Transgender wrestler's fight continues, tuition program's next hurdle, vigil in Richardson: Your Monday morning roundup

February 12,  2018 By Wayne Carter Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day. 🌞 Weather: Cold early, with wind chills possibly in the teens, but mostly sunny with temperatures climbing into the 50s. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Mack Beggs shows off his pet snake, Caesar, at home in Hurst as younger brother Harley McNew looks on. Beggs, who is transgender and a senior at Euless Trinity, has one final piece of business before completing his transition into manhood: defending his state girls 110-pound wrestling title. (Louis DeLuca/Staff Photographer) sports Still forced to wrestle as a girl, Mack Beggs sets out to exit high school a champion Entering the last two weeks of his high school career, Euless Trinity transgender senior Beggs knows his priority is defending his state 110-pound girls title. Meanwhile, though, [he’s weighing a college men’s wrestling scholarship offer and awaiting a date for his “top surgery”]( by a Plano doctor. “I know it’s going to happen,” Beggs, 18, said of the surgery. “But if I stress about it too much, then I’m going to stress about it, so I’m just going with the flow.” Whatever hurdles await likely won’t be more daunting than last February’s ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit filed by a Coppell wrestling parent and the spectacle of two forfeitures by regional tournament opponents, which ignited national debate about competitive fairness and transgender rights 'I can and I will': How Frisco Centennial High School's Lily Crane [overcomes deafness on the basketball court.]( Aggies bounced: Texas A&M [kicked one player off it's men's basketball team and suspended another]( on Sunday. Murderers? No: An agent's accusation plays on emotion, but baseball's free agent freeze-out [is about numbers and logic](, says Tim Cowlishaw. Advertisement [Get your tickets now for the 2018 DFW Auto Show]( A Grand Prairie High School senior examines a Dallas County Promise packet during an information session on the program in October. (2017 File Photo/Ron Baselice) education Offer of free college draws thousands. Now comes the hard part So far, the Dallas County Promise -- a newly launched initiative that would send every graduating senior from 31 area high schools to community college for free -- has been a rousing success. The Promise, started by the Dallas County Community College District and education nonprofit Commit, blew the doors off expectations for its first self-imposed deadline: 96 percent of 9,183 students -- including seniors at Lancaster, DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Grand Prairie, South Grand Prairie and 20 of Dallas ISD’s 22 comprehensive high schools --  signed a pledge by the end of January, each promising that they would attend college. “Four months into something live, and you have 96 percent of the students in our cohort raising their hands that they want to be a part of this, you’ve got to be pleased with that,” said Dallas County Promise managing director Eric Ban. [But the biggest hurdle for the program lies ahead.]( Drivers wanted: Dallas ISD is trying to get its own transportation system up and running as districts across the area [are struggling to recruit and retain drivers.]( (2014 File Photo/The Associated Press) crime and courts Firearms case that exposed mishandling of evidence by Dallas police may be headed for settlement Dallas police arrested Morris Burrell Haynes in 2015 during an undercover prostitution sting and found a "cache of dangerous weapons" and body armor in the trunk of his Lincoln Town Car. Haynes, 37, a violent felon and alleged gang member who once shot someone, was charged with illegally possessing a firearm. But the officers didn't have a search warrant for the car. Haynes already got two of the three firearms charges against him dismissed by successfully arguing that Dallas police mishandled the evidence. But he and government prosecutors [are not willing to wait for a judge's decision]( on the fate of a third charge hanging over him. Rapist sentenced: A serial rapist [got a life in prison]( for using drugs to incapacitate and sexually assault a Dallas woman. Officer surrenders: A Dallas police officer [faces official oppression charges]( related to an incident in December. Advertisement [Get your tickets now for the 2018 DFW Auto Show]( (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) Photo of the Morning Mourners hold candles aloft during a vigil for slain Richardson police Officer David Sherrard Sunday evening outside the Richardson Civic Center. [Hundreds gathered to remember Sherrard](, 37, the patrol officer and SWAT team member who was fatally shot Wednesday night while responding to a disturbance call at an apartment complex. The 13-year veteran was the first Richardson police officer killed in the line of duty. Chief Jimmy Spivey called Sherrard "an amazing heart of our department" whose leadership, friendship and service will be missed. "These are the darkest days of the Richardson Police Department," Spivey told the crowd. Around The Site - Happy ending: Police discovered that a vehicle that led them on a nearly hour-long, low-speed chase [was occupied by an eldery couple reported missing]( earlier in the day. - Russia plane crash: All 71 people aboard were killed when an airliner [crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday.]( - Fatal collision: A driver [who rear-ended a moving vehicle]( faces manslaughter charges. - Unusual appeal: A Texas man convicted of his 4th DWI argued that [the state's legal blood alcohol limit discriminates against alcoholics.]( - Primary colors: Inside three of the congressional districts Texas [Democrats hope to turn blue in 2018](. One of the more unusual places a bike-share bicycle has been found in Dallas: cut in half, and the pieces bolted to opposite sides of a utility pole. (Limebike) Finally... City columnist Robert Wilonsky sat in last week on a meeting convened by Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway to discuss theft and vandalism of bike-share bicycles. Best thing about this job is you never know where the day will take you. Like Wednesday. One minute I'm tapping on the laptop in the media office at Dallas City Hall; the next I'm summoned to the conference room next to Dwaine Caraway's office, into which the mayor pro tem had stuffed council member Tennell Atkins, the city's transportation higher-ups, and managers from all five bike-share companies operating in the city. First thing I hear is Caraway telling the reps, "We got more bikes than we got citizens." There may be too many rental bikes in this city. [T]([here are also too many jackwagons.]( AdVERTISEMENT [Get your tickets now for the 2018 DFW Auto Show]( 👋 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 [newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). 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