Quotes

Cinéma Engagé: Filmmaker Chronicles Texas Fracking Wars
Archived

Fri, Jul 31, 2015 - 1:37pm

When voters in the city of Denton, Texas, approved a ban on the use of hydraulic fracturing last November, documentary filmmaker Garrett Graham believed he had found the perfect ending to his film about the organized actions taken by a suburban community to stop natural gas drilling.

For months, Graham, a Denton resident, had used his camera to chronicle the meticulous efforts of a group of residents to make their city a haven from the oil and gas drilling practice commonly called fracking. They had jumped through what they believed were all the necessary legal hoops, and after all the votes were tallied, residents erupted...

Lawmakers Met In Austin For Hearing On Sandra Bland's Arrest, Death
Archived

Fri, Jul 31, 2015 - 10:43am

Texas and America are wrestling with the relationship between African Americans and police.

In Austin Thursday, legislators gathered for a hearing focused on Sandra Bland’s death, which has become a national flash point in the discussion about race. 

The hearing is the first time lawmakers have met to discuss the circumstances surrounding the death the 28-year-old black woman from suburban Chicago. Authorities say Bland on July 13 hanged herself in jail, a finding that her family has questioned.

Bland was in custody for allegedly assaulting a white Texas trooper who on July 10 pulled her over in Waller...

University of North Texas students spent weeks in Romania studying human trafficking
Archived

Fri, Jul 31, 2015 - 10:36am

University of North Texas students spent three weeks in Romania this summer, studying how people there, children and adults, are sold into bondage.

Back home with opened eyes, sophomore Hayli Boren and senior Christian Hernandez want to start a conversation about human trafficking in North Texas.

“First we need to work right in our backyard where it’s really happening,” said Boren.

Fourteen students traveled to the central European country as part of a program that pairs students with several anti-trafficking agencies, including the Open Door Foundation, an emergency shelter for trafficked people. The United...

Game expo a feast for core fans
Archived

Mon, Jul 27, 2015 - 7:51am

With the promise of exclusive reveals and a celebration unlike any other, QuakeCon 2015 rocked gamers’ worlds this weekend. The four-day gaming convention comes to a close today at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

This year was special for QuakeCon, which marked its 20th year in North Texas.

Since the mid-’90s, the expo has showcased the latest and greatest in Id Software’s competitive gaming titles. But since Id Software’s acquisition by ZeniMax Media in 2009, the convention has become a larger platform for some of the biggest titles in the industry from studios like Bethesda Softworks (The Elder Scrolls series) and...

Tidy landscaping will help your home sell
Archived

Thu, Jul 23, 2015 - 2:14pm

Pull out the hedge shears, edger and a trowel to grow the value of your home. A tidy yard with some nice flowers can help a home sell faster and may even add to the selling price.

Just as homeowners repair and upgrade the inside of a home to get a better price, working on the landscape can pay big dividends, real estate agents and landscapers say.

“If you don’t have great drive-up appeal, you may not draw buyers at all,” says Claire Hill with Coldwell Banker Lakewood/White Rock Lake. “It draws people in.”

Appearance counts.

A survey by the National Association of Landscape Professionals earlier this...