“There is no avoiding the fact that the cost reductions will be deep,” Chairman and CEO Thomas Horton said in a letter to American employees Wednesday. “And there is no sugarcoating the effect on our people.”

The DFW region’s growing economic strength could mitigate the effects of layoffs, experts said.

And there’s good chance for up to another inch of rain starting tonight and continuing through Friday night, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

A swath of North Texas, or just less than 5 percent of the state, is now drought free. Nearly 60 percent of Texas is still mired in extreme drought while 27 percent remains stuck in an exceptional drought, the highest category.

Three months ago, 65 percent of the state was in the exceptional stage.

The downpour last Tuesday into Thursday dropped 4.26 inches at DFW Airport, making it the area’s biggest rainmaker since Tropical Storm Hermine spilled 6.25 inches on Sept. 7-9, 2010, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

The 4.26 inches pushed the airport station to 6.76 inches in January, about five inches above normal.

The ensuing runoff raised the Tarrant Regional Water District’s reservoirs to 82 percent capacity, a sizable surge from the 67 percent recorded in November.

But with long-range forecasts showing that dry conditions could persist into spring, district water officials said on Monday that they are going to wait before lifting water restrictions.

“I want to make sure if we come out of it, we’re going to be out of it for a long time,” district general manager Jim Oliver said. “We’re not there yet.”

But that could change as soon as tonight with thunderstorms expected to develop over much of North Texas with the primary threat on Friday as a cold front moves through the region, meteorologist Ted Ryan said this morning. There’s a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms tonight and 80 percent chance on Friday.

“It’s not going to be quite the event we had last week. The storms could start as early as tonight with scattered rains,” he said.

Fort Worth Animal Control officials said Tuesday that the dogs will be tested for rabies over the attack on the 18-month-old boy. Cook Children’s Medical Center on Wednesday declined to release details on the boy’s condition.

The breed of the dogs are unknown. Animal control officers have quarantined the animals. Witnesses say the boy was bitten around his face and ears.

The Eagle Mountain Fire Department transported the child by ambulance to Cook Children’s Medical Center.

The devices, which accept debit or credit cards as well as coins, are meant to handle about 600 high-volume parking spaces.

“It was very important for us to get as many people as possible into this area to come and do their business or entertainment needs,” said Fort Worth Parking Manager Peter Elliott. “One of the issues was, you had to pay by coin and have a pocket full of coins.”

The pay station prints a receipt in the form of a sticker that should be placed on the passenger side of the windshield.

Parking ambassadors have been hired to help people adjust to the new machines and figure out where they’re supposed to put their receipts.

Drivers may like the ‘if you move, you won’t lose’ option with the new pay to park system.

“If you pay in one place and you have extra time on your receipt, you can go somewhere else and use that time,” said Elliott.

School administrators are assuring that all students, faculty and staff are safe and comfortable.

As it stands, there are no plans to cancel classes. School administrators say a good amount of natural light is pouring in to most areas of the school –- leaving only some hallways dim. Emergency lighting has been brought in.

Since food cannot be prepared without electricity, lunch is being made at another school and will be delivered to Paschal.

The power outage has left the school without phone or internet service.

It’s being suggested to parents that they allow their children to remain at school.

Since the building is without phones or computers, if a parent feels as if their child must leave the adult must go to the school and sign a release. Even students with their own vehicles must have a parent retrieve them personally.

An email from a viewer said the water level in the kitchen reached the knees of the workers, but officials with the district said the water flowed in through the floor drains and really only rose to a height of an inch or two. Chopper 5 flew by the school and spotted crews working hard to direct the floodwater out of the building.

Another strong thunderstorm was moving into Mansfield and then Arlington around 4:05 p.m., with frequent lightning, very heavy rain, penny-sized hail and wind gusts to 40 mph.

The decision also signals the end of the Welcome Home A Hero program, a volunteer-led group that has organized a flag-waving, back-slapping, goodies-laden greeting for every flight of troops since June 16, 2004, a total that now exceeds 2,700 days in a row, no matter the hour, holiday or weather.

“It has been something special,” said Donna Cranston, who has been the on-site coordinator for Welcome Home A Hero for most of that time. “When we started, I don’t think anyone ever imagined that we were going to be able to do what we have done.”

The last organized flight of troops on rest and recuperation into DFW Airport is scheduled for March 14. Until then, one flight will arrive and one flight will depart daily.

By April 1, the dozen Army personnel working at DFW will be reassigned, and the Army’s lone Personnel Assistance Point for troops going to and from the war zones will be at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

Hartsfield-Jackson has always received 60 percent of the soldiers, so activity is being consolidated there, said Army spokesman Hank Minitrez.

The decision also signals the end of the Welcome Home A Hero program, a volunteer-led group that has organized a flag-waving, back-slapping, goodies-laden greeting for every flight of troops since June 16, 2004, a total that now exceeds 2,700 days in a row, no matter the hour, holiday or weather.