News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Good Grief! ’Charlie Brown Christmas’ Animation Cels Go On Sale At Auction

Heritage Auctions
Animation cels featuring an iconic scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will soon go up for auction at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. ";s:

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Charlie Brown is up for auction; a Dallas Plan Commissioner is kicked off a plane; today is World AIDS Day; and more.

Animation cels featuring an iconic scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will soon go up for auction at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.

The cels include Charlie Brown taking the pathetic-looking Christmas tree from the stage after Linus talks about what Christmas really means.

This multi-cel setup features hand-painted production cels on a hand-painted Key Master pan background with a hand-painted production overlay of the Director's chair and curtain,” Heritage Auctions says.

The cels appear in Heritage’s Dec. 13-14 art auction. Heritage says the Charlie Brown items should bring in $35,000. The classic ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ aired last night on ABC.

The Heritage auction also features cels from “Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Credit Heritage Auctions
Animation cels featuring an iconic scene from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will soon go up for auction at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.

  • Bobby Abtahi, vice chair of the Dallas Plan Commission, was kicked off a Virgin America flight. The airline says it was a misunderstanding. The Dallas Morning News reports: “Via text message, Abtahi said that he was boarding a flight from New York’s La Guardia to Dallas when a gate agent pulled him aside and said the crew did not feel comfortable having him on the flight. When he asked why, the gate agent said it was the captain’s decision and went to speak with him. When she returned, she told him he wouldn’t be allowed on the flight because he had walked in front of a flight attendant walking in the terminal doors, Abtahi said.” A Virgin America spokesman said: “After further review, we believe this was the result of a misunderstanding and we’re reaching out to apologize to Mr. Abtahi. As an airline that prides itself on our award-winning guest service, we take issues like this very seriously.” [The Dallas Morning News]

  • Texas is threatening legal action against a resettlement agency over plans to continue accepting Syrian refugees in defiance of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Chris Traylor says the International Rescue Committee hasn't cooperated with a directive to relocate Syrians somewhere besides Texas. The International Rescue Committee runs a program in Dallas and is giving no indication it will change course and relocate Syrian refugees somewhere other than Texas. The Obama administration reminded state officials last week they don't have the legal authority to refuse to accept Syrian refugees. More than two dozen governors, mostly Republicans, have vowed to block efforts to resettle Syrian refugees following the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. KERA talked with a Syrian refugee who lives in North Texas -- hear his story here.[Associated Press]

  • Another private college in Texas is saying “no” to the new campus carry law. The Texas Tribune reports: “‘There is no evidence that allowing the carrying of guns on our campus will make the campus safer,’ Rice President David Leebron said Monday in an email to students announcing the decision. ‘The most knowledgeable professional groups believe that guns will make campuses less safe.’ Leebron said he consulted with a working group including staff, faculty and students to decide to opt out and he said multiple university organizations overwhelmingly opposed campus carry.” [Texas Tribune]

  • Tonight on KERA 90.1 FM, tune in for "Dying Words – The AIDS Reporting of Jeff Schmalz." The documentary explores the AIDS reporting of Schmalz, a journalist at The New York Times. In 1990, he collapsed in the newsroom – he had AIDS. “With AIDS, Jeff was endangered and he was outed. Yet he was also cracked wide open in positive ways,” the documentary’s website says. “He found his calling in writing about HIV and AIDS, doing memorable portraits of Magic Johnson, Mary Fisher, and Harold Brodkey, among others, and chronicling his own experience reporting on the most personal beat imaginable. As Jeff himself said at the time, having AIDS stirred an empathy in him that he had long obscured beneath a witty, cynical, hard-driven exterior.” The documentary producer talked with KERA about Schmalz’s life and legacy. The documentary airs at 8 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM. Today is World AIDS Day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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.