🚀Lockheed F-35 downs Iranian drone; Walmart joins trillion-$ club; Today is 1st day to apply for school vouchers.

With the $95-million Phase 1 of the Fort Worth Convention Center complete, Phase 2 expansion and modernization plans were presented to City Council yesterday. Projected to cost $606 million, Phase 2 will deliver a flexible building in place of the 1968 arena and modernize the existing building that has not been significantly renovated since 2003. Previous studies estimated Fort Worth could nearly double its convention business with an expanded and modernized facility. See a video simulation of the project here (at 1 min, 25 sec).

A Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively" and "with unclear intent" approached the U.S. Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the U.S. military said. The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between the countries.

Today is the first day parents can submit applications for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program, also known as school vouchers. First awards will be available to participating children for the 2026-27 school year.

Hillwood has approval for a master planned community on FM 1385 near Pilot Point in Denton County. The mixed-use project will cover 617 acres and could be valued at $1.2B upon completion, according to Hillwood. The development will feature 2,000 single-family homes, a 27-acre mixed-use development, a 15-acre Pilot Point Independent School District elementary school and more than 100 acres of open space, the Dallas Business Journal reported. Designed as a TIF, Hillwood will receive half of the ad valorem taxes collected from the property the first 25 years.

First Brands Group, a major auto parts supplier, including FRAM and Michelin, will lay off 129 employees in Arlington and Harlingen factories by the end of March. The company, which is re-structuring, got more bad news when Patrick James, founder of First Brands Group, and his brother, Edward, received federal indictments on several charges relating to First Brand Group’s financial situation.

Walmart has joined the list of trillion-dollar public companies. The list of companies and the year they reached the milestone is here. 

The creation of the world’s first “bio-vault", — likened to a “Noah’s Ark” — for the preservation of genetic material from animal species, is coming, courtesy of Dallas' throwback company Colossal Biosciences and a $60-million investment from the United Arab Emirates. 

EmeritusDX, prominent in cancer diagnostics, molecular testing, hematopathology and precision medicine, has expanded with laboratory space in southwest Fort Worth. The company has operations in California and Pennsylvania, and sees Fort Worth as a better way to serve physicians, hospital systems and laboratory partners across the central U.S.

Lito Rodriguez, a leading research grants specialist at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, applauds the Texas approach and support with big dollars in the areas of cancer and dementia research. 

Mark Marshall, Chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, told ADWEEK that his team has sold a “handful” of 30-second Super Bowl ad units for $10 million or more. The "units" were part of packages that also include Winter Olympics advertising.

The Kirkland Signature x Nike SB Dunk Low sneaker at select Costco locations was “shock dropped” last weekend with a price tag of $134.99. The buying frenzy and limited supply (one per customer) translated into re-sale prices between $400 to as high as $1,000 on third-party sites such as eBay.

Fort Worth-based CorVel Corp. reported quarterly net income of $24.2 million, or 47 cents a share. The health care management company posted revenue of $235.6 million.

Alliuz Industrial purchased a 10-acre infill industrial site in Grand Prairie for the development of a logistics center. The site is 2801 S. Greatwest Parkway, within the Great Southwest Industrial District. Plans are for two warehouse buildings.

The Kelly Clarkson Show will end this fall, its seventh season. Clarkson, a Fort Worth native, said she was stepping away to “prioritize my kids, which feels necessary and right for this next chapter of our lives.” She has two children, daughter River, 11, and son Remington, 9, with former husband Brandon Blackstock, who died of melanoma six months ago at age 48.

Less joy in the world today: Chuck Negron, a founding member of the soul-rock band Three Dog Night, has died at 83. He sang lead on such hits as “One” and “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song” and hollered the immortal opening line “Jeremiah was a bullfrog!” on the chart-topping “Joy to the World”.

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. home buyers last year paid less than the original listing price, the highest such proportion since 2019, per a new Redfin analysis; the average discount for the homes sold below list price was ~8%, the highest figure since 2012.

Significant stat: 430 = Average number of pregnant inmates monthly in Texas jails. The state is trying to understand what happens to them.

Snippets:

• How Americans are using AI at work, according to a Gallup poll.

• Gaming group calls on its industry to tackle perceived gender inequality issues.

Announcements:

• Kelly Hart: Promotes Joseph Austin and Kylie Rahl to Partner. 

• Walmart: Promotes Tina Budnaitis to Senior Director Operations. 

• Bank of Texas: Adds Leah Collette as Senior Vice President, Wealth Advisor. Promotes Kerry Crocker to Vice President-Private Banker.

• R Bank: Adds Chris Berzina as Portfolio Manager. 

• Lentus: Promotes Jennifer Williams to Business Development Manager for HVAC/R & Plumbing.

• Falcon Realty Advisors: Adds Hunter Brous as Director of Landlord Services. 

• Cencora: Hires Dr. Melanie Venture as Director of Workplace Experience Optimization and Delivery. 

• JSX: Promotes Brad Decker to Director of Engineering. 

• Freese and Nichols: Promotes Kayla Burd to Transportation Group Manager.

• Fifth Third: Names Bryan Ezell as Regional Manager -Texas. 

• Tekmetric: Adds Raymond Ferguson as Payments Account Executive.

• Park Place Motorcars: Alex Licea moving from Arlington location to become service director for the company's Land Rover store. 

• Education is Freedom: Hires Micaela Herndon as Managing Director of Workforce. 

• FPI Builders: Hires Noel Nelson as Business Development Manager. 

• Pinnacle Consulting Management Group: Selects Sarah Riebe as Vice President. 

• UT-Arlington: Selects Melinda Nguyen as school’s first flag football head coach. 

• Southlake Carroll: Expects to promote defensive coordinator Lee Munn to head football coach.

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