Lead Stories

Democrat Sarah Eckhardt to run for Congress in seat drawn to elect a Republican

State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat from Austin who formerly served as Travis County judge, will announce Monday that she is running for Congress in a newly drawn district designed to give a Republican a 10-point edge. The 61-year-old lawmaker, whose Senate term does not expire until after the 2028 election cycle, acknowledged that she would be the underdog in a general election. But Eckhardt said she is undaunted by the uphill race and will rely on independent-minded voters who have grown weary of tribal politics to bridge the gap if she is nominated for Congressional District 10 in the March 3 Democratic primary.

"I've spent most of my adult life in Austin, and that'll come up, but in reality, I'm a public servant who came up through local government," Eckhardt said in an interview into the run up to her formal announcement. "I went from the commissioner's court to state government because I saw that things could be done better. Now I'm in the state government and we really need this federal partnership, and we're not getting federal partnership right now. We're going in the wrong direction." She is running to for the seat being vacated by Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, who was first elected in 2004 and said last month he is retiring. Several Republicans, including Elon Musk's lawyer Chis Gober, have already announced they will run. During the 2024 presidential election, Gober helped Musk's political action committee raise more than $200 million on behalf of Donald Trump. District 10, under the recently enacted congressional redistricting plan, rambles from Travis County, through Bryan-College Station and out past Huntsville in the East Texas Piney Woods.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Trump open to extending Asia trip to meet with Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump has been clear about one thing in particular on his three-country tour of Asia: He really wants to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. So much so, Trump suggested aboard Air Force One on Monday, that he would extend his nearly week-long trip to make the meeting happen, if Kim agrees. “It’s our last stop, so it would be pretty easy to do,” Trump told reporters on his way to Japan, when asked whether he would delay his return to Washington on Thursday if it meant meeting with the totalitarian state’s leader. The president, who met with Kim three times during his first term, said Monday that he would “love” to do so again during this trip but added that U.S. officials “haven’t mentioned it” to North Korean authorities. “If he’d like to meet, I’m around,” Trump continued. “I’ll be in South Korea, so I could be right over there.”

Asked what the United States could offer Kim during such a meeting, Trump floated the idea of adjusting sanctions against the country — laws that include bans on key exports from North Korea, among other consequences for the nation’s nuclear power program and human rights violations. “Well, we have sanctions,” Trump said of possible discussion points. “That’s pretty big to start off with. I would say that’s about as big as you get.” The president’s remarks Monday went further than what he said late last week on his flight to Malaysia, that he was “open” to meeting with the North Korean leader. He joked to reporters that they should “put out the word” for him to get Kim’s attention about a summit. He suggested at the time that it had been difficult to contact Kim because North Koreans “don’t have a lot of telephone service.” After leaving Japan on Wednesday, Trump will travel to South Korea to hold meetings with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Trump is set to meet with Xi on Thursday before departing for Washington.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

USDA posts notice that no federal food aid will go out Nov. 1

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on. The new notice comes after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries. “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” the USDA notice says. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record. While the Republican administration took steps leading up to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month, the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse to a wider swath of Americans — and some of those most in need — unless a political resolution is found in just a few days. The administration blames Democrats, who say they will not agree to reopen the government until Republicans negotiate with them on extending expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans say Democrats must first agree to reopen the government before negotiation. Democratic lawmakers have written to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins requesting to use contingency funds to cover the bulk of next month's benefits. But a USDA memo that surfaced Friday says “contingency funds are not legally available to cover regular benefits.” The document says the money is reserved for such things such as helping people in disaster areas. It cited a storm named Melissa, which has strengthened into a major hurricane, as an example of why it’s important to have the money available to mobilize quickly in the event of a disaster.

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How a young tech startup was chosen to manage Texas' $1B school voucher program

When Texas chose a company to roll out the state’s $1 billion private school voucher program, it passed over more established vendors in favor of a four-year-old tech startup that said it could do it for almost half the cost. Now, Odyssey must execute on its promises to meet an aggressive timeline while avoiding missteps that have dogged other program launches. The New York-based company has rapidly expanded in recent years, launching programs in eight states that subsidize students’ private education costs with taxpayer dollars. In Texas, the startup is tasked with advertising the program, running the lottery to choose the students who participate and setting up the online marketplace where families can spend their state funds on private school tuition, tutors, computers and other approved items.

The state is the firm’s biggest contract by far, and will test its ability to stand up a particularly complex school voucher program set to launch next school year with roughly 100,000 students. In the first year here, the company will process more dollars than it handles in all of its other state-funded voucher programs combined. Odyssey’s executives say the company’s more recent launch gives it an edge. “Being a newer company has actually really been an advantage, because we were able to learn from mistakes that others had made in the industry, and very intentionally build a platform,” said Lauren Bender, the company’s head of strategy and growth. Odyssey was found to have allowed some improper purchases in Idaho, and families in Missouri reported delays and limited inventory when trying to purchase supplies through the company’s platform. But the startup has so far avoided the lawsuits, data breaches and major clashes with state officials that other companies handling voucher programs have faced. Advocates say the program’s success is important not only in Texas, but for the school voucher movement nationwide.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Texas can’t keep up with surge in workers’ wage theft complaints

Texas workers have long struggled with wage theft by their employers—and the state’s willingness and ability to crack down on scofflaw employers has been relatively minimal. Now, rates of suspected wage theft are increasing, and the state labor law enforcement system is straining to keep up. Last year, state investigators faced the highest number of paycheck complaints in nine years and a prior internal audit noted that it typically took months just for complaints to be assigned to an investigator. “The current system is failing workers in that it’s too slow, especially with many Texans living paycheck to paycheck,” said Sean Goldhammer, director of employment and legal services at the Workers Defense Project, a statewide member-led group that advocates for immigrant workers.

It’s already hard enough for working-class Texans to survive with their full paychecks; 42 percent of Texas households face financial instability. The state still follows the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009, and housing in the state has become less affordable. Meanwhile, the rate of wage theft complaints has soared in recent years, and the state agency responsible for policing labor laws has been unable to keep up. In the 2024 fiscal year, more than 15,000 complaints were filed with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), which is charged with enforcing state and federal labor law. That’s the highest amount since at least 2016 and double the amount from 2021, according to agency reports. Of the 12,400 cases investigated that year, the state ordered employers to pay back more than $10 million in wages. Wage theft comes in the form of anything from missing paychecks, commissions, bonuses, or other owed wages under the state payday law to overtime manipulation and misclassification as an independent contractor. TWC may not investigate every complaint if it’s submitted past the 6-month deadline, without sufficient evidence, or involves a bankrupt employer. As the number of cases grew, so has the backlog of unresolved complaints, according to an internal TWC audit that the Texas Observer obtained through a public records request.

Read this article at Texas Observer - Subscribers Only

Dems using billionaires as bogeymen, but strategy won’t work without economic message

Democrats contend Republicans have allowed billionaires to run roughshod over average Americans. It’s a top message for 2026 election voters. “I’m running a campaign that is really very simple,” said state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, who recently announced a candidacy for governor. “It’s about putting Texans first and not the billionaire class that is currently being prioritized by Gov. [Greg] Abbott.” “They want us looking left and right at our neighbors instead of looking up at them,” said state Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, who is a candidate for Senate. “The biggest divide in our politics is not left vs. right, it’s top vs. bottom.” Using billionaires as a foil can be good politics, particularly when the message is aimed at average Americans who believe more can be done to level the playing field. The theme is also useful for firing up Democratic primary voters and others resistant to the policies of President Donald Trump.

In order to be effective in a general election, however, winning candidates must do more than create a bogeyman. Whether it’s greedy billionaires or the politicians who enabled them, the criticism must be linked to the economic issues most important to voters. Blaming billionaires can get you in the door, perhaps. Moving to the kitchen table and winning over voters means discussing issues such as the rising costs of goods and services — including health, automobile and homeowners insurance; food; medicine; housing and anything else consumers complain is too costly. Republicans won the 2024 election in part because President Joe Biden presided over an uneven economy plagued by inflation. Republicans will continue to cast Democrats as out of touch with average Americans, particularly with immigration- and transgender-related issues. Responding to Hinojosa, Abbott campaign spokesperson Eduardo Leal said “her woke and radical agenda is wildly out of step with Texans.”

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Texas think tank influences Oklahoma laws on homeless encampments, addiction treatment

An Austin, Texas-based think tank is acting as a powerful force behind Oklahoma legislation that aims to criminalize homeless encampments and mandate addiction treatment. The Cicero Institute is a conservative public policy organization that drafts model legislation related to homelessness, health care, education, public safety and regulatory reform. It was founded by Joe Lonsdale, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who backed Donald Trump’s campaign for president in 2024. Local homelessness service providers say prioritizing housing for people experiencing homelessness is an effective, evidence-based model. But the Cicero Institute believes the "housing first" model doesn't work, and is working at the Capitol to push its policy ideas that have already complicated the work of advocates in the state.

Oklahoma adopted the Cicero Institute’s model anti-camping legislation in 2024, prohibiting camping on state-owned land along highways and turnpikes. Critics have said the bill criminalizes homelessness and doesn't solve the problem. Laws modeled after the group's bill also have passed in several other states, including Florida, Texas and Missouri. Like in Oklahoma, Republicans across the country have increasingly targeted homelessness. In July, Trump declared that homeless services receiving federal funding must focus first on locking up people with drug or mental health challenges. A month later, Trump announced plans to seize control of the police department in Washington, DC, and sweep homeless people off the city’s streets. In September, Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered state troopers to clear homeless encampments in Tulsa and arrest the people living in them or drive them to treatment or housing.

Read this article at The Oklahoman - Subscribers Only

For beleaguered Southwest, ‘everything is on the table’ — even long-haul international

Southwest Airlines could be on the cusp of making the most monumental change of its 54-year history. The Dallas-based carrier has rolled back some of its most popular policies as it positions itself to take on other major U.S. carriers. Now it may be eyeing an expansion to long-haul flights to Europe for the first time. Southwest officials said in August that the airline was talking to the unions representing its pilots and flight attendants about expanding its international route network beyond Mexico and the Caribbean. Southwest’s longest route is currently Phoenix to Honolulu, about 2,900 miles. This year, Southwest has also launched international airline agreements with Iceland Air, China Airlines and EVA Air in Taiwan, further signaling its intention to explore international opportunities.

Yet that may be changing, with Southwest flirting with expanding its global reach at a time when rival carriers are beefing up their international schedules. Fort Worth-based American Airlines is set to add flights from DFW International Airport to Athens, Greece, and Zurich next summer, in addition to extending service to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines is expanding service to destinations in Portugal, Italy, Spain and France, as well as the islands Sardinia and Malta next summer. And United Airlines added routes from its Newark hub to Italy, Croatia, Scotland and Spain. Bob Jordan, Southwest’s chief executive, has not been shy in talking about the chances of his carrier embarking on an international expansion, saying at a summit last month that “everything is on the table.” “I wouldn’t be talking about things like lounges, premium and long-haul international if it wasn’t a real subject under evaluation at Southwest Airlines,” Jordan said at the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce’s annual aviation breakfast last week. ”If we were to decide that we want to fly long-haul international, it would require a different aircraft. The 737 cannot do that. It would require negotiations with our pilots and flight attendants. It would require learning how to do catering. It would require getting slots in the airport’s we want to fly to in Europe, as an example."

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Travis County to fund $125K passenger rail study between Austin, San Antonio

Travis County officials approved a $124,953 feasibility study Oct. 21, exploring commuter rail options between Austin and San Antonio. An initiative long championed by Travis County Judge Andy Brown, the study will evaluate car-alternative passenger rail options using land already managed by the state along major highways and interstates between the two cities, including existing rail infrastructure, with potential service options from the Amtrak station in San Antonio to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The theoretical path would run from downtown Austin to the east along Hwy. 71 past the airport, south down SH 130 and pop back west into San Antonio along I-10, Brown said. He noted the study is currently only expected to look at SH 130 and I-10, with Hwy. 71 posing additional complications. Brown said proponents of a commuter line have long hoped to partner with Union Pacific—which operates existing freight lines along I-35—to bring passenger rail service to the area, but the company has prioritized freight operations. He explained the new study will examine how a passenger rail line could fit within existing transportation corridors without requiring significant private land acquisition, making a route between Williamson and Travis Counties and Bexar County more feasible and potentially faster to develop.

Read this article at Community Impact Newspapers - Subscribers Only

Trump's NASA budget cuts slam San Antonio's SwRI, UTSA

A San Antonio research hub and state university could lose a combined $267 million in NASA contracts — forcing the shutdown of space missions already underway — because of Trump administration budget cuts. The hits to the nonprofit Southwest Research Institute and University of Texas at San Antonio stem from a series of proposed cuts that have space experts, scientists and lawmakers sounding alarms. They say the moves would hobble the space agency and slow the nation’s progress as it’s racing against China to send humans back to the moon.

Under a NASA budget that would slash spending to the lowest level since 1961 — the year it first put an astronaut in space — 62 of the 140 contracts SwRI has with the space agency would be killed. Among the $265.3 million in contracts on the chopping block are several high-profile missions already in space and dozens of studies. At UTSA, 10 of the institution’s 18 NASA contracts would be cut. The school could lose $1.7 million on the deals for various studies, which have a total value of about $3.7 million. SwRI officials said the cuts haven’t led to any layoffs but declined to comment further about impacts. “SwRI will comply with applicable laws and regulations as well as government contractor contractual requirements,” a spokesperson said in a statement. UTSA has not commented on the potential losses. SwRI’s space business has grown rapidly in the past decade. It has added staff, tripled the number of researchers working in its Small Spacecraft Development program and built a $35 million, 74,000-square foot space system integration system facility at its West Side headquarters. In 2022 SwRI created its Space Sector to better organize its work in the fast-growing industry. In 2023, it generated $200 million in revenue, a significant chunk of the institute’s $798 million total that year. Last year, sector revenue was more than $223 million and SwRI says it’s on track to top $260 million this year.

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

Democrats' chances to retake McLennan County commissioners seat dim with redrawn map

An unusual mid-decade redistricting that McLennan County commissioners quietly approved this past week appears to transfer thousands of Republican voters to the historically Democrat-friendly Precinct 2 of the Commissioners Court. Precinct 2 was drawn in the 1980s as a majority-minority precinct that includes much of inner-city Waco and has been a Democratic stronghold for most of the time since. The commissioner seat was held by Black Democrats from 1990 until November 2024, when Republican D.L. Wilson narrowly defeated Democrat Jeremy Davis in a special election. That left the court with five Republicans, including four commissioners and County Judge Scott Felton. Davis says he still plans to challenge Wilson in the November 2026 general election, but it appears he will now face much steeper odds.

The decision to pursue mid-decade redistricting, announced on the county’s website Oct. 7, may be a first for McLennan County. The last redistricting was in 2021, following the 2020 census. The county website says the latest redistricting is based on the need to balance road work and population growth evenly across the county’s four precincts. Elected commissioners oversee road and bridge maintenance operations in their precincts in addition to voting on general county business. “The Court’s goal is to ensure that McLennan County’s precinct structure remains equitable, effective, and responsive to the county’s growth and administrative needs,” the redistricting notice states. Judge Felton was out of the office Friday and could not be reached for comment, but in comments before the vote on Oct. 21 he did not mention the political ramifications of the new map. Precinct 1 Commissioner Jim Smith told The Waco Bridge on Friday that he did not see the vote as partisan, and McLennan County Republican Party chair Chris DeCluitt said he learned about the redistricting effort only after it was underway.

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Central Texas man linked with ‘rigged poker’ case involving mafia, NBA players and coaches

Federal court records reveal one of the 33 defendants indicted in the sophisticated illegal poker scheme involving former NBA players and members of some of “the most notorious criminal networks in the world” was arrested in Central Texas. According to the court records, special agents arrested Curtis Meeks, 41, in Georgetown on Thursday, accusing him of being involved in a “rigged poker scheme” that sent shockwaves nationwide. Authorities said victims were cheated out of over $7 million since 2019. Williamson County records show Meeks was initially held in the county jail until being released to another agency on Friday. “Meeks worked with others to provide cheating technology to participants in the scheme,” the indictment states.

An attorney for Meeks has not been listed in the case yet. KXAN will reach out for a response to the allegations once that information becomes available. Federal court records explain the scheme involved the use of various advanced wireless technologies such as rigged shuffling machines, electronic poker chip trays and specially designed contact lenses or sunglasses to read the cards dealt in each hand, which would then be communicated to co-conspirators playing in the rigged game. The rigged poker games took place weekly in New York and throughout the United States with permission and approval from members and associates of various organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra, according to the indictment. The indictment states members and associates of the Lucchese, Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families were involved and provided support and protection for the games or would ensure debts were paid following the games. Additionally, authorities linked Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones to the gambling scheme. Former NBA player Jontay Porter was previously charged in the case.

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San Marcos warning sirens failed to activate during weather event

The city of San Marcos is investigating what it is calling a “server malfunction” after the outdoor warning sirens failed to activate during Friday night’s weather event. The city acknowledged the issue in a social media post saying, “we are aware that the outdoor warning sirens did not activate during last night’s weather event despite San Marcos being located on the edge of a Tornado Warning that began in Blanco County.” The city said after an initial review the cause could be related to a “server malfunction.” “We understand how important it is for our community to feel confident that these systems will work during emergencies, and we’re treating this with the urgency it deserves,” the post said. The city along with its system contractor will provide an update as soon as information is available.

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Wall Street Journal Editorial: The Y’all Street tax plan for Texas

Texas is vying to attract finance companies and their employees, and its recruitment campaign involves more than marketing. Financiers fleeing the coasts want to know that the state’s business climate will remain friendly in the future. Voters can give them some assurance by approving a trio of tax measures on the Election Day ballot. One proposal is a ban on capital-gains taxes in the state. The Texas constitution already prohibits taxes on income of any kind, including wages and investment income. This year’s ballot measure would explicitly bar future legislatures from devising sneaky ways to get at capital gains. The measure is meant to spare Texas from going the way of Washington state, where Democrats enacted a 7% capital-gains tax in 2022 despite a constitutional ban on income taxes. Then-Gov. Jay Inslee framed it as a tax on the transaction when an asset is sold instead of on the income the sale generates, and the state Supreme Court upheld that twisted logic. Texas voters could head off a similar tax grab.

Another measure would ban taxes on certain financial transactions as well as fees on finance employees. That would block the enactment of nickel-and-dime fees on the Texas Stock Exchange—a Dallas-based market where trading is set to start next year—and companies such as Charles Schwab and Goldman Sachs that are expanding in the region. Some localities in California, Virginia and other states collect occupational taxes from financial firms, which then pass the costs on to clients in higher fees. Taxes on stock purchases have a similar effect, such as the federal levy on stock buybacks that costs companies about $8 billion a year. If the ban passes, Texas companies can strike these pesky taxes from their risk calculations. A third measure would bar Texas from imposing an estate tax. The Lone Star State doesn’t currently tax estates or inheritance, but 17 others do, including Washington with a top rate of 35%. Taxes at death appeal to some lawmakers in states that limit revenue from other sources, but they scare off residents nearing or in retirement. Passing these amendments would show popular support for “Y’all Street”—a moniker for Dallas-area finance—and business growth across the state. The number of Texans employed in investment banking or securities rose 27% from 2019 to 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The boom has made Dallas the nation’s second-biggest finance hub after New York.

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Texas' Steve Sarkisian slams NFL coaching rumors: 'Absolutely ridiculous'

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian came away with a win over Mississippi State on Saturday, but it wasn’t a joyous post-game press conference for him. Not only did quarterback Arch Manning suffer an injury in the overtime victory, but a report came out on Saturday morning from The Athletic stating Sarkisian’s representatives "have let NFL decision makers know that he would be interested in potential head coaching openings, including the [Tennessee] Titans." While Sarkisian’s agents slammed the report, calling it "patently false and wildly inaccurate," the man himself took time post-game to discuss it.

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After Texas boosts industry funding, Austin Film Fest hopes to rally support for local filmmakers

For 32 years, the Austin Film Festival has brought award-winning filmmakers and world premieres to the city. This year’s festival hopes to underscore the importance of supporting local filmmakers and stories. Barbara Morgan, cofounder and executive director for the festival, told KUT’s Austin Signal that the Texas Legislature's passage of Senate Bill 22 makes for an exciting time for the state’s film industry. “It is hopefully gonna spur a lot more local filmmakers,” she said. “I'm sure it's gonna bring in industry to the state, and hopefully Austin. But there are so many local filmmakers here, and this is something we hope people will come out and support.” The bill adds $300 million every two years for the next decade to the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program. The program was created to lure projects to do business in the state.

Aside from premiering local film and Hollywood features, the festival also includes a yearly pitch competition. The competition gives participants 90 seconds to sell their ideas in front of producers, directors and others in the industry. "People come with their ideas and it's kind of done like American Idol in the sense that they have to keep getting past the group of judges." Morgan said. The tighter the competitor pool gets, the tougher the competition gets, she said. It can still end up getting pretty wacky. "They are gonna be pitching publicly the last night on stage at the Austin Club, and there will be drinks involved, so the pitching can get pretty raucous," she said.

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These Dallas residents are on the front lines of Trump’s war against “Antifa”

On the night of July 4, 2025, Meagan Morris and Autumn Hill departed the Dallas home they shared with several others to go to an immigrant solidarity protest. This was no small thing for either of the two housemates. A 41-year-old transgender woman, Meagan had been out of work since her collapsed neck vertebrae forced her to leave her job at UPS. Autumn had little political experience save for volunteering for a local nonprofit and once marching in a Pride parade. But with the Trump administration conducting violent immigration raids across the country in service of Trump’s mass deportation agenda, both Morris and Autumn Hill wanted to head to Alvarado for a “noise demo” outside the 700-bed Prairieland Detention Center. Noise demonstrations, or noise demos, are loud, raucous protests held outside jails, prisons, or detention centers. Participants try to make enough noise to let those inside know they aren’t forgotten, using anything from loudspeakers to fireworks. They’re an attempt to disrupt the isolating, carceral logic of the state. They do not, however, typically lead to terrorism charges — until now.

Some attendees at the July 4 noise demo are now facing charges including “providing material support to terrorists” and multiple counts of “attempted murder,” with FBI Director Kash Patel trumpeting unprecedented action against “Antifa-aligned anarchist violence extremists” days before President Trump signaled willingness to label Antifa a foreign terrorist organization. But before they found themselves on the front lines of Trump’s crusade against anti-fascism, the future defendants thought they were going to attend a run-of-the-mill, if boisterous, protest. “It all sounded pretty normal to me. They were going to make a lot of noise in solidarity with the ICE detainees in the Prairieland Detention Center,” said Stephanie Shiver, Morris’s wife. “This was a normal protest being planned.” “I wanted to watch some fireworks, make sure the detainees knew people on the outside cared about them. I wanted to come home,” Morris told Truthout.

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Wallace Bridges: Local control, not state takeover, best for Fort Worth ISD

(Wallace Bridges is a Fort Worth ISD trustee.) In Fort Worth, our schools have never been just places where children learn. They are where neighborhoods breathe. They are where families gather for Friday night lights, where teachers shape generations and where parents pass along the pride of walking through the same doors their grandparents once entered. For many of us, these schools are our legacy, living threads that tie past, present and future together. That legacy is what moved me to run for the Fort Worth ISD school board. Long before I held elected office, I served as a PTA president, a youth mentor and a father who believed that when parents and educators work together, every child has a better chance to succeed. I have spent my life in classrooms, community centers and living rooms, listening to families talk about their dreams for their children. Their hopes have always been simple and profound: that their children will be seen, supported and inspired to become who they were meant to be.

When I ran for school board, I promised to bring that community voice into every decision I made. And every step of the way, I carried the same message I heard from parents across my district: Our students deserve better. They wanted literacy to be our highest priority, not political arguments. They wanted their schools to be places of belonging, not battlegrounds. They wanted to see teachers valued, parents welcomed and students believed in. These are not unreasonable demands. They are the heartbeat of public education. That is why Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath’s decision to take over Fort Worth ISD cuts so deeply. It is not just a policy decision; it is a silencing of the very people who have the most at stake in our children’s success. When a district is run by the state, parents lose their voice. Teachers lose their advocates. Communities lose the ability to hold anyone accountable. A takeover may appear to bring order, but it replaces local democracy with distance. It replaces relationships with regulations. It tells families who have worked, voted and shown up that their voices no longer matter.

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National Stories

Gavin Newsom says he will consider White House run after 2026 elections

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has become one of President Trump's most high-profile adversaries, told "CBS News Sunday Morning" in an exclusive interview that he will consider whether to run for president after the 2026 midterm elections. In an interview taped Thursday in San Jose, Newsom was asked whether he would give "serious thought" to a White House bid once next year's midterm elections are over. "Yeah, I'd be lying otherwise," Newsom replied. "I'd just be lying. And I'm not — I can't do that." Newsom, whose term ends in January 2027 and is prevented from running again due to term limits, cautioned that any decision is years away.

"Fate will determine that," he said, when asked about whether he is moving closer to working out a reason for a national candidacy. Newsom, 58, has made trips to key battleground states, including a visit this past July to South Carolina, which as of now is slated to host the first Democratic primary in the 2028 presidential election, although that could change. During that trip, which featured multiple stops and was covered by "CBS News Sunday Morning," Newsom met with state Democratic leaders and stopped by a coffee shop to rally activists and help employees serve espresso drinks. "I happen to, and thank God, I'm in the right business," Newsom said in the interview, when asked about his evident enjoyment in meeting Democrats in South Carolina. "I love people. I actually love people." Newsom said talk of him possibly running for president, after facing challenges throughout his life, including dyslexia, is a reminder to him that lives can go in surprising directions.

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People are having fewer kids. Their choice is transforming the world's economy

Ashley and Nick Evancho say raising their 3-year-old, Sophia, is one of the most joyous things they've ever done. "Watching my daughter run around in the yard is otherworldly for me," Ashley said on a recent afternoon in their home in Grand Island, a suburb of Buffalo, N.Y. But the Evanchos also made a decision that's increasingly common for families in the U.S. and around the world: One is enough. "I don't need another one. I don't want another one. I love having only one child," said Ashley Evancho, who works as a financial planner. Her husband, Nick, an Episcopal priest, agreed that big families make less sense in today's economy. "It really stacks the chips economically against you," he said. Worldwide, the number of children born to the average family has dropped by more than half since the 1970s, according to the latest United Nations data. Economists say having fewer children is the norm for many families, especially in relatively prosperous countries like the U.S.

The trend is leading to populations that are dramatically older, and beginning to shrink, in many of the world's biggest economies. "This demographic issue is poised to potentially remake so much of our society," said Melissa Kearney, an economist at the University of Notre Dame. Experts say a rapidly aging and gradually shrinking population in the world's wealthiest countries could force sweeping changes in people's lives, causing many to work longer before retirement, making it harder for business owners to find employees and destabilizing eldercare and health insurance programs. Already, women in the 15 countries that account for 75% of global gross domestic product, including the U.S., are having too few children to maintain a stable population. Many of those nations have fallen into the "very low" category of "total fertility rate" identified by the U.N. as a serious concern. "For the countries below 1.4 births per woman, we see much faster population decline and a pronounced shift in the population age distribution to the older ages," said Vladimíra Kantorová, the U.N.'s chief population scientist. The rate of births per woman in the U.S. dropped to 1.6 in 2024, the lowest ever. In China, Japan, Italy and South Korea, deaths already outpace births. Demographers say more high-income countries would face population decline, if not for high rates of immigration.

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First weekend of early voting in NYC shatters record

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani drew a sold-out crowd of 10,000 to Forest Hills Stadium in Queens for a get-out-the-vote rally Sunday with progressive stars Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens/The Bronx) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). The 34-year-old Democratic socialist, who shocked the political establishment in the June primary, made one of his last pitches to voters on an expansive affordability agenda that includes free buses and child care for every New Yorker. “When we launched this campaign one year and three days ago, we were dismissed as a punch line in the halls of power,” he said. “The idea of fundamentally changing who government serves in the city was unimaginable.”

A trio of key state Democratic officials — Gov. Kathy Hochul, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie — also spoke at the rally, held on the second day of early voting. It is Mamdani’s first major campaign event since enduring a string of Islamophobic attacks last week from his closest rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as from Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the race last month and endorsed Cuomo Thursday. One rally attendee, Ibrahim Ahmed, 45, told THE CITY that he’s been canvassing for Mamdani regularly since the Assembly member from Queens launched his campaign last year, focusing especially on turning out supporters in the South Bronx where he lives. “Zohran has spoken the language that New Yorkers want to hear at this moment, and it’s the reason we believe we need to support him,” Ahmed said. “He speaks about building affordable housing, universal child care — and he does it with evidence for how he can get it done.” Across the city, more than 164,000 New Yorkers flocked to the polls this weekend for the first two days of early voting, according to the Board of Election, a staggering turnout that nearly matches the entire early voting count in 2021. Interest in early voting was high across all five boroughs. In Brooklyn, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 10-to-1 margin, nearly 49,500 people voted in the first two days. In Staten Island, where registered Republicans nearly match registered Democrats, more than 12,500 cast a ballot this weekend. The surge in early voting bodes well for frontrunner Mamdani, who has built his campaign on mobilizing new voters.

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Timothy Mellon is donor who gave $130 million to pay troops during shutdown

Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire and a major financial backer of President Trump, is the anonymous private donor who gave $130 million to the U.S. government to help pay troops during the shutdown, according to two people familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump announced the donation on Thursday night, but he declined to name the person who provided the funds, only calling him a “patriot” and a friend. But the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the donation was private, identified him as Mr. Mellon. Shortly after departing Washington on Friday, Mr. Trump again declined to identify Mr. Mellon while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One. He only said the individual was “a great American citizen” and a “substantial man.” “He doesn’t want publicity,” Mr. Trump said as he headed to Malaysia. “He prefer that his name not be mentioned which is pretty unusual in the world I come from, and in the world of politics, you want your name mentioned.”

The White House declined to comment. Multiple attempts to reach Mr. Mellon and representatives for him were unsuccessful. It remains unclear how far the donation will go toward covering the salaries of the more than 1.3 million troops who make up the active-duty military. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Trump administration’s 2025 budget requested about $600 billion in total military compensation. A $130 million donation would equal about $100 a service member. Mr. Mellon, a wealthy banking heir and railroad magnate, is a longtime backer of Mr. Trump and gave tens of millions of dollars to groups supporting the president’s campaign. Last year, he made a $50 million donation to a super PAC supporting Mr. Trump, which was one of the largest single contributions ever disclosed. A grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon, Mr. Mellon was not a prominent Republican donor until Mr. Trump was elected. But in recent years, he has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into supporting Mr. Trump and the Republican Party. Mr. Mellon, who lives primarily in Wyoming, keeps a low profile despite his prolific political spending. He is also a significant supporter of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also ran for president last year. Mr. Mellon donated millions to Mr. Kennedy’s presidential campaign and has also given money to his anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense.

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Using an anti-KKK law to end a Black-only scholarship

The Pacific Legal Foundation is known for filing lawsuits to end affirmative action in public education. In July, the conservative nonprofit law firm took its fight to the University of California, San Diego, targeting a scholarship for Black students. While the suit’s aim wasn’t unique, the litigation used a strategy that the Pacific Legal Foundation says it hopes to employ in future cases: It cited the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which Congress passed to protect African Americans, to try to stop a financial aid program that helped only Black people. And like the 2023 Supreme Court case that ended affirmative action in college admissions nationwide, the lawsuit alleged that another minority group, Asians, was being harmed by a policy that specifically benefited Black people. It’s unclear whether this use of the KKK Act, or any of the other legal arguments the suit cited, would have persuaded a judge or jury. The plaintiffs dismissed their suit last week, before it ever reached a hearing, after apparently winning the concessions they wanted.

The San Diego Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropy that administers the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund (BASF) for UCSD students, announced Oct. 15 that the fund was being renamed the Goins Alumni Scholarship Fund (GASF), after scholarship founder Lennon Goins. The website Basf-sandiego.com has been replaced with Gasf-sandiego.com—which no longer says the scholarship application will be sent to all students who identify “on the UC application as Black or African American.” A San Diego Foundation spokesperson said in an email that “we do not comment on litigation matters, active or closed.” UC San Diego didn’t provide Inside Higher Ed an interview or answer written questions; instead, it sent an email saying it is “pleased that this lawsuit was amicably resolved.” The email also said “we are committed to complying with all federal and state anti-discrimination laws.” For its part, the Pacific Legal Foundation is declaring victory and touting its use of the KKK Act. “I think that the lawsuit fulfilled the promise of what the law was intended to do,” said Jack Brown, an attorney in the firm’s equality and opportunity practice group. Brown said that intent was to prevent private parties from conspiring with the government to deprive people of equal legal protection. In this case, he said, that meant stopping the private San Diego Foundation from working with a public university to prevent non-Black students from receiving a scholarship.

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Hurricane Melissa threatens Jamaica with worst-case scenario as Category 5

Hurricane Melissa continued strengthening Sunday night into Monday, reaching Category 5 intensity as it approaches Jamaica, where it is set to deliver a devastating blow when it makes landfall late Monday into early Tuesday. As of early Monday, the storm had sustained winds of 160 mph and was about 100 miles south of Jamaica’s main island. It will make landfall probably as the country’s strongest storm on record — surpassing Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. On Sunday night, satellite intensity estimates for Melissa jumped off the charts, provisionally reaching never-before-observed wind speeds of 190 mph in the Atlantic basin. Hurricane hunter observations were lower than those estimates, but their mission didn’t coincide with the satellite-estimated peak. “We’re witnessing satellite history in the Atlantic tonight,” meteorologist Michael Lowry wrote. After moving west on Sunday, the storm will turn north on Monday, feeling the steering affects of a trough of low-pressure over the southern United States.

