Lead Stories

Texas Association of Business CEO resigns amid sexual assault allegations

Glenn Hamer has resigned as president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business — one of the state’s most powerful business groups — a little more than two weeks after a lawsuit was filed by a woman alleging sexual assault, harassment and retaliation. The resignation was announced in a two-sentence statement from board Chairman Bill Jones, who said Megan Mauro would continue leading the association as interim president and CEO. The lawsuit, filed Nov. 24 in Travis County District Court by a woman identified only as “Jane Doe,” accuses Hamer of using his position as head of the association and chair of the Texas Venture Alliance to foster a relationship with her, allegedly later coercing and assaulting her.

In a statement to the American-Statesman, Hamer’s attorney, Sam Bassett, said his client “regrets his consensual relationship with ‘Jane Doe.’ However, at no time did Glenn harass, assault or retaliate against ‘Jane Doe.’ When all the facts come out through the legal process, Glenn will be exonerated.” The complaint alleges that when she rejected his advances, Hamer used his position to undermine her organization and professional opportunities. She is seeking more than $10 million in damages. The association was also named as a co-defendant in the suit, arguing it was "vicariously liable." Jones previously said the organization was aware of the lawsuit and had placed Hamer on administrative leave while it investigated. The plaintiff was described on social media by her attorney, Tony Buzbee, as founder and executive director of the Texas Venture Alliance, an advocacy group for startups and entrepreneurs.

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick proposes another increase of the homestead exemption

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is looking ahead to 2027 and said when the state Legislature meets again, one of his main priorities will be making homeownership more affordable for older Texans. Patrick held a press conference at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday afternoon to discuss his proposal to further decrease the amount of a home’s value that cannot be taxed to pay for public schools. He said he wants the senior homestead exemption available to people 55 and older, too. Right now, people who are 65 and older and live in the home they own are eligible for a $200,000 homestead exemption. That means on a $300,000 home, they only have to pay school property taxes on $100,000 worth of the home's value.

The lieutenant governor said this will also freeze appraised values for people 55 and older, resulting in lasting savings. "Your homestead exemption will travel with you, whether you're 55, 56, 57, 58, whatever your age. Now that it's frozen, 55 and up, it'll travel with you anywhere in the state and to any house you own. It travels with you,” Patrick said. "The homestead exemption by far is the biggest bang for the buck." Patrick said that of the 6.1 million homeowners in Texas, 3.3 million homeowners will have their tax values frozen. Patrick said the median home price in Texas is $332,000. The median homeowner is 58 years old, and the median new homeowner is 35 years old. “This now gives a homeowner who's 55, let's say they're still living in it at 80, that's a big deal,” Patrick said. “That's 25 years of values frozen, and how much does this mean to those who are 55? It's going to mean about an extra $900 to $1,000 a year today, which over 10 years from 55 to 65 is about $10,000 – that's real money.”

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Democrats think this new GOP-drawn Texas district is winnable in 2026

The main group working to elect Democrats to the U.S. House announced Wednesday it sees a path to victory in a district that Texas Republicans just redrew to be more GOP-friendly. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says it will invest in the party’s nominee for Congressional District 35, a seat that was redrawn from a Democratic stronghold into one that would have favored Trump by 10 points in 2024. ”Democrats will not let (Republicans’) cynical power play go down without a fight,” Susan DelBene, who chairs the national campaign arm, said in a statement Tuesday. “The DCCC will work to ensure the people of Texas’ 35th District have the representation they deserve.”

The open seat is one of two in Texas that the DCCC named to its “Districts in Play,” a roster of Republican-held or Republican-leaning seats the party considers competitive as it seeks to win the majority in the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm. In a news release, a spokesperson for the group argued that voters favor Democratic strategies for addressing rising costs, health care access and working-family issues. The group’s GOP counterpart set CD-35 as a target in September, soon after Gov. Greg Abbott signed the new map into law. National Republican Campaign Committee Chair Richard Hudson said the elections would prove House Democrats are “painfully out of touch with hardworking Americans” in a statement to CQ Roll Call at the time. The seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, an Austin progressive who opted to run for reelection in a neighboring district that maintains a Democratic advantage. A slew of candidates have jumped in to represent the majority-Latino district, including three Democrats. The other Texas district the DCCC is targeting is Congressional District 15, where Tejano singer Bobby Pulido and a medical doctor, Ada Cuellar, are fighting for the Democratic nomination to take on GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

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Miami elects its first Democratic mayor in nearly 30 years

Democrat Eileen Higgins won Miami’s mayoral race on Tuesday, the first Democrat to win the seat in nearly 30 years. “Together, we turned the page on years of chaos and corruption and opened the door to a new era for our city — one defined by ethical, accountable leadership that delivers real results for the people,” Higgins said in a statement declaring victory, promising to lead a government “that finally earns the public’s trust.” Higgins, a 61-year-old mechanical engineer and a former Peace Corps director, represented what she characterized as a Republican-leaning district on the county commission. Her campaign, backed by the Democratic National Committee, focused on local issues including affordable housing and promoting small businesses.

Higgins is set to become Miami’s first female mayor and its first non-Hispanic mayor since the 1990s. She bested Republican candidate Emilio T. González, who had been endorsed by President Donald Trump, with 59.3% of the vote to González’s 40.7%. The city’s outgoing mayor, Francis X. Suarez, who attempted a 2024 presidential bid, is term-limited. Congressional Democrats took note of Higgins’ win Tuesday as a sign of Democratic momentum ahead of next year’s midterm elections. “We are soooo going to flip the House next year,” Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, said in a post to X congratulating Higgins. “After nearly 30 years, the good people of Miami have flipped this seat blue,” New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury posted. “This is a big deal for our democracy, our communities, and what comes next.”

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State Stories

Three top Alamo fundraisers quit over CEO Kate Rogers' banishment

Three leaders of the Alamo’s fundraising arm have quit to protest the forced resignation of Kate Rogers as president and CEO of the Alamo Trust, the San Antonio Express-News has learned. Three of the most active fundraisers on the board of the Remember the Alamo Foundation — real estate developer Phillip P. Bakke, philanthropist Tracy Wolff and retired Air Force Gen. Donald G. Cook — have stepped down. Their departures add another layer of turmoil as the Alamo undergoes a $550 million public-private renovation and expansion amid political differences over how the 300-year history of the site — in which Native Americans, Spanish missionaries, Mexicans, Tejanos, Texas revolutionaries and enslaved people all played a role — should be depicted.

The board members’ resignations were not publicly announced, but Bakke, Wolff and Cook were removed from a Remember the Alamo Foundation web page featuring photos and biographies of the nonprofit’s 16 board members. Now, only 13 members are listed. The foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit that raises money for the Alamo Trust, which handles day-to-day operations at the state-owned historic site under contract with the Texas General Land Office. Rogers resigned as Alamo CEO on Oct. 23 under pressure from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, who objected to social media posts by the Alamo staff and academic writings by Rogers that they deemed unacceptably “woke.” Mounting tensions between the Alamo Trust board and state officials burst into public view on Oct. 14, when Buckingham took exception to posts on the Alamo’s official Facebook and X accounts that acknowledged Indigenous Peoples' Day. A dozen states and some cities recognize the day instead of or in tandem with Columbus Day. Buckingham criticized the Alamo posts as “woke” and demanded an investigation into who wrote and published them. "This is frankly unacceptable and it has been deleted," Buckingham wrote on X, adding: "Woke has no place at the Alamo."

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Frisco ISD was once the fastest-growing district in Texas. Now, it’s facing a new reality.

At a tense October board meeting, Frisco ISD trustees heard from dozens of students and parents all there with the same message: Keep Staley Middle School open. “Keeping Staley open allows all children to stay close to home, remain engaged in their school community ... and continue benefiting from these opportunities,” said mom of three Erin Baxter. Even Deputy Superintendent Todd Fouche spoke publicly of his own emotional ties to the school. “My mom taught at Staley, my wife taught at Staley, my brother went to Staley,” Fouche said during the board meeting. “If you were here before the year 2000, Staley was part of your story. No one gets in this business to talk about closing schools.”

Among the many North Texas school districts closing campuses to save money amid falling enrollment, ongoing inflation, and reduced state funding, Frisco ISD stands out. “We were the fastest growing school district in the country and the state for years and years and years, growing 3,000 students a year for 15 years," Fouche told KERA. Twenty years ago, the district had 15,000 students. By 2008 it had double that. Land to grow, to build businesses and homes helped drive the expansion. The arrival of new technology companies also helped, as did landmark sports franchises that relocated to Frisco, including the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars and the PGA. Even in 2020, when districts statewide LOST students from COVID fears, Frisco kept growing – just one of two in Texas that did. But two and half years ago, Frisco ISD officials reported a 300-student decline.

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Rod Paige, former U.S. education secretary and Houston ISD superintendent, dies at 92

Rod Paige, a former Houston ISD superintendent and U.S. Secretary of Education, died Tuesday morning at the age of 92. Paige was the first Black secretary of education as well as the first school superintendent to serve in the role. He was appointed at the start of George W. Bush's first administration in 2001. He was born on June 17, 1933, in segregated Monticello, Mississippi. Paige earned his bachelor's degree from Jackson State University and his master's and doctorate from Indiana University.

Paige served as the dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University in Houston until 1994. He was sworn in as a trustee and officer of the HISD Board of Education in 1990, eventually becoming the superintendent of HISD, one of the largest school districts in the country. In 2001, Bush appointed Paige to serve as the seventh secretary of education. In a statement, Paige's family said he died with his wife, Stephanie, at his side. He worked on the passage and implementation of the landmark No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, an education reform policy that developed education standards for public schools to benefit all students. Since leaving the federal government, Paige returned to Jackson State University as interim president from 2016 to 2017. He served as an honorary board member of the Greater Houston Partnership until his death. The family said details of a memorial service will be shared in the coming days.

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Texas AG launches financial transparency probes into hundreds of cities

State Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating Dallas, Fort Worth and hundreds of other cities to prevent what he calls potential unlawful tax increases, his office announced Tuesday. Paxton said he's requesting financial documents and other information from those cities, and that the number of cities under investigation "will continue to grow." “Local officials will not be allowed to ignore the law, cover up their finances, and burden Texans with never-ending tax increases,” Paxton said in a statement. “Our cities and municipalities must prioritize transparency and minimizing the tax burden of every citizen across the state. While many cities have already complied with these requirements, I’m launching this review to ensure that the law is universally followed, taxpayers are respected, and local government is accountable to all Texans.” Other cities include San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, Wichita Falls, Waco, Tyler and Galveston. It’s not clear what evidence — if any — Paxton has to suggest wrongdoing by the cities. The probe comes in the wake of Senate Bill 1851's passage earlier this year. The law prohibits a city from raising taxes if it's found to have violated financial statement audit requirements.

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Texas’ data center boom contributes to ERCOT’s large load requests quadrupling in 2025

The amount of ERCOT‘s large load interconnection requests ballooned to more than 230 gigawatts this year, a massive increase from the 63 gigawatts reported in December 2024. The agency, which operates the electrical grid for most of Texas, reported “many” of the interconnection requests exceed one gigawatt per site. More than 70% of the large loads were data centers. The number of applications — and the amount of power requested by each client — underscores how the economic benefits of the artificial intelligence boom are colliding with the reality of Texas’ increasingly strained resources. This year, ERCOT received 225 large load interconnection requests through mid-November, compared to 152 requests for the comparable 2022 to 2024 time frame, according to data published ahead of ERCOT’s board of directors meetings this week.

The most requests were submitted in the second quarter, with 78 requests totaling more than 70,000 megawatts. Rapid demand growth continues to outpace new energy supplies, prompting concerns about grid reliability. As of the end of October, ERCOT has 1,999 active generation interconnection requests totaling 432 gigawatts. Solar and battery storage makeup about 77% of that total. Since last winter, more than 11,000 megawatts of new generation resources were added to the grid, the majority of which were storage and solar. “Both transmission and resource adequacy should be considered in how quickly large loads can connect and ramp up,” ERCOT executives wrote in the presentation for the board meeting. The Public Utility Commission of Texas’ “load forecasting rules will be instrumental in identifying credible loads that should be planned for.” The PUCT filed a discussion draft — a preliminary version of a proposed rule — last week related to the large load interconnection standards. In the document, a large load customer is defined as customer requesting a new or expanded interconnection where its total peak demand at a single site would be at least 75 megawatts. The proposal would create standards for an electric utility, including a municipally owned utility and electric cooperative, to sync a large load customer to ERCOT’s transmission network.

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SMU proposes moving law school off main campus, across U.S. 75, as it eyes expansion

A proposal to move Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law off the main campus and into a new building across the U.S. 75 freeway is stirring frustration among students, faculty and alumni, who say they weren’t consulted. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, SMU President Jay Hartzell said the school is considering a plan to move the law quad, which currently sits in the northwest corner of campus, to East Campus. The proposed move would be part of a larger development of the stretch of land from SMU Boulevard to Fondren Drive, which SMU owns, just north of The Beeman Hotel and the SMU/Mockingbird DART station. Some of that space is currently occupied by SMU and leased out to businesses, including Cafe Brazil.

The proposal involves constructing six new buildings, including a law school and graduate housing, Hartzell said. The other buildings would house a “research park and technology center,” akin to those at Georgia Tech University or Stanford University, that bring students and companies together. “Our goal is to have a top 20 law school and that’s going to involve everything from recruiting great faculty and students to the right mix of programmatic offerings,” Hartzell said. “The facility is a big piece of the puzzle and I think having a custom-built building … is going to be pretty powerful.” Hartzell added that he believed affordable graduate housing nearby, one of the most pressing needs for the university, will bolster the school’s recruitment efforts. The proposal has faced opposition from some members of SMU’s law school community. Critics say moving to East Campus would silo the school and complicate access to campus resources. Students and faculty say they weren’t consulted about the proposal, which they believe overhauls years-long promises from university officials to significantly renovate the existing buildings in the law quad. “We weren’t involved in the process at all,” Carliss Chatman, a professor of law, said of faculty input. “We’re just as surprised as everyone else is and we think, at the very least, we should talk about it more. It just changes the culture of the law school to be so isolated from campus.”

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Dell, Amazon, Microsoft join TCU for $10M investment for responsible AI use

A combined $10 million from TCU and corporate contributions will fund a new artificial intelligence initiative aimed at spurring responsible use of the popular technology for research and learning, university officials announced Tuesday. The money will go toward AI² — Accelerating Institutional AI — to enhance research that uses secure, high-powered computers; support students; and allow Texas Christian University to leverage AI across campus, officials said. “We’re pleased to harness the opportunity and innovation of AI to accelerate learning, drive operational efficiency and expand research impact for our community at even greater scale,” Chancellor Daniel Pullin said in a news release. “Launching AI² is yet another material investment in our strategic plan, LEAD ON: Values in Action and, most importantly, our students, faculty and staff.”

Physical computing infrastructure and cloud capabilities will come from Dell Technologies, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, according to the release. The effort will contribute to TCU’s drive toward R1 status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, recognition for the highest level of research activity, according to the release. “AI² gives our faculty and students a world-class tool to foster interdisciplinary research partnerships and generate high-impact outcomes,” Reuben F. Burch V, vice provost for research, said in the release. In recent years, professors have implemented AI in class projects and used it to help expand teaching. Professor Leslie Browning-Samoni asked fashion merchandising students to use AI in class and solicited feedback that informed her doctoral dissertation. As the initiative is implemented, the university will, in consultation with faculty, develop AI in teaching and research as well as research the technology itself and make sure it is used ethically. “TCU’s investment is more than hardware and software — it’s another proof point that we are serious about innovation and impact,” Bryan Lucas, chief technology officer, said in the release. “In coming months, we will be launching additional tools and services for faculty teaching and research, student learning certificates that prepare them for real-world AI uses and institutional tools that enable TCU to continue to offer the best academic experience in the country.”

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Austin Energy employee allegedly paid $980K to ‘fictitious vendors,’ city auditor says

The Austin City Auditor’s Office released a report Tuesday accusing a local couple, both of whom previously worked for the city, of defrauding the city for approximately $980,000 by sending payments to allegedly fictitious businesses. The report focuses on the alleged actions of Mark Ybarra, who worked as a facility service specialist for Austin Energy. He was issued a city credit card by his superiors for the procurement of necessary tools and materials, the audit said. According to the report, he used the card to “pay fictitious vendors approximately $980,000 and fraudulently reported these transactions in City records.”

“The falsified invoices he submitted were ultimately discovered by his management in Austin Energy. Some of the fictitious vendors used contact information like addresses that connected them to relatives of Mark Ybarra, or Mark himself,” reads an email to KXAN from the auditor’s office. According to the city auditor’s report, Ybarra allegedly made payments to 22 fictious businesses using the card. He resigned from his job in October 2023. A grand jury indicted Ybarra on Aug. 23. He now faces a felony charge of theft greater than $300,000. His wife, former Austin Watershed Protection employee Ambrosia Ybarra, “refused to answer questions” from city auditors. She was indicted on Sept. 15 and charged with felony theft between $150,000 and $300,000. She resigned from her job in November, the report states. KXAN has reached out to the couple’s attorneys for comment on the accusations. The report also named two Austin Energy managers who supervised the former facility service specialist. It says that the managers “wasted City resources when they approved the credit card payments based on invoices they should have identified as questionable or illegitimate.” Neither of those managers have been criminally charged.

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North Texas cities may find leaving DART is quite hard

On May 2, 2026, in empty college campuses and high-school gymnasiums, voters across four North Dallas suburbs will see on their ballots the question “Shall Dallas Area Rapid Transit be continued in the City of…?” How they choose to answer will be the most consequential decision for DFW transit in a generation. In late October, Plano moved first to hit the big red button and announce their intention to vote on whether to withdraw from DART. Later that day, the cities of Highland Park and Farmers Branch joined in. Irving and, eventually, Addison would follow, making the same announcement that they were considering holding elections to leave DART. DART has long been primarily funded by collecting a 1-cent sales tax in its member cities. Taking up half of the 2 cents local entities are allowed to charge in Texas. Over the past two years, some cities and DART have been in conflict over this rate, with cities claiming they are not getting enough value from DART compared to the sales tax rate DART charges. That ultimately led to these upcoming elections.

The votes came like dominoes. Farmers Branch and Highland Park voted to greenlight a withdrawal election on November 4, with Plano and Irving following suit. It wasn’t until Addison voted on December 2, by a narrow 4-to-3 margin, not to hold a withdrawal election, that the momentum slowed. In the event a withdrawal election is successful, all services would immediately grind to a halt after the vote is canvassed. Trains would either turn around before entering a withdrawn city or run through it without stopping. All bus routes, microtransit, and paratransit would indefinitely cease. Withdrawn cities would continue to pay DART until all their financial obligations are paid off. To replace these services, the Plano City Council is creating the “Collin County Connects Committee,” also known as the C4 committee, to develop a new vision for transit by and for Plano. “Our Collin County Connects Committee will be working on an intra-city transportation program that would include senior transit, paratransit, and additional transit for those interested in using the system,” said Plano City Councilmember Steve Lavine. As for intercity transit, should the withdrawal be approved, Plano would task its now-divorced transit partner, DART, with running regional services such as the Silver Line, light rail, and express buses. That is, at least according to a proposed deal that Plano sent the transit agency, which DART is now reviewing “for their financial and operational feasibility and will provide a response to those respective cities once the analysis is complete,” according to DART Board Chair Randall Bryant.

Read this article at D Magazine - Subscribers Only

Texas postpartum depression data isn’t showing accurate picture for economically disadvantaged mothers

Mental health is a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Texas. However, annual state data meant to track postpartum depression and treatment in the state isn’t showing an accurate picture of what economically disadvantaged mothers face. “I didn’t feel like myself. There were times when I was just like, I can’t even deal with the baby,” Tamiquewa Brewster, a Texas mother who said she experienced postpartum depression, said. Collecting this data is mandated by state law, but the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said claims aren’t always being reported, which impacts the full view.

“There are limitations when it comes to claims data,” Krystyn Malveaux, a DSHS research specialist, said. On Friday at the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee public meeting, Malveaux presented the postpartum depression screening and treatment data. SB 748, authored by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, was passed in 2019 and requires the data to be presented annually. The bill’s stated purpose is to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and postpartum depression among economically disadvantaged women. According to state numbers, more than 33,000 women were diagnosed with postpartum depression in SFY 2023, but fewer than 10,000 had been screened for it. “Due to clinician coding practices and changes in Medicaid policy, and it’s likely that more women were screened … than this data shows,” Malveaux said. According to DSHS, there’s no incentive for providers to record claims.

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BNSF Railway’s fight against $85B merger: Are jobs on the line?

BNSF Railway, which employs nearly 3,000 people at its Fort Worth headquarters, is lobbying against a colossal merger proposal by two competitors that would reshape the nation’s freight rail network and potentially impact the industries that rely on it. In July, Union Pacific announced its intention to acquire the Norfolk Southern for $85 billion. The merger would create the first truly transcontinental railroad in the U.S. and a streamlined path for shipping companies to send goods across the nation. Union Pacific’s network is mostly west of the Mississippi River, while Norfolk Southern operates on the East Coast. Leaders in the industry believe that this would be one of the most significant mergers of railroad companies since at least the 1990s, when Union Pacific combined with Southern Pacific and BNSF was formed after Burlington Northern and Santa Fe merged.

If approved, the new combined company would control 45% of all freight tonnage in the U.S. The acquisition is nowhere close to complete. The Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that regulates freight rail, must review the application, which hasn’t been submitted yet. President Trump has expressed support for the merger and over the summer dismissed a Democratic member of the five-person Surface Transportation Board, which critics say demonstrates his intention to get the merger approved. Union Pacific has said the merger would make it significantly more efficient — and cheaper — for shipping companies to move their goods. BNSF, which is the nation’s largest railroad company, begs to differ. In November, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned company filed a petition with the Surface Transportation Board, asking for a more scrutinized review of the application and claiming that Union Pacific has repeatedly ignored measures to boost competition and prevent monopolies in the railroad industry.

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Arlington council suspends LGBTQ+ protections

The Arlington City Council tonight (Tuesday, Nov 9) voted to suspend anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, becoming the first city in the country to rescind such protections. The vote was 5-4, and came before an overflow crowd and after two hours of what the Dallas Morning News described as “emotional testimony” from more than 60 speakers, following months of heated debate and delayed votes. The protections suspended by tonight’s votes were put into place only four years ago, in June 2021, and protected LGBTQ+ residents against discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations. The council abandoned those protections in the face of threats from the Trump administration to withhold federal funds from cities and other entities that don’t toe the line in the administrations war against diversity, equality and inclusion. The vote goes into effect immediately and remains in effect until further notice. The five council members voting to suspend protections were Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Raul Gonzales, Mauricio Galante, Rebecca Boxall, Long Pham and Bowie Hogg. Mayor Jim Ross sided with council members Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Barbara Odom-Wesley, Nikkie Hunter and Andrew Piel to vote to keep those protections in place.

Read this article at Dallas Voice - Subscribers Only

As Southwest considers expansion, Austin looks to draw airline with incentives

The Austin City Council is expected to vote on an incentive program with Southwest Airlines that could help the airline expand its footprint at the Austin airport. “As the company meets growth plans, it seeks to expand facilities and operations infrastructure to support new flight capacity and employment growth. Southwest, on its mission to find a suitable site for the business expansion, has pinpointed Austin as a potential viable location. However, there are multiple sites in competition, and therefore, is exploring State and Local incentives along with other cost drivers to make its selection,” council documents said. On Dec. 11, Council will vote on whether it will allow the city to move forward with pitching the airline an incentive program that would encourage it to hire locally, shift money toward child care and further Southwest’s involvement in the city of Austin’s newly created infrastructure academy.

Bob Jordan, CEO of Southwest Airlines Co., told ABJ earlier this year that the Dallas-based company aims to continue growing its operations in Austin, with plans that eventually could make ABIA its busiest airport in Texas. He previously said Southwest's plans could include more international long-haul flights and an increase in airline partnerships that Southwest operates out of Austin. Jordan also said ABIA’s expansion might make it feasible for the airline to add a passenger lounge in the planned new concourse. At the time, he also said it would be “logical” for Southwest to look at adding a pilot and flight attendant base for its Austin operations because the airline keeps growing in Austin. Southwest — already the dominant carrier at the airport — wants up to 18 gates at the airport, making it an "anchor tenant," as part of the airport's larger expansion plan, officials previously said. A new set of use and lease agreements with airlines is close to being finalized, an airport spokesperson recently said, and airport officials aim to provide an update in January that includes an updated cost of the facility expansion, which is expected to be higher than the original $4 billion figure.

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County Stories

Republicans turn to Patrick Von Dohlen in Bexar County Judge race

Candidate filing closed Monday evening for the 2026 midterms, setting the stage for a very different election than the last time most Bexar County offices were on the ballot in 2022. This time around, no elected Republicans signaled interest in the Bexar County judge race, leaving the party scrambling for a candidate until the final day of filing when social conservative activist Patrick Von Dohlen put his name in the hat. The blue county has long been tough for Republicans, but favorable political winds last election cycle lured then-GOP Commissioner Trish DeBerry (Pct. 3) out of a seat she’d just won to wage an uphill campaign for county judge. Even in a good year for the GOP, however, DeBerry took just 39% of the vote in her race against against Democrat Peter Sakai.

As the lone GOP filer for 2026, Von Dohlen will face the winner of a heated primary between two of Democrats’ best-known candidates, Sakai and former Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who will be fighting it out for their party’s nomination in the March primary. He’ll also be the top of the GOP’s county ticket in an election that features a hard-fought District Attorney race as well as other countywide offices and a number of judicial races. “He’s a former candidate on a few races, but you know what, I’m just so excited that he’s in there,” said Republican Party of Bexar County Chair Kris Coons. “We weren’t able to [field a candidate] in every race, but I tried very hard, because I think for us in Bexar County, that’s where we’ve got to start.” Even among fellow Republicans, Von Dohlen can be a polarizing figure.

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National Stories

Georgia Democrat flips a state House seat in district Trump won by double digits

Democrats continued their run of successes in special elections by flipping a state House seat in Georgia Tuesday, according to a projection from the CNN Decision Desk. The Democratic victory, in a district that voted for President Donald Trump by about 12 percentage points last year, comes ahead of next year’s critical midterms, when Georgians will vote in closely watched races for Senate and governor. Eric Gisler, a Democrat who owns a local olive oil store, will defeat Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest in the 121st House District, in the northeastern part of the state, near the college town of Athens.

Between regularly scheduled elections in Virginia and New Jersey and special elections held on newly redrawn maps in Mississippi, Democrats flipped about 20 state legislative seats on Election Day last month. Those victories came after Democrats flipped two seats in Iowa and one in Pennsylvania during special elections earlier in the year. Republicans still control a significant majority in the Georgia House, but Tuesday’s results come just a month after Democrats won two statewide elections to flip two seats on the state’s Public Service Commission. The district has been without representation since Republican Marcus Wiedower resigned at the end of October. The Democratic Party of Georgia congratulated Gisler in a statement Tuesday evening, “This isn’t just a win for Georgia Democrats – it’s a win for every family in Oconee and Clarke Counties who has been struggling to get ahead under 22 years of failed Republican leadership.”

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House Democrats add 5 seats to their 2026 battleground target list

The House Democrats’ campaign arm is adding five seats to its 2026 offensive battleground target list as recent election wins have made the party feel increasingly bullish about next year’s midterms. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is adding California’s 48th Congressional District, Florida’s 15th Congressional District, North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District and 11th Congressional District and Texas’ 35th Congressional District. Overall, the DCCC has 40 target pickup opportunities the group is eyeing next year. “The DCCC is confident we can win anywhere, and we are full speed ahead while Republicans are running scared,” DCCC chair Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said in a statement. “House Democrats have the better message, stronger candidates, and as the data shows, the American people are on our side.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Democrat Eileen Higgins’ victory in the Miami mayoral race on Tuesday, flipping the seat blue for the first time in nearly 30 years. Both parties viewed the race as a potential bellwether of the national mood ahead of 2026, though a mayoral race in an off-year election is not alone predictive of a midterm electorate. Recent elections have also offered warning signs for Republicans. Last week, Rep. Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.) won a special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District by 9 points despite President Trump winning the seat in 2024 by 22 points. Democrats also showed an impressive overperformance in a slew of elections last month.

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U.S. plans to scrutinize foreign tourists’ social media history

Travelers visiting the United States from countries like Britain, France, Germany and South Korea could soon have to undergo a review of up to five years of their social media history, according to a proposal filed on Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The change would affect visitors eligible for the visa waiver program, which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa as long as they first obtain electronic travel authorization. In a document filed on Tuesday in the Federal Register, C.B.P. said it plans to ask applicants for a long list of personal data including social media, email addresses from the last decade, and the names, birth dates, places of residence and birthplaces of parents, spouses, siblings and children. Under the current system, applicants from visa waiver countries must enroll in the Electronic System for Travel Authorization program.

They pay $40 and submit an email address, home address, phone number and emergency contact information. The authorization is good for two years. This move from C.B.P. follows similar actions by the U.S. government to conduct social media reviews for some visa applicants, including seekers of the H-1B visas awarded to skilled foreign workers, as well as applicants for student and scholar visas. It also follows the government’s pending plans to collect a new $250 visa integrity fee from many visitors, though visitors from visa waiver countries are exempt from that fee. The travel industry has pushed back on the visa integrity fee. In November, a coalition of more than 20 tourism and travel businesses signed a letter of opposition, citing concerns that the fee would discourage millions of prospective international visitors to the United States, including those traveling to events like next year’s World Cup. A travel industry official who spoke anonymously because his organization had not yet had time to review the proposal said C.B.P. did not brief industry stakeholders on the plan, which he called a significant escalation in traveler vetting.

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Australia launches youth social media ban it says will be the world's 'first domino'

Can children and teenagers be forced off social media en masse? Australia is about to find out. More than 1 million social media accounts held by users under 16 are set to be deactivated in Australia on Wednesday in a divisive world-first ban that has inflamed a culture war and is being closely watched in the United States and elsewhere. Social media companies will have to take “reasonable steps” to ensure that under-16s in Australia cannot set up accounts on their platforms and that existing accounts are deactivated or removed.

Australian officials say the landmark ban, which lawmakers swiftly approved late last year, is meant to protect children from addictive social media platforms that experts say can be disastrous for their mental health. “With one law, we can protect Generation Alpha from being sucked into purgatory by predatory algorithms described by the man who created the feature as ‘behavioral cocaine,’” Communications Minister Anika Wells told the National Press Club in Canberra last week. While many parents and even their children have welcomed the ban, others say it will hinder young people’s ability to express themselves and connect with others, as well as access online support that is crucial for those from marginalized groups or living in isolated parts of rural Australia. Two 15-year-olds have brought a legal challenge against it to the nation’s highest court.

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Voting by mail faces uncertain moment ahead of midterm elections

Derrin Robinson has worked in Oregon elections for more than 30 years, long enough to remember when voters in the state cast their ballots at physical polling sites instead of by mail. As the nonpartisan clerk of Harney County, a vast, rural expanse larger than Massachusetts, Robinson oversees elections with about 6,000 registered voters. Oregon has exclusively conducted elections by mail since 2000, a system he thinks works well, requires fewer staff and doesn’t force voters to travel through treacherous weather to reach a polling place. “As you can tell, I’m not an advocate for going back,” Robinson said.

Not everyone agrees. An Oregon Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation to end the state’s mail voting law, and organizers of a ballot measure campaign seeking to ban mail-in voting say they have gathered thousands of signatures. Across the United States, voting by mail faces a moment of uncertainty ahead of the midterm elections next year. President Donald Trump has assailed mail-in voting and vowed this summer to lead a movement to eliminate the practice, promoting baseless claims that mailed ballots are linked to widespread fraud. Some states are also reevaluating their mail-in voting laws, including shortening or ending grace periods that now require election officials to count mailed ballots that arrive after Election Day. The U.S. Supreme Court in November agreed to take a case that could end ballot grace periods nationwide. A decision by the justices late next spring or early summer striking them down could affect 16 states and the District of Columbia, potentially upending the rules of elections as states prepare to hold primaries ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

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Trump plans final interviews with Fed chair candidates in coming days

President Trump is planning to start his final round of interviews in the coming days with candidates to be the next Federal Reserve chair. Trump and some of his aides are scheduled to interview former Fed governor Kevin Warsh on Wednesday, according to senior administration officials. Other candidates, including Trump’s National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, are soon expected to meet with the president, the officials said. One of the officials cautioned that the interviews, similar to a recent round of expected meetings with Vice President JD Vance, could be canceled and postponed as the president continues to deliberate who he will announce to be Fed chair.

Trump’s team suddenly canceled interviews scheduled for last week with Fed chair contenders and Vance, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. Trump has said in recent weeks that he has already made up his mind and echoed that sentiment Tuesday when asked about the selection. “We’re going to be looking at a couple of different people, but I have a pretty good idea of who I want,” Trump said on Air Force One. The news of the coming meetings was earlier reported by the Financial Times. Warsh and the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, Trump teased that Hassett, the presumed front-runner for the job, was a “potential Fed chair.” Hassett deflected speculation that he would be the pick. Trump “makes his choice, and then he changes his mind, too,” Hassett said at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council event Tuesday.

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At State Department, a typeface falls victim in the War against "woke"

Secretary of State Marco Rubio waded into the surprisingly fraught politics of typefaces on Tuesday with an order halting the State Department’s official use of Calibri, reversing a 2023 Biden-era directive that Mr. Rubio called a “wasteful” sop to diversity. While mostly framed as a matter of clarity and formality in presentation, Mr. Rubio’s directive to all diplomatic posts around the world blamed “radical” diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs for what he said was a misguided and ineffective switch from the serif typeface Times New Roman to sans serif Calibri in official department paperwork. In an “Action Request” memo obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Rubio said that switching back to the use of Times New Roman would “restore decorum and professionalism to the department’s written work.”

