WFAA

​The Dallas Police Department sends word this morning: It guesstimates 30,000 turned out for last night's Big D NYE in Victory Plaza, otherwise known as the Dallas Stars' post-game party that filled a few hours of Channel 8 airtime in between all that Dick Clarking. And while DWI numbers aren't in yet -- won't be till 6 tomorrow morning, when the no-refusal initiative runs out -- there are some Victory Park stats:

• One arrest for aggravated assault on public servant. Officer taken to Baylor Hospital with a head injury in good condition
  
• Five public intoxication arrests
  
• Two arrests for warrants only
  
• One panhandling arrest

Nothing to report form the West End of the Dallas Convention Center, site of Lights All Night. But there is this note, concerning reports of random gunfire well before the midnight hour: At 10 p.m., 12 people were chitchatting in a bedroom in a house on Woodlot Drive, in Pleasant Grove. Reports Senior Corporal Kevin Janse:

"One of the females was breastfeeding her infant when a single bullet from random gunfire in the area came through the roof and landed on the bed. There were no injuries, only damage to the roof and ceiling. No suspects were located or observed."

How Rick Perry spends every New Year's Eve. And Tuesdays.

​Forthcoming: Anna's account of a morning presser with Dallas PD Chief David Brown about a crime-ring bust-up and Leslie's chitchats with Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and a Tarrant County ADA about drunk-driving initiatives over the holiday weekend. Happy New Year! But first, the most ... ineffective, let's say, press release of each and every year: DPD's heads-up about shooting off firearms and fireworks this weekend. I say "ineffective" only because 'round my Northwest Dallas neighborhood, come the crack of midnight January 1 it always sounds a little like a war zone. Anyway. Here's the warning:

During this upcoming New Year's Holiday weekend, the Dallas Police Department will be patrolling neighborhoods looking for violators of illegal fireworks and random gunfire.

Fireworks that are in plain view will be confiscated and a citation will be issued to the person in possession of the fireworks. The fine for using and or possessing illegal fireworks can go as high as $2,000. DPD officers are urging citizens to help reduce the number of fires and injuries caused by fireworks.

The police department is also reminding citizens that our officers will be looking out for any citizens discharging firearms in the city limits of Dallas. It is not only dangerous but also illegal. It is a violation of the Texas Penal Code, 42.12, Discharge of firearm within the city limits. Punishment can range from fines up to $4,000 and/or jail time up to one year.

So now what do I do with this big box o' fireworks purchased over the weekend at a blow-em-up stand on Highway 380 up in Collin County?

I mean, hell, if Schutze could do the Electric Daisy, no reason I can't go to Lights All Night at the Dallas Convention Center, which starts tonight and lasts through the break of New Year's Day dawn. At least I have some Girl Talk, Diplo and MSTRKRFT on the iPod. But, wait -- what's that, New Music Editor Audra? Glowsticks are not allowed? Forget it; deal's off. You should totally go though. Looks big.

Photo by Alex Scott

Tiger Darrow

​Several Friends of Unfair Park have already requested one song for next year's Christmas special on K-Ticket: Tiger Darrow and Paul Slavens's "Santa Claus is Coming," which, per the note affixed to the Soundcloud, was finished just in time for his arrival in the wee small hours of Christmas morning. Writes Slavens: "Tiger called me about a week ago and said. 'Let's do a Christmas song together.' After a lot of feverish work I finished it at 1:30 am Christmas morning." So, see, right on time -- and, besides, it's hardly a conventional Christmas song, but, say, a transitional tune perfect for The Week In Between Holidays. Besides, it afford us room for this timely note: Darrow and Emily Elbert play the Kessler tomorrow. So, see, it's still a happy holiday.

​If I'm allowed on K-Ticket airwaves for a fourth annual Christmas dance party, I will ask management to carve space enough for a 17-hour set. The list of songs I wanted to play but didn't is much longer than those that actually made the air. Then again, if you really want a copy of Anya Marina's requested "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," well, I'll tell you how after the jump, where I've compiled a few hot links to some of the better-tasting leftovers. Oh, well -- I've already got the jump on 2012. If there is a Christmas 2012.

