D-Rated.

This Week, Dallas Just Barely Kept Hanging In There.

Welcome to D-Rated, our weekly feature that tries to determine if things are looking up or down for Dallasites by arbitrarily assigning point values to current events.

The Air Up There: Last week, four men broke into Southern Staple Supply on John Carpenter Freeway and stole 30 airguns and an air compressor — about $14,000 in merchandise in total. They probably don't have any dangerous plans for those weapons, though. Minus 3.

Cue Cats: A Mesquite woman running an unauthorized animal shelter out of her non-air-conditioned home had 86 cats taken from her by authorities this week after neighbors complained about the smell. This is the wrath the Internet has brought. Minus 1.

Frack Yeah: The New York Times (via Texas Monthly) says the TNT reboot of Dallas has been a boon for the city in which the series is set because it's filmed locally, because it's boosting tourism and because it's also making us Dallasistes a more prideful lot. Like we weren't proud before? Plus 5.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later: A police officer shot an unarmed and allegedly drug-dealing suspect in South Dallas this week, causing all sorts of uproar and commotion in the streets. The good news? For a couple hours there, the city remember that South Dallas exists. Minus 1.

Mourning News: The Dallas Morning News released a video this week touting the importance of the Dallas Morning News. It's just like Season 5 of The Wire! Push.

From The Windows to the Wal(mart): A Dallas man accidentally fired a concealed handgun while shopping in a Walmart this week, and a mother and child standing nearby were injured when struck by some shell casings. Somewhere, Plaxico Burress is smiling. Minus 2.

D.A.R.E. to Keep Kids Off Drugs: Betty Ford is setting up a temporary clinic in Dallas to help 7-year-olds — not to help 7-year-old addicts, but rather the ones affected by family members with addiction issues, making this story a whole lot less frightening than originally thought. Plus 1.

Reality Bites: The creepiest lead in a news story this week goes to Dallas Morning News scribes Scott Farwell and Greta Kraul, who this week wrote, “There are many mysteries in medicine, but public health officials in Dallas are pretty sure about one thing: Somebody else is going to die soon from the mosquito-spread West Nile virus.” Aren't scare tactics the best? Minus 1.

Last week's total: Minus 4.24
This week's count: Minus 2.
This week's running total: Minus 6.24