Melissa is predicted to push ashore along Jamaica’s western south coast before moving across the island over a period of six to nine hours. That means the most dangerous weather will probably occur in Cornwall and Middlesex Counties, in central and western Jamaica. Dangerous hurricane-force winds will also cause blowing debris, flatten trees and snap power poles — especially within a 30- to 50-mile radius of the storm’s center. Jamaica’s main island measures 150 miles wide and 50 miles long, with tropical storm-force winds expected across the entire island and hurricane-force winds in central and western parishes. “Extensive infrastructural damage, long-duration power and communication outages, and isolation of communities are expected,” the National Hurricane Center wrote. A hurricane is an area, not a point, so Melissa’s impacts will spread far from its center. Hurricane warnings cover all of Jamaica, but where exactly the storm makes landfall will influence which areas in Jamaica experience the worst impacts. Although Melissa’s eye won’t push ashore in the country’s capital, Kingston, it could come in a few areas to the west.

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Lead Stories

Kate Rogers out, Hope Andrade in at Alamo Trust after call for resignation

Former Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade has been named president and CEO of the Alamo Trust, one day after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for the resignation of Kate Rogers from the post. Rogers resigned Thursday after Patrick called for her ouster with a $550 million makeover of the historic site fully under construction. Patrick complained that Rogers had a “totally different view of how the history of the Alamo should be told.” Reporters trying to reach Rogers by email Friday morning received an automatic reply that “Kate Rogers is no longer at Alamo Trust, Inc.” It referred people to two others on the staff for assistance. The Alamo Trust met Friday to discuss next steps for the site and announced late Friday that Andrade would replace Rogers as president and CEO. Andrade, who has served on the Alamo Trust board, will step down from that volunteer position.

Patrick drew a rebuke from local leaders and praise from the boss of the state office that oversees the Alamo. The city of San Antonio is a major partner in the Alamo project, having invested $38 million, while leasing about 1.4 acres of right-of way to the state in and around Alamo Plaza. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said Rogers has been a model leader at the Alamo. “The Alamo Trust was well-served by Dr. Rogers for many years, and this is a huge loss for our state. The courage to tell the varied experiences of those at the Alamo — not pandering to certain people — should drive how we help the next generation learn about this historic site,” Jones said. Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, who is Japanese American, called Patrick’s demands for the resignation “gross political interference.” “The next thing you know, they will be denying Japanese internment,” Sakai said in a statement, referring to U.S. confinement of Japanese Americans and others at camps in Texas and nationwide during World War II. “We need to get politics out of our teaching of history. Period.”

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Many Texas students feel forced out of college due to immigration crackdown

Kevin Zamaripa was looking forward to making the most of his senior year at the University of Houston before completing his kinesiology degree and starting his career. But in June, state leaders failed to defend the Texas DREAM Act from a federal complaint, effectively ending the 24-year-old law in a matter of hours. The law — the first of its kind in the U.S. — allowed tens of thousands of students in Texas without legal status to qualify for in-state tuition at public universities, including the University of Texas, the University of Houston and the Texas A&M systems. Now Zamaripa will likely have to drain his savings to pay about $15,000 in tuition. He isn’t sure how he’ll find work after graduation since he’s not eligible for Obama-era protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — and Texas is no longer required to issue new work permits even if he were.

“When I did hear the news of my tuition going up — and when I actually saw my tuition going up — I don't know, I was scared, I was confused,” Zamaripa said. “It wasn't until afterward that I was mad, that it happened just to us. I thought it was unfair. I'm just trying to get an education, you know, better myself.” It’s proved a triple threat for many would-be Texas college students — the loss of in-state tuition, plus Texas' refusal to issue new work permits for immigrants under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and the fear and stress of the unprecedented crackdown on immigration under the Trump Administration. Efren Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, said that some students may feel pushed out of higher education altogether, although he hopes that many will still try. “I am concerned,” Olivares said. “For a lot of students, all they're trying to do is get an education and go to college. Now to have it moved from under them, it’s just been really stressful.”

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Nation’s biggest law firms back off from challenging Trump policies

The largest law firms in the United States have been far less likely to challenge President Donald Trump’s policies than they were during his first term, and smaller firms are carrying much more of the burden of high-stakes legal challenges, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. Large firms represented plaintiffs in 15 percent of cases challenging Trump executive orders between the start of his term in January and mid-September, compared with roughly 75 percent of cases during a comparable period in Trump’s first term, The Post found. The analysis examined civil complaints and court records from legal research website CourtListener mentioning Trump and the term “executive order” for each time period. The shift by large firms has put a significant extra burden on small- and medium-sized firms. They have taken on more of the workload in the nearly 400 lawsuits filed between January and mid-September, according to The Post’s analysis. Trump signed more than 200 executive orders in that time period, well above the count from the first eight months of his first term. Some of his executive orders this spring targeted major law firms.

The Post’s analysis was largely based on reviews of court records and interviews with attorneys who have litigation experience challenging government actions. The disputes examined in the analysis covered issues including dismissal of federal employees, health benefits, education resources and immigration. In some cases, firms whose resources were stretched thin and whose lawyers became worn out have turned down clients facing life-changing issues tied to Trump’s policies. Firms such as the Baltimore outfit Brown, Goldstein & Levy, with about 20 attorneys, aren’t equipped to assist the deluge of people who say they have been harmed by the administration’s directives, said Eve Hill, a partner. “They beg us,” said Hill, who represents people with disabilities suing the government over cuts to the Social Security Administration. “They say, ‘I’m going to lose my job and my home. … I’m going to lose my family.’” Not only are fewer cases being brought by large firms, the biggest firms also make up a reduced share of those getting involved in litigation against the government. Nearly 90 percent of firms suing the government during Trump’s second term through mid-September employ fewer than 500 lawyers, an increase in small- and medium-sized law office involvement from 60 percent during the same stretch of the president’s first term.

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Trump's redistricting push hits roadblocks in Indiana and Kansas as Republican lawmakers resist

For most of President Donald Trump’s second term, Republicans have bent to his will. But in two Midwestern states, Trump’s plan to maintain control of the U.S. House in next year’s election by having Republicans redraw congressional districts has hit a roadblock. Despite weeks of campaigning by the White House, Republicans in Indiana and Kansas say their party doesn’t have enough votes to pass new, more GOP-friendly maps. It’s made the two states outliers in the rush to redistrict — places where Republican-majority legislatures are unwilling or unable to heed Trump’s call and help preserve the party’s control on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers in the two states still may be persuaded, and the White House push, which has included an Oval Office meeting for Indiana lawmakers and two trips to Indianapolis by Vice President JD Vance, is expected to continue.

But for now, it’s a rare setback for the president and his efforts to maintain a compliant GOP-held Congress after the 2026 midterms. Typically, states redraw the boundaries of their congressional districts every 10 years, based on census data. But because midterm elections typically tend to favor the party not in power, Trump is pressuring Republicans to devise new maps that favor the GOP. Democrats only need to gain three seats to flip House control, and the fight has become a bruising back-and-forth. With new maps of their own, multiple Democratic states are moving to counter any gains made by Republicans. The latest, Virginia, is expected to take up the issue in a special session starting Monday.

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How Trump barreled through D.C.’s bureaucracy to get his White House ballroom

Anybody who has remodeled a home knows that building regulations can slow down even the most minor projects, especially when a property has historic significance. Yet President Trump managed to tear down the East Wing of the White House with little notice in just a few days to make way for a new ballroom he has long coveted. How did he do it? The story starts in July with a terse email from the White House to three members of a 12-person planning board who were appointed by former President Joe Biden: “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the National Capital Planning Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” In their place, President Trump installed his own panel of loyalists, including senior White House officials, giving Republicans control of a little-known body that has outsize influence over the historic White House complex.

The National Capital Planning Commission has raised no public objections to his plans to remodel the most famous residence in the world. Its website now informs visitors that the commission’s work has been halted due to the government shutdown. It was a classic example of the former real-estate developer in action: bulldozing through norms, exerting control over groups that might stand in his way, taking advantage of oddities in permitting rules and acting so quickly that nobody could stop him. As it turned out, despite its central role in more than 200 years of American history, the White House is exempt from much of the zoning, permitting and regulatory structure that governs most real-estate projects in the country. “There is extraordinary flexibility to do whatever the president wants to do,” said Anita McBride, chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush from 2005 to 2009. To his supporters, Trump is showcasing the skills that got him elected: irreverence, expediency and unconventional thinking. To critics, the demolition represents a visual embodiment of how Trump is remaking—or even destroying—the federal government by imposing his will on the country.

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State Stories

The Christian podcaster rallying a new generation of conservative women

Music blared and red and green spotlights panned the crowd at the arena here one recent Saturday. Typically home to concerts, pro-wrestling and the local pro-hockey team, now it was packed with 6,700 conservative Christian women who erupted in cheers as Allie Beth Stuckey took the stage. Stuckey, a 33-year-old popular conservative podcaster, greeted her audience with a call to fight. “This is a spiritual battle that is waged in our homes and in our neighborhoods, at school, at your job,” she said. “Every step you take, every decision you make, and every word you say is a declaration of war against the enemy.” “Amen!” rang out across the crowd.

Outraged by progressivism and alarmed by the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Stuckey aims to mobilize a swath of conservative Christian women ranging from dyed-in-the-wool true believers to prairie-core MAHA moms. At her second-annual “Share the Arrows” conference, women traveled from across the country and as far away as Australia to hear the tenets of her gospel: Christianity is under attack. Tolerance can be ungodly. And motherhood is queen. “I love the sound of the babies in this room,” Stuckey, a mother of three, declared at one point during the motherhood panel, encouraging moms in the audience to pass their infants around if they needed a break. The discussion included advice on what a family should do if feeling apprehensive about having more children, especially in this economy. (The answer: Trust in the Lord, and He will make the path bearable.) Stuckey’s followers see her as heir-apparent to Kirk, whom she counted as a friend, colleague and adviser. She advocates for the same brand of traditional, Scripture-proscribed Christianity, and following his death another 2,500 women signed up for her conference, she said. She is a headline speaker on this fall’s “This Is the Turning Point” campus tour, which also features Erika Kirk, Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson.

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Latest Alvarado ICE shooting arrestee provided supplies and helped plan, court records say

A woman arrested in connection with a nonfatal July 4 shooting at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Alvarado was accused of providing supplies to the alleged shooter and participating in pre- and post-shooting planning, according to court records. Carrollton resident Janette Goering, 35, was arrested Tuesday and charged with aiding in the commission of terrorism, a state charge and a first degree felony. Goering is currently in the Johnson County Jail on a $5 million bond. The Johnson County Sheriff's Office alleged Goering participated in group chat exchanges with other defendants through the encrypted messaging app Signal before and after the shooting.

The complaint also alleged Goering gave the accused shooter, Benjamin Song, a Faraday bag he used at Prairieland Detention Center. Faraday bags are used to block devices like phones from giving or receiving electromagnetic signals, preventing them from being tracked. Giving Song the bag constitutes providing "material support" to terrorism, according to the complaint — in this case, the “antifa” ideology, which President Donald Trump designated a domestic terrorist organization last month. "I know that individuals who affiliate with 'ANTIFA' ideology have or are willing to engage in acts of violence to affect a political change or influence governmental operation," Detective William Reilly with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office wrote in the complaint. Short for anti-fascist, antifa is an ideology that is generally anti-government and opposes the far right and authoritarianism. Despite Trump’s designation, there is no centralized entity under the antifa name.

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AG Ken Paxton investigates Austin Prop Q donations, claims 'potentially illegal fundraising scheme'

Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating nonprofit Foundation Communities and Love Austin Political Action Committee over what he called a “potentially illegal fundraising scheme" to pass Proposition Q. Prop Q is the city of Austin tax increase measure currently before voters that would generate $110 million for public safety, parks, and homelessness services. Campaign finance records show Foundation Communities, which provides affordable housing along with educational, health care and financial services to low-income residents, has donated $25,000 to the PAC. Paxton said the donations were a “sham” and “could be illegal.”

“Every nonprofit, including Foundation Communities, that is unlawfully contributing to an effort to squeeze more taxes out of Texans must immediately stop,” Paxton said in a statement. “We will determine if there is an illegal scheme where organizations that are funded by the government pour money into raising the tax rate in return for potential future benefits.” Paxton's consumer protection division can look into alleged scams and other deceptive business practices. He's used the power to target organizations that do not align with his conservative political views, including Latino civic groups and hospitals that were providing gender-affirming health care to minors. Nonprofits are generally prohibited from contributing to PACs, but Andrew Cates, a political attorney and author of Texas Ethics Laws, said this situation is different. “The thing is, the IRS does not consider measure elections to be quote unquote political activity, because there's not a candidate involved,” Cates said. “So specific purpose PACs for measure elections can accept corporate money from 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, like Foundation Communities.”

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Fort Worth councilman says he will ‘stand with the mayor’ as she faces criticism

Fort Worth City Council member Charles Lauersdorf is supporting Mayor Mattie Parker amid calls for her to apologize for a comment she made at a council meeting last month. On Sept. 30, Parker accused community activist Patrice Jones of being involved when a casket painted with the names of Atatiana Jefferson and others killed or injured in Fort Worth police shootings was dumped on her front lawn in 2022. “Patrice, I still have your casket,” Parker said to Jones as Jones left the podium after speaking against a council motion to reduce the number of public comment meetings for the coming year. Jones denied involvement in the casket incident, and police reports from the time say no one matching Jones’ description was seen on video dropping off the casket.

A police report did note, however, that Jones made a Facebook post prior to the incident saying, “Any funeral home willing to allow use of a casket for tomorrow? We also need some buses from some churches.” E.J. Carrion, host of the 817 podcast, said he and others created a petition urging the city council to push Parker to issue an apology and retract her statement about Jones. When people signed the petition, Carrion said, it generated emails to council members. Lauersdorf responded to one of those emails — the only one he received, Laudersdorf said — and told the sender he would “stand in solidarity with our duly elected Mayor.” In the email reply, Laudersdorf also accused Jones of making threats during her remarks on Sept. 30. “If you guys make it harder for us to talk to ya’ll in spaces like this, then we’re just going to have to come to spaces where you are and make it uncomfortable,” Jones told the mayor and council. “So you may as well give us the opportunity to do what you were elected to do and hear us here so we don’t pop up at your church or where you’re at and make you uncomfortable in your comfortable spaces.” Additionally, Lauersdorf referred to Jones in his email response as Council Member Deborah Peoples’ “race-baiting mouthpiece.”

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North Texas doctor surrenders state medical license amid gender-affirming care lawsuit

A Dallas doctor has surrendered her state medical license after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued her last year for allegedly providing gender-affirming care to minors in violation of state law, Paxton's office said in a press release Friday. Dr. May Lau is an adolescent medicine specialist at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and an associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Paxton sued her in October 2024, claiming Lau violated Senate Bill 14 by prescribing testosterone to 21 minor patients after the law took effect in 2023. He also accused Lau of falsely billing insurance for another patient to obscure a prescription for a "puberty blocker device."

The lawsuit called Lau a "scofflaw" and "radical gender activist," saying each violation is a separate ground for the revocation of her license. Lau’s physician license was cancelled by request Oct. 9, records on the Texas Medical Board’s website showed Friday. “Doctors who permanently hurt kids by giving them experimental drugs are nothing more than disturbed left-wing activists who have no business being in the medical field,” Paxton said in Friday’s press release. Numerous medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, have endorsed holistic gender-affirming care as treatment for children experiencing gender dysphoria, or distress experienced by people whose gender is not the same as their sex assigned at birth. Craig Smyser, one of Lau’s attorney’s, said in an email to KERA News Lau is moving her medical practice to Oregon and she no longer saw a reason to continue to maintain her Texas license. “Dr. Lau denies the Texas Attorney General’s politically- and ideologically-driven allegations, contends that the court has no jurisdiction over her, and maintains that the court where the AG filed the case — the county where AG Paxton has a residence and where Dr. Lau did not practice medicine — is a legally invalid venue for the case,” the statement read.

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Dallas immigrant advocates say potential police-ICE partnership would erode public trust

Immigrant rights advocates gathered Friday outside Dallas City Hall to protest a potential partnership floated by Mayor Eric Johnson that would authorize some police officers to enforce federal immigration laws — a move critics say would erode trust between police and the city’s immigrant communities. The event, organized by Vecinos Unidos DFW, the Mexican American Bar Association of Dallas and Somos Tejas, urged city leaders to reject entering into a “287(g) agreement,” a federal program that deputizes local officers to enforce immigration laws. Last week, Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux told the city’s Community Police Oversight Board that he had declined a $25 million offer to join the program, saying the department “absolutely” would not participate. “We’re a statewide organization fighting for immigrant rights and immigrant dignity in Texas,” Jennifer Sanchez, a legislative coordinator with the Texas Civil Rights Project, said during Friday’s news conference, “but what we’re talking about today is Dallas’ deal with the devil, not about dignity.”

The series of speakers at the news conference denounced the reimbursement proposal, with some applauding Comeaux for rejecting it. Some called on the City Council — particularly Johnson, who days after the oversight meeting suggested such a partnership may bolster city finances and serve as a “force multiplier” for the department — to hold a public meeting to debate the issue. A few of the speakers, including Noemi Rios, an organizer with Vecinos Unidos DFW, questioned Comeaux’s remarks that Dallas police have limited workings with federal immigration authorities, calling on the chief to cease any collaboration. Immigration enforcement is typically in the federal government’s jurisdiction. The department’s general orders — the internal rules governing police operations — state officers cannot “stop or contact any person for the sole purpose” of determining immigration status. Nor can they, unless under certain circumstances, ask the immigration status of those who are victims, witnesses or those who are reporting a crime. While officers are not assisting with immigration enforcement, Comeaux said during the oversight meeting, the department is sometimes called to assist in other ways — something the chief said they are legally bound to do and will continue to do.

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Gina Hinojosa seeks to rally Texans against Greg Abbott, billionaires

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa said Thursday the path to defeating Texas Gov. Greg Abbott involves rallying Texans against the billionaire class. “In the Texas House, for almost the last decade, I’ve been fighting against Gov. Abbott’s failed policies that are putting his billionaire donors ahead of Texans,” Hinojosa said during an interview on Lone Star Politics, the political show produced by KXAS-TV (NBC 5) and The Dallas Morning News. “I’m running a campaign that is really very simple. It’s about putting Texans first and not the billionaire class that is currently being prioritized by Gov. Abbott.” Eduardo Leal, a spokesman for Abbott’s campaign, said “we’ll stack Governor Abbott’s results against Gina’s baseless attacks any day.”

“She backs defunding the police, sex changes for kids, open borders, and soft-on-crime policies,” Leal wrote in a statement. “Her woke and radical agenda is wildly out of step with Texans. Governor Abbott is focused on safer communities, lower taxes, strong schools, and defending parents’ rights.” Hinojosa is in the second week of her campaign for governor, which she hopes will propel her to the Democratic Party nomination and a general election race against Abbott. The Austin Democrat said Abbott, who has a campaign fund that’s rolling toward $100 million, has presided over spiraling health care costs, public school failures and corruption, which she contends involves his awarding of contracts to campaign donors. “People have found out who Gov. Abbott is,” Hinojosa said. “People want change. All over the state, I’m hearing from people that it is time for change.”

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American Airlines CEO says nothing can stop carrier’s Chicago expansion

The battle between Fort Worth-based American Airlines and United Airlines for dominance at Chicago O’Hare International Airport is sure to continue, with American CEO Robert Isom indicating this week that his carrier isn’t afraid of competition. The two airlines are months into a turf war, each claiming O’Hare as a hub, with no end in sight. Previous leaked comments from United CEO Scott Kirby suggested that he thinks American could be forced to de-hub O’Hare as his carrier continues to expand its footprint. Despite the repeated shots from Kirby, Isom does not sound like one who’ll be backed into submission any time soon. “Chicago can support two hub carriers, it’s been doing it forever,” Isom said during a third-quarter earnings call on Thursday. “American has served Chicago now for almost 100 years and we’re looking to serve it well into the future. It’s going to be our third-largest hub.

“Certainly, we’ve done a nice job in growing that back. And as you look towards next year, that’s a hub that will be over 500 departures, and we have a just an incredible base of customers that are waiting for us to really get back in the marketplace. As we look out into the future, we anticipate that Chicago will return to its rightful place as one of our largest and more profitable hubs.” American, which operates it central hub at DFW International Airport, and United, which is headquartered in Chicago, are by far the biggest carriers at O’Hare, accounting for 86% of the market, according to data analytics site Diio by Cirium. This month the carriers combined to offer more than 64,000 flights, with American having over 3 million available seats and United having over 4 million available seats, Cirium data showed. The history between these two airlines and their leaders goes way back. Isom and Kirby were colleagues at America West and US Airways under CEO Doug Parker, before a merger between US Airways and American brought them to North Texas. Kirby was president at American and Isom chief operating officer. Kirby left American when Isom was promoted to president, seemingly making Isom next in line for the CEO seat when Parker retired. Kirby moved to United and took the position of president before being promoted to the leader’s job in 2019. Isom became CEO of American when Parker retired in 2022.

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Abbott: State will ‘defer to Austin’ on sheltering people during homeless camp sweeps

During an early voting news conference Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott fielded several questions from news outlets about sending state resources into Austin to clear homeless encampments. One question KXAN has been asking the governor’s office all week: When the state comes to clear out homeless encampments, where are people being relocated? During that news conference, the governor said the state will “defer to Austin for the locations that they want to send them” but also said the state has prepared “different locations in the event that Austin is unable to provide them.” Abbott did not specify where those backup locations were.

“As you all probably know and maybe you’ve reported, the city of Austin is stepping up to help address the locations and we will defer to them as long as the homeless are being removed from the encampments,” Abbott said. We have reported that the city of Austin offered to help Texas shelter people during encampment sweeps, as well as provide city resources. They told us they hadn’t heard back from the state on that offer. Abbott was also asked Friday whether the state was providing people at those camps with resources. “This dates back like a decade ago. I’ve been dealing with this as governor with administrations prior to the current administration and we have never stopped that engagement. What we did stop is tolerating the danger that’s being posed to citizens who live in the Austin area or who travel here from other areas. We want to make sure we’re making the community as safe as possible,” he responded.

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Love “Weird” Austin? Thank the Armadillo Man.

An evocative new documentary about the artist Jim Franklin begins quietly, with a single reverent quotation: “It became obvious from the start that Franklin was the only person who should ever draw armadillos.” Stephen Harrigan, who wrote this in a Rolling Stone profile of Franklin in 1972, captured the legacy of the artist, countercultural icon, and personage often credited with helping make Austin “weird.” Indeed, the armored mammals drawn and painted by Franklin—whether starring on his copious posters for Armadillo World Headquarters, bursting from the chest of bluesman Freddie King, or cozying up to Lone Star beers in the company’s “Long Live Long Necks” advertisements—were Texas’s answer to the Campbell’s Soup Cans of Andy Warhol and the dancing figures of Keith Haring.

The perfectly paced, energetic, and often visually stunning “Armadillo Man: The Trips of Jim Franklin” premiered this weekend at the week-long Austin Film Festival. It was funded by the Armadillo World Headquarters brand, the revival of the legendary 1970s music venue that closed over four decades ago. The original Armadillo brought in musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Ravi Shankar, and AC/DC and celebrated local talent from Willie Nelson to Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was the springboard that allowed Austin to call itself the Live Music Capital of the World, and with its celebrated kitchen and beer garden, it became a home to the local counterculture community. Armadillo was also known for its in-house “Art Squad,” through which Franklin rose to prominence as an artist, in addition to serving as the venue’s bizarro emcee. We learn about all this in the short documentary—with a run time of just 27 minutes, it’s a compact, straightforward look at Franklin’s life and legacy. Its path to the screen, however, has hardly been routine. Last November, AFF announced it was seeking a film director for its new Jim Franklin “The Armadillo Man” Film Fellowship. The idea was dreamed up by Armadillo World and its film agency, Passion Point Collective, which offered the fellowship’s recipient $25,000 to create a documentary about Franklin’s life and work. Stephen Marshall, the CEO of Armadillo World Headquarters, says that when the group approached the Austin Film Festival about partnering on the project, AFF “immediately understood the vision and the importance” of it. “The armadillo remains a powerful and ever-present cultural symbol,” he says. “It’s crucial that this new generation understands the significance of this iconic creature and, more importantly, acknowledges Jim Franklin’s pivotal role in shaping Austin’s unique cultural landscape through his groundbreaking artistic contributions.”

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Trump's ICE arrested a whistleblower who exposed sexual assault in detention. Now, he’s left the country.

When immigration agents detained Douglas Menjivar in June, it wasn’t his first time. Menjivar, a 50-year-old master mechanic originally from El Salvador, had lived in the United States for most of the last twenty years. A decade prior, he’d spent 2013 to 2015 in immigrant detention, including at the Houston-area Joe Corley Detention Center, which is operated by the for-profit prison contractor GEO Group. What he endured there changed the course of his life. While Menijivar was held at the Corley facility facing possible deportation, another detainee sexually assaulted him twice with the help of an accomplice, he said in an official complaint and in interviews with the Texas Observer and other media. The duo targeted him after he confronted them for raping an 18-year-old. Upon seeing the traumatized teen sobbing, Menjivar, who had been sleeping on a top bunk, offered to trade places, believing the culprits would not attack a grown man. But the two jumped him as he slept: One held Menjivar down, shoving a pillow in his face, while the other assaulted him.

After another attack in the shower, he slipped and fell while fleeing his assailants, causing him to pass out and lose a significant amount of blood from a gash in his head. Upon regaining consciousness in the detention center infirmary after the attack, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) supervisor mocked him, calling him “stupid,” he said. He was left with a two-inch scar on his scalp that remains visible. Later, Menjivar informed advocates, who pressured ICE to review the case and release him. In March 2015, then-U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee wrote to the ICE Houston field office director, advocating for Menjivar’s release. In response, ICE authorities did something unexpected: Within a couple weeks, they released him, though he still had an active removal order. ICE generally may use prosecutorial discretion to defer deportation on a case-by-case basis, but under the second Trump administration such discretion has largely disappeared, according to experts including Menjivar’s lawyer, Ava Benach. After his release, Menjivar poured his pain into advocacy, hoping that other immigrants would not have to endure what he had. Despite living in legal limbo, Menjivar contributed to a nationwide civil rights complaint that advocates filed against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2017. Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), the group that lodged the complaint, alleged that from 2010 to 2016 the DHS Office of the Inspector General, the department’s watchdog, took insufficient action to investigate sexual assault claims. (CIVIC has since changed its name to Freedom for Immigrants.) Menjivar also joined Texas activists opposing the expansion of immigrant incarceration, participating in marches to protest plans for yet another for-profit detention center that was ultimately built near Corley.

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Bridget Grumet: Ending homelessness takes more than sweeps. It takes belonging

Blair Racine is a bingo player and emcee at Tuesday karaoke night. With his white, wavy, chest-length beard, he could stand in for Santa at any Christmas party. Plus, “I’m Switzerland,” he told me — neutral but empathetic. But in his most important role, Racine is the unofficial mayor of Community First! Village, where more than 400 formerly homeless people find safety and a sense of belonging in their colorful tiny homes and RVs east of Austin. He visits with everyone. He’s watched strangers, cold on arrival, thaw into warm neighbors. “The biggest problem that people who are homeless have is low self-esteem,” said Racine, 71. He’d been there, too: a collapsed business, no family support and only a bed at the ARCH shelter downtown until he arrived in 2018 at Community First! Village, run by the nonprofit Mobile Loaves & Fishes.

“I watch people change,” he said, attesting to the power of having stability and community. “I mean people who hated themselves — they love themselves now.” People who once wouldn’t make eye contact now smile and offer fist-bumps. To witness it, Racine said, “I’m just so blessed.” We often talk about homelessness as a problem to be addressed. But what’s really at stake is transformation — and not everyone defines it the same way. Do we care about lives? Or landscapes? Or both? As Community First! Village celebrated its 10th anniversary — having transformed the lives of more than 900 formerly homeless people through housing and companionship — a different scene played out about 10 miles west. To the surprise of city officials doing their own painstaking work to connect homeless people to services and housing, state troopers and soldiers spent the past few days clearing out encampments around Austin. Gov. Greg Abbott, who ordered the sweeps, said in a statement Tuesday that the effort made the city “safer and cleaner.” Mayor Kirk Watson countered that such a “show of force” is “not how it’s supposed to work.” The mayor's right: A cleanup isn’t the same as a solution. No one wants the weapons and needles that Abbott described in public spaces. But the governor’s measure of success — 48 encampments cleared, 3,000 pounds of debris removed, 24 people arrested and 125 grams of drugs seized — left out the most important metric.

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Text messages about explosion highlight emergency services concerns at Starbase

Text messages between Brownsville City Manager Helen Ramirez and Kent Myers, city administrator of Starbase, regarding the June 18 explosion at SpaceX show that the explosion could’ve been more catastrophic than previously reported due to a methane tank that was in the line of fire. The texts also indicated the new municipality lacks adequate emergency response teams and relied on assistance from the city of Brownsville and a volunteer fire department. The explosion occurred just after 11 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18 after SpaceX attempted a static-fire test on Starship S36 at the Massey’s test site near Starbase in preparation for Flight 10. The rocket had been loaded with propellant which is fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid methane.

Although no injuries were reported, the explosion was heard from residents in the Brownsville and Los Fresnos areas with many posting videos on Facebook showing the proximity of the explosion from their residences. According to an incident report obtained by MyRGV.com, the Brownsville Fire Department arrived at the scene at 11:29 p.m. and remained on standby while aerial drone surveillance of the area was provided by SpaceX. Crews confirmed there were active flames in both vertical and horizontal tanks that contained highly combustible gases including methane and oxygen. Brownsville firefighters were ordered to stay a mile away from the area “due to unprecedented danger of cascading explosions which could have led to catastrophic loss of life or further property damage.” In a text message exchange between Ramirez and Myers acquired by MyRGV.com through the Texas Public Information Act, Ramirez explains to Myers that fire crews were keeping watch all night on a methane tank that was in the line of fire. “FYI from my Chief: Update: Crews going back in service. SpaceX will be doing fire watch for us. There is still fire at location but still too dangerous to make entry. This will be a multihour event. If something happens it will be a secondary explosion. At that point, there won’t be any hazards and we will be responding in full force to help extinguish any spot fires left over,” the text read.

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County Stories

Report: Tarrant County domestic violence homicides increase

Eleven men and women died in intimate partner homicides in 2024, nearly double the number killed the previous year, according to the annual Fatality Review Report for Tarrant County. The report, which was released Friday, identified the highest number of domestic violence homicides since 2020, when there was a record number of intimate partner homicides during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s a little confounding,” said Kathryn Jacob, CEO of The Archway, the county’s domestic violence service provider. “It certainly is disappointing. Heartbreaking, even.” The fatality review team, which includes The Archway, Fort Worth and Arlington police, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, local hospitals, and the medical examiner’s office, among others, reviewed 20 cases from 2024 and determined that 11 met the criteria, Jacob said.

“It is not any homicide that happens with an intimate partner or former intimate partners,” Jacob said. “It is only a homicide that happens as the end result of a pattern of coercive control.” Last year also included the first recorded case of a domestic violence homicide between same-sex partners since Tarrant County began publishing the report in 2016. “This case highlights that IPV occurs in every community, not just within heterosexual relationships,” according to the report. Three of this year’s cases involved separation or intent to leave, according to the report, which can often be the most dangerous time for a victim in an abusive relationship. “We always try to talk about that, to challenge the notion of, ‘If you leave, you’re safe,’ when, in reality, when you leave, it’s the most dangerous time in a domestic violence relationship,” Jacob said. Jacob said it was unknown why there was an increase in intimate partner homicides in 2024, but that the increase in political violence in the U.S. could be related.

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City Stories

Another PAC gets involved in school board races, this time in Klein ISD

Candidates running for Klein ISD's board of trustees have collectively spent more than $5,000 in their bid to get elected, according to campaign finance reports. Up until early October, candidates in the north Harris County school district, enrolling about 52,000 students, spent money from political contributions and personal funds on campaign advertising such as website management and yard signs. Two candidates, Justin "Bumpy" Wooldridge and Jack Velasquez, have largely been funded by a political action committee — an organization that pools contributions from donors to fund campaigns — called Stronger Klein, Stronger Future.

Each of the two candidates have received about $1,700 worth of non-monetary contributions from the PAC for billboard advertising, yard signs and business cards, according to campaign finance reports. It's unclear what political interests the PAC represents. The committee did not reply to a request for comment. However, Wooldridge and Velasquez have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the district's current board on social media and in surveys. They have both advocated for more transparency surrounding board decisions and the budget. When Wooldridge ran for board last year, he criticized the board's handling of grievance processes. He is now running against current Board President Rob Ellis, who was first elected back in 2019. Ellis has self-funded his entire campaign, spending around $1,136 on yard signs. For Position 3, Velasquez is running runs against Dustin Creager. According to a campaign finance report for Aug. 20 to Oct. 4, Creager received $250 in donations but hasn't spent any money. Incumbent Cathy Arellano, who is running unopposed for Position 6, has received $635 in donations and has spent most of that on her campaign.

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National Stories

Trump calls for prosecution of more Biden-era Justice officials including Jack Smith and Merrick Garland

President Trump late Friday pushed for several Biden-era Justice Department officials to be prosecuted over an FBI investigation into the fallout of the 2020 election. In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump accused four high-ranking officials — former Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, special counsel Jack Smith and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco — of signing off on an FBI probe in which investigators allegedly looked at nine Republican lawmakers' phone records. "These Radical Left Lunatics should be prosecuted for their illegal and highly unethical behavior!" the president wrote. He did not specify what crimes he believes they committed.

The message marks the latest instance of Mr. Trump urging the prosecution of people he has singled out as political foes. Last month, he pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff. Since then, Comey and James have been criminally indicted. The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee revealed earlier this month that the FBI obtained phone data for about eight GOP senators and one GOP representative in 2023 as part of Arctic Frost, an investigation into Mr. Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who chairs the judiciary panel, released documents that appeared to indicate Wray, Garland and Monaco approved the opening of the Arctic Frost probe in the spring of 2022. Later that year, Garland appointed Smith to independently oversee the criminal investigations into Mr. Trump.

