Trump's business dealings, a 'play on racism' in Jordan Edwards case: Your Thursday evening news roundup

Good evening. Here are some stories you may have missed today. [Good evening. Here are some stories you may have missed today.] July 20,  2017 By Wayne Carter and Nicholas Friedman Good evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. [FBI Director Robert Mueller III testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, June 19, 2013. The Justice Department has appointed Mueller to serve as a special counsel to oversee its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced on May 17, 2017, a move that dramatically raises the stakes for President Donald Trump. (Christopher Gregory/The New York Times)]( FBI Director Robert Mueller III testifies during a hearing on Capitol Hill. The Justice Department has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as a special counsel to oversee its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (2013 File Photo/The New York Times) Donald Trump Report: Trump's business dealings now part of special counsel's investigation The U.S. special counsel investigating possible ties between the Donald Trump campaign and Russia in last year's election [is examining a broad range of transactions]( involving Trump's businesses as well as those of his associates, according to a person familiar with the probe. The president told The New York Times on Wednesday that any digging into matters beyond Russia would be out of bounds. Trump's businesses have involved Russians for years, making the boundaries fuzzy so Special Counsel Robert Mueller appears to be taking a wide-angle approach to his 2-month-old probe. The roots of Mueller's follow-the-money investigation lie in a wide-ranging money laundering probe launched by then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara last year, according to the person. FBI agents had already been gathering information about Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, according to two people with knowledge of that probe. Prosecutors hadn't yet begun presenting evidence to a grand jury. Trump fired Bharara in March. Separating truth from fiction: [Professors from UT-Arlington and UT-Dallas are joining forces to fight fake news](. Commentary: [C'mon, GOP, just cut taxes](. Advertisement Ron Reney, 27, takes a Sequence English Education class at the Literacy Instruction for Texas at CitySquare Opportunity Center in Dallas. Reney is working to improve his reading skills so he can get a better job to support his family. (David Woo/Staff Photographer) Editorial Poor language skills condemn thousands in Dallas to a life in poverty Ron Reney reads at roughly a fourth-grade level. He makes ends meet by working two $11-an-hour jobs, washing dishes and working in a warehouse. But the finances got more complicated in late May when he and his girlfriend welcomed a baby girl into their family. Between those long hours at work and time with his newborn, Reney is taking classes to improve his reading and writing skills. It’s worth the work, he says, if it can help pull him out of dead-end jobs. Dallas has more than 80,000 residents who, despite working full or part time, are in poverty -- and [poor language skills is one of the reasons](. By 2030, experts predict that about 1 million Dallas County residents, nearly one-third of the population, will not be literate in English. Crying poor: How upscale areas like Uptown [get classified as needy]( to lure foreign investors seeking visas. Cost of living: Seattle and Dallas [top U.S. home price gains in June](. Attorney []Lee Merritt (left) talks with the media at a family press conference in Dallas on Monday after a grand jury indicted fired Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver on a murder charge for Jordan Edwards' death. (Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News) Balch Springs Cop indicted for murder is attempting 'to sully the memory of Jordan Edwards,' attorney says Lee Merritt, an attorney for Jordan Edwards’ family, [said Thursday that Roy Oliver's version of the events surrounding the teen’s death is "pure imagination](. But it sounds good." Oliver’s recounting of the night of April 29 became public for the first time Tuesday as part of a court filing in response to a lawsuit by Jordan Edwards’ family. Oliver also alleged in the court filing that one or more of the boys had fired a gun and were affiliated with a gang, which attorneys for Jordan's family denied Thursday. Police and prosecutors have not released any details of the investigation that support the allegations. The Dallas County district attorney's office declined to comment. "It's a play on stereotype," Merritt said. "It's a play on racism." Commentary: [Will there be justice in Jordan Edwards' case?]( Advertisement Indian paintbrush and sunflowers line pathways around The Lodge at Dallas businessman and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens' 68,000-acre Mesa Vista Ranch along the Canadian River in Roberts County, Texas. He's turned the ranch into a habitat for quail along 22 miles of Ogallala Aquifer fed lakes and marshes. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) Photo of the day While T. Boone Pickens readily admits he’s in the fourth quarter of life, there’s that last big play he wants to call. He wants a big score at the ranch. Through spring and early summer, Pickens gave The Dallas Morning News [unprecedented access to his life](, with visits to the ranch and his well sites and interviews with his employees to chronicle his latest venture. “We’re in a pretty exciting time now, drilling up here,” he says. (Kathryn Gregory) Around The Site More top stories - Unlikely friends: Watch this yellow Lab [ride a horse]( around a Texas farm. - Best part of waking up: A Grand Prairie-based company has recalled coffee [that was found to contain a Viagra-like substance](. - Drive-by shooting: A motorist [was fatally shot in his car]( at southeast Oak Cliff intersection. - Solid start: Jordan Spieth is [off to a hot start]( at British Open, finishing his first round at 5-under. - Lewis trial: Cowboys draft pick Jourdan Lewis [set for trial next week]( after Thursday hearing ends without settlement. - Celebrity death: Linkin Park singer [Chester Bennington has died](. - Upper crust: Spiral Diner’s [vegan chocolate pie is gaining fame](, thanks to a new movie. - Parole granted: O.J. Simpson [was granted parole in a Nevada robbery]( after serving more than eight years in prison. Finally... 'I am throwing the alarm clock away' Keven Ann Willey, who’s been leading the editorial pages of The Dallas Morning News since 2002 and directing a long-running project that won a Pulitzer Prize, [will retire from the newspaper at the end of the year.]( She plans to travel extensively with her husband, chef Georges Badoux, in their 17-foot Casita trailer. She’ll continue writing, she said. And in a true writer’s fashion, she has a working title for the journey, “Postcards from the Perimeter: A Year on the Edges of America.” Advertisement 👋 That's all for this evening! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. 💖 Share the love! If you like this newsletter, please [check out our other newsletters here](. 📧 Do you have feedback? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to [djansen@dallasnews.com](mailto:djansen@dallasnews.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). 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