Fort Worth Weekly Classifieds // March 6-12, 2024

Metro continued from page 8

tion (which carries a possible life sentence) because the state’s abortion ban is vaguely worded and relies on doctors exercising “reasonable medical judgment.”

The GOP stands to benefit from keeping the law as confusing as possible for medical professionals in situations like this. It keeps doctors frightened of litigation and less likely to perform abortions. There’s a lawsuit currently before the Texas Supreme Court on this issue –– 22 women have said they suffered pregnancy complications or will face future complications after Texas doctors refused to administer abortions. A lawyer from the Center for Reproductive Rights recently told the court that medical professionals don’t understand the law’s emergency exceptions and “the state won’t tell us” what the law means.

Side note: With the decline in abortion rates in Texas, we’re also seeing an increase in infant mortality. Last year, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found Texas’ infant mortality rate increased by 8% in 2022 from the previous year. The March of Dimes Perinatal Data Center gave Texas a D- grade for infant and maternal health in 2023, indicating that infant and maternal health conditions are worsening from previous years. In 2021, the leading causes of infant deaths were birth

defects, preterm births/low birth weights, sudden unexpected infant death (SUID), and maternal complications.

By the time you’re reading this, the primary election is over, and the results are probably in. If you already cared about the inhumanity that is the Texas abortion law, I hope you voted for someone who will do something about it. If you didn’t vote, you’d better make up for it by casting a ballot in the November presidential election, keeping in mind that Trump’s Supreme Court justices allowed all this to happen by overturning Roe v. Wade. You can be mad at President Joe Biden all you want over Gaza, but if you’re a woman, sitting this one out or protest voting could possibly cost you your life.

Roe v. Wade wasn’t just an abortion law. It provided protection from personhood laws and other threats to reproductive rights. Since the religious right came for IVF in Alabama, Gov. Greg Abbott voiced support for the service but called the topic “complex” and avoided pledging to legally protect IVF in Texas. He said he has “no doubt” Texas will weigh in on IVF and said he “wants to ensure we promote life.”

In other words, we can’t rely on Abbott or the GOP to protect women’s lives — conservatives don’t give a damn about you once you’re born. l

This column reflects the opinions of the editorial board and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. He will gently edit it for clarity and concision.

Roe v. Wade wasn’t just an abortion law. It provided protection from personhood laws and other threats to reproductive rights.

In the words of Fiona Apple, this week we’re all about the “ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies!” In honor of International Women’s Day Friday and National Women’s History Month, we have a unique selection of events for your consideration for March and beyond. The future is female, and it starts now.

7

Thursday

The 39th annual Texas Storytelling Festival is ThuSun at the Denton Civic Center (321 E McKinney St, 940-349-7275). Among the featured storytellers, Fran Stallings tells traditional folktales and science-based eco-tales, and Kathy Hood Culmer does inspirational writing and biblical storytelling. The festival itinerary lists 30 speakers offering 24 hours of storytelling, plus nine workshops and six special events, including a concert, ghost tales, family story time, a liars contest, a poetry slam, and a story slam. Visit TejasStoryTelling. com for access every day ($135) or one day ($60), or pay $15 at the door for individual events.

Happy International Women’s Day! Two significant North Texas events are putting the D and FW in DFW. Here in the Fort, join Katrina Carpenter and Mia Moss noon-5pm at the third annual Watch Women Work pop-up event at Black Coffee (1417 Vaughn Blvd, Fort Worth, 817-782-9867), featuring products and services from 30 local female entrepreneurs. Brews and bites from Carpenter’s

Cafe and Black Coffee will be served. In Dallas, the works of fiber artists Sam Lao and Hannah Busekrus will be on display as part of the installation “Stay Sweet” at Punch Bowl Social (2600 Main St, Deep Ellum) 6:30pm-8:30pm. You can also check out the opening night of a second installation at the nearby Sweet Tooth Hotel (1511 Elm St, Deep Ellum) 5:30pm-9pm. The first 50 guests will receive a free Calirosa cocktail courtesy of Calirosa Tequila and Topo Chico. There is no cost to attend any of the above.

My mother-in-law loves butterflies, and her birthday is in March, so this one’s for her. Daily thru Sun, Apr 14, Fort Worth Botanic Garden (3220 Botanic Garden Blvd, 817-463-4160) hosts Butterflies in the Garden, the largest exhibit of live butterflies in North Central Texas. All tickets are for timed entries between 10am and 4pm. Tickets are $12 at the door or at FWBG.org/ Butterflies. Happy Birthday, Donna!

After Lola’s closed (RIP), Tiffany Parish and husband/ business partner Blake Parish scrambled to find a new location for their long-standing rummage sale and farmers market. Well, it didn’t take long for the newly formed Honeysuckle Rose Events to find a new home. The Fort Worth Community Market, every second Sunday of the month, will now be at the South Main Micro Park (105 S Main St, Fort

Worth, 817-923-1649) 11am-4pm. Today’s event features free admission, 50+ vendors selling handmade/homegrown items, and live music by Matt Tedder, Morris Holdahl, and Simon Flory.

