Muhlaysia Booker, Dallas' food deserts, a Freedom Rider in Frisco: Your Friday morning roundup

Big things did not happen in southern Dallas in 2016, when City Hall waved $3 million in front of grocers to build at least one healthy-eats oasis in the food desert. To be honest, no one at City Hall at the time actually thought the offer would get any serious nibbles. It was more of a goodwill gesture — proposed by Mark Clayton, a council member from the city's northern half — as a way to justify the $3 million Dallas was giving poor little Costco to open a store that might as well be in Richardson. Clayton said in May 2016 that his amendment was  [Morning roundup]( 05/24/2019 By Chelsea Watkins and Nataly Keomoungkhoun Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌥️ Weather: Partly cloudy and warm with a high of 89 degrees. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [her]( The Market at Bonton Farms opened in November in South Dallas, and will likely break even by year’s end. (2018 File Photo/Staff) DALLAS [Dallas couldn't buy its way out of the food desert, so now it's hoping to plant a few small seeds]( From city columnist Robert Wilonsky: Big things did not happen in southern Dallas in 2016, when City Hall waved $3 million in front of grocers to build at least one healthy-eats oasis in the food desert. [To be honest, no one at City Hall at the time actually thought the offer would get any serious nibbles.]( It was more of a goodwill gesture — proposed by Mark Clayton, a council member from the city's northern half — as a way to justify the $3 million Dallas was giving poor little Costco to open a store that might as well be in Richardson. Clayton said in May 2016 that his amendment was "a sincere attempt to proactively turn around parts of the city in desperate need." To which the big grocery stores said nah, no thanks. "Market conditions aren't ready" is how a city Economic Development official put it to me Wednesday. An H-E-B spokesperson told me in 2017 there just weren't enough residents in targeted areas to support a big store. And, those who live there, south of the Trinity River, didn't have enough money to make such operations sustainable.  Immigration: Hundreds of migrants from an El Paso shelter [are likely headed to Dallas next month]( officials say.   And: Botham Jean's death was 'a form of lynching,' [Dallas storyteller says at a racial healing event](.  ADVERTISEMENT CRIME & COURTS [Sutherland Springs victims can take federal government to trial for mass shooting, Texas judge rules]( A federal judge in Texas has said victims of the 2017 church massacre in Sutherland Springs can continue their lawsuit against the U.S. government for its role in the shooting. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez's Thursday ruling is a huge victory for the nine families in the case, [which allows them to put federal authorities on trial for alleged negligence.]( Rodriguez dismissed the government's motion to throw out the case and said the families can begin the discovery process, which allows their lawyers to gather documents and seek interviews with which to make their case. "The ruling affirms what we've known all along, and that is that these families' and victims' claims against the government are valid and just," Jamal Alsaffar, an attorney for four of the families, told The Dallas Morning News. "Judge Rodriguez's very thorough ruling allows these families to finally seek and have their day in court and seek accountability from the government."  Also: A third person was arrested Tuesday evening [in connection with the January slaying]( a robbery victim in Waxahachie.   And: An 18-year-old woman [used the promise of sex to lure a robbery victim to his death]( at a North Dallas apartment complex this month, Dallas police say.  LGBT [‘You have to show up’: Community allies press Dallas police officials on crimes against transgender women]( Kaden Brown didn't want to go to the Resource Center alone Thursday. As a black, transgender woman, she always fears attending public events. Now, after Muhlaysia Booker's death, she’s even more worried. "But you have to show up. If we aren’t here, we are going to continue to attend vigils," said Brown, who brought her boyfriend along to make her feel safer. ["It’s like a war out here."]( Brown, 25, was among more than 150 people who attended a Dallas police LGBTQ community outreach event Thursday at the Resource Center, which offers social and health services to transgender people. The town hall meeting began with a moment of silence for Booker, a 22-year-old transgender woman who was found fatally shot Saturday on a street in Far East Dallas.  Also: [The man charged with beating Muhlaysia Booker]( ordered back to Dallas County jail and is being held without bail.   In her memory: The Texas Senate [adjourned Thursday night in honor of Muhlaysia Booker](.  ADVERTISEMENT EDITORS' PICKS - Rape kit bill: A bill aimed at [tackling the backlog of an estimated 15,000 untested rape kits in Texas]( is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for signing. - Spacious spaces: Nearly half of the University of North Texas' new Frisco campus [will be devoted to green spaces]( including an outdoor learning lab and hike-and-bike trails. - 737 Max issues: The Federal Aviation Administration faced "frank questions" in Fort Worth Thursday from air safety regulators representing more than 30 countries about [the process for determining when to let Boeing 737 Max planes fly again.]( David Myers holds a copy of the booking photos of himself and his then-girlfriend Winonah Beamer. The pair were freedom riders who traveled to Jackson, Mississippi back in 1961 to sit in segregated waiting rooms at transportation stations as part of the Civil Rights movement. (Brian Elledge/Staff Photographer) FINALLY... [Dallas-area man who risked life for civil rights Freedom Rides advises America to 'be uncomfortable']( The fourth of six children in Noblesville, Ind., where the population was around 7,000 in the 1950s, David Myers hoped to go to college. But his family was poor, and he knew he couldn’t afford tuition. At a track clinic his senior year, he met a man from Central State University, a small historically black college in Ohio. Gaston F. Lewis, the athletic director at Central State, offered Myers a full-ride track scholarship. As long as Myers didn’t mind, Lewis told him, going to a school that was about 95 percent black. In the spring of 1961, which was Myers’ junior year, James Farmer, head of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), started a drive to desegregate public transportation throughout the South. Southern states had ignored the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton vs. Virginia that segregation inside interstate public facilities, including bus terminals, was unconstitutional. [The action by CORE, a civil rights organization that advocated nonviolent resistance against that racism, became the Freedom Rides.]( The first bus rides were met with fierce resistance throughout the South. Federal officials and even some civil rights leaders urged CORE to call off the rides. But on May 24, Myers and another student from Central State joined students from Tennessee State University, another historically black university, who planned to ride a Trailways bus from Montgomery, Ala., to Jackson, Miss.  👋 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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