Richardson residents who receive natural gas services from Atmos Energy will see increased rates starting in October.

The overview: Richardson City Council unanimously approved a negotiated settlement on Sept. 28 with Atmos Energy that allows the company to raise rates for both residential and commercial customers.

What you need to know: Under the new rate plan, the average monthly bill for a residential Atmos customer will increase from $94.48 to $107.85, an increase of about 14%. The average monthly commercial bill will increase from $452.95 to $497.75, an almost 10% increase.

How we got here: Per city documents, Atmos filed a request in April to increase systemwide rates in order to recover costs for infrastructure investments made in 2025.

L’Abri Salons & Wellness is now open on Richardson’s Main Street.

The business brings together independent beauty and wellness professionals in luxury salon suites, offering hair, nail, lash, brow and skin services.

• 150 W. Main St., Ste. 400, Richardson

Voters will consider a $600 million Collin College bond package this November for new and expanded campuses.

The bond could lead to eight campus renovations and new buildings in Anna and Royse City, plus an aviation academy in McKinney.

The overview: The proposed expansions include new buildings that would be used for workforce education and other program-based needs. If approved by voters, the single bond proposition would fund projects to meet countywide growth while also meeting workforce needs identified by college officials, per the college's website.

The need: The proposed construction projects are part of Collin College’s Destination 2030, a long-range master plan created to address projected enrollment growth, workforce needs and aging facilities.

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport introduced a new program from the Transportation Security Administration and new parkway speed limits, while KFC debuted a “next-generation” Open House restaurant in McKinney. Check out six trending stories from Community Impact’s Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas.

1. New TSA program, speed limit change, parking rates: DFW Airport roundup

2. KFC debuts new Open House restaurant concept in McKinney

3. Celina officials plan for future development as DNT expands

4. San Martin Bakery opens new Plano location

5. Frisco ISD approves elementary class-size state exemption

6. TxDOT plans $38M construction on FM 1385 in Prosper

Texas school districts using the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning curriculum saw slightly better year-over-year achievement last school year than other districts, according to Texas Education Agency data released Sept. 30.

What's happening: During the 2025-26 school year, 619 of Texas' 1,200 public school districts opted in to implement at least one of the three Bluebonnet curriculum programs—elementary math, secondary math and elementary language arts.

On this spring's State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam, districts using the state-developed math materials saw student improvement that was 0.6 percentage points higher than students in other districts, while districts that implemented the reading materials performed 0.2 percentage points higher on the STAAR than other schools.

What they're saying: The TEA said the gains in student achievement are an "encouraging sign of early progress."

Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, a statewide educator union, disagreed, calling the results "rather paltry."

"It may take a few more years to determine if this is a valid trend or simply an anomaly," Capo said in a statement.