Police gear up for 'sanctuary cities' ban, company explores oil in Israel: Your Thursday evening roundup

Good evening. Here are some stories you may have missed today. [Good evening. Here are some stories you may have missed today.] August 03,  2017 By Wayne Carter Good evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? [It's here.]( El Cenizo Police Chief Edgar Garcia chats with a Webb County Sheriff's department sergeant as they respond to a 911 call about a suspicious person on Thursday, May 11, 2017, in El Cenizo, Texas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News) immigration Confusion and frustration mount as police departments prepare to implement 'sanctuary cities' ban Less than a month away from the Sept. 1 implementation, Edgar Garcia is still fretting over how his four-person semi-volunteer department will carry out the law. It could have implications for how his community sees his officers, but also for the officers themselves -- who could be punished if they run afoul of the law. Garcia, police chief of the little town of El Cenizo, which was the first to sue the state to stop the law’s implementation, sees the good the law can bring. It can help make his border community of around 4,000 people safer by identifying criminal unauthorized immigrants and ousting them from the country. But, he said, it can also separate innocent families, which he is loath to do. Garcia’s dilemma mirrors that of police agencies across the state that are [struggling to figure out how to implement the sanctuary cities ban](, which allows police officers to ask a person about their immigration status during any legal detention, including a routine traffic stop. It also bans cities, counties and universities from prohibiting their officers from helping enforce immigration law. The Wall and more: [Three things to know]( about Texas Sen. John Cornyn's border security bill. Build this wall: Transcripts of phone calls show President Donald Trump [pleaded with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto]( to stop saying Mexico wouldn’t pay for a border wall. Considering a RAISE: Senate Republicans [are split on a bill]( that would cut legal immigration by half. Advertisement An Israeli flag flies next to the Megiddo-Jezreel #1 well drilled by Zion Oil & Gas. This is the Dallas-based company's latest effort to find oil in Israel, a country with no proven oil reserves. The 17-year-old faith-based Zion was inspired by biblical prophecy and continues to attract investors even without generating revenue. The drilling of Megiddo-Jezreel #1 started June 5. (Zion Oil & Gas) energy Does the Bible say there's oil in Israel? Thousands are paying a Dallas company to find out With the Bible as its North Star, Zion Oil & Gas has spent more than $150 million of investors' money on a "special task, in a special country" — Israel. In June, Zion started drilling its latest well at a location in Israel that some Christians believe will be the site of the eventual battleground of Armageddon. Each of its drill sites is imbued with biblical significance. Zion's foundation is rooted in John Brown’s belief that God called upon him to help Israel.The company acknowledges that most mentions of oil in the Bible refer to olive oil. But [Brown believes that in some instances, the Scripture is talking about petroleum](. Maxed out? A top developer [thinks D-FW apartment building has peaked](. Moving on up: Construction on Plano's first luxury condo tower [begins at Legacy West](. The University of North Texas at Dallas opened its first residence hall on Thursday. Students will move into the dorm in a few weeks. (David Woo/Staff Photographer) higher education UNT-Dallas marks a new era as first residence hall opens its doors to students For 18-year-old Victoria Denestan, Saturday marked another day closer to the big move from her mother's home to her new dorm room at the University of North Texas at Dallas. "It's way different than I thought," Denestan, who plans to study psychology, said as she surveyed the building with her mother and grandmother Thursday. "Not bad at all." The incoming freshman is one of 93 students who will fill the beds of [the first residence hall on the southeast Oak Cliff campus](. "Up to this point we've been a commuter campus, so adding this dimension, the first step of this mission to also house students, will change the personality of the campus," Mong, the former editor of The Dallas Morning News, said before the ceremony. "We're already planning future residence halls." Commentary: Student groups representing both the left and the right [stuck up for free speech at SMU this week](, columnist Jacquielynn Floyd says. Knowledge on tap: A new course at UTD [aims to school students in the business of beer](. Advertisement Baby rabbits are kept by Diana Leggett of Wild Rescue, who is known around North Texas as the guru of bunnies, at her home in Denton. (Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer) Photo of the Day A litter of rabbit kittens sits on a blanket at Dianna Leggett’s Denton home. There are paintings of rabbits all over her house, a bunny silhouette on her front door, a rabbit lamp in her living room and miniature glass rabbits on the mantelpiece. Then there are her roommates: the two rescue rabbits and two chinchillas in her used-to-be living room, the nine baby Eastern cottontails in a handmade pen on her kitchen table and the seven injured rabbits in the "rehab room." And out back, waiting to be fed, are about 60 domestic bunnies, each one with a name and almost all former pets before they were dumped by their owners. Leggett has a full-time job as a paralegal, but she's also the sole employee of WildRescue Inc./Rabbit Rescue and [spends every free moment rescuing and rehabilitating domestic rabbits and wild cottontails](. Around The Site - Growing opposition: Uber, PepsiCo, PayPal and JPMorgan Chase [join businesses opposing the Texas bathroom bill](. - Heated argument: A Texas teen says she [set a huge apartment fire during fight with girlfriend](, police say. - With friends like this ...: Fort Worth police say a teen first believed kidnapped [was an accomplice in her friend’s robbery](. - 'Queen of the South’: Why the Dallas-shot show [feels at home in North Texas](. - Big 12 love: The college football coaches’ preseason poll [has five Big 12 schools in the top 25](. - Campus carry: High-schoolers at community colleges [could have classmates with guns]( after change to law. Finally... Lewisville Rep. Michael Burgess is a medical doctor who stands out as a well-known Republican voice on health care and other marquee issues that consume Congress' time and energy. But one of his most persistent battles has focused on an issue far beyond the main spotlight: [the traditional incandescent light bulb](. Burgess has for years — and most recently, last month — inserted language into key spending bills to protect those old-school lamps by preventing the U.S. Energy Department from enforcing decade-old rules that require light bulbs to abide by more stringent energy-efficiency standards. The only problem is that the industry has dimmed on the once-dominant incandescent lights. Manufacturers have vowed to follow the efficiency standards anyway, particularly as the cost of newer technology has become cheaper. The traditional incandescent bulb has largely been pushed off the shelves in favor of halogen, compact fluorescent and now LED lights. 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? 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