Dallas, TX
Dallas church offers hope and healing as community grieves children killed in flood
Green ribbons line the trees throughout North Dallas — a quiet but powerful tribute to the young lives lost in catastrophic flooding that swept through Central Texas.
At least eight girls from North Texas were among the victims, including six who were attending a Christian summer camp and two who were on vacation with their families.
A church gathers to grieve
The heartbreak is being deeply felt at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, where the Bonner family are members. They lost their daughter, 9-year-old Lila Bonner, when floodwaters overwhelmed Camp Mystic.
On Sunday, hundreds gathered at the church to grieve, pray and search for comfort in the wake of unimaginable loss.
“When bad things happen, people often feel alone — and they’re not alone,” said Rector Christopher Girata. “Nobody who experienced this hardship is alone. And to gather together, to pray, to sing, and to be reminded that we walk through this grief together — that God actually comes alongside of us and carries the weight that is too much for us to bear — that’s when the church actually meets the moment and begins to plant the seeds of hope and healing that will happen in the future.”
Faith offers comfort, not answers
Girata said the congregation has been hurting since learning the magnitude of the flooding. As the community mourns, many are turning to their faith leaders to help make sense of what happened.
“I firmly believe that these little children who lost their lives in the flood — they were swept right up into God’s arms,” Girata said. “I believe that God’s heart broke first for these children and that God was right there to welcome them in.”
When people ask why God would allow such a tragedy, Girata is clear: this was not part of a divine plan.
“In times of crisis, especially in death, a lot of times people are quick to say it was part of God’s plan,” he said. “That is not what we believe. And so when we speak of God’s plan, I want to be super clear — God does not plan for children to die. God’s promise — not God’s plan, but God’s promise — is that even when terrible things happen, God walks with us through those horrible moments and can make something good out of even the darkest experiences. That light of hope, that light of Christ, is what we have in that darkness.”
Supporting those who stepped up
Girata said he wants to validate the pain people are feeling, while also pointing them toward hope and healing.
“One of the things I did not really anticipate was talking to some of the teenagers here in this church who had been counselors,” he said. “In the moment of need, they saved these children. And the responsibility that that puts on them — the kind of pressure that they would have felt. They’re heroes, and they’re also feeling this incredible grief.”
He said those young counselors are now processing the trauma of waking up to floodwaters above their windows and having to rescue the children in their care.
Healing through connection
Girata said the church will continue to support them — and the entire community — in the days and weeks ahead.
He encourages anyone struggling to seek out connection.
“Do not stay isolated,” he said. “Whenever this kind of experience happens, it’s very natural to want to kind of close yourself off in your own grief, to try and process things on your own. And I would encourage people to not stay separated from others. When we get together, we can cry, we can laugh, we can pray, we can sing. Being together makes us better. Being together helps us to heal.”
Dallas, TX
2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule officially announced
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
Dallas, TX
Dallas Approves $180,500 for New Botham Jean Boulevard Street Signs
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
Dallas, TX
World Cup volunteers receive uniforms, new tickets released
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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