📖Book this site for library; License plates can spy on you; Ganga and guns get decision.

Fort Worth plans to build a $35.6-million downtown library on 1.38 acres in the 900 block of Summit Avenue between 10th and Texas streets. The city is purchasing plots fronting Summit Avenue, 10th Street and Ballinger Street for $5.95 million. The plan is to build a 30,000-square-foot facility. Until recently, the city had planned to be downtown in the former YWCA/Transforming Lives building at 512 W. 4th Street. It appears the Arts Council of Fort Worth will take that building. 

Southlake-based Principal Mineral, a leader in the strategic materials supply chain, acquired Isola Group, a manufacturer of copper-clad laminates and dielectric prepregs used in printed circuit boards. The deal will enhance the manufacturing capabilities and supply-chain resilience, and bring together two foundational materials used in advanced PCBs: copper foil and copper-clad laminates. Principal also announced approximately $280 million of new funding, co-led by Overmatch Ventures and The New Industrial Corporation. Adam Johnson is the CEO. 

Another step forward for Big Brother: Defense contractor Leonardo is promoting technology called SignalTrace that will package plate cameras with sensors that can scrape unique identifiers tied to your smart devices and make that data available to law enforcement.

D-FW International Airport completed its East-West Connector Project, opening a 4.1-mile extension of Rental Car Drive from the South Service Road of International Parkway to the State Highway 360 northbound frontage road at Hardwood Drive. Now linked are state highways 161 and 360. 

In a unanimous, but "narrow" decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the government's prosecution of a marijuana user from Texas for owning guns was inconsistent with the Second Amendment. The decision was mostly about the vague definition of a marijuana user. 

Fort Worth-based Paragon, a Mirion Technologies company and a products and components supplier for the nuclear industry, has been awarded a contract by NuScale Power Corporation to complete final design development of Paragon's Highly Integrated Protection System for the NuScale Power Module. NuScale has the first and only small modular reactor design approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Colleyville-based Kirkman Engineering, founded in 2014 by Shea Kirkman and Patrick Filson, has been acquired by Langan Engineering & Environmental Services of New Jersey. Kirkman specializes in land development projects across the commercial, warehouse and residential sectors. It is Langan's fourth acquisition in Texas, totaling 225 employees in seven offices. 

Not a surprise, but news: Whole Foods Market will anchor the Shivers Farm development, a Trademark Property Company project in Southlake. Shivers Farm is a 40-acre, mixed-use development on White Chapel Boulevard. Southlake's City Council approved the project’s master development agreement this week.

Bed Bath & Beyond, whose portfolio includes Bed Bath & Beyond, The Container Store, Kirkland’s, Overstock and BuyBuy Baby, has agreed to acquire Fathom Holdings. The tech-based real estate services platform integrates residential brokerage, mortgage, title and insurance offerings based on its proprietary intelliAgent, a cloud-based software system.

PRIM Construction completed construction of an office and manufacturing building in Benbrook for WilliamsRDM, a woman-owned defense manufacturer that is a vendor for Lockheed Martin. The project, designed by Schwarz Hanson Architecture, spans 90,000 square feet. 

Cornerback John Meredith III is one of a few five-star high school football recruits yet to commit to a college for 2027. Right now, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound cornerback from Fort Worth is without a high school for his senior season yet has his college choices down to three SEC schools.

For Charles Schwab, expanding its IPO team 10-fold was barely enough to keep up with the approximate 140,000 client calls it had to get in on last week’s SpaceX debut. CEO Rick Wurster said it was an all-time, top-5 activity day, adding “investors may be responding to the chance to participate in innovation they can touch and feel.”

The Barstow (Calif.) City Council approved a proposed intermodal hub BNSF Railway says is a key component for the future of freight moving into and out of the Southern California port complex, the nation's busiest. Fort Worth-based BNSF says it could cost up to $4 billion. 

The Federal Trade Commission, Texas and three other states sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in the latest push to limit gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The suit alleges the group, known widely as WPATH, made deceptive claims about gender-affirming care for minors and its members profited off the claims. 

June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Health Awareness Month, and the James L. West Center for Dementia Care will host a six-hour “Streamathon” Monday from 2-8 pm. Topics addressed will be Dementia and Communication Essentials; The Many Faces of Grief During the Caregiving Journey; and New Insights into Brain Health. You can stream on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. 

The Firearms Policy Coalition asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to toss a Texas judge's ruling that it believes limits people who carry firearms for self-defense. The appeal zeroes in on state laws that block carry in businesses where on-site alcohol sales provide 51 percent or more of revenue, at racetracks, and during certain sporting events. 

The Arlington Workforce Center, a one‑stop hub where job seekers, employers and community partners can connect with the tools they need to succeed, has a new home at 2000 E. Lamar Blvd. The center brings several workforce organizations together and enables residents to access services from job search assistance and career coaching to veteran‑specific support and disability‑related employment services.

The Fifth Circuit revived a suit alleging that a pilot's severe crash injuries were caused by several companies' defective parachute and safety systems, saying the Texas Savings Statute does indeed apply to the pilot's third lawsuit related to the crash.

The Fort Worth Fire Department Fire Recruit Class No. 100 and EMS Recruit Class No. 1 graduated from the FWFD Training Academy for the first time as one ceremony after 155 years. The EMS team (formerly MedStar) joined the fire department last July. The overall combined pass rate for EMT on the National Registry Emergency Medical Technician Test was 99%, far surpassing the national average of 65%.

Today in history (1999): The Dallas Stars won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, beating the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in triple overtime in Game 6. Brett Hull scored the Cup-winning goal.

Snippets:

• First Cash Holdings’ headquarters long has been in Tarrant County. As of yesterday, it again can call Texas home. 

• Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz' bill to regulate college sports' Name in Likeness (NIL) processes has passed its first step. Written with a Democratic senator, the hope is the legislation can save athletics from a stark separation between the haves and have-nots.

• American Airlines is part of a lawsuit from the Goldwater Institute because Columbia, Mo., guaranteed the airline $1.5 million to establish a flight to Charlotte. 

Announcements:

• Trinity Bank: Hires Mindy Hegi as Chief Financial Officer.

• Investar Holding Corp: Hires Jamie Keeling as Regional Commercial Market Manager for the Southlake bank. 

• REV Entertainment: Hires Cassidy James as an Event Services Coordinator. 

• Center for Transforming Lives: Selects Nadia Salibi as Chief Impact Officer, a new position for the non-profit.

• Fort Worth Chamber: Executive Board names Lori Baldock, Fort Worth Market President at Simmons Bank, as Vice Chair.

• Association of Fundraising Professionals: Selects Camp Fire First Texas Grants & Contracts Manager Audrey Pettet as a 2026 Emerging Leader in Philanthropy.

• Sparks Financial: Hires Scott Theodore as a Private Wealth Advisor.

• Bluebird Creative Company: Names Taylor Bryant Media Director. 

• Fora: Adds Cindy Truitt, a Certified Travel Advisor. 

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