Five stories that have North Texas talking: Glenn Beck will be bringing food, water and teddy bears to the immigrant children along the border; North Texas is home to two of the world’s most creative sculptures; the GOP picks Cleveland over Dallas; and more.
Glenn Beck plans to head to the border – to try to help the more than 50,000 children who’ve entered the United States illegally. The conservative talk show host will host an event July 19 in McAllen, and he’ll be bringing food, water, teddy bears and soccer balls. “Anyone, left or right, seeking political gain at the expense of these desperate, vulnerable, poor and suffering people are reprehensible,” Beck said on The Glenn Beck Program Tuesday. “And they should be reminded that it has been said whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker.” Beck, who records his shows out of a Las Colinas studio, says he’ll be joined by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, and pastors and rabbis. “Through no fault of their own, they are caught in political crossfire,” Beck said of the immigrant children. “And while we continue to put pressure on Washington and change its course of lawlessness, we must also help. … We must open our hearts.” Beck says he’s getting “violent emails” from folks who say he’s “betrayed the Republic.” His response? “Whatever,” he said, according to his website, TheBlaze. “I’ve never taken a position more deadly to my career than this — and I have never, ever taken a position that is more right than this.” Meanwhile, Dallas County continues to make plans to shelter 2,000 of the children. Watch Beck:
- Did you know that Dallas-Fort Worth is home to two of the world’s most creative statues and sculptures? That’s according to BoredPanda, which asked its readers to submit their nominees. The Las Colinas mustangs were ranked No. 1 on the list. The downtown Dallas cattle drive was ranked No. 13. Expansion by Paige Bradley in New York City was ranked No. 2. Salmon Sculpture, which features a salmon bursting through a brick building in Portland, Oregon, was ranked No. 4. Learn more about the Las Colinas mustangs. They were created by wildlife artist Robert Glen. And learn more about the downtown Dallas cattle. They were created by artist Robert Summers.
- Dallas leaders spent Tuesday licking their wounds after Republican officials announced they’d rather hold their 2016 convention in Cleveland. RNC chairman Reince Priebus said the main reason was political: "As goes Ohio, so goes the presidential race.” Dallas officials were disappointed, but they hold out hope that Big D will once again host a convention – at some point. “I’m very convinced that when people have seen Dallas, both in the mayors’ conference recently and the New Cities conference that was here recently, people are wowed by Dallas,” said Kay Bailey Hutchison, the former U.S. senator. Read more reaction from KERA News.
- Teen pregnancy rates are dropping in Texas and across the country – but the declines are larger elsewhere. The Texas Tribune explores the reasons in a story this week: “Despite the improvements in the Lone Star State, it is faring worse than most. Texas has the nation’s fifth-highest birth rate among teenagers, behind Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and New Mexico. And Texas, where schools are not required to teach sex education, has the highest rate of repeat births among teenagers ages 15 to 19. Teenage birth cost Texas taxpayers $1.1 billion in health care, foster care and lost tax revenue in 2010, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.” The story is part of the Tribune’s 10-part series on the flip side of state leaders' aggressive pursuit of the "Texas Miracle."
- What are the best suburbs in North Texas? D Magazine has released its annual list. Highland Park tops it. Parker is ranked No. 2. Colleyville, University Park and Murphy round out the top five. Why is ritzy Highland Park on top? Residents credit the sense of community. D reports: “Joel T. Williams, Highland Park’s mayor since 2012, moved to town 40 years ago. Not much has changed in that time, he says, and residents like it that way. Yet this town, designed a century ago, fits in perfectly with today’s urban-planning trends. It’s walkable and self-contained, yet borders some of Dallas’ most vibrant neighborhoods—Knox-Henderson, Oak Lawn, SMU, even downtown. It makes the planners of the last century appear genius.”
