DTX-MCK: Impact 9/2/2025

🥊 Grand Master Raymond Crow, a lifelong teacher of martial arts, is now offering martial arts and athletics instruction in McKinney. Crow’s Martial Arts Academy opened about a year ago at the University Business Plaza along University Drive.

About the business: The school offers a wide range of martial arts classes for kids and adults. Subjects include Jun-Fan Gung Fu, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu grappling and more, according to its website. The school also offers boxing classes for conditioning and competition, Crow said. Additionally, the academy offers sports science courses meant to improve the performance of sports athletes like football players and basketball players.

“I give you a wide range of stuff to offer,” he said. “I give a lot of different arts to give the person more options and more benefits to protect themselves.”

Meet the owner: The martial arts school is headed by Crow, who co-owns the school. He has more than 50 years of experience in learning and teaching martial arts.

⛽️ A new gas station featuring 16 pumps is being constructed at the Walmart Supercenter on Redbud Boulevard.

What you need to know: The gas station is slated to open in late September, a company representative said.

Collin County residents will be paying the same property tax rate to Collin College for fiscal year 2025-26.

The gist: The college’s board of trustees unanimously approved a tax rate of $0.08122 per $100 valuation during an Aug. 26 board meeting. This is the fourth year in a row the college has operated at this tax rate, according to Collin County tax records.

Both chambers of the Texas Legislature have voted to overhaul the state’s standardized testing system, putting public school students one step closer to taking new exams in the 2027-28 school year.

The details: House Bill 8 would eliminate the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness and replace it with three shorter tests, which students would take at the beginning, middle and end of each school year.

Bill author Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, said HB 8 would “reduce test anxiety, provide teachers with immediate feedback and create a pathway for trust in our system again." The majority of House Democrats and a few Republicans disagreed, arguing Aug. 26 that the bill would increase the amount of time students spend on exams and essentially create “another STAAR test” developed by the Texas Education Agency.

Next steps: After state senators passed HB 8 with a 21-7 vote Aug. 27, the bill returned to the House for consideration of a Senate amendment. If House lawmakers sign off on the changes, HB 8 will be sent to the governor.