{"id":106689,"date":"2025-12-31T21:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T21:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/106689\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T21:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T21:27:09","slug":"here-are-10-of-collin-countys-top-stories-from-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/106689\/","title":{"rendered":"Here are 10 of Collin County\u2019s top stories from 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Across Collin County<\/a> in 2025, some of the region\u2019s most defining and widely-circulated stories played out in mosques, council chambers, schools, court rooms and grocery stores. <\/p>\n

From national stories on politics, religion and public health to local crime, food and entertainment news, 2025 was busy north of Dallas. Here are some of the most-read, defining stories from Collin County on dallasnews.com<\/a> from the past year.<\/p>\n

Investigation into plans for Muslim-centric neighborhood <\/p>\n

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in March an investigation<\/a> into a planned Muslim-centric neighborhood<\/a> in Dallas-Fort Worth, formerly called EPIC City<\/a>, over potential violations of state consumer protection laws. <\/p>\n

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Texas officials<\/a> threatened<\/a>, sued and denounced<\/a> the planned neighborhood over the course of 2025, drawing massive regional attention to the project. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"ConstructionFrisco student fatally stabbed at track meet<\/p>\n

In April, 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony<\/a> was accused of stabbing and killing<\/a> high schooler Austin Metcalf at a Frisco high school track meet<\/a>, shocking the community and region. Anthony told police he was acting in self defense<\/a> and has been indicted on a murder charge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The case sparked racist discourse online and a Frisco protest<\/a> held by the group \u201cProtect White Americans,\u201d thrusting two grieving families into the national spotlight.<\/p>\n

Proposed LDS temple draws debate to Fairview<\/p>\n

Plans for a temple by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the town of Fairview, 30 miles north of Dallas, have been the subject of heated debate<\/a> and a threatened lawsuit<\/a>, much of it focused on freedom of religion<\/a> and the proposed height of the building\u2019s steeple.<\/p>\n

Fairview\u2019s Town Council approved <\/a>a permit in April after more than five hours of debate and discussion, allowing a 120-foot spire despite residents\u2019 concerns<\/a> that the size will dominate the town\u2019s neighborhoods. The temple\u2019s original design, which the town\u2019s leaders rejected<\/a> last August, included a 174-foot spire.<\/p>\n

Plano could land Dallas Stars with billion-dollar stadium<\/p>\n

The Dallas Stars<\/a> are considering a new $1 billion arena in Plano<\/a> at the Shops at Willow Bend Mall site<\/a> \u2014 a move that could see the hockey franchise leave downtown Dallas<\/a> for the first time in its history, two people with knowledge of the team\u2019s efforts told The Dallas Morning News in October. <\/p>\n

The relationship between the Stars and Mavericks, who share the American Airlines Center, has deteriorated over the last year<\/a>, reaching a climax this fall when the Mavericks filed suit against the hockey franchise.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"TrafficOne of Texas\u2019 top barbecue joints moved to Plano<\/p>\n

After getting its start in a tiny North Texas town, one of Texas Monthly\u2019s top 50 barbecue joints has packed up and moved to Plano<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yearby\u2019s Barbecue and Waterice, which specializes in halal barbecue, opened this year near U.S. Highway 75 and Parker Road after two and a half years in Pilot Point.<\/p>\n

Collin County megachurch pastor steps down<\/p>\n

John McKinzie, the former lead pastor of Hope Fellowship Church resigned in September after confessing to a pattern of consensual \u201csexual sin,\u201d according to an email his church shared with The News.<\/p>\n

The Collin County megachurch earlier in the year removed a student pastor<\/a> who allegedly confessed to inappropriate contact with a minor at a previous church.<\/p>\n

Collin County sees measles exposure <\/p>\n

This year, Texas saw the largest measles outbreak<\/a> the state has reported in more than 30 years, with a reported 762 cases, 99 hospitalizations and the deaths of two children. The highly contagious virus spread quickly through communities with low vaccination rates and across dozens of Texas counties. <\/p>\n

In April, Collin County health officials warned about a possible measles exposure<\/a> in Plano and later that month confirmed a Collin County middle school student<\/a> tested positive for the virus, the first reported case in a child in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2025. In May, Collin County officials warned the public of exposures at four locations in McKinney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Morton'sPaxton divorce records unsealed <\/p>\n

A judge in Collin County unsealed the divorce records<\/a> of Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Republican state senator Angela Paxton in December. The documents laid out a sharper picture of the breakup between Paxton, who is running for the Senate, and his wife, who blames him<\/a> for the marriage\u2019s collapse. Paxton denied her allegations that he committed adultery <\/p>\n

The divorce case records were released after legal wrangling<\/a> between the Paxtons and several media organizations<\/a> and a government watchdog group that sought access to the documents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amphitheater coming to McKinney<\/p>\n

Construction began this year on a $300 million, 20,000-seat<\/a> open-air amphitheater in McKinney roughly 30 miles north of Dallas. <\/p>\n

North Texas music fans could soon be heading to the new performance venue in Collin County<\/a> to catch some of the music industry\u2019s top acts, the project expecting to draw hundreds of thousands of spectators to as many as 70 shows a year in the Dallas suburb.<\/p>\n

Trader Joe\u2019s picks spot for new store in Collin County<\/p>\n

McKinney will soon get another Trader Joe\u2019s<\/a> at 8101 Eldorado Parkway, about five miles away from an existing location in the city closer to U.S. Highway 75.<\/p>\n

The company, which has a devoted fan base in Texas and around the country, announced the new store in May.<\/p>\n

Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Across Collin County in 2025, some of the region\u2019s most defining and widely-circulated stories played out in mosques,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[960,815,294,1881,240,1247,223,160,162,161,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-106689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-collin-county","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-faith","12":"tag-frisco","13":"tag-mckinney","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-plano","16":"tag-plano-headlines","17":"tag-plano-news","18":"tag-real-estate"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}