🏈Cowboys clinch, play Packers Sunday; Restaurant offers Rangers pitcher BBQ for life

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The Dallas Cowboys clinched the National Football Conference East championship with a 38-10 victory over the Washington Commanders. The Cowboys finished as the second seed and will play Green Bay, the seventh seed, (Sun, Jan 14 @ 3:30 pm, FOX) in the wild-card round. The Cowboys were 12-5 during the regular season for the third consecutive year. 

Results from a study led by PRECISION at UNT Health Science Center show that opioid use for more than 90 days for the treatment of back pain showed no significant benefits.

Mark Cuban has told Dallas Mavericks employees that the team would distribute more than $35 million in bonuses soon. “As a thank you for all your hard work making the Mavs an amazing organization, each of you will be receiving a bonus from myself and the (majority owner) Adelson and Dumont families," he wrote. A framework based on years worked was taken into consideration.

The Texas Rangers are getting some help in their efforts to re-sign pitcher Jordan Montgomery from right down the street. Arlington-based Hurtado Barbecue is offering the free-agent, who starred during the World Series run, free barbecue for life.

Gender bender: El Paso accepted $500 from Fort Worth-based Galileo Church to produce and distribute gender-neutral bathroom signs. The signs will be in alignment with a new ordinance requiring gender-neutral signage for single-user restrooms in city buildings.

Walton Global has purchased 141 acres in Wise County (Rhome), where D.R. Horton plans to build homes, according to Real Deal. D.R. Horton and Riverside Homebuilders have constructed about 1,500 homes in the community of North Star, which will have 3,500 homes at buildout, according to Walton Global. Homes are priced from $340,000 to $440,000, according to online listings.

Crescent Real Estate has raised $8.3 million from 16 investors in a private equity fund titled “GPIF Alpharetta Hotel Partners, LP,” according to a federal filing. Last month, an affiliate of Crescent acquired the 107-key Home2 Suites by Hilton Alpharetta hotel in Georgia for $21.3M, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  Crescent owns Hotel at Avalon, an upscale lodging and conference center in Alpharetta.

M2G Ventures, a real estate investment and development company, filed to raise $50 million in equity for a new “Grey Swan I LP” fund. Founded in Fort Worth by twin sisters Susan Gruppi Miller and Jessica Miller Essl in 2014, the firm has acquired more than four million square feet. It has more than $650 million in assets under management and development.

Ear-care products manufacturer Eosera Inc. has raised more than $1.3 million of an intended $5 million in equity from 20 investors. Fort Worth-based Eosera, founded in 2015, moved into a 36,000-square-foot facility last year. CEO Elyse Dickerson said at the time that Eosera has had a compounded annual growth rate of more than 60% during the past five years.

MCP Ventures, LLC, a Fort Worth-based private equity real estate firm, has sold Merchant Square in Huntsville, Alabama for $20 million.

Debbie Downer 1: The 2024 tax filing deadline is months away, but some taxpayers must act by Jan. 16 to avoid a possible added fee. The reminder is for taxpayers who didn’t pay enough tax in 2023. Self-employed or independent contractors are responsible for making estimated IRS payments each quarter. January 16 is the close of the fourth quarter for payments.

Debbie Downer 2: The last day to pay Tarrant County 2023 property taxes to avoid penalty and interest is January 31.

Mark McDaniel, with 35 years’ experience in city management – ranging in population from 8,000 to 1.3 million – has been appointed deputy city manager in Fort Worth. After time as city manager for Kerrville, McDaniel joined Strategic Government Resources (SGR) as a senior vice president, conducting executive searches and leading special consulting efforts. His most recent assignment in Fort Worth was to serve as greenspace champion. 

You probably have heard that Texas is leading the country in population growth, according to the Census Bureau. Greg Cox at Clearfork Strategies says Texas is on track to gain four congressional seats in the next decade’s congressional apportionment.

On the US Billboard Hot 100, as of November 2023, Taylor Swift is the female musician with the most charted songs (231), most top-40 songs (137), most top-20 songs (85), most top-10 songs (49), most top-10 debuts (38), most top-five songs (31), and most number-one debuts (6).

People on the move:

• Texas Rangers: Promote Ray Casas to Senior Director, Community Impact

• Whitley Penn: Promotes to Partner -- Robert J. Allen, Justin Dailey, Evan Green, Jeff Howard, Jackson Jones, Emily Landry, Hudson Marx, Adam Menzer 

• BuzzWorthy Property Mgt.: Opens Rustic Oak RV Park in Lake Charles, La

• UT-Southwestern: Promotes Rick Press to Director of Editorial 

• Westmoreland Builders: Promotes Randall Ford to VP of Operations

Snippets:

• An inside look at the City of Fort Worth's efforts with Cisco to offer public Wi-Fi, including a pause for a nest of state-protected red-tailed hawks to de-camp.

• According to a time-management guru, seven strategies for being more productive in 2024.

• Most parts of wind turbines can be recycled, except for the blades. These companies are working to creatively repurpose blades into new products (scroll down to see pics).

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