Lead Stories

Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations in Iran

The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, U.S. officials said, as thousands of American soldiers and Marines arrive in the Middle East for what could become a dangerous new phase of the war should President Donald Trump choose to escalate. Any potential ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion and could instead involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, said the officials. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss highly sensitive military plans that have been in development for weeks. Such a mission could expose U.S. personnel to an array of threats, including Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives. It was unclear Saturday whether Trump would approve all, some or none of the Pentagon’s plans.

The Trump administration in recent days has vacillated between declaring that the war is winding down and threatening to amplify it. While the president has signaled a desire to negotiate an end to the conflict, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned Tuesday that if the regime in Tehran does not end its nuclear ambitions and cease its threats against the United States and its allies, Trump is “prepared to unleash hell” against them. In a statement responding to questions for this report, Leavitt said: “It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the Commander in Chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the President has made a decision.” Discussions within the administration over the past month have touched upon the possible seizure of Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub in the Persian Gulf, and raids into other coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz to find and destroy weapons that can target commercial and military shipping, officials said. One person said that the objectives under consideration would probably take “weeks, not months” to complete. Another put the potential timeline at “a couple of months.”

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

Democrats spend big but face tough fight in Virginia gerrymandering battle

The battle over congressional maps in Virginia, the latest in the nationwide clash over mid-decade redistricting in the lead-up to this year’s midterm elections, is intensifying with a statewide referendum only weeks away. Tens of millions of dollars have poured into the state to fund campaigns for and against the referendum, which takes place on April 21 and will decide whether Democrats can redraw the state’s map to flip as many as four U.S. House seats currently held by Republicans. The vast majority of the money has flowed in on the Democratic side. With early voting already underway, the evidence so far points to surprisingly healthy turnout and a relatively close outcome, potentially much closer than the California vote for redistricting was in November.

The stakes are significant: If Virginians approve an amendment that would allow redistricting, Democrats could fight their way to a rough draw in the country’s gerrymandering war. The Virginia delegation in the U.S. House is currently made up of six Democrats and five Republicans; the map proposed by Democratic leaders would give Democrats an advantage in 10 of the state’s 11 districts. Coupled with the new maps that voters in California approved in November, the new Virginia seats would cancel out most, if not all, of the Republican redistricting gains made last year in states including North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri and Texas, where President Trump and state Republicans kicked off the mid-decade gerrymandering scramble. Florida Republicans may still redraw their state’s map to give their party more seats, which could lead to a slight Republican advantage heading into the midterms. But the big wild card is that the U.S. Supreme Court could vote to gut a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and if the ruling came in the spring, it would almost certainly set off further rounds of redistricting before November. So far in Virginia, the main Democratic-aligned effort, Virginians for Fair Elections, has heavily out-raised the main Republican-aligned effort, Virginians for Fair Maps. Over $33 million has flowed into Virginians for Fair Elections, mostly from dark-money groups that are not required to disclose their donors.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Could parts of New Mexico become Texas? Lawmakers are exploring it

The study ordered last week by House Speaker Dustin Burrows to examine whether Texas could actually gobble up some of the counties on the eastern rim of New Mexico has some political figures seeing red. Burrows, R-Lubbock, is following up on a proposal being floated in the New Mexico Legislature that would allow counties in the state that share a border with Texas to, in effect, switch sides. And it just so happens that every one of those counties voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2024, while New Mexico as a whole gave its five electoral votes to Democrat Kamala Harris by a comfortable 52%-46% margin. Let's make clear from the outset that the annexation by Texas of one or more of the five counties looks iffy at best. It would require a vote of the people in the counties affected — and an act of Congress.

As might be expected, the Democratic leaders in charge of New Mexico are not about to willingly hand over giants swaths of land in their part of the oil-rich Permian Basin, even if it would mean ridding themselves of some or all of the 36,000 voters in those counties who cast their ballots for Trump. “Let me put this into terms Speaker Burrows might be able to understand: Come and try to take it,” New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez said in a Friday report by the Santa Fe New Mexican, invoking one of Texas' many unofficial slogans. “New Mexico isn’t afraid of a fight." Burrows' direction to the committee he charged with exploring the matter stopped well short of fighting words. Actually, they were more on the lawyerly side. The panel, he said, should examine the “constitutional, statutory, fiscal and economic implications” of such an annexation. Admittedly, 36,000 votes — plus the 10,000 that went for Harris — is just a fraction of the 11 million Texans who went to the polls in the last presidential election. But the numbers could make a difference on the margins in state legislative districts, especially around El Paso, where Democrats dominate.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Nexstar-Tegna deal on ice after judge issues temporary restraining order

A judge late on Friday temporarily paused a planned merger between media companies Nexstar and Tegna, throwing a wrench into plans blessed by President Donald Trump to establish the country’s largest television company. In his 14-day temporary restraining order, U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley, an Obama appointee, sided with DirecTV, which claimed in a lawsuit filed last week that Nexstar’s $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna is an endeavor to “drive up the price it can extract from DIRECTV and other distributors,” enact mass layoffs and reduce competition. “Here, the Court agrees with Plaintiff that Defendants’ integration efforts are exactly those that would make it more difficult to divest TEGNA stations, eliminate competition, and result in newsroom layoffs and shutdowns,” Nunley wrote in his Friday ruling.

Eight states — New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia — sued to block the merger in a separate filing on the same day as DirecTV’s. But just hours later, the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger, bypassing a longstanding cap on the number of viewers a broadcaster can reach nationwide and angering some of the president’s conservative media allies. The merger is on pause until April 7, when Nunley scheduled an in-person hearing to divine the future of the potential acquisition. The two companies are barred from further integration until then. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the stalled deal may well draw the ire of the president, who wrote on Truth Social in February that a merger of the two companies would help buttress against “THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks.” “Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar - Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level,” Trump wrote.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

Is Trump losing his grip on the stock market? Sustained declines suggest the president’s influence has waned.

President Donald Trump has a reputation for trying to curry favor with investors. But on Friday, some Wall Street strategists were wondering if he might be losing his grip on the market. U.S. stocks tumbled, with the S&P 500 SPX booking a fifth straight week in the red. The index hadn’t fallen for five straight weeks since May 2022, when it tallied seven in a row, according to FactSet data. Investors’ belief in Trump’s eagerness to de-escalate the Iran conflict has kept the stock market from even larger losses in March, Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, told MarketWatch. Still, as the conflict drags on, some have started to worry there’s no end in sight.

“Psychologically, it’s draining,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Wealth Management, in a phone interview Friday. “Markets are grappling with the fact that they expected this to be over on short order.” Recently, some have even begun to wonder whether Trump’s ability to reassure investors by telling them what they want to hear might be starting to wane. Markets this week have been whipsawed by developments surrounding the Iran conflict, with investors at times encouraged by progress toward ending the fighting yet unable to shake off worries about Iran blockading the shipment of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz. “The risk is that constant flip-flopping and headline fatigue is starting to seriously undermine the efficacy of the ‘Trump put,’ ” Barclays analysts said in an equity research note Friday. “The situation remains fluid and rather confusing.”

Read this article at Market Watch - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Wait times at IAH dip below an hour Saturday morning

As dozens of ice agents arrived in waves around 7 a.m. Saturday at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, travelers faced shorter wait times as the government shutdown stretched into its 43rd day. According to the airport's website, wait times had dropped below an hour as of 8:45 a.m. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday afternoon to pay Transportation Security Administration employees who haven't been paid for weeks during a partial government shutdown. Many of those unpaid TSA agents have quit or called off, leading to hourslong security wait times at airports, including Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Houston Airport Systems, which manages the two major airports, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Texas' Paxton says Cornyn not doing enough for Save America Act

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Saturday criticized U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for not fighting hard enough to pass the Save America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship when registering to vote and photo identification at polling places. “John doesn’t care about passing it, or he would be insisting that his brothers and sisters in the Senate not be on recess and on vacation for two weeks, when the president is begging them to pass this legislation,” Paxton said Saturday during a breakfast meet and greet he staged at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine. Cornyn’s campaign was quick to react to Paxton, calling him a “liar” and adding that Cornyn is an original co-sponsor of the bill.

“Ken Paxton has lied to his staff, to taxpayers, to his colleagues and to his own family, so it should be no surprise he’s lying here too,” said Matt Mackowiak, a spokesman for Cornyn. Passage of the Save America Act has become an issue in the bruising Senate campaign between Cornyn and Paxton. After finishing a close second to Cornyn in the March 3 primary, Paxton said he would consider dropping from the runoff if the Senate approved the legislation, which would be a longshot because opponents could filibuster to block it. Immediately after the March 3 result, President Donald Trump appeared poised to endorse Cornyn, writing in a social media post that the candidate not getting his backing must drop from the race. After Paxton linked passage of the Save America Act as a potential condition for ending his Senate bid, Trump held off on making an endorsement. Earlier this month Cornyn dropped his opposition to getting rid of the filibuster, an action political analysts say was designed to mollify Trump.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

A war zone, minus the war: One year into the military buildup of the U.S.-Mexico border

On a warm, winter Sunday, the Playas de Tijuana in Mexico is filled with families picnicking. The beach here presses right up against the border wall with the United States. Music blares, teenagers film TikTok videos next to the 30-foot high fence, which is covered in painted murals on the Mexican side—butterflies, faces, human hands reaching out. Looking through the slotted wall to the American side, the beach is barren. On the other side of the wall is barbed concertina wire, and then another tall fence, also ringed with wire. It’s a scene from a war zone, minus the war. In between the two walls, white Jeep pickup trucks with U.S. Marines in full camouflage and battle helmets circle occasionally, watching the beachgoers; as the sun sets, a single Marine slowly walks toward the ocean and back, holding an M-38. But for the most part, the no-man’s-land between the walls is empty.

Days earlier, armed Border Patrol agents in military fatigues unleashed tear gas canisters on protesters in Minneapolis, 2,000 miles northeast from here. Both the Minnesota National Guard and active duty troops were ordered to prepare to deploy to the city in America’s heartland. “We all have been expecting this to happen,” said Jacqueline Cordero, who helps organize humanitarian supply drops in the mountains and desert east of San Diego. “Basically the border spreading to the rest of the country.” It’s been a year since President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, but amid far-flung domestic deployments, dozens of deadly Caribbean boat strikes, and now a war in Iran, the U.S.-Mexico border has in many ways become a forgotten emergency—a military buildup that persists, as others have before it, long after public attention has turned elsewhere. Trump campaigned on the southern border, painting a picture of a region overrun with violent criminals. On Inauguration Day in January 2025, he declared the magnitude of the crisis required a military response. The resulting deployment—more than 20,000 troops in the past year from the most expensive fighting machine on the planet—has no end in sight. “Our job, our role here on the border, is to gain full operational control,” said Lt. Col. Max Ferguson, who directed Joint Task Force Southern Border’s operations through September of last year. “Detect, respond, interdict, and ensure that nobody is doing illegal crossings from south to north into the United States.”

Read this article at The Border Chronicle and The War Horse - Subscribers Only

Travis DA's office accused of withholding key evidence in 2020 protest case

A defense attorney attempting to get a criminal case against an Austin police officer dismissed is now asking a judge to take a step further: examine whether the prosecutors who brought the case violated the law. APD Officer Chance Bretches was indicted in 2022 on charges of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury by a public servant and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant due to his use of less-lethal “bean bag” ammunition against protesters during the May 31, 2020, demonstrations outside the Austin Police Department headquarters. A subsequent indictment added additional counts, including deadly conduct and assault.

Bretches’ attorney Doug O’Connell has filed a motion to dismiss the charges, alleging District Attorney José Garza’s office failed to disclose key information that could have supported his defense. The defense also asks the court to initiate a court of inquiry, a rarely used process that allows a judge to investigate whether a public official may have committed a criminal offense. The defense alleges prosecutors held 2023 meetings with city officials about whether the city of Austin itself could face charges tied to police actions during the 2020 protests. The defense argues that information should have been disclosed because it supports their theory that responsibility for what occurred may extend beyond individual officers to broader decisions about training, supervision, and equipment. Instead, the motion alleges, that information was withheld. “For three years, the District Attorney’s Office has hidden evidence that they intended to indict the City of Austin,” the filing states, alleging prosecutors conducted “secret negotiations with the City” while failing to disclose them to the defense.

Read this article at Austin Chronicle - Subscribers Only

As DART struggles, how are other U.S. public transit agencies faring?

Dallas Area Rapid Transit narrowly escaped a slate of six withdrawal elections that could have shrunk the public transportation system significantly this year, exposing challenges the agency faces in providing bus, train and other transit services over a sprawling region. While those struggles were magnified by the consideration of city elections to leave the agency, three of which will go forward May 2, the challenges in funding and governing public transit in North Texas are not unique. “They’re happening everywhere,” said Nadine Lee, DART’s outgoing CEO who has worked for transit agencies in California and Colorado. Transit systems across the country saw a 40% decrease in ridership during the pandemic, said Randy Machemehl, professor of transportation engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Service was reduced and routes were cut in some cases. Ridership has increased since then, but Machemehl said it’s still struggling.

“It didn’t come back very quickly because a lot of the people … had to get to work. So they found another way,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to get those guys to come back.” As agencies recover from that recent blow, issues of regional collaboration, local needs and limited funding have come to a head in sprawling, fast-growing metro areas ill-suited for efficient mass transit. From coast to coast, local governments are grappling with the glaring public transportation question. In the Denver area, the Regional Transportation District serves more than 3 million people over 2,345 square miles — for comparison, DART’s service area spans 700 square miles. Created in 1969 by the Colorado Legislature, RTD is governed by a 15-member publicly elected board of directors and is funded mainly by a 1% sales tax on purchases made within the district. Michael Davies, government relations officer at RTD, said he sees similarities between DART’s situation and Denver’s. Just like in Texas, it’s hard for the Colorado agency to balance regional needs with local ones, especially as cities grow and ask for a clearer return on investment for their tax dollars.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

Ted Cruz prepares for midterm as Texas takes center stage at CPAC

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz warned on Saturday that Democrats would dismantle Republican victories and try to impeach President Donald Trump if they win control of Congress in November. Speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Cruz said Republicans have gained historic victories, from a sweeping crackdown on immigration to changes in the tax policy, since Trump took office in January 2025. Democrats, Cruz said, “want to tear this country down.” Cruz was among a slate of Texas lawmakers and politicians to address CPAC, one of the most influential conservative gatherings in the country, on the final day of the conference. They sought to frame Texas as both the nation’s leader and its ideological brainchild. Cruz portrayed the Republican party as a group of blue-collar workers and populists, blasting Democrats as coastal elites who are out of touch with the average American.

The senator did not mention Democrat James Talarico, a Texas state representative who is running to flip the Senate seat currently held by incumbent John Cornyn. Instead, he singled out California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who he joked “should be named Texas realtor of the year.” “Nobody in history has sold more homes in the state of Texas than Gavin Newsom,” Cruz said. Cruz is considered a potential Republican contender to run for president in 2028; Newsom is one of the leading contenders on the Democratic side. In his address Saturday, Cruz repeatedly praised Trump — who skipped CPAC this year for the first time in a decade — on foreign policy, jobs and economic prosperity and national security. “The world is safer when the president is strong and our enemies are afraid,” Cruz said. Republicans could face a difficult landscape in November, with the party in power typically losing seats in the House of Representatives and often the Senate in midterm elections. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in March found Trump’s approval rating fell to 36%, the lowest number since he returned to the White House in January 2025.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Texas on 'different planet' after Sweet 16 blowout win over Kentucky

No. 1 seed Texas advanced Saturday to the women's Elite Eight, about 190 miles from its campus in Austin. But Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks placed the Longhorns in another location. "They were on a different planet today," Brooks said after Texas' 76-54 win at Dickies Arena. "Especially that first quarter. They came out, and they were aggressive. They play right to the rules. The rules allow a certain level of physicality. They play right to it. They don't go over it. They play right to it. "Today, I thought they did a tremendous job of pushing us off of our mark. Their transition was really good. I think it was a combination of their transition offense being really good and our transition defense not being so good. They capitalize on everything."

Texas led 29-11 after the first quarter and 48-26 at halftime. There was no coming back for Kentucky, which lost to Texas 64-53 on Feb. 9 in SEC play. This is the fifth time in the past six seasons that Texas has advanced to at least the Elite Eight. Last season, the Longhorns made the Final Four for the first time since 2003. That accomplishment has carried over to this season. "Experience does help a lot ... you know what's at stake," said Texas senior guard Rori Harmon, who had 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals. "You know how to control the game. I can't say we've had this type of urgency throughout the whole season, though, because the urgency has to change when it comes to March." But the Longhorns had enough urgency to finish tied for second in the SEC and beat fellow NCAA No. 1 seed South Carolina in the league tournament championship game. As big of an accomplishment as that was, though, Texas coach Vic Schaefer said the level the Longhorns have played at for their three NCAA tournament wins is something greater. "It is our best basketball of the year," Schaefer said.

Read this article at ESPN - Subscribers Only

TCU women installed as massive underdogs against No. 1 seed

TCU women’s basketball has been favored in every game of the NCAA Tournament so far, but that won’t be the case in the Elite Eight on Monday. Top-seeded South Carolina (34-3) is an early 13.5-point favorite over No. 3 TCU (32-5) in the Sacramento 4 regional final at 8 p.m. Monday in Sacramento, California. South Carolina is -1000 on the money line — a bet on who will win the game regardless of the point spread — which implies a 91% chance of victory. The total — the combined points scored by both teams — is set at 132,5. The Gamecocks crushed No. 4 Oklahoma 94-68 in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, while TCU pulled away for a 79-69 win over No. 10 Virginia. South Carolina has gone to five straight Final Fours, winning two championships during that run, under coach Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks also won the national title under Staley in 2017. TCU has reached its second straight Elite Eight in the two best seasons in program history.

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

Dallas city manager confirms Mavericks meeting after team CEO says City Hall talks started last year

Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert confirmed she met with the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars about the teams' "futures in Dallas" following comments made by Mavericks CEO Rick Welts that the team was approached about the City Hall property more than a year ago. Welts made the comments on Friday during a sports economic panel hosted by the Greater Dallas Planning Council, The Dallas Morning News reported. According to the News, Welts said Tolbert approached the Mavericks “over a year ago” about the possibility of the City Hall site being available for the team’s new arena. The team is expected to leave American Airlines Center after summer of 2031.

“Since being named Interim Dallas City Manager and subsequently appointed to the permanent role, I have met with representatives of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars regarding their futures in Dallas," Tolbert said in a statement. "These discussions have included the teams’ need for a modern fan-friendly arena experience." She added, "Regarding discussions about the future of city hall, the Dallas City Council directed me to explore options, including the disposition of the City Hall site. It is our practice not to negotiate in the media.” Residents have speculated that the Dallas Mavericks could be eyeing 1500 Marilla St. as a potential site for its future arena for months. Earlier this month, Welts told the News there was "no project to talk about until the city would signal to us that there’s something to talk about." Assistant City Manager Robin Bentley told council members this month that the Mavericks have been eyeing downtown, but they have not heard anything from the team. City staff are currently looking into options for redevelopment of the City Hall site, real estate options for relocating or leasing, and repair plans for the current City Hall property. Discussions over the future of City Hall started late last year when city staff revealed the building had millions of dollars of deferred maintenance. A study conducted by the Dallas Economic Development Corporation and engineering consultant AECOM estimate it could cost the city up to $1 billion to fully repair and update the building.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

One detained after 'punches thrown' during Dallas 'No King's' protest, police say

One person has been detained during today's "No Kings" demonstration, according to Dallas Police. Police have not released the name of the individual detained, nor provided details on what led to the arrest. WFAA's helicopter captured video of an incident between demonstrators and counter-protesters during a march in Downtown Dallas. WFAA's Luke Cleary said a witness told him that "punches were thrown" between the two groups. Thousands across the nation participated in the protests, several of which were held here in North Texas.

The first official 'No Kings' protests were held Saturday, June 14, and were organized during a military parade in Washington for the 250th anniversary of the Army, which coincides with Trump's birthday, as the Associated Press reported. Since then, several more nationwide protests have been held. Thousands of people showed up to the many protests back in June, WFAA previously reported.

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‘It’s top tier.’ With $260 million in funding, professional volleyball is booming in Texas — and fans are watching.

On a Wednesday night in February at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, purple foam fingers swayed in the air during LOVB Austin’s third home game of the season. As the inaugural-season champions, the pressure was on for Austin to beat LOVB Atlanta. After a long rally, University of Texas alum Madisen Skinner scored a winning kill for Austin. As the ball hit the floor, cheers erupted from the standing crowd. LOVB, pronounced “love,” stands for League One Volleyball — and it’s making a splash in Texas. The league currently has six teams and began having matches in 2025 in Austin and Houston. It’s one of three major volleyball leagues that have launched recently in the U.S. There’s some serious money involved; in 2024, LOVB reported raising a total of $160 million in funding, including donations from prominent athletes such as NBA player Kevin Durant and the WNBA’s Candace Parker.

The growing number of volleyball fans is a nationwide trend. ESPN reported “more than 1.3 billion minutes watched across ESPN platforms” for the women’s 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament, the highest to date. The sport is also seeing more young players signing up. According to USA Volleyball, 2024 marked a 40% increase since 2013-14 in the number of girls ages 11-18 registered with clubs. “I think volleyball has just been on the trajectory for a while to have a pro league here in the U.S.,” said Audrey Tuttle, marketing and communications manager for LOVB Austin. Both Austin and Houston made sense to have pro volleyball teams: Austin is home to the Texas Longhorns, who have won two NCAA Championships in the past four years, and Houston hosts the Houston Skyline, named the top club in the nation in 2024 by USClubRankings. “Volleyball is huge here in this state, and both teams are very, very competitive,” Tuttle said. “There’s definitely a little bit of a fun rivalry that is going right now.” LOVB isn’t the only volleyball outlet to stake a claim to Texas. Another pro league, Major League Volleyball, has the Dallas Pulse, which began playing this year.

Read this article at The Barbed Wire - Subscribers Only

Austin looks to change zoning rules to allow for smaller, more affordable homes

City of Austin staff will spend the next year exploring how the creation of new zoning districts could add more affordable housing to the market. The resolution approved by Austin City Council on Thursday asks staff to research the zoning districts that would allow for smaller housing options like townhomes, cottage courts and small-scale, multi-unit buildings. This is sometimes referred to as "missing middle housing." The resolution also includes direction to research more mixed-use developments, which combine housing and commercial opportunities.

Council Member Paige Ellis, who authored the resolution, said this builds on the city’s past efforts to expand home-building options in ways that create walkable and transit-focused areas. “Over the past 40 years, less than 1% of the housing built in Austin has been 'missing middle,' and I think they are really good uses of property,” Ellis said. “I think they create walkable neighborhoods and are more environmentally sustainable than some of the other options.” Ellis is drawing from a January study that found Austin’s current housing stock is limited outside of single-family homes or large apartment complexes. That is because the city’s 1984 land development code — the rule book for what and where things can be built — largely supports those two housing types.

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National Stories

Frustrated travelers hear a new message from airports: Don’t get here so early

Maybe Dad was right about getting to the airport early. But it turns out there’s still such a thing as TOO early. Travelers panicked by scenes of never-ending lines at U.S. airport security checkpoints and frustrating tales of missed flights over the past few weeks are now showing up way before their departures. Some airports where the wait times have been manageable say those early birds are only adding to the misery — and in some cases causing other passengers to get to their gate too late. In Ohio, John Glenn International Airport in Columbus is warning passengers against arriving hours in advance, even creating a chart showing when to show up: “90 minutes before departure is all you need.”

The airport says those premature arrivers — reacting to the funding standoff on Capitol Hill that’s creating crowded security checkpoints — are making things worse by creating bottlenecks during peak times. “Arriving too early can actually create longer lines right when we open,” the airport said in a social media post Thursday. “Spacing out arrival times helps keep things moving smoothly for everyone.” In some ways, the airport chaos is turning into a full circle moment for “Airport Dad” — a humorous TikTok and social media take on the dad who always makes sure the family is out the door, parked, through security and positioned at the correct gate well before anyone else, with paper boarding passes in hand. Airline customers aren’t laughing, at least right now. They’re facing record wait times in a jumbled environment — the modern American airport — that can serve up assorted stresses and snafus on the best of days. Amber Campbell said she missed a morning flight this week despite arriving at Baltimore-Washington International Airport more than three hours ahead of time.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

G.O.P. rift leaves Congress with no clear path to end the shutdown

Eight months away from elections that will decide if they keep control of Congress and preserve their governing trifecta, House and Senate Republicans have identified the enemy — and it is one another. A meltdown in relations between the two G.O.P.-led chambers caused the embarrassing collapse on Friday of a Senate-passed proposal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security before lawmakers raced out of town on a two-week recess. It left no clear path for resolving the crisis that has led to airport chaos and workers without paychecks. And with President Trump seemingly cheering on the intraparty squabble from the White House, it also highlighted an undercurrent of tension and division coursing through Republican ranks that has burst to the surface at the least politically opportune time.

The breakdown over homeland security funding left hard-right House Republicans castigating their Senate brethren and ripping Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican majority leader, in particular for cutting what they saw as an atrocious deal with Democrats in order to ease a departure for Easter break. “Thune screwed America and left town,” Representative Andy Ogles, Republican of Tennessee, wrote on the social media platform X. He was just one of many Republicans incensed by what they characterized as a Senate G.O.P. sellout approved without so much as a formal vote in the middle of the night. That was just hours after Mr. Trump told Fox News that the Senate deal was “not appropriate.” “At three in the morning, senators just decided, well, throw in the towel and maybe see what they can cobble together to get out of town,” Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican, said as the House on Friday approved its own plan to fund the entire agency for eight weeks. “That is not the responsible thing to do for this country.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Record number of T.S.A. employees called out on Friday

On Friday, more Transportation Security Administration employees called out of work than on any other day of the partial government shutdown. Conditions in airport security lines have deteriorated since Feb. 14, when Congress allowed funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees T.S.A., to lapse during an impasse over reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Since then, T.S.A. employees have been forced to work without pay, leading thousands of workers to call out and hundreds to quit altogether. With staffing slashed, wait times for security have stretched on for hours at some airports. Lines have spilled outside terminals. Desperate travelers have missed flights. And that was before Friday set a new record.

More than 3,560 T.S.A. employees — above 12 percent of the agency’s work force — called out on Friday, the highest number since the partial government shutdown began, Lauren Bis, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. Friday’s call outs broke the record of just under 12 percent that had been set the previous day. “During this time, over 500 officers have quit, and thousands more have been forced to call out because they can’t afford basic necessities like gas, child care, food, or rent,” Ms. Bis said. President Trump signed a memo late on Friday ordering D.H.S. to restore pay to T.S.A. employees. On Monday, the Trump administration deployed agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who have not lost pay during the partial shutdown, to help carry out security functions at airports.

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Meet the has-beens, never-weres, and felon locked in a Trumpy primary

On a warm January evening in southwest Florida, sitting on a dais with six other candidates in front of a massive American flag, former U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn presented himself to the ladies of the Women’s Republican Club of Naples Federated as the best candidate for Florida’s 19th Congressional District, summoned by the call of one of the greatest political thinkers of the Western world. “The reason I got involved in politics really boils down to a quote by Plato,” Cawthorn explained. “It said that you can either be involved in politics or you’re destined to be ruled by lesser men.” Not Plato verbatim, but close enough for government work. And Cawthorn has worked in government before—representing North Carolina’s 11th District for a single term, from January 2021 to January 2023. It was an eventful but unproductive tenure, befitting a man who boasted to colleagues shortly after he was sworn in, “I have built my staff around comms rather than legislation.” Cawthorn’s congressional service began with a rousing speech to the pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021—he praised their willingness to fight, declared the 2020 election fraudulent, and later voted against certification. It ended with a flurry of bizarre and discrediting moments over the weeks leading up to the GOP primary for his reelection campaign.

That Cawthorn is a viable candidate—indeed, given his name recognition and MAGAworld celebrity status, he’s considered a real contender—says a lot about the contest in this dark red corner of Florida’s Gulf Coast and about the state of the Republican Party in the Trump era. The GOP primary is August 18, and the campaign—or the online campaign, anyway—is well underway. When Republican voters here describe a politician or activist as “ultra-MAGA,” it’s almost always meant as the highest compliment. A local grocery chain serves MAGA beer on tap, and its aisles were packed shoulder-to-shoulder for the “Seed to Table” inaugural party in January 2025. The district’s waterways held some of the first “Trump Boat Parades.” The main country music station calls itself “Trump Country.” “Obviously, it’s a very pro-Trump, pro-MAGA district,” says former Rep. Francis Rooney, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican under George W. Bush and represented the district during Trump’s first term. The seat is currently held by Rep. Byron Donalds, a conservative and Fox News regular, who is giving it up to run for governor. Republican voters in his district speak of him with reverence—and so does Donald Trump. “Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida,” Trump posted on social media, offering his “Complete and Total Endorsement.” Each of the seven candidates onstage during the January candidate forum made a claim that is demonstrably, provably false. Six are not from the district they seek to serve. Five have run for office in another state. Three have been endorsed by Trump in a previous race. At least three have spent time in jail. Two served in Congress and left in disgrace after scandals. Two have gotten Trump pardons. And one will be the next member of Congress from southwest Florida.

