The path cuts right through the Dallas area as the much-loved monarch butterfly begins its long journey from North America down to Mexico each year to spend the winter.  Actually, the monarch flies through Texas every spring and fall, but it is this weekend that marks the butterflies fall migration through town. 

It’s also the annual City of Grand Prairie’s celebration of that flight with a festival called Flight of the Monarch.

Grand Prairie’s Flight of the Monarch event takes place on September 24 at the city’s Central Park.  Butterfly releases, kid’s events, live music and arts and crafts are part of the celebration as are the tagging of at least 50 of the 650 butterflies that are being released.

Mae Smith, City of Grand Prairie’s Administrative Supervisor for the Parks, Arts & Recreation Department said the Grand Prairie event began in 2012 and while the city has never been notified of any of the butterflies they have tagged having been found, it’s still worth it each year to bring recognition to the monarch butterflies plight.

It’s a serious plight too because recently, the monarch butterfly population by the time it reaches Mexico, has been reported to have dropped to the lowest level since migration reporting began.

Fortunately, the City of Dallas and a variety of local suburbs take the monarch butterfly migration very seriously.  After all, the North American Monarch has been the official state insect since 1985.

Dallas is located on one of the major butterfly highways and the increased habitat loss has many butterfly watchers concerned.  Concerned to the point that Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings signed a Mayor’s Monarch Pledge with the National Wildlife Federation late last year in order to assure Dallas take the butterfly decline seriously. 

Surrounding cities also heard the call and in addition to Grand Prairie’s commitment and upcoming festival, the city of Glenn Heights also pledged to take steps to keep the monarch butterflies healthy while flying through.  Glenn Heights’s Mayor Leon Tate read in a proclamation that he encouraged all residents to grow plants that will keep the butterflies healthy.

Adult monarchs need nectar sources while the larvae [caterpillars] need milkweed sources and these sources must be pesticide-free. Milkweed is the only plant the butterflies will lay their eggs, and when the caterpillars hatch, this is their only source of food.  Milkweed contains a toxin that monarch caterpillars incorporate into their wings and exoskeletons making them poisonous to predators as adult butterflies. 

The City of Cedar Hill’s Dogwood Canyon is doing what it can to keep the monarch butterfly thriving.  Julie Collins, Conservation & Operations Manager at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center said “The decline in Monarchs is multi-fold. In Mexico, it’s decreased overwintering habitat in the Oyamel fir forests. In the U.S. it’s also a decline of habitat including man-made development and agriculture that decreases both adult and larval food sources.”

Dogwood Canyon continually improves its prairie restoration including milkweed plants and the City of Cedar Hill’s Mayor Rob Franke signed a proclamation earlier this year taking part in Rawling’s pledge.

“From my perspective, I joined the Mayors pledge to increase awareness that there are simple things we can do as a community to make our ‘city in a park’ more park-like all the time,” Franke said.  

It was only in 1975 that researchers discovered the actual site where the monarch butterflies were wintering. Even so, it has been thousands of years that the North American Monarch has been making its trek through the Dallas area on its way south.  

Mayor Franke summed it up well for the entire Dallas area as to the monarch’s annual flight when he said “the more conscience we are of the types of plants and the natural environment in our city the healthier and more active our citizens will become.”  

It’s was a who’s who of local chefs cooking okra this past weekend at the seventh annual Okrapalooza competition.  A foodie tradition in East Dallas, this year the competition took place at The Lot on Grand Avenue, a venue known for its locally-influenced flavors and neighborhood beer garden atmosphere.

In its seventh year, Okrapalooza attracted chefs from around the area who went head to head to create the best okra dish for the title of Okrapalooza champion of the world as an interested okra eating crowd converged to taste the results.

The champion okra dish was prepared by Chef Peter Barlow of Stephan Pyles Flora Street Café who won the Professional Competition with his Okra three ways dish.  Barlow described the dish as “Texas blue-cornmeal tempura fried okra blossom filled with smoked brisket and pachi pachi goat cheese, Pickled okra seeds with Texas honey and pickled okra powder dusted on top.”
Shane Beck of Good Food Catering and Alex Astranti tied for People’s Choice.

Okrapalooza also helps to raise money for the Promise of Peace Community Garden and the at risk youth program called “seed to plate.” 

