Lead Stories

Talarico unveils border security plan, criticizes Biden policies and Trump's Big Bend wall

Border security has become a critical issue in politics and is seen as a weakness for Democrats, but James Talarico, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, is making it evident he isn’t avoiding the issue. Talarico was critical of former President Joe Biden’s border policies, yet he also condemned President Trump's plan to build a border wall through Big Bend calling it “a monument to corruption.” During a campaign stop Monday in Terrell County, Talarico presented what he described as a “common-sense” border security plan. Talarico’s proposal would hire more Border Patrol agents, expand surveillance technology and add immigration judges to reduce the asylum backlog.

He also wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus its resources on people who pose serious public-safety threats rather than on families, children and longtime residents without serious criminal records. The Texas state representative blasted the Trump administration’s plan to build a $1.7 billion border wall through the environmentally sensitive Big Bend area. He called the Big Bend border wall “useless,” and said it is the result of “no-bid contracts and backroom deals.” “I think Joe Rogan said it best. They're doing this for a nice contract. We need more Border Patrol agents,” Talarico said. Talarico, however, is not opposed to the construction of border walls but he said the government should “focus our resources on physical barriers where they're actually needed.”

Read this article at Texas Public Radio - Subscribers Only

The AI infrastructure boom is coming to Texas. Are counties ready for what comes next?

Texas has spent the last decade winning economic development battles. From semiconductor manufacturing and energy investment to advanced computing and artificial intelligence, companies continue to choose Texas because of its business climate, abundant land, energy resources, and comparatively predictable regulatory environment. Now the state appears poised to become one of the largest destinations for artificial intelligence infrastructure investment in the country. The question is whether local governments are prepared for what comes with it. The proposed Colchis AI campus in Tom Green County offers an early glimpse into what may become one of the defining infrastructure debates of the next decade. The project, being pursued by Cipher Digital, is envisioned as a large-scale AI and data infrastructure campus outside San Angelo.

The company has attracted additional attention following a transaction involving AI infrastructure provider Fluidstack that resulted in Google acquiring an ownership interest in Cipher Digital, raising the visibility of a project that was already generating local interest. The debate surrounding Colchis, however, is not really about artificial intelligence. It is about infrastructure. And increasingly, it is about water. For years, data centers were viewed as ideal economic development projects. They generated tax revenue, required relatively few public services, created limited traffic impacts, and rarely generated the kind of public controversy associated with refineries, manufacturing facilities, pipelines, or power plants. Artificial intelligence is changing that equation. The facilities being proposed today are dramatically larger than those built even a decade ago. Some campuses are expected to consume hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Others are being designed at scales approaching gigawatts. As projects become larger, communities are beginning to ask different questions. Where will the water come from? How much electricity will be required?

Read this article at Business News Wire - Subscribers Only

Deadly ICE shootings in Maine and Texas put renewed scrutiny on immigration crackdown

Officials are calling for transparent investigations after a man was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine, yesterday – just days after a federal agent fatally shot a Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in Houston. The man killed in Maine was identified by a neighbor as 26-year-old father Joan Sebastian Guerrero, who was from Colombia. The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition said Guerrero was authorized to work in the US and was issued a social security number. Maine Sen. Angus King said he wasn’t the target of the immigration operation. The Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer opened fire “fearing for public safety” as the victim “attempted to flee the scene” in a vehicle. The department didn’t provide details on why the officer believed Guerrero was a public safety risk.

Biddeford resident Daniel Boucher was in a home near where 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero was fatally shot by an ICE officer Monday morning, when he heard a “pop, pop, pop” sound. Thinking he had heard fireworks, Boucher looked out from a third-floor window and saw a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb” with an SUV behind it. “The small car “started coming down the street again, driving, and I don’t know how, and then the SUV hit him again … And then that’s when he stopped,” Boucher told the Associated Press, adding that an ICE agent then opened the car door and pulled Guerrero out to the ground. “His face was bloody, his head was bloody,” Boucher said. “I clearly heard the victim say: ‘I tried to stop’,” Boucher added. The Department of Homeland Security says federal immigration agents were conducting a “targeted surveillance” operation when the driver of a vehicle was shot and killed in Biddeford, Maine on Monday. But much of what unfolded between the driver, identified by a neighbor as 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero, and the federal officer who opened fire remains unclear.

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The U.S. is set to reinstate a blockade over the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. military announced it will begin its blockade of Iranian ships over the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, as Iran vowed to assert its own control over the critical international waterway. CENTCOM said the blockade would begin on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. The U.S. military last worked to block maritime traffic to and from Iranian ports from April 13 to June 18. The announcement came after an intensified exchange of strikes over the weekend, testing a shaky ceasefire and threatening a return to all-out war in the region. On Monday, the U.S. launched another wave of strikes on Iran. The U.S. military said it struck Iranian defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities to "degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday that it had struck "two non-compliant" supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement in Iranian state media. Iran also said it launched missiles and drones against U.S. military infrastructure in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, and U.S. military outposts in Jordan. The United Arab Emirates' defense ministry said two of its tankers were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani waters, killing one person. Bahrain authorities reported that sirens were sounded and urged citizens to head to safe places. Jordanian state media said the country's air defenses intercepted four Iranian missiles early Tuesday as they entered its airspace. The escalation comes as the U.S. and Iran reach a halfway point in the 60-day ceasefire agreed in June, when the two sides signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding to work out the terms of a final deal and open the Strait of Hormuz. During a NATO summit in Turkey last week, President Trump declared the ceasefire "over," but didn't rule out further talks.

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State Stories

“Who do I vote for?”: Cornyn voters weigh Paxton, Talarico or sitting out in November

For months, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn battered each other in a nasty and expensive race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Texas. Now that Paxton has emerged victorious, GOP leaders from Texas to Washington are urging intraparty peace and unity, warning that a divided GOP could lose the seat. But some Cornyn voters aren’t ready to move on — or look past Paxton’s history of scandals. State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, wasted no time courting those voters after Paxton won the May 26 GOP runoff. The next day, the Austin lawmaker hit the road for a five-city bus tour that he spent attacking the attorney general over allegations of corruption and extramarital affairs, punctuated by his new refrain, “I have a legislative record. Ken Paxton has a criminal record.” Whether that message will prove effective in peeling off right-leaning moderates may help decide the election.

Now that the dust has settled on the primary, recent polling has found most Republican voters have moved on and plan to vote for Paxton, with a clear shift from earlier surveys conducted in the heat of the bruising primary. Still, Talarico has held on to a chunk of support from moderate Republicans. In interviews with The Texas Tribune in the weeks after the runoff, a handful of primary voters who backed Cornyn described a range of emotions, with varying plans for how they would vote. Some have decided they are supporting Talarico. Others said they would skip the top of the ticket or are still unsure what to do. Others still are embracing Paxton out of party loyalty. Todd Shade, a 62-year-old who moved to the Austin area in 1995 after growing up in South Dakota, said he has been “very happy” with Cornyn. The self-described traditional conservative said he favors letting the free market flourish with minimal business regulations, yet is opposed to some of the socially conservative priorities that have dominated the Texas GOP as insurgents like Paxton rose to lead it. Shade also believes at least some of the accusations against Paxton are true, including the charge from his former deputies that he abused his office to help a friend and campaign donor. Still, Shade said he plans to vote for Talarico.

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Flood risk increases for the Austin area this week with up to 6 inches of rain possible in spots

The Austin area is under a flood watch from 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday evening. A wide area of Texas is under the threat of heavy rain, leading Gov. Greg Abbott to activate state emergency response resources, including rescue boats and Black Hawk helicopters, according to the governor’s press office. “The State of Texas will deploy all necessary resources to help local officials respond to potential severe weather and flash flooding across the state,” Abbott said in a press release.

“I urge all Texans to monitor local forecasts, heed guidance from state and local officials, and always remember: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Texas will support our communities as these threats develop.” Heavy rains may swell rivers, creeks, and low-water crossings. Streets may also flood, according to an advisory issued by the National Weather Service. The storms may bring rainfall of 2-6 inches, with some isolated areas of the state potentially getting hit with 10 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service website. The areas with the highest possible rain totals are the Rio Grande Plains and the southern Edwards Plateau.

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Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer: Texas legislators must manage data center development with thoughtful planning

If you’re like me and you read this newspaper most mornings, you’ve seen a lot of front-page articles about data centers. Each new report leaves me with more questions than answers about what this means for our water supply and electric grid, not to mention our infrastructure and land use. When state lawmakers head to Austin in January for the next legislative session, we have to carefully consider how we are going to balance all these demands to make sure everyday Texans aren’t footing the bill. More than 10 years ago, Texas began offering a tax break to attract new data centers to Texas. At the time, state leaders believed data centers might be the next chapter of the Texas Miracle, bringing jobs, growth and prosperity. Data centers built today, however, aren’t like ones from a decade ago.

There’s been an exponential increase in the need for processing power with artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and all the massive technological advances that put the AOL days of the internet to shame. That increase requires more and more energy, water and infrastructure. When communities have to compete for their basic resources, that Texas Miracle starts to look like a Texas Mirage. The San Antonio Water System says that in 2024, two data centers in San Antonio consumed hundreds of millions of gallons of water, while the rest of us were asked to conserve. Sometimes when we have a solution that sounds good, we also have unintended consequences. For example, more and more data centers are building their own power plants, but the increase in emissions could lead to devastating health and environmental impacts. Texas already suffers from high rates of chronic respiratory disease, receiving an “F” rating from the American Lung Association.

Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only

Study: It now takes more than 7 years to save for a home down payment in Texas

Despite remaining one of the nation's more affordable housing markets, a new study found it now takes more than seven years to save for a 20% down payment on a home in Texas. The study, published July 6 by financial technology company SmartAsset, analyzed home values, minimum wage rates, median household income and other factors across all 50 states. Researchers estimated how many years it would take households to save for a 20% down payment if they set aside 10% of their annual income. Over the past decade, the typical Texas home value has risen from about $181,000 to more than $302,000, while the state's median household income has increased from roughly $56,600 to just over $84,000.

Despite those income gains, the time needed to save for a 20% down payment has grown by nine months since 2016, reaching 7.2 years for households earning the state's median income. For Texans earning the state's minimum wage, the outlook is far more challenging: Saving enough for a 20% down payment would take an estimated 40.1 years. The findings highlight a growing challenge that would-be home buyers face across the nation: as home values continue to rise faster than household incomes, the dream of owning a home is becoming increasingly difficult to reach — and for many minimum-wage earners, increasingly out of reach altogether. Compared with states such as Idaho, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, the time needed to save for a down payment in Texas has remained relatively stable over the past decade. For comparison, it takes just over 11 years to save for a down payment in New York and nearly 15 years in California, according to the study.

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Ben Abbott using law firm's TV ads to advance possible run for Dallas mayor

Personal injury lawyer Ben Abbott has spent years building one of Dallas' most recognizable legal brands through catchy TV commercials. Now he's using a new series of ads to reintroduce himself as a community leader ahead of a possible run for mayor. While the latest television spot includes the signature line, "Hello, Ben," after a familiar jingle, most of the ad is devoted to Abbott making the case that he's ready to lead Dallas. Abbott has not officially announced he's running, though he's making the rounds seeking support. He said the advertising campaign is intended to reshape his public image from trial lawyer to city advocate, even describing it as a "media stunt."

He said he believes Dallas wants a more engaged, hands-on approach focused on solving the city's biggest challenges. "It's technically a law firm ad," Abbott said in an interview. "Obviously, it's posturing to change from Ben the lawyer to Ben the community leader." The commercials are the first phase of a broader media effort that will include radio, newspaper and digital advertising. Abbott is one of several prominent figures weighing a run for mayor in the November 2027 election to replace Mayor Eric Johnson, who will leave office because of term limits. Abbott has been considering a run since at least 2023, when he said he became increasingly disenchanted with Johnson and the city’s direction.

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MP Materials sues competitor over trade secrets in Texas Business Court

A manufacturer with a large and growing presence in Fort Worth is suing a rival company over rare earth magnet technology. Las Vegas-based MP Materials (NYSE: MP), which makes neodymium-iron-boron magnets at a factory in north Fort Worth, is suing Stillwater, Oklahoma-based USA Rare Earth Inc. (Nasdaq: USAR) over trade secrets it says are key to making the magnets. The lawsuit, filed May 22, represents a developing feud between two companies attempting to lead an emerging industry that's long been dominated by another country. Rare earth magnets are used in making everything from electric vehicles to everyday electronics, but China dominates 90% of the industry. Both companies have similar goals. MP Materials' mission statement is to "restore the full rare earth supply chain" in the U.S., according to its website. USA Rare Earth's is to "build the world’s leading rare earth value chain."

According to a lawsuit filed in the Eighth Division of the Texas Business Courts, located in Fort Worth, MP Materials alleges USA Rare Earth and former MP engineer Kevin Elkins misappropriated trade secrets related to technology that improves the magnet's resistance to demagnetization without reducing its strength, called grain boundary diffusion. The company states in the lawsuit that the technology took years of work and millions of dollars of research to develop. The company is seeking at least $5 million in damages and a preliminary and permanent injunction. "These compositions, and the methods in which they are used, are among the most important and closely guarded technologies used in producing permanent magnets," the company stated. MP Materials alleges USA Rare Earth "is engaged in an unlawful trade secret raiding campaign," hiring employees from other companies to advance the company. MP alleges USA Rare Earth hired several of its employees, including Elkins, who "were valuable primarily because of information they received from MP Materials, not pre-existing expertise." Elkins and USA Rare Earth denied the allegations in a June 22 filing. USA Rare Earth alleges the lawsuit is "nothing more than an attempt by MP to slow USAR's bold vision and significant momentum, as we build out U.S. and Allied rare earth value chains." "We are making significant strides in furthering America's strategic interests and will remain focused on our mission," a statement provided by the company said. "MP should do the same and compete on its own merits rather than assert baseless claims.”

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World Cup worth millions to Arlington, says mayor — possibly with more to come

In one month, the World Cup generated roughly half as much revenue for Arlington as AT&T Stadium does in a year, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said Monday, declaring that the tournament had a “substantial” economic impact on his city. While it will probably take months to get a full picture of how much money was generated for the entire region, Ross said the projections he’s seen show the games have brought roughly $160 million to Arlington, or nearly half of the $340 million AT&T Stadium brings annually to the city. That includes an estimated $31 million in hotel revenue in June — which topped the previous high of $23.5 million in hotel revenue in November 2024, a month when AT&T Stadium hosted three Cowboys home games and a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, Ross said.

He was among several local sports and civic leaders who detailed the gains at a news conference in Dallas on the eve of the ninth and final World Cup match at AT&T Stadium. Anecdotal evidence indicates the World Cup has been a boon for Arlington’s hospitality industry, with some restaurateurs and tavern owners saying revenue has exceeded their expectations. Ross, who owns the Arlington steakhouse Mercury Chophouse and Hearsay, a restaurant located inside Choctaw Stadium, agreed that soccer fans have been good for business. While the short-term income has been welcome, Ross is taking a long view of how the World Cup might benefit Arlington economically. He said he’s met with ambassadors, consul generals — even royalty — from nations that competed in Arlington, and Ross said those dignitaries have talked about how they might partner with Arlington in future business ventures. “I’ve gotten letters from all kinds of them saying, ‘Thank you so much for the hospitality, we want to continue this relationship. We invite you to come to our country and let’s see what we can do further together.’ ”

Read this article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Subscribers Only

Lockheed Martin settles on terms with union workers as military buildup boosts production

A major Fort Worth employer and its union workers are celebrating a new five-year, mutually beneficial contract now in effect. Highly skilled workers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. feel valued after about 5,000 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 776 ratified the contract, union representatives said. The contract — which started on June 15 and continues until June 18, 2030 — calls for wage increases between 4% and 6%, increased vacation time and no mandatory overtime schedules. It also includes a $6,000 bonus and retirement benefit improvements. Lockheed Martin, which produces the military’s F-35 fighter jet aircraft at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, is ramping up production to fulfill billions of dollars worth of defense contracts for military aircraft and munitions.

Company officials negotiated with union representatives for about three months, a process that “was not easy by any means,” said Doyle Huddleston, IAM District 776 president and directing business representative. “There was a lot of stress on both sides,” he said, adding that recent strikes between other aerospace companies and large unions aided their cause. Roxanne Schell, Lockheed Martin’s labor and employee relations director, said it was important to be good partners with the IAM union since it helps position the company to fulfill its government contracts. “It was good. Tough negotiations, as usual,” she said. “Both parties (had) an interest in making improvements to the collective bargaining agreement.” The agreement also covers IAM members at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland as well as Lockheed Martin’s firefighters at the Fort Worth base.

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Rodney Ellis says Harris County should earmark funding for local investigation into fatal ICE shooting

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said Monday he would ask commissioners court to fund the district attorney’s independent investigation into the fatal shooting of a Houston man by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer last week. Ellis did not provide details regarding how much funding he would ask the county government to provide, but said he and his office were exploring options. "It would be a guess at this point,” Ellis said at a news conference Monday. “Wherever it leads us, whatever it costs — within reason — it's important enough for us to do it. I know we have a [budget] shortfall, but you always have to prioritize."

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three, was shot last Tuesday morning during what ICE has called a “targeted enforcement operation" in Houston's East End, a predominantly Latino neighborhood. He was traveling to work with three other men in his car. In a statement to Houston Public Media, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not specify whether any of the people in the vehicle were intended targets, saying one of the individuals in the van “resembled the target.” An ICE spokesperson said during the stop, Salgado Araujo was attempting to evade arrest and allegedly rammed his van into an ICE vehicle, causing an ICE agent to fire his weapon in self-defense. Salgado Araujo's family and the attorney representing two of the three other men in the vehicle dispute that claim. The ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras. Salgado Araujo is one of multiple people in Texas and across the U.S. to be fatally shot by ICE agents or die in ICE custody during the second term of Republican President Donald Trump, whose administration has ramped-up immigration-related arrests and deportations. On Monday, an ICE agent shot and killed a motorist in Maine, according to officials there.

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Austin Energy’s planned outages downtown necessary to prevent future unexpected outages

A late-night power outage in downtown Austin Sunday and into the early hours of Monday was a necessary step for Austin Energy to make sure the power stays on, according to the utility. “We planned this critical maintenance work overnight when temperatures and the heat index are lower and have provided customers with advance notice and tips for the outage,” said an Austin Energy spokesperson in an email to KXAN ahead of the outage. This “step” was another in the Repowering Downtown Initiative, which started in 2018. David Tomczyszyn, Austin Energy vice president of electric system engineering & technical services, has been with the utility since 2007. In that time, Austin’s downtown and its skyline have expanded rapidly.

“It’s just growing leaps and bounds, but not just there, all over the city. And every day, I think we have more and more people moving here. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a slowdown,” he said in a July 9 interview with KXAN. More residents mean more construction and buildings. It’s how a city grows. These also place a greater demand on the city’s electrical infrastructure. According to the spokesperson, that project has already made big strides with upgrades to the city’s Seaholm Substation and distribution network and more transmission lines. Austin Energy also built an electrical substation on Rainey Street, which increased capacity for downtown by 33%. The substation’s design was revealed in 2021, and it was built in 2023. Seaholm, Rainey and Brackenridge are the substations powering downtown. That last one was built in the 1970s and will be replaced as part of the initiative. “Over the next six months, we’re doing some switching to move some of the grids over to the [Rainey] substation. And the reason for it is we’re going to rebuild [Brackenridge],” Tomczyszyn said. “It’s nearing end of life. We want to get ahead of it…we want to offload it, and then we’re going to completely rebuild it.”

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Richard Linklater urges Houston to preserve Garden Oaks Theater ahead of Wes Anderson visit

Ahead of Wes Anderson's Friday visit to Houston to support the historic Garden Oaks Theater, organizers released an audio interview in which filmmaker Richard Linklater urged the city to value its history instead of its long-standing "out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new" mentality. In an interview with PaperCity in June, Linklater was outspoken about his support for preserving the theater after Arthouse Houston, formerly the Friends of the River Oaks Theatre, proposed to buy the venue, built in 1947, from the current owners, Heights Investment Fund, for $7.1 million. "You learn that when the community speaks up, the economic threats are always very real, cause that's just the way the world goes," Linklater told PaperCity reporters in a recently shared audio interview. "But it takes a little more thoughtful, committed passion to go 'Hey, this is our history. This almost 80-year-old theater that had a long life and has a future, if we allow it to have it, is important. That's important to the fabric of our city. When it's all gone, it's not coming back.'"

The Art Deco Garden Oaks Theater, which was converted into a house of worship in later years, had been under threat of demolition after Grace Church acated the premises last year. Since then, Arthouse Houston has proposed turning the property at 3732 North Shepherd Drive into a new Arts & Film Center. "In the long run, having a cool, old theater in the neighborhood is really better, but you have to make it work out economically," Linklater said. "And at some point, you need a nonprofit model of people, with donations and support. But really, it's just the community support. You need everybody to make it important to the city." Linklater described Houston as a "forward-thinking" city that has always been an "out with the old and in with the new" kind of city post-war. "But Houston's old and established enough now," he said. "It's not the new post-war city that it was. It should be proud of its own heritage is what I'm saying. And to see value in that history in the past." PaperCity and Arthouse Houston shared an audio interview with Anderson last month, in which he shared the same sentiment. The Houston-born director is expected to come home on July 17 to introduce several short films at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall as part of a fundraiser sponsored by Arthouse Houston to save the theater. Those who want to attend still have an opportunity, with tickets priced between $345 and $1,000.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Former Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa enters 2027 mayoral race

Michael Hinojosa, the former superintendent of Dallas Independent School District, is launching a run for mayor and planning a formal announcement on Tuesday morning. He filed the paperwork this afternoon to appoint a Campaign Treasurer, naming real estate developer Amanda Lake to the position. “We’re at an inflection point. The city needs proven leadership. The city needs a plan to move forward and get things done,” Hinojosa told WFAA Monday afternoon. Hinojosa is the first candidate to launch a mayoral campaign and immediately becomes the frontrunner in a race that’s full of speculation but hasn’t yet formed. “He has a record here and other places. It’s all school district-related but that’s a big entity with a lot of employees,” said former Dallas Council Member Philip Kingston, “I think the consensus opinion is he did a pretty good job.”

Twice, Hinojosa served as Dallas ISD superintendent from 2005 to 2011 and then again from 2015 to 2022. He resigned before his last contract ended as he considered challenging incumbent Eric Johnson for mayor in 2023 but decided against it. Johnson is term-limited now and cannot run again. Now, launching his first political campaign, Hinojosa’s first challenge could become fundraising. A Facebook page is online for Hinojosa but his campaign website has not yet been activated. He did reveal plans to spend the next 15 months – starting next Tuesday in District 1 – going to each part of the city, listening to residents and discussing three of his own priorities. Hinojosa grew up in Oak Cliff and attended Sunset High School. He taught in DISD before eventually becoming Superintendent. Despite Dallas being more than 42% Hispanic, the city has never elected a Latino mayor. Election Day is Nov. 2, 2027.

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Bastrop County says DOJ grant request is for sheriff's equipment, not ICE detention

Bastrop County commissioners on Monday said they are applying for a federal Department of Justice immigration-related grant to buy sheriff's office safety equipment, not to support ICE or detention centers. The item on the agenda had three categories of funding available from the Justice Department. The first was for money to be used to hire law enforcement and civilian personnel, the second category was for technology and equipment and the third was for ICE detention facilities. "Awards from this program should be used to support significant participation in and support of Homeland Security Task Force activities, and other DOJ efforts to combat gangs, cartels, and other violent crime," the agenda item said.

Dozens of people in the packed courtroom, which was standing room only, said they were worried that the application for a program called "Bridging Immigration-Related Deficits Experienced Nationwide," or BIDEN, would beef up ICE's presence in the county. "We are using this for safety equipment for our sheriff's office period," said Commissioner Butch Carmack. "It's got nothing to do with detention centers." Nicole Moore, the county's assistant auditor, said at the beginning of the meeting that the county was only seeking money for equipment. Several people then spoke about their opposition to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. "They are unsupervised and most important they are unidentified," said Karen Sterling, who said she was a former police officer. "When I was in uniform I had a name tag, and if anybody asked I had to tell them what my name was, and that's the way it should be."

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National Stories

South Carolina governor taps Lindsey Graham's sister to serve as interim senator

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has tapped Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, to fill her brother’s Senate seat through the rest of the year. McMaster, a Republican, made the announcement Monday afternoon at a press conference at the South Carolina statehouse in which he reflected on Graham’s life and service. In brief remarks at the event, Graham Nordone said her brother “dedicated his life to this country.” “It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina,” she said. Graham Nordone’s term will end on Jan. 3.

Graham, 71, died unexpectedly on Saturday, leaving an opening for the seat through the end of his term. His death was the result of aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to preliminary findings from the medical examiner of the District of Columbia and released by Graham’s office. Graham Nordone’s appointment came hours after President Donald Trump recommended her for the job. “I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday morning. In a post to X later Monday morning, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also logged his support for Graham Nordone. “Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, would be a fantastic pick to serve out the reminder of the senate term. After speaking with Darline, there is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country,” Scott wrote.

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June CPI: Inflation expected to slow but remain high

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to report the consumer price index for last month at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Many economists expect to see a decline in the overall headline number thanks to falling energy prices. But some warn that the issue is nowhere close to over, and price declines may take more time to happen than consumers would like — especially if energy prices surge again. After the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June, oil prices declined from the mid-$90s to around $70 per barrel. However, that decline has started to come undone, at least partially. Both U.S. crude and Brent oil benchmarks are trading much higher than their recent low, with Brent touching $80 per barrel on Monday.

“With the MOU on life support and tensions escalating in the Middle East,” inflation expectations are facing “renewed pressure,” Société Générale strategists said in a note. Compounding the issue, critical oil storage hubs have been drawn down in a bid to keep a lid on prices, but those storage facilities have reached decades-low levels. They will need to be refilled with hundreds of millions of barrels of oil, which could again cause prices to rise. Gas prices, the most visible sign of inflation to consumers, are tracing a similar trajectory. In recent weeks, prices declined sharply from the highest level of the year. However, in the last week, that decline came to a halt at $3.79 per gallon, and prices have risen 8 cents since, as of Monday. Those rising gas prices come at the same time as slowing wage growth. In June, average hourly earnings increased by 3.5%, far below May’s inflation reading of 4.2%.

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Justice Dept. shares Minneapolis shooting evidence with state authorities

After months of withholding the information, the Trump administration has shared evidence with Minnesota authorities related to three shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis in January, local officials said Monday. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office has begun to download and categorize the terabytes of information gathered by federal investigators that was provided in hard drives. The evidence will help local authorities decide whether to bring charges against the federal officers in the incidents, including the fatal shootings of Renée Good, a writer and mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, both U.S. citizens. The other case involved Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant who was shot in the leg and survived. All of the shootings occurred during an immigration enforcement blitz in Minneapolis as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

“It’s been clear that the U.S. attorney’s office and other local federal agencies wanted things to get back to the way they were,” Moriarty said in an interview, referencing greater collaboration, “and they certainly understood there had been a tremendous amount of damage done to how it had been handled.” The Trump administration’s handling of investigations into shootings involving immigration officers in Minneapolis and other cities has outraged state and local officials, who said they have been sidelined. The Department of Homeland Security has justified the actions of its immigration officers, saying they fired their weapons defensively and painting the victims as threatening officers. However, video footage and witness testimony have contradicted the department’s accounts in some cases. The Harris County district attorney in Texas said last week that the federal government has blocked local authorities from its investigation of the fatal shooting of a Mexican man in Houston by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Maine’s attorney general said Monday that his office would seek to investigate the fatal shooting of a Colombian man by an ICE officer in the small city of Biddeford.

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Trump’s attorneys, Justice Dept. leaders misused courts in IRS case, judge says

A federal judge on Monday denounced President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS as an improper attempt to “manipulate” the court process and legitimize a controversial deal that afforded him significant tax protections and sought to establish a nearly $1.8 billion fund for alleged victims of politicized prosecutions. In a blistering ruling, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams suggested that Trump’s attorneys and top Justice Department officials who signed off on that agreement could face professional sanctions. She barred them from citing any provision of their private resolution in future official proceedings. “In sum,” the judge wrote, “the facts before this Court demonstrate that there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail.”

The extraordinary order from Williams, an appointee of President Barack Obama, came in response to concerns raised by 35 former federal judges, who had petitioned her to reexamine the deal the Justice Department struck with Trump in May to resolve the suit he filed earlier this year over the leak of his personal tax returns by a government contractor. They argued that the suit was improper and the deal to resolve it was negotiated in bad faith as attorneys on both sides of the case ultimately reported to Trump — working for him either in his personal capacity or as government employees at the Justice Department. Department officials have defended the agreement, saying it did not require sign-off by Williams, who was overseeing the case. “There was no collusion,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement Monday responding to the judge’s ruling, “and the partisan judge who speculated otherwise has disregarded decades of precedent.

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GOP Sen. Ron Johnson says he’s not sure McConnell photo with Chao is new

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisc.) on Monday cast doubt on the recency of a photo Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) shared of himself in the hospital alongside his wife. “I’ve just heard from some other sources that was an older photo. So I really don’t know,” Johnson told host Eric Bolling on Real America’s Voice’s “Bolling!” The Wisconsin Republican noted he has not spoken to McConnell, hopes he can recover and will “come back and vote” in line with President Trump’s agenda. Later Monday, Johnson backtracked from his remarks to Bolling. The Wisconsin senator wrote on social platform X, “Beware of clickbait — watch the full clip. Most importantly, I hope @SenMcConnell makes a full recovery and returns to the Senate.”

On Sunday, McConnell provided an update on his condition after weeks of silence in the wake of his hospitalization on June 14. The 84-year-old senator, who is retiring, said he went to the hospital after a fall left him “briefly unconscious.” “My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” McConnell wrote on Facebook. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.” He added, “While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.” McConnell also shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed alongside his wife, former Labor and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. In the picture, McConnell is holding a copy of Sunday’s frontpage of the Washington Post’s sports section.

