It’s official — Wendy Davis is a viable and threatening challenger for the Texas State Senate seat currently held by Republican Kim Brimer.

Today (just before the holiday weekend, a date certainly chosen to minimize news coverage) it was announced that Brimer is suing Davis, essentially claiming the exact same thing that those three firefighters claimed way back in December. (Both the firefighters and Brimer are employing the services of Republican strategist Bryan Eppstein. Coincidence?)

Why sue, and why now?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, two different groups released poll results showing that despite holding this office for 5 years (and being IN office for nearly 20), Brimer has no greater name recognition than Davis across the district. That’s nearly unheard of for an incumbent.

Earlier this year, Brimer was implicated in a scandal around a home he purchased then rented back to himself in Austin, and recently it’s come out that Brimer over-repaid himself for a couple of loans he made to his campaign way back in 1987.

Davis has been garnering tons (or what passes for tons in a State Senate race) of press coverage, she was a VERY popular City Council member in Fort Worth, and she is definitely benefiting (in the form of “throw da bums out!” sentiment toward incumbents) from the momentum created during the raucous primary season the Democrats have been having.

If anyone doubted her chances of winning against Brimer, then this lawsuit and its timing (which smacks of desperation, no matter what side you’re on) is proof that her opponent is definitely taking her seriously.

As I’ve said before, one of my favorite restaurants on the Near South Side is Chadra Mezza and Grill. The food is terrific, but it’s the wonderful people that keep me going back. Heck, my wife and I have even been known to pick up a bartending shift or two at the restaurant… we enjoy being there that much!

Nehme and Christina Elbitar recently added outdoor seating behind their Park Place eatery, so every Wednesday night they are inviting folks to bring their dogs to enjoy a night out on the patio. Dogs get a bowl of water and a treat, while their people can enjoy a full bar and selections from the Lebanese/Greek/Italian menu.

Chadra Mezza & Grill

Lebanese/Greek/Italian/817-924-2372/1622 Park Place Avenue/$$/Reservations advisable on Friday Night/11AM-3PM Mon and Tues; 11AM-10PM Wed-Sat
http://www.chadramezza.com/

As you may have noticed, this site generates some passionate debate among our readers. We think that’s absolutely awesome, since that means there are people out there who are just as fired up about Fort Worth as we are!

Unfortunately, though, sometimes the debate can get a little out of hand and cross over from debate to what’s commonly called on the internet “flame wars.” (Thankfully we haven’t gotten to the point of some sites, but we prefer to take a proactive approach to hopefully prevent nastiness before it starts.)

We haven’t had a commenting policy to this point, since we’ve usually been able to handle things on a personal basis. As the site grows, though, it’s going to be increasingly hard to continue to do that, so what we’d like to do is craft a reasonable and fair comments policy with the help of you, dear readers.

Give us your thoughts on what would make our comments area a place that you’d like to come back to. Based on your feedback, we’ll come up with something that makes this an inviting place to participate and share our collective love of Fort Worth.

So sayeth the North Central Texas Council Of Governments (NCTCOG):

After years of rapid home-building north of Loop 820, Fort Worth’s population has reached 702,850, according to estimates released Thursday by the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

What I find interesting is this tidbit:

It’s a milestone — the city has more than 700,000 residents for the first time — but it’s tempered by indications that some people are shifting away from buying new homes in outlying neighborhoods and toward apartment rentals in Dallas.

Fort Worth added 16,000 residents — 3,850 fewer than Dallas, which has more apartments available and a more mature urban transit core.

I’ve been expecting news to eventually surface that the big urban living boom in Dallas would be a boost to their growth like this. While we’ve been doing some tremendous infill development in urban Fort Worth, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more to come as demand for central city living draws more interest to new residents. And I have a feeling the emphasis on condos over rental apartments that has been big here for a while will shift back towards rental for this very reason. The several hundred new apartments being built on 7th Street now (yes, the vast majority of units on 7th under construction are not pricey condos but actually rental apartments) along with the several hundred about to get underway at Trinity Bluff will likely set the tone for the near future. Already, there are plans for big urban apartment infill projects being talked about in the Near Southside.

The other issue mentioned is transit. We’ve got more on the way, and more planned - in today’s world, I’m betting they’ll become big draws if we can get them built as we wish.

Well, this is certainly out-of-nowhere. Sandra Baker in the Startlegram has the news:

The Tarrant County College District said this morning that it will pay $238 million to buy the downtown Fort Worth Radio Shack complex from KanAm Grund.

The purchase will not affect construction of the TCC facility underway on the south bluff of the Trinity River in downtown Fort Worth. Construction north of the Trinity River will no longer be necessary.

