ALMA
Alma is having I-45 corridor zoning and expansion debates, and the city council is holding public sessions to address growing pressure from commercial developers looking to acquire acreage along the I-45 frontage roads for new logistics and industrial truck stops. There is a local resistance concern, safety and lifestyle concerns and city leaders are being asked to preserve Alma’s quiet, rural community character and protect local streets from heavy semi-truck cut-through traffic.
BARDWELL
Ellis County Precinct crews are executing ongoing summer maintenance along connecting rural farm-to-market corridors like FM 985 and FM 1431 branching out from Bardwell. Crews are utilizing temporary daylight lane closures to complete minor asphalt patches and shoulder reinforcements, ensuring that these heavy transit lanes remain structurally sound and smooth ahead of the upcoming late-summer agricultural harvest season.
CEDAR HILL
Last week several members from the Cedar Hill police department made a trip to the State Capitol where Sgt. Ashley Novian-Hodgson was recognized as a recipient of the 2026 Law Enforcement Achievement Award for her efforts in building community relations in Cedar Hill.
ENNIS
The Ennis Cultural and Railroad Museum is offering free admission every Tuesday for the month of July.
FERRIS
Ferris ISD officially opened its mandatory online enrollment and registration portal for all new and returning public school students last week.
GARRETT
Sleepy Hollow Road pavement upgrades are underway, and local drivers are seeing immediate roadway relief following a finalized construction agreement between the city and Ellis County Road & Bridge Precinct 2. The county has deployed crews to execute a targeted $51,000 asphalt overlay and structural rehabilitation project specifically on the City of Garrett’s designated portions of Sleepy Hollow Road to smooth out deep summer ruts
GLENN HEIGHTS
To alleviate crippling commuter bottlenecks, Glenn Heights is advancing its major engineering partnership with neighboring Red Oak to expand Ule Road into a full four-lane thoroughfare. Drivers can expect rolling single-lane closures, temporary flagger stations, and heavy dirt-moving equipment along the corridor through the late summer months as utility poles are relocated.
ITALY
Ahead of late-summer two-a-day practices, Italy ISD has launched its mandatory Athletic Parent Portal. Parents of Gladiator and Lady Gladiator student-athletes are navigating a newly digitized system designed to eliminate paper trails by requiring all medical physicals, sudden cardiac arrest documents, and emergency forms to be uploaded online before students are cleared for August field use.
MANSFIELD
Mansfield just held its official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the brand-new Texas Health Mansfield Stadium on July 1. The ribbon-cutting included city leaders and the venue has already been selected as an official FIFA World Cup 2026™ Team Base Camp training site (recently hosting Team Czechia). It will also serve as the permanent home stadium for pro soccer club North Texas SC. The facility features "The Mansfield Mile," which is structurally celebrated as the longest outdoor stadium bar in North America.
MAYPEARL
Maypearl ISD has reportedly had an academic surge in STAAR & EOC score improvement outcomes.
MIDLOTHIAN
New trash and recycling carts will begin to roll into Midlothian beginning this week. Each residence will receive one 95-gallon black cart for trash and one 95-gallon blue cart for recycling. Residents may begin using the new carts as soon as they arrive, but the automated trash and recycling program begins on August 3. If you would like Waste Connections to discard your old trash cans, you may leave them out for bulk pickup after Aug. 3 and mark as trash.
MILFORD
Milford ISD technology coordinators are managing the mid-summer database rollover on the Milford ISD District platform with the district requiring all families to submit finalized emergency response and medical proof forms ahead of the Wednesday, August 12 learning kickoff, with student bus transit tracks currently being locked into the regional grid
OVILLA
With the physical construction of the massive new Dr. Joy Shaw Middle School campus completed at 340 Westmoreland Road, the city's public works and police departments are actively restructuring local traffic enforcement. Because this brings a major school zone directly into Ovilla's local jurisdiction, the city is configuring new morning and afternoon speed zones and drop-off queues to prevent severe bottlenecks from gridlocking Ovilla’s two-lane thoroughfares.
PECAN HILL
As a small, predominant residential enclave surrounded by explosive growth reportedly Pecan Hill residents are actively mobilizing against neighboring industrial expansions. It has also been noted the Pecan Hill City Council is evaluating strict municipal zoning strategies to heavily restrict high-density commercial entities from bleeding into the town's quiet residential grid.
RED OAK
Red Oak has officially enacted its strict Summer Water Conservation program. To protect municipal water pressure and infrastructure, automated lawn irrigation is completely illegal during the day. Residents are only permitted to run sprinkler systems between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
VENUS
Due to the extreme summer heat and a surge in new housing developments, the Venus Public Works department is aggressively pushing its Smart Water Meter upgrade program. The newly installed digital infrastructure allows the city to track real-time water flow, detect hidden line leaks instantly, and strictly enforce the city's standing summer water conservation windows to protect grid pressure.
WAXAHACHIE
On the sports front, 10-year-old Roman Johnson from Waxahachie made headlines after being selected as an official player escort for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches in Houston. The local fifth-grade soccer player walked out onto the pitch hand-in-hand with global soccer icon Junya Ito.
In addition to 19 cities/towns in Ellis County (five of which straddle two counties that include Ellis), there are also 18 unincorporated towns; Alsdorf, Auburn, Avalon, Boz, Bristol, Britton, Crisp, Five Points, Forreston, Ike, India, Ozro, Rankin, Reagor Springs, Rockett, Sardis, Telico and Trumbull.
If you have news briefs for any of these cities/towns (resident, business or city) please send to rcook13@earthlink.net so we can share the news.