Five stories that have North Texas talking: a new program provides safe alternatives to calling 911, Nelson Mandela gets a Texas-sized birthday party, The Daily Show rips on Texas, and more.
What happens if you call 911 and the lines are busy? Or what if you’re in a situation where it’s too dangerous to speak? There’s a new program rolling out to alleviate such situations, NBC 5 reports. Verizon Wireless customers in parts of North Texas will be able to contact 911 through text messages. The program is called Text to 911, and it’s currently available in parts of Wise and Collin county. Verizon is currently the only provider that carries the service, but plans are being made roll out Text to 911 to AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile customers.
Although lifesaving, there is a drawback to the program. Dispatch operators that receive texts can’t determine the precise location of the sender, so texters will have to include that information in their 911 text.
- HEB, 7-Eleven Won’t Carry Rolling Stone Issue Either: It just got a little bit harder to find the controversial Rolling Stone issue people have been talking about. San-Antonio-based H-E-B and Dallas-based 7-Eleven have also announced their refusal to carry the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone, the Austin-American Statesman reports. The issue in question features a cover story of accused Boston bomber DzhokharTsarnaev.
- Gov. Perry Takes On New York, Lewis Black Not Impressed: Comedians love to rip on Gov. Rick Perry, and The Daily Show’s Lewis Black pulled no punches on his Back to Black segment. Black wasn’t amused with the governor’s radio and TV spots attempting to lure out-of-state business to Texas. He had some choice words for the governor, and for the state of Texas. Warning: the video carries some explicit language.
- Nelson Mandela Gets A Fair Park Birthday Party: Nelson Mandela may be 9,000 miles away, but that didn’t stop North Texan supporters from throwing a celebration in honor of his 95th birthday. KERA’sCourtney Collins reports hundreds came out to the event, which means plenty of birthday cards for the former South African president.
- Sun To Power Fort Worth Students To The Sunshine State: Students from All Saints Episcopal School will be taking a trip to California next week, but it won’t be by plane. The group will be road-tripping to the Sunshine State in a three-wheel car that is appropriately powered by the sun. But it’s not just an experimental joyride; it’s a seven-day race as a part of the Solar Car Challenge. [WFAA] Tune in to tonight's All Things Considered for Bill Zeeble's report on another, less sunny car race.
