6 December 5 - 11, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Month XX–Month XX, 2014 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | overturned, and I signed a law that bans abortions in Texas. All of you are life savers, and thousands of newborn babies are the result of your heroic efforts.” The Addictive Properties of Abortion Pills Schedule IV drugs are substances accepted for medical use that have the potential for abuse. Examples of other drugs in the classification are heavily abused anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium. Qualifying the drugs as Schedule IV substances is a stretch, according to doctors, who argue the drugs have zero risk of abuse. “It’s not something that you would normally expect to be in a locked up cabinet as a schedule controlled substance because it doesn’t have potential for abuse,” said Dr. Todd Ivey, a practicing OB-GYN in Dallas. Per DEA regulations, all Schedule IV drugs are to be kept under lock and key. The added steps to administer the drugs pose huge threats to women in medical emergencies. “Not having it readily available in a situation where seconds matter, not just minutes but seconds, is critically important,” said Ivey. The Real Hazards Reclassifying the drugs does little to reduce doctors’ ability to prescribe the medication in the case of elective abortions. Experts claim the real victims of the bill are women experiencing life-threatening symptoms associated with failed pregnancies. Misoprostol is frequently stocked on obstetric carts in the event of a life-threatening obstetric hemorrhage. It is a frontline defense in the face of emergency. “More critically, by scheduling mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances, legislators are creating barriers for clinicians in emergency situations in which a patient’s life or health could be at risk,” said ACOG’s statement. Ivey explained that women in rural communities are the most at risk. Smaller hospitals with lesser equipped units will feel the heaviest impact of this change. A particular point of concern is that birthing centers that lack doctors or an operating pharmacy will have no access to the lifesaving drugs. “We really want to do the right thing by women,” said Ivey. “We want to practice within the confines of the law.” Rep. Curry told the Texas Tribune that the intent of the bill is to eliminate the potential for minors to receive medical abortions, describing the piece of legislation as a “necessary evil.” But doctors have emphasized the medical necessity of the pills. “These things get introduced because they’re looking at it through a narrow lens,” said Ivey. “There’s a lack of understanding at just how widely appreciated this medication actually is.” The bill was pre-filed and will go to vote in the 89th legislative session, which begins Jan. 14 and runs through June 2. If approved, abortion-inducing drugs would become heavily monitored beginning Sept. 1, 2025. “It’s all very concerning,” said Ivey. “I hope Representative Curry thinks about this, and understands, and will listen to us.” ▼ TRAVEL WANNA GETAWAY? TOO BAD. LOVE FIELD AMONG MOST UNRELIABLE FOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL. BY ALYSSA FIELDS P lanning to travel this holiday season? You may want to consider driving. Dallas Love Field is the 11th-worst airport for holiday travel in the country, according to a report from LocalInsider.com. The study used flight departure data from the 50 largest airports over heavy travel periods from November 2023 to January 2024. Last Thanksgiving there were 457 flights affected from Nov. 17 to Nov. 28. Christmas travel received a heavier impact, with 1,025 flights delayed or canceled. A grand total of 1,482 flights and countless angry travelers were hit by delays and cancellations in 2023. For those flying out of Love there is almost a one in four chance, or 21.3% for you statisticians, of flight delays or cancellation. A similarity among the most delayed airports is their status as secondary airports. A majority of the top 10 do not fly internationally. Dallas Love Field almost exclusively offers Southwest Airlines flights, and their nearby headquarters can easily be seen as passengers ascend into the Dallas skies. “They typically offer a limited number of airlines or low cost carriers,” said Collin Czarnecki, a spokesperson for LocalInsider. com. “Primarily throughout the year they offer lower costs for travelers but they can get particularly busy during the holidays.” At Dallas Love Field, 40% of flights were delayed or cancelled in 2022. The good news is that trends show a decline in overall flight delays and cancellations over the years. Surprisingly, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport ranks low on the list, a shock to anyone who has flown out of the five-terminal labyrinth. Evidently, what it lacks in ease of navigation, it makes up for in departure