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'Nobody underwrote for that': Private credit faces a key test as higher rates squeeze borrowers

Higher-for-longer interest rates were once heralded as an attractive yield driver for private credit investors, but industry professionals say tighter monetary policy is becoming the sector’s next major stress point. Global central banks are grappling with renewed inflation pressures, following the energy squeeze caused by the Middle East war, which is raising the prospect of further interest rate hikes. That’s a problem for private credit, where debt is typically floating-rate — meaning debt-servicing costs for underlying borrowers in many portfolios are likely to stay higher, while lenders are forced to distinguish between temporary flexibility and deeper credit stress. It comes as the $2 trillion private sector is already contending with ongoing redemption pressures in retail-focused business development companies, fears of an AI-driven ‘SaaSpocalypse’ upending software-heavy portfolios, and individual corporate blow-ups.

Anant Kumar, managing director, global investment strategist, head of U.S. credit research and portfolio manager at Benefit Street Partners, said the current private credit lending landscape was built on the assumption that the interest rates spike of 2022 and 2023 was a peak that would quickly decline. “Three years later, borrowers are still paying near-peak coupons,” Kumar said. “In fact, the market is now pricing hikes, not cuts. Nobody underwrote for that.” Core annual U.S. inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, jumped to 2.9% year-on-year in May, its highest level since September 2025, and is expected to remain around that level when June’s figure is released Tuesday, according to consensus forecasts. The latest minutes of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting under new chairman Kevin Warsh showed officials were split over the direction of rates, with the dot-plot grid tilting towards one rate hike this year. Kumar said higher base rates typically help in the short term because yields rise. But if rates stay high for an extended period, more marginal borrowers can be squeezed by interest servicing costs. “If rates go up from here, many levered companies won’t survive in their current capital structures. That doesn’t mean the businesses die. It means restructurings,” he told CNBC via email.

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Trump's HHS abandons threat to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding over trans care

The Trump administration is abandoning its most aggressive attempt to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally, according to an official document obtained by NPR. The document shows that the Department of Health and Human Services will not be finalizing a proposed rule that would have blocked all Medicaid and Medicare funding for hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told NPR in a statement: "CMS does not comment on future rulemaking or speculate on potential actions. The Trump Administration rejects ideologically driven surgical interventions on vulnerable children." (Surgery is very rare among transgender people under age 18, and the rule applied to all gender-affirming care, which is mainly therapy and medications for children.)

The fact that the Trump administration is backing off from this action is "a victory for people who are defending the rights and interests of trans people," says Sam Bagenstos, a professor at Michigan Law who served as general counsel at HHS under the Biden administration. "But I don't think it indicates a more general retreat from the aggressive posture of the Trump administration." Bagenstos notes that this type of leverage — a "conditions of participation" rule for the Medicare and Medicaid program — has historically been used by HHS to compel states and hospitals to meet basic health and safety standards. Things like "making sure that you have stockpiles of certain kinds of equipment, making sure that you have certain kinds of emergency protocols, making sure that you have certain staffing ratios," he explains. The proposed rule was unprecedented, Bagenstos says, because it instead would have prohibited certain kinds of treatments for a certain population. He says it seemed unlawful in a variety of ways. For one, "it violates the Medicare Act, which says that Medicare and Medicaid can't be used to control the practice of medicine within the state — states get to regulate the practice of medicine," Bagenstos says.

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Lead Stories

Texas Hispanics swung hard to Trump. A new poll shows they’re furious at his deportations.

Benny Melendez voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. But since Trump returned to the White House, it has been increasingly difficult for Melendez to run his small construction company in south Texas. He says immigration officers have detained workers at his job sites and while driving his company trucks. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 10 of those workers have been deported. The chaos of the past year-and-a-half has convinced Melendez to abandon his support for Trump and Republicans, and instead back the Democrat in this year’s U.S. Senate election, state Rep. James Talarico. “How can we continue voting for someone that is targeting our community?” Melendez said. “There’s no way possible we’re going to support that. No way.”

Melendez is not alone. One in five Hispanic business owners in Texas say they’ve had an employee deported in the past year, according to a new survey commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and shared first with POLITICO. Seven in ten said their businesses had been impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Among those surveyed, Talarico holds a seven-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, even though a plurality of the over 1,000 respondents self-identify as Republican. Almost one quarter who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary now say they’ll back Talarico, while over half say they’ll back Paxton. The survey is the clearest sign yet of Paxton’s vulnerability among Texas’ robust Hispanic business community amidst broader signs that Hispanic voters around the country are swinging hard against him, thanks to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the shaky economy. The survey was conducted from June 2 to 15 and included 1,012 Texas-based USHBC members. Respondents included business owners in construction, food services, retail, manufacturing and other industries. Those business owners pointed to the fear the deportation push created in the community, as well as their bottom lines, for why they were turning on Trump and toward Talarico.

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Massive AI buildout poses latest inflation threat as consumers pay more for laptops and electricity

American consumers — and the Federal Reserve — are being hit with another high-cost headache. The gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors, and other equipment, as well as electricity more expensive, and economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year. While it won’t be as large a spike as occurred in 2021-2023, when inflation peaked at 9.1%, massive AI spending is likely to keep prices rising more quickly than the Federal Reserve would like. Such increases could lead the central bank to lift its key interest rate later this year to cool spending and bring down inflation. Higher rates from the Fed often boost borrowing costs for auto loans, mortgages, and business loans.

Fed officials will closely watch June’s inflation report, to be released Tuesday, for further signs of AI’s impact on prices. Inflation last month likely cooled as gasoline prices have fallen after a cease-fire was reached between the U.S. and Iran, though whether that trend continues is now unclear as the U.S. and Iran have resumed fighting. Just four large tech companies — Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft — are expected to invest $720 billion this year, mostly on data centers. Those data centers use a lot of semiconductors, and chip supplies have run low. As a result, economists at JPMorgan Chase estimate that the cost of some computer memory chips will have soared by as much as 400% between 2024 and the end of this year. Americans are already seeing higher prices for a range of consumer electronics, including laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, and computers. Electricity prices are also jumping as data centers absorb a growing share of new electrical capacity. In a high-profile announcement last month, Apple announced it was boosting prices for laptops and iPads by about 15% to 25%. A topline MacBook will now cost $1,999, up from $1,699. Many analysts expect price hikes will come for iPhones next. “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” Apple said in a statement. “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.” On the same day, Microsoft announced that the price of its XBox video game console will increase $100 by Aug. 1, citing higher prices for memory chips. Sony is also charging more for the Playstation, while Dell Computer and HP have raised prices for their laptops.

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Lindsey Graham died of aortic dissection, preliminary medical report says

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) died suddenly on Saturday night at age 71, his office said, prompting tributes from President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both parties who recalled his record as a foreign policy hawk and deep friendships he forged during his three decades in Congress. In a statement, Graham’s office said preliminary findings from the D.C. medical examiner’s office found that Graham suffered from an aortic dissection, in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the main artery. This was caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the statement said. These tears usually occur when there is high blood pressure. A death certificate remains pending until all toxicological and microscopic tests are finalized, according to Graham’s office. “At that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death,” the statement said.

Graham’s death narrows Republicans’ majority in the Senate, where they had held a 53-47 edge. He had been running for reelection this year. Emergency medical responders worked to stabilize a man at Graham’s home on Saturday night and transport him to a hospital, according to witnesses and police scanner audio obtained by The Washington Post. Graham, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, died hours after returning from a trip to Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. State law allows South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, to make an immediate appointment to fill Graham’s seat for the remainder of his term, which expires in January. Trump praised Graham in a social media post as a “true American Patriot” and said details on the funeral would follow. The White House flag was lowered to half-staff. The president, appearing on several Sunday news programs, said that he spoke with Graham on Saturday evening — shortly before emergency personnel were called — and that the senator told him he was “tired.”

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Corpus Christi gave $100M in water discounts to industry giants. Locals picked up the bill

For at least a decade, Corpus Christi sold water to a handful of large industrial plants at a steeply discounted rate, according to documents and interviews with city officials. Residents and businesses paid more than $100 million to subsidize water for some of the world’s richest energy companies, the city’s rate models show. Three years ago, Corpus Christi doubled the companies’ water rates in an effort to correct the imbalance. But the companies, including Valero, Citgo and LyondellBassell, protested to state regulators, sparking a legal battle that will come to a head today as a public hearing over the matter begins in front of an independent state agency in Austin. The outcome will have major implications for Corpus Christi, which is facing an unprecedented water supply crisis, as well as the energy companies that have long dominated its economy. If the companies prevail, Corpus could be forced to refund them tens of millions of dollars even as it desperately seeks funding for new water projects and raises rates on the rest of the region’s consumers.

“I’m holding my breath,” said Sylvia Campos, a city council member who campaigned on raising industrial water rates. “Let’s hope that we don’t have to pay them back.” Valero, which is leading the effort to dispute rates through a coalition called Affordable Water for Corpus Christi, did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Citgo or LyondellBassell. The companies all buy water directly from Corpus Christi’s water utility to operate oil refineries and petrochemical plants just outside the city limits. “They know very well how long they’ve gotten away with not paying their fair share,” Campos said. The industry group’s arguments for lower water rates are spelled out in thousands of pages of documents filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, a state regulator headed by a panel of gubernatorial appointees. In one filing, a consultant wrote that the group’s members should get a discount for water because they shouldn’t have to pay for “distribution infrastructure they do not own, maintain, or benefit from in the same way as inside-city users.”

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State Stories

Mariachi no longer in ICE custody after calls for his release, Rep. Castro says

The man who sang the national anthem on July 4 at a South Texas immigrant detention facility has been released, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, 20, was reunited with his wife, Marisol Pantoj, after being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 25 while driving in China Grove. An ICE spokesperson told KSAT that Ibarra Castro “entered the United States illegally,” but Pantoj said he entered the U.S. legally on a B-2 visa. “He came with a B-2 visa when he was 4 years old,” Pantoj said. “He was fleeing violence from (Monterrey) Mexico.” Pantoj said that the visa expired in 2020, and they have been working on obtaining his green card, but it has taken a long time, calling the process “very overwhelming.”

“The packet itself was 178 pages,” Pantoj said. ”Sponsorship, birth certificates, IDs, passports, pay stubs, we had to develop a marriage evidence folder.” While being held in the South Texas detention facility, Pantoj said Ibarra Castro was asked to sing the national anthem. “He had said, ‘I don’t understand why they asked me to sing a song of the land of the free when they chained me up like an animal,’” Pantoj said. ICE said Ibarra Castro “volunteered to perform the national anthem for other detainees and contract staff at the detention center during a Fourth of July talent contest.” “The performance was part of broader efforts to promote positive engagement through voluntary activities,” ICE said. “Castro received no compensation and participated simply because he enjoys singing.” Rep. Castro announced Ibarra Castro’s release Saturday in a Facebook post. “In a country that stands for freedom and opportunity,” Rep. Castro said, “he deserves a fair chance at the American Dream.”

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Gov. Greg Abbott activates Texas emergency resources as heavy rain, flash flood threat continue

As rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms continue to threaten much of Texas this week, Gov. Greg Abbott has activated state emergency response resources ahead of the increased risk of flash flooding. The announcement comes as a moisture-rich weather pattern is expected to bring multiple rounds of heavy rainfall across large portions of the state through the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

“The State of Texas will deploy all necessary resources to help local officials respond to potential severe weather and flash flooding across the state,” Abbott said in a statement. “I urge all Texans to monitor local forecasts, heed guidance from state and local officials, and always remember: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Texas will support our communities as these threats develop.” The National Weather Service says slow-moving thunderstorms could bring heavy rainfall and flash flooding to parts of North, West, Central, South and East Texas beginning Sunday night, with the greatest threat expected through the middle of the week. In addition to flooding, some storms could produce damaging wind gusts and large hail.

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Texas Republicans celebrate Lindsey Graham as a 'patriot'

Leading Texas Republicans are taking to social media after the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, celebrating the native South Carolinian as a great conservative leader. “He was a kind and funny man who loved our country and loved serving it,” Former President George W. Bush said in a statement posted to X. “South Carolina was fortunate to have such a committed public servant in its corner.” Graham, 71, died on Saturday night after a “brief and sudden illness,” according to his office. A former Air Force lawyer, Graham spent three decades in the U.S. Senate. He was seeking a fifth term at the time of his death.

Sen. Ted Cruz frequently collaborated with Graham, co-sponsoring a bill to restrict Birthright Citizenship just a few months ago. He remembered Graham as a “fearless patriot, a devoted public servant, and one of the fiercest advocates for America’s national security” in a Sunday post on X. “For years, I had the privilege of serving alongside Lindsey in the Senate,” Cruz wrote. “We fought shoulder to shoulder for conservative judges, stood together with our allies, and never wavered in confronting America’s adversaries.” Graham was also praised as a “great patriot” by outgoing Sen. John Cornyn, who served with him on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Graham voiced his support for Cornyn during his competitive primary challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Like millions around the world, my thoughts are with Senator Graham’s family today,” Cornyn wrote in a post on X. “He was a fierce advocate for our nation’s military and our federal judiciary.”

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The most useless border barrier in Texas

Perhaps Raymond Skiles should be relieved. A few months ago, the Trump administration was laying the groundwork to take part of his 550-acre ranch near tiny Langtry to build a border wall—part of a wildly unpopular plan to wall off much of West Texas, including Big Bend National Park. But then, in March, the government backed off the proposal without explanation. Skiles, a 71-year-old retired Big Bend National Park wildlife biologist, was pleased that a thirty-foot wall wouldn’t split his place. But he didn’t exactly rejoice. In June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, awarded a staggering $2.6 billion contract—the largest upfront award for physical border infrastructure ever—to build a four- to six-foot-tall steel “vehicle barrier” and pave new patrol roads for a 156-mile stretch from Sanderson to Lake Amistad. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., a North Dakota–based contractor with ties to the Trump administration, won the bid. The new proposal will still tear up Skiles’s land, destroying important archaeological sites and polluting what is one of the last wild places in Texas. And if anything, the latest plans may constitute an even more pointless waste of taxpayer money than a thirty-foot wall.

Skiles Ranch, like almost the entirety of the Lower Canyons stretch of the Rio Grande below the national park, is characterized by a deep river gorge, with natural canyon walls typically soaring from one hundred to three hundred feet. It’s remote, harsh, and seldom trafficked by migrants. A border wall might, in theory, keep some of the small number who do cross there from entering Texas. But a vehicle barrier makes no sense for the simple reason that vehicles do not and cannot cross an impassable river gorge. As of now, smugglers have not figured out how to drive cars or trucks down vertical cliffs, across a river (or giant Lake Amistad), up vertical cliffs, and subsequently onto private property that’s surveilled and patrolled by Border Patrol, enclosed within fences, and watched over by heavily armed private landowners. Why would they? There are far easier and better places to traffic drugs and people. “It’s impossible” to get a vehicle across the Rio Grande in the Langtry area, said Skiles. “There hasn’t been a vehicle, since the mule-and-wagon days, come down on the Mexican side.” Even if a “coyote” (a smuggler) could get a car down to the river, he would then encounter fifteen to fifty feet of mud in the Langtry area—the result of the muddy Rio Grande hitting the still waters of Lake Amistad, which has since receded. “So the idea of even driving across the canyon, even if you could get to the bank, is ludicrous,” Skiles said.

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Austin startups land $6.5B in first half of 2026, climbing into elite tier, surpassing Atlanta, Chicago and Denver

Austin area startups attracted about $6.5 billion in venture funding during the first six months of 2026. That's enough to rank us among the nation's leading startup ecosystems and more than what a lot of big metros bring in through an entire year. That's according to the latest data from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. And it fits an ongoing trend both locally and nationally of a few high-flying startups carrying the lion's share of funding through huge rounds that exceed $100 million. The data helps make a case for Austin to be flirting with becoming a first or second tier city when it comes to venture backing for startups. San Francisco, New York, Boston and Los Angeles still easily lead the pack. But Austin has climbed the ladder to be in league with Seattle, San Diego and Washington, D.C., and surpassing big markets such as Chicago, Atlanta and Denver.

The latest numbers, from Q2, show Austin area companies landed about $1.5 billion across 100 deals. That's down from Q1, which was the metro's best quarter ever when we saw nearly $5 billion in deals land across 122 funding rounds, the PitchBook-NVCA data shows. Among the funding rounds that fueled the big numbers in the first half of 2026 are the $400 million raised by NinjaOne, $330 million brought in by Ollin Biosciences and $200 million secured by defense tech startup Allen Control Systems. Meanwhile, the city has seen some solid exits as well. That includes IPOs for Mobia Medical and Vida Global, and Literati and FemiClear being acquired. The data shows plenty of dry powder in the ecosystem, as well. VC firms including Saturn Five, Banner VC and Scout Ventures all have raised $100 million-plus funds so far this year. Though none will be surprised to see AI companies leading the way, the scale of AI's dominance in the VC world is still astounding. "AI continued to define the venture market in H1 2026. The total AI deal value of $355.9 billion made up 86% of all venture dollars in the period," the report said.

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Former SpaceX engineers open robotics company headquarters in Buda

Two former SpaceX engineers opened the doors of their robotics company’s new Buda headquarters Friday. TerraFirma Inc. moved from Austin to the 40,000-square-foot facility, which the construction technology firm will use as a research, design and testing facility. It welcomed stakeholders, employees and members of the Buda community to the grand opening of its “Robot Ranch” at Tower Business Park. Buda attracted the firm, which hopes to one day send its technology to Mars, with $412,500 in giveaways approved in March. The company intends to hire hundreds of employees over the next few years, according to city documents.

“(TerraFirma) is exactly the type of innovation-focused, high-wage employer we aim to recruit to Buda, strengthening our reputation as a location for advanced industrial and robotics-focused businesses and helping attract complementary employers and investment over time,” Mayor Lee Urbanovsky said. The company was founded in 2023 by Noah Schochet and Noah McGuinness, both former engineers at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which also a significant presence in Central Texas. TerraFirma designs and manufactures robotics for construction uses like excavation, site work and demolition, with a long-term goal of sending its technology to Mars.

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Dallas County DA argues elections official should be dropped from LULAC lawsuit over voter purge

Dallas County has asked a federal court to drop its top elections official from a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens. Dallas district attorneys recently filed a motion to remove Elections Administrator Paul Adams from the suit, arguing that he "has not violated any federal or state law, and has complied with the procedures set out in Texas Election Code." LULAC, Texas LULAC, LULAC's Dallas chapter and Common Cause alleged in a federal lawsuit that Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and elections administrators across the state violated the National Voter Registration Act. The lawsuit, filed in March, says that Texas adopted a “troubling voter purge program that relies on unvetted, outdated citizenship data to remove voters from rolls in ways that are discriminatory and non-uniform across counties.”

The voter purge program in question is the process Nelson implemented last October, which compared registered Texas voters against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database. LULAC said in its complaint that the state, and by extension local counties, relied on outdated or unreliable data that can incorrectly identify voters — especially naturalized U.S. citizens — as noncitizens. More than 2,700 voters were identified as "potential noncitizens." Nearly a quarter of them are from North Texas — 277 from Dallas County and 338 from Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties, according to Secretary of State data. Elections officials from those counties were also named in the lawsuit. Other Texas counties with high numbers of voters who were flagged included 362 from Harris County, 201 in Bexar County and 165 in El Paso County. Brazoria County's county clerk was dismissed from the suit last month, while Collin County Elections Administrator Kaleb Breaux and Secretary of State Jane Nelson have also filed motions to be dropped.

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How the 2026 FIFA World Cup impacted Houston's restaurants

For months, Houston restaurant owners prepared for a World Cup windfall, with some people comparing the tournament's expected economic impact to hosting seven Super Bowls. Now, with Houston's seven World Cup games over, results are in. And they're a mixed bag. At Tomball’s Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue, sales climbed an estimated 15% to 20%, owner Scott Moore Jr. said. But road closures and barricades for the FIFA Fan Festival slashed business at EaDo bakery Koffeteria to a crawl. Craft Pita founder Rafael Nasr said he redecorated and brought in some soccer fans — but saw only a minimal lift to his bottom line. Restaurants “didn't really see, as a group, any increase whatsoever,” said Mike Shine, the executive director of the Texas Restaurant Association’s Greater Houston Chapter. “When you're talking about the community as a whole, we didn't really see a lot from it.”

But Shine said some restaurants capitalized on World Cup fever far more than others. Businesses in the right locations, like J-Bar-M Barbecue, had a built-in advantage. More than 650,000 domestic visitors came to EaDo between June 11 and June 30 — up 215% from the same period last year — according to East Downtown Management District Executive Director Elizabeth Whitton. Others created reasons for fans to gather, like Jethro's Cocktail Lounge in Montrose, which brought in a projector for watch parties. Another subset, like the Kolache Shoppe, catered celebrations. And still more restaurants drew in tourists with must-try Houston foods, barbecue first and foremost. At Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue in Tomball, Moore said international visitors flooded in for brisket, sausage and ribs, while others ordered takeout to watch at home. One group of Norway fans drained his Scotch and most of his beer. “We were caught off guard a little bit by the volume,” Moore said.

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Rodeo announces $10.8M in scholarships for incoming college students

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced on Saturday that it would provide more than $10.8 million in scholarships to 541 students looking to attend college. The award is part of a larger $15 million investment by the Rodeo to distribute as scholarships, and a $30 million initiative designated for educational programs and advancing student education opportunities. Each student will receive $20,000 in scholarship money. "Education has the power to change lives, and we're proud to help open doors for these remarkable students," said Chris Boleman, Rodeo president and CEO. "Together, we're investing in future leaders who will shape the future of our state."

Among the awardees, nearly a third are first-generation high school graduates and more than half will be first-generation college students through the scholarships. About 66% of the awardees are women and 34% are men, the Rodeo said, and the top chosen majors among them are animal science, biology, psychology, mechanical engineering and nursing. The organization said scholarship recipients will attend 49 universities across the state, including Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. Every year since 1932, the Rodeo gives out scholarship funding to Texas students, totaling about $660 million. "Every scholarship represents an opportunity to invest in the potential of a Texas student," said Wesley Sinor, chairman of the board of the Rodeo. "On behalf of our 36,000 volunteers, there's no greater reward than knowing our year-round work helps students pursue their dreams and create opportunities that will impact families and communities for generations."

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TCEQ proposes a six-figure penalty against Odem over wastewater treatment plant violations dating to 2023

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing a $162,650 administrative penalty against the city of Odem for 18 alleged violations at its wastewater treatment plant — the same facility at the center of concerns first reported by KRIS 6 News nearly three years ago. The proposed agreed order stems from a 2023 TCEQ inspection. Among the findings: E. coli levels in discharged water were more than six times the legal limit. Inspectors also documented sewage — including grease balls and floating sludge — in a nearby receiving stream, along with several other violations. TCEQ proposes a six-figure penalty against Odem over wastewater treatment plant violations dating to 2023

Odem Mayor David Maldonado gave Neighborhood News reporter Stephanie Molina a tour of the facility, pointing out equipment cited in the inspection. "This is a system that was out, and chemicals were being used without approval from TCEQ," Maldonado said as he pointed towards the UV disinfection system. At that time, the city had switched to chlorine tablets for disinfection without state approval. The city requested a compliance plan that would give it more time to address the violations. But Maldonado said that request cannot move forward until a separate compliance plan from 2019 is closed out. He said working to fix the system has been frustrating. "So here we are, years later, and we're looking back and going, 'Well, this was supposedly fixed already, so why are we still working on it?'" Maldonado said.

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Muslim advocacy group fights for trust after Texas brands it a terrorist group

It was just past 9 p.m. on June 22, during the Texas State Board of Education meeting, when Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’s Austin chapter, was called up to testify. She braced herself, knowing what was coming. “Can we have a leader of a foreign terrorist organization testify for the state board of education?” Brandon Hall, a Republican board member, asked the chairman, just as Zayan rose to the podium. Hall was referring to an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designating CAIR a terrorist group last November. The group, one of the country’s largest Muslim advocacy organizations, however, is not listed on the U.S. Department of State’s list of terrorist organizations, which is officially responsible for such designations. The chairman said Zayan had a First Amendment right to speak.

“OK, I won’t listen to it,” Hall said, before walking out of the room. CAIR has spent decades positioning itself as the country’s leading Muslim civil rights organization. But state and federal Republican leaders’ attempts to brand it as a terrorist front in recent months has tested CAIR’s legal standing and cast suspicion on the group or anyone who associates with it. The organization, which has chapters around the country, is now also fighting fraying trust inside some Muslim communities as mosque and nonprofit leaders decide whether standing by CAIR is worth potential risks — notably, in Texas. Since Abbott’s foreign terrorist designation, Imran Ghani, operations manager for CAIR’s Houston chapter, said his office has dealt with stigma in some Muslim communities. While some Texas mosques and other groups have continued to invite CAIR speakers and collaborate on events, as they have regularly in the past, Ghani said at least a dozen Muslim groups in Houston have privately made it clear they are no longer willing to host the civil rights group. “That’s exactly what the governor is intending to do: separate CAIR from the Muslim community, despite being a grassroots organization from within the Muslim community, and punish anybody that supports CAIR,” he said.

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Texas history curriculum overhaul expands state control over textbooks

Last month, Texas overhauled what the state’s 5.5 million public school students will be expected to learn about history and literature, embedding Christianity and biblical readings into the standards on a scale no other state has matched. Now, the Texas Education Agency is capitalizing on those changes, spending millions to develop new textbooks and lesson plans that districts will be incentivized to use. The move could edge out private publishers and further cement the agency’s role in dictating how and what public schools teach, industry observers and critics said. “There’s a time in the future where Bluebonnet will no longer be optional,” said State Board of Education Member Evelyn Brooks, a Frisco Republican, referring to the state’s materials. “That is where it's heading, just whatever the state puts in front of you.”

Texas is the only state in the country to own and publish its own line of textbooks and lesson plans. The program, called Bluebonnet, rolled out in 2024 and is currently optional for districts, though those that participate receive extra state funding. Just under a third of the state’s 1,200 districts are using Bluebonnet, which so far covers elementary-level math and English. The TEA confirmed to Hearst Newspapers this week that a $67 million contract it signed last year with Florida-based company MGT Solutions includes the development of new Bluebonnet materials for reading and social studies aligned to the new standards, as well as other subjects. Any textbook publisher is free to make their own materials that cater to Texas’ new standards, which become mandatory in 2030. But experts say many will be reluctant to invest because the social studies overhaul is so drastic. Unlike other curriculum rewrites, this process produced a top-to-bottom overhaul, reordering history and inserting brand-new lessons on Western civilization, religious history and biblical concepts.

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National Stories

McConnell says after weeks of speculation that hospitalization was due to a fall

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Sunday announced, after weeks of speculation, that he had a fall last month that landed him in the hospital. “My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,” he said in a statement. McConnell also provided a photo showing him smiling next to his wife, Elaine Chao. He appears to have a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section on his lap.

McConnell said he’s moved from a hospital to a rehabilitation center to continue regaining his strength. His doctors have run through “every test they can think of” to try to determine what caused the incident. The former Senate majority leader said he “won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet” but he’s “been working closely” with legislative staff in the meantime. The statement comes after weeks of questions over McConnell’s health, as aides for the 84-year-old were fiercely protective about releasing information on his condition. The lack of information sparked speculation and rumors online that his health had significantly deteriorated. McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has faced a series of health issues in recent years, including multiple falls. In 2023, he froze midsentence during a news conference. Along with his own statement, McConnell included a note from the attending physician of Congress, who described the injuries after the fall at his Washington, DC, home as “minor.”

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Lindsey Graham’s career of contradictions

Lindsey Graham had reached the end of his rope on the night of Jan. 6, 2021, declaring his alliance with Donald Trump over. “Trump and I, we’ve had a helluva journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my god, I hate it,” the South Carolina Republican senator said during a floor speech after the Capitol riot had been subdued. “All I can say is, count me out, enough is enough,” Graham concluded. Except no journey with Lindsey Graham was ever really over. In more than three decades in Congress, Graham constantly maneuvered across the political spectrum in search of relevance and influence. True to form, he returned to Trump’s side later in 2021 and was an early endorser of his 2024 presidential campaign, at a time when Trump seemed beatable.

That ingratiation led Graham to an influential role as an informal adviser on national security. On Saturday he spoke by phone with the president to discuss the senator’s trip to Ukraine and his long effort to pass tough new sanctions against Russia. The call took place, according to Trump, not long before paramedics were called to Graham’s Capitol Hill home. His aides announced Graham’s death in an early Sunday morning social media post. “If I had a problem, a real problem, I wouldn’t often ask. But if I had a problem with a Democrat, he could work it out,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “He was a great, he was a great politician, actually.” It’s debatable how much Graham could work out with Democrats in his last few years in the Senate. His ideological maneuvering left him increasingly isolated when it came to the sort of dealmaking he’d learned as a sidekick to John McCain (R-Arizona) in his first 15 years in the Senate.

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US has no 'dead man's switch' to attack Iran if it kills Trump

President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran “ at levels they’ve never seen before ” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him. But the U.S. government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized “dead man’s switch” that would prompt immediate retaliation. Instead, if Trump were killed, the transfer of power to his successor is governed by the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Vice President JD Vance instantaneously would become commander in chief and have authority for any retaliation. Under such a scenario, Vance could do exactly what Trump called for, though there also is a chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor’s orders — or offer a direct response in a different way.

“The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,’” said Garrett M. Graff, author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself -- While the Rest of Us Die.” The United States does have extensive contingency plans for continuity of government in the event of a nuclear attack or other major catastrophe that wipes out most or all of Washington. But those plans also do not allow for immediately launching retaliatory strikes upon the death of a president, even if that president had demanded that the military be ready to do so. Trump nonetheless posted on his social media website Saturday that Iran had made threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him and he said 1,000 “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

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States prepare lawsuit to block Paramount’s merger With Warner Bros.

