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A Step Closer To A Solution In Museum Tower Glare Dispute?

Aidaneus/Flickr
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/aidaneus/
Glare from the Museum Tower has damaged parts of the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: The latest on the Fort Hood shooting; Dallas is a step closer to hosting the 2016 Republican Convention; the Museum Tower has hired a company to help the owner solve the glare problem; and more:

There might be progress in the ongoing dispute in the glare issue between the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Museum Tower. The tower has hired Hines, a Texas-based development firm, “to assist the tower’s ownership in solving sunlight reflection issues affecting” the Nasher, The Dallas Morning Newsreports. Nasher Sculpture Center officials say that glare from the tower is hurting the Nasher’s galleries. Hines has “significant experience developing award-winning arts and cultural facilities,” said a statement from the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, which owns Museum Tower. Hines’ experience includes Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, which suffered its own glare problems. “The statement, however … failed to address the [Museum Tower’s] previous disapproval of a proposed louver solution to its western exterior and the Nasher’s adamant stance that nothing be done to the oculi on its roof,” The News reported.

  • A soldier opened fire Wednesday on fellow service members at the Fort Hood military base, killing three people and wounding 16 before committing suicide. The killings happened at the same post where more than a dozen people were slain in a 2009 attack. The shooter, who served in Iraq in 2011, has been identified by NPR as Ivan Lopez, a military truck driver. He had been undergoing an assessment to determine whether he had post-traumatic stress disorder, military officials said. There was no indication the attack was related to terrorism. The gunman came on the post carrying a semi-automatic .45 caliber pistol. He opened fire on one building and then got into a car, where he fired more shots. He got off, entered another building and shot again. NPR has the latest developments. Also, what do we know about the gunman? (Associated Press, NPR)

  • Dallas made the first cut in the competition to host the 2016 GOP Convention. The Republican National Convention announced Wednesday that Dallas and five other cities are moving on to the next round of consideration. The other cities are Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Kansas City and Las Vegas. Two cities were cut: Phoenix and Columbus. Dallas officials made their pitch to GOP leaders last month. They propose hosting the convention at American Airlines Center. The city says GOP leaders should choose Dallas for its convention because the city has plenty of hotel rooms, has the ability to raise enough funding, is centrally located, and has a proven track record of hosting big events. Learn more about Dallas' bid.

  • What does the country think of Dallas? (And, this being Dallas, we really do care what the rest of the country thinks of us. We might say we don’t care. But, deep down, we do.) NPR journalists went to a Metro subway stop in Washington, D.C.,where they saw a pair of posters “tempting passengers with images of a cosmopolitan city, an upscale arts district, a modern sports stadium.” The poster's slogan is "Dallas: Big Things Happen Here." The reaction? “Sort of a big city with not much going on in it,” a man said. NPR continued its Dallas adventure online, asking Facebook users what they think of when they hear “Dallas.” The responses were all over the map. NPR created this word cloud showing the most popular responses: Hair. Big. Sprawl. Cowboys. If you haven’t figured out by now, NPR’s “All Things Considered” is broadcasting from Dallas this weekand focusing on Texas, from demographic changes to televangelists. “All Things Considered,” the afternoon news magazine, airs from 4-6:30 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.

  • The Dallas International Film Festival kicks off Thursday. On the bill will be more than 50 short films, including films from a trio of local filmmakers. It’s the only time most of these shorts will be shown on a big screen. Local directors talked with KERA’s Stephen Becker about what they’ve learned. Why make a movie that no one’s going to see and won’t make any money? But the truth is, fame and fortune aren’t really motivators for these filmmakers. “The first thing I wanted to do was just get the practice of making a film. So I thought the best way to do that was to make something small and affordable,” Augustine Frizzell told Stephen. She’s a Dallas actress who’s working on the other side of the camera this time. Her film is called I Was a Teenage Girl.

(Photo Credit: Audaneus/Flickr)

Eric Aasen is KERA’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to KERA radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.