By Stacy M. BrownNNPA Newswire Contributor

Hollywood’s biggest names, in-cluding Tyler Perry, Halle Berry andPatton Oswalt, have all joined agrowing list of celebrities speakingup for former Cosby Show actor Ge-offrey Owens who was shamed onsocial media for working at a TraderJoe’s in New Jersey.

This week, following Owens’ ap-pearance on Good Morning Amer-ica, Bill Cosby’s spokesman AndrewWyatt exclusively told NNPANewswire that he and the comedianare both proud of Owens.

“There’s nothing wrong withworking at Trader Joe’s and I com-mend him for taking care of his fam-ily,” said Wyatt, who noted Cosbywas unavailable to comment be-cause he’s continued to closely fol-low the terms of the court order thathas him under house arrest.

Wyatt said Owens and otherCosby Show actors have been vic-timized by Hollywood studios whichhave elected to halt re-runs of theiconic show and all of Cosby’sworks.

The result, Wyatt said, is actorslike Owens are deprived of poten-tially lucrative residues cast andwriters earn from syndicated shows.

“You take ‘The Cosby Show’ offthe air, yet you leave ‘7th Heaven’on the air and all of Harvey Wein-stein’s movies are still playingwhether it’s on Netflix or Hulu youcan find them everywhere becauseyou don’t want to hurt these Holly-wood starlets and take away theirmoney and residue pay, yet you take‘The Cosby Show’ off the air,”Wyatt said.

While Cosby was convicted of ag-gravated indecent assault for an in-cident that he maintains was con-sensual, “7th Heaven” star Stephen

Collins admitted to molesting atleast three young girls and Weinsteinhas been charged with several countsof rape and more than 100 womenhave come forward accusing themovie mogul of assault.

Sporting his Trader Joe’s badge,Owens appeared on Good MorningAmerica on Tuesday, Sept. 4, oneweek after Fox News broadcast pho-tos of him stocking shelves at thegrocery store.

“No one should feel sorry for me,”

Volume XXVIII, Number XXXIII

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People In The News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Op/Ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Irving / Carrollton / Plano . . . . . . . . . . . . .7City Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-13Church Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14-15NDG Book Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

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INSIDE...

September 6-12, 2018

See Page 2

-See Page 10

See OWENS, Page 8

NNPA Exclusive: Cosbyspokesman salutes GeoffreyOwens, slams Hollywood

People In The News…

Hon. John C. Lawson Tesia Walker

READERSSOUND OFF!!!

See Page 2 to see whatNDG readers are sayingabout the latest news!

A penny foryour

thoughts-See Page 3

Rep. Giddingsreceivesaccolades

-See Page 5

NNPA pollsBlack parentson education

Collin CorporateCollege bringsDisney to campus

Cowboys admitBailey releaseabout money

Sister Tarpley:

Fulfillment ofyour vision

-See Page 6

-See Page 9

-See Page 10

-See Page 15

Better carefor Sickle Cellsufferers

-See Page 4

Morris Dayslated for FairPark show

Former Cosby Show actor Geoffrey Owens feels no shame regarding his part-time job heheld at Trader Joe’s (Image: Screenshot via NNPA)

Black Women'sExpo in Dallas

“How Not to Get Shot”ironically becomes a self-guide book

A major problem uswhite people cannot imag-ine or truthfully understandthe fear.

-- Terry Clarkvia Facebook

The American educationsystem is caught betweenChurch and State

Flemmings is just an-other selfish Christian whowants to pee his god allover everyone else’s chil-dren, plus he doesn’t ap-

pear to know what a posthoc fallacy is.

-- Brian Westley

The importanceof vaccines on your

back-to-schoolto do list

My daughter is gettingready to go back to schooland I was wanting to gether up to date on her im-munizations. Thank you forpointing out that this is thebest way to reduce the riskof infection. I'll have to dosome research and find thebest place in our area to gether vaccinated.

-- Ellie Davis

Criticism forKavanaugh(Provided by

Alliance for Justice)Brett Kavanaugh just

told Sen. Coons that he hasnever taken a position onwhether it is unconstitu-tional for sitting presidentsto be investigated or in-dicted. But Judge Ka-vanaugh’s record clearlyreveals that he believes thePresident should be im-mune from criminal inves-tigation and indictmentwhile in office. He has ar-gued that decisions essen-tial to holding the Presidentaccountable to the law, likeU.S. v. Nixon, werewrongly decided.

Kavanaugh has arguedthat “[t]he Constitution it-self seems to dictate, in ad-dition, that congressionalinvestigation must takeplace in lieu of criminal in-vestigation when the Presi-dent is the subject of inves-tigation, and that criminalprosecution can occur onlyafter the President has leftoffice.” Kavanaugh reiter-ated his preference thatPresidents should not be in-dicted while in office in aspeech in 1998.

To share youropinion visit

NorthDallasGazette.com

21CF Global Inclusion re-cently announced writerTesia Walker was selected asthis year’s Fox Writers LabFellow. Chosen from the sev-enth annual group of FWLwriters, Walker has receiveda script development dealwith Fox Broadcasting Com-pany (FOX).

The Fox Writers Lab(FWL) is an immersive pro-gram that includes a four-month curriculum, duringwhich the writers re-wrote anoriginal comedy or dramapilot script and attendedguest-speaker sessions withexperienced writers,

showrunners and producers,including producer/writerDanny Strong (EMPIRE,PROVEN INNOCENT) andshowrunners Matt Nix (THEGIFTED) and Raven Met-zner (“Marvel’s Iron Fist”).

They received professionalcoaching and were mentoredby executives at Fox Broad-casting Company, Fox 21,FX and 20th Century FoxTelevision. FWL culminatedin a “pitchfest,” in whichwriters pitched their originalideas to network and studioexecutives. All writers wereconsidered for staff writerpositions across new or re-turning FOX television se-ries.

A native New Yorker,Walker is a graduate of theColumbia University FilmM.F.A. program, where shewon Best Teleplay Pilot forher drama script, “The Bor-der,” and received the JesseThompkins III Writing Fel-

lowship. Her short film,“Search Party,” was awardedan HBO Production Grant,and also was a semi-finalistin NBC Universal’s 2016Shorts Fest. Her pilot, “TheLine,” was a recipient of the2017 Showtime Tony CoxScreenplay Competition forBest One-Hour Teleplay.

In addition to Walker, the2018 FWL class includedAnthony Florez, Felicia Hi-lario, Milton Liu, JennyDeiker Restivo, Aiah Samba,Elizabeth Stamp and JaiTiggett. To date, for the2018-2019 season, Hilario,Deiker Restivo and Walkerhave been staffed on theFOX shows LETHALWEAPON, THE RESI-

DENT and PROVEN IN-NOCENT, respectively.Tiggett has been staffed onBell Media/Sony PicturesTelevision’s “LA’s Finest.”

“We’re thrilled for Tesiaand we’re so proud of all thewriters in this year’s class.Over the course of the pro-gram, we’ve witnessed theirprofessional and artisticgrowth and we’re confidentthat their backgrounds, per-spectives and unique voiceswill strengthen our pipelineof original storytellers,” saidMyKhanh Shelton, SeniorVice President, 21CF GlobalInclusion.

“Fox Writers Lab contin-ues to yield an incredibleamount of talent,” said

Michael Thorn, President,Entertainment, FOX. “Wewant to both congratulateTesia on being named thisyear’s Fellow, and expressour heartfelt thanks to all ofthis year’s participants fortheir tremendous workthroughout FWL’s rigorousprocess. It’s an absolutehonor to witness the growththese writers experience insuch a short period of time.”

21CF Global Inclusionnurtures diverse voices andstories, both in front of andbehind the camera, through avariety of partnerships, initia-tives and programs, includingthe Fox Writers Lab, Fox Di-rectors Lab, Fox FilmmakersLab and the Fox DP Lab.

Los Angeles, CA (Black-News.com) -- Our commu-nities owe so much to thededicated officers of theProbation Department, ahard-working and vitalcomponent of public safetywhose life-changing effortshave not received the levelof recognition they deserve.

However, with thoseachievements in mind, onlast Friday, the Los AngelesCounty Deputy ProbationOfficers Union, AFSCMELocal 685, hosted the or-ganizations' 15th AnnualScholarship and AwardsBanquet. The union pre-sented scholarship awards

to youth and honored out-standing Probation Officers.Hopefully, other organiza-tions as well as the generalpublic will follow AF-SCME's model to show thatwe value the heartfelt con-tributions of the men and

women in the Los AngelesCounty probation depart-ment.

The Master of Cere-monies for this event wasMonterey Park City Coun-cilmember and Local 685First Vice President HansLiang. Liang clearly ex-pressed Local 685�s grati-tude stating, "This year, weare boldly declaring that, asa community, we are high-lighting probation officersas the heart of Los AngelesCounty. Together, we arehonoring the values andqualities of success in ourprofession. We are alsoproud to honor educators,health care workers, firefighters, law enforcement

officers, and all those whokeep our community safe."

The partnership betweenprobation officers and judi-cial officials is an importantone in keeping our commu-nities safe, The Los AngelesCounty Probation OfficersUnion, AFSCME Local 685recently awarded The Hon-orable John C. Lawson IIwho is the current Supervis-ing Judge of the JuvenileDelinquency Courts for LosAngeles County, has beenawarded its LeadershipAward.

Judge Lawson spent 19-years in the Los AngelesCounty Public Defender'sOffice. Throughout his ca-reer, he has been committed

to the accountability and re-habilitation of at-risk youth,

He worked with the LongBeach School District tolaunch the Superior CourtTeen Court program atCabrillo High School. Heparticipates in the LongBeach Gang Reduction, In-tervention, and PreventionProject (LB GRIP). Thisprogram is a collaborationwith the city, communitybased programs, law en-forcement and schools toprovide life skills develop-ment and counseling for at-risk youth and adults. JudgeLawson's chamber door isalways open to speak toyoung people and he rou-

tinely goes to schools to talkabout the court system andmaking the right choices inlife.

2018 is a pivotal year forpeace officers, as we faceescalating danger in ourpublic safety work. It is ourprofound hope that the ef-forts of these extraordinaryProbation Officers to securecalm in our communities re-ceive greater recognitionfrom the public which theyserve so devotedly.

For more details aboutthe Los Angeles CountyDeputy Probation OfficersUnion, AFSCME Local685, visit www.afscmelo-cal685.com

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214-638-5930Law Offices Of Vincent NdukweLaw Offices Of Vincent Ndukwe

2 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

Hon. John C. Lawson

Tesia Walker

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Religious/ Marketing EditorShirley Demus Tarpley(“Sister Tarpley”)

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STAFFChairman Emeritus

Jim Bochum1933 – 2009

Published ByMinority Opportunity News, Inc.

Editor Ruth Ferguson

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North Dallas Gazette assumes no responsibility forunsolicited material and reserves the right to edit and make

appropriate revisions.

The North Dallas Gazette, formerly Minority Opportunity News, was foundedin July 1991, by Mr.Jim Bochum and Mr.Thurman R. Jones. North DallasGazette is a wholly owned subsidairy of Minority Opportunity News, Inc.

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette | 3For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

“Do what you say you aregoing to do ... when you say

you are going to do it. ”

P.O. Box 763866 - Dallas, Texas 75376-3866Phone: 972-432-5219 - Fax: 972-509-9058

A penny for your thoughts

I have this habit of pick-ing up pennies since I was achild. I was born and raisedin Waterproof, Lousianaand money was hard tocome by; therefore, everypenny counted. As I waspicking up yet anotherpenny in a parking lot theother day, my mind re-flected on a few mind-pene-trating thoughts.

• What would it take foryou to pause and pick upsomething of value to youor worth your time?

• Would you pick up apenny if you see it on theground?

• Would you pick up anickel while walking in thepark?

• What about a dime?Does it make sense to stop

and pick it up?• How about a quarter? I

mean it’s 1/4 of a dollar weare talking about now.

• Let’s think about a life-less $1 bill laying on thesidewalk.

