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Big Hoss, The World’s Biggest TV Screen, Transforms Into Drive-In Movie Theater

Texas Motor Speedway/Facebook
Big Hoss, the world's biggest TV screen, will become a drive-in movie theatre this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Big Hoss is more than just the world’s biggest TV; a North Texas man will be exonerated today; Texas is one of the worst states for kids; and more:

Big Hoss, the world’s biggest HD TV screen at the Texas Motor Speedway, becomes a drive-in movie theater Saturday night. The Big Hoss TV Ultimate Drive-In will feature The LEGO Movie. The cost is $20 per carload.Proceeds benefit Speedway Children's Charities-Texas Chapter. You can bring your own food and drinks, but concession stands will be open. Make sure to bring lawn chairs. Big Hoss is super big – it is 218 feet wide by 94.6 feet tall. It  features 20,633 square feet of HD LED display. The speedway loves to brag that its TV is 79 percent bigger than the video board at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Oh, and Big Hoss has earned the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest HD LED video board. Learn more about Big Hoss here.

  • Dallas County is set to exonerate another North Texan Friday. What makes this case different is that Michael Phillips didn’t request DNA testing or actively proclaim his innocence. That’s a first for Dallas County – or anywhere in the country, according to the Dallas County District Attorney’s office and the National Registry of Exonerations. Phillips, 57, served 12 years in prison after pleading guilty in 1990 for raping a 16-year-old girl at a Dallas motel, the Dallas County DA's office says. But DNA testing shows another man committed the rape. Phillips will be the 34th person who’s exonerated in Dallas County. Read more from KERA News.

  • A Collin County commissioner has proposed a resolution that would keep migrant children from Central America out of his county. Mark Reid’s resolution is titled “In Support of Ending Illegal Immigration.” “Housing of minor children of being in this country illegally, whether designated as a ‘refugee’ or otherwise, is not in our citizens’ best interests,” the resolution states. Reid told The Dallas Morning News:  “I am a businessman. I am not a politician, and that’s how government screws thing up: They do what seems right now and don’t think through what will happen a year or 10 years down the road. That’s why we need to follow the law.”

  • Texas is one of the worst states for kids, according to a national study released this week. KERA’s Stella Chavez reports: “The Kids Count study, released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows that Texas still ranks in the bottom 10 states. To be precise, Texas is No. 43. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The report shows that Texas improved on half of the measures that make up the rankings. Three of those are in education.” Massachusetts is the best state for children’s well-being, the Kids Count study says. Vermont placed second. Mississippi ranked worst.

  • A new film has a North Texas connection. KERA’s Stephen Becker talked with the producer: “In About Alex, college friends reunite when one of the group’s members attempts suicide. The film was produced by Richardson native Adam Saunders, who talks about why these small dramas are making a resurgence in Hollywood.” 
Eric Aasen is KERA’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to KERA radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.