Obituaries Famed News Anchor Marvin Zindler Dies HOUSTON
(2007)
Marvin Zindler died on this date in 2007 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Zindler was known as the perhaps overly dramatic investigative reporter on KTRK-TV in Houston.
Zindler's intense reporting of a LaGrange brothel known as "The Chicken Ranch" led Governor Dolph Briscoe to order the DPS to close the brothel in 1973, after 130 years of continuous operation, no doubt causing a severe blow to the local economy.
In 1978, the story of the closing of the Chicken Ranch, Governor, Briscoe, and Marvin Zindler (with names changed to protect the ... well, the innocent), made it to broadway, in a musical by Texas writer, Larry L King. "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" was later made into a hit movie, starring Dolly Parton, and Burt Reynolds.
Zindler, the original news reporter that started the whole thing, died in Houston at the age of 85.
Fans Watch on Big Screen ARLINGTON (1990) On this date in 1990, fans packed the first-base side of Arlington Stadium in hopes of watching Texas Ranger pitcher Nolan Ryan make Major League history.
The Texas Rangers were at Milwaukee playing the Brewers, and local fans wanted more than a radio or TV account of the game. So Arlington Stadium opened it's gates to the fans, giving free admission to watch the game on the giant screen television behind the outfield.
By the end of the game, 8,000 fans in Arlington and a packed house in Milwaukee all gave Nolan Ryan a standing ovation as he won his 300th Major League game.
Crime Desk Killer of Six Hanged in Waco WACO (1923) On this date in 1923, Roy Mitchell, who had been convicting of killing 4 men and 2 women, was hanged behind the McLennan County courthouse in Waco. As he stepped onto the platform he said "Goodbye, everyone" and just before the trap door opened, he whispered "Take me home."
This hanging was followed by the hanging of killer Nathan Lee of Angleton a month later. Lee was the last person publically hanged in Texas, Mitchell the next to last.
Weather Desk Tornado Hits Oak Cliff near Dallas, 5 dead DALLAS (1933) On this date in 1933, five people were killed, 30 injured, when a tornado hit Oak Cliff, a community in south Dallas.