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At 'No Kings' rallies, anti-Trump protesters speak out against ICE 'cruelty,' Iran war

Organizers behind the No Kings protests are forecasting their biggest showing yet on Saturday against the policies of President Trump, energized by issues including the administration's immigration enforcement tactics and the war in Iran. "March 28 will be the biggest protest in US history," the group, which comprises a progressive coalition of activists, wrote on its website. "Find your local No Kings event to make it clear that America rejects the regime's brutality at home and abroad." Organizers have planned more than 3,000 events in cities across the United States, with several more planned abroad, including in Mexico and Canada. This is the third series of nationwide protests organized by the group, which says Trump's actions in office are more akin to those of a monarch than a democratically elected leader.

In response to a request for comment about the planned protests, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed them as "Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions" and listed what she said were some of the campaign's "major leftist" financial backers. "The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them," said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson. The last round of protests, this past October, saw some 5 million attendees spread across about 2,600 demonstrations, according to No Kings. Bill McKibben is the Vermont-based founder of Third Act — a No Kings-affiliated group comprising people who are 60 years old and up. He says intergenerational solidarity is a key part of the movement and that there are many older people willing to take to the streets alongside their younger compatriots. "If you've been to any of the No Kings protests that have happened so far, you'll see a lot of people with hairlines like mine, which is to say, scant," he joked. "People of all kinds are outraged by what's happening in the country right now, but older people have a particular role to play here."

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Tiger Woods is facing an uncertain future off the golf course after his DUI arrest in Florida

Tiger Woods got out of jail and into the passenger seat of a dark SUV, his face as vacant as his mug shot as he was driven away to a future again filled with so much uncertainty. The next step legally is facing charges of driving while intoxicated, damage to property and refusal to submit to a urine test, which led to him spending eight hours Friday in the Martin County jail some 15 miles from his home on Jupiter Island, Florida. His manager at Excel Sports, Mark Steinberg, did not respond to a request for comment Saturday on Woods' arrest. As for golf, this comes at a bad time for the sport's most influential player. Woods had said earlier in the week he was trying to get in shape for the Masters on April 9-12, though that was looking unlikely. He turned 50 at the end of last year. “This body, it doesn't recover like it did when it was 24, 25,” Woods said earlier this week.

He also was days away from a decision on whether to be the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Ireland. Two officials from the PGA of America did not immediately return phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. And on April 5, he is scheduled to be in Augusta, Georgia, with Masters chairman Fred Ridley to celebrate a project at “The Patch,” the nickname of a municipal golf course where Woods' design team created a short course to go along with a major upgrade to the public course. Woods also is the central figure as chairman of the Future Competition Committee that is reshaping the PGA Tour model of tournaments. Tour CEO Brian Rolapp predicted meaningful progress this summer. The PGA Tour declined to comment on Woods' arrest. Now everything is on hold while Woods sorts through his second arrest in the last nine years, and his fourth car crash dating to 2009. Woods waited until the summer of 2024 before deciding against being Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 matches in New York. The Associated Press reported in February the PGA of America had a soft deadline of the end of March for him to decide this time.

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Kash Patel’s push against Democratic lawmaker raises concerns within FBI

FBI Director Kash Patel is pressing to release a decade-old investigative file involving Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, recently dispatching agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to quickly redact the files before they are released publicly despite no evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell, according to three people familiar with the effort. The potential release is part of the Trump administration’s aggressive push to investigate Swalwell, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, according to the people familiar with the effort. It is highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges. As FBI director, Patel has focused on trying to bring a criminal case against the outspoken Democrat, reassigning multiple agents in San Francisco to work on the matter, the current and former officials said.

FBI leaders have even discussed sending agents to China to talk to the suspected intelligence operative, believing she could have damaging information about Swalwell, according to two of the people familiar with the investigation. The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation that has not been made public. The Chinese woman at issue is Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, who reportedly courted Swalwell and other California politicians in the United States from 2011 to 2015. She helped with fundraising for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and even helped place an intern in his congressional office. When federal agents conveyed their concerns about Fang to Swalwell around 2015, he reportedly cut off ties with her and said he helped investigators. Swalwell was not accused of any wrongdoing when the FBI investigated his relationship with Fang a decade ago. In 2023, the Republican-led House Ethics Committee closed a two-year investigation into the congressman, deciding to “take no further action.” Despite that, FBI leaders have recently suggested in internal discussions that the government could try to arrange for Fang to get a U.S. visa in exchange for speaking with FBI agents about the Democrat, according to the three people with knowledge of Patel’s efforts. It would be highly unorthodox to grant a visa to a person suspected of being an intelligence agent for a foreign superpower.

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Lead Stories

Occidental's Hollub, US oil's most powerful woman, prepares to hand over reins, sources say

Vicki Hollub is preparing to retire as chief executive of Occidental Petroleum after her decade-long stewardship of the U.S. oil and gas ?company that made her one of the most powerful women in a male-dominated industry, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.Hollub, 66, plans to make a formal ?announcement later this year, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Richard Jackson, who was elevated to chief operating officer in October, is primed to become CEO upon Hollub's departure, three of the people added.

Her exit would end more than four decades at the Houston-based oil producer, where she became the first woman to become the CEO of a major U.S. oil company. Prior to that, she led Oxy's Permian Basin operations, building the company into one ?of the biggest operators in the nation's largest U.S. oil region.Her tenure has been marked by the mammoth, debt-fueled 2019 acquisition of rival Anadarko Petroleum, completed in part with $10 billion ?in financing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.There is no firm date set for her retirement, the sources said, who spoke on condition of anonymity to ?discuss private conversations. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has delivered the biggest disruption to energy supplies in history, could reshape her plans, they added.Advertisement · Scroll to continue“We have a strong board with strong ?governance, and we do not comment on speculation,” an Oxy spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Oxy shares rose modestly after Reuters reported on the plans, and were up 4% in Thursday trading. In ?2019, Hollub beat out supermajor Chevron in a fierce bidding war for Anadarko that advanced Oxy's shale business when the fracking boom was in full swing.

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AG Ken Paxton says agency won’t represent comptroller’s office in Muslim school lawsuit

Attorney General Ken Paxton informed Kelly Hancock on Thursday the attorney general’s office would no longer represent the comptroller in an ongoing federal lawsuit regarding access Muslim schools have to the state’s new education savings account system. The letter came less than two days after Hancock wrote to Paxton knocking the attorney general for how the agency allowed a Houston Muslim school into the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program. Paxton called on Gov. Greg Abbott Tuesday to remove Hancock as acting comptroller and replace him with Don Huffines, a Dallas businessman who defeated Hancock in this month’s Republican primary for comptroller. “You have single-handedly destroyed my ability to defend the Comptroller’s office in these cases,” Paxton wrote Thursday.

The comptroller’s office and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday’s letter. Two federal lawsuits, one by a Houston parent and another by a group of schools and parents, were filed against the state over the exclusion of some Muslim schools from the TEFA program. The comptroller is overseeing the new education savings account program signed into law by Abbott last year. Those lawsuits were consolidated March 17 in the southern district of Texas. Last week, a federal court ordered the state to allow Muslim schools to enter TEFA. By law, the attorney general is the state’s lawyer and is supposed to defend challenges to state laws, state agencies and individual state employees in their official capacity. However, Paxton has refused to defend state agencies in the past. In a court filing Thursday afternoon, three attorneys with the Office of the Attorney General filed a motion to withdraw as counsel in the case, characterizing Hancock’s letter as a political attack “designed for embarrassment and shock value.”

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The Senate finally passed a bill to fund most of DHS — except for ICE

The Senate early on Friday agreed to fund the vast majority of the Department of Homeland Security, bringing an end to the partial government shutdown that left most of its agencies without funding for more than a month. Negotiators passed a bill to fund DHS through the end of the fiscal year after days of intense back-and-forth talks. Those discussions took on a new sense of urgency as hours-long security lines became a common occurrence at airports across the country. The bill will still need to pass the House and be signed into law. The package does not fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the most hotly contested portion of the spending measure — and only funds a part of Customs and Border Protection. It also does not include any of the reforms to ICE that Democrats have sought dating back to January. Spurred by the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration agents, Democrats said they would not vote for DHS funding without significant changes at the agency.

“Obviously, we’ll still have some work ahead of us, but the good news is we anticipated this a year ago,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters, noting that one of the reasons why they pre-loaded the party’s reconciliation bill last summer with ICE funding is because they anticipated issues on this front. “I still think it’s unfortunate. The [Democrats] wanted reforms. We tried to work with them on reforms. They ended up getting no reforms,” he continued. “We’re going to have to fight some of those battles another day.” The announcement came in the wee hours of Friday morning as staffers worked swiftly behind closed doors to write the bill late on Thursday. The bill passed by voice vote without any senators objecting. Republicans earlier in the day declared that they had made their “last and final” offer to Democratic leaders, one that included language intended to win them over. Throughout much of the afternoon, Democrats stayed mum on the state of talks, including members who had previously been chief critics of the Republican offers. Democrats came back with a counteroffer that once again included many nonstarters on the Republican side, leading the majority to go to Plan B: the bill that finally emerged and was passed without opposition.

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CPAC draws conservatives to Texas amid Iran war, Republican battle for U.S. Senate nomination

Red MAGA hats, American flag themed clothing, and bedazzled Trump gear fill the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. Attendees snap selfies as Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Donald Trump, hosts a live broadcast of his program for the network Real America’s Voice. Behind the main stage, “Protect women’s sports” scrolls across a massive video screen. This is CPAC 2026, currently underway in Grapevine, Texas. The Conservative Political Action Conference draws thousands each year and is billed as “the world’s largest and most influential” gathering for conservatives. CPAC is also seen as an indicator of the direction the Republican party is headed.

Among the speakers at this week’s event, which runs through Saturday, are Education Secretary Linda McMahon and former South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, plus a host of conservative media personalities, GOP lawmakers from across the county and, of course, some notable Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott. "It's a chance to actually see — in person — people in the news,” said John Arenz, a North Texas resident, adding he also came to CPAC “to support the conservative agenda.” The conference’s agenda includes a wide variety of issues and hot-button political topics, from the war in Iran to defeating communism to speeches from Republican political hopefuls on the ballot in November. Notably, this is the second time the event has come to North Texas this decade. Dallas County GOP Chair Allen West said CPAC’s return to the state could be seen as a call to action for Texas conservatives — specifically, a call to not let “history repeat itself” during this critical midterm election year.

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State Stories

Houston’s Bush Airport has had some of the worst TSA wait times. Here’s why

Increasingly agitated travelers are sacrificing countless hours and missing milestone events as a partial government shutdown spills into its 40th day and the country loses hundreds of airport security employees. Nowhere is the scene more miserable than at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), where predawn lines this week packed an underground tunnel and forced some travelers to miss their flights — again. “We see the families arriving early and waiting for hours. We see missed flights. We see missed moments, weddings, vacations, time with loved ones,” said Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the Houston Airport System. Even more sobering: “We worry conditions will only get worse at airports across the US until Congress ends this shutdown,” Szczesniak said. Houston Mayor John Whitmire called the situation at airports in his city “a total mess” and urged elected officials to find a solution so TSA officers can get paid. “It’s not rocket science stuff. Work out your dispute (and) let these people be paid,” Whitmire said. “In fact, I can’t believe what I’ve learned of how low paid they are. They’re essential workers.”

Here’s why the situation is so dire, why some airports are faring better and why the problems could get worse. Some travelers who missed their flights at George Bush Intercontinental were forced to return to the airport the next day and spend more hours in line. They were among a sea of frustrated passengers that stretched down into a tunnel where a subway tram typically runs. As they waited, a warning blared over the speakers: “Due to the federal government shutdown, TSA wait times are currently exceeding four hours,” the announcement said. “If your flight is departing soon, you may not clear security in time. Please consider contacting your airlines now for rebooking options.” On Wednesday morning, the lines were noticeably shorter. But Wednesdays are typically low-volume days, said Houston Airport System spokesperson Casey Curry. “We are expecting a higher passenger load Thursday and Friday,” she said, in part because of conference departures and NCAA Sweet 16 events. The airport said on X late Wednesday that wait times could reach up to four hours on Thursday, and that CLEAR and TSA PreCheck would not be available. By Wednesday afternoon, the wait time at Bush Intercontinental reached two hours. Curry said she expects traffic to increase Sunday and Monday, when many business travelers fly. Other airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said they expect traffic to pick up during peak travel days Friday through Monday.

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This Christian school won’t take Texas vouchers to ensure 'biblical rule'

One of Houston’s top-rated Christian private schools hosted a rally for Gov. Greg Abbott to promote his school vouchers plan in 2023, but administrators now say if they participated in the $1 billion program, it would amount to “government entanglement” incompatible with the school’s Christian mission. Earlier this year, a Cypress Christian school leader told families in a private video — which the Chronicle obtained after previously reporting on the school’s voucher status — that they would not join the program to retain “biblical rule.” School leaders feared joining the state-funded program could open Cypress Christian to state audits, new testing requirements, or even one day force it to comply with rules on gender or sexuality that conflicted with its religious beliefs.

“Our school bylaws require that every part of CCS, our curriculum and missions, employment, discipline and the way we've informed students must be governed exclusively by biblical doctrine and scripture,” Kris Hogan, Cypress Christian’s culture director, said in the video. “The Texas Education Freedom Account program, while well intentioned, requires something we simply cannot accept, and that is ongoing government entanglement.” Cypress Christian did not respond to a request for comment about the video. The video presents an unusual argument about a program that has been touted as a way to expand faith-based education, particularly among Christian schools, by providing state dollars for families to use on tuition. Private Christian institutions were central to the push for Texas’ voucher program, cheering on the GOP priority as a way to make their services more accessible. The school’s opposition is also notable because Cypress Christian welcomed Abbott for a pro-voucher rally in 2023, when the governor embarked on a statewide tour of more than a dozen Christian schools.It appears to be the only school Abbott visited during his tour that has not applied to the program.

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‘Empty chairs’: New Texas licensing rule hits salons, trades

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has formally adopted a rule requiring professional license applicants to prove legal status in the country, ending hopes among some business owners that exceptions would be made for unauthorized workers already licensed. The rule was adopted unanimously by the agency’s commission during its Tuesday meeting. The commission’s vote mandates that applicants for new licenses or license renewals show proof of legal status in the United States beginning May 1. However, the agency has already required this of applicants since late January, TDLR spokeswoman Caroline Espinosa told the American-Statesman. TDLR manages the licenses for hairdressers, barbers, electricians and HVAC professionals, among others.

During discussion of the rule change, the commissioners appeared convinced that the rule change was necessary to comply with federal law. “I don’t think we are starting a new law. We are just merely doing what the feds are telling us to do,” Commissioner Sujeeth Draksharam said from the dais before the vote. Federal law has barred states from extending public benefits to individuals without legal status since 1996. Until this year, Texas had not enforced that law. About 18,000 TDLR licenses, or 2% of the total, are not currently attached to a Social Security number, indicating the potential number of workers who could be affected by the rule change. It is unclear how many individuals who hold one of these currently unverified licenses would be unable to meet the rule change’s requirement for proof of legal status in the United States.

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Proposed Texas Medicaid rule for children with complex medical needs too ‘narrow,’ advocates say

Texas wants to make it easier for certain children to access services through one of its Medicaid programs – but parents, advocates and medical providers worry the new rule is too narrow. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, or HHSC, published a draft rule amendment that would affect one of the ways Texas families gain access to Medicaid services through the Medically Dependent Children Program, or MDCP, which provides home- and community-based health services to children with medically complex needs. The state said during a public hearing Thursday the change would help children avoid placement in an institution – like a nursing facility. However, Dr. Glen Medellin, a board-certified pediatrician who specializes in palliative medicine, said he was worried the rule may limit providers.

“This has been long overdue and helps our children quite significantly,” he said. “I do have some concerns though about the additional changes in the policy for criteria.” Most people access MDCP through an interest list, which keeps track of which families are waiting for services. Advocates said due to limited availability families can wait 20 years to receive services. Other pathways involve nursing facility placement. “We know through data and through our experience that once a child goes into a nursing facility it is very difficult for them to come out,” said Rona Statman, program director for the non-profit, Every Child. “The longer that they stay in the harder it is to get them out.” Under the change, said Renée Lombardo, HHSC’s long-term supports and services manager, some children would be able to access MDCP services without first going to a nursing home. The rule establishes clinical criteria to determine if a child is eligible for what’s known as a nursing facility diversion slot – which allows children who qualify to forego facility placement ahead of getting services. Lombardo said the slots can reduce the emotional and logistical burdens on families.

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Austin adopts new homeless strategy plan, but leaders aren't sure of the cost

Austin city leaders have approved a new strategic plan to address some of the issues people experiencing homelessness face. David Gray, the city’s homeless strategy officer, said it will act as a road map for addressing homelessness over the next two years. The plan was crafted with more than two dozen community partners and includes adding shelter beds to the system, opening two centers that help coordinate services and increasing collaboration with community partners. “If we want to get people out of our abandoned buildings and out of parks and greenbelts, we need more beds to put them in, and we need more spaces to bring those people inside," Gray said. “And that is exactly why our plan touches on adding more shelter beds, enhancing rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing service delivery and boosting our navigation centers.”

Tony Carter said those are the kinds of services that could help get him and keep him in housing. Since 2019, Carter has been in and out of homeless camps and rapid rehousing all while trying to hold down a job. Rapid rehousing provides the person with a rent subsidy and case management services as they work to become self-sufficient. “If they are going to keep kicking us out [of our camps], we need housing,” Carter said. “Because you are kicking people out that don’t have a place to go. We need the resources, we need permanent supportive housing, and we need a place where we can go get help.” Gray said some of those goals are already underway. The city is working to open a new navigation center, which would help match people with services, in South Austin. The city purchased the property back in October. And several permanent supportive housing units are already set to be opened.

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Hays County wells run drier as aquifers fall to their lowest levels in more than 20 years

In Radiance, a small community in northwestern Hays County, self-sufficiency and community have been tenets of the neighborhood since its founding. It's a place where neighbors take care of their land and one another. “Back in the day, the idea was basically neighbors all working together to have a small community within the Hill Country,” Arturo Rivera said. Rivera has lived in Radiance with his wife Ryan Sage for 10 years. The neighborhood gave them the opportunity to have a barn on their property where they could work on old cars. They call themselves new-age hippies, hunting and gardening while prioritizing the environment.

The neighborhood's founding principles led Radiance to dig its own community well in the '80s. Contaminated surface water led to a second well in 2003. But in 2025, the second well went dry, forcing residents to use the original well with an order to boil all their water for more than six months. Across Hays County, wells are running drier, forcing them to be dug deeper and pushing residents to confront the increasing severity of depreciating aquifer levels. The Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District said aquifer and river conditions have not been this poor in the more than 20-year history of the district — including the 2011 drought. Jared Thompson is the owner of The Well Doctor, a well servicing company. He’s watched the impacts of dwindling aquifer levels play out across the region. He said he is especially wary of the well levels in Wimberley and Dripping Springs. “The water level used to come all the way back up to about 500 feet when we had heavy rains. But now we're seeing it staying very low at around 660 to 690,” Thompson said. “That's very concerning.”

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Elon Musk’s Boring Co. explores building a tunnel for a San Antonio theme park

Elon Musk’s Boring Co. wants to build a tunnel for a San Antonio theme park in what would be the first project by the company in Bexar County after the failed bid to build a tunnel to connect the airport with downtown. The company, which is headquartered in Bastrop, said it’s taking on a project proposed by Morgan’s Wonderland, the nonprofit park that’s accessible to people with special needs. The “Morgan’s Wonderland Tunnel” is one of five projects, including one in Dallas, the company said it was pursuing as the result of a recent contest that sought pitches from entities around the country. When it announced the contest in January, it said it would build the winning submission for no charge. It ended up naming three winners, including the Dallas project.

While not one of the three projects designated as winners, the Boring Co. said the Morgan’s Wonderland project and another in Hendersonville, Tenn., “were so compelling” that it is “going to continue to work with the entrants and try to get them built.” Morgan’s Wonderland referred questions about its proposal to the Boring Co., which has not responded to requests for information. The park’s founder Gordon Hartman, a philanthropist and former homebuilder, hasn’t responded to a separate request for comment. The Boring Co. said the next steps include meetings with elected officials, regulators and community and business leaders about the winning sites. It also will begin investigating the soil and subsurface of the potential sites for feasibility. If the projects are deemed to be feasible, the company said it will fund and build them. So far, neither the city’s Public Works nor Capital Delivery departments are involved in the project at the North Side theme park. It would be the first in Bexar County for the Boring Co., but not the first time it’s pitched doing a project in the city. In 2022, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority voted to negotiate with the Boring Co. on a tunnel to shuttle visitors between San Antonio International Airport and downtown.

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Lockheed Martin to 'dramatically' ramp up missile production under new deal with feds

Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. will quadruple its production of precision strike missiles to support a new agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense amid the continuing war with Iran. Lockheed, which has a major campus for its Missiles and Fire Control division in the suburb of Grand Prairie, announced March 25 the framework agreement with the department, which has been rebranded as the Department of War. This builds on a $4.94 billion contract the government awarded the company in 2025 to increase production of precision strike missiles to meet growing demand. It has a huge Tarrant County presence, assemling F-35 jets in Fort Worth, while the Grand Prairie facility works on missile defense systems, precision-strike weapons and fire control technology. These missiles are envisioned as the replacement of the Army Tactical Missile System and received production and deployment phase approval from the U.S. Army in July 2025.

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Rep. Greg Casar, Sen. Bernie Sanders file bill to limit threat of sports teams relocating

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Texas and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont filed a bill Thursday that would require owners of professional sports teams such as the San Antonio Spurs to give local communities the chance to buy them before they move to another city. The progressive lawmakers’ snappily named Home Team Act is designed to shield fans from seeing their teams ripped away and to protect municipalities from being leveraged for tax dollars by owners who threaten to relocate, bill author Casar said during a D.C. press conference. “Far too many Americans know the pain of losing a team just so the owner can make a buck,” said Casar, a Democrat whose recently redrawn San Antonio-Austin district previously included the Spurs. “As a child of Houston, I still remember the loss of our Oilers. Those moves are not just a business decision. They leave behind fans who have poured their hearts and souls into teams for decades.”

Casar said the proposal would also strip negotiating power from billionaire owners who use relocation threats to pit cities against each other and wring desperately needed tax money from communities that have supported them for years. “Even when teams don’t actually move, the threat of moving sets off a race to the bottom,” he said. “Billionaire owners pit taxpayers against each other and then extort the government for billions of dollars.” The lawmakers filed their bill mere months after San Antonio voters approved using an array of complicated public financing mechanisms to help build a new $1.3 billion downtown arena for the Spurs. As Spurs Sports & Entertainment lobbied for the plan, franchise leaders declined to say whether they would relocate the team if they failed at the ballot box. SS&E officials declined comment on the bill.

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Johnson County sheriff arrested again on perjury charge in ongoing sexual harassment case

Johnson County's Sheriff has been arrested for a third time in connection to an ongoing sexual harassment case. Jail records show Adam King, 58, was booked in Thursday on an aggravated perjury charge. A bond hasn't been set. King was indicted Wednesday, according to court records. It's the second time he's been indicted for aggravated perjury. In October, he was accused of lying to a grand jury about changing one of his employees' work schedules, Anna Goodloe, after she reported him for sexual harassment earlier last year. That charge was dismissed in December.

"As you know, the previous case was dismissed as being an illegal and unlawful indictment," King said in a statement Thursday. "This is more of the same and is all laughable, petty, and unprofessional." Bill Mason, one of King's attorneys, previously told KERA News the October indictment was unlawful because it was made by the same grand jury who heard King's allegedly false testimony. According to the Texas Constitution, "if an individual is charged with aggravated perjury before a grand jury, the indictment may not be entered by the grand jury before which the false statement was alleged to have been made." KERA News reached out to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and will update this story with any response.

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University Park says SMU crosswalks won't be removed, despite Gov. Abbott's directive

Dallas took action this week to remove rainbow and Black Lives Matter markings from several crosswalks, after a state directive mandated the change. However, another Dallas suburb says it determined that its decorative crosswalk can remain in place, despite the state order. University Park said in a statement that an intersection featuring the SMU mustang formed with decorative bricks does not violate the directive that prompted Dallas and other cities to remove their decorative crosswalks. Cities across the state removed decorative crosswalks after a directive by Gov. Greg Abbott issued on Oct. 8, meant to "prioritize uniformity and predictability in traffic control devices statewide,” according to the state.

In a letter dated Oct. 8, TxDOT told local officials that the department will enforce state and federal standards requiring uniform pavement markings. The letter cites the U.S. Department of Transportation’s SAFE ROADS Initiative, which calls for intersections and crosswalks to remain “free from distractions,” including political messages, symbols or artwork. According to the letter, cities have 30 days to remove nonstandard markings — including murals, decorative designs or colored crosswalks — unless they receive written approval from TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Division. Jurisdictions that fail to comply could face the loss of state or federal transportation funding. “Governor Abbott appreciates Texas municipalities’ compliance with his directive on roadway safety. Texans expect their tax dollars to enhance roadway safety, not advance political ideologies,” said Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris. All the crosswalks are expected to be removed and replaced by April 28, WFAA previously reported.

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Collin County roundtable highlights growing concerns over rising insurance costs in Texas

Leaders, industry experts, and residents gathered in Collin County to address what one North Texas lawmaker is calling an “insurance crisis,” as homeowners across the region face sharply rising premiums and growing concerns over claim denials. “The number one thing that I constantly hear is affordability. Can I afford the American dream?” said State Rep. Mihaela Plesa, who represents House District 70. Plesa says for many Texans, that dream is slipping out of reach. She points to a combination of rising premiums and an increase in denied claims. Texans pay the fifth-highest insurance premiums in the country. “They're paying into something that when you need it, it isn't there,” she said.

Insurance industry leaders argue there are clear reasons behind the spike. Rich Johnson with the Insurance Council of Texas says the state faces an unusually high level of risk. “We are top five, if not, top 3 in every peril: hail, wind, hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes,” Johnson said. North Texas has seen its share of severe weather in recent years, contributing to higher costs. Johnson also points to rising legal expenses. Johnson calls it 'legal abuse.' “We've seen legal costs really spiral out of control with these nuclear lawsuits and the billboard attorneys up and down I-35,” he said. At the roundtable, residents shared how the increases are affecting their budgets. WFAA polled a few people who are paying significantly more each month for the same coverage — some by as much as $300. “The trajectory things have taken concerns me, makes me want to learn more, or at the very least it's going to taper off a little,” said one attendee.

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National Stories

State savings weaken as budget pressures increase, analysis warns

State rainy day funds — money reserved to cover unexpected expenses and patch short-term budget holes — are declining nationally as states face increased costs, lower tax revenue and federal budget cuts, a new analysis found. The decline follows a period of strong reserves bolstered by federal pandemic aid and higher-than-expected tax collections, the report said. Researchers at The Pew Charitable Trusts found that the number of days that state reserves could cover state operations fell in fiscal year 2025 — the first decline since the Great Recession. State reserve funds will play a critical role in stabilizing state finances as they confront the most widespread budgetary pressures since at least 2020, the researchers said.

Like household savings accounts, state reserves help fund major one-time investments or provide a cushion in times of disrupted tax revenues, including economic downturns. Lower reserves means states could be quicker to cut state services or raise taxes in times of tight budgets. Examining data from a survey conducted by the National Association of State Budget Officers, Pew researchers concluded that the median state in 2025 could fund its operations on reserve funds for 47.8 days — down from a record 54.5 days in fiscal 2024. States last fiscal year held a collective $174 billion in savings, though reserves varied widely. Wyoming, for example, held enough cash on hand to operate for 320 days. But New Jersey’s reserve didn’t hold enough to cover a single day of state operations. The other states with the smallest share of rainy day reserves were Washington, Illinois, Delaware and Rhode Island.

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Middle East conflict drags Nasdaq into a correction

Investors are losing faith in a quick end to the war in Iran. Major U.S. stock indexes slumped on Thursday and oil prices surged past $100 a barrel again as efforts to end the conflict showed few signs of significant progress. As the war drags on, pain in financial markets is mounting: The Dow industrials are on pace for their largest one-month percentage decline since 2022, and the Nasdaq composite is now in correction territory, dropping more than 10% from its last high. The Dow dropped 469 points, or 1%. The S&P 500 fell 1.7%, while the Nasdaq slid 2.4%. Both the S&P and Nasdaq suffered their biggest one-day declines since the war began and closed at their lowest levels since September. Earlier this week, stocks advanced and investors cheered a social-media post from the president saying that the U.S. military would postpone strikes on Iranian power plants. But on Thursday, the mood shifted.

