Lead Stories

With a tiny majority, House GOP leaders tell members to show up unless it's 'life or death'

As the slim House Republican majority hangs on a razor’s edge, lawmakers are getting a stern warning from party leadership: You should be absent only for matters of life and death. That message has been delivered to members in recent party meetings and private conversations, according to multiple lawmakers, and it has taken on an increasing sense of urgency as the GOP’s margins have shrunk even further in recent weeks with the unexpected death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., and the shock midsession retirement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office confirmed to NBC News that it is advising members that “outside of life-and-death circumstances, the whip’s office expects members to be here working on behalf of the American people.”

His office has told members their presence in Washington is essential if they are to “pass legislation to lower costs, secure the border, and support the president’s agenda.” Not excusable absences? Campaign events — an important distinction, given 17 House Republicans are running for higher office. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who is running for governor, said Emmer, R-Minn., told Republicans at a meeting last week: “If you’ve got a family emergency, then you can miss a vote. If you run for another office, no, you show up here.” But not everyone has gotten the memo. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who is running for the Senate in Texas, missed a series of votes this month as he campaigns back home. They include a critical vote Tuesday, when a GOP labor bill was defeated and two others were pulled from the floor because of Republican defections and absences. His vote alone, however, wouldn’t have made a difference on the labor bill, given Republicans were several votes shy of victory. Two other absences met Emmer’s life-or-death standard: Rep. Greg Murphy of North Carolina is recovering this week from surgery, while Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin is at home with his wife, who is also undergoing a surgical procedure.

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Trump beats back GOP rebellion on war powers as two pivotal senators flip

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a final vote on the war powers resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s military authority in Venezuela, ending the push before it could reach the floor. The resolution gained unexpected steam last week after five Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, Todd Young, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins — joined Democrats to help advance it, raising the prospect of a rare bipartisan rebuke of the president’s military policy. But the momentum quickly stalled under Trump’s pressure, and the effort was struck down in dramatic fashion Wednesday night when Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote. To block the measure from reaching the floor, GOP leadership raised a procedural point of order that argued the resolution no longer met the requirements for a privileged vote under the War Powers Act, claiming there were no ongoing hostilities in Venezuela to justify it.

Without that protection, Republicans were able to block the resolution without voting it down directly. The move gave uneasy Republicans like Hawley and Young an off-ramp to back off without directly reversing their earlier vote. Before the vote, the Trump administration sought to allay concerns raised by some Republican senators about how it would handle an escalation in Venezuela. In a letter this week to Young’s office, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would request congressional authorization if it planned to “introduce US Armed Forces into hostilities in major military operations in Venezuela.” The assurances were enough to convince Young that a formal war powers resolution was unnecessary, the senator wrote in a statement on X. Young added that Rubio had agreed to appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the coming weeks to provide an update on operations in Venezuela. “I had to accept that this was all a communications exercise,” Young told reporters before the Wednesday vote. “To have the secretary of state be at my disposal — I mean countless phone conversations and text exchanges — was very reassuring to me.” The Wednesday vote was also a clear win for Trump, who spent the last few days railing against the measure. He publicly lashed out at the five Republicans by name during a Tuesday speech in Detroit, and said last week that they “should never be elected to office again.” Behind the scenes, top officials followed up with calls and meetings, pressing senators to fall back in line.

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Widespread Verizon outage resolved after prompting emergency alerts in Washington, New York City

Verizon said Wednesday night that its wireless service was back online after having suffered an outage affecting cellular data and voice services for much of the day. A spokesperson for the company said shortly after 10 p.m. ET that the outage was resolved. "If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network," the spokesperson sad in a statement. The spokesperson apologized for the outage and said customers would be given account credits, and that details would be shared with customers directly. The nation's largest wireless carrier had earlier said its "engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly." Verizon issued its statement after a swath of social media comments directed at it, with users saying their mobile devices were showing no bars of service or "SOS," indicating a lack of connection.

Verizon, which has more than 146 million customers, appears to have started experiencing service issues around noon ET, according to comments on X. Reports appeared to peak in the early afternoon and remained elevated later in the day — sitting close to 33,000 as of 8 p.m. Verizon issued three more statements on social media later Wednesday, again saying its engineers were working to address the issue. But it did not say whether a specific reason for the outage had been identified, or when it would be resolved. "Today, we let many of our customers down and for that, we are truly sorry," it said in a statement at 9 p.m. ET. "They expect more from us." Republican New York State Assembly member Anil Beephan, Jr., Wednesday evening had called on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the hourslong outage. In a letter to FCC chairman Brendan Carr, Beephan wrote the outage has, "had a significant and unacceptable impact on public safety, including disruptions to reliable access to emergency communications and critical response systems." “More broadly, the continued instability of a major wireless carrier raises concerns about the resiliency and reliability of our greater communications infrastructure,” Beephan added.

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New Texas 2026 polling shows Talarico ahead of Crockett in Senate Democratic primary

The Republican primary for U.S. Senate is potentially heading toward a runoff while Texas State Rep. James Talarico leads the Democratic primary over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, according to a new Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll. The poll, which was released Thursday, surveyed more than 400 likely Texas Democratic primary voters. The results showed Talarico held a 47% to 38% advantage over Crockett, with 15% of likely Democratic primary voters undecided. The margin of error for the Democratic primary portion of the poll is +/- 4.8%.

Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said Talarico has “momentum” with Hispanic and white voters, while 80% of Black voters support Crockett, according to a press release. Kimball added that men supported Talarico 52% to 30% and women were evenly split. Crockett and Talarico will debate each other in Georgetown on Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. CT during the AFL-CIO COPE Convention. The livestream of the debate will be available on the KXAN+ streaming app, which is available on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. The debate will also be carried live on the KXAN website and mobile app. The Republican primary remains tight between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, polling shows. Paxton held a 27% to 26% lead against Cornyn, with Hunt receiving 16% among likely Republican primary voters. The poll surveyed 550 likely Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of +/- 4.1%. “Neither Ken Paxton nor John Cornyn appears positioned to reach 50% on the primary ballot, as the Republican electorate remains sharply divided. With Wesley Hunt gaining traction at 16%, a runoff between the two candidates now appears likely in May,” Kimball said. As for the November general election, the poll said Cornyn would fare better against the Democratic challenger when compared to Paxton. Cornyn holds a 47% to 44% advantage vs. Talarico and a 48% to 43% hypothetical lead on Crockett. The polling says Paxton would be essentially tied with Talarico or Crockett, with each candidate receiving 46% of the vote. Nine percent of voters were undecided. The economy is the most important issue for Texas voters, followed by threats to democracy and immigration, polling showed.

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State Stories

Fort Bend Rep. Gary Gates passed a bill that helped his business. Now he’s suing to be sure it sticks.

Last spring, when Houston-area Rep. Gary Gates passed legislation closing an affordable housing loophole that threatened to cost Texas cities hundreds of millions of dollars in lost property tax revenue, he considered the law one of his biggest-ever legislative achievements. But the three-term lawmaker, whose business is owning and managing low-income housing properties, wasn’t done. Gates’ new law shut the door on controversial local government agencies that had inked hundreds of deals across the state, including many in the Houston area, where the vast majority of Gates’ properties are located. In exchange for reserving units for lower-income tenants, the properties received a huge tax break. Developers who profited from the deals quickly challenged the new rules in a lawsuit. With hundreds of valuable tax breaks over decades at stake, billions of taxpayer dollars are in play.

Three months ago, Gates – now acting in his private capacity as an affordable-housing landlord — joined the legal battle opposing the developers. In filings by a nonprofit he formed and funded, he argued that without his law barring the deals, low-income housing owners — like him — were at a competitive disadvantage. That put Gates in a unique position: Privately defending a public law he himself passed that could be seen as protecting his personal business interests. It’s rare for one to plant a flag in the gray area so emphatically. But, Gates said, who better to understand the nuances of bad affordable housing policy and advocate against it than someone who works directly in the space? “If you have legislation dealing with animals, you take it to a veterinarian. If you have legislation dealing with medical issues, you take it to a doctor. It takes someone like me to understand how corrupt this is.” For years, small agencies formed by Texas cities or counties called housing finance corporations – HFCs – teamed up with private developers to provide affordable housing for their residents. As governmental entities, HFCs qualified the projects as exempt from property taxes. Large complexes could save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to subsidize their affordable units. About three years ago, however, a handful of financiers and attorneys discovered an apparent loophole in the Texas law: An HFC wasn’t required to be located where it did its deals.

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Trump crackdown on immigrant truckers forces thousands out of work in Texas

Texas has quietly canceled more than 6,400 commercial driver’s licenses for asylum recipients, refugees and DACA recipients in the state since November as it seeks to carry out the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrant workers. The cancellations, which have not been previously reported, amount to about two-thirds of the number of commercial drivers with discretionary immigration status in Texas. Those impacted aren’t permanent residents but have permits to work in the U.S. legally. Many say they had no warning about the change and are now stuck with outstanding truck loans and insurance payments that they can’t afford. “I was shocked,” said Essa Khan Nikmohammad, a 36-year-old former combat interpreter for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan who was granted asylum in 2023. His license was revoked in December. “I came legal. I didn’t cross the border (illegally).”

Federal officials say the move is meant to improve public safety, pointing to a small number of crashes involving truck drivers with temporary status, including a 17-car pileup on Interstate 35 in Austin last spring that left five people dead. The driver in that case had limited English proficiency. The Department of Transportation launched a nationwide audit after the incident, finding that several states had issued commercial licenses with expiration dates that didn’t match those on drivers’ separate work authorization forms. It threatened to withhold federal highway funds from any state that didn’t work to scrub licenses with discrepancies. .S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also pushed through an emergency rule barring asylum recipients, refugees and DACA recipients from renewing or obtaining the permits required to drive long-haul trucks. It cited “several recent fatal crashes” as justification and said the restriction would help ensure that only drivers with a “legitimate, employment-based reason” to hold a commercial license, like a work visa, are allowed to operate large trucks. A federal court temporarily blocked the rule, but Texas officials have continued to enforce it, saying they are obligated to comply with other federal directives. That means immigrants who find themselves without licenses after the audit cannot reapply for credentials. Duffy’s agency has acknowledged that there’s no conclusive evidence linking a driver’s nationality to roadway safety. More than 5,000 large trucks are involved in fatal crashes each year, according to the DOT’s statistics, dwarfing the number of reports of crashes involving noncitizens. Federal data shows immigrant drivers hold roughly 5% of commercial licenses yet account for just 0.2% of fatal crashes, according to the Associated Press.

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Texas Gov. Abbott says people obstructing immigration enforcement should be arrested

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is calling for the arrest of those who are obstructing immigration enforcement. Governor Abbott was reacting to a video shown on Fox News where ICE vehicles are being rammed by a suspect in a car in San Antonio. Abbott described the suspect as a “criminal illegal alien” and went on to say organized groups are obstructing ICE officers.

Gabriel Rosales with The League of United Latin American Citizens in Texas was quick to react to the Governor’s statement. “They continue to promote a narrative, right? Nobody wants militarized thugs coming into our communities. It doesn't matter what the governor says, he's played his cards. He's let us know what he is,“ he told TPR. Rosales said the Governor doesn’t care about working people in the state. “He just let us know what his agenda is, and it's not to help working people, and it's not to defend the rights of the undocumented that are here working and paying taxes in our community.” The video purportedly shows an alleged suspect ramming two vehicles in a Walmart parking lot with a car before agents pulled him out and arrested him. Governor Abbott’s statement on social media comes as San Antonio has seen an increase in ICE activities around the city.

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Mike Miles helped broker nearly $1M charter school consulting deal

State-appointed Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles played a central role early in negotiations for a nearly $1 million contract between a Texas charter school network and a for-profit Colorado consulting firm, according to records obtained by the Houston Chronicle. Miles used his private Gmail during those talks, emails show, sending a proposal with the consulting firm’s cost breakdowns; flagging a major price increase; and directing where contract documents should be sent. The firm’s services — plus the free use of HISD’s curriculum and training by Miles himself — were intended to help the charter system replicate HISD’s controversial reforms and turn around several of its struggling campuses.

"I hope the price is still worth it," Miles wrote to the charter system’s superintendent, Edward Conger. It is not uncommon for public school superintendents to engage in outside activities like teaching or giving keynote speeches. In fact, Miles’ contract with HISD allows him to do outside work, under certain conditions. Experts in school leadership and governance told the Chronicle that Miles' role in the arrangement raises concerns about transparency and best practices, including his use of a private email address, free HISD curriculum and his level of involvement. Brett Geier, a former superintendent who teaches K-12 educational leadership at Western Michigan University, said he thought HISD’s top leader should not have been this involved in an arrangement between another public entity and a vendor. “A superintendent is hired and remunerated for the position of improving the district that they've been charged with,” Geier said. “And so, my concern, from a policymaker, a board member, a community member would be: how much time was taken away from his duty right now, whether he was paid for it or not, in terms of leading the Houston ISD.”

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Witness says officer paced outside as shooter neared in Uvalde case

New testimony Wednesday added to the growing picture of what jurors are being asked to weigh in the trial of former Uvalde CISD police officer Adrian Gonzales: whether he failed to act when it mattered most during the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 children and two teachers. Gonzales faces 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child, one for each student who was inside the two fourth-grade classrooms where the gunman carried out the attack. Prosecutors say Gonzales was among the first officers to arrive, yet as nearly 400 law enforcement officers waited more than an hour before confronting the shooter, he had a chance to intervene but did not. Melodye Flores, who worked as a teacher’s aide at Robb Elementary, testified she saw the gunman approaching the school carrying a rifle and immediately tried to get Gonzales to intervene.

Flores told jurors she saw him pacing outside the school while the gunman was approaching the building. “I kept telling him, ‘He’s right there. … You need to do something,’” Flores said, describing the moments before the gunman entered the building. “I was begging him to stop him.” Flores testified that Gonzales did not respond, and seconds later, the shooting began. She described running for her life as gunfire erupted around her. “I thought I was going to die,” she testified. “The shots were so close. I could feel them passing by me.” Prosecutors say her account shows the danger was obvious and immediate, and that Gonzales failed to act in a moment when every second mattered. Other witnesses have also described the chaos inside the school, including teachers who saw the shooter in the hallway and tried to shield children as bullets tore through classroom doors. The emotional testimony spilled into the courtroom on Tuesday when Velma Lisa Duran, the sister of slain teacher Irma Garcia, interrupted proceedings during discussion of locked classroom doors and the delayed police response. Judge Sid Harle ordered her removed from the courtroom and instructed jurors to disregard the interruption.

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A&M cancels ethics class, raising questions about course review rules

A Texas A&M University dean canceled an "Ethics in Public Policy" graduate course three days into the spring semester, saying the professor refused to submit information needed to be exempt from a new ban on teaching gender and race ideology. The dean specifically named professor Leonard Bright in a Wednesday email to his colleagues at the Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service and used the course cancellation as a warning about following university processes. But Bright and other faculty advocates say they lack clarity about the rules for the ongoing course review and that administrators are using that ambiguity to their advantage. "It’s a very creative way of trying to sidestep (responsibility)," said Bright, who denied he failed to cooperate with administrators. "The end goal is to stop the discussions."

Bright is the president of A&M's chapter of the American Association of University Professors, an organizing group that aims to protect faculty's academic freedom. He has been vocal about his concerns with the massive course review and exemption process, which has dragged into the spring semester and left some faculty in limbo as they wait for clear, consistent guidance on the policy — including how the university decides which courses violate its definitions of race and gender ideology. University officials said in a Wednesday statement that A&M has given "detailed written guidance and established a structured framework for syllabus and course review," including timelines, a phased implementation plan and a formal process for requesting course exemptions. "Ethics in Public Policy" is the second known course to be canceled outright under the new ideology ban. The Houston Chronicle also learned of a course that was moved out of the core curriculum and another that had to remove certain readings from Plato, the celebrated Greek philosopher. Texts with "major" LGBTQ plotlines are also blocked from core English courses, according to a departmental email viewed by the Chronicle. The policy — which the Texas A&M Regents passed in November and revised in December — prohibits the teaching of race or gender ideology, or topics about gender identity and sexual orientation, in the core curriculum. Professors can get exemptions to teach those topics outside the core, including at the graduate level. It is not clear yet how many courses have been affected, with topics removed, moved out of the core, or canceled entirely.

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Racist ICE lawyer back at work in Dallas immigration court

Jim Rodden, an ICE prosecutor, was exposed early last year by the Texas Observer as the operator of a White supremacist account on Twitter. At the time, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility said that it “understands the seriousness of the allegations and will ensure the allegations are addressed appropriately, fairly, and expeditiously.” Apparently ICE decided Rodden is their kind of guy. Steven Monacelli reported yesterday at the Texas Observer that Rodden is back at work. He was spotted in the Dallas courtroom of Judge Deitrich H. Sims, whom the Dallas Observer has reported is “seen by many as a courtroom bully” and who denies asylum requests at a higher rate than nearly every other judge in the country. And so it goes.

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Federal judge says deporting Babson College freshman from Texas was a ‘tragic case of bureaucracy gone wrong’

In a potentially dramatic development in the case of a Babson College freshman who was abruptly deported over Thanksgiving, federal authorities on Tuesday acknowledged they were wrong to expel her in violation of a court order. The court admission was an unusual show of contrition during the Trump administration’s aggressive campaign to swiftly deport immigrants. But it’s unclear whether it will immediately lead to Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, being able to return from Honduras. The federal judge in the court proceeding Tuesday, Richard G. Stearns, prodded lawyers for the administration to find a way to let Lopez Belloza return to the United States and remain here legally. Her deportation, Stearns said, was a “tragic case of bureaucracy going wrong. It might not be anybody’s fault, but she was the victim of it.”

Lopez Belloza was on her way home to Texas to surprise her parents and sisters on Thanksgiving when she was arrested at Logan Airport. As has become a hallmark of the administration’s immigration push, authorities shuffled her between locations and then out of state. Because it was unclear where she was, her attorney at the time filed for her release in Massachusetts. On the day after Thanksgiving, another federal judge in Boston ordered the administration not to transport her or deport her. By then, though, she had already been relocated to Texas, and despite the court order was deported to Honduras the following day. Her attorney filed a motion for contempt of court, and on Tuesday federal authorities said they’d acted in error. “I want to sincerely apologize,” Assistant US Attorney Mark Sauter said in Boston federal court. “The government regrets that violation and acknowledges that violation.” He said an ICE agent misread the court order and assumed it no longer applied because she was out of Massachusetts by then. Therefore, Sauter said, he didn’t flag it in ICE’s internal systems the way he should have.

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Keller mayor and House candidate says vulgar vandal wrote four-letter ICE slur on family member’s property

The mayor of Keller, whose city has been actively helping with immigration enforcement since last summer, said someone vandalized a relative’s business with a four-letter slur against ICE. Mayor Armin Mizani posted a photo on X of what appears to be a commercial sign with the indecent declaration scrawled in all caps. “Let’s be clear,” the Republican mayor wrote on X. “In Texas, nothing will deter us from standing with law enforcement professionals who risk their lives to protect our communities and enforce the law.” In August, the Keller City Council voted unanimously to participate in ICE’s 287(g) program, which grants local law enforcement the authority to perform certain immigration enforcement functions. Since then, Keller has been determining people’s immigration status when they are booked into a regional jail in the city.

About 30 people protested the council’s decision at the time. Keller was the first Tarrant County city to sign onto the 287(g) program. In Mizani’s social media post about the vandalism, he included a message “to the naysayers who claimed Keller’s resolution and formal partnership with @ICEgov wouldn’t amount to anything.” He said Keller’s jail has turned over 11 people to ICE since August. The offenses included outstanding warrants, theft, drunken driving, drug paraphernalia and fake license plates, Mizani said. The detainees had been arrested by police departments in Southlake, Colleyville, Westlake and Roanoke and brought to Keller’s jail. Mizani also sent out a press release about the 11 detainees under the banner of his candidacy for Texas House District 98, saying “illegal immigrant crime doesn’t just happen at the border. It’s happening here in DFW, in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods.” On Wednesday, Mizani told the Star-Telegram he couldn’t speculate whether Keller’s involvement in the 287(g) program had motivated the vulgar vandal. He said his relative’s property is not in the Keller area.

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‘No delay:’ Crockett, South Dallas residents press city on Fair Park greenspace

South Dallas community advocates, led by Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, pressed the City Council on Wednesday to break a two-year stalemate over who will build a long-promised community park at Fair Park. Crockett, speaking virtually from Washington, was joined by Anna Hill, Eva Jones and other community leaders, wearing blue pins that said “No delay. Our park today.” Crockett, a Democrat, warned that federal funding for the project could be in jeopardy. “Let me be clear, federal dollars are not symbolic,” she said. “They come with expectations, follow-through timelines and responsible local action.” Speakers repeatedly pointed to donor frustration, blaming bureaucratic delays and the city’s Park and Recreation Board, whose chair, Arun Agarwal, has resisted allowing the nonprofit Fair Park First to build the park without more vetting.

“Isn’t it basic common sense we do due diligence before we hand over the keys to the park?” Agarwal told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday. Agarwal, who was not at the council meeting, said he does not disagree with the speakers and that the park board supports building the community park. That effort to strike common ground has not eased the political pressure as some council members have suggested they may strip the board of its role if the stalemate drags on. Council member Adam Bazaldua, whose district encompasses the 277-acre asset, said Wednesday he’s prepared to shift oversight of the park’s funding and development contracts from the board and place it under City Council authority if delays continue. Agarwal recently announced a taskforce aimed at jump-starting the project, led by former Fair Park First finance chair Keba Batie, former park board chair and council member Lois Finkelman, park board member Vana Hammond, as well as community leaders like Ken Smith, Bonton Foundation CEO Mark Jones and Antong Lucky with Urban Specialists. Agarwal said the goal is to protect donor confidence and prevent commitments from unraveling.

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Lake Worth parents, faculty press state about ongoing district takeover

In the seven months since Mark Ramirez was hired as Lake Worth school district’s superintendent, Chris Hollie has seen a lot of improvement across the district and is proud the community found a leader it can trust. Despite low ratings from the Texas Education Agency during assessments of the district’s schools, Hollie, who serves as a truancy compliance facilitator for Lake Worth, is proud of the work Ramirez has done to get the district back on track since he was hired in May 2025. He believed even better days were ahead. But now, Ramirez will soon be replaced by a state-appointed superintendent after the TEA announced it was taking over the district because of continuously low ratings. Hollie stood before TEA Deputy Commissioner Steve Lecholop at Lake Worth High School on Wednesday night and told him a huge mistake was being made.

“This community is about to be changed and flipped upside down,” Hollie said. “The community found somebody that actually cared about the community and you guys are going to strip the community of what we have found.” Dozens more Lake Worth parents and teachers pressed Lecholop at the meeting hosted by the TEA Wednesday night in the Lake Worth High School auditorium. The meeting allowed community members to directly ask the TEA questions about the takeover and how it would affect the district. Over 100 people were in attendance, and dozens spoke passionately to Lecholop. Almost every speaker agreed that replacing Ramirez would be a grave mistake. The TEA announced in December that Ramirez was not being considered to keep his post. “My great hope is that this takeover positively impacts this community,” Lecholop told attendees. “Kids are going to be improving in their ability and their proficiency in reading and math. That’s going to have a positive impact on the community.”

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UNT is offering free tuition for 4 years to eligible Texan students in 2026

The University of North Texas announced Wednesday that it will cover all costs for first-year students from Texas, including tuition and other mandatory fees. According to UNT, the “North Texas Promise Program” will begin in the fall 2026 academic year. It guarantees that eligible students who are getting their first bachelor’s degree will have free tuition for up to four years or eight consecutive semesters. “As the largest university in North Texas, UNT has a special responsibility to expand access to transformative educational opportunities across our region and beyond,” said UNT President Harrison Keller.

“With the North Texas Promise, more outstanding Texas students will be able to access a college education that prepares them to unlock their full potential. I am proud we are able to offer this program grounded in our core values and our commitment to create enduring value for the public good.” To qualify for the program, incoming students must be from Texas and their family income cannot exceed $100,000 per year. Other requirements include ranking in top 25% of high school classes or being eligible for federal Pell Grants. They must be admitted for the fall 2026 semester by Feb. 15 and have submitted a valid FAFSA. UNT said prospective students should apply and submit their FAFSA in January to allow time for processing. The Denton-based university, which has a satellite campus in Frisco, said that students who meet the criteria will automatically be considered for the program without having to submit a separate application.

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Mike Culbertson: Future of Corpus Christi depends on smart water strategy

(Mike Culbertson is President and CEO of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation.) The Coastal Bend stands at a pivotal moment — one that will define the strength, resilience and prosperity of our region for decades to come. The city of Corpus Christi’s decision to pursue a new contract for a regional desalination plant is not only prudent; it is essential for protecting the industries that sustain our economy and for creating the opportunities our community needs to grow and thrive. Water has always been the lifeblood of the Coastal Bend. From energy and petrochemicals to advanced manufacturing, logistics and the hundreds of small businesses that support them, our residents, our industry and our commercial partners depend on reliable access to water. Industries provide thousands of high-wage jobs, generate tax revenue that funds local services and position Corpus Christi as a competitive hub on the Gulf Coast. Yet as our region continues to expand, so too does the pressure on our existing water supply.

We cannot rely on the reservoirs and rainfall patterns of the past to meet the needs of the future. Drought cycles are becoming less predictable. Industrial investment is accelerating. And our community — like communities across Texas — is working hard to address housing shortages and support residential growth. To put it simply: Our current water sources are no longer sufficient on their own. Bringing new water supplies online is not just about adding capacity. It is about safeguarding what we already have. If we don’t secure additional, drought-proof water, we risk stalling major projects, slowing job creation and undermining the enormous progress the Coastal Bend has made in diversifying and strengthening its economy. Existing employers need certainty. Future employers need confidence. Desalination provides both. A regional desalination facility would give us the stability required to protect current industry and anchor future expansion. It would allow local manufacturers, refineries, and emerging tech and energy companies to plan long-term investments without worrying that water scarcity could interrupt operations or delay growth. More importantly, it would ensure that residential and commercial users are not forced to compete with industry for a finite resource, with industrial users paying their fair share and lowering the cost of water for households and small businesses. This is about balance — ensuring that families, small businesses and major employers all have the water they need to flourish.

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National Stories

Fear and anger spread after another immigration shooting in Minneapolis

A federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis after being attacked with a shovel and broom handle, further heightening the sense of fear and anger radiating across the city a week after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the head. Smoke filled the street Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd while protesters threw rocks and shot fireworks. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.” Things later began to quiet down at the scene, and by early Thursday fewer demonstrators and law enforcement officers were there. Such protest scenes have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good on Jan. 7 amid a massive immigration crackdown that has seen thousands of officers sent into the Twin Cities.

Agents have yanked people from cars and homes and been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding that officers pack up and leave. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.” Related Stories Federal officer shoots person in leg after being attacked during Minneapolis arrest, officials say What to know about the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis New video of fatal Minnesota ICE shooting, from officer's perspective, brings fresh scrutiny “This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said. Frey described a federal force that is five times as big as the city’s 600-officer police force and has “invaded” the city, scaring and angering residents, some of whom want the officers to “fight ICE agents.” At the same time, the police force is still responsible for their day-to-day work to keep the public safe. The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down.

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Mexico weighs its options as Trump’s intervention rhetoric escalates

President Claudia Sheinbaum is facing mounting pressure as U.S. President Donald Trump escalates rhetoric about striking Mexican drug cartels, following Washington’s military action in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro. Trump’s comments — including a Fox News interview in which he said the United States would begin “hitting land” against cartels — have sharpened concerns in Mexico. While similar language has surfaced before, Mexican officials say it took on new significance after the U.S. demonstrated its willingness to use force in Venezuela, raising fears that Mexico could be next. Those concerns prompted a direct phone call between the two leaders on Monday. Sheinbaum said Trump again proposed sending U.S. troops into Mexico. She rejected the offer and instead emphasized what she described as tangible results of bilateral cooperation: a 50% reduction in fentanyl crossing into the United States over the past year and a 43% decline in overdose deaths.

