Category: Breaking Dallas News

If you have ever grumbled about terrible North Texas drivers, you might have a point.

A new study by Forbes has ranked U.S. cities by worst drivers, and both Dallas and Fort Worth landed in the top 10, with Dallas at No. 6 and Fort Worth No. 9. Other Texas cities included San Antonio at No. 12, El Paso at No. 20, Houston at No. 23 and Austin at No. 24.

This month’s report by Forbes Advisor analyzed the country’s most populated cities across five key metrics, including the number of fatal car crashes that involved speeding or a drunken or distracted driver.

Fatal car accidents are increasing across the country, with the number of deadly crashes climbing by nearly 10% from 2020 to 2022, the study noted.

“In some cities, there is a higher percentage of dangerous drivers on the road, putting everyone at greater risk when they get behind the wheel,” it read.

Dallas ranked 7th among cities for total number of fatal car crashes, with approximately 14.6 fatal crashes per 100,000 residents, the study found. It also had the 3rd-highest number of fatal car crashes involving a drunk driver and the 4th-highest number of fatal crashes involving speeding.

In Fort Worth, approximately 10.6 fatal crashes occurred per 100,000 residents. Fort Worth also reported the 5th-highest number of fatal car crashes involving a drunk driver , 11th-highest involving a distracted driver and 12th-highest involving speeding.

The most dangerous city in the U.S. to drive in is Albuquerque, which has the highest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver, at 5.4 crashes per 100,000 residents.

To compile the rankings, Forbes used data from 2017 to 2021 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The study also noted that driving is directly tied to car insurance rates, which have soared in recent years in Texas.

“Getting speeding tickets, running red lights, texting while driving and other reckless behaviors all raise your chances of accidents and damage claims,” the study says. “This makes you a greater liability in the eyes of insurers.”

Top 10 cities with the worst drivers

1. Albuquerque, N.M.

2. Memphis, Tenn.

3. Detroit, Mich.

4. Tucson, Ariz.

5. Kansas City, Mo.

6. Dallas, Texas

7. Louisville, Ky.

8. Phoenix, Ariz.

9. Fort Worth, Texas

10. Tampa, Fla.

Related:As red-light runners grow bolder on Dallas streets, this family’s story needs to be heard

Texas Monthly’s annual list of the state’s top new restaurants is here, and North Texas dominated the lineup.

Of the top 10 restaurants on the list, four are in North Texas, with three of them coming in second, third and fourth – Le Margot in Fort Worth, Quarter Acre in Dallas, and 61 Osteria in Fort Worth, respectively. Dallas’ Via Triozzi came in at No. 8. In 2023, three D-FW restaurants made the list.

The magazine’s yearly list is curated by food editor Patricia Sharpe, who kicked off her 2024 picks by assuring readers that despite the many clubstaurants and over-the-top “vibe dining” experiences, Texas’ restaurant scene is “as delicious as it’s ever been.”

At Le Margot, a French restaurant with a Texas twang owned by Felipe Armenta and helmed by executive chef Graham Elliot, Sharpe called out the restaurant’s French onion soup, bèchamel-soaked burger, baseball-sized profiterole and salmon filet in a Cabernet reduction that “defines perfect fish cookery.”

Quarter Acre, a new concept from New Zealand chef and owner Toby Archibald, opened on Lower Greenville at the start of 2023.(emily loving)

The whimsical dishes at chef Toby Archibald’s Quarter Acre on Lower Greenville caught Sharpe’s attention, like the peanut butter and jelly chicken-fried quail and the beef tartar served under a glass dome clouded with smoke. At 61 Osteria, Sharpe praised not only chef Blaine Staniford’s pasta, short rib and blue prawns but also the restaurant’s tablecloths and carpet that reject “the naked surfaces that turn restaurants into noise pits.”

Via Triozzi’s commitment to the tenets of traditional Italian cooking and its nonna-inspired menu were highlighted in the list. Leigh Hutchinson, who opened the Lower Greenville restaurant last year after studying under a chef in Tuscany, has a story for every dish on the menu and every piece of art on the walls.