Please note, I’m not talk-ing about stealing or ille-gally taking money if youknow it is for someone else.This is merely a mental ex-ercise to evaluate the valueof funds it takes to causeyou to stop and pick it up.Pennies are undeniable theleast of money being pickedup because of its value fol-lowed by nickels, dimes,quarters, etc.

My philosophy is this,five pennies is a nickel, fivenickels is a quarter, 10dimes is a $1 and four quar-ters equal $1. In the biggerpicture, it all counts, it allhas value and it all matterscumulatively speaking. Thisis not a debate to say myconcept is correct with noregards to your opinion.

The goal is to take the samecoin and equate it to a prob-lem you see daily and walkby it without giving it a sec-ond thought.

• How many pennies willyou pass up before you de-cide to help someone inneed?

• How many nickels willyou walk by before you vol-unteer at a homeless shel-ter?

• How many dimes willyou step over before youspeak up for a family withno voice?

• How many quarters willyou overlook before you re-alize you must do some-thing now?

• Lastly, how many $1bills will you disregard be-fore you wake up and say,“I must vote!”

To someone, every pennycounts because it becomes anickel issue which escalatesto a dime situation followedby a quarter problem then

upgrades to a $1 bill disas-ter.

In summary, let’s take amoment to pay it forwardand pick it up even if it’s notyour immediate concern.Whether it is money orpractical problems we arereferring to, I dare you to becognizant to reflect onthings perhaps of little valueto you but mean the worldto a complete stranger. Thenext time you see a coin onthe ground, think about howyou can become part of thesolution.

Remember, it all countsand carries value to some-one.A.D. Jenkins serves as a

member of the Board ofTrustees of the Irving Inde-pendent School District.The views and opinions ex-pressed herein of the authorand do not necessarily re-flect the views and opinionsof the Irving ISD, its Boardof Trustees or its employees.

By CongresswomanEddie Bernice Johnson

If Education SecretaryBetsy DeVos were to con-sult the nation’s educatorsand law enforcement offi-cials she would immediatelydismiss any consideration ofproviding federal funding tostates for the purpose ofarming classroom teachers.

Under her leadership, thedepartment is currentlymulling over the idea whichhas been promulgated byPresident Trump, and his al-lies at the National Rifle As-sociation, which seems tobelieve that the answer to allof our problems is to armevery American citizen.

In a March 2018 GallupPoll, seventy-three percentof the teachers asked re-sponded that they wereagainst educators being inpossession of weapons.Nearly sixty percent of therespondents said that havingarmed teachers would createdangerously unsafe educa-tional environments.

Congress has historicallybeen opposed to the policybeing considered by DeVos.In the legislation that wepassed in March of this year,that included $50 million forlocal school districts, we re-stricted the funds to educa-tional purposes, excluding

the purchase of firearms.School safety experts, in-

cluding organizations thatrepresent school safety offi-cers, have joined legislatorsand teachers in opposing thepolicy being considered byDeVos.

It simply contravenescommon sense. If DeVosand the administration weretruly concerned about thesafety of our students and

our teachers, they wouldpropose policies that makeschools safer.

For instance, they wouldsupport laws and policiesthat prevent people with ahistory of mental illnessfrom purchasing or owningfirearms. They would prom-

ulgate the presence of fewerguns, not more.

If she will not listen to thevoices of our teachers, per-haps she will listen to thetwo largest professional or-ganizations that representAmerican educators, theNational Education Associa-tion and the National Feder-ation of Teachers. Both op-pose the possibility of fundsfor guns.

Law enforcement offi-cials, including those thathead major police chief or-ganizations in Americaoverwhelmingly opposewhat is being considered byDeVos. I have personallywritten to the Secretary ex-pressing my opposition towhat she is considering.

Seasoned educators be-lieve that more guns willlead to greater harm toteachers and students. Theyare law enforcement profes-sionals, and certainly theircounsel should be heard be-fore any decision is made.

Secretary DeVos, whocame out of the businessworld before becoming theadministration’s head edu-cator, should listen to thosewho have lived and breathededucation all of their lives.

To do otherwise would befoolish, and would simplybe evidence that the nation’seducation policies are beingset by groups such as theNational Rifle Associationand not those who have de-voted their lives to the well-

School teachers do not want guns

A.D.Jenkins

NDGColumnist

“If she will not listen to thevoices of our teachers, perhaps shewill listen to the two largest profes-sional organizations that representAmerican educators, the NationalEducation Association and the Na-tional Federation of Teachers.”

By Dr. Kevin WilliamsChief Medical OfficerPfizer Rare Disease Unit

(NNPA) The “Ask Dr.Kevin” series is brought toyou by Pfizer Rare Diseasein collaboration with theNational Newspaper Pub-lishers Association (NNPA)to increase understanding ofsickle cell disease.

With National Sickle CellAwareness Month just nextmonth, I’ve been thinking alot about the challenges thatpeople with sickle cell dis-ease (SCD) face and whatcan be done to make ameaningful change in theircare.

Evolution of the sciencebehind SCD has advancedin recent years, resulting ina new understanding of thedisease. However, thisknowledge is not common-place among individualsliving with SCD and theirhealthcare professionals. Aswith any disease, better un-derstanding and awarenessof the condition is the foun-dation for improvement inappropriate and timely care.Recently, the Sickle CellDisease Council ForCHANGE (CFC) has settheir sights on raisingawareness of the expandedscience behind the diseaseamong patients, their fami-lies, and healthcare profes-sionals.

The CFC, a group con-

vened by Pfizer and inclu-sive of more than 20 ex-perts, advocates, and pa-tients working to improvecare for SCD patients, islooking at this issue as partof a recently released reportcalled “Improving Vaso-oc-clusive Crisis (VOC) Man-agement.” In the report, theCFC explains how the un-derstanding of SCD hasevolved through the years,and outlines recommenda-tions for how to get this in-formation into the hands ofthose who can use it—healthcare professionals,emergency departmentstaff, and people living withSCD—to make a positivechange and improve patientcare.

Here is an overview ofwhat the CFC found, whichis outlined in the report:

The Expanded ScienceBehind the Disease

Let’s start at the begin-ning. A common (andsomewhat outdated) view

of SCD is that complica-tions from the disease arecaused by a simple “plumb-ing malfunction.” In otherwords, it is only the sickledred blood cells that clumptogether and cause block-ages in blood vessels thatlead to pain and organ dam-age.

Now it has been under-stood that the underlyingscience is more complexthan this.

Recent breakthroughs inthe understanding of SCDhave shown in fact that thevaso-occlusion (or blockingof minute blood vessels in-volving multiple pathwaysand different types of bloodcells), is a key factor under-lying all of the differentmanifestations of the dis-ease.

In SCD, these rigid, cres-cent-shaped cells have dif-ficulty passing throughsmall blood vessels and ir-ritate the internal lining ofthese vessels. This causes

the lining of blood vesselsto become “sticky,” and asa result, not only the redblood cells, but also whiteblood cells and plateletsclump together. This canfurther contribute to ob-structions in blood flow andinflammation. These eventscan occur even when thereare no outward signs orsymptoms, ultimately caus-ing several of the complica-tions seen with SCD.

Other factors that con-tribute to vaso-occlusionmay include stress, thethickness of a person’sblood, as well as infectionor conditions that com-monly trigger a painful cri-sis.

The most common symp-tom of vaso-occlusion is thepain crises (or vaso-occlu-sive crisis – VOC). VOC isthe cardinal manifestationof SCD and is often thoughtof synonymously withSCD.

In addition, there is an in-creasing awareness of an-other SCD complication—one that is often over-looked: chronic pain. VOCsare sudden, intense episodesof pain, while chronic pain,especially for older adoles-cents and adults, is definedas ongoing pain that hasbeen regularly present overa period of the past sixmonths.

What makes it more com-plicated? People with SCD

can experience VOCs whilealso suffering from chronicpain. And while VOCs areroutinely treated with opi-oid medications, chronicpain should be managedseparately and with a differ-ent approach. Ongoing,long-term use of opioidscan lead to drug tolerance,which causes people withSCD to require higherdoses. However, accordingto the report, considering al-ternative pain relief optionswhen appropriate, alongwith regular reassessmentof medication use and dose,may be helpful in minimiz-ing this issue.

Getting the Word OutIt is great news that the

understanding of the sci-ence of SCD has evolved,but it is important to makesure that the right people,especially patients and theirdoctors, are aware that SCDis far more complex thanbeing just a disease of redblood cells in order to makea meaningful difference.

Armed with this informa-tion, individuals living withSCD and their healthcareprofessionals better under-stand and explain the variedsymptoms an individual canhave. They can make moreinformed treatment deci-sions for their SCD patients,and people with SCD canbe empowered to advocatefor better care. Additionally,

this new understanding ofSCD among both healthcareprofessionals and patientscan lead to better communi-cation and more positive in-teractions in the future.

The time for change isnow, and the CFC is work-ing to get the word outabout the urgency aroundimproved care for SCD.Learn more about the Coun-cil here and read their firstreport here.

The next Ask Dr. Kevinarticle will be available thisfall. Until then, join the con-versation and find out moreinformation about SCD atoneSCDvoice.com, a col-laborative platform that pro-vides access to resourcesdesigned to increase knowl-edge, provide emotionalsupport, and help empowerpeople living with SCD.Sign up for free today.Dr. Kevin Williams is the

Chief Medical Officer forRare Disease at Pfizer. Hepursued medicine afterbeing inspired by his fa-ther’s work as a generalpractitioner in his home-town of Baton Rouge,Louisiana. Dr. Kevin is pas-sionate about raisingawareness and increasingunderstanding of rare dis-eases, such as sickle celldisease, in the AfricanAmerican community. Youcan follow Pfizer on Face-book and Twitter.

Health www.NorthDallasGazette.com

4 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

Libertas Academica / Flickr

Out with the old, in with a new understanding to improve SCD care

Stop police murder of Black youthBy Stacy M. BrownNNPA Contributor

Civil Rights leaders andothers reacted with a senseof relief – if only temporary– after a Texas jury sen-tenced a former police offi-cer to 15 years in prisonWednesday for the shootingdeath of an unarmedAfrican-American teen in aDallas suburb.

“The child murdering copjust got 15 years in prison… he’ll likely serve all 15,”said activist Shaun King. “Itdoesn’t bring Jordan [Ed-wards] back, but it’s theclosest thing to justicewe’ve seen.”

A day earlier when thesame jury found former Po-lice Officer Roy Oliverguilty, King said it was an“answer to our prayers.”

“A bittersweet momentfor his family and for all ofus who’ve fought non-stopfor justice,” King wrote onTwitter. “We’d rather Jor-

dan be alive, but this was soimportant.”

Journalist Jamil Smithnoted a connection fromJordan to Emmett Till.

“I look at his face and seeEmmett Till, lynched 63years ago today. This storydidn’t end in the typical

fashion, though,” Smithsaid. “Oliver was convicted.I hate that this news is sosurprising.”

The jury deliberated for12 hours before decidingthe fate of Oliver, the for-mer Balch Springs, Texasofficer. In addition to theprison term, it imposed a

fine of $10,000.Oliver was convicted of

murder for the killing ofJordan Edwards, a 15-year-old high school freshman.

He fired into a car full ofteens on April 29 last year,saying he believed it wasmoving aggressively to-

ward his partner.Dallas County District

Attorney Faith Johnson de-scribed Oliver as a “killer inblue” who violated his oathto protect citizens.

Prosecutors sought a sen-tence of at least 60 yearswhile the defense argued for20 years or less.

“The fact that Roy Oliverwas even indicted for mur-der was already a small vic-tory, but to be found guiltyand convicted by a jury?These things don’t happen,”said Finessa Hudgens ofDallas. “So, although 15years may not seem like

Officer Roy Oliver was convicted of murder for the shooting of aBlack teen in Balch Springs.

