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A long-awaited wedding – Dallas Voice

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A long-awaited wedding – Dallas Voice


Donna Keys and Pat Stone cut their wedding cake

And the history behind it

Story and photo courtesy of Pat Stone

Pat Stone, one of the founders of PFLAG Dallas, and her longtime partner Donna Keys were married Saturday, May 4, at a small ceremony at their friends’ home in the Cedar Creek area, surrounded by family and friends. This week, Pat reflected on their wedding and the journey that led them to it:

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“As I look at that photo of Donna Keys and myself about to cut our wedding cake, I see such a happy, contented couple, so excited to finally be able to expand their 10-year devoted relationship into a legal, devoted marriage.

“We had a lovely wedding ceremony on May 4, 2024, at the home of good friends in the Cedar Creek Lake area. It was a small gathering of 16. It was such an incredible afternoon of being surrounded by such love, support and fun.

“There I am at 81 and Donna at 68 — ready for more good years ahead together.

“Before I talk more about our relationship and explain what took us so long to marry, I would like to look back at why I am so comfortable talking about it all with Dallas Voice and Tammye Nash. Today I looked through my scrapbook of clippings and saw so many supportive articles from this newspaper regarding my early work in the LGBT community. I will mention only a few.

“I was only about 49 when the Dallas Voice covered my being one of the founders of Dallas PFLAG in 1992 (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays): ‘North Texas Parents Join Battle: parents of lesbians & gays through local PFLAG chapter advocate for an end to discrimination’ (8-14-92). I soon became president of the chapter and served a year on the national board.

“My time with PFLAG is a huge highlight of my life. I feel we made a difference; it is a warm legacy for me. And it soon became a cause larger than seeking rights for my lesbian daughter. I truly wanted to help other families accept their LGBT loved ones.

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“The Dallas Voice was also there for me when I realized I was lesbian in 1996 at age 53: ‘PFLAG chief’s coming out sparks concern’ (11-15-1996). Yes, it did cause concerns from some in both the gay and straight community, as well as from my family and friends. My husband was devastated by the divorce that followed after 35 years of marriage.

“This was a sad and conflicted time for me. My daughter understood, but it was harder for my son who worked daily with his dad. We all got through these challenges in time.

“There was the Dallas Voice article ‘PFLAG chapter re-elects Stone’(11-22-96). The solution was for me to serve out my fifth year as co-president with a straight dad.

That worked fine. I had only planned to serve five years. I stepped down from the helpline and no longer greeted the new parents. Sad, but the early 1990s were sometimes challenging in this area.

“After leaving PFLAG. I started a support group Late Bloomers. And Dallas Voice was there: ‘Late Bloomers designed to help women coming out later in life’ (6-2-1997). This was such a fun and important group, and I led it for about 13 years.

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“The Dallas Voice article ‘Awakening: Pat Stone to discuss new memoir at Resource Center on Wednesday May 1, 2009,’ referred to my new book at that time.

“So this leads to my living in the Cedar Creek Lake area, where in 2013, two good friends set me up with the love of my life, Donna Keys. She had lost her partner of 22 years to cancer about a year-and-a-half before and had recently retired as a Dallas County adult felony probation officer.

“Our first date was a little awkward since it was a blind date, but the very next day we connected beautifully at lunch at Chili’s in Gun Barrel City. In fact, I still can’t believe I shared with her a recent dream I’d had about a hug from a tall, broad-shouldered person. It was a special, ‘unconditional love’ type hug, but I could only see the person from the back and couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman. I was confused, but I told Donna that after seeing her 6-foot frame and broad shoulders, I felt that person was her. I can’t believe I told her that; it could have scared her away. Thank goodness it didn’t!

“Within a few months Donna asked me to marry her. I said yes, and we made plans to marry in Boston since it was not yet legal in Texas. Then we learned that if we married I would lose the Social Security benefits that I received due to my ex-husband.