Another Greenville Avenue restaurant, Naminohana, received an honorable mention on the magazine’s list for its “excellent nigiri, sashimi and rolls.”

Find Texas Monthly’s full list here.

A civil court judge granted an injunction Tuesday to temporarily halt the construction of an industrial warehouse near a residential area in Southern Dallas.

This comes after a prominent Southern Dallas megachurch, Friendship-West Baptist Church sought the order after a quasi-judicial board’s decision to greenlight Stonelake Capital Partners’ project that would put a 200,000 square foot building on Wheatland Road near the church, a school and residential neighborhood.

“There is evidence that the harm is imminent and irreparable to plaintiff,” Judge Aiesha Redmond of the 160th District Court in Dallas County wrote in the order filed Tuesday, a day after lawyers met to argue the legality and ethics of the warehouse in a three-hour hearing.“These injuries will be irreparable to Plaintiff unless these restraints are ordered against Defendants because no other legal remedy is available to protect Plaintiff from these injuries, losses or damages.”

Related:Megachurch, developer argue warehouse’s legality; decision to come later

In court filings, the church had argued the warehouse would result in increased truck traffic, noise pollution and safety hazards to school students.

The initial legal fight began when the church petitioned the court Dec. 14 for an injunction, citing “environmental racism.”

In court filings, the church said though the 18-acre site has been zoned for commercial use for the past two decades, the warehouseposes a safety and environmental risk.

The church argued the project was emblematic of Dallas’ history of zoning industrial sites near low-income, predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

As per court filings, the city of Dallas had denied the building permit for the warehouse. But the denial was reversed by the Building Inspection Advisory, Examining and Appeals Board in a 5-1 ruling.

To prevent the construction, the church then took the board and Stonelake Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm in control of SL6, the limited partnership entity listed for the project, to court.

“Based upon the law and the facts, and to prevent the very real threat of immediate and irreparable harm to the community, the Court made the just and equitable determination that the injunction should be issued,” Paul Stafford, the lawyer representing the church, said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News.

In a statement, Stonelake Capital Partners said it was founded on “Christian principles of honesty,” and “all people are equal in God’s eyes.”

“We remain committed to our investment along Interstate 20 which will create jobs and become a place of employment for many,” Stonelake said. “We also hope to find common ground with Friendship-West Baptist Church, while protecting our investment.”

With the injunction in place, the case will now head to trial next year, April 19, 2025.

The planned National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth picked up a big donation this week, bringing it closer to its $70 million fundraising goal.

The museum announced a donation of $2 million from Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which will have naming rights for part of the museum.

With Tuesday’s announcement, the museum has met the halfway point of its capital campaign. A groundbreaking is planned for later this year, and the museum is set to open in 2026.

Once it opens, the museum will share the story of both slavery and emancipation, telling the story of Juneteenth while exploring the larger theme of global freedom. Included in plans are galleries, a 250-seat amphitheater, a food hall that features emerging chefs and a business incubator.

Museum officials have said the museum will serve as a cultural hub in Fort Worth and economic driver for the city’s Historic Southside, where the museum will be built at the corner of Rosedale Street and Evans Avenue.

“The museum will be a physical example of how implementing a culturally engaging learning center can transform minds and transform communities,” Jarred Howard, the museum’s president, said on the organization’s website.

Juneteenth recognizes the day in 1865 that Union troops arrived in Galveston to inform enslaved people of their freedom, about 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Black Americans, especially in Texas, have celebrated the day for decades, but interest in Juneteenth has grown in recent years, particularly after the death of George Floyd and the resulting protests over police brutality.

Opal Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth,” grew up in Texas and recalled celebrating the holiday by picnicking with her family, first in Marshall and later in Fort Worth. In 1939, when she was 12, a mob of 500 white supremacists set fire to her family’s home in Fort Worth and destroyed it. Lee and her family were forced to flee.

That event catapulted her into a career as an educator and activist. In 2016, Lee made her way from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., walking 2½ miles in several cities along the way to represent the 2½ years it took for news of emancipation to reach Galveston.

In 2021, with Lee by his side, President Joe Biden signed into law a bill declaring Juneteenth a national holiday. Lee was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.

