According to today’s Guide section of The Dallas Morning News, the novel penned by Turtle Creek resident and first-time author Patricia Falvey has taken the top spot in the list of local bestsellers. Her book, The Yellow House, is an interesting history lesson. It’s a first-person account of Northern Ireland’s turbulent quest for Home Rule from the eyes of Eileen O’Neil, an orphaned Catholic girl with plenty of strength and personal conflict. We had a lovely chat with Falvey a couple of weeks ago (notes from ...read more

After trailing Frisco by three points, 195-192, heading into the final event of the Class 4A state meet, the Highland Park girls won the 400-yard freestyle relay to claim their record 10th consecutive state title, the longest streak of titles in UIL history. Senior Allison Arnold won both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle for the fourth straight year. The Stanford signee also holds the 4A state records in both events.

The Highland Park girls had one more finals qualifier than Frisco at Friday’s Class 4A state swimming and diving preliminaries in Austin. The Blue Wave is gunning for their 10th straight state championship. Region III foe Frisco is their closest competition. Even with one fewer competitor in the finals, however, Frisco has 211 seed points in the finals to HP’s 210. HP senior Allison Arnold won the 200- and 500-yard freestyle prelims, while all three relay teams also qualified. Both HP boys failed to advance past the prelims.

Suddenly, that misspelled word doesn’t seem so bad. Maybe it’s because someone just pointed out that I reversed the score of the Scots’ playoff game on the same front page. [Failed smile]

Obviously, we won’t be entering this week’s edition in any contests. I need to go home and get some sleep.

Mmmmmm, I love Girl Scout Cookie season! Today through March 21, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas will be hosting cookie booth sales at stores such as Blockbuster, Kroger, Tom Thumb, and Albertsons. The sales are an integral part of the organization’s business and economic literacy initiative for girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade. I find it helpful to repeat that last sentence over and over to myself while tearing into a box of thin mints. Go here to find the cookie booth closest to you. Get there before I ...read more

On March 6, Highland Park DPS will be participating in the statewide Texas warrant roundup. Marty Nevil, spokesperson for Highland Park, wants to let you know that the HP Municipal Court is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, Monday through Friday, so that you can take care of those outstanding warrants and avoid the embarrassment of getting arrested.

The Super Bowl XLV Host Committee is looking for photos for its “Century in the Making” project, celebrating the 100 best football moments in North Texas history. According to the committee’s Baron Cass, they’re looking for photos from these games:

Dec. 13, 1945: State championship game between Highland Park and Waco ends in a 7-7 tie. Dec. 14, 1957:  Highland Park defeats Abilene in the state championship game. Dec. 6, 1980: Highland Park defeats Plano in the state quarterfinals.

If you can help, send an e-mail to bcass@northtexassuperbowl.com.

I’ve had several inquiries in the past about clergy visiting HPISD campuses. But this week I’ve had 3, specifically about local church leaders visiting students at McCulloch for lunch.

The surprising thing about the inquiries this week is that the parents aren’t flipping out about the religion thing, they just wonder how, in 2010, this is even possible. Like these 3 parents, I have no issue with the visits- I even like it- but, well, I don’t even know why it’s shocking, it just is.

So I chatted with principal Laurie Norton and HPISD communications guru Helen Williams- here’s the scoop. Clergy are treated like regular ...read more

Howdy, campers! Next week’s edition of Park Cities People will include our semi-regular Camps section. Do you have a fond memory or funny story related to your time at Camp Longhorn, Sky Ranch, Camp Fern, or some other remote wooded area? Would you like to share it with your fellow readers? Could you sum it up in 100 or so words, and e-mail it to dan.koller@peoplenewspapers.com? Sure you could.

I’ve told y’all, right, about my Wells Fargo spending report and EatZi’s? In short, when the paper officed near the EatZi’s Oak Lawn location, something like 20 percent of my expenditures were was tagged with its name (it was a very real problem, and proof, I guess, that addictions come in all forms).

That said, opening day is now delayed for a new location inside the Pavillion on Lover’s Lane. Originally set for tomorrow, it’s been pushed back — probably to sometime within the next two weeks, says spokesperson Beth St. Lawrence.

Can we handle this?