Calibri is “informal” when compared to serif typefaces like Times New Roman, the order said, and “clashes” with the department’s official letterhead. A State Department official confirmed the document’s authenticity. Mr. Rubio’s directive, under the subject line “Return to Tradition: Times New Roman 14-Point Font Required for All Department Paper,” served as the latest attempt by the Trump administration to stamp out remnants of diversity initiatives across the federal government. Then-Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken ordered the 2023 typeface shift on the recommendation of the State Department’s office of diversity and inclusion, which Mr. Rubio has since abolished. The change was meant to improve accessibility for readers with disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia, and people who use assistive technologies, such as screen readers. Calibri, sometimes described as soft and modern, is typically considered more accessible for people with reading challenges thanks to its simpler shapes and wider spacing, which make its letters easier to distinguish. Mr. Blinken’s move was applauded by accessibility advocates.

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Just how monogamous are humans? Scientists break down how we compare with other animals

Humans are far more monogamous than our primate cousins, but lessso than beavers, a new study suggests. Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England analyzed the proportion of full siblings versus half-siblings across several animal species, as well as various human populations throughout history. Species and societies that are more monogamous tend to have a greater number of siblings that share both parents, while those that are polygamous or promiscuous produce more half-siblings.

The team of scientists led by Mark Dyble, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Cambridge, used a computational model and sibling data produced by genetic studies of humans and other animals to arrive at the estimated monogamy ratings. They reported their findings in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Wednesday. The researchers found that beavers had a monogamy rating of 72%, while humans clocked in at 66%, slightly higher than meerkats’ score of 60%. All three species arepart of what they call the “premier league” of monogamy. At the other end of the scale, dolphins and chimpanzees had a monogamy rating of just 4%, whilemountain gorillas came in at6%. “This is not the first study to use sibling proportions as a measure of monogamy, but it is the first to compare the rates in humans to other mammal species,” Dyble told CNN. Monogamy has long been considered a key factor in the social cooperation that has facilitated humans’ ability to dominate the planet, according to the researchers.

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Lead Stories

Crockett in for Senate, Veasey for Tarrant County Judge and match up between Allred and Johnson in North Texas

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s decision to run for the Senate has dramatically altered the landscape in North Texas’ redrawn congressional districts. Although U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch will seek reelection, she faces strong opposition from former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who ended his Senate bid on Monday. Rep. Mark Veasey, who represents a dramatically redrawn district, dropped out of the House race altogether after Dallas pastor Frederick Haynes III filed to represent House District 30. Veasey instead will run for Tarrant County judge. Allred represented District 32 for three terms before a 2024 Senate run ended his tenure. Johnson replaced him in 2025. Former League of United Latin American Citizens President Domingo Garcia, a former state representative who served on the Dallas City Council, said Monday he’s no longer considering a congressional campaign.

Johnson is running in District 33 because, though redrawn this summer, it leans heavily Democratic and is anchored in Dallas County. District 32, which Johnson currently serves, was changed to shed most of its Dallas County precincts and now extends into GOP-friendly East Texas. Her home was placed in District 24, which is represented by Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving. Veasey has represented District 33 since its inception in 2013. The new district sheds all of its Tarrant County precincts, and Veasey’s home is now in Republican-controlled District 25. That district is represented by Willow Park Republican Roger Williams. Veasey had been expected to seek reelection in nearby District 30, which Crockett is leaving to run for Senate. District 30 was redrawn and packed with Black voters. Haynes, who said early Monday he’ll run in District 30, is pastor of the 13,000-member Friendship-West Baptist Church. He is Crockett’s pastor and supported her congressional campaigns. Haynes returned to his Friendship-West pastoral duties in October after a temporary leave of absence for medical reasons.

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How Florida lost track of 30,000 students, a ‘cautionary tale’ for vouchers

After Florida cleared the way in 2023 for any family in the state to get a taxpayer-funded school voucher regardless of income, students signed up in droves. Enrollment in the voucher program has almost doubled to half a million children. But by the end of the 2024-25 school year, the program cost $398 million more than expected, according to a recently released report from Florida’s auditor general. And when students switched between public schools and voucher-funded programs, tax dollars did not move with them as lawmakers had promised. On any given day, Florida’s education department did not know where 30,000 students were going to school and could not account for the $270 million in taxpayer funds it took to support them, according to the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre-K-12 Education. The findings demonstrate that the bigger these programs get, the harder they can be to manage — putting billions of public dollars at risk as other states are poised to take part in a similar new federal program, observers said.

“This money was money the school districts should have received and never did until this all came to light,” said Norín Dollard, senior policy analyst and Kids Count director at the Florida Policy Institute, a think tank that has been critical of vouchers. “Maybe that could have been some more teachers, it could have been enhanced curriculum. It couldn’t happen because the funds were not there to do it.” With roughly 500,000 students and $4 billion in funding last school year, Florida’s school voucher system is the biggest in the country. It has two main programs: the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, which was created in 2001 and gives businesses a tax break for donating to nonprofits that administer voucher programs, and the Family Empowerment Scholarship. Florida’s auditor general found “a myriad of accountability challenges” with the Family Empowerment Scholarship that was created in 2019 to fund vouchers, known as education savings accounts, or ESAs, that can be used to pay tuition or other school-related expenses. It shortchanged Florida’s public schools by $230 million, providing warning signs for similar programs. “This is a cautionary tale for other states,” said state Sen. Don Gaetz (R), who supports the state’s voucher programs but has proposed an overhaul to the way they are run. “We cannot walk away from these problems. We can’t fail to pass remedial legislation, or these problems will get bigger, and the trust of taxpayers in this program will begin to diminish.”

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Gov. Abbott calls for Texas schools to allow TPUSA chapters or face action by state

Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on Texans to report schools interfering with the development of Turning Point USA-backed "Club America" chapters. The governor, alongside Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Turning Point USA senior director Josh Thifault, reaffirmed his support of the conservative youth organization and its chapters on Monday outside the Governor's Mansion. Abbott said complaints should be submitted to the Texas Education Agency, who should then take disciplinary action against schools preventing students from establishing a Club America or Turning Point USA chapter. "We all thank Charlie Kirk for spurring this movement," Abbott said of the alter Turning Point USA founder, who was assassinated during an event on a college campus in September. Abbott revealed he spoke with Kirk's wife, Erika Kirk, on Monday.

CBS Austin asked the governor if there have been any reports of schools refusing to allow a Club America chapter on their campus. The governor deferred to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, who said there have not been any reports. Abbott denied his support of Club America is an endorsement of a political party's influence in schools. "This is about values. This is about constitutional principles, this is about a restoration of who we are as a country," the governor said. The Texas Tribune previously reported that Morath met privately with Thifault in early November. It is unknown what the pair spoke about. According to Abbott, there are over 500 Club America chapters in Texas, more than any other state in the country. Rachel White, associate professor of Educational Leadership & Policy at The University of Texas at Austin, said the clubs are already federally protected from discrimination by schools. There's already federal precedent in place for public schools, any school that receives money from the government cannot discriminate against the introduction of student clubs based on religion." She pointed to Senate Bill 12, a recently-passed law in Texas that puts restrictions on certain identity-based extracurricular activities. She compared the tightening of rules on some organizations with the endorsement of Turning Point. "Honestly, this effort to have Club America in every high school is of the same vein. And so, this really is textbook diversity, equity and inclusion work," she said. A Turning Point USA representative recently spoke at a legislative hearing at the Texas State Capitol, and said the organization had a goal of being in every high school and college in the state.

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Behind Paramount’s relentless campaign to woo Warner Discovery and President Trump

Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison knew his latest bid for Warner Bros. Discovery was in trouble when the company’s CEO, David Zaslav, started ghosting him. Paramount had spent the morning of Dec. 4 finalizing its sixth bid to acquire all of Warner: an all-cash $77.9 billion offer. But Paramount was worried that Warner had already settled on their preferred dance partner: Netflix. “Just tried calling you about new bid we have submitted,” Ellison texted Zaslav. “I heard you on all your concerns and believe we have addressed them in our new proposal. Please give me a call back when you can to discuss in detail.” He didn’t hear back. Sensing trouble, Ellison followed up, saying Paramount had offered a package that covered all the issues Warner had raised, including the need for “strong cash value” and “speed to close.” “It would be the honor of a lifetime to be your partner and to be the owner of these iconic assets,” he texted, according to a regulatory filing.

On Friday, Ellison’s concerns were realized. Warner and Netflix announced a deal for the streaming giant to acquire the iconic Warner and HBO properties for $72 billion, a proposed merger that could radically reshape entertainment. Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a Trump ally, called the president after the Netflix deal was announced and told him the transaction would hurt competition, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the matter. An Oracle spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. During a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump’s ire, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has told people close to him that he wants new ownership of CNN as well as changes to CNN programming. The White House declined to comment. A White House official said they don’t comment on Trump’s private conversations. Not ready to give up, Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover effort for Warner, taking its case directly to shareholders. Ellison says his offer for Warner is a better deal for shareholders and more likely to pass regulatory muster. Paramount said its offer provides shareholders $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s.

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State Stories

Cuellar to get his Approps post back

House Democrats are set to restore Rep. Henry Cuellar’s (D-Texas) post as the party’s top lawmaker on a key Appropriations subcommittee, according to multiple Democratic sources. The move is expected to come this week, the sources said. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, sent out a note last week to Democratic appropriators asking if there were “any objections” to Cuellar returning as the ranking member on the Homeland subcommittee. DeLauro set a Tuesday deadline for those objections. If there are no such objections, DeLauro will tell the Democratic leadership that Cuellar’s return to the position was approved by unanimous consent. If there are objections, Democratic appropriators will vote on the issue, DeLauro said. Democratic appropriators are expected to meet Thursday.

Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) is the acting ranking member on the Homeland subcommittee currently. Cuellar had no comment at press time. Underwood’s office also didn’t respond to a request for comment. All this comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s controversial pardon of Cuellar, who was indicted along with his wife Imelda in May 2024 on an array of federal criminal charges, including bribery, money laundering and acting as a foreign agent. The Texas Democrat allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank over a years-long period. There was intense speculation that Cuellar would switch parties following his surprise pardon by Trump. But Trump lashed out at Cuellar on Sunday on Truth Social after the 70-year-old Cuellar registered to run for reelection as a Democrat: “Only a short time after signing the Pardon, Congressman Henry Cuellar announced that he will be ‘running’ for Congress again, in the Great State of Texas (a State where I received the highest number of votes ever recorded!), as a Democrat, continuing to work with the same Radical Left Scum that just weeks before wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in Prison – And probably still do! Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like.” Cuellar repeatedly told reporters that “nothing has changed” last week following the pardon, meaning he wasn’t changing parties.

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Dr. Frederick Haynes III, Friendship-West Baptist Church senior pastor, to run for 30th Congressional District

Dr. Frederick Haynes III, the senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church, has filed for the democratic primary 30th Congressional District, according to public filings. Haynes returned to leadership duties at the church last month after a medical leave. In the statement last month, Haynes — who has served as senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church for 40 years — said he felt reenergized and ready to continue building hope, justice, and healing. Texas' 30th Congressional District is currently represented by Jasmine Crockett, who launched her campaign for the Democratic Senate primary on Monday.

Haynes serves on the boards of the Conference of National Black Churches, National Action Network, and IC3 Church and Development Conference. He took over leadership of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's longtime civil rights organization, the Rainbow Push Coalition, in 2023, but resigned a few months later. Democrat Colin Allred announced Monday morning he is dropping out of the U.S. Senate race in Texas, hours before Rep. Jasmine Crockett filed paperwork to enter the Democratic primary for the race. Instead, Allred said he is going to file paperwork to run for a newly drawn Congressional seat in Dallas County, setting up a primary challenge with Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson. In the Senate, Sen. John Cornyn, who's seeking a fifth term, is in a very close contest with his two challengers, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Houston Congressman Wesley Hunt. A statewide poll of 1,097 likely 2026 GOP primary voters by Hunt Research of Dallas, which is unaffiliated with any of the campaigns, conducted Oct. 6-10 right after Hunt entered the race, shows Paxton with 28%, Cornyn 24% and Hunt at 19%. An internal poll released by Hunt's campaign, conducted between October 28-30, shows Cornyn at 26%, Paxton at 25%, and Hunt at 24%.

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Longtime Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack to challenge Mark Keough in Republican primary for county judge

Longtime Montgomery County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack announced Thursday he is tossing his hat in the ring to run against incumbent Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough in the upcoming Republican March primary. Mack, who has worked for the county since 1986, has served as justice since 2014. “For me, public service has always been a calling,” Mack said in a news release. “This county has shaped my life, and I’ve done everything I can to give that blessing back.”

During his Big Beautiful Birthday Bash Thursday, Mack said the reason for running is to build stronger unity, better communication and collaboration between county departments and leadership. He said county leadership needs to be focused on “protecting the public” rather than political interests. Keough, who has served as county judge for the last seven years, said his priority has always been public safety, including navigating the county through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and Winter Storm Uri. In 2024, Keough went toe-to-toe with Centerpoint, pushing for answers about the company’s slow progress in restoring power to thousands across the county after Hurricane Beryl. “We’ve delivered real results that have kept our community safe, strong and thriving,” Keough told the Chronicle. “My record stands on its own, and I’m working harder than ever to earn the support to continue serving the people of Montgomery County.” Mack said he knows the race for county judge will be competitive. “I may be out-endorsed or out-financed, but we will not be out-worked,” Mack said. The Republican primary is March 3. Early voting begins Feb. 17.

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Fort Bend County Judge KP George reports missing campaign funds

Fort Bend County Judge KP George has reported roughly $4,200 in missing campaign funds, according to a court filing in George's felony case. The embattled public official is facing two felony counts of money laundering and a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity. The details of the missing campaign funds were outlined in a court filing late last month, as first reported by the Fort Bend Star. Sign up for the Hello, Houston! daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox. Houston police have identified a person of interest who used to work for the Woodfill Law Firm, which is representing George as he battles his own criminal charges.

George reported the missing campaign funds in October, which include unauthorized transfers from his campaign account to an apartment complex, T-Mobile and Xfinity from July through September. The person of interest is not named in the court filings. Fort Bend County prosecutors have argued that attorney Jared Woodfill should be disqualified from representing George because one of his former employees is a person of interest in the missing funds investigation. Woodfill told Houston Public Media that the investigation into the missing funds is unrelated to George's criminal cases and is being handled in Harris County. George's misrepresentation of identity case is set to go to trial early next month. His money laundering trial is scheduled for February.

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Supreme Court lets stand ruling that local officials can remove library books

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a lawsuit over public library books in the Texas Hill Country, leaving in place a ruling that gives local governments and elected officials wide latitude to ban certain books from their shelves. The order means library patrons will have few, if any, avenues to reverse library-book removals in court. For decades, officials in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana were barred from removing library books "simply because they dislike the ideas within them” under a precedent set by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1995.But the appeals court overturned that precedent in May and found public library patrons have no right to receive information under the First Amendment.

In that 10-7 ruling from the full bench of the 5th Circuit, the majority said “no one is banning (or burning) books” by removing them from libraries because they're available elsewhere. The Supreme Court did not explain its decision on Monday, as is customary. The move is a critical blow for the plaintiffs, a group of Llano County public library patrons. Lead plaintiff Leila Green Little said the order “means we now live in a censorship state.” Anti-censorship group PEN America decried the Supreme Court’s decision, saying it allows state and local governments to tell people “what they can and cannot read.” “The Llano decision has already been used to uphold the devastating wave of book bans across the country,” Elly Brinkley, a staff attorney for the group’s free expression programs, said in a statement on Monday. “Leaving the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in place erodes the most elemental principles of free speech and allows state and local governments to exert ideological control over the people with impunity.” The defendants, who include Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham and the county’s library director, had argued that public libraries have no responsibility to “affirmatively assist other people’s efforts to obtain or access books,” and indeed that they are “supposed to discriminate based on content and viewpoint” when curating their collections. They urged the court to preserve the ruling from the 5th Circuit, in which Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee, wrote that "If a disappointed patron can’t find a book in the library, he can order it online, buy it from a bookstore, or borrow it from a friend.”

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Sen. Eckhardt announces campaign for Texas Comptroller

State Senator Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat, announced Monday morning that she will now run for Texas Comptroller, dropping her run for U.S. House District 10. Eckhardt’s campaign for Comptroller will focus on “rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending,” according to a press release from her campaign. That includes tackling Texas’ school voucher program, which “takes $1 [billion] away from public schools with no accountability,” the release says. “We need a Comptroller who will work to ensure every dollar is used in the best interest of everyday Texans, and who is not afraid to expose state leaders when they refuse to deliver affordability,” said Eckhardt in the release.

The position is currently held by Interim Comptroller Kelly Hancock, who took over after previous Comptroller Glenn Hegar resigned in July to become Texas A&M’s new chancellor. Hancock is also running in the Republican primary for the office against former State Senator Donald Huffines. Before running for Comptroller, Eckhardt served as the Travis County judge for five years and has 20 years of experience in government. She currently holds a seat as a state senator representing Travis County following her election in July 2020.

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Mike Hendrix ends campaign for the Texas House

Mike Hendrix, who announced in an interview with Dallas Voice in July that he was challenging District 105 incumbent state Rep. Terry Meza, a Democrat, today issued a statement announcing that he is discontinuing that campaign. Hendrix drew immediate criticism when he announced his campaign from long-time LGBTQ+ and Democratic Party activists for targeting an incumbent Democrat who they described as a hard-working, effective legislator and a staunch, long-time ally of LGBTQ+ Texans. Opponents alleged that Hendrix had misled people about his background, failing to acknowledge his work on behalf of numerous right-wing politicians known for targeting the LGBTQ+ community, including Michelle Bachman and Newt Gingrich.

They also noted that Hendrix was sued for defamation in 2020 after he and his PR firm at the time distributed GOP Primary campaign mailers for Skeet Phillips, linking Phillips’ opponent, then-incumbent Kaufman County Commissioner Ray Clark, to a man accused of molesting a child. The court dismissed claims against Phillips and another defendant in the case but ruled against Hendrix, ordering him to pay $774,700 to Clark. Hendrix, at the time he launched his campaign, was engaged to Cathedral of Hope Senior Pastor the Rev. Neil Thomas, and Hendrix was accused of using his relationship with the pastor to gain access to the church’s email address lists and using those lists to send campaign messages. Shortly after allegations against him began to surface, Thomas ended his relationship with Hendrix, and Hendrix “paused” his campaign to deal with what he said were health issues, including a cancer diagnosis. Today, Hendrix ended his campaign completely.

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Carrollton weighs potential options for leaving DART

Another Dallas Area Rapid Transit member city says it's not ruling out a withdrawal election from the transit agency. Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick told KERA the city hasn't come to a decision yet on whether or not to hold a withdrawal election, but said each city can choose how to deliver transit to its residents. "As you listen to some alternatives, hypothetically, if Carrollton were to make a decision to withdraw, we're looking to make sure that we can still meet the needs of the Carrollton residents," Babick said. He added that Carrollton is not yet in a position say it's "for or against" a DART withdrawal election.

The north Dallas suburb serves as a crucial junction for transit connections in North Texas, with three light rail stations and a stop on the Silver Line to Plano and DFW Airport. One of the stations, Trinity Mills, also connects passengers to Denton County Transit Authority’s A-Train commuter rail. Carrollton is one of seven member cities that were found to have paid more into the system in 2023 than they received in services. During a meeting Tuesday of the city's recently formed DART committee, Babick and other city officials heard from Carrollton's DART board representative Doug Hrbacek on the recent news that four other member cities will hold withdrawal elections this spring — neighboring Farmers Branch, as well as Plano, Irving and Highland Park. "I can tell you in terms of the one board meeting for this month that no action will be taken to address the concerns of the member city," Hrbacek told the committee. The committee also heard from Jared Moore, a representative of RideCo, a micro-transit company that partners with rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. He spoke about various options the city could choose for a possible “replacement” for DART.

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ICE targets Austin father of deported student, lawyer says

Federal immigration agents on Sunday morning appear to have attempted to arrest the Austin-based father of Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, the 19-year-old college freshman who was arrested at the Boston airport and promptly deported last month while trying to return home to Austin to surprise her family for Thanksgiving, according to an attorney for the family. Kristin Etter, a lawyer with the Texas Immigration Law Council, said Francis Lopez was washing his car in the alley behind the family’s home, on Austin’s eastern outskirts, and supervising his 2-year-old daughter when a plain white pick-up truck that had already driven around the block pulled up to the house. Lopez grabbed his scurrying toddler and motioned to the truck with his hand to apologize for her. That’s when an individual wearing a green U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vest got out of the truck and began running toward Lopez, Etter said.

The individual, whose vest also was marked with “ERO,” which stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations, appeared to be armed, Etter said. “It was clear they were targeting him,” Etter said, adding that she has not been able to confirm that it was an ICE agent. ICE declined to comment and referred the American-Statesman to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The alleged arrest attempt came after Lopez, 38, spoke to numerous media outlets about his daughter’s Nov. 20 arrest and subsequent deportation. The family brought Lopez Belloza to the United States as a child from Honduras eleven years ago, and eventually settled in Austin. Lopez Belloza had left Austin earlier this fall to study at the brick-rowed Babson College, a Massachusetts school known for its prestigious business program. The government said in court filings that Lopez Belloza and her mother had deportation orders, and that their immigration proceedings had ended in 2017. They deported Lopez Belloza just over 50 hours after her arrest, despite a stay from a federal judge. The government has argued in court filings that the order was moot since it had moved Lopez Belloza to Texas hours before the judge issued the stay in Massachusetts. It's an argument that legal scholars told the Statesman the case reflects a broader pattern of fast-tracked removals under the Trump administration designed to circumvent the courts.

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Houston ISD agrees to settle federal lawsuit with Bellaire HS parents who sued over preferred pronoun use

Houston ISD has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed by two Bellaire High School parents who sued the district earlier this year for allegedly continuing to use their child's preferred pronouns despite requests from the parents not to do so. A settlement agreement signed by the parents, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles and their attorneys was filed Friday in court, as first reported by the Houston Chronicle. The agreement had not been signed by a judge as of Monday afternoon, court records show. HISD agreed to direct staff at Bellaire, where the student is enrolled, to use pronouns that align with the student’s sex at birth. The parents agreed to "release, acquit and forever discharge ... any and all claims" against the school district, which is denying all claims and allegations made by the parents as part of the agreement.

"HISD agrees to direct all professional employees … assigned to BHS to address the [parents’] daughter only by her given name or a nickname based on her given name and by female pronouns while their daughter is a minor and enrolled in HISD," the agreement states. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on June 23, pertained to a student who had asked teachers to refer to them with masculine he/him pronouns. The parents claimed that upon discovering their child was using a different name and pronouns, they repeatedly spoke with various teachers and administrators to express their objection. The lawsuit was filed with assistance from Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit committed to “protecting religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, marriage and family, and parental rights,” according to its website. “Parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and health care of their children without fear of government interference," Kate Anderson, director of Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Parental Rights, said in a Monday statement released by the organization. Houston ISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither HISD nor Texas at large has any policies related directly to gender identity and preferred pronoun use. Multiple Houston-area school districts — Fort Bend ISD, Cy-Fair ISD and Katy ISD — have passed controversial policies regulating the usage of pronouns and requiring that parents be informed if their child identifies as transgender or asks to use pronouns that differ from their sex at birth.

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Tom Hicks: From teen DJ to Dallas titan who remade the soft-drink industry in his image

Thomas O. Hicks, a man of multiple career milestones, was a central figure in putting his native city on the map, helping Dallas evolve into the magnet for new businesses and residents it is today. The former teenage disc jockey with a self-professed fondness for the Bee Gees, who then became one of the definitive movers and shakers of high finance — died on Saturday. The University of Texas and University of Southern California grad established a Texas Business Hall of Fame-winning career that included ownership stakes in the Dallas Stars, the Texas Rangers and Liverpool Soccer Club. Together with former business partner Bobby Haas — who was content to retreat into relative obscurity before his death in September 2021 — Hicks used the alchemy of leveraged buyouts to spin the soft-drink market into gold — which he then used to invest in and promote his hometown professional sports teams.

Back in 1984, Hicks and Haas formed their eponymous firm with a nominal investment. Within four years, the duo took an equity investment worth $55 million in soft drink company Dr Pepper and 7Up, converting it into a payday worth over $1 billion. The two men “were the right two people at the right time in the right market,” Hicks told The Dallas Morning News in a 2021 interview, speaking about their five-year partnership. “We had unbelievable success. I will always look back at that with fond memories.” Once Haas departed the business, the rechristened Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst firm completed more than $50 billion in leveraged buyouts between its founding year and 2004. The role Hicks played in the development of American Airlines Center, where the Dallas Mavericks currently play, was instrumental in helping cement Uptown as one of the city’s hottest ZIP codes and a draw for upscale living, billionaire magnate Ross Perot Jr. told The News in an interview on Sunday. “That partnership we put together in the ’90s to build the arena… truly transformed the city,” said Perot, who also chairs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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‘They should have warned us’ says Rep. Curry at packed anti-data center meeting

Shock is giving way to organizing as opponents of a proposed 520-acre data center near Ross prepare for the Lacy Lakeview City Council’s first vote Tuesday to partner on the project. Some 100 residents from Ross, Lacy Lakeview and Greater Waco gathered at the Ross Volunteer Fire Department on Sunday to pool information and plan their next move. A related petition has amassed more than 1,700 signatures.

They were joined by State Rep. Pat Curry, R-Waco, and a representative from the City of Waco. Infrakey, the data center developer, is asking Lacy Lakeview to supply water and infrastructure to the data campus. Lacy Lakeview would annex the unincorporated site, which at full buildout is estimated to have a $10 billion tax value – more than 15 times the city’s current tax base. The company is also in discussions with McLennan County about possible incentives.The Lacy Lakeview council will vote at its 6 p.m. meeting Tuesday on a nonbinding memorandum of understanding that includes annexing the property into its city limits. The meeting is at City Hall, 501 East Craven Ave. Curry stopped short of rejecting the data center outright but said he would fight to get answers for affected residents. “I’m not here to defend it, I’m not here to be against it,” he said. Curry said he learned about the project from media reports. “I wish we had known about this in advance,” he told the crowd. “I’ve talked to several people in this room that had no idea this was coming, myself included, and that’s sad. They should have warned us.” He raised concerns about the data center’s water use, which has not been publicly disclosed, and called for Lacy Lakeview Mayor Charles Wilson to provide answers. “I’d love to challenge (Mayor Wilson) toe-to-toe,” Curry said, apparently unaware that the mayor was seated in the back. Then a voice from the crowd shouted, “He’s here!”

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Migrant families paint grim picture of life in Texas ICE detention facility, new court documents show

Immigrant families held at a detention facility in Texas describe prolonged stays, despondent children, limited access to potable water and agents offering money for families to voluntarily leave the country, according to new court declarations filed early Tuesday morning. The filings paint a portrait of the inside of the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility where, as of November, there were around 160 families who had either crossed the US-Mexico border or been picked up by authorities in the United States as part of the administration’s sweeping crackdown. Administration officials have boasted of thousands of arrests since President Donald Trump took office, often categorizing those targeted as public safety and national security threats. But among those taken into custody, at places like ICE check ins and vehicle checkpoints, are families who are undocumented.

Family detention, which expanded under former President Barack Obama, had been paused under the Biden administration before resuming this year. The Dilley facility – intended to be a residential detention center, not a criminal facility – is designed to house families, with a series of beige trailers with dedicated spaces for a library, gym and classroom. Children at Dilley range from infants to teenagers. But immigrant advocates and attorneys have routinely raised alarm over detaining children. “When we were at Dilley a few weeks ago, conditions of confinement and treatment of families appear to have worsened with families reporting horrific concerns, such as denial of critical medical care, worms and mold in the food that result in children becoming ill, and threats of family separation by officers and staff,” said Leecia Welch, deputy litigation director at Children’s Rights, who has been to Dilley six times this year. “Families tell us that their children are weak, faint, pale and often crying because they are so hungry,” she added.

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Black bear populations are bouncing back. Here's how these Texas towns are coping

In one of the most remote corners of Texas, Matt Hewitt is unlocking the door to a giant steel trap he's hoping will catch a black bear. "It's completely empty," Hewitt says, as he reaches for a bucket with bait – days-old glazed donuts and frozen cantaloupe. Hewitt, a researcher at the Borderlands Research Institute, affiliated with Sul Ross State University, leads a group that captures and collars black bears to try and get an idea of just how many are roaming the mountains and desert stretches of Far West Texas. And although it's too soon to say exactly how many bears there are, Hewitt believes "there's more than people realize." Historically, black bears were once the biggest predator to travel the region in large numbers, but overhunting and habitat loss led to their decline over several decades.

But in recent years, the number of black bears in West Texas have been on the rise: sightings in the state have jumped from nearly 80 in 2020 to at least 130 so far this year, according to state data. And in other states, researchers believe black bear populations are growing too. But in West Texas, for all the celebration of the bears' return to the wilderness, there are challenges and concerns as bears have ventured into neighborhoods, gotten into yards and posed a threat to livestock and pets. "I don't mind the bears coming back, we don't want them wiped out, that's for sure," said Pam Clouse, who lives in Alpine, an area that's seen a number of bear encounters in recent years. "You know, they were almost extinct." Clouse and her husband, Ken, both grew up in West Texas, and consider themselves wildlife enthusiasts. During drought years, the couple would sprinkle buckets full of corn on their yard and keep troughs of water on their property for wandering wildlife like deer and javelina. Recently, they removed the food and water at the suggestion of state officials, and have even electrified their fence, too — all in effort of keeping the bears away. But the bears are still coming, they say. "These bears are pretty large," said Pam Clouse, as she pulled up an image of a bear from a trail camera at their house. "They're probably about 4, 500 pounds if I had to guess."

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National Stories

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Republicans "terrified to step out of line" when it comes to Trump

It was completely unforeseen, a shocker: Marjorie Taylor Greene resigning. The warrior congresswoman, so dogged and fierce, leaving the field of battle, her alliance with President Trump shattered. Her video resignation statement last month — that she'll be leaving Congress a year before her term expires — came after President Trump said he would throw his support to someone else for her seat. She became famous, some would say infamous, with her incendiary insults and belief in conspiracy theories, such as 9/11 was an inside job and that the shooting at the Parkland School in Florida was staged. At one time, the president had no more ardent defender. But things soured over Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender accused of trafficking girls as young as 14.

Does Greene's defection signal a split in MAGA? Is she leaving politics for good? And exactly why is she leaving? In the interview, Greene said "It wasn't a decision that I came to lightly. But it was a very important decision for myself and also for my family. It was sudden. It was sudden. But a lot, a lotta things changed. I stood for women who were raped when they were 14 years old. And the president that I fought for for five years called me a traitor for that. And so that changed the landscape of things. Lesley Stahl asked if Trump run her out of town? "No. Not at all," Greene replied. "Actually, Lesley, it's more like this, is I said in my statement I will be no one's battered wife. And I meant it. And I won't allow the system to abuse me anymore." "You really feel abused?" Stahl asked. "You know, he did come after you pretty hard. He called you a 'lunatic.' I'm quoting. He said, all she does is 'COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN' in caps, and then he called you a "traitor." So he hit you, whacked you." In reply Greene said, "Yes. He did this in the same time span where President Trump brought in the al Qaeda leader that was wanted by the U.S. government, who is now the president of Syria. Then within a week, he brought in the Crown Prince, MBS, who murdered an American journalist. And then he brought in the newly elected Democrat Socialist mayor of New York. That was the time span that he called me a traitor."

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Trump administration announces $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers

The Trump administration announced $12 billion in one-time payments to farmers in the wake of this year's tariff hikes on Monday, primarily targeting farmers who grow crops such as soybeans and corn. The move was outlined during a White House roundtable event, featuring farmers affected as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Trump touted the program in relation to the revenue the government is taking in as a result of his sweeping tariff program and also referenced his popularity among farmers. "What we're doing is we're taking a relatively small portion of that, and we're going to be giving and providing it to the farmers in economic assistance. And we love our farmers," he said. "And as you know, the farmers like me, because, you know, based on, based on voting trends, you could call it voting trends or anything else, but they're great people."

The move comes as the administration looks to address economic concerns from key Trump constituencies as the tariff effects play out but also on the heels of a trying few years for row crop farmers. Prices for row crops such as corn and soybeans have fallen in recent years, according to the Farm Bureau, and prices for inputs have risen over time. However, tariffs have also driven costs up on those inputs, including machinery and fertilizer. The White House is calling the new policy the Farm Bridge Assistance program, saying it is intended to support farmers until Trump's economic policies, such as lowering some taxes and imposing stiff tariffs, take greater effect. "President Trump is helping our agriculture industry by negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade. Today's announcement reflects the President's commitment to helping our farmers, who will have the support they need to bridge the gap between Biden's failures and the President's successful policies taking effect," said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.

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Supreme Court appears poised to vastly expand presidential powers

Supreme Court justices seemed open Monday to overruling a 90-year precedent that has prevented presidents from removing members of independent agencies at will in a case that could reshape the balance of power within the federal government. At issue is whether President Trump can fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, whom Trump appointed in 2018, during his first term, to fill a Democratic seat on the Federal Trade Commission. President Biden appointed Slaughter to a second term, which was supposed to end in 2029. The court's conservatives pressed Slaughter's attorney, Amit Agrawal, on Humphrey's Executor, the 1935 precedent, and its relevance today. Chief Justice John Roberts said the precedent had "nothing to do with what the FTC looks like today." He said the FTC of that era "had very little, if any executive power," suggesting the agency had far greater power today.

