Good morning, DFW ☕

I hope y’all have an amazing Mother’s Day weekend. Here are a couple of things I want to put on your radar this week.

👉 Friday is the last day to protest your property taxes. Here are some dos and don’ts when preparing your protest. I hear people have seen better outcomes when they go into an appraisal office rather than sending in forms by mail.

👉 Stonebriar Centre in Frisco has started imposing a curfew for guests under 18 unaccompanied by an adult. Get the details here.

👉 Registration is now open for the Dallas Mayor’s annual back-to-school fair. If you want help getting school supplies, haircuts, and health checks for your child, register here, or send the link to someone you know.

👉 And lastly, you may have heard that two Texans were on the cruise ship hit by the hantavirus outbreak. Here’s what you need to know.

Joi Louviere

Senior Newsletter Editor, Courier DFW

New safety laws leave most Texas sleepaway summer camps in limbo

Only nine Texas sleepaway camps have active licenses to operate this summer. (Andrej Lišakov/Unsplash+)

By Sam Cohen

With summer fast approaching, many families in Texas are looking to secure a spot at one of the 330 youth sleepaway camps located throughout the state. In previous years, this was an easier task to accomplish, but given that only nine of those camps have active licenses currently, it’s been more of an uphill battle in 2026.

Chron reported on Tuesday that the Department of State Health Services has only approved nine summer camps for operation this year, with 240 applications still listed as “pending.”

A look at the stricter requirements and active camps

The Clove Cafe & Bakery

The Cove Cafe comfortably seats about 15 patrons. (Joi Louviere/Courier DFW)

Last September, a subscriber named Amanda wrote in and told me I should try The Clove Cafe—well, Amanda, I finally went and loved it. In Hurst, sits an unsuspecting cafe in a shopping center. I’m expecting a decent drink selection and maybe a few signature bakes, delivered every other day from a local bakery, but that’s not what I got. The Clove Cafe is one of the most thoughtful cafes I’ve been to (and you know that’s saying a lot for a journalist who mentions a love of trying new coffee shops in her bio.) Here’s why this place rocks.

The selection of baked goods is massive and all in-house. The owner, Kerri, started selling her baked goods at farmers markets about three years ago, and it didn’t take her long to build community support for a storefront. The focus seems to be a variety of biscuits and scones, but you’ll also find muffins, banana bread, cinnamon rolls, and savory hand pies as a part of the shop’s rotating menu.

Gluten-free folks are considered here. It seemed like most of the baked goods have a gluten-free version, which is really smart in a time of increasing food allergies and sensitivities.
Along with the everyday drinks menu, each month features a special menu of creative lattes. April had a marshmallow-forward “Hanging with my peeps latte” and this month features a “May flowers cold brew” made with lavender and rose.
This cafe has an entire tea menu, as well as a special tea on the monthly menus.
Clove uses a Fort Worth coffee roaster. Shopping at a small business is so much sweeter when it also invests in small businesses.

There’s also a free library. You can sit in Clove’s comfy leather chairs and couches and enjoy a book while you’re waiting for a friend (or take it home), and bring your own books in to donate.
If you order your drink to stay, you can use a reusable mug or glass. There’s an entire shelf of options. I love having an environmentally-friendly option.
The shop has flexible hours. No more feeling like the enemy entering a coffee shop at 3:30 p.m. as the staff sweeps around you, preparing to close. Monday through Thursday, hours are 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on weekends, they go until 8 p.m.

So what did I get? I ordered a delicious cheddar-jalapeño biscuit and one of their monthly latte features, a “creme egg-spresso,” a butterscotch-flavored latte with a little caramel and mocha sauce. While this is not available anymore, it kind of is because you can choose from a ton of flavor options to make your own concoction, and butterscotch is always available.