Frisco Wakeland’s Willie Schwanke pitched a complete game to lead the Wolverines to a 4-2 victory over Highland Park on Friday night at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie.

The win evened the best-of-three series at a game each. The rubber game is at 1 p.m. Saturday at the same site.

The only runs for the Scots came off a two-run double by Matthew Milburn in the fourth inning.

Interstate 30 is closed at Hampton Road due to a fatality accident. Find an alternate route to Quik Trip Park.

Former athletic director Steve Orsini has been fired, effective immediately. Photo Credit: bizjournals.com

Only a few weeks after welcoming new head basketball coach Larry Brown, SMU athletic director Steve Orsini has been fired, effective immediately.

Regardless of the part Orsini played in revitalizing the once stellar SMU football program, SMU president R. Gerald Turner said this in a press release about Orsini being removed from the university.

“After several discussions over the last few weeks, it became apparent to me that it was necessary to make this change. While we both are committed to the support of our student-athletes and coaches, a unified effort is required for future progress in our athletics programs.”

The next step is to put senior associate director of athletics for external affairs Tim Leonard in as the interim director and start a national search for a new director.

Hopefully, the move is for the best. But I wonder what the “discussions” Turner and Orsini had were about?

DPD is investigating nearly a dozen robberies that have recently occured in Uptown, and are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Since I live there, I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled this weekend.

They’ve narrowed the suspects down to these two men, who are on the loose and considered dangerous.

They believe the first suspect is a black man between 20 and 30 years old, 5’8 to 6’2, and weighs 150-160 pounds. He’s been armed with a blue steel semi-automatic handgun.

The second suspect is a black man between 20 and 22 years old, 5’8 to 5’10, and weighs about 160 pounds. He may have a gold tooth and moles near his eyes. He’s been armed with a silver semi-automatic handgun.

If you find the guys, call Crime Stoppers at 214-373-8477 or the Central Investigative Unit at 214-670-4414.

In this week’s Park Cities People, I wrote about Tiffany Houghton and her homecoming concert scheduled for Monday night at the House of Blues. Before you see the former Highland Belle’s show, I thought you might want to watch a video for her song “House on Normandy.”

The new clubhouse at the Dallas Country Club is a sight to behold. (Photo: Shirley Macatee)

In today’s edition of Park Cities People, we published the third of three columns by Buddy Macatee on the Dallas Country Club. In case you missed the previous two, here they are:

Read More…

Although Frisco Wakeland has had a penchant for come back playoff wins against the Scots, Thursday night Highland Park shut down the Wolverines to pull out a 3-1 win in the first game of the Class 4A Region II quarterfinals.

But it didn’t come without a scare.

Read More…

Last November, I kicked up a crap storm by detailing an unpleasant experience at Rafa’s. The headline for that post said I would not be returning to the Lovers Lane restaurant that is treasured by so many Park Cities families. Well, I lied.

On Tuesday night, prompted by a Hardline segment on the prodigious amount of Mexican restaurants in Dallas, my wife demanded that I take her out for enchiladas, ASAP. I was covering a Highland Park ISD Board of Trustees meeting at the time, so we decided to give Rafa’s — one of the closest Mexican restaurants to Highland Park Middle School — another try.

The service was much better this time around, and my kids got a kick out of the piñatas (“There’s SpongeBob! There’s Elmo!”) and the fact that they could write on the paper tablecloths in crayon. My tacos al carbon were delicious, but I do have one complaint. And I don’t think Rafa’s is going to be able to remedy this problem anytime soon. It falls into the “TMI” category, so jump if you’d like.

Read More…

State Department Special Agent John Carlock talks with 6-year-old Michael Malone who is in the final stages of his fight against Stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma. Photo Credit: Alana Harrison

Last Friday, I covered a story about a young University Park boy named Michael Malone.

Michael is now in his final stages with Stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissue. Although the 6-year-old has been given a few months to live, his family has made it a mission to try and make his last days memorable. Read More…

John Holbert has taught at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology for 33 years. For 26 of those years, I’ve been good friends with his son, Darius. John is one of eight retiring faculty members on the Hilltop this semester, and I’m betting none of the other seven received a sendoff like this.