Trump also asked for Mexico’s position on Venezuela. Sheinbaum responded by invoking constitutional limits. "I told him that we have a constitution, that we are against military interventions," she said in Spanish. She added that Trump acknowledged those constraints. On Wednesday, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51), and Congressman Greg Stanton (AZ-04) introduced the No Unauthorized War in Mexico Act, legislation that would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for an unauthorized war in Mexico. “Trump is threatening to start a military conflict in America’s own backyard," said Congressman Stanton in a joint statement. "America's security goals must be achieved by working in partnership with Mexico, not attacking it—and certainly not without Congressional authorization.” "My constituents in San Antonio don’t want the U.S. to spend billions in another war that risks destabilizing the region, mass migration, and human rights abuses," Congressman Castro said in the statement. "My legislation, the No Unauthorized War in Mexico Act, would protect our relationship with a close ally and prevent wasting taxpayer dollars on military force in Mexico.”

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US freezes all visa processing for 75 countries, including Somalia, Russia, Iran

The State Department is pausing immigrant visa processing for 75 countries in an effort to crack down on applicants deemed likely to become a public charge. A State Department memo, seen first by Fox News Digital, directs consular officers to refuse visas under existing law while the department reassesses screening and vetting procedures. The countries include Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, Yemen and more. The pause will begin Jan. 21 and will continue indefinitely until the department conducts a reassessment of immigrant visa processing. Somalia has drawn heightened scrutiny from federal officials following a sweeping fraud scandal centered in Minnesota, where prosecutors uncovered massive abuse of taxpayer-funded benefit programs. Many of those involved are Somali nationals or Somali-Americans.

In November 2025, a State Department cable sent to posts around the globe instructed consular officers to enforce sweeping new screening rules under the so-called "public charge" provision of immigration law. The guidance instructs consular officers to deny visas to applicants deemed likely to rely on public benefits, weighing a wide range of factors including health, age, English proficiency, finances and even potential need for long-term medical care. Older or overweight applicants could be denied, along with those who had any past use of government cash assistance or institutionalization. "The State Department will use its long-standing authority to deem ineligible potential immigrants who would become a public charge on the United States and exploit the generosity of the American people," State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott said in a statement. "Immigration from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits."

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Inside the alcohol lobby’s quest to water down federal booze guidelines

The alcohol industry spent the end of 2025 facing down a potential apocalypse. Booze lobbyists swooped in to help. The beer, wine and liquor industry — reeling from declining sales — has long had to reckon with U.S. government recommendations that warned against alcohol consumption, suggesting adults who drink any alcohol at all “drink in moderation” and limit their intake to “two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less in a day for women.” A revision to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which was due at the start of 2026, could have proven disastrous if it came in even marginally more restrictive. The government’s new advice is relatively vague, urging adults to “consume less alcohol for better overall health” and “limit” their drinking. It hangs no specific number of drinks on that recommendation.

The guidelines also removed longstanding warnings that drinking could increase the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other maladies, and they don’t distinguish between men and women, who typically metabolize alcohol differently. Booze lobbyists, who blitzed Capitol Hill, the White House and key executive branch agencies in the months leading up to the guidelines revision, may be partially to thank. In all, at least 15 beer, wine and liquor industry companies and trade associations reported lobbying on dietary guidelines in some form or fashion between July 1 and Sept. 30, according to a NOTUS review of federal records. (Lobbyists will disclose next week their federal lobbying activity covering Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.) Two lobbyists who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe their advocacy on behalf of alcohol industry clients said they made the case to Trump administration officials that more generalized alcohol recommendations would align with “make America healthy again” principles of individual choice and health empowerment. They also argued it could help the nation’s domestic beer, wine and liquor manufacturers thrive.

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Can the ICE agent who shot Renee Good be prosecuted?

There would be many obstacles for any prosecutors trying to bring a case against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis last week. If the state were to charge the agent, the U.S. Constitution makes it difficult for state authorities to prosecute federal officers for actions taken while on duty. Even if the state cleared that hurdle, it is difficult to convict law enforcement officers in any circumstances, let alone those as contentious as the shooting of the woman, Renee Nicole Good. And the Trump administration, all but guaranteed not to bring a federal case, is refusing to share evidence with Minnesota authorities. But Minneapolis’s top prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, said in an interview on Wednesday that lack of access to the federal investigation was “not a complete barrier” to prosecution. “This isn’t a whodunit,” she said, adding that she was exploring ways to compel the F.B.I. to share the evidence.

A thorough investigation likely would take months and require a detailed analysis of the episode, which began when Ms. Good, parked across a road, was approached by ICE agents and ordered out of her S.U.V. When she instead began to drive, the agent, Jonathan Ross, who was bracing himself against her vehicle with one arm, fired three times, killing her. The episode was recorded on several cellphones and footage was instantly ubiquitous. Legal experts said that while a prosecution was feasible, securing a conviction would be a struggle. Steve Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown University’s law school, said that given the videos, finding probable cause to charge Mr. Ross would not be a stretch. But, he said, “it gets much harder after that.” Asked for a representative for Mr. Ross, ICE directed comment to a Minnesota lawyer and Republican candidate for governor, Chris Madel, who said that Mr. Ross had applied to the U.S. Department of Justice for representation. Here’s what to know about the complexities of prosecuting Mr. Ross: Given the Trump administration’s swift reaction to the shooting, and the White House’s tight control over the Justice Department, federal prosecutors will almost certainly not bring charges. Six Minnesota federal prosecutors resigned over questions about whether the department would investigate Mr. Ross, and its push to investigate Ms. Good’s widow. That would leave any prosecution of Mr. Ross in the hands of state authorities, who might have jurisdiction to charge the agent but would have to fight for the ability to do so. The Constitution’s Supremacy Clause bars state prosecution of federal officers in a broad range of circumstances. That clause does not definitively prevent federal officers from ever facing criminal charges. To avoid prosecution, the federal officer must have been performing an act he was “authorized to do by the law of the United States” and have done “no more than what was necessary and proper,” according to a recent judicial opinion. The burden is on the state to show that an officer overstepped those bounds.

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Iran warns of retaliation if Trump strikes, US withdraws some personnel from bases

The United States is withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a U.S. official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbours it would hit American bases if Washington strikes. With Iran's leadership trying to quell the worst domestic unrest the Islamic Republic has ever faced, Tehran is seeking to deter U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters. The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Iran on Thursday at the request of the United States. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was pulling some personnel from key bases in the region as a precaution given heightened regional tensions.

"All the signals are that a U.S. attack is imminent, but that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes. Unpredictability is part of the strategy," a Western military official told Reuters later on Wednesday. At the White House, however, Trump suggested he was adopting a wait-and-see posture toward the crisis. Trump told reporters that he has been told that killings in the Iranian government's crackdown on the protests were subsiding and that he believes there is currently no plan for large-scale executions. Asked who told him that the killings had stopped, Trump described them as "very important sources on the other side." The president did not rule out potential U.S. military action, saying "we are going to watch what the process is" before noting that his administration had received a "very good statement" from Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday "there is no plan" by Iran to hang people, when asked about the anti-government protests. "There is no plan for hanging at all," the foreign minister told Fox News in an interview on the "Special Report with Bret Baier" show. "Hanging is out of the question," he said. According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights Society, hangings are common in Iranian prisons.

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Trump not persuaded to abandon Greenland pursuit after White House talks

Top officials from Denmark and Greenland said after a visit to the White House on Wednesday that they hadn’t persuaded President Trump to abandon his ambitions to annex Greenland. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers at the White House in the midst of an extraordinary standoff between the U.S. and its closest allies over the future of the island of 57,000 people. Political leaders in Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of the Danish kingdom, have repeatedly insisted that their home isn’t for sale after Trump’s plans sparked blowback. A few hours later, Trump reiterated his position that the U.S. needs Greenland for security purposes. “There’s not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland,” he told reporters. “But there’s everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela…I can’t rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off.”

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the meeting Wednesday was a positive step forward, even if it didn’t sway Trump on the issue. A “fundamental disagreement” remains, he said, although talks will continue. “We didn’t manage to change the American position. It’s clear that the president has this wish of conquering Greenland, and we made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest” of either Denmark or Greenland, Rasmussen said. He added that the U.S., Denmark and Greenland would establish a high-level working group to meet in the coming weeks but declined to give more specifics. Danish officials insist that Washington could achieve all of its strategic aims with Greenland—acquiring more military bases and access to mineral resources—without annexing the island. A senior Trump administration official said that a financial offer was to be part of the discussion and that the president was waiting on the outcome to decide his next move. A senior Danish official wouldn’t confirm that any monetary offers were made but said any effort to annex Greenland fully would be unacceptable. U.S. lawmakers, including some from Trump’s own party, are piling on. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Trump’s Greenland aims are “incinerating the hard won trust of loyal allies in exchange for no meaningful change across the Arctic.” “Following through on this provocation would be more disastrous for the president’s legacy than withdrawing from Afghanistan was for his predecessor,” McConnell added.

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F.B.I. searches home of Washington Post journalist in a leak investigation

B.I. agents searched the home of a Washington Post reporter on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a government contractor’s handling of classified material, a significant escalation in the Trump administration’s tactics in seeking information from the news media. It is exceedingly rare, even in investigations of classified disclosures, for federal agents to search a reporter’s home. A 1980 law generally bars search warrants for reporters’ work materials, unless the reporters themselves are suspected of committing a crime related to the materials. The Washington Post reporter, Hannah Natanson, had spent the past year covering the Trump administration’s effort to fire federal workers and redirect much of the work force toward enforcing his agenda. Many of those employees shared with her their anger, frustration and fear with the administration’s changes.

A spokesperson for The Washington Post said on Wednesday that the publication was reviewing and monitoring the situation. The F.B.I. agents, executing a search warrant, seized laptops, a phone and a smartwatch during their search. An article in The Post said the publication had received a subpoena on Wednesday morning seeking information related to a government contractor. Speaking to reporters in the afternoon, President Trump made an apparent reference to the case, saying the government had caught “a very bad leaker” of information related to Venezuela. He suggested that similar investigations were underway, saying: “There could be some others, and we’ll let you know about that. We’re hot on their trail.” In a message to staff, Matt Murray, the executive editor of The Post, said neither Ms. Natanson nor the paper was a focus of the investigation. “Nonetheless, this extraordinary, aggressive action is deeply concerning and raises profound questions and concern around the constitutional protections for our work,” he wrote. Court documents indicate that law enforcement officials were investigating Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a system administrator in Maryland who has a top-secret security clearance and has been accused of gaining access to and taking home classified intelligence reports that were found in his lunchbox and basement.

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Lead Stories

Trump's economic speech veers off-topic as he takes aim at Biden and Powell

President Trump gave a grievance-laden speech at the Detroit Economic Club Tuesday that touched on what he labeled a resurgent American economy but meandered into many different topics including criticism of former President Joe Biden, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Minnesota's Somali population and Minneapolis protesters. "We have quickly gone from the worst numbers on record to the best and strongest numbers and an economy that is far ahead," Trump said from the Detroit Economic Club. The speech, which comes amid polling showing his handling of the economy at a historic low, lasted just more than an hour. He touted plans to crack down on fraud, freeze federal payments to states with sanctuary cities and cap credit card fees at 10% for a year. He also teased further proposals to come on health care and housing.

"It's unfair," Trump said in Detroit on credit card interest rates. "The rates are too high to provide further relief to hardworking Americans." But Trump spent much of his time blaming Biden for inflation rates and criticized the fed chair, Powell, whom the Justice Department is targeting in a new investigation. Trump told NBC News on Sunday he had nothing to do with the probe, but he has been criticizing Powell for months for not lowering interest rates and has been threatening to fire him. In his remarks, Trump referred to Powell as "that jerk" and said he would "be gone soon." Michigan was Trump's first domestic trip since a slew of international news – capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro; threatening military action against Iran after rising protests; seizing Greenland; trying to move forward in the Gaza peace deal; ongoing negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war – has been the president's main focus for weeks. But in the U.S., even a majority of the president's own supporters remain increasingly concerned about high costs and affordability.

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ICE arrested dozens of refugees in Minnesota and sent them to Texas, lawyers say

Federal immigration agents in recent days have arrested dozens of refugees in Minnesota who had passed security screenings before being admitted to the United States, according to their lawyers and immigrant rights advocates. The arrests of the refugees, who are mainly from Somalia and include children, come after an announcement last Friday that the Trump administration would “re-examine thousands of refugee cases through new background checks,” focusing on people who have yet to obtain green cards after arriving in the United States. But that announcement, by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, did not say that the refugees would be subject to arrest and transfer to immigrant detention facilities. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not respond to emailed questions on Tuesday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that detained the refugees, according to the lawyers, also did not respond.

Michele Garnett McKenzie, executive director at the Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis, said most of the detainees were being transferred to facilities in Texas. She estimated that at least 100 people had been detained. “It’s happening very fast,” she said, adding, “It’s devastating the community.” Among the cases she cited was one of a Somali mother who was detained, leaving behind a toddler, and another family in which a mother and two adult children were detained. President Trump closed the United States to refugees from around the world on his first day in office. In November, he began targeting refugees in Minnesota, a blue state with the country’s largest Somali population, amid reports that some Somalis there had defrauded the state, collecting millions of dollars in social services that were never provided. Last week, his administration said that it was starting a “sweeping initiative” to conduct new background checks and intensive verification of refugees to check for fraud and other crimes. “The initial focus is on Minnesota’s 5,600 refugees who have not yet been given lawful permanent resident status,” said the announcement from Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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Wall Street is suddenly on the defensive with the president

Wall Street thought it had an ally in Donald Trump. He’s becoming more of an adversary. The president largely delivered to investors last year, as his administration cut taxes, reduced spending and rolled back an aggressive tariff plan after it spooked markets. Now, after blindsiding Wall Street with a series of rapid-fire moves in the span of a week, Trump appears to be putting it on notice. He has sought to block large investors from buying houses, called for a cap on credit-card rates and announced restrictions on executive pay and stock buybacks. Then came the most stunning move of all: The Justice Department’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in what he said was an intimidation tactic to lower interest rates. “Investors thought after the April 2025 tariffs that uncertainty around policy would magically go away,” says Brad Golding, a hedge-fund manager at Christofferson Robb & Co. in New York. “Now, we’re seeing that midterm elections mean more than the profitability of banks and the stability of markets.”

News of the investigation, which prompted JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and others in the banking world to defend the Fed, was an escalation in Trump’s pressure campaign on the Fed to lower rates. It was a clear message that voters’ concerns about the cost of living, and not investors, are now top of mind. On Monday evening, Trump issued his latest broadside against business on social media, saying he was working with Microsoft and other tech giants to make sure consumers don’t “pick up the tab” for higher electricity prices as heavy investment in artificial intelligence fuels power demand from data centers. White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement that multiple record stock market highs and rising real wages show Trump can “unleash historic prosperity” for consumers and investors alike. Investors can’t say they weren’t warned. Administration officials have spent over a year saying they were going to try to help consumers and others, even at the expense of investors. “For the last four decades, Wall Street has grown wealthier than ever before…for the next four years, it’s Main Street’s turn,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a group of bankers last April.

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Hundreds of private schools are being shut out of Texas' voucher program

Hundreds of private schools have been shut out of Texas’ new school voucher program while the state comptroller’s office awaits a decision in its bid to block some Islamic and allegedly Chinese-linked institutions. Nearly all schools accredited by Cognia, the largest private school accreditor in Texas, have been unable to submit applications in the month since the state began accepting them. As of Tuesday, only 30 of the 600 schools accredited solely by the nonprofit were added to the list of approved vendors, most of them offering only pre-K and kindergarten. The majority of those were added overnight on Monday, after Hearst Newspapers began inquiring about the issue. Applications for families are set to go live in just over three weeks. The hold-up appears to be linked to a request that acting comptroller Kelly Hancock made to the Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on December 10, seeking a legal opinion on whether certain schools could be barred from the program for their alleged ties to the Chinese government or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Gov. Greg Abbott designated as a terror group.

Hancock’s letter states that each of the schools in question is Cognia-accredited. But the pause appeared to reach beyond those targeted institutions. The Texas Private School Association told its members in December that all Cognia-accredited schools would be on hold “until the Attorney General submitted an answer to this request, or more information was provided.” Almost a third of private schools eligible to participate in the state’s $1 billion voucher program are Cognia-accredited. Another 200 are approved by Cognia and another accreditor, and some began receiving access to apply on Friday, according to the private school association. The Houston Quran Academy, a Cognia-accredited school, told Hearst Newspapers it applied in December but had not heard back. Beren Academy, a Jewish day school in Houston, said on Sunday it had not yet received an invitation to apply but was eager to be part of the new program. At least 15 Islamic-focused schools in Texas have received eligible accreditations, all from Cognia; none has been approved so far. A spokesperson for Cognia said the group was aware of a concern delaying its schools’ applications and it was working with the comptroller to find a resolution.

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State Stories

Joe Rogan breaks with Trump over ‘Gestapo’ ICE operations

Podcaster Joe Rogan voiced sympathy with Americans who have expressed anger and frustration at the way President Trump’s administration has conducted immigration enforcement during his first year in office. “You don’t want militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching up people — many of which turn out to be U.S. citizens that just don’t have their papers on them,” Rogan said on Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, likely referring to the president’s deployment of National Guard soldiers to aid in the crackdown. He added, “Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?” Rogan, who was interviewing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), said issues concerning immigration “are more complicated than anyone wants to admit.”

Trump’s immigration agenda reached a flash point last week following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good, a Minnesota woman federal officials allege impeded an ICE operation in Minneapolis by using her vehicle as a weapon. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the officer who killed Good, while protests against immigration operations in the North Star State have grown in the days since the shooting. Polls indicate that many Americans disagree with the administration’s justification for the shooting and believe the officer should face legal action. Rogan, a prominent media voice who is particularly influential with young men, has broken with Trump on a number of issues in recent months after voicing support for the president during his 2024 campaign. Trump sat with the podcast host for a more than three-hour interview just days before the 2024 election, as part of an effort to use appearances with internet influencers and popular podcasters to shore up support among younger voters.

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Democrat running for Greg Abbott's seat calls him 'most corrupt governor' in Texas history

Democratic gubernatorial candidate State Rep. Gina Hinojosa during a weekend campaign stop in San Antonio called Gov. Greg Abbott the “most corrupt governor” in the state’s history. “Texans are struggling,” said Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat. “We have the most people who are uninsured. Housing is more and more unaffordable. Our utility and electricity bills are skyrocketing under [Abbott] because of corruption.” The former Austin ISD school board trustee pointed to a September study by watchdog group Public Citizen, which found that Abbott awarded nearly $1 billion in no-bid state contracts to donors to his political campaigns. “That’s our tax dollars,” Hinojosa said. “What we know is that Greg Abbott is overseeing a system that is working against us with our own money. Texans are done with that. They want change, and that’s my message across the state.”

Hinojosa’s comments came during a Sunday campaign event for U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett at Tony G’s on San Antonio’s East Side. Even so, Hinojosa — who declared her candidacy in October — said she wouldn’t be making an official endorsement of either Crockett or the Dallas congresswoman’s primary opponent, State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, in the state’s tightly contested U.S. Senate race. Hinojosa, who’s served a decade in the Texas House, is by and large the favorite to win the Democratic primary for governor. However, she said she’s taking nothing for granted. The state rep is ramping up her campaign to overcome not just a lack of name recognition outside Central Texas, but wide funding gap compared to the Republican governor’s nearly $100 million war chest as he seeks an unprecedented fourth term. “He can’t spend enough money to undo what people have known about him for 12 years,” Hinojosa said. “They know him. They don’t like him. So my challenge is to just get my name out there and to greet people as they change candidate who has a record of working for Texans.” Hinojosa said the state’s ongoing affordability crisis and the high rate of people without health insurance are among her top concerns. However, the outspoken school-voucher skeptic also said public education and funding Texas schools are other key priorities. “We’re all paying the Greg Abbott corruption tax,” Hinojosa said. “Our property taxes are going up under him, but we’re getting less. Where I live, 10 schools are shutting down — schools are shutting down all over this state because our money is not going towards our priorities.”

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Proposed DSHS rules would increase hemp fees, ban intoxicating smokeable hemp in Texas

In accordance with Gov. Greg Abbott’s, R-Texas, September executive order, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) proposed several rule changes to tighten regulations on hemp-derived THC. Prior to the executive order, Abbott vetoed a bill which would’ve banned hemp in Texas — telling lawmakers to regulate it in a special session. Small business owners in the Texas hemp industry have several concerns with the proposed regulations. One regulation changes the definition of total THC to ban the smokable intoxicating hemp in a similar manner to how the federal government changed the total THC definition last year. Another dramatically increases fees, which hemp store operators say they can’t pay. Currently, the annual fee paid to manufacture consumable hemp is $250. Under the new proposal, it would be $25,000. On the retailer side, each hemp store would have to pay DSHS $20,000 under the proposed rule change as opposed to the current $150 fee.

“[This] is not regulation, it’s a kill shot aimed at small operators,” Texas Hemp Farmer John Elmore told DSHS representatives at last Friday’s hearing. In an email to Nexstar, DSHS noted part of Abbott’s executive order requiring DSHS, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) and the Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension Service to “jointly conduct a study on implementation of rules similar to those in House Bill 309, 89th Texas Legislature, Second Called Session.“ HB 309, filed by State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, was never referred to committee. It includes a proposed fee structure calling for a $25,000 hemp manufacturer’s license and $20,000 for an off-premise hemp retailers license. Still, hemp retailers think this is too much. “[We did] an analysis of how much it would take to fund all of DSHS’s inspection operations, down to the per diem meal allowance and mileage reimbursement, in order to have one agent for every 75 Texas hemp retailers in the state so that they could all be inspected annually,” multi-store operator Nicholas Mortillaro said. “It’s about $1,000 to $1,500 (per retailer)… so it’s very clear that those licensing fees have no reasonable relationship to the actual cost of regulation.” Betsy Jones, a policy advocate for Texans for a Safe and Drug-Free Youth, says those fees make sense to meet best practices for regulation.

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A Dallas megadonor, a new nonprofit, and the war on ‘housing first’

On October 15, 2024, the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee held a wide-ranging special hearing in the Capitol’s underground extension. The first subject was “addressing homelessness,” an issue that affects tens of thousands of Texans on any given night. Among those who testified were elected politicians, law enforcement officials, and service providers from major cities across the state, as well as Monty Bennett—a Dallas hotelier and major conservative political donor who lacks experience providing homeless services but has given at least $127,500 combined to the campaigns of six GOP lawmakers on that committee since 2015. “I’ve taken up the charge to try to help my city with this big homelessness problem,” Bennett said. “There’s been a lot of great work, but the point is that it’s just not working, and I do believe that the state needs to get involved.” Bennett’s criticism that afternoon was relatively measured compared with the language that has appeared in the right-wing nonprofit news outlet where he serves as publisher and board member, The Dallas Express. A 2022 editorial board opinion piece, for example, was headlined “Dallas’ Office of Homeless Solutions Continues to Fail,” and another report that year proclaimed “Dallas Spends Millions on Homelessness; Gets No Results.”

Bennett, who resides in the wealthy enclave city of Highland Park, recommended a model to the lawmakers: Haven for Hope, the primary homeless shelter in San Antonio, which, he said, could be emulated statewide. He also plugged a then-year-old Dallas nonprofit called Refuge for Renewal, where he’s a founding board member, which has proposed creating a new “transformational campus” for the homeless on approximately 50 acres of city-owned land nearly 10 miles outside downtown Dallas in Oak Cliff, a neighborhood with a history of redlining, racial segregation, and disinvestment. Tyler Arbogast, a real estate developer who briefly served as Refuge for Renewal’s executive director, was among those the committee specifically invited to testify (while Bennett spoke during the public testimony portion). Arbogast argued at the hearing that the current approach to homelessness is too fragmented, a problem that Refuge for Renewal could solve with the help of state funding. Two higher-ups with Ashford, the name of the group of hospitality companies that Bennett oversees, also testified. Refuge for Renewal has been covered favorably by The Dallas Express for the past year and a half, and Bennett has served as an apparent spokesperson for the organization. In addition to Bennett, its board of directors—according to its September 2023 state incorporation filing and its most recent federal tax filing—includes Rob Hays, who stepped down as CEO of Ashford Hospitality Trust in June 2024, and Mark Melton, a local lawyer and founder of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center. The nonprofit’s tax filing shows $230,000 in contributions in 2024 and $239,000 in expenses. At the hearing, Bennett and co. stuck out from the crowd of ostensible experts. For one thing,Refuge for Renewal had not—and still has not—established a shelter or other form of service for the unhoused. For another, no representatives from Dallas’ established homeless service providers, including those who run the city’s two largest shelters, testified. If they had, they might have pushed back against the criticism they received in absentia, as well as Bennett’s expressed goals of rejecting what are known as “housing first” policies and shifting services for the unhoused away from downtown.

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Mark Melton breaks up with Montgomery J. Bennett

Dallas writer and sometime D Magazine contributor Steven Monacelli published in the Texas Observer a story about Montgomery J. Bennett’s efforts to change how the city of Dallas serves its homeless population. Bennett is a founding board member of a nonprofit called Refuge for Renewal that seeks to create a “transformational campus” for homeless people on 50 acres of city-owned land in Oak Cliff. He is also a wealthy Highland Park resident and hotelier who publishes the right-wing propaganda site the Dallas Express and who once hired actors to stage a fake protest outside the D Magazine offices and hold signs calling me a racist. He is married to Sarah Zubiate Bennett, who co-founded the Dallas Express and who was recently arrested at JFK airport for possessing brass knuckles, but that’s really neither here nor there. Monacelli’s story is titled “A Dallas Megadonor, a New Nonprofit, and the War on ‘Housing First.’” The subtitle is “A scheme to relocate the unhoused out of one Texas city’s downtown sheds light on a larger right-wing takeover of federal homelessness policy.” I was surprised to read that attorney Mark Melton sits on the board of Bennett’s Refuge for Renewal. Melton is the founder of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center. We profiled Melton in 2024. Correction: Melton used to sit on Bennett’s board. As I said, the Texas Observer published its story yesterday. Today Melton posted to Facebook a resignation letter that he sent to Bennett. In it, Melton says, “Perhaps this letter comes later than it should have.” He goes on to say, “I have watched with increasing concern as [Refuge for Renewal’s] rhetoric around homelessness has escalated from something that at first seemed altruistic to something more punitive, as if homeless people were themselves the problem instead of fellow human beings in need of a solution.” It’s a well-written letter. I encourage you to read it in its entirety:

Dear Monty, Please accept this letter as my resignation from the board of directors of Refuge of Renewal, effective immediately. In our early meetings about the creation of this organization and its mission, we discussed how we might help our neighbors in need by providing them a one-stop-shop for necessary services to get them back on their feet, modeled after Haven for Hope in San Antonio. But I think I was clear in those discussions that I had no interest in being associated with any kind of program that would effectively criminalize poverty. Perhaps this letter comes later than it should have. Since that time, I have watched with increasing concern as the organization’s rhetoric around homelessness has escalated from something that at first seemed altruistic to something more punitive, as if homeless people were themselves the problem instead of fellow human beings in need of a solution. But the problem is not the unhoused people that we all co-exist with in our city; it’s the poverty that plagues them. And if the rest of us truly want to solve what some would view as “our” problem, we can do so only by solving theirs first. It has always been, and continues to be, my strong belief that social problems can only be solved by identifying and addressing the root causes, not simply removing the problem from the sight of those lucky enough to be unafflicted. Unfortunately, those root causes in this case are many, and they have only been compounded in recent years by brutal economic conditions that have made it exceedingly difficult for many people to afford basic needs. Homelessness will not be solved by forcing people to be “shipped off” to a place where they are out of sight and out of mind. It will be solved through smart policies that address poverty. Often, those living in poverty do so not because they have chosen their station, but because they had no choice at all. The solution is to provide them choices they cannot otherwise afford alone, not paternalistic mandates that wrongly presuppose that personal responsibility and accountability are magical cures to a disease that really is just a symptom. Though I appreciate your efforts to reach across the aisle to collaborate on an issue as important to our community as homelessness, it seems to me at this point that our respective ideas on how to address it are incompatible. I was hopeful in the beginning that despite our vastly divergent political views and personal philosophies, this might be an issue where we could find common ground and help our neighbors, together. But it seems this is not the issue where we will find ourselves substantially aligned. Sincerely, Mark Melton

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Jurors hear school police officer talk of ‘mistake’ before Uvalde shooting

Jurors heard the first explanation from former school district police officer Adrian Gonzales of what he did before the Uvalde massacre when an interview he had with investigators was played in court Tuesday. Prosecutors showed the interview after questioning Texas Ranger Ricardo Guajardo, who talked to Gonzales the day after 19 children and two teachers were shot dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022. The attack remains one of the deadliest US school shootings, a continuing scourge that has spurred security measures in classrooms across America. The interview was one of the first conducted after the massacre as investigators tried to find out what happened with the gunman and why it took law enforcement 77 minutes to stop him after he entered the school.

