Five stories that have North Texas talking: Dallas is the country’s third best sports city; Rick Perry won’t appear in the main GOP debate Thursday; Kent Brantly talks about Ebola; and more.
Dallas is the third best sports city in the country, according to a new survey. (And it’s better than Houston and Austin.) FanSided.com ranked the 30 best sports towns. The site didn’t just focus on pro sports – it also considered college sports and sporting events. FanSidedranked Dallas so high in part because North Texas is home to the big four sports teams (Cowboys; Mavericks; Rangers; Stars), but it also has several college sports teams and the Texas Motor Speedway. Then there’s the annual football rivalry at the State Fair of Texas featuring the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners. Naturally, AT&T Stadium in Arlington gets a shout-out. “AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, has become host to a slew of big events as well,” the site says. “WrestleMania 32 will take place there. The stadium has hosted boxing events, including those of superstar Manny Pacquiao to crowds of around 50,000 people.” Dallas is a better sports town than Houston, FanSided says – Houston is ranked No. 12, thanks in part to soccer and wrestling, as well as the city hosting several big sporting events in recent years. Austin is ranked No. 25 – while it doesn’t have any professional sports teams, it has all sorts of UT teams. The other top sports cities? Chicago was ranked No. 2. Boston is ranked No. 1.
- Senator Ted Cruz is in and former Texas Governor Rick Perry is out of the first debate of the 2016 presidential campaign. Fox News has named the 10 Republicans who will take part in Thursday night's debate in Cleveland. It chose them based on recent national polls. Perry will be part of a forum hours before the prime-time event. The Texas Tribune has more details. [Associated Press/Texas Tribune]
- A tourist from Texas was arrested over the weekend on charges she was packing two loaded handguns at the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City. According to a criminal complaint, Elizabeth Enderli was visiting the site Saturday when she informed a police officer she had the weapons in her backpack. She was charged with criminal possession of a weapon before being released Sunday. Friends and family told the New York Post that the 31-year-old military veteran has a permit to carry weapons in her home state. Enderli mistakenly believed the permit covered her visit to New York from the Houston area, they said. But rather than getting to see the lower Manhattan landmark, she ended up spending a night in jail after asking where she could store the pistols — 9mm and .380-caliber semi-automatics. [Associated Press]
- A North Texas state representative isn’t running again. The Texas Tribune reports: “State Rep. Myra Crownover will not seek re-election in 2016, the Denton Republican announced Monday. Crownover, who has served in the House since 2000, said she has ‘decided it is time for the next chapter in my life.’ She chaired the House Committee on Public Health during the most recent session. … Crownover's departure leaves a seat open in House District 64, a safely Republican area that covers a swath of North Texas centered on Denton.” Crownover said in a statement that her focus will turn to public health issues in Texas, including medical fraud and health care costs. [Texas Tribune]
Kent Brantly, the Fort Worth doctor who contracted Ebola in Liberia last year, has written a book about his experience. His wife, Amber, is a co-author. They talked about defeating Ebola Tuesday on KERA’s Think. Listen to the conversation here. The book is called “Called for Life: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic.”
