Fort Worth Weekly // May 15-21, 2024

JENNIFER BOVEE

TOWN TALK FOODS

LAURIE JAMES

SCREEN

PATRICK HIGGINS

Unholy

By Steve Monacelli

Transformative Film

It’s

By Kristian Lin

Talk of the Town

Psst.

By Laurie James

In Bloom

By Patrick Higgins

Anthony Mariani, Editor

Lee Newquist, Publisher

Bob Niehoff, General Manager

Ryan Burger, Art Director

Jim Erickson, Circulation Director

Emmy Smith, Proofreader

Michael Newquist, Regional Sales Director

Jennifer Bovee, Marketing Director

Stacey Hammons, Senior Account Executive

Julie Strehl, Account Executive

Tony Diaz, Account Executive

Wyatt Newquist, Digital Coordinator

Clintastic, Brand Ambassador

CONTRIBUTORS

Christina Berger, E.R. Bills, Jason Brimmer, Buck

D. Elliott, Juan R. Govea, Patrick Higgins, Laurie James, Kristian Lin, Cody Neathery, Wyatt Newquist, Steve Steward, Teri Webster, Ken Wheatcroft-Pardue, Elaine Wilder, Cole Williams

EDITORIAL BOARD

Laurie James, Anthony Mariani, Emmy Smith, Steve Steward

TEXAN MUSICIANS

God Taught

The Christian nationalist Remnant Alliance

aims

to take over Texas school boards.

BY STEVEN MONACELLI, TEXAS OBSERVER

Earlier this year, pistol-packing pastor

Troy Jackson, a former strategist for the Republican Party of Texas and current candidate for vice chair of the Texas GOP, beamed as he welcomed a dozen conservative activists into a flag-adorned meeting room at New Beginnings Church in Bedford. The attendees included the founder of Citizens Defending Freedom, a Tarrant County GOP official, the founder of the local John Birch Society, and a representative from the far-right group Turning Point USA. They were gathering as the Remnant Alliance, a coalition of Christian nationalist groups working to educate, train, and mobilize conservative Christian congregations to influence the outcomes of local elections — especially school boards.

“Even if I don’t have kids in school, I’m showing up at school board meetings and testifying that you’re not going to teach our children this smut,” Jackson told the group. “You’re not going to sexualize these children, because, even though I may not have children in the school, it affects the entire community.”

Jackson’s heated rhetoric echoes the talking points deployed by state-level Republican lawmakers, big-dollar political action committees (PACs), and well-connected Republican consulting firms that have descended upon local school board races in recent years — and helped install majorities that have taken books off library shelves and rolled back protections for LGBTQ+ students. The election of those majorities was not coincidental: A recent Texas Observer investigative series revealed the coordinated nature of efforts to back more than 105 hard-right school board candidates across 35 districts since 2021 and how those efforts were funded in large part by billionaire donors who support school privatization.

For decades, various far-right, faith-based organizations have been working to train pastors and turn congregants into school board activists and candidates, but now the Remnant Alliance has united several powerful conservative Christian groups whose overarching ideology is Christian nationalism, “an ideology that seeks to privilege conservative Christianity in education, law, and public policy,” according to David Brockman, a religious scholar with the Baker Institute at Rice University. While conservative churches and outspoken pastors have long played roles in local politics, the Remnant Alliance represents a deepening and broadening of efforts to elect candidates who promise to infuse right-wing Christian values into policy.

in 2024, increasingly with the vocal support of pastors and congregations in the Remnant Alliance orbit. While some deep red areas like Llano have become flashpoints, most of the action appears clustered in suburban districts around North Texas, Austin, and Houston.

“We are a team of ministries and faithbased organizations who are committed to providing a clear path for pastors and churches to move into active engagement with culture for the purpose of bringing God’s moral values, once again, as the foundation of America’s success, while also opposing evil in our land,” the Remnant Alliance website reads.

In Keller, two right-wing school board incumbents, Charles Randklev and Heather Washington, were prayed over at Mercy Culture, the Northside church where a “Biblical Citizenship” and “End-times Prophecy” ministry is led by Mark Fulmer. The founder of the North Texas chapter of the John Birch Society attended the February Remnant Alliance meeting.

And in Katy, two right-wing school board challengers, Donovan Campbell and David Olson, received endorsements from Katy Christian Magazine, a publication that has run articles on school board politics penned by Rick Scarborough, a Remnant Alliance leader who attended that same meeting and whose organization, Recover America, focuses on school board elections.

The Remnant Alliance is an amalgam of independent organizations that share goals and sometimes personnel. It operates as a sort of clearinghouse for Christian nationalist ideology and is building its coalition with a five-step plan: First, local pastors are trained to have a “Biblical Worldview” through Liberty Pastors; second, pastors begin teaching a “Biblical Worldview” from the pulpit with the help of preprepared notes; third, congregants are trained on “Biblical Citizenship” and “Constitutional Defense” through the socalled Patriot Academy; fourth, pastors form a “Salt and Light” ministry at their church and are paired with a Citizens Defending Freedom liaison; and fifth, entire congregations are mobilized to “extend the Kingdom of God” with the help of advocacy groups — in other words, to vote for “Biblical values” candidates in races that can be decided by a few hundred ballots.

recruited on a QAnon show; the Salt and Light Council, a parachurch organization led by Dran Reese that works to equip pastors to mobilize their congregants toward political ends; Liberty Counsel, a legal organization led by former pastor Mathew Staver that provides litigation support to the conservative Christian movement; and All Pro Pastors, a networking and education group for pastors that has aligned with election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell.

Several Remnant Alliance leaders — such as Blair, Scarborough, Kirk, Gabriel, Reese, and Staver — are also members of the Council on National Policy (CNP), a secretive group founded in 1981 that has worked to link wealthy right-wing donors and political operatives to plan and execute long-term strategies.

From Keller to Katy, such right-wing religious candidates continue to run for school boards

The alliance’s political activism is framed as spiritual warfare against satanic evil in the pursuit of realizing the kingdom of God on Earth.

Matthew Taylor, a scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies, says the Charismatic Christian language of spiritual warfare has become a sort of lingua franca for the broader Christian nationalist movement, which is increasingly locally focused.

“It’s become a very effective schema for how to get Christians angry, how to get Christians mobilized, and how to get Christians taking action locally,” Taylor said. “And I think it is going to really redound to their benefit and power in this upcoming national election.”

As Taylor sees it, the strategy has shifted from a “Hail Mary” pass to get Donald Trump elected in 2016 to more localized efforts that feed into national politics.

“They’re working to activate these grassroots networks that can take over these school boards and city councils,” Taylor said. “The juice they get from seeing this local victory will then spur people on towards a national approach. It’s very politically sharp.”

School boards are a top priority for the Remnant Alliance, whose leaders encourage activists to attend school board meetings. Scarborough, an alliance leader, has vowed to free school boards from “godless educrats” and save children from “being groomed by homosexuals and the trans perverts to be recruited into their evil lifestyles.”

It’s difficult to exaggerate the scope of the Remnant Alliance’s collective influence. Between the nine groups that make up the coalition, there are thousands of churches and hundreds of thousands of activists. Among the partners are: Citizens Defending Freedom, a Christian nationalist group with chapters in several states that critics have described as “Moms for Liberty in suits”; Liberty Pastors, a training organization for church leaders founded by politically outspoken Oklahoma pastor Paul Blair; Recover America, a nondenominational ministry led by Scarborough that aims to mobilize pastors and their congregations to “vote biblically” in school board elections; Patriot Academy, an educational organization founded by former Texas state representative Rick Green with seed funding from Christian nationalist David Barton; Turning Point USA, a college-focused group with a track record of associating with extremists that is led by media personality Charlie Kirk; ACT for America, an advocacy organization led by Brigitte Gabriel that has pushed anti-Muslim rhetoric and recently

Award-winning journalist Anne Nelson, whose book Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right provides an in-depth look into the CNP, has described the group as a “pluto-theocracy.”

