[Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for you. Where are you? [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] N. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] with us. Uh Chené, first item is citizens comments. Do we have any residents who would like to speak? Yes, sir. Okay. This the next item is the city operations update. Chris. Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, mayor and council and residents. It's good to be here with you at our work session. We have three different operation updates. We're going to start with Joan and an Irving Golf Club operations update. Joe, thank you, Chris. Good afternoon, Mayor, Council Staff. Joe Moses, Parks and Recreation. Have uh some great news we want to share with you. some updates at the Irving Golf Club. So, Fernando, get that up. Can you pull local golfer Mike Bayis loves teeing it up at Irving Golf Club. Greens are great. Fairways are cut well. So much so that he regularly makes the roughly halfhour trips from his home and trophy club to play here. The price for what you get, it makes it worth the drive. All of us came from all different parts of the area just to come to Irving to play golf. Mike's not alone. Since reopening in 2019, following an extensive renovation, Irving Golf Club now hosts more than 40,000 rounds of golf annually, nearly 7 times more than before. It's no longer a secret. The hottest golf course in the metroplex, I would say, is right here at the Urban Golf Club. This April, crews completed the replacement of the course's cart paths, more than 17,000 linear feet, or nearly 3 and 1/2 miles. It's all the difference in the world. It used to be real bad. Now it's real good. You can see the drastic change as these paths have gone from a rough ride to what now feels like a smooth 3-wood down the middle of the fairway as Irving Golf Club climbs to the top of the leaderboard of public courses in North Texas. It's a big bragging point for us. I would match our course up to any municipal course in the area. The upgrade to Irving Golf Club have clearly been a birdie. But there's still some potential areas for improvement. As you can see by these puddles, the ground here in the driving range hitting area is clearly not level. We want to come back and level that off. We also noticed that um you know, it gets hot out here, so we want to add potentially a couple shade structures on half the driving range. Want to come back, want to do some renovations to the clubhouse at some point. really want to give it a more comfortable restaurant type feel so that even if you're not a golfer, you can come out here, you can watch a game or just socialize with friends. That's pretty. The increases in rounds played and food and beverage revenue have Irving Golf Club operating in the black as golfers like Mike continue to rave about Irving's commitment to municipal golf. Nice. Thanks. It's great that the city spends the money on it because a lot of municipalities don't, but Irving does a great job. That's why we're here. A drive well worth making for golfers in Irving and all across North Texas. And a boy. Great putt. We have a few more pictures with the presentation there. Get Um, and as we mentioned with the improvements to the car paths, that project started on August of 2024. Um, we replaced all of the cart paths with steel, reinforced car paths. The previous car paths didn't have the um the steel in them. Um, right over um 17,500 linear feet of car paths were replaced. The project was supposed to finish in um May, but we were actually finished ahead of schedule. We got done in April and it was projected to be about $1.8 million. So, we came in right at just over $1.7 million. So, it was a little bit of a savings there on that project as well. So, the company did a great job on getting the project done on time, ahead of schedule, and under budget. And just a couple more pictures just to show you just the the difference in the car pass throughout the project. And you can also notice in some of the areas where we added curves and we widen the paths so that um we can keep carts from going onto the green area but also provide an area where they can park and pass through traffic and get by. And as I mentioned in the video there, um the driving range, there's been some sinking in some areas there. So, we want to come back and level that off. Um we also want to do put some shade structures over there. We'll show you some examples of that. We're going to do some renovations to the bunkers, keep the drainage up out there, and then also some improvements to the clubhouse or things that we want to look at for the future. There's our driving range. And these are the types of shade structures that we're looking at trying to add out there. And at this point, I'll open it up for any questions. Questions, comments, Joe. Everything looks great. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. All right. Next, we have the Irving Youth Action Council travel recap. their trip to Washington DC. All right. Thank you. All right. Yes. Um again, want to give you an update on our annual trip, but our um youth council that we take out to the NLC conference to the youth delegate um portion of that. So on March 8th through 11th um two of our staff members took a group of five members of the Irving AK committee out to the NLC uh conference out in Washington DC. This is a great trip for our students. Um it gives them valuable tools on how to be involved and invest in their community. um also helps them out to become teen leaders. That shows them that they have a voice and an impact on what happens in their community. And the ability to network with teens across the country to see what's going on there, how they're addressing issues and how they're having input in their local communities is valuable for our youth. Also, just to get to experience DC, um if you haven't been to DC, DC is a great city to see. There's a lot of history there. Um, for a lot of our teens that we take on this trip, um, this is an opportunity for them to get to see some of the things that they hear about or read about in school. For a lot of them, this is the first time that they've ever been outside of Irving, first time that they've ever been on an airplane. So, it's a really great experience for them. And we have a little video that they've [Music] made. [Music] Heat. Heat. All [Music] right. And I open it up for questions, Dennis. And then uh Kyle. No, I don't have any questions, but uh I do want to say that that is a great investment uh that our city make with those youth. Uh I've had the opportunity on several occasions at NLC to be around them. I remember one NLOC I think we was in Pittsburgh or somewhere where I actually got to take a picture with like about 12 kids from Austin. Uh and so it's a lot of youth get to come. So I'm glad that we're making that investment to uh let our children enjoy that opportunity also. Yeah, I think this is a really good program. Dennis, remember when you and I were down there and saw those kids, we weren't sending anybody at the time. So, um, you know, fellow former council member David Palmer and was pretty instrumental about getting this thing pushed forward. It's one of the really neat things. A lot of those kids that we've talked to have been from Irving had never been on a plane before. And so, uh, David and I snuck into one of the roundt discussions they were having one year when we didn't have when Irving folks weren't going out there and just listening to those kids talk about their thoughts and ideas on solving problems that face their hometowns and where they live. There's a lot of really smart, intelligent kids. That's some really good ideas. Um, and anytime you can get your claws or groups into some people to start helping them become the next leaders and understanding that process, it makes it better for all of us. So, I think this is one of the one of the best things that we've done since I've been on council is being able to send those youth to DC to go to that council to meet peers and talk to themselves, get on a plane for the first time and see what DC is like and what the seed of our government looks like because they're the next leaders who are going to be making decisions for us and we're not at the table anymore. So, congratulations that Joan, great job. Thank you, sir. Joe, thank you for for the program. I, you know, it's always interesting to me to be able to have these presentations that we have at work session and council and and really get to see the things that are going on in the city of Irving. You know, there's so much that's going on that people uh don't even realize uh the youth center and what the remodel job there and how that's changed a lot of things and kids are just loving that whole facility. and then of course the PALS right next to it and we've really developed a center for for the youth to have an opportunity to get out there and do some of these things. And so it's it's unfortunate that we aren't able to uh get people more involved or engaged in realizing what we do have to offer as a city because maybe then we'd have a lot better things to talk about. Brad. Yeah, I I agree, Kyle and Mayor and Dennis is uh once upon a time I went to Washington DC with a program like this and it really it makes an impact and it's they'll never forget the trip and who they met and what they did and so is hopefully we get some future leaders out of it too. Um so anyway, great job. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mayor Council, for your support and also ICTN. Thank you guys for the great video to show what happens out there. Good job. All right, last we have April with last month on IT ICTN. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. April Riley, director of communications. Shortly, you're here you will hear from Thomas Gandandy that we produced 56 videos last month. One video that I'm um looking forward to seeing next month on ICTN is the popular annual financial report which you have in front of you. Um there will be a read file tomorrow. Sorry Ko, just a quick plug. Um more to come on that. Um please roll the video. Your ICTN team produced 56 videos in the month of April. One good guess to appreciate what city of Irving has. The area is just very nice to run around. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a community. the lights, the water, you feel like you're away from home, but you're not. I think it's really important to show like the creative aspect that a lot of students have to kind of show what they got. Any guesses how long it took to fill that pool? If you said about 9 hours, you would be correct. It's a really good summer job to have being able to serve the community. [Music] We get to see the band's interaction with the people and how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. Mom is probably nearby either getting food, gathering supplies. She might even be moving the little ones to a new safer area. I came from Cuba about 4 years ago. No English, no nothing. And then without Urban ID, I wouldn't be here. People that come to Pistol can enjoy almost a VIP experience up here on the patio enjoying live music downstairs. Stay up todate by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/theity of urban. Thank you. Thank you. All right. The next item I'm gonna pull up a a couple proclamations I have to give today. So, if I could get the uh ICVB uh board staff and board members to join me up at the podium. Yes, sir. We're in charge of food. Chris. Well, one of the things that uh we are very fortunate and very proud to have in our community is our convention and visitors bureau and all that they have done. And more, it's a it's a real testament to you and your tenacity to see where we started many years ago looking at maybe building a a meet and greet center on one piece of land to where we are today uh with uh this unbelievable convention center and everything that you do is a to support our community and and make people realize the great things that are going on in Irving and around Irving that uh we can be a part of and uh it's because of the tourism and the commitment that you've made uh that uh we have what we have today. So kudos to you over these many years to bring us to this level and your staff and all of the volunteers who have served on the committee over the years and still serve today. We're very very fortunate. The proclamation reads, "Whereas travel is an economic powerhouse for for Irving, where the visitor economy has provided strength and stability for many decades, welcoming just over 4.3 million visitors." 4.3 million visitors annually and generating nearly 3.5 billion 3.5 billion in direct visitor spending annually. And whereas visitor spending bolsters safe and vibrant communities, supporting 23,329 jobs and generating 70.3 million in local tax revenue to contribute to the essential services and programs, saving every Irving household $757 a year. And whereas promoting Irving as a premier destination for travelers not only supports an essential industry but is also introduces corporate leaders and decision makers to Irving the headquarters of headquarters and whereas tourism and travel dependent business 60% which are small businesses depending on Irving support and promoting to keep our community visible viable and vibrant. Now therefore, I, Rick Stoer, mayor of the city of Irving and the Irving City Council, to hereby proclaim May 4th, 2025 to May 10th, 2025 as National Travel Tourism in Irving, Texas. [Applause] Congratulations to speak. I didn't come prepared to speak, but I believe that uh our organization plays a vital role in the city of Irving and with the statistics that the mayor just read, uh that's a lot of revenue that uh citizens don't have to pay income tax. Fortunately, as our board members, we have some of the best and brightest. And also, we have great leadership from our executive director, Mara Gas. uh she's been our executive director for some time before we had the convention center and she was involved in the building of the convention center. So, it's great to be recognized for a job well done. Thank you very much. [Applause] Next, if I could get Harry Lake and Steve Love and the group from the Chamber of Commerce, whoever is with us today, to join me here as well. Heather, good. How are you? Good to see you. Well, one of the other things that we're very blessed in the community to have is a strong uh chamber of commerce and economic development team. Uh, as you know, 70% of the tax base within the city is is allocated to what these men and women do every day to make sure that we have businesses that we have within our community. And we're very blessed to have uh business leaders who take the time away from many of them Fortune 500 companies to be part of our businesses here in the city. We also are blessed to have over uh 8,000 small businesses and we always look forward to those small businesses. That's the backbone. Those are the ones that create so many jobs within our community and the time we know when they volunteer it's very difficult because they're very limited in manpower. So the time that they spend with us is very much appreciated. And so we have a proclamation. Whereas the Irving Economic Development Partnership is a public private partnership between the city of Irving, the Greater River Los Clean Chamber of Commerce, Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Los Clean Association to fuel business growth, promote new capital investment, create highquality jobs and careers for Irving residents, and support more than 10,000 small and entrepreneurial businesses in Irving, Los Kolenus. And whereas National Economic Development Week recognized the economic development professionals and it their role in our community successful growth and sustaining by successful growth by addressing issues such as workforce availability, training, international trade and foreign direct investment incentives and reduce costs of operation. And whereas the partnership continues to to share the story of the success that has made Irving Lascolinus the headquarters of headquarters in Texas based upon the per capita headquarters in Irving, Texas. And whereas US Small Business Administration recognizes National Small Business Week to hire highlight the economic impact of entrepreneurs and small business owners who create two out of every three jobs in the United States. And whereas the partnership will visit 1,000 of these Irvingbased businesses to say thank you for choosing Irving Lascolinus during the driving innovation and increasing the community global competitiveness every day. And now therefore, I Rick Stover, mayor of the city of Irving and the Irving City Council, do hereby I proclaim May 4th through May 10th and May 11th to May 17th, 2025 as National Small Business Week and Economic Development Week in Irving, Texas. Congratulations. [Applause] Well, thank you, Mayor Stoer, and thank you members of the city council. We really appreciate you recognizing Small Business Week and International Economic Development Week. We deeply appreciate your support for the Irving Loscolinas business community and we still have faith in the Irving Economic Development Partnership as a very successful vehicle for attracting and retaining developmental opportunities here in the Irving Loscalas area. As we approach Small Business Week, we'll engage in our seventh annual small business blitz where we will thank over 1,000 Irving businesses for calling our great city home. I want to thank the chamber team, our volunteers that have put this together with a tremendous amount of work to help honor and celebrate our small businesses. We also are going to be having the best of Irving next week. So, please join us next Thursday at Raleigh Underground at the Toyota Music Factory as we recognize our businesses in the community. And we love the fact that our residents and business community support Irving Loscolinas. So on behalf of of Chamber of Commerce, for the board, for our member investors, I'm proud to say that the Irving Loscolinus reputation is a very pro business community. And it's a competitive place where entrepreneurs of all sizes are welcome, supported, and encouraged to make their dreams come true. So, as chair of the Irving Loscalenus Chamber of Commerce, I stand here proud to represent the chamber and thank all of you for the support of our business community. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, the uh next item on our agenda is to review the agenda. So, we'll go through the regular agenda. Uh items number two and three are work session meetings from Thursday and council meeting from uh April 10th. Item number four is resolution appointing to the Upper Trinity Regional Water District Board of Directors. Uh Orlando will be filling that position. Number five is approving an amendment to the city of Irving's investment policy. Number six is amending authorization city of Irving reinvest uh representatives in the uh Texas local government investment pool text pool. Item number seven is a resolution amending authorizing the city of Irving's representative in the short-term asset re reserve program techar. Number eight is authorizing additional expenditures with Bickl Staff Heath Costa LLP in the amount not to exceed $50,000 for uh continuing litigation regarding the 1501 Valley View Road Confl. Number nine is a resolution appointing Dr. Keith Leac MD to serve as the local health authority for the city of Irving for a two-year term and approve approving a professional service consulting agreement between the city of Irving and Dr. Lee for health authority services for a two-year period uh in the annual amount of $28,000. Number 10 is awarding a contract to&m Construction and Utilities Inc. in the amount of $3,894,324 for uh Finley Water Wastewater improvement project. Kyle. Yeah. Um just out of curiosity, have we worked with&m construction utilities before? And if we have, what projects have they done? Please. They are currently doing the uh Conflange project that is underway. They're near um Conflange and Belt Line just west of Belt Line. So this will be their second project. Are they on time and within the budget with the project? They're just starting right now. Okay. This month. So they'll have two ongoing projects at the same time. Yes, sir. Okay. What is their plan in case we start to run into some challenges with them? What I don't want to see again is using a contractor that puts now hiring signs out around their project like we had when the wastewater some of the wastewater drainage systems we had when I saw a contractor had hiring signs out on Growweiler because they couldn't get enough employees. What is the plan for mediating any kind of challenges that we have with them? Well, we're going to be meeting with them. We can we up the meetings on their status meetings. Uh if it we need meet every week, we'll meet every week with them to make sure they're on on target. Okay. Thank you. Item number 11 is approving an an economic development save agreement between the city of Irving and Envoy Inc. and the amount depend upon annual qualifications. Glad to have an envoy stay in our community for the next 10 years. Item number 12 is approving a development agreement uh with Ris theory Development LLC for the development and sale of property at 500 West 6th Street uh 721 Street and uh 722 Rendy Street. Item number 13 is ratifying payment made to Pure Technologies US Inc. in the total amount of [Music] $13,6602 for the emergency leak detection of the 48 inch Jameson waterline. We had a good presentation of that at Brad's meeting earlier. Uh item number 14 is a payment to Tyler Technologies in the amount of [Music] $47,6152 for uh enterprise resource planning software annual maintenance. Item number 15 through 29 are the bids. Any questions on the bids? Item number 30 is agreed a termination of franchise agreement with Champion Waste and Recycling Services LLC. And that brings us to our zoning cases. Good afternoon. Afternoon. All right. We just had a few cases tonight and two have requested indefinite postponements. So, it should be a quick night tonight for zoning. We give you what we get. I'm Jocelyn Murphy, director of planning. Our first case is um that the these two are companion cases. It's 2025 94 CP 1101 West Royal requesting go from business office to community village. Staff and PNZ recommend approval. PNZ was a 43 and no opposition or support received. So this is at the corner of 161 and 114. Piedmont who owns this property also owns uh this three office building complex to the south. Um the there's a hotel up in NO I believe the hotel here. Um and they are wanting to develop this for a mixeduse development. So it' be multif family uh a large restaurant and other smaller commercial. So the request is to go to the community village which is our low inensity mixeduse category. Again here's the future land use map currently. Uh business office of course is the taller uh more intensive offices. Those are the new categories from a couple years ago. Community Village is our lowdensity mixeduse walkable um dis category. We have our criteria that we evaluate whether it's appropriate to change from uh different non-residential uses. Um staff has identified that these criteria have been met. Um there will be some land of course if removed from the office category into the uh the community village which is again the mixed use but there will be some ability to have offices and other commercial within the mixeduse designation and I can go ahead and go to that zoning case if you prefer. This is a companion. Yeah do both of them together. Yeah, we'll go ahead and talk about both of them. Okay. Uh, it's currently freeway um freeway um base district and 161 overlay request is for SP2 for a mixeduse. So be a generalized site plan to set the development standards. Staff and PNZ recommend approval. PNZ was 4 to three. No opposition or support. Again, the site at 1614, future land use, the zoning, most of the area around there is freeway. The the creek actually is R40, but that was a when it was annexed. So, this is their formal SP2 site plan that would be in the ordinance. Because this is a mixeduse district, we don't have regulations. We don't have a base mixeduse district yet. So each time uh people want to do mixed use they do have to come through and essentially set set their own standards. Uh so that's why this is a little more complex because they are setting all the details of their uh setbacks and their heights and their parking um within this SP process. So this is a little blow up of what they're going to do. The mixed use is an allowed use within the 161 overlay. And this is in the 161 overlay. um as long as you have at least 10% commercial. They do have 10% I believe they're actually at about 11%. That is includes some mixeduse uh some mixeduse tenant spaces. Um I'll show you in a second some of some physical um workout spaces and also a very large restaurant. The proposal would be for 390 units uh again in a walkable format. So this is their illustrative plan. So this would be the uh multif family spaces be lined by retail live work. The fitness uh would be for the apartments but would also be open to the public. That was one of criteria in order to be counted as commercial. And then this is a uh it' be Kirby Ice House and they are willing to say that because this very much tied into this project. uh they are committed to this project and it will be um what they would build. Kirby Ice House and you'll get more tonight, but they are out of Houston and they have four locations in Houston and they have a presentation and a video that they'll show you tonight. Um but the uh they have a part interior and the part uh like a big patio, big exterior area. They're proposing to have a trail around the property and make it walkable. And this would be kind of a central corridor. I put a picture in here and they'll have more. Um, so it's intended to be focused on this activity area with the outdoor space and then of course they'd be able to have access to u walking along the creek if they would like to. So all of the spaces on the ground level would be commercial spaces. And some pictures they do again Pedmont owns the property um here to the south. So, they are enthusiastic about having this be a complement to their offices. Um, they will, if they need to, they have the ability, of course, to share parking in their parking garage. And I'll be happy to answer any questions. Questions on either of those. Al, we had a discussion about this the first time. Uh, and it was really clear that it doesn't fit, especially when they flipped what they were talking they were going to put townhouse houses along Royal so that at least there was an ability to have some kind of of activity. Now they're going to single family, excuse me, multifamily. And then they moved what they were going to put was a a small restaurant now to the back. I mean, everything that they've done was different than when I actually went out there and sat with them and said directly to them, you see where 161 is, you got 50 feet up there. Where how far are you going to try to deal with that issue? Because you're down in a swell. Secondly, you have commercial, you have a long 161, all the um major businesses to include um Microsoft. And I I think at the end of the day, it just doesn't fit. And I think they've been ingenuous after saying that they were going to do certain things and I can guarantee you cuz I've talked to four of the at the uh PNZ meeting which really troubles me what we have sitting on our PNZ because two of them never even went out to the site to look at it. And so we get caught because as you said Johnson, we don't have any real criteria for that kind of space. And that troubles me. then we're recommending it. I mean, I can't even think about how we're going to go with this. So, I am definitely against this one, Brad. Yeah. I mean, we have a to me a multitude of this sort of product with multif family um really in the area. It's not going to help the existing multif family. Um, I'm super concerned about ingress and egress having hundreds of people in coming in living there. It's it's going to create a traffic problem. One thing I'll observe just now yesterday was kind of a anomaly, but I've noticed on Royal where the the television stations going in, we had massive bad flooding that we never used to have um because of whatever is going on with that project and somebody stalled out their van or whatever because they tried to go through the water, which you shouldn't do, okay? But um for the where this comes off of Royal people exit 161 is already pretty awkward and challenging to get through there. Um and then even off coming off Royal. But going to what Al said, you have Microsoft next door, you have McKesten across the way Caddy Corner, you have the new data centers. I mean, this is this to me is got business office written all over it. Um, that's my opinion, but certainly to have another kind of run-of-the-mill multif family project, I don't agree with it. I mean, I I think maybe we could consider something else, but not with that density. You know, there's another one I think being proposed to do like a couple units of floor and be a tower. That's amazing. Um, and that certainly would help, but um I really the fitness center that's really going to be for the residents. It's not going to be a commercial space. You've got gyms all over the place around here. one of them just even right down the street. And so to me, that's not going to be any kind of amenity for the public. Um the restaurant probably would I think uh probably would get good traffic. Uh and what they were thinking of might be something good, but I just to me the multif family right here on this piece would be a shame because this is really and I know they'll tell us they can't do any office. It's impossible. They've tried that for years. Um, this to me is a future office campus and potentially with some of the the other uses they're talking about, but you know, for me, it's going to really harm the other multif family in this area. And frankly, the extended stay hotel we have a block down is is an apartment complex. Um, so And we got some just down here, some across the way. And so we really to me need to keep this space for for a office building. Mark, so the the only access Jocelyn would be on Royal. Is that right? There's no access from from 161. Correct. And um there was a discussion at the P&Z about being it being built in one phase. Uh so the it's not like you know the apartments would come in first and then the restaurant later. It all it would all be built at once. They intend to move forward. I mean they had permitted separately obviously and they'll have to come through and get the RAB for the restaurant uh as an additional step. Um but they don't intend to build one and then the other one. They do intend to build them as parallel as possible. But they could though they could do the apartments first and then the restaurant. And that's that's always the case. Yeah, that's always the case. Um and and so the restaurant is not considered part of the 10% because as you're just looking at the apartment building. It is part of the 10% because it's the entire the entire area will be mixeduse zoned. So it's being counted toward the 10%. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Move on to the next one. All right. Next one is a simple reb. So it's at 9400 North MacArthur suites 146 and 150. Uh it's currently pud for CN. They're requesting a pud for RAB staff and PZ P&Z recommend approval. No opposition or support. So this is the India X restaurant in a shopping center and just wanting to be able to sell alcohol. I believe it's an existing business and just want to start selling alcohol. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Questions. All right, next one. Um, so these are our last two cases and the applicant is requesting an indefinite postponement at 2912 North MacArthur. These are for two event centers within a structure. Um, I'm happy to go through them, but they are requesting a definite postponement. Uh, they did get recommendation of denial from staff and PNZ. So, they're going to relook at their proposal. Okay. In the interest of time, we'll catch up with that another day. That's it. Okay, that brings us to the end of our regular agenda. Uh I'm going to pull the Convention and Visitors Bureau semianual update. Uh next, uh I know we have people here. Mora, I apologize. I was going to put you before the agenda and I spaced it after I did the proclamation. So, we'll go ahead and bring you up now. It's all good, Mayor. Thank you. And appreciate the time and the opportunity to give you all an update. Uh, happy National Travel and Tourism Week almost. Uh, thank you all for being here and appreciate the time. Uh, let's see if I can remember how to do this one. So, just a moment to talk a little bit about why and how tourism works for Irving. The most important part being that it infuses new money every single day into our economy with very little impact or demand on our infrastructure. It is a first date, if you will, introducing prospective residents and businesses to Irving. Uh visitor spending supports the wide range of the city's cultural attractions and many amenities. And as you mentioned in the proclamation, mayor, because of the spending by visitors, our taxes are lower for our residents every year. Just going to touch a little bit on uh the outlook from tourism economics uh the state of the local industry and performance and then as we look down the road as to what's coming ahead. Uh it's a really confusing time in the economy particularly in the travel economy. So much so that you see it United Airlines has recently issued two separate earnings scenarios for 2025 which is unusual. They've uh issued one scenario if economic conditions are stabilized or improve and and share expectations at between 11 and $13 at that level or if there is a recession that the earnings could slump to $7 a share. It's just too soon to tell. And then recently, uh, Governor Christopher Waller from the board of governors of the Federal Reserve basically has done the same thing, trying to evaluate too soon in the process what the state of the economy is and whether the uh impacts we're all feeling right now are going to be short or longived. I share that with you all not because you need a lesson in the economy or need to hear anything from me that you're not hearing through every other news source you look at, but it's really the trickle down especially on us in Irving where we are so dependent on business travel as our bread and butter. So we're seeing effects already on overseas visitors coming into the United States. So you can see that huge drop off in March of 11 and a half%. And it started slowing there. So, uh, in particular, we we're starting to see European art tourists avoiding the US. There's just too much unknown for them to be comfortable. Canadian travel to the US, I believe, has dropped uh I think it's 18%. Travel from Mexico to the US has dropped, I believe it's 12%. So, we're starting to see those things trickle down. Um the forecast from the official airline guide is that airlines declines are going to continue uh through the rest of this year. Um huge drop from Canadian traffic into the US uh and there therefore United Airlines cutting back capacity for those for those routes. It is a major risk for us as I mentioned with the business uncertainty. So the business travel market is on a very extreme tightroppe right now when it comes to pricings. So you got uncertainty, volatility, and a lot of new risks impacting their pricing that are in budgets that are already in place, as well as hesitancy on pulling the trigger for any largecale travel or events. And then the typical economic reaction that happens when the economy starts to tighten with companies pulling back on things like travel and training. And all of that poses a direct effect on us. So a weaker corporate investment will definitely impact business travel. So everybody's going to hold back based on trade policy uncertainty, higher interest rates, higher prices. So as we look at our key economy drivers, we look at domestic leisure. This is a really, really small part of Irving's overall traveler profile, but it is most of our weekend traveler profile, and that's an important detail. So there is income growth happening, which is a positive. There are solid balance sheets for a lot of folks and there've been tax cut extensions. So those are positives. However, tariff effects on prices and then uh customer sentiment are the things that are the negatives as well as a softening labor market. When we look to domestic business, this is our bread and butter. The tax cut extensions or the promise of them is very positive. However, the tariff effects and then the immigration restrictions and travel bans are going to be a challenge for getting uh visitors in and out, company people in and out, etc. On the international front, there is pent-up demand. There are largecale events coming to the US in particular next year in the next several years with uh World Cup, the 250th anniversary of the United States, several other largecale events and a lot of new product. The dollar strength is weakening and again travel sentiment. These are some of the roadblocks on the federal front. Uh there is these are the priorities of our US travel association. There is a $50 billion trade deficit, a huge swing since 2014 and that has been driven by really long visa wait times, outdated infrastructure and then growing concerns about America's welcomeness. The projections from US travel is that we can recapture if we can fix some of these issues that would unlock uh nearly$500 billion dollars in economic activity and create 140,000 new American jobs. Sentiment toward the US has plummeted. It's adding to the challenges. And then earlier this week, Brand USA, which is this country's tourism office, the administration has gutted five of the leadership positions, the volunteer leaders from that organization. So that puts that organization and their efforts in marketing the US to the world on some very unsteady ground right now. And then modernization is a big issue. Uh the US air traffic control system is defined as pre- internet and there's a lot of concern about how that system is going to be able to handle the 2026 World Cup, America 20, America 250 and then the 2028 Olympics. There are budget asks at the federal level for both transportation and security costs for World Cup cities and venues, but those are just asks at this point. They have not made their way into any um approved budgets, and it's probably August before we know how that will play out. On the local front, uh corporate travel is starting to slow. We're starting to feel that. Uh Mondays and Thursdays are starting to fall off for our hotels and the music factory seeing this on their foot traffic as well that their Mondays and Thursdays have started to get a little soft. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we're still pretty fat and happy across the city, but we're starting to feel that slip. And of course, as I mentioned, uh corporate travel is down, corporate group is down, and then there's also considerable pressures on the government travel market as the administration looks to uh cut costs where they can. So let's just talk a little bit uh about our sales and marketing uh performance and just the value of groups coming to this community. Certainly when they come they spend money and that's great for everybody but when that experience is a good one and we work really really hard to make sure that it is there is that promotional value that we get out of that visit and that that makes the move for us. So we're still very very shortterm in the market. We are in the year for the year marketplace. That's that ittyfitty tag up at the front. In the current year, we have uh from our sales team's perspective, booked a little bit over 111,000 rooms with 60,000 still in lead status. You can see as we look at next year, we're in really good shape. As we look to three years and out, they're they don't look like there's much going on, but that's a normal view for us. What we're going to be most concerned about right now is what's happening in this year and next year. and do those that are lead status get converted or how many of those start to fall off because the meetings and events are actually cancelled. Some hotel bookings of note of recent and just to let you see a snapshot of the very diverse types of groups we welcome here. We had a CEO summit for John Deere. We had the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas, the National Warird Operators, Frank Glazier Football Clinics, which has been happening here, I believe, since I started working here 34 years ago. Uh, Texas Society of Professional Surveyors, Texas Steel Guitar Association, another group that's been with us for a really, really long time. National Tactical Officers Association and then coming up the American Academy of Ozona Therapy, the Vietnam P Reunion, uh, Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. They have been with us for a really long time, too. Uh, National Association of Division Order Analysts, the Glaucom Research Foundation, the Dallas Zuk and Lombata Dance Festival, the American Black Chiropractic Association, and Surface Mount Technology Association. And I share all those with you just to show that there's such a diverse range of groups and types. And if you know people that are members of anything like these, please reach out and let us know how we might be able to work to get that group here to Irving. We recently had the chance to do another event at the Underground, this time with meetings today. It's another one of our key travel publications oriented towards meeting planners. We worked with the Ritz uh resort uh on this event. brought in 50 meeting planners as well as 50 of our uh competitors from around the country. Uh they had a a stop at the Mustangs during part of their travel. They did um a traveler uh supplier showcase which you see in the lower lefthand corner. So that's kind of a speed dating round of of discussions with suppliers like us. Uh we rocked out kind of a high-end yee-ha approach uh at the underground with our rock the underground and just had a great night with everybody had a a great response from the meeting planners but also had a great response from the publication and and they continue to say Irving does it right. So we have these great chances to show off our community, show off how easy it is to do things here and how uh clients can put their own marks on their events here. Our digital campaigns have been uh performing very well. Our stations campaign targets uh locals in the region to stay in their backyard, ideally in Irving for a little vacation. Our DFW entertainment hub campaign takes advantage of events happening in Irving, but also around Dallas Fort Worth. Again, encouraging people to that are interested in those events to stay in Irving. Uh our spring campaign, so just encouraging springtime travel. our micro and evergreen campaign. So, those are going, you know, things that are just running year round. And then in particular, our Expedia campaign. This has been really, really good for us. Our uh January to April performance, it generated just under 26,000 room nights and a little bit over $3 million in direct hotel revenue. So, what we love about the Expedia campaigns and we can actually see the path towards purchasing whereas on some of the others, we can get the clickthroughs and if they let us, you know, grab a widget on their phone when they visit our site, we can track them when we're here when they're here. Uh, lot of activity on our website. It looks like we fell off a cliff here in April, but this is compared to the eclipse traffic of last year and all the activity that we drove there. So, while we did fall off, we've still got a lot of good activity happening on our website. And this is one of my favorite things to say because this is kind of a scatter map of all those social media impressions, web listing views, clickthroughs on our campaigns or on our websites and blog impressions and where they landed all around the city of Irving. And I think this is a great way to see that it's not just the core hotels. It's not just the convention center. It's not just certain parts of town that benefit from the activity that we're able to generate. These are literal connections that happened throughout the city in the year to date. I mentioned this the last time I was here, the rare stake championship, a firsttime event coming to Irving uh two weeks from today, 5 to 10 at Levy Event Plaza. This one is adults only. um 18 restaurants that are competing. There's a a wide range of prices. Uh there are still some tickets left, but not many. So, encourage you if you are particularly uh in that stake mode that this is a place you're going to want to be. This is an event that we uh our staff went out and looked at in Houston last year. The organizers are the people we worked with with Fluke TOG 13 years or 2013. uh they're in different roles right now now, but they've wanted to come back to Irving and have brought this event here as a result. And speaking of Fluke Talk, it is confirmed they will be uh here for officially uh September 13th. It'll be an afternoon event once again at Levy Event Plaza. Lots of moving parts with this, particularly in in working through traffic planning and people moving and all the ways we're going to try to accommodate what will be tens of thousands of people in a very short amount of time. When they were here in 2013, there was 60 70 80 90,000 people that filled in what was a lot of empty land around Lake Carolyn at the time. That land is no longer empty. Red Bull is still going to drive a lot of activity. So, how we make all that come together. They've got lots of ideas about how to spread out parking and then how to make the the pedestrian path, if you will, to Levy from those farther out parking places to make that part enjoyable and fun and just part of the activity. So, uh stay tuned for more details on that front. World Cup 2026. Uh thus far, Irving has been selected for a team hotel at the Omni Lascolas. We do not know who the team will be and we don't know what the nature of that contract will be. Uh the Ritz Carlton Dallas at Loscalinus has gotten one of the VIP blocks. University of Dallas has a teambased camp that is contracted there. The team will be TBD on that front. Uh it is possible that we will know we will know in March of next year whether um the the teams have a lot of choices of base camps in the area. The higher rated teams get to pick the camps they want first. So we even though we may know the team we have, we may not know who we have at the base camp until a little bit after that. There are a lot of unknowns. I know uh city manager Hillman has this on the agenda for the budget retreat in a couple of weeks. Uh thus far in particular that Ritz Carlton Dallas at Los Kenus, it's at a fabulously expensive rate. It's as also at that rate for more than 30 days. So that block of rooms that we get will be hotel tax exempt. And what we are trying to figure out how to balance next year is even though we have a lot of games in Dallas Fort Worth, how many of these contracts are going to be hotel tax exempt? So hotels are going to perform really well, restaurants are going to perform really well, but over those three months, our hotel tax revenues may not perform very well because of that. In addition, um we don't know what kind of inbound travel will come in for any purpose as well as um the World Cup events and what groups will stay away from Dallas Fort Worth because there will be an assumption that everything is full or too expensive. So, we are working through that with tourism economics trying to get a a better feel for what uh hotel tax revenues will look like next year. Um, but there's not a lot of good data to compare to. There's also still a lot up in the air about who is responsible for what in particular as it comes down to paying for things and whether it's the role of the Dallas Sports Commission or the host committee or FIFA paying for things. So, that is still determined. I mentioned the federal funding support that is still to be determined. and then whatever travel bans that may be in place depending on the teams we get in this area that may also impact attendance. So there's a lot more uh that we don't know than we do know at this point but we will continue to keep you apprised. Uh Chief Hoverver and the police department and I are having lots of conversations about how we get more detailed specific information about Irving and we will continue to work through that. that they had their first marketing uh committee meetings earlier this week and there's still a lot to be shaped. So, and then let me just talk quickly about the convention center which continues to be a rocket. Um revenues were extraordinary these past couple of years. You can see where we've come. Uh on the far right side was when we fell off the cliff um in 2020 with COVID. This was through March. So through March we were still doing pretty good. If I showed you this chart in a month, it would look very very different. Last year, we had uh record revenues on our rental income concessions, uh all of those things. We also had record expenses. So, the cost of labor, the cost of, you know, 800 pieces of chicken for a meal, all of those things you are feeling at the grocery store, we are feeling times 800 people for an event. Uh and just ours is a very labor intensive uh business. And so labor costs more uh and and things cost more as well. So we only have a few days in the calendar to add business to. The building has stayed very very busy. So now we've just got to be really good at managing expenses uh and continuing to drive revenues where we can. We're currently right now um renovating the cafe area on the the second level. uh trying to figure out how to re uh renovate that space so that it's more rentable as regular space and not confined to that cafe feel. We're also in the process of replacing the roof and doing some work up there. And once we're done with that, that roof should be good for another 20 years. Again, like the convention hotel, like our hotel bookings, again, very short-term in the year for the year. So, uh, things that are converting, you can see the pace that they're doing. Again, we feel pretty good about where we look right now, but we are concerned both about the things that are tentative and prospects right now in next year and then should anything that's currently def definite, but plan for later than in the year if any of those things will fall off as the economy continues to shift. bookings to date. Uh since the day we began, we have booked a little bit over 3,400 pieces of business. Um we've had a number of cancellations. I'm sure if I dove into that, the majority of those cancellations happened during CO, but I know some of them were also um just other reasons for cancellation. In the current year, we've booked 163 pieces of business. Um we've got another dozen or so in the prospector tenative standpoint. The lovely character you see there is somebody from an anime convention that we just had uh over Easter weekend. It was a first time event here. It was called Weebcon. They had about 8,000 people there. Uh Easter is typically a ridiculously soft weekend for us in our hotels and our restaurants. It was very easy to pick these visitors out from the crowd at Easter brunches. Um but a great event. They have they have been at the Gaylord. I'm not sure what the Gaylord had booked over uh Easter this year that they could boot them out, but we were happy to have him here and by all accounts things went very very well. Uh we do have a number of largecale events coming up, many repeats. Um we've been able to move Texas Frightmare, which is a zombie and horror film festival onto Memorial Day weekend. Uh, I've shared with you before, this is an event that used to be out at one of our hotels on the north side of the airport, outgrew it, added another hotel at the outside of the airport, then moved into the Hyatt inside the airport, weren't going to come back to the convention center until we got the hotel open. Got the hotel open. We were able to get them back last year. And then this year, we were able to move them for this year and next year to Memorial Day weekend. So, another really soft spot on the calendar, but we'll be able to book it with a piece of business that'll be very impactful for our hotels and restaurants over that. And and that's really the game for us right now. We need to figure out how to uh it's not what you can book, what you can move. So, can we give some extra concessions to a group like Texas Fright Maritu and send them to choose Memorial Day weekend when those are the days we've got to give them. So, that's that's the ways we're trying to stretch the calendar. uh operating subsidy. We budget a little bit under $1.4 million every year to subsidize the operation of the convention center and then any savings from that. We reinvest into capital for the building. Uh last year we uh didn't need the majority of the subsidy, so we're able to plug that right back into the subsidy. The two items in red were getting through COVID and after that, but then we're back down to um being able to cover all of that. So looking forward uh we are still on the road to resilience. It's just looking today like it might be a little bit longer road than we had hoped. Our board is continuing to move ideas forward and take uh its responsibilities very silly seriously uh to make sure that we keep Irving strong and vibrant. the board of director strategic plan which we will be updating next year. The number one priority was to maximize our organizational sustainability and growth in particular our revenues and our reserves, increase community outreach and collaboration, advocate for destination enhancing development and enhance the visitor experience. We have uh stabilized almost all of our funds with the technology fund, the one we still have yet to um move additional funds into. uh we spend about $800,000 a year on capital projects for the convention center. So just as soon as we move uh money into that account, it comes right back out. But we do budget for that and have it covered regardless. And we have moved the needles. And I know this is an awful lot of data, but when we and the city embarked on this plan to build the convention center and ultimately the entertainment venue and add uh the Weston Hotel, the goal was to really drive weekend activity. That was the softest spot on our calendars year round because corporate travelers typically don't travel on the weekend. That was where Irving had the least uh appeal to dis to discretionary travelers. And so we really went into what we were trying to do to move that needle. So in 2011 when the convention center opened, we were sitting at just under 58% occupancy on the weekends with an average daily rate of $73. Uh last year we softened a little bit on that uh occupancy wise to about 64 a.5%. However, they've been able to grow rate. So you can see where the average daily rate citywide across Irving has grown tound almost $113 over that time. And then equally importantly from the hotel operators and owners perspective. That revenue per available room um has grown from $42 to $72. So 2011 was when the convention center opened. 2017 was when we started opening the music factory. 2019 when the Weston opened. So take out 2021 and recovery in 22. and we've really uh moved the needles we needed to move and other things have been the have happened in Irving as you're all well aware with uh Christrist and Wells Fargo and people that have chosen to move into that neighborhood from a corporate standpoint because of the decisions you all made to move forward with these kinds of projects. economic impact. Again, Mayor, you touched on this earlier. Um, we have a lot of people in our city every day. They are primarily business travelers. They don't look like our anime weekend folks. So, it's uh hard to to figure out who they are in the restaurants uh when you're out during the week. But the majority of those folks Monday to Thursday in our restaurants um are business travelers here spending on the company dime. And we grateful greatly, greatly appreciate them for that. Whoops. There we go. Um, before I stop for any questions or anything, um, I did want to make sure to give the board's thanks to Councilman Taylor, Kyle Taylor, who's been our liaison for the last several years. We will recognize you appropriately at our May board meeting. Um, but wanted to thank you and then also to Councilman Lammore. Just thank you for your support of our organization each time you've been on the council. So, it's been greatly greatly appreciated. With that, I'm happy to take any questions or to step down. Questions, Kyle? Yeah, going back to the World Cup and some of the incentives that we use to book hotel rooms if they're going to be out longer than 30. I know a lot of that time goes to sports teams. They're going to be there longer than 30 days. Is there going to be incentive programs for that or is that or is that even on the table? We probably won't. And and because our typical incentive is a is $5 a room and they're commanding seven and $800 a night. So, our our $5 probably isn't going to mean a whole lot. That's why cuz we can save that $5 for somebody else that's got and and that's what I would say that we may need to save that $5 for other group for other nonWorld Cup groups to incent them to come here over next summer. Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir. Any other questions or comments? Laura, thank you as always. Uh it'll come up in our next discussion a little bit, but it's amazing to me when you look at the amount of business that's being done at this convention center, the entertainment venue, and the hotel, the writership that we have on the DARP facility that's just a block and a half away. Keep that number in mind of how many events how many people in both the hotel six to or four to 8,000 people at 140ome events a year at the at the uh music factory. Yeah, we do about 200,000 people a year through the convention center. 200,000 through the convention center. And how many events a year we do? About two 240ish 240. So, think about those huge numbers of people and events. And Nora, thank you for continuing to put us on top of the of our game when it comes to the hotel industry. And our teams do such a great job. The the CVB team, uh, the convention center team and our hotel years. Um, Mayor, you just did make me I don't know that everybody knows, but it's a question that does come up. Why isn't the dart station next to the convention center? So, for those of us who have been here a long time, we know that answer. But for those who haven't, um, at the time that line was coming through and all of that land was vacant, there were two different land owners and neither one was going to give up the ride of way for the rail line if the other one was going to get the train station. So the train station went into the middle of the site and that's how that came to be in the middle of the site and then the Texan built around Texigan built around it as now as well in their garage and the remainder of what's happened but that's why the convention the train station did not end up next to the convention center. Okay. All right. Thank you'all. Thank you. And that brings us up to our next item number four which is the Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Uh we're going to have a legislative update as well as a briefing on the potential withdrawal election process. Uh would want to say that uh we are very fortunate to have a colleague of mine who's here today. Uh Doug Herbach. Doug uh serves as a partial representative for the city of Irving as well as the city of Carolton. Doug and his family have been very involved. His wife's on the school board. He was on the city council. He has been a dear friend to us and we've been more in in step with everything we do than at any time. I've never had a time where we weren't uh focusing on the same goal. So Doug, thank you for being here and thank you for all that you do for us. Mayor, city council, I'm Orlando Sanchez, assistant city manager. Uh today I'll be going over the Dallas area rapid transit. I will give you a brief history, legislative update, withdrawal election process, and the effective withdrawal and future discussion items regarding the withdrawal process. I'd like to thank KO for helping me with the PowerPoint presentation, editing a lot of my over wording. So anyway, thank you for streamlining it. History Dallas Area Rapid Transit is a regional agency authorized under chapter 452. Um the transportation code that was created by voters funded but 1 cent transit sale and US tax and use tax on sale in August 13th 1983. The effective date was January 1st 1984. The member cities the service area consists of 13 member cities. Addison, Carolton, Cocker Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Highland Highland Park, Irving, Plano, Richardson, Rolette, and University Park. And as the mayor just mentioned this morning, uh we've been in operation for 42 years. And since that time, not one or one not one other city has joined the DART uh program. Light rail dart light rail began operation in 19 1996 and has grown to become the longest rail system in the United States with 93 miles. So, a lot of good things, but a lot of bad things as well. With that said, I'm going to turn over to John West. He'll give you an update on the legislative update on what's going on at the legislature. Uh John Whis, uh legislative officer. Uh this will be fairly quick. Uh there was a hearing uh on House Bill 3187 which is the uh re revenue reduction uh bill that uh uh was filed by representative Matt Shaheen of Plano. And the bill changed a little bit from this description but essentially it would allow any city to reduce to get back 25% up to 25% of the revenue each year that is paid from that city in sales tax. if you demonstrated you were going to use it for uh a list of transit projects that were also in the bill. So, you couldn't just take it and uh plug a hole in the budget. It had to be for transportation trans uh or transportation infrastructure. Uh the hearing, and Councilman Lamore just may want to comment, he was there all day and part of the night. uh was 3 hours, started at 10:00 p.m. and ended at 1:00 a.m. I I think we had it was like 25 to five on testimony, 25 against and 54. Uh the bills left pending, which is a normal thing that happens in at least in House committees. Uh transportation committee has met twice this week and has not voted it out in either in either meeting. Uh the clock is ticking and it's uh the way the legislative calendar works, any bill that is going to be heard on the floor before the deadline for House bills being passed has to be out of committee uh paperwork done to the calendars committee by next Friday. So got a week and then calendars has to schedule it, which they don't always do. Uh the calendars for the house from Monday the uh the deadline is uh Thursday May 15th uh will be exceedingly long and there will be a lot of games being played by people who uh want to keep things from coming up in a lot of cases. That's us uh because there's some bad stuff coming to uh the floor. But that's where 3187 stands. 