Our affinity partner, Merchant Data Solutions (MDS), will award four Platinum Level Dallas Stars tickets to the New Year's Eve game against the Boston Bruins. To enter the drawing, simply fax your October Visa/MasterCard business statement to MDS at 866-383-0080. Your fax is your entry.

MDS will also review your current credit & debit card processing fees and show you the bottom line business advantages of their program. All statements are confidential and must be received by Friday, Dec. 2. If you have questions, please call Kent Daniels at 214-679-1406.

Register here for our next Business Over Breakfast (BOB). The fast-paced networking event features three chamber members and every business gets an opportunity to present their 30-second elevator speech. Learn, share and exchange business cards. Build relationships for the New Year through new contacts made at this high-energy meeting. At breakfast you will also enjoy fresh coffee supplied by our new BOB sponsor and Chamber member Ganovia Coffee.

On the eve of a shortened filing period for congressional candidates, a federal court in San Antonio scrambled the districts, changing some so much that the previous legislative map is unrecognizable compared to the new one.

Under the court's plan, Arlington would be scattered into three congressional districts, including two served by incumbent Republicans Joe Barton and Kay Granger. The third, new district takes in most of east and North Arlington as well as substantial portions of the east, southeast and northeast portions of Fort Worth. The map can be viewed here. Select Base maps and then choose Map C220. Filing for the races begins today.  As of today, Governor Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott have asked the Supreme Court to halt the implementation of the court drawn maps.  The governor has also asked the courts to delay the U.S. House of Representative primary elections until the issue is sorted out.

Chamber President & CEO, Wes Jurey, was interviewed by WFAA's Chris Hawes on the future of the space that was once known as Six Flags Mall. Mr. Jurey spoke of the future opportunities that exist for the space. Click here to view the 11/22 news segment.

The state Supreme Court is set to rule on a lawsuit that may throw Texas' current business tax into doubt, which would also raise questions about the viability of the system that is the primary tool for paying public education. The suit is a challenge to the constitutionality of the state franchise tax, also called the margins tax. A report explaining the tax, the way it has worked so far and some of the challenges of the tax since it was enacted in 2006, can be found here.

Public education funding and the margins tax are invariably tangled in Texas, and both are under separate court challenges. Several school districts have also sued the state challenging the equity of the current public education funding system.