Liberal justices pushed back against the Trump administration's argument that the executive possesses the authority to fire officials at will. "You're asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that the government is better structured with some agencies that are independent," Justice Sonia Sotomayor told Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the government's lawyer. The court's conservatives were friendlier to Sauer. Justice Samuel Alito asked Sauer to address Sotomayor's assertion: "You want to take a moment to address that?" he asked. "The sky will not fall," Sauer replied. "The entire government will move toward accountability to the people." In March, Slaughter received an email from the White House Office of Presidential Personnel informing her that she was being removed from office, effective immediately. She was told her "continued service on the FTC is inconsistent with [the Trump] Administration's priorities." Congress created the FTC in 1914 as a bipartisan, independent agency tasked with protecting the American economy from unfair methods of competition. By law, the five-member commission can have no more than three members of the same political party, and commissioners can only be fired for "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office."

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Trump to tout economic agenda in Pennsylvania as voters sour on costs

President Trump is set to travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to deliver a speech on the economy, a tacit acknowledgment that he and the White House must do more to address voters’ concerns about heightened costs for Americans. Trump has so far in his second term made sparingly few domestic trips to tout his agenda, traveling more internationally to meet a host of foreign leaders instead. But with the midterms on the horizon and Republicans struggling to sell their signature legislative accomplishment, the president is getting off the sidelines at home. The president has been hounded by questions about what he is doing to bring down costs since elections last month saw Democrats triumph in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere by running on a platform focused on affordability.

While Trump has repeatedly bristled at those questions, dismissing the idea of affordability as a “con job” manufactured by his opponents, his remarks on Tuesday are a reflection that the White House knows there’s work to be done. “Putting an end to Joe Biden’s inflation and affordability crisis has been a day one priority for President Trump,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. “Every Trump administration official has been playing their part over the past year to deliver on this priority, from slashing costly regulations to securing historic drug pricing deals – efforts that have cooled inflation and raised real wages,” Desai added. “Much work remains, but President Trump is highlighting the meaningful progress that his administration has made and will continue to make to turn Joe Biden’s economic disaster around.” The president is set to deliver remarks in Mount Pocono, Pa., which is located in Monroe County. That county has historically leaned Republican, but Trump last November became the first GOP presidential candidate to carry it since 2008, when he secured 50 percent of the vote there, winning it by just 1 point.

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How tariffs hit the brakes on America’s booming e-bike industry

Rad Power Bikes is on the verge of becoming the biggest casualty yet in the nation’s struggling electric bicycle sector, which saw its pandemic-era growth spurt blunted by tariffs, overproduction and slowing demand. The Seattle-based company recently notified Washington state officials that, barring a rescue deal, it could cease operations as soon as January. Like other domestic e-bike brands, Rad manufactures its products in Asia, with a network of U.S. shops responsible for a small amount of final assembly. But import duties under both the Biden and Trump administrations sent manufacturing expenses spiraling, the company has said, forcing it to absorb some costs and pass along others to consumers. Now a spate of battery fires may serve up the final blow for Rad: Last month, federal safety regulators issued an advisory affecting nine e-bike models because their lithium-ion batteries could unexpectedly ignite and explode. The company insists its products are safe.

Now Rad, which has long billed itself as the biggest e-bike brand in North America, is pushing up against the same market forces that helped push such rivals as Electric Bike Co. into bankruptcy and Juiced Bikes out of business. Tariffs are “stressing U.S.-based companies, in some cases past the breaking point, while not seeming to have much effect on foreign marketplace sellers who are doing business as usual,” said Matt Moore, policy and general counsel of the trade group PeopleForBikes. Motorized bicycles were largely a niche product until the 1990s and became common in Europe and Asia. Rad Power Bikes entered the fray in 2007, capitalizing on its lower price point; its bikes can retail from $1,000 to $2,000 in a market where e-bikes can easily top $5,000 or more. “They really were some of the first people to make [electric] bikes for the average person … they offered something that’s affordable, that’s approachable, that gets people out of cars and onto bikes,” said Justin Taylor, an e-bike reviewer and journalist with Electric Bike Report, who called Rad an “iconic” company.

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‘Intentional chaos’: Judge chastises HUD in dispute over homelessness programs

A federal judge on Monday chastised the Trump administration for withdrawing a blueprint outlining how programs aimed at helping homeless people qualify for federal funding an hour before the court hearing that was set to review its legality. The Notice of Funding Opportunity has been the subject of concern among housing advocates — including the National Alliance to End Homelessness, one of the plaintiffs that sued to stop the notice — who argued against cutting the funding that keeps thousands of Americans off the street. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s announcement of the withdrawal said it still intended to make “revisions” to the NOFO, but seemed even to catch its attorney — who couldn’t answer who had made the decision to withdraw it — off guard.

“Are we going to see another 2025 [Notice of Funding Opportunity] without the proper procedure in place tomorrow?” U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy asked the agency’s lawyer. She said that there is a process for “agency action and agency rulemaking,” explaining, “It’s not by tweets and it’s not by last-minute orders or last minute withdrawals.” “It feels like intentional chaos,” McElroy added. The Trump administration’s counsel argued the plaintiffs no longer had a case against the agency. “The [Temporary Restraining Order] is now moot because we’ve withdrawn the 2025 NOFO,” said HUD’s lawyer. “To the extent that plaintiffs were entitled to any relief on this emergency posture, which would have been the stay of the 2025 NOFO, they effectively already have that.” The plaintiffs disagreed.

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Alina Habba resigns as New Jersey's top prosecutor following disqualification, becomes Bondi advisor

Alina Habba, a fiery Trump loyalist, is stepping down from her role as top prosecutor in New Jersey after an appellate court found last week that Attorney General Pam Bondi improperly appointed her as U.S. attorney. Bondi announced Monday Habba would serve as the attorney general's senior advisor overseeing U.S. attorneys, while three Department of Justice officials are set to take on additional jobs overseeing various activities in the New Jersey court district in the wake of Habba's resignation. "The court’s ruling has made it untenable for [Habba] to effectively run her office, with politicized judges pausing trials designed to bring violent criminals to justice," Bondi said in a statement.

Bondi said the DOJ would "seek further review" of the appellate court's decision and that the department is "confident it will be reversed." Habba intends to return as U.S. attorney in New Jersey if that is the case, Bondi said. Habba served as President Donald Trump's personal defense lawyer before the president installed her this year as the temporary head of the New Jersey office. Once Habba's term in New Jersey expired, the administration took a series of unconventional steps to attempt to reinstate her, but a three-judge panel found last week that federal vacancy laws did not permit Trump and the DOJ to sidestep the Senate confirmation process to keep Habba in charge. Habba said in a statement of her new advisory position that her "fight will now stretch across the country" while the court battle over her appointment proceeds. "Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl," Habba said.

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A frustrated Congress pushes the Pentagon to produce its boat strike orders

The annual defense policy bill on track to clear Congress in the coming days would compel the Pentagon to provide lawmakers with the specific orders behind the strikes that the United States military is taking on boats in international waters, as well with unedited video of the attacks. The inclusion of the provisions, tucked into must-pass legislation that sets defense policy and provides a pay raise for U.S. troops, signals bipartisan frustration on Capitol Hill that members of Congress are being kept in the dark about crucial aspects of the operation. For months, the top Republicans and Democrats on the congressional national security committees have tried without success to compel the Defense Department to share critical information about the attacks, which the Trump administration says are targeting narco-terrorists bringing drugs to the United States.

The legislation aims to force the Pentagon to be more forthcoming. It would withhold 25 percent of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel budget if he failed to give the congressional national security committees a copy of the execute orders behind the strikes, or to outline how he planned to facilitate future briefings about the operation with lawmakers in accordance with federal law. The bill also would require that the Defense Department hand over to Congress “unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations” in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. Mr. Hegseth has posted edited footage of the strikes on social media, but has so far refused to share the full videos with lawmakers. Some senior members of Congress viewed video of the first strike on Sept. 2 in a classified briefing last week, but have not viewed unedited footage from any of the other 21 known strikes the Pentagon has carried out over the last three months. Similarly, while the Pentagon has provided lawmakers with summaries of the orders behind the attacks, officials have not provided the actual orders, known as EXORDs, as requested by the House and Senate defense committees, according to a spokesman for Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Lead Stories

Jasmine Crockett expected to launch Senate campaign ahead of candidate filing deadline

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett on Monday is expected to launch a Senate bid that will dramatically reshape the race for the seat held by Republican John Cornyn. If she files her candidacy for the seat, Crockett would join a March 3 Democratic primary field that includes former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas and state Rep. James Talarico of Austin. The winner of the Democratic nomination advances to a November general election showdown against the victor of the GOP primary that includes Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. The Democratic Senate primary will likely focus on which candidate is better suited to be the party’s standard bearer in the era of President Donald Trump. Polls show Democrats want a fighter to lead a fierce resistance to Trump and his policies, rather than someone focused on compromising.

“Voters are looking for someone who’s unapologetic in defending our values and who is plain spoken and knows how to speak the language of the everyday person,” said Kardal Coleman, chairman of the Dallas County Democratic Party. “All of them are going to be skilled campaigners and skilled communicators, but the person who can really exemplify what it means to be a Texas Democrat is going to have the most success.” Candidates have until 6 p.m. Monday to file for the March 3 primaries. Crockett will make an official announcement on her political future at 4:30 p.m. Crockett, 44, is in her second term representing District 30 in the Dallas area. She won the seat in 2022 after the late trailblazing Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson hand-picked Crockett as her successor. Before Congress, Crockett served one term in the Texas House. She got there by winning an underdog campaign against former state Rep. Lorraine Birabil, D-Dallas. In Congress Crockett is known for her unabashed criticism of Trump and his allies. She’s had spats with U.S. Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina that went viral.

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Trump’s firing spree gives Supreme Court the chance to remake government

President Trump’s firing spree at federal agencies has snowballed into a Supreme Court showdown over how modern American government should work. Dangling by a thread is the tradition that certain sensitive policy details—from regulating nuclear reactors to setting safety standards for consumer products—should be managed by bipartisan panels of technocrats, whose jobs are insulated from political pressure. In its place, the high court appears poised to enshrine a competing view championed by Trump: that presidents must have the power to dismiss any of these unelected experts for any reason—or no reason at all. That is the only way, proponents say, to cut red tape and ensure that regulators remain accountable to voters. “This case is at the heart of two conflicting visions for the presidency and how the government operates generally,” said Ilan Wurman, an expert on administrative and constitutional law at the University of Minnesota. “Given what we know of the justices’ prior views and decisions, it would be surprising if they didn’t rule in favor of robust presidential control of the administrative state.”

The court will hear arguments Monday in the case of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission fired by Trump in March. The justices are considering what might seem like a technical issue involving the constitutionality of longstanding federal laws that restrict the president’s ability to fire the leaders of independent agencies, including the FTC, the National Labor Relations Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But the court’s answer, expected by July, will matter far beyond the job security of bureaucrats at boards and commissions with an alphabet soup of initials. A broad victory for Trump will allow him to intensify his mission of directing those agencies to implement his deregulatory agenda, advance his political aims and even pursue retribution against his foes. It is all part of what conservative legal scholars call the unitary executive theory, the notion that the Constitution concentrates all the powers of the executive branch in the hands of a muscular president. In an interview from her home, where she now works on her case out of her basement, Slaughter said granting the president such unfettered power could have broad ramifications for the nation’s economy. “Congress set up these agencies to protect integrity and stability in markets, and to ensure that decisions—many of which involve economic policy—are being made by experts on the merits, rather than for political reasons or to do favors for the president’s allies or punish his enemies,” she said.

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New week, No new plan: ACA subsidies issue takes center stage

A discharge petition, several bipartisan proposals and a Senate vote that will undoubtedly fail: Lawmakers are scrambling this week to try to pass something that will extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. This week is seen as critical for addressing the subsidies, as the Senate is set to vote on a Democratic proposal — a vote that was scheduled as part of the deal to reopen the government. But Republicans say what Democrats are offering is a non-starter and there is no consensus or real momentum around any of the flurry of proposals flying around Capitol Hill right now. The one person who could potentially help move the needle is President Donald Trump, but he hasn’t helped lawmakers out much so far. He’s given them little direction on a health care plan, though he’s endorsed putting ACA subsidy funds into health savings accounts instead.

“We’ve been speaking in the Senate a lot — both parties in the Senate. Everyone’s got their ideas. We’re just trying to thread a needle to get to 218 and 60. That’s it,” said Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, one of the lawmakers who introduced legislation to deal with the expiring subsidies. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have proposed a clean three-year extension of the tax credits that Republicans say they won’t support. “Republicans have one week to decide where they stand … Any Republican who claims to care about premium increases on Jan. 1 has only one realistic path and that’s to support our simple, clean three-year bill for an extension. If Republicans block our bill, there’s no going back,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. Ryan Wrasse, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, called a clean extension “a wildly unserious proposal that has been repeatedly rejected.” “If enacted, the Democrats’ plan would allow people who make north of $500K per year to continue receiving these meant-to-be-temporary Biden COVID bonuses,” Wrasse said in a post on X.

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Trump waives Southwest Airlines fine for holiday meltdown

Ahead of the holiday season, the Trump administration just let Southwest Airlines off the hook for the remaining government payments of a record-setting $140 million fine brought by the Department of Transportation after the airline’s software meltdown stranded two million customers over Christmas three years ago. Late on Friday evening, the Department of Transportation posted a notice relieving Southwest from making its final $11 million payment for "significantly improving its on-time performance,” according to the department. The outstanding $11 million was nearly a third of the total $35 million fine that Southwest owed to the government, thirty times larger than any previous Transportation Department penalty for consumer-protection violations.

The rest of the $140 million penalty was either returned directly to customers harmed by the systemwide holiday meltdown in 2022 or set aside by the airline for future compensation to passengers, as mandated by the Transportation Department’s enforcement action. “DOT believes that this approach is in the public interest,” reads the Friday notice, amending the original consent order struck by the Biden administration. This move is just the latest rollback of Biden-era enforcement actions by Trump’s pick for Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who previously worked as a lobbyist for an airline trade association. In May, the department dropped a lawsuit against Southwest filed by the Biden administration for “chronically delayed flights” in violation of consumer protections and related laws. Under Duffy, the department has also revoked Biden-era consumer-protection rules ensuring customers receive automatic compensation for canceled flights and extensive delays. The enforcement rollbacks come amid extensive outside lobbying and pressure from the airline lobby. Airlines for America, the main industry association representing Southwest and other airlines, hired the influential MAGA-connected lobbying firm Ballard Partners at the start of the year to work on “aviation policy for domestic carriers.” White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Attorney General Pam Bondi both worked as lobbyists for Ballard.

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State Stories

West Texas measles outbreak cost $12.6 million, a study found

The United States is on the brink of losing its measles-free status in 2026 after eradicating the disease in 2000. The 2025 outbreak began Jan. 20 in West Texas. Gaines County had 414 confirmed cases of measles, with Terry County and El Paso County experiencing around 60. In total, there have been 1,828 cases in the United States in 2025, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed the first measles outbreak in Bexar County on July 2. A recent study found that an outbreak the size of the one that occurred in West Texas cost around $12.6 million. It costs around $58,600 for one person to receive care for measles in the hospital. “These outbreaks require extensive public health responses to mitigate, consume substantial hospital resources, and impose an economic and financial burden on state and federal budgets,” according to the study.

But more than just being a financial burden, measles threatens the health of communities. Symptoms present as a high fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and white spots in the mouth a few days after symptoms appear. Complications include ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia and encephalitis, or an inflamed brain. For kids who are 5 and younger, complications can be higher risk. It can lead to hospitalization, hearing loss and death. Eradicating the disease has been complicated by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spurring public mistrust in vaccines, firing experts at the CDC and constraining the ability for health departments to respond. To be fully immunized, children require two dosages, according to Metro Health. The first is given by 15 months old and the second by 6 years old. If you’re an adult and have no evidence of immunity, you can be administered one dose with your healthcare advisor deciding if a second dose is necessary. Even if vaccinated, you can still pass the virus along. The question will be if the outbreaks are linked. This is done by evaluating the genomes of the virus to see if it contains similar genetic information. It is a method that has been done for previous outbreaks like the COVID pandemic and AIDS epidemic.

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Texas State to play Rice in Armed Forces Bowl

The Texas State Bobcats are going bowling once again. The Bobcats are set to face Rice in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth. It is the third consecutive year the Bobcats have qualified for a bowl game after playing in the First Responder Bowl each of the last two seasons, which included a matchup against upcoming opponent Rice in 2023. The Bobcats finished the regular season with a 6-6 record, starting the season impressively with a 3-1 record through four games, but ultimately finishing with a lackluster 3-5 record in Sun Belt Conference play. This season was the Bobcats' last in the Sun Belt, as they are set to join the reformed Pac-12 Conference for the 2026 season.

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Texas A&M had to ‘kick a door down’ to make the CFP. Now, Aggies face difficult title path

There’s a multitude of worthwhile reasons to revisit Texas A&M’s early-season statement road win over Notre Dame after Sunday’s College Football Playoff bracket reveal. For one thing: It undoubtedly had a say in where the Aggies are seeded and why the Irish were controversially omitted from the 12-team field. For another: It’s a reminder of what A&M will need to do to capitalize on the opportunity now afforded to them. “I don’t think we were magically going to become a team where everything comes smooth,” A&M head coach Mike Elko said after his team’s 41-40 win at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. “We had to kick a door down.” The Aggies (11-1) kicked another down Sunday when they officially reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history and earned first-round home field advantage at College Station’s Kyle Field as the 12-team bracket’s seventh-seeded team.

The turbulence — or, at least, the potential for it — comes next. The playoff committee’s bait-and-switch decision to flip Notre Dame and Miami at seemingly the last second cost A&M a rematch with an Irish team that it beat to kick start a historic season. The Aggies will instead host the 10th-seeded Hurricanes (10-2) who, like A&M, beat Notre Dame by a single score earlier this year and sharpened their playoff resume because of it. The winner of that first-round game will play second-seeded Ohio State (last year’s national champion) in the Cotton Bowl Classic at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium on New Year’s Eve. The victor of that quarterfinal may have to play third-seeded Georgia (the SEC championship game winner) in the Fiesta Bowl one week later to clinch a trip to the championship game. Texas — the only team that beat A&M this season — lost to both Ohio State and Georgia earlier in the year. There are nine teams ranked ahead of the Aggies in ESPN’s Football Power Index. Three of them — Ohio State (second-best FPI rank), Georgia (sixth-best) and Miami (seventh-best) — are on their side of the bracket and would be first or second-round opponents. Per ESPN’s SP+ metrics, which are measured differently than their FPI figures, the Aggies and Hurricanes have an identical rating but both lag behind the Buckeyes and Bulldogs. Or, in other words, this ain’t Samford.

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Texas Tech beats BYU for Big 12 title, likely CFP 1st-round bye

Texas Tech's all-in bet just paid off. After an offseason of big dreams and bigger spending, the No. 4 Red Raiders secured their first Big 12 championship in program history Saturday with a 34-7 rout of No. 11 BYU. It was another dominant display from a 12-1 squad, unlike any seen in Lubbock, one that fuels even more confidence about a deep College Football Playoff run. After the confetti fell inside AT&T Stadium and coach Joey McGuire hoisted a trophy he had been chasing for four years, he fought back tears as he embraced billionaire board chair Cody Campbell, general manager James Blanchard, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and the many stakeholders who helped set up this program for a historic season. Together, they ended decades of frustration for a Texas Tech football program that hadn't won an outright conference title since 1955. When the Red Raiders built their trophy room as part of their $242 million new training facility, they reserved a space for a Big 12 trophy. In place of hardware, a small block rested on the trophy stand with one word printed on it: "BELIEVE."

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Austin's Paramount Theatre celebrates 110 years of community building

Since its inception in 1915, The Paramount Theatre has established roots in Austin as a safe haven for community members from all walks of life and interests. While the theatre has seen many changes in physical attributes and ownership, its presence as a community staple has remained strong throughout the decades. Jim Ritts, CEO and executive director of nonprofit Austin Theatre Alliance—which operates the theatre—said the milestone is an accomplishment for theatres nationwide, not just the local Austin community. He said it’s rare for a theatre to operate for over 100 consecutive years and remain in their same location without closing.“Us having been here since 1915, it means when we opened, we were in the middle of World War I,” Ritts said. “We survived the Spanish flu which killed tens of millions of people all over the world and we came back from World War II, and obviously this last bit of the pandemic. We have always been there for the community to be able to come together.” The theatre’s stage has crossed paths with artists from far and wide including industry stars such as Willie Nelson and Miles David to figures like Barack Obama and Harry Houdini.

The theatre is home to various annual events including South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, Austin Film Festival, ATX Television Festival and Moontower Comedy Festival. In addition to these larger-scale events, community members can find all sorts of entertainment hosted at the theatre from live podcasts and comedy to special movie screenings and musical concerts. With strong roots tied to a multitude of Austin communities, the space has become known as a hub for individuals of all backgrounds to find connection. Ritts said he has come across people who call the theatre “Austin’s church” because of its reputation as a gathering place. “They come together to be entertained, they come together to be to be informed, they come together to celebrate whether it's you know a first date, a marriage proposal, they've been married here, they've been eulogized here, they have been able to gather in a sense of community that I think is so incredibly important,” Ritts said.

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TCU football learns bowl destination, will face marquee opponent

TCU football is headed to San Antonio for bowl season. The Horned Frogs will face Lincoln Riley and USC in the Alamo Bowl at 8 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Alamodome. TCU (8-4) finished the regular season with wins over Houston and Cincinnati. The Trojans (9-3) finished No. 16 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. “I know our fans are very excited about this opportunity to play against USC, one of the great programs in all of college football,” coach Sonny Dykes said on Sunday. “We’re very excited about the opportunity go to San Antonio and stay in the state of Texas. It’s a fantastic bowl, I’ve had an opportunity to coach in it before, and I always felt like it was one of the top bowl games.”

The Horned Frogs’ bowl game will be on a bigger scale compared to last year, when they beat Louisiana 34-3 in the New Mexico Bowl. It’s an opportunity to end the year with a top-20 win over a marquee opponent from the Big Ten in a standalone game on ESPN. “You look at the history of this bowl, there’s a lot of eyes on this game,” Dykes said. “It’s in a great time slot, the day before New Year’s Eve, I would expect the game to be widely viewed which obviously helps in recruiting.” Assuming no opt-outs, the Trojans have plenty of star power with wide receiver Makai Lemon and quarterback Jayden Maiava. USC also has former TCU running backs coach Anthony Jones on staff. He was an integral part of TCU’s run to the 2022 national championship against Georgia as he helped develop Kendre Miller and Emari Demercado into NFL running backs. Riley’s younger brother, Garrett, also previously served as Dykes’ offensive coordinator at SMU and TCU in 2022 before departing for Clemson. Riley said the Trojans are also excited to face the Horned Frogs and the game will have a special meaning to him due to his relationship with Dykes.

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Texas Longhorns left out of playoffs after starting the season ranked No. 1

At the start of the college football season, everyone expected a team from Texas to make the playoffs. A couple teams did, but not the one fans expected. The Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Tech Red Raiders have a chance to win the national title. The Texas Longhorns, the top-ranked team in the country at the start of the season, will not. As a consolation prize, the Longhorns will play the University of Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31 in Orlando. A&M will host a first-round game against Miami on Dec. 20. Texas Tech, winners of the Big 12 Conference, get a first-round bye and won't play until New Year's Day as they await the winner of the Oregon/James Madison game.

The Aggies were the surprise team of the year in the Southeastern Conference. Preseason polls had the team finishing eighth. And while the Aggies only beat one team that finished the year ranked, that early-season win against Notre Dame propelled A&M up the national rankings. Similarly, Texas Tech was not a favorite to win the Big 12 at the start of the season, but the Red Raiders spent millions of dollars compiling their roster, with reports saying it was among the most spent across all of college football. For the Longhorns, it was a preseason of high hopes, from a No. 1 ranking to a predicted Heisman-winning quarterback in Arch Manning. But the team stumbled from the top spot to being unranked after losing to powerhouse Ohio State and a struggling Florida team in the first five games of the season. The team did rally, with wins over playoff-bound Oklahoma and Texas A&M, but a blowout loss to Georgia in November proved to be too much to overcome in the team’s hope to slip into the playoffs.

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Facing future water shortages, Williamson County invests in $500K study to find solutions

Williamson County is working with local cities and other water providers to study the area's long-term supply needs. Representatives from the county and several cities, including Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander and Round Rock, recently came together to form the Williamson County Water Group. "The county is not a water provider, and we're officially not in the water business," said Williamson County Judge Steve Snell. "But I think we can provide leadership in that conversation as we bring our cities and our water providers together to create a better future for Williamson County." The group's first task includes helping oversee a recently approved $500,000 study, which is intended to assess the county's long term water and infrastructure needs.

"We can't do anything without water," Snell said. "We all need to work together and use our expertise." Snell likened the new county-led coalition to the Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority — a partnership between the cities of Cedar Park, Leander and Round Rock to treat and distribute water from the Lower Colorado River Authority. Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said this partnership is in everyone's interest. "What we've realized is that for us to achieve our long term goals as a community — particularly economic development — all our neighbors have to thrive as well," he said. "There is no version of Cedar Park as successful as it should be without all our neighbors being equally successful." Several cities, including Georgetown, have struggled to keep up with customers' water demand in recent years.

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ICE deported Austin college student before court could intervene, filing shows

Late last month when immigration agents detained 19-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Belloza before she could board a flight home to Austin, her family – and her lawyer – were stunned by how quickly the federal government moved to deport her. Just two days after being arrested at Boston Logan International Airport, the college student was shackled and placed on a flight back to her native Honduras where she remains as she searches for a new university. The deportation unfolded so rapidly that she had already been flown to Texas by the time her lawyer could file an emergency motion to stop it – a stay a federal judge approved within minutes.

A new court filing obtained by the American-Statesman explains how the U.S. government is justifying the legality of the lightning-fast deportation. Legal experts say the filing, and the case at large, represents one of the increasingly common and troubling tactics the Trump administration is using amid its ongoing immigration crackdown. It's an approach that relies on speed and geography to shield its actions from judicial review. In the Wednesday filing, the federal government argues the court that granted Lopez Belloza’s habeas petition lacks jurisdiction because she was not physically in the state of Massachusetts when the petition was filed. It also contends the habeas petition – intended to free someone from unlawful custody – is moot because she is no longer detained. “When the petition was filed on November 21, 2025 at 6:00 p.m., petitioner was in ICE custody in Texas,” the filing states. “As petitioner’s arrest and detention were lawful, and petitioner has been released from custody, this court should dismiss the petition rather than transfer it to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.”

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SMU draws $60 million donation to launch energy studies, honors programs

The Dallas-based O’Donnell Foundation is committing $60 million to Southern Methodist University to help the school advance its vision of becoming a national leader in energy studies amid the industry’s boom in North Texas. The donation is the second-largest gift in the university’s history after a $100 million commitment from the Moody Foundation in 2019 created the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. The late Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. started the O’Donnell Foundation in 1957, focused on bolstering math, science and arts. The investment from the prominent benefactor with a record of hefty donations to Texas schools will help SMU recruit top faculty, create an honors fund and launch an energy studies program. The university is touting a new “Energy Science, Innovation and Enterprise” program as the first of its kind, due to its interdisciplinary approach. The program will prepare students for careers in energy, oil and gas, entrepreneurship, and more.

Bringing in faculty across the university’s business, engineering, and humanities and sciences schools, the program will fuse various subjects associated with the energy industry, from economics to engineering to public policy. The school’s goal is to develop top-notch leaders who can steer the industry from any angle. “The energy sector is so front and center here, not only in the state of Texas, but also in Dallas,” SMU President Jay Hartzell told The Dallas Morning News in an interview Friday. “Energy is an area where we thought it was really ripe for an opportunity.” Texas produces about 25% of the nation’s wind energy, 25% of its fossil fuels and 5% of its nuclear energy. Texas employs about 990,100 workers in energy-related fields, according to the latest U.S. Energy and Employment Report. While the state is “the epicenter” of a global energy industry, Dallas is uniquely positioned to lead it, said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute at SMU, who helped envision the new program. The region is home to automotive companies, oil and gas businesses, and major financial institutions. “Dallas has all of that, and that’s why SMU is really the ideal place to locate a program like this,” Bullock said. Students in the new program will learn not only the technical skills, but also the soft skills, like leadership, integrity and work ethic, Bullock added. That’s especially important in an industry like energy, where leaders are required to manage big teams early in their careers, he said. SMU will also start an honors program in the foundation’s name, called the O’Donnell Academic Honors Fund. Selected students will gain a “distinctive educational experience,” studying closely with faculty members and in small classroom sizes. The “highly personalized” honors program will focus on students in “high-impact fields,” starting with those majoring in biology, chemistry and applied physiology and health management. Those programs will access four years of seed funding to recruit faculty and a career counselor. Twenty students from each chosen major will receive scholarships and career advising. Scholars in their third year will have professional experiences that align with their major, like assisting in research or internships. The offerings will start in fall 2026. The programs support SMU’s new strategic plan, set to be unveiled in spring 2026. The donation will allow the school to pursue its “relentless focus” on attracting top-tier students and faculty members, Hartzell said.

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‘Anger’ could sway the Houston City Council runoff as election day approaches

In November, trial attorney Alejanda Salinas celebrated with supporters as she emerged at the front of the 15-candidate field for a vacant at-large city council position with more than 21% of the vote. "I’m a first-time candidate running against someone with strong name ID," Salinas said on election night. "We had a lot of work to do over the past four months, and the position we’re in, I think, is a testament to the work of not only myself, but the hundreds of people that have volunteered on our campaign." Former District D council member Dwight Boykins had name recognition, but Salinas had money — with more than $500,000 in contributions to his $140,000.

About 140 of her 560 donors were from out of state — including many of her coworkers at the Susman Godfrey law firm, who gave more than $200,000. "I’m fundraising from the exact same people all of my opponents are — their family and friends and people that believe in their campaign," Salinas said. "All that reflects is that I’ve lived all over this country, and I want to take the lessons I’ve learned from all over the country and make this city better." "You know, I don’t have a law firm to give me all that money," Boykins said, "but it doesn’t matter." Salinas ran on a decidedly progressive platform for voters dissatisfied with status quo politics — advocating for legal action to fight against the Republican-controlled state government and calling for multimodal transportation options. Boykins, by contrast, positioned himself as a pragmatic moderate operating outside partisanship.

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Texas judge denies Klein ISD’s request for dismissal from Title IX lawsuit

A Texas judge has denied Klein Independent School District’s request to be dismissed from a Title IX lawsuit stemming from allegations that a former teacher organized a sex trafficking ring and helped her son traffic students. Kedria Grigsby, 42, a former cosmetology teacher at Klein Cain High School, was arrested last year and charged with three counts of compelling prostitution of a minor and three counts of trafficking a child, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Grigsby is accused of assisting in her son's efforts in recruiting teen runaways from the school district for prostitution. Desma Darden, a former special education teacher at the high school, filed a federal lawsuit in February alleging she told two of her supervisors and the sheriff’s office in March of 2023 that her teenage daughter had been subjected to human trafficking and prostitution by Grigsby and her son, Roger Magee.

She resigned two months later after being told she would be terminated if she didn’t do so, according to Darden’s lawsuit. United States District Judge Alfred Bennett, in an order last month, partially granted an October motion that sought each party’s dismissal, including the school district, former Klein Cain High School Principal Nicole Patin, and Deedra Davis, an employee relations staffer in the school district. While Bennett’s order dismisses Title IX allegations against Patin and Davis, it maintains that the school district can not be dismissed from the lawsuit, which is just one of several federal lawsuits stemming from the alleged sex trafficking ring. Bennett’s order also affirms magistrate judge’s recommendation on the case, according to court documents. According to the order, Patin, Davis and the school district had argued that the magistrate judge improperly relied on “nonexistent facts” to conclude that the victim sufficiently alleged a Title IX claim against the school district. Bennett forfeited their objection and said that the court agrees that the victim adequately established criteria for a Title IX claim, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in public schools and retaliation against those who file the complaints.

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National Stories

Mom of Karoline Leavitt’s nephew rejects White House narrative of her ICE arrest

From her confinement in a remote detention center in Louisiana, Bruna Ferreira recounted all the ways she said she has tried to maintain a friendly relationship with the family of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. After all, Ferreira shares a child with Leavitt’s brother. The Brazilian immigrant selected Leavitt to be her son’s godmother. She signed off on her son’s trip to the White House Easter egg hunt this spring. And she said she “moved mountains” to ensure he could attend Leavitt’s wedding in January. Arrested Nov. 12 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ferreira, 33, said it is insulting to sit in orange prison scrubs facing possible removal to Brazil after spending most of her life in the United States while the Trump administration paints her as a criminal. She is being detained for being in the United States illegally, a civil violation, after overstaying a visa when she was a child.

“I asked Karoline to be godmother over my only sister,” she said Thursday in a video interview with The Washington Post. “I made a mistake there, in trusting. … Why they’re creating this narrative is beyond my wildest imagination.” Since her arrest, the White House media office has portrayed Ferreira as an absentee mother who had not been in Karoline Leavitt’s orbit in years. The White House issued a statement that said Ferreira had not spoken to Leavitt in years and that Ferreira had never lived with her son. The White House also shared a Department of Homeland Security statement that called Ferreira a “criminal,” with a previous arrest for “battery,” though it has not responded to repeated requests for supporting documentation. Court records, family photos and Ferreira’s account tell a different story. Ferreira said she met Michael Leavitt at a nightclub. They fell in love, got engaged and had a child, living together in New Hampshire. Their relationship fell into turmoil and instead of marrying, they broke up in 2015. Through the years they have shared caregiving responsibilities for their son, now 11, according to Ferreira and court records. While it is not uncommon for the White House and DHS to make disparaging statements about undocumented immigrants, Ferreira said she was offended by their remarks. Her son is a Leavitt, and she said she sees that side of the family frequently while visiting the boy or cheering him on at school or in sports. Karoline Leavitt, who Ferreira said was once like a younger sister to her, is among the most vociferous champions of President Donald Trump’s campaign to deport millions of immigrants.

