Fort Worth Weekly // January 12-18, 2022

January 12-18, 2022 FREE fwweekly.com

FEATURE The new, incumbent-friendly map for constables and justices of the peace has started a minor firestorm in Tarrant County.

BY EDWARD BROWN

METROPOLIS Mayor Parker whiffs on a chance to voice support for voting rights and more cowardly deeds populate our News Roundup.

BY ANTHONY MARIANI

STAGE Bass Hall’s Dear, Evan Hanson proves that theater lovers are glad to be back.

BY KRISTIAN LIN

MUSIC Omicron is messing with local venues, but they’re braced to be adaptable.

BY PAT R I C K H I G G I N S

The Radler Arrives In that beautiful bungalow on Magnolia comes an uber-German beer garden and gastropub.

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Magnolia, this new German-flavored gastropub comes alive.

By Cody Neathery

Omnicrunch

Lola’s, MASS, and The Post are just a few venues dealing with the new, highly contagious variant.

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By Patrick Higgins

Cour tesy DallasCowboys.com

By Edward Brown

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Radler Mapping Dissent Rad In that bungalow on Locals are erupting over a new, gerrymandered voting map.

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News Roundup Parker punts on voting rights while conservatives are winning the meme war and casinos are all the rage again.

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M A R I A N I

Must be nice to have it both ways. Aaron Rodgers gets to shit-talk his team as they pay him millions of dollars to throw a ball around. Padma Lakshmi can pig out on awesome food and not gain a single pound. Geminis exists. You only wish that someone elected to represent all of us would be immune to straddling fences.

You would be wrong.

Someone in question: Mattie Parker claims she supports protecting the right to vote, and yet when time came for Fort Worth’s mayor to prove it last week, she chickened out.

More than 150 names from 37 states ap-

Static

As a native Texan, I used to be fairly oblivious to outside perceptions of my home state. I never watched a single episode of Dallas, for example, but when I visited Western Europe in the summer of 1984, I was surprised that practically everyone I met assumed I owned horses and oil wells. Then, the following summer, when some New York City girls saw me surfing in Hawaii, they were surprised to learn I hailed from the Lone Star State. They condescendingly remarked that they thought Texans were all farmers. Later, in college, one of my favorite professors (from the upper Midwest) found my Texas drawl so off-putting that I was mildly scolded.

“You’re going to be famous someday,” the professor said. “You need to learn how to speak English.”

When I backpacked through Europe in 1994 with shoulder-length dreadlocks and my Texas drawl still intact (if not even more pronounced), many Europeans thought my accent was Australian and assumed I was an Aussie.

And every Aussie I met — themselves hailing from a “renegade” state — quickly recognized in me a kindred spirit.

The years passed, and I still remained relatively oblivious to outsider speculation. We’d had Ann Richards as governor and still had Molly Ivins. George W. Bush was a horrendous jagaloon, but voices with Molly’s mettle laid him bare for all to see. Sheesh, Texas had even been home to American Atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and when I was young, Cowtown was a mecca for famous gay folks, including transplanted tennis legend Martina Navratilova, world-renowned pianist Van Cliburn, and heirless business magnate Sid Richardson (now all deceased), some of whose vast wealth fell to contemporary business legends, the Bass broth-

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Jiminy Hegemony

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pear on a letter by the U.S. Conference of Mayors urging the U.S. Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. The two measures can help to neuter all 34 laws recently enacted

by Republican-led legislatures in 19 states to make voting more difficult, especially for people of color, who typically lean left or in the “away from crazy af ” direction. Conservatives are complicating our most sacred right for one alleged reason: to combat so-called “voter fraud,” which makes sense, considering most illegally cast ballots — of the microscopic few that have been found — are by Republicans. As Grandma says, it takes one (fraud) to know one (another fraud).

“Simply put,” the Republican mayor told the Star-T, “I don’t sign onto every letter put out by the organizations of which I’m a member.”

In other words, “I’m a coward who’s afraid of pissing off the Trumpies,” a small but extremely loud and annoying segment of the GOP that dictates party policy. Say something anti-45, and the Trumpies will burn a cross on your lawn. Parker, clearly, is more afraid of their wrath than she is of publicly supporting policy that’s wanted by everyone, including most Fort Worthians. Hers is an act of cowardice that should be brought to her attention. While you’re at it, you may also want to ask her, “Who’s the legitimate winner of the 2020 U.S. presidential election?” I guarantee you there’s a “but” in her reply. Tells you all you need to know.

To witness the pretzels some Republican

politicians will twist themselves into to appease tRump’s base base, take Sweaty Teddy Cruz as your paragon of Rold Gold. Last January, the insurrection was a “terrorist attack” to the Texas senator, but when serial liar Tucker Carlson put young Tedson in line on-air, the Texan swallowed the dry, crusty sliver of shoe leather that serves as his pride and ultimately said he “misspoke.”

ers. These three wildly visible LGBTQ-beforeLGBTQ-was-cool figures never came out, but plenty of people knew. It just wasn’t a big deal.

Further back, native Texan and 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had helped lead us to victory in WWII but quite pointedly called out the American military-industrial complex in his farewell address. Native Texan and 36th U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson — the war in Vietnam notwithstanding — was the most progressive president in American history, responsible for an unprecedented amount of legislation designed to protect our air, water, and wilderness, expand quality-of-life initiatives, improve education, create Headstart, fight poverty, establish racial equality and improve workplace safety.

Unbelievable now, right? But it’s true.

In 1963, LBJ signed the Clean Air Act, the Higher Education Facilities Act, and the Vocational Education Act. In 1964, LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act, the Urban Mass Transportation Act, the Wilderness Act, the Nurse Training Act, the Food Stamp Act, the Economic Opportunity Act, and the Housing Act. In 1965, LBJ signed the Higher Education Act, the Older Americans Act (the first federal initiative created to provide comprehensive services for older adults), the Social Security Act of 1965 (which established Medicare), the Voting Rights Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Services Act. In 1966, LBJ signed the Animal Welfare Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In 1967, LBJ signed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Public Broadcasting Act (creating NPR). In 1968, LBJ signed the Bilingual Education Act (the first U.S. federal legislation addressing the needs of limited English-speaking ability students), a second Civil Rights Act, and the Gun Control Act (banning mail-order sales of rifles and shotguns and prohibiting most felons, drug users, and people found mentally incompetent from

buying guns).

Let me restate: The most powerful, effective progressive in American history was a Texan.

And now his home state is one of the most backwards places on the planet.

It’s depressing.

Ann and Molly are gone, and many of our neighbors mumble “abomination” under their breaths when they see homosexuals. Texas has as many God-botherers as anywhere else in the country, and the Lone Star State attracts military-industrial profiteers like bees to honey. And my old Aussie mates live in a country where gun laws have evolved, not devolved.

For my part — like most Texans — I still don’t have any horses or oil wells or do much farming. I still, however, talk like a Texan and probably exhibit at least the half-swagger of someone oafishly belligerent — like many of my fellow Texans. I came closer to being infamous than famous and, now aged, more resemble a character on Duck Dynasty than a surfer or a world traveler. I still live in Texas, but I hardly recognize my state. I still consider myself a Texan, but I am appalled by so many Texans who don’t know or simply ignore their own history.

In Lone Star vernacular, the porch light’s on, but no one’s home. And half the folks I meet are several bricks shy of a load.

Lately, we look like superficial, xenophobic morons who never produced an LBJ or Eisenhower, much less an Ann or Molly. Nobody with any real standards wants us in their bedrooms, bathrooms, or classrooms. Our men are all hat, and we treat our women like chattel. We’re a pathetic caricature of independence and bravery and all the lies the Alamo was always based on.

And we’re like an uber-obtuse exercise in word association.

If someone says “good,” we say “bad.” If someone says “scientist,” we say “liar.” If someone says “evil,” we say “necessary.” If someone

Carlson: “Repeat after me, Hauptmann Ted. They were not terrorists. They were patriots.”

Cruz: “Ja, Oberst-Gruppenführer Carlson. They were not terrorists. They were patriots. Take my ugly wife, please.”

It really hurts to say this, because she’s not crazy and is not completely disgusted with herself, but Parker is no better than Ted Cruz. When you either can’t or won’t acknowledge that our democracy is on its deathbed and that making voting easier is the answer — along with preventing Republican apparatchiks from changing votes after the fact — you’ve officially entered MAGAland, where allegiance to one orange racist rapist trumps the Constitution and democracy and where urine is drunk to ward off COVID because of course it is.

The letter was signed by eight Texas mayors, including Arlington’s Jim Ross and Dallas’ Eric Johnson. Parker’s acquiescence to MAGA represents neither a majority of Fort Worthi-

ans nor the rest of the country, who agree that democracy is better when more people vote, especially in our anti-democracy. No matter what you think, it’s not a democracy we’re working with here. This shit is warped. The Democratic half of the Senate represents nearly 42 million more people than the Republican half, and yet we’re deadlocked all the time for some reason.

