The city of Fort Worth is proposing a 10-year tax abatement to bring Mach Industries, an aerospace and defense manufacturing company that specializes in developing drones for the U.S. government, to the Alliance area.

The overview: During a City Council work session June 22, Jessica Rogers, Fort Worth’s director of economic development, said an “aggressive incentive package” is needed because other local and national competition to land the manufacturing plant.

If Fort Worth is the selected site, the company will invest $74 million in Alliance Gateway 34, located at 5000 Westport Parkway inside the AllianceTexas development.

Mach Industries must have a minimum of 1,000 full-time skilled manufacturing and engineering positions to avoid incentive reductions and a minimum of 600 full-time jobs to avoid forfeitures of incentives, Rogers said. The minimum average salary would be $67,470.

The conditions: The 10-year tax abatement would be capped at $4.5 million, with an annual abatement capped at 45% of incremental real property and business personal property tax revenues. Rogers said that the estimate is $200,000 per year.

The Texas Education Agency released results from this year’s State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness end-of-course exams, the year-end exam issued to high school students each spring, and the spring 2026 results for grades 3-8.

The overview: Students at Northwest ISD and Keller ISD both scored better than the state average in every subject for end-of-course exams, according to test results.

STAAR results for both districts show grades 3-8 performed better than the state overall in reading and social studies and mostly outpaced the average Texas results in math.

Why it matters: The STAAR is administered to students in grades 3-12 each spring to measure student progress and teacher performance.

Students who don’t pass one or more subjects on the STAAR receive accelerated instruction the following school year, according to state law.

Poor STAAR scores can also impact the district as a whole.

The Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board of Directors approved 15 new concessions offerings across four terminals at the June 4 meeting.

Eleven of the 15 approved will be in still-under-construction Terminal F, which is slated to open in 2027, according to previous reporting. The mix of offerings will include popcorn, desserts, acai, fried chicken and pretzels, according to a news release and board documents.

The details: Popeyes, Wetzel’s Pretzels, Whataburger and Panda Express are among some of the restaurants approved by the board. The contracts awarded are for either 10 years or 12 years.

The list of new places includes:
Mama Moore’s Gourmet Popcorn, Terminal A, Gate A20 and Terminal B, Gate B27

• Founded by Debra Moore, a U.S. Army veteran, the company is based in Grand Prairie.

Audrey’s Popcorn. Terminal E, Gate E34

• A Grapevine popcorn brand, founded by Audrey Harrison when she was 5 years old, has been selling products at DFW Airport, Dallas Love Field and George Bush International Airport.

The $30.8 million East-West Connector is now open at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, while Dave & Buster’s plans to debut its largest North Texas location in McKinney. Check out six trending stories from Community Impact’s Dallas-Fort Worth coverage areas.

1. East-West Connector at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport opens

2. Houston-based bar Kirby Ice House to open Plano location

3. Dave & Buster's to debut 40,000-square-foot McKinney arcade, restaurant in July

4. On the Border shutters all company-owned locations

5. Prosper council approves tennis-themed development

6. $2.5M purchase secures downtown Plano land for potential future redevelopment

The State Board of Education is nearing the finish line in its massive rewrite of what Texas public school students will learn about world and state history.

The details: The curriculum overhaul would shift the focus in social studies classes to a Texas-centered approach, deemphasizing lessons about world cultures and injecting more content about Christianity’s role in the founding of the United States.

Some educators and students have expressed concerns that the proposal lacks significant teachings about civil rights history, Japanese internment in the 1940s and people of color’s contributions to the nation. Meanwhile, Republican board members have pushed back, saying that the rewrite is necessary to teach students about American exceptionalism and Texas heritage in an attempt to undo what they called “a watering-down of American history.”

What's happening: The board has spent the bulk of its meetings this week making amendments to a 143-page social studies proposal, which includes hundreds of standards that students would be expected to learn each year. If adopted June 26, the new requirements would take effect in 2030.