This Week's Hot Headlines

H-E-B plans store in buzzy Fort Worth location and more popular stories

A new H-E-B is in the works for Fort Worth.

newsroom.heb.com

Editor's note: The top Fort Worth news of the week includes an exciting grocery store update, America's best small cities, and the spookiest haunted houses around town. Read on for our most popular stories, then plan your weekend here.

1. H-E-B acquires site for future store in buzzy southwest Fort Worth. Texas supermarket giant H-E-B is plotting a new store in southwest Fort Worth. The grocery chain has purchased land at the northeast corner of Chisholm Trail Parkway and Oakmont Boulevard for a store it will open in 2028.

2. These 7 Fort Worth suburbs rank among America's best small cities. More than half a dozen suburbs surrounding Fort Worth are among the best small cities to live in, according to a new study. And two perennial favorites lead the way.

3. 12 scenic Texas sites declared best places to camp in the U.S. A dozen outdoorsy sites scattered throughout Texas' vast landscape have been crowned the best places to camp in the U.S. And one of them is right outside Dallas-Fort Worth.

4. Michelada Fest spices up top Fort Worth food and drink events this week. Michelada vendors will line the streets of downtown Fort Worth this weekend for a festival of street food, live music, and Latin spice.

Michelada Festival Fort Worth arrives this week. Michelada Festival/Facebook

5. 7 best haunted houses around Fort Worth for Halloween frights in 2026. Haunted houses and attractions are what really bring out the spirit of the Halloween season, and the Fort Worth area has plenty of great options from which to choose.

beyond the stacks

Texas public libraries deliver billions in economic impact, study says

Fort Worth Public Library Golden Triangle Branch

Fort Worth Public Library/Facebook

Fort Worth shines brighter with its public library system.

A new statewide study examining the economic impacts of public libraries has revealed they have generated over $3.8 billion in value to local communities — a return of $4.74 for every $1 invested.

The report, "Beyond the Stacks: Measuring the Economic and Community Value of Texas Public Libraries" was conducted by third-party consultancy JBK Economics Group in partnership with the Texas Library Association. About 300 of the total 513 public libraries in Texas participated in a survey for the report.

A major finding from the survey revealed that public libraries create billions in economic value for the communities they serve at a fraction of what it costs to pay employee wages and benefits, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. About 11,200 jobs were directly and indirectly supported by public libraries, the report found.

The report found its $4.74 to $1 ratio by adding up the total value of the services provided by these institutions (an estimated $2.48 billion), and comparing it to total expenditures ($808.6 million).

"Public libraries had about the same economic footprint as the Texas motion picture and sound recording industry ($2.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024) or the Texas paper manufacturing industry ($4.0 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024)," the report said.

Many North Texans are already familiar with Fort Worth Public Library's expansive catalog and programming, but there are many more services the library provides that might fly under the radar. A few examples include free passes to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge, access to subscription-based research databases and news outlets, musical instrument lending, and much more. Individual branches also provide free Wi-Fi, computer access, and meeting spaces.

Residents outside Fort Worth also have access to services at several other local libraries, depending on their address. For instance, Keller Public Library offers borrowing access to non-residents in nearby cities that participate in MetroShare, which includes Burleson, Benbrook, Forest Hill, Decatur, Haltom City, Haslet, Richland Hills, Roanoke, Saginaw, and Watauga.

These are additional services and partnerships that Texas public libraries commonly provide, per the survey results:

93 percent provide voter registration and/or serve as voting locations
84 percent provide partnerships with local social services agencies
82 percent provide job application assistance
68 percent facilitate applications for government benefits
38 percent provide on-site social services
30 percent provide telehealth rooms and/or resources

"Public libraries are practical, welcoming and rooted in the communities they serve — they are unmistakably Texan," said Texas Library Association executive director Shirley Robinson in a press release. "This study puts a dollar value on the opportunities libraries create every day. Whether someone visits a library to apply for a job, access the internet, learn a new skill or simply find a new favorite book, those services create real value for Texans and their communities."

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