Sunset junior Daniel Rosales, Adamson senior Enrique Davila, and Sunset teacher Scott Sage helped us illustrate Chuck's honored story by posing on the former site of Burnett Field. (Staff photo: Chris McGathey)

Chuck Cox’s story on Burnett Field finished second in the (deep breath) Best Sports Writing category of the Class A Editorial Contest sponsored by the Local Media Association, the organization formerly known as Suburban Newspapers of America announced today. Chuck was competing against sports writers from weekly newspapers nationwide with circulations of less than 8,000.

In the Local Election Coverage category, Oak Cliff People finished third for our coverage of the Congressional District 33 campaign. In that category, Classes A-C were lumped together, so we competed against papers with weekly circulations up to 36,000.

Oak Cliff People‘s sister paper Park Cities People recorded three straight-up victories in Class A: Best Sports Section, Best Special Section (for our commemoration of the paper’s 30th anniversary), and Best Column Writing (for a series of missives by North Oak Cliff resident Bradford Pearson).

If you missed Chuck’s Burnett Field story, I’ve posted it after the jump.

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Peacocks often visit this East Lakeview Drive yard, which is a just a short strut away from a heavily wooded creek. Homeowners were none too pleased when law enforcement arrived on March 30. (Photo: Georgia Fisher)

For as long as many people can remember, free-roaming peacocks have  been a gorgeous, honking, photo-worthy staple in the Beckley Club Estates area. This week, I dug into a story about the neighborhood flock —  and a potentially sad, all-around strange tale at that.

Most of the birds are missing for the first time in more than 20 years, as Lakeview Drive residents tell me, and they’re convinced police and animal-control officers rounded them up in answer to a complaint on March 30. That’s when officers from both departments paid a joint visit to the home of Kay and Melvin Anderson, who aren’t the only folks on their block to feed the peacocks on a regular basis.

Animal Services staff seem certain they left with a lone duck that evening, and only then because he was waddling around loose, with no one claiming ownership. Meanwhile, police say the group took various birds, but returned them to their owner. (What owner? Odd, right?) Problem is, no one I’ve spoken with actually saw the vans leave.
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The Kessler has great shows coming up. (Staff photo: Chuck Cox)

Although I normally write about sports in our newspapers, I did a column about seeing three shows in five nights at the incredible Kessler Theater in this week’s Oak Cliff People. Make sure you check that out.

I also wanted to let you know about a few new shows coming to the Kessler. Hayes Carll is playing two shows on April 4-5. Carll is an amazingly gifted singer/songwriter who is a Ray Wylie Hubbard disciple. J.D.Souther, who helped pen several of the Eagles’ biggest hits, will be playing on April 11.

Additionally, Lisa Loeb (May 2), the BoDeans (May 10), Toad the Wet Sprocket (May 16), Joan Osborne (May 18), and Mark Cohn (May 19) are all coming, which is sure to make any 1990s music fan excited.

Jason Roberts auctions one-of-a-kind works during Art Conspiracy 5.

If you want all of the gory details of how Jason Roberts battled cancer in the wake of his divorce, former People Newspapers reporter Eric Nicholson has got it covered.

We’ve added a lot of new names to the masthhead over the past few months, so I thought I’d run down the current roster for you. These folks would love to hear about story ideas. The email address for any of them is [first name][dot][last name]@peoplenewspapers.com.

Chuck Cox has been our sports editor longer than I’ve been the managing editor. Before that, he was our lead reporter in Oak Cliff. Y’all know him.

Georgia Fisher is also probably a familar name. She was the first person I hired, just about four years ago. These days, she’s on the education beat. Appropriately enough, she coordinates our periodic Education section.

Karley Osborn is a jill of all trades who writes features for Oak Cliff People and pens the People Watching column in our other two papers. That makes her a natural to captain our special sections focusing on the Cattle Baron’s Ball, the Crystal Charity Ball, debutante balls, etc.

Michelle Saunders is our assistant editor. She writes our police blotters, compiles our calendars, and coordinates content submitted by readers and publicists.

Caitlin Adams writes about business. Because we’re a neighborhood newspaper, she focuses on retail, restaurants, and residential real estate. That puts her at the helm of our Real Estate Quarterly and Homes & Design sections.

Sarah Bennett, our newest hire, covers government. We’ve yet to come up with an idea for a special section regarding that beat, so we’ve put Camps and the new Pet People on her plate.

The Belmont Hotel has a Twitter feed. No person’s name is associated with the account, so followers can imagine that the building itself is writing these tweets. That scenario falls apart, however, when the tweets reference “my family,” “my hair,” and “a successful shopping trip.”

If you spot this window decal next time you’re out dining or shopping, it means this business has been named a neighborhood favorite by readers of Oak Cliff People. Pick up this weeks’ copy for a full list, or click here.

Adamson alum Ray Wylie Hubbard performs on Letterman tonight. (Photo: Todd Wolfson)

Oak Cliff native Ray Wylie Hubbard will be performing on tonight’s “Late Show With David Letterman.” Josh Brolin and Kathryn Bigelow will also be guests. The show airs at 10:35 p.m. on CBS 11.

If you’ve never seen Hubbard perform, he is a gifted songwriter, story-teller, and musician. And he will return to the Kessler Theater on Feb. 15.

Christmas Eve will mark the 35th anniversary of the annual Dallas Merry TUBACHRISTMAS concert at Thanks-Giving square. While the ensemble players and holiday carols will certainly spread Christmas cheer, the event will undoubtedly ring different without Oak Cliff resident Alex Burton on the microphone — the Dallas-media icon and longtime master of ceremonies passed away in September. To honor him, this year’s performance will be dedicated to Burton’s memory. The Dec. 24 concert, which is open to the public, will begin at noon in the Thanks-Giving Square courtyard.

Jason Roberts leads children from Rosemont Elementary School to Eno's for root-beer floats.

The Dallas Morning News editorial board has begun counting down the finalists for its Texan of the Year honor, and the first one out of the gate is North Oak Cliff’s own Jason Roberts.