#5- Hometown Feature News, "Dine on the Line/Downtown Revival"

It's once again time for an event unique to the Texarkana area. The fifth annual Dine on the Line event is coming up and tickets are still available through the 27th of September. The purpose of this event is to bring the two halves of the city together as a whole in a community driven event to promote the revitalization of downtown Texarkana. Come out on October 4th and party in two states at once.

Main Street Texarkana Events- https://www.mainstreettexarkana.org/dine-on-the-line.html

Dine on the Line 2018

It has been a long running dream of many citizens of Texarkana to restore the downtown area to it's former glory, back to a time where it was a bustling social hub full of art and music. As of now only a few scattered restaurants and store fronts remain open and once grand murals chip away from the side of ancient buildings. Dine on the Line is attempting to draw in crowds with a seated farm to table meal right on the state line, a beer garden, a live performance by local band "Chasing Rita", and finally the unveiling of the new Dr. Pepper mural on the side of TLC Burgers and Fries. 

TLC Burgers and Fries

Be sure to buy tickets in advance, purchase will not be allowed at the gate. Members of the TK community are urged to come out and do their part by having a great time and adding steam behind the movement to make our city wonderful again. Future plans for the area include more loft housing, renovation of the Arts District, and eventually a refurbishing and re-purposing of the Hotel Grim (https://www.ci.texarkana.tx.us/479/Hotel-Grim-Redevelopment). As of now these large iconic buildings sit in ruin waiting for innovative partners to give them new life. Downtown Texarkana has become a place associated with crime and homelessness which is a far cry from it's heyday. If every building had been maintained and used like the Perot theater then downtown would still be a site to behold. It is a shining example of classic architecture and style reminiscent of the Gatsby-esque style that we've all learned to love. In addition to the Perot, Silvermoon Children's Theater has done a fantastic job of taking an older building and modernizing it for maximum comfort, aesthetic, and crowd draw (https://www.silvermoononbroad.com/). Another example of ingenuity in the downtown area is a recently opened restaurant housed in a converted rail car.

Perot Theater 

The Flying Crow Diner

 In recent years the push for revival of the old spirit of the city has gained traction. Activities like the Christmas parade and Rail Fest come to mind. These activities are the fuel behind the sense of community Texarkana is attempting to foster and rekindle. One thing to notice is the target groups for said events, the city does a fairly decent job of touching on various demographics. As more events are held and more people come out the city is reaching ever closer to finding the will to bring itself back into the spotlight and out of gutter.

Downtown Texarkana

State Line

#4- Hometown Hard News- "State resets in Child Rape Trial".

Larry Neff Jr. is currently on trial for the rape of a girl who was 11 years old at the time of the incident. This Fouke resident is far from the first to face trial for something so heinous, the town seems to have an alarming number of similar instances. The alleged victims mother passed away when she was 4 which resulted in her and her brother being sent to live with a relative of their father. This woman was living with Neff and later married him. The defense attorney for Neff, Tommy Potter, has a reputation around the Texarkana area for defending questionable individuals which in a small town setting doesn't bode well for the chances of an unbiased jury.

Potter is resting his primary defense on the lack of supporting evidence involving pornography that was supposedly show to the victim and Neff's poor health. Neff's house was searched as well as most of his personal devices but experts were only able to say there was no apparent sign of pornography. In this case something read off of an external storage device would not have left an imprint on the devices other than the fact that it was connected to the PC. The experts said that USB drives had been read by some of the devices but they had no way of telling what was on them without the drives themselves. This lack of evidence take plays strongly off the fact that their are private browsing options that would render all of Neff's search history irretrievable, even for said experts.

The other part of this defense deals with Neff's weight. Potter says that Neff weighed close to 400 pounds and "had to sleep in a chair" due to breathing problems. This argument is notorious for not holding water in court. The fact is that if someone wants to do something bad enough, they'll generally find a way to make it work. And the testimony from the alleged victim stated Neff assaulted her with his hands and made her perform a sexual act on him. Overpowering a frail 11 year old girl doesn't seem like a difficult task for someone who weighs literally almost an estimated 4 time more that she does.

Physical evidence isn't particularly strong so in the end it will likely come down to the jury deciding between the testimony of the victim or "innocent until proven guilty". It is hard to separate facts from fiction in hearsay cases but originally the victims cry for help came in the form of a note given to her guardian by the woman's daughter. The note was submitted to evidence which is particularly compelling from an emotional standpoint. No one seems to doubt the authenticity of the note so far so if a little girl were to write for help then pass that note to another young lady who is evidently like a sister to her, it doesn't seem that odd.

