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Tre Carroll scores 18 as Florida Atlantic fends off Texas State 89-80Smoke’N Ash BBQ — the Arlington restaurant touted as the first Tex-Ethiopian smokehouse — has been “on fire” for several years, and in all the right ways, its owners say. The latest ember on the coals: recognition by the Michelin Guide as one of the state’s best restaurants. Fasicka and Patrick Hicks have seen images of what they perceived as Michelin-quality food — the sort of multicourse, small-plate fine dining the international guide is known for favoring. Get Arlington news that matters. Sign up for local stories in your inbox every Thursday. “It was on these little tiny plates,” Fasicka Hicks said. “It’s just such amazing-looking food. We have Texas-size everything. We try to make it look as good as possible before we plate it.” Smoke’N Ash, which the couple opened in 2018 after a few years of operating in a food truck, fuses Patrick Hicks’ expertise with hickory-smoked meats with the Ethiopian spices mixed up by his wife, who grew up in the African country. The food had already caught the attention of food writers before the November Michelin announcement, earning write-ups in The New York Times , The Economist , which called the restaurant “the world’s first Tex-Ethiopian smokehouse,” and Texas Monthly, which called the food “must-try cuisine” in 2021. Business took off after the Texas Monthly story, the couple said. “That was it,” Fasicka Hicks, 50, said. “We’ve been on fire since then.” The Michelin announcement has given sales a boost, most recognizably from out-of-towners sometimes on layover from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the couple said. “It’s more diverse,” Fasicka Hicks said. “They come in with their backpacks and they just came in from the airport maybe. They want to be adventurous, and they want something new.” Orders for shipment nationally and into Canada via gourmet food delivery service Goldbelly have spiked, the couple said. Other restaurateurs have come in, asking the couple for advice — and even going so far as to ask whether the restaurant paid Michelin to take notice. Note: The state tourism agency paid Michelin $450,000; and each of the state’s five largest cities, including Fort Worth, is paying $90,000 apiece annually to have Michelin scout Texas restaurants over three years. The agreement is typical across the country. Four Tarrant County restaurants were among the 117 that Michelin recognized in Texas’ first year of the program. Smoke’N Ash’s customers can try everything from the Tex-Ethiopian barbecue — meats flavored with an Ethiopian spice blend called awaze — to vegetarian Ethiopian dishes. The perfect plate? Try the lamb sausage, Texas brisket, pork ribs, potato salad and collard greens, the couple says. One of the most popular sellers: pork ribs, smoked with rosemary and cardamom. “It’s a crazy good combination,” Fasicka Hicks says. “It was meant to be together. It’s not the most expensive thing on the menu, but it’s the most tasty.” Getting a table in the 100-seat restaurant at 5904 S. Cooper St. is not generally difficult. But lines on weekends run out the front door. Then it’s “take a number,” Fasicka Hicks said. All of this is a far cry from the days Patrick Hicks, a longtime employee for Siemens in Arlington, smoked meats for fun along with his wife and two children in the backyard of their home. Fasicka Hicks worked in human resources. They shared smoked foods with colleagues in their respective break rooms — “the break room smelled so good,” Fasicka Hicks says — and a catering business was soon born. Then the couple paid $1,000 for a larger smoker. “It was not even a month before we got our money back,” Fasicka Hicks says. A food truck followed. In 2018, the couple took a leap, borrowing from their 401(k)s to open a 30-seat restaurant. Both went to work full time in the restaurant. “We took a big risk,” Patrick Hicks, 58, says. Numerous milestones followed. They added Goldbelly shipping in 2021. In September 2023, they moved to the larger restaurant they occupy now with 14 employees. Fasicka Hicks is working on two cookbooks, the first is to be published in spring 2026. The couple is considering opening a second restaurant in mid-2025, in the Plano area, to be closer to an estimated 50,000 Ethiopians who live in North Texas. “We get a lot of traffic from that area,” Patrick Hicks says. The couple is working on ensuring service and food are consistently good — hallmarks of Michelin-recognized restaurants. “We’re looking at the quality of the product and the staff training and the presentation,” Patrick Hicks says. “Being consistent is the main thing. I may miss it sometimes, but you’ve got to stay on the straight line.” Scott Nishimura is a senior editor for the Documenters program at the Fort Worth Report. Reach him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org . Related Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism . Republish This Story Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details. 