California is 68 times more populous than Wyoming, but each state has the same number of senators. It’s absurd, especially because smaller states tend to be much whiter and much more conservative, which gives the Republican half of the Senate a huge advantage. No one talks about this.

The disparity is why voting rights are so important. Limiting them is a sign of desperation. If that’s the only idea you have, then you’re just plum out of ideas. Other than slashing taxes on corporations and the ultra-wealthy or waging inane culture wars, the GOP has been out of ideas for a while now. Poor whites need to know how much they are loathed, absolutely despised,

by GOP leaders and their moneyed supporters.

Then maybe less evil, less batshit crazy Republicans would be in office. Or maybe not. Not with all these darkies around.

In an open letter, District 6 councilmember Jared Williams called on Fort Worth’s congressional delegation to come together to back the John Lewis act and Freedom to Vote. The bills would offer all eligible voters unrestricted access to the electoral process, he wrote, by setting fedsays “black,” we say “blue.” If someone says “white,” we say “right.” If someone says “oil,” we shout “Hallelujah, pass the global warming!”

And if someone says “woman” (or, heaven forbid, “a woman’s sovereignty of her own body”), we respond with a sneering, faux-righteous “not on my watch.”

Beloved Lone Star hero Willie Nelson used to say, “I’m from Texas, and one of the reasons I like Texas is because there’s no one in control.”

But now Willie’s simply mistaken.

Red-state, white, male hegemony is where we’re at — and we seem to like it that way.

Today we ban honest books and refuse to punish (much less censure) dishonest, corrupt politicians. Today, Texans no longer lead — Texas is a breeding ground for fear and ignorance and moral cowards. And today, though we didn’t succeed at all as our own country or separate republic, we ludicrously threaten to secede more than we say the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

Hell, this past year Texas conservatives did their batshit-crazy best to gerrymander the state back to the middle-19th century, hoping to make us look like the Great White Hope for America in the 21st century, but to the rest of the world — and anyone paying attention in this country — we look more like a stunted confederacy of vaccs hoaxers, Roe-revokers, Jim Crow stokers, and reinstate-Scopes-Monkey-decision coaxers. We’re not a Great White Hope.

We’re an ignorant gaggle of grating, whitesupremist, misogynist dolts. — E.R. Bills This column reflects the opinions of the author and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. Columns will be gently edited for factuality and clarity.

E.R. Bills is the author of Fear and Loathing in the Lone Star State (2021) and The 1910 Slocum Massacre: An Act of Genocide in East Texas (2014).

eral standards for mail-in voting and preventing what he calls “partisan intimidation and harassment” at the ballot box. Now that Texas’ anti-voting Senate Bill 1 is law, expect a lot of flag-waving ass-hats looking over your shoulder as you check boxes at your polling station. The new law could lead to misdemeanor charges against any election official who “knowingly or intentionally” refuses to accept partisan — partisan — poll watchers. Williams is right to label this nonsense accurately: “intimidation and harassment.”

Basically, the same kinds of terrorists who tried to overthrow the government last Jan. 6 are now welcome at your neighborhood polling station. Makes perfect sense in a backward-ass Texan way.

Some people are buying Parker’s wishywashy bullshit. Chris Nettles isn’t one of them.

The District 8 city councilmember wrote his own open letter to the U.S. Senate, begging them to put aside partisan bickering and secure voter protection. Good on him.

I’m not quite sure what’s going on with Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens, though. While she’s signing a separate letter from the National League of Cities in support of voting rights, she told the Star-T she can’t criticize people, i.e., Parker, with “different opinions.” Opinions?

On the one side, you have people who believe in democracy and that voting should be as easy as paying your bills online. On the other side is MAGA, who won’t be happy until we’re living in a church-state with Father Donald Trump reigning as emperor infinitum. Saying nothing or being complacent is going to get a lot of people killed. Speak up and speak loud. Chris Nettles knows what’s up. Do you?

Right-Wing Idiots Winning Meme Wars

You know both sides are fighting as hard as they are because of independent voters, right? If it weren’t for them up on their high horses, Republicans would never win another presidency for the rest of eternity. Alas, here we are, grinding it out on the socials meme by meme for the love of voters who like a little of both sides, a little bit country and a little bit rock ’n’ roll, a little vanilla, a little cookie dough, a little fast, a little furious.

No one cares that Texas GOP’s trending meme last Friday makes no sense and is in a way a self-own. All that matters is that it comes close enough to the truth to — bam! — make an independent voter stop and scratch his enormous brain- and ethics-filled head. The meme in question: A queue of people sits beneath “If you can wait in line for hours for [COVID] testing … you can vote in person.”

The implication is that Republicans’ efforts in 19 states to force mostly Black and Hispanic voters to wait in even longer lines to cast ballots — a 2020 UCLA study found that people in Black neighborhoods wait 29% longer to vote than those in mostly white, assumedly conservative areas — are somehow as innocent as swabbing your nose. It’s not. It’s a shameful attempt to disenfranchise voters of color as they inch ever closer toward becoming the majority in our country. It’s a bald-faced attempt to retain white power at any cost. The endgame is twofold: Continue punishing women for expressing autonomy over their own bodies because Jesus said so or something and concentrate wealth in the 1% because didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are the

moneychangers”? Pretty sure he did. At least according to every single Republican politician alive, he did.

The memes and the meme wars, and the writing about them, are distracting Mr. Indie Voter from the truth, not that Republican legislators are making it harder for Blacks and Hispanics to vote, though that’s awful. It’s that even when these people are finally able to cast their ballots, the GOP’s “election integrity” machine will be able to ignore their chosen candidates and hand-select the winners. In Texas and elsewhere, nonpartisan election officials are being replaced with Trump cultists, who want nothing more than to lick his big, fat, ugly boots. In 2020, Trump’s attempt to overturn the will of the people was thwarted by members of his own party who had the courage to tell him and his ridiculous fanboys to fuck off — Grandpa Joe won fair and square. Now, with the brave being replaced by knaves, and with GOP gerrymandering as rampant as it’s ever been, nothing will stop Republicans from sweeping the midterms this year and from the orange stain from overriding the 2024 election results to commence his dictatorship, praise be.

I get it, indie voters. Both sides are bought and paid for. No one’s discounting that. They are.

The problem is that the privilege that allows you to have it both ways does not extend to most of us. We are forced to vote one way, the right way, because for many of us, too much is at stake, not just fair representation but fair wages and free health care and autonomous femininity and social justice and action on climate change. Until the Trump cancer is purged from the body politic and the nation at large, I’m afraid that one side or the other must be chosen. Choose wisely.

Does Fort Worth Need Casinos?

(Sure. The Answer Is Sure.)

There’s talk again that casinos are what’s needed to generate wealth and prosperity across Tarrant County. Having been to WinStar in Southern Oklahoma and had an em-effin blast a couple years ago, I can say that more entertainment options are always a plus, always. And that’s all we’re talking about here: entertainment. No one’s saying casinos are going to solve all our societal problems or keep the local economy humming in perpetuity. We’re just talking about places to go for catching some extravaganzas, eating some cheffy food, and maybe losing a few bucks. Or winning, though I don’t know how that works or what that means.

In a recent op-ed in which every other word is “but,” the Star-T says it’s a no to casinos. “We’re far from convinced that casinos would make the state better,” the editorial board writes without attempting to answer if casinos would actively hurt Texas. The answer: Who cares. Casinos are just another entertainment option, and without wanting to needlessly offend WinStar and Choctaw, the two big dawgs in this part of the world for a long time, I’ll just say that a high tide lifts all boats. And here’s another old, bad cliché that’s apropos: Become the person you’d like to attract. In this sense, Tarrant County needs to be nerdy and techy for all them Amazon/Fakebook/Microsoft dollars.

And — hahaha — we know that’s not gonna happen. For a city that’s less Bill Gates, more Gates of Hell’s Half-Acre, all I can say is, “Welcome to Fort Mos Eisley!” l

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THE OFFICIAL

January 14 - February 5

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An expansive DOJ investigation into voter suppression in Texas may include an examination of alleged gerrymandering in Tarrant County.

E D W A R D

B R O W N

Kelicia Lyons is no stranger to running for office in Tarrant County’s Precinct 6.

Speaking from her home in South Fort Worth, the investigator who collects evidence for the state attorney general described her drive to serve the public.

“This area has grown a lot,” she said, referring to southwest Tarrant County. “We have a lot of Hispanics who have moved here.

A lot of our middle school populations are mostly Black and Hispanic. I noticed that we never saw our constable in our community.”

