adolphus parade

The Dallas Independent School District doesn't routinely get the world's most favorable press, but this week U.S. News & World Report joined Texas Monthly and Newsweek in recognizing two of the district's most high-performing schools. The School for the Talented and Gifted and The School for Science and Engineering are both in the magazine's top 20 list of the best public high schools in the nation. Of course, the truest measure of these schools' success is the achievement of their students, even after graduation. Success stories abound, but they're hard to quantify, so we have no qualms about celebrating recognition where it can be found. Note to current students and staff: Keep making Dallas proud.

Revving up, cleaning up
At long last, a state-funded effort is about to begin in earnest to take exhaust-spewing clunkers off the road. It's about time. New rules will be out soon on a program to give vouchers to low-income North Texans who drive old cars that foul everyone's air. They can use vouchers of up to $3,500 to buy cleaner, newer vehicles. One new idea: letting car dealers handle the paperwork. That approach, if adopted, would be a promising way to expedite the process and avoid waiting in lines at government offices.

Twenty-year reign of cheer
It won't look its age, but today's Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade will be the event's 20th annual march down Commerce Street. What a wonderful gift to the city and to the cause of Children's Medical Center Dallas. Proceeds of the parade go to benefit programs that make hospitalization easier for patients and their families.

Leapin' Leppert
Mayor Tom Leppert hopped to it this week, vowing to get the Trinity River project moving at a faster clip. Good. He used words like "very quickly," "aggressively" and "expedite." All represent the right way to approach the transformative road-levee-park project. It's been stuck in neutral since voters gave the go-ahead nine years ago. "Compress the schedule," the mayor said. Compress away.

Money well spent
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has received new, outside resources in his effort to check past convictions for the possibility of bad convictions. The Texas Bar Foundation donated $25,000 this week, and the Texas Innocence Project donated $15,000 from a fundraiser. The money will be spent on $5,000 DNA tests for cases under review by the DA's new public integrity unit. With 14 exonerations to date – the most of any county nationwide – Dallas County can't do enough to make sure no one else unfairly languishes in prison. And the outside help is welcome news indeed.

Depends on what your definition of 'oppose' is
Bill Clinton is renowned for his detailed grasp of policy issues big and small. How, then, can he forget details of the Big One – his pre-war position on Iraq? Pardon our cynicism. The former president, stumping in Iowa for his spouse's run for the White House, told a crowd this week that he opposed the war "from the beginning." That contradicts his statements in 2003 in which he gave President Bush the benefit of the doubt and supported military authorization. Mr. Clinton's new version of things puts him somewhat at odds with Hillary Clinton's pre-war vote. But she took him for better or worse.

'A no-brainer'
That's how Dallas County Commissioner Mike Cantrell describes a plan to make sure the county stops paying contractors who owe back taxes. Any taxpayer would agree. But if it's so obvious, why didn't someone come up with the brainstorm all by themselves? Why did the county need The Dallas Morning News to point out the absurdity of companies making money off the county while owing tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes? That's a different definition of no-brainer.
Instead of opening presents, Jake Moock spent last Christmas fighting for his life as his organs were shutting down and septic shock ravaged his body.


JIM MAHONEY/DMN
Seven-year-old Blake Cornish, shown with his mother, Robin, had a heart transplant shortly after he was born. These days, he likes to play football, soccer and basketball. After having a heart transplant as an infant, Blake Cornish has battled kidney failure, pneumonia and shingles.

Both boys are more interested in talking about drawing and sports than their hospital stays. But they're chatty about riding in Saturday's Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade in downtown Dallas.

"I'm going to be famous," said Jake, 6. "I'm going to be on TV."

"I'm excited because I love parades," said Blake, 7. "I get to see balloons and my friends."

Also Online
Neiman Marcus Adolphus Children's Parade marks 20 years

Map: Parade route (.pdf)
Jake and Blake will be in the parade with about 60 other children who have been patients at Children's Medical Center Dallas.

The parade benefits the hospital, which has received more than $1 million since the annual event began in 1988. These days, the money helps support a program in which specialists help the kids understand what's happening during their hospital stays.

Sure, the parade is full of floats, giant balloons and music. But it's really about the kids who have been treated at Children's, organizers say.

"It's a great way for us to give them a little normalcy, something special. They get to be on stage," said Karen Ranker, parade director.

Both Jake and Blake, and their families, had long, painful journeys before enjoying the spotlight.


'He's the miracle'

Robin Cornish was pregnant with Blake in 2000 when she was told that the left side of his heart was underdeveloped.

A transplant was arranged in California just a couple of weeks after Blake was born. Ms. Cornish said she could see the new heart beating in her son's chest.

Blake eventually was transferred to Children's in Dallas. He's made several return visits after suffering kidney failure, pneumonia, chicken pox and shingles.

When Blake is in the hospital, he enjoys hot chocolate and room service. He also likes the movies, toys and games.

These days, he's a second-grader at Carroll Elementary School in Southlake. His new heart doesn't slow him down – he likes to play football, soccer and basketball.

"I hope people see Blake in this parade and see that he's the miracle," Ms. Cornish said.

Blake's a jokester. He likes to wrestle and sneak around and scare people. He places fake spiders in his sisters' rooms. One recent afternoon, after lounging in his mother's lap, he ran to the foyer and pretended he was an opera singer while his four siblings giggled.

Blake's a big football fan, and it's not surprising that he wants to be a football player when he gets older. After all, football runs in the family. His father, Frank, played for the Dallas Cowboys in the early '90s and was part of the '93 and '94 Super Bowl teams. Blake's grandfather, also named Frank, also made a Super Bowl appearance with the Miami Dolphins.


MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DMN
Jake Moock, 6, paints with his sister, Alex. Last Christmas, he was hospitalized when his internal umbilical cord cut off his intestines, causing them to rupture. That caused septic shock. Blake's dad said that what he and his family have been through can be overwhelming but that God "never gives you more than you can handle."

"You've got to have the natural resolve that you're going to have something positive come out of the situation," Mr. Cornish said. "Get up, tie your bootstraps tight and keep on marching."


Scary Christmas

Kelly Moock thought her son had a stomach virus when he was sick on Christmas Eve. She knew something was really wrong on Christmas morning when Jake – his face pale, his eyes sunken – didn't want to get out of bed and open presents.

Jake was sent to Children's. His internal umbilical cord had cut off his intestines, causing them to rupture. That caused septic shock. His organs began to shut down.

Ms. Moock was told her son might not survive.

"We never imagined on Christmas that we'd be praying for doctors to save our son's life," she said.

Jake spent about six months in the hospital. He's had to deal with additional intestinal blockages.

Slowly, he got better. And now one of his drawings – with penguins, evergreen trees and tall mountains covered with snow – is featured on a Children's Christmas card this year.

Jake said it was kind of scary to be in the hospital but that doctors and nurses took good care of him. The University Park resident explains his medical issues this way: "I had a blockage. It hurt."

Ms. Moock credits Children's child life specialists for making the lengthy hospital stay easier for her family, which includes Jake's father, Jensen, and sister, Alex.

Jake is a kindergartener at Bradfield Elementary School. He likes to draw; earlier this week, he showed off a stack of drawings that included crocodiles and Peter Pan. He wants to be a baseball player "because I'll be famous and I'll be on TV."

"Our son gets to celebrate Christmas again, and not all children do," Ms. Moock said. "This day is a blessing, the parade is a blessing, and Christmas is a blessing."
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En español

Ayuda de cara a la universidad

Ayuda de cara a la universidad

Muere joven por infección de 'staph'

Abre sus puertas nuevo refugio

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