Gas Pipe drug trafficking operation, GuideLive's new chatbot, police treatment of DeSoto family: Your Friday morning roundup

October 12, 2018 By Dom DiFurio and Nataly Keomoungkhoun Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌧️ Weather: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of scattered showers. High of 69. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings (left) and resident Hilton Gray toured the St. Jude Center during a ceremonial opening Wednesday. City and county officials called the center the opening salvo in fighting homelessness across Dallas. (Daniel Carde/Staff Photographer)  dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, others hail opening of new $6M homeless facility in northwest Dallas At Wednesday’s grand opening of the St. Jude Center, Bobby Holmes stood at the door, resplendent in a black tuxedo. He was home, finally. The 63-year-old Army vet is one of the first residents at the [104-unit, $6 million facility, which offers permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless and disabled seniors, ages 55 and over](. As the dignitaries rolled in, Holmes shared a smile and his story of five years living on the streets and in abandoned houses. And at the end of a blue ribbon-cutting ceremony, he was treated with a level of celebrity, called into photos opportunities with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. “I love it here,” Holmes said. “They just show you so much love, man. If you need anyone to talk to, whatever, they’re there for you." Transportation: The Trinity Railway Express will not make the Dec. 31 federal deadline for safety upgrades, but its recent progress is[likely enough to merit an extension.]( Also: The Dallas ISD teacher pay system is being highlighted as [one of six in the nation getting results](. Politics Why one political activist felt changing Prairie View A&M's voting procedure was worth going to jail A field director for Democratic Congressional candidate Mike Siegel was arrested in Waller County [after standing up for Prairie View A&M University students](, whose voter registrations the county questioned. The campaign worker, Jacob Aronowitz, was arrested Wednesday after he delivered a letter demanding the county update the voter registration status of the students who attend the historically black university. The letter was addressed to County Judge Carbett “Trey” Duhon and elections administrator Christy Eason. On Tuesday, the deadline to register to vote, the county said thousands of students were registered under the wrong address, [the Houston Chronicle first reported.]( Prairie View A&M doesn't allow students to have mailboxes on the campus, which is about 50 miles northwest of Houston. So in 2016, officials told students to register using 700 or 100 University Drive as their address. In March before the primary elections, officials discovered the 700 University Drive address was outside of the voting precinct. The students were allowed to vote in the primaries, but the issue came up again Tuesday when Eason said students needed to fill out change of address forms with their dorm addresses. [She said they need to be completed before Election Day, but no one will be denied the right to vote.]( Political mail: Who's really behind the political fliers in your mailbox? [You might be surprised](. ‘I can help you get your party back': Nathan Johnson says he can get Republicans “back on track.” Thing is, [he’s a Democrat.]( drug trafficking Prosecution says Gas Pipe drug trafficking operation was a case of 'catch me if you can' The chemicals were born far away in Chinese laboratories. They were sprayed onto organic leaves and sold as “spice” — a synthetic cannabinoid to be smoked for a high. Federal authorities would determine a new chemical was dangerous and add it to the banned controlled substances list. But chemists kept tweaking the molecular structure, adding or subtracting an atom here or there. [It got a new name and ended up in Gas Pipe stores across Texas]( — that is, until the DEA caught up to the science and had that chemical banned. “Wash, rinse and repeat,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Tromblay called it on Thursday during closing arguments in the Gas Pipe drug trafficking trial. “The defendants engaged in a game... and it never changed.” That game — or race — between federal regulators and the Gas Pipe owners played out over several years, authorities say. As Tromblay put it, [it was a game of “Catch me if you can.”]( Crime: Local and federal officials [arrested over 100 fugitives in a 2-month-long gang enforcement operation](. "Operation Triple Beam Dallas" nabbed 104 fugitives, 30 firearms, two stolen vehicles, over 170 kilograms of drugs and over $53,750 in illicit funds. And: Cop gossip caught on camera led to questions of whether a judge gave them freedom to blood test any DWI suspect. An investigation by the DA w[as ultimately closed without finding any wrongdoing](. EDITORS' PICKS - Snow in October?: These Texas cities [could see white stuff]( this weekend. - Commentary: Why Dallas City Hall, a developer and the feds are so interested in a ['crime-infested blight on a hillside']( in Oak Cliff. - A pricey good night's sleep: $189,000 will buy you the [bespoke bed of your dreams.]( - Plane trouble: An American Airlines flight from Dallas to Beijing was forced to Canada Thursday evening when it was confronted with both [an ill passenger and mechanical issues.]( - Hey Lucy, what's for dinner?: [Meet Lucy](, GuideLive's chatbot for finding what to do and where to eat. - The tweet on the street: See where [the billboard truck with Trump's anti-Ted Cruz message]( has appeared. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson speaks during the Texas Democratic Convention in June. (Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer) Finally... Congresswoman says police treatment of DeSoto family was 'brutal' U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson shook her head after watching the [44-minute dashcam video]( of a DeSoto police squad forcing [a black family face down in the street to be handcuffed.]( “That was brutal,’’ Johnson said of six officers' heated response to a disturbance call last August that had calmed down before they arrived. “You’ve got to defuse and leave.’’ Johnson, whose district covers DeSoto and who has long pushed for ways to curb excessive police force, told The Dallas Morning News that the video suggests the predominantly black suburb of 53,000 needs a citizen review board to examine police actions, as well as more training for its officers. Her criticisms, shared in an interview with The News, are the first from a lawmaker since DeSoto officials released the footage [following an investigation by The News this month.]( The mom, Sammie Anderson, filed a brutality complaint that also alleges the police falsely arrested her sons. Johnson’s comments contribute to a torrent of questions facing the officers and their chief, Joseph Costa. He has publicly defended his officers — four black and two white — as complying with policies and training, though his own internal affairs office has [yet to finish its investigation of the complaint.]( 👋 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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