Five stories that have North Texas talking: The Texas Supreme Court will hear two cases of same-sex divorce, MegaFest 2013 will come to Dallas this week, and two Texans take home moonmen at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Texas Supreme Court To Take On Same-Sex Divorce: The Texas Supreme Court will take on two cases of same-sex divorce. The first one comes from Travis County, where a lesbian couple was granted a divorce in 2010, despite a challenge from Attorney General Greg Abbott. In the second case, which comes from Dallas County, the appeals court ruled that the state should’ve been allowed to deny the divorce. The court will determine whether same-sex couples who were married in other states can seek a divorce in Texas, where the unions are not legally recognized. [Texas Tribune]
- Children With Costly Medical Issues Get Help, But Face Problems: NPR’s Morning Edition profiled Katie Doderer, a 15-year-old from San Antonio who suffers from a rare medical condition requiring her to rely on a mechanical ventilator. Medicaid helps the Doderer family pay for Katie’s expensive medical bills, despite the family being well off. That’s because medically complex children account for about 40 percent of Medicaid’s total spending on children. Although Medicaid helps supplement private health insurance for the sickest kids, the Doderer family has faced problems when Katie receives treatment in other states, such as Medicaid coverage not traveling or uncoordinated care.
- Despite Conservation Efforts, The Water Still Runs in North Texas: A Dallas house is the first in North Texas to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense endorsement for water efficiency, but the region is still running the water, The New York Times reports. Although water restrictions are in place in cities like Dallas and Fort Worth, most North Texas cities are hesitant to enforce restrictions.
- Megafest To Come To Dallas This Week: MegaFest, the family entertainment and spiritual festival hosted by Bishop T.D. Jakes, is coming to Dallas this week for the first time since the festival began in 2004. City civic leaders have lobbied to host MegaFest for eight years, but it didn’t become a reality until two years ago, after improvements were made to the convention center and downtown saw continued development. So what does MegaFest’s arrival mean for the city? An estimated $41 million in direct spending, 50,000 attendees, and Oprah Winfrey. [Dallas Morning News]
- Texas Artists Represent At The VMAs: Markedly less family-friendly, The MTV Video Music Awards may make more headlines for the performances rather than the actual awards. Last night’s show was no different, with memorable performances such as a Lady Gaga opener, a long-awaited NSYNC reunion, and a raunchy Miley Cyrus (and a horrified Will Smith and family, much to the delight of the Twitterverse). Texas natives snagged a few awards. Selena Gomez, a Grand Prairie native, won Best Pop video for “Come and Get It” and Austin Mahone from San Antonio won the Artist to Watch award for his song, “What About Love.”
