Fort Worth Weekly // February 17-23, 2020

February 17-23, 2021 FREE fwweekly.com

Celebrating Black Excellence The Fort Worth Opera and Tarrant County Pearls Chapter mark Black History Month with an online concert featuring Black artists and an all-Black production crew.

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METROPOLIS Candidates for District 2 (mostly North Side) answer questions.

BY EDWARD BROWN

E D W A R D

FEATURE It’s your turn to tell the school board what you think about the closing of the International Newcomer Academy.

BY K E N W H E AT C RO F T- PA R D U E

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STAGE Amphibian Stage’s current Valentine-themed show is perfect for being snowbound and down.

BY KRISTIAN LIN

STUFF The Mavs’ neighbors didn’t pass on the chance to attract a certain ‘Murican demographic.

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

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N umber 45

Febr uar y 17-23, 2021

INSIDE

STAFF Anthony Mariani, Editor Lee Newquist, Publisher

Icy Wreck

Bob Niehoff, General Manager

Who’s to blame for the tragedy?

By Static

Ryan Burger, Art Director Jim Erickson, Circulation Director

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Edward Brown, Staff Writer Taylor Provost, Proofreader Michael Newquist, Regional Sales Director Jennifer Bovee, Marketing Director Stacey Hammons, Senior Account Executive

INA in Doubt

Julie Strehl, Account Executive

FWISD is cutting a successful program that helps immigrant students thrive.

Wyatt Newquist, Digital Coordinator Clintastic, Brand Ambassador

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Metro

Black Excellence

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Feature N&D

By Edward Brown

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Stage Stuff Eats & Drinks

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Love Stinks

Amphibian Stage’s latest is a black-hearted romp.

By Kristian Lin

DISTRIBUTION

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Big Ticket . . . . . . . . . . 10 ATE DAY8 a week . . . 16

Music

Hearsay . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Classifieds

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Street address: 300 Bailey, Ste 205, Fort Worth TX 76107 For general information: 817-321-9700 For retail advertising: 817-321-9718 For classifieds: 817-321-9719

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Cover photo by Linda Middleton

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The fine performing arts are celebrating Black History Month.

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By Ken WheatcroftPardue

Tony Diaz, Account Executive

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METROPOLIS

Three candidates weigh in on their goals for Fort Worth’s North Side.

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With eight council district seats open, Fort Worth is preparing for an unprecedented number of candidates to run on the May 1 general election. District 2 encompases the heavily Hispanic Northside community.

Recently opened Mule Alley in the Stockyards is positioning District 2 to remain a strong tourist destination. The tight-knit Northside area, whose families have called Fort Worth home for many generations, has learned to rely on one another during the ongoing pandemic. Four candidates are vying to represent this culturally rich part of town.

District 2 Councilmember Carlos Flores (CarlosFloresFWD2.com), who was elected to city council in 2017, is a third generation Fort Worth native, engineer, and active member of several civic boards. Candidate Jen Sarduy (SarduyForDistrict2.com) is the cofounder of Re+Birth Equity Alliance, a Fort Worthbased nonprofit organization that supports birth jus-

A Patchwork of Tragedies

Last Thursday and just minutes after 6 a.m., 911 calls began flooding Fort Worth police and fire dispatch centers.

Paramedics soon arrived on a scene that one Medstar spokesperson said his group “trains for but hopes and prays never happens.”

On a southbound stretch of I-35 near downtown Fort Worth, several dozen vehicles were piled into a twisted wreck site that spanned half a mile.

Some vehicles were crushed so badly that it was difficult to see where one mangled vehicle stopped and another began. Low visibility and freezing rain made extricating trapped passengers difficult. Several paramedics, police officers, and fire department crews received minor injuries, largely from icerelated falls, during the subsequent effort to transfer dozens of injured men and women to area hospitals. The 133car pileup ultimately led to six deaths and several dozen injuries.

The next day, police chief Neil No-

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What would you like to see the city as a whole improve upon and how will you reach those goals?

Gray: I would like to see our beloved city of Forth Worth improve upon the following: primary and secondary education in under-privileged communities, police/community relationship, and property taxes.

When I am a city councilmember, I plan to seek a meeting with our school district superintendent and collaborate on plans to improve education in all communities. [I will] reach out to our new police chief and other community leadership in an effort to improve police/community relationships. Finally, if my community property taxes [become] unaffordable, I plan to reach out to the tax office. I will collaborate on

akes announced an investigation into the accident. North Tarrant Express, which manages the toll lanes where the accident occurred, said in a public statement that “maintenance crews started pre-treating the corridors on Tuesday morning and have been spot-treating continuously as we monitored the roadway. We will continue treating the highways through the weekend and into next week, as long as the storm is active.”

The message, which did not include details of how or if the area around the pileup was treated, did little to settle the matter. Several elected officials have demanded answers from North Tarrant Express (and other groups) and called for a thorough investigation into the causes of the pileup.

Confusion over who is responsible for treating Texas’ roads have been a reminder of the patchwork of state, county, local, and private entities that pre-treat or deice roads and overpasses.

Through its website, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) said, “Roadways are prioritized by interstate, U.S. highway, state highway, and farmto-market as well as bridges, overpasses, high traffic interchanges, and high traffic roadways. Local authorities are responsible for city and county roads.”

Cour tesy of City of For t Wor th

The Race for District 2

tice for marginalized communities across Texas. Sarduy, a queer Black parent, is passionate about people and their capacity to thrive when equitably resourced and connected Juan Sixtos (Twitter @Sixtos4FW) is an engineer and Fort Worth native. He described himself as a “proud Texan” with a keen interest in civic duty. He is a self-described Christian family man. Theodore O’Conor Gray was born and raised in the Republic of Liberia, West Africa. He relocated to the United States after fleeing the Liberian Civil War. He owns a nonemergency medical transportation company and is a husband and “proud parent” of three boys.

We sent all four candidates the same two questions. Gray, Sarduy, and Sixtos responded.

Carlos Flores did not respond to our media request

plans to make property tax affordable to all individuals. Above all, I would like to see my city becomes the agent of change.

The stretch of road that caused the pileup was built and managed by a private company, TEXPress Lanes. Although TxDOT owes the lanes built by TEXPress, the state does not maintain the privately managed toll lanes, and that has some officials worried.

State Rep. Ramon Romero recently tweeted that “This inclement weather was foreseeable, and lives were lost because a private company didn’t uphold its end of the deal.”

Texas toll roads were traditionally publicly funded. Once the cost of building the toll roads were met (like with I-30), the tolls were removed. In recent decades, TxDOT has deferred roadbuilding expenses by allowing private companies to build and maintain toll roads that are not opened for free use by the general public when construction costs are recouped. Reporting from the Texas Tribune found that one private toll road would “yield $18.1 billion for a private firm over the life of the contract.”

Several factors played a role in Thursday’s horrific pileup: low visibility, freezing temperatures, road design, and road conditions, among others. If the investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (the federal agency that conducts

Fort Worth police chief Neil Noakes said his department will investigate the causes of Thursday’s accident.

accident investigations) and Fort Worth police department find negligence on the part of private companies to have played a role causing the deadly accident, Texans should question the true cost of our increasingly privatized highway system.

