6 August 31 - september 6, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents wouldn’t be here right now,” Watkins said. “So, Narcan serves even more of a purpose now. Fentanyl presents a more immediate harm than ever before, and there’s a lot of people that don’t understand and think Narcan is just going to let users use more. I’m like, ‘No, it’s going to save lives.’” The ORT sometimes comes into con- tact with a family member or someone else who might be living at the same ad- dress as the overdose patient they’re try- ing to meet. Tinney says it can be just as helpful, if not more so, to ensure those people are educated on how to administer Narcan and the signs to watch for if they suspect someone close to them is experi- encing an overdose. It’s not uncommon for those related to an opioid addict to feel helpless. The ORT recently encountered some parents who had felt helpless as they watched paramed- ics administer eight doses of Narcan to their college-aged daughter in their home just a day earlier. The daughter was revived by the medicine after her father had tried to help her using CPR before the paramed- ics had arrived. The ORT members found the young client ready to make a change af- ter years of opioid abuse. She wasn’t quite ready to enter treatment immediately, but she was ready to talk more about it moving forward. As the peer specialist left the house, the mother leaned in and said, “Please save my daughter.” As crucial as the moment a paramedic helps revive an opioid overdose victim is, it’s the mission of the peer specialists and paramedics of the opioid response team to see beyond that life-and-death moment. The user, once they are picked up off the sidewalk or helped off a bedroom floor, has to take another step, wake up for an- other day and, perhaps, one day live a healthy life. The ORT’s goal is to help them do those things. “We approach every single client with a guarantee of unconditional acceptance and respect,” Tinney said. “At the end of the day, they’re a human being, they’re somebody’s mother, father, child, or sib- ling. Somebody cares about that person. We encounter individuals that have lost that sense of self-value. They’ve lost that because of the struggles they’ve been through and the trauma they’ve experi- enced. It’s really important for us to help them reestablish that and let them know we value their life.” ▼ TEXAS POLITICS PAXTON’S PROBLEMS CHURCH’S CHICKEN AND A MISTRESS: AG’S TRIAL IS NIGH. BY KELLY DEARMORE W e’re getting closer to the begin- ning of suspended Texas Attor- ney General Ken Paxton’s Senate impeachment trial. Depending on whether your lust for juicy drama is insa- tiable or not, the trial’s date may be a sad sign that the introduction of many wild, sordid details will soon slow, or it’s a wel- come relief from the soap opera that has played out since before Memorial Day. Regardless of how you feel about it, the Paxton news wagon continues to pick up speed as it barrels ahead toward Sept. 5, when his trial is scheduled to begin. On Aug. 17, a trove of documents related to the im- peachment was released by the Senate. With that colorful collection of docs, we were pro- vided a glimpse into Paxton’s life and deal- ings he certainly did not want us to have. Over the course of more than 3,700 pages, the tight nature of Paxton’s relation- ship with real estate investor and friend Nate Paul was made more clear. One of the more notable exhibits released by the Senate contains emails showing how Paul, a Paxton campaign donor, and his lawyer had a spe- cial prosecutor approved by the AG to look into some of Paul’s business rivals and even some law enforcement officials who had raided Paul’s home. And speaking of relationships that are getting Paxton into hot water, The Texas Tri- bune highlighted another exhibit in the col- lection that sheds light on Paxton’s marriage: “Trip records obtained from Uber show- ing an account Paul created under the alias ‘Dave P,’ which Paxton used to travel to the home of Paul and the apartment of the woman with whom the attorney general was allegedly having an extramarital affair. Paxton is married to state Sen. Angela Pax- ton, R-McKinney.” Texas Monthly recapped its own high- lights of the impeachment document dump. When discussing Paxton’s alleged affair and some of his high-tone tastes, the magazine noted, “But despite the appeal of the high life, Paxton also seems to have a thing for fast food, stopping at or holding meetings at Church’s fried chicken, Dunkin’, and Panera Bread.” As intriguing as all that is, that was a few days ago. If life has come at Paxton fast in re- cent months, newsy tidbits from his im- pending trial come at us even faster. Although we won’t know who has been called as witnesses until the trial is under- way, there are some pretty safe bets as to who was on the list submitted to the Senate last week. The Dallas Morning News identi- fied 13 individuals it says stand the greatest chances of being called to testify. Included in the DMN’s guesses are whistleblowing staffers, Nate Paul and Laura Olson, the woman with whom Paxton is accused of having an affair. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who will preside over the impeachment proceedings, recently announced he was appointing Marc Brown as his adviser for the trial. But Brown, a for- mer judge, declined the appointment almost immediately. As Fox 4 reported, “In a letter, he [Brown] said he recalled that he and wife donated to Eva Guzman’s campaign in 2021. At the time, Guzman was running for attor- ney general against Paxton.” There may not be an attorney in Texas who loves the spotlight more than the man Paxton hired as his lawyer, Tony Buzbee. And because of that it’s not a shock to learn that the controversial Houston lightning rod already has his sights set on a new, post-im- peachment role. The Houston Chronicle re- ported that Buzbee, who unsuccessfully ran for Houston mayor in 2019, will run for the city’s District G seat. Buzbee has also unsuccessfully at- tempted to have 19 of the 20 articles of im- peachment against Paxton dismissed. The suspended attorney general has been relatively quiet, but he’s not shy about letting his social media posts do the talking for him. And he’s also not hiding his dis- taste for the Republicans he feels are re- sponsible for setting him on his current path to impeachment, including Dade Phelan, the Texas speaker of the House. Phelan and Paxton had a highly public bat- tle during the week leading up to his May suspension. Paxton demanded that the speaker step down after video of Phelan ap- pearing to slur his words on the House floor became public. On Aug. 20 on X (formerly Twitter), Pax- ton reposted a video from conservative pod- caster Grant Stinchfield saying, “Did you know that Republicans in Texas are under attack by fellow, so-called Republicans?” Paxton is later featured in the clip adding “the most hated people in the whole House are conservative Republicans.” In that same post, Paxton included the hashtag #DrunkDade. ▼ WEATHER HEAT. SO HOT RIGHT NOW. IS SUMMER 2023 THE HOTTEST OF ALL TIME? BY SIMONE CARTER L ooking at Dallas’ 10-day forecast, with its unrelenting streak of triple-digit temperatures, would likely inspire awe in Beelzebub himself. To many North Texans, it feels like the hottest summer ever. Yet somehow, some way, it isn’t. Certain daily high-temperature records have been broken here and there this sum- mer, said Monique Sellers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. Although it isn’t exactly 1980 hot, summer 2023 might seem especially brutal to some people because of high heat indices or the general lack of relief. “When you start to get these long stretches of heat, we’re not really getting a break from it,” she said. “So, not only are we tired of talking about it, we’re tired of deal- ing with it.” No kidding. Look: Texas summers have always been toasty, but this one seems to be hitting a little differently for many folks. Just look at the county’s recent rise in heat-related illnesses and the bevy of colorful anecdotal accounts from social media users. One commenter on a Dallas-related Red- dit page pointed out that even though the temperatures aren’t technically the all-time worst, “there is something distinctly misera- ble about this year” that they can’t ignore. Many North Texans on X (formerly known as Twitter), meanwhile, have noted that al- though last summer was also way too hot, this year feels far more “oppressive.” NWS Fort Worth tweeted an infographic on Sunday to help squelch the hottest-sum- mer-ever narrative. “It’s hard to quantify the hottest summer ever, but these metrics give an idea of inten- sity, longevity, and average,” the graphic reads. “So far 2023 doesn’t quite stack up to 1980 and 2011.” The highest temperature recorded in the region, a whopping 113 degrees, touched down in 1980. This year’s high so far has been 109, occurring three times in recent days. But the weather service’s graphic con- tends that we could potentially outpace 1980 in one regard: days at or above 105 degrees. As of last week, Dallas-Fort Worth has claimed 10th place in the total number of 100-degree days, Sellers said. And we’re ex- pected to continue climbing the ranks as the week progresses. On top of that, this summer hasn’t seen much in the way of rain, Sellers said. “We’re dealing with fires, you know; it’s a compounding issue,” she continued. “And unfortunately, with just not much relief in the forecast, it’s kind of hard to be optimistic about it.” WFAA’s weather whiz Pete Delkus tweeted on Aug. 21 that another record- high temp was expected that afternoon, with Fort Worth expected to reach as high as 107 degrees and Dallas and Denton pushing 106. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate impeachment trial begins Sept. 5. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