A group of states are preparing to file a lawsuit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as soon as this week, according to four people briefed on the plans, a legal challenge that would create a major obstacle for one of the biggest media mergers in history. A draft of the lawsuit currently circulating argues that the $111 billion deal would harm competition in the market for so-called tent pole films, the expensive blockbusters that make up a large portion of studio revenues, among other claims, two of the people said. California has taken the lead on the lawsuit, and states including New York, Washington and Connecticut have said they will join the effort, according to three of the people, as well as another person familiar with the states’ plans. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive legal matter before it was public.

Once the lawsuit is finalized, the states could decide to delay filing it or scrap it completely. Reuters earlier reported states could sue as soon as this week. A spokeswoman for Paramount said in a statement that the company was prepared to address “legitimate antitrust issues,” adding that its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery “raises no such concerns.” “We are confident the facts and the law support this transaction, and we will continue to defend it vigorously,” she added. Paramount has said it plans to close the deal in the third quarter of the year. As part of its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount has said it would pay the company’s shareholders about $650 million in cash for each quarter the deal doesn’t close, starting in October. The lawsuit would disrupt efforts by the billionaire Larry Ellison and his son, David Ellison, to create a Hollywood colossus. The combined company would include two major movie studios, multiple streaming services and the news networks CNN and CBS News, expanding the father-son duo’s influence over the flagging entertainment and media industries.

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U.S. launches new strikes on Iran and Tehran attacks U.S. allies in the Gulf

The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire for the third weekend in a row, with strikes stretching into Monday as Iran responded to U.S. attacks by targeting U.S. allies in the region. The back-and-forth attacks came as Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and days after President Trump declared that the ceasefire between the two countries was "over." The latest volley of strikes began on Saturday, when Iran fired at and disabled a commercial ship passing through the strait and said it was closing the vital waterway completely. The U.S. retaliated, striking multiple sites in Iran overnight. Iran responded to those U.S. attacks on Sunday launching strikes against Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. The United Arab Emirates also said it came under missile fire.

That prompted another round of U.S. strikes on Iran Sunday evening, which the U.S. Central Command said it had completed by 10.30 p.m. ET. In a string of statements carried by Iranian state media, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Monday it targeted U.S. bases and outposts in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones. On Monday morning, missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Kuwait's army said its air defense systems were intercepting "hostile attacks." There was no immediate word on damage. Trump on Sunday rejected Iran's claim that the strait was closed. "It's open. We bombed the hell out of them last night," he told NBC's Meet the Press. He said that Tehran had agreed to "a perfect deal for us" in negotiations on Saturday, without giving details. "No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything," he said. "And then after that, they left the room. And then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship."

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Democratic pastors run to reclaim Jesus from Trump's Republicans

A band of white Democratic pastors have a striking message ahead of November's US midterm elections: Republicans have hijacked Jesus for political gain, and we're not going to stand for it. For decades, it's been a truism that Republicans have cornered the Christian market -- at least when it comes to white voters. But these ministers are so fed up with President Donald Trump, and particularly his policies against immigrants, that they're running as Democrats in November to rein him in. "The Christians we're hearing in Washington don't reflect the Jesus of the Gospels," one of the insurgents, Adam Hamilton, told AFP.

As the head of a 24,000-member Methodist megachurch in a deeply conservative, rural area of Kansas, Hamilton would typically fit the profile of a right-wing Republican Christian. However, along with support for fiscal responsibility and a strong military, the 62-year-old Hamilton backs legal access to abortion and protecting LGBTQ rights in his campaign for the US Senate. Citing the "crassness and mean-spiritedness" of Trump's presidency, he said what's happening in Washington is "inconsistent with the values that I've preached for 36 years." "I want to stand up and be heard saying: 'This is not OK.'" Democrats have a long tradition of clergy in politics, but predominately among African Americans. In Congress now, there's Senator Raphael Warnock, who leads Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr was pastor. But the last white, Democratic pastor in Congress was Bob Edgar, a Methodist minister representing Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1987.

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17 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody or enforcement operations, Mexico says, announcing legal action

Mexico plans to pursue criminal and civil action in the United States over the deaths of Mexican nationals in ICE custody and enforcement operations, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday. The announcement comes after an ICE agent fatally shot 52-year-old Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an enforcement operation in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood on July 7. Salgado had lived in the United States for decades and had a work permit application pending. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said Mexico has recorded 17 deaths of Mexican nationals linked to ICE since the start of the current U.S. immigration crackdown: 14 in detention centers and three during enforcement operations, including Salgado Araujo.

Sheinbaum said her government would no longer rely solely on diplomatic protest notes. "We are going to do everything in our power," she said, adding that Mexico could not fail to act in response to the deaths of Mexicans during ICE enforcement operations or in detention centers run by private companies contracted by ICE. She said Mexico would continue providing consular support to families and detainees, especially Mexicans "whose only crime is working honestly in the United States." Velasco said the Foreign Ministry will ask Mexico's Attorney General's Office to refer the cases to U.S. state prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking criminal investigations. He said the referrals would be filed "against whoever is responsible." U.S. authorities said agents were carrying out an operation when Salgado Araujo tried to evade arrest and used his vehicle as a weapon, prompting an officer to fire in self-defense. But witnesses and relatives have challenged that account. El País reported that neighbors heard him cry, "¡Me están matando!" after the shooting, and his family said they first learned of his death through videos and social media, not from authorities.

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Lead Stories

Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after ‘brief and sudden illness’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was elected to the Senate in 2002 and was a close political ally of President Donald Trump’s, has died, his office confirmed early Sunday. He was 71. Graham died Saturday night “from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement said. President Donald Trump led tributes Sunday to “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known,” describing Graham as a “true American Patriot” in a Truth Social post.

Graham was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was seeking a fifth six-year Senate term in November. He was one of the most well-known members of the chamber and a key voice within the party on defense and foreign policy. Emergency personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News. EMS audio later indicated CPR was in progress. Photographs from the scene reviewed by NBC News show paramedics carrying a person on a stretcher from Graham’s home to an awaiting ambulance. Police cars and fire trucks were also on site. A top staffer to Graham told NBC News early Sunday that there was no indication the lawmaker was feeling unwell prior to his death. He had been scheduled to appear on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Graham was a frequent guest on the broadcast, appearing a total of 63 times over the years.

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A new foe has emerged for data centers: Farmers

About 30 miles from Clint McRae’s southeastern Montana ranch, a local utility company bought roughly 6,000 acres of cattle grazing land. After scouring job postings online and talking with local ranchers, he’s deduced that the land might soon be transformed into one of the many large-scale data centers moving into Montana over the past year. McRae’s primary concern is water. It is essential for cattlemen in the western plains who have for years been shrinking their cattle herds in response to droughts. The local water supply will have to keep flowing to the new data center projects, rather than to ranchers who need it to keep the pasture healthy and calves hydrated, according to McRae. Montana’s cattle herd could experience a more permanent decline as a result, he said.

“If we have a dry year like we’re having now, who’s going to cut back?” McRae, a fourth-generation rancher, said. “It’s going to be agriculture.” At town hall meetings, McRae is trying to sound the alarm and rally other local ranchers to speak out against new data center projects. A spokeswoman for the utility, NorthWestern Energy, said no decisions have been made and no timeline set regarding the site. “Securing land now helps ensure we have options later, without rushing decisions that could impact reliability or costs,” she said. America’s farmers and cattle ranchers are raising red flags about the potential drain on local resources that the data-center construction boom poses to rural regions of the farm economy. The agriculture industry is warning that the AI-focused facilities are gobbling up farmland acreage, electricity and water needed to raise livestock and grow crops. “It’s almost like the wild west to see who gets there first,” said Philip Nelson, president of the Illinois Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer in Seneca, Ill. Tech companies are investing unprecedented sums of money to finance a construction boom across the U.S. of huge data centers to fuel America’s AI ambitions, largely in rural areas. Data center projects have been touted as a new source of growth for small towns and flyover country.

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Mark Cuban takes legal action against Dallas Mavericks ownership over potential new arena deal

Mark Cuban has gone to court over frustrations that he’s being kept in the dark about the Dallas Mavericks moving forward in their quest to build a new arena. Cuban’s lawyers have filed a petition in Dallas County district court seeking sworn testimony from a corporate representative of the Arena Development Institute, a company formed by Mavericks ownership in Delaware. In June, the Mavericks announced that they had entered into an option agreement for the potential purchase of 104 acres of land at the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas. The Mavericks’ lease at American Airlines Center expires in 2031, and the team hopes to move into a new building ahead of the 2031-32 season. Cuban claims that this potential new arena deal could violate contracts he already has in place with the Mavericks’ owners in Texas.

In the document Cuban filed, he outlines his version of how he sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont, the Sands Corporation CEO who also serves as the Mavericks governor. Cuban said he began working with them in 2019 to pass gambling in Texas. Their goal at the time was to build a “Venetian style destination resort” somewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. In 2023, Cuban officially sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to Adelson. Cuban said that they had a handshake agreement in place where he would remain in control of the Mavericks’ basketball decisions while Dumont would be in charge of the team’s business side. “This handshake agreement was reiterated in multiple emails and orally in the presence of Dumont, Miriam Adelson, another NBA owner, and Mavericks employees,” Cuban’s legal action read. The Athletic asked Cuban if he could produce these emails. Cuban replied, “Can’t say anything at all.”

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One U.S. visa program is growing rapidly. No one is happy with it

The Trump administration is focused on an immigration crackdown. But agriculture employers and some moderate Republicans want to start negotiating at least one aspect of legal immigration: expanding a visa program that brings foreign workers to America's farms. Dozens of farmers — including dairy farmers and blueberry, apple and peach growers — and lobbying powerhouses like the American Farm Bureau Federation took to Washington this month to advocate for their labor needs. At the center of discussions is a bill introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson that would expand access to the H-2A visa for seasonal agricultural labor. "While this may not be in our jurisdiction, it is certainly in the interest of the farmers and ranchers, and foresters that we represent," Thompson, R-Pa., told reporters and gathered farmers. He nodded to the fact that the House Judiciary Committee, not his, must approve any bill related to immigration and visas.

The H-2A visa program provides workers, primarily from Mexico, for farms that need someone to pick, fertilize and prune crops on a seasonal and temporary basis. Historically, farms with year-round needs such as dairies have been excluded from the program. But use of H-2A visas has jumped more than 500% since 2012 — from 62,743 to nearly 400,000 in 2025, in part because other programs have strict caps and other limits. Despite its growing popularity and farmers' reliance on the program, employers, labor advocates and both political parties agree that it is far from perfect. But there are strong ideological and practical differences on what needs to be changed. Labor organizations and conservatives are skeptical of any program that expands the use of foreign labor. Labor groups have long criticized the H-2A program for the potential of workplace abuses, and conservatives take issue with any program that could grandfather in workers currently working in the U.S. illegally. Farmers and other businesses warn of immediate consequences to their labor supply without expanding the program, given the administration's deportations and continued record-low crossings at the southern border.

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New housing law targets affordability — what it means for homebuyers and sellers

Bipartisan legislation intended to increase the U.S. housing supply and improve affordability is now law — but experts say homebuyers and sellers shouldn’t expect fast relief. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act automatically became law on Saturday after President Donald Trump neither signed it nor vetoed it within a set timeframe. The legislation combines dozens of housing measures aimed at encouraging home construction, expanding access to financing and restricting purchases by large institutional investors. The legislation “will help expand the nation’s housing supply by reducing regulatory barriers and encouraging local governments to reform zoning and land-use policies that have limited home building,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, in a statement after the measure cleared Congress on June 23.

The new law arrives as housing affordability remains strained. Home prices are near record highs and 30-year fixed mortgage rates continue to hover above 6.5%. The median price of an existing home in the U.S. reached $440,600 in June, up 49.2% from June 2020, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. There’s also an estimated housing supply deficit of about 4 million homes, according to Realtor.com. “This bill directly targets some of the biggest drivers of housing costs: land-use restrictions, permitting delays, financing constraints and regulatory hurdles,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at Cotality, a real estate data company. “Unfortunately, homebuyers should not expect immediate relief,” Hepp said, adding that “housing development takes time and many of the benefits would likely materialize gradually rather than overnight.” Among the new law’s many technical and policy changes, several provisions are likely to matter most to consumers. A key provision would prohibit large institutional investors that own at least 350 single-family homes from purchasing additional single-family homes, subject to several exceptions. Those exceptions include certain build-to-rent and renovate-to-rent projects, as well as programs that help renters build credit and eventually purchase homes.

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State Stories

Father files lawsuit against Atmos after son and wife's death in Oak Cliff apartment explosion

A man whose 1-year-old son and wife were killed in a gas explosion and fire at an Oak Cliff Apartment in May has sued Atmos Energy for allegedly failing to mark a gas line struck by a driller. It’s at least the fifth lawsuit to be filed against Atmos over the incident. The lawsuit, filed by Erik Perez Sr., alleges Atmos frequently failed to properly mark its gas pipes in the area leading up to the explosion. It claims Atmos has thousands of leaking pipes and frequently fails to locate its own pipes. “They just don't know where their lines are,” Ted Lyons, Perez Sr.’s lead attorney, told KERA. “They don't know what the heck's going on with their gas system – it's amazing.” The explosion killed Marisol Perez, her 1-year-old son Erik Perez Jr. and Democratic activist Sylvia Collins. Collins’ daughter, Michelle, has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Atmos.

Perez Sr.’s then 9-year-old daughter was found crawling through the debris before being rescued by a bystander, according to the lawsuit. “They're devastated. They can barely deal with this,” Lyons said of the Perez family. “It's unbelievable.” “The safety of our communities and employees is our first priority,” Atmos told KERA in a statement. “We are grateful to Dallas Fire Rescue and all first responders who bravely responded to this incident. Our hearts go out to the people who were lost, their families, and everyone who has been impacted by this tragedy.” The lawsuit alleges a gas leak was reported at the apartment a month before the explosion. JF Construction notified 811 — the number anybody digging must call to request a utility line locate — of a gas leak at The Clyde apartments on March 20, according to the lawsuit. The gas meter at the apartment was replaced on May 15. A gas leak at Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary School blocks away from the apartment was also allegedly due to an improperly marked gas line, according to the lawsuit.

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo to be ‘less visible’ due to mono diagnosis, she says

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced she has contracted mononucleosis and will be stepping back from public duties as she recovers. On Thursday, Hidalgo shared a statement on social media announcing she had contracted the contagious viral infection commonly referred to as mono. She made the announcement to explain why she may have a less visible role as the county’s top elected official over the next several weeks. "I've been dealing with a lingering sore throat and intense fatigue," she wrote in her post. "At around 8 p.m. tonight, I received lab results confirming a mono diagnosis. The only treatment for mono is rest. ... I share this because I will be less visible around the community for the next several weeks while I recover."

As county judge, Hidalgo presides over a five-member commissioners court, which serves as the executive decision-making body for the county government. Harris County, which includes Houston, is the most populous county in Texas and among the most populous in the United States. Hidalgo said her staff will represent her "when necessary." "I remain fully available and reachable, especially in the event of an emergency,” Hidalgo wrote. “... I expect to be back to normal after a few weeks of limited engagements." In 2023, Hidalgo took a two-month leave of absence to receive treatment for clinical depression at an inpatient care facility outside of Texas. Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a fellow Democrat and the longest-tenured county commissioner, presided over commissioners court during her absence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mono can last 4-6 weeks and has symptoms including extreme fatigue, fever, sore throat, headaches and body aches. There is no vaccine to protect against mono, according to the CDC. Hidalgo said she initially thought her symptoms were caused by "exhaustion." "Thinking my diagnosis was exhaustion, I have recently interacted with community members as usual," she said. "Thankfully, mono is not spread through casual contact."

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'Unusual vibration' felt before plane crash that killed Austin tech leader Joshua Baer, NTSB says

New details have emerged about the June 16 plane crash in Laredo that killed Austin tech entrepreneur Joshua Baer. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board details how pilots noticed early in the flight that there was an “unusual vibration." "It sounds like a fan is on ... you can feel it in the dashboard," a pilot said. The pilots contacted NetJets, which co-owns the plane, and noted that the humming noise had gone away. The instruments on the plane then indicated that it was caused by a cooling fan. The crew continued speaking with a maintenance controller and the flight operations duty manager, and it was decided that the flight could safely proceed to the destination in Austin.

Once the plane was approaching the U.S.-Mexico border, the pilots received another message indicating low fuel pressure in the right engine. Within minutes, three more messages displayed, including a message indicating low fuel, and the pilots prepared for an emergency landing. The plane received permission to land in Laredo, but as they approached, both engines lost power. A pilot then asked for possible fields to land in nearby before ultimately crashing on a highway. Doorbell cameras showed fire flaring up around the plane as it was approaching the road, the report said. The plane, which departed from Los Cabos, Mexico, was over 40,000 feet in the air before descending over the span of 30 minutes. It ultimately crashed on Loop 20, several miles short of the airport. Baer’s dog, Stormy, also died following the crash, according to the Laredo Police Department. The main pilot suffered serious injuries while the co-pilot and three other passengers received minor injuries. The driver of a car that was hit by the plane on the highway also received minor injuries, according to the report.

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New Dallas County GOP chair vows to rebuild in Democratic stronghold

As the newly elected Dallas County GOP chair, Monty Montanez said he’s focused on engaging with voters and trying to restore the Republican Party’s weight in a county that has been solidly blue for two decades. He’s less interested in talking about turmoil that came before him after the party's demand for precinct-based voting on the March 3 primary day. That shift from the vote-anywhere system ended with thousands of confused Republicans and Democrats showing up to wrong locations. And it led to the resignation of then-chair Allen West, who restored countywide voting for the runoff to avoid repeat chaos but drew ire from much of his party. Montanez declined to say whether as chair he will push for precinct-based voting in the 2028 primary, because the party's plan “is still being put together.”

But after being elected by Republican precinct chairs June 25 to serve West’s abandoned two-year term, Montanez, 46, has laid out a goal of boosting the party's reputation as his long game. He said he’s looking to move the party past recent dysfunction by rebuilding the GOP’s grassroots base, finances, candidate pool and election turnout — an uphill battle in a county where Democrats dependably win elections. “My goal is to build a stronger, more united party that supports our volunteers, earns the trust of our community and works every day to elect Republicans,” Montanez said. He started his tenure by touring the Dallas County elections department and meeting with Elections Administrator Paul Adams, whom Montanez said he has “complete confidence in.” West, who became chair in 2024, repeatedly questioned the integrity of Dallas County’s voting machines and pushed unproven allegations of election fraud. Montanez said he doesn’t share the same concerns about Dallas County’s voting equipment or countywide voting system, though he prefers precincts and hand-marked paper ballots. “Being there and walking through and asking all the questions and listening to everyone, I felt completely comfortable that our elections are secure,” he said.

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Secret Texas Capitol vault reveals hidden treasury history

All this time, there’s been a secret vault in the basement of the Texas Capitol, and few living souls have seen it. During a recent tour of the magnificent building with Kevin Koch, the Architect of the Capitol, we discussed discoveries made during efforts to preserve the building's granite, limestone, mortar, plaster, paint, terrazzo, iron, oak, pine and, in decorative flourishes, polished mahogany, walnut, cherry and cedar. All these materials have been fashioned and refashioned as the “People’s Palace” has been restored and renovated repeatedly since it opened with a grand party in 1888. As a person whose case of acrophobia has only escalated with advancing age, I skipped parts of the private tour that might have taken me high above the Great Seal of Texas, which is rendered under the ribbed dome in terrazzo collected from all over the state.

Yet when Koch mentioned a rarely seen subterranean treasury vault built in 1936, my response ran along the lines of, “Yes, please, with all my curiosity ablaze!” Why a new state treasury during the 1930s? Recall that this was the era of headline-grabbing gangsters, some of them local or regional, others national figures roaming Texas. Let’s just start with the Barrow and Newton family gangs, the first better known by its charismatic duo, “Bonnie and Clyde,” the second as the “Newton Boys.” In addition, every big city in Texas seemed to generate tight-knit crime families, such as the Maceo syndicate in Galveston and the Piranio network in Dallas. These gangsters staged spectacular crimes: celebrity kidnappings, daylight bank robberies, mad jailbreaks, mass shootings and mob assassinations. For safe cracking, mobsters used explosives and torches to defeat the escalating defenses of safe makers, which included multiple, thick layers of metal, inventive locks and anti-explosive devices.

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Pressure mounts on Texas to address brutal heat crisis in prison cells

Texas, the state with the largest prison population in the US, is coming under mounting legal pressure to address the ongoing crisis of brutal heat in its cells, as extreme summer temperatures expose inmates to suffering, illness and even death. The Texas department of criminal justice (TDCJ), the state agency that runs dozens of prisons, has been hit by a new wrongful death lawsuit by the family of Jason Wilson. The inmate was found dead in his solitary confinement cell at the Coffield unit in July 2024. The family’s civil complaint, lodged in a federal district court in Houston, accuses the state of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on the prisoner “that led to his death in a brutally hot, un-airconditioned cell”. Refusal to provide Wilson with cool water and regular showers, combined with the lack of air conditioning and a failure to check routinely on his wellbeing, “caused him immense suffering and death”.

His plight was the result of “deliberate indifference” and “intentional discrimination” on the part of the Texas authorities, the suit says. The new wrongful death lawsuit comes as Texas is already awaiting the outcome of a separate federal court action in Austin over the heat crisis. An alliance of advocacy groups is calling on a federal judge in the western district of Texas to order the state to introduce air conditioning in all its prisons over the next three years. A ruling in that case is expected within months. The legal crunch is coming to a head just as searing summer heat yet again pummels Texas prisons. Of the state’s 141,000 prisoners, more than 85,000 are held in cells without air conditioning where internal temperatures regularly exceed 115F (46C) in summer months. A high of 149F has been recorded. At such extremes, individual inmates can experience physical and mental breakdown, and those who are particularly vulnerable as a result of co-morbidities can suffer fatal heatstrokes.

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Texas Rangers investigating City of Trinidad after water issues, controversial arrests, firings

After controversial arrests, alleged retaliatory firings and a litany of water issues, the Texas Rangers are investigating the City of Trinidad. What we know: The Texas Rangers confirmed to FOX 4 they have begun an investigation into the City of Trinidad. "We can confirm the Texas Rangers are investigating. As this is an active investigation, we have no further information to provide," the Texas Rangers said to FOX 4 in a statement. The law enforcement agency's investigation comes as multiple lawsuits have been filed against the city over retaliatory firings and controversial arrests related to the city's water quality issues.

This week, former Trinidad City Administrator and Secretary Lindsey Patterson filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming she had "no record of discipline" when she was terminated in Feb. 2026. Patterson's suit claims she was fired after reporting to the Trinidad Police Department that "public funds belonging to the city were being held by private individuals." Trinidad's current City Administrator, Cynthia Dosier, has been listed as a defendant in several of the lawsuits. She has not returned FOX 4's request for comment since our first report. On Friday, FOX 4's David Sentendrey attempted to speak to Dosier at her office in Trinidad. Dosier had no comment when asked about the Texas Rangers' investigation. What they're saying: Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws previously called for an investigation by the Texas Rangers into the city's now-public issues. He tells Sentendrey he's glad that's finally happening. "I wanted people here to know that there is going to be transparency at the end of this," Haws said. "We need to know that our office is in order and I think the best way to do that is with a third party having eyes on it and finding out what really is going on here."

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‘It doesn’t get easier’: Candlelight vigil honors Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

More than 200 people gathered Saturday morning to honor Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the man shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents (ICE) this week. Holding lit candles and "ICE OUT" signs, the group said prayers and mourned Salgado Araujo's death as well as others like Renee Good and Alex Pretti — who had lost their lives during ICE encounters in Minnesota earlier this year. "It doesn't get easier, and of course I'm still looking for answers," Ronaldo Salgado, the victim's son, said. "I've been looking for answers since 7 o'clock a.m. Tuesday."

Two of Salgado Araujo's sons, Ronaldo and Lorenzo Jr., spoke to the crowd. They described their father as a shy, hardworking individual who loved the Chivas Mexican soccer team and raised his sons to value and prioritize their education. Ronaldo said the family has still not received his father's belongings, including his wallet, phone and lunchbox. "Which I imagine is just sitting there in that van at the FBI facility just rotting away," Ronaldo said. "It was the last meal my mom made for him, and she just wants that lunchbox back." Salgado Araujo was shot Tuesday morning during what ICE has called a "targeted enforcement operation” in Houston’s East End neighborhood. He was traveling to work with three other men in his car. In a statement to Houston Public Media, a DHS spokesperson did not specify whether any of the people in the vehicle were intended targets, saying one of the individuals in the van "resembled the target." An ICE spokesperson said during the stop, Salgado Araujo was attempting to evade arrest and allegedly rammed his van into an ICE vehicle, causing an ICE agent to fire his weapon.

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The Onion hasn't taken control of Infowars yet, but it's relaunching the conspiracy site anyway

Infowars is back. But if you're looking for content about lizard people controlling the highest levers of power or chemicals turning frogs gay, you'll likely be disappointed. The Onion said Thursday it's forging ahead with its takeover of the Austin-based, conspiracy-peddling website formerly run by Alex Jones. Onion CEO Ben Collins said that the "real" Infowars will stream Thursday night with comedian Tim Heidecker hosting an inaugural broadcast. Heidecker previewed his take on Jones and Infowars in May, parodying Jones' sale of supplements by claiming he could turn viewers' urine into gold while drinking what he claimed to be blood in a Satanic ritual. The launch comes as lawyers for the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting are still wrangling in a Travis County court to finalize the satirical publication's takeover of Infowars.

In a statement, Collins said The Onion would launch its parody of Infowars Thursday night and that it planned on donating $100,000 to Sandy Hook families. "From the beginning, this has been about the Sandy Hook families and making sure something better comes from a platform that caused so much harm," Collins said. "We got into this because we saw an opportunity to take one of the most evil things on the internet and turn it into something funny, creative, and actually useful. The premiere is the first real look at that vision, and we're excited to finally put it in front of people." Judges in Connecticut and Texas ruled Jones regularly defamed Sandy Hook families on Infowars, calling them crisis actors and suggesting the massacre was staged. He was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages, declared bankruptcy in 2022 and was forced to sell off assets, including the Infowars site. The Onion emerged as a potential buyer in 2024, but Jones has successfully fended off a takeover in Travis County courts. Last week, the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals sided with Jones, sending the case back to its Travis County trial court and delaying the transfer of the Infowars domain name to The Onion. Collins said The Onion would continue its takeover while the lawsuit is waylaid in court. "We have too much to do to wait around," he said. Meanwhile, Jones launched a new platform after he was shut out of the Infowars site in May. KUT reached out to Jones' attorney for a comment but has not yet heard back.

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Grapevine's Wally Funk, who went to space, has died at the age of 87

The City of Grapevine has announced the death of Wally Funk, 87. Funk passed away last night in her Grapevine home, the city said. Funk, then 82, reached her lifelong dream when she flew aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on July 20, 2021, alongside company founder Jeff Bezos. In a release, the City of Grapevine says "Wally was a beloved Grapevine resident whose extraordinary accomplishments and generous spirit left an enduring legacy. The City of Grapevine proudly recognizes Wally Funk, whose extraordinary career has inspired generations by breaking barriers in aviation and space exploration. Funk continues to serve as a global symbol of determination, perseverance and excellence"

For Funk, the journey was decades in the making. In 1961, she was the youngest participant in the privately funded "Women in Space Program," later known as the Mercury 13. Neither Funk, nor the other women ever became astronauts because NASA didn’t want women representing America in the space race with the Soviet Union. "She did better on many of the tests than the men astronauts," said Duff O'Dell, a longtime friend and Grapevine City Councilwoman. "That didn't stop her. She was determined." Funk was known to break barriers as the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. Author Loretta Hall, who wrote a book about Funk, said her drive was never about seeking recognition. "I don't think she really set out to be the first woman to do this or that or the other thing," Hall said. "She just wanted to do what she wanted to do, what she knew she was capable of doing." Hall called Funk "the most positive and most persistent person I ever met."

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New EPA rule could weaken Texans' voice on air pollution: critics

A proposed change to a federal rule could eliminate Texans' right to weigh in on permits for facilities considered "minor" air polluters, critics say, including small industrial operations like concrete batch plants, rock crushers and some power projects that fuel data centers. The change would remove a federal requirement for public feedback and leave it to states to decide whether to include members of the community before officials approve or deny facilities' air pollution permits that fall below "major emissions" thresholds. This includes air pollution permits linked to a number of AI data centers in Texas, which have used minor emissions applications to permit diesel generators and gas turbines to power their facilities.

The EPA has emphasized that it is not proposing to weaken environmental protections, but rather to give states more leeway to define their own public-input processes. Texas environmental groups have sounded the alarm, saying the change would likely undermine the few avenues everyday Texans have to influence air pollution levels. The nonprofit Public Citizen said the change would allow the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to eliminate its public notice and participation processes for smaller-scale polluters. The TCEQ has not responded to repeated requests for comment on this concern. Currently, communities are required to be notified with enough time to submit comments or request hearings that can get their input on the record for the state's consideration before new permits are granted. Advocates expect that to change if the new federal rule goes through. "The TCEQ consistently demonstrates its inability to consider the needs of communities across Texas and works to limit public transparency and opportunities for meaningful public input," said Kathryn Guerra, campaign director at Public Citizen and former regulator at both TCEQ and EPA.

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Hundreds of Texas teachers were investigated for posting about Charlie Kirk. Here’s what happened next.

In her 28 years as a teacher working at schools in the Harris County area, Jennifer Courtemanche felt most at home at Lee High School. That changed for the 54-year-old English teacher on September 10. Hours after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Courtemanche made a series of posts on Facebook about the right-wing influencer’s death and was met with dozens of comments, texts, and voicemails from strangers attacking her positions. Someone—it’s unclear who—reported her to the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District, while others attacked her directly. “I hope you’re next,” one read. “I hope you die by violence in front of your family,” said another. “Kill yourself,” said a third. Courtemanche, who was born in Dallas and has lived in Texas for her whole life, had made four posts about Kirk that day. The first, in response to Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s statement that Kirk’s assassination was a tragedy, read, “I’ll bet if the victim had been Black or Brown or a Democrat influencer he’d have been singing a different tune. Could Kirk have baited just ONE too many people? Could this have been the consequences of his actions catching up with him?” That night, Courtemanche recalls furiously searching for the settings to make her account private. A half hour before midnight, she received another voicemail.