Four years ago, Lyons, an active Black community volunteer, decided that she was going to change that. In 2018, she ran for constable as a Democrat in her home precinct.

In Tarrant County, one constable and one justice of the peace (JP) are elected every four years to serve each of eight precincts.

Tarrant County’s eight constables each earn an annual salary of $115,000, according to Tarrant County’s 2020 budget. The licensed peace officers who serve warrants and civil papers are tasked with acting as the bailiff for the JP court in their elected precinct. Tarrant’s eight JPs earn just under $130,000 a year for their role in presiding over cases that may involve misdemeanor crimes, civil disputes, and eviction cases. They also perform marriage ceremonies.

Lyons’ Republican opponent, Jon Siegel, won by 14,000 votes. Two years later, she ran again against Siegel and narrowed that gap to within 4,000 votes or 5% of 105,316 ballots cast.

The path to JP traditionally begins by serving as constable, but Lyons saw an opportunity to snag Precinct 6’s JP seat from Republican incumbent Jason Charbonnet, who first took office in early 2019. Charbonnet ran a slick 2018 campaign against Democrat Deborah Hall, who, according to several local Democrat officials, did nothing beyond filing to run. Charbonnet won by only 3% of 81,876 votes cast.

According to the numerous elected officials and political candidates I spoke to, Charbonnet’s near loss and his fear of losing his seat to a much stronger Democratic opponent, Lyons, prompted him to allegedly pressure white, conservative county commissioners Gary Fickes, J.D. Johnson, and county head Glen Whitley to work in secret with five white Republican JPs to draft a precinct map that stripped tens of thousands of ethnic minorities of their

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Kelicia Lyons: “I noticed that we never saw our constable in our community.”

voter suppression in the South.

JP De Leon put it simply. “According to the Voting Rights Act, you cannot crack away precincts and you cannot pack them elsewhere to achieve your objectives.”

The intent of the three commissioners and five JPs, De Leon believes, was to “dilute minority voting strength. It will take a federal lawsuit to shine a light on what they have done and strike down the map that they have passed.”

Against the backdrop of the pending federal lawsuit is a similar filing by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that alleges that Texas’ Republican leadership misused its redistricting powers to carve a path for state Republicans to remain in power for the next 10 years. Maxwell’s team has reached out to the DOJ to request that the federal investigation include a look at the events leading up to the Nov. 9 commissioners court meeting and the current JP map.

Tarrant County’s demographics tip in favor of new, progressive leadership, Maxwell said, and Republican leaders see gerrymandering or carving up voting districts as their last best hope for clinging to power.

“Republicans are preserving their offices and power by gerrymandering [so] that a minority of the population controls the

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state,” he said. “It’s just flat wrong. It’s not democracy. That’s what we are fighting.”

Agustin Gonzalez

Clinging to Power

due representation and limited the ability of Tarrant’s three ethnic minority JPs to be reelected in November.

The new JP map, which was passed at an open meeting on Nov. 9 by Tarrant’s three white Republican commissioners — of the other two commissioners, both ethnic minorities, one abstained and the other voted no — removes political opponents for two white conservative JP incumbents: Charbonnet and Ralph Swearingin. The map, according to the county’s own attorney, dilutes minority representation in one precinct, Precinct 2, which is headed by white Republican JP Mary Tom Cravens Curnutt.

A spokesperson for Charbonnet said he is not commenting on the new JP map.

Tarrant’s three Republican commissioners did not respond to my requests for comment.

Sergio De Leon, the Hispanic JP for Precinct 5, alleges that the map was drafted to suppress the rights of a growing base of minority voters, who are unlikely to cast ballots for Republicans. Around 95% of Texas’ 4 million new residents are non-white, according to new U.S. Census figures, and presumably progressive-minded.

As part of an ongoing civil lawsuit to stop the implementation of the JP map, boardcertified trial lawyer Steve Maxwell requested a temporary restraining order on the map.

Judge Lee Gabriel denied the request on Dec. 8. A county administrator successfully argued that restraining the order would cause problems for March’s primary elections.

Maxwell said the decision was disappointing but not entirely unexpected. As he obtains evidence through court-ordered discovery proceedings, he believes that the next judge will rule more favorably.

Within days or weeks at most, Tarrant County will be at the center of a second lawsuit, this one a federal case that aims to overturn the JP map. Through legal arguments at a federal court in the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth, Maxwell said he will use maps and demographic data to demonstrate that Tarrant’s three Republican commissioners and five Republican JPs diluted local minority representation in violation of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark federal legislation that was drafted to stop and reverse decades of

JP Charbonnet maintains he had no idea where Kelicia Lyons lived.

With every passing year, Tarrant County grows younger and more diverse. The average age of Tarrant’s 2.1 million residents is 34.9, according to state data. The Lone Star State added more new residents than any state in the nation over the past 10 years, and half of that growth is attributed to Hispanics.

The 2020 Census revealed an 8.6% decrease in white representation across the country over the past decade, while the percentage of Americans who identify as multiracial increased by 276% to 33.8 million.

Ethnicity remains a strong indicator of partisanship. According to the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank, only 8% of Blacks vote Republican while 63% of Hispanics and 72% of Asians vote Democrat.

“It is a natural progression,” De Leon said.

“The state and county are diversifying. We are now seeing that diversity is not concentrated in one area. The traditional North- and Southside Hispanic population is now growing into the suburbs, and you are seeing more and more local races becoming competitive.”

A narrow majority of Tarrant County voters cast ballots for President Joe Biden, and that swing toward progressive candidates is playing out in county races, he added.

After narrowly winning against a Democrat who spent little to no money on her campaign four years ago, Charbonnet was nervous about this fall’s election against Lyons, De Leon claims.

Earlier last summer, De Leon said he received a phone call from Christopher Gregory, a conservative white JP who represents Precinct 4. De Leon said Gregory wanted to discuss possible JP map redistricting. De Leon told Gregory that any discussion was premature because the official census figures had not been released yet. Because Tarrant’s JPs do not write laws, they are not bound by the U.S. Constitution to redraw districts every 10 years like state legislatures are. Tarrant County’s commissioners court can redraw the JP map at any time, so De Leon felt no urgency to look at precinct redistricting at the time.

Later that summer, De Leon says Gregory contacted him again, this time to tell De Leon that Tarrant County’s commissioners (presumably the three white Republicans) were willing to adopt a new precinct map if five out of the eight JPs in the county agreed to it. De Leon alleges that the phone call was the first indication that Tarrant County’s conservative leadership discussed the map outside of a public meeting, violating Texas’ Open Meetings Act, the state law that requires elected and public officials to discuss matters of public interest during public meetings only, never privately. Again, De Leon stated that he had no interest in pursuing redistricting.

During the Nov. 9 meeting, Gregory told the commissioners that he reached out to continued on page 7

“I am upset at the lack of integrity in the process,” De Leon said during the meeting.

The white Republican JPs who changed the map to favor them “have not talked to any minority JPs [about] who put this map together [and] not one minority constable about what they thought about this map.

It is disrespectful to us as leaders, especially the thousands that we represent. What I feel like is that communities of color have been disrespected.”

Charbonnet returned to the podium to defend himself against accusations that he knowingly drew opponent Lyons out of Precinct 6. Charbonnet told the commissioners that there was no way he would know where Lyons lived.

“He knows exactly where his opponent lives,” De Leon alleged to me. “This was done by design. This issue of workloads is bogus. It’s a red herring. This was done to preserve their own incumbencies and political power. This has nothing to do with workloads whatsoever.”

De Leon shared one group text and email that Charbonnet sent to the three ethnic minority JPs the day before the commissioners meeting. In both messages, Charbonnet says the map preserves the incumbencies of JPs from both parties.

“There is no funny business like gerrymandering and taking people out of precincts,” Charbonnet wrote in one text.

“It’s to protect the incumbent.”

In an email addressed to the same three

continued on page 8

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Tarrant’s new JP map (right) dilutes minority representation, several local elected officials allege.

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De Leon in May and June multiple times to discuss redistricting.

“Fast-forward to the Sunday before the Nov. 9 vote,” De Leon said. “I get a text message from Charbonnet that read, ‘Hey, there is an item on the agenda about JP redistricting.’ He said he’d have a map for me in the morning. Later that morning, a map was produced. Obviously, we couldn’t make heads or tails” of it due to the quality of the image and lack of accompanying data.

De Leon called commissioners Devan Allen and Roy Brooks, the two ethnic minorities, to see if the process of adopting the map could be stopped. Concurrently, De Leon and five other ethnic minority JPs and constables assessed how damaging the maps would be to minority voting power. On Nov. 9, the JP map agenda item occupied most of the meeting. Charbonnet spoke first. He cited population growth and a need for more even workloads as the reasons behind the redistricting.

