Interested parties may provide feedback on redistricting criteria and procedures during an upcoming series of virtual public meetings.

In 2016, Fort Worth voters approved an amendment to the City Charter to increase the number of City Council members from nine to 11 following the completion of the 2020 Census. The Task Force on Race and Culture in December 2018 recommended the goal of ensuring that the City Council reflects the diverse communities that it represents. The City Council appointed an 11-member Redistricting Task Force.

At 6 p.m. Jan. 4, Assistant City Manager Fernando Costa and Task Force Chair Lorraine Miller will present Redistricting 101, an opportunity for residents to learn more about redistricting. The session will be available on FWTV, the city’s website and Facebook. Submit questions before the broadcast.

Public meetings on redistricting will be conducted via Webex at 6 p.m. each of these evenings:

Jan. 11.

Jan. 19. *

Jan 21.

The meetings will provide an opportunity to find out more about the redistricting task force and redistricting guidelines. The meeting on Jan. 19 will be conducted in Spanish.

Any member of the public who wishes to address the task force during these public hearings may sign up to speak no later than 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. To sign up, email Fort Worth Connection or call 817-392-6248.

About the Redistricting Task Force

In August 2020, the City Council charged the task force with: “Evaluating the criteria and procedures by which the City Council has redrawn Council district boundaries in the past and, accordingly, advising the City Council about redistricting criteria and procedures that the City Council should use in the future.”

In December, the task force presented an interim report on findings to the City Council. Ten key criteria were listed. The task force also suggested that software training be provided to residents who are interested in the redistricting process, and that proposed redistricting plans submitted by residents be analyzed and presented to the City Council.

The group is urging transparency in the redistricting process by potentially requiring all map drawing to occur at public meetings, with computer screens visible to all parties.

Upcoming activities for the Redistricting Task Force:

Feb. 4, 2021, 3 p.m. The task force will discuss comments from the public meetings and reach agreement on final recommendations.

March 2, 2021, 3 p.m. The task force will present its final report to the City Council.

March 16, 2021, 7 p.m. The City Council will adopt a resolution accepting the final report.

All meetings of the Redistricting Task Force are open to the public.

Trinity Metro is redesigning its bus network to create A Better Connection and we need your help.

To make real improvements, we are reconsidering the entire network – adding services, examining single routes, and the intersection of service times, locations, and destinations in our growing city.

Take the survey today: https://ridetrinitymetro.org/abc-maps/

Fort Worth residents and institutions have the unique opportunity to participate in the creation of Refik Anadol’s exciting audio/video artwork titled, Pioneer Tower Dreams, which will be projected onto the facades of the historic 204-foot Pioneer Tower at the Will Rogers Memorial Center during a free public event in 2021.

Anadol has a Call for Memories website to accept images and/or stories associated with any location in the city. These memories will contribute to a vast pool of data which will be processed by machine-learning algorithms and transformed into a dreamlike visualization of Fort Worth’s collective memory.

We invite and encourage you to participate individually and through your institutions by the end of December. Please visit https://www.pioneertowerdreams.org to submit an individual memory. Or, if you wish to submit multiple memories, you may send them on a thumbdrive to:

Refik Anadol Studio

ATTN: Pioneer Tower/Brian Chung

2425 Glover Place

Los Angeles, CA 90031

We appreciate your ongoing involvement in the Pioneer Tower Iconic Public Art Project.

Public Art Call for Muralist(s)

Artspace111 is thrilled to announce a call for Texas muralists to design and execute a mural on the exterior of Artspace111’s iconic 109 year old building. The North facing wall is passed by 24,000 drivers on Weatherford Street every day leaving Downtown Fort Worth. Eligible artists will be Texas based. Artists must be willing to meet contractual obligations and adhere to the budget and timeline. One artist or artist team will be selected.

Project Details:

Total project budget $8000. This amount includes the cost of supplies and equipment rental. Artist(s) will have to provide safety certification for any operational equipment that requires safety training. Artspace111 will not provide additional funds outside this budget for supplies and equipment rental. We realize each artist works differently with different materials, and for that reason, we are giving flexibility to the chosen artist to work within the available budget. Artspace111 will disperse ½ the funds at the beginning of the project, and the remaining ½ when the project is completed. Artspace111 will own the copyright of the mural artwork.

Deadline For Submission:

Presentations should be submitted to Art@Artspace111.com by January 15, 2021. Artist(s) will be notified by February 1, 2021.

Timeline For Completion:

Mural complete by March 15, 2021.

Learn More

The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs and the Texas A&M University Aggies men’s basketball teams are set to face off at Dickies Arena Dec. 12 during the annual Lone Star Showdown presented by Simmons Bank.

This matchup will mark the first contest between TCU and Texas A&M in men’s basketball since the Horned Frogs claimed a 91-89 win against the Aggies in 1996.

Dickies Arena will also host the Southwest Showcase presented by Simmons Bank for the first time Nov. 29. The double header event will be played between Texas Tech University vs. University of Houston and Sam Houston State University vs. Boise State University.

Texas Tech and Houston rivaled each other for many years beginning in 1972 when Houston joined Texas Tech in the Southwest Conference. The teams’ most recent matchup in 2014 resulted in an 82-69 victory for the Houston Cougars, breaking a nine-game matchup win streak for the Red Raiders.

Sam Houston State and Boise State will take to the court for the second time in program history. The first match took place in 1987 with a 73-66 victory for Boise State.