At the end of the day over $15,000 was raised at the event and there were over 300 people in attendance according to Elizabeth Dry the originator of Okrapalooza and the Founding Director of Promise of Peace Garden.

“Folks experience okra in new and exquisite ways at Okrapalooza,” Dry said “Most have never tasted the fresh and nutritious vegetable like they will taste it at Okrapalooza.”

Several of last year’s chefs also returned to cook including Graham Dodds, Uno Immanivong, Thomas Archer and Daniel Pittman and new faces like Justin Box who recently began helming The Cedar Social kitchen. 

“Last year Chef Ken Aptrick won with a serious gumbo,” Dry said.  “That was the first time that a gumbo has won.”

The Okra Festival began when Dry said she was standing in a “trash ridden vacant lot at 7446 East Grand Ave where she was paying $800 a month to lease the property.”

In July of that first year she needed to raise the monthly rent and funds for the garden’s free programming.

“I was standing in the Promise of Peace Garden looking around at the beautiful nature surrounding me and noticed the abundance of okra growing and just thought ‘How about an okra festival?’  Because some of Dallas' best chefs have helped us raise funds from the beginning I asked them to help with the festival and they loved the idea.”

Always held the second week of September, Dry said that is an excellent time since it is when the harvesting of the okra takes place.  Every year attendance has increased as okra lovers come out to get a taste and cheer on their favorite chef. 

“Although we believe that Okrapalooza is unique, we maintain humble and peaceful values for the festival,” Dry said. “We were thrilled when John McBride of The Lot agreed to let us use his venue and then Sahne Lovell of Fresh Point agreed to supply all of our chefs with the okra.”
The Okrapalooza cook-off also added beer, wine and live music to the day in order to help wet the taste buds while attendees learned how to make a few new okra dishes at home.

Whole Foods sponsored the community table, Lakewood Brewing Company served the beer again and Texas Discovery Gardens sponsored the children’s area while five local judges made the winning decision.

“You really need to experience Okrapalooza,” concluded Dry. “It’s genuine, authentic brotherhood.”

He is only 11 years old, but Grand Prairie resident Hector Montoya is compassionate beyond his years.  This was most recently demonstrated when he donated smoke detectors to DeSoto Fire Rescue in a short presentation held at the city’s Government Center.

According to a City of DeSoto press release when Montoya was eight years old he saw a news report about a house fire in the City of Fort Worth.  The home did not have smoke detectors and it claimed the lives of a woman and one of her twin daughters. At the time, Montoya had been saving for a PlayStation 4.  When he heard the news, he told his parents he wanted to spend the $300 he saved and purchase smoke detectors for those homes in need. Since that time, with the help of corporate donations, the young man has donated nearly 3,000 smoke detectors around the area. 

Earlier this month, it was 125 of those smoke detectors donated in the City of DeSoto.

 “The smoke detectors will be installed by DeSoto Firefighters in the homes of needy senior citizens who will be identified through our DeSoto Senior Center,” said City of DeSoto, Community Relations and Public Information Manager, Kathy Jones.

Jones said in DeSoto any senior citizen with an identified need is eligible for a free smoke detector for their home.

“In today’s environment with the fuel loads that are in homes, three or four minutes can become a fatal event in a home without a smoke detector to wake someone up at night,” said DeSoto Fire Chief Jerry Duffield.

Wilmer Fire Chief Mark Hamilton agreed “Smoke detectors are life savers.  We recommend one in all bedrooms and make sure to change the batteries every six months too.”

Hamilton said the best smoke detectors are a combination of smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector.

“If you can't afford one almost all Fire departments will give you one or two and even install them if you need them too,” Hamilton added.

City of Glenn Heights Fire Lieutenant , Keith Moore said that city installs smoke detectors for those who are elderly or in financial need and there is an online form that can be completed in order to qualify.  

During the 2014-2015 fiscal year Dallas Fire-Rescue installed 6,029 smoke detectors in the homes of Dallas residents and Public Information Officer for the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, Jason L. Evans said “Dallas Fire-Rescue, along with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), is encouraging everyone to install smoke detectors in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of your home - including the basement. Smoke detectors save lives.”

Evans added too that while smoke alarms are important it is also a good idea to have a sound and practiced escape plan as “the first and most important line of defense,” he said.

Evans also advised the best protection regarding installing a smoke detector is installing a combination [photoelectric and Ionization] smoke alarm.