Charbonnet went on to say the map was drawn by Murphy Nasica, an Austin-based political consulting firm that has worked for Charbonnet in the past, according to documents that I reviewed.

The four remaining Republican JPs then alternately spoke in favor of the new map before De Leon, two other ethnic minority JPs, and a handful of constables spoke against the map and the secretive nature of how the map was drawn.

C o u r t e s y o f Ta r r a n t C o u n t y

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ethnic minority JPs, Charbonnet again echoed his understanding that the map he made would take incumbency into account.

“This map takes into account two things, incumbency and workload,” he wrote in the email.

Protecting incumbencies through redistricting is precisely the aim of gerrymandering, but such acts do not constitute crimes under state or federal law.

Lyons, who was present at the meeting, recalled being shocked that the five white Republican JPs and three white Republican commissioners would so brazenly adopt a map during a public meeting when every other speaker vehemently opposed it.

Lyons believes county head Whitley’s questions during the meeting referenced previous conversations among Charbonnet and other Republican JPs in possible violation of Texas’ open meetings act.

“I couldn’t believe all the lies that were told by the current Republicans JPs and that the meeting was being recorded,” she said.

“After all the damaging information that was revealed, the Republican commissioners and Whitley voted to approve the map. The only thing that mattered was protecting the Republican incumbency seats.”

During the Nov. 9 meeting, Commissioner Allen asked an attorney for the county to describe the legality of the proposed map.

Precinct 2 “is the one that has the most voting rights impact,” the lawyer told the

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Edward Brown

Steve Maxwell (left) discusses two lawsuits against the JP map with JP Sergio De Leon.

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commissioners court. “It was a district that was politically competitive. [The new map] has had a significant impact on the racial balance. It looks as if it may not be nearly as competitive in the future.”

When asked by a commissioner if the new maps appear to be an attempt at retrogression, the legal standard that opens gerrymandered maps to federal lawsuits, the county attorney said “yes.”

In Texas, candidates seeking the nomination of the Democratic or Republican party can file for office beginning Nov. 13, meaning that Lyons would have been able to formally file to run by the following Saturday.

Charbonnet’s window for drawing her out of Precinct 6 was closing.

“The commissioners couldn’t table the agenda item if they were going to save Charbonnet’s seat,” Lyons alleges.

One second after the last speaker closed his remarks, Commissioner Fickes motioned for a vote, which was seconded by Johnson and then Whitley. Maxwell said that the vote may not have been legitimate for a number of reasons. Beyond potential violations of Texas’ open meetings act beforehand, questions remain over whether there was a quorum when the map was adopted. Johnson attended the meeting remotely, and Allen and Brooks physically left the room as the vote took place.

At the meeting, one member of the district attorney’s office spoke plainly.

“Judge, we have lost a physical quorum,” Chris Taylor said.

No, we did not, Whitley responded.

“I would respectfully request that we take maybe a five-minute break to make sure that was a valid vote,” Taylor said.

After the break, the final vote was tallied 3-1 with Brooks voting against the item and Allen abstaining.

“Glen Whitley is a so-called numbers guy,” De Leon told me later. “For him to adopt a map with no numbers is egregious.”

Lyons said the whole ordeal was orchestrated by Charbonnet. She alleges that a fellow JP confided in her that, in June,

Charbonnet told the JP to get “Kelicia Lyons off my ass.”

Lyons said that several confidential Republican sources told her that Charbonnet contacted several prominent local Republicans and asked them to pressure county head Whitley into going along with the plan. Even if she had not been drawn out of her precinct, Lyons said that Precinct 6 is no longer competitive for ethnic minority candidates under the new map. She opened her laptop and showed me a long spreadsheet that broke down the districts within each precinct by voting history.

“There were 141,000 registered voters in Precinct 6 in 2020,” she said. The Republican JPs “have taken out 60,000 voters. They left 80,000. 52,000 are Republicans, and 28,000 are Democrats.”

Soon after the 1870 passage of the 15th Amendment that guaranteed the right to vote to formerly enslaved citizens of the United States, Southern states began a systematic effort to disenfranchise Black voters through arbitrary tests, taxes, and outright violence.

“One was the literacy tests,” said Max Krochmal, author and associate professor of history at TCU. “You had to demonstrate your ability to read and write and to understand clauses in the Constitution. Then there was a grandfather clause that said if your grandfather had not been able to vote, then you could not vote.”

In the decades following the passage of the 15th Amendment, courts in the South upheld state-sanctioned voter suppression efforts. In Texas, taxes were levied on anyone who wished to vote in the primaries. The taxes had to be paid at the beginning of the year, which was a time of year when poor sharecroppers had the least cash on hand.

“African Americans, MexicanAmericans, and even poor whites were removed from the voting rolls in Texas as a result,” Krochmal said.

By the 1930s and 1940s, Southern states built an interlocking set of legal restrictions continued on page 9

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— backed by lynchings and terror — that worked to systematically deny Black men and women the right to vote.

“In 1965, even after the sit-ins, the March on Washington, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans couldn’t elect the people who represented them in much of the South,” Krochmal said. “Finally, the movement kept organizing and compelled the federal government to weigh in with the Voting Rights Act.” One century before, Union soldiers occupied former Confederate states to ensure that enslaved Americans were freed from forced labor camps that whites then and now euphemistically call “plantations.” Following the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the federal government once again sent agents, this time registrars, to ensure that Black and brown citizens were allowed to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

The Voting Rights Act, Krochmal said, remains as important today as it was in 1965 because systematic efforts to disenfranchise Black and brown voters continue to this day.

Following Biden’s landslide victory, Republican leaders at all levels of government began tacitly or directly supporting baseless claims by the former president that rampant voter fraud plagued the 2020 presidential election.

To this day, two-thirds of Republican voters believe that the election was rigged, and only one-third of Republicans said they will trust the results of 2024 if their candidate doesn’t win, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.

Under the guise of “voter integrity,” Texas’ Republican leadership recently drafted and passed Senate Bill 1. The bill limits early voting and access to drop boxes, two methods preferred by Black and other ethnic minority voters in the 2020 presidential election. Voters in Harris County are losing the ability to cast ballots from their cars — a decision that aims to disenfranchise minority voters in the state’s most populous county. The new law gives poll watchers increased autonomy — a move seen by many as pandering to hysteria over voting fraud on the part of many white Texans.

The bill also criminalizes any effort by state election officials to proactively distribute applications for mail-in ballots.

Charlie Bonner, communications director for MOVE Texas, a pro-voting rights nonprofit, told us last year that Texas’ efforts to restrict mail-in ballots should be seen for what they are.

“We have to understand that limiting access to the ballot is an intentional measure to prevent voting,” he said. “That is something that has been built up through voter-suppression laws. We see little to no evidence of voter fraud or any of the associated arguments that partisan conspiracy theorists whip up. When they make those arguments, real people do get hurt when real voters lose rights. We have to push back on that.”

Fighting against Texas’ SB1 and similar

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND PARTIES: NuStar Logistics, L.P., has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for renewal of Air Quality Permit No. 50595, which would authorize continued operation of the Grapevine Terminal located at 2400 Mustang Court, Southlake, Tarrant County, Texas 76092. Additional information concerning this application is contained in the public notice section of this newspaper.

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voter suppression laws, Democrat leadership at the federal level has been desperately trying to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, which are designed to restore parts of the Voting Rights Act that were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. The acts will also add new protections for minority groups that continue to be targeted by Republicandrafted voter suppression laws.

Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, a Republican, recently chose not to sign a letter by the United States Conference of Mayors that urges the U.S. Senate to pass both pieces of legislation.

“Simply put, I don’t sign onto every letter put out by the organizations of which I’m a member,” Parker recently told the StarTelegram.

On Monday, Councilmember Chris Nettles sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that calls on the Senate to pass both pieces of federal legislation that Parker declined to publicly support.

“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the final nail in Jim Crow’s coffin,” Nettles wrote, “but in 2013, this law was gutted, and nine states (including Texas) were given the freedom to enact discriminatory voting laws yet again. Since then, these Southern states have been allowed to pass unregulated laws — laws like closing Houston’s 24-hour voting locations and reducing Tarrant County’s polling locations by 36%. Laws that target urban cities are laws that target Black people.”

Extreme partisanship is on the rise, said former JP Manuel Valdez. The longtime JP for Precinct 5 who stepped down a decade ago after serving that office for nearly 35 years said that his biggest concern for Tarrant County politics, and the nation as a whole, is the inability of politicians to look past their political affiliations when serving the people of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.

For most of his career, “everybody seemed to get along with everyone,” Valdez said. “We had our political differences. As far as the elected officials went, we could communicate with one another almost any time.”