“I found your address. Someone is going to come to your house and f— you up, bitch,” an anonymous caller said. As messages continued to pour in, she worried about how people in the community might react. Courtemanche said she and her husband didn’t even go to church that Sunday, despite being regulars. Scared, Courtemanche reached out to her school principal, asking what she should do. He told her to call her local police department and to contact the district’s Human Resources. She did. The next morning, the HR department rang her back. The district told her not to come in and that she was being put on administrative leave. By the next Monday, Courtemanche received an email from the district notifying her that it had reported her to the Texas Education Agency. In the wake of Kirk’s assassination, there was a wide push by the Texas GOP to discipline teachers who’d made posts about his passing that it deemed offensive. Two days after Kirk died, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath instructed ISDs to report instances of educators sharing inappropriate content online to his agency. In total, 350 complaints were levied, including those against Courtemanche. According to documents obtained by Texas Monthly via public-records requests, some school districts, like Goose Creek, chose to terminate employees after conducting investigations. Others simply reported the complaint for a state investigation into the matter. But more than six months after Kirk’s death, it appears the discipline Texas politicians promised hasn’t gone very far. All but two of the 350 complaints against teachers had been dismissed as of an April, according to the testimony of Keith Ingram, an attorney with the Office of the Attorney General. Courtemanche’s case is an instructive one outlining how the state attempted to crack down on anti-Kirk speech. On September 22, less than two weeks after her original posts, the Goose Creek school board voted to terminate her contract by a vote of 2–0 with four abstentions. Mercedes Renteria III, one of the two members who voted for Courtemanche’s termination, gave an interview with the town’s local paper, The Baytown Sun. “[S]he is an incompetent teacher, and she shouldn’t have crossed the line and spoken publicly on social media and every other venue to say bad things about Charlie Kirk,” he said. “I think she should be fired, and karma’s a bitch. How about that?”

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National Stories

‘Islamic Republic of Japan’: Trump’s verbal flubs are piling up

President Donald Trump has not been charitable about politicians’ verbal gaffes. He once played a video of Joe Biden’s verbal stumbles at a 2022 rally. During the 2024 campaign, he ridiculed Biden for mixing up Trump and Kamala Harris, saying, “Great job, Joe!” And in 2018, Trump joined in the longstanding conservative lampooning of Barack Obama’s misstatement that he had visited 57 states. “Can you imagine if I said that,” Trump posted on X, adding: “story of the year!” In fact, Trump has now said things like that over and over again. That was perhaps best exemplified by an appearance Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey, in which Trump made three significant errors — including calling Iran “the Islamic Republic of Japan” — in less than 10 minutes while speaking next to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. But he’s had plenty of other gaffes recently.

A recap of some of his biggest recent flubs and mix-ups: While recounting a clash in Iran, Trump inadvertently referred to the “Islamic Republic of Japan” — which isn’t a thing. “I told this story yesterday: We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan,” Trump said. “They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour.” Trump has made a big show of decrying the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, which was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. But at the same event, he flubbed the acronym. “They picked the wrong country, JCPOC,” Trump said. “What a terrible — what a terrible deal.” While seated next to Zelensky, Trump asked the reporters assembled if they had “a question for President Putin.” (Biden did much the same thing during his own visit to a NATO summit in 2024.)

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‘No one planned for this’: The rapidly-evolving 18-day primary to replace Platner

Nirav Shah’s first event back on the campaign trail was coming together quickly. Staffers shepherded supporters into a nearly-empty office space, and an intrepid group of volunteers, armed with masking tape and markers, put the finishing touches on familiar campaign signs that suddenly needed an update. Forming in a makeshift assembly line, they methodically taped over the word “governor” and wrote “Senate” in its place. Erin Evans, 56, of Portland, arrived with her own handmade poster: she had used colored duct tape to mask what once was her “Graham Platner for Senate” yard sign, covering the oysterman’s name with an all-caps “NIRAV.” The DIY-campaigning is a symptom of the moment in which Maine Democrats now find themselves. Platner, who ended his campaign Wednesday night, had energized voters who were hungry for a fighter to unseat GOP Sen. Susan Collins. But support for Platner’s campaign crumbled after POLITICO reported a woman he used to date accused him of sexual assault — an allegation which he denies.

His old supporters are now trying to find a new political home in the two-and-a-half short weeks during which Maine Democrats must name a replacement for their former Senate hopeful. And voters’ options, for the most part, are a flurry of familiar faces who unsuccessfully mounted campaigns for office already this year and are now scrambling for a second chance.“Campaigns are always like building the plane while you’re flying it, but this is like building it while falling out of a helicopter,” said a staffer working on one of the campaigns who was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the situation. The homemade signs at Shah’s event were just one example of how fast things are moving in Maine: the WiFi network available at his kickoff event was still labeled “ShahForGovernor.” Several of the Democrats vying to replace Platner have already run against each other in a nearly-identical field in this year’s June primaries. Whoever emerges will face Collins, a battle-tested five-term incumbent with more than $10 million cash in the bank who won her last race by eight points even as President Donald Trump lost the state by nine. The race’s result will play a pivotal role in Senate control. Three of the unsuccessful candidates for governor are vying for the open spot on the ballot, including former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and Shah, who was the former top Pine Tree State public health official. All three won at least 20 percent of the primary vote just one month ago. Two other candidates, Jordan Wood and Paige Loud, fell short in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) in his battleground seat.

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Knives out at US Supreme Court as justices’ squabbles go public

Justice Amy Coney Barrett has compared sitting on the US Supreme Court to “being in an arranged marriage with no option of divorce”. After a politically fraught term marred by infighting, its nine members may need couples therapy. Over the course of a term dominated by President Donald Trump’s controversial second-term agenda — from his immigration crackdown to his bureaucratic takeover — the knives have come out at the nation’s top court. In pointed remarks and fiery written opinions, its justices have traded barbs in a manner typically kept out of the public eye. The hardening of ideological lines at the once collegial top court could have profound consequences for public support of the nation’s third branch of government. “It’s a very ideologically divided, very conservative court,” said Carolyn Shapiro, co-director of Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Given how fast and how destructive of tradition, precedent [and] practice the court’s actions have been for the majority — it’s not surprising?.?.?. that emotions are probably running high on both sides,” she added. One in five of the court’s decisions this term was decided 6-3 along ideological lines — a significant jump from the 11 per cent average for the last five terms, according to data from SCOTUSBlog. There are signs that the divisions are already affecting approval for the court. A YouGov poll this month found that half of Americans disapproved of the way it is handling cases, with concerns largely divided along partisan lines. The divide was on show at the end of last month. As the court handed down its final opinions, Justice Samuel Alito read the majority’s decision allowing the federal government to turn away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. When he finished, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor began to read her scathing dissent — a move signalling strong opposition to a ruling. She referred to Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany but were turned away by the US government, many of whom later died in the Holocaust, adding that more people would die as a consequence of the court’s ruling. It “regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty”, she said. In a highly unusual turn, Alito took the floor again and, appearing frustrated, he said there was “much” he “would have added” to his statement had he known Sotomayor planned to speak.

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Times journalists subpoenaed as Trump escalates pressure on media

The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One. The subpoenas — which seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday — were an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations. In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters’ homes. The Times denounced the administration’s actions. “The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, The Times’s top newsroom lawyer, in a statement on Friday evening.

“Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used,” Mr. McCraw wrote. “This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.” The subpoenas contain few specifics, asking only that the journalists testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.” They were issued by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Mr. Clayton, who leads one of the country’s most prominent law enforcement offices, was recently nominated by Mr. Trump to serve as director of national intelligence. Representatives for the White House did not respond to inquiries on Friday evening. In a statement on Saturday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.” “We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but D.O.J. also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information,” said the spokeswoman, Emily Covington. She added, “We recognize there may always be natural tension there, but we are not going to ignore the law.”

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How Candace Owens became TPUSA’s worst enemy

Less than one month after Charlie Kirk’s death, Candace Owens made an incendiary claim: Kirk came to her in a dream and told her he had been betrayed. Owens, a conservative podcaster who worked for Turning Point USA from 2017 to 2019, had taken it upon herself to investigate Kirk’s death, homing in on potential betrayers. On her popular podcast, she denied that Tyler Robinson, the troubled 23-year-old from Utah who is standing trial for allegedly murdering Kirk, had acted alone. She suggested Israel somehow played a role. And she said Kirk’s former colleagues at Turning Point — including his wife, Erika Kirk — should face scrutiny. “Everything Turning Point is doing is wrong,” Owens said on her podcast a little over a month after Kirk died. “I want war with all of you, OK? All of you.”

At first, Turning Point did little to push back. Then Owens dialed in on two of Charlie Kirk’s confidantes who were present when he was killed: Turning Point chief of staff Mikey McCoy and contracted camera operator Terryl Farnsworth. McCoy had appeared on video holding his hands to his ears moments after Kirk’s death — something Owens found suspicious. And Farnsworth drew her attention over a selfie video he recorded in shock as Kirk’s body was whisked away. Owens said she found their actions “to be quite strange”: “There is no way you are going to convince me and the rest of the world that all of this is normal.” On a late October episode of the Charlie Kirk Show, producer Blake Neff called claims that Turning Point staffers were part of some sort of conspiracy “utterly vile.” (McCoy declined to comment.) It was one of the first times Turning Point acknowledged the conspiracies publicly. But privately, mayhem was unfolding inside the organization. Following Owens’ conspiratorial videos, staffers received a series of threats, and Turning Point ramped up security at its Phoenix headquarters and the homes of several employees, according to three people with direct knowledge of the arrangements, who — like others in this piece — were granted anonymity to discuss private matters. One of those people took their family into hiding multiple times and eventually moved into a rental property so their name would not appear on public documents; the home they own is now rented out. This person also told POLITICO Magazine they spent thousands of dollars scrubbing their children’s images from the internet.

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How Marco Rubio is running Venezuela from afar

President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office earlier this year with Secretary of State Marco Rubio when an idea came to him. Maybe he should dispatch Mr. Rubio permanently to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, where U.S. commandos had carried out the proudest foreign policy achievement of Mr. Trump’s second term: the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president. Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested. And while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is that Mr. Rubio does not need to move to Caracas. He already runs Venezuela from Washington. In the six months since U.S. forces blew open Mr. Maduro’s bedroom door and snatched him in the dead of night, Mr. Rubio has become the de facto viceroy of Venezuela, holding sway over a sovereign nation in a way that no American official has since L. Paul Bremer III arrived in Baghdad in 2003 to run U.S.-occupied Iraq.

Mr. Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials and people close to both governments in Washington and Caracas, who provided details about his involvement in steering the country’s policies. Many spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private interactions and internal discussions. While he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over, the secretary of state is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodríguez, who was Mr. Maduro’s vice president and now leads her country on an acting basis, with the imprimatur of the United States. The two exchange messages in Spanish on WhatsApp, trading gossip, birthday greetings and selfies. Despite the banter, the relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodríguez is far from a partnership. It is a manifestation of Trump-era American power, in which the winner takes all regardless of sovereignty and international law. The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration did not address detailed questions about Mr. Rubio’s authority in Venezuela. Mr. Rubio has downplayed his role, and largely avoids discussing his work. He declined multiple requests for an interview. Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that “with renewed cooperation and sound economic stewardship, Venezuela can re-emerge as a stable, prosperous partner whose citizens benefit from its vast natural wealth and strengthened ties with the United States.”

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Matthew Continetti: Bet on Democrats’ midterm enthusiasm

(Matthew Joseph Continetti is an American journalist and Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.) Making sense of the 2026 election isn’t easy. History and polling put Democrats on track to take the House and gain Senate seats. Yet unusual structural advantages—gerrymandering, money and negative partisanship—have Republicans thinking they have a shot to retain Congress. Count me skeptical. The fundamentals in a midterm election favor the opposition, even if a Democratic wave has yet to be spotted offshore. The reason is simple: enthusiasm. Democrats have it. Republicans don’t. Engagement and intensity matter more than dollars and cents. And Democrats and independents seem ready to crawl over broken glass to vote against President Trump. To reverse the trend, Mr. Trump and the GOP will have to provide Republican voters reasons to turn out in November. They better come up with something, stat. Democrats have history on their side.

The president’s party has lost House seats in all but three midterm elections during the past century. The exceptions—1934, 1998 and 2002—were during extraordinarily popular presidencies. Though the Gallup poll debuted after the 1934 midterm, we can infer Franklin Roosevelt’s popularity from his landslide election and re-election. Bill Clinton’s job approval rating in November 1998 was 66%, according to Gallup. George W. Bush’s approval rating in November 2002 was about the same. Gallup no longer measures presidential job approval. But at this writing the Real Clear Politics polling average has Trump’s approval rating a tick under 41%. And in midterm elections since 1946, the party of a president with job-approval ratings below 50% has lost an average of 34 House seats. For Mike Johnson to retain the speaker’s gavel, Republicans can lose no more than two seats. Senate results are slightly less tied to presidential approval. Much depends on the state and candidates. Think of the difference between 2014, when Barack Obama’s job approval was at 42% and Democrats lost nine Senate seats, and 2022, when Joe Biden’s approval was also 42% and Democrats gained a seat.

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Lead Stories

Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers

The three men who were arrested during an immigration operation that resulted in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo said a federal officer fired at them almost immediately after exiting his vehicle and that at no point did the driver veer in his direction. The migrants are disputing key elements of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of what transpired during a chaotic traffic stop in a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood in Houston on Tuesday. They spoke from immigration detention with attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, who shared their written and oral accounts with The Washington Post. DHS released a statement hours after the deadly shooting saying that Salgado Araujo had rammed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle and “weaponized” his white work van “in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.”

“That is a lie,” wrote Jose Trinidad Rojas, 51, in a handwritten statement. “It is impossible for them to say that they were going to get run over … there were no officers in front of or behind the vehicle. They were on the sides.” Balderas-Ibarra spoke to Rojas, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, 43, and the shooting victim’s brother, Victor Salgado, 44, and said he heard the same story from each as he interviewed them separately. The men are not being housed together, the attorney said. All three are undocumented Mexican immigrants who are now facing removal proceedings. “All of them reiterated that there were never any ICE agents in front of the van,” Balderas-Ibarra said. “They came in and started shooting from the sides.” The incident has sparked fresh anger in one of the nation’s largest cities over the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. Salgado Araujo’s family said he was a father of three and a business owner who had lived in the United States as an undocumented immigrant for more than three decades and had no criminal record. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), who represents the district where the shooting took place, said in a television interview on Thursday that an ICE official told her that Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the traffic stop.

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Democratic AG candidate targets Musk grants in anti-corruption plan

Democratic attorney general candidate Nathan Johnson on Friday called for a review of recent state grants giving Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink about $110 million. Johnson, a Dallas state senator, said the Starlink broadband awards should face additional legislative scrutiny as he unveiled an anti-corruption policy plan that he is making a centerpiece of his statewide campaign. "I am not declaring that corruption was at work in this instance. I am saying that it sure looks like it,” Johnson said in an interview.

Starlink parent company SpaceX did not return messages seeking comment. His plan comes after Starlink received 99% of the state grants in a government program designed to improve rural broadband access. Johnson said the company received an estimated $110 million. Testimony at a recent Senate committee hearing indicated that awards to Musk’s satellite internet company came after Gov. Greg Abbott’s office revised the grant qualifications to favor low Earth orbit internet providers. Starlink currently dominates the market for low Earth orbit satellite internet service, though an Amazon-backed provider also submitted grant proposals. Johnson’s campaign said that the lopsided award was steered to Musk because of his Republican political connections. The governor’s office has defended the process, saying that low Earth orbit satellite service is essential for reaching the most remote areas, where traditional fiber connections are too costly and time-consuming to build.

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Experts warn Gov. Greg Abbott’s property tax plan could bankrupt Texas, hobble cities

As the Texas gubernatorial race heats up, Gov. Greg Abbott last week introduced a new plan that calls for eliminating school property taxes and putting severe restrictions on cities’ ability to tax and provide basic services. “Texans shouldn’t be taxed out of their homes,” the Republican governor said in a statement about his five-plank tax plan. “Working with Texas representatives and senators, we will overhaul the system to deliver lasting relief, creating a brighter, more prosperous future for all. It’s time for greater predictability and lower tax burdens. Next session, we will ensure that local governments cannot raise property taxes without people’s votes.”

Abbott’s proposal may sound appealing to voters struggling with property taxes. However, experts warn it could bankrupt the state, further defund already struggling public school districts and force cities to rely on meager state funding and grants to provide basic services. “It’s purely ideological and wishful thinking,” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Mathematically speaking, Texas’ economy would have to sustain average to exceptional growth in perpetuity for Abbott’s numbers to work without implementing a state income tax, Taylor said. Complicating matters, a state constitutional amendment passed in 2019 made it illegal for lawmakers to institute a state income tax. Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson told the Current the governor has a “zero-percent chance” of getting all his proposals passed — even though his own party controls both houses of the Texas Legislature.

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Texas Dream Act remains unenforceable after appeals court ruling

With one dissenting vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied students' request to intervene in a case that ended enforcement of the Texas Dream Act, upholding the decision to bar thousands of non-U.S. citizens residing in Texas from receiving in-state tuition benefits. In June 2025, the United States sued Texas over its 24-year-old Dream Act, which provided students without legal documentation access to in-state tuition if they graduate from a Texas high school, have lived in the state for at least three years, and sign an affidavit stating their intent to pursue citizenship at the first opportunity.

The U.S. argued that the law violated federal law that bars special benefits for non-U.S. citizens, and Texas declined to fight the suit. Within hours, a district judge ruled students without legal presence could not access in-state tuition. Exactly a year later, Austin Community College, a student group and the nonprofit La Union Del Pueblo Entero argued before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that a judge should let them represent students impacted in Texas’ place and restore the Dream Act. The appeals court ruled 2-1 that it could not intervene because federal law successfully blocks the Dream Act, according to the decision filed Thursday. Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said her organization was "extremely disappointed" in the decision and that it would continue working for undocumented Texans.

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State Stories

Dallas business, civic leaders named to guide GOP convention

A team of prominent business and civic leaders will lead fundraising and planning as Dallas moves to host the first Republican midterm convention, one of the city's biggest political events in decades. The Dallas 2026 Host Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization formed to welcome visitors, support local businesses, offset costs for local governments and promote the region. The announcement marks the most significant step since President Donald Trump picked Dallas for the Sept. 9-10 convention at the American Airlines Center. It is expected to draw thousands of Republican delegates, donors, elected officials and activists ahead of the November elections.

In a news release Wednesday, the committee named its co-chairs: former Republican National Committee finance chairman and Dallas developer Ray Washburne and his wife, Republican fundraiser Heather Washburne; Dallas entrepreneur and investor Kenny Troutt and his wife, philanthropist Lisa Troutt; and former Trump administration official Trent Morse. Former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will act as a senior adviser as the group leads efforts to raise money for the Host Committee. "Our city has a long tradition of hosting major events, and we look forward to welcoming guests while highlighting the businesses, people, and hospitality that make Dallas such a special place,” said Ray Washburne, chairman of Sunoco and vice chairman of Dallas-based family investment company Gillon Capital. The co-chairs also said the convention will showcase Dallas to the nation while boosting local businesses.

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Families can buy Bible studies, AI classes, more with private school vouchers

Texas families can now use state tax dollars to pay for Bible studies, faith-based curriculum, online courses taught by artificial intelligence, and much more using their new private school vouchers. The Texas Comptroller’s Office has accepted over 102,000 students to receive vouchers through Texas Education Freedom Accounts, ranging from about $10,000 to $30,000 for homeschool and private education, costing the state $1 billion in its first school year. Almost 1,200 vouchers have been awarded to families within Austin ISD as of June 24. On July 1, the first voucher payouts went to almost 73,000 accounts. And on the same day, the TEFA marketplace opened, where parents can spend their child’s voucher funds at-will to privately hire tutors, special education (SPED) and therapy service providers, and purchase textbooks and curriculum. They can use the funds to pay for extracurriculars, like horseback riding and Christian summer camp.

Parents can also purchase Bible studies from providers like Driven by Grace, the Scripture Memory Fellowship, and The Gospel Project; AI-taught homeschool classes from the Delaware-based software company LittleLit AI; and the Philadelphia-based AI parenting coach HeyKiddo. The comptroller’s office could not provide the Chronicle with data about the religious affiliation of vendors. The TEFA program is also abruptly changing leadership. Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock sent the governor his notice of resignation on July 1, months after losing the Republican primary against Don Huffines for the position in March. On July 2, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Huffines to become the third comptroller to lead the program since July 2025, set to take office Aug. 1. Democrat Sarah Eckhardt will still run against Huffines for the comptroller seat in November, with the promise to audit the TEFA program a centerpiece of her campaign. The comptroller’s office did not reply to a request for comment about the transition of TEFA leadership to Huffines.

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Next week's FIFA World Cup semifinal is sending D-FW hotel prices skyward

Next Tuesday, the winners of Thursday’s France-Morocco and Friday’s Spain-Belgium quarterfinals will face off at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, marking the end of North Texas' FIFA World Cup era, and visitors to the region will pay accordingly at local hotels. Surveying nightly rates as of Thursday morning for a sample stay from Friday, July 10 to Wednesday, July 15, prices at local hotels are significantly elevated. Comparing a stay from Friday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 15, against the same length stay from Friday, Aug. 21, to Wednesday, Aug. 26, the nightly rate was an average of 85% higher across a sampling of 12 hotels in Dallas, Arlington and nearby Dallas Stadium along Interstate 30. And that’s before the teams playing in Arlington have even been decided.

Some hotels, particularly luxury hotels, were more than double the price per night this weekend versus in August. For example, the swanky Hotel Swexan in Victory Park is $1,143 per night from July 10-15, compared with $521 a night from Aug. 21-26. Marriott Dallas Uptown is $722 versus $260 over the same periods. Arlington’s two entertainment district luxury stays, Live! by Loews and Loews Arlington, are 167% and 136% more expensive per night, respectively, with Live! by Loews costing $768 for a last-minute stay this weekend. There are still comfortable stays to be had for less eye-popping prices. Omni Dallas Hotel is $262 this weekend, $100 a night more expensive than in August, while the JW Marriott in the Arts District is $394 a night this weekend, pricey but only $50 more than normal. Similarly, budget hotels are still available at elevated but affordable prices. Though the Holiday Inn Arlington NE-Rangers Ballpark is $280, double its August price of $142, Extended Stay America Suites — Arlington — Six Flags is at $120, up from $85. Staying in Arlington near the stadium comes with a premium, as evidenced by the difference in price between Motel 6 in Arlington ($150) per night and its sister property just up Interstate 30, Motel 6 Grand Prairie, which is at $90 a night. Both are significant premiums over their usual price, with the equivalent stay in August at both going for a round $70 a night. This trend is in line with research from Visit Dallas, which said that hotel revenues on nights around the semifinal are pacing 80% ahead of this time last year. The tourism organization noted that, because the teams playing in the semifinal are still unknown, “the next two days will have significant impacts,” in how final hotel demand and revenue works out.

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Inside the investigation that ousted the Judson ISD superintendent

As superintendent of the Judson Independent School District, Milton Fields mishandled district finances and academics, jeopardized student safety and fostered a hostile work environment, school board attorneys concluded in an investigation that led to his termination. The findings, included in a 143-page report by the district’s legal adviser, JCA Law, offer the most detailed account yet of the turmoil that marked Fields’ final months leading the district. The law firm’s investigation found that Fields violated district policies and ethical standards, as well as state-mandated procedures for reporting suspected child abuse, among other failings. In interviews with JCA Law, several district staff members said they witnessed Fields clash with employees, in some cases threatening their jobs.

After two years leading Judson ISD, Fields was put on leave by trustees in January pending the results of an investigation. That same month, the board hired JCA Law to conduct the inquiry. Based on the firm’s findings, the board fired Fields in February on a 4-3 vote. He waived his right to appeal the decision, and trustees ended his employment with the district in April. JCA Law interviewed district administrators and trustees and reviewed emails, financial plans, board evaluations of Fields, communications with the Texas Education Agency and other records. Lawyers included in their report excerpts of interviews with five trustees — including four in the board majority that voted to fire Fields. The investigation found that Fields put unqualified people in key positions and was unable “to hire and maintain” a chief financial officer to help deal with the district’s deteriorating budget. Instead, he appointed a deputy superintendent with no background in finance to oversee the CFO, a position that was a revolving door during his tenure. “Further, the HR department was run by an Assistant Superintendent who had no background in HR,” the lawyers wrote. That caused a spate of problems, including the district’s failure to do proper background and reference checks on job applicants and run their names through the state’s Do Not Hire Registry, the investigation found.

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Harris County DA says his office is investigating fatal ICE shooting in Houston

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told Houston Public Media on Thursday that his office is conducting its own investigation into a federal immigration agent’s fatal shooting of a man in Houston earlier this week. Speaking on the Hello Houston show, Teare said his office is “running an investigation” into the shooting despite not being invited to participate in an investigation by federal authorities. He acknowledged that his office does “not have the same level of access that we do in almost any other officer-involved shooting,” adding, “I can tell you unequivocally, we don't have everything." “If a state crime was committed, be it a murder, be it a manslaughter, be it tampering with evidence, we are going to investigate it,” Teare said. “And if someone committed that crime, you don't get to hide behind a badge.”

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a longtime Houston resident originally from Mexico, was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Tuesday morning in Houston’s predominantly Latino East End. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that Salgado Araujo did not have legal status in the U.S. and attempted to evade arrest. A department spokesperson also said Salgado Araujo tried to run over an ICE agent with his vehicle, prompting the agent to shoot Salgado Araujo in self-defense. The man’s family has disputed that account while calling for an independent investigation. Local Democratic elected officials also have called for an independent investigation. The FBI said Tuesday that DHS’ Office of Inspector General is investigating the shooting death, while the FBI is investigating whether a federal law enforcement officer was potentially assaulted during the encounter. Teare said that typically, his office would conduct an investigation alongside other agencies in the event of an officer-involved shooting, but that his office has not been invited to do so. The DA’s office investigates and prosecutes crimes in Harris County, which includes Houston.

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More Houston license plate-reading cameras found damaged as police investigate

More license plate-reading Flock cameras have been cut down in Houston. Earlier this week, ABC13 reported on two Flock cameras vandalized near Washington Avenue and Westcott. Now, two more have been found on the ground near Memorial Park. The damage comes as questions continue over the growing use of this surveillance technology in public spaces. Houston Police confirmed an investigation into this. While the motive is unknown, the technology itself has drawn criticism in the past from people concerned about the data it's collecting. "What level of frustration have we encountered?" asked Texas Southern University Professor Howard Henderson.

Henderson, the founding director of the Center for Justice Research, said the backlash reflects broader concerns over privacy and who ultimately has access to the information these cameras collect. "For many in society, they're looking at what the negative unintended consequences may be if this information gets leaked or someone uses it and finds themselves in the wrong hands," Henderson said. A crowdsourced map from DeFlock showed thousands of Flock cameras across the Greater Houston area. Because anyone can submit locations, ABC13 cannot independently verify the data shown, but we know that multiple law enforcement agencies use the cameras. Houston expanded its use of the technology through a multi-million-dollar agreement with Flock in 2022. In that contract, HPD described the cameras as an investigative tool, writing that "All data from vehicles observed will be provided to HPD for further assessment in detecting vehicles wanted in suspicious or post-event investigations for law enforcement purposes."

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Harris County grants Kamin wide authority to file elections lawsuits

Commissioners voted 4-1 on Thursday to grant recently appointed County Attorney Abbie Kamin broad authority to file lawsuits and take legal action related to the 2026 elections. Kamin said the move was a necessary measure that would allow her office to take prompt action should federal or state leaders seek to curtail local control of elections. Otherwise, she said the county attorney’s office would be forced to wait days or weeks for the next court meeting to get approval from commissioners — time that could be spent taking immediate action.

“In the past few years, we have astonishingly watched attempts to overturn legitimate election results, undermine confidence in our democratic process and keep eligible voters from casting ballots,” Kamin said. “They're happening without notice and require the ability to rapidly respond.” The decision came two days after the U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to all 50 states warning them that local elections administrators could face prosecution should they allow undocumented residents to vote. Kamin said the letters were just the latest in the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to shake public faith in elections. Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the court’s lone Republican, was the only member to vote against Kamin’s proposal. Ramsey said the item was overly broad and delegated too much authority to the county’s top civil litigator, who typically must seek approval from commissioners before pursuing any litigation.

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Bell County family fights proposed data center

A Bell County family says they learned crews were clearing land behind their home to make way for a proposed data center only after smoke filled their house and ash fell from the sky. Their opposition sparked a community response that led to a two-year moratorium on data center construction in the county. Randy Gibson has lived on his land in Bell County for 68 years. It’s where he was raised, and where he chose to raise his children. The property is also where his son Adam, who died of brain cancer last year, is buried outside his bedroom window. “This is not just my home, it’s home to a lot of people,” Randy Gibson said. “This is hallowed ground to us now.” His daughter Emily Diaz said the family had no advance notice of the project.

“When the smoke entered their home and ash was falling, that’s how we found out that something was happening and that our home and our lives and our health was in danger,” Diaz said. Diaz took to social media to alert neighbors after crews began clearing the land with plans to build a data center. “Pretty much since the first or second day of this month, June, it’s been hell living here,” Gibson said. The full scope of the proposed project remains unclear. Gibson said he believes the facility would be approximately 660,000 square feet, though WKYT has not been able to independently confirm that figure. The family said they did not receive that information from the developer and had to gather it themselves through the community.

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Bell County Water Control and Improvement District No. 2 appears to operate in violation of state law, records show

Bell County Water Control and Improvement District No. 2 (WCID2) continues facing transparency issues and may be operating in violation of state law, according to records obtained by the Telegram. Texas Water Code Section 49.199 requires district boards to adopt an investment policy, a professional services selection, monitoring and evaluation policy, a travel expenditure policy, a uniform method of accounting and reporting for industrial development and pollution control bonds, and a board and employee Code of Ethics. When the Telegram filed a public records request May 12 seeking copies of those policies, Office Manager and Public Information Officer Bridjet Gillis emailed the Telegram: “After a diligent search, no documents responsive to this request were located. If they are located or if the Board adopts policies responsive to your request by June 9th, we will supplement the response.”

