RIF'd

Dallas Morning News lays off another round of employees in restructuring

Inscription at former headquarters of Dallas Morning News.

Courtesy photo

One week into the new year, the Dallas Morning News has laid off another round of employees, as part of what it called a "restructuring."

According to posts from staffers, 43 people were laid off, with approximately half of those from the newsroom, including the editor of the weekend Guide, a longtime film critic, a writer for the Business section, an entertainment editor, and a part-time music writer.

Arts and entertainment sustained the heaviest cuts, among them Chris Vognar, who'd been a critic at the paper for 23 years; Dawn Burkes, a longtime entertainment writer and editor; Sara Frederick Burgos, editor for Guide; and Kelly Dearmore, who was hired as a part-time music critic in 2016.

Features writer Brendan Meyer was also let go, as well as theater writer Nancy Churnin, writer-editor Mike Merschel, health writer Leslie Barker Garcia, and writer Brentney Hamilton.

News staffers include Jeff Mosier, an environment & energy writer; Tasha Tsiaperas, a sharp metro reporter; and Dianne Solis, who wrote about immigration. Longtime photographer Louis deLuca was also let go.

Other layoffs occurred in the commercial printing department.

"It seems as though my time at the Dallas Morning News has come to an end after a large round of layoffs was announced this morning," Dearmore said on his Facebook post. "So many great talents and cool people will be looking for a new gig today, and I hope they find one sooner than later."

According to the newspaper, the reduction represents about 4 percent of the 978 employees working for A. H. Belo Corporation, the newspaper's parent company, which blamed a decline in revenue.

One employee tweeted that the layoffs come "after a hedge fund named Minerva gobbled up stock," before deleting the tweet, stating that it was unclear whether that was a factor and that "Nothing's been announced … we're hoping to hear more later today."

Like many newspapers, the Dallas Morning News has executed numerous layoffs, beginning in 2004, most recently in 2017 when they outsourced the design of their print edition and cut 25 jobs, cutting the staff at that time from 260 to 235.

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income analysis

This is the family income needed for one parent to stay home in Texas

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

The cost of raising a child has ballooned in major metros like Dallas-Fort Worth, forcing many families to weight the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas, that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support their stay-at-home partner and their child, the report found. If both parents worked in the household, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in North Texas, however, is slightly more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $22,337 to raise a child in Dallas-Fort Worth.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report's author says families will look for ways to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family