Texas, Gulf States Most Prone To Zika Scored Worst On Reproductive Rights Report Card

Five stories that have North Texas talking: This 91-year-old from McKinney is probably in better shape than you; Rick Perry donned his dancing shoes and clutched a pitchfork Monday night; Do you consider Texas part of the South?; and more.

The first sexually transmitted case of Zika virus in the U.S. happened in Dallas County in February. Since then Texas has reported 195 cases of Zika. Being near water, Gulf states like Texas are more prone to mosquitoes and thus, the virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti species. But, according to a report from The Population Institute, the lack of reproductive rights and resources for women in these states is an added threat of the virus spreading. Texas scored an F- and is “particularly vulnerable,” according to the report. Although the Supreme Court overturned the state’s abortion law in June, “Planned Parenthood is still blocked from funding, dozens of family planning clinics in the state remain closed, and it may take years before capacity is restored,” Vox reports. [Vox, The Population Institute, Texas Tribune, The New York Times]

• “Every time I do a 5K, the next day, I feel like a lion.” At 91, Tony Taddeo is still as avid a runner as when he felt his first runners’ high in California decades ago, he tells The Dallas Morning News. Taddeo retired but didn’t stop running. He had heart surgery and then ran a 5K. If he doesn’t exercise every day (which he does) he feels off. He runs three or four days a week and supplements with power walking, yoga and time with the Wii Fit. He hopes to run a 5K on his 100th birthday. He’s still human, though; his favorite indulgence is ice cream. [The Dallas Morning News]

• How does Dallas build and maintain an “arts ecosystem”? That’s the main question behind Carol Zhou’s work. The 28-year-old is a social practice artist. She moved to Dallas about 18 months ago to run a project called trans.lation. As part of her practice, she helps people in Vickery Meadow collaborate to create the community they need to be creative. On a bigger scale, she tries to organize artists in North Texas to fight for equity. See all of the North Texas creatives featured in the Artist Spotlight. [Art&Seek]

• Only 57 percent of respondents to FiveThirtyEight’s recent survey think Texas is part of the South. The survey isolated 1,135 respondents who identified “a lot” or “some” as a Southerner. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana garnered the strongest consensus among respondents as belonging to the South. Virginia, Arkansas and Kentucky hovered at about 50 percent. Oklahoma and West Virginia both pulled less than 25 percent. The label stretched as far west as Colorado, with 1 percent of respondents considering it a southern state. [FiveThirtyEight]

• Rick Perry and his partner Emma Slater performed a quickstep to the theme of “Green Acres.” Monday night’s performance fared two points better for the former governor, who's dancing to raise awareness for veterans, but he still landed the lowest score for the second week in a row. In his “Dancing With the Stars” debut last week, he danced a cha-cha all the way to the bottom of the barrel with 20 points, but fans voted to keep him around. If it was a competition for having the most fun, Perry would be winning by a long shot. [Dancing With the Stars]