It’s now a key piece of evidence in the trial. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of endangering or abandoning a child. Prosecutors say Gonzales was told where the shooter was heading before he entered Garcia’s building and failed to delay or distract him. The interview was played toward the end of a dramatic day in the Corpus Christi courtroom that began with teachers who were shot, heard testimony from a father who went to Robb Elementary to find his daughter and ended up being in the group that killed the gunman, and also witnessed an outburst from an anguished relative in the public gallery. The distraught sister of a teacher killed in the Uvalde school massacre disrupted the trial of an officer accused of not doing enough to stop the shooter. The judge told the jury to disregard the outburst, which happened at the end of the morning sessions, and warned that further outbursts may result in a mistrial.

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Tarrant Democrats seek to remove all GOP judicial, 2 Texas House candidates from ballot

The Tarrant County Democratic Party challenged the eligibility of all 41 Republican judicial candidates and two for Texas House in the March 3 primary election, seeking to remove all 43 from the ballot. Democrats announced they formally challenged the filings Tuesday morning, alleging that the candidates submitted applications with multiple errors. The action came roughly a week after local Republican Party chairman Tim Davis challenged seven Democratic candidates. “These aren’t minor errors,” Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said in a press release. “We’re talking about petitions that don’t meet basic legal requirements, even though it’s very clear about what is needed for a candidate to appear on the ballot.” To run for a judicial position in Tarrant County, candidates must collect at least 250 voters’ signatures on a petition in support of their candidacy. In lieu of paying a filing fee, candidates can collect a total of 750 signatures.

Campolo alleged some GOP election applications had altered candidate information, incomplete or missing voter signature information and missing details as well as redacted public information such as signers’ birthdays. Davis, the GOP chair, said in a statement that Republicans received the challenges and are beginning their review. “From the first pass, it appears the Democrats were about as sloppy with their challenge as they were with their original filings,” Davis wrote, adding that he noticed several typos, formatting issues and legal errors in the Democrats’ challenges. The majority of the challenged candidates are running for the 39 judicial and justice of the peace positions in Tarrant County up for grabs in November. One seat has multiple Republican candidates contending, and all but three of those positions are held by Republican incumbents. Democrats have 17 candidates running for those spots. If any of either party’s candidates are removed from the March ballot, leaving them without a November nomination, the parties’ executive committees can select replacement nominees. Those wishing to appear on the November ballot can file as a write-in candidate in races that saw candidates declared ineligible.

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Fort Worth education leaders stress the value of choice for city’s families

Choice and innovation is essential across all school systems in order for children to thrive, even if it comes in different forms, according to Fort Worth education leaders. Representatives of the nonprofit The Miles Foundation, the parent advocacy group Parent Shield Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Independent School District shared their insights Tuesday night on how the city’s education ecosystem is evolving to meet the needs of students and parents . The speakers touched on topics such as Education Savings Accounts, public schools of choice and school performance data at an event hosted by Leadership Fort Worth at the Stage West Theatre in Near Southside. The speakers gave individual presentations and addressed questions from the crowd of attendees who filled up about half of the 144-seat venue.

Texas’ new $1-billion Education Savings Account (ESA) program was the main topic of conversation with pros and cons of the controversial program shared by The Miles Foundation President and CEO Grant Coates, and Parent Shield Fort Worth Executive Director Trenace Dorsey-Hollins. Although both agreed that school choice is necessary for families, their opinions differed on what school choice should entail. The ESA program, frequently compared to school vouchers, provides families with about $10,000 in public funding for private school education, which is about 85% of the average state and local funding per student in public schools. Students with disabilities can receive up to $30,000 through the program while home-schooled students qualify for up to $2,000. When looking at income levels based on a family four, the program funding prioritizes students with disabilities whose families earn about $160,000. Then, students whose families earn less than $64,300 are prioritized next. The final qualifying groups are, in order, families who earn between $64,299 and $160,749, which is followed by families who earn $160,750 or more. Applications open next month to families, and the program begins in the 2026-27 school year. Advocates call it a win for school choice expansion while opponents say it will have a negative impact on public schools.

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Prominent Dallas architects say City Hall is sound, efficient and worth saving

Prominent Dallas architects have shot back at notions that the City Hall building downtown is functionally obsolete, saying it may be cheaper to renovate the I.M. Pei-designed structure than moving the operations to a nearby office tower. In a newly released position paper, the architects said City Hall’s layout and structural integrity remain well suited for modern government use, even as developers and some civic leaders insist the building’s condition and long-term costs require a broader rethink. “Dallas City Hall is a building constructed to last 100-years or more,” the architects said. “Casual comments about the building ‘falling down’ and failing structurally are inaccurate and highly misleading.” But developers and some former city leaders say the report downplays aging systems, operating costs and the opportunity to unlock prime, city-owned land. They argue the building’s repair costs may top $400 million.

“For me, the big decision is not just City Hall,” former Mayor Tom Leppert told The Dallas Morning News last month. “It’s how we make a great downtown.” That clash over priorities has sharpened with the architects’ latest report. That same group in December said major redevelopment, including a potential arena, could be accommodated on other underused downtown sites without tearing down City Hall. Critics of that idea said the other sites aren’t as simple or available as the architects suggested as some of the options are privately owned. In the new paper, the architects question relocation as a solution. They note that downtown office towers often cited as alternatives for City Hall, including Bank of America Plaza, Comerica Tower and the AT&T Whitacre Tower, were built in the late 1980s. They are only slightly newer than City Hall and lack the parking, security and public access features of the current civic complex. “A lot of people are leaving those towers for the same reasons AT&T did,” Larry Good, one of the report’s authors, said Tuesday. The architects also said the four-acre plaza and surrounding grounds could be remade into a more active civic space, with greenery, food, art and amenities that help anchor a revitalized southern sector downtown.

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Hood County renames Granbury road after conservative activist Charlie Kirk

Hood County leaders renamed a stretch of road after Charlie Kirk Tuesday to honor the conservative leader four months after his shooting death. Changing Williamson Road to Charlie Kirk Memorial Parkway, the naming follows a similar move by county officials in Florida. Florida and Utah legislatures are also attempting to pass through bills that would rename other roads in his honor. "He was a steadfast voice for moral clarity and truth in public discourse, declaring that: 'Truth is not relative. It is eternal, and it must be defended,'" the Hood County proclamation reads. "And through this conviction, he inspired countless individuals to stand firm in their beliefs and uphold the foundational values of our republic."

Hood County commissioners announced a dedication ceremony for Feb. 21. Kirk, who was killed during a debate at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, was well known for debate events with students on college campuses across the U.S. He founded Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization with thousands of chapters across high schools and colleges. The organization’s goal is to "identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government," according to its website. In the wake of his death, conservatives from local activists to President Donald Trump quickly rallied to honor Kirk. Trump awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom — one of the highest civilian awards someone can receive — after his death. State and federal governments also quickly came down on people who criticized Kirk in the wake of his death. The Texas Education Agency investigated hundreds of teachers over their comments about Kirk, which sparked a lawsuit against the TEA by one of the largest teacher unions in Texas. The U.S. Department of State revoked at least six visas for people the agency said "celebrated the heinous assassination."

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Texas creates a new path for rape kit testing

Nationally, about one in three survivors of sexual assault ever report their experiences to law enforcement, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. Texas is betting that gap is partly about what comes after a report, and a new state program now allows rape kits to be tested for DNA without filing a police report. Texas lawmakers say that gap is what House Bill 1422 was designed to address. The new law took effect in December through a “limited consent for DNA testing program,” allowing survivors to have sexual assault evidence tested without a police report – a shift supporters say could provide answers without forcing survivors into the criminal justice system. “I am proud to have authored this law to provide another option for survivors to have evidence kits tested,” HB 1422 author state Rep. Lacey Hull, a Houston Republican, wrote in a Texas Department of Public Safety press release. “

“We know that making a report to law enforcement is a tremendously difficult decision. It is my hope that by providing an alternative testing option, we will empower survivors to subsequently make reports, and ultimately increase prosecutions of sexual assaults.” Under the new DNA testing program, survivors can undergo a forensic medical exam, have evidence collected, and receive limited DNA results directly through the state’s electronic Track-Kit system. DPS began accepting kits under the program on Dec. 1. The testing itself is intentionally narrow. Within 90 days of receiving a kit, DPS reports only one result to the survivor: whether foreign DNA was obtained, yes or no. The analysis does not identify whose DNA it is, and the results are not entered into the Combined DNA Index System or shared with law enforcement or prosecutors unless the survivor later files a police report and signs an additional consent form. Evidence collected under the program is stored for up to five years. After that five-year mark, survivors are notified through Track-Kit and given three months to decide whether to release the evidence to law enforcement before it is destroyed.

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'You gon' see the Brooklyn in me': Eric Adams gets into tense argument with woman at Dallas-area airport

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams was involved in a public back-and-forth with a woman while deplaning a flight at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and it was all caught on video. In the 30-second clip, which was shared to Reddit before widely being circulated online, Adams is seen talking to a white woman who says the former mayor threatened to punch her in the face. “Eric Adams, please punch me in the face,” the woman says. “Eric Adams, I would love for you to punch me in the face.” “I’m not mayor anymore, so go f–k yourself,” Adams tells the woman. “I’m not mayor anymore, those days are over.”

The woman, who appears to be thankful Adams is no longer in charge of NYC, begins to walk past him, saying she’s glad she doesn’t have to see “his ugly ass face everywhere,” before he brushes up on her and tells her, “You’re gonna see the Brooklyn in me.” A spokesperson for Adams says the video does not show the full context of the exchange, and Adams, now a private citizen, was being harassed by the woman. “The clip is selectively edited, lacks critical context, and misrepresents what actually occurred,” Todd Shaprio said. Adams’ public spat with the woman is the latest in a series of unflattering headlines toward the former leader of New York City. According to Fortune, a cryptocurrency hawked by Adams on Monday (Jan. 12), dubbed NYC Token, crashed after its market cap was up $600 million. Insiders believed the NYC Token was yet another “rug pull,” a common practice in crypto where a meme coin’s creator inflates the worth of a coin, then quickly withdraws funds from the project, rendering the coin mostly worthless. Analysts believe the NYC Coin creator withdrew $2.5 million worth of cryptocurrency from a pool of coins established to facilitate trading hours after its launch. Adams was once indicted by felony prosecutors in 2024 on several counts, including bribery, fraud and soliciting a contribution by a foreign national in relation to Turkish nationals influencing his mayoral campaign. After Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the Justice Department ordered prosecutors to drop all charges against Adams and a judge later dismissed his case.

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Kerr County moves forward on warning system after deadly floods

Kerr County commissioners on Monday voted to move forward on a flood warning siren system in the wake of the July 4 flooding last year that left more than 100 dead along the Guadalupe River. Commissioners approved an agreement with the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, or UGRA, to create the flood warning system. UGRA General Manager Tara Bushnoe told commissioners the agreement creates a mechanism for her agency to seek state water development board funds to help pay for the system.

"This really continues our partnership between UGRA and Kerr County to make significant advances on the flood warning system for our community." The sirens could be used to alert those on the riverbanks about rising waters. During the July flooding, the river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, inundating summer camps and low water crossings. County officials have said they hoped to expedite the installation of such a system to protect the local summer camp industry. Many campers have said they did not plan to return to summer camps in the area this year after the deadly floods swept so many campers away before sunrise on July 4.

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'Shamwow Guy' drops cleaning supplies on Texas doorsteps as part of his run for congress

The Republican primary in Texas’ 31st District took an odd turn this week as the once-ubiquitous pitchman from the Shamwow infomercials dropped off his namesake cleanup rags on voters’ doorsteps, according to the Quorum Report. The “Shamwow Guy” — whose real name is Offer Vince Shlomi — announced his candidacy in November for the House seat currently held by 84-year-old Republican U.S. Rep. John Carter.

The Israeli-born infomercial pitchman is running on a MAGA-style platform, promising to “soak up the swamp” if elected to Congress and railing against “wokeism.” However, he doesn’t appear to have gained much momentum beyond some news coverage based his past TV exploits. His campaign doesn’t even have a website, for example. Just the same, Shlomi appears to be taking a grassroots approach by leaving Shamowow rags on doorsteps around Georgetown, as noted by Scott Braddock, the veteran Texas political reporter behind Quorum Report. Shlomi faces a crowded field in the Republican primary for the district north of Austin. Ten other candidates have filed to run. That list includes far-right firebrand Valentina Gomez Noriega, whose controversial campaign tactics have included burning a Quran with a flamethrower.

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National Stories

Six prosecutors quit over DOJ push to investigate Renee Good’s widow

Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned on Tuesday over the Justice Department’s push to investigate the widow of a woman killed by an ICE agent and the department’s reluctance to investigate the shooter, according to people with knowledge of their decision. Joseph H. Thompson, who was second in command at the U.S. attorney’s office and oversaw a sprawling fraud investigation that has roiled Minnesota’s political landscape, was among those who quit on Tuesday, according to three people with knowledge of the decision. Mr. Thompson’s resignation came after senior Justice Department officials pressed for a criminal investigation into the actions of the widow of Renee Nicole Good, the Minneapolis woman killed by an ICE agent on Wednesday. Mr. Thompson, 47, a career prosecutor, objected to that approach, as well as to the Justice Department’s refusal to include state officials in investigating whether the shooting itself was lawful, the people familiar with his decision said.

The Minneapolis police chief, Brian O’Hara, said in an interview that Mr. Thompson’s resignation dealt a major blow to efforts to root out rampant theft from state agencies. The fraud cases, which involve schemes to cheat safety net programs, were the chief reason the Trump administration cited for its immigration crackdown in the state. The vast majority of defendants charged in the cases are American citizens of Somali origin. “When you lose the leader responsible for making the fraud cases, it tells you this isn’t really about prosecuting fraud,” Mr. O’Hara said. The other senior career prosecutors who resigned include Harry Jacobs, Melinda Williams and Thomas Calhoun-Lopez. Mr. Jacobs had been Mr. Thompson’s deputy overseeing the fraud investigation, which began in 2022. Mr. Calhoun-Lopez was the chief of the violent and major crimes unit. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Jacobs, Ms. Williams and Mr. Calhoun-Lopez declined to discuss the reasons they resigned. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tuesday’s resignations followed tumultuous days at the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota as prosecutors there and in Washington struggled to manage the outrage over Ms. Good’s killing, which set off angry protests in Minnesota and across the nation.

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Trump makes obscene gesture, mouths expletive at Detroit factory heckler

President Donald Trump made an obscene gesture with his middle finger and mouthed an expletive to a factory employee who shouted at him during a tour of a Ford plant in Michigan on Tuesday — a reaction the White House said was “appropriate” given the heckling. A cellphone video captured Trump, who was visiting the Ford F-150 plant in Dearborn, twice mouthing “f--k you” as he pointed to someone calling up tohim from the factory floor below. The president subsequently raised his middle finger toward the heckler as he continued walking. He then waved. Out of frame in the video, a person can be heard yelling “pedophile protector” just before Trump mouthed the insult — an apparent reference to the Trump administration’s handling of the investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

White House communications director Steven Cheung confirmed that the scene captured in the video was authentic. “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response,” Cheung said in a statement to The Washington Post. The incident was not the first of its kind in modern memory. In 1976, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller (R) was photographed raising his middle finger toward university students in upstate New York. TJ Sabula, a 40-year-old United Auto Workers Local 600 line worker at the factory, told The Post that he was the one shouting at Trump. He said he has been suspended from work pending an investigation. “As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” Sabula said, though he added that he is concerned about the future of his job and believes he has been “targeted for political retribution” for “embarrassing Trump in front of his friends.” Sabula identifies as politically independent and said he never voted for Trump but has supported other Republicans.

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The AI Super PAC fight that might shape the midterms

An artificial intelligence industry PAC plans to pour over $100 million into this year’s midterm elections in hopes of getting more industry-friendly lawmakers into office, but the path to an AI-friendly Congress might not be an easy one. Its first target is Alex Bores, a Democrat running to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York. The state Assembly member, a former Palantir engineer, successfully pushed the RAISE Act, one of the first state-level AI safety laws. If elected to the House, he wants to create more safety regulations for AI development, chatbots and data centers. Those views have earned him opposition from Leading the Future, a super PAC network that intends to influence AI policy in Washington and released an ad targeting Bores over his pro-AI regulation stances late last year. Bores said the spending planned by Leading the Future is outsized but also unsurprising.

“These are people who want unbridled control over the American workforce or American education system, over our utility bills, over our climate,” Bores told NOTUS. “If they get that, that is worth a lot of money to them. And so, while $100 million is an insane amount for anyone to be spending, in some sense it’s just a [venture capital] investment for them, because their returns could be trillions,” Bores added. Leading the Future is backed by major donors to President Donald Trump, like Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman. The super PAC pledged major spending in the midterms in a push to replicate the crypto industry’s successful push for a friendlier Congress. The super PAC has money and influential backers, but it’s up against public skepticism of AI and wealthy pro-regulation donors. Another network of super PACs, called Public First, is serving as its counterpoint by pledging $50 million to support candidates who support AI regulation from both parties this year. As competing super PACs try to secure wins for candidates on both sides of the AI legislation debate, Bores’ campaign could become a test to see if money can ease Congress’ apprehension toward AI.

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Neil Gorsuch is the wild card in the Supreme Court’s trans athletes cases

All eyes were on Justice Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday, as the Supreme Court deliberated two cases on the rights of transgender athletes. The court appeared poised during oral arguments to uphold two laws, one in Idaho and one in West Virginia, that restrict trans athletes’ participation in women’s and girls’ sports. But Gorsuch cemented himself as a wild card among the court’s conservative justices when it comes to cases affecting LGBTQ+ people, undercutting the states’ arguments that they are not uniquely discriminating against transgender Americans. The stakes of such an argument from Gorsuch are big; if the high court views transgender Americans as a protected class, and under a heightened standard of scrutiny reserved for discrimination cases, it would make it much more difficult to enact the kinds of laws Republicans are pushing targeting trans people.

The Supreme Court tends to rule against laws it determines are discriminatory. And on Tuesday, Gorsuch showed he was open to viewing these cases in that light. “There’s another way to think about the case … that is that transgender status should be conceived of as a discrete and insular class, subject to heightened scrutiny in and of itself given the history of de jure discrimination against transgender individuals in this country,” Gorsuch said, challenging Alan Michael Hurst, Idaho’s solicitor general. Hurst acknowledged that there has been “significant discrimination against transgender people in the history of this country,” but argued it’s not the same as discrimination against Black people and women. Gorsuch pushed back on Hurst. “You start by saying you don’t question that there’s a history of discrimination … and then you, well, but they don’t classify on that basis. How should we think about that?” Gorsuch asked, referring to transgender people. Hurst responded by saying that laws that have been struck down that have discriminated against women and Black people, for example, explicitly mentioned them. Idaho’s law, he argued, does not specifically say it targets trans people.

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Eric Adams’ crypto coin accused of scamming investors, hijacking trademark

Eric Adams’ post-mayoral debut in the world of crypto currency ran into a bit of a buzz saw this week, with his new coin, The NYC Token, plunging in value shortly after he announced it as the “future of digital currency” at a frigid Times Square event. The token opened at 60 cents per share Monday afternoon and almost immediately sky dived to 10 cents a share. By Tuesday it was trading at around 13 cents, and the company running it had removed liquidity from the equation. Sites that cover crypto quickly accused developers of The NYC Token of “rug pulling,” effectively triggering big losses for those investors who jumped in at the start. Meanwhile, a self-proclaimed tech entrepreneur, Eddie Cullen, reached out to THE CITY to say he was shocked about Adams’ announcement, claiming that he’d pitched the idea to the then-Mayor last summer and even trademarked its name NYCToken.

The ex-mayor, who was on the road in Dallas Tuesday, was unavailable for comment. And it was unclear what, if any effect the drop in value had on the deep-pocket investors backing Adams’ project. None of them have been disclosed. But a spokesperson for The NYC Token, Elissa Buchter, acknowledged the dip in value and the removal of liquidity, but insisted that the secret team backing the endeavor took nothing from the account. Team members are entitled to a 10% cut of profits. “After the launch of NYC Token, there was a lot of demand. Our market maker made adjustments in an attempt to keep trading running smoothly, and as part of this process, moved liquidity,” Buchter wrote in response to press inquiries. “The team has not sold any tokens and is subject to lockups (on sales) and transfer restrictions. THE TEAM HAS NOT WITHDRAWN ANY MONEY FROM THE ACCOUNT.”

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Why the renovation of Federal Reserve headquarters costs $2.5 billion

For months, the renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters in Washington has been a subject of friction between the White House and the central bank. On Jan. 11, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the Justice Department had issued subpoenas in advance of a possible criminal indictment related to the ongoing work. The cost of the work has ballooned to $2.5 billion, and allies of President Donald Trump have previously pressed for an investigation. Powell described the DOJ inquiry as a pressure campaign led by the White House. Any evidence of mismanagement or fraud, as Trump administration officials have suggested, could prove a useful pretext for removing Powell, who the president has repeatedly lambasted for interest rates higher than he’d like.

Powell’s critics have pointed to certain features of the building plans as ostentatious, including vegetated roofs and changes to the elevator. The Fed has said the price tag for the renovation has more to do with the challenges of building — particularly underground — in what was once a swamp near the Tidal Basin along the Potomac River. The ongoing renovation and expansion of the historic 1937 building that houses the Fed, plus an adjacent 1931 federal building, has faced setbacks, with costs for the long-overdue rehab climbing more than 30% since 2023. Foundation work for the Fed expansion was so difficult that contractors responsible for the job received a 2025 award for “excellence in the face of adversity” from the Washington Building Congress, a building trades association. Powell has defended the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters as transparent. He responded to Vought’s claims in a letter on July 17, saying that the gardens are merely green roofs, for example, and the elevator is being extended to accommodate disabled users. And in a video and written statement on Jan. 11, Powell said that the DOJ’s move “should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.” The project was always going to be tricky, with initial cost estimates pinned at $1.9 billion. Construction on the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building and the adjacent Federal Reserve East Building involves adding new office space, removing asbestos and lead, and replacing antiquated mechanical systems. Neither the Eccles Building — an austere edifice designed by Paul Cret and dedicated by Franklin D. Roosevelt — nor the East Building has been fully renovated since they were built almost a century ago.

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Battle for public funding of Christian schools expands

The ongoing effort to seek government funding for Christian public schools failed in Oklahoma last year, but advocates are trying again with Christian public schools in Colorado and Tennessee and a Jewish public school in Oklahoma. The Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 last May in a case over the constitutionality of the proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself, setting up 4-4 tie that preserved Oklahoma’s constitutional ban against funding religious public schools. It was a rare loss for the powerhouse legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. But ADF didn’t take no for an answer. It went to Plan B: Working with Colorado conservatives to create a new Christian school that could give all nine members of the Supreme Court another opportunity to consider the issue.

A new Christian school called Riverstone Academy opened with about two dozen students in Pueblo, south of Colorado Springs, last August. Founders decided not to inform state education officials about the school’s Christian orientation. Officials learned in October that Riverstone is a Christian school. The school hasn’t yet received any public funds but is requesting them, which would violate the state constitution, possibly setting up the new test case ADF seeks. Riverstone was founded with the help of Forging Education, a Colorado nonprofit that operates a network of private Christian schools and provides programs for homeschooled students, reported the Washington Post. “Our culture has become hostile to the Christian faith, and the public school system is the primary perpetuator of the secular, progressive worldview,” says Forging Education’s website. “Christians increasingly see the need to protect their children while still providing a quality academic education with a solid spiritual foundation.”

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Experts who once backed 'shaken baby' science now fight to free imprisoned caregivers

Brian Wharton, the chief detective of a small police force in East Texas, had seen his share of tragedies on the job, but he had never handled a case like Robert Roberson’s: In January 2002, Roberson, a 35-year-old single father, arrived at the emergency room with his 2-year-old, Nikki, limp and bundled in a blanket. Roberson said the girl had fallen from bed overnight, but when nurses and doctors evaluated her severe head injuries, they grew suspicious. Wharton led the investigation. Specialists later found that Nikki must have been beaten, violently shaken or both. Roberson denied having harmed her; Wharton believed the experts. On the day the toddler was removed from life support, her father was charged with capital murder. Wharton testified for the prosecution. Roberson was convicted and sentenced to death. Fifteen years later, Wharton did something extraordinarily rare: He changed his mind. Presented with new evidence that cast doubt on the medical experts’ certainty about what happened to Nikki, Wharton determined that he had made a mistake.

Now, he’s one of Roberson’s most vocal allies. He has attended legislative hearings and written clemency letters declaring his strong belief that Roberson is innocent and shouldn’t become the first person in the United States to be executed based on a “shaken baby” diagnosis. “The foundations of our case were built upon bad science,” Wharton said recently after his monthly visit to Roberson on death row. Thousands of caregivers have been arrested since the early 1980s based on the medical belief that young children hospitalized with three symptoms — brain swelling, bleeding in the brain and bleeding at the back of the eyes — must have been forcefully and deliberately shaken. Many doctors and pediatric associations remain steadfast in the view that those symptoms help prove that a child has suffered what is now often called “abusive head trauma.” But a growing number of medical and forensic experts say the diagnosis is too definitive, particularly in the absence of other signs of abuse. Accidental falls from changing tables can similarly jostle the brain.

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Lead Stories

Cornyn rakes in record fundraising ahead of Texas primary

Sen. John Cornyn raised $7 million during the fourth quarter of his reelection campaign — the highest total of his career as the Republican fights a bitter primary challenge. The fundraising report, shared first with POLITICO, shows Cornyn has more than $15 million in cash on hand, including money raised through his two joint fundraising committees. It represents more than twice as much as he raised in the third quarter of 2025. The four-term incumbent is up against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. Polls show a tight race between Paxton and Cornyn, with Hunt in third, ahead of the early March primary.

Cornyn has poured money into attacking Paxton, a conservative firebrand who has wide backing from the MAGA base in Texas but has significant political and personal baggage. Paxton has faced multiple state and federal investigations and his wife filed for divorce last summer. “Texans understand that President Trump’s legislative agenda and the Senate Republican majority are at risk unless Sen. Cornyn is the nominee,” said Andy Hemming, Cornyn’s campaign manager, in a statement. “We are executing our plan to win this race, and we will win.” Paxton and Hunt have not yet released their own latest fundraising hauls. The race is expected to go to a runoff in late May.

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Trump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted

Five years ago, President Donald Trump pressured Republican county election officials, state lawmakers and members of Congress to find him votes after he lost his reelection bid. Now, he’s seeking to change the rules before ballots are cast. Trump, openly fearful that aCongress controlled by Democrats could investigate him, impeach him and stymie his agenda, is using every tool he can find to try to influence the 2026 midterm elections and, if his party loses, sow doubt in their validity. Many of these endeavorsgo far beyond typical political persuasion, challenging long-established democratic norms. They include unprecedented demands that Republican state lawmakers redraw congressional districts beforethe constitutionally required 10-year schedule, the prosecution of political opponents, a push to toughenvoter registration rules and attempts to end the use of voting machines and mail ballots.

The administration has gutted the role of the nation’s cybersecurity agency in protecting elections; stocked the Justice Department, Homeland Security Department and FBI from top to bottomwith officials who have denied the legitimacyof the 2020 election; given a White House audience to people who, like the president, promote the lie that he won the 2020 election; sued over state and local election policies that Trump opposes; and called for a new census that excludes noncitizens. The wide-ranging efforts seek to expand on some of the strategies he and his advisers and allies used to try to reverse the 2020 results that culminated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “I’m concerned about chaos and uncertainty in the administration of the 2026 election,” said Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford Law School professor who specializes in democracyand elections-related law. “There is a kind of avalanche of potential changes that are being proposed, and it’s at a time when people have lost trust in the election infrastructure and everybody’s on edge.” In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is focused on ensuring that only citizens vote and criticized Democratic-run states for how they maintain their voter rolls. “President Trump’s only motivation is doing what’s best for the American people and ensuring each of their votes count,” Jackson said.