Valdez said he has maintained close friends on either side of the political aisle. He laments the current political climate that sees compromise as weakness and working with political opponents as acts of betrayal.

“Sides are being drawn,” he said. “We saw it in the last election, and we are seeing it today. Nowadays, there is such hard language being used. I don’t feel comfortable with that kind of situation.”

Throughout most of his career, whenever a constituent needed help, Valdez said he could pick up the phone and call any elected official in Tarrant County.

“I always got a call straight back,” he said.

“Toward the end of my tenure, if I made a phone call, I wouldn’t hear back from Republicans. It seemed to be that the climate of the politics was changing to where we only speak to our side and not their side. A lot of that stuff flows from the top. It gradually finds its way down to counties like Tarrant County.” l

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STUFF

A classic postseason rivalry has been renewed as the 49ers come to town for the Cowboys’ first playoff appearance in three years.

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P A T R I C K

H I G G I N S

In this rapidly changing world, despite being pretty well set in my own personal ways since, I don’t know, junior high, probably, I try not to be an inflexible, curmudgeonly old-timer. Pluto isn’t a planet anymore? OK. Kids learn to do math with squares? Alright, I guess. My skinny jeans are out, but those hideous mom jeans are in? I certainly don’t get it, but, hey, whatever, man.

There is one area, however, in which I might be currently suffering a bit of good-old-days syndrome, and that’s NFL football. I don’t mean with the same silly (see also: bigoted) frustrations your redneck uncle might offer unsolicited over the Thanksgiving table — things like who stands for what song, the players’ supposed “unprofessional” appearances, and their so-called “excessive celebrations.” I’m referring to real, significant, alter-thefabric-of-the-game type changes like the number of games in a season or how many teams make the playoffs. (I just don’t really see how 17 games or 14 playoff teams improves anything but the size of owners’ already-fecund pocketbooks.) But whatever. If Pluto is now a “dwarf planet” and the high-waisteds get high-fives among the Zoomers, I can roll with this, too, I suppose.

I have good news! For those like me who might find themselves a confused

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Cour tesy DallasCowboys.com

Just Like the Good Ol’ Days

Bust out the Starter jackets. It’s a ’90s kinda weekend in North Texas now that the Niners and Cowboys will square off on Sunday in Dallas’ first playoff appearance in three years.

and befuddled caveman among the fastmoving technological wonderland of the “modern day” NFL, we can now take a little solace in something timeless and familiar, wholesome even. Yes, even your overly opinionated uncle will surely bask in the nostalgia of the utopian mid-’90s which will no doubt be diffused in great volumes into the very air around DFW this week. Sadly, we aren’t being transported back to the great economy or the amazing music regularly spun on commercial radio, but nearly as good, the Cowboys will play the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs!

Where’s my white and blue Starter jacket?

That’s right. Due to the Cowboys having their first ever 12-5 regular season record (those numbers still hurt my brain), they have landed the 3-seed in the NFC and as such will host the 6th-seed Niners at AT&T Stadium on Sunday for the Cowboys’ first playoff game in three years.

No, there’ll be no Steve Young or Jerry Rice donning the crimson and gold, and the Triplets™ won’t be riding into battle in silver and blue, but this year’s reimagining of the historic playoff rivalry could be just as evenly matched and every bit as enticing as those classic bouts in the 1990s.

Though the consistently solid NFC West stalwart 49ers have probably been largely out-of-sight-out-of-mind for most Cowboy fans, they’ve silently had a freakishly similar season to our hometown heroes. The ’Boys and Niners appear as near mirror images of each other. At least on paper. Each team ended the season with double-digit wins amassed mostly

against bad opponents. (Less than half of each team’s victories came against teams with winning records.) Each arrive in the postseason fairly hot. San Francisco won seven out of their last nine while Dallas won six games in the same span. They both reside in the top third or better (in Dallas’ case, much better) in all offensive categories, points per game, passing, and rushing — yes, rushing! Somehow the Cowboys finished Top 10 in that category. Thank you, Tony Pollard. And both hold similarly respectable rankings in most defensive categories as well. The two have the requisite characteristics of well-balanced teams primed for potential postseason success.

If there’s much daylight between the two, it’s certainly on offense. As many Dak detractors as there are out there, I’m not sure many would rather have Jimmy G under center in his place. I suppose for most of us that depends on which version of Dak Prescott we may see. I would argue that that depends on which version of the offensive line we see. If we see the same version that had all the blocking ability of a Glenn Danzig mesh shirt like the kind that trotted out against the Denver Broncos in Week 9 against San Francisco’s monstrous defensive front, it could be a very long game. However, if they can be the version that allowed just a 20% pressure rate (the fifth-lowest in Week 8) against a similarly terrifying Vikings front, Dak should be able to get his work done through the air.

San Fran’s run-heavy offense is a bit of a mismatch for Dallas. Rushing is

still a vulnerability for this defense, and that does give me pause. I’d also give the Niners the clear coaching advantage with Kyle Shanahan, both as a coordinator and as a game manager, but it’s possible Dallas has a neutralizer in the form of one Dan Quinn, who has turned this same Dallas defense into a turnover machine. With the Cowboys a +14 in turnover differential for the season to San Fran’s -4, an extra possession (or two) could help break a potential deadlock and ultimately swing things the Cowboys’ way.

I know neither team wants it to come down to the kicking game. Both Greg “Once Had a Leg” Zuerlein and the Niners’ (likely future Hall of Famer) Robby Gould are an identical 29 of 35 on the year. Pretty sure both fan bases have been conditioned to turning blue from holding their breath every time either one of them approaches a snap and hold.

With the line opening Dallas -3.5, it’s literally anyone’s game. It’s the playoffs.

It’s the NFL. It’s supposed to be close. It’s as designed. For some reason, I’m feeling good. Maybe I just feel that the constant storm of shit we’ve been bracing for since about 2016 has built up a little positive karma that could finally be headed our way. Maybe I’m delusional. Whatever it is, just like in the ’90s, both teams are really good, but Dallas is better by just enough.

I’ll take the homeboys in a close one 2724. Let’s just hope they don’t blow all that karma and all of that sweet ’90s juju in the first round. l

“A roaring, wondrous whirlpool of a show”

Promotional support provided by

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This exhibition is organized by Tate Britain in association with the Kimbell Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities and by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District.

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– The Guardian

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STAGE

A Tony-winning musical comes to Bass Hall with results both good and bad.

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When the touring production of Dear Evan Hansen reached Bass Hall this past week, I exited the building during the intermission to take the mask off my face and breathe in some cold winter air. I heard everyone talking about the movie version they had or hadn’t seen and which I reviewed less than four months ago. I guess that’s the hazard of putting on a successful new musical stage production: The movie’s going to come out at some point, and when it does, everyone will be comparing the theatrical experience to the one that Hollywood put together. I’ll say that when the Bass Hall show did reach its end, I did not regard the experience as a wasted evening.

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Photo by Matthew Mur phy

Evan Sent

A social media maelstrom dwarfs the characters in Dear Evan Hansen.

If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about an awkward teenager whose therapeutic exercise becomes mistaken for something else when a kid at his school named Connor takes his letter to himself and later kills himself. Connor’s parents think that Evan was Connor’s best friend at school, and Evan goes from social outcast to brave and bereaved. Under peer pressure, Evan fakes evidence to support the nonexistent friendship that everyone wants to believe.

One thing that becomes evident onstage is the multiplicity of screens that are mounted above the stage that project the various tweets and video responses

to Evan’s actions during the play. The setup makes you appreciate how this show must have looked when it premiered on Broadway back in the bright, distant days of 2015, conveying the social media experience better than any theatrical play had done up to that point. That’s important for telling the story of how Evan’s deception plays out on YouTube and Facebook to become an online phenomenon. The show’s attack on social media and how it has screwed up our personal lives doesn’t really land.

The performance I attended had alternate Sam Primack portraying Evan, and I wonder how much advance notice he was

In the true spirit of the holidays, United Way of Tarrant County is working to bring a bit of cheer and happiness to those in need.

1 in 5 children were already living below the poverty level prior to the pandemic*. The ongoing impact of Covid-19 and the financial burdens of Winter Storm Uri have only exacerbated the issue.

Your holiday gift will make a huge difference and help us ensure struggling families have food and support for rent, utilities and other critical needs so they can experience the joy of the season. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift by the end of the year to our Community Fund.

MAKE A GIFT TODAY AT:

WWW.UNITEDWAYTARRANT.ORG/DONATE *Kids Count Data Center *Annie E. Casey Foundation

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given before going on. He seemed all over the place at the beginning of the show, with Evan’s insecurity and low self-esteem coming out manic in his hands. His voice, too, a naturally powerful instrument, was fading in and out of the early songs. He did grow stronger as the evening went on, though, and he didn’t fail the challenges of the big, dramatic numbers, “You Will Be Found” and “Words Fail.”

