Five stories that have North Texas talking: a dog gets on the wrong plane at DFW airport; suicides are skyrocketing in Texas prisons; could the Texas Rangers move to Dallas?; and more.
Ruh-roh! A dog bound for its new owner in Mississippi ended up in Honolulu instead – because of a mix-up in North Texas. Bethany, the Pembroke Welsh corgi, was headed from Seattle to her new owner in Mississippi on Saturday when she made a wrong connection at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, an American Airlines spokeswoman said. American Airlines is looking at its procedures to figure out how the corgi ended up on the wrong plane. When breeder Paul Chen was notified that Bethany was misplaced, he reported the dog missing and offered a $1,000 reward. Bethany left Hawaii on Monday for Dallas. She's been at a Texas kennel and will fly to her new owner on Wednesday. Such mishaps involving dogs and cats are rare. According to U.S. Department of Transportation figures, 28 pets died, 21 were injured and two were lost by airlines in the first nine months of 2015. [Associated Press]
- Suicides and suicide attempts have skyrocketed in Texas prisons. The Dallas Morning News reports: “From 2008 to 2014, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reported a 40 percent increase in suicides, and data from 2015 indicate the system is on track to meet those numbers this year. More inmates are also attempting to kill themselves, according to records that The Dallas Morning News obtained under state public records laws. Attempted suicides grew 30 percent from 2008 to 2014, and department reports show 2015 is on course for another increase. What’s even more concerning, say advocates for change in Texas prisons, nearly one-third of the 134 suicides from January 2011 to September 2015 happened in administrative segregation, cells designated for solitary confinement.” [The Dallas Morning News]
- Texans speak lots of different languages these days. The Texas Tribune reports: “As the state's demographics shift, the number of languages spoken in Texas households is growing — up to 164 in the last U.S. Census count. So are the challenges associated with providing educational services to an increasingly diverse state population. Of the 23.7 million people in Texas who are five years of age or older, more than a third speak a language other than English at home. A large majority of those — almost 85 percent — speak Spanish. But changing immigration patterns are increasing the number of other foreign languages spoken in Texas households, from Vietnamese and Chinese to Tagalog, the language spoken in the Philippines.” [Texas Tribune]
- Could the Texas Rangers move to Dallas? KXAS-TV (NBC 5) explores the possibility: “With eight years left on the Texas Rangers' lease at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Dallas boosters are considering possible locations for a downtown Dallas retractable roof stadium to lure the team away. ‘It's come up again, and there's probably five or six different locations that it could happen that are serious locations for that kind of development,’ said John Crawford, with the business group Downtown Dallas Inc. Locations mentioned by various sources include a former Reunion Arena parking lot owned by the city of Dallas beside the Dallas Convention Center surrounded by downtown freeways currently receiving expansion.” [NBC 5]
- A downtown Houston hotel under construction will boast a cool roof. The Houston Chronicle reports: “Aside from the 1,000 rooms and 100,000 square feet of meeting space, the Marriott Marquis Houston will include a one-of-a-kind rooftop lazy river shaped like Texas overlooking Houston's Discovery Green below. The swanky terrace also will include a separate pavilion, infinity pool and plenty of lush greenery, providing the outdoor space a swanky vibe.” The hotel is scheduled to open in October. [Houston Chronicle]
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
