8 December 28, 2023 - January 3, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Educate Yourself Sex education has gotten a facelift in Texas in recent years, but advocates say it’s still not in great shape. The standards for sex educa- tion in Texas today don’t include lessons about consent or language inclusive to LG- BTQ+ students, which advocates have long pushed for. Other than abstinence, lessons about contraception aren’t in the state stan- dards either. If that wasn’t bad enough, the state also requires parents to opt in for les- sons about abuse prevention. Luckily, advo- cates have successfully pushed for sex education to be required in middle schools. But they say more work needs to be done to expand sex ed in Texas. Overdose City At the beginning of the year, the city of Dal- las partnered with Fort Worth’s Recovery Resource Council in an effort to tackle opi- oid abuse in the area. Dallas’ Opioid Re- sponse Team has responded to thousands of life-saving calls since 2021. They often show up to the scene of an overdose ready to ad- minister a drug called Narcan, which can block the effects of opioids on the brain. But administering Narcan is only the first step in this life-saving process. Over the next 24–72 hours following an opioid overdose, the Opi- oid Response Team attempts to contact the person they saved and connect them with treatment. It may not work every time, but it’s Dallas’ stab at addressing a rising num- ber of opioid overdoses in the city. A Mind on Fire Since 2018, four Dallas firefighters have died by suicide and two others have attempted suicide. That’s partly why Dallas-Fire Res- cue is working to address the mental health of its rank and file with a program started a little over a year ago. The mental health of firefighters is a focus across the country. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation es- timates that at least 100 firefighters take their own lives every year. The mental health wellness program at DFR uses tactics like counseling, intervention, therapy and other treatment programs. As part of the ef- fort, a peer support group of 56 trained peo- ple is on hand to consult firefighters through traumatic and stressful situations. ▼ 2023 REVIEW SERIAL KILLERS, AIRBNBS AND FREEZING WEATHER THE MOST-READ OBSERVER NEWS OF 2023. BY KELLY DEARMORE W e gotta say: Dallas Observer read- ers never let us down. Over the course of 2023, you clicked onto our news story links with a fervor that is im- possible to not be honored by. You’re also a wild bunch with varied interests, judging by the list of our most-read news stories of the year. Readers in 2023 certainly paid atten- tion to the stories our reporters posted that looked into some of the most pressing issues facing not only Dallasites and Texans, but everyone, wherever they live. Reports connected to the humanitarian crisis at the Texas-Mexico border, develop- ments in abortion law, City Hall happen- ings, LGBTQ issues, the Ken Paxton impeachment, gun violence and homeless- ness were all pretty regular presences on this site. But this year, our news readers re- ally gravitated to the stories we shared that impacted their neighbors and the daily life of those who live and work in North Texas. Here are the most-read Dallas Observer news stories for 2023. 5. What’s Next, Now That Dallas Kicked Most Short- Term Rentals to the Curb? The saga that’s lasted for more than three years reached a dramatic turning point in June when Dallas City Council voted to ban short- term rental (STR) properties, such as the ones you would find on Airbnb and VRBO, from single-family residential neighborhoods. We say turning point, because it has since been made clear that it was anything but a conclu- sion. An alliance of local STR owners sued the city in October, and in December a judge halted the new Dallas zoning regulations that would have outlawed the properties. The case is now set for a June trial. 4. Halloween Flirts With Freezing Temps, But the Real Horror Starts Next Week If there’s one thing North Texans like talking about more than the Dallas Cowboys, it’s the weather. It’s not the sexiest topic in the world, but it still catches a lot of eyeballs. By the time October rolled around in Dallas, we had yet to fully recover from the historically, and smoth- ering, hot summer temps, so a story about getting tricked by some cold weather before things would warm back up was scary enough to attract plenty of readers. 3. Why Is ‘Serial Killer Dallas 2023’ Trending on Google? Our reporter, Simone Carter, noticed some- thing odd last May when conducting a bit of online research. People in Dallas were furi- ously using Google to get information on a se- rial killer in Dallas. We won’t spoil the article for you if you haven’t read it yet, but Carter went down the rabbit hole for you and wrote about what she found. 