Caterpillar, the Irving-based construction equipment manufacturer, hopes to hire 40,000 technicians in two years to stem a global shortage.

Why it matters: The dearth of technicians is an outgrowth of the widening skills gap in the American labor market, a result of more people attending four-year colleges instead of trade schools.

• Even before the pandemic, 70% of employers reported having trouble filling roles requiring skilled labor, per Bloomberg.

State of play: Not only are manufacturing giants like Caterpillar having trouble finding the workers to build this equipment, dealers are struggling to hire people to maintain and repair that equipment, Griffin Reome, the company's manager of workforce development, tells Axios.

• A lot of the technician workforce is also starting to retire, and the company is scrambling to transfer that institutional knowledge to a new generation.

What they're doing: The company created a development program that pays people to train and targets a wide range of potential workers, from recent high school graduates to military veterans to mothers who've been out of the workforce for years.

Plus: They're working to hire women, who account for a mere 3% of the technician workforce in the U.S.

• Technology shifts have made the job less labor-intensive and more accessible.
• "You don't have to be a 200-pound male," Reome says. "And you won't need a shoulder replacement when you're 40."

What they're saying: "Women can easily do the job as efficiently as their male counterparts," he says.

• "Some would even say they can do it better because of the attention to detail and the ability to multitask."

By the numbers: Though the company won't release its pay scale, Reome says Caterpillar technicians make "20% over the median household income within the U.S.," which amounts to a salary of about $90,000 a year.

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The Cowboys are the only NFL team that didn't announce a signing in the first 24 hours of free agency.

Why it matters: They were the only team in the league to finish the 2023 regular season ranked in the top-5 in offense and defense, but flamed out in the playoffs yet again.

• Now several of the team's stars are signing elsewhere, while Dallas appears hamstrung by salary cap limitations.

The latest: Starting running back Tony Pollard took a three-year deal with the Tennessee Titans, leaving second-year back Deuce Vaughn — the shortest player in the league — as their top running option.

Yes, but: Fans hoped this might mean the Cowboys would sign former Titans running back Derrick Henry — but he just committed to the Ravens.

Plus: The team hasn't re-signed star offensive tackle Tyron Smith — who's being targeted by the Super Bowl-champion Chiefs — and gave wide receiver Michael Gallup permission to seek a trade.

Meanwhile: Every other team in the Cowboys' division signed a big-name free-agent running back.

The big picture: Unless the team extends quarterback Dak Prescott's contract, his salary-cap hit this season is close to $60 million, nearly a quarter of the team's total allotted expenditures.

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The Dallas Morning News is reviving "High Profile," a popular features section that's been dormant for nearly 20 years, the paper recently announced.

Why it matters: As local newspapers across the country are contracting and vanishing, hiring bestselling author Sarah Hepola — who's also written for the New York Times and The Atlantic — gives readers a glimmer of hope.

Context: The paper has had a rough stretch of late. In the last year, the DMN has issued a rare front-page retraction, ended a protracted union negotiation and its parent, DallasNews Corp. lost dozens of positions to buyouts.

Catch up quick: "High Profile," the Sunday profiles section, was a staple of the paper from 1981, when it launched with a story about Larry Hagman, until its quiet end in 2005.

• Hepola wrote the 2015 New York Times bestselling memoir "Blackout" and created and hosted the Texas Monthly podcast "America's Girls," about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

What we're watching: Will the paper ever make the illustrious "High Profile" archives available online?

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the DMN did not lose dozens of reporters, but its parent company, DallasNews Corp., lost dozens of positions overall.

🏗️ The city of McKinney is teaming with a Colorado company to build a $220 million amphitheater that could seat up to 20,000 spectators. (WFAA)

🙅 A state judge blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to subpoena records from a migrant shelter in El Paso. (Texas Tribune)

⚖️ Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is suing a Fort Worth woman who accused him of sexual assault. (FOX4)

✈️ Dallas-based Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it will reduce its capacity plans and reevaluate its financial forecasts for the year, citing delivery delays from Boeing. (CNBC)

This week we asked if you knew where this Batgirl mural is located — and a surprisingly large number of you did.

The answer: The mural depicts Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl (and Barbara Gordon) on the cartoonish live-action 1960s "Batman" series.

• You can see it at 313 N. Bishop Ave., on the side of We Are 1976.

The big picture: Craig was born in Illinois but — as the mural indicates — she was raised in Oak Cliff and attended Adamson High School and Sunset High School.

• The mural was painted by Dallas-based artist Steve Hunter, who also created the Stevie Ray Vaughan park murals.

Worthy of your time: Check out some of Batgirl's highlights.

The bottom line: The first correct answer came from Darryl W., who will now get some unbelievably cool Axios swag and the undying respect of Batgirl fans across the region.

🧐 Know a local work of art that might stump your fellow readers? Hit reply and tell us about it.