It’s about time vultures and ravens are no longer seen as bad omens.
BY TERI WEBSTER
EATS & DRINKS
Logo un-rebranding fail aside, Cracker Barrel delights at least one regional rock band. BY
JENNIFER BOVEE
STUFF
Fueled by Beam, our Cowboys “insiders” discuss the Micah trade. BY TROY FAKEMAN AND BO JACKSBORO
SCREEN Does late-night TV mean anything when time has no meaning? BY
DANNY GALLAGHER
MUSIC
Cut Throat Finches’ Sean Russell leads musicmaking vets to Rally Point.
BY MARK HENRICKS
By Juan R. Govea
By Teri Webster
Editor: Anthony Mariani
Publisher: Lee Newquist
General Manager: Bob Neihoff
Art Director: Ryan Burger
Marketing Director: Jennifer Bovee
Regional Director: Michael Newquist
Sr. Account Executive: Stacey Hammons
Account Manager: Julie Strehl
Account Executives: Tony Diaz, Wendy Maier, Sarah Neihoff, Wyatt Newquist
Proofreader: Emmy Smith
Brand Ambassador: Clint “Ironman” Newquist
CONTRIBUTORS
E.R. Bills, Jennifer Bovee, Jason Brimmer, Jess Delarosa, Buck D. Elliott, Danny Gallagher, Juan R. Govea, Mark Henricks, Patrick Higgins, Kristian Lin, Cody Neatherly, Rush Olson, Wyatt Newquist, Emmy Smith, Steve Steward, Teri Webster, Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue, Elaine Wilder, Cole Williams
EDITORIAL BOARD
Laurie James, Anthony Mariani, Emmy Smith, Steve Steward
It’s about time ravens and vultures are no longer seen as bad omens.
BY TERI WEBSTER
Perched among mist-covered leaves at the Fort Worth Zoo, the jagged black silhouette of a raven is a ghostly shadow in the morning light. He is quiet, watching. Next to him, a chocolate-brown cinerous vulture stares, unbothered, as she keeps watch over their habitat.
The peaceful scene hardly fits the macabre stigmas often associated with these beautiful and majestic birds.
Long before social media gave us trolling and disinformation, ravens and vultures were caught in what is — for lack of better term — a public relations nightmare. From ancient mythology and Edgar Allen Poe to popular culture and scary movies, harmful stereotypes have plagued these birds.
Around Halloween, images of ravens and vultures are often tacked onto cardboard haunted houses and tombstones. Other decorations show the birds looking over the shoulders of greenskinned witches stirring cauldrons.
Keepers who work with ravens and vultures at the zoo hope to show a different view of these often-misunderstood birds.
“People find them kind of spooky or scary, especially vultures, because they do eat dead
things,” said Annabelle Decker, a bird keeper who works with the zoo’s raptors. “And I think that’s where that comes from, because that can be seen as something that’s gross or scary. In reality, they are some of the cleanest birds, and they can ingest pathogens, and they don’t get sick with them.”
A group of vultures is one of the most efficient
sanitation crews on the planet. Their stomach acid neutralizes deadly viruses and bacteria, including botulism, rabies, and even anthrax. They effectively stop the spread of disease at its source.
“They do a critical job of cleaning up dead animals that nobody else wants to deal with,” said Brad Hazelton, bird curator for the Fort Worth
Zoo. “They do a great job of keeping disease down. Because obviously, if we had those dead animals all over the place, that would lead to some issues.”
While vultures are deep cleaners, ravens are intelligent scavengers who also play a key role in cleaning up carrion.
“Even though they all play a similar role, they’re all special,” said keeper Olivia Northrup. “They’re specially designed for their role in the environment, and they’re really good at what they do.”
Ravens are known for their intelligence, and the zoo’s white-necked raven, housed with the cinereous vulture, is a good example. Decker describes him as “a character” and “fun to work with.” During the scorching Texas summers, keepers provide a fan for the birds to help them keep cool.
The raven uses the fan as a karaoke mic.
“One of his favorite things to do is sit in front of the fan and yell into it like a little kid would, and he likes to hear his voice vibrate back at him,” Decker said. “One day, he made every variation of a raven call. He wanted to hear each sound come back at him in a different way.”
His playful curiosity is a hallmark of corvids.
“They are extremely intelligent,” Hazelton said. “That’s probably the most intelligent bird we have at the zoo. They are capable of mimicking speech and working out amazing puzzles. They figure out things so quickly.”
So why are vultures and ravens so feared or even loathed?
In some versions of Greek mythology, Zeus sends vultures to torture Prometheus as punishment for stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to humanity.
continued on page 7
As scavengers, Cinereous Vultures primarily feed on the remains of dead animals, a function that helps stop the spread of disease.
Courtesy Fort Worth Zoo
White-necked ravens are found in Eastern and Southern Africa. They are considered highly intelligent and can mimic voices.
Teri Webster
The Cape Vulture, also known as the Cape Griffon, is found primarily in South Africa.
Courtesy Fort Worth Zoo
March 2–September 7
Alex Da Corte: The Whale is made possible
with
Matthew Marks Gallery, Fort Worth Promotion and Development Fund, Henrik Persson, Gió Marconi Gallery, and Sadie Coles HQ.
A century ago in Europe, bearded vultures were hunted to near extinction along the Alps due to the mistaken belief that they were after lambs and small children.
In Norse mythology, Odin turned a raven from white to black after the raven reported bad news to him.
Edgar Allan Poe famously penned “The Raven,” further cementing the bird’s reputation as a harbinger of grief and misfortune.
The scariest story, though, is the threat that some species face in the wild.
In parts of South Asia, for example, anti-inflammatory drugs like diclofenac are used to treat cattle. The drugs are lethal to vultures that feed on the carcasses of cattle that die.
In Africa, poachers will poison elephant and rhino carcasses to kill vultures, Hazelton said. This is done to eliminate the circling birds because they serve as a natural alarm system that alerts wardens to the location of a dead animal.
of the world’s largest flying birds, faces lead poison ing from spent ammunition in animals killed by hunters, according to the Peregrine Fund, a birds of prey conservation group. Lead poisoning also impacts other scavengers.
remain at the forefront even as the zoo leans into the Halloween season. Around this time of year, birds, gorillas, rhinos, and elephants are among the animals that will have the chance to play with, dismantle, and devour pumpkins as a form of gourmet enrichment.
enrichment games for the raptors throughout the year, like hiding food so the birds can exercise their natural scavenging instincts.
put away, ravens and vultures will remain a vital, beautiful, and vulnerable part of our ecosystem.
yond stereotypes and see them as essential, helpful parts of nature.
sure,” Hazelton said.
When it’s time to water your lawn, think 1, 2…zero. Once a week if it needs a little water. Twice a week if it’s dry and hot. Zero if it’s been raining. Make sure your sprinklers aren’t leaking or pointing the wrong way. And try drip irrigation for flowers and shrubs. Visit Water is Awesome.com for more tips.