“It just has to do with the growing realization that here we are on Thursday and there’s just a lot of uncertainty about what is happening in the Gulf,” said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “The markets are trying to figure out, ‘Is there a deal in there somewhere?’” The Dow industrials were roughly flat when President Trump began speaking at a morning cabinet meeting. The president said that he expected that gas and oil prices would have gone up much higher due to the war in Iran, and added that energy prices “have not gone up as much as I thought.” Trump said that he expects prices to increase further. “Maybe it’ll go up a little bit more. It’s all going to come back down,” he said. During the meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added that the American public is prepared to endure “short-term volatility” to achieve five decades of security after the Iranian regime is defeated. Stock declines accelerated throughout the meeting. Trump had set a Friday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial thoroughfare for oil exports.

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After markets rattle, Trump once again punts on following through with threat on Iran power plants

Facing a convulsing stock market, President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to buy himself more time and hold off, once again, on carrying out a threat to obliterate Iran’s energy plants over the Islamic Republic’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said he was delaying taking potential action because talks aimed at ending the conflict are going “very well,” despite the fact that Iran continues to publicly insist it is not negotiating with the White House on a 15-point proposal — delivered by Pakistani intermediaries — to end the war. He said Iran had asked for the grace period. “They asked for seven (days),” Trump said in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Five” shortly after he announced on social media he would give Iran until April 6 to reopen the strait. “And I said, ‘I’m going to give you 10.’”

Trump publicized his decision shortly after Wall Street closed Thursday, another rocky day with U.S. stocks recording their biggest loss since the war with Iran started. The S&P 500 dropped 1.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 469 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.4% to fall more than 10% below its all-time high set early this year. Trump first threatened to bombard Iranian energy facilities on Saturday — and almost immediately began vacillating. In his initial threat, he gave Tehran 48 hours to open up the strait, a chokepoint for global oil markets. But he backed off on Monday, saying he would give Iran an additional five days, after Asian markets gyrated. Then, he punted again after Thursday’s shaky markets. This was not the first time Trump has appeared to have been jostled into adjusting policy in the face of market volatility. Last April, after implementing new tariffs that triggered the worst two-day sell-off for the S&P 500 in five years, Trump announced a 90-day halt on the most severe tariffs for all countries except China.

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Netflix hikes prices again, impacting all plan tiers

Netflix is hiking subscription prices across all its plans in its first major price increase in more than a year. The plans were disclosed on Netflix’s help page Thursday. The ad-supported tier will rise by $1 per month to $8.99, with the standard plan rising by $2 per month to $19.99 and the premium plan also rising by $2 per month to $26.99 per month. The company also raised the cost of its “extra member” fee by $1, to $6.99 for ad-supported plans and $9.99 for ad-free plans.

Netflix last raised prices early last year, with similar increases. Of course, the platform has been significantly ramping up its content, not only in scripted entertainment, but in live events and sports, not to mention other areas like video podcasts and games. The company says it will spend more than $20 billion in its entertainment offering this year. Netflix executives have long said that they raise prices when they feel they are delivering enough value to justify them. The company has by far the lowest churn in the industry, underscoring its leadership in the space. But it is also, frankly, something of a bellwether for the entire streaming industry, with other services often following in its footsteps, despite the risk of higher churn. The move by Netflix also comes just weeks after it abandoned its pursuit of Warner Bros., opting not to match a higher bid from Paramount Skydance. That deal would have been transformative for the company, but in its stead it will instead pour more cash into its own business, and in its capital return program. “We will continue to do what we’ve done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value,” co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said when announcing their Warners decision.

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The war in Iran sparks a global fertilizer shortage and threatens food prices

Farmers around the world are feeling the squeeze of the Iran war. Gas prices have shot up and fertilizer supplies are waning due to Tehran’s near shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli bombing. The fertilizer shortage is putting the livelihood of farmers in developing countries — already troubled by rising temperatures and erratic weather systems — further at risk, and could lead to people everywhere paying more for food. The poorest farmers in the Northern Hemisphere rely on fertilizer imports from the Gulf, and the shortage comes just as planting season begins, said Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program.

“In the worst case, this means lower yields and crop failures next season. In the best case, higher input costs will be included in food prices next year.” Baldev Singh, a 55-year-old rice farmer in Punjab, India, says smallholders — the bulk of the country’s farmers — may not survive if the government cannot subsidize fertilizers when demand peaks in June. “Right now, we are waiting and hoping,” he said. Related Stories Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy Iran war has US farmers worried about the cost and availability of fertilizer Energy shock fears rise as the Iran war chokes supplies to Asia. Iran is seriously limiting shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage that usually handles about a fifth of the world’s oil shipments and nearly a third of global fertilizer trade. Nitrogen and phosphate — two major fertilizer nutrients — are under immediate threat from the blockade. Supplies of nitrogen including urea, the most widely traded fertilizer that helps plants grow and boosts yields, are the hardest hit because of shipping delays and the soaring price of liquefied natural gas — an essential ingredient.

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DHS internal watchdog launches investigation into handling of contracts under Noem, Lewandowski

The Department of Homeland Security inspector general has launched a sprawling investigation into how contracts have been solicited and handled, including the involvement of former Secretary Kristi Noem and her de facto chief of staff Corey Lewandowski, according to two sources familiar with the probe. Noem’s handling of contracts within DHS was one of the main catalysts for her ouster by President Donald Trump earlier this month. Lewandowski’s micromanagement of the department, including his involvement in contracts, was a persistent source of tension with White House officials, CNN has reported. The Office of the Inspector General previously announced an audit into DHS grants and contracts awarded “by any means other than full and open competition during fiscal year 2025,” according to its website.

The inspector general, Joseph Cuffari, complained to Congress in early March that DHS leadership had been obstructing some of his work. One of the sources familiar with the issue said the IG investigation that includes Noem and Lewandowski is separate from the previously announced audit. The source said investigators had ordered dozens of DHS officials to preserve records as part of the new probe. In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the DHS OIG said its office does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, and noted that its audit of some DHS grants and contracts is congressionally mandated and required on a yearly basis. It is not clear which specific contracts the IG is investigating. The OIG audit, the spokesperson added, is paused because the team handling the audit was furloughed as part of the DHS shutdown. “Once funding is restored, this audit will be resumed,” the statement said.

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Trump is putting his signature on U.S. dollar bills

The Treasury Department announced on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s signature will be added to an upcoming series of hundred-dollar bills printed this summer in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. “There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. ?Trump than U.S. dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

NOTUS reported earlier this month that the Trump Organization had filed several trademarks connecting the president’s name to merchandising and promotional items honoring the country’s 250th anniversary. The president had previously attempted to release a $1 coin bearing his portrait, but the effort stalled as federal law prohibits living individuals from appearing on U.S. coins. The addition of Trump’s signature will be a first for a sitting president, as the name of the U.S. treasurer has appeared on the country’s currency since 1861 and the secretary of treasury’s signature was incorporated in 1914. No other design elements of the bill are expected to change. “The President’s mark on history as the architect of America’s Golden Age economic revival is undeniable,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said. “Printing his signature on the American currency is not only appropriate, but also well deserved.”

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Lead Stories

Trump team examines what oil as high as $200 a barrel would mean

Trump administration officials are examining what a potential spike in oil prices as high as $200 a barrel would mean for the economy, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign senior officials are studying the possible fallout from extreme scenarios for the Iran war. Modeling of how damaging a bigger jump in oil prices could be to growth prospects is part of regular assessment done during times of strain and is not a prediction, according to the people, who asked not to be identified commenting on matters that aren’t public. The effort is aimed at making sure the administration is prepared for all contingencies, including a prolonged conflict, they said.

Even before the war began, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed concern that the conflict would boost oil prices and damage economic growth, the people said. Senior Treasury officials have communicated worries to the White House about swings in oil and gasoline prices for several weeks, some of the people said. White House spokesman Kush Desai called that account “false,” saying, “While the administration is always evaluating various pricing scenarios and economic impacts, officials are not examining the possibility of oil reaching $200 per barrel and Secretary Bessent has not been ‘worried’ about the short term disruptions from Operation Epic Fury.” Bessent, he said, has repeatedly “conveyed both his and the administration’s continued confidence in the long-term trajectory of the American economy and global energy markets.” Oil prices have jumped since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, with West Texas Intermediate up about 30% at $91 a barrel. Brent crude is up almost 40% over the same period, trading around $102.

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Special election shocker has Florida Republicans nervous about redistricting

Florida has been viewed for months as the potential capstone of a GOP redistricting campaign, but now Sunshine State Republicans are growing wary after the dramatic flip of two legislative seats in the state — including one where President Donald Trump votes. Republicans already hold a commanding 20-8 edge over Democrats in the Florida House delegation, and some in the GOP — including Gov. Ron DeSantis — believe they could pick up as many as five more seats with a rare mid-decade redraw of district lines. Some Florida incumbents are now warning in stark terms it could backfire. “I think the Legislature needs to be very cognizant of the fact that if they get too aggressive … you could put incumbent members at risk,” GOP Rep. Greg Steube said. Some seats that Republicans previously won by eight or nine points, he said, could instead have only a four- or five-point GOP advantage — putting them in reach for Democrats in a wave election.

DeSantis, citing a state Supreme Court decision from last year and a potential ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, has already called a special session of the state Legislature in April to push ahead with new lines. So far there have been no official maps produced or any signs that lawmakers have started working on them. Republican anxiety has only grown further after Democrats notched surprising wins in special elections Tuesday, including a Palm Beach County district that contains the Mar-a-Largo resort where Trump lives and votes. While many in the GOP have brushed off the Democratic gains there and in other states as anomalies, private qualms are growing among the incumbents whose seats could be put at greater risk due to redistricting. “We keep saying these are kind of one-off things that haven’t gone our way,” said one Florida House Republican granted anonymity to speak candidly. “But I’m not seeing any of the one-offs that are going our way.”

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Jury in Los Angeles finds Meta, YouTube negligent in social media addiction trial

A jury in Los Angeles determined on Wednesday that Meta and Google's YouTube were negligent and failed to warn users of the dangers associated with using their platforms, in a case that could have repercussions across the social media landscape. The personal injury trial commenced in late January in LA Superior Court. A young woman identified as K.G.M., or Kaley, alleged that she became addicted to apps like Instagram and YouTube as a child. Deliberations began Friday, March 13. Jurors ultimately ruled in favor of the plaintiff, who claimed that Meta and YouTube's negligence played a "substantial factor" in causing mental health-related harms. Compensatory damages were assessed at $3 million, with Meta on the hook for 70% and YouTube the remaining 30%. Punitive damages amount to an additional $3 million, with $2.1 million to be paid by Meta and $900,000 by YouTube.

"Today's verdict is a historic moment — for Kaley and for the thousands of children and families who have been waiting for this day," attorneys representing the plaintiff said in a statement after the verdict. "She showed extraordinary courage bringing this case and telling her story in open court. A jury of Kaley's peers heard the evidence, heard what Meta and YouTube knew and when they knew it, and held them accountable for their conduct." A Meta spokesperson said in a statement, "We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options." "We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal. This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. It's one of several trials taking place this year that experts have characterized as the social media industry's "Big Tobacco" moment, comparing it with the 1990s, when tobacco companies were forced to pay billions of dollars for lying to the public about the safety and potential harms of their products.

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Texas retains its export crown while AI boom drives imports higher

Texas is continuing its lead as the largest export state in the U.S., according to new study. Global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings tracked imports and exports for all 50 states and found that global shifts in tariffs and supply chains have deepened disparities between states and across industries. Imports in Texas grew roughly 4% from 2024 to 2025, likely driven by machinery imports related to artificial intelligence and data center investment. Fitch found that states benefiting from AI-related capital, like Texas, saw stronger trade momentum than other states, particularly those tied to the auto industry, which is heavily exposed to tariffs.

Imports of machinery, excluding electrical equipment, rose 25% nationally year over year, while electrical machinery and electronics imports rose 6%. These industries represent demand for equipment needed to manufacture chips and support AI infrastructure, like data centers. Texas has become a hotspot for data center development, with the industry expanding rapidly across commercial real estate. That growth comes as the Trump administration and tech companies push to compete with China in artificial intelligence, with the state’s share projected to grow 142% through 2028. In Texas, machinery imports rose from $93 billion to $129 billion, a roughly 39% increase. Electrical machinery and electronics imports rose 8%. Other states with significant data center growth saw increases in overall imports as well, with Arizona and Nevada seeing a 36% and 92% rise respectively. The Lone Star State also saw increased exports in electrical machinery and electronics, up 8%, and in non-electrical machinery, up 26%.

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State Stories

Senate hopeful James Talarico responds to pastor who wants him killed: 'I still love you'

After the pastor of Trump Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Nashville church said on a podcast that he wants Texas Democrat James Talarico dead, the U.S. Senate hopeful has responded with a message of love. Evangelical Pastor Brooks Potteiger, who’s been described as Hegseth’s closest spiritual adviser, repeatedly attacked Talarico last week on the podcast Reformation Red Pill, HuffPost reported. The show is hosted by congregant and former pastoral intern Joshua Haymes. “I pray that God kills him,” Haymes said of Talarico, who represents the Austin area in the Texas House. “Ultimately, that means killing his heart and raising him up to new life in Christ. If it would not be within God’s will to do so, stop him by any means necessary.”

Potteiger concurred, adding, “We want him crucified with Christ.” On the podcast, Haymes also said that he puts Talarico in the category of “public enemies,” or those you “are not called to love.” However, rather than answering hate with hate, Talarico — a Presbyterian seminarian — responded with a message of love. “Jesus loves. Christian Nationalism kills,” Talarico said Wednesday in an emailed statement. “You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you. I love you more than you could ever hate me.” The 36-year-old Talarico, who’s running for Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s seat in the upper chamber, is a former San Antonio schoolteacher who planned on becoming a pastor before entering the political arena.

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Jodey Arrington: Here’s how we put America on a path to fiscal balance

The sirens are blaring. Our government now spends more than $1 trillion a year on interest payments just to service our national debt, which will surpass $40 trillion this year. Ray Dalio, among the most successful investors and global macroeconomic thinkers of our time, warns our economy is barreling toward a “debt-induced heart attack.” As our fiscal condition worsens, Washington is busy staging shutdowns and showdowns while the arteries of our economy constrict in front of our very eyes. Instead of spending and borrowing our way to cardiac arrest, this moment calls for medicine. Congress needs to achieve meaningful deficit reduction, but without a universal standard, “meaningful” tends to mean whatever is politically expedient in the moment. Every fiscal conservative’s goal is a balanced budget — rightly so.

When I came to Congress in 2017, balancing the budget required identifying $5.8 trillion in savings. Ambitious, but achievable. Today, that figure has nearly tripled to over $16 trillion. The goal posts keep moving because Washington keeps spending. While Washington may not yet have a plan, there is a clear, economic life-saving target we should pursue: reducing federal budget deficits to 3% of GDP. When nominal economic growth averages around 3% to 4%, deficits held near that level allow debt to stabilize relative to the size of the economy, rather than outpace it. That is why economists and fiscal watchdogs resoundingly point to the 3% threshold as a useful benchmark for fiscal sustainability. Framed this way, the debate stops being about unrealistic ambitions and abstract promises of fiscal responsibility and focuses instead on reasonable debt targets and practical strategies to achieve them. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent endorsed the 3% standard shortly after President Trump was re-elected. Dalio has made the case for it. So has Warren Buffett. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced a resolution limiting deficits to 3% of GDP by 2036 as our fiscal north star. On Thursday, the House Budget Committee is leading the effort to achieve this benchmark and will examine a healthy process for achieving the 3% deficit-to-GDP target by fiscal year 2036.

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15 minutes from start to finish: How traffic stops turn into ICE busts in Austin

Early in the morning of July 31, 2025, Gabriel Martinez-Segura and four other men got into a white Chevrolet van and headed to a construction job in East Austin. At around 7:08 a.m., just after they crossed over the Longhorn Dam, their van caught the attention of Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Ricky Cotto. He later said it looked like their front license plate was not in the right place. Within 15 minutes of Cotto noticing the misplaced plate, all five occupants of the van were in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now, The Texas Newsroom has obtained body and dash cam videos from that morning on Town Creek Drive, and is sharing them for the first time. The records shed light on the tactics, language and technology used by police in Texas to quickly sweep people into deportation proceedings. They also reveal that Texas Department of Public Safety special agents broke state police rules by wearing face-concealing masks during the operation.

Experts who have reviewed the images say they raise questions about the erosion of trust between officers and the general public amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. They also highlight the quick and nearly invisible way the vast majority of people are detained and deported in places like Texas, where state and local law enforcement officials often partner with federal immigration agents. “We might not have the big kind of [ICE] occupations that we see in Minneapolis, Chicago, LA, but we are doing that type of disappearance at a much larger scale,” says Kristin Etter, director of policy and legal services at the Texas Immigration Law Council. “You just don't know it because it's happening quietly.” In response to questions from The Texas Newsroom about DPS agents wearing masks, the Texas Department of Public Safety says “each agent will be counseled, and their chain of command will be making it clear face coverings should not be worn on duty unless for reasons outlined in the attached policy.” A Department spokesman declined a request for an interview with Officer Cotto, who did not wear a mask during the operation.

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Dallas to receive $211M under new funding agreement with DART

Dallas city leaders signed onto an agreement with Dallas Area Rapid Transit that will give the city back more than $200 million. The city council voted to approve DART’s offer for a return in sales tax contributions during a meeting Wednesday. It’s part of the agency’s General Mobility Program that was put together after months of negotiations between DART and its 13 member cities. “I'm happy to close the chapter of feeling like we have to be at the defense in order just to deliver something positive with transit for our residents,” said District 7 council member Adam Bazaldua. DART board members last month approved the new funding structure, created as a way to resolve some member cities' concerns with the agency's spending and governance. While the agreement frees up millions of dollars for cities, the money must be used for transportation-related projects.

District 12 council member Cara Mendelsohn questioned DART’s criteria for what projects qualify for funding. “I disagree that [the criteria] is sufficient,” Mendelsohn told city staff. “I think it is purposely vague to our detriment.” District 14 council member Paul Ridley encouraged council members to support the agreement. “I know it's tempting to micromanage the agreement from our perspective, but that's a very difficult thing to do,” Ridley said. “If we choose not to execute this agreement then we're kissing away $211 million and we're throwing a monkey wrench in the works, basically.” The council’s vote to approve the agreement comes as DART’s CEO Nadine Lee plans to step down after four years leading the agency. More DART member cities are expected to sign onto DART’s agreement except for three – Addison, Highland Park and University Park – that opted to hold withdrawal elections in May.

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Austin’s I-35 cap-and-stitch vision faces uncertain funding future

Austin officials are weighing plans to fund a series of public decks over I-35, after the highway is expanded and lowered below street level. (Ben Thompson/Community Impact) The outlook for Austin's ambitious plans to cover stretches of the redesigned I-35 with public amenity decks remains unclear due to the high costs of constructing the project, which city staff advised not to fund as of this spring. “Everything that we put money into that is aspirational affects us now, and we don’t have the same flexibility that we once had under different conditions," council member Krista Laine said.

The Texas Department of Transportation's multibillion-dollar Capital Express Central will widen I-35 and lower interstate lanes below street level from downtown to North Central Austin. Many locals and city officials have been opposed to TxDOT's highway expansion, and viewed a "cap and stitch" program—a series of public decks covering the roadway that could hold parks, playgrounds, small buildings and other features—as a key city response to the state project. Since outlines for larger caps and smaller stitches were first developed years ago, cost projections climbed while the amount of proposed deck coverage was scaled back. The city also lost a more than $100 million federal grant that was expected to support its largest proposed cap downtown. Austin's plans are separate from The University of Texas at Austin's own cap and stitch initiative to extend its campus over I-35 from 15th to Dean Keeton streets. City Council committed last year to pay TxDOT $104 million to add structural supports along I-35, which are needed for any future decks to be built. But no funding has yet been set aside for the development of caps and stitches or public amenities. That main portion now exceeds $600 million, and the structures are also expected to cost about $9 million annually to maintain once they're in place.

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Lacy Lakeview considers using wastewater to supply proposed data center

A proposed data center in Lacy Lakeview is raising questions about water usage, with officials saying the facility could require millions of gallons each day to operate. Now, city leaders are considering an alternative source: treated wastewater. Energy Systems Group, or ESG, presented a plan to council members that would use a process called “sewer mining” to capture wastewater already leaving the community and reuse it instead of relying on drinking water. The system would use advanced membrane technology to remove bacteria, viruses, and other pollutants, producing high-quality reclaimed water that could be used to cool the data center.

Project leaders say the goal is to meet the data center’s needs without tapping into the city’s existing water supply. “We’re not taking groundwater or drinking water,” said Randall Nelson. “We’re taking something people consider waste and turning it into a resource.” According to ESG, the facility could process about two million gallons of water per day. Officials say the system would be compact, enclosed, and designed to minimize noise and odor. They also say the project could create new revenue for the city by selling excess treated water and reducing costs tied to wastewater management. But the proposal drew concern from some residents. Community members questioned ESG’s experience with data centers and raised environmental concerns, including the use of chemical additives and the potential for thermal pollution that could impact local ecosystems. “It will have chemical additives such as biocides and corrosion inhibitors,” said Carla Garcia. “The plants and fish can’t handle it.” Despite those concerns, council members approved a Project Development Agreement, allowing ESG to move forward with studying the project in more detail. That includes evaluating costs, environmental impact, design plans, and potential funding sources like grants and low-interest loans. City leaders emphasized the agreement does not mean the project is finalized, but rather gives them the information needed to decide whether to move forward. The proposal is still in the early stages, with more details expected as the study progresses.

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Ted Cruz asks Senate to withhold his pay during partial shutdown

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz , R-Texas, has asked for his salary to be withheld until the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is over. “Due to the Democrat’s [sic] Shutdown, I’ve asked the Financial Clerk of the Senate to hold my salary,” Cruz tweeted Tuesday. To prove he’d actually done that, he even attached an image of the letter he sent to Senate Financial Clerk Ted Ruckner on his very own senatorial letterhead. In the letter, Cruz advised Ruckner to hold his salary check “for pickup” until the shutdown ends.

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Galveston County residents to weigh in on proposed desalination plant in Texas City

The Bayshore Town Square community group, based in Galveston County, asked residents to join a public meeting at the Bacliff Volunteer Fire Department Thursday evening to discuss a proposed desalination plant near Galveston Bay. "We encourage you to share this event and bring your friends and family so they understand what is happening in our community," the flyer, which was posted on social media, states. Canadian-based utility company, EPCOR Utilities Inc., is seeking a permit to build a desalination plant that would help with water security in the region.

The plant would remove salt and minerals from seawater to produce 24.5 million gallons of drinking water a day to the region that's home to nearly 8 million residents, according to the utility company. Sign up for the Hello, Houston! daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox. EPCOR filed a discharge permit application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in October 2025, which is a required step for the state's approval to develop and operate the seawater desalination facility near the south shore of Galveston Bay. Some nearby residents, though, have expressed concerns about the impact that discharge from the plant could have on marine life. "Spent most of today meeting with Galveston Bay shrimpers and oystermen, the last of a breed. They [are] very concerned about the proposed desalination debacle and its impact on our Galveston Bay," one person commented on a community group Facebook post for those who reside in the Bacliff and San Leon areas.

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Meet Hemisfair's new CEO Melissa Robinson

The winding path of Melissa Robinson’s professional life is not unlike the tree-lined sidewalks that park visitors tread from the gathering spaces at Aro de Abrazos through Civic Park to the water features and play area of Hemisfair. Robinson was named CEO of the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation in March, having served on the leadership team since 2022, and previously as a member of the HPARC board of directors. She succeeded HPARC’s first CEO Andres Andujar, the man who led the park’s development from 2011 to 2025, during which the city worked to transform Hemisfair from an overlooked and neglected former world’s fair site to a burgeoning urban park with green space, residential development and more recently a luxury hotel. During that time, Robinson said her own path to Hemisfair was being drawn less by intention than a personal trait for wonder.

“I look back sometimes in my career, and [think], wow, what an amazing, natural progression that I really didn’t have any hand in particularly scripting,” Robinson said. “I think that’s a testament to my curiosity and lifelong quest for learning.” The California-born Robinson “fell into” the construction industry, starting out in a temp job as an accounts receivable bookkeeper, then went to work for Granite Construction in Reno, Nev., while in college. Later, her path led to Zachry Industrial in San Antonio in 2005, where she worked from through 2009 as a financial reporting manager before being laid off during the economic downturn. Robinson’s next step took her to “the other side” of the industry — real estate development. A role as chief financial officer with the development firm Bitterblue is where she learned commercial real estate development.

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Texas State professor claims university is firing him for a speech made in 2024

A Texas State University professor alleges he is being wrongfully terminated from his position after online backlash over an off-campus speech he made nearly two years ago. In a lawsuit against Texas State leadership, philosophy professor Idris Robinson claims he was placed on administrative leave in June 2025 after a video surfaced online of a 2024 presentation he gave at an anarchist event in North Carolina titled, "Strategic Lessons from the Palestinian Resistance.” Robinson was placed on leave after clips of the speech were shared by an Instagram account, accusing him of inciting violence. "This is not academic freedom. This is incitement to violence. Texas State University must act," the post read.

The lawsuit claims that soon after he was placed on leave, he was notified that his contract would not be renewed with the university and that his employment would end in May 2026. "At no point did he encourage or direct anyone to engage in violence," the motion claims. This week, attorneys representing Robinson filed an emergency motion, requesting a preliminary injunction by a U.S. District Court in Austin to block his termination. "Texas State University does not discuss active litigation," a spokesperson for the university told CBS Austin in response to a request for comment. The Texas State Board of Regents recently upheld the firing of another professor, Thomas Alter, in the fall. Alter was fired after remarks he made at a virtual conference held by a socialist group. "After a thorough review of the facts, as well as information provided during Dr. Thomas Alter’s due process hearing, the Board of Regents has voted unanimously to uphold President Damphousse’s decision to summarily dismiss Dr. Alter and revoke his tenure," the Texas State University System said in November.

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Light rail network partner UNS, formerly UNStudio, opens U.S. office in Austin

UNS, formerly UNStudio, has opened its first official U.S. office in Austin, Texas, where it’s been active since 2023 designing a new light rail network for the fast growing city in tandem with HKS, Gehl, and the Austin Transit Partnership. Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos started what was UNStudio (United Network Studio) together in 1988. The practice is headquartered in Amsterdam and operates offices in Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Melbourne, and Shanghai, and now Austin. “The U.S. is a market where we’ve realized some of our most impactful work, and we’re excited to continue this trajectory from Austin—a city that has experienced remarkable growth and design in recent years,” van Berkel said in a statement.

The Austin light rail project by UNS entails the construction of 15 stations spread across 10 miles of rail network. After achieving federal approval early this year, construction is slated to begin on the network in 2027 and conclude in 2033. Outside Austin, another ongoing project in the U.S. by UNS is a masterplan in Washington, D.C. for Georgetown University’s Capitol Campus. Previously, in 2009, UNS designed a temporary pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park, built to commemorate the Burnham Plan Centennial. In 2024, the firm completed a renovation of the Jewish Museum in New York City. Frans van Vuure, managing director of the UNS Austin office, affirmed “Austin’s strong culture of innovation makes it an ideal base for our US operations.” “Establishing a presence on the ground allows us to better support local projects, build meaningful partnerships and apply our international experience to the complex challenges and opportunities shaping the built environment across the United States,” vans Vuure added.

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This is what it takes to keep the Dallas County Jail from overflowing

In the years since the pandemic, the Lew Sterrett Justice Center has attracted more attention for its failures and challenges than any triumphs and progress. The county jail, Texas’ second largest, neared 100 percent capacity last fall, requiring emergency beds to house the inmates. A botched transition to new court software in 2023 forced courthouse clerks to hand-carry files to the jail multiple times a day. County officials say they are short 187 jail guards. More people are dying behind bars now than in recent history. Others have languished even when their sentences were complete; the county faces four federal over-detention lawsuits and has paid out at least $220,000 to defendants in other cases. Somehow, county commissioners say things could still be worse. Since 2023, a team has operated largely away from public view, performing manual work that is critical to keeping the jail from overflowing. This Jail Population Management team, or JPM, is a middle-man of sorts between the many levers of the criminal justice system. Its responsibilities sometimes even include alerting the jail’s administrators to court orders so they know who to release and when.