“Ionization alarms are more responsive to flaming fires, and photoelectric alarms are more responsive to smoldering ones,” he said.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 65 percent of home fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarms or in homes where the smoke alarms do not work. Additionally, the NFPA reported that three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. 

Pro athletes, Olympic contenders and sports enthusiast alike are familiar with the town of McKinney.  A number of Pro Basketball players and NFL favorites from not only the Dallas Cowboys, but also the Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins all train at the Michael Johnson Performance training facility (MJP) in the city about 30 minutes north of Dallas.

“The draw for athletes is simple,” said Brian Abadie, the training facility’s High Performance Coordinator who works with all the elite and pro athletes, “They are seeking a place that will help them truly realize their full potential. We utilize some of the most advanced training technology and science to guide us on how to help our athletes achieve success.”

Abadie said the programs are created based on the analysis and assessments of each athlete and are then implemented into intensive training programs.

Johnny Quinn, a past U.S. Olympian bobsledder who is now a professional speaker and entrepreneur said “The Michael Johnson Performance Center kept my athletic career alive. I became a professional football player at age 22, but kept getting cut and needed a place to train to keep me in high performance shape.”

In his third year as a professional football player, Quinn said he hit a major stumbling block blowing out his knee. With a long recovery time anticipated, he said that due to the Michael Johnson Performance’s incredible staff and knowledge he was medically cleared in under six months.

Even though Quinn’s football career was over he didn’t let that stop him and he started bobsledding for Team USA.

So where did he go to train, MJP, of course.

“At age 30, when in the world of pro sports, people call 30 old... I became a United States Olympian,” Quinn said.

That’s Quinn’s story after working with the Michael Johnson Performance training facility, but the training facility is not limited to just athletes in the United States.

Abadie said that MJP has worked with a number of athletes from around the world including Europe, Azerbaijan, UAE, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago as well as other Caribbean islands, China, and Japan to name a handful.

“At the end of the day, everyone is out there training,” Abadie explained. “We say the tide raises all ships, as that is the “training” everyone is doing, but if you need to catch the reigning Olympic champ who is .05 seconds faster than you, doing the same training year after year you will never catch them. You must do the little things better than the rest, and we pride ourselves on being able to find those thousandths of a second. It’s called the ‘.001.’”

Michael Johnson Performance is in its tenth year now and has trained thousands of professional and Olympic athletes from sports around the globe. In fact, on any given day there are 20 to 50 professional athletes coming through the facility headquarters, but there are also programs for non-Olympic and pro sports aficionados too. 

 “The major US sports here at our headquarters are just a glimpse of who is exposed to MJP, and our training isn’t just for the elite and professionals, as we trained athletes as young as five years old this summer, and as old as 40-plus years,” Abadie said.

So if you want to train alongside the likes of Grant Fiorentinos, DeAndre Elliott, Darius Jackson or Jay Ajayi, to name a few, you can do it in McKinney.

“Human development never stops, the goals just change as you get older and retire from sport,” Abadie concluded.  “Michael Johnson’s mission of being able to help every athlete is a real dream of his. Not just the ones in McKinney, Texas, but all over the world.”

ARLINGTON - A dog is man’s best friend.  When our four-legged friends take on the roll of helping law enforcement officers protect a city then these canines become even stronger in our lives and our communities.

Several cities in the area including Arlington, Frisco, DeSoto and Lancaster have strong police departments since these cities have one, or in the case of the City of Arlington, several K9s helping to patrol the streets.

Numerous K9s in the City of Arlington

Up until a few weeks ago, the City of Arlington had three K9’s on its team; Mojo, a Belgian Malinois who recently passed away after an intense suspect search; Finn, a mix of Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd and Hank, a Belgian Malinois.

As is obvious in the case of Mojo, these K9s do their job above and beyond sniffing out the best and the worst in a situation and doing an exemplary job.

“There are numerous aspects of the K9 Team that make it an imperative component of the police department,” said City of Arlington, Assistant Chief of Police, Field Operations Bureau, Kevin Kolbye. “However, among the most important aspects are the dog's senses, specifically the olfactory senses.  Canine's sense of smell is far superior to humans, this trait coupled with the drive of the Police Service Dog (PSD), makes the PSD an excellent tool to locate criminals and evidence.”

In fact, the PSD is often a visual and audible deterrent to criminals to cease their flight from officers.