The rest of the cast was fine, rather more so was Alessandro Constantini as Evan’s computer-nerd friend Jared, who helps him fabricate the email messages proving that Evan was friends with Connor (Nikhil Saboo). The actor brings some bracing evil glee to the role, as Jared goes beyond his brief and keeps trying to sneak lurid stuff into Connor’s messages, having him say, “My sister is hot.”

The auditorium at Bass Hall was close to full on a Tuesday night, and I only felt safe there because the audience was entirely masked up and had to show their vaccination cards just to enter the facility. I can imagine it will be even more so when Hamilton makes its pandemic-delayed appearance there next week. It seems that live theater fans have been kept away from performances even longer than fans of concerts and movies, and they’re aching for an event that’s worth braving the Omicron variant for. That crowd was perhaps the most encouraging sign that the business of theater that forms such a key part of Fort Worth’s cultural scene might return to something like its pre-COVID self. l

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NIGHT &DAY

Cour tesy Allyn Media

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On Thursday, Dale Long will speak about the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that he survived.

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Dale Long, a survivor of the infamous 1963 bombing of the 16th Thursday Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, will speak at the Central Library (500 W 3rd St, 817-8717701) at 6:30pm. Long will recount his memories of losing four of his friends that day, visiting with their grieving families, and hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. eulogize them at a week of funerals.

There is no cost to attend Birmingham: A Critical Piece of American History.

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Now thru Sat, Feb 26, The Next Chapter will be on display for free as Friday part of the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Created

by Brenda Ciardiello, a MexicanAmerican interdisciplinary artist and poet who composes nature-inspired contemporary art, and Fernando Rojas, a Fort Worth artist and architecture student born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, the exhibition includes four newly commissioned pieces featured as large-scale vinyl replicas in the four windows that can be seen from outside the Go Texan Market at the Kit & Charlie Moncrief Building (corner of Rip Johnson Road and Burnett Tandy Drive) — presented by Arts Fort Worth (@FWArtsCenter, 817-738-1938).

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The folks at Visit Granbury have a challenge for you. At 10am, head Saturday to Granbury City Beach Park (505 E Pearl St, 817-573-1114) for the annual Lake Granbury Goosebump Jump, in which you will jump into a (freezing) lake to raise money for the charity of your choice. For an entry fee of $10, you get to do the jump and slide down an ice slide, drink coffee or hot chocolate, eat cookies, and enjoy the (manufactured) snow while hot-tubbing. To register and select your charity, go to VisitGranbury. com/GoosebumpJump.

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At 2pm, take the high schooler in your life to the College Expo at Globe Sunday Life Field (734 Stadium Dr, Arlington, 817-533-1972). Along with talking to representatives from 30 colleges and universities, you’ll witness the Roland Parrish Battle of the High School Bands hosted by K104-FM radio personality Lady Jade in which 10 high schools from across the country will compete for $50,000 in music scholarships. There will also be a special performance by the worldrenowned Prairie View A&M Marching Band. Tickets are $10 per person plus parking at ParrishBattleoftheBands.com.

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It’s that time of year again.

Friday thru Sat, Feb 5, the Fort Worth Stock Monday Show & Rodeo takes over this town, and with it comes a slew of incredible individual events. From 2pm to 4pm, for example, the Cowboys of Color Invitational Rodeo is happening at Dickies Arena (1911 Montgomery St, 817-4029000) in celebration of MLK Day, featuring “traditional rodeo events from bareback riding to bull riding” and special guest performances by the Circle L5 Riding Club, vaquero Jerry Dia, and the La Guadalupana Ladies Side Saddle Tiding Team. Tickets start at $30 at FWSSR.com and include your general admission to the FWSSR grounds. (For more upcoming MLK Day events, please visit JimAustinOnline.com.)

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Are we getting snow this year? One can only hope or hope not. Either way, Tuesday you can take the kids to the Haltom City Public Library (4809 Haltom Rd, Haltom City, 817-222-7786) at 6:30pm for January Family Night, where they will learn to make their very own “snow slime,” whatever that is. This event is free to the public, and registration is not necessary. Simply arrive wearing something you don’t mind getting messy in. #LetItSnow

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Various dates and times thru Sun, Feb 6, you can (hopefully) attend Wednesday the long-awaited, twice-rescheduled debut production of Hamilton as an extra show added to the current Broadway at the Bass season at Bass Hall (525 Commerce St, 817212-4280). As they will be honoring previously purchased tickets from original show dates, tickets may be hard to come by. Short answer: Don’t throw away your shot! Tickets start at $129 at BassHall.com. (You can also try your luck at scoring $10 tickets through a digital lottery at HamiltonMusical.com/Lottery.

May the odds be ever in your favor.)

By Jennifer Bovee

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EATS & drinks

The Radler Arrives

In that beautiful bungalow on Magnolia comes an uber-German beer garden and gastropub.

S T O R Y A N D P H O T O S B Y C O D Y N E A T H E R Y

When the dearly beloved gastropub The Bearded Lady departed from its roots in a historic bungalow on Magnolia for South Main, it left a void in the hearts of the surrounding neighborhood and locals alike. The building remained vacant for months before quietly reopening as Mag-

The Radler already appears to be a hit with the locals.

nolia Tree Tavern during Arts Goggle in 2018 and unfortunately closing during the pandemic with a white paper taped on the door promising a reopening. That did occur, but it just wasn’t the same. And just as quiet as its opening, it was equally as quiet during its curtain call.

The home was rendered empty once again. Just a charming old house with an appealing patio parallel to the avenue, complete with an intimate bar inside

“Best Thai Food”

FIRST BLUE ZONES

– FW Weekly Critics Choice 2015, 2017 & 2019

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APPROVED THAI RESTAURANTS IN FW!

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along with quaint rooms for congregating. A homeless home just waiting for her new owner. It pained me every time I passed by. I would lose myself in thought, wondering what its future held, hoping it wouldn’t succumb to demolition disguised as “progress,” and hoping someone would resurrect it without open-concepting the hell out of its historic character.

Then one day, industry professional and multi-concept owner Trey Floyd posted a pic-

4630 SW Loop 820 | Fort Worth• 817-731-0455 order online for pickup Thaiselectrestaurant.com

ture on Facebook of the property with a coming-soon addendum. Alas, she was saved!

While the news broke, Floyd was tightlipped as to what the name and concept would be. One Saturday morning, I found myself peering through its windows to gain a glimpse into that future I had been driving myself crazy about. Then the day came in early December when The Radler’s doors burst forth, welcoming the neighborhood and locals alike. It instantly felt comfortable, like a coat from the cold.

The Radler — like Schlotzsky’s (funny name, serious sandwich) — managed to cause speculation about the name, though once the concept was explained, it tied everything together. “Radler” is the German word for “cyclist” along with a type of beer more commonly known as a “shandy.”

The concept provides the experience of a German biergarten offering a surplus of beer either on tap or in bottles and cans, much like its predecessors.

Floyd made a few cosmetic changes — mainly, the caged liquor shelf that hung over the bar is now absent, allowing a more spacious feel to the bar area. Velvettextured Victorian wallpaper now canvases the ceiling, and an expanded patio has seen the addition of outdoor TVs for your sporting entertainment. German steins and antique plates dot the shelves, and old continued on page 18

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fwweekly.com

chandeliers give light to the German beer posters that cover the walls. Otherwise, she has the same bones we enjoyed years ago.

And the menu? Expect to find Bavarian influences, including doughy, salted warm pretzels you can dip in whole-grain mustard or beer cheese, or a juicy bratwurst separating toasted buns stuffed with tart sauerkraut served with fries and German potato salad. Under the gourmet dogs portion of the menu, Polish and Chicago versions share space with corn and chili vari-

eties. Fried pickles and fried cheese curds make the appetizer list along with loaded baked potato tots and chips with queso.

Hell, you can even order a cup or bowl of chili. What would a German-themed pub in Texas be without it?

The Radler has already managed to take something old and make it fresh again by breathing new life into a location with a somewhat shaky history. As evident by the neighborhood’s response and already gleeful acceptance, this home will continue being filled with plenty of merriment. Only this time, 32-ounce mugs will be all that remain empty. l

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German influences abound in this new beer garden and gastropub.

6.) On Mon, Jan 24, from 7pm to 10pm, Funky Picnic Brewery & Cafe (401 Bryan Av, Ste 117, 817-708-2739) hosts La Playa Beer Dinner featuring a five-course dinner by guest chef Victor Villareal of La Onda (2905 Race St, 817-607-8605). The dinner will be paired with five different Funky Picnic beer varieties. Tickets are $90 with the beer pairings or $70 with soft drinks only. For menu updates and the ticket link, visit Facebook.com/FunkyPicnic.