1557. I don't think it's going to get heard. If this bill moves at all, it will be the House bill that gets heard in the Senate. Uh Senate Bill 2118, which is bill filed by Senator Parker, that would change uh the governance structure of the board. Every city would get at least one vote. Dallas, because they're bigger, would get three. Uh it's not looking good. It has not even been referred uh to a committee for a hearing yet. 5049 which is the house version of the same bill. Uh same thing transportation committee's been meeting twice a week and they haven't scheduled it. Both of these bills just so you know who 50 both of the house bills were filed by representative Shaheen who has represent part of Plano. Uh 1557 was filed by Senator Angela Paxton. Uh, Senator Parker is a joint author on that. And 2118, uh, as far as I know, and I haven't looked, uh, is just Senator Parker's bill. That's where we are. Okay. Brad, you want to elaborate on We didn't give you much time this morning, but and now that we've got a full council, maybe you want to No, I think um I left optimistic. Yeah, you're right. The the testimony was lopsided, but it was a lot of, you know, I learned a new term. You need to be strongly opposed to a bill, not just opposed to it. Um but it was much of the same. And I don't think the committee was very receptive, just my opinion. I think they're receptive to the bill and the frustration that this has gone on for so long without a solution has really gotten their attention even from some committee members who had previously been opposed to doing anything. They see that nothing's going to happen. And I think DART might have even even admitted the only reason they're negotiating is because of the bill. Um, and if the bill's off the table, they're not going to negotiate, which is part for the course, I think. So, my particular view as we enter the next phase is like I guess we'll know more by Friday. Again, if it's the committee substitute or something that isn't suitable for Irving, then I think the next part we need to seriously consider. But we need some of this money back and I think this is a good year to do it. It's as always it's very it's chaotic to me down there. I don't understand a lot of what's going on. And like John said, like they were stuck on the floor for a long time because somebody makes a point of order and then they stop everything and they're just sit and deal with it. One of them was for over an hour I think or two hours. Yeah. Not unusual because somebody didn't want that bill. And you know, I was thinking hm maybe from my last city council meeting I could master these rules of points of order or something. But um but I decided against that. So I'm I'm kind of optimistic about 3187. From what I'm hearing, it's the same as John. I'm not optimistic about the other bill. So if we really want that to move forward, maybe we should call Senator Parker, figure that out because that would be a great bill if that could go through. Each city gets a representative and then I think Dallas would get three to five or something. Yeah. But even then, I'm still a little skeptical because clearly they're going around to some of the smaller contributors and giving them some goodies. The way I phrase it. I mean, it looked from the testimony like even if this bill passed and Dallas even had three votes, there wouldn't just be three votes supporting what Dallas wants when the time came. But that's a dark board issue. Uh, you know, we hear rumors. Uh I could I'm not going to repeat the rumors because I don't really know what to what sort of stock to put in them. Uh conversations with Senator Parker on 2118. He did tell us he doesn't want to move his bill till 3187 moves. And given the time left, I think that just means it doesn't get heard. That would be my if I was if I was betting uh that's that's where I'd put my money. So happy to answer questions. Mark. Yes. So the uh for 3187 if um the 25% um is rebated back to the to the cities, you said that has to be used for transit purposes. There's a definition in the bill of uh a mobility program and that mobility program is basically stolen from the Houston Metro uh which does a mobility program and it lists specific items, not transit necessarily, transportation. Uh that includes sidewalks uh and buildings. It doesn't include uh like you know police and things like that. Road. It includes roads. Yeah, it definitely includes roads. Okay. And they the way the bill is structured, you would get it depends on when it goes into 50% up front and the other 50% after they calculate sorry calculate everything towards the end of the of the uh fiscal year. So you wouldn't get it all at once, right? And again the and the other bill the 21 Senate bill 2118 I mean that's um the board the board structure is one of the big probably the biggest issue that we have is well one of the biggest issues we have is that there we don't have an adequate vote and then you know Dallas controls and um so I I would like to see movement on that. If we can do anything down there to lobby on that then I' I'd be interested in doing that and to participate in that. It is strange that every city would get a vote. to mean Highland Park get would get a vote for just bus service and University Park whereas Plano and Irving which are very large contributors would have that same vote that doesn't really seem to be much parody there. I I think that's what the real challenge is and the what plays into that is Dallas saying we've got over a million people and we're bigger so we should have where's the parody for us and so that's where I think the real the heartache comes in the whole process is that I'll say this somebody asked me the other day go explain to him what this really means and I said well it's like this your significant other is driving a Rolls-Royce and everything you make is being spent. But your kids have their shoes worn out because there's nobody there to give them a ride. That's the best way I can explain it. And the significant other has control of the money. and where the the stops are. Al Hey, John. Uh what's the status? I know it's I think it's passed out of the house if I'm not mistaken. Uh Burough's bill as to limiting the ability for local and particular cities to use money for quote unquote advocacy, lobbying, whatever he wants to call it. Yeah. Uh this year it's actually not Speaker Burroughs uh who's after us. He has other ways of getting to us since Speaker. Uh uh the bill passed the Senate as it always does. The House bill has not come out of committee. It hasn't come. Okay. And the House bill is significantly different than the Senate bill. Uh the House bill is a transparencyon bill. You'd have to post your lobby contracts on your website. You'd have to say how much you pay your lobbyists. You'd have to uh post your legislative program. You'd have to vote on the lobby contract separately on your agenda from everything else. Uh some procedural things, but nothing that is really scary. And you can't lobby on certain provisions in the tax code. Just a couple big ones. But it hasn't it hasn't come out of committee yet. And it at this point if even if the state affairs votes it out you know the concern we have is that anything about that subject gets to the floor and then there's a chance for it being amended. So that's that's our if it doesn't come out of the committee at all. Good for us. Okay. Thank you Brad. Yeah. One more observation before I forget because I I was I guess impressed with this. I've been down a couple times, but they have a like kiosks in the hallways, but also I think John just gets on his iPad or whatever. So, if you're going to speak, you have to register. Are you speaking on behalf of yourself or what organization and variety of like easy things and then it ends up applying to every case I guess you're testifying about. If if you're testifying about multiple bills in committee that day, it'll just count towards it. And so, um, that's something worth looking into because I think it could simplify our process, make it easy, and if somebody's representing somebody, they're either going to have to say they're representing themselves or who what entity they're representing. So, that the committee, they kind of announce that when you come up, but I I like that and I thought it was very efficient and just totally unbburdensome to fill all that out. And when you're filling out your speaking form, you just check those boxes. And so may be worth for us doing because I'm I'm always curious my my vote for the what y'all are going to consider later, but that we ought to know if somebody's being paid to come speak or whatever, and you could just put it on this form, make it easy for them to speak and fill it out electronically. But I thought the system was just seems very easy to me. Yeah, they've been using that for for a while in the House. The Senate, I think, finally just adopted it for all their committees this year because they like putting you through the filling out multiple paper slips process. I think they I think they thought that deterred people. I'm not sure it really does. The only downside to the the iPad thing, it's not a big downside that you have to be in the capital. Even if you have an iPad, you can't get to that screen. It's geoenced. So, you have to be in the building. So, if you think you want to sit in your hotel room and uh you know just register for a few bills because trust me, I've tried uh it doesn't work. Chris, I'm sorry Mark, I think you bring up along with the mayor a very important discussion relative to the governance. Uh, I've been serving on a city manager subcommittee from the city manager group working on governance and the in the tiff discussion that we've been having trying to capture some incremental dollars in partnership with DART. On the governance piece, as we've talked among city managers, we did feel that it was important to have that one vote per city. The concept is that one cent for Highland Park has the same impact as one cent for Irving or one cent for Dallas or one cent for Cochro Hill. that same initial investment having that parody I think is important relative to that investment what's more is I think even more importantly I should say is the future potential membership opportunities if a city is going to be looking at the opportunity of joining Dart and they need to invest that full one cent that could be not only tens of millions it could be hundreds of millions of dollars we didn't think that they would be willing to make that investment of that full 1 cent if they don't even get a full seat on the board. So trying to ensure that the expansion opportunities were available because as we know in the 40 some odd years that dart has existed not one additional city has joined the system. It needs to expand and grow I believe in order to be successful. In fact even a couple of cities that were in it originally left. They got out while the getting was good. Capel. Yeah. But I think the challenge we ran into and why that this really comes up is because you have one uh uh a person who represents four cities. Two of the cities are happy with everything the way it is. Two of them are not. So, and that person feels they're happy with everything. So those two cities who that representative represents never really gets the passion or the full story about being represented from their perspective. The other thing that's been frustrating throughout this whole process is is that we we had the we DART had uh a situation several years ago where several of the of the city said they wanted to be they were going to have a pullout election. So in partnership with the RTC, they were getting a percentage of their money back each year. So here you have a city that threatened to leave. So rather than leave, they they came up and said, "We'll give you 50% of your money back every year." And they did that on the smaller cities because it's, you know, smaller money. But but the point being is that that's kind of the what I say the charade that goes on. It's a it's a it's okay for one city to get part of it back, but it's not okay for the other city. It's okay for this because of that. And the picking and choosing has gotten to a point where uh things that we did as a city and the challenge you run into is there's no uh the historical value of things goes bye-bye. Uh in fact, I forgot my book. I dug through and believe it or not, I found something when I was cleaning my garage that really basically is a folder like this and it shows every piece that was dedicated to this to the uh dart and other things through no cost to them that we as a city gave. And so people don't realize what we did and what we didn't do. Now today you have one city who's looking at 20 to $40 million for a decorative arch. It's not a functional piece, you know. Now we we had to pay for our functional stuff. If we wanted our enclosures to be 8 foot and cover the electrical, we had to pay for that. If we wanted vinyl coating fence instead of regular voting, we had to do that. cantonaries, all the we but pretty much everything we did was not for decoration. It was a it had a function. It was just we wanted to improve the quality of the material used for that function. And I think that's what's frustrated a lot of us that have been around and kind of led to these things with how the money is being spent. We never even had betterments when we built the the uh orange line. Anything that we wanted to improve, we had to pay for. Today there's betterments include included. So on a big project, well, you've got an extra 20 million you can spend on bettering your if you want better fencing or you want better this or you want better that. So there's not been any continuity and now because there's more money that it it's okay to give it away. And that's where the problem comes. There's now it's it's okay to add all these little extra bonuses in for things that need to be done. And so the the 25% mark where there is a list of things that we could spend it on. But for example, if we're spending $20 million a year on roads, we can spend a certain amount of that 20 million instead of bonding from there. We could actually pay for it through the other way and then use that bonding capacity for our police, our fire, things, buildings, things of that nature. So, it's it's really not a it's really when I look at it, the frustration part I have with the whole thing is that we don't have an equal playing field. And Doug can speak to this. I mean, last week he and I and one other person wanted to put something on the agenda. So, we sent an email just like you do here. Three of us sent it in because the chair wasn't going to put it on there. And what we wanted to talk about was to try to level the playing field a little bit so that it would show they would show good faith that they really wanted to do something because I believe when all said and done if we don't get some movement on this legislation they're not going to do anything. They're going to go back and say, "Well, we talked about that 5%. We talked about all this stuff, but they're not they're basically going to, you know, thumb their nose at us again like they did, what is this, the third time we've been down there, Doug? And we'll be fighting the same battle in two years. Hopefully, we'll gain more steam and we'll try to get where we need to go." But it's very frustrating to me to to go through this whole process and and try to figure out how do we how do we make this the process work? It's like I said this morning, it's not a matter that we want that we want to not be part of a transit solution. It's a matter of we're not getting our value for the money we're investing. Number one, and that value is the fact that we have residents that are not being taken care of. That's the value. So anyway, that's Yeah. And then on that point too, I think that it's very important when you talk about the 20 or $30 million for these decorative arches. They're not paying cash for that. They're taking out debt and making it more expensive to get out. And so um and that's just DART really driving that to compound the problem for Irving. Well, and just to give you an idea, this was the uh Ian Y study that they did to say basically what each city was worth or what we supposed to get in our area. So last year we put in according to Dart $102 million. They're saying that our cost allocation to maintain the the steel we have on the ground and the vehicles that run on it is 123 million. They're saying we owe them another 21.3 million to justify everything we have in our city. Now, I I for the life of me cannot understand how that makes sense. There's no way that we would should be paying another potentially another $21 million to basically have what they think we should have based on steel on the ground. So th those are the type of things and what they've talked about doing is Doug, you were on the finance committee with Paul and Iel. So anyway, Paula Wedgeman chaired the finance committee and myself and Rodney Slasser and um K uh not Carmen, uh anyway, we had four of us that were on there that and basically when we started our budget this last year, we said Paul said, "Hey, let's try to do what the cities do and limit it to three and a half percent, but let's not give it back. let's put it in a reserve account if we need it. That was 5%. And basically everybody went tilt. They said, "Oh, we're going to we're going to lose 14 routes and we're going to have to take 12 of them from Dallas and everybody all everything's going to go to heck. We're not going to be able to provide service. Blah blah blah blah blah blah." To the point of they threw Paul off it, they threw me off it. They threw Rodney off, you know, because we even thought about such a thing. Well, now one of the things that they're proposing because we're squeezing them is a 5% reduction that would go back. So with this 5% reduction, what you would see is the city of Addison would would give 2.8 million back. City of Carolton would get four million back. The city of Farmers Branch would get 1 million back. The city of Harland Park would get 1.8 million back. City of Plano would get 27 million back. City of Richardson would get 2.6 million back. University Park would get 1.7 million back. Those of us that would would actually owe money where Cochra Hill is short 2.2 million. Dallas is short 282.7 million. Garland is short 17.5 million. Glenn Heights is 04 million. uh Irving is short 21 million and Rowlet is short 6 million. So we were trying to look at it from the perspective of saving 5% and using it across the board for everybody. But what they've done in order to make sure Dallas is in the catbird seat because they're getting 75% of the 70% of the ridership and only putting in 50% of the money. So they don't really care about but in order to tie up the votes they need they're going to give money back to Addison. They're going to give money back to Farmers Branch. They're going to give money back to Plano because they want to make sure that they control that there's only a vocal minority of us that that that oppose what's going on here. So but if this legislation doesn't move forward, I'll bet you this doesn't move forward either. So, we're going to be right where we were when we started this. So, that's why that's all more background than everybody wants, but that's why we're having the discussion we're having today about what our what our situation. Doug, do you have anything you want to add? Doug Doug represents us on the board, too. So, he's right in the middle of all these these conversations. So, he'll turn that on for you. There you go. You're on. You were on. Can you hear me now? Now you can. Okay. No. Uh, thank you, mayor. No. Um, yeah, I mean, we could timeline this all out. This, this is our third session to go down there. Um, you know, things get really goofy in this part of the session, every session. U, but the momentum is growing and, uh, you know, 3187, uh, has gained three more authors. I think that's really important. Um, you know, last session, uh, our bill there there was f about this time in the session, the the House wasn't happy with, uh, the Senate not passing their bills and the Senate wasn't happy with the House not passing their bills. And the chair of House for Transportation at the time was Terry Canales and the bill we our bill had made it through the Senate and it came over to him and he literally tore up and he said, "If the Senate's not going to pass our bills, we're not going to pass their bills." And that's that's what we're dealing with. But um to me the very encouraging thing and I think Chris kind of touched on this uh the momentum is growing. Um the cities the member cities are talking to each other and uh we're starting to to to figure some things out. So I'm very encouraged by that. Um if you look at where we were legislatively uh three sessions ago and where we got to last year and where we're getting to this year, I think I think it's continuing uh to grow that hey something has to change. And and I think what Rick's really touching on is we have worked to change things for a very long time. The budget process last year was a great improvement over the years past, but what came out of our budget and finance committee was a compromise. That's that's what uh Chair Wedgman did a fantastic job on. And then when it came to the full board, um we had to compromise again because of the governance issue. But um I I want to thank Rick and Chris and uh they've worked hard on the tears and the governance issues. I mean uh the great news to me about all this I've been on the board six years now um is the member cities that are talking and that's not just people that agree with this legislation and those that don't. We talk to all the cities. So um we're working through this. Uh I think what you will hear consistently from the agency is we don't want to change and uh you know they're really um struggling to do that. So uh the 5% is interesting. I you know that that came after the legislation was filed. That's the only action uh that the agency has actually taken since all the member cities passed these resolutions. And that's that's a bit disappointing to me. Um but I voted no on it. you know, it's it's a 5% is very very different than 25%. U so that's disappointing. And as the mayor mentioned, the way this is written, um two or three or excuse me, it' be three or four years from now, we're right back where we started. So it it really doesn't solve the problem. And the other issue is once the legislation is filed is that is a resolution from the dart board and it's not law. And I can assure you our friends in Plano are looking for a legislative solution. and that is what they're looking for. So, um I would encourage you to stay engaged with this. SB 2118 is is huge. Um and I and I appreciate the comments on that. I still feel pretty good about 3187. Uh it is what it is. This is what happens. But um we are in a much better position in this session than we were in the last session where we were the session before that. So, I want to thank Chris, Mayor Stoer has just been amazing and we appreciate it and uh we'll continue to work on this and I believe we're doing the right thing. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. All right. He's got more slides, so sorry. Thank you, John. This one really gets me going. I apologize. All right. We'll continue without his background. The withdrawal election process. Uh the election order can be called by the city council by its own action may order an election to withdraw the city of Irving from Dart or upon receipt of petition with petition signed by 20% of the qualified voters. City council shall order a withdrawal election. Election frequency it happens every six years uh started in year after 1996. The next year to order an election would be in 2026. Election date will be held on the first applicable uniform election date following the expiration of 40 45 days from the date of city council orders. The withdrawal election. The ballot proposition shall read as follows. Shall the Dallas area rapid transit be continued in the city of Irving? That would be a yes or no. and we'll go from there. The effective date if if less than the majority of the vote received on the measure favorable for for proposition DART seizes the city of Irving on operations the city of Irving the day the date the city council canvases the election. So all DART services would stop at that point of time. Transportation services and the DART effective date shall cease providing transportation services to the city. The financial obligation however continues on the effective date. The financial obligations of darts attributable to the city cease to acrew. So any future debt obligations will stop on that date. Real estate and improvements within 30 days after the effective date, the city must determine whether the claim to claim city real estate and improvements except right away or improvements thereon. Collection of the transit sale and the use tax thereafter withdrawal until the amount of revenue from the transit sales and use tax collected in the city after the effected date of withdrawal and paid to the authority equals the total financial obligations of the city. The transit sale and use tax will be collected in the city. So they will continue to pay until we pay off our debt. uh determination of the amount of financial obligation of drawing withdrawn unit DAR executive committee shall determine the amount of each component of total financial obligations of the city. So although we can withdraw, we'll still be on the hook until we pay off our debt obligation and I open it up for questions. Kale, you we can kind of go into executive session and talk about that's a little bit deeper as far as Yeah, I can give some legal advice on a couple of those things because they are not um there are a number of questions and issues associated with it. So, we can reserve that. Sure. Go ahead. Oh, I'm sorry, Brad. Yeah. Yeah. Mayor, thank you. U 20% of the voter population based upon which election? this one coming up, right? It would be you would look back to the last election, the one behind us or the one in front of us. Well, if we're looking to call it for November, we would be looking at this election. That's correct. Thank you, Brad. So, it it have to be November or could it be May? It can be either date, right? But it can only occur in 2026, right? Um, well, I'd just say that seems like a long ways away, but it's not. So, getting all this sorted out, my observation of Dart is that they're going to commit a lot of money and advertising and all these sorts of things that I guess once we were bound by these rules, we can't advocate anymore or whatever. So, we would need to get really out ahead of the game. And you know, if if there is no movement legislatively, I suspect there's going to possibly be a group effort to push this. And so it's a it's a serious decision, but I think also to be able to demonstrate for everybody how we could spend the money on transportation, on mobility, on transit would be a key to that vote rather than just hearing, oh well, I'll never be able to get to my work again or whatever. We we need to be able to demonstrate actually no, we're going to spend the money better and here's what we're going to do with it. So, and the mayor has kind of mastered that. Um, but I think that would be part of the advertising or the effort. Um, and then definitely thank you to Doug. Y'all y'all don't see him that the mayor sees him. I see him, but he's really been a warrior for Irving and and the cities. He's constantly following this, putting in a lot of extra time and work that he wouldn't have to. So, I really appreciate him and he's texting me things while we were down there and um just getting us ahead of the game and really everybody being committed because I think it has been good to meet the variety of mayors and different people who see and everybody was down there saying we want transit. Plano was saying that, Carolton is saying that, everybody is saying that we want to move our people to the extent. Um, I'd just say my perspective, Dart was just dismissive at best of the idea that they're on an old model. They don't think that. No. At all. Um, they they thought that was crazy for someone to even mention it's an antiquated model. And so it kind of gives you their way of thinking. Um, and I just I don't see an end to it. Even in fact, uh, the Tarant County one testified against the bill because he's depending on DARP for funds. It always seems like at RTC or whatever, everybody's depending on us funding this so that they get their funding. And um, they were even mentioning, well, we're we're gonna have to go up to a penny because what we're doing is just not going to work or whatever. So there's a neverending hunger for this money and and with where we are where we're just too big of a piece. I cannot imagine the city um if we ever do develop around the stadium or whatever happens there um handing over a penny for particularly that's insulting to me as the mayor was saying we had to pay for these deferred stations and so I guess we're going to pay for that station and then hand over the revenue from the extra penny we get from that area because it's they always tout DART as well what's going to bring knew this that the other and that's just crazy to me. I mean, we when I first got on, we paid 4 million to get everybody from the Metroplex onto the airport. Irving paid it and a variety of these things that just it doesn't make sense to me. Obviously, we're willing to do some of those things, but to see what the other some of the other sitting and we're paying for deferred stations that will bring more revenue to DART that I just can't fathom it myself. So, but that'll be up to y'all. So, um, but I'm happy to help in any any regard moving forward as I've mentioned. Abdo. Thank you, mayor. So, on the legislative update on this HB 3187, it is still in the committee. Yes, sir. So, it has not been passed through the committee yet. It has not been read out of committee yet. Correct. Okay. Both of these bills, HB5049 as well, that bill hasn't been even referred to a committee. Yeah. Um SB I mean HB549 has not been referred to a committee for a hearing. Okay. Now my next question is uh how many of the other cities the member cities are even thinking or exploring the possibility of election process. Do we know at this point of time I didn't know no one none that I'm aware of? We do not know. So we are much ahead in this discussion than any other cities or Yeah. I I think that there were six cities that were concerned about this trying to get the 25%. They've offered some deals to a couple of them. So, I think we're down to five uh that are looking at the 25%. Um uh and I you know everybody's keeping their powder dry hoping that we're going to get something done at the legislature because the challenge is once we get to opportunity to discuss this a little deeper in executive session you'll see what the exposures are and things of that nature for for the cities. Um you know Brad's go ahead and finish your we'll carry on the uh in the executive session there. So, I think that basically based on how this turns out down at the legislature, you may see this the cities that are willing to do something. I was just trying to get ahead of it and I wanted to talk about it. Brad and I have been talking about it for about the last month and I wanted to make sure he was here when we had the discussions to uh to talk about it. But it's he touched on something that's kind of infuriating to me as well. The uh you know they keep saying that they provide all this econom economic development around their stations and they talk about Irving that there's been a you know $6 billion increase around the in the urban center because of the the stops that were there. Well, first of all, I can tell you that anytime a developer comes to the city of Irving or any other place and they want to construct something, one of the first thing they'll ask about is, "Do you have any incentives or do you have any tiffs or turs or pids where the taxes can be utilized to help me?" And if you look at the urban center for example when we started with this many years ago today we have over 5,000 hotel rooms or apartments excuse me 5,000 apartments, 1200 single family units. We have uh I think we're right at 4 million square three a little over three million square feet of office. um a convention center that you just heard has 200 and some events a year and brings in thousands of people. An entertainment venue that brings in thousands of people that shows 140 shows a year. Restaurants and what did Dart participate in that? Nothing. But yet we're putting 75% of the sales or of the property tax that's off that real estate back into those businesses back into that. Number one. Number two, we're putting a 100% of the sales tax from those restaurants and stuff back into the entertainment venue. So realistically, we donated the land. We built everything around it. But they're saying everything around it and everything that goes with it only happened because we because DART runs through there and less than a couple hundred people a day get on those two stops. About 200 on one and less than 200 on the other. So you have 400 people a day. Daytime population will grow with wells. But today with those apartments, those visitors, those conventions, the main population is between 58 and 62,000 people a day and less than 400 of them ride on the vehicles. But yet they're saying if we didn't have that rail line running through there, we wouldn't have that economic development. The only reason there's economic development around these rail stations is because that's where people put their tiffs. Look at same thing downtown. We put a tiff downtown hoping that the rail was going to bring in people which is what we're using to reinvest in the front store frontages and real estate we're buying down there. And the you know we've invested you know downtown. You got to stop and take a look. We invested the McDougall purchase of land was over 22 to$24 million. And then the money that we put in from the tiffs, the buildings we've bought and resold, the land we we've created, and today we have on our agenda where we're going to get our phase three going on the single family houses along the where we tore down those three apartment complexes. So all that stuff has happened because of us. It hasn't happened because that train was there. That train was there before the city was born. Nobody's on the train anyway. But even even that I mean well the point being with me on the train is they're saying that train is worth so much money. Well the only reason the city of Irving's here is because the people riding the train got off there and created a city 100 121 years ago. So I don't know how how they had anything to do with that but they're taking credit for it. So this thing just as you can tell it gets under my skin so deep because it just Chris what was the numbers this morning of how much money Brett you said in 24 in 2014 it was $58 million that one cent and by 2024 it had grown to 108 million. So, and the writership at that time was is almost double. It was about 40% higher. So, the writers was 40% higher. We were paying 50% of what we're paying today. And the reason they're giving away betterments and trying to, you know, help, you know, do these things for these other cities, I mean, they built a parking garage in Dallas for the zoo. two mocking bird. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I mean, you got to start stopping and stepping back and look at this stuff and say, you know, how can I, you know, and I'm more passionate about it now because I got, you know, 12 months to fight my case here because I really thought that we would have, you know, a better relationship and and that we would be treated better than we are. And then I'm really got frustrated I guess when it was dumped on us that if we don't continue to give our full penny. They are not going to be able to service the World Cup. If we don't give the penny that we may lose it if we don't give the penny we're not going to meet our irritainment. So we're not going to get our irritainment. We're not going to get our formula funding. Well, where if if we're so important, where's our return? I mean, and then they say, well, you know, we do 183, we do 183, 114, Loop 12. I was on those first environmental studies, major investment studies, when I was on the planning and zoning in the early 90s, 30 years ago, and we still haven't got 183 done. 114. We're kind of doing something. We're not sure. We're going to go buy a bunch of land and we're going to rearrange everything and create havoc for all the businesses and everybody along there. Yes, it needs to be done, but at that rate, I'll be dead before we even get to 114. I may be dead before we finish 183. At 70, another 30 years, I'm not going to be here. So, it's just a frustrating situation where we're we're getting beat up from all directions. We're playing the game right. We're making money. We have more jobs today in Los Kolinus than they do in downtown and uptown Dallas. Plano has more jobs today than uptown and downtown Dallas. Richardson is almost there. You've got potentially three job centers in suburb cities that have more jobs than I mean if we've got 200,000 people working in this city a day and we've got how many people riding the train? 400. I mean come on guys. It just it just doesn't make sense. And as much as Doug and I have argued this back and forth with Dart management and leadership, they just don't get it. You can't continue to just, you know, it's a definition of insanity. No matter how many times you run into that wall, it's not cement wall. It's not going to move. All you're going to get is a is a headache. And that's my frustration level at this point that we really um I mean, do you think the legislature would just let us turn loose and let us just have whatever money we needed to spend as a city? No, they won't. They they've already tied us up. All right, we had a short agenda and I got off on a tangent. Al, yeah, pull me back in. This just a question. Um, I won't answer it. John, you may remember because you're old enough. Uh, my time at DOT when the seven bankrupt railroads went bankrupt in the Northeast. And then was it not? That tells you how long ago that was. But it was done on mass transportation. Martya out of Atlanta, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, LA. But it was because of population density. Are what's the quote unquote area rapid transit enabler legislation? Is that coming out of the state or is it coming about darts in particular? Yes, it's a state. It's state. Okay, cuz that's that's where I think our hangup is cuz it was very obvious when we were involved in doing that, it was done because they were already existed because once the railroads went bankrupt, then that kind of threw everything because then you had a situation where you had to go area if you were going to pick it up. So, I'm just trying to remember where where that all came from. So, it was enabling coming out of the state of Texas. Pretty much every transit agency in Texas has its own separate chapter. And interestingly enough, and I know you guys want to move on, there is a city in Cap Metro is trying to withdraw as well, but their situation in ours are really nothing alike. So, you're really talking about geopolitical boundaries, how this was set at the state level, I think. So, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate the presentation. Appreciate you letting me all rant. Mayor, if I may just answer, Kabir, um, this is only anformational briefing. So, that's we're not doing anything. It's only informationational at this time. Great. So, Kale, we've got about three or four executive session items. So, you want to include this in that as well. And Sure, I can do that. The time is 3:05. The Irving City Council will convene into an executive session to discuss economic development negotiations. um for a personnel matter and to receive legal advice pursuant to Open Meetings Act sections 551.087, 551.074, and 551.0 it up. The new Lee Aquatic Park is a big step closer to its splashy debut. We have the latest progress. Light Club. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting it restarted again. Bright nights under the lights along the Mandalay Canal. We'll take you to the event that's all about food and fun. More than music. People are very excited about what's happening here at Music Factory. New attractions are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. See the new options for dining and laughs that are on the way. Plus, the development starting construction and a preview of the animal connection experience now on City [Music] Source. Volunteers are helping to get one of Irving's aquatic centers ready for summer crowds. Hello and welcome to City Source. I'm Thomas Gandandy. See their work in action a bit later. But first, new entertainment and dining options are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. We have a look at what's ahead at the city-owned venue, starting with two attractions opening next year that we are announcing for the first time. Fresh off of a full renovation of the plaza here at the Toyota Music Factory, we're getting a look at some of the new tenants, and the general manager is showing us around. A new concept for the music factory, comedy. Yes, we're very excited about this. This is big for not only Irving, but for the whole DFW area. This is a new concept called Punchline. Yearround comedy events. Everything from your local acts all the way up to national and regional acts as well. And then we're going to have full service. So, it's a full renovation of the old space. [Music] We could talk about this space. Nothing has ever been here, but something's coming. It's called Tashan. It's an Indian social, so he's really focusing on a demographic we don't currently have here on property yet. So, we're very excited about Tashan restaurant coming in. So, now we're inside Pistol. It's just days away from opening. What's the concept of this space? This is more of a lounge area. So, they want people to experience new conversations. So, it's going to have a really high-end bar program where you're doing punches and milk washes and things like that. Talk about the stained glass. The ownership here felt that it really needs something to pull together the Pistol feel, which is more of this western heritage homage, and this just showcases that. People that come to pistol can enjoy almost a VIP experience up here on the patio enjoying live music downstairs. The idea was to always be able to cater to what's going on out in the plaza. We're standing in what is soon to be Jackson, Texas kitchen. This is a concept that has been in DFW. It's the only one here in DFW now since co. We're very excited. It's coming here in a couple weeks. So now we're inside Scholes. We see they're open. Customers are enjoying their lunch. Tell me about this concept. This true smoke barbecue. So we're very excited about these guys being here. They offer a full service of things from burnt ends to brisket to your kind of inspired um smoked dishes like I'm going to smoke the loay corn, those types of things. It's a fast casual [Applause] concept. We have a brand new concept for the property. It's called Nirvana Bar and Lounge. They're doing upscale Chinese Latin. So, they're doing this Indo-Chinese cuisine and then they do a late night lounge with high-end cocktails. And along with all of the new tenants, some existing restaurants are upgrading their spaces. So, a lot to see at the Toyota Music Factory. Thomas Gandandy for City Source. Nearby, the Irving Convention Center is also staying busy with corporate meetings and other events. The upcoming Texas Fright Mayor Weekend is one example. It's returning to the Irving Convention Center on Memorial Day weekend, a traditionally slow weekend for local hotels and the convention center. The great news is the building is really busy, performing extremely well, but we're at that point where it's almost not what you can book, but what you can move. And so sometimes we kind of got to be able, they had certain dates they could work within. We had other events booked over the dates. So, you know, moving one client a little bit one way or the other, we're able to make it work and then especially able to make it work for Memorial Day weekend. So, are y'all on track to set more records this year? I sure hope so. You know, the building is kind of maxed out in terms of how many days of events we can really do. So, now it's about managing expenses and trying to make the most of those days when we do have guests in the building. Here's a look at a few upcoming public events at the convention center. May 19th through 21st is Experior Factor for people in the financial services industry. And we mentioned Texas Fright Mayor Weekend. Then Tattoo Fest starts on May 30th. For ticket prices and other public events, go to irringconventioncenter.com/events. Construction is underway on a new industrial building at State Highway 161 near Northgate. It's called 161 Airport Center. Leaders with Lyon Capital and its partners broke ground on the project, which will feature more than 118,000 square feet of class A space that could be used for warehouse distribution or manufacturing. During a ceremony on the construction site, Leon Capital CEO says this location's proximity to DFW airport makes it a great investment. And the best part of DFW to invest in is near the largest logistical hub in the world, which is DFW airport. So we may be standing on probably the best piece of ground to invest in in the world. The project is expected to be complete later this year. DFW airport continues to be an economic driver as it records an increase in customers. New numbers from airports council international show DFW retains its spot at number three on the list of the world's busiest airports right behind Atlanta and Dubai. DFW passenger traffic is up more than 7% over 2023 totals. Nearly 90 million customers traveled through DFW last year. A new waterfront event is shining bright this spring with food and live music. Robert Schik has coverage of the Los Kenus light club on the Mandalay Canal. [Applause] FA Novak and her sister Kimberly are enjoying a fun night along Mandalay Canal. The lights, the water, you feel like you're away from home, but you're not. As the sun set on this Thursday evening, the canal walk transformed into Los Kolina's light club. You can be like engrossed in it and just feel all the feels and it's amazing. With live music, free pizza, and trees illuminating the night, this club is lit. You know, somebody's born and raised in Irving has been here when those canals are first built. Being able to see them get reactivated again is really, really important. It's just a hidden gem that just needs a little help getting restarted again. These lights that react to music were added to these trees as part of Los Clean's 50th anniversary. And now they're helping keep things bright along Mandalay Canal. They just add a little bit of extra like flare. We've built the huge momentum around our 50th and we just want to keep that momentum moving not only with the Losers Association hosting events down here, but we want to inspire others to bring their events down here to the Mandandalay Canal. For Fay, waterfront events like this are why she loves living in Irving. Honestly, it's so good. When you live on the lake, you want to see stuff like this. And I'm so glad I came. A sign of bright nights ahead for a hidden gem of Irving. Robert Sheep for City Source. The Lascalinus Light Club returns to the Mandalay Canal May 7th and 8th, then again on June 11th and 12th. More details at loscalinus.org. City Council district places 1, 2, and 7 are up for election. Early voting runs through April 29th. Election day is May 3rd. A district map, candidate information, and voting locations are at city of irring.org/elections. The city secretary's office can answer election questions at 972-721-22493. If you are doing some big time spring cleaning, here is something that may help. Irving Solid Waste Services is offering residents a chance to drop off waste for free at the landfill. This is only open to Irving residents and staff will ask for your state ID and a utility bill with matching Irving address. And note that construction and demolition debris will not be accepted. The free disposal days are May 16th and 17th from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Hunter Ferrell Landfill, 110 East Hunter Ferrell Road. Here is something you definitely do not see every day. Timelapse video as crews fill the new pool at Lee Aquatic Park. Major construction is complete, so this is one of the final steps before it opens. Any guesses how long it took to fill that pool? If you said about 9 hours, you would be correct. While our camera guy was waiting for the pool to fill, he got some shots of some of the cool and colorful features. Check out the view from the top of the big water slide. And here is a look at some of the special attractions for the little ones. This pool is part of a larger initiative to elevate aquatics and recreation in Irving. You can see all of the updates at cityofing.org/play. org/play Irving. And here at Lee Aquatic Park, with the filling complete, the pool is on track to open Memorial Day weekend. Some hardworking volunteers helped to get the West Irving Aquatic Center ready for summertime crowds. We heard from members of the group making an impact. [Music] The Irving Ambassadors in association with Keeper Beautiful were out here with a project to paint these handrails at the West Irving Aquatic Center. Anybody a painters? Any of y'all painters? I painted. You have painted. Okay. Irving Ambassadors is a great program where we're able to give back and spread the word about different programs that are offered through the city. Okay. If I don't say thank you a thousand times today, I messed up. We're just trying to get the word out of things that Irving does and just be an ambassador for Irving. Oh, gloves, gloves, gloves. May I suggest gloves? So, the in 360 program is the precursor to this and it's a great opportunity to get involved with just finding out what goes on in the city. You get a chance to work with the different departments, see the behind-the-scenes work there. I found it very interesting. I like getting to meet the different people who run the different services. [Music] It feels great now. It looks refreshed and new and it's just it's pleasing to the eye and makes you proud where you live. Keep Perfect Beautiful only works with volunteers. So, it means the world to us. Safety is paramount. Somebody gets injured out here today, we went sideways in a big way. I always tell people we have that volunteer spirit in our community and it shows. Definitely an opportunity to work together as a team, as an ambassadors to show like, hey, we're here to help out and advocate for the city. As Parks and Wreck gears up for the pool season, the aquatics team is hosting a water safety carnival. There will be games and races, boat safety lessons, CPR clinic, and more. It's on Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the North Lake Natitorium. Here is a place to get a jump start on summer fun. The Animal Connection Experience of Prits Park will open earlier than usual this year on Saturday, May 3rd. A lot of the familiar and fun features you see here will be returning and there will be a new snow barn. We'll have to visit to see what that is all about. For the month of May, the attraction is open on weekends. Then the hours will expand in June and July. Admission for Irving residents is $4. Fritz Park is located at 312 East Filig Street. Celebrate the many cultures of Irving with live music, dance, and food. The festival called Fusion is on Saturday, May 17th from 2 until 6:00 p.m. in Heritage Park. You can see some of the fun from past years, and many of these attractions will be back. Admission is free. And you will want to save the dates for this. Sparks and Stripes is back as a two-day event to celebrate Independence Day. Thursday evening, July 3rd will feature fireworks, drones, and more at Levy Event Plaza. Friday morning, July 4th, will be the downtown parade, followed by live music in Heritage Park. [Music] Welcome to ICTN's pets of the week and we are with royalty today and that's why Sir Wagington gets top billing even before Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services. So tell us about Sir Wington. Yeah, Sir Wagington, he's about 2 years old. He came up from a cruelty case, but he is such a shining little star. So that's why we named him royalty cuz he deserves everything under the sun. He's very sweet, very loyal. He loves other dogs and he's actually part of a huge play group that we have here currently at the shelter. Um he's been with us for some time looking for his forever home, but he is available for adoption. Yeah. So, his calm demeanor right now, don't let that fool you, right? No, I mean he is calm, but he also does like to have a little bit of fun every once in a while. Uh he likes his gums being tickled. We need tickling. Caring for animals takes so much work here at the animal care campus. I know you use a lot of volunteers. Tell me about what volunteers can do. Yeah, we love our volunteers here. They um help us out so much. Definitely the backbone of this place. Uh we have volunteers that come here pretty religiously to help us with simple things such as laundry, dishes, but also help us with like the general care of the animals. We even have volunteers come out to some of our off-site adoptions and help us out there as well. How can people get involved if they want to start volunteering? Yeah. Uh they can apply on our city website. Once they've applied, then our volunteer foster coordinator would reach out and we'll set up kind of a time for them to come in and do an orientation. And another way people get involved, and I know you need a lot of people who will foster animals and you have a an event that's kind of creative to help people get involved. So, we have a baby shower um for kittens and puppies on May 18th and it is to teach people how to bottle feed if that's something they want to do. We'll also talk about like the other stages of fostering. So, kittens that are done with bottle feeding but might need a little extra help before going to wet food. Kittens that just need maybe a few more ounces uh before they can be put up for adoption, things like that. Yeah. And fostering makes such a difference in getting animals ready, right? Oh, 100%. Our animals cannot become um available for adoption until at least 2 months of age. So, that's when they can kind of start the adoption process, get their vaccines, get neutered, and then put up for adoption. It's so much work here at the animal care campus to get Sir Waggington ready or doing so much better. It's so good to see you today up for adoption right now. And the animal care campus is located at 4140 Valley View Lane. You can check out the websites you see on your screen for the latest operating hours and see more adoptable animals. After years of improvements, the Jackie Townsel Bear Creek Heritage Center is ready for visitors. On the next City Source, see the grand opening called History in Bloom and see the upgrades just completed. Also, we will have coverage of Kids Rock the Block Party, a fun event with a serious cause behind it. Those stories and much more next time on City Source. Here is how to connect with us. Make note of our new email address. It's ictn@ irvingtx.gov. Our YouTube channel is youtube.com/thecityofing. We hope you will subscribe and hit that like button on the videos you watch. And we always appreciate it when you leave us some positive comments. And you can look for updates on events and initiatives across the major social media platforms at the city of Irving. And that's it for this edition of City Source. Thanks for watching. Stay healthy and we'll see you next time. They're an aging vaudeville comedy act that broke up years earlier. Now there's an effort to reunite them for a TV special. See the live production of The Sunshine Boys May 2nd through the 17th here at Dupri Theater. The South Irving Library is hosting an inclusive story time for children with autism and sensory processing challenges. Parents and other caregivers are welcome at this flexible interactive session. You do need to register for the event on May 5th at 10:30 a.m. The 18th annual Irving Heritage Society Fish Fry and Bake Sale is back. It takes place here at Heritage Park on May 9th from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Advanced tickets are required and available online. In 1940, Washington Urban was the first author to be featured in the famous Americans series of What? This is our 18th year and it is amazing what people know and it's amazing what people don't know. But we hope that they leave and they've had a good time learning. We come expecting to have fun and it's a fun event. The annual heritage fish fry has been an annual event except during co for over 30 years. Tickets for sale. We try to make it easy offering a lot of multiple choice or true and false. So if you don't know, you take a guess. You're with people that love Irving. Everyone in here has a connection either from here, born here, work here, live here. What inspired Washington Irving's first name? A, his father's favorite poet. B, a family tradition. C, George Washington, a founding father, or D, a fictional character in one of his books. It It's just a warm spirit. Everybody's cheering each other. Uh you're all rooting for each other. So it it's fun. Most of the people that play are involved in this city, are aware of the city, participate in organizations, volunteer, so they do really well. What is the date of the upcoming city election? We just appreciate the sponsorship from the library, from the Black Arts Council, from the school district, from the Urban Heritage Society, and of course the city. They've all been really good to help us get the word out, participate, raise the money, and to join us in having fun. We have a winner. Woohoo! We thought this would be a one-year event. 18 years later, here we are. So it is very rewarding. [Music] Concert in the park. The city kicks off the annual spring music on Maine concert series. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. Yellow brick road. We head to the Emerald City for Momentum Dance Company's Wizard of Oz. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a community. And in feature flicks, I review The Friend, a light-hearted new drama starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. I want to tell him that no matter how much I sleep, I'm exhausted. That I feel as though I'm losing control. Hello everyone. Welcome to Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. We begin tonight with some live music in the park. The city kicked off the annual Music on Main spring concert series with the '9s Country Tribute Band. [Music] Our band is called Straight Tequila Night and we play '90s country and a little bit of 80s, a handful of 80s, but we're here to entertain. like we are looking forward to a little bit of music in the park. Music on Maine is an opportunity for the community to come out and enjoy different types of genres of music. Uh this evening we'll be featuring Straight Tequila Night, a '90s cover band. Um really high energy, a lot of fun, a lot of excitement for the uh for the folks. Yeah, it's her birthday. It's Amber's birthday, everybody. She's finally 21. It's my birthday. My friends just surprised me with a 50th birthday party. [Music] We moved here a couple years ago and we got to come last year. We went to about three last year and we had such a great time. [Music] We have the beautiful park to enjoy. We have some food trucks for uh sweets and savory uh items, but really we want people to come here and enjoy their enjoy the music and as soon as that sun sets it'll uh be gorgeous. I just love the energy we get from the audience. But I also love all the members of our band. Like we're a family. We've been playing together for 12 years. And it's just a fun activity to do together and also bring, you know, this music to, you know, people our age and and beyond. forever. [Music] You know, live music kind of tells a story. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. This is a great way to bring everybody together. I love this. I've never been to this venue before. I love this outdoor venue and the the food trucks and the people, the dogs. It's great. You know, music's kind of the great unifier. Uh so we have the opportunity to come out with all different shapes, sizes, colors, whatever it is, and uh spend a few times singing our favorite songs and uh just hanging out for a little bit. [Music] From live music to live theater, Momentum Dance Company's ballet production of The Wizard of Oz is a magical show that takes audiences on a colorful journey of self-discovery. The classic tale of Wizard of Oz follows four friends on a trip to the Emerald City in hopes of getting a brain, a heart, courage, and a chance to find home. The story of Wizard of Oz means to me kind of finding your own like self-worth within yourself cuz um obviously Dorothy needs magic to get home, but she found her home within the people that she loves. I was a military kid growing up. So I have a special place in my heart for people who feel displaced and don't quite know where they belong. And so it's a really special story to me that she finds her home with the people she loves the most. And a home within the people you love is what Momentum Dance Company has created for dancers like Julia Jackson, who's been with the company for over 15 years. Momentum is the place where I fell in love with ballet. And it has Don't make me cry. It has always been my safe space. So with my safe people, one of those people being Rebecca Yoni, who stars as Dorothy in this production and shares Julia's camaraderie with the cast. All my friends are the main characters along with me. So as I get to meet my friends in the ballet, they are my true friends. So, it's been a really fun and meaningful experience for me just getting to dance with each person and how they actually have affected my life. It's just all extremely supportive and everyone's cheering each other on and I think that kind of culture just creates the joy that people are able to see that on stage. That personal connection shines through on stage along with the talent of telling a cherished story through dance. If you feel ridiculous to start out, you're doing it really [Music] well. I particularly love our portrayal of the wicked witch. Um, she does such a fantastic job. So, the scenes u and the and the winged monkey scenes and just her interactions with the characters. It's really fun to get to see all of those parts where she gets to step out and really do the wicked witch thing. I've just had a lot of fun getting to act and portray different characters. And that, you know, is the same thing with Wizard of Oz, especially because my characters are so different, all three of them. So, it's been really cool to get to explore that and get to grow as an actor cuz I have to change all throughout the show. Momentum Dance Company's presentation of the Wizard of Oz showcases the importance of the arts in Irving. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a [Music] community. Keeping up with stories about beautiful friendships, the new drama, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, is an adaptation of Sigra Nunez's novel about an unconventional friendship between a writer and her late friend and mentor. This is what Walter wanted after he died. Why would he say that? You were his best friend. The film follows Iris, a writer and professor living in New York City. She's just learned about the unexpected passing of her longtime mentor and dear friend, Walter. The heartbreaking news has shocked her and she isn't fully able to process how the death has affected her due to the pressures of finishing the novel she had began working on with Walter and having to take care of his great Dne Apollo, which Walter has inconveniently passed on to her. To make matters worse, her apartment does not allow pets. And finding a new home for Apollo is proving that Iris is taking on more than she can chew. I just can't keep having him here. It's taking over my bed and it's getting in the way of my work. While Apollo starts out as an imposition in Iris's life, he quickly becomes a blessing. He fills a void as a representation of Walter and helps her cope with the tragic loss, further proving the healing benefits of an emotional support animal. The film is more of a character study. While we see how all the people in Walter's life are impacted in different ways by his passing, we focus on the one who seems to be internalizing most of her feelings. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot to unpack here. The message is straightforward and the story is simple, but the delivery is well done through its heartfelt performances and the subtle progression of Iris and Apollo's therapeutic bond. Outside of the captivating flashbacks between Walter and Iris and the dynamic between Iris and her new furry friend, the film lacks creativity. It follows a familiar formula we have seen many times before and there's nothing necessarily inspiring about the visuals or film making. However, it is a solid watch that tackles heavy yet relatable themes about friendship, grief, and life in general. And it never hurts to watch a heartwarming and easygoing story about the positive impact of companionship. What's gonna happen to the dog? The friend is now showing. Check AMC Irving Mall and Alamo Draft House Cinema Lost Cleanest for Showtimes. Spring has sprung and there are so many family-friendly activities to do around the city. Levi Gomez, our man about town, shares his suggestions. Violinist Celeste Golden Andrews performs here at Carpenter Hall. It's presented by the Lascalina Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy the concert at 7:30 p.m. on April 19th. Create an edge dormat here at the Valley Ranch Library. It's part of the MIY zone where you can use new technology after completing orientation. Get etching while supplies last during the month of April during the MIY zone's operating hours. Music on Maine is still underway. Enjoy Reputation, a tribute to the music of Taylor Swift here at Heritage Park on Friday, April 25th at 700 p.m. Grab dinner before the show from one of the on-site food vendors or from one of the restaurants in Heritage District. Heritage House first Sunday tours are back. Check out this Texas Historic Landmark built in 1912. Tours are available on the first Sunday of the month from 2 to 4 p.m. Artwork by high school senior portfolio students will be featured here at the main gallery of the Irving Arts Center. Meet the artists at an open house on May 1st at 6:00 p.m. The exhibit continues through May 17th. Are you ready for a sunny summer? Make a case for your sunglasses here at the MIY Zone at the Valley Ranch Library. It's a basic project with a good introduction to sewing. And that wraps up this episode of Irving Spotlight. Join us next time as we recognize the academic accomplishments of Irving ISD students at this year's Breakfast with the Stars and we test community teams on their knowledge of the city at the annual Irving trivia contest. As always, tell us stories you'd like to see on the show. You can email us at ictn@c cityofing.org or connect with us on social media. So, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on X and Instagram. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks so much for tuning in and have a great evening for Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. It's springtime and that means kitten season in Irving. I'm at the animal care campus with Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services and we have some tips to share. What should you do if you find one of these adorable kittens in your neighborhood? Yeah. So, just remember to leave them be. Uh we do have a lot of feral cats within the city of Irving. So, mom is probably nearby either getting food, gathering supplies, she might even be moving the little ones to a new safer area for them. So, just keep that in mind. Now, if you do see a kitten and it's in the same area for hours on end, you know, definitely feel free to to bring it in or if it's sick or injured, bring it here to the shelter or give us a call and we can kind of help assist from there. And with such a population of kittens, that also means more adoption opportunities, you're looking for fosters and people to adopt cats, correct? Right. 100%. So, right now, these little ones, um, they're about 4 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks old. Uh, they still need mom. They're still on like a liquid diet. Um, you know, just nursing. Some of their teeth are coming in. So, we definitely need fosters who are willing to take in bottle babies, kittens that are eating kind of a wet food mixture, mom and kittens, uh, because they have to be 2 months at least to go through the whole entire adoption process. Okay, so fosters at this point, what are some other takeaways that residents should know about kitten season? Yeah, if you do find a kitten, you can bring it here or you can even try to foster it on your own. We can even supply some supplies just to get you started with with the kitten season is upon us. We do have a TNR program to help prevent unwanted kittens or litters of kittens within the city. TNR, explain that. Yeah, so TNR is uh stands for trap, neuter, release. So you can trap a feral cat. We will fix it free of charge for Irving residents every Wednesday and return it back to the area it was trapped. This is to help limit the amount of babies, you know, cats, the feral cat population, just to kind of control it within the city. And these are some noisy kittens, but adorable just the same. Some important reminders as we're still in the heart of kitten season through about October. So, a lot of reminders to keep in mind at this time from Irving Animal Services. Egan, thanks so much. Well, thank you. We are hosting the prefather's day Harlem Nights event. We're partnering with uh the Irving Arts Council. So, we're looking forward to that. It's definitely somewhere you would want to be. Um we have uh Ardurves as well as Mimosas. It's all free. It comes with the show. We have two national recording artists. Not only Mike Walker and his band, but we have Shereice Mackey. Michael Walker is known around town. He has a huge following. He's from the Dallas area. Jazz is a universal type of language that we all love and embrace and everyone loves dressing up in the 1920s and 30s theme. So, I think it would be an awesome time for everyone to come together, sit back, laugh, enjoy the jazz, uh take pictures, uh enjoy the mimosas and free our derves and just enjoy the night. Come together as a community and all be as one. On March 6th, Nimttz High School senior Delme Funes received a generous surprise that will help make her dreams become a reality as she heads to college. We are proud to present you with the Tanaska Diversity Scholarship for $10,000. [Applause] After the shock, Delme takes some photos and then steps out to share the news with her mom. See She's so proud of me that all those um nights that I slept really late like paid off. Weeks after that phone call, Delme and her mom are celebrating her scholarship at the 38th annual Breakfast with the Stars alongside other Irving ISD high school seniors. We have over 280 students receiving scholarships. Over $570,000 is going to be given away today. I'm receiving a scholarship in honor of Michael T. Anderson. It's a $2,500 scholarship that's going to help me in my education. I came from Cuba about four years ago. No English, no nothing. And then without Irving ISD, I wouldn't be here. Not just Iran High School, but I as a whole. All the programs they have, every AP classes, everything from top to bottom. But you know what else is real? Your ability to overcome. We're already proven that we can lead, adapt, and overcome. Now, just practicing those lessons, I put them into motion. The world doesn't need perfect people. It needs really great people like you. In addition to her $10,000 Tamascus scholarship, Delme also received a $1,000 scholarship from Gilbert Elementary. I still don't feel like it's real cuz it is a lot of money to me, but I was very happy to have received something so big. It's a large amount of money she'll be able to put towards her education at the University of Texas in Austin where she plans to study petroleum engineering. I had a woman engineering teacher and she would talk about her the hardships I guess she had to go through cuz she was always like looked down on cuz she was a chemical engineer. So it was a male dominated field especially for that one. So I hope to become someone that can be an inspiration to other women. say congratulations to our long this event and I'll quote one of our students said this. It's more than the money. It's more than just scholarships. It's all about the community coming out to show these students that we support you. We have your back. We love you and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. It feels great to like be recognized in front of other people and to be with other people who also got the big award like this. Breakfast with the Stars continues to demonstrate the strength of our community and the remarkable potential of our students. Filling it up, the new Lee Aquatic Park is a big step closer to its splashy debut. We have the latest progress. Light Club. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting restarted again. Bright nights under the lights along the Mandandalay Canal. We'll take you to the event that's all about food and fun, more than music. People are very excited about what's happening here at Music Factory. New attractions are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. See the new options for dining and laughs that are on the way. Plus, the development starting construction and a preview of the Animal Connection experience now on City Source. [Music] Volunteers are helping to get one of Irving's aquatic centers ready for summer crowds. Hello and welcome to City Source. I'm Thomas Gandandy. See their work in action a bit later. But first, new entertainment and dining options are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. We have a look at what's ahead at the city-owned venue. Starting with two attractions opening next year that we are announcing for the first time. Fresh off of a full renovation of the plaza here at the Toyota Music Factory, we're getting a look at some of the new tenants and the general manager is showing us [Music] around a new concept for the music factory comedy. Yes, we're very excited about this. This is big for not only Irving but for the whole DFW area. This is a new concept called punchline. Year-round comedy events. Everything from your local acts all the way up to national and regional acts as well. And then we're going to have full service. So it's a full renovation of the old space. [Music] We could talk about this space. Nothing has ever been here, but something's coming. It's called Tashan. It's an Indian social. So is really focusing on a demographic we don't currently have here on property yet. So we're very excited about Tashan restaurant coming in. So, now we're inside Pistol. It's just days away from opening. What's the concept of this space? This is more of a lounge area, so they want people to experience new conversations. So, it's going to have a really high-end bar program where you're doing punches and milk washes and things like that. Talk about the stained glass. The ownership here felt that it really needs something to pull together the pistol feel, which is more of this western heritage homage, and this just showcases that. People that come to Pistol can enjoy almost a VIP experience up here on the patio enjoying live music downstairs. The idea was to always be able to cater to what's going on out in the plaza. We're standing in what is soon to be Jackson, Texas Kitchen. This is a concept that has been in DFW. It's the only one here in DFW now since co. We're very excited. It's coming here in a couple weeks. So now we're inside Scholes. We see they're open. Customers are enjoying their lunch. Tell me about this concept. This true smoke barbecue. So we're very excited about these guys being here. They offer a full service of things from burnt ends to brisket to your kind of inspired um smoked dishes like I'm going to smoke the loay corn, those types of things. It's a fast casual concept. We have a brand new concept for the property. It's called Nirvana Bar and Lounge. They're doing upscale Chinese Latin. So, they're doing this Indo-Chinese cuisine and then they do a late night lounge with high-end cocktails. And along with all of the new tenants, some existing restaurants are upgrading their spaces. So, a lot to see at the Toyota Music Factory. Thomas Gandandy for City Source. Nearby, the Irving Convention Center is also staying busy with corporate meetings and other events. The upcoming Texas Fright Mayor Weekend is one example. It's returning to the Irving Convention Center on Memorial Day weekend, a traditionally slow weekend for local hotels and the convention center. The great news is the building is really busy, performing extremely well, but we're at that point where it's almost not what you can book, but what you can move. And so sometimes we kind of got to be able they had certain dates they could work within. We had other events booked over the date. So, you know, moving one client a little bit one way or the other, we're able to make it work and then especially able to make it work for Memorial Day weekend. So, are y'all on track to set more records this year? I sure hope so. You know, the building is kind of maxed out in terms of how many days of events we can really do. So, now it's about managing expenses and trying to make the most of those days when we do have guests in the building. Here's a look at a few upcoming public events at the convention center. May 19th through 21st is Experior Factor for people in the financial services industry. And we mentioned Texas Fright Mayor Weekend. Then TattooFest starts on May 30th. For ticket prices and other public events, go to Irvingconventioncenter.com/events. Construction is underway on a new industrial building at State Highway 161 near Northgate. It's called 161 Airport Center. Leaders with Lyon Capital and its partners broke ground on the project, which will feature more than 118,000 square ft of class A space that could be used for warehouse distribution or manufacturing. During a ceremony on the construction site, Leon Capital CEO says this location's proximity to DFW airport makes it a great investment. And the best part of DFW to invest in is near the largest logistical hub in the world, which is DFW airport. So we may be standing on probably the best piece of ground to invest in in the world. The project is expected to be complete later this year. DFW airport continues to be an economic driver as it records an increase in customers. New numbers from Airports Council International show DFW retains its spot at number three on the list of the world's busiest airports, right behind Atlanta and Dubai. DFW passenger traffic is up more than 7% over 2023 totals. Nearly 90 million customers traveled through DFW last year. A new waterfront event is shining bright this spring with food and live music. Robert Schik has coverage of the Los Kolina's light club on the Mandalay Canal. [Applause] FA Novak and her sister Kimberly are enjoying a fun night along Mandalay Canal. It lights the water. You feel like you're away from home, but you're not. As the sun set on this Thursday evening, the canal walk transformed into Los Kolina's light club. You can be like engrossed in it and just feel all the feels and it's amazing. With live music, free pizza, and trees illuminating the night, this club is lit. You know, somebody's born and raised in Irving has been here when those canals are first built. Being able to see them get reactivated again is really, really important. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting it restarted again. These lights that react to music were added to these trees as part of Lasison's 50th anniversary. And now they're helping keep things bright along Mandalay Canal. It does add a little bit of extra like flare. We built the huge momentum around our 50th and we just want to keep that momentum moving not only with the Losers Association hosting events down here, but we want to inspire others to bring their events down here to the Mandandalay Canal. For Fay, waterfront events like this are why she loves living in Irving. Honestly, it's so good. When you live on the lake, you want to see stuff like this. And I'm so glad I came. A sign of bright nights ahead for a hidden gem of Irving. Robert Sheep for City Source. The Lascalina Light Club returns to the Mandalay Canal May 7th and 8th, then again on June 11th and 12th. More details at loscalinus.org. City Council District places 1, 2, and 7 are up for election. Early voting runs through April 29th. Election day is May 3rd. A district map, candidate information, and voting locations are at cityof.org/elections. The city secretary's office can answer election questions at 9727212493. If you are doing some big time spring cleaning, here is something that may help. Irving Solid Waste Services is offering residents a chance to drop off waste for free at the landfill. This is only open to Irving residents and staff will ask for your state ID and a utility bill with matching Irving address. And note that construction and demolition debris will not be accepted. The free disposal days are May 16th and 17th from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Hunter Ferrell Landfill, 110 East Hunter Ferrell Road. Here is something you definitely do not see every day. Timelapse video as crews fill the new pool at Lee Aquatic Park. Major construction is complete. So, this is one of the final steps before it opens. Any guesses how long it took to fill that pool? If you said about 9 hours, you would be correct. While our camera guy was waiting for the pool to fill, he got some shots of some of the cool and colorful features. Check out the view from the top of the big water slide. And here is a look at some of the special attractions for the little ones. This pool is part of a larger initiative to elevate aquatics and recreation in Irving. You can see all of the updates at city of Irving.org/play Irving. And here at Lee Aquatic Park, with the filling complete, the pool is on track to open Memorial Day weekend. Some hardworking volunteers helped to get the West Irving Aquatic Center ready for summertime crowds. We heard from members of the group making an impact. [Music] The Irving Ambassadors in association with a keeper every beautiful were out here with a project to paint these handrails at the West Irving Aquatic Center. Anybody a painters? Any of y'all painters? I painted. You have painted. Okay. Irving Ambassadors is a great program where we're able to give back and spread the word about different programs that are offered through the city. Okay. If I don't say thank you a thousand times today, I messed up. We're just trying to get the word out of things that Irving does and just being an ambassador for Irving. Oh, gloves, gloves, gloves. May I suggest [Music] gloves? So, the 360 program is the precursor to this and it's a great opportunity to get involved with just finding out what goes on in the city. You get a chance to work with the different departments, see the behindthe-scenes work there. I found it very interesting. I liked getting to meet the different people who run the different services. [Music] It feels great now. It looks refreshed and new and it's just it's pleasing to the eye and makes you proud where you live. Keeping Beautiful only works with volunteers, so it means the world to us. Safety is paramount. Somebody gets injured out here today, we went sideways in a big way. I always tell people we have that volunteer spirit in our community and it shows. Definitely an opportunity to work together as a team, as an ambassadors to show like, hey, we're here to help out and advocate for the city. As Parks and Wreck gears up for the pool season, the aquatics team is hosting a water safety carnival. There will be games and races, boat safety lessons, CPR clinic, and more. It's on Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the North Lake Natitorium. Here is a place to get a jump start on summer fun. The Animal Connection Experience of Prits Park will open earlier than usual this year on Saturday, May 3rd. A lot of the familiar and fun features you see here will be returning and there will be a new snow barn. We'll have to visit to see what that is all about. For the month of May, the attraction is open on weekends. Then the hours will expand in June and July. Admission for Irving residents is $4. Fritz Park is located at 312 East Filig Street. Celebrate the many cultures of Irving with live music, dance, and food. The festival called Fusion is on Saturday, May 17th from 2 until 6:00 p.m. in Heritage Park. You can see some of the fun from past years, and many of these attractions will be back. Admission is free. And you will want to save the dates for this. Sparks and Stripes is back as a two-day event to celebrate Independence Day. Thursday evening, July 3rd will feature fireworks, drones, and more at Levy Event Plaza. Friday morning, July 4th, will be the downtown parade, followed by live music in Heritage Park. [Music] Welcome to ICTN's pets of the week and we are with royalty today and that's why Sir Wagington gets top billing even before Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services. So tell us about Sir Wington. Yeah, Sir Wagington, he's about 2 years old. He came up from a cruelty case, but he is such a shining little star. So that's why we named him Royalty cuz he deserves everything under the sun. He's very sweet, very loyal. He loves other dogs and he's actually part of a huge play group that we have here currently at the shelter. Um he's been with us for some time looking for his forever home, but he is available for adoption. Yeah. So, his calm demeanor right now, don't let that fool you, right? No, I mean he is calm, but he also does like to have a little bit of fun every once in a while. Uh he likes his gums being tickled. We need tickling. Caring for animals takes so much work here at the animal care campus. I know you use a lot of volunteers. Tell me about what volunteers can do. Yeah, we love our volunteers here. They um help us out so much. Definitely the backbone of this place. Uh we have volunteers that come here pretty religiously to help us with simple things such as laundry, dishes, but also help us with like the general care of the animals. We even have volunteers come out to some of our off-site adoptions and help us out there as well. How can people get involved if they want to start volunteering? Yeah. Uh they can apply on our city website. Once they've applied, then our volunteer foster coordinator would reach out and we'll set up kind of a time for them to come in and do an orientation. And another way people get involved, and I know you need a lot of people who will foster animals and you have a an event that's kind of creative to help people get involved. So, we have a baby shower um for kittens and puppies on May 18th and it is to teach people how to bottle feed if that's something they want to do. We'll also talk about like the other stages of fostering. So, kittens that are done with bottle feeding but might need a little extra help before going to wet food. Kittens that just need maybe a few more ounces uh before they can be put up for adoption, things like that. Yeah. And fostering makes such a difference in getting animals ready, right? Oh, 100%. Our animals cannot become um available for adoption until at least 2 months of age. So, that's when they can kind of start the adoption process, get their vaccines, get neutered, and then put up for adoption. It's so much work here at the animal care campus to get Sir Waggington ready or doing so much better. It's so good to see you today up for adoption right now. And the animal care campus is located at 4140 Valley View Lane. You can check out the websites you see on your screen for the latest operating hours and see more adoptable animals. After years of improvements, the Jackie Townsel Bear Creek Heritage Center is ready for visitors. On the next City Source, see the grand opening called History in Bloom and see the upgrades just completed. Also, we will have coverage of Kids Rock the Block Party, a fun event with a serious cause behind it. Those stories and much more next time on City Source. Here is how to connect with us. Make note of our new email address. It's ictn@ irvingtx.gov. Our YouTube channel is youtube.com/thecityofing. We hope you will subscribe and hit that like button on the videos you watch. And we always appreciate it when you leave us some positive comments. And you can look for updates on events and initiatives across the major social media platforms at the city of Irving. And that's it for this edition of City Source. Thanks for watching. Stay healthy and we'll see you next time. They're an aging vaudeville comedy act that broke up years earlier. Now there's an effort to reunite them for a TV special. See the live production of The Sunshine Boys May 2nd through the 17th here at Dupri Theater. The South Irving Library is hosting an inclusive story time for children with autism and sensory processing challenges. Parents and other caregivers are welcome at this flexible interactive session. You do need to register for the event on May 5th at 10:30 a.m. The 18th annual Irving Heritage Society Fish Fry and Bake Sale is back. It takes place here at Heritage Park on May 9th from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Advanced tickets are required and available online. In 1940, Washington Urban was the first author to be featured in the famous Americans series of what? This is our 18th year and it is amazing what people know and it's amazing what people don't know but we hope that they leave and they've had a good time learning. We come expecting to have fun and it's a fun event. The annual heritage fish fry has been an annual event except during co for over 30 years. Tickets for sale. We try to make it easy offering a lot of multiple choice or true and false. So if you don't know, you take a guess. You're with people that love Irving. Everyone in here has a connection. Either from here, born here, work here, live here. What inspired Washington Irvin's first name? A, his father's favorite poet. B, a family tradition, C. George Washington, a founding father, or D, a fictional character in one of his books. It It's just a warm spirit. Everybody's cheering each other. Uh you're all rooting for each other. So it it's fun. Most of the people that play are involved in this city, are aware of the city, participate in organizations, volunteers, so they do really well. What is the date of the upcoming city election? We just appreciate the sponsorship from the library, from the Black Arts Council, from the school district, and the Urban Heritage Society, and of course the city. They've all been really good to help us get the word out, participate, raise the money, and to join us in having fun. We have a winner. Woohoo! We thought this would be a one-year event. 18 years later, here we are. So it is very rewarding. [Music] Concert in the park. The city kicks off the annual spring music on Maine concert series. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. Yellow brick road. We head to the Emerald City for Momentum Dance Company's Wizard of Oz. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a community. And in feature flicks, I review The Friend, a light-hearted new drama starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. I want to tell him that no matter how much I sleep, I'm exhausted. That I feel as though I'm losing control. Hello everyone. Welcome to Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. We begin tonight with some live music in the park. The city kicked off the annual Music on Main spring concert series with the '9s Country Tribute Band. [Music] Our band is called Straight Tequila Night and we play '90s country and a little bit of 80s, a handful of 80s, but we're here to entertain. like strawberry. We are looking forward to a little bit of music in the park. Music on Maine is an opportunity for the community to come out and enjoy different types of genres of music. Uh this evening we'll be featuring Straight Tequila Night, a '90s cover band. Um really high energy, a lot of fun, a lot of excitement for the uh for the folks. Yeah, it's her birthday. It's Amber's birthday, everybody. She's finally 21. It's my birthday. My friends just surprised me with a 50th birthday party. [Music] We moved here a couple years ago and we got to come last year. We went to about three last year and we had such a great time. [Music] We have the beautiful park to enjoy. We have some food trucks for uh sweets and savory uh items, but really we want people to come here and enjoy their enjoy the music, and as soon as that sun sets, it'll uh be gorgeous. I just love the energy we get from the audience. But I also love all the members of our band. Like, we're a family. We've been playing together for 12 years. And it's just a fun activity to do together and also bring, you know, this music to, you know, people our age and and beyond. forever. [Music] You know, live music kind of tells a story. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. This is a great way to bring everybody together. I love this. I've never been to this venue before. I love this outdoor venue and the the food trucks and the people, the dogs. I It's great. You know, music's kind of the great unifier. Uh so we have the opportunity to come out with all different shapes, sizes, colors, whatever it is, and uh spend a few times singing our favorite songs and uh just hanging out for a little bit. [Music] From live music to live theater, Momentum Dance Company's ballet production of The Wizard of Oz is a magical show that takes audiences on a colorful journey of self-discovery. The classic tale of Wizard of Oz follows four friends on a trip to the Emerald City in hopes of getting a brain, a heart, courage, and a chance to find home. The story of Wizard of Oz means to me kind of finding your own like self-worth within yourself cuz um obviously Dorothy needs magic to get home, but she found her home within the people that she loves. I was a military kid growing up. So I have a special place in my heart for people who feel displaced and don't quite know where they belong. And so it's a really special story to me that she finds her home with the people she loves the most. And a home within the people you love is what Momentum Dance Company has created for dancers like Julia Jackson, who's been with the company for over 15 years. Momentum is the place where I fell in love with ballet and it has Don't make me cry. It has always been my safe space. So with my safe people, one of those people being Rebecca Yoni, who stars as Dorothy in this production and shares Julia's camaraderie with the cast. All my friends are the main characters along with me. So as I get to meet my friends in the ballet, they are my true friends. So, it's been a really fun and meaningful experience for me, just getting to dance with each person and how they actually have affected my life. It's just all extremely supportive and everyone's cheering each other on and I think that kind of culture just creates the joy that people are able to see them on stage. That personal connection shines through on stage along with the talent of telling a cherished story through dance. If you feel ridiculous to start out, you're doing it really [Music] well. I particularly love our portrayal of the wicked witch. Um, she does such a fantastic job. So, the scenes u and the and the winged monkey scenes and just her interactions with the characters. It's really fun to get to see all of those parts where she gets to step out and really do the wicked witch thing. I've just had a lot of fun getting to act and portray different characters. And that, you know, is the same thing with Wizard of Oz, especially because my characters are so different, all three of them. So, it's been really cool to get to explore that and get to grow as an actor cuz I have to change all throughout the show. Momentum Dance Company's presentation of the Wizard of Oz showcases the importance of the arts in Irving. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a [Music] community. Keeping up with stories about beautiful friendships, the new drama, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, is an adaptation of Sigra Nunees's novel about an unconventional friendship between a writer and her late friend and mentor. This is what Walter wanted after he died. Why would he say that? You were his best friend. The film follows Iris, a writer and professor living in New York City. She's just learned about the unexpected passing of her longtime mentor and dear friend, Walter. The heartbreaking news has shocked her and she isn't fully able to process how the death has affected her due to the pressures of finishing the novel she had began working on with Walter and having to take care of his great Dne Apollo, which Walter has inconveniently passed on to her. To make matters worse, her apartment does not allow pets. And finding a new home for Apollo is proving that Iris is taking on more than she can chew. I just can't keep having him here. It's taking over my bed and it's getting in the way of my work. While Apollo starts out as an imposition in Iris's life, he quickly becomes a blessing. He fills a void as a representation of Walter and helps her cope with the tragic loss, further proving the healing benefits of an emotional support animal. The film is more of a character study. While we see how all the people in Walter's life are impacted in different ways by his passing, we focus on the one who seems to be internalizing most of her feelings. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot to unpack here. The message is straightforward and the story is simple, but the delivery is well done through its heartfelt performances and the subtle progression of Iris and Apollo's therapeutic bond. Outside of the captivating flashbacks between Walter and Iris and the dynamic between Iris and her new furry friend, the film lacks creativity. It follows a familiar formula we have seen many times before and there's nothing necessarily inspiring about the visuals or film making. However, it is a solid watch that tackles heavy yet relatable themes about friendship, grief, and life in general. And it never hurts to watch a heartwarming and easygoing story about the positive impact of companionship. What's going to happen to the dog? The friend is now showing. Check AMC Irving Mall and Alamo Draft House Cinema Lost Cleanest for Showtimes. Spring has sprung and there are so many family-friendly activities to do around the city. Levi Gomez, our man about town, shares his suggestions. Violinist Celeste Golden Andrews performs here at Carpenter Hall. It's presented by the Lascalina Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy the concert at 7:30 p.m. on April 19th. Create an Etch Dormat here at the Valley Ranch Library. It's part of the MIY zone where you can use new technology after completing orientation. Get etching while supplies last during the month of April during the MIY zone's operating hours. Music on Maine is still underway. Enjoy Reputation, a tribute to the music of Taylor Swift here at Heritage Park on Friday, April 25th at 7 PM. Grab dinner before the show from one of the on-site food vendors or from one of the restaurants in Heritage District. Heritage House first Sunday tours are back. Check out this Texas Historic Landmark built in 1912. Tours are available on the first Sunday of the month from 2 to 4 pm. Artwork by high school senior portfolio students will be featured here at the main gallery of the Irving Arts Center. Meet the artists at an open house on May 1st at 6:00 p.m. The exhibit continues through May 17th. Are you ready for a sunny summer? Make a case for your sunglasses here at the MIY Zone at the Valley Ranch Library. It's a basic project with a good introduction to sewing. And that wraps up this episode of Irving Spotlight. Join us next time as we recognize the academic accomplishments of Irving ISD students at this year's Breakfast with the Stars and we test community teams on their knowledge of the city at the annual Irving trivia contest. As always, tell us stories you'd like to see on the show. You can email us at ictn@c cityofurving.org or connect with us on social media. So, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on X and Instagram. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks so much for tuning in and have a great evening for Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. It's springtime and that means kitten season in Irving. I'm at the animal care campus with Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services and we have some tips to share. What should you do if you find one of these adorable kittens in your neighborhood? Yeah. So, just remember to leave them be. Uh we do have a lot of feral cats within the city of Irving. So, mom is probably nearby either getting food, gathering supplies, she might even be moving the little ones to a new safer area for them. So, just keep that in mind. Now, if you do see a kitten and it's in the same area for hours on end, you know, definitely feel free to to bring it in or if it's sick or injured, bring it here to the shelter or give us a call and we can kind of help assist from there. And with such a population of kittens, that also means more adoption opportunities. You're looking for fosters and people to adopt cats. Correct. Right. 100%. So, right now, these little ones, um, they're about 4 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks old. Uh, they still need mom. They're still on like a liquid diet. Um, you know, just nursing. Some of their teeth are coming in. So, we definitely need fosters who are willing to take in bottle babies, kittens that are eating kind of a wet food mixture, mom and kittens, uh, because they have to be 2 months at least to go through the whole entire adoption process. Okay, so fosters at this point, what are some other takeaways that residents should know about kitten season? Yeah, if you do find a kitten, you can bring it here or you can even try to foster it on your own. We can even supply some supplies just to get you started with with the kitten season is upon us. We do have a TNR program to help prevent unwanted kittens or litters of kittens within the city. TNR, explain that. Yeah, so TNR is uh stands for trap, neuter, release. So you can trap a feral cat. We will fix it free of charge for Irving residents every Wednesday and return it back to the area it was trapped. This is to help limit the amount of babies, you know, cats, the feral cat population, just to kind of control it within the city. And these are some noisy kittens, but adorable just the same. Some important reminders as we're still in the heart of kitten season through about October. So, a lot of reminders to keep in mind at this time from Irving Animal Services. Egan, thanks so much. Well, thank you. We are hosting the prefather's day Harlem Nights event. We're partnering with uh the Irving Arts Council. So, we're looking forward to that. It's definitely somewhere you would want to be. Um we have uh Ardurves as well as Mimosas. It's all free. It comes with the show. We have two national recording artists. Not only Mike Walker and his band, but we have Shereice Mackey. Michael Walker is known around town. He has a huge following. He's from the Dallas area. Jazz is a universal type of language that we all love and embrace and everyone loves dressing up in the 1920s and 30s theme. So, I think it would be an awesome time for everyone to come together, sit back, laugh, enjoy the jazz, uh take pictures, uh enjoy the mimosas and free our derves and just enjoy the night, come together as a community and all be as one. On March 6, Nimttz High School senior Delmees received a generous surprise that will help make her dreams become a reality as she heads to college. We are proud to present you with the Tanasa Diversity Scholarship for $10,000. [Applause] After the shock, Delme takes some photos and then steps out to share the news with her mom. See? me. She's so proud of me that all those um nights that I slept really late like paid off. Weeks after that phone call, Delme and her mom are celebrating her scholarship at the 38th annual Breakfast with the Stars alongside other Irving ISD high school seniors. We have over 280 students receiving scholarships. Over $570,000 is going to be given away today. I'm receiving a scholarship in honor of Michael T. Anderson. It's a $2,500 scholarship that's going to help me in my education. I came from Cuba about four years ago. No English, no nothing. And then without Urban ISD, I wouldn't be here. Not just Iran High School, but I as a whole. All the programs they have, every AP class, everything from top to bottom. But you know what else is real? Your ability to overcome. We're already proven that we can lead, adapt, and overcome. Now it's time to take those lessons and put them into motion. The world doesn't need perfectly. It needs really great people like you. In addition to her $10,000 Tamascus scholarship, Delme also received a $1,000 scholarship from Gilbert Elementary. I still don't feel like it's real cuz it is a lot of money to me. But I was very happy to have received something so big. It's a large amount of money she'll be able to put towards her education at the University of Texas in Austin where she plans to study petroleum engineering. I had a woman engineering teacher and she would talk about her the hardships that she had to go through cuz she was always like looked down on cuz she was a chemical engineer. So it was a male-dominated field especially for that one. So I hope to become someone that can be an inspiration to other women. say congratulations to our long this event and I'll quote one of our students said this. It's more than the money. It's more than just scholarships. It's all about the community coming out to show these students that we support you. We have your back. We love you and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. It feels great to like be recognized in front of other people and to be with other people who also got a big award like this. Breakfast with the Stars continues to demonstrate the strength of our community and the remarkable potential of our students. Filling it up, the new Lee Aquatic Park is a big step closer to its splashy debut. We have the latest progress. Light Club. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting restarted again. Bright nights under the lights along the Mandalay Canal. We'll take you to the event that's all about food and fun more than music. People are very excited about what's happening here at Music Factory. New attractions are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. See the new options for dining and laughs that are on the way. Plus, the development starting construction and a preview of the Animal Connection experience now on City Source. [Music] Volunteers are helping to get one of Irving's aquatic centers ready for summer crowds. Hello and welcome to City Source. I'm Thomas Gandandy. See their work in action a bit later, but first, new entertainment and dining options are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. We have a look at what's ahead at the city-owned venue. Starting with two attractions opening next year that we are announcing for the first time. Fresh off of a full renovation of the plaza here at the Toyota Music Factory, we're getting a look at some of the new tenants and the general manager is showing us [Music] around. A new concept for the music factory comedy. Yes, we're very excited about this. This is big for not only Irving, but for the whole DFW area. This is a new concept called punchline year-round comedy events. Everything from your local acts all the way up to national and regional acts as well. And then we're going to have full service. So it's a full renovation of the old space. We can talk about this space. Nothing has ever been here, but something's coming. It's called Tashan. It's an Indian social. So it's really focusing on a demographic we don't currently have here on property yet. So we're very excited about Tashan restaurant coming in. So, now we're inside Pistol. It's just days away from opening. What's the concept of this space? This is more of a lounge area, so they want people to experience new conversations. So, it's going to have a really high-end bar program where you're doing punches and milk washes and things like that. Talk about the stained glass. The ownership here felt that it really needs something to pull together the pistol feel, which is more of this western heritage homage, and this just showcases that. People that come to Pistol can enjoy almost a VIP experience up here on the patio enjoying live music downstairs. The idea was to always be able to cater to what's going on out in the plaza. We're standing in what is soon to be Jackson, Texas kitchen. This is a concept that has been in DFW. It's the only one here in DFW now since co. We're very excited. It's coming here in a couple weeks. So now we're inside Scholes. We see they're open. Customers are enjoying their lunch. Tell me about this concept. This true smoked barbecue. So we're very excited about these guys being here. They offer a full service of things from burnt ends to brisket to your kind of inspired um smoked dishes like I'm going to smoke the loay corn, those types of things. It's a fast casual [Applause] concept. We have a brand new concept for the property. It's called Nirvana Bar and Lounge. They're doing upscale Chinese Latin. So, they're doing this Indo-Chinese cuisine and then they do a late night lounge with high-end cocktails. And along with all of the new tenants, some existing restaurants are upgrading their spaces. So, a lot to see at the Toyota Music Factory. Thomas Gandandy for City Source. Nearby, the Irving Convention Center is also staying busy with corporate meetings and other events. The upcoming Texas Fright Mayor Weekend is one example. It's returning to the Irving Convention Center on Memorial Day weekend, a traditionally slow weekend for local hotels and the convention center. The great news is the building is really busy, performing extremely well, but we're at that point where it's almost not what you can book, but what you can move. And so sometimes we kind of got to be able they had certain dates they could work within. We had other events booked over the date. So, you know, moving one client a little bit one way or the other, we're able to make it work and then especially able to make it work for Memorial Day weekend. So, are y'all on track to set more records this year? I sure hope so. You know, the building is kind of maxed out in terms of how many days of events we can really do. So, now it's about managing expenses and trying to make the most of those days when we do have guests in the building. Here's a look at a few upcoming public events at the convention center. May 19th through 21st is Experior Factor for people in the financial services industry. And we mentioned Texas Fright Mayor Weekend. Then TattooFest starts on May 30th. For ticket prices and other public events, go to Irvingconvention Center.com/events. Construction is underway on a new industrial building at State Highway 161 near Northgate. It's called 161 Airport Center. Leaders with Leyon Capital and its partners broke ground on the project, which will feature more than 118,000 square ft of class A space that could be used for warehouse distribution or manufacturing. During a ceremony on the construction site, Leon Capital CEO says this location's proximity to DFW airport makes it a great investment. And the best part of DFW to invest in is near the largest logistical hub in the world, which is DFW airport. So we may be standing on probably the best piece of ground to invest in in the world. The project is expected to be complete later this year. DFW airport continues to be an economic driver as it records an increase in customers. New numbers from Airports Council International show DFW retains its spot at number three on the list of the world's busiest airports, right behind Atlanta and Dubai. DFW passenger traffic is up more than 7% over 2023 totals. Nearly 90 million customers traveled through DFW last year. A new waterfront event is shining bright this spring with food and live music. Robert Sheik has coverage of the Los Kina's light club on the Mandalay Canal. [Applause] FA Novak and her sister Kimberly are enjoying a fun night along Mandalay Canal. The lights, the water, you feel like you're away from home, but you're not. As the sun set on this Thursday evening, the canal walk transformed into Los Kolina's light club. You can be like engrossed in it and just feel all the feels and it's amazing. With live music, free pizza, and trees illuminating the night, this club is lit. You know, somebody's born and raised in Irving has been here when those canals are first built. Being able to see them get reactivated again is really, really important. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting it restarted again. These lights that react to music were added to these trees as part of Lasison's 50th anniversary. And now they're helping keep things bright along Mandandalay Canal. It does add a little bit of extra like flare. We built the huge momentum around our 50th and we just want to keep that momentum moving, not only with the Losers Association hosting events down here, but we want to inspire others to bring their events down here to the Mandalay Canal. For Fay, waterfront events like this are why she loves living in Irving. Honestly, it's so good. When you live on the lake, you want to see stuff like this. And I'm so glad I came. A sign of bright nights ahead for a hidden gem of Irving. Robert Sheet for City Source. The Lascalinus Light Club returns to the Mandalay Canal May 7th and 8th, then again on June 11th and 12th. More details at loscalinus.org. City Council District places 1, 2, and 7 are up for election. Early voting runs through April 29th. Election day is May 3rd. A district map, candidate information, and voting locations are at city of Irving.org/elections. The city secretary's office can answer election questions at 972721-22493. If you are doing some big time spring cleaning, here is something that may help. Irving Solid Waste Services is offering residents a chance to drop off waste for free at the landfill. This is only open to Irving residents and staff will ask for your state ID and a utility bill with matching Irving address. And note that construction and demolition debris will not be accepted. The free disposal days are May 16th and 17th from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Hunter Ferrell Landfill, 110 East Hunter Ferrell Road. Here is something you definitely do not see every day. Timelapse video as crews fill the new pool at Lee Aquatic Park. Major construction is complete. So, this is one of the final steps before it opens. Any guesses how long it took to fill that pool? If you said about 9 hours, you would be correct. While our camera guy was waiting for the pool to fill, he got some shots of some of the cool and colorful features. Check out the view from the top of the big water slide. And here is a look at some of the special attractions for the little ones. This pool is part of a larger initiative to elevate aquatics and recreation in Irving. You can see all of the updates at cityofing.org/play Irving. And here at lequatic park with the filling complete. The pool is on track to open Memorial Day weekend. Some hardworking volunteers helped to get the West Irving Aquatic Center ready for summertime crowds. We heard from members of the group making an impact. [Music] The Irving Ambassadors in association with Keeper Beautiful were out here with a project to paint these handrails at the West Irving Aquatic Center. Are anybody a painters? Any of y'all painters? I've painted. You have painted. Okay. Irving Ambassadors is a great program where we're able to give back and spread the word about different programs that are offered through the city. Okay. If I don't say thank you a thousand times today, I messed up. We're just trying to get the word out of things that Irving does and just being an ambassador for Irving. Oh, gloves, gloves, gloves. May I suggest gloves? So the in3 program is the precursor to this and it's a great opportunity to get involved with just finding out what goes on in the city. You get a chance to work with the different departments, see the behind thescenes work there. I found it very interesting. I like getting to meet the different people who run the different [Music] services. It feels great now. how it looks refreshed and new and it's just it's pleasing to the eye and makes you proud where you live. Keep everything beautiful only works with volunteers so it means the world to us. Safety is paramount. Somebody gets injured out here today. We went sideways in a big way. I always tell people we have that volunteer spirit in our community and it shows. Definitely an opportunity to work together as a team, as an ambassadors to show like, hey, we're here to help out and advocate for the city. As Parks and Wreck gears up for the pool season, the aquatics team is hosting a water safety carnival. There will be games and races, boat safety lessons, CPR clinic, and more. It's on Saturday, May 10th, from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the North Lake Natitorium. Here is a place to get a jump start on summer fun. The Animal Connection Experience of Fritz Park will open earlier than usual this year on Saturday, May 3rd. A lot of the familiar and fun features you see here will be returning and there will be a new snow barn. We'll have to visit to see what that is all about. For the month of May, the attraction is open on weekends. Then the hours will expand in June and July. Admission for Irving residents is $4. Fritz Park is located at 312 East Filig Street. Celebrate the many cultures of Irving with live music, dance, and food. The festival called Fusion is on Saturday, May 17th from 2 until 6 pm in Heritage Park. You can see some of the fun from past years, and many of these attractions will be back. Admission is free. And you will want to save the dates for this. Sparks and Stripes is back as a two-day event to celebrate Independence Day. Thursday evening, July 3rd, will feature fireworks, drones, and more at Levy Event Plaza. Friday morning, July 4th, will be the downtown parade, followed by live music in Heritage [Music] Park. Welcome to ICTN's Pets of the Week and we are with Royalty today. That's why Sir Waggington gets top billing even before Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services. So tell us about Sir Wington. Yeah, Sir Wington, he's about 2 years old. He came up from a cruelty case, but he is such a shining little star. So that's why we named him Royalty cuz he deserves everything under the sun. He's very sweet, very loyal. He loves other dogs and he's actually part of a huge play group that we have here currently at the shelter. Um he's been with us for some time looking for his forever home, but he is available for adoption. Yeah. So his calm demeanor right now, don't let that fool you, right? No, I mean he is calm, but he also does like to have a little bit of fun every once in a while. Uh, he likes his gums being tickled. Need tickling. Caring for animals takes so much work here at the animal care campus. I know you use a lot of volunteers. Tell me about what volunteers can do. Yeah, we love our volunteers here. They um help us out so much. Definitely the backbone of this place. Uh we have volunteers that come here pretty religiously to help us with simple things such as laundry, dishes, but also help us with like the general care of the animals. We even have volunteers come out to some of our off-site adoptions and help us out there as well. How can people get involved if they want to start volunteering? Yeah. Uh they can apply on our city website. Once they've applied, then our volunteer foster coordinator would reach out and we'll set up kind of a time for them to come in and do an orientation. And another way people get involved, and I know you need a lot of people who will foster animals, and you have a an event that's kind of creative to help people get involved. So, we have a baby shower um for kittens and puppies on May 18th, and it is to teach people how to bottle feed if that's something they want to do. We'll also talk about like the other stages of fostering. So, kittens that are done with bottle feeding but might need a little extra help before going to wet food. Kittens that just need maybe a few more ounces uh before they can be put up for adoption, things like that. Yeah. And fostering makes such a difference in getting animals ready, right? Oh, 100%. Our animals cannot become um available for adoption until at least 2 months of age. So, that's when they can kind of start the adoption process, get their vaccines, get neutered, and then put up for adoption. It's so much work here at the animal care campus to get Sir Waggington ready or doing so much better. It's so good to see you today up for adoption right now. And the animal care campus is located at 4140 Valley View Lane. You can check out the websites you see on your screen for the latest operating hours and see more adoptable animals. After years of improvements, the Jackie Townsel Bear Creek Heritage Center is ready for visitors. On the next City Source, see the grand opening called History in Bloom and see the upgrades just completed. Also, we will have coverage of Kids Rock the Block Party, a fun event with a serious cause behind it. Those stories and much more next time on City Source. Here is how to connect with us. Make note of our new email address. It's ictn@ irvingtx.gov. Our YouTube channel is youtube.com/the cityofring. We hope you will subscribe and hit that like button on the videos you watch. And we always appreciate it when you leave us some positive comments. And you can look for updates on events and initiatives across the major social media platforms at the city of Irving. And that's it for this edition of City Source. Thanks for watching. Stay healthy and we'll see you next time. They're an aging vaudeville comedy act that broke up years earlier. Now there's an effort to reunite them for a TV special. See the live production of The Sunshine Boys May 2nd through the 17th here at Dupri Theater. The South Irving Library is hosting an inclusive storytime for children with autism and sensory processing challenges. Parents and other caregivers are welcome at this flexible interactive session. You do need to register for the event on May 5th at 10:30 a.m. The 18th annual Irving Heritage Society Fish Fry and Bake Sale is back. It takes place here at Heritage Park on May 9th from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Advanced tickets are required and available online. In 1940, Washington Urban was the first author to be featured in the Famous Americans series of What? This is our 18th year and it is amazing what people know and it's amazing what people don't know. But we hope that they leave and they've had a good time learning. We come expecting to have fun and it's a fun event. The annual heritage fish fry has been an annual event except during co for over 30 years. Tickets for sale. We try to make it easy offering a lot of multiple choice or true and false. So if you don't know, you take a guess. You're with people that love Irving. Everyone in here has a connection either from here, born here, work here, live here. What inspired Washington Iran's first name? A, his father's favorite poet. B, a family tradition. C, George Washington, a founding father, or D, a fictional character in one of his books. It It's just a warm spirit. Everybody's cheering each other. Uh you're all rooting for each other. So it it's fun. Most of the people that play are involved in this city, are aware of the city, participate in organizations, volunteer, so they do really well. What is the date of the upcoming city election? We just appreciate the sponsorship from the library, from the Black Arts Council, from the school district, and the Urban Heritage Society, and of course the city. They've all been really good to help us get the word out, participate, raise the money, and to join us in having fun. We have a winner. Woohoo! We thought this would be a one-year event. 18 years later, here we are. So it is very rewarding. [Music] Concert in the park. The city kicks off the annual spring music on Maine concert series. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. Yellow brick road. We head to the Emerald City for Momentum Dance Company's Wizard of Oz. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a community. And in Feature Flick, I review The Friend, a light-hearted new drama starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. I want to tell him that no matter how much I sleep, I'm exhausted. That I feel as though I'm losing control. Hello everyone. Welcome to Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. We begin tonight with some live music in the park. The city kicked off the annual Music on Main spring concert series with the '9s Country Tribute Band. [Music] Our band is called Straight Tequila Night and we play '90s country and a little bit of 80s, a handful of 80s, but we're here to entertain. like strawberry. We are looking forward to a little bit of music in the park. Music on Maine is an opportunity for the community to come out and enjoy different types of genres of music. Uh this evening we'll be featuring Straight Tequila Night, a '90s cover band. Um really high energy, a lot of fun, a lot of excitement for the uh for the folks. Yeah, it's her birthday. It's Amber's birthday, everybody. She's finally 21. It's my birthday. My friends just surprised me with a 50th birthday party. [Music] We moved here a couple years ago and we got to come last year. We went to about three last year and we had such a great time. [Music] We have the beautiful park to enjoy. We have some food trucks for uh sweets and savory uh items, but really we want people to come here and enjoy their enjoy the music and as soon as that sun sets, it'll uh be gorgeous. I just love the energy we get from the audience. But I also love all the members of our band. Like we're a family. We've been playing together for 12 years. And it's just a fun activity to do together and also bring, you know, this music to, you know, people our age and and beyond. forever on the jewels expo. [Music] You know, live music kind of tells a story. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. This is a great way to bring everybody together. I love this. I've never been to this venue before. I love this outdoor venue and the the food trucks and the people, the dogs. It's great. You know, music's kind of the great unifier. Uh so we have the opportunity to come out with all different shapes, sizes, colors, whatever it is, and uh spend a few times singing our favorite songs and uh just hanging out for a little bit. [Music] From live music to live theater, Momentum Dance Company's ballet production of The Wizard of Oz is a magical show that takes audiences on a colorful journey of self-discovery. The classic tale of Wizard of Oz follows four friends on a trip to the Emerald City in hopes of getting a brain, a heart, courage, and a chance to find home. The story of Wizard of Oz means to me kind of finding your own like self-worth within yourself cuz um obviously Dorothy needs magic to get home, but she found her home within the people that she loves. I was a military kid growing up. So I have a special place in my heart for people who feel displaced and don't quite know where they belong. And so it's a really special story to me that she finds her home with the people she loves the most. And a home within the people you love is what Momentum Dance Company has created for dancers like Julia Jackson, who's been with the company for over 15 years. Momentum is the place where I fell in love with ballet. And it has Oh, don't make me cry. It has always been my safe space. So, with my safe people, one of those people being Rebecca Yoni, who stars as Dorothy in this production and shares Julia's camaraderie with the cast. All my friends are the main characters along with me. So, as I get to meet my friends in the ballet, they are my true friends. So, it's been a really fun and meaningful experience for me, just getting to dance with each person and how they actually have affected my life. It's just all extremely supportive and everyone's cheering each other on and I think that kind of culture just creates the joy that people are able to see them on stage. That personal connection shines through on stage along with the talent of telling a cherished story through dance. If you feel ridiculous to start out, you're doing it really [Music] well. I particularly love our portrayal of the wicked witch. Um, she does such a fantastic job. So, the scenes u and the and the winged monkey scenes and just her interactions with the characters. It's really fun to get to see all of those parts where she gets to step out and really do the wicked witch thing. I've just had a lot of fun getting to act and portray different characters. And that, you know, is the same thing with Wizard of Oz, especially because my characters are so different, all three of them. So, it's been really cool to get to explore that and get to grow as an actor cuz I have to change all throughout the show. Momentum Dance Company's presentation of the Wizard of Oz showcases the importance of the arts in Irving. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a [Music] community. Keeping up with stories about beautiful friendships, the new drama, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, is an adaptation of Sigra Nunees's novel about an unconventional friendship between a writer and her late friend and mentor. This is what Walter wanted after he died. But why would he say that? You were his best friend. The film follows Iris, a writer and professor living in New York City. She's just learned about the unexpected passing of her longtime mentor and dear friend, Walter. The heartbreaking news has shocked her and she isn't fully able to process how the death has affected her due to the pressures of finishing the novel she had began working on with Walter and having to take care of his great Dne Apollo, which Walter has inconveniently passed on to her. To make matters worse, her apartment does not allow pets. And finding a new home for Apollo is proving that Iris is taking on more than she can chew. I just can't keep having him here. It's taking over my bed and it's getting in the way of my work. While Apollo starts out as an imposition in Iris's life, he quickly becomes a blessing. He fills a void as a representation of Walter and helps her cope with the tragic loss, further proving the healing benefits of an emotional support animal. The film is more of a character study. While we see how all the people in Walter's life are impacted in different ways by his passing, we focus on the one who seems to be internalizing most of her feelings. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot to unpack here. The message is straightforward and the story is simple, but the delivery is well done through its heartfelt performances and the subtle progression of Iris and Apollo's therapeutic bond. Outside of the captivating flashbacks between Walter and Iris and the dynamic between Iris and her new furry friend, the film lacks creativity. It follows a familiar formula we have seen many times before and there's nothing necessarily inspiring about the visuals or film making. However, it is a solid watch that tackles heavy yet relatable themes about friendship, grief, and life in general. And it never hurts to watch a heartwarming and easygoing story about the positive impact of companionship. What's going to happen to the dog? The friend is now showing. Check AMC Irving Mall and Alamo Draft House Cinema Lost Cleanest for Showtimes. Spring has sprung and there are so many family-friendly activities to do around the city. Levi Gomez, our man about town, shares his suggestions. Violinist Celeste Golden Andrews performs here at Carpenter Hall. It's presented by the Lascalina Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy the concert at 7:30 p.m. on April 19th. Create an Etch Dormat here at the Valley Ranch Library. It's part of the MIY zone where you can use new technology after completing orientation. Get etching while supplies last during the month of April during the MIY zone's operating hours. Music on Maine is still underway. Enjoy Reputation, a tribute to the music of Taylor Swift here at Heritage Park on Friday, April 25th at 7 PM. Grab dinner before the show from one of the on-site food vendors or from one of the restaurants in Heritage District. Heritage House first Sunday tours are back. Check out this Texas Historic Landmark built in 1912. Tours are available on the first Sunday of the month from 2 to 4 pm. Artwork by high school senior portfolio students will be featured here at the main gallery of the Irving Arts Center. Meet the artists at an open house on May 1st at 6:00 p.m. The exhibit continues through May 17th. Are you ready for a sunny summer? Make a case for your sunglasses here at the MI Zone at the Valley Ranch Library. It's a basic project with a good introduction to sewing. And that wraps up this episode of Irving Spotlight. Join us next time as we recognize the academic accomplishments of Irving ISD students at this year's Breakfast with the Stars and we test community teams on their knowledge of the city at the annual Irving trivia contest. As always, tell us stories you'd like to see on the show. You can email us at ictn@c cityofurving.org or connect with us on social media. So, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on X and Instagram. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks so much for tuning in and have a great evening for Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. It's springtime and that means kitten season in Irving. I'm at the animal care campus with Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services and we have some tips to share. What should you do if you find one of these adorable kittens in your neighborhood? Yeah. So, just remember to leave them be. Uh we do have a lot of feral cats within the city of Irving. So, mom is probably nearby either getting food, gathering supplies, she might even be moving the little ones to a new safer area for them. So, just keep that in mind. Now, if you do see a kitten and it's in the same area for hours on end, you know, definitely feel free to to bring it in or if it's sick or injured, bring it here to the shelter or give us a call and we can kind of help assist from there. And with such a population of kittens, that also means more adoption opportunities, you're looking for fosters and people to adopt cats, correct? Right. 100%. So, right now, these little ones, um, they're about 4 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks old. Uh, they still need mom. They're still on like a liquid diet. Um, you know, just nursing. Some of their teeth are coming in. So, we definitely need fosters who are willing to take in bottle babies, kittens that are eating kind of a wet food mixture, mom and kittens, uh, because they have to be 2 months at least to go through the whole entire adoption process. Okay, so fosters at this point, what are some other takeaways that residents should know about kitten season? Yeah, if you do find a kitten, you can bring it here or you can even try to foster it on your own. We can even supply some supplies just to get you started with with the kitten season is upon us. We do have a TNR program to help prevent unwanted kittens or litters of kittens within the city. TNR, explain that. Yeah, so TNR is uh stands for trap, neuter, release. So, you can trap a feral cat. We will fix it free of charge for Irving residents every Wednesday and return it back to the area it was trapped. This is to help limit the amount of babies, you know, cats, the feral cat population, just to kind of control it within the city. And these are some noisy kittens, but adorable just the same. Some important reminders as we're still in the heart of kitten season through about October. So, a lot of reminders to keep in mind at this time from Irving Animal Services. Egan, thanks so much. Well, thank you. We are hosting the pre-father's Day Harlem Nights event. We're partnering with uh the Irving Arts Council. So, we're looking forward to that. It's definitely somewhere you would want to be. Um we have uh Ardurves as well as Mimosas. It's all free. It comes with the show. We have two national recording artists. Not only Mike Walker and his band, but we have Shereice Mackey. Michael Walker is known around town. He has a huge following. He's from the Dallas area. Jazz is a universal type of language that we all love and embrace and everyone loves dressing up in the 19s 20s and 30s theme. So, I think it would be an awesome time for everyone to come together, sit back, laugh, enjoy the jazz, uh take pictures, uh enjoy the mimosas and free our derves and just enjoy the night, come together as a community and all be as one. On March 6, Nimttz High School senior Delme Funes received a generous surprise that will help make her dreams become a reality as she heads to college. We are proud to present you with the Tanaska Diversity Scholarship for $10,000. [Applause] After the shock, Delme takes some photos and then steps out to share the news with her mom. See She's so proud of me that all those um nights that I slept really late like paid off. Weeks after that phone call, Delme and her mom are celebrating her scholarship at the 38th annual Breakfast with the Stars alongside other Irving ISD high school seniors. We have over 280 students receiving scholarships. Over $570,000 is going to be given away today. I'm receiving a scholarship in honor of Michael T. Anderson. It's a $2,500 scholarship that's going to help me in my education. I came from Cuba about four years ago. No English, no nothing. And then without Urban ISD, I wouldn't be here. Not just Iran High School, but even as a whole. All the programs they have, every AP class, everything from top to bottom. But you know what else is real? Your ability to overcome. We're already proven that we can lead, adopt, and overcome. Now it's time to take those lessons and put them into motion. The world doesn't need perfect people. It needs really great people like you. In addition to her $10,000 Tanasca scholarship, Delme also received a $1,000 scholarship from Gilbert Elementary. I still don't feel like it's real cuz it is a lot of money to me. But I was very happy to have received something so big. It's a large amount of money she'll be able to put towards her education at the University of Texas in Austin where she plans to study petroleum engineering. I had a woman engineering teacher and she would talk about her the hardships I guess she had to go through cuz she was always like looked down on cuz she was a chemical engineer. So it was a male-dominated field especially for that one. So I hope to become someone that can be an inspiration to other women. say congratulations to our law. This event, and I'll quote one of our students at this, it's more than the money. It's more than just scholarships. It's all about the community coming out to show these students that we support you. We have your back. We love you, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. It feels great to like be recognized in front of other people and to be with other people who also got a big award like this. Breakfast with the Stars continues to demonstrate the strength of our community and the remarkable potential of our students. Filling it up, the new Lee Aquatic Park is a big step closer to its splashy debut. We have the latest progress. Light Club. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting it restarted again. Bright nights under the lights along the Mandalay Canal. We'll take you to the event that's all about food and fun, more than music. People are very excited about what's happening here at Music Factory. New attractions are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. See the new options for dining and laughs that are on the way. Plus, the development starting construction and a preview of the Animal Connection experience now on City Source. [Music] Volunteers are helping to get one of Irving's aquatic centers ready for summer crowds. Hello and welcome to City Source. I'm Thomas Gandandy. See their work in action a bit later. But first, new entertainment and dining options are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. We have a look at what's ahead at the city-owned venue, starting with two attractions opening next year that we are announcing for the first time. Fresh off of a full renovation of the plaza here at the Toyota Music Factory, we're getting a look at some of the new tenants and the general manager is showing us around. A new concept for the music factory, comedy. Yes, we're very excited about this. This is big for not only Irving, but for the whole DFW area. This is a new concept called punchline. Year-round comedy events. Everything from your local acts all the way up to national and regional acts as well. And then we're going to have full service. So it's a full renovation of the old space. We could talk about this space. Nothing has ever been here, but something's coming. It's called Tashan. It's an Indian social. So it's really focusing on a demographic we don't currently have here on property yet. So we're very excited about Tashan restaurant coming in. So, now we're inside Pistol. It's just days away from opening. What's the concept of this space? This is more of a lounge area, so they want people to experience new conversation. So, it's going to have a really high-end bar program where you're doing punches and milk washes and things like that. Talk about the stained glass. The ownership here felt that it really needs something to pull together the pistol feel, which is more of this western heritage homage, and this just showcases that. People that come to Pistol can enjoy almost a VIP experience up here on the patio enjoying live music downstairs. The idea was to always be able to cater to what's going on out in the plaza. We're standing in what is soon to be Jackson, Texas Kitchen. This is a concept that has been in DFW. It's the only one here in DFW now since co. We're very excited. It's coming here in a couple weeks. [Music] So now we're inside Scholes. We see they're open. Customers are enjoying their lunch. Tell me about this concept. This True Smoke barbecue. So we're very excited about these guys being here. They offer a full service of things from burnt ends to brisket to your kind of inspired um smoked dishes like um smoked the loay corn, those types of things. It's a fast casual concept. We have a brand new concept for the property. It's called Nirvana Bar and Lounge. They're doing upscale Chinese Latin. So, they're doing this Indo-Chinese cuisine and then they do a late night lounge with high-end cocktails. And along with all of the new tenants, some existing restaurants are upgrading their spaces. So, a lot to see at the Toyota Music Factory. Thomas Gandandy for City Source. Nearby, the Irving Convention Center is also staying busy with corporate meetings and other events. The upcoming Texas Fright Mayor Weekend is one example. It's returning to the Irving Convention Center on Memorial Day weekend, a traditionally slow weekend for local hotels and the convention center. The great news is the building is really busy, performing extremely well, but we're at that point where it's almost not what you can book, but what you can move. And so sometimes we kind of got to be able they had certain dates they could work within. We had other events booked over the date. So, you know, moving one client a little bit one way or the other, we were able to make it work and then especially able to make it work for Memorial Day weekend. So, are y'all on track to set more records this? I sure hope so. You know, the building is kind of maxed out in terms of how many days of events we can really do. So, now it's about managing expenses and trying to make the most of those days when we do have guests in the building. Here's a look at a few upcoming public events at the convention center. May 19th through 21st is Experior Factor for people in the financial services industry. And we mentioned Texas Fright Mayor Weekend. Then Tattoo Fest starts on May 30th. For ticket prices and other public events, go to Irvingconvention Center.com/events. Construction is underway on a new industrial building at State Highway 161 near Northgate. It's called 161 Airport Center. Leaders with Leyon Capital and its partners broke ground on the project, which will feature more than 118,000 square ft of class A space that could be used for warehouse distribution or manufacturing. During a ceremony on the construction site, Leyon Capital CEO says this location's proximity to DFW airport makes it a great investment. And the best part of DFW to invest in is near the largest logistical hub in the world, which is DFW airport. So we may be standing on probably the best piece of ground to invest in in the world. The project is expected to be complete later this year. DFW airport continues to be an economic driver as it records an increase in customers. New numbers from Airports Council International show DFW retains its spot at number three on the list of the world's busiest airports, right behind Atlanta and Dubai. DFW passenger traffic is up more than 7% over 2023 totals. Nearly 90 million customers traveled through DFW last year. A new waterfront event is shining bright this spring with food and live music. Robert Sheic has coverage of the Loscolinus light club on the Mandalay Canal. [Applause] FA Novak and her sister Kimberly are enjoying a fun night along Mandalay Canal. Lights, the water, you feel like you're away from home, but you're not. As the sun set on this Thursday evening, the canal walk transformed into Los Kenus light club. You can be like engrossed in it and just feel all the feels and it's amazing. With live music, free pizza, and trees illuminating the night, this club is lit. You know, somebody's born and raised in Irving has been here when those canals are first built. Being able to see them get reactivated again is really, really important. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting it restarted again. These lights that react to music were added to these trees as part of Los Clean's 50th anniversary. And now they're helping keep things bright along Mandalay Canal. It does add a little bit of extra like flare. We've built the huge momentum around our 50th and we just want to keep that momentum moving, not only with the Losers Association hosting events down here, but we want to inspire others to bring their events down here to the Mandandalay Canal. For Fay, waterfront events like this are why she loves living in Irving. Honestly, it's so good. When you live on the lake, you want to see stuff like this. And I'm so glad I came. A sign of bright nights ahead for a hidden gem of Irving. Robert Sheic for City Source. The Lascalinus Light Club returns to the Mandandalay Canal May 7th and 8th, then again on June 11th and 12th. More details at loscalus.org. City Council District places 1, 2, and 7 are up for election. Early voting runs through April 29th. Election day is May 3rd. A district map, candidate information, and voting locations are at cityofing.org/elections. The city secretary's office can answer election questions at 972721-22493. If you are doing some big time spring cleaning, here is something that may help. Irving Solid Waste Services is offering residents a chance to drop off waste for free at the landfill. This is only open to Irving residents and staff will ask for your state ID and a utility bill with matching Irving address. And note that construction and demolition debris will not be accepted. The free disposal days are May 16th and 17th from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Hunter Ferrell Landfill, 110 East Hunter Frell Road. Here is something you definitely do not see every day. Time-lapse video as crews fill the new pool at Lee Aquatic Park. Major construction is complete. So, this is one of the final steps before it opens. Any guesses how long it took to fill that pool? If you said about 9 hours, you would be correct. While our camera guy was waiting for the pool to fill, he got some shots of some of the cool and colorful features. Check out the view from the top of the big water slide. And here is a look at some of the special attractions for the little ones. This pool is part of a larger initiative to elevate aquatics and recreation in Irving. You can see all of the updates at cityofing.org/play Irving. And here at lequatic park with the filling complete. The pool is on track to open Memorial Day weekend. Some hardworking volunteers helped to get the West Irving Aquatic Center ready for summertime crowds. We heard from members of the group making an impact. [Music] The Irving Ambassadors in association with Keep Urban Beautiful were out here with a project to paint these handrails at the West Irving Aquatic Center. Are anybody painters? Any of y'all painters? Painted. You have painted. Okay. Irving Ambassadors is a great program where we're able to give back and spread the word about different programs that are offered through the city. Okay. If I don't say thank you a thousand times today, I messed up. We're just trying to get the word out of things that Irving does and just be an ambassador for Irving. Oh, gloves, gloves, gloves. May I suggest gloves? So the in3 program is the precursor to this and it's a great opportunity to get involved with just finding out what goes on in the city. You get a chance to work with the different departments, see the behind thescenes work there. I found it very interesting. I like getting to meet the different people who run the different [Music] services. It feels great now. all looks refreshed and new and it's just it's pleasing to the eye and makes you proud where you live. Keepering Beautiful only works with volunteers so it means the world to us. Safety's paramount. Somebody gets injured out here today, we went sideways in a big way. I always tell people we have that volunteer spirit in our community and it shows. Definitely an opportunity to work together as a team, as an ambassadors to show like, hey, we're here to help out and advocate for the city. As Parks and Wreck gears up for the pool season, the aquatics team is hosting a water safety carnival. There will be games and races, boat safety lessons, CPR clinic, and more. It's on Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the North Lake Natitorium. Here is a place to get a jump start on summer fun. The Animal Connection Experience of Pritz Park will open earlier than usual this year on Saturday, May 3rd. A lot of the familiar and fun features you see here will be returning and there will be a new snowb barn. We'll have to visit to see what that is all about. For the month of May, the attraction is open on weekends. Then the hours will expand in June and July. Admission for Irving residents is $4. Fritz Park is located at 312 East Filig Street. Celebrate the many cultures of Irving with live music, dance, and food. The festival cult Fusion is on Saturday, May 17th from 2 until 6:00 p.m. in Heritage Park. You can see some of the fun from past years, and many of these attractions will be back. Admission is free, and you will want to save the dates for this. Sparks and Stripes is back as a two-day event to celebrate Independence Day. Thursday evening, July 3rd, will feature fireworks, drones, and more at Levy Event Plaza. Friday morning, July 4th, will be the downtown parade followed by live music in Heritage [Music] Park. Welcome to ICTN's pets of the week and we are with royalty today and that's why Sir Waggington gets top billing even before Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services. So tell us about Sir Wagington. Yeah, Sir Wington, he's about 2 years old. He came from a cruelty case, but he is such a shining little star. So that's why we named him Royalty because he deserves everything under the sun. He's very sweet, very loyal. He loves other dogs and he's actually part of a huge play group that we have here currently at the shelter. Um he's been with us for some time looking for his forever home, but he is available for adoption. Yeah. So his calm demeanor right now, don't let that fool you, right? No, I mean he is calm, but he also does like to have a little bit of fun every once in a while. Uh, he likes his gums being tickled. Need you tickling. Caring for animals takes so much work here at the animal care campus. I know you use a lot of volunteers. Tell me about what volunteers can do. Yeah, we love our volunteers here. They um help us out so much. Definitely the backbone of this place. Uh we have volunteers that come here pretty religiously to help us with simple things such as laundry, dishes, but also help us with like the general care of the animals. We even have volunteers come out to some of our off-site adoptions and help us out there as well. How can people get involved if they want to start volunteering? Yeah. Uh they can apply on our city website. Once they've applied, then our volunteer foster coordinator would reach out and we'll set up kind of a time for them to come in and do an orientation. and another way people get involved. And I know you need a lot of people who will foster animals. And you have a an event that's kind of creative to help people get involved. So, we have a baby shower um for kittens and puppies on May 18th, and it is to teach people how to bottle feed if that's something they want to do. We'll also talk about like the other stages of fostering. So, kittens that are done with bottle feeding but might need a little extra help before going to wet food. Kittens that just need maybe a few more ounces uh before they can be put up for adoption, things like that. Yeah. And fostering makes such a difference in getting animals ready, right? Oh, 100%. Our animals cannot become um available for adoption until at least 2 months of age. So, that's when they can kind of start the adoption process, get their vaccines, get neutered, and then people put up for adoption. It's so much work here at the animal care campus to get Sir Waggington ready or doing so much better. It's so good to see you today up for adoption right now. And the edible care campus is located at 4140 Valley View Lane. You can check out the websites you see on your screen for the latest operating hours and see more adoptable animals. After years of improvements, the Jackie Townsel Bear Creek Heritage Center is ready for visitors. On the next City Source, see the grand opening called History in Bloom and see the upgrades just completed. Also, we will have coverage of Kids Rock the Block Party, a fun event with a serious cause behind it. Those stories and much more next time on City Source. Here is how to connect with us. Make note of our new email address. It's ICTNTx.gov. Our YouTube channel is youtube.com/the cityof Irving. We hope you will subscribe and hit that like button on the videos you watch. And we always appreciate it when you leave us some positive comments. And you can look for updates on events and initiatives across the major social media platforms at the city of Irving. And that's it for this edition of City Source. Thanks for watching. Stay healthy and we'll see you next time. They're an aging vaudeville comedy act that broke up years earlier. Now there's an effort to reunite them for a TV special. See the live production of The Sunshine Boys May 2nd through the 17th here at Dupri Theater. The South Irving Library is hosting an inclusive story time for children with autism and sensory processing challenges. Parents and other caregivers are welcome at this flexible interactive session. You do need to register for the event on May 5th at 10:30 a.m. The 18th annual Irving Heritage Society Fish Fry and Bake Sale is back. It takes place here at Heritage Park on May 9th from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Advanced tickets are required and available online. In 1940, Washington Urban was the first author to be featured in the famous Americans series of what? This is our 18th year and it is amazing what people know and it's amazing what people don't know. But we hope that they leave and they've had a good time learning. We come expecting to have fun and it's a fun event. The annual heritage fish fry has been an annual event except during co for over 30 years. Tickets for seven. We try to make it easy offering a lot of multiple choice or true and false. So if you don't know, you take a guess. You're with people that love Irving. Everyone in here, has a connection either from here, born here, work here, live here. What inspired Washington Irvin's first name? A his father's favorite poet. B a family tradition. C George Washington a founding father. or D, a fictional character in one of his books. It It's just a warm spirit. Every everybody's cheering each other. Uh you're all rooting for each other. So, it it's fun. Most of the people that play are involved in this city, are aware of the city, participate in organizations, volunteers. So, they do really well. What is the date of the upcoming city election? We just appreciate the sponsorship from the library, from the Black Arts Council, from the school district, and the Urban Heritage Society, and of course the city. They've all been really good to help us get the word out, participate, raise the money, and to join us in having fun. We have a winner. Woohoo! We thought this would be a one-year event. 18 years later, here we are. So it is very rewarding. [Music] Concert in the park. The city kicks off the annual spring music on Maine concert series. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. Yellow brick road. We head to the Emerald City for Momentum Dance Company's Wizard of Oz. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a community. And in feature flicks, I review The Friend, a light-hearted new drama starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. I want to tell him that no matter how much I sleep, I'm exhausted. That I feel as though I'm losing control. Hello everyone. Welcome to Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. We begin tonight with some live music in the park. The city kicked off the annual Music on Main spring concert series with the '9s Country Tribute Band. [Music] Our band is called Straight Tequila Night and we play '90s country and a little bit of 80s, a handful of 80s, but we're here to entertain. like strawberry. We are looking forward to a little bit of music in the park. Music on Maine is an opportunity for the community to come out and enjoy different types of genres of music. Uh this evening we'll be featuring Straight Tequila Night, a '90s cover band. Um really high energy, a lot of fun, a lot of excitement for the uh for the folks. Yeah, it's her birthday. It's Amber's birthday, everybody. She's finally 21. It's my birthday. My friends just surprised me with a 50th birthday party. [Music] We moved here a couple years ago and we got to come last year. We went to about three last year and we had such a great time. [Music] We have the beautiful park to enjoy. We have some food trucks for uh sweets and savory uh items, but really we want people to come here and enjoy their enjoy the music, and as soon as that sun sets, it'll uh be gorgeous. I just love the energy we get from the audience. But I also love all the members of our band. Like, we're a family. We've been playing together for 12 years. And it's just a fun activity to do together and also bring, you know, this music to, you know, people our age and and beyond. forever. [Music] You know, live music kind of tells a story. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. This is a great way to bring everybody together. I love this. I've never been to this venue before. I love this outdoor venue and the the food trucks and the people, the dogs. It's great. You know, music's kind of the great unifier. Uh so we have the opportunity to come out with all different shapes, sizes, colors, whatever it is, and uh spend a few times singing our favorite songs and uh just hanging out for a little bit. [Music] From live music to live theater, Momentum Dance Company's ballet production of The Wizard of Oz is a magical show that takes audiences on a colorful journey of self-discovery. The classic tale of Wizard of Oz follows four friends on a trip to the Emerald City in hopes of getting a brain, a heart, courage, and a chance to find home. The story of Wizard of Oz means to me kind of finding your own like self-worth within yourself cuz um obviously Dorothy needs magic to get home, but she found her home within the people that she loves. I was a military kid growing up. So I have a special place in my heart for people who feel displaced and don't quite know where they belong. And so it's a really special story to me that she finds her home with the people she loves the most. And a home within the people you love is what Momentum Dance Company has created for dancers like Julia Jackson, who's been with the company for over 15 years. Momentum is the place where I fell in love with ballet. And it has Oh, don't make me cry. It has always been my safe space. So, with my safe people, one of those people being Rebecca Yoni, who stars as Dorothy in this production and shares Julia's camaraderie with the cast. All my friends are the main characters along with me. So, as I get to meet my friends in the ballet, they are my true friends. So, it's been a really fun and meaningful experience for me, just getting to dance with each person and how they actually have affected my life. It's just all extremely supportive and everyone's cheering each other on and I think that kind of culture just creates the joy that people are able to see them on stage. That personal connection shines through on stage along with the talent of telling a cherished story through dance. If you feel ridiculous to start out, you're doing it really [Music] well. I particularly love our portrayal of the wicked witch. Um, she does such a fantastic job. So, the scenes u and the and the winged monkey scenes and just her interactions with the characters. It's really fun to get to see all of those parts where she gets to step out and really do the wicked witch thing. I've just had a lot of fun getting to act and portray different characters. And that, you know, is the same thing with Wizard of Oz, especially because my characters are so different, all three of them. So, it's been really cool to get to explore that and get to grow as an actor cuz I have to change all throughout the show. Momentum Dance Company's presentation of the Wizard of Oz showcases the importance of the arts in Irving. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a [Music] community. Keeping up with stories about beautiful friendships, the new drama, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, is an adaptation of Sigra Nunees's novel about an unconventional friendship between a writer and her late friend and mentor. This is what Walter wanted after he died. But why would he say that? You were his best friend. The film follows Iris, a writer and professor living in New York City. She's just learned about the unexpected passing of her longtime mentor and dear friend, Walter. The heartbreaking news has shocked her and she isn't fully able to process how the death has affected her due to the pressures of finishing the novel she had began working on with Walter and having to take care of his great Dne Apollo which Walter has inconveniently passed on to her. To make matters worse, her apartment does not allow pets. And finding a new home for Apollo is proving that Iris is taking on more than she can chew. I just can't keep having him here. It's taking over my bed and it's getting in the way of my work. While Apollo starts out as an imposition in Iris's life, he quickly becomes a blessing. He fills a void as a representation of Walter and helps her cope with the tragic loss, further proving the healing benefits of an emotional support animal. The film is more of a character study. While we see how all the people in Walter's life are impacted in different ways by his passing, we focus on the one who seems to be internalizing most of her feelings. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot to unpack here. The message is straightforward and the story is simple, but the delivery is well done through its heartfelt performances and the subtle progression of Iris and Apollo's therapeutic bond. Outside of the captivating flashbacks between Walter and Iris and the dynamic between Iris and her new furry friend, the film lacks creativity. It follows a familiar formula we have seen many times before and there's nothing necessarily inspiring about the visuals or film making. However, it is a solid watch that tackles heavy yet relatable themes about friendship, grief, and life in general. And it never hurts to watch a heartwarming and easygoing story about the positive impact of companionship. What's going to happen to the dog? The friend is now showing. Check AMC Irving Mall and Alamo Draft House Cinema Lost Cleanest for Showtimes. Spring has sprung and there are so many family-friendly activities to do around the city. Levi Gomez, our man about town, shares his suggestions. Violinist Celeste Golden Andrews performs here at Carpenter Hall. It's presented by the Lascalina Symphony Orchestra. Enjoy the concert at 7:30 p.m. on April 19th. Create an Etch Dormat here at the Valley Ranch Library. It's part of the MIY zone where you can use new technology after completing orientation. Get etching while supplies last during the month of April during the MIY zone's operating hours. Music on Maine is still underway. Enjoy Reputation, a tribute to the music of Taylor Swift here at Heritage Park on Friday, April 25th at 7 PM. Grab dinner before the show from one of the on-site food vendors or from one of the restaurants in Heritage District. Heritage House first Sunday tours are back. Check out this Texas Historic Landmark built in 1912. Tours are available on the first Sunday of the month from 2 to 4 pm. Artwork by high school senior portfolio students will be featured here at the main gallery of the Irving Arts Center. Meet the artists at an open house on May 1st at 6:00 p.m. The exhibit continues through May 17th. Are you ready for a sunny summer? Make a case for your sunglasses here at the MI Zone at the Valley Ranch Library. It's a basic project with a good introduction to sewing. And that wraps up this episode of Irving Spotlight. Join us next time as we recognize the academic accomplishments of Irving ISD students at this year's Breakfast with the Stars and we test community teams on their knowledge of the city at the annual Irving trivia contest. As always, tell us stories you'd like to see on the show. You can email us at icictn@c cityofurving.org or connect with us on social media. So, subscribe to our YouTube channel, like us on Facebook, and follow us on X and Instagram. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks so much for tuning in and have a great evening for Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. It's springtime and that means kitten season in Irving. I'm at the animal care campus with Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services and we have some tips to share. What should you do if you find one of these adorable kittens in your neighborhood? Yeah. So, just remember to leave them be. Uh we do have a lot of feral cats within the city of Irving. So, mom is probably nearby either getting food, gathering supplies, she might even be moving the little ones to a new safer area for them. So, just keep that in mind. Now, if you do see a kitten and it's in the same area for hours on end, you know, definitely feel free to to bring it in or if it's sick or injured, bring it here to the shelter or give us a call and we can kind of help assist from there. And with such a population of kittens, that also means more adoption opportunities. You're looking for fosters and people to adopt cats. Correct. Right. 100%. So, right now, these little ones, um, they're about 4 weeks, 3 to 4 weeks old. Uh, they still need mom. They're still on like a liquid diet. Um, you know, just nursing. Some of their teeth are coming in. So, we definitely need fosters who are willing to take in bottle babies, kittens that are eating kind of a wet food mixture, mom and kittens, uh, because they have to be 2 months at least to go through the whole entire adoption process. Okay, so fosters at this point, what are some other takeaways that residents should know about kitten season? Yeah, if you do find a kitten, you can bring it here or you can even try to foster it on your own. We can even supply some supplies just to get you started with with the kitten season is upon us. We do have a TNR program to help prevent unwanted kittens or litters of kittens within the city. TNR, explain that. Yeah, so TNR is uh stands for trap, neuter, release. So you can trap a feral cat. We will fix it free of charge for Irving residents every Wednesday and return it back to the area it was trapped. This is to help limit the amount of babies, you know, cats, the feral cat population, just to kind of control it within the city. And these are some noisy kittens, but adorable just the same. Some important reminders as we're still in the heart of kitten season through about October. So, a lot of reminders to keep in mind at this time from Irving Animal Services. Egan, thanks so much. Well, thank you. We are hosting the prefather's day Harlem Nights event. We're partnering with uh the Irving Arts Council. So, we're looking forward to that. It's definitely somewhere you would want to be. Um we have uh Ardurves as well as Mimosas. It's all free. It comes with the show. We have two national recording artists. Not only Mike Walker and his band, but we have Shereice Mackey. Michael Walker is known around town. He has a huge following. He's from the Dallas area. Jazz is a universal type of language that we all love and embrace. And everyone loves dressing up in the 1920s and 30s theme. So, I think it would be an awesome time for everyone to come together, sit back, laugh, enjoy the jazz, uh take pictures, uh enjoy the mimosas and free our derves and just enjoy the night. Come together as a community and all be as one. On March 6th, Nimttz High School senior Delmees received a generous surprise that will help make her dreams become a reality as she heads to college. We are proud to present you with the Tanaska Diversity Scholarship for $10,000. [Applause] After the shock, Delme takes some photos and then steps out to share the news with her mom. See? with you. She's so proud of me that all those um nights that I slept really late like paid off. Weeks after that phone call, Delme and her mom are celebrating her scholarship at the 38th annual Breakfast with the Stars alongside other Irving ISD high school seniors. We have over 280 students receiving scholarships. Over $570,000 is going to be given away today. I'm receiving a scholarship in honor of Michael T. Anderson. It's a $2,500 scholarship that's going to help me in my education. I came from Cuba about four years ago. No English, no nothing. And then without Urban ISD, I wouldn't be here. Not just Iran High School, but I as a whole. All the programs they have, every AP class, everything from top to bottom. But you know what else is real? Your ability to overcome. We're already proven that we can lead, adapt, and overcome. Now it's time to take those lessons and put them into motion. The world doesn't mean perfectly great people like you. In addition to her $10,000 Tamascus scholarship, Delme also received a $1,000 scholarship from Gilbert Elementary. I still don't feel like it's real cuz it is a lot of money to me. But I was very happy to have received something so big. It's a large amount of money she'll be able to put towards her education at the University of Texas in Austin, where she plans to study petroleum engineering. I had a woman engineering teacher and she would talk about her the hardships that she had to go through cuz she was always like looked down on cuz she was a chemical engineer. So, it was a male-dominated field, especially for that one. So, I hope to become someone that can be an inspiration to other women. Today, congratulations to Laura Long. this event, and I'll quote one of our students said this, it's more than the money. It's more than just scholarships. It's all about the community coming out to show these students that we support you. We have your back. We love you, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. It feels great to like be recognized in front of other people and to be with other people who also got a big award like this. Breakfast with the Stars continues to demonstrate the strength of our community and the remarkable potential of our students. Filling it up, the new Lee Aquatic Park is a big step closer to its splashy debut. We have the latest progress. Light Club. It's just a hidden gym that just needs a little help getting it restarted again. Bright nights under the lights along the Mandalay Canal. We'll take you to the event that's all about food and fun, more than music. People are very excited about what's happening here at Music Factory. New attractions are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. See the new options for dining and laughs that are on the way. Plus, the development starting construction and a preview of the Animal Connection experience now on City Source. [Music] Volunteers are helping to get one of Irving's aquatic centers ready for summer crowds. Hello and welcome to City Source. I'm Thomas Gandandy. See their work in action a bit later. But first, new entertainment and dining options are coming to the Toyota Music Factory. We have a look at what's ahead at the city-owned venue, starting with two attractions opening next year that we are announcing for the first time. Fresh off of a full renovation of the plaza here at the Toyota Music Factory. We're getting a look at some of the new tenants and the general manager is showing us around. A new concept for the music factory comedy. Yes, we're very excited about this. This is big for not only Irving, but for the whole DFW area. This is a new concept called Punchline. Yearround comedy events. Everything from your local acts all the way up to national and regional acts as well. And then we're going to have full service. So, it's a full renovation of the old space. We could talk about this space. Nothing has ever been here, but something's coming. It's called Tashan. It's an Indian social. So, he's really focusing on a demographic we don't currently have here on property yet. So, we're very excited about Tashan Restaurant coming in. [Music] So, now we're inside Pistol. It's just days away from opening. What's the concept of this space? This is more of a lounge area. So, they want people to experience new conversations. So, it's going to have a really high-end bar program where you're doing punches and milk washes and things like that. Talk about the stained glass. The ownership here felt that it really needs something to pull together the pistol feel, which is more of this western heritage homage, and this just showcases that. People that come to Pistol can enjoy almost a VIP experience up here on the patio enjoying live music downstairs. The idea was to always be able to cater to what's going on out in the plaza. We're standing in what is soon to be Jackson, Texas Kitchen. This is a concept that has been in DFW. It's the only one here in DFW now since co. We're very excited. It's coming here in a couple weeks. So, now we're inside Scholes. We see they're open. Customers are enjoying their lunch. Tell me about this concept. This true smoked barbecue. So, we're very excited about these guys being here. They offer a full service of things from burnt ends to brisket to your kind of inspired um smoked dishes like um smoked the loay corn, those types of things. It's a fast casual concept. We have a brand new concept for the property. It's called Nirvana Bar and Lounge. They're doing upscale Chinese Latin. So, they're doing this Indo-Chinese cuisine and then they do a late night lounge with high-end cocktails. And along with all of the new tenants, some existing restaurants are upgrading their spaces. So, a lot to see at the Toyota Music Factory. Thomas Gandandy for City Source. Nearby, the Irving Convention Center is also staying busy with corporate meetings and other events. The upcoming Texas Fright Mayor weekend is one example. It's returning to the Irving Convention Center on Memorial Day weekend. A traditionally slow weekend for local hotels and the convention center. The great news is the building is really busy performing extremely well, but we're at that point where it's almost not what you can book, but what you can move. And so sometimes we kind of got to be able certain dates they could work within. We had other events booked over the dates. So, you know, moving one client a little bit one way or the other, we were able to make it work. and then especially able to make it work for Memorial Day weekend. So, are y'all on track to set more records this? I sure hope so. You know, the building is kind of maxed out in terms of how many days of events we can really do. So, now it's about managing expenses and trying to make the most of those days when we do have guests in the building. Here's a look at a few upcoming public events at the convention center. May 19th through 21st is Experior Factor for people in the financial services industry. And we mentioned Texas Fright Mayor Weekend. Then Tattoo Fest starts on May 30th. For ticket prices and other public events, go to irringconventioncenter.com/events. Construction is underway on a new industrial building at State Highway 161 near Northgate. It's called 161 Airport Center. Leaders with Leyon Capital and its partners broke ground on the project, which will feature more than 118,000 square feet of class A space that could be used for warehouse distribution or manufacturing. During a ceremony on the construction site, Leyon Capital CEO says this location's proximity to DFW airport makes it a great investment. And the best part of DFW to invest in is near the largest logistical hub in the world, which is DFW airport. So we may be standing on probably the best piece of ground to invest in in the world. The project is expected to be complete later this year. DFW airport continues to be an economic driver as it records an increase in customers. New numbers from airports council international show DFW retains its spot at number three on the list of the world's busiest airports right behind Atlanta and Dubai. DFW passenger traffic is up more than 7% over 2023 totals. Nearly 90 million customers traveled through DFW last year. A new waterfront event is shining bright this spring with food and live music. Robert Sheik has coverage of the Loscolinus Light Club on the Mandalay Canal. [Applause] FA Novak and her sister Kimberly are enjoying a fun night along Mandalay Canal. We have the lights, the water. You feel like you're away from home, but you're not. As the sun set on this Thursday evening, the canal walk transformed into Los Kolina's light club. You can be like engrossed in it and just feel all the feels and it's amazing. With live music, free pizza, and trees illuminating the night, this club is lit. You know, somebody's born and raised in Irving has been here when those canals are first built. Being able to see them get reactivated again is really, really important. It's just a hidden gem that just needs a little help getting restarted again. These lights that react to music were added to these trees as part of Lasison's 50th anniversary. And now they're helping keep things bright along Mandalay Canal. It does add a little bit of extra like flare. We've built the huge momentum around our 50th and we just want to keep that momentum moving not only with the Losers Association hosting events down here, but we want to inspire others to bring their events down here to the Mandandalay Canal. For Fay, waterfront events like this are why she loves living in Irving. Honestly, it's so good. When you live on the lake, you want to see stuff like this. And I'm so glad I came. A sign of bright nights ahead for a hidden gem of Irving. Robert Sheic for City Source. The Lascalinus Light Club returns to the Mandandalay Canal May 7th and 8th, then again on June 11th and 12th. More details at loscalus.org. City Council District places 1, 2, and 7 are up for election. Early voting runs through April 29th. Election day is May 3rd. A district map, candidate information, and voting locations are at cityofing.org/elections. The city secretary's office can answer election questions at 972-721-22493. If you are doing some big time spring cleaning, here is something that may help. Irving Solid Waste Services is offering residents a chance to drop off waste for free at the landfill. This is only open to Irving residents and staff will ask for your state ID and a utility bill with matching Irving address. And note that construction and demolition debris will not be accepted. The free disposal days are May 16th and 17th from 7:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Hunter Ferrell Landfill, 110 East Hunter Ferrell Road. Here is something you definitely do not see every day. Timelapse video as crews fill the new pool at Lee Aquatic Park. Major construction is complete, so this is one of the final steps before it opens. Any guesses how long it took to fill that pool? If you said about 9 hours, you would be correct. While our camera guy was waiting for the pool to fill, he got some shots of some of the cool and colorful features. Check out the view from the top of the big water slide. And here is a look at some of the special attractions for the little ones. This pool is part of a larger initiative to elevate aquatics and recreation in Irving. You can see all of the updates at cityofing.org/play. org/play Irving. And here at Lee Aquatic Park, with the filling complete, the pool is on track to open Memorial Day weekend. Some hardworking volunteers helped to get the West Irving Aquatic Center ready for summertime crowds. We heard from members of the group making an impact. [Music] The Irving Ambassadors in association with Keep Irving Beautiful. We're out here with a project to paint these handrails at the West Irving Aquatic Center. Anybody painters? Any of y'all painters? Painted? You have painted? Okay. Irving Ambassadors is a great program where we're able to give back and spread the word about different programs that are offered through the city. Okay. If I don't say thank you a thousand times today, I messed up. And we're just trying to get the word out of things that Irving does and just being an ambassador for Irving. Oh, gloves, gloves, gloves. May I suggest [Music] gloves? So, the 360 program is the precursor to this and it's a great opportunity to get involved with just finding out what goes on in the city. You get a chance to work with the different departments, see the behind-the-scenes work there. I found it very interesting. I like getting to meet the different people who run the different services. [Music] It feels great now. It looks refreshed and new and it's just it's pleasing to the eye and makes you proud where you live. Keepering Beautiful only works with volunteers. So, it means the world to us. Safety's paramount. Somebody gets injured out here today, we went sideways in a big way. I always tell people we have that volunteer spirit in our community and it shows. Definitely an opportunity to work together as a team, as an ambassadors to show like, hey, we're here to help out and advocate for the city. As Parks and Wreck gears up for the pool season, the aquatics team is hosting a water safety carnival. There will be games and races, boat safety lessons, CPR clinic, and more. It's on Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the North Lake Natiatorum. Here is a place to get a jump start on summer fun. The Animal Connection Experience of Fritz Park will open earlier than usual this year on Saturday, May 3rd. A lot of the familiar and fun features you see here will be returning and there will be a new snow barn. We'll have to visit to see what that is all about. For the month of May, the attraction is open on weekends. Then the hours will expand in June and July. Admission for Irving residents is $4. Fritz Park is located at 312 East Filig Street. Celebrate the many cultures of Irving with live music, dance, and food. The festival called Fusion is on Saturday, May 17th from 2 until 6:00 p.m. in Heritage Park. You can see some of the fun from past years, and many of these attractions will be back. Admission is free. And you will want to save the dates for this. Sparks and Stripes is back as a two-day event to celebrate Independence Day. Thursday evening, July 3rd, will feature fireworks, drones, and more at Levy Event Plaza. Friday morning, July 4th, will be the downtown parade, followed by live music in Heritage Park. [Music] Welcome to ICTN's pets of the week and we are with royalty today and that's why Sir Waggington gets top billing even before Egan Dobson from Irving Animal Services. So tell us about Sir Wagington. Yeah, Sir Wington, he's about 2 years old. He came up from a cruelty case, but he is such a shining little star. So that's why we named him Royalty cuz he deserves everything under the sun. He's very sweet, very loyal. He loves other dogs and he's actually part of a huge play group that we have here currently at the shelter. Um he's been with us for some time looking for his forever home, but he is available for adoption. Yeah. So, his calm demeanor right now, don't let that fool you, right? No, I mean he is calm, but he also does like to have a little bit of fun every once in a while. Uh he likes his gums being tickled. Need you tickling. Caring for animals takes so much work here at the animal care campus. I know you use a lot of volunteers. Tell me about what volunteers can do. Yeah, we love our volunteers here. They um help us out so much. Definitely the backbone of this place. Uh we have volunteers that come here pretty religiously to help us with simple things such as laundry, dishes, but also help us with like the general care of the animals. We even have volunteers come out to some of our off-site adoptions and help us out there as well. How can people get involved if they want to start volunteering? Yeah. Uh they can apply on our city website. Once they've applied, then our volunteer foster coordinator would reach out and we'll set up kind of a time for them to come in and do an orientation. And another way people get involved, and I know you need a lot of people who will foster animals and you have a an event that's kind of creative to help people get involved. So, we have a baby shower um for kittens and puppies on May 18th and it is to teach people how to bottle feed if that's something they want to do. We'll also talk about like the other stages of fostering. So, kittens that are done with bottle feeding but might need a little extra help before going to wet food, kittens that just need maybe a few more ounces uh before they can be put up for adoption, things like that. Yeah. And fostering makes such a difference in getting animals ready, right? Oh, 100%. Our animals cannot become um available for adoption until at least 2 months of age. So, that's when they can kind of start the adoption process, get their vaccines, get spayed neutered, and then put up for adoption. It's so much work here at the animal care campus to get Sir Waggington ready or doing so much better. It's so good to see you today up for adoption right now. And the edible care campus is located at 4140 Valley View Lane. You can check out the websites you see on your screen for the latest operating hours and see more adoptable animals. After years of improvements, the Jackie Townsel Bear Creek Heritage Center is ready for visitors. On the next City Source, see the grand opening called History in Bloom and see the upgrades just completed. Also, we will have coverage of Kids Rock the Block Party, a fun event with a serious cause behind it. Those stories and much more next time on City Source. Here is how to connect with us. Make note of our new email address. It's ICTNTx.gov. Our YouTube channel is youtube.com/the cityof Irving. We hope you will subscribe and hit that like button on the videos you watch. And we always appreciate it when you leave us some positive comments. And you can look for updates on events and initiatives across the major social media platforms at the city of Irving. And that's it for this edition of City Source. Thanks for watching. Stay healthy and we'll see you next time. They're an aging vaudeville comedy act that broke up years earlier. Now there's an effort to reunite them for a TV special. See the live production of The Sunshine Boys May 2nd through the 17th here at Dupri Theater. The South Irving Library is hosting an inclusive story time for children with autism and sensory processing challenges. Parents and other caregivers are welcome at this flexible interactive session. You do need to register for the event on May 5th at 10:30 a.m. The 18th annual Irving Heritage Society Fish Fry and Bake Sale is back. It takes place here at Heritage Park on May 9th from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Advanced tickets are required and available online. In 1940, Washington Urban was the first author to be featured in the Famous Americans series of what? This is our 18th year and it is amazing what people know and it's amazing what people don't know. But we hope that they leave and they've had a good time learning. We come expecting to have fun and it's a fun event. The annual heritage fish fry has been an annual event except during co for over 30 years. Tickets for seven. We try to make it easy offering a lot of multiple choice or true and false. So if you don't know, you take a guess. You're with people that love Irving. Everyone in here has a connection either from here, born here, work here, live here. What inspired Washington Iran's first name? A, his father's favorite poet. B, a family tradition. C, George Washington, a founding father, or D, a fictional character in one of his books. It It's just a warm spirit. Everybody's cheering each other. Uh you're all rooting for each other. So it it's fun. Most of the people that play are involved in this city, are aware of the city, participate in organizations, volunteer, so they do really well. What is the date of the upcoming city election? We just appreciate the sponsorship from the library, from the Black Arts Council, from the school district, and the Urban Heritage Society, and of course the city. They've all been really good to help us get the word out, participate, raise the money, and to join us in having fun. We have a winner. Woohoo! We thought this would be a one-year event. 18 years later, here we are. So it is very rewarding. [Music] Concert in the park. The city kicks off the annual spring music on main concert series. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. Yellow brick road. We head to the Emerald City for Momentum Dance Company's Wizard of Oz. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a community. And in feature flicks, I review The Friend, a light-hearted new drama starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. I want to tell him that no matter how much I sleep, I'm exhausted. That I feel as though I'm losing control. Hello everyone. Welcome to Irving Spotlight. I'm Susan Stevens. We begin tonight with some live music in the park. The city kicked off the annual Music on Main spring concert series with the '9s Country Tribute Band. [Music] Our band is called Straight Tequila Night and we play '9s Country and a little bit of 80s, a handful of 80s, but we're here to entertain. like strawberry. We are looking forward to a little bit of music in the park. Music on Maine is an opportunity for the community to come out and enjoy different types of genres of music. Uh this evening we'll be featuring Straight Tequila Night, a '90s cover band. Um really high energy, a lot of fun, a lot of excitement for the uh for the folks. Yeah, it's her birthday. It's Amber's birthday, everybody. She's finally 21. It's my birthday. My friends just surprised me with a 50th birthday party. [Music] We moved here a couple years ago and we got to come last year. We went to about three last year and we had such a great time. [Music] We have the beautiful park to enjoy. We have some food trucks for uh sweets and savory uh items, but really we want people to come here and enjoy their enjoy the music and as soon as that sun sets, it'll uh be gorgeous. I just love the energy we get from the audience. But I also love all the members of our band. Like we're a family. We've been playing together for 12 years. And it's just a fun activity to do together and also bring, you know, this music to, you know, people our age and and beyond. [Music] You know, live music kind of tells a story. We get to see the band's interaction with the people and we get to see how much fun and uh camaraderie they bring to the community. This is a great way to bring everybody together. I love this. I've never been to this venue before. I love this outdoor venue and the the food trucks and the people, the dogs. It's great. You know, music's kind of the great unifier. Uh so we have the opportunity to come out with all different shapes, sizes, colors, whatever it is, and uh spend a few times singing our favorite songs and uh just hanging out for a little bit. [Music] From live music to live theater, Momentum Dance Company's ballet production of The Wizard of Oz is a magical show that takes audiences on a colorful journey of self-discovery. The classic tale of Wizard of Oz follows four friends on a trip to the Emerald City in hopes of getting a brain, a heart, courage, and a chance to find home. The story of Wizard of Oz means to me kind of finding your own like self-worth within yourself cuz um obviously Dorothy needs magic to get home, but she found her home within the people that she loves. I was a military kid growing up. So I have a special place in my heart for people who feel displaced and don't quite know where they belong. And so it's a really special story to me that she finds her home with the people she loves the most. And a home within the people you love is what Momentum Dance Company has created for dancers like Julia Jackson, who's been with the company for over 15 years. Momentum is the place where I fell in love with ballet. And it has Oh, don't make me cry. It has always been my safe space. So, with my safe people, one of those people being Rebecca Yoni, who stars as Dorothy in this production and shares Julia's camaraderie with the cast. All my friends are the main characters along with me. So, as I get to meet my friends in the ballet, they are my true friends. So, it's been a really fun and meaningful experience for me just getting to dance with each person and how they actually have affected my life. It's just all extremely supportive and everyone's cheering each other on and I think that kind of culture just creates the joy that people are able to see them on stage. That personal connection shines through on stage along with the talent of telling a cherished story through dance. If you feel ridiculous to start out, you're doing it really [Music] well. I particularly love our portrayal of the wicked witch. Um, she does such a fantastic job. So, the scenes u and the winged monkey scenes and just her interactions with the characters. It's really fun to get to see all of those parts where she gets to step out and really do the wicked witch thing. I've just had a lot of fun getting to act and portray different characters. And that, you know, is the same thing with Wizard of Oz, especially cuz my characters are so different, all three of them. So, it's been really cool to get to explore that and get to grow as an actor cuz I have to change all throughout the show. Momentum Dance Company's presentation of the Wizard of Oz showcases the importance of the arts in Irving. Telling stories that bring joy to people, I think, is just a way for us all to be stronger as a as a [Music] community. Keeping up with stories about beautiful friendships, the new drama, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, is an adaptation of Sigra Nunez's novel about an unconventional friendship between a writer and her late friend and mentor. This is what Walter wanted after he died. But why would he say that? You were his best friend. The film follows Iris, a writer and professor living in New York City. She's just learned about the unexpected passing of her longtime mentor and dear friend, Walter. The heartbreaking news has shocked her and she isn't fully able to process how the death has affected her due to the pressures of finishing the novel she had began working on with Walter and having to take care of his great Dne Apollo, which Walter has inconveniently passed on to her. To make matters worse, her apartment does not allow pets. And finding a new home for Apollo is proving that Iris is taking on more than she can chew. I just can't keep having him here. It's taking over my bed and it's getting in the way of my work. While Apollo starts out as an imposition in Iris's life, he quickly becomes a blessing. He fills a void as a representation of Walter and helps her cope with the tragic loss, further proving the healing benefits of an emotional support animal. The film is more of a character study. While we see how all the people in Walter's life are impacted in different ways by his passing, we focus on the one who seems to be internalizing most of her feelings. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot to unpack here. The message is straightforward and the story is simple, but the delivery is well done through its heartfelt performances and the subtle progression of Iris and Apollo's therapeutic bond. Outside of the captivating flashbacks between Walter and Iris and the dynamic between Iris and her new furry friend, the film lacks creativity. It follows. We just uh come out of executive session at 6:03 and the the committee stands adjourned. [Music] [Music]