Author Archive

“Many people will come up to me and thank me for wearing my habit,” Sister D’Souza says with a gentle smile. “When I wear this, it might trigger off a calling in someone else who sees me.”

Her habit is a symbol of her Catholic faith, to which she decided … more

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”

So said Booker T. Washington, who was born a slave and died an orator, author and educator. If his words are true, then these high … more

It’s Tuesday afternoon and Taylor Yoss is helping a group of preschoolers pack their bags for a bear hunt. This is just one of the many imaginary trips she’ll take this week while teaching kids yoga during a Yogees class, a business she launched about a year ago. “It’s like … more

Hillcrest High School just might get an alumni association, a first in the school’s 70 years of existence. “This could lead to things like mentoring programs, which could translate into a lower dropout rate,” explains Jim Arnold, one of the parents on the Hillcrest Site Based Decision Making Committee who … more

Small ways that you can make a big difference for neighborhood nonprofits

Donate that old cell phone …

… to Hillcrest High School. The school recently launched a new recycling program that accepts electronics like cameras, laptops, MP3 players and cell phones. Hillcrest will also gladly take your unwanted inkjet … more

Growing waistlines and shrinking budgets have many Americans rethinking their food sources, looking now to local farmers instead of mega-grocers. That national trend is sprouting roots here, which explains why in our neighborhood… IT’S A FARMERS MARKET OUT THERE.

Three years ago in Dallas, if you wanted … more

Carrie Gehling is a chirpy, bright-eyed woman, full of one-liners. It’s largely that disposition that has carried her through a lengthy battle with diabetes, which began in her adolescence. The disease has taken an exceptionally heavy toll on her health, causing partial amputations to both of her legs and rendering … more

Ron Brakke

Keeper of a cleaner community

Most neighbors who live near Kramer Elementary know Ron Brakke, even if not by name. They’ve likely seen him walking the school grounds, always with a trash bag in hand. Each dawn, like clockwork, Brakke is at the playground retrieving litter.… more

Cody Miller says he and his longtime buddy, Preston Hollow resident Ryan Pearlman, sort-of have a reputation for being the life of party. “We’re the guys you constantly see on the dance floor,” he explains. But the pair noticed that at most of these birthday shindigs or school functions, the … more

The media perpetually feeds the public’s hunger for lists. There are useful lists, such as Oprah’s “Top 10 Superfoods”, Time’s “25 People to Blame for America’s Credit Crisis”, or Esquire’s “Best Bars in America”. Then there are more gratuitous tabulations — Star magazine’s “Best and Worst Beach Bodies”, or The … more