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Why New Orleans became Trump’s newest immigration target

Federal agents began immigration enforcement operations in metro New Orleans on Wednesday morning, as part of what the Department of Homeland Security is now calling Operation Catahoula Crunch (previously dubbed Swamp Sweep). Across the city there were reports of agents gathering, arrests at home improvement stores, and closed businesses in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods — scenes reminiscent of recent blitzes in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina.For some, New Orleans may not seem an obvious next location. The city is home to only about 27,000 foreign-born people, according to U.S. Census data, well below Charlotte’s 150,000 and Los Angeles’ 1.5 million. Metro New Orleans is about 10% foreign-born, below the national average of 14.3%.But in Louisiana, the Trump administration finds a unique combination of recent legal changes, enforcement-friendly politics and a large immigration detention infrastructure that could make the operation smoother than other efforts. Louisiana is also the first location where this type of crackdown is taking place under a state law that makes it a crime — even for local officials and police — to interfere with federal law enforcement.

Administration officials like top Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino have generally been coy about how they pick locations, citing “intelligence” and telling reporters they wouldn’t “telegraph potential operations.” For many New Orleans area leaders, the selection looks like a choice made for political theater. President Donald Trump has relished any opportunity to flex federal muscle in locales where his politics are unpopular, and New Orleans is a historic Democratic stronghold.“What we are seeing unfold in our community is not public safety; it is a political stunt wrapped in badges, armored vehicles, and military uniforms,” U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat who represents most of the New Orleans metro area, said in a statement on Tuesday.As a matter of timing, the most obvious advantage for the administration came two days before federal immigration agents began staging for operations in southern Louisiana, when a federal judge formally ended New Orleans’ nearly 13-year-old policing consent decree. For most of that time, the court-monitored agreement tightly regulated how the New Orleans Police Department could engage with immigrants, banning officers from asking about immigration status, compiling records related to immigration or participating in civil immigration enforcement. The consent decree made the city a de facto “sanctuary city” in many ways, but by court order, rather than city ordinance as in Chicago and Los Angeles.

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Another instructor removed by University of Oklahoma amid protest over student’s failing grade

Another instructor at the University of Oklahoma has been removed amidst the controversy over one student’s failing grade. The most recent educator to be removed from the classroom allegedly told students that they would be excused for attending Friday’s protest of the removal of the teaching assistant at the heart of the controversy. The move was first reported by OU Nightly, which explained that the instructor told students she would excuse any absence for attending the protest. When asked by a student if attending a counter-protest would qualify, the instructor reportedly said it had to be an organized protest.

There were no such protests on Friday, according to OU Nightly, and the student told the student-run outlet that he filed a complaint with the university. Director of First-Year Composition Dr. Roxanne Mountford called the lecturer’s attendance policy “inappropriate.” A statement from the university said the instructor “allegedly demonstrated viewpoint discrimination by excusing students who intended to miss class to attend a protest on campus, but not extending the same benefit to students who intended to miss class to express a counter-viewpoint.”

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Violent threats pile up as Indiana Republicans confront pressure from Trump on redistricting

Spencer Deery’s son was getting ready for school when someone tried to provoke police into swarming his home by reporting a fake emergency. Linda Rogers said there were threats at her home and the golf course that her family has run for generations. Jean Leising faced a pipe bomb scare that was emailed to local law enforcement. The three are among roughly a dozen Republicans in the Indiana Senate who have seen their lives turned upside down while President Donald Trump pushes to redraw the state’s congressional map to expand the party’s power in the 2026 midterm elections.

It’s a bewildering and frightening experience for lawmakers who consider themselves loyal party members and never imagined they would be doing their jobs under the same shadow of violence that has darkened American political life in recent years. Leising described it as “a very dangerous and intimidating process.” Redistricting is normally done once a decade after a new national census. Trump wants to accelerate the process in hopes of protecting the Republicans’ thin majority in the U.S. House next year. His allies in Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have already gone along with his plans for new political lines. Now Trump’s campaign faces its greatest test yet in a stubborn pocket of Midwestern conservatism. Although Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and the House of Representatives are on board, the proposal may fall short with senators who value their civic traditions and independence over what they fear would be short-term partisan gain. “When you have the president of the United States and your governor sending signals, you want to listen to them,” said Rogers, who has not declared her position on the redistricting push. “But it doesn’t mean you’ll compromise your values.” On Friday, Trump posted a list of senators who “need encouragement to make the right decision,” and he took to social media Saturday to say that if legislators “stupidly say no, vote them out of Office – They are not worthy – And I will be there to help!” Meanwhile, the conservative campaign organization Turning Point Action said it would spend heavily to unseat anyone who voted “no.” Senators are scheduled to convene Monday to consider the proposal after months of turmoil.

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Libraries and museums get federal funding back after Trump cuts

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is reinstating all grants that were previously terminated by the Trump administration. A short statement posted on the agency's website Wednesday reads, "this action supersedes any prior notices which may have been received related to grant termination." The IMLS is the independent agency in charge of awarding federal grant funding to libraries and museums across the country. Earlier this year, it was the target of one of President Trump's executive orders, which led to the termination of grants that had been previously awarded. Library insiders said the move particularly hurt small and rural libraries, with limited access to other sources of funding.

In response to the EO, attorneys general in 21 states filed a lawsuit against the administration, and in November a Rhode Island District Court judge ruled that the Trump administration's actions were unlawful. Now, libraries and museums across the country will have access to money that had been stuck in a months-long limbo. American Library Association President Sam Helmick said in a statement that the reinstatement was a "massive win" for libraries in all states. "We are breathing a sigh of relief, but the fight is not finished," the statement reads. "The administration can appeal court decisions. Congress can choose to not fund IMLS in future years. ALA calls on everyone who values libraries to remind their Congressmembers and elected officials at every level why America's libraries deserve more, not fewer resources." NPR has reached out to IMLS representatives for comment. Generally speaking, federal funding only makes up a small portion of the budget for public libraries. But it does help pay for workforce training and pilot programs, and it supports basic library services such as internet access in rural libraries. The IMLS awarded $266 million in grants to museums and libraries in 2024.

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Tributes, not politics, play center stage as Trump hosts the Kennedy Center Honors

The three living members of the rock band KISS walked onto the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Sunday night. No makeup, and sporting tuxes instead of spandex, but they were swarmed by the press like the rock stars they are. Other big names across entertainment were in the building, too — Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester Stallone, George Strait and Michael Crawford. But it was President Trump who was the star of the show. It was the Kennedy Center Honors – the first since Trump installed himself as chair of the center's board. Trump said he was closely involved with picking the honorees, and Sunday, he became the first president to host the awards. Earlier this August, Trump broke from tradition and announced the names of the honorees. "This is the greatest evening at the Kennedy Center," he told the crowd from the stage, before joking about renaming the building the Trump-Kennedy Center.

For the most part, the presenters stayed away from politics and shared personal stories related to the honorees. Actor and producer Sylvester Stallone was the first star to be honored. Composer Bill Conti took the stage to perform selections of his score from the movie Rocky. The actor Kurt Russell reminisced about working with him on Tango and Cash. "When Sly gives you a love tap, it's like a sledgehammer hitting your shoulder," he said. Actor Kelsey Grammer took the lead in honoring Phantom of the Opera star Michael Crawford. Ahead of the show, Grammer said the Kennedy Center Honors was an event he's respected and participated in for the last few decades, and he praised Trump's interest in investing in the center. "The word is, it was pretty much falling down," he said on the red carpet. "So I'm really excited about it." On stage, most presenters stayed away from commenting on politics. Grammy-winning singer Vince Gill honored country superstar George Strait. Dubbed "The King of Country Music," Strait is one of the best-selling country musicians of all time. Gill performed the George Strait song "Troubadour." Also honoring Strait were country-duo Brooks and Dunn and Miranda Lambert.

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How abortion access became a major sticking point in the GOP healthcare fight

As congressional Republicans weighed how to approach the fight over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, powerful antiabortion groups saw an opportunity. Led by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, antiabortion activists began to pressure Republicans during the fall government shutdown to further restrict abortion coverage from insurance plans made cheaper by ACA subsidies at the heart of the dispute. The activists’ warning was simple: Extending subsidies without such limits was a line Republicans must not cross to keep social conservative support in next year’s midterm elections. “If you demotivate the pro-life voters and tell them we don’t have something to offer you, it is a disaster to the Republican Party,” said Frank Cannon, chief political strategist at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Those lobbying efforts are how abortion access became a sticking point as Congress faces a critical deadline next week to extend the subsidies before Dec. 15, the end of the open enrollment period for ACA coverage that takes effect in January.

The popular healthcare subsidies expire at the year’s end, and conservative activists are intensifying their campaign on Republicans to ensure that the money isn’t used to indirectly fund abortions. A clash over abortion adds another layer of complexity to the continuing debate over reforming or ending the subsidies, which benefit about 20 million Americans, and further imperils the narrow prospects of reaching a deal. Republicans were already inclined to let the subsidies lapse, given longtime conservative opposition to the Obamacare healthcare law. Democrats secured a promise from Republicans to hold a vote on healthcare by the second week in December in exchange for voting to end the 43-day shutdown. President Trump’s advisers recently began drawing up a healthcare plan that included a two-year extension of the subsidies, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) warned the White House that most House Republicans were opposed to continuing them. “I think the Republican conference really wants to find a path forward to take care of people that have no place else to go to get their health insurance,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R., S.D.). But he cautioned, “We have never, as Republicans, ever voted to use taxpayer money to fund abortions, and we’re not going to start now.” The healthcare law, which broadened insurance access primarily through the creation of new health exchanges and an expansion of Medicaid, has been a top target of conservatives since its passage more than 15 years ago. Republicans have tried and failed to repeal the law in several high-profile fights.

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Lead Stories

Released 911 calls reveal desperate pleas and tragic outcomes during Texas Hill Country flood

Many of the voices were frantic and desperate. A few were steady and calm amid mounting, frightening danger, and in some cases, inescapable doom. They came from families huddled on rooftops to escape rising, swirling waters, mothers panicked for the wellbeing of their children and onlookers who heard people yell for help through the dark as they clung to treetops. One man, stuck high in a tree as it began to break under the pressure of the floodwaters, asked emergency dispatchers for a helicopter rescue that never came. Their pleas were among more than 400 calls for help across Kerr County last summer when devastating floods hit during the overnight hours on the July Fourth holiday. The recordings of the 911 calls were released Friday. The sheer volume of calls would overwhelm two county emergency dispatchers on duty in the Texas Hill Country as catastrophic flooding inundated cabins and youth camps along the Guadalupe River.

“There’s water filling up super fast, we can’t get out of our cabin,” a camp counselor told a dispatcher above the screams of campers in the background. “We can’t get out of our cabin, so how do we get to the boats?” Amazingly, everyone in the cabin and the rest of campers at Camp La Junta were rescued. The flooding killed at least 136 people statewide during the holiday weekend, including at least 117 in Kerr County alone. Most were from Texas, but others came from Alabama, California and Florida, according to a list released by county officials. One woman called for help as the water closed in on her house near Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp for girls, where 25 campers and two teenage counselors died. “We’re OK, but we live a mile down the road from Camp Mystic and we had two little girls come down the river. And we’ve gotten to them, but I’m not sure how many others are out there,” she said in a shaky voice. A spokesperson for the parents of the children and counselors who died at Camp Mystic declined to comment on the release of the recordings. Many residents in the hard-hit Texas Hill Country have said they were caught off guard and didn’t receive any warning when the floods overtopped the Guadalupe River. Kerr County leaders have faced scrutiny about whether they did enough right away. Two officials told Texas legislators this summer that they were asleep during the initial hours of the flooding, and a third was out of town. Using recordings of first responder communications, weather service warnings, survivor videos and official testimony, The Associated Press assembled a chronology of the chaotic rescue effort. The AP was one of the media outlets that filed public information requests for recordings of the 911 calls to be released.

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Jasmine Crockett scrambles Democrats as she weighs a last-minute Texas Senate run

Jasmine Crockett has two cashier’s checks made out to use on Monday: one to submit if she files for reelection for her US House seat, the other to jump into the already competitive Texas Democratic primary for US Senate. Her down-to-the-wire indecision, she knows, is driving even her staff crazy. She’s invited hundreds of people to an announcement event Monday that’s scheduled 90 minutes before she needs to submit one of the checks. Asked when she’ll decide, Crockett told CNN in an extensive interview on Friday between working the phones and meeting with supporters back home, “Hopefully, it will be early that day.” “I just thank God to be in a privileged position to the extent that I have choices,” Crockett said.

For the last week, Crockett was making phone calls that left people on the other end thinking she sounds not just like a Senate candidate, but one very much trying to arrange the pieces around her, according to several people familiar with the conversations. She asked Colin Allred, her former House colleague making a second Senate run after losing in 2024, to drop out and run for governor instead as part of a slate that would also have Rep. Joaquin Castro run for state attorney general. She’s frequently cited a poll, including to James Talarico, the state representative who entered the Senate race in September, that shows her in strong shape, though people familiar with that poll say its conclusions are drawn from a sample of just 600 people. Crockett and Rep. Marc Veasey, a fellow Dallas Democrat dealing with the gerrymandered breakup of his current seat, have already discussed sequencing on Monday for him to file in her district shortly after she submits her Senate paperwork.

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Trump on Cuellar running as Democrat after pardon: ‘Such a lack of loyalty’

President Trump on Sunday offered more insight into his decision to pardon former Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife Imelda, who were both indicted last year on bribery charges, but criticized the former congressman for opting to run as a Democrat in 2026. “Only a short time after signing the Pardon, Congressman Henry Cuellar announced that he will be ‘running’ for Congress again, in the Great State of Texas (a State where I received the highest number of votes ever recorded!), as a Democrat, continuing to work with the same Radical Left Scum that just weeks before wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in Prison – And probably still do!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like,” the president continued. “Oh’ well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”

Cuellar filed to run for re-election shortly after Trump announced the pardon last week. The Hill reached out to Cuellar’s office for comment. Trump, in his Sunday post, reiterated his position that Cuellar was unfairly targeted by former President Biden and his administration over the Texas Democrat’s criticism of the White House’s immigration agenda. “The Dems mercilessly went after Henry with everything they had!” Trump wrote. “They were looking to destroy him, his lovely wife, his two young daughters, and anyone close to them.” The president said that a letter from the Cuellar daughters, Christina and Catherine, prompted this decision to issue a pardon. In March of last year, the Justice Department indicted the Cuellars on 14 counts, alleging the congressman accepted payments from an oil company owned by the Azerbaijan government and a Mexican bank.

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Angst turns to anger in Hollywood as Netflix hooks Warner Bros.

In October, when Warner Bros. Discovery hung a “For Sale” sign on itself, Hollywood was sad. The megaproducer Larry Gordon likened the feeling to a death in the family. In group WhatsApp chats, screenwriters used words like “heartbreaking” and “tragic.” Now that a sale has been announced, with Netflix striking an $83 billion deal for the Warner Bros. studio and its sibling streaming service, HBO Max, a different emotion is washing through the entertainment capital: Hollywood is mad. Jane Fonda raged against a deal in a letter to an entertainment trade news publication, calling the end of a stand-alone Warner Bros. “an alarming escalation in a consolidation crisis that threatens the entire entertainment industry, the public it serves and — potentially — the First Amendment itself.” Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Cinema United, a trade organization that represents 30,000 movie screens in the United States, called the Netflix acquisition “an unprecedented threat” and vowed to fight it. “Theaters will close, communities will suffer, jobs will be lost,” Mr. O’Leary said, noting Netflix’s policy of giving movies only “token” releases in theaters. (Shares in publicly traded theater chains, including AMC Entertainment, IMAX and Cinemark, fell as much as 8 percent on Friday.)

“This merger must be blocked,” the Writers Guild of America, which represents more than 12,000 screenwriters, said in a statement. “The world’s largest streaming company swallowing one of its biggest competitors is what antitrust laws were designed to prevent.” The Teamsters’ motion picture division also demanded that “all levels” of government “reject this deal.” Netflix insisted on Friday that it would honor the Warner Bros. business model — that it would continue to release movies in theaters for exclusive runs. “It’s not like we have this opposition to movies into theaters,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-chief executive, said on a conference call with investors. “Right now, you should count on everything that is planned on going to the theater through Warner Bros.” to “continue to go to theaters,” Mr. Sarandos added. But many people in Hollywood viewed his comments with extreme skepticism. (“Key words: ‘right now,’” one agent said.) As recently as April, in response to a question at the Time100 Summit about declines at the overall box office, Mr. Sarandos said: “What is the consumer trying to tell us? That they’d like to watch movies at home.” He also called theaters “an outmoded idea” for most people. Entertainment workers in Los Angeles — camera operators, producers, hairstylists, writers, actors, set designers, editors — have already been struggling with a contracting job market. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, two union strikes, an exodus of production to cheaper locales and the rise of artificial intelligence tools, tens of thousands of workers have been laid off by Hollywood companies since 2020.

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Trump struggles to persuade Americans to ignore affordability issues

President Donald Trump has said drug prices are falling by as much as 1,500 percent, a mathematical impossibility. He has declared himself “the affordability president,” while dismissing the affordability issue as “a con job by the Democrats.” Trump also vows that good times are coming. He has predicted that gas prices, which now hover around $3 a gallon, will plummet to $2. He has promised Americans $2,000 refund checks from the revenue raised by tariffs. He has suggested that “in the not-too-distant future,” no one will have to pay income tax. This flurry of sometimes extravagant claims comes amid a growing Republican fear, fueled by recent election results, that high prices could set the stage for a Democratic sweep in next year’s midterms. So far, there is little evidence that Trump’s urgent attempt to shift the economic storyline is working.

“Any Republican who refuses to admit we have an affordability problem is not listening to the American people,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) said. “It’s real because the American people think it’s real. I cannot overstate that — in a free country it’s the people who define what is real, not the politicians.” Gingrich said Republicans need to quickly adopt an “affordability agenda” and argued that Trump should dedicate his next State of the Union address to the subject. “Psychologically, he hates to admit being in a hole,” Gingrich said. “His whole career is built around forcing the positive.” Trump’s plight is a striking turnabout. In last year’s campaign, Trump scored political points by highlighting Americans’ inflation concerns, and President Joe Biden faced the almost impossible task of convincing voters they were not as bad off as they thought. Strategists of both parties note that Trump — who has often seemed to defy the laws of politics — is struggling with the affordability issue as he has with few others. The president shrugged off criticism after he accepted a luxury plane from a foreign country, pardoned unsavory figures and demolished a third of the White House, for example — episodes that might be devastating to another politician. This seems different. Alarm bells have gone off for Republicans since Democrats swept last month’s off-year elections, then performed better than usual in Tuesday’s House race in a bright-red Tennessee district. A Democrat could capture the Miami mayor’s office next Tuesday in heavily Republican Florida.

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State Stories

Tom Hicks, former owner of Rangers and Stars, dies at 79

Tom Hicks, the Texas businessman and philanthropist who owned two Dallas-area professional sports franchises and an English Premier League soccer team, died Saturday. He was 79. Spokesperson Lisa LeMaster said in statement that Hicks died peacefully in Dallas surrounded by family. Hicks owned the NHL's Dallas Stars from 1995 to 2011, winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. He also owned baseball's Texas Rangers from 1998 to 2010, leading them to three American West Division titles and a World Series appearance. In 2007, he acquired a 50% stake in Liverpool. "Being shoulder to shoulder with him was always about more than ballparks and stadiums, though," Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. "It was about personal respect, trust and friendship. We shared a lot of miles together, and I'll miss him greatly. My heart goes out to his family."

Hicks co-founded Hicks & Haas in 1984 and helped reshape private equity and investing strategy. He served on the University of Texas's board of regents from 1994 to 1999. "Tom Hicks was an innovative businessman and a pioneer in private equity," fellow Texas businessman Ross Perot Jr. said in a statement. "He combined his commitment to business and sports through his ownership of the Stars and the Rangers." Hicks is survived by his wife of 35 years, Cinda Cree Hicks, and his six children -- Thomas Ollis Hicks Jr., Mack Hardin Hicks, John Alexander Hicks, Robert Bradley Hicks, William Cree Hicks and Catherine Forgrave Hicks. His children released a joint statement, saying: "Of everything he accomplished in his remarkable life, Tom Hicks's most cherished title was, 'Dad.' No matter the trials and tribulations he faced in life, he was constant in his generosity and love for his family. He remains a guiding force for our family, and we are deeply honored to continue expanding his legacy. Although we are devastated by this loss, we are profoundly grateful to have been his children."

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Brianna Aguilera's family: APD 'got it wrong'

Attorney Tony Buzbee is calling for the investigation into the death of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera to be reopened with a new investigator, saying the Austin Police Department’s handling of the case has been “sloppy,” “unprofessional,” and based on a conclusion formed “within hours” of her death. He said if APD will not reassign the case, he'll ask the Texas Rangers to take over. Buzbee held a Friday news conference in downtown Houston alongside Aguilera’s parents, who said the police investigation contradicts details they’ve learned and leaves major questions unresolved. Later on Friday after the news conference, Austin police released a statement, saying they stand by the information they've released in the case and said it does remain an open investigation.

The news conference came one day after Austin police released new information saying the evidence “does not point to criminal activity” in Aguilera’s death and that investigators believe she took her own life after falling from a 17th-floor apartment balcony early on Nov. 29. Police also said a deleted digital suicide note was recovered from her phone, and it was written days before her death. “From the moment this call originated… at no time did any evidence point to this being anything of a criminal nature,” APD Det. Robert Marshall said in Thursday’s media briefing. But Aguilera’s family rejected that conclusion. Her mother said the investigation was “lazy” and full of “inconsistencies,” and Buzbee described the circumstances as “very suspicious,” arguing that police “created more questions than answers.” “We refused to believe that this young woman committed suicide,” Buzbee said, adding that Aguilera “was not suicidal” and had no history of self-harm.

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Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett will not run for reelection after Supreme Court upholds congressional map

Longtime Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett will not run for reelection after the U.S. Supreme Court decided that Texas could move forward with its newly drawn congressional map in the 2026 midterm election. The new map eliminates one of Travis County's two Democrat-held seats. The redistricting would pit Doggett and Democratic Rep. Greg Casar against each other. Doggett previously said if that was the case, he would not run. “I will continue working with the same urgency and determination as if next year were my last, which in public office it will be,” Doggett said in a statement Friday. “After that, I will seek new ways to join my neighbors in making a difference in the only town I have ever called home.” Doggett's announcement comes after weeks of court battles.

In November, a Texas three-judge panel ruled the new maps were based on racial gerrymandering and ordered the state to use the maps drawn in 2021. Gov. Greg Abbott quickly appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where Justice Samuel Alito allowed the state to temporarily reinstate the map while the court made its decision. The Supreme Court released its decision on Thursday. Alito, writing for the majority, said the district court “had failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature." The court also said the lower court “had improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal balance in elections.” Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Kagan, in writing the dissent, said the court’s stay "ensures that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution." The Texas Legislature passed the new congressional map earlier this year in a special session after President Trump said he wanted five more Republican seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. This ruling increases the GOP’s chance of maintaining a majority in the House of Representatives, which could help further Trump's agenda.

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U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson files in District 33

Despite a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing Texas to move forward with its newly-redrawn maps for the 2026 midterm elections, Congresswoman Julie Johnson has announced that she has filed to run for Congress in the newly-redrawn District 33. Johnson was first elected to Congress in 2024 in District 32. That District has been stretched extremely eastward, at the behest of Donald Trump, to encompass a wide swathe of voters likely to be more conservative and flip what had been a securely blue seat to red. District 33, currently represented by Democratic Congressman Mark Veasey, had included parts of Fort Worth but was redrawn to be entirely in Dallas County. District 30, currently represented by Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett whose residence was gerrymandered out of District 30, now stretches more west into Tarrant County, and there have been some suggestions from political pundits that Veasey will run in that district.

But his decision hinges on Crockett’s plans; she has set a campaign announcement for Monday, Dec. 8, just before the filing deadline and is expected to announce at that time she will be running for the U.S. Senate. Johnson, in announcing her decision to run in District 33, said she is “disappointed” in the Supreme Court’s decision to pause the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling that the Texas maps were racially gerrymandered, and that she thinks “their decision is wrong.” But, she added, “we have to live with it and move on.” Johnson said she believes “People have a lot confidence in my ability to do this job,” and encouraged voters to “Get engaged. Recognize that politics does affect you.”

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Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons running for County Judge Tim O'Hare seat

Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons announced today in Arlington that she is seeking to run against County Judge Tim O'Hare. She has butted heads with O'Hare often since she joined the commissioners court in 2022. Simmons says she is running for county judge because she believes the current court is too focused on partisan fighting. "There are so many inefficiencies from IT infrastructure to the jail to MHMR and behavioral health care that need to be addressed," Simmons said. "I need it to be addressed professionally, and it's time that we we take a real look at what's happening in this county and work to improve those things and stop all the the political partisanship stuff and get to work."

The Democrat led the Arlington NAACP for more than a decade before she joined the commissioners court in 2022. Simmons repeatedly has confronted O’Hare on a number of issues including jail accountability at the sheriff’s office, meeting decorum — and most recently on the county’s redistricting efforts. Earlier this year, the Republican majority on the court voted to approve redistricting maps drawn up by the conservative-leaning law firm Public Interest Legal Foundation. Tarrant County’s southeastern regions saw the most change. Simmons alleged the new map discriminated against Black and Latino voters. Citizens and advocacy groups suing the county claimed the maps violated people’s voting rights .O’Hare argued the map was legal and did not violate racial gerrymandering laws. Both lawsuits were dismissed earlier this month, meaning the new maps will go into effect.

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‘Golazo:’ North Texas reacts to slate of World Cup teams coming to town

The owner of Euless’ Argentina 163 restaurant hopes he’ll have to change the establishment’s name next year. The reason for that, owner Joaquin Franco said, is because the ‘163’ in the restaurant’s name represents the number of major soccer titles won by the Argentinian national team: the Copa America 16 times and the World Cup three. If Argentina wins the 2026 FIFA World Cup, its fourth, the name of the restaurant won’t be accurate anymore. And the journey to that possible fourth title? It’ll start in Franco’s backyard: Argentina will play two of its opening matches next summer at AT&T Stadium, FIFA announced on Saturday morning. For Franco, the possibility of having Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi in North Texas is “unthinkable” and “almost like a dream,” he said. A massive picture of Messi cradling the World Cup trophy hangs inside the restaurant.

Beyond an increase in business at his restaurant, Franco said, he really hopes some visiting Argentinians, maybe even members of the squad, stop by to eat. “One of our biggest dreams that we have is to meet the national team and for Messi to come here and eat and hopefully meet him one day,” Franco told NBC-DFW. The food is supposed to taste like home, Franco said, and chief among his recommendations is the restaurant’s milanesa — a cut of beef or chicken, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried. Across the metroplex, at Dallas staple The Londoner Pub, founder and owner Barry Tate said the phones were ringing off the hook all morning. Tate, who speaks in a thick British accent despite having been born in Wichita Falls, founded the pub on Lower Greenville Avenue in 1990. The Londoner didn’t show soccer matches for the first year of its existence, Tate said. But customers came in asking, and there was no way to find matches on television. “We had to get one of them big satellite dishes, about 30 or 40 foot across, and we would televise the games,” Tate said. “They came in six hours’ time difference, but it didn’t matter to the people — they just wanted to get in and watch it.” Mitchell Droz, the manager on duty at The Londoner on Saturday morning, said he’d even received a call from a British newspaper after the news broke that England’s national team would also be playing matches in D-FW.

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Redistricting forced a Calif. GOP congressman to weigh a Texas move. Here’s why he’s not

California Rep. Darrell Issa says he was asked by Texas colleagues to consider moving to Dallas to run for Congress after lawmakers in both states created a midterm scramble by redrawing congressional districts. But in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Issa explained why he’s staying put — and urged fellow California Republicans facing tough new districts to do the same. “I’m not giving up on California, and hopefully none of my colleagues that have been drawn into tough districts are going to give up. I’m hoping they all run and preferably not against each other,” Issa told the AP by phone. California Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim have already announced they will run against each other in a new district that includes parts of Riverside and Orange counties, combining some of their existing districts. Republican Reps. Doug LaMalfa and Kevin Kiley, who were also drawn into more difficult districts, have said they plan to run for reelection.

President Donald Trump sparked the nationwide redistricting battle by urging Republicans in Texas to redraw their congressional lines with the hopes of picking up five more seats. California Democrats responded by creating new maps designed to gain five seats for their own party, an effort approved by voters. Other states have since followed, but federal courts have blocked or altered some plans. New congressional maps are typically drawn once a decade after the Census comes out. The next maps are due to be created in time for the 2032 election. “I think that redrawing districts in between censuses is inherently unconstitutional,” said Issa, who refrained from criticizing Trump, his close ally, for pushing the effort. Facing tougher reelection odds, Issa said the Texas delegation approached him, noting that some members “saw merit in almost the poetic justice of ‘We’ve created additional seats, we need to fill them.’” “Out of respect, you don’t just blow off your colleagues. You say, ‘Okay, I’ll, you know, I’ll give it due consideration,’” Issa added. Issa was eyeing Texas’ 32nd District, which is northeast of Dallas. While a number of candidates have filed to run for the seat, none of them is as high-profile as Issa.

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After years of fighting Texas, EPA approves national park pollution plans

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday approved Texas' plans to take no new action against visible air pollution plaguing national parks — a sharp break from the agency's long-standing demands for the state to make top polluters follow tougher standards. Critics worry the move could strip a key federal tool to compel major polluters like coal plants to update their pollution control technology, protecting public health as well as visibility in beloved parks like Big Bend. The EPA’s decision followed Trump-appointed administrator Lee Zeldin's promises since March to narrow the pollution reduction effort known as the Regional Haze Program.

Under the Trump administration, the EPA now says that aspects of the Regional Haze Program strengthened under President Barack Obama were not necessary to improve air quality. Even with its regional haze commitments in limbo, Texas' emission reductions over the past two decades "far exceeded the reductions and improvements" contemplated in the state's plans, the EPA filing said. Houston-based air quality experts — including Rice University atmospheric scientist Daniel Cohan — disagree. Cohan has frequently called the haze program the “most important air pollution rule you’ve never heard of.” With this latest decision, Zeldin's EPA approved the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's reasons for not taking action against many major Texas coal plants that would have been required to make changes like adding new sulfur dioxide controls. TCEQ representatives did not answer questions about the state agency’s reaction to the change.

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He’s an unapologetic fascist who ‘despises’ democracy. He still wants you to vote for him.

“If a fascist is merely someone who opposes democracy, then let me be clear: I oppose democracy — and have always opposed democracy,” Jason Lee Van Dyke wrote. That was a part of a lengthy response I received after I’d emailed the North Texas lawyer to ask a few questions because on Nov. 11, he filed paperwork to become a Republican candidate for the open Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1 seat in Wise County. I wrote about Van Dyke for The Barbed Wire back in August, breaking the news that the attorney — who has a white nationalist tattoo, a history of involvement with far-right extremist groups and of using racist, and threatening language — was working as a court-appointed defense attorney for primarily clients of color. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw a Facebook post announcing he intended to run for public office.

His candidacy was first reported in the Wise County Messenger, but the article didn’t include his associations with far-right extremist groups, the $100 million libel lawsuit he once filed after being called a Nazi and a pedophile, or the alleged “assassination plot” that killed his accuser-slash-legal-opponent. Nor did it include the fact that Van Dyke once pleaded no contest to making a false police report and was sentenced to 24 months’ deferred adjudication. Considering that history, as a reporter, it seemed in the best interest of voters that I write an update on Van Dyke’s new political aspirations — and his political views. So, I sent over an email asking about his platform and his X account, where he has repeatedly declared himself a fascist, in addition to posting racist threats and slurs, including the n-word and an image of a noose. He replied with his campaign platform, and a noted objection: “With respect to your other questions, your last article proved that you aren’t going to tell the truth anyway so — while I am happy to discuss my platform and my candidacy — your other questions are a waste of my time.”

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Austin EMS had plans to make calls more efficient. Prop Q's failure puts those plans on hold.

A six-person team of Austin-Travis County EMS medics and Austin firefighters counted to three before they hoisted a 78-year-old man onto a gurney outside his home in Southeast Travis County. The man had fallen outside his home three days earlier and was able to crawl inside. He said he called 911 for help after he realized his strength was not coming back enough to pick himself up off the ground. Medics treated him in the back of an ambulance, hanging IVs, taking his blood pressure and pulse. The medics also checked for additional injuries after seeing the man couldn't bend one of his knees. The ambulance then took him to a hospital.

But the emergency services department said this call could have been answered with a smaller team and vehicle — a model it wants to move toward. EMS Commander Selena Xie said these calls — when a patient needs medical attention but not necessarily an ambulance — are one of the most common types ATCEMS gets. Xie, who is running for a seat on the Austin City Council against District 8 incumbent Paige Ellis, said life-threatening situations like heart attacks, strokes and car crashes make up about 10% of calls to EMS. Regardless of the nature of the call, an ambulance staffed with medics responds, she said. ATCEMS Chief Robert Luckritz said that may not be the best use of resources. He said the department has other programs, including basic life support ambulances, mental health responders and single unit responders, that can provide care with less people and smaller vehicles. Luckritz said expanding those programs could help reserve ambulances for potentially life-threatening calls. But those expansions are not going to happen anytime soon, after Austin voters rejected Proposition Q, a property tax increase that would have added $110 million to the city's budget. "We know that these programs would not be overnight programs," Luckritz said. "We still have to deal with the staffing issues that we are facing and we still have to deal with filling the seats in the new programs that we've expanded in our department. But Prop Q would've been a long-term transition to those programs."

