English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Fort Worth, TX

Hundreds of people gathered at Tulips FTW for a campaign rally for U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Colin Allred. Allred was joined at his rally with former state senator Wendy Davis, U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey and former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley among others.

[1/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[2/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[3/16] People cheer as U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[4/16] Former state senator Wendy Davis waves to the crowd as she takes the stage during a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[5/16] U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[6/16] Former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley speaks in support of U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[7/16] Former state senator Wendy Davis speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[8/16] State Rep. Chris Turner speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[9/16] Supporters shop for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) merchandise during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[10/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[11/16] A sign near the entrance at Tulips FTW welcomes U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) before a campaign rally, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[12/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[13/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[14/16] Dozens of supporters wait outside before a campaign rally for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[15/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) waves to the crowd as he takes the stage during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[16/16] Various merchandise for U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) is seen for sale during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

[1/16] U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a campaign rally at Tulips FTW, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Fort Worth.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

With hundreds of votes and weeks of searching for the cutest cat, there is finally a feline that can be named the most adorable in Fort Worth.

Coco, a 5-month-old Norwegian Forest cat, posed purrfectly in her pink frilly dress. That was enough to receive 48 % of the vote in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram cutest cat competition.

The runners-up were Boots, a domestic long-haired cat, and Princess, a Birman cat. They received 9% and 7%, respectively, in the final poll.

Coco was found about three months ago outside a Dairy Queen the family of Ava Atchison, who now owns the cat.

At first, she was living with Atchison’s grandmother, but then the cuteness took over.

“I love kittens and kept going over to see her, I finally convinced my mom to let me bring her home for one night, then one night turned into two nights then she finally decided we could keep her,” says Atchison.

Atchison’s aunt came up with the name, and it just sounded right.

“When we thought about it, it really just matched her personality,” she said. “I also love fashion designers, and I loved the name Coco, for Coco Chanel.”

Coco fit right into her new home with other feline friends. She has especially taken a liking to her sister Hazel, a light-colored Calico.

Atchison says Coco is a one-of-a-kind cat, and everything about her makes her special.

“When she walks with her tail up in the air she just looks so happy and her walk is very sassy,” says Atchison. “She also loves getting into the blinds and looking out the window at birds and bugs, she will sit there for hours and just love life.”

But her favorite thing to do is eat breakfast and play with Hazel, her sister.

“Every morning all the cats get wet food along with their dry food they have out all day. The moment she knows it’s breakfast time she is in the kitchen so fast.”

And after her morning eats she goes and bugs her sister, “Hazel is like her big sister so she follows Hazel around the whole house.” Atchison says they like playing with leaves from plants around the house or toys that make noises.

Though her name is Coco, she also goes by Coco Atchison, Coco Chanel, Coco-nut, or Ms. Fluffiers.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas.

Football players from a Montgomery County, Texas, high school are facing consequences handed down by the district for ”inappropriate” actions following a game.

After defeating Liberty County’s Cleveland High School 77-0 on Friday, Sept. 27, several Willis High School football players spanked their opponents with belts rather than the traditional act of shaking their hands, a now viral Facebook video shows.

See the video here. Warning: The video contains behavior and language some may find offensive.

“Different level of disrespect,” the video’s poster, Stephan Hughey, said in the caption of the video that was posted on Oct. 1.

The players were a part of a viral trend referred to as the BTA challenge, which stands for “belt to ***,” where players spank their opponents with belts instead of the sportsmanlike tradition of shaking hands following a loss, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The Cleveland Independent School District took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to comment on the video after it began circulating on social media.

“The district is aware of a video making the rounds on social media involving the Willis High School varsity football team and their inappropriate actions towards our varsity football team following last Friday night’s game,” the district said in a post on Oct. 3. “Please know that this situation has been addressed by CISD earlier this week.”

by CISD earlier this week. Superintendent McCanless has personally spoken with the Willis ISD superintendent, and official complaints have been filed with UIL and DEC. CISD does not endorse unsportsmanlike conduct and will continue to take appropriate action moving forward. (2/2)

— Cleveland ISD (@ClevelandISDTX) October 3, 2024

The Willis Independent School District also released a statement, telling KHOU it has punished the players who were involved.

“We are deeply disappointed by the unsportsmanlike conduct displayed by some of our football players following last week’s game against Cleveland. This behavior does not reflect the values of our district, and we are committed to ensuring it does not happen again. We have been in communication with the UIL and have submitted our proposed disciplinary actions for review. While we await their decision on any additional sanctions, the athletes involved have already faced consequences.

