Five stories that have North Texas talking: Bill Bragg still wants to be the voice of Big Tex; a woman has sued Jerry Jones, accusing him of sexual assault; the Texas ag commissioner isn’t pleased with one school’s meatless Mondays; and more.
The former longtime voice of Big Tex still wants his job back. Bill Bragg was the voice of the State Fair of Texas’ folksy cowboy from 2002 until 2013, when the fair didn’t renew his contract. Bragg tried to get his job back last year – and he’s trying again this year. The fair dismissed Bragg because of concerns over how far he was taking the Big Tex persona outside of the fair. For years, he had appeared as the voice of Big Tex at charity events. But his annual contract said that he was the voice of Big Tex during the fair. On Tuesday, Bragg posted on his Facebook page that he had received a request in 2012 from Mitchell Glieber, who’s now the president of the State Fair of Texas, asking him for a “personal favor” – that he record his voice to help his son get a date for homecoming. State Fair of Texas officials told The Dallas Morning News that the request was a “personal favor” and that there are no plans to bring back Bragg as the voice of Big Tex. [h/t Ed Bark on Twitter]
- A woman has sued Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, accusing him of sexually assaulting her five years ago. The allegations are “completely false,” and “unsupported by facts or evidence,” a statement from Jones’ attorney says. WFAA-TV reports: “[A woman from] Ardmore, Oklahoma filed a lawsuit. The 27-year-old woman alleges that Jones assaulted her at a Dallas hotel ‘sometime in May or June 2009.’ The lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million in ‘monetary relief.’” The woman has been in counseling and is taking medicine “to help her cope with trauma from the incident,” The Dallas Morning News reports.
- Arrests have been made over the 2013 killing of a Mexican attorney in Southlake. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: “Three men accused of gunning down a lawyer at Southlake Town Square used surveillance cameras and vehicle tracking devices to watch the movements of their target and figure out the best time to strike, officials said Tuesday. … Officials from four federal and local agencies provided more details in the arrests of three men in South Texas in connection with the May 22, 2013, death of reported Mexican drug cartel attorney Juan Jesus Guerrero-Chapa, who was fatally shot near the fountain and gazebo at the upscale outdoor shopping center.” A tracking device had been placed on Chapa’s SUV, authorities said. Read more from KERA News.
- The Texas agriculture commissioner says he's not pleased with a school district that's started a pilot program aimed at encouraging kids to go without eating meat during lunch once a week. The Drippings Springs School District offers meat-free lunch options on Mondays to students in its three elementary schools. Students can still eat meaty meals on Mondays, but must bring their lunches from home. John Crowley heads childhood nutrition services for the Hays County district. He says the program is intended to encourage healthy and environmentally conscientious eating. Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said in an opinion piece published in the Austin American-Statesman Statesman that the meat-free lunches are a part of a movement by activists who seek to mandate their lifestyles for others. [Associated Press]
- Joe Allbaugh, the former FEMA director and former adviser to Gov. Rick Perry, is getting involved in the legal marijuana business. The Texas Tribune reports: “Allbaugh is an investor in and board director of Colorado-based CannLabs, which calls itself ‘a leader in cannabis innovation’ and specializes in the testing of pot potency and quality. … In a telephone interview, Allbaugh made it clear that he hasn’t suddenly shed his conservative values and become a pot-loving hippie. ‘I don’t want anyone to get the idea that I’m endorsing recreational marijuana use at all,’ he said. But through his wife’s fight with cancer, he said, he has come to appreciate the therapeutic use and pain-relieving potential of medical marijuana. He said he believes CannLabs can play a vital role in ensuring the safety and quality of it as more and more states make it legal.”
