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Video: Watch Cowboys Rescue 31 Ponies And Horses From A Flooded Texas Ranch

Five stories that have North Texas talking: cowboys rescue horses from flooding; exploring Blue Bell’s woes; is Texas bike-friendly?; and more.

A bunch of cowboys rescued a bunch of horses over the weekend. It happened in Eastland County, about 90 miles west of Fort Worth. On Sunday, Mother’s Day, Cross B Rodeo Company and Boys Ranchsearched for 31 missing ponies and horses after a flash flood. The group reports on its YouTube page:“The horses and ponies were herded back across the strong flowing flooded river and then herded across the flooded ranch and into a set of livestock pens on high ground.” Some of the smaller ponies were washed downriver over the tops of flooded fences. But the cowboys tracked all of them down. [h/t KXAS-TV/NBC 5]

Here’s video of the rescue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMQcdyXcl8E

  • All of the rain has caused problems for youth sports – lots of canceled games. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports: “Even for sports leagues that plan for rainouts, the number of missed games — whether postponed and made up or canceled altogether — has exceeded that of any other season in memory. Youth select soccer should have wrapped up its regular season before the end of April, for example, said Tarik Guendouzi, director of coaching at the Fort Worth Futbol Club and program director for Fort Worth Country Day School’s girls soccer team. … The scheduling problems started with the late-winter ice and snow and have only worsened with each passing week of rain, he said. Before the most recent rainy span, he expected youth select soccer leagues to keep playing till May 20 or 25.” Read more here. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

  • Texas Monthly explores the problems facing Blue Bell and its home base in Brenham. The magazine reports: “For the first time in its 108-year history, Blue Bell—and, in turn, Brenham—is in crisis. A super-nasty bacteria known as Listeria monocytogenes was found in a few Blue Bell products. … While locals and desperate fans in Texas and beyond worry over the future of the Little Creamery—the third-largest ice cream maker in the country, one that employs almost four thousand people and brings in around $900 million in sales—plaintiff’s lawyers have already begun to circle. Residents of Brenham have responded by dotting their yards with “God Bless Blue Bell” signs and attending prayer vigils (“It has grieved our hearts that our beloved product … could ever become a source of harm to anyone”).” Read more here. [Texas Monthly]

  • When it comes to bikes, Texas is in the middle of the road. That’s according to a report card from The League of American Bicyclists. Texas ranks No. 30, earning 35 of 100 points – up from 31 points in 2014. Washington state tops the list. Alabama is at the bottom. The League of American Bicyclists says TxDOT has planned investments in tools “that will support bicycle plan development such as a GIS inventory” of bikeways. The group says TxDOT should update its standards to include protected bike lanes and other ways to accommodate bikes on roads. The group also says the state should pump more funding into bicycle projects and programs.

  • A Texas transgender woman, Passion Star, talks about her experience in prison. The New York Times reports: “Ms. Star herself is challenging Texas’ refusal to accept new national standards intended to eliminate rape in prison, which disproportionately affects gay and transgender prisoners. Last spring, Gov. Rick Perry declared in a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that Texas had its own “safe prisons program” and did not need the “unnecessarily cumbersome and costly” intrusion of another federal mandate.” Star tells the Times: “In the state of Texas, in the general population, there is a culture where gay men and transgender women in prison are basically preyed on by the stronger inmates.” [The New York Times]
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.