Meeting agendas posted since then show the board has not adopted those policies. District records posted online also continue to show inaccurate and significantly delayed agenda notices. “The company who handles our website is in the process of uploading the minutes to the website,” Gillis emailed the Telegram. Metadata reviewed by Telegram shows district agenda notices uploaded to the district website happened months after the new website was created Jan. 13. Records show the January 12 through May 13 meeting agendas were all uploaded on May 15. Additionally, most agendas available online lack posting certifications or signatures showing when they were physically posted, leaving no documentation available to independently verify the district complied with physical posting requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Only the June 2 meeting agenda was uploaded before the meeting date, according to metadata showing it was posted May 28, and has a signature.

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Taylor rejects citizens' effort to temporarily ban data centers

The Taylor City Council was set to consider a proposed ordinance Thursday night that would temporarily ban data centers. But 15 minutes after the council meeting began, the city released a statement on its Facebook page saying council members would not be taking any action on the proposed ban. "State law does not allow a city to enact or change its zoning by popular vote," Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Cmerek said at the meeting. "This is a determination about the legal process made available to the city. It's not a judgment about a policy issue — about the concerns you guys have voiced." The decision and the way it was communicated caught many people attending the meeting off guard. Multiple residents inside the council chamber gasped as they learned about the Facebook post from organizer Sarah Winters' public remarks criticizing it.

"After this meeting started, y'all posted this on Facebook, knowing we were all coming here?" Winters told council members. She pointed out that the mayor wasn't at the meeting, adding: "Tell me this is not shady, shady business. Shame on all of y'all." Cmerek said Mayor Jim Buzan was not at the council meeting because he was out of the country on vacation. The citizen-initiated ordinance was submitted to the city last month, along with more than 1,400 signatures from residents. The hope was that if council members didn't take action on the proposed ban themselves, they would place it on the ballot for voters to decide. Cmerek said council members made the determination to not take action on the proposed ban or place it on the ballot after speaking with outside counsel. He also apologized for the way the council's decision was communicated. "Obviously, this information was put on the website inappropriately. I do apologize for that," he said.

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THLN, Austin Pets Alive!, others on how to keep your pets safe from New World screwworm

Animal welfare leaders and veterinarians across Texas are warning pet owners to remain vigilant as the state battles an escalating outbreak of the New World screwworm. New World screwworm is a flesh-eating parasite that has disrupted shelter operations and triggered strict interstate transport bans. What they're saying: The Texas Humane Legislation Network hosted a live panel discussion on Wednesday to address the operational and health implications of the outbreak. As of July 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed 32 domestic cases of the parasite nationwide, with 31 occurring in Texas and one isolated case involving a dog in New Mexico.

While the parasite primarily affects livestock, officials emphasize that any warm-blooded animal—including companion pets—is vulnerable. "West, Central, and South Texas are affected by this," said Mia Bendixsen, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network. "That’s where the quarantine areas are." The rapid reemergence of the pest has caused immediate logistical gridlock for Texas animal shelters, many of which rely heavily on out-of-state transport to manage local pet populations. While state animal health officials race to contain the New World screwworm, federal officials confirmed the first case of the parasite in a dog. FOX 7 Austin's Alec Nolan has more on what pet owners might want to be aware of. States including New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania have instituted total bans on animal shipments originating from Texas. Other states, such as Alabama, Maryland, and Massachusetts, have established strict and varying execution windows for Certificates of Veterinary Inspection.

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DHS might spare historic chapel from fast-tracked border wall, Cuellar says

Congressman Henry Cuellar on Wednesday visited two Rio Grande Valley sites where new border wall is slated to be built, and he had good news for opponents at one, and not-so-good news at the other. Cuellar, D-Texas, began his border tour at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on a hot Wednesday afternoon in Alamo, Texas. Several environmentalists met with him at the border levee at the refuge, where just a quarter-mile to the west, surveyors already were hammering and painting stakes to indicate where U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to put new border wall.

Earlier this week, Border Report saw contractor crews cutting grass and clearing debris along the border levee. The surveyors told Border Report on Wednesday that the pink stakes indicate where the center of the 30-foot tall steel border wall will be built. The orange stakes on the side indicate 5-foot offset areas. They didn’t call it a border wall, however, but referred to it as a “vertical barrier.” “They’re trying to beat the clock. So we gotta talk to them and see if we can get them to slow down but they are purposely trying to beat the clock and I don’t appreciate that,” Cuellar told Border Report. Cuellar is ranking member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, and he says that he is trying to get language written into the 2027 Homeland Security appropriations bill that would exempt Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, as well as La Lomita Chapel, Bentsen-State Park, the National Butterfly Center, SpaceX and historic cemeteries from border wall construction. Congress had exempted these areas in the past, but new border wall is being built by the Trump administration with $46.5 billion from the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which had no exemptions.

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5 Fort Worth City Council members call for data center moratorium

Five members of the Fort Worth City Council called for a data center moratorium on Thursday following feedback from two public meetings. Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores, District 6 council member Mia Hall, District 8 council member Chris Nettles, District 9 council member Elizabeth Beck, and District 11 council member Jeanette Martinez signed a letter calling for the pause. The group acknowledged the potential economic benefit of data center development, citing their role in supporting industries like healthcare, finance, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. At the same time, the group argued there are legitimate concerns about the impact of data centers on water, energy, noise and neighborhoods.

The letter comes as the city is in the midst of a push to update its rules around data center development. On July 8, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission voted against recommending that the City Council approve a sweeping proposal that would bring data centers into the city’s zoning code and establish development standards for them. The city held an open house on June 30 with proposals for ways to regulate data center land use, water use, noise pollution, and economic development incentives. Those proposals were first presented during a Fort Worth City Council work session meeting in June. Several residents who attended said the open house event was helpful, while others described the city’s efforts as “half-measures.” During the Zoning Commission meeting on July 8, commissioner Jacob Wurman remarked that the city’s push to approve the new rules by the Aug. 11 council meeting felt rushed.

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National Stories

Trump ousts remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump has ousted the remaining commissioners from a bipartisan federal agency charged with helping state and local officials conduct elections in an apparent move to assert control over voting ahead of the midterms. The president removed the two Democratic members of the Election Assistance Commission on Thursday while a Republican was allowed to resign, according to a White House official and three other people familiar with the dismissals. The White House’s move leaves the commission, which was created by Congress in 2002, without any leaders heading into the midterms. The EAC, which is headquartered in Washington, does not handle ballots or voter rolls, generally does not communicate with voters and has no authority over election officials in the states. But it has worked to improve balloting across the country.

It serves as a clearinghouse for election officials, helping to train them and provide information about the latest voting technology. It also manages the national mail voter registration form — which Trump sought to change via executive order last year — and oversees a voluntary testing and certification program for various voting machines. The EAC also distributes election security grants. The two Democratic commissioners — Chair Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — were fired from their roles, according to the three of the people familiar with the dismissals, who were granted anonymity to discuss the news. Republican commissioner Christy McCormick was allowed to resign. VoteBeat first reported the dismissals. Hicks declined to comment, and McCormick and Hovland did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House official defended the move when asked about it. “The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss what the White House sees as an internal matter.

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Grocery stores lower prices as consumers pare spending

Competing for strained consumers, America’s grocery stores are cutting prices on some key products. That doesn’t mean overall grocery bills will be lower. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, said Monday that it would lower the price of ground beef rolls, fresh corn, cherries, potato chips and Coca-Cola as part of a slew of summertime discounts. It’s the latest grocery chain to do so, increasing competition in a relatively low-margin industry reliant on people buying shopping carts packed with items, including some at more profitable prices. The grocery industry has struggled over the past 18 months as higher food bills, reductions in food-stamp programs and the rise in the use of weight-loss medications have led shoppers to buy less. On top of that, elevated gas prices due to the war with Iran are also hitting shoppers’ wallets.

A May CNN poll found that 61 percent of Americans had changed which groceries they bought in order to stay within their budget. High grocery prices have been a political issue for several years, so much so that President Trump sought to take credit for Walmart’s announcement, posting on social media that the retailer “will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my administration’s request to celebrate our great country’s 250th birthday.” Walmart did not mention Mr. Trump or his administration in its press release. But while shoppers may get better deals on some items, their overall grocery bill is unlikely to fall. Prices across all food categories are expected to rise 3.2 percent in 2026, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. While egg prices have dropped from last year’s record levels, the U.S.D.A. predicts that prices for beef, pork, poultry, sweets, nonalcoholic beverages, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit will increase this year. That comes on top of the 18 percent price increase in food consumed at home since the beginning of 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Beef prices continue to hit record levels this year; Walmart said it would reduce the price of its one-pound log of ground beef to $5.94 from $6.74.

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Inside Trump’s Oval Office decision to ditch the Iran ceasefire

President Trump was preparing to leave the White House for Turkey on Monday evening when his top national-security aides walked into the Oval Office with reports of new Iranian attacks. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told him that Iran had fired antiship cruise missiles and one-way attack drones at vessels seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz through a southern route, according to people familiar with the discussion. Three ships had been struck within hours of each other, including a liquefied-natural-gas tanker, they told the president. Angered by the strikes, Trump pressed them on whether they believed Iran was serious about reaching a final deal. In the end, after discussing it with his senior aides, the president decided they weren’t.

The surprise attacks triggered a fierce response from Trump that stripped away some of the accord’s remaining incentives, leaving little of the peace framework he had signed at the Versailles palace in France two weeks ago to much applause. The president revoked Iran’s oil-selling license, ordered several rounds of strikes on Iranian targets in and around the strait on Tuesday and Wednesday, and threatened to hit civilian infrastructure in the country, including desalination plants that supply drinking water. An Iranian diplomat said Wednesday that the U.S. had violated the peace deal by setting up a shipping lane that wasn’t coordinated with Tehran, contending that it justified the Islamic Republic’s decision to fire at traffic. The sudden breakdown left the ceasefire framework in limbo, with foreign leaders trying to determine whether Trump’s declaration signals a return to all-out war or another violent detour back to negotiations. As Gulf allies brace for more retaliation, energy markets steeled themselves for another economic hit, and traffic through the strait is once again stalling. “To me, I think it’s over,” Trump said of the ceasefire at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Ankara, Turkey. “I don’t want to deal with them…They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.”

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Trump seeks do-overs at a Supreme Court that rarely grants them

When it comes to the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has become a believer in unlikely second chances. In the days since the court’s term ended last week with a flurry of high-profile opinions, the president and his legal team have floated the idea of invoking a longshot request to have the justices reconsider decisions they just made — a procedure that, in some cases, hasn’t worked in more than half a century. Trump’s lawyers have already filed for a rehearing of the court’s decision to deny an appeal over a $5 million verdict finding that he sexually abused and defamed magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. And on Wednesday, Trump vowed to ask the court to re-do its decision shutting down his birthright citizenship order.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling is wrong,” Trump posted on social media. “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY. This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.” Supreme Court rules technically allow parties to file for a rehearing within 25 days of a decision. But in practice, the court usually only grants such requests when a significant development comes to light in the aftermath of a ruling, not because the losing party simply disagrees with the outcome. “The court essentially never grants those motions,” said Daniel Epps, a law professor at Washington University who closely follows the Supreme Court. “It only would do so in a case where a party could bring to the court something material, like a critical fact, that the justices were unaware of.” “I think what’s happening is that Trump is very mad about the decisions and he is going to order the solicitor general’s office to take all possible measures but there is no hope of success here,” Epps said.

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Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invited senior ministers from more than 60 countries to a meeting next week about what the Trump administration views as a major peril: the “resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism,” according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The meeting has prompted consternation among career and political U.S. officials, some European allies and independent analysts who do not see the threat in the same terms. Some U.S. officials told The Post that they worry it is part of a Trump administration effort to use powerful counterterrorism tools to crack down on U.S. activists they view as left-wing extremists. The administration’s counterterrorism czar, Sebastian Gorka, has had discussions with colleagues about using foreign terrorism labels for antifa to justify going after Americans with links to the movement, a loosely knit association of far-left activists who militantly oppose fascism and right-wing ideologies, three current and former U.S. officials said.

A linkage to foreign terrorist groups “can unlock certain investigative tools,” such as surveillance, said one U.S. counterterrorism official, who like several other officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions and to avoid retribution. Gorka did not respond to a request for comment. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the event was organized because far-left terrorism is “an old threat re-emerging with strong transnational links and new convergences.” “Because this threat has not been adequately addressed in the past, each engagement, designation, or security assistance program creates a compounding effect supporting countermeasures at home and abroad,” Pigott said in a statement.

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France brush Morocco aside at World Cup — but Mbappe injury scare raises concern

France brushed Morocco aside with another hugely impressive World Cup performance — but there was concern for Kylian Mbappe after he was forced off late on. Mbappe bounced back from having an early penalty saved to curl France into the lead with a fine finish. It was his eighth goal of the tournament, drawing him level with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. Mbappe then turned provider for France’s second, setting up Ousmane Dembele to finish low into the bottom corner. France will next face either Spain or Belgium for a place in the final, with all eyes now on whether the 27-year-old can overcome that late injury scare.

France’s spot in the semi-finals is secured and tomorrow we will find out who they will face in Dallas on Tuesday. Spain and Belgium face off in Los Angeles for that honour, with kick-off at 3pm ET in the second quarter-final of this World Cup. Will Spain finally concede a goal? With the United States’ victors defy the odds once again? We find out tomorrow! Then on Saturday we have a double-header to decide the second semi-final line-up: Norway vs England (Miami) — 5pm ET; Argentina vs Switzerland (Kansas City) — 9pm ET. In short, we have an incredible 48 hours of World Cup football on the way — and we will be here with you for every kick and whistle.

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Kennedy allies sour on Trump's EPA over missing MAHA agenda

Last December, after Make America Healthy Again activists drew up a petition to get him fired, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release a formal agenda of MAHA priorities that his agency would pursue, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns. But eight months after its first mention and after repeated promises it was being drafted, the so-called MAHA agenda is nowhere to be found. When asked for a status update this week, an EPA spokesperson said MAHA is an ongoing effort, not a single report. The apparent reversal on release of a formal environmental health agenda is the latest in a cascade of disappointments for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA movement, who say they’ve lost faith that the Trump administration will take any significant action on pesticides, chemicals or other issues they view as key to address America’s chronic disease epidemic.

It also reflects the EPA’s relentless rollback of environmental regulations even in the face of pressure from an important voting bloc that has supported President Donald Trump. “I had really hoped that there would be specific steps that were taken through a MAHA agenda,” said activist Kelly Ryerson, whose social media account “Glyphosate Girl” focuses on nontoxic food systems. “We haven’t had any of the wins that we were requesting.” Many in the diverse coalition of MAHA activists that Trump credits for helping him win back the White House say they plan to vote on issues over party in November’s congressional elections, raising the political stakes of their increasingly public tensions with the Republican administration. “People are done with the profits of corporations being prioritized over public health,” said Alexandra Muñoz, a molecular toxicologist who collaborates with activists on certain issues. “And I think that will have an important role in the midterms.”

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The red flag that led to Graham Platner’s implosion was hiding in plain sight

The red flag that led to Graham Platner’s collapse was hiding in plain sight. For months, a 2024 Facebook post cautioning women against dating Platner, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Maine, had been circulating among the political class in the state and in Washington, D.C. The post was written by one of Platner’s former romantic partners, and her name was attached. It was one of many signs overlooked by a set of upstart political activists who recruited Platner and ran his campaign. They had set out to prove that they knew better than Democratic leaders how to win elections, but they failed to reckon with the flaws in the candidate they had backed for one of the party’s most important elections of the year. On Wednesday, Platner abandoned his candidacy after the woman who had signaled her cautions about him, Jenny Racicot, said publicly that he had sexually assaulted her in her home in 2021.

Platner has denied the accusation. Yet within hours, a candidate who had built a dominating presence in his party saw his endorsements and funding options evaporate. A campaign official said there were no allegations mentioned in Racicot’s Facebook post. Platner’s collapse shows the challenges facing a theory of politics that the activists behind his campaign have been pressing in races around the U.S. It rests on the belief that the Democratic Party’s leadership has betrayed wage-earning Americans and that populist outsiders new to politics, many with working-class profiles, can generate the excitement the party lacks. Now, the party is left to sort out not only how to replace Platner on the ballot but also how to prevent another costly miscalculation from an upstart faction that has captured voters’ attention. Activists who believe political outsiders carry more authenticity with voters had managed to force the party to bank on someone who had never been tested. Some argue that Platner was a flawed messenger for a winning message.

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Lead Stories

Graham Platner ends U.S. Senate campaign in Maine

Graham Platner, the populist political newcomer who Democrats had hoped could flip a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine, ended his campaign Wednesday night after a woman he previously dated publicly accused him of sexual assault. “We believe for the movement to continue, it can’t be me and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said Wednesday night. The development, a month after Platner won the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, injects fresh chaos into Democrats’ uphill battle to retake the Senate in November. Democrats need to win four seats held by Republicans, and hold their own, to win control of the chamber.

Democratic Party leaders have until July 27 to decide on a new standard-bearer in one of the marquee races of the midterm elections, as Collins tries to hold on for a sixth term representing a state that Democrat Kamala Harris won by 7 percentage points in 2024. The selection process remains unclear — but jockeying to replace Platner began before he even dropped out. Several candidates have already publicly expressed interest in running, while Platner allies urged Democrats to choose a new nominee who aligned with his politics and Platner privately sought influence over the decision. Democratic unease about Platner had been growing for months. The 41-year-old oyster farmer faced an escalating series of scandals since launching his challenge to Collins last summer, including old social media posts dismissive of sexual assault, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he later had covered up, sexually explicit text messages he sent to other women after he married in 2023, and allegations of physical violence by ex-girlfriends. Nevertheless, many high-profile supporters — including Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) — initially stood by Platner. He attributed the revelations about his behavior to poor mental health and post-tramautic stress from his service in the Marine Corps and denied any violence.

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Pulido responds to reports about former accordionist

Grammy Award-winning Tejano music star and Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido is responding to reports about a 2018 school benefit concert he performed at with a former bandmate who is a registered sex offender. The performance in question occurred on May 24, 2018 at a fundraising event for Harwell Middle School in Edinburg. At the time of the performance, Frankie Caballero played the accordion for Pulido’s band. Prior to the performance, Caballero had been convicted of a felony offense of indecency with a child on May 8, 2014. He was released from prison in 2017. According to Pulido, he first met Caballero in 1995 when he was recruited to join his band for the recording of his debut album.

“He used to play with a group called Grupo Mazz, who I was a big fan of,” Pulido recalled. “When I was starting my career, I wanted my music to be accordion driven, and I was a very big fan of his work with Grupo Mazz’s ‘Polkitas del Tigre,’ so I reached out to him early ’95 or mid-’95 around that time to record my first CD. And then he joined the band and he was gigging with me.” Pulido said that Caballero was a member of his band for about a year before being let go in 1996 for what he described as substance abuse issues. He said that following Caballero’s departure from the band in 1996, he did not have any communication with the accordionist until 2017. He said he had no knowledge of criminal history in the 21-years between Caballero’s tenures with his band. “All my musicians that I’ve ever worked with have never been employees, they’re contract labor,” Pulido said. “So it’s not a traditional custom to do a background check on somebody. That’s just not something anybody in the industry does.”

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Relatives of Houston man fatally shot by ICE agent describe him as ‘hard-working family man’

The day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston's East End, his son spoke about his father's dedication to his family and said he did not deserve to die. "He was a hard-working family man who never wanted his name to be known by anyone outside of his family," Ronaldo Salgado said at a news conference Wednesday morning. "He wanted nothing else in life but to provide for his wife and see his sons become great people." In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said an agent shot Araujo at approximately 6:50 a.m. Tuesday during a "targeted enforcement operation.” According to DHS, Araujo was from Mexico and did not have legal status in the U.S.

Federal officials claimed Araujo attempted to evade arrest and tried to run over an ICE agent with his vehicle, prompting the agent to shoot Araujo in self-defense, DHS said. In light of other fatal shootings by ICE officers during the second term of President Donald Trump, whose administration has ramped-up enforcement of immigration laws, local elected officials and civil rights groups have called for independent investigations into the shooting of Araujo. So has his family. "You [could] find him every evening after work, resting on his porch, listening to music, petting his dog," Salgado said. "I am deeply heartbroken to see that the man who taught me the value of hard work, family values, and education will no longer spend an evening on that porch. … He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE.'" Araujo had lived in the United States for over 30 years and was working his way through the process of obtaining legal immigration status, according to his family.

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What AI companies want for the millions they're spending on elections

AI executives and companies are betting that spending millions in the 2026 midterm elections will allow them to influence AI bills being developed in Congress. As of the end of June, the two biggest artificial intelligence political action committees have dropped at least $44 million into 40 House and Senate candidates, per a CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission data. That’s an early taste of how the groups will spend the more than $200 million they’ve raised on the rest of primary season and into the general election, according to fundraising totals provided by groups.

The spending by the burgeoning AI industry makes it an increasingly powerful player in the Washington influence space. The companies — through their PACs — are setting themselves up to shape how the first national legislation to regulate AI use takes form. Brad Carson, who heads Public First Action, a nonprofit organization with several PACs, said he’s seen more bills introduced and discussion around AI legislation, especially as concerns about the capabilities and risks of powerful AI models like Mythos and Claude Fable have come into the spotlight. While any legislation is unlikely to cross the finish line this year, given the limited number of days lawmakers are in session, both parties have signaled AI will continue to be a priority in coming years. “They have a lot of benefits. They have a lot of dangers. And you can’t just release them into the wild with no government concern,” Carson told CNBC. “Everybody from the right to the left, from pro-Trump to anti-Trump recognizes that.”

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State Stories

Mayor Whitmire: No Houston police involvement in fatal ICE shooting

More than 24 hours after a federal immigration enforcement officer fatally shot a man in Houston, Mayor John Whitmire said the Houston Police Department was not involved in the incident. "I wish it was something that we just didn't have to deal with, but I do recognize the good training of HPD and the policies of Chief [Noe] Diaz that there was no involvement of HPD," he said during a city council meeting on Wednesday. In his first public remarks on the shooting, Whitmire also labeled the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as "brought to us by our federal officials," calling for communication with the Texas congressional delegation.

Whitmire also spoke about a "chase that ICE was involved in" two days prior that did not involve the Houston Police Department. On Tuesday, an ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Houston resident whom federal authorities have said was a Mexican citizen without legal status in the U.S. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security alleged he was attempting to evade arrest and "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer." The shooting has sparked an outcry from immigration advocacy organizations and elected officials. Other Houston City Council members spoke about the shooting on Wednesday, with some calling for an independent investigation of what led up to the shooting and how ICE responded to it. Council member Joaquin Martinez, who serves the East End area where the shooting took place, stressed that HPD was not involved in the shooting, saying it is "important to ensure that we're not conflating the two [agencies]."

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Women share surrogacy stories as Texas lawmakers weigh new regulations

A Texas Senate committee hearing Wednesday centered on examining the potential exploitation of surrogacy in Texas and was met with mixed responses as women shared personal stories with lawmakers. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services took up an interim charge from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, which asked state senators to, "examine the unethical and foreign interests exploiting the surrogacy and fertility industries in Texas." Public testimony included women who have had children through surrogacy. "When I look at my son, I see the greatest blessing in my life. A deeply loved, little Texas boy whose life was made possible through ethical gestational surrogacy," Miriam Shahab told lawmakers during a public comment period on Wednesday.

Shahab explained she and her husband used surrogacy after learning she would be unable to carry a child herself. Women who served as surrogates themselves also shared stories about why they chose to do so, and urged lawmakers to consider the impacts of any future regulation. "I am here because I watched my sister struggle with infertility for years," Whitney Scheibner, a gestational surrogate, told lawmakers. "I ask that any future legislation be narrowly tailored to address exploitation while preserving access to safe, ethical fertility treatment." Another former surrogate, Christian Ross, shared a much different experience with the committee. She explained that after contracting with a surrogacy agency in California, she became pregnant with a donor embryo belonging to a foreign couple. She said she was misled about who the couple was, however, and the child ended up in the foster care system in England. "It ruined my life, and likely, that baby's life as well," Ross said.

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Employee of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo detained at Conroe ICE facility

A 43-year-old worker from Houston was one of multiple employees who were taken into custody after an ICE agent shot and killed a man from Mexico in Magnolia Park on Tuesday, according to family members and an immigration attorney. Daniel Tirado Pantoja was one of the workers detained after the shooting that killed his boss Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, his attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra said. U.S. officials have described the shooting as an act of self-defense after Araujo allegedly rammed an ICE vehicle following an attempted traffic stop and tried running over an officer.

Family members have rejected any notion that the shooting was warranted, and local leaders have pressed for an independent investigation. "They were just men going to work to provide for their families," Tirado's stepdaughter Juana Degollado said. "That's all they were doing. They were not committing any crimes." Monserrat Cardoso, the stepdaughter of Tirado, told the Houston Chronicle Tuesday that she believes ICE agents racially profiled the men when they attempted to pull them over. “They just saw a couple of Hispanic men going to work, so they decided to chase them down and follow them,” she said. “They were targeted because they're Hispanic men.” Degollado, a 27-year-old Houstonian, said Tirado has lived in Texas for 30 years, had a clean record and was in the process of getting his green card. He's been married to her mother for 12 years and has a teenage son who's a U.S. citizen, she said. He's now in custody at ICE's Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Balderas-Ibarra said. He he hopes to visit Tirado on Wednesday and believes his arrest constituted racial profiling.

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One of Austin's best restaurants, Michelin-starred Olamaie, to close

One of Austin’s most celebrated restaurants of the 21st century will soon turn out its lights permanently. Olamaie, the Southern fine dining restaurant from chef-owner Michael Fojtasek will serve its final meal on July 19.

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Commissioner Brett Yormark has intense interaction with Texas Tech media member at Big 12 media days

The Big 12 kicked off media days for the 2026 college football season in the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday. To open Big 12 Media Days, commissioner Brett Yormark delivered a 15-minute address about the state of the conference heading into the 2026 football season. Some highlights included the announcement of a partnership with Monster Energy that includes jersey patches and on-field logos, and the reiteration of his stance on College Football Playoff expansion and sports gambling. Following the address, Yormark fielded questions from media members regarding items in his address and other topics of importance across the Big 12. Sean Dillon of Rockin' Pregame asked Yormark a question about the league's treatment of Texas Tech over the last year, which evolved into an intense altercation between the two.

"Let me come closer, stand up. Ask that question again, and I'm going to give you the answer I want to give you," Yormark told Dillon. "Texas Tech got fined for tortillas, and tortillas were banned outright," Dillon repeated. "Oklahoma State has paddles that were given a noisemaker exemption back in 2012. (Brendan) Sorsby never played a snap for the Red Raiders, and yet there's a lawsuit. Cincinnati has yet to be touched. You're selling "greater than 12," why should Texas Tech fans believe it?" "No, I didn't say greater than 12, you misquoted me," Yormark responded. "I said we're going forward as 16 strong, and that's my answer to your question, but thank you for that question." Texas Tech is being painted as a new villain by many in college athletics. Now that paying for players is fully legal and players can transfer at will, Texas Tech is taking full advantage of the resources it possesses. Billionaire oil CEO and Red Raiders booster Cody Campbell is using the transfer portal to assemble the best teams possible, creating a competitive advantage no other Big 12 program boasts. The second incident Dillon referred to involved the Red Raiders' efforts to circumvent the coming NCAA punishment of quarterback Brendan Sorsby for his gambling habits, which the Big 12 sued them over in June. In addition to the lawsuit, other Big 12 athletics directors threatened to not play Texas Tech if Sorsby remained on the team. The Sorsby incident is not isolated; Yormark and Texas Tech have quarreled over other matters in the past year. In April, Campbell and Yormark got into a social media spat over the league's decision to schedule Texas Tech's game against Houston on a Friday night, a night that is important for the state's rich high school football tradition. Yormark responded to Campbell's complaint by saying Campbell does not control the Big 12. That provoked a response from Campbell that involved bringing back the banned tortilla-throwing tradition that the Big 12 banned in October of 2025.

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One of Austin's best restaurants, Michelin-starred Olamaie, to close

One of Austin’s most celebrated restaurants of the 21st century will soon turn out its lights permanently. Olamaie, the Southern fine dining restaurant from chef-owner Michael Fojtasek will serve its final meal on July 19. The only restaurant named No. 1 in the city by the American-Statesman on three separate occasions (first in 2017) was the first Southern restaurant in America to earn a Michelin star, joining six other Austin restaurants that received stars in the influential food guide’s inaugural 2024 Texas edition.

“I'm sad. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone that's come through those doors and for all the contributions. When you open a restaurant, you want to accomplish all these things, you want to live forever and making it 12 years is pretty impressive,” Fojtasek said. "I'm really proud of this team and what we’ve accomplished." Dallas native Fojtasek, who returned to Austin to open Olamaie with co-executive chef Grae Nonas in 2014, after working in celebrated restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles, said the economics of running the restaurant in a difficult Austin market became untenable. He pointed to the dreadfully slow summer months — Olamaie’s sales are currently down 40% from March — as one of the biggest challenges. “I think everybody's out of town, especially the people who can afford to dine in the types of restaurants we're talking about,” Fojtasek said, referring to upmarket restaurants like his. “It’s been a hard business forever. I think that the general population thinks the more expensive things are, the better the margins are, and unfortunately, the more expensive things are, oftentimes the margins are worse.”

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Mark Cuban goes to court for records on Dallas Mavericks' Valley View arena deal

Mark Cuban has taken his increasingly public dispute with Dallas Mavericks majority owner Patrick Dumont to court, accusing his business partner of shutting him out of the team's plans for a new arena and other lucrative development opportunities. A new court filing alleges Dumont engaged in “adversarial business practices” and asks a Dallas County judge to force the Mavericks' ownership to disclose details about its planned Valley View arena development, financing and corporate structure. Cuban believes he still has a right to be involved in the Mavericks’ business opportunities, despite selling his majority stake in the team to Miriam Adelson and Dumont, her son-in-law, the filing shows.

