Hurricane Harvey, Shavon Randle case, Confederate monument task force: Your Friday morning roundup

August 25,  2017 By Tara Bryant Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌤️ Weather: Partly cloudy, with a [30 percent chance for an isolated storm](. High: 88 degrees. 🔎 Prefer the online view? [It's here.]( (KXAS-TV (NBC5) Hurricane Harvey Harvey bearing down on Texas coast Hurricane Harvey is [expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday](. It is forecast to bring life-threatening storm surge and flooding of up to 12 feet, damaging wind and more than 30 inches of rain in some areas, according to the National Hurricane Center. This story will be continuously updating Friday. For the latest news, check [dallasnews.com](. Also: As Hurricane Harvey barrels toward the Texas coast, federal officials are gearing up their response to [the first major natural disaster to occur under the leadership of President Donald Trump](. More: You'll likely see [gas prices rise]( even before Harvey reaches the Texas coast. SPECIAL OFFER For a limited time, newsletter readers can enjoy unlimited digital access to DallasNews.com for only $2.99 a week. [Sign up today]( and stay informed about the latest news that's important to you. Chris Garza visits the growing tribute to Shavon Randle filling the yard of the abandoned house in the 2200 block of East Kiest Blvd in Dallas where she was found dead. The 13-year-old Lancaster girl who was kidnapped because of a drug theft she had nothing to do with was found dead on July 2, according to law enforcement. (Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer) shavon randle case Three men connected to girl's slaying indicted on felony kidnapping charges Three men connected to the slaying of 13-year-old Shavon Le'Feye Randle have been [indicted on aggravated kidnapping charges](. Desmond Jones, 22, Devontae Owens, 24, and Laquon Wilkerson, 30, were each indicted Thursday on one count of felony aggravated kidnapping in connection with Shavon's disappearance. A fourth man, 22-year-old Kendall Perkins, was indicted on an aggravated robbery charge. Perkins is the boyfriend of Shavon's cousin. He is accused of stealing drugs from two men connected to Shavon's death. Police believe Shavon was killed in retaliation over stolen drugs she had nothing to do with. Six people have been arrested in connection with Shavon's slaying, but no one has been charged with murder. Courts: An Arlington officer [won't be charged]( in the fatal shooting of a man who ran over a cop in February. Crime: Dallas police are [searching for two men]( accused of robbing victims at gunpoint in a Bank of America parking lot in Old East Dallas. Dressed for a celebratory occasion, a crowd mills about the newly unveiled statue of Robert E. Lee after President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated it at Lee Park in Dallas on June 12, 1936. Roosevelt also spoke at the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park earlier in the day. (Dallas History & Archives Division/Dallas Public Library) Confederate monuments Dallas mayor's task force has mixed feelings on statues' future Dallas sculptor Barvo Walker adores the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that overlooks Turtle Creek Boulevard. And it has nothing to do with Lee. "It is one of the finest equestrian statues in the country," said Walker, referring to Traveller, Lee's horse. And for that one reason alone, said Walker, he would like to see the statue "kept where it is because it's such a marvelous piece of art." Walker will actually have a say in the statue's fate. He is among [the 20 members appointed to Mayor Mike Rawlings' Task Force on Confederate Monuments unveiled Thursday](. Walker will be joined by, among others, an architect, a professor and multiple attorneys, preservationists and a handful of religious leaders. A majority of the City Council has made it clear they want the monuments to come down -- preferably sooner than later. But several members of the task force said Thursday they had conflicting views about the monuments' fates. As such, Walker said, "the mayor was wise to appoint a committee rather than make an arbitrary decision to take them down or keep them." Walker, who is working on a memorial in honor of the officers slain in the July 7, 2016, ambush, said he's willing to listen to fellow task force members before coming to any conclusions. In Austin: The [Sons of Confederate Veterans group is suing the University of Texas at Austin]( for the second time in three years over the removal of statues from the flagship campus' main mall. Commentary: Ten people in Dallas describe [what the city’s Confederate statues mean to them](. Advertisement (Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer) Photo of the Morning One of ten babies in a neonatal intensive care unit is transported from a Cook Children's Hospital airplane to an ambulance on Thursday at Teddy Bear Transport hangar at Fort Worth Meacham Airport. [The babies were evacuated from Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi ahead of Hurricane Harvey](. By late Thursday six of the infants had arrived at Fort Worth's Cook Children's Medical Center. All of the infants are expected to be in North Texas by early Friday morning. Around The Site Quick links - Politics: A federal court in San Antonio ruled Thursday that parts of Texas' statehouse maps are intentionally discriminatory and [ordered districts in four counties, including Dallas and Tarrant, redrawn](. - Editorial: Why you should [care about Dallas' new top dog catcher](, even if strays aren't in your front yard. - Education: [What’s next for struggling Dallas schools]( after trustees reject tax revenue plans? - Sports: Cowboys' [Dez Bryant opens up]( on national anthem protests and race relations. - Travel: Meet our picks for the [best air travelers in North Texas](. Teacher Adan Gonzalez helps Lluvia Rivera, 5, and her sister, Allison Rivera, 10, pick out mochilas, backpacks for school. Gonzalez attended Bowie, grew up poor, and purchased the backpacks himself.  (Rose Baca/Staff Photographer) Finally... Maria Luz Rivera and her three daughters stepped up to Adan Gonzalez and his silver golf cart loaded with backpacks, story books and yellow No. 2 pencils. Like Santa Claus, Gonzalez was ready to please, and pass out the freebies. The first-year teacher at James Bowie Elementary set out to deliver school supplies to kids in his class of third-graders, but he wanted to share his personal story, too. He grew up in a crowded apartment in the Oak Cliff  neighborhood. Gonzalez went to Bowie, was the son of a Mexicanoimmigrant janitor — and just graduated from Harvard. [He came home to teach and show his people what’s possible.]( Immigrant mothers like Rivera dominated Gonzalez’s day as he passed out supplies in this working-class barrio in Dallas, the U.S. city with the highest child poverty rate for a big metropolis. The mothers spilled stories about their fears, hopes and their children’s needs. Advertisement 👋 That's all for this morning! 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