Call Center Company in Fort Worth, TX

FORT WORTH, TX – Residents can expect a blazing start to the week as temperatures soar into the mid-90s on Monday, with highs reaching 97°F by the afternoon. Clear skies will dominate throughout the day, though light winds from the south will provide minimal relief from the heat. If you have plans outdoors, be sure to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen, as temperatures will feel much hotter under the bright Texas sun.

According to the National Weather Service, Monday will see a high of 97°F with a light southward breeze around 5 to 10 mph. Winds will calm down overnight, with temperatures dipping to 63°F. Tuesday’s forecast predicts even hotter conditions, with highs climbing to 102°F. This persistent heat is likely to continue through the week, making it crucial for locals to take precautions against heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

For those heading out on the roads, keep in mind that higher temperatures could lead to hot pavement and possible tire blowouts on highways. The NWS has issued a heat advisory for much of the area, with specific attention to the hottest parts of Fort Worth during midday hours.

What’s Next: This springtime heatwave will continue through Wednesday, reaching record-breaking highs near 102°F. A cold front is expected to bring slightly cooler temperatures by Thursday, but it’s still important to remain vigilant against the early summer heat. If you’re in Fort Worth, plan to limit your time outdoors between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to avoid the hottest conditions.

Looking further ahead, temperatures will remain high into the weekend, so be prepared for consistent hot weather throughout the region. Check back for the latest updates from local weather experts and always keep your weather app handy for real-time alerts.

The thing about heat is that it doesn’t ask permission — it just shows up, takes over, and demands you feel something. In Fort Worth, heat has a new headquarters: ZestFest 2025, rolling into the Will Rogers Memorial Center May 23–25 like a spicy, sun-drenched rock tour with a killer lineup and no plans to cool down.

This isn’t just a food festival. It’s a full-body experience. A dare. An ode to the masochists among us who smile through the tears as they chase flavor like it owes them money.

The minute you step onto the festival grounds, the air changes. It’s electric with a heady mix of roasted peppers, smoked rubs, tangy citrus, and adrenaline. Laughter, music, the rhythmic clink of beer bottles. A blur of booths — some boasting sauces in apocalyptic red, others handing out napalm-in-disguise under the name of “mango habanero.” Each one offers you a chance to prove something or lose a bet in the tastiest way possible.

At the center of the storm? The Fiery Food Challenge, the Grammys of burn, where culinary pros go tongue to tongue in a blind-tasting showdown judged by fireproof experts. The prize? A Golden Chile trophy and bragging rights hotter than a Texas summer. You don’t win this thing on charm. You win it by bottling boldness — lightning in a jar — and hoping it doesn’t melt the judges' faces off.

And if the main event is the food, then the encore is pure theater.

Saturday, 1:00 p.m., center stage will be The PuckerButt Jalapeño Eating Contest. It's part gladiator match, part fever dream. Contestants, eyes watering and faces flushed, down jalapeños like they're life rafts in a sea of lava. The crowd goes nuts. Someone probably cries. A hero is crowned.

Then there’s the Fiery Chicken Tender Eating Contest, brand new this year and hosted by Brent Dean. It’s set to go off Sunday with the kind of pageantry usually reserved for fireworks and minor-league baseball walk-up songs. This isn’t your average wing night — it’s a tongue-searing, crowd-cheering, lip-scorching battle that will leave only sauce-stained legends in its wake.

And when the sun dips behind the Stockyards skyline, Spicy Food Productions turns the dial even higher with the Fiery Food Awards Ceremony Dinner on Friday night. It’s invite-only, but if you’re lucky enough to get in, you’ll see a community that’s more than vendors and taste-testers — it’s a tribe.

But ZestFest isn’t just for the hardened heat freaks. It’s family-friendly, with aisles of artisan vendors offering everything from mild marinades to gourmet salsas. Cold beer flows. Momo’s Michelada cocktail samples take the edge off. ZestFest is a love story. A spicy, sweaty, loud one.

So come hungry. Come curious. Come ready to sweat.