WATER IS AWESOME.COM
Andean Condors, a species of vulture native to the Andes Mountains in South America, have a wingspan that can extend from 10 to 12 feet.
STUFF
Trade Remarks
Our
embedded (and/ or inebriated) duo of Cowboys insiders share their thoughts on Jerry Jones’ brazen decision to
jettison Micah Parsons.
BY TROY FAKEMAN AND BO JACKSBORO
As the NFL season is set to kick off on Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys are continuing to squeeze the vice-like grip they’ve held on sports media attention all throughout training camp. For the last two months, the press couldn’t get enough of the drama unfolding over the very public and seemingly nasty “negotiations” between Owner/ General Manager Jerry Jones and star pass rusher Micah Parsons over the latter’s desire for a potentially market-resetting contract extension.
Last week, the melodrama concluded with Jones surprisingly calling Parsons’ bluff and granting the trade request that the perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate feigned as leverage during the back-and-forth. As tempers flared, Jones acquiesced and sent Dallas’ best player to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a pair of firstround draft picks and aging Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark, a seemingly meager return.
For local sports fans, this feeling is all too familiar. As anyone with an internet connection will certainly recall, in February, the Dallas Mavericks turned the entire NBA upside down by engineering the most blunderous trade in league (if not pro sports) history by sending phenom Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, receiving even less in return than the Cowboys collected for Parsons.
For the second time in just six months, a local sports team has traded their best player, one just entering the prime of their career, to a conference foe and failed to receive proportionate spoils in exchange, and North Texas is once again a pro sports laughingstock. The talking haircuts on the cable shows are eviscerating Jones’ stupidity, and fans are going through it. It makes one wonder what those inside the organization feel about this latest Cowboys fiasco. Could they offer some novel insight that may soften the blow? Or simply throw more gasoline on the fire? We turn to our two secret sources within the Cowboys for their thoughts.
Troy Fakeman
I’m tired. It’s been a grueling and intolerable last few months. As I sit in my basement office at The
Star™, surrounded by empty bottles of Jim Beam and Pepto Bismol, I’m trying to find hope for the 2025 season, and one of the most legitimate reasons to have had a little just walked out the door to Green Bay. What at first seemed like classic Jerry contractual rope-a-dope got ugly. Jerry took it personal, and now another young superstar has walked out of Dallas. What a mess.
It’s always a mess, of course. In my 35 years working for the Joneses, I’ve gotten used to the general, ever-present cloud of chaos that hovers over this organization like the stench of alcohol seeping from your pores the morning after draft night. Just a bit of that chaos has recently been highlighted
in bold detail in America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, the new Netflix series/pharaonic temple erected in the form of big-budget digital streaming content to honor Jerry Jones’ insatiable ego. Despite my own interviews being cut from the docuseries in favor of more camera-friendly visages, it’s a fine piece of work. It’s cleanly filmed and expertly edited and unintentionally manages to encapsulate exactly what’s been wrong with this franchise for the past three decades: a counterproductive obsession with successes from 30 years ago to bolster a brand at the expense of a properly run professional sports organization.
It doesn’t take a Columbo type to deduce that
all those member berries and the fawning glorification in those shows likely had the same effect on the boss’ state of mind as The One Ring did on Gollum’s when the old codger pulled the trigger on Parsons. I’d heard more about the Herschel Walker trade in recent weeks than I had in the last 20 years combined. It absolutely had to influence this decision. If the Walker deal set up the Cowboys for our early ’90s glory, maybe the old man could catch lightning in a bottle again and set the team up for a return to that glory, all masterminded by him, sealing Jerry’s legacy as a “football guy” forever and ever, amen.
It’s not the most insane idea he’s ever had. Remember when we gave two first-round picks to the Seahawks for Joey Galloway? I can’t say I exactly agree with the boss when he tells those toadies in the media that this deal makes us better now. They don’t grow Lawrence Taylor starter kits on trees, and No. 11 was as close to one as you’re ever likely to stumble backward into. But we’ve managed to assemble a fairly deep and intimidating pass rush even without the podcaster at the end. We have Dante Fowler (10.5 sacks last year) back to go along with the stable of young edges we’ve been assembling through the draft in recent years: Sam Williams, Marshawn Kneeland, and rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku. We just might be able to get by with that.
The hit we’ve taken at pass rush might be neutralized by the shoring up of the middle of the line by the addition of Clark from Green Bay. He’s passed the peak of his prime, no doubt, but he should have plenty of gas left in the tank and will hopefully — along with our group of young maniac linebackers — help bolster the leaky run defense we’ve suffered from the last several years. Couple what we expect to be an improved defense with an offense led by a healthy Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and the first legit No. 2 receiver we’ve had since Jerry bounced Amari Cooper (another reminder that the lesson is, don’t get crossways with the boss), and we just might sniff a Wild Card slot.
At least that’s the hope. And to keep it, you might have to ignore the giant question marks at running back, left tackle, and any decent corner who can play alongside newly extended ball hawk Daron Bland, to whom Jerry tossed some of that 45 mil he saved by shipping Parsons away.
If you squint really hard, you can maybe just almost see it working. Jim Beam helps. Which reminds me, I’m out, and the liquor store is about to close.
Bo Jacksboro
Should I stash away my wedding china in a safety deposit box? Maybe I’ll bury my collection of vintage baseball cards in the desert. My first-gen GI JOEs are already tucked neatly into the folds of my memory foam mattress.
One thing has become clear in my broken life: I can’t have nice things.
After the trades of Luka Dončić and now Micah Parsons, it’s clear local sports fans can’t either.
Even if you don’t believe the erstwhile Cowboys’ pass rusher was a generational talent, and/ or if you think the $47 million annual salary Micah Parsons now earns is too extravagant, any armchair GM could tell you this trade was still terrible.
Somewhere (maybe Twin Peaks with Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers?), Nico Harrison is popping Champagne. We thought for a minute the Mavs’ sneaker jockey might have inched out Jerry as the worst GM in sports, but then Jones said, “Hold my orphan blood-filled chalice.”
Not even Madden ’25 would accept this trade. continued on page 9
We used to be a proper sports city. Just six months ago, both of these young superstars were in Dallas and represented a bright future for local sports. Now, due to ego and hubris, both are gone.
Borrowing from the Nico playbook, Jones didn’t really shop Parsons around to other teams. Granted, there were only a handful of clubs that could have managed that level of salary cap Tetris — and even fewer in win-now mode — but had Jones read the tea leaves before the most recent draft, he would have easily garnered more picks. By late August, teams have already addressed their most pressing offseason personnel needs and are likely maxed out in terms of how much money they can spend. The timing of the trade alone made Micah less valuable.