Describe the unique needs of District 2 and what you would focus on improving as a city councilmember.

Cour tesy of Juan Sixtos

Gray: No reply.

Juan Sixtos

Sixtos: District 2 is in desperate need of decreasing response time from first responders as well as increased community involvement to further reduce crime rates and house fires in the district. In addition, there has not been enough investment in roadway infrastructure, which has led to congestion problems and increased delays. By developing a sustainable road policy, this will reduce costs to residents. There is a need for a liaison between community groups and code compliance for more direct communication to address areas of concern within the district. The master plan for the remaining undeveloped property in the district needs to be redesigned for best utilization. The councilmember for District 2 should be an ambassador for constituents and ensure their concerns are addressed. I would devote my time as a city councilmember focusing on these much-needed areas for the district.

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Sarduy: District 2 is a diverse, working class district that faces new and historical barriers to access every year. We are prepared for brave leadership, and our community excels at creating its own solutions when equitably resourced. My campaign is representative of our district: working-class and motivated. We worked together to develop a four-point platform that outlines our priorities and new protections around some of the most important issues facing District 2 right now. Growth, not gentrification: We can invest in our communities without displacement. Collaboration, not clout: We can make City Hall work for us. Justice, Not Jails: We can transform public safety in Fort Worth. Housing, not harassment: We can end homelessness in Fort Worth.

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Jenn Sarduy

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Sixtos: Fort Worth should increase funding for public safety [by developing] proper and up-to-date training tactics and investing in new tools and non-lethal weapons for police (while still allowing officers to carry a firearm for when absolutely necessary) and [developing] a system of [deescalation] for inadvertent errors. The city also needs to improve communication and transparency to foster continued economic growth. Fort Worth needs to continue reducing taxes (by eliminating wasteful spending) while supporting park and historical preservation, beautification city-wide, support for small businesses, support for our veterans, limiting government overreach, protecting religious liberty, and supporting our animal safe havens. I will work together with the other city councilmembers to address these concerns.

Cour tesy of City of For t Wor th

Sarduy: The 2021 council and mayoral races provide an opportunity for Fort Worth to redefine the ways we work together. Working with other candidates, our communities, artists, and community activists, we can demand an end to politics as usual. People are already creating and implementing the solutions they need. We are winning grassroots power by getting elected to seats that enable us to redistribute resources to our communities and invest in what truly makes us safer together.

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Helping Newcomers An exemplary school is in grave danger, and an upcoming meeting will allow for support to be heard.

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Scribner announced a number of changes that will lead to the relocation of students and staff. Fort Worth’s paper of record, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, dutifully reported the next day that the district will have “one new central office” . . . “inside of a district building at 7000 Camp Bowie Blvd., the former site for the ALA program, Scribner said.” And then added that the building “will need to be remodeled.” ALA stands for Applied Learning Academy and is a middle school. The article goes on to explain that it will move into the Rosemont Sixth Grade Center. The International Newcomer Academy is housed in the same location albeit at a different address, and it is not even mentioned in the article, though it was mentioned at the meeting. I guess to the StarTelegram, INA is not a side issue. It just doesn’t exist.The article goes on to explain that in the past year, the district has conducted a fire sale, selling “18 underused properties, including the 80-year-old Farrington Field as part of an effort to save money, estimating it could generate $60 million” and, of course, the administration building on University, necessitating the move to the campus on Camp Bowie. “One of the district’s major goals . . . is to transition out of all of its sold properties without buying new properties.”

It certainly appears the district is in financial straits. So is INA’s move from Camp Bowie to wherever done for financial reasons? According to Chief Academic Officer Jerry Moore, “This decision is a determination of what is best for children, and it is not impacted by any District finances.”

When districts insist they are only doing “what is best for children,” it’s a good

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hat if I told you about a school that even in the midst of COVID-19, which has caused such a mess in education, has continued to fulfill its mission of teaching students? Not only that, it has become a one-stop location for social services for its community, providing food for the families of students and helping with the psychological and social needs of its students. And what if I told you that very exemplary school was right here, in the much-maligned Fort Worth ISD? Would you think I was lying, dealing in fake news, as he-who-should-nolonger-be-named once coined it?

It’s all true, though. I am speaking of the International Newcomer Academy on Camp Bowie that services just-arrived immigrant students. I know from experience how great a school it is. For 17 years, from 1996 to 2013, I taught English-as-a-Second Language at the Amon Carter-Riverside High School Language Center. When I first started there, we taught the newcomers ourselves, and I have to admit teaching that bunch was tons of fun. Those students came eager to learn English, and that class had to be super active to keep their attention. They kept me on my toes, for sure.

A few years later, INA took over teaching the newcomers for the district. At first, I was not happy. I frankly resented it. I missed the excitement of teaching newcomers. After some time, I changed my mind. The truth was, I was never a great newcomer teacher. I was always better with the ones who had been in school at least a year. What really changed my mind is that every year, my students from INA would get better and better. Also, during professional development, I got to see first-hand the incredible INA teachers. I was always struck by their across-the-board professionalism, but not only that. They all had an incredible passion for teaching, especially teaching just-arrived newcomer students. They wanted not to just teach them, but to make a safe place for their students, some of whom were refugees and had been traumatized in their home countries by war and violence.

Fast-forward to 2021 and, without exaggeration, that exemplary school is in mortal danger. This past year, because of COVID-19, we’ve all been schooled in the saying, “Those not at the table are on the menu.” At January’s Fort Worth ISD school board meeting, we sadly learned it once again.

There, Superintendent Dr. Kent

idea for all of us to be somewhat skeptical. As I explained above, I worked for the district when newcomer students went immediately to their home schools, and that was not better for them. Having stated this, the district cannot come back later to say it must make the move because of finances.

Fluent in bureaucratese, Moore “explained” the district’s reason for splitting up INA and taking over its building, “The decision to utilize the Academy on Camp Bowie as the new District Administration building was the result of an extensive study of our District facilities. This building was a renovated shopping building and part of our realignment efforts were to get all students into buildings intended to serve as schools.

As a District, we continuously look at each of our initiatives and programs that support our students not only academically but also through a lens of safety, social & emotional, [sic] and access.”

Is the above just verbiage or is Jerry Moore suggesting the Academy on Camp Bowie that has served students for two decades is somehow unsafe? And that that’s fine for administration’s staff but not students?

As well as being banished from its website for the past 20 years, the district’s future plans for INA are, to put it mildly, vague. There was some discussion at the school board meeting of scattering the INA program to four campuses throughout the city, so that students would be closer to their home schools and not spend so much time on buses. But a central question for me is why does Applied Learning Academy, which is housed in the same building, know where it’s going now but not INA? As an INA teacher who wishes to remain anonymous explained, “The biggest concerns we have is that the district had a plan ready to go for ALA (Applied Learning Academy) and the plan for us and our English Language Learner Newcomer students was not figured out nor thought out. Why would they not be more or even just equally decisive and concerned about the school with highly skilled and innovative ESL professionals teaching our newcomer immigrant and refugee students during a highly impactful

At the January board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Kent Scribner announced “a number of changes that will lead to the relocation of students and staff” but did not say where the INA program will end up.

year in their academic careers?”

