Five stories that have North Texas talking: Ted Cruz is a New York Times bestseller; the Mary Kay convention is back in Dallas; the Dallas Cowboys are valuable; and more.
Sen. Ted Cruz is on The New York Times’ bestseller list following a public dispute with the newspaper. The Times at first refused to put Cruz’s memoir, A Time for Truth, on its nonfiction hard cover list because the newspaper said bulk sales fueled many of the purchases. But Cruz’s publisher, HarperCollins, and Amazon denied that claim, saying there was no evidence of bulk sales. A Time for Truth now appears at No. 7 on the list of the country’s top hardcover nonfiction best-sellers. Want to know more about A Time for Truth? The Texas Tribune has this story about seven things it learned from the book. The Tribune reports: “U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz promises to take readers behind the scenes in Washington with his new memoir, A Time for Truth. And what he writes is not always flattering – even about himself.”
- A North Texas mayor’s Facebook post that supports same-sex marriage has generated a lot of buzz. Ken Shetter, the mayor of Burleson, recently wrote on Facebook that a resident challenged him to quote a Bible verse that states that God accepts gay marriage. Shetter responded, citing 1 Corinthians 13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” And this from John 13: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Shetter, who says he has strong Christian beliefs, says he congratulates Burleson LGBT residents on their right to marry. Shetter wrote on Facebook: “I believe very strongly being gay is not a choice, it is simply who you are. Given that reality and what I believe about the nature of God, I can not believe God would disqualify gay people from sharing deep love and intimacy with a soul mate.” KDFW-TV (Fox 4) talked with Shetter and has more details.
- The Dallas Cowboys may be America’s Team – and they’re also the country’s most valuable sports team. But they’re not the world’s most valuable team – that title goes to soccer’s Real Madrid. That’s according to Forbes, which this week released its annual list of the world’s 50 most valuable teams. Real Madrid ranked No. 1 with a value of $3.26 billion. The Cowboys weren’t far behind at $3.2 billion – the ‘Boys tied for second with the New York Yankees. The Texas Rangers ranked No. 46 -- valued at $1.22 billion. The Dallas Mavericks ranked No. 49, with a value of $1.15 billion. Read more here.
- They’re baaaaack. The Mary Kay consultants are back in town. The Dallas Morning News reports the annual Mary Kay convention kicked off Thursday at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas. “The seminar brings in more than 27,000 attendees, which means a huge boost to the local economy (projected at $30 million). The purpose of the conference is to bring together the Addison-based cosmetic company’s “independent beauty consultants” — self-employed workers who sell Mary Kay products in their own communities.” [The Dallas Morning News]
- Victory Park is in for a makeover. KERA’s Courtney Collins reports: “The neighborhood around the American Airlines Center in Dallas was born a decade ago with promises of bustling commerce and restaurants day and night, game days or off days. Despite thousands of apartments and condos, Victory Park’s never lived up to that promise. So developers are trying a reboot. … “You’re not going to recognize Victory Park in the fall of ’17,” said Terry Montesi, the founder and CEO of Trademark Property, the retail development company for Victory Park.” Read more here.
