Dental Implants Near Plano, TX

The city of Plano says it wants better service from DART, including adding a version of on-demand shuttle service to meet the needs of the largest city in Collin County.

However, Mayor John Muns told NBC 5 this week needed change isn't happening quick enough within the transit agency, which is why he's also supporting legislation filed this month in Austin reducing the 1-cent dedicated sales tax contribution by 25%.

"We've got to rightsize this formula," Muns said. "We're only asking for a 25% discount of our subsidy."

For Plano, that equals $27.5 million of a budgeted $110 million it sends to DART annually based on how much sales tax revenue that 1-cent produces.

The dedicated 1-cent of sales tax revenue that each of 13-member cities contribute has funded DART since its creation by the Texas Legislature in 1983.

House Bill 3187 filed by Plano Rep. Matt Shaheen and Senate Bill 1557 filed by state Sen. Angela Paxton of McKinney would allow DART's 13-member cities to lower their contribution levels.

Muns said a report commissioned by the legislature for an accounting of member cities contributions found Plano put $109 million in but received only $44 million in services from DART.

"We can’t afford to continue to be a part of DART at the full penny and getting the service that we’re getting. It’s just, it’s not going to work," Muns said.

DART says the proposed legislation would amount to "devastating cuts" to the regional transportation agency.

Jeamy Molina, chief communications officer with DART, said Tuesday the agency has worked in recent years to improve reliability, security and cleanliness for customers.

"Every dollar is spoken for," Molina said. “We can’t continue the work we have now with 75% of our revenue.”

Molina said DART has met with leaders from six member cities which passed resolutions last year reflecting a desire to lower their contributions to the agency, citing dissatisfaction with service.

From those conversations, Molina says cities said they wanted more flexible transit options, including possible expansion of microtransit options, including an expansion of Go-Link.

"None of that is possible when you see this type of reduction in a bill like this," Molina said.

Paxton told NBC 5 in a statement Tuesday she filed the legislation to provide a remedy for cities that contribute more to DART than they receive in services.

"It is critical that we ensure transparency with taxpayer dollars," Paxton said.

Muns added Plano will still be the second largest sales-tax contributor to DART if the legislation is approved and believes a lower contribution level could make other municipalities not currently in DART consider opting in.

He said DART can continue growing even with a reduced contribution from current member cities.

"Yes, it’s incumbent upon DART to grow, I don’t know that its Plano’s responsibility to be a part of that,” Muns said. “But Plano does need the ability to afford to be in DART.”

Just three months after a private Christian school in Plano abruptly closed its doors, the nonprofit’s day care has similarly shuttered, once again leaving former staff saying they are short thousands of dollars.

Enrollment dwindled at The Nest Daycare and Preschool in downtown Plano after its parent nonprofit organization, New Hope Education, closed its K-12 school in the middle of the fall semester.

Parents at the grade school, New Hope Christian Academy, say they were overcharged tuition and teachers reported missing pay.

A Jan. 28 letter announced the day care’s last day would be Feb. 14. The day care cared for nearly 200 children at its peak, said Jamael Graves, who was hired as a contractor for school development at New Hope Christian Academy, which closed Nov. 8.

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Related:Plano private school closes abruptly, leaving parents scrambling and teachers unpaid

Jim and DeeDee Mims led the organization, which opened the academy in 2017. Neither responded to emails or phone calls requesting comment.

Praying for their paychecks

When nursery teacher Mary Catherine Landry, 28, stopped getting regular paychecks from the day care last summer, she cut spending and started going to food pantries. A single mom, she began working at The Nest in February and her son, 2, attended the day care.

She quit in November after going without pay for about a month — a sum totaling about $2,000.

“It was very sad to see people praying for their paychecks,” Landry said.

Related:School board races begin in Collin County amid tight budgets, shifting demographics

Instead of paying workers through direct deposit, the school handed out checks. Some of those checks bounced.

Landry was told she’ll get her missing pay once the organization sells off some of its items. DeeDee Mims posted tables, chairs and school equipment for sale on Facebook.

Ashley Cole, 26, was a nursery teacher at The Nest from September to January. Her toddler attended the day care, too.

Cole filed a report with the Texas Workforce Commission after missing about $2,600 in payments for her work.

In an email on Nov. 5, DeeDee Mims wrote, “Ladies, I truly apologize for the problems I have caused you and I plan to pay you for all you are owed. I am working through closing the academy to eliminate those expenses.”