My take on it: The reason the district has a plan at the ready for ALA but not INA is simple. ALA’s students’ parents vote, and the district and board respect that political power. INA parents, on the other hand, are not at the table but on the menu because generally they are not citizens and cannot vote. The school board seized this opportunity because they see powerlessness and, most of all, tons of parking.

You might not know that the parking at the present administration building on University Drive has been an ongoing nightmare for years. It’s been a never-ending source of grumbling for teachers, staff, and administrators for decades. So I can just imagine those in charge looking over at that Camp Bowie campus and just salivating, looking at all that parking. From the administration’s point of view, why wouldn’t they go for it? The parents are powerless, and the parking is great.

So, did the district, in its infinite wisdom, get buy-in from stakeholders? Did they talk to the excellent cadre of dedicated teachers at INA who, one suspects, might be moving to those four schools in the future? In short, did they treat them like the professionals they are? When I asked Jerry Moore that question, he admitted that only the principal had been told beforehand.

Adding insult to injury, INA teachers learned of their school’s fate when Dr. Scribner made the announcement that Tuesday evening at the board meeting. One INA teacher shared with me that when they found out the news, their “hearts fell to the floor . . . and the next day was a day of grief ” for all INA teachers. That morning, they attended a meeting with administrators who made it clear the move was a fait accompli.

There was nothing the teachers could do about it.

Not only was it wrong to treat these fine professionals in this manner, it also didn’t make any sense. As one INA teacher put it, “In my opinion, in order for us to establish a ‘new program’ or new format of our school, we should’ve been planning and having conversations at least a year before. We aren’t just a regular campus being moved and separated ... the planning focus groups and design team are supposed to be meeting in February and March. They have allocated less than two months at this point, since we still haven’t heard back, to scramble and decide the fate of our school, a school that provides essential supports . . . for our newcomer students to receive a strong foundation during their first year in the country.”

Regardless of the district’s moves, INA at its current site is worth maintaining. It’s not just old ESL teachers, like me, that admire it. Fort Worth’s International Newcomer Academy is nationally recognized for excellence in teaching English to newcomers to our country. Its excellence has been documented in any number of scholarly books and articles.

For example, in English Language

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Angela Chilton

JP & Associates, a local real estate agency, to present an annual college scholarship to two high school seniors who were former INA students. She was recently featured in the Star-Telegram’s Hometown Heroes series.

This outreach would not be possible if INA was scattered at different locations.

I’m not alone in doing a double take at the district’s thoughtless dismantling of a great program. Former Fort Worth ESL teacher and language center team leader Lucinda Channon messaged me that she thought, “it is a terrible idea to dismantle” INA. “When I got to Paschal [High School], I learned that it was really good for the students to go to INA first . . . since everything about INA was set up to support the beginning students.”

Saturday, March 20, 2021 8–11 A.M.

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with INA students, faculty, and staff . . . I, and many other professors at TCU, have integrated into our courses opportunities for TCU preservice teacher candidates to learn from the strong teaching of INA faculty and to learn from the life experiences and funds of knowledge of INA students. In its over 25 years of existence, INA is one of the longest continuously operating schools of its type in the nation. INA has received national attention and accolades from influential educational organizations, such as WestEd, and from leading scholars in bilingual education, like Dr. Guadalupe Valdés, at Stanford University. INA has grown from these national collaborations and with local collaborations with TCU. In turn TCU

Former Fort Worth ESL teacher and language center team leader Lucinda Channon said she thought “it is a terrible idea to dismantle” INA.

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Learners and the New Standards, Aida Walqui, a well-respected expert on teaching English to newcomers, writes in the acknowledgment that she “extends her appreciative thanks to many teachers she has worked with, especially colleagues at International Newcomer Academy in Fort Worth, Texas.” In another book edited by Aida Walqui, Amplyfiying the Curriculum, each chapter describes an exemplary lesson for these immigrant students in different content areas. Two of the chapters are written or co-written by present or former INA teachers.

Dr. Steve Przymus of TCU touts INA, as well. He wrote, “I have frequently had the wonderful opportunity to collaborate

Cour tesy FWISD

One can just imagine those in charge of the school district looking over at that Camp Bowie campus and just salivating over all that parking.

teacher candidates have greatly benefited from these collaborations. The personal approach to teaching/serving, fundamental to INA’s mission, is the school’s greatest strength. Losing this is what worries me the most about the decision to close INA and disperse its students to four disparate schools with language centers, across the district . . .

Most importantly, INA works. Through the intersection of long-standing collaborations with TCU, other local universities, and national partners, and through excellent caring leadership, faculty, and staff, INA doesn’t just provide for the socio-emotional needs of newcomer students and their families, but it’s also a great academic school that works to meet the unique needs of successful language development and of preparing its students to be college and career ready. I firmly believe that INA makes Fort Worth a better city for all to live in and it is my hope that the school district can enact a plan to keep the school intact.”

INA is also home to the amazing Faiha Al-Atrash, its Parent and Community Liaison. With no prompting from me, multiple people I talked to about this story brought up Faiha. And why not? She provides wrap-around services for INA students and their families. According to Dr. Steve Przymus, “This year alone . . .

Faiha Al-Atrash has collected close to $100, 000 in contributions from the community.”

She also provides clothing and backpacks for students, has established a food bank on the campus, and was instrumental in getting

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“Clearly ... [INA] has had a profound effect on students new to English. Their rate of growth in acquiring a new language has been astounding,” said former Fort Worth teacher Adaire Fisher, pictured here passing out Outstanding Student Awards.

Another former ESL teacher, Adaire Fisher, who taught at J.P. Elder Middle School, noted that once INA took over teaching the newcomers, the “students were ready to transition to ‘regular’ classes and outperform students in the greater school within two years. Clearly . . . [INA] has had a profound effect on students new to English. Their rate of growth in acquiring a new language has been astounding.”

As former INA teacher Kip Wright put it succinctly, “INA is the best Fort Worth ISD school,” and moving newcomers into regular schools is “throwing them to the wolves.”

One reason the district thought it an opportune time to tear INA apart is the numbers at INA have decreased precipitously the past few years because of Trump’s immigration policies and, lately, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Currently, there are 238 students there, historically, a very low number. Surely, with a new administration, a world-wide pandemic causing economic hardship, and climate change wreaking havoc, more immigrants, documented and undocumented, will come to the U.S. INA at Camp Bowie has handled as many as about 800 students not very long ago and would be the best place for a new influx of immigrant students to go.

Fort Worth ISD’s shabby treatment

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Cour tesy Steve Przymus

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TCU professor Steve Przymus “firmly believe[s] that INA makes Fort Worth a better city for all to live in,” and he “hope[s] that the school district can enact a plan to keep the school intact.”

of immigrant students does not surprise me. Some years ago at Carter-Riverside High School, language center teachers, including myself, were called to meet with the principal. The first thing she did was hand us all transfer papers and told us in no uncertain terms that she wanted us all to transfer out of Carter that day, the last day to file for a transfer. In her mind, our students were bringing down Carter’s scores on the state-mandated tests. Fortunately, our team leader kept her head, and nobody transferred. We later found data showing we were doing a good job with our students, as far as state testing went.

That story illustrates that while Fort Worth ISD likes to say it cares about all students, a sizeable number of administrators simply want immigrant students gone. A case in point is the language centers, where the students go after INA in order to transition into the regular program. During most of the time I worked for the district, language centers had a great cadre of teachers. As numbers have dropped in the past few years, some schools have lost their language centers, my old school, for instance. Now, the language center program is falling apart.

Some schools still have good ones, but it’s a shadow of its former self. I consider that a cautionary tale for what could happen to INA if it is broken apart and scattered to different campuses, where principals might not be so supportive of it.

INA teachers understand this. After being unceremoniously told of their fate, some met after school and planned how to challenge this bonehead move by the district’s head honchos. One plan was to find exINA students who have done well and have them speak to the school board at its Feb. 23 meeting. I have no idea if such a brave plan will work. The powers that be in the district want everyone to believe this is a done deal.

If you’re interested in tilting at windmills, and who isn’t, you can call 817814-1956 by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to speak during the public comment section of the meeting. Because it’s a virtual meeting, they’ll give you instructions on how to do a Zoom call that will be limited to three minutes. Good luck. l

Final Weeks

Promotional support provided by

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The exhibition is organized by the Museo Egizio, Turin, and StArt, in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum. It is supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Crystelle Waggoner Charitable Trust, the Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District, and the Consulate General of Italy in Houston.

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Through March 14, 2021

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NIGHT&DAY

Cour tesy US Soccer

BIG TICKET

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SheBelieves Cup — an invitational women’s association football Thursday tournament and precursor to the Olympics (#RoadToTokyo) — is typically held in different cities across the country. Due to the pandemic, all six matches will take place at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, FL. The USA team’s three games will be broadcast on FS1 at various times from today thru Wed, Feb 24, and can be seen at establishments around town.

For example, at 6pm today, head to Buffalo Bros (3015 S University Dr, 817-386-9601) for the USA vs. Canada Watch Party.

As late-night host of the Discovery Channel series Naked and Afraid, Friday comedian Josh Wolf was noticed by CMT and was picked up to host their first comedy series, The Josh Wolf Show, in 2015. During his pandemic time off from touring, Wolf has been doing a weekly podcast with Freddie Prinz Jr. Wolf ’s stand-up special Father of The Year has given him a boost in popularity — over a million subscribers on YouTube to date — and now he’s on the road again. See his set at Hyena’s Comedy Nightclub (425 Commerce St, 817-877-5233) at 8:30pm or 10:30pm, or on Sat at 7pm or 9:30pm. Tickets are $25 at HyenasComedyNightclub.com.

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We love it when The Rev is in town, with the Heat in tow or not. Join Jim Saturday Heath of Reverend Horton Heat for a solo performance reinterpreting American music’s country-blues-rock roots at Tulips (112 St Louis Av, 817-3679798). The evening starts with a Happy Hour from 3pm to 7pm, then doors open at 7:30pm with the performance from 8:30pm to 2am. Tickets are $25 at TulipsFTW.com.

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With February being the official month celebrating the history Sunday and achievement of not just African Americans but also those of

African descent around the globe, The Dock Bookshop (6637 Meadowbrook Dr, 817-4575700). is hosting Black History Celebration Drum Circle. At 2pm, learn and experience the sounds of African drums and rhythm.

This socially distant event is outdoors, and you can participate via Facebook Live, Zoom, or in-person for free.

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Not only is today National Margarita Day, but it is also California Day. Celebrate Monday both by heading El Chingon (2800 Bledsoe St, Ste 100, 817-8709997). Fresh from San Diego, this Mexican restaurant/bar concept recently joined the hospitality ranks in Crockett Row. Join them daily from 11am to 1:45am for eats and drinks.

Happy Hour is Mon to Fri from 4pm to 7pm.

EC has recently added frozen drinks. Today is the day to try the Bad Ass Frosé made with bubbly champagne. Or a margarita. Your call.

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At 7pm, go online for Being There: Tuesday Evenings with the Modern Tuesday for a conversation between Iranian-born artist/filmmaker Shiria Neshat and writer Ed Schad, curator of The Broad in LA. This free event is part of the Modern’s new exhibit Shirin Neshat: I Will Greet the Sun Again, curated by Schad.

Questions and discussion will follow the presentation. Register at TheModern.org/ Program/Shirin-Neshat.

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Because I love animals (search “Animal Magnetism” Wednesday on FWWeekly.com) and there’s not a whole heck of a lot to do today, I recommend you head to North Richland Hills for the Retirement Celebration of K9 Breta. At 3pm, help NRHPD celebrate her nine years of service at the community drive-thru event in front of the Public Safety Wing (4301 City Point Dr, NRH, 817-4277000). K9 Breta and her handler Officer Bulger will be there to take socially distanced selfies and to accept your warmest wishes.

The little event is free to attend, but RSVP at Facebook (@NRH.PD) so they know how to handle the traffic control. Woof!

Cour tesy Facebook

USA forward Tobin Heath is out with an ankle injury. Get well soon!

It’s a valid question.

Virtual Insanity

Having sheltered in place, snuggled down nice and warm over this past weekend, and now working from home due to #Snowpocalypse2021, I have begun a search for virtual events to distract me from cabin fever. The internet — and Central Market — did not disappoint.

In celebration of Black History Month, Texas-based H.E.B.’s Central Market with locations in Fort Worth (4651 Wes Fwy, 817-989-4700) and Southlake (1425 E Southlake Blvd, 817-310-5600) is hosting two upcoming Virtual Cooking School Classes featuring recipes from African American chefs.

On Fri, Feb 19 at 6pm, Chef Marcus Samuelson will be cooking a Sunday roast chicken with chickpeas and couscous from his new book The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food. Then, on Thu, Feb 25 at 6:30pm, Chef Tiffany Derry — cofounder of Dallas restaurant Private/ Social and season 7 favorite on Bravo’s Top Chef — will be cooking crispy chicken with roasted garlic-lemon sauce, herbed potatoes, and dressed arugula salad. Registration for each digital class is $10 at CentralMarket. com/CookingSchool. Ingredient kits may be purchased for $70-100 online, with pickup available at the Fort Worth location only.

Central Market also has a variety of soups and stews prepared inhouse and ready for reheating in the Cold Weather Comfort section, including baked potato soup, beef barley soup, chicken-sausageseafood gumbo, chili on carni, poblano corn chowder, cream of mushroom soup, roasted tomato bisque, tortilla soup,

vegetarian lentil soup, and two varieties of chicken soup — rustic chicken noodle soup and green chili chicken soup — for $5.99 for 16 ounces. (So there’s your appetizer.) Order at CentralMarket.com for curbside pickup or delivery.

Virtual events of the non-food sort are also a plenty this month. Here are some of my favorites so far.

