Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has gone through some major renovations this offseason, and as a result, the old Arlington Stadium bleachers in centerfield have been removed.  You can own a piece of Texas Rangers history for just $540 if you want, and all proceeds go to the Texas Rangers Foundation.  Hurry up, because Friday the 10th is the last day to buy your seats!  For more information you can click here or call the Rangers' offices at 817-273-5030.

If you or someone you know suffers from autism and you are interested in learning more about the disorder and what resources are available then you should check out the Autism Awareness Symposium on February 24th at Stacy's Furniture Warehouse in Grapevine from 9am to 1pm.  Keynote speakers will be Phil and Amy from The Biggest Loser.  They lost a total of 250 pounds on the show and their participation on the showgave them new resources to cop with their son, Rhett's, autism.  You can find out more information on how to attend the event right here. 

Are you or is someone you know a HUGE Mavs fan? If so, Jason Terry has the perfect way for you to remember last year's Mavericks championship. He has set up an online charity raffle with proceeds going to The Jason Terry Foundation which is a youth based organization , focused on helping others obtain dreams through education, self-empowerment and community involvement. Raffle tickets are $2 a piece and the grand prize is a Dallas Mavericks replica championship ring along with tickets to a game, a post game locker room tour with your guide Jason Terry and much more. The value of the prize is $60,000. For more information on how to enter the raffle click here!

Organizers of the Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day Parade say without more money they will not be able to have the party.

They need $40,000 by February 17th for security, barricades and cleanup. See their website if you'd like to help.  www.greenvilleavenueparade.com

Commercials during this year's Super Bowl are going to be $3.5 million per 30 second commercial and you can bet that the companies willing to pony up that kind of dough will be trying their best to put out a quality commercial that people will talk about.  Several commercials set to debut this Sunday have already garnered quite a bit of attention, including the Ferris Bueller's Day Off spoof from Honda.  If you just can't wait until Sunday to see the Commercials you can take a sneak peek right here!

Despite rumors flying around the internet suggesting otherwise, Reba McEntire is alive and well this morning. The Global Associated News webiste, which includes a disclaimer that their reports are "a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes," first distributed the story Monday night that Reba McEntire fell more than 100 feet to her death while filming a movie in Australia. Her official website has released a statement calling the reports "ludicrous" and blasts the website. The website has also been the source for other celebrity death hoaxes, such as Will Smith, Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy.

The mild winter weather has put the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on pace to break records.  The previous high for attendance was 955,800 in 2006 and last year's total was 930,300 despite the ice storms  that blew through North Texas.  With good weather anticpated for this last week of the Stock Show, organizers are hopeful they can break the million visitor mark for the first time in the event's history.  This coming Friday and Saturday are traditionally two of the biggest days for the Stock Show as Friday the grand champion steer is chosen and on Saturday, they have the Sale of Champions scheduled.

The Academy of Country Music nominations were released yesterday and among the big winners was the local group, Eli Young Band.  Eli Young Band had three nominations in this break out year for them including Vocal Group of the Year, and Single of the Year and Song of the year both for Crazy Girl.  Congratulations to the boys of Eli Young Band!  For the complete list of nominees you can click here.

http://www.acmcountry.com/nominees.html

April 28th, The Dallas Opera will perform Mozart's The Magic Flute in Cowboys Stadium via a simulcast from the live performance at the Winspear Opera House.  It will be the first classical-music simulcast in a North Texas sports venue.  Admission and parking are free but you'll need to reserve your seat at dallasopera.org.

Now that Japanese pitcher, Yu Darvish, is officially a Texas Ranger, he needs a place to stay while working here in North Texas.  And it appears he could be looking at a place in Victory Park near some other famous celebrities.  He was spotted touring a $1.9 million suite at the W directly below new Dallas Maverick Lamar Odom and his wife, Khloe Kardashian.  To see what $1.9 million gets you in Victory Park you can click here!  http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2012/jan/20/newly-divorced-yu-darvish-dallas-bachelor-pad/?refscroll=289

If you are a Carrie Underwood fan, you won't want to miss this!  Carrie Underwood is teaming up with Steven Tyler for a special "CMT Crossroads" the night before the Super Bowl.  Carrie and Steven will be live from the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam on February 4th and you can watch it, 10pm on CMT on Saturday February 4th.