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Trump has complained about Pam Bondi repeatedly to aides

President Trump has complained to aides repeatedly in recent weeks about Attorney General Pam Bondi, describing her as weak and an ineffective enforcer of his agenda, administration officials and other people familiar with his complaints said. The criticisms appear to be part of an intense campaign by Trump to pressure the Justice Department to more aggressively pursue his priorities, some of the officials said. Trump has previously criticized Bondi at times but his vocal concerns about his attorney general have grown more frequent in recent months, officials said. This month, Trump has talked with allies about how he could appoint special counsels at the Justice Department because he is so frustrated with what he sees as the slow progress of its work, people familiar with the matter said.

Chief among his grievances is what he sees as Bondi’s failure to quickly and effectively prosecute the investigators who had pursued him for years, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, the officials and others familiar with his complaints said. Both criminal cases were dismissed in November by a judge who said the Trump aide who secured the indictment had been improperly appointed to her post. Trump has wanted to see the cases continue quickly. A Justice Department investigation into another of Trump’s antagonists, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, became public on Sunday night. Powell, whom Trump has publicly berated and pressured to lower interest rates, disclosed that the Justice Department was pursuing a criminal investigation over his testimony last summer about the central bank’s building-renovation project. Trump has also complained frequently that Bondi’s handling of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has created months of political and personal headaches for him, officials familiar with the complaints said. When White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that Bondi “whiffed” on her handling of the files, Trump told staff that he agreed with Wiles, two officials said.

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Over 700 Texas private schools, pre-K providers approved for education savings account program

As of early January, 775 private schools and pre-K providers had been approved to accept education savings accounts for the 2026-27 school year. (Community Impact staff) Hundreds of Texas private schools have been approved to participate in the state’s new education savings account program, per a map released by the state comptroller’s office in early January. Under the $1 billion program, known as Texas Education Freedom Accounts, eligible families will receive thousands of dollars in state funds to send their children to a private school or homeschool them beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

As of press time, 775 private schools and prekindergarten providers had been approved to accept education savings accounts, or ESAs. There are over 1,300 accredited private schools in the state, according to the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission. About 87% of all approved private schools will offer pre-K services, with some schools serving a range of grades and others catering to pre-K students only. Roughly 450 schools will serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade, middle school or high school, the map shows. The majority of approved schools are located in and around Texas’ largest cities, with: 233 schools in the Houston area, 195 schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, 94 schools in the San Antonio area, 70 schools in the Austin area, 38 schools in South Texas, 37 schools in East Texas, 35 schools in the Rio Grande Valley, 25 schools near Bryan-College Station and Waco, 22 schools in West Texas, 11 schools in the El Paso area, 9 schools in the Panhandle, and 6 schools near Wichita Falls and Sherman. The interactive website lists contact information for each approved private school. There are also sections for details about each school’s offerings and academic performance, although that information had not been published as of press time. Other approved educational service providers, such as tutors and behavioral or speech therapists, will also be listed online. The map will be updated as more schools and providers are accepted into the program, the comptroller’s office said.

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State Stories

Texas Democrats call for an investigation into Elon Musk’s X

Texas House Democrats on Monday dared Attorney General Ken Paxton to take on Elon Musk. Led by Rep. Mihaela Plesa of Dallas, more than 40 Democrats demanded an inquiry into allegations that Musk’s social media platform X has been used to churn out explicit, sexualized images without consent. That move sets up a politically charged test for Paxton, who is running for Senate, potentially pitting the Republican against a powerful conservative figure, key national GOP donor and major presence in Texas. Paxton’s office did not respond to messages seeking comment. Paxton has long emphasized his tough stance on child exploitation and big tech, including lawsuits against major technology companies.

Plesa said she became concerned with Grok, Musk’s chatbot tool, after encountering a sexualized image of Renee Good, the Minnesota woman fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last week. “I was horrified when I saw what I saw on X, and I’m sure that parents are horrified to see this, too,” she said. Grok is an artificial intelligence chatbot built into X, able to generate text and images in response to user prompts. It is accessible through an app, a website and an account on X. In recent weeks, some X users have used it to craft sexualized images of women and minors. Musk has at times appeared to delight in the tool, asking it to create an image of himself in a bikini recently. In a post last week, Musk said accounts trying to use Grok to create images of undressed children would suffer “consequences.” The company also said in a statement on X that it would remove illegal content depicting children and permanently suspend accounts that asked Grok to make such images. Plesa said those assurances fall short without clear enforcement and legal accountability at the state level.

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Pete Hegseth gives fiery ‘warrior’ speech to Lockheed Martin workers in Fort Worth

In fiery remarks at Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter aircraft plant in Fort Worth, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke Monday of prioritizing defense spending, saying it was imperative to rebuild the “arsenal of freedom” by getting advanced weapon systems into the hands of the military. Last week, President Donald Trump said the defense budget will increase by more than 50% in 2027, rising to $1.5 trillion. At Lockheed Martin, Hegseth said that money will be spent re-establishing America’s military might, stressing that the administration is looking to unleash the country’s defense resources in the preservation of peace.

But Hegseth cautioned that defense contracts will be granted to companies based on their ability to deliver a superior product quickly, and he promised that large and small manufacturers will compete for those contracts on an equal playing field. “We ultimately don’t care what the name is on the side of the missile or the plane,” Hegseth said, before adding that he hopes Lockheed Martin wins “a lot” of new defense contracts, pointing to the company’s decades-long track record of success, which goes back to World War II. Speaking on the factory floor in front of a newly finished F-35, Hegseth thanked the roughly 1,000 plant employees in attendance for their contributions in providing weapons for America’s military. Hegseth received a warm reception from the crowd, who cheered many of the secretary’s points, including his remarks about social issues.

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Uvalde teacher who survived class shooting testifies he saw 'black shadow with a gun'

A teacher who survived the 2022 shooting inside a Robb Elementary school classroom in Uvalde, Texas, told a jury Monday the attack began with a “black shadow” with a gun walking inside and that he prayed for the attack to be over after being shot along with his students. Arnulfo Reyes’ testimony came on the fifth day of the trial for Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde schools police officer who was among the first law enforcement responders to the scene. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment as prosecutors allege he did nothing to stop the gunman in the first moments of the attack. The gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. Reyes was shot on the arm and back and said he was taunted by 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos.

“I looked at my door and that’s when I saw him ... a black shadow. The black shadow was holding a gun. I just saw the fire come out of the gun,” Reyes testified. “He shot at me and hit me in my arm. That’s when I fell to the ground.” “When I fell, he came around and he shot the kids,” he said. Reyes said Ramos turned back around and shot him in the back. He prayed “and I gave myself to the Lord ... and waited for everything to be over.” Reyes said the gunman at one point walked into the adjoining classroom, where he said he heard a student say, “Officer, we’re in here,” before he heard more shooting. Reyes said Ramos also taunted him while he tried to pretend he was dead. Reyes was a teacher in Room 111. None of the children in his classroom survived. Just before Reyes testified, the court watched the surveillance video of Ramos entering the school and start shooting. The judge had warned the courtroom the images and sounds would be graphic.

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Northwest ISD trustee drops out of Republican primary for North Texas House seat

A Northwest school district trustee is exiting the race for a North Texas state House district, he announced Monday. Steve Sprowls, who has served on the board since 2017, was one of two candidates running for House District 93 in the Republican primary. He was set to face Fort Worth City Council Member Alan Blaylock. House District 93 is currently represented by Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican who isn’t seeking reelection, after being invited to join the National Faith Advisory Board. The House district includes Blue Mound and Haslet, as well as portions of Fort Worth and Saginaw. Sprowls, a former board president, has criticized Schatzline for not adequately supporting public education while in Austin.

In a Facebook post announcing that he is withdrawing from the House race, Sprowls wrote that “for the last four years, Texas House District 93 has suffered from a representative in Austin who was more concerned with self-interest than service.” Sprowls said he was running to fight for stronger schools, lower taxes, better infrastructure and economic growth. “I’ve been laser focused on this mission because I wanted our community to elect new leadership,” Sprowls said. “The threat of continuing down the same path was too great to ignore. But the dynamics of this race have shifted, and that threat no longer exists. Our family motto is, ‘Serve a purpose greater than yourself,’ and it’s become clear that my purpose currently exists closer to home. Therefore, I am suspending my campaign for Texas House.” Sprowls thanked his supporters in the statement. “I know this may be disappointing, but I am not going away,” he said. “I will continue to serve our community, fight for our values, and work to deliver real results for our families.” In an interview late Monday, Sprowls said that he’d entered the race prepared to challenge Schatzline for the House seat, but the race shifted when Blaylock emerged as his opponent instead. Sprowls tried to feel out the new scene and stay optimistic, he said. “It just became obvious that I was going to struggle to get the votes that I needed in March,” Sprowls said. Senior operations analyst Ericka Lomick from Fort Worth is running in the Democratic primary. Since Blaylock is now running unopposed, the candidates will face off in the Nov. 3 general election. Tarrant County GOP Chair Tim Davis said in a Jan. 8 Facebook post that Sprowls had filed a challenge to Blaylock’s candidacy, but the challenge was denied. Sprowls sued, and an appellate court dismissed the lawsuit, siding with the county party, Davis said.

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Judge sides with ousted Southlake Republican in House candidacy fight — for now

A North Texas judge on Monday sided with Southlake Republican candidate Zee Wilcox, whose candidacy for a state House district is in question. Judge Don Cosby, who presides over the 67th District Court, granted a temporary restraining order requested by Wilcox in her challenge of Tarrant County GOP chair Tim Davis’ decision that she is ineligible. Wilcox is one of three Republicans vying for House District 98 in the March 3 primary, with early voting starting Feb. 17. The district, currently represented by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, spans Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller and Westlake, as well as parts of Euless and Southlake. Wilcox, who runs a small health and beauty business, sued Davis on Friday. She returns to court later this week.

“This case has never been about me alone,” Wilcox said in a Facebook post, cheering Monday’s outcome in court. “It’s about whether everyday Texans still get a real choice — or whether insiders get to decide for them behind closed doors. “THEY TRIED TO PUSH ME OFF THE BALLOT. I PUSHED BACK,” Wilcox wrote. The candidacy challenge contends that Wilcox used the wrong form to file for office in December and left off information that was required. Wilcox was notified of the issue on Dec. 16 and has said she responded and offered to fix any error, but didn’t receive a reply. She was informed in a Jan. 7 email from Davis that he was declaring her “ineligible for the Republican primary ballot.” In a Facebook post on Jan. 8, Davis said Wilcox filed for a state office using a federal form. The temporary restraining order issued Monday states that — for the time being — Davis cannot remove Wilcox from the primary ballot, alter her status as a candidate or notify the Texas Secretary of State’s office that Wilcox is ineligible or should be excluded from the ballot.

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Texas official asks lawmakers to protect ag industry from data centers

As the AI and data industry continues to boom around the nation — becoming a substantive drive for the economy — a Texas official is sounding the alarm to protect vital resources for the agricultural industry before it's too late. On Monday, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller unveiled a plan to protect the state and the nation’s prime farm and ranchland from the rapid spread of data centers. The focal point of his plan is create federal or state-designated Agriculture Freedom Zones (AFZs) to safeguard vital food production while still supporting growth in technology and innovation. “The unchecked spread of data centers onto prime farm and ranchland is a real and growing threat to our food supply,” Miller said.

“But America also needs data, innovation, and technology infrastructure to stay competitive. America will continue to lead the world in both agricultural production and technology innovation, but only if we do it the right way. AFZs are the tool we need to protect vital farmland while supporting technological advancement." In essence, Miller’s plan would steer data centers and other resource-intensive projects, including renewable energy installations and urban expansion, toward land that is less suitable for agriculture through targeted tax incentives. Under the framework, states would nominate eligible areas such as for consideration: Marginal land, Brownfields, Arid regions, Or locations with existing grid access. If approved by state authorities or federal agencies, these zones could qualify for property or other state tax incentives.

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Environmental experts say Texas data centers come with uncertainty

Texas is home to approximately 400 data centers — some currently operational, others still under construction and a number that are still in the planning stages. Experts say the boom comes with a lot of uncertainty. What they're saying: "Data centers are a relatively large power demand in a small area, something like, you know, 100 or 200 megawatts of power. That's more than a small city or a small town would be consuming itself," said Carey King, a research scientist with the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. Over the past year, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has received more than 200 gigawatts worth of large load interconnection requests, approximately 73% of which are from data centers. That has led to questions about whether the state’s grid is up to the task of supplying power to the facilities.

In a recent report from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages about 90 percent of the state's grid, it was warned that rising demand from new AI and crypto data centers, as well as a swiftly growing population, could be a challenge. "Many of us who suffered through winter storm Uri still have PTSD over, you know, fears that the grid won't be able to meet demand," said Luke Metzger, the executive director of Environment Texas, a local nonprofit working to safeguard the state’s natural environment. That’s not the only question. King points out that there is also a question of whether all the proposed data centers will actually be built. He says if they don’t end up materializing, it could spell trouble for anyone making investment decisions based on the projections. And if infrastructure is built to accommodate the needs of projects that never come to fruition, those costs could be passed off to consumers in the form of higher rates. Experts say these speculative data center projects have led to uncertainty around how much power will actually be needed to meet the demands of the state’s data centers.

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Dallas ended 2025 with fifth straight drop in overall violent crime

Violent crime fell for the fifth year in a row last year in Dallas, police officials said Monday, including the city’s lowest homicide count since 2015. Dallas’ figures, presented to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, mirror a broader national trend, with homicides down across most major U.S. cities in 2025, according to aggregated police data. Police Maj. Andre Taylor, who oversees the department’s violent crime efforts, told council members reports of violent crime were down 12% overall in 2025 compared with the year before — a decline he credited to a mix of strategy, technology and focus on wanted offenders.

Department data shows police tallied 141 homicides in 2025 — the lowest since 2015, when it counted 136. Taylor also said aggravated assault reports citywide were down by 12% in 2025 compared with the year before. The discussion highlighted a gap between the city’s improving crime totals and what residents tell their council members they’re living with. Most members of the committee praised the results, with the discussion pivoting to concerns about reports of random gunfire. After the committee’s chair, Cara Mendelsohn, asked members to weigh in on what they were hearing in their districts about random gunfire, council member Maxie Johnson said the year-end totals on violent crime did not match what his constituents are experiencing in his south Oak Cliff district. “We need real results,” Johnson said. “I can’t continue to just give data and say this is happening when our experience is saying something totally different.”

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Kate Rogers compares her legal fight to the battle of the Alamo

Kate Rogers, the former president and CEO of Alamo Trust Inc., said Davy Crockett and the historic defenders of the Alamo would have supported her after she was forced out from leading the restoration of the San Antonio battlefield and old Spanish mission. “It just feels so fundamentally un-American,” Rogers said during an interview on TPR’s "The Source" on Monday. “Tyranny was the exact thing they were fighting against,” she said. Rogers is suing Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and others claiming her right to free speech was violated because she was essentially fired for writing in her doctoral dissertation that a complete history should be included in telling the story of the Alamo.

Rogers was forced out of her job after Texas’ Republican leadership focused on language from her doctoral dissertation to argue she was “incompatible” with the state’s preferred, battle-centered narrative of the Alamo. Rogers resigned in October 2025 after Patrick publicly demanded her departure and Buckingham condemned a separate Alamo social media post as “woke.” Speaking on TPR’s "The Source" Rogers described a lifelong connection to the shrine that began with family trips. “I still have a picture … of my sister and I when we were little on one of the many trips … my father took us to go see the Alamo,” she said, describing her father as a West Point graduate and five-tour Vietnam veteran. She said she later learned an even deeper tie: “I did not know until I started working there that I actually am a descendant.” She traced her family lineage to one of the original Canary Island settler families in San Antonio. Rogers said her ancestor Maria Jesus Delgado “was nine and she was here during the siege of the Alamo” and left an account in a Tejano recollections book. Rogers’ resignation followed a cascade of political blowback that began with an Indigenous Peoples Day/Columbus Day post on the Alamo’s official channels.

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Ken Paxton accuses major grocery chains of using pesticides on organic produce

Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to investigate grocery stores for spraying their organic produce with pesticides and not telling their customers about it, according to his office. Paxton accused "major grocery chains" of spraying organic fruits and vegetables with Produce Maxx, a federally-approved antimicrobial pesticide with high concentrations of chlorine, before selling them to consumers. He said federal law requires organic produce be rinsed after it's sprayed with chlorine and suggested the current practice may be against the law. Paxton did not say which grocery chains are suspected of using pesticide on organic produce in the news release issued Monday. The Chronicle has requested the information from his office.

“Many Texans choose organic produce specifically to avoid harmful pesticides,” Paxton said in the release. “It’s not only wrong for grocers to mislead consumers about chemicals being sprayed on their food—it may very well be illegal. There should be no shortcuts when it comes to food safety, and my office will ensure that Texas consumers are not misled about the state of the produce they purchase.” Paxton said thousands of stores in the U.S. mist their produce with pesticides to "control bacteria and extend shelf life" but alleged that businesses hide pesticide containers from customers and use no signs or warning labels to notify them. He demanded grocery stores that continue using pesticides to hang up signs and instruct customers to rinse their food.

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Latest defendant in ICE Alvarado shooting helped delete digital evidence, court records allege

A woman arrested last week in connection with a July 4 shooting incident outside an ICE detention center in Alvarado is accused of helping delete messages and removing people from group chats, according to court records reviewed by KERA News. Lucy Fowlkes, 23, was arrested in Weatherford last Monday. She was charged with two counts of hindering prosecution of terrorism, Johnson County Jail records show. Her bond is set at $10 million. A recent criminal complaint claims Fowlkes was involved in group chats with other defendants who were arrested the night of the alleged shooting and in the following weeks through the encrypted messaging app Signal.

Fowlkes allegedly called two codefendants and sent multiple messages to others hours after the shooting, directing them to delete "digital evidence," according to the complaint. The complaint also alleges she instructed others to remove the names of defendants from group chats. The complaint alleges these deleted messages contained evidence of planning the incidents outside the Prairieland Detention Center as well as planning of helping one codefendant, Benjamin Song, evade arrest and, "by extension, hinder prosecution of terrorism." Eleven people dressed in black gathered outside the detention center July 4 to set off fireworks before correctional officers inside called 911, according to court records. An Alvarado officer arrived at the scene a few minutes later and that's when court documents claim someone began shooting the officer from nearby woods. The officer was shot once in the neck and has since recovered. Since then, 19 people have been arrested in connection to what happened that night. Eleven people were arrested that night and in the following days. Song was arrested by the FBI July 15 after being on the run for a week. Both prosecutors and codefendants point to Song as the shooter.

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National Stories

Global central bankers unite in defense of Fed Chair Jerome Powell

Global central bankers issued a statement Tuesday defending U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell following the launch of a criminal investigation into the central bank chief. "We stand in full solidarity with the Federal Reserve System and its Chair Jerome H. Powell," central bank chiefs including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, said in a joint statement. "The independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability," they added. Powell has served with "integrity, focused on his mandate and an unwavering commitment to the public interest," the statement said.

"To us, he is a respected colleague who is held in the highest regard by all who have worked with him." Other signatories to the statement included the central bank chiefs of Brazil, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, South Korea, Australia, and Canada. The message of solidarity with Powell comes after the Fed chief issued a statement on Sunday evening confirming that federal prosecutors had launched a criminal investigation into the $2.5 billion renovation of the central bank's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and his related testimony to Congress. Powell, who has come under sustained pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to lower interest rates, said the probe was the result of the president's frustration to cut rates as quickly and as much as he wanted. "The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President," Powell said in a video statement tweeted by the Fed's X account. Powell warned that the outcome of the investigation will determine the future of the central bank's decisions. "This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation," Powell said.

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NIL lobbying surges as Congress stalls on SCORE Act

As college football players sign lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) deals in January, money has also flowed behind the scenes to Washington, D.C., where college sports organizations are lobbying Congress over the future of NIL policy. Disclosures show at least 65 university-related clients and 15 Division I collegiate athletic conferences have reported lobbying activity tied to NIL policy or the SCORE Act, legislation aimed at establishing federal standards for college athletics related to NIL deals. The lobbying effort has extended well beyond campuses and conferences, with filings showing activity from all five major professional players associations, along with labor unions, media groups, advertising groups and other organizations with financial stakes in the evolving college sports landscape. Altogether, more than 100 unique organizations have reported lobbying activity related to NIL policy or the SCORE Act.

Among conferences, the largest players accounted for the bulk of reported spending. The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference combined to spend more than $1.5 million on lobbying in 2025, with one reporting quarter still remaining. The SEC, the largest spender among the group, disclosed roughly $600,000 in lobbying expenditures, all through Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. The ACC and Big Ten each reported more than $400,000 in lobbying activity during the year, with the ACC retaining DLA Piper and the Big Ten relying primarily on Cassidy & Associates. The Big 12, by comparison, lagged behind its peers, disclosing roughly $160,000 in lobbying activity. Smaller Division I conferences, in contrast to their larger counterparts, have taken a more coordinated and lower-cost approach. Ten mid-major leagues, including the Atlantic 10 Conference and the Southern Conference, registered around the same time through the same lobbying firm, Alignment Government Strategies. The ten conferences later reported relatively modest lobbying expenditures, generally in the low five figures. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has also maintained a significant federal lobbying presence around NIL policy. Filings show the NCAA disclosed roughly $1.3 million in lobbying expenditures across the first three quarters of 2025 alone, working with multiple firms alongside its in-house lobbying operation. The SCORE Act was pulled from the House floor in December amid concerns about vote support, despite backing from the White House to pass a bill related to NIL and college sports. President Trump signed an executive order titled "Saving College Sports" in July, which stated that college sports is "under unprecedented threat."

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Trump orders Iran trade embargo — with 25% tariff on any country that violates

President Trump announced a trade embargo against Iran Monday as members of Congress implored him to take immediate action to stop the killing of anti-government protesters. “Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This Order is final and conclusive. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” The trade action comes at a critical decision-making point for Trump as he weighs military force and diplomacy. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and key National Security Council officials huddled on Friday to prepare a “suite of options” — including military strikes — to present to Trump in the coming days, according to a source familiar with the talks.

“One thing President Trump is very good at is always keeping all of his options on the table and airstrikes would be one of the many, many options on the table for the commander in chief,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. Iran, the anti-American theocracy, already is heavily sanctioned by the US government, but the tariffs threaten much more economic pain after the local current’s collapse sparked the ongoing unrest. Iran’s top trading partner is China, according to the World Bank, accounting for more than a quarter of its imports and exports. Other major trading partners include Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and India. It was not immediately clear how strictly Trump would enforce the policy. His move to penalize countries that import Russian oil — in an effort to end Moscow’s Ukraine invasion — has been inconsistently applied. At least 544 people have been killed in Iran during the anti-government protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, of whom 496 were protesters and 48 were security personnel.

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Trump floats 1-year, 10% credit card interest rate cap — what that could mean for your money

President Donald Trump’s call for a temporary 10% cap on credit card interest rates, if implemented, could have significant impacts — both positive and negative — for borrowers. “Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. The president did not provide details on how his plan would come to fruition or how he planned to make credit card issuers comply. It is also unclear whether Trump’s proposal would pertain to new or existing balances. A White House official told CNBC that additional details on the president’s proposal would be forthcoming.

“A credit card rate cap is enormously popular with Americans,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “That’s why we’ve seen big names on both sides of the aisle propose credit card rate caps in recent years, including President Trump, who also floated the idea while on the campaign trail in 2024.” Currently, about 175 million people in the U.S. have credit cards, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. While some pay off the balance each month, roughly 60% of credit card users have revolving debt, the New York Fed said. That means they pay interest charges on the balances they carry from month to month. About 61% of cardholders with credit card balances have been in debt for at least a year, up from 53% in late 2024, according to a new Bankrate survey. The average credit card interest rate in the U.S. fell to 23.79% in January, marking the lowest level since March 2023 and continuing several months of declines, according to LendingTree. If there were a rate cap, “there’s no question that it would be a really, really big deal for credit cardholders,” Schulz said.

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FBI says it has found no video of Border Patrol agent shooting 2 people in Oregon

The FBI said in a court document made public Monday that it had found no surveillance or other video of a Border Patrol agent shooting and wounding two people in a pickup truck during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, last week. Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The agents said they feared for their own safety and that of the public, the document said.

The FBI has interviewed four of the six agents on the scene, the document said. It did not identify the agent who fired the shots. The shooting, which came one day after a federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over federal agents’ aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement operations. The Department of Homeland Security has said the two people in the truck entered the U.S. illegally and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. None of the six agents was recording body camera footage, and investigators have uncovered no surveillance or other video footage of the shooting, FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in an affidavit supporting aggravated assault and property damage charges against the driver, Luis David Nino-Moncada. The truck drove away after the shooting, which occurred in the parking lot of a medical office building. Nino-Moncada called 911 after arriving at an apartment complex several minutes away. He was placed in FBI custody after being treated for a gunshot wound to the arm and abdomen.

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OnlyFans stars and TikTok influencers are 'dominating' visas for their 'extraordinary ability'

It was once popular for international music stars and actors to stay in the U.S. for their jobs and careers. Today, the notion is attracting a new type of "talent." OnlyFans stars, TikTok influencers and popular content creators are applying for O-1 visas to work in this country. The visas are intended for an individual who possesses "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements," according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

A U.S. employer, U.S. agent or foreign employer through a U.S. agent needs to file on the person's behalf, along with required evidence, the USCIS also says. Pennsylvania-based immigration attorney Raymond Lahoud told Fox News Digital, "O-1B visas have been dominated by influencers and content creators." He added, "We see applicants who appear on various platforms with millions of followers and earning millions of dollars." "If a potential non-immigrant who is the world's most famous OnlyFans star meets the O-1B requirements, who am I to judge? We're getting that visa," he added. He said the rise in the number of creators seeking visas is somewhat of a recent phenomenon. "During the pandemic, the films were recording, the influencers were posting and the entire globe was at home reading or watching," said Lahoud. A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "O-1 visa issuances for FY 2024 and FY 2025 remained steady at approximately 20,000."

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E.P.A. to stop considering lives saved by limiting air pollution

Under President Trump, the E.P.A. plans to stop tallying gains from the health benefits caused by curbing two of the most widespread deadly air pollutants, fine particulate matter and ozone, when regulating industry, according to internal agency emails and documents reviewed by The New York Times. It’s a seismic shift that runs counter to the E.P.A.’s mission statement, which says the agency’s core responsibility is to protect human health and the environment, environmental law experts said. The change could make it easier to repeal limits on these pollutants from coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, steel mills and other industrial facilities across the country, the emails and documents show. That would most likely lower costs for companies while resulting in dirtier air.

Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, refers to particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Ozone is a smog-causing gas that forms when nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds are emitted from power plants, factories and vehicles and mix in the air on hot, sunny days. Long-term exposure to both pollutants is linked to asthma, heart and lung disease, and premature death. Even moderate exposure to PM2.5 can damage the lungs about as much as smoking. Under the Biden administration, the E.P.A. tightened the amount of PM2.5 that could be emitted by industrial facilities. It estimated that the rule would prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays in 2032 alone. For every $1 spent on reducing PM2.5, the agency said, there could be as much as $77 in health benefits. But the Trump administration contends that these estimates are doubtful and said the E.P.A. would no longer take health effects into account in the cost-benefit analyses necessary for clean-air regulations, according to the documents. Instead, the agency would estimate only the costs to businesses of complying with the rules.

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Lead Stories

Federal prosecutors open investigation into Fed Chair Powell

The U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia has opened a criminal investigation into Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, over the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project, according to officials briefed on the situation. The inquiry, which includes an analysis of Mr. Powell’s public statements and an examination of spending records, was approved in November by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of President Trump who was appointed to run the office last year, the officials said. The investigation escalates Mr. Trump’s long-running feud with Mr. Powell, whom the president has continually attacked for resisting his demands to slash interest rates significantly. The president has threatened to fire the Fed chair — even though he nominated Mr. Powell for the position in 2017 — and raised the prospect of a lawsuit against him related to the $2.5 billion renovation, citing “incompetence.”