The Remnant Alliance, she says, is “just the latest version of an ongoing effort to politicize evangelical pastors and their congregations by the radical right wing of the Republican Party. These efforts are heavily financed and coordinated by the network of mega-donors and organizations involved in the Council for National Policy.”

Since the beginning of 2024, the Remnant Alliance has held over a dozen meetings at local churches across Texas. Some included local Republican party officials, such as a February 6 meeting during which Rosalie Escobedo, the Tarrant County GOP secretary and executive director of the Tarrant County chapter of Citizens Defending Freedom, endorsed training children to “not give up Jesus” through “end times militaristic preparation,” such as “army crawls” that troops use to advance during battle.

“Friends, the response of pastors at these meetings has been overwhelming,” reads a January 21 newsletter from Recover America. “Over 90% of pastors attending [decided] to team with the Remnant Alliance to educate, equip, empower, and lead their congregations to be ‘Salt and Light’ in their local communities.”

At the New Beginnings meeting, Remnant Alliance members engaged in a wide-ranging discussion that blurred the lines between faith and politics. Jackson, the hosting pastor, boasted that 19 of his congregants ran for office in 2022, mainly school boards and city councils. He touted firearms classes held at the church and explained how he trains Republican precinct chairs to engage in “Kingdom activism,” a concept promoted by self-described Christian nationalist prophet Lance Wallnau, a leader in the controversial “New Apostolic Reformation” who lives in Keller.

Jackson is a model of the pastors the Remnant Alliance seeks: He’s highly political, teaches “biblical citizenship” at a nondenominational church, employs the rhetoric of “spiritual warfare,” and is a proponent of Christian nationalist ideas such as the Seven Mountains Mandate — a theology popularized by Wallnau that calls for Christians to rule over the seven domains of family, religion, education, media,

“The Constitution comes second to the word of God.”

entertainment, business, and government. Jackson’s business card includes a link to his Republican party vice chair campaign website, which features a photo of him with Wallnau. In 2020, the oil billionaire-funded Texas Scorecard dubbed Jackson a “happy warrior” for his political activism.

“The law of nature is God’s law, which is the law of the land,” said Steve Maxwell, the founder of Citizens Defending Freedom, during the February meeting. “It comes before the constitution.”

“That’s it,” Jackson responded. “The Constitution comes second to the word of God.”

“Amen,” Maxwell said in agreement.

After establishing mutual understanding during two hours of animated conversation, Jackson closed the Remnant Alliance meeting with a prayer.

“God,” he said, “we thank you for the presidential campaign. We thank you for Donald Trump. … We thank you that you’re building a hedge of protection around him and the entire team as they go about all across the nation. We know that the weapons of our warfare are mighty for you. … God, I thank you for fortifying us in this moment so that we can go into the enemy’s camp and declare victory.”

In an interview, Jackson said he linked up with the Remnant Alliance in 2023.

“The purpose of the Remnant Alliance is to provide free resources to churches to do exactly what we’re doing in our church through Biblical Citizenship teaching,” Jackson said. “A lot of pastors are not willing to teach or do certain things in their church, not because of fear but because they’re not equipped to do it and they don’t know enough about it because they know how to teach and preach the word of God, but they don’t know the civic side of the game.”

Scarborough, the self-described Christocrat who has a long political resume and a national profile, is a regular at such Remnant Alliance pastor meetings. In addition to his CNP membership, Scarborough serves on the board of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, which, according to Baptist News, embraces “a ‘biblical worldview” that claims political organizing is spiritual warfare, that spiritual revival can come through political activism, and that Christians should have dominion over nonbelievers.”

Mike Johnson, the powerful speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who is also a proponent of the Seven Mountains Mandate, addressed the National Association of Christian Lawmakers convention on December 5, 2023, saying that God had prepared him to be a “new Moses.”

Through Recover America, Scarborough claims to have already helped elect two “committed Christians” to the Houston school district’s board of trustees and three “biblical values candidates” in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district in 2021. Scarborough agreed to an interview with me but canceled hours before it was scheduled.

One of the candidates he supported was Natalie Kagan Blasingame, a former educator and public school administrator who back in 2015 unsuccessfully campaigned for a CypressFairbanks school board position explicitly on

the issue that Christianity should have more of a place in classrooms and evinced belief in the Seven Mountains Mandate in an email seeking financial support.

“God is weaving the pieces together, Blasingame wrote, “making sure he is positioning Christians at the head of all the mountains of culture. … The Lord put in on my heart that my agenda is to tear down the over interpretation of the separation of church and state that has shut God out of schools.”

In 2021, Blasingame ran again for school board and won, along with the two other PACbacked candidates Scarborough supported. She now serves as the board’s vice president.

In total, Recover America claims to have helped conservative candidates win 25 of 36 school board races since 2019.

“In May 2023, three conservative candidates were elected to the Katy ISD School Board,” Scarborough wrote in an April 2024 newsletter. “This changed the ‘majority opinion’ of the Katy ISD School Board and thus the direction of the ISD toward faith-based values. It happened in a single election cycle! One of the positions was won by 263 votes. … Pastors, be encouraged … your church can make a difference!”

Scarborough also noted that the newly elected conservative majority on the Katy school board passed a policy that “requires the use of pronouns based on the student’s biological sex and prohibits faculty and staff from teaching or using instructional materials relating to gender ideology.”

He concluded by encouraging his followers to use the CNP-affiliated iVoter Guide.

Even after such policies have been passed, pastors and activists aligned with the Remnant Alliance continue to show up to school board meetings and demand the removal of books. On February 5, the Remnant Alliance held a meeting at the Community Transformation Church in Houston, led by Pastor Richard Vega. On April 3, Vega endorsed the Remnant Alliance during a WallBuilders podcast with Green, the founder of Patriot Academy. That same month, Vega addressed the Katy school board.

“There’s probably 150 books, probably more, in your school district that need to go ahead and come out,” he said. “We’re willing to work with you guys and be able to give you that list, so you can start filtering through.”

Katy is one of the school boards that has been targeted by the Remnant Alliance. Another is Keller, where a newly elected conservative majority also adopted controversial bathroom and pronoun policies aimed at trans and nonbinary individuals in the district.

When the new conservative majority on the Keller school board passed the new bathroom and pronoun policies, Citizens Defending Freedom celebrated the victory.

“Thanks for the hard work and dedication of Citizens Defending Freedom members, along with True Texas Project and community members, a school district in Tarrant County has banned transgender bathrooms and the usage of pronouns that [do] not align with biological sex,” reads a July 2023 Citizens Defending Freedom post on X.

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Llano encapsulates the extent to which the Remnant Alliance overlaps with Republican Party power players on school board-related issues. Dubbed the “Protect Our Children Event,” the gathering featured multiple Remnant Alliance affiliates who spoke alongside Matt Rinaldi, the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas; Luke Macias, a Republican political consultant linked to Christian nationalist billionaire oilman Tim Dunn; and Kevin Roberts of the right-wing Heritage Foundation. One goal was to raise money for Llano County to fight a lawsuit brought against county officials that stemmed from the removal of 17 books from the public library, including one for teens that calls the Ku Klux Klan a terrorist group and another that describes racism in the United States as an aspect of a caste system. Another goal was to “educate those who attend to the types of harmful content readily available to children in public and school libraries.”

Some big-name pastors have also lent their support to the Remnant Alliance or embraced its member organizations. In January, the Second Baptist Church, the SBC-affiliated megachurch where Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently called for pastors and their congregants to run for office, hosted a Remnant Alliance pastor meeting. In July 2023, Green, the former Texas state representative and founder of Patriot Academy, spoke at the annual summit for the ministry of Kenneth Copeland, the

wealthiest pastor in America whose Flashpoint News show airs on a channel that reaches hundreds of millions of people.