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Trump says he will raise tariffs on Canada by 10% over Ontario ad

The U.S. will impose an additional 10% tariff on Canada, President Trump said on Saturday, a punitive measure in response to an ad campaign that he said misrepresented comments by former President Ronald Reagan. “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Saturday. The ad campaign, released by the Canadian province of Ontario, uses audio from a 1987 radio address delivered by Reagan, in which he explains that despite putting tariffs on Japanese semiconductors that year, he was committed to free-trade policies. While tariffs can look patriotic, Reagan said, “over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer,” lead to “fierce trade wars” and result in lost jobs.

Trump had threatened to cut off trade talks with Canada on Thursday over the ad, claiming it misrepresents Reagan’s comments, and was being used to influence the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of a hearing on the administration’s tariffs next month. In response, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he would call off the campaign, effective Monday. But the ad still ran on Friday night during the first game of the World Series—a fact Trump noted in his Saturday post, saying that the ad “was to be taken down, IMMEDIATELY.” U.S. tariffs on Canada currently stand at 35%, with energy products at 10%, but goods that comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, are carved-out of the duties, meaning that about 85% of Canadian exports to the U.S. come in tariff-free. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has removed most of the retaliatory tariffs that his predecessor Justin Trudeau imposed. The White House didn’t respond to a question on when the new tariffs take effect, if USMCA-compliant goods would be exempted on the additional levies, and what authority the U.S. is using to impose these tariffs. “As the Prime Minister said yesterday, we stand ready to build on the progress made in constructive discussions with American counterparts over the course of recent weeks,” said Canada’s minister in charge of Canada-U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, in a post on X.

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Brazil and US to meet 'immediately' to seek tariff solutions, Lula says

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he had a positive meeting on Sunday with his U.S. counterpart President Donald Trump and their respective teams would start "immediately" to discuss tariffs and other matters. Trump and Lula spoke on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in a meeting to overcome tensions between Brazil and the U.S. after Trump increased tariffs on U.S. imports of most Brazilian goods to 50% from 10% in early August.

"We agreed that our teams will meet immediately to advance the search for solutions to the tariffs and sanctions against Brazilian authorities," Lula said in a message on X following the meeting. Trump had linked the tariff move to what he called a "witch hunt" against the South American country's former President Jair Bolsonaro. The U.S. government also put sanctions on a number of Brazilian officials, including Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the trial that led to Bolsonaro's for attempting a coup. Ahead of the meeting on Sunday though, Trump said he could reach some agreements with Lula. "I think we should be able to make some pretty good deals for both countries," Trump said. Lula previously described the tariff hike as a "mistake", citing a $410 billion U.S. trade surplus with Brazil over 15 years.

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Suspects arrested over brazen jewel theft from Paris’ Louvre museum

Police have arrested suspects in connection with the theft of priceless jewels from the Louvre museum, just as one attempted to leave the country, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. Thieves last week targeted the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery in a brazen daylight raid, fleeing with jewelry worth tens of millions in a matter of minutes. Scores of investigators have been involved in chasing down those suspected of the heist, which Louvre director Laurence des Cars called a “terrible failure.” French media first broke news of the arrests, with CNN-affiliate BFMTV reporting that two suspects in their thirties and known to police were detained on Saturday evening local time.

At least two other individuals suspected of being involved in the heist remain at large, according to BFMTV. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said “one of the men arrested was preparing to leave the territory from Roissy airport,” also known as Charles de Gaulle airport, a facility near Paris. The prosecutor did not confirm the number of arrests or say if any of the jewels were recovered. France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez congratulated the investigators for the arrests, who he said “have worked tirelessly, as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.” Thieves raided the Apollo Gallery on the Louvre’s upper floor last weekend, which houses the French Crown Jewels. They used a truck-mounted ladder to gain access to the gallery, one of the most ornate rooms in the museum, through a window.

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How Trump’s perception of Japan collides with today’s economic reality

The Japan that first caught President Donald Trump’s attention in the 1980s was a Japan of glitzy excess and big dreams, a place so flush with cash that businessmen dropped $14,000 tips at hostess bars and golf memberships cost upward of $3 million. Sales of high-end models of Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz cars soared. Land values were so high that the Imperial Palace grounds in the center of Tokyo, measuring just over 1 square mile, were worth more than all the real estate in California. In the 1980s, when the 30-something real estate developer built a golden tower in New York on Fifth Avenue bearing his name, Japanese companies snapped up prime property in the United States — including Rockefeller Center near Fifth Avenue. Japan was also a global leader in innovation: It had invented the Sony Walkman, VCRs and Nintendo games. It seemed like Japan owned the future.

A renowned Harvard professor had even published a book called “Japan as Number One,” so certain did it appear that Japan would leapfrog the United States to become the world’s biggest economy. This Japan appears to be the animating principle behind the tariff regime that Trump, now on his second presidential term, is using to reshape the global economy and stop, as he said, wealthy economies from “ripping off” the United States, experts say. “First they take all our money with their consumer goods, then they put it back in buying all of Manhattan,” Trump told Playboy magazine in 1990. “So either way, we lose.” His solution, then and now: tariffs. But Japan today is not the go-go speculative booming Japan of Trump’s memory. Today, Japan is number four.

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Trump strikes deals on trade, critical minerals in Southeast Asia

The United States signed a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four Southeast Asian partners on Sunday, looking to address trade imbalances and diversify supply chains amid tighter export curbs on rare earths by China. U.S. President Donald Trump, who is in Kuala Lumpur to attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, signed reciprocal trade deals with his Malaysian and Cambodian counterparts, as well as a framework trade pact with Thailand that will see the countries work to address tariff and non-tariff barriers.

The United States would maintain a tariff rate of 19% on exports from all three countries under the deals, with the levy to be reduced to zero for some goods, according to joint statements released by the White House. Washington also announced a similar framework deal with Vietnam, which has been levied with a tariff rate of 20% on its exports to the United States. Vietnam, which recorded a trade surplus of $123 billion with the United States last year, has pledged to vastly boost its purchases of U.S. products to reduce the trade gap between the two countries. Trump on Sunday inked two separate U.S. deals with Thailand and Malaysia seeking cooperation to diversify critical minerals supply chains, amid competing efforts from Beijing in the rapidly growing sector. Reuters reported exclusively this month that China was in talks with Kuala Lumpur on rare earths processing, with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional expected to partner with a Chinese firm to build a refinery in Malaysia. China, the world's top miner and processor of rare earths, has imposed increasingly stringent export controls on its refining technology, sending global manufacturers scrambling to secure alternative supplies for critical minerals used widely in semiconductor chips, electric vehicles and military equipment. Malaysia agreed on Sunday to refrain from banning or imposing quotas on exports to the U.S. of critical minerals or rare earth elements, the countries said in a statement. The statement however did not specify whether Malaysia's pledge applied to raw or processed rare earths. Malaysia, which has an estimated 16.1 million tonnes of rare earth deposits, has banned the export of raw rare earths to prevent the loss of resources as it looks to develop its downstream sector.

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Outrage after federal agents use tear gas just before Halloween parade in Chicago's Old Irving Park

Residents on Chicago's Northwest Side are outraged after federal agents, once again, deployed chemical agents against protesters. This time it happened as parents and children were heading to a neighborhood Halloween parade in the Old Irving Park neighborhood. What we know: Chaos rocked a quiet Northwest Side neighborhood on Saturday. "Started hearing some whistles and when I looked out I saw two fully uniformed Customs and Border Patrol agents tackling a guy to the ground Literally in my front yard right here," resident Brian Kolp said. That man been working on a nearby home when federal agents chased him down and took him into custody in the 3700 block of North Kildare. His brother said he is an undocumented immigrant who came to the U.S. with his family when he was 4-year-old. Within moments, angry neighbors poured out of their homes, joining protesters blowing whistles who had been on patrol looking for federal agents.

As angry residents shouted, the federal agents began lobbing teargas around 9:50 a.m. Saturday, just minutes before the scheduled start of an annual Halloween parade organized by the Old Irving Park Association. "So you had folks who were literally out on the street taking their kids to this Halloween parade when this happened," Kolp said. "And I didn't see anybody with a weapon. I didn't see anybody make physical contact with these agents. I didn't see anybody do anything that justified, for instance, taking my 70-year-old neighbor to the ground." Kolp says his 70-year-old neighbor was also taken into custody. After about a half hour, the agents got in their cars and drove away. The Halloween party was held, but neighbors say many people stayed home. Kolp, a former Cook County prosecutor, retrieved the chemical canisters and gave them to a law firm that is preparing a lawsuit against the federal government. "I was pretty upset to be honest with you. I am an attorney. I used to work with and in law enforcement," Kolp said. "And watching this happen in my front yard was not something I ever thought was going to come to my front door. But here we are."

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1 killed, 6 wounded in shooting at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, officials say

One person is dead and at least six others were wounded in a shooting amid homecoming festivities Saturday night at Lincoln University, one of the nation’s first historically Black colleges, authorities said. One person alleged to have a gun has been taken into custody, Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe said at an overnight news conference on campus. He said it was possible someone else may have opened fire as well, but investigators are still trying to piece together what happened. “There’s some evidence that leads us to believe that that is a viable theory right now,” he said.

The DA did not provide details about a potential motive or what precipitated the gunfire. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials are investigating, he said. The extent of injuries for the six surviving victims was not immediately available. The attack broke out before 9:30 p.m. after crowds exited a homecoming football game and gathered outside the school’s International Cultural Center, de Barrena-Sarobe said. Marc Partee, Lincoln University chief of police, said the violence took place as visitors gathered for a “tailgate” portion of homecoming weekend festivities. Witnesses told NBC Philadelphia that crowds started running from reported gunfire on the campus near Oxford, Pennsylvania, in Chester County, around 9 p.m. Saturday. Though the nature of the shooting was not clear, Chester County Commissioner Eric Roe said in a statement, “It appears there has been a mass shooting there tonight.” He called for people to join him in prayer for students, faculty and law enforcement. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he’s offered the state’s “full support” to the school’s president, Brenda Allen, and local law enforcement.

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Lead Stories

TEA announces state takeover of Fort Worth ISD Thursday

The Texas Education Agency will take over the Fort Worth Independent School District, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Thursday morning. The move means that Fort Worth ISD’s elected school board will be removed and replaced with a slate of state appointees. Morath also plans to appoint a state conservator to oversee turnaround plans at low-performing campuses. It’s unknown whether Superintendent Karen Molinar will remain in place. In an enforcement letter to the district dated Thursday morning, Morath said he plans to review prospective candidates before appointing a superintendent. Molinar will be one of the candidates included in that review, he said.

“I do not make this decision lightly,” Morath wrote. “As a former elected school board member myself, I understand the importance and impact local school board members can have on the quality of schools in their districts. Ultimately, the Fort Worth ISD school board has, collectively, through action and inaction over many years, failed the students of Fort Worth ISD. The inability of the district to implement effective changes to improve the performance of students in the district or at the campus necessitates the interventions announced by this letter. Furthermore, the interventions are in the public interest as the failure of governance is demonstrated by the continual academic deficiencies at the campus and across the district.” In a statement responding to Morath’s announcement, the school board said, “The Fort Worth ISD Board of Trustees acknowledges the Texas Education Agency Commissioner’s decision regarding the District’s governance. While the Board respects the Commissioner’s commitment to student success and accountability, it is disappointed by the decision and hopes the matter will be reconsidered. The Board firmly believes that local, elected leadership is best positioned to sustain Fort Worth ISD’s progress and continue improving outcomes for every student in the district.”

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State scrutinizes payments from Dallas County probation department to Austin consultant

When Dallas County’s adult probation director cut a $32,800 check to a contractor in May, he said it was to replace checks issued two years earlier the consultant forgot to cash. Director Arnold Patrick hired an Austin-area lobbyist in 2023 to screen and handle vendors doing business with the probation department. But during the year Eric Knustrom was under contract with the Dallas County agency, he missed deadlines and did not perform core duties of the agreement — later acknowledging in an email he did not complete the work. His December 2023 termination letter said he failed to review vendor applications, provide status updates or share outcomes of client complaints. While Knustrom was slipping on his probation department contract, emails obtained by The Dallas Morning News show the lobbyist was working pro bono on legislative issues with Patrick and a group the two men had launched to splinter from the state probation association.

After learning about the arrangement through an inquiry by The News, a division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice opened a conflict of interest investigation this week into the tens of thousands of dollars Patrick paid Knustrom. The Community Justice Assistance Division, which funds and oversees probation departments across Texas, “takes a strong position against anything that would potentially be a conflict of interest,” communications director Amanda Hernandez said in confirming the investigation. Records show the probation department issued Knustrom five checks totaling $45,100 in 2023, but he did not redeem most of them immediately. Five months after his contract ended, Knustrom acknowledged in an email to Patrick he did not perform all the work Dallas County probation paid him to do. The uncashed checks expired, but Knustrom confirmed in an interview he asked the checks be reissued earlier this year because he needed a down payment for a car. He now stands by the work he performed.

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Shutdown-delayed inflation report expected to show prices rising again

The shutdown-triggered blackout on economic data lifts Friday, with new inflation figures expected to show prices rising again in September. The September consumer price index may show prices rising at a 3.1 percent annual rate — up from 2.9 percent in August and above April’s post-pandemic low of 2.3 percent. The report offers the only official glimpse of the economy this month amid the government shutdown, highlighting the continuing impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on consumers, some of which began to take effect in August. If monthly gains continue, some economists warn, annual inflation could approach 4 percent by year’s end. Friday’s inflation report was originally due Oct. 15, but was postponed after the shutdown furloughed most Bureau of Labor Statistics staff. The White House later recalled key employees to finish the report, which is needed to calculate the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients.

Despite sweeping tariffs, higher costs have filtered into consumer prices more slowly than expected. Many duties didn’t take effect until weeks or months after the announcement, and companies stockpiled goods before the levies hit — inventories that are now largely depleted. This summer, consumer prices began rising across a broader range of goods. Blerina Uruci, chief U.S. economist at T. Rowe Price, said private data points to prices that are edging higher in categories such as apparel and new vehicles, where early signs of tariff pass-through are emerging. She estimates roughly a third of tariff effects have reached consumers, with companies still absorbing much of the rest. The inflation picture is complicated by signs of cooling elsewhere. Revisions to government labor data show U.S. employers added far fewer jobs over the summer than initially reported, underscoring a loss of momentum even before new tariffs and immigration policies began squeezing business costs. Though the latest jobs data has also been delayed by the shutdown, perceived weakness in the labor market led the Federal Reserve to trim interest rates last month for the first time this year. Markets expect additional cuts at the two remaining policy meetings this year, including next week.

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Trump says he’s canceling trade negotiations with Canada over anti-tariff ad

President Donald Trump said late Thursday that he is canceling “all trade negotiations” between the United States and Canada over a Canadian TV advertisement opposing U.S. tariffs, which have been imposed on exports such as steel and autos, again casting a shadow over ties with a major U.S. trading partner. In a social media post, Trump said that Canada “fraudulently used an advertisement” that featured audio from a 1987 radio address by President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs as a nearsighted policy that would imperil American jobs. The president cited a statement from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that claimed the ad — aired last week by the government of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province — misrepresented Reagan’s address by using “selective audio and video.” The foundation said it was reviewing its legal options over the matter.

“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse. Businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs,” Reagan says in the ad. While the advertisement splices and mixes various portions of Reagan’s radio address, using some lines out of sequence, all the quotes appear in the original address, indicating the audio is genuine. Ontario’s advertisement, which cost about $53.5 million, was released in the U.S. last week. Trump, in his social media post, asserted without providing evidence that the ad and Reagan’s anti-tariff remarks were fake and designed to “interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,” which is weighing the legality of most of the sweeping tariffs that have been a feature of Trump’s second term. “Let’s take Ronald Reagan’s words and let’s blast it to the American people,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said ahead of the release of the ad. The Reagan Foundation and the offices of Ford and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney could not be immediately reached for comment. In the 1987 address, Reagan explains to the American public his decision to impose limited tariffs on Japanese products such as computers and TV sets earlier that year, saying that Japanese companies were engaging in unfair trade practices.

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State Stories

Federal judge says Texas law requiring book ratings is unconstitutional

The 2023 Texas law requiring booksellers and publishers to rate their books based on sexual content and references has been declared unconstitutional in a Waco court. A federal judge on Tuesday declared House Bill 900, also known as the READER Act, violates the Constitution. The ruling makes permanent a lower court's temporary injunction that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld. The law firm Haynes Boone, which represented the coalition of plaintiffs that sued to block the law, said in a statement the ruling is a "major First Amendment victory." "The READER Act would have imposed impossible obligations on booksellers and limited access to literature, including classic works, for students across Texas," attorney Laura Lee Prather said in the statement.

HB 900 sought to restrict which books are available in school libraries and required booksellers to rate their own books based on sexual content. The Texas Education Agency could have overridden the ratings to prevent school libraries from obtaining books. In a statement shared on X, the bill's author, state Rep. Jared Patterson, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the judge's ruling, but said he had proactively worked during the recent legislative session to pass a different law to close what he called the "obscenity loophole." Senate Bill 412, he said, "holds accountable school personnel, or others, who choose to expose children to harmful explicit content."

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Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller pushes alternative to Trump’s Argentine beef proposal

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is pushing back against President Donald Trump’s call to import beef from Argentina, saying it would hurt Texas ranchers already facing historically low cattle numbers — and he’s offering his own plan instead. The Trump administration recently announced it would quadruple Argentine beef imports in an effort to lower record high beef prices at the grocery store — a move that’s drawn sharp criticism from U.S. cattle producers, including Miller. A longtime Trump ally, Miller said he sent a five-point plan to the White House on Thursday which outlines ways to strengthen domestic beef production without relying on foreign imports. “I applaud President Trump for wanting to lower beef prices, I agree with him on that,” Miller told The Texas Newsroom. “I've got some suggestions on how to do it in a better, more efficient way that wouldn't hurt ranchers, but would still benefit consumers.”

Miller’s proposal includes importing breeding cattle — not packaged beef — to help rebuild the nation’s depleted herds. The U.S. cattle population has fallen to its lowest level in more than seven decades, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This comes amid persistent drought conditions and water shortages in South Texas. The Texas Department of Agriculture, along with federal partners, launched a $280 million grant program earlier this year to help struggling farmers throughout the region. Miller also emphasized that importing more Argentine beef would only lower the price of hamburger meat, not high-quality cuts like ribeyes, strips and sirloin. Additionally, he says bolstering the U.S. cattle population would help reverse the country’s more than $40 billion agricultural trade deficit. The Texas Agriculture Commissioner’s plan also calls for offering a tax credit to encourage producers to retain more cows and heifers and to reopen imports of live cattle from Mexico, which have been largely halted over New World Screwworm concerns along the border. About 15% of the country’s cattle comes from Mexico.

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Texas teacher groups react to Fort Worth ISD takeover plans

Teachers should expect a slow transition as the state intervenes in the Fort Worth school district, said a leader of a state educators’ association. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath announced Thursday that Texas is taking over the North Texas district. With that will come the installation of a superintendent, a state conservator and an appointed “board of managers” in place of the elected school board of trustees. Other districts have been in the same situation before, including Houston currently. If history is any indicator, educators can expect that nothing will happen right away, said Shannon Holmes, the executive director of the Association of Texas Professional Educators. The group has more than 366 members who work in Fort Worth ISD.

“It’s going to take some time for this process to play out,” Holmes said. “For current staff and current students, it will be several months before they see any kinds of changes.” Morath said he expects to name the newly-appointed superintendent and board in the spring, Current Superintendent Karen Molinar will be considered as a candidate, and the board members will be chosen from a pool of local community members who apply. There’s also an appeal process in place for the district. Applications to serve on the district’s board of managers are due Nov. 21. Feedback will be gathered at community meetings, and applicants will be evaluated over the next several months. “For the staff, it’s going to business as usual, at least in the short term,” Holmes said The long term impact? Time will tell how the takeover plays out, Holmes said. “Obviously, some change is going to come to the district, and one of our jobs, as a statewide professional association representing public educators is to monitor, make sure that the agency is following the statute,” Holmes said. “Make sure that the newly appointed board is operating in a fashion that is also following the statute, and then support our members and public educators, just in general, as they have concerns or as different decisions are made.”

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Will Fort Worth superintendent keep her job after takeover?

`It’s unknown whether Fort Worth Superintendent Karen Molinar will keep her job after the state announced a takeover of the school district. In an enforcement letter to the district dated Thursday morning, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said he plans to review prospective candidates before appointing a superintendent. Molinar will be one of the candidates included in that review, he said. State law requires that Morath appoint a superintendent, along with a board of managers who will replace the elected school board during takeover. “I will announce my decision on the superintendent appointment in future correspondence, after completing a review of prospective superintendent candidates, with such review including the district’s current superintendent as a candidate,” he said in his letter.

Molinar was hired in March after doing the job on an interim basis following the resignation of Angélica Ramsey. She has spent 26 years in the district. More than 60 schools moved up a letter grade in the latest A-F scores the state released for Fort Worth ISD in August, and there were about a third as many F-rated campuses as last year. At the time, Molinar credited the gains to progress at the end of last school year. The Houston superintendent lost his job when the state took over that district in 2023. He was replaced by former Dallas Superintendent Mike Miles. The district may appeal the decision. Morath said he plans to appoint the board of managers and the superintendent after the appeals process.

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Cornyn and Cruz propose stricter vetting for migrant children in new bill

Texas Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz on Thursday introduced a bill that would require stricter background checks for unaccompanied migrant children and bar the government from releasing those children to the care of migrants living in the country illegally. The proposal is named the Kayla Hamilton Act for a 20-year-old Maryland woman who was raped and killed in 2022 by a 17-year-old migrant from El Salvador. Authorities say he did not have legal authorization to be in the U.S. and that he was affiliated with the international gang MS-13. Cornyn framed the legislation, which is the Senate version of a measure passed out of the House Judiciary Committee earlier this year, as a response to what he described as failures in the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

“Kayla Hamilton’s life was cut tragically short by an MS-13 gang member who should never have been released into the United States,” Cornyn said in a statement on Thursday. Under current law, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is required to place unaccompanied children in the “least restrictive setting” that is in the child’s best interest and to assess the background of their sponsors before release. The new proposal would expand background check requirements, mandating HHS to consider whether a child poses a danger to themselves or others, is a flight risk or has gang-related ties. It also requires the federal government to obtain criminal records from unaccompanied migrant children’s countries of origin. The bill mandates that children age 13 or older found to have gang-related tattoos, arrests, or criminal history be placed in a secure facility.

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Is the granite at the Texas Capitol radioactive?

One of the Texas Capitol's most striking features is the Hill Country granite that gives it its pink hue. You can see it everywhere you look in the Capitol. But this granite — mined from Granite Mountain, west of Marble Falls — might be hiding a secret. “I heard that the granite at the Capitol is somewhat radioactive,” said Sarah Jones, who learned about it from her husband, KUT photographer Michael Minasi. She wanted to know if that was true. Remember the periodic table of elements from chemistry class? The elements on the table fall into one of two buckets: stable and unstable. For something to be radioactive, it has to have elements with nuclei that are unstable. The unstable elements are constantly trying to become stable, and they do that by shooting off bits of their nucleus until there is nothing left to release. Those bits are the thing we call radiation.

Not all radiation turns you into the Hulk, or Spiderman, or gives you extra limbs. In fact, radiation is everywhere. We are all a little bit radioactive. The ground underneath us is a little bit radioactive. And we use radioactivity in things like X-rays and smoke detectors. A little doesn’t hurt. But too much radiation, or radiation in the wrong place, can be harmful. Some types of radiation are more dangerous than others. “Natural granite has the ability to release natural radiation from it, and because of the specific type, it is a little more radioactive,” said Lisa Bruedigan, director of the radiation control section of the Texas Department of State Health Services. All granite is radioactive, even the stuff used to make fancy countertops. But, the red granite at the Capitol is more radioactive than other types of granite. The granite has naturally occurring stores of uranium and thorium, which are both unstable elements. As they decay, they emit radiation in the form of radon gas. Radon is a colorless, odorless type of radiation called alpha radiation. It's the "safest" kind of radiation. Alpha particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but they are too large to pass through objects. They can be blocked by a sheet of paper.

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Travis County says a passenger rail to San Antonio could come before I-35 construction wraps

Travis County is funding a study to determine the feasibility of a passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio. The commissioners court voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a nearly $125,000 contract with HNTB to conduct the study. The engineering firm will look into all possible routes along SH 130 and I-10. Travis County Judge Andy Brown said the county’s goal is to find a route on publicly-owned land, a move he said could make building a rail line between the two cities possible before construction on I-35 is complete. “I think that makes the possibility of getting rail between … the Williamson-Travis area down to Bexar County much more realistic and potentially much quicker,” he said.

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) estimates construction on I-35 through downtown Austin, which kicked off last year, will take up to eight years. Travis County Commissioners said the rail would offset traffic on I-35, which they project will worsen with construction and population growth. The current population along I-35 between Austin and San Antonio is roughly 4.5 million people and is expected to grow to up to 7 million by 2030, according to Travis County documents. “Every time we talk about … providing passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio, people are just ecstatic about the prospect," Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea said. “Because nobody likes being stuck on I-35, and it’s going to get worse.” Travis County is the sole funder of the study, but if building a rail line is deemed feasible, the federal government would have to fund construction costs. Austin and Travis County leaders have pushed for a passenger rail system to San Antonio for decades, but so far haven’t been able to secure funding for the project.

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Johnson County DA questions sheriff’s eligibility to serve

A high-ranking Johnson County official is questioning whether the suspension of Sheriff Adam King’s peace officer license disqualifies him from continuing in his role as sheriff. Timothy Good, the district attorney for Johnson and Somervell counties, has requested an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton regarding the issue. King, who is in his third term, is accused of making repeated and unwelcome sexually charged remarks toward female employees, showing favoritism to women who spent time alone with him, and threatening his chief deputy to stay quiet about it, according to court documents.

A grand jury indicted the 57-year-old sheriff on two felony counts of retaliation against a witness and one misdemeanor count of abuse of office related to sexual harassment in August. On Oct. 1, he was indicted on one count of aggravated perjury. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement suspended King’s peace officer license on Sept. 9, according to online records. King placed himself on administrative leave in August, but was given permission by a judge to resume his law enforcement duties on a restricted basis following an Oct. 2 court hearing in the criminal case. On Oct. 9, Good asked Paxton to issue an opinion on whether the suspension of King’s license automatically prohibits him from continuing as sheriff. As a secondary issue, Good asked how the loss of King’s license affects his deputies, who are appointed by the sheriff and derive their authority from him. In a supplemental brief Good sent to Paxton on Oct. 20, the district attorney lays out his argument against King’s eligibility to serve. “The Texas legislature sought to specifically disqualify any sheriff from continuing to serve in that position should he be unable to maintain an active permanent peace officer license or qualify by previous service as a federal agent or in the military,” the brief states. “Thus, Johnson County Sheriff Adam King cannot serve as Sheriff as long as his license is suspended.”

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Jim Hightower: You can’t learn from history if you cover it up

Our country’s magnificent National Park System has been called “America’s greatest idea.” These 433 treasures — along with our rich diversity of national museums and historical sites — each have their own stories to tell. But the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, for together they express America’s egalitarian spirit and “little-d” democratic possibilities, urging us to keep pushing for economic fairness and social justice for all. And that’s exactly why Trump and his cabal of moneyed elites and right-wing extremists are out to purge, erase, and officially censor the parks’ historical presentations. After all, it’s hard to impose plutocratic autocracy if such tangible examples of historic truth and democratic rebellion are openly displayed!

Thus, as dictated by the GOP’s secretive anti-democracy clique, Project 2025, Trump’s ideological Thought Police have set themselves up as an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” to sanitize and Disney-fy the telling of our people’s real history. For example, Trump complains that parks and museums hurt America’s self-image by telling “how bad slavery was.” Donald, that’s not an image — its reality. It’s as central to our national character as our historic commitment to equality. And the explosive conflict between ugly repression and flowering egalitarianism is ever present today. Consider the push by Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and others in the GOP’s Christian Nationalist movement to deny the unifying principle that “all men are created equal.” There’s not enough whitewash in the world to cover up the deep ugliness of slavery, and it’s self-destructive for the government to try. The fundamental purpose of recording our shared history is to learn from it.

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North Texas middle schooler's mental health struggle highlights power of early intervention

From her homemade pink and green bead tie to the duck earrings she's wearing, 12-year-old Phoebe Wolf never had a confidence problem. "I didn't have self-doubt a lot," she said. But when she started middle school last year, things started to change. Friends and classmates got in her head a little bit. "It was kind of scary at first because I was like, I have never had this before, why do I care what people think? I don't need that. I'm trying to be my own person, I don't need that," said Wolf. That's a relatable statement — and while those of us who are a little older know how to handle a little self-doubt and changing relationships, it was new for Wolf. "It was impacting me a lot that people were kind of just playing with my feelings," said Wolf.

That led Wolf to isolate herself at school and feel really down. Luckily, someone at school noticed. "I went to Ms. Chelsea, I talked to her about it, I did a lot of things, and she helped me overcome it," said Wolf. Communities in Schools is a nonprofit that works with schools in DFW. One of their site coordinators took notice of the changes in Wolf. "Every campus that we are on, we have a trained individual called a site coordinator that is there every day that the school is open to provide services to the kids who need it the most," said Summer Rose, the CEO of Communities in Schools, Dallas. In Wolf's case, the need for intervention was dire. When asked if she thought about harming herself, Wolf said that she had. "Yes. Yes, I had those thoughts, I didn't think I'd put action to that though. It was just some feelings, like what if it does happen? What happens if I didn't talk to Ms. Chelsea about it? What would have happened?" "We have phenomenal site coordinators that care deeply about the students that we partner with; they see these kids in the time that they really need to be seen," said Rose.

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Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson misses public event, office won’t say why

Hours after appearing at a South Dallas news conference, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson was scheduled to speak alongside Lynn McBee to announce the next phase of a program to help 24- to 64-year-old residents access career opportunities. However, McBee, the city’s workforce czar, told the gathering that Johnson was unable to attend, citing “security reasons.” “Mayor Johnson had planned to be with us today, but was recently advised that his public appearances are being temporarily suspended for security reasons,” McBee said at the beginning of the event. Johnson’s office responded with a contradicting statement. “The statement, as reported, is false. Mayor Johnson spoke at a public event earlier this morning and has more events scheduled in the days ahead,” said Noah DeGarmo, the mayor’s chief communications officer.

Further muddying the waters, when reached by text after the event, McBee backtracked and called her comment a misstatement. She then said in a phone interview that she was given the remarks in advance but did not say by whom. “It’s just a misstatement,” McBee said. “I wish people were more focused on workforce development than chasing this misstatement.” Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to follow-up questions sent by text and email about who gave McBee the remarks and what was told to organizers about the mayor’s response. At 10 a.m., the mayor spoke at Ruthie’s Fueled by Good in South Dallas during the announcement of $6.8 million in grants, a philanthropic investment from Wells Fargo to support economic growth and the development of the area. “We know that when businesses invest in local communities, everybody wins,” Johnson said at the event. “This has been a team effort, and I see a lot of people in this room that I know have put in a lot of work.” There was no indication he would not be at the 2 p.m. news conference later in the day.

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Patrick calls for Alamo Trust president and CEO to resign

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling for the resignation of Alamo Trust Inc. President and CEO Kate Rogers, citing “troubling” past writings he says are “incompatible with the telling of the history of the battle of the Alamo.” The Alamo Trust has been under new scrutiny after a since-deleted social media post honoring “Indigenous Peoples and their communities” and “their history at the Alamo” went viral earlier this month. On Thursday, Patrick pointed to writings from Rogers’ dissertation for her doctoral work, which she finished in 2023, but he said had only recently been “discovered.”

Rogers wrote at the time that she generally disagreed with the state’s efforts to control what’s taught in the classroom — efforts that have only ramped up since President Donald Trump returned to office at the beginning of this year. She also noted the challenge of balancing her own personal political views those of the state’s conservative-dominated legislature, where Patrick has played a major role in steering state money toward the Alamo’s redevelopment. “Personally, I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon of historical reconciliation, and place that brings people together instead of tearing them apart,” she wrote. But politically, “that may not be possible.” Rogers said Thursday she had no comment to offer at this time. Locally, she’s been lauded for her work balancing the desires of conservative state leaders holding the purse strings with those of a blue city that also feels much ownership over how the Alamo’s history is presented. Just a year ago they were all together in San Antonio, celebrating the groundbreaking of the new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum. “God brought together this puzzle of people from different walks of life, of different political parties, and we came together at the right time,” Patrick said at that event.

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Texas college Democrats reach across aisle to debate TPUSA after Charlie Kirk assassination

The president of the Young Democrats at University of Texas at Tyler (UT-Tyler) initiated the idea to collaborate with Turning Point USA for an event with hopes of fostering bipartisanship in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. "I essentially suggested the idea that we do some sort of event or debate. And this was right after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, so I also thought it would breed some level of bipartisanship and maybe stop us from being so polarized," Marcus Emmanuel, a first-year student political science major, told Fox News Digital. "We've been talking with the Young Democrats on our campus, and they've been very open to having a debate, which is very exciting. They've been really looking forward to working with us," Reese Cooper, president of UT-Tyler’s TPUSA chapter, told Fox News Digital.

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Bastrop may ask voters to dissolve its economic development corporation

City of Bastrop leaders might ask voters to terminate the city's economic development corporation next year. The Bastrop City Council and EDC held a joint workshop Oct. 21, during which staff was directed to bring back a plan to dissolve the EDC. City leaders questioned the usefulness of the body in helping to spur investment at a time when some of the world's biggest business names, including Elon Musk, have swarmed in and around Bastrop, largely without the help of incentives. Dissolution would require sign-off by voters in the city of 13,000 people located about 30 miles east of Austin, which initially voted to establish the Type B economic development corporation that launched in 1995. The proposition would likely be on the November ballot next year.

