VisitDallas names interim CEO, airlines hike fares, El Niño settles in: Your Thursday evening roundup

Good evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day.  [Evening roundup]( 05/09/2019 By Wayne Carter Good Evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( Sam Coats speaks during a press conference Thursday announcing his appointment as interim CEO of VisitDallas. (Rose Baca/Staff Photographer) DALLAS [VisitDallas leaders appoint interim CEO, but say starting over 'would be a disaster']( Businessman Sam Coats, a recent DFW International Airport Board chairman and one-time mayoral candidate, on Thursday took the helm of VisitDallas, the beleaguered city convention-and-visitors bureau. The announcement came a day after the board chairman announced Phillip Jones, VisitDallas' longtime CEO and president, had stepped down. Jones was on the hot seat after a City Hall audit challenged the way the organization spent and handled its tens of millions in taxpayer money, questioned the CEO's compensation and expenses and criticized how Dallas City Hall kept tabs on the organization. Jones, who had four years left on his contract that paid him almost $700,000 annually, will leave with a $600,000 severance, VisitDallas Board Chairman Mark Woelffer said Thursday. Woelffer said Jones "did no wrong, and the separation was mutual." The 78-year-old Coats, who served as a board chairman of VisitDallas when it was called the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, is expected to serve until the organization's board finds a permanent replacement for Phillip Jones. [And that could take a while.]( Choosing sides: Dallas ISD trustees [have joined the cavalcade of support behind Texas Rep. Eric Johnson]( in the mayoral runoff election against Dallas City Council member Scott Griggs. Blue backing: After sitting out the first round, [the Dallas Police Association]( backed Scott Griggs' mayoral campaign. ADVERTISEMENT BUSINESS [Airlines are raising ticket prices this week. Here's what that means for you]( Travelers will see slightly higher ticket prices this week in the first "substantive" fare increase in six months for the airline industry — [and it's being led by North Texas-based American and Southwest]( according to industry analysts. American Airlines hiked its domestic airfares by $5 one-way Monday evening, and Dallas-based Southwest Airlines matched that increase overnight. Alaska, Delta and United followed suit, raising fares as well, analysts said, and more airlines could likely do the same. The sweeping increase was slightly unexpected for analysts who had predicted that airlines affected by the ongoing Boeing 737 Max crisis could run into accusations of price-gouging if they attempted to hike prices.   Real estate: Construction has kicked off on [a rental community in McKinney's Craig Ranch]( development.   Also: [Big Tobacco and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott]( pushed for late changes to a bill taxing e-cigarettes and vape products.  WEATHER [What a lingering El Niño weather pattern means for Dallas-Fort Worth this summer]( An El Niño that formed this spring is likely to continue into the summer and possibly linger into the fall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA announced Thursday that El Niño has a 70% chance of continuing through the Northern Hemisphere this summer, and a 55% to 60% chance of persisting through the fall. El Niño and its counterpart, La Niña, are naturally occurring climate patterns that can affect weather patterns around the world. They usually appear every two to seven years. [What does an El Niño mean for this summer in Dallas-Fort Worth?](  Beat the heat: Grand Prairie's city-owned Epic Waters park [has opened its new outdoor wave pool.](   "The power of the sky": [How a Dallas journalist]( ended up chasing tornadoes in Nebraska.  ADVERTISEMENT (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) PHOTO OF THE DAY A baked potato and a glazed carrot have been standard sides with a steak at Bob's Steak and Chop House in Dallas since Bob Sambol opened the place in 1993. When dining critic Michalene Busico visited for the first time since Sambol returned to his namesake establishment after a seven-year absence, she not only took the measure of the menu, [she took the giant carrot]( find out just how big it was.]( EDITORS' PICKS - Crime: [Two students at Mesquite High]( are in custody after shots were fired at a bank near campus. - Domestic violence: The mother of a Plano woman killed in her estranged husband's rampage [doesn't blame the bartender charged with overserving him.]( - Cowboys and Eagles: Former Cowboys quarterback and current CBS broadcaster [Tony Romo]( shot an eagle in his first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson. FINALLY... [More college-educated Mexicans are moving to Texas, but do they find work that matches their skills?]( About 678,000 college-educated Mexican immigrants now live in the U.S. and 185,000 of them live in Texas, according to a new study from the Migration Policy Institute. These Mexicans have degrees in STEM fields, high-skilled occupations and other professions -- qualities that are in high demand -- and some experts believe incorporating them into the workforce could be key to keeping Texas’ economic engine going. But many of these immigrants are facing some major barriers: a lack of English proficiency, their degrees and credentials not being recognized in the U.S. and a lack of legal status. As a result [many are underemployed, unable to practice their trades.]( 👋 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? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to [newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). 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