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If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @FortWorthReport on Facebook and @FortWorthReport on Twitter. by Scott Nishimura, Arlington Report December 4, 2024Drone sightings in Maryland, elsewhere raise concerns among lawmakers, industry expertswolf casino free play 。

National Seed Policy to be presented before Cabinet soonBrown: Reforming broken rural economies in greater Minnesota

(The Center Square) – Government attorneys are wrapping up their case with a focus on AT&T and former state Rep. Eddie Acevedo, D-Chicago, at the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and codefendant Michael McClain. Former Illinois state Rep. Michael McClain and former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan separately enter the federal court building in Chicago Wednesday December 11, 2024. Both face corruption charges. Judge John Robert Blakey ruled Wednesday that Acevedo would be required to testify next Monday, despite questions about Acevedo’s competency as a witness. Blakey denied defense attorneys’ motion to quash Acevedo’s subpoena Wednesday morning. Blakey pointed to the distinction between the credibility of the witness and competency to testify. Acevedo’s attorney, Gabrielle Sansonetti, had also sought to prevent Acevedo’s testimony by saying her client had dementia. U.S. government attorneys have introduced evidence showing that Acevedo was paid by AT&T and ComEd for do-nothing jobs. In a separate case, Acevedo was sentenced in 2022 to six months in prison for tax evasion. Lobbyist Thomas Cullen, who worked for Madigan from 1987 to 1999 in both the Speaker’s office and the Democratic Party of Illinois, reported to the witness stand Wednesday afternoon. Prosecutors say AT&T made payments to Acevedo through Cullen’s lobbying firm. Cullen said his attorney, Thomas Durkin, requested a non-target letter from the government to indicate that Cullen is not the target of the investigation corresponding with the trial of Madigan and McClain. Cullen called himself a “political junkie” and said he was loyal to the speaker and loyal to Democrats. Cullen said McClain would ask him to go to his clients and request campaign donations for Illinois Democrats in target districts. Government attorney Sarah Streicker displayed a transcript of a recording from Aug. 29, 2018, of McClain asking Cullen, on behalf of “our mutual friend,” to join him and others in donating $1,000 each per month for six months to former Madigan aide Kevin Quinn, who had been dismissed over harassment claims. Cullen said he understood “our mutual friend” to mean Mike Madigan and agreed emphatically to McClain’s request, even though Cullen said there were no unique services that Quinn could provide for him. During the call, McClain said that Madigan would “take care of Kevin” once Madigan was sworn in as speaker. Cullen testified that Kevin Quinn was an effective member of Madigan’s 13th Ward Democratic Organization in Chicago. Cullen said he paid Quinn $1,000 per month for six months. Cullen said he helped AT&T talk with Illinois lawmakers about carrier-of-last-resort legislation. According to Cullen, a COLR bill was AT&T’s No. 1 priority in 2017. The legislation passed that summer. Streicker asked Cullen about Acevedo, who had served as an assistant majority leader for Democratic members of the Illinois House under Madigan until Acevedo left the General Assembly in 2017. Cullen said AT&T did not want Acevedo’s successor, Theresa Mah, D-Chicago, to know that the company was paying Acevedo, because Mah had defeated Acevedo’s son in a contentious campaign. Cullen said he agreed to hire Acevedo even though he did not think Acevedo could add anything of value to his firm. “He wasn’t a serious member of the General Assembly ... I didn’t think he could add anything to my team,” Cullen added. Cullen described a meeting during which Acevedo “got mad” and used “some choice words” because he was upset that AT&T was being “cheap” by only offering him $2,500 per month. Prosecutors called AT&T Illinois employee Barbara Galvin to the witness stand Wednesday morning. Galvin said she has worked in the company’s external and legislative affairs department since 2003. Government attorney Amar Bhachu introduced a 2017 consultant agreement with Cullen’s firm to work under the direction of AT&T President Paul La Schiazza. According to the agreement, Cullen’s firm did not have authority to give gifts or payments directly or indirectly to political officials or parties. Bhachu also displayed an amendment to the deal that raised the payment amount to Cullen’s firm from $7,500 per month to $10,000 per month. Bhachu then introduced an email among AT&T legislative affairs members explaining the increased payments for an additional asset, which Galvin testified was “Eddie Acevedo,” to support House Democratic leadership. Bhachu then showed jurors a document showing AT&T’s sponsorship of a fundraising event for Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness in Chicago “to provide stakeholder opportunities with legislators.” The document included language explaining the $2,500 cost of the event, to align with Aunt Martha’s, was “to position AT&T with state, city and county decision-makers and business leaders.” FBI Special Agent Jennifer Avila followed Galvin to the witness stand and testified about AT&T records related to the company’s efforts to lobby Madigan for telecommunications modernization. Prosecutors introduced several emails over prior objections by the defense teams. In one email, La Schiazza wrote, “In Illinois no bill can get through the legislature and to the Governor without the tacit approval of the all-powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan. He is the longest serving Speaker in the United States and rules the House with an iron fist.” Another email from La Schiazza asked if there was money set aside for Eddie Acevedo. A subsequent email recommended that Acevedo not be contracted directly with AT&T but instead be hired by Cullen’s firm. In a series of emails, AT&T executives indicated that Acevedo “felt insulted” by the company’s consulting offer of $2,500 per month and asked for $3,000 per month. Acevedo eventually accepted the $2500 amount for consulting through Cullen & Associates. Government attorney Julia Schwartz introduced a series of emails from the summer of 2017, after the General Assembly passed legislation favored by AT&T. In one email, the speaker’s son, Andrew Madigan, emailed AT&T officials to invite them to participate in a fundraiser for Aunt Martha’s. La Schiazza suggested that this would not be the last such request and, after some discussion via email, La Schiazza wrote, “We’re on the friends and family plan now.” Connie Mixon, professor of Political Science and director of the Urban Studies Program at Elmhurst University, said defense attorneys might argue that AT&T’s behavior is not unusual. “Most people, most organizations, most corporations try to curry favor with legislators and, importantly, the powerful Speaker of the Illinois House, Michael Madigan,” Mixon told The Center Square. Lobbyist and former Madigan aide Will Cousineau mentioned AT&T in a wiretapped call with McClain on May 25, 2018. “Zalewski was asked to get you language on his small cell item today?” Cousineau asked. “Yeah?” McClain said. “Was that to talk to, to start a discussion with AT&T? And here’s the reason I’m asking: I’ve got a little, uh, COLR relief for little Century Link in there, um, that I would like to hook to anything that moves, and it’s in the language that he got you,” Cousineau said. Former AT&T executive Deno Perdiou began testifying Tuesday afternoon but did not return Wednesday due to what Blakey called “a personal issue.” The court is not scheduled to be in session Thursday or Friday. Trial proceedings are scheduled to resume Monday morning at the Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. Prosecutors indicated that they expect to rest their case Tuesday. Madigan’s defense attorneys suggested they would be ready to begin presenting their case when the government rests. Attorneys mentioned that state Rep. Bob Rita, D-Blue Island, might return to the witness stand. Rita testified for about 10 minutes on Oct. 24 but did not return. Bhachu said there are “some things in play” with regard to Rita. Madigan and McClain are charged with 23 counts of bribery, racketeering and official misconduct in connection with a scheme U.S. government attorneys termed, “The Madigan Enterprise.” Prosecutors allege that ComEd and AT&T Illinois gave out no-work or little-work jobs and contract work to those loyal to Madigan to get legislation passed that would benefit them in Springfield. Four ComEd executives and lobbyists were convicted last year in a related trial, and ComEd itself agreed to pay $200 million in fines as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors.

Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah agree to a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire is set to take hold at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Israeli warplanes have carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict amid a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 42 people were killed in strikes across Lebanon, according to local authorities. President Joe Biden said his administration now would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. What both sides are saying about the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah A ceasefire deal that could end more than a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group won backing from Israeli leaders. The truce that is set to take effect early Wednesday raised hopes and renewed difficult questions in a region gripped by conflict. Hezbollah leaders also signaled tentative backing for the U.S.-brokered deal, which offers both sides an off-ramp from hostilities But the deal does little directly to resolve the much deadlier war that has raged in Gaza since Hamas militants attacked southern Israel last October. Cheap Ozempic? How millions of Americans with obesity may get access to costly weight-loss drugs WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of obese Americans would get access to popular weekly injectables that would help them shed pounds quickly if a $35 billion proposal from the Biden administration is blessed by President-elect Donald Trump. The rule, unveiled Tuesday by the Health and Human Services Department, would require Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight-loss drugs like Wegovy or Zepbound for a large segment of Americans who are obese. But it’s unclear if the proposal, which would not go into effect until after Trump takes office, will have support from his new administration — including from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an opponent of the drugs who has been tapped by the president-elect to serve as head of HHS. Trump vows tariffs over immigration. What the numbers say about border crossings, drugs and crime. WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on Mexico and Canada as he seeks to portray them as responsible for illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Over its tenure, the Biden administration has struggled with growing numbers of migrants arriving at the southern border. But this year, the number of people crossing the border without documents has actually been falling. That's due in part to stricter enforcement by Mexican authorities as well as asylum restrictions announced earlier this year by the Biden administration. When it comes to fentanyl smuggling, much of the deadly supply comes from Mexico though statistics show more than 86% of those sentenced for fentanyl trafficking crimes in the 12 months ending September 2023 were U.S. citizens. AP finds that a Pentagon-funded study on extremism in the military relied on old data Early this year, Pete Hegseth told a Fox News audience a new, Pentagon-funded study proved that the number of military service members and veterans involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection did not indicate a wider problem in the armed forces. Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick to head the Department of Defense, wasn’t alone. The Wall Street Journal’s opinion page highlighted the same report as evidence that extremists in military communities were “phantoms” created by a “false media narrative.” The X account for Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee posted that the study showed the focus on extremism in the military was a “witch hunt.” But The Associated Press has found that the study relied on old data, misleading analyses and ignored evidence that pointed to the opposite conclusion. How Trump's bet on voters electing him managed to silence some of his legal woes WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith move to abandon two federal cases accusing Trump of endangering American democracy and national security does away with the most serious legal threats Trump was facing as he returns to the White House. It was the culmination of a monthslong defense effort to delay the proceedings at every step and use the criminal allegations to Trump's political advantage, putting the final word in the hands of voters instead of jurors. The move just weeks after Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris underscores the immense personal stake Trump had in the campaign in which he turned his legal woes into a political rallying cry. Walmart's DEI rollback signals a profound shift in the wake of Trump's election victory NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart’s sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are re-evaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups in business. The changes announced by the world’s biggest retailer on Monday followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. The retreat from such programs crystalized with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority. Brazil’s Bolsonaro planned and participated in a 2022 coup plot, unsealed police report alleges SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was fully aware of and actively participated in a coup plot to remain in office after his defeat in the 2022 election, according to a Federal Police report that has been unsealed. Brazil’s Federal Police last Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 other people of attempting a coup. They sent their 884-page report to the Supreme Court, which lifted the seal. Bolsonaro called a meeting in December 2022, during which he presented a draft decree to the commanders of the three divisions of the armed forces, that would have declared the vote fraudulent, to justify a possible military intervention. Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. New rule allows HIV-positive organ transplants People with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV. That's according to a new rule announced Tuesday by U.S. health officials. Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The new rule takes effect Wednesday. It's expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status, by increasing the pool of available organs. The practice is supported by a decade of research, during which 500 transplants of kidneys and livers from HIV-positive donors have been done in the U.S. Surveillance tech advances by Biden could aid in Trump's promised crackdown on immigration President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency’s supervision.President seeks support of all to achieve successful new era