The stakes are high, and costly: The jail generally costs taxpayers about $25 million to operate each month; jailing a single person is $95.58 a day. This team’s work helps the county avoid paying millions to an outside entity to hold inmates elsewhere, an act of last resort that recently cost Harris County $38 million. By its very nature, the jail is in a difficult position. Dallas County doesn’t have authority over the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles—or the elected sheriff or top prosecutor or judges who run the courts. “Other than setting the budget,” says Commissioner John Wiley Price, “We’re pretty much at their peril.” The most the county can do, Price says, is keep tabs and nudge the assembly line forward. “This is not just an expensive $25 million gated community,” he says. “This is a small city that requires 24/7 management.” The dozens of decision-makers in that small city log on at least once a month to a Microsoft Teams meeting. On a Friday morning in March, about 70 people watched LaShonda Jefferson,assistant director of the county’s criminal justice department, recite numbers that told the story of the jail. Dallas County’s average daily jail population: 7,088. Total beds: 7,499. Felony cases: 63 percent of those jailed. Misdemeanors: 4 percent. Those awaiting transfer: 33 percent. Average length of stay: 45 days. Cost to operate the jail in the shorter month of February, excluding medical services: $18,968,233. “We’re continuing to see an uptick in our book-ins coupled with slower release rates,” Jefferson said, then presented another series of datapoints, followed by another. Attendees make up Dallas’ sprawling criminal justice apparatus: county commissioners, judges, prosecutors, sheriff’s deputies, corrections and parole officers, public defenders, hospital managers, pre-trial supervisors. All play a part in how the jail operates and whether there is enough space to hold the people who are arrested each day. Many of them—representing administrative, legislative, and judiciary powers—also operate independently. Jefferson is at the center of this web as the leader of the Jail Population Management team, a small group that works to break down silos, spot trends and unnecessary holdups in the jail, and improve communication between these stakeholders.

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What San Antonio police reform advocates want in new union contract

San Antonio police reform advocates have a long list of changes they want to see in the new employment contract that the police union is hammering out with the city. But they could wind up disappointed, judging from the first two days of negotiations, which have largely focused on wages and benefits. The city and the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association will meet Thursday, the third time since contract talks kicked off in late January. The goal is to have a new contract in place before the City Council votes on a new city budget in late September, the same month the union’s current contract expires. So far, city negotiators haven’t proposed any significant changes to how officers are disciplined when they engage in misconduct.

That was a major focus of the previous contract negotiation, which wrapped up in 2022. Now, an arbitrator can only reverse the police chief’s decision to fire an officer if the chief fails to show the officer’s conduct was detrimental to the department. Previous disciplinary measures against an officer can also be considered when imposing new discipline. Those changes stemmed from pressure to rein in bad cops in the wake of a Minneapolis police officer’s May 2020 killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man whose death ignited nationwide protests against police brutality. “The reason that the city focused so hard on arbitration was because of community demand,” said Ananda Tomas, executive directive of Act 4 SA, a police reform group. She said that demand was evidenced by the nearly 49% of voters who in May 2021 supported stripping SAPOA of its right to collectively bargain with the city for an employment contract that establishes wages and benefits, in addition to disciplinary procedures. Act 4 SA grew out of that campaign.

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National Stories

DHS funding deal on shaky ground as Trump and Democrats both decline to embrace it

After weeks of halting talks, a new proposal is materializing on Capitol Hill that aims to fund critical parts of the Department of Homeland Security as travelers across the country deal with long lines and missed flights at airports experiencing TSA officer shortages. But despite optimism from top Senate Republicans, President Trump and Senate Democrats have yet to embrace the emerging framework. For more than a month, Republicans demanded an agreement to fund DHS in its entirety. Funding for the department lapsed in mid-February amid anger over the agency's handling of immigration enforcement. GOP leadership previewed a plan Tuesday to fund the majority of the department, minus Immigration and Custom Enforcement's enforcement and removal operations division.

But the GOP plan failed to clear an initial procedural vote on Wednesday, as most Democrats say they are unwilling to approve any additional funding for ICE without significant reforms to rein in the tactics of immigration officers after two U.S. citizens were killed in Minneapolis earlier this year. Trump is also not sold on any deal that does not include an unrelated overhaul of federal elections known as the SAVE America Act. "I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump said Tuesday. That's as the DHS shutdown has now lasted 40 days, and federal employees who handle airport security, disaster response and cybersecurity go without pay. "We are really concerned about our security posture and what the long term impacts of this shutdown is going to have on the workforce and our ability to carry out this mission," Ha Nguyen McNeil, the TSA acting administrator, said during a House hearing on Wednesday.

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T.S.A. tipped off ICE agents before arrests at San Francisco airport

The woman and her 9-year-old daughter were walking through Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday night, heading to their gate to fly to Miami to visit a relative, when a stranger in plainclothes approached. “Angelina?” he asked. “Sí,” she responded. Minutes later, Angelina Lopez-Jimenez was on her knees, crying, as two immigration agents were handcuffing her in front of her daughter, according to video footage that went viral this week. Government documents obtained by The New York Times explain the events leading up to the tense scene, including the exchange between the agent and Ms. Lopez-Jimenez.

The documents shed new light on how the Transportation Security Administration is sharing with ICE officials the names and birth dates of travelers believed to have been ordered out of the country by a judge. That has made it easier for the Trump administration to detain and deport undocumented immigrants as they pass through airports. Ms. Lopez-Jimenez, 41, a native of Guatemala, and her daughter, Wendy Godinez-Lopez, were flagged by T.S.A. officials on Friday when they showed up on a passenger list for a Sunday flight from San Francisco to Miami. The agency then tipped off Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the documents. Ms. Lopez-Jimenez and her daughter were living in Contra Costa County, Calif., on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the congressman for that region, John Garamendi. She had no criminal history, though she entered the country illegally. Democratic officials recoiled this week at the detention. Mr. Garamendi, a Democrat, said that it was the latest example of how the Trump administration was rounding up mothers and children instead of focusing its immigration enforcement on dangerous criminals.

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CBS News ratings headed for historic lows 6 months into Bari Weiss’ tenure at top

CBS News’ flagship programs are reportedly on track to hit historic lows six months into the tenure of editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who’s overseen layoffs, sinking morale and newsroom turmoil. With the first quarter winding down at the end of the week, “CBS Evening News” is poised to see its worst audience numbers for any January-through-March period this century, according to data cited by the Status newsletter. The Tony Dokoupil-helmed show has reportedly sunk to an average of 4.3 million viewers, down 7% from last year, with viewership in the coveted 25-54 demographic down 18% to 541,000.

Things are no better at “CBS Mornings,” which has been averaging just 1.8 million viewers — down 13% year over year — while its viewers in the 25-54 demo plunged 28% to 268,000. Those figures would mark the show’s worst quarter ever. The competition at ABC and NBC have seen their audiences grow. ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” reportedly drew an average 8.7 million viewers for the quarter, up 8% — though it dipped 5% in the 25-54 demographic to about 1.1 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News with Tom Llamas” notched a 6% increase in its total audience — averaging 7 million — as well as a 7% bump in the key demo, to more than 1 million viewers, according to figures obtained by Status. Muir, meanwhile, has solidified his hold on first place in the nightly news race. ABC’s flagship news show has widened its lead over Llamas and NBC to roughly 2.3 million viewers per night, marking its biggest advantage in nearly six years, according to Nielsen data.

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At Pentagon Christian service, Hegseth prays for violence 'against those who deserve no mercy'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, hosting his first monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon since the Iran war began, prayed Wednesday to have “every round find its mark.” “Every month it is fitting to be right here,” he told the gathered civilian employees and uniformed military personnel. “All the more fitting this month, at this moment, given what tens of thousands of Americans are doing right now.” He read a prayer he said was first given by a military chaplain to the troops who captured then-President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,” Hegseth prayed during the livestreamed service. “Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”

Hegseth frequently invokes his evangelical faith as head of the armed forces, depicting a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might. “I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed,” he read from the Psalms on Wednesday. During the expanding Iran war and global conflicts, Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric has drawn renewed scrutiny, including his past defense of the Crusades, the brutal medieval wars that pitted Christians against Muslims. Statements of faith are common in American public life, across political parties and religious traditions. Pentagon aides and Hegseth’s defenders pull examples from history, such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s support of giving Bibles to troops. Hegseth regularly cites George Washington, who pushed to establish the military chaplain corps. Hegseth often goes beyond standard calls for God to bless the country or its troops. Last week, he asked Americans to pray for service members “in the name of Jesus Christ.” On Wednesday, he again prayed in Jesus’ name.

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First Lady selling $600 Freedom necklaces online

Melania Trump is selling a gold necklace, and people can’t believe the price. The first lady has her own website where she sells White House memorabilia like Christmas ornaments, jewelry and collectables. Fans can also get a copy of her memoir, Melania, which came out in 2024, or they can learn where to stream her newest documentary. The 2026 film Melania was released in theaters in January, grossing $16.7 million against a $40 million budget. It received a 11% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, though it has a 98% from fans. The film was teased by Comedian Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars, where he poked fun while presenting the award for Best Documentary.

The Gold Vermeil Vote Freedom necklace is $600 on MelaniaTrump.com. The necklace is described as a limited edition, gold vermeil necklace celebrating Lady Liberty. It comes with a thick gold chain with a large round pendant featuring an illustration of the Statue of Liberty with the word “Liberty” above her. It can also be customized with engraving. The necklace is apart of the Vote Freedom collection, which features three necklaces. They include the Gold Vermeil for $600, a Gold Plated necklace for $175, and a Sterling Silver for $550. The necklace has spurn mix reactions, with many surprised by the high price tag. Ana Navarro, one of the hosts of The View, posted about the jewelry on Instagram. “Oh My God. Like really. Oh My God,” she said. “Add a $600 necklace to the $90 Christmas ornaments and the memoir book and the piece-of-s--- NFT’s.” She continued: “Oh, and the $250k to speak to gay Republicans. Basically, only time Melania shows her face is to extract money from poor suckers. Seriously, how can people supposedly so rich, be so miserly?” Navarro added that she “should be First Lady of Home Shopping Network. #tacky” On X, people slammed the necklace, not only for its price, but for its design. “Melania Trump wants you to send her $600 for this ugly necklace. The gift never ends,” an account said.

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World Cup teams finalize US base camps as host cities prepare for global crowds

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup just three months away, cities across the United States are racing to finalize training facilities that national teams will call home during the global tournament. Among them is Kansas City, which will serve as the base camp for defending champion Argentina national football team, a major win for the region as it prepares to welcome both players and tens of thousands of international fans. Base camps are critical to World Cup operations. They serve as home headquarters where teams live, train and recover while traveling between match sites throughout the competition.

"From private practice fields to player recovery rooms, these facilities are designed to support some of the biggest names in soccer," said Alan Dietrich, who has worked closely with organizers. Local leaders have spent more than a year pitching their cities to international teams, hoping to showcase not just athletic facilities but the broader community. "We started actually over a year ago with countries beginning to visit," Dietrich said. Tourism officials say the opportunity extends far beyond the sport itself. Hosting a base camp allows cities to introduce themselves to global audiences and build long-term international relationships. "We knew that the World Cup was going to be kind of our first chance and probably our biggest chance to be engaging these international markets," said Devin Aaron with Visit KC.

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USDA cancels $300 million program to help farmers buy land amid anti-DEI push

The Agriculture Department is cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from a program aimed at helping farmers buy and retain land, three people familiar with the decision confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday. The Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, awarded roughly $300 million to about 50 projects across the country for five-year contracts beginning in 2023. Nonprofits, tribal governments and other organizations applied for the funding to address land access issues for underserved farmers — including access to capital, market expansions, succession planning and efforts to prevent land loss. The projects were especially targeted to address land access issues facing Black farmers, immigrant farmers, Indigenous farmers, veterans and other underrepresented groups.

According to one of the cancellation letters shared with POLITICO, USDA determined that the program “involved discriminatory preferences based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” as well as “wasteful spending.” The letter also cited a March 2025 directive from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins directing USDA to review existing grants to ensure they do not promote DEI and are “free from fraud, abuse and duplication.” “USDA will prioritize unity, equality, meritocracy, and color-blindness in furtherance of the Department’s mission,” Farm Service Agency Associate Administrator Steven Peterson wrote in the March 23 letter. Peterson said in the letter that the grants are discriminatory, do not align with congressional intent and have “unacceptably exposed taxpayers” to waste.

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Lead Stories

Trump and Republican National Committee lean toward Dallas for unusual 2026 GOP midterm convention

President Trump and the Republican National Committee are strongly considering Dallas as the site of an unusual midterm convention later this year, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. Republicans are working to finalize the plan as they seek to rally their voters in the face of political headwinds. Some details must still be finalized, including the exact dates, and officials said formal paperwork still needed to be signed. But Trump advisers who are looking to parade their candidates and rally the base are close to settling on Dallas over other options, which had included Las Vegas, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to share private planning information. The party is targeting a date after Labor Day to try to maximize early-voting momentum.

Political parties typically hold conventions once every four years, only when nominating a presidential candidate and formalizing their platform. But Mr. Trump has pushed for a major gathering before this year’s midterm elections to motivate his supporters at what is expected to effectively amount to a major rally for the party. Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Republican National Committee, said in a statement that “while there has been speculation in the media about the location and date, no contracts have been signed.” “The upcoming Midterm Convention is happening because of President Trump’s leadership, vision, and unwavering commitment to the America First movement,” she said. The R.N.C. took steps at its winter meeting to clear the way for a convention-style event this year. Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, said this month at the party’s retreat in Florida, “I can’t wait for the midterm convention that we’re going to have before early voting starts in the fall where we parade all of our stars across the stage and we talk about all the great things we’ve done for the American people.” He added, “This is a midterm like none other.”

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City Council votes 5-3 to advance removal process for Mayor Guajardo; mayor responds

The Corpus Christi City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with setting a meeting to discuss procedural steps tied to a petition seeking the removal of Mayor Paulette Guajardo. In a 5-3 vote, council members agreed to set an agenda item and date to review preliminary and procedural matters required for a potential removal hearing. That next meeting is expected to take place April 14. The vote does not remove the mayor but rather advances the process under city procedures. Council members Carolyn Vaughn, Eric Cantu, Gil Hernandez, Kaylynn Paxson and Sylvia Campos voted in favor of moving the petition forward, while Roland Barrera, Everett Roy and Mark Scott voted against it. The petition, originally filed in August 2025 by six residents and backed by three council members, is tied to concerns over the mayor’s response in the Homewood Suites investigation.

The vote followed hours of public comment at City Hall, with residents weighing in both support and disapproval of the effort to remove the mayor. “It’s unfortunate that we have a process in place where five or six people you know can sign a piece of paper to remove a mayor or a council member,” Mayor Guajardo said. Councilman Mark Scott is among those who voted against advancing the petition. “Especially after we have spent four or five hundred thousand dollars investigating that issue, and to have found that there’s nothing there,” Scott said. Scott added that the council should focus on more pressing concerns, such as the region’s water crisis. “I don’t know that council, after all this money we have spent, should be the ones to initiate a request to the ethics commission. I just assume getting back to work on water, which is what the citizens want us to do,” Scott said.

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Paxton asks Abbott to replace 'incompetent loser' acting comptroller

Texas AG Ken Paxton is calling on Gov. Greg Abbott to replace the acting comptroller, who he called an "incompetent loser," over a letter regarding Paxton's handling of a case related to Islamic schools in the state. Paxton said in his Tuesday statement that Abbott ought to remove Kelly Hancock and put Don Huffines, who won the recent GOP primary for the seat, in his place until the general election. What they're saying: "Kelly Hancock is a Never Trumper and an incompetent loser who's an embarrassment to the position of Chief Clerk that he holds," Paxton said in a Tuesday night post to X, formerly Twitter. "To protect Texans' tax dollars, I am officially calling for Governor Abbott to immediately replace him with the person Texans actually voted for to be Comptroller, Don Huffines. Kelly Hancock was rejected by Texans because he failed to do his job. He failed to take me down during impeachment, and his career is over. It's time for him to be fired."

Hancock was Abbott's pick for comptroller, but fell short of the Republican nomination for the role on March 3, when Huffines, a candidate further to the right than Abbott on the political compass, won by a wide margin. Huffines is set to represent the GOP in the general election in November. Don Huffines, a former Texas state senator currently campaigning for state comptroller, is facing scrutiny over his family’s 2023 purchase of the New Mexico ranch formerly owned by convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. What we don't know: Neither Hancock nor Abbott released a response to Paxton's request at the time of publishing. Paxton's charged comments came after Hancock sent a letter to his office that, among other things, took jabs at his handling of a case related to Islam in Texas. Hancock's letter puts a large amount of blame on Paxton for an Islamic school in Houston being temporarily eligible for the new state school voucher program. He asked Paxton to highlight the school's alleged ties to a group GOP leaders have labeled as terror-aligned, take steps to strip the school's corporate charter, and take further action against the allegedly terror-related Muslim Brotherhood group.

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Saudi leader is said to push Trump to continue Iran war in recent calls

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been pushing President Trump to continue the war against Iran, arguing that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign presents a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East, according topeople briefed by American officials on the conversations. In a series of conversations over the last week, Prince Mohammed has conveyed to Mr. Trump that he must press toward the destruction of Iran’s hard-line government, the people familiar with the conversations said. Prince Mohammed, the people familiar with the discussions said, has argued that Iran poses a long-term threat to the Gulf that can only be eliminated by getting rid of the government.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel also views Iran as a long-term threat, but analysts say Israeli officials would probably view a failed Iranian state that is too caught up in internal turmoil to menace Israel as a win, while Saudi Arabia views a failed state in Iran as a grave and direct security threat. But senior officials in both the Saudi and American governments worry that if the conflict drags on, Iran could deliver ever more punishing attacks on Saudi oil installations and the United States could be stuck in an endless war. In public, Mr. Trump has swung wildly between suggesting that the war could end soon and signaling it would escalate. On Monday, the president posted on social media that his administration and Iran had held “productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities,” though Iran disputed the idea that negotiations were underway.

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State Stories

‘It’s go time’: New FWISD leaders share message of urgency to put students first

The new, state-appointed superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District — alongside other district and city leaders — shared a message of urgency and transparency with a student-first approach on Tuesday morning. Shortly after Texas Education Agency officials announced Superintendent Peter Licata has assumed the leadership position during a state takeover, alongside nine state appointees for the Board of Managers, he addressed the media to emphasize his focus on meeting children’s basic needs so they are prepared to learn, while noting his plans to be accessible and transparent during his tenure in Fort Worth ISD. Licata, who most recently served as superintendent of Broward County Public Schools in Florida, also shared plans for professional development and accountability for teachers. “This is an opportunity for me to bring my skill set to a place that deserves the best,” he said.

Students testing at grade-level proficiency is “the lowest form of acceptance,” he said, noting that he wants students to excel above that level. Licata called the Fort Worth school district’s performance data “depressing” and “offensive.” Licata acknowledged there would be “upper-level changes and reduction immediately,” and a new organizational chart for district administrators is underway. He doesn’t anticipate the staffing changes will be noticeable on campuses “right now.” Principals will be more hands-on, staying outside of their office during the school day and worrying about paperwork later, Licata said. Teacher vacancies will be filled, and observations of teachers will have “real-time feedback” to make sure they are maximizing a lesson to its full potential, he said. “We’re going to put our best generals in our toughest battles, and we’re going to reward them for it,” Licata said. During the press conference at Reby Cary Youth Library in east Fort Worth, Mayor Mattie Parker also presented four members of the Board of Managers: Luis Galindo, Courtney Lewis, Rosa Marie Berdeja and Pete Geren.

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After 20 years of resistance, Trump is walling off the Rio Grande Valley

About 10 miles upstream from the mouth of the Rio Grande, along a quiet bend of the river near a historic Civil War battle site, Mexican fishermen in overalls casting their nets into the water are a familiar sight. Brown pelicans sometimes follow fishing boats hoping to catch a snack. The sound of water splashing along the riverbank from the wake of a boat is oddly comforting. But these days, as far as the eye can see along the natural border, small white buoys are sporadically placed marking a “restricted area” and declaring the river as property of the federal Department of Defense, part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to militarize the region. Small signs are wrapped around the buoys here, east of the border city of Brownsville. And these warning signs are only one small indicator of the vast change about to sweep through the river. More than a year into Trump’s second stint in the White House, fast-paced border barrier construction has been steadily proceeding through areas of the Rio Grande Valley both on land and in the river itself.

Last year, Congress appropriated nearly $47 billion for border barrier construction, encompassing both 30-foot-tall steel fencing and river barrier made up of larger orange buoys to deter crossers, and including surveillance technology. This is a historic investment in finishing the barrier in the Valley—which spans about 150 miles by car and 275 river-miles from Cameron County upriver through Hidalgo and Starr Counties and currently hosts disconnected stretches of both federal- and state-built border fencing. It’s a region that’s historically been difficult for wall-building presidents to conquer due to varying terrain and the fact that the riverfront land is held by private landowners often with complicated claims dating back centuries. But the Trump administration’s present plans to add another 90 or so miles of new and replacement wall would finish sealing off the region from the Brownsville Ship Channel all the way up to Falcon Dam, completing the job that George W. Bush and Barack Obama started. From trucks loaded up with the orange buoys—measuring 15 feet long and 4 to 5 feet wide—driving through the pothole-ridden streets of Southmost in Brownsville to shipments of steel border wall bollard panels hauled down Valley highways, the rapid spending of these taxpayer dollars is displayed all around the region.

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Southern Dallas selected by Elon Musk’s The Boring Company for high-tech tunnel

A major southern Dallas development has been selected for a high-profile infrastructure project led by Elon Musk’s tunneling venture, The Boring Company, according to a newly released announcement. The University Hills development has been chosen to host a mile-long underground tunnel, known as the “University Hills Loop,” which will connect the community directly to the University of North Texas Dallas DART Station. The project was selected from 487 submissions as part of the company’s “Tunnel Vision Challenge,” with 16 finalists competing nationwide. University Hills joins two other winning proposals — in New Orleans and Baltimore — announced by The Boring Company on social media.

The loop is an underground tunnel where electric vehicles travel at high speeds, allowing riders to bypass surface traffic. The concept is designed to improve connectivity and reduce congestion. University Hills is a 280-acre, $1 billion mixed-use development led by Hoque Global. Plans include hundreds of homes, multiple phases of development and a walkable town center. The tunnel would create a direct, multi-modal link between the development and the broader North Texas transit network. “It is an honor to be recognized … as the winning project,” Hoque Global CEO and Founder Mike Hoque said in the release. He added the project highlights how “emerging infrastructure solutions can strengthen access to transit, jobs, and opportunity.” “UNT Dallas is pleased that this innovative tunnel will increase access to and from our campus and the region. It symbolizes the continued growth of southern Dallas through technology, collaboration and forward-thinking and will strengthen the community surrounding the university," said UNT Dallas President Dr. Warren von Eschenbach.

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DART CEO Nadine Lee is resigning

Nadine Lee, who was hired as CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit in 2021, told the transit agency’s board Tuesday night that she will not renew her contract. “I have informed the board that I will not be seeking an extension to my contract,” Lee said in an interview with D Magazine. “I will be leaving at a time to be determined.” Being the CEO of a large transit agency was never going to be easy. But running one like DART, a regional provider for 13 member cities that shuttles hundreds of thousands of daily riders, is especially difficult. Nothing proved that more than the last 18 months or so. First, Lee and her executive team narrowly avoided state legislation that she contended would have “killed” the system. After the session ended last year, Lee led the agency through a revolt by nearly half of its member cities that sought to claw back a portion of the sales tax revenue that accounts for the majority of DART’s funding. Six of those cities scheduled withdrawal elections for May.

But in February, the improbable happened: Thanks to a great deal of persuasion and flexibility, DART struck a deal that prompted three cities—Plano, Irving, and Farmers Branch—to cancel those elections. (University Park, Highland Park, and Addison will have measures to withdraw on their May ballots.) Why now? Lee says that the days of transit and city leaders staying in the same job for decades are a thing of the past. “I actually just came from a conference with transit CEOs across the country, and I think all of us acknowledged that the average tenure of a CEO in transit is five to seven years,” Lee says. “It used to be that it was 10 to 20 years.” Lee was hired away from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority nearly five years ago, where she oversaw METRO’s $2.1 billion Better Bus Initiative. She also helped develop bus rapid transit projects in Denver. To understand why she’s leaving, Lee says, it’s important to remember why she was hired in the first place. At the time of her hiring, DART had spent the better part of three decades building one of the largest light rail systems in the country. It wanted to redesign its bus system to improve frequency and reliability. At the time, the Silver Line rail from Plano to DFW Airport and a since-scuttled downtown D2 subway link were the last vestiges of the rail build-out that preceded her.

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Texas Hill Country wine executive arrested on DWI, weapon charges

A prominent Texas Hill Country wine executive was arrested Saturday and charged with driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a weapon, jail records show. John Rivenburgh, who grew up in San Antonio, is listed as a past president and "member at large" for Texas Wine Growers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting "the integrity of Texas Wine by making wines solely from grapes grown in the Terroir of Texas." According to his biography page, "You can't throw a rock, or shall we say a wine bottle, in the Texas wine world without hitting a winery or vineyard that Rivenburgh has been of influence." Rivenburgh has also served as a delegate for the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, as well as served in two presidencies under Texas Hill Country Wineries.

From January 2015 to December 2021, he was a member of the Texas Wine Advisory Council for the the Texas Department of Agriculture, where he was "very active in leading legislation to advance and protect the Texas wine industry." Currently, the Texas Hill Country wine executive's "Rivenburgh Wine" brand includes the Wine Incubator, Kerrville Hills Winery, and Hill Country Spirits, his LinkedIn page says. The Kerrville Police Department arrested Rivenburgh on-site Saturday, charging him with DWI after authorities found his blood-alcohol level to be 0.15% — nearly twice the legal limit in Texas. He was booked into Kerrville's main jail, where he was held on a $3,500 surety bond for his DWI charge and a $1,500 surety bond for his unlawful weapon charge.

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Connally ISD, now under state control, cancels bond plans as it seeks to shrink its footprint

Connally ISD is moving forward with consolidating its elementary school campuses after canceling a $5.9 million bond election for May that would have helped with the transition. Connally ISD trustees called the bond election on Feb. 12 during a special meeting, then voted two weeks later to cancel it based on new projections of enrollment and savings from the school consolidation. The consolidation plan comes after a drop in elementary enrollment and the failure of three bond elections meant to replace the aging Connally Elementary School. The district is also in the process of being taken over by a state-appointed board and conservator due to years of failing grades at two campuses.

The plan, which conservator Andrew Kim supports, will close Connally Elementary School at 300 Cadet Way. Its fourth- and fifth-graders will be moved to Connally Primary School, about two miles north in Elm Mott, which now houses grades first through third. Connally Primary School will also be the new home for grades prekindergarten through kindergarten, which now attend the Connally Early Childhood Center next to Connally Elementary. That facility will continue to house day care programs. The $5.9 million bond would have included funds to enhance and expand the Elm Mott campus, adding portable buildings, repairing and adding roads, replacing school buses and replacing some heating and air conditioning units. But continuing elementary enrollment decline could make some of those improvements unnecessary. For now, the early childhood center and elementary school have a combined 459 students and the primary school has 437, which would mean a combined elementary population of about 900. The primary school campus has a capacity of about 800 students.

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Wait times at IAH shrink after day of TSA delays

ICE officers patrolled Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport for a second day Tuesday morning as security screening wait times exceeded four hours again during the sixth week of the partial government shutdown. By Tuesday evening, travelers at Bush Airport saw some relief as wait times shrunk to less than 20 minutes, while Hobby Airport consistently stayed under 10 minutes, according to the Houston Airport System. TSA worker staffing levels have dropped due to a pay freeze during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, which has dragged into day 38. Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints at Bush Airport were again reduced to two terminals — A and E — and TSA PreCheck and CLEAR were closed for a second straight day. Some ICE officers helped direct passengers through security screening while others stood to watch or patrol.

Bush Airport notched the longest TSA waits in the entire country during each of the past two days, according to the New York Times and CNN. More than 400 TSA agents have quit since the shutdown began, DHS confirmed Monday. AP reported that figure reached at least 458 on Tuesday. There are only enough TSA agents to staff a third to half of the airport's 37 screening lines, said Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the Houston Airport System, in a video message on Tuesday. "I want you to know we see it," he said. "We see the families arriving early and waiting for hours. We see missed flights. We see missed moments, weddings, vacation, time with loved ones. I see the frustration in the eyes of the airport employees."

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LaGuardia crash ‘the very kind of catastrophe’ Rep. Doggett fears could happen in Austin

When asked about the fatal crash between a plane and fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, Congressman Lloyd Doggett minced no words in his response: “It’s the very kind of catastrophe that I fear we could have here in Austin.” Doggett has long worried air traffic controller staffing shortages in Austin could leave our city susceptible to something similar. For years, we have spoken to Doggett about those shortages and his push to get those positions filled.

Air traffic controllers are not hired by the airports themselves but rather are federal positions. They are therefore outside of the purview of AUS. “With only half of the number of air traffic controllers for which we are certified {at AUS} … very same situation as LaGuardia this morning in terms of a shortage,” Doggett told KXAN. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addressed that general concern in a news conference in New York on Monday. Duffy said LaGuardia’s air traffic control tower is well-staffed, only four vacancies short of their goal. He also said six or seven people are in training. Still, he urged Congress to move forward with additional funding for air traffic control. “We are modernizing our system. But we can’t fully modernize it until Congress gives us additional money. It’s not a partisan issue. Both Democrats and Republicans agree, but they have to have the will to finish the funding,” he said. Meanwhile, Doggett says Austin has more than two dozen trainees in the pipeline, a significant step in the right direction, but one that won’t be an immediate fix. “Some of these trainees take up to two years to get trained and some of them don’t make it, and so I’m hopeful that this situation is to be corrected but I’m concerned that we’re in the same air traffic control situation as LaGuardia,” Doggett said.

