That headline should really have some quotation marks around “Friends of Lost Boys.” Otherwise, totally different meaning.

Moving on, in last week’s paper I wrote briefly about how University Park will look into whether or not to restrict fun runs throughout the city, in an effort to streamline the application process. Currently, different groups can petition the city to host a run, and, every time, they’re approved.

The folks at Friends of Lost Boys caught up with me on Sunday, to discuss some perceived differences in my interpretation of the event, and theirs. Deanna Charles wrote:

Read More…

I love the good puppy dog. I have two at home myself. While waiting for work to resume on the new clock tower at Highland Park Village today, I noticed this little guy, or girl, peeking out of the window at the shop Lela Rose, which is literally right next door to the clock tower. Maybe the noisy construction caught his (or her) attention, or maybe this little dog just loves to watch shoppers pass by. Either way, it was just too cute not to forgo a photo op.

Cooper Anderson, 10, gets a gander of Highland Park's area championship trophy (Staff photo: Chris McGathey)

After run-ruling North Dallas in the area round, 10-0, on Saturday, the Highland Park Scots (24-10-1) are set to square off with Frisco Wakeland (25-9) in the Class 4A Region II  quarterfinals.

Game 1 will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Game 2 will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday. If necessary, Game 3 will be at 1 p.m. Saturday. All three games will be at Grand Prairie’s QuikTrip Park.

This will be the third straight year the Scots and Wolverines have met in the playoffs. Wakeland beat Highland Park in the bi-district round two years ago, and then again in the regional quarterfinals last year. Both series went three games.

The winner will move on to take on the Waxahachie-Corsicana winner in the regional semis.

Highland Park has won 10 straight games and 12 of its last 13.

Less than 4 percent of registered voters made their voice heard in Saturday’s City Council election, a number even lower than the 5.77 percent average for Dallas County as a whole.

Highland Park’s turnout — 7.49 percent — was downright prodigious compared to its neighbor to the north. In UP, 561 of the city’s 15,033 registered voters headed to the polls or sent in absentee ballots.

Some people complain about the Community Leagues’ power in municipal elections in the Park Cities. You know what else is powerful? Actually voting.

Check out the precinct maps on the Dallas County Elections site for more info.

In a stroke of genius/”Duh, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that” moment, Anna at the Observer checked Twitter to see how the kids were reacting to NorthPark’s new curfew. In a word: poorly.

My favorite:

Whts happening to america?? Gay marriage and curfew at the mall? #wtf all in one day too

— DJ Nelson (@dj_nelson3) May 9, 2012

The future of America, everyone!

With Saturday’s election behind her, Mayor Pro Tem Gail Madden gave some part remarks at this morning’s Highland Park Town Council meeting.

Here are the various words she used to describe each councilmember she’s served with:

- Will Beecherl: “you’re a good guy”
- Andrew Barr: “great”
- Larry Nixon: “the best” and “fabulous”
- Stephen Rogers: “a pleasure getting to know”
- Mayor Bill Seay: “a man of integrity”

So. Praise for all, but Nixon might be her favorite?
In my time covering the Town Council, Madden has consistently expressed her opinion most frequently, and without equivocation. For anyone doubting that, you can check out all my stories. Bob Carter takes over for Madden later this month.

Scots running back Preston Miller fights for extra yardage against Woodrow Wilson. (Staff photo: Chris McGathey)

I have a son who, at age 3, is already showing more athletic ability than I ever had. (It’s a good thing he looks exactly like me; otherwise, I’d doubt his parentage.) He’s projected to grow much taller than his dad, who topped out at 5-foot-8. But as far as I’m concerned, he will never play football.

I reached this conclusion long before the suicide of Junior Seau, which influenced the sudden retirement of Jacob Bell. In my humble opinion, the threat of concussions far outweighs the benefits of playing football, especially because those benefits can be achieved through baseball, basketball, or any other sports that don’t routinely involve head-on-head collisions. On this matter, I follow the lead of my brother from another mother, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon.

But with the Highland Park Scots’ spring football game coming up Tuesday, it got me wondering if any Park Cities parents feel the same way I do. After all, this is a community where some families supposedly redshirt their kindergartners, so they’ll be bigger than their peers in high school. Could a 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound boy go to Highland Park and not play football? Would he (and his parents) be pressured to take one for the team? Are there boys like that walking the halls of the high school now? Comments are on.

Three people were robbed during a seven-hour stretch late Saturday night and early Sunday morning, Dallas Police said.

At 11:30 p.m. Saturday, a man was punched and robbed at gunpoint along the 3700 block of Travis Street. A few hours, at 2 a.m., a 28-year-old woman was attacked after leaving the Katy Trail Ice House, according to WFAA, shoved to the ground during the robbery.

The final incident — so far reported — occurred at 7 a.m., when a 34-year-old jogger was approached by two men near the Blackburn Avenue entrance. The jogger said one of the men pointed a gun at his head, then stole his iPhone.

Stay safe.

Highland Park’s new mayor will be Community League-endorsed Joel Williams, while University Park will welcome Community League-endorsed Dawn Moore to the council.

Williams defeated Sam Tamborello by a more than 10-1 advantage, and Moore defeated fellow first-time candidate Raquel Ibarra 440-117. The University Park City Council election unfolded like this:

Bob Begert (incumbent)  453

Bob Clark (I)  431

Raquel Ibarra 117

Dawn Moore 440

Tommy Stewart (I)  444

In Highland Park, Williams secured nearly 500 votes, while Tamborello received 42, according to city spokesman Lance Koppa.

For more info, pick up next week’s Park Cities People.

UPDATE: Hockaday reports that the sex offender has been taken into custody. While Dallas County arrest records indicate a 74-year-old white male was detained late Thursday for failing to register as a sex offender, Dallas Police officers could not confirm this was the same individual found loitering near Hockaday.

Hockaday Letter 3
According to a letter written to parents earlier this week, a registered sex offender was found and questioned by Dallas Police just outside of Hockaday’s Welch Road campus on Monday. The 74-year-old man was parked in a dodge truck painted to resemble a security vehicle, with white and black markings as well as sticker reading “Dallas Unit 51.”

The letter, which was signed by head of school Kim Wargo, noted that no criminal activity had taken place. Wargo exhorted the Hockaday community to be mindful of the “potential risk” and, in a separate letter to boarding parents, restricted boarding students from walking off campus. Read More…