Dallas considers strengthening police review board, Obama calls Beto O'Rourke impressive: Your Wednesday morning roundup

November 21,  2018 By Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌤️ Weather: A mix of clouds and sunshine. High of 59. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Activist Dominique Alexander lead a protest at a Dallas City Council meeting in September and called for giving the Citizens Police Review Board more power. Alexander said a stronger board is needed because "it gives the taxpayers a voice in the Police Department that serves them." (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) Botham Jean After Botham Jean killing, Dallas considers strengthening police review board Dallas officials will soon weigh whether to give broad new powers to the Citizens Police Review Board, a little-known city panel that reviews allegations of police misconduct. [Activists demanded changes to the board in September]( — their protests temporarily halted a City Council meeting on one occasion — after an officer fatally shot 26-year-old Botham Jean, a PricewaterhouseCoopers analyst, in his own Cedars apartment. In a memo sent to council members and released publicly last week, City Manager T.C. Broadnax wrote that community groups had made a series of recommendations for new accountability measures and a stronger review board. Those proposals included allowing residents to submit complaints in person and online, giving the review board an independent investigative arm and a budget, and allowing the board to subpoena officers. The Police Department has already implemented the complaint submission process. And the council is scheduled to decide on new procedures early next year. But [efforts to boost the board’s powers are likely to meet stiff resistance from police groups](, who say the additional oversight is unwarranted. And: [Botham Jean's family wants to ensure 'his story remains alive']( so Dallas won't forget. politics Barack Obama hails Beto O'Rourke as 'impressive' amid speculation over Texan's 2020 plans Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday gushed about Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the El Paso Democrat who's being floated as a White House contender after giving Republican Sen. Ted Cruz a surprisingly tough challenge in the midterm election. "[Impressive young man who ran a terrific race in Texas](," Obama said in a taping of The Axe Files, a podcast produced by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN. While the former president discussed O'Rourke only at the behest of an audience-submitted question, the mention won't tamp down speculation that the Texan could mount a 2020 presidential bid. O'Rourke has been the subject of intensifying chatter on that front, thanks to his record-shattering fundraising efforts, a barnstorming campaign that often ignored conventional political wisdom, and the national profile he earned by coming within three percentage points of Cruz. Also: A former Honduran legislator has been accused of attacking the U.S. by orchestrating a massive immigrant caravan. [He says he's simply a reflection of his countrymen](. texas More than 50,000 sign petition calling on Whataburger to ditch foam cups [Environmental activists are calling on Whataburger to stop using foam cups]( and instead introduce a more eco-friendly option. The cups help maintain a drink's temperature, but activists argue that polystyrene — commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as Styrofoam — is harmful to wildlife and often becomes an eyesore. "The health of our oceans and our environment is more important than a drink staying cold for several hours," said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas. "We would hope that customers can adjust their expectations given the enormity of the plastic pollution problem." More than 50,000 people have signed a petition requesting that Whataburger discontinue the use of polystyrene cups and containers. On Monday, officials from Environment Texas and other groups delivered the petition and a letter to the company's headquarters in San Antonio. Crime: Four armed-services members have been charged [in the 2017 strangling of an Army Green Beret from Texas](. Editorials: [Who is your pick for Texan of the Year](? EDITORS' PICKS - Don't pass the salad: [The CDC is warning consumers not to eat any romaine lettuce]( after an E. coli outbreak has infected 32 people. - Water: A broken sanitary sewer line [sent more than 151,000 gallons of wastewater into a Carrollton creek]( Monday, city officials said. - See you later: Baby alligators went flying when [a driver fleeing game wardens crashed into Duncanville building](. - For the 'gram: If you didn't visit Psychedelic Robot, a temporary art installation in Dallas that closed Nov. 15, [you'll have another chance](. - Curious Texas: [How can you change the color of the Dallas skyline](? - Holiday spending: In recent years, Dallas-Fort Worth planned to spend significantly more than the national average. [Now they're not so positive](. Adlene Harrison, Dallas's first female mayor, poses for a photograph at her home in Dallas on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. (Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)  Finally... Dallas’ first female mayor is as ornery as ever — even at age 95 From metro columnist Sharon Grigsby: Let me tell you about someone you probably know nothing about — but you should. Her name is Adlene Harrison, [and she was the first woman to be mayor of Dallas](. At age 95, she is as feisty — and at times ornery — as she was the day she walked into City Hall. I called Harrison, who is still sharp as a tack, a few weeks ago to note that she and I share the same November birthday — and that this seemed like a good month to sit down and get her take on things. After a harrumph or two, she agreed. Turns out that talking to a reporter beats a lot of the routine at Harrison’s senior-citizen high-rise. The woman who set straight her Plan Commission colleagues in 1963 — she told them she wouldn’t be baking cookies like the appointee before her — is often exasperated with her current living situation. 👋 That's all for this morning! 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