At an event celebrating Juneteenth in 2023, Lee said honesty and education about America’s past are crucial.

“We can’t hide the truth. The good, the bad, the ugly,” she said. “They need to know.”

Related:Opal Lee among 8 women to be inducted into Texas Women’s Hall of Fame

WASHINGTON — An Alabama Supreme Court decision legally recognizing frozen embryos as children has reignited concerns and confusion about the future of fertility treatments including in vitro fertilization, with both sides recognizing the broader impact of the case.

The court on Friday ruled that frozen embryos — which are used in IVF — are considered unborn children. Alabama voters amended their state constitution in 2018 to give personhood rights to fetuses, and the court decision clarified that that language extends to frozen embryos.

Related:Texas’ abortion law doesn’t target IVF. Women are still changing their fertility plans

The ruling could have an impact well beyond abortion.

“One thing is certain: this ruling has profound implications far beyond Alabama’s borders,” said RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association in a statement, saying the new decision “may make it impossible to offer services like IVF.”

Abortion rights advocates warned that access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, could be impacted after the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 — given state efforts to change the legal definitions of when pregnancy begins and efforts to enshrine personhood protections that start at conception.

Related:Texas’ criminal and civil abortion penalties do not apply to women who get abortions

Experts typically define pregnancy as beginning when a fertilized egg has implanted itself in the uterine wall. But several state laws now define pregnancy as beginning at fertilization.

“We don’t have a real, federal definition of pregnancy,” said Kami Geoffray, president of Geoffray Strategies, a Texas-based health care consultancy. “These laws are not written with scientifically accurate language.”

Last week, the Kansas Senate held a hearing on a bill that would allow women to seek child support at any point after conception.

Oklahoma lawmakers also held a hearing on legislation last week that would define pregnancy as beginning at conception as well.

Related Stories

Health care news from around D-FW and Texas

Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm, cited the Alabama decision Monday in a brief in a separate Florida case.

The group has challenged the wording of a proposed ballot initiative in Florida that would seek to protect access to abortion.

“This important ruling has far-reaching implications,” said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver, whose organization is arguing Florida’s own laws “routinely recognize that an ‘unborn child’ has the legally protected rights of a person.”

Democrats have sought to protect access to assisted reproductive technology like IVF on a federal level in an effort to head off state changes.

In December 2022, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., called for the chamber to take up her bill that would prohibit restrictions on accessing assisted reproductive technology. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., objected at the time.

Duckworth, who has spoken publicly about her experience with the procedure, called again on Tuesday for the Senate to take up bills that would establish a right to access IVF.

Various Republican-led state changes, she said, have left people like her “who relied on IVF to start and grow our own families — worried about whether access to these important technologies could be next.”

“No one looking to start or grow their family, in any state, deserves to be criminalized,” said Duckworth, adding the Alabama decision shows that she was right to be worried.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called the Alabama decision an “outrageous attack on personal freedoms.”

“They want to dictate the terms of how you get pregnant, when you give birth, and whether you become a parent,” she tweeted Tuesday.

Last year, the Office of Personnel Management announced an expansion of assisted reproductive technology benefits for Federal Employee Health Benefits beneficiaries. The Department of Veterans Affairs also announced last month as part of a court filing that it plans to expand its current coverage for IVF for veterans to align with the Defense Department.

By Sandhya Raman, CQ-Roll Call (Tribune News Service)

The Frogs are running it back for the most part in the linebacker department. The key for this group is the new coach. In addition to new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos, TCU’s other marquee hire was Ken Wilson to be the linebackers coach. Wilson was the head coach at Nevada the previous two seasons. He served as the linebackers coach at Oregon in 2019-20 seasons under now TCU defensive coordinator Avalos, winning back-to-back conference championships. Here’s a complete outlook of the linebacking unit heading into spring ball.

Key returners: Johnny Hodges (6-2, 240), Namdi Obiazor (6-3, 225)

Key losses: Jamoi Hodge (NFL)

Newcomers: Kaleb Elarms-Orr (sophomore, 6-3, 222)

Biggest unanswered question: Can speed improve?