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Remembering David Richards, 1933-2025

On November 13, surrounded by family and listening to Guy Clark songs in the capital of the state on which he left such an enormous mark, David Richards left us at the age of 92. How to capture the life of such a man in such a small space? The obituary his daughter, Ellen Richards, wrote follows David and Ann Richards from law school in Austin to Dallas, where David joined the Mullinax & Wells law firm, then back to Austin, leaving behind what David would later describe as a right-wing hysteria that made Dallas “a scary place.” In Austin, he joined Sam Houston Clinton’s law practice—the office also housed the ACLU and the Texas Observer—and he and Ann quickly found their way to Scholz Garten, the gravitational center of a wildly eclectic universe of lawyers, legislators, writers, and agitators. There, Ellen writes, David would spend hours holding court.

Holding court. David Richards knew how to tell a story. A story that grabbed you and didn’t let you go. A Rio Grande whitewater trip gone bad with overturned canoes washing downstream into the Santa Elena Canyon. Grabbing Molly Ivins by her lifejacket and hoisting her back onto the raft as she tumbled into a roaring rapid at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. An impulsive decision to throw in with Gary Cartwright, Jodie and Pete Gent, and Bud Shrake in a plan to buy the town of Sisterdale. His only meeting, as a young man in D.C., with LBJ, who ripped into him after he mentioned an article from this publication, forgetting that the author wasn’t sufficiently flattering to the great man. Captivating, funny, profane, contemptuous of establishment figures who busted unions, shut minorities out of power, and claimed ownership of the state’s Legislature and executive mansion, David always left you wanting more. One more dinner gathering. One more night with the tab open at Shorty’s in Port Aransas. One more story.

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Why a Woodlands megachurch is taking conservative politics to ‘woke’ regions

The way Pastor Steve Riggle sees it, American culture is fractured and losing touch with the Christian values he believes are critical for this nation. Using his pulpit at Grace Woodlands is one of the ways he seeks to change society — even if it means wading into political issues that other pastors shy away from. “Every church, small or large, should be registering people to vote — and encouraging people to vote in every election, informing them as to what the issues are,” Riggle said at a Texas Faith Fest panel in September. “I frankly don’t give a rip about what people say about the separation of church and state.” Riggle advocates for essential truths in his belief system: There are only two genders, marriage is between a man and woman and life begins at conception.

While the principles Riggle preaches are shared by many conservative Christians, he says standing up for them like he believes all pastors ought to is a dying practice. It’s why he’s taking his church’s model in the Houston area to other religious leaders in states across the U.S. “The historic birthplace of Christianity in North America is now one of the darkest places,” Riggle said to his congregation about the New England region. “So we ran there.” Grace Woodlands’ endeavors come as debates on the role of religion in governance are intensifying — with issues like required displays of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and the assassination of Christian conservative Charlie Kirk driving that divisiveness. At a time when Riggle says society is muddled with confusion and discord, the megachurch pastor wants to offer what he sees as viable fixes through efforts like a pastoral training program, planting dozens of new churches in areas he believes need it most, and educating voters on how to cast ballots that reflect Biblical truth. The Internal Revenue Service recently reversed a decades-old requirement that prohibited religious leaders from endorsing candidates from the pulpit, leaving many wondering how the decision might shift the political landscape. Riggle worries not enough pastors speak out the way he does, but there is a growing movement of church leaders who have been emboldened over the past decade to delve deeper into political engagement, said Chavanne Fellow in Religion and Public Policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute Michael Emerson. The IRS policy change, he says, further fuels their mission.

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Dallas Morning News Editorial: ‘Trump accounts’ aren’t the conservative answer to supporting the young

Creating government-seeded investment accounts for American babies isn’t a terrible idea. But creating a new entitlement when the nation is already buckling under the weight of its debt? That isn’t the right approach to solving our affordability issues. Dubbed “Trump accounts,” there’s a new kind of individual retirement account, or IRA, for children. Under the Trump-supported program, eligible children born between 2025 and 2028 can get $1,000 in government seed money deposited into that account. Parents and others will be able to contribute more to the account. The expectation is that, over time, the money there will grow. When the child turns 18, the account becomes a traditional IRA. In a lot of ways, it’s great to see the government looking to support Americans at the front end of their lives. So much of the entitlement money we spend already is focused on life’s later stages.

That said, Trump accounts ultimately represent another entitlement program heaped on top of existing ones that are becoming ruinously expensive. These have contributed to a growth in the nation’s debt that is jeopardizing the future for the very people Trump accounts are supposed to help. It’s worth mentioning that the Big Beautiful Bill — the law that introduced Trump accounts — did nothing to address the national debt crisis. Much to the contrary, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated in July the whole bill would add $4.1 trillion to the national debt through 2034. Finding ways to dig us out of that hole would be better than yet another round of government handouts. Using the tax code to support young families and to encourage them to invest early would be a wiser approach than Trump accounts, and more in keeping with the conservative tradition of self-determination. We need to find ways of lowering the cost burden on young Americans, for everything from education to housing. How else can we convince them that starting a family is both joyful and affordable? As far as early investment options go, there’s a better option than Trump accounts already: 529 plans. These allow families to prepay tuition at certain colleges or universities or open an investment account that can be used to cover higher education expenses in the future.

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Texas icon George Strait receives White House welcome as Trump Kennedy Center honoree

President Donald Trump on Saturday presented the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees with their medals during a ceremony in the Oval Office, hailing the slate of artists he was deeply involved in choosing as “perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class” ever assembled. This year’s recipients are actor Sylvester Stallone, singers Gloria Gaynor and George Strait, the rock band Kiss and actor-singer Michael Crawford. Trump said they are a group of “incredible people” who represent the “very best in American arts and culture” and that, “I know most of them and I’ve been a fan of all of them.” “This is a group of icons whose work and accomplishments have inspired, uplifted and unified millions and millions of Americans,” said a tuxedo-clad Trump. “This is perhaps the most accomplished and renowned class of Kennedy Center Honorees ever assembled.”

Trump ignored the Kennedy Center and its premier awards program during his first term as president. But the Republican president instituted a series of changes since returning to office in January, most notably ousting its board of trustees and replacing them with GOP supporters who voted him in as chairman. Trump also has criticized the center’s programming and its physical appearance, and vowed to overhaul both. The president said in August that he was “about 98% involved” in choosing the 2025 honorees when he personally announced them at the Kennedy Center, the first slate chosen under his leadership. The honorees traditionally had been announced by press release. The president placed around each honoree’s neck a new medal that was designed, created and donated by jeweler Tiffany & Co., according to the Kennedy Center and Trump. It’s a gold disc etched on one side with the Kennedy Center’s image and rainbow colors. The honoree’s name appears on the reverse side with the date of the ceremony. The medallion hangs from a navy blue ribbon and replaces a large rainbow ribbon decorated with three gold plates that rested on the honoree’s shoulders and chest.

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National Stories

Hegseth doesn’t rule out using Signal again for military communications

War Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested he would use Signal again to discuss military operations, even after a recently-released report from the War Department‘s inspector general found that his use of the messaging app in March violated department policy and could have endangered service members if the information fell into the wrong hands. Earlier this week, the War Department Office of Inspector General released its report on Signalgate, when Hegseth shared details about impending U.S. strikes on the Yemeni Houthis in a Signal group chat that included multiple other Cabinet members and one journalist, who was mistakenly added to it. The report concluded that while Hegseth can declassify any intelligence he wants, he nonetheless violated department policy by sending “sensitive, nonpublic, operational information that he determined did not require classification over the Signal chat on his personal cell phone.”

Hegseth was asked about the report on Saturday when he gave remarks at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, specifically if he would use Signal again “before combat operations.” “I don’t live with any regrets, not a healthy way to live. And I know exactly where my compass is on these troops,” Hegseth responded, before dismissing the Signalgate controversy entirely as “silly news stories peddled for months.” The war secretary’s remarks align with his insistence throughout the eight-month investigation of Signalgate that he did not share any classified information on the messaging app. After the inspector report dropped on Thursday, the Pentagon said it is a “TOTAL exoneration” of Hegseth.

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Boat at center of double-tap strike controversy was meeting vessel headed to Suriname, admiral told lawmakers

The alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks. According to intelligence collected by US forces, the struck boat planned to “rendezvous” with the second vessel and transfer drugs to it, Adm. Frank Bradley said during the briefings, but the military was unable to locate the second vessel. Bradley argued there was still a possibility the drug shipment could have ultimately made its way from Suriname to the US, the sources said, telling lawmakers that justified striking the smaller boat even if it wasn’t directly heading to US shores at the time it was hit. US drug enforcement officials say that trafficking routes via Suriname are primarily destined for European markets. US-bound drug trafficking routes have been concentrated on the Pacific Ocean in recent years.

The new detail adds yet another wrinkle to the Trump administration’s argument that striking the boat multiple times, and killing survivors, was necessary in order to protect the US from an imminent threat. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told traveling press in Florida shortly after the strike that the alleged drug boat targeted was “probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean.” However, President Donald Trump said in a post announcing the strike on September 2 that “The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.” Bradley, who led Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the strike, also acknowledged that the boat had turned around before being struck, because the people on board appeared to see the American aircraft in the air, the sources said. CNN reported in September that the boat turned around before being hit. The US military ultimately struck the boat four times—the first time splitting the boat in half and leaving two survivors clinging to a capsized portion, CNN reported on Thursday. The second, third and fourth strikes killed them and sunk the vessel. The survivors were also waving at something in the air, the sources said Bradley told them and the video showed, although it’s unclear whether they might have been surrendering or asking the US aircraft they had spotted for help. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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How chiropractors became the backbone of MAHA

obert F. Kennedy Jr. has the crowd in thrall when he declares, “Chiropractors are my kind of people.” It’s September 2023, and Kennedy is a long-shot presidential contender at the moment, not yet the most powerful health official in the United States. And here at the Mile High conference in Denver, an annual gathering for chiropractors across the world, he is speaking to a receptive audience. “The people who are drawn to this field are people who do critical thinking, who are willing to question orthodoxies and have the courage to stand up against these orthodoxies,” he says. “This profession has long been an embattled profession that has been standing up to the medical cartel for over a century.” At the end of his hour-long speech, which jumps from his candidacy to chronic illness to vaccines, the crowd whistles, cheers and gives a standing ovation. The message is clear: Kennedy is their kind of people, too. Indeed, RFK Jr. and the chiropractor industry have had a close and fruitful relationship for years, and now it’s growing more important for both sides.

The deepening alliance underscores how Washington is changing in President Donald Trump’s second term, with an empowered Kennedy and his movement helping to bring once-fringe ideas into the mainstream. And for alternative health practitioners like chiropractors, it’s a chance to win the kind of legitimacy they’ve long struggled to claim among the medical establishment. When Kennedy ran an anti-vaccine non-profit before running for president, chiropractors were hefty donors. In 2019, for instance, they donated nearly half a million dollars to the cause — about a sixth of the organization’s revenue that year. When Kennedy created the MAHA Alliance super PAC for his presidential candidacy, more than half of its initial donors were chiropractors. And when Kennedy’s nomination to lead HHS seemed like it was on the rocks, a raft of chiropractors signed a letter of support for him. Many of Kennedy’s most ardent chiropractic supporters are now at the forefront of his Make America Healthy Again movement, posting on social media and finding TikTok virality in a bid to spread his agenda to a larger audience and recruit more disciples. Their passion for Kennedy is palpable.

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National parks fee-free calendar drops MLK Day, Juneteenth and adds Trump's birthday

The Trump administration has removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from next year's calendar of entrance fee-free days for national parks and added President Trump's birthday to the list, according to the National Park Service, as the administration continues to push back against a reckoning of the country's racist history on federal lands. In addition to Trump's birthday — which coincides with Flag Day (June 14) — the updated calendar of fee-free dates includes the 110th anniversary of the NPS (August 25), Constitution Day (September 17) and President Teddy Roosevelt's birthday (October 27). The changes will take effect starting January 1. Non-U.S. residents will still be required to pay entrance fees on those dates under the new "America-first pricing" policy. At 11 of some of the country's most popular national parks, international visitors will be charged an extra $100, on top of the standard entrance fee, and the annual pass for non-residents will go up to $250. The annual pass for residents will be $80.

The move follows a July executive order from the White House that called to increase fees applied to non-American visitors to national parks and grant citizens and residents "preferential treatment with respect to any remaining recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules." The Department of the Interior, which oversees NPS, called the new fee-exempted dates "patriotic fee-free days," in an announcement that lauded the changes as "Trump's commitment to making national parks more accessible, more affordable and more efficient for the American people." The Interior Department did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement: "These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations." The new calendar follows the Trump administration's previous moves to reshape U.S. history by asking patrons of national parks to flag any signs at sites deemed to cast a negative light on past or living Americans.

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A small Minnesota town defends Somali residents as critical to the economy

Nearly 30 years ago in this small agricultural town, resident Pablo Obregon did a double take at a group waiting for the bus downtown on the first day of school. They were Somali children. “Where did they come from?” he recalls wondering. Obregon, now Willmar’s director of community growth, is no longer surprised when he sees large numbers of Somalis. So many have settled here that a lively stretch downtown is called Little Mogadishu because Somalis run more than a dozen storefront businesses. In winter it isn’t uncommon to see Somalis in traditional dress bundled up in big American-style parkas and stocking caps worn over hijabs. Somalis represent about a quarter of production workers at the Jennie-O turkey plant, the economic engine of this community of nearly 22,000 some 95 miles west of Minneapolis. But in recent days, downtown’s strip of restaurants, groceries and clothing stores has been attracting only a few customers, shopkeepers say. ICE raids are ramping up in Minnesota, and President Trump has lashed out against immigrants from Somalia, calling them “garbage” and saying he doesn’t want them in the U.S.

“They are not willing to go to work and not coming outside a lot because of fear,” said Abdiweli Yusuf, a 33-year-old Somali-American, as he swept up the grocery store he owns with family members. He wore a traditional robe-like khamiis under a long wool coat and a pink stocking cap against the below-zero windchill, which he didn’t seem to mind. “Minnesota is the most welcoming place in America,” he said. “I have five kids who were born here in Willmar hospitals. This is our forever home.” Many here, and across Minnesota, have been shaken by a sprawling fraud scandal that has put the state’s Somali community in the national spotlight and drawn Trump’s ire. Federal prosecutors say dozens of people bilked taxpayers by setting up scam social-services companies. It has hit home here. A Minneapolis man pleaded guilty in February to fraud that included using the address of a Willmar restaurant to claim that he fed 1.6 million meals to children early in the pandemic, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota. Local leaders say the scandal doesn’t reflect the Somali community broadly. “I can honestly say I haven’t encountered any bad Somalis,” said Willmar Mayor Doug Reese. “I mean, there’s probably some, but by and large, they’re good people.”

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West Virginians question National Guard deployments after attack on 2 of their own

In West Virginia, many of the thousands of bridges spanning mountain valleys and gorges are named for local veterans and on Main Streets in small towns, banners feature hometown soldiers, some of whom fought and died in past conflicts. It's a state with one of the country's highest per-capita populations of veterans. Service in the military — including the various branches of the National Guard — has long been seen not just as a patriotic duty, but as an economic lifeline, particularly in some of the poorer parts of the state. The death of Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom in a Washington, D.C., shooting and the wounding of another National Guard soldier — Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, have brought that reality home once more in their hometowns and across the state.

The two were attacked while patrolling near the White House as part of President Trump's National Guard deployments to American cities. Trump has said the deployments are necessary to fight crime, but Democratic leaders and federal judges have questioned their legality. In deep red West Virginia too, there appears to be a growing chorus questioning the rationale for sending troops to D.C. Before moving to nearby Summersville after high school, Beckstrom, 20, grew up in Webster Springs, with its population of just 800 tucked amid mountains and spruce forests. Kenny Kidd has been driving a school bus in the town for years. He remembers all the children and Sarah he says, "was a great kid." "She always had a smile on her face. Always willing to help. And she always liked to give me a rough time," he says laughing. In this part of the state, job prospects for someone graduating high school are pretty sparse. "Coal mining is on its way out," Kidd says. "Other than that, it's… work at a grocery store or a hardware store. And there's just not much here."

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The AI boom is heralding a new gold rush in the American west

Driving down the interstate through the dry Nevada desert, there are few signs that a vast expanse of new construction is hiding behind the sagebrush-covered hills. But just beyond a massive power plant and transmission towers that march up into the dusty brown mountains lies one of the world’s biggest buildouts of datacenters – miles of new concrete buildings that house millions of computer servers. This business park, called the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, has a sprawling landmass greater than the city of Denver. It is home to the largest datacenter in the US, built by the company Switch, and tech giants like Google and Microsoft have also bought land here and are constructing enormous facilities. A separate Apple datacenter complex is just down the road. A Tesla “gigafactory”, which builds electric vehicle batteries, is a resident too. In the mid-1800s, this area was an old west boomtown. It’s situated in Storey county, where one of the largest deposits of gold and silver in the American west was discovered, lending it the epithet “the Richest Place on Earth”. It’s where Mark Twain came to be a miner, then got his start as a writer for the local newspaper. He later wrote about it in his book Roughing It, saying: “The ‘flush times’ were in magnificent flower … Money was as plenty as dust.”

The gold rush is long history, but Storey county is once again one of the fastest-growing economies in Nevada. A new boom is happening here in the high desert – fueled by artificial intelligence. The burgeoning tech, which Silicon Valley vows will be the next frontier for humanity, is minting unfathomable trillion-dollar valuations. It’s a product that’s still being tested, and there’s uncertainty as to how exactly it will transform the economy. But that hasn’t stopped its real-world infrastructure from being built at mass capacity and record speed – a frenzy buoyed up by hundreds of billions in venture capital funding. Microsoft, working with OpenAI, announced last month that it plans to double its datacenter footprint over the next two years. Amazon, partnering with Anthropic, just opened a major cluster with plans for more. Google, Meta and Oracle are preparing vast buildouts, as is a consortium of companies working with the Trump administration on a $500bn project called Stargate. In all, estimates by the consulting firm McKinsey and Company peg global spending on AI datacenters to total nearly $7tn by 2030 – nearly twice as much as the GDP of the UK. The buildup comes at a cost. As the planet’s most powerful companies race to fulfill their dreams of artificial general intelligence – a futuristic version of AI that can perform tasks as well as humans – it means an ever-increasing need for computing power. AI requires far more energy and water than other internet tasks. A ChatGPT query needs nearly 10 times as much electricity as an internet search without AI. And because supercomputers run hot, they typically need intensive water-cooling systems. As datacenters continue to multiply in communities around the world – from Frankfurt to Johannesburg – AI’s thirst for power and water shows no signs of letting up.

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Lead Stories

U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Texas’ new congressional map in 2026 elections

The U.S. Supreme Court says Texas can use its new congressional map that positions Republicans to gain five seats in Congress in the 2026 midterms. The court handed down the ruling on Thursday, siding with the state. It wrote that Texas would likely win its arguments that a lower court was erroneous in blocking use of the map in the 2026 elections. “The District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing much confusion and upsetting the delicate federal-state balance in elections,” the order reads, according to a copy shared by a Politico reporter on X. The order was not immediately available on the Supreme Court website.

Justice Samuel Alito in a concurring opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, wrote that “the impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple.” Opponents of the map argue it was drawn in a way that disenfranchises Black and Hispanic voters. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson – the court’s three Democratic appointees – dissented. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated that the “Big Beautiful Map will be in effect for 2026” in a Thursday statement. “Texas is paving the way as we take our country back, district by district, state by state,” Paxton said. “This map reflects the political climate of our state and is a massive win for Texas and every conservative who is tired of watching the left try to upend the political system with bogus lawsuits.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said “we won!” in a statement responding to the Supreme Court’s decision “Texas is officially — and legally — more red,” Abbott said.

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Jasmine Crockett calls would-be opponents as she weighs jumping into Texas Senate Democratic primary

As intrigue grows over whether Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett plans to announce a U.S. Senate campaign next week, she confirms she's spoken with would-be opponents about the race. Crockett said earlier this week she will make a "special announcement" in Dallas at 4:30 p.m. Monday, 90 minutes before the state's deadline for candidates to file their campaign paperwork. "I cannot confirm what I will be announcing," Crockett, who represents most of Dallas in Congress, told CBS News on Thursday. But she acknowledged calling some of the current candidates in the race last Sunday to discuss polling that she had received and to answer any questions they might have. Crockett, 44, has amassed a national following and fundraising base after less than four years in Congress, fueled especially by her frequent appearances on national cable news programs and active social media accounts that highlight confrontations with Republicans in committee hearings.

She has declined to rule out a campaign for Senate next year, and told CBS News Texas last month she would only run if polling she commissioned showed she could win a general election by expanding the electorate and attracting new voters. Former Dallas Democratic Rep. Colin Allred and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, of Austin, are already campaigning to take on whoever emerges from an equally high-stakes GOP primary involving Sen. John Cornyn, a four-term incumbent who's being challenged by Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt and Attorney General Ken Paxton. A poll conducted between late September and Oct. 1 by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University showed Crockett leading a hypothetical Democratic primary with 31%. Talarico and former Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who is not running, were tied for second place with 25% each. Allred had 13%, and 6% were unsure. But the same poll showed Republicans Cornyn, Hunt and Paxton defeating Crockett. The other Democratic candidates also trailed the GOP contenders in general election polling.

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Montgomery County Republican Party votes not to support Texas Reps. Metcalf, Bell in 2026 reelection

Two longtime lawmakers accuse the Montgomery County Republican Party of "election interference" after its Executive Committee voted Tuesday not to support them in their reelection bids next year. The same committee in March voted to censure Texas Reps. Cecil Bell Jr. and Will Metcalf, claiming their support this year of Rep. Dustin Burrows over North Texas Rep. David Cook for House speaker aligned them too closely with Democrats, who also backed Burrows. But that censure effort, which was attempted under state party rules, failed to garner the required approval of two-thirds of party leaders in each of the lawmakers' districts. So county GOP leaders moved ahead with the reprimand outside of the state party rules, which would have provided certain consequences that the local effort does not.

“The censure says we don’t have to support these two people,” Herschel Williams, Precinct 63 chair, said during the party’s meeting Tuesday. “It’s time for us to have consequences for bad behavior.” Scott Robbins, Precinct 33 chair, said Metcalf and Bell “betrayed” them by supporting Burrows over Cook. In December 2024, the Montgomery County Republican Party passed a resolution urging local GOP lawmakers to vote for Cook for speaker, stating that the party would consider a vote for Burrows or any candidate “who depends on Democratic votes to be elected and was not supported by the Texas House Republican Caucus” as a censurable act. “They betrayed us, they betrayed the voters, they betrayed their oath, they betrayed everyone,” Robbins said. “I don’t think we should do anything extra to support them. They can’t make a mockery of this body and the Republican party and then expect us to support them.” Metcalf, who took office in 2015, balked at the action to deny him and Bell support and said it is continuing to cause “reckless division” of the local party. “A small group of political insiders is once again abusing the Montgomery County Republican Party to undermine the will of the voters who overwhelmingly elected their representation,” Metcalf said. “That is not grassroots conservatism; it is election interference.”

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Admiral says there was no 'kill them all' order in boat attack, but video alarms lawmakers

A Navy admiral commanding the U.S. military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinizes the campaign that killed two survivors. Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers conduct an investigation after a report that he ordered the follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Hegesth’s demands. Legal experts have said such a strike could be a violation of the laws of military warfare. “Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he exited a classified briefing.

While Cotton, R-Ark., defended the attack, Democrats who were also briefed and saw video of the survivors being killed questioned the Trump administration’s rationale and said the incident was deeply concerning. “The order was basically: Destroy the drugs, kill the 11 people on the boat,” said Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Smith, who is demanding further investigation, said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.” The classified sessions with Bradley, alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, provided fresh information at a crucial moment as Hegseth’s leadership comes under scrutiny. But they did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump’s extraordinary campaign to use war powers against suspected drug smugglers. So far more than 80 people have been killed in some 20 strikes.

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State Stories

Death of Texas college student Brianna Aguilera ruled suicide: Police

The police chief said her "heart aches" for Brianna Aguilera's parents. The mysterious death of Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera has been ruled a suicide, police said, noting a suicide note found on her phone and reported previous comments about self-harm. The investigation began at 12:46 a.m. Saturday when officers responded to an Austin apartment complex and found Aguilera on the ground with trauma from an apparent fall from a high floor, Austin Police Detective Robert Marshall said. Cameras showed Aguilera arriving at the apartment complex just after 11 p.m. Friday and going to an apartment on the 17th floor, Marshall said at a news conference on Thursday. The video showed "a large group of friends left that same apartment at 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, leaving just Brianna and three other girls in the apartment," he said.

Earlier on Friday, Aguilera was at a tailgate for the Texas A&M vs. University of Texas football game, and she "became intoxicated to a point where she was asked to leave," Marshall said. Aguilera told her friends that she lost her phone, and when they arrived at the apartment Friday night, she borrowed a phone to call her boyfriend, he said. Witnesses heard her argue on the phone with her boyfriend, Marshall said. That phone call took place from 12:43 a.m. to 12:44 am -- two minutes before a 911 call, he said. When police later found Aguilera's lost phone, they recovered a "deleted digital suicide note dated Tuesday, Nov. 25 of this year, which was written to specific people in her life," Marshall said. "Brianna had made suicidal comments previously to friends, back in October of this year," he said. "This continued through the evening of her death, with some self-harming actions early in the evening and a text message to another friend indicating the thought of suicide." No evidence in the investigation ever pointed to a crime, Marshall stressed, adding, "Every friend and witness during this investigation has been nothing but forthcoming and open." Aguilera's family told local media earlier this week the beloved college student was not suicidal and was planning to pursue a career in law. After Thursday's police news conference, family attorney Tony Buzbee maintained that the "circumstances surrounding her death are very suspicious." "The Austin Police Department's handling of this matter creates more questions than it provides answers," Buzbee said in a statement. "As far as we are concerned, this is an open investigation and will continue to be open until these parents are satisfied they know what happened to their daughter." Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at the news conference, "I understand how grief and the need for answers can raise intense emotions and many questions. But sometimes the truth doesn't provide the answers we are hoping for, and that is this case." Davis said her "heart aches" for Aguilera's parents. "I have three daughters and a son, and I cannot begin to imagine the pain," Davis said.

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Embattled judge Amber Givens challenges District Attorney John Creuzot in primary

Two state sanctions for misconduct on the bench and a federal lawsuit accusing her of false imprisonment have not stopped District Judge Amber Givens from trying to become the county’s top prosecutor. On Thursday, Givens filed paperwork to challenge District Attorney John Creuzot in the March 3 Democratic Primary. Givens held a news conference outside of the Dallas County Democratic Party headquarters, where she alluded to her recent controversies, saying she is running for district attorney “not to escape the fire but because I have learned how to stand in it.” “The system doesn’t need to be reformed when it’s operating exactly as it was designed – it needs to be rebuilt,” Givens said. “If the last five years have shown me anything about me, let it be this: I am committed to seeking justice, not because it is easy but because it’s necessary.”

After her announcement, she posted a letter on social media informing state officials she resigned her seat presiding over the 282nd district court. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct handed down the two sanctions against Givens in June for issues dating back to 2021 and 2023, respectively. Givens is scheduled to attend a hearing to appeal the sanctions on Wednesday. She received a reprimand, the harshest sanction available, for allowing her court coordinator to conduct an online hearing in 2021 with Givens’ picture on the screen without informing the parties the judge wasn’t actually there, according to the sanction. The second, an admonishment, was for jailing one man and revoking another’s bond in 2023 while she was recused from both cases and “lacked the legal authority to act” on them, according to the sanction. In October, one of the men at the center of her admonishment case, Ivan Paris, filed a federal lawsuit accusing Givens of false imprisonment for jailing him on an alleged probation violation more than a year after she had been removed from his case. Givens’ attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case on Nov. 19, alleging she is protected by judicial immunity. Paris’ complaint alleges Givens is liable for violating his constitutional rights and is not protected by judicial immunity because she lacked authority over his case when she ordered him to jail after her recusal.

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Texas law could let Lacy Lakeview lasso a $10 billion data center site and its tax riches

Lacy Lakeview’s city council on Tuesday is set to approve a preliminary agreement with Infrakey to build a $10 billion data center complex that company officials say could generate $50 million a year for the small town. That plan depends on Lacy Lakeview annexing the 520-acre site nearly 2 miles north of the city – a power that the city does not yet have but could gain through a new state law. At its 6 p.m. meeting the council will consider approving a nonbinding memorandum of understanding in which Lacy Lakeview, population 7,300, would annex the property and provide water and sewer to the site. Infrakey representatives will be present at the council meeting at Lacy Lakeview City Hall, 501 E. Craven Ave.

“We’re being asked to annex them and bring in quite a substantial increase in our tax base,” Lacy Lakeview Mayor Charles Wilson told The Waco Bridge on Wednesday. “And I don’t know how the city of Lacy Lakeview says no to that. … It’s municipal taxation that covers streets, water, sewer, etc. McLennan County officials are also involved in negotiations on the site, but the county has not yet committed to incentives. But a growing chorus of area residents is urging local governments to say no to data centers. Opponents have also organized through Instagram and Facebook accounts. Petition organizer Mary Beechner was among several opponents who brought their concerns to the Waco City Council’s meeting on Tuesday. “I speak on behalf of thousands of local residents when I say this,” Beechner told the council. “We do not consent to the Infrakey data center consuming over 500 acres of land to build their water guzzling, air and sound polluting, nature destroying and community offending AI data collection center.”

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Standoff over ‘terrorist’ label heats up between Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Muslim rights group

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott keeps raising the stakes in his increasingly tense standoff with the country’s largest organization focused on advocating for the civil rights of Muslims — asking the federal government in a letter this week to remove the group’s tax-exempt status. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, immediately lashed back, calling Abbott “afraid” because his targeting of CAIR is unconstitutional and saying he is “desperate” to carry out his campaign against them. The escalation between the Republican governor and the 31-year-old organization was triggered by Abbott’s November proclamation declaring CAIR a foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organization. CAIR has filed a court challenge and calls Abbott’s efforts “a witch hunt.”

Abbott also called for investigations by the Texas attorney general, the Department of Public Safety and district attorneys and sheriffs of North Texas into groups in Collin and Dallas counties that he suspects of being “Sharia tribunals masquerading as legal courts” and enforcing Shariah — which is illegal in both Texas and the United States. “Legal disputes in Texas must be decided based on American law rooted in the fundamental principles of American due process, not according to Sharia law dispensed in modern day star chambers,” Abbott said in the Nov. 19 proclamation. According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, only the U.S. secretary of state, in consultation with the attorney general and secretary of the treasury, can officially designate foreign terrorist organizations. In his Dec. 2 letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Abbott asked that the treasury department investigate the group and suspend its status as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization because “federal investigators and court filings identify CAIR as a direct subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood and as a ‘front group’ for Hamas in the United States.” “Accordingly, I respectfully request that you investigate CAIR for suspension of its tax-exempt status,” the letter reads. “Americans have generous hearts, and federal law wisely creates incentives to donate to nonprofit organizations that promote the public good. But charity must not become a backdoor to sponsor terrorism, endanger Americans, and subvert our democracy.”

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Texas student says she was living 'American Dream' before she was deported despite judge’s order

A 19-year old college student who was deported the week before Thanksgiving after a federal judge blocked her removal said she was handcuffed and later forced to sleep on the floor in a detention center. "I burst into tears because I couldn't believe it, and spending the night there, sleeping on the floor," Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, speaking from Honduras, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. Lopez Belloza, who entered the U.S. from Honduras with her family when she was 8 years old, was about to board her flight from Massachusetts to Texas last Friday to surprise her parents for the holiday when immigration authorities detained her. "When they told me, 'You're going to come with us' ... I was like, 'Oh, I have a plane that I literally have to be there right now.' They're like, 'No, you're not even going to go on the plane,'" Lopez Belloza said.

The college freshman told ABC News that immigration officers declined to answer her repeated questions about why she was arrested and where she was going. Court documents obtained by ABC News show that within hours of her detainment, a federal judge ordered the government not to remove Lopez Belloza from the U.S. and not to transfer her outside of Massachusetts. But she was transferred that evening to a detention center in Texas and deported to Honduras the next day despite the court order. "How does it feel to know that you were deported despite a judge saying that you should not be?" ABC News asked. "It feels unfair," Lopez Belloza said. "If there was an order, then why did everything happen to me so fast, within three days?" A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News that Lopez Belloza had been issued an order for removal in 2015, but Lopez Belloza said she was surprised when authorities informed her of that. "On November 20, CBP arrested Any Lopez-Belloza, an illegal alien from Honduras, as she was attempting to board a flight at Boston Logan International Airport," the DHS spokesperson said. "This illegal alien entered the country in 2014 and an immigration judge ordered her removed from the country in 2015, over 10 years ago. She has illegally stayed in the country since."

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Report: Texas road funding has saved billions, prevented thousands of deaths

A decade of added investment in Texas highways has saved drivers billions of dollars and helped prevent thousands of traffic deaths, according to a new report. The report from TRIP, a national transportation research group, credits two statewide ballot measures — Proposition 1 in 2014 and Proposition 7 in 2015 — with steering nearly $40 billion into Texas highways. The measures redirected part of the state’s oil and gas taxes, along with some sales tax revenue, to help pay for road and bridge projects. According to the report, smoother pavement, safer road design and new construction have saved Texas households an estimated $18.1 billion annually. Those savings come from fewer car repairs, less time wasted in traffic and lower costs tied to crashes.

