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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-4-28 Euless Articles ‘It inspired me to think more about governmental issues’: Program introduces youth to city services KERA | By Andy Lusk Published April 17, 2026 at 5:10 AM CDT 2026 Youth In Government graduates stand with Mayor Henry Wilson of Hurst, Mayor Dan Cogan of Bedford and Mayor Pro Tem Tim Stinneford of Euless. A cohort of students in the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford just wrapped up an immersive program guiding them through the nuts and bolts of local government. They met city officials, attended classes and meetings, and reflected on their experiences, gaining a new appreciation for the civic process. About 20 upperclassmen from high school programs throughout the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area streamed into the Hurst Conference Center with their families. They were greeted by a spread of finger food and sodas, with tables arranged so everyone could enjoy a meal together while listening to the speakers at the podium. Trinity High School junior Shiden Tesfazion, who just completed the multi-week, intensive 2026 Youth In Government program, gave a speech before certificates were awarded. "I thought Euless, Hurst, Bedford are just small cities and they don't have as much importance [as] Dallas, but that's actually wrong,” he said. Tesfazion added that during the program, he learned about the high levels of passion city employees have for their work. "It inspired me to think more about governmental issues and have more passion towards it,” he said. A program for the latest Youth In Government graduation ceremony, which took place at the Hurst Conference Center April 13, 2026. Now in its fifth year through the HEB Chamber of Commerce, the program introduces students to the form and function of local government. Classes put students in conversation with mayors, city council members, first responders, and city department employees, like in public works and finance. It’s a crash course in what officials do, and how their work directly impacts residents’ lives. Dan Cogan is the mayor of Bedford. He’s also a sixth-grade science teacher in the HEB ISD system and, for this Youth in Government cohort, said one of his former students was elected its class president. “As a teacher, it makes me extremely proud to see one of the former students up there pursuing their interests in government and knowing that perhaps I had a little bit to do to spark that interest,” he told KERA. Cogan said he was surprised to see most students in this year’s class express an interest in participating in local government themselves. “I asked, raise your hand if you think you might be interested in perhaps running for office one day, and I was surprised to see a good majority of them raise their hands,” Cogan said. Madison Clemson, a junior at L.D. Bell High School, is thinking about how local government could intersect with a future career as a healthcare provider. Graduate Elise Gechter shakes hands with Hurst Mayor Henry Wilson before receiving her certificate from the program. “I eventually want to be a medical professional and open up my own practice, but with that comes a responsibility to take care of the community you're in," she explained. "So, I want to be a part of the city council and to make my mark.” Clemson said her favorite part of the program was learning from first responders. “These workers, they shared their passion, how they have to risk their lives every single day to defend our area, make sure everyone is safe, and it really just spoke to me,” Clemson said. Part of the program’s graduation requirements involve students attending a city council meeting or town hall forum, volunteering at a city or local nonprofit event or shadowing a city employee for a few hours. Those who wanted to be considered for scholarships did at least two of these outside-of-class activities and wrote essays about their experiences. HEB Chamber President and CEO Mary Frazior said this program, done in collaboration with the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford, is one of the chamber’s best. “If you think about our students, that's our workforce of tomorrow," Frazior said. "Those are our residents and citizens of tomorrow.” Frazior emphasized the importance of local government, saying that municipal-level decisions affect people’s day-to-day lives the most. “Most people do not know much about local government, or even at the state level," she said. "It's more they know what's going on on the federal level because that's more in the news.” At the end of the graduation ceremony, students walked away with a certificate of completion, a swag bag full of items from each city and new perspectives on what makes the services around them tick. Four of them each received a one-thousand-dollar scholarship from Republic Services, a waste management company. Then they finished up their food, left the municipal-owned and operated conference center, and drove home on roadways brought to them by their local governments. Applebee’s is sued by a franchisee over co-branded restaurants A Texas-based operator alleged that dual-branded Applebee’s/IHOP stores are infringing on its exclusive territory and hurting sales. And that's not its only dispute with the franchisor. By Joe Guszkowski on Apr. 24, 2026 More than 30 Applebee's/IHOP locations have opened since last year. | Photo courtesy of Dine Brands Dine Brands’ development of more co-branded Applebee’s/IHOP restaurants has drawn a lawsuit from a franchisee. Apple Texas and Apple Houston, which operate Applebee’s locations in the Dallas and Houston areas, are suing the franchisor in Kansas District court over the openings of co-branded stores in their markets. The franchisees, subsidiaries of the large restaurant operator SSCP Management, argued that these openings violate