San Antonio, TX

Fort Worth, TX

Columbus, OH

Melbourne, FL

Writers represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program and self-verified their accounts. Writers are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

writer

Akeena

A Burger King location in Melbourne, Florida, has been temporarily shut down for the third time following since 2023 after a recent state inspection that identified multiple health violations. This incident underscores ongoing concerns regarding the restaurant's adherence to health and safety standards.

A dead lizard, dead roaches, rodent droppings - Florida fast food restaurant closed again

Georgia State

Contributors represent independent, third-party users who have joined our contributor program and self-verified their accounts. They have also demonstrated their experience writing hard news for other outlets. Contributors are expected, like all users, to adhere to our Community Standards.

contributor

Atlanta, GA

Daily Coffee Press

A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to over 28 years in prison for distributing significant amounts of fentanyl and other controlled substances to dealers in the Middle Georgia region. Authorities revealed that investigators uncovered evidence linking the drugs provided by the defendant, 40-year-old Lagary Williams, also known as "Frog," from Atlanta, to a fatal overdose.

Atlanta Man Sentenced to 28 Years for Supplying Deadly Fentanyl Linked to Fatal Overdose

New Braunfels, TX

TexasHighways

That was the edict Willie Nelson gave his band and crew as the 1970s drew to a close. Sure, Nelson was and remains a high emissary for marijuana, but he would no longer tolerate cocaine and what it did to his friends and his music. The band and crew responded...

Rare Willie Memorabilia Goes on Sale

Texas State

For all its storied history, the Red River has always been equal parts asset and antagonist. Located in North Texas along the state line with Oklahoma, the 1,360-mile river has brought fortune and famine to Indigenous farmers, cattle drovers, slaveholders, European explorers, and Anglo settlers. The Red River was first explored by Spain’s Coronado, who, in a ruinous quest for the Seven Cities of Cíbola, rowed upstream to the river’s headwaters in Palo Duro Canyon. The French came later. On the river’s eastern stretches, near Arkansas, they came upon Caddo Indians who had mastered growing beans, squash, and corn at the edge of the Blackland Prairie formed by the river’s drainage. More settlers came in the 1820s, using the river as a highway into Texas. But they were routinely confounded by logjams—the blockages could stretch for 75 miles, impeding travel for months.

Running

Giddings, TX

If you’re traveling between Houston and Austin on Highway 290, then you’ll pass right through the heart of this small town of 5,000 where the modern highway still follows the old business route through the historic district. If you find yourself cursing the stoplights and stuck at the busy train tracks, my suggestion is to simply take a deep breath, slow down, and pull over to explore the numerous adventures tucked away in expected places—like Giddings, Texas.

Get it While the Giddings Good

A quote in this issue from Grammy-winning producer and Roma native Edgar Barrera aptly sums up the pull the Rio Grande Valley has on its residents: “There’s glue in the cement here.” Senior editor Danielle Lopez, who grew up in McAllen, can attest to this phenomenon. Though she’s lived in Austin for more than a decade now, she returns to the Valley every couple of months to visit family and friends and get a dose of that RGV magic. “There’s this idea of when you’re Valley, you’re Valley,” she says. “There’s pride to the identity.”

Editor’s Note: Puro Valley

Colorado State

David Heitz

A bill quietly introduced this spring in the Colorado legislature to decriminalize the possession of drug paraphernalia obtained by harm reductionists has become law. As low-key as the legislation was introduced, the bill was signed into law without fanfare June 6. It garnered little to no media attention.

Colorado legalizes needles, pipes for meth and crack if obtained by harm reduction group

Irvine, CA

NewSantaAna

The Irvine Police Department’s Spectrum team was notified of a woman shoplifting at Sephora on Wednesday. When loss prevention tried to stop her, she refused to stop. As the Spectrum team arrived, loss prevention lost the suspect in the parking lot. An excellent citizen told the officers they observed the suspect enter a white Tesla and crawl into the trunk.

Shoplifter arrested after hiding in her Tesla’s trunk at the Irvine Spectrum

Mirando City, TX

Lala’s Cafe is a place that’s easy to overlook but hard to forget. Driving east from Laredo on State Highway 359, the half-hour journey to Mirando City passes through rolling swells of mesquite and prickly pear that can lull a driver into complacency. Blink and you’ll miss the nondescript junction with Farm-to-Market Road 649, which turns into a main street resembling an abandoned ghost town—at least on its quieter days.