“We were disappointed but continued to enjoy our 10-year relationship that seemed like a marriage. We enjoyed movies, playing Yahtzee and just being together with our family that includes my dog, Misty, Donna’s little Yorkie Lily and our cat Lucy.

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“Sadly, my ex-husband passed away last December. When I called the Social Security Administration to inform them of his passing, they told me I could now remarry and keep my benefits. It’s more than bittersweet that his passing meant Donna and I could now marry.

“This brings me back to that wonderful photo of Donna and me cutting that wedding cake. We are so grateful that we met and have already had 10 wonderful years together. We are hoping for at least 10 more, and we will forever treasure that photo and wedding ceremony.”



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Dallas, TX

Dallas faces conference rival Denver

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No. 20 Purdue hosts Williams and Nebraska


Associated Press

Denver Nuggets (22-15, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Dallas Mavericks (22-16, fifth in the Western Conference)

Dallas; Sunday, 3 p.m. EST

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BOTTOM LINE: Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets visit Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

The Mavericks have gone 16-13 against Western Conference opponents. Dallas is ninth in the NBA with 45.2 rebounds led by Dereck Lively averaging 8.2.

The Nuggets have gone 14-10 against Western Conference opponents. Denver is third in the NBA scoring 120.6 points per game while shooting 49.9%.

The Mavericks average 116.4 points per game, 0.1 fewer points than the 116.5 the Nuggets give up. The Nuggets score 8.8 more points per game (120.6) than the Mavericks allow (111.8).

TOP PERFORMERS: Irving is shooting 49.0% and averaging 24.3 points for the Mavericks.

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Russell Westbrook is shooting 45.9% and averaging 12.9 points for the Nuggets.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mavericks: 4-6, averaging 111.1 points, 43.9 rebounds, 23.1 assists, 7.0 steals and 7.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.9 points per game.

Nuggets: 6-4, averaging 122.8 points, 45.5 rebounds, 32.0 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 50.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.1 points.

INJURIES: Mavericks: Dante Exum: out (wrist), Luka Doncic: out (calf), Kyrie Irving: out (illness).

Nuggets: Aaron Gordon: day to day (calf), Jamal Murray: day to day (knee), DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles), Spencer Jones: day to day (thigh), Vlatko Cancar: out (knee).

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___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.




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Dallas, TX

Former Dallas Cowboys DE, Robert Quinn, arrested in South Carolina

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Former Dallas Cowboys DE, Robert Quinn, arrested in South Carolina


Robert Quinn (Charleston Co. Jail)

Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn was arrested in South Carolina Friday morning after police said he tried to leave the scene of an accident.

Quinn, 34, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and reckless driving, jail records show.

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What we know:

Police in North Charleston, South Carolina responded to a car dealership just after 2 a.m. Friday because of a collision involving a red truck.

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The North Charleston Fire Department arrived first on the scene and told police that the suspect might be attempting to leave the scene of the crash in another car.

When police arrived, they found Quinn in the passenger seat of a white Dodge Challenger that had its reverse lights on. The vehicle’s driver placed the car in park and told police she had been called by Quinn to “pick him up,” according to a police report.

Police said Quinn had visible injuries to his head and face, had slurred speech and was uncooperative with officers who asked for his identification.

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Quinn eventually provided his identification to officers, but asked himself “where is my wallet” while his wallet was in his hand before dropping it in his lap.

The police report states a maroon Ford F-150 registered to Quinn was on the other side of the parking lot and looked to be the vehicle that started the collision.

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Police said Quinn’s truck hit the passenger side of a Honda Element, which was pushed into a blue Ford F-150 that hit another car.

Officers asked Quinn to get out of the Challenger, but Quinn resisted by holding the door to the car, the report states. Police removed Quinn from the vehicle, and he was “escorted to the ground” by officers because he was trying to pull away from them.

Officers interviewed the woman with Quinn, who said she had met him at G-Club, a gentleman’s club, where she works, earlier that night.

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Another employee of the club came to the scene and said Quinn had left alone about an hour before the collision happened.

Timeline:

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Police said they used city cameras to build a timeline of the crash.