“We are excited to revive some historic basketball matchups at Dickies Arena,” said Trail Drive Management Corp.’s Matt Homan, president and general manager of Dickies Arena. “In collaboration with the NCAA, health professionals and government leaders we have implemented extensive procedures and protocols to protect the health and safety of the student athletes, coaches and fans. We look forward to providing a safe and enjoyable experience for our guests and bringing great games to Fort Worth.”

Tipoff, on-sale dates and television broadcast information for all three games will be announced later.

On Nov. 12, KERA’s Art&Seek and the Kimbell Art Museum present “Taking It to the Streets: The Mural Movement in Fort Worth,” a live online State of the Arts discussion that explores the unifying influence of public art and how artists have adapted to the COVID-19 era.

Across Fort Worth and around the world, artists are responding to a year of massive upheaval with mural making. In a time of social distancing, murals have become medium and megaphone for critical conversations, community activism and public art. From downtown Fort Worth and the Near Southside to the Stockyards and beyond, murals with a message can be found on street corners and alleyways — and sometimes in unexpected places. Local artists and experts will discuss how murals intersect with power, protest and representation.

“Fort Worth’s vibrant arts scene has responded in remarkable ways to this turbulent year of pandemics, politics and protests,” said William Gibbons, associate dean of TCU’s College of Fine Arts. “Public art helps each of us process the fundamental challenges of our times, and it also has the power to bring us together as a community in a uniquely isolating moment.”

Letitia Huckaby, local photographer, artist and co-founder of Huckaby Studios; local artist Juan Velazquez of Velazquez Art; and Jan Ballard, instructor of graphic design at TCU’s College of Fine Arts, will join moderator Jerome Weeks, senior arts reporter and producer for Art&Seek, in this discussion.

This free one-hour event begins at noon Nov. 12. Register online.

Due to downtown street construction, the annual Tarrant County Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11 will not march along Fort Worth’s Main or Houston streets as usual.

And due to coronavirus restrictions, the modified event is being dubbed a Memorial Motorcade by its organizer, the Tarrant County Veterans Council. Instead of Junior ROTC detachments, bands and other marching units, this year there will be a procession of wheeled vehicles only.

The 101st Veterans Day salute will assemble at the Panther Island Pavilion parking lot, 395 Purcey St., by 10 a.m. A brief opening ceremony will be followed by a Marine Corps flyover. About 11 a.m., the motorcade will roll down North Forest Park Boulevard along the Clear Fork section of the Trinity Trails system to Rotary Plaza., then back to Panther Island.

Suggested public viewing is along the Clear Fork of the Trinity River on the west side of downtown. The motorcade begins about 11 a.m.

The event was recently designated an official regional site by the Veterans Administration. It will also honor the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization, which is marking its centennial. DAV past National Commander Dennis Nixon will serve as grand marshal.

Motorcade participants must register online.

After early morning service, TEXRail service will be disrupted for the remainder of the day on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The last eastbound train will be No. 182, which departs Fort Worth T&P Station at 1:43 a.m. The last westbound train will be No. 181, which departs DFW Airport Terminal B Station at 2:10 a.m.

Regular service will resume on Wednesday, Nov. 11, with the first westbound train departing the North Side Station at 3:20 a.m. and the first eastbound train departing Mercantile Center Station at 3:31 a.m.

Passengers who have no other means of transportation to essential employment during this time should call Trinity Metro customer care by 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8. Representatives will be available to help with travel arrangements.

Mayor Betsy Price will be the keynote speaker at the 2020 Professional Rodeo Cowboys (PRCA) Association Convention in Fort Worth.

The mayor will address convention attendees at the Fort Worth Convention Center on Dec. 1. The gathering of PRCA members precedes the biggest event on ProRodeo’s annual calendar, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at Arlington’s Globe Life Field, Dec. 3-12.

“We are honored that Mayor Price will keynote our convention,” said George Taylor, chief executive officer of the PRCA. “This is a woman who has successfully led through extraordinary change. She is helping to safely revive Fort Worth and was the leader in bringing the NFR to Texas this year. We couldn’t have a better keynote speaker on the docket.”

The theme for this year’s convention is Challenge of Change, and Price will address attendees on the challenges that she has witnessed in her career and the positive change she is bringing to the community.

“Change has been at the center of 2020, and I’m so impressed with the way ProRodeo is navigating the challenges that we have all faced throughout this difficult year,” Price said. “I credit much of that to the cowboy spirit that permeates rodeo. We know that the cowboy is unique; strong, patient, hardworking and dedicated. You don’t get through what we’ve all been through without strength, patience, faith, hard work and dedication.”

As in prior years, the convention will feature the State of the PRCA address from Taylor as well as the PRCA Member Tradeshow.

The PRCA National Convention is the annual meeting of the organization’s members. It is the gathering to review the achievements of the prior year and lay out new strategic areas of improvement for the year ahead. The evenings are highlighted with fan favorites: the PRCA Welcome Reception and the PRCA Annual Awards Banquet to recognize the extraordinary achievements of PRCA members.

The 2020 PRCA National Convention will span two venues in Fort Worth, the Omni Fort Worth Hotel and the adjacent Fort Worth Convention Center. Registration is limited and is open for PRCA members and their guests.

As Fort Worth grows and develops, we want to make sure we are conserving high priority natural areas for future generations. We want your input on the types of spaces you would like to preserve. Please take the survey today and plan to attend our October 22 public meeting!

October 22 Public Meeting

The first public meeting will be held digitally on Thursday, October 22^nd at 6:00 PM. Here is the link for that meeting: https://bit.ly/3k7XV2I

Public Survey

Program Website: www.FortWorthOpenSpace.com 

Direct Survey Link (English): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FortWorthSM

Direct Survey Link (Spanish): https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/FortWorthEs