Now, you’re thinking, “Bo, my pal, my homie, my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my goodtime boy, doesn’t the success of this trade hinge on what the team gets back in the draft? And aren’t the Cowboys a terrific drafting team?”
Barring injury, those picks will likely be in the mid-to-late 20s. Let’s take a look at what the Cowboys have done in that part of the draft during the Will McClay era:
• In 2015, we drafted Byron Jones with Pick 27. That worked out OK, although it took the UConn corner a few years to find his footing after being yo-yoed from safety to corner. He eventually moved on to South Beach and became the highest-paid corner in the league, though the ’Fins released him prior to this season. Still, the pick is solidly in the win column.
• In 2017, against my advice, McClay and Co. passed on would-be superstar TJ Watt to take pass rusher Taco Charleton with the 28th pick. Total. Disaster. This pick might have set this franchise back years.
• With its next selection in the 20s, our front office struck gold in 2022 with lineman Tyler Smith at Pick 24. That is a no-doubt, pumpthe-fist, crank-the-stereo win. He’s dominant.
• The jury is still out on Tyler Guyton, whom the team nabbed with Pick 29 in the 2024 draft. The early returns aren’t great, but the freaky-athletic Oklahoma offensive tackle is young and still has time to develop.
The front office’s track record suggested the brass will hit on one of those two picks. Does that list inspire you? Does the McClay track record make you feel even a little better about trading your best player not named CeeDee?
America’s team also netted defensive tackle Kenny Clark in the Micah trade, which will no doubt help the Cowboys’ porous run defense. That said, offensive coordinators are not game-planning for an aging interior run-stuffer. Clark is a nice player, but he’s the kind of piece you trade for when your club is one or two players away from contention — certainly not the centerpiece of a trade for the league’s best pass rusher.
For you Micah detractors out there, Parsons led the league in pass rush win rate at 30%, placing him more than four percentage points ahead of the next-closest player. The only other pass rushers with comparable underlying metrics are Myles Garrett, who is entering his age-30 season, and Aidan Hutchinson, who is returning from a significant injury.
Packers fans and Parsons
look no further than the trade of Khalil Mack to the Bears
a few years ago for why this was a great move for the Cheeseheads and a Luka-level blunder for the ’Boys. Oakland netted two first-round picks, a third, and a sixth. The Bears’ defense went from ninth best to best in terms of points allowed, and the team’s record improved from 5-11 to 12-4. That’s with Mitch Fucking Trubisky under center.
The Raiders used these picks to select defensive end Clelin Ferrell (No. 4 overall), offensive tackle Kolton Miller (No. 15 overall), and cornerback Trayvon Mullen (No. 40 overall). No one is making room in Canton for any of those dudes.
For you stat nerds, the Parsons-led Packers just jumped up to sixth in DVOA — defense-adjusted value over average, a Football Outsiders metric that compares a player’s or unit’s efficiency to other teams — from 14th. The Cowboys plummeted from 13th to 17th after the swap.
As for the cap hit, yeah. You can’t compare the way the current Cowboys front office manages the salary cap to literally any other sports franchise. It defies logic and makes this sort of analysis agonizing.
Sure, the Cowboys dodged a $47 million annual hit. So, obviously, the team can go out next year and spend lavishly in free agency, right? The Cowboys are currently projected to be $14 million in the red next offseason. I have zero doubt the brass will concoct some snappy contract restructures and release some dead weight that will make that number look more palatable by the start of next season. Even with that, this isn’t a front office reputed for spending on outside players. History suggests the Jones Mafia will continue to dredge the bottom of Spare Lake and fish out a few retreads like they always do. (By the way, the
team is currently $33-plus million in the black for this season’s cap. That’s about enough for Stephen Jones’ first yacht.)
The part that hurts me the most is that Parsons wanted to be here. So few players in our super-connected media landscape can thrive in Jerry’s circus. Parsons was one of them.
The team didn’t get better by trading away its best player. The defense will be worse this season and likely for the life of Micah’s contract. We live in a world where Donald Trump is president and Jerry Jones is a general manager. Luka is a Laker, and now Micah is a Packer.
Nothing is fair, and no one with any power cares.
The only real choice I have now is whether I’m going to use lighter fluid or gasoline to burn a ton of local sports jerseys. Add those to pile of nice things I once had. l
haters need
Garden and Gun
A new faith-based organization has the tools to give old guns new life.
In late August, during a week when the nation experienced its 339th mass shooting, a new faithbased coalition in Tarrant County announced that it was taking action. From 9am to noon on SatSun, citizens can bring unwanted (and unloaded) firearms in the trunk or rear of their car to the inaugural Guns to Gardens Safe-Disposal Event at two locations. Saturday’s location is in Fort Worth at the New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church (2864 Mississippi Av, 817-966-7625), and Sunday’s will be in Dallas at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration (14115 Hillcrest Rd, 972-233-1898).
Both events are part of a new movement — a voluntary effort among citizens in about 25 states to reduce gun violence by disposing of unwanted guns in homes and communities. The goal: to
reduce the number of unwanted firearms found by children and youth; or used in a moment of personal or family crisis; or stolen and funneled into the illegal gun market or into the hands of a mass shooter.
“The transformation of a gun into a garden tool is a moment of healing for those in our community who have survived shootings or had loved ones die from gun violence,” said Rev. Allison Sandlin Liles, vicar of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Hurst and a leader of the project. “Over 43,000 deaths a year is not the way we want to live. We can do better, and we must do better.”
The U.S. Surgeon General indicates that gun violence is now the No. 1 killer of American children and youth. It has been the No. 1 killer of children of color since 2006. This coalition would like to change that.
“Anyone may bring unwanted and unloaded guns to be dismantled and made into garden tools,” said New Mount Rose pastor, Rev. Kyev Tatum. “For Christians, to follow Jesus is to work hard for healing. We are seeing far too many tragic suicides with guns, too many stolen guns, and far, far too many young lives being destroyed by the oversaturation of guns.”
Guns to Gardens provides a way to dispose of unwanted firearms without returning them to the gun marketplace, where they could be used for future harm.
Then what becomes of the donated guns? Skilled personnel and volunteers will dismantle the weapons according to the rules of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, then the leftover parts will be transformed by artists and blacksmiths into art, jewelry, and garden tools.
Your donation will be anonymous. All guns must be unloaded, and no ammunition will be
accepted. Thank-you gift cards will be provided for working guns while supplies last in the amounts of $250 for semiautomatic AR platform-style assault weapons, $150 for semiautomatic handguns, and $50 for all other types of firearms (single shot, rifles, revolvers, pistols, and so on), plus there’s even a $25 gift card available for BB guns. For more information, follow the organization at Facebook.com/GunstoGardens
By Elaine Wilder
On Saturday and Sunday, citizens can bring unwanted (and unloaded) firearms to an inaugural safe-disposal event at two locations.
