Five stories that have North Texas talking: a shark attack in Galveston; Susan Hawk apologizes to a worker she fired; a Texas sheriff isn’t taking on marijuana cases; and more.
A 13-year-old West Texas boy has been hospitalized after a shark bit him in the back of his foot while he was wading along a Galveston beach. The Galveston Island Beach Patrol says the incident happened about 10 a.m. Monday as the Odessa boy and his brother waded in waist-deep Gulf waters near the 37th Street jetty. Lt. Kara Harrison told the Houston Chronicle the pair reported feeling a school of fish swirl their legs when the 13-year-old was bitten by a 4-to-5-foot-long shark. Harrison said the boy's foot was bandaged before he was taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where she said he "definitely is going to need stiches." [Associated Press/Houston Chronicle]
- Dallas County Democrats are calling for District Attorney Susan Hawk to resign. This comes as Hawk returned to work last week after seeking treatment for depression -- and as she talked with D Magazine about her treatment at a facility in Houston. In the story published online Sunday, she said she wanted to resign as DA back in July – and that she’d had suicidal thoughts. The Democrats' call for Hawk to resign concerns local Republicans. “Republicans and Democrats alike battle mental health issues,” Wade Emmert, the chair of the Dallas County Republican Party, told KERA. “I think using this as a political opportunity diminishes the real courage it takes in somebody to come forward like this.” Emmert says he believes Hawk will bounce back. Learn more here.
- Hawk has apologized to a worker she fired. The Dallas Morning News reports: “She made amends Monday with an employee who was 10 months from retirement when she fired him earlier this year. ‘There was a mutual apology,’ former investigator Jeff Savage said. ‘I apologized for whatever it was that I did. Generally, I just apologized for opening my big mouth. She apologized and said she regretted how she handled it, and in the end, she offered me a job back.’ The legal community jumped to Savage’s defense when he was fired in June after 26 years with the DA’s office. He became one of several former employees who say Hawk terminated them citing a bizarre explanation or none at all, bolstering allegations that Hawk was suffering from paranoia.” [The Dallas Morning News]
- A Texas sheriff isn’t taking on marijuana cases. NPR reports: “A federal inspection station on Interstate 10 in the West Texas desert earned the nickname ‘checkpoint of the stars’ for all the entertainers who kept getting busted there. In the past six years, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Fiona Apple were all arrested for possession of marijuana. These days, though, after a decision by a local lawman, everyone from personal pot smokers to medium-size marijuana traffickers can avoid jail. … For the past year, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West has refused to take any more ‘checkpoint cases,’ even those involving commercial quantities of marijuana worth thousands of dollars. ‘I don't have a problem whatsoever going out there and arresting them,’ West says. ‘I just have a problem making my local taxpayers foot the bill for America's problem. I'm not gonna do the federal government's job.’” [NPR]
- In the 1980s, North Texas was a professional wrestling hot spot. World Class Championship Wrestling was televised to fans across the globe from Dallas-Fort Worth. A new exhibit at UT Arlington shows off the group’s outrageous outfits, the high drama, and the loud crowds that gathered to take it all in. KERA’s Justin Martin takes a tour.