Mr. Trump told The New York Times in an interview last week that he had decided on who he wants to replace Mr. Powell as Fed chair. He is expected to soon announce his decision. Kevin A. Hassett, Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, is a front-runner for the top job. While Mr. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, his term as a governor runs through January 2028. Mr. Powell has not disclosed whether he plans to stay on at the central bank beyond this year. Mr. Powell, in a rare video message released by the Fed, acknowledged on Sunday that the Justice Department had served the central bank with grand jury subpoenas days earlier. He described the investigation as “unprecedented” and questioned the motivation for the move, even as he affirmed that he carried out his duties as chair “without political fear or favor.” The Fed chair warned that the investigation signaled a broader battle over the Fed’s independence. “The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Mr. Powell added. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

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Washington’s new lobbyists: Paid online influencers with few rules

Last summer, Donald Trump’s 28-year-old former campaign aide Alex Bruesewitz had some new advice for the president: reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. “Nearly 70% of Republican voters support Trump on this. No brainer!,” he said to more than 640,000 followers on X. What Bruesewitz left out of the post: A political-action committee funded by legal marijuana’s biggest players had just paid him $300,000. Trump’s return to the White House has transformed the federal government and upended the business of lobbying, creating a new class of Washington operatives that blur the lines between consulting, advocacy and journalism. Corporate and foreign interests that used to rely primarily on paid lobbyists to pitch their case to lawmakers and administration officials are instead pouring money into trying to get their cause promoted by a group of young, conservative influencers known to be close to Trump’s staff.

A camera-ready pack of Gen-Z social-media natives—many of whom were too young to vote when Trump announced his first run for office—are reaping the rewards. They don’t work for traditional news outlets and are thus unshackled from newsroom ethics rules, such as the typical ban on accepting gifts worth more than $25. They don’t have to follow the disclosure laws that apply to big-money super PACs or lobbyists. And they have large followings eager to hear pro-Trump views, a gold mine for those looking to sway both Washington and the public. Israel made plans over the past year to spend $900,000 on an influencer campaign with a U.S. audience, according to disclosure documents, as Israel fights negative sentiment on the right. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with conservative social-media stars on at least two of his visits. The solar energy and health industries have paid thousands of dollars to influencers to support their interests, according to people who have been offered or participated in such deals. Qatar, beverage interests and others have courted those with online political followings. MAGA influencers are turning access to the White House into lucrative new businesses. Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale has pivoted from campaigning to running a prominent firm that specializes in connecting influencers to companies and others willing to pay for their posts.

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New Texas poll brings bad news for Republicans — and one unexpected bright spot

The dominant political narrative for much of the past year has been that Democrats are sitting pretty heading into the 2026 midterms, while Republicans will be swimming against an upstream current, weighed down by the heavy millstone of President Donald Trump strapped tightly around their necks. But a newly released poll of Texas voters suggests that while Republicans have more reason for worry than celebration 11 months before the November election, there is a largely buried — and perhaps unrecognized — glimmer of hope that they might catch a break in the fall. Let's get the GOP's bad news out of the way first in the poll of 1,200 self-identified registered voters conducted by the Texas Politics Project and released Friday. Trump's approval rating in Republican-led Texas is underwater. So are those of pretty much every Republican holding statewide office and those running for statewide office. On a dozen issues state leaders tackled in the 2025 Legislature, respondents in the poll, taken Dec. 9-13, gave failing marks to 10. And on eight of them, the disapproval-to-approval ratio hovered close to 2-1.

Ironically, even that faint ray of sunshine for Texas Republicans looks, at first blush, like another cloud. It has to do with the economy, both at the national and personal levels, and the overall direction of the state and the nation. More than one-third of respondents said the national economy was in poor shape, and only 24% said they themselves were doing OK financially. And that, paradoxically, is the good news. Here's why. In February, only 20% of Texans said they were happy with their own financial well-being. That survey came one month into Trump's return to the White House and represented a 5-point drop from when Democratic President Joe Biden was still in charge. Confidence in the national economy had been dropping since April, falling to 27% in August. The latest poll shows a 7-point rebound. Now let's look at why the poll might be putting a spring in the steps of Texas Democrats. First, their signature issue of health care is the top concern of most respondents. And unease about its affordability cuts across party lines. Overall, a whopping 89% said they are worried about the cost of heath care, and most said they are "very concerned." The pollsters said a key driver was the debate during the recent government shutdown over whether Congress would fully fund the Affordable Care Act.

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Trump 'inclined' to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after CEO response at White House meeting

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro. “I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing too cute.” During a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan government. Some, however, weren’t convinced. “If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.

An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment. Also on Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue remains protected from being used in judicial proceedings. The executive order, made public on Saturday, says that if the funds were to be seized for such use, it could “undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty. Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro’s capture. The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.

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State Stories

Crime in Austin dropped below pre-pandemic highs in 2025

Here's some good news to start 2026: Crime went down in Austin last year. And the drop isn't insignificant. In 2025, the city saw its lowest number of murders since 2020, and, overall, all violent crime dropped, along with property crime. The decrease brings Austin back to pre-pandemic normals, the Austin Police Department says, but it's also part of a larger national trend of crime-reduction in the U.S. Back in 2020 the city saw the highest number of murders, 60, since it began formally counting crime statistics in the 1960s. In 2021, that number soared to nearly 90.

But since then the number of homicides has trended downward. APD Assistant Chief Angie Jones says last year, the number of homicides dropped to 55 — down from 66 in 2024. Jones says it's been the product of more collaboration between units within the police department, as well as other city departments "We have a really strong team there. They're very thorough and they do a phenomenal job," she said. "And that gets all of these dangerous felons off the streets." Jones said, homicides in 2025 were down 23% compared to 2024. Aggravated assaults were down 13% and robberies were down 5%. Property crimes also dropped significantly Those crimes dipped 7% over 2025 and they've dropped by nearly 20% since 2020, Jones said. For the last five years, experts wondered if high crime rates in the pandemic would be the "new normal." Jeff Asher, a national expert who runs the Real-Time Crime Analytics dashboard, says this year, to him, felt like a tipping point.

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The speed-obsessed Texas wildcatter in pole position for Venezuela’s energy riches

Texas oilman Rod Lewis has made millions drilling in places even other wildcatters find too dangerous. But when he flew to Venezuela in 2024, he encountered an opportunity that was as treacherous—and possibly as profitable—as any in the world. Lewis wasn’t daunted by the country’s political and legal landscape. A firm he backs cut a deal with the state-run oil company, making it one of the few North American companies with contracts to operate in Venezuela, but it has since been stumped by sanctions that forbid it from doing business there. Now Nicolás Maduro is gone, and Lewis is in pole position to rush in to the Latin American country with the world’s largest oil reserves. He isn’t one to move slowly. “I have a need for speed,” he told Boat International magazine, in a feature about his 78-meter yacht called the M5, which is said to be the world’s largest single-masted vessel. He said he flies a helicopter three days a week and a plane five, with a preference for his collection of vintage World War II aircraft.

While the Trump administration is pushing deep-pocketed firms such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips to wade into Venezuela, oil executives at a White House meeting on Friday said they needed security guarantees and an overhaul of Venezuela’s legal and commercial framework to consider diving in. But fast-moving wildcatters, armed with private capital, are less cautious. “I can tell you that the independent oil companies and the individuals—wildcatters, our phone’s ringing off the hook,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at an event at the Economic Club of Minnesota. “They want to get to Venezuela yesterday.” Lewis fits the bill, people who know him said. He is a nimble, private operator with a high tolerance for risk and a wealth of experience forged in unstable locales such as Mexico and Colombia. “He’s actually a wildcatter,” said Conrad Gibbins, co-head of Upstream, Americas, at investment bank Jefferies. “He’s actually one of the few old-school guys in the industry that’s still around, still doing stuff.”

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Democrats go statewide in Texas House races

For the first time in modern Texas politics, Democrats will field candidates in every one of the state’s 150 House districts. It’s a milestone party leaders hope will boost turnout, money and organization up and down the ballot, even as Gov. Greg Abbott enters the cycle with a well-tested ground game of his own. Democratic leaders say the move is less about flipping deeply red districts and more about expanding the electorate and forcing Republicans to defend territory they have long taken for granted. Houston Rep. Christina Morales, the new chief of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, said a full slate of candidates creates infrastructure that can benefit statewide races, regardless of the odds in individual districts.

Campaigns that once existed only on paper now bring door-knocking, phone banking and voter registration efforts, she said. Morales also is coordinating with national Democrats, trying to harness energy from Texas’ high-profile Senate race, marked by a bitter GOP feud. In that primary, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston. The Democratic Senate contest, featuring state Rep. James Talarico of Austin and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, has drawn wide voter interest and donor support. But attention and money only go so far. Abbott enters the cycle with a major advantage: a mature, statewide voter-mobilization network built over decades of Republican control. “Abbott has made it his own,” said longtime GOP strategist Thomas Graham, citing sustained relationship-building at the precinct level and focus on local concerns. “Democrats are still rebuilding a statewide party. The ground game heavily favors the governor.”

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How Frederick Haynes made decision to run for Congress

Dallas minister Frederick Haynes III was attending a civil rights summit in Montgomery, Ala., when he learned of a movement to draft him to replace Democrat Jasmine Crockett in Congress. The draft Haynes website went up three days before the deadline to file for the March 3 primaries. His cellphone buzzing throughout the day, he concedes he was caught off guard. “That’s when I knew it was serious, and I needed to seriously pray about it,” said Haynes, who for the next 48 hours consulted trusted allies. He filed a late bid for the 30th Congressional District, a decision that reshaped not only his career, but also North Texas politics. It pushed Rep. Marc Veasey, a fellow Democrat from Fort Worth, into early retirement. Haynes, 65, will kick off his campaign with a rally Monday in Fair Park. “A church member told me ‘you were awakened to the next phase of your purpose,’” he said.

Haynes’ path from the pulpit to the stump took shape during debate over last summer’s redistricting plan. At legislative hearings, he spoke against the GOP plan that redrew the state’s congressional boundaries to give Republicans at least five more seats in Congress, including District 32 in North Texas. A group of young Democrats then approached Haynes about running for statewide office. “I told them thank you, but no,” he said. But they then “put a full court press on me.” In September, Haynes took a medical leave of absence from his mega-church in southern Dallas, Friendship-West Baptist Church, which has long been a hub for prominent Black civic, political and business leadership. He said the political recruiters gave him a “respite” to allow him to recover. They were back again as the filing deadline for the 2026 primaries loomed.

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American man wins Chevron Houston Marathon for 1st time since 2002

In a year where the United States of America is set to celebrate its 250th birthday, the men's winner for the 54th annual Chevron Houston Marathon Sunday couldn't be more fitting. Just after 9 a.m., Zouhair Talbi became the first American man to win the Chevron Houston Marathon since 2002. He also set a course record with his time of 2:05:45. "I knew I had under 2:06:00 in me, and I was just trying to find the perfect time, perfect race. That's why I chose Houston. The course, I know it's fast," said Talbi, who credited the pacers for helping him stay on track.

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Trump administration change to ‘public charge’ rule could leave more Texas kids without insurance

A federal rule change related to immigrants’ use of public benefits could create a “chilling effect” in migrant communities – and experts warn it could mean higher rates of uninsured children in Texas. The Department of Homeland Security wants to withdraw current federal guidance on the “public charge” rule. The proposed rule would mean officials could look at an immigrant’s use of public benefits – like Medicaid or SNAP – to assess whether they’re likely to become a public charge reliant on the government to meet their needs. If they have accessed public benefits, it could negatively affect their likelihood of being approved for legal status, such as a green card.

“Families are going to be a little bit more apprehensive,” said Robert Sanborn, president and CEO of the Texas advocacy group Children at Risk. “The problem is that when we talk about a lot of Latino families, there's a lot of fear there about what is this going to mean.” Kelly Whitener, an associate professor with Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, said there’s been a lot of back-and-forth about what the term “public charge” means and how it is assessed. “The latest proposed rule seeks to undo what the Biden administration rule put into place around that definition without offering a new definition,” Whitener said. The first Trump administration had broadened the list of benefits the government could consider in 2019 and allowed prior public benefits to count in a determination. In 2022, the Biden administration restored the public charge definition that had been used since 1999. It limited what the government could consider a “public charge” to things like cash assistance, such as Social Security Income, and long-term institutionalization.

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North Texas judge won’t face sanctions for declining to marry gay couples, Texas Supreme Court rules

marriages — and he wants that ruling overturned altogether. The Texas Supreme Court has reiterated its stance that judges who won’t perform certain weddings for religious reasons will not run afoul of state rules on judicial conduct, siding with a North Texas judge seeking to overturn the legalization of gay marriage altogether. Justices confirmed Friday that their October clarification of the rules that govern state judges’ conduct resolves a certified question posed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: Does it violate rules on judicial impartiality for a judge to publicly refuse to officiate certain weddings based on their sincerely held religious belief? “Accordingly, the answer to the certified question is no,” the Texas Supreme Court wrote in a two-page opinion.

Friday's ruling likely resolves Jack County Judge Brian Umphress’ claims that he could be unlawfully disciplined for refusing to marry gay couples. But Umphress also wants the courts to rule that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges does not require judges to officiate gay marriages — and he wants that ruling overturned altogether. It’s now up to the Fifth Circuit to decide whether those claims can move forward. Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, said there's not much the federal appeals court can do. "At most, the justices can say, 'this issue is resolved by the [U.S.] Supreme Court. If you don't like it, file an appeal to the Supreme Court and deal with it there,'" Blackman said. KERA News has reached out to attorneys for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and Umphress for comment and will update this story with any response. The question stemmed from Umphress’ 2020 lawsuit against the commission. The agency, responsible for disciplining state judges, issued a now-withdrawn sanction in 2019 against a different judge in Waco who publicly refused to marry gay couples while continuing to perform straight weddings.

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Greg Abbott-targeted Muslim group says it helped stop attack on Trump

When Gov. Greg Abbott designated a Muslim civil rights group as a terrorist threat last fall, he pointed to its relationship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a key reason. In 2008, the FBI began restricting contact with the Council on American-Islamic Relations after it was identified as one of more than 200 groups and individuals with ties to a charity accused of funneling money to Hamas. Abbott said the group’s actions to “support terrorism across the globe and subvert our laws through violence, intimidation, and harassment are unacceptable.” CAIR is now pushing back with new information, not only disputing that it had any involvement with terrorist activity but saying it has actively helped officials thwart attacks — including alerting the FBI to a potential threat against President Donald Trump during his first term.

Federal authorities arrested a man in 2019 named Hasher Taheb and accused him of planning attacks on the White House, as well as the Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and a synagogue. CAIR officials say they were deeply involved in the case, helping to facilitate meetings between FBI agents and community members who knew Taheb and, with FBI approval, to try and talk Taheb down. The group has not previously detailed its role in the case. It recounted the involvement and provided emails from the time documenting some of the exchanges to Hearst Newspapers. “We only reveal it now in response to these ludicrous claims that CAIR — which has quite literally helped to stop acts of terrorism — is a terrorist organization,” said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, CAIR’s national deputy director. “CAIR has not only condemned terrorism verbally, but we have taken action to stop terrorism.”

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Pete Hegseth to visit Fort Worth’s Lockheed Martin and Brownsville's SpaceX on Monday

Pete Hegseth, the U.S. secretary of defense, will visit Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth on Monday as well as SpaceX in Brownsville, where “patriots work tirelessly, not with rifles, but with hardhats and relentless dedication, to ensure our military remains the most lethal and capable fighting force in the world,” the Pentagon said Sunday. Hegseth will deliver remarks to SpaceX employees alongside Elon Musk, the company’s founder. This is part of Hegseth’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour and a “direct follow-up to Secretary Hegseth’s call to action delivered to defense executives last fall at Fort McNair.”

“For too long, Pentagon bureaucracy has hindered the speed and might of our manufacturing base, obstructing innovation and warfare solutions from companies like SpaceX and Lockheed Martin,” the Department of War said in a statement Sunday. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, we are unleashing the full power of our Defense Industrial Base (DIB) to advance our Peace Through Strength agenda.” The Pentagon described Monday’s event as Hegseth’s “third major speech” since he was sworn in. “This tour is intended to fuel a revival of our Defense Industrial Base, ensuring it can supply America’s finest with technologically superior products at the speed of relevance, the statement said. “This guarantees our dominance not just for today, but for generations to come. Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility builds the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet for the Pentagon and foreign allies. In December, the company rolled out the first in a series of F-35A jets for Finland. The F-35 is the most economically significant defense program in history, according to Lockheed, creating 290,000 U.S. jobs and contributing $72 billion to the economy annually. Lockheed Martin has a $17.7 billion payroll in Texas, and the F-35 production facility in Fort Worth employs roughly 19,200 technicians, mechanics, engineers and support staff, and relies on nearly 900 Texas suppliers. The program has contributed $7 billion in local economic benefits, according to the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and supported over 30,000 jobs in the greater Fort Worth economy.

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Texas launches portal for public complaints against colleges

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board officially launched its Office of the Ombudsman website Friday, providing a portal where students and members of the public can file complaints against the state’s public colleges and universities. The new office was mandated by Senate Bill 37, legislation that went into effect Jan. 1, which increases state control over public higher education by giving governing boards authority over curriculum, faculty governance and hiring and requiring academic program reviews. It also established the ombudsman’s office to manage complaints and investigations into alleged violations of the state’s DEI ban or of the other provisions of SB 37. In October, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Brandon Simmons as ombudsman. Simmons is a former tech company executive, corporate attorney and venture capitalist who previously served on the Texas Southern Board of Regents and as an entrepreneurial resident and distinguished professor of business at Wiley University in Marshall.

“Through a user-friendly website and engagement on campuses across Texas, I look forward to a collaborative, productive partnership with our institutional leaders and students,” Simmons said in a statement. “Texas leads the nation with top-ranked, rapidly ascending universities, and our office is here to support these great institutions in serving the next generation of Texas students.” The website’s launch follows a series of high-profile incidents at public institutions in the state where faculty have had to alter course content or have even been removed for allegedly violating SB 37. Under Chancellor Brandon Creighton, the former state senator who authored SB 37, the Texas Tech University system in the fall began enforcing new standards regarding the teaching of race and sexuality, including that faculty may acknowledge the existence of only two genders, male and female. In September, an instructor at Texas A&M was removed after a video showing a student confronting her over a gender identity lesson went viral. And just last week, a philosophy professor at Texas A&M was told to remove from his syllabus passages by Plato related to patriarchy, masculinity and gender identity. The new ombudsman’s office will have five days to notify any college or university named in a complaint through the portal, The Austin American-Statesman reported, and the institution will have 175 days to respond. If it is found in violation of state law, the ombudsman can recommend that the Legislature withhold funding until the institution comes into compliance.

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Harrison County DA’s Office first in state under new law to successfully appeal bond reduction

The Harrison County District Attorney’s Office this past week became the first in the state to win a criminal case appeal under a new bail reform law designed to strengthen public safety. The district attorney’s office successfully appealed a bond reduction for Corey Wilbert Jr., who is one of four defendants charged in the October 2025 murder of 48-year-old Carlos Hill on Bean Street in Marshall. Wilbert’s bond previously was reduced from $250,000 to $70,000 following a hearing in the 71st Judicial District Court. With this week’s successful appeal, however, his bond has been restored to the higher amount. “We felt $250,000 was sufficient,” District Attorney Reid McCain said. His office appealed the bond reduction to the 6th Court of Appeals in Texarkana.

Senate Bill 9, enacted Sept. 1, allows prosecutors to appeal bond reductions they feel are inadequate for certain violent offenses. Under the new law, prosecutors “have a right now to take that issue on appeal because we think that’s better for the citizens of Harrison County,” McCain said. “Prosecutors across the state now have that authority, and we did. We did it successfully. “As it turns out, it was a case of first impression,” McCain said, explaining that refers to a new legal issue that is brought before a court. Because prosecutors hadn’t had the right to challenge a bond reduction before, the matter was a first impression issue before the appellate court, which ruled in the office’s favor. SB 9 was passed in June by the Legislature as part of a major bail reform package. According to the legislation, prosecutors can appeal bonds they believe are insufficient if the case involves a murder; a capital murder; certain aggravated assaults; an aggravated kidnapping; an aggravated robbery; an aggravated sexual assault; indecency with a child; a trafficking of persons or continuous trafficking of persons; or a defendant who has committed a felony while on bail for a previous felony.

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Florida woman posed as father of Camp Mystic flood victim, asked for donations, court documents show

Days after the deadly Camp Mystic floods last year, a woman from Florida reportedly tried to collect money online by pretending to be the father of one of the victims, according to court documents. Records state that 28-year-old Maitlin Paige White from Crestview, Fla., created a GoFundMe account on July 8, 2025, using the identity of Matthew Childress. Only four days prior, Childress' 18-year-old daughter Chloe died in the tragic floods while working as a counselor at Camp Mystic. On July 10, Childress notified authorities that someone had created the account using his name and a photo of Chloe, according to the documents. The court records allege the GoFundMe account was asking for the public to make cash donations to support the Childress family in the wake of the tragedy.

During their investigation, detectives said they uncovered a second online donation account in Childress' name, this time on the Spotfund platform. Investigators said that after they requested records from GoFundMe and Spotfund, they received White's name, phone number, email address, and bank account details, all connected to the accounts she set up on July 8. The affidavit states that when investigators spoke with Childress, who lives in Harris County, he confirmed he had not given anyone permission to create online fundraisers for him or to use his personal information or his daughter's image. According to the documents, when investigators contacted White, she admitted to creating the fake accounts in Childress's name and using Chloe's name and photo to collect donations. The complaint says White told detectives she was a "single mother of two young children and was looking for a quick way to make some money." She also said she linked her Chime bank account to the fundraising pages so the donations would go straight to her. On July 11, Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen warned donors to the families of Texas Hill Country flood victims to be wary of impersonators in a Facebook post. In the message, he said a "scammer" was pretending to be Chloe Childress' father and that the donations totaled around $1,500 before it was shut down. Court records have not confirmed whether or not the incident in the Facebook post is linked to White's alleged crime. Court documents state that the Harris County District Attorney's Office charged White with a felony count of online impersonation on Jan. 2. The records also show she is not in custody and her bond has not been set.

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Students scramble as A&M reviews race, gender courses 1 week before class

An unprecedented review of thousands of courses at Texas A&M University for “race or gender ideology” has triggered chaotic last-minute changes for students and professors, just days before the spring semester begins. While many on campus are waiting to see how the policy might affect them, some students have already received stressful alerts. Iliana Lombrana learned in an email last Tuesday that her sociology course Introduction to Race and Ethnicity was canceled because A&M system’s new policy prohibits core classes from teaching topics related to race, gender or sexual orientation. The abrupt change briefly jeopardized her financial aid status and left her disappointed to miss out on the class she was most excited about this semester.

“College is supposed to expand your worldview by showing you different perspectives,” Lombrana told the Chronicle. “The professors I’ve had in my courses have always respected and honored different perspectives from myself and my peers.” Texas A&M University officials declined to say how many courses have been affected, since the review is ongoing. If they are flagged for problematic topics, they could be canceled, moved from the core curriculum or changed to omit topics of race and gender. Two faculty members who attended a meeting with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences this week said that he expects to request exemptions for around 30 courses. “As we examine thousands of courses to make sure they comply with the new policy of the Board of Regents, we realize there will be challenges,” Texas A&M said in a statement. “But we will get creative, make adjustments and do everything possible to ensure the Spring 2026 semester runs as smoothly as possible.” The changes have put faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences — home to many cultural courses — on edge. Many professors also remain confused about how the university is determining what falls under the definition of “ideology.” The college’s interim dean, Simon North, declined to comment.

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County Stories

Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid released after DWI, attorney issues statement

Kleberg County Judge Rudy Madrid has been released from jail after his arrest last night involving a traffic stop on Highway 77. 3NEWS also heard from Madrid's attorney Saturday night. Mark Gonzalez released the following statement on his behalf: “Judge Madrid’s main focus is continuing to serve the wonderful people of Kleberg County, as he has since 2014. He has the utmost respect for the men and women of law enforcement, both with regard to Kleberg County and the Texas Department of Public Safety, as well as law enforcement across the state and nation. On the advice of counsel, Judge Madrid will not be making any statement regarding these allegations; however, I can assure you that he will be vigorously contesting any accusations while respecting the criminal justice process,” Gonzalez said.

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City Stories

San Marcos to reconsider stalled $1.5B data center project

After community opposition helped stall a $1.5 billion data center proposal, the development is once again moving through the approval process. The San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Tuesday, when the project’s lead landowner and developer, Fort Worth-based Highlander SM One LLC, is set to petition for approval to build the data center campus. The project’s resurgence comes after local opposition led the commission to recommend denial in March. In August, the City Council — after more than two hours of public comment that mostly opposed the development — voted 5-2 to approve measures to annex and rezone the 64 acres on Francis Harris Lane.

Despite that, the measure failed to achieve the required supermajority to move forward, requiring the landowners to restart the application process in October. “It’s incredibly frustrating,” Amanda Rodriguez, Place 6 city councilor, said in an interview Thursday. “Especially when the developer, after he saw everybody come through and push back, then to come back and try again. And when they say, ‘I care about you and your people.’ That’s two conflicting beliefs.” After a contentious town hall meeting, the company announced it was pausing its involvement in the rezoning case “to take the time needed to address concerns raised and to ensure that any future plans align with the needs and values of our community.” John Mayberry, manager of Highlander SM One, said in a Dec. 16 meeting that there are many potential builders and companies in discussions related to the project but nothing can move forward until the zoning issue is resolved. “Frankly, the time of this process led their contract to expire,” he said. The project envisions a five-building data center campus that would reside partially in San Marcos city limits at 904 Francis Harris Lane. Each of the data center’s buildings would have a 76-megawatt power capacity. The proposed facility would receive wastewater services from the city. Electricity would be managed by Pedernales Electrical Cooperative and water by the Crystal Clear Special Utility District.

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National Stories

Trump’s war on Labor data didn’t change the economic outlook

President Donald Trump’s shake-up at the Bureau of Labor Statistics — and baseless claims that the agency was inaccurately reporting jobs numbers — didn’t change the actual economic trend lines: job growth slowed significantly during the president’s first year back in office, the highly anticipated December jobs report found. The unemployment rate for December punched in at 4.4% — just a tenth of a point lower than the month prior — with 50,000 new jobs added, according to the report. Economists and data watchers were eagerly awaiting the first good look into the job market since the government shutdown precluded crucial data-gathering work. But the report wasn’t surprising. “All the numbers are pretty much the same,” said Gbenga Ajilore, the chief economist at the left-leaning think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

And the December figures didn’t provide the evidence Trump has sought to back his claims that he has created a hot economy. In August, the president fired Erika McEntarfer, then the bureau’s commissioner, which authors the monthly jobs reports. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the July jobs data was “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.” In all, 584,000 jobs were created in 2025 — a significant decline compared to the 2 million jobs in 2024. Except for 2020, when the pandemic brought the economy to a standstill, it was the worst year for job creation since the recession. Economists who spoke to NOTUS said there was nothing suspect about the December jobs report, however. “There is no evidence that there is anything untoward about these numbers,” Ajilore said. Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he believes BLS is “operating in good faith” and not “being politicized right now.” But that doesn’t mean the agency, which sits within the Department of Labor, escaped the consequences of a chaotic year for the federal government.

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Congress is debating the possible consequences for ICE and even Noem after Renee Good's killing

The killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide. Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s shooting death and policy changes over law enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in what is fast becoming an inflection point. “The situation that took place in Minnesota is a complete and total disgrace,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said as details emerged. “And in the next few days, we will be having conversations about a strong and forceful and appropriate response by House Democrats.”

Yet there is almost no consensus among the political parties in the aftermath of the death of Good, who was behind the wheel of an SUV after dropping off her 6-year-old at school when she was shot and killed by an ICE officer. The killing immediately drew dueling narratives. Trump and Noem said the ICE officer acted in self-defense, while Democratic officials said the Trump administration was lying and they urged the public to see the viral videos of the shooting for themselves. Vice President JD Vance blamed Good, calling it “a tragedy of her own making,” and said the ICE officer may have been “sensitive” from having been injured during an unrelated altercation last year. But Good’s killing, at least the fifth known death since the administration launched its mass deportation campaign, could change the political dynamic. “The videos I’ve seen from Minneapolis yesterday are deeply disturbing,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in a statement. “As we mourn this loss of life, we need a thorough and objective investigation into how and why this happened,” she said. As part of the investigation, she said she is calling for policy changes, saying the situation “was devastating, and cannot happen again.”