"Once upon a time, Bastrop created the EDC and set this tax up because we were a sleepy little town and we were trying to attract businesses here for the good of our community — for very good reasons. We did that by offering free land to people if they would come here and set up business for a year, and then we would give them the price of their land back," Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland said during the Oct. 21 meeting. " ... But things have been changed. We're no longer a sleepy little town. We're a destination for businesses. We're no longer having to give away the free land because it's just not necessary anymore, and it's because several of the world's largest businesses have moved within 10 miles of our city." The idea to terminate the EDC has been stewing since a City Council retreat in June — and in many ways long before that. EDCs are voter-approved nonprofits funded by a portion of city sales taxes. In the case of a Type B EDC, money can be used to fund projects like sports and athletic facilities, infrastructure, affordable housing, public safety facilities and more. Typically, EDCs are funded by a half-cent sales tax, although the amount varies.

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DART’s Silver Line opens this weekend

DART’s Silver Line, which stretches from Plano to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, opens this weekend, starting with a ribbon-cutting at UTD today before a big official grand opening tomorrow with dignitaries from all the member cities. However, it looks like Saturday is the big celebratory day, with events at all 10 stations along the route from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. While every station will include family-friendly activities, food trucks and small business vendors, train tours, and more, some stations will have additional events, like art installations, live music, and radio broadcasts.

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County Stories

Immigration enforcement targets Northwest Dallas, county commissioner says

Incidents of immigration enforcement actions have increased in Northwest Dallas, targeting businesses and apartment residents along I-635, Dallas County Commissioner Andy Sommerman confirmed Thursday. Agents had increased activity along the Marsh Lane corridor and some parts of Farmers Branch — near LBJ, Midway Road and Josey, Marsh and Forest Lanes, according to multiple reports. Sommerman represents the district in which much of the activity had reportedly increased — zip code 75244. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials do not advise county or city law enforcement of their operations, Sommerman said. Stopped ICE vehicles were seen in a predominantly Latino community and within apartment complexes and businesses, particularly restaurants. According to 2023 Census estimates, about 19 percent of people in that zip code are foreign born. ICE has already ramped up enforcement in big cities across the country, like New York and Chicago.

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City Stories

Has Oak Cliff’s deck park won the trust of its neighbors?

You can’t help feeling on top of the world, a world of great promise, while standing on the skywalk of the almost-completed Halperin Park, which spans Interstate 35E. The nearly 3-acre deck park symbolically reconnects Oak Cliff neighborhoods ripped apart decades ago by the highway below. Surrounding you is a collection of first-class amenities—a promenade with markers planned to honor local history-makers, a children’s “rain curtain” and playground, as well as a band shell, large lawn, and multipurpose building. Just beyond the park’s borders, the limestone-marked topography of rolling trees that distinguishes this part of Dallas unfurls for miles toward the concrete, glass, and steel of Fair Park, the downtown skyline, and the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges. This high perch offers a breathtaking panorama, a patchwork of rooftops peeking through a verdant gateway of green that sweeps in all directions to the imposing iconic landmarks. The view is also an uncomfortable reminder of Halperin Park’s greatest challenge. It bears the weight of the mistrust southern Dallas has long felt—with good reason, given the economic and quality-of-life injustices it has suffered—toward establishment Dallas. As the park’s spring opening nears, its relationship with many neighbors remains complicated and, at times, difficult in a part of the city challenged by poverty but bolstered by strong communities of committed residents.

When April Allen, president and CEO of the Southern Gateway Public Green Foundation, took charge of the park project five years ago, she pledged to stay focused on its neighbors. Allen understands and acknowledges their hesitancy to embrace Halperin Park. Having lived in Oak Cliff for more than two decades, she knows the myriad disparities—commercial development, street and sidewalk repair, code violations—that still plague many of the neighborhoods that are visible from the skywalk. “Have we cracked the code to win over everyone?” she says. “No, and I get that. There have been a lot of broken promises to these communities.” Allen knows proof is in action, which means finishing the park and ensuring its programming benefits the people who live around it. Until then, amid fundraising and construction details, she and her tiny staff, which only this month expanded to five, do their best to set neighbors’ minds at ease. But she realizes social media updates and announcements about community meetings don’t reach everyone. “I would give us maybe a ‘B’ on the community-focused communications these last few years,” Allen says. “When the park opens, that's where people will really see the intentionality in a real way.”

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National Stories

China’s new strategy for Trump: Punch hard, concede little

During his first term, President Trump often frustrated Xi Jinping with his freewheeling mix of threats and bonhomie. This time, the Chinese leader believes he has cracked the code. Xi has thrown out China’s traditional diplomatic playbook and tailored a new one specifically for Trump, said people close to Chinese policymakers, who describe Xi as appearing confident and emboldened. The new strategy, these people said, embraces Trump’s self-image as a master dealmaker, offering concessions on high-visibility issues he personally cares about, such as the fate of popular video-sharing app TikTok. But when the Trump administration hits China, Xi has decided to hit back even harder, in a bid to gain leverage over Trump while projecting strength and unpredictability—qualities he believes the U.S. president admires, the people said. The two leaders are set to meet next Thursday in South Korea. Xi’s strategic evolution takes a page from Trump’s own “maximum pressure” playbook of using the threat of overwhelming economic sanctions to get his way against adversaries and friends alike.

According to those familiar with Beijing’s thinking, while China’s reactions to U.S. trade assaults were often proportional in the past, its countermeasures now are designed to be more severe. “During Trump’s first term, China was constantly put off balance by his pressure tactics,” said Kurt Campbell, former deputy secretary of state under President Joe Biden and now chairman of the Asia Group, an advisory firm in Washington. “This time, Xi wanted to be prepared. He knows Trump wants a good relationship with him and respects strength, not concessions.” The most powerful example of the new strategy came early this month when Washington and Beijing were trying to finalize the South Korea summit. Just when relations seemed on the mend, Xi dropped a bombshell: He directed his government to hit back at a recent U.S. export-control action—and do so with unprecedented force, according to the people close to Beijing. On Oct. 9, China’s Ministry of Commerce unveiled broad restrictions on exports of rare-earth materials that threaten to upend global production of everything from phones, laptops and cars to missiles. China produces around 90% of the world’s refined rare earths.

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Trump says tech leaders convinced him to call off San Francisco ‘surge’

President Donald Trump said he is calling off plans to authorize a deployment of National Guard troops to San Francisco after a series of clarifying phone calls Wednesday night with Mayor Daniel Lurie and technology industry leaders. “The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around…They want to give it a ‘shot.’ Therefore, we will not surge San Francisco on Saturday. Stay tuned!” In the post, Trump said he spoke with “friends” Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, and Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, who were among the “great people” who urged him not to deploy the National Guard.

“I told him I think he is making a mistake because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the law does not permit him to move,” Trump said. “I told him, ‘It’s an easier process if we do it, faster, stronger, and safer, but let’s see how you do?’” Laurie posted on X on Thursday that he spoke with Trump after talking with residents about their feelings toward a potential federal deployment. “Late last night, I received a phone call from the President of the United States. I told him the same thing I told our residents: San Francisco is on the rise,” Laurie posted. “In that conversation, the president told me clearly that he was calling off any plans for a federal deployment in San Francisco. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reaffirmed that direction in our conversation this morning.” Lurie also reiterated past statements that he would “welcome” partnerships with federal agencies, including the “FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Attorney to get drugs and drug dealers off our streets, but having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery.”

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The East Wing is gone, and Trump turns to damage control

The East Wing of the White House is gone. Wrecking crews had completely removed the decades-old annex by midday Thursday, just three days after they started, to make way for a pet project of President Donald Trump: a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The teardown, which The Washington Post first reported Monday, prompted a massive backlash from historic preservationists and Democrats, who accused Trump of destroying a national landmark and doing so under a cloak of secrecy. The work also drew thousands of tourists to Pennsylvania Avenue this week to watch — or rather listen to — the heavy machinery. The Trump administration has restricted the public from most vantage points, ordering employees of the adjacent Treasury Department not to share photos and escorting away journalists trying to shoot video.

The little that remained just after lunchtime Thursday included a small portion of the East Colonnade, a corridor that previously connected the East Wing to the main White House. The section was jagged with damage, exposed brick and dangling wire, according to photographs obtained by The Post and two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the scene. Instead of leading to the offices of the first lady, the severed walkway opened to towering piles of concrete and steel and the cacophony of excavators roving the demolition site. The East Wing will be replaced by the ballroom, offices for the first lady and her staff, as well as new “guest suites” for the “President’s White House Guests,” according to a project description on the résumé of lead architect James McCrery II. White House officials said this week that the East Wing will be “modernized and rebuilt” but did not immediately clarify whether the offices or guest suites are included in the 90,000-square-foot footprint Trump has described. The White House also revamped its website to tout the planned ballroom, defending the project as a “much-needed and exquisite addition” to the campus.

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Trump admin favors Paramount Skydance in race to buy Warner Bros. Discovery: sources

The Trump administration favors Paramount Skydance to buy Warner Bros. Discovery – and a number of rival bidders are likely to face stiff hurdles from US regulators in the blockbuster auction, On The Money has learned. That puts Paramount Skydance – the newly formed media giant headed by CEO David Ellison, the son of software magnate and longtime Trump backer Larry Ellison – clearly in the catbird seat as Warner Bros. Discovery kicks off a process to sell itself this week, according to a government official with direct knowledge of the matter. Warner Bros Discovery, known as WBD, owns both the No. 1 ranked studio, the No. 3 ranked streaming services, as well as cable channels like HBO and CNN.

“Who owns Warner Bros. Discovery is very important to the administration,” a senior Trump administration official told On The Money. “The Warner board needs to think very seriously not just on the price competition but which player in the suitor pool has been successful getting a deal done. “And that points to the Ellisons,” the senior administration official added. With the exception of Paramount Skydance, most of the reported potential suitors for WBD – Netflix, Amazon, and Comcast – come with various forms of baggage that could hamper approvals from key US agencies like the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division, these sources say. For Comcast, that baggage includes the anti-MAGA coverage of the cable giant’s far-left network MSNBC. It also includes NBC, which the president believes channels anti-Trump messaging not only on its newscasts but also in entertainment programming like “Saturday Night Live,” where Trump is mocked on a weekly basis. “The odds that (Comcast CEO) Brian Roberts is going to be able to expand and buy CNN or whatever is low,” the official added. “Maybe Brain Roberts comes up w grand detente with the president but I don’t think that will happen and that’s the key.”

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Trump pardons Binance founder Changpeng Zhao

Changpeng Zhao, founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has been pardoned by US President Donald Trump. Zhao, also known as "CZ", was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 after pleading guilty to violating US money laundering laws. Binance also pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $4.3bn (£3.4bn) after a US investigation found it helped users bypass sanctions. The pardon reignited debate over the White House embrace of cryptocurrency as the Trump family's own investments in the industry have deepened. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called Zhao's prosecution under the Biden administration part of a "war on cryptocurrency", pushing back on critics who said the pardon appeared motivated by Trump's personal financial interests.

"This was an overly prosecuted case by the Biden administration," she said, adding that the case had been "thoroughly reviewed". "So the president wants to correct this overreach of the Biden administration's misjustice and he exercised his constitutional authority to do so." Binance had spent nearly a year pursuing a pardon for its former boss, who completed his four-month prison sentence in September 2024, the WSJ reported on Thursday. Its campaign came as Trump, who released his own coin shortly ahead of his inauguration in January, promised to take a friendlier approach to the industry than his predecessor. Since then, he has loosened regulations, sought to establish a national cryptocurrency reserve and pushed to make it easier for Americans to use retirement savings to invest in digital assets. Zhao, who stepped down as Binance chief executive in 2023, wrote on social media on Thursday that he was "deeply grateful for today's pardon and to President Trump for upholding America's commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice". The pardon lifts restrictions that had stopped Zhao from running financial ventures, but it's not yet clear whether it changes his standing with US regulators or his ability to lead Binance directly. In a statement Binance called the decision "incredible news".

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U.S. charges N.B.A. coach and players in gambling schemes

On March 23, 2023, an N.B.A. player left a game in New Orleans after playing just 10 minutes. His team said the player, Terry Rozier, was experiencing “foot discomfort.” But according to federal prosecutors, Mr. Rozier’s departure was a key moment in an insider-trading scheme. Before the game, they say, Mr. Rozier had informed his childhood friend Deniro Laster that he would be exiting the game early, so that Mr. Laster and others could bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on his underperformance for the Charlotte Hornets. On Thursday morning, Mr. Rozier was arrested in Orlando, Fla., and charged with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. He was one of dozens of people — including Chauncey Billups, the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers — named in two indictments aimed at illegal gambling. The charges spanned the worlds of professional sports, Mafia families and online betting, pairing traditional smoky-room card cheating with corruption enabled by today’s ubiquitous betting apps and smartphones. Each indictment described schemes that the authorities said had defrauded gamblers; one cast doubt on the integrity of N.B.A. games.

“This is the insider-trading saga for the N.B.A.,” Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I., said at a news conference on Thursday announcing the charges at the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn. He was flanked inside the office’s packed library by Jessica Tisch, the New York police commissioner; Joseph Nocella Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York; and officials from other agencies. The law enforcement officials trumpeted the arrests as a major blow against organized crime, though the sums of money involved were relatively small, and the connection between the Mafia and the N.B.A. was tenuous. The insider-trading indictment accuses Mr. Rozier and five other defendants of using nonpublic information about N.B.A. athletes and teams to set up fraudulent bets between December 2022 and March 2024. The authorities said the bets had netted gamblers hundreds of thousands of dollars. The second indictment, with 31 defendants, accuses Mr. Billups of participating in illegal poker games organized by Mafia families that defrauded victims of at least $7 million. Three people are accused of participating in both schemes, including Damon Jones, a former N.B.A. player and assistant coach. Mr. Rozier, 31, is in his 11th N.B.A. season and is now with the Miami Heat. He did not play in the Heat’s season opener Wednesday night in Orlando. Mr. Billups, 49, is in his fifth season as a coach in Portland. He made five All-Star Games and led the Detroit Pistons to the 2004 N.B.A. title, when he was named the most valuable player of the finals. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last year.

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Platner reshuffles campaign and sends out NDAs as he struggles to get ahead of controversies

Graham Platner is shaking up his campaign amid a swirl of controversy, bringing in a longtime friend to function as his Maine Senate campaign’s new manager, hiring a compliance firm and sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers. Kevin Brown — who became the campaign manager this week and whose past campaign work includes the presidential bids of Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama, though he has not worked in Maine — is only one of the changes. The campaign has also brought on an in-house attorney, as well as compliance firm Spruce Street Consulting, which has ties to a constellation of buzzy progressives including Zohran Mamdani. Amid fallout from Platner’s controversial years-old social media posts, his campaign began sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers last week, according to his former top political director, Genevieve McDonald, who said she declined to sign one.

“The campaign offered me $15,000 to sign a NDA,” McDonald told POLITICO in an interview. “I did not accept the offer. I certainly could have used the money. I quit my job to work on Platner’s campaign, believing it was something different than it is.” A statement from the campaign referred to the $15,000 offer as standard severance. A Platner campaign spokesperson said the team recently hired Spruce Street “to take over campaign compliance to institute standard practices that had yet to be put into place. Some of those standards had to be instituted retroactively but as a matter of course we do not require anyone previously involved in the campaign to do so. Genevieve McDonald was offered severance which is standard for all campaign employees and contractors.” The moves to salvage a campaign months after its launch underscore how fast Platner took off and how imperiled he finds himself, in a crucial state for Democrats in their uphill quest to retake the Senate. Platner burst onto the scene with viral videos as a kind of progressive warrior poet, campaigning for Mainers’ “freedom to live a life of dignity and joy.” But his promising bid has been beset by negative stories about his past over the last week, shortly after Gov. Janet Mills, favored by national Democrats to take on Sen. Susan Collins, entered the primary. Revelations of the staffing changes and non-disclosure agreements — which have not been previously reported — come as Platner’s campaign is in damage control. On Wednesday, the candidate confirmed to The Advocate that his Reddit posts included “homophobic slurs, anti-LGBTQ+ jokes, and sexually explicit stories denigrating gay men.” That follows Platner expressing regret over getting a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest 20 years ago, along with previously unearthed offensive Reddit posts, including one from 2013 downplaying sexual assault in the military and another since-deleted 2018 one suggesting violence is necessary to enact social change. Platner has apologized for the posts and said they do not represent his growth in recent years.

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U.S. sends B-1 bombers near Venezuela, ramping up military pressure

The U.S. flew Air Force B-1 bombers near Venezuela on Thursday, stepping up pressure on President Nicolás Maduro only days after other American warplanes carried out an “attack demonstration” near the South American country. Two B-1 Lancers took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas on Thursday and flew near Venezuela, though they remained in international airspace, according to a U.S. official and flight tracking data. The B-1 can fly at supersonic speeds and carry 75,000 lbs. of bombs, more than other U.S. bombers. They can also conduct maritime surveillance. The aircraft haven’t been moved to bases in the region, as they have the range to reach anywhere in the Caribbean from the U.S., according to a defense official. Last week, the Air Force and Marines conducted a similar show of force with B-52 bombers and F-35B jet fighters near an island off the coast of Venezuela where its military held training exercises in September. The bombers circled the area before returning to the U.S., according to flight tracking data. The Pentagon described the flights as an “attack demonstration.”

After this article was published, President Trump told reporters at the White House it was “not accurate.” The bomber flights are part of a broad military ramp-up, which includes eight warships, a submarine, a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones and an F-35 fighter squadron now in the region. The U.S. has seldom flown bombers near South America in recent decades, usually carrying out just one planned training mission a year. But more missions involving bombers could be carried out soon, according to two defense officials. Thursday’s flights signal “seriousness and intent,” said David Deptula, a retired Air Force general and dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, an aerospace think tank. “You’re bringing an enormous set of capabilities…endurance, payload, range and precision,” he said.

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Lead Stories

At Cypress event, Gov. Greg Abbott promises to turn Harris County 'dark red' with $90M campaign account

Gov. Greg Abbott visited a Cypress BBQ restaurant Tuesday with Republican lawmakers to rally voters and turn Harris County "dark red." He also promised that he would spend a chunk of his $90 million campaign account over the next year to do so. "I have two priorities in this election. Number one is to win reelection. Number two is to win Harris County. So I got $90 million in my bank account, and I'm going to spend most of it in Harris County, Texas to make sure, precinct by precinct, we turn out voters who voted in the presidential election, turn out voters who never voted before," Abbott said. "We got to win Harris County and make Harris County dark red."

Before a crowd of about 350 people, Abbott touted his recent legislative win — the $1 billion private and homeschool voucher program set to open applications in early February for the 2026-27 school year. But he said his plans won't stop there. "The time has come for Texas to rank number one in education, and school of choice is one element of that, because what it does, it affects competition," Abbott said. "Our public schools are already competing for the students right now — our public schools, our private schools, our homeschools, and every possible education, our charter schools, all are going to be better because of the ability to choose the education path that's best for each child." But the governor's main goal in coming out to Cypress was to encourage voters to approve all 17 ballot propositions, the majority of which he said are in service of tax reform, including one proposition that would raise the school district tax exemption for elderly and disabled Texans.

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A costly radio system faltered when Texas needed it most

After a deadly flash flood swept through Kerr County in central Texas this summer, rescuers combed dozens of miles along the Guadalupe River, looking for survivors. The grueling job was made more difficult because the radio system they needed to coordinate the response was not up to the task. Some rescuers got busy signals. Others got garbled messages. At Camp Mystic, the summer camp where 25 children died in the flooding, there was little to no coverage. Temporary radio towers eventually were brought in to extend service into the disaster zone. It was a frustrating mix of problems, made even more troubling because Kerr County had just spent $7 million to overhaul its radio communication system. But the deficiencies were no accident: The new network installed by Motorola Solutions excluded about a quarter of the county’s sprawling territory from reliable coverage for portable radios, leaving dead zones around Camp Mystic and other areas along the river.

To identify the system’s shortcomings, The New York Times digitized proposed coverage maps for Kerr County, reviewed contracting records and obtained data about the radio network’s performance through public records law. The Times found that a nonprofit public utility had also sought to bid on the project and had proposed more extensive portable radio coverage that would have reached more than 90 percent of the county’s territory, including the Camp Mystic area. That alternative system proposed by the utility, the Lower Colorado River Authority, would also have offered more capacity. And it could have been cheaper. But Motorola won the contract anyway, aided by a process that was tilted in the company’s favor. Thomas Gilbert, a radio system manager who was brought in by the state to help coordinate communications, said a combination of coverage shortfalls and compatibility problems proved frustrating for responders who were struggling to find victims of the flooding. Some searchers had to hike out of the search areas to communicate when they found themselves upriver with little or no radio coverage. “That was a huge gap,” Mr. Gilbert said in an interview. The communications challenges raise questions not just about Kerr County’s new radio system, but also about the broader role played by Motorola Solutions, a company that dominates the emergency communications business in the United States, generating large profits from taxpayer-funded projects.

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US hits $38 trillion in debt, after the fastest accumulation of $1 trillion outside of the pandemic

In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet. It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year. The $38 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report, which logs the nation’s daily finances. Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model, who served in President George W. Bush’s Treasury Department, told The Associated Press that a growing debt load over time leads ultimately to higher inflation, eroding Americans’ purchasing power.

The Government Accountability Office outlines some of the impacts of rising government debt on Americans — including higher borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lower wages from businesses having less money available to invest, and more expensive goods and services. “I think a lot of people want to know that their kids and grandkids are going to be in good, decent shape in the future — that they will be able to afford a house,” Smetters said. “That additional inflation compounds” and erodes consumers’ purchasing power, he said, making it less possible for future generations to achieve home ownership goals. The Trump administration says its policies are helping to slow government spending and will shrink the nation’s massive deficit. A new analysis by Treasury Department officials states that from April to September, the cumulative deficit totaled $468 billion. In a post on X Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that’s the lowest reading since 2019.

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Trump administration sanctions Russia to pressure Putin on Ukraine

The Trump administration slapped sanctions on two major Russian oil companies Wednesday, upping the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin over the ongoing war in Ukraine. “These are tremendous sanctions against their two big oil companies, and we hope that they won’t be on for long,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “We hope that the war will be settled.” The sanctions, which cut off the companies’ ability to do business with the U.S., could disrupt Russia’s oil profits. Until now, Trump had resisted placing new sanctions on Russia, and his decision to do so signals a new phase in his efforts to end the war. “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release. “Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”

The administration’s decision comes less than a week after Trump had what he called a “productive” phone call with Putin. After the call, Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet with Russian counterparts and that Trump would meet with Putin in Hungary in the coming weeks. While Rubio and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, did speak, the White House called off the meeting between Trump and Putin afterward. On Wednesday, Bessent said on Fox Business that Trump was not happy with the progress of talks. “President Putin has not come to the table in an honest and forthright manner, as we’d hoped. There were talks in Alaska, President Trump walked away when he realized that things were not moving forward,” he said. “There have been behind-the-scenes talks, but I believe that the president is disappointed at the — where we are in these talks.” The White House has not yet given Congress the green light to move the Russian sanctions bill, which would hit Russia harder than Wednesday’s announced sanctions. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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State Stories

Texas education chief’s news conference comes as FWISD awaits decision on takeover

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is holding a news conference Thursday morning. Texas Education Agency officials did not provide details about what Morath will discuss with reporters. The Fort Worth Report will provide updates following the call. In a Wednesday evening statement, FWISD officials said they were aware of a possible announcement about the district. “When the Texas Education Agency issues its official announcement, Fort Worth ISD will review it immediately and share verified information, beginning with our staff and families,” the statement reads. “Our focus remains on our students by providing uninterrupted learning. We are grateful to our educators and staff for their continuous commitment to our students and families.”

On Tuesday, Morath was in the area as he toured schools in Lake Worth ISD, one of two Tarrant County districts facing a potential state takeover. He indicated his decision on Lake Worth schools would be made once the district’s appeals conclude in December. Fort Worth ISD, the city’s largest district with 67,500 students, also faces losing local control because of persistently failing schools. Morath visited FWISD in late August. At the time, he said his decision on a takeover of Fort Worth schools would happen within three months. If a takeover occurs, the state would strip Fort Worth’s nine locally elected trustees of their decision-making authority. Morath would appoint a board of managers. Morath has said state law requires him to either close a school that’s failed five straight years or replace the elected board of trustees. Fort Worth ISD officials preemptively closed the failing campus that triggered the law. FWISD would not be in its current situation if local leadership made the right decisions, Morath said in August. “The challenge here in Fort Worth is you see a level of student proficiency that is much lower than what we see in similar environments in districts across the state,” the commissioner said.

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Ted Cruz says Biden administration was ‘spying’ on him with Jan. 6 phone records subpoena

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says former Special Counsel Jack Smith tried to get his phone records while investigating President Donald Trump’s efforts to block certification of the 2020 election, but Smith was stymied when AT&T rejected a subpoena. “The Biden Department of Justice, Jack Smith, issued a subpoena spying on me, trying to get information about my cellphone, about communications I was having,” Cruz said on his Wednesday podcast. The Texas Republican criticized the subpoena as an “extraordinary abuse of power,” saying he expects Congress to investigate and consider steps to prevent it from happening again. Senate Republicans earlier this month expressed outrage after they were informed Smith had used a subpoena to obtain phone records for eight of them, along with one Republican member of the U.S. House.

Through his attorneys, Smith has defended that subpoena as lawful and proper as he probed Trump’s attempts to prevent certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Cruz joked he was offended to find himself omitted from the list of targeted lawmakers despite playing a prominent role in rallying Trump allies in the Senate who sought to hold up certification. At the time of the objections, Cruz said he was not advocating to toss out the election results, but rather to empower a commission that would audit them and investigate fraud allegations. “I was literally standing on the Senate floor on January 6, objecting and leading the fight,” Cruz said on his podcast. “I had brought together 11 senators to stand together in fighting for an election commission to assess the evidence of voter fraud . . . many of the senators who were subpoenaed were in the group that I’d brought together.” Cruz said he found out last week Smith had sought his phone records after all. Cruz said he wasn’t on the initial list because those senators used Verizon, which complied with the subpoena and turned over their records.

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Dan Moody Jr., Houston real estate developer and Moody Rambin co-founder, dies at 84

Dan Moody Jr., a prominent developer who helped to shape much of Houston's commercial real estate landscape as co-founder of Moody Rambin, died Oct. 10. He was 84. Moody died peacefully while on vacation in Woodstock, Vermont, according to an obituary posted on Legacy.com, first reported by the Houston Business Journal. During the course of more than half a century in real estate, Moody and his co-founder, Howard Rambin, played a key role in introducing townhomes and atriums to Houston real estate as well as developing numerous office, industrial and retail projects and brokering thousands of deals. "He will be remembered for his entrepreneurial presence, his kind and generous spirit, and his complete love and adoration for his wife, family, and friends," the obituary said.

A native Houstonian, Moody graduated from Lamar High School and went on to The University of Texas at Austin, where he met his wife, Mary Austin Moody. He began his career as a land broker for Moody Moody & Griffis, a real estate firm owned by his father, developer Dan Moody Sr. In the late 1960s, a mutual friend introduced Moody to Howard Rambin after realizing that both men were interested in the compact and comparatively affordable patio homes that were then coming into fashion and helped delineate the market for contemporary townhomes. In 1969, Moody and Rambin launched their own company, Patio Homes Inc., which became Moody Rambin. The firm soon moved into commercial real estate, developing an office park at One Post Oak Place consisting of seven low-rise office buildings on 20 acres, all of them featuring atriums and indoor landscaping. The 1970s were boom years for Houston, and Moody Rambin would build more than 20 office buildings before economic events spurred a pivot. After the oil bust that began in 1982, Moody and Rambin began to focus on managing and leasing foreclosed properties, a shift that helped the firm and its employees navigate the decade.

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Texas coalition launches campaign about constitutional amendment

As Texans head to the polls for early voting in the state’s constitutional amendment election, a diverse group of organizations in the state is rallying together to inform voters about one of the propositions on the ballot, which they say will be harmful to students and families. In this year’s election, Texas voters will encounter seventeen different constitutional amendments. But the fifteenth is the one that has brought together organizations like Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, and the Transgender Education Network of Texas. Proposition 15 would specifically amend the Texas Constitution and stipulate that parents have the right “to exercise care, custody, and control of the parent’s child, including the right to make decisions concerning the child’s upbringing and the responsibility to nurture and protect the parent’s child.”

Opponents of this amendment note that the vague language opens the door towards further government overreach. They also argue that the proposition could further erode Texas public education and access to health care. The Texas Signal spoke to Jane’s Due Process, an organization that provides reproductive health care to Texas teens and is also a part of the coalition urging Texans to vote “no” on Proposition 15, about why they are taking part in the campaign to educate voters. Maude Shepherd, a Reproductive Justice Fellow with the organization, told the Signal that even though the proposition is not direct legislation, it still “sets the stage for more harmful laws and lawsuits.” Texas is already a state that has seen significant impacts under the banner of “parental consent.” Earlier this year, the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 12, which not only bans DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in hiring practices for schools, but also prevents schools from implementing programs or policies that reference “race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.” Because of SB 12, LGBTQ+ clubs (like a Gay-Straight Alliance) are now prohibited at all Texas public schools. But, the legislation, which went into effect on September 1, has also led to further consequences. School nurses are confused and trepidatious about what could run afoul of SB 12. Trans Texas children are also being forced to endure being “deadnamed” by their teachers or administrators even if they have parental authorization to be addressed by their preferred name and gender.

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Elon Musk raises the stakes for vote on his pay

Tesla’s latest results won’t do much to help its investors settle their most pressing question at hand: Whether or not to make the world’s richest person a whole lot richer. Tesla said Wednesday that third-quarter revenue jumped nearly 12% from a year earlier to $28.1 billion. That beat Wall Street’s consensus target by nearly 6%—the widest such margin in more than four years, according to FactSet data. But the gain still wasn’t a complete shock, given that Tesla had already reported a jump in vehicle deliveries for the quarter. Tesla has a lot going on these days besides building cars. The company is working on its own artificial-intelligence chips, self-driving taxicabs and humanoid robots. Chief Executive Elon Musk said during Tesla’s earnings call Wednesday that robots alone will likely be “the biggest product of all time.”

Maybe, but that doesn’t come cheap, which is why expenses like R&D keep going up even as revenue has trended down this year. Tesla’s operating income for the third quarter fell 40% year over year and missed Wall Street’s targets. The company also warned during its conference call that capital expenditures would go up “substantially” next year. Tesla’s share price slipped more than 3% in after-hours trading Wednesday. The latest results are further complicated by the fact that the recent strength in electric-vehicle sales has nothing to do with Tesla. The expiration of tax credits sparked a rush of sales across the EV industry—with some automakers reporting even stronger jumps in U.S. unit sales. Tesla actually saw its share of EV sales in the U.S. fall to 41% for the third quarter compared with 49% in the same period last year, according to data from Cox Automotive. But even that is a seemingly mundane issue for a company now valued at nearly $1.5 trillion, roughly the combined market capitalization of every other publicly traded car company in the world, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The majority of Tesla’s value lies in hopes for what the company hasn’t done yet, like building a massive Uber-like ride-hailing service with its own self-driving Cybercabs, or putting a walking, human-sized robot in every home.

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Brian Birdwell nominated as assistant secretary of defense

President Donald Trump has nominated state Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Granbury Republican, to serve as an assistant secretary of defense. Birdwell announced in June that he wasn’t seeking reelection in 2026. The longtime North Texas senator was first elected to the Senate in a June 2010 special election. A spokesperson for Birdwell did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the nomination. Presidential appointments are subject to Senate confirmation. Birdwell represents Senate District 22, which includes Bosque, Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Falls, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, McLennan and Somervell counties, as well as portions of Ellis and Tarrant counties. He serves chair of the Senate’s Border Security and Natural Resources committees. He’s also a member of the Nominations, State Affairs and Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs committees.

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Cornyn seeks DOJ probe of Smithsonian over alleged lobbying on space shuttle Discovery

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is asking the Department of Justice to investigate the Smithsonian Institution for “potential violations of the Anti-Lobbying Act,” escalating prior claims as he works to move space shuttle Discovery to Houston. The Texas Republican previously asked the Smithsonian to conduct an internal review of its potential violations. His letter Wednesday was addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. “We urge a prompt and thorough investigation into the matter,” Cornyn, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Randy Weber said in Wednesday’s letter. “As a federal government entity, the Smithsonian Institution carries the responsibility to uphold the highest legal and ethical standards. Its credibility and the public’s trust depend on it.”

Discovery has been at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center since 2012. But on July 4, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law with language that created a path for moving Discovery to Space Center Houston. The Smithsonian argues that it owns Discovery. The three Texas legislators, all Republicans, are saying the Smithsonian’s efforts to keep the shuttle have potentially violated the Anti-Lobbying Act. In Wednesday’s letter, the lawmakers claim the Smithsonian lobbied staff of Senate committees to express its disapproval of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. They also said the Smithsonian shared “misinformation about the cost and logistics of the move,” and it approached the House Committee on Appropriations to advocate for language in a pending appropriations act that would prohibit funding to move the shuttle.

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Conroe ISD updates policies based on Texas laws, making some even more restrictive

After several months of discussion, members of the Conroe ISD Board of Trustees approved changes to several district policies to comply with new legislation, but went a step further than some of those Texas laws. Some changes are due to new legislation, while others are clarifications of existing district policies. In November, the board will adopt 12 more new or updated policies, Superintendent David Vinson said. The new Senate Bill 12 prohibits assisting students with "social transitioning," which is defined as adopting a different name or pronouns to express a gender identity different from their biological sex at birth.

While the board previously included language in its draft of the new policy on "social transitioning" that would allow parents to request a different pronoun to use for their student, trustees ultimately removed that language, fearing that allowing such notes would violate the law. SB 12 also requires the district to notify parents at least 14 days before students take human sexuality classes. Conroe ISD’s policy will require 30 days' notice to parents and parental consent for their children to participate in instruction. The consent form provided to parents must also include more specific and detailed information about the class than is required by law. In 2021, the Texas Legislature passed HB 3979, which prohibits teachers from discussing controversial public policy or social affairs in all social studies courses. Conroe trustees agreed to expand that prohibition to all subjects and courses and added language to prohibit anti-American or unpatriotic sentiments. Kara Belew, the attorney for the district, said although the board added the language prohibiting anti-American or unpatriotic sentiments, the policy does not define those terms. “It’s up to your superintendent to define and determine what that means,” Belew told the board. “Of course, he has to come back and tell you how he is doing that.”

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Dallas wants to enforce short-term rental ban before FIFA World Cup

After failing to get an injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing its short-term rental ban overturned in district and appellate court, the city of Dallas is now asking the Texas Supreme Court to rule in its favor before the FIFA World Cup next summer. More than two years ago, the city began looking at ways to regulate short-term rentals, like Airbnb and VRBO, after some STR owners were not as diligent as others in ensuring their guests did not disturb the neighborhood. The loud parties and other nuisance behaviors became social media fodder and later news headlines. The City Council approved a two-pronged ban in 2023 on almost all short-term rentals in the city. That ban sought to limit where short-term rentals could legally operate within the city, zoning out STRs in nearly all but a handful of areas. A new ordinance also placed some guardrails on whatever properties remain after the zoning went into effect. Short-term rental operators said the city was essentially penalizing a majority of law-abiding and conscientious business owners for the actions of a small number of bad actors.

They sued the city and won a temporary injunction to keep Dallas from enforcing the ordinances. That injunction made it through the court system, where it landed at the Fifth District Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel ruled in February that the injunction would stand while the lawsuit made its way through the courts. In July, the three-judge panel took a second look and still found for the STR operators. In August, the court declined the city’s request to hear the matter en banc, citing the opinion of the three-judge panel in July. Which brings us to last week, when the city’s attorneys asked the state’s highest court to review the case, insisting that the district and appellate courts got it wrong, and that the city should be allowed to enforce its ban while the lawsuit continues. Dallas’ latest filing, which clocks in at 4,490 words, says that the previous courts “abused their discretion” in ruling for the injunction and later upholding that ruling. It also asserts that it prevents the city from regulating STRs—the second prong of its response—at a time when the city is expecting an influx of visitors looking for places to stay during FIFA World Cup matches next summer. “Such error should not be allowed to stand on the eve of Dallas taking center stage for a worldwide sporting event—a time when STR regulation will be of utmost importance,” the filing says. Lisa Sievers with the Dallas Short-term Rental Alliance says the group of operators the organization represents had hoped to “move past” the lawsuits and work with the city on a “fair and reasonable” ordinance. DSTRA may have formed as a response to the city’s actions, but in the intervening years, it’s also become a hub for owner education. Sievers said that the members are now preparing for the World Cup by offering a series of classes for first-time hosts.

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Matthew Childress: Camp Mystic failed my daughter. Now my hell on Earth has a mission.

(Matthew Childress is the father of Chloe Childress, who died when Camp Mystic flooded.) Friday, the University of Texas hosted a flag-lowering ceremony in honor of two freshman girls who were gone too soon. They flew a flag at half-mast in honor of my daughter Chloe Childress and her Camp Mystic “Bubble Inn” co-counselor Katherine Feruzzo. As hundreds gathered, the UT band played “Taps” and “The Eyes of Texas,” ending with the firing of Smokey the Cannon. With our “horns up,” a flag lowered as friends and family — and even many strangers to us — gathered in celebration of Chloe’s and Katherine’s heroism during the nightmare of July 4. When flash floods hit the Texas Hill Country, plans put in place by the Eastland family, which runs Camp Mystic, instructed Chloe and Katherine to “stay in place” with their cabin of 8- and 9-year old girls. They obeyed authority, and it killed them. I’m grateful to the people who gathered at the flag ceremony. But at the same time, remembering Chloe that way is a hell I cannot escape.

In our grief, we were part of a coalition of victims families that lobbied to pass legislation to honor Chloe and the other “Heaven’s 27” girls who died under preventable circumstances while in the Eastlands’ care. In just three weeks during the special session of the Texas Legislature, we worked with state leadership, senators and representatives to pass meaningful, long-overdue laws to address safety gaps in Texas’ camp industry. These laws ensure that — beginning next summer — no child will sleep in a floodplain, emergency plans will have common-sense substance, and parents will have access to information about kids’ safety before entrusting their children to a summer camp in Texas. We achieved our goal: to save kids’ lives at camps in the future. But it did not bring Chloe back. As this awful reality sinks in, I find myself repeatedly apologizing to Chloe. My job as a father was to protect her, something I did her entire life. But I wasn’t the only one who was supposed to keep Chloe safe. The Eastland/Stacy family has run the camp since 1939. Their primary responsibility was to protect Chloe and the other girls under their care at camp. They failed. And now, the Eastlands are hiding behind tradition, camp nostalgia and rhetoric to avoid the consequences of their actions. Earlier this month, Lt. Gov Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced the creation of House and Senate Investigating Committees to jointly investigate what happened during the July 2025 floods. They emphasized a desire to investigate the specifics of what happened, in particular at Camp Mystic, the only camp in the Hill Country that lost young campers’ and counselors’ lives.

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TCU to end stand-alone departments focused on women and gender, race and ethnic studies

TCU will close its women and gender studies department and comparative race and ethnic studies department after this school year, with plans to fold instruction of the subjects into the English department. The move was announced Friday in a meeting and email to Texas Christian University faculty, citing low enrollment as among the reasons. Faculty members said the merger follows a lack of support for the departments amid political challenges. A university spokesperson said external pressure does not impact university decision-making and that changes to departments are based on academic demand. University officials must secure fiscal sustainability and “ensure a more efficient and effective use of faculty and administrative resources,” Provost Floyd Wormley Jr. wrote in the email to English faculty.

No academic programming will end as a result, according to Wormley’s email. Although Friday’s announcement was unexpected, talk of restructuring or renaming the departments was not new, said English professor Layne Craig, who also holds an administrative fellow position to assist the two departments’ single chair. Beginning in February, discussions in the two departments addressed how to respond to external pressure against anything seen to be related to diversity, equity and inclusion, Craig said. Colleges have faced increased scrutiny since President Donald Trump’s administration has worked to eliminate DEI efforts. Across the country, courses on gender and race are being targeted by Republicans who see them as promoting “wokeness.” Locally, some GOP leaders have been critical of the school for courses in the programs they said depart from its Christian origins. The perception among many faculty in the two departments is that university officials do not support their departments when they come under fire, Craig said. When TCU was seeking to promote itself as an inclusive institution and more openly working to advance DEI, Craig said the fields of study were welcome. Now, faculty members feel the programs are viewed as “more of a liability” in the current political climate, she said.

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Taylor Davis redefines role as Miss Texas USA

When Taylor Davis was crowned Miss Texas USA 2025, the moment felt surreal. “I remember being on that stage, grabbing my face and thinking, ‘I can’t believe it,’” Davis recalled. “Then I saw my friends and family jumping up and down in the audience, so I started jumping too. It was pure joy.” For the 25-year-old Howard University alumna, that victory was years in the making and the culmination of perseverance, purpose, and faith.

Davis’s journey to the world of pageantry began in a place many wouldn’t expect: The halls of Howard University’s School of Business. “I didn’t grow up in pageants or anything like that,” she said. “My mom went to Grambling State and was Miss Grambling back in 1986, but I kind of found my own way to it. My first pageant was in college when I was Miss School of Business, and then Miss Howard University.” That experience, and a pivotal encounter, changed the course of her life. “I attended a leadership conference at Howard, and the keynote speaker was Deshauna Barber, Miss USA 2016,” Davis said. “I was so inspired by her story and how she carried herself. I thought, maybe I could be Miss USA one day, or more importantly, maybe I could be anything I want to be.” That spark ignited a journey that would take her from the stages of HBCU pageantry to the bright lights of the Miss USA stage.

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University of Houston cancels previously required Oppression & Justice course

The University of Houston has scrapped a previously required class that teaches master of social work students about societal power imbalances, racial prejudice and social justice. The decision was made without any faculty input, sources told Inside Higher Ed. Students in the Graduate College of Social Work received the news on Oct. 10 via an email from three student affairs officials. “As part of upcoming changes to the curriculum and degree plan, this course will not be offered at this time,” the officials wrote. “We understand that this adjustment may raise questions, and we want to assure you that it will not affect any student’s ability to successfully progress through the MSW program or meet graduation requirements on time.”

The email did not include further explanation for why the course would be cut or what the upcoming changes to the curriculum would be, and spokespeople for the University of Houston didn’t share any information that wasn’t already included in that email. The move fits with recent actions by every public university system in Texas to review, flag or censor course content related to gender identity and race. Earlier this month, the University of Houston said officials were completing a review of general education courses in compliance with Texas Senate Bill 37, which took effect this fall. The bill requires all public institutions to review general education curricula every five years, though the first reviews are not due until 2027. Alan Dettlaff, a professor of social work at the University of Houston who was scheduled to teach the class later this fall, posted about the decision on Bluesky. “Yesterday I was told that the class I’m scheduled to teach this month, Confronting Oppression & Injustice, is no longer part of our curriculum,” Dettlaff wrote. “This is a required class yet there was no discussion, no faculty vote, just an email saying the class no longer exists. This is what it’s like in Texas now.”

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Hood County voters divided over plan to form new city

Neighbors living near Mitchell Bend Highway in rural Hood County are sharply divided over a ballot initiative to form a city that some say will protect them from the constant whirring noise of cooling fans from a Bitcoin mining operation and pollution from power plants close to their homes. But others are suspicious of the possibility of additional property taxes or regulations governing how they use their land, although residents who are spearheading the incorporation effort said that won’t happen. Early voting continues through Oct. 31, and the election is Nov. 4. There are around 200 registered voters. More than 50% of the votes are needed for incorporating the 2-square mile area about 10 miles south of Granbury, organizers said.

Danny Lakey and Cheryl Shadden, who are leaders in the incorporation effort, said forming a city is the last thing they want to do, but they are running out of options after beginning their fight almost three years ago to get Florida-based MARA Holdings to put in measures to lessen the noise from the plant at 2001 Mitchell Bend Highway. They are also fighting against more industry from coming to the area, which is already home to battery storage facilities and a solar farm. “None of us want to put regulations on our neighbors or keep them from using their property the way that they want to,” Lakey said in an interview. “What we want to do is, No. 1, put in some noise regulations.” Lakey described how some of his neighbors developed hearing loss from the noise and some have high blood pressure, heart problems and other health conditions. Lakey and his wife Deanna often came to Granbury for the peaceful atmosphere before they moved from Pantego four years ago. Shadden, who raises horses and her Great Pyrenees dogs, has lived on her land for 40 years. Mitchell Bend was the perfect place because of the sandy soil, which doesn’t hurt the horses’ hooves, she said.

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UT's new president Jim Davis introduces himself, commits to balance at flagship

In a long-awaited state of the university address, new University of Texas President Jim Davis said the state’s flagship institution is poised to “recommit” to its mission, regain the public’s trust and broaden its diversity of viewpoints in core curriculum. At the Investiture Ceremony and State of the University address officially welcoming Davis as the 31st president of the institution, the new leader — who denied sit-down interviews with the American-Statesman and other media during his tenure thus far — introduced himself as UT’s figurehead. He previously held senior, albeit behind the scenes, leadership roles.

Davis did not issue any decisive promises of how the university would respond to increasing pressure from external forces, including an offer from the administration of President Donald Trump to adhere to conservative priorities in exchange for funding benefits. But he did confront questions his predecessors frequently sidestepped, saying unequivocally that now is the moment for UT to become a “model of public trust.” “Has inquiry become indoctrination? Has science surrendered to subjectivity? Have we given in to a culture of asserting my truth, with an intolerance for any other?” he said. “That is not the Texas way.” Emphasizing balance, Davis said the university will create a required core curriculum focused on value, completeness and balanced views, citing the School of Civic Leadership and a new Center for Texas History as examples of new educational options.

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National Stories

Some new ICE recruits have shown up to training without full vetting

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed new recruits into its training program before they have completed the agency’s vetting process, an unusual sequence of events as it rushes to hire federal immigration officers to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy, a current and two former Homeland Security Department officials told NBC News. ICE officials only later discovered that some of the recruits failed drug testing, have disqualifying criminal backgrounds or don’t meet the physical or academic requirements to serve, the sources said. Staff members at ICE’s training academy in Brunswick, Georgia, recently discovered one recruit had previously been charged with strong-arm robbery and battery stemming from a domestic violence incident, the current DHS official said. They’ve also found as recently as this month that some recruits going through the six-week training course hadn’t submitted fingerprints for background checks, as ICE’s hiring process requires, the current and former DHS officials said.

Per ICE policy, applicants are required to pass drug tests and undergo security vetting through ICE’s human resources office before they show up for the training course. The former officials said the process was more strictly adhered to before a hiring surge that began this summer. The process was meant to weed out disqualified candidates before they would be sent to training. Since the surge began, ICE has dismissed more than 200 new recruits while they were in training for falling short of its hiring requirements, according to recently collected internal ICE data reviewed by NBC News. The majority of them failed to meet ICE’s physical or academic standards, according to the data. Just under 10 recruits were dismissed for criminal charges, failing to pass drug tests or safety concerns that should have been flagged in background checks before they arrived at training, the data indicated and the current and former DHS officials confirmed. The officials said there is growing concern that in the Trump administration’s race to expand the number of ICE agents to 10,000 by the end of the year, the agency could miss red flags in the backgrounds of some new recruits and inadvertently hire them.

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Trump plows past concerns over East Wing demolition — and envisions an even bigger ballroom than initially planned

President Donald Trump has proceeded with enormous latitude as he constructs his massive new ballroom, bypassing concerns raised by preservationists and so far stopping short of seeking approval from the commission overseeing construction on federal buildings to tear down the entirety of the White House East Wing. The ballroom is now expected to be larger than initially planned, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The president has shown visitors two flat tabletop models, at times quizzing the room on which version they preferred: the smaller one or the larger one. Most answered that the bigger one was better, to which Trump agreed. While it’s not clear how much larger, Trump did say Wednesday that the ballroom is expected to cost a projected $300 million, seemingly in line with a larger structure. Previously, the administration had put the cost at $200 million.

The project has drawn outcry and led to questions about whether the president was within his legal authority to dismantle entire sections of the executive mansion. Not all of Trump’s own team was set on the project at the start, one source familiar with the internal conversations told CNN. At the beginning, some aides and advisers thought it was too big of a task to undertake, and attempted to explain how difficult and lengthy the process was likely to be. But once it became clear the president wasn’t going to give up on the idea — which he’s been musing about for the better part of 15 years — everyone quickly got onboard. The White House says it will submit plans for the ballroom construction to the National Capital Planning Commission, but insists the body doesn’t have purview over the decision to knock down the East Wing. Some former members of the panel have questioned that assessment. And one of the nation’s premier historic preservation organizations is calling for an immediate halt to the leveling of the East Wing. But there appeared little standing in the way of the president’s decision to move ahead with the audacious, multi-year project. Now the demolition is well underway, it seemed unlikely the plans would be reversed.

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White House releases list of donors for Trump’s multi-million-dollar ballroom

Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, Comcast and Meta are just some of the major companies who have made donations to build President Donald Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom, according to the White House. Trump has repeatedly said that work on the ballroom is privately funded by himself and donors and will cost nothing to taxpayers. On Wednesday, Trump discussed his plans for the ballroom, saying it will cost “about $300 million.” The administration previously put the cost of the ballroom project at $200 million. Additional donors include co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his family; and the Adelson family. Trump awarded Miriam Adelson, a Republican megadonor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018.

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U.S. strikes 2 more alleged drug vessels, this time on the Pacific side, killing 5 people

The U.S. has struck two alleged drug vessels on the Pacific side of Latin America over the last two days, killing five people, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday. The Trump administration has now carried out nine known strikes against alleged narcotics trafficking boats since last month, leading to at least 37 deaths. The first seven strikes were within the Caribbean Sea — but this week, the strategy broadened to the East Pacific. The first strike took place on Tuesday, with two people killed. A defense official confirmed the vessel was in international waters off of Colombia. A second strike took place on Wednesday, according to Hegseth, killing three more.

In a pair of nearly identical X posts announcing the strikes Wednesday, Hegseth said the boats were operated by a "Designated Terrorist Organization" and were "transiting along a known narco-trafficking route" in international waters. He said they were "known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling." He did not specify the organization that allegedly operated the boats. Hegseth said no U.S. forces were harmed in the strikes. He also shared videos of the strikes, both of which show vessels moving in the water before they are seemingly hit and engulfed in flames. In the video from Wednesday's strike, bags or parcels appear to be floating in the water after the boat was struck. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona said Sunday on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," "We want to keep fentanyl out of the United States, ... but those routes through the Caribbean on boats are predominantly used to bring cocaine to Europe," not to the U.S. And fentanyl tends to be transported to to the U.S. "from a different way," Kelly added.

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Mamdani and Cuomo trade barbs in tense New York City mayoral debate

The New York City mayoral candidates got in their last licks Wednesday night at the final debate before the Nov. 4 election, with the three contenders taking jabs at their opponents. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo focused his attacks on the race’s front-runner, the democratic socialist assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, calling him a “divisive figure in New York.” Mamdani slammed Cuomo as “a desperate man, lashing out because he knows that the one thing he’s always cared about—power—is now slipping away from him.” Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee who trails the two, compared his opponents’ feuding to “two kids in a schoolyard.” Sliwa is the founder of the Guardian Angels, a crime-fighting organization.

The freewheeling debate covered public safety, the rise in antisemitism in the city and affordable housing. Candidates vied for speaking time, scoffed at their opponents’ answers and called out one another for allegedly dodging questions from moderators. Cuomo and Mamdani tussled when they were asked how they would stop the growing number of New York City school students who are homeless. Both said they would build additional affordable housing. Mamdani added that he would freeze rent on the city’s rent-regulated apartments. “Zohran is a great actor. He missed his calling,” Cuomo scoffed, saying rent freezes have proven ineffective and only help a fraction of New Yorkers. He also called out Mamdani’s record as a state assemblyman. “This man never even proposed a bill on housing or education,” he contended. Cuomo and Sliwa pounced on Mamdani when he avoided giving an answer on whether he supported housing-related proposals on the ballot. “What is your opinion, Zohran, c’mon?” Sliwa sniped. “Yes or no,” Cuomo chimed in. When a moderator pressed for an answer, Mamdani said, “I’ve not yet taken a position on those ballot amendment questions.” “Oh, what a shocker,” Cuomo sniped.

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After others departed, Pentagon announces 'new' press corps filled with conservative news outlets

Several conservative news outlets said Wednesday they had agreed to a new press policy rejected by virtually all legacy media organizations and will take their place in the Pentagon to cover Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the U.S. military. The new Pentagon press corps will include the Gateway Pundit, the National Pulse, Human Events, podcaster Tim Pool, the Just the News website founded by journalist John Solomon, Frontlines by Turning Point USA and LindellTV, run by “MyPillow” CEO Mike Lindell. The Pentagon’s announcement came less than a week after dozens of reporters from outlets like The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN and the Washington Post turned in their access badges rather than agree to a policy the journalists say will restrict them to covering news approved by Hegseth.

Hegseth’s spokesman, Sean Parnell, announced the “next generation” of the Pentagon press corps with more than 60 journalists who had agreed to the new policy. He said 26 journalists who had previously been part of the press corps were among the signees. The department wouldn’t say who any of them were, but several outlets reposted his message on X saying they had signed on. There isn’t even unanimity among organizations that appeal to conservative consumers. Fox News Channel, by far the most popular news source for fans of President Donald Trump, was among the walkouts, as was Newsmax. In a post on X, Parnell denounced the “self-righteous media who chose to self-deport from the Pentagon.” “Americans have largely abandoned digesting their news through the lens of activists who masquerade as journalists in the mainstream media,” Parnell wrote. “We look forward to beginning a fresh relationship with members of the new Pentagon press corps.” The journalists who left the Pentagon haven’t stopped working covering the U.S. military. Many have been reporting aggressively, for example, on stories about strikes against boats in central America alleged to be part of the drug trade. By not being in the Pentagon, “reporters will have to work harder, there’s no question about it,” said Barbara Starr, a longtime Pentagon reporter retired from CNN.

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CBS News boss Bari Weiss seen with bodyguards amid heightened security concerns

Newly installed CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss had a phalanx of six bodyguards in New York City on Tuesday as she has faced heightened security concerns, a source with knowledge of the matter told The Post. Weiss had guards described as “beefy” and “chiseled” as she attended a conference at the New York Historical Society put on by private equity giant RedBird Capital. The source said the detail was hired because “there are enhanced security concerns.” “It’s highly unusual for a news executive to have six bodyguards,” a former network exec told The Post. Weiss, the 41-year-old co-founder of the Free Press who recently sold her newsletter to Paramount Skydance for a reported $150 million, seemed to be in good spirits as she entered the venue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

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Lead Stories

Trump plan to send homeless funds to political allies threatens Texas projects

Over the past decade and a half, the number of people living on Houston's streets has steadily declined, the product of increased federal funding for permanent housing for the homeless, advocates say. But those programs are now in limbo, as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner and President Donald Trump seek to cut back future housing subsidies and route existing funds to states and cities that fall in line with their political agenda. Already, HUD has pulled back approval of $11.8 million for a complex of houses and two-story apartment buildings in Laredo that would have created 70 units for chronically homeless people. And within Texas' network of homeless agencies, advocates fear not only that other projects won't make the cut, but that more funding decreases are coming.

"We're gaming out three or four different scenarios. We have to go from the worst case scenario, scorched earth, to nothing happens," said Kelly Young, president of the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County. "My biggest fear (in Houston) is apartment prices go up, and we could quickly bump out of having enough places for people to be." Since taking office, Trump has sought to overhaul how the federal government handles homelessness. In July, Trump issued an executive order directing homeless people to be committed and housed in "long-term institutional settings" and an end to "housing first," a strategy adopted by organizations nationwide that prioritizes getting people into stable living conditions before offering them other services, such as addiction treatment or assistance finding a job. "Our goal is to let HUD use real, proven effective strategies, and there is no evidence that giving free apartments to the homeless without preconditions or participation requirements – like job training or treatment – leads to good outcomes," Turner, a former professional football player and Texas state representative, wrote in an op-ed published by Fox News in September.

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Federal immigration crackdown slowing Texas job growth

The federal immigration crackdown is contributing to weak Texas job growth. That's according to recent Texas Business Outlook Surveys by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The findings from the surveys suggest federal policy changes on immigration will negatively impact one out of five Texas businesses this year when it comes to hiring and retaining foreign born workers. Madeline Zavodny, an economics professor at the University of North Florida, said there is a lot of fear among the migrant community, especially among those without legal status. "They're afraid to go shopping. They're afraid to take their kids to school. They're afraid to go to church, and perhaps most importantly right now, they are afraid to go to work," she said.

Zavodny was one of the authors of a report that grew out of the surveys that found 40% of businesses reported their migrant employees missed work out of fear of immigration enforcement. She said employers worry a lot they are losing a trained workforce that is hard to get back. "They're very worried about how many foreign-born workers are staying home and even just leaving. Either leaving the state or even leaving the country," said Zavodny. Zavodny said migrants contribute to population growth, which in turn leads to economic growth. Zavodny said Sun Belt states can offset some of that migrant population loss by U.S. citizens moving in from other states. She said she expected the slower job growth in Texas to continue as long as the same federal immigration policies are in place. Slower economic growth comes from less immigration—even if it doesn't affect unemployment rates.

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‘He lost us’: Generals, senior officers say trust in Hegseth has evaporated

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has lost the trust and respect of some top military commanders, with his public “grandstanding” widely seen as unprofessional and the personnel moves made by the former cable TV host leading to an unprecedented and dangerous exodus of talent from the Pentagon, said current senior military officers and current and former Defense Department officials. Numerous high-ranking officers painted Mr. Hegseth’s Sept. 30 speech to hundreds of generals and admirals gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia as a turning point in how his leadership style, attitude and overall competency are viewed in the upper echelons of the U.S. armed forces. “It was a massive waste of time. … If he ever had us, he lost us,” one current Army general told The Washington Times.

The Quantico speech — described by other sources as “embarrassing” and theatrical to a degree that “is below our institution” — seemed to crystallize beliefs about Mr. Hegseth that had taken root among some senior officers, including the view that the secretary operates with a junior officer’s mentality that has led him to micromanage policies about issues such as military facial hair standards and press access to the Pentagon, sometimes at the expense of the much broader portfolio of a typical defense secretary. “Mainly what I see from him are not serious things,” a current senior officer said. “It’s, ’Why did this service member tweet this?’ Or internal politics and drama. That’s mostly what I see.” Mr. Hegseth clearly does not care about such criticism. At Quantico, he told any officer who disagreed with his priorities and his laserlike focus on a return to what he calls the military’s “warrior ethos” to resign. Some analysts are quick to point out that military recruiting has surged since Mr. Hegseth took his post earlier this year. Supporters cite that as clear evidence that Mr. Hegseth’s approach is resonating with at least a subsection of young Americans and in the process is strengthening the armed forces. Separately, some defense industry sources stress that the Pentagon under Mr. Hegseth’s leadership is driving the development and fielding of small tactical drones in huge numbers, among other successes.

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Trump said to demand Justice Dept. pay him $230 million for past cases

President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit. The situation has no parallel in American history, as Mr. Trump, a presidential candidate, was pursued by federal law enforcement and eventually won the election, taking over the very government that must now review his claims. It is also the starkest example yet of potential ethical conflicts created by installing the president’s former lawyers atop the Justice Department. Mr. Trump submitted complaints through an administrative claim process that often is the precursor to lawsuits.

The first claim, lodged in late 2023, seeks damages for a number of purported violations of his rights, including the F.B.I. and special counsel investigation into Russian election tampering and possible connections to the 2016 Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the claim has not been made public. The second complaint, filed in the summer of 2024, accuses the F.B.I. of violating Mr. Trump’s privacy by searching Mar-a-Lago, his club and residence in Florida, in 2022 for classified documents. It also accuses the Justice Department of malicious prosecution in charging him with mishandling sensitive records after he left office. Asked about the issue at the White House after this article published, the president said, “I was damaged very greatly and any money I would get, I would give to charity.” He added, “I’m the one that makes the decision and that decision would have to go across my desk and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself.”

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State Stories

Report: Sources allege San Antonio U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales had affair with staffer prior to her fiery death

British publication The Daily Mail reports U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district includes part of San Antonio, had an affair with office staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who set herself on fire outside her Uvalde home last month. The Daily Mail report cites unnamed sources who allege Gonzales, a married Republican with six children, and Santos-Aviles, a separated mother of one, were engaged in a “romantic relationship” before her Sept. 14 death. Gonzales’ office didn’t respond to the Current’s request for comment on the story, nor did it respond to questions from The Daily Mail, according to that paper’s report. However, in comments to the New York Post, a spokesman for the congressman accused “political bottom feeders” of distorting elements of Santos-Aviles’ death.

Santos-Aviles’ mother, Nora Gonzales, also told the New York Post she doesn’t believe the British paper’s report, dismissing its claims as “completely false.” The Daily Mail article is the latest twist surrounding Santos-Aviles’ tragic death, which grabbed international headlines. Santos-Aviles, 35, who worked as Gonzales’ regional district director, was airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center on Sept. 13 after her mother found her engulfed in flames in her yard. Days later, authorities determined that she dumped gasoline on herself before catching fire, the Express-News reports. Uvalde Police Chief Homer E. Delgado last week told the press that preliminary surveillance footage from Santos-Aviles’ home showed that she was alone in her backyard when the fire started. “At this stage of the investigation, we do not have any information to suggest that anyone else was involved,” Delgado said. Although Gonzales hasn’t commented on The Daily Mail report, the congressman issued a statement on Santos-Aviles’ death shortly after it was reported. “We are all heart-stricken by the recent news. Regina devoted her profession toward making a difference in her community,” the congressman said. “She will always be remembered for her passion toward Uvalde and helping the community become a better place.”

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Texas flags more than 2,700 ‘potential noncitizens’ on voter rolls

The Texas Secretary of State’s Office has flagged more than 2,700 registered voters as potential noncitizens after comparing the state’s voter registration list with federal immigration data, officials announced Monday. Secretary of State Jane Nelson said her office recently completed a full review of the state’s more than 18 million registered voters using information from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database — a resource newly made available to states at no cost. The analysis identified 2,724 Texas voters who may not be U.S. citizens. The Secretary of State’s Office has turned those names over to county election officials, who are now responsible for verifying each person’s eligibility to vote under state law.

Conservative leaders have long asserted that noncitizens have voted illegally in U.S. elections, framing it as a threat to election integrity — even though studies have found little to no evidence of widespread voter fraud. In 2021, state lawmakers passed the Election Integrity Protection Act, which tightened voter ID rules for mail-in ballots and increased penalties for election offenses, among other changes. Under the Texas Election Code, counties must send written notices to voters flagged as potential noncitizens. Those voters have 30 days to provide proof of citizenship before their registration is canceled. Those removed can be reinstated immediately by presenting proof to county officials or at a polling location. Confirmed noncitizens who are found to have voted illegally will be referred to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for investigation. In June, the Secretary of State’s Office sent 33 cases to the Texas Attorney General after a smaller review of voter rolls from the November 2024 election found people who may not have been U.S. citizens. About a month later, Attorney General Ken Paxton launched a separate investigation into more than 100 suspected noncitizens who allegedly cast over 200 ballots in the 2020 and 2022 elections. However, an investigation by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Votebeat last year found that many U.S. citizens were incorrectly labeled as noncitizens and removed from voter rolls in Texas.

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Austin leaders blindsided by Abbott-ordered homeless sweep

Austin leaders say they were blindsided Tuesday when Gov. Greg Abbott announced he had dispatched state troopers and soldiers to clear homeless encampments throughout the city. The Republican said in a statement that the operation, launched last week, had resulted in the clearing of 48 encampments and the arrests of 24 people though he did not disclose the charges those individuals face. “Texans should not endure public safety risks from homeless encampments and individuals,” the Republican governor said. “Weapons, needles and other debris should not litter the streets of our community, and the State of Texas is taking action.”

Later Tuesday, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Abbott did not notify the city about the operation, which came as its Homeless Strategy Office was preparing to launch a similar operation focused on connecting the displaced to social services. “I am disappointed today because some of what we're seeing with regard to addressing people living homeless is, frankly, not how it's supposed to work,” Watson told reporters at an event held to highlight local efforts to reduce youth homelessness. Watson said the state routinely clears areas under highway overpasses but failed to notify city leaders that Tuesday’s operation would expand to city property, including the Johnson Creek Trail near downtown. The Department of Public Safety did not respond to a request for more information about the scope of the state-ordered sweep. Abbott's announcement came a day after the city’s Homeless Strategy Office began a long-planned effort to visit encampments and connect residents with shelter and other services amid heightened wildfire risk and ahead of cold weather.

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How uncertified teachers went from a stopgap to an escalating crisis, including in Texas

District leaders have long tapped those with special content or professional knowledge to teach, even without prior teaching experience or a teaching certificate. During extended or severe teacher shortages, states often grant a broader range of emergency or temporary teaching licenses to those who aren’t certified educators. But both the breadth and duration of uncertified instructors in classrooms since the pandemic is unprecedented. Now, states like Texas—where an unintended loophole made districts’ use of uncertified teachers nearly universal—are starting to find that relying on this stopgap for teacher shortages hinders student learning and damages, rather than strengthens, the teacher pipeline in the long run. Texas is among the states that has a high proportion of these uncertified teachers. The Lone Star state recently took steps to close that loophole, but it will take years to kick in. And, experts say, the situation in Texas is emblematic of what’s happened at a smaller scale all over the country. “The state was trying to responsibly deal with the impact of the pandemic,” said Heath Morrison, the chief executive officer of Teachers of Tomorrow, one of Texas’ largest alternative certification programs. “But flexibility for individuals was never intended to be used at scale ... and a lot of states are allowing these people to stay on these temporary licenses for three year, five years, 10 years.

“I think people are starting to recognize that the problem is a lot bigger than they originally thought,” he said. The U.S. Department of Education considers a teacher uncertified if they serve as the teacher of record in a classroom without completing licensing or a state-approved preparation program. All states allow at least some uncertified teachers, under waivers or emergency, temporary, or provisional licenses; in Texas, uncertified teachers are those who have not completed a teaching license or an approved educator preparation program. The share of overall uncertified teachers nationwide rose from 6.1% in 2015-16 to 6.9% in 2020-21, the most recent year available, federal data show. But new clues suggest it could now be even more far-reaching. Among early-career educators (those in their first three years in the classroom), a quarter lacked full certification in 2020-21. And regional data show the share of uncertified teachers has continued to climb in several states in the years since—to more than 14% of teachers in Florida and nearly a third of Texas teachers by 2022-23, for example. The need to hire is clearly a factor. In 2024-25, 82% of administrators reported needing to fill two or more open positions in 2024-25, according to the School Pulse Panel, an ongoing federal survey of schools, and more than 60% said the lack of qualified applicants was their biggest hurdle in doing so. When new and uncertified teachers make up a larger share of the school staff, administrators and colleagues must fill the gaps in preparation and support.