Huh. On the upside, that mean we’re pretty much finished with the stories of the cost overruns and such on the new campus. On the other hand, though, it’s disappointing for those of us who were looking forward to seeing that new campus completed, at least from an architectural perspective.

Two questions come to mind:

1) Where’s Radio Shack going to go? There’s not much vacant office space in downtown, and while I’d love to see them build something new I doubt they’re in much of a position to do so.

2) How does this affect (if at all) the old TXU power plant across the river from the Radio Shack HQ, which is also owned by TCC (unless I’m mistaken)?

UPDATE: The now updated article says Radio Shack will lease space back from TCC through 2011, with an option to continue until 2013.

We wrote about this not long ago, and things have been progressing steadily at the Restaurant Formerly Known As BJ Keefer’s on Magnolia. Friends of West & Clear have scouted the site and reported back that the initial rumors (such as a taco shop or pizza joint) aren’t looking too likely. To start with, here’s reader Ross’s report from the previous post:

UPDATE: Paper is off the windows. I’m changing my guess - it’s SUSHI. Or at least Asian. No way a pizza joint has that much bamboo.

Followed up with reader Chewy’s observations:

I was going to post this as well. I walked by last night and they were scraping the lettering off the windows and the “illuminated” B.J. Keefer sign is down. Hopefully they put something up there soon enough.

I can’t tell what it’s going to be but the owners don’t appear to be half-assing it so hopefully they’ll put as much into the food and service as they are redoing the interior.

I personally hope it’s not sushi since I’m not a big sushi fan, but I’d much rather see that than a CiCi’s type place. I personally hold out hope it’s a Buff. Bros. type place with an expanded menu beyond wings, sammiches, and pizzas.

I didn’t peek in and see any bamboo, but if it’s bamboo then it could be a more Fuzzy’s type place with bamboo serving a hut motif. The entrance has some slat hardwood looking stuff so they might be going to for a hut look. I’m no interior decorator though so I’m just making a wild ass guess which is what the Interweb was built for.

I don’t know - I could always go for a Fuzzy’s-style taco shop, but a good sushi place on Magnolia would make me thrilled, especially since I plan on moving there in the not-too-distant future. I’ll swing by the new place this afternoon and get some photos.

Unfair Park reports on today’s S-T job cuts. According to a memo from S-T publisher Gary Wortel, cuts will come “from the newsroom to advertising, circulation and the press operation.” Also, sections will also be consolidated and subscription rates will also be raised. Unfair Park learned that the Star-Telegram’s print version will no longer take breaking-news items after 11 p.m., forcing readers to go to the Web in yet another money-saving effort.

Unfair Park and Poynter have both blogged this morning about impending job cuts at McClatchy, parent company of the Star-Telegram. In a release, McClatchy said it’s trimming its payroll by 10 percent through both voluntary and involuntary separations. The Kansas City Star — the S-T’s long-time sister paper in terms of size and demographics, has already announced its intention to cut 120 jobs. Don’t be surprised to see a similar announcement out of West 7th Street today.

Catherine Cuellar at Pegasus News is reporting on the Square Pegs blog that McClatchy, the parent company of the Star-Telegram, will be downsizing next week, “costing dozens if not hundreds of local staff members their jobs.” The Star-Telegram fired 15 people back in April as part of a staff reduction.

Certainly, the scuttlebutt has been swirling through the newsroom since Thursday and a lot of people at West 7th Street are on edge. I was a little skeptical about the idea the “dozens if not hundreds” number. Once upon a time, the S-T newsroom was about 400 people. Could McClatchy really lay off several hundred people? Well, a ZoomInfo search shows the S-T has about 1,800 employees, so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility. I’m not hearing much else. Right now, the Sergeant Schultz rule seems to be in effect — no one knows nuthin bout nuthin.

UPDATE, 6.15.08: This from an email: “S-T HR Director in building Sunday night. Why is HR in the building on a weekend? Must be sharpening the ax for next week…”

A group of paintings by one of the most brilliant and complicated of all of the American modernists will be on view June 14–August 24 at the Amon Carter Museum in the special exhibition, Marsden Hartley and the West: The Search for an American Modernism.

The exhibition brings together 38 works from Hartley’s New Mexico years — including “Landscape, New Mexico, ca. 1923″ (pictured above) — and covers the most overlooked and least understood period of his career. Visitors will experience one artist’s personal journey to find something authentically American in the landscape of the West.

The exhibition was organized by Heather Hole, formerly a curator at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and now a curator of American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Admission to the exhibition is free. Hole will present the lecture “Marsden Hartley and the West: The Search for an American Modernism” at 11 Saturday morning.