Skateboarder Terry Shanks and Fort Worth City Council member Clyde Picht try out each other’s tools of the trade.

Readers’ choice: Jane McGarry, KXAS/Channel 5

Staff choice: Brett Shipp, WFAA/Channel 8

Brett is famed for his role in breaking the fake drug scandal in Dallas a couple of years ago, but he’s no one-trick pony. He consistently out-hustles the competition, and his on-air segments lack the shrill self-importance of Becky Oliver-types who get so animated about bad mechanics and cockroaches in restaurants that you’d think they’d discovered Osama bin Laden’s secret lair.

Readers’ choice: Troy Dungan, WFAA/Channel 8

Staff choice: Evan Andrews, KDFW/Channel 4

The only time most people really need to know what’s going on with the weather is in the morning, and the meteor-whosit who doles out the most accurate a.m. forecast is Fox 4’s Evan Andrews. Evan is kind of funny and goofy, and he has good hair and stands well and points in front of the Doppler radar maps. And he sings the “Good Day” song. The bow-tie guy can’t do that.

Readers’ choice: Newy Scruggs, KXAS/Channel 5

Staff choice: Dale Hansen, WFAA/Channel 8

Aging can work in one’s favor, when you get to the point that you don’t give a rat’s ass what people think about you. Hansen’s there. He used to be so concerned with how he looked, whether the players and owners liked him. In the past few years, Hansen has decided that sports is dominated by rich owners and players who don’t care about him or us. So these days, Hansen tells us honestly who is a prick and why sports is a haven for dumb-asses. Plus, he now wears flowery shirts to show he is just an average joe.

Readers’ choice: Texas Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira

Staff choice: Neil Dougherty, TCU Men’s Basketball Head Coach

The man managed to nab collegeinsider.com’s “Best Dressed Coach” award because he looks good in everything. Coaching basketball is a hard, sweaty job, but somebody has to do it — and thank goodness it’s Dougherty. A slam dunk in the “handsome” department.

Readers’ choice: Kelly Clarkson

Staff choice: Amy Henry, The Apprentice finalist

This Arlington native beat out 13 other contestants but finished third in her attempt to be The Donald’s lackey, even though she clearly showed the most bidness savvy — and some excellent, um, visual attributes.

Readers’ choice: Troy Aikman

Staff choice: Weldon Grisham

Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney Weldon Grisham, it seems, is on tv every night telling us how to get rid of those pesky debts. But unlike other lawyers, he isn’t excited. His eyes are half-closed. He sounds a bit like he took a bunch of Valium after running around wild in bars all weekend. He’s the type who can make you realize that just because you’re broke, it ain’t the end of the world.

Readers’ choice: Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Staff choice: Danny Robbins, Fort WorthStar-Telegram

Last summer’s Baylor basketball scandal made national news, and the jaw-dropper of this twisting tale came when Robbins scooped everybody by getting a copy of a tape recording that revealed former Coach Dave Bliss asking players to falsely accuse a dead teammate of drug dealing in order to cover Bliss’ sorry ass.

Readers’ choice: Bob Ray Sanders

Staff choice: Dave Lieber, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Northeast

Lieber’s columns covering the smarmy politicians, educational ups and downs, and other goings on in the Northeast ‘burbs are classics in political and social commentary. What gives his columns their edge is the fact that he gets out and about like the beat reporter he once was. His dogged pursuit of incompetent judges and crooked politicos has gotten more than one kicked out. For reasons only they can explain, the S-T’s poobahs are hiding this light under a barrel. Lieber should be in every edition.

Readers’ choice: Kidd Kraddick, KISS/106.1-FM

Staff choice: “The Good Show,” KTCU/88.7-FM The Choice,

The paucity of good local stations doesn’t mean there are no great local shows. In fact, there are many -- although, of course, not on commercial radio. But “The Good Show” just edges out the rest. Hosts Tom Urquhart and Chris Bellomy spin classic punk, forgotten ‘60s faves, local stuff, and otherwise neglected new gems. Now if only it were on seven nights a week ...

Readers’ choice: Kidd Kraddick, KISS/106.1-FM

Staff choice: Janice McCall, “Sputnik,” KCTU/88.7-FM The Choice, Sat noon-3pm

“Sputnik” doesn’t quite match the freewheeling variety on “The Good Show,” but the two shows are virtually mirror reflections of each other. “Sputnik” host Janice McCall wins best DJ because she just sounds so nice. Not in a pesky, Katie Couric-ish fake way, either. More importantly, she knows her music, exhibits great taste in her playlists, comes off as if she’s having a ball, touts the local scene, and is more than happy to talk to listeners and field requests.

Readers’ choice: Janice McCall, “Sputnik,” KCTU/88.7-FM The Choice, Sat noon-3pm

Staff choice: Dick Hunter, KTCK/1310-FM The Ticket

Since “seductive” doesn’t always have to mean “female,”we nominate Fort Worth’s Big Dick Hunter of Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket as the hot new voice on the air. What does Big Dick talk about in such dark and measured tones? Well, he seems to have this addiction to sex and talks about how he can’t go a day without it. He gets porn stars and sports guys on his show and tells them in his deep voice how he needs sex constantly, and suddenly sex addiction seems rather ... seductive.