See MURDER, Page 5

Dallas County Tax Asses-sor/Collector John R. Amesis proud of the number98.75 percent. This figurerepresents the percentage ofDallas County taxpayerswho have already paid their2017 annual property taxes(2018 taxes will be billed inOctober 2018). Eventhough that percentage iseye-opening in terms ofcompliance, the small per-centage that remain unpaidstill owe Dallas County tax-ing entities over $88 million

in unpaid property taxes.For this reason, Ames isstepping up the County’scollection efforts.

Ames stated, “Essentialservices such as law en-forcement, quality schools,roadways, and courts all de-pend on these much neededrevenues. All we ask is thateveryone carries their equalshare.”

As part of its collectionprogram, the County of Dal-las has asked the law firm ofLinebarger Goggan Blair &

Sampson, LLP to assist inthe collection. In August,Linebarger mailed 30,828letters to Dallas Countyproperty owners. The letterprovides important noticesto the taxpayers requestingtheir immediate attention. Italso provides essential infor-mation, which may be bene-ficial to some of the taxpay-ers.

Ames advises everyone,“Please open your letter andgive the law firm a call. Al-though the law firm cannot

give you legal advice, theywill assist you and guideyou in the right direction soyou can resolve the out-standing obligation.” Forthose who do nothing, addi-tional collection processessuch as a lawsuit, tax fore-closure or a tax warrant (forbusiness owners) may be aconsequence.

Both Ames and the lawfirm recognize some taxpay-ers face difficulty paying.Bridget Moreno Lopez,managing partner of the law

firm said, “Taxpayers shouldcontact us immediately toadvise us of their given situ-

ation. My office will make

Community

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette | 5

www.NorthDallasGazette.com

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

Ana Martin / Unsplash

See TAX, Page 7

He fired into a car full ofteens on April 29 last year,saying he believed it wasmoving aggressively to-ward his partner.

Dallas County DistrictAttorney Faith Johnson de-scribed Oliver as a “killer inblue” who violated his oathto protect citizens.

Prosecutors sought a sen-tence of at least 60 yearswhile the defense argued for

20 years or less.“The fact that Roy Oliver

was even indicted for mur-der was already a small vic-tory, but to be found guiltyand convicted by a jury?These things don’t happen,”said Finessa Hudgens ofDallas. “So, although 15years may not seem likemuch, this could be the startof something great,” Hud-gens said.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis,Jr., the president and CEOof the National NewspaperPublishers Association,wrote in an email that theOliver’s sentence “finallybreaks the systematic prob-lem of denying equal justiceto the families and victimsof racially-motivated policemurders of Black personsacross the United States.”

White police officersmust be held accountable,said Chavis, a long-time

civil rights activist and one-time head of the NAACP.

“The prison sentenceshould have been at mini-mum a life sentence for thisbrutal murder of an inno-cent Black teenager,” hesaid.

“But today, at least policeofficers in America are puton notice: if you murder us,you will be punished andimprisoned. We must stopthese racist police mur-ders.”

MURDER, continued from Page 4

Rep. Helen Giddings to be honored for advocacy for children on Sept. 25TexProtects, Champions

for Safe Children selected forits 2018 Children’s Cham-pion the Honorable HelenGiddings, State Representa-tive, District 109 (DallasCounty). Rep. Giddings isbeing honored for her leader-ship as an advocate for chil-dren throughout a quarter-century in the Texas Legisla-ture.

Additionally, the Rees-

Jones Center for Foster CareExcellence at Children'sHealth will be the Children’sHero awardee for its excel-lence providing primary careto foster care youth.

The awardees will be rec-ognized at the Gala on Sept.25, at Hotel ZaZa.

According to TexProtects,Rep. Helen Giddings hasstood up for childrenthroughout her quarter-cen-

tury in the Texas Legislature,securing alcohol-free zonesaround schools and ending"lunch shaming" to ensurethat students receive at leastone hot meal a day. She ledefforts to overhaul juvenilejustice laws to cease thecriminalization of youngchildren.

In the 80th Legislative Ses-sion, Rep. Giddings authoredlegislation protecting foster

care youths by requiringpeace officers to report fam-ily violence incidences oc-curring at foster homes orfoster facilities to be reportedto the Department of Familyand Protective Services andproviding DFPS access todomestic disturbance recordsas part of foster home verifi-cation checks before placinga child in the home.

The public is invited to the

event which will help launchTexProtects into what theyhope is a transformationalyear leading toward an evenbrighter future. Funds raisedsupport TexProtects' mission:research, advocacy and edu-cation to improve Texas’child protection system andto support child preventionprograms.

More info at www.TexPro-tects.org/event/.

State Representative Helen Gid-dings (Courtesy photo)

Operation Kindness celebrates the 25th annual Dog Day AfternoonCalling all furry friends

and their owners to attend the25th annual Dog Day After-noon presented by OperationKindness – North Texas’original and largest no-killanimal shelter – and spon-sored by Pet Supplies Plus.Considered the most antici-pated festival of the summerfor dog lovers, this free eventwill be held Saturday, Sept. 8,from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at theOperation Kindness Animalshelter located at 3201Earhart Drive in Carrollton.

Joining the lineup of fes-

tivities and to celebrate thismomentous occasion, nation-ally renowned Animal Com-municator and IntuitiveCoach Sandra Larson will

make a special appearance.Highlights of the 2018 DogDay Afternoon will also in-clude:

• A “Mutt Midway” with

dozens of vendors and foodtrucks - the first 100 dogs inattendance will be eligible toreceive FREE microchippingby Operation Kindness staff

• Low cost pet vaccina-tions will be offered, as wellas demonstrations on PetCPR technique and Pet FirstAid

• All dogs present can alsoparticipate in a variety of Ca-nine Contests such as “BestCostume,” “Best Stupid PetTrick” and “Best PoochSmooch”

• “Prize Wheel” and

“Puppy Kissing Booth”• “Pet CPR and First Aid”

demonstrations• “Unicorn Photo Opportu-

nities” compliments of AirPonies

• “Face Painting”• DJ music – owners and

their pups can bust their bestmoves together

“Dog Day Afternoon wascreated as a way to celebratethe bond between dogs andtheir owners, and to providea free, fun event for the com-munity to get to know us,”said Jim Hanophy, CEO of

Operation Kindness. “Thisyear we’re celebrating theevent’s 25th anniversary andare so proud it has becomethe biggest dog party intown.”

Created in 1993 the pur-pose of Dog Day Afternoonwas to recognize dog sup-porters, adopters and advo-cates in Dallas-Fort Worthand continues to raise aware-ness for Operation Kindness’mission in finding lovinghomes for homeless petswhile caring for them in asafe, no-kill environment.

Warnings Issued to Delinquent Taxpayers in Dallas County

By Chris Abbott

As kids head back toschool this fall, they’re notthe only ones feeling a re-newed sense of vigor andmotivation. For many of us,September is synonymouswith the fresh start of a newschool year and the satisfac-tion that comes from busy,productive days and learn-ing new things.

That makes this a greattime of year to break out ofthe monotony of stale rou-tines, and that’s especiallytrue for older adults. For allthe wonderful things aboutretirement, the wide-opendays with no deadlines ordefinitive plans can some-times make it tough to staymotivated.

So this year, use back-to-school season as a force forgood by making somechanges that can put you ona path to a healthier, happieryear ahead. Consider the fol-lowing ideas that can takeyou to the head of the classwhen it comes to your healthand quality of life.

Volunteer. Use yourwealth of experience, wis-dom and practical skills tobenefit your community byvolunteering for causes thatare important to you. Whileyou’re helping your com-munity, you’ll be helpingyourself, too. Three-quartersof U.S. adults feel physicallyhealthier by volunteering,according to the 2017 DoingGood is Good for You studyfrom UnitedHealthcare and

VolunteerMatch.Pass it on through Play.

Whether you’re a grandpar-ent, family friend or neigh-bor, you could make a dif-ference in a young person’slife by spending quality timewith them and modelinghealthy choices. Teaching achild a timeless activity orskill that you enjoyed inyour youth – like fishing,checkers or a card game –can be a great way to passon traditions and have funwhile also helping kids tocut down on time in front ofa computer, tablet or smart-phone screen.

Put it on Your Schedule.You likely relied on a classschedule and student plan-ner to help you stay ac-countable back in your

school days. That same con-cept can keep you disci-plined when it comes tostaying active and gettingenough exercise. Whetherit’s gardening, attending anexercise class at your localgym, or just taking a regularbike ride or walk aroundyour neighborhood, writingit on your calendar and plan-ning your other activitiesaround this time that you’vecarved out for exercise canbe a good practice to ensureyou don’t brush it off.

Head Back to Class. Evenif it’s been decades sinceyou’ve stepped foot in aclassroom, it’s not too late tolearn something new. Andchallenging your mind canbe one of the best ways to

By Freddie AllenNNPA Contributor

The National NewspaperPublishers Association(NNPA) announced plans toconduct a groundbreakingsurvey that will gauge theawareness and impact ofPresident Barack Obama’seducation law—the EveryStudent Succeeds Act—inthe Black community.

The NNPA is a t radegroup that represents morethan 200 Black-ownedmedia companies and news-papers in the United States,that reach an estimated 20million readers, combined,in print and online, everyweek.

President Obama signedthe Every Student SucceedsAct (ESSA) on December10, 2015, replacing the Bushadministration’s No ChildLeft Behind Act. ESSA en-courages a personalized ed-ucational environment; sup-ports programs that enhanceparental engagement inschools; and improvesguidelines about targeted re-sources for historically, un-derserved schools.

In late 2016, the NNPAreceived a three-year grantfrom the Gates Foundationto develop a multi-mediapublic awareness campaignfocused on ESSA, improv-ing educational outcomes

for Black students and in-creasing parental engage-ment.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis,Jr., the president and CEO ofthe NNPA, thanked theGates Foundation for collab-orating with the Black Pressto help raise public aware-ness about the Every Stu-dent Succeeds Act.

Dr. Chavis described theESSA awareness research asa “proactive move.”

“Rather than let peopleoutside of our communitytell us what’s going on in-side our community, this isan opportuni ty for the[Black Press]—the peoplewho work and serve and liveand thrive in the commu-nity—to do our own re-search.”

Dr. Chavis said that thedata will help the NNPA andother community stakehold-ers gain insight into how to

be more effective in raisingpublic awareness aroundESSA.

“This study will also givea stronger voice to parents,educators and caregivers inthe Black community,” Dr.Chavis said.

The NNPA has a trackrecord of success for meas-uring the pulse of the Blackcommunity. The trade grouppartnered with Howard Uni-versity in Washington, D.C.for a national poll of Blackvoters ahead of the 2016midterms and for a 2017poll on sickle cell disease(SCD) in the Black commu-nity; the SCD poll was sup-ported by the pharmaceuti-cal giant Pfizer.

During a press conferenceabout the results of theNNPA/Pfizer SCD poll,Michael Goettler, the globalpresident of Pfizer’s RareDisease unit, said that the

survey analysis provided abasis for Pfizer to seek moredetailed assistance for SCDsufferers, who are dispro-portionately Black.

Dr. Chavis said that thesuccess of the Black voterpoll and the SCD poll notonly opened doors for otherresearch opportunities, butthat it also showed thatBlack folks trust and rely onthe Black Press.

During a 2017 interviewwith the NNPA Newswire,John King, the former U.S.Secretary of Education andcurrent president and CEOof the Education Trust, a na-tional nonprofit organizationfocused on closing opportu-nity and achievement gaps,said that the Black Press hasa hugely important role inmobilizing Black parentsaround education andESSA.

“It’s partly about tellingthe story about [exposingacademic and opportunitygaps], but it’s also aboutchanging the narrative,”King said. “Sometimes, wefocus only on what isn’tgoing well, but there’s also apowerful story to tell aboutwhat is going well.”

Dr. Chavis said that theESSA survey and the datathat is collected should playsignificant roles in craftingthose powerful stories.

The ESSA survey will be

conducted online and targetpre-selected markets in Cal-ifornia including: Los Ange-les and the surrounding re-gions (Orange County, Ven-tura County, San BernardinoCounty, and Rivers ideCounty); San Francisco;Oakland; San Jose; Sacra-mento; Stockton; Modesto;San Diego; Fresno; Visaliaand Bakersfield.

