Did you know that pelicans are mean as hell?

Photo by Danny Fulgencio

THAT’S SO DALLAS

Shiny new stuff? Hi tech? Sure, we’ll try it! Dallas consumers are the lab rats on which retailers test the likes of cybernetic checkouts. As Dallas’ cashier-less Sam’s generates geek-universe giddiness, 7-Eleven follows, launching scan-and-go options at 14 Dallas stores. (USA Today) We’ve not fully arrived at the future, however, until our smart stores have “a holographic human face with a calm expression and neatly cut bangs” on hand to greet us. (Technology Review)

THE CATCH UP: YOUR NEWS DIGEST
Package deal: Basically since babyhood, these South Oak Cliff twins dreamed of playing football for Arkansas. Now they’re high school seniors, and the Razorbacks return their interest, with equal enthusiasm. (Oak Cliff Advocate/Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

Amazon could refuse to choose: More than one city could be home to HQ2. A new plan calls for splitting the operation between two metros, placing 25k employees in each, an anonymous source told a reputable newspaper. Dallas and New York are among a handful still in the running. (Yahoo News/Wall Street Journal)

Pelicans aplenty: There exists certain evidence that these pale-plumaged fowl are sadistic monsters. (Cracked.com, No. 5) But they’re so pretty! And they prefer to winter at White Rock Lake, so let’s treat them as guests and not run them over in our cars, mmkay? (Lake Highlands Advocate)

Fun with Delkus: The weatherman worshipped by watchers old and young, whose altruism knows no bounds (LH Advocate), sits at his “solid-gold” desk dishing on his superpowers, which might include, among other things, maintaining perfect hair during a tornado. (DallasObserver)

Impressive display: “The most important collection of Swiss art ever formed outside of Switzerland” — 400 some pieces — is at the heart of a new gallery inside the University of Texas at Dallas’ inaugural museum. How did this unlikely collaboration transpire? (The Art Newspaper)

To the moon and back: Neil Armstrong’s space gear garnered some $7.5 million at a Dallas auction. When one’s business travel destinations include The Moon, by way of rocket, someone will pay a pretty penny for your old paraphernalia. (Time)

HARD NEWS: IT’LL BE QUICK
Manhunt intensifies: Detectives have widened the search for a Dallas rapist to include Bossier, Louisiana, where authorities believe he has committed similar crimes. (CNN)

Dallas mother still searches: Her 15-year-old daughter Maria Elizalde disappeared a day before Thanksgiving 2015. In an effort to find, if but a few, of America’s many missing and exploited children, a popular national publication highlights Maria’s story, and others like it. (People)

One Dallas firefighter is hospitalized: He helped extinguish an apartment complex blaze. A spokesperson says his injuries are not life threatening. No one else was physically hurt. (CBS DFW)

DINING: BE THAT FOODIE KNOW-IT-ALL
Serving seconds: Fat Ni BBQ is suburban-Dallas famous for its Beijing-style street food and meats on sticks. A second location is coming to Carrolton. (Eater Dallas)

Bologna, the protein of an impoverished childhood: Yeah? Well you are not alone. Also, we think it’s time to give bologna a second chance, and, in the capable hands of Lakewood Smokehouse staffers, the meat might be making a comeback.  (Dallas Observer)

Taste transformation: The Greenville Avenue space that once housed Bind Butcher is becoming the Alamo Club, under the watchful eye of owner Austin Rodgers. Look for an early spring opening. (Escape HatchDallas)