This Week's Hot Headlines

7-Eleven with surprising amenity tops this week's 5 most-read Dallas stories

Grab a beer at Tupps Brewery.

Photo courtesy of Tupps

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines.

1. Newest 7-Eleven store in Dallas comes with unheard-of amenity: a patio. Convenience store king 7-Eleven has opened a new store in Dallas with a previously unheard-of offering at a 7-Eleven store: a patio. Located at 13635 Preston Rd. at the corner of Alpha Road, this is one of the chain's "Evolution Stores," a concept that strives to upgrade the convenience store model, serving as a testing ground featuring their latest products and innovations.

2. DFW nightclub owner gets 16 years for allowing coke sales in bathrooms. In what surely feels like an episode of Miami Vice, a Dallas-Fort Worth nightclub magnate was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for operating an empire of clubs in which drugs were sold openly. According to a release from the office of Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham, drugs were being sold in the bathrooms at the OK Corral Dallas, OK Corral Fort Worth, and Far West nightclub.

3. Dallas radio personality and food festival founder Jim White dies. Dallas radio personality Jim White, who co-founded the Savor Dallas food festival as well as Restaurant Week, died on June 4. His wife Vicki Briley-White confirmed that White passed away while in hospice care, after the couple learned he had cancer just two months before.

4. New bar concept with giant sand pit brings beach to Dallas' Bishop Arts. Dallas' Bishop Arts district has a new bar experience with ... sand. Called Bishop Lane, it's a former walkway that's been reimagined into a beachy scene with sandpit, thatched hut-style outdoor bars, and oodles of outdoor seating.

5. Las Vegas group rolls dice on Dallas with Italian steakhouse and Asian bar. A Las Vegas hospitality group is coming on to Dallas hard with two restaurant openings. One will be an Italian steakhouse, the other an Asian restaurant and bar. The group is Hooper Hospitality Concepts, which owns Italian and Mexican Restaurants in Las Vegas.

Hey let's go hang out on 7-Eleven's patio.

Photo courtesy of 7-Eleven

Hey let's go hang out on 7-Eleven's patio.

Rivers wild

Ethan Hawke narrates new documentary that deep-dives into Texas rivers

Cropped still from Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers

The Rio Grande is one of the stunning subjects of Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers.

One Texas film icon passes the torch to another for a deep dive on Texas' river ecosystems in the upcoming documentary Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers. Matthew McConaughey narrated the original 2022 film, Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story. Now Ethan Hawke narrates the follow-up, which will be in theaters September 25.

Deep in the Heart 2 is directed by Ben Masters, a nature-obsessed Texan who was born and raised in Amarillo and has followed wildlife around the state and beyond. Working with his crew at Fin & Fur Films, Masters explores the Rio Grande, the Sabine River, and the Neches River, a press release says, coming across otters, turkeys, alligator snapping turtles, and more.

This underwater shot was taken in San Marcos.Still from Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers

The original Deep in the Heart took a broad view of Texas — both its landscapes and their inhabitants — while the "sequel," as the release calls it, specifically highlights water. Conservation is an important angle, and viewers will get a chance to consider how they could connect with and protect the ecosystems on their screens.

"Most of my favorite memories are on Texas Rivers," said Masters in the release. "I grew up on the Canadian, fell in love on the Brazos, got married on the Guadalupe, found adventure on the Rio Grande, and am raising my kids on the Colorado."

The filmmaker says that spending three years filming his natural subjects gave him "a newfound appreciation" for rivers and how distinct they are from one another.

Amazing cinematography was a hallmark of the original film, and the sequel offers more beautiful shots.Still from Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers

"We spent months filming mountain lions on the Pecos, snapping turtles on the Neches, otters on the Sabine, fatmuckets on the Llano, and whooping cranes in the Guadalupe's Estuary," Masters said. "Editing the majesty of Texas Rivers into 80 minutes was a huge challenge, and I'm just incredibly grateful to work with such a talented team of cinematographers, editors, producers, and musicians."

Hawke, born in Austin and raised in Fort Worth, is known for acting in the Dead Poets Society, Gattaca, the Richard Linklater films Boyhood and Blue Moon, and more. He has taken up causes in environmental advocacy for years and appeared in other ecology-focused films, including the intense fictional First Reformed (2018) and a goofy anti-littering PSA with TxDOT (2023).

Some unexpected guests in the Rio Grande.Still from Deep in the Heart 2: Texas Rivers

The film was made in association with H-E-B, a regular supporter of ecological documentaries and initiatives, and conservation organization Texan by Nature. Other collaborators include producer Josh Winkler, editor Sam Klatt, assistant editor Chet Stefan, and composer Noah Sorota. The musical score is performed by Dallas Chamber Symphony.

animals documentaries ecology ethan hawke film matthew mcconaughey movies nature texas wildlife