“A few months ago, officers from several jurisdictions were in pursuit of a felony suspect in a stolen vehicle,” said Kolbye. “The controlling supervisor requested that the K9 Units take over the primary positions in the pursuit, placing them directly behind the stolen vehicle.  When the suspect was later apprehended, he was interviewed and indicated that he intended to flee on foot once his vehicle ran out of fuel.  However, when he observed the K9 Unit vehicles directly behind him, he knew any efforts to flee would be futile and would possibly result in injury to him.  He immediately surrendered to officers when the vehicle ran out of fuel. 

Police Service Dogs are also an excellent way to engage citizens in the community and peak their interest in the department's operations. 

“So many people love dogs today, and our police dogs are often a way for us to find common ground with our citizens,” Kolbye added.

Arlington’s K9 Teams train and are certified to locate and apprehend dangerous, violent criminals.  In addition to the apprehension discipline, the K9 Teams train and are certified to detect illegal narcotics. In all the K9 teams in that city have over 50 years of combined police dog experience, and over 70 years of combined law enforcement experience.

Lancaster’s K9 Perks Up all his two-legged colleagues

A bit newer to the K9 game, the City of Lancaster has a seven-year-old German Shepherd name Rex whose partner’s name is Sergeant Logan.  Together this team tracks suspects, locates articles discarded by suspects and Rex can detect narcotics.

With the department since 2012, Logan said “K9 Rex is a morale booster by the fact that Officers perk up when he makes his rounds in briefing making contact with each officer and getting his daily scratch from each of them.”

In Lancaster, Rex has located a number of fleeing suspects and officers say they know if they believe a vehicle may be transporting narcotics; need help searching for a suspect or need to search a large structure Rex will always be available to assist and will have a quick response to the location.  

K9s live with their handlers too becoming part of the family and usually staying on as a family pet after they retire.  Training anywhere from four to eight weeks at an accredited training facility, Logan said in the case of his and Rex’s training they continue to in regularly in order to stay sharp, both at the Police Station and out in the field while on duty.

Frisco’s K9 just happens to be a female

While most K9’s on the various police forces are males, in Frisco that Police Department has a female PSD named Cali.  Cali is the first K9 that city has had in 20 years.  K9 Officer J. Sample said the two have been working together for 18 months including five weeks of training and getting certified as a team in Mississippi.

As a five-year-old German Shepherd, Sample said that Cali is trained in narcotics detection, handler protection, tracking and evidence recovery.

“Most police agencies use either German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds, or Belgian Malinois for all purpose K9s,” Sample explained. “The K9 Team does a lot of community outreach such as talking to Girl Scouts, Junior Police Academies, schools, and Citizens Police Academy. K9 Cali is also a great deterrent for crime and several wanted felons have given up without incident once they hear K9 Cali.”

City of DeSoto has Arsen

Of course, one K9 that can’t go unnoticed is Arsen in the City of DeSoto.  A three-year-old Belgian Malinois, Arsen is known for his prowess tracking for fleeing suspects, article searches as well as building, area and suspect searches.

DeSoto Police Department Lt. May said that Arsen and his handler are a two officer unit backing each other up without hesitation.  In fact, he’s the only tool used once the K9 team has been deployed.

K9s wear vests too

Since the K9 handler has a bullet proof vest, it is also important that the K9 have a vest too.  While Rex does not have his vest yet, Logan said that The Camryn's K9 Foundation has donated a vest for him that is currently on back order.

In Arlington, Finn has a vest as did Mojo and the department is in the final stages of outfitting Hank with his own ballistic vest.

K9 Cali has her own bullet proof/stab proof vest that the Girl Scouts in Frisco raised the money to purchase for her. 

“The vest is approximately eight pounds, which is very cumbersome for a 60 pound German Shepherd, but that said she does not wear it all the time because it is too cumbersome,” Sample explained. “She will wear it in situations where we know we are going into a known threat.”

And Arsen sports a vest too, which the citizens of DeSoto donated to the department for him.

“The ballistic vests for the PSDs are similar to that of officers,” said Kolbye. “It covers the abdominal region of the canine, offering protection from bullets.  The handlers carry the vests in their assigned police vehicles, and deploy the canines with the vests as needed.”

As for the rewards of working with a strong, stealth partner, Sample concluded “Getting to train the K9 and watch the K9 accomplish its job out on the street after all the hard work and training with the K9 is very rewarding.”