7.) Do you know a low-income adult who would like to start a career in the culinary world? The Culinary School of Fort Worth (6550 Camp Bowie Blvd, Ste 110, 817-737-8427), Tarrant Area Food Bank (1200 S Main St, 682-233-1255), and the Taste Project (1200 S Main St, 682-233-1255) have joined forces to offer an accelerated culinary apprenticeship

program. Participants will learn the fundamentals of food prep, develop new skills, and get hands-on experience in a working production kitchen, all while getting paid. To investigate further, attend a free monthly information session about the Fort Worx Collaborative Learning Program at the Taste Project on Wed, Jan 19, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.

8.) From 1pm to 4pm on Sat, Jan 30, head to Wild Acre Brewing Company (1734 E El Paso St, Ste 190, 817-882-9453) for the annual JWC Chili Cookoff hosted by the Junior Woman’s Club of Fort Worth (@ JWCFW, 817-335-4671). Tickets are $35 per person at JWCFW.com and include drinks and chili tasting. This event is family- and pet-friendly. Children ages 5 to 12 get in for $5, and children under 5 (and doggos) get in free. They are also still accepting chili teams. The fee to participate is $75 per team. To enter, email Callie McAdams at Callie08@SBCGlobal.net.

By Jennifer Bovee

fwweekly.com

5.) On Sun, Jan 23, from 6pm to 9pm, Cat City Grill (1208 W Magnolia Av, 817916-5333) hosts its first Wine Dinner of 2022. Chef Osman is creating a menu that pairs with five featured wines by

DAOU Vineyards (@DAOUVineyards) in Paso Robles, California. Seats are $90 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Call for reservations.

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2.) At 5pm Thu, it’s time for Second Thursdays at the Carter: Culture & Creation at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, 817-738-1933). Attendees are encouraged to “connect with art through cocktails, conversation, and creativity.”

4.) This month’s Saturday Brunch at The Ashton Depot (1501 Jones St, 817810-9501) is a special Author Brunch.

On Sat, Jan 21, Chakina Watkins — a.k.a. CC the Great, author of Girl, Hold Your Own Damn Purse — will read from her book and answer questions (11am) while brunch and mimosas abound (10:30am-12:30pm). Tickets are $30 per person at TheAshtonDepot.Company.

Site. For more info, including the full brunch menu and available add-ons, see the event page at Facebook.com/ TheAshtonDepotCateringandEvents.

The Carter Society welcomes the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo with its annual preparty next Wed, Jan 19.

FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY

1.) The first quarter is quite busy at Brü City (13000 Trinity Blvd, Euless, 817-5106485). This craft-beer bottle shop inside a convenience store also sells gas, fine wine, imported cigars, and Famous Joe’s Pizza, plus they host tasting events. You can grab pints inside, eat, shop, and (on Saturdays) play trivia or get a growler to go in the drive-thru. Some Wednesdays are Pint Nights, featuring beer from a different local brewery every time, including Martin House Brewing on Wed, Jan 12, and Manhattan Project Beer Co. on Wed, Jan 26, with $1 off drafts all day and a complimentary pint glass with your first pour starting at 6pm. Then, on some Fridays, it’s Brewery Spotlight Night with $1 off drafts all day, and the brewery crews themselves are on-site at 5pm passing out free samples and swag, including Martin House on Fri, Feb 12, and Manhattan Project on Fri, Mar 4.

3.) Wed, Jan 19, is the annual Carter Society Bull’s Night Out Rodeo PreParty from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, 817-738-1933). Tickets are $40 per nonmember (free for members) and include craft cocktails by Pop Up Bar, food from Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, and live music. For more info or to purchase tickets, go to bit.ly/3H29jsm.

Cour tesy Facebook

The future food calendar looks bright, right? While we feature events happening the same week our publication comes out in the Night & Day section, back here in ATE DAY8, we like to plan ahead. Check your calendar and get ready to make reservations because here are eight events that you can sink your teeth into in the not-so-distant future.

This month’s featured artist is Sandy Rodriguez. From 5pm to 7pm, enjoy drinks (available for purchase for nonmembers but complimentary for members) in the atrium and listen to musical selections that inspired the artist. From 5pm to 6pm, check out some of Rodriguez’ In Isolation works created while she embraced nature at Joshua Tree National Park during the lockdown in 2020. Then from 7pm to 8pm, learn about desert plants from Grace Bascope, a research associate from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

This event is free to attend, but RSVP is requested at CarterMuseum.org/Events.

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We cannot wait until the day comes when we can write about something without having to acknowledge the context of the pandemic’s unprecedented effects upon the thing of which we are writing. But since the Fort Worth Weekly is not (yet) owned by Rupert Murdoch, we must report on the world as it exists and not how we wish it to be, so view our surroundings through horrid, spiky gray-ball glasses we must. The newest kid on the

block, the omicron variant (seriously, a writer for the Syfy channel must be naming these things) has demonstrated a transmissibility of more than double that of Delta, according to some studies, so much so that this writer — a fully vaccinated, largely antisocial hermit — is writing this from bed recovering from his own bout with the nasty little bugger.

As this new strain rages throughout the population, businesses in every industry are certainly dealing with the effects, but what if your business model depends specifically on large groups of people gathering in a closed space? Because of this, music venues certainly face unique challenges in an ever-evolving COVID world. We spoke with three people responsible for trying to ensure their customers, employees, and their bottom lines are staying as safe and healthy as possible considering the difficulties the latest surge is presenting.

Brian Forella is owner and operator of Lola’s Trailer Park and the adjacent Lola’s Saloon. Ryan Higgs is the managing partner of Main at Southside (MASS), as well as a handful of other popular local watering holes, and Brooks Kendall is the head talent buyer for Affalon Productions, who takes care of booking for several local venues like The Post at River East and the Scott Theater.

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What sort of effects are you seeing from this new variant on your business?

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Forella: It’s been slow for a couple of weeks. We basically have just been doing what we were doing in the middle of the worst part of COVID last year. We have cut back hours inside the Saloon so most of the business stays outdoors. There are people definitely staying home, and omicron is for sure more contagious. Personally, I have friends and family that have now gotten it after never having it and are vaccinated.

Higgs: We have had a few cancellations and a couple of staffing issues. We are also starting to see a decrease in attendance.

This decrease is coupled with it being January, which is always a slow month.

I feel attendance could [begin to] suffer more.

Kendall: The biggest story for us has been staffing issues. We have had a lot of staff out sick over the last few weeks. I assume it has mostly been omicron, but it is hard to say because a lot of folks have had trouble getting tests, and when people get the at-home rapid tests, they don’t seem to be reliably accurate. We haven’t had any show cancellations yet. We are seeing a meaningful decrease in advance ticket sales, with most people seeming to want to wait until the last 24 hours before a show to commit to buying tickets. Traditionally, our concertgoers buy tickets well in advance, since the more popular shows tend to sell out.

Is there anything that would force you to consider having to shut down, or do you feel confident you can continue to operate your business in a way that makes customers and staff feel safe?

Higgs: I have no plans to shut down. We cannot survive another one. Mandatory masks are a consideration. Bands can also request masked shows. At some point, we have to accept this virus as a part of life.

We must vaccinate, boost, and mask as necessary.

Kendall: We are currently on the verge of being down enough staff to need to shut down for a day or two. We haven’t reached that point yet, and it looks like we aren’t going to, but it is possible. As long as we have enough healthy staff willing to work, I don’t imagine we will shut down again unless it is mandated. If it were mandated, we would of course cooperate fully.

Have you considered mandating increased mitigation techniques?

Requiring masks or proof of vax status?

Higgs: We cannot require proof of vaccination in Tarrant County, or that is my understanding.

Kendall: Our staff are all vaccinated.

Much of the staff is back to wearing masks on their shift. Enforcing mask mandates on irrationally noncompliant people was very stressful and sometimes scary for our team. I don’t think anyone who is working for us at this time has any interest in being enforcers again without the support of a government mandate.

It must be incredibly discouraging that after only six months or so of finally getting back to some semblance of normalcy that it suddenly feels like we’re slipping all the way back to the beginning[.]? How do you feel?

Higgs: It is very frustrating. It feels as if the virus will continue and new variants will be created. Like I said, I believe this to be the new normal, and hopefully people will follow recommendations [from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and do their part to keep themselves and others safe.

Kendall: The last couple of years have taught us to always be expecting these kinds of setbacks. Our focus now is on strategies to become successful in what has become a very different world for our industry.

Forella: Worn out.

How do you best navigate these frustrations and uncertainties going forward?

Higgs: I feel for all business owners. This is a very difficult time. I worry for friends who are trying to make their living on tour. The venues that they are headed to could be temporarily shut down [with just] a day’s notice. The bands themselves and their crews could contract the virus [and have to] cancel shows and quarantine at any point.

