Residents urged to enter Water-Wise Landscape Tour
Dallas Water Utilities is now accepting entries for inclusion in the 2017 tour
 
The 23rd annual Water-Wise Landscape Tour (October 14) is open to all landscapes of Dallas Water Utilities customers. The Water-Wise Landscape Tour is co-sponsored by City of Dallas Water Utilities and the Dallas County Master Gardener Association, Inc.
 
• The tour will feature landscapes (back yard landscapes may be included at the discretion of the homeowner).
• A Dallas County Master Gardener volunteer will assist on tour day. Demonstration gardens and commercial landscapes will not be eligible for prizes or volunteers on tour day.
• All entrants must agree that their landscapes may be photographed for publicity and educational purposes.
• All winners must agree to be present to answer visitor questions from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on tour day.
 
Judging Criteria
 • Design
Aesthetic appeal; composition; use of color and plant variety
• Water Conservation
Efficient irrigation/water use; use of non-vegetative materials such as fences, walls, walks, etc.; use of native or adapted plants; reduced turf area; and use of mulches
• Appropriate Maintenance
Landscape tidy - healthy, disease and pest free plants; no weeds; plants pruned as appropriate
 
Entry Deadline August 18, 2017.
Entries will be judged in late August. The public tour of landscapes will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2017.
 
Submitting Call for Entries
Click here to complete the online Call for Entry form, including uploading a minimum of 3 current photographs (including at least one overall view) of your landscape.
 
You can also click here to download a PDF of the Call for Entries form, filling it out and sending a minimum of 3 current photographs (including at least one overall view of your landscape) by mail or fax to:
 
City of Dallas Water-Wise Landscape Tour
1500 Marilla Street, Room 2AN
Dallas, TX 75201
Fax: (214) 670-5244
 
Questions? Call (214) 670-3155 or e-mail: [email protected]

The priceless space on Knox Avenue that was once the Chili's makes way for a promising new restaurant from an inspired restaurateur and two rock star chefs. Called Up on Knox, it's from Stephan Courseau, owner of Le Bilboquet, and the chefs are Dennis Kelley and Melody Bishop, the husband-wife duo who previously ran the kitchen at Lark on the Park.
All three will be dedicated to creating a low-key but excellent restaurant, what Courseau calls an American brasserie, that will serve the neighborhood plus any diner seeking a certain California je ne sais quoi, which makes sense since Kelley and Bishop moved here from California and Courseau is French. Is it tedious when people explain jokes?
After four years with Le Bilboquet, which has become a top destination for Park Cities diners and lady gatherings, Courseau has learned about and evolved with the neighborhood.
"I won't say it was easy, but Le Bilboquet has become the neighborhood restaurant I always envisioned," he says. "I've also become a local, as well. I live four blocks away. When I heard the Chili's space was available, I wanted to stay in the same neighborhood. I'm a hands-on guy. Being a few blocks away means that, 45 minutes after I have dinner, I'm at the restaurant. I'm happy that I get to stay a local guy."
"American brasserie" is his attempt to describe what is really just going to be a nice place to eat.
"Nowadays, everyone tells you about their concept. I don't have a concept," he says. "I do and I don't. My concept is to try to open nice restaurants where people can have great food, atmosphere, and hospitality. If we need to label it, because we have a French restaurant a block away, we'll call it an American brasserie, a smaller scale of the brasserie, with high ceilings and brass elements in the décor."
Up on Knox will be open seven days a week, beginning with lunch and dinner, and eventually breakfast, too. The targeted opening date is September. The menu is still in development, but one thing it will have for sure is an oyster bar.
"But at the end of day, the cuisine is not going to be French," he says. "There might be some French techniques, but I want it to be much more expansive. Our idea is to not only be sustainable with local ingredients but also to be able to incorporate any type of influences the chefs think they should incorporate."
Kelley was recently laid off from Lark on the Park, an unfortunate turn of events that turned out to be fortunate, as he, Bishop, and Courseau represent like-minded souls.
"I always thought they were talented and they embody the perfect approach with a California take on 'local' and also lighter, with not putting 10 things on the plate," Courseau says. "They're such nice people. I worked for Jean-Georges [Vongerichten] and Daniel Boulud, and you find with geniuses they are often gentle people. When I met Dennis, that's what I felt like — he’s a normal guy who wants to create great food, produce proteins, keep it local, and emphasize the hospitality, working together with the people running the front of the house."
Bishop is from Dallas originally, and the couple wanted to find an opportunity to stay.
"With all these concept restaurants, there aren't that many opportunities for people like them, and part of my mission was to keep someone so talented and passionate here," Courseau says. "It's wonderful to meet two other people who want to keep making great food, that's what it's about in the end."

Article Courtesy of Culture Map

Dan D. Rogers Elementary School, a personalized learning campus in the Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD), has been named the 2017 winner of the Golden Psi Award by the Board of Educational Affairs of the American Psychological Association (APA).
“The committee was most impressed by Rogers’ attention to promoting a positive social environment – mindfulness, social skill development and good decision making – all of which supports child and academic development,” said Tammy Hughes, chair of the Golden Psi Award selection committee.
Rogers was selected in part for its emphasis on positive discipline and encouraging students, teachers and parents to address conflict in a healthy and productive manner. The selection committee was also impressed by Rogers’ focus on school safety, which promotes community development and support.
Mindfulness practices, including deep breathing, focus techniques and yoga were added into the curriculum last year to help students cope with negative emotions, according to Jeanne Juneau, counselor at Rogers Elementary School. Activities from identifying sounds to writing feelings down have helped teachers and students better reflect on their emotions.
“The ultimate goal of our mindfulness implementation is for the students to better self-regulate their emotions,” Juneau said. “This has resulted in fewer reported cases of negative behavior, such as bullying.”
The Golden Psi Award is based on factors that include educational adaptations shown to be appropriate for a school’s demographic makeup, the use of evidence-based interventions, measureable academic and/or social-emotional growth and monitoring of an individual’s or group’s progress.
“The traditional forms of student discipline such as detention do not apply to Rogers,” Hughes said. “At Rogers, discipline is about teaching students, teachers and parents how to communicate their needs to each other properly.”
Rogers received an award trophy and a check presented by the APA for $1,000.

​Article courtesy of The Hub

An opening date of November 2017 has been set for the Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark, a new recreational facility in Grand Prairie at State Highway 161 and the Waterwood Drive.
The water park will be an indoor-outdoor venue with a retractable roof that's open year round. For water park fans, that's a cut above its obvious competition a few miles away, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, which is open seasonally only.
It's part of The Epic recreation center, which will feature fitness equipment, indoor tracks, a digital library, and recording studio. The complex will also have a 5,000-seat amphitheater, and more than two miles of trails.
The park will have nine water slides, including an outdoor wave pool, a lazy river, an activity pool, a children's area, and an arcade. There will be cabanas, a full-service grill/bar, and private party/meeting areas, both indoor and outdoor.
Three of the slides have standout features. The Lasso Loop will be the tallest indoor aqualoop in the nation. The Yellowjacket Drop is an enclosed slide you ride with an inner tube; you come out onto an open drop that sends you high up onto a wall, creating a sense of zero gravity. The Aquanaut is the first double-rider ride, letting you ride with a friend.
The water park is running a giveaway for annual passes to the park; deadline to enter is July 1.

Article courtesy of Culture Map