Hey hey y’all,

I’m gonna start us off today with a big YIKES of a story. CNBC recently dropped its rankings of the worst states in America and listed Texas as No. 2. 😫 The economic news site used crime rates, healthcare access, air quality, worker protections, and civil rights laws as some of its determinants for the ranking. Now, these polls can be a bit subjective, but because we’re people who want to build the best state possible, let’s be open-minded for a moment. Here were some critiques:

✔️ It says we have the highest rate of people without health insurance, 16.7%—yeah, that’s true.

✔️ We also scored low in worker protections. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Texas doesn’t have mandates for equal pay, pregnancy accommodations or paid family and sick leave. We’re also still rockin’ with a $7.25 minimum wage—you can’t even buy a latte with that. 

✔️ There was also mention of our struggling public education system (we’re giving people money to leave public school) and our few reproductive rights. 

We did score near the top of the pack for business. Yay? As sad as this ranking makes me, it’s not off base. Luckily, we have the power to turn the tide and start to shape a state that feels like it better represents all the wonderful people here.

If you want to spend a little time looking at the Lone Star State’s big picture and learning about life outside of DFW, make sure you’re following
my latest newsletter, Farm to Market Texas.

Pathway Packs provides school supplies to low-income North Texas families. (Atlantic Ambience/Pexels)

By Sam Cohen

With the cost of living in North Texas varying seemingly by the day, many families are left scrambling to cover the cost of basic necessities. School supplies are one of those looming purchases as the start of the academic year is just around the corner. Thankfully for low-income families in the area, Pathway Packs is working to close that gap.

The nonprofit organization was founded in 2024 by Darshan Sivalogan and Amalan Sivalogan, twin brothers from Allen. Alongside Cole Dolton, a mutual friend, the group created a way to provide necessary items for schools that don’t receive money through Title I. According to the Pathway Packs website, “Many schools don’t receive Title I funding due to strict eligibility thresholds, leaving countless children without access to basic supplies.”

A recent study published by the Texas Workforce Commission noted that residents in Collin County must make $7,553 per month to be able to afford the average cost of living in the county.

The report found that it takes more money to live there than in Dallas County or Harris County—the home of Houston. The annual report studies every Texas county to calculate how much it costs individuals and families to meet their basic needs “while maintaining self-sufficiency,” aka without any assistance.

Salt & Straw is the dream of two Portland cousins. (Joi Louviere/Courier Texas)

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day, and if you’d like to do a late celebration at a new-ish ice cream shop, I got you. Portland, Oregon, is known for a few things, and the best thing is probably its city-born Salt & Straw ice cream shops. They became so popular with tourists that the company started franchising nationally. Dallas and Fort Worth now have locations, and when I visited, the line was out of the building.

There are a couple of things you should know about their offerings. First, all the ice cream is made from a fifth-generation family-owned dairy farm in California. Also, Salt & Straw loves experimenting with uncommon ice cream ingredients—when I visited, there was a cream cheese jalapeño jelly flavor.

My order was less adventurous, a mix of sea salt with caramel ribbons and hazelnut cookies & cream. (Please don’t judge me for sitting in my car, eating ice cream at night.)

You can also try their version of those dessert tacos Taco Bell used to sell—Chaco Tacos. Theirs is called The Tacolate and comes with Taco Bell-inspired sauce packets in mango jalapeño or wildberry cinnamon.

I think I’ve told you enough to inspire an ice cream date this week. We’re about to hit triple digits again, so you’ll need this.

But for research purposes, what are your favorite ice cream shops in the area? Write in and let me know. Until then, I’ll be at Salt & Straw.

Don’t Sleep On is a weekly series where I shout out DFW events and businesses I think you should try. Have a suggestion? Reply to this email.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Joi Louviere with reporting by Sam Cohen. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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