Sunday is also a perfect day to take flight. The Dallas Wings, the WNBA team that plays in Arlington, is holding auditions for their 2024 cheerleading/dance team known as the Flight Crew at Maverick Activities Center (500 W Nedderman Dr, Arlington, 817-272-3277) 10am-4pm. They are hunting for entertainers at least 18 years old who have dance experience in multiple styles. There are no minimum or maximum height or weight requirements, and all body types, genders, and nationalities are welcome to try out. Should you earn a spot on the squad, you will be expected to attend biweekly rehearsals on Monday and Wednesday evenings and perform at all Wings home games. Register at Wings.WNBA.com/flight-crew/. For questions, email NBarnard@DallasWings.com.

The Hindu tradition of holding a spring festival (Holi) dates back thousands of years. It only took 14 for the Dallas-based Festival of Colors to add a second (hopefully annual) event in Fort Worth. The primarily female team is bringing the Holi Mela Festival of Color to Panther Island Pavilion (395 Purcey St, 817-698-0700) 11am-4pm. Along with getting crazy with some color powder — wear white for the full effect — celebrate the culture of India with dance performances, a drum circle, music, and vendors. Fort Worth singer-songwriter Rylie Dylan is the host, plus she will perform alongside Akhil Bhardaj and DJ Koka. Food, beer, and wine will be available at the food court. Tickets start at $8 on Eventbrite.com.

Please — I implore you — show some support (and by that, I mean donate money) to Planned Parenthood of Texas. Beyond that thing we can no longer have done in our state, PP provides health care and essential OB-GYN services for women in need. An Evening with Planned Parenthood at Bass Performance Hall (525 Commerce St, Fort Worth, 817-212-4280) 6pm-8:30pm will feature an “inspiring, mission-driven program” with craft cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Organizers

say the goal is to “take strides towards a world in which everyone can access quality health care and information to live their lives fully, without judgment.” Amen to that. Tickets start at $100 at WeArePlannedParenthood.org.

The female-founded team at Don’t Forget to Feed Me, the only pet food bank in North Texas, provides a vital service for pet owners who have fallen on hard times. After all, a (good) girl’s gotta eat! Today from 7:30am (when my cat wakes up) to 11am (when my husband wakes up), those who enjoy jogging, running, and walking more than just the dog can attend the Hungry Hound Hustle 5K at MUTTS Canine Cantina (5317 Clearfork Main St, Fort Worth, 817-377-0151). Registration is $40-45 at HungryHoundHustle.Athlete360.com. If you don’t get up until noon (like me), you can buy the T-shirt for $25 and still help the cause.

Every (Damn) Day

Now, back to Fiona (and yes, please hand me those bolt cutters)! Fiona Apple’s fifth studio album came out in April 2020, and it really helped me get through the pandemic. There’s a track on Fetch the Bolt Cutters where you can hear her dogs barking toward the end, and that felt very real at a time when we all worked from home with our pets. The idea for the title came from a line in a police drama that she was streaming. In an episode of The Fall, Gillian Anderson and company were freeing a kidnapped girl, and Apple told NPR, “I shot up from the couch, wrote it on the blackboard immediately, and said, ‘That’s what my album’s called.’ ”

The takeaway is that we should each “fetch” our own preferred tool of liberation and set ourselves free from whatever is holding us back. For some of us, that means getting out of our own heads and doing the damn thing, but there are others, like those experiencing domestic violence, who have more tangible needs. If you are in an abusive relationship or a relationship you are afraid could become abusive, One Safe Place (1100 Hemphill St, Fort Worth, 817-9164323, OneSafePlace.org) wants you to know that you are not alone. If you need an emergency exit from your situation, they take walk-ins 9am4pm Tue-Fri, but it’s best to call ahead if you can.

By Jennifer Bovee

Ladies, ladies, ladies, ladies, welcome to Weekly Women!

Courtesy Fiona Apple

BUCK U

Frog Female Faction

Women’s college athletics are more visible now than ever before, and TCU’s teams deserve the hype.

BY BUCK D. ELLIOTT

Last year, around this time, everyone agreed that women’s collegiate sports were having a moment. The faceoff between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark in the women’s basketball national championship generated unprecedented widespread attention for a sport that had largely been back-page news fodder. Turns out, it wasn’t a moment.

The zeitgeist has grown and expanded as the star power of women’s collegiate athletes is not dissipating anytime soon. Clark, the runner-up in that title game, just last week broke the all-time scoring record for college ballers, irrelevant of gender. Clark’s draw has also sold out nearly every game in which she’s hit the floor this season — including a record 55,000-plus fans at a tilt held at Iowa’s football stadium — as well as inking a Gatorade deal. Clark and Reese, along with LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne, occupy three of the Top 10 spots for NIL valuation among all college athletes.

TCU women’s basketball has raked in the attention this season as well but in

an unexpected way. After a raucous beginning under first-year Head Coach Mark Campbell, the Lady Frogs dribbled through a program record 14 consecutive opponents and landed an AP ranking before going cold against 6th-ranked Baylor for their first loss of the season. That skid continued for four games until the Frogs were so depleted from injuries, they had to forfeit two games against ranked conference opponents. The bench, or lack thereof, was so thin that the team held open tryouts from the general student body.

