When the previous owners decided to sell The Pub in downtown McKinney, Jimmy Karalla said he wasn’t interested until he visited the business on a Saturday night.

When he walked through the doors, almost every table was full, there was a live band playing classic rock and Karalla said his first thought was: “I love this place."

On the menu: The Pub offers a wide selection of craft beer and whiskey, as well as cocktails like The Pub Strawberry Lemonade, which includes homemade simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, strawberry puree and strawberry vodka topped with ginger beer.

The 1880 Old Fashioned, made with Redemption Rye, is another popular drink, Manager Cassie Correa-Henschke said. The Pub's menu also offers burgers, sandwiches, bar snacks and more.

Gather on the Square, an event venue, is now open in Historic Downtown McKinney.

The event space is owned and operated by the McKinney Chamber of Commerce and offers rentable space for a variety of events.

The details: The McKinney Chamber of Commerce team is “reinventing” the space, which has been used as an event venue under multiple operators, President and CEO Lisa Hermes said. It will continue to host milestone events such as weddings, birthday parties and baby showers, but the team is also looking to host civic and community events as well as corporate gatherings.

“We truly want to be a place where people come to gather,” Hermes said.

McKinney-based development company Craig International announced a $200 million mixed-use development in the city, while Celina officials approved a 25-acre Chevrolet dealership.

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The Texas Education Agency released results June 10 from this year’s State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness end-of-course exams.

The overview: High school students who took the year-end exams this spring made gains in all subjects, TEA data shows. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said students’ academic progress was due to “focused instruction and high expectations” in the classroom.

What you need to know: Individual STAAR results are shared through the state assessment portal. Each Texas student receives a unique access code for their results. Families can find the code on the first page of their child’s report card or contact their school, according to the TEA.

Texas public school students in third through 12th grade take the exam each spring, and it is used to measure student progress and teacher performance.

What's next: The TEA is scheduled to release STAAR scores for third- through eighth-grade students June 16.