‘Heart was there, but the money wasn’t’

Graves, 33, is a pastor in The Colony and was hired to help develop New Hope’s middle and high school operations from August 2022 to July 2024. He left early, in February.

“They took on more than they could chew,” said Graves, whose three children attended the organization’s academy and day care.

Related:Scaling back STAAR, boosting public school funding and teacher quality focus of Texas bills

New Hope Education Inc.’s tax forms show declining assets in recent years. The nonprofit organization started summer 2022 with nearly $340,000 in total assets and ended May 2023 with about $67,000, according to its last published tax form. Its liabilities increased over the year, and by May 2023, the nonprofit had more than negative $830,000 in net assets.

While the organization’s total revenue increased from $1.26 million in 2022 to $1.68 million in 2023, total expenses increased much faster, from $1.2 million in 2022 to nearly $2.1 million in 2023.

In an email from DeeDee Mims, she referenced the pandemic and the school’s move to more expensive quarters in West Plano as financial strains.

Related:What are Texas’ plans for a school voucher-style program? Here’s a look at the proposals

In other emails, she said the day care was negotiating with a potential investor but a deal fell through.

Graves himself loaned Mims money to try to help the school, and said he even drove the school bus for free. He hasn’t gotten his loan back, he said.

Mims tried to pay staff more than a typical Christian school, Graves said, and would give families discounts on tuition.

Graves advised Mims to close the school before the academic year began. They opened anyway, and he believes the motivation was pride.

Collin County is issuing warnings about potential exposure to measles after an individual with measles spent time in Plano during April.

Collin County Health Care Services did not say where the individual was from; however, it did say that the person visited three shopping areas in the county on April 10-12 while infectious.

Locations visited on April 10 are below:

Locations visited on April 11 are below:

Collin County Health Care Services is collaborating closely with the Texas Department of State Health Services to monitor this situation.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that can be transmitted from person to person through the air or contaminated surfaces.

Measles can remain in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left the area. Measles can lead to serious health complications. If you were at any of these locations during the specified dates and are not vaccinated against measles or are unsure of your immunity, you may be at risk of contracting measles.

People who visited known locations during the specified times should:

Collin County Health Care Services said anyone who was at the venues on the dates listed above should monitor themselves for measles symptoms through April 20.

The symptoms of measles include:

S.E. Jenkins

S.E. Jenkins is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. She has also been a Digital Content Producer in Tallahassee and Myrtle Beach. S.E. graduated with journalism degrees from Texas State University, Aarhus Universitet and City, University of London.

Attorney General Ken Paxton said he's opened an investigation into a proposed development meant to accommodate the North Texas Muslim community, claiming potential violations of the state’s consumer protection laws.

The East Plano Islamic Center, one of the largest mosques in the area, is planning the development in Josephine, Texas, roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas. Paxton issued a Civil Investigative Demand into the corporate entity involved with the project, Community Capital Partners.

"Under my watch, there will be zero tolerance for any person or entity that breaks Texas law,” said Paxton. “My office has an open and ongoing investigation into EPIC City, which has raised a number of concerns, and this CID will help ensure that any potential violation of state law is uncovered.”

It’s not clear what provisions the proposed development is accused of violating.

It comes after Gov. Greg Abbott announced on X “a dozen state agencies are looking into” the East Plano Islamic Center’s proposed 402-acre development, which he alleged had “serious legal issues.” The governor did not provide evidence of his claim.

Abbott also referred to "foreign adversaries” in his tweet, but did not elaborate.

KERA News reached out to his office for clarity on both claims.

The proposed EPIC compound in Collin Co. has serious legal issues.A dozen state agencies are investigating it, the Attorney General will look into it, and legislators are considering laws to restrict it, as well as laws to prevent foreign adversaries from buying land in Texas.

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 25, 2025

The project, referred to as "EPIC City," includes a new mosque, more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college.

Imran Chaudhary, President of Community Capital Partners said in a statement to KERA News the company will work with Paxton as the investigation is ongoing.

“We understand that there has been a lot of rumor-milling and misinformation circulated by many who are uniformed," Chaudhary said. "We look forward to working with the Attorney General to ensure that we are in legal compliance every step of the way and educating the broader community about our project.“

State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, also sent a letter to Paxton asking to look into the project, worried it may include “elements of Sharia Law” and would be a violation of state law.

