Five stories that have North Texas talking: The new ramp is a part of the ongoing TxDOT Horseshoe Project; award-winning sportswriter Blackie Sherrod leaves his legacy in writing; listen to an exclusive interview with Diane Rehm on Think; and more.
Here’s some rare positive news about Dallas traffic: A major ramp along southbound I-35E to access westbound I-30 will open on the right side of the main lanes on Sunday, according to a press release.
In preparation for the new ramp there will be various lane closures along westbound I-30 and southbound I-35E Friday and Saturday evening, according to a press release.
Another note: “Traffic leaving downtown Dallas will no longer be able to access westbound I-30 from the on-ramp just west of Houston Street (along Elm Street at Dealey Plaza). Instead, drivers will need to remain left towards Commerce Street and detour to Riverfront Boulevard to access the new westbound I-30 Riverfront Boulevard on-ramp.”
If you can't remember all of that, sign up for text alerts about lane closures and changes by sending the message “dallashorseshoe” to 31996.
The new ramp is the latest installment of The Dallas Horseshoe Project, a $798 million downtown Dallas construction project by the Texas Department of Transportation that started in April 2013 and is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2017. Watch this video for more details. [TxDOT]
- Texas’ legendary sportswriter Blackie Sherrod died Thursday at 96. He was born William Forrest Sherrod was on Nov. 19, 1919 in the central Texas town of Belton, and it wasn’t until a coach during his short-lived football career gave him the politically incorrect nickname that he became “Blackie,” and he kept to be more memorable with readers when he writing career began. The Dallas Morning News reported: “Sherrod was voted Texas Sportswriter of the Year a record 16 times and was honored with the prestigious Red Smith Award, national recognition for lifetime achievement. He won so many awards over more than six decades at Texas newspapers, including The Dallas Morning Newsstarting in 1985, that he stopped keeping plaques or certificates for anything other than first place.” Sherrod died of natural causes at his home. Read more about Blackie and watch the video below. [The Dallas Morning News]
- The right of transgender people to choose which bathroom they want to use might become the next big issue in Texas. Texas lawmakers are dubbing the issue a major priority, nine months out from the next legislative session, partly because of North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which prohibits transgender people from using bathrooms that do not match the gender on their birth certificate. The Texas Tribune reported that some are pointing to House Bill 1748, which would have created a criminal penalty for anyone who entered the bathroom designated for the opposite gender with which they were born. “Others are taking cues from the defeat last year of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which critics successfully claimed would have let men use women's bathrooms.” Read more. [The Texas Tribune]
- The “Think” team wrapped up a week in Washington D.C. with a conversation with Diane Rehm. Host Krys Boyd sat down with “The Diane Rehm Show” namesake to discuss the painful experience of her husband dying after a battle with Parkinson’s disease as well as her imminent retirement after 30 years on the air and her new book “On My Own”(Knopf). Listen to the interview recorded in the studios of WAMU in Washington and read more about Think in D.C. [KERA]
- A high-end Dallas restaurant that has served the likes of Michelle Obama, Martha Stewart and The Rolling Stones will dish its last supper on Saturday. Stephan Pyles, the chef, has seen the ups and downs of his restaurant, also named Stephan Pyles, since it opened in November 2005. He weathered the recession and served the nation’s elite, but he says 10 years is long enough, and he wants to start anew, which he has done several times in the past 30 years, GuideLive reported. “The most noteworthy [restaurants] lasted about 10 years each: Routh Street Cafe (1983-1993), Baby Routh (1986-1994) and Star Canyon (1994-2003). He’s closing Stephan Pyles because his 10-year lease has expired. He’s been ready for the next thing for more than a year anyhow.” Read more on the downtown Dallas restaurant. [GuideLive]