The police report states Quinn’s truck was seen driving down the road around 2 a.m. Friday and was veering left, crossed an intersection, a median and then onto dealership property.

City cameras did not pick up the collision, but it can be heard, the police report states.

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Police said around 2:03 a.m. a single person is seen walking through the parking lot and a few minutes later that person walked to a Valero gas station.

At 2:07 a.m., the person is seen walking back to the dealership parking lot while stumbling and falling several times, the police report states.

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About a minute later, a white Dodge Challenger is seen entering the parking lot around the same time that the fire department arrived, according to the report.

Dallas Cowboys Defensive End

Quinn played the 2019 season with the Dallas Cowboys after being traded from the Miami Dolphins for a sixth-round pick.

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Quinn was suspended for the first two games of the season after violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was named the team’s starting right defensive end when he was reinstated.

Quinn finished the season with 25 tackles, 11.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

Quinn signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Chicago Bears the following season.

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Quinn was drafted 14th overall by the St. Louis Rams in 2011 and spent six years with the team before going to Miami, Dallas, Chicago and ending his career in 2022 with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Quinn was born in North Charleston, South Carolina, where he played high school football before playing college football for the University of North Carolina.

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The backstory:

This isn’t Quinn’s first tangle with law enforcement.

July 2012 – Florissant, Mo.

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Quinn was arrested for driving while intoxicated in July 2012 in Florissant, Missouri, while a member of the St. Louis Rams. 

Florissant police said Quinn was involved in a single-car accident on an exit ramp of Interstate 270 on July 10, 2012. Police said he was cooperative with them during the arrest.

Quinn was also charged with failure to exercise a high degree of care and having no insurance.

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August 2023 – Summerville, S.C.

In August 2023, Quinn was arrested in Summerville, South Carolina after police found four unoccupied vehicles in a subdivision had been damaged.

At some point, Quinn allegedly exited his vehicle and got into a physical altercation with a woman before leaving the scene.

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According to an accident report, a Ford F-150 truck crashed into multiple vehicles. Responding officers proceeded to search the vehicle and found an empty whiskey bottle on the passenger side floorboard.

Per the police report, the unidentified woman was sitting in her driveway when the suspect hit two parked vehicles. The driver then exited the truck and offered to buy her beer, the woman told investigators.

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Quinn was charged with third-degree assault and battery, hit-and-run of an attended vehicle, four counts of hit-and-run property damage and striking fixtures on or adjacent to the highway.

What’s next:

Quinn was booked into the Charleston County, South Carolina jail.

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Jail records show Quinn has a preliminary court date set for Feb. 27, 2025.

The Source: Information in this article comes from the North Charleston police department and previous FOX reporting.

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Dallas, TX

Dallas Snowfall Totals: How much snow fell on Thursday and Friday?

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Dallas Snowfall Totals: How much snow fell on Thursday and Friday?


North Texas got less snow than expected overnight.

FOX 4 Weather Meteorologist Evan Andrews said it was one of those crazy forecasts where some people got exactly what they expected, and others got the opposite.

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“Some of you got that heavier precipitation [on Thursday]. Others were waiting for some overnight, and the precip overnight really never got going. We got a little bit of light snow on the backend but not a ton,” he said.

For snow lovers, the snow that was on the ground from Thursday is still there. However, the total accumulation did not increase much overnight. 

Snowfall Totals (as of 4 a.m. Friday)

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Overall, the areas of highest accumulation were north of Highway 182 in Cooke and Grayson counties. Areas like Gainesville, Sherman, and Bonham got more than 6 inches of snow.

A lot of people in Wise, Denton, and Collin counties got between 3 and 6 inches.

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Fort Worth and North Dallas saw between 1 and 3 inches.

People south of Dallas got less than an inch of snow.

Thursday Snowfall (as of 9 p.m.)

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Future Snowfall

No additional accumulation is expected on Friday, with the exception of maybe a few light flakes early Friday morning.

The Source: The information in this story comes from the FOX 4 Weather team.

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