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Top Stories: Denton Celebrates July 4; Preventing School Shootings Via Gun Storage

Bill Zeeble
/
KERA News

The top local stories this evening from KERA News:

Crews continue to battle a wildfire in Palo Pinto County that started Monday, about sixty miles west of Fort Worth. The fire has now spread to more than 3,000 acres, and it's only about 40 percent contained.

Erin O’Connor with the Texas A&M Forest Service said it’s hard to predict when the fire will be completely contained, but favorable weather is helping firefighters battle the blaze.

“Our temperature is not as hot as it has been the past couple of days. We do have a little bit higher humidity than we had, and our winds are down,” she said. “Definitely still conducive to fire growth, we're not out of the woods yet, but it's better than it has been, so we're hoping to use that to our advantage.”

Burn bans are currently in effect in several North Texas counties. Palo Pinto, Parker, Erath, Johnson and Hood Counties are all prohibiting the use of personal fireworks in order to reduce the risk of more wildfires.

Other stories this evening:

  • Houston is experiencing one of the wettest Fourth of July holidays. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect until 9 p.m. for several Southeast Texas counties. Some parts of Houston got over eight inches of rain, although Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said there has been no structural flooding. The National Weather Service says the heaviest rainfall is letting up and some flooding is beginning to subside.

  • It’s been just five days since hundreds of people protested the Trump administration’s immigration policies in the Denton town square. Today, the annual Yankee Doodle Parade marched past the same spot. KERA's Bill Zeeble talked to parade goers. In Denton, Fourth of July festivities start at 7 p.m. at the University of North Texas Apogee stadium.

  • One of the hassles of city living is parking. And that's what sparked the latest novel from Anna Quindlen. She explores the marriage of a New York couple whose neighborhood is upended by squabbles over parking. Today on Think, Quindlen talked about how the book got its title, "Alternate Side."

  • Since the deadly May shootings at Santa Fe High School near Houston, there has been a lot of discussion about how to prevent future school shootings. A part of that conversation has been about gun storage, since authorities say the shooter had access to unlocked firearms in his home. As Houston Public Media's Florian Martin reports, there’s disagreement about whether strengthening firearm storage laws will prevent future shootings.

You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.