Because in Fort Worth this May, the heat isn’t just outside. It’s on your plate, in your veins, and in your soul.

Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, TX

May 23–25

Tickets + Info: www.ZestFest.net

Texas gardeners have always counted on lantanas to tolerate the heat. Few plants hold up to the scorching rays as well — none any better. And now that our soils are finally warming, it’s time to get lantanas growing in your gardens.

Before I get into their planting and care specifics, though, I want to go back to my days as a teenager climbing the hills of the Edwards Plateau with my dad. He was doing research on plants that were toxic to sheep and goats for Texas A&M, and the rocky slopes of Southwest Texas were where we spent many weeks every summer. There are draws in those hills where infrequent heavy rains have eroded deep gullies, and that’s where moisture comes first and stays longest.

That’s where I met my first lantanas, Uvalde County, Texas. It was Lantana urticoides — Texas lantana — and it grows 5 or 6 feet tall in those settings. If you hit it at the right time in the summer (a week or two after a rainstorm), you’ll find it smothered in orange and gold blooms, immersed in bees and butterflies. It’s native through the Chihuahuan Desert, Southwest Texas, across the Edwards Plateau, the Blackland Prairie, and even beyond Texas.

Sometimes you’ll find Texas lantana labeled by an alternative, out-of-date species name of L. horrida. I tell you that in case you want to include it in your own Texas native garden and find it labeled that way. It does well here in North Central Texas, although the top growth will freeze to the ground every winter.

Not to worry – it comes rebounding back the following spring from its roots, especially if you cover the clumps with mulch for protection. In fact, you can even dig and divide the clumps into a small number of new plants before new growth begins in the spring.

So that’s the native lantana. It’s a really nice one if you want something several feet tall and showcasing brightly-hued, two-toned flowers.

The other straight species is Lantana montevidensis (formerly known as L. sellowiana), or trailing lavender lantana. It’s native to tropical South America, but according to the Missouri Botanical Garden and N.C. State University, it has escaped cultivation to naturalize in warm parts of the Southeastern U.S.

As its name implies, trailing lavender lantana is not shrub-like like the others. It’s more of a sprawling ground cover. Its leaves and stems are much smaller. The plants cover themselves with medium-purple flower heads that are somewhat smaller than those of the shrubby big sisters. This one is outstanding as the “spiller” plant in large patio pots, in hanging baskets, and in large color beds, especially on dry slopes. A white-flowering form is also available.

Beyond those two species, there are selections and hybrids, mostly of L. urticoides. Flower colors include mixtures of orange, rust-red, gold, yellow, pink, and lavender. Compact varieties with mature heights that peak out at 15 to 18 inches have been brought into the market. Taller standard types may grow as tall as 3 to 4 feet.

Like the Texas lantana, all die to the ground with the first killing freeze. Some will survive and return the following spring. As a precautionary note, lantanas are among the last perennials to sprout out in the spring. They seem to want to be sure that warm weather has really arrived. I have never had trailing lavender lantanas come back after a North Texas winter in my gardens.

Lantanas must be grown in full or almost full sun if you expect the best bloom. They also require good drainage. They produce flower buds on new growth, so water and feed them regularly, but don’t plant them in a location where the soil will stay soggy after rains. That’s why they’re so good in large patio pots or on berms or hillsides.

Most soil tests show that North Texas soils need only nitrogen. The Texas A&M Soil Testing Laboratory suggests using a high-quality all-N fertilizer for most of your lawn and garden feedings – one where 30 percent to 40 percent of the nitrogen is coated or encapsulated to ensure slow release. That will work on almost all your plants, and it will certainly keep your lantanas growing and blooming. Feed them monthly. Water deeply right after you feed and as the soil dries out in between.

There are very few insect and disease problems that will show up in a lantana garden. You may see mottling of the leaves by mid-summer. Turn the leaves over and if you see waxy black specks, those are lace bug droppings. Most general-purpose insecticides will control them. Spray in the evening when the pollinators are done for the day.