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Water in this Austin suburb comes out brown, leaving residents with high bills and ruined appliances

Tyler Croft started having water problems right away after he and his wife moved to the Austin’s Colony neighborhood in far East Austin two years ago. First, it was the dishwasher. Cups and plates came out caked in white residue. Then, they noticed the taste; it was chalky and bitter. Once, while grabbing a glass of water, Croft turned on the tap and it came out brown. “That was the first sign that we knew we had to get something installed,” Croft said. He installed a water softener system under the kitchen sink. Then, after he noticed his skin was getting dry and his newborn daughter started developing eczema, he put filters on the showerheads. Next came a bigger water softener system out in the garage.

All told, Croft said he’s spent about $5,000 on softener and filtration systems to make the water in his home “acceptable.” That’s on top of the cost of the water itself. Water issues in the neighborhood have persisted for decades. Residents have long complained of bad tastes, ruined appliances and high water bills. People in the Austin’s Colony neighborhood are outside of the service area for Austin Water. Instead, they are served by a for-profit company called Texas Water Utilities (TWU). The company serves small pockets across 32 counties in Texas — neighborhoods similar to Austin’s Colony that are just outside a city’s service area. Before turning on the tap, the company charges Austin’s Colony residents a $59.39 base fee for water — more than seven times the cost of Austin Water’s base fee — and a $79.19 base fee for sewer services. Croft showed KUT News his water bill from February. The total came out to $221.79. The cost of the water he actually used was less than $40.

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Top HISD official hired to lead Fort Worth ISD in new takeover

A top Houston ISD official is joining Fort Worth ISD as second-in-command as the Texas Education Agency prepares to take over the North Texas school district. Daniel Soliz, an HISD area division chief, announced Tuesday he was "humbled and honored" to join as "deputy superintendent, chief of schools," hours after the TEA appointed a new superintendent to lead Fort Worth ISD. Soliz's appointment signals Fort Worth ISD will likely implement many of the reforms HISD has adopted since its state takeover in 2023.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced in December that Fort Worth would lose its democratically elected school board and its hired superintendent because of years of failing ratings at a single campus. With more than 70,000 students, Fort Worth ISD is the second-largest district to undergo a takeover. HISD is the largest. "Together, under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Peter Licata, we will improve outcomes for all students," Soliz wrote on LinkedIn. Some of Fort Worth's business leaders toured Houston schools in December with HISD's state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles. They said then that they felt encouraged by HISD's approach to instruction. "The bold systemic changes led by Superintendent Miles are positively changing the trajectory of the lives of children," visiting Fort Worth business chambers said in a joint statement in December. "We are inspired by and appreciative of the thousands of educational leaders in Houston who are implementing new practices elevating the standards for all students."

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Lake Worth ISD names acting superintendent amid state takeover

Following the resignation of its superintendent amid an imminent takeover by the Texas Education Agency, Lake Worth ISD has named a new acting superintendent. The district's assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. Trent Dowd has been appointed to serve in the role. Dowd will remain in the position until the TEA commissioner names a new superintendent. In a statement, Dowd said he is honored to serve as acting superintendent and emphasized that the district "will remain steadfast in its mission and vision, keeping students at the center of every decision." The previous superintendent, Mark Ramirez, announced his resignation at a board meeting in early March. His last day was March 13, less than a year after he joined the district in May of 2025.

In December of last year, the TEA announced it would be taking over operations of the district after all but one of its campuses received failing grades. In a letter to Lake Worth ISD's superintendent and board of trustees in December, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath wrote that he was ordering the appointment of a board of managers and a conservator to oversee the district after TEA conducted an analysis of district data and vetted its systems, leadership and student results. "Unacceptable academic performance in a single year represents significant academic weakness – typically less than one-third of students in those campuses reach grade level and less than one-half of students on those campuses demonstrate a year’s worth of academic growth," Morath wrote. "When that unacceptable performance continues for multiple years, the children in those campuses develop significant academic gaps. Multi-year unacceptable ratings represent a school district’s most fundamental mission failure and a complete inability to take necessary action to provide a high quality education for students."

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Pete Hegseth’s pastor says he wants James Talarico to die

The pastor from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s home church in Tennessee said last week on a podcast that he wants James Talarico to die, referring to the Texas Democratic state representative and Presbyterian seminarian who regularly discusses his Christian faith in his current bid for U.S. Senate. Brooks Potteiger, an evangelical pastor who has been described as Hegseth’s closest spiritual adviser, repeatedly attacked Talarico on the podcast “Reformation Red Pill.” The show is hosted by Joshua Haymes, a former pastoral intern at Potteiger’s church. After referring to the Texas Democrat as “a wolf,” a “demon,” and “a snake,” the two talked about what they hope becomes of Talarico. “First and foremost, we pray that a man like this would be cut to the heart,” Haymes said. He said he puts Talarico in the category of “public enemies,” or those you “are not called to love.”

“This is where you have imprecatory psalms. This is where you pray strongly,” he said. “The psalmist is not shy. God, destroy them. Make them as dung on the ground.” “I pray that God kills him,” Haymes said. “Ultimately, that means killing his heart and raising him up to new life in Christ.” Potteiger concurred. “Right, right,” he said. “We want him crucified with Christ.” Haymes repeated that he wants “death and new life” for Talarico. “And if it would not be within God’s will to do so, stop him by any means necessary,” he said. At one point, the podcast host said Talarico “is the kind of guy you pray imprecatory psalms against. And I mean that actually.” An imprecatory psalm is a biblical song or prayer that invokes God’s judgment, curses or destruction upon enemies. “Yep,” Potteiger said in response.

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National Stories

The DHS deal is on the rocks

Senate leaders are hitting more snags as they try to reach a deal to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Democrats are demanding additional concessions after Republicans struggled to get President Donald Trump on board with a framework for the potential agreement — one that the president hasn’t even yet publicly endorsed. Senate Republicans claim Democrats are moving the goalposts on a proposed deal to fund all of DHS except for ICE’s enforcement operations. GOP leaders say the proposal already includes some changes both parties agreed on in January, such as tens of millions of dollars of additional funding for body cameras and other concessions.

“I didn’t go down there and spend two hours with the president to get him to where a deal was, to only have it changed” by Democrats, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. “We can’t function that way.” Democrats insist their position hasn’t changed. Any immigration enforcement funding must include new restrictions. Chief among these are a ban on face masks for federal agents and changes to warrant procedures, they said. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are already making preparations for the second step of the process — a party-line reconciliation bill that would fund ICE enforcement and a whole host of other GOP priorities, including elements of the SAVE America Act. GOP members of the Senate Budget Committee held a meeting Tuesday night to begin gaming it out, even as some Senate Republicans are skeptical it’ll actually work. DHS latest. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that Democrats would send a counteroffer with additional reforms to ICE. As of this morning, that counteroffer hasn’t been sent yet.

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Jury finds Meta liable in case over child sexual exploitation on its platforms

A jury on Tuesday found Meta violated New Mexico law in a case accusing it of failing to warn users about the dangers of its platforms and protect children from sexual predators. The jury found Meta liable on all counts, including for willfully engaging in “unfair and deceptive” and “unconscionable” trade practices, and ordered the company to pay $375 million in damages. Meta for years has faced concerns about risks to kids and teens on its platforms from parents, whistleblowers, advocates and lawmakers. Tuesday’s decision marks the first time the company has been held accountable in a jury trial for those issues. A Meta spokesperson said the company “respectfully” disagrees and plans to appeal the decision.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Meta in 2023 for allegedly creating a “breeding ground” for child predators on Facebook and Instagram, claims that the company denies. The jury’s award was smaller than the billions in damages New Mexico had sought, but a later portion of the case to be presented directly to the judge could also force Meta to make changes to its platforms and pay additional penalties. The case is part of a wave of legal pressure Meta and other social media platforms are facing over the safety of young users. As jurors in New Mexico state court delivered a verdict, jurors in Los Angeles are considering a separate case against Meta and YouTube accusing them of intentionally creating addictive features that harmed a young woman’s mental health. Social media giants are also facing hundreds of other cases from individuals, school districts and state attorneys general — some of which are set to go to trial later this year. Closing arguments on Monday followed a six-week trial that included testimony from Meta executives and former employees-turned-whistleblowers. Details from the attorney general’s undercover investigation into child sexual exploitation on Meta’s platforms, which led to three arrests, were also discussed in the courtroom.

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Trader made nearly $1 million on Polymarket with remarkably accurate Iran bets

A trader made nearly $1 million since 2024 from dozens of well-timed Polymarket bets that correctly predicted US and Israeli military actions against Iran, according to an analysis shared with CNN. The bettor won a staggering 93% of their five-figure wagers about Iran, even though the events they predicted were unannounced military operations. The trader had a pattern of prescient bets, including hours before Israeli strikes in October 2024 during its tit-for-tat conflict with Iran, hours before US airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, and hours before the joint US-Israeli surprise attack in February, which started the current war.

The findings from Bubblemaps, an analytics company that tracks blockchain transactions, highlight the rising concerns about the potential for insider trading on some prediction markets, where users can wager on everything from sports to elections to warfare. “All of this is strong signaling of insider activity, based on the amount they made, the markets they bet on, the timing of their trades, the success rates of these trades, and the fact that they are connected on-chain,” Bubblemaps CEO Nick Vaiman told CNN. “This is pretty suspicious in my book.” It isn’t clear whether the trader flagged by Bubblemaps is an insider, and the accounts they used are anonymous and can’t be publicly traced to a specific person. The bets were placed on Polymarket’s international site, which is out of the reach of US regulations. Polymarket didn’t respond to CNN’s multiple requests for comment.

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Democrats flip Florida state House district that includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

Democrats delivered a blow to Florida Republicans and flipped a state House seat in President Trump’s backyard, according to Decision Desk HQ. Democrat Emily Gregory, a health fitness small business owner, defeated Trump-backed Republican Jon Maples, a financial adviser, in a race for the open Florida District 87 state House seat, which includes part of Palm Beach County and the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Gregory garnered just more than 51 percent of the vote, while Maples had just less than 49 percent backing with more than 95 percent of the vote in. Gregory and Maples faced off in the contest after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tapped Republican Mike Caruso in August to become the county clerk and comptroller. Trump voted by mail in Tuesday’s election.

Although Caruso last won the seat by double digits and Trump won the district by roughly 9 percentage points in 2024, former Vice President Kamala Harris did win Palm Beach County by less than a point in the last presidential election. The district is shared by Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) in Congress. National groups and figures waded into the race before the special election, including Trump. Rep. Byron Donalds (R), a candidate for Florida governor, appeared alongside Maples during the campaign, while Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) also backed the financial adviser. Meanwhile, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) backed Gregory, and retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman — a candidate for Senate in the Sunshine State — held a virtual fundraiser for Gregory while Frankel endorsed the Democratic candidate. DLCC Chair Heather Williams applauded Gregory’s win in a Tuesday social media post. “Mar-a-Lago’s state House district just flipped from red to blue, which should have Republicans worried about their chances this November,” she said. “A Trump +11 district in his own backyard shouldn’t be in play for Democrats, but tonight proves Republicans are vulnerable everywhere.” This isn’t the first win for Florida Democrats in the last few months. In December, Florida Democrats notched a win when Democrat Eileen Higgins beat Republican Emilio Gonzalez to become the first Democratic Miami mayor in decades.

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AIPAC is shaking up its political operation

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is quietly searching for a new general counsel and director of political operations, according to private communications reviewed by NOTUS. A position description, marked “CONFIDENTIAL” and dated March 2026, was shared with at least one potential candidate by Allison Rosner, the managing director at the Washington executive recruitment firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, which AIPAC has hired to conduct the search. The powerful pro-Israel advocacy group is looking for someone “capable of enabling assertive yet compliant political engagement while safeguarding the Organization against unnecessary legal or reputational risk,” according to the executive summary of the role. It’s “not a traditional general counsel role.”

The environment is “closely scrutinized.” And “political sophistication” is a must — especially as the bipartisan organization is facing waning influence among Democrats. Philip Friedman, AIPAC’s current general counsel and director of political operations, is retiring after more than 30 years with the organization, a source familiar with his plans told NOTUS. AIPAC declined to comment Tuesday on personnel matters and its job search. Friedman earned around $708,000 from AIPAC and affiliated organizations between October 2023 and September 2024, according to the group’s latest nonprofit tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The job description simply said compensation is “commensurate with experience.” AIPAC had 24 job openings on its website as of Tuesday afternoon — none of which are for the general counsel and director of political operations role. AIPAC has long boosted politicians on both sides of the aisle who support a strong relationship between Israel and the United States — and unapologetically attacks those who question it. But the organization is facing significant political turbulence.

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Democrats’ quest for relatable white dudes finds new candidates

As the world waits to find out if Texas state Rep. James Talarico is the next Jon Ossoff or just another Beto O’Rourke, Democrats’ quest for relatable white dudes continues. Of course, whether Talarico can make a go of it in the Texas Senate race is mostly out of his hands right now. He’s very glib but very green, and if the Republicans can free themselves from the quagmire of a primary and end up keeping Sen. John Cornyn, it will be hard for Talarico to outrun his past positions and cringey rhetoric — the stuff about the nonbinary God, the moral imperative to reduce meat consumption for climate change, etc. The only available counterattack for Talarico against Cornyn would be to say that he’s too close to President Trump, which would actually help reunite the GOP and motivate base voters after a primary in which Cornyn’s rival, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, has been attacking him for being insufficiently close to Trump.

A race with Cornyn looks like a dead end. If it’s Paxton, there’s a path for Talarico to win against a radical candidate who even his supporters know is an ethical nightmare. Would it be worth $150 million to Democrats to keep that path open when then the party is short on cash with lots of other races to run? Only thence would come the young pastor’s time of testing. There are other notable contestants in the party’s Star Search for the youngish, white males who can lend credibility to the claim that Democrats are capable of reaching out beyond their electoral sweet spots of college-educated women and Black voters. The trick is finding candidates who are both relatable to the voters who Democrats very much need to add to their coalition and who the base will actually accept. Democrats don’t need any more Tim Walz fiascos. The Minnesota governor delighted Democratic women as a kind of Howard Cunningham character. He looked like an old sourpuss, but right below the surface he was just bursting with love (and progressive policies). This, of course, hit a false note with the very voters the Harris campaign needed to reach. Real outreach requires risk, but the Walz pick was tokenism of the same kind that Republicans often do with Black candidates: nonthreatening and uncomplicated.

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North Carolina Senate leader and architect of state's conservative transformation Phil Berger concedes primary loss

North Carolina government's most influential politician, Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger, conceded the primary race for his seat to Sam Page on Tuesday, shaking the power structure in the ninth-largest state and likely soon ending Berger's preeminence as the state's top conservative architect. Berger had trailed Page, the Rockingham County sheriff, in their March 3 primary by only 23 votes. He has been Senate leader since 2011 when Republicans took full control over the General Assembly for the first time in 140 years. President Donald Trump had endorsed Berger for reelection, praising him for his policy accomplishments. Trump's endorsement came several weeks after the legislature redrew the state's U.S. House district map in an attempt to flip a Democratic seat as part of the president's redistricting campaign to retain GOP control of the U.S. House in this year's midterm elections.

Unofficial results on primary election night showed Page leading Berger by just two votes out of more than 26,000 counted in the 26th Senate District that includes part of Greensboro and neighboring areas. Page's lead expanded as elections boards in the two counties composing the district reviewed provisional, absentee and other ballots. Later recounts were conducted and Berger's campaign filed formal protests yet to be resolved. But Berger gave up after a hand recount of a small portion of the ballots Tuesday morning showed no change in Page's razor-thin lead. Page will now advance to the November general election in the GOP-leaning district. He said Berger called him Tuesday to concede. "I thank him for wishing me the best moving forward," Page said in a statement. "Now it's time for our community to come together and focus on winning in November." Page was outspent by Berger's campaign by more than 50-to-1 through mid-February. That doesn't include several million dollars that a pro-Berger independent expenditure group spent on mailers and advertising.

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Lead Stories

'When will it end?’ The ‘elevator pitch’ oil executives and diplomats are making to the White House in Houston

The Trump administration is sending its top energy officials to Houston this week to meet with oil industry executives and foreign dignitaries — and they can expect to get an earful as its war in Iran has sent their industry into upheaval. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen, FERC Chair Laura Swett and other administration officials will be in the midst of the largest gathering of energy industry officials in the world this week. The annual CERAWeek confab comes nearly a month into the U.S.-Israel-Iran war and the all-but-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s main thoroughfares for Middle East oil, fuel shortages in Asia and the destruction of huge parts of the region’s natural gas fields and export plants.

If there’s one message the industry wants to deliver to the administration, according to interviews with half a dozen energy industry executives and foreign diplomats planning to attend the event, it’s this: People need to know when the conflict that is already causing major damage to their world order will end. “Generally in the elevator pitch, people are going to say, ‘Look, we need to know duration, and we need to know infrastructure possibilities. We need to make sure that the uncertainties are as limited as possible,’ said Frank Maisano, a senior principal at Bracewell, an energy law firm. “The events in Iran have just kind of overwhelmed what anybody was thinking this year might be about.” Wright met with a group of energy industry executives outside the conference hall Sunday evening, two people familiar with the meeting said. A DOE representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The chaos caused by the war led the CEO of Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco to skip the conference this year, Reuters reported. Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods, who has also been a featured speaker at the conference in previous years, will also not attend this year, a person familiar with the plan said.

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Stephen Miller asks why Texas pays to teach undocumented children

Stephen Miller raised the idea of ending public education funding for undocumented children in a closed-door meeting with Texas lawmakers in Washington last week, a move that would challenge a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent, according to two people who were in the meeting. Mr. Miller, President Trump’s hard-line immigration adviser, cited gridlock in Congress as he encouraged the state lawmakers to pass conservative legislation on immigration and other issues that are crucial to Republicans, hoping such action would spur on other red states and federal lawmakers. Republicans have been bracing for the possible loss of control in the U.S. House after the 2026 midterm elections, elevating the importance of state legislatures to the Trump administration as it looks to push its agenda on health, immigration and the economy.

“He sees conservative states like Texas and Florida can be partners with the federal government,” State Representative Tom Oliverson, the chairman of the Texas House Republican Caucus, said in an interview on Monday. “We can be a place where some of those ideas can be tried out because they’re difficult to do at the federal level.” On immigration, Mr. Miller asked why the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature had not passed a bill last year that would have funded public education only for children who are citizens or “lawfully present in the United States.” Doing so would break with the Supreme Court precedent set in Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 decision that determined that states must pay for the elementary school education of all students regardless of immigration status. “There’s a lot of people that believe that that ruling has some pretty faulty logic associated with it,” Mr. Oliverson said. Ending public school funding for undocumented students in Texas would be a major reversal that could be replicated by other red states with large immigrant communities. While federal law bars collecting of immigration data about children in schools, studies in Texas have estimated the number at more than 100,000 students, out of more than 5.5 million schoolchildren in the state.

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‘Petty, partisan politics.’ Tarrant Dem rips Patrick over committee seat snub

A Fort Worth Democrat who received national attention for flipping a historically red seat didn’t get a committee assignment for the months leading up to 2027 legislative session, a decision he described as petty partisan politics that silences Senate District 9 in Tarrant County. On Monday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced which senators would fill committee vacancies, following recent membership shakeups. Lawmakers aren’t currently in session but typically hold hearings in the interim to study policy topics in preparation for when they next convene. Newly sworn in Sen. Taylor Rehmet wasn’t among the senators named on the lieutenant governor’s latest list of committee appointees.

“After months of SD-9 having no voice in the Texas Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has chosen to silence our district even further by refusing to assign me to any committee,” Rehmet said in a statement. “This decision reflects the kind of petty, partisan politics that too often stands in the way of delivering results for working families.” Patrick’s office did not immediately return a request for comment when contacted about Rehment’s committee membership absence earlier in the day. The lieutenant governor endorsed Rehmet’s special election opponent Leigh Wambsganss, a Republican from Southlake who he’ll face again on the November ballot. “While I am disappointed, I remain fully committed — and as energized as ever — to using every tool available to improve the lives of my constituents,” Rehmet said. “My office has already begun research and policy development on all committee topics, and although we are being denied a formal seat at the table, I will continue working every day to ensure Texas works the way it should for working families. “

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How Texas became ground zero for AI data centers reshaping the energy industry

A California-based company is planning a new type of ranch in the heart of West Texas, measured not in herds of cattle, but in gigawatts of electricity. At the site in Fort Stockton, Pacifico Energy wants to construct a private grid — roughly the size of Ireland’s — exclusively for data centers that train artificial intelligence models. Few other states could accommodate a country-sized grid. But Texas boasts open land and ample natural gas. This makes the state attractive to a growing number of companies like Pacifico that are sidestepping yearslong grid connections by building their own power plants — one of the quickest ways for data centers to get online. This speed is crucial to tech companies as they compete against each other to develop the most cutting-edge AI. According to Cleanview, a company that tracks data center projects, Texas has more proposals to circumvent the power grid than any other state.

“You see a massive movement of these big data center campuses, all coming towards Texas,” said Aman Joshi, chief commercial officer of Bloom Energy, which provides on-site power generation to data centers. Most data centers, even the ones building their own power plants, still want to ultimately connect to the Texas power grid, where it’s faster to get online than grids elsewhere. But an unprecedented data center backlog is forcing even Texas to slow new grid hookups. So, more companies like Pacifico are turning toward developing self-sufficient power islands as they wait for the grid to catch up. The resulting flood of both on-grid and off-grid data centers is why Texas is emerging as the fastest-growing data center market. It could have more data centers than anywhere else in the world by 2030. Many data center developers who want to bypass the grid say using natural gas is the best way to do so. Compared to other energy sources, gas can most readily provide data centers power all the time, which is important because many of them host online systems for critical services such as banks, hospitals and first responders. That makes Texas — the country’s largest gas producer — one of the most attractive places for AI data center complexes.

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State Stories

Houston airport's only 2 TSA checkpoints pass 4-hour waits after ICE arrival

Travelers at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport saw lines of more than four hours at the TSA security checkpoints in Terminals A and E, Houston airport officials warned Monday afternoon, as the partial government shutdown persists. The TSA lines continued to grow at Terminals A and E, the only two terminals open on Monday afternoon, after federal immigration agents arrived at both Bush Airport and William P. Hobby Airport in the morning. The Houston Airport System urged travelers to contact their airlines because they could miss their Monday evening flights. President Donald Trump had announced over the weekend that he would deploy ICE to U.S. airports on Monday.

TSA has been without funding for more than a month while Congress is deadlocked over immigration enforcement policy. Hundreds of TSA officers have quit, unable to afford basic expenses like food, rent, gas and child care, said Lauren Bis, acting assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. A group of ICE officers gathered at baggage claim in Bush Airport's Terminal A, where a Houston Airport System staffer appeared to direct them toward their assignments shortly after 8:45 a.m. "Monitor the line, maybe spread out, maybe half upstairs," the airport staffer told the agents before the group disbanded. Later, at least three ICE agents stood alongside the winding TSA line on the top floor of the busy terminal. ICE agents maintained a quiet presence along the edges of the standard screening security line at Bush Airport's Terminal A. Some guided passengers between different segments of the twisting line. Others stood to the side and watched. ICE officers at Hobby Airport walked casually back and forth without engaging with waiting passengers or airport staff.

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Explosion at Valero refinery in Port Arthur prompts shelter-in-place for west side residents

An explosion and large plume of smoke at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur prompted officials to order west-side residents to shelter in place, while nearby Nederland reported no impact from the incident Monday. The shelter-in-place was issued for the west side of Port Arthur from Stilwell West to South of 73. Pleasure Island and Sabine Pass are included in the shelter-in-place. Antonio Mitchell with the Port Arthur Fire Department confirmed an incident at the Valero facility. "The type of incident is unknown at this time," Mitchell said not long after the explosion as his crews headed to the scene. Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens said the incident may have involved a heater unit. No injuries have been reported, and no evacuations have been ordered. Officials are monitoring air quality in the area. All personnel have been accounted for.

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NTSB says TSA holdup in Houston slowed expert heading to deadly LaGuardia crash scene

Travelers across the country are feeling the brunt of the government shutdown in the form of exceptionally long TSA lines, and Houston is among the hardest hit, with waits stretching to four hours or more at Bush Airport Monday. Those long lines didn’t just frustrate passengers. They also slowed the federal investigation into a deadly overnight crash between an Air Canada jet and an emergency vehicle at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. During a news conference on Monday, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy was speaking to the media about the investigation and how the agency had trouble getting its team together. That included one person who was stuck in a security line in Houston.

“We have one our ... air traffic control specialist who was in line with TSA for three hours until we called in Houston to beg to see if we can get her through so we can get her here," Homendy said. "So it's been a really, a really big challenge to get the entire team here and they're still arriving as I speak right up until about, I think the latest I saw was midnight, maybe 1 a.m. tomorrow morning." Homendy also mentioned that a ground stop at Newark and the closure of LaGuardia most of Monday also played a role in how quickly the team could start investigating the crash that killed two pilots and left many others injured. The airport delays come as Transportation Security Administration staffing levels continue to drop during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

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Muna Javaid: Texas made progress on kids’ mental health — but more must be done

(Muna Javaid is the senior policy associate for child protection at Texans Care for Children.) As policymakers and parents look for ways to help Texas kids with mental health challenges, it’s important to remember that the solutions will look different for each child and family. The right mix for a particular child could include more exercise, limits on screen time, stable housing, therapy or other changes in their lives. However, the critical population of kids with the most complex mental health challenges will need more intensive services. In 2023, the Texas Legislature took a key step to figure out how to support these kids with acute challenges and ensure that parents desperately seeking help can find the services they need. During that session, lawmakers directed the Statewide Behavioral Health Coordinating Council to develop a strategic plan to guide the state’s work on mental health and substance use challenges among Texas kids.

The council released the Strategic Plan a few weeks before the Legislature convened for its 2025 session — providing a road map for state leaders to help parents support their children through these challenges. Legislators had to move quickly to react to the recommendations in the new Strategic Plan. How did they do? That’s the question we tackled in our recent report. We compared the recommendations in the Strategic Plan to steps the Legislature took last year. Our analysis shows that lawmakers made meaningful progress in 2025. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst and Sen. Royce West, Rep. Brooks Langraff and Rep. Ann Johnson, as well as other legislators, came together to build on the Legislature’s history of bipartisan cooperation on mental health. They provided funding for new mobile youth crisis outreach teams, improved access to Multisystemic Therapy, expanded the workforce through the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC), and moved the ball forward in other ways. At the end of the day, the Legislature fully or partially implemented eight of the 31 recommendations in the state’s Strategic Plan for children’s mental health. We appreciate those steps forward.

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Border wall plans changed to avoid Big Bend Ranch State Park

Federal officials said Monday that border walls are no longer being planned for a stretch of Big Bend Ranch State Park in West Texas, a shift from earlier indications that walls could be built along the Rio Grande on the park’s western edge. A spokesperson for the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector told Marfa Public Radio on Monday that there are “currently no plans for border wall construction” within the state park. The news comes after federal authorities briefed Big Bend area officials on border wall plans at multiple meetings in recent days. The update about the state park no longer being targeted for border wall building was first relayed to Presidio County Commissioner Deirdre Hisler by Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd Easterling on Sunday evening.

The change had not been reflected on the Trump administration’s map of “Smart Wall” projects planned across the U.S.-Mexico border as of midday Monday. In an interview, Hisler said that Easterling told her it might take a couple of days for the section of wall in the state park, a 5.6 mile stretch, to be removed from the map. A physical wall in the state park would have cut off access to the popular Hoodoos Trail and jeopardized river access for local outfitters. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Physical border walls are still being pursued across the Big Bend region, including from the towns of Ruidosa to Redford. It’s not clear whether the removal of wall plans in Big Bend Ranch State Park is final, as the Smart Wall map has continuously changed in recent weeks without advanced notice. Federal border authorities have over the past week met with officials in Presidio and Brewster counties for a briefing on the project. As of a Friday morning meeting in Presidio County, wall plans for the state park were still on.

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Supreme Court declines to review Texas press freedom case

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case testing a Texas law allowing law enforcement to arrest reporters who obtain information from government employees. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the decision not to hear the case. "This case implicates one of the most basic journalistic practices of them all: asking sources within the government for information. Each day, countless journalists follow this practice, seeking comment, confirmation, or even 'scoops' from governmental sources," she wrote. "Reasonably so." In 2017, Laredo, Texas, journalist Priscilla Villarreal, also known as "La Gordiloca," was arrested for publishing news stories about a border agent's public suicide and a car crash. She was arrested because she fact-checked her stories with information voluntarily provided by a police officer.