NNPA member publica-tions in California will helpto promote and distribute thesurvey and the results willbe shared broadly across thenation.

Dr. Reggie Weaver, theformer president of the Na-tional Education Association(NEA), said that, all toooften, parents are not en-gaged in the education oftheir children.

“Any way that informa-tion about ESSA can be cou-pled with getting parents toact on the things that are inthe law is absolutely criti-cal,” Weaver said. “What theNNPA is doing to educateand inform parents of theirrights is important.”

Weaver said that parentscan’t sit back and be specta-tors in the education of theirchildren; they have to be ac-tive participants. That meansgetting involved in school

board meetings, workingwith teachers and school ad-ministrators, and participat-ing in surveys like theNNPA’s education poll.

Dr. Chavis said that theresults from the NNPA’s ed-ucation poll will not only beused to develop successfulmodels for future publicawareness campaigns, butthe national exposure wouldalso help to enhance the vis-ibility and value of Blacknewspapers in California.

“This is a historic momentfor the NNPA and we are en-couraged that so many ofour members will be able toparticipate,” Dr. Chavis said.“We are eagerly waiting forthe study to commence andto get the results.”

Dr. Chavis continued:“This is just the beginning.The NNPA will continue toseek out culturally-relevantresearch opportunities in ouron-going effort to improvethe quality of life in theBlack community.”

Learn more about theNNPA’s ESSA awarenesspoll at nnpa.org/essa.Freddie Allen is the for-

mer Editor-in-Chief of theNNPA Newswire and Black-PressUSA.com. You can fol-low Freddie on Twitter@freddieallenjr.

6 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

Education www.NorthDallasGazette.com

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

See BACK, Page 12

NNPA polls Black parents on the Every Student Succeeds Act

The NNPA will conduct a unique, education poll about the awarenessand impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act among African Ameri-

can parents, educators, and opinion leaders. (Pixabay.com)

Back-to-school season: not just for kids

Arts & Entertainmentwww.NorthDallasGazette.com Irving / Carrollton / Plano

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette | 7For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

Morris Day Performing At STATE FAIR CLASSIC

every effort to assist the tax-payers of Dallas County.”

Ames further added,“Most of our taxpayers takepride in paying their taxes.They understand that thequality of services providedis dependent upon everyonein the community doing

their part. It’s unfortunatethat we have to providethese notices; however, atthe same time, we have toadvise our taxpayers of whatcan realistically happen ifthey fail to pay or resolvetheir delinquency.”

Lastly, Ames added, “We

ask that our citizens contactthe Dallas Central AppraisalDistrict to see if they are en-titled to any of the exemp-tions that state law permits.If any of our citizens are fac-ing a hardship of any kindthey are asked to please ad-vise the tax office or the lawfirm of their given situa-tion.”

TAX, continued from Page 5

Collin Corporate College welcomesDisney Institute to Frisco

Disney Institute is bring-ing its renowned profes-sional development course,Disney’s Approach to Qual-ity Service, to Frisco from 9a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday,October 30, 2018 at CollinCollege Preston RidgeCampus, Conference Cen-ter, 9700 Wade Boulevardin Frisco. Sponsored byCollin Corporate College,the one-day event will helparea professionals begin toexamine how they can dif-ferentiate their service tobecome a provider ofchoice and understand theprocesses necessary to de-velop a culture that consis-tently delivers that excep-tional service. This day ofDisney Institute traininguses business insights andtime-tested examples fromDisney parks and resortsworldwide to inspire indi-viduals and organizations toenhance their own customerexperience using Disneyprinciples as their guide.

Disney’s Approach toQuality Service gives par-

ticipants the chance to ex-plore how customer experi-ence insights and time-tested examples from Dis-ney parks and resortsworldwide can provide rele-vant illustrations and en-gaging stories to help or-ganizations deliver the typeof long-term results they arecapable of delivering.

Registration is $600 perperson and includes allcourse materials as well ascomplimentary parking,Wi-Fi, continental break-fast, lunch, snacks, coffee,tea, water and completioncertificate. Receive a pricebreak by registering EarlyBird, Alumni, & GroupRate registration availablethrough Oct. 12. For moreinformation or to register,visit www.collin.edu/corpo-

ratecollege/disney, emailcorporatecollege@collin.edu, or call 972.599.3110.

About Disney InstituteAs the trusted, authorita-

tive voice on the Disney ap-proach to customer experi-ence, Disney Institute usesbusiness insights and time-tested examples from Dis-ney parks and resortsworldwide to inspire indi-viduals and organizations toenhance their own customerexperience using Disneyprinciples as their guide.For nearly three decades,Disney Institute has helpedprofessionals discover waysto positively impact theirorganizations and the cus-tomer they serve throughimmersion in leadership,service and employee en-gagement. Unique to Dis-ney Institute is the opportu-nity to go behind the scenesin a “living laboratory” toobserve firsthand how Dis-ney methodologies are op-erationalized and how theycan be adapted and appliedto any work environment.

Smart People, Smart Place: City partners withWAZE to make drive through Plano easier

The City of Plano is work-ing with the creators of theWAZE app to speed up thedrive through Plano. City en-gineers are now updatingWAZE providing locations ofroad construction and traffic.This crucial information willhelp the app users better nav-igate Plano.

Plano has been a memberof WAZE Connected CitizenProgram since summer of2017. The WAZE applicationprovides a platform for driv-ers to share information suchas traffic congestion and ac-cidents, and use this informa-tion to provide better naviga-

tion. Because they rely on ac-curate and timely data, theycreated the Connected Citi-zens Program, which workswith local governments fromaround the world to collect(or even help create) datafeeds including planned roadclosures, locations of parkinglots, and speed limits onroads.

In return for the data aboutour roads, Waze sharesanonymous, aggregatedcrowdsourced data reportedby the community includingtraffic congestion and hazardinformation at no cost. Weare learning how to use this

data to improve travel fordrivers. We believe using thiscrowdsourced data will aid usin improving mobility inPlano.

The partnership withWAZE is the City’s latestSmart City initiative. SmartCities are urban areas that usean array of technology toelectronically collect infor-mation to manage commu-nity services, from trans-portation to finding lost pets.Smart City tools are designedto improve the efficiency ofCity operations and servicesand simplify residents’ dailylives.

8 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

City Briefs

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

www.NorthDallasGazette.com

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AllenThe St. Jude Carnival

and Music Festival will beheld on Sep. 8, starting at 7p.m. at St. Jude CatholicChurch, in Allen. Sit underthe stars and enjoy greatjazz and swing band musicfeaturing Michael Manzoniand his all jazz band, withmusical director EymardFurtado. Everyone is in-vited. Be sure to bring yourfamily and friends. Formore information, visitFacebook.com/events.

ArlingtonThe Downtown Arling-

ton Brewing Arts Festival,is expected to take place onSept. 13 to Sept. 15, from 12p.m. to midnight, in Down-town Arlington. Arts, crafts

and craft brews will flowthrough the streets ofdowntown as thousands ofvisitors and local residentsgather for a celebration ofthe city’s thriving arts andcreative community. A col-lision of art, music, foodtrucks,and craft beer that’lllight up the city’s bustlingUrban Union entertainmentdistrict.

CarrolltonThe Step on the Square

will take place on Sep. 8, 6p.m. to 9 p.m. at HistoricDowntown, in Carrollton.Come out for a performancefrom the hardest hittin'country rock band in DFW:Big City Outlaws. This bandwill jump the fence fromcountry to top 40 all night

long. Their one-of-a-kindshow will have crowds twostepping and line dancing toan array of classic hits. Two-step dance lessons will beprovided at the event. Theevent will also include foodand beverages for purchasefrom area food trucks suchas funnel cakes, potatoswirls, corn dogs, sausageon a stick, fried Oreos, friedSnickers, iced tea, andlemonade. For more in-formation, visit Face-book.com/events.

DallasMeet Your Mentor will

be hosted by WEDallas andCapital One, on Sept. 7,from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. atCapital Factory + The DEC,in Dallas. Experienced fe-

male entrepreneurs and pro-fessionals to offer their ad-vice during "Speed Mentor-ing". Individual tables willbe set up for each mentor.Participants will start offwith a mentor and have 15minutes to discuss theirbusiness, experience as a fe-male entrepreneur, wins andneeds, and whatever elsethey have in mind. For moreinformation, visitEventbrite.com

The FEDDs Mega BlockWalk and Family Picnicwill be held on Sept. 8 from9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CasaLinda Park, in Dallas. Be-sides the FEDD, the DCDPcoordinated campaign, thePark Cities DemocraticWomen Associa t ion

(PCDWA), the Blue Bron-cos, the Women of DallasUnited for Action (WDUA),Forward Motion Texas, andDallas Dems 114, will jointogether to do a block walk.They will also have a old-fashioned picnic with foodtrucks, and games. Formore information, contactJill Cochran at jill-cochran5@gmail.com.

FriscoStand Up For Your Su-

perpowers will be held onSept. 8, from 3 p.m. to 6p.m. at Sci-Tech DiscoveryCenter, in Frisco. StandUpLD, a Dallas non-profit sup-port network for parents andeducators seeking educa-tional resources to supportand inspire children with

learning differences. This isa free event for DFW stu-dents ages 6-12 years oldwith dyslexia, ADHD & re-lated learning & attentiondifferences. The studentswill spend the afternoon to-gether in a healthy, safe andsupportive environment tohelp them realize that theyare not alone. Every partici-pant will create their ownsuperhero item, an item thatrepresents their own super-powers. Then the studentswill have an opportunity totalk about their superheroitem and how that itemhelps exemplify their reallife super powers and ac-commodate their real-life challenges. To regis-ter for the event, visitEventbrite.com.

Carrollton Fire Rescue offers CPR/AED and first aid classesCarrollton Fire Rescue

(CFR) has a goal for asmany citizens as possible tobe trained in CPR and is ex-tending a challenge to thelocal community: gettrained, save a life.

This fall, CPR/AEDclasses will be held the firstand third Saturdays of eachmonth through December(September 1 and 15, Octo-ber 6 and 20, November 3and 17, and December 1 and15) from 9:15 a.m. to 12:15p.m. at Crosby RecreationCenter (1610 E. CrosbyRoad). The sessions are $25for both Carrollton residents

and non-residents. Partici-pants will learn techniquesof CPR for adults and chil-dren, pediatrics, obstructedairway management, and

how to use AEDs.Basic First Aid classes

will be offered on the thirdSaturday of each month(September 15, October 20,

November 17, and Decem-ber 15) from 12:15-3:15p.m. at the same location.Those classes are $15 forboth Carrollton residents andnon-residents. Sign up tolearn how to identify thesigns and symptoms of aheart attack and what to doin cases of breathing diffi-culty, cuts, broken bones, di-abetic problems, seizures,and other medical emergen-cies.

Each year, more than350,000 out-of-hospital car-diac arrests occur in theUnited States, according tothe American Heart Associa-

tion. Almost 90 percent ofthose victims die. CPR, es-pecially if performed in thefirst few minutes of cardiacarrest, can double or triple aperson’s chance of survival.

Without bystander CPR, acardiac arrest victim’schance of survival decreasesby 10 percent every minute,according to the AmericanHeart Association. By-stander CPR (and early AEDuse when available) is theonly way to increase thechance of survival, which isCFR’s ultimate goal throughthe trainings they offer.

CFR encourages local

businesses, churches, home-owners associations, andother groups to schedule on-site training courses to es-tablish what could be a saferenvironment should a car-diac episode occur. CFR in-structors will travel to yourlocation and provide sched-uled, one-on-one training.

For more information orto schedule a training, call214-243-0320. To registerfor the upcoming Adult,Child, & Infant CPR/AEDand First Aid courses, visitcityofcarrollton.com/signup-now under the Educationsection.

said Owens, who playedElvin, the husband of San-dra Huxtable on ‘The CosbyShow.”

