Five stories that have North Texas talking: gifts of money in envelopes will be left in Victory Park tonight; Texas authors are represented at a big national book expo; Dallas is the most chivalrous city; and more.
Did you hear about the anonymous person who left money in envelopes around San Francisco last week? A similar effort is supposed to be happening in Dallas Monday night. Is this the real deal or a big hoax? Many local media outlets have reported that the local effort, called Hidden Cash DFW, starts at 6 p.m. Monday at Victory Park. KTVT (Channel 11) reports that the person behind Hidden Cash DFW isn’t as secretive as the California donor. “Stacey Monroe is 19 years old, unemployed and putting her money behind the project. ‘I guess you could say you know how are you giving this money if you are unemployed? But I think it’s a good way to tell the community when you feel like you have a little extra money it’s good so you encourage others to give to others,’ she said.’” She’s trying to get businesses to donate. The envelopes will contain at least $20; some will include $60, KTVT reports. Clues will be sent via a Twitter account, @HiddenCashDFW, Monday. The account has quickly gained thousands of followers.
- A North Texas resident is among the 13 victims whose deaths General Motors have been linked to an ignition switch defect in cars, The New York Times reports. Gene Mikale Erickson, 25, was killed in 2004 in a car accident in Ben Wheeler, which is about an hour east of Dallas. His girlfriend, who was driving the car during the accident, wondered if she was responsible for his death. But Erickson’s family learned last week from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that he was among the 13 victims. The Times reports: “Ever since G.M. first began recalling 2.6 million small cars with the defective ignition switch in February, the company has refused to disclose the names of the victims or details of the accidents — even to some survivors of the crashes and relatives of the dead. G.M. also has not shared its interpretation of the data from the so-called black boxes that helped the automaker identify the 13 deaths, leaving some local and state investigators to draw their own conclusions — often erroneously — about the crashes.”
- The North Texas Municipal Water District is turning again to Lake Texoma to serve its customers north and east of Dallas. The Dallas Morning News reports that Lake Texoma was an important source of water for the district for nearly two decades before invasive zebra mussels were discovered in the lake in 2009. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cut the flow of water from Texoma, which borders Oklahoma. That meant more than 27.3 billion gallons of water could no longer be delivered to customers. The district undertook a $300 million project to build treatment plants and a delivery system that sends Texoma water to Lavon Lake in Collin County. [The Associated Press]
- Texas authors were represented at BookExpo America in New York last week. The memoir of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis will be published in September. The Texas Tribune reports her publisher recently published details of her book: Forgetting to Be Afraid: A Memoir. KERA’s Stephen Becker, who was at BEA, reports that the book will focus mostly on her life story as opposed to her political career. But Stephen notes the book’s release in September “dovetails nicely” for her since her gubernatorial campaign will be in high gear. Also, Stephen reported on the debut novel by Denton author Merritt Tierce. Love Me Back will be out in September – it follows a young waitress who works hard at a Dallas steakhouse while trying to sort her life out. Why set the book in Big D? “Dallas is an interesting place and I don’t think it’s been written about that much because it kind of lives in the stereotypes about it that are out there,” Tierce told KERA. “There’s a whole lot more to be written about Dallas than I think you would guess at first glance.”
- Did you know Dallas is America’s most chivalrous city? That’s according to SeekingMillionaire.com, which calls itself the “premiere site for affluent dating.” The site polled more than 32,000 users to get their thoughts on where chivalry is “most alive.” Men were asked about dating practices such as opening doors and who pays the dinner bill. Washington, D.C. was No. 2. San Jose, California, was ranked third. Salt Lake City was No. 4. And No. 5 was Seattle. The site declares: “Women in Dallas still seek a southern gentleman, and keep the men in line.” Brandon Wade, SeekingMillionaire.com’s founder and CEO, said: Honoring traditional gender roles isn’t a step back for progress. Courting a woman should be more of an art, and less a means to an end.”