Courtesy Guns to Gardens
Guns are being transformed by artists and blacksmiths into art, jewelry, and garden tools.
Courtesy Guns to Gardens
NIGHT & DAY
Bloom Where You’re Planted
Post-Labor Day events, including artist demos, home and garden shows, and help with house pets (and houseplants), will simplify your transition to fall. But first: Beyonce.
What the Dance presents House of Bey: A Beyonce Celebration at Tulips FTW (112 St. Louis Av, Fort Worth, 817-367-9798) at 10pm. The party will feature music from her entire discography, including Lemonade, Renaissance, Dangerously in Love, and I Am … Sasha Fierce Tickets are $20.10 at SeeTickets.us.
Looking to refresh your home before the family descends upon you for Thanksgiving? Get some ideas at the fifth annual Fort Worth Fall Home & Garden Show this weekend. You can find everything you need for home and garden projects under the roof of the Will Rogers Memorial Center (3401 W Lancaster Av, Fort Worth, 817-392-7469) 2pm-6pm Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, and 11am-5pm Sun. There will also be gardening seminars, kids’ cooking classes, and more. There is no cost to attend. For more information, visit FortWorthHomeShow.com.
Wake up early-ish today for the Houseplant Fest in Irving. From 11am to 3pm, Green Acres Nursery & Supply of North Texas (2800 Ranch Trail, 972-256-8363) invites all plant lovers to get their hands dirty at this inaugural free event celebrating community,
creativity, and plants. As for “what’s growing on” (their words, not mine), there’s plenty to keep you busy, including brunch bites, a DIY soil bar, a Kokedama class (the Japanese art of moss ball planting), local vendors, a mimosa bar, and a planting bar, plus a live DJ to set the vibe. All ages of humans (and pets on leashes) are welcome.
As part of the Fort Worth Art Dealers Association’s annual Fall Gallery Night festivities — see more about that in this week’s center spread — the Sid Richardson Museum (309 Main St, Fort Worth, 817-332-6554) is hosting a new Artist in Process event. From 1pm to 3pm, local artist Caya Crum will paint live in the museum’s gallery. Known for her playful neon-hued takes on Western themes, Caya’s work brings a fresh, Pop Art twist to cowboy culture. Think UFOs, smoking cowgirls, and desert dreamscapes. Her
live painting will unfold against the backdrop of The Cinematic West: The Art That Made the Movies exhibit, which explores how Western artists like Frederic Remington and Charles Russell helped shape the golden age of Hollywood’s Westerns. There is no cost to attend.
At the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St, Fort Worth, 817-738-9215), there’s still time to catch their stellar current exhibition. Thru Sunday, The Whale gathers more than 40 paintings, several drawings, and a video from Alex Da Corte’s vast, multilayered, pop culture-loving oeuvre. The museum is open Tuesdays thru Sundays. Admission is $16 per person or free for museum members. — Anthony Mariani
The Humane Society of North Texas (1840 E Lancaster Av, Fort Worth, 817-332-4768) is participating in Operation Kit Stop, supported by Wings of Rescue, to offer free spay and neuter surgeries for owned male and female cats 8am-5pm Mon-Sat now thru Sat, Sep 30. Appointments are limited, so schedule your pet’s surgery as soon as possible to help keep them healthy and happy. As part of Operation Kit Stop, your pet will receive an additional rabies vaccine at no cost. To schedule, contact HSNT or TCAP. Mention Operation Kit Stop when making the appointment at HSNT.org/clinic.
By Elaine Wilder
From 1pm to 3pm on Saturday, local artist Caya Crum will paint live at Sid Richardson Museum.
Learn the Japanese art of moss ball planting at Houseplant Fest at Green Acres in Irving on Saturday.
Beyonce will be celebrated at House of Bey at Tulips FTW on Thursday.
OF FWADA
FORT WORTH ART DEALERS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS
1. Amon Carter Museum of American Art
2. Art on the Boulevard
of Dreams Gallery
3. Artes de la Rosa
4. Artspace111
5. Fort Works Art
O’Keefe Children’s Runt Mountain Gallery Fort Worth, Inc. of NeVille Gallery & Gatherings House
6. Gallery 440
7. Gallery at Bowie House
8. Keith House
9. Kimbell Art Museum
10. McAnthony’s Multicultural Studio and Gallery
11. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
12. Rebecca Low Sculpture Gallery, Inc.
Pat’s Frame Shoppe
13. Sid Richardson Museum
Pool Near Southside Arts Space
14. SiNaCa Studios
Woman’s Club of Fort Worth
15. TCC - Trinity River Campus East Fork Gallery
FRIENDS OF FWADA
20. 1226 Studios
400H Gallery 22. Caravan of Dreams Gallery
23. Cary O’Keefe
24. Cook Children’s
25. Giant Runt
26. Gold Mountain Gallery
FALL
27. Historic Fort Worth, Inc.
28. House of NeVille Gallery & Gatherings
29. Kinfolk House
30. Marty & Pat’s Frame Shoppe
31. The Pool Near Southside Arts Space
FORT WORTH ART DEALERS
ASSOCIATION MEMBERS
EATS & DRINKS
16. Art Galleries at TCU: Fort Worth Contemporary Arts
FORT WORTH ART DEALERS
17. Art Galleries at TCU: Moudy Gallery
18. The Upstairs Gallery
19. William Campbell Gallery (Foch St. location)
Special thanks to our premier sponsor:
20. 1226 Studios
21. 400H Gallery
22. Caravan of Dreams Gallery
23. Cary O’Keefe
24. Cook Children’s
25. Giant Runt
26. Gold Mountain Gallery
27. Historic Fort Worth, Inc.
28. House of NeVille Gallery & Gatherings
29. Kinfolk House
30. Marty & Pat’s Frame Shoppe
31. The Pool Near Southside Arts Space
32. The Woman’s Club of Fort Worth
33. Zona 7 Gallery
FRIENDS OF FWADA
32. The Woman’s Club of Fort Worth 33. Zona 7 Gallery 34. J & J Oyster Bar 35. Olivellas 36. Salute Wine Bar
POP-UPS
FRIENDS
37. 1424 Homan 38. AIA Fort Worth 39. Art Tooth 40. Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty
Giant Runt
Gold Mountain Gallery
Bumble Bee Yoga Community
Historic Fort Worth, Inc. 28. House of NeVille Gallery & Gatherings
EATS & DRINKS
September 6,
400H
Caravan
Cary
Cook
Giant
Gold
Historic
House
Kinfolk
Marty
The 32. The 33. Zona
J &
Olivellas 36. Salute
1424
AIA
Art 40. Briggs
Bumble
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
1226 Studios
400H Gallery
Caravan of Dreams Gallery
Cary O’Keefe
Cook Children’s
Giant Runt
Gold Mountain Gallery
Historic Fort Worth, Inc.
