Lockheed scores in proposed budget; Don't forget the donuts; M2G sells; Lantana sold.

M2G Ventures, a Fort Worth-born real estate investment and development company, and Pennybacker, a real assets private equity firm, sold their 100% leased, 250,000-square-foot PROTO Park joint venture at 3200 Irving Blvd. The buyer was California's Benedetto and terms were not disclosed.

Fort Worth-based telecommunications and managed services provider Lantana Communications has been acquired by In-Telecom Consulting, which is headquartered in Slidell, LA. Terms were not disclosed. Lantana's services also include call center solutions, and carrier services in the south-central U.S. Its President is Jonathan Irwin.

The NBA Finals began last night and the visiting Dallas Mavericks were late for the start, falling behind Boston by 29 early and never closer than eight while getting blown out 107-89. Game 2 of the best-of-7 is Sunday at 7 p.m.

The House Appropriations Committee laid out an $833 billion defense budget proposal and the big winners are Israel and Lockheed Martin's F-35s. The budget also blocks a proposal to transfer Guard personnel to the Space Force.

Colorado-based XTI Aircraft signed a Letter of Intent with Fort Worth’s AVX Aircraft Company to provide development, design and certification services to support XTI’s TriFan 600, which is a fixed-wing aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability. The vertical lift crossover airplane “is expected to revolutionize point-to-point air travel..."

Three University of Texas at Arlington faculty, led by Yichen Zhang, principal investigator and assistant professor in the department of electrical engineering, have secured a $1.6 million grant from the Department of Energy to explore the adoption of behind-the-meter energy devices that can reduce consumption and provide energy back to the grid.

Grapevine-based United Real Estate/DFW Properties and Fort Worth-based Stryve Realty have merged. The new firm, with more than 200 agents, will include two offices in Fort Worth and one in Grapevine under the United banner. Stryve founder Shawn Buck will support services and growth as associate broker/strategic growth partner.

TXSE Group, backed by BlackRock and Citadel Securities, has raised $120 million and plans to launch a CEO-friendly Texas Stock Exchange this year. It hasn’t registered with the SEC yet.

Trinity River Waterwheel Initiative update: The partnership of Fort Worth, Tarrant Regional Water District, Streams & Valleys Inc., and sponsoring partners seeks to remove litter and debris from the Trinity River with a floating, waterwheel-powered trash interceptor. The project is $500k short of its nearly $1.9 million goal. 

The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s College of Pharmacy secured a record-breaking 95% residency match rate for its May graduates. This surpassed the national average of 81% and was the highest among Texas schools. Last year, HSC scored 79%. 

Ethereum wallet MetaMask, based in Fort Worth, has teamed with HyperPlay to allow you to find and play games from the interface. 

Texas A&M will not bring back the student bonfire tradition it discontinued 25 years ago after a deadly accident, President Mark Welsh III said. Students had built a 60-foot bonfire every year ahead of football games with The University of Texas. In 1999, tragedy struck when a stack of logs collapsed killing 12 people and injuring dozens. "I decided that Bonfire, both a wonderful and tragic part of Aggie history, should remain in our treasured past,” Welsh said.

A panel of advisors to the FDA declined to endorse Lykos Therapeutics' application to market MDMA (ecstasy) as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The panel voted 9-to-2 against it when asked if data showed MDMA's effectiveness, and 10-to-1 against it when asked if the benefits outweighed the risks.

Walmart is launching a training program for hourly workers in its U.S. stores and supply networks that will give them an opportunity to move into roles in facilities maintenance, refrigeration, heating, ventilation/air conditioning, and automation. The Walmart Academy will be in D-FW and is expecting to increase the number of skilled trades workers from 450 to roughly 2,000 in two years.

Dollar Tree says it is considering selling off Family Dollar, which it bought in 2015 for $9B. Family Dollar closed more than 500 locations in Q1 and is looking to close another 500. Last week, Dollar Tree added 170 stores from bankrupt 99 Cents Only.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a ruling in response to a request for records under the Public Information Act reiterating that governmental entities have a legal duty to redact any personally identifying information on voters’ ballots.

Conventions will bring more than 25,000 visitors this summer to Fort Worth. The groups below are visiting in this month:

• Association of Water Board Directors - Texas – June 10-16, attendance: 2,100

• American Towman Expo – June 18-23, attendance: 2,000

• Texas Association of School Boards – June 18-22, attendance: 1,000

• Solution Tree – June 22-24, attendance: 1,100

Below is a sampling of topics from this week’s Motley Fool column. To read all the Fool's gold, click here.

• The Fool recommends 5 ETFs (exchange-traded funds), some with low fees and impressive track records.

• A reader wants to know why technology companies Meta Platforms and Alphabet have started paying dividends, and why companies such as Apple have increased dividend payments.

• The Fool suggests factors to consider when selecting a brokerage.

Snippets: 

• The second Tarrant County H-E-B will open in Mansfield at 6 a.m. June 26.  Located at 1670 E. Broad St., the store will employ more than 700.

• The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl will take place December 27.

• What will happen to excess furniture and equipment in old City Hall as Fort Worth continues to move to new digs at the former Pier 1 building? 

Announcements:

• University of North Texas: Laken Rapier, Chief Communications Officer, is leaving to launch Current Public Affairs and Media Relations. 

• Crestline Summit: Appoints Brian Peller as Chief Operating Officer.

• Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW): Names former Dickies Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Crockett as CMO.

• Trinity Valley School: Blair Lowry, head of school, resigned. In her letter, she wrote  she will be “pursuing her passion for entrepreneurship."

• Fort Worth: Hires Brian Daugherty as Code Compliance Director. 

• Colleyville: City Council appoints Mark Alphonso to replace Councilman George Bond. 

• AZZ: Appoints Jason Crawford as CFO. 

• Tarrant Appraisal District: Nancy Sharpe, chair of the citizen review board, has resigned.