Thousands rally for end of Dallas' Confederate statues – plus more weekend headlines

Here are the headlines making news this weekend. [Here are the headlines making news this weekend.] August 20,  2017 By Holly Rusak and Amanda Wilkins Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines of the weekend so far. 🌤️ Weather: [Mostly sunny to partly cloudy and hot. High: 97](. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. [ Kenyan Mark Wagema of Dallas (right) confronts a Trump supporter who chose not to identify himself before the March Against White Supremacy rally at Pioneer Park Cemetery in downtown Dallas, Saturday, August 19, 2017. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News) news Thousands rally for end of Dallas' Confederate statues, white supremacy Thousands of people streamed into downtown Dallas Saturday evening to [speak out against white supremacy](.  The crowd of 2,500 reflected America's diversity and came in a range of ages, religions and ethnic backgrounds. And while the vast majority of those in attendance denounced the nearby Confederate War Memorial and others throughout the city, a group of counterprotesters also assembled outside City Hall. Amid a sea of posters — "March against Hate," "Thanks Trump, You made me into an activist," "Make America whole again" — the activists called for Dallas' Confederate memorials to come down. "Take them down. Take them down," they chanted as a series of speakers addressed the crowd, which continued to grow after the 7:30 p.m. start. Statue vandalized:  [Vandals spray-painted "Nazis" and urinated on the statue of Robert E. Lee in Oak Lawn’s Lee Park](. Cuban on Trump: ["Every now and then you hire the wrong CEO,](" he told CNN's Van Jones on Friday during Jones' Dallas stop on his "We Rise" tour. Advertisement Corey Ahrens, 37, leaves his home in Plano where he lives with his mother and stepfather and walks 20 minutes to a DART station in Plano to his job at Fish City Grill in Richardson. After a five-minute train ride, he walks another 20-minutes to the restaurant. He works as key manager, server, and bartender about 50 hour a week. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News) Economy What a labor shortage could mean for eateries in Dallas' booming suburbs A handful of developments projects has shifted the economic center of gravity of the nation’s fourth largest metro area, making Dallas’ northern suburbs some of the fastest-growing  cities in the country.  Over the last five years, the number of jobs in food service and drinking places in the Dallas-Plano-Irving metropolitan division increased by 30.4 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s almost twice as fast as growth in those jobs nationally, which was 17.9 percent. [But thanks to a range of factors, the fertile job-hunting fields north of Dallas are essentially off limits to many prospective workers](. The people who do fill those jobs, though, are increasingly taking on painful commutes, crashing with family — or finding work elsewhere. Jobs: Texas added 19,600 jobs in July, a middling number on its own, but it’s one that [builds on just over a year straight of employment growth in the Lone Star State](, data released Friday shows. Where to eat: Five [new restaurants to check out]( as Dallas' dining scene heats up. Joyce Foreman (left), the district 6 board trustee, and Dan Micciche, board president, listen during a public hearing and board meeting of the Dallas Independent School District at distric headquarters on Friday. (Andy Jacobsohn/The Dallas Morning News) Education 'F' is for failure: Dallas ISD trustees can't agree on tax hike DISD won’t be asking taxpayers for more money after all. On Friday night, the [Dallas Independent School District’s board of trustees failed to approve any of the three tax plans]( discussed during its special meeting. Each plan would have provided voters the opportunity to vote on whether to give the district millions of dollars in additional funding, maximizing state aid in the process for one of the state’s most challenging urban districts. Instead, the board approved keeping the tax rate at its current level — $1.28 per $100 of valuation, the third-lowest among districts in North Texas. Previously: Dallas ISD trustees shouldn’t stand between voters and a budget increase, [wrote our Editorial Board](. Commentary: [Is classroom technology good for learning or wasting time?]( Advertisement (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News) Photo of the Morning Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) looks for an open receiver during the first half of a preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday. Prescott and Dez Bryant looked to be in mid-season form [during the Cowboys' 24-19 win](. [Get all the game-day coverage at SportsDay.com](. Around The Site Quick links - Crime: A murder suspect [ran out of gas while driving away from a body]( dumped in Irving, police say. - Out of the shadows: How Dan Patrick's[ bathroom bills galvanized Texas’ transgender community]( like never before. - Uptown attack: An overnight [fight between two strangers had a bloody end]( when one slashed the other's throat, police said. - Analysis: [After a no good, very bad vacation, what lessons will President Trump take away?]( - Fraud: A [$60 million home health-care scam]( sends Dallas woman and doctor to prison. - Scam: Mesquite police are trying to track down a man accused of stealing a 2016 Cadillac Escalade from a car wash Monday [by posing as the owner's fiancé](. The last known photo of Elijah Hernandez. Hernandez took this selfie and uploaded it to Facebook the night he vanished in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Courtesy: Teresa Hernandez) Special report Where is Elijah? Dallas family seeks answers 2 years after son vanishes on Mexican mission trip Benjamin and Elijah Hernandez left Dallas for a mission trip in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in November 2014. Benjamin flew home after seven days. Elijah, 26, wrote in his journal that he felt called by Jesus to stay, but bought a ticket to fly home in January 2015 for a family wedding. He never boarded that plane. Official investigations to find him have failed time and time again with dead ends to local, national and international inquiries. In cases like this, where jurisdiction is disputed and physical evidence is scarce, unresolved investigations leave families lost. The strange circumstances of Elijah’s disappearance have left his family in Dallas with more questions than answers. [Read our special report about the disappearance of Elijah Hernandez.]( Brian Ellis welcomes Callie into his arms after months of being away from each other while she was trained to be a diabetic alert dog, at a hotel in Eastland.  (Tailyr Irvine/The Dallas Morning News) Finally... Frisco teen's determination helped turn goldendoodle into his lifesaving alert dog It's time to find out whether a goldendoodle named Callie can make the leap from family pet to medical alert service dog for a 14-year-old boy with diabetes. Brian Ellis is betting his life on it. For more than a year, Brian has been adjusting to life with Type 1 diabetes. But he and his family know high tech doesn't mean failsafe. They decided to add another layer of protection. This one doesn't require cell phone service. Nor does it stop working in the middle of the night. Callie is part poodle, part golden retriever. [She's trained to help Brian keep his levels in check and prevent some of the dangerous side effects of diabetes](. Advertisement 👋 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=). STAY CONNECTED WITH US  [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( [Tumblr]( [Google]( [Ello]( [Ello](  [OTHER NEWSLETTERS]( [SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS]( [Unsubscribe](  |  [Manage Preferences](  |  [Privacy Policy](  |  [Contact](  |  [Advertise]( You received this message because you signed up for this Dallas Morning News newsletter or it was forwarded to you. Copyright 2017 - [The Dallas Morning News]( | [508 Young St., Dallas, TX 75202](#)