North Texas has captured yet another California transplant.

USA Pickleball announced Thursday that it will move its national championship from southern California to Farmers Branch in November.

The nine-day tournament is expected to draw some 3,500 amateur and professional players and 25,000 spectators to Farmers Branch, making it the world’s largest-ever pickleball tournament.

Athletes will compete for more than $150,000 in prize money at the tournament, hosted by USA Pickleball and Carvana Professional Pickleball Association.

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Often described as a cross of tennis, ping pong and badminton, pickleball is considered one of the hottest and fastest-growing sports in the U.S. Roughly 14% of American adults, or 36.5 million people, played at least once in 2022, according to a study commissioned by the Association of Pickleball Professionals.

In a prepared statement, lead investor and Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon said the championship will be the “biggest pickleball party in the world.”

Before selecting a new location, USA Pickleball sought bids from multiple cities, and a bid from the Dallas Sports Commission emerged as a leader, the organization said in a statement. North Texas was selected thanks in part to its central location and the prime facilities at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch.

The party will extend beyond the courts. The street outside Brookhaven will be designated Pickleball Boulevard with live music, family friendly activities and a “Taste of Pickle” exhibit with food and beverage vendors.

As pickleball surges, cities and businesses are building courts to cash in on the popularity. Athletes and celebrities, including Mark Cuban and LeBron James, have invested in professional teams and leagues.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 by two families from Washington state, and it was named after a family dog, Pickles.

Last year, Southlake announced that it’s building a $3.4 million pickleball complex that it calls the “Taj Mahal of pickleball.”

Several Chicken N Pickles have opened around North Texas, including Grapevine and Grand Prairie, with more on the way. The restaurants bring together food, drinks and pickleball.

Two lives have been saved in the span of a month in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD using Narcan. That’s good news worth a headline.

After a string of overdoses left three Carrollton-Farmers Branch students dead in recent months, the district ramped up an awareness campaign and made Narcan available on every one of its campuses, according to news reports.

Narcan, the common name for naloxone, is a nasal spray that rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose. On March 29, the Food and Drug Administration approved it for over-the-counter use, citing the public health threat posed by drug overdoses, which claimed 101,750 lives in the 12 months ending in October. Many of those overdoses involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl, an FDA press release said.

As we’ve written before, fentanyl is a serious public health emergency that requires coordinated responses from government, schools, families and the faith community. It’s easy to manufacture and traffic, and some varieties can be so potent that a dose the size of the tip of a pencil can be lethal.

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Texas politicians, law enforcement officials, medics and educators have pursued proactive means to combat the problem, and now we can point to at least two lives that have been saved as a result.

On Tuesday, a student at DeWitt Perry Middle School in Carrollton who was unresponsive in class was revived with Narcan, according to a district message. Another student was treated with Narcan on March 3.

It’s troubling that drug use is so pervasive that kids are apparently popping pills and then going to class as if it’s just another day. And there is a danger here that students will come to rely on Narcan as a safety net, enabling more drug use. There is more work to do.

But the headline this week is that lives have been saved because responsible adults — especially those Carrollton-Farmers Branch employees who recognized a problem and administered Narcan — are taking action to protect kids.

At least two students are alive — and two families are not crushed under the weight of another tragedy — who would not be without this community response.

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North Texas is home to some of the best parks systems in the state and that’s not just our (biased) opinion. As covered in Local Profile’s latest issue, since it opened in 2012, Klyde Warren Park in Dallas became the gold standard for deck parks, earning numerous awards and recognition nationwide. Collin County’s parks and recreation departments on their part have been able to remain attuned to our community’s needs, providing residents with fresh and exciting playgrounds and parks.

But if we are talking about fresh playgrounds, Farmers Branch’s upcoming project might be the most exciting so far.

Set to open in late August, Joya at Oran Good Park will be Texas’ first open-space glow-in-the-dark playground. In addition to opening during daytime, at night the park will come to life with glowing step ways and seating, spin zones with LED lights and a glowing tot playground for children ages 2 to 5.

In addition to an amazing playground for the kids, Joya will feature activities for the whole family. Following the programmed park model exemplified by Klyde Warren Park, Joya will offer residents daytime and nighttime events all year round.

Local Profile spoke with Mike Mashburn, the visionary behind the project and VP deputy city manager for Farmers Branch to get more insights on the luminous park.

What was the vision behind the design of the playground?

One of the guiding initiatives in our city’s strategic plan is to provide attractive unique, and connected spaces for community interaction and as such, [our] city council gave direction to create a signature park for our city. I immediately knew we had to create something one-of-a-kind that would light up kids’ faces, figuratively and, turns out, also literally.

Through community surveys and focus groups with lots of kids, we developed this concept for a glow-in-the-dark park. We proceeded to work with Kompan, a leader in playground design, and developed something that has never before been done in the United States.

With the unforgiving Texas heat, playgrounds are rarely used once temperatures get above 90. Allowing families to access something of this magnitude in the early evening, especially on weekends, made a lot of sense.

In addition to expanding programming opportunities, what other benefits does a glowing park offer to the community?

Joya will offer our community a completely different type of play space for families to enjoy. It will spark children’s imaginations and provide the opportunity for evening play hours in our hot Texas climate.

