Going with the Wind: Inside the Booming Business (and Service) of North Texas' Storm Chasing

Tornado chasers, known professionally as “storm spotters,” are spread all across Tornado Alley, and combined they conduct hundreds of chases each year. However, the day-to-day work of these tornado enthusiasts isn't exactly as Hollywood classics like Twister paint it to be.

Fort Worthian Jack Daw, a self-titled "man of the people," doesn’t see his work being auctioned off in an expensive gallery. He’s actually rather content selling his $25 prints in a tent in the parking lot of a bar.

In November 2023, Dallas band Bastards of Soul released its final studio album, Give It Right Back, the first since the unexpected death of singer Chadwick Murray in 2021. While the band said goodbye to their professional partnerships with one another that fall, the same could not be said for Bastards of Soul bassist Danny Balis and producer Jeff “Skin” Wade.

Charlie's Star Lounge co-owner Allen Falkner took to Facebook to host a brief online Ted Talk, as he called it. It was a two-paragraph post consisting of one simple request to bar patrons: please "quit fucking" in the bathrooms at Charlie's.

Denton activist Willie Hudspeth spent decades educating citizen and visitors on the city's  racist history. In the summer of 2020, the 74-year-old saw years of effort come to fruition with the removal of the Confederate monument that was seated in the center of the county square.

The summer of 2020 brought bouts of lockdowns and isolation, resulting in spikes of social media usage, namely across younger demographics. Views expressed online are not always well received, leading burgeoning activists to reevaluate their online relationships with peers and loved ones. 

Investigative University of North Texas campus story that broke news on the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Executive Dean Albert Bimper's proposal to restructure CLASS, which would lead to significant changes to the university’s Mayborn School of Journalism. 

Local activist Willie Hudspeth has been a recognizable figure in the Denton community for decades. After successfully getting the city to remove a Confederate monument that formerly sat in the community square, the 75-year-old has moved his efforts toward another local cause  —  uncovering St. John's Freedmen Cemetery.

Dentonite neighbors Judy Smith and Anne Pearson's  most notable feat is arguably the 100-plus chair collection that took up the front lot between their homes. A local oddity, The Chairy Orchard attracted visitors from across the Denton community and beyond. After an eight-year run, its co-creators announced the orchard’s permanent closure. 

Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 52, a $3 billion educational bill, for university construction projects across the state on Oct. 19, 2021. The bill nealry $300 million to University of Texas' campuses to build new science and technology buildings amidst a period of enrollment growth in the university's STEM programs.