Good morning! On this day in 1938, drummer Ronnie Tutt was born in Dallas. During his prolific career, he performed with a host of rock ‘n’ roll icons, including Jerry Garcia, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, and Elvis Presley.
Today’s edition features a story about the best new restaurants in Texas and an Et Cetera section chock-full of food-related stories. We hope you’re hungry!
Today’s sponsor is Mode Mobile, offering an investment opportunity in their pre-IPO offering.
Baker reportedly got into a dispute with a classmate, another 14-year-old girl, prior to the stabbing. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, and the unnamed suspect was taken into custody by campus police.
Following the incident, the school went into lockdown, and students were transported to a nearby church to be picked up. Classes at the school were canceled until March 24, after the district’s spring break. Other Killeen ISD schools remain open.
The school board held an emergency meeting yesterday morning to hear from the community and provide an update on security measures currently in effect. “Our hearts are heavy as we navigate this difficult time together,” said Killeen ISD Superintendent Dr. Jo Ann Fey.
Bags Don’t Fly Free Anymore
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines announced Tuesday it would charge customers to check their bags beginning this May, ending a decades-old perk that set the carrier apart from its competitors.
Business class customers and members of the carrier’s top-tier frequent flyer program will still get two bags checked for no additional charge, while Southwest credit card holders and members of the standard frequent flyer program will get one free checked bag.
Over the past year, the airline has made several other changesto boost profits, like ending its open-seating policy, partnering with travel companies like Expedia to reach more customers, and cutting about 1,700 corporate jobs.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby characterized the development as “the slaying of the sacred cow,” clarifying that he believed the move would be “good for everyone” in the industry.
Best New Restaurants in Texas
Texas Monthly released its annual list of the state’s top 10 best new restaurants earlier this month, featuring independent establishments that opened between December 2023 and November 2024.
Topping the list is Austin’s Craft Omakase, a sushi restaurant that was one of two in Texas to earn a star in the state’s inaugural Michelin Guide. Another Austin establishment, Mexican restaurant Mexta, was ranked No. 7 on the list.
Dallas-Fort Worth is home to three restaurants on the list, including No. 2 Radici Wood Fired Grill in Farmers Branch, an Italian restaurant run by celebrity chef Tiffany Derry. Offering dinner for $200 a person, Japanese restaurant Mābo in Dallas was ranked No. 3, and The Chumley House in Fort Worth—where visitors can “fulfill the fantasy of traipsing through the home of a mid-century British aristocrat”—earned the No. 9 spot.
Three Houston area restaurants earned the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 spots: sushi bar Kira, Native American tasting menu restaurant Ishtia in Kemah, and Mexican counter-service diner Ema. Ishtia chef David Skinner has been called “the Willy Wonka of food,” and Kira’s fancy hand rolls will make guests feel like they’ve “scored an invitation to the city’s coolest dinner party.”
Finally, two restaurants in San Antonio’s Pullman Market landed in the No. 8 and No. 10 spots: Isidore, offering a rotating menu of Texas-centric dishes, and Sonoran-style Mexican restaurant Mezquite, which was praised for its “beautiful” aguachiles.
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➤ The Texas House Public Education Committee heard testimony yesterday on a proposal to provide $1 billion in funding for up to 100,000 students to attend private school using education savings accounts. (More)
➤ Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager cleared of wrongdoing in the death of two men during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin, testified at the State Capitol on Tuesday in support of a Senate bill that would prohibit localities from enacting red flag laws. (More)
➤ A federal appeals court vacated the death sentence for Brittany Marlowe Holberg, who was convicted in 1998 at the age of 23 for the murder of 80-year-old A.B. Towery in his Amarillo home. The court determined prosecutors failed to disclose that their primary witness was a paid informant. (See Details)
➤ Houston: Mayra Guillen, whose sister Vanessa Guillen was murdered by a superior at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos) in 2020, announced her intent to run against Democratic Rep. Al Green, who has represented Houston’s 9th Congressional District since 2005. (More)
➤ Austin: A reporter for Alex Jones’s Infowars website was shot and killed as he was coming home from work Sunday night. (More)
➤ Galveston: Seventy-one malnourished dogs and cats were rescued Monday from confinement in an old school bus parked at Galveston Island State Park. The Houston SPCA described finding the animals living in “deplorable conditions.” (More)
➤ Williamson County: Judge Bill Gravell resigned on Tuesday to join the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy as the representative for Region 6, which encompasses Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Gravell had served as county judge since January 2019. (More)
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➤ TCU was eliminated from the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament yesterday in a 69-67 loss to last-place Colorado. Free throw shooting doomed the Horned Frogs, who only made 10 of their 20 foul shots. (More)
➤ The Houston Texans made their second shocking trade in as many days yesterday, sending former first-round pick Kenyon Green to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for safety CJ Gardner-Johnson. (More)
➤ The Dallas Mavericks ended their five-game losing skid with a 133-129 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Dallas entered the game with only eight healthy players on the roster. (More)
➤ Care.com, a personal serviceswebsite, is moving its corporate headquarters from Austin to Dallas. With revenue of roughly $370 million in 2024, the company connects customers with people who can provide babysitting, pet care, and other services. (More)
➤ Union Pacific Railroad has informed the 57 employees who staff its repair depot in Palestine that their jobs will be eliminated despite an 1872 contract in which the company’s predecessor promised local officials to “forever thereafter keep and maintain” operations in the town. (See Details)
➤ Several tech companies have introduced some innovative products at Austin’s South by Southwest Expo, including drones that can apply precision treatments to crops, a water purifier that kills bacteria using electricity, and a material that generates heat by absorbing infrared sunlight. (See Photos)
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Their disruptive tech, the EarnPhone and EarnOS, have helped users earn and save an eye-popping $325M+, driving $60M+ in revenue and a massive 45M+ consumer base. And having secured partnerships with Walmart and Best Buy, Mode’s not stopping there…
➤ Southern Living named Franklin Barbecue in Austin as the state’s best barbecue joint for the fourth year in a row. If you want to visit the smokehouse, plan to show up a few hours before it opens to wait in line. (More)
➤ The owner of a New York steakhouse announced plans to sue the state of Texas for $1 million following Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s suggestion that “Texas” replace “New York” as the moniker for strip steak. Todd Shapiro, the owner of the War Room Tavern in Albany, claimed the rebranding effort “infringes upon New York’s cultural heritage.” (More)
➤ The Whataburger Museum of Art at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin featured 200 pieces of Whataburger-themed art created by fans of the company. A popular exhibit was the “mughsot wall” where guests could take photos with table tents they planned to “steal.” (See Photo)
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How do you feel about Southwest charging for checked bags?
1 Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur. 2A minimum investment of $1,950 is required to receive bonus shares. 100% bonus shares are offered on investments of $9,950+. 3 Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation A+ Offering. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Start-up investments are speculative and involve a high degree of risk. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest in start-ups. Companies seeking startup investment tend to be in earlier stages of development and their business model, products and services may not yet be fully developed, operational or tested in the public marketplace. There is no guarantee that the stated valuation and other terms are accurate or in agreement with the market or industry valuations. Further, investors may receive illiquid and/or restricted stock that may be subject to holding period requirements and/or liquidity concerns. DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA’s BrokerCheck. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile Reg A offering. Please read the offering statement at https://invest.modemobile.com/. Rainmaker Ad Ventures is paid by Mode Mobile for promoting their securities offering. Payment is in cash and billed monthly. As of the end of February, Rainmaker has received $227,047. Additional fees may have accrued since then. **https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1748441/000149315224029326/0001493152-24-029326-index.html
Killeen Student Fatally Stabbed
