For decades, Candace Wicks has seen the good the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center can do.
Some of her first memories of the 10.5-acre South Dallas campus are volunteering with her church to hand out free meals to the area’s unsheltered community — a service she says is “just one of the many” examples of the center’s critical work.
But she said she has watched the center also make do with limited resources.
“I like to say — and it has been quoted several times — that ‘we make bricks out of straw’ here,” said Wicks, a vice chair appointed to the center’s advisory board, which she has served on for nearly 10 years. “This is one of the most underappreciated locations in the city.”
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Wicks thinks that is starting to change: On Thursday, she joined a crowd on the campus to celebrate a $2.5 million earmark to benefit the center — federal funding that will go toward improving the facility and kickstart work before a forthcoming renovation approved by Dallas voters this spring as part of a $1.25 billion bond package.
The campus, originally called the Crossroads Community Center, opened its doors in February 1969 as the city’s first multi-service community facility. The Dallas City Council renamed the facility after Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1975.
Since then, the center has become a hub for services and educational and cultural enrichment in South Dallas. It was the venue for nearly 30 events and hosted nearly 200,000 visitors last year, according to a report from the center’s advisory board.
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U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, paved the way for the $2.5 million earmark. The earmark to the South Dallas center was the largest allocation the first-term representative directed as part of the fiscal year 2024 Appropriations Bill.
Crockett, whose district includes South Dallas, said her office received requests for more than 70 projects seeking funding in fiscal year 2024. Her staff reviewed the proposals and made recommendations based on the parameters set by the Republican-led House.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua (left) reacts towards towards Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during an event, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Dallas. Rep. Crockett presented a check representing $2.5 million to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Dallas as part of the Community Project Funding her office secured within the Appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2024.(Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)
The bill passed earlier this year.
“I looked for spaces in which I felt, ‘if we don’t do this, I don’t know that this gap will get filled,’” Crockett said in an interview. “The MLK center is kind of one of those that falls into a bit of a unique category … I was concerned the gap may not get filled.”
Wick said that upcoming improvements to the center include accessibility enhancements.
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Nearly four years ago, Wicks fell ill with a life-threatening sickness that resulted in sepsis. She survived, but the harsh treatments took a toll on her body. She now uses an electric wheelchair — something that has changed her perspective using the center.
“Not to say that I wasn’t already aware, but it’s changed how I view it,” she said. She added that she saw the $2.5 million earmark as “a prayer answered.”
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Adam Bazaldua, who represents District 7, where the center is located, described the earmark as “more than an investment in a building.”
“It’s an investment in the future of South Dallas,” he said.
Leadership teacher becomes a leader: UNT professor is Sunnyvale’s first Black councilman
George Woodrow has lived in Sunnyvale for 24 years and said he ran, in part, because he wanted African American community members to be represented.
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As Texas flirts with high-speed rail, can Japan’s bullet train show the way?
A July trade delegation led by Gov. Greg Abbott hopped aboard a bullet train for a fast trip to Tokyo, feeding the appetite for high-speed rail for some Texans.
Dallas police are searching for a shooting suspect after two people were shot early Saturday morning.
The shooting incident happened around 6:30 a.m. when Dallas officers responded to a shooting call in the 7600 block of South Central Expressway, where two people had been shot.
Officials said one victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition by Dallas Fire-Rescue. The other was transported by private vehicle in stable condition.
No arrests have been made as of Saturday afternoon, according to Dallas Police.
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The shooting investigation is ongoing and this story will be updated as we learn more.
UPDATE 6-26-2026: Gracie has been found about four miles south of the Cedar Hollow Ranch, according to a Facebook update from Real County Animal Rescue. Ranch manager Vic Jones has assembled a team to safely bring the wandering giraffe home.
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A giraffe named Gracie is missing in Texas, and the search for her has become a tall order.