The biggest weakness of this linebacking group was exposed in week one last season. Speed. Coach Prime and Colorado shredded TCU’s defense with the screen pass. Other teams followed suit throughout the 2023 season. The linebackers for the Frogs simply lacked the sideline-to-sideline speed to tackle speedy running backs and wide receivers. The new scheme and coaching should help to mask this weakness, but it is to be seen how this group will respond next season.

Why 2024 production could be better: New linebackers coach Wilson should get the linebackers in prime shape this offseason so they are better equipped to defend against the short pass. A breath of fresh air should help this group get back to 2022 form. Experience is always great, and with Hodges and Obiazor leading the way, the Frogs have two seniors leading the way next season. The departure of the hard-hitting Hodge does hurt, but there is plenty of depth in-house and the addition of Elarms-Orr from California helps.

Why 2024 production could be worse: There’s no new names here. Besides Elarms-Orr, the Frogs seemed very content with their current linebacking group heading into 2024. A unit that struggled last season, coach Dykes is hoping for a bounce-back campaign from his core linebackers. If they can’t turn things around, look for their speed to once again be the reason they falter.

Overall outlook: There is no shortage of talent in this group. Both Hodges and Obiazor were key components to TCU’s miracle run in 2022. After a shaky 2023, a new scheme overall combined with a new position coach should catapult this unit to the top of the Big 12. Defending the short passing game has to be the main focus for Wilson this offseason, as they will have to adapt to Avalos’ new scheme.

Other TCU position outlooks

– Running backs- Wide receivers and tight ends3 takeaways from TCU-Cincinnati: Frogs hit their stride, bounce back in Fort WorthWith 12-team playoff set, CFP already discussing possibly more teams for 2026 and beyond

Find more TCU coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

AUSTIN — The Keller boys talked about it every day in practice, they said. Ever since Maximus Williamson and River Paulk knew they were joining the program, the time was on their minds, they added.

1:19.27.

The boys 200-yard freestyle relay national record was set in 2012 by a Jacksonville Bolles’ team which featured two future Olympic gold medallists. After Saturday’s UIL Swimming & Diving State Meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, it belongs to Keller’s team of Williamson, Paulk, Cooper Lucas and Riccardo Osio, which may have future Olympic medallists of its own.

Related:2024 UIL 5A state swim meet: Final team and individual results

The feeling after the win?

“Relief,” they all said, from long-standing expectation.

“When Cooper was coming to the wall, I was so scared to look back,” Paulk said. “When I saw 19.2, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We did it.”

The success comes two years after all three of Keller’s boys relay teams were disqualified. The quartet beat the record time by six one-hundredths of a second, with three of them doing sub-20-second splits.

“We definitely had a lot of lows,” Osio said. “It just feels amazing to come back in the biggest way possible.”

Earlier in the day, Williamson broke the 13-year-old national record in the 200-yard individual medley. The UVA-commit added it to his ever-growing list of accolades, which includes winning at the World Junior Championships.

Then, right before the boys relay team took the water, their girls counterparts set a new all-class state record. They wanted to “one-up” that, Paulk joked.

“We took that as a challenge and we rose up to it,” Osio said.

In the final event of the meet, Keller broke the boys 400-yard freestyle relay by one one-hundredths of a second, and Williamson shattered the 100-yard freestyle national record during his split in that race to bookend their comprehensive performance. They obliterated the boys overall standings, winning the state title by more than 100 points.

Reedy makes program history

Jade Alvarez touched the wall for the final time and looked up to her three Reedy teammates in the girls 400-yard freestyle relay with one question: “We did it?”

Their head coach Jenny Beagle flashed them the thumbs-up. A year after finishing second, the efforts of Isa Henderson, Isahbel Krasht, Lily Powell and Alvarez in the final girls relay of the UIL Swimming & Diving 5A State Meet on Saturday secured the school’s first-ever state swimming and diving championship by just three points.

“It’s kind of cool that forever, no matter what happens, we’ll always be the first [Reedy] team to get a state title,” Alvarez said.