The billionaire businessman filed a petition in Dallas County this week to review the contract to buy the former Valley View mall site to build a new basketball arena. Cuban also requests details on how the arena project will be financed and to see the corporate structure behind the team’s real estate deal. The Adelson and Dumont families declined to comment. Cuban’s attorneys also did not respond to a request for comment. Cuban’s petition escalates what has been more than two years of dysfunction between the Mavericks’ largest shareholders and possibly complicates the team’s plans to build an arena at the site. The court filing details Cuban’s allegations, including what he called Dumont’s push to “gain leverage” over the Dallas Stars to seek control of the American Airlines Center. Cuban said Dumont’s dealings also shut him out of any development opportunities related to a new arena or casino development.

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In major move, Fort Worth Zoning Commission votes against data center restrictions

After a discussion that lasted more than two hours, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission voted 7-4 at its July 8 meeting to recommend denial of a sweeping and controversial proposal that would bring data centers into the city’s zoning code and establish development standards for them. The proposed zoning rules are part of a larger package of rule changes aimed at protecting residents from the potential impact of data centers, while still ensuring the city can capture some of the economic benefit of new development. The Fort Worth City Council is expected to weigh both the zoning rules at its meeting on Aug. 11 after council members received a briefing on the proposal from Fort Worth Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern in June.

The proposed zoning rule changes include prohibiting cryptocurrency mining and changing certain development standards. Commissioners took issue with several aspects of the proposal, including that 250-foot setback, language that would allow data centers in all of Fort Worth’s industrial zoning districts, and considered whether it was simply too soon for them to make a sound decision. Several hours after the meeting began, as the sun began to sink toward the horizon, commissioner Jacob Wurman raised his hand for a point of order. “We spent four months deliberating the Stockyards amendments, and we’re going to do this in five minutes,” Wurman said. “I do feel like we’re being asked to do this rather quickly … it just feels a little bit under the gun.” Commissioners weighed voting to continue the item to a later meeting to allow more time to process the information presented by McEachern and residents who spoke, but ultimately voted to deny recommending that the city council approve the proposal.

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One state under whose God?

If Texas is, as its pledge of allegiance states, “one state under God,” this begs a question. What God? Whose God? For many Texans, it’s undoubtedly the Christian God, because (so they say) we’re a Christian nation. They can point, for instance, to the 190-foot-tall “Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ” near the Panhandle town of Groom, or the Ten Commandments monument recently installed at the Tarrant County Courthouse in my hometown of Fort Worth. (Not to mention the Ten Commandments poster now required to be displayed in Texas public school classrooms.) But that’s far from the only answer.

Last year, my spouse Eleanor and I traveled to Houston to visit the multifaith Rothko Chapel. We also stopped by the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in nearby Sugar Land to check out the recently erected statue of the Hindu god Hanuman. Truly Texas-sized at 90 feet of shimmering bronze, it’s breathtaking. And just up the road, at a Buddhist temple, stands a slightly less gargantuan statue of Quan Am, the “Goddess of Compassion,” 72 feet tall. During our visit, Eleanor and I rubbed shoulders with South Asian and East Asian Texans and visitors from overseas, drawn to these spectacular icons of religious devotion. Attracted by economic opportunity, Asian Texans have brought their religions with them—just as the Spanish brought Catholicism in the 1500s and Anglo-Americans imported Protestant denominations after independence from Mexico. Yet when we arrived at the Sri Ashtalakshmi gates, we had to stop and have our trunk inspected by a security guard. The temple, we learned, had ramped up security in the face of hostility from local Christians. A pastor had proclaimed Hanuman a “demon god,” and ex-Senate candidate Alexander Duncan asked on X why “a false statue of a false Hindu god [is allowed] to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation.” Of course, there’s a simple and very American answer to Duncan’s question: religious liberty, constitutionally guaranteed. But that apparently makes little difference to those who embrace what University of North Texas historian Joseph L. Locke terms “militant Christian faith.”

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North Texas AI boom fuels electrician shortage

Dalton Andrews is wiring his way into North Texas’ AI future one motor control board at a time. Inside CEC Facilities’ apprenticeship school in Irving, the 31-year-old electrical apprentice walks through a control panel he built for a statewide skills competition, tracing wires and relays as if explaining his own career pivot from odd jobs into one of the region’s fastest-growing trades. CEC Facilities, an electrical contractor that builds infrastructure for data centers and other large industrial projects, created CEC University to train the electricians.

North Texas’ race to build AI infrastructure is colliding with a shortage of skilled workers. Economists and business leaders warn labor shortages in skilled trades could hinder North Texas’ ability to expand data centers and advanced manufacturing capacity fast enough to meet demand. The Texas Workforce Commission projects the Dallas, Tarrant and North Central workforce regions will need nearly 3,000 additional electricians by 2032, a roughly 15% increase from 2026 staffing levels. In the Dallas region alone, the state projects roughly 1,035 electrician openings annually, driven less by explosive growth than by retirements and worker turnover. The shortage extends beyond electricians. Welders, HVAC technicians, plumbers and other skilled trades are also needed to build and maintain North Texas' fast-growing infrastructure economy, contractors and workforce leaders say. Data centers, semiconductor plants and advanced manufacturing campuses all require large numbers of specialized workers. Yet older workers are retiring faster than younger people are entering the field. "This boom is definitely increasing the demand for craft workers within the industry," said Matt Terry, president of construction at Dallas-based TDIndustries. "The core of that business is heavy mechanical, heavy electrical, and heavy controls." Terry said data centers and other high-tech industrial projects require large numbers of pipe fitters, welders, plumbers and HVAC specialists, intensifying what has long been a shortage of experienced craft workers. Companies are responding by expanding apprenticeships, internships and partnerships with schools to recruit and train the next generation of tradespeople.

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Tarrant County reports cases of foodborne parasite causing explosive diarrhea

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating cluster cases of a parasitic illness across 17 states, including Texas. Tarrant County has reported fewer than five cases of the sickness, called cyclosporiasis, this year. The illness is caused by eating food or drinking water that may have feces in it. When ingested, the parasite causes explosive diarrhea that lasts roughly one week but can last up to a month. Symptoms may seem to subside and then return one or more times. While cyclosporiasis may cause hospitalization, it is not considered life-threatening.

Typically, the parasite is acquired by people who ate or drank water outside the U.S., but 100 of the 145 nationally documented instances were people who had not recently travelled out of the country. Kennedy Sam, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County Public Health Department, said none of the reports received over the past month seem to be connected to an outbreak. “Cases of foodborne illnesses like cyclospora often increase during the summer, so we encourage residents to wash their hands with soap and water before handling or preparing food, and to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before cooking or eating,” Sam said. “We advise anyone experiencing symptoms of foodborne illness to contact their healthcare provider for guidance.” According to the CDC, Texas has between 11 and 30 known cases. New York, which has the most reported cases, has seen between 31 and 80 cyclosporiasis instances.

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Texas looksmaxxing influencer Connor Murphy drowns after jumping in lake to avoid cops: reports

Texas looksmaxxing influencer Connor Michael Murphy has drowned in Thailand after he was seen acting erratically and jumping in a lake to avoid cops, according to local reports. Murphy — who has 2.36 million subscribers on YouTube — was pulled from a lake Tuesday near his rental home in Samut Prakan, around 16 miles south of Bangkok, the Bangkok Post reported. The 32-year-old self-proclaimed “giga chad,” or alpha-male, had earlier sparked alarm with his erratic behavior as he argued with a security guard at the estate, according to the report.

The chiselled content creator tried to flag down a car to get a ride, but the guard told the driver not to let him into the vehicle. Murphy then shouted at the guard and rolled on the ground — then fled the scene when cops arrived. He then jumped into the 32-foot-deep lake before disappearing under the water, according to local media. Divers searched the water for around 30 minutes before finding his body around 66 feet from the bank. There were no signs of assault and investigators suspect he died from drowning, the reports stressed. His 22-year-old girlfriend said she had no idea what caused the outburst — but claimed he had previously splattered paint in the property while she was sleeping. The furniture and decor had been damaged, Thai outlet ThaiRath reported. Murphy had been renting the home for around two months. He last posted on YouTube six days before his death, where he claimed he was “absorbing the spirit of Elon.” He previously uploaded a video titled, “A Day in the Looksmaxxing Life of Mandibleus Zygomidus,” which racked up just shy of 120,000 views. Just last month, he shared a now-chilling video where he was “mirin the view” from the rental home, which overlooked the lake. The US Embassy in Thailand has reportedly been notified of his death.

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National Stories

Trump declares Iran ceasefire 'over.' So what happens now?

President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he’s not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should “finish the job.” But he also insists that continued attacks do not mean a return to war or long-term action. The confusion and uncertainty in Trump’s mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries. The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

Whether it is a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions — which could spell problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections if gas prices stay high. Trump warned Wednesday that a new round of U.S. attacks was coming, even as he attempted to shrug off suggestions of a return to full-scale war. Hours later, the military announced it was carrying out new attacks on Iran that were meant to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.” “Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said earlier. “We’re not looking for a long time.” A regional intelligence official involved in the mediation efforts said the conflict had reached a critical stage as mutual mistrust rises. But high-level communications are happening around the clock to salvage the ceasefire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations.

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Security precaution led Trump to use old Air Force One in leaving Turkey

President Trump flew out of Turkey on Wednesday night on the old Air Force One instead of his new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 as a security precaution related to the resumption of hostilities with Iran, according to people briefed on the plans, who said the change came at the urging of the Secret Service. The swap deepens questions about whether the new plane, which the president had pressed to be ready as soon as possible, was retrofitted with sufficient security measures over the last year. Lawmakers and some officials have raised concerns about whether the expedited timeline allowed for the addition of an advanced missile defense system and other modifications used to protect the president. In a statement, Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said that “the new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff.”

“As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats,” he added. But people briefed on the new plane’s capabilities, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues, said the new plane does not have all the features of the older plane. The switch in the president’s aircraft when he departed Turkey was a precautionary measure made at the advice of the Secret Service and not because of a specific threat, they said. Mr. Trump, who has marveled at the luxury touches of his new jet, flew on it on Monday night to go to Turkey for a NATO summit. After his arrival, the conflict with Iran reignited, and the United States launched a series of strikes against that country while Mr. Trump and NATO leaders were about 1,000 miles away in Ankara.

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DOJ issues nationwide threat to prosecute local election officials

The Department of Justice sent a letter to dozens of state and local election officials threatening to prosecute them if any noncitizens are found to have voted in the upcoming midterms, sharply escalating the Trump administration’s attacks on local election oversight across the country. The letter was signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a staunch Trump ally who is serving as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division. It’s the latest in a series of attempts by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert control over state-run elections.

Trump has pushed for Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID verification when voters cast their ballots. The SAVE America Act received bipartisan pushback from lawmakers and is currently at a standstill in the Senate because it lacks the support needed to advance the bill. The president’s efforts to crackdown on states’ administration of elections have also faced multiple courtroom losses, which prompted Department of Homeland Security officials to consider using grant funding allocated to states — and the threat of withholding it — to “advance core national security priorities.” “Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s SVRL [State Voter Registration List] or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability,” Dhillon wrote in the letter. It’s unclear how many officials were targeted by the administration. Election workers have five days to respond to the Justice Department with plans to comply with the federal, state and local election laws. The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that it sent letters to officials of all states and Washington, D.C., “asking for voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections.”

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How Northern Virginia became ‘Data Center Alley’

“Faithful Servant, now at Peace,” reads one heart-shaped headstone in Tippets Hill Cemetery. But in the background of this final resting place, there is an incessant whirring sound and a shrill beep that blares again and again. That’s because the small, historically Black burial ground in Loudoun County, Virginia, is surrounded on all sides by data centers. The cemetery’s few parking spaces had construction vehicles parked in them when NOTUS visited in early June. The cemetery — and Northern Virginia at large — didn’t always look like this. At the turn of the century, there were a handful of data center campuses in Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties — a region now known as data center alley.

Today, those counties are home to more than 300 data centers. Almost 200 more are expected to go up in the coming years. Loudoun specifically has the highest concentration of data centers in the world. But that title may be in jeopardy. Public sentiment towards data centers has soured, with opponents pointing to rising household utility bills and environmental concerns. Politicians are weighing how to balance constituent demands with a behemoth industry those same constituents rely on for cloud computing and county revenue. “Virginia has our biggest concentration, but as the old saying says, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’” a senior executive at a data center company told NOTUS. “Based on what happened this year, it’s further emphasis that we clearly have to spread our business around. Our customers are going to be looking for the lowest cost of occupancy — that’s just math.” A big part of Northern Virginia’s appeal is its geography. Loudoun County’s proximity to D.C., CIA headquarters and the Pentagon made it an early hot spot for the technology contractors that intelligence agencies and the military have increasingly depended on since World War II, said Ali Fard, an assistant architecture professor at the University of Virginia who wrote a book about “grounding” cloud computing.

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Judge orders E. Jean Carroll be paid $5.8 million from Trump case

The writer E. Jean Carroll can collect $5.8 million held in escrow since a jury found that President Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed her, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Trump’s lawyers immediately appealed but were denied an emergency order to block the payment from being made. Trump deposited the money in an account shortly after a jury ruled against him in 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money. The initial $5 million award has grown with interest. The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store, and defamed her after she described it publicly in a 2019 memoir, during his first term as president. Trump called her allegations false and said “ she’s not my type ” in an interview.

Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday they would continue to appeal and accused his political opponents of using the legal system against him. They argued in appellate papers that Kaplan’s decision shouldn’t be allowed to take effect because Trump has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. Late Wednesday, Judge Eunice C. Lee of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request to stop the money from being transferred to Carroll. “It is time for this case to come to an end,” Carroll’s lawyers wrote in a filing with the appellate court. “Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid,” they wrote. “She should not have to wait any longer.” The jury had reached its verdict — in a trial that Trump did not attend — after Carroll testified that their flirtatious and friendly chance encounter at the department store turned violent. Trump insisted he never knew Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. He accused her of trying to sell books at his expense and of having political motives. Carroll sued Trump after New York changed its laws to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue over attacks that happened in the distant past. Trump “has been stalling this case for years,” Kaplan wrote in a memorandum detailing his decision. “It is time for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment.”

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To justify his arch, Trump cites a 1925 plan. That vision was very different.

President Donald Trump wants to build a towering triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout tucked inside Washington’s boundaries, arguing that it carries out a century-old congressional vision for the site. “People pass that circle, they say, why isn’t something built here?” Trump said in the Oval Office in May. The plan Congress authorized in 1925 called for a new bridge spanning the Potomac River and a pair of columns at its westward side, near where Memorial Circle is today. The bridge was built, but the columns never were. “This large empty space directly contradicts the original vision,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is helping oversee the project, told a federal commission reviewing the proposed arch designs in April.

The Justice Department has also repeatedly argued that Congress’s past support for columns gives them authority to build a structure there now. “Neither the underlying Congressional authorization to build the columns — nor the discretion to modify column design — have expired,” Trump administration lawyers wrote in a court filing last month. The National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency reviewing the project, is set to review and potentially approve the administration’s arch plans in a hearing Thursday. But the 166-foot-tall columns that Trump and his deputies cite to press their case differ significantly from the 250-foot-tall monument they plan to construct, which would more dramatically alter pedestrians’ views and reshape the historic skyline near the Lincoln Memorial. The century-old discussions and plans “are now being used as some sort of justification for the monumental arch,” Priya Jain, who chairs the heritage conservation committee at the Society of Architectural Historians, said last month at a meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission. “But historic renderings and descriptions show clearly how materially different they are,” Jain added.

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A Florida airport is officially renamed for Trump. What does he stand to gain?

It's official: President Donald J. Trump International Airport is open for business. The South Florida facility was called Palm Beach International Airport for over half a century until Thursday, when a months-old state law took effect, adding the airport to the growing list of places and things that now bear President Trump's name. Trump flies in and out of this airport relatively often, as it's mere miles from his oceanfront estate, Mar-a-Lago. The lifelong New Yorker declared Palm Beach his permanent residence in 2019, and travels there regularly from the White House. More than 8 million passengers fly through its airport each year, on over a dozen airlines.

"Florida, get ready to take the exit for President Donald J. Trump International Airport," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X earlier this week, alongside a photo of an updated airport sign on the interstate. Separately, a 4-mile stretch of the main road linking Mar-a-Lago to the airport was renamed for Trump in January. The Federal Aviation Administration authorized the name change to take effect Thursday, meaning it now officially identifies the airport as "DJT" instead of "PBI." The airport said in an online FAQ that the transition — including updates to signage, branding and public-facing materials — "will occur in phases." For example, passengers should still search "PBI" when booking flights and checking bags, until the International Air Transport Association (IATA) code changes on August 18. The airport says ownership and operations will not be affected, describing it as a "branding change only."

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How Mitch McConnell’s absence complicates the Senate’s business and war funding

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s current health condition and ongoing absence threatens to complicate the U.S. Senate’s return to business next week. Congress is returning from recess on Monday and faces a limited number of days left before the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government for fiscal year 2027. McConnell (R-Kentucky) plays a crucial role as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Republicans and Democrats on the committee have been at a stalemate that began over disagreements about defense funding. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, Republicans will likely need McConnell’s support to advance any spending bills out of the committee amid Democratic opposition.

The Trump administration has requested Congress provide an additional $87.6 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon and other agencies, largely to cover needs related to the war with Iran, which reignited this week. McConnell, 84, leads the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over that military spending. He has not cast a vote on the Senate floor since June 11. He was admitted to the hospital on June 14. While members of Senate leadership said they have since spoken to him, McConnell’s office has offered limited details about his condition and he has not been seen publicly. Democrats have refused to support the increase in defense funding Republicans have put forward without a comparable boost for domestic programs. That disagreement is part of the reason the committee, which normally advances these measures on a bipartisan basis, has not yet advanced any legislation for fiscal year 2027.

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Lead Stories

Ken Paxton vowed to crack down on “illegal voting.” He may have violated Texas election law.

Two weeks before this year’s primary elections, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the creation of a tip line for the public to report people or groups suspected of voter fraud. “Free and fair elections are a cornerstone of a thriving republic, and with the authority granted to my office by the Legislature, we will stop at nothing to uncover and stop any illegal voting activity,” Paxton said in a February news release announcing the tip line. The announcement linked to guidance from his office about election laws in Texas, which included a requirement to be a U.S. citizen, a prohibition on collecting mail ballots on behalf of others and a warning that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records or to establish a residence for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election.”

“You must register to vote using the address where you reside,” the attorney general’s guidance stated. Despite his own warnings, Paxton appears to have used an address where he did not live while voting in six elections in the past two years, including in May’s runoff that made him the Republican nominee for U.S. senator, according to records obtained by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. State Sen. Angela Paxton said in a 2025 divorce filing that Paxton, whom she accused of adultery, moved out of their Collin County home a year earlier. But Paxton continues to list the home’s address in the northern Dallas suburb on his voter registration. Angela Paxton declined to be interviewed. A source close to the Paxtons said the attorney general has not moved back into the home since leaving. It is unclear where Paxton has lived for the past two years, but reporting by ProPublica and the Tribune has linked him to a home in neighboring Denton County since February. Three election lawyers told the news organizations that Paxton may have violated the same Texas laws his office cautioned about in its news release. ProPublica and the Tribune reached out to Paxton’s campaign on June 3, 15 and 25, asking why he remained registered to vote in Collin County when he appeared to no longer live there and about his connection to the Denton County property.

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Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's son speaks on ICE deadly shooting in Houston

The son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot and killed by a federal immigration officer in Houston, issued a statement on social media Tuesday night, saying "my father did not deserve this." Earlier that morning, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot the Mexican citizen in the city's Magnolia Park neighborhood after he allegedly refused multiple commands and tried to run over an officer in his car, an agency spokesperson said. They alleged Araujo was trying to evade arrest during a "targeted enforcement operation." "My father, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a hardworking Mexican man, was the man killed this morning by ICE in the East End," Ronaldo Salgado said on Facebook.

"My father has been in this country for nearly 35 years, working in construction to provide for myself, my two brothers, and my mother. He was in the process of obtaining his work permit through the legal process. He was on his way to work, picking up his workers. My father did not deserve this. Please respect my family's privacy during this time. There are a lot of videos and pictures out there of my father's final moments that I do not wish to see." Araujo's death has been followed by calls for an investigation into the shooting by advocates, local leaders and community members. Some have compared the shooting to Renee Good's death in Minneapolis when an ICE officer shot at her for allegedly attempting to drive over him in her car. Salgado said he will speak Wednesday at 10 a.m. at a news conference at the Greater Coalition for Justice at 150 West Parker Road in Houston.

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Reitz slated to be next US Attorney in Texas’ Southern District

Aaron Reitz, a former Trump administration official and top lawyer for the state of Texas, is set to be the next US attorney for the Southern District of Texas. Reitz has been chosen to lead the office, sources familiar with the move told Bloomberg Law on Tuesday. He will replace current acting US Attorney John Marck, who was confirmed June 24 as a federal judge in McAllen, Texas. The Southern District of Texas is anchored by Houston and includes a large area covering the state’s southern border. Reitz, a partner at Hance Scarborough LLP in Austin, didn’t respond to a request for comment

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Gov. Greg Abbott directs state agency to investigate South Texas hospital over birth tourism

Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the state’s health and human services commission to investigate whether a South Texas medical facility is advertising to attract international patients who want to give birth in the U.S. “American citizenship is not for sale and Texas will not permit our healthcare system to be used as a magnet for birth tourism,” Abbott said in the letter addressed to Stephanie Muth, the executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The commission has referred the matter to the agency's inspector general, said spokesman James Rivera.

Birth tourism is the idea that pregnant women are traveling to the U.S. to give birth so their children receive U.S. citizenship. The letter asks the commission to look into Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission, Texas, after reports surfaced on social media last week that the medical facility ran advertisements in Spanish showing how much it would cost to deliver a baby at the hospital. Kathleen Avila, spokesperson for Mission Regional Medical Center, said in an email Tuesday that to eliminate any “unintended misunderstanding,” the advertising material is no longer being used. The hospital will cooperate with local and state officials, she added. “Like hospitals across the country and throughout the region, we share information about the healthcare services we provide,” Avila said. “We do not support or facilitate any unlawful activity and work to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.”

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State Stories

Petition seeks removal of Cheryl Bean from school board after offensive posts

More than 1,100 people have signed a petition seeking the resignation of a Texas House candidate as the chair of a fine arts charter school after she posted a racially coded meme last week. On July 1, Republican Cheryl Bean posted on Facebook an AI-generated illustration of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham on a boat with her Indiana Fever teammates, posing similarly to the “Washington Crossing the Delaware” painting. In the image, Cunningham is pointing forward, referencing a June 22 game when she pointed dramatically at Phoenix Mercury player DeWanna Bonner after a physical altercation with Cunningham’s teammate Caitlin Clark. Bean is running for House District 94 and is the board chair of the Texas Center for Arts and Academics, which governs two public charter schools, one in Fort Worth.

By 11:30 a.m. July 1 the post was deleted. Bean did not respond to questions from the Star Telegram. The petition on change.org was started on July 5. The petition cites a pattern of offensive posts from Bean. “When the individual serving as Board Chair publicly shares or amplifies content that many members of the community reasonably perceive as discriminatory or demeaning toward protected groups, confidence in the Board’s ability to provide fair, inclusive, and ethical leadership is compromised,” the petition said. It continued: ”For these reasons, we respectfully call upon Cheryl Bean to resign as Chair of the Texas Center for Arts + Academics Board of Directors and from the Board entirely. If she chooses not to resign, we call upon the TCAA Board of Directors to take appropriate action to remove her from her position as Chair and from the Board entirely, and to ensure its leadership reflects the standards of respect, accountability, integrity, and inclusion expected by the students, families, educators, and community it serves.”

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Defense lawyer charged with murder after fatal shooting in Houston

A criminal defense attorney was charged Monday with murder after he told authorities he shot a former client during a confrontation, according to court records. Michael Driver, 45, is accused of shooting Jesse Reyes in the 1600 block of Vassar Street in Boulevard Oaks on June 27. Driver called police to report the shooting and flagged down officers arriving at the home. Driver told police that he shot Reyes, 48, whom he described as his roommate and body guard, during a fight, court records show. Three veteran defense attorneys representing Driver — Dick DeGuerin, Jed Silverman and Neal Davis — characterized the shooting as self-defense.

Driver previously represented Reyes in a criminal case stemming from allegations that Reyes wielded a gun during a March home break-in, Davis said. Driver withdrew from the case in May, court records show. Reyes, a tattoo artist, also lived at the Vassar Street property, according to his financial affidavit. The two men had been friends for several years when they got into an argument at the home, Davis said, adding that Reyes owned the weapon, not Driver. Jules Johnson, the attorney who took over Reyes' case, said his client appeared dismayed by Driver's decision to step down. Driver is due in court Wednesday. Driver is the brother of a Harris County prosecutor, Stephen Driver, who is running for a criminal court judicial seat as a Republican. Harris County prosecutors previously recused themselves from handling a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge against Michael Driver in 2019 after disclosing that he had a relative in their office. The case was later dismissed. The state is expected to hand the case over to Fort Bend County prosecutors to handle in their place because of the same conflict. Ahead of that decision, prosecutors filed paperwork to hold a hearing to deny Michael Driver's bail, citing his criminal history that consists of three misdemeanor charges from May 2023 in Austin.

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'There's no path to fix this' | State lawmakers gearing up for new attempt to ban consumable THC products

State lawmakers appear to be gearing up to take another run at cracking down on THC in consumable hemp products. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services met on Tuesday to listen to testimony about THC, mental health and homelessness services. THC is the chemical in marijuana that gets users high. Small amounts of it are in consumable hemp, which has become a booming industry in this state. The 2025 legislative session was dominated by a monthslong fight over efforts to rein in the industry. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wanted to ban the sale of consumable hemp products with THC. State lawmakers passed a bill doing so, but Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed it, citing concerns about its constitutionality, and put it on the call for both special sessions. However, state lawmakers could not agree on what to do, so they gaveled out in September without taking any action.

On Tuesday, State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), who carried Senate Bill 3 in 2025, said he does not believe there is a path to regulate THC other than to truly eliminate it. Hemp products are widely sold across Texas in a range of forms, from oils to edibles, often marketed for health and wellness. Perry said he plans to file a bill to ban the products in 2027. "I don't want to see another family with a kid in the basement that's not articulate because they drank a THC beverage, or they smoked something from a vape that they didn't know what was in it, or it's 100 times what it was supposed to be,” Perry said. “There's nothing good from this stuff. There's no virtue in it." Perry said he is at the point where he does not believe taxpayers can't afford the cost of the issues he says come from THC. “We're at our breaking point financially. I'm at my breaking point from a conscience level,” Perry said. “I don't know, as a society, how we can allow this stuff to perpetuate itself in the name of profit. I don't know how these industries live with themselves, or look at themselves in the mirror every day, knowing what they're doing.”

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Data center dismay: 800 residents back petition to remove Granbury city officials

Citizens of Granbury presented a petition with over 800 signatures to Granbury City Council members Tuesday night, calling for a vote of confidence to remove the city manager and city attorney. The petition came on the heels of a controversy regarding the rezoning of the Knox Ranch land to industrial for a data center. City Manager Chris Coffman and City Attorney Jeremy SoRelle were unaware of the petition until it was presented at the meeting. Jacob Herbold, a resident of Granbury and organizer of the petition said it does not only call for the removal of Coffman and SoRelle but also of all council members but Angela Parker. They are requesting the removal because of the City Council members’ choice to vote yes on the rezoning of the Knox Ranch land.

Herbold said that they knew that Coffman wasn’t being transparent about what the land would be used for, and they still voted yes. Daniel Piatt, the first of the citizens presenting the petition to speak, noted some of the concerns in the petition regarding “documented contradictions” about the Knox Ranch annexation and Project Patriot. In January the city annexed Knox Ranch, which straddles Meadow Road. Piatt said that when the land was originally annexed in January the city acted like it didn’t know what it would be used for, but then documents showed that Coffman had been working with the Project Patriot. The Project Patriot is a power plant/data center project from the Dallas-based Bilateral Energy LLC. In July, Bilateral Energy received a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to build the power plant, according to previous Star-Telegeram reporting.

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Texas Gov. Abbott creates 'teacher-driven' commission to improve public education

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is creating a new commission meant to guide public education in the state. The Texas Classroom Commission will be made up of current and retired teachers and tasked with developing recommendations ahead of the 2027 legislative session for classroom instruction, teacher support and educational outcomes. “Texas teachers know what their students need to succeed," Abbott said in a statement announcing the new commission Tuesday. “The Texas Classroom Commission will bring together exemplary public school educators to identify innovative solutions that help students succeed, improve the learning environment in classrooms, and strengthen our schools."

Abbott named former Dallas and Richardson ISD math educator Courtney Boswell MacDonald to run the “teacher-led initiative.” She currently chairs the State Board for Educator Certification. Abbott said the goal of putting teachers at the center of shaping the future of public education will “ build on Texas’ success and ensure our state becomes the national leader in the education of our kids..” In a statement, Mary Lynn Pruneda, director of education and workforce policy at the research policy group Texas 2036, called the commission a “critical opportunity to learn from and partner with educators” to get more students reading and doing math at grade level. Recent results from the state’s standardized STAAR tests showed high schoolers made gains across subjects, but reading scores for students in middle and elementary schools have stalled.

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Season 3 of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is its best

They got me again. Every summer since America’s Sweethearts first dropped on Netflix, I think to myself, eh, maybe I’ll watch that. Maybe I’ll be too busy reading a book or something. But eventually, I find myself engulfed in the DCC charm offensive, obsessively clicking “Next Episode” and fully absorbed in who is and isn’t making the iconic squad. There are times you can actually feel the emotional manipulation (scoring Savanna’s segment about her nearly life-long goal of becoming a DCC to The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” practically guarantees she’s headed for hurt), but I love the ride regardless. Books can wait when Emily A.’s fate hangs in the balance. I do agree with some critics’ complaints that this season’s structure followed the past two’s a little too rigidly. And I always struggle to buy that creator Greg Whitely has the control he claims. But it simply does not matter when the stars of your show have this much charisma and talent.