Several Remnant Alliance organizations — Liberty Pastors, Patriot Academy, and Turning Point USA — have all directly partnered with Patriot Mobile, the Grapevine group that explicitly endorses school board candidates through its PAC, Patriot Mobile Action, and that created the far-right majority in Keller ISD. In 2022, Citizens Defending Freedom organized voter registration events, including one at Gateway Church in partnership with Glenn Story, the co-founder and president of Patriot Mobile who in December

2023 was recognized with the Salt and Light Award at the same National Association of Christian Lawmakers event attended by Speaker Johnson.

The Remnant Alliance also has managed to establish informal relationships with like-minded groups and pastors, like Fulmer at the Northside’s Mercy Culture Church, where state representative Nate Schatzline serves as a pastor. Mercy Culture has thousands of congregants and is a part of the expansive Gateway Church network, which has more than 100,000 attendees some Sundays.

On April 21, Schatzline led the congregation in prayer for “Friends and Family

Candidates” supported by For Liberty and Justice Tarrant, a nonprofit that Schatzline also leads. The list, which promoted Keller school board candidates Randklev and Washington, among others, carried a disclaimer that says it is “not an endorsement” and that “these are candidates that are involved in their local church and share our values.”

Patriot Mobile also explicitly endorsed Randklev and Washington. The American Principles Project, which features a CNP member on the board of directors, endorsed Campbell and Olson in Katy. All four candidates have received endorsements from local Republican Party officials.

But the recent primary results show that the growing Remnant Alliance isn’t always able to succeed. In Keller, both Randklev and Washington won reelection, each beating their opponent by around 1,300 votes, but in Katy, both Donovan and Olson were unsuccessful in attempts to unseat incumbents, each losing by 13%.

“Hearing that these groups are coordinated and working together is unsurprising,” said Anne Russey, a parent with children in Katy public schools who co-founded the Texas Freedom to Read Project, which aims to counter efforts to restrict access to books in schools. “I think the formalization of those relationships is extremely concerning and something that all Texans should be paying attention to.” l

A version of this story originally appeared in the Texas Observer as part of a series supported by a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

‘The Pink Opaque’

Unlike other trans movies, I Saw the TV Glow interrogates gender dysphoria ethereally and nightmarishly.

BY KRISTIAN LIN

Who do we have in the way of trans filmmakers? We’ve had the Wachowski siblings, and now we have Jane Schoenbrun, who’s transfeminine and nonbinary and uses they/ them pronouns. Their 2021 creepypasta horror film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair rather went over my head, but I still saw a director of talent behind the camera. Now they have a bigger, more accessible film called I Saw the TV Glow that brings the dislocation of gender dysphoria to hundreds of screens in an ethereal, nightmarish way that other trans movies do not. If that does nothing for you, it’s also a movie about being a fan of a TV show, something many more of us are familiar with. Either way, it’s a work of unsettling power.

The story begins in 1996, when seventh-grader Owen (Ian Foreman) meets high-school freshman Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), and they bond over their fascination with The Pink Opaque, a supernatural teen TV drama that airs on Saturday nights. Two years later, Maddy suddenly vanishes around the same time that Owen’s mother (Danielle Deadwyler) dies of cancer and the show is canceled. In 2006, Maddy just as abruptly reappears to adult Owen

(Justice Smith), and she is altered in some worrying ways.

Schoenbrun may just be the most alienated filmmaker I’ve seen, and I’ve seen some doozies. If gender dysphoria is what happens when the identity in the mind and the physical body do not match up, the characters here seem afflicted by a similar but even deeper disconnect. You can see how

The Pink Opaque might appeal as an escape for both these kids, as Maddy is a lesbian whose mother ignores her and whose stepfather beats her. (She asks Owen whether he’s into boys or girls, and he responds, “I like TV shows.” Cute as an evasion tactic but not so great when it becomes a life philosophy.)

The angular, incisive Lundy-Paine (a nonbinary actress and a Dallas native) conjures some fearsome conviction as the grown-up Maddy, who insists that The Pink Opaque is real and conflates her own identity with the show’s monster-battling teenage heroine (Helena Howard).

Like me, Schoenbrun clearly watched lots of Buffy

the Vampire Slayer back in its day. In the scenes from The Pink Opaque, the director mimics Joss Whedon’s brilliantly innovative show down to the font used for the opening credits and the color distortion on the videotaped episodes that Maddy makes for Owen.

The Pink Opaque has a character named Tara (Lindsey Jordan), and I Saw the TV Glow casts Amber Benson, who played a character named Tara on Buffy. Dave McCary — a producer on this film along with his wife, Emma Stone — previously directed his own movie called Brigsby Bear, whose much sunnier take on TV fandom contrasts compellingly with this film’s.

As Owen grows into a middle-aged man in the present day, he proclaims that he knows that life isn’t The Pink Opaque and that he loves his family (whom we never see), but the movie sticks so close to his point of view that we can’t trust him or his fourth wall-breaking narration. He has a screaming breakdown at a kid’s birthday party at the video arcade where he

works. “Help me, I’m dying!” is the cry not of a man in mourning for a TV show but rather for the younger self who responded so powerfully to it that nothing in his life has matched it.

Of course, Schoenbrun isn’t the first fiction writer to warn us that fiction and its seductions might unmoor us from real life. (Indeed, Buffy devoted an episode to the idea that the entire series was taking place in the mind of a confined mental patient.) Still, the movie’s tube-lit view of suburban America makes a convincing backdrop for its portrait of disaffection. Schoenbrun’s eye for a striking visual punches things up, too, as when they give us a soft-serve ice cream monster and a shot of Owen’s head smashed through a TV screen while his father (played by Limp Bizkit frontman/ film director Fred Durst) tries to pull him out. I Saw the TV Glow isn’t scary enough to satisfy moviegoers looking for a more conventional horror flick, but when you leave the theater, you may find this film following you home and staring at you balefully from the darkness. l

A television show’s fantasy world pulls in Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine in I Saw the TV Glow. Courtesy A24 Films

I Saw the TV Glow Starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine. Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun. Rated PG-13.

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SCREEN

Roger and Me

A

local filmmaker recalls recently deceased Hollywood schlockmeister Roger Corman.

BY BRET MCCORMICK

Planning to make a nice Mother’s Day meal for my wife, Patrice, and my mother, Kathy Flories, I went early to the local grocery store hoping to beat the inevitable Mother’s Day rush as last-minute folks grabbed flowers, cards, and desserts for their usually neglected mothers. I pulled into the parking space at Walmart, and my phone dinged. Thinking it was my wife asking me to purchase some afterthought, I checked my phone. It wasn’t from Patrice at all. I was surprised to see the name Rob Hauschild, the head of Wild Eye Releasing, a man who has distributed several of my movies. The text was brief. It read simply, “Roger Corman R.I.P.”

Wow. The guy I thought might never die had finally passed away at the age of 98. Roger Corman, my role model as a schlockmeister and, for a brief time, my acquaintance and employer.

I first became aware of Roger Corman, in a very vague way as a name in the cred-

its of some of the movies I watched on TV, when I was only 4 years old. I was the child of teenage parents, one of the original monster kids of the 1960s, a boy who spent a minimum of five hours a day in front of the boob tube. My folks were struggling, and the TV was the cheapest babysitter. I was drawn to anything that could be called scary, especially anything involving monsters. I was in love with all the Universal monster flicks, but I loved the cheesy A.I.P. movies, too. Invasion of the Saucer Men, It Conquered the World, Not of This Earth, Attack of the Crab Monsters — these films found a lasting place in my young mind even before I was old enough to attend school.

Just a few years later, when I started attending the local theater every Saturday, I fell in love with Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe movies. The Raven, Fall of the House of Usher, The Haunted Palace, Masque of the Red Death — I loved these films. They weren’t quite as good as those great movies coming from Hammer Studios in Britain, but they were close. Since they were replayed often at various theaters in Fort Worth, I saw them repeatedly, especially when they were grouped into triple and even quadruple bills every Halloween.