House of NeVille Gallery & Gatherings
Kinfolk House
FORT WORTH ART DEALERS
Marty & Pat’s Frame Shoppe
MEMBERS
FALL GALLERY NIGHT
Pool Near Southside Arts Space
Woman’s Club of Fort Worth
Zona 7 Gallery
J Oyster Bar
Olivellas
Salute Wine Bar
1424 Homan
Fort Worth
Tooth
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty
Bumble Bee Yoga Community
Worth Contemporary Arts 17. Art Galleries at TCU: Moudy Gallery
The Upstairs Gallery
William Campbell Gallery (Foch St. location)
Caravan
Cary O’Keefe
Cook Children’s
Olivellas
Salute Wine
1424 Homan
Come break the rules and say “yes!” to new art experiences at the Carter’s Second Thursdays! Every Second Thursday is different than the last — mingle with fellow art lovers, make art, and meet visiting artists, sometimes with live music and always with themed cocktails. You’ll never think of museums in the same way again.
SECOND THURSDAYS
Discover the exhibition East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art and learn about these visionary artists’ influence on American art.
EATS & drinks
Logo Nation
Fresh off a Labor Day road trip with my mother, I have some thoughts about Cracker Barrel. So does a regional rock band.
BY JENNIFER BOVEE
My stepfather died four years ago, and now my mother has begun passing along some of his cherished possessions to his children, some of whom live out of state. With my husband working weekends at a music venue, I usually have a lot of free time Fridays and Saturdays. With the extra day off for Labor Day, my mother and I decided
to head to Mississippi. I didn’t expect to see so many Cracker Barrel locations along the way, let alone stop at any. Mom is in her upper 70s, so she naturally wanted to eat there. She doesn’t give a hoot which logo they use.
I learned that they have three delicious things in their favor. The gift shop (e.g., the “country store”) has old-timey candy that will rot anyone’s teeth, the fried chicken is cooked to perfection, and the biscuit beignets make a great on-the-go breakfast the next day. First introduced in fall 2018, these beignets are a popular appetizer made from Cracker Barrel’s signature buttermilk biscuit dough, fried and tossed in cinnamon
sugar. They have been featured as a limited-time menu item on several occasions and are currently on the Shareables menu.
The recent rebranding and un-rebranding of Craker Barrel’s logo had many wondering, “Who’s actually keeping these folks in business?” Along with the aforementioned older folk (hi, Mom), I have another answer: touring bands. (Speaking of which, Pantera is on its first headlining tour since 2001’s Reinventing the Steel. If you’re reading this hot off the press on Wednesday, you still have a shot at tickets for tonight’s Dallas concert.)
Anyway, my husband, Greg Spicoli, sometimes works on the road for regional
favorites Lillian Axe. Last October, they opened for Girlschool, whose Final North American Tour Part 2 started at Tulips FTW — super-convenient for us. Much to Greg’s dismay, it turns out that Lillian Axe (or its leader, at least) cannot get enough of Cracker Barrel. Consistency and availability aside, my curiosity got the best of me as to why, so I had Greg ask Steve Blaze about it on our behalf.
Fort Worth Weekly: It’s no secret that while traveling hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles on tour, the go-to place to stop for Lillian Axe seems to be Cracker Barrel. Where did your proclivity for Cracker Barrel come from?
Steve Blaze: “The Barrel” has been one of my favorites for a long time, at least 20 years … . I just absolutely love the atmosphere. I like to shop, and they always have the most unique, cool stuff. As a matter of fact, I was there the other night. It’s like at home, even at home. Usually, once a week, my wife, son, and I go to Cracker Barrel for our Sunday evening festivities. You know, Sunday supper. While you’re there, you pick up a Scooby Doo hoodie and some Halloween stuff, and somehow now the Christmas stuff is already out. They also have a great assortment of vintage candies. All the stuff we had when we were kids is still there — toys, clothes, everything. So, I’m a huge fan, and, not necessarily secondary, but the food’s really good, too.
Do you have a favorite dish or a couple of favorite plates you like to go to, or do you just go up and down the menu each time?
continued on page 17
The Campfire Meal calls to Lillian Axe’s Steve Blaze.
Well, it all depends. The other night, I had this brand-new thing, some kind of French toast breakfast, and it was more like a bread pudding, and it was good. I’ll go for breakfast every now and then, and I’ve got to get everything, so I order the Uncle Herschel’s, an old-school breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuits. My other favorite dish right now is the limited-time Campfire Meal, which is beef or chicken with corn, potatoes, and other vegetables, plus this great seasoning that they wrap in aluminum foil and bake. It’s amazing. I’ve been sticking with the chicken. I’m a dark meat guy. If I’m feeling healthy, I’ll go for grilled catfish and a salad. But what I really like is the atmosphere. I like vintage stuff and Americana. I like the roots and the oldschool wholesomeness about it.
Ballpark figure, all these years on the touring circuit, how many Cracker Barrels do you think you may have eaten at?
All around the continental United States, all around the country, probably 30 or 40 different ones. Yeah. I think we should get a T-shirt or an endorsement or something. I could stand up there on a Cracker Barrel stage, hold up a biscuit, and say, “Steve Blaze eats here!” I strongly recommend the higher-ups in the company to get in touch with Lillian Axe for a concert series. We can
sit on the porch and play acoustically all night.
If the Lillian Axe crew were to find some independent places that serve home cooking for you to try on the road, can we please skip some Cracker Barrels on the next tour?
Yes, we can. But if it’s not any good, and it doesn’t
stand up to the quality of the Cracker Barrel location, that means that you guys have to take me to Cracker Barrel and buy my next meal.
With the new Lilliam Axe record 10 Commandments coming in early 2026, Steve assured us that there will be stops near us, as Texas has been always an immense part of the
“I strongly recommend the higher-ups in the company to get in touch with Lillian Axe for a concert series.”
band’s history. “Even before we were signed, we were frequenting all the cities in Texas, especially Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston.”
While the band is currently NOLA-based, drummer Wayne Stokely lives in Weatherford.
Back to the logo situation: While Cracker Barrel’s decision to update its branding was quickly reversed, initial reactions had the internet buzzing and everyone had an opinion, including Thomas L. Knapp of the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism. Read his thoughts on the matter at TheGarrisonCenter.org/archives/19882. l
Lillian Axe and other touring bands keep the gravy flowing at Cracker Barrel.
on Fri, Sep 12, from 4pm to 7pm. This free celebration of German culture will feature cheerful music, delicious bites, and a chance to discover new favorites inspired by Deutschland’s rich culinary traditions. To fully embrace the spirit of the event, guests are encouraged to wear festive German attire. Attendees will receive a special coupon and commemorative shopping bag.