On Wed, Feb 17, from 5pm to 8pm, shop online at Kendra Scott Southlake (Facebook.com/ KendraScottSouthlakeTownSquare) with proceeds benefiting Salvaged Souls Pet Rescue, a North Texas webbased animal nonprofit organization (SalvagedSoulsPetRescue.org).

In Dallas, Latino Cultural Center is hosting a free online event called Storytelling with Bianca Reyna, a folk artist/poet, on Wed, Feb 24 at 2pm at LCC.DallasCulture.org. Reyna will be recounting ancestral myths, folktales, and legends of the Meso-American culture thru dance, music, and spoken word.

Attend a Virtual Tarot Reading on Sat, Feb 27 at 5:30pm, or take an Intro to Crystal Skulls virtual class on Sun, Feb 28 at 3:30pm at Arlington based Hearth Wisdom Store (US02Web.Zzoom.us).

Both events are free to attend.

In short, hunker down and stay in.

Check the events tab on Facebook for virtual happenings around the world.

Check your friends’ band pages for live streaming shows — old or new — and tip them via Venmo or whatever, for Pete’s sake. And please check on your weirdo friend for drunken antics on Facebook Live. That boy ain’t right.

By Jennifer Bovee

Celebrating Black Excellence The Fort Worth Opera and Tarrant County Pearls Chapter mark Black History Month with an online concert featuring Black artists and an allBlack production crew.

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Fort Worth has a long and uneven history of reflecting Black culture through the fine and cultural arts. Jubilee Theatre has been a theatrical stalwart in that effort for 40 years, but it has only been in the past few years that prominent arts directors like Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Keith Cerny have announced longterm commitments to Black representation (whether through repertoire or performing artists) at local cultural events.

That effort gained momentum with the hiring of Fort Worth Opera general director Afton Battle last fall (“Afton Battle Named Fort Worth Opera General Director,” Sept.

2020). Battle is one of the few Black women serving in a prominent leadership position at a U.S. opera company. Around the time Battle joined FWO with the goal of making

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Stupid Cupid

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Amphibian Productions puts its anti-Valentine’s Day show online.

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The concept behind Amphibian Stage Productions’ Love Sucks is almost as hoary as the concept behind Valentine’s Day itself.

One of the comics involved, MK Paulsen, cites a previous comedy show that he did on the 14th, the title of which he remembers as

“Womp womp! You’re alone on Valentine’s Day!” Of course, the weather meant that many more people were alone on the holiday this year than usual. It felt appropriate watching this special by myself surrounded by snow. Even when the snow melts, this show’s modest investment of time will pay some dividends, as it’s available to see through the 20th.

The video is hosted by Eric Jon Mahlum, who kicks things off by singing a Broadway-style tune called “Cupid Brought Me Prozac,” which is over before it wears out its welcome. He periodically returns for interstitial bits between the segments. In one of them, he introduces a bottle of Scotch as his new boyfriend and sings a love song to it called “My Funny Ballantine,” which is better in concept than it turns out to be in the execution.

Cour tesy of For t Wor th Opera

STAGE

the company the “people’s opera,” the Tarrant County Pearls Chapter of The Society, Incorporated (a national Black women-led nonprofit dedicated to supporting youth through the arts) was formed.

Battle and Kristin Wright (who cofounded the local Tarrant County Pearls) soon met, and the two groups are partnering on an upcoming virtual program — A Night of Black Excellence — to celebrate Black History Month through dance, song, spoken word, and numerous performances.

“The collaboration started organically,” Battle said. “I met Jennifer when I arrived in Fort Worth. She spoke about the Pearls Incorporated and their mission to support the arts and to uplift creatives in Fort Worth.

It just made perfect sense for us to find a way to collaborate. I wanted to be mindful about what we were collaborating on so it was something that resonated with their mission and was impactful on our community. As I started thinking about what Fort Worth Opera was going to do for Black History Month and the celebration of Black heritage, it seemed natural for us to talk about a partnership with the Tarrant County Pearls.

That’s how we started.”

“A Night of Black Excellence was born out of my sheer desire to celebrate my heritage and culture and those who bring their talents and resources to the arts and cultural landscape,” Battle said. “There are so many voices.”

The Sunday, Feb. 21 virtual concert will feature local and internationally renowned artists, including soprano Angel Blue, tenor Cameo Humes, and baritone Jorell Williams, among other musicians. Beyond showcasing Black operatic singers, the livestreamed evening will showcase spoken word artist Leslie N. Polk who will be accompanied

by Dallas-based Mondo Drummers.

Amphibian Stage’s Tad-Poles Stilt Dancing Program and the Houston-based pop string quartet Amp’d Quartet will also be a part of the program.

Beyond presenting Black performers, Battle said it was important to work with an all-Black staging and directorial crew, which

Afton Battle: “I do not need or want someone who is not Black to direct me and others on how to express their Blackness.”

was one reason why the opera director did not stage the concert at Bass Performance Hall.

Working with an entirely Black production crew was important, Battle said, because the idea was to create an “ecosystem of Black individuals who do more than just the status quo. It’s important for our community to see representation of themselves on and off the stage. Black individuals who are creative are often not given a platform to create their art. These individuals deserve the same chances and opportunities that their white counterparts receive often just by knowing someone in the industry.”

Tarrant County Pearls and former FWO board member Jennifer Brooks said she applauds Battle “for what she is doing to get the community involved,” she said. “She is taking the opera company where it has not been before. I can tell that 20 years ago, one of the things that we were trying to do was to educate. With Afton, all areas of this community will be engaged with the African American community.”

Tarrant County Pearls member Marnese Elder said her nonprofit’s aim is to support Battle and anyone who is championing Black culture through the arts.

The stars of the show are the stand-up comics who, like Mahlum, perform while standing or sitting against monochrome backdrops. Their sets are only a few minutes long, an advantage that allows them to use only their best jokes or focus on a single story.

Among the latter, Dante Martinez tells an engaging tale about having his girlfriend ditch his comedy set to talk to a white guy with dreadlocks, “the kind of guy who looks like he carries sage in his pocket so he can bless everyone.” He comes across better than Paulos Feerow, whom you wish would elaborate on his romance-by-text with a woman who turned out to be a coronavirus truther who thinks the pandemic is a hoax. His diffident manner probably comes across better in a live setting.

The same could be said for Hannah Vaughan, who relates a mortifying story about being a short woman trying to kiss a very tall man.

“The Black community is elated” about the program, Elder said. “They are excited to expose themselves to something that they have not been exposed to before. They are looking forward to seeing the talent. Our focus is to promote and support everywhere we can. It is a great calling. We are so excited about this relationship and what it will bring to those who can see the importance of opera.”

The Tarrant County Pearls will engage the local community along several fronts.

The local chapter of The Society recently awarded two students (one from Mansfield High School and one from I.M. Terrell Academy) as part of the program Art as Activism: Can a Poster Change the World.

Tarrant County Pearls president Kristin Wright said the idea was to show students how art can express activism. Beyond receiving a monetary award, the winning artworks will be placed in the East Side’s Black Coffee store in the near future.

“We hope to share with youths in our community that the arts are a medium of expression beyond color and painting,” she said. “We would like to cultivate their creative curiosity into career exploration and a lifelong passion for the arts.”