Of the 40 who tried out, four made the team, including TCU volleyballer Sarah Sylvester. The Frogs didn’t even have enough healthy players to run full 5-on-5 practice, but the scrappy squad snatched victory on their home court against UCF in an emotional return after every national press outlet showcased their struggles.

Campbell’s Frogs have improved following a bumpy start to conference play, winning four of their final five tips, though they’ve yet to outshoot a ranked opponent this season. The lady dribblers will try to avenge a close early-season loss to Oklahoma State in the conference tournament this week in Kansas City but are very unlikely to receive a tournament bid despite more than doubling their win total from last year. Nineteen first-season wins is the best mark by a rookie head coach in program history, and the Frogs are likely to appear as a high seed in the women’s NIT.

If anyone recalls, the men’s program experienced a similar resurgence when Coach Jamie Dixon arrived in the Fort, and it’s safe to assume the women will continue to elevate their standard and fare better than they have in a season plagued by debilitating injuries.

The most decorated female athletes on campus, and arguably TCU’s most competitive overall program, are the shooters on the rifle team. NCAA rifle is a co-ed sport, though TCU stables an all-female team. Their national championships will fire off Friday and Saturday on the campus of West Virginia, this season’s host team. The purple rifle team is helmed by 20th-year Head Coach Karen Monez, who boasts an accolade sheet so long, it rivals my personal list of life regrets. Monez is a multiple-time world champion in many categories herself and has led her Frog markswomen to three national championships and five runner-ups

and has hosted the national championships at TCU twice. The Frogs have fired their way to the penultimate podium spot in three consecutive seasons after their last national championship in 2019. (The 2020 season was canceled because of COVID.)

Those three losses in the final shoot have come by a combined 24 points, which may seem like a lot in some sports, but an average score by a team in one of these duals is more than 4,700 points, meaning the margins have been incredibly small. Appropriately, the Frogs are ranked second heading into the championships behind host-team West Virginia and will be eager to punch the bullseye, which is this prestigious program’s expectation.

Another group of Frog females to follow this spring are the sandy strikers of beach volleyball, a young but wunderkind program started in 2015 that has been

making national noise the last two seasons. Head Coach Hector Gutierrez was named coach of the year last season after his second-ranked Frogs reached the national semifinals, losing a tight 2-3 match against USC, who would best their crosstown rivals UCLA in the finals to capture the national championship. The Beach Frogs have already logged two ranked wins this season, against Washington and LSU, respectively, and their only blemish was a 2-3 loss against second-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto.

Beach volleyball operates similarly to a collegiate dual tennis match, in which five pairs play simultaneous matches and the first to three matches claims overall victory. TCU will host four opponents across Friday and Saturday if any of you want to lie out on campus and watch one of the best teams in the nation leave their opponents quite literally pounding sand. l

TCU shooting guard Madison Conner has made a tremendous impact after transferring from Arizona, averaging 20 points per contest for the Frogs this season.

Courtesy TCU Athletics

The Women of the Lake Worth PD Have Your Six

By Elaine Wilder

During our quest to find content across every aspect of local life featuring women for this issue, we heard from J.T. Manoushagian, the Chief of Police at the Lake Worth Police Department (3805 Adam Grubb St, 817237-1224). He let us know that they employ women at a rate of twice the national average. Impressive.

“We have also prioritized the advancement of women in policing by supporting professional development. This has resulted in women being represented in nearly every level and specialty within our department,” says Manoushagian. This includes female officers working in the K-9, school resource, criminal investigations/task force, and patrol units in staff and supervisory positions.

Highlighting and honoring women in law enforcement is important and the benefits of hiring/retaining more women in policing have numerous benefits for the community. Having reviewed research conducted in the United States and internationally about the topic, Manoushagian finds six things to be true.

Six Benefits of Having Women in Law Enforcement

1.) Female officers are as competent as their male counterparts and even excel in certain areas of police performance.

2.) Female officers are less likely to use excessive force.

3.) Female officers are more likely to implement “community-oriented policing.”

4.) More female officers will improve law enforcement’s response to violence against women.

5.) Increasing the presence of female officers reduces problems of sex discrimination and harassment within law enforcement agencies.

6.) The presence of women can bring about beneficial changes in policy for all officers.

In the military, “Got your six” means “I’ve got your back.” The saying originated with World War I fighter pilots referencing a pilot’s rear as the six o’clock position. It is now a ubiquitous term that’s come to represent loyalty and cooperation. It sounds like female officers will definitely “have your six”!

As perhaps the most diverse police department in all of North Texas, Lake Worth PD is made up of people from many races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. “Our diversity is what gives us strength and an undeniable bond with our community.”

While positions are not available all the time, if you’re interested in joining the team, visit LakeWorthTX.org/Police-Department and click Police Hiring & Recruitment.

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Diversity in policing provides strength and an undeniable bond with the community.

Courtesy Lake Worth PD

Chief Manoushagian and friends at a recent Coffee-With-A-Cop event.

Courtesy Lake Worth PD

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