Former Pete Sessions Aide Joins Race for Dallas City Council. Ori Raphael, 29, has a great haircut (paywall), and he wants to bring it to the North Dallas District 11 seat that Linda Koop currently occupies (she’s term limited). But watch out. This kid isn’t just good looks and great connections. He’s got big ideas, too. To wit, he has written: “Too many young Jews are busy watching their TiVo-ed shows or worrying about where they are going out that night.”
XTO Gives Up on Drilling in Southwest Dallas. The city hasn’t yet decided how it will handle proposed natural gas wells, and XTO is tired of waiting around (paywall). After paying the city $14 million for the privilege, the company is withdrawing its zoning application. A company spokesman let us know just how bad Dallas screwed itself, saying, “[T]his project would have provided a boost for the local economy. The city of Dallas would have benefited from royalties and tax revenue on gas produced from these sites.” To which environmentalists say, “[Wanking motion.]”
Missing UTD Student Found. Yaseen Ali Abbas, 24, went missing Friday. His parents and family launched a social media campaign to find him, and they had planned a candlelight vigil for Abbas last night. Thankfully, that vigil was cancelled when yesterday afternoon Abbas called his folks to tell them he’d been picked up by paramedics in Uptown. But that’s all we know for now. No word whether Abbas had been abducted or just went on an epic bender at the Loon.
