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Local
As egg prices go up, so do chicken sales in Denton
By Juan Betancourt
Staff Writer
juan.betancourt@dentonrc.com
Abigail Griffith, a D&L Farm and Home employee, said the
Denton store only had one chick for sale on Friday morning. She
expects 200-400 more chickens to come in next week.
Juan Betancourt/DRC
As the price of eggs soar nationwide, some residents in Denton
County are finding other ways to get them — by purchasing
their own chickens and harvesting their own eggs. This solution,
though, has led to an increase in chicken sales.
Juan Betancourt/DRC
As the price of eggs is soaring nationwide, some residents in Denton County are finding other ways to get them — by purchasing their own chickens and harvesting their own eggs. This solution has led to an increase in chicken sales, and a local farm store in Denton is feeling the pressure.
D&L Farm and Home has seen an increase in hens sold at the Denton location on Fort Worth Drive. Employee Abigail Griffith said the store sold out of hens and chicks this week. She said phones have constantly been ringing and asking whether they have hens.
Griffith said the location had one chicken on Friday morning, with more expected to arrive in the evening and even more next week. She expects to have around 200 to 400 chickens coming in next week.
According to Griffith, regular and new customers have said they’re getting more chickens due to the bird flu outbreak.
“We have a whole list of people that we have to call when we get the hens, because they’ve been on a waiting list for a week,” she said.
Griffith said that last year in January, the business sold about 200 chickens. So far this month, they have sold about 500. Sales are typically higher later in the year — Griffith said D&L sells around 1,000 chickens monthly over the summer.
Griffith said avian flu hasn’t been an issue at the Denton store. If an outbreak were to happen, though, she said they would follow protocol by sanitizing the chickens, which includes other birds they own, and quarantine them away from others.
Can you own hens and sell eggs in Denton?
So, you can buy chickens, but it’s important to also know what’s legally allowed in Denton. Let’s break it down.
Short answer, yes. But no more than eight hens may be kept on any single parcel of property in a residential neighborhood. Any structure used to contain the chickens must be a minimum of 50 feet from any residence, business or commercial establishment or office, school, hospital or nursing home.
Pens, coops, sheds and other enclosures must be maintained to avoid a public nuisance, to avoid odors and to avoid attracting insects or animals that endanger public health, safety or welfare, according to Per Section 6.26 of the city code of ordinances.
As for selling eggs in Denton, Denton Animal Services could not confirm whether it’s legal for locals to sell eggs, but no city ordinance prohibits the selling of eggs.
Section 13 of the city code mentions that anyone selling eggs at a farmers market must follow state rules.
Any farmers market food vendor who offers or sells food typically known as “farm grown,” “farm originating” or “farm obtained,” and who is approved on private or public property, shall comply with the Texas Food Establishment Rules as set forth by the Department of State Health Services, according to Section 13.2 of the city code. Foods included in “farm grown” are whole produce, plants, nuts, certain meats, honey, eggs and pasteurized dairy products.
Griffith said she recommends that someone who wants to raise chickens should try owning hens first before raising baby chicks. She recommends doing research on how to care for chickens properly.
JUAN BETANCOURT can be reached via Twitter at @jbetancourt_15.
University_of_north_texas
featured
That fashion design student who used to longboard around UNT and pull all-nighters? She’s Miss Universe now.
By Tommy Cummings
The Dallas Morning News
R’Bonney Gabriel was crowned Miss Universe on Saturday at the
New Orleans Ernst N. Morial Convention Center. Gabriel started her
education in fashion design at the University of North Texas.
Benjamin Askinas/Miss Universe
Many pageant contestants start competing at early ages, but this year’s newly crowned Miss Universe took a different route.
R’Bonney Gabriel didn’t even consider competing until two years ago when she was 26.
“I consider myself a late bloomer, for sure,” Gabriel said.
On Saturday, Gabriel was crowned Miss Universe at the 71st pageant in New Orleans. The Houston native is the first Filipina American woman to be crowned Miss USA and the first Miss USA to win Miss Universe in a decade.
But before entering the world of competition, Gabriel’s focus was on a different passion: clothes.
Gabriel leveraged her training in fashion design at the University of North Texas in Denton as chief executive of her eco-friendly fashion line, R’Bonney Nola.
She interned with fashion designer Nicole Miller in New York City and worked at the nonprofit design house Magpies & Peacocks, which collects discarded materials and repurposes them into new clothes. She also taught sewing classes.
