Tag Archives: saturday night

Remembrance

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HONORING THE DEAD  |  The names of transgender people murdered in the last 12 months were read at memorials on Transgender Day of Remembrance. About 150 people gathered at the Interfaith Peace Chapel on Sunday, Nov. 20, for a service. A separate service was held Saturday night, Nov. 19, at Agape MCC in Fort Worth. (Photo courtesy Gwendolyn Scogin)

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 25, 2011.

—  Michael Stephens

Taken for a ride?

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Oak Lawn man says cab drivers were taking advantage of people looking for rides home after Halloween block party

Taxi

Tammye Nash  |  Senior Editor
nash@dallasvoice.com

An Oak Lawn man this week said that taxi drivers at the Halloween Block Party on Cedar Springs Saturday, Oct 29, tried to take him for a ride — but not to where he wanted to go.

Michael Truan and his partner live near the intersection of Maple and Inwood avenues. When the two decided to go to the Halloween Block Party on Cedar Springs on Saturday night, they knew they would be drinking, Truan said, so they decided to do the responsible thing and take a cab to and from the party.

“I usually do take a cab when I go out. I don’t want to drink and drive and get in trouble with the cops, or worse, end up hurting myself or somebody else,” Truan said. “Plus, taking a cab means you don’t have to bother with trying to find a parking place.”

That, and the fact that Truan is a flight attendant, means that he is familiar with taxi cabs.

The fare was $12, and he tipped the driver another $2 for a $14 total. Truan said the driver was friendly and courteous and the trip quick and hassle free — the kind of service he has come to expect from Yellow Cab, the company he always uses.

But when it came time to go home, it was another story altogether.

Truan said about 1:30 a.m., he and his partner decided to leave and walked down the block to the area between ilume and Kroger where cabs were lined up, waiting for fares. He approached the first cab in line, and when he told the driver where he wanted to go, the driver quoted him a flate rate fee of $30.

Angry that the driver was trying to charge him more than twice what the trip to the party had cost, Truan approached the second driver in line, who said it would cost $25, again more than twice the original fare.

The third driver wanted even more — $40 — and the fourth driver in line said he wasn’t allowed to let fares “jump the line.”

Truan said he and his partner finally ended up just walking the nearly two miles home, through a neighborhood not considered to be all that safe for a 2 a.m. stroll.

“I was wearing high-heeled boots, and let me tell you, those boots were not made for walking!” Truan said.

The next day, Truan said, he called Yellow Cab and spoke with a supervisor, who was “sincerely apologetic” and said drivers were supposed to only work “on the meter.” He said he also intended to contact Dallas City Councilwoman Pauline Medrano, in whose district he lives.

When Dallas Voice contacted Yellow Cab for comments, however, the supervisor who answered said that drivers are allowed to “go off the meter,” but wouldn’t comment further.

“If you’re a newspaper, we don’t speak to you guys unless you want to hire a cab,” the female supervisor said. “We don’t deal with you guys.”

But Gary Titlow with the city of Dallas’ public works and transportation department was willing to talk, and his version of what is allowed was a but different.

“They aren’t allowed to do that,” he said of the taxi drivers’ Saturday night fee offers. “The only flat rates allowed are the ones outlined in the city code, and even then, the drivers are supposed to have the meters running.”

The only times drivers are allowed to offer a flat rate fare, according to the city code, are when they are taking passengers from the Dallas Central Business District or the Market Center area to either Dallas Love Field Airport or DFW International Airport, or from one of the airports to the Central Business District or the Market Center area.

The flat rate from the business district or Market Center area to Love Field is $18; the flat rate from Love Field to either of those areas is $15. The flat rate to or from the Central Business District for DFW International trips is $40, and the rate to or from the Market Center area is $32.

City code also allows drivers to offer a discounted rate or charge as long as the driver and the passenger agree in advance and as long as the discounted rate is less than the regular fee.

Titlow also said he would be contacting Yellow Cab officials, and that he was “really surprised” to hear such a complaint about Yellow Cab drivers.
Truan said he was also surprised at what happened.

“I use Yellow Cab all the time, and I have never had a problem with them, but if this happens often, then this crap really needs to stop,” Truan said. “We put a lot of money into this area, and to have those cab drivers try to take us for a ride like that — no pun intended — it’s just not right. I think it’s really B.S. I hope no one else fell for it, but I am sure some people did.”

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 4, 2011.

—  Kevin Thomas

PHOTOS: John Grissom captures AWOL title

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John Grissom, shown above, took home the title of AWOL Leatherman 2012 on Saturday night during AWOL III, Third Strike (A Weekend of Leather) at the Crowne Plaza Dallas.

The AWOL competition feeds Mr. Texas Leather.

The Leather Knights, who put on AWOL, also announced the dates for next year’s event, “AWOL IV – FLEET WEEK,” which will run Oct. 12 through 14, 2012.

This year’s AWOL benefited the SSC Fund, a nonprofit that raises funds to provide hearing aids and sign interpreters for hearing-impaired and/or deaf individuals.

For a slideshow of photos from Saturday’s AWOL Leatherman contest, go here.

—  John Wright

WATCH: “48 Hours Mystery” on Lisa Stone case

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In case you missed it, below is the full episode of 48 Hours Mystery about the Lisa Stone case that aired Saturday night. Stone’s friends, aka “The Facebook Detectives,” are also slated to appear on CBS’ The Early Show on Monday.