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Gov. JB Pritzker to headline Dallas County Democrats Johnson-Jordan fundraiser

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who gave refuge to state House Democrats who left Texas to stall a GOP-driven congressional redistricting plan, is headlining the Dallas Democratic Party’s Johnson-Jordan annual fundraising event in Dallas. The Nov. 10 event will be held at Gilley’s Dallas with ticket packages ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. The event will raise money to power the local party’s 2026 get-out-the vote effort. “We are excited to announce Governor Pritzker as this year’s Johnson-Jordan Dinner speaker,” event co-chairpersons Paula Blackmon and Matthew Bell said in a joint statement. “He is a good friend to Texas and is welcomed in our great state.” Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Kardal Coleman said the Illinois governor’s resistance to President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not gone unnoticed in Texas.

“He’s stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Texans and this dinner allows us to thank him, not just the Dallas County Democratic Party, but the entire state of Texas,” Coleman said. Pritzker, 60, was instrumental in the Texas House Democrats’ strategy to leave the state to prevent Republicans from approving a redistricting plan designed to net the GOP up to five seats in Congress. House Democrats flew to Illinois, where Pritzker provided shelter and political resources. Texas Democrats maintained a presence in the Prairie State until the quorum break dissipated Aug. 18 and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, established a quorum. The redistricting bill later passed the Legislature and was signed into law by Abbott. Pritzker, who has been mentioned as a 2028 presidential contender, has announced he’ll seek a third term as Illinois governor next year. According to a recent tax return, the billionaire and heir to the Hyatt hotel chain netted $1.4 million last year playing blackjack in Las Vegas. He said last week he’ll donate the winnings to charity. Pritzker has been leading the opposition to Trump’s policies. The president has deployed National Guard troops to Chicago and stepped up immigration enforcement there. Earlier this month, 200 members of the Texas National Guard were sent to Illinois after Abbott authorized 400 Texas soldiers to be deployed to other states.

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Dallas' $25 million ICE question

Anyone who has watched City Hall for even a second saw it coming. Friday evening, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson issued a memo telling two City Council committees to consider partnering with federal immigration efforts in a way that the city has resisted for several years. The memo wasn’t a surprise because earlier in the week, Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux had told the Community Police Oversight Board that he had turned down $25 million from ICE to participate in the federal 287(g) program, telling the board, “We said, ‘absolutely not, no.’” According to his memo, Johnson feels that Comeaux “unilaterally rejected” the offer. He wrote, “As the elected body charged with setting City policy and overseeing its budget, the City Council should be briefed on all the relevant information that went into Chief Comeaux’s decision in a public meeting and with an opportunity for input from residents.”

Not quite half of the Council pushed back against the idea. Johnson’s memo nearly immediately elicited responses from some on the Council. Two memos from a total of six council members went out over the weekend, with both memos pointing out that DPD has been working for years to build “trust and connection” with communities and that partnering with ICE would “undermine” that work. “The 287(g) program would turn local law enforcement into an arm of federal immigration enforcement and could result in a betrayal of trust between the Dallas Police Department and the very communities they are sworn to protect,” said the memo signed by council members Paula Blackmon, Jaime Resendez, Adam Bazaldua, and Chad West. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says upwards of 1,000 local law enforcement agencies have signed on to partner with ICE on immigration enforcement across the country. (Johnson’s memo says more than 100 Texas agencies have done so.)

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In rare endorsement, League of Women Voters backs Texas ballot item

For the first time in more than a decade, the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Texas is endorsing one statewide constitutional amendment on the November ballot. That item, Proposition 4, would set aside $1 billion per year from existing sales tax revenue over 20 years, from 2027 to 2047, to fund water infrastructure. The money would create new water supply, fix aging systems, and build flood protection in a state seeing growing population, a busy economy and a hotter and drier climate. In a statement, Joyce LeBombard, League of Women Voters of Texas president, highlighted the “dire state of our water resources in Texas.”

LWV’s of Texas’ last endorsement was in 2013 for a constitutional amendment that created the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas (SWIFT), which also provided financing for water projects. On Tuesday, KVUE spoke with Valerie DeBill, vice president of Voter Service for LWV’s Austin chapter. “It doesn’t raise any new taxes,” said DeBill. “This comes out of the existing state sales tax.” She added, “We leak enough water right now into the soil from our current pipes to provide water for Austin and El Paso and Laredo and a couple of other smaller cities every year.” Jeremy Mazur, director of Infrastructure and Natural Resources Policy for the nonpartisan think tank and advocacy group Texas 2036, reacted on Tuesday to that endorsement. “This is outstanding news,” said Mazur.

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Elon Musk goes on a tirade after NASA says it will seek moon landers from SpaceX rivals

NASA’s acting administrator, Sean Duffy, seems to have provoked the ire of Elon Musk. Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, took aim at Duffy on Tuesday in a flurry of social media posts, attacking his intelligence and recent efforts at the helm of the space agency. “Sean Dummy is trying to kill NASA!” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns, using an insulting nickname to refer to the acting administrator. In a separate post, he said: “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ.” Duffy announced Monday that in NASA’s quest to return astronauts to the moon — and to do so before China puts its own bootprints there — the agency is open to using moon landers from competitors to SpaceX.

NASA’s plan had been to use SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket system, which is in development, to land on the lunar surface. In his posts Tuesday, Musk even created a poll for his X followers to weigh in, asking: “Should someone whose biggest claim to fame is climbing trees be running America’s space program?” One response option read, “Yezz, chimps skillz rul!” while the other was, “Noo, he need moar brainz!” As of Tuesday afternoon, the poll had nearly 110,000 votes. SpaceX won a $2.9 billion contract in 2021 to use its Starship rocket system to land two astronauts on the lunar surface for NASA’s Artemis III mission, which is slated to launch in 2027. But Musk’s rocket company has fallen behind schedule with its testing and development of Starship, and the vehicle suffered a string of explosive failures earlier this year. At the same time, political pressure has mounted as the space race with China heats up. The country, which aims to land its astronauts on the moon by 2030, has already sent two robotic rovers to the lunar surface and conducted key tests of a new rocket that would be used for crewed moon missions.

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A mom fled Texas for an emergency abortion. 1 year later she had a son and gave him initials R.O.E.

When Taylor Edwards and her husband Travis first learned they were pregnant in late 2022, they were filled with joy — and relief. After more than two years of trying, and three rounds of IVF, they would be parents. "With IVF and infertility, you are always waiting for the other shoe to drop," says Edwards, 33. After she passed her 12-week mark into her second trimester, she felt like she could relax. "I was like, 'Finally. I've run a marathon. I did it. It's my turn to be a mom.' " But when she and Travis, 34, went in for an ultrasound at 17 weeks in February of 2023, the imaging technician called in her doctor for a second look. "He gets to the back, and her skull and neck are not connected," she recalls. "There's a bubble-like structure. Her brain was coming out. And he says, 'This baby's not going to survive.' I didn't understand the words he was saying in that moment." The doctor explained that their baby, whom they had named Phoebe, had a rare neural tube defect called encephalocele, in which her brain was growing out of an opening in her skull — a condition that was, in her case, determined to be fatal.

The news was "earth-shattering," says Edwards, one of several women who are sharing stories with the organization Abortion in America about how their lives have been affected by abortion bans. "It felt like there was a gaping hole in the earth that just split open," What came next, she says, "added trauma onto an already traumatic situation." Edwards' doctors outlined three scenarios: "I could go in their office weekly and get scans, and we would wait for her to die in utero. Or I could carry to term, which they thought was unlikely given her state," she says. "If I did give birth, she would suffocate to death in front of me. Or I could terminate my pregnancy," But, they told her, at 17 weeks, she couldn't do so in Texas. Less than a year earlier, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that guaranted a federal constitutional right to an abortion, Texas had enacted a restrictive abortion law that banned the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. While the Texas state law includes an exception for conditions deemed life-threatening for the mother, doctors told Edwards that it wasn't an option in her case.

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Push to find more rare minerals sparks mining rush in Texas

Major oil companies are drilling in East Texas again, but not for oil. This time, they’re after lithium for batteries and other rare elements. Chevron and Halliburton announced East Texas projects this summer. Exxon has acreage across the border in Arkansas. Smackover Lithium, a joint venture of a Norwegian oil giant and a Canadian miner, announced in late September the discovery of the most lithium-rich fluids ever reported in North America, measured deep beneath its Texas claims in a massive brine deposit called the Smackover Formation. “It’s ripe for development,” said Jamie Liang, a former Wall Street banker and founder of Houston-based lithium startup TerraVolta, which is developing a lithium refinery on the Smackover with federal support. “There’s tremendous growth potential.”

Lithium mining is one of several mineral industries emerging in Texas as part of broad federal efforts to urgently establish American production of the materials required for advanced manufacturing, from batteries and solar cells to wind turbines, microchips and cruise missiles. Competition with China looms over this effort. For much of this year, the world’s two largest economies have been locked in trade tensions— and much of the ire is linked to minerals used in technology. This month, China announced new export controls on critical mineral products, including lithium battery components. President Trump, in social media posts, described China as “very hostile” and threatened to impose export controls on critical software and add 100% tariffs to Chinese imports. Near Texarkana, the chase for lithium is backed with robust federal support. Liang’s TerraVolta received $225 million from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2024 for its lithium refinery complex. This year the project was selected for fast-tracked permit review. It will pump up the naturally metallic super-salty fluids from the Smackover, extract lithium and other minerals and then inject the leftover liquids back underground.

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Texas taxes what? The hidden cost of doing business here

It’s a tax you’ve likely never heard of. But you’re paying for it. For decades, small businesses in Texas have been hit with the business personal property tax, also known as an “inventory tax.” If a small business has inventory – from desks, to equipment, even the raw material used to make its product – valued at more than $2,500, the business owes taxes on all of it. Prop 9 would raise that exemption from $2,500 to $125,000, a significant jump that would provide significant tax relief for small business owners. Jeff Burdett, Texas Director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), joined Y’all-itics to explain how much businesses can expect to save if voters approve Prop 9.

“We think it’s gonna be between $2,500 to $3,000 for a regular business, depending on what your business is. I’ve heard of businesses that say that they’d be $5,000, $6,000. That may not sound like a lot for a big company, but for a small company, my average sized business at NFIB has 10 employees. Half of our businesses have five or less employees,” Burdett told us. “So, that actually is money that they can reinvest back. They can hire more employees. They can do things that actually, instead of giving it to the state, giving it to the local taxing jurisdiction, they could use that to reinvest in their business.” Burdett says he travels all across the state talking to small business owners and the inventory tax is the number one issue they discuss. He says healthcare is a distant second. Small businesses represent some 95% of all businesses in Texas, and since most already operate on the edge financially, every dollar counts. So, Burdett also emphasizes the community impact of passing Prop 9.

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Fort Worth approves renaming part of White Settlement Road

The Fort Worth City Council voted 9-2 Tuesday to approve a name change for a section of White Settlement Road. The new name, “Westside Drive,” will apply to the section of road between University Drive and Henderson Street. District 4 council member Charlie Lauersdorf and District 10 council member Alan Blaylock opposed the name change. The change also faced pushback from residents and business owners along the stretch concerned about the erasing history and the potential financial implications of the change. Dallas-based developer Larkspur Capital requested the change to coincide with its $1.7 billion mixed-use development “Westside Village” on the northeast corner of University Drive and White Settlement Road. The vote also comes four months after the city council approved $125 million grant package to help the development and address flooding concerns surrounding the cite.

The intent of renaming the section of White Settlement Road was not to interfere with history — the town of White started as a group of white colonists among villages of Native Americans in the 1840s — but to position the corridor as part of a transformational development, said Carl Anderson, president of Larskpur Capital, speaking at the Oct. 21 council meeting. “We’re excited to replace aging car dealerships and warehouses with a vibrant hub of shops, restaurants, hotels and offices,” Anderson said. The two firms will pay the city roughly $25,000 to replace street signs on the roughly one-mile stretch of road. However, the businesses along the stretch will incur costs that could number in the tens of thousands, said Chris Mahon, a manager at Binswanger Glass at the intersection of White Settlement Road and Rupert Street. Mahon outlined how the change would result in his company having to take time to change addresses with suppliers, update insurance and tax information, and reduce visibility on websites Google Maps and Yelp. “Every sign, every decal, every digital asset must be redesigned adding additional thousands in costs,” he said. Fort Worth’s small and midsized businesses are the backbone of the city’s economy, Mahon said, adding any name change shouldn’t result in financial and operational harm to businesses.

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UT Austin is one of two universities that hasn't rejected Trump administration's funding compact

UT Austin is one of two universities that has not publicly rejected the compact sent by the White House earlier this month. The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education asks universities to follow 10 points aligned with the Trump administration in exchange for better access to federal funding. The deadline for university officials to submit comments or feedback was Monday, Oct. 20. Before that deadline, seven out of the nine universities presented with the compact publicly rejected the offer. Vanderbilt University is the other school that has not publicly said whether it will accept or reject the offer. When the compact was first sent to universities, UT System officials said they were "honored" to be selected for potential funding advantages and "enthusiastically" looked forward to reviewing the document. A UT Austin spokesperson said Monday there were no updates on the matter.

It is also unclear whether Vanderbilt University will sign the compact. In an email sent to the community on Monday, the university's chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, said the university intended to provide feedback to the White House but did not say if it would accept or reject the offer. Earlier this month, President Trump said other universities, beyond the initial nine, were invited to sign the agreement in a post on Truth Social. Among other things, the compact asks universities to ensure single-sex spaces exist on campus in areas such as bathrooms and locker rooms; freeze tuition for five years; cap international undergrad student enrollment to 15% overall and to "provide instruction in American civics to all foreign students." The compact also asks academic institutions to revise government structures to ensure free speech and abolish institutional units that "belittle" or "spark violence" against conservative ideas. It calls for faculty and staff to restrain from commenting on social or political events as university personnel. The White House told universities it is aiming to sign an official agreement by Nov. 21. As the UT Austin community waits to hear university officials' decision, there are other issues playing out across the larger UT System. Students in Austin and Dallas are involved in a legal battle regarding freedom of speech. There is uncertainty about the future of gender studies courses after a system-wide audit was announced. Additionally, a UT Austin professor was dismissed from his administrative duties last week due to "ideological differences."

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Feds revoke Dallas activist’s DACA status, detain him over social media posts

Jacob “Yaa’kub” Ira Vijandre came to the U.S. at age 14 with his father, who had a work visa for a job as an aircraft mechanic. He later obtained legal residency status through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and has lived in North Texas since 2022. The life he has built in Dallas is now in jeopardy, his lawyers said, because he exercised his First Amendment right to free speech. Vijandre’s DACA status was revoked last month over social media posts the government contends advocated for terrorism. Vijandre’s legal team said his case will test the constitutionality of the Trump administration’s expanding definition of terrorism.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Vijandre earlier this month, one day after he filmed a Richardson City Council meeting where residents spoke out against the ICE detainment of a Dallas-area Muslim community leader. According to his legal team, six ICE vehicles arrived at his apartment and encircled him. Agents, with guns drawn, arrested him and took him to the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, near Abilene. Despite Vijandre’s clean record, the government said his legal residency status through DACA was terminated due to his social media posts. The revocation of Vijandre’s DACA status and subsequent detainment echoes other recent actions taken by the Trump administration to detain non-citizens and revoke their visas due to actions normally protected by the First Amendment. A hearing in Vijandre’s case on Tuesday was continued until Nov. 6. He will remain in custody, according to one of his attorneys. Originally from the Philippines, Vijandre, 38, converted to Islam a few years ago and found a home in the Dallas-area Muslim community, and has become known for his activism. He has become a fixture at pro-Palestine protests, which he often films. As a self-styled photojournalist, he posts regularly about issues such as the war in Gaza and makes videos on Filipino martial arts.

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SEC fines Texas A&M $50,000, issues public reprimand of Mike Elko for having player fake injury

The SEC fined Texas A&M $50,000 fine and coach Mike Elko received a public reprimand Tuesday after the National Coordinator for Football Officiating reviewed tape of an incident in the fourth quarter of the Aggies' win over Arkansas. The review determined Texas A&M directed a player to go down with a fake injury. The Aggies pulled out a 45-42 victory Saturday over the Razorbacks to remain one of six undefeated teams in the country, but things got tight for the Aggies in the fourth quarter as Arkansas hung around in another shootout between the two teams.

The incident in question happened at the 12:55 mark of the fourth quarter after Arkansas completed a pass for a first down at the Aggies' 10-yard line. After the ball was spotted for the next play, defensive back Tyreek Chappell went to the ground after coaches on the A&M sideline signaled "signaling demonstratively to the player, pointing to the ground." Video of the play reviewed by the SEC and National Coordinator showed Chappell was not contacted on the play and he returned to the game on the second play of the ensuing defensive possession. As such, it was determined this was a violation of rules against players feigning injury, triggering the fine and public statement. Monitoring players feigning injury has become a point of emphasis in college football this year, and the Aggies are among the first to get publicly tagged with a fine for the practice. If it happens again, the fine for Texas A&M would double to $100,000 and if it happens a third time Elko would be suspended for a game and other staffers could face penalties as well.

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National Stories

Trump nominee withdraws from hearing after losing GOP votes

President Donald Trump‘s pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel announced on Tuesday that he withdrew from his Senate confirmation hearing after losing too many Republican votes over his leaked texts. Paul Ingrassia was scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) cast doubt on the nominee’s confirmation in light of Ingrassia’s alleged remarks in a group chat, saying, “He’s not going to pass.” After Thune called on Trump to drop his nominee, Ingrassia made the decision himself. “I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia posted on Truth Social. “I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout this process and will continue to serve President Trump and this administration to Make America Great Again!”

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Americans see insurance costs surge as health subsidy fight fuels shutdown

Millions of Americans are already seeing their health insurance costs soar for 2026 as Congress remains deadlocked over extending covid-era subsidies for premiums. The bitter fight sparked a government shutdown at the start of October. Democrats refuse to vote on government-funding legislation unless it extends the subsidies, while Republicans insist on separate negotiations after reopening the government. Now lawmakers face greater pressure to act as Americans who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act are seeing, or about to see, the consequences of enhanced subsidies expiring at the end of the year. Healthcare.gov — the federal website used by 28 states — is expected to post plan offerings early next week ahead of the start of open enrollment in November. But window shopping has already begun in most of the 22 states that run their own marketplaces, offering a preview of the sticker shock to come.

Premiums nationwide are set to rise by 18 percent on average, according to an analysis of preliminary rate filings by the nonpartisan health policy group KFF. That, combined with the loss of extra subsidies, have left Americans with the worst year-over-year price hikes in the 12 years since the marketplaces launched. Nationally, the average marketplace consumer will pay $1,904 in annual premiums next year, up from $888 in 2025, according to KFF. The situation is particularly acute in Georgia, which recorded the second-highest enrollment of any state-run marketplace this year and posted prices for 2026 earlier in October. About 96 percent of marketplace enrollees in Georgia received subsidies this year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank that supports extending the subsidies. Now Georgians browsing the state website are seeing estimated monthly costs double or even triple, depending on their incomes, as lower subsidy thresholds resume. “We have people saying they will have to choose between their monthly premiums and mortgage,” said Natasha Taylor, deputy director of Georgia Watch, a consumer advocacy group. For example, a family of four earning $82,000 a year in Georgia could see their annual premium double to around $7,000 for a plan with midrange coverage, according to a CBPP analysis. If that family earned at least $130,000, they would have to pay the full cost of the annual premium, about $24,000 instead of $11,000.

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A significant group of Americans are falling behind on their car payments - an economic warning sign

A key group of American borrowers is falling significantly behind on their car loans. It’s yet another sign that the US economy is forming some serious cracks, leaving the most vulnerable in financial distress. The percentage of subprime borrowers – those with credit scores below 670 – who are at least 60 days late on their car loans has doubled since 2021 to 6.43%, according to Fitch Ratings. That’s worse than during the past three recessions – during the Covid pandemic, the Great Recession or the dot-com bust. America’s current subprime delinquency rate is at the second-highest level since the early 1990s. The only time it was higher: this past January. Cars are being repossessed at the highest rate since the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009.

It’s a disturbing trend to economists: Car loans are typically the last payments that Americans are willing to miss. They’re too important to their lives: Cars are essential tools to get to work, drive families and access food. Record car prices and high interest rates, combined with other inflationary pressures, have sent average auto payments to record levels and have put significant stress on car owners. Although the financial stress on subprime car borrowers has stabilized in 2025 after large increases in late payments and repossessions over the past two years, economists fear what might happen if the labor market grows considerably weaker and layoffs become more common. For subprime borrowers, the default rate – those whose cars have been or are about to be repossessed – which stood at nearly 10% in September, according to Cox Automotive data. That’s down from a year ago but above the long-term average.

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Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter arrested after threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries, authorities say

A New York man pardoned by President Donald Trump for his crimes during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was arrested over the weekend and accused of threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Christopher Moynihan, 34, had said on Friday that “in a few days, he would kill Congressman Jeffries in New York City for ‘the future,’” according to court records. He was charged with one felony count of making a terroristic threat. Moynihan was a part of a group of insurrectionists who were caught on video rifling through senators’ desks, with him saying, “There’s got to be something we can use against these fucking scumbags.” He was then photographed alongside “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley while standing on the Senate dais.

He was sentenced to 21 months in prison in 2022, but only served a year before being released pending appeal after the Supreme Court heard a challenge arguing against the obstruction charge used against Jan. 6 rioters. An anonymous source told the FBI they suspected Moynihan of recent drug abuse and an “increase” in “homicidal ideations,” according to New York State Police. His arrest was first reported by CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane. Prosecutors said they are in possession of a text message exchange from Friday in which Moynihan said, “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live” and “even if I am hated he must be eliminated.” Asked on Tuesday whether Trump made a mistake with Moynihan’s pardon, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he hasn’t been briefed on the case. “I don’t know any of the details of this at all. I don’t know who is alleged to be involved in this,” Johnson told reporters. “I will say that anybody, anybody that threatens political violence against elected officials or anyone else should have the full weight and measure of the Department of Justice on their head. … We are intellectually consistent about that, obviously.”

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How Obama maneuvered behind the scenes to fight Trump on redistricting

In late July, Barack Obama spoke with his former attorney general, Eric Holder, about how Democrats should respond to President Donald Trump’s unprecedented mid-decade push to add five favorable U.S. House seats to protect the Republican majority. They had each spent days conflicted about what to do. Both had previously championed nonpartisan redistricting. But they agreed that letting Trump’s effort in Texas go unanswered wasn’t an option. They kept coming back to a plan from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) that would offset the move with five new Democratic-leaning seats. Within days, Holder drafted a statement endorsing the proposal and ran it by the former president, who quickly signed off. It marked a stark shift that, in their view, was a sign of the emergency measures they believed were required. “We’re doing things that kind of go against what we talked about,” Holder said. But they decided, “we have to preserve our democracy if ultimately we’re going to heal it.”

That phone call set in motion an urgent behind-the-scenes effort by the former president to rally support for California’s Proposition 50, which is on the ballot in a Nov. 4 special election. If successful, it would mark a concrete countermeasure against Trump’s agenda less than a year into his second term — the kind that Obama has increasingly come to believe is necessary. Obama’s involvement in the redistricting fight is a reflection of the deep anxieties he harbors about Trump’s second term, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking. It has propelled the ex-president into a more political and public-facing role than he once envisioned. With his enduring popularity and the party still struggling to unite behind new leaders after losing the White House and Congress, no other Democrat commands his level of authority or reach. “I think it’s really clear that President Obama left office fully intending to play the role that traditionally had been played by former presidents, and that is to go about their interests, professional and otherwise, and leaving the governance up to their successors,” said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-South Carolina), a longtime Obama ally. But, he added, “we are not living in ordinary times. And extraordinary times require extraordinary action.” This article is based on interviews with 19 people, including those close to Obama and Newsom, as well as Democratic strategists and outside advisers, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Obama declined to be interviewed.

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Arizona AG sues to force House Speaker Johnson to seat Democrat Adelita Grijalva

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on Tuesday filed a lawsuit to try to force House Speaker Mike Johnson to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, the Arizona Democrat who won her late father’s seat in a special election nearly one month ago. Johnson, R-La., has said he will seat Grijalva once Senate Democrats agree to reopen the government. But the two parties haven’t been talking for weeks, and there is no indication when the shutdown might end. The lawsuit, which Mayes threatened in a letter to Johnson last week, argues that the speaker’s delay is depriving the 813,000 residents living in Arizona’s 7th District of congressional representation. It lists the state of Arizona and Grijalva herself as plaintiffs and the U.S. House, as well as the House clerk and sergeant at arms, as defendants.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is actively stripping the people of Arizona of one of their seats in Congress and disenfranchising the voters of Arizona’s seventh Congressional district in the process,” Mayes said in a statement. “By blocking Adelita Grijalva from taking her rightful oath of office, he is subjecting Arizona’s seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own democracy.” As he left the Capitol on Tuesday evening, Johnson blasted the Arizona lawsuit as “patently absurd.” Mayes, he said, has “no jurisdiction.” Grijalva and congressional Democrats have been holding news conferences on Capitol Hill, doing TV interviews and staging protests outside Johnson’s office to try to pressure the speaker to relent. But Mayes’ move escalates the standoff and gets the courts involved.

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State Democratic parties face a funding dilemma. Can the DNC actually help?

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in Democratic National Committee funding increases will hit the bank accounts of state parties starting this month, injecting much-needed cash into state-level coffers. The money is appreciated, Democratic leaders told NOTUS, but it just will not go very far. The DNC will increase monthly payments to state parties by $5,000 for blue states and $10,000 for red states as part of the State Partnership Program the party announced in April. That brings monthly transfers to $17,500 for blue states and $22,500 for red states — the DNC’s largest month-to-month investment into state parties in history, totaling over $1 million per month. “The boom and bust political cycles are devastating for recruiting talent and recruiting candidates and being able to fund these off year, down-ballot races,” said Libby Schneider, deputy executive director of the DNC. “How do you build relationships with people if you have a staff of two for a state that’s 800 miles wide? You just can’t.”

The DNC has accurately identified the problem, but solving it will cost significantly more than several thousand extra dollars a month, state leaders said The DNC is having a tough fundraising year, falling significantly behind the Republican party over the summer. At the state level, party leaders say big donors are skeptical after Democrats suffered bruising losses in the 2024 cycle and, without consistent financing, they cannot build the party infrastructure to prove they are worth investing in. “It is a chicken and egg, and we’re still suffering, but I can’t keep the capacity without the staff,” Lauren Craig, the executive director of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, told NOTUS. “It’s very difficult, and especially when we got hit hard with the post-Kamala backlash of donors canceling all of their ActBlue monthly recurring donations.” “We’ve had major donor after major donor retaliate against the DNC by cutting their donations to our party,” Craig added.

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Lead Stories

'Inflection point': leadership shakeups over ideological differences continue at UT

Art Markman started at the University of Texas 27 years ago as a psychology professor. After taking on several leadership roles, he rose in the ranks to oversee academic affairs at the acclaimed institution, which offers nearly 400 undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Even as top leadership turned over in recent years and conservative lawmakers extended their influence into state colleges and universities, Markman remained in the post for four-and-a-half years. But in mid-September, the university fired him from his position as senior vice provost for academic affairs “due to ideological differences,” he told colleagues in an online post Tuesday.

The quiet removal of the university leader marks yet another departure from UT due to differences in vision as new leadership aims to reshape the university. Six of 18 dean positions are held by interim or soon-to-be departing leaders, a reflection of the tremendous turnover the university has grappled with over the past two years. Since the start of 2025, the UT System named a new chancellor, and the flagship Austin campus installed a new president and provost. All three leaders were announced as finalists without faculty input or a national search. “We’re at an inflection point,” said Cal Jillson, a Southern Methodist University political science professor who studies political interference in higher education. “The conservative political leadership of the state, I think, has become impatient.” Markman’s departure from the administrative role comes as the UT System audits gender identity courses for compliance with the law and leadership’s “priorities,” and “enthusiastically” reviews a compact offered by the administration of President Donald Trump that would give UT special funding benefits in exchange for agreeing to certain demands. Students say these developments spark fear that allegiance to conservative priorities could impede their education, such as a professor’s ability to teach about or recognize the existence of transgender people. William Inboden, UT’s new provost and second-in-command, oversaw Markman.

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GOP senators ready to dump Trump nominee with self-proclaimed ‘Nazi streak’

Republican senators are lining up to oppose one of President Donald Trump’s nominees who reportedly said in a leaked group chat that Martin Luther King Jr. Day should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell,” and that he has “a Nazi streak.” Paul Ingrassia, an attorney nominated by Trump to lead the Office of Special Counsel, allegedly made these and other racist comments in leaked group chat messages obtained by Politico. Ingrassia is scheduled to appear Thursday in a confirmation hearing with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, but his confirmation, which requires simple majority approval from the Senate, seems to be doomed. Republican Sen. James Lankford told reporters Monday night that Ingrassia should withdraw. “I have tons of questions for him when he comes on Thursday, but I can’t imagine supporting that,” Lankford said.

Lankford said he had already spoken to Ingrassia in his office previously, but “if he comes to the hearing, I want to be able to ask him questions point-blank.” Other Republicans have voiced their opposition as well. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida told Semafor that he does not “plan on voting for” Ingrassia. “I’m not supporting him,” said Scott in an interview with Politico on Monday. “I can’t imagine how anybody can be antisemitic in this country. It’s wrong.” And Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said that he is not supporting the nomination and that he thinks Trump should pull the nomination entirely. “I think you know why,” Johnson told reporters. Ingrassia’s leaked group chats are just the latest in a string of Nazi-related incidents affecting Republican politics this month. Last week, another series of group chat messages leaked to Politico reportedly captured a number of local and state leaders in GOP-affiliated Young Republican groups using hundreds of racial slurs and homophobic insults, as well as jokes about Nazis, gas chambers and rape. “I love Hitler,” one professed. “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” another replied.

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Greg Abbott could gain new leverage over Democratic judges under ballot measure

Gov. Greg Abbott could soon have a powerful new tool to go after Democratic judges he’s deemed too lenient under a proposal on the November ballot. The constitutional amendment would let the governor appoint a majority of the members on the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, effectively giving him control over the panel that reviews complaints against judges and can reprimand them or even recommend their removal. Proponents of Proposition 12, including state Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican who authored the proposal, say it is aimed at boosting public participation in the commission by allowing the governor two additional citizen appointments. It would also get rid of the panel’s ability to issue private reprimands, which supporters say is meant to make the commission’s decisions more transparent.

But critics contend the changes would effectively convert what is now a minority of citizen representatives into a majority of political appointees. Abbott would name seven of the 13 members and no longer face restrictions barring him from picking lawyers and state employees. The state supreme court would still appoint six judges to the panel, but the State Bar Association, a group that Abbott and other Republicans have clashed with in recent years, would lose its two lawyer appointees. “The governor would unilaterally control that commission now,” said Jesse Hoffman, a Dallas lawyer and former assistant attorney general. “If any judge disrupts the governor, or anybody who the governor is willing to take marching orders from, he would now have a powerful tool to get that judge back in line or get him or her out of the way entirely.” Abbott has vocally criticized Democratic judges, sometimes calling them out by name, as he pushed for new bail restrictions this year, which are also on the ballot this November. If the amendment passes, the commission would be allowed to discipline judges who “willfully or persistently” violate bail rules.

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The day Amazon broke the Internet for millions of Americans

A glitch with an obscure Amazon database disrupted life for millions of people across the U.S. as core internet services failed to function for an array of companies. Alexa devices couldn’t hear. Corporate Slack messages wouldn’t post. Students couldn’t turn in assignments or access materials from courses. Financial trades were impossible on certain platforms. Users of Zoom, Venmo, Instacart and a host of other services faced prolonged outages that rippled through homes and businesses. The trouble started a few hours after midnight on the East Coast. A minor update to what’s called the Domain Name System—the kind of software tweak that happens millions of times a day on the internet—sent the well-oiled machine that underpins the modern web careening toward a crash. DNS acts as a kind of telephone directory for the internet, instructing machines on how to find each other. The faulty update gave the wrong information for DynamoDB, an Amazon Web Services product that has become one of the world’s most important databases.

Suddenly, machines on the East Coast that tried to process trillions of requests were getting the internet’s equivalent of a wrong number. Amazon services were some of the first to feel the effects. At around 2 a.m. on Monday morning, the systems that help Amazon sort packages onto trucks and guide drivers on the road went down, according to an internal message viewed by The Wall Street Journal. By 3 a.m., the outage’s blast radius had spread far beyond Amazon, cascading across the internet, delaying more than 4,000 flights, knocking out news websites such as The Wall Street Journal, affecting financial transactions and extending into everyday life. The episode, which turned into one of the most prolonged daily outages for Amazon Web Services, offered a reminder of the fragility of global connectivity, which has gone dark a number of times in recent years after seemingly minor software updates. By late afternoon Monday, Amazon said it had restored much of the service that had been knocked offline.

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State Stories

State Fair of Texas sees decrease of nearly 400K in total attendance

The State Fair of Texas wrapped up this weekend, and social media comments about lighter crowds than usual were reflected in the in the final attendance number, Around 2 million people attended the event this year, according to a news release. This comes after the State Fair of Texas reported 2,385,855 people attended the event in 2024. An exact count was not reported, but this could be the least attended State Fair since 2018 when 2,049,118 people attended. Since the 2020 cancelation of the fair due to COVID-19, the lowest official attendance has been 2,202,689 in 2021.

The State Fair opened Sept. 26 this year before having its final day Sunday. The Dallas Morning News reported on the online discussion about low attendance this year earlier this month, writing that people involved with the fair said the beginning of the festival is always the slowest. “The fair is not empty,” State Fair spokesperson Karissa Condoianis said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “There are plenty of people here. People are coming to the fair. So I would say don’t always believe what you see.” A few days after the story ran, about 193,000 people attended the fair on the Saturday of the Red River Rivalry game between Texas and Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl. That was the first time since 2018 under 200,000 people attended the fair on game day.

