Fort Worth Star-Telegram

AT&T Stadium is changing its name for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. What prompted the change?

AT&T Stadium will change its name to Dallas Stadium for the 2026 FIFA World Cup due to FIFA guidelines.

The name change happened because FIFA does not allow corporate sponsors to represent venues at the World Cup.

AT&T Stadium is not the only venue that will need to change names. MetLife Stadium and SoFi Stadium will be changed to New York New Jersey Stadium and Los Angeles Stadium, respectively.

FIFA announced the dates of all 104 matches for the 2026 World Cup on Sunday including the final and opening matches which will take place at MetLife Stadium and the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Try to steal votes, members of the public told during test of Texas voting equipment. Were they successful?

FORT WORTH, Texas — Aisles of steel containers, overhead fluorescent lights and the booming voices of two Marine veterans tasked with delivering a secure election set the stage for a mock election on Thursday.

Shortly after 8 a.m attendees began trickling into the Tarrant County Election Administration warehouse, where voting equipment is stored and a few tables and chairs were set up.

The administration had invited the public to participate in the testing of voting equipment.

It had conducted a similar test in 2022. Early voting for the March 5 primary begins Feb. 20.

Dallas Cowboys legend Michael Irvin being investigated by Allen police; misconduct alleged

Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin is under investigation by the Allen Police Department for alleged misconduct.

Per a TMZ report, a spokesperson for the Allen Police Department would not confirm details of the new probe into Irvin but said “It’s very early in the investigation” and “at this point we aren’t prepared to release any classification regarding Mr. Irvin.”

Whatever it is, it is news to Irvin and his attorney, Levi McCarthern, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing by the Hall of Fame receiver.

“No idea what the specific allegations might be,” McCarthern said in a statement.

Explosion investigation focuses on basement level of downtown Fort Worth hotel

FORT WORTH, Texas — The cause of an explosion, believed to be linked to a natural gas leak, that caused massive damage to the Sandman Signature Hotel in downtown Fort Worth was still under investigation Tuesday. Multiple people, all believed to be adults, were injured in the blast Monday afternoon, with 21 hospitalized or treated on scene, according to the fire department and MedStar. A MedStar spokesperson said the count still stood at 21 on Tuesday. Fourteen were transported to local hospitals, with one in critical condition and four in serious condition. The most severely injured person, a ...

Gas leak explosions are happening more often, including deadly blasts in North Texas

If the investigation into Monday’s explosion at a downtown Fort Worth hotel finds it was caused by a natural gas leak, the incident would be part of a worsening trend of such incidents across the country, according to energy sector watchdog groups.

The massive explosion at Sandman Signature Hotel, which left 21 people injured, has not been tied to an official cause.

But Fort Worth Fire Department authorities have said it was likely a gas explosion, and representatives of Dallas-based natural gas distributor Atmos Energy have been on the scene.

Texas AG Ken Paxton says his home was targeted in ‘swatting’ 911 call on New Year’s Day

FORT WORTH, Texas — Police responded to the McKinney home of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on New Year’s Day after receiving a call about a “life-threatening situation,” Paxton posted on social media Tuesday. The incident is what police refer to as “swatting,” a false report made to authorities intended to have SWAT officers respond to a location. According to posts by the attorney general and state Sen. Angela Paxton, his wife, the couple wasn’t home when officers responded. The Star-Telegram has filed an open records request for the 911 audio. McKinney police confirmed the incident happe...

Paxton’s threat to doctors over abortion to save woman isn’t pro-life

A culture and legal system that is pro-life is healthy for Texans, for Americans, and a society that hopes to value life, from conception to natural death and continue to thrive. However, life is messy and imperfect. Texas law after the fall of Roe vs. Wade makes only a narrow, rare exception for abortion — to save a woman’s life. That robust pro-life law, and heartbreaking reality have now intersected in the case of Kate Cox, a Dallas area resident, and Attorney General Ken Paxton’s interpretation of the law. A Travis County judge granted Cox’s petition to have an abortion, due to her unusual...

This Texas metropolitan area will be larger than New York, L.A. by year 2100, study shows

FORT WORTH, Texas — The year 2100 is a mere 77 years away from now, but by then, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex could be the most populated area in the country.

