The nonprofit Stand for Children released findings last week that students in 10 Dallas zip codes, all but two of them south of the Trinity River, have an astonishingly high rate of residents who wind up in prison. In a 2008 count of prisoners statewide, about 3,100 came from these zip codes. Stand for Children also found that only 26 students who graduated from DISD high schools in these areas were ready for college. In Oak Cliff, those schools are Adamson, Carter, Molina and South Oak Cliff.
The one DISD high school in our neighborhood that is nationally recognized, Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, is facing a possible sex scandal. Teacher Jessica Gilbeaux, 31, is accused of having sex with an 18-year-old student after the prom last year.
In other scandalous news, majority investors in Hofmann Hots are suing Frank Zaccanelli, accusing the company’s CEO of misusing company money and inappropriately hiring his mistress. Whistle blowers inside the company accused Zacanelli of hiring Megan Lucas, with whom, they allege, he had a romantic relationship. Lucas was paid salary of $5,000 a month plus $3,000 for rent, despite failing to contribute to the company, according to the lawsuit. When we posted in December about Hofmann Hots, which is expected to open this weekend in Trinity Groves, Lucas was listed on the Hoffman Hots website as the company’s marketing manager. Though we tried contacting her through several channels seeking information about the restaurant, she never called.
