Teen rape suspect to be tried as adult, Texas avoids federal redistricting oversight: Your Wednesday evening roundup

Juvenile Judge Andrea Martin certified Lenario Washington as an adult after listening to hours of testimony during a two-day hearing Tuesday and Wednesday.  [Evening roundup]( 07/24/2019 By Wayne Carter Good Evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( Lenario Washington Listens during his adult certification hearing on July 24 at the Henry Wade Juvenile Center in Dallas. Washington, 16, will face trial as an adult in a series of rapes and the slaying of a 23-year-old woman in Dallas. (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) CRIME & COURTS [Dallas teen accused in series of rapes, slaying of 23-year-old woman will face trial as an adult]( A 16-year-old will face trial as an adult in a series of rapes and the slaying of a 23-year-old woman in Dallas. Juvenile Judge Andrea Martin [certified Lenario Washington as an adult]( after listening to hours of testimony during a two-day hearing Tuesday and Wednesday. Police apprehended Washington, who was a student at Hillcrest High School, last year after Maria Ezquerro was found slain in her apartment near the Galleria. Washington, who previously lived near Shreveport, La., lived about a 10-minute walk from Ezquerro's apartment at the time of the deadly attack. Authorities in Louisiana and Dallas say Washington is connected to five rapes dating back to last year. Manhunt ends: A Grand Prairie man accused of shooting a Henderson County sheriff's deputy Tuesday night [was apprehended Wednesday morning near Jacksonville.]( Oklahoma fugitive caught: Police in Denton County arrested a drifter wanted in Cleveland County, Okla., [in connection with]( father's slaying.]( ADVERTISEMENT POLITICS [Federal judges deny request to place Texas back under federal supervision for redistricting]( Federal judges on Wednesday denied a request by minority voters, voting rights organizations and Democratic lawmakers to place the state back under federal supervision for the next redistricting cycle, [closing the final chapter on a protracted voting rights legal battle that spanned most of the decade]( and dealing disenfranchised voters a significant blow. The plaintiffs in the case argued that the state's pattern of discrimination against minority voters warranted placing it back under federal supervision before it would be allowed to make any redistricting decisions beginning in 2021. The action would have been an unprecedented move by the three-judge panel that was overseeing the case and was strongly opposed by the state, which said the plaintiffs were trying to argue an issue that had already been resolved. In an opinion written by Judge Xavier Rodriguez, the three-judge federal panel from San Antonio said that while it had substantiated the state's intent to discriminate against minority voters in the electoral maps in 2011, the Supreme Court found that those violations had been remedied in a 2013 re-draw. Therefore, the court said, it had no current violations under which to impose the federal supervision and found "insufficient basis upon which to award" the plaintiffs' request.   Robert Muller testifies: The former special counsel told Congress [he explicitly did not clear President Donald Trump of obstructing his investigation]( and rejected Trump's assertions that the probe was a "witch hunt" and hoax.   Commentary: The "squad" is no tea party, [and that's to President Donald Trump's advantage]( writes Carl P. Leubsdorf.  BUSINESS [AT&T loses close to a million TV customers, but touts its HBO-based streaming service]( AT&T lost nearly a million TV customers in the last three months, but company leaders emphasized Wednesday that they plan to grow its entertainment audience again by [launching a new streaming service and an Internet-based satellite dish replacement.]( The Dallas-based company had a decline of 946,000 total TV customers in the second quarter, including a 168,000 drop in subscribers to AT&T's streaming service, DirecTV Now. It now has about 23 million TV customers — 2.5 million fewer than it had a year ago. The sharp declines have ratcheted up pressure on AT&T to prove that it can turn its deep library of TV shows and movies into a winning, long-term business strategy. With the acquisition of Time Warner (now called WarnerMedia), the Dallas-based company became owner of HBO, Warner Bros. and Turner Broadcasting. AT&T is betting that it can attract customers with HBO Max, a streaming service that will showcase HBO and Warner Bros. content. HBO Max will launch in the spring but have a limited release later this year.  Newcomer power: D-FW immigrants [pay $10 billion in taxes and fill half the construction jobs]( a new study says.   No signal: AT&T's CEO says CBS and Nexstar blackouts for DirecTV customers [will likely continue.](  ADVERTISEMENT (Ben Torres/Special Contributor) PHOTO OF THE DAY Singer Adam Lambert and guitarist Brian May strut the stage during Tuesday night's Queen + Adam Lambert show at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Contributing critic Thor Chrisensen says that thanks to Lambert, [this version of Queen was almost as cheeky as the original fronted by the late Freddy Mercury]( delivering a show that included 25 Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders shaking their moneymakers as the band performed the 1978 Queen classic "Fat Bottomed Girls." EDITORS' PICKS - Bite flight: An American Airlines flight attendant needed five stitches [after]( bitten by a passenger's emotional support dog.]( - Wide open spaces: A 12,000-acre cattle and hunting ranch northwest of Dallas [just hit the market for the first time in more than 100 years.]( - Standoff ends safely: A 26-year-old man was [taken into custody unharmed and taken to a hospital for evaluation]( Wednesday morning in Richland Hills FINALLY... [Do Texas college students take on too much debt? A new study says 'yes]( Texas students at public universities [are taking on more debt than state leaders consider manageable,]( with black students facing the biggest financial challenges, according to a new study. State and national leaders want to reel in the student debt crisis and ensure that college graduates can afford the loans they take out to earn degrees. Texas set a goal for student debt load to be no more than 60% of a student's first-year earnings by 2030. But on average, Texas students borrowed $25,794, while their starting salaries were about $34,132. That equates to a debt-to-income ratio of 74%, according to the study by Southern Methodist University. And when parents' loans were factored in, that ratio jumped to 92%. But black students had debt-to-income ratios of 117% compared with 68% for white students and 71% for Latino students. That hints at other factors complicating the student-debt crisis, such as racial pay-gap inequities. The study's findings bring into sharp focus the challenges officials face when considering how to hold colleges more accountable for student success. 👋 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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