2. Fatal Perfection Since things live online forever, this sort of event is bound to happen from time to time. A 1999 article looked at the suicide of local attorney Don Crowder. There’s a good chance that name might not have been fa- miliar to you before the past year or so, but it is now. Crowder represented accused ax murderer Candy Montgomery in her 1980 murder trial in Collin County. Montgomery was acquitted, and more than 40 years later, a pair of high-profile, big-budget Hollywood mini-series portrayed the events of the kill- ing and the trial (Candy on Hulu, starring Jessica Alba, followed by HBO Max’s Love and Death, starring Elizabeth Olsen).\ 1. Sorry, Frisco. Dallas Mayor Wants Your New Universal Studios Theme Park in Hensley Field. When news broke that Universal Studios had chosen the bustling ‘burb of Frisco for a future theme park, people in North Texas were understandably intrigued. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, the man who would love to recruit pro sports teams from other cities to Dallas, decided he would also make public his attempt to poach the new theme park from our neighbor to the north. The lo- cal land he was offering up? A former mili- tary base with contaminated ground. ▼ LOVE LETTERS HATERS GONNA HATE THE OBSERVER’S MEAN READER EMAILS OF 2023. BY SIMONE CARTER H ere at the Observer, we love our read- ers: Y’all keep us afloat and provide solid feedback and tips. Without you, we wouldn’t have jobs. Without you, our work would lack meaning. Every once in a while, though, our inbox is tainted by a certifiable #hater: missives that are often replete with all-caps and ex- clamation points. Look, we’re by no means saying that we think all of our stories are be- yond reproach. It’s just that some folks seem to have missed the memo that the Observer is gonna Observer. Because we can. We’re going to do our best to hold elected leaders accountable. We’re going to sound the alarm when Texas is struck by yet an- other concerning craze, be it campaigns to criminalize drag; to rid education of diver- sity, equity and inclusion programs; or to ban mountains of children’s books from schools. Maybe we’re just masochists (actually, we definitely are: We’re writers), but as we kiss 2023 goodbye, we wanted to reflect on some of the angrier notes that we’ve re- ceived here in the Observer’s news section. Perhaps a few of you will even feel some schadenfreude. You’re welcome. Here’s a sample of some of this year’s most curmudgeonly reader emails. NAACP, LULAC Issue Travel Advisories Plenty of Texans head for the Florida beaches when going on holiday. One condo rental resort in Destin even noted that more than 10% of its guests call the Lone Star State home. But ahead of Memorial Day this year, two prominent civil rights groups warned travel- ers of color against vacationing in Florida. The National Association for the Advance- ment of Colored People (NAACP) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) cited the Sunshine State’s various anti-diversity and anti-immigrant efforts. Well, one reader who calls herself “Kar- en4dfw” had a thing or two to say about this news. “NAACP is gaslighting,” she wrote the Observer in late May. “There are more black business owners in Florida than in any other state because Florida is open for business. Please do some more research before jump- ing to conclusions set by an agenda to divide this Country.” Just to be clear, we’re talking about Flor- ida: a state where schools are required to teach that slavery personally benefited Black people because they “developed skills.” What a Drag (This next ticked-off email* may have been written in response to any of these next three stories. We aren’t exactly sure. They didn’t specify. The reader sent their note on May 18; this first story was published on that day, and the other two came out on May 16.) The first story was about how, during the regular legislative session, Republicans pro- posed Senate Bill 12 as a way to ban drag per- formances in the presence of minors. But at some point, lawmakers decided to strip the bill of references to drag while still targeting the slightly more vague term “sexually ori- ented performances.” The second was about a Mother’s Day message from Collin County Conservative Republicans shared on Face- book: “Happy Mother’s Day to all of the women who actually gave birth. And the women who are mothers … This is not a day for girly men.” Critics decried the post as spreading anti-trans hate on a holiday meant to help celebrate love. Finally, remember the Great Bud Light Cancellation of 2023? Photo-illustration by Sarah Schumacher What will 2024 do to short term rentals? Unfair Park from p6 >> p10
