Fort Worth just got a Hollywood-sized upgrade. The new 450,000-square-foot film and TV campus-the largest in Texas-opened in AllianceTexas, already hosting the second season of Paramount’s «Landman». Founded by «Yellowstone» creator Taylor Sheridan, SGS Studios aims to prove Texas can do more than cowboys and oil: think big sets, multiple productions at once, and enough space to “dream big” without city traffic. With plans to expand further and training programs through Tarrant County College, Fort Worth is betting on turning its wide-open spaces into a media mecca. Paramount and Sheridan promise it’s all serious storytelling… with a side of Texas-sized ambition.

Texas is breaking records-and not just in BBQ consumption. The state hit 14.3 million jobs in July, adding 232,500 over the past year and outpacing the national growth rate. Governor Abbott credits the “best business climate” and hardworking Texans, while rolling out career training programs and \$1.6 million in grants for South Texas technical education. With 15.8 million people in the labor force and unemployment steady at 4%, Texas isn’t just creating jobs-it’s practically building an economy as big as its sky.

Texas is giving its driver’s licenses and state IDs a makeover, complete with shiny new security features that are supposedly harder for criminals to copy. Starting August 18, the cards are made from tamper-proof polycarbonate, feature a black laser-engraved star (because gold stars are apparently passé), and showcase Texas pride with flag colors, horses, and even a backup photo of you. DPS insists this redesign is all about protecting Texans from identity theft-though you’ll still get to keep your old license until it naturally expires. In short: your wallet just got a little more patriotic and a lot harder to fake.

Plano ISD just gave hundreds of parents an unwanted workout plan: getting their kids to school without a bus. The district scrapped routes once considered “hazardous,” declaring them perfectly safe now-though parents trudging miles with backpacks may disagree. Around 950-1,300 students are affected, all thanks to inflation, driver shortages, and a \$20 million transportation bill. Officials insist it’s now on parents to figure it out, which is easy to say when you’re not the one carpooling half the neighborhood at 7 a.m.

Texas Democrat Rep. Nicole Collier Refuses to Leave House Chambers

Texas state Rep. Nicole Collier stayed in the House chambers Monday after Speaker Dustin Burrows ordered quorum‑breaking Democrats to remain until they signed a pledge to be present when the House reconvenes Wednesday. The Democrats had briefly busted quorum two weeks earlier to block the state’s redistricting plan and returned to Austin amid tense negotiations. Burrows said the pledge was needed to ensure lawmakers would resume business, while Collier declined to sign and would not leave the floor. The standoff underscores continuing partisan clashes over redistricting and legislative procedure in the Texas Capitol. Both sides signaled they still hope for a resolution when members reconvene.

CDC: COVID-19 cases rising nationwide, Texas among hotspots as schools reopen

The CDC reports COVID-19 infections are increasing across 24 states, with Texas showing a higher positivity rate (11.8%) than the national average (8.9%). Emergency visits for COVID are up for all ages, including a noticeable rise in children under 12, though percentages remain relatively low. Wastewater surveillance shows nationally low viral levels but “very high” activity in Texas, signaling local hotspots. Health leaders warn that returning to school may accelerate spread and urge caution without causing panic. Experts emphasize COVID-19 is becoming endemic and will continue to circulate, requiring ongoing vigilance and targeted public-health measures.

Tarrant County just voted to slash the number of polling places ahead of November’s election-because nothing says “democracy” like fewer places to vote. Officials claim the cuts, which could save about \$1 million, are all about efficiency and accessibility, though critics call it what it looks like: voter suppression that hits students and communities of color hardest. The plan chops early voting sites nearly in half, though some campuses and community centers were grudgingly added back after pushback. Commissioners clashed, with one noting that people literally “bled and died” for the right to vote, while others insisted penny-pinching was the priority. Translation: fewer polling places, more political drama, and a whole lot of Texans stuck in longer lines.

The FDA has issued a very 2025-sounding warning: don’t eat Walmart’s Great Value frozen shrimp, because it may come with a side of radiation. Customs officials flagged shipments from an Indonesian supplier after detecting Cesium-137-a man-made isotope best known for showing up after nuclear disasters. The FDA insists no shrimp has officially tested positive yet, but since the company packed seafood under “unsanitary conditions” (apparently radioactive counts as unsanitary), the products are being recalled in 13 states. Translation: if your bargain shrimp glows in the dark, don’t eat it.3

Texas Democrats refuse surveillance “permission slips,” stay in chamber to block GOP redistricting

Texas Democrats tore up or refused to sign new “permission slips” requiring Department of Public Safety escorts as they pushed back against a Republican bid to hold a Wednesday vote on contested congressional maps. Dozens of Democrats had fled the state for other Democratic-led states to prevent a quorum and stall redistricting tied to national GOP efforts to reshape the 2026 battleground. On return, Republicans demanded round‑the‑clock trooper escorts and written consent to leave the chamber; Representative Nicole Collier and several colleagues instead remained on the floor in protest. Lawmakers reported plainclothes officers following them to homes and errands, a step Democrats called demeaning and an escalation of an already bitter map fight. The standoff underscores deep partisan tensions over redistricting and election stakes ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Texas names Bobby Lumpkin as next TDCJ chief amid staffing crisis

Bobby Lumpkin, currently chief operations officer, was named executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and will assume the role Sept. 1, succeeding Bryan Collier, who retires Aug. 31 after nine years. Lumpkin began his career with TDCJ in 1990 as a correctional officer and will now oversee more than 100 prisons and roughly 140,000 inmates. His promotion comes as the agency faces a severe staffing shortage and high turnover that regulators say threaten employee and inmate safety. Lawmakers have proposed funding increases, pay raises and targeted salary adjustments aimed at stabilizing staffing levels. Observers say Lumpkin’s deep institutional experience will be tested by urgent operational and recruitment challenges in the months ahead.

Fort Worth is rolling out a pilot program that warns drivers about flooded roads - before they barrel straight into them. Sensors at four locations now send real-time alerts to phones and car infotainment systems via apps like Waze and Apple Maps, rather than relying only on flashing lights and barricades that many motorists simply ignore. “Our crews keep watching people drive right around the barricades,” said stormwater official Jennifer Dyke, noting the hope is to reroute drivers earlier, when turning away is still an easy choice. The city’s bet: a nudge from your GPS might save more lives than a blinking light on the roadside.

Prosper ISD is booming so fast it just opened a shiny new high school - but leaders say they’ll need to be careful not to outgrow demand like neighboring Frisco. Superintendent Holly Ferguson says the district is focusing on career and technical programs such as cosmetology, cybersecurity, and electrical engineering to give students options beyond college and keep them competitive with private schools. The goal? Schools that feel like “educational palaces” where kids actually want to show up. But Ferguson’s bigger fight is with Austin: she says lawmakers may claim they’re listening to educators, but what districts really want is local control - not top-down policies from the Capitol.

Dallas Fire-Rescue has discovered a radical new idea: giving people blood «before» they bleed out in the ER. Since launching in February, their ambulances have pulled off 18 life-saving transfusions-including one for a local doctor who nearly died just weeks after giving birth. Supervisors now drive around with coolers full of blood, like the world’s most hardcore food delivery service. And while they don’t get to use it every day, they say watching someone’s odds flip from “probably doomed” to “doing fine” is pretty rewarding.

Dallas’ Redbird Mall-now rebranded as The Shops at Redbird-is turning 50, proving that not every mall is doomed to become a ghost town. Opened in 1975, it was once the community’s crown jewel, then nearly faded as shoppers fled to the suburbs. Today, thanks to ongoing improvements, locals like Hakeem Carbins say they’re glad it’s still standing strong. In short: Redbird’s comeback story is less “retail apocalypse” and more “mall with nine lives.”

At 85, Dallas photographer Laura Wilson proves she’s nowhere near putting her camera down. Her new exhibition «Roaming Mexico» opens Sept. 14 at SMU’s Meadows Museum, kicking off the season with nearly 90 photographs spanning four decades of her travels across Mexico. Known for documenting the American West, Wilson here turns her lens south, capturing everything from colorful festivals to quiet rural moments. Running alongside a show of Manuel Álvarez Bravo’s work, «Roaming Mexico» offers a vivid, deeply personal portrait of a country full of contradictions, beauty, and humanity.

Clear the Shelters Day at Irving Animal Services was part barking chaos, part heartwarming love story. With 60 dogs, 50 cats, plus a few roosters and guinea pigs up for adoption, families came ready to make connections. Bruce Gundermann knew it was fate the moment kitten Coco pawed at the glass, while another couple walked out with not one but two cats (because compromise, apparently, means doubling down). Last year the shelter celebrated 41 adoptions on this day, and hopes were high to top that number again. Proof that sometimes the loudest place in town is also where the quietest bonds are made.

Fort Worth is handing out a financial lifeline to homeowners still patching up damage from 2021’s winter storm Uri. Samuel Bravo, for instance, says insurance only covered half of his mother’s wrecked pipes and foundation repairs-leaving him with an \$8,000 bill. Now, through the city’s \$27 million Homeowner Assistance Repair and Rehabilitation Program, low-income families can apply for help fixing everything from busted plumbing to broken windows. In short: if Uri left your house looking like an ice sculpture gone wrong, Fort Worth might finally foot part of the bill.

The Dallas Police Department has decided that nothing says “Join us” quite like a cowboy hat. This week, officers got the official green light to wear them on duty, with the news announced on Facebook alongside photos of the Love Field Airport Unit showing off their new Texas flair. The move is pitched as part tradition, part recruitment strategy-because apparently, policing is easier to sell when it comes with a side of western style.

The Powerball jackpot has ballooned to a jaw-dropping \$776.7 million after nobody hit the winning combo on Saturday. Monday’s numbers were 19, 64, 34, 16, 37 and 22, with a 3x PowerPlay - which sounds great until Uncle Sam slices that \$338.6 million cash option down to about \$223.8 million. A few lucky players still snagged \$1–2 million prizes over the weekend, but the grand prize hasn’t been touched since May 31. If nobody nails it by Wednesday, the pot just keeps fattening up - because apparently Americans never get tired of funding the world’s most expensive game of hope.

Walmart is turning cart pushers into career welders - literally. Through its Associate to Technician (A2T) program, workers get free, hands-on training for skilled trade jobs that pay around \$32 an hour, well above the Texas average. For many trainees, it’s the difference between “just a job” and an actual career worth retiring from. Walmart says it wants 4,000 employees trained by 2030, proving that the world’s biggest retailer isn’t just selling cheap goods - it’s also quietly manufacturing skilled labor.

Texas lawmakers just cracked down on deed fraud - the sneaky scam where crooks file fake property deeds, often tricking elderly homeowners who may not realize their house has been “stolen” until strangers show up to move in. A new bill, now on Governor Abbott’s desk, makes real estate theft its own crime, extends the reporting window from five to ten years, and gives prosecutors sharper tools to unwind fraudulent deals. Officials hope the law will not only punish scammers but also push more homeowners to sign up for fraud alert systems. In short: Texas is telling deed thieves their free land grab days are over.