TRIP also estimates that these improvements helped prevent more than 3,500 traffic deaths between 2015 and 2023. “When roads are in poor conditions, it puts more stress on vehicles, so you’re spending more on vehicle repairs,” said Rocky Moretti, director of policy & research with TRIP. “The public is getting to places quicker, they’re driving on a more reliable system so it’s reducing their hours stuck in congestion.” Drivers in the state’s largest cities benefited the most: Houston households saved about $2,264 a year, Dallas–Fort Worth drivers saved roughly $1,973 a year, San Antonio households saw savings of about $2,207, and Austin saw the highest estimated savings at about $2,301 per household. But even with those gains, many city streets are still struggling. The report found that more than half of major roads in the Houston area remain in “poor” condition.

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Defendant in Prairieland shooting case turns himself back in after accidental jail release

A man arrested in connection to the July 4 shooting outside an ICE facility turned himself in to federal authorities Thursday after he was mistakenly released for more than a week, according to his family members. Daniel Sanchez Estrada appeared in court Thursday back in handcuffs after he surrendered himself earlier that morning. Prosecutors did not acknowledge why he had been released from the Federal Medical Center prison in Fort Worth, but told Sanchez Estrada he would be returning to federal custody as a "danger to the community" amid his ongoing case. “I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to hug some favorite people and cry with them, and hear so many hopeful feelings,” Sanchez Estrada said in a press release before turning himself in. “The amount of prayers and all the efforts that people are doing to support me and others is beyond believable, and we all feel super blessed.”

Sanchez Estrada's sister, Jessica Bell, told KERA News Thursday her brother's release may have been a mistake on the court's end. Bell said she received a call from her brother the day before Thanksgiving, saying he was out of custody and asking to be picked up. "The happy moments together were priceless, but not 100% peaceful," Bell said. "Because we felt like we kept having to look over our shoulders." Sanchez Estrada was home for five days when Bell said they got a call from his attorney. He told Sanchez Estrada a judge said his release was a clerical error and he would have to turn himself in again Thursday. His attorney declined to comment to KERA News. Sanchez Estrada is one of 18 people arrested after a shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center the night of July 4. Court records allege a group of people dressed in all black — some armed — were setting off fireworks toward the facility and vandalizing vehicles when correctional officers called 911. When an Alvarado officer arrived at the scene minutes later, several people began to flee on foot and ignore verbal commands, according to court records.

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New health report identifies affordability, mental health among top concerns for Austin residents

A new community-wide health assessment by Austin Public Health concludes that steep housing costs are among the key factors straining the health and well-being of local residents. For the 2025 Austin-Travis County Community Health Assessment, APH collaborated with other local health organizations to broadly study the area’s health challenges. The report’s authors pointed to rapid population growth, limited housing supply and rising property values exacerbating affordability issues in recent years. They observed that someone would need to earn $31.27/hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Austin at fair market rent as of 2023 — more than four times the minimum wage. U.S. Census estimates show that 36% of Austin households spend 30% or more of their income on housing — a greater percentage than at the state level.

"When housing costs consume a disproportionate share of household income, families are often forced to make difficult trade-offs between rent and other essential needs such as food, transportation and health care," the authors wrote. Housing costs have also pushed many residents to move to more affordable, outlying areas of Greater Austin, such as Manor, Del Valle and Pflugerville. APH noted this was particularly common among communities of color. However, these more affordable areas come with sparser health care access, per the assessment. Residents in these areas were more likely to report cost and transportation as barriers to getting care. These limitations were also seen along demographic lines, with Black and Hispanic residents reporting higher rates of poor physical health and chronic health issues compared to other groups. Another key takeaway identified by APH was widespread high rates of mental health distress across the county. Nearly 18% of adults in Travis County reported having been diagnosed with depression between 2019 and 2023. The rate was highest among women and White, non-Hispanic adults — though the report’s authors noted that national studies suggest depression may be under-diagnosed in Black communities.

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Mayor of Uhland accused of misapplication of property, jail says

Uhland Mayor Lacee Duke was arrested Wednesday and booked in Caldwell County Jail on a charge of misapplication of fiduciary property greater than $150,000 and less than $300,000, according to state records and Caldwell County District Attorney Fred Weber’s Office. A Caldwell County grand jury indicted Duke on Wednesday, the same day she was arrested. The charge is a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison, according to Texas statute. A worker at the Caldwell County Jail confirmed Duke, 38, remained in custody Thursday morning. Bond is set at $20,000, according to Weber’s office. Uhland straddles the line between Hays and Caldwell counties about five miles east of Kyle. Leading up to Duke’s indictment, Texas Rangers and Weber’s office investigated allegations of an improper disbursement of $250,000 from the City of Uhland to Old Town Uhland LLC. The payment was related to the 2024 Uhland Fall Fest, according to Weber’s statement. In a statement provided to KXAN, Uhland Fall Fest’s Executive Producer and Founder, Christopher Durst, said his festival has been “welcomed with open arms by the City of Uhland and we have had nothing but positive experiences working with the Mayor.”

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Texas DPS now guard the Alamo; Stetson-wearing Alamo Rangers are gone

The Stetson-wearing Alamo Rangers guarded the battle site for 50 years, but no more. They've been replaced by Texas Department of Public Safety officers. The change is the first noticeable difference visitors are seeing at the historic mission and battle site under a new state law shifting oversight of the Alamo from the General Land Office to the newly created Alamo Commission. Unlike the Alamo Rangers, a force of uniformed private security officers created by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 1975, DPS personnel are commissioned peace officers. The nonprofit Alamo Trust, which oversees the site under a contract with the Land Office, had said while Senate Bill 3059 was pending in the Legislature in May that the Alamo Rangers would remain on the site, augmenting the DPS officers. But numerous sources say the Alamo Rangers were dismissed on Wednesday.

The Alamo Trust on Thursday confirmed the transfer of security operations, including "providing the necessary security officers, troopers, and supervisory and indirect support staff to ensure the safety and protection of both visitors and the historical integrity of the site." The trust said it's "grateful to the Alamo Rangers for their loyal and dedicated service." Officials did not say how much advance notice Alamo Rangers were given before the dismissal or whether they'll receive severance pay. “The Alamo Rangers' long-standing service to our Shrine of Texas Liberty and the State of Texas is greatly appreciated," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said in a statement. Texas Senate Bill 1, which took effect Sept. 1, directed DPS to " to provide law enforcement operations for the Alamo complex," she noted. “This effectively ended the Alamo Rangers' private security duties; however, they were given the opportunity to apply to DPS to continue their service to the Alamo," Buckingham said. "I have full confidence that Texas DPS will protect Texas' most visited and valued site with utmost honor and dignity.” It's unclear how many Alamo Rangers are transferring to DPS. A 2023 law gave the Land Office authority to commission qualifying Alamo Rangers as peace officers rather than relying on San Antonio police to enforce the law at the site and make arrests. But in drafting legislation this year, state leaders questioned why the Alamo needed its own police force.

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In need of cash, Texas billionaire to sell stake in NHL team to buy NBA team

In need of some quick cash, a Texas billionaire will leverage his current team on ice for his future team on the hardwood. On Wednesday, Ben Horney of Front Office Sports (FOS) revealed that Tom Dundon is in negotiations to sell a minority ownership stake in the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes to raise funds to complete the purchase of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers at a valuation of $4 billion. Dundon, a Dallas-area native and Southern Methodist University graduate, reached an agreement in September to purchase the Blazers from the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Per CNBC's Mike Ozanian, Dundon is "close to selling a significant LP stake" of the Hurricanes at a valuation of $2 billion.

Dundon, who is also the chairman and managing partner of Dallas private equity firm Dundon Capital Partners and chairman of Major League Pickleball, purchased a 52 percent stake of the Hurricanes in 2017 at a valuation of approximately $800 million. Four years later, Dundon bought out the remaining shares of the franchise, giving him complete ownership. Dundon’s ownership group includes Marc Zahr, co-founder of the asset management firm Blue Owl; Sheel Tyle, co-founder of the global investment firm Collective Global; and the Cherng Family Trust, the investment group of Panda Express co-founders Andrew and Peggy Cherng. Soon after Dundon’s acquisition of the Blazers was announced, RAJ Sports—owners of the Portland Fire and Thorns—filed a lawsuit against the Cherng family to prevent them from joining Dundon’s group "with respect to any transaction involving the Trail Blazers." RAJ claimed the Cherngs had initially signed a contract to bid on the Blazers but later dropped it to join Dundon. RAJ withdrew the lawsuit three weeks after filing, before Dundon submitted an affidavit stating he doesn’t need the Cherngs’ money to buy the team. RAJ Sports and the Cherngs settled out of court, with Dundon helping facilitate the agreement. The NBA has already approved two other franchise sales this year, including the Los Angeles Lakers, which sold for a record-breaking $10 billion to Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter. The Boston Celtics were sold for $6.1 billion to an ownership group led by Bill Chisholm.

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Cecilia Castellano announces second bid for HD 80

Cecilia Castellano, who has been charged in connection with a vote harvesting scandal in Frio County, announced her candidacy to be the state representative for District 80 in 2026. This is not Castellano’s first bid for this specific seat in the state House. In 2024, she defeated Rosie Cuellar — sister of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar — in the Democratic primary to represent the party in the general election against former Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin. McLaughlin, a Republican, generated 60% of the vote to win the seat in November 2024. District 80 covers all or portions of the following counties: Atascosa, Dimmit, Frio, Uvalde, Webb and Zavala. “I am not a career politician — I am a community member who has spent years working hard for District 80,” Castellano told KSAT in a Thursday morning statement, in part. ”I’ve been on the ground, in our neighborhoods, talking to families, listening to their concerns, and advocating for real change. That is why I’m running — because our district deserves a fighter who won’t back down.”

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Filing in KP George case reveals probe into stolen campaign funds targets staff member

Fort Bend County Judge KP George told the Houston Police Department that thousands of dollars were siphoned from his campaign account, according to investigation details that appeared in a court filing in George’s own felony case. George reported on Oct. 2 that several unauthorized electronic transfers totaling about $4,200 had been withdrawn from his Frost Bank campaign account between July and September. A heavily redacted Houston Police Department report classifies the case as an investigation into forgery and fraud and notes the payments were made to three vendors. George did not respond to requests for comment. District Attorney Brian Middleton declined to comment. Additional information about the investigation was included in a filing prosecutors submitted as they opposed George’s latest motion to remove Middleton from his criminal case. The filing details that the payments went to Greenridge Place Apartments, T-Mobile and Xfinity.

According to the district attorney’s document, HPD Detective J. Tucker traced the transactions to a Houston apartment and identified the sole resident as a person of interest. Using open-source searches, Tucker learned the individual publicly presented themselves as an employee of the Woodfill Law Firm PC, owned by George’s defense attorney, Jared Woodfill. Tucker later contacted another member of George’s defense team, attorney Terry Yates, who confirmed the person of interest had previously worked for the Woodfill firm, the filing states. Prosecutors did not identify the individual publicly, though the document says George’s defense team has been informed of the person’s identity. No arrests or charges have been reported. Prosecutors included the information as they opposed George’s effort to remove Middleton from the case. George is under indictment on charges that he used campaign funds to pay personal expenses, including property taxes and a home purchase, and underreported account balances. He has pleaded not guilty and says the case is politically motivated.

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Commissioner Dexter McCoy launches bid for Fort Bend County judge, citing need for new leadership

Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy on Thursday jumped into the race for Fort Bend County judge, saying the county needs new leadership as costs climb, growth accelerates and public trust erodes. McCoy, a Democrat elected in 2022, is challenging incumbent KP George, who recently switched from Democrat to Republican while facing felony money-laundering charges tied to allegations he misused campaign funds. McCoy has repeatedly called on George to step down as the cases move through court, saying Fort Bend County needs stability and renewed confidence in its leadership. "We need a judge who is ready to do the job on day one," McCoy said. McCoy said many residents feel increasingly disconnected from the opportunities that shaped his own life in Fort Bend County. Residents have also become disillusioned, he said, from a government he believes has become consumed by internal conflicts.

“We’re not satisfied with where we are,” McCoy said in an interview announcing his campaign. “People are looking at folks who are more concerned with their own political power and not the people who have built this county.” McCoy said affordability will be his top priority, arguing that residents are “on the ropes” as property taxes climb and the county struggles to keep pace with growth. “Top priority for me is affordability,” he said. “How do we position ourselves to attract more businesses that help shoulder the burden for our infrastructure and our rapidly growing community? How do we make sure we’re bringing jobs here where people can make a good living in the community where they live?” McCoy said the county’s current transit system is failing to keep up with population growth and aging infrastructure, leaving residents with fewer mobility options and longer commutes. “People are losing time from their work. People are losing time from their families as they sit in traffic, as they drive on deteriorating roads,” he said. “If you don’t have a car, you cannot survive in Fort Bend County. You can’t thrive in Fort Bend County, and we need to change that to make sure this community offers a diverse array of ways for people to connect.” He said he supports expanded mobility investments and a more reliable, long-term public transportation plan, arguing that Fort Bend Transit “is not keeping up with the demand of our community.”

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National Stories

More industries want Trump’s help hiring immigrant labor after farms get a break

As food prices remain high, the Trump administration has made it easier for farmers to hire foreign guest workers and to pay them less. Now, other industries with large immigrant workforces also are asking for relief as they combat labor shortages and raids. Visas for temporary foreign workers are a quick fix with bipartisan support in Congress. And Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ office told Stateline that “streamlining” visas for both agricultural and other jobs is a priority for the Trump administration. But some experts warn that such visas can be harmful if they postpone immigration overhauls that would give immigrant workers a path to green cards and citizenship.

“Lack of permanent status is costly to migrants, employers, and the broader economy,” wrote Pia Orrenius, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in a report published in June. Workers are “vulnerable to policy changes triggered by a change in administration, most recently the threat of mass deportations.” In a Nov. 25 interview with Stateline, Orrenius said the crackdown on illegal immigration could be a good thing if it leads to permanent solutions. “If you can stop undocumented immigration, then great. This is a great time to work on comprehensive immigration reform,” Orrenius said. “Where is there a scarcity of workers and how do we address those legally instead of illegally?” Restaurants, construction and landscaping businesses have lost a combined 315,000 immigrant workers through August this year, more than any other industries, according to a Stateline analysis of Current Population Survey data provided by the University of Minnesota at ipums.org. The construction industry needs more foreign worker visas like those already being provided for agriculture to prevent more delays in building everything from homes to highways, business owners say.

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The New York Times sues the Pentagon over new press restrictions

The New York Times on Thursday sued the Department of Defense, arguing the department’s new restrictions for journalists infringe upon the newspaper’s constitutionally protected rights. “The policy, in violation of the First Amendment, seeks to restrict journalists’ ability to do what journalists have always done — ask questions of government employees and gather information to report stories that take the public beyond official pronouncements,” the Times wrote in its 97-page filing. “These developments place the purpose and effect of the Policy in stark relief: to fundamentally restrict coverage of the Pentagon by independent journalists and news organizations, either by limiting what kind of information they can obtain and publish without incurring punishment, or by driving them out of the Pentagon with an unconstitutional Policy,” the suit continues.

The lawsuit argues against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s new host of restrictions for credentialed media, introduced in late September, which resulted in nearly every major news organization surrendering their in-house access to the agency. In their place, the department welcomed a host of more friendly conservative news organizations and influencers who have expressed more willingness to take direction from officials. As part of Hegseth’s new guidelines, strict limits have been imposed on how journalists can interact with military personnel, requiring prior approval for interviews and on-the-record conversations. Access to the building has become highly restricted without an approved escort, and reporters must sign nondisclosure agreements requiring them to agree to not publish unapproved information, even if it is unclassified. In a statement to NOTUS, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, “We are aware of The New York Times lawsuit and look forward to addressing these arguments in court.”

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CDC advisers delay vote at chaotic vaccine meeting

A panel of government vaccine advisers delayed a vote Thursday on whether to change guidance that everyone receive the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born. Members of the panel complained that they didn’t have enough time to review what they were voting on. The panel now plans to take up the issue on Friday. Last-minute changes to the hepatitis B vote language prompted the confusion. The shot protects against a virus that causes severe liver disease, but vaccine skeptics have long questioned giving it to everyone. Mothers can pass the virus to their babies, but the disease is mainly spread through sex and sharing needles. Leading medical experts emphasize that the shot is safe and serves as a safety net for infants.

When Robert Malone, the vice chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, read the proposal to stop recommending the shot for children born to mothers who test negative for the virus, it was different from what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had posted to its website Wednesday — confusing several of the panel’s members. The vaccine advisers make recommendations to the CDC, which ultimately decides what goes on the nation’s vaccine schedule. The proposal Malone read advises parents of children born to mothers who test negative for the virus to consult with their physician about whether their child should get the birth dose. It also says that those declining the birth dose should wait at least two months before starting the Hep B series, which typically consists of three shots administered by 18 months old. The panel was planning to take a second vote advising that parents of children whose mother’s infection status is unknown should also have their child vaccinated. The earlier version on the CDC website differed in that it said that parents of children whose mother’s infection status is unknown should make the decision in consultation with a doctor.

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Trump replaces architect overseeing $300m gilded ballroom project

President Donald Trump has replaced the architect he handpicked to design his White House ballroom, according to three people familiar with the project, ending the involvement of a boutique firm whose selection raised questions from the start about whether it had the capacity to complete the massive, high-profile endeavor. For more than three months, James McCrery II and his namesake architecture firm led the effort to design Trump’s $300 million ballroom building — until late October, when he stopped working on the project, one of the people said. It is unclear whether McCrery stepped back voluntarily, but the men parted on good terms and remain so, according to one of the people familiar with the project, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Trump and McCrery had clashed over the president’s desire to keep increasing the size of the building, but it was McCrery’s firm’s small workforce and inability to hit deadlines that became the decisive factor in him leaving, one of the people said.

Trump has chosen architect Shalom Baranes, who’s been designing and renovating government buildings in Washington for decades, to pick up the mantle, according to two of the people. Baranes’s firm has handled a number of large Washington projects dating back decades, including projects involving the main Treasury building near the White House, the Federal Reserve and the headquarters of the General Services Administration. Baranes led a $1 billion renovation of the Pentagon immediately after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which he described as his “proudest moment” in a 2017 Washington Post op-ed. His architectural approach, which includes modernist buildings, is different from McCrery’s classical style. “As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the Administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a written statement. “Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project.”

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Netflix wins bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, will start exclusive deal talks

Netflix has emerged victorious with what appears to be the highest and so far the winning bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Deadline has learned, and will start exclusive talks to finalize a deal. This caps a tumultuous day that saw Paramount move aggressively to counter the giant streamer and seal a deal of its own for WBD. Netflix offered around $28 a share for WBD, according to sources, mostly in cash. It’s been a fast moving auction and one that will reshape the entertainment landscape dramatically. WBD put itself on the block in October to open up the process after receiving three consecutive offers from Paramount. Warner has hoped to get a deal in place by mid-to-late December.

Netflix would acquire the Warner Bros. Studios and HBO Max streaming assets. Paramount’s offer was for all of WBD. Bloomberg is reporting that Netflix offered a $5 billion breakup fee if the deal fails to close. Comcast also bid for the studio and streaming businesses. Paramount has argued that it was the only one of the three with a clear path to closing, insisting in a letter to WBD that the rival offers from Netflix and Comcast both “present serious issues that no regulator will be able to ignore.” It believes Netflix, being the dominant streamer in the U.S. and globally, would face major antitrust hurdles adding HBO Max to the fold. David Ellison’s company also called the sale process unfair and tilted towards Netflix. WBD countered that its board “attends to its fiduciary obligations with the utmost care, and that they have fully and robustly complied with them and will continue to do so.”

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U.S. diplomats report broken morale and abandoned careers

America’s professional diplomats feel demoralized and ignored, with fully 98 percent saying in a new survey that workplace morale has fallen since the Trump administration took over in January. The findings are contained in a forthcoming report from the American Foreign Service Association, or A.F.S.A., that warns that “America’s diplomatic capacity is being decimated from within” as seasoned diplomats are laid off or choose to leave government. “The Foreign Service is in crisis,” said John Dinkelman, the association’s president. “Damage is being done to America’s diplomatic service that we will be paying for for decades to come.” The report, which will be officially released on Wednesday, paints a grim portrait of the diplomatic corps that is consistent with countless anecdotal complaints from both Foreign Service officers, trained professionals who work in embassies and consulates abroad, and the civil servants who mainly staff the State Department’s headquarters in Washington.

Most of the survey’s more than 2,100 respondents said they were managing tighter budgets and greater workloads amid the Trump administration’s spending cuts, including drastic reductions in U.S. foreign aid. Eighty-six percent said it had become harder to carry out U.S. foreign policy. Just 1 percent reported an improvement. Most likely fueling the dissatisfaction is a sense among current and former U.S. officials that, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the department has become more political and less relevant. Although Mr. Rubio initially assured department workers that he valued their expertise and wanted the department to play a greater role in foreign policy, numerous officials insist the opposite has happened. Diplomats sense that their input is not welcome, especially if it diverges from President Trump’s views. They have watched from the sidelines as much of America’s most sensitive diplomacy is conducted not by Mr. Rubio but by Trump insiders such as Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul with no prior diplomatic experience, and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, often acting with little or no assistance from career diplomats. Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner traveled to Moscow this week to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Trump officials argue that Mr. Witkoff has been an effective diplomat, pointing to the cease-fire agreement he helped broker in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. But Mr. Witkoff’s diplomacy with Russia has raised questions about his judgment, even among some Republican allies of Mr. Trump’s.

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Grand jury declines to re-indict Letitia James

A grand jury declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, 10 days after a federal judge threw out the initial charges against her, according to a person familiar with the development Thursday. Another source familiar with the situation said there should be no premature celebration, because the Justice Department could try to seek the indictment a third time. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on grand jury matters. The grand jury was in court until noon on Thursday.

“As I have said from the start, the charges against me are baseless. It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop,” James said in a statement Thursday. “I am grateful to the members of the grand jury and humbled by the support I have received from across the country. Now, I will continue to do my job standing up for the rule of law and the people of New York.” The quick move by the Justice Department to present the case again to a grand jury shows the intensity of its efforts to prosecute James, a frequent Trump political target who was one of several enemies he has said on social media should face legal jeopardy. Late last month, a federal judge said that Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s handpicked prosecutor, was unlawfully appointed as an interim US attorney and therefore the cases against James and another Trump political opponent — former FBI Director James Comey — must be dismissed. Halligan, a former White House adviser, was given the job after the Justice Department pushed out the previous interim US attorney amid increasing pressure to bring cases against Comey and James.

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With Hollywood strapped for cash, Saudi Arabia is re-emerging as a key financial backer

Hollywood is feeling the lure of Saudi Arabian money. The stars are taking it, with many set to receive checks for attending this week’s Red Sea Film Festival. Studios are interested in it, with their executives traveling to the kingdom to meet about potential deals. And at the highest levels, Saudi money could end up helping to finance a massive media merger. For the entertainment industry, Saudi financing has become more appealing as other sources of money have dried up in the aftermath of the 2020 Covid pandemic, the 2023 dual actors’ and writers’ strikes, and shifting audience habits away from film and TV to social media.

“Money is good, that’s Hollywood’s perspective,” said entertainment attorney Schuylar (Sky) Moore at Greenberg Glusker. “For the Saudis, it’s all about building their own film industry, and they’re trying to get the expertise and the people there.” But Saudi Arabia’s controversial human rights record makes the relationship an uneasy one for some in the West — and a sensitive topic to talk about in Hollywood, where more than a dozen insiders including agents, producers, executives, bankers and publicists declined to go on the record about the inrush of potential Saudi cash. This week, many of them are headed to the kingdom’s coastal city of Jeddah for the Red Sea Film Festival, which runs through Dec. 13. In recent years, the festival, a nonprofit organization financed by Saudi government money, has paid talent up to $2.5 million to attend at least part of the event, according to two sources with knowledge of the deals who were not authorized to speak on the record about them. A spokesperson for the Red Sea Film Festival contested the figure, calling it “inaccurate, and not representative.”

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US raid allegedly killed Syrian undercover agent instead of Islamic State group official

A raid by U.S. forces and a local Syrian group aiming to capture an Islamic State group official instead killed a man who had been working undercover gathering intelligence on the extremists, family members and Syrian officials have told The Associated Press. The killing in October underscores the complex political and security landscape as the United States begins working with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in the fight against remnants of IS. According to relatives, Khaled al-Masoud had been spying on IS for years on behalf of the insurgents led by al-Sharaa and then for al-Sharaa’s interim government, established after the fall of former President Bashar Assad a year ago. Al-Sharaa’s insurgents were mainly Islamists, some connected to al-Qaida, but enemies of IS who often clashed with it over the past decade.

Neither U.S. nor Syrian government officials have commented on al-Masoud’s death, an indication that neither side wants the incident to derail improving ties. Weeks after the Oct. 19 raid, al-Sharaa visited Washington and announced Syria would join the global coalition against IS. Still, al-Masoud’s death could be “quite a setback” for efforts to combat IS, said Wassim Nasr, a senior research fellow with the Soufan Center, a New York-based think tank focused on security issues. Al-Masoud had been infiltrating IS in the southern deserts of Syria known as the Badiya, one of the places where remnants of the extremist group have remained active, Nasr said. The raid targeting him was a result of “the lack of coordination between the coalition and Damascus,” Nasr said. In the latest sign of the increasing cooperation, the U.S. Central Command said Sunday that American troops and forces from Syria’s Interior Ministry had located and destroyed 15 IS weapons caches in the south.

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Lead Stories

Longtime Cuellar aide hopes Trump pardon will help own conspiracy case

A longtime aide to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar hopes President Donald Trump’s pardon of the congressman will lead U.S. prosecutors to dismiss his own corruption case. Colin Strother, who has served as Cuellar’s campaign manager and chief of staff, agreed last year to plead guilty to charges that he conspired with Cuellar to launder more than $200,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank. “If the president has deemed this prosecution as unwarranted of proceeding, then I would expect and hope that the Department of Justice would dismiss the case against Mr. Strother,” Michael McCrum, Strother’s attorney, told the San Antonio Express-News on Wednesday.

McCrum said he has reached out to the DOJ “to see what their position is” regarding his client’s case. Cuellar was set to go to trial in April on charges that he and his wife had accepted about $600,000 in bribes between 2014 and 2021 from a Mexican bank and from an oil and gas company operated by the government of Azerbaijan. The longtime Laredo congressman is accused of advancing the bank’s interests in the U.S. Congress and by pushing foreign policy that would favor the former Soviet state. Both Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, have denied wrongdoing. They faced a maximum penalty of 204 years in prison if convicted of the bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and working on behalf of a foreign government charges. Henry Cuellar, a moderate Democrat, is running for reelection in the March primary to represent Texas’ 28th Congressional District, which stretches from Laredo to San Antonio. In a Truth Social post, Trump cast Cuellar as a fellow victim of a politicized DOJ under then-President Joe Biden, saying Cuellar was targeted for speaking out against “Open Borders and the Biden Border ‘Catastrophe.’” Trump’s pardon only applies to the Cuellars. The federal indictment against the couple depicts Strother as a middleman in the bribery scheme. Strother, who is based in Buda, allegedly helped launder $242,000 in illegal payments.

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Survivors of boat strike were actively continuing drug mission, admiral to tell lawmakers

Two survivors of a Sept. 2 U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean were killed in follow-up attacks after they were seen still aboard the damaged vessel alongside packages of illegal narcotics, a senior commander is expected to tell lawmakers Thursday. Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley plans to say he and his legal adviser concluded the two survivors were attempting to continue their drug run, making them and the already-damaged vessel legitimate targets for another attack, two defense officials said. The details of the strike have emerged as a matter of concern for members of Congress who are seeking more information about the role played by Bradley and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and whether aspects of the operation violated laws of war or Pentagon procedures. The version of events Bradley is expected to deliver would rebut claims by legal experts that the killing of the two survivors could have constituted a war crime.

Lawmakers are likely to press Bradley, who commanded Joint Special Operations Command at the time, in the closed-door briefing on the extent of the damage to the boat, whether the men were injured, how Bradley reached his conclusions that the survivors were still legitimate targets, and whether he considered rescuing them. The attack was the first use of military force against drug boats by the administration and the only one in which survivors are known to have been targeted and killed in follow-up strikes. In mid-October, the Coast Guard rescued two survivors of an attack on a submersible because they were deemed unable to fight, according to the defense officials. The administration has launched 21 strikes in all, killing more than 80 people. Many law-of-war analysts have criticized President Trump’s assertion that drug traffickers are terrorists purposefully killing Americans, rather than criminals providing illegal narcotics to willing buyers. They have homed in on whether the two survivors in the Sept. 2 attack should have been deemed out of action—and therefore no longer legitimate military targets. The accounts of the attacks provided so far by the administration have left even some Republicans questioning the legality. “There is a difference between being accused of being a bad guy and being a bad guy. It is called the presumption of innocence,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), often a critic of the administration’s national security policy. “It is called due process. It is called, basically, justice that our country was founded upon.” Trump signaled support Wednesday for releasing the surveillance video of the operation taken by overhead aircraft.

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Texas exodus underscores the state’s fading relevance in the House GOP

The Lone Star State is used to having a Texas-sized impact on the House Republican Conference. And, by the numbers, its influence should be larger than ever. If a bold redistricting plan pushed by President Donald Trump goes forward, Texas could have a massive 30-member GOP delegation come 2027. And yet by the measures of clout and seniority — the real markers of power inside the House — the state is clearly on the wane. Six members are retiring — some to pursue other political ambitions, others quitting cold turkey. Assuming the redistricting plan is approved — a Supreme Court ruling on the matter could come as soon as Thursday — another five Republicans would be freshman back-benchers from a state that once racked up committee gavels. The turnover has left many in the already huge delegation unsettled and wondering how the state’s clout declined so precipitously. Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas’ longest-serving Republican, said in an interview that it’s “the biggest change of any redistricting period” he has been through in a nearly 30-year career.

“The timing of this across the board has been difficult to get your hands around,” Sessions said. He noted the redistricting and other retirements will “add youth and opportunity to the Texas delegation but a lot of the inexperience and a lot of things that come at a time when my party needs a lot of teamwork and collegiality.” A younger colleague, Rep. Jake Ellzey, also said the delegation is facing a “drastic change” over the coming years: “There’s going to be a lot of introductory lunches, that’s for sure.” Already there has been a remarkable shift since the beginning of Trump’s first term, when Texans held sway over seven House committees — including the powerful Armed Services, Financial Services and Ways and Means panels — as well as three coveted Appropriations subcommittee chairs. The GOP delegation was known for zealously guarding its influence, holding weekly lunches to strategize, amassing seats on the influential steering committee that doles out committee assignments and often voting as a bloc on key matters. Today Texans hold only three committee gavels, all on relatively backwater panels, and just one Appropriations subcommittee chair. One of those chairs, Budget’s Jodey Arrington, is retiring. No Texans serve in the House GOP’s elected leadership.

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to give every Texas newborn $1,000

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he wants to give every newborn in Texas $1,000. Patrick posted his idea on X on Wednesday morning, saying he will push for legislation in 2027 that mimics the Invest America initiative — also known as “Trump Accounts” — created this year as part of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. “If I see a great idea from the President that helps Texans, my first question is always, ‘Why not do it in Texas, too?’” the lieutenant governor said. Trump Accounts made news Tuesday after Michael and Susan Dell announced they would give $6.25 billion to the Invest America initiative, amounting to about $250 for every child 10 and under who is ineligible for the Trump accounts. Michael Dell is the founder of Dell Technologies Inc. and is estimated to be the 11th-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.

Patrick estimated that creating a similar fund for children born in Texas would cost about $400 million a year. He proposed calling it the “New Little Texan Savings Fund.” “That is about 1% or less of our total state appropriations,” Patrick said. “We will amend the state constitution to add this as a permanent program. This is a great way to return money back to families and to teach the value of savings and compound interest to young Texans.” Amending the Texas Constitution requires approval from two-thirds of each chamber of the Texas Legislature and a majority of voters. Patrick’s proposal drew backlash from some conservatives. “This is absolutely horrific and an absolutely terrible, terrible idea - not only at the federal level, but state level as well. This should not pass,” former state Sen. Konni Burton, who represented Colleyville from 2015 to 2019 as a Republican, posted on social media. However, it drew an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who was instrumental in creating the federal Trump Accounts. Cruz called Patrick’s idea, “Fantastic!” “I’m thrilled to see the Lone Star State and my good friend @DanPatrick taking this even further for Texas kids. Bravo!” Cruz posted on X.

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State Stories

Trump pardons US Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was granting a "full and unconditional pardon" to Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, and his wife Imelda, who were charged with bribery. Last year, Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 in bribes in two schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico. Read about innovative ideas and the people working on solutions to global crises with the Reuters Beacon newsletter. Sign up here. He has maintained his innocence and that of his wife.

With a pardon from the Republican president resolving his legal problems, Cuellar is seeking a 12th two-year term, backed by the Democratic Party establishment. In thanking Trump on social media, Cuellar said: "This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on." Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, linked Cuellar's indictment to his immigration policies, saying, "He was treated very badly because he said that people should not be allowed to pour into our country, and he was right. He didn't like open borders." Cuellar has the reputation of being the House's most conservative Democrat. He opposed former President Joe Biden's move to lift a provision allowing U.S. border agents to turn away migrants to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Trump had instituted that move when the virus began to spread during his first term.

