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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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Public Servant for Peace
Cowtown’s peace activists may not have much in the way of numbers, but they do have someone in their ranks that few such groups around this “kill-’em-all-and-let-God-sort-it-out” state can claim: the town’s mayor-pro-tem.
Last week as George II began the long march to Baghdad, Ralph McCloud, councilman from District 8, stood with about 50 other war protesters along Throckmorton Street within spittin’ distance of City Hall.
McCloud smiled and waved and never lost his aplomb, even with those who were giving him the single-digit peace sign. He’s no newcomer to this business. Since he was elected, among other things, he’s introduced a council resolution asking the guv to call a moratorium on the death penalty (didn’t pass); he has marched outside the gates of the Carswell Medical Center to protest poor medical care given female inmates; and he has joined others from around the country protesting at the Army’s College of the Americas in Georgia — a training ground, the activists say, for Central America’s military thugs. In his other job, he’s head of the Catholic Diocese’s Peace and Justice Ministries here, helping the poor and dispossessed among us.
Look for him again this Friday, same time, same place.
Java or Jive
For months, coffee-slurping Static has heard rumors that trouble is brewing at downtown’s Coffee Haus. First, tax problems closed the establishment for a day last November. Then, earlier this year, employees of the downtown and Arlington locations, both owned by Tom Gingrich, were having trouble cashing their paychecks. Finally, there was scuttlebutt that the Sundance Square store would close when its lease expires in June, to be replaced by a Starbucks. Highly placed sources took valuable time away from wiping bagel crumbs to tell Static that Sundance Square management is displeased by the crowds of kids who congregate in front of the Haus on Friday and Saturday nights. Gingrich denied the rumors. He said it’s untrue that Sundance Square wants him out. While Sundance Square officials didn’t respond to our requests for comment, it appears that, for the time being at least, the Coffee Haus isn’t going anywhere. Regarding payroll, Gingrich said, “All the checks have been covered and everything’s fine.” But employees say their payroll problems remain unresolved. A bitter cup indeed.
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