Top Stories: Abbott Open To Review Of Confederate Plaque; An Arctic Blast

The top local stories this evening from KERA News: A Confederate plaque in the Texas Capitol may be closer to coming down.

State Rep. Eric Johnson, a Dallas Democrat, has been pushing for the removal of the plaque titled Children of the Confederacy Creed. It claims the Civil War's underlying cause was not to sustain slavery.

Johnson met with Gov. Greg Abbott this afternoon. 

An Abbott spokeswoman says the governor told Johnson he would ask the State Preservation Board to look into the issue, including the history of the plaque, the Texas Tribune reports.

Other stories this evening:

• We're expecting the coldest night of the fall so far, and the National Weather Service anticipatestemperatures below freezing for parts of North Texas. A freeze warning will be in effect overnight and Saturday morning for areas to the north and west of Dallas-Fort Worth -- that includes Collin and Denton counties. Protect plants and turn off sprinklers to avoid creating icy patches on sidewalks and roads.

• Recently, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram laid off its last, full-time arts critic. The same thing has happened across the country, including newspapers in Sacramento, Louisville and Cincinnati. Art & Seek's Jerome Weeks has chatted with several arts leaders, who say they're concerned. In this week's State of the Arts, he talks with Hady Mawajdeh about how the arts media landscape is being disrupted.

• A North Texas journalist who wrote openly about his brain cancer diagnosis died this week. Jeffrey Weiss joined The Dallas Morning News in 1988, reporting on a variety of topics -- from religion to education to energy. He was diagnosed last year with brain cancer -- and he wrote about it in a series of stories for the Morning News. Weiss talked with KERA earlier this yearand we revisit that interview.

 
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.