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Sec. Noem says DHS sending 'hundreds more' ICE agents to Minnesota

Sec. Kristi Noem says hundreds more federal law enforcement officers will be headed to Minnesota on Sunday and Monday following the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Speaking on FOX News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem said more officers will be on the ground in Minnesota on Sunday and Monday. "We're sending more officers today and tomorrow," Noem told host Maria Bartiromo. "They'll arrive, there'll be hundreds more in order to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals that are working in Minneapolis to do so safely. We're going to continue to, if they conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that's a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences." The backstory: Tensions have been high in the Twin Cities in recent days following the shooting of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of ICE officer Jonathan Ross. The shooting has sparked protests across the city including outside the regional ICE headquarters at the Whipple Building at Fort Snelling.

What we don't know: It's not clear exactly how many officers will be coming to the Twin Cities and exactly where this will put the total head count for federal law enforcement in the metro. In December, the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge, bringing more than 100 federal agents into the Twin Cities. In January, the Department of Homeland Security launched a new 30-day surge, this time bringing a reported force of 1,500 ICE officers and 600 Homeland Security investigators into the state with an aim at tackling fraud. Friday, FOX News reported that Border Patrol was set to add as many as 1,000 of its agents on the ground in Minneapolis as well. It's possible some or all of the hundreds that Noem referenced are the reported Border Patrol agents being deployed. Dig deeper: Homeland Security has defended the surge by showing some of the worst offenders that have been arrested in Minnesota. On a website dubbed "Worst of the Worst," federal officials include dozens of profiles with information on the worst offenders arrested by ICE in Minnesota. Offenses range from murder to sexual abuse against children and the list includes gang members including individuals allegedly associated with the notorious Tren de Aragua.

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The list of 2026 Golden Globes winners

From Timothe´e Chalamet dedicating his “Marty Supreme” award to his parents and girlfriend Kylie Jenner to Jean Smart imploring people to choose kindness as she accepted another hosanna for “Hacks,” the 2026 Golden Globe Awards were packed with emotion. While Chalamet was the only victor from “Marty Supreme” – the award also marked his first Golden Globe - the Leonardo DiCaprio-led “One Battle After Another” maintained its frontrunner status. Coming into the 83rd iteration of what is known as the biggest party in Hollywood with a leading nine nominations, the dramedy “One Battle…” earned four Globes, including best comedy or musical and best director for Paul Thomas Anderson. DiCaprio lost to Chalamet in the stacked best actor category that also included George Clooney and Ethan Hawke.

The Jan. 11 show aired live on CBS and Paramount + from Beverly Hills, California, and featured Nikki Glaser returning as a host both sharp and gentle. Along with “One Battle…,” the night's top movies were “Hamnet,” “Sinners,” "KPop Demon Hunters," and “The Secret Agent,” all of which earned two awards. On the TV side, Netflix’s searing drama “Adolescence” won four awards from its leading five nominations: Best supporting actor for Owen Cooper, best actor in a limited series for Stephen Graham, best supporting actress for Erin Doherty and best limited/anthology series or TV movie. HBO’s intense medical drama “The Pitt” nabbed two Globes, including one for standout star Noah Wylie, while Seth Rogen’s very-meta Hollywood circus “The Studio” also aced a pair for best comedy and best actor in a comedy for Rogen.

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Trump says Tehran wants to talk as U.S. weighs military options

President Donald Trump says Iran has contacted the United States to propose talks as his administration weighs responses — including military options — amid reports from rights groups that hundreds of people have been killed across the country amid mass protests against the regime. “We may have to act before a meeting. … A meeting is being set up,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, declining to elaborate on the options under consideration. Trump said he believed Iran was taking U.S. threats seriously. “They’ve been going through it for years with me,” he said in response to a question, noting the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Trump’s first term and the recent U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said it received eyewitness accounts and credible reports that hundreds of protesters have been killed since Thursday night, while another U.S.-based group, Human Rights Activists News Agency, estimates 490 protesters have been killed since demonstrations began on Dec. 28.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to a gathering of ambassadors in Iran on Monday, said Tehran was ready for “war” but also dialogue. “We are not warmongers, but we are prepared for war. … We are also prepared for negotiations, but fair negotiations, with equal rights and mutual respect,” he said. Araghchi met Saturday with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi, who traveled to Tehran for talks and who has acted as a go-between for Tehran and Washington in the past. Iranian authorities, who have shut down internet access, are struggling to contain some of the largest protests since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. Protests that erupted over economic grievances have evolved into calls for regime change, and demonstrations have grown increasingly violent.

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Transgender athlete bans get Supreme Court review in landmark case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will for the first time wade into the heated national debate over whether transgender girls should be allowed to participate in girls' and women's sports. The justices will hear arguments in a pair of cases from Idaho and West Virginia, where federal courts have blocked state laws that would prohibit trans girls from participating on teams consistent with their gender identity. The outcome of the cases will determine the fate of those laws and similar measures in 27 other states. There are an estimated 122,000 transgender American teens who participate in high school sports nationwide, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. Lower courts have concluded separately that the bans discriminate "on the basis of sex" in violation of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that has promoted equal opportunities for women and girls in athletics, and the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

The states are asking the justices to overturn those decisions and reinstate their laws, arguing that sex and gender identity are not synonymous when it comes to women's athletics and that allowing transgender girls to compete against cisgender girls is unfair and unsafe. "It really comes down to one simple question," said West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey in an interview with ABC News. "Is it legal and constitutional for states to delineate their athletic playing fields based on the immutable physical characteristics that people have that are associated with their sex that's assigned at birth?" Becky Pepper Jackson, a high school sophomore from Bridgeport, West Virginia, who competes in discus and shot put on the track and field team, brought the legal challenge to her state's law in 2021. She is the only known openly trans athlete in West Virginia in any sport. "Someone has to do it. Someone has to do this for all of us," Becky, 15, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. "Otherwise these laws and bills are just going to stand." Transgender athletes make up just over 1% of the more than 8 million teenage student athletes nationwide, according to the Williams Institute.

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‘History will tell’: as US pressure grows, Cuba edges closer to collapse amid mass exodus

Hatri Echazabal Orta lives in Madrid, Spain. Maykel Fernández is in Charlotte, in the US, while Cristian Cuadra remains in Havana, Cuba – for now. All Cubans, all raised on revolutionary ideals and educated in good state-run schools, they have become disillusioned with the cherished national narrative that Cuba is a country of revolution and resistance. Facing a lack of political openness and poor economic prospects, each of them made the same decision: to leave. They are not alone. After 68 years of partial sanctions and nearly 64 years of total economic embargo by the US, independent demographic studies suggest that Cuba is going through the world’s fastest population decline and is probably already below 8 million – a 25% drop in just four years, suggesting its population has shrunk by an average of about 820,000 people a year. There are a number of root causes for this exodus, but most experts agree that the blockade, decades of economic crisis, crumbling public services, political repression and widespread disillusionment with the revolution have merged to become a “polycrisis”.

The unrest further undermines Cuba at a time when the Trump administration is stepping up its offensive across Latin America, heavily reinforcing US military deployment in the Caribbean, raiding Caracas to capture the Venezuelan president, and stepping up threats against the governments of Panama, Colombia and Cuba. According to research on Cuba by Juan Carlos Albizu-Campos Espiñeira, an economist and demographer at the Christian Centre for Reflection and Dialogue in Havana, and Dimitri Fazito de Almeida Rezende at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, the Caribbean nation’s population is nowhere near the government’s 2015 projection for last year – 11.3 million – and has even fallen below forecasts for 2050. Between 2022 and 2023 alone, researchers saw an 18% plunge in the population due to migration. The country has also recorded more deaths than births for five years running, with fertility rates stuck below population replacement levels since 1978. Now, one in four Cubans is over the age of 60, worsening economic and social prospects. But the exodus of young people is the prime accelerator of this decline. Most of those who leave are aged between 15 and 59; 57% are women and 77% are of reproductive age. They finance their emigration through their own resources and family funds, using a worldwide network of contacts to navigate routes through Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

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Even as rent falls in many U.S. cities, a supply crunch could be on the horizon

Renters in the U.S. found some relief in 2025 as a surge of newly finished apartments in many parts of the country led to cheaper rent. It’s a trend that could reverse in 2026. Data released Friday shows the construction of new apartments has dropped off in the last year, spelling potential trouble for renters as the number of available properties stagnates and macroeconomic pressures keep more people in the rental market. It’s a shift that experts say could indicate the start of a challenging cycle for renters. “Fewer housing projects are being started and fewer are being completed, which goes to show that the pandemic building boom is over,” said Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist for real estate brokerage Redfin. “This will limit inventory of both homes for sale and rent moving forward, which will exacerbate the housing shortage.”

According to October data released Friday from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, two major indicators of residential apartment construction activity saw a year-over-year decline. Starts, which measures the launch of construction, saw a nearly 11% drop in activity compared to October 2024. This means there are fewer apartments being built now than in the year prior. Another important indicator is the number of completed builds. October data shows completions declined nearly 42% compared to the year prior, meaning there are fewer newly constructed apartments ready to enter the market now than there were in 2024. However, the data also showed a pickup in permits authorizing new apartment construction — meaning builders have new projects lined up. It can take more than a year and a half to get a building completed once a permit is issued, according to Robert Dietz, the National Association of Home Builders’ chief economist. So although there is an uptick in permits for new construction, that is unlikely to immediately translate into a jump in completed projects in 2026.

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Lead Stories

Key oil executives hesitate to commit to Trump's major investment promises

Executives from three major American oil companies with long histories in Venezuela cautioned at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday that any serious investments in Venezuelan oil infrastructure would require massive, long-term structural changes. None of the leaders of Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips made major commitments or promises to Trump at the meeting, which gathered nearly two dozen oil executives. Some of their statements appeared to contradict Trump’s claims that American companies will quickly invest billions of dollars in Venezuela. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods described the current situation in Venezuela as “uninvestable.”

“We take a very long-term perspective,” he said at the meeting. “The investments that we make span decades and decades. We don’t go into any opportunity with a short-term mindset, and there’s a value proposition that we have to meet.” Woods then said that long-term commitments from Exxon will require serious interest from both the Venezuelan government and the Venezuelan people. “We haven’t talked to the Venezuelan government, and obviously we have yet to assess the people’s perspective with respect to ExxonMobil entering the country,” he said. Ryan Lance, the CEO of ConocoPhillips, said that to restore the country’s oil infrastructure and production, “we need to also be thinking about even restructuring the entire Venezuelan energy system, including PDVSA,” the state-owned oil and gas company. When Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright specifically asked about what the companies are prepared to commit to in the next 18 to 24 months, the major executives made only small promises. Woods from Exxon committed to sending a technical team to the country to assess the situation on the ground. Mark Nelson, vice chairman at Chevron, committed to quickly increasing oil production by about 100% and then again by 50% in the following two years. Those increases from Chevron add up to well below the country’s potential for production with the significant investment that Trump said he expects. “We are certainly committed to its present, and we very much look forward as a proud American company to help it build a better future,” Nelson said. The other companies represented at the meeting — most of them without a significant history in Venezuela — seemed more eager than the three major oil giants to commit to making investments. Many of the others present who adopted a more eager and aggressive tone represented industries beyond oil drilling itself, ranging from oilfield services to refining to oil shipping and trading.

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Donald Trump isn't ready to endorse in Texas Senate race, Cornyn says

President Donald Trump still isn’t ready to endorse U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for reelection. The Republican, locked in a competitive March 3 primary, said Friday that he talked to Trump earlier this week and brought up the topic again. “I said, ‘Mr. President, this race would be over if you decided to endorse,’” Conryn said in an interview with me. “He said, ‘I know, I know.’ He’s obviously not ready to do that. And I think he wants to see how the race develops.”

There’s not a lot of time until voting starts. The first overseas ballots for the primary go out in just over a week, and in-person early voting begins in six weeks. And Cornyn has struggled in the polls. At one point early in 2025, he was tracking way behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. And U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, a Houston Republican and a more recent entry to the race, has been close to catching him according to some polling. All three candidates have been running heavily ontheir support for Trump and promises to back his agenda. The president has repeatedly said he likes the candidates, but isn't ready to weigh in on the race like he has in other statewide contests. Trump endorsed Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick early in the cycle, helping to stop major primary opponents from challenging them. Though Trump isn't ready to commit, Cornyn said he still likes his chances heading into the primary, even if it means facing a runoff election later. If no candidate in the primary wins at least 50% of the vote, the top two finisherswould go to a May runoff election. “We’ve come a long way, and I’m optimistic,” Cornyn said. It’s new territory for Cornyn. Since his first election to the U.S. Senate in 2002, he’s never really had much opposition in primaries or general elections.

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The Supreme Court may leave alone the Voting Rights Act just long enough to keep the GOP from House control in 2026

Republicans want a big Supreme Court redistricting win. They’re losing hope it will help them in the 2026 midterms. The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais could weaken the Voting Rights Act and open the door to redrawing congressional maps, particularly across the South. Court watchers expect at least a partial win for conservatives that could let the GOP draw more seats for themselves by erasing Black- and Hispanic-majority districts. But while that decision could theoretically come as soon as when the court returns on Friday, many experts think the case is more likely to be resolved with the flurry of decisions the court typically releases in late June. The window of opportunity for new maps going into place before this November’s elections is rapidly closing, as states would need ample time to change deadlines, shift election calendars, vet signatures and print and distribute ballots.

And the longer it takes for the Supreme Court to issue a ruling, the harder it will be for state-level Republicans to throw their maps out and draw new ones before this fall’s elections. “It can get very complicated and very sticky, and that is not fast work,” said Tammy Patrick, the chief programs officer for The Election Center, a nonpartisan consulting firm that works with state and local election officials. “That is time-consuming, very methodical and detail-oriented work that needs to have sufficient time.” Some state-level Republicans have already given up hope. In Louisiana, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, some state officials believe it’s already too late and that the state will have to use its current map in its 2026 elections regardless of the Court’s decision, as the candidate qualifying period opens next month. Louisiana Republicans pushed back its 2026 primary election dates from April to May during a special session late last year, in hopes the Court would rule by the end of 2025 and give them time to install a new map. But the shift still wouldn’t be late enough for a late-term SCOTUS ruling. Some national Republicans, however, say there’s plenty of time to take on a redraw before November, arguing the Legislature can move the deadlines in order to redraw before elections are underway. At the center of the Supreme Court case is Section 2 of the VRA, a provision that broadly outlaws discrimination in elections on the basis of race and has led to the creation of majority-minority districts, where Black, Latino or Asian voters make up a majority of the population.

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Austin protest disperses after possible tear gas deployed

A protest in downtown Austin escalated Saturday night after a demonstration that began earlier in the day moved into city streets and drew a growing police response. A small group of protesters initially blocked East Eighth Street in front of the J.J. Pickle Federal Building, prompting repeated warnings from the Texas Department of Public Safety to clear the roadway. As the night continued, the crowd grew and marched through downtown, at times blocking traffic, ignoring police orders and returning to the federal building where the protest began. Authorities later appeared to deploy tear gas or a similar chemical irritant, causing the crowd to scatter. People ran westward late Saturday after authorities appeared to deploy tear gas or a similar chemical irritant near the protest area. The crowd quickly dispersed as officials moved to clear the scene.

About an hour after the protest began, demonstrators were standing in the street in front of the J.J. Pickle Federal Building downtown, returning to the area where the demonstration initially started. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued what it called a final warning over a loudspeaker, ordering protesters to leave the roadway. The group has not complied and instead began shouting at police as tensions escalated. Protesters turned north onto San Jacinto Street as police issued another warning ordering the group to immediately exit the roadway. Despite the warning, demonstrators showed no signs of leaving the street and continued marching. The group grew to nearly 100 people after gathering for about 10 minutes on Neches Street between East Seventh and East Sixth streets without police intervention. After several group leaders spoke, protesters resumed marching and moved into a crowded stretch of Sixth Street, where no police presence was immediately visible.

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Trump is briefed on options for striking Iran as protests continue

President Trump has been briefed in recent days on new options for military strikes in Iran as he considers following through on his threat to attack the country for cracking down on protesters, according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump has not made a final decision, but the officials said he was seriously considering authorizing a strike in response to the Iranian regime’s efforts to suppress demonstrations set off by widespread economic grievances. The president has been presented with a range of options, including strikes on nonmilitary sites in Tehran, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential conversations. Asked about planning for potential strikes, the White House referred to Mr. Trump’s public comments and social media posts in recent days. “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media on Saturday. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”

The demonstrations in Iran began in late December in response to a currency crisis, but they have since spread and grown in size as many Iranians have called for wholesale changes to the country’s authoritarian government. Iranian officials have threatened to crack down on the demonstrations, and dozens of protesters have been killed, according to human rights groups. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that the government would “not back down” in the face of large-scale protests. Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to use lethal force against the Iranian government for its efforts to suppress demonstrations, and on Friday, he said that Iran “is in big trouble.” “I’ve made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Friday, while meeting with oil executives. “We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts. So we don’t want that to happen.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone on Saturday morning with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, according to three people with knowledge of the call. The two leaders discussed the protests in Iran, along with the situation in Syria and a peace deal in Gaza, the three people said.

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State Stories

Protests against ICE take place across Texas this weekend

Protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are scheduled across the largest metro areas in Texas this weekend following the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The video of the shooting shows a woman, identified as Renee Nicole Good, park her car in the middle of a road where ICE agents were located. Two ICE agents confront Good and one tries to open the driver side door. Another agent steps in front of the car while recording the encounter on his cell phone. As Good moves the car, the agent in front fires his gun three times at close range, killing Good. Federal leaders defended the officer’s actions as self-defense. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called Good a domestic terrorist. “This goes to show the assaults that our ICE officers and our law enforcement are under every single day,” Noem said on the day of the shooting.

Protests erupted in Minnesota and across the country in reaction to the shooting and responses to it from the federal government. In Texas, a group of protesters chanted outside of an ICE facility in Pflugerville. Some spray-painted and banged on the outside of the building. The Austin Immigrant Rights Action Committee (AIRAC) announced it is holding a protest outside the south entrance of the Texas Capitol building on Friday at 7 p.m. Jake Holtzman, one of the organizers of the group, said AIRAC was formed this month, and Friday night will be its first-ever protest. “She was trying to drive away from the officers, not to run them over,” Holtzman said when asked about the video. He said his group is promoting a peaceful protest comprised of people who will stand in solidarity with the Good family and call for accountability for the officer who pulled the trigger. “The goal is that all these individuals who are coming together who are angry about this can help put pressure on lawmakers and those who are in charge, in order to actually bring this ICE agent to justice and win justice for Renee Nicole Good and for her family,” Holtzman explained. Nexstar reached out to a spokesperson in Governor Greg Abbott’s office to ask if he plans to mobilize any additional state law enforcement ahead of this weekend’s protests. Nexstar has not received a response as of this publication. The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a reminder for Texans to remain safe during protests this weekend. The department advised people to have an exit strategy, listen to law enforcement commands, be aware of surroundings, and to leave an area if others act unlawfully.

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Texas Supreme Court revives Pappas’ lawsuit against City of Houston over Hobby Airport concessions

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a 2023 lawsuit filed by Pappas Restaurants against the City of Houston, alleging the city wrongfully awarded a lucrative Hobby Airport concessions contract to another restaurant operator, must continue. Houston-based Pappas Restaurants, which operates several Texas eateries like Pappasito's Cantina, Pappas Bar-B-Q and Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, had initially sued the city in 2023 for allegedly violating state procurement law in how it awarded a 10-year, $470 million contract to a subsidiary of Spain-based Areas, a travel hospitality group. Representatives for each of the groups — Pappas, Areas and the City of Houston — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In its ruling on Friday, the state's highest civil court did not rule directly on the substance of the case but rather ordered it to continue at the trial court level, after an appeals court had ruled against Pappas in some key matters. Pappas alleges the city violated a provision of the Texas Local Government Code that pertains to a contract "that requires an expenditure of more than $50,000 from one or more municipal funds." The city successfully argued to a trial court that the provision did not apply in this case, because it was a revenue contract and not an expenditure contract. One of the questions before the state supreme court was whether Houston in fact exceeds that $50,000 expenditure threshold as part of its contract with the Areas subsidiary, even if the agreement results in a net profit for the city. The court ruled Pappas had not been provided with an opportunity to find evidence that the city’s expenditures exceed $50,000 as part of the contract with Areas. As such, the state supreme court ordered the case to be sent back to a trial court, where Pappas can reassert its request for discovery.

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Fort Bend GOP clerk candidate defends herself against Communist accusations

A Republican candidate for Fort Bend County clerk issued a statement Friday defending herself against accusations raised within her own party that she has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. J.J. Clemence said the claims stem from her role as an interpreter during a brief cultural exchange meeting with a visiting Chinese delegation in December and are being amplified through social media and conservative activist groups as the contested Republican primary intensifies. “I have never been a member of the CCP, nor am I an instrument of the Chinese government,” Clemence said in a statement. “No sister-city agreement was established, maintained or renewed.”

The December meeting, held at the historic Fort Bend County Courthouse, included County Judge KP George and other local officials. Clemence appeared in photos from the meeting and served as a translator. Texas House Bill 128, which took effect Sept. 1, 2025, prohibits sister-city agreements with "foreign adversaries" like China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. It does not address short-term visits or meetings that do not result in a written, recognized partnership. A sister city is a formal relationship between a U.S. city or county and a foreign city, created through a written agreement and intended to last for years. These agreements are designed to promote ongoing cultural, educational and economic exchange and are typically recognized by a national nonprofit, according to Sister Cities International. Questions about the December meeting surfaced in conservative activist circles online. Katy ISD board member Mary Ellen Cuzela was among those posting in the Katy Area Conservatives Facebook group calling on Clemence to issue a statement addressing the meeting and the claims circulating about it. Clemence’s Republican primary opponent, Tamara McFarlane, also published a social media post criticizing what she described as “Communist sister city delegations,” citing House Bill 128 on the Katy Area Conservatives page.

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Former Katy High School football coach Mike Johnston dies

Former Katy High School football coach Mike Johnston, who led the storied Houston-area program to three state championships, died Saturday morning, according to a post from the Tigers’ official X account. Johnston, a Houston native who grew up in Galena Park, took over as the head coach at Katy in 1982 and held the position through 2003 before handing the reins to current coach Gary Joseph. Johnston guided his teams to 200 victories, 13 district titles, five state title game appearances (1994, 197, 1999, 2000, 2003) and three state championships (1997, 2000, 2003).

“Coach Mike Johnston, the godfather of Katy High School football, has passed, leaving behind a legacy that shaped generations of athletes and a community he loved deeply,” Katy ISD athletic director Lance Carter said in a statement to the Chronicle. “He was more than a coach — he was a mentor, leader and a great man whose impact will never be forgotten. His influence will live on in every field, locker room and life he touched.” After playing football at Stephen F. Austin, Johnston began his coaching career at Hull-Daisetta High School and made stops at Nacogdoches, Beaumont Forest Park and Abilene before arriving at Katy in 1980. After two years as an assistant, he was named the head coach, and in 1986, he and the Tigers ended the 23-year playoff drought that had plagued the program. Katy’s 1997 state championship was the first for the program since 1959. The Tigers had not even won a district title since 1964 when the Johnston era began in the 80s. After four losing seasons to begin his tenure, Johnston’s Tigers flipped the switch and captured their first district crown in 1986 with an undefeated regular season. Katy won 10 or more games 11 times during his 22 years at the helm and made the playoffs 13 straight years beginning in 1991. That is a streak that has continued to thrive under Joseph, and the 2025 Tigers made the program’s 35th consecutive postseason appearance.

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Tarrant County GOP chair sued by Southlake candidate who was kicked off ballot

Zee Wilcox, a Republican candidate from Southlake for House District 98, is suing Tarrant County’s GOP chair over his decision that she’s ineligible to appear on the March primary ballot. Wilcox used an incorrect form to file her candidacy in December. She claims it was an innocent error that should have been caught at the time. But GOP chair Tim Davis, who investigated after a precinct chair challenged the paperwork, determined Wilcox’s application “does not comply with the statutory requirements for a state house candidate.” Wilcox filed a lawsuit Friday in Tarrant County District Court, asking the court to let her stay on the ballot, according to her campaign. Davis is named as the defendant. He declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Earlier this week, Wilcox tried to appeal Davis’ decision to the Texas Secretary of State. That office told her it doesn’t have authority to override county parties on such a matter. Wilcox argues in her lawsuit that Texas election law wasn’t correctly followed, and that she should be allowed to remain on the primary ballot. The other two GOP candidates for the open seat are Keller Mayor Armin Mizani and Colleyville businessman Fred Tate. “Ballot preparation deadlines are imminent,” the complaint says. Without a judge intervening, Wilcox’s “name will be omitted from the ballot, irreparably harming Plaintiff and disenfranchising Republican voters in House District 98.” Wilcox said she was informed of the precinct chair’s challenge to her candidacy on Dec. 16 and offered to amend any errors. On Jan. 8, she learned that Davis was sustaining the challenge. In the lawsuit, Wilcox argues that she should have been informed that her application was being rejected by Dec. 13, per state law.

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Tarrant County GOP chair challenges 7 Democratic candidates, removes Republican House candidate

Tarrant County Republican Chairman Tim Davis wants seven Democratic judicial candidates running in the March 3 primary election removed from the ballot, saying their candidate filings had several errors. Davis formally challenged the ballot applications and petition filings on Wednesday, asking the Tarrant County Democratic Party to review the candidates and declare them ineligible to run. Davis also deemed Republican candidate Zee Wilcox ineligible to run for the Texas House. Late Friday, she filed a lawsuit challenging his decision. Under state law, local parties are responsible for reviewing applications for compliance. They have the authority to reject filings that do not meet procedural requirements. All seven judicial candidates are running unopposed in the Democratic primary, meaning if they are not removed from the ballot, they will be on the ballot in the November general elections.

However, if they are removed, the judicial seat likely will go to the Republican nominee by default. “We are committed to reviewing (Davis’) concerns carefully and in accordance with the Texas Election Code,” read a statement from the Tarrant County Democratic Party. “Additionally, we question many of the assertions made, and in those cases, we will be standing strong to keep our candidates on the ballot.” Davis said he challenged the Democratic candidates’ applications because the Republican Party has judges in important positions across Tarrant County. Protecting their positions is important to preserve “the rule of law,” he said. “We really protect our judges in this party because it’s important to our community,” Davis said. The candidates are all seeking judicial seats currently held by Republicans. Five would be up against incumbents in November. Davis’ challenges allege that the candidates’ applications and petitions are missing the required number of signatures and information, including professional courtroom experience.

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Judson ISD superintendent placed on administrative leave after tumultuous meeting

After a highly controversial meeting that sparked outcry from parents, teachers, and members of the community, Judson ISD has placed its superintendent on leave. Late Saturday night, Judson ISD released a statement announcing that Superintendent Dr. Milton "Rob" Fields III has been officially placed on paid leave pending the outcome of legal review and a budget investigation.

Despite initially voting 4-3 to remove the superintendent pending an investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement, aftera closed session, the board decided to hold off on any official action until it reviewed the situation with legal counsel. After the initial, publicly held vote by the board to remove Judson ISD Superintendent Dr. Milton "Rob" Fields, III, from his position, the board was called into executive session over concerns that the openly held vote to remove him violated district policy and state law. The meeting was held amid ongoing budget complications being faced by the district, with Judson ISD facing signifigant budget gaps as voters within the district rejected proposed tax increases. It was also made clear by some members of the board that they were not clear on the stated allegations leveled against Dr. Fields and what they all entailed. The meeting also allowed for public comment before the board considers additional items, including whether to authorize board officers to hire legal counsel to advise the board. It remains unclear when the board will reconvene. Dr. Lacey Gosch will serve as Acting Superintendent until further notice. Board members did note that Dr. Fields would be able to protest the decision for his position back.

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More than 160 Texas faith leaders urge school boards to oppose setting aside time for prayer, Bible readings

More than 160 faith leaders from across the state of Texas have signed an open letter to public school board members and charter school governing bodies, urging them not to adopt rules carving out time for prayer and Bible readings. The letter comes with less than two months before a state deadline for school boards to vote on the issue, under a law passed last year. The letter was organized by a coalition of faith-based religious freedom organizations, including the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Christians Against Christian Nationalism, and Texas Impact. The letter asks school board members to vote against adopting the school prayer rules as allowed by Senate Bill 11, authored by state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston.

"We believe in the value of religious instruction," the letter said. "We also understand that the responsibility for religious instruction lies with students, their families, and their local faith communities – not with public schools, and not organized or directed by the state." "We sent it initially just this past week to all of the superintendents of all the districts in Texas, addressed to superintendents and school board members," Rabbi David Segal of Houston, policy counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee, said. "And we are also working on individual outreach to school boards by faith leaders who live in those school districts." Houston Public Media reached out to Middleton for comment on the letter, but his office did not respond. State Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, sponsored SB 11 last year in the Texas House. He argued that the law was designed to be completely voluntary for school boards, students, and faculty members. “If school districts decide or charter school governance [boards] decide not to do this, then they don’t have to,” Spiller said in May, during the House debate over SB 11. “But if they do, then schoolteachers, employees can choose to participate, but they don’t have to. If children want to participate, and their parents allow and consent for them to do that, they can do that, but they don’t have to.”

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ICE takes mom, child into custody after Austin police notifies agents

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took a mother and her child into custody early Monday morning after Austin Police Department officers responded to a 4:35 a.m. disturbance call on Blue Stem Trail, according to information released by APD Thursday. Officers didn’t find an “on-going disturbance” or anyone with injuries, said APD Strategic Communications Manager Anna Sabana in a message to media. The officers “identified an individual with an Administrative Warrant issued by [ICE],” according to Sabana’s statement.

An administrative warrant, issued by a federal agency, is not the same as a judicial warrant issued by a court. Administrative warrants allow designated federal agents — not state or local law enforcement officers — to make arrests, but do not authorize searches or entry into a building, according to the National Immigration Law Center. “APD notified ICE due to the Administrative Warrant on the subject,” said Sabana, who cited APD policy. “Federal authorities arrived on scene and took custody of the individual and her child. APD has spoken with ICE, mother and child are together with ICE.” ICE told KXAN Thursday morning that it would release a statement when one is ready. While the identity and immigration status of the child and the mom haven’t been released by APD, Texas nonprofit Grassroots Leadership claimed in a Thursday afternoon statement that relatives confirmed their identities to the group.

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Bud Kennedy: For Texas Democrats, Minnesota ICE shooting can’t become a flashpoint

If the fall election turns into Democrats vs. the police, Democrats will lose. Right or wrong, that’s politics. Horrendous law enforcement deaths — like an ICE agent’s killing of Renee Nicole Good, 37, on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis — are both maddening and frightening. They deserve answers. But Democrats must not twist legitimate complaints about the Trump administration’s shadowy, aggressive immigration enforcement into a broad campaign against law officers, or against policing itself. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison got this right. “If anyone broke the law in today’s act of violence, I will do all I can to ensure they are held accountable,” he said, speaking carefully in his role as the state’s top litigator but not the chief prosecutor.

His criticism was aimed where it belonged: at the Trump administration’s severe misuse of police power, not at a split-second, life-or-death decision by a federal agent confronting a swerving vehicle. Other Democrats rushed to convict the agent. “There is nothing to suggest the shooting of an unarmed woman in Minneapolis was justified,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the U.S. House Democrats’ leader, wrote on X.com. But someone behind the wheel of a lurching SUV is not unarmed. “We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said, in a state still jarred by the police restraint killing six years ago of Texan George Floyd ICE agents had a bad reason to be in Minnesota — chasing new TikTok videos. The agent might have responded in anger or panic. But the shooting itself could have a valid cause. A veering SUV is a risk. In Texas, Senate candidate Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, wrote outright: “ICE just murdered a U.S. citizen.” The confrontation is the result of “racist rhetoric coming from Donald Trump and his allies,” she wrote. That part is true. But that still does not make it murder.

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Local officials push back after Texas governor threatens takeover of Harris County elections

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott raised a threat against Harris County on Thursday, saying state officials should take control of its elections. Abbott made the threat while referencing a recent Houston Public Media report about Harris County’s tax office finding more than 100 voter registrations linked to private post office boxes in violation of state laws aimed at bolstering election integrity. The Republican governor wrote in a social media post that the state’s most populous county, which has become a Democratic stronghold in recent years, “should be stripped of operating elections” and “potential legal charges should also be considered.” In a statement Friday, newly appointed interim Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne said the governor has no authority to seize control of the county’s elections or pursue criminal charges against its elections officials.

He said the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s Office has already addressed the issue that was first raised in November by Houston-based state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, whose complaint prompted an investigation by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. “This is a baseless attack on local control and the democratic process,” Fombonne said. “Harris County voters deserve better than political theater that undermines confidence in our elections.” Tax Assessor-Collector Annette Ramirez was commended by Harris County commissioners on Thursday for quickly addressing complaints that asserted more than 120 voters registered their home addresses to P.O. boxes in the Houston area. The secretary of state’s office in a Dec. 23 letter also acknowledged the county office’s efforts to address the concerns. The commissioners’ Thursday discussion happened during a standing item about compliance with a state law authored by Bettencourt, a Republican, that targets Democrat-leaning Harris County. “We have instituted a process in our office to flag those addresses that we know are commercial P.O. boxes,” Ramirez said. “So once it is brought to our attention that an address could possibly be a commercial P.O. box, we do an investigation. We make sure that it’s not a residential address. Sometimes there’s P.O. boxes below an apartment complex, and they are residential addresses. So we have to make sure, and moving forward, if we receive a voter application with that address that’s flagged, we will immediately send them a request for them to confirm their address.”

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Sakai, Nirenberg to face off in Democratic primary debate

Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and Democratic primary challenger Ron Nirenberg will face off in a debate Feb. 10 at Stable Hall, hosted by the San Antonio Report, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and Tech Bloc. Sakai and Nirenberg are competing for the Democratic nomination in a March 3 primary race. Early voting for the primary starts Feb. 17. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and tickets are free for those who register in advance online. Debate sponsorships are available, as well as VIP tickets. The winner will face Republican Patrick Von Dohlen, the lone GOP candidate to file this year, in November. Read about all of the Bexar County candidates running in the March 3 primary here. Sakai, a longtime state district court judge, won a three-way Democratic primary to succeed retiring Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff in 2022.

He spent his first term trying to refocus county resources around its core responsibilities, such as managing the courts, jail and elections, instead of the development major projects his predecessor was known for. Last year Sakai also navigated the Spurs’ plans to move out of their county-owned facility on the East Side, crafting a deal to rehabilitate the old arena district and help fund the team’s downtown move, which voters approved in November. Nirenberg served as San Antonio’s mayor from 2017 to 2025, leading the city through the Covid-19 pandemic and its first ever affordable housing bond. He’s campaigned openly for Democratic candidates in the past, but his challenge to Sakai is his first partisan race.

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DSHS confirms rabies outbreak in Hays County

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) confirmed a rabies outbreak within Hays County and surrounding areas, with most cases involving foxes, according to a public health notice from Judge Ruben Becerra. There is no imminent threat; however, rabies is a serious disease that can affect pets, livestock and humans if exposed, the notice said. Hays County officials are working closely with local healthcare and veterinary providers to monitor the situation. Additionally, DSHS is working with local medical providers to ensure treatment protocols and resources are in place should human exposure occur, the notice said.

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RAICES raised millions to protect minors from deportation. Then it dropped them ‘like it was nothing,’ ex staffers claim.

Yamirla Chavez’s last two months at the Refugee & Immigrant Center for Education & Legal Services, or RAICES, are a blur to her now. She’d been a senior staff attorney for the nonprofit organization’s Unaccompanied Children’s Program, fighting in court on behalf of children who fled violence and poverty in other countries to start new lives in the United States. “I was incredibly blown away by the mission,” she said. “I was just trying to get my foot in the door and then move on, but five to six years later it turned out to be a job that I didn’t want to leave.” Then in late March, RAICES told her that she and 157 of her colleagues would lose their jobs. The Trump administration had canceled their funding. Chavez was devastated at the news. But she was even more devastated by the timeline. She and her colleagues had 60 days to wind down their case loads. For Chavez, that meant closing more than one case a day.

She attempted to meet with each of her child clients to explain that she could no longer represent them in their fight to stay in the country. Some were as young as 9, but many were on the precipice of turning 18 and entering the adult immigration system. Most did not have family in the U.S. They came from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador fleeing the clutches of powerful gangs. A small contingent of her clients fled because they identified as LGBTQ+ and faced violence and discrimination in their home countries. Others were the victims of labor trafficking. Many were still in detention shelters in San Antonio. “Wrapping everything up in two months was ludicrous,” Chavez said. The stakes were incredibly high for her clients. If a child missed a response to the court or the government, it could have grievous effects on the child’s ability to stay in the country. Now they had to navigate finding a new attorney, too. Chavez, now 34, said she filed motions with immigration courts to get the children special immigrant juvenile visas — a pathway to a green card given to children who are the victims of abuse or neglect — and other types of relief from deportation.

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Arlington ISD considers Texas’ pay-for-performance teacher program

Arlington ISD teachers at 24 at-need schools could receive merit-based raises of up to $36,000 in the next few years. District leaders are considering piloting Texas’ Teacher Incentive Allotment program. The program is meant to incentivize teachers to instruct in high-need schools. However, some trustees are uncertain whether doing so would provide a boost in teaching and salaries or create culture issues. Last year, trustees discussed the pros and cons of participating in the state’s Teacher Incentive Allotment program, which aims to give high-performing educators more money.

Trustee Sarah McMurrough said she has examined how the program works in other districts but questions how incentives are calculated and whether the measures used to determine those incentives are completely within a teacher’s control. “I just wanted to voice that basing any kind of pay on a controllable (measure) is something that would provide equity and support for all of our hard-working teachers,” McMurrough said during an Oct. 16 board meeting. Established in 2019, participating districts receive additional state money to give teachers raises based on measures decided by local leaders and the Texas Education Agency, such as results from STAAR tests and parent surveys. When teachers apply for this funding, they can receive one of three designations that determine how much extra money they will get.

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Bridget Grumet: Bob Kafka never stopped making good trouble for a better normal

It was late at night in May 2024 and Bob Kafka and a crop of protesters were getting into good trouble outside the Governor’s Mansion, chanting slogans and waving signs at the occasional honking car. The bright green poster taped to Kafka’s wheelchair said: “Gov. Abbott / Come on out / we won’t bite.” Midway through what would become a 44-hour vigil — the latest attempt to highlight the state’s pitifully low pay for the caregivers for disabled Texans — I asked if Kafka expected any run-ins with police. Disability rights advocate Bob Kafka died Dec. 26, 2025. He is survived by his longtime partner, Stephanie Thomas; sister Tina Darlow of New Jersey; and numerous nieces and nephews.

“I doubt they’re going to send out the Army,” he told me, almost with an air of disappointment. He had seen the media attention and public pressure from his 30-plus protest-related arrests over the past 40 years. “We’re poor disabled people. It’s David and Goliath.” Maybe. But like history’s greatest underdog, Kafka was exceptionally skilled at facing down behemoths — in Kafka’s case, government systems that stacked the deck against people with disabilities. And with Kafka’s recent death at age 79, after complications from pneumonia, we lost a champion for the disabled who was a giant in his own right. As an organizer with ADAPT and other disability rights groups, Kafka was a fixture around the Texas Capitol, on protest lines and occasionally in the nation’s capital. Instantly recognizable with his distinctive mane and full beard, Kafka was equally adept at political theater and the policy mechanics needed to turn protest into law.

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National Stories

Smithsonian removes Trump impeachment text as it swaps his portrait

The National Portrait Gallery removed a swath of text that mentioned President Donald Trump’s two impeachments and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as it swapped out a prominent photo of him this week. Trump and the White House posted on social media Friday and Saturday to highlight the updated portrait in the “America’s Presidents” exhibition, which now features a framed black-and-white photo by White House photographer Daniel Torok. It shows Trump staring intensely, with his fists on the Resolute Desk — an image the president first shared on his Truth Social account last year. It replaced a photo by Washington Post photojournalist Matt McClain, which showed Trump with his hands folded in front of him, and was accompanied by a longer caption recounting Trump’s first term and his reelection. “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials,” it read in part.

A Trump official specifically complained about that passage months earlier, when the president was trying to force out the Portrait Gallery’s director. The placard has been replaced with one whose caption is so short that the outline of the old sign was visible on the wall beneath it, simply noting Trump’s years in office. It now contrasts with portraits of other former presidents, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, which all hang alongside wall text highlighting events during their time in office. Clinton’s notes his impeachment. National Portrait Gallery spokeswoman Concetta Duncan said the museum is “exploring” less descriptive “tombstone labels” for some new exhibits and displays, and she noted that Trump’s portrait in the popular exhibition has changed before. Neither the Smithsonian nor the White House directly responded when asked if the Trump administration had requested the changes. The revamp comes several months after Trump bashed former Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet as “highly partisan,” leading to her resignation, and after the White House threatened to withhold Smithsonian funding if the institution doesn’t cooperate with the administration’s review of museum content for “improper ideology.”

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‘Highly problematic’: Trump admin faces internal doubts over ICE shooting response

The Trump administration’s rapid and aggressive response to the Minnesota shooting has prompted quiet concern among some administration allies, as well as former and current Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Particular anguish centers around how quickly Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in public remarks from Brownsville, Texas, on Wednesday insisted that Renee Good, the 37-year old woman killed by an ICE officer, had committed an act of “domestic terrorism” and tried to “ram them with her vehicle.” Even supporters of the president fear that the administration’s approach — within hours the White House deputy chief of staff had also deemed this a case of “domestic terrorism” — risks undermining public confidence in the ongoing investigation and expanding the credibility gap between the public and the immigration agency patrolling dozens of American cities.

“Do I think it’s domestic terrorism? Yeah, I do,” said a person close to the White House, who, like others in the story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive situation and ongoing investigation. “But it might not have been wise to say that at the outset, how [Noem] said it.” Within 48 hours, another shooting, this time in Portland, Oregon, by a Customs and Border Protection officer, further inflamed outrage as protesters, Democrats and top administration officials accused each other of fascism and terrorism. The shootings — and the eye witness videos circulating on the internet — come amid heightened tensions between Americans and the thousands of federal agents deployed in U.S. cities. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday lamented the threats and attacks ICE agents are under. On Friday, he shared a new video that he implied vindicated the officer in Minnesota by showing his “life was endangered and he fired in self defense.” Still, the administration’s aggressive tactics, aimed at ramping up arrests and deportations, have brought widespread condemnation and a growing number of confrontations between protesters and immigration officials, who are deployed for crowd control and other tasks the agencies historically don’t perform.

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A majority in name only? House Republicans are barely hanging on.

On Thursday, neither party really had the majority in the House. Over the course of seven roll-call votes, the final tally showed five times that the exact same number of Republicans and Democrats had voted. The actual tallies of “yeas” and “nays” varied between noncontroversial legislation passed by wide marginsto a narrow victory for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), helped by a bloc of renegade Republicans. But each side repeatedly had the same number of members casting votes, with 213 lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and a handful of Republicans missing. That highly unusual outcome illustrates the incredible tightrope that the titular majority party — the GOP — walks every day that the House comes into session.

A couple of days ago, House GOP leaders had to delay a planned vote on legislation that would loosen regulations on the capacity of shower heads in response to a favorite line in President Donald Trump’s stump speeches railing against federal intrusion in private business. Several Republicans had signaled that they would not be on hand for votes, creating the possibility of a humiliating defeat. So the vote was delayed. “With a lot of bills, you’re not just looking at when’s the best time to bring it. You are also looking at making sure that everybody is going to be there. There are always going to be days where it’s a very narrow majority,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) said Friday. A historically close 2024 election left the two sides almost tied at the outset of the 119th Congress last January, but other events have left House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) often holding the gavel in almost symbolic fashion on some days. Three Republicans resigned outright: Mark Green (Tennessee) last summer; Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia) on Monday; and Matt Gaetz (Florida) in late 2024 before the new House was sworn in. Another, Mike Waltz (Florida), joined Trump’s White House and then got confirmed as U.N. ambassador. Another, Doug LaMalfa (California), died Tuesday.

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Lawmakers are preparing to try again on major crypto bill. Why it matters and what happens next

Lawmakers this week plan to revisit efforts to pass a market structure bill that will determine the crypto industry’s future in the U.S. — reviving legislative efforts that stagnated last year. On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture and Banking Committees are expected to hold hearings on their respective parts of the crypto bill, where they might revise the text. This will lay the groundwork for establishing legislative guardrails for digital assets in the U.S. — a potential watershed moment for the crypto industry. This is what you need to know about the market structure bill and efforts to pass it.

The so-called Clarity Act aims to provide legislative guardrails for the multitrillion-dollar crypto market and big digital asset firms — which could accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology and crypto in the U.S. It seeks to clarify the Securities and Exchange Commission’s and Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s roles in regulating cryptocurrencies, in addition to creating more well-defined token classifications. It also aims to outline registration and compliance standards for a wide range of crypto brokerages, exchanges and other entities, enabling them to operate more easily in the U.S. Those guardrails could help the U.S. court more digital assets companies to set up shop stateside, stimulating the economy and boosting the crypto market, according to Summer Mersinger, CEO of crypto trade group Blockchain Association. “We’ve seen this massive movement of companies and activity back on shore because there is a friendly administration to crypto,” Mersinger said. But, without a market structure law, “that could all go away, especially if there’s a change to an unfriendly administration.” That said, the bill’s implications for digital asset companies, crypto holders and other investors won’t be 100% clear until the draft legislation’s language is finalized.

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Thousands protest ICE presence in Minneapolis and cities nationwide

Several thousand protesters gathered at a park coated with fresh snow on Minneapolis’s south side Saturday afternoon, near where Renée Good lived and was fatally shot. “Say her name: Renée Good!” they chanted, along with “We will not put up with ICE!” There were mothers with children and babies in carriers, families and seniors holding homemade signs that read “ICE murdered Renée Good,” and “Indict agent Jonathan Ross,” the man identified through court records as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good. Protesters turned out in cities across the country, including Boston, New York City, Austin and Philadelphia, many organized by progressive group Indivisible and titled “ICE Out For Good.”

In Minneapolis, the demonstrations in recent days “have remained peaceful until last night,” Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference Saturday. O’Hara said one Friday night protest outside a hotel believed to be housing ICE agents grew tense when some individuals caused property damage and, over the course of the night, threw ice, snow and rocks at officers. Police arrested 29 people and at least one officer sustained injuries after being hit by a chunk of ice, O’Hara said. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and to not “take the bait” into violent escalation. “We are meeting a whole lot of despair with a lot of hope,” Frey said Saturday. “We are doing right. We are being strategic. And yes, for those that aren’t being strategic … there are consequences.” The state has also been grappling with how to respond after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the FBI was revoking its access to the case file, scene evidence and witness interviews in Good’s shooting. Trump administration officials have called the incident a federal matter, but state prosecutors say it falls in their jurisdiction and announced Friday they will conduct their own review of the shooting in an effort to gather evidence the FBI won’t share with them. Video of the hotly contested shooting has gradually emerged, including cellphone footage recorded by the ICE officer as he fatally shot Good.

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Abortion stays legal in Wyoming as its top court strikes down laws, including first US pill ban

Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that two laws barring the procedure, including the country’s first explicit ban on abortion pills, violate the state constitution. The justices sided with the state’s only abortion clinic and others who had sued over the abortion bans passed since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Wyoming is one of the most conservative states, but the 4-1 ruling from justices all appointed by Republican governors was unsurprising in that it upheld every previous lower court ruling that the abortion bans violated the state constitution.

Wellspring Health Access in Casper, the abortion access advocacy group Chelsea’s Fund and four women, including two obstetricians, argued that the laws violated a state constitutional amendment ensuring competent adults have the right to make their own health care decisions. Voters approved the constitutional amendment in 2012 in response to the federal Affordable Care Act. The justices recognized that the amendment wasn’t written to apply to abortion but said it’s not their job to “add words” to the state constitution. “But lawmakers could ask Wyoming voters to consider a constitutional amendment that would more clearly address this issue,” the justices wrote. The ruling upholds abortion as “essential health care” that shouldn’t be subject to government interference, Wellspring Health Access President Julie Burkhart said in a statement. “Our clinic will remain open and ready to provide compassionate reproductive health care, including abortions, and our patients in Wyoming will be able to obtain this care without having to travel out of state,” Burkhart said.

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Small Pennsylvania town in bitter dispute as billionaire Jeff Yass buys up to revamp

Renderings of a proposed revitalization project in Gladwyne in Montgomery County. Design firm Haldon House is working with billionaire Jeff Yass to redevelop the Main Line village while preserving its historic architecture, developers told residents at a Thursday meeting.Read moreCourtesy of Haldon House by Denali Sagner Published Jan. 9, 2026, 5:28 p.m. ET Jeff Yass, Pennsylvania’s richest man, is behind a plan to redevelop much of downtown Gladwyne. Standing before a packed school auditorium, Andre Golsorkhi, founder and CEO of design firm Haldon House, unveiled the long-awaited redevelopment proposal for Gladwyne’s village center. Haldon House is working with Yass and his wife, Janine, on redeveloping a half-dozen properties in Gladwyne with historic architecture, green spaces, and new businesses. Golsorkhi called the proposal a “community impact project” for the Yass family, which has spent over $15 million acquiring the properties.

Gladwyne village has long been home to small businesses, namely OMG Hair Salon, the Gladwyne Pharmacy, the Guard House, and Gladwyne Market. OMG Salon and the Gladwyne Market shuttered last year after the developers acquired their storefronts, sending ripples, and rumors, through the Main Line community. House values for the 4,096-person village are among the highest in the state, with a recent median sales price of $2.3 million, according to Realtor.com data. For the first timet, Golsorkhi last week brought his development plans and his partnership with the Yass family to the public. He was met with both applause and skepticism from attendees. Some expressed optimism about the proposal, while others questioned why the developers would pour millions into a project with no apparent financial gain. Haldon House’s proposal, as outlined by Golsorkhi, involves retaining much of Gladwyne’s historic architecture while bringing in new retailers, opening up green space, and increasing connectivity in the village’s downtown core. The developer plans to expand local café Homeroom and keep the Gladwyne Pharmacy while courting new businesses that “fit the character and are contextually relevant to the town.” There are no plans for residential development, national chain stores, or high-rise buildings.

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Lead Stories

Trump suffers day of significant Republican defections on House and Senate votes

Significant numbers of Republicans joined with Democrats in voting against President Donald Trump’s interests on high-profile pieces of legislation Thursday, suggesting his party’s unyielding loyalty to this point in his term has started to splinter. Earlier in the day, the Senate advanced a bipartisan measure intended to block the Trump administration from conducting further military action in Venezuela. Five Republicans joined every Democratic senator in advancing the resolution, following the White House’s capture of Venezuela’s president, without explicit permission from Congress. The resolution is expected to get a chilly reception in the House if it passes the Senate, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) unlikely to bring it to the floor. But it gave Senate Republicans an opportunity to come out against continued military action in Venezuela — which Trump and some administration officials have refused to rule out — without congressional approval.

Trump survived House votes to overturn two of his vetoes, which requires two-thirds of the chamber, but at least two dozen Republicans voted with Democrats to defy his will, demonstrating a greater willingness than seen last year to buck their party’s president. Thirty-five Republican lawmakers voted to override Trump’s veto of the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, a bill meant to aid a decades-old Colorado water project, while 24 Republicans voted to negate Trump’s veto of the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, which codifies tribal land rights in Florida. After those votes, House Democrats, with help from Republicans, passed a bill to extend expired enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, a measure opposed by both Trump and Johnson. Seventeen Republicans supported the measure, which would need to pass the Senate before becoming law. Lawmakers voting against their party’s president is common in midterm election years, particularly for vulnerable lawmakers who represent swing districts. Yet the repeated rebukes of the president, and the number of lawmakers defecting, are unusual. And they represent a continued challenge for GOP leaders with limited majorities, who are struggling to corral their colleagues behind the president’s agenda. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said the five Republican senators who joined with Democrats to advance the war powers resolution Thursday were part of a broader trend.

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Wary of investing in Venezuela, Big Oil heads to the White House

President Trump’s sweeping claims last weekend that U.S. energy companies would “spend billions of dollars” and “take back the oil” in Venezuela blindsided American executives, who were far from ready to commit to an investment binge in the South American country. In the wake of the president’s remarks, administration officials have rushed to assess companies’ appetite for pumping more of Venezuela’s oil — and what it would take for them to follow through. Executives from many of those firms have been invited to the White House on Friday for an audience with Mr. Trump. They will have to strike a delicate balance of appeasing the president, who frequently expresses fondness for their industry, without making expensive pledges that could take decades to pan out and risk making them the face of a legally questionable endeavor by the White House. Ahead of the meeting, Mr. Trump suggested on social media on Friday that big oil companies would invest “at least” $100 billion.

While some smaller operators are eager for a slice of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, thought to be the world’s largest, oil giants like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips that have deep pockets, vast expertise and, crucially, experience in that country have privately expressed reservations about committing the kind of money it would take to meaningfully boost Venezuelan oil production, according to six people with knowledge of their thinking. Some oil companies have discussed the possibility of seeking some form of financial guarantee from the federal government before agreeing to establish or expand production in Venezuela, two of the people said. Political uncertainty in the United States and Venezuela is another major obstacle, as oil investments often are measured in decades, and companies would need to be confident that any deal would last long enough for them to make a decent profit. That hurdle is especially high in this case. Venezuela has in the past seized assets that foreign companies valued in the tens of billions of dollars. Exxon and ConocoPhillips, which were among those firms, are still pursuing substantial claims against Venezuela’s government.

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Jon Lindsay, the longest-serving Harris County judge, dies at 90

Former Harris County Judge Jon Lindsay died on Wednesday morning. He was 90 years old. No information was immediately available regarding his cause of death. Lindsay, who served a record 20 years as Harris County's chief executive, had a transformational effect on the county on issues ranging from transportation to health care. Sign up for the Hello, Houston! daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox. Lindsay was elected Harris County judge in 1974 as a moderate Republican, defeating incumbent Democrat Bill Elliot. At the time of Lindsay's first election, Democrats dominated Harris County Commissioners Court.

Jon Lindsay is, in my mind, the person most responsible for putting Harris County on a very sound financial footing and bringing it into the modern age," said Ed Emmett, one of Lindsay's successors, who now serves as a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Emmett said he considered the construction of the Harris County toll road system to be Lindsay's greatest accomplishment in office. "I know some people still don’t like toll roads," Emmett said, "but if you didn’t have those toll roads, we wouldn’t have the county road system that we have, and the property taxes would be a whole lot higher." Flood control was another high priority for Lindsay, according his immediate successor as county judge, Robert Eckels, whose father served with Lindsay as a county commissioner. "It was a series of parks, working with the commissioner to build the parks in the flood zone areas," Eckels said. "It's Collins Park. It's Meyer Park. It's part of flood control to be acquiring land for park purposes that would also serve flood control purposes.”

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Trump administration lashes out at Minn. officials, takes over ICE shooting probe

Minnesota officials and federal authorities escalated their dispute Thursday over an immigration officer’s fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis, with state leaders saying the Trump administration was blocking local agents from an FBI investigation into the killing and preventing them from accessing evidence. The move, a day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, ignited protests there, outrage across the country and sharp disagreements between the Trump administration and local and state authorities about what happened. On Thursday, Border Patrol agents were involved in a separate shooting in Portland, Oregon, when trying to apprehend an alleged undocumented immigrant in a traffic stop.

The administration has repeatedly defended the ICE officer in Minneapolis and said he was protecting himself when Good threatened him with her vehicle. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday called Good’s death “a tragedy of her own making.” Minnesota leaders have excoriated these claims, with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) denouncing what he called a “garbage narrative” and “bull----” from the administration. Gov. Tim Walz (D) said it is “very, very difficult” to believe a federal probe into the ICE shooting that excludes state investigators will lead to “a fair outcome.” “I say that only because people in positions of power have already passed judgment,” Walz said at a news conference Thursday. Video from the scene raises doubts about some parts of the administration’s portrayals of the shooting. Footage showed that while the vehicle did move toward the ICE agent as he stood in front of it, he was able to move aside and fire at least two of his three shots from the side, according to a Washington Post analysis.