Kids’ Kinderkarneval Stroll
Little revelers are invited to attend the Kids’ Kinderkarneval Stroll on Sat, Sep 20 from 10am to 1pm. This free celebration is designed just for kids, with festive costumes encouraged to bring the spirit of Kinderkarneval to life. Along the stroll, children can enjoy hands-on activities, like designing their own shield, decorating a traditional Lebkuchen heart, completing a Germany map scavenger hunt, and painting a pumpkin. Each participant will receive a special coupon and commemorative shopping bag to take home.
Savor the Culture of Germany at Cooking School
The Central Market Cooking School is offering an exceptional lineup of Passport Germany
luck and fortune.
7.) Sauerbraten is a tangy-sweet, marinated beef roast, slow-braised in rich German tradition.
8.) As always, be sure to pick up a themed Shopping Tote. Central Market’s exclusive tote for Passport Germany – A fun play on “Hello” in German with a Texas twist.
About Central Market
A division of H-E-B, Central Market opened its doors in 1994 and now has ten store locations across North Texas, including Fort Worth (Chapel Hill Shopping Center) and Southlake (Shops of Southlake). A bountiful produce department with unmatched quality and variety, an 80-foot seafood case, hundreds of cheeses, 2,500 wine labels, and extensive specialty grocery aisles make the Central Market experience unique. For more information, follow us on Instagram (@ central_market), Twitter (@centralmarket), or visit us at CentralMarket.com. #CentralMarket #ReallyIntoFood.
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MUSIC
Vets Rock A former infantryman, Cut Throat Finches’
Sean Russell aims to bring military veterans and music together.
BY MARK HENRICKS
If he weren’t already well-known as one of Fort Worth’s best frontmen for his work with indie-rockers Cut Throat Finches, Sean Russell might have a high profile based on his compassionate activism. Lately, Russell has shown this with efforts to organize a veteran-focused music festival as well as coordinating contributions to help a vet impacted by the Cooper Apartments fire.
Russell, winner of a Panthy for best male vocalist in the most recent Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards, has a special connection with vets. That was evident as we walked through the square in Granbury, where he’d gone for a business meeting, and he lasered in on the plethora of signs commemorating veterans’ past service.
“Is this always here?” he said.
Assured it was, the former Army infantryman nodded approvingly.
Nodding is something the good-humored Russell does a lot, but he doesn’t stop there.
After former Air Force medic Leo Hartfield was displaced by the Cooper blaze, Russell threw an appeal for donations to his 5,000-plus Facebook following. In short order, people across the area
still-to-be chosen Fort Worth venue. It will consist of musical performances as well as booths staffed by organizations providing services to veterans.
“The idea of the concert is to feature vet musicians,” Russell said.
No less important will be the presence of organizations offering assistance with physical, mental, and other challenges of leaving military life.
“The idea of that is to get as many vets together as possible and connect them with services,” Russell said.
Russell credits music with providing vital help as he reentered civilian life, and other vet musicians say the same. Clay Anderson is a Marine veteran who was with the initial wave of U.S. troops into Iraq. After leaving the service, he studied audio engineering and today is lead engineer at The Cicada.
“I’m also a musician, and I’ve been writing music for about as long as I’ve been doing audio,” Anderson said. “I started getting into writing at the end of my time in the Marine Corps in 2004.”
Anderson plans to participate in Rally Point and said vets with something to sing could get solid benefits from the event.
responded generously with offers of everything from a refrigerator and a washer and dryer to silverware and curtains, including a bed, toys, and other items for Hartfield’s plus-size dog, Bane.
Hartfield, who lost his father not long after the apartment fire displaced him, was unable to provide an interview for this article, but in a social media post, he gave special thanks for the dog-related items.
“Bane went crazy,” Hartfield said. “Every toy and bed you got him, he can’t put down.”
For his part, Russell can’t seem to put down his concern for people transitioning from military service to the civilian world. At the same time he was raising support for Hartfield, he was initiating plans for a vet-focused event called Rally Point Music Showcase.
“In the military,” Russell explained, “a rally point is where you regroup when everything goes wrong. That’s the crux of Rally Point Music. Let’s regroup. Let’s see what tools you have and what wounds you have.”
With that in mind, the planned event will take place on or around Veterans Day at a
“It really can be therapeutic to write about things that you experienced, whether they’re traumatic or not,” he said. “As a songwriter, you can talk your way through some of your past experiences by writing a song about it. That’s a very valuable thing.”
Kasey Dixon, a former Army Apache helicopter mechanic, plays cello for all sorts of gigs around Fort Worth, from classical to rock. A music major before entering the Army, Dixon started playing with local bands out of Fort Hood and found music served a critical function during the transition out of the service.
“Since then, I’ve seen many veterans who play music,” Dixon said. “It seems to be a common story that music was something that was there to help us work through sometimes very complex feelings about our service and things we experienced or saw. I think what [Russell] is doing is a superpower to give veterans in our area a chance to not only have a platform to play music but to have other folks discover them.”
For some vets, Rally Point could be much more than a musical career boost. Shannon Book served as a combat medic for the Marines through some of the war in Iraq’s most intense episodes of combat and says music literally saved his life.
“When I came back from Fallujah, I didn’t know how to express what was in my head,” said Book, now an Austin-based speaker and musician who travels the country addressing audiences on post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and suicide prevention.
“When I finally realized that I could express it — loudly and obnoxiously — through music, I did. I started writing my feelings down and creating music around it, and I created bands to help me express all of it.”
Russell hopes that, through Rally Point Music, he and other musical vets like these can serve as examples for vets who haven’t yet been able to harness music to help handle life after military service. Rather than providing a handout, he wants to give vets a respectable way to connect to other ex-military musicians. At the same time, he’ll present an opportunity to tap into targeted services along with the reassurance that they deserve to use them.
This isn’t a passing fancy for Russell. He’s into it enough that he’s considering “Rally Point” as the title of a new album he’s releasing in January. Before then, look for the single “Unsettled Minds” that describes the troubled sleep of a 20-year Green Beret. Planned release date for the single? When else? Veterans Day, Nov. 11. l
Clay Anderson: “It really can be therapeutic to write about things that you experienced, whether they’re traumatic or not.”
Courtesy Clay Anderson Music
Sean Russell: “The idea of that is to get as many vets together as possible and connect them with services.”
HearSay
Interlinked Arrives
Even though Jordan Rosser moved to Oklahoma City a few years ago, it doesn’t keep him from Interlinked. He still manages rehearsals and other group activities with his metalcore band.
“Anytime there’s a photoshoot or writing or recording session, I make the drive to be with the rest of the team,” Rosser said. “I am very thankful and lucky to have such a supportive and adaptable group of friends to create music with.”
With 3,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, Interlinked is about to release their debut album. RECEDE//COPE will hit streaming platforms Friday along with vinyl copies.
After several practices and recording sessions in 2019, the guys began focusing on a metalcore/djent sound, leading to Interlinked.
“We decided to create a whole new project to release those songs,” Rosser said.