Readers’ choice: KDGE/102.1-FM The Edge

Staff choice: KTCU/88.7-FM The Choice

You’ll sooner find a good polka station — KNON/89.3-FM, Sunday 2-3p.m. — than listenable rock radio in these parts. Blame Clear Channel and the 1996 Telecommunications Act for the fact that commercial radio sucks like a week-dead polecat. So ... KTCU/88.7-FM wins by default. The rock — except for the dreary Choice 1000 — is stellar, but it’s just not on all the time. When the rock is on, KTCU is a near-perfect template for how all radio ought to be.

Readers’ choice: KPLX/99.5-FM The Wolf

Staff choice: KRFW/95.9-FM The Ranch

Before Clear Channel choked the airwaves, before unique tracks and daring disc jockeys were replaced by cookie-cutter, consumer-friendly programming, there were stations like The Ranch. Now it’s practically all we’ve got left of radio’s good ol’ days, and damned if we’re not gonna show it some love. Any time you turn the dial to 95.9-FM, you’re bound to hear something new, something forgotten, and always something great.

Readers’ choice: Mayor Mike Moncrief

Staff choice: School trustee Juan Rangel

In his most recent re-election bid, Juan Rangel barely hung on to the board seat he won six years ago. His victory came much to the dismay of a handful of local power brokers who tried to unseat the only board member with the chutzpah to consistently stand up to former superintendent Tom Tocco’s imperial tactics. Rangel was the first to call attention to the district’s outrageous drop-out rates. He fought lonely battles to save proven academic and arts programs, pushed for higher salaries for teachers and the lower-paid service employees, he sounded an early alarm about Tocco’s failed spending programs. He’s exactly what this district needs: a citizen-representative not afraid to tell the emperor he’s buck nekkid.

Readers’ choice: President George W. Bush

Staff choice: Burleson city officials

Burleson must be a nice place, free of violence, drugs, or any other serious woe. How else do you explain the fact that the city chose to prosecute Joanne and Chris Webb under an obscure state law for selling marital aids, a wasteful effort that finally died, probably of bad publicity.

Readers’ choice: President Bush

Staff choice: Jerry Jones, owner, Dallas Cowboys

Of course, why would he need to sell his grandma when the higher-ups in Arlington are so clearly willing to give him a free stadium and the financial windfall that comes with it? However, he is willing to take advantage of some city officials misled by cooked-up economic studies and dreams of Super Bowls. You can just hear Owner Jones kicking back with a cigar and chuckling to himself like in that old Nike commercial.

Staff choice: John Hart, general manager, Texas Rangers

After three last-place seasons, he bit the bullet and traded Alex Rodriguez to the hated New York Yankees. In doing so, he not only cut his losses but came out quite handsomely, allowing a young team to get out from A-Rod’s shadow and filling the final slot in the majors’ best infield. If more public officials could admit their mistakes as honestly and undo them with as much success, our taxpayers would be better off.

Staff choice: Stockyards property owner Steve Murrin

With his bushy mustache, britches tucked inside knee-high cowboys boots, pearl-snapped shirt and vest, and big cowboy hat, Murrin looks as if he stepped out of a John Wayne movie and into the 21st century. The colorful former city councilman and unofficial Mayor of the North Side embodies a Western persona that gets rarer with each passing generation. In fact, Murrin should have been frozen several years ago when his wild streak was wider. He’s settling down these days, more likely to drink a few beers rather than a few dozen, and looking at the Stockyards as a family friendly tourist destination instead of the rambunctious place of old.

Readers’ choice: David Rottman, Café Aspen

Staff choice: Sam Walls

Let’s face it: The Republican former state representative from Cleburne needs some help with his wardrobe. Name one other politician who lost his job because of his clothing. Walls’ fellow Johnson County Republicans showed him the closet door after photographs surfaced of the lawmaker in women’s clothing. We’re confident that the Fab Five could get this pol into some duds that the voters would like.

Readers’ choice: Oklin Bloodworth

Staff choice: Wayne Terwilliger

When you turn 79, no one expects you to be dressed up in a baseball uniform all summer. But Fort Worth Cats manager Wayne Terwilliger not only does that daily, he plans to be back next year at age 80. The former major league second baseman (1949-60) has that wiry look (like he can still play). He’s participated in more than 5,000 professional baseball games as a player, coach, and manager, bested only by Connie Mack, who managed until he was 90. We hope the Twig will be coaching baseball in Cowtown another 10 years.

Readers’ choice: Hazel Vernon

Staff choice: Hazel Harvey Peace

This regal, thin-as-a-reed African-American icon is likely close to 100, although her age is her best-kept secret. But it’s no secret what Peace’s life’s work has been: educating generations of African-American children and working tirelessly to promote public libraries. This tiny woman with a disarming smile and a steel spine spent 39 years at Terrell as a teacher, dean, and finally vice-principal. She fought to bring libraries to minority neighborhoods, first through bookmobiles and finally branches. Today her hometown honors her with a children’s library department named for her, a city award in her name given to locals for selfless devotion to their community and — in what may be the greatest honor for a woman who once couldn’t check out a book from a public library — a $350,000 Hazel Harvey Peace professorship in children’s library sciences, set up this year by the University of North Texas, the first ever to be named for an African-American woman at any Texas public college.

Readers’ choice: Mark Cuban

Staff choice: Danny Owens

It’s one thing to be a free spirit when you’re young and have recourse to Daddy’s checkbook. But when Danny abdicated his job as national sales manager for a publishing company and threw himself into the abyss of art, he had neither of those cushions. He works just enough to buy paint and cat food and spends most of his time painting. His shimmery operatic works are painted in reverse on Plexiglas. He’s free with glitter and metallics, although his most recent, most mature works have become more thoughtful and subdued. You can catch occasional glimpses of Danny at the Black Dog on Sunday nights. He’s an excellent raconteur, but his paintings tell the story.

Readers’ choice: Ed Bass

Staff choice: Jon and Wendy Taggart, Taggart Ranches, Grandview

The Taggarts are about as close as it comes in these parts to raisers of organic beef. They use no pesticides, herbicides, or hormones; finish the cattle on grass rather than grain; and dry-age the beef 21 days on site to give it a “brown roasted beefy flavor” before delivering it to the homes of their 200-plus Fort Worth and Dallas area customers. They recently signed their first restaurant customer — Bonnell’s, natch. Even with home delivery, prices are in most cases considerably less than, say, Central Market’s, though well above those of most supermarkets. On their web site — www.grassfedbeef.net — the Taggarts describe themselves as “beef artisans.” Takes a tough cowboy to use that kind of language in Texas.

Readers’ choice: Texas Rangers shortstop Michael Young

Staff choice: Simo Valakari, Dallas Burn midfielder

The English soccer fans would call this guy a “hardman.” (Stop snickering.) The Finn brought his experience in Germany’s Bundesliga to a team that badly needed some toughness in the middle of the pitch. Protecting the Burn’s defensive corps while freeing up the attackers, he has helped turn one of the worst teams in MLS history last year into a playoff contender.

Readers’ choice: Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitzki

Staff choice: Terence Newman, Dallas Cowboys

Coming into a secondary unit that had been torched repeatedly, the cornerback from Kansas State made an immediate impact in his rookie season. “Shutdown corners” are hard to come by in the NFL and worth any price. Newman, with many years ahead of him, is an integral part of the Dallas Cowboys defense.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth school district

Staff choice: Fort Worth City Council’s TIF madness

Cabela’s, a sporting goods chain that pulled in $1.3 billion in sales last year, is the latest corporate giant to get its very own Tax Increment Financing district, courtesy of Fort Worth taxpayers. The council — sans those old curmudgeons Silcox and Picht — apparently thinks that giving away the tax store to multi-billion-dollar companies will cure blight, crime, and joblessness in Poly. Cabela’s will get $76 mil in tax breaks, joining the TIF madness that gave NASCAR, RadioShack, Pier 1, and Dell (which didn’t show up) similar deals. But not to worry. Cabela’s agreed to hire 10 — that’s T-E-N — inner-city residents to work there after it opens next year.

Readers’ choice: Street repairs

Staff choice: Tarrant County, multiple departments

In a town where untold millions of tax dollars have been stolen, given away, or wasted over the past year — it was damned difficult to find something in this town that fit this category. And then, lo and behold, here comes Tarrant County winning a couple of “Best Practices Award” for innovative programs that have actually saved taxpayer dollars. An electronic document-managing program has saved an estimated $3.27 million and more than 300 tons of paper over the past four years. A five-year-old purchasing cooperative now includes government entities from all over the state buying their basic supplies — from typing paper to asphalt — in bulk through Tarrant County, lowering the unit costs for all. Big wet kisses to District Clerk Tom Wilder, County Clerk Suzanne Henderson, and purchasing head Jack Beacham, who made these programs happen.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth trash controversy

Staff choice: Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center coverage

Maybe the “news-lite’’ redesign of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was born of reader ennui over the fawning, seemingly endless drivel the daily published about the opening of this motel on steroids. The headlines alone were enough to induce narcolepsy in a crackhouse: “Glitzy Debut ... New Era for North Texas Economy ... Gaylord will share the wealth ... Already a good neighbor ...” Its owners may have spent half a billion dollars building the Gaylord, but they would have been broke long ago if they tried to buy publicity like this.

Readers’ choice: Forcing out City Manager Gary Jackson

Staff choice: Taking the heat for the Water Gardens

Sometimes there’s more to politics than writing free-money checks to major corporations and real estate developers. On June 16, four visitors from Chicago — three of them children — drowned in the Fort Worth Water Gardens. While most politicans might have hidden from the crisis with the excuse of possible lawsuits, Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief went to funerals in Chicago. He said it was the right thing to do, and he was right. Standing up and taking responsibility, as Martha might have said in her pre-conviction days, is a good thing.

Readers’ choice: Public transit

Staff choice: New urbanism in Fort Worth

City Planning Director Fernando Costa has been trying to bring Fort Worth along gently toward the 21st century in urban planning, urging changes in ordinances and attitudes that will let Fort Worth’s older areas (and maybe, someday, even its new ones!) evolve into livable, distinctive neighborhoods that include homes, businesses, entertainment, and restaurants, all within walking distance of one another, where people rather than cars are king. Hang in there, Fernando.

Readers’ choice: New Cowboys stadium

Staff choice: Fort Worth ISD trustees

We hate to give credit to someone for making a no-brainer decision, but getting rid of Superintendent Thomas Tocco was a bullet that had remained unbitten for too many years. Now everyone concerned (and that’s all of us) can finally deal with the festering problems in Fort Worth’s education system.