their development agreements, which gave them exclusive rights to the Applebee’s brand in and around Dallas and Houston. Apple Texas got into the Applebee’s business in 2008 with the purchase of 37 locations and Apple Houston followed in 2012, acquiring 21 locations. Today, SSCP operates 79 Applebee’s in Texas, California and Virginia. According to the lawsuit, Applebee’s corporate allowed a co-branded Applebee’s/IHOP to open in Euless, Texas, in February, within the exclusive territory of Apple Texas. At least four other co-branded stores are slated to open within the franchisees’ territories. The Euless restaurant has already been diverting customers and revenue from Apple Texas’ nearby locations, and the other co-branded stores are expected to have the same effect, the lawsuit says. Co-branding has been a key piece of Dine Brands’ development strategy in recent years. The first Applebee’s/IHOP opened last February in Seguin, Texas, and franchisees have since added more than 30 others around the country, with 50 more planned for 2026. Dine has said these locations generate 1.5 to 2.5 times the revenue of a stand-alone Applebee’s or IHOP because they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. It says they offer franchisees a new development option or an opportunity to revive single-branded locations that are struggling. But in the lawsuit, Apple Texas and Houston argue that co-branded stores “come at the expense of existing franchisees like Plaintiffs, who do not operate dual-branded locations but now have to compete with them in what should be Plaintiffs’ protected territories.” According to the lawsuit, when the franchisee complained to Applebee’s late last year that it was infringing on its turf, Applebee’s responded that its development agreements had been terminated due to alleged breaches of contract, which meant Apple Texas and Houston no longer had exclusive rights to those territories. Per the lawsuit, Applebee’s said that the franchisees had violated their agreements by failing to open more restaurants and by closing restaurants without replacing them. It also pointed to a landlord-tenant dispute that resulted in Apple Texas being locked out of a restaurant. The franchisee countered that any obligations to open new Applebee’s were voided by addendums to the 2008 and 2012 agreements. According to the lawsuit, these revisions essentially said that Apple Texas and Apple Houston were not required to open any new restaurants and were free to close restaurants as well. After the franchisee filed the lawsuit in March, the franchisor raised yet another issue with the operator: SSCP’s acquisition, through a subsidiary, of steakhouse chain Logan’s Roadhouse late last year. The franchisor argued that this violated the franchise agreement because Logan’s competes with Applebee’s. On April 3, Applebee’s sent a notice of default to the franchisee that threatened to force it to cease operations unless ownership cut ties with Logan’s Roadhouse. The franchisee disputed that the Logan’s purchase violated its agreement, arguing that Applebee's and Logans' are fundamentally different brands and that other Applebee’s franchisees have operated Logan’s and similar concepts, such as Bar Louie and Quaker Steak and Lube, without issue. As a result of all this, Apple Texas and Apple Houston are asking the court to confirm that its 2008 and 2012 development agreements are still in effect, to block Applebee’s from opening more dual-branded restaurants in their territories, and for damages caused by the breach of their development agreements. They’re also asking the court to rule that SSCP’s ownership of Logan’s Roadhouse is not a violation of its franchise agreement. Restaurant Business reached out to Dine Brands for comment. Applebee’s is coming off a mixed year. The 1,472-unit chain broke out of a long-running same-store sales slump, finishing 2025 with 1.3% same-store sales growth. But it also shrunk by about 30 locations, and total sales declined 0.8% overall, per Technomic data. And some franchisees are struggling: Last month, 53-unit Neighborhood Restaurant Partners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Why one H-E-B’s North Texas expansion is a perfect fit H-E-B in HEB? Makes sense. By Emma Weidmann, Culture Reporter April 26, 2026 H-E-B has announced a new location in a North Texas region dubbed ... HEB. The acronym stands for Hurst, Euless and Bedford, just between Dallas and Fort Worth. North Texans have been begging for H-E-B to continue its expansion for years, ever since the beloved grocer made its regional debut in Frisco in 2022. Now, the chain is inching towards a new store for another North Texas area, and the name couldn't be more perfect. The Dallas-Fort Worth-area suburbs of Hurst, Euless and Bedford (known to locals as HEB) is up next for an H-E-B location. The 126,000-square-foot store — known as H-E-B Mid-Cities to avoid confusion — is coming up at the of Cheek-Sparger Road and Rio Grande Boulevard, according to a 2024 press release from the grocer. Features include a pharmacy with a drive-thru, a True Texas BBQ eatery, Curbside and delivery, as well as a gas station and car wash. It broke ground back in 2024, and now there's rumblings that an opening date is near. Documented by one Texan on TikTok, a billboard went up teasing "H-E-B in HEB? OMG!" In response, one commenter said "it's about time" it opened. So, when can locals expect this aptly-placed grocery store? According to one WFAA reporter on Instagram, folks can expect it in the second half of this year, and that 2024 ground breaking press release does say the store is expected in 2026. Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Report places the opening in late 2026. So while specific details have yet to be announced, it does seem that locals will have to wait at least a few more months for butter tortillas, sushi and other viral finds in their zip code.