“I’ve had a great life. I’vehad a great career and I’vehad a career that most actorswould die for,” he said.

The actor noted that hewas overwhelmed by the re-sponse he’s received afterthe shaming incident. “I feellike more of a celebrity nowthan when I actually was acelebrity,” he said.

Since leaving “The CosbyShow,” Owens has workedpart-time as an actor and asa producer.

He has taught acting anddirecting at Yale and other

universities for more than30 years. But, he said hetook the Trader Joe’s job 15months ago to support hisfamily.

Since the GMA appear-ance, however, Perry haspublicly offered him a roleon a popular OWN televi-sion show and others likeBerry and Oswalt havetweeted support.

“My respect to actor Ge-offrey Owens, who foundhonest work between gigs.As Fox News will tell you,all actors, when not acting,seal themselves in protein-solution ‘shame pods’ untilre-activated by the Councilof Casting,” Oswalt said.

“Geoff rey had thecourage to stand up to theCouncil,” he said.

Berry, the Oscar winningactress, also saluted Oswalt.

“Labor Day celebrates thevalue of our country’s work-ers. I’m just so sad to hearthan an American felt theneed to ‘expose’ a man forworking hard,” Berry said.

“I wish there were morepeople with as much in-tegrity as Geoffrey Owens.”

For his part, Owens dis-cussed the sanctity andhonor of being a workingperson. Every job is “worth-while,” he said.

“I hope what doesn’t passis this … rethinking aboutwhat it means to work,” hesaid. “The honor of the

working person and the dig-nity of work. And I hopethat this period we’re innow, where we have aheightened sense about thatand a reevaluation of what itmeans to work, the reevalu-ation of the idea that somejobs are better than others.”

Wyatt said Owens dis-played what “The CosbyShow” was all about.

“What Mr. Cosby builtwas legacy. It wasn’t justlegacy to show how familiesshould conduct themselvesand live in a certain way insociety,” he said.

“It was to make sure thatthese actors were able tosurvive and enjoy theirlivelihoods. Yet, [the powersthat be] have taken it away.”

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FROM YOU!Send stories and suggestions to

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OWENS, continued from Page 1

By Dwain PriceNDG Sports SpecialContributor

FRISCO – The DallasCowboys sent shock wavesreverberating around the Na-tional Football League lastSaturday when they surpris-ingly waived veteran place-kicker, Dan Bailey.

The furor erupted becauseBailey is the second-mostaccurate kicker in NFL his-tory with a field goal accu-racy of 88.2 percent. But theCowboys defended theircontroversial decision whilelisting a myriad of reasonswhy they chose to releaseBailey and instead hitchtheir wagon to 28-year oldCanadian Football Leaguecastoff Brett Maher, who hasnever kicked in an NFL reg-ular season game.

Bailey suffered a groin in-jury late last season, andwhen he returned to thelineup, he was just five-of-eight on field goals andmissed the only two extrapoints of his career. Also,Maher pleasantly raisedsome eyebrows when heconverted a 57-yard fieldgoal in the preseason finaleagainst the Houston Texanslast week.

And then there’s the all-important money factor. Bai-ley was set to earn $3.4 mil-lion this season, whileMaher will collect less than$500,000.

“There’s a business side tomaking a lot of decisions wemake in the era of the salarycap,” Cowboys coach JasonGarrett said. “You have toallocate dollars to certainguys, and you have to decidewhere you can maybe savesome money and save somesalary cap space.

“I think the biggest thingyou will look at is (Baileyhas) had some injuries overthe last couple of years. Hehad a back (injury) two yearsago, he had the groin (in-jury) last year. Obviously hedidn’t kick his best down thestretch last year – a lot of dif-ferent reasons for that — butagain, when we put the

whole thing together and de-cided what was the best forour football team, this is thedecision we felt like we hadto make and it was a harddecision.”Meanwhile, others remain

on the rosterThe decision to release

Bailey served as the back-drop on a chaotic Saturdayfor the Cowboys, who willopen the regular season Sun-day at 3:25 p.m. at the Car-olina Panthers. For starters,on Friday night tight endRico Gathers was arrested inFrisco for possession ofmarijuana, yet he was stillable to make the Cowboys’final 53-man roster.

“Obviously the incidentthat happened Friday nightwas poor judgment on hispart, and it’s not somethingwe want from any of ourplayers,” Garrett said.“There will be consequencesfor that.

“That was poor judgment.Ultimately we didn’t think itwas enough to impact thedecision that we made withour 53-man roster.”

The Cowboys also de-cided to place center TravisFrederick on their 53-manroster instead of putting himon injured reserve. Frederickwas recently diagnosed withthe auto-immune diseasecalled Guillain Barre Syn-drome and had he beenplaced on injured reserve, byNFL rules he would havebeen forced to miss at leasteight games.

“He’s working out on hisown, and he’s been able tohandle the work so far,” Gar-rett said of Frederick. “Soagain, you take it day-by-day.

“From my perspective,the information I’ve gotten,there hasn’t been any drasticsetbacks in any way. He’sgetting into his program, andhopefully, it’ll continue torespond the right way.”

Is the offense ready forthe season?

In the meantime, the sea-son opener will be the firstgame for running backEzekiel Elliott since last sea-son. Elliott did not play inany of the four preseasongames for precautionary rea-sons, but all indicationsshow that he’s fired up toface the Panthers.

“Man, Zeke’s been on itsince we started (training)camp,” right guard ZackMartin said. “I’m sure youguys have seen it.

“Just the way he’s run-ning, the way he’s approach-ing every day. I think he’sready for a good year.”

Joe Looney, who has thedifficult task of replacingFrederick as the Cowboys’starting center, also has no-ticed how focused Elliott hasbeen during training campand throughout the presea-son.

“Any time you’ve got aplayer like that on your ros-ter you’re excited to block

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette | 9

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See COWBOYS, Page 16

Cowboys admit money wasa factor in cutting Bailey

Dan Bailey (Photo: Keith Allison / Flickr)

STATE FAIR CLASSIC Sept 29th, The BIGGEST YET

By Tiffany GilbertNDG Entertainment

Fall entertainment isheating up already withheadline concerts this week,but also promises of morewith the 2018 State FairClassic game with a postgame concert featuringMorris Day & The Time.The show kicks off at 8:30p.m. on the Chevy MainStage. Tickets are availableat Ticketmaster.com. Moredetails about the line-up arehere.

The fall concert season isoff to a very hot start withMr. and Mrs. Carter comingto Jerry’s World on Sept. 11and then immediately after-wards on Sept. 13 Boys IIMen perform in Dallas.NDG readers have an op-portunity to win tickets toboth shows. Read below formore details on this andother things to do in Dallasthis week.

What is your favorite Jay-Z or Beyonce song, visit

NDG’s Facebook page andtell us for an opportunity towin tickets to see the JAY-ZAND BEYONCE: OTR IIshow at AT&T Stadium onSept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Oth-erwise hurry up and getyour ticket to see the queenand her king perform live.This is something that youdon’t wanna miss.

“So we’ve come to theend of the road…” Is thereany graduating class since1991 that has not playedthis anthem song by Boyz IIMen at least once duringtheir senior year? Not many.But it is just one of the leg-endary group’s many hitsover their 25-year history.NDG readers have an op-

portunity to win tickets tosee the trio in Dallas onSept. 13 at the AT&T Per-forming Arts Center.

Man (or woman) cannotlive by music alone, so ifyou want to get your laughon Sommore is live at theArlington Improv on Sept. 7at 7:30 p.m. Come out for alaugh, you can buy yourtickets at the Improv.

Enjoy an afternoon at theAfrican American Mu-seum in Dallas located at

3536 Grand Avenue, Dallas.It is an opportunity to learnmore about the culture.Visit aamdallas.org formore info.

Dru Hill & Sisqo willperform at House of Bluesin Dallas on Sept. 8 from 7p.m. to 11 p.m. sharing alltheir greatest hits so getready to sing your heart out.Tickets are available here.

UFC 228 brings twoworld title fights to theAmerican Airlines Center

on Sept. 8 from 5:15 p.m. to11 p.m. Tickets are avail-able at Ticketmaster.com.

If hungry enjoy an after-noon of art and history witha bite of BBQ and more atthe Bishop Arts Food &Historical Tour at theLockhart Smokehouse onSept. 9 from 1 p.m. to 4:30p.m. Come take a tour ofthe eclectic and amazingBishop Arts District on foot.More info is available atVisit Dallas.

By Stacy M. BrownNNPA Contributor

Peabo Bryson grew up inSouth Carolina readingBlack-owned newspaperslike the Palmetto Leaderand the Lighthouse and In-former.

A n d , t h e l e g e n d a r ycrooner who’s new album,“Stand for Love,” droppedon Aug. 3, said he felt com-fortable opening up to theBlack Press about hisaward-winning career, latestCD, and his 7-month-oldson whom he spent the bet-ter part of an hour-long in-terview cooing over.

“[Mainstream] news ishard to trust. I want to be

the king of real news, notfake news,” Bryson, 67,said with a hearty laugh.

“Growing up in the Black

culture meant reading Blacknewspapers and it also

Car Review

10 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

Entertainment Too! Let NDG Entertainment be a part of your upcoming events! Contact marketing@northdallasgazette.com

Do you have an upcoming event? Contact NDG Entertainment at marketing@northdallasgazette.com

New CD release shows that PeaboBryson still ‘Stands For Love’

NDG Entertainment Ticket Giveaway!!! Visit us on Facebook to win ticketsto the the hottest events in Dallas/Fort Worth!!!!

Enter to Win!Ticket Giveaway

Morris Day performing this fall at State Fair; plusBeyonce, Boyz II Men, comedy and more this week

The legendary musical act Morris Day & The Time will be performing inFair Park in conjunction with the State Fair Classic. (Photo: Ticketweb)

See BRYSON, Page 16

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette |11

Let NDG Entertainment be a part of your upcoming events!

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

Market Place

Betsy DeVos’ $5 billion giveaway to for-profit collegesBy Charlene Crowell

Today’s increasinglycompetitive global economyrequires and recruits thosewho are highly-skilled andknowledgeable. People un-derstand and accept thathigher education is a meansto become employable,marketable, and competi-tive.

It is equally true that therising costs of higher educa-tion have now forced 44million consumers to bor-row $1.4 trillion in studentloans to finance their educa-tions. This debt was oftenviewed as more of an in-vestment than a cost.

That rational works solong as institutions deliverwhat was promised: a qual-ity education. No loan wasever incurred as a lifetimecommitment to debt thatworsened with every pass-ing year.

Not only are consumersincurring serious debts, theyare also defaulting in dis-turbing numbers. Studentloan defaults plummet

credit scores, lowering themby as much as 50-90 points,according to the Urban In-stitute, a DC-based researchorganization. As creditscores drop, the cost of anyfuture credit goes up, mak-ing it even harder for af-fected consumers to managetheir personal finances.

While 250,000 federal di-rect student loan borrowersdefault every quarter, guesswhich consumers are mostlikely to default: people ofcolor, veterans, and otherlow-income consumers. In2018, the people who adecade ago were targetedfor unsustainable, high-costmortgage loans are nowbeing targeted by for-profitcolleges for career trainingthat fails to deliver the skillsand incomes that enable torepay student loans.

The Education Depart-ment’s Gainful Employ-ment rule, which was final-ized in 2014 and took effectin 2015, requires that careerand technical training pro-grams lead to income levelsthat enable their students to

afford their student loan re-payments. It also followedthe failures of for-profit in-stitutions like CorinthianColleges, Everest and ITTTech that left student bor-rowers without degrees,credits that could not betransferred and losses to tax-payers who fund federal fi-nancial aid.

In recent days, however,Education Secretary BetsyDeVos announced plans torevoke this key rule and in-stead include additional datain the web-based resourcecalled a College Scorecardthat the Department claimsis better than regulation.

