🪶Firefighters, Taylor Sheridan getting new bosses; (Dallas) Mavericks sue (Frisco?) Stars; NCAA delays betting.

Fort Worth and its former Fire Chief, Jim Davis, agreed Oct. 17 to a nearly $100,000 separation payout that takes effect after Friday, his final day of employment.

Movie and television producer Taylor Sheridan, known for “Yellowstone,” “Tulsa King” and “Landman,” has signed a deal to join NBCUniversal when his contract with Paramount expires, reportedly in 2029. He will continue his work with Paramount until then. 

The Dallas Mavericks filed suit against the Dallas Stars, alleging a breach of contract and claiming the Stars have obstructed maintenance and improvement projects at the American Airlines Center. The Mavs also claim the Stars breached a clause in a 1998 franchise agreement by relocating their headquarters outside the city of Dallas in Frisco. The Mavericks are seeking injunctive relief in Texas Business Court because both teams are bound to leases through 2031.

Fort Worth-based Crestline Investors has launched Crestline Lending Solutions Fund, a perpetual private business development company. The fund aims to deliver steady income and money made above the norm through direct lending in the core- and lower-middle market, with tactical allocations to other private credit opportunities. The fund is Crestline’s first BDC and comingled perpetual vehicle.

Super Studios USA - founded by Angel Gracia, an award-winning former Ridley Scott & Associates executive producer, is developing a billion-dollar, vertically integrated entertainment complex in Mansfield. It has agreed with Blaqclouds, a Web3 infrastructure and decentralized finance company, on a Blockchain & Development Partnership Agreement. Under the terms, Super Studios USA funds the hard costs associated with the blockchain development and appointed Blaqclouds as its exclusive blockchain technology partner. Blaqclouds will receive 10% of all fees generated by the Super Studios USA blockchain network.

TCU launched the LEAP Agency, an in-house operation that will serve "as the central hub for elevating student-athlete name, image, and likeness opportunities." LEAP Agency is a partnership between Learfield, the Neeley School of Business Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Frog Club. It will work directly with coaches and staff on issues such as roster and cap management while working to expand NIL revenue streams and providing personal brand consulting for TCU student-athletes. 

The NCAA delayed the start of NCAA students and staff betting on games until Nov. 22. The delay is to allow a mandated 30-day window between adoption and effective dates for discussion.

Two Texas Wesleyan Advancement Office personnel have resigned because the school's administration did not react to others' alleged ethics violations. The Rambler, the student newspaper, has the report. 

Rare earth metals—the raw materials powering chips, EV engines and military weapons—are at the center of escalating U.S.-China trade tensions. China produces more than 90 percent of the world’s supply. The U.S. is looking toward Fort Worth-based MP Materials, the only U.S.-based company that mines, refines and processes rare earths. Its stock has surged more than 400 percent this year. Is that bubble territory?

Launched by former Texas Governor Rick Perry and energy executive Toby Neugebauer, Fermi has yet to build any data centers. Yet, the company went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market and has a market capitalization of close to $14B. Fermi has deals with two Korean firms to begin engineering work and manufacturing of equipment for nuclear reactors at its proposed Project Matador data center campus in the Texas Panhandle. 

The MICHELIN Guide Texas honorees were announced yesterday and nothing changed as far as Tarrant County restaurants. Goldee’s Barbecue in Fort Worth is a repeat Bib Gourmand selection. MICHELIN Recommended repeats are Fort Worth's Birrieria y Tacqueria Cortez on Rosedale, Panther City BBQ on E. Hattie in Fort Worth and Smoke ‘N Ash on S. Cooper in Arlington.

The Air Force is offering to lease federal land to private companies seeking to build high-powered data centers. The Air Force announcement is the first concrete step toward President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, issued in July, which addresses speeding up federal permitting for new AI data centers.

Keurig Dr Pepper secured a $7-billion investment from PE firms KKR and Apollo Global to help finance its $18-billion purchase of European coffee company JDE Peet's. $4 billion is for a joint venture for K-Cup pod and other single-serve manufacturing, in which Keurig will retain operational and controlling interest. $3 billion in convertible preferred stock is for Keurig that will eventually be transferred to the beverage business after the separation.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Johnson and Johnson, accusing it of failing to warn consumers about the risk of taking Tylenol while pregnant. The lawsuit is the first from a state government and is a month after President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced updated guidance discouraging pregnant women from taking acetaminophen, citing it as a possible cause of autism. 

Cadence Bank, with three area Tarrant locations, has been bought by Huntington Bancshares in an all-stock deal valued at $7.4 billion. Huntington joins Comerica, PNC Financial Services Group and Pinnacle Financial Partners among recent multibillion-dollar financial services deals.

North Texas hospitals provide billions in uncompensated care. Changes to the Affordable Care Act could increase that burden. KERA takes a look at the situation.

With Halloween days away, Sugar Land-distributor CandyWarehouse.com filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize and restructure its debts. The debtor filed its petition listing $100,000 to $1 million in assets and $1 million to $10 million in liabilities.

Elon Musk launched Grokipedia – his version of Wikipedia. The articles are written by Musk’s Grok AI, and the site mimics Wikipedia’s minimalist style, page structure and reference style. Grokipedia has more than 800,000 articles, compared to Wikipedia’s more than 7 million.

Snippets:

• Southwest Airlines adds a debit card offer to its Rapid Rewards program. 

• White House "gamers" give 7.7% boost to Grapevine-based GameStop with a post about the end of the "console wars." 

• Teams may not be a team player: In December, Microsoft Teams rolls out a feature that will tell your boss your location...including if you are not in the office as presumed.

Significant stat: Roughly 60% of Americans—and 74% of those under 30—use AI to find information, per an AP-NORC poll.

Daily digit: 40% = percentage of jobs compared to pre-pandemic for Benay’s Bird & Animal Rentals. Hollywood’s animal actors are dealing with an employment crisis because of advances in computer-generated imagery. The work has particularly dried up more for wild animals and horses than domestic pets.

Announcements: 

• Texas House: Fort Worth City Councilman Alan Blaylock is running to represent Texas House District 93. The incumbent, Rep. Nate Schatzline, has been invited to join President Donald Trump’s National Faith Advisory Board at the end of his term.

• Calvetti Ferguson: Promotes Amy Waters to Assurance Director.

• Texas Women’s Foundation: The Hispanic 100 Latina Giving Circle awarded $100,000 in grants to 18 north Texas non-profits serving the needs of Latina women and girls.

• Corpus Christi-Nueces: Hires long-time UNT professor Anita Kurian as Director of Public Health for the City-County Health District.

• 2024 Blue Ridge rankings: The College of Pharmacy at UNT Health Fort Worth ranked No. 4 in Texas and No. 41 nationally in U.S. pharmacy schools. Blue Ridge measures National Institutes of Health research funding successes.

• Tarleton State: The Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Medicine received accreditation-provisional status by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. 

• Fox 4: Good Day anchor Hanna Battah is leaving after 7.5 years. 

• Dallas Wings: Hires University of South Florida women's basketball coach Jose Fernandez to be its head coach.

• Dallas Mavericks: Will retire Mark Aguirre's No. 24 jersey in January. He was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1981. 

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