Five stories that have North Texas talking: a black business executive gets into the Dallas Country Club after a 13-year wait, a transgender widow wins a fight in court, catch WFAA’s Dale Hansen on Ellen, and more.
Talk about a long wait time: after waiting for 13 years, a black business executive from Preston Hollow has been admitted to the once all-white Dallas Country Club. Kneeland Youngblood’s application to the club languished for 13 years, while the club granted a more limited, out-of-state membership to another black businessman a few years ago, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Paul Quinn College president Michael Sorrel said that Youngblood’s admission says a lot about how racial barriers have been slow to come down in Dallas. “I’m speechless that it took 13 years for a person of Kneeland Youngblood’s quality to be admitted to anything,” Sorrel said. “Old habits die hard.”
The club has a pricey membership fee: $137,000
- There’s no word yet on a decision to the two cases challenging Texas’ same-sex marriage ban, but an important decision was issued on another legal case concerning benefits for transgender spouses. An appeals court overturned a judge’s ruling that voided the marriage of a transgender widow; her firefighter husband died battling a fire. The original court decision recognized the marriage as a same-sex marriage, but Nikki Araguz argued she had done everything medically and legally possible to show she is female and legally married under state law.
- Dale Hansen’s commentary on Missouri football player Michael Sam went viral, which has caught the attention of Piers Morgan, NPR, and others. He’ll be appearing today on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The national attention surprised the sports anchor, and he says he rarely gets surprised. “[People] see a big, fat, old guy from Dallas, Texas, and they thought they knew what the redneck was going to say,” Hansen told The Dallas Morning News. “I guess they were wrong.” Ellen will air at 1 p.m. on KXAS ahead of the Winter Olympics coverage.
- Take advantage of the warmer weather today to wine and dine with a special someone at Klyde Warren Park. It’s annual Valentine’s Day At The Park event will start at 6:30 p.m., and it’ll include swing dancing, a dessert station, and champagne and wine.
- If a park date isn’t your thing, how about a robot opera? Art & Seek’s Jerome Weeks went behind the scenes of composer Tod Machover’s new sci-fi opera, Death and Powers. It tells the story of a terminally ill billionaire and explores the idea of humanity without the possibility of touch, suffering, and death. Get your tickets here.