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New Texas legislation cancels volunteer-run Girl Scout camp

A long-running summer tradition for Girl Scouts in Aggieland is coming to an unexpected halt. For generations, the Howdy Day Camp has been a place where Girl Scouts make friends, learn new skills, and explore the outdoors. But this summer, Christine Lawrence, Howdy Day Camp’s registrar, says the camp gates will stay closed. “Girl Scouts of Central Texas has decided, since legislation’s all over the place and we don’t know what it’s going to look like, they’re going to focus on getting the residential camps, which are the overnight camps, both in Belton and in Austin, up to compliance once they know that information,” Lawrence said. “And so they don’t want any volunteer-run camps for 2026 so that they can make sure that we are meeting those new safety expectations.” The Howdy Day Camp has been volunteer-run for nearly 70 years. But the Girl Scouts say new state laws designed to keep campers safe make running volunteer camps this year impossible.

Howdy Day Camp aide and former camper Korinne Yarbrough expressed how much the camp meant to her. “Camp Howdy means a lot to me, honestly. I’ve been going there for a while, and when I became an aide, you really get involved with a lot of other things,” Yarbrough said. “You help the girls with crafts and we go on the trails and we do songs.” Still, the announcement came as a shock to parents, campers, and volunteers who are now looking to the future. “I really hope that soon we can pass the safety guidelines so that we can comply and have it open again,” Yarbrough said. “I’m just really hoping for that as soon as possible.” The Girl Scout leaders of Bryan-College Station hope to bring back Howdy Day Camp next year and are working to ensure everything complies.

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Trump pardons Texas stadium developer his own DOJ indicted

President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned businessman Tim Leiweke, despite the fact that his own Department of Justice charged the stadium developer in July for allegedly rigging the bidding process for a $375 million multipurpose arena at the University of Texas at Austin. Leiweke, a longtime entertainment executive and co-founder of the development group Oak View, is alleged to have “entered into an agreement with another potential bidder for the arena to drop a competing effort in exchange for lucrative subcontracts” during the 2018 bidding process for a development project at the university’s Moody Center, according to a press release issued by the DOJ when he was indicted on one count of breaking federal antitrust law. As a result, Oak View Group was the only qualified bidder, winning the contract and, according to the indictment, continuing “to receive significant revenues from the project to date.”

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‘Only scratching the surface’: Texas just became the first state to purchase bitcoin

The state of Texas recently purchased about $5 million worth of bitcoin through a BlackRock-administered exchange-traded fund, a representative for the state comptroller’s office confirmed in an email to The Dallas Morning News on Monday. The purchase came several months after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 21, a high-profile and controversial legislative effort that enabled the Texas comptroller’s office to establish a publicly funded strategic cryptocurrency reserve. It also amounts to one of the first-ever cryptocurrency transactions by a state government amid a broader federal and state government embrace of the recently surging crypto industry. Other states, including New Hampshire and Arizona, have passed similar crypto reserve bills.

And last year, Wisconsin’s and Michigan’s pension funds also purchased crypto, although with the comptroller’s purchase Texas has now become the first state to actually fund such a reserve. “The industry is maturing and growing — it’ll continue to become more mainstream, and I think Texas staking out a leadership position will be very beneficial to Texans over time, similar to what the oil and gas industry has done over the last century,” said Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, a crypto lobbying group that championed the state legislative effort. “I think we’re only scratching the surface,” Bratcher said. The state made the roughly $5 million purchase through BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), a fund managed by the major asset management firm that trades in U.S. dollars but generally reflects the price of bitcoin. As of early afternoon Monday, IBIT was trading around $48, reflecting a roughly 20% loss over the past month and a 13% decrease since the beginning of the year. Those valuations broadly align with the recently highly volatile price of bitcoin: Early this year — amid a crypto frenzy inspired largely by the new, extremely crypto-friendly Trump administration — the world’s predominant cryptocurrency soared to above $100,000 for the first time in its history, and then in early October reached an all-time high above $126,000.

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Why Nature Nate is shifting from business to Texas politics

Fifteen years ago, Nathan Sheets was at a crossroads when an unexpected job loss left him scrambling. He had worked in marketing for more than a decade, but maybe it was time, he thought, to make a run at a honey side hustle he had going. A quest to learn more about a new beekeeping hobby had put him in touch with a retired contractor who kept about 100 hives and sold honey to local stores. When his mentor’s health declined, Sheets stepped in to help. As the beekeeper became more sick, he asked Sheets to buy the business. Although others advised against it, Sheets bought the small enterprise in 1997. He had no interest in growing the operation—he just couldn’t bear to see it die. But the surprise job loss changed things. Sheets decided to see if he could leverage his marketing expertise and generate enough income to support his family. He figured he’d need about $100,000 a year. He began by swinging for the fences, applying for a local vendor program through Walmart.

Within weeks, a corporate buyer called and told him the retailer wanted to test the honey in some of its Texas stores. Sheets’ first order from Walmart was for $107,000 worth of honey. He was all in. He branded to Nature Nate’s in 2012 and set a lofty goal of becoming the most trusted honey brand in the world. He’d do so, he figured, through transparency—pushing the fact that the honey was raw and unfiltered. “We approached it more like a vintner than a honey producer,” he says. The pandemic boosted demand. Within 10 years of rebranding, Nature Nate’s had become the industry’s leading honey brand. But keeping up with growth and dealing with a few setbacks meant it was time for outside capital. After a sale to Kraft Heinz Co. fell through, Sheets reconnected with a private equity firm that had previously expressed interest—Blue Road Capital. The company acquired Nature Nate’s in 2022 and merged it with another of its portfolio brands, Sweet Harvest Foods. Sheets stayed on as CEO and as the honey brand’s largest minority shareholder, but after the dust settled, he found himself at another crossroads. At the end of 2024, he had lunch with friend and politician Rick Santorum, and shared that he was trying to figure out what to do next. Santorum suggested he consider running for Ag Commissioner in Texas.

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Fourth lawsuit filed against Celina ISD and former teacher over sexual misconduct allegations

Celina ISD now faces a fourth lawsuit over allegations that a former teacher recorded students changing in the boys’ locker room. And attorneys say new evidence shows the district may have been aware of the misconduct before it was reported. Caleb Elliott, a former eighth-grade football coach at Moore Middle School in Celina ISD, was arrested in October after a student reported that Elliott was intentionally photographing boys “in various states of undress” in the locker room. Elliott now faces39 criminal charges, including eight federal charges of sexual exploitation of children. He has been in custody since Nov. 7. Texas House Rep. Mitch Little from Denton told reporters at a press conference outside the Collin County courthouse that multiple witnesses report another football coach at Moore Middle School confronted Elliott about his behavior before a student reported it to school principal Allison Ginn Oct.3.

“It is now apparent to me that Celina Police Department has stopped their investigation where they wanted to, and not necessarily where the evidence would lead them,” Little said. He also said Elliott may have shared photos and videos of students to unknown people on the social media app Snapchat. KERA has reached out to Celina ISD and the Celina Police Department for comment. The Celina Police Department concluded its investigation of the allegations against Elliott last month. Celina Police Chief John Cullison said at a press conference last month police found?no evidence to support allegations included in?lawsuits brought by families against the school district?that Elliot had set up hidden cameras in the locker room. Quentin Brogdon, one of the attorneys for the 17victims’ families included in the new lawsuit, said what happened was preventable. Brogdon said Celina ISD is deflecting blame for the allegations onto Elliott. “The district's credibility on what it knew about this sexual predator and when it knew it is like a carton of sour milk,” Brogdon said. “You don't have to take more than the first sip of it to know the entire carton is bad.” KERA filed an open records request for a copy of Elliott’s personnel file, as well as a copy of Ginn’s file and Bill and Nathan Elliott’s files. Bill Elliott is the head football coach at high school and Nathan Elliott is on the coaching staff. An attorney for Celina ISD said in a request for an Attorney General opinion the records contained a written reprimand and a report to the Texas Education Agency regarding an employee’s conduct.

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Texas border police chief who dodged past scandals is relieved of duties

Gilbert Guerrero has run into his share of trouble during seven years as police chief of the Rio Grande Valley city of Donna. But he always managed to hang onto his job. In 2022, he was fired — briefly — for allegedly refusing to investigate a credible tip about a planned mass shooting at Donna High School. He appealed his dismissal, and the interim city manager reinstated him 10 days later, citing his “long tenure” and popularity among officers. Two years later, Guerrero emerged unscathed from an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. Guerrero was relieved of his duties last week, and Donna Police Department officers have a new boss: Capt. Juan Garcia.

“Effective immediately, Captain Garcia will serve as your primary point of contact and the head of the department until further notice,” City Manager Jorge L. Peña wrote in an email obtained by Hendricks. Peña told CBS 4 News the move was prompted by a “personnel matter.” He declined to elaborate. Guerrero was relieved of his responsibilities but has not been fired, city officials said. Technically, he’s still the chief. Guerrero graduated from Donna High School and started his career in law enforcement as a Donna police officer. He later worked for the neighboring Rio Grande Valley cities of Alamo and Pharr and became an investigator for the Texas Attorney General’s Office. In 2018, he returned to his hometown as police chief. Four years later, he was fired for allegedly refusing to investigate “viable information” about a planned armed assault on Donna High School, city records show. A senior police officer launched an investigation into the tip anyway, ignoring Guerrero’s “irresponsible directive,” then-interim City Manager Frank Perez wrote in a termination letter obtained by CBS 4 News.

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Parents of Brianna Aguilera retain high-profile Texas law firms after daughter’s death in Austin

The parents of Brianna Aguilera, a 19-year-old Texas A&M University student who died after falling from a high-rise apartment in Austin, have retained two high-profile law firms to represent them in the case. Manuel Aguilera and Stephanie Rodriguez retained the San Antonio-based Gamez Law Firm and the Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm “to assist them in determining what happened to their daughter,” attorney Tony Buzbee said in a Facebook post Wednesday. “Brianna’s parents firmly believe there is much more information that needs to be discovered regarding their daughter’s death,” Buzbee said in the post. “They feel certain this was not an accident. This was certainly not a suicide. This family deserves straight answers.”

Brianna Aguilera, of Laredo, was found unresponsive early Saturday morning outside the 21 Rio apartment complex, in the heart of the student living area for University of Texas at Austin students. She traveled to the city for the Texas vs. Texas A&M football game. The Austin Police Department said she fell from the 17th floor of the building, and initially said there were no signs of suspicious circumstances and that the case was not being investigated as a homicide. After follow-up questions from KSAT, the department clarified that the investigation is still “open and ongoing.” The cause of death is pending the Travis County Medical Examiner’s findings. Stephanie Rodriguez said the information she has been given doesn’t add up. “There are a lot of inconsistencies with the story,” she told KSAT. “It’s just so unbearable and unimaginable what happened to her that night, and I don’t have answers.”

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Muslim students warn of spate of harassment by far-right Christian agitators, Texas study finds

On a Sunday evening last month, several Muslim high schoolers were sipping drinks and playing board games at a coffee shop in Murphy, Texas, for what was supposed to be a casual social gathering. Around sunset, some of the students stepped outside Original Mocha coffee house, located in the suburb about 25 miles northeast of Dallas, to offer their evening prayer. They asked the cafe owners for permission to use the sidewalk, and 17-year-old Usman Kayani started leading the short prayer. That is when three men who identify themselves as Christian influencers approached the roughly 20 students and began making Islamophobic comments such as “I am mocking your religion” and “You need Jesus,” according to video footage.

Kayani didn’t look behind or cut short the prayer, he said, even as one of the men came close to him. “I was kind of scared at that moment because I thought he was going to attack me,” Kayani said. “So I just closed my eyes and continued reciting the Quran. I needed to keep my prayer steady.” Most in his group remained seated and quiet, he said, not wanting to escalate or give the agitators a reaction. “We were taught to hold ourselves with dignity even when others don’t,” said Kayani, who is president of Plano East Senior High School’s Muslim Student Association. He said the men who mocked them were questioned by police officers and given trespassing warnings. Eight days later on Nov. 18, at least one of the same men, who identified himself as Christopher Svochak via videos he posted of the incidents, disrupted an early morning prayer and breakfast event hosted by the MSA group at the University of South Florida in Tampa. And in late October, Svochak also recorded himself setting a Quran on fire after interrupting a Muslim student gathering at the University of Houston. Over the last two months, at least seven Muslim student groups in the United States have been harassed by right-wing Christian activists, said Mohamad Altabaa, a Texas-based student who is tracking harassment cases with a group called MSA Unity.

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Texas bathroom bill goes into effect. Here's how it impacts transgender students

Transgender students at Texas public universities will no longer legally be allowed to use multi-stall restrooms matching their gender identity starting Thursday, when Senate Bill 8 — better known as the “bathroom bill” — takes effect for public agencies, schools and universities across the state. The law mandates all multi-occupancy restrooms in public buildings be exclusively designated for males or females as defined by an individual’s reproductive organs, not their presenting or identifying gender. Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, who authored the law, called SB 8 the “strongest” women’s privacy act in the nation to protect women — though no statistical evidence indicates safety risks increase when transgender individuals use the bathroom matching their gender identity.

The new restrictions are another challenge that transgender students must reckon with in Texas higher education. Multiple university systems have recently restricted courses that appear to “advocate” for gender ideology, and the University of Texas and Texas A&M University no longer offer gender-affirming care for students. The Texas Tech University system will no longer teach the existence of more than two genders and is reviewing all courses concerning sexual orientation. Senate Bill 17, passed in 2023, removed university-sponsored support for marginalized students, which resulted in the closure of LGBTQ resource centers across the state. Rather than punish individuals, the 2025 law puts the onus on public agencies to take “every reasonable step” to ensure that the law is being followed — and invites individuals to report violations to the Attorney General that could lead to lawsuits or fines. “The actual legislation doesn’t really tell folks what they should be doing as far as enforcement is concerned,” Brad Pritchett, CEO of Equality Texas, an LGBTQ advocacy non-profit, said in an interview. “What it does is it kind of creates a kind of threat to any municipality. At any time someone could accuse them of being noncompliant with the law.” Texas universities are responding in different ways. Ahead of the compliance deadline, UT San Antonio relocated 30 students to different dorms, KSAT reported and the American-Statesman confirmed with the university, giving students little notice to move. Spokesperson Joe Izbrand said UTSA “is working with each of them individually to ensure a smooth transition.”

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Trial delayed for former Texas youth pastor

The trial for a former youth pastor at four Texas churches has been reset to April 20, 2026, granting both the prosecution and defense more time to prepare for what is expected to be a contentious case. Luke Cunningham, 43, of Lubbock, Texas, faces charges that include 16 counts of sexual assault of a child. These charges carry a first-degree felony enhancement known as “bigamy” following a grand jury reindictment that superseded previous charges and added penal enhancements. The statute under which Cunningham has been reindicted escalates sexual assault charges to first-degree felonies when the offender is accused of assaulting a person “whom the actor was prohibited from marrying or living with under the appearance of marriage,” as defined by Texas bigamy laws.

Prosecutors based these charges on Cunningham’s alleged promises to marry his underage victims — teenagers in his youth group at Turning Point Community Church in Lubbock — once they turned 18. At the time of the alleged offenses, Cunningham was married and had several children with his then-spouse. Cunningham’s case drew national attention when BNG first reported in June 2024 that he had been arrested by U.S. marshals on child sexual assault charges. He also was reportedly under federal investigation by the FBI for possible international and interstate sex trafficking, as the alleged abuse reportedly took place overseas during mission trips. BNG has learned through multiple sources close to the case, including advocates and law enforcement officials speaking on background, that Cunningham’s reindictment occurred after a prospective plea deal fell through. Sources allege that prosecutors initially offered Cunningham a plea deal of 50 years in prison. Had he accepted, Cunningham would have been released at age 93, assuming he survived the full sentence. Cunningham allegedly refused this deal and countered with a prospective term of five years, which was summarily rejected by the prosecution.

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Judge dismisses Southwestern Seminary from Roe lawsuit

A federal judge has permanently dismissed Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from the long-running defamation lawsuit filed by Jane Roe, while leaving the door open for a jury trial against former seminary President Paige Patterson in the summer 2026. This lawsuit, originally filed in 2019, has become one of the most protracted legal battles in recent Southern Baptist history, keeping the details of Patterson’s controversial exit from Southwestern in the headlines seven years after his firing. In a Dec. 1 opinion, U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan ruled that while the seminary is no longer liable, claims against Patterson regarding a controversial 2018 donor letter remain active. However, the court simultaneously granted Patterson a final opportunity to seek dismissal before facing a jury.

The ruling clarifies a chaotic and long-running legal battle for what once was the nation’s largest freestanding theological seminary and its former embattled president. The legal path of the case has bounced between the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas. Plaintiff Jane Roe — a former student who alleges she was sexually assaulted by another student in 2014 — argued recent appellate decisions had revived her claims against both Patterson and the seminary. Judge Jordan disagreed, ruling the seminary cannot be held liable for the actions of employees who were working “against the interests” of the institution. The court found that while seminary employees, including Patterson’s former Chief of Staff Scott Colter, may have participated in drafting the defamation, they did so to criticize the seminary’s decision to fire Patterson.

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More North Texans with college degrees are struggling with poverty

A college education is not the ticket out of poverty that it used to be. A Dallas Morning News analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau found more North Texas adults with college degrees live in poverty today compared to a decade ago. That mirrors a trend across major metropolitan areas in the state and country. Since 2014, the number of North Texans with college degrees has increased by more than 50%. Higher education still leads to higher income, as the region’s rapid economic growth increased median incomes across educational levels, data shows. Yet the general decline in North Texas’ poverty rate largely comes from a drop in poverty levels among adults without a high school diploma, according to the data. Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree are least likely to live in poverty. But the share of those struggling below the poverty level has increased significantly since 2014.

Less than 12% or 59,000 adults in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area with college degrees lived below the poverty level in 2014, census data show. That headcount grew to over 80,000 or about 18% last year. In 2014, over a third of adults (more than 175,000) living below the poverty level, held less than a high school diploma. Their share dropped to less than 25% (or less than 114,000) as of 2024. Changes in the local labor market, driven by shifts from one industry to another, may be impacting the financial situation of college-educated adults, said Sean Reardon, a professor of poverty and inequality in education at Stanford University. For example, the shift from a manufacturing economy with lots of high-wage jobs that didn’t require a bachelor’s degree (think unionized auto or steel manufacturing jobs), to a service economy, where most high-wage jobs require a degree — think computer science and finance professions — changed the importance of having a college degree, he said. Changes in the education system itself are unlikely to have caused these shifts, Reardon further said, as all the adults surveyed are 25 years of age and above. “For most of them, their educational/college experience was decades ago,” he said. “So recent changes in their poverty rates are likely not related to their educational experiences.” The influx of big tech and financial companies over the past decade coincides with this trend in poverty levels.

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Thousands of Austin drivers cited for not having car insurance, police say

The latest data from the Austin Police Department show traffic citations are up in the city compared to last year. Last month, APD’s assistant chief of patrol presented the numbers to the city of Austin’s Mobility Committee, the group responsible for improving transportation across the city. In addition to the ticket uptick, the data also showed over 8,000 drivers have been cited for driving without insurance so far this year. Data collected between January and September show driving without insurance citations were by far the most common ticket issued to Austin drivers with a total of 8,567. Tickets for driving without a license (5,293) and having an expired registration (3,915) followed by a few thousand citations.

Assistant Chief of Patrol Mike Chancellor said there are a few reasons why driving without insurance far outranks other citations. “First, insurance costs money and so not everyone spends that money to get the insurance,” Chancellor said. According to Chancellor, the biggest reason comes down to drivers being cited at stops for other violations. “We may pull you over for speeding. We may pull you over if you ran a red light. But then we may find that you don’t have a license or you don’t have insurance and we cite you for those things right there,” he said. Chancellor said APD uses a database called TexasSure to verify a driver’s insurance. However, if the database is down and the driver does not have a copy of their insurance, then APD will issue a citation. The ticket can later be dismissed in court. Car insurance is legally required in Texas, and Chancellor emphasized the importance of protecting yourself if an accident were to occur.

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Petrochemical expansion in Texas will fall heavily on communities of color, study finds

Researchers at Texas Southern University in Houston have analyzed demographic data around the locations of almost 100 industrial facilities proposed statewide and found that about 90 percent are located in counties with higher concentrations of people of color and families in poverty than statewide averages. In a report released this month, the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern also found that nearly half of those proposed industrial sites—petrochemicals plants for manufacturing plastics, coastal export terminals, refineries and other facilities—were already above the 90th percentile for pollution exposure under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory, a measurement of harmful industrial emissions. “Texas and other states must end decades-long industrial facility siting where economically disadvantaged fenceline communities serve as dumping grounds,” the report concluded.

Robert Bullard, the center’s director and lead author of the report, first came to prominence as a young sociologist at the university when he produced a 1979 study showing that all five of Houston’s city-owned landfills and six of eight city-owned incinerators were located in Black neighborhoods. “The process of the dumping, the siting, has not changed over these 45 years that I’ve been studying this,” Bullard said in an interview. “America is segregated and so is pollution.” Planned projects reviewed in the Bullard Center’s latest work, “Green Light to Pollute in Texas,“ cluster primarily around the state’s existing refinery hubs on the Gulf Coast, such as Port Arthur, the Houston Ship Channel, Freeport and Corpus Christi. Nearly half are located near neighborhoods that already face among the highest levels of toxic air pollution in the country, the report said. These petrochemical complexes have grown rapidly in the last decade, fueled by abundant oil and gas from the fracking boom in the oilfields of Texas and beyond. Plastics industries dominated that growth. Plastics producers in Texas last year sold $61.5 billion in materials and employed 54,000 people, more than any other state, according to a recent report by the American Chemistry Council, an industry group.

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National Stories

Discharge petitions are surging. Republican defectors say it’s not Mike Johnson’s fault.

Republican House members have attempted five times under Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership to bypass one of his biggest powers: choosing which bills should go for a vote. Still, many of the Republicans who supported discharge petitions that force a vote say they’re not a rebuke of Johnson’s leadership. “The speaker has done a pretty strong job,” Rep. Chip Roy told NOTUS, adding that discharge petitions “just shape the direction and drive a statement that there is a clear majority. The majority party can still grab the bill and do something with it.”

The typically unsuccessful political maneuver requires the support of 218 lawmakers, which typically means Republicans teaming up with Democrats to force votes on bills that leadership has declined to bring to the floor. Most recently, a measure introduced by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna demanding that the Justice Department release files on convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein passed the House 427-1. Massie said that the increasing level of successful discharge petitions was more about the House’s razor-thin margins than Johnson’s leadership. There are 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House as of December, meaning Democrats need to win over only a small number of Republicans. “It’s going to be more likely to succeed with a narrow margin,” Massie said. “You can’t read too much into it.”

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Congress pulls major college sports bill after bipartisan backlash: 'Not ready for prime time'

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives pulled a bill scheduled for a final vote on Wednesday, Dec. 3 that would have allowed the NCAA and its newly-formed College Sports Commission to create and enforce national rules that have been under legal dispute in recent years. The SCORE Act (Student Compensation And Opportunity Through Rights and Endorsements) sought to provide more regulation and calm the chaotic environment created by the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation, revenue sharing and the transfer portal to college sports. It passed a procedural vote on Tuesday, 210-209, but the legislation drew bipartisan backlash as a final vote neared. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and the Congressional Black Caucus were among the vocal critics, and issues with how the bill infringed on athletes' rights inspired competing legislation from House Democrats earlier this week.

The move to pull the SCORE Act by House GOP leaders about two hours before it was originally slated for a final vote was seen as a sign it no longer had enough support to pass. "The SCORE Act was pulled from consideration because it simply didn't have the votes, a clear sign that Members on both sides saw it for what it was: a gift to the NCAA and the Power Two conferences at the expense of athletes. This bill would have imposed new restrictions on athletesm, while doing nothing to address the real instability in college athletics.," Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) wrote in a social media post after the vote was scuttled. The proposed bill, which was introduced in July by members of both parties with backing from leaders of three House committees, would permit the NCAA to set a cap on how much schools can spend on NIL deals and parameters for the manner in which athletes transfer, so long as they can transfer at least once and be immediately eligible. Other aspects of the proposed bill would put into law the fair-market-value assessment of athletes' NIL deals with entities other than schools provided under the House vs. NCAA settlement and allow universities to prevent athletes from having NIL deals that conflict with school sponsorship deals.

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USDA Chief Brooke Rollins threatens to pause state SNAP funding in data standoff

Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will pause federal funding to blue states that refuse to provide the information it requested on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aid recipients. Rollins said during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump the pause would be in effect as of next week. The fight between the administration and states over personal data goes back months. “We have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states, until they comply, and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect these American taxpayers,” Rollins said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Agriculture told NOTUS in a statement that states refusing to turn over the data will have another opportunity to do so before losing funding. “We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the spokesperson said. Earlier this year, USDA asked all states to turn over their data and allow the agency to review how the program is managed. Rollins said it was an effort aimed at ensuring the food aid only goes to those who need it. But 21 blue states declined to provide the information, arguing in a court case the administration’s request was unlawful and likely to compromise recipients’ personal data. Still, nearly 30 states did hand over the information, which included details like Social Security numbers, benefit amounts and home addresses. The administration is now arguing that the data showed rampant fraudulent use of the benefits. “Twenty-nine states said ‘yes.’ Not surprisingly, the red states, and that’s where all of that data, that fraud comes from. But 21 states, including California, New York and Minnesota — blue states — continue to say ‘no,’” Rollins said. Rollins acknowledged in her remarks that SNAP funding had become a larger part of the national discourse during the government shutdown, when the aid was interrupted and the fight over contingency funding even reached the Supreme Court. Some states scrambled to cobble together funding for their constituents who rely on the service — nearly 42 million Americans rely on the aid. Even before the shutdown, Republicans in Washington set in motion major changes to the program that will shrink the number of people eligible and shift more of the administrative burden to states. Last month, Rollins also created uncertainty around the program when she said that people who receive SNAP would need to “reapply,” though the Agriculture Department later said it would continue to use existing eligibility verification processes, according to Politico.

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Florida starts redistricting talks in a growing battle for House control in 2026 elections

Florida’s Republican-controlled House is holding the first meeting of its select committee on congressional redistricting Thursday, as the state becomes the latest to consider redrawing electoral maps amid a partisan battle for every edge in next year’s midterm elections. The national wave of redistricting efforts was instigated by President Donald Trump, who hopes to buck the historical trend of the president’s party losing seats in midterms, and his allies are wagering that his adopted home state could yield three to five more seats for Republicans. Each seat is crucial, because Democrats need a net gain of just three to control the chamber. But the push for redistricting faces major challenges in Florida due to bitter infighting between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and leaders in the GOP-dominated Legislature, along with a provision in the state Constitution that explicitly bars redrawing maps with the intent to “favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.”

DeSantis has voiced support for redistricting and even called for a redo of the 2020 U.S. census, claiming that Florida was shortchanged in the count, which determines how many congressional seats each state gets. “We are going to press this issue,” DeSantis said in August. This week, in an interview with online outlet The Floridian, DeSantis floated the possibility of calling lawmakers back in a special session if they do not get redistricting done in the regular session, which is scheduled for Jan. 13 to March 13. The state Senate has declined to wade into the fray so far. Senate President Ben Albritton, also a Republican, has said there is “no ongoing work” on the matter in his chamber, citing the governor's desire to address it in the spring. Civil liberties and voting rights organizations say any redistricting for partisan gain in Florida is unconstitutional, and their supporters plan to pack committee meetings to voice opposition. “To redraw the lines for partisan reasons is illegal. Period, full stop,” said Genesis Robinson, executive director of the voter engagement organization Equal Ground. Florida has 28 congressional seats, with a Republican-Democratic split of 20-8. Nationwide, midcycle redistricting has resulted in nine more congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six that Democrats think they can win. The redistricting is being litigated in several states, however, and there is also no guarantee that the parties will win the remapped seats

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House Democrat launches investigation into Trump, ’60 Minutes’ interview edit

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) is demanding CBS and its parent company Paramount provide more information about how it edited an interview with President Trump that aired on “60 Minutes” last month. Raskin, in a letter to newly appointed CBS News ombudsperson Ken Weinstein that was shared exclusively with The Hill, blasted the network for what he said was the “improper influence President Donald Trump wielded over CBS News’s editorial decisions” in recent weeks, including during the interview that aired Nov. 2 “President Trump increasingly appears to be exercising direct control over CBS’s editorial decisions, destroying CBS’s ‘journalistic integrity’ while violating its right to be free from governmental coercion and manipulation,” Raskin wrote.

The Democrat took specific issue with the network’s decision not to include a portion of Trump’s comments to journalist Norah O’Donnell in which he bragged about a $16 million settlement Paramount paid his presidential foundation earlier this year. The settlement was made to quell a lawsuit Trump brought against the company over its editing of a similar interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election. “And, actually, ’60 Minutes’ paid me a lot of money,” Trump said during the interview in comments that did not air in the broadcast but were included in a transcript posted online that evening. “And you don’t have to put this on, because I don’t want to embarrass you, and I’m sure you’re not … I think you have a great, new leader, frankly, who’s — the young woman that’s leading your whole enterprise is a great, from what I know.” After it faced intense backlash from Trump’s allies over the Harris edit, CBS vowed to publish full transcripts of all “60 Minutes” interviews with presidents and presidential candidates.

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Pope Leo XIV's distinctiveness begins to show

Pope Leo XIV's first foreign trip evidenced profound echoes of his predecessor, Pope Francis. Still, we are also starting to see points of difference emerge as well. As Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said at the press conference the U.S. cardinal-electors held the day after Leo's election: "I think it's important to remember that when we have the appointment of a bishop in the church, we don't talk about a replacement, we talk about a successor. ... That is what we [the cardinal electors] were looking for as well." Leo is not Francis 2.0. Leo is Leo. Like Francis, Leo went to a country, Turkey, with very few Catholics. Francis, remember, went to Mongolia, which has only a few thousand Catholics. There are not that many more in Turkey and it is wonderful to see the bishop of Rome confirm the faithful in lands where they are so few. Leo met with the elderly as well as the youth, as did his predecessors on their trips. And he met with civic leaders. Like Francis, Leo championed the cause of Christian unity, looking forward to the great jubilee of 2033 when all Christians will celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord.

Like all of his recent predecessors, Leo emphasized the special closeness of the church of Rome with the Eastern churches. The scene at the site of the Council of Nicaea, where the pope was joined by almost all the patriarchs of the Eastern churches, was another step toward the restoration of full communion. His obvious and easy rapport with Patriarch Bartholomew brought to mind memories of Pope Paul VI meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem in 1964. Unlike Francis, Leo declined to pray while visiting the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul. I feared that traditionalists who criticized Francis would seize on this point, as they did with Leo's wearing the scarlet mozzetta when he appeared on the loggia of St. Peter's after his election, seeing it a sign of secret traditionalist sympathies. Then people recalled that Pope Benedict XVI had also prayed when he visited the mosque, so that dog didn't hunt.

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Scott Galloway on the masculinity crisis: ‘I worry we are evolving a new breed of asexual, asocial males’

It takes balls to title your book Notes on Being a Man. And, superficially, Scott Galloway could easily be lumped in with a dozen other manosphere-friendly alpha-bros promising to teach young men how to find their inner wolf. He is, after all, a wealthy, healthy, white, heterosexual, shaven-headed, 61-year-old Californian who made his name and fortune as a successful investor and podcaster. But in reality, he is almost the opposite: liberal, left-leaning and surprisingly sensitive. The guy who advises his readers on “how to address the masculinity crisis, build mental strength and raise good sons” has been described as a “progressive Jordan Peterson”, or “Gordon Gekko with a social conscience”. Galloway is also sufficiently self-aware not to claim he has all the answers. “I don’t think it would be well received for me to say, ‘This is how you become a man,’” he says, speaking from his London home. “What I’m trying to say is, this is where I’ve had some success, and mostly where I screwed up trying to become a man.”

When Galloway first started talking about masculinity, he says, people weren’t prepared to listen. “It was like, here’s more misogyny, here’s more men blaming women – the gag reflex was so strong.” This was about four years ago, but all that has now changed. When Notes On Being a Man was released in early November, it raced to the top of the New York Times advice books bestseller list and Galloway has been in demand in the media ever since, giving his take on what’s wrong with men, and what to do about it. Galloway has plenty of statistics to back up his claim that young men really are in trouble. Drawing on research by writers such as Richard Reeves (author of 2022’s Of Boys and Men) and his NYU colleague Jonathan Haidt (whose recent book The Anxious Generation sounded the alarm on social media), he sketches out a landscape of rising rates of everything from boys’ school suspensions to male unemployment, addictions, loneliness, and failure to complete college. “We’re going to graduate probably two women for every one man from college in the next five years, because men drop out at a greater rate.” Galloway suggests that the previous denial of the problem, especially by the political left, might even have put Donald Trump back in the White House. “Let me offer that the reason we elected [him] is because of struggling with men.” Two groups that pivoted hardest towards Trump in 2024, he says, were young men, and women aged 45 to 64, and “my thesis is that’s the mothers of young men.” While Trump embraced the manosphere, the Democrats championed the interests of virtually every special interest group except young men, he argues.

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Lead Stories

Plans for Jasmine Crockett, Marc Veasey 2026 campaigns become more clear

Jasmine Crockett plans announcement ahead of filing deadline on her future. The Dallas Democrat who now represents the 30th Congressional District said she will hold a special announcement in Dallas at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, 90 minutes before the state's deadline for candidates to file their campaign paperwork. The political dominoes started to fall into place for other North Texas Democrats, who are waiting to see if the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the 2025 Congressional maps after Justice Samuel Alito temporarily reinstated them last month. A source familiar with the situation told CBS News Texas that if the Supreme Court upholds the 2025 maps, Democratic Congressman Marc Veasey of Fort Worth will run in the newly drawn 30th Congressional District.

