Coronavirus Pandemic Creates New Worries for North Texas Refugees

Refugees in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the organizations that work with them worry that the coronavirus pandemic and the economic turmoil it’s causing will make life harder for an already-vulnerable group of people. “My parents’ work is no longer safe, and they don’t have many hours to work,” says…

What Will the Dallas Music Scene Look Like When Music Lives Again?

A lone light shines down on a stage shrouded in darkness. There’s the faint sound of movement, of shoes shuffling, throats clearing. Seconds pass, and the electric feeling of anticipation rises, the moment of, “They’re here; the show is finally starting.” The performer finally steps into that spotlight and begins…

COVID-19 Forces Dallas Homelessness Advocates to Get Creative

Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Texas, many shelters that serve Dallas’ homeless population have shut their doors, diverting their clients to hotels or motels as they did when faced with overflow before the pandemic. Those who are sleeping in shelters or motel rooms are subject to stringent social distancing regulations,…

As COVID-19 Hits Jails and Prisons, Texas Inmates Call for Action

The French M. Robertson Unit, a maximum-security state prison, is located off a dusty farm-to-market road about 20 minutes from Abilene. A couple of tiny hamlets dot the dry West Texas terrain near the prison, but for the most part, its population of about 3,000 inmates is surrounded by nothingness…

Amid a Pandemic, North Texas Tenants Grapple With Landlords

The sound of skittering rats was common. Mold would fester, threatening rot. Perhaps worst of all, the plumbing stopped working. “Pretty much everything that could go wrong was going wrong,” Peter Wierenga says of his Fort Worth home. “But the landlord wouldn’t do anything about it.” So Wierenga was not…

Tippy Balady Keeps It PG-13 With New Pop Anthem

Tippy Balady doesn’t cuss. “I’ve never had a place for it in my vocabulary,” she says, the “it” referring to the four-letter words others might employ with ease. “Even in high school, when your parents expect you to start cussing, I didn’t see a need for it.” Yet sometimes people…

Homebound: KXT 91.7 DJs Are Quarantined, but the Show Goes On

Amy Miller’s morning routine has not changed too much in the last week. She still rises and roasts, creating her own coffee like her co-worker taught her. She has an “endless supply,” so there’s plenty to enjoy before she goes to work. But now, instead of her commute, she walks…

Local Artists Team Up with Dallas Mavericks for Poster Series

When Jeremy Biggers was growing up in South Dallas in the mid-1990s, you were either a football player or a basketball player. The latter was cheaper and easier to practice alone, so Biggers chose the hardtop over a pigskin and pads. “I was terrible,” he admits. “I don’t think I…

Musician Danielle Grubb Is Learning to Be Happy on Earth

There’s a piano in the rec room at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital in New York. It took musician Danielle Grubb a few days to find it, but eventually, she did. In the winter of 2017, Grubb was staying at the hospital following a psychotic break. Eventually, she was diagnosed with bipolar…

Rapper Ebo Finds the Self-Love of Her Life

Ebo has 10,000 laughs: One is a mischievous chortle. One is a riotous, hyena-esque cackle that crescendos then falls, ending with the rapper shaking her head and saying, “I’m dead, I’m dead.” Ebo’s most common laugh might be what her friends call “the dad laugh,” a soft, polite chuckle that…

The Most Texas Things That Have Happened on 9-1-1: Lone Star

When I saw the first promo for 9-1-1: Lone Star, aka the latest milestone in Ryan Murphy’s world domination, I had questions. Why is Rob Lowe still relevant? Who thought he could play a believable firefighter? Has Ryan Murphy ever seen any Rob Lowe movies? But then I decided to…

Soul Musician Taylor Morgan Just Wants to Praise God

“Oh, my God! Thank you, Jesus! God is so good! I love God!” This is Taylor Morgan, recounting the jubilation she felt after planning a successful event. Morgan, who’s 30, plans jam sessions. She plans benefit concerts. Sometimes she sings. And she prays. She prays in her car. She prays…