"This was a blatant First Amendment violation," Sotomayor wrote in her dissent. "No reasonable officer would have thought that he could have arrested Villarreal, consistent with the Constitution, for asking the questions she asked. Such an arrest is plainly inconsistent with basic First Amendment principles." The Texas law had never been enforced before Villarreal's case. The law makes it a felony to solicit from public officials information that has not previously been publicly disclosed. After a Texas court judge held that the statute was unconstitutionally vague, Villarreal sued both the prosecutors and police officers responsible for her arrest. When law enforcement officers appealed, a panel of three 5th Circuit federal appeals court judges ruled for Villarreal, asserting: "If the First Amendment means anything, it surely means that a citizen journalist has the right to ask a public official a question, without fear of being imprisoned. Yet that is exactly what happened here: Priscilla Villarreal was put in jail for asking a police officer a question. If that is not an obvious violation of the Constitution, it's hard to imagine what would be."

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Children ‘continue to suffer’ at Texas immigration detention facility, attorneys allege

Months after handwritten letters from detained children drew national attention to the conditions at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a new court filing says conditions at the same Texas facility have not improved — and that the federal government has filed a starkly different account with the same court. Attorneys who represent all children in federal detention — and who have visited Dilley nine times since the facility opened last April — submitted the filing on March 20. Children there “continue to suffer,” the filing states, with nearly 600 held for more than 20 days during December and January. The latest publicly available Immigration and Customs Enforcement data, from early February, shows 900 people have been detained at Dilley, though The New York Times has since reported that the number of detainees there has dropped significantly: The federal government has been quietly releasing families from Dilley, MS NOW recently reported.

The filing describes inadequate medical care for the children, inability to sleep due to lights being left on at night, children feeling hungry, exhausted and persistently ill, lockdowns, guards confiscating and destroying children’s drawings during aggressive room searches and mental health deterioration, including panic attacks, suicidal ideation and one suicide attempt. The suicide attempt, first reported by the Associated Press, involved a 13-year-old girl who tried to cut her wrists with a plastic cafeteria knife after guards took away her drawing materials. The teenager was deported to Colombia last month after nearly two months in confinement, according to the AP story, which was attached to the court filing. AP reported that the eighth grader stopped eating after finding a worm in her food, at times did not received her anxiety medication and had a breakdown when a lockdown was imposed and a guard blocked her from joining her mother and sister. The government’s account of Dilley — the only federal family detention center in the nation — was starkly different.

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From Colorado to Texas: How strategy, legislation and training aim to tackle classroom violence

From a teacher shot by a 6-year-old in Virginia to an assistant principal in North Texas who lost her eye, violence in classrooms is forcing schools and lawmakers to confront a difficult question: what actually works to keep educators safe? KSAT Investigates has spent the last two years looking for answers — examining what other states are doing, pressing Texas lawmakers and tracking efforts closer to home aimed at preventing injuries and supporting teachers. In Colorado, a statewide survey released in 2024 revealed more than half of teachers who responded said they had been physically hurt by a student — a number that surprised even those tasked with improving school safety.

“I was shocked,” said Christine Harms, director of the Colorado Office of School Safety. “Not only because of how many teachers have suffered this, but how many times this happens in elementary schools.” That data led to the creation of a state task force focused on solutions. The group developed what it calls a “roadmap for action,” which includes increasing staff training, improving school culture and investing more funding — something leaders there believe could have the greatest impact. Harms said one of the most important steps other states can take is gathering better data. “Doing a survey like that in Texas would probably be really helpful,” she said, “not only with educators, but also with parents, because we need their cooperation as well.” In Texas, lawmakers acknowledge the issue — but differ on how to address it. “I don’t know that there is an easy, clear-cut answer,” said State Sen. Donna Campbell. State Rep. Diego Bernal said more needs to be done. “I think the state could do more. It’s not doing enough,” he said.

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Texas schools should remove references to Cesar Chavez from curriculum, TEA says

The Texas Education Agency said Monday that students are no longer required to learn about Cesar Chavez in light of recent allegations that he sexually abused women and girls. Several districts, including Austin ISD and Houston ISD, have already cancelled or renamed days celebrating Chavez planned for the end of March. But the labor rights leader is also found in Texas’ statewide standards for social studies in at least two grades and could be part of questions found on the STAAR exam. That requirement will now be waived, TEA said, because of a state law that says teachers cannot be compelled to discuss controversial current issues.

“School systems in Texas should eliminate, modify and otherwise alter any learning activities, individual lessons, and ancillary materials to remove references to Chavez,” the agency wrote in a letter to school districts. The move comes after Gov. Greg Abbott last week said the state would no longer observe Cesar Chavez Day and several cities have canceled celebrations in his honor. For over a decade, fifth graders have been required to identify Chavez’ accomplishments and contributions to the labor rights movement, among other civil rights leaders. High school United States history classes have included references to Chavez as well as Dolores Huerta, another labor rights leader who was among the women who said Chavez abused her. The allegations were first reported in a New York Times investigation last week. The agency also said it expected the state’s ongoing revision of the social studies standards to further remove references to Chavez. Those standards are currently being reviewed by the State Board of Education and are likely to go into effect in 2030.

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How the FIFA World Cup is reshaping North Texas

The 1994 FIFA World Cup in Dallas, and across the United States, did more than introduce a global tournament to an emerging soccer market. It reset the trajectory of the United States’ sports economy, accelerating pro leagues, stadium development, media intrigue, and the commercial viability of the game on American soil. Now, after more than a decade of planning, the FIFA World Cup will finally return this summer to DFW. It will be the largest tournament in the competition’s history, but its influence is already being felt. Hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure investment, venue modernization, transportation upgrades, and private development have begun reshaping North Texas. What is unfolding is not merely a series of matches. It is the foundation of a permanent soccer economy. The 1994 World Cup marked a turning point for American soccer.

DFW—plus Lamar Hunt and family—stood at the center of that launch. The Dallas Burn were formed as a founding club, and Hunt emerged as one of the league’s most influential architects, underwriting both its vision and its survival in its most fragile years. What began as a 10-team experiment in 1996 has since matured into a continental enterprise. Three decades later, MLS now spans 30 clubs across the U.S. and Canada, with expansion fees reaching $500 million and valuations soaring north of $1.2 billion for elite franchises. The Dallas Burn, now FC Dallas, became more than a founding MLS franchise. Over three decades, the club, now run by Lamar’s sons Clark Hunt and Dan Hunt, helped cultivate a regional soccer ecosystem that extends well beyond the top flight, laying the infrastructure for youth development, professional pathways, training facilities, and community-anchored clubs that now stretch across the region. It is in these lower tiers of the pro pyramid that a city truly becomes a soccer city—where neighborhoods adopt colors, where fan groups form identities, and where investors place long-term bets not on TV contracts, but on civic belonging. London, one of the great cradles of the global game, supports roughly 17 men’s professional clubs across a metropolitan population of about 15 million, along with nearly as many women’s teams. DFW, with roughly half the population and a far more crowded sports marketplace, may never reach that level of saturation. But that has not deterred local club owners from trying.

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National Stories

Volume in stock and oil futures surged minutes before Trump's market-turning post

S&P 500 futures and oil futures flashed an unusual burst of activity early Monday minutes before a market-moving social media post from President Donald Trump. At around 6:50 a.m. in New York, S&P 500 e-Mini futures trading on the CME recorded a sharp and isolated jump in volume, breaking from an otherwise subdued premarket backdrop. With thin liquidity typical of early trading hours, the sudden burst stood out as one of the largest volume moments of the session up to that point. A similar pattern was observed in oil markets. West Texas Intermediate May futures also saw a noticeable pickup in trading activity at roughly the same time, with a distinct volume spike interrupting otherwise quiet conditions.

Roughly 15 minutes later, at 7:05 a.m., Trump said on Truth Social that the U.S. and Iran had held talks and that he was halting planned strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure. That announcement prompted an instant rally in risk assets, with S&P 500 futures soaring more than 2.5% before the opening bell. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped nearly 6% following the announcement. The timing of the earlier volume spikes across both equities and crude caught the attention of traders, particularly given the absence of an obvious catalyst at the moment they occurred. Early-morning futures markets are typically less liquid, which can make short bursts of buying and selling more noticeable than during regular trading hours. Still, the trades raised some eyebrows because whoever purchased a large amount of stock futures and sold or shorted crude futures at that moment made a lot of money just minutes later. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the CME Group declined to comment. Algorithmic and macro-driven strategies can also generate rapid flows across asset classes without a single identifiable catalyst in early trading.

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Senate confirms Markwayne Mullin as DHS Secretary

The Senate on Monday voted to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as the new head of the Department of Homeland Security, after he pitched himself as a change from Kristi Noem’s leadership style. Mullin was confirmed 54-45, with Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico voting along with most Republicans to confirm Mullin. The Trump administration is hoping that the new face of the embroiled department will make inroads with Democrats amid ongoing shutdown negotiations. In his confirmation process, Mullin tried to address Democrats’ concerns over the department’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement, attempting to strike a softer tone than his predecessor.

In his hearing, Mullin said he regretted his statements in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minnesota earlier this year, in which Mullin called Pretti a “deranged individual.” Mullin also said that with him in charge, immigration officers would largely not enter homes without a judicial warrant. He said he would get rid of a Noem policy where any spending of $100,000 or more required secretary sign-off, which delayed disaster aid,something that many senators had been asking for. Following the vote, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told NOTUS she hoped Mullin would prioritize the FEMA grants that had been delayed under Noem. “I’d like to see him help unlock some of the funding resources that have been held up in the FEMA sector,” Murkowski said. “We’ve already talked about it, and I just had an opportunity to congratulate him and tell him that I know he’s going to put 110% of himself into this and I wished him well.” Mullin also pledged to be more responsive than his predecessor, an issue that many lawmakers had complained about. The new DHS secretary will step into his role at a department that has been shut down for more than a month over Democrats’ demands that more guardrails be placed on federal immigration agents. Mullin has not been far from the negotiations — he had been working on a DHS funding deal with Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey for weeks before his appointment to lead the department, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

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Inside the path to funding DHS

For the first time in more than a month, there’s optimism that the Senate and the White House can finally find a path to reopening the Department of Homeland Security. Key Senate Republicans returned from the White House late Monday with a noticeably upbeat demeanor over the state of the talks with President Donald Trump, who had just rebuffed a GOP-backed off-ramp. The framework under discussion would fund all of DHS except for ICE’s migrant removal operations, and could eventually include some reforms that Democrats have been demanding. Republicans would then try to fund the rest of ICE via a party-line reconciliation bill. GOP leaders would also try to use reconciliation to enact elements of the SAVE America Act, which mandates photo IDs and citizenship verification for federal elections. Trump has called this bill his top legislative priority.

This framework is similar to the outlines of an agreement that Senate Majority Leader John Thune discussed with Trump on Sunday — a strategy that the president rejected. Trump has insisted on tying the SAVE America Act to DHS funding, complicating matters even further. Thune said this was “not realistic.” It’s too early to say whether this DHS framework will satisfy Senate Democrats. There are several key details that still need to be ironed out. But many Democrats pointed to what they see as a sense of urgency to get something done, especially as nightmarish TSA security lines cause chaos for millions of air travellers. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a key negotiator who attended the White House meeting with Trump, said she planned to be “working through the night” to try to “land this plane.” We’re told that appropriators are actively discussing a path forward and were exchanging legislative text last night. Another important dynamic: Senators are eager to leave Washington at the end of the week for the scheduled two-week recess, especially after being forced to stay in town all weekend. And Democrats have long been pushing to fund non-ICE portions of DHS, such as TSA, the Coast Guard and FEMA. “This is significant movement,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said of the potential off-ramp. “We have a dispute about ICE practices. We don’t have a dispute about funding TSA. We don’t have a dispute about funding the Coast Guard or FEMA.”

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RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz have a plan to save rural health care. Here’s the catch.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team want to Make Rural America Healthy again. He has suggested that AI nurses could save dying rural hospitals. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said robots could give ultrasounds to women and touted how AI avatars could help. And President Donald Trump’s administration is infusing $50 billion over five years to improve rural health, with some states proposing to use the money for drones to deliver lab samples or prescriptions. The rural health care industry has long faced tight budgets, doctor shortages and challenges reaching patients in remote areas. But even as Trump officials pitch advanced technology to close these clinical gaps,rural health providers are worried that much of it is being oversold.

And the one-time $50 billion injection the administration has promised for innovation, they argue, won’t make up for theestimated $137 billion in Medicaid dollars rural areas are expected to lose over the next decade due to cuts from what Trump called the “big, beautiful bill,” according to an analysis by health policy research and news organization KFF. The challenges are daunting, said George Pink, a senior research fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed or converted into facilities with fewer services in the last 20 years, as patients have became more likely to be uninsured or rely on Medicare and Medicaid, which have lower reimbursement rates than private insurance. But rural providers are also happy to see money invested into confronting the challenges they face to operate, experts said. “There’s a healthy amount of skepticism and caution,” Pink said of the CMS infusion, noting also “there’s optimism that the money will be helpful in transitioning, or in helping rural hospitals meet the challenges that they’re going to be facing over the next few years.” In a statement, CMS vowed that the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation fund would close access gaps.

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The Trump-inspired realignment of the conservative think tank world

President Donald Trump has reshaped nearly everything about Washington– including the groups clamoring to influence policy. Three new groups – the America First Policy Institute, American Compass and Advancing American Freedom – have formed since 2020, seeing an opening to create a home for their type of conservative policy that didn’t exist with the GOP old guard, like the Heritage Foundation. The battle for lasting influence is on, and who ends up on top in this new realignment of conservative think tanks will not only determine who is most influential in Trump’s second term but could also mold the shape of conservative policy in the post-Trump era. The three new groups are working to drive policy in the future by building on Trump’s brand, expanding on what Trump has built, or looking to counter the direction the GOP is moving in.

“The modern American conservative movement is— in terms of the political ecosystem— not as old or as mature as the modern American liberal movement, going all the way back to Woodrow Wilson,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts said. It is “the natural order of things, you would see additional organizations come into the fold as there is this political realignment personified and led by Donald Trump.” Some trace the origins of the three groups and the resulting policy realignment back to 2017, when the GOP failure to repeal Obamacare exposed the fractures in Washington’s conservative policy circles. The White House organized dinners with various think tanks following the failed effort, said Marc Short, Trump’s first director of legislative affairs and chairman of AAF’s board. “If you remember, there were parts of the Freedom Caucus that labeled the repeal effort ‘Obamacare lite,’” Short said, recounting the way Republicans were not able to come together on whether – or how – to replace the Affordable Care Act. “So we began organizing these dinners with the president and many members of the conservative movement.”

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Job losses, falling ratings, consolidation: What's behind the decline in local TV news

Ellina Abovian, a veteran correspondent for KTLA-TV, was recently on assignment covering a story about Los Angeles International Airport when she received a message that every media business professional dreads. She was asked to see her boss at the station when she was done. At the meeting, she was told she would be losing her job after 11 years. "I was totally blindsided," said Abovian, 40. "There was no indication." The Glendale native was among several longtime KTLA personalities who were laid off amid a wave of cuts at outlets owned by Nexstar Media Group in Los Angeles and other cities. They included midday anchors Glen Walker and Lu Parker along with veteran meteorologist Mark Kriski, who first joined the station in 1991.

The layoffs prompted an outpouring of support for the journalists among Los Angeles TV viewers, who saw them as friends and neighbors. Abovian said she received more than 20,000 messages of support. “I had no idea that people felt so strongly," Abovian said in an interview. "For people to say, 'I loved hearing your voice,' and remember all these little moments. ... It's sad because you have these people in your living room every day.” Once the primary source of community news and information, local TV news stations are struggling with their own tough story, one marked by declining ratings, stagnant revenue growth and rapid shifts in how media is consumed in the internet era. Broadcast TV stations have long had the highest profit margins in the media business. But the financial model that sustained that growth has steadily eroded in recent years. Streaming — which now accounts for more than 40% of all viewing — has pulled consumers away from traditional TV, putting pressure on outlets to control costs so they can remain financially viable. More than 2,000 TV stations nationwide still provide a vital role in communities, delivering as much as 12 hours a day in programming, live sports and local news to every household in the U.S. But they are now faced with an aging audience that isn't being replaced by younger viewers who prefer streaming platforms and social media.

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Democrats grow wary of AIPAC’s role in elections

A growing number of Democrats who were once supportive of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are condemning the political powerhouse as the pro-Israel group and its affiliates have turned increasingly divisive in elections. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), once a donor to AIPAC who is Jewish, condemned the group after Tuesday’s primary elections, saying it “really is not an organization that I think today I would want any part of.” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who’s enjoyed support from Jewish groups, including AIPAC, also said last week he would reject spending from the pro-Israel group moving forward. The rebukes reflect some Democrats’ increased frustrations as AIPAC-aligned groups have waded into competitive elections and as popular opinion on the political powerhouse and Israel, writ large, has rapidly declined.

“I have no doubt that if I would run for reelection, they’d oppose me,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told The Hill. “I don’t know what’s happened to that organization.” Outside spending flooded a handful of Illinois congressional races for the March 17 primary, with several industry and lobbying interests pouring in money to tip the scales of safely Democratic House seats. Three groups, two of which were bolstered by contributions from a super PAC linked to AIPAC, spent heavily to boost four candidates in the Prairie State, with two of their four preferred candidates winning their primaries. The third group, reportedly tied to the pro-Israel group, has not yet filed its campaign finance filing. But allies of these groups posit that the real mark of success on primary night was to make sure that no “squad” members won their elections in Illinois. They say, too, that they want the most pro-Israel candidates in Congress.

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Iran pours missiles into Israel and mocks Trump's talk of joint control of strait

Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said there had been "very good and productive" talks aiming at halting the conflict raging across the Middle East. Three senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump appeared ?determined to reach a deal, but that they thought it highly unlikely that Iran would agree to U.S. demands in any new round of negotiations. After Trump's Truth Social comment on Monday, Iran ?said no talks had yet been held. Iran's embassy in South Africa posted an image on X showing a child's pink steering wheel placed on a car dashboard in front of the passenger seat, apparently mocking Trump's idea, aired to reporters, that he could control ?the Strait of Hormuz alongside Iran's supreme leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke to Trump less than 48 hours before their countries began the war, was expected to convene a meeting of security officials for talks on Trump's bid for a deal with Iran, two senior Israeli officials said. A Pakistani official has said direct talks may be held in Islamabad this week. The U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after saying they had failed to make enough headway in talks aimed at ending Iran's nuclear program, even though mediator Oman said significant progress had been made. The crisis has escalated across the Middle East. Iran has attacked countries that host U.S. bases, struck ?key energy infrastructure and effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, conduit for a ?fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas. On Tuesday, Iranian missiles triggered air raid sirens in Israel's biggest city, Tel Aviv, where gaping holes were torn through a multi-storey apartment building. It was not immediately clear if the damage had been caused by a direct hit or debris from an ?interception.

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Lead Stories

At least one winner emerges from Iran war: U.S. natural gas exporters

U.S. gas exporters are emerging as among the biggest beneficiaries of President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, as governments in Asia scramble for alternatives to Middle Eastern fuel. Asia, more reliant than other regions on fuel that passes through the Strait of Hormuz, is staggering from Iran’s effective closure of the key chokepoint and from Iranian strikes on gas facilities in the Persian Gulf, in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli attacks. Demand here is surging for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, much to the approval of the Trump administration, which is seizing on shortages to push U.S. gas sales even as it demands that other governments step in to open the strait. “We need to sell energy to our friends and allies so they don’t have to buy from adversaries, so they don’t have to be dependent on sources of energy that can be controlled,” U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said last week in Tokyo, where he announced $57 billion in energy deals with providers in Asia. “This has been part of President Trump’s energy dominance policy since Day 1.”

The turbulence in energy markets is just one aspect of rising global anxiety over the political and economic instability resulting from the continuing war. Stock markets in Asia fell sharply on Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei closing down 3.5 percent and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index finishing 6.5 percent lower. Though the tech manufacturing hubs of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea have spent years trying to lower their reliance on Middle East gas, U.S. LNG had often been considered too pricey and shipped from too far-off to be a viable alternative. That began to change last year when Trump pressed these governments, threatening them with tariffs, to lower trade deficits with the U.S. With the damaging of Qatari gas infrastructure, the shift is set to accelerate. Because near-term U.S. gas export capacity is limited, however, these cargoes have come at a premium, promising a windfall for gas companies like Cheniere and Venture Global, which have seen their stock prices soar. Executives at both companies have made major donations in support of Trump. Cheniere rejected a request for comment. Venture Global did not respond. “High prices for security purposes — we have to take this,” Kuan-ting Chen, chair of the Taiwan legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, said in an interview Thursday.

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Texas and Louisiana face financial, regulatory barriers in scaling up carbon capture and storage

Texas and Louisiana are both primed for a vast carbon capture and storage network, but regulatory and financial challenges in the states could slow down development along the Gulf Coast. When Louisiana achieved regulatory authority over Class VI carbon dioxide injection wells, which are otherwise regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, the state was already far surpassing Texas in permit applications. But after the state received too many applications, Gov. Jeff Landry signed an executive order in October putting a pause on all new Class VI well permit applications as the state worked to keep up.

“The executive order urges the department to focus on prioritizing the over 30 permits that have already been filed,” Meghan Thacker, vice president of federal and state affairs at the Consumer Energy Alliance and former Capitol Hill staffer, told the Houston Business Journal. “(For) each permit, I think the executive order states that it takes over 2,000 hours to review and so in order to be efficient, he wanted to make sure that all of these applications were done in the right way and in the most thorough way possible.” Although Texas had fallen behind Louisiana in its pace of applications, Southeast Texas has all of the things a CCS network needs: good geology, carbon dioxide pipeline infrastructure, and facilities emitting the carbon dioxide that can be captured. “We have the concentrated industrial market in both states, so we're able to capture really pure, concentrated forms, streams of CO2 at these facilities. And then we have the geology that is really looked at as some of the best in the world for storing CO2. So we are able to capture from the industrial facilities, we're able to transport it through our existing system, and then we have really good storage opportunities onshore and near shore in Texas and Louisiana,” Scott Castleman, a representative of the Gulf Coast CCS Alliance, told the HBJ. Texas has since received its own primacy over Class VI wells, and the state could learn from Louisiana’s troubles as it moves forward with its applications.

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Growing frustration with Chuck Schumer spurs talk of replacing him

Sen. Chris Murphy was dining with progressive activists at a French restaurant in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood when the conversation about how to advance their legislative priorities turned to a thorny question: what to do about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. To the surprise of some attendees, the Connecticut Democrat—a rising star in the party’s left flank—responded that some lawmakers had been doing informal counts to see whether enough votes existed to remove the New York Democrat from his leadership position, according to people familiar with the mid-February dinner. Murphy explained that Schumer had enough backing to remain as leader. But the disclosure stood out nonetheless, because it revealed that frustration inside the Senate had reached a high enough level that some Democrats were actively contemplating how to oust Schumer. Murphy is among a group of senators and top advisers who have grown increasingly dissatisfied with Schumer’s leadership, according to people familiar with the conversations.

That group includes Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has been initiating conversations with other senators to gauge frustrations with Schumer, some of the people said. Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota has also been active in discussions about her frustrations with Schumer, and her advisers have spoken with other Senate staff about different scenarios to challenge Schumer’s leadership, other people said. In an interview, Murphy said he is frequently asked about Senate leadership, but he doesn’t have a count of who would vote to remove Schumer and doesn’t recall mentioning one. “Could someone infer from that that someone was keeping a count? Maybe, but that’s not what I meant,” Murphy said. “I meant that he has the support of the caucus.” He said he still supports Schumer. In more than four dozen interviews with Democratic senators, candidates, current and former congressional aides, activists and advisers, many said the concern about Schumer’s leadership was widespread. Meetings between Democratic chiefs of staff on Senate business often veer into airing discontent with Schumer and how to pressure him to step aside as leader after November’s elections, according to attendees and others familiar with the discussions. Murphy, Warren and Smith are part of a batch of senators dubbed “Fight Club” who are particularly incensed by Schumer’s approach to the midterms. This group of progressives believes that Schumer favors centrist candidates in some key races and is disregarding the enthusiasm a new crop of outsiders is stoking. The senators maintain a Fight Club chat on Signal where they have discussed how to counter Schumer’s preferred candidates, according to people familiar with the conversations. The existence of the group was reported earlier by the New York Times.

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Trump's changing course on Strait of Hormuz strategy raises questions about US war preparation

At war with Iran, President Donald Trump is cycling through an increasingly desperate list of options as he searches for a solution to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. He has jumped from calls to secure the waterway through diplomatic means to lifting sanctions and now escalating to a direct threat against civilian infrastructure in the Islamic Republic. Trump and his allies insist they were always prepared for Iran to block the strait, yet the Republican president’s erratic strategy has fueled criticism that he is grasping for answers after going to war without a clear exit plan. On Saturday came his latest attempt, via an ultimatum to Iran: Open the strait within 48 hours or the United States will “obliterate” the country’s power plants.

Trump’s aides defended the threat as a hard-edged tactic to press Iran into submission. Opponents framed it as the failure of a president who miscalculated what it would take to get out of a geopolitical mire. “Trump has no plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, so he is threatening to attack Iran’s civil power plants,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, adding: “This would be a war crime.” Related Stories Trump's mixed messages on Iran: 'Winding down' the war and easing sanctions but adding more troops Trump says that he's asked 'about 7' countries to join coalition to police Iran's Strait of Hormuz Trump side-stepped diplomacy on his way to war in Iran. Now, he's asking China and others for help “He’s lost control of the war and he is panicking,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., responding to Trump’s post. Over the course of about a week, Trump has repeatedly shifted his approach on the crucial waterway for global oil and gas transport. There is growing urgency for Trump as soaring oil prices rattle global markets and pinch American consumers months before pivotal midterm elections.

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State Stories

Houston airports see highest TSA callout rates in the nation, straining security lines

Travelers at Houston airports are facing significant delays as staffing shortages among TSA officers persist amid the ongoing Department of Homeland Security shutdown, federal officials said. New data released by the Department of Homeland Security shows absenteeism among Transportation Security Administration officers has surged nationwide, with callout rates topping 11.5% on Friday, March 21 — the highest recorded during the shutdown. In Houston, the numbers were even more severe. At George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), 42.4% of TSA officers reportedly called out, while at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU), that figure climbed to 47.4%, among the highest rates in the country.

Federal officials say the staffing shortages are contributing to long security lines and extended wait times for travelers, particularly during the busy spring break travel period. According to DHS, TSA officers have now gone without pay for the third time in six months, creating financial strain that is impacting attendance. “Many TSA officers cannot pay their rent, buy food, or afford to put gas in their cars — forcing them to call out sick from work,” the agency said in a statement. Over the past week, TSA callout rates have remained above 9% nationwide, with more than half of those days exceeding 10%, officials said.

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A 20-million-year old water supply may help save Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi is turning to water that has been trapped deep underground for hundreds of millions of years as the region struggles through worsening drought. With lakes dropping and the water supply tightening, the City of Corpus Christi has started pumping about 4.5 million gallons of groundwater a day into the Nueces River from its newly activated western well field. The water then flows downstream to the O.N. Stevens Water Treatment Plant. State officials allowed the move under emergency permits approved by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. City leaders say the project could eventually deliver much more water if conditions continue to worsen.

Water officials recently took 3 News' Michael Gibson to the dusty site where the groundwater is being pumped hundreds of feet from underground formations. The wells were built to reach deep layers of the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers. Nick Winkelmann, the chief operating officer for Corpus Christi Water, said the wells target groundwater that sits far below the shallow aquifers that are typically replenished by rainfall. Each well reaches an average depth of about 515 feet. City Manager Peter Zanoni said hydrogeologists believe the water being tapped has been trapped in that geologic layer for extremely long periods of time. According to Zanoni, the water has likely been sitting in those formations for hundreds of millions of years, meaning it does not recharge quickly like shallow groundwater.

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Suspected meteorite crashes into Houston woman's home amid citywide reports of 'boom'

Following reports of a loud "boom" and houses shaking the Houston area on Saturday, a woman says a potential piece of the answer may have been what crashed through her roof. Social media was buzzing with questions about a noise sounding like thunder or an explosion shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday. The Brenham Fire Department said they responded to reports of a possible explosion, but they did not find proof that one happened. Some speculated whether the noise came from a meteor or a sonic boom. As the questions continued, a woman contacted FOX 26 claiming a meteorite crashed through her roof. Sherrie James says she contacted the Ponderosa Fire Department for help. Fire Captain Tyler Ellingham confirmed that he responded to James' call. The captain's team found what they say is an unusual rock. Since there was no construction or trees nearby, the fire department believes the rock is a part of the alleged meteor that was heard around Houston.

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Paxton's lawsuit over Bexar County immigration program dismissed

A Bexar County judge on Friday dismissed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the county’s immigration legal services program, bringing an end to weeks of legal battles before any court could hear the merits of the case. In Bexar County’s presiding court, 408th Civil District Court Judge Angelica Jimenez granted the county’s motion to dismiss filed earlier this week, ruling the case is moot after the remaining funds tied to the program were already distributed. In a filing to the Texas Supreme Court on Thursday, the state acknowledged that outcome, saying because the payments had been distributed the courts could no longer grant the relief originally requested. In legal terms, a “moot” case means there is no longer an active dispute for a court to resolve and any ruling would have no real-world effect.

