Five stories that have North Texas talking: DART launches light-rail service to D/FW International Airport; Gov. Rick Perry fights back against his indictment; a Dallas executive writes about “white privilege;” and more.
More than 2,200 pets were adopted Saturday as part of Empty the Shelter Day. Adoption fees were waived at more than 30 North Texas animal shelters. Organizers called it the largest adoption event in North Texas. The goal: to get as many animals as possible out of shelters and into homes. KXAS-TV (Channel 5) reports: “As of Saturday evening, 2,217 animals found new homes, according to Corey Price, Animals Services Manager with the city of Irving, which organized the effort. Dallas Animal Services adopted out 149 cats and dogs. The two shelters in Irving adopted out 157 pets. Arlington found new homes for 133 animals. … On a typical Saturday, [Arlington Animal Services will] adopt out ten dogs if they’re lucky. Saturday, they had already surpassed that total within the first hour.”
- Today, for the first time, you can take a DART train to D/FW International Airport. KERA’s Shelley Kofler reports:“Connecting DART to D/FW Airport has been a goal of the rail system since its beginning 31 years ago. Now for a $2.50 one-way ticket, passengers can board the Orange Line and travel to the front door of the airport’s Terminal A.” It’ll take about an hour to go from downtown Dallas to the airport. You can leave your car in DART parking lots – but you’ve been warned: Those lots aren’t secured. During the week you can get to DFW by train as early as 3:50 am. The last train departs the airport shortly after 1 a.m. Learn more on DART’s website. Last month, DART previewed the service with reporters. Want to see what it looks like for a train to roll into the airport? Here’s a quick video from KERA’s Bill Zeeble:
- Texas Gov. Rick Perry is defending the veto that led a grand jury to indict him on two felony counts of abuse of power. "I stood up for the rule of law in the state of Texas, and if I had to do it again I would make exactly the same decision," Perry told “Fox News Sunday.” He added: “This is not the way that we settle differences, political differences in this country. You don't do it with indictments. We settle our political differences at the ballot box." A grand jury on Friday indicted the governor for abusing the powers of his office by carrying out a threat to veto funding for state prosecutors investigating public corruption. On Saturday, Perry called the indictment “outrageous.” From The Texas Tribune, here are five things you should know about the indictment. [The Associated Press]
- A friend of the Fort Worth doctor who contracted Ebola in Liberia has this message: Wait for Dr. Kent Brantly to share his story. Dr. David McRay, director of maternal-child health for the JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, wrote a piece for The Washington Post: “TV pundits, bloggers, Facebook fans, people on the street and around the world, friends and colleagues, church members and former teachers (like me) — just about everyone — know the story, or at least we think we do. It’s been told, retold and incorrectly told countless times, in every possible medium. Kent has been venerated as a saint and vilified as a menace. He would, I am confident, be the first to say he is not a saint. I will be the strongest voice stating he is not a menace or an idiot.” Brantly’s family belongings are considered contaminated and will be destroyed, according to a statement Friday from JPS, where he studied. In a statement, Brantly says he’s “recovering in every way” and remains at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
- A Dallas executive whose group battles poverty reflects on “white privilege.” Larry James, president and CEO for CitySquare, a nonprofit that focuses on poverty. “White privilege, and male at that, remains a powerful force in our culture,” he writes on his blog, Larry James’ Urban Daily. “And personally, before I get too sold on my own accomplishments, it is always helpful to remind myself that I started, via a genetic lottery, with a huge advantage. If you look at life as if it were a football game, I was born on my opponents' 5-yard line, while they weren't even in the stadium.” Earlier this year, James was featured at a televised public forum during KERA’s “One Crisis Away,” an ongoing effort that looks at poverty in North Texas.