Which leads me to why I think season 3 is actually America’s Sweethearts’ best: The cheerleaders don’t have to prove themselves anymore. If season 1 set out to convince viewers that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are elite athletes that deserve more respect, and season 2 set out to prove that those athletes deserved their 400 percent pay increase (and then some!), season 3 is finally free to revel in the interpersonal dynamics of the most famous cheerleading squad on the planet. It could almost be a hang show if it weren’t for the insane rigors of DCC life. The steep increase in fame has also shifted things for better and for worse. It was notable to me in Whitely’s interview with D Magazine last month that the season 3 auditions were the first ones held after America’s Sweethearts’ debut. (There’s a great discussion between Kleine and former DCC Kat about the difference between the old CMT show veterans and the “new Netflix girls.”) The exposure flooded the talent pool with less typical DCC hopefuls (cruise performers, bendy TikTok stars), setting up a dichotomy of collegiate dancers versus technical dancers that I would have loved to have seen explored more. But instead, we have to focus on the bummer fact that the internet is now obsessing over training camp cuts and microscopic performance flaws, while being generally weird about a group of attractive young women. Jenna, who had one of my favorite comeback girl stories ever, says, “It’s as if you take all of your deepest insecurities and thousands of people are like, ‘Agree! Agree! Agree!'” One upside of fame, however, is that some cheerleaders (at least the ones heavily featured on the show) are able to ditch demanding 9-to-5 jobs in favor of filming a few brand deals a week. DCC director Kelli Finglass, who admits the organization used to fight the pursuit of influencerhood, says it “has shifted the whole culture of the program.” Good!

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S.A. clergy call on elected officials to ensure free, fair elections

A coalition of San Antonio faith leaders is calling on local elected officials to ensure all voters have access to the polls in the upcoming midterm elections. Leaders from the Archdiocese of San Antonio, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Temple Beth-El, Masjid Bilal Ibn Rabah of San Antonio and other congregations, demanded “free and fair elections” as the Trump administration tries to remake local and federal elections. “Every eligible voter should be able to vote,” said Brother Chris Markert, a bishop’s associate at the Southwestern Texas Synod, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “Every voter should be confident that their vote will be counted, and no one should have to approach the ballot box under the shadow of coercion, fear, disruption, intimidation or violence.”

“To be very clear, this is not about partisanship,” Markert said. “It is about peace, truth and protecting the public trust.” The news conference, staged near San Fernando Cathedral downtown, was one of many held Tuesday as part of “Faith in Us,” a national clergy initiative formed in Minnesota last month to protect immigrants and voter access. Earlier this year, the Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement in that state. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens during the crackdown. Clergy across the country are calling on elected officials and elections administrators to sign a letter opposing efforts “to prevent eligible voters from voting and that dilute voter’s power to choose their elected leaders.” San Antonio-area faith leaders and their congregants will ask Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, City Council members, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and County Commissioners to sign, said Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact, an interfaith public policy organization. They also want Bexar County Elections Administrator Michele Carew to sign.

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Democrat Gina Hinojosa wants to send $1,500 to every Texas household

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, the Austin Democrat running against Gov. Greg Abbott, made her first major economic pitch Tuesday, saying she would push to send a $1,500 check to every Texas household if elected in November. Hinojosa billed the proposal as relief for Texans struggling to make ends meet. She said she would issue a proclamation declaring affordability an emergency on her first day in office and call on lawmakers to approve pulling $17 billion from the nearly $27 billion in the state’s rainy day fund to spend on the checks. “People are struggling. People need help. It’s an emergency situation,” Hinojosa said in an interview, pointing to statistics showing the state leads the nation in bankruptcies and rates of uninsured.

“My agenda is to put money in your pocket. Texans know how to spend money better than the government. That’s our money. It’s there. It should go to Texans.” The announcement comes as Democrats have focused on affordability in the run-up to the midterms, which are expected to be bruising for Republicans as voters have soured on President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy. Public polling has shown Hinojosa within single digits of Abbott, even as many voters say they are still unfamiliar with her. Abbott's campaign did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. It’s not the first time a politician has made promises for the rainy day fund, which draws money from excess oil and gas taxes. Tapping into the reserve fund requires the support of two-thirds of lawmakers in the House and Senate, both of which are controlled by Republicans — and likely to remain in GOP hands. The Legislature has mostly dipped into the ballooning fund to pay for water projects, disaster relief and public education, according to the Comptroller. Hinojosa argues there is more than enough money in the fund to send some back to taxpayers. The state’s reserves have grown from $6 billion in 2013, the year before Abbott took office, to an expected $27 billion by the end of this fiscal year. The Comptroller’s office has projected the fund to grow by at least $2.5 billion per year, as well.

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Who pays for Brownsville's industrial and tech boom?

In 2014, SpaceX moved to Cameron County, Texas, seeking low-cost land, a skilled workforce, and a strategic Gulf Coast location. In return, the county, historically one of the poorest in the nation, gave Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire, a 10-year property tax abatement. Now, another technology company, the Austin-based Saronic Technologies, which will manufacture AI-powered autonomous warships for the U.S. Navy, is seeking a 95 percent property tax abatement over 20 years in exchange for setting up a $3.2 billion shipyard at the Port of Brownsville, called Port Alpha. The rapid expansion of industry in the region, including liquid natural gas pipelines, the SpaceX Super Heavy rocket testing site, a proposed oil refinery, autonomous warships, and other military defense production, is taking a toll on the environment and quality of life, say residents.

Residents are also questioning whether multi-billion-dollar companies should be receiving tax breaks in a region where many households are barely getting by. This growing concern was reflected in two contentious hearings last month over the Saronic tax abatement. At the final hearing on June 16, residents filled the Cameron County Commissioners' courtroom to give public comment ahead of the commissioners' vote. At least 40 people submitted written statements expressing their disapproval or testified at the hearing against the tax abatement. Several questioned subsidizing companies that profit from the war industry and whether handing out a tax break to Saronic, recently valued at $9.25 billion, which received a $392 million contract from the U.S. Navy was necessary. “Does a company worth billions of dollars really need a tax abatement?” a resident, Desto Huerta, said at the hearing. “These corporations don’t do anything but exploit the land, its workers, and your constituents. The least they can do is pay their fair share of taxes.”

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Holley Digby: How students can thrive even during the summer

(Holley Digby is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Director of Mental Health and Wellness for Communities In Schools of South Central Texas.) My office is on the first floor directly below the Mill Street Youth Center. During the school year, the building is relatively quiet until about 4 p.m. when school lets out. But come summer, the building comes alive. I don’t know all of their summer programming, but judging by the steady parade of footsteps, laughter and the occasional enthusiastic thud, I can confidently say they aren’t spending the day in a quiet game of bridge. And I absolutely love it! The extra energy overhead is a reminder of something I see throughout our community this time of year: children attending camps, participating in programs, building friendships, learning new skill, and simply enjoying being kids. When my children were young, our summers were filled with camps, swim team, Schlitterbahn and the constant search for missing goggles. Those months brought plenty of fun and freedom and were wonderful years full of adventures and connection. But like many families, we also experienced the challenges that come with summer – long days, less structure, and the loss of routines, opportunities, and resources that school naturally provides.

This week, I was reminded just how much support and structure school provides for many students and families when a mother from one of our local elementary schools called to discuss her daughter. She shared that during the school year, her daughter received counseling services through Communities In Schools, had made tremendous progress, and she was worried about her losing that momentum over the summer. As we talked, it became clear that her daughter’s progress had been shaped by a network of support and experiences at school. A counselor had taught her strategies for managing stress and anxiety. Teachers encouraged her growth. Daily routines provided predictability, and opportunities to interact with peers helped her practice social skills and build confidence. Together, these experiences helped to create the positive momentum her mother feared might fade over the summer. Her concern was that all of those supports would suddenly pause for the summer. As we talked through ways to help maintain that momentum, I was reminded how fortunate we are to live in a community rich with resources and opportunities for families. Whether a family needs a summer camp, counseling services, food assistance or help meeting basic needs, our community is fortunate to have organizations working to support children and families all year long.

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Advocates say Judson hair policy could be discriminatory against Black students

The board of trustees for the Judson Independent School District approved a change to the district dress code at the end of June that advocates say could be discriminatory against Black students. Judson’s dress code has been updated to say, “Hair must be neat and clean” and that “Hairstyles and/or hair colors that are considered by school administration to be distracting and/or disruptive to the educational environment are prohibited.” The policy previously said, “Student hairstyles must be groomed appropriately and may not be a distraction to the educational environment.”

Advocates with both Texas Appleseed and the Intercultural Development Research Association said the policy is vague and open to subjective interpretation that could lead school administrators to punish Black hairstyles like locs. “What are we defining as neat and clean, and who specifically within the district is making this determination?” asked Princess Jefferson, a fellow with Texas Appleseed. “Is it other people of color, is it other Black people specifically? Because if the answer is no, then once again we are putting, particularly Black students, in a position where the cultural characteristics of our hair are wildly unrepresented and unconsidered.” Judson ISD serves a higher number of Black students than many Bexar County school districts. About 21% of Judson students are Black, according to state data. Census records show that about 8% of people in Bexar County are Black. Before the board voted on the policy change, IDRA sent an email to trustee Laura Stanford raising concerns.

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Austin could become a 'Book Safe Harbor' as censorship fights escalate

As book bans surge across Texas and the country, Austin’s Library Commission is urging the City Council to take a formal stand against censorship by declaring the city a “Book Safe Harbor,” a move supporters say could strengthen protections for what remains on public library shelves. The proposal lands amid an intensifying political fight over who decides what people, especially children, can read. In Texas, battles over books have transformed school board meetings, county commissioners courts and the state Capitol into recurring flashpoints over race, gender identity and sexuality. That fight reached new ground this year when Texas lawmakers passed SB 13, shifting some power over public school library collections away from librarians and toward elected school board members and parents, a change critics say could accelerate book removals.

While schools have been the front line of the battle, advocates warn public libraries could be next. For example, in 2025, Texas House advanced HB 3225, which would have limited kids’ access to sexually explicit books in public libraries. While the bill didn’t ultimately pass, censorship efforts are driving a growing push for “Book Safe Harbors” local ordinances meant to preserve access to books. Austin’s Library Commission passed their recommendation Monday, urging the Austin City Council to consider designating the city a Book Safe Harbor. The goal is to “defend the right to read at an ordinance level,” said Liz Garton Scanlon, an Austin-based children’s book author who is part of the Texas leadership team of Authors Against Book Bans. After the organization encouraged the creation of Book Safe Harbors in local municipalities, Garton Scanlon brought the idea to the Library Commission. Book bans weren’t on her radar when she began writing children’s books 20 years ago, but over the past five years, she has observed the issue intensifying dramatically. She said one of her most popular books, All the World, ended up on a Pennsylvania challenge list, though the effort to ban it was ultimately unsuccessful.

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National Stories

How redistricting squeezed House Democrats’ fundraising

Redistricting already reshaped the House map for the 2026 midterms. But for House Democrats, it means fewer incumbents are paying dues to the party’s campaign arm, and some are worried it could cause a cash crunch. Every year, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee designates a group of vulnerable Democrats as “Frontliners,” giving them extra financial support to help them retain their seats, as well as debate-preparation help and legislative and communications guidance. Unlike other members of the caucus, this group is also exempt from paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in dues to the DCCC because they’re expected to devote most of their resources to their own reelection campaigns. After the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act by making racially drawn districts illegal this spring, state Republicans raced to remove majority-Black districts. Those efforts pushed some Democrats into red districts, lowering their chances of being reelected.

On top of that, the mid-cycle redistricting crunch has bulked up the number of Frontliners and other non-dues-paying members, multiple sources told NOTUS. Louisiana Rep. Cleo Fields is still undecided about whether he will run in what is now a Republican-leaning district after state lawmakers eliminated his district. But he has stopped paying his dues to the campaign arm, even after fulfilling more than a third of his $275,000 quota. “Conditions have changed. The district has changed, obviously, which means that I got to, you know, focus a lot more on self,” he told NOTUS about paying dues. One Frontliner, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told NOTUS that “the field [of vulnerable members] is spreading thinner, thinner, and so now the dues that members pay here, you know, don’t go directly to frontliners like me. They go to the DCCC to decide what they do with that.” Initially, Democratic leaders designated 26 Frontliners. That list dwindled to 21 after Maine Rep. Jared Golden’s decided not to seek reelection and California voters approved a ballot measure to redraw the state’s maps to counter Republicans’ redistricting efforts in Texas.

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NATO unveils billions in arms deals to prove its firepower as Trump again demands Greenland

President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that the United States should be in control of Greenland rather than NATO ally Denmark, renewing tensions in Europe even as the trans-Atlantic military alliance was announcing billions in arms deals at a summit in an attempt to appease the mercurial U.S. leader. Trump called the semiautonomous island “an important part” for the United States, as he repeated the false claim that it’s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships and said he won’t let Greenland be threatened. “That should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.

The NATO alliance was founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others’ territory and not threaten to seize it. At the summit, European countries and the alliance’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, were already working overtime to address another longstanding Trump complaint: that European allies do not spend enough on their own defense. Separately, Trump announced that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program — in a nod to his warm ties with summit host Erdogan. Turkey’s purchase in 2019 of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems sparked years of tensions, despite the warm personal relationship between Trump and Erdogan dating back to the U.S. president’s first term. Legal hurdles remain before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. F-35 program, but the removal of sanctions issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act would help ease that process. Regaining access to the F-35s is a top goal of Erdogan.

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Trump’s biggest roadblock to selling jets to Turkey may be Republican lawmakers

Congress is already pushing back on President Donald Trump’s plans to lift sanctions on Turkey and potentially sell the country F-35 fighter jets. Lawmakers from both parties warned Tuesday that Turkey’s possession of the S-400 Russian air defense system still poses the security concerns that prompted Congress to restrict F-35 transfers so long as Turkey possesses the system. The opposition is also being fueled by past clashes between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and countries that have diaspora communities in the U.S. — and allies on Capitol Hill — including Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Armenia.

“If used in proximity to the F-35,” Turkey’s S-400 “could reveal to Russia how our stealth technology works,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) said in a statement to NOTUS. Lifting the sanctions “would be tantamount to handing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin the blueprints to our technology.” Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, a member of the House Republican Israel Caucus, said the F-35 transfer ban must remain in force so long as Ankara retains the S-400. “Selling one of America’s most advanced fighter jets to Turkey is not in the best interest of the United States,” Lawler said in a statement to NOTUS. “It risks compromising critical technology and sends the wrong message to our allies in Europe and the Middle East.” Lawler had already released a bipartisan letter last week with five other Republicans opposing Turkey’s return to the program.

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Trump orders halt to US trade with Spain over NATO spending, Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered an immediate halt to all trade with NATO ally Spain, escalating tensions over defence spending and the Iran war, despite European Union rules requiring trade negotiations to be conducted as a single bloc. During a NATO summit in Ankara, ?which European leaders had hoped would put a lid on rifts within the military alliance, Trump instead ?reignited the dispute with Spain. He also irked another NATO ally Denmark by reiterating that his ?country should control Greenland. Denmark promised to defend every inch of its territory.

It was the second time Trump has ?instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt commerce with Spain over its refusal to commit to NATO's new defence spending ?target of 5% of GDP. However, after his first such promise in March, trade between the two countries continued normally. "Spain doesn't agree to anything, and you shouldn't carry them," Trump told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who later tried to soothe the tension by saying ?that Spain "made a huge step last year" raising its spending to 2%, although he added that "there are still issues ?we have to solve". "I don't want to do any trade with them, alright?" Trump said, turning to Bessent, who replied: "Yes, sir." Trump ?then added, "Take ?it immediately. Don't even talk to them. They're hopeless. They're bad people ... They make so much money with us, and we're going to see that they make a lot less." The office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who leads a minority leftist government, said in a statement it was treating Trump's statements as "business as usual" and did not ?intend to change the "excellent" relations ?it enjoyed with Washington. It pointed ?out that Spain had a trade deficit with the U.S. and that economic ties were forged by private companies rather than governments, adding that as part of the customs ?and trade union, individual EU members could not be singled out. Trump has repeatedly expressed ?frustration with Spain ?after Sanchez, a Socialist, refused to let the U.S. use its airspace or bases on its territory for the Iran war. Washington jointly operates with Madrid two key military bases in southern Spain for naval and air operations. Spain is the ?world's ?largest olive oil exporter and also sells auto parts, steel, and chemicals ?to the United States, although analysts consider it to be less vulnerable to Trump's threats of economic punishment than other European economies.

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Here’s who could replace Platner if he drops out of Maine Senate race

All eyes have turned to a handful of Maine Democrats who could take the mantle as Graham Platner, the party’s current Senate nominee, faces growing pressure to withdraw from the marquee race over a sexual assault allegation. The latest allegation, which adds to a string of other controversies around the political newcomer’s bid, prompted the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm and other former backers of Platner, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), to withdraw their support and call for Platner to step aside. If Platner drops out by Monday, Maine’s Democratic Party could still field a new candidate ahead of November, even though the primary has passed. The state party would then have until July 27 to choose its replacement candidate. Here’s a look at some of the Maine Democrats floated as potential replacements for Platner:

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in Maine’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, is openly considering a bid to replace Platner. Jackson filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to form a Senate exploratory committee on Tuesday. He previously told the Bangor Daily News he believes he is the “best person” to fill Platner’s shoes. Platner, however, endorsed Jackson in the governor’s race, which could become a liability for Jackson should he choose to run for the upper chamber. Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Nirav Shah, who finished second to Democratic nominee Hannah Pingree, a former Maine House speaker, in the governor’s race, offered himself for consideration in a Tuesday social media post. Shenna Bellows, who as secretary of state will likely be front-and-center for procedural changes if Platner drops out, is another potential contender. A former state senator and executive director for the Maine branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Bellows has served as the state’s top election official since 2021. She was heavily involved in ballot initiatives around same-day voter registration and marriage equality — and she’s the first woman to hold the office in Maine.

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Measles outbreak confirmed at Arizona immigration detention center

Federal officials have confirmed seven active cases of measles at an Arizona immigration detention center, prompting quarantines and restrictions on visitation. The measles outbreak affects the Florence Detention Center, which includes Florence Service Processing Center and short-term holding facility Florence Staging Facility, an unnamed spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a Tuesday email to the Arizona Daily Star. Both facilities are run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which also handles medical and mental health care there. "ICE Health Services Corps immediately took steps to quarantine and control further spread and infection, ceasing all movement within the facility and quarantining all individuals suspected of making contact with the infected," the statement said. "All non-legal in-person visitation is currently suspended to protect the health and safety of the detainees, the staff, and the community."

Several ICE detainees suspected of coming in contact with someone with measles were held in quarantine last week at Eloy Detention Center, but no cases have been confirmed there, according to a spokesman for CoreCivic, the private for-profit prison company that operates both Eloy and the Florence Correctional Center. "CoreCivic follows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention measles protocols, including testing, quarantine, and monitoring procedures for individuals who may have been exposed prior to their arrival at our facilities, including our Eloy Detention Center and Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex," CoreCivic spokesman Ryan Gustin said in an email. "Based on the results of these protocols, we can report that there are currently no confirmed measles cases at either of these facilities." Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona, conducted an unannounced oversight visit to Eloy July 2 and reported hearing from staff that several detainees were in isolation for possible measles exposure.

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World Cup Daily recap: Argentina, Messi produce late magic; Switzerland sneak past Colombia

The quarterfinals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are now set, as the final two spots were decided Tuesday. The day began with Argentina embarking on a remarkable comeback against Egypt, fighting back from two goals down to win 3-2. In the late game, Colombia fell to Switzerland in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw.

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McConnell speaks to Republican leaders as speculation swirls about his health, remains hospitalized

The Senate’s top two Republicans have spoken individually to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, according to aides, as the former GOP leader remains in the hospital more than three weeks after being admitted for undisclosed health issues. Aides to McConnell have declined to release any information about his condition, fueling speculation about his prognosis and whether he will be healthy enough to be at the Capitol when the Senate returns to Washington next week after a two-week recess. McConnell, 84, is retiring at the end of his term in January. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he had spoken with McConnell by phone on Monday and that the two had a “lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security.”

As leader, Thune is generally kept up to date on illnesses and absences in his conference as he has to navigate vote counts and his narrow 53-47 majority. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, had a 20-minute conversation with McConnell on Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman. The two discussed Senate races ahead of the midterm elections, the Supreme Court and other topics, the statement said. “Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,” said Barrasso spokeswoman Kate Noyes. Another McConnell ally, Republican strategist Scott Jennings, posted on X that he had also talked to McConnell for 20 minutes on Tuesday, and that “he’s still recovering in the hospital.” Jennings said they spoke about politics, foreign policy “and even a little bit of Senate history.”

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Lead Stories

The Platner-induced headache for Schumer

In order for Senate Democrats to take the majority on Election Day, everything needs to go exactly according to plan. It’s not. Graham Platner, the untested 41-year-old oyster-farming darling of progressives, is no longer a viable Democratic candidate to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) this fall, putting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in an incredibly difficult position. After Politico and CNN both reported that Platner allegedly sexually assaulted Jenny Racicot, the DSCC and Senate Majority PAC said they’d no longer support his campaign. Republicans have already announced that they will spend $42 million in Maine defending Collins. Platner will have no backing from the Senate Democratic political machine.

Party leaders believe Platner will drop out of the race as soon as today, possibly even this morning. That would give Democrats just three weeks to find a new challenger to take on Collins. Much of the discussion about possible replacements for Platner is currently focused on other failed 2026 candidates. Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, epidemiologist Nirav Shah, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former congressional candidate Jordan Wood are all options, according to multiple sources. Jackson released a statement saying he believes Racicot and urged Platner to get out of the race. “There is no place in our politics for sexual violence,” Jackson said. “Not in our party, not in any party. Graham Platner must withdraw from this race today.” Retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden would be the top choice of many Democrats. But the four-term lawmaker has made clear he wants to leave Congress at the end of this year. Maine Gov. Janet Mills, whom Platner decisively defeated in the Democratic primary, is extremely unlikely.

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Push to regulate Texas data centers crimped by calendar

Top Texas leaders, including Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, want to slap more restrictions on data centers. But because the Texas Legislature isn’t expected to meet again until early next year, the state likely can’t do much to set limits on a new surge of data centers that’s expected to come online by late 2032. The issue is one of procedure — and timing. Next April, regulators at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, are expected to approve plans to allow a new wave of data centers — known collectively as “Batch Zero” — to connect to the Texas grid. Many of the data centers in Batch Zero have been in the works for years; some already are being built. State officials expect them to use a lot of energy.

All told, ERCOT estimates projects that meet Batch Zero requirements could request a combined 100 gigawatts of power, equal to the juice needed to power 25 million homes. To put that in perspective, there were 12.6 million homes in Texas as of 2024, according to the census. Not all Batch Zero projects will receive the full amount of power they’re requesting when they first come online. Some experts believe the actual power usage of Batch Zero projects will be closer to 20 to 50 GW. Still, it’s a lot of power. And these projects were set in motion at a time when there were few rules governing their construction and operation. That means that unless Texas legislators convene soon for a special session — or pass laws that apply retroactively, which carries its own risk — there’s little they can do to impose building requirements on these new data centers. That includes requiring setbacks or mandating water-efficient cooling techniques, said Chris Kirby, a partner at the Balch & Bingham law firm, who represents data center clients. Without a special session, Kirby said, April or May 2027 is probably the earliest a new data center guardrail bill could go into effect — and that would require a two-thirds vote in both statehouse chambers to expedite the law.

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Belgium ends Team USA’s World Cup run after political firestorm

The U.S. national team came into this World Cup with every conceivable home advantage. The Americans enjoyed automatic qualification and a gentle group as co-hosts. They encountered raucous, star-spangled crowds wherever they went. And, when necessary, they could count on a game-changing assist from the Oval Office. Even after presidential intervention helped the team’s top scorer back into the lineup, however, the U.S. couldn’t overcome its latest challenge on the field: the country of Belgium, the fifth-ranked team in Europe. On Monday evening, the Belgian Red Devils swept into Seattle and brought the American World Cup campaign to an untimely end with a 4-1 defeat in the round of 16. The U.S. had been playing to reach its first World Cup quarterfinal since 2002. But that detail was easily forgotten over the previous 24 hours as a stunning series of events placed the U.S. at the center of a global soccer firestorm.

“I think we were not good enough today,” U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We don’t need to find another excuse.” American striker Folarin Balogun had seen his suspension for an earlier red card lifted on Sunday, after President Trump spoke with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, prompting outrage and astonishment from a Belgian team that argued the U.S. was being given preferential treatment. FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, denied a Belgian appeal on Monday morning. And by kickoff later that afternoon, Balogun was walking out of the tunnel alongside his teammates. U.S. supporters gave him the loudest reception of any player when he was introduced while the Belgian fans booed. Some even waved red cards in the air. Unfortunately for the Americans, that was one of the rare occasions that Balogun electrified the crowd. He had no goals, and just three shots. His greatest contribution was drawing the foul that led to Malik Tillman’s free kick goal to make it 1-1 in the first half. That proved to be the last gasp for the American attack. Two minutes after they tied the game, Charles De Ketelaere headed home his second goal of the match to put the Belgians back on top.

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Toyota to move Tacoma production to Texas in $3.6 billion U.S. expansion plan

Toyota will spend $3.6 billion to bring production of its top-selling midsize pickup, the Tacoma, back to the U.S. by 2030, the Japanese automaker said Monday. The company plans to build a second assembly line for the Tacoma at the San Antonio plant where it currently assembles larger pickups and SUVs, adding 2,000 jobs, it said. Making more vehicles in the U.S. will help Toyota, the world’s top-selling automaker, defray a hefty tariff bill in its largest market. The company also needs more domestic capacity as it struggles to keep its U.S. dealers stocked with vehicles, said John Murphy, founder of advisory firm Murphy Automotive Partners. Toyota currently builds the Tacoma in roughly equal numbers at plants in Guanajuato and Baja California in Mexico. The Baja plant’s production will move to San Antonio when the expansion is complete in 2030, while the Guanajuato plant’s output will continue unaffected, the company said.

Toyota declined to comment on its plans for the Baja plant following the Tacoma’s exit. The Tacoma, launched in the mid-1990s, has long been the dominant seller in the midsize truck space. Its sales consistently dwarf those of competitors like the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet Colorado. The San Antonio plant previously assembled the Tacoma from 2010 to 2021, when the truck was fully moved to Mexico. The company already assembles its larger Tundra full-size pickup truck and Sequoia SUV in San Antonio, producing just shy of 200,000 vehicles annually. The plant currently employs about 3,700 people. The Tacoma line will add about 150,000 trucks to the plant’s annual output. Despite its extensive U.S. manufacturing presence—its popular models like the Camry, Corolla and RAV4 are made in America, among other locations—tariffs on parts, components and vehicles imported from Japan have sent Toyota’s profits sliding. The company’s North American division swung to a loss in the year ended in March after taking a 1.38 trillion yen, or about $8.5 billion, hit to operating income from U.S. tariffs. Murphy, the auto industry analyst, called that “bonkers.”

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State Stories

Supreme Court lets Texas restrict minors' access to app stores for the time being

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a Texas law prohibiting minors from downloading apps without their parent's consent to go into effect. Multiple organizations had sued the state, arguing that the law violates children's freedom of speech. But in an unsigned, unexplained order, the high court allowed Texas to enforce the law as lawsuits continue in lower courts. Texas enacted its App Store Accountability Act in 2025. The law requires app stores to verify all users' ages, and it prevents children under age 18 from downloading most apps without parental consent. Texas told a lower court that legislators enacted the law in order to keep minors from seeing "harmful" material.

Challengers argued that such a broad law is plainly unconstitutional under a variety of Supreme Court precedents, holding that children do have substantial free speech rights. Texas responded in its filings that the law regulates only "commercial speech" and so is less constitutionally protected. Nonetheless, the law has only a few exceptions for apps made by emergency services and the companies that oversee college entrance exams. Children must get parental approval before downloading all other apps, such as Instagram, library apps, and the apps of news organizations. A lower court initially blocked the law from going into effect, writing that the law "prohibits minors from participating in the democratic exchange of views online." But in June, a panel of judges on the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the law. On Monday, the Supreme Court left the law in place, at least for now. The law now returns to the lower courts for further litigation Utah, Louisiana, and Alabama have passed similar laws. This is not the first time the Supreme Court has dealt with a law banning children from accessing content online. Last year, the court upheld a Texas law that requires pornographic websites to verify users' ages. But the court has long treated children's access to pornography differently than other access questions. Monday's app store ruling does not necessarily mean that the law is constitutional — only that the law can be enforced while lawsuits make their way through the lower courts. That said, the court's refusal to intervene at this point is at least a tentative signal that favors the law.

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SpaceX president pledges stock to new Trump Accounts, with ‘bit more emphasis’ on Texas kids

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Monday she would donate a portion of her company stock to Trump Accounts for more than 2 million children in areas with lower average household income. The effort will place “a bit more emphasis” on children, between 11 and 17 years old, who live near her central Texas home, Shotwell wrote on X. Shotwell lives in Jonesboro, a rural community near a SpaceX facility that tests rocket engines, according to Forbes. “We have been fortunate in our careers and hope this gift encourages the next generation to continue the journey of enabling humanity to live and fly amongst the stars,” Shotwell said on X. SpaceX, which is based in Starbase outside of Brownsville, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shotwell owned nearly 12.7 million SpaceX shares when it became a publicly traded company last month, according to public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Her shares were worth roughly $2 billion during Monday’s trading. President Donald Trump celebrated the launch of Trump Accounts, a new federal savings program for children under the age of 18, by ringing a bell from the Oval Office to open trading on the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange Monday morning.