My enthusiasm for horror films was boundless by the time I graduated elementary school, and I suppose my passion was infectious. Every time I made a new friend, they became fans of the genre as well. My buddy John Shults started attending horror flicks with me on a regular basis. After I read about some kids my age making a monster movie with 8mm film in New York, I became convinced filmmaking was my calling. My friends — John Shults, John Cottrill, Zeke Zelazny, Bill Hobbs, and others — began helping me make 3- and 6-minute epics in the eastside neighborhood around our house on Meadowbrook Drive.

“Do you really think you can be a film director? I mean, professionally?” John Shults asked me one day.

“Sure,” I replied. “Why? Don’t you think I can do it?”

“I can see you as another Roger Corman, but you’re no Cecil B. DeMille.”

I took what he said as a compliment. Who the heck wanted to be Cecil B. DeMille in 1970? Not me. Roger Corman? Hell, yes!

I studied filmmaking. I married. My life had the usual ups and downs. When I was living in Hawaii for a year, ostensibly saving money to go to film school in Santa Barbara, one day I looked up Corman’s name in Who’s Who in America. I saw that he would soon turn 50 years old and that his birthday was approaching. I bought him a birthday card and mailed it with a short note to the address listed in Who’s Who, a place on Sunset Boulevard. The card came back to me as undeliverable because it did not include a suite number. How does that happen? I wondered. Surely, the mailman who delivers that route knew who Corman was and had delivered other mail to him. I was bummed. Time passed. I attended Brooks Institute’s motion picture production classes. My wife and I wanted kids, but we didn’t really want to raise them in Los Angeles, so we moved back to Texas. Just before I made my first feature film, in 1984, I rented a print of Roger Corman: Hollywood’s Wild Angel, the documentary by Christian Blackwood, and had a public screening on Lower Greenville in Dallas at a bar called Tahiti’s, which was owned by my attorney Bill Wray. We invited Roger Corman, Larry Buchanan, and Tom Moore (a local film distributor) to attend. Roger politely declined, saying he would be in South America, where he was busily exploiting the Latino B-Movie market. Larry Buchanan came, though, as did Tom Moore. In the following years, I developed friendships with both of them.

I made movies. Down, dirty, and cheap, eager to cash in on the VHS home video phenomenon that had replaced the drive-in theaters as the place where you sold those cheesy movies that couldn’t find a home in more respectable venues. Jane Sumner, who had a column in one of the Dallas papers, did a piece on me and called me the “Roger Corman of Dallas.” Shortly after that, Texas Monthly did a nice piece on me. It seemed I was on the way to carving out a place in the movie business.

Sometime in 1994, I made a deal with John McCarty to turn his book The Fearmakers into a 13-part series. One of the episodes centered on Corman, and through an L.A. contact, Ted Newsom, we landed a nice video interview with Corman. Corman was

gracious and poised on camera, as always, and we considered it a coup, getting him for our program, even though Ted, as director of that interview, completely botched it by not following my instructions.

A shyster businessman from Dallas courted my participation in a company he was starting. He wanted to make movies. Together we made several movies in 1995. After making four movies by September that year, I contacted Roger Corman with a plan to squeeze in one more production before the year ended. He responded quickly and gave me a project called Rumble in the Streets to shoot in Fort Worth in December 1995. I was in heaven. My childhood dream of making movies for Roger Corman had come true.

Corman came to town for a couple of days to see our progress on Rumble in the Streets and to touch base with the Dallas film commission. My understanding was that he contributed generously to the film community in Texas. He took me, the D.P., and the two leads of the film, David Courtemarche and Kimberly Rowe, out to eat at The Balcony on Camp Bowie. It was great. Roger was affable and gracious and made us all feel like pros.

Later, in September 1996, I made a second film for Corman called The Protector starring Lee Majors and Ed Marinaro.

Other filmmakers, people from California who had had dealings with Corman, were amazed that he had actually given me money to do two films.

“He gave you money? Really?”

Evidently, he was not known for actually footing the bill, even for filmmakers more experienced than myself. I had to feel good about that. I did feel good about that.

1996 was a major turning point for me, the beginning of a period I refer to as my personal shitstorm. My marriage of 18 years ended, both my grandmother and my father committed suicide, Tom Moore filed for bankruptcy, owing me a lot of money, my son Joshua died in an accident, and I foolishly descended into a nightmare of alcohol and drug abuse. I abandoned my film career until 2020, when interest from Wild Eye and other distributors kindled my desire to dabble in movies again. When these guys interviewed me for special features for re-releases of some of my old movies, they were always impressed with the fact that I’d made movies for Corman. I’m a little impressed myself, that a working-class kid from Fort Worth declared at the age of 12 that he was going to make movies for Roger Corman, and, by God, he did.

Thank you, Roger Corman, for setting trends, breaking records, influencing popular culture, and just plain entertaining Americans for decades. You left an indelible mark on my life. I appreciate your accomplishments, and I’m glad to have worked with you. Rest in peace. l

Bret McCormick is a writer, artist, and filmmaker who has lived most of his life in Fort Worth. He produced, directed, and wrote his first feature film, Tabloid!, in 1984. Since that time, he has been a critical player in the production of more than 20 feature films and has written or edited more than 12 books.

Roger Corman came to Fort Worth for a couple days to see the progress on the author’s Rumble in the Streets

Photo by Peggy Mitchell

The author shot Roger Corman’s Rumble in the Streets in Fort Worth in December 1995.

Photo by Bret McCormick

To All Interested Persons And Parties:

Estrada Concrete Company, LLC, has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for an Air Quality Standard Permit, Registration No. 176043, which would authorize construction of a permanent concrete batch plant located at 9707 Jacksboro Highway, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas 76135. This application is being processed in an expedited manner, as allowed by the commission’s rules in 30 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 101, Subchapter J. Additional information concerning this application is contained in the public notice section of this newspaper.

Besides going to an NHL playoff game, you can also honor the late, great, notoriously loyal Stars fan Vinnie Paul by hitting a glam metal show. How about seeing Steel Panther as part of their On the Prowl World Tour at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall (122 E Exchange St, Ste 200, 817-900-9300) at 9pm? Tickets are only $30 at Tannahills.com. Wearing Spandex is optional but strongly encouraged.

Take a new look at old Hollywood through the lens of a pioneering photographer and cinematographer.

Moving Pictures: Karl Struss and the Rise of Hollywood is up now thru Sun, Aug 25, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-738-1933). For highlights and info on guided tours, visit CarterMuseum.org/ exhibitions. The museum is open noon-5pm Sun, 10am-5pm Tue-Wed, 10am-8pm Thu, and 10am-5pm Fri-Sat. Admission is free.

With the game tonight at 7pm at American Airlines Center (2500 Victory Av, Dallas, TX, 214-665-4299), #YourDallasStars can put away the Avs and move on to the semifinals of the NHL playoffs. As of press time Tuesday, tickets were still available at Ticketmaster.com starting at $136 from verified resellers. That’s not too shabby, considering the listed prices started at $95 originally. Or find a bar. We’re sure any self-respecting North Texas establishment will have the game on TV.

There are so many three-day festivals in North Texas this weekend that you can do a little #Staycation tour and then call in sick Monday.

If you’re still watching Olive Peck via old episodes of Ink Masters on your streaming apps, do we have an event for you. The annual Elm Street Tattoo Festival is at Trees (2707 Elm St, Dallas, 214-748-5009) 2pm-10pm Fri, noon-10pm Sat, and noon-7pm Sun. (The tattooing ends promptly at those end

times, so plan accordingly.) Daily tickets are $11, and three-day passes are $30. The festival’s music portion will be at CheapSteaks (2613 Elm St, Dallas, 214-730-0220). King Clam, Midnight 30, and Chemical Spell play Friday, while Rob Leines, King Lazy Eye, and Robert Sieben hit the stage Saturday. It’s $20 each night. For more info and tickets, visit ElmStreetTattoo.com.