Readers’ choice: Mass transit

Staff choice: Hipsters’ entertainment district

For all the things Fort Worth has added in the past decade — downtown developments, museums, race tracks — one noticeable thing is missing: an entertainment district focusing on young people. Granted, nice condos downtown are great for the empty-nester, but Cowtown also needs an area where folks in their 20s can go to hear music, see some art movies, skateboard, live in cheap lofts, and find a good meal at 2 a.m. The West Side-country-club trust-fund leadership needs to listen to their kids (or grandkids). That might move things along.

Readers’ choice: Trading former Ranger Alex Rodriguez

Staff choice: Cool ol’ summertime

It was a quiet year in the old Fort. Gov. Perry’s hair looked good all year, Willie Nelson brought his carpal tunnel show to town, and Thomas Tocco said he’d leave. But none of that could top the summer rains and cool weather. The city logged almost 19 inches of rain between June and August and only one day over 100 degrees. Mostly, we liked it ‘cause we could drink beer in the backyard before sunset without too much sweating. Can’t remember one like that.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Water Gardens

Staff choice: Fort Worth Water Gardens

We-a culpa. Last year this rag gave kudos to the Water Gardens as the best public spot for a family photo. At the time, we thought the only example of neglect at the 30-year-old oasis of concrete and cascading waters was the city’s inability to shoo the grackles off. Tragically, after four caskets left our city in June, we realized that there but for the grace of God went our own. As it turns out, maintaining the safety of the Water Gardens over the years has been just about last on the city’s list of “to dos.” So far no heads have rolled for this unconscionable act of institutional neglect. And that is too bad. The city owes at least that to the families of those killed through its negligence.

Readers’ choice: Michael’s Restaurant, 3413 W 7th St, FW

Staff choice: The Tower,(the old Bank One)

OK, so we’re a little ahead of the game here, but it won’t be long. Nothing inspires America quite like its endless variations of “the comeback kid” story — just look at Bill Clinton. Once considered the city’s biggest eyesore, the tornado-ravaged Bank One Tower is fast being turned into one of Cowtown’s toniest addresses. The condos are getting snapped up, so act fast if you’ve got the megadough to buy a spot from which you can literally look down your nose on the Great Unwashed.

Readers’ choice: Church

Staff choice: Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, 111 E 4th St, FW

A recent Saucer visit made our eyes as big as saucers. Some fine-looking flesh was on parade. A band’s jazz-pop music created just the right ambiance for approaching the opposite sex; there are cozy nooks and enough traffic to require not-so-accidental human contact that must be apologized for in clever or intriguing ways.

Readers’ choice: Club Vivid, 900 Houston St, FW

Staff choice: TCU Women’s Basketball Games

Sorry, you guys looking for guys. This won’t do it for you. But for lesbian women, the hot place to meet new friends is at TCU women’s basketball games. For whatever reason, the crowd at the college basketball games has really grown in the last year — and grown quite rainbowish. The hallways of Daniel Meyer Coliseum are the place to check out new chicks in town.

Readers’ choice: Downtown

Staff choice: Tarrant County Jail

Safety is a big part of the consideration in choosing a place to loose the bonds. It has to be a place where you can walk away unharmed and with a tiny bit of decorum. Only one place is really like that: the Tarrant County Jail Visitor’s Room. Invite your no-longer-significant other in, get on the phone, and drop the bombshell. The glass protects you, and the guard moves you back to your cell after a certain time. No stilted conversation, no platitudes gone awry. This works fine from the visitor’s side as well.

Readers’ choice: Back to Dallas

Staff choice: The Bull Ring, 112 E Exchange Av, FW

Dallas’ elitists like to fawn over foreign artists, while often overlooking the beauty in their own backyard. Fix that with a visit to A.C. “Ace” Cook’s ice cream parlor in the Stockyards. Cook is a pre-eminent collector of early Texas art, and much of his collection is hanging on the The Bull Ring’s walls, offering a chance to impress a refugee from the east not only with the quality and range of the work on display, but the nonchalance with which it is displayed. Admission is free, and Cook is usually itching to talk with customers about the paintings.

Readers’ choice: NRH20

Staff choice: Lonnegan’s on the Lake, 6500 Wells Burnett Rd, FW

What was known for years as Lauderdale’s on Eagle Mountain Lake was re-opened in June under new ownership and name. Just the same, however, is the excellence of this spot for enjoying dinner, drinks, live music, and dancing. Boaters can dock beside a floating patio that holds about 125 diners and drink their favorite beverage while enjoying the lake scenery.

Readers’ choice: The Zoo

Staff choice: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell, FW

Readers who think of art museums as boring, intimidating, or both may think us crazy. But consider the Modern’s advantages. Perusing the museum, you can enjoy your first date without having to discuss each other in detail. You can talk about the art, but if you don’t want to, the long silences feel deep rather than dorky. After the warm-up period, you can focus more on each other in the Museum’s great café.

Readers’ choice: Starbucks

Staff choice: Railhead Smokehouse, 2900 Montgomery St, FW

Nothing quite brings folks together in Texas like a block of ribs and an ice-cold goblet of beer. Owned by State Rep. Charlie Geren, this unpretentious eatery is the epitome of the Cowtown-style melting pot. Legislative powers-that-be, blue-collar construction workers, uniformed military types, golf-shirted businessmen, and college students alike rub shoulders and sometimes share the same roll of paper towels to daub their BBQ-sullied hands. Lean in on the conversations flanking you as you stand in the long lunchtime line, and who knows what latest buzz you might catch wind of.