She also modeled for six years before moving into the pageant scene. In 2021, as Miss Texas USA, Gabriel was first runner-up. She won the following year. Next in her sight line was the Miss Universe pageant with an age maximum of 28 years old.
“I had a sense of urgency [because] I didn’t have a lot of time to make it happen and make my dream come true,” she said. “So if anything, I felt like it was to my benefit that I started later.”
During the pageant, she advocated raising the age limit for contestants, saying, “My favorite quote is: ‘If not now, then when?’ Because, as a woman, I believe age does not define us.”
In the pageant’s costume show, Gabriel came out on stage with a massive outfit that paid homage to NASA’s Apollo 11 lunar landing and Artemis program.
“There are so many people making funny jokes about it,” she said. “It was huge and weighed like 57 pounds. The concept was a woman on the moon. So I had a big moon behind me and lots of stars. And I was dressed like an astronaut because I wanted to celebrate America sending the first human to step on the moon. And now we are currently sending the first woman on the moon on the Artemis space program.”
Gabriel discussed her journey in more detail in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
R’Bonney Gabriel is Miss Universe 2023. She was the first
Filipina American to become Miss USA and Miss Texas USA.
Benjamin Askinas/Miss Universe
You were urged to give pageants a try a few years ago. What made you go through with it?
When I looked at these beauty queens, I looked at videos of them speaking and going to schools and doing community work and also being models. I thought this was a really great opportunity for me to propel in life really. So I did my first pageant at age 26. And two and a half years later, I’m happy to say I became Miss Universe.
What do you recall about the fashion curricula at UNT?
I studied fashion design, and I minored in fibers, and that program was very intense. It was very demanding. Lots of hours would go into just one single project, I mean, anywhere from 30 to 40 to 50 hours to make a design piece.
There were times when I would stay in the studio up until 8 a.m. until the class would start the next day — and actually, we weren’t even allowed to do that. I remember I would just sneak back into the studio when they would lock the door. I don’t think my teachers ever knew that. But I was pulling all-nighters all the time.
It really prepped me to be disciplined, to have a goal in mind and go after it and put in the hours of work for that. That prepped me for pageantry because it’s very demanding as well. You have to cut out distractions just like I had to in college.
What was your pre-college life like?
I played volleyball. I was in the marching band. I played oboe. I tried a lot of things and just have an excitement for life. But I started designing when I was about 17 years old. So junior year and senior year of high school, I really started getting into design. I was going to sewing classes in my neighborhood that [were] being taught out of my neighbor’s garage, and I was doing little fashion shows. And then by the time I graduated, I knew for sure I wanted to study fashion design and take it to the next level.
It helped that your brother went to UNT and he was able to scout out the campus, right?
He kind of opened up the idea to me even more, and there weren’t a lot of fashion design programs in Texas. There were a few others ... but UNT seemed the most promising, and I heard good things about it. So that’s why I ultimately decided to go there.
Do you have any specific memories of campus life in Denton?
I love longboarding all around campus. From my house to campus was like a 10-minute long boardwalk, and I would do that most mornings, if the weather permitted, just to get those endorphins going and [listen to] music in my headphones. One night coming home from the studio classroom, I fell off and it flew all the way into the sidewalk draining system. I chin-planted the ground, and I had a bruise from it. I had to actually lift the draining plate up and crawl into the sewer to get it. I will never forget that.
Being Texan, you have to love barbecue. Do you have a favorite barbecue joint?
I hate to disappoint anyone, but I’m a pescetarian, so I’ve only eaten seafood for the last five years. But I grew up on barbecue and I love it. Houston has Killen’s [Barbecue]. My parents love it.
What are your favorite Filipino dishes?
I absolutely love salmon Sinigang, which is like sour soup. It’s so delicious. Everybody loves chicken adobo. That’s something I love to introduce to people for the first time.
How do you feel about representing the Filipino community?
It’s a huge responsibility. I just want to use this to show the world how beautiful Filipinos and Asians are. I think sometimes we’re overlooked. But we’re very hardworking. We’re a beautiful culture that’s warm and dynamic, just like any other culture, and really hoping to just continue to bring that light all across the world.
How are you going to advocate for Texas as Miss Universe?
