Drayage Brokersin Fort Worth, TX

Imagine San Diego, San Jose, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Boise all rolled up into the same metropolitan area.

Zoom in: That would give you a sense of just how many people now live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area's major cities, which aside from the titular pair also include Arlington, Plano and Garland.

The big picture: Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the country's fastest growing metropolitan areas.

Zoom out: Texas is one of six states benefiting from a massive southward wealth migration, which is pulling the U.S. economic center away from the Northeast.

Driving the news: Business expansion and relocations are fueling the Dallas region's growth, putting it on track to overtake the Chicago area and become the third-most-populous metro within the decade.

The intrigue: Dallas remains the area's anchor, but its power is slipping as outlying cities boom.

Still, Dallas is critical to the broader region's success, says Mike Rosa, senior vice president of economic development for the Dallas Regional Chamber.

By the numbers: 265 businesses have either relocated or expanded to Dallas-Fort Worth since 2020. Dallas accounted for 59 of those moves.

Meanwhile, Fort Worth added 19,000 residents between July 2021 and July 2022, more than any other single U.S. city.

What they're saying: Fort Worth has long been more blue collar than Dallas, with more emphasis on manufacturing and transportation businesses than finance and real estate.

What's next: Dallas-Fort Worth is on track to be the only U.S. metropolitan area to house two cities with populations over 1 million in the next five years, as people and companies seek profit, opportunity and room to grow.

A water main break in downtown Fort Worth is affecting taps as far as the Fairmount neighborhood, about a mile and a half to the south.

Streets have been blocked off as crews work to stop a gusher spilling water onto West Lancaster Avenue and Henderson Street.

The break is on a large line that feeds into smaller neighborhood lines that bring water into homes, said Fort Worth water department spokesperson Mary Gugliuzza in an email to the Star-Telegram

“There are multiple valves to close on large-diameter lines and it can take hundreds of turns on each one, while fighting water pressure,” Gugliuzza said.

Social media posts from a private Facebook group show the break is affecting residents as far away as the 2100 block of Fairmount Avenue.

Cook Children’s Hospital about a mile south of the break is also experiencing low pressure, but it’s not affecting patient care, said spokesperson Kim Brown in an email to the Star-Telegram.

“Thankfully, we have an internal backup water system so events like this do not really impact us,” she said.

It’s not clear when the break will be fixed. After the valves are closed, the water department will need to dig around the break to assess the damage.

“This one will take a while,” Gugliuzza said.

West Lancaster Avenue is closed between Ballinger Street and Henderson Street, according to a water department Facebook post.

There have been 378 water main breaks in Fort Worth this year as of Aug. 14. High heat sucks moisture out of the soil causing it to shift and crack pipes. There’s also increased demand, which puts a strain on water mains.

The city encourages residents to report main breaks using the MyFW app or by calling 817-392-4477.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

This story was originally published August 17, 2023, 10:23 AM.

A mural on the facade of the Will Rogers Memorial Center that drew concern about its portrayal of African Americans has fostered a community effort to design interpretive plaques to promote cultural and historical understanding.

The plaques would be installed to provide context to several murals on the Will Rogers Memorial Center auditorium and coliseum to describe the murals, which were designed in 1936. Concerns were raised in 2019 about how one of the murals portrays African Americans picking cotton.

Estrus Tucker is chairman of the Fort Worth Art Commission, which was tasked with addressing the situation. He said he approached the matter with his team at the commission with a goal of allowing people to evoke their understanding of the piece instead of the the commission imposing its view of what it means.

“We wanted to be real, and there’s some downsides and some upsides to what was happening in Texas in the agricultural industry, and we didn’t want to give out anything that was not factual,” Tucker said. “It’s like an appetizer. It needs to be accurate but you can’t tell the whole story, but tell them enough that they want to go and follow up and have a conversation.”

In September 2019, the Mayor’s Office asked the Fort Worth Art Commission to gather community input and make a recommendation in response to concerns raised about the mural depicting Black field workers picking cotton alongside other agricultural workers.

There are 12 murals in all depicting a variety of cultures and historical moments, such as Native Americans trading with white colonists and hunting buffalo. Murals show Mexicans in traditional clothing rejecting a Spanish conquistador, Texans with the Confederacy preparing a cannon to fire, and men digging for oil in the early 20th century.

On Nov. 21, 2019, the Will Rogers Memorial Center Interpretation Advisory Panel, which was appointed by the Art Commission, met with community members at the Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods, where people spoke in favor of leaving the murals in place and presenting historical context for the murals at the site.

The Advisory Panel spent the next few years doing research, which included focus group meetings with community members representing the diverse cultures depicted in the murals and consultation with experts on local culture and Texas history.

The City Council approved the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds in the amount of $300,000, the reallocation of $100,000 in Public Events Capital Funds and $35,000 in Public Art Funds on Oct. 19, 2021, to pay for the project.