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Texas Tech banning throwing of tortillas at opening kickoff of home games

Texas Tech Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt announced the athletic department will no longer permit the throwing of tortillas at opening kickoff. “As we move forward, we are no longer going to encourage nor permit the throwing of tortillas at the opening kickoff for our home football games,” Hocutt said Monday during a weekly news conference with coach Joey McGuire. The announcement comes after Texas Tech received a fine from the Big 12 for fans continuing to throw tortillas onto the field well after kickoff during the homecoming game against Kansas.

Some Texas Tech students responded to the banning of tortillas, and while they say they’re understanding of the situation, they’re still upset with the decision. “I was shocked because when I first came here, everyone was saying the tortilla throwing was tradition,” freshman Kristin Keroti said, “so just hearing that they banned it, I can’t believe they kind of just threw away the whole tradition.” Another first-year student agreed with Keroti and said although it’s an understanding move by Texas Tech, the tradition is being taken away from new Red Raiders. “I kind of understand why,” Tochi Emerruem said, “but it kind of hurt a little bit, because being part of that tradition and especially being a freshman and everything, it was a great experience. There’s nothing to look forward to now.” However, one student said he will continue to throw the tortillas during the opening kickoff despite the ban. He also doesn’t expect to be the only one going against the new rule.

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Lubbock ISD Superintendent Dr. Kathy Rollo fully exonerated following TEA investigation

The Texas Education Agency has officially closed its investigation into Lubbock ISD Superintendent Dr. Kathy Rollo, fully exonerating her after a complaint was filed earlier this year. “The TEA Educator Investigations Division found no evidence of wrongdoing and determined allegations were without merit, fully exonerating Dr. Rollo. The case is closed, and the investigative warning has been removed from her record,” according to a statement released by Lubbock ISD Board of Trustees President Ryan Curry. Curry also thanked Dr. Rollo for her full cooperation throughout the investigation. Dr. Rollo received notice of the TEA’s conclusion of the investigation on Friday, Oct. 17.

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Texas Impact's Moorhead provides details of amendments to TDW

The Hill Country chapter of Texas Democratic Women welcomed Bee Moorhead to explain constitutional amendments that will appear on the Nov 5 ballot. Moorhead is the director of Texas Impact, a faith-based advocacy group that educates congregations and their leaders so they can engage with local lawmakers and be involved with policy change. "The U.S. Constitution has been amended a handful of times since 1787, but the Texas Constitution has been amended 528 times in the past 125 or so years," Moorhead said. "It's like a pier and beam house that has been remodeled and added onto. We've built stories and added buildings, but we never actually go in and level the piers."

Texas voters now face ballots crowded with 17 potential amendments. "At this year's Constitutional Amendment election there's the most amendments I can remember being on a ballot," Moorhead said. Moorhead broke down the 17 propositions into a few core categories. "Ten out of the 17 amendments have to do with tax provisions. Of those 10, seven of them are property tax exemptions." She warned that each exemption can create an imbalance as they shift the property tax burden to those who don't qualify. "The normal way to describe a stable tax system is as a three-legged stool," Moorhead said. "Texas already is down to two legs because we don't have an income tax." She pointed to her own household as an example of how exemptions shift costs to non-exempt taxpayers. "My husband is over 65 and that means we benefit from certain property tax exemptions," Moorhead said. "The woman who delivers our mail, the woman who cleans our house, the person who works at H-E-B who helped me carry the heavy potting soil out to my car, they all are not over 65."

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Former Texas pastor and longtime SBC Executive Committee leader Morris Chapman, has died

Morris Chapman, a longtime leader of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, died Monday. He was 84. “In a world where so many have fallen, he was faithful to the end,” current SBC President Clint Pressley posted on social media in tribute to Chapman. “Southern Baptists like me owe men like him a debt of gratitude. Praying the Lord is close to his family and especially his widow Jodi in the days ahead.” Chapman led the Nashville-based Executive Committee from 1992 to 2010, during a time when conservatives solidified their control of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Before that, Chapman served two years as SBC president during the tail-end of a long battle between conservative and moderate Southern Baptists.

James Merritt, another former SBC president, said Chapman helped the denomination get back on track after the end of that battle by focusing on the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s long-running program for funding missions and national ministries. He referred to Chapman as a “Christian gentleman” who was devoted to the SBC. “Morris came out at a very strategic time,” said Merritt. “Healing needed to take place. He struck a good chord, trying to bring people together.” When he was elected in 1992, Morris said that he saw his role as rallying Southern Baptists together. “I see myself as carrying out the will of the majority and carrying out genuine healing among Southern Baptists,” Chapman said after his election was announced during a February 1992 meeting of the Executive Committee, according to the archives of Baptist Press, a denominational publication.

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Fort Worth congressman seeks answers from Dallas ICE center

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey says his questions about the conditions at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office are going unanswered, even after making a visit there on Monday. The Fort Worth Democrat has submitted inquiries to ICE over the past several months that haven’t received responses, according to his office. Among them is a July 28 letter about accounts of “inhumane treatment of detainees” at the Dallas field office at 8101 N. Stemmons Freeway. The office falls within Congressional District 33, which he represents. Veasey said he’s heard “terrible stories” about the conditions, such as people being deprived sleep, food and water or being detained longer than they’re supposed to.

The letter describes reports of people being detained for more than a week without access to running water, air conditioning or a proper place to sleep. In one case, a detainee didn’t get his medicine for days, despite bringing it to the center, according to the letter. Veasey visited the office on Monday, Oct. 20, seeking answers and hoping to see the center for himself, but told reporters he left without answers or going inside. “Under the law, under the constitution, they have an obligation to answer our questions and answer our inquiries that we make to them,” Veasey said. “And they’re not doing that right now. They’re being secretive.” Veasey’s office requested a tour for the congressman and staff in August but didn’t receive a response, according to a spokesperson. Members of Congress are generally permitted to enter an ICE facility without notice when conducting oversight, according to Department of Homeland Security guidance. “If what is being asked of me and what is being told of me is wrong, open up the doors and show me, man,” Veasey said. “Open up the doors and show me.” Spokespersons for ICE or Homeland Security did not immediately return emails seeking comment. Veasey said a representative from the Dallas field office told him on Monday that inquiries are handled out of a government affairs office in Washington D.C., not the local site.

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Texas Workforce Commission gives child care help to employers who need solutions

The Texas Workforce Commission is providing assistance to employers who want to help meet the child care needs of their employees. The state agency announced its Employer Child Care Solutions initiative on Monday, encouraging employers to apply with the greater goal of enhancing the Texas workforce. Technical assistance will be provided to employers to help them facilitate child care solutions at or near their workplaces. This includes learning what resources their employees need, exploring how to work with a child care provider to offer site-based child care, and considering creation of an employer-supported program. Employers will receive support services such as employee needs assessments, feasibility and cost analysis studies, and business plan development.

“The new Employer Child Care Solutions initiative is about bringing folks together to help working families find affordable, quality child care,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Alberto Treviño III. “When parents have reliable child care, they can focus on their jobs, provide for their families, and keep our Texas economy strong.” Services will be provided to employers on a first-come, first-served basis. Employers don’t have to be based in Texas but must have employees who work in Texas. Officials noted that funding will not be provided through the initiative, only technical assistance. The Star-Telegram has asked TWC officials for details on how many employers can receive services and when the services will be available. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study found the Texas economy loses about $9.4 billion annually due to child care obstacles faced by working parents. A coalition of Texas businesses known as the Employers for Childcare Task Force advocated for child care reform ahead of the 2025 regular legislative session, underscoring issues of turnover and understaffing due to a lack of accessible, affordable and quality child care. Notable legislation approved by lawmakers included $100 million in additional funding for state child care subsidies and removing red tape from child care homes and family-based care.

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Mayor’s request for ICE collaboration met with 'hell no' from some council members

Six members of the Dallas City Council issued statements over the weekend condemning Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson’s calls for a potential partnership between the Dallas Police Department and federal immigration officials, stating that such a collaboration would erode the public’s trust in its local police force. For months, community members have asked for more clarity as to the Dallas Police Department’s level of involvement with local Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. During a Community Police Oversight Board meeting on Tuesday, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux assured the board that DPD has not entered into a partnership with ICE, going as far as to say the department turned down a $25 million offer to enter into a 287(g) program contract. The program grants immigration enforcement jurisdiction to local law officers, and a new state law will require county sheriff’s offices to adopt the policy next year.

Friday afternoon, Johnson sent a letter to several council members criticizing Comeaux’s decision. The memorandum, issued to council members Cara Mendelsohn and Maxie Johnson, chair of the public safety and government efficiency committees, respectively, instructs the two committees to hold a joint meeting with ICE officials and Comeaux to explore whether the 287(g) program could be a lucrative opportunity for the City of Dallas. “Clearly, participation in ICE’s Task Force Model could provide significant financial benefits to the city. The Dallas Police Department could use these funds to, for example, hire additional officers with no impact on the city’s budget,” Johnson wrote. “Dallas might be forfeiting significant direct financial benefits by declining ICE’s offer. Therefore, I am now asking your committees to explore the potential benefits of participating in the 287(g) program.” The memo also implies that Johnson does not feel the decision to opt out of the program was one Comeaux should have been able to make unilaterally, and that DPD’s participation in 287(g) could help keep “violent criminals off our streets.”

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Dallas City Hall repairs could top $345 million, staff report says

A Dallas City Council committee will meet Tuesday to discuss the future of Dallas City Hall as new estimates show repairs for the deteriorating downtown building could be well above $345 million. A staff presentation released Monday afternoon ahead of the council’s finance committee meeting estimates the nearly 50-year-old building’s maintenance needs for water damage repairs, garage structural repairs and a host of other issues range from at least $152 million to more than $345 million. “The City is at an inflection point: either begin addressing the significant investment needs or accept the potential risks, costs, and disruptions of deferred maintenance,” reads the presentation, which is expected to be given Tuesday by Assistant City Manager Donzell Gipson and John Johnson, facilities and real estate management director. The document warns that deferring maintenance could lead to costly emergencies, service disruptions and even temporary closures of the building.

Last year, city officials estimated at least $60 million was needed for critical repairs, but council member Chad West, who chairs the finance committee, recently told The Dallas Morning News that he’d been told needed repairs could top $100 million. The presentation said additional expense is anticipated for work required to comply with current code. West told The News on Monday that the latest repair estimates are just “city staffs’ best guesses,” not based on a full inspection. “I wasn’t surprised necessarily,” West said when asked about his reaction to the revised potential repair bill. “But I was more disappointed than I had been to realize the level of deferred maintenance that had been allowed to build up over decades.” He specifically pointed to estimates that the city needed up to $145 million to repair its two-level underground parking garage and possibly more than $10 million for upgrades to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act as among the top issues that jumped out to him.

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UT Austin blocks grad student assembly political speech

Officials at the University of Texas at Austin blocked the Graduate Student Assembly from considering two resolutions against Texas state laws last week, arguing that the student-run body must follow institutional neutrality policies. Mateo Vallejo, a first-year master’s student and representative in the GSA for the School of Social Work, drafted two resolutions for the assembly to consider: one condemning Texas SB 17, which bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Texas public institutions, and another against Texas SB 37, a state law that, among other changes, put faculty senates at public institutions under the control of university presidents and boards. On Oct. 10, GSA president David Spicer submitted the two resolutions to Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Christopher J. McCarthy for approval.

According to the assembly bylaws, the dean of students’ office must approve all proposed GSA legislation before it can be considered by the full assembly, effectively giving the office an opportunity to veto, Vallejo explained. Once a bill is submitted to the dean’s office, the assembly cannot make any changes to the text. Vallejo, Spicer and the GSA vice president were careful to follow the bylaws during the drafting process to give administrators as little reason as possible to shut the resolutions down. Five days later, McCarthy nixed them. “[Vice President for Legal Affairs] considers the legislation to be political speech that is not permitted to be issued by a sponsored student organization in their official capacity,” McCarthy wrote in an email to Spicer, which Inside Higher Ed obtained. “This legislation should not be permitted to go forward.” Spicer followed up, asking why the GSA was prohibited from engaging in political speech when others have done so in their official capacity at UT Austin. He pointed to an op-ed by Provost William Inboden in the conservative magazine National Affairs and a statement from University of Texas System Board of Regents chairman Kevin P. Eltife, who said the university was “honored” to be among the institutions “selected by the Trump Administration for potential funding advantages” under Trump’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

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Does it matter that Fort Worth has lacked a state senator in the Legislature?

Fort Worth, which is on the cusp of being one of the 10 largest cities in the nation, is also the state’s biggest city without a resident serving in the 31-member Texas Senate. As early voting starts in a special election to replace former Tarrant County Sen. Kelly Hancock, the prospect of erasing that distinction appears uncertain at best with only one of three candidates a resident of the city. It’s been a decade since Wendy Davis, a former Fort Worth City Council member, served in the Senate. Beverly Powell was largely identified as being from Burleson, where she previously served on the school board. She lived in an unincorporated part of Fort Worth during her time in the Senate, which ended in 2023.

The absence of a Fort Worth resident in the Senate has been a source of at least behind-the-scenes grousing among some business leaders and policymakers across the city, political insiders say. A resident of Panther City could understand its history and growth, offering that nuanced perspective when policy comes forward. “It was a concern when I was mayor,” said Betsy Price, who oversaw the city from 2011-21. “I hear it mentioned repeatedly, particularly among some of the downtown crowd and other business leaders.” However, Price and others note that Fort Worth has long had elected leaders looking out for the city’s interests no matter their home addresses. “We’ve had public servants who were big enough to serve the whole area,” she said. Hancock, a Republican who held the Senate District 9 seat before resigning this year to become acting Texas comptroller, is from nearby North Richland Hills. Sen. Phil King, who represents part of Fort Worth in the neighboring multicounty Senate District 10, lives in Weatherford though the GOP senator has Cowtown roots and was a former Fort Worth policeman.

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Half of new Texas teachers aren’t certified. State legislation tries to change that

Texas’ new state education funding bill includes money to certify more teachers, but experts say it will take time to fix the growing problem. In 2023-24, more than half of new Texas teachers were uncertified, up from about 11% a decade ago. Bridget Worley, chief state impact officer with the education nonprofit the Commit Partnership, called it a crisis, and one that will hurt students. “Students who are taught by uncertified teachers with no prior classroom experience lose three to four months of learning in reading and math,” Worley said at the recent Margaret J. Hirsch Women’s Forum, held in partnership with United to Learn and D Magazine.

What’s more, she said uncertified teachers leave the field sooner than certified instructors, impacting students and budgets. Uncertified teachers or those with emergency permits have helped ease the state’s ongoing teacher shortage, but now lawmakers are trying to address the issue. Under Texas’ new $8.5 billion school funding bill, all K-12 core educators must be certified. “We need to figure out how to get more certified teachers in our school systems,” Worley said. Dallas ISD trustee Ben Mackey said his district hasn’t been immune to certification concerns. At the same forum, he said 12% of Dallas ISD’s current teachers lack certification. And while he also said 20% of new teachers aren’t certified, he added that’s better than statewide numbers. He attributes that to the district’s teacher retention efforts. “If we retain our educators at better rates,” Mackey said, “we have less new teacher vacancies to fill and we can spend more time developing the new teachers we do bring in.” He called it a kind of reinforcing cycle.

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Cards Against Humanity and Elon Musk's SpaceX reach settlement over alleged trespassing in Texas

SpaceX has settled a lawsuit filed by the maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity over accusations that Elon Musk’s rocket company trespassed and damaged a plot of land the card company owns in Texas. Texas court records show a settlement was reached in the case last month, just weeks before a jury trial was scheduled to begin on Nov. 3. The card maker said in a statement Monday that it could not disclose the terms, and SpaceX did not return email and telephone messages left with the company and its Texas lawyer seeking comment. Cards Against Humanity, which is headquartered in Chicago, originally purchased the plot of land in 2017 as part of what it said was a stunt to oppose President Donald Trump’s efforts to build a border wall.

In its lawsuit, Cards Against Humanity alleges SpaceX essentially treated the game company’s property — located in Cameron County in far south Texas — as its own for at least six months. The lawsuit said SpaceX, which had previously acquired other plots of land near the property, had placed construction materials, such as gravel, and other debris on the land without asking for permission to do so. Cards Against Humanity said in an email Monday to The Associated Press that SpaceX admitted during the discovery phase of the case to trespassing on its property. The company said a trial “would have cost more than what we were likely to win from SpaceX.” “The upside is that SpaceX has removed their construction equipment from our land and we’re able to work with a local landscaping company to restore the land to its natural state: devoid of space garbage and pointless border walls.”

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X lawsuit vs. Apple and OpenAI stays in Fort Worth; judge suggests they move there

A judge ordered that X and xAI’s lawsuit accusing Apple and OpenAI of trying to maintain monopolies in artificial intelligence markets must remain in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, despite “at best minimal connections” to that geographic area by any of the companies. Judge Mark Pittman, in a sharply ironic four-page order on Thursday, encouraged the companies to relocate their headquarters to Fort Worth, given their preference for the antitrust lawsuit to be heard there. In a footnote, he even flagged the companies to the website of the Business Services unit of the City of Fort Worth “to get the process started” of relocating there. Pittman’s order implicitly aims at the tendency of some plaintiffs of a conservative bent to file lawsuits in the Fort Worth division of the U.S. Northern District of Texas courts to increase their chances of winning favorable rulings from the two active judges there, both of whom were appointed by Republicans.

Those plaintiffs have included X and Tesla, both controlled by mega-billionaire Elon Musk, who, until earlier this year, was a top advisor to President Donald Trump. Pittman was appointed by Trump, but has been critical of the practice of targeting lawsuits to specific judicial districts, known as forum-shopping. In his order on Thursday, Pittman said that the Fort Worth division’s docket is two to three times busier than the docket of the Dallas division, which has more judges. Pittman’s order noted that neither Apple nor OpenAI has a strong connection to Fort Worth, other than several Apple stores. “And, of course, under that logic, there is not a district and division in the entire United States that would not be an appropriate venue for this lawsuit,” Pittman wrote. X Corp. is headquartered in Bastrop, Texas — roughly 200 miles south of Fort Worth — while both Apple and OpenAI are headquartered in California. Musk’s xAI acquired his social media company X in March in an all-stock transaction.

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Austin, Travis County declare preemptive disaster orders for wildfire risk

Travis County and the city of Austin issued preemptive disaster declarations Monday morning due to high wildfire risks, local officials said. During a joint news conference, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said the declarations are intended to speed up wildfire response. The orders allow officials to activate local emergency operations centers, request state assistance, and reassign staff or equipment for fire protection without waiting for City Council or Commissioners Court approval. They also help speed up reimbursement from state and federal agencies if a disaster occurs.

Watson noted that Austin now ranks fifth in the nation for the number of homes at risk of wildfire. “We’re in particularly perilous conditions,” he said. “Whether you live downtown or in the county, wildfire could affect you and your family.” The declarations were made as burn bans remain in effect across Central Texas, including in Travis County. The wildfire risk worsened after deadly flash floods in northwestern Travis County in July, according to Travis County Fire Marshal Gary Howell. The flooding spurred new vegetation growth that has since dried out during what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls a “flash drought.” A flash drought develops when dry conditions set in unusually quickly, over weeks instead of months. After a wet July, Central Texas has been dry through August, September and October. Monday marked 43 consecutive days without measurable rain in Austin. Any extension of the declarations beyond seven days requires approval from the City Council or Commissioners Court. The Austin City Council will vote Thursday on extending the declaration through Dec. 11, while the Travis County Commissioners Court will decide during its Tuesday meeting.

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National Stories

GOP leaders map out potential Obamacare extension as hard-liners warm to health talks

Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are quietly ramping up talks within their senior ranks and with White House officials over how to structure and advance a potential extension of key Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies before the end of the year, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the conversations. One option under serious consideration is, once the government shutdown ends, attaching a revamped subsidy framework to a small bipartisan package of full-year funding bills or a long-term stopgap running through early next year, the people said. GOP leaders have been encouraged as some of their party’s most conservative members warm up to potentially passing an extension — albeit with major provisos. GOP leaders map out potential Obamacare extension as hard-liners warm to health talks The discussions surround how to structure and advance an extension of key insurance subsidies before the end of the year. Mike Johnson, flanked by Chip Roy, Andy Harris, Tom Emmer and Steve Scalise, calls on a reporter during a press conference. At left, a photo from a No Kings rally is displayed. Speaker Mike Johnson, flanked by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Steve Scalise (R-La.), calls on a reporter during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Oct. 20, 2025. | Francis Chung/POLITICO By Meredith Lee Hill 10/21/2025 04:45 AM EDT Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are quietly ramping up talks within their senior ranks and with White House officials over how to structure and advance a potential extension of key Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies before the end of the year, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the conversations. One option under serious consideration is, once the government shutdown ends, attaching a revamped subsidy framework to a small bipartisan package of full-year funding bills or a long-term stopgap running through early next year, the people said. GOP leaders have been encouraged as some of their party’s most conservative members warm up to potentially passing an extension — albeit with major provisos. Key Republicans have floated a list of possible ways to curb the subsidies without eliminating them entirely when they expire on Dec. 31. Those include imposing an income cap for beneficiaries, forcing some individuals to pay a minimum out-of-pocket premium or grandfathering in current enrollees while cutting off new enrollment.

The expiring health insurance subsidies are at the heart of Democrats’ shutdown demands, and extending them will require a bipartisan deal to get them enacted in Congress. But while some Republicans are quietly talking about options across party lines, GOP leaders are publicly insisting they will only seriously discuss an extension deal after Democrats agree to reopen the government. Still, it’s significant that those leaders are sketching out what a deal might look like and how it might move through the House and Senate once agencies reopen. While the three people said the conversations remain high-level at this point, one option under early consideration is to pair a two-year extension of scaled-back subsidies with some other conservative health care policy provisions, then attach it to some of the annual spending bills that have so far been stuck in partisan limbo. Passing that package through the House would be tricky for Speaker Mike Johnson, who would likely face opposition from hard-liners firmly opposed to any extension of the Democratic health law known as Obamacare. The three people said the plan would involve advancing it through the chamber under “suspension of the rules,” a procedure that would sidestep a tricky party-line procedural vote but would require a two-thirds bipartisan majority to pass.

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White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom

Demolition crews on Monday began tearing down part of the White House to build President Donald Trump’s long-desired ballroom despite his pledge that construction of the $250 million addition wouldn’t “interfere” with the existing building. Construction teams were demolishing a portion of the East Wing, with a backhoe ripping through the structure, according to a photo shared with The Washington Post and two people who witnessed the activity and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it. A cluster of people, including members of the Secret Service, stood on the steps of the Treasury Department to watch the construction unfold, said one of the people. Sounds of construction were also audible on the White House campus, although the project was not easily visible to the public given fencing on the grounds. Trump acknowledged the project in remarks Monday afternoon in the White House’s East Room, gesturing to the wall behind him.

“Right on the other side, you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” the president said at an event honoring the Louisiana State University and Louisiana State University at Shreveport baseball teams. He subsequently posted on his Truth Social platform that the “much-needed project” had begun. “For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc.,” the president wrote. Democrats panned the project, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other lawmakers arguing that Trump’s priorities and preferences were not aligned with average Americans. “Trump’s billionaire ballroom. This is a disgrace. Welcome to the Second Gilded Age,” Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida) wrote on social media. Trump has long touted his plans for a 90,000-square-foot structure that would nearly double the footprint of the main building and its East and West wings. He had also suggested that the construction would not affect the existing White House.

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Wide-ranging group of US officials pursues Trump's fight against ‘Deep State’

A group of dozens of officials from across the federal government, including U.S. intelligence officers, has been helping to steer President Donald Trump's drive for retribution against his perceived enemies, according to government records and a source familiar with the effort. The Interagency Weaponization Working Group, which has been meeting since at least May, has drawn officials from the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Justice and Defense Departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Communications Commission, among other agencies, two of the documents show. Trump issued an executive order on his inauguration day in January instructing the attorney general to work with other federal agencies “to identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponization of law enforcement and the weaponization of the Intelligence Community.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier this year announced groups within their agencies to “root out” those who they say misused government power against Trump. Shortly after Reuters asked the agencies for comment on Monday, Fox News reported the existence of the group, citing Gabbard as saying she "stood up this working group." Key details in the Reuters story are previously unreported. Several U.S. officials confirmed the existence of the Interagency Weaponization Working Group to Reuters in response to the questions and said the group's purpose was to carry out Trump’s executive order. “None of this reporting is new,” said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity. ODNI spokeswoman Olivia Coleman said, “Americans deserve a government committed to deweaponizing, depoliticizing and ensuring that power is never again turned against the people it’s meant to serve.”

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Ex-FBI director Comey seeks dismissal of charges, cites vindictive prosecution

Former FBI Director James Comey on Monday asked a federal judge to dismiss criminal charges against him, arguing that the U.S. attorney who brought the case was unlawfully appointed and that he is being unfairly targeted because of President Donald Trump's "personal spite" against him. The court filings from Comey, which accuse the Trump administration of "willfully unlawful conduct," represent his best chance to get the charges quickly dismissed and avoid a jury trial. Comey previously said he is innocent and has "great confidence" that the court system will clear his name.

"The indictment in this case arises from multiple glaring constitutional violations and an egregious abuse of power by the federal government," Comey's legal team wrote in one of two filings, which said the case should be dismissed on the basis of it being a vindictive and selective prosecution. "President Trump ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute Mr. Comey because of personal spite and because Mr. Comey has frequently criticized the President for his conduct in office," his lawyers said. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. Comey was the first of three of Trump's political foes to be criminally charged in recent weeks. Since then, the Justice Department has also brought charges against New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump while he was out of power, and Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has publicly said Trump is unfit to be president. Comey pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation, which were brought by Lindsey Halligan, the top federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan, a former personal lawyer for Trump with no prior prosecutorial experience, was put in the role at Trump's urging after he forced over his reticence to prosecute Comey and James.

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North Carolina Republicans are poised to deliver another victory for Donald Trump’s redistricting battle

A full-scale redistricting battle is raging across the country – largely at President Donald Trump’s behest – with Republican-controlled legislatures in multiple states facing increasing calls from the president and his allies to eke out additional GOP seats to fortify the party’s majority in the US House. In North Carolina, the Republicans who control the legislature on Monday moved quickly to advance a new congressional map, joining a growing list of states carrying out redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The state’s Senate is slated to vote on the map Tuesday morning and send it to the House. The proposed map targets the US House district currently represented by Democratic Rep. Don Davis and aims to give Republicans the advantage in 11 out of 14 House seats from North Carolina, up from the current 10.

The Tar Heel State is the latest Republican-controlled state to begin work on a once-rare, mid-decade redistricting. The president’s party typically loses ground in midterm elections, and Democrats need to flip just a handful of seats to take control of the House after next year’s congressional elections. North Carolina Sen. Ralph Hise, a Republican who is helping oversee the map-drawing, acknowledged the high stakes in stark terms Monday. “The motivation behind this redraw is simple and singular: draw a new map that will bring an additional Republican seat to the congressional delegation,” he said during a meeting of a Senate election committee Monday. If Democrats take control of the House, they will “torpedo President Trump’s agenda,” Hise added. Hise said the president “has called on Republican controlled states across the country to fight fire with fire. This map answers that call.” Democrats called the map – and Trump’s moves around the country – a brazen power grab. Democratic state Sen. Val Applewhite said Republican lawmakers were going along with Trump’s “coordinated national effort to reshape this country’s political map in his image to guarantee one thing: that Donald Trump and only Donald Trump remains in power.”

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Trump can send troops to Portland, appeals court says

A federal appeals court Monday said President Donald Trump could deploy the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, blocking a judge’s ruling that prohibited his administration from sending troops into the city. The decision from a divided three-judge panel with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit authorizes, for now, Trump’s efforts to place the military in Oregon’s largest city, one of several places where he has sent troops or vowed to do so, including Los Angeles, Chicago and D.C. In an order released Monday afternoon, a 2-1 majority on the panel said it was likely that Trump acted lawfully in federalizing the National Guard during protests in Portland over immigration enforcement. The order said the judge who blocked Trump from deploying troops there “accorded no deference to the President’s determination that he could not execute federal laws with regular forces.”

Trump’s statements about deploying troops have prompted intense opposition from many state and local leaders. Some have gone to court to challenge such actions, accusing the administration of violating the law and inflaming situations in their communities. A federal judge in Chicago has blocked Trump’s push to deploy troops in Illinois, saying she found a “lack of credibility” in federal officials’ contentions in that case. The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to pause that decision and allow the troop deployment in Illinois. The justices have not yet ruled in that case; a decision could come this week. In Oregon, officials wrote in court filings that the Trump administration’s efforts to deploy troops were infringing on the state’s “sovereign power to manage its own law enforcement activity and its own National Guard.” The Trump administration wrote in its filings that the president acted lawfully, saying troops were needed in Portland because immigration “officers and property were the subject of regular, often-violent protests.” Demonstrations have unfolded for weeks at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland. The Trump administration has said in court papers that the facility was “the target of actual and threatened violence.”

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How a Joe Rogan-Mel Gibson podcast inspired Florida’s cancer research focus

When Casey DeSantis, the first lady of Florida, recently disclosed how the state would distribute $60 million for cancer research, she cited Hollywood actor Mel Gibson. The movie star had popped up on Joe Rogan’s podcast early in 2025, promoting the supposed cancer-curing powers of ivermectin, the antiparasitic drug that gained a following during the pandemic as a possible covid treatment despite research showing it is ineffective against the virus. DeSantis said a portion of Florida’s research money would now go to study the drug as a potential cancer treatment. “Mel Gibson was on Joe Rogan’s podcast and he was talking about people that he was friends with and they overcame Stage 4 cancer,” DeSantis, a cancer survivor, said as she announced the move last month. “We should look at it, we should look at the benefits of it. We shouldn’t just speculate and guess.”

Ivermectin has taken on symbolic power as part of the backlash against public health authorities that helped spawn the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Championed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MAHA, an echo of President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, has fused politics and health care activism to become a force in federal and state policymaking. In laboratory settings, studies have shown ivermectin could have anticancer effects, but oncologists and medical experts caution there is not yet evidence that ivermectin is effective to treat cancer in humans. Despite the lack of evidence, a growing number of patients are asking doctors about using the drug, alarming physicians who told The Washington Post they fear more patients might eschew traditional treatment that could help them in favor of an unproven path. While many experts dismiss Florida’s decision to fund its study as financial folly and a distraction from the fight against cancer, others say it presents an opportunity to dispel myths or perhaps even defy the odds and uncover something mainstream science has overlooked.

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Lead Stories

After Kerrville floods, effort to fund emergency radios failed despite history of issues

On the morning of July 4, Texas Department of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd drove 90 minutes to Kerrville after first learning about the devastation of overnight floods. When he arrived, he found some San Antonio Fire Department firefighters who were part of the Texas A&M Task Force 1 urban search and rescue team. He asked to be patched into the local first responders’ radio system, only to find that San Antonio and Kerr County radio systems could not communicate. State first responders resorted to using “cheap Chinese radios,” Kidd said, to communicate as they surveyed the aftermath of one of the most devastating and deadly floods in state history. The Motorola walkie-talkies were supposed to be a temporary stopgap while communications were synchronized.

However, the technical obstacle lasted at least two days and required state authorities from two agencies to dispatch their own IT personnel to the area to reprogram radios, according to testimony from state and local officials. Kidd recounted his frustration to lawmakers less than three weeks later. “We can do better than that, and we need to,” he said at a July 23 hearing in Austin. The technical obstacle created a hindrance, one the state has faced in response to manmade and natural disasters dating back at least 20 years. In almost every instance, law enforcement, emergency personnel and lawmakers have walked away from the aftermath knowing the radio systems should be updated and unified, and that doing so could save lives. First responders call it radio interoperability – the ability for disparate radio systems to communicate with each other. After-action reports for the 2023 Robb Elementary School shooting and the 2024 Smokehouse Creek fires in the Panhandle highlighted the radio interoperability issues that first responders faced.

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Sources: Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg to challenge Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai

Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg will run for Bexar County Judge, the Express-News reports, citing people familiar with his plans. Nirenberg is expected to formally announce his candidacy after the high-profile Nov. 4 election, during which Bexar County voters will decide whether to raise the visitor tax to 2% to help publicly finance a new downtown arena for the Spurs.

Word of Nirenberg’s intention to challenge sitting Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai in the Democratic primary comes after months of speculation the former mayor plans to seek office again, perhaps even a statewide position or a congressional seat. Nirenberg, 48, was termed out after serving eight years as mayor. Nirenberg appears to be entering the contest with the wind at his back. A recent poll conducted by Democratic strategist Christian Archer found that 52% of potential voters would cast their ballot for Nirenberg in a theoretical matchup with Sakai, 70, who’s still serving his first term in the office. The Team Ron political action committee is holding a fundraiser Oct. 22.

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Texas election officials ask state to halt rollout of updated TEAM voter registration system

Groups representing election officials across Texas are asking the state to halt the rollout of its updated voter registration system and address issues that they say “directly impact key parts of the election and jury process.” The groups outlined their complaints in a letter sent Friday to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson. County election officials across the state have for months reported problems that they say began when the state overhauled its voter registration system, known as TEAM, in July. Those issues contributed to a backlog of tens of thousands of voter registration applications, Votebeat reported, though that now has nearly been cleared. Election officials also said issues with TEAM were affecting their preparations for the upcoming constitutional amendment election. Alicia Pierce, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson, told Votebeat the office has received the letter and is reviewing it. “Our focus right now is making sure every county is ready for the Nov. 4 election.”

The letter to Nelson was sent by four associations representing Texas county election administrators, county and district clerks, county judges and commissioners, and tax assessor-collectors, all of whom have roles in administering elections. In the letter to Nelson, as well as in interviews with at least a dozen election officials, they said that while using the new system and inputting voter registration applications, voters’ previous addresses override their new ones, their voting precincts don’t populate correctly, and sometimes the registration information doesn’t save. Officials also said the system is inconsistent, working properly one day but slowly the next. “Counties have seen substantial delays in processing voter registration applications and updating registration status,” the letter to Nelson said. “Many election officials have observed TEAM incorrectly generating the voter registration list, which compromises election security by complicating the update of poll books and the identification of voters who have received a mail ballot.”

