Five stories that have North Texas talking: the Dallas Zoo’s giraffe sculpture needs a friend, dig into the history of Tex-Mex restaurants in North Texas, and more.

Dallas Zoo’s iconic giraffe sculpture needs a friend. The city is looking for artists to help make a piece to compliment the giraffe, which will be located near the Zoo’s entrance. Through August 8, the Office of Cultural Affairs is accepting applications from artists and sculptors.

• Thanks to some entrepreneurial families, North Texas boasts some amazing Tex-Mex food. The Latino Cultural Center will be hosting an exhibition on the influence of Tex-Mex cuisine on southwestern culture. The exhibition includes original items from restaurants, vintage menus, and photographs. No word on if there will be food, but if the exhibit whets your appetite, we suggest grabbing some grub after.

• Denton City Council members have denied a city-wide fracking ban. The council rejected the ordinance 5-2 after listening to seven hours of public testimonies from more than 100 people on both sides of the issue, KERA’s Doualy Xaykaothao reports. She will have more on the story later today.  The final vote was handed down just before 3 a.m., according to CBS 11. The ordinance will now go to voters in November.

• A 220-ton machine known as a cyclotron has made it to Irving to deliver proton therapy to North Texas cancer patients.  Proton therapy is a type of radiation treatment that targets cancerous tumors located in sensitive places such as the brain.D Magazine reports the machine will be housed at The Texas Center for Proton Therapy, which is expected to open in 2016.BJ Austin reported on proton therapy last year and how the cyclotron works.

• Meet “Mr. Archer City.” 18-year-old Kelvin Cletus Green ran unopposed in the mayoral election and was sworn in back in May as Archer City’s youngest mayor. He’s well known around town, which is located thirty minutes south of Wichita Falls. Green was active in sports prior to taking his new job; in fact, he was boarding a bus for a game in Mineral Wells the day he was sworn in, Texas Monthly reports. Councilmembers have been generally supportive of the young mayor, but one person had doubts; a 16-year-old Boy Scout who sat in on a council meeting to earn his communications merit badge.