Often, presentations of Black music are watered down to spirituals, Battle said.

“While that is a part of our musical culture, there are an enormous number of art songs that are written by Black composers,” she said. “I hope this program will enlighten folks with the sheer flexibility and depth of not only Black singers but also the depth of music that is written by Black composers. We are excited and proud of the representation of the local community that is part of this program.

This is why I chose to produce this concert in-house. I wanted complete ownership of this event and for it to be Black-owned. I do not need or want someone who is not Black to direct me and others on how to express their Blackness.”

Patrons can purchase tickets and view the concert at FWOpera.org/Green-Room. l

Another musical interlude is provided by former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Kylee O’Hara Fatale, who lip syncs to the song “Forget About the Boy” from the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. Again, this probably has more impact when it’s seen live, but it’s pleasant enough as it is, especially with the bits from vintage cartoons interspersed with the performance.

This is pretty low-stakes entertainment, what with the $12 price tag and the fact that you can watch it at any time without having to put on shoes. As such, it’s fine stuff for this February week, regardless of your relationship status. A recurring segment where local schoolkids answer questions about romance is mostly filler, but one boy in a red shirt is asked what to say to someone who’s single on Valentine’s Day, and he replies, “Chocolate’s on sale on the 15th.” Amen, brother. l

P A T R I C K

H I G G I N S

A little more than a week ago, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban took a moment out of his busy day — presumably otherwise spent toying with the hopes and dreams of desperate Americans sinking their life savings into mediocre and unnecessary business ideas for entertainment on network television — to appear to confirm via ESPN that the team he runs would no longer be playing the National Anthem before their home games.

Predictably, and right on cue, the Lives-to-Rant-Wearing-WraparoundShades-from-the-Driver’s-Seat-of-an-F-150 Brigade broke out to take Cuban to task for hating America, or freedom, or the military, or whatever. The quick backlash provoked the NBA to release a statement reaffirming their league-wide mandate to play the anthem before all games, forcing Cuban to again go on ESPN to walk back his reported initial stance.

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unnoticed so far this season. It’s unclear how or why attention was drawn to the Mavs’ recent practice regarding the anthem, forcing Cuban to answer questions about it, and then sparking the recent mostly social media-based bickering.

It’s frustrating, yet probably should be expected, that the NBA — supposedly the most progressive of the four major sports — felt the need to buckle to pressure from the small percentage of their viewers that probably have a Parler account and release such a hostage video-style response to assure those flag-fetishists that the NBA still “isn’t too woke for them.” But, as they did after receiving heat from the Chinese government over league personnels’ comments drawing attention to the ethnic cleansing of the Uighur minority in that country early last season, the league proved once again that corporate sponsors still have a bigger voice than their players.

More frustrating perhaps — mostly because literally no one asked — was the sudden injecting of themselves into the discussion by the Mavs’ AAC bunkmates in the Dallas Stars organization. Somewhere between the news breaking of Cuban’s supposed cancelling of the anthem and the NBA’s subsequent coddling of the Punisher skull set by contradicting him, the Stars PR department found it fit to release a statement via Twitter assuring anyone who would read it that the anthem would continue to be played at all their own superspreader events . . . er, I mean, games.

Obviously, I have no beef with the Stars continuing to play the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The organization is more than within its right to give their fans the

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Mavs owner Mark Cuban (inadvertently?) re-ignites the bugaboo over the National Anthem at sporting events and the Stars PR team jumps at an opportunity to embarrassingly show what side of the controversy they’re on.

To be clear — unlike all the other local sports teams with their minimal regard for CDC guidelines — the Mavs (at least at the time) were not hosting fans during their home games and therefore had not been playing the anthem to their empty stadium anyway.

According to Cuban, due to ongoing “dialogue with the community” and the fact that many among those to whom he was referring “voiced their concerns, really their fears, that the national anthem did not fully represent them,” the team decided not to play the anthem in their first preseason game and sort of gauge the reaction. Then, as nothing appeared to happen, they just never resumed playing it.

The lack of initial pushback was no doubt aided by the fact that most television stations had already jettisoned routinely broadcasting the anthem (to the patriots at home who no-doubt stand hand over heart in their living room like they’re supposed to) during the pre-game presentations more than two years ago. Cutting of the anthem was an attempt to turn down the temperature of the nationwide controversy begun in 2016 when San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick peacefully took a knee during the anthem to protest police violence against Black Americans. With other players then following suit and the corresponding backlash (largely instigated and exacerbated by the glorified Twitter troll then occupying the White House), the squabbling over the anthem has been a constant irritant ever since. Neglecting to broadcast the playing of the anthem was a sort of tree-falling-in-a-forest-with-no-onearound-to-hear-it approach to dealing with the players’ demonstrations. So it had gone

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opportunity to show the requisite fealty and respect the anthem deserves by shouting “Stars!” twice during it. (You know, just as the founders intended.) My problem is in the statement’s blatant intent to appeal to and court a very specific demographic.

By not only wrapping themselves in the American flag, but the Texas one as well (the statement shoehorned in a line about being the Lone Star State’s only NHL franchise), the Stars nakedly sent a message aimed directly at former basketball fans bemoaning the league’s recent embrace of social justice movements. As if to say, “Are you mad that players have opinions as well as the ability to shoot a basketball? Or that there exists a league tolerant of them expressing those opinions? Well, come on over to the NHL! The sport with the bluest of collars among its fandom welcomes you and your grievances!” It’s aslo not lost that the NHL is also 99% white.

The move also reeks of desperation.

The NHL in general is having a tough go financially compared to the other of the big four and the Stars are not immune. But they should be trying to broaden their appeal into other demographics instead of trying to milk an ever-shrinking one. By being so utterly transparent in their courting of the same group of people who likely think kneeling during a song is disrespectful to America while literally trying to overthrow its government because of a bunch of made up bullshit makes you a patriot, the Stars only succeed in demonstrating how narrow their worldview is and just how small their aims truly are.

Grasping at this ever-declining, ethnocentric, nationalistic demographic may be the less risky play in the short term, but over the long haul, it will only further isolate hockey — especially here in the South — into the niche novelty sporting event it practically already is.

No one would reasonably expect the Stars to be at the vanguard of social activism, (again the whole 99% white thing). But next time, instead of recklessly Leroy Jenkinsing themselves into the debate, if they’re not going to contribute to helping progress the conversation, bridging the divide with tolerance and understanding of differing views, they should at least do what they’ve historically done: stay the hell out of it. l

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Survive Quarantine with These Mixers B Y

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As we all practice social distancing — feigning disappointment that we have to cancel our plans, stay at home in our jammies, and binge watch Netflix while we “work” remotely — don’t you wish you had stocked up on hootch rather than toilet paper? I mean, what good are those plush rolls if you don’t have a real reason to use your newly acquired artillery?

To not only survive your voluntary house arrest but emerge on the other side with most of your sanity still intact, it may take something a little more substantial than a few extra ply. Like, booze. Where there’s swill, there’s a way.

Take the Quarantini, for example. You may have seen a few recipes floating around the internet for this martini made with blood orange vodka and those Emergen-C vitamin packets to boost your immune system. Some memes even joke it’s just a regular martini consumed in isolation.

The Quarantini is just the beginning. I’m here to help you slosh together what little and varied spirits you already have stocked to make this retreat from the normal rigors of life, dare I say, enjoyable. I’ve got you COVID.

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Yes, this whole quarantine business sucks. You’re not alone — though, in a physical sense, you should be. Six feet, people.

Instead of whining, why not use these strange times in which we find ourselves as an excuse to do an altogether different kind of wine-ing? Grab any two half-drunk bottles that pass the sniff test, preferably a red and a white, and mix two ounces of each in a glass to make a lovely rosé. Pair with the last of your emergency chocolate or whatever snack you can scrounge from the recesses of your dwindling pantry. Phone call to your oldest friend for an hour-long bitch sesh optional but highly recommended.

The COVID-19

19 shots of any alcohol of your choosing. You’ll definitely feel ill after, but take comfort knowing it’s (most likely) not due to the coronavirus.

TP-Tini

For this, you’ll need all the fixins for a standard martini: 2-and-a-half oz gin or vodka, half oz dry vermouth, and a bag of marshmallows.

Mix your spirits and dry vermouth in a martini glass.

Either shaken or stirred will do. Use those leftover chopsticks from last night’s take-out to poke a big hole through the center of the ’mallows, your “TP rolls.” Trim your ’tini with as many rolls as will fit in your cart — er, glass.

Pandemi-colada

This is like a piña colada, but it’s made in trash-canpunch quantities. Leave a glass at each of your neighbors’ doorsteps.

For one serving, combine 2 oz each of cream of coconut, pineapple juice, and rum, and two cups of ice.

Blend until smooth and serve with fresh pineapple as garnish. If you don’t have fresh pineapple, mix in whatever fruit you have that might perish the fastest … or that slightly dented can of Del Monte fruit cocktail you’ve had stashed for years. Sip and try to imagine you’re on a beach somewhere.

Tw i t t e r. c o m b y u s e r M a r i l y n S t a r k l o f f

EATS & drinks

Wine About It

The Quarantini may not cure Covid-19, but at least you’ll have a reason to use all that toilet paper you’ve been hoarding.

Corona

Crack open that one Corona that was shoved to the back of your fridge last summer. Wash your hands before, during, and after drinking it.

Though not ideal, being cooped up with your family members for the foreseeable future has its perks — and if there’s one thing that has the power to unite us in this time of uncertainty, it’s a stiff drink. Cheers! l This story originally appeared in the March 18, 2020 issue.

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National Margarita Day Each year, the Weekly puts out a Best Of edition. With the margarita being such a popular drink here in Texas, Best Margarita is one of our most popular categories. Year after year, our readers pick Joe T. Garcia’s (2201 N Commerce St, 817-626-4356) consistently as the winning choice. In celebration of National Margarita Day coming up on Mon, Feb 22, let’s take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some critically acclaimed establishments. Here are some critic’s picks.

Chu on This Many restaurants and bars rely on a margarita mix that involves a lot of Green Dye No. 6, but not Chuy’s (2401 W 7th St, Ste 110, 817-332-2489, Best Margarita 2013). The Texas-based franchise’s ratio of silver tequila to freshly squeezed lime juice to ice is a closely guarded secret.

During happy hour, the frosty beverage is only $3.95, and you also get free queso.

Besides two Fort Worth locations, there is also a Chuy’s in Arlington and Denton (see Chuys.com/locations).

Happy Hour Eats & Drinks Here in the States, it has been said, most of us drink to get drunk. In pretty much every other developed nation, dining is part of the drinking experience, which is why the Crocket Hall (3000 Crocket St, 817-8857331, Best Happy Hour 2020) is ideal for your happy houring needs. From 3 to 6pm MonFri, the cavernous space bristles with young folks and couples of all ages sampling the food fare from many vendors while enjoying the craft cocktails, wines, and beers (import, domestic, and local on tap or by the bottle).

Get Your Swirl On There are two recently added special margaritas at El Gabacho Tex-Mex Grill (2408 W Abram St, Arl, 817-276-8160, Best Margarita 2016) for your imbibing pleasure.

A skinny, top-shelf spicy-cucumber and a mango join the already good original frozen and sangria swirl. And if you make it to the restaurant before 7pm on weekdays, your original or swirl is only $5.

Delicious Diablos Do you want a craft margarita mixed from scratch for north of $12? This is a thorny subject, right? That’s your inalienable right. This year’s award goes to a margarita of the people made by Esperanza’s (1601 Park Place Av, 817-923-

C o u r t e s y Ta c o P a s e o a t C r o c k e t t H a l l

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Rock me like a margarita.

1961, Best Margarita 2019). This $7.95 gangbuster blends Cazadores Reposado with house mix and is served frozen or on the rocks in a chunky smoked glass. Two of these delicious Diablos will blow your huaraches clean off. After all, that is surely what margaritas are all about.

Simplicity at Shaw’s Continuing in the tradition of excellent margaritas not found at Mexican restaurants, the ones at Shaw’s Patio Bar & Grill (1050 W Magnolia Av, 817926-2116, Best Margarita 2015) are for purists. They are not blue or green, but cloudy-clear like an overcast day. That’s because they’re made with three simple ingredients: tequila, lime, and a little sweetness. Shaw’s ’ritas also come in pint glasses (salted or not), and the price is right: $4 during happy hour (3-7pm Tue, Thu-Fri), $5 all day Saturday.

Balancing Act The best margaritas use freshly squeezed juices and good tequila and are equal parts strong and sweet — never cloying or masquerading as a dressed-up shot. No one mixes the most popular cocktail in Texas better than the staff at Taco Heads (1218 Montgomery St, 817-615-9899, Best Margarita 2018), whose version is perfectly balanced, fresh-tasting, and reasonably priced for the quality.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Let’s be real for a minute. If you’re looking for something cheap, strong, and tangy, you can’t go wrong with a margarita from Velvet Taco (2700 7th St, 817-887-9810, Best Margarita 2020). During these trying times, the VT staffers are being real and offering margaritas to go, so you can have your tequila and drink it, all while staying responsible and socially distanced.

Mouthwatering Shrimp & Margaritas Have you tried the Best Quesadilla of 2020?

That’s right. Yucatan Tequila Bar & Grill (909 W Magnolia Av, Ste 10, 682-385-9395, Readers’ Choice Margarita 2018-2019) is more than just nachos and margaritas.

With succulent shrimp, mouthwatering sauce, and a blend of cheeses, the Spicy Tequila Shrimp Quesadilla at YTBG is the kaysa-dill-ah of your dreams.

By Jennifer Bovee

M A R I A N I

Jeff Zagers should have seen it coming.

Bragging on social media that you’re part of a protest fueled by lies and that ends in death is bound to result in some sort of clapback.

The Georgian musician and avowed Trumper should not have been surprised when Brooklyn label Wharf Cat Records promptly dropped him and washed their catalog of two of his albums. You can bet the right-wing commentariat sees this move as yet another example of political correctness and cancel culture gone crazy.

