By VICTOR GODINEZ / The Dallas Morning News


Roughly 1 million low-income Texans now have access to free cellphones and cellphone service from Assurance Wireless, a division of Sprint Nextel Corp.'s Virgin Mobile brand.

Assurance launched its service in Texas on Monday.

The company also offers the free cellphone service in Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Eligible Texas residents will receive a Kyocera Jax phone and 200 voice minutes per month for free, as well as free voice mail and call waiting.

Additional time costs 10 cents a minute, and 10-cent text, e-mail and instant messages are also available.

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By GORDON DICKSON

An estimated 269,868 vehicle owners in Tarrant County are driving without insurance, according to figures released Tuesday by the Texas Department of Insurance.

The county has 1.28 million registered vehicles — meaning that about 21 percent of vehicles in the greater Fort Worth/Arlington area are uninsured.

By PAUL VIGNA, The Patriot-News

So how much did Cowboys Stadium cost the franchise? Well, first the team has to stop spending.

Susan Schrock of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the Cowboys have spent nearly $140M on "contractors, furniture and accessories," as well as event preparation, since opening Cowboys Stadium in June. The most recent Arlington report outlining invoices related to construction indicated that the team, as of Nov. 25, has spent $1.09B in total on the stadium since '04.

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By Nathaniel Jones

A cold front blowing across cities in the western United States is expected to arrive in Dallas-Fort Worth shortly after midnight and drop temperatures below freezing, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said Tuesday.

With no precipitation in the forecast, the front is not expected to bring snow or any type of wintery mix.

By GENE TRAINOR

FORT WORTH — The city will be home to a new art school next spring.

The Art Institute of Fort Worth, a branch of The Art Institute of Dallas, will open April 5 at 7000 Calmont Ave.

By GORDON DICKSON

Commuters who travel through Grapevine during the workweek should brace themselves for about four years of dodging orange barrels and perhaps traffic jams beginning Feb. 15.

By Alex Bentley

This week's kids and family events are your typical mix of things that will take you all around the North Texas area. There's the start of summer in Grapevine, singing girls in Fort Worth, a music festival in Grapevine, the honoring of veterans on Memorial Day in Westlake, and some spying in Denton

Thursday, May 21 is the start of Summerfest 2009 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, and they'll kick it off with a train exhibit that'll have members of the Lone Star High Railers train club present to teach visiting kids how the train was built and operates.

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

Despite huge cuts in the residential construction business, Dallas-Fort Worth still ranks second in the country in new-home sales and starts.

Only Houston had more new-house construction and sales during the 12-month period ending in March, housing analyst Metrostudy Inc.

By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News
Lewis Warren Jr. started plunking on a beat-up old piano when he was 3.

Q & A: What You Need To Know About Swine Flu

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A never-before-seen strain of swine flu has turned killer in Mexico and is causing milder illness in the United States and elsewhere. While authorities say it's not time to panic, they are taking steps to stem the spread and also urging people to pay close attention to the latest health warnings and take their own precautions.

Schedule for Presidents Day:

•Banks: Many, but not all, banks are closed.
•Federal, state and local offices: Closed.
•Financial markets: Closed.
•Post offices: Closed.
•Schools: Closed.

-- Federal offices and courts will be closed Monday for Columbus Day, one of 10 federal holidays.

-- There will be no home mail delivered Monday, except Express Mail.

By TREBOR BANSTETTER

Fares at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and Dallas Love Field jumped during the first quarter of 2008, according to a new report, but Love Field remained one of the nation’s cheapest airports.

One-way domestic fares averaged $383 at D/FW during the quarter, up 7 percent from the same period in 2007, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

By GORDON DICKSON

DALLAS — Another Fort Worth-versus-Dallas battle is brewing.

A dispute between the Fort Worth Transportation Authority and Dallas Area Rapid Transit threatens to delay construction of a commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to Grapevine and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Thursday is the day about 2 million Americans get a raise.

That's when the federal minimum wage goes up 70 cents an hour.

WASHNINGTON (1010 WINS) -- Inspectors are collecting soil, water and produce samples, reviewing export logs and combing packing plants in three major tomato-growing states in Mexico.

But the U.S.

By SCOTT STREATER

Ozone pollution is projected to reach unhealthy levels across the Dallas-Fort Worth region for the first time this year today and throughout the weekend.

The highest ozone for today is forecast to occur on the northeast side of the Metroplex, primarily in Collin County. But by Sunday, state regulators say, it could reach unhealthy levels at areas like Eagle Mountain Lake in northwest Tarrant County, and in Denton.

The prime reason: A continental air mass will move air pollution from the West Coast and Midwest into the Dallas-Fort Worth area by late Friday, where it will mix with pollution generated by cars, trucks, construction equipment and industry in the region, said Bryan Lambeth, senior meteorologist at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.


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By MATTHEW HAAG / The Dallas Morning News

Feeling the pinch from rising gas costs? Imagine paying to fill up a fleet of school buses each month.

Some districts are asking drivers such as Anthony Gray to curb gas-guzzling habits like idling.

A study shows that the area is a great place for foreign investors, lured by the weak dollar, to set up shop

By MARIA M. PEROTINStar-Telegram Staff Writer

With the dollar's value waning, it's now cheaper for companies to do business in the United States than in many European countries.

The Dallas-Fort Worth unemployment rate slipped to 4.3 percent in February, while the statewide rate reached a 30-year low of 4.1 percent.

The Dallas-Fort Worth jobless rate was down from 4.6 percent in January and 4.5 percent in February last year.