“They will be suspended for the first half of tomorrow’s game, required to complete community service, and have undergone disciplinary measures during football practice. We do not condone this behavior, and we are actively taking steps to prevent such incidents in the future. We want to express our deepest regrets to the athletes, coaches, parents, and community of Cleveland ISD.”

The Willis Wildcats play against College Park on Oct. 4.

Montgomery County is about a 40-mile drive north from Houston.

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September 24, 2024 8:11 AM

You’d be amazed at the lineage some of our most common landscape and garden plants bring to our surroundings. Knowing what they had in the “old country” can help us succeed in growing them here in Texas. Let’s take a look around the globe. It gets really fascinating.

Weeping willows. This plant’s scientific name is Salix babylonica, but it’s possible that Carl Linnaeus, the father of binomial nomenclature, was mistaken into thinking that these were the willows found along the rivers of Babylon in the Bible. Indeed, these trees are native to northern China.

Pampas grass. One might guess from its name that pampas grass is native to the Pampas regions of South America, and that would be correct. That includes Argentina, also Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. We have grown it as a very large (8 to 10 foot) perennial grass for more than 100 years here in Texas, but in parts of the world it is banned because of its invasive behavior. Its dry foliage and plumes can also become a fire hazard. The thick clumps harbor rats and other rodents, and its leaves are razor-sharp.

Crape myrtles. There’s another misnomer in the species name here. Lagerstroemia indica would suggest that the oldest species we have grown in our gardens was found originally in India, but instead it is native to China. The species name should have been “sinensis” to indicate China. Another more recently cultivated species, L. fauriei, is from Japan. It was used in the extensive breeding work of Dr. Don Egolf of the U.S. National Arboretum in the 1960s-90s and was the parent of most of the cultivars bearing Indian tribal names. Today there are some 150 named varieties sold in the nursery industry.

Azaleas. This history is far more complex. We certainly have native azaleas in the U.S., but the types we most commonly see in nurseries and landscapes have descended from plants collected in China and Japan. Azaleas’ early histories predate free trade from the Far East to western civilization.

Nandinas. These plants stem from the species Nandina domestica, native to China and Japan. The species is known as “heavenly bamboo,” although it is in the Barberry family, not even closely related to true bamboo (a member of the Grass family). Serious interest in nandinas began about 60 years ago, and today we have 15 or 20 cultivars in common production in the nursery industry. Japan has several times that many.

Kentucky bluegrass. We don’t grow this grass as turf here in North Texas, but in a class as I worked on my Master’s degree at Ohio State, Agronomy professor Dr. Robert Miller taught us that Kentucky bluegrass is not native to the United States — that it is native only to Europe. I now read that it is also native to North Asia and to the mountains of Algeria and Morocco. Names can certainly be deceiving.

St. Augustine. I had to do the research on this one. Texas A&M says St. Augustine is native to areas around the Gulf of Mexico, the West Indies, and Western Africa. It has also been collected from Africa, Australia and New Zealand. This grass certainly does “get around.”

Tomatoes. You might be surprised to learn that these are perennial plants in their native homes in western South America, Central America, and Mexico. Their domestication dates back to the Aztecs, and fruit of those early tomatoes were tiny by today’s standards. Europeans considered them to be ornamental plants, afraid to consume its fruit because of the plant’s membership in the Nightshade family, many other members of which are deadly poisonous. Breeders have worked to improve fruit size and quantity, also production and flavor. We treat them, of course, as annuals in our gardens.

Oleanders. We got these lovely summer-flowering shrubs via the Mediterranean regions. The several dozen varieties are adapted to warmer parts of Texas. They’re a bit sketchy here in Fort Worth/Dallas due to frequent encounters with severe cold. Note that all parts of the plant are quite toxic.

Deodar cedars. We hit a bonanza on this one. This handsome tree that resembles Colorado blue spruce is native to eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, western Nepal, and the western Himalayas. It’s curious, then, that they are hurt by extreme cold spells here in North Texas. Go figure.

English ivy. Widely used as a shade-loving groundcover, this trailing vine is native to much of Europe and western Asia. When it ascends tree trunks it blooms and sets fertile seeds. They’re appealing to birds, and the plant is invasive in some parts of the world — not so much here in Texas.

Boston ivy. Here you go. This popular wall-clinging vine is native to eastern Asia, notably Japan — certainly nowhere near Boston. Its sister, Virginia creeper, however, stays true to its name. It’s native to the eastern and central United States south to Mexico.

Pomegranates. These are among the oldest fruits known to civilization. As one might expect, they are considered to have originated in Iran, also in southwest Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan. That may give us an insight into why they do better in more arid parts of West Texas.

All this is to say that plant collectors have been busy for 250 years bringing us rich assortments of horticultural treasures from all over the world. The more we can know about where they were natively, the better we can care for them here.