Many thanks for the kind notes and calls as we sailed past the midnight clear; always nice to hear from old faraway friends I've only met via the miracle of radio -- how utterly old-fashioned, which makes it that much more special. Thanks too to Mayor Mike Rawlings, who phoned in some well wishes for the year to come.

But if there's one reason to tune in for the 4-7 p.m. rebroadcast today -- after Mavs-Heat, such good timing -- it's the never-before-heard Slobberbone song Brent Best dispatched especially for this year's holiday spectacular. As I noted last night, "Gumdrop," which sounds far more polished than any mere demo, has all the things I look for in a Christmas song: sleigh bells, substance abuse, wailing guilt, begged-for redemption, last-minute absolution and a slow build to a roaring bonfire. As much a future classic as Diamond Rugs' "Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant."

As promised, last night's playlist follows. Merry Christmas to all -- you, especially.More >>

​I've just been informed the office is closed, which would explain why there's nobody here -- I just thought all the new kids got scared off by Hot Fudge Fridays.

It's just as well. I've spent the better part of the last two weeks collating and curating jingle-bell rock, funky Jesii and other holiday blues for my Third Annual Christmas Music Spectacular-Spectacular, which will indeed air live tomorrow night from 10 till 1 a.m. on KTCK-1310 AM, better known as The Ticket. And I do need to finish up. And get some sleep, because what the spots running on the station don't tell you is that the show will actually run till 'round 3ish in the Christmas morning, by request. The extended dance remix, a holdover from last year's extravaganza, will be a bit more free-form, let's say, fellow babies.

Here's last year's playlist; so far only a handful of tracks repeat, and I may yet excise them from the nice list. Depends. I've tinkered with the ever-expanding playlist 128,382 times, and the songs that stand out the 128,383rd time through will make the cut. Maybe. Right now, some are brand-new; others, ancient. More than a few will be familiar, though none overplayed in the iterations offered. Many of them will be strangers to most.

That said, I'm sure I'm forgetting something particularly wonderful. Feel free to drop your roasted chestnuts and jingle balls below. It would be much appreciated. And, as always, feel free to call in: 214-787-1310 is the request line. And make sure you do so after you've rolled up some mistletoe whilst knee-deep in the eggnog on what's supposed to be a cold and wet and maybe kinda-white Christmas Eve. That's when it's really the most wonderful time of the year.

As always I'll post the playlist Christmas Day. Oh, and Cat just reminded me: The station will rerun the show Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m.

Photos by Janis Burklund

​Were this a normal Wednesday, we'd be a couple of hours into a thrilling city council meeting, at which there'd be, oh, 20 or 30 people in the audience, a few just to get warm. But as we noted yesterday, this is not a normal Wednesday: Any moment now Khloe Kardashian and her crew -- as in, her reality-TV camera crew -- will be pulling up to collect gifts for kids who will be spending their holiday at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. And if you were planning on getting in line, well, Dallas Film Commissioner Janis Burklund has sent a few photos that show you may be way too late. "It wraps all the way around the building," she says. "Crazy." Anna's on her way over. Crazy.More >>

Photos by Dylan Hollingsworth

​Late yesterday, friend of the show and Observer contributor Dylan Hollingsworth posted to Facebook the photo you see above; a second followed a little later, and it's after the jump. He offered no explanation for either, only a title: "Oh, Christmas Tree." And the date: December 2011.

But the site of the shot looked familiar. I asked Dylan if it was taken in the shadow of Medieval Times on Stemmons, just across the freeway from Unfair Park HQ. It was, he said, just yesterday. (The photo after the jump, of course, clearly identifies the site of the shoot.)