A study by moveBuddha, a relocation technology company, predicts that by 2100, over 33 million people could call North Texas home. Currently, New York City (8.3 million) and Los Angeles (3.8 million) are the most populated cities in America.

The study used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to examine metropolitan areas across the country with more than 250,000 residents.

Teen sentenced to 40 years for fatal shooting at Texas high school in March

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Tarrant County jury has handed down a maximum sentence to the 16-year-old who opened fire at Arlington’s Lamar High School in March, killing one classmate. The jurors in Juvenile Court deliberated for about an hour before reaching the verdict Thursday afternoon, which will send the teenage defendant to prison for 40 years. He’ll begin serving his sentence at a juvenile facility and could later be transferred to an adult prison. The teen had no visible reaction to his sentence. He will not be paroled for at least 10 years. He will have a hearing before his 19th birthday to...

Mothers of victim and killer testify, call for justice in Texas high school shooting trial

FORT WORTH, Texas — Rashone Jacob still hasn’t come to terms with the fact that her 16-year-old son, Ja’Shawn Poirier is dead, she told the jury Wednesday morning in the trial to sentence his killer. She still has all his things, packed now in her garage. When she returned from burying him next to her mother in Pontiac, Michigan, she was stunned by the number of people who turned up at a memorial service for him at Lamar High School in Arlington, the school where he was shot on March 20. “My son was just a laid-back kid, who stayed to himself and loved to play sports and hang out with his fami...

Jury pool asked if they’d consider maximum 40 years for convicted Texas high school shooter

FORT WORTH, Texas — Potential jurors for the trial to sentence a 15-year-old boy found guilty of capital murder in the death of a fellow Lamar High School student in Arlington were asked Monday about their past experience on juries, their biases and if they could, under any circumstances, seriously consider the maximum sentence of 40 years. Opening statements are scheduled to be presented Tuesday morning in Tarrant County Juvenile Court once jury selection is complete. The teen also was convicted of three counts of attempted capital murder. The 15-year-old pleaded “true” to capital murder and ...

Texas Senate vote to acquit Paxton ends impeachment saga, but not his legal troubles

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was acquitted Saturday on all articles of impeachment related to allegations of corruption and abuse of office. The historic Senate vote closes the chapter of a three-month saga that has highlighted stark divides within the state’s Republican Party. The Saturday vote, which followed a two-week trial in which senators acted as jurors, allows Paxton to return to work after being suspended in May. None of the votes on each impeachment article came close to the 21 votes needed to sustain it. It would have taken only one article to permanently remov...

Trump blasts Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial as ‘sad day’ in Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas — Former President Donald Trump is coming to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s defense. In late-night post Wednesday on Truth Social, Trump praised Paxton as “one of the TOUGHEST & BEST Attorney Generals in the Country.” Paxton’s impeachment trial began its eighth day Thursday with his defense team calling their first witness. A vote by Texas senators on Paxton’s fate could come Friday. Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president, is no stranger to impeachment proceedings. In his post, he blamed “establishment RINOS” for trying to undo the will ...

Fort Worth company displayed nooses, white supremacy symbols, EEOC discrimination suit says

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth crane company subjected four Black employees to racial discrimination and harassment, including hanging nooses in the workplace, according to a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit filed Thursday against TNT Crane & Rigging Inc. In a news release, the EEOC said TNT Crane & Rigging created a hostile work environment for the Black employees through the open display of nooses and white supremacy symbols, along with being subjected to derogatory terms and racial slurs by employees and managers. The EEOC also charged the company, which has over 40 br...

In appeal, Aaron Dean cites 4 trial errors in Atatiana Jefferson manslaughter conviction

FORT WORTH, Texas — Four trial errors merit appellate court reversal in the case of a former Fort Worth police officer who last year was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of an armed woman inside the house where she was living, an attorney who represents the former officer argued in a document filed this week. Judge George Gallagher, who presides in 396th District Court in Tarrant County, erred at Aaron Dean’s trial by instructing the jury on the lesser included offense of manslaughter, by not changing venue for the trial under either of two legal standards and by providing to ju...