Monster Mini Golf opened its first Denton location on July 4. The business offers a monster-themed mini golf course with hand-painted artwork from company artists that references local Denton culture, like the Day of the Dead coffin races that are held in October.

The overview: The venue also has an arcade, four lanes of mini bowling and spaces for live entertainment and events.

Owner Poornima Natarajan said the venue is available for private birthday parties and corporate events. Monster Mini Golf in Denton also has a laser maze and a pixel floor, an interactive light-up gaming floor.

• 2223 Colorado Blvd., Denton

California-based boba tea shop Teaspoon opened its first Denton locations at the Rayzor Ranch shopping center in late May, a company representative said. The company offers several teas, like Thai tea, honey oolong and cream-infused jasmine green tea, along with coffee drinks.

The details: The company will host a grand opening event on July 25 with giveaways and prizes, the representative said.

Some context: Teaspoon started in California in 2015 and operates more than fifty locations in the United States and two in Dallas-Fort Worth, one in Denton and one in Mansfield, according to the company website.

• 3400 N. I-35, Denton

Avelo Airlines will launch commercial air service at McKinney National Airport later this year with plans for nonstop flights to five destinations.

The overview: The airline will offer flights to Las Vegas and four cities in Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, according to a June 30 news release. Air service will begin Nov. 11 upon completion of a new commercial service terminal that's been under construction since 2025. Avelo Airlines signed on as the first commercial service provider in late 2025.

Avelo will operate flights with two 184-seat Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft based at the airport, according to the news release. The service will create more than 100 new local jobs with Avelo Airlines. Those jobs will include pilots, flight attendants, aircraft technicians and airport personnel.

In a statement, Avelo Airlines founder and CEO Andrew Levy said airline officials were “thrilled to be the launch and anchor airline at McKinney."

Check out five upcoming, ongoing and completed transportation projects around Dallas-Fort Worth.

Upcoming projects

1. Frisco Street roundabout additions

Project: Four roundabouts will be added along Frisco Street at Technology Drive, Sports Village Road, All Stars Avenue and Research Road. The intersections will be converted from intersections to multilane roundabouts.

Update: The project is in the design phase with bidding for construction expected early next year.

• Timeline: early 2027-2028
• Cost: $12 million
• Funding source: city of Frisco

• Timeline: January 2027-January 2029
• Cost: $8 million
• Funding source: city of Plano

Former state Sen. Don Huffines was appointed as the Texas comptroller of public accounts, Gov. Greg Abbott announced July 2.

Huffines, a Dallas-area native with a bachelor's degree in business administration in finance from The University of Texas at Austin, will take over as the state's finance and budgeting officer from acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock. Huffines will officially begin his service Aug. 1.

Huffines defeated Hancock, who became acting comptroller one year ago, in the March Republican primary. He'll now face former state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt in the November general election for a four-year term.