As a Texas girl, Texas born and raised, I’m extremely proud to continue to champion how amazing Texas is and how it raised me and how we’re warm, we’ve got Southern charm with the barbecue, biscuits, things like that that are just a signature to Texas. It’s a very dynamic position, and I’m very honored to be the Miss Universe.
Election_2020
New and familiar faces put their names in the hat for Denton City Council spots
The first week to file for an open Denton City Council seat has
passed, and several familiar faces have filed to seek a seat on
council during this spring’s campaign season, including former
council members and a retired justice of the peace.
Maria Crane/For the DRC
Vicki Byrd
Paul Meltzer
The first week to file for an open Denton City Council seat has passed, and several familiar faces have filed to seek a council seat this spring, including a couple of former officeholders, a retired justice of the peace and a former candidate for mayor.
The deadline to file for office is 5 p.m. Feb. 17.
District 1
In District 1, City Council member Vicki Byrd is seeking reelection, and she has one opponent so far: Birdia Johnson, the former council member she defeated in May 2021.
Council member Vicki Byrd listens during the Denton City Council
meeting on June 28.
Maria Crane/For the DRC
Byrd is a retired educator and a former police officer at Texas Woman’s University, where she says she was the first Black female police officer hired. She eventually moved over to handle risk management at the university.
She also served on boards for the Denton Public Library and Parks and Recreation. She calls herself a “big-picture thinker.”
Byrd believes in standing up for justice and for financial and lifestyle opportunities for all, according to an op-ed she wrote for the Denton Record-Chronicle in April 2021, while she was running for the District 1 seat.
“Local business owners, students, homeowners and public agencies know that I plan on strengthening the core by fighting for affordable housing, improved infrastructure and economic development,” Byrd wrote. “It’s an investment in our future.”
The Record-Chronicle contacted Byrd for comment Friday morning, but she couldn’t be reached by deadline.
Birdia Johnson
Johnson was filling the unexpired term left by District 1 council member Gerard Hudspeth, who was elected mayor. Now she’s back for a rematch.
{span class=”ui-provider vh b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak” dir=”ltr”}Asked why, Johnson said: “To represent the people so our voices can be heard.” {/span}
Johnson told the Record-Chronicle in April 2021 that she was a better candidate than her opponent because she is “the city of Denton completely” and promised to “work and make sure it gets done.”
“I realize the process is slow, but I know you’ve got to be faithful to it, and you’ve got to work hard in it,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to know the projects and the situation.”
District 3
Over in District 3, City Council member Jesse Davis has also filed for reelection. He’s facing at least one challenger — former City Council member Paul Meltzer — as well as an effort to recall him.
Davis, a native of Denton, graduated from the University of North Texas and Baylor School of Law. Since 2011, he has been serving as an assistant district attorney at the Denton County District Attorney’s Office. He also served as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s assistant press secretary for three years in Washington, D.C.
Jesse Davis
“The opportunity provided me with both first-hand exposure to ‘how things work’ in government and the fine art of negotiation, knowledge that will help me hit the ground running on Denton City Council,” reads Davis’ campaign website.
During his first bid for the District 3 seat in 2021, Davis listed several issues that he was pursuing, including low taxes, economic development, planning for growth, sustainability and partnering with nonprofits so that they can continue “to provide social services to the most people at the lowest cost.”
Davis plans to be a voice and champion for first responders, safe, quality roads, empowered neighborhoods, financial responsibility and strong community, according to information from his campaign.
“We achieve the best results for our city when we embrace differences and craft creative solutions together,” Davis said in an email Wednesday. “I strive for that thoughtful, collaborative approach in my work on the City Council. It is more important now than ever. I love working for my hometown, and I am excited to see what more we can accomplish together.”
Davis may also be fighting a recall election as he seeks reelection. Denton resident Richard Gladden said a recall petition with 275 signatures — more than the 254 needed — was submitted to the city secretary’s office Friday morning.
City Secretary Rosa Rios has 10 days to certify the petition.
Davis has one opponent and possibly another one.
Meltzer, who previously held the at-large Place 6 seat on the City Council, filed his paperwork in his bid for the District 3 seat Friday morning.
Meltzer lost to Gerard Hudspeth in 2022’s mayoral race. Since then, Meltzer has been focusing on the Denton Rotary Club and helping flood victims in Denton’s friendship city of Múzquiz. He recently returned from a trip there to deliver household items to those in need.
“After serving as at-large Council Member for four years, coming in second in the race for Mayor, and finishing my term as Mayor Pro Tem, I fully intended to retire from elected politics,” Meltzer wrote in a Friday afternoon email to the Record-Chronicle. “Unfortunately, I can not sit by and watch my district’s current representation deliver nice rhetoric then make choices that are at odds with the values of our community.”
Meltzer said Davis voted against passing the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance and sided with development interests when he had the chance to protect Pilot Knob, an environmentally sensitive area.
In response, Davis said by email that he had proposed the nondiscrimination ordinance “in the first place, but had to vote against the final product because others warped it into something completely symbolic that doesn’t actually protect any of our citizens.” He also said, “I helped the city strike the best possible deal to protect Pilot Knob, including a conservation easement the developer didn’t want to give us,” citing gains on tree preservation and gas well setbacks in the area.
Proposition B was another issue Meltzer raised. He pointed out that Davis gave direction against affirming Proposition B, though Davis claimed that he did vote to accept the election results that decriminalized misdemeanor amounts of marijuana in Denton.
“Look, Jesse is a good guy, and he has a great family,” Meltzer said. “But his values simply aren’t aligned with our district. We need someone who’ll protect our neighborhoods, preserve our environment, and who will push for equality for all Dentonites. We need experienced, reasonable leadership who will listen to our concerns, fight for D3 values, and make the right choices for our community.”
Stephen Dillenburg also submitted paperwork for the appointment of a campaign treasurer, indicating that he proposes to run for the District 3 seat, according to city spokesperson Stuart Birdseye.
But Birdseye said Dillenburg hasn’t yet filed his application for a place on the general election ballot, or the application has not been qualified by the city secretary’s office.
Dillenburg is a business owner and previously taught high school science and Spanish, and said he chased professional golf for a time. He said he graduated from UNT with a Bachelor of Science in biology, double minoring in chemistry and Spanish.
Dillenburg is a frequent speaker during the public comment section of City Council meetings, at one point encouraging council members to look into the negative side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dillenburg said in a Friday evening text message that he stands for “restoring responsible oversight to public agencies.”
“Our local leadership(s) and government in general were designed to be responsive to the will of our people,” Dillenburg wrote. “But instead of serving the people of Denton, they are only serving themselves at our expense with reckless abandon for our well-being. To the extent a city of 140,000 should have a voice. If I’m elected, we will listen to it, and we will sue for a peace of mind and peace in general.”
District 4
The District 4 council seat remains open after former City Council member Alison Maguire was recalled in the Nov. 8 general election.
Retired Justice of the Peace Joe Holland has filed his application to run for the seat.
Joe Holland
Holland served as the justice of the peace in Denton County for 17 years but has lifetime ties to the Denton community. His great uncle, Dr. M.L. Holland, owned the old Denton Hospital on South Locust Street. His maternal grandfather, James L. Baldwin, sat on the Denton City Commission prior to Denton becoming a home-rule city.
At the age of 19, Holland opened Denton Bicycle Center, which is still in business.
“I’m looking to be a voice of common sense and to bring a business approach to the City Council,” Holland wrote in a Friday email to the Record-Chronicle.
Donald Thornton also seems to be seeking the District 4 seat. Birdseye said Thornton has filed his appointment for a campaign treasure but either hasn’t filed for his application to seek office or is still waiting on its approval.
Thornton serves as an appointed member of the Chief of Police Advisory Board, said Amy Cunningham, a spokesperson for Denton police.
Thornton couldn’t be reached for comment by late Friday afternoon.
District 2
District 2 council member Brian Beck has also filed for reelection.
Denton City Council member Brian Beck
Maria Crane/For the DRC
Beck is an educator and a scientist, and he holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics. A 30-plus year career in computational/structural biology, high performance and cloud computing, Beck works at the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TAAC), which designs and operates some of the world’s most powerful computing resources, according to its website.
Beck is seeking to provide an informed citizenry and a responsive government and lists three important points that are leading his reelection campaign: healthy community, quality of life and people first, according to his campaign website.
“In my first term, together we protected your health, the environment and green spaces, enacted a non-discrimination ordinance, prioritized quality-of-life issues and amplified the voice of Denton’s citizens,” Beck wrote in his 2023 reelection announcement. “We still have a lot to do and I would appreciate your continued support.”
Beck hasn’t drawn an opponent so far.
CHRISTIAN McPHATE can be reached at 940-220-4299 and via Twitter at @writerontheedge.
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