This week's hot headlines

Radio station's return to rock 'n' roll tops this week's 5 hottest Dallas headlines

Mike Rhyner was let go.

Twitter

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Dallas radio station 97.1 FM dumps talk format, to return to rock 'n' roll. Dallas radio station 97.1 FM has ended its brief excursion into talk radio and will return to rock: According to radio writer Richie Whitt, station owner iHeartMedia is pulling the plug on 97.1 The Freak, a talk show format it debuted in October 2022 that was lagging badly in ratings. Then ...

2. Dallas radio station 97.1 FM returns to Eagle classic metal rock format. As rumored, Dallas radio station 97.1 FM has returned to rock: The station, which took an ill-fated but blessedly brief excursion into talk radio that ended on April 26, has officially returned to the kind of metal/hard rock music for which it was previously long known. The new format made its official debut on April 29 at 10 am with "Kill the King" by metal rock band Megadeth, and a declaration that "97.1 The Eagle Rocks Again."

3. Dallas man tries every omakase Japanese restaurant offering in town. Dallas is swimming in omakase, the exclusive sushi experience served at some Japanese restaurants, featuring a series of bite-size courses presented up-close-and-personal by the chef. Khoa Nguyen, a project manager for a Dallas aerospace company and sushi aficionado, has pretty much tried them all. Here's his report.

4. Dallas-Fort Worth makes top 10 list of metros with most millionaires. A new population analysis has unveiled an exclusive view into how the elite live in the U.S., including a surprising discovery that Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington has the No. 10 highest concentration of millionaire households in the country.

5. Dallas enacts ordinance to protect historic Oak Cliff neighborhood. A Dallas neighborhood has new protections: On April 24, the Dallas City Council unanimously voted to approve the South Winnetka Heights Conservation District, an ordinance that will protect the historic development patterns for the area and encourage development that is compatible with existing housing stock.

media trends rankings preservation hot-headlines

put it on santa's amex

Well-to-do Dallas suburb lands on top-10 list of holiday big spenders

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Flower Mound residents have the No. 7 biggest holiday budgets in the U.S. for 2024.

It looks like Santa Claus is going to be competing with residents in Flower Mound to see who brings the most lavish holiday gifts this year.

Festive Flo-Mo ranked No. 7 in WalletHub's annual report on U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets in 2024.

Residents in this well-to-do Dallas suburb are expected to spend $3,541 on their Christmas gifts this year. But tsk-tsk: That's down $56 from the $3,485 they were ready to drop in the 2023 ranking — bumping them down two spots from their previous ranking at No. 5.

The U.S. Census Bureau says that Flower Mound's estimated population of 79,445 had a median household income of $154,471 in 2023. No wonder they have the extra cash to spare.

Flower Mound consistently makes the list of the top 10 U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders, outshining its nearby neighbor Frisco, which took a precarious drop this year from their previous high ranking of No. 3 in 2023.

They've now fallen off the top-10 list altogether. The average holiday budget in Frisco is still an exorbitant amount – $3,412 – but that only garnered the city No. 11 in the overall ranking out of 558 U.S. cities. You gotta spend to stay on top.

The No. 1 city in the U.S. for biggest holiday spenders in 2024 is Newton, Massachusetts, a wealthy suburb right outside of Boston, where the median income measured in 2022 was $176,373. Slots 2 through 5 were all cities in California's Silicon Valley: Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Milpitas.

Seven additional North Texas cities landed in this year's top 100 biggest holiday budgets, including:

No. 18 – Allen ($3,070)
No. 32 – Plano ($2,658)
No. 45 – North Richland Hills ($2,484)
No. 52 – McKinney ($2,386)
No. 76 – Richardson ($1,980)
No. 81 – Carrollton ($1,932)
No. 92 – Lewisville ($1,848)

Meanwhile, Dallas landed at No. 213 this year with an average holiday budget of $1,406, and Fort Worth ranked No. 359 with a budget of $1,082.

Each year, WalletHub calculates the maximum holiday budget for over 550 U.S. cities "to help consumers avoid post-holiday regret," the website says. The study factors in income, age of the population, and other financial indicators such as debt-to-income ratio, monthly-income-to monthly-expenses ratio, and savings-to-monthly-expenses ratio.

Whether a Dallasite's holiday budget is under $200 or more than $1,000, it's better to prioritize remaining within that budget instead of racking up the credit card bill, according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

"There are plenty of ways to enjoy the holidays and show you care without spending much money, like hosting potlucks or giving handmade gifts," said Lupo.

Other Texas cities that made it into the top 100 are:

No. 13 – The Woodlands ($3,395)
No. 15 – Sugar Land ($3,214)
No. 23 – Cedar Park ($2,930)
No. 25 – League City ($2,897)
No. 39 – Round Rock ($2,538)
No. 60 – Pearland ($2,223)
No. 87 – Austin ($1,905)

budgeting christmas dallas dallas suburb flower mound fort worth frisco holidays plano rankings wallethub north richland hills shopping