The district remains mostly in Dallas County and now also includes an additional 200,000 people in Tarrant County. The source said if the Supreme Court upholds the 2021 Congressional maps, Veasey will remain in the 33rd Congressional District, which he has represented since 2013. A variety of Democrats said Tuesday they believe Crockett is definitely running for the Senate. Crockett told CBS News Texas last month that she would only run statewide for U.S. Senate if polling she commissioned showed she could win a general election by expanding the electorate and attracting new voters. History has shown it is an uphill climb for any Democrat to win statewide in Texas because that hasn't happened in more than 30 years. Before Crockett can run in a general election, she has to win the primary and beat her fellow Democrats: former Dallas Congressman Colin Allred, who ran statewide last year and attracted some Republicans in his bid against Sen. Ted Cruz, and State Rep. James Talarico, who raised a record amount of money after his announcement and generated national headlines. Republicans are already expressing excitement for a likely Crockett Senate run because they believe she can't win a general election.

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Republicans hold Tennessee special election. But Democrats are still celebrating.

Republican Matt Van Epps (R) won a special election on Tuesday in Tennessee in what was seen as a likely bellwether for next year’s midterms. Van Epps defeated state Rep. Aftyn Behn (D) for a Nashville-area House seat that went for President Trump by over 20 points last year. According to voting data on Tuesday night, he won the seat by roughly 9 points, raising alarm bells for some in the GOP who fear the surprising competitiveness of the race could be a bad omen for next year. Democrats, meanwhile, are touting Behn’s performance as another reason to feel optimistic.

A defeat in the 7th district not only would have further narrowed the GOP’s already slim majority in the House, but it also would have been a humiliating loss for Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at a time when both men are facing criticism from within their own party. The race also came less than a month after Democrats outperformed expectations in elections in New Jersey and Virginia, further raising GOP concerns about the midterms. While Republicans were always favored to win the district, recent polling suggested a tight contest. In a sign the party was worried, Trump and Johnson raced to shore up support for Van Epps in the final days of the race. The president was quick to take a victory lap on Tuesday. While they fell short of flipping the seat, Democrats still had reasons to feel optimistic Tuesday night. Behn overperformed in the district by about 13 points compared to 2024, making her race the latest example of Democrats surpassing expectations in special elections this year. Democrats were also looking at her performance as a gauge for how messaging on issues like affordability would play in Trump-friendly parts of the country.

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Michael and Susan Dell donate $6.25 billion to encourage families to claim 'Trump Accounts'

Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion Tuesday to provide 25 million American children 10 and under an incentive to claim the new investment accounts for children created as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation. The historic gift has little precedent, with few single charitable commitments in the past 25 years exceeding $1 billion. Announced on GivingTuesday, the Dells believe it’s the largest single private commitment made to U.S. children. Its structure is also unusual. Essentially, it builds on the “ Trump Accounts " program, where the U.S. Department of the Treasury will deposit $1,000 into investment accounts it sets up for American children born between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2028. The Dells’ gift will use the “Trump Accounts” infrastructure to give $250 to each qualified child under 11.

“We believe that if every child can see a future worth saving for, this program will build something far greater than an account. It will build hope and opportunity and prosperity for generations to come,” said Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies whose estimated net worth is $148 billion, according to Forbes. Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion on Tuesday to provide an incentive to families to adopt new investment accounts for children. The accounts were created as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation but have not yet launched. Though the “Trump Accounts” became law as part of the president’s signature legislation in July, the Dells say the accounts will not launch until July 4, 2026. Michael Dell said they wanted to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. “We want these kids to know that not only do their families care, but their communities care, their government, their country cares about them,” Susan Dell told The Associated Press.

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Hegseth, citing ‘fog of war,’ says he learned of survivors hours after strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that “a couple of hours” passed before he was made aware that a September military strike he authorized and “watched live” required an additional attack to kill two survivors, further distancing himself from an incident now facing congressional inquiry. Speaking in the Cabinet Room alongside President Donald Trump, Hegseth delivered the most extensive public accounting yet of his involvement in the strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea. Lawmakers and law of war experts have questioned whether the episode constitutes a war crime and, if so, who bears responsibility. “I did not personally see survivors,” he said in response to a reporter’s question, “… because that thing was on fire and was exploded, and fire, smoke, you can’t see anything. You got digital, there’s — this is called the fog of war.”

“I didn’t know about the second strike. I didn’t know anything about people. I wasn’t involved, and I knew they took out a boat,” Trump said during a meeting with members of his Cabinet. Officials in Congress and the Pentagon have said they are concerned that the Trump administration intends to scapegoat the admiral and that they view Hegseth’s public remarks as an attempt to insulate himself from any legal recourse. Spokespeople for U.S. Special Operations Command, where Bradley is the top commander, have not commented publicly on the matter. Hegseth said he had observed a live video of the initial attack before he “moved on to my next meeting.” “I watched that first strike live,” Hegseth said, noting that he did not witness the entire sequence of events that unfolded next. “As you can imagine,” he added, at the Defense Department “we got a lot of things to do. So I didn’t stick around for the hour and two hours, whatever. … A couple of hours later, I learned that that commander had made the — which he had the complete authority to do, and by the way, Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.”

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State Stories

Tilman Fertitta’s son, Patrick, to succeed his father on University of Houston board of regents

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed the son of Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta to the University of Houston System Board of Regents, which Fertitta chaired until resigning earlier this year to become the U.S. Ambassador to Italy. Abbott announced the appointment of Patrick Fertitta on Tuesday, saying his term on the board of regents would expire on Aug. 31, 2027. Shortly after the announcement, UH Chancellor Renu Khator welcomed Patrick Fertitta to the board.

"With his passion for advancing our region and his business acumen, I am confident that he will further elevate our universities' academic standings and student success," Khator said in a statement. Patrick Fertitta, 31, is the director of Fertitta Entertainment — a Houston-based conglomerate founded by his father, which owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets, Landry's, Inc. and Golden Nugget Casinos. He earned his business degree from the University of Southern California. According to Abbott's office, Patrick Fertitta is also an alternate governor on the NBA board of governors as well as the director of the Space City Home Network and the Clutch City Foundation. His appointment comes several months after Tilman Fertitta resigned from the UH board of regents and Landry's, Inc. Shortly after, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the ambassador to Italy and San Marino. The elder Fertitta resigned from his business and the board of regents, which he chaired for more than 15 years, in compliance with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Tilman Fertitta still holds investments in his companies but wrote in a March letter to the U.S. Department of State that he would no longer actively participate in running them. President Donald Trump tapped Tilman Fertitta for the ambassadorship in December 2024, shortly after winning his second term in the White House. Tilman Fertitta has been a longtime Republican donor and has had a more than decade-long business relationship with Trump, including taking ownership of an Atlantic City casino in 2011 that was owned by Trump.

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While acting Harris County attorney seeks congressional seat, commissioners delay backfilling his position

While acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is a frontrunner in the race to fill the vacant seat in Houston’s 18th Congressional District, questions remain about what happens next with his elected position as the county’s chief legal advisor. Though Menefee technically resigned from his position earlier this year after announcing his campaign for the special election to complete the term of late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, he has continued to carry out the roles of county attorney in an acting capacity. Harris County commissioners are charged with appointing an interim. That hasn’t happened yet, though, and discussions about the position have taken place only during the commissioners’ recent closed-to-the-public executive sessions.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo scheduled a special meeting for Nov. 20 for the sole purpose of entering executive session to discuss the position. But the discussion fell through after scheduling conflicts among commissioners and Hidalgo’s unexplained absence. In a statement to Houston Public Media on Monday, Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said the commissioners court should not try and influence the upcoming election. "Voters will soon have the chance to decide between several qualified candidates who have stepped forward to express interest in the county attorney position,” Ellis said. “My preference for this appointment is that commissioners court selects an internal candidate from within the current county attorney's office at the appropriate moment rather than puts its thumb on the scale ahead of the election." Neither Hidalgo nor any of the county’s other three elected commissioners — Democrats Lesley Briones, and Adrian Garcia, along with Republican Tom Ramsey — responded to requests for comment by deadline. Though Menefee provides legal counsel to the county government and acts as its representative in litigation, he’s repeatedly used his position to fight President Donald Trump’s administration in federal court.

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Addison leaders reject an election to leave DART

Addison will remain a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit for the foreseeable future after some city council members rejected a call for an election to withdraw from the transit agency. After hours of public testimony and discussion Tuesday night, Addison City Council voted 4-3 not to hold an election this spring to leave DART. It comes after four other cities — Farmers Branch, Irving, Highland Park and Plano — voted to hold their own withdrawal elections in May. Addison Mayor Bruce Arfsten said he supports working with the agency. "It is about the bigger picture, the regional picture," he said. "It's really clear to me where the residents are and the community at large, beyond Addison."

Arfsten was talking about the dozens of residents and non-residents who came to speak to the council in support of DART. Madison Noelle McNair said she's a disabled DART rider who lives in Garland but regularly visits Addison to see her sister. "DART isn't just public transportation, it's freedom,” she said. “It's how I get to work, to the doctor, to see my friends and family. DART is how I live my life." Kennedy Bower said she’s lived in Addison since the ‘90s and saw how it grew from a suburban town with older motels and shopping centers to a vibrant, dense community with mixed-use corridors and major developments. “Addison has embraced a forward-looking development model, and our transportation strategy must evolve with it,” said Bower. “It's growing here, and as a young person, that's very exciting and very energizing.” Of the dozens of speakers at the meeting, only one spoke in support of holding a withdrawal election. Trisha Stewart said calling an election will let voters have their say on how the city spends its tax dollars.

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Camp Mystic says safety is 'utmost concern' as it details plans to reopen

Camp Mystic, the Hill Country retreat where 25 campers and two counselors died in the July 4 flood, is preparing to reopen next summer and has sent parents an email detailing safety improvements it says go beyond what's required under new camp safety laws. A group of grieving parents who are suing the camp reacted bitterly to the announcement, accusing Camp Mystic's management of "utter indifference to our suffering." A carefully worded message about the planned reopening was circulated via email Tuesday by the Eastland family, which owns and operates the Christian girls' camp in Kerr County. The message lists the dates of six 10-day camp sessions scheduled for late May through Aug. 9.

Addressed to "Dear Camp Mystic Family," the email opens with an oblique reference to the deadly flood, thanks parents for their support and asks for prayers for the victims of the disaster. "As we approach the end of a year filled with great sorrow," it says, "we want to extend our deepest gratitude to you and your families. We are forever thankful for your love, your messages of support and your prayers. We ask for your continued prayers for the families who lost their children in the horrible flood on July 4th. "We are preparing for next summer at Camp Mystic Cypress Lake and we know that safety is of the utmost concern to all of you, as it is for us," the message says, adding that "it is our goal not only to be in compliance with the new camp safety laws, but to exceed their requirements." The Eastlands plan to open only a newer section of the resort known as Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, where there were no deaths, injuries or property damage. All of the July 4 fatalities, including that of Richard "Dick" Eastland, 70, the camp's co-owner and co-director, happened in an older part of the camp called Camp Mystic Guadalupe River.

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She was deported after boarding a flight to Austin. Her attorney says that violates a judge's order.

A Boston-area college student with ties to Texas was deported while trying to surprise her parents for the holiday. Babson College student Any López Belloza boarded a flight to Austin the week before Thanksgiving to surprise her family when she was detained by immigration authorities, then sent to Texas before being deported to her native country of Honduras. López Belloza's attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said she was stopped for violating a deportation order. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told KUT that order was issued in 2015, but Pomerleau said he hasn't found any record of an active deportation order, and that López Belloza came to the U.S. when she was a child.

“At the end of the day, this is a college student who came here at 7 years old to seek asylum with her family," Pomerleau said. "She's not responsible under the law for any decisions her parents made about her. She was a child." Pomerleau said the deportation ran afoul of a federal court order filed on Nov. 21. Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs barred the government from deporting López Belloza until a court could hear her case, which would take at least three days. Pomerleau said she was flown to Texas and sent to Honduras on Nov. 22. ICE confirmed that López Belloza was arrested on Thanksgiving, but did not say why, given the judge's order to hold off on her deportation. "She received full due process and was removed to Honduras," an agency spokesperson said. A federal judge ordered responses in López Belloza's case by Dec. 3.

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Travis Johnson, former El Paso County judge and Southwest Airlines board member, dies at 89

Travis Johnson, an El Paso attorney who was prominent in Texas political and business circles for decades, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 89. Johnson was appointed El Paso County judge, the highest executive position in county government, in 1965, when he was 29 years old. He was influential in El Paso and Texas Democratic politics for four decades. José Luis Sanchez, a retired attorney and lobbyist who had known Johnson for more than 40 years, called him “an El Paso legend.” “He loved El Paso and was fiercely proud of his roots in Ysleta and the Lower Valley. He worked actively on water issues on behalf of Lower Valley farmers, including the American Canal, later re-named for him,” said Sanchez, who worked as an aide to former U.S. Rep. Ron Coleman of El Paso.

Johnson supported Sanchez in his 1996 race against Silvestre Reyes for the Democratic nomination for Congress, which Reyes won in a runoff. Johnson then recommended him for a lobbyist job with Southwest Airlines, a job Sanchez held for 25 years. “I will miss Travis’ sound advice and quick wit. We had a great friendship,” Sanchez said. Johnson was an adviser and longtime friend of Lloyd Bentsen, the last Democrat elected to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. Bentsen was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 1988 and served as President Bill Clinton’s secretary of the treasury from 1993 to 1994. Johnson was an honorary pallbearer at Bentsen’s funeral in 2006, along with former presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush and former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, James Baker and Madeline Albright.

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Katy ISD among districts in new legal challenge over Texas Ten Commandments law

After receiving two favorable rulings from judges, a coalition of advocacy groups filed their third lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new state law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom in Texas. The new case was brought against 16 Texas school districts, adding Katy, Clear Creek, Deer Park, Pearland and Magnolia ISDs to the litigation. Courts have already barred the displays in Conroe, Houston, Fort Bend and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs. The latest filing comes in an ongoing effort from groups such as the ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

They represent families across the state who say placing posters of the Ten Commandments violates their First Amendment protections. All three cases have been filed in San Antonio federal court in the Western District of Texas. Tuesday’s filing is the first class-action lawsuit the groups have brought in the Ten Commandments litigation. The goal in the new case is to bar any public school districts not already involved in litigation from displaying the text, since the previous rulings have only applied to the districts being sued. The Ten Commandments law, which went into effect in September under Senate Bill 10, sparked intense debates on the role religion plays in public schools. SB10 tasks districts with placing the Ten Commandments in classrooms without any additional text alongside them, raising concerns from some parents who say the requirement excludes children of other faiths. While districts can — but are not required to — use their funds to purchase Ten Commandments displays, the law mandates they place posters received as donations in classrooms.

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Abbott urges Trump's treasury secretary to strip CAIR's nonprofit status

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday urged the U.S. Department of the Treasury to strip an Islamic civil rights group of its tax exempt status weeks after the Texas Republican deemed it a foreign terrorist organization. Abbott wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushing him to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations and suspend its nonprofit status. "Americans have generous hearts, and federal law wisely creates incentives to donate to nonprofit organizations that promote the public good," Abbott wrote. "But charity must not become a backdoor to sponsor terrorism, endanger Americans, and subvert our democracy."

The move came the same day that members of CAIR and Democratic lawmakers held a press conference outside the Capitol, condemning the Texas Republican's attacks on the group as an effort to "fan the flames of anti-Muslim hysteria." "Hostile rhetoric that once lived only in online comments sections has now been changed into an official proclamation," said Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager for CAIR-Austin. "The cynicism of scapegoating vulnerable populations by a leadership that controls every single lever of power in the state of Texas is despicable, but more importantly, it's deadly dangerous," said state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, an Austin Democrat. It is the latest in Abbott's drive against the group, which he deemed last month as a foreign terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organization. The move prohibits CAIR from purchasing or acquiring land in Texas and allows Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue to shut it down. Abbott has said he included CAIR because of a 2007 case in which the group was named as one of almost 300 with reported ties to the Holy Land Foundation, a Texas-based charity that was shut down by the U.S. government for funneling millions of dollars to Hamas. CAIR was never indicted and has denied the allegations. The group has since sued, calling the action “unconstitutional” and “defamatory.”

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Second Tarrant County redistricting lawsuit dismissed

A district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Tarrant County over the new Commissioners Court’s precinct map. Texas Civil Rights Project on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County and a Fort Worth chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens argued that the map illegally diminished the voting power of Black and Latino voters. The lawsuit, filed in Tarrant County, aimed to throw out the new map and defer to the one that had been in place since 2011. Judge Megan Fahey dismissed the lawsuit in the 348th District Court, siding with defendants Tarrant County, the Commissioners Court and County Judge Tim O’Hare. The ruling can be appealed, though the plaintiffs’ law firm did not say whether they would.

“But, even if it is appealed, I would expect the ruling to be upheld,” Republican Commissioner Matt Krause said in a post on X. “Another very positive development and another blow to those who gaslighted hundreds throughout the redistricting process.” Fahey had previously denied a bid for an injunction blocking the map. The Commissioners Court seats held by Democrat Alisa Simmons and Republicans Manny Ramirez and O’Hare will be up for grabs in the Nov. 3 general election. The new map was presented to the court shortly before Republican commissioners voted to approve it in June. The redistricting is likely to flip Simmons’s seat to a Republican. On Monday, a group of eight Black and Latino Tarrant County voters dropped their federal lawsuit against the county. One of the plaintiffs, Alberto Govea, president of LULAC Council 4568, said he is concerned about the ability to receive justice in Tarrant County.

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Gabe Rivas, ex-staffer for Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons and son of Rep. Terry Meza, files for election to her seat

Gabe Rivas, a former staffer for Democrat Alisa Simmons, is running for her seat as Precinct 2 commissioner in Tarrant County. Simmons, who has not filed for or announced plans to seek reelection, did not respond to a KERA News phone call or voicemail requesting comment. Rivas filed for election Monday, he said. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported his bid Monday evening. Rivas announced Tuesday that he has endorsements from around 50 people, including former State Representatives Victoria Neave Criado and Lon Burnam, Celina Vasquez of the Democratic National Convention Hispanic Caucus and nine others who have held, currently hold or are running for elected office. His mother, State Rep. Terry Meza, is also listed among Rivas' endorsements.

Rivas has worked in public service and politics for the past 20 years and with candidates and elected officials for the last three. He told KERA News in a phone call Tuesday that running for office was the next logical step. “I just see this as a continuation of the work I’ve been doing in the community, advocating for the residents of Tarrant County and continuing the outreach at a new county level,” he said on the call. One important task if he is elected would be helping residents understand changes brought about by the county’s mid-decade redistricting, Rivas said. “We have a county that's not just an urban county, but it also has some rural areas, also has some suburban areas," Rivas said. “I think one of the biggest challenges that we're going to face as a county is making sure that we can address the needs of all our residents and not just certain segments of it."

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Dallas hopes to offer DART respite amid potential suburban exodus, stagnant ridership

As North Texas cities contemplate leaving the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system, Dallas leaders are imploring the public transportation agency: “Can you please help us help you?” Council member Lorie Blair’s gentle query to Dallas Area Rapid Transit officials Tuesday marked the role Dallas — which constitutes 75% of the ridership — is going to play in the embattled transit agency’s future. In the past month, Highland Park, Farmers Branch, Irving and Plano approved elections in May for voters to decide whether to stay or leave the system. Addison was set to vote on holding a similar election Tuesday night. Each city has argued its 1-cent sales tax contributions far exceed the services it receives in return. The cities also question the 13-member transit agency’s governance model based on population, which gives Dallas more representation. If they prevail in the elections, cities would still be obligated to pay off their debt for several years, depending on their contributions.

At Dallas City Hall on Tuesday, council members offered transit officials some respite, urging DART officials to find ways to expand services in areas such as southern Dallas. “How can we partner better?” council member Paula Blackmon asked. City officials have been collaborating with DART to convert parking lots around stations into homes. In Pleasant Grove, Palladium USA, with help from the city and the transit agency, built mixed-income housing next to the Buckner station. Blackmon, whose district includes the Mockingbird station, asked what the city could do to accelerate similar projects, as more housing near transit hubs could spur ridership. DART board member Patrick Kennedy said the agency has an inventory of all its properties and the needs attached to them. Does this lot need underground utility improvements? Does it need to be rezoned?

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‘Gross deficiencies’: Lawyers request meeting with Texas hospital after video of mom in labor

Attorneys for a North Texas woman who was shown in a video screaming through contractions while hospital staff appeared to slow-roll her admission are requesting a meeting with the facility to discuss what happened and the possibility of financial compensation. In November, a local woman posted a video of her daughter in a waiting area of Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite. The daughter, a Black woman, was seen twisting in a hospital wheelchair and screaming through contractions, while a hospital staff member calmly asked her questions about her pregnancy. The video caption said that the woman in labor, Kiara Jones, was made to wait for more than 30 minutes after arriving at the hospital and that she gave birth 12 minutes later.

The video went viral and sparked outrage about the treatment of Black women, particularly Black mothers, in medical settings. After the viral video, Jones’ family retained two law firms, including a firm that previously represented the families of George Floyd and Botham Jean, both Black men killed by police. On the day after Thanksgiving, one of the law firms — Chicago-based Romanucci & Blandin — sent a letter to Dallas Regional Medical Center requesting a meeting with the hospital staff to discuss the hospital’s “corrective steps” as well as potential compensation for Jones. The firm provided the letter to The Dallas Morning News on Dec. 2 and said that the hospital had not yet responded to the request. Hospital spokesperson Vince Falsarella did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a phone call or email requesting comment.

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Could Texas get a new Interstate? A new proposal connects DFW with East Texas

The state's newest Interstate could cut through East Texas and connect DFW to Amarillo, providing a more direct trade route between the Texas coast and the Panhandle. The $24.5 billion project would transform U.S. 287 into an Interstate. The transformation is outlined in a feasibility study published this summer by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The new Interstate would connect Port Arthur to Fort Worth and Fort Worth to Amarillo. The plan, which TxDOT planners are still considering, would increase the state's gross domestic product by $11.6 billion by 2050 and create about 47,000 jobs, according to the feasibility study. The study projects a total net return on investment of $39.6 billion.

The new Interstate would address growing congestion across the state, diverting traffic from some of the nation's busiest roads, the study found. Building the new interstate would save 44 minutes of travel time per vehicle, according to the study. "This is due to higher travel speeds, access-controlled facility, and elimination of frequent stops at intersections in towns," the study reads. The feasibility study analyzes the current conditions of the road, the potential benefits of the upgrade, and any challenges associated with creating the Interstate. U.S. 287 is currently 671 miles long and overlaps with 39 miles of existing interstates, which leaves 613 miles of non-interstate road to be upgraded, according to the study. The highway currently connects Texas' coast with Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

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National Stories

Doodling, drowsiness and a conspicuous misspelling highlight Trump's last Cabinet meeting of 2025

With Tuesday’s White House Cabinet meeting chugging past the two-hour mark, President Donald Trump ‘s eyes fluttered and closed. His budget director busied himself doodling a fluffy cloud. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was lucky enough to speak early, but the title on his nameplate was misspelled. The sleepy, and occasionally slipshod, gathering nonetheless ended with a flurry of news. Trump declared that he didn’t want Somalis in the U.S. and Hegseth cited the “ fog of war ” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in September. The president started things off by noting that it was the last time his Cabinet would gather until 2026. And, though marathon sessions with his top advisers lavishing praise have become a Trump trademark since he returned to the White House, this latest installment felt at times like a holiday break was needed.

The president then gave each Cabinet member a chance to speak, declaring, “We’re gonna go quickly.” That did little to stop most Cabinet members from offering long presentations. Hegseth went first and praised the Trump administration’s move to rename his agency the Department of War — something that can’t be officially done without an act of Congress. But the nameplate in front of Hegseth labeled him the “ssecretary of war,” including a mistaken double “S” that quickly became the source of searing online ridicule. After that, as each official took turns speaking, a TV camera trained on Trump showed him struggling to stay alert. The president sat back in his chair with his eyes occasionally drooping and sometimes shutting completely. Just as Trump’s admonishments to keep things tight were flouted, some of the Cabinet members also defied the president in their presentations when it came to the issue of affordability. Trump made a point in his opening remarks to call concerns that Democrats have raised about rising costs a “con job.” That didn’t stop many of his administration’s top voices from earnestly detailing how they were indeed seeking to reduce prices nationwide. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins talked about economic pressures on farmers, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called affordability a “crisis,” and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner said that hundreds of thousands of Americans becoming first-time homebuyers was an example of how the administration was making strides to achieve greater affordability.

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House Republicans can’t stop fighting with each other

On paper, Republican lawmakers should be in a great place as they finish their first year in the majority under President Donald Trump’s second term: They were able to pass a sweeping reconciliation bill with few defections, didn’t give into any Democratic demands to end the government shutdown and Democrats continue to fight amongst themselves over messaging. But as 2025 comes to a close, there’s just one problem: They can’t stand each other. A growing number of lawmakers are announcing they’re leaving the House, either to fully retire or to seek different offices, in part because of the incredibly low morale in the chamber. So far, of the 39 members who announced they will not be seeking reelection, 23 are Republicans. Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz told NOTUS that Congress “is a broken institution,” so it’s no wonder her colleagues are choosing to leave.

The House is “no science and politics, just drama and theater … and a lot of perverse incentives for people to govern and do politics,” Spartz added. “Of course people get burned out and frustrated, but hopefully we’ll be able to get back on track.” But rank-and-file Republicans are increasingly frustrated with their leadership — and much of that frustration is spilling out into the open. The tension between GOP members and House Republican leadership has been brewing for a while, but it was especially evident in Tuesday’s closed-door conference meeting. At one point, Rep. Byron Donalds and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise had a back-and-forth about the SCORE Act, a bipartisan college-sports bill expected to get a vote this week. Donalds told Scalise that “we shouldn’t bail out the NCAA and colleges for the mess they created,” according to a source in the room.

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Why Elise Stefanik is at war with Mike Johnson (again).

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is now engaged in an open war with Speaker Mike Johnson, a very public rift at the highest level of the House Republican Conference. This fight is ostensibly about a dispute in the NDAA, the annual Pentagon policy bill. Stefanik is so frustrated that she’s prepared to tank the must-pass defense bill — approved by lawmakers every year for more than six decades — if the speaker doesn’t include a provision requiring the FBI to alert Congress if it opens a counterintelligence investigation into an elected official or candidate. Democrats are opposed to this provision. “I’ll take down the rule,” Stefanik told us in an interview. Stefanik has made this message clear to House GOP leaders as well.

As of very early Wednesday morning, sources said that Stefanik’s war might be successful. There was an effort afoot to put the provision back in the NDAA, showing that Stefanik’s brutal bare-knuckled effort is gaining traction. And that’s why this fight says so much about today’s House. Stefanik, whom Johnson appointed the chair of the Republican leadership, is a wily operator. Remember, Stefanik helped topple former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) back in 2021 for not being loyal enough to President Donald Trump. Stefanik replaced Cheney in the leadership under then Speaker Kevin McCarthy, with whom she enjoyed a better relationship. Johnson is undergoing a particularly perilous moment. The Louisiana Republican is entering the most difficult stretch of his speakership, with anger over government spending, health care and the broader political climate rife inside the House GOP Conference. Members find it easy – even convenient – to hammer the speaker. Johnson has little choice but to bend as he has a two-vote margin. And the speaker has lots of retiring members who are running for other offices, often by bashing the very Congress they serve in.

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Trump vows to overhaul Dulles. An early target: Its ‘people movers.’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said his administration would “rebuild” Dulles International Airport, pledging to make major changes to the 63-year-old airport. “It’s not a good airport. It should be a great airport,” the president said in a Cabinet meeting, claiming that his administration had an “amazing plan” to overhaul the facility. Dulles is already undergoing a massive transformation aimed at modernizing the airport, launched in 2023. One of the centerpieces of the multibillion-dollar program is a 14-gate, 400,000-square-foot concourse. The three-level space, the size of three football fields, is expected to be completed next year. The shuttles, which the airport refers to as “mobile lounges,” were involved in two accidents last month, drawing national attention and renewing questions about how the airport transports its passengers. On Nov. 10, a mobile lounge crash led to the hospitalization of 18 people, although officials said that no one was seriously injured. About a week after that crash, a United Airlines employee suffered minor injuries when another shuttle collided with a baggage cart.

Dulles “needs a complete refresh to assume its proper role as the premier international gateway into the capital of the greatest country in the world,” Duffy said in a statement. The White House and the Transportation Department did not immediately respond to questions about the administration’s plans for Dulles. In a statement, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees Dulles, said they appreciate the administration’s interest in the airport. “We always embrace new ideas for Dulles,” the authority said. “We want to build on the existing $7 billion capital plan for Dulles, which is underway with a new concourse under construction and expected to open next fall.” In a statement, United Airlines, the largest carrier at Dulles, called the airport a “national asset.” “We look forward to working with President Trump, Secretary Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford to continue to enhance the airport’s infrastructure and operations in a meaningful and cost-effective way for the benefit of our customers and employees.”

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Trump calls Somali immigrants ‘garbage’ as US reportedly targets Minnesota community

Donald Trump on Tuesday called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said they should be sent back home in a rant that came as the administration is reportedly increasing immigration enforcement against undocumented Somalis in Minnesota. In a xenophobic rant during a cabinet meeting, Trump went off on Somalis and Ilhan Omar, the congressional representative who is from Somalia and is a US citizen. He said Somalia “stinks” and is “no good for a reason”. “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you,” he said. He called Omar “garbage” and said “we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country”.

“These are people who do nothing but complain,” he said. “They complain, and from where they came from, they got nothing … When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but bitch, we don’t want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it.” The New York Times reported on Tuesday that the Minneapolis-St Paul metro area, where most Somalis reside, would see stepped-up deportation efforts this week, focusing primarily on Somalis who have final deportation orders. It would use “strike teams” of ICE agents and other federal officers, bringing in about 100 agents from across the country, the Times reported. Other media outlets, including the Associated Press, have confirmed the reporting. The move comes after the right has seized on several fraud cases, spanning multiple years, that involve dozens of Somali residents who prosecutors allege lied to the state to receive reimbursements for meal disbursements, medical care, housing and autism services. The Trump administration previously threatened to revoketemporary protected status for Somalis in Minnesota, citing the state as a “hub of fraudulent money laundering activity”.

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College sports bill to get House vote after years-long NCAA push

Lawmakers will soon take their biggest step yet to usher in a new era for college sports as the NCAA, tied up in years of billion-dollar lawsuits, asks Congress to set rules of the road for college athletics. Later this week, the House will vote on the SCORE Act, the first major sports bill to be brought to the floor since the Supreme Court cleared the way for student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness.

The 2021 ruling opened the floodgates to endorsement deals and booster-run collectives that are hastening the demise of amateur athletics. It also opened the NCAA, which long resisted player compensation, up to litigation as athletes sued for back pay damages, resulting in a $2.8 billion settlement over the summer. Many of the bill’s provisions mirror the settlement, which allows colleges to pay student-athletes directly for the first time. Notably, it would also fulfill the NCAA’s three biggest requests: protections from further lawsuits, a national standard that supersedes state laws, and language clarifying that students are not employees and, as such, should not receive salaries.

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Costco is poking the Trump bear

Big public companies have mostly treated President Donald Trump with kid gloves during his second term. They’ve quietly avoided conflict while seeking favor with ornate gifts, large donations to his pet projects and strategic deployments of CEOs to the Oval Office. That’s what made Costco’s decision last week to sue the Trump administration so shocking. Costco on Friday filed a lawsuit that contends Trump overstepped his emergency powers by imposing sweeping tariffs – and claimed the company is due a refund. Costco isn’t alone. A handful of other companies have separately sued the government on similar grounds, including Bumble Bee Foods, Ray-Bans parent EssilorLuxottica, Revlon and Kawasaki Motors. But Costco is the highest profile public company to do battle with the Trump White House on tariffs.

Few major corporations have been willing to publicly stick their necks out to combat Trump’s policies since he took office in January. That stands in contrast to his first term, when businesses and their leaders felt more comfortable speaking out – most notably when multiple CEOs quit his business council over comments Trump made in 2017 that downplayed neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. But Trump’s second term has largely been marked by Corporate America’s acquiescence. Several factors are at play: Trump has been willing to exact retribution on companies that lose favor with him. Big business has enjoyed Trump’s light regulatory touch, particularly on AI, which has exploded in growth and boosted the broader stock market. Getting on Trump’s good side can pay off. The famously transactional president has eased off some policies after companies won him over.

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Why Trump and Harvard have not reached a deal

President Trump has claimed for months that his administration and Harvard University were close to a monumental deal to end his extraordinary pressure campaign against the university. Even some at Harvard say that a deal appeared imminent this summer. But eight months after the rupture between Harvard and the government blew open, no deal has materialized. “Negotiations are proceeding and productive,” said Madi Biedermann, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, in a statement to The New York Times this week. The talks, though, have stumbled around arguments about where any money will go. Harvard has been open to spending $500 million on work-force training programs. But Trump officials have recently argued that some of the money should be paid directly to the federal government, a proposal that has not been previously reported.

The idea has caused Harvard officials to balk, according to six Harvard and Trump administration officials and others familiar with the negotiations. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. The administration reached its latest deal, with Northwestern University, late last week. That leaves Harvard as one of only several schools in ongoing talks with the government, though it is the one president has made it clear he cares most about. Harvard, where officials have been baffled by the roller coaster nature of a negotiation involving Mr. Trump, has repeatedly declined to comment on the talks. The prospect of an agreement has drawn broad criticism among faculty members, students and others who would see it as an act of capitulation. But some at Harvard believe an agreement is the only way for the university to secure its financial future. The Times has been reporting since the spring on Mr. Trump’s campaign against Harvard and the legal, financial, political and academic stakes for both the administration and one of the nation’s leading universities.

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Copyright December 10, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved