In this roundup of Dallas city news, DART is redoing the city's bus system. Fair Park received an accolade that will boost its fortunes. There's a new COVID twist. A historical theater in downtown Dallas celebrates a big anniversary. And Texans behaved badly in New York.

Here's what happened around Dallas this week:

New mu
A new variant of COVID-19 arrived in town last week. It's called "mu" and it's now found in 49 of 50 states in the U.S. Medical professionals are not yet worried since it is comprising a tiny percent of cases compared to Delta, but they're still keeping an eye out.

Due to the latest COVID-19 surge, Cook Children's Medical Center is rescheduling all elective surgeries that require inpatient admission to October 11 or later. The facility said in a statement that pediatric beds are scarce, the situation is dire, and there's no end in sight. "There are only so many beds available and we must provide room for critically ill children who must be hospitalized," they said.

DART survey
Dallas Area Rapid Transit has designed a new bus network to decide where bus lines should go, when they should run, and how frequent the service should be. It examines the DART bus network in all 13 of the cities that fund DART services.

Their 23-page proposal, which is online, focuses more services on the places and routes where more people ride. It notes the choice that transit agencies have: to focus service on frequent routes that serve more riders, or to cover a bigger area but with minimal service.

Currently, they invest about 55 percent of the budget on popular routes, and 45 percent on less popular routes. The new network dedicates 70-75 percent of the budget to the high ridership routes.

DART is collecting feedback on its proposal, with a plan to implement in January 2022. To review what's proposed and take the survey, go to www.dartzoom.org/en/survey.

Fair Park Cultural District
The Texas Commission on the Arts has officially designated the Fair Park Cultural District as a new cultural district in the State of Texas.

Cultural districts are special zones that can stimulate economic development and community revitalization. Official designation allows cultural districts and arts organizations to apply for funding through TCA.

The TCA is the only body able to officially designate cultural districts on behalf of the State. Cultural districts are marketable tourism assets that highlight the distinct identity of a community and encourage in-state, out-of-state, and international visitors.

Majestic anniversary celebration
The historic Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas is celebrating its 100-year anniversary.  The theatre first opened in 1921 and is the last standing theater of Theatre Row, Dallas' historic Elm Street entertainment center.

To celebrate, the Office of Arts and Culture is hosting a free community open house on September 19 from 12-4 pm  that will include tours of the facility plus performances by Herbie Johnson Jazz Quartet, Dallas Black Dance, and a screening of 100 Years of Majestic, a documentary. Masks are strongly encouraged, and theater capacity will be limited to 50 percent.

Painting and finances
Primary is a color theory workshop for Dallas’ low-income kids, where students will paint with social practice artist Natalia Padilla, who created the program with a grant from The City of Dallas' Office of Arts and Culture to help kids learn basic principles in finances although the workshop is open to anyone in Dallas from 10 to 99 years old. A total of 20 sessions will be available in 30-minute increments from 10 am- 12 pm, and 1-4 pm on September 18 and September 25 at Color Me Empowered. You can register here.

Texans being Texans
A group of Texans, from where they do not say, attacked a hostess at a restaurant in New York after she asked them for proof of vaccination. The restaurant was Carmine's, an Italian place, and the beating was caught on video. The hostess was punched in the face and body, and sent to the hospital; three people are facing charges.