Historic Lala’s in Mirando City Is Tex-Mex Heaven

Plymouth, MA

Dianna Carney

The Plymouth Public Library Foundation has announced the return of its Annual Arts and Crafts Festival, a two-day celebration that promises to be a highlight of the summer season. Set to take place on the scenic Plymouth Public Library Lawn, the festival will run from 10 AM to 4 PM on both Saturday, August 10th, and Sunday, August 11th. This family-friendly event is designed to offer something for everyone, making it a perfect outing for people of all ages.

50+ Artisans, Food Trucks & More: Get Ready For The 5th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival

Massachusetts State

Sandy Paws Rescue Inc., a foster-based rescue in Massachusetts, recently introduced an adorably tiny dog named Cha Cha who is looking for her forever home. Sandy Paws Rescue explains that she is 5 to 6 months old, and "our best guess on breed is chi/frenchie mix". Cha Cha may be small in size, but she's bursting with personality and love to give. This pint-sized pup is eagerly awaiting her chance to find her forever home, with her arrival in Massachusetts scheduled for Monday, August 26th.

Meet The Tiny 8lb Puppy Looking For Love

Denver, CO

In addition to collecting more than 8,000 used needles in the past year from Denver drug users, the Harm Reduction Action Center passed out 10,000 meth pipes and “snort kits,” according to a newsletter sent to its supporters Thursday. They also connected about 1,700 people to medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Denver group hands out 10K meth pipes, ‘snort kits,’ connects 1,700 to treatment annually

The Lantern

One man is dead after a five-hour standoff with police Sunday morning near Ohio State’s South campus. Credit: Lantern File Photo. One man is dead after an over-five-hour-long barricade standoff with the Columbus Division of Police Sunday morning.

One dead after five-hour standoff with police in the University District Sunday morning

Austin, TX

For some artists, storytelling is a calling that comes at birth. But for Austin-based filmmaker Greg Kwedar, it came in the middle of an accounting exam at Texas A&M. After discovering his love for filmmaking while working on film sets in Australia, the Fort Worth native decided to drop out of school to pursue his newfound passion. He packed his bags and moved to Austin in 2009. Since then, he has made several shorts, documentaries, and an award-winning feature, Transpecos (2016), a thriller that follows a group of border patrol agents who uncover corruption within their own ranks when they encounter a Mexican drug cartel.

Texas Filmmakers on Making A24’s Sing Sing

Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville Today

A historic marker could be erected to honor the victims of the racist mass shooting at the Dollar General store in Jacksonville’s New Town neighborhood nearly a year ago. If approved by the Jacksonville City Council, a marker would be installed at Kings Road and Canal Street on Aug. 25, a day before the first anniversary of the shooting, when a white gunman took the lives of three Black people.

Memorial considered to honor Dollar General victims

Sandy Paws Rescue Inc., a foster-based rescue in Massachusetts, is still looking for a forever home for an adorable six-year-old French bulldog named Joannie. The local animal rescue explains: “Joannie was found as a stray extremely emaciated and less than half her current weight now. She was missing fur on her body, face and ears. She has been nursed back to health and is doing wonderfully. While her age and exact history is unknown, it is clear she has mothered more than enough litters in her short lifetime.”

Meet The "Extreme Snuggler" French Bulldog Still Looking For Love

Sandy Paws Rescue Inc., a foster-based rescue in Massachusetts, recently introduced Juney, an inspiring dog who has been through so much in his short life and is now looking for a forever home. Juney's story is one of remarkable resilience and the unwavering spirit of a dog who has overcome unimaginable adversity.

Meet The Sweet Dog Who Survived a Machete Attack Now Looking For Love

More dangerous substances are entering the Denver drug supply, Harm Reduction Action Center warned in a newsletter this week. “The Iron Law of Prohibition posits that as law enforcement becomes more intense, the potency of prohibited substances increases,” HRAC Executive Director Lisa Raville wrote in the newsletter. That is exactly what is happening, she said.

Dangerous substances entering Denver drug supply

Two decades before his farm disappeared under the waters of the Toledo Bend Reservoir, A.A. McGraw was a young World War II sailor set to return to Texas. He had grown up in tiny Fairdale on the Texas-Louisiana border and had swum across the Sabine to court a young woman who lived on the opposite side of the river. That woman later became his wife and the mother of their children.

The Lost Underwater Towns of Texas

Haltom City, TX

North Richland Hills, TX

Arlington, TX

Hurst, TX

Kennedale, TX

Bedford, TX

Keller, TX

Crowley, TX

NewsBreak

It’s a New Season for Fort Worth’s Abraham Alexander

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Abraham Alexander’s love song “Tear Fall Down” is filling the airwaves.” The track, which comes from his debut album, SEA/SONS,...

It’s a New Season for Fort Worth’s Abraham Alexander

Comments / 0