How former gang members hope to save Dallas, D-FW's construction boom: Your Tuesday evening roundup

Also, one of Dallas' 'most exciting restaurants' has set an opening date.  [Evening roundup]( 02/11/2020 By Mallorie Sullivan Good Evening! Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( Pastor Omar Jahwar, left, and Antong Lucky, a former gang member, after presenting their Original Gangster United crime prevention program to the Public Safety Committee at Dallas City Hall on Monday. (Brandon Wade / Special Contributor) CRIME AND COURTS [With violent crime on the rise, these former gang members hope to save Dallas]( City columnist Robert Wilonsky writes: For hours on Monday, grown-ups shared stories of children almost broken by life before it had even begun. These stories "are constantly in our mind, because these are our children," Pastor Omar Jahwar said Monday morning as we sat in his office in the Cedars. Antong Lucky, his right-hand man for the last 20 years, sat beside him. They mention 9-year-old Brandoniya Bennett, slain last summer in her apartment, and 1-year-old Rory Norman, shot to death in his bed the first week of the new year. "We can’t run away from it." Jahwar is CEO and founder of Urban Specialists, [and has spent the last 23 years striving to end gang violence in this city.]( Lucky, who dealt drugs and once commanded a small army that included children, joined Jahwar as soon as he could – in 2000, after four years spent in prison being admired by other gangsters. Also: A jury is deciding whether a former Dallas police officer acted in a reasonable manner [when he fatally shot a 21-year-old woman in 2017.]( And: Mesquite police arrested a pastor from a Baptist church in Coppell on Monday [on a charge of sexually assaulting a child.]( ADVERTISEMENT  POLITICS [Three Dallas Democrats vie to challenge Morgan Meyer in one of Texas’ most competitive statehouse races]( Two years ago, Democrats came within 200 votes of unseating Dallas Republican Morgan Meyer during a year in which the party picked up a net of 12 seats in the Texas House. This year, they are making him one of their top targets as they look to flip the last two Dallas County seats held by Republicans. But first, [primary voters have to pick the candidate they believe can beat Meyer in November.](  Also: Bernie Sanders [will hold a Valentine’s Day rally Friday]( in Mesquite.   And: Texas Sen. John Cornyn [defended President Donald Trump's firing of two key impeachment witnesses.](  REAL ESTATE [Dallas-Fort Worth’s construction boom ranks second nationally in 2019]( Dallas-Fort Worth was the [second-busiest building market in the country last year]( almost $22.5 billion in construction. Only New York City had more total construction — both residential and nonresidential — than the D-FW area, according to information from Dodge Data & Analytics.  Also: A new apartment and grocery project [is in the works on the eastern edge of downtown Dallas.](   And: An Atlanta investor is paying $400 million [to purchase Dallas' Galleria office towers](  ADVERTISEMENT EDITORS' PICKS - Game on: Nintendo is bringing a Switch video game pop-up [to Dallas Love Field.]( - Back in action: Mavs' Luka Doncic [intends to return from his ankle injury Wednesday]( to play against the Sacramento Kings. - Whatawedding: Six lucky Texas couples [have the opportunity to win a wedding at a Whataburger]( on Valentine’s Day at locations across Texas. ADVERTISEMENT FINALLY... [One of Dallas’ ‘most exciting restaurants,’ Mendocino Farms, sets March opening date]( Food writer Sarah Blaskovich writes: Mendocino Farms, a California sandwich and salad shop, announced it [plans to open a restaurant on Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas]( on March 11. Interested customers can sign up for a sneak peek. We called Mendo one of Dallas’ "most exciting restaurants" opening in 2020. I noted that healthy, fast, fashionable food is having a major moment in Dallas, and this coming-soon restaurant seems to fit right in with other fast-casual shops like Flower Child and Original ChopShop. 👋 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=). STAY CONNECTED WITH US [Unsubscribe]( | [Free newsletters]( | [Dallasnews.com]( | [Subscriber login]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact us]( Copyright 2020 - [The Dallas Morning News, 1954 Commerce Street, Dallas, TX 75201, United States](