In any other era, they might be right.

In any other era, the leader of the free world isn’t a misogynistic, racist, violent, criminal idiot.

Zagers will be just fine. Not only will he be picked up by another, assuredly less progressive label, but he will become a sort of martyr to the martyr class, a.k.a.

Trumpers, a.k.a. The World’s Biggest Snowflakes. There was a time back in the ’90s when I stumbled onto a Nazi punk

HearSay Radio, What’s New? Other than Payola?

Local indie rockers and hip-hoppers, I’m sorry to say, but you can forget about scoring airplay on any commercial radio station.

What’s standing between you and the program directors at the big local stations is a swarm of gatekeepers or “promoters” paid by labels with mucho disposable income to push songs onto the air. And sometimes push them off. As far as we’ve come since Alan Freed first spun “Rocket 88,” we’re still trapped in an oligarchy wherein the haves and have-nots not only exist but exist in the same, general, unfair unbalance that we see in everyday life. Wonder why …

Does anyone listen to radio anymore?

Yes. Especially online radio, whose reach has “increased sharply in the last decade,” according to the consumer data company Statista. In 2019, the most recent year for numbers, 67% of the U.S. population listened to online radio like Pandora and iHeartRadio, compared to 27% in 2009.

Does anyone listen to terrestrial radio

anymore? Yep. According to the same research firm, 92% of us listen to AM/FM radio regularly, a number that’s higher than TV viewership (87%) and even smartphone use (81%).

You may not listen to terrestrial radio because you’re a city slicker, but lots of folks in poor areas rely on radio for not only nonstop Eagles songs but news.

Which brings up question No. 3: Does anyone listen to terrestrial music radio anymore? Of course. Zillions. The same way we still pick up newspapers, we still listen to music over the AM/FM bands.

Question 4: Do we listen to terrestrial music radio only while driving?

“No one listens to the radio unless in car,” according to that one radio promoter somewhat exposed in a Rolling Stone article from October. Steve Zap had texted a station to slow down spins for Ed Sheeran and Panic! at the Disco and put Shawn Mendes on “super power for #1.” The previous week, Sheeran’s “I Don’t Care” was No. 1 while Mendes’ “If I Can’t Have You” was 3. Not long after Zap implored the station to spin Mendes’ tune “every 15 min,” Mendes leapfrogged Sheeran to the No. 1 spot.

Weathers performed for Trump in addition to dozens of active and retired troops.

“anonymously” trolling FWWeekly.com and our social media accounts, and I hope they’re as satisfied and gratified with our non-responses as we are when we (don’t) make them. When your beliefs do not include justice and equality for minorities, then you are not entitled to any beliefs.

You might as well be an axe murderer.

I do not think Josh Weathers is an axe murderer. Probably the biggest local name to support Trump — or who once supported him; haven’t talked to him since Jan. 6 — the blue-eyed soulman should have known that playing the inauguration in 2017 was going to put him sideways with pretty much every other scenester in town and all other decent folk with functioning hearts and minds. All we can say on the plus side is that Weathers played for Trump before the latter had begun his full-frontal assault on democracy, decency, and the truth. The story we published about Weathers’ inauguration performance went viral and remains our The Rolling Stone article was followed by lots of handwringing and finger wagging.

Nothing has changed. Welcome to the apex of late-stage capitalism.

Whatever you think of Zap, the guy has a point. Much in the way that landlines no longer exist, I doubt a lot of houses still have boomboxes, a phenomenon that I intend to address single-handedly by purchasing a gently used Panasonic Platinum “powaaah!” via eBay. Why? Because I hate using my laptop to stream KXT. I also miss All Things Considered. Not driving to and from work has at least one downside apparently.

Of all that handwringing and finger wagging, I can only make sense of a few points. One that generated only down marks on the Popheads subreddit is that quality trumps money. Bear with me a moment.

The theory goes like this: Obviously, radio wouldn’t continue playing a crappy song no matter how much money you threw at it. Which is true only because most pop songs sound the same. A few years ago, the Millennial Whoop was discovered.

The Millennial Whoop, as you no doubt remember because you read my column religiously, is the theory that so many pop

most shared and commented-on story to date. I know I speak on behalf of everyone at the Weekly when I say I would trade every single mention in every single national newspaper for a Hillary presidency.

Weathers has, uh, weathered the drama just fine. He put out a new album not too long ago. We wrote about it. It’s good. Not nearly as many shares, though.

I won’t be buying any Josh Weathers music anytime soon. As much as I like him personally, I don’t want to support him financially if supporting him with money means enabling him to soundtrack a wannabe dictatorship. Sorry.

Oh, and I listened to a few Jeff Zager songs. They’re shit. — Anthony Mariani Contact HearSay at anthony@fwweekly.com.

This story originally appeared in the January 13, 2021 issue.

songs sound the same because they use the same underlying sequence of chords.

Though the keys, arrangements, and styles may be different, the progression is the same, which means that pretty much the only reason Maroon 5 continues receiving airplay and your local band does not — even though the quality of your songs are the same — is that, well, Maroon 5 is Maroon 5, and you’re a local without connections. Or money. But not without hope, I hope. #keepkeepingon The most popular terrestrial radio music format by far is Country with 2,179 individual stations. Talk is second, followed

by Adult Contemporary or pop. As of 2018, the Pew Research Center says, Americans averaged 106 minutes of radio listening time per day, mostly “while commuting.”

I guess Zap was right, though the only commuting I do now is from home to Kroger and back. Spin that Pandora all damn day long, though. #R.E.M.radio #Rushradio #PublicEnemy — Anthony Mariani Contact HearSay at anthony@fwweekly.com.

This story originally appeared in the February 3, 2021 issue.

fwweekly.com

A N T H O N Y

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B Y

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

That Bloody Crossroads

Steve Watkins

MUSIC

show. On my way out, I wanted to reach into my ears and remove the words and riffs note by note from my brain. Nothing is redeeming about white supremacy, and don’t believe for a second that that’s not what we’re talking about when talking about the guy loitering in the White House.

Donald Trump and white supremacy are closely aligned. No matter how many times he may denounce it, he still says racist things as the president, which matters. The presidential voice matters, so when he refers to African nations as “shithole” countries or when he calls Mexican immigrants “rapists” or when during a presidential debate he issues a call to arms to a white supremacy group, he is essentially shaping his party’s policy, and his policy — immigration hardlining, suppressing votes, neglecting housing discrimination and police misconduct — has been equally racist. While not all Trumpers are racist, all racists are Trumpers. In the words of Stone Cold, “And that’s the bottom line.” Do with that info what you will.

Locally, I’ve come across a few on my newsfeeds, a few MAGA rockers, and, as I do with my family and close friends who have drunk the Kool-Aid, I just avoid them as best I can. Someone brought up an interesting point the other day online as my friends/“friends” piled on Blaine Crews, a popular rock drummer who’s gone full MAGA. Is it truly bullying when the person being allegedly bullied supports the biggest bully of them all? Or is it standing up for what’s right and fighting to change hearts and minds? I think the answer’s obvious.

I’m sure lots of MAGA rockers here and all over Texas and beyond are enjoying

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