Gracie, who is about 3 years old, has been missing for nearly two weeks after escaping her enclosure at Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, said Vic Jones, who owns the remote property about 100 miles west of San Antonio. He said Wednesday, June 24 that Gracie had wandered into a part of the privately owned preserve that other giraffes previously avoided.
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Jones said he has sent up helicopters to look for Gracie, a few sightings have trickled in, and a $5,000 reward is on the table.
But the giraffe, which stands roughly the height of a tree, hasn’t turned up.
“She wound up going up and feeding in an area on the hillside and the rocky ledges that none of the other giraffes had ever gone on before,” Jones said. “And when she came down off of there, she came down on the wrong side of the gate.”
The ranch is in rural Real County, where its roughly 2,700 residents were put on alert to be on the lookout for a missing giraffe. Jones said the search area is extremely remote, and the likelihood of Gracie encountering any humans is low.
“People are not in danger of her because she’s not around people,” Jones said. ‘She’s out in very, very rough, heavily wooded lands.”
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The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the country. Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the mild climate and rugged terrain seems to serve as a good stand-in for most of the animals’ native African environments.
He rattled off a list of animals that have gone missing over the years, especially after floods, but said this was his first giraffe.
“I’ve had wildebeests, I’ve had water buffalo, I’ve had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.”
While the middle of Texas is not a giraffe’s native environment, Jones said Gracie should be able to find plenty of leaves and other vegetation to eat. He said other animals were not likely to bother her.
Jones said he initially had helicopters searching an area of about 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) with no luck. A few days later, there was a report that Gracie was spotted to the south.
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But by the time they could search the area, Jones said, she was already gone.
“We’re always two three days late for where the information is coming from, so that makes it tough,” Jones said.
Egypt takes on the Socceroos on Friday, July 3. See ticket prices for Dallas
Editor’s note: See all updated scenarios for the 2026 World Cup tournament bracket
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The most volatile group has come to a close at the 2026 World Cup.
Egypt and Iran played to a 1-1 draw late on Friday night, which allowed Belgium to rise up from third place all the way to the top spot in the group while Egypt took second. Iran will have to wait and see if their third place finish is good enough to qualify for the knockout round.
As the Group G runner up, Egypt will take on Australia in the round of 32.
SHOP: Egypt vs. Australia 2026 World Cup tickets
Australia finished as the second-place team in Group D, sitting on four points. Egypt and Australia will face off in Dallas on Friday, July 3, the final match of the round of 32.
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Here is everything you need to know in order to buy Egypt vs. Australia World Cup tickets.
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Egypt vs. Australia round of 32 World Cup tickets
As of publication, the cheapest ticket to attend the Egypt vs. Australia costs $834. Lower-level seats for the round of 32 match at AT&T Stadium in Dallas start at $1,083.
Egypt World Cup next opponent
Egypt will take on Australia in the round of 32. Australia finished as the runner up in Group D, finishing the group stage with one win, one draw and one loss.
Shop Egypt vs. Australia tickets
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Egypt World Cup schedule
June 15 – Egypt vs. Belgium at Lumen Field in Seattle – DRAW 1-1
June 21 – Egypt vs. New Zealand at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver – WIN 3-1
June 26 – Egypt vs. Iran at Lumen Field in Seattle – DRAW 1-1
Friday, July 3 – Australia vs. Group G runner up at AT&T Stadium in Dallas (round of 32) – Shop tickets
World Cup Group G Standings
TEAM
POINTS
RECORD
Belgium
5
1-2-0
Egypt
5
1-2-0
Iran
3
0-3-0
New Zealand
1
0-1-2
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Australia World Cup schedule
Australia vs. Turkey – WIN 2-0
Australia vs. United States – LOSS 2-0
Australia vs. Paraguay – DRAW 1-1
Friday, July 3 – Australia vs. Group G runner up at AT&T Stadium in Dallas (round of 32) – Shop tickets
More: We ranked the 2026 FIFA World Cup jerseys, here are our favorites