The Lions earned just one podium on Saturday — Henderson’s second-place finish in the girls 500-yard freestyle. But their swimming depth and 80 points from relays clinched the championship.

They also needed a gutsy eight-place in the girls 1-meter diving final by senior Camryn Gantzer, who returned a month ago from a back injury.

“Last year, it was just sheer excitement that we were right there,” Henderson said. “This year, we knew we had to train just as hard and even better to get to that point. As a team, we were trying to keep it clean, smooth, no DQs, and take as many kids as we could here to state.”

Medley dominance

Campbell Chase set another 5A record mark on Saturday in the girls 200-yard individual medley championship final at 1:56.80 — also now her personal best — to win it a fourth-straight year.

“It just feels so much more special when you know it’s the fastest you’ve ever gone,” Chase said.

The Woodrow Wilson senior also took gold in the girls 100-yard breaststroke, two one-hundredths of a second behind the 5A record. It’s her first gold not in the individual medley at the Texas Swimming Center, which she’ll call home starting next year.

“Oh my God, it felt like such a relief,” Chase said. “It was like, ‘Finally.’ That one almost felt a little better.”

Record race

All three podium-place swimmers in the boys 100-yard breaststroke beat the old 5A record. Lovejoy’s Grant Hu said he knew he had it when he turned off the wall for the final 25-yard stretch.

Hu prepared all season to try and win a different event, the 200-yard individual medley, and felt “robbed” after a false start disqualification in the regional tournament, he said. Saturday’s gold medal, the first of his career after multiple silver medals, erased most of the bitter taste that left.

“I was like, this is my senior year, this is my only individual [event], I got to win,” Hu said. “It was an awesome race.”

Southlake Carroll divers dominate

Southlake Carroll fell just short of a state title once again. It finished six points back of The Woodlands. But the Dragons divers dominated in the girls 1-meter diving competition, nearly sweeping the podium.

Reagan Evans took gold and Natalie Stubbs took silver. Both will dive for SMU next year.

On Twitter: @SportsDayHS

Keller’s Maximus Williamson competes in the boys 200 individual medley race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Maximus Williamson competes in the boys 200 individual medley race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Branden Beladi competes in the boys 200-yard medley relay race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Prosper’s Jacob Wimberly celebrates his record breaking swim in the boys 100-yard butterfly during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Avery Collins competes in the girls 200 individual medley race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Avery Collins competes in the girls 200 individual medley race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Prosper’s Jacob Wimberly competes in the boys 100-yard butterfly during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Avery Collins competes in the girls 200 individual medley race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)After breaking the national record in the boys 200-yard freestyle relay race Keller’s River Paulk and Riccardo Osio hug as teammate Maximus Williamson stands nearby with Cooper Lucas still in the water at the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Southlake Carroll’s Max Hatcher competes in the boys 500-yard freestyle race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Mansfield’s Elise Clift in the girls 500-yard freestyle race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Maximus Williamson competes in the boys 100-yard backstroke race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)Keller’s Avery Collins competes in the girls 100-yard breaststroke race during the 6A swimming and diving Championship meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas on February 24, 2024.(Thao Nguyen / Special Contributor)2024 UIL 5A state swim meet: Final team and individual results2024 UIL girls basketball playoffs: Regional tournament results for Dallas-area teams

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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AUSTIN — The Keller boys talked about it every day in practice, they said. Ever since Maximus Williamson and River Paulk knew they were joining the program, the time was on their minds, they added.

1:19.27.

The boys 200-yard freestyle relay national record was set in 2012 by a Jacksonville Bolles’ team which featured two future Olympic gold medallists. After Saturday’s UIL Swimming & Diving State Meet at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, it belongs to Keller’s team of Williamson, Paulk, Cooper Lucas and Riccardo Osio, which may have future Olympic medallists of its own.

Related:2024 UIL 5A state swim meet: Final team and individual results

The feeling after the win?

“Relief,” they all said, from long-standing expectation.

“When Cooper was coming to the wall, I was so scared to look back,” Paulk said. “When I saw 19.2, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We did it.”

