🎢Investor wants Six Flags to find buyer; Big Tex sports a new hat; Airport parking rates going up.

Big Tex will top out in a 95-gallon Resistol when the State Fair of Texas opens today, the first time the 55-foot cowboy has worn a hat from the Garland maker. Resistol, which sells more than a million hats a year, unveiled its first western hat at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park. 

Hedge fund Jana Partners is pushing Arlington-based Six Flags Entertainment to immediately hire an investment bank to explore a sale, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last fall, Jana and other investors, including football player Travis Kelce, acquired about 9% of a stake in Six Flags, valued at the time at approximately $200M. The group has pushed the company to make changes such as improving its marketing, modernizing its technology, and refreshing its leadership. Shares are down 42% the last 12 months.  

During the past week, AT&T and the Dallas Cowboys agreed to extend their partnership, which includes naming rights. No terms were given, but the Cowboys recently extended their lease 15 years through 2055. Additionally, AT&T announced a variety of stadium upgrades, which you can read here.

Sometime during the past several months, the Chinese government took custody of sensitive Lockheed F-35 stealth fighter jet parts that were mistakenly diverted to Hong Kong during a shipment from Australia to the U.S., according to a Bloomberg report confirmed by U.S. and Australian officials. The F-35 Joint Program Office said it is aware of a "shipment issue" and is working with industry partners to retrieve the components and investigate the mishap.

Costco Wholesale will open a Costco Business Center and Fuel Center at 4909 NE Loop 820 in Haltom City early next year, the first Costco Business Center on the west side of D-FW. The city said the project represents millions in capital investment and will create more than 100 jobs.

"Data centers are going to kill my property values." Do they? Writer James Dickey tested the claim by analyzing 45 Texas ZIP codes that gained their first data center and compared them with similar ZIP codes in the same metropolitan areas that didn't. After testing the data across multiple statistical models, he found no measurable evidence that data centers caused nearby home values to decline. "That doesn't mean every data center belongs everywhere." Read Dickey’s article available exclusively on our website.

Did you know? Several cities and a few states today will celebrate “Dolly Parton Day.” Why today? Well, it’s September 25 — which also can read as “9-to-5.”

D-FW International Airport parking rates go up Oct. 1, with one exception for TollTag customers. Here are the new rates. 

A federal judge ordered Texas to air condition all of the state’s lockups, which the prison agency said could cost $1.5 billion, by the end of 2029. Just over a third of the agency’s 104 facilities were fully air conditioned as of Sept. 1. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled no air conditioning violates the Eighth Amendment — which protects against cruel and unusual punishment — and that Texas' current response to extreme heat is insufficient.

How could this happen in Texas? The high school football team in Keene, a city about 28 miles south of downtown Fort Worth, has canceled the remainder of its 2026 season AND its 2027 season because of a shortage of players (about 15 at present). Keene ISD said it wanted to give other schools enough notice to allow districts time to re-work their schedules.

TCU's Doctor of Occupational Therapy announced it would become the first OT program in the U.S. to offer a full academic pathway to board certification in lifestyle medicine. The opportunity enables students to pursue additional education and training, learning to integrate evidence-based lifestyle interventions into occupational therapy practice.

D-FW is the second largest workforce hub for Bank of America. Yesterday, it announced a U.S. commitment to hire 1,000 employees the next two years and spend $150 million within five years for workforce development training.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage — the most common home loan in America — rose to 7.03 percent. That’s about one percentage point higher than it was seven months ago, and more than four points higher than in early 2021. Rates have increased since the war in Iran began in February. In August, sales of existing homes hit their lowest level in more than a year.

Fort Worth Independent School District is building a school facility at 709 Northwest 21st Street. Construction for North Side Pyramid Middle School is expected to begin in January, according to filed permits and is expected to be completed by August 2029. The 115,000-square-foot facility is estimated at $62 million, which includes the renovation of an existing 44,000-square-foot building.

Partners Kapil Pantha and Tara Rai are planning an early 2027 opening of Pizza Guys, a Sacramento-based pizza franchise, at 3529 Heritage Trace Pkwy in north Fort Worth. Pizza Guys’ first Texas restaurant is in Plano.

The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office is moving forward with a criminal case against former TCU football player Jacob Fields. A TCU police arrest affidavit alleges Fields attacked a fellow student-athlete in the team's locker room in August.

More than one-quarter (26.1%) of D-FW businesses used artificial intelligence in July, exceeding the rates in Los Angeles (19.7%), New York (17.9%) and nationally (21.7%). WeWork’s analysis of Census Bureau data found AI use nationwide climbed from 17.7% in January, with larger companies and information, professional-services and financial firms leading the way. Good news for workers: 95.7% of AI-using businesses reported no related change in employment.

Set me free: Texas' highest criminal court rejected an appeal from prosecutors seeking to reinstate the 2018 conviction of Crystal Mason, a Fort Worth woman sentenced to five years in prison for illegally casting a ballot that wasn’t counted in 2016. Four of the Court of Criminal Appeals’ nine all-Republican judges filed opinions disagreeing with the outcome.

American Airlines is working on two new features for its App. One is an automatic seat change for AAdvantage members traveling alone and the other is an opportunity to pre-order meals. 

Snippets:

• Straight from the Cowboys: How preparations and travel to a game Sunday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro are different than every other week.

• American Airlines said it expects the 10 new gates in Terminal A will be open by end of the year. 

• The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame will be a choice for personalized Texas driver's license plates. We thought you might like to scroll through other choices. 

• Haltom City's iconic Clown Burger may or may not be closed for good after an owner/operator was arrested. Clown Burger has been around 67 years. 

Believe it or not: At 95 years old, former Star Trek actor William Shatner played his first-ever heavy metal concert Saturday, covering Ozzy Osbourne, Motörhead, and Metallica in his signature spoken-word style.

Today in history: 1926 = Henry Ford announced that Ford Motor Co. would adopt a five-day, 40-hour work week, subtracting an 8-hour day from what had been a work week. Ford argued that workers needed time for rest and recreation, making the shorter week a business decision as well as a benefit to employees. 

Significant stat: Groceries in Hawaii cost 36% more than the national average while Texans pay 4% less. 

Daily digits: +383%, +294%, +177%, and +148% = The percent change in the price of vegetable oil, eggs, chicken and red meat, respectively, in Iran over the past year.

Announcements:

• Kenneth Jones, long-time Partner with the Decker Jones law firm, passed away at 91. 

• Central Storehouse: Adds Dr. Jennifer Strand to its Executive Board.

• TCU 360: Adds Camila Bucio as Audience Engagement newsletter writer. 

• Fidelity Investments: Promotes LaToya Martin to Director, HR Risk.

• Consilium Staffing: Adds Art Garcia as content writer. 

• Privia Medical Group: Adds OBGYN Dr. Emily McGlone.

• FOX4 KDFW: Good Day reporter Payton May is leaving the station. 

• Texas Hospital Association: Honors Texas Health Resources with the 2026 Excellence in Community Service Award.

• Àrlington: Hires Joseph Silva as Planning Technician. 

• Turner Construction Company: Hires Mason Grawe as Cost Accountant. 

• Texas Health Mansfield Stadium: Selected as the site for Big 12 Women’s Soccer Championships from 2026-2028. 

• Central Storehouse: Adds Annabel Luna-Smith, an Engagement Strategist at UNT Health-Fort Worth to its Advisory Board. 

• Fort Worth: Selects Anthony Cisneros as a Senior Data Analyst with FWLab Analytics & Intelligence Division. 

• Urgo Medical North America: Hires Laurel Faciane as General Counsel. 

• Fort Worth Stockyards: publishes lineup for Oct. 2-4 Fashion Week Stockyards Style.

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