Leach speculated the project could violate House Bill 45, a law passed in 2017 that prohibits the use of any foreign law in the state’s courts.

The Islamic center posted a video last month highlighting the proposed development which spread across social media, immediately getting bombarded with negative comments online from users including Abbott.

Abbott accused the project in February of promoting “Sharia cities” – referring to a body of religious laws forming part of the Islamic traditions, which itself has been the target of conservative legislators across the country.

The governor and other commenters called it the start of a "no-go zone," implying without evidence non-Muslim people wouldn’t be allowed to enter.

To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas.Nor are Sharia cities. Nor are “no go zones“ which this project seems to imply.Bottom line. The project as proposed in the video is not allowed in Texas. https://t.co/5Sw5VdXD31

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 24, 2025

East Plano Islamic Center responded Abbott on X, saying its vision is to build a diverse community open to all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

“It should go without saying that our community, like any other in this great state, will follow all local, state and federal laws,” the post read. “We would love for you to see the site and learn about our project over some Hutchins BBQ.”

In an interview last year, Yasir Qadhi, a resident scholar at the Plano mosque and one of the people involved in the project planning, said the idea for EPIC City came as the Muslim population continues to grow in the region.

“We need more space, and there are people coming from across the country,” Qadhi said. “Dallas is now known to be a hub of people of our faith, coming not just to the city, but specifically to our mosque.”

Qadhi emphasized this project is not exclusive to the Muslim community – anyone is welcome.

“It’s an open community,” Qadhi said. “Anybody can come in. We're welcoming people of all backgrounds and diversity and we're offering them facilities that we think would be very, very useful.”

The EPIC City developments are in unincorporated areas of Josephine, a nearly two-square-mile city between Collin and Hunt counties growing rapidly in recent years. In 2023, the population grew by nearly 5,000 people – a 234% increase in the course of three years.

Those numbers could increase even more with the help of EPIC City – the first 450 plots sold out within days of its announcements on the mosque’s website, Qadhi said.

“The demand to move to our community is so high from across the country that we envision that demand would remain even if we created another parallel community,” he said.

Qadhi also said there’s no external funding for any of the planned construction. Instead, people are purchasing shares to own a plot of land for future homes. In those purchases, there’s a charge to help fund the construction of other buildings, like the mosque and school, he said

Qadhi said they want to showcase the best of being Muslim Americans.

“We are a very family-centered and community-centered faith,” Qadhi said. “We strongly feel that by coming together and by living our faith in this great land, we are exemplifying the American dream. And we are going to contribute back not only to ourselves and our families, but to the greater public around us. And that's what it means to be to be a part of this society.”

Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.

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Haggard Park will once again host Texas Forever Fest, an annual event that aims to celebrate all things Texas.

The city of Plano announced the music lineup and street closures for the festival March 22.

The lineup includes:

Additionally, to accommodate the festival, several streets will close for the event. All H Avenue lanes from 15th Street to 16th Street will be closed. All 16th Street lanes from H Avenue to I Avenue will be closed. The far-right westbound lane on 15th Street will also be closed.

The details

Haggard Park is located at 901 E. 15th St. and the event will be held from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. March 22. Admission to the event is free.

Additionally, the event will feature the Spirits of Texas Tasting, a whiskey tasting event for attendees 21 and over and the only ticketed portion of the festival. More than 10 distilleries from across the state will be at the tasting.

Plano Special Events Supervisor Natalie Walker said the event is expected to bring between 15,000 and 20,000 attendees.

What to expect

Along with music, the event will feature a family zone sponsored by H-E-B, a vendor market, photo opportunities, mechanical bull, obstacle course, bounce houses and a rolling roper, a machine that simulates calf roping.

Other activities include a wild west magician, beer from Texas brewers and a balloon trailer from Children’s Health.

The backstory

The first Texas Forever Fest was held in 2022. The festival is loosely related to Texas Independence Days, Walker said, adding that it is a celebration of the state’s past while also looking toward the future.

What else?

Several food and drink vendors will be on site, including Ye Ole Butcher Shop, Pecos Pete and Twin Stacks BBQ.

Other food vendors include:

Quote of note

“Texas has so many different cultures, we plan this event to reach everyone in the community and celebrate our great state,” Walker said in an email.

Features Reporter

Dustin is a features reporter, and covers businesses and restaurants in Collin and Dallas counties. He joined Community Impact in June 2023 and previously covered the cities of Wylie, Sachse, Murphy and Princeton.

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