“I definitely missed being here. I missed this building. I missed Cowboys’ nation. I’m definitely excited and ready to get this thing going.” — Ezekiel Elliot, after announcing his return to the Cowboys for the 2024 season. (Tuesday, Cowboys.com)

“We refused to let death take us.” — Grace Kang, a North Korean refugee speaking to an SMU crowd about her ordeal leaving the country under a totalitarian regime. (Tuesday, The Dallas Morning News)

“Long before ‘Brooklyn’ became a place where every novelist seemed to live, from Colson Whitehead to Jhumpa Lahiri … Auster made being a writer seem like something real, something a person actually did.” — Poet Meghan O’Rourke, commenting on Paul Auster, the Brooklyn-based writer of “The New York Trilogy,” who died last week. (Wednesday, The New York Times)

“If we have a lot of rain here and we have a lot of rain in Dallas, well then the magnitude of the flooding is going to be much worse.” — Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy commenting on the heavy rainfall in East Texas that caused the Trinity River to overflow. (Wednesday, Texas Tribune)

“As far as financial institutions, I don’t necessarily think it’s going to have a demonstrable effect.” — Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, commenting on the Biden administration’s decision to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug
but still keeping cannabis businesses out of the banking system. (Tuesday, The Associated Press)

“These numbers validate our concern that much of the disruption on campus over the past week has been orchestrated by people from outside the University, including groups with ties to escalating protests at other universities around the country.” — A statement by the University of Texas at Austin confirming that half of those arrested in pro-Palestinian protests had no affiliation with the university. (Tuesday, The Dallas Morning News)

“This is the first time that we have observed a wild animal applying a quite potent medicinal plant directly to a wound.” — Isabelle Laumer, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, and co-author of a study on an orangutan that applied a medicinal plant to treat a facial wound. (Thursday, Associated Press)

“Why is China stalling so bad economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Because they’re xenophobic. … They don’t want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong.” — President Joe Biden (Wednesday, CNN)

“Hate speech, derogatory language and offensive behavior is not tolerated at Dallas ISD. Our schools are safe havens where we welcome inclusivity and celebrate all cultures, ethnicities and religions.” — DISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde, after announcing that Hillcrest High School will be partnering with the Holocaust Museum for antisemitism training. (Thursday, The Dallas Morning News)

“There were streams of bees, and the wall … was oozing honey. But it looked like blood because it was really, really dark, running down my daughter’s pink walls. It looked really strange.” — Ashley Massis Class, referring to the massive bee hive found in her daughter’s closet in North Carolina. The toddler thought it was a monster. (Wednesday, The Guardian)

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MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Two police departments and the medical examiner’s office were working together to figure out how a man died.

While a toxicology report was pending on Saturday, Local 10 News sources believe a body found in a wooded preserve area in western Miami-Dade was connected to a missing person’s case further east in Miami.

Miami-Dade and Miami police officers worked together on Wednesday north of Eighth Street and west of Southwest 137 Avenue when a Dade police dog found the body shortly after 1 p.m., in an early stage of decomposition.

According to detectives familiar with the search near the Tamiami Bike Trail area, the white man was 30 to 40 years old, he was only wearing sweatpants, he was “lying supine on the ground” — and his body did not show any signs of trauma.

Detectives involved in the city and county cases were waiting. On Thursday, the medical examiner, Dr. Nicholas Barna, decided he needed toxicology to determine the man’s cause of death.

Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Related reports

Atlanta Braves’ star Matt Olson is set to hit a major personal milestone on Saturday when the Braves take on the San Diego Padres.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on social media:

Matt Olson has played 499 consecutive games, dating to 5/2/21

only longer streaks since 2000:

2000-07 Miguel Tejada: 1,152
2018-22 Whit Merrifield: 553
2010-14 Prince Fielder: 547
2000-03 Alex Rodriguez: 546
2003-06 Hideki Matsui: 518
2004-07 Mark Teixeira: 507

h/t @EliasSports

Look, Olson is no Cal Ripken Jr., who played in 2,632 consecutive games over his career, but Olson’s streak is the longest active one in baseball and if he stays healthy, he’ll move all the way into second place on that list by the end of this season.

In the era of sports analytics and load management, it’s an incredible feat that Olson has been able to stay in the lineup this long. It’s also a huge accomplishment that he’s been able to stay healthy as well.

Olson, who is 30 years old, played in 156 games in 2021, starting his streak that year. He hasn’t missed a game since.

A two-time All-Star, Olson has played for the Oakland Athletics and Braves in his nine-year career. He led the majors in home runs a season ago with 54 (and he led in RBIs with 139) and continually ranks as one of the best power threats in baseball.

This year he has started slow, hitting just .227, but he does have five homers and 23 RBI.

The Braves will take on the Padres on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. ET.

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