💍FW bride has $59-million Paris wedding; Snoop Dogg in Grapevine's weeds; OnStar comeback?

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📣NEWS OF THE DAY:

The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra announced that the popular Concerts In The Garden Summer Music Festival will not occur next year. The temporary suspension is to accommodate the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s Master Plan, which includes the design of a permanent stage. 

Not cruising along: Kyle Vogt, CEO of General Motors' suspended Cruise autonomous taxi division, has resigned. GM paused all driverless activities of its robotaxis after a recent accident during which a Cruise vehicle ran over a pedestrian. A re-launch of Cruise in a yet-to-be-disclosed city is planned. Cruise would need to demonstrate safety performance levels before GM could consider expansion.

GM Financial plans to expand its telematics-based insurance offering in 2024 after the August re-launch of its OnStar product. OnStar Insurance uses data generated by the vehicle to rate driving behavior, pricing the insurance premium, in part, commensurate with that behavior.

Winter woes: Though not imminent, American and Southwest flight attendants are preparing for a strike. Here’s the latest.

Medicare fraud? Fort Worth-based Legacy Medical Consultants, a wound care manufacturer, is in a YouTube content creator's crosshair for allegedly exploiting the Medicare system. 

Housing report: October saw continued decreases in Fort Worth, with median price, active listings, and closed sales down versus prior year. Inventory of 2.6 months in Fort Worth and Tarrant County continued a slow and steady climb. The Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University says 6.5 months of inventory is a balanced market. Active listings were up in Tarrant, Johnson, and Parker counties as inventory increased across the board.

Numbers from Carlos Morales, president of TCC Connect Campus, Tarrant County College's online campus, indicate tremendous growth in virtual offerings, especially from rural areas. TCC Online, started in 2014, had 4,000 students pre-pandemic, about 22,000 at least partly online in 2020; and almost 30,000 this fall. Why? High school students during the pandemic became accustomed to online learning and tuition reimbursement beneficiaries must learn during times they are not working.

Zach Muckleroy, 44-year-old CEO of Muckleroy & Falls Construction Company, and his children Judson, 12, and Lindsey, 9, were killed in a three-vehicle crash near Johnson City in Central Texas while driving to a holiday gathering. Lauren Muckleroy, wife and mother, was the sole survivor. Zach Muckleroy was a former TCU football player, dedicated alumnus and friend to many non-profits.

In a LinkedIn post, Venus Wehle, City Manager of Forest Hill, announced an agreement with Retail Strategies for business development. "Retail Strategies has an impressive network of retailers, brokers, and developers they work with. Having them as our retail partner is a huge competitive advantage for our city. This partnership will enhance our local economy and create valuable opportunities for our residents and existing businesses." 

After four years of development, HSC Next, the innovation arm of UNT's Health Science Center, has transferred and will help transition operations of Sparkyard to Tamara Payne. Sparkyard is a free, one-stop collaborative platform for entrepreneurs and business owners. Payne, CEO and co-founder of Ensemble Coworking, is well known and well versed on entrepreneurship and marketing. She has secured a partnership with the Better Business Bureau. 

Fort Worth has been selected by Travel + Leisure as one of The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2024. The well-regarded list was curated by 20 magazine staffers and designated Fort Worth as a “big-city thrill.”

On the lighter side: Snoop Dogg, who shared that he was “giving up smoke” last week, wasn’t giving up the type of smoking he is typically associated with. The remark was part of an ad campaign with Grapevine-based Solo Stove to promote a smokeless, limited-edition, Snoop-branded fire pit.

Daily digit: 72% of holiday shoppers plan to purchase from a small business in person or online during the holiday season, according to a Bankrate and YouGov survey. That marks an increase from 65% who said the same last year.

Significant stat: AI is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined.

People on the move:

• Defense of Democracy: Names Amy Ramsey, Chief Operating Officer

• World Taekwondo Org.: Names Rick Stanford, Harrison Contracting Co., Executive Vice President 

• Paslay Group: Adds Steve Martin as executive adviser to airport clients

• American Jereh International Corporation: Adds Heath Anderson as Gas Turbine Field Service Engineer

• CEC Entertainment: Appoints Mark Kupferman Chief Insights & Marketing Officer

Snippets:

• Nothing to do with business: A $59-million wedding at the Palace of Versailles in Paris, including a performance by Maroon 5, for a Fort Worth bride. 

• Texas added nearly 1.6 million people between 2020 and Jan. 1, with the Austin region — the state’s fastest-growing metro area with 7.2% growth — drawing in the most new residents, according to data by the Texas Demographic Center. But Fort Worth added more residents — 48,542 — than any other city.

• A sponsorship for the age(s): The average age of The Rolling Stones is 78, but that’s not stopping them from a 16-city concert tour next year. The tour sponsor is AARP (not a joke), whose members get early access to tour tickets.  

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