New Texas student safety bill, West Love, AT&T: Your Thursday morning roundup

Good morning! Here is a look at the stories making news as we start the day.Do you want to get this roundup via email? Sign up for our newsletters here.

Texas Senate seeks to crack down on improper student-teacher relationships

Texas senators unanimously passed a bill Wednesday that aims to crack down on improper student-teacher relationships in the state. The proposed law would, among other things, make school officials who fail to report such conduct subject to criminal charges.

The bill will now go to the House for consideration.Early childhood education: Advocates tell lawmakers that now is the time to invest in pre-K education.Rick Sorrells: How a new proposal pushes the chief of Dallas’ troubled school-bus agency toward retirement. A goodbye: UNT Chancellor Lee Jackson will retire after four decades of public service in the Dallas area.

Apartment builder JPI plans to develop hundreds of rental units in the 37-acre West Love mixed-use project near Dallas Love Field.((West Love)) — Apartment builder JPI plans to develop hundreds of rental units in the 37-acre West Love mixed-use project near Dallas Love Field.

((West Love))

Inside Love Field’s construction boom

Dallas’ Love Field area has experienced a recent construction boom that is just getting started.At the heart of the area’s rejuvenation is the new 37-acre mixed-use West Love project on Mockingbird Lane just west of the airport. This month, developers are opening the first phase of West Love: a $49 million, 224-room Aloft and Element hotel.Construction is also underway on a 370-unit apartment community being built by developer JPI.

Dallas’ Farmers Market: A 297-unit, $33.5 million apartment project is coming to downtown Dallas’ growing Farmers Market district.An upgrade: A landmark Fort Worth mansion sports a hefty $8 million price tag, but includes a bank vault turned media room.A consolidation: Albertsons is closing the Houston office and distribution center for its Randalls brand of stores, cutting 205 jobs there.

No information was given about what caused the service problem. (Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer)

AT&T 911 service restored in D-FW after outage

AT&T wireless customers trying to dial 911 across North Texas got busy signals Wednesday, in what some were calling a statewide and even nationwide problem.At about 9:30 p.m., AT&T said service had been restored for those affected, but did not give any information about what caused the service issue. The Federal Communications Commission says that it plans to investigate the outage.

Photo of the morning

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press

First lady Melania Trump arrived Wednesday in the State Dining Room of the White House, where she hosted a luncheon on International Women’s Day.Attendees included Ivanka Trump, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Maine Sen. Susan Collins. Linda McMahon, who leads President Donald Trump’s Small Business Administration, and Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, were also at the luncheon, according to White House pool reports.

Views on politics

The Russia question: Republicans seem tired of the Trump-Putin jokes as evidence mounts. (Carl P. Leubsdorf)The border tax: How Trump is about to pull off one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history and why Texas will lose. (Richard Parker)Health care: Telling poor Americans to choose between iPhones and health care is not a solution. (The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board)The value of information: Why Texas must act now to repair damage to Public Information Act. (Kelley Shannon)North Korea: What the Trump administration means for the North Korea situation. (Isaac Chotiner)

<i> Real Housewives of Dallas</i> season 1 cast members were (from left) Tiffany Hendra, LeeAnne Locken, Cary Deuber, Stephanie Hollman and Brandi Redmond.((Evans Caglage / Staff Photographer)) — *Real Housewives of Dallas* season 1 cast members were (from left) Tiffany Hendra, LeeAnne Locken, Cary Deuber, Stephanie Hollman and Brandi Redmond.

((Evans Caglage / Staff Photographer))

Finally,

Rumors about The Real Housewives of Dallas are running amok, and we have them all right here.

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By Dennis Jansen