Bonnen audio fallout, federal action sought in Atatiana Jefferson case: Your Wednesday evening roundup

City and county leaders expressed shock and disappointment at comments by the speaker of the Texas House and one of his top lieutenants in a newly released recording of a secret meeting.  [Evening roundup]( 10/16/2019 By Wayne Carter Good Evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen visits with colleagues in May during the 86th Texas Legislature at the state Capitol. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) POLITICS [Local leaders ‘shocked’ by animosity toward cities, counties in secret Bonnen recording]( City and county leaders expressed shock and disappointment at comments by the speaker of the Texas House and one of his top lieutenants in a newly released recording of a secret meeting in which they say they "hate" local governments and want to make the next legislative session the worst yet for municipalities. "Any mayor, county judge that was dumbass enough to come meet with me, I told them with great clarity, my goal is for this to be the worst session in the history of the Legislature for cities and counties," House Speaker Dennis Bonnen is heard saying on the recording of a secret meeting he held with conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan in June. The comments were made in a secret meeting on June 12 between Sullivan, Bonnen and Burrows at which Sullivan alleges the two lawmakers offered him a quid pro quo. That allegation has rocked Texas politics for the better part of the last three months and trickled all the way down to local politics on Tuesday after the much anticipated release of a surreptitious recording Sullivan made of the meeting. One day later, [local leaders responded by denouncing the comments]( and urging state leaders to work with cities where a majority of the Texas population now lives. Editorial: Dennis Bonnen and Michael Quinn Sullivan’s ugly plan to disempower Texans [engaged our gag reflex.]( Ohio debate takeaways: [Biden was tongue-tied, Warren was slippery on taxes and O’Rourke was left twisting on guns]( ADVERTISEMENT CRIME & COURTS [Fort Worth clergy say Atatiana Jefferson’s killing demands federal intervention]( Black clergy and community leaders in Fort Worth called on the federal government Wednesday to force the city’s police force to make changes after an officer shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson in her home last weekend. Jefferson, 28, was killed when a Fort Worth police officer standing outside her home shot her about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Officer Aaron Dean, who resigned shortly after the shooting, was arrested Monday on a murder charge. The black community leaders gathered Wednesday afternoon at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth to announce a joint effort [to secure a federal consent decree to mandate reforms at the Fort Worth Police Department]( over a period of 15 to 20 years. Aaron Dean faces a murder charge in the shooting.(Tarrant County Sheriff's Dept.) "This is a fundamental attack on the Constitution of United States," said the Rev. Kyev Tatum of New Mount Rose Baptist Church. "It is an affront to the second amendment. The Constitution is on trial right now in Fort Worth."   On the docket: How the Supreme Court’s review of a Louisiana abortion case [could revive an overturned Texas law.](  BUSINESS [UAW workers reach tentative deal with GM as cost of strike reaches estimated $2 billion]( The United Auto Workers and General Motors have reached [a tentative contract agreement that could end a monthlong strike]( that brought the automaker’s U.S. factories to a standstill. The deal was hammered out Wednesday but it won’t immediately end the strike by more than 49,000 workers. They’re likely to stay on the picket lines at least a few more days until union committees vote on the deal. The entire membership also must vote. Details of the four-year agreement have yet to be released. UAW Local 276, which represents Arlington GM workers, was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. Workers left their jobs early Sept. 16, seeking a bigger share of GM’s profits, job security and a path to permanent jobs for temporary workers.  Growth mode: Southlake-based Sabre is acquiring a company that develops software [to help low-cost airlines develop additional revenue sources.]( ADVERTISEMENT (Jason Janik/Special Contributor) PHOTO OF THE DAY Morgan Pieper pours a cup of cold-brew coffee from one of several beverage taps at her new Victory Park grab 'n' go store called Feed Me Pronto, where nearly all the ingredients are organic and non-GMO. It’s a convenience store by definition, but Pieper says Feed Me Pronto [has a different identity than most of her competitors.]( EDITORS' PICKS - 'Time and Temperature': El Centro College [is holding its first curated art show]( since the deadly July 2016 police ambush in downtown Dallas. - School building: Frisco ISD has broken ground on its newest high school [amid rising construction costs.]( - Botched heist: [One suspect]( through a ceiling]( and another ran straight into police during a Fort Worth burglary. FINALLY... [Dreading the anger as Trump and Beto rally supporters in Dallas area? This SMU prof can help]( From Metro columnist Sharon Grigsby: I don’t know about you, but the sorry state of what passes for debate these days — hair-trigger anger and social media carpet-bombing — beats me into believing that thoughtful discussion about life’s toughest stuff is dead and gone. Too often, I wind up feeling timid, tentative or just plain tired-head around hot-button issues. That’s why I went back to college last week to look into what I had heard were powerful efforts by one professor and her students to revive civil discourse. I didn’t find a magic potion for what ails society, but I did come back with better ideas on how to reengage. Professor Jill DeTemple, in the religious studies department of SMU’s Dedman College, has developed a discussion tool, dubbed reflective structured dialogue, that she is using in her own classrooms and sharing with professors here and across the nation. The idea is to take topics that drive people apart — gun rights, abortion, the death penalty, the existence of God — and reframe the conversation around personal experiences. Lots of weighty research underpins the technique, [but at its core is curiosity about another person’s life and values.]( 👋 That's all for this afternoon! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. Share the love! 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