Five stories that have North Texas talking: The Cowboys make backup plans for Romo’s absence, school districts struggle with large class sizes, Ryan O’Neal wins court battle over Fawcett portrait, and more:
The Cowboys haven’t ruled quarterback Tony Romo out of Sunday’s decisive game against the Philadelphia Eagles, despite being sidelined by a back injury. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that though Kyle Orton will be the likely starter, Dallas will sign another quarterback on Tuesday because it has no other quarterbacks.
The Cowboys have an 8-7 record. They’ll be playing the Eagles Sunday for a playoff spot.
- School districts are struggling to reign in larger class sizes after the recession forced them to cut staff. Most of those staff members have not been replenished, leaving many teachers to do more with less. The New York Times also reports that Dallas ISD has applied for more than 200 waivers to the state, which would allow them to surpass Texas’ maximum class limit of 22 students.
- A new interactive map pinpointswhere uninsured Americans live. The map uses the latest census data released on Dec. 17. In Dallas, areas of Vickery Meadow, Oak Cliff and Fair Park have the highest concentration of uninsured residents. Meanwhile, the deadline to apply for health insurance through the federal marketplace has been extended to 11:59 p.m. tonight.
- A jury granted an Andy Warhol painting of Farrah Fawcett to her partner, Ryan O’Neal. The University of Texas at Austin’s Board of Regents sued O’Neal after the valuable Warhol portrait went missing. Fawcett left all of her artwork to her alma mater and nothing to O’Neal. AP reports that O’Neal had taken the painting from the actress’ home within days of her death, with the permission from a trustee.
- Christmas is the time for eggnog, carols and of course, gingerbread houses. If you decide to go rogue and eschew the gingerbread kits sold in stores, it may be difficult to build a gingerbread house that won’t collapse. Luckily, NPR’s food blog, The Salt, breaks down how to build an indestructible gingerbread house. The secret? It’s all in the frosting.
