Dallas' unfinished broadcast studio, settling our suburban water war: Your Friday evening roundup

Amazon will hire 1,000 workers for new Irving shipping hub  [Evening roundup]( [NEWS]( | [BUSINESS]( | [SPORTS]( | [HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS]( | [ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT]( | [FOOD]( | [THINGS TO DO]( | [OPINION]( 02/14/2020 By Todd Davis Good Evening! We apologize for the delay in the newsletter's arrival. Technical difficulties. Here is a look at the top headlines of the day. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here.]( Brian Plink, Dallas' production and operations manager, stands in the center of a 2,800-square-foot soundstage that's the centerpiece of the city's broadcast studio inside the old Science Place II building at Fair Park. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) DALLAS [Dallas is creating an $11 million broadcast studio. Now it has to figure out why]( columnist Robert Wilonsky writes: This week I toured a place I didn’t think actually existed — Dallas City Hall’s broadcast studio out at Fair Park. It’s in a historic building that once housed a rather pedestrian planetarium and some old space junk. Far as I knew, this facility was just a thing that existed in what’s left of my memory of long-ago City Council meetings and memos and PowerPoints. But I’ll be damned. [It’s a real thing](. The center, which we were once told would be open no later than 2018, isn’t quite finished yet — there’s no equipment, no bells nor whistles. It’s a shell in flux. But there are plenty of empty rooms spread around the 84-year-old building that looks mostly brand-new. Also: The director leading Dallas’ efforts to fight homelessness [plans to resign](. And: 'Beard,' [the Dallas bouncer]( and a Deep Ellum institution for decades, has died at 67. ADVERTISEMENT  BUSINESS [Dallas apartment market soars with more than a dozen high-rises]( estate editor Steve Brown writes: The sky is the limit for Dallas’ booming apartment market. More than a dozen high-rise rental residential buildings are under construction in the area, with more on the way. Towers with almost 4,000 apartment units are going up in Dallas. Just in the last six weeks, [another three high-rise rental buildings have been announced in the area](.  Also: Amazon will hire [1,000 workers]( for its new Irving shipping hub.   To recline or not? A video of an American Airlines [seat-punching passenger]( is dividing the internet.  POLITICS [Eric Trump tells Dallas County Republicans that his father will win by landslide]( columnist Gromer Jeffers Jr. writes: Eric Trump, the son of Donald Trump, said the president will win reelection by a landslide, partly because of what he calls miscalculations by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “If you want to talk about the gift that keeps on giving, that’s Nancy Pelosi,” Eric Trump said late Thursday night at the Dallas County Republican Party’s Reagan Day Dinner. Trump said that from the start of the impeachment of the president pushed by Pelosi and Democrats, [his father’s campaign raised $117 million dollars]( much of it from 1.4 million new donors.  Also: Two conservative political action committees started by powerful GOP donors Charles and David Koch endorsed 13 state lawmakers, [including five from North Texas](.   Ask Curious Texas: What do you want to know about [the presidential election process]( in 2020?  ADVERTISEMENT (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) PHOTO OF THE DAY Judge Martin Hoffman offered [free weddings for couples]( on Valentine's Day at the George L. Allen, Sr. Courthouse Building. “I like being part of people’s lives,” said Hoffman. “It’s my way to give back.” EDITORS' PICKS - Arts and Entertainment: [10 fun things to do]( the week of Feb. 14-20 in Dallas-Fort Worth. - 77 meets 44: [Luka Doncic met Barack Obama]( who offered Mavs-related shooting advice, during an NBA All-Star community service event. - What counts: Underfunded census effort has nonprofits worried they won’t reach [hard-to-count Texans]( in time. ADVERTISEMENT FINALLY... [If you live in North Texas, you better hope Austin can end our suburban water war]( Metro columnist Sharon Grigsby writes: I’ve spent so many days immersed in North Texas water rate research that maybe I should consider a second career in the utility business. For now I’m still here, sorting out a water controversy that too few residents are even aware of -- even though it could hit them hard in the wallet. It’s the rate case brought by Garland, Mesquite, Plano and Richardson against the North Texas Municipal Water District, litigation pending since May in the Public Utility Commission. This case matters not just to residents of those four granddaddy suburbs but ratepayers in the district’s other member cities: Allen, Farmersville, Forney, Frisco, McKinney, Princeton, Rockwall, Royse City and Wylie. The more I’ve learned, the more certain I am that enough questions -- and peculiarities -- exist to warrant [the PUC putting this case on its docket as soon as possible](. 👋 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=). 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