—  John Wright

Gay Super Bowl block party called a success

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Scott Whittall warms up the crowd at the Super Street Party.

Maybe the gays in Dallas are capable of pulling off a Super Bowl party after all.

Although a gay-themed concert planned for the Cotton Bowl on Thursday night was canceled due to poor ticket sales, organizers of Saturday night’s block party on Cedar Springs are deeming it a success. (To view a slideshow from the party, go here.)

Scott Whittall, president of the Cedar Springs Merchants Association, said while the closed-down street itself wasn’t overly crowded during the event, the clubs were extremely busy and some were at capacity.

“The turnout was huge, but it’s hard for us to get a head count because everybody kept running in and out of the clubs to get warm,” Whittall said, adding that attendance was definitely in the thousands. “I think if they all would have been able to stay outside, I think we would have seen a street full of people. There was no question they were down here, they were just in an out all night long. They were flooding through those gates.”

Whittall said organizers of the Super Street Party — billed as the world’s first-ever gay Super Bowl block party — were “freaking out” on Thursday and Friday because they weren’t sure if the weather would clear.

“They had altered the forecast I don’t know how many times for Saturday,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect, especially with all that snow and ice on the ground Friday. But it all worked out. I don’t even think there was a patch of ice left on Cedar Springs. Everything was set up in time. It went off great.

“We’re definitely deeming it a success, especially compared to a lot of the party debacles that were out there last week in the straight community. I heard that a lot of the parties around town were not well attended,” Whittall said. “We had the luxury of the fact that we have a ton of huge clubs around us where people can go and get warm. There was always a pretty good crowd around the stage. In a warmer weather situation, we will definitely set the street up like that again.”

—  John Wright

And Mr. Texas Leather … NOT from Dallas

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Roger Triche (via Facebook)

This week, we have a story about how Dallas leatherman and current Mr. Dallas Eagle Scott Moore hoped to threepeat as Mr. Texas Leather, which has been a gateway to IML glory in recent years. Well, Saturday night at the Rose Room came the results and the winner was … not Scott. Roger Triche, Mr. Houston Leather, took the top prize. Still, we’re hoping Roger represents the Lone Star State proudly in Chicago this May.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Scott Moore named Mr. Dallas Eagle 2011

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The Mr. Dallas Eagle title has been a stepping stone for greater things recently. In 2009, Jeffrey Payne went from Mr. Dallas Eagle on to Mr. Texas Leather and finally International Mr. Leather, the top leatherman title in the world. In 2010, Mr. Dallas Eagle Jack Duke also became Mr. Texas Leather, ultimately finishing third at IML. So pressure is on Scott Moore, who on Saturday night was named Mr. Dallas Eagle 2011. Moore will compete for Mr. Texas Leather at the end of January; IML, if he goes on to it, is in late May.

I spoke with Jack Duke Friday, his last full day as Mr. Dallas Eagle. He told me he was a little sad to lose the title, but he only had it a few weeks before becoming Mr. Texas — that one, he says, will be hard to lose.

Congrats to Scott!

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

WATCH: Big Freedia at The Loft on Saturday

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Walking into The Loft at a little after 11 p.m., I was stunned how empty the place was. With the DJ at full throttle onstage playing some nice high-energy hip-hop, I had high hopes that Big Freedia had more of a following outside New Orleans. The crowd dug the DJ and bounced to the tunes and it was pretty much just a night at a dance club. Before Freedia was about to go on, the place began to fill up. Although I’m not sure all were totally Freedia fans, it was definitely a hip-hop crowd.

The gay contingent was hard to decipher. I loved how JW Richard of the new Groove Loves Melody music blog described some of the hard-to-read peeps as “undercover candy.” So true. But otherwise, a mixture of gay and straight, white, black, Latino, old and young — although definitely more young.

With just a handful of songs, Freedia threw down one pretty sweet party. Despite the fans being outnumbered by non-fans (because fans knew the words and responses),  his music is infectious and the crowd didn’t care about his frankness of being the Queen Diva of Bounce (they applauded, actually) among other things. Freedia had energy to spare and worked his dancehall calls to no end. But really, I learned a Freedia show is about that ass shaking and when the boys were besting the girls up there, it was a sight to behold. Some of the straight peeps had the “what the hell?” look, while everyone just went with the party flow and whooped and hollered.

It’s funny, because there wasn’t anything overly spectacular about the show. Freedia showed up, rapped, dance and that was it. But it was him and his music’s pumped up vibe that just flung its energy across the small venue and everyone caught it. I would dare to say that he probably won a few new fans that night who, like me, had no idea what to expect.

Here’s a glimpse of the show.

—  Rich Lopez

GIVEAWAY: 4 pairs of tickets to see Big Freedia bounce it out at The Loft on Saturday

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In Friday’s Dallas Voice, you can read about my little chat with gay sissy bounce star Big Freedia on what the hip-hop subgenre means to the LGBT community. But for now, you can win a pair of tickets to Saturday night’s show at The Loft. Courtesy of the venue, we have four pairs of tickets to give away to the show which will also feature Rusty Lazer, DJ Sober and Dayta.

E-mail us here with “Gimme that bounce” in the subject line, and your full name for your chance to snag tickets. Winners will be announced at noon Friday. Good luck.

Here’s a clip of Big Freedia performing his song, “Azz Everywhere.” It might also make for some good practice.

—  Rich Lopez