“Students deserve usefuland relevant data whenmaking important decisionsabout their education post-high school,” said DeVos.“That’s why instead of tar-geting schools simply bytheir tax status, this admin-istration is working to en-sure students have transpar-ent, meaningful informationabout all colleges and allprograms. Our new ap-proach will aid students

across all sectors of highereducation and improve ac-countability.”

As Tony Soprano mighthave said, “Fuhgedda boutit!”

Information is not theequivalent of rules that pro-tect consumers or enforce-ment actions that hold badactors accountable. Lastyear, over 800 programscovered by the gainful em-ployment rule failed to meetthe rule’s established stan-dard – most of these pro-grams were at for-profit in-stitutions.

For example, recent re-search by the Center for Re-sponsible Lending (CRL),analyzed health care pro-grams at for-profit institu-tions. Entitled, Bitter Pill:Gainful Employment andCredentialism in HealthCare Support Fields, the re-port found that among thefor-profit programs studied:

• Tuition and fees for an11-month program can costas much as $17,000;

• 83 percent of programsleading to either a certificate

or two-year associates de-gree scored poorly in the2017 release of nationalgainful employment data;

• Focus groups participat-ing in the research con-firmed the financial devas-tation wrought by enrollingin these programs, based onthe high amounts of debt in-curred.

“Deleting the rule wouldbe costly for both studentsand taxpayers, said JamesKvaal, president of the inde-pendent and nonpartisan In-stitute for College Access &Success. “A single round ofDepartment of Educationdata showed that more than350,000 students graduatedfrom substandard programswith nearly $7.5 billion inunaffordable debt. The gain-ful employment rule isneeded to prevent programslike these from bilking stu-dents and taxpayers.”

Additionally, a recent na-tional consumer poll foundstrong concerns among vot-ers when it comes to studentloans. Conducted by LakeResearch Partners and re-

leased on August 8, a ma-jority of likely voters agreedthat the amount of studentloan debt represents a crisis.This view held strong ma-jorities whether the respon-dents were independents (67percent agreement), Repub-licans (57 percent agree-ment), or Democrats (71percent agreement).

“Because of DeVos’ cozyrelationship with this indus-try,” noted Ashley Harring-ton, a policy counsel withthe Center for ResponsibleLending, “low-performingprograms will continue tooperate and ensnare hopefulstudents into assuming largedebt with little hope of re-payment. This will cost stu-dents and taxpayers almost$5 billion over the nextdecade, profits that will landalmost exclusively in thehands of the for-profit col-lege sector.” Charlene Crowell is the

Center for ResponsibleLending’s CommunicationsDeputy Director. She can bereached at Charlene.crow-ell@responsiblending.org.

Is credit monitoring enough to keep your identity safe? By Hugh Norton

Identity theft can be atime-consuming and costlyhassle, but there are meas-ures you can take to protectyour personal informationand avoid the headache. Onetool that can help is creditmonitoring. But what ex-actly does credit monitoringdo? And more importantly,is it enough to keep yousafe?

What is credit monitor-ing? There are a three pri-mary national consumercredit bureaus, and you mayhave a credit report withmore than one. Although thereports are often similar,they're not necessarily iden-tical because some financialinstitutions only report datato one or two of the bureaus,and some don't report data toany of them.

At their simplest, creditmonitoring services willlook for potentially suspi-cious changes in your credit

reports based on your prioractivity and send you analert if they detect an issue.These could include a newhard inquiry (when youapply for credit and a credi-tor checks your report) or anew account. Either could bean indication that someone isusing your information tofraudulently open financialaccounts.

They may also alert you tonew public records, such asa bankruptcy, and to changesto the personal informationsection, such as a new nameor address on your report.

Credit monitoring serv-ices can range in price andfunction. You can find thebasic monitoring and alertservices for free. However,they may only monitor oneor two of your credit reports,so you could have to sign upfor several to get full cover-age.

Services that have amonthly or annual subscrip-tion fee may monitor your

credit reports from all threebureaus. More robust iden-tity monitoring services in-clude additional features,such as fraud resolution as-sistance, reimbursements forlost funds or expenses re-lated to identity theft andscanning the internet foryour personal information.They may alert you if yourinfo is used to open financialaccounts that aren't generallyon the major three consumercredit reports, such as a bankaccount or payday loan.

An alert may be too late,but it can still be helpful.Credit monitoring servicesare reactive by nature. Ifyou're alerted that someonehas tried to use (or success-fully used) your personal in-formation, then in a sense it'stoo late – you're already avictim of identity theft.

However, being able toreact right away can helplimit the damage becauseyou can contact the compa-nies to have the fraudulent

accounts shut down. Addi-tionally, there are steps youcan take to help minimizeyour risk of identity theft.

Ways to protect yourselfbefore something happens.Unless you decide to live offthe financial grid, you maynot be able to completelyprotect yourself from largedata breaches. But here are afew things you can do tohelp keep your personal in-formation secure:

• Don't carry your SocialSecurity card in your wallet,and only carry other docu-ments with sensitive infor-mation (such as a Medicarecard) when you know you'llneed them.

• Generally, don't shareyour personal information ifyou receive an incomingcall, even if the personclaims to be from your bankor a government agency. In-stead, tell the caller you willcall them back and use theentity's actual number(which can usually be found

on a bill, statement of ac-count or website) to do so.

• Learn how to safely andproperly dispose of comput-ers, mobile phones and otherelectronics that may haveyour personal informationon them.

• Place fraud alerts orcredit freezes on your re-ports to make it more diffi-cult for someone else toopen an account in yourname.

• Before throwing it out,shred or cut up material thathas personal information, in-cluding old bank statements,credit cards and insuranceforms.

• Install antivirus softwareon your computer and keepit up to date.

• Avoid logging into fi-nancial accounts while usingpublic Wi-Fi networks, in-cluding those at cafes or air-ports.

• Set and regularly updateyour password for yourphone and computer.

• Use different, long pass-words for your online ac-counts.

The Federal Trade Com-mission also has helpful ar-ticles and resources that youcan explore to learn moreabout identity theft preven-tion and recovery.

Bottom line: At a mini-mum, having some form offree credit monitoring ormaking a practice of regu-larly checking your credit re-ports for suspicious changescould help you avoid majorproblems down the road. Ifyou're concerned about iden-tity theft, taking steps to se-cure your personal informa-tion and paying for a servicethat includes resolution as-sistance and reimbursementscould be a good idea.Hugh Norton directs

Visa's financial educationprograms. To follow Practi-cal Money Skills on Twitter:www.twitter.com/Practical-Money.

By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) -The home mortgage industryacross the U. S., now on"sound footing" since thecrisis of 2007, is still leavingprospective homeowners be-hind, according to a recentHarvard University study.

"By many metrics, theU.S. housing market in 2018is on sound footing," saidChris Herbert, managing di-rector of the Harvard JointCenter for Housing Studiesin the center's annual Stateof the Nation's Housing re-port. "But a number of chal-lenges highlighted in thefirst 'State of the Nation'sHousing' report 30 years agopersist today, and in manyrespects the situation hasworsened for both the low-est-income Americans andthose higher up the incomeladder."

This dearth in homeown-ership - largely affectingAfrican-Americans - is the

reason that an upcoming an-nual conference is crucialsays Marcia Griffin, founderand president of HomeFree-USA a leader in home mort-gage counseling. The 14thAnnual HomeFree-USAReaching Millions confer-ence is set for Sept. 17-19 inWashington, D.C.

The inspirational, educa-tional and leadership devel-opment conference will fea-ture nationally renownedspeakers. They include au-thor/speaker Stedman Gra-ham, the Rev. Jamal-Harri-son Bryant; Gospel artistBishop Marvin Sapp; andthe Rev. Dr. DeForest Blake"Buster" Soaries, Jr., all aim-ing to teach and inspire fi-nancial independence anddebt free lifestyles.

"This conference is a veryimportant gathering of lead-ers - nonprofit, faith-based,government, mortgage andbanking leaders," says Grif-fin. "It's crucial in order toelevate the issue of home-

ownership in general butalso the financial stature ofpeople of color specifically.This conference deliversnew ideas to capture the mil-lions of potential homebuy-ers who want to buy butneed guidance and encour-agement. The unique aspectof the conference will be amixture of education and in-spiration with a goal of es-tablishing a synergy for part-nerships," Griffin says.

"We will all come to-gether to learn from eachother, and gain ideas to in-crease mortgage approvalsand reduce denials amongpeople of color," Griffincontinues. "It is going totake partners working to-gether to give homebuyersthe kind of guidance theyneed to sustain homeowner-ship and weather the finan-cial challenges that arise inlife."

The conference is de-signed to:

• Increase homeownership

and financial success amonglow-to-moderate incomepeople.

• Elevate the stature andincrease the impact of gov-ernment, nonprofit and for-profit housing and home-ownership providers

• Create and strengthenpublic/private partnerships

• Reaching Millions is forprofessionals and leaderswhose focus is on:

• Affordable lending• Increasing homeowner-

ship in low-to-moderate in-come communities

• Personal and profes-sional leadership develop-ment

• Developing new publicand private partnerships tofurther their mission and ex-pand affordable housing

• Ways to reach morequalified homebuyers

According to the lateststats from the U. S. CensusBureau, general homeown-ership rates in the secondquarter of 2018 revealed sig-

nificant room for growth.Overall, the rate is 64.3 per-cent in the second quarter of2018, growing slightly by .6percent from the first quar-ter.

However, a closer look atthe Census Bureau break-down of the homeownershiprate by race shows commu-nities of color still laggingfar behind White homeown-ers, despite historic efforts toclose the gap, including theFair Housing Act of 1968.According to the Census Bu-reau, the following are thecurrent stats broken down byrace:

• Non-Hispanic Whitehouseholders was highest at72.9 percent.

• Asian, Native Hawaiianand Pacific Islander house-holders was second at 58.0percent.

• Hispanic householderswas at 46.2.

• Black householders waslowest at 41.6 percent.

"Although the changes in

homeownership by race andethnicity were seen asmostly positive, Blackhouseholds are the onegroup that has made no ap-preciable progress," says theHarvard Joint Center study.

This conference con-tributes to the efforts to turnthese deplorable statisticsaround. Conference atten-dees will leave with aroadmap, partnerships andresources to capture thehomebuyers that we areleaving behind. Working to-gether the mortgage indus-try, nonprofits and govern-ment leaders will be able todeliver the tools familiesneed to become successfulhomeowners.

M o r e i n f o r m a t i o nabout the conference canbe found at www.Home-FreeUSA.org/rm2018. Con-t a c t M i l a n G @ h o m e -freeusa.org for informationon a limited number of dis-counted registrations.

12 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

Marketplace II College Educated Readers read the NDG. Contact Marketing at 972-509-9049 for Career Opportunity Advertising

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

September 4, 2018Ed Bell Construction is a Dallas based heavy highway contractordoing business in the North Texas market since 1963. With clientssuch as TxDOT, Dallas County Public Works, and the Cities ofDallas, Fort Worth, Richardson and Mansfield (plus many others),we have a strong backlog of work in the highway market locally.We are currently hiring for the following positions:• Mechanic• Crane Operator• Finisher (Paving)• Laborer (Underground)• Laborer (Utility) – Must have valid DL• CDL Driver (Haul Truck)• Finisher (Structures) – Must have valid DLAvailable: multiple openingsRate: NegotiableMust have own transportationYears of Experience required will vary, from 6 months to 2 years(depending on position)Physical and Drug Screen RequiredMust have a Clear BackgroundMust be at least 18 years old (CDL Driver, 21 yrs)

Ed BellConstruction

CompanyAn Equal Opportunity Employer

Must apply in PERSON, Monday – Friday from 8am to 11am @ 10605 Harry Hines Blvd.

Please visit our website: www.edbellconstruction.com/careersOr email your resume to: careers@edbellconstruction.com

Mortgage industry leaves millions of prospective home buyers on the table

protect your brain health asyou age. Explore optionsavailable in your commu-nity, such as signing up for aclass that interests you atyour local community col-lege or brushing up on yourcomputer skills at the li-brary. In addition to keepingyour mind active, you mightalso meet some new friendsin this sort of group learningenvironment.

