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Can Fort Worth Handle Another Population Surge?

David
/
Flickr
The Fort Worth skyline at sunset.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Fort Worth is growing, the Kaufman County murder trial begins, the frustration of flying out of D/FW Airport, and more.

Fort Worth is growing, and that has officials worried that infrastructure can’t keep up. The Star-Telegram reports Fort Worth’s population is expected to jump to more than one million by 2040. The city has already experienced a population surge of 114 percent from 2000 to 2010, which resulted in massive traffic problems. Councilman W.B “Zim” Zimmerman worries that a new master-planned community in development will worsen the issue. “Just in the city of Fort Worth, we have over $1 billion in transportation needs,” he said. 

  • The Kaufman County murder trial begins today. Former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams faces the death penalty for the 2013 murder of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife and Assistant D.A. Mark Hasse. KERA’s Bill Zeeble recaps the high-profile murders.

  • The Highland Park school district restored all contested books to its classrooms, but that doesn’t mean the book debate is over. Two groups have mobilized in response to the book suspensions that arose in early fall. Speak Up for Standards is a group that wants parents to have more control over removing books they find offensive. HP Kids Read says that decision should be left to the teachers. The district is now reviewing procedures it uses to select and challenge books. [The Texas Tribune]

  • D/FW International Airport is the 8th most frustrating airport in North America. That designation is based on Bloomberg Businessweek’s rankings of airports based on a “frustration index.” 3,000 frequent flyers were surveyed, and the index included factors such as the quality of terminals, rush-hour traffic to and from airports, on-time departures and arrivals and security.

  • While shoppers try to finish (or start) their Christmas shopping on Cyber Monday, what can you expect from online customer service this year? The Dallas Morning News compares the major retailers and brick-and-mortar stores like Best Buy are catching up to Amazon when it comes to shipping. 
Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.