reliability. In 2022, 28% of flights were delayed or canceled during the holiday season at DFW International. In 2023, the number dropped to 15.7%. “There was a real return to normalcy for travel after the pandemic,” said Czarnecki. “It’s a slight improvement. That’s actually a similar story across the board for most airports across the country.” Florida hosts four of the airports with the most delays. If you must fly and you’re willing to drive a little south, flights out of George Bush Intercontinental Houston have an 85.5% on- time rate, ranking third on the list of most reliable airports. Flights can be impacted by overbooking, crowded terminals, icy runways, or, if you’re in Dallas, the occasional stray bullet. On Nov. 15, after a bullet struck a plane just prior to takeoff at Dallas Love Field, a flight to Indianapolis was delayed by two hours. No one was harmed in the shooting. No further information on the incident has been released. ▼ LIFESTYLE NORTH OF HOUSTON, LOWER ON THE LIST DALLAS SURGES IN CURRENT RANKING OF BEST CITIES ON EARTH. BY KELLY DEARMORE T here are more than 10,000 cities in the world, and new report says that Dallas is in the top 1%. Conducted annually by Resonance Consultancy, the Best Cities list has Dallas at No. 55 out of the world’s top urban economies. The recent population boom and continued migration of major corporations to North Texas played a large role in keeping Dallas in such a lofty place in this poll. Making this placement even more impressive is that in last year’s study, Dallas was No. 73. “From 2021 to 2022, Dallas experienced the largest population increase of any U.S. metro area, with a net increase of more than 170,000 people, according to the Census Bureau,” the report noted. “Home to more than 10,000 corporate headquarters — the largest concentration in the U.S. — the city ranks #33 globally for Fortune 500 companies. Not surprisingly, Dallas also ranks highly for connectivity — with Dallas Fort Worth International Airport the third- busiest on earth ... DFW saw almost 82 million passengers in 2023, and its ambitious expansion plans include a new US$3-billion Terminal C.” The list was created by calculating a “combination of core statistics from more than 400 global cities and resident and visitor perception indicators like user-generated ratings and reviews.” The methodology also factored in stats related to “livability, lovability and prosperity.” Curious about the “lovability” category? We were too. Turns out that fun stuff including options for nightlife, shopping, culture, restaurants and attractions help create a city’s lovability in the eyes of those who compiled the list. Dallas has popped up in some other lofty spots in other lists lately, including on one that shows how Dallas is a pretty good spot for middle-class homeowners. What is a prestigious city without world- class facilities, a diverse population and more culture than you can handle on a given weekend? Big D comes through in all of those areas, too. “The city’s #19 Convention Center ranking will improve when a new US$3-billion, 2.5-million-square-foot facility is built next to the current one in 2028. The same year should see the trenching of this car-worshipping city’s elevated Interstate 345 that cut off Black neighborhoods in the early 1970s,” the report reads. “But Dallas is big on fun and culture, too. This is the home of America’s sixth-largest LGBTQIA+ community. And on 20 square blocks of mixed-use space, institutions like the Dallas Museum of Art and Crow Museum of Asian Art join theaters and symphony and opera venues to power the city’s #46 Culture ranking.” London landed the top spot this year, followed by New York and Paris. Closer to home, Houston (No. 40) and Austin (No. 53) both finished higher on the list than Dallas, for whatever that’s worth. But, hey, Fort Worth, nor San Antonio are to be found in the Top 100, so take that! ▼ WILDLIFE COYOTES, MOUNTAIN LIONS, GUNS, OH MY RECENT EVENTS PROVE DALLAS IS WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. BY EMMA RUBY As quickly as the North Dallas mountain lion sightings came, they appear to have stopped. It’s been several weeks since anyone has reported seeing the elusive big cat — which was spotted in Frisco, Plano and Lake Dallas in early November. But in true Dallas fashion, another bizarre animal tale has stepped up to take center stage. In the East Dallas neighborhood of Lochwood, three coyotes have been found dead since August, two from gunshot wounds, a spokesperson for Dallas Animal Services told the Observer. “Necropsies were performed on the first and third coyotes [that were found], confirming they were shot. The second coyote’s cause of death is undetermined due to premature disposal,” Dallas Animal Services said. “There are no other Unfair Park from p4 Kelly Dearmore Love Field and Southwest Airlines may not get you home for the holidays in time.