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Jeffries amps up Dem pushback in redistricting wars

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is escalating his efforts this week to thwart Republicans’ nationwide redistricting push. The New York Democrat spent the weekend in southern California, campaigning for the Proposition 50 ballot initiative that would let Democrats gerrymander California’s congressional map. Behind the scenes, Jeffries also has continued to lobby state lawmakers in Illinois for a stalled redistricting effort there, according to sources familiar with his plans. And Jeffries has been plotting with Ohio Democrats on how to block a GOP attempt to draw out Democratic Reps. Emilia Sykes and Marcy Kaptur. This multi-state effort is crucial for Democrats’ chances to retake the House majority. California. The Nov. 4 special election for Prop 50 could net Democrats five House seats and neutralize the GOP’s new map in Texas.

Jeffries joined SEIU California President David Huerta on Saturday for a canvass launch in support of Prop 50. Jeffries also campaigned in Orange County with swing-seat Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.). On Sunday, Jeffries spoke at three African-American churches during a swing with Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.). Here’s Jeffries’ pitch to voters on Prop 50: “Donald Trump is trying to rig the midterm elections. He wants to alter the congressional maps all across the country, starting in Texas, to try to rob all of you and the American people the ability to actually make the decision in a free and fair election as to who should be representing your interest in Congress.” Democrats are optimistic Prop 50 will pass, given the favorable polling and their huge TV spending advantage. Ohio. Republicans are required by state law to redistrict for 2026. Democrats expect them to pass a map this fall targeting Sykes, Kaptur and maybe even Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio). Jeffries is increasingly turning his attention toward an attempt to stymie them. If Republicans pass their new map without bipartisan support, as expected, Democrats can force a referendum on that map by gathering roughly 250,000 signatures in the 90 days after the map is passed. This will be an extremely expensive campaign. Jeffries is preparing to fundraise and increase awareness for a potential signature-gathering effort, according to sources familiar with his plans. If Democrats can get signatures in time, the map wouldn’t go into effect until Ohio voters get a chance to approve it in November 2026. But that would leave the state without a map. In that scenario, Democrats are hoping a state court would extend the current map through 2026. Republicans would likely ask that their new proposal take effect. There are a lot of unknowns here.

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State Stories

Abbott: ‘Texas is targeting professors’ over ‘leftist ideologies’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Sunday that his state is targeting professors pushing “leftist ideologies” as he shared news of the latest college educator allegedly fired over their beliefs. In a post on social media, Abbott shared an Axios article about a University of Texas professor, Art Markman, who said the school’s leadership dismissed him from his administrative role in September “due to ideological differences.” “Univ. of Texas professor was dismissed from an administrative post overseeing university academic affairs because of ideological differences,” Abbott wrote, echoing the professor’s own statement.

“Texas is targeting professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation,” he continued. “We must end indoctrination and return to education fundamentals at all levels of education.” Earlier this year, a Texas A&M University professor was fired after facing conservative criticism for a lesson on gender expressions, identity and sexuality. In the ensuing controversy, the president of the university resigned. The moves come as the Trump administration has sought to play a bigger role in higher education throughout the country, particularly regarding stamping out what it sees as leftist dogma. Recently, the administration urged a group of nine universities, including the University of Texas at Austin, to sign a 10-point plan that would guarantee them certain funding advantages if the schools agreed to President Trump’s demands.

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Another bankruptcy for a Nate Paul-controlled business

Austin businessman Nate Paul is once again in hot financial waters after an entity owned by his World Class Holdings firm, which counts a Lake Travis marina among its assets, filed for bankruptcy. WC Paradise Cove Marina LP filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 7. The entity, which apparently intends to stay operational but reorganize its debt, owns the land beneath Paradise Cove Marina on Lake Travis at 17141 Rocky Ridge Road, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District. Managers of the marina couldn't immediately be reached for comment, and it's possible the marina is not experiencing financial trouble itself.

Paul, the CEO and founder of World Class Holdings whose legal first name is Natin Paul, didn't respond to a request for comment. He's no stranger to legal proceedings after a 2019 FBI raid on his company's offices helped trigger a landslide of lawsuits, bankruptcies and foreclosures that Paul and the formerly high-flying firm are still contending with six years later. Paul appeared to be making headway on a financial and business comeback at the start of this month, when it was confirmed that Paul-controlled entities had paid millions in delinquent taxes. Earlier in the year, the Travis County attorney filed eight lawsuits against businesses owned by Paul to collect delinquent 2024 property taxes and accumulated fees totaling $2.3 million. WC Paradise Cove Marina previously filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2023 and emerged from it in August 2024, according to records from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. In its recent bankruptcy, WC Paradise Cove Marina estimated that both its assets and liabilities are valued between $1 million and $10 million, according to the filing, which was signed by Paul.

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Dallas Morning News Editorial: We recommend John Huffman in the race for Texas Senate District 9

Two Republicans and one Democrat are competing to represent Texas Senate District 9 in a special election on Nov. 4. Located in northern Tarrant County, the district includes a large chunk of Fort Worth and is reliably red. Republican Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills held the seat until he resigned in June to become acting state comptroller. The district has more than 966,000 residents and is a mix of core city, older suburbs, newer exurbs and a few areas that still feel rural. Democrat Taylor Rehmet resides in Fort Worth. The two GOP candidates, John Huffman and Leigh Wambsganss, both live in Southlake, a center of particularly intense Republican politics. The two GOP candidates have slightly different brands of conservatism. Together, they have raised more than $1 million in campaign donations. We recommend Huffman, 42, because of his prior experience in local government — he served as a City Council member and mayor of Southlake — and his stated preference for collaboration over culture war.

Huffman, a small-business owner, described high residential property taxes as residents’ top concern. He wants to see the state move toward eliminating property tax on homesteads, and said he would consider expanding consumption-based taxes to help offset the loss of property tax revenue. The district also faces the challenges that accompany growth, he said, such as traffic congestion, the need for new water supplies and infrastructure repair and expansion. His comments about public education were somewhat nuanced. Huffman said he and his wife chose to homeschool their three children but acknowledged that arrangement isn’t possible or desirable for every family. He strongly supports the new educational voucher bill lawmakers passed this year. “If implemented correctly,” he said during our candidate interview, “this school choice program could be amazing for Texans, but again, only if we also make sure our public schools, who are going to continue to [teach] the vast majority of Texas kids … are fully funded and prepared to do that.” The other Republican in the race, Leigh Wambsganss, is a divisive party activist who has not held elected office. She did not complete our Voter Guide questionnaire or participate in an editorial board interview. The third candidate, Rehmet, 33, is an Air Force veteran, machinist and union leader making his first run for public office. He said residents’ chief concerns are inadequate public school funding and basic economic issues. He supports developing renewable energy but notes that many Texans rely on oil and gas for high-wage jobs. He would like the state to develop more alternatives to college, such as technical training, for high school graduates. Rehmet is energetic and said he’s committed to working across the aisle, which is commendable, but he needs to develop a deeper understanding of the machinery of local and state government. Huffman is best qualified to represent this district.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial: We recommend John Huffman in SD-9 special election

The leading candidates to replace state Sen. Kelly Hancock in a Tarrant County special election don’t differ much on the top issues of the day. So voters have to look to other factors, including experience, endorsements and demeanor. The best choice is former Southlake Mayor John Huffman, a Republican. His record is conservative, but he shows the kind of independence that Hancock brought to the office, befitting a district with widely varying communities and interests. Huffman, 42, would put his governing experience to good use in the Legislature, where, much like on a city council, getting legislation passed requires building coalitions and compromising when needed.

Huffman’s opponents have tried to make hay of the fact that much of his campaign’s funding comes from the political committee associated with the Sands casino company, which desperately wants to change Texas law and build resort casinos in Dallas and elsewhere. Huffman says he supports an election to let voters decide about gambling and that any expansion should be limited to casinos in specific areas. Before that could even happen, Christian conservatives such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick would have to acquiesce. Patrick shows no signs of moving on the issue. The other Republican in the race, veteran conservative activist Leigh Wambsganss, is the clear choice of GOP leaders from President Donald Trump to Patrick and Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare. Wambsganss would be a reliable vote for Patrick, who hardly needs firmer control of the Senate at this point. She opposes gambling expansion, but some have noted her family’s interest in a company that owned pull-tab machines, bingo games that look and play like slot machines, in Virginia. The company was sold in 2018, according to The Texan news site. The third candidate, aircraft machinist Taylor Rehmet, offers a stark contrast. A Democrat in a firmly Republican district, Rehmet offers positions in line with labor unions, in which he is active. Unfortunately, the 33-year-old Fort Worth resident didn’t have much more to say on policy than that.

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Texas Democrat, former capitol staffer announces run for House District 41

Julio Salinas, a Texas Legislature staffer and co-chair of the Hispanic Caucus of the Texas Democratic Party, announced this week that he has entered the race for Texas House District 41. In his campaign announcement, Salinas called for a renewal of the Rio Grande Valley that he grew up in, describing it as “a place once defined by opportunity, affordability, and a strong sense of community.”

He said that he plans to focus his campaign on making the Rio Grande Valley an affordable place for working families, strengthening public schools, and restoring trust in local leadership. “My family’s story is the story of the Valley’s promise,” Salinas said in his campaign announcement. “My father was the son of migrant farmers. My family settled here, got an education, worked hard, and built a middle-class life for my sister and me.” “Coming from nothing, they knew the struggle but also knew that hard work paid off,” he continued. “Today, that path of opportunity is broken. Living in the Valley was never easy, but it shouldn’t be this hard.” He said that his commitment to Texas House District 41 stems from his upbringing, recalling the difficulties he faced as a child and going to school with Spanish as his only language. “Teachers are overworked and the system is not made to uplift bilingual students,” he said. “I relied on my community to get back on track. Community was the RGV’s strength, and it’s something we must reclaim.”

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Houston Chronicle Editorial: Houston needs a representative effective in Congress and courts. Vote Menefee.

Let’s get this out of the way: the 18th Congressional district is a storied district with a rich legacy of trailblazing Black Houston leaders from Barbara Jordan to Mickey Leland and Sheila Jackson Lee. The district, created in 1972, slices through large swaths of north, northeast and northwest Houston as well as the historic Black hub of Houston, Third Ward. That said, who in their right mind wants the job now?

After two incumbents in a row died suddenly while in office, Gov. Greg Abbott showed just how much he valued the district by slow-walking the special election to fill the empty seat until this November. In the meantime, his party redistricted the whole thing, meaning that whoever wins this race would face a primary next year in a dramatically different district. Not to mention the winner, likely to be a Democrat, will head to a U.S. House of Representatives where Democrats have little to no voice on the floor. Well, plenty of people. Sixteen to be exact. We’d love to tell you about each of them but we’ll cut to the chase and share our pick: Christian Menefee. The accomplished Harris County Attorney has made a name for himself taking on Republican state leaders. Not only has he challenged Attorney General Ken Paxton and former State Comptroller Glenn Hegar in court when they wanted to discount thousands of votes or accuse the county of defunding law enforcement, he’s won. Now, Menefee, 37, promises to bring his legal acumen to Washington, D.C., hoping to spearhead Democrats’ still emergent strategy to take on the overreaches of President Donald Trump’s administration. Again, he’s already had some success here, helping the county claw back nearly $20 million in public health funding that Trump tried to cancel earlier this year. “Those lawsuits can be incredibly powerful,” he told the editorial board.

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From integration to gentrification: Why some Austin schools face a reckoning

If Ridgetop Elementary School closes at the end of the school year, Andrew Rottas will miss walking his second-grade daughter to class each morning. With Ridgetop listed among the proposed closures in the Austin school district’s consolidation plan, that could soon be a reality. But despite his satisfaction with his children’s education — and despite the North Loop school’s popularity and strong academic ratings — the business consultant doesn’t plan to join any effort to press the district to change course. He doesn’t think many other Ridgetop parents plan to either. “It’s a great school, the kids are learning a ton,” Rottas said. But he knows it’s not fully meeting its goal as a wall-to-wall dual language immersion program, in which English- and Spanish-predominant students learn together in a bilingual setting, aiming for grade-level fluency in both languages.

In the 15 years since the programs began, demographic changes in the neighborhoods around the four wall-to-wall elementary schools — Ridgetop, Becker, Sunset Valley and Reilly — have shifted their makeup, reducing their number of emergent bilingual students, or those learning English who speak another language at home. A surge in interest from affluent and white Austinites has also contributed to this, said Deborah Palmer, a professor at University of Colorado Boulder who studied these changes at Austin’s wall-to-wall dual language schools. The transformation mirrors a national trend in the gentrification of dual language programs, she added, risking the “intentional integration” that is partially the program’s purpose. None of the current sites have more than 40% emergent bilingual students. Becker has 19%. Ridgetop has the fewest, with about 12%. The district has not used the term “gentrification” to describe why the programs have evolved as they have or to suggest a need for a change. But it has proposed closing the four schools that house the current programs and relocating them to Pickle, Sánchez, Odom and Wooten elementary schools, which serve larger populations of emergent bilingual students. Yvette Cardenas, who leads the district’s multilingual education department, told the American-Statesman the district wants to “center” bilingual students and increase their presence at wall-to-wall campuses. A more even split, Cardenas said, improves learning outcomes for both English and Spanish learners.

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Meet the UT researcher who wants to open the depopulation conversation to everyone

Texas’ declining birth rate is not something you’re likely to notice while jogging around Lady Bird Lake or grocery shopping at H-E-B, says UT population researcher Dean Spears. The difference between a society where people have 1.8 kids on average, compared to 2.1, is hardly noticeable at first. But over a few generations, it becomes dramatic – the difference between exponential growth and exponential decay. In Texas, and worldwide, dropping birth rates could lead to rapid population decline starting in a few decades. Many see a shrinking population as good news. Most people surveyed by the United Nations in 2023 said they believe that the world population is already too big. Leaders of the green movement sometimes predict population decline will relieve the environment. In his 2020 documentary calling to restore the natural world, David Attenborough says that the sooner the population peaks, “the easier it makes everything else we have to do.”

It seems obvious that fewer people would mean less carbon emissions. “Think again,” write Spears and UT economist Michael Geruso in their new book, After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People. They point to a body of empirical research that finds that, contrary to popular belief, depopulation would not meaningfully curb climate change. They argue climate action is urgent, and depopulation’s impact would amount to too little, too late. Spears and Geruso lay out some of the predictable and scary consequences of an ever-shrinking population. But beyond these, they warn of a great unknown: We can’t be sure what all humanity would lose by shrinking. The threat of depopulation is an issue that right-wing personalities have pounced on to support racist conspiracy theories and a return to traditional gender roles. These voices are particularly loud in Austin, where the pro-natalist movement’s flagship event – the Natal Conference, hosted this spring at the AT&T Center on the UT campus – has featured speakers who mingle with neo-Nazis. But Spears argues that caring about a stable population is totally compatible with caring about progressive priorities.

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Texas school districts scramble to train teachers on AI use

In Texas and across the country, a growing number of teachers and students say they use AI tools in the classroom, new research suggests — but in many districts, training and guidance hasn’t kept up. In a national survey released last month, a majority of Texas teachers said they used AI tools in math instruction at least a few times during the 2024-25 school year. But more than one in five teachers said their districts hadn’t provided professional development on how to use those tools. But as AI becomes a more common feature of everyday life, North Texas school leaders are figuring out how to incorporate those tools into classrooms without watering down instruction or jeopardizing student privacy.

“We owe our students, and we owe the professionals that work in our system the opportunities to be exposed to and learn to use these tools well and responsibly,” said Steve Simpson, director of technology integration and innovation for the Arlington Independent School District. According to the RAND Corporation’s 2025 American Mathematics Educator Survey, 52% of Texas teachers said they had used AI tools at least once for math instruction during the 2024-25 school year. Of those who said they used those tools, the largest share said they used them only sporadically, less than once per quarter. Nationwide, the majority of teachers still say they never use AI in the classroom. But that majority is shrinking quickly, according to the RAND survey. The percentage of teachers who said they’d never used AI in math instruction shrank from 82% during the 2023-24 school year to 56% last year. But both in Texas and nationwide, more than 20% of teachers said they hadn’t received training to help them use the education technology tools their districts had provided them with.

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Peter Johnson: Why isn’t Ken Paxton investigating all terror threats?

(Peter Johnson has been a civil rights leader in Dallas since 1969.) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that his office will investigate leftist terror cells. As one who has, in the ranks of the civil rights struggle, a relation to the actions of federal and state powers against those demanding justice, I ask why Paxton isn’t investigating rightist terror cells, since the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that they are more prone to political violence. Many studies and government reports made in recent years reveal that organized extremist violence on the right is more chronic and deadly in this country than its cousin on the left. In a recent Homeland Threat Assessment, the Department of Homeland Security highlighted white supremacist or right-wing extremist ideologies among the more serious worries, especially when combined with anti-government or nativist content.

A Brookings Institution report published May 16, 2023, stated that, since 9-11, rightist extremists have killed more people than any other category of violent actors. There have been 130 lives lost in this country from right-wing attacks in that time, the report found. Another report, published just last month by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, showed that, since 2016, violent actors aligned with the political right committed 152 attacks, killing 112 people, more than any other category. Jihadists were responsible for 25 attacks, killing 82 people in that time. And leftists launched 35 attacks, killing 13 people. Please understand me, there is violence on both sides. The shooting last month at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas as well as recent protests in Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere show that the political left can be violent. Some people, whether they be leftist or rightist, are prone to political violence. Violence should be condemned regardless of what political philosophy motivates it. That’s what Paxton doesn’t seem to understand.

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El Paso city officials say they can’t stop Trump administration airport video blaming Democrats for government shutdown

City officials say they cannot stop the Transportation Security Administration from airing a controversial video at El Paso International Airport. The video features Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the government shutdown. While several major airports around the country have refused to air the video, it is being played at the El Paso airport by the TSA. “The El Paso International Airport is not showing the video. The Transportation Security Administration is showing the video at the security screening checkpoint they control,” said city spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta in an emailed response to El Paso Matters. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to El Paso Matters request for comment for this story.

Some city representatives said they are concerned that the video being aired is a violation of the Hatch Act – a federal law that prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity while acting in their official roles. TSA has brought a video monitor into the passenger screening area at the airport to show the Noem video. “Our major concern is that this video includes partisan language on the current government shutdown,” city Reps. Josh Acevedo, Alejandra Chávez and Deanna Maldonado-Rocha said in a joint statement issued Wednesday. “I am looking forward to a response from TSA and also hoping for a quick resolution to the federal government shutdown,” Maldonado-Rocha told El Paso Matters. Acevedo and Chávez did not immediately respond to El Paso Matters’ request for further comment.

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In Juarez, a militarized border makes drug use more deadly

As the healthcare workers approach the small collection of makeshift shelters along the train tracks that cut through the northern Mexico industrial hub of Ciudad Juárez, the people who gather in this place to use drugs prepare for their arrival. They’re ready to exchange used syringes for clean ones, a practice that helps prevent injury and disease. They prepare their kits in anticipation of the small packets of distilled water in which they can more safely cook heroin. The workers for Programa Compañeros, a nonprofit that provides supplies and assistance to vulnerable populations in Juárez, have invested years building relationships with people who use heroin in Juárez’s picaderos (a colloquial term equivalent to “shooting galleries”). Some of these locations are essentially tolerated by local authorities, allowing Programa Compañeros to develop established services; the group calls these “drug consumption sites.” But even at sites where there’s little effort at coordinated narcotics enforcement, gathering in one place leaves people vulnerable to abuses from Mexico’s military and police forces, who are increasingly flooding the city of 1.5 million across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

The border has long been one of the most heavily policed parts of both the United States and Mexico. Since taking office this year, U.S. President Donald Trump has deployed additional troops to the already-militarized region and put pressure on Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to do the same. Research about past border deployments has shown that they make it more difficult for health workers on both sides of the border to reach vulnerable populations. A 38-year-old man at the consumption site by the tracks who identified himself only as Erick said that, when he first met the Programa Compañeros outreach workers, he was suspicious of the men in jeans and slacks and fresh T-shirts offering needles. “I thought they were like, honestly, some kind of police or something like that,” Erick said. He could hardly be blamed for thinking that. The presence of military forces in Juárez is obvious throughout the city. Programa Compañeros was already well known among the other heroin users he’d found. The organization’s staff say their nonjudgmental approach and willingness to provide supplies that people who use drugs want, like needles, helps them build trust and direct people to other services. Erick said he now goes to the group’s headquarters, where services like showers, clean clothes, counseling, and medical and dental care are offered.

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National Stories

Booking big guests and irked by leaks: Bari Weiss’s first days at CBS

Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of CBS News, surprised senior staff at the venerable news program “60 Minutes” during a meeting on Tuesday when she asked a provocative question: Why does the country think you’re biased? The inquiry was met with stunned awkwardness, according to three people who recounted details from the private session in Midtown Manhattan. The staff of “60 Minutes,” the nation’s most-watched news program, view their coverage as firmly nonpartisan and reject criticism from President Trump and his allies who argue that it has a liberal slant. The exchange added to the uncertainty that has settled over CBS News as hundreds of producers, anchors and correspondents take stock of their institution’s unorthodox new boss in her first two weeks on the job.

Ms. Weiss, 41, is unlike any broadcast news leader in recent memory: an outspoken opinion journalist who has never worked in television, and whose rise was powered in part by critiquing the practices of old-line mass media like CBS. Since her start date on Oct. 6, Ms. Weiss has met with leading anchors and executives, impressing some and confounding others. She has mused about CBS-branded live events, booked interviews for the network with high-profile newsmakers by text message and complained about a flurry of leaks concerning her early tenure, urging executives to identify the leakers in the newsroom. Still unanswered is how Ms. Weiss plans to juggle her duties at The Free Press, a website she co-founded and runs that mixes opinion and reporting, with her editorial oversight of CBS News, where reporters are discouraged from openly expressing their political views. It is not lost on some CBS journalists that The Free Press has occasionally been among the network’s harshest critics. Ms. Weiss declined to be interviewed. On a newsroom-wide conference call on Oct. 9, Ms. Weiss urged her staff to be more aggressive in booking big guests — and announced that during the course of the call, she had personally arranged for three former secretaries of state to participate in a special panel show about the Middle East peace deal.

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Coast Guard buys two private jets for Noem, costing $172 million

The Department of Homeland Security has purchased two Gulfstream private jets for Kristi Noem, the secretary, and other top department officials at a cost of $172 million, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. The jets, which a department official said were needed for safety, are the latest expenditures on behalf of Ms. Noem to draw scrutiny from Democrats and other critics who have noted her lavish spending on living and other expenses during her time in public life. The Coast Guard put in its budget earlier this year a request to purchase a new long-range Gulfstream V jet, estimated to cost $50 million, to replace an aging one used by Ms. Noem.

“The avionics are increasingly obsolete, the communications are increasingly unreliable and it’s in need of recapitalization, like much of the rest of the fleet,” Kevin Lunday, the acting commandant of the Coast Guard, told members of Congress at a hearing in May. He said a new aircraft was necessary to provide agency leaders with “secure, reliable, on-demand communications and movement to go forward, visit our operating forces, conducting the missions and then come back here to Washington and make sure we can work together to get them what they need.” Documents that were posted to a public government procurement website and reviewed by The Times show that the department has since signed a contract with Gulfstream to buy not one but two “used” G700 jets, touted by the company as having the “most spacious cabin in the industry.” The total contract value is listed as a little over $172 million. It was not immediately clear where the funding for the jets came from.

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Rollins: Still ‘so many unknowns’ around scale of tariff assistance required

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday the administration is still assessing the full impact of likely trade losses and the size of a potential aid package. “We're still analyzing,” Rollins told reporters at the White House. Asked how much assistance the administration is considering, Rollins said, “we still don't know. I mean, there still are so many unknowns as the negotiations are continuing.” The U.S. tariff landscape continues to evolve by the week. Just this month, new sector-specific tariffs on lumber have gone into effect, both the U.S. and China have implemented new port fees on each other’s ships, and President Donald Trump floated additional 100% duties on China over Beijing’s expansion of export controls on rare earths.

His top trade officials have suggested the U.S. could delay those tariffs if China delays its own rare earth measures. Rollins pointed out that the administration is also still negotiating with partners to lower trade barriers to U.S. ag products, leaving the ag trade landscape up in the air. “We're going to have a couple of announcements next week on some good news, on some additional product moving out – our row crop commodities moving out – into the world,” she said. Rollins said the administration has also been in contact with South American countries to increase their crushing of U.S. soybeans. Rollins pointed out that the dust has still not settled on U.S.-China relation. A deal with Beijing that spurs Chinese buyers to resume U.S. purchases could also land at any time, she argued. “There could be a deal tomorrow – I don't think there will be,” she said, but added that it remains a possibility. “What we have done is ensured, per the president's direction, that these farmers will have a backstop if, in fact, we're not able to move these commodities,” Rollins added.

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Portland police deploy ‘informants’ within ICE protest crowds to aid in arrests, documents reveal

The nightly protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement complex in South Portland draw a swirling mix of black- and costume-clad protesters, federal agents, police officers and — buried within the crowd — covert informants, court records reveal. Of the 50 arrests made by Portland Police Bureau officers at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building since June, at least eight criminal cases reference what authorities call “Confidential Reliable Sources” or, more plainly, “informants.” Police are loath to talk about these unmarked eyes — though the strategy was similarly cited in court records and highly publicized during the 2020 protest movement that rocked Portland. “I’m sure you can understand why we cannot discuss CRSs,” police spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen said Thursday, using an acronym for the confidential reliable sources.

The eight cases are all being prosecuted by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. Separately, federal agents have arrested roughly 30 people who are being prosecuted in U.S. District Court. Of the federal court cases, none suggest information was provided by informants, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive’s previous coverage. The New York Times reported that federal agents were covertly placed among protest crowds in 2021. In Portland, court documents describe “informants” providing detailed information to police, apparently in real-time. The sources provide details about suspects’ clothing, movement and conduct — and at least one case file includes photographs that may have been taken surreptitiously. Michael German, a former FBI agent and police reform advocate based in San Diego, said the presence of informants at protests is likely no surprise to demonstrators in this age of ubiquitous surveillance. But the use of informants can spur fears of agent provocateurs and lessen community trust, he said, if police aren’t transparent. “It’s helpful to have somebody who can identify individuals, rather than targeting an entire group of people,” German said. “It’s incumbent upon the city leaders to ensure that there are strict guidelines around that activity.” But in Portland’s case, little is known about the sources other than they are positioned within crowds and typically track the location of people so that police can arrest them later. Court records say the sources have a reputation for truthfulness and have never been convicted of crimes.

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Democrats warn of Trump’s executive overreach at ‘No Kings’ rallies

National and state Democratic officials joined protesters across the country on Saturday to oppose President Donald Trump’s efforts to expand his power. It’s one of the few things elected Democrats — including congressional leadership and potential 2028 presidential candidates — could do to push back on Trump’s agenda. As sizable, reportedly peaceful rallies took shape in cities including New York City, Chicago and Washington, the Democrats offered a grab bag of examples of Trump pushing the boundaries of his executive power and urged voters to keep speaking out. “History will judge us by where we choose to stand right now, today. Future generations will ask, ‘What did we do when fellow human beings faced persecution, when our rights were being abridged, when our Constitution was under attack?’” said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. “They’ll want to know whether we stood up or we stayed silent.”

As he stood in front of a banner that said “hands off Chicago,” Pritzker made the case that every “attack on free speech, on immigrants’ rights, on due process is an attack on everyone’s rights.” He cited the Trump-directed invasion of roving immigration enforcement patrols on the city’s streets and the attempts to send troops to the city as symptoms of a systemic issue with the Trump administration. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson made the case that the U.S. is facing a critical inflection point — accusing the Trump administration of provoking “a rematch of the Civil War.” “Are you ready to fight fascism? Are you prepared to destroy authoritarianism once and for all?” Johnson asked the crowd. “Are you ready to take it to the courts and to the streets? In cities around the world, we have declared that we will defend our democracy.” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told a large crowd in D.C. that “we are in the middle of an authoritarian takeover.”

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Nearly 3 weeks in, White House and GOP remain aligned on shutdown

The White House feels as confident about the shutdown on day 19 as it was on day one– in part because congressional Republicans have, for the most part, remained largely in line. “There’s no discussions at all at the rank-and-file level, and what is there even for Republicans to be skittish about?” said a Senate GOP aide granted anonymity to discuss the dynamics between the White House and Congress. Even as 89 percent of Americans surveyed said they believe the shutdown is at least a “minor problem,” and 54 percent say it is a “major problem,” both parties are held responsible, giving neither party a reason to cave. “The House did its job,” Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “We passed the clean resolution. The continuing resolution, we keep the lights on, keep the government working for the people. … Democrats have voted 11 times, except for three Democrats in the Senate, voted 11 times to shut down the government.”

The confidence and cohesion from Republicans on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue – and a similar confidence among Democrats – augurs no quick end to what is approaching one of the longest shutdowns in history. Republicans are pushing a continuing resolution, which would open the government at current budget levels. Democrats want a deal to extend health care subsidies due to expire at the end of the year before agreeing to provide the votes needed in the Senate to reopen the government. “The longer the shutdown goes on, the more the Democrats’ position deteriorates in public polling,” a White House official, granted anonymity to discuss the president’s position, said in a statement. “The Administration has been consistent from day one: keep the government open with the same proposal Democrats supported just 6 months ago and 13 times under the Biden Administration. We won’t negotiate on policy while the American people are held hostage. Our position has not changed … nor will it.” And that’s just fine with congressional Republicans.

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Brazen heist at Louvre Museum snatches priceless royal jewels

Tourists were streaming into the world’s most visited museum on Sunday when a group of thieves burst in through a window of a gilded gallery on the second floor—and made off with a set of priceless royal jewels. It was broad daylight, roughly 9:30 a.m. local time, when four individuals driving two powerful motorcycles and a truck with a portable furniture elevator parked outside the Louvre Museum. Two of the perpetrators—at least one wearing a high-visibility yellow vest—used the furniture elevator to get to a balcony outside the Galerie d’Apollon, which houses France’s crown jewels, French prosecutors and police officials said. From there, they used what appeared to be angle grinders to cut through a window and get inside.

Once inside the opulent gallery, the thieves threatened guards with the grinders and started cutting into two display cases containing Napoleonic and royal jewelry, looting pieces including a large, diamond-encrusted bow brooch that belonged to Empress Eugénie, Napoleon III’s wife. Then, as quickly as they had entered, the thieves exited, fleeing on the two motorcycles via the roads along the Seine River. They were in and out of the gallery in less than seven minutes. The crime, for all its speed, wasn’t without errors. The criminals attempted but failed to set fire to their truck, prosecutors said. And they dropped the crown of Empress Eugénie, with nearly 1,400 diamonds, before they sped away. It was found damaged, officials said. At the same time, French braqueurs are famous here for spectacular smash-and-grab robberies of jewelry stores, including two heists in 2021 and 2023 at the same store on the tony Place Vendôme, just steps away from the country’s Justice Ministry.

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Trump claims ‘unquestioned power’ to deploy troops to San Francisco under Insurrection Act

President Donald Trump said he has “unquestioned power” to deploy the National Guard and reaffirmed that San Francisco will be the next city to face federal intervention. In an interview that aired Sunday on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump floated invoking the Insurrection Act — a centuries-old law that allows presidents to deploy troops on U.S. soil. “Don’t forget I can use the Insurrection Act,” he said. “Fifty percent of the presidents almost have used that. And that’s unquestioned power. I choose not to, but I’m met constantly by fake politicians, politicians that think that they — you know, it’s not a part of the radical left movement to have safety. … These cities have to be safe.” Only about one-fourth of presidents have invoked the act.

Trump told host Maria Bartiromo that San Francisco is “next,” setting up another potential showdown with Democratic leaders over presidential authority and local control. “The difference is, I think they want us in San Francisco,” he said. “San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world. And then, 15 years ago, it went wrong. It went woke.” Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles, Memphis, Chicago and Washington, D.C. After a trial in federal court, a judge ruled that the Los Angeles deployment violated the law because troops acted as police, a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. Federal judges have also blocked his attempt to send troops to Portland, Ore. Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to fire back on Sunday. Fact check: Nobody wants you here,” he wrote on X. “You will ruin one of America’s greatest cities.” Trump’s comments came amid a separate legal battle over his administration’s attempt to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago. A federal judge temporarily blocked that move, ruling there was no evidence of a “danger of rebellion.” The White House has appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the decision “impinges on the president’s authority.”

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Trump escalates back-and-forth with Colombia’s president, announcing end of US payments to country

President Donald Trump announced Sunday he would end all US payments and subsidies to Colombia, marking a dramatic escalation in his back-and-forth with the country’s president, Gustavo Petro. Trump said in a post to social media that Petro “does nothing to stop” the production of drugs in his country, “despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America.” “As of today, these payments, or any other form of payment, or subsidies, will no longer be made to Colombia,” the president said in all caps. The two leaders have clashed on the issues of migration and drug trafficking, especially as the US conducts strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, but Sunday’s announcement intensified the friction with new financial stakes.

The US has provided about $210 million in assistance to Colombia this fiscal year, including about $31 million in agricultural support, according to data from the US Department of State. It was not immediately clear which payments Trump was referring to Sunday, but the US is by far the largest funder of Colombia’s security, providing billions of dollars every year. The Andean country had previously been Washington’s most reliable ally in South America on national security and defense. Trump warned Petro that he “better close up these killing fields,” referring to areas where drugs are produced, “or the United States will close them up for him, and it won’t be done nicely.” Trump’s comments come after his administration said last month that Colombia had “failed demonstrably” in its obligations to fight drug trafficking but that the US would continue to provide funding to the country. Colombia is the world’s leading producer of cocaine, accounting for almost two-thirds of total production, according to the United Nations Office for Drug and Crime.

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Copyright October 27, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved