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The biggest African American funeral home in the Southwestern U.S. is located here in Dallas, and it's called Golden Gate Funeral Home. Its CEO, John Beckwith Jr. -- a man who dreams of burying everybody in Dallas, black and white -- is the subject of this week's cover story in the paper version of Unfair Park. Patrick Michels made this video to accompany the piece; then there's this beneath-the-casket-lid look available in our slide show.You may have passed Golden Gate in Oak Cliff while heading south -- it's the building on R.L. Thornton Freeway with all the white limousines, Cadillacs, Lincolns and Hummers parked out front. And during many evenings the parking lot is crowded with friends and family members of the deceased. One cop told us he thought Golden Gate was a nightclub the first time he drove past it.But no, this is where some 2,000 bodies will be buried or cremated this year. And Golden Gate is growing bigger still. James Shoemake, the president of Dallas Institute of Funeral Service, says "Rumors are they are becoming the largest funeral home in the Dallas area, volume-wise."

​Even if you've never heard of the Fan Cost Index, the name is pretty self-explanatory: It's what a family of four could expect to spend at a sporting event, simple as that. Factored into the costs, per Team Marketing Index's arguable equation: the price of two adult average price tickets, two child average price tickets, four small sodas, two small beers, two programs, parking and two adult-size caps. The ball-cap buy seems like an unnecessary add-on; then again, only two beers ... and smalls? So maybe it evens out in the end.This season, the Texas Rangers' FCI is $150.64 -- far less than the Major League Baseball average of $196.89. Last season, the Dallas Mavericks' FCI came in at $344.86 -- or $52.93 above the National Basketball Association average. (But his season, yet again, the Mavs are offering some 500 $2 tickets for most home game.) And, last season, the Dallas Stars' FCI of $244.18 was well below the National Hockey League average of $288.23, though who knows what happens with dynamic pricing!All of which is a long, throat-clearing warm-up to today's news: Your Dallas Cowboys are now the most expensive ducat in the National Football League, and with an average ticket price of $159.65, well, that brings the FCI out at Jerry Jones's EnormoDome up to $758.58 -- which, if I read my numbers correctly, is a 78 percent increase over the numbers for the final season in Texas Stadium. (And, yes, that number does take into consideration the $29 standing-room-only party passes and the sold-out $59 offerings.) By comparison, the New England Patriots come in second with an FCI of $597.25. And the NFL average? $412.64. So, Richie Whitt, is it really worth it?

​Newspapers 'round the country are filled this morning with obituaries, such as this one from The Washington Post, mourning Norman Borlaug, who died Saturday at the age of 95 at his Dallas home. All the obituaries more or less read the same: father of the "Green Revolution," Nobel laureate, the man who saved hundreds of millions from starving to death. The man who fed the world.But in 2002, former Dallas Observer food critic Mark Stuertz profiled Borlaug for this cover story, which chronicled Borlaug's battles with enviroactivists who damned his efforts as "a Western public relations stunt designed to fatten the agro-industrial complex, not feed the hungry." Why? Because he advocated using chemical fertilizers and genetic alterations. Far as they're concerned, it's organic or nothing.What does Borlaug say to those who advocate such agricultural methods? "God bless you," he says. "Use all of the organic matter you want. But don't deceive the world into believing that we can feed 6.2 billion people with organic matter alone. If we tried to do this, we would plow up all of these marginal lands, cut down much of our forests, and much of that would be productive for just a few years. Without chemical fertilizer, forget it."Mark won a James Beard Award for his piece, which is worth a revisit this morning.

The Wells Fargo bank tower off Highway 183 in Irving, an ordinary office building in a sea of concrete, isn't the sort of place you'd expect to find a zen-like sanctuary with roots in Gandhi's India. But that's exactly what lies on the top floor: Here, Dr. Om Prakash, an 85-year-old psychologist-turned-life coach who, as a young man, served as an organizer for the Mahatma, counsels patients and coaching clients on how to live a balanced life. Prakash, the subject of this week's feature in the paper version of Unfair Park, teaches all of his therapy patients and coaching clients how to meditate. The practice, he says, is a crucial tool for maintaining physical and mental health.For a tutorial, check out this video of Prakash leading a guided meditation in his office with local writer Barbara Blanks. And for a meditation on Prakash himself and why psychologists nationwide are converting their practices to life coaching, take a look at the story.

Brandon ThibodeauxJohn Greenan, founder and executive director of nonprofit Central Dallas Community Development Corp., a subsidiary of Larry James' Central Dallas Ministries​In the paper version of Unfair Park this week I took a longer look at Re:Vision Dallas -- you know, that self-sustaining development John Greenan and Brent Brown want to build on a parking lot behind Dallas City Hall sooner than later. Right, that one. Anyway. In the piece, Greenan (founder and executive director of nonprofit Central Dallas Community Development Corp.) and Brown (head of bcWORKSHOP) talk about how for-profit developers get their pretty conceptual renderings on the front pages of business sections all the time -- about a year before they fall into foreclosure. Meanwhile, most folks think their edible abode is but a water-pipedream: "Dallas doesn't believe in the capacity of the nonprofit to do anything significant," Greenan says.Which prompted me to write this sentence: "If those with money can't make a go of their European crossroads, such as the Glen at Preston Hollows project promised for Walnut Hill Lane and North Central Expressway, or their mini Manhattans, like the one stillborn near the Galleria Dallas, then how in the world will a nonprofit make a go of a highfalutin hilltop in the shadow of City Hall?" Which prompted Greenan to write this response today on his blog, where he uses the city's all-of-the-sudden ginormous investment in Forest City's Continental Building to show that, look, nonprofits do it cheaper -- which ought to be a T-shirt. Writes Greenan, in part:I can build the building 4% cheaper and Central Dallas CDC doesn't need to make a ROI of 38.55%. Somewhere in the briefing documents, I would bet, there is also a Developer's Fee (probably buried in the $11,295,000 of soft costs). A typical fee for the developer on a project this size would be about $4 million. That's ten years operating costs for Central Dallas CDC. We don't need more than that.I know not everybody is willing to work out the math, but the truth is that a well run nonprofit ought to be able to put a project together much cheaper than a for-profit. Giving up the 40% profit on the deal is a heckuva cost savings. Or, to look at it another way, it would cost a for-profit developer $70 million to build the same project -- Re:Vision Dallas -- that we'll do for $50 million.

Mark GrahamLarry FriedmanSouthern Methodist University and Dr. Robert Tafel have agreed on an undisclosed settlement regarding the lawsuit filed by Tafel and attorney Gary Vodicka in which they allege that SMU defrauded residents of the 350-unit University Gardens Condominiums in a land grab for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. "Dr. Tafel is satisfied that he has accomplished what he set out to accomplish," says Larry Friedman, Tafel's attorney. "This was never about money for him. This was about transparency." John McElhaney, of counsel with Locke Liddell, which represents SMU, confirmed the settlement, but was unwilling to offer any further information. "All either side is saying is that we've reached a settlement," he says. "That's the extent of what we're going to say." How about a comment on how close he is to settling with Vodicka? "No," he says while laughing. "I certainly will not comment on that." Both Tafel and Vodicka previously rejected $1 million settlement offers, as chronicled in our July cover story about the lawsuit.

Mark GrahamLarry FriedmanSouthern Methodist University and Dr. Robert Tafel have agreed on an undisclosed settlement regarding the lawsuit filed by Tafel and attorney Gary Vodicka in which they allege that SMU defrauded residents of the 350-unit University Gardens Condominiums in a land grab for the George W. Bush Presidential Library. "Dr. Tafel is satisfied that he has accomplished what he set out to accomplish," says Larry Friedman, Tafel's attorney. "This was never about money for him. This was about transparency." John McElhaney, of counsel with Locke Liddell, which represents SMU, confirmed the settlement, but was unwilling to offer any further information. "All either side is saying is that we've reached a settlement," he says. "That's the extent of what we're going to say." How about a comment on how close he is to settling with Vodicka? "No," he says while laughing. "I certainly will not comment on that." Both Tafel and Vodicka previously rejected $1 million settlement offers, as chronicled in our July cover story about the lawsuit.

Photos and cutlines by Danny FulgencioAn inclination for religious references did not save Don Hill from lawful judgment.A little more than 24 hours after a jury found Don and Sheila Hill guilty on a total of 12 counts in the City Hall corruption case, the two sat down with me for a lengthy interview at the offices of Baker Botts on the 11th floor of Trammell Crow Center. Space constraints prevented much of our conversation from appearing in this week's cover story about the trial, so I've pulled together the highlights in the form of a Q & A after the jump, along with a slide show, which includes some never-before-seen photos from the trial. The Hills were generous with their time (we spoke for approximately two and a half hours), and even though Sheila's attorney, Victor Vital, and Don's consultant, Ken Carter, were on hand, there was little interference. And no question was off-limits. In the aftermath of the verdicts, both seemed focused on their 16-year-old daughter from Sheila's previous marriage to Eric Farrington, who's also a convicted felon. Don says his stepdaughter, who's a junior in high school, wants them to be at her graduation next year. "She's strong, and rightly so, she is a little anxious about what this all means for her mother and pops and her own life in what she wants to do." Don says his two grown daughters from his previous marriage to Vivian have "pretty much" stuck with him throughout the trial. "It's difficult when your dad's name is in the news and across the paper. Sometimes they wonder about what they should say." Since the indictments two years ago, Don says he's been smeared professionally, impairing his ability to earn an income, so he and Sheila have scaled their lifestyles down to the bare essentials. They've depended on strong support from their church, family and friends to supplement the limited amount of law Don has been able to practice while Sheila has been serving as his assistant. "The government went to people I've developed relationships with and interviewed them, showed them evidence and played wiretaps," he says. Even though they both have no complaints about their representation, the two are optimistic about their chances of winning an appeal. "We're not knocked out. We're just going to keep pressing through to the very end," Don says. "We thought today would be truly the first day of the rest of our lives because we'd be moving on, but we're not. We're still in the fight."

Sam MertenAccording to juror Nedra Frazier, the arguments against conspiracy surrounded Rickey Robertson, seen here leaving the courthouse with his wife and baby daughter after the jury found him guilty on two counts.A few hours after she and 11 other jurors found Don Hill and his four co-defendants guilty of 23 of the 29 charges against them in the Dallas City Hall corruption case, Rowlett resident Nedra Frazier gave me a behind-the-scenes peek at the deliberations. Much like my lengthy interview with Don and Sheila Hill, the majority of my conversation with Frazier didn't make it into the cover story in the current paper version of Unfair Park because of space constraints, so I've again pulled together the highlights in the form of a Q & A after the jump. Frazier, a 43-year-old wife and mother of two children, had planned on spending the last few months trying to find a new job to replace the one she held for 10 years at Avaya, a telecommunications company, which had been shipped overseas to India at the end of January. Instead, a last-minute challenge in June by the defense alleging that the prosecution had been eliminating jurors based on race resulted in her addition as the last of four black jurors selected. Because the case involved several defendants and numerous counts, Frazier endorsed a plan to discuss each count as it appeared on the jury's verdict form, which juror Rachel Secore of Dallas confirms. Each count was read out loud, followed by the definitions of the counts, the count as it appeared in the indictment and then the definitions once again. "There was a lot of discussion about the definitions. That part we took very seriously," Secore says. The jury spent the most time discussing count 20, Frazier says, eventually finding both Hill and Reagan not guilty. "There just wasn't enough evidence on that one." After that decision, jurors took a second look at approximately four other counts, especially regarding Sheila Hill's and Rickey Robertson's involvement. "There were several we had to go back and just really, really think about it and talk about it."

Kimberly ThorpeA suburban Dallas Santeria feast ceremony​Santeria is a religion practiced by one to five million people in the United States; still, because of its clandestine nature, estimates of practitioners of the Afro-Cuban religion vary widely. Some Euless residents were shocked to learn that the religion was practiced in their neighborhood -- especially the part about animal sacrifice. A nearly three-year legal battle between Jose Merced and the city of Euless ensued, which helped lead to this week's cover story, "Blood Offering," in the paper version of Unfair ParkThe case was ultimately heard by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and decided in Merced's favor. But all is not quiet again in the sleepy neighborhood: The city still has the option to appeal to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Merced has resumed his religion's practices.As an online extra, we're including photographs in this slide show, shot inside Merced's home on the day after 40 animals were sacrificed to the Santeria gods. The animals have been cooked and prepared, and it's a day of celebration and feast.