Five stories that have North Texas talking: Sandy beaches many, know your risks for hereditary cancer, Klyde Warren Park survives first visitors and more.
Stalled travelers at DFW Airport are in for a treat today as our own Bill Zeeble will be there to get what I’m sure will be measured, even cheery reactions to the departure screens. (As I type, he’s making just that pitch to PIOs with true Zeeble sarcasm.) Major airlines have canceled all flights out of New York City, and more than 10 million commuters who use public transit in New York, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia will keep their swipe cards in their wallets as Hurricane Sandy looms over the East Coast.
The center is expected to hit as early as 8 p.m. ET. NPR’s Mark Memott is tracking Sandy’s exploits live with a complete guide to weathering the storm, including how to gently explain hurricanes to your kids via Sesame Street (hat tip WMHT).
-- Lyndsay Knecht
What To Do? Track Loved Ones With Hurricane App, Give Blood
North Texas Red Cross has dispatched eight workers to New Jersey and New York, preparing for Hurricane Sandy. Local Red Cross officials say the huge storm is going to require a tremendous relief effort and there are things North Texans can do to keep up with the latest from the East Coast and help.
Anita Foster with North Texas Red Cross says a free app available for iPhone and Android will allow the user to get alerts and track friends and family in the impact zone.
And, donating blood is a very important way to help. Foster says the storm is expected to severely curtail blood donations in that part of the country. North Texas donations can help keep the nationwide supply stocked.
-- BJ Austin
Through A Periscope Dimly: Scanning Genes For Cancer Risks
Even though her family history wasn’t too notable otherwise, Cindy Salit went ahead and got screened at her doctor’s prompting when her sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Salit found out she had a whopping 84 percent risk for breast cancer and a 62 percent risk for ovarian cancer. She had both her breasts and ovaries removed preemptively.
After KERA contributing reporter and particularly spritely 30-year-old Courtney Collins was diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, which implicates high risk, she found these women and others (in Mardi Gras beads, no less) who’d gone through the cache of intense tests. Some of them had their breasts and ovaries removed preemptively; others found out after a diagnosis which gene mutation informed their cancer.
In Collins’ case, a diet overhaul and a grueling test regimen are the preventative measure for now -- she’ll likely have her uterus and ovaries removed after having children. She shares the dichotomy of anxiety and purposed self-care that comes with a Lynch diagnosis in a commentary: “My philosophy is the whole human race is in a submarine. My sub might be speeding and driving a trifle recklessly, but at least I have a periscope.”
-- Lyndsay Knecht
Woodall Rogers Deck Park Proves Structural Integrity During First Weekend
Klyde Warren Park was more than end-to-end programming at its opening this weekend. A number of tiny dogs in sweaters and well-dressed grandparents directing folks kindly to the hand sanitizer outside the port-a-potties heralded a friendly, permanent Dallas urban park experience, and Art&Seek’s Stephen Becker rounded up voices among its first round of visitors.
One yoga instructor called Klyde Warren a "mini-vacation." The park now opens at 6 a.m. every day.
-- Lyndsay Knecht
Urban Park Elementary Reopens After Mercury Spill
The bit of news most likely to produce a dystopian short story today, as natural disasters and cancer are disqualified: Three kids were hospitalized last week after a student at Urban Park Elementary came across some mercury in a container (Tupperware?) and spilled it on campus.
The school is back open today and some students will have their shoes tested for the substance.
-- Lyndsay Knecht