In Las Colinas, it’s time for the annual Texas Frightmare Weekend at the Irving Convention Center (500 W Las Colinas Blvd, 800-247-8464). Passes are $45 for Fri or Sat, $40 for Sun, $85 for a weekend pass, and $319 for a VIP pass. This event is for true horror film buffs and includes costume contests, panel discussions, parties, photo ops (which cost extra), screenings, vendors,

and more 6pm-11pm Fri, 11am-7pm Sat, and 11am-5pm Sun. For tickets, event schedules, and the list of meet-and-greet opportunities, visit TexasFrightmareWeekend.com.

For the fam, Grapevine (636 S Main St, 800-457-6338) hosts the 40th annual Main Street Festival: A Craft Brew Experience 11am-11pm Fri-Sat and 11am-6pm Sun. Along with the beer, there’s live music, food trucks, and shopping, plus a carnival midway and a kids’ zone. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for kids 6-12 and seniors 62+, or buy a weekend pass for $20. Purchase tickets and scope out directions and parking ideas at MainStFest.com

By Elaine Wilder

The Stars look to close out their Round 2 series against the Colorado Avalanche Wed, May 15, at the AAC.

For family fun, head to the Main Street Festival in Grapevine this weekend.

Steel Panther brings their Spandex-tastic metal to Tannahill’s Thursday.

EATS & drinks

Town Talk Foods

Whether to save money or the environment, this repackager is a win-win.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY LAURIE JAMES

It seems inconceivable in a town with so much food inequity that tons of our food supply still end up in landfills. Alas, it does — here, there, everywhere. Food waste makes up nearly a quarter of all U.S. landfills. Professionals call this “surplus food,” which implies that, if it’s extra, it can be donated to organizations like the Tarrant Area Food Bank.

While Fort Worthians can take advantage of the City of Fort Worth’s Residential Food Waste Composting program,

restaurants and grocery stores create the bulk of wasted food. About 20% of this “surplus” is prepared foods (the donuts, burgers, fried chicken, and more not sold at the end of the day), and that waste is hardest to repackage and reuse. Milk and eggs make up 15% of the food waste (which is a shandeh considering the price of these items right now), and over a third of “surplus foods” destined for the landfills is produce.

Enter: Town Talk Foods.

With three locations in Tarrant County (Fort Worth, Weatherford, and now Arlington), Town Talk has been around for seven decades. The store uses a combination of massive bulk purchasing and repackaging to leverage substantial savings for consumers, which is great. And those food items are kept out of landfills, so it’s a win-win.

Town Talk’s repurchased items nearing their sell-by dates and items that perhaps

did not sell as well as their fancy brand manufacturers thought can usually be had for super-cheap.

The chain is a certified food repackager, which means that they can buy oversupply from restaurants and large food distributors and resell the perfectly useable goods. If it doesn’t bother you that your dried beans, spices, and other bulk items are in plastic or paper bags that don’t have fancy labels, continued on page 17

If you’re not picky about how your produce is displayed — and why should you be? — you’ll find good stuff, freshly delivered to Town Talk Foods every Saturday morning.

The chicken broth is a staple in most of our kitchens, and that’s not a typo on the price.

Eating more plant-based these days? Town Talk’s freezers are stocked with some good, inexpensive vegan choices.

you’ll save some money while stopping these foodstuffs from ending up in a landfill.

I acknowledge there are folks in town who have depended on this store because the cost of food staples is still insane ––nationally, food inflation was at 3% for last year, down from over 6% in 2021. However, Town Talk is a veritable treasure hunter’s paradise, especially if you love brand labels or have special dietary needs or preferences –– gluten-free and vegan convenience foods are cheaper here. The weekly produce deals (Town Talk’s fresh shipments hit on Saturday mornings) are plentiful as well, assuming you’re happy to shop from boxes and shopping carts rather than well-lit displays.

Weekly staffer and affirmed Town Talk devotee Jennifer Bovee recently took me to the Arlington location for a little show and tell. Here’s what I found.

• For fancy or organic brand connoisseurs, the 32-oz. Pacific Foods Free Range Chicken Broth (a staple in my kitchen) was 99 cents. The stuff retails for over $4 at Sprouts or Whole Foods. Bonne Maman fruit preserves in the 13-oz. jar were $1.99. The plum flavor costs over $5 at most retailers. And Justin’s Almond Butter was $3.99, compared to $7plus at Target in Mansfield.

• For the vegans, Quorn Meatless Chipotle

Cutlets ring up for $2.99 at Town Talk instead of over $4 at Sprouts or Whole Foods. Green Giant Dino Veggie Tots cost $1.99, when they routinely run $3.97 in a local Walmart freezer case. And Daiya dairy-free Mac & Cheeze was a steal at $1.99 when compared to the average $4-plus at several grocery outlets.

• In the produce section, the Driscoll’s Rainbow Pack (a combo of fresh blueberries

and raspberries) was $2.50 instead of the over-$5 for one at Sprouts.

• Finally, legendary Cowboy Troy Aikman’s bespoke Eight Light Lager was $5.99 for a 12-pack. The stuff runs between $12 and $16 for the same amount at Tom Thumb, Albertsons, and Walmart.

Full disclosure: The chicken broth and almond butter I bought were past their “Best

if Used By” dates. The FDA says that term has more to do with when the product is best to use from a quality perspective, but unless the item looks bad or has changed color, whatever you’re buying can be used after this date.

Whether you’re shopping for bargains, shopping on a real budget, or shopping to fight food waste, or if you want to shop at a local regional grocer, Town Talk Foods takes the cake. l

Justin’s Almond Butter is twice as much at Target, and Troy Aikman’s bespoke beer is available at a good price at Town Talk.

You recognize this jam. It’s the fancy kind, and that’s the real price at Town Talk Foods.

Vegans will love the sticker on this vegan Mac & Cheeze.

Memorial Weekend Will Be Here Soon

Originally called Remembrance Day, Memorial Day was created to commemorate those who died serving the army in the Civil War. In the beginning, gatherings and picnics were held for a very specific purpose: to bring former enemies together in the hopes of mending a broken country. (Boy, do we still need that now.) Today, this holiday honors and remembers all men and women who died serving in the U.S. military. Given what you just read, it does feel like you should thank a veteran next weekend, but that’s what Veterans Day is for.

And now you know why there is a bank holiday next Monday. For more ideas for Memorial Day Weekend — plus every holiday throughout the season — pick up our annual Summer Issue in stands next Wednesday (with a deadline of Monday, I might add). Meanwhile, here are some eats and mostly drinks happenings to consider as we kick things off with a … fourrrr-day weekend!

1.) Dip your toe into summer 2024 a weekend early at the Hillbilly Throwdown. All the way from California, former North Texan Megan MoshPit hosts her annual floatfest/music festival at Stars of the River (12045 US-281, Santo, @MoshPitEntertainment333) 10am11:30pm Sat. 180 West, Hillbilly Orchestra, Cortez, Cast Iron Cowboy, Cody Jo & The Cow Hands, Get Off My Lawn, and Jim Moody will perform. Admission is $15 in advance on Eventbrite.com or $20 cash at the gate. You can camp out for the evening for an extra $5 per person online or $10 per person in person. This event is BYOB. No glass, please.

2.) If your Memorial Day Weekend plans include watching the Charles Schwab Challenge at The Colonial 10am-5pm Thu-Sun, May 23-26, you’ll be glad to know that Big Tex has you covered on the snacks. Along with Buffalo Bros wings and Melt ice cream, you can also purchase real Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs. Find them at the No. 1 Fairway.

3.) Pinstripes (5001 Trailhead Bend Way, Fort Worth, 682-352-0808) is serving not one, not two, but three (!) days of brunch, continued on page 19

Dip your toe into summer fun a week early at the Hillbilly Throwdown floatfest in Santo.

Courtesy Canva

Next weekend’s brunch at Pinstripes goes Sat-Mon and will include brats and burgers along with traditional brunch items.

