Dallas

The artist who painted a giant mural on a building in downtown Dallas of life-sized swimming whales has filed a $25 million lawsuit against soccer’s international governing body and others, saying they illegally painted over his work to promote the city’s upcoming World Cup matches.

The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet across two of the building’s walls.

The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural’s grand scale and message of ocean conservation.

The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland’s mural, new artwork is planned “that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.” It said a portion of Wyland’s mural would be preserved.

Wyland filed suit Monday in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building’s owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.

Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.

“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist’s lawsuit says.

A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament’s local organizing committee.

A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”

“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company’s spokesperson said in an email.

Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Wyland’s Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.

An online petition protesting the mural’s destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.

Wyland’s lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.

A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

Bynum writes for the Associated Press. Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga.

A large fire destroyed an apartment complex in Dallas after crews responded to reports of a gas leak. Authorities say at least three people, including a child, were killed. Other residents are unaccounted for.

May 28 (UPI) — At least four people were hospitalized Thursday when a gas leak at a Dallas apartment building triggered a massive explosion and a five-alarm fire, city officials and witnesses said.

The building in the city’s Oak Cliff neighborhood located just south of downtown was in flames when firefighters arrived at 12:49 p.m. CDT, 2 minutes after receiving calls about a gas leak, Dallas Fire Rescue Assistant Chief James Russ told reporters.

The intensity of the fire quickly necessitated a second alarm, he said.

“Shortly after it continued to escalate and upgrade, and at this time we are at a five-alarm fire,” the assistant chief said in an update delivered shortly before 4 p.m. “The fire is contained but our members are still working on the scene to do primary searches.”

Russ and firefighters launched a drone to canvas the area to “see if we have any victims around. At this time, it’s unknown how many possible fatalities we may have.”

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the city is “going to do every single thing we have to do and that we need to do make sure that every affected family by this tragedy gets what they need.

“You have my commitment that we will do whatever we have to do to make sure that these folks are okay. But the most important thing right now is that we come together as a community and that we pray for everyone’s well-being.”

A family assistance center has been established at nearby high school, the mayor said.

Police urged residents to not go to near the fire scene as thick plumes of black smoke visible for miles rose above downtown Dallas.

Video from the scene showed a smoldering ruin where the apartment complex once stood.

Witnesses said they felt an explosion that shook the entire neighborhood.

“We live right here in the corner house, and we were inside, and then when we heard it, it was like a boom!” a nearby resident told KXAS-TV. “And at first I thought the tree fell on my house or something, or somebody hit my house because I live in the corner.

“So we came out here, and we’re just looking around, then we saw the smoke and the apartments have blew up.”

KXAS reported cited unnamed sources confirming that a contractor was working at the building and struck a gas line, triggering the explosion.

Some 11 residents remained unaccounted for in the hours after the explosion, the station reported.

Karol G is taking her 2025 album, “Tropicoqueta,” worldwide.

After wrapping two bombastic headlining sets at Coachella this year, the Colombian superstar announced a stadium world tour on Instagram Tuesday morning.

The “Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour” will kick off July 24 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. The “Provenza” artist will then head out to Las Vegas on Aug. 7 before making a stop at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Aug. 14. She’ll grace California with one more performance on Aug. 21 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

The 35-year-old singer will wrap up the U.S. leg of her tour with a performance in Dallas on Oct. 15 before commencing the international section of the tour in Monterrey, Mexico, on Nov. 6. This string of shows is scheduled to finish exactly a year after commencing, with a July 24, 2027, set in Milan, Italy.

Karol G was the first Latina to headline Coachella in the desert fest’s 27-year history. She was only the second Latin music artist to get top billing at the event, with Bad Bunny being the first to ever do it with his 2023 headlining performances.

“This is for my Latinos that have been struggling in this country lately,” she told her fans during her history-making performance. “We stand for them. I stand for my Latina community. I am very proud because this brings out the best in us: unity, resilience and a strong spirit. We do this because we want everyone to feel welcome to our culture, so I want everyone to feel proud of where you come from.”

During her Coachella shows, which took place across two weekends in April, she brought out a cavalcade of guest performers — including L.A.’s own Becky G, the Colombian reggaeton revivalist J Balvin and Greg Gonzalez from Cigarettes After Sex.

The “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” artist first teased that she’d be embarking on a tour at the end of her set during the second weekend of Coachella. Text reading “Nos Vamos de Tour” (We’re going on tour) was displayed as she played her final song.

FRISCO, Texas — Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil scored late in the first half after Petar Musa scored twice to give Dallas the lead, helping the Galaxy rally for a 2-2 draw on Saturday night.

Musa scored unassisted in the seventh minute to give Dallas a quick lead and then used assists from Christian Cappis and Logan Farrington to give Dallas a two-goal advantage in the 38th minute with his league-leading ninth of the season.

It was the first assist for Cappis after collecting two in 11 appearances last season as a rookie. Farrington’s third assist gives him 15 in 69 career matches.

Sanabria used assists from Paintsil and Justin Haak to cut it to 2-1 in the 43rd minute and Paintsil used assists from Gabriel Pec and defender Mauricio Cuevas to tie it three minutes into stoppage time.

Sanabria netted his second goal after scoring twice in 21 matches as a rookie last season. A hamstring injury sidelined Paintsil, who has a goal and two assists in four matches. Pec has four assists but has yet to score.

Michael Collodi turned away three shots in goal for Dallas (3-1-4).

JT Marcinkowski had three saves for the Galaxy (2-3-3).

The Galaxy lead the all-time series 37-35-13 and are 9-26-8 in Frisco.