❎Early voting starts today; Cowboys lose game, not ground; Bell in line for $150M sale?

Today’s issue sponsored by David Lewis Builder

Fort Worth is going bigger with its crime-fighting technology -- the TRIDENT Center. The city is adding about 3,400 square feet to its real-time crime hub in a $5.54-million project. The city also signed off on a separate $490,000 deal to connect law enforcement data across multiple systems. TRIDENT stands for Tactical Real-Time Intelligence Detection Enforcement of North Texas and is multiple municipalities sharing technology and staffing. 

The State Department has notified Congress of a possible $150-million sale of Bell 412EPX helicopters, with radios, spares, training and support, to Iraq. Fort Worth-based Bell is the principal contractor.

Lockheed Martin received an $18.8-million contract modification to develop and integrate systems for an unnamed foreign buyer's custom F-35. The foreign customer is paying the full cost. About 80% of the work is in Fort Worth.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that fire departments in Fort Worth and across north Texas were awarded grants totaling $2,574,956. The money is to improve recruitment, training, and retention efforts of emergency personnel, strengthen community fire prevention programs, enhance emergency response, and upgrade equipment.

Westworth Village wants landowner Jim Burgess' land to complement the Hawks Creek Golf Course practice area. It claimed eminent domain when Burgess balked at the $1-million-plus offer. So, they battled back and forth in various courts until earlier this month when the Texas Supreme Court said it would hear oral arguments in January. Which side of the fairway are you taking? 

The College Football Playoff reached a "handshake agreement" with ESPN to broadcast a 24-team playoff beginning in the 2027 season. Though everything is subject to board approvals, the agreement is a major step toward doubling the postseason path to the national title.

🎗️Reminder: Early voting starts today. Utilize this personalized voters’ guide and see everything that will be on your ballot.

The Dallas Cowboys still can't seem to beat the Packers. They were 1-8-1 before losing, 23-13, Sunday night, and fell to 2-4 on the season. Division rivals New York and Philadelphia also lost Sunday, and Washington is an underdog to San Francisco tonight. 

Haltom City Mayor An Truong, the first Vietnamese American to hold a mayoral seat in Tarrant County, passed away at 78. Truong was elected to the Haltom City Council in 2013, and mayor in 2019 at age 70. The Mayor Pro Tem is Kyle Hantz. 

Retirement hasn't been full of free world travels for former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker. Instead, he is giving back by helping others get their careers off the ground and into the airspace. Parker is fixing a problem he saw within the airline business: a lack of diversity in airline cockpits.

UT Southwestern's Moncrief Cancer Institute filed a $2.9-million, 9,500-square-foot project at 400 W. Magnolia Ave. It adds a third-floor infusion suite and expands second-floor pharmacy storage. Work is scheduled for January 2027 to January 2028.

A $13 million office build-out was filed for 3101 High River Road in north Fort Worth, inside a 260,288-square-foot building. The project is named "388-Polk Mechanical," and the owner is listed as River Capital Finance, a TruWest company. 

Dallas-based Holt Lunsford has entered the Fort Worth Alliance sub-market with the 500,000-square-foot Eagle Alliance Crossing, tailored for shallow bay tenants. It is located at 18344 FM 156. 

Fort Worth-based Sanara MedTech Inc. and Georgia-based MiMedx Group received Federal Trade Commission requests for additional information and documents Friday as part of the FTC’s review of the proposed merger. Under the merger agreement, MiMedx’s wholly owned Merger Subsidiary would merge into Sanara, which would survive as MiMedx’s wholly owned subsidiary. Ron Nixon is Executive Chairman of Sanara and Seth Yon is President and CEO. 

Believe it or not: Minnesota’s Travis Gienger won his fifth World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in California with Rocky, a 2,389-pounder. See Rocky.

Texas Health Hospital Mansfield completed a neo-natal intensive care unit and a dedicated obstetric emergency department as part of a broader expansion of women’s and maternity services. The NICU is designed for Level III capabilities.

BNSF Railway has expanded its partnership with risk monitoring and cargo security company, Overhaul. The exclusive partnership builds on nearly a decade of collaboration to strengthen supply chain security for the railway’s customers. 

Westlake-based Virbac, a global animal health company, donated more than 29,000 doses of IVERHART MAX Chews parasite prevention products to the KC Pet Project to help protect its dogs against heartworm disease and intestinal parasites. The Missouri animal shelter assists approximately 16,000 dogs a year. 

The Architect's Newspaper is impressed with the transformative work Gensler and Huckabee produced in revitalizing the 50+-year-old original Tarrant County College campus. What stood out to the writer was the use of colorful facades, which act as a wayfinding system. 

The Regional Transportation Council is getting re-branded. The Arlington-based entity will maintain its RTC name but will add a tagline — North Central Texas Metropolitan Planning Organization — to emphasize its transportation policy-making and financial decisions. 

The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) expansion of 13 airports to 300 of its gate-side program that allows non-travelers through airport security, appears to have been retracted. Today, only the original 13 airports are participating. So, what happened? 

StatLab Medical Products, a McKinney, TX. company with a major manufacturing facility on Harris Road in Arlington, officially has been acquired by Leica Biosystems, which provides digital and anatomic pathology solutions advancing precision cancer diagnostics. StatLab, owned by Linden Capital Partners and Audax Private Equity, is a leader in the complementary consumables such as cassettes, slides and reagents.

The Trinity Holistic Healing, founded and owned by Vannah Hughes, will celebrate its opening October 25–30 at 610 South Jennings Avenue, Suite C, in Fort Worth. The practice offers couples and marriage counseling, trauma therapy, intimacy and relationship support, and addiction recovery services.

Milestone moments:

• 125 years ago this past weekend, the Carnegie Public Library opened in Fort Worth. Today, we know it as the Fort Worth Public Library. 

• Pak-A-Pocket celebrates 40 years of serving pita pockets to Country Day families and the surrounding neighborhood. Owners Imad and Elizabeth Eljizi said they couldn’t have made it in the early years without support from students.

• The Fort Worth Garden Club is a centenarion this year; its first project — to polish the rough edges of an oil and gas town — was the start of our Botanic Garden. Check out KERA for some flowery storytelling.

Snippets:

• Single-day ticket options for the March 19-21, 2027 Java House Grand Prix of Arlington are now on sale, while supplies last.

• Mayor Jim Ross will spotlight Arlington’s history and future during his annual State of the City address, set for Oct. 29 at the Arlington Expo Center.

• Will robots be cutting your hair, doing your nails? 

Did you know? Textron owns Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter and its subsidiary Textron Aviation, which is in charge of Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker. That is just the aviation sector.

Today in history: 1985 = The first Blockbuster video-rental store opened in Dallas.

Significant stat: 3.0% = The year-over-year rise in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington consumer prices in September, below the national 3.7%. Gasoline prices were up 33.1%.

Daily digit: 19 million = Record number of Texans who are registered to vote, a 2% increase from March.

Announcements:

• American Airlines: Brian Znotins, the chief network planner, is retiring. 

• Cook Children’s Healthcare System: Hires Mark Cadieux as Executive Vice President, System Finance. 

• Colonial Country Club: Promotes Christopher Smith to Banquet Manager; promotes Carly Isbell to Key Manager. 

• University of Texas - Arlington: College of Nursing names Amanda Garcia Business Operations Manager. 

• University of Texas - Arlington: College of Business inducts Greg Barron, founder of The Barron Companies, into its Hall of Fame. 

• University of Texas: Promotes Drew Martin to Deputy Athletics Director, External Affairs. 

• Home Depot: Promotes James Daugherty to Rental Hub Manager. 

• OncoNano Medicine: Promotes Tian Zhao to Sr. Vice President, Research & Development.

• Padfield & Stout: Hires Rion Gurnell as Associate Attorney.

• Buildertrend: Hires Jarrod May as Enterprise Sales Executive. 

• STRIVE: Promotes Harrison Beethe to Sr. Investment Sales Associate. 

• Schulman Theaters: Names Emily Homler Director of Digital Marketing.

• Natural Gas Resources: Hires Brett Cohen as Interim Head of Human Resources. 

• The Beck Group: Adds Katherine Sasser as Chief of Staff & Business Strategist. 

• 6 Stones: Hires 15÷year Board member Cindy Jones as Development & Grants Coordinator. 

• Recaro Aircraft Seating: Promotes Kyle Guimarin to Senior Buyer.

• Our Community Our Kids: Adds Bank of Texas' Nick Estrada to its Board. 

• American Trucking Association: Names Mark Colson President and CEO.

• Texas Arts Advocacy Awards: Honors Fort Worth with Community Impact Award. 

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