Qumulus AI, a company that specializes in high-performance computing systems for artificial intelligence development, received a specific use permit to build a modular data center near Western Boulevard and Jim Christal Road following approval from Denton City Council at a Jan. 13 meeting.

In a nutshell: The data center will provide computing services for cryptocurrency miners and AI development, per city documents.

The facility will operate near the RD Wells substation on land leased by the city at a rate of about $20,000 per year for 10 years, according to a lease and power purchase agreement approved at an Aug. 6 council meeting in 2024.

Some background: The Denton area is becoming a major hub for AI infrastructure. For example, AI companies Core Scientific and CoreWeave announced a $1.2 billion expansion in Denton in February 2025.

Denton officials announced Monday, Jan. 26, that the trash schedule for the week is delayed or updated due to icy road conditions caused by Winter Storm Fern.

The details: Trash will not be collected Jan. 27 as a safety precaution. With Monday and Tuesday trash collections delayed, city officials announced the following trash schedule for the week:

• Monday's trash collection will move to Wednesday, Jan. 28
• Tuesday trash collection will move to Thursday, Jan. 29
• Wednesday's trash collection will move to Friday, Jan. 30
• Thursday's trash collection will move to Saturday, Jan. 31

The candidate filing for the city of Denton and Denton ISD is open until Feb. 13 for the May election.

The details
Five Denton council positions are up for grabs including:

• Denton Mayor
• Denton City Council District 1
• Denton City Council District 2
• Place 5 at-large seat
• Place 6 at-large seat

• Denton ISD board Place 6
• Denton ISD board Place 7

School closures continue through the week as roads remain icy from Winter Storm Fern over the weekend. Several Dallas-Fort Worth school districts announced continued closures for Jan. 28.

The specifics: As of Jan. 27, the following school districts and colleges have announced that they will be closed Wednesday:

• Allen ISD
• Argyle ISD
• Carroll ISD
• Denton ISD
• Frisco ISD

With temperatures reaching above 32 degrees across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex on Tuesday, icy roads began to melt; however, roads are expected to refreeze overnight as temperatures drop again.

While the DFW area is not going to see anymore freezing precipitation, roads are not going to have a chance to clear again until mid-day Wednesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Bishop said.

Quote of note: "Whatever melted today is going to refreeze tonight," he said. 

Current situation: Temperatures are expected to drop into the low 20s again Tuesday into Wednesday, Bishop said, which will cause more issues on area roads and sidewalks. Currently, roads are expected to improve more on Wednesday afternoon than they did Tuesday, he said. 

Temperature highs are expected to be in the 40s Wednesday and around 50 degrees Thursday, per the NWS. 

A new fire station in Flower Mound and industrial warehouse development in the Alliance area are among other projects recently filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Here are five of the most expensive permits filed with TDLR in the past week.

1. Industrial warehouse development

2. Westside Village Jewel Box Office

3. Fire Station No. 6 in Flower Mound

4. Fortezza

5. Concession stand renovations for Grady Littlejohn Softball and Baseball Complex

Two Democratic candidates are running to lead the Texas General Land Office in the upcoming March 3 primary election.

The big picture: Benjamin Flores and Jose Loya are vying for the Democratic nomination for Texas land commissioner. The winning Democratic candidate will face Republican incumbent Dawn Buckingham in November, and the winner of that election will begin serving as land commissioner in January 2027.

Buckingham, who is seeking a second four-year term as land commissioner, is running uncontested in the Republican primary. Community Impact runs candidate Q&As for contested races only.

The context: The General Land Office manages 13 million acres of state lands, with duties such as allocating disaster recovery funds, leasing state lands to generate revenue for the state's Permanent School Fund, preserving state landmarks such as the Alamo and overseeing several veterans programs. It is Texas’ oldest state agency, according to its website.