHAEL BROADBENT Robert Curry holds a copy of the Dallas Code Book in front of City Hall up the citys thick code book And although response times quickened from 435 days to 254 days during the last fiscal year code compli ance hi Dallas has some resi dents feeling caught up in a red tape quagmire See CODE Page Second Strings introduces Parties of Note Society Editor Most symphony parties require an evening gown or a tuxedo but a new spin on things has symphony patrons wearing hard hats The Dallas Symphony Orchestra League recently unveiled its latest fundraising effort with Parties of Note a program of eight theme parties spread through out the season that provides a little variety in the symphony schedule The Parties of Note have been underwritten by Bessemer Trust a wealth man agement firm hi Turtle Creek The first event a Hard Hat Preview Party at One Arts Plaza gave guests a glimpse behind the scenes in the newest addition to the Arts District of Dallas For per person guests were treated to a tation by developer Lucy Billingsley and later took in views from the 18th floor Hard hat parties arent for everyone and the has planned accordingly WEEKEND a Brad had to leave the Brad Pitt screen image behind and to become a more fragile man and he gave me everything he Director tenta ft i on working with Brad Pitt in Babel TCA Continues or Search Attention focused on next years beautification goals By Curtis Staff Writer Members of the Turtle Creek Association thought its year long search for a new execu tive director was over a few weeks ago when the search committee offered the posi tion to a appli cant But after Margaret Byrne accepted her employer AIDS Arms Inc had the same posi tion come available which she took instead We were sick because we absolutely adored her said Will Terry TCAs acting exec director But theres no hard feelings she had to do what was best for her Byrne said she met with a member of TCAs board before making the decision and wishes the organization all the best The Turtle Creek Association is an extremely dedicated group of individuals devoted to the preservation and conservation of Turtle Creek and the surrounding area she said They are truly the visionaries and caretakers of the Turtle Creek area Robert Dotson member of the board of advisors for TCA said the organization needs a lot from the person it will ulti mately hire As a small organization with one staff member it will take someone that can wear a mul of hats he said Dotson said the organiza tion is looking qual in its new director The person must be experienced with fundraising grant writ ing have excellent communi cation skills and of course be passionate about Turtle Creek But all that will wait as the search will be put on hold until TCA receives guidance from its executive committee The search will most likely be post until of the year Dotson said While the search is post TCA the claimed guardians of the Turtle Creek area will focus its attention on its goals for next year The organization set a mark of raising for STAFF PHOTO LONNIE ERIKSON Robert Dotson vice president of fundraising forthe Creek Association and former president Will Terry 2007 identifying many areas of interest for Turtle Creek at its annual membership meeting Oct 23 at The Mansion on Turtle Creek The largest project will cost Dotson said The organization hopes to relieve some of the erosion along the creek at Dean Park where the Dallas Theater Center is housed The organization is also budgeting for reforestation along the creek One of the challenges we face because of the Texas heat is buying mature enough trees that will survive Dotson said In addition the board has identified several projects that will cost Funding is needed for irrigation repairs at the tennis courts at Maple Avenue and Fairmount Street and the group hopes to pur chase and install 10 new benches along the creek There also will be put into an endowment fund at The Dallas Foundation for the beautification of the creek With the donation the fund will reach Dotson said TCA hopes to get the fund up to million We really want to beautify the creek and the area to encourage people to get out and enjoy the beauty of the neighborhood Dotson said Email curtis Upcoming events include din ner with concert pianist Robert McDonald Hurray for Hollywood with WEATHER Richard Kaufman principal pops conductor of the Dallas See STRINGS Page HI 65 F CO 48 F