Courtesy Pinstripes

continued from page 18

10am-2pm Sat-Mon, May 25-27. Along with regular favorites on the brunch buffet, Pinstripes will serve brats, hamburgers, and hot dogs. The cost is $27 for adults, $13 for kids 6-12, and free for kids 5 and under. Book your reservation at Pinstripes.com/ Fort-Worth/Reservations/. Be sure to make time to play bocce and do some bowling while you’re there.

4.) Bottled Blonde (2821 Morton St, Fort Worth, 682-428-7015) is hosting high-energy party rapper Waka Flocka Flame (@ WakaFlocka) and his birthday tour 10pm Sat, May 25. Tickets are free for pre-9pm arrival and $10-30 after that at Posh.vip. Though you’re more likely to come here for booty-shaking, bottle service, and cocktails, the club does whip up tasty artisan sandwiches and craft pizzas.

5.) A full day of country music, craft beer, and delicious food, the fifth annual Boots, BBQ & Brew is from noon to 10pm Sun, May 26, at Legacy Hall (7800 Windrose Av, Plano, 972-846-4255). VIP tickets are $65 on Prekindle.com and include balcony seating, a complimentary glass of Legacy Ultimate Light Lager, which is brewed at the in-house brewery Unlawful Assembly, a plate from Dry Rub Eatery (sliced brisket, jalapeno-cheddar sausage, four-cheese mac, and fried okra, plus sliced bread, onions, pickles, and sauce on the side). For $10, general admission includes access to the hall’s 20 restaurants and the live music: Dunn & Brooks (tribute), Neon Prophets (’90s tribute), Shameless, and Broken Halos (Chris Stapleton tribute).

6.) Eagle Mountain Lake is home to several lakefront bars and restaurants, including The Lakehouse (9307 Boat Club Rd, Fort Worth, 817-386-3156). With lake season in full swing, special events and live music

are abundantly sprinkled throughout the place’s May calendar. On Sat, May 25, from 8pm to 11:30pm, hear covers of classic rock and ’90s-to-aughts alternative hits by The Halftones. Admission is free. The kitchen is open until 10pm in case you want to try the Lakehouse burger of the month, the Fiesta, a beef patty topped with chorizo, jack cheese, avocado slices, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and a green sauce drizzle, all on a jalapeno brioche bun with a side of chips and salsa ($14.99).

7.) Speaking of lakes, for those of you headed to Lake Lewisville next weekend — looking at you, Daddy-O (that’s what I call my father-in-law in The Colony)

— don’t forget that Hop & Sting Brewing Company (906 Jean St, Grapevine, 817488-2337) offers daily beer-to-go deals 3pm-10pm Mon-Wed on their original craft beers brewed in-house. The deals are limited to one case per customer per day and include $6 Armored Pig American Lager six-packs on Mondays, $9.95 Irish Teapot Stout six-packs on Tuesdays, and $9.95 Wicked Bold Chocolate Stout six-packs in the cayenne, hazelnut, and sea salt flavors on Wednesdays.

8.) Fort Brewery & Pizza (2737 Tillar St, Fort Worth) is bringing back comedy night for Memorial Day Weekend. Brew Ha Has is a free show hosted by Paxton Bailey

and presented by Kickback Comedy 8pm Sun, May 26, with co-headliners Sheridi Lester and Lawrence Rosales, plus Casey Coleman, Jacob Marshall, Nathan Rivas, and Herbie Caro. While Fort Brewery is usually family-friendly, this show will include adult content, and children are strongly discouraged from attending.

By Jennifer Bovee

Pick up some Armored Pig American Lager on your way to the lake on Memorial Day because ’Murica!

MUSIC

Livin’ the Dream

Singer-songwriter

Theo Carracino releases his debut album after a decades-long break from music.

BY PATRICK HIGGINS

Like many singer-songwriters, Theo Carracino is a storyteller. While relaying a tale or painting a musical portrait of a person are standard tropes, Carracino boasts an especially narrative voice in his music. He brings a particular skill to bear that likely has a great impact on his process. Most of his professional life has been spent working as a journalist, telling the stories of the people in his communities. It’s work that has seen him live all over the country and offered encounters with intriguing folks of all kinds. From his origins here in North Texas to Philadelphia, Florida, Arizona, and Washington, D.C., and back again, telling the stories of all the interesting people he’s come across has been his life’s work.

Though Carracino’s stories have, for decades, made their way into print, now — though it’s taken a bit of time, to say the least — some of those stories have found their way into song. At the age of 73, Carracino just released his first album after a lifetime of being a musician. Better Than a Dream is a 15-song collection of tender fingerstyle folk aimed at bringing those people, as well as Carracino’s own experiences, to vivid life.

“I don’t think I necessarily learned empathy, but it certainly came out as a journalist,” Carracino said of his songwriting inspiration. “Just writing about people. Sometimes people in terrible circumstances. When you’re out there writing about people, you meet all kinds, and everyone has a story.”

While it’s people and their stories that move him to write songs, it took him a long while to get around to it. Carracino began his music life “playing bad John Prine covers,” as he put it, in local restaurants, hotel bars, and lounges. He performed for a handful of years before he suddenly quit playing live entirely.

“I just realized that I wasn’t going anywhere,” he said. “I had this recurring nightmare that I was going to be 65 years old and the manager of a Ramada Inn was going to say, ‘Your Social Security check came in, Theo,’ ” he added with a chuckle, “so I just quit and went to college.”

That’s when he earned his journalism degree from UTA. While his professional life turned from music to newspapers, he continued to play guitar, honing his intricate melody-driven style. On an acoustic, his playing recalls Prine, plus Leo Kottke or, more similarly, largely unsung ’70s folk stylist Nick Drake.

Technical, yet beautiful, fingerstyle guitar isn’t the only parallel to the English singer-songwriter. Like Drake, Carracino also suffered from horrible stage fright. Coupled with the perceived lack of advancement, it led to his turn from live performances. After toughing out a particularly anxious set in front of a crowd of more than 600, he hung it up and wouldn’t perform again for nearly 40 years.

Ironically, perhaps, it was beginning to compose his own material that finally helped him break through the fear and try his hand on stages again. In 2019, Carracino went to an open-mic at the now-defunct Shipping and Receiving Bar and performed in front of strangers for the first time in almost four decades.

“I just got this wild hair,” he said. “I don’t know any other way to describe it. I hadn’t performed in 38 years, but I felt confident about these songs, and I wanted to see what the reaction was. I wanted to see what people who didn’t know me thought of them.”

The material was well received, and he found it gave him a surety of his craft that helped him overcome his former shyness.

“What really gave me the confidence is when I started writing my own songs,” Carracino said. “I believed in them. These

are my thoughts. These are my perceptions of someone I’m writing about. I didn’t have any stage fright [performing again] because I was doing my own material.”

That initial open-mic opened a door to Carracino. There he met several other singer-songwriters. He was introduced to a whole music community, artists such as Jacob Furr, Jeff Gibbons, Hillary Tibbs, and Steve Obermiller, who all now consider Carracino a peer. His new contemporaries urged him to record the moving story-songs they saw him perform. Songs like “Margaret,” written about a resident in a rest home, or “Was My Son Not Enough” about the brutal mass shooting in Maine, or “The Damage Done,” a dark tale of addiction and the loss suffered by those affected by it.

Another encounter within the musical community led to Carracino finding an opportunity to actually document his songs for the first time. After attending the grand opening of Blackstone Recording Studios, new homebase for engineer Mark Randall (Eric Osbourne, Cameron Smith), Carracino received a voucher for half-off an afternoon recording session, which he eagerly cashed in. With Randall at the helm, Carracino tracked 13 of Dream’s 15 songs in February of last year, finishing the other two a couple months later.

As it always has with Carracino, it comes back to the people he’s met along the way.

“I owe a lot to many of the musicians I’ve met along the way over the last couple of years,” he said. “So many of them encouraged me to record these songs and get them out there, and I’m really pleased that I did.” l

SAT 5/25 THE PURPLE REIGN SCHOLARSHIP EVENT

WED 5/29 TOM’S ELTON TRIBUTE

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SAT 5/25 I LOVE YOU PAINT TRAILS, LOOMA & MORE!

Better late than never, singer-songwriter Theo Carracino releases his first album after 40 years away from music.

Photo by Laurie L. Ward

CLASSIFIEDS

EMPLOYMENT

Cowtown Materials, Inc. has an opening for a Project Engineer in Fort Worth, TX. Duties include the following: Identify potential jobs and customers, build a relatsh, and close bids. Review specf. to ensure mgmt is informed of market cond. and means to better our door div. Prep. all submittals and shop drawings for apprv. Perf. site visits as needed to oversee work and adv. field personnel Investig. damages, accidents or loss of materials and work with insurance and vendors to reverse sched. delays. Prepare proposal by conducting take-offs, perf. cost est. in accurately and timely manner. Prepare budg. and feasibility est. for pre-constrc. processes. Manage closed proj. work from order through instll. Act as a liaison between all parties. 10% Domestic travel req. (incld. site visits 1-2 days). Min. Req.: Bach.’s degree or foreign equiv., in Eng., Constr. Mgmt., or related field and 18 months of exp. in a Proj. Mgmt. or Estimating occupation. Exp. must include: 1.5 yrs of exp. with building and constr. ind. and biz. practices; with drawings, specif., and blueprint plans; with CAD and Revit Sftwr. And 1 yr. of exp. in Sales and Marketing within building ind.; with Cost Estimation; with Quantity Take-off; with Bluebeam - Quantity Take-off Sftwr or similar sftwr; with On-Screen Takeoff (OST) – Quantity Take-off Sftwr; and with Dodge Data, ISqft, Construct Connect - Bidding Platforms. Apply at https://cowtownmaterials.com/s/content/career-opportunities or email resume to Hilarion Van Sickle at Hilarion.vansickle@gms.com.

Texas Commission on environmenTal QualiTy

Consolidated Notice of Receipt of Application and Intent to Obtain Permit and Notice of Application and Preliminary Decision

Air Quality Standard Permit for Concrete Batch Plants Proposed Registration No. 176043

Application. Estrada Concrete Company, LLC, has applied to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for an Air Quality Standard Permit, Registration No. 176043, which would authorize construction of a permanent concrete batch plant located at 9707 Jacksboro Highway, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas 76135. This application is being processed in an expedited manner, as allowed by the commission’s rules in 30 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 101, Subchapter J. AVISO DE IDIOMA ALTERNATIVO. El aviso de idioma alternativo en espanol está disponible en https://www.tceq.texas.gov/permitting/air/newsourcereview/airpermits-pendingpermitapps. 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. https://gisweb.tceq.texas.gov/LocationMapper/?marker=-97.489758,32.834181&level=13. The proposed facility will emit the following air contaminants: particulate matter including (but not limited to) aggregate, cement, road dust, and particulate matter with diameters of 10 microns or less and 2.5 microns or less.

This application was submitted to the TCEQ on April 10, 2024. The executive director has completed the administrative and technical reviews of the application and determined that the application meets all of the requirements of a standard permit authorized by 30 TAC § 116.611, which would establish the conditions under which the plant must operate. The executive director has made a preliminary decision to issue the registration because it meets all applicable rules. The application, executive director’s preliminary decision, and standard permit will be available for viewing and copying at the TCEQ central office, the TCEQ Dallas/Fort Worth regional office, and at the Fort Worth Public Library – Northwest, 6228 Crystal Lake Drive, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas 76179 beginning the first day of publication of this notice. The facility’s compliance file, if any exists, is available for public review at the TCEQ Dallas/Fort Worth Regional Office, 2309 Gravel Drive, Fort Worth, Texas. Visit www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cbp to review the standard permit.

Public Comment/Public Meeting. You may submit public comments or request a public meeting. See Contacts section. The TCEQ will consider all public comments in developing a final decision on the application. The deadline to submit public comments or meeting requests is 30 days after newspaper notice is published. Issues such as property values, noise, traffic safety, and zoning are outside of the TCEQ’s jurisdiction to consider in the permit process.

The purpose of a public meeting is to provide the opportunity to submit comments or ask questions about the application. A public meeting about the application will be held if the executive director determines that there is a significant degree of public interest in the application or if requested by a local legislator. A public meeting is not a contested case hearing. If a public meeting is held, the deadline to submit public comments is extended to the end of the public meeting.

Contested Case Hearing. You may request a contested case hearing. 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 30 days from this notice, the executive director may approve the application.

A person who may be affected by emissions of air contaminants from the facility is entitled to request a hearing. To request a hearing, a person must actually reside in a permanent residence within 440 yards of the proposed plant. 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 registration 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 which the group or association seeks to protect must be identified. You may submit your proposed adjustments to the application which would satisfy your concerns. See Contacts section.

TCEQ Action. After the deadline for public comments, the executive director will consider the comments and prepare a response to all relevant and material, or significant public comments. The executive director’s decision on the application, and any response to comments, will be mailed to all persons on the mailing list. If no timely contested case hearing requests are received, or if all hearing requests are withdrawn, the executive director may issue final approval of the application. If all timely hearing requests are not withdrawn, the executive director will not issue final approval of the permit and will forward the application and requests to the Commissioners for their consideration at a scheduled commission meeting. 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. You may ask to be placed on a mailing list to receive additional information on this specific application. See Contacts section.

Information Available Online. For details about the status of the application, visit the Commissioners’ Integrated Database (CID) at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/cid. Once you have access to the CID using the link, enter the registration number at the top of this notice.

Contacts. 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 application or the permitting process, please call the TCEQ Public Education Program toll free at 1-800-687-4040 or visit their website at www.tceq.texas.gov/goto/pep. Si desea información en Español, puede llamar al 1-800-687-4040.

Further information may also be obtained from Estrada Concrete Company, LLC, 650 Skyline Drive, Hutchins, Texas 75141-4147 or by calling Mr. Josh Butler, Principal Consultant, Elm Creek Environmental, LLC at (469) 946-8195.

Notice Issuance Date: May 7, 2024

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Companies Offering

Travel Accommodations:

According to the New York Times, the following companies have said they would cover travel expenses for employees who need abortions: Airbnb, DoorDash, JP Morgan Chase, Levi Strauss & Co, Netflix, Patagonia, Reddit, Starbucks, Tesla, and Yelp. Additionally, NowThis has listed the following companies also offering the same assistance to employees: Amazon, Apple, BuzzFeed, Citigroup, Comcast, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lyft, Mastercard, Meta, Microsoft, Paramount, Sony, Tesla, Walt Disney Co, Vox Media, and Zillow. (JMB, FWW)

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Planned Parenthood Of Greater Texas

We’re not going anywhere. We know you may be feeling a lot of things right now, but we are here with you and we will not stop fighting for YOU. See 6 ways you can join the #BansOffOurBodies fight on FB @PPGreaterTX. For more info, go to: PPGreaterTX.org

HOME RESOURCES

DIRECTV

Get DIRECTV for $64.99/mo for 12 months with CHOICE Package. Save an additional $120 over 1st year. First 3 months of HBO Max, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz and Epix included!

Directv is #1 in Customer Satisfaction (JD Power & Assoc.) Some restrictions apply. Call 1-855-966-0520.

DIRECTV Stream

Carries the Most Local MLB Games! CHOICE Package, $89.99/mo for 12 months. Stream on 20 devices in your home at once. HBO Max included for 3 mos (w/CHOICE Package or higher.) No annual contract, no hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS at 1-855-810-7635.

DISH Network

Get 190 Channels for $59.99! Blazing Fast Internet, $19.99/mo (where available). Switch and get a FREE $100 Visa Gift Card. FREE Voice Remote. FREE HD DVR. FREE Streaming on ALL Devices. Call 1-855-701-3027 today!

EARTHLINK

Highspeed Internet

Big Savings with Unlimited Data! Fiberoptic Technology up to 1gbps with customizable plan. Call 855-767-0515 today!

ERIE Metal Roofs

Replace your roof with the best looking and longest lasting material steel from Erie! Three styles and multiple colors available. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer: $500 Discount + Additional 10% Off Install (for military, health workers & first responders.) Call 1-888-778-0566.

GENERAC GENERATORS

Prepare for power outages today with a home standby generator. No money down. Low monthly payment options. Call for a FREE quote before the next power outage. 1-844-887-3143

LEAF FILTER

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever with LeafFilter, the most advanced debrisblocking gutter protection. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. Ask about 20% off entire purchase. Plus, 10% senior and military discounts available. Call 1-877-689-1687.

MIND / BODY / SPIRIT

Gateway Church Church time is the BEST time! Join us for online church each weekend. Online services start at 4 pm on Saturdays and are available to watch any time after at https://gway.ch/GatewayPeople.

Hannah in Hurst

817.590.2257

Massage Therapy for pain relief, deep relaxation, and better sleep. Professional office in Mid-Cities for over 25 years. “I am accepting new clients now and happy to return your call.” -Hannah, MT#4797.

MUSIC XCHANGE

Music Junkie Studios

1617 Park Place #106, FWTX

www.MusicJunkieStudios.com

We offer lessons on voice, piano, guitar, bass, ukulele, violin, viola, drums, recording, and music for littles!

EMP STUDIOS

Musician-owned rehearsal and recording studios in Arlington and Fort Worth. Onsite screenprinting, merchandising services, recording, mixing, and mastering. For more info, visit: EMPStudiosTX.com

PET SERVICES

FREE SPAY/NEUTER

Texas Coalition for Animal Protection has clinics near you. Schedule an appointment today. TexasForThem.org

PET INSURANCE

Are you a pet owner? Do you want to get up to 100% back on Vet Bills? Physicians Mutual Insurance Company has pet coverage that can help. Call or go online for a FREE quote today: InsureBarkMeow.com/FortWrth 1-833-662-1568

PUBLIC NOTICES

TDLR Complaints

Any Texans who may be concerned that an unlicensed massage business may be in operation near them, or believe nail salon employees may be human trafficking victims, may now report those concerns directly to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) by emailing ReportHT@TDLR.Texas.gov.

SUBMISSIONS

We’d Like To Hear From You!

Do you have thoughts and feelings, or questions, comments or concerns about something you read in the Weekly? Please email Question@fwweekly.com. Do you have an upcoming event? For potential coverage in Night & Day, Big Ticket, Ate Day8 A Week, or CrosstownSounds, email the details to Marketing@fwweekly.com

ADVERTISE HERE

Email stacey@fwweekly.com today!

Best Time For Massage? Now! Hannah in Hurst, professional location, no outcalls. (MT#4797) 817-590-2257

COWTOWN ROVER

Are You Road-Trip Ready?

With our handy pick-up and drop-off services, having your car checked out could not be easier. Get ready for summertime. Call today!

3958 Vickery | 817.731.3223 www.CowtownRover.com

DENTAL INSURANCE

Get coverage from Physicians Mutual Insurance for 350+ procedures. Real dental insurance, NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call 1-888-361-7095 or go online now for a FREE Dental Info Kit. Dental50plus.com/fortworth #6258. (MB)

ELIMINATE GUTTER CLEANING

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule a FREE LeafFilter estimate today. 20% off Entire Purchase. Plus 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-877-689-1687 today! (MB)

The Gas Pipe, The GAS PIPE, THE GAS PIPE, your Peace Love & Smoke Headquarters since 4/20/1970! SCORE a FREE GIFT on YOUR Birthday, FREE Scale Tuning and Lighter Refills on GAS PIPE goods, FREE Layaway, and all the safe, helpful service you expect from a 51 Years Young Joint. Plus, SCORE A FREE CBD HOLIDAZE GIFT With-A-Buy thru 12/31! Be Safe, Party Clean, Keep On Truckin’. More at thegaspipe.net

HAVE YOUR DREAM BATHROOM!

You can have the bathroom of your dreams for as little as $149/month! BCI Bath & Shower has many options available. Quality materials & professional installation. Senior & Military Discounts Available. Limited Time Offer: FREE virtual in-home consultation now and SAVE 15%! (MB)

Call BCI Today! 1-866-913-0581

HISTORIC RIDGLEA THEATER

THE RIDGLEA is three great venues within one historic Fort Worth landmark. RIDGLEA THEATER has been restored to its authentic allure, recovering unique Spanish-Mediterranean elements. It is ideal for large audiences and special events. RIDGLEA ROOM and RIDGLEA LOUNGE have been making some of their own history, as connected adjuncts to RIDGLEA THEATER, or hosting their own smaller shows and gatherings. More at theRidglea.com

I BUY OLDER CARS 1940-1985

DEAN 817-614-0614

LEGAL NOTICE

CAUSE NO. 2024-PR01210-2

IN THE ESTATE OF § IN THE PROBATE COURT

RENETTA MORRELLI, a/k/a

RENETTA LOUISE MORRELLI, NUMBER TWO OF DECEASED TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Notice is hereby given that original Letters Testamentary for the ESTATE OF RENETTA MORRELLI, a/k/a

RENETTA LOUISE MORRELLI, DECEASED were issued on May 13, 2024 in Cause No. 2024-PR01210-2, pending in the Probate Court Number Two of Tarrant County, Texas, to: DANIEL SMERALDO, III, as Independent Executor. All persons having claims against this Estate which is currently being administered are required to present the claims to the undersigned within the time and in the manner prescribed by law to:The Estate of RENETTA MORRELLI, a/k/a RENETTA LOUISE MORRELLI

c/o Farren Sheehan

State Bar No. 24000751

Sheehan Law, PLLC 1601 E. Pfennig Lane

Pflugerville, Texas 78660

Attorney for Independent Executor

DATED this 13th day of May, 2024.

LEGAL NOTICE

Notice to Creditors

Notice is given that original Letters Testamentary for the Estate of Enedina Sanchez were issued on May 13, 2024, in docket number 2024-PR00757-2, pending in the Statutory Probate Court Number Two of Tarrant County, Texas, to Veronica Samples. All persons having claims against the estate, which is presently being administered, are required to submit them, within the time and manner prescribed by law, and before the estate is closed, addressed as follows:

Representative

Estate of Enedina Sanchez

c/o Matthew Hancock

1908 Sutter Street Fort Worth TX 76107

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Property sale to satisfy landlord’s lien. Sale to be held at C & S Storage at 305 Smith Street, Mansfield TX 76063 on June 4th at 12:00 PM. Cleanup deposit is required. Seller reserves the right to withdraw the property at any time before the sale. Unit items sold as-is to highest bidder. Property includes the contents of spaces of the following tenants – Ronnie Dean unit 174 & 177, Stanley Jacob unit 228, Stephen Miller unit 205, Lee Ranson unit 172 and Earl Whitaker unit 151.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE

Property sale to satisfy landlord’s lien. Sale to be held at Mansfield Boat and RV at 1945 FM 157, Mansfield TX 76063 on June 4th at 12:00 PM. Cleanup deposit is required. Seller reserves the right to withdraw the property at any time before the sale. Unit items sold as-is to highest bidder. Property includes the contents of spaces of the following tenants – Clint Flinner units D18, C24, C25, Eric Johnson B26, ,Adrianne Osmus C48, Lee Ranson A25 and C53, Jarmon Winters D41.

OFFERING PAINTING & HANDYMAN SERVICES in Tarrant and Parker Counties. Honest, dependable work at a fair price! Call or Text for a FREE estimate. Chris 817-495-3017

SUMMERTIME 2024

Our annual Summer Edition is next week! Need space?

Email Marketing@fwweekly.com today.