The success comes two years after all three of Keller’s boys relay teams were disqualified. The quartet beat the record time by six one-hundredths of a second, with three of them doing sub-20-second splits.

“We definitely had a lot of lows,” Osio said. “It just feels amazing to come back in the biggest way possible.”

Earlier in the day, Williamson broke the 13-year-old national record in the 200-yard individual medley. The UVA-commit added it to his ever-growing list of accolades, which includes winning at the World Junior Championships.

Then, right before the boys relay team took the water, their girls counterparts set a new all-class state record. They wanted to “one-up” that, Paulk joked.

“We took that as a challenge and we rose up to it,” Osio said.

Reedy makes program history

Jade Alvarez touched the wall for the final time and looked up to her three Reedy teammates in the girls 400-yard freestyle relay with one question: “We did it?”

Their head coach Jenny Beagle flashed them the thumbs-up. A year after finishing second, the efforts of Isa Henderson, Isahbel Krasht, Lily Powell and Alvarez in the final girls relay of the UIL Swimming & Diving 5A State Meet on Saturday secured the school’s first-ever state swimming and diving championship by just three points.

“It’s kind of cool that forever, no matter what happens, we’ll always be the first [Reedy] team to get a state title,” Alvarez said.

The Lions earned just one podium on Saturday — Henderson’s second-place finish in the girls 500-yard freestyle. But their swimming depth and 80 points from relays clinched the championship.

They also needed a gutsy eight-place in the girls 1-meter diving final by senior Camryn Gantzer, who returned a month ago from a back injury.

“Last year, it was just sheer excitement that we were right there,” Henderson said. “This year, we knew we had to train just as hard and even better to get to that point. As a team, we were trying to keep it clean, smooth, no DQs, and take as many kids as we could here to state.”

Medley dominance

Campbell Chase set another 5A record mark on Saturday in the girls 200-yard individual medley championship final at 1:56.80 — also now her personal best — to win it a fourth-straight year.

“It just feels so much more special when you know it’s the fastest you’ve ever gone,” Chase said.

The Woodrow Wilson senior also took gold in the girls 100-yard breaststroke, two one-hundredths of a second behind the 5A record. It’s her first gold not in the individual medley at the Texas Swimming Center, which she’ll call home starting next year.

“Oh my God, it felt like such a relief,” Chase said. “It was like, ‘Finally.’ That one almost felt a little better.”

Record race

All three podium-place swimmers in the boys 100-yard breaststroke beat the old 5A record. Lovejoy’s Grant Hu said he knew he had it when he turned off the wall for the final 25-yard stretch.

Hu prepared all season to try and win a different event, the 200-yard individual medley, and felt “robbed” after a false start disqualification in the regional tournament, he said. Saturday’s gold medal, the first of his career after multiple silver medals, erased most of the bitter taste that left.

“I was like, this is my senior year, this is my only individual [event], I got to win,” Hu said. “It was an awesome race.”

On Twitter: @SportsDayHS

2024 UIL 5A state swim meet: Final team and individual results2024 UIL girls basketball playoffs: Regional tournament results for Dallas-area teams

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Sign up for our FREE HS newsletter

Multiple media outlets have called the South Carolina Republican primary for former President Donald Trump, dealing a resounding blow to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential bid.

Not even a minute after polls closed in the state at 6 p.m. CT, CNN, The New York Times, and NBC News called the primary race in the former president’s favor.

Initial exit polls conducted by CNN indicated that around 80% of Republican primary voters identified themselves as “conservative,” and more than 40% said they were “very conservative.”

Pollsters surveyed just over 1,500 Republican primary voters at roughly 40 polling locations around South Carolina on Saturday.

Interestingly, an overwhelming majority of voters (more than 75%) interviewed said they had already made up their minds as to who they would vote for before 2024.

Among voters who said they voted for Trump, roughly 90% said they voted “in support of him, rather than against his opponent.” In contrast, about 40% of Haley voters said their vote was motivated by their opposition to Trump, according to CNN’s exit poll.

As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Trump has been steamrolling the competition on his way to the Republican nomination, securing strong victories in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.

