Five stories that have North Texas talking: B-Cycle to dock in Fort Worth soon, Dallas politicians get behind Medicaid expansion, secret menus in North Texas and more.
Fort Worth is riding a wave of bike sharing programs in cities across the country with B-Cycle. The launch will happen on Earth Day, April 22. Nonprofit Fort Worth Bike Sharing is executing the project, spearheaded by the FW Transportation Authority.
They'll put 300 Trek bikes up for checkout at 30 docking stations located throughout downtown, Near Southside and the cultural district. As it stands, using a bike for 24 hours will cost $8 and an annual membership runs for $80, Nick Olivier with FWBS tells us. The org is still looking for sponsorships to alleviate cost or add perks for riders. [Fort Worth Bike Sharing]
- State Rep. Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) filed a bill to expand Medicaid in Texas under the Affordable Care Act. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins is all in, complete with public support. “Flawed as it is, Medicaid is an essential component of public health and a safety net for the poor and elderly in nursing homes. It helps over 2.5 million Texas children, but covers only about 225,000 of their parents,” Jenkins writes in a guest column for Texas Weekly. And as for Dallas County, he reminds that just 19 percent of primary care doctors accept new Medicaid patients. [HT Frontuburner]
- One in five cases of child trafficking in the U.S. happens in Texas. Sen. John Cornyn wants to get serious about cracking down on the rings. His bill, The Human Trafficking Reporting Act of 2013, would increase human trafficking's rank to a Part I violent crime for the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. Dallas-based nonprofit Children at Risk recently took inventory of solutions at a summit which included representatives from Houston's Freedom Place and Girls Court, who also briefed Cornyn. [KUHF]
- The Texas State Department of Public Safety launched a website to make inquiries into unsolved murders easier to keep track of. There are five Tarrant County cases on the Texas Rangers' cases-to-close list. [Dallas Morning News]
- Think you've tried everything at In-N-Out Burger? Have you asked to see the secret menu yet? NPR's GiGi Duban reminds us those Dallas locations have more than you see on the drive-thru menu board. Panera Bread is hiding some options too -- albeit for carb-cutters. The move to keep extras under wraps is smart, Duban reports, because restaurants can save money on additional materials -- and make customers feel as if they're privy to exclusive fare.