Oran Good Park is a pristinely maintained sports complex that attracts tournaments yearround. Joya will certainly benefit from the activity at Oran Good, but it’s the coordination with our special events team that will truly activate Joya as they make plans to host family-friendly events and entertainment opportunities at the site.

What were the biggest challenges when creating the design?

The biggest challenge was creating something that did not exist. We met with at least six different playground manufacturers in the early stages and only Kompan came anywhere close to seeing the vision.

The direction was to create a cross between a playground and an amusement park that glowed in the evening, much like Disneyland does. To take that direction and create something completely safe, while not adding too much light was a major hurdle. But after several iterations and countless prototypes, we finally got there.

At what stage is the development of the park? When is it estimated to open?

Since the design and construction of Joya will primarily be funded through state and federal grants, the project is currently awaiting approval from the National Parks Service to begin construction. Based on their project review timeline, we expect to break ground in April with a completion date in late August.

On a personal note, what do you love most about parks?

Access to quality parks and recreation should be available to anyone, regardless of economic factors. I love taking underutilized pieces of land and creating a truly unique experience that’s suddenly overflowing with activity. We’ve seen this happen when we repurposed an old football field into the Barney Wood Bark Park and when we transformed an open green space into Montgomery Park, now complete with lighted sand volleyball courts.

Most recently, we revitalized an old outdoor asphalt hockey rink into a synthetic turf soccer field also located at Oran Good Park. All these spaces were once rarely used and are now highly utilized. We firmly believe Joya will be the biggest and best example yet!

On March 1, R.L. Turner High School’s principal Adam Grinage reportedly informed parents of a drug-related incident between a school employee and a student.

According to the Dallas Observer, the subject line of the email Grinage sent to parents read “Employee Arrest – Drugs.” In the message, the principal explained that an employee at the high school provided a student with prescription medication without the needed authorization.

In the email obtained by the Dallas Observer, Grinage said that as soon as Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD learned of the incident, it launched an investigation and the employee was put on a paid administrative leave, but since resigned from their position. “Law enforcement was notified immediately of the incident and is now conducting their own investigation,” said Grinage.

Although there are no details as to what type of prescription medication the employee supplied the student, this is a sensitive issue for Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. Only weeks earlier local police arrested a 22-year-old man believed to be a top source of supply of fentanyl-laced pills that led to three teenage overdose deaths in a span of six months.

The three teenagers were Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD students and since then the district made efforts to address the issue and help parents with information and anti-fentanyl workshops. However, in the wake of the arrests, the district has been criticized for ignoring parents’ warnings about the presence of the drug among students.

“I reached out,” Carmin Williams, the parent of a 12-year-old student addicted to the opioid, told NBCDFW. “I begged and cried for help. But I didn’t get it. And now all of a sudden, everybody is so concerned. When I started talking about this in May and June of last year, I was going to the school.”

On Monday, Feb. 27, a district meeting heat up after parents and activists questioned the district’s response to the string of overdoses and fentanyl-related hospitalizations that occurred last year.

According to The Dallas Morning News, activist Carlos Quintanilla accused the district of not doing enough. “It is unconscionable, unconscionable, for a district the size of Carrollton-Farmers Branch to allow [students] to overdose,” said Quintanilla during the first of two workshops planned by the district.

CARROLLTON, Texas, Nov. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Schneider Electric, the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, today hosted Texas State Representative Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch) at its office in Carrollton, Texas. Rep. Johnson toured the recently renovated 70,000 square foot office and training lab and was briefed on the company's efforts to design, manufacture, install and service its portfolio of electrical products—from home circuit breakers to microgrids that power communities—that enable its customers to achieve a cleaner and more sustainable future.

Schneider executives also briefed Rep. Johnson on its commitment to continue investing in the Dallas region, the programs associated with workforce development and workforce diversity, and its support of local community efforts with organizations such as the American Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity, and Our Friends Place among others.

"Companies like Schneider Electric are attracted to the Dallas community because of our skilled workforce," said Texas State Representative Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch). "Together, we are producing technologies that will power the nation's clean energy future, right here in Texas. It will not only make our energy systems more efficient and sustainable, but also more resilient to withstand the forces of climate change."

"Schneider Electric is proud to be part of the Dallas community and we are honored to host Rep. Johnson," said Jana Gerber, President, Microgrid, Schneider Electric North America. "We continue to develop and strengthen our workforce in North Texas and across North America and look forward to our continued partnership with state and federal officials to bring good paying jobs to the region and meet market demand for digital innovations to achieve our shared goals for a clean energy future."

Earlier this year Schneider Electric announced plans to increase its domestic manufacturing capabilities, including the construction of a new manufacturing plant in El Paso, Texas which will create 400 new American jobs and speed the delivery of its products to its North American customers. The announcement follows substantial investments in existing Schneider-owned manufacturing operations in Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Texas to strengthen resilience, increase flexibility, and safeguard Schneider Electric's U.S. supply chain. It currently employs 328 employees in Carrollton, TX across engineering, sales, finance, services, marketing, and human resources. In 2020, Schneider Electric contributed $318 million to the Texas economy.

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We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

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SOURCE Schneider Electric