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[Morning roundup](
08/16/2019
By Nataly Keomoungkhoun and Carla Solórzano
Good morning!
Here is a look at the top headlines as we start the day.
🌞 Weather: Back to typical August weather — Sunny and hot with a high of 100 degrees.
🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [her](
Dallas Police Maj. Danny Williams of the Crimes Against Persons Division delivers a press conference update Thursday on the shooting death of Brandoniya Bennett, 9, near the Roseland Community Center in Old East Dallas. Police named 19-year-old Tyrese Simmons (right) as the shooter. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer)
CRIME
[Rapper accused of killing 9-year-old girl turns himself in, Dallas police say](
The man who is accused of killing a 9-year-old girl was in custody Thursday evening, a day after the fatal shooting left her neighborhood in shock and clergy members and community activists calling for an end to violence.
Tyrese Simmons, 19, [turned himself in at Lew Sterrett Jail in connection with the death of Brandoniya Bennett]( at her home in the Roseland Townhomes in the 3500 block of Munger Avenue in Old East Dallas. He has been charged with capital murder, with bond set at $500,000.
Brandoniya had been planning to begin school next week. Instead, her family will be laying her to rest, the latest victim of a summer crime wave.
"When one family hurts, we all hurt. The whole community hurts," said Maurice Ash, an activist with children of his own. "The saddest thing is that my daughter will never be able to get to know this young girl. This will never happen because her life was cut down, cut short because of senseless gun violence."
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Commentary: At the Dallas complex where 3 kids have been shot to death in just a few weeks, [the death, too, of innocence,]( writes Robert Wilonsky.
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Also: Wednesday afternoon’s shooting sparked an outcry — [even in a city that has gotten used to the daily toll of violence.](
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DALLAS
[Dallas, Collin Democrats decry possibility white supremacist group may plan to gather in N. Texas this weekend](
Democratic Party leaders in Dallas and Collin counties condemned the possibility that a white supremacist group may be planning to have a conference in North Texas this weekend, officials said.
Party spokespersons in both counties said they'd heard reports that the American Identity Movement, formerly known as Identity Evropa, is planning the conference and day of action for Saturday and Sunday in Dallas and McKinney. The group was one of the organizers of a 2017 Charlottesville, Va., rally in which a woman was killed.
Dallas police said they're aware of social media posts and fliers regarding a possible march in the Dallas area. [No one has contacted the department or requested permits]( said Sgt. Warren Mitchell, a department spokesman.
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Crime: The 21-year-old [son of a Dallas ISD trustee was shot and killed Thursday morning]( in east Oak Cliff, officials said.
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Weather: In Dallas-Fort Worth, [last month was slightly cooler than normal]( with an average high of 94.1 degrees and a low of 75, according to the National Weather Service.
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POLITICS
[Texas Gov. Greg Abbott dismisses calls for House Speaker Dennis Bonnen to quit as ‘premature,’ welcomes inquiry](
Gov. Greg Abbott says that while Speaker Dennis Bonnen was "a good partner" in this year's legislative session, it's good for both Bonnen and the state that the Texas Rangers are investigating whether anything improper happened in his June huddle with a conservative activist.
"[We need to get to the bottom of this]( and we need to get to the bottom of this quickly," Abbott said late Thursday in a televised town hall.
He referred to a controversy that has engulfed Bonnen's speakership and has gripped Texas politics for the last three weeks.
"I don't know any of the facts that happened," Abbott said of Bonnen's meeting with Empower Texans chief Michael Quinn Sullivan, at which the speaker allegedly proposed a swap of House media credentials to Sullivan's website in exchange for his political support in next March's Republican primaries.
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Elections: [Beto O’Rourke returned to the campaign trail]( determined to focus on communities he says are terrorized by the president’s incendiary language and policies.
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More elections: [Julián Castro expects his campaign to pick up enough steam to propel him to the stage]( for next month's Democratic Party presidential debate in Houston.
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EDITORS' PICKS
- Marketing challenge: A research lab at the University of Texas at Dallas is [attempting to recruit veterans for a PTSD study.](
- Big hub: Southwest Airlines hopes to add as many [as 100 flights a day as part of gate expansions at Denver International Airport]( — a move that would make the Colorado city the busiest in the carrier's network.
- Dream a little Dreamscape: A new attraction in Dallas helps "shut off the reality" with [virtual reality rooms at NorthPark](.
Artist Ari Brielle's art exhibit, "Safe Place," is being displayed at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, August 10, 2019. Her work explores the challenges of African American women in today's society. (Lawrence Jenkins/Staff Photographer)
FINALLY...
[Dallas artist places black women at the center of her Oak Cliff show]( 'Safe Place'
Ari Brielle woke up recently to find influencer Kimberly Drew had posted a recent work from Brielle’s show on her Instagram account. Drew is the former social media manager of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, writer and advocate for contemporary black art. Her Instagram page, @museummammy, boasts almost 240,000 Instagram followers, and she founded the popular blog Black Contemporary Art. The co-sign from Drew had Brielle "shook," like it would any of the young black artists trying to be seen right now.
[The piece Drew posted, Homegoing (Am I Next?), was from Brielle’s art show, "Safe Place,"]( which has made a home at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center until Aug. 30. Brielle, 25, is a Dallas-Fort Worth native and lives in the Bishop Arts District.
In short, Brielle says, "Safe Place" is about the politicization of black women and their bodies. The show features colorful gouache-painted wooden planks that depict black women in various personal settings, such as bedrooms.
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