Readers’ choice: Fox & Hound English Pub & Grill,604 Main St, FW

Staff choice: J.J. Dakota’s Billiards, 9112 Camp Bowie Blvd, FW

There’s probably some little bar somewhere in Fort Worth where the sharks go to sharpen up their pool games that we don’t know about, but for the rest of us, J.J. Dakota’s Billiards will do. Sixteen tables with good felt and reasonable rubber, no charge for playing weekdays 11a.m.—7p.m. ($6.50 per hour after that and on weekends), plenty of sticks to choose from, and always somebody to share a game.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Staff choice: YWCA of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, 512 W 4th St, FW

Surely Jennifer Lopez would have recommended this place in The Wedding Planner if she’d been from Fort Worth. The downtown YWCA’s reception hall has breathtaking architecture, reasonable rates, and a gorgeous upstairs ballroom. But don’t wait until the last minute — they book events one year in advance for popular wedding months (March through June). Other months are more readily available. If only J-Lo were.

Readers’ choice: Trinity River

Staff choice: Founders Plaza at DFW Airport

Not many people know about this little airport park, where people can sit and watch big jet airplanes come and go. There’s something about a setting sun glistening off the backs of shiny jets that makes one feel profound, inspired, and immaculate. Also, it’s a good place for necking at night. To get there, enter the airport from the south, take the South Airfield Drive exit and stay on the northbound service road. Take a right at the second traffic light (the street is called Crossunder #6) and watch for the little white Founders Park sign. Go right at the Carbon Road stop sign. The park is about a mile down that road.

Readers’ choice: Trinity River

Staff choice: Benbrook Lake

After watching a meteor shower and venturing forth for many a stargazing excursion, we think Benbrook Lake is as far away from the city lights as you can get without driving for hours. Just about any spot on the lake is good for sitting in the car or lying on a blanket to take in nature’s natural night-lights.

Readers’ choice: Public library

Staff choice: Ridgmar Movie Tavern, 6801Ridgmar Meadow Rd, FW

Forget all about your boss, calls you need to make, and numbers you need to crunch and drive to the Movie Tavern. Some of the world’s finest escapist activities are right here: food, drink, and movie-watching. Watch the latest flick while knocking back frozen margaritas, a bucket of brewskies, or the most expensive bottle of vino in the house. Just don’t expect to find popcorn and Mike and Ikes here.

Readers’ choice: Froggy’s Beach Club patio, 4400 White Settlement Rd, FW

Staff choice: Tobacco Lane, 512 Main St #110, FW

The Sundance Square clientele at Tobacco Lane includes guys like downtown industrialist Happy Baggett and actor Barry Corbin. There are thousands of hand-rolled smokes and a wine selection of 500 bottles of obscure labels.

Reader’s choice: The Shamrock Pub, 2710 West 7th St, FW

Sorry, everyone, but you all let us down big time here. Of the places we’ve gone — no names here — none have a gooseneck lamp mounted over the board making that the focus, with a nice dark area around it. Few places have boards that will stick a center. House darts are almost universally second-rate, even for house darts. Given that, the Bronx Zoo has recently put two new boards up, and if they get the lighting right, it’ll be a good spot.

Readers’ choice: The Main Event, 4801 Citylake Blvd E, FW

Staff choice: Daddio’s Jazz Café, 2504 Montgomery St, FW

Daddio’s Jazz Cafe has a number of quirky conversation starters: the unfinished floors, the run-down jukebox, the post-apocalyptic patio. And since you’ve been posing in cyberspace as a Swedish supermodel, you may wanna play it safe and meet your date in one of the dark corners of this totally hip, totally unpretentious café.

Readers’ choice: Benito’s, 1450 W Magnolia Av, FW

Staff choice: Rave Movie Theater at Ridgmar Mall, 2300 Green Oaks Blvd, FW

An intense night of festivities takes its toll on even the most battle-hardened partier, and the dreaded result is often a day of disability. Get your pounding headache out of bed, or out of the office, even, and catch a flick. Plush, spacious seating means should you succumb to sleep, you will be as comfy as at home, and certainly more so than at your desk, plus you can totally put your feet up. In addition, soda cups the size of a small trash can slake the most raging thirst — and then serve other humanitarian purposes, should worse (oooh) come to worst.

Readers’ choice: Reata rooftop

Staff choice: Trinity hike-and-bike trail north of downtown

Enjoy the view now. RadioShack and Pier 1 headquarters are already changing the landscape, mostly for the good. But this area is set for huge changes in years ahead -- it won’t be a peaceful prospect for long.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Staff choice: Sleeping panther sculpture

The bronze sculpture by Richland Hills artist Deran Wright at the county’s administration building (100 E. Weatherford St.)makes a photogenic and historic background (Fort Worth was once known as Panther City). Let the kids sit on the panther’s back and hug its neck. Your family will subsequently rot and burn in hell, but that’s a small price to pay for a good picture. North Richland Hills resident Blanca Castillo protested to Tarrant County Commissioners that the “pagan” statue was an “insult to Christians everywhere.” We’re not sure why one of God’s most beautiful and graceful creatures is considered pagan, but who are we to doubt Saint Castillo?

