During a Jan. 13 City Council meeting, Denton officials gave the green light to a specific use permit with Qumulus AI to construct and operate a new data center on leased land from the city near Western Boulevard and Jim Christal Road.

The overview: This marked the second time in less than two years that City Council leased land to a data center. On Nov. 19, 2024, Denton officials voted to lease a total of 78.85 acres of city land at 8171 Jim Christal Road to Core Scientific to expand its operations in conjunction with Core Weave, a major cloud service provider, according to city documents.

Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth said the city offers a rare combination of city-owned industrial land, reliable municipal power and a talent pool from nearby universities, making Denton a natural location for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

While city officials cited financial benefits of data centers in Denton, residents have raised concerns about the environmental impact and strain on utilities.

Several streets and roadways are under construction in Denton. Check out these six road project updates. This list is not comprehensive. 

Ongoing projects
Royal Acres Drive

• Project: Crews will repave the roadway and replace the water and wastewater lines, curb and gutter along with portions of sidewalk.
• Update: Crews are installing utilities ahead of roadway work.
• Timeline: April 2026-September 2026
• Cost: $1.29 million
• Funding source: city of Denton

• Project: The project will rebuild the I-35 interchange at Mayhill Road from Pockrus Page Road to Loop 288.
• Update: Crews completed utility relocations in April, including gas lines, fiber, water and wastewater utilities. Workers also removed driveways and sidewalks along the north and southbound frontage roads, and are working to remove asphalt on State School road and the southbound frontage road.
• Timeline: January 2026-June 2029
• Cost: $139.13 million
• Funding source: Texas Department of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments

The last Spirit Airlines flight landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on May 2.

The next day, the airline posted that it would cease operations.

According to a Texas Workforce Commission filing, more than 900 employees in Texas were laid off, including 444 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The other layoffs happened at Houston’s George Bush International Airport. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing shows 119 pilots, 246 flight attendants and 79 additional employees were let go.

According to FlightRadar.com, the last flight went from Detroit Metro Airport to DFW Airport, landing at 12:09 a.m. on May 2.  

Quote of note: “Our heart goes out to the thousands of men and women who have had their careers impacted by this bankruptcy,” said Chris McLaughlin, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport CEO, during the DFW Airport Board meeting May 7.

Several businesses have filed construction permits around Dallas-Fort Worth. Check out five of the most expensive construction projects in the Metroplex.

Extra Space Storage renovation

A Frisco storage rental facility, Extra Space Storage, will create additional storage space and receive a vestibule and kiosk in the manager’s office, along with new furniture and lighting fixtures, according to documents filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

• Location: 8747 Stockard Drive, Frisco
• Estimated timeline: May 15-May 29
• Estimated cost: $13.1 million

• Location: 1011 Galatyn Parkway, Building D, Richardson
• Estimated timeline: May 15-Nov. 10
• Estimated cost: $9 million

Roughly 76,000 fewer students were enrolled in Texas public schools this academic year than the year prior, according to May 11 report.

The overview: The 2025-26 school year marks the second recorded enrollment drop in recent history, according to Texas Education Agency data collected since the 1987-88 academic year. The first decline happened in the 2020-21 school year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hispanic students accounted for 81% of the enrollment loss in the 2025-26 school year, the policy research group Texas 2036 found.

The local impact: School districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are in the process of closing and consolidating campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Statewide data shows that 130 campuses have been selected for closure in the past two years.

What they're saying: “This year, we are down students, and these [drops] are somewhat more accelerated than statewide demographic trends indicated,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers May 11. “We cannot tell you the precise cause of this. We just know that it has occurred.”