Neff is currently out on a $50,000 bail. If convicted of rape Neff faces 10 to 40 years in prison, as well as a possible 5 to 20 years if convicted for a charge of second-degree sexual assault. It is likely that if the rape charge sticks so will the sexual assault charge, meaning 50 year old Neff is potentially looking at life in prison.


Original story- http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texarkana/story/2019/sep/25/state-rests-child-rape-trial/796643/

#3- News Leads

Tweets by RathburnJonah

#2- Breaking news: Social Media Over 24 hours- Daniel Johnston

  Yesterday around midday social media began to light up with messages about singer Daniel Johnston. Johnston is famous for songs such as "True Love Will Find You in The End" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7lyfYzIw8) and his signature art style which he often used to illustrate his own album covers. His name began being mentioned fondly in posts by celebrities which, sadly, often times means something bad has happened .The heart breaking news first officially came out over news sites out of his adopted state of Texas. An underappreciated icon had taken his last breathe, he had died of a heart attack at age 58. Big news pages stayed virtually empty at first on social media so fans took it upon their selves to begin honoring a true icon.

 Celebrities and fans of all ages began to sing their praise a mere hour after the news broke. Jonah Hill left a heartfelt message at the bottom of his post thanking Johnston for sharing his struggles with mental health in the form of  music and getting many people through tough times. Even younger stars like Finn Wolfhard made posts about the late great musician. Even the brand Supreme's New York Branch made a post stating that "Some things last a lifetime", referring to his impact on music and the lives of many. Johnston reached many with his music, it always seemed to find people at the right time in their lives. Seeing more and more "Rest in Peace" posts emerge on my feed as the hours ticked by made it all too real for me. In reality there isn't much in the ways of breaking news when someone passes away after the initial shock but I believe its important how this news comes to certain people. In situations like this I find it interesting which publications and people receive the news first. For example the New York times published a story on Johnston's death nearly a day ago whereas less main stream sites like The Takeout just managed to publish theirs 35 minutes ago. Time moves differently on social media most of the tributes I saw were posted within 30 minutes of each other meaning the news likely spread faster to more diverse areas because of celebrity followings.

Artists seem to have a way of banding together when someone dies. On Twitter musicians like Beck and Clario honored Daniel Johnston memory. Twitter was absolutely flooded with kind words about him ( https://twitter.com/search?q=daniel%20johnston&src=typeahead_click). Seeing two artists who very clearly have taken inspiration from Johnston delivering the news of his passing softens the blow. I think back to the photo of Kurt Cobain wearing one of Johnston's art works on a t-shirt and I find it odd to think how artists like this often leave intertwined legacies in strange ways. After all, it was Kurt's public support that helped Johnston's career catch fire and in the end Daniel ended up outliving him.
It's a situation where the ones who knew him and his work don't want us to be sad that he's gone but to celebrate his memory instead. Johnston was always battling mental illness but that never changed his soft childlike heart. He taught us that being different isn't a bad thing. He paved the way for many soft spoken, introspective, low-fi artists. In the spirit of what he stood for I think it's only right that these artists keep this kind of music alive and thriving. The only question we're left wondering is did true love ever find him in the end?

#1- The News, Tackling the Age Old Task of Defining News.

I've been fascinated journalism from a very young age. I saw a theme in the media that I consumed, and naturally as a child I loved cartoons and comic books. These mediums always portrayed hard nose reporters and photographers as somewhat heroic. Characters like Clark Kent (A.K.A. Superman himself, my personal childhood hero), the fearless Lois Lane, and Peter Parker who would scale buildings to get the perfect photo in between fighting crime. Even characters like April O'Neal and Vicki Vale left an impression on me.

 Often times I think about how much my perception has remained the same. I always saw news sources as a way for the truth to be spread at any cost. Average people risking their safety to keep the world informed was a mesmerizing concept. As I've grown I realized something that is a twist on an old adage, "Truth (and news for that matter) is in the eye of the beholder". What is news to me may me nothing to you. Sure, I care about NBA trade updates, movie castings, and what films get rave reviews but some people don't.

 News is simply information relayed to the public, should we choose to accept it. I have found over the years that if you wish to live blissfully unaware that you can read news that is specifically tailored to your world views, but I won't drop names (*cough cough* Fox and CNN). Whether you lean right or left there's a biased source waiting to tell you what you want to hear. No offense to people who trust a single source but I prefer to do my research. A source can claim anything and give opinions, for example my blog could fervently claim that the Philly 76er's are in talks to sign Carmelo Anthony but that may just be one mad mans dream. The moral of this story is that real news can be verified by multiple sources. So at the end of the day to me, good news, is the truth and nothing but.