In Nevada, which held both a primary and a caucus, Trump handily won the caucus. Haley did not appear on the caucus ballot. However, in the primary, Trump did not appear on the ballot, but Haley still lost to the “None of These Candidates” option.

After appearing to suffer defeat in her own home state, it is unclear whether Haley will continue her bid to become the Republican nominee.

She previously promised to stay in the race through at least Super Tuesday on March 5.

“The reality is if she has a momentum to keep going, has the money to keep going, you should,” said former congressman and Haley supporter Will Hurd earlier in the day, according to CNN. “This isn’t over until somebody gets 1,215 delegates.”

This article will be updated pending further developments.

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MESQUITE — Three officers fired at a 16-year-old student who reportedly brought a gun inside a Mesquite school Monday morning, police say.

About 8:50 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy campus in the 3200 block of Oates Drive, near San Marcus Avenue, after a student was reported to be holding a firearm in the school’s office and refusing to put it down. Police said school administrators spoke with the student to try to keep him calm until officers arrived.

When officers arrived, the student was alone in the office, according to police. While trying to negotiate with the student, police said three officers fired at him. The student then complied with commands, the department said, and was taken into custody.

Police did not specify if the student was shot, but said he was taken to a hospital and deemed stable. No other injuries were reported and no additional information about the gunfire was immediately available.

“We are grateful that this incident resulted in no injuries to other students, faculty members, or any officers,” the department wrote in a statement. “Mesquite Police would like to commend the actions of administrators during this event and the school’s adherence to the standard response protocol.

“These actions along with the immediate response from the Mesquite Police and Fire Departments ensured this outcome was not the tragedy that it could have been.”

Connie Garcia hugs her son Michael Garcia, 13, after being reunited at Living Truth Baptist Church after a shooting at Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Mesquite, Texas. A student who reportedly brought a gun inside the school was shot at by police, no other injuries were reported.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

A news release from the school said officials still intend to review their security procedures and strengthen them if necessary.

“We have rigorous safety protocols in place to handle such incidents effectively and efficiently,” the release said. “Today, those procedures were tested, and they worked as intended.”

Dozens of students and their parents could be seen trickling out of Living Truth Baptist Church at 3130 Moon Drive, the designated reunification center, just before noon Monday.

Sarah Kepilino said her daughter, who is in sixth grade, was taking a math test when the campus was put on lockdown. Kepilino said parents were in a rush inside the church to pick up their children.

“We were just trying to get in there, get our kids and get out of the way,” Kepilino said. ”Some of the kids were more emotional, some were OK, some had no clue what was going on.”

Connie Garcia, whose son is in seventh grade, said she heard from another parent about 10:30 a.m. that something had happened and parents were being instructed to pick up their children.

When Garcia arrived at the school and started hearing rumors about a possible “shooter” inside, she started to panic, she said.

“I went to the front and they told me that they couldn’t give me information,” Garcia said. “That makes it even worse — not knowing.”

Pioneer Technology and Arts Academy student Aiden Martinez, 15, hugs his father Jose Martinez and mother Priscilla Lule after a shooting on campus, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Mesquite, Texas. Police said a student who reportedly brought a gun to the school was shot at by police, no other injuries were reported.(Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer)

Jose Martinez, whose 15-year-old son Aiden is a student at the school, said he was driving to work when he got the notification the school was on lockdown. The moment Aiden mentioned gunshots, Jose said, he turned around and headed to the school.

“I continuously started texting him, telling him ‘Don’t stop texting me, even if it’s OK, just tell me something,’” Jose said.

Aiden said he was also texting his friends, trying to keep them calm as they were “freaking out.” He later learned the student involved was one of his best friends, he said.

“That’s a little heartbreaking as well, to know that that kid would think he would have to do something like this,” Jose said.

Due to his age, the student’s name was not released. The names of the officers who fired were also not released, but police said they included an eight-year veteran, a five-year veteran and an officer-in-training with multiple years of service from another agency.

The Mesquite Police Criminal Investigations Unit and Internal Affairs Unit will investigate the incident. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office will also conduct an independent investigation, police said.

Staff photographer Elias Valverde II contributed to this report.