The lawsuit, filed in early February, targeted more than $556,000 in county funding for legal representation for low-income residents facing deportation proceedings. The program contracts with the nonprofit American Gateways to provide those services. From the start, the case centered on timing, with the lawsuit filed less than 30 days before the contract was set to expire and its first district court hearing coming just eight days before that deadline. Attorneys for the state repeatedly argued courts needed to intervene to temporarily block the remaining funds from being released, warning that once the final payment was made, there would be “nothing left to enjoin” and the case would effectively be over. Despite multiple attempts, the state was unable to secure emergency orders blocking the payment. The 15th Court of Appeals declined to stop the funding, and a subsequent request to the Texas Supreme Court was filed but not ruled on before the case was dismissed. “The Court no longer has subject-matter jurisdiction over the dispute,” a spokesperson for the county’s civil division said in a statement following the motion to dismiss. “There is no longer a live controversy between the parties.”

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How the Prairieland 'Antifa' verdict threatens the anti-Trump resistance

Late last week, federal prosecutors notched a victory in an unprecedented and controversial trial that sought to tie alleged members of “Antifa,” a decentralized anti-fascist movement, to domestic terrorism. A Tarrant County jury returned a mixed verdict for nine defendants, who were accused of a variety of crimes stemming from a July 4 “noise demonstration” outside the Prairieland immigrant detention center in Alvarado and the nonfatal shooting there of a police officer. Prosecutors argued the defendants constituted a “North Texas Antifa cell” that shared anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and anti-government beliefs—and that all nine played a role in the shooting that occurred, despite several government witnesses, who took plea deals, testifying at trial that they were surprised when the protest turned violent and that they and the other defendants did not belong to the purported Antifa group. The defendants said the protest, which involved setting off fireworks and acts of vandalism, was intended to show solidarity with migrants in detention at Prairieland.

Benjamin Song, Savanna Batten, Zachary Evetts, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Autumn Hill, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto were convicted on felony charges of providing material support to terrorists, rioting, conspiracy to use and carry an explosive, and use and carry of an explosive (the aforementioned fireworks). Daniel Sanchez Estrada was convicted of corruptly concealing a document or record, and along with his wife, Rueda, was also convicted of conspiracy to conceal documents. Song, the alleged shooter, was also convicted on one count of attempted murder and other gun charges, while Hill, Evetts, Morris and Rueda were acquitted of the attempted murder and discharging a firearm charges. “I think this is the worst-case-scenario verdict,” said Luis, a member of the DFW Support Committee, a group working to support the Prairieland defendants, who requested that the Texas Observer use only his first name for fear of reprisal. Even had the shooting never occurred, Luis said, the verdict suggests the jury would have convicted the defendants anyway for actions that are common to many protests. The case represents the federal government’s first use of material support for terrorism charges against alleged Antifa members. Experts say the outcome will give the Trump administration the green light to take a more aggressive stance against left-wing activity and further politicize the use of domestic terrorism laws.

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Annise Parker denies backing City Council candidate who used her image in mailer

Former Mayor Annise Parker clarified Thursday that she has not made an endorsement in the ongoing District C Houston City Council race after candidate Nick Hellyar’s campaign sent out a mailer with her picture on it. Parker wrote on X Thursday afternoon that she had received calls about a Hellyar campaign text message and a mailer that she “did not authorize” and of which she “had no advance notice.” The mailer in question shows seven photos of current or former elected officials and community leaders who have endorsed Hellyar on one side, with their names listed. On the other side is a photo of Hellyar and Parker standing side by side, without Parker’s name listed.

Beside the photo is a block of text that reads, “We need a fighter on City Council! As a member of the community, Nick Hellyar has fought for LGBTQ+ rights his whole life. District C, home of Houston’s largest LGBTQ+ community, has never been represented on City Council by one of their own.” Parker’s post said the mailer and text included a quote of hers from a previous Hellyar campaign, but none of the statements on the mailer are attributed to an individual. Asked to clarify, Parker said she had “nothing else to say about the issue.” Hellyar said he has made clear on the campaign trail that Parker is not endorsing him whenever the topic comes up, and denied using a Parker quote in his campaign materials. “She is the head LGBT leader in the region and having a picture with someone that leads a movement is very common,” Hellyar wrote in a text. Early voting in the April 4 special election is underway and runs through March 31 in Montrose, Meyerland, the Heights, Oak Forest and other neighborhoods. Outgoing District C council member Abbie Kamin resigned to run for Harris County Attorney. Parker, too, is seeking county office. She will compete in next month’s Democratic runoff for County Judge.

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Budget cuts at SAISD could cut food drives, slow maintenance and freeze police hires

Planning for a budget reduction for the fifth year in a row, top leaders at San Antonio Independent School District laid out their proposals for budget cuts this week. Overall, district leaders identified $19.3 million in budget reductions, including 224 positions, most of which are already vacant positions, though roughly a quarter of the positions are filled and those could be subject to layoffs. While the proposals could reduce SAISD’s budget deficit — about $45.9 million — by half, it would mean the loss of programs, slower response times for customer service calls and maintenance requests and even larger student-teacher ratios. “This is not a new challenge,” said Superintendent Jaime Aquino, who’s set to retire in January of next year. Within the past four years, SAISD has reduced its budget by $46 million; this included the elimination of 352 positions.

The budget cuts proposed on Monday would go into effect for the 2026-27 school year. While looking for ways to cut the budget, Aquino said the district focused on eliminating positions not directly tied to student outcomes, trying to minimized disruptiveness, reducing contracted services and redirecting resources to the district’s academically struggling schools. Every SAISD department head identified potential cuts for the next school year. SAISD’s Police Department could have one the largest percentage in budget reductions by about 17.4%, cutting its current $6.1 million budget by about $1.07 million. The department would eliminate 15 vacant positions that were budgeted for a couple of years ago but were never filled. SAISD Police Chief Johnny Reyes said the cuts would “streamline command structure, allowing for a more robust focus on community-based policing and incident prevention.” Cutting positions in other departments, vacant or filled, would also mean longer wait times for technology repairs, IT service tickets and maintenance requests. District leaders also proposed a slimmed down custodial department, potentially cutting 58 — 35 filled and 23 vacant— district-wide custodial positions and two campus-based custodians. Doing so would move the district’s cleanliness standards to the minimum required for most schools.

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Houston suburb makes bold bet to become Texas' next Silicon Valley

Sugar Land isn't just building more homes—it's now trying to build the companies that fill them. The city recently launched the "Sugar Land Starts Innovation Fund," a new incentive program aimed at attracting startups as part of a broader push to turn the fast-growing suburb into more than just a place where people live. The fund offers performance-based incentives to companies that commit to bringing jobs and long-term investment to Sugar Land, targeting industries like life sciences, technology and advanced manufacturing, according to the city's announcement. "By focusing on revenue-generating startups and performance-based incentives, we are creating a clear pathway for innovative companies to scale while reenergizing existing office space," Colby Millenbruch, Sugar Land's business recruitment manager, said in a statement.

To qualify, startups must already be generating revenue or have significant financial backing. Their average salaries also must be at least $61,000, and the company must agree to relocate employees to Sugar Land for at least three years. The move reflects a broader shift taking shape across the Houston region. Suburbs like Sugar Land aren't just growing residentially—they're trying to become job centers in their own right. For years, Sugar Land has been known as one of the Houston area's more affluent suburbs, built around master-planned communities and corporate campuses. Now, city leaders are trying to expand that model by attracting companies that allow residents to live and work in the same place. That push comes as the Greater Houston Area continues to expand. As Chron previously reported, suburban areas like Sugar Land, Katy and Cypress have seen steady development as buyers search for more space, even amid affordability pressures.

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Stars officially clinch fifth straight trip to Stanley Cup playoffs

For the fifth consecutive season, the Dallas Stars are heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Dallas officially clinched its spot on Sunday night with the Utah Mammoth beating the Los Angeles Kings in overtime. The Stars are the second team in the NHL to land a playoff spot, joining their Central Division rival Colorado Avalanche. Dallas had a chance to seal their berth with a point earlier on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights but lost 3-2 in regulation, necessitating some help from Utah to clinch.

Sealing their playoff spot is the latest accomplishment for a Stars team that has been among the best teams in the entire NHL all season. In their first season under Glen Gulutzan, the Stars have maintained the level of regular season success they had under Pete DeBoer. The only playoff mystery left for the Stars to solve over the final few weeks of the regular season is their seeding. If Dallas fails to catch Colorado in the Central Division standings, it likely will face Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Tracking down the Avalanche in the standings could give Dallas home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, given the fact Dallas and Colorado currently have the two best point totals in the sport. The Stars, who have 97 points with 12 games remaining, will also have a chance over the final weeks of the regular season to set a new franchise points record. That record is owned by the same team that won the franchise’s only Stanley Cup, as the 1998-99 Stars went 51-19-12 with 114 points.

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Will The Woodlands get free underground tunnels? We'll find out Monday

Will The Woodlands get an unground tunnel, courtesy of Elon Musk’s company? We should find out Monday. That’s when a winner will be announced in the “Tunnel Vision Challenge” -- a competition for underground transportation funded by Musk’s The Boring Company. The Woodlands is one of 16 finalists to get the tunnels free of charge. That's out of 487 entries. The winner will be announced from this list of finalists, which was released March 3. The list includes five Texas projects.

The Woodlands’ proposal -- backed by the township’s board -- calls for two parallel 12-foot-diameter tunnels connecting major destinations using electric vehicles. Proposed stops include Waterway Square, The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and Town Green Park, with potential expansion to Hughes Landing. Officials say the goal is to provide a zero-emission transportation option to improve mobility during peak periods and major events. If selected, The Boring Company would pay for tunnel construction, with additional infrastructure costs to be negotiated. Final details -- including tunnel depth and scope -- would come later. So, how deep would these tunnels be? Chris Nunes, chief operating officer for The Woodlands Township, said that'll be determined if The Woodlands’ proposal is selected. Next steps then would be the team going back to the board with proposed agreements, a permitting strategy, scope of the project, and any funding needed.

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A Texas reckoning over César Chávez's legacy after abuse allegations

In Texas, César Chávez has long been remembered as a towering figure in the fight for farmworker rights, a labor leader whose organizing helped reshape working conditions for some of the country's most vulnerable workers, including thousands in the Lone Star State. Now, that legacy is being fundamentally reexamined. The shift follows reporting by The New York Times that outlined years of alleged sexual harassment and abuse tied to Chávez, including claims that he engaged in sexual misconduct with women and girls connected to the farmworker movement during the 1960s and 70s. That reckoning is already having broad effects across Texas — and the response has been swift.

On Wednesday afternoon, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he directed state agency heads to stop observing César Chávez Day and plans to work with lawmakers to remove the March 31 holiday from state law during the next legislative session. In a social media post, Abbott also said the allegations "dismantle the myth" of Chávez as a figure worthy of official state recognition. This came just hours after organizers in cities including Houston, San Antonio and Austin called off long-running César Chávez Day marches and events, many of which have drawn thousands of attendees in past years. In South Texas, leaders with La Unión del Pueblo Entero, or LUPE, said they wouldn't participate in any Chávez-related events this year, calling the allegations "shocking and disturbing." In a statement, the organization, which represents more than 8,000 farmworkers in the Rio Grande Valley, called the allegations "indefensible" and said LUPE is working with other groups to create a confidential, independent process for people who say they were harmed to come forward and potentially seek accountability or reparations.

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National Stories

Why Iran does not appear ready to give in, despite heavy losses

As the war in Iran enters its fourth week, with U.S. operations increasingly focused on global energy flows, Tehran is rebuffing efforts to identify a diplomatic off-ramp from the war launched by the United States and Israel, according to officials in the region. Instead, Tehran is escalating attacks on its neighbors, betting it can ratchet up global economic pain faster than the Trump administration can relieve it with military force, according to an Iranian diplomat, two European diplomats stationed in the region and a senior Arab official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media on sensitive details. Iran’s unwillingness to capitulate is wrapped up in the power it exerts over the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s fuel shipments transit, that Tehran has largely closed, roiling energy markets. President Donald Trump gave Iran a 48-hour deadline on Saturday to reopen the critical waterway, threatening to “obliterate” the country’s power plants if Tehran doesn’t comply.

By partially closing the strait, Iran is seeking to “make this aggression super expensive for the aggressors,” according to the Iranian diplomat. “We are alone against the biggest military superpower of the history,” he said. Iran’s leaders see their ability to control the strait and withstand the U.S. and Israeli onslaught as a short-term victory, the Arab official and European diplomats said. But as the war expands, with Iran’s critical infrastructure increasingly threatened, the country’s leadership is also deeply concerned about their ability to recover in the long term, they said. “As long as the regime is there, they can create terror in the region, they terrorize international markets with the oil and gas prices. Yes, that’s what winning is for them,” said one of the European diplomats, who is based in the Persian Gulf. “They don’t feel any pressure to negotiate.” So far, the conflict’s economic fallout for the United States and its European allies has been “moderate,” by the diplomat’s assessment, not reaching the dire level that would increase pressure for talks on the U.S. side. However, rising energy prices are causing concern in Washington.

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Covid gave us hybrid work. The Iran War might give us a four-day week—and this time, experts say it could stick

COVID-19 gave us hybrid work. The Iran War might give us a three-day weekend. That’s because, as Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Pakistan move to a 4-day work week because of the war in Iran, experts say we’re the closest we’ve ever been to a permanent shorter workweek. It started in Asia, but now major governments around the world are once again mandating that workers stay home to save on fuel and survive an energy crisis as the war in the Middle East threatens vital oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. What began as an emergency measure in the developing world is now spreading globally. Sound familiar? We’ve been here before: The last time the world was forced to shift en masse—the pandemic—the changes we thought would be temporary became permanent. Hybrid work didn’t die when offices reopened. Instead, it reshaped how we work.

Now, with governments reaching for the same lever again, experts say something similar could happen with a four-day workweek. But it’ll come with major consequences for those who can’t take their jobs home, like drivers, baristas, window cleaners, pet sitters, and more. Although Brits and Australians are being urged to work from home, Dr. Wladislaw Rivkin, Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Trinity Business School, told Fortune that a global three-day weekend currently looks unlikely—at least not at the click of the government’s fingers. That’s because a permanent restructuring of how work is organized is a far heavier lift than an overnight shift to working from a makeshift home office. “I do not see this as a model for the U.S. and U.K., at least in the long term, because the current sharp rise in fuel costs is temporary,” Rivkin says. Professor Roberta Aguzzoli at Durham University Business School says she wouldn’t rule out the West moving to shorter workweeks to save fuel, but she argues better infrastructure should minimise that need.

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Iran threatens to 'completely' close Strait of Hormuz and hit power plants after Trump ultimatum

The United States and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure Sunday as the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week, puts lives and livelihoods at risk throughout the region. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports, would be “completely closed” immediately if the U.S. follows up on President Donald Trump’s threat to attack its power plants. Trump late Saturday set a 48-hour deadline to open the strait. Israeli leaders visited one of two southern communities near a secretive nuclear research site struck by Iranian missiles late Saturday, with scores of people wounded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “miracle” no one was killed. Netanyahu claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving their war goals. The aims have ranged from weakening Iran’s nuclear program, missile program and support for armed proxies to enabling the Iranian people to overthrow the theocracy.

There has been no sign of an uprising, nor of an end to the fighting that has shaken the global economy, sent oil prices surging and endangered some of the world’s busiest air corridors. The war, which the U.S. and Israel launched Feb. 28, has killed over 2,000 people. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an airstrike that killed a man in northern Israel, while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called Israel’s new targeting of bridges in the south “a prelude to a ground invasion.” “More weeks of fighting against Iran and Hezbollah are expected for us,” said Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin. Meanwhile, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates said early Monday their air defenses were dealing with missile and drone attacks as air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain. Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz that connects the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world, while claiming safe passage for vessels from countries other than its enemies. Roughly one-fifth of global oil supply passes through it, but attacks on ships have stopped nearly all tanker traffic.

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When voters worry about ‘affordability,’ many point to health care

Tom Perriello, a Virginia Democrat who was swept from the House in 2010, in large part because of his vote for the Affordable Care Act, is trying for a comeback this year — but far from running away from that vote more than a dozen years ago, he’s embracing it. “What’s aged politically even better than my support for the A.C.A.,” Mr. Perriello said, “was the fact that I was pushing right to the end for it to be stronger.” “When I got kicked out of office,” he added, “I kept fighting for things like Medicaid expansion in Virginia.” A Democrat embracing this issue might not seem like a novel concept; the party has been more trusted on health care for a while now, though the public hasn’t often seen it as a top issue. But in 2026, Democrats like Mr. Perriello have a new script on health care that could prove more potent. It’s affordability, not access. And polls show that when voters say that affordability is their biggest concern, for many, they’re talking about health care.

“Health care costs are out of control,” said Shawn Spencer, 48, of Greene County, Va. “I don’t have insurance, so I’m paying a boatload when I need care.” Such concerns are particularly acute for working-class white voters, such as Ms. Spencer, whom Republicans will need to win in November. The costs of health care and housing ranked nearly even as top affordability concerns for the group, in a recent New York Times/Siena University poll. Ms. Spencer voted for President Trump and considered herself more of a Republican, she said, but feels as if party leaders have not shown that they care about health care costs. “At this point I would vote for the party that can help me afford to stay healthy,” she added. In 2009, the nascent Tea Party movement urged voters to “pack the halls” as members of Congress returned home for summer recesses, and they did. Angry constituents mobbed town-hall meetings shouting, “Kill the bill!” One analysis of the Republicans’ 2010 landslide calculated that “yes” votes on the Affordable Care Act in swing districts like Mr. Perriello’s cost Democrats 25 seats, which would have been enough to hold the House. But the act cut the uninsured rate nearly in half by 2023, to 7.9 percent of Americans down from 14.4 percent in 2010, largely through an expansion of Medicaid.

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Doubts from key Republicans on surgeon general test MAHA’s political power

The nascent Make America Healthy Again movement got one of its biggest wins last spring: Casey Means was selected to be the nation’s top doctor. But more than 10 months later, the controversial surgeon general pick has yet to assume the position advising Americans on how to improve their health. Her nomination has stalled as some Republicans question her stance on vaccines, her medical credentials and her pushes against the medical establishment. Means probably cannot afford to lose the support of a single Republican on the Senate Health committee, which has yet to schedule a vote to advance her nomination to the full Senate. The panel’s chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), repeatedly pressed Means on her views on immunizations during a late February hearing — questions she largely dodged — and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) afterward publicly said they still have questions.

Murkowski earlier this month told reporters she still has “strong reservations” about Means’s nomination. On Friday, Murkowski said she didn’t “have anything new.” The stagnation sets up a test of the political power of the MAHA movement and its champion, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Means wrote the book widely considered the bible of the MAHA movement, “Good Energy” with her brother, Calley Means, a top White House adviser on health issues. While she honed her message on the importance of healthy food — talking points that Kennedy has tried to amp up as the midterms approach — she is getting tangled in his prior controversial stances on vaccines and other aspects of the MAHA movement, which has tried to galvanize supporters to call on reticent senators. If her nomination makes it out of committee, she can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans on the floor with every Democratic senator likely to oppose her and all senators voting. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who is not seeking reelection this year, told The Washington Post that he was leaning toward voting against her.

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Pilot and copilot killed in collision between jet and fire truck at New York's LaGuardia Airport

Two people were killed and several others badly hurt when an Air Canada regional jet struck a fire truck on a runway while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, officials said. The pilot and copilot were killed in the late Sunday night collision, which crushed the nose of the aircraft, while around 40 passengers and crew members were taken to area hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most have since been released from treatment, authorities said Monday. Two Port Authority employees who were traveling in the fire truck also suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

The pilot and copilot were both based out of Canada, Garcia said during a news conference. The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday to facilitate the investigation, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board. The fire truck was traveling across the runway to respond to a separate incident aboard a United Airlines flight, whose pilot had reported “an issue with odor,” said Garcia, who deferred additional questions about the sequence of events leading up to the crash to the NTSB. There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the aircraft, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to a statement from the airline. The flight originated at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the major airport serving Montreal. Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side. Stairways used to evacuate passengers from the aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ. The impact left the jet with its crumpled nose tilted upward.

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Lead Stories

The new weapons of global power are oil, rare earths and microchips

Iran’s move to choke off the Strait of Hormuz and turn crude oil into a weapon of war marks a new phase in the 21st-century competition for global power—one that will be defined by the control of critical raw materials and energy. In the face of a withering campaign of airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel, Tehran has launched an asymmetric counterattack, using energy supplies as a cudgel on a scale unseen in decades. Iran has effectively paralyzed the Strait of Hormuz, a passageway where a fifth of global oil supplies usually transits. On Wednesday, it struck Qatar’s Ras Laffan, the site of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas plant, in retaliation for a strike on an Iranian gas field. The war has unleashed havoc in global markets, pushing up oil prices by around 50% since the start of the conflict. European natural gas prices have roughly doubled. The strike on Ras Laffan led President Trump to call for a de-escalation.

It is a stunning reminder of the centrality of energy to the global economy, and further evidence that the roots of military and economic power are shifting from software and information back to hard, physical resources—from oil to rare-earth metals and industrial capacity. The risk for nations that don’t have them span from soaring inflation and economic downturns to hampering the build-out of artificial intelligence and the militaries of the future. Last year, China used its control of roughly 90% of the world’s supplies of rare-earth magnets to checkmate the U.S. in trade negotiations. By cutting off access to metals used in cars, weapons and electronics, Beijing forced U.S. factories to idle and Washington to soften its demands. “Great-power competition has returned to basics: who controls the physical resources that modern economies and militaries run on,” said Alice Gower, a partner at Azure Strategy, a political-risk advisory firm in London. “Energy, critical minerals and industrial capacity are leverage, not just economic assets.” For decades, Western consensus held that geography was fading as destiny. In this view, the winners of the 21st century would be defined less by control of territory and raw materials than by command of capital, technology and global networks. Yet the recent weaponization of supply chains has offered a stark reminder that rather than erasing physical geography, the era of hyperconnectivity has turned it into a possibly more potent weapon.

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As Big Bend area border walls move forward, local landowners gear up for a fight

As the Trump administration's plans for border walls in the rugged Big Bend region of West Texas advance, landowners in the path are struggling to understand how the plan could impact their homes and livelihoods. Amid a lack of details from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), advocates are rushing to help landowners with legal aid in sparsely-populated rural areas along the Rio Grande, where local residents have started receiving government letters threatening the seizure of land for the project. David Keller, with the newly formed advocacy group No Big Bend Wall, led a landowner meeting earlier this month in Redford, a small community outside of Presidio on the Texas-Mexico border.

Border wall plans have never progressed this far here before. In recent weeks, locals opposing the wall have rushed to form a landowner coalition, coordinate legal access and educate landowners on their rights. Keller, who lives in Redford, said letters seeking landowner authorization for border wall construction are stoking fear and anger. "?Most of them don't have attorneys on file," he said. "Most of them…English is not their first language, and this is written in coercive language." He's been urging his neighbors not to sign anything and to lawyer up. "We're all in this fight together and we gotta have each other's backs, man," Keller said at the recent landowner meeting. "And if you know people that you feel are gonna sign, you know, talk to 'em and try to get 'em not to." Local farmer Esteban Mesa has a property in Redford that backs up to the Rio Grande. Mesa and other farmers pump water directly from the river to their fields. He said a border wall would cut off access to his pump, making it impossible to irrigate. "?I know that they're not gonna – with the way this valley is – they're not going to be putting a gate at every property owner's property," Mesa said.

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US and Iran trade threats of expanding war after strikes near sites tied to nuclear programs

Iran and its ally, the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, stepped up pressure on Israel on Sunday, with intense attacks on the country’s north and south after the United States and Iran threatened to widen their targets in the war in the Middle East, now in its fourth week. As Israel came under renewed fire, top Israeli leaders traveled to the Negev Desert, home to the country’s main nuclear research center and the site where Iran’s barrages struck two towns on Saturday, shattering apartment buildings and injuring scores of people in Arad and Dimona. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured Arad and said it was a “miracle” no one was killed there. He claimed Israel and the U.S. were well on their way to achieving the war’s goals and implored the international community for support.

Earlier, President Donald Trump warned the United States will destroy Iran’s power plants if Tehran fails to fully open the Strait of Hormuz in 48 hours. Iran’s parliament speaker said if the U.S. follows through on its threat, Tehran would retaliate against American and Israeli energy and wider infrastructure in the region. The developments signaled the Iran war, which the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28, was moving in a dangerous new direction, despite Trump’s mention last week he was considering “winding down” operations. The war that has killed hundreds of people, rattled the global economy and sent oil prices surging. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an airstrike Sunday that killed a man in northern Israel while Gulf Arab states — including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — said they were working to intercept new Iranian strikes. Iran has practically closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint connecting the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s supply passes. Attacks on commercial ships and threats of further strikes have stopped nearly all tankers from navigating the strait, compelling some of the world’s largest oil producers to make cuts because their crude has nowhere to go.

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Corpus Christi’s water shortage threatens billions in investment, city leaders say

Corpus Christi’s water crisis is no longer just about drought restrictions or conservation, city leaders have said it is now threatening the region’s economic future and is costing the Coastal Bend billions of dollars in lost investment. Major companies that once showed interest in building in Corpus Christi are now putting projects on hold or walking away because the city cannot guarantee a long term water supply. City officials said the economic impact is enormous. Corpus Christi City Councilman Roland Barrera said the city has already missed out on massive projects tied to industries that require large volumes of water. “I have heard numbers as high as $20 billion,” Barrera said.

Many of the successful projects secured by the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation were landed before 2020 when the city still had excess water capacity to offer new industry. That advantage has largely disappeared said the councilman. Barrera said one example involved interest from Google, which explored building operations in the region but required about three million gallons of water per day. “That’s the type of project we’re talking about,” said Barrera. To try to boost supply, the city has drilled new wells along the Nueces River. Even with those wells, officials said it may not be enough to meet long term demand. Some projections show local reservoirs could approach critically low levels as soon as next year if drought conditions continue. City leaders are also pushing forward with plans to build a seawater desalination plant, which could provide a more reliable water source in the future. However, until a long term supply is guaranteed, companies remain cautious about making large investments in the area.

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Robert Mueller, former FBI director and special counsel in Trump-Russia probe, dies

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who led the historic probe into alleged collusion between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government, has died. He was 81. “With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away last night,” his family said in a statement Saturday. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.” His family announced last August that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2021. For years, Mueller was highly trusted on both sides of the aisle: When he was selected as FBI director by President George W. Bush just days before September 11, 2001, he was unanimously approved, and earned full support again when he was asked to stay past his 10-year tenure by President Barack Obama. He served in the role for 12 years, becoming the longest-serving FBI director since J. Edgar Hoover.

His reputation for integrity was a key factor in his selection to handle the politically sensitive investigation into Trump. But by the time the investigation concluded in the middle of Trump’s first presidency, views of Mueller, as was the case with so much else in the American political landscape, were largely divided along party lines. Ultimately, the investigation into Trump produced mixed results. Investigators uncovered dozens of secret and often high-level contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, despite both sides denying there were any. The probe also highlighted how Trump eagerly capitalized on the Kremlin’s election-meddling and that his campaign “expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.” However, Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia. He also made the controversial decision not to charge Trump with obstruction even though he had the evidence he needed, saying he was prohibited from even considering it because Trump was the sitting president at the time.

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State Stories

Texas school district bans books by US presidents

Aschool district in Texas has banned approximately 1,500 books from its libraries, including titles by former U.S. presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, the literary nonprofit group PEN America reports. The book removals took place in New Braunfels, a fast-growing city of about 100,000 people located 30 miles northeast of San Antonio. The city’s school district has banned or restricted hundreds of titles, including Obama’s A Promised Land, Clinton’s My Life, and Bush’s 41: A Portrait of My Father. Other memoirs or biographies banned by the district include former first lady Michelle Obama’s Becoming and The Light We Carry; Malala Yousafzai’s I Am Malala; Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton; Matthew Perry’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing; Britney Spears’ The Woman in Me; Cicely Tyson’s Just as I Am; and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey.

The bans also targeted novels including Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, and Tommy Orange’s There There. The books were banned in accordance with the Senate Bill 13, which requires school libraries to remove titles deemed “indecent” or “profane.” Laney Hawes, a co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, said in a statement, “The latest slate of book bans from SB13 confirms what many Texas parents have been saying for years: The culture wars are ruining our kids’ education. Texas has produced world class authors, scientists, leaders; it’s as though our state legislators want to put that in jeopardy.”

