Media News

Wick Allison, founder of Dallas' monthly D magazine, dies at 72

Wick Allison, RIP.

Coalition For a New Dallas

Wick Allison, founder and chairman of D Magazine, Dallas' city monthly, died on September 1 after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 72.

According to a post on D's FrontBurner, Allison died at a fishing camp in upstate New York that he visited every summer, surrounded by his wife Christine and four daughters, Gillea, Maisie, Chrissie, and Loddie.

Lodowick Brodie Cobb Allison was born in Dallas in 1948, graduated from UT Austin, and served in the Army. He founded D Magazine in 1974.

In the '80s, he sold the magazine and moved to New York, where he founded another magazine called Art & Antiques, and was editor of the National Review. He returned to Dallas and bought back the magazine in 1995.

He also co-founded Coalition For a New Dallas, a group that initially formed to advocate for the removal of I-345, the freeway that separates downtown from Deep Ellum, but whose greater goal is to remove barriers that reinforce segregation and stifle economic opportunity, and to reduce the primacy of the automobile by encouraging more choices in mobility.

The FrontBurner post says that "if there was a journey to be undertaken, Wick got it started with a kick in the ass and head-back cackle laugh that until recently echoed through the office of D Magazine. He was a mercurial genius. He was a bully. He was loud. He knew the answer before you did. He made things happen through a force of will that generated its own gravity and drew people to him."

The post says that Allison was diagnosed with bladder cancer about a decade ago, but continued to work on issues that were important to him including city and DART projects.

There are no funeral plans, but donations can be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society at Holy Trinity Church.

media deaths

Animal News

Wills Point, Texas man charged with cruelty for abandoning 18 animals

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Lucas Wayne Penrod, charged with animal cruelty

Another animal cruelty case has emerged from Van Zandt County, resulting in the arrest of a Wills Point man: Lucas Wayne Penrod was charged with Cruelty to Nonlivestock Animals, a 3rd degree felony.

It began on Friday, October 24, when the Wills Point Police Department performed a welfare check at a mobile home within the city limits. Officers became concerned when they heard multiple dogs barking along with a foul odor of animal waste.

On October 25, after obtaining a search warrant, Wills Point PD and the SPCA of Texas ACI Unit entered the residence and found multiple animals living in deplorable conditions.

The mobile home was filled with trash and animal feces. The team discovered a total of 8 cats, 2 guinea pigs, 4 adult dogs, and 4 puppies, cruelly confined to the unsanitary living conditions on the property.

Two dogs were confined to filthy crates with no access to water.
Three puppies were in a small bathroom covered in urine and feces; one of the puppies was deceased and decomposing.
The guinea pigs were found in a cage without access to food or water.

Most of the animals showed signs of long-term neglect and were in dire need of urgent medical intervention. The animals were seized by the SPCA of Texas and transported to the organization's Dallas location for veterinary care.

Dog in cage Wills Point Lucas Wayne Penrod Dog abandoned in Wills Point by Lucas Wayne Penrod.SPCA

On October 26, Lucas Wayne Penrod, the owner of the animals, contacted an SPCA of Texas Investigator regarding the animals. The Investigator determined that Penrod had unlawfully allegedly abandoned the animals, failing to provide them with proper care, resulting in the death of one of the puppies and the critical state of the surviving animals.

On October 28, the SPCA of Texas Animal Cruelty Investigations (ACI) Unit obtained an arrest warrant for Penrod, who was apprehended by Tyler Police Department and booked into the Smith County Jail with a $50K bond. Penrod was charged with Cruelty to Nonlivestock Animals, a 3rd degree felony.

On November 1, at a civil custody hearing at the Van Zandt County Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 courthouse in Wills Point, Penrod relinquished custody of the 18 allegedly abandoned, cruelly treated animals to the SPCA.

"The squalid conditions these beautiful animals were living in were abhorrent--locked in spaces without food or water, in their own excrement," said SPCA of Texas ACI Unit Chief Investigator Courtney Burns, CAWA. "This is some of the worst mistreatment of domestic animals I've seen in my extensive career in animal cruelty investigations. In no small part, these pets owe their lives to the Wills Point Police Department. If it wasn’t for their quick thinking to involve us right away, I don't think the animals would have made it."

"This case perfectly illustrates the team effort that investigating and prosecuting animal cruelty cases in Texas is," Burns added. "We are extremely thankful to the Tyler Police Department for their efficient assistance in apprehending Penrod so that he can be brought to justice in the timeliest manner possible. And we are especially grateful to the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office and court system with whom we continue to partner to get justice for abused animals in their jurisdiction."