Five stories that have North Texas talking: Removal of Robert E. Lee statue in Dallas delayed; Tony Romo makes a successful CBS debut; Denton’s dealing with more litter bugs; and more.
One person died Sunday night in a crash involving a semi-trailer truck and a crane from Houston hired to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee in Oak Lawn.
Assistant City Manager Jon Fortune said the crane was on its way to Lee Park when it was involved in a collision with the semi just south of downtown Dallas. The semi-truck driver was pronounced dead at the scene, the Dallas Morning News reports. The driver of the crane didn't suffer significant injuries, but the crane was badly damaged.
The case is still under review, but City Manager T.C. Broadnax said it appears the semi driver ran the light. He said at a news conference that the northbound crane had a green arrow and was turning left onto Linfield. At the same time, the semi was heading southbound on S.M. Wright.
City officials planned to take down the 81-year-old statue last Wednesday after the Dallas City Council approved its removal. But, the process has been stalled for several reasons: the city ordered a crane too small; crews had difficulty removing the statue from the monument; then, the Sons of Confederate Veterans won a temporary restraining order delaying its removal until Thursday, when a federal judge threw out the order. [The Dallas Morning News]
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- Former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made his broadcast debut this weekend, calling the Oakland Raiders-Tennessee Titans game. CBS’ new top analyst got rave reviews from social media users impressed by his ability to call plays before they happened. [SportsDay]
- Hundreds of people from North Texas’ Muslim community prepared 100,000 meals Sunday to feed victims of Hurricane Harvey and other Texans who need food. Each meal is designed to sustain one person for a full day. [The Dallas Morning News]
- Volunteers with Keep Denton Beautiful recently finished their annual systematic count of the city's roads and found more litter this year. More trash could be a symptom of a growing population. The recent count will inform future clean-up efforts. [Denton Record-Chronicle]
- New Orleans placed a touching full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle’s Sunday’s paper.
Both the wife and I got a little moist-eye reading this full-page ad in this morning's @HoustonChron. Cheers to you, NOLA. pic.twitter.com/6OqGpXmYwT
— Matt Schwartz (@SchwartzChron) September 10, 2017
The High Five is KERA’s daily roundup of stories from Dallas-Fort Worth and across the state. Explore our archives here. And sign up for our weekly email for the North Texas news you need to know.