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John Moritz: Texas GOP base is aging fast — and still calling the shots

Old people rule! That could be the slogan of both political parties in Texas, based on an Austin political researcher's deep dive into the data on which voters powered the record-breaking turnout in the March 3 primaries. But the slogan would be a lot more true, and potentially a lot more worrisome, for one of the two major parties. The numbers crunched by Derek Ryan, founder of Ryan Data and Research, show that nearly 55% of the ballots cast early and on the same day in the recent Democratic primary came from voters 50 and older. By contrast, voters 30 and under accounted for just 14% of the turnout in a primary that nominated 36-year-old James Talarico, who would become the youngest U.S. senator if he wins in November.

But the age gap is even more yawning on the Republican side, according to Ryan's analysis, which uses data from the Texas Secretary of State's Office, the Texas Legislative Council and other sources. Voters 50 and older made up 78% of GOP primary turnout, and those over 70 accounted for one-third of the total. That means just 22% of the Republican vote came from people 49 and younger. And if you just look at the under-30 subset, it comprised just 4% of the party's total vote. That would appear to be a shaky foundation for building a Texas Republican Party of the future. Republican turnout was also anchored by voters who show up for the primary cycle after cycle. More than three of every four GOP voters had never wandered over to the Democratic side during the nominating process. A tiny sliver of the turnout — around 3% —had at least some history of going back and forth from primary to primary, but the large majority of that group has tended to side more often with Republicans than with Democrats.

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How these Texas influencers are trying to turn viral fame into votes

At the Williamson County Republican Party’s annual fundraising gala in January, congressional candidate Valentina Gomez approached U.S. Rep. John Carter, shook his hand and thanked him for his service. A video Gomez posted on X shows her accusing the congressman she was challenging in the GOP primary of allowing Texas to become “like Minnesota.” She demanded to know why 200 mosques had been built during his 22 years in office. After Round Rock police told her to leave, Gomez claimed she was “almost arrested” for asking questions. (Party officials said her brother, who manages her campaign, shoved a member of Carter’s security detail.) For most candidates, being ejected from a party gala — and subsequently banned from future county GOP events — would be a disaster.

For Gomez, a far-right influencer with a massive online following, it was the intent: a made-for-social-media confrontation that generated attention and algorithmic reach. The video was viewed more than 180,000 times on the social media platform X, where Gomez has hundreds of thousands of followers. Gomez lost to Carter in the primary, drawing just 10% of the vote. But Gomez still raked in ad revenue from her posts on X, where she has earned tens of thousands of dollars. In federal disclosures, she listed “triggering liberals on X” as her only source of income aside from rental revenue on a home she owns in St. Louis. Gomez says her approach represents the future of politics. “I get attacked because I have the largest platform in American politics and I don’t rely on fake news media like yours to get my message in front of voters,” she said in an email to Hearst Newspapers. “I changed the game of politics by speaking the truth, saving children, and catching pedophiles.” She is part of a wave of influencers who have gone from using their platforms to push those already in office to running for office themselves. They include Republican congressional nominee Brandon Herrera, a YouTuber with 4.2 million followers, and Austin City Council candidate Farrah Abraham, the former “Teen Mom” star who went viral after learning in a live TMZ interview that she was ineligible to run for mayor until 2028.

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Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico courts Jasmine Crockett voters in Dallas

Texas Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate James Talarico made an appeal to voters of Rep. Jasmine Crockett at a Dallas County Democratic Party convention in Southern Dallas. Talarico’s speech comes as Democrats try to build up their coalition after a fierce Texas Senate primary election that was the most expensive primary in American history and drove record turnout. “I did not generate this historic turnout on my own. I did it with my friend and your champion, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett,” Talarico told the crowd at the Inspiring Body of Christ Church. “To the congresswoman's supporters: I know I wasn't your first choice, but I hope to earn your trust and earn your support.” His comments came after Eve Williams, a local business owner, told attendees to vote for Talarico if they voted for Crockett in the primary.

“Some stood with Jasmine, others stood with Talarico, and that's exactly how democracy is supposed to work,” Williams said. “Primaries are where we compete, but November is where we decide. And if you don't make that shift from competition to coalition, we lose more than an election. We lose momentum. We lose representation.” The convention was the first ever countywide Dallas County Democratic Party inaugural convention follows massive statewide Democratic turnout. A March 19 internal poll for Talarico’s campaign shows him narrowly beating either of his potential Republican candidates, Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who will face off in a May 26 runoff election. Dallas County's Republican Party does not have plans to host a similar local convention, but encourages its members to participate in local events and the Texas GOP Convention in Houston June 11-13.

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Ami Mizell-Flint: Lawmakers must put children, parents before Big Tech

(Ami Mizell-Flint is an affiliate leader with the National Alliance of Mental Illness in San Angelo.) More than 4 million U.S. children suffer from a serious mental disorder. Given the prevalence of those disorders, we need fundamental changes to our systems to improve outcomes for our children. Most importantly, we must ensure parents are equipped with tools and resources to keep their children safe and healthy. One area where parents are lacking safeguards is the digital world. Children and teenagers are experiencing more negative encounters online than ever before. A 2024 Heat Initiative study discovered 200 apps in a 24-hour period with inappropriate content — ranging from dieting apps, violent, or sexual games, beauty filters and anonymous chat forums — that were rated suitable for children on the app store.

Even when the content isn't suitable for vulnerable age groups, the “age-appropriate” ratings tell parents otherwise. Legislative action is necessary to provide parents with proper guardrails over their children’s access to the digital world. The federal App Store Accountability Act, which recently advanced out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, would do that. Now's the time for Texas’ congressional delegation to stand with Texas parents, fight for a safer online future for children and support the App Store Accountability Act. The act tackles online dangers at the source: app marketplaces that sell unsuitable content and bind minors to contracts without parental oversight. Today, every dangerous application is only a few taps away, making harmful content far too accessible to minors. This legislation places power back in parents’ hands. The act would require app stores to obtain verifiable parental consent before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases. It would also ensure app age ratings accurately reflect in-app experiences. The act also encourages meaningful conversations between parents and teens about the content they consume and the apps they use.

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Texas had one of its warmest, driest winters ever — raising concerns about climate trends

Texas is emerging from a winter that stood out for its heat and lack of rain, ranking as the warmest and driest on record for several parts of the state. While the season included brief arctic outbreaks, it was dominated by temperatures that frequently climbed 10 degrees above normal. Statewide, this season was among the top two warmest ever recorded across the United States. According to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, the winter of December 2025 through February 2026 was also the 11th driest and third warmest on record for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with climate records dating back to 1898. While the season was defined by heat, it was also marked by intense volatility.

Dr. Yunyao Li, an assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences at UT Arlington, said the winter saw "sharper swings between mild conditions and extreme events." Temperatures were consistently above average in December and February, while January provided a brief, intense dip in overnight lows. Miles Langfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, said a strong La Niña season was the primary atmospheric factor driving the heat. A La Niña occurs when sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific, off the coast of South America, are cooler. "Cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific often shift the jet stream northward, allowing for more mild conditions over Texas," Langfeld said. Despite the general warmth, Langfeld said these patterns do not offer total immunity from the cold. Even during La Niña years, the state can see significant arctic outbreaks, such as the winter storm in January, or the historic February 2021 freeze.

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Honorary Texan Chuck Norris dies at 86

Martial arts star Chuck Norris, who fought his way to fame in such 1980s action movies as The Delta Force, Code of Silence, and a trilogy of Missing in Action films, has died. He was 86. In a fight, Norris tended to lead with his right…foot. He all but trademarked a roundhouse kick that villains never seemed to see coming. He'd plant a heel in someone's gut, spin once to knock him off balance with a boot to the chest, spin again to catch the guy's shoulder with his instep, maybe throw in a punch just to vary the rhythm, and finish him off with a high kick to the head. It was art, and widely imitated, but it did not kick off his career at first.

He was knocking around martial arts competitions and teaching celebrity clients in Hollywood, including Priscilla Presley, Bob Barker, and Donny and Marie Osmond, when his pal Bruce Lee gave him his break in films by inviting him to play one of many villains in 1972's The Way of the Dragon. The film fetishized Norris' hairy chest opposite Lee's smooth one, and he gave a little smirk when he flattened Lee with a roundhouse kick early on. But it was Lee's film, and by scene's end, Norris was toast. That could've been it, if one of Norris' celebrity students, Steve McQueen, hadn't suggested he take acting lessons. Norris did, and scored the leading role of a put-upon trucker in Breaker! Breaker!, an action flick shot in just 11 days. It made money, and in a string of indie hits that followed, Norris established himself as America's first homegrown martial arts movie star. At which point, Hollywood studios came calling with bigger budgets, and titles like Forced Vengeance, Silent Rage, Lone Wolf McQuade, and Invasion U.S.A. In that one, Norris played a mercenary combatting a Soviet-led terrorist army that lands in Florida at Christmastime, taunting foes with lines like, "If you come back in here, I'm gonna hit you with so many rights, you're gonna beg for a left."

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City of Austin says new $1.48 million website will make services easier to use

The city of Austin launched a new website that city leaders hope will make it easier for people to use. The updated site went live Thursday morning. City officials said users will be able to more easily access information, including links to pay utility bills and citations, adopt a pet and submit 3-1-1 requests. In total, the city has budgeted $2.52 million to the website overhaul, with $1.48 million for the initial redesign and another $1.04 million for refining updates or addressing issues that arise over the next two years. Yasmin Wagner with the city’s communication and engagement department said the city has known for a while that an update was needed, but it took time to get the funding and resources in place.

“The look and feel and functionality have become outdated, inconsistencies appear throughout the site, and it's weakening our brand recognition, usability of the site and user’s trust in the site as well,” Wagner said. The website's architects removed about 16,000 pages, taking the total number down to 1,300. By streamlining the content available and improving the search function, the city said users will be able to more easily find information about city news, council meetings and recycling and trash schedules that were previously hard to find. Updated ADA accessibility, translation features and city forms are also included on the new site. Wagner said visitors to the website will be able to provide feedback and inform updates. Roxanna Meneses, IT manager for Austin’s Technology Services Department, said the new website comes with data analytics to show staff what pages people visit and where issues might be occurring. City officials said Thursday's launch has gone smoothly, although staff are still working out kinks. This is the first major overhaul of the city’s website since 2012, but not the first step in refreshing the city's image. Last fall, the city unveiled a new $1 million logo and rebrand initiative that was met with community backlash from residents and city leaders who questioned the city's spending habits as it continues to struggle with budget constraints. Many residents were also critical of the logo.

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Inside the charter network that may take over San Antonio campuses

During a schoolboard meeting earlier this week, Hirsch Elementary School parentsconfronted San Antonio Independent School District leaders and trustees about the possibility of handing day-to-day operations at their children’s campus to a charter network with no campuses in town. “As a parent, you worry about whether your child will be understood, included, and supported in this classroom; the teachers at Hirsch didn’t just do the bare minimum. They went above and beyond,” Savannah Longoria, a mother of two Hirsch students, said. “They showed compassion, patience and understanding during a very difficult time for our family.” But to stave off a potential state takeover of the district and improve poor academic results that could trigger the elimination of local control, SAISD’s board could vote Monday for charter network Third Future Schools to run Hirsch and two other SAISD campuses starting next year.

In the past three years, Hirsch scored two Fs and a D on the state letter grade system. Third Future has a track record of quickly improving academic improvement — something that is especially important when repeat years of academic struggles can mean a campus closure or district takeover. But critics worry that a narrow focus on test scores and academic rigor will replace a more holistic approach to students' classroom time. “Our children are not experiments, and our school is not a project to hand over to an outside organization,” Longoria said. “My children are supported. They are learning, and they are happy, and I ask that you listen to the parents who trust in the teachers and staff already serving our children.” The San Antonio Independent School District and Edgewood ISD boards will vote next week on handing over control of four campuses to Colorado-based charter school operator Third Future. Both districts face an end-of-month deadline to pick a charter school provider if they want to forge such an agreement and buy their struggling schools more time before facing state consequences.

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East Texas vape shop sues DSHS to block new hemp rules scheduled to take effect March 31

An East Texas vape shop is suing the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), challenging new rules for hemp retailers that are set to take effect on March 31. That lawsuit echoes what many local hemp retailers have felt in recent weeks: that these new rules and fees could devastate the Texas hemp industry. This stems from new regulations DSHS adopted earlier this month that revise testing and packaging requirements, amend record-keeping standards and tack on much heavier licensing fees.

DSHS implemented these new rules and fees in response to an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott last year. After bills to ban or regulate hemp products containing THC failed to become law, he directed state agencies to come up with new rules to regulate them to address concerns that some of those products are dangerous and marketed to children. So DSHS increased licensing fees to $10,000 per year for product manufacturers and $5,000 per year to retailers starting on March 31. The retailer that filed the lawsuit claims it'll make it harder for small businesses to stay open. In their lawsuit, the retailer "Boomtown Vapor" claims that the new rules contradict a state law passed in 2019 that allowed for hemp containing a low amount of THC to be grown in Texas. That law specifically mentioned testing for Delta 9 THC, and the retailers argue that DSHS's new rule about testing for Total THC defies that. The retailers also say the licensing fees will be double from what they were before and are arbitrary.

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Gatesville City Manager says major fire originated at the Gatesville Messenger, ruled out criminal activity

Dozens of fire crews battled a major fire on the west side of the Square in downtown Gatesville on Monday night, according to the Gatesville Police Department. On Wednesday March, 18, 2026, the Gatesville City Manager Brad Hunt told KWTX the fire originated at the Gatesville Messenger on Monday night and that they have ruled out criminal activity as a cause. As of Tuesday evening, U.S. Highway 84 was reopened and traffic returned to normal. Three minor injuries have been reported in firefighters due to smoke inhalation, according to Gatesville City Manager Brad Hunt.

Hunt confirmed officials received the call at 6:50 p.m. on Monday. The Gatesville Volunteer Fire Department responded immediately and called for additional assistance after the fire broke out, Hunt said. “They’ve done an amazing job to keep people safe,” Hunt said. Gatesville Police Chief Jeff Clark said U.S. Route 84, also known as Main Street, would be closed through downtown and had been expected to remain closed overnight Monday and potentially into the following day due to the instability of buildings along the route. Clark said the road would reopen once the buildings are safe enough for traffic to pass through. Traffic was being diverted at Lutterloh on the east side and Levita Road on the west side, according to the Gatesville Police Department. Drivers and residents were urged to avoid the downtown area. Four businesses have allegedly been affected: Gatesville Messenger, Freedom Bail Bonds, Davidson Chiropractic and Leaird’s Furniture. The structures involved are believed to date to around 1900.

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Texas A&M eliminated by Houston in the second round of March Madness

After defeating Saint Mary's in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Texas A&M was eliminated by Houston in the round of 32, as the Cougars notched a dominant 88-57 win over the Aggies on Saturday night in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Texas A&M kept the game within reach through the first few minutes of the contest, but Houston's physicality was a major mismatch and proved too much for the Aggies to stop. The Cougars ended the first half of play on a 24-2 run for an 18-point lead. From that point forward, it was all Coogs. Emmanuel Sharp led the way for Houston with 18 points, followed by Chris Cenac Jr. with 17. Kelvin Sampson had four players record double-digit points, while shooting 44% from the field as a team in their win over the Aggies.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M guard Josh Holloway had a team-best 12 points, going 4-of-6 from the field and going a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Houston's 19 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points led to the rout of Texas A&M at the Paycom Center, as the Cougars advance to the Sweet 16 to play the winner of Illinois-VCU. It was a season to remember for first-year head coach Bucky McMillan, who had just one scholarship player on the roster when he was named the new head coach for the Aggies in April of 2025. McMillan renovated and recruited to build a team full of transfers, committed to representing Texas A&M and running one of the most explosive styles of basketball in the country. After being picked to finish 13th in the SEC during the preseason, the Aggies performed outstandingly through conference play to finish tied for fourth in the league standings and earn the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

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TCU’s Sweet dream is over as it falls to No. 1 Duke in NCAA tourney

TCU men’s basketball’s quest for the program’s first Sweet 16 trip came to end Saturday, as the No. 9-seeded Horned Frogs fell 81-58 to overall No. 1 seed Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “I’m certainly proud of our team, proud of how we handled some adversity today and still had the lead with 16 minutes left,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We certainly had a lot of adversity early on in the game and into the second half, but just proud of how they battled.” After trailing by four at halftime, TCU (23-12) started the second half hot, briefly taking a 40-38 lead thanks to a 6-0 run. The teams exchanged blows, and the game was tied at 44 with 13:56 remaining. But that’s when the game turned. Duke (34-2) went on a 24-6 run over the next seven minutes as fouls quickly began to stack up on the Horned Frogs.

TCU went over four minutes without scoring at one point. It didn’t help that third-team All-Big 12 forward Xavier Edmonds played just two minutes in the second half due to foul trouble. The junior center fouled out with six minutes remaining. “Obviously we had some challenges,” Dixon said. “Guys had foul trouble. Our rotation wasn’t what we wanted it to be. I think our defense wasn’t the way we wanted it to be. But the rebounding sticks out. I think we were not physical enough to come up with the rebounds. Having guys not available was a big factor. We had the lead, but things didn’t seem to go our way after that.” Sophomore forward Micah Robinson led TCU with 18 points. Duke advances to face the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 4 seed Kansas and No. 5 St. John’s in the Sweet 16.

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National Stories

‘Good, I’m glad he’s dead’: Trump’s insensitive comments about the dead hit a new level

For years, President Donald Trump has offered crass and insensitive comments about people who died — especially his foes. But on Saturday, he explicitly celebrated the death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, writing, “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” As a special counsel, Mueller probed Trump and his 2016 campaign as the leader of the Russia investigation during the president’s first term. “Robert Mueller just died,” Trump posted on social media shortly after the death was first reported. “Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” While it was the culmination of a yearslong series of such comments by Trump, it was hardly an isolated incident.

In 2017, one of the first big controversies of Trump’s first term was his insensitive alleged comments to the widow of a soldier who had just died. Trump was accused of telling the widow that her husband “knew what he signed up for.” And while Trump claimed it had been a “very respectful conversation,” the White House eventually?seemed to tacitly confirm the comments. After John McCain died in August 2018, Trump in early 2019 resumed his yearslong attacks on the former Arizona senator. He criticized the Republican for killing Trump’s health care law, saying, “I never was a fan of John McCain, and I never will be.” Trump also falsely claimed the recently deceased had graduated “last in his class” and falsely accused him of sharing the “Steele dossier” with the FBI before the 2016 election. In late 2019, Trump attacked another legislative foe who died that year — longtime Rep. John Dingell — by suggesting the Michigan Democrat was “looking up” from hell. Dingell’s widow, Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, responded: “I’m preparing for the first holiday season without the man I love. You brought me down in a way you can never imagine and your hurtful words just made my healing much harder.”

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Immigration agents deploying to airports under border czar as TSA staffing falls short

President Donald Trump said Sunday border czar Tom Homan will be in charge of deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to airports on Monday, with Homan telling CNN the agents will assist with security at entrances and exits to ease TSA workload amid a partial government shutdown. “This is about going to helping TSA do their mission and get the American public through that airport as quick as they can while adhering to all the security guidelines and the protocols,” Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union with Dana Bash.” Long security lines have been seen at airports around the country as TSA officers have quit their jobs or called out sick as they continue to work without pay.

“We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise, such as screening through the X-ray machine. Not training that, we won’t do that,” Homan said. “But there are roles we can play to release TSA officers from the non-significant roles, such as guarding an exit so they can get back to the scanning machines and move people quicker, and we’re just simply helping our fellow officers at TSA.” Asked about logistics and numbers regarding deployment of ICE officers, Homan said planning discussions are happening Sunday in coordination with the heads of ICE and the TSA. “I’m currently working on the plan now of execution, working with the Director of ICE and the administrator of TSA, the acting administrator. So we’ll put together a plan today, and we’ll execute tomorrow,” Homan said. Homan added that details can be expected later Monday. “Hopefully we’ll have all those answers here by this afternoon, but we’re working on it when we when we deploy tomorrow, we’ll have a well thought out plan to execute,” Homan said.

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U.S. judge rules against Pentagon restrictions on press coverage

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has blocked a Pentagon policy that sought to limit what journalists are able to report about the U.S. military, ruling in favor of The New York Times in a case that raised fundamental questions about the freedom of the press. The Pentagon policy, unveiled last September, required media organizations to pledge not to gather information unless officials from the Department of Defense formally authorized its release. The policy extended beyond classified information, and included a prohibition on reporting even unclassified material without the approval of Pentagon officials. The policy prompted widespread condemnation from press freedom groups, and led multiple news organizations to forfeit their Pentagon press passes, rather than comply. NPR is among the organizations that turned in its press passes, but has continued vigorous reporting on the Pentagon.

The rules also spurred a lawsuit from the Times, which filed suit in December against the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell. In its suit, the Times said the Pentagon policy violated the First Amendment and would "deprive the public of vital information about the United States military and its leadership." In the ruling late Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman sided with the Times, writing that the First Amendment was designed to empower the press to publish information in the public interest "free of any official proscription." "Those who drafted the First Amendment believed that the nation's security requires a free press and an informed people and that such security is endangered by governmental suppression of political speech," Friedman wrote. "That principle has preserved the nation's security for almost 250 years. It must not be abandoned now." In a statement, a Times spokesperson said the ruling marked a welcome enforcement of the free press' constitutionally protected rights. "Americans deserve visibility into how their government is being run, and the actions the military is taking in their name and with their tax dollars. Today's ruling reaffirms the right of The Times and other independent media to continue to ask questions on the public's behalf," said the statement from spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander. Parnell, the Pentagon spokesman, responded to the ruling in a statement posted to social media, saying the department planned to challenge the order. "We disagree with the decision and are pursuing an immediate appeal," he said.

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‘Tax resistance’ gains attention amid ICE protests, Iran war — and IRS penalties could follow

Chicago attorney Rachel Cohen owes more than $8,000 in federal income taxes — but has intentionally left that balance unpaid. "I'm not paying my federal income tax this year," Cohen said in a widely viewed TikTok video from March 2 about her decision. The 31-year-old community organizer filed her federal tax return, which shows a balance due of $8,830, according to a tax document reviewed by CNBC.But Cohen said she deliberately chose to withhold payment of that bill as a protest against immigration detention, including ICE facilities, and U.S. strikes on Iran launched without congressional approval. While voicing resistance to taxes is legal, refusing to pay taxes owed can violate federal law and lead to serious penalties.

"It's completely OK to be unhappy and be dissatisfied with our government," said Josh Youngblood, owner of The Youngblood Group, a Dallas-based tax firm. "But not paying taxes, or engaging in tax fraud or evasion, is not the answer." In addition to penalties and interest that start accruing immediately on their past-due balances, tax protesters can face "long-term consequences," such as wage garnishment, a tax lien on property or even jail time, according to Michele Frank, associate professor of accountancy at Miami University. Federal courts have a long track record of siding with the Internal Revenue Service in cases involving tax resistance, routinely dismissing these claims as frivolous and, in some instances, imposing additional penalties. Cohen told CNBC she is fully aware of the potential risks and that speaking openly about the decision could attract additional scrutiny from federal authorities. Her protest is directed at federal spending priorities, not taxation itself, Cohen said. She paid about $3,000 in Illinois state taxes, according to a tax document reviewed by CNBC, and said she sees value in how those dollars support state and local services. Cohen said her decision is personal and not something she is encouraging others to do, but hopes it pushes people to reflect on whether their actions match their beliefs.

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How Amazon is bringing fast delivery to rural America

A little past noon, Amazon.com driver Matthew Norton pulled his Ford F-250 pickup up alongside the Bitterroot River. He removed a small package and stashed it in a drop-box at the foot of a crude bridge with a sign: Private Bridge, No Trespassing. Norton and his pickup are part of a $4 billion investment by Amazon to push its signature speedy delivery further into the rural recesses of the U.S. In dozens of thinly populated regions across the country, Amazon is building new delivery hubs to deliver packages in around two days. That might not seem especially rapid at a time when the e-commerce giant is introducing one-hour delivery in some areas, but residents of some far-flung Montana hamlets were used to waiting up to a week for their orders.

The effort helps Amazon reduce its reliance on the U.S. Postal Service, a relationship that has become rocky following a dispute over contract terms. Amazon says it aims ultimately to have 200 rural delivery hubs serving around 13,000 ZIP Codes covering around 1.2 million square miles of America—an area the size of Texas, California and Alaska combined. Delivering packages within Amazon’s signature two-day frame means drivers contend with backcountry challenges such as bighorn sheep on the road, dangerously high winds in mountain passes and roads that are impassable during parts of the year. Norton says many of his customers are regulars. “They order online, because they don’t have many stores and their closest grocery store is an hour away.” Amazon currently operates around 560 delivery stations across the country, of which around 160 are in rural areas, said Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL International, a supply-chain consultancy that monitors the e-commerce company’s logistics network. At its current pace of constructing around 40 to 50 new delivery hubs a year, Wulfraat estimates that Amazon will be able to ship packages to every U.S. ZIP Code in four years.

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Cuba's deputy foreign minister says its military is preparing for possible 'military aggression' from the U.S.

Cuba’s deputy foreign minister on Saturday said that the nation’s military is involved in ongoing preparations for “the possibility of military aggression” from the U.S., adding that it would be “naive” for Cuba’s leaders to ignore the possibility of conflict with the U.S. “Our military is always prepared, and in fact, it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression,” Carlos Fernández de Cossío told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired Sunday. He added, “we would be naive,” not to consider the possibility of conflict “looking at what’s happening around the world.”

Fernández de Cossío said the country’s leaders “truly hope that it doesn’t occur. We don’t see why it would have to occur, and we find no justification whatsoever.” His comments come amid an escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Cuba following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of that nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro, who had a close relationship with Cuba’s leadership. During a press conference following the operation, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that military intervention in Cuba could be next, with Rubio saying at the time, “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.” In January, the president signed an executive order threatening to impose tariffs on goods from countries that sold or provided oil to the country. Residents of the island have suffered daily power outages amid the U.S. blockade. Power grids in the country collapsed Saturday, leaving the country without electricity for a third time in March. On Saturday, Fernández de Cossío said the oil blockade is the result of the U.S.’ aggression against Cuba and it “cannot be sustained forever.”

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Paul Farhi: How Will Lewis lost the Washington Post

( (Paul Farhi is a prominent American freelance journalist and media analyst specializing in news media, journalism ethics, and political coverage, based in Washington, D.C.. Formerly a longtime media reporter at The Washington Post (1988–2023), he now contributes to outlets like The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, and the Columbia Journalism Review.) When the bad news broke, Will Lewis wasn’t around for it. As hundreds of Washington Post employees gathered in front of phones and laptops for a Zoom meeting in early February to learn their fates, the Post’s chief executive and publisher didn’t appear on their screens. Instead, the announcement that more than 350 journalists would lose their jobs was left to executive editor Matt Murray. Afterward, Lewis made no statements and granted no interviews. Murray said later that Lewis “had a lot of things to tend to today.” The mass layoff—amounting to nearly half of the Post’s vaunted newsroom—translated into a broad disfiguring of the publication. The paper vaporized its sports and book sections, halved its network of foreign bureaus, and reduced its Metro section—where its history-making Watergate coverage had begun—to a skeleton. Every staff photographer was laid off. Among the casualties was Martin Weil, a beloved Metro reporter who’d worked at the paper since Lyndon Johnson was President. Weil was notified in a form letter delivered via email. Past and present Post employees trained their anger and disappointment on the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s multi­billionaire founder.

Former executive editor Martin Baron blasted the world’s fifth-­richest man for neglect, abandonment, and worse. Some of Bezos’s decisions, Baron wrote, were “gutless” and reflected “moral infirmity.” The paper had been losing money for several years, yes, but critics argued that Bezos could afford to lose money—literally for centuries—to maintain the paper’s newsgathering. He was now worth around $250 billion, ten times as much as he was when he bought the Post in 2013. Back then, he promised to provide “runway” (read: hard cash) for growth and experimentation. The new cuts would instead make the paper’s newsroom smaller than when Bezos first stepped in—smaller even than Politico, cofounded in 2007 by two former Post reporters. Lewis received his share of the rage and blame, too. Hired by Bezos in early 2024 to reverse declining readership and revenues, the 56-year-old newsman turned media executive had plainly failed. The Post lost a reported $100 million in 2024, Lewis’s first year, and even more in 2025. Lewis was unable to stanch the bleeding, despite previous buyouts and layoffs. Dozens more star journalists had left on their own, disappointed and disgusted by what they saw as his fecklessness. Only a few months into his tenure, Lewis had retreated into a kind of sullen isolation. When Post reporters landed important scoops—such as the revelation in late November 2025 of the Pentagon’s “double tap” strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat—he couldn’t muster up an attaboy or use it as a peg for collective encouragement, a tradition for the paper’s publishers. For a brief period, Lewis had even stopped talking to Murray, whom he’d handpicked to lead the news operation. “As far as the newsroom is concerned, he’s a nonentity,” a veteran reporter said in early January. “We haven’t seen him in months. He’s a ghost.” Lewis, who hasn’t given an on-the-record interview in more than two years, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on this article. Nor did Murray or three of Lewis’s top business deputies. A Post spokesperson offered limited information in response to submitted questions.

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Copyright March 30, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved