121-year-old business closing, hanging with Amari Cooper: Your Friday evening roundup

Good evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day.  [Evening roundup]( 01/04/2019 By Todd Davis Good Evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( The Texas Refrigeration Butcher Supply & Equipment Co. Inc. is at 2800 Commerce St. in Dallas. (Rose Baca/Staff Photographer) BUSINESS [Farewell to a 121-year-old Dallas business whose closing will reshape Deep Ellum]( Metro columnist Robert Wilonsky writes: Russ Gilpin did not expect to work here, because, at first, he did not want to work here. That was in 1947, when he was a student at SMU, just back from the war, his whole life ahead of him. This business, this selling of supplies to meat-cutters, was not his business. It was owned by his girlfriend's father. But now, more than 70 years after Gilpin collected his first check at what used to be known simply as Texas Butcher Supply Co. upon its opening in 1898, [he does not want to leave here](. But Gilpin, who turned 94 the day after Christmas, has decided, after much hand-wringing and heartache, it is time to go. He and 67-year-old son Jim have sold the struggling business that collected its first dollar during the Spanish-American War and outfitted a litany of local landmarks, some still in business. They had a ball: [D-FW hoteliers come out on top]( in CFP semifinal matchup of Clemson and Notre Dame. A turn off: AT&T, Dish, Comcast are [all raising cable TV rates]( to counter cord-cutting. ADVERTISEMENT GOVERNMENT Fewer Texans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, but dip was lower than expected A little over 1 million Texans will be covered under the Affordable Care Act this year, a slight drop from 2018. [During the six-week sign-up period on HealthCare.gov]( 1,089,636 Texans enrolled, down from 1,126,838 last year. Nationally, enrollment fell about 300,000 to 8.5 million. The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Seema Verma, credited the Trump administration with taking steps to promote a more stable and competitive health insurance market. She said the enrollment numbers showed the administration’s efforts were working. "With the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, it’s possible that more Americans have employer-based coverage, and don’t need exchange plans," she wrote in a news release. The Watchdog: He took his property tax protest to the end. [Would the appraisal district surrender]( Jobs: U.S. employers dramatically stepped up hiring in December and [average hourly pay is on the rise](. SPORTS [Who is Amari Cooper? Cowboys receiver discusses largely private backstory]( Cowboys fans immediately took to crooning "Cooooooooop" after Amari Cooper's big plays. His teammates did it too, recently, when coach Jason Garrett selected No. 19 to lead the team in jumping jacks at the start of practice, a prized ritual of Garrett's. [But Cooper does not know the man whose name he carries](. Terrance Cooper, his father, is incarcerated in Florida state prison. According to public records, Terrance was found guilty of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling in May 1996, when Amari wasn't yet 2. He received a 30-year sentence because he was ruled to be a habitual felony offender. His projected release date is June 17, 2022. "So I never knew him, never went to visit him," Cooper said. "It doesn't [bother me] because I don't know him. Obviously it did when I was younger. I used to always be like, 'Where's my dad?' You would see guys getting picked up from school and stuff like that. But after awhile, nah." Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki says [there's a key reason]( Luka-mania is a very real thing. Seahawks vs. Cowboys: Our [experts predict]( Saturday night's NFC wild-card matchup. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) PHOTO OF THE DAY A locked fence surrounds the Bayside development under construction on the Lake Ray Hubbard peninsula south of Interstate 30 in Rowlett on Friday. [The dispute between the city of Rowlett and its development partner at Lake Ray Hubbard crossed into legal territory]( Friday with the city filing suit, alleging that Bayside Land Partners refuses to build the project it promised. EDITORS' PICKS - Editorial: [Herb Kelleher's genius]( was inspiring loyalty and joy among Southwest Airlines employees. - Crime: A [video debunks murder suspect's claim]( he accidentally shot a woman, Dallas police say. - Act now! [Theater critic Nancy Churnin offers her must-see plays]( this weekend in Dallas-Fort Worth. FINALLY... [These clowns may be killers — but for a real nightmare, try being the makeup designer]( At first Leslie Patrick was elated. After two decades of designing makeup for Pegasus Theatre, she was getting to try something new, something she'd dreamed of for years — a murder mystery about clowns. Then came panic: how was she going to create 10 distinct clown looks with the limited grey palette that gives the Living Black & White series its signature look of 1930s and 1940s black-and-white films? [That meant no red noses, and none of the usual bright reds or yellows or blues.]( "I was afraid. How was I going to do this in black and white?" she asked at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, where Clowning Around With Murder! continues through Jan. 20. 👋 That's all for this afternoon! 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? 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