City Hall lawsuit, GM workers strike, Cowboys win: Your Monday morning roundup

Here is a look at the latest headlines to start your week.  [Morning roundup]( 09/16/2019 By Todd Davis Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌤️ Weather: Happy Sweatember! Today's high is expected to be 97, with a low of 76 tonight. If you can make it through Monday, we'll get y'all some rain and a bit of a cool-down in a few days. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [her]( Beginning in 2013, Hamilton Properties opened its Lone Star Gas Lofts inside the old Atmos complex. (2013 File Photo / Staff) COURTS [Philip Kingston returns to City Hall carrying affordable-housing developers' $8M lawsuit]( City columnist Robert Wilonsky writes: Former Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston is suing Dallas City Hall on behalf of the developers who gave downtown Dallas its first — and, to date, its most — substantive affordable-housing development. [There's a lot to unpack in that sentence]( including whether it's kosher to have someone three months removed from the horseshoe involved in "litigation adverse to the city" as defined by the city's code of ethics. But let's deal first with the far weightier matter, because at stake here are millions of dollars those developers say the city is withholding without good reason. The lawsuit, filed Friday morning in Dallas County court, has to do with Lone Star Gas Lofts, a sprawling historic complex that fills an entire downtown block between The Statler hotel and First Presbyterian Church. Once deemed undevelopable, because of its size and age, it now houses 230 residential units — 170 of which are available to tenants making well below the area median income.  Free at last: [A Texas man]( who was the subject of a recent Netflix documentary on questionable forensic evidence was ordered to be be released from prison.   Also: [A burn victim's testimony]( helped send her ex to prison for life for the horrific Dallas attack.  PODCAST [Special audio reports on Amber Guyger's murder trial in the death of Botham Jean debut]( The Dallas Morning News is experimenting with a new offering for its audience: special audio reports produced by its journalists that take listeners deeper into important and engaging stories. [The first report, part one of a limited series, launches Monday.]( Death of Botham Jean: Amber Guyger on Trial" will be an examination of the murder trial of fired Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, which is scheduled to begin Sept. 23. Guyger was off duty but in uniform when she shot Jean in his apartment. She told police she thought the apartment was hers and she mistook the unarmed 26-year-old man for a burglar. In the series, News staff writer Jennifer Emily, a former criminal courts reporter who is covering this story, explores different aspects of the case and will give listeners updates during the trial. The series includes interviews with attorneys, journalists and family members to help answer tough questions about what happened the night Guyger shot Jean. ADVERTISEMENT POLITICS [Beto O'Rourke steers donors to Briscoe Cain's rival over Texas rep’s AR-15 threat]( First Beto O'Rourke wants to come after his guns, prompting Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain to warn that he has an AR-15 "ready." Now O'Rourke is going after Cain's seat in the Texas Legislature. Late Saturday, O'Rourke urged his own supporters to pour money into the campaign of a Democrat hoping to oust Cain next year: Josh Markle, an Air Force veteran. His campaign biography says he works at a sign language interpreting agency and lives with his husband and their two dogs in Deer Park, the same Houston suburb that Cain lives in. [That marked an escalation in the feud]( that erupted during Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate, when O'Rourke, a former El Paso congressman, forcefully promoted a plan to enact mandatory buybacks of "weapons of war."  On the trail: At a Dallas fundraiser, [Joe Biden]( says he'll fight against hate and reverse damage done by President Donald Trump.   And: [Beto O'Rourke won't back down on AR-15 buy back]( and says Democrats should stop playing defense.  Also: President Donald Trump is set [to visit Houston for an event with the Prime Minister Modi of India.]( BUSINESS [Dallas business leaders agree to make white Corporate America more Latino]( Corporate boardrooms across the U.S. share a similar trait: They’re very white. But a new initiative called "The Hispanic Promise" aims to change that makeup by having major corporations commit to hiring more Latinos and promoting them into leadership positions. [Dallas business leaders]( say that if companies follow through on the promise and low-income students in Dallas get enough mentoring for college and workforce readiness, then the initiative might actually make corporate Dallas more inclusive for Latinos. And at least one demographics expert says it’s more important than ever for Dallas — a city where about 42% of the population is Latino — to start providing such opportunities for Latinos. About 15 Dallas- and North Texas-based companies — including giants like AT&T, Ericsson and YUM! Brands — signed on to promise earlier this week at an event at SMU, pledging to make their corporate workforce more Hispanic and inclusive.  And: [GM union workers]( in Arlington and across the nation will start the week with their first strike since 2007.   Commentary: [A new Texas bill]( means teachers could be better off saving in a Roth IRA than a 403(b) plan, writes Scott Burns.  ADVERTISEMENT EDITORS' PICKS - Looking to the future: [Dallas' LGBTQ community]( calls for unity at a town hall punctuated by 2020 election anxiety. - Cost of living: With the city council set to lower rates again, [how do property taxes in Dallas compare?]( - Cowboys 31, Redskins 21: Here's how a field goal drive [exemplified everything that is different about these Cowboys]( writes Tim Cowlishaw. The new Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum includes exhibits (above right) as well as and state-of-the art technology. (Lynda M. Gonzalez / Staff Photographer) FINALLY [With hate rising, Dallas Holocaust Museum unveils new home, expanded mission]( Architecture critic Mark Lamster writes: When the Dallas Holocaust Museum revealed its plans for a new West End home back in 2015, the chief urgency was the loss of survivors and firsthand witnesses to the Nazi horrors. Four years later, that $73.5 million facility opens with an expanded mission at a moment when Jews find themselves under increasing threat. According to the FBI, there has been a dramatic rise in hate crimes targeting Jews: a jump of 37% between 2016-2017 alone, a statistic that does not include the slaughter at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue last October. In 2017, white supremacists chanting "Jews will not replace us" clashed with opponents in Charlottesville, and President Donald Trump saw "very fine people on both sides." It arrives, as well, at a moment in America -- and in Texas in particular -- when immigrant children have been separated from their parents, and a man drove from our backyard to El Paso to shoot people he perceived to be immigrants. [Amid this maelstrom]( the institution reopens as the rebranded Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, expanding its purview along with its footprint.  👋 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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