Valley View Center "a danger," TxDot funding, Dak Prescott: Your Tuesday morning roundup

May 29,  2018 By Tommy Cummings and Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌞 Weather: Mostly sunny and hot. High of 97 degrees. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. This is what a cleaned-up demolition site at Valley View Center looks like. (Robert Wilonsky/Staff) COMMENTARY Valley View Center was supposed to be gone by now, but instead Dallas calls it ‘a substantial danger’ City Columnist Robert Wilonsky writes: Nobody shops at Valley View Center, because, except for a bodega selling Mexican soft drinks and sweets, there are no open stores left in the mall that should have been demolished over a year ago. But people do live in the dead mall. Or they did up until a few weeks ago, amid the rubble and rebar jutting out of what remains of the old Sanger-Harris and a halfheartedly demolished parking garage. [During a recent crawl through the ruins of the mall that promised "the best of everything" upon its opening in July 1973, city attorneys and code inspectors said they found evidence of homeless encampments.]( They say they saw wide-open holes in the chain-link and gaping wounds in the concrete that allowed for easy access to the hollowed-out guts of the slowly decomposing mall that refuses to go down. "It looks pretty bad," said Chhunny Chhean, who was recently made Chief of Community Prosecution in the city attorney's office. "You could see people had been there." [Continue reading Robert Wilonsky.]( Editorial: Here's why [missing your Starbucks fix Tuesday afternoon might improve race relations.]( Commentary: [AT&T maintains diversity by bumping employees out of their comfort zones](, writes Corey Anthony, AT&T's chief diversity officer. Early-morning traffic traveling east and west on Interstate 30 across Lake Ray Hubbard. Three segments of I-30 from the Hunt County line to downtown Dallas, are each on TxDOT's list of 11 priority projects for a seven-county region. (David Woo/Staff photographer) D-FW With LBJ East approved, the question of how to pay for $24 billion in upcoming projects remains The Texas Department of Transportation's Dallas district has a $24 billion to-do list and, over the next decade, [expects to receive only about $8 billion to address its freeway needs.]( Drivers will continue to feel the shortfall as relentless growth floods existing roadways in the district's seven-county region. TxDOT presented the pressure points to the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition last month, [including 30 projects that add up to the $24 billion, a dozen of which were listed as priorities.]( "It's difficult to imagine how all of these projects are going to be funded," said Mike Cantrell, Dallas County commissioner and former Regional Transportation Council chairman. "You're talking new capacity versus maintenance, bridges, air quality and so many things that need to be done with such a shortage in funding." Also: A Fort Worth firefighter is accused of [installing a hidden camera in his ex-girlfriend's bathroom](. And: [Eight straight days of 100-degree temperatures could be coming]( to Dallas-Fort Worth — and some records could be broken. Former Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, left, talks with quarterback Dak Prescott at the Alberstons all-star gala at the Star in Frisco last month. (Jae S. Lee/Staff photographer) DALLAS COWBOYS Here’s an example of how Cowboys QB Dak Prescott leads behind the scenes With Jason Witten and Dez Bryant no longer in the locker room, even more leadership responsibility falls on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. [Some would say his leadership style will probably change. Prescott says it won't.]( "Not at all. Those guys did a great job encouraging me to be the leader that I am, kind of making me take charge," Prescott said. "So now with those guys gone it's really no different. Nobody trying to tell me to do it, nobody making me do it. "It's becoming more and more natural. It's having fun, just getting those guys going." Whose leadership style is Prescott's more like, Witten or Bryant? ["I'd say Witt," Prescott said.]( Trash talk: Why [Cowboys rookie cornerback Jourdan Lewis 'appreciated' heated battle with Dez Bryant]( that was highlighted in 'All or Nothing' series. Meanwhile: What was the most eye-opening observation from the Cowboys' first session of OTAs? [A panel of beat writers weighs in.]( Advertisement (Andy Jacobsohn/Staff Photographer)  Photo of the Morning Don Gieseke (second to left) jokes with Lanny Money (left), Dick Strohmeier (second from right) and Tom Naylor (right), all of which were Braniff pilots, [during the 41st annual Braniff International Airways pilots picnic at Denton Municipal Airport on Monday](. For the final picnic the organizers, Braniff International Silver Eagles, invited former mechanics and flight attendants as well as pilots. Around The Site - Memorial Day: [North Texans share why they visited Restland Memorial Park]( to mark yesterday's holiday. - Have you seen this veteran?: U.S. 1st Cavalry members are looking for their friend who [t]([hey have ever only known as "Louisiana."]( - Texas Rangers: [Are Rougned Odor's days as the Rangers](' second baseman numbered? - Northwest Dallas: [The body of an unidentified woman was found early Monday in a parking lot]( and police are investigating as a homicide. - Missing person: Dallas [police are asking for help finding a 27-year-old man]( who was last seen carrying an Air Soft gun in a green backpack. - Body recovery: [Crews have found the body of an 18-year-old who went swimming]( at a private quarry in Collin County on Sunday and did not resurface. - Fire fatality: [A man whose body was found early Monday at his burning Buckner Terrace duplex]( was killed before the fire started, police said. CJustin Timberlake, shown in a performance in Austin last year, put on a performance Sunday at the American Airlines Center that was a xolorful two-hour escapade (Getty Images) Finally ... Timberlake took shots with Nowitzki during a powerhouse pop show in Dallas Justin Timberlake's suave-yet-goofy style and magnetizing moves electrified fans from the American Airlines Center floor seats to the rafters on Sunday. It also helped that the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki showed up with a tray of drinks. [Brenna Rushing reviewed the two-hour performance for GuideLive.]( 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=). 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