Taking its name from the Nabokov poem “Pale Fire,” the band — guitarist Seth Anderson, drummer Isaac Goldsmith, bassist Spencer Molina, and guitarist Tony Morales with Rosser on vocals is loud and aggressive with complex guitar parts and rhythms, frenzied vocals, and the occasional atmospheric synth. RECEDE/COPE is a concept album about the world following the
pandemic, “both individually and as a broader population.”
The eight tracks were recorded, mixed, and mastered in Allen by Tayler Beckstead (BackTalk, Lanticblue, Breathe Atomic).
“We’d never worked with him before,” Rosser said, “but after tracking a single with him, it was clear he was the guy for the job. So, one song quickly turned into eight. We trusted his experience with the genre and absolutely loved working with him. It felt like we’d known him for years. We are all so proud of the record and all of the hard work that it took to bring it to life over the last two years. We feel that it’s our best work by far.”
As experienced as they are, the guys in Interlinked have not played out in years. That’s what they’re working on now, rehearsing their setlist and trying to find the right time and place
“We’ve always loved aggressive music, from Korn to Slayer to Nine Inch Nails and August Burns Red,” Rosser said. “For me personally, it’s all about the emotions and the outlet that performing and creating provides. Nothing feels more natural to me as a person than spitting my brains out over a wall of distorted guitar chugs and snare hits. Life is full of strife. Art has always been the best form of escape in my eyes. It allows us to connect with others and to build and contribute to a community that is ultimately centered around loving music and taking care of each other. These days, that aspect of community cannot be understated.”
WITH SPECIAL GUEST MICHAEL MONROE FRI 9/26 TEXAS VS. THE WORLD WED 10/8
9/27
Juan R. Govea
RIDGLEA ROOM
MORE TO COME TBA FRI 9/5 THE ERA GALA SAT 9/6 FOUR DAY WEEKEND SAT 9/27 LEMONPARTY LIVE & ALEX STEIN
(From left to right) Spencer Molina, Seth Anderson, Jordan Rosser, Tony Morales, and Isaac Goldsmith are Interlinked.
SCREEN
After Hours
What’s going to happen to late-night TV in an age where time has no meaning?
BY DANNY GALLAGHER
Change is inevitable, especially with people’s media-viewing tastes and habits, but we seem to live in a weird time, when time itself no longer matters.
Late-night network television has had to contend with this phenomenon more than any other TV genre. Streaming services, including YouTube, Paramount+, Disney+, Hulu, and social media platforms, allow viewers to watch their favorite parts of their favorite late-night shows anytime they want. You don’t have to stay up late to watch your favorite late-night shows anymore.
I’m guilty of the same viewing habit. Every late-night show I watch regularly is in bits and pieces on my phone or computer. Daily shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Daily Show regularly post their hosts’ news monologues on YouTube just before airing each new episode. The rest of the nightly comedy segments, celebrity interviews, and musical performances pop up on YouTube and social media the following morning, just in time for my morning coffee. Even long-running Saturday Night Live posts nearly every portion of its weekend sketch show in separate chunks on YouTube.
This rising trend in viewing has pulled some viewers away from their televisions, but YouTube views aren’t empty calories for late-night shows’ Nielsen ratings. Nielsen measures who’s watching what on TV, cable, and online channels with its Total Audience Measurement data system. Even if literal TV viewing has dropped because of the internet, it’s still factored into ratings.
Still, streaming as a whole is clobbering its competition. As of July, a little more than 47% of adult viewers spent most of their time watching streaming services, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, just 22% mostly watch cable, and 18% mostly watch broadcast or network television, including recorded shows on DVRs and TiVos. (Yes, they still exist.)
Now we find ourselves in a timeline where late-night network shows and maybe even cable late-night shows could be canceled without replacements. Late-night host-turned-hit podcaster Conan O’Brien, who returned to TV last year with HBO Max’s comedy travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go, said during his induction speech to the Television Academy Hall of Fame that late-night TV “as we have known it since around 1950 is going to disappear, but those voices are not going anywhere.”
First, CBS decided not to renew its late-night
panel show @After Midnight when host Taylor Tomlinson chose to leave the podium last year after building a sizable and younger following with her charm and wit and a crack writing staff led by comedian Jo Firestone.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Stephen Colbert announced last month that the network not only decided to cancel his Late Show but to kill its entire late-night schedule.
CBS won a massive bidding war in the 1990s to build its late-night timeslot, starting with The Late Show’s David Letterman in 1993. Letterman lengthened CBS’s late-night shelf by hiring Tom Snyder the following year to host the new Late Late Show, a timeslot that would turn from one-on-one conversations to late-night comedy starting with Craig Kilborn in 1999, followed by the brilliant Craig Ferguson from 2004 to 2015, and finally with James Corden from 2015 to 2023.
Do Colbert’s cancellation and @After Midnight’s conclusion mean that we’ll just see a test pattern from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Central Time when we tune into CBS? No, it’s worse than that.
So far, CBS has been airing Bryon Allen’s Comics Unleashed, an unfunny syndicated
Now we find ourselves in a timeline where late-night network shows and maybe even cable latenight shows could be canceled without replacement.
roundtable talk show where Allen forces comics to tell their jokes by feeding them obvious setups. The network plans to run a second hour of Allen’s nightly promptfest once Colbert leaves his timeslot next May.
The late Norm MacDonald said Allen’s comedy show was where “you couldn’t be more leashed.”
The decision to cancel Colbert’s show was shocking due to its proximity to a merger with Skydance that required approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Trump’s tendency to weaponize every aspect of government to go after anyone who ever made a joke about him just made the decision more suspicious. CBS executive George Cheeks provided some perspective in a press conference, citing declining ad revenue and operational costs.
Cheeks’ response doesn’t clear the air. It just made things more confusing. Even if viewership was down, Colbert was still No. 1 in his timeslot, averaging more than 3 million views per week with a 12.51% audience share, according to TV Insider.
The most logical answer doesn’t lie in what’s leaving CBS’s timeslot. The answer lies in what’s replacing it. LateNighter reported shortly after the news of Colbert’s cancellation that CBS is leasing its late-night timeslots to Allen’s Entertainment Studios production company.
NBC’s late-night shows are still going fairly strong, especially Seth Meyers in his late timeslot, and Jimmy Kimmel regularly goes viral for baiting the president and his people with jokes.
The concept of late night can survive in this streaming climate, and its voices are still needed to preserve TV’s waning interest in holding leaders to a higher moral standard than comedians and keeping alive what little amount of satire we have left. Their presence in late-night time slots, however, probably won’t. Otherwise, it’ll have to start paying rent to the networks.
Also, if you’re thinking about writing an email or anonymous comment asking why Greg Gutfeld’s nightly and painfully unfunny comedy simile marathon on Fox News wasn’t factored into all this, don’t bother. His show starts a full hour in primetime before the agreed-upon late-night time block starts.
