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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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The Rub on Pub Grub
To the editor: Many thanks for your “honorable mention” in this week’s Fort Worth Weekly (“Where’s the Green?” March 13, 2003). I’ll take whatever praise one doles out. I agree that Martin has a fine menu at the Tipperary Inn for “old sod” dishes. But please, give some credit where credit is due. O’Dwyer’s Irish Pub in Fort Worth, which I own, may not have the quantity of items that the Tip puts out, but let’s compare sizes of kitchens. Martin has a large fully staffed kitchen and can easily lay out the foods of Ireland in all their splendor. I have only a one-man kitchen but will hold the “Irish” items on my menu up to any other place in the DFW area.
Sure, I have corned beef and cabbage only twice a year, on St. Patty’s Day and halfway to St. Patty’s Day (Sept. 17), but the quality and quantity I put out causes many patrons to beg that it be on our menu permanently. Proper preparation time and limited storage make this impractical for my size establishment. My corned beef comes from Long Island, and if you’ve ever been in the New York area, you must know that it’s a tradition to have a corned beef on rye during your stay. My corned beef on rye sandwich is again one of the finest in the area.
My fish and chips, with its Guinness-based coating, is second to none in this area, as is my shepherd’s pie. I’ll never be able to match such fine places as the Tipperary Inn or other fine dining places in the DFW area, but I guarantee that somewhere down the line they’ve heard of O’Dwyer’s Irish Pub from someone who has dug into our “Pub Grub.” Check it out.
Tom Dwyer
Fort Worth
Techno-Horrors
To the editor: What a horror it would be to work for the city while this is going on (“Technocracy Knock-Out,” March 6, 2003). I value the way you have told the story. It was very understandable and exposed what should have been told to the public a long time ago. I wish those responsible could be prosecuted and the laid-off workers could be reinstated. Those workers should seek some type of legal recourse. I’ll bet Mr. Miller isn’t wondering how he will be paying his mortgage this month or how he’s going to feed his family. The city manager should have “pulled his head out” a very long time ago. Thanks for the great coverage.
Patrick Johnson
Burleson
Parting Shots
To the editor: Let me tell you what Assistant District Attorney Jay Lapham did not tell you (Letters, March 6, 2003). It sounds good that Chad Houston’s case went to the grand jury twice, right? The first time, Tom Bellows called three witnesses, none of whom saw what happened, even though the D.A.’s office knew of at least four eyewitnesses. Two of the witnesses heard Chad’s attackers say they were going to get him that night, but they were not called to testify. The only reason it went to the grand jury a second time was that Tim Curry found out that Channel 8 was going to do a story on Chad. Curry then called Channel 8, said there were new witnesses and that the case was going back to the grand jury. The D.A.’s office had all the witnesses’ names in their file already. Yet Tim never answered our phone calls or my certified letter.
The reason it was no-billed the second time was that Lapham did not go in with what they call a “cover sheet.” The cover sheet means, “We are going for murder, manslaughter, whatever.” If the D.A. recommends that the grand jury return a no-bill, most of the time the grand jury is too naïve to see what is happening. Lapham said he was going for an indictment, then that he wasn’t. Jay needs to get his head out of the clouds.
Robert Houston
North Richland Hills
To the editor: Instead of name-calling and personal attacks, let’s stick to the facts. The facts are uncontroverted in that two grand juries heard all the evidence surrounding Chad Houston’s death. In both instances, the grand jury returned a no bill. To say that a grand jury no-billed a case because it failed to include a “cover sheet” is utterly and completely preposterous. There is no such requirement, and we do not use and have never used a “cover sheet” when presenting cases to the grand jury. More than 20 witnesses testified before the second grand jury about what they knew or observed in Scooners’ parking lot on the night of Chad’s death. Even non-fact-witness family members testified so that they could make a sympathetic plea asking the grand jurors to indict. Even that testimony did not convince a grand jury that an indictment was proper or that the facts warranted further investigation. The grand jury was instructed to return an indictment if the evidence supported it and, in the alternative return, a no bill if no crime occurred. Two grand juries have spoken.
Jay Lapham
Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney
Fort Worth
Editor’s note: Mr. Houston and Mr. Lapham understand that this will be the last exchange of letters in the Weekly regarding the handling of the Chad Houston case.
Correction & Clarification:
In last week’s cover story (“Care Fright,” March 20, 2003), it was incorrectly reported that a main rotor blade was sheared off when a CareFlite helicopter crashed last November. The blades sustained severe damage, but remained attached. Fort Worth Weekly regrets the error.
Also, the cover photo for the story showed a Bell 222 helicopter, not the Agusta 109 featured in the story.
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