Sometimes lantanas will quit blooming by mid-summer. I’ve had that experience and soon found that my plants had just run out of nitrogen. I generally trim them by 10 percent or 20 percent just to even them up, and I apply a water-soluble, high-nitrogen plant food for a quick burst of new growth. Within a couple of weeks, they’re back in the game.

Lantanas are propagated by cuttings. Granted, they do produce seeds, but if you want the very same variety you currently have, cuttings are the only way to get it. And yes, you can over-winter them indoors. But, unless you have a greenhouse, it’s going to be a beast of a job. They love the sunlight and really warm conditions. If you can’t provide those, you’re better off starting with new plants each May — like right now!

Happy planting.

This story was originally published May 9, 2025 at 5:50 AM.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against three Dallas-Fort Worth residents, accusing them of operating a $91 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 200 investors.

The SEC complaint, filed April 29 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, charges Kenneth W. Alexander II, of Fort Worth; Robert D. Welsh, of Frisco; and Caedrynn E. Conner, of Heath, with violating antifraud and registration provisions of federal securities laws.

“As we allege, the defendants conducted a large-scale Ponzi scheme that caused devastating losses to investor victims, while Alexander and Conner misappropriated millions of dollars of investor funds,” said Sam Waldon, acting director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a news release this week.

The defendants used investors’ money for personal purchases, including Conner’s $5 million home, the complaint says. The SEC is seeking civil penalties against the defendants and repayment of “ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest,” according to the release.

Alexander and Welsh ran the scam through a trust called Vanguard Holdings Group Irrevocable Trust, which they claimed was a highly profitable international bond trading business, between about May 20221 and February 2024, according to the SEC complaint. The defendants falsely told investors they would receive 12 guaranteed monthly payments of between 3% and 6% and that their principal investment would be returned after 14 months, the complaint states.

According to the SEC, the trust had no source of revenue and the monthly returns were Ponzi payments.

???? More top stories from our newsroom:

→ Texas warns Fort Worth ISD of potential takeover

→ Second teen arrested in man's beating death

→ Tarrant County Meals On Wheels funding restored

[Get our breaking news alerts.]

Conner is accused of funneling over $46 million in investors’ money to VHG through a related investment program that he controlled.

The three defendants also falsely told victims of the scheme that they could protect their investments from risk of loss by buying something they called a “pay order,” according to the complaint.

Dallas and Fort Worth are sinking at a rate of 4 millimeters per year due to groundwater loss, a recent study found.

DALLAS — Dallas and Fort Worth are sinking faster than any other inland U.S. cities, according to a new study published in Nature Cities.

A group of researchers measured, using satellite observations, the vertical displacement in 28 urban cities across the U.S. The study found that Dallas and Fort Worth are sinking at a rate of about 4 millimeters per year, the second and third most of the 22 largest U.S. cities.

The gradual sinking of the Earth's surface, also known as subsidence, is a growing hazard with costly environmental, social and economic impacts on urban centers, researchers said.

"Several cities in Texas—the fastest-growing state in the United States—including Houston, Fort Worth and Dallas, exhibit the highest measured subsidence rates among all cities, with average subsidence rates exceeding 4 mm per year," the study found.

The researchers attribute the sinking to the loss of groundwater. In Houston, mineral extraction also plays a significant role, the study shows. Over 70% of the land in Dallas-Fort Worth sinks about 3 mm every year, the study states.

"Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston exhibit the highest proportion of sinking areas," the study states.

Houston's subsidence issues have been well documented, according to reporting from our sister station KHOU. The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District was formed in 1975 to address the impact of subsidence in the area. It is sinking at a rate of six millimeters per year.

However, Dallas-Fort Worth's subsidence issues could cause costly damage to buildings and infrastructure, the study found.

"One of the most harmful yet less visible effects of urban land subsidence is the potential damage to buildings, foundations and infrastructure, primarily caused by differential land motion," the study reads. "This risk is often exacerbated in rapidly expanding urban centers."

"More than 29,000 buildings across all cities are located in high and very high damage risk areas," the study found.