Local law enforcement and airport flights mostly escaped being caught up in a globally disruptive IT outage, but a couple of nearby counties were feeling some of the effects.

In Dallas County, parents pay around $11,000 a year for child care. With federal pandemic-era funding running out for child care providers across the country, that cost is expected to rise as providers raise rates to cover the lost funds. Child care businesses that can’t afford to raise tuition could be forced to shut down, leaving parents to scramble for reliable care elsewhere.

This story, that localized the impact of the end of federal aid to child care providers, made the Sunday front page. I reported it during a two-week stint on the business desk when I was spending a gap year from college interning with the opinion section of The Dallas Morning News. I told the story of the expiring COVID-era aid for child care from the lens of small business owners. I reported extensively to convince owners to speak publicly about their financial issues and weaved in statistics to show the impact on Texas’ economy.

There’s a building boom on college campuses across North Texas, with over $1 billion in construction projects underway to train future nurses, scientists, biomedical engineers, doctors and business leaders.

Eden Green Technology, a company that grows lettuce for Walmart stores in indoor greenhouses in Cleburne, is embarking on a $40 million expansion that will boost its production to nearly 6 million pounds of leafy greens a year.

Every year, the Y Texas summit turns AT&T Stadium in Arlington turned into a giant networking site with hundreds of high school students and business leaders milling about on the field as they pondering the state’s future. Panelists discussed the burgeoning sports economy of Texas, corporate relocations to the D-FW area and community college tie-ups with Texas companies.

A $100 million facility being built at the University of North Texas at Dallas will support largely first-generation and minority students who want to work in the medical field. When it opens for the spring 2026 semester, the 130,000-square-foot, four-story building will include up to 20 classrooms, nine teaching labs and three research labs.