Rodent tales on the campaign trail, AT&T's outage mystery, Nirvana's Dallas nadir: Your Wednesday evening roundup

October 17,  2018 By Wayne Carter Good evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. No, this is not the blind squirrel that Rep. Beto O'Rourke's daughter is nursing back to health, but rodent tales became part of the lore of the Senate campaign between O'Rourke and Sen. Ted Cruz during and after Tuesday's debate. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times) politics Battle of rodents in Texas Senate race: Beto O'Rourke's blind squirrel vs. Ted Cruz's missing hamster There's a saying in politics that it's a bad idea to let any charge go unanswered. It is perhaps entirely coincidental, however, that the morning after Rep. Beto O'Rourke shared an endearing story of the blind squirrel his daughter is nursing back to health during a debate with Sen. Ted Cruz, Cruz tweeted out an heart-melting photo of one of his own girls with a hamster. Voters used to judge candidates on whether they were cat people or dog people. [In Texas, it's the battle of the rodents.]( Now playing: New Beto O’Rourke ads rebuke Ted Cruz [for "selling paranoia" and pushing school vouchers.]( Trump takes a shot: The president called Beto O'Rourke [a "flake" who would "blow it all"]( after last night's debate with Ted Cruz. business AT&T now says lightning not the cause of big Dallas-area internet, U-verse outage on Monday After a widespread outage Monday, AT&T's internet and U-verse television service have been restored in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. [But the trouble isn't over.]( Customers took to social media demanding to know what the Dallas-based telecommunications giant plans do to compensate them for the significant service disruption. Questions were also raised about whether the extent of the outage could have been limited if the company had better back up plans in the event of failures in its communication network. AT&T did not answer either question or say how many customers were affected during Monday's outage that lasted about 12 hours. The company — via its "customer care" Twitter account — said Monday the outage was caused by a lightning strike and subsequent fire at a Richardson switching station. Richardson Fire Chief Curtis Poovey said Tuesday that his department couldn't determine a cause or verify that there was or was not a lightning strike. He said the fire was limited to wiring at that facility. FTC fine: Richardson's RealPage is paying $3 million [for falsely linking apartment applicants to crimes.]( Bowls of bolls? Why Texas A&M research that began 23 years ago means [you could soon be eating cotton.]( Sports Why Cowboys should do whatever it takes (within reason) to acquire WR Amari Cooper from Raiders SportsDay contributor John Owning [sizes up the Cowboys' situation at receiver:]( After a 3-3 start to the season, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in a position to upgrade the worst position group on their roster. On Sunday morning, Fox's Jay Glazer reported that the Oakland Raiders would be open to trading former first-round pick Amari Cooper, and frankly, the Cowboys should do whatever they can within reason to acquire the 24-year-old wide receiver. Through six games, it's become apparent that the Dallas receiving corps leaves a lot to be desired. However, if the Cowboys were able to add Cooper to the mix, [it would immediately improve their receiver corps]( from one of the worst in the NFL to an above-average unit capable of being effective week in and week out. Familiar foes: Are Texas and Texas A&M [on a collision course for a marquee bowl game?]( (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) Photo of the Day Giant fans hang above traffic moving along Woodall Rodgers Freeway beneath the Klyde Warren Deck Park that connects downtown and Uptown Dallas. In our [Curious Texas project](’s first-ever letter delivered by the U.S. Postal Service, reader Michael Conrad asked : [What are those for?]( editors' picks - Commentary: Texas' A-F school ranking system [contains valuable data and we should use it](, writes William McKenzie. - Outrageous fortune: Think you'll win Mega Millions $900 million jackpot? [Here's Mark Cuban's tips for lottery winners.]( - Officer-involved shooting: A Dallas ISD officer [opened fire on a robbery suspect]( in the parking lot of the Lakewood Whole Foods. - Unknown victim: Police are seeking the identity of man [who was knocked off his bike and killed in southeast Dallas.]( - Theater review: A new adaptation of "A Doll's House" [shows how a woman's struggle to be heard is still achingly relevant.]( - Point/Counterpoint: Neal Allen says calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" [avoids the work of democracy](, while Dahleen Glanton says [Donald Trump goes low, and Elizabeth Warren joins him.]( Finally... 27 years ago, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain got punched in the face at Deep Ellum concert Oct. 19 marks the 27th anniversary of one of the most storied concerts to ever hit Dallas. And we mean hit. On that night in 1991, iconic grunge band Nirvana played at Trees in Deep Ellum, a concert now infamous because [a local bouncer punched the late singer Kurt Cobain in the face.]( According to Stephen Shein, Trees' manager at the time, the show was booked just a few weeks ahead of the date. That was all the time it took for the band to become a household name. Nirvana's major-label debut album, Nevermind, dropped on Sept. 24, 1991, and was on its way to topping the Billboard charts. The band's new single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," had only been out for a few weeks, and was in heavy rotation both on the radio and on MTV, which featured its surreal music video. Nirvana shot from relative obscurity to being one of the biggest bands on the planet, suddenly too big to play at Trees, which holds less than 1,000 people. [Subscribe to our Real Estate newsletter]( 👋 That's all for this evening! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. Share the love! 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