NEWS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW
Former Miss Black Texas sues the city, ex-chief over arrest
DALLAS (AP) — A beauty pageant winner has sued a Texas city and its former police chief over an evading arrest charge that was later dropped.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Carmen Ponder filed the federal civil rights lawsuit Monday in Dallas over her May 2017 arrest in Commerce. Ponder won the Miss Black Texas competition in 2016.
Ponder’s lawsuit says Commerce’s then-police Chief Kerry Crews, who was off-duty, arrested her without reason during a confrontation over a traffic incident involving another driver.
Crews resigned the following month, took an administrative job with the city and now is a justice of the peace.
Commerce City Manager Darrek Ferrell and the city’s attorney, Jay Garrett, declined comment on Ponder’s lawsuit. Crews didn’t immediately return a message for comment Wednesday.
No license needed to fish in Texas public waters on June 1
Free Fishing Day is this Saturday in Texas On June 1; you can fish in any public waterbody in Texas without a fishing license.
Dallas’s 4th National Animal Rights Day: Bodies Call Attention to
Billions Who Suffer and are Killed
DALLAS, TX., May 27, 2019. At 12 pm on Sunday, June 2nd, Dallas will join thirty cities in North America and around the world to celebrate National Animal Rights Day with simultaneous events. Deceased animals will be cradled by participants in a solemn ceremony to embody the billions of animals exploited for food, fashion, entertainment, or research. The goal is to put a face on animal suffering and call attention to the horrors hidden from view.
The day was first celebrated in Europe and introduced to the United States in 2011 by the nonprofit group ‘Our Planet Theirs Too.’ Its local sponsor is Animal Connection of Texas.
NORTHERN TEXAS PGA FOUNDATION AWARDS RECORD $406,800 IN SCHOLARSHIPS
DALLAS, TX – The Northern Texas PGA Foundation is pleased to continue its charitable commitment to higher education by announcing its 2019 scholarship recipients. Fifty recipients have, or will earn scholarships totaling $406,800, the largest amount ever awarded in a single year by the Foundation.
Forty-five high school seniors who will be attending college this fall were awarded $325,000 in scholarships. Each scholarship awarded varied between $5,000 and $20,000. Also, one student was awarded a “last dollar” full scholarship to the Foundation’s partner school, the University of North Texas at Dallas, valued at approximately $66,800.
Additional scholarships totaling $15,000 will be awarded to four junior golfers via random drawings taking place at three events in June. The events include the Jerry J. Ransom Pro-Junior-Am, the Starburst Junior Golf Classic and the S.A. Smith West Texas Junior Invitational.
This year, of the scholarships already awarded, 71% were based on financial need, academic performance, extracurricular activities, and community involvement, while 29% were awarded based on academic performance, extracurricular activities and community involvement.
Since 1983, the Northern Texas PGA Foundation has awarded $2.77M in college scholarships to more than 500 deserving students.
Dallas Public Library kicks off summer activities with authors, book sale
DALLAS, TX – Dallas Public Library is kicking off summer with a celebration of authors, books and reading at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library on Saturday, June 1, beginning at 10 a.m.
Picture book author Laura Numeroff (“If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”) will be joined by Mayor Mike Rawlings to launch the 2019 Mayor’s Summer Reading Challenge at 10:15 a.m., followed by presentations by local children’s authors and illustrators until 2 p.m.
“Summer is the busiest time of year at the library,” said Jo Giudice, director of libraries. “People are looking for something to read on vacation, parents are trying to keep their kids busy and learning – this is a big event to kick off summer at the library to highlight everything we do.”
This free event is part of the finale of the Dallas Festival of Books & Ideas, a five-day program happening city-wide aimed at energizing the people of Dallas through the power of books and ideas.
A complete list of authors and program schedule can be found at www.dallasbookfestival.org.
As part of the June 1 festivities, the Friends of the Dallas Public Library will open the Book Cellar for bargain hunters in search of used books, CDs, DVDs, and vinyl. The semi-annual sale will begin on Friday, May 31 and continue all day Saturday.
The Dallas Festival of Books & Ideas – Summer in the City – at Dallas Public Library runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. The Festival continues at the Dallas Museum of Art 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information about other festival events, visit www.thedallasfestival.com
Multiple Dallas museums offer free admission to military personnel and their families
Dallas, TX – Beginning Memorial Day weekend, four Dallas museums will join museums nationwide to participate in the 10th summer of Blue Star Museums, a program which provides free admission to our nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families this summer. The 2019 program runs through Labor Day on Monday, September 2, 2019.
The four Dallas museums participating in Blue Star Museums are:
Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance
Frontiers of Flight Museum
Museum of Geometric & MADI Art
Nasher Sculpture Center
In addition, military personnel and their families may also obtain free admission to the following four Dallas museums, which offer free general admission throughout the year to all visitors:
African American Museum Dallas
Crow Museum of Asian Art of The University of Texas At Dallas
Dallas Contemporary
Dallas Museum of Art
“We are grateful to our service members and military families and so proud of the many Dallas museums who support them through free admission,” said Jennifer Scripps, director of the office of cultural affairs. “Dallas’ museums participation in the Blue Star Museums initiative aligns with many priorities in the recently adopted 2018 Dallas Cultural Plan, which sets forth the people of Dallas’ vision for arts and culture as crucial to an equitable, diverse and connected community.”
The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States Military—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard as well as members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.
Blue Star Museums is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and more than 2,000 museums nationwide.
The military can find the list of all participating museums at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums
