Michelle Obama book tour, oldest man in America hospitalized: Your Tuesday morning roundup

Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day.  [Morning roundup]( 12/18/2018 By Nataly Keomoungkhoun and Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌤️ Weather: Partly cloudy to mostly cloudy with a 20% chance for showers after dark. High of 62. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [her]( Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to students from Dallas High Schools during the first annual Young Women's Leadership Conference at Winspear Opera House in Dallas, on Monday, December 17, 2018. Obama is in town promoting her book "Becoming." (Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer) DALLAS [Michelle Obama surprises dozens of Dallas-area students with a visit before book tour stop]( Dozens of high school students attending a leadership conference for young women in Dallas had been studying former First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir — [but none of them expected to meet her Monday afternoon](. The young women were discussing Obama’s memoir, “Becoming,” at the Winspear Opera House ahead of the former first lady’s stop in Dallas for her book tour. When Obama peeked out from behind a curtain, the students erupted into a chorus of oh-my-Gods. Some started crying. After exchanging plenty of hugs, Obama sat on a couch surrounded by the students. She said she wanted to be a “fly on the wall” during their discussion of her book. Several students said the part of the book in which an advisor at Obama’s high school told her she wasn’t “Princeton material” resonated with them. Tennessee to Texas: The Peabody, a historic Memphis hotel famous for its Southern hospitality and marching ducks, is [planning to branch out to North Texas.]( Rising star: How 11-year-old Frankie Leoni of Burleson [found stage stardom]( in A Bronx Tale. ADVERTISEMENT LIFE ['He needs prayers': Richard Overton, nation's oldest man and WWII vet, is in the hospital]( The oldest man in America is in the hospital. Richard Overton, the 112-year-old lifelong Austin resident and most-senior veteran, [is fighting his latest bout of pneumonia](. "He needs prayers," said Volma Overton, Richard's third cousin. "He needs everybody's prayers." Overton has been in the hospital since Wednesday. This year, he's been in and out of the hospital multiple times for pneumonia. From football to footlights: Former Dallas Cowboy Eddie George is now [a star in Chicago.]( Oil king: Exxon Mobil Corp. has overtaken rivals to become [the most active driller in the Permian Basin.]( CRIME & THE JUSTICE SYSTEM [Dallas County doing random checks on jailers after inmate's death]( [Dallas County officials say they are now keeping a closer watch over jailers]( after an inmate died and the jail failed a state inspection this fall. The state had declared the jail to be in noncompliance after a Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspector reviewed video that showed Dallas County jail staff had not observed an inmate face to face every 30 minutes as required by law. The video disproved jail logs that said those checks had occurred. The state agency launched its inquiry after 61-year-old Ricky Ray Alvis died in custody on Sept. 29. Alvis was found unresponsive in his cell and was taken by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a custodial death report. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office ruled that Alvis died of natural causes linked to cardiovascular disease. Canceled curfew: Dallas officials said Monday that[police won’t ask the City Council to renew the city’s long-standing juvenile curfew ordinance]( when it expires next month. And: Four suspects have been arrested in a Dec. 5 robbery [in which a 40-year-old University Park man was shot twice for his wallet](. EDITORS' PICKS - Fort Worth: Workers filling made [a grisly discovery]( Saturday morning after a silo in South Fort Worth got clogged. About 10:30 a.m., workers noticed a bit of measuring tape and, when they pulled on it, they uncovered the skeletal remains of a man. - Editorial: Anybody who remembers the 1980s and the end of the oil boom in Texas understands why the state decided in 1989 to set up [a constitutionally mandated rainy day fund.]( Plenty of people, both in government and outside of it, have ideas for what Texas should do with the money it’s stockpiling. - Merry menus: You've been so busy — shopping, cleaning, hosting family members who don't seem to ever want to leave — that maybe your Christmas menu has slipped your mind. In any case, these [Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants have your back this Christmas season.]( Pickletopia is all about fresh, pickled foods, including (clockwise from top left): sweet-and-sour okra, traditional German sauerkraut, giardiniera and mushrooms. (Courtesy of Kim Pierce) FINALLY... [Pickletopia is now open in East Dallas, with sauerkraut, okra and other briny finds]( For holiday charcuterie, the new Pickletopia store devoted to all things pickled is the logical second stop after Jimmy's Food Store in East Dallas. Pick up the cured meats and cheeses at Jimmy's, then segue across the street for pickled okra and giardiniera at Pickletopia, where Lee Theilen has transformed a hobby [into an artisan food enterprise.]( One of his first efforts was sauerkraut, the really sour pickled cabbage German families traditionally used to make in stone crocks. Then he discovered his grandmother's bread-and-butter pickle recipe on a piece of paper in an old family cookbook. "I loved my grandmother's bread-and-butter pickles," he said, so he made a batch. "My uncle said, 'You nailed it.'" From there, he's gone on to sour pickles, which are gradations from "new" (lightly brined) to half-sours (brined three weeks) to full sours (six weeks), which are so sour your lips will pucker. 👋 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 [newsletters@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). 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