Kendall: The challenges we need to overcome are related mainly to supply chain and staffing shortages, but concert touring, ticket selling, and audience expectations are evolving in ways that are likely to be permanent. It is obvious at this point that this can happen again. Extreme weather events like last winter’s freeze are probably challenges we will have to overcome in the coming years as well. All that said, it’s time to stop waiting for things to go back to “normal” and instead start adjusting our business to be nimble and resilient in an increasingly unpredictable world. l

Hearsay

CLASSIFIEDS

bulletin board employment / public notices

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF APPLICATION AND INTENT TO OBTAIN AIR PERMIT (NORI) RENEWAL PERMIT NUMBER 50595 APPLICATION. NuStar Logistics, L.P., has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for renewal of Air Quality Permit Number 50595, which would authorize continued operation of the Grapevine Terminal located at 2400 Mustang Court, Southlake, Tarrant County, Texas 76092. This link to an electronic map of the site or facility’s general location is provided as a public courtesy and not part of the application or notice. For exact location, refer to application. http://www.tceq. texas.gov/assets/public/hb610/index.html?lat=32.923888&lng=-97.115&zoom=13&type=r. The existing facility and/or related facilities are authorized to emit the following air contaminants: carbon monoxide, hazardous air pollutants, nitrogen oxides, organic compounds, particulate matter including particulate matter with diameters of 10 microns or less and 2.5 microns or less, and sulfur dioxide.

File this recommendation under “You should’ve been there,” but Wayne Floyd really brought the house down at his show on Friday night, the closer of a bill that already felt like a really fun house party. Solo singer-songwriter Christian Carvajal opened, and Sam Anderson brought a band with him. Both sets showcased the rapport those dudes have with their audiences. Anderson’s backing band was crewed by several area wizards: Kris Luther on bass, Jordan Richardson (Son of Stan) on drums, and Andrew Skates on guitar, so the performance was kind of like watching a really good game of pickup basketball if in between baskets the players busted out the intro to The Offspring’s “Come Out and Play.”

That band was also Floyd’s band, joined by Nolan Robertson (Dead Vinyl, The Hendersons) on keys, and together, they put on a show that will forever be seared into my brain — Floyd, tuxedoclad and backed by a band practically crackling with live-jam electricity, got to be loud. He showboated. He and the musicians around him looked like they were having a blast. This is not to say that Floyd doesn’t get to be a dynamic performer during his solo sets, because he obviously has a good time. I guess the difference is along the lines of the difference between seeing an F/A-18 soar over your head at the air show and seeing one blast off the deck of the Carl Vinson.

That’s probably the case with most singer-songwriters, and, actually, at

the end of the show, I thought it made me feel like I had watched The Hold Steady and how I would probably enjoy watching Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn do a gig that’s just him and a guitar. I don’t know the next time Floyd is playing with a full band, but his next solo show is Wednesday night at MASS, the centerpiece of his regular Weird and Wild Waynesdays showcase, which also features one-man rock-duo Thee Road Soda (Todd Klepacki, who plays guitar and a kickdrum at the same time) and Chago Morales, who was once in Same Brain and knows the name of probably every song ever recorded with a Jazzmaster. The show is free and usually gets going around 9, so pop in for a drink and whatever wacky shit Floyd and company get up to. — Steve Steward

Reunited, and It Feels So Good What should also be on your live music agenda this week: buying tickets to the Flickerstick show at House of Blues on Jun 25, as well as to the Orbans show at MASS on Feb 5. If you’ll forgive me the dip into nostalgia, these bands take me back to vivid eras of my life from way back when, and while you kind of had to be there, and none of us can ever go back, I think it will be cool to be reminded of why both of these bands should’ve been a lot bigger. Flickerstick tickets go on sale Jan 14, and the Orbans show is on sale now. — S.S. Contact HearSay at Anthony@FWWeekly.com.

PUBLIC COMMENT. You may submit public comments, or a request for a contested case hearing to the Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below. The TCEQ will consider all public comments in developing a final decision on the application. The deadline to submit public comments is 15 days after newspaper notice is published. After the deadline for public comments, the executive director will prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. Issues such as property values, noise, traffic safety, and zoning are outside of the TCEQ’s jurisdiction to address in the permit process.

After the technical review is complete the executive director will consider the comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. If only comments are received, the response to comments, along with the executive director’s decision on the application, will then be mailed to everyone who submitted public comments or who is on the mailing list for this application, unless the application is directly referred to a contested case hearing.

OPPORTUNITY FOR A CONTESTED CASE HEARING. You may request a contested case hearing. The applicant or the executive director may also request that the application be directly referred to a contested case hearing after technical review of the application. A contested case hearing is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court. Unless a written request for a contested case hearing is filed within 15 days from this notice, the executive director may act on the application. If no hearing request is received within this 15 day period, no further opportunity for hearing will be provided. According to the Texas Clean Air Act § 382.056(o) a contested case hearing may only be granted if the applicant’s compliance history is in the lowest classification under applicable compliance history requirements and if the hearing request is based on disputed issues of fact that are relevant and material to the Commission’s decision on the application. Further, the Commission may only grant a hearing on those issues submitted during the public comment period and not withdrawn.

A person who may be affected by emissions of air contaminants from the facility is entitled to request a hearing. If requesting a contested case hearing, you must submit the following: (1) your name (or for a group or association, an official representative), mailing address, daytime phone number; (2) applicant’s name and permit number; (3) the statement “[I/we] request a contested case hearing;” (4) a specific description of how you would be adversely affected by the application and air emissions from the facility in a way not common to the general public; (5) the location and distance of your property relative to the facility; (6) a description of how you use the property which may be impacted by the facility; and (7) a list of all disputed issues of fact that you submit during the comment period. If the request is made by a group or association, one or more members who have standing to request a hearing must be identified by name and physical address. The interests the group or association seeks to protect must also be identified. You may also submit your proposed adjustments to the application/permit which would satisfy your concerns. Requests for a contested case hearing must be submitted in writing within 15 days following this notice to the Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below.

If any requests for a contested case hearing are timely filed, the Executive Director will forward the application and any requests for a contested case hearing to the Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled Commission meeting. Unless the application is directly referred to a contested case hearing, the executive director will mail the response to comments along with notification of Commission meeting to everyone who submitted comments or is on the mailing list for this application. The Commission may only grant a request for a contested case hearing on issues the requestor submitted in their timely comments that were not subsequently withdrawn. If a hearing is granted, the subject of a hearing will be limited to disputed issues of fact or mixed questions of fact and law relating to relevant and material air quality concerns submitted during the comment period. Issues such as property values, noise, traffic safety, and zoning are outside of the Commission’s jurisdiction to address in this proceeding.

MAILING LIST. In addition to submitting public comments, you may ask to be placed on a mailing list for this application by sending a request to the Office of the Chief Clerk at the address below. Those on the mailing list will receive copies of future public notices (if any) mailed by the Office of the Chief Clerk for this application.

AGENCY CONTACTS AND INFORMATION. Public comments and requests must be submitted either electronically at www14. tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment/, or in writing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of the Chief Clerk, MC-105, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087. Please be aware that any contact information you provide, including your name, phone number, email address and physical address will become part of the agency’s public record. For more information about this permit application or the permitting process, please call the Public Education Program toll free at 1-800-687-4040. Si desea información en Español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040.

Further information may also be obtained from NuStar Logistics, L.P., 4200 West Cliffside Road, Amarillo, Texas 79124-7830 or by calling Ms. Faithe Schwartzengraber, Environmental Manager at (806) 340-5427.

Notice Issuance Date: December 21, 2021

fwweekly.com

Wild Wayne Delivers

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Wayne Floyd rocked the house at MASS Friday.

The executive director has determined the application is administratively complete and will conduct a technical review of the application. In addition to the renewal, this permitting action includes the incorporation of permits by rule, standard permits and emissions factor changes related to this permit. An amendment application that is not subject to public notice or an opportunity for a contested case hearing is also being reviewed. The reasons for any changes or incorporations, to the extent they are included in the renewed permit, may include the enhancement of operational control at the plant or enforceability of the permit.

The TCEQ may act on this application without seeking further public comment or providing an opportunity for a contested case hearing if certain criteria are met.

FO R T WO R T H W E E K LY

Steve Steward

This application was submitted to the TCEQ on November 27, 2021. The application will be available for viewing and copying at the TCEQ central office, TCEQ Dallas/Fort Worth regional office, and the Grapevine Public Library, 1201 Municipal Way, Grapevine, Tarrant County, Texas beginning the first day of publication of this notice. The facility’s compliance file, if any exists, is available for public review in the Dallas/Fort Worth regional office of the TCEQ.

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