Five stories that have North Texas talking: chili vs. barbecue, meet Denton's "Sriracha Savior," a jury awards $500,000 to a prominent Dallas arts collector, and more:
A writer for Texas Monthly is on a campaign to switch the state鈥檚 official dish from chili to barbecue. Paul Burka . In the late 1970s, the state Legislature, 鈥渋n a moment of collective insanity, had voted to declare chili the official state dish,鈥� Burka wrote. 鈥淭his was a travesty, akin to naming catfish the official state seafood.鈥� He says that times have changed, and that if a vote were held today, barbecue 鈥渨ould prevail in a landslide.鈥� 鈥淲hat civilized Texan is not familiar with the fine brisket at Snow鈥檚 BBQ, or at Franklin Barbecue, or at Pecan Lodge?鈥� Burka suggests that State Rep. Charlie Geren, the Fort Worth Republican who owns a barbecue joint, should lead the change. But in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, . 鈥淔ellow Texans, our way of life is under attack,鈥� Kennedy wrote. Should Texans 鈥渞eally give up on chili, which has warmed cowboys and spurred digestion for 150 years?鈥� He says that during the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, cowboys don鈥檛 line up for barbecue; instead, they devour chili. The first grocery chili powder was packed and sold in Fort Worth in the 1890s.
- Jury awards Dallas art collector $500,000: A U.S. District Court jury on Friday awarded $500,000 to Marguerite Hoffman, a prominent Dallas art collector, over the sale of a Mark Rothko painting. It鈥檚 the latest twist in a lengthy fight between Hoffman and David Martinez, a Mexican financier who bought from her an untitled 8-foot-tall 1961 painting by Rothko that features two red rectangles. Later, the painting was sold at auction by Sotheby鈥檚 for $31 million. for failing to keep the sale secret. By selling the painting at auction, the confidential sale became public, Hoffman says. that a Hoffman attorney had suggested she get during closing arguments. (Hoffman serves on the board of Public Radio International, which is a supplier of programming to public radio stations.) Hoffman told the newspaper she had earned a 鈥渕oral, ethical, spiritual鈥� victory. Martinez was a defendant, as were L&M Arts and Studio Capital. Martinez lawyer Gordon Shapiro declared: 鈥淔rom my perspective, she got a lump of coal for Christmas.鈥�
- Denton鈥檚 鈥淪riracha Savior鈥� earns publicity: In October, Denton City Council member Kevin Roden invited the California-based hot sauce company that makes the popular Sriracha (ser-AH-chah) sauce, to relocate to Denton to avoid litigation. (The company has faced complaints at a facility in California 鈥� people have been concerned about a strong odor coming from the plant.) , dubbing him the 鈥淪riracha savior.鈥� Roden says the company hasn鈥檛 contacted him. 鈥淗e鈥檚 guessing the company isn鈥檛 willing to talk during a heated legal dispute,鈥� the magazine reports. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 been a side effect to the campaign. Roden has been fielding inquiries from investors across the nation who want to learn more about Denton.鈥�
- NPR profiles Richardson teacher and his groovy sweater: Remember Dale Irby? The Richardson gym teacher wore the same polyester shirt with large lapels in his school picture every year for 40 years. NPR caught up with Irby Irby acknowledges that the shirt got tight through the years 鈥� he couldn鈥檛 button the bottom two buttons. He might even be buried in the duds many years from now, he told NPR. Irby, who retired recently, had this message for former students: 鈥淚 always taught them to be fair,鈥� he told NPR. 鈥淚 only had four rules in the gym and the last one was, you know, be a good sport and enjoy the rules of the game and, you know, sometimes life doesn't seem fair, but I told them, you know, in some fables, the tortoise actually wins the race.鈥�
- Fort Worth Weekly decided to compile a list of its . No. 3: 鈥淥n , marshal their clanging, snarling guitars, kitschy synths, and propulsive beats in the service of 12 quick hitters.鈥� No. 2: 鈥� are gonna rattle your bones, and that鈥檚 that. The ingredients are simple: crunchy guitars with razor wire for strings, ringing and biting like chainsaws; punchy grooves 鈥︹�� And the 奥别别办濒测鈥檚 No. 1 album: 鈥淚ce Eater鈥檚 debut album, , is a welcome chunk of . Co-written by drummer Wyatt Adams and guitarist Zachary Edwards and produced by Alex Bhore (This Will Destroy You), these eight tracks share sonic DNA 鈥撯�� atmospheric guitars, complex beats, laser-like synths 鈥撯�� but are wildly diverse in structure, keeping listeners on their toes.鈥�
