State Fair News

Ken Paxton sues State Fair of Texas and other Dallas venues

Ken Paxton is on a lawsuit spree.

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued two high-profile Dallas music venues as well as the State Fair of Texas.

The lawsuits were filed against The Factory and Texas Trust CU Theatre and allege that off-duty police officers were not allowed to enter with firearms. All three were filed on February 23 in Dallas County district court, and reference a 2017 law that allows officers to bring weapons into public venues, whether they're on duty or not.

According to the law, armed, licensed peace officers are allowed to enter restaurants, bars, retail establishments, sports, and entertainment venues ”regardless of whether the peace officer is engaged in the actual discharge of the officer’s duties while carrying the weapon.”

The suit against the State Fair says that on October 8, 2022, Abilene Police Department Lt. Michael Perry was not allowed to carry his gun when he tried to enter Gate 1.

On September 30, 2023, Ector County Hospital District Police captain Tommy Jones was not allowed to enter the fair with his weapon at the State Fair Classic game.

A spokesperson for the State Fair of Texas said that they're cognizant of the law and have at least one Dallas police officer stationed at each admission gate to check credentials and ensure compliance.

The lawsuit against the Factory in Deep Ellum alleges that at least eight off-duty officers were not allowed to bring their weapons into the venue in incidents dating back to 2021. Paxton's office sent a letter, but at least four more off-duty officers were prevented from bringing weapons between May and December 2023.

The lawsuit against Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie alleges that at least two off-duty officers were prevented from bringing their service weapons inside. Paxton’s office sent a letter to the city of Grand Prairie in February 2023, but another instance happened in April.

Dallas is not the only city where Paxton is filing lawsuits. On February 21, he sued Lucky Duck, a bar in San Antonio bar.

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Dallas climbs back up in ranking of 'World's Best Cities' for 2025

Photo by Bryan Dickerson on Unsplash

Dallas had made a major leap back into the top 50.

Dallas has made a big rebound in its status among the top 100 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Dallas the 55th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

A ranking of 55 might not seem all that, but it represents a major rebound after Dallas plummeted to No. 73 in last year's report. (Let's ignore the fact that, in 2022, Dallas ranked No. 47.)

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Dallas in the top 20 – when explaining the city's successes. The report praised Dallas' booming population, a thriving corporate economy, and its diverse culture.

"From 2021 to 2022, Dallas experienced the largest population increase of any U.S. metro area, with a net increase of more than 170,000 people, according to the Census Bureau," the report's author wrote. "Home to more than 10,000 corporate headquarters — the largest concentration in the U.S. — the city ranks No. 33 globally for Fortune 500 companies."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Houston also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Houston moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 40. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

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