Time still has to mean something these days. l
Daily Show host Jon Stewart (right) unpacks the possible political and financial causes of CBS’s decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the network’s entire latenight block.
LEARNING LOCAL
Why So Many Texans Are Turning Their Focus to Nursing
By Living Local
Step into a diner on the edge of Fort Worth or a café tucked off a Dallas side street, and you’ll hear the same sort of talk. A cousin who’s left her job in retail and enrolled in a nursing program. A neighbor who’s trading construction shifts for a hospital floor. These conversations don’t come dressed up in slogans, they’re casual mentions between bites of pie or sips of coffee. Yet they mark a shift happening across Texas, a turn toward nursing that’s gathering quiet momentum.
What used to be a path chosen by a small fraction of people is now drawing in waitresses, ranch hands, recent graduates, even those eyeing second careers. Education is no longer a locked door. With Texas certified nurse midwife programs and other nursing tracks available online, the qualifications can be earned from the spare room of a rented apartment or a desk in a farmhouse. For many Texans, that means they can stay put, keep their family rhythms intact, and still carve out a future in healthcare. The distance between a dream and a license has narrowed, and that’s made all the difference.
The Long Pull Toward Care
Texans have always valued work that feels rooted in necessity. Nursing speaks to that in a way office jobs often don’t. It’s hands-on, visible, useful. Patients remember your name. Families look at you with a kind of raw gratitude that lingers long after the shift is over. The pull is strong because the rewards aren’t abstract. They’re lived and seen in real time.
This isn’t to say the choice is only about calling. It’s practical too. The population of Texas has surged, and with it the demand for healthcare. Hospitals aren’t shrinking. Clinics aren’t vanishing. When other industries dip and sway with markets, nursing holds steady. The promise of work tomorrow matters to people who’ve watched industries in their town dry up overnight.
Education That Fits the State
One of the barriers that kept people away from nursing was the training itself. You couldn’t always pick up and move to study. Families, jobs, mortgages made it impossible. Online programs began to change that, offering coursework that fit around a person’s life rather than replacing it. A single father in El Paso could take classes after his kids went to bed. A retiree in Waco could log in from her kitchen table.
The shift in accessibility has been compared, sometimes jokingly, to when VHS first let people rent films and watch them at home. You no longer had to catch a showing at a specific time. You had control. Education in nursing has taken on that same shape: rigorous, yes, but flexible enough to slot into the working lives of ordinary Texans.
Variety in the Pathways
Another reason nursing attracts so many is the spread of options within it. You don’t sign on for one role and stay frozen there forever. You can work with children, focus on emergency care, or specialize in maternal health. Rural nurses often wear several hats in one day, while city nurses might hone in on a narrow specialty. That range means people see a career that can grow with them rather than lock them into a single mold. It also softens the fear of burnout. When one role wears thin, there’s room to shift into another. For a state the size of Texas, with its mix of urban bustle and rural isolation, that adaptability is a draw.
The Weight of Rural Needs
In the Panhandle, in the Hill Country, in the valleys close to the border, healthcare can be thin. A nurse in those regions isn’t just filling shifts. They’re often the backbone of care. Towns with small clinics rely on them in a way cities sometimes forget. Without them, residents drive hours for a check-up or go without care altogether.
Texans notice this. Many who step into nursing aren’t only chasing stable pay, they’re aware of what’s missing in their communities. They’ve watched relatives struggle to see a doctor. They’ve known neighbors who delay care because it’s too far or too costly. Nursing becomes not just a job, but a way of closing that gap.
The Security Factor
Economic swings are familiar in Texas. Oil prices rise, fall, and with them go jobs. Technology firms hire in bursts, then cut back. Nursing sidesteps much of that volatility. Demand doesn’t disappear because people will always need care. For those who’ve lived through layoffs or industry collapses, the steadiness of nursing is compelling. It’s not glamorous, but it’s dependable.
The paychecks come, the benefits accumulate, and the career ladder stretches further than many expect. Nurse practitioners, midwives, specialized roles all add rungs for those who want to keep climbing. For Texans wary of uncertainty, the structure is appealing.
A Career That Fits
Nursing aligns with Texas values in ways that make sense once you see it up close. It’s service without fuss. It’s work you can take pride in, even
if nobody’s clapping you on the back for it. It’s practical, steady, tied to community. It doesn’t force people to abandon their homes or families. It lets them grow while staying rooted. There’s a scene in Friday Night Lights when Coach Taylor tells his team that it’s not about winning every game, it’s about showing up with clear eyes and full hearts. Nursing in Texas feels a lot like that. It’s less about glory and more about presence. Being there when people need you, holding the line when others can’t. That’s the appeal, plain and simple.
Read more at FWWeekly.com. For more promotional information, use the QR below or visit OnlineNursing.Baylor.edu/Programs/ DNP-Midwifery.
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CELEBRATION
Located at 908 Pennsylvania Av (817-335-3222), Celebration Community Church has services on Sundays at 10am. Want to check out a nonjudgmental, inclusive church at home before attending in person? All services can also be viewed on YouTube! (@ CelebrationCommunityChurch130)
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EMPLOYMENT
American Airlines, Inc. has openings in Ft. Worth, TX for: Consultant, IT Operations Research and Advanced Analytics (Ref. 2482): Resp for support’g decision-mak’g across the airline, incl pric’g & revenue mgmt, fleet & network optimization, crew & flight schedul’g, airport & maintenance operations & customer or social media analytics; Analyst, Sales Production Technology (Ref. 2178): Resp for support’g the automation implementations within Global Sales; Sr. Project Manager, IT Operations Research & Advanced Analytics (Ref. 2513): Resp for plann’g, staff’g, track’g, & prioritization of Operations Research projects. To learn more or to apply send inquiries &/or resume to Gene Womack via email: Gene.Womack@aa.com. Please include Ref # in subject line. #LI-DNI
EMPLOYMENT
Goosehead Insurance Agency, LLC seeks Senior Software Engineer in Westlake, TX (telework 2 days/wk permitted) to design, develop, and maintain software applications using React, Node.js, and Postgres DB. Salary within the range of $135,000 - $225,000/yr. Send resume to jordan. benfield@goosehead.com and include reference STSSE.
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POTTER’S HOUSE
Join the Potter’s House of Fort Worth (1270 Woodhaven Blvd, 817-446-1999) for Sunday Service at 8am and Wednesday Bible Study at 7pm. For more info, visit us online at www.TPHFW.org.
PUBLIC NOTICE
The following vehicle has been impounded with fees due to date by Sega Tow (VSF0576658) at 2711 S Riverside Dr, Fort Worth TX, 76104, 817-572-7775: Chevrolet, 2021, Corvette, VIN 1G1YB2D43M5112234, $1576.95; and Nissan, 2025, Kicks, VIN 3N8AP6CA35L380310, $960.
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