Branch Davidian standoff 25 years later, feds to probe Dallas explosion: Your weekend roundup

February 25,  2018 By Holly Rusak Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines of the weekend so far. 🌞 Weather: Mostly sunny. High: 66 degrees. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. ATF agents help Bill Buford away from the Branch Davidian compound on Feb. 28, 1993, after gunfire erupted as the agents attempted to execute an arrest warrant on Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and search for illegal weapons. (AP) branch davidian: 25 years later How the Waco standoff began with a bloody gunbattle federal agents now regret It's Feb. 28, 1993, and two trucks with cattle trailers carry them and 72 other agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms into the worst firefight in U.S. law enforcement history. Before the morning was over, four ATF agents would be dead and 17 wounded. Inside the Branch Davidian stronghold, two people would be killed by ATF; others would be wounded and three would be finished off by other followers of the sect's prophet, David Koresh. Koresh, himself wounded, would tell followers it was the final confrontation he'd foretold: They would kill and die for God and return with him, the Lamb of God, to judge the world. There would be a painful reckoning for ATF and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. ATF's raid and an ensuing 51-day standoff managed by the FBI ended with the fiery deaths of Koresh and more than 70 followers. It prompted lawsuits, Congressional hearings, an independent counsel's investigation, and conspiracy theories about government and guns. [Today, ATF agents say the raid should have been called off](. There were failures of surveillance and intelligence. ATF's leaders were blind to warning signs that the raid's secrecy was fatally compromised. From the archives: In 2003, [Waco residents looked back on the Branch Davidian raid](. From the archives: While Waco's Branch Davidian compound siege raged on, [hawkers and opportunists swarmed](. You could tell when Linda Rogers wasn't there because her spirit was infectious, cheerleader coach Latoya Gibson said of 12-year-old Linda Rogers. (KXAS-TV) northwest dallas Feds to investigate explosion that killed 12-year-old 'amazing kid' The cheerleader who called herself Michellita was supposed to participate with her team in a competition Friday night. [But when tragedy struck — and Michellita couldn't be there — her teammates performed in her memory](. Linda Rogers, 12, was killed in a gas explosion at her home Friday in Northwest Dallas. She was known as Michellita by her cheer coach, who remembered the seventh-grade student at Uplift Williams Preparatory as someone special. "Michellita was joyful. When she wasn't there, you knew she wasn't there," Latoya Gibson told KDFW-TV (Channel 4). "You would try to fill that energy, but her spirit was so bright." On Saturday, after a mandatory neighborhood evacuation order was lifted, the National Transportation and Safety Board announced that it would be sending a team to investigate the explosion. 'We've been crying daily:' Meeting in the wake of Florida's mass shooting, Dallas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America's [group leader vows that "we're going to turn our anguish into real action."]( Also: [An 18-year-old woman was killed and her 16-year-old sister seriously wounded]( by gunfire shot through their window in southeast Oak Cliff. Meanwhile: [The AMC theaters at NorthPark Center in Dallas had to be evacuated]( Saturday afternoon after someone pulled a fire alarm. Farris Wilks (right) and his brother Dan Wilks (left) laugh with their sister Beth Maynard while telling a story about her time working for their company. (2013 File Photo/Ronald W. Erdrich/The Abilene Reporter-News) 2018 Elections Fracking billionaires pump millions into pushing Texas GOP even further right A civil war is raging among Texas Republicans. Nowhere are the big-money moves and political schisms more apparent than in a little-publicized state Senate race on the east side of Dallas. From East Dallas’ blue precincts to moderate Republican turf in Garland and Mesquite, to ruby-red Rowlett and a huge swath of heavily GOP-leaning territory in East Texas, [the sprawling Senate District 2 offers a glimpse at how a few West Texas billionaires are trying to tip the Legislature in a very different and much more hard-right direction](. Tea party-aligned state Sen. Bob Hall, a first-term Republican from Edgewood, is trying to fend off a challenge from pro-business conservative Sunnyvale GOP state Rep. Cindy Burkett. The Wilks brothers of Cisco, southeast of Abilene, and political action committees they dominate have given nearly $540,000 to Hall’s re-election campaign — 55 percent of its total fundraising haul. Rebuttal document: A [House panel released a redacted version of a Democrat-written memo]( that defended the FBI's surveillance of a former aide to President Trump. Campaign fundraising: [Ted Cruz trails Senate challenger Beto O'Rourke in six-week fundraising haul](. By a lot. 