Readers’ choice: I-35W

Staff choice: I-35W

Facing a stiff challenge from serious contender Loop 820, the reigning champion flexed its Texas-sized muscles, inducing gridlock straight through Tarrant County. Endless construction projects at inopportune times, ridiculous design where on-ramps and off-ramps come and go from all sides, as well as a biblical-proportions deluge of vehicles at every hour of the day conspire to make I-35W Texas’ biggest parking lot. The resulting godforsaken interstate is a testament to Fort Worth drivers’ patience.

Readers’ choice: Como

Staff choice: Front page of any Monday’s Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The most abused piece of real estate this side of the Dallas County line may well lie in your front yard — the front page of your Monday Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It’s now a 140-square-inch wasteland of fluff, teases, puffery, news summaries, headlines, and directions on where to look for the actual news. Like USA Today, some say, only less so. Even some advertisers are complaining about a newspaper designed so readers won’t have a reason to look inside — where the ads are. The redesign, marshaled into your yard by Star-Telegram executive editor Jim Witt, seems what some might call jim-witted.

Readers’ choice: Aledo

Staff choice: Jacksboro Highway to its namesake

Most folks consider Jacksboro Highway a blue-collar boulevard bordered by Fort Worth and Sansom Park bars and used car lots. But keep heading west, and some nice scenery emerges. Sprawling ranches, little houses, and rustic towns stretch for 60 miles until the highway peters out near Jacksboro, a butt-ugly town of 5,000 surrounded by lovely rolling hills with natural grasses, cactus, and rocks. Grab a bite at the Green Frog Café before starting back.

Readers’ choice: Austin

Staff choice: Shreveport

A great day trip from our childhood involved LSD, Burger’s Lake, and getting lost on the Benbrook traffic circle for six hours, but we don’t recommend that to just everyone. Instead, try loading up the car with your best buddies and a designated driver. Hop on I-20 East first thing on a Saturday morning and drive several hours to Shreveport. Play blackjack, roulette, and video poker all day, drink free booze, eat cheap steaks, and go wild. At midnight, pour yourself back into the car and sleep like a baby while the designated driver returns you to your doorstep. Spend Sunday counting your winnings.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Staff choice: Fort Woof, Gateway Park, 750 N Beach St, FW

We’re tossing a bone to all those Cowtown canines whose human companions have swatted their rumps with a rolled-up Fort Worth Weekly for some perceived act of misbehavior. OK, so this rather barren 5-acre grassy patch surrounded by chain-link in the otherwise enticing Gateway Park isn’t the most beautiful real estate for humans in the city. But for a dog, it’s as close to heaven as city living gets. Where else can unfettered pooches encounter so many fragrant calling cards left by fellow hounds? One complaint: Whoever decided that all dogs at Fort Woof must be “under the voice control of their owners at all times’’ deserves a bad-dog scolding .

Readers’ choice: Starbucks, various locations

Staff choice: Coffee Haus, 208 S Mesquite, Arlington

It’s hard to find a coffee house these days that doesn’t have the word “star” or “bucks” in it, so the Coffee Haus in Arlington is quite a discovery. We love the colorful walls and its chill, comfortable atmosphere. The folks working the counter are as distinct and pleasant as the drinks they serve. From its regular brew to its Eskimochas, the Coffee Haus is the best coffee house we’ve seen in a long time.

Readers’ choice: The Tower (renovation of old Bank One)

Staff choice: Redevelopment of Montgomery Ward property

Since this city loves to throw tax abatements at developers, the amount of public money is getting more and more irrelevant. That’s why we won’t mention that the Montgomery Ward building on the near West Side is getting $20 million in tax rebates over 21 years. But the rejuvenated monstrosity is going to serve a purpose. The Ward’s project will include a Target SuperStore and other retail stores: nothing hip and cool, but badly needed by residents of new housing developments nearby.

Readers’ choice: Cassidy Corner, E 1st and Pecan sts, FW

Staff choice: Pecan Place, E 1st and Pecan sts, FW

If local architect Ken Schaumburg’s condos were people, they’d be the cheesy guys at the end of the bar, sporting satin shirts, styling gel, and gold chains. But by erecting Pecan Place at the edge of town -- and the readers’ choice, Cassidy Corner, just opposite -- the Viceroy of Velveeta has scored. The most winning attribute of this four-story condo isn’t exactly the look -- Ottoman Empire by way of HUD by way of Queen Victoria by way of Miami Beach. It’s a combination of unique look, great location -- within walking distance of bustling Sundance Square but far enough away to create the illusion of seclusion -- and spacious interiors, airy and full of natural light. Let’s just hope that Pecan Place marks the beginning of a new era of not necessarily great but fun-loving and well-planned building design.

Readers’ choice: Arlington

Staff choice: Wedgwood

Fort Worth used to be the big city with the small-town feel. That hasn’t been the case lately, with the proliferation of big boxes, strip centers, and two-days-to-build, overpriced housing. One of the consequences of sprawl is that everything looks the same, but for the quintessence of bland, head to the southern portion of Wedgwood, specifically Columbia Road between Old Granbury and McCart. Nothing but roofs, no lawns, and everything six inches apart. The handful of recently built strip malls doesn’t help much, either.