NBC 5 Responds to a growing number of fans reporting disappearing Ticketmaster tickets.

They say thousands of dollars worth of event tickets were transferred from their accounts to other people without permission.

Read on for what we know and what you can do to protect your seats.

‘MY TICKETS ARE GONE’

After locking down Usher tickets for her and her husband back in February, Conya Harris-Carter found herself scrambling just days before the concert in Dallas.

“I'm really on the edge because I'm like, oh my God, my tickets are gone,” Harris-Carter said.

The fan shared a September 21 email from Ticketmaster customer support, saying Harris-Carter’s digital tickets, worth more than $2,000, were on their way to someone else.

“I immediately looked at the emails like, wait a minute, what? I didn't transfer my tickets to anybody,” said Harris-Carter.

When she tried to log into her Ticketmaster account, Harris-Carter said her password didn’t work. She changed it again.

“Once I was able to do that is when I saw that my tickets had, in fact, been transferred to a stranger that I don't even know,” Harris-Carter explained.

The Ticketmaster support email was timestamped at 10:17 p.m. on a Saturday. Harris-Carter said she called Ticketmaster customer support as soon as the phone lines opened the next morning. She said reps told her Ticketmaster would investigate.

“I legitimately paid for these and someone has been able to come in and take them,” Harris-Carter said. “I don't get it.”

Courtney Peck, a lifelong New Orleans Saints fan, tells NBC 5 Responds that she, too, was trying to restore tickets to two upcoming Saints games after receiving notice the tickets were transferred without her permission.

The value of the tickets is around $1,300. That doesn’t include the cost of travel Peck booked for trips to see the Saints take on the Kansas City Chiefs and LA Chargers.

“I just want my tickets. It's not even about the money,” Peck said. “I just want the assurance that I will get my tickets back, I'll be at the game in the seats that I chose.”

It’s not just North Texas fans. Across the country, consumers tell our NBC Responds teams about unauthorized ticket transfers.

“Oh, I was devastated,” said Breauna Hannon in San Diego.

“People spend their hard-earned money to go do this and then they’re just stolen away,” said Brenda Azzolino in New Jersey.

Alexandra Passer told NBC New York’s Lynda Baquero, “We’re at a loss.”

“Between 4:16 a.m. and 4:20 a.m., they took my tickets and successfully transferred them to themselves,” Jess Mantione told NBC 10 Responds in Philadelphia.

TICKETMASTER: SECURE FAN EMAIL

NBC 5 Responds asked Ticketmaster about the North Texas fans’ tickets.

In an email, a spokesperson wrote, “Overall, our digital ticketing innovations have greatly reduced fraud compared to the days of paper tickets and duplicated PDFs. Having that digital history is also how we are able to investigate and successfully return tickets for fans.”

Ticketmaster also says fans should set strong unique passwords, especially for their email, where Ticketmaster says it often sees security issues start.

The spokesperson also wrote, in part, “Ticketmaster is constantly investing in new security enhancements to safeguard fans.”

Earlier this year, Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, said there was “unauthorized activity” in a third-party cloud database that held the information of some customers. Live Nation said that may include email, phone number and encrypted credit card data. It said passwords were not exposed.

“As serious as that was, there was no breach of the sign-in credentials,” Live Nation Executive Vice President Dan Wall told our NBC 5 Chicago’s PJ Randhawa on Wednesday.

Wall said sign-in credentials may be compromised elsewhere and hackers use them to access accounts of customers that haven’t updated their passwords in a while or who use the same password on multiple websites.

“The reality is that the number one problem with account takeovers for our site or for any other site is old credentials that have been compromised and that these bad actors can find on the dark web,” Wall said.

NBC 5 Responds Aug 11

HOW TO CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT

For any online account you have, the Identity Theft Resource Center recommends consumers strengthen passwords. Include symbols and a mix of upper-case and lower-case letters.

Don’t use the same password on different websites. If one online account is compromised, it would mean others are in danger too. Where available, enable two-factor authentication. It would require a security code if someone tries to log into your account from an unrecognized browser or device.

“I now know the importance of a strong password,” Peck said. “Ticketmaster, I feel, could have done more. They could have done more to notify me. Notify us, I should say, because it's not just me who's going through it.”

After NBC 5 Responds reached out to Ticketmaster about Harris-Carter and Peck’s tickets, Ticketmaster said it restored both consumers’ tickets. Both fans confirmed their tickets were restored and they’ve secured their accounts.

For consumers with Ticketmaster accounts, change your password. Here’s a link to Ticketmaster’s instructions to reset passwords.

Ensure it’s strong and unique. Update your personal email passwords too.

NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.

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