'Not a credit to law enforcement': President Donald [Trump called out a school resource officer as a coward]( for failing to confront the gunman who killed 17 people at a Florida high school. 'Washington insider':  [Houston Democratic congressional candidate Laura Moser is under attack from a national group]( in her own party that said her "disgust for life in Texas" means she couldn't win the general election. Advertisement (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) Photo of the Morning After a week of rain, the sun finally appeared over the Dallas skyline as Ari Hernandez posed for quinceañera photos with her date Neven Campos at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on Saturday. [KXAS-TV (NBC5) chief meteorologist Rick Mitchell said Sunday should be "beautiful."]( Around The Site - Missing person: [Jaden Hamilton Schmalzried, 34, was last seen about 8 a.m. Feb. 17]( leaving his Denton County home and heading to work in Plano. - Dallas police: [Two high-ranking officials are heading to other North Texas agencies]( after being demoted two ranks last year in Chief U. Renee Hall's shake-up of the department. - Classical music review: [It doesn't get much better than a stunning Mahler Second Symphony]( from Jaap van Zweden and the DSO. - Ready for some fresh sounds? Some new programs feature [themes ranging from]([Beowulf]([to Apollo 8](. - "I can't believe we're doing this:" Cowboys executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson says [the iconic 1977 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders poster will hang in the Smithsonian.]( OPINION ROUNDUP - Commentary: [It's time we treated our AR-15s like our F-150s](. - Editorial: [Don't dismiss]([Black Panther]([as just another superhero movie](. - Analysis: [Lack of affordable housing fuels a Dallas crisis that will take guts to fix](. - Perspective: [We education leaders must demand action on gun violence](. - Analysis: [Russian espionage operates like a corporation](. - Editorial: [Dallas, bike companies can do more to curb bicycle clutter, and here's how](. Euless Trinity's Mack Beggs looks to the crowd after winning the state title against Katy Morton Ranch's Chelsea Sanchez. (Rose Baca/Staff Photographer) Finally ... Transgender wrestler Mack Beggs finishes high school career with another UIL state title Mack Beggs had been in this very spot, the pinnacle, 364 days ago. In the same athletic complex. Beating the same state championship match opponent, Chelsea Sanchez of Katy Morton Ranch. But if Euless Trinity transgender wrestler Beggs thought this Class 6A 110-pound girls title victory would be more universally understood, respected and embraced than last year's, he was in for disappointment. A piercing cascade of cheers and boos enveloped Beggs at the end of the match, the last of his high school career. He responded by repeatedly tapping his chest and turning in a circle so that every soul in the Berry Center, pro and con, could see him. Did winning feel different this time? ["It definitely felt different," Beggs said. "I felt a lot more humble."]( Advertisement 👋 That's all for this morning! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. 💖 Share the love! If you like this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend and [check out our other newsletters here](. 📧 Do you have feedback? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to [newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). STAY CONNECTED WITH US  [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [Tumblr]( [Google]( [Reddit](  [OTHER NEWSLETTERS]( [SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS]( [Unsubscribe](  |  [Manage Preferences](  |  [Privacy Policy](  |  [Contact](  |  [Advertise]( You received this message because you signed up for this Dallas Morning News newsletter or it was forwarded to you. Copyright 2017 - [The Dallas Morning News]( | [508 Young St., Dallas, TX 75202](#)