Five stories that have North Texas talking: Get a Christmas tree without leaving your house, an auction of Farrah Fawcett's items, it's cold outside, and more:
Want a fresh Christmas tree, but don’t want to go to a store to buy it? Today, Uber, the app-based car service, is offering Christmas trees on demand – for one day only. Here’s how it works: Between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. today, you request an “UberTREE” on the Uber iPhone or Android app. The tree service costs $135 and includes a 7- to 8-foot netted tree, tree stand, Uber gift and deliver costs. Uber is offering the service in 10 cities across the country, including Big D. The company is using the hashtag #UberTREE on social media. (Uber’s been in the news after Dallas officials were criticized for rushing an ordinance that would crack down on Uber to a proposed vote over the summer.)
- Items that once belonged to Farrah Fawcett, including her 1977 People's Choice Award and her last driver's license, are set to go up for auction. The items, which also include scripts, costumes and personal mementoes, are being offered Friday by Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Fawcett’s nephew decided to offer up the items after getting requests from fans for something of hers. Other items being offered include her leather director's chair from the 1970s, her script from the 1984 television movie "The Burning Bed" and her passport from 1980. She won the 1977 People's Choice Award for her work on the television series "Charlie's Angels." Fawcett, a Corpus Christi native, died in 2009 at 62 after battling cancer. Meanwhile, in other Farrah Fawcett news, the University of Texas at Austin wants a valuable Andy Warhol portrait of Fawcett. UT’s Board of Regents has sued Fawcett’s partner, Ryan O’Neal. A trial is underway in California. O’Neal says the portrait is his; Fawcett left her artwork in her living trust to UT-Austin, where she studied.
- It’s cold and it’s only going to get colder. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning starting at noon Thursday for counties north and west of Dallas-Fort Worth, including most of Denton County and the northwestern corner of Collin County. At 6 p.m. Thursday, the winter storm warning extends to the rest of North Texas, including Dallas and Tarrant counties. A cold front moved into the northern parts of North Texas Wednesday. Rain will begin falling midday Thursday and should turn to freezing rain by Thursday evening as temperatures fall below 32 degrees. Expect more freezing rain -- and sleet -- on Friday. Up to a half-inch of ice is possible. Stay up to speed on the blast of winter with KERA.
- The McKinney Avenue Contemporary will unveil public art Saturday. The piece is called Insomniac by Dallas artist Carmen Menza. The installation will illuminate the exterior main entrance to the MAC building off McKinney Avenue. “Insomniac is a 58-inch circular digital canvas which will have movement through LED lighting and custom software programming designed by Menza.” The piece will be unveiled at the annual Blue Yule holiday fundraiser at 5 p.m. Saturday.
- A play premieres tonight at the Collin Theatre Center in Plano. It’s A Merry Jewish Christmas – and the producers say it’s for “those of us who are tired of sappy Christmas plays.” It features David, who has lied to lots of folks. And things are bound to get messy when his family gathers to celebrate Hanukkah. “Will David's Gentile boyfriend succeed at pretending to be Jewish? And will David reveal to his family the truth of his relationship? … Playwright Josh Levine has crafted a comedy that explores the wondrous and complicated truths of family life. The theatre critic at CenterStage Chicago wrote: ‘This clever show is a blend of family comedy, suspenseful drama, and has all the yummy humor of a screwball comedy without the overkill aftertaste of an excessively fried latke.”