Study Up on Your Bene-fits. Fall is not just back-to-school season. It’s also theannual Medicare enrollmentseason. Just like crammingfor a test the night beforewas never a good idea, thesame goes for choosing yourMedicare coverage for theyear ahead. Spend sometime reviewing any changesin your benefits for 2019and considering the otheroptions available to you. Forsome help with this process,check out NMEW.com tolearn how you can partici-pate in National MedicareEducation Week activitiesfrom Sept. 15-21. Being stu-dious about your Medicare

choices won’t get you an“A” grade, but it could helpyou avoid unpleasant sur-prises when you need to ac-cess care and even savesome money in the yearahead.

For more health and well-ness information and tips for

healthy living, visit news-room.uhc.com.Chris Abbott is the CEO

o f Un i t e dHea l t h c a reMedicare & Retirement inTexas and Oklahoma. Unit-edHealthcare is the largestbusiness dedicated to serv-ing the health and well-being needs of seniors andother beneficiaries.

BACK, continued from Page 6

Sept. 10Dallas Job Fair

A Dallas Job Fair will behosted on Sep.10 from 10a.m. to 2 p.m. at Double-Tree, in Dallas. Meet face-to-face with local recruiters& hiring managers who willbe onsite and ready to offeron the spot interviews andjob offers. Available posi-tions range from entry levelup to professional & man-agement. To prepare for thisevent be sure to dress pro-fessionally and bring atleast 10-20 copies of yourupdated resume. For moreinformation call (508) 981-6995.

Sept. 12Dallas Career Fair -Meet Fortune 500

CompaniesDallas Career Fair - Meet

Fortune 500 Companieswill be held on Sep 1 from10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Double-Tree, in Dallas. You will beable to meet recruiters fromlocal, regional, and Fortune500 companies. Many ofthe companies representedat the fair will have base +uncapped commission paystructure, flexible workschedule, full benefits,401k, stock options, com-pany car or gas allowances,president club trips & otherincentives, and opportunityfor immense growth. Busi-ness professional attire isrequired, and be sure tobring plenty of resumes. Toregister or apply visit Ca-reerBuilder.com

Sept. 13Whole FoodsHiring Day

The Whole Foods HiringDay will be held on Sept.13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. atWhole Foods Market, inAddison. They will be look-ing for team members whoare interested in: preparedfoods, bakery, store sup-port/customer service, pro-duce, meat, seafood, spe-cialty, or grocery. They willbe hiring for (seasonal andpermanent) team members,and have openings for (part-time and full-time) posi-tions. You must be able to

lift 50 pounds, stand for sixto eight hours, be exposedto FDA approved cleaningchemicals, and work a flex-ible schedule includingnights, weekends, and holi-days as needed. For moreinformation and to reserveyour spot, visitcareers.wholefoodsmar-ket.com.

Sept. 13Sales AssociateHiring Event

The Sales Associate Hir-ing Event will be held onSep. 13 from 8 a.m. to 1p.m. at AutoNation Ford, inFrisco.

The Sales Associate willinteract with hundreds ofcustomers and help guidethem in their vehicle pur-chase in a no-haggle sales

environment. Base salaryplus incentives will be of-fered.

Requirments: Highschool diploma or equiva-lent

• Proven ability to pro-vide an exceptional cus-tomer experience

• Drive to set and achievetargeted goals

• Prior sales experience,retail preferred

• Excellent communica-tion, consultative, interper-sonal and organizationalskills

• The willingness to fol-low up with customers

• Experience and desire towork with technology

• Valid in-state driver’s li-cense and an acceptable,safe driving record

To apply, send your re-sume to figueroae@autona-tion.com.

Sept. 18Dallas Job Fair

United Career Fairs ishosting DALLAS JOB

FAIR Sales and Manage-ment on Sep. 18 starting at6 p.m. at RenaissanceHotel, in Addison. Availablepositions range from entrylevel up to professional &management. To prepare forthis event be sure to dressprofessionally and bring atleast 10-20 copies of yourupdated resume.

Sept. 20Veterans Job FairThe Veterans Job Fair

will take place on Sept. 20from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. atCedar Valley College, inLancaster. This event willbe hosted by Greater South-west Black Chamber ofCommerce or Cedar ValleyCollege. They will be bring-ing together leading expertsin recruitment and trainingspaces to discuss the ap-

proaches and processes aswell as the challenges andsuccesses of getting veter-ans back to work. For moreinformation contact972.217.3451 or contac-tus@gswbcc.org.

Oct. 17Dallas CareerFair - Sales,

Management,Business Development

The Dallas Career Fair-Sales, Management, Busi-ness Development will beheld on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. atHilton Garden Inn, in LasColinas.

You will first be offered aformal executive presenta-tion in which each companywill introduce itself and theopportunities they offer.You will then be free tomeet with hiring managers

from each company that hasattracted your interest. Atthe same time, you will beable to network not onlywith various employers butalso with other profession-als.

Wear business profes-sional attire and be sure tobring plenty of resumes.

Oct. 25Live

Recruiting/HiringEvent

The Live Recruiting/Hir-ing Event will be held onOct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 2p.m. at Magnolia Hotel Dal-las Park Cities, in Dallas.Be sure to register ateventbrite.com. Dress pro-fessionally and be sure tobring plenty of resumes. Formore information contact877-561-5627.

Attention Suppliers of Goods,Services and Construction

Review Competitive Opportunities athttps://garlandtx.ionwave.net

www.garlandpurchasing.com

972-205-2415

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette | 13

Advertise Career Opportunity 972-509-9049 Career Opportunity

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

DO YOU WANT AN EXCITING ANDREWARDING CAREER?

PURSUE A CAREER AS A POLICEOFFICER OR FIREFIGHTER!

• Competitive wages• Array of benefits

• Education incentive pay• ...and more

REGISTER ONLINE TO TAKETHE CITY OF IRVING’S NEXT

CIVIL SERVICE ENTRANCE EXAM

www.cityofirving.orgThe City of Irving does not discriminate on thebasis of race, sex, religion, age or disability inemployment or the provision of services.

Upcoming DFW area job fairs

BETHEL BIBLEFELLOWSHIP,CARROLLTON

(A PLACE TO BELONG)

NOTICE: Pastor Woodsonserves the community byproviding “ProfessionalTherapy and CounselingServices” on a “SlidingFee” scale. To schedule anappointment call the Pas-toral Counseling Center at972-526-4525 or email thechurch at www.bethelbible-felloswhip.org

Discover Hope and Help fordaily living; and, you don’thave to be a member tocome. The Connect-2-Re-flect (C2R) meetings areheld in comfortable and re-laxed homes, one in Car-rollton and one in Plano, re-freshments are served. Callthe church for details.

September 9, 9:45 a.m.Join us in our “Prayer andMeditation” at 9:45 am.You will be blessed and in-spired. You don’t want tomiss this as we celebrateservice to God, our commu-nity and all mankind.

September 12, 7 p.m.Join us in Wednesday’sPrayer and Bible StudyClass with Senior PastorWoodson, Pastor LarryGardner, and others con-ducting a new book studywith supporting chaptersand verses. Spiritual matu-rity is God’s desire for you;it’s Time to Grow in theWord of God.

Dr. Terrance Woodson,Senior Pastor1944 E. Hebron ParkwayCarrollton, TX 75007972-492-4300www.bethelbiblefellow-ship.org ______________________

FELLOWSHIPCHRISTIAN

CENTER CHURCH INALLEN

“THE SHIP”

September 9, 9 a.m.Join us in our SundayMorning Services as wepraise and worship God in

the Joycie Turner Fellow-ship Hall, followed by ourWorship Services; and bringsomeone with you, you willbe blessed. It’s for God’sglory and honor.

September 12Join us in our Wednesday’s12 Noon-Day Live, Prayerand Bible Study classand/or our WednesdayNight Live, Prayer andBible Study at 7 p.m. tolearn more about God’sWord. Be encouraged byGod’s plan for your matu-rity and His glory; and mostof all; be prepared to grow.

Dr. W. L. Stafford, Sr., Ed. D. Senior Pastor2450 K Avenue #300 Plano, TX 75074972-379-3287www.theship3c.org ______________________

INSPIRING BODY OFCHRIST CHURCH,

Let’s Go Fishing!MATTHEW 4:19

September 7, 7 p.m.All men are invited toMen’s Ministry meetingeach Friday night at 7 p.m.,(IBOC promotes proactivemale leadership.)

September 9, 10 a.m.Don’t forget to invite fam-ily and friends to join us forour Morning Service as wecelebrate our Lord and Sav-ior, Jesus Christ.

September 12, 7 p.m.You are invited to MondaySchool to see what God hasto say to us.

Pastor Rickie Rush7701 S Westmoreland RoadDallas, TX 75237972-372-4262www.Ibocchurch.org______________________

MT. OLIVE CHURCH OF PLANO (MOCOP)

(Uniting the Body ofChrist Among Nations)

September 7, 10 a.m.Join us for Morning Wor-ship Service as we praiseand worship God for HisHonor and His glory. Don’tforget to comeback at 7p.m. for our BrazilianChurch.

September 12, 7 p.m.You’re invited to ourWednesday’s Bible Studyclass; you will learn whatGod has to say to us. Come

to be encouraged by God’splan for your spiritualgrowth and His glory.

Dr. Sam Fenceroy, PhDSenior Pastor andPastor Gloria Fenceroy300 Chisholm PlacePlano, TX 75075972-633-5511www.mocop.org______________________

SHILOH MBCIN PLANO

(WHERE COMMUNITY BECOMES FAMILY)

Come and connect to Godthrough Shiloh; grow inChrist through the study ofGod’s Word; and Serve Godthrough service to eachother and to the world.John 12:26.

September 9,You are invited to join usduring our 8 am and/or our11 am Worship Services.Sunday School will start at8:30 a.m. We would love tohave you at all our worshipservices.

September 12, You’re invited to our

14 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

Church Happenings www.NorthDallasGazette.com

For the 411 in the community, go to www.northdallasgazette.com

NDG now has a “Special Advertising Package” forchurches and non-profit organizations that need to letthe community know about your Special Event.

Opportunity You Can Measure...

Church Events• Church Anniversary• Pastor’s Anniversary• Women’s Day• Men’s Day

Non-Profit Org. Events• Fundraisers(Concerts)• Special Events(Personal or Community)

Special Rate $199(Black & White, per insertion)

Ad size - 4.905”x 6”(Quarter Page, B&W)(NOTE: Color Ad $75 extra per inserion)

Production disclaimer - NDG ad meake-ready is not included in promotion.

Layout/production of “copy ready”ad will be a nominal extra cost.

E-mail ad copy to:Marketing@NorthDallasGazette.com

or call our Marketing Department today!

972-509-9049

See CHURCH, Page 15

Paid Internship opportunityfor writers, college students

in the Dallas AreaThe North Dallas Gazette has an internshipposition available. Thegoal is to provide stu-dents and aspiringwriters an opportunityto gain published clips,experience and pro-fessional feedback.The position is for upto 20 hours a week at $8.00 per hour. Appli-cants must have reliable transportation.

Send resume and writing samples to:businessoffice@northdallasgazette.com

Cemetary Space Broker will make youoffer on your cemetery plot

• Inherited plot and can't sell it?• Bought plot years ago and your plans have changed?

• Singles space or Side by Side spaces is okay.We will make you a "cash offer" on your cemetery plot today! If you getvoice mail-leave message phone number and information on cemetery

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"I tell you the truth, unlessa kernel of wheat falls to theground and dies, it remainsonly a single seed. But if itdies, it produces manyseeds." (John 12:24)

Based on Ephesians 3:16-19, almost every significantthing that God births in hu-mans, God allows the visionto die before it is fulfilled inHis own way. Abraham hada vision of being the fatherof a great nation, this wasthe birth. Sarah was barrenand became too old to havechildren, they forgot, noth-ing is impossible for God,this was the death of Abra-ham vision, in his mind.God kept His promise andgave Abraham and Sarah ason in their old age; andAbraham became the fatherof a great nation, this wasthe fulfillment that God hadplanned. Joseph was givena vision that he would be agreat leader and that manywould bow down to him,this was the birth of Joseph’svision. Joseph's brotherssold him to some merchantsand he became a slave.Later, he was falsely con-

demned to spend his years inprison; this was the death ofJoseph’s vision, in his mind.God allowed Joseph to in-terpret the dreams of the but-ler, the baker and later theking, whereupon, he wasmade a ruler in the land, thiswas the fulfillment that Godhad planned.