Garth Brooks is suing an Oklahoma Hospital after a dispute over a $500,000 donation he made in 2005.  The country superstar is asking for the donation to be returned after he claims the hospital took back a promise to name a building after his late mother, Collen Brooks.  He says hospital officials showed him drawings of buldings bearing her name at the time of the donation.  The Intergris Canadian Valley Hospital says they did nothing wrong, stating that Garth's donation was "anonymous and unconditional."  According to the Associated Press, the trial begins this week.

Blake Shelton's father, Dick Shelton, died Tuesday surrounded by loved ones in Oklahoma after a year of declining health. Blake dedictated his win at last month's ACA's to his father, who was hospitalized with pneumonia at the time. Blake will miss four shows in North Dakota and Montana before returning to the road January 26th. Blake released a statement thanking his fans, "Your support means the world to me. I love you guys."

Some tips to help you keep losing weight all day long!

Dolly Parton’s new movie Joyful Noise is in theaters this weekend. The iconic country singer stars as "G.G. Sparrow," a feisty, blonde with a passion for singing and leadership. Dolly says her role doesn’t stray too far from her real-life personality. "The character is very similar to my own person. Todd Graff, who wrote the movie, he patterned it after my personality. So, he tailor-made it, but it’s still a different character. But, the movie is good, very uplifting...a lot of great gospel music. I got to write four of the songs." Joyful Noise also stars Queen Latifah and opens this weekend

A recent survey of American workers says that roughly 3/4 of us go in to work while we are sick, but only 8% of workers said they were happy that a co-worker showed up sick. So, if someone is coming in to work sick, even with good intentions, most of us believe they are doing more harm than good. What do you think? Let us know! 214-787-1995

It's January and there are people everywhere trying to get started on their New Year's Resolutions.  For many, that means getting in shape or losing weight.  Not everyone is trying to lose weight or tighten up in the same places though, so we found some exercises that help to target specific "spots" if that's your thing.  Click here to see the specific exercises!

It's time to recycle your Christmas trees! Most area cities will pick up trees curbside at your house, but make sure you have taken EVERYTHING off of your tree! Don't leave any ornaments, lights or tinsle! Here are a few drop-off and pick-up dates for some cities in the area.

Fort Worth

To use a drop-off station in Fort Worth, residents must show a recent Fort Worth water bill and current ID with a Fort Worth address. Renters with a Fort Worth address must show a current Fort Worth water bill to use the drop-off station. Apartment renters may use the stations for recyclables only. There are three drop-off stations:

Brennan
2400 Brennan Ave.

Southeast
5150 Martin Luther King Freeway

Old Hemphill Road
6260 Old Hemphill Road

Hours of operation:

Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

Arlington

In Arlington, residents have until Jan. 9, 2012 to drop-off their Christmas trees at two main drop off centers.

South Arlington
Calloway Nursery
4940 S. cooper St.
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily
817-465-2838

North Arlington
Arlington Sanitary Landfill
800 Mosier Valley Road
Monday - Saturday: 7 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
817-354-2300

Trees placed curbside will not be recycled, but will be collected if they are under 6 feet.

Plano

Beginning Jan. 3, 2012, homeowners can place Christmas trees curbside for the Sustainability & Environmental Services Department to recycle. Apartment residents have until Jan. 9, 2012 to drop their tree off at one of three recycling centers:

Heritage Yards Ball Fields
4525 Hedgcoxe Road

High Point Park
6500 Alma Drive

Preston Meadow Park
4243 Lorimar Dr

Denton

Residents can either leave the tree at the curb or drop it off at the Landfill:

1527 S. Mayhill Road
Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. to 12 p.m

It's a tradition many of us take part in every New Year's Day, but most of us really have no idea why. People all across the country, especially in the South, eat black-eyed peas every New Year's Day for good luck for the next year. So how did this tradition start? Well, legend has it, the tradition started during the Civil War when General Sherman marched through Georgia burning towns and destroying food. The black-eyed peas were spared and thus became the food everyone ate on New Year's Day and saved many from starvation. For the whole story you can click here!

Carrie Underwood received an unusual gift from her husband, Mike Fisher, on Christmas. Carrie recently fell in love with a painting of a cow named "Harry" at Laurel Leaf Gallery in Nashville. The gallery owner posted on her blog that Mike came back in later to purchase the oil painting for his country star wife. To get your own bovine print like Carrie, look for Carol DeMumbrum on Etsy.com. Check out the painting here!

The Billboard "Top 25 Tours of 2011" include some of country music's finest. Taylor Swift comes in at #5 on the list with a gross amount of $97,368,416, with Kenny Chesney at #6 and a gross of $84,576,917. Meantime, Jason Aldean takes the #24 spot and Toby Keith follows right behind at #25. U2 comes in at #1 on the prestigious list, with Bon Jovi at #2. Artists are ranked by their total gross earnings from November 1 of last year to November 8 of this year, according to Billboard Boxscore.

Wal-Mart has pulled a batch of powdered infant formula from its stores nationwide after a newborn Missouri boy who was given the formula became gravely ill with a suspected bacterial infection and died after being taken off life support, the retailer said Wednesday.

No government recall had been ordered for the 12.5-ounce cans of Enfamil Newborn powder with the lot number ZP1J7G. Manufacturer Mead Johnson Nutrition said its records showed the lot tested negative for the bacterium before it was shipped.

There has been no official recall yet but  Wal-Mart says the company has pulled the product off of the shelves as a precaution and say it could go return to shelves pending the outcome of the investigation.  Customers who bought the formula can return them for a refund or exchange

A print ad featuring Taylor Swift has been pulled by Procter and Gamble, not because of something Taylor did, but because the photo in the ad was reportedly “enhanced” by the company to make Taylor’s eyelashes look thicker than they are in real life. The Council of Better Business Bureaus states that you can’t “photoshop” a model, even if you use a disclaimer, which the ad in question did, according to Business Insider. P&G yanked the CoverGirl Natureluxe mascara ad and has agreed to not run it again.  Check out the whole story and the picture in question here!

News broke this morning that country star Rodney Atkins was arrested last month for domestic assault after allegedly trying to smother his wife with a pillow. He has since filed for divorce and says that his wife made up the whole thing. His wife told police that they were arguing throughout the night in their home when Rodney turned violent and tried to smother her with a pillow and threw her down the hallway.

Rodney's lawyer says, "When Mr. Atkins realized their child was in hearing range of the argument his first priority became getting out of the earshot of the child."

The statement continues, "Mr. Atkins realized he would have no recourse but to file a complaint for divorce. He has exercised substantial parenting time with the parties son and he will continue to do so while the divorce is pending."

"Mr. Atkins wants to thank his fans for standing by him as he is confident the truth will prevail."

Are you one of the many people out there that avoid getting the flu shot every year just because you don't like needles? Well there is good news. A new oral flu vaccine is being developed and may be even more effective than the traditional shot in preventing the flu. Doctors are encouraged by the new development and are hopeful it could lead to more people getting vaccinated each year, as only 37 percent of people said they planned to get a shot this year.

First, there was Miles Austin and Kim Kardashian, and now DFW has another star athlete coupled with a Kardashian in town. Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers was traded to the Dallas Mavericks over the weekend, and with him will be his famous wife, Khloe Kardashian. The couple has their own reality show, "Khloe and Lamar", on top of all other things associated with the Kardashian empire. Lamar Odom reportedly had Dallas on a list of desired destinations if he were to be traded, but his wife has shown some displeasure with the move this morning, tweeting that they are sad about the move.

Author and special ed professor George Giuliani appeared on Fox News and argued that the classic Christmas movie "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" sends the wrong message about bullying. "What the're doing to him is to say that Comet is the coach, and Comet is saying to the children, don't ever play with this reindeer ever again. And he tells him to go home and he bullies him and he mocks him. That should never happen." says Giuliani. Do you agree with Giuliani? Let us know!

Having trouble shopping for someone on your Christmas list? We've found some websites that may be able to help. If you have a kid that tires of their new toys quickly, there is a new solution out there. Instead of buying the toy, you can rent it. www.Toygaroo.com is a new website that allows you to pay a monthly fee to rent toys, and it works similarly to Netflix. And if you are having trouble shopping for the person that already has everything. Buy that person an experience! www.Could9Living.com has hundreds of experience ideas including skydiving, dinner rides, a ride around Texas Motor Speedway in a race car!

If you are in the market for country music memorabillia, today is the final day of dozens of auctions in the first ever "Country Music Blooms Online Auction". Proceeds will benefit the Nashville Music Garden Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. So if you have been looking for an autographed Kenny Chesney cowboy hat or a pair of boots Little Jimmy Dickens wore on stage at the Grand Ole Opry or anything in between, check it out!