Happy MDW y’all 🌭

You know these Friday newsletters are packed, but before you scroll, I want to remind you that today is the last day of early voting for the runoff election. If you don’t vote today, you’ll need to head to the polls on Tuesday. Check here for your ballot and nearest polling location.

In this edition, make sure you don’t miss the video of UNT students’ funeral for academia (there was a hearse and everything), a delicious collab you foodies will drool over, and the saga of the Jan. 6 rioter that took over a Frisco City Council meeting. And to round out the emotional rollercoaster, ya gotta hear the story about the sweet veteran who had to give up his dog, but was helped by the community.

There will be no newsletter on Monday, but I’ll be back in your inbox Tuesday.

Joi Louviere

Senior Newsletter Editor, Courier DFW

5 celestial events visible in Texas skies this summer

The Perseid Meteor Shower is one of the best views in the Texas sky this summer. (Kulish Kateryna/CC BY 4.0)

By Joey Held

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s actually one of many celestial events hitting the atmosphere this Texas summer.

The Eta Aquarids, a meteor shower that’s a remnant of Halley’s Comet, peaked in early May and will continue throughout the month. That’s not the only stunning view we’ll have, however. Here are additional celestial events you can spot from Texas this summer, which we’re loosely defining as between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Get your sky schedule here

😨 Jan. 6er threatens Frisco: A notorious conservative influencer and pardoned Jan. 6 rioter pulled up to the Frisco City Council meeting on Tuesday, spewing “great replacement theory” hate around two proposed Hindu temples and an Islamic mosque. He ended his outbursts with a graphic threat to the council. (Dallas Observer)

♿ Inclusive bathrooms: DFW Airport was recently awarded an $8 million grant to make accessibility improvements to 37 bathrooms. The money will be used to make them more accessible for wheelchair users and for families traveling with strollers. Here are a few other ways the money will be used.

🥯 Bagels x BBQ: This weekend only, Dan’s Bagels is teaming up with The Original Roy Hutchins Barbeque and Panther City BBQ to offer diners barbecue brisket sandwiches on jalapeño cheddar sourdough bagels.

❤️‍🩹 Love from tragedy: A Uvalde woman fell in love with the Fort Worth artist who painted a mural in her town in remembrance of one of the children killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary shooting. Read this love after loss story here. (KERA)

🎖️ A veteran and his dog: An unhoused disabled veteran left his beloved dog at a Fort Worth fire station last week, penning a three-page letter explaining how having no safe place to leave the dog is preventing him from getting the help he needs. In turn, the firefighters worked with a nonprofit to gift the man an RV. Watch the full story here. (NBC 5)

🔋 Teen ingenuity: Some Irving middle schoolers have invented power-generating shoes, with enough strength to charge a cellphone. They also developed an app to track the steps of those shoes. See how it all works here. (Spectrum News)