God gave Moses a visionof leading His people out ofthe bondage of Egypt, thiswas the birth. Pharaoh aswell as his own peopledrove Moses out of Egyptafter Moses' first attempt torelieve their bondage; thiswas the death of Moses’ vi-sion, in his mind. Then Godgave Moses signs and won-ders to convince Pharaoh tofree the people and bringthem out of Egypt and intothe Promised Land; this wasGod’s fulfillment of the vi-sion. The disciples had a vi-sion of establishing theKingdom of God with Jesus;this was the birth of their vi-sion. The very ones Jesuscame to save, killed Him,and the disciples saw Himburied in a tomb, the deathof the vision the disciplesthought. But God raisedJesus from the dead, and thedisciples performed greatmiracles until the gospel hadspread throughout the world,this will be the fulfillment ofGod’s plan.

A grain of wheat has a"vision" of reproducing it-self and many more grains

of wheat, this is the birth.The grain dies in the ground,this is the death. A harvestsprings up out of the veryprocess of "death" in theground God’s fulfillment).

Has God given you a vi-sion that is yet unfulfilled?If that vision is born of God,He will raise it up in Hisown way. Do not try to raisethe vision in your ownstrength. Remember Moses,who tried to fulfill the visionof freeing the Hebrews by

killing the Egyptian, it willonly fail. But wait on yourheavenly Father to fulfill thevision. Then you will knowthat it was His vision whenHe fulfills it in the way onlyHe can do.

Pray that God will giveyou His glorious riches, thatHe may strengthen you withpower through His Spirit inyour inner being, so thatChrist may dwell in yourheart through faith. And,pray that you, being rooted

and established in His love,may have power, togetherwith all the saints, to grasphow wide and long and highand deep is the love ofChrist, and to know God’slove that surpasses knowl-

edge; that you may be filledto the measure of all yourfullness. Pray in the nameof Jesus and trust God to doit.

September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette | 15

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Birth, death and fulfillment of a vision

Support for candidate for Congress: L to R, Candace Valenzuela,Sister Tarpley and candidate for Texas Senate, Beto O'Rouke

North Dallas Gazette takes a moment toreflect on the past with

Historical Perspectivesfrom Sister Tarpley

Hear what it was like growing up in a very dif-ferent Dallas when Booker T. Washington wasa black school. Sister Tarpley graduated frmthere and went on to college and later became

a city councilmember in Carrollton.

Look for NDGTV at NorthDallasGazette.com

CHURCH, continued from Page 14

AWANA Registration at6:30 pm and our Wednes-day’s Bible Study to learnmore about God’s Word.Come and be encouragedby God’s plan for your ma-turity and growth; it’s all forHis glory and His honor.We are, “Growing in Christthrough the study of HisWord.”

Our church ministries offeropportunities for motivationand growth; join us and see.Be blessed of the Lord.

Dr. Isaiah Joshua, Jr.Senior Pastor920 E. 14th StreetPlano, TX 75074972-423-6695www.smbcplano.org

meant that you were a cat ina room full of rockingchairs and if you emergedfrom that room, you reallywere something,” he said.

Bryson sat on the frontporch of his Buckhead,Georgia home, watching afamily of deer roam by asthe southern sky aboveturned dark because of animpending storm.

Having recently com-pleted his 21st studio albumwith the legendary produc-tion duo of Jimmy Jam andTerry Lewis, Bryson said hewas as excited as ever forhis new music and accom-panying tour that will havehim travel all over theUnited States and to Japan.

First, however, he wantedto talk about his son.

“I have such a beautifulfamily and my little man …I can tell you it’s like watch-

ing a mini version of my-self. Almost every single as-pect of him reminds me ofme,” the proud father said.

One of the premiere vo-calists in music over thepast 40 years, Bryson hasearned two GrammyAwards and two AcademyAwards – he’s also respon-sible for a memorable 1992Oscar night performancewith Angela Lansbury andCeline Dion as they earnedrave reviews for their per-formance of the title trackfrom the movie, “Beautyand the Best,” which wonBest Original Song.

With hits that includedduets with Natalie Cole,Roberta Flack and ReginaBelle, Bryson has the dis-tinction of being the firstartist in music history tohave separate records top-

ping four different charts.He believes his new

album, “Stand for Love,”has even more hits, particu-larly because of the addedtouch of Jam and Lewis.

“Excited doesn’t begin todescribe what it’s like work-ing with them. The firstthing you notice is the ab-sence of ego and self-im-portance,” Bryson said ofthe producers who haveworked with Prince,Michael Jackson and manyothers.

Together, Jam and Lewismade Janet Jackson an in-ternational icon.

“My challenge to themwas, ‘Can you make mecurrent without destroyingwhat has taken me a life-time to accomplish?’”Bryson said.

“I asked them if theycould put me in today’sconversation about music,

to make me valid to be in aconversation. I couldn’tthink of anyone else.”

Even prior to its release,the new album has caughton.

The lead single, “LoveLike Yours and Mine,” hasrocketed to No. 3 on Bill-board’s Adult R&B list andthe second single, “All SheWants to Do is Me,” has al-ready been featured on theShowtime hit series, “TheChi.”

Part of Bryson’s successcan be credited to his beingable to say no in a worldwhere everybody is accus-tomed to hearing the oppo-site, he said.

“I was saying no to drugslong ago. Some might havecalled me a ‘goody-two-shoes’ and a bunch of otherthings but I tend to look atit as being young and prag-matic as opposed to young

and restless,” Bryson said.The singer, who’s career

has yielded such hits as“Feel the Fire,” “Tonight ICelebrate My Love,” and“Can You Stop the Rain,”also has kept the proper per-spective on celebrity andreal life.

“There are two things youhave to understand aboutcelebrity and success,”Bryson said.

“One is, fame is not real.You have to accept that.Fame really for an artist iseverybody else’s perceptionof you, but you. Everybodyelse’s perception is valid ex-cept for yours if you adaptthat. In terms of success,everything that you havecan be taken a way fromyou in the next five sec-onds.”

Bryson continued:“[Celebrities] become in-

vulnerable and that’s what

they think success is but thehardest thing to navigate fora human being is not adver-sity, it’s success itself.Every single virtue you’veever had or everythingyou’ve ever hoped toachieve. Look, I treat everyhuman being that I come incontact with the way I wantto be treated and look, I buymy own toilet paper.”

For Bryson, the newalbum is just one morething he’s grateful for.

“At this stage of my life, Iappreciate things morecompletely and it’s not justregular gratitude,” he said.

“I’m starting to appreci-ate the concept of second-hand grace and I’m not sit-ting around waiting for thatbig grace. To have this kindof success and a 7-month-old to carry my name and tomarry my best friend …yes, I’m grateful,” he said.

16 | September 6-12, 2018 | North Dallas Gazette

NDG Book Review www.NorthDallasGazette.com

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BRYSON, continued from Page 10

NDG Book Review: Housegirl is going to be a challengeBy Terri Schlichenmeyer

You’re up for this.This next thing is going

to be a challenge, but you’reready. You’ve studied it asmuch as you can andyou’ve thought it through,you’re bringing your besttalents and your keenest ob-servation skills, and you gotthis. You can do it. Still, asin the new book “House-girl” by Michael Donkor, itwon’t be easy.

Mary was often too im-petuous.

Belinda didn’t mind,though. Mary was still achild, not quite a teenager,and she still sucked herthumb at night. Sometimes,

she was an exasperation butmostly, she was like a sisterto Belinda, even thoughthey were unrelated house-girls from small Ghanaianvillages, given up by theirmothers to work forwealthy people.

Given by her mother.That hurt, but it was whyBelinda didn’t feel she hadmuch choice when her em-ployer, Aunty, gifted Be-linda to her friend, Nana,with an odd assignment at-tached. Belinda wouldmove to London – not tocook and clean, but to serveas a good example forNana’s daughter, Amma,who was just a year olderthan Belinda, but worldsaway in attitude.

It was not easy for Be-linda to tell Mary that shewas leaving. Mary cursedand cried but in the end, shewas comforted by promisesthat she and Belinda wouldtalk often on their cell

phones. Belinda was sureMary would adjust, maybeeven take over the runningof Aunty’s household. Marywould grow up.

In the meantime, Belindahad other worries. Nana’shusband paid for Belinda togo to school, and Nana tookher shopping for newclothes. They gave her aroom of her own, a bed ofher own, and pretty thingsfor decoration. But Ammawas a challenge – she wassassy and cursed, lied andsnuck around. Belinda likedAmma, but befriending hercould be quite anotherthing.

Still, the two girls grewclose and they began to

share secrets. Belinda un-burdened herself of theshameful things her motherhad done. Amma told Be-linda that she liked girls inthat way. Both knew they’dhave to rely on one anotherin days to come.

Neither knew theirfriendship would cause re-grets…

Absolutely, “Housegirl”is not an easy book to read.

Parts of it are written inthe Ghanaian language ofTwi, and though there’s aglossary before this storystarts, it’s cumbersome toconstantly page back andforth.

More back-and-forthcomes from character con-

versation in which it isn’talways clear who’s sayingwhat, so it all ends up beinga mish-mash of words.

Add to that a number ofodd details that seem pruri-ently gratuitous (do we re-ally, for example, need toknow about a character’sneed for hygiene products?The answer is “no.”) andyou’ve got a lot of cringingahead.

That’s too bad; the char-acters are mostly very like-able, maybe even relatable,and the settings are per-fectly written. That makes“Housegirl” flawed, thoughit’s not a terrible novel; it’sjust that, if you try it, it’sgoing to be a challenge.

for him,” Looney said. “Younever know what he’s goingto do on any given play.

“He’s a competitor whoworks hard, so I’m excitedto watch him out there.”A kicker’s impact on the

team’s fateThe Cowboys are also ex-

cited to see the progressmade by quarterback DakPrescott, who led the team to

17 points while playing onjust four drives during thepreseason. Still, the loss ofBailey could come back tohaunt the Cowboys, withGarrett saying they dis-cussed at great lengthwhether to keep the playerthey signed as an undraftedfree agent rookie out ofOklahoma State in 2011.

“Obviously Dan’s been as

good a player as we’ve hadover the last seven or eightyears,” Garrett said. “He’sone of the elite kickers in thegame and has been through-out his career. He’s made aton of big kicks for us. It wasnot an easy decision for us tomake.

“One of the things thatgave us confidence is howwell Brett Maher has kickedboth in practice and ingames, and we feel like he

has an opportunity to helpour football team in that role.Brett kicked along Dan allthroughout training camp,and he did a really nice jobin practice. Dan did a nicejob in practice. We just feltlike when you put it all to-gether – all the different fac-tors – this was the best deci-sion for our team right now.”

The Cowboys are comingoff a disappointing 9-7 sea-son and have high hopes of

advancing deep into theplayoffs after missing out onthe postseason last year. Butwith tight end Jason Wittenretired, and wide receiverDez Bryant and Bailey nolonger with Dallas, the Cow-boys will be banking on a lotof production from theiryounger players.

“It’s certainly energy andexcitement, and we’veworked very hard to get tothis point,” Garrett said.

“We’ve had a lot of hard de-cisions we’ve had to makeover the last few days, butwe feel good about the 53guys we have on our roster,we feel good about our prac-tice squad.

“I think we’ve laid a goodfoundation for our team allthroughout the spring andthrough training camp andduring the preseason. I’mexcited to see these guysplay on Sunday.”

COWBOYS, continued from Page 9