A public hearing took place on June 12 at the Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods, and the Art Commission’s draft text for the plaques was made available on the Fort Worth Public Art website.

Tucker says people gave positive feedback to the solution and said they did not want the murals to be taken down. They wanted the plaques to be an educational tool describing what the murals meant at the time they were created.

The staff used the input received from the public hearing and published the final plaque design and text on the program’s website, and the Art Commission approved the plan on July 17. A brief review of the project was on the City Council’s work session agenda Tuesday.

There will be two introductory plaques and 12 plaques specific to individual murals, for a total of 14 plaques.

The text on the plaque with the Black field workers will read:

“Use of the land and its value was changing dramatically. For the first two decades of 20th century, agriculture led the state’s economic growth. Texas produced almost one third of America’s cotton. This scene depicts tenant farming and sharecropping, systems in which freedmen, poor white, and Mexican workers farmed rented land for a share of the harvested crops. Sharecropping rarely resulted in farm ownership. After World War I (1914-1918), many laborers moved to cities for work, forcing landowners to modernize with machinery to harvest millions of acres of cotton, wheat, and other crops.”

The time frame for construction and installation is estimated at eight to 10 months with construction starting between February 2024 to late summer.

Enjoy this year’s edition of the Battle for the Iron Skillet, because it could be one of the last games of the rivalry.

Sources confirmed to the Star-Telegram on Wednesday that TCU would “pause” it’s annual football game with SMU after the 2025 season.

The two Metroplex rivals will meet in Fort Worth this season on Sept. 23, Dallas next season and the final game would be in Fort Worth in 2025. The two programs had their first meeting in 1915 and have played every year since with the exception of six seasons. TCU currently has a 52-42-7 record against the Mustangs.

TCU had dominated the rivalry recently, but Sonny Dykes swung the momentum of the rivalry by leading SMU to back-to-back wins over TCU in 2019 and 2021. That was the first time that happened since 1992-93.

Dykes’ success with making SMU more competitive in the rivalry was one of the many reasons he was selected to replace Gary Patterson after the 2021 season. That only made the rivalry more contentious last season as the Mustangs had one of the largest crowds in history to watch Dykes and the Horned Frogs beat SMU 42-34.

The rivalry continued to grow more contentious in the off-season when former top-100 recruit Jordan Hudson transferred to SMU. This led to accusations of tampering and a war of words between the fan bases. This announcement will only inflame the hostilities. Conversations about potentially pausing or ending the series had been ongoing for sometime according to sources.

The loss of another rivalry is sure to upset fans across the country after the latest wave of realignment saw more schools breaking away from local rivals like Oregon and Oregon State and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. If there is a bright side, TCU now has more flexibility to add a marquee Power Five opponent to the future schedule.

Starting in 2026, the Horned Frogs have games scheduled against North Carolina, Duke, Purdue and Stanford. There’s also the option of still playing the Mustangs in the future, but just on a less frequent basis.

Regardless of how the future schedule turns out, expect there to be a bunch of fireworks during the 102nd Battle for the Skillet on Sept. 23 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

ActionNetwork insider Brett McMurphy was the first to report the news on Wednesday.

This story was originally published August 16, 2023, 10:24 AM.

The popular West Side Cafe, which had faced an uncertain future since its founder’s death, has been sold to a longtime manager and will continue with support from successful neighbor JD’s Hamburgers, the partners announced Tuesday.

West Side Cafe, a breakfast and lunch diner that opened in 1996 and feels even older, has made lists for the “Best Chicken-Fried Steaks in Texas.”

The cafe, 7950 Camp Bowie Blvd. West, consistently draws lines for breakfasts and plate lunches with a wide choice of vegetables.

It’s also known for its wall displays honoring the Western Hills and north Benbrook neighborhoods’ military and defense tradition.

A 20-year general manager, Joel Hancock, has bought the restaurant from the family of late founder Tracey Sanford.

Hancock will run the cafe with support from business and marketing partners Bourke Harvey and Gigi Howell of nearby smash-hit JD”s Hamburgers.

Harvey and Howell also partnered to buy Margie’s Italian Kitchen, a 70-year-old postwar pasta restaurant and roadside-Americana landmark on Camp Bowie West.

Harvey is also the founder of Curly’s Frozen Custard and a partner in Rogers Roundhouse, a burger grill.

The partners’ announcement promised the same pancakes, chicken-and-dumplings and senior specials as always, now also available via delivery services.

West Side Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch daily; 817-560-1996, fortworthwestsidecafe.com.

JD’s Hamburgers, 9901 Camp Bowie Blvd. West, recently resumed lunch and dinner service Wednesdays through Saturdays and lunch Sundays after months of building repairs.

This story was originally published August 16, 2023, 10:12 AM.