For more than two years, Silver Hogue’s byline has graced the pages of Oak Cliff People. But today is the last day that Silver has to do anything I tell her to do. She is leaving People Newspapers to be the external affairs coordinator for the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

Of course, she doesn’t start there for several days. Until then, we’ll assume that she’ll be getting massages, facials, manicures, and pedicures in an attempt to unwind from the hectic life of a community newspaper reporter. Good luck, lady.

If you’re in the OC and you haven’t yet, you soon will. And when you do, give him a shout (or perhaps a bear hug).

Consider this your formal introduction to Oak Cliff People’s neighborhood muckraker: Dave Conard. Dave hails from the suburbs of northern Illinois, and spent a while helping the Crescent City recover from Hurricane Katrina. Got a story idea or juicy morsel of neighborhood news? send it to david.conard (at) peoplenewspapers.com.

The Old Oak Cliff Conservation League will get until Sept. 16 to either find a buyer or someone to remove the Oak Cliff Christian Church, DISD District 7 board member Eric Cowan said today (Aug. 13).

Additionally, league attorney John McCall Jr. said there is an agreement being finalized so an interested party could buy just the structure for a “nominal fee,” if they dismantle it or move it elsewhere.

“If someone was to take everything off that lot, we’re talking four figures,” McCall said. “It has to be taken off the lot by the end of the year. [The party must]  have the resources and the ability to get this done by the end of the year.”

The DISD board held a special meeting Thursday, and decided to let its administration offer the 30-day extension, Cowan said.

Read next Friday’s Oak Cliff People for more details.

Are you in the mood for some tasty Italian food? You will be hard pressed to find a better Italian food outside of Italy than Café Italiano, right here in the heart of Dallas. Cafe Italiano is proud to offer a true neighborhood Fine Dining experience. With outstanding entrees, tempting appetizers and inventive specials, not to mention home style portions, our aim is to provide our valued customers with a delightful night out that feels like a relaxing evening at home.

From our relaxing patio, to our courteous and friendly servers, we will strive tirelessly to live up to your fond memories of our incarnations past, as well as to create new ones for you to reminisce upon in our bright future here at Cafe Italiano!

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The new Oak Cliff Cultural Center opens today, with a grand opening ceremony on Sunday, but over on D Magazine’s FrontRow blog, Peter Simek asks a difficult question: In such lean budget times, when programs throughout the city are getting the axe, can the city really afford to operate the center?

What do you think?

Now that the Bishop/Davis rezoning has been approved, when and where do y’all think the first five-story building is going up?

The White House’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities initiative is front and center of a town hall meeting 7 p.m. tonight at Paul Quinn College. Moderated by Dallas Morning News columnist James Ragland, the program will explore top issues for historically black campuses, and feature HBCU director John Silvanus Wilson Jr. (pictured) and Paul Quinn president Michael Sorrell, of Wynnewood North.

Some background on Dr. Wilson: He’s held directorial positions at MIT and George Washington University, previously taught at Harvard, and has long supported efforts to improve black colleges. Not surprisingly, he also has about a metric ton of formal education.

President Obama appointed him to his current post, from which he’ll serve as an adviser to the Secretary of Education and work closely with more 32 federal agencies that support HBCUs like Paul Quinn.

The Dallas City Council passed the Bishop-Davis rezoning ordinance with a unanimous voice vote at a little after 2 p.m. today.

Councilwoman Delia Jasso and Councilman David Neumann spoke in favor of the ordinance.  More details to come…

A natural gas drilling watchdog group, Dallas Area Residents for Responsible Drilling, is having a meeting at Southwood Methodist Church at 3601 S. Ravina Drive at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The meeting will include speakers from the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project, the North Central Texas Communities Alliance, and the Environmental Defense Fund, the group’s Web site stated. Also scheduled to speak is Mayor Calvin Tillman of Dish, Texas, a town featured in the documentary Gasland.

The group has expressed concerns about natural gas drilling in Dallas, according to its website.

Driving by Confusion, the fusion Asian restaurant at 642 W. Davis St., I stopped and noticed a sign this morning  stating the landlord had terminated the tenant’s possession of the property due to failure to meet lease obligations.

More details to come soon…