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Trulieve files plans for Texas medical cannabis dispensaries

A major medical marijuana company is preparing to debut in three cities in the Lone Star State, marking a significant expansion in the small number of businesses allowed to dispense cannabis in Texas. Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp. has filed renovation plans for storefronts in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. It already operates more than 250 dispensaries nationwide and announced in December that it had received conditional approval for a state Dispensing Organization license. “We are excited to be selected for a coveted Texas Dispensing Organization license and we look forward to working with regulators as we complete the licensing process,” Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers said at the time. “Pending necessary approvals, we plan to provide patients compassionate care and expanded access to high quality medical cannabis products.”

The Texas projects include a $250,000 build-out of a 4,060-square-foot space in Austin, a $200,000 build-out of a 1,324-square-foot space in Dallas and a $200,000 build-out of a 2,753-square-foot space in San Antonio, according to filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The Austin and San Antonio projects are scheduled to start July 20 and wrap up Sept. 11, while the Dallas project began June 22 and is expected to be finished Sept. 4. The company did not respond to a request for comment. Information in the state filings is preliminary and subject to change. Texas created the Compassionate Use Program in 2015, initially allowing low-THC medical cannabis for patients with intractable epilepsy. Lawmakers have since expanded the program to include conditions such as multiple sclerosis, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer and chronic pain, but recreational marijuana remains illegal in Texas. The Texas Department of Public Safety now lists just three active dispensary organizations and says it will issue 12 additional licenses under House Bill 46, passed in 2025. The Texas expansion comes after Trulieve reported first-quarter net income of $2.3 million on revenue of $287 million. The company also recently proposed reincorporating in Delaware from British Columbia, saying the move would better align its structure with its U.S. operations.

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Tesla leases Austin region's largest ever speculative industrial building at 682K sq. feet, sources say

What's believed to be the Austin region's largest speculative industrial building is off the market. Tesla Inc. has leased the 682,000-square-foot industrial building that is under construction at the Austin Hills Commerce Center at 11801 Decker Lake Road, about five miles from the company's gigafactory, several sources told the Austin Business Journal. It is unclear what Tesla, which has diversified well beyond carmaking, has planned for the Austin Hills Commerce Center building. Missouri-based Sansone Group broke ground on the building in March and it's expected to completed by January. The project, which is being co-developed with Iowa-based Principal Asset Management, will be the second phase of Austin Hills Commerce Center just off State Highway 130. Eventually, that project will total 1.4 million square feet.

The building is listed as "leased" on an updated brochure for the site. While it does not mention Tesla by name, Elon Musk's electrical vehicle company already occupies a nearly 300,000-square-foot building at the sprawling industrial park that is located on 134 acres in northeastern Travis County. All in all, Tesla already has nearly 2.2 million square feet of space leased throughout the Austin market, according to data provided by CoStar, which tracks real estate data throughout the country. The new lease would push Tesla to nearly 2.9 million square feet of industrial leases – easily making it among the biggest industrial tenants in the region. That presence expands outside of Austin and is in suburbs like Kyle and Taylor. Tesla also has over 10 million more square feet in the Austin area that it owns and built itself. In fact, the building continues. Next to the Tesla Gigafactory, Tesla is building a new factory that Musk said will make "not just Tesla’s biggest product, but the biggest product ever" — Optimus humanoid robots.

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Eckhardt says Huffines would politicize comptroller's office

Democratic comptroller nominee Sarah Eckhardt took aim at Republican rival Don Huffines during a recent appearance on Lone Star Politics, accusing him of wanting to politicize the office and questioning his judgment and experience. Eckhardt, a state senator from Austin, said the office, which oversees state finances and certifies the state budget, should serve taxpayers rather than political agendas. Huffines, a former state senator from Dallas who will become comptroller Aug. 1 after Gov. Greg Abbott appointed him to fill the vacancy, has pledged to run government lean and protect taxpayer dollars. Lone Star Politics has invited him to appear on the program.

Eckhardt called the comptroller “the most powerful statewide position that most people have never heard of” and said it should not be used to reward political allies or punish opponents. She accused Huffines of wanting to “weaponize the office” to advance conservative cultural priorities instead of serving all Texans. She criticized Huffines' plans to shrink state government through a Texas version of the federal Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. She said Texas is already among the nation's lowest-tax, lowest-spending states. “It is not time to DOGE state government,” she said. “It is time to invest in Texans.” Eckhardt contrasted her record as a prosecutor, Travis County judge and state senator with Huffines' business background, saying she had managed billions in public assets and cut taxes while maintaining services. She said Huffines is “best known for billboards and having secretly purchased the Epstein ranch,” before asking: “Who can you trust with your hard-earned tax dollars?” The Huffines campaign has said his family purchased property listed in a New Mexico public auction and that the sale's proceeds benefited Epstein’s victims.

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Daniel Wong sues Fort Bend County attorney over authority to remain interim county judge

The legal battle over who has the authority to serve as Fort Bend County's interim judge escalated Monday when Daniel Wong filed a lawsuit against Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Lawson-Smith, seeking to validate his interim appointment as judge and stop what his legal team calls a politically motivated effort to remove him from office. “I did not seek this lawsuit. I sought to do the job the district court entrusted me to do,” Wong said in a July 6 statement. “The people of Fort Bend County deserve certainty, stability, and a government focused on serving the public — not political disputes." Wong is the GOP nominee for county judge and will face Democratic nominee Commissioner Dexter McCoy in November's election. Wong was appointed to the role in April by a Galveston County district court judge after embattled Fort Bend County Judge KP George was suspended based on a civil lawsuit filed by a resident.

The civil lawsuit was later dismissed on June 17, after George was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days in county jail for money laundering. George was first elected as a Democrat in 2018. He switched parties last year as he planned to seek a third term in office. However, he placed last in the March Republican primaries. In the 58-page lawsuit filed in Fort Bend County's 240th Judicial District Court, Wong claims his appointment is still in effect, unless it is vacated by another court. The lawsuit also cites a law from the Texas Constitution called the “holdover provision,” which is a statute that allows appointed and elected officers to continue their duties in office until a successor is found. Wong’s lawsuit attempts to address several arguments Smith-Lawson and her office previously raised. In a June 25 letter to Wong’s attorney, Chris Hilton, Smith-Lawson argued that since the civil lawsuit against George was dismissed on June 17, the order appointing Wong as interim county judge was no longer valid.

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Catholic legal aid group for immigrants nears collapse as US withholds funds

For 40 years, a ministry of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso has provided legal assistance to hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Now, the ministry, Estrella del Paso, says the Trump administration’s refusal to pay more than $765,000 owed in reimbursements is pushing the organization to the edge of collapse. The lack of reimbursements since December 2025 has eaten up Estrella del Paso’s cash reserves and may force it to close altogether, said Melissa Lopez, the executive director of the nonprofit, formerly known as Diocesan Migrant Refugee Services. An April 2025 preliminary injunction by a California federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s plans to defund legal services for unaccompanied children. Shuttering Estrella del Paso would mean tens of thousands of immigrants would lose legal services, she said.

When asked what that would mean to people who rely on their legal assistance, Lopez gave a one-word answer. “Deportation.” “The system is so rigged against people right now that, without legal representation, they are very much at risk of being deported. That risk is high as it is, but in the case of not having any legal representation, that risk goes up exponentially,” Lopez said. Health and Human Services officials haven’t responded to a request for comment from El Paso Matters. A California federal judge has scheduled a July 16 hearing on a request by Estrella del Paso and other nonprofit providers of legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children to hold HHS in contempt of court for allegedly violating her injunction. The Trump administration has argued in court that government payments for legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children are discretionary, not mandatory. Serving over 40,000 people a year, Estrella del Paso is one of the largest providers in the nation of legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children and the largest provider of nonprofit immigration legal services in the El Paso region, Lopez said. “Frankly, there aren’t enough private attorneys to do the work that we do,” Lopez said. “We cover a huge portion of the work that has to be done in this region, and so, without Estrella, I think people would go without legal representation.”

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4 energy companies join ‘DExit’ movement, redomicile in Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth just claimed another slate of victories in the corporate exodus from Delaware. Four energy companies officially redomiciled from Delaware to Texas on Monday: Energy Transfer LP, Sunoco LP, SunocoCorp LLC and USA Compression Partners LP. All are major players in the oil and gas industry, and they announced the moves together on July 2. They each already call Dallas home, in a way. Their respective corporate headquarters are already located here. By redomiciling, they are changing the jurisdiction where their companies are registered to do business — effectively aligning the geography of their physical and legal footprints.

Though the changes are effective in both Delaware and Texas as of Monday, they are not considered effective for market purposes until July 13, in accordance with New York Stock Exchange guidelines that require 10 days of advance notice. The NYSE ticker symbols for each of the four companies will remain unchanged: ET, SUN, SUNC and USAC, respectively. The companies did not give a reason for their respective migrations in a joint news release. Representatives did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication. They join a growing contingent of corporate behemoths abandoning Delaware over the last year in search of greener pastures — which many have found in the Lone Star State. Delaware has been the nation’s corporate capital for over a century, thanks to a well-established legal system that offered stability through decades of precedent and jury-less rulings at the nation’s premier business court, as well as favorable tax and privacy policies.

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Texas took this Dallas couple's newborn baby for 3 weeks. A judge says their rights were violated

A Travis County judge ruled the state's child welfare agency violated the constitutional rights of a Dallas couple whose newborn daughter was temporarily taken into state custody for week after a hospital visit three years ago. Temecia and Rodney Jackson sued the Department of Family and Protective Services, the agency that houses Child Protective Services, last year. The parents say the department put them on the Central Registry — a public abuse and neglect database — without a clear way to appeal and get themselves removed. Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy ruled late last month two sections of the state administrative code used in the Jacksons’ case impair or interfere with the family’s constitutional due process rights.

One section states DFPS can label an investigation into alleged abuse as “unable to determine,” which means investigators could not rule out abuse or neglect, but the subject of investigation isn’t completely cleared of wrongdoing. The Jacksons argued the Central Registry process and the “unable to determine" label didn’t give the parents an opportunity to appeal the determinations and defend themselves. “That is a denial of procedural due process,” said Charelle Lett with the ACLU of Texas, which is helping represent the Jacksons in court. “And this court agreed that the Jacksons are entitled to that, and so is every other Texan that comes through this system.” KERA News reached out to DFPS for comment and will update this story with any response. CPS took baby Mila into custody after Baylor Scott and White Doctor Anand Bhatt reported the Jacksons for alleged medical neglect in 2023. Bhatt diagnosed 3-day-old Mila with jaundice during a routine postpartum checkup and believed she needed treatment in the hospital.

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Austin social services budget cuts target transportation, legal aid

Austin budget officials are proposing to phase in millions in planned cuts to the city’s social safety net spending over two years, with the steepest reductions aimed at programs such as transportation, legal services, basic needs and community planning. In a Thursday memo to Mayor Kirk Watson and City Council members, Austin Budget and Organizational Excellence Director Kerri Lang said a previously announced $16.8 million reduction to Austin’s $74.2 million social services contract portfolio should be spread out over the next two fiscal years. That would mean a $6 million to $8 million cut in the 2026-27 budget, followed by an additional $8.8 million in the 2027-28 spending plan, according to the memo.

The proposal comes days before City Manager T.C. Broadnax is expected to deliver a pared-down budget proposal to Austin City Council that must account for a $26 million projected deficit. The 11-member council may make amendments to that plan as it sees fit before adopting a final budget in late August. Broadnax zeroed in on social service spending late last year after Austin voters rejected Proposition Q, the council-backed tax rate election that would have raised property taxes to help fund a slew of initiatives, includingsocial services. In late February, City Council directed his office to develop a standardized rubric to help decide how to spread the cuts across services for Austinites in need. Thursday’s memo outlines much deeper reductions to certain categories of spending while noting staff are still refining recommendations. The preliminary plan would largely spare behavioral health, homelessness services and clinical services from the largest percentage cuts, while imposing steeper reductions on smaller categories. Transportation services could be reduced by up to 38%. Basic needs and legal services could each be cut by up to 35%. Family services could be reduced by up to 34%, while workforce development and HIV services could each face cuts of up to 32%. The city is also proposing to eliminate one service category entirely: community planning, which covers community-led planning efforts, civic engagement and neighborhood capacity building in historically underinvested areas. Staff identified it as a lower-priority investment area and proposed cutting its $251,431 budget by 100% in fiscal year 2026-27.

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Final Prairieland federal defendant sentenced to 6 years in prison, amid shooting's anniversary

The last defendant facing federal charges in connection with last year's Prairieland ICE detention center shooting was sentenced to six years in prison Monday. It comes just two days after the anniversary of an event that made national headlines as the first case of the Trump administration targeting "antifa" as domestic terrorism in federal court. Susan Kent, 24, was part of a group that met at a hotel in Cleburne to plan getting Benjamin Song away from the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado. Song was convicted in March for nonfatally shooting an Alvarado police officer outside Prairieland the night of July 4, 2025. He hid out in a sunflower field until the next day. Kent cooperated with prosecutors and testified at trial that she met Song through the Socialist Rifle Association, a left-wing firearm club. Kent said other defendants were part of an "antifa" cell.

KERA News reached out to Kent's attorney for comment and will update this story with any response. Antifa — short for "anti-fascist" — is an ideology, not a single organization of which one can be a part. For some, it’s become an umbrella term for far-left-wing beliefs like anarchism, socialism or communism. It’s also been associated with anti-Trump and anti-ICE beliefs in recent years. President Donald Trump designated the ideology a domestic terror threat in September. Kent testified she wasn't an anti-fascist, she said, but a libertarian who believed U.S. immigration policies needed reform. Kent also testified she went to a "gear check" at the home of defendants Autumn Hill and Meagan Morris' home in Dallas July 3, 2025. There, she said, Song had the group review photos of Prairieland. The group decided to bring guns to the detention center but find nonviolent ways to protest, she said.

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Matador Resources joint venture strikes $752 million deal for Delaware Basin Assets

In a $752 million agreement, San Mateo Midstream will acquire the operating subsidiaries of Cardinal Midstream Partners. San Mateo is a joint venture between Matador Resources Company and Five Point Infrastructure. Cardinal is a portfolio company of EnCap Flatrock Midstream. The acquisition is expected to expand San Mateo’s designed natural gas production capability to one billion cubic feet per day. San Mateo will also expand its gathering systems to over 800 miles of pipeline. The acquisition is expected to increase San Mateo’s customer base and revenue generation from third-party customers. Cardinal’s assets are expected to complement San Mateo’s existing natural gas gathering and processing systems, enabling easier movement of natural gas through the Northern Delaware Basin in New Mexico and West Texas.

Cardinal has a cryogenic natural gas processing plan complex in Loving County, with a capacity of 320 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. In addition, Cardinal has 145 miles of low-pressure and high-pressure natural gas gathering pipelines. “We believe that the integrated nature of the San Mateo and Cardinal infrastructure will create additional opportunities for San Mateo to pursue third-party volumes in the future,” said Brian J. Willey, San Mateo’s chairman of the board and the executive vice president of Midstream for Matador. “By connecting Cardinal’s natural gas gathering and processing assets to San Mateo’s existing natural gas system, San Mateo will have the ability to move natural gas throughout the northern Delaware Basin—north to south or south to north—creating better flow assurance and system flexibility that we believe few midstream providers can match.”

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Dallas County blocks release of autopsy report of Afghan asylum seeker who died in ICE custody in March

Dallas County is refusing to release the full autopsy report of an Afghan asylum seeker who died in ICE custody at Parkland Hospital in March, despite multiple public information requests. John Creuzot, the county's district attorney, has asked state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, to block the report's release, citing an ongoing federal criminal investigation. Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal's death certificate says he died from anaphylaxis and asthma as the result of an adverse drug reaction and ingestion of methamphetamine. It does not explain when the methamphetamine, an illegal drug, was ingested. Paktiawal, 41 at the time of his death, had no known allergies, according to his family, which said he did not use illegal drugs.

"My family has waited months to understand how my brother died, and we’re still waiting for [an] answer," Naseer Paktiawal, his younger brother, said. "Whatever they say on that certificate, whatever they put it on there, that’s not true, and that’s not what my brother deserves." According to AfghanEvac — a nonprofit that assists with the resettlement of Afghans who allied with the U.S. — an independent forensic pathologist hired by Hazeer’s family found “nothing remarkable” in his “underlying health for a man his age.” When the independent exam took place, Nazeer had already been embalmed, so no blood remained for toxicology testing, according to AfghanEvac. Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal, known among family and friends as Nazeer, fought alongside U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan for more than a decade before being resettled in Texas in 2021, after Kabul fell to the Taliban. He was seized by ICE outside his home near Dallas on March 13 and was dead less than 24 hours later. He leaves behind a wife and six children, all of whom his brother, Naseer, is now caring for in addition to his own family.

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Report: Family of migrant who died at Camp East Montana files lawsuit

A migrant detainee who died at Camp East Montana earlier this year told staff there that he was not getting the care he needed for his mental health issues, according to a report published in the Washington Post earlier this week. Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban national, died at Camp East Montana on Jan. 3. An autopsy report released by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Lunas Campos died from from asphyxia caused by neck and torso compression, with the manner of death ruled a homicide. The family of Lunas Campos has also filed suit against the guards and company that was running the facility at the time of his death. According to the Post, the family is seeking $1 million in damages.

Lunas Campos, who suffered from bipolar disorder and anxiety, had complained about not getting the right dosage of antidepressants, expressed suicidal thoughts to staff and reported giving himself a black eye by hitting his head against the wall, records obtained by the Washington Post show. Three months before he died, guards found Lunas Campos with a sheet tied around his neck, the Washington Post reported. Staff discussed moving him to “a higher level of care for mental health treatment,” but never did, the Washington Post reported. Lunas Campos’s struggles with mental health, the details of which have not been previously reported, provide context for the chaotic events surrounding his death on Jan. 3. What took place in his final moments, behind the walls of a privately run detention center, is the subject of conflicting accounts, with a witness claiming the 55-year-old Cuban immigrant was choked to death by guards and the Department of Homeland Security alleging he had been trying to take his own life and was killed in an ensuing struggle.

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National Stories

NATO showcases big arms deals in Ankara before summit with Trump

NATO leaders began unveiling arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars in Turkey on Tuesday, driving home the message that they ?are heeding U.S. calls to spend more to defend Europe before a summit with President Donald Trump. To upbeat tunes and slick videos at a defence industry forum in the capital Ankara, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced a series of initiatives, inviting a roll-call of representatives from NATO members to join the stage. The sum of various deal values was projected onto a screen. "We can do more when we do it ?together. And we must do more of it," Rutte said. "NATO allies are joining new multinational procurement coalitions. This really helps us get more of what you need ?across a range of capabilities." The deals, which had been mostly kept under wraps to make a splash at the summit, included European ?countries buying surveillance drones from U.S. company Northrop Grumman

The U.S. is also in talks with Germany and other nations about establishing joint ?production in Europe of missiles that are in high demand for the defence of Ukraine, a source told Reuters. The move followed growing concern in Washington about the capacity of U.S. ?weapons manufacturers to meet demand, as both the war on Iran and the war in Ukraine depleted U.S. arms stocks. Rutte also said NATO allies will invest more than $40 billion in the next five years in their anti-drone capabilities. The announcements add weight to Trump's frequent criticism of Europe for insufficient defence contributions and over-relying on the U.S. to defend them through NATO, which has protected the continent since the early ?years of the Cold War. Trump reinforced the message in a video previewing his visit on Truth Social, urging Europe to spend more on its own defence.

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FIFA’s red-card committee hits back after fury over Trump intrusion

FIFA’s disciplinary committee, the body that lifted American striker Folarin Balogun’s one-game suspension ahead of Monday’s U.S.-Belgium game, defended its decision in a statement released hours before kickoff in Seattle — but didn’t explain the rationale for making it. In the 13-paragraph statement, the committee explained the body’s rationale for reconsidering Balogun’s suspension. The review came after President Donald Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino last week to call for the soccer boss to take another look at the decision, after Balogun received a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Said suspension of the implementation was decided considering all of the specific circumstances surrounding the incident and evidence available,” the committee said, referring to the lifting of Balogun’s one-game ban. “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee (as any other FIFA judicial body) is independent as provided by the FIFA Statutes and the FIFA Disciplinary Code.” The committee also argued that by not overturning Balogun’s red card entirely, but instead merely suspending his one-game ban, it had applied a “much more balanced measure.” Soccer pundits had widely criticized the referee’s decision to send Balogun off during the last-32 encounter, but commentators, European politicians and soccer officials rounded on the move to let Balogun play against Belgium. Earlier Monday, UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, said that FIFA’s decision “crossed a red line,” adding that it was “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable.”

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Conservative fight against license renewals for ABC stations heats up

A group of prominent conservative organizations has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny license renewal requests from the eight local television stations owned and operated by ABC, accusing the network of political, racial and sexual bias and supporting the Chinese communist party. The petitions come after the commission, led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, took the nearly unprecedented step of requiring the network, a frequent recipient of attacks from Donald Trump, to apply several years early to maintain its ability to broadcast in markets around the country. While Carr has said the early license renewal process stems from an FCC investigation into ABC’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, petitioners are free to include a variety of grievances against the network and concerns about whether ABC is operating in the public interest.

The petitions – part of an open process that allows anyone to argue that ABC is not fit to hold publicly owned television licenses – came from groups like the Center for American Rights, which has played a significant role during Carr’s tenure atop the FCC agency as an initiator of complaints against major broadcast television networks. In a petition to deny filed last Monday, the group said the stations were not being operated “in the public interest” in part because ABC’s programs “show a consistent and overt partisan bias”, citing the group’s past complaints about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and the network’s moderation of a 2024 presidential debate, among other concerns. “ABC ignores long-standing Commission precedents and principles protecting the integrity of the news,” the group wrote. “ABC engages in explicit racial and gender discrimination. ABC cozies up to the Communist Chinese Party and airbrushes over religious and ethnic cleansing. ABC fails to respect this Commission’s rules.” The organization lobbied the FCC to deny ABC’s renewal requests and to call the matter for a hearing, “because the Petition and accompanying materials raise sufficient questions [about] whether ABC is operating in the public interest or remains worthy of the public trust”.

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Inside Trump’s ideological fight with the Smithsonian

Coming from the leader of almost any other major museum, the comments made around the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary by Lonnie G. Bunch III, the head of the Smithsonian Institution, would have seemed almost self-evident truths. The Smithsonian’s mission, Mr. Bunch told CNN last week, is to “?give you questions and answers that will make you understand the complexity of who we are as a nation” using “the best nonpartisan scholarship we have.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he said the institution was like the glue that holds the nation together. “Red states, blue states — whatever your politics, you come to the Smithsonian,” he said. But after more than a year of intense pressure from President Trump and his allies over what they term “improper ideology” in the Smithsonian’s presentation of American history and culture, Mr. Bunch’s comments amounted to a public glimpse into a far less diplomatic, behind-the-scenes battle for control of the institution.

The inside story of the fight for control of the Smithsonian underscores how Mr. Trump has tried, with varying degrees of success, to impose his own view of American history, erase “wokeness,” influence which artists are worthy of exhibits and oust top leaders of the institution. Mr. Bunch spent much of the past year seeking to fend off or mitigate escalating demands from the administration to address what a White House report, issued on Saturday amid the July 4 festivities, characterized as a drive that “has moved the museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country.” The blistering report focused on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It followed a March 2025 executive order from Mr. Trump, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” Mr. Bunch, the first Black secretary of the Smithsonian, has largely avoided engaging publicly with Mr. Trump’s criticisms. Without mentioning the president, he told CNN on Friday: “It scares me when people aren’t brave enough to face their history. And in some ways you have to face it anyway.”

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Meet 'Project 2029' — and its war on the annoyance economy

Imagine no more annoying robocalls. No more spam texts. No more hidden fees. No more jumping through hoops to cancel subscriptions or file an insurance claim. A group of Democratic policy veterans believes that daily annoyances like these have become a real economic problem. They even have a name for it: "the annoyance economy." Taking it on is one plank in a broader governing agenda they're assembling for a future Democratic president. They're calling it "Project 2029." Sound familiar? If you followed politics at all in 2024, you probably heard about Project 2025. Released by The Heritage Foundation, it laid out a conservative policy blueprint for a second Trump administration. Democrats attacked the project nonstop as extreme, and Trump distanced himself from it on the campaign trail.

But what had looked like an election liability became a governing asset: The Trump administration came into office with a ready-to-go policy agenda and quickly began pursuing many of Project 2025's proposals. That experience apparently left an impression on the other side of the aisle. Project 2029 aims to give a future Democratic president a similarly ready-to-go governing blueprint. And I recently learned that a former classmate of mine, Chad Maisel, is the executive director of the effort, so I called him up. Maisel previously served as a special assistant to President Biden on the White House Domestic Policy Council. "I think the lesson from Project 2025," Maisel says, "is just the importance of preparation." He wants a future Democratic president to "have a bookshelf full of really bold, transformational ideas" that are ready to be deployed on their first day in office. Project 2029 is still in its early stages. They'll be releasing proposals on a rolling basis over the next year or so. Much of what they've previewed so far is what you'd probably expect from Democrats in today's economy: ideas to lower child care costs, make health care and housing more affordable, reduce energy bills, protect kids online.But the Project 2029 proposal that immediately caught our attention was the one to take on the annoyance economy. The annoyance economy is a catch-all term referring to a slew of frustrating business practices that waste our time and money. Think hidden fees that appear only at checkout. Jumping through hoops to cancel a subscription.

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As Israel becomes Democratic litmus test, Jewish progressives warn about a tilt into antisemitism

Rep. Becca Balint helped Sen. Bernie Sanders craft and lead efforts to cut US arms sales to Israel, wrote an op-ed calling Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide” and has stood proudly with fellow progressives for two decades. But Balint was wincing last week as she stood on the steps of the Capitol, recounting the warning she gave her congressional staff. “I know at some point there will be a day of reckoning, because I still believe that Jews should have a homeland,” the Vermont Democrat told CNN. “There will be people, I think some of my own supporters, who will turn on me, because I still believe in a two-state solution. I still do. I still believe that Israel should be safe and secure. I believe that the Palestinians have been so ill-treated for so long and deserve a safe and secure homeland. I do not believe Israel should be dismantled.”

Balint described being “shaken to my core” watching the video of Scott Wiener, the California state senator running for retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s seat, recently being hounded out of a transgender rights event with angry shouts including, “You stopped being queer the moment you started supporting Israel, you piece of sh*t!” She described a familiar ache. Like the people who tell her that homophobia doesn’t exist and then ask her what it means that she’s a lesbian. Like the House Democratic colleague she wouldn’t name who she says came to a bipartisan antisemitism taskforce meeting and said, “I didn’t really think there was any antisemitism anymore, because all the Jews are rich.” Like the people who accuse Jewish politicians of having dual loyalty. For many liberals, longtime policy priorities like universal healthcare or stopping climate change are now intertwined with opposing Israel. An ascendant faction of the left argues there’s no such thing anymore as “progressive except for Palestine” — a phrase that took off in the years following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack and the ensuing war in Gaza — and sees opposition to Israel as a Democratic litmus test.

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U.S. agencies seized more than 600 drones near World Cup sites

U.S. agencies have seized over 600 drones near FIFA World Cup venues and fan zones since the start of the tournament on June 11, the Transportation Security Administration said on Monday. On match days, all aircraft operations, including drones, are prohibited within a radius of three nautical miles and up to 3,000 feet (914 meters) above ground level around the stadiums unless specifically authorized by air traffic controllers. The FBI said drones have been seized from restricted airspace across all 11 U.S. host cities. The FBI said that 130 drones had been seized in Miami alone, and over 70 in Dallas during five matches. The Federal Aviation Administration has barred drones from flying over matches and related fan gatherings across the United States.

At fan gatherings, drones are barred within a one-nautical-mile radius and up to 1,000 feet above ground level. Drone operators who enter restricted airspace without approval can face fines of up to $100,000, along with criminal charges and confiscation of their drone, the FBI said. The FBI has teams stationed around World Cup stadiums to detect and disable unauthorized drones. Cristobal Torres Alvarez, a 40-year-old Mexican national, was charged last week with flying a drone in restricted airspace around Dallas Stadium ahead of a match. In 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bolster U.S. defenses against threatening drones, and the Homeland Security Department has installed new counter-drone defense systems at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. There have been numerous drone incidents in prior years over major U.S. sporting events. In 2025, a man pleaded guilty after he was charged with violating defense airspace by flying a drone over a National Football League playoff game in Baltimore.

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The Hill prematurely publishes McConnell obit

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not passed away, at least according to current news reports — but The Hill accidentally published an article clearly intended to be embargoed until he has. The article in question, screenshotted and posted to X ahead of its removal, was titled, "A lookback at Mitch McConnell's time in the Senate," but was prefaced by an all-caps warning to site editors, saying, "DO NOT USE." McConnell, a decades-long titan in the Senate who previously served as Republican Leader, has been in the hospital for weeks, after he was reportedly discovered "unconscious and unresponsive" in his home, given CPR for cardiac arrest, and taken by advanced emergency support team.

Few details have been released publicly about his condition since then, although some sources have insisted he is "recovering." This comes after Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer with close ties to the White House, alleged with no evidence that sources told her McConnell is "officially brain dead," something that no other source has corroborated. This is not the first time in the last few weeks that a major story was erroneously published and retracted. NPR's Nina Totenberg came under fire last week after publishing an article announcing the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who as of this writing has not retired.

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Lockheed Martin is covering the cost of Trump’s White House helipad

President Donald Trump said on Monday morning that an American company owned by Lockheed Martin would take on the cost of building a helipad at the White House, one of the president’s many construction projects across Washington as he moves to leave his imprint on the nation’s capital. He singled out Sikorsky, the manufacturer of the fleet of Marine One helicopters used by the White House for decades, as the reason such a project was needed in the first place — arguing that the company’s new, more powerful aircraft had torn up the historic South Lawn and sent chunks of sod flying to the doorstep of the Oval Office. He claimed that the donation, which Lockheed Martin confirmed in a statement to NOTUS, was made because the company felt bad about the damage.

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