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Exclusive: Dominique Sachse sends heartfelt message to Houston fans upon news of her major move

After a lifetime in Houston Dominique Sachse is headed to Dallas.

Photo by Al Torres

One of Houston’s most recognizable faces and personalities is leaving town, but fortunately for fans, not terribly far. Former Channel 2 star anchor and current YouTube phenomenon Dominique Sachse is headed to Dallas.

Sachse announced the news on her YouTube channel, Over 50 & Flourishing, to her nearly 2 million followers on January 8.

“Houston will forever hold a special place in my heart,” she tells CultureMap exclusively, “and I am eternally thankful for the invaluable experiences it has provided me. Transitioning to the DFW area signifies the commencement of a fresh chapter and exciting opportunities in my life, all while preserving the foundation I have diligently established.”

“Moreover, I take pride in remaining in the greatest state of them all! Eager for new connections, growth, and spreading my wings. Here’s to making bold moves after 50!”

Dominique’s bold move

Her departure to the Dallas-Fort Worth area is a surprising turn for the consummate Houston girl who moved here in the ’70s, grew up in Memorial, attended the University of Houston, worked in radio, effortlessly transitioned to TV — and never looked back.

So bold is the influencer/media star’s move, she can’t say what she’s doing next — yet.

“There’s a big announcement and there’s a big, big, big, big change — like, huge life change coming my way,” Sachse revealed to fans on January 8. “And when I say that this came out of left field — and literally out of the blue — and landed on my lap, I kid you not.”

This new opportunity is so game-changing, it “dropped my jaw to the ground,” she said on the episode, “and I sat there and I really had to process what was just landing on me. What is this? Where did this come from? Why?” Teasing a “seed” that she says God planted in her long ago, Sachse added that, “as I started to kind of add everything up and string things together, it all made absolute, perfect sense. Perfect sense as to why this was happening now in my life.”

From tragedy to triumph

Now, it appears an opportunity that may have once seemed passed has apparently has resurfaced. “You know it’s so funny,” she said on the show. “You can have a dream from yesteryear, you can have a goal and a vision, and maybe it didn’t materialize in a way you thought, or maybe you justified it in a different way, or analyzed it and said, ‘Well, it didn’t happen because of this, but I got to live and experience this dream or this iteration of it.’”

That iteration was a “storied career” that saw Sachse dominate local evening newscast ratings (after a once-in-a-generation leap from radio DJ to TV star), evolve into a Houston celebrity, trusted tastemaker, and YouTube star — while on YV, something she noted was “unheard of” in the industry. Indeed, Sachse is one of the few major TV anchors who was allowed such a work setup. She was soaring.

Dominique Sachse Audrey Toll Sachse and her mother, Audrey Toll.Dominique Sachse/Instagram

But, life happened. Sachse left Channel 2 and transitioned to YouTube full time, and later faced a divorce and the loss of her mother and best friend, Audrey Toll, last year. A charismatic character in her own right, the equally ageless Toll passed away after a sudden cardiac event in July.

A seed set to flower, open, and bloom

Suddenly, Sachse — a mother of handsome son Styles, now in college — was essentially alone and starting anew. Rather than retreat, she has now chosen to, “abandon fear and embrace this stage of life,” she said on the podcast. “It’s not shutting down but an opportunity to open.”

Dominique Sachse Styles Sachse’s son Styles is now in college. Dominique Sachse/Instagram

So, she declared, she is “opening myself up to something new, yet again.”

One can only speculate as to Sachse’s massive new opportunity, but it isn’t hard to envision her as an anchor or host for a national media outlet, as she always presented as a network anchor in a local role. Her leading-lady persona makes her picture perfect as a spokesperson for a household-name entity.

And given Sachse’s immense fan appeal and Q rating as a decades-long media presence — plus, her faith, which she discusses openly — a foray into politics or faith wouldn’t be a huge stretch, either.

Whatever the new journey, we imagine the woman so many here know as “Dom” will approach it with the same work ethic, approachability — and even, at times, vulnerability — that made her one of the most famous faces ever in Houston’s media landscape.

pet protection

What Texas pet owners need to know about the dangerous New World screwworm

Photo by Helena Jankovičová Kováčová/Pexels

Make sure these guys are up on their flea and tick meds.

Two New World screwworm cases in dogs are among more than 30 confirmed instances in Texas and New Mexico, prompting warnings Wednesday, July 8 from veterinarians and humane societies that pet owners need to remain vigilant to protect their animals.

The parasite reappeared in cattle in the U.S. in June, more than 50 years after it had been largely eradicated from the country. The pest is actually the larvae of the New World screwworm fly. It eats live flesh and fluids rather than dead material, as the larvae of most fly species do.

Here is what to know about the parasite, the threat it poses to pets and how to protect them:

Screwworm fly larvae can infest any mammal
The fly's migration north from Panama starting in 2024, and through Mexico in 2025, has agriculture officials warning that it poses a threat to the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry, but the larvae can hatch and breed in any mammal, including wildlife, dogs, cats and occasionally humans.

The problem develops when a female fly lays its eggs in open wounds and mucus. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed for about a week before maturing, dropping to the ground and continuing to develop into an adult fly.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says newborn animals and animals with open wounds or who have undergone surgery or other medical procedures recently are especially vulnerable. Even a tick bite can host an infestation, Aaron Grady, executive director of the Houston Humane Society shelter, said during a webinar on the screwworm.

Screwworm fly The goal is to stop these flies from successfully breeding.Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture

Infestation signs include restlessness and bad smell
Animal health experts say pet owners in areas where the screwworm is present — southern and southwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico so far — should watch their animals closely and examine them for wounds, cuts and bites regularly.

Pet owners should look for any maggots or movement in a wound. Other signs include a foul smell and restlessness or anxiety in an animal, or an animal “hyper-fixating on looking or chewing in a certain area of the body," said Melissa Stansell, a veterinarian at the shelter Austin Pets Alive!

Any one of those is reason enough to go to a veterinarian. The affected animal is likely in a great deal of pain, and that can cause death from shock. The larvae also can cause death if they move into vital organs or by causing infections that turn deadly.

Flea, tick medications can stop an infestation
Humane society officials and veterinarians said shelters across Texas are trying to prevent infestations in animals by giving them prescription flea and tick medications. They recommend that pet owners do the same.

“It will kill the larvae as they ingest the blood and tissue,” Stansell said. “The chemical compositions of those products are what kill the actual larval stages of these flies.”

Veterinarians also can treat infestations and animals can recover if pet owners contact them quickly. Stansell said the treatment could include antibiotics.

“It is only fatal if left untreated,” she said.

An effort to eradicate the fly again is underway
The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species and decades ago would disappear each year when colder weather arrived with the fall or winter.

But state and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials aren't waiting for the weather to turn. They've returned to an eradication method that worked decades ago, breeding sterile male flies and releasing them into the wild. The female New World screwworm fly mates once in her monthslong life, and if her partner is sterile, her eggs won't hatch — causing the population in an area to drop and then disappear.

For years, the only factory breeding sterile flies in the Western Hemisphere was in Panama, but the USDA invested $21 million to convert a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to recently start breeding screwworm flies. The agency also plans to spend $750 million on a new fly factory in Texas, set to open next year.

screwworm fly pets