Readers’ choice: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Staff choice: RadioShack headquarters, Belknap and Taylor sts, FW

It’s everything you could want from a major corporation in a downtown the size and shape of Fort Worth’s — enviro-friendly, respectful to scenic views, and visually groovy. It’s not one building but a campus, lots of curvy boxes, lots of windows, and lots of red brick. RadioShack’s new headquarters is simply the best thing to happen to Cowtown since the Modern.

Readers’ and Staff choice: Tarrant County Family Law Center, 200 E Weatherford, FW

Say what you want about architect David M. Schwarz and what he’s done to uglify the city, but two of his most recent projects — the Bank One Building (420 Throckmorton St) and this year’s best example of public architecture, the Tarrant County Family Law Center — do not suck. A big granite box, the law center is a tip of the hat to the beautiful Tarrant County Courthouse across the street. Schwarz doesn’t replicate any of the courthouse’s motifs, just its materials. At a modest five stories, the law center also preserves the spectacular view of the courthouse’s tower and dome.

Readers’ choice: The Tower (renovation of old Bank One)

Staff choice: Alice E. Carlson Elementary School, 3320 W Cantey St, FW

Being “historically correct” isn’t as easy as it sounds. Getting hold of antiquated materials or building in an old-fashioned style — that’s easy. It’s capturing the spirit of the place that’s difficult, which is why Gideon Toal deserves the nod this year for constructing a gymnasium on the site of the 78-year-old Mission Revival school and blending everything together seamlessly.

Readers’ choice: Trash piles all over town

Staff choice: The Wells Fargo Bank at the Stockyards, 2315 N Main St, FW

Egad, that’s a lot of brick. This imposing monument to bad architecture casts a larger-than-Texas shadow on the entire Stockyards. Perhaps they were going for the contemporary style of “using a hell of a lot of brick.” The upside? Parking space in the shade is never hard to find. Did we mention there’s a lot of brick?

Readers’ choice: The Tower (renovation of old Bank One)

Staff choice:Linwood

This modest neighborhood just west of the 7th Street Montgomery Ward took a licking in the 2000 tornado and kept on ticking. It has withstood the attempts of slumlords and absentee owners to bring it down. In the last decade, its mostly working-class residents have gotten organized, put together a neighborhood association, and worked with police and code enforcement officers to keep out gangs and blight. Now Linwood residents are being tested again, by developers who want to buy up the small single-family and duplex homes and replace them, eventually, with high-dollar condos. The future will test the theory that a working-class neighborhood can survive as money moves their way. We bet on Linwood.

Readers’ choice: Potential re-election of President Bush

Staff choice: Bush Administration stance on Sudan

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted earlier this month that what is happening in the Sudan — where the Arab-controlled state is aiding, abetting, and arming paramilitary groups in the slaughter of black Sudanese — is genocide. But, he said, “No new action is dictated by this determination.” His words didn’t just indict the present administration, they indicted our whole country. The genocide has already taken more than 100,000 lives, and the death toll is still climbing. We in the United States, who so willingly go into battle when it suits our interests, have not raised a finger to stop this slaughter.

Readers’ choice: Red Cross

Staff choice:League of Women Voters Fort Worth

There are so many causes and not enough hands — in Fort Worth, in the country, in the world. But if any cause demands attention now and not later, it’s the presidential election. More so than any other organization, the League of Women Voters is pushing people to vote this November, to accept some responsibility for this nation, and to potentially provoke some action on causes that demand our attention.

Readers’choice: Prince Hall Masons

Staff choice: Community of Harmony Mural — Rhythm Band Instruments Bldg,1316 E Lancaster Av, FW

This block-long, color-splashed mural with its larger-than-life images of people of all races making joyful music together is a silent yet powerful plea for unity in a world where people are still killing one another over race, religion, politics, and proximity to any asset Halliburton wishes to acquire. But the Community of Harmony Mural also reminds us of the selflessness of which our fellow humans are still capable. It is a remarkable gift, bestowed upon a long-depressed neighborhood by a few artists who donated months of work to create a tribute to the neighborhood’s past as the religious and cultural hub of Fort Worth’s African-American community. Thanks go to Texas Wesleyan University art students Suzette Rangel and Melissa Rodriguez, Wesleyan alumna Serena Shook, and artist Ken Sutherland.

Readers’ choice: 1919 Hemphill

Staff choice: Fort Worth Citizens for Responsible Government

Yes, politically conscious Eastsiders chair the organization. And yes, the safe removal of the Cowtown Inn remains high on their agenda. But this group’s activism encompasses the whole city. “We are after a more responsible and responsive government. We don’t have it,” member Louis McBee said. The group helped Donavan Wheatfall defeat veteran council member Frank Moss, is questioning the city’s spending policies, and believes current leaders conduct too much business behind closed doors.

Readers’ choice: Cutting Edge Haunted House billboards

Staff choice: Mimi Coffey’s billboard on I-30

Given the amount of time we all seem to spend on freeways these days, a good billboard can act like a much-needed dose of No-Doz. Defense attorney Mimi Coffey’s big bad board may seem in poor taste, but it’ll sure wake you up. And anything that eggs on the masses to wonder what else the government is lying about is certainly worthy of commendation in our book. Coffey’s warning: “Drink, Drive, Go To Jail — Another Government Lie.”

Readers’ choice: The Tower condos, downtown Fort Worth

Staff choice: Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl

TCU’s football team gave blood at this shootout, and — even with the three-point loss to Boise State — defensive backs and waterboys alike lavished themselves in the ESPN limelight. Whether TCU deserved a bowl game or whether this was just another self-indulgent Rich Old Guys money-maker, who cares? ESPN hasn’t plugged into this large a Cowtown crowd since ... um, didn’t they cover our Music Awards?

Readers’ and Staff choice: The new Trinity Trail extension.

Here’s a chance to be a pioneer of sorts. You can be among the first to explore the latest seven-mile extension of the web of pathways that make up Trinity Trails. The newest addition, which opened this summer, stretches from the low-water crossing near LaGrave Field, home of the Fort Worth Cats, along the West Fork of the Trinity River to Gateway Park on the East Side. Getting downtown from the East Side by foot or bicycle used to mean navigating traffic with motorized vehicles. Now it’s a short cycle ride, moderate jog, or leisurely stroll on a paved, canopied trail that clings to the river.

Readers’ choice: Trinity Park, FW

Staff choice: GPX Skate Park, Grand Prairie

Some kids like Burnett Park downtown, but if you’re after some real skateboarding experience, check out GPX Skate Park and Entertainment Center in Grand Prairie. Located near the Lone Star Park horse track, GPX has three courses, including one with a 12-foot vertical ramp. GPX, the largest in Texas, is open to the public -- both newcomers without experience, and those who do this for real. You might see Josh Love, a 13-year-old from Grand Prairie who won the “Texas Best” competition last year for those 13 and over. He’ll be at this year’s Texas Best competition at GPX on Oct. 16.

Readers’ choice: Ralph DeVivo

Staff choice: Coach Pat Hannon

Last year, Pat Hannon gave up his spot in the Fort Worth Cats outfield to to into teaching full-time. In his first year of teaching and coaching at an alternative school in the Eagle Mountain Lake a, he took his freshman baseball team to a share in the district championship. He played with the Cats for a few weeks this summber but is now back at school -- a great role model for melding dreams with reality.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Cats games

Staff choice: Tennis at TCU

Baseball, football, basketball — there are other sports out there, people, different athletes to celebrate, other physical feats to gawk at. Why not take the kids to see something out of the ordinary for once, like a tennis match at TCU, home to a top-25 men’s team. Oh yeah, and it’s free.

Readers’ choice: Whitestone Golf Club, 10650 Hwy 377 S, Benbrook

Staff choice: Pecan Valley, 6800 Lakeside Dr, FW

This city-owned course is a bit of a drive (in the car, we mean), but well worth the effort. Located next to the Benbrook dam, this well-designed course offers two very different experiences, with the back nine of the “Hills” course providing trickier play than the more forgiving “River” holes. Nice fountains, long fairways — and the hundreds of trees planted a few years ago are adding to the experience.

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Weekly

Staff choice: Brunch at Saffire Lounge, 2314 W 7th St, FW

Hoping for the “Freebie” and “Place to Find a Paid Escort” selections to match? So were we. But the Saffire Lounge’s hangover brunch is just too good to ignore. When the weather’s nice, nightlife emissary Pete the Greek fires up the grill and serves a smorgasbord of good eats, including slow-cooked, lemon-marinated ribs and Greek salad from his family’s recipe. The catch? There is none. No washing dishes. No cover to pay. No hands to shake. No two-drink minimum — but, of course, who wouldn’t want to wash down all that flavor with a few cocktails at reasonable prices?

Readers’ choice: Fort Worth Weekly

Staff choice: Rosedale Avenue

The bargain basement prices on Rosedale (between Riverside and New York) make for — without a doubt — the best bang for the buck. This brutally honest stretch of pavement doesn’t really offer the kind of ladies you’d take to Bubbie’s Passover dinner, let alone an orgy à la Eyes Wide Shut. But that’s beside the point; a recent small sampling of these streetwalkers revealed young women full of character, erudition, fast talk, and connections to motel personnel across the zip code. Being close to the Hospital District is an added convenience ... just in case.

Readers’ choice: (tie) Trinity Park and Kimbell Art Museum, both FW

Staff choice: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St, FW

It’s not what you nap on, but where. When Anne Marion started tearing down everything at the University/West Seventh/Camp Bowie intersection, she did it so visitors to her modern art museum would have nice grass to look at. She also put in park benches, though we can’t figure out why. Regardless, they are a good place to do some thinking and sleeping. They are metal and not very comfortable, but hey, the guards aren’t going to let you stay there very long anyway. But for short stretches, you can rest and admire the museum and think how much the owners don’t want bums like you there. Think of yourself as a guerilla artist.

Readers’ choice: Jazz Monsters band

Staff choice: The contents of Tom Wilder’s safe

The Tarrant County district clerk, showing a visitor around his office one day, casually gestured to a large safe in a walk-in evidence locker. You might be interested in the contents of this, he said in so many words, but if I told you what was in it you’d wind up on one of Nizam Peerwani’s autopsy tables. Except to note that the contents are related to a handful of civil and criminal cases filed in his office, Wilder won’t say precisely what he’s guarding. But so valuable does he consider the mysterious contents that Wilder requested that the Weekly not reveal the safe’s precise location. Whatever the safe’s secrets, they seem safe with Tom.