Friends of Unfair Park may recall: Back in June 2010 Patrick Michels met and spent a long while with Rusty Shotwell, who, at that time, had lived in the drainage tunnel for some three years. Justin Timberlake's favorite photographer confirms: It was Rusty who put out the Christmas tree.More >>

Via.

​You wanna talk about a living Dallas City Hall Plaza, dig this: Several Friends of Unfair Park have dispatched this item from the blog of one Khloe Kardashian, now a Dallas resident courtesy her husband's trade to the Mavericks. And, yes, city officials confirm: Kardashian will indeed be holding a toy drive at City Hall tomorrow from noon to 2 p.m., for which all the proper permits have been obtained.

Promises Kardashian, who does much fund-raising for children's hospitals:

I will sign autographs, take photos, whatever you dolls want, as long as you have an unwrapped (still in the packaging though) toy for children of all ages (especially stuff for teens) to donate! For health purposes, we will not be accepting stuffed animals, or anything unpackaged for that matter, with the exception of books. In my past experience with this, I've found that fun card games and things the children can play with in bed always make the best presents.

City officials confirm: Camera crews will be in tow; so too much security. "They have security, and we have security," says Janis Burklund, head of the Dallas Film Commission. "We don't know what to expect in terms of turnout, but with people off work for the holidays, they might have time to show up. It's hard to tell." A media alert with further details, she says, is forthcoming; I'll update accordingly. Will certain elected officials be able to resist their turn in the spotlight? Highly doubtful. "I think it's nice for her to get involved in the community," says Burklund. "It'll all be good."

Update from City Hall at 5:58 p.m.: The event will be in the lobby. But, two rules: "The public will NOT be allowed to park in City Hall Garage for this event." And: "Individuals will not be allowed to cue up prior to 10 a.m."

Photos by Anna Merlan

Shontell Johnson's first moments in her home given an extreme makeover just in time for the holidays

​On Friday afternoon, 30-year-old Shontell Johnson lived in a rundown house in South Oak Cliff, where she took care of 13 children: six of her own, three from a neighbor with a drug problem, and four from her sister, who's currently in prison. The kids were sleeping on mattresses on the floor and sharing two bathrooms. Some of them had no shoes, and wore two or three pairs of socks instead. There were holes in the walls. Nobody had enough of anything: food, blankets or coats.

"The state of the house was absolutely deplorable," says Margaret James, executive director of the Metropolitan Dream Center.

A while back, a desperate Johnson called the Dream Center, a faith-based nonprofit, and asked for help. James called council member Dwaine Caraway, then introduced him to Johnson and the children during an event at Cedar Crest Community Church. Which is why a small army of volunteers from a variety of businesses and city agencies spent the last 72 hours totally giving the house a do-over while Johnson and the kids stayed in a loft at South Side on Lamar.

A few minutes before 2, when the family was due to arrive back home, James stood at the door, pointing out the house's new features: re-done carpet, flooring, new appliances in the kitchen, new furniture for the living room and each of the four bedrooms. A group of volunteers stood in the hallways and in the four bedrooms, tearing the wrapping off new mattresses and putting the last touches on the shiny, dark-wood bunk beds the children will sleep in. Someone ran a vacuum cleaner over the floor. In the garage, a dining room table had been set up, large enough to seat everyone.

"Shontell has a big heart, "James said. "She had arms big enough and a heart broad enough to take care of all these children." The volunteers, she said, "have done a marvelous job. So much love was poured into this house. We praise God for touching the lives of so many. Mr. Caraway has been a major instrument."

Caraway stood a little ways behind her, in the kitchen. He pointed out a new portable griddle as a volunteer plugged it in. "I came here on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and one of the older girls was cooking," he said. "The kids wanted pancakes, so she was making them one at a time in a tiny skillet."

"This is beyond Christmas," he added. "This about quality of life for 13 children who will be upstanding citizens of our city." Not to mention a fourteenth child: Johnson's imprisoned sister is pregnant and due soon. When the baby is born, it will come to live with them as well.

More >>