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State Stories

Dallas police chief pushes back after Abbott remarks on AT&T exit

Dallas police Chief Daniel Comeaux said Thursday that Gov. Greg Abbott was off base in blaming AT&T’s planned move from downtown on city leaders’ public safety decisions, saying instead that conditions were improving from stepped-up patrols and renewed focus on the area. “It’s not a true depiction of what’s going on in Dallas,” Comeaux said of Abbott’s remarks in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. “Crime is down, recruiting is at an all-time high, and our retention is better this year for officers. The morale is up.” The pushback — paired with an unsigned department statement issued Thursday touting increased patrols, the work of its downtown task force and a new focus on a downtown patrol division — sharpens how AT&T’s planned headquarters move to Plano is being pulled into a broader fight over public safety and homelessness downtown.

It may also signal a dispute over local control. Abbott, who is ramping up his campaign for a fourth term, said the state could take a closer look at the city’s prior decisions relating to police funding. An Abbott spokesperson, Andrew Mahaleris, declined to comment Thursday on the chief’s statement and deferred to the governor’s Tuesday remarks. The responses are the latest in a clash set off by Abbott’s comments blaming Dallas leadership for AT&T’s decision at a political event in Fort Worth, where he accepted endorsements from Republican elected officials in Tarrant County and a number of Texas police unions, including the Dallas Police Association. City and police spokespeople on Wednesday declined to rebut Abbott, instead pointing back to the city’s earlier statement that AT&T’s decision was a change in corporate preference rather than an indictment of Dallas. An AT&T spokesperson also declined Wednesday to comment on Abbott’s remarks or say whether public safety was a factor in the company’s decision.

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Democrats Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico set first Senate debate

The first debate in Texas’ Democratic Senate primary is now on the calendar. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas and state Rep. James Talarico of Austin will meet Jan. 24, as both seek to broaden their appeal ahead of early voting. The details: Texas AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education convention, Georgetown, Texas at 2 p.m. The contrast: Crockett has positioned herself as the race’s proven progressive, saying Democrats must mobilize alienated left-leaning voters who often sit out elections. Talarico has emphasized electability, citing his record of flipping a Republican district and saying Democrats need a nominee who can compete statewide.

The stakes: The Democratic nominee will face the winner of a three-way Republican primary among Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston. Labor’s role: The debate comes before the AFL-CIO’s political arm votes on statewide endorsements, giving the candidates a high-profile chance to appeal to organized labor, long influential in Democratic campaigns. Texas AFL-CIO President Leonard Aguilar said the debate at the convention will focus on “issues that matter to Texas workers” and help union members decide who to support in the March 3 Democratic primary. Early voting begins Feb. 17 How to watch it: The one-hour debate will stream on Nexstar Media Group’s local station websites and smart TV apps. Moderators: Gromer Jeffers Jr., political writer, The Dallas Morning News and Daniel Marin, anchor, KXAN-TV, Austin.

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Emotional testimony marks restart of Uvalde officer trial

After two days dominated by legal arguments and procedural disputes, the child-endangerment trial of a former Uvalde school district police officer shifted Thursday to emotional accounts that laid bare the human toll of the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers. Before jurors heard that testimony, Presiding Judge Sid Harle excluded the account of a key prosecution witness, ruling that jurors must disregard testimony from former Robb Elementary teacher Stephanie Hale.

Hale had told the court she saw the gunman on the south side of Robb Elementary School, placing him closer to the defendant, former Uvalde CISD officer Adrian Gonzales, than had been previously disclosed to investigators. Defense attorneys objected, arguing the new details had not been shared earlier. Speaking outside the presence of the jury, Harle emphasized that the ruling was procedural and not a judgment of Hale’s credibility. “You did absolutely nothing wrong,” the judge told her. “This is not on you. Memories change with traumatic events.” With Hale’s testimony excluded, jurors then heard emotional accounts from two educators whose testimony focused on their personal experiences on May 24, 2022. They did not speak directly to Gonzales’ actions or decision-making as the first officer on the scene.

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Southlake Republican booted off ballot for Texas House. She alleges conspiracy.

A Republican from Southlake running for the Texas House has been deemed ineligible to appear on the March primary ballot because she used the wrong form to file her candidacy. Zee Wilcox, one of three Republicans in the House District 98 race, said Thursday she has appealed the decision made by Tarrant County GOP Chair Tim Davis. She also accused Davis of spreading false information about her and is alleging a conspiracy to stymie her run. House District 98 covers Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller and Westlake, as well as parts of Euless and Southlake. The other two GOP candidates are Armin Mizani, who is mayor of Keller, and Fred Tate, a Colleyville businessman. The district is currently represented by Giovanni Capriglione, a Southlake Republican who isn’t seeking reelection.

Wilcox filed to run for office on Dec. 8, the last day to do so. She said her $750 filing fee was cashed and the application was notarized and accepted. But, she said, she was informed Dec. 16 that a precinct chair was challenging her candidacy, in part because Wilcox used a form for federal candidates instead of one for state offices. According to emails shared with the Star-Telegram, Wilcox asked for an opportunity to fix the issue and sought confirmation that she would appear on the ballot when early voting begins Feb. 17. Wilcox said she did not receive a reply. This week, Davis — a lawyer who was elected GOP chair in November — sent Wilcox an email saying he was declaring her ineligible to run in the primary, as her application “does not comply with the statutory requirements for a state house candidate.” Now she is asking the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to weigh in on the matter. Wilcox has also sent Davis a cease and desist letter demanding that he not share “false, misleading, or materially incomplete statements” about her candidacy. He responded to her by email saying “I haven’t made any false statement and your demands are baseless.”

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RodeoHouston reveals 2026 lineup starring Lizzo, Lainey Wilson, and Creed

After months of social media anticipation, educated guessing, wishing, and internet sleuthing, the lineup for this year’s RodeoHouston concert series has been revealed. It’s a year of homegrown talent making bucket list appearances, intriguing debuts, reliable stunners, and millennial nostalgia. While the lineup announcement is always huge news in Houston — taking over social media feeds for days of discourse — it was New York City that got the first real taste of rodeo vibes this week. On the afternoon of Wednesday, January 7, 2026 debut performer Russell Dickerson played live onstage in Manhattan’s Times Square. RodeoHouston invaded the Big Apple with denim-clad dancers and Howdy, the rodeo’s own bow-legged mascot, mingling with New Yorkers heading home from work.

It was an auspicious way for Houston’s month-long legacy event to make a splash on an international stage. Seeing the rodeo logo in Times Square must have been a sight for expat Houstonians. Too bad Howdy didn’t bring funnel cakes, fried Oreos, and carnival games to round out the experience. “We strive to bring Houston the very best in live entertainment, and the 2026 lineup raises that standard once again,” Chris Boleman, president and CEO of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, said in a statement. “From chart-topping newcomers to artists making their long-awaited return after nearly 20 years, this year’s lineup is truly a reflection of both our Western roots and the vibrant footprint of the Houston community.” Kicking off on Monday, March 2, with Riley Green leading the charge, the lineup will feature a total of nine new artists making their RodeoHouston debuts, including Dickerson, Lizzo, Forrest Frank, Megan Moroney, Creed, Shaboozey, Pepe Aguilar, Red Clay Strays, and Koe Wetzel.

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Lina Hidalgo says it's too early to consider ousting treasurer

It's too early to consider removing Harris County Treasurer Carla Wyatt from office or reducing her duties following her arrest, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Thursday. The embattled treasurer was arrested and charged with misdemeanor burglary of a vehicle Dec. 28. She was previously charged with driving under the influence and twice violated her bond conditions. Wyatt, in both instances, blew above the limit into an ignition interlock device that a judge ordered be installed in her vehicle following her DWI offense. "It's a very concerning situation. Of course, the allegations are concerning. But the fact of the matter is, voters elected Treasurer Wyatt," Hidalgo said. "A lot of elected officials cope with things in different ways, but as far as a revision of her duties or any kind of removal — not right now, we need to wait and see what the court says." Commissioners discussed potentially reassigning duties Wyatt's office is responsible for in executive session, which is not open to the public. While the details of their discussion were not made public, commissioners did not take action on the item.

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Robbye Kirkpatrick: Texas students need to acquire a deeper understanding of financial literacy

(Robbye Kirkpatrick is a co-founder of Texas TransformED, a statewide education coalition; a small-business owner; a real estate investor; and a mother of four children who attended Texas public schools.) Texas students graduate into a world of credit cards, rent, taxes, insurance and student loans, yet far too many leave high school without receiving practical instruction in how money works. We expect young adults to navigate complex financial systems on day one, but we rarely give them the tools to do so with confidence. That is beginning to change, and Texas now stands at a critical crossroads. In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 27 into law, requiring all Texas high school students to complete a stand-alone personal financial literacy course. This is a real win for families, employers and communities across the state. But as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills are drafted for implementation in the 2026-27 school year, the question is not whether students will take a financial literacy course. It is what kind of course they will take.

These essential knowledge and skills matter. They determine what can be taught, tested, funded, scheduled and even outsourced. The decisions being made now will shape whether this course becomes a compliance exercise or a transformational learning experience. Will students complete worksheets on budgeting and credit card payoff schedules, or will they engage in applied projects that lead to real mastery? Will they read about finances in a textbook, or will they use real-world tools that mirror how adults actually manage money, build assets and create opportunity? True financial literacy must include banking, budgeting, credit and debt, taxes, insurance, investing, entrepreneurship, ownership structures, retirement planning and long-term wealth creation. These are not advanced or elite concepts. They are foundational skills for economic mobility in today’s Texas. This matters deeply because approximately 60% of Texas public school students are considered economically disadvantaged. For these students, training focused solely on expense tracking is not enough. Many students lack exposure to income growth, asset ownership and investing, which are the engines that built Texas into the eighth-largest economy in the world. From small businesses and real estate to energy, health care, technology and agriculture, Texas was built by individuals who understood ownership and long-term value creation.

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Critical minerals recycler lands $11.5M federal grant to open big Briggs plant

An Austin-based recycler of critical materials and minerals has received an $11.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as it works to open a facility in Briggs by the end of this year. The company on Jan. 5 announced that MELT Technologies LP, which does business as Amermin, received the grant from the DOE's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management to sustainably refine and produce critical materials and minerals in the United States, with a focus on tungsten carbide. CEO Ryan McAdams said in a statement the funding will enable the company to increase output of tungsten carbide by 300% through the expansion of its carbide reclamation facility, and ultimately reduce domestic reliance on foreign countries like China, which produces 83% of the world's tungsten supply.

“We appreciate the DOE’s confidence in Amermin to establish a reliable domestic source of critical materials and minerals, addressing important supply chain and national security issues,” McAdams said. "We know that America’s future depends on access to critical materials, and together we are charting a new path in American innovation.” McAdams founded Amermin in his garage in 2017, and it grew to $13 million in revenue in 2023. It takes waste generated by industries like oil, gas and aerospace and then refines it into critical materials not primarily found in the United States — essentially returning them to the domestic supply chain. Among customers it has named in the past are Firefly Aerospace Inc., and energy, oil and gas giants like Halliburton Co., Schlumberger NV and Baker Hughes Co. Amermin in 2024 broke ground on the 75-acre property at 419 County Road 218 in Briggs, a small town in Burnet County north of Austin that is home to Firefly's Rocket Ranch. Amermin is aiming to open by the second quarter of this year. Officials previously said it will include two 22,000-square-foot buildings that will employ roughly 50 to 75 people. Over the next decade, the campus could have up to 10 similarly sized buildings and 850 employees.

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San Antonio pauses rainbow sidewalks due to joint lawsuit by Pride SA and Texas Conservative Liberty Forum

The City of San Antonio is temporarily stopping its plans to paint 6-foot rainbow sidewalks along Main Avenue due to a joint lawsuit filed against the city by the organizer of the pride parade and a conservative group. The suit, filed by Pride San Antonio and Texas Conservative Liberty Forum, asks for a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from: removing the rainbow crosswalk that was installed in 2018; painting rainbow sidewalks along Main Avenue; and using any city funds for the process. San Antonio's City Attorney Andy Segovia said in a statement that "the suit claims the work on the crosswalk and sidewalks require a Council vote to authorize the work."

“City Council authorized public works funds in its approval of the FY 2026 budget and those funds are being used for both activities,” Segovia said. “A preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The City believes the Plaintiffs’ suit is without merit. The City is pausing the work in progress on painting of the sidewalks given the litigation." The sidewalk installation is expected to cost about $170,000 according to a city memo earlier this week. On Thursday, San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh sent a memo to council members saying the city was contacted by local attorney Justin Nichols — who represents both groups. “He intends to file suit on behalf of both entities seeking to enjoin the removal of the painted crosswalks and to prevent the painting of sidewalks. In addition, we have Council members raising concerns about the painting of sidewalks,” Walsh said. “Consequently, I have put a pause on the painting of the sidewalks until we have the opportunity to brief the Council in an Executive Session and to continue working with the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board and the community on implementation. We will maintain our schedule for removing the painted crosswalk.”

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Kate Greer: Texas is taking steps toward fixing its early childhood education system

(Kate Greer is a policy consultant and founding partner at Magnolia Bay Group.) High-quality, affordable, early childhood programs aren’t just nice to have. They support working parents, enhance child development in critical early years, and ultimately grow the economy. Texas has long recognized the importance of a strong education and workforce system, but our state’s approach to early childhood has been fragmented and inefficient. Parents, providers and policymakers alike often grapple with three basic questions: How many Texas children need early childhood care? How many seats are currently available? And what is the value (price and quality) of those seats? In a state that prides itself on big thinking, high returns on investment, and family-oriented solutions, this gap in accountability is notable. Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to state agency leaders emphasizing the need to strengthen oversight in child care programs, making clear that taxpayer dollars must be protected and used for their intended purpose. His message underscores a simple truth: Public investment works only when governance is clear, coordinated and focused on results.

This letter complements important steps that the Texas Legislature took toward addressing our state’s child care system last year. First, legislators created the Quad Agency Initiative, a process to better align regulations across the four state agencies that touch child care. Second, lawmakers formed the governor’s task force on the governance of early childhood education and care, a focused opportunity to address the broader governance and operational challenges of the overall system. These combined reforms matter more than they sound. Right now, for instance, a provider is monitored separately by multiple agencies — each leveraging slightly different standards for safety, staffing or recordkeeping. That wastes time and money without guaranteeing higher quality. The Quad Agency Initiative can help resolve these conflicts, reduce unnecessary burdens and allow providers to spend more time focused on children’s learning and well-being. The workforce stakes are also high. Parents cannot reliably participate in the economy if they lack affordable and quality care in which they have confidence. Businesses across Texas, from oil fields to tech hubs, feel the strain when families don’t have stable, accessible options. Early childhood programs are as much an economic competitiveness issue about the workforce of today as they are an education issue preparing the workforce of tomorrow. Without them, Texas risks leaving both talent and opportunity on the table. Currently, early childhood education and care in Texas comes in a “mixed-delivery” format that includes small businesses, homes, Head Start programs, and public and private schools. This constellation of providers is a strength, as families deserve choice across all parts of the Lone Star State. But choice without coherence creates chaos. Taking a step back to look at the overall system’s alignment and outcomes through the governor’s task force will ensure design choices are intentional and results-driven to meet Texas’ needs. Ultimately, this legislative interim stands to transform the way early learning and care programs work in Texas, allowing families to find high-quality care for their children that promotes a strong education foundation and encourages more consistent workforce participation. Texas has taken important first steps toward building an early childhood system worthy of its families. But recognizing the opportunity for improvement is just the beginning. Now it must finish the job by creating clear leadership and governance structures, more seamlessly tackling regulatory hiccups and ensuring every household has access to care that allows families and our economy to thrive.

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Texas governor threatens state takeover of Houston elections

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) threatened Houston with a state takeover of its elections on Thursday — an escalation of long-simmering GOP threats to gain control of voting in the fourth-largest city in the United States. “They should be stripped of operating elections and state officials should take over. Potential legal charges should also be considered,” Abbott wrote on social media, calling Harris County a “repeat violator of election integrity.” Abbott was reacting after a complaint by a GOP state lawmaker alleged voters were unlawfully registered using commercial post office box addresses. But elections in Harris County, home to Houston, have been a top focus of Texas Republicans for years.

In a comment to Democracy Docket, Lesley Briones, a Democrat who serves on the five-member county governing body known as commissioners court, pushed back on Abbott’s claims. “Harris County is committed to the integrity of our voter rolls and has been diligent about following the law — a fact that has been acknowledged by the Texas Secretary of State. Governor Abbott either doesn’t understand this issue, or he is intentionally misrepresenting the law in his continued efforts to undermine our democracy and erode our voting rights,” she said. “Texans deserve better. Harris County is dedicated to operating with the fairness, transparency, and excellence our democracy deserves.” In 2023, Texas passed a measure allowing the state to order “administrative oversight” of local elections offices. The law applies only to counties with a population of more than four million – in other words, just Harris County. Republicans now appear to be taking steps to activate their oversight mechanism for the first time. Under the law, administrative oversight could be ordered by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, a former Republican state senator who was appointed by Abbott in 2023. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R), the author of the state takeover legislation, submitted a complaint to the Secretary of State’s office in November, alleging more than 100 voter registrations were found at Houston UPS locations.

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Significant changes in Texas A&M's curriculum mirror Texas Tech's approach to race and gender courses

A major policy shift at Texas A&M University is sending ripples through higher education statewide--including right here in Lubbock at Texas Tech. Faculty at Texas A&M were recently told that roughly 200 courses in the College of Arts and Sciences could be altered, reassigned, or removed from the core curriculum due to new system-wide restrictions on how race, gender, and related topics can be discussed in certain classes. The changes come just days before classes begin, after students had already registered. While the situation is unfolding in College Station, similar policies are already affecting campuses within the Texas Tech University System.

The changes stem from a policy approved by the Texas A&M System Board of Regents in November, requiring administrators to approve courses that could be seen as advocating “race and gender ideology,” particularly in introductory and core curriculum classes. Since then, emails obtained by The Texas Tribune show: An introductory sociology course on race and ethnicity was canceled, a communications course was renumbered to remove core credit and a philosophy professor was told to remove certain readings--including Plato--or be reassigned University officials say exemptions can be requested if race or gender topics are deemed essential to a course, but those approvals are still pending, leaving students and faculty uncertain as the semester begins.

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He offered UT a $100,000 endowment for Hispanic scholars. Texas Exes denied it

Daniel Acosta was the top pharmacy class graduate at the University of Texas in 1968. After pursuing his doctorate in Kansas, he returned to the Forty Acres as the inaugural director of the College of Pharmacy. He taught from 1974 to 1996 as the college's second Hispanic professor and went on to become a dean at the University of Cincinnati and the deputy director of the Federal Drug Administration’s Toxicology Center. “I was a poor Chicano boy from El Paso,” Acosta said. “I made my name in toxicology at the University of Texas.” When Acosta returned to Austin after his retirement, it was important for him to give back, particularly to other Mexican-American Texans who didn’t always see themselves represented in academia. At UT, he saw that the College of Pharmacy’s faculty remained predominantly white, though UT is now designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution with more than a quarter of students identifying as Hispanic.

After more than four years of trying to create a scholarship with the College of Pharmacy to help more Latino scholars become professors at UT, the university and Texas Exes, a nonprofit run by UT alumni, declined to accept his $100,000 endowment in November. The reason for the rejection — his scholarship’s focus on diversity, Acosta said in an interview with the American-Statesman. “There has been no progress at all in trying to bring in more Hispanic faculty at the College of Pharmacy,” Acosta said. “How could that happen in a state that has shown a significant rise in Hispanics and at a university that now has a student body of over (25)% Hispanic?” The College of Pharmacy is the only unit where the percentage of Hispanic faculty members significantly decreased from 2017 to 2025, even as the number of total faculty members dropped by a quarter, according to UT’s data. In 2017, 16.8% of faculty members, or 50 people, at the college were Hispanic, but by 2025, it was only 6.7%, or 27 people. The percentage of Hispanic residents in Austin is more than five times that size. “In a minority-majority state, to have so few professors of color, what signal is that sending to our kids?” he added.

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Jonathan Fombonne named new Harris County attorney

Jonathan Fombonne, first assistant county attorney to Christian Menefee, was named Harris County attorney Thursday. The appointment came more than nine months after Menefee technically resigned to run for Congressional District 18. Fombonne has served as Menefee’s right-hand man since February 2021. Before joining the county attorney’s office, Fombonne was a partner at Kirkland and Ellis, LLP, where he specialized in complex commercial litigation, according to his LinkedIn. "Thank you for the trust you placed me. I appreciate the vote of confidence and the chance to serve as Harris County attorney. I'm grateful for it. I take this job very seriously," Fombonne said. "I see the county attorney's job as being a practical partner to this court, helping you understand the legal landscape, finding solutions to legal problems, raising issues when we need to and staying out of the way when we don't."

Fombonne will lead the office until voters elect a new county attorney in November. Menefee, who was the first Black Harris County attorney and the youngest person elected to the position, was first elected in 2020 and again in 2024. Whoever voters choose to succeed him in November will occupy the office for the remainder of his term before another election is held in 2028. Although he technically resigned in March, he remained in the position as a "holdover" — an elected official who, despite resigning, continues to hold office as officials search for a replacement — until Fombonne's appointment Thursday. The holdover provision was included in Texas’ 1876 Constitution, and provided a carve-out intended to prevent vacancies from disrupting government services and functions. Commissioners also passed a resolution honoring Menefee's more-than five years of service leading the county attorney's office. A host of elected officials, community members and organizers attended Thursday's meeting to voice their support and gratitude for Menefee's leadership. Menefee, who was first elected at 32, was credited with bringing a novel offensive approach to the county attorney's office, which previously operated as a little-known office on the periphery of the political spotlight.

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DHS shows off new border buoys in Rio Grande

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the Rio Grande on Wednesday to show off new water buoy barriers that the agency has started installing in the Rio Grande. Noem says 500 miles of new border buoys have started going in the river, beginning in Brownsville, Texas, to deter illegal immigration from Mexico. ”These barriers will make it much harder for illegal aliens to drug smugglers and human traffickers to cross the river and other waterways where they will be deployed,” Noem said during her day-long visit. Seventeen miles are being built in Brownsville at a cost of $96 million. The first buoys were put in Tuesday, and Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks told Border Report that over 90% of the buoys will be put in Texas.

The Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 7, 2026, unveiled new water buoy barriers that the agency has started installing in the Rio Grande. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report) On Wednesday, Noem took Border Report and other reporters to a remote area to show off the new structures, part of what DHS calls a “Smart Wall” system. ”A nation with no borders is no nation at all,” Noem said as she stood before a giant cylinder, one of the buoys. The new federal buoys are different from those put in the river by the State of Texas in 2023 in Eagle Pass. Banks says the new federal buoys are “better.” They are much bigger — 15 feet long for each buoy. And they are cylindrical, not round. Banks says these new buoys float better and have fibre optic sensing technology to detect if someone is trying to cross over it, or if wildlife are stuck in it. ”As you try to climb up on the buoys they roll backwards preventing you to climb on them, and we’ve also found that using the more cylindrical instead of the circular, we get better flotation, which helps us maintain better control of the buoys,” Banks said.

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Renowned architect Steven Holl writes letter advocating for the preservation and reuse of Dallas City Hall

Today, Dallas City Hall’s concrete surfaces bear the marks of deferred maintenance. Estimates for necessary upgrades range from $152 million to $345 million, prompting the Texas city to rethink where it houses its municipal offices and weigh whether to repair, sell, or demolish the building. A vote passed by the Dallas City Council in November permitted the exploration of alternatives to the City Hall building. Per the resolution, city officials have been asked to determine costs to occupy office space elsewhere, bring in outside consultants to review deferred maintenance cost estimates, and study how the site could be redeveloped to spur economic growth. Some preservationists and opponents view this uncertainty as a threat for the building. The debate continues in 2026. Yesterday, Steven Holl penned a note to Mayor Eric Johnson and the citizens of Dallas about the building. He shared the text below and the above sketch with AN for publication. The text below the sketch reads: “Save Dallas City Hall—a public horizontal architecture and public landscape in a city of commerce.”

Holl’s letter reads in full: The Dallas City Hall opened in 1978, during the same year that its architect I. M. Pei opened the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. These modern monumental public buildings mark an optimism of our culture in time by one of its leading architects. They should be preserved as examples of architecture culture for America’s future generations. Of course, a 50-year-old building (with neglected maintenance) needs upgrading, such as advanced geothermal cooling and heating systems. However, to tear down this landmark public architecture today would be a crime. “Adaptive Reuse” is the current trend (preventing landfill waste) and this building could be re-programmed and adapted, preserving the inspiring space, light, and geometry of I. M. Pei. Designed in 1968 as a symbol of optimism and renewal after the tragic assassination of JFK in Dallas, this architecture is culturally very significant and important. With hope for architecture, Steven

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National Stories

Trump orders Fannie and Freddie to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds

President Trump said he was ordering the two big government-controlled mortgage finance firms to start buying bonds backed by mortgages, his latest bid to make it easier for Americans to buy a home. In a post on social media on Thursday, Mr. Trump said he was directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up to $200 billion in mortgage-backed bonds. While his announcement was short on details, bond investors reacted quickly to the potential for giant government purchases of mortgage bonds. After the statement, the difference between the interest rates on mortgage bonds and Treasuries narrowed by 0.1 percentage points, a sharp move in that market and an early indication that the initiative could have some effect on the mortgage market.

Some analysts questioned the extent of the impact on consumer mortgage rates over time, given that those rates are influenced by a number of factors, including Federal Reserve policy. Mr. Trump’s announcement is part of a recent effort by the White House to show it is responding to the public’s concerns about the cost of living and specifically the issue of housing affordability. It is an issue that could dog Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he wanted Congress to bar big Wall Street firms from buying more single-family homes to operate as rental properties. Some housing experts have said institutional buyers of single-family homes have driven up home prices and led to higher rents in some communities. Mr. Trump is also said to be considering asking Congress to permit home buyers to take money out of their retirement savings to pay for down payments.

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Minneapolis Public Schools cancels class Jan. 8 and Jan. 9 after ICE shooting

Minneapolis Public Schools announced classes will be canceled on Thursday, Jan. 8, and Friday, Jan. 9, with no e-learning being offered. School officials say they made the decision "out of an abundance of caution" due to safety concerns related to incidents all around the city. This comes after an ICE agent fatally shot a woman during an enforcement operation. All district-sponsored programs, including activities, athletics, Community Education and adult education will also be canceled. Minneapolis Public Schools say it will continue collaborating with the City of Minneapolis and other partners on emergency preparedness response.

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CBS abruptly ousts 'Evening News' senior producer just days into broadcast revamp

CBS News dismissed one of the top producers of its marquee evening newscast just days into a major revamp. A source confirmed with Fox News Digital that Javier Guzman, who was promoted to senior broadcast producer for "CBS Evening News" in August, was pulled off the program Wednesday. According to his LinkedIn page, Guzman joined the "CBS Evening News" in 2018. It remains unclear why Guzman was abruptly removed. Neither Guzman nor CBS News immediately responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

"CBS Evening News" has been undergoing an overhaul led by network editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who tapped "CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil to take over the anchor desk. Dokoupil made his debut on Saturday during a special breaking news edition of the program covering President Donald Trump's actions in Venezuela and the dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro. The official relaunch of "CBS Evening News" was set for Jan. 5. The rollout of the revamped broadcast has had some hiccups. During Monday's newscast, Dokoupil experienced technical difficulties and became flustered between what was in the teleprompter and the images appearing on-screen. "First day, first day, big problems here," Dokoupil acknowledged to viewers. Liberal critics also swiped at the anchor when he concluded Tuesday's broadcast from Miami by offering a "salute" to Secretary of State Marco Rubio while wrapping a light-hearted segment about Rubio's various roles in the Trump administration from his hometown. "Marco Rubio, we salute you. You’re the ultimate Florida man," Dokoupil told Rubio, with Floridians dining behind him.

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An eventful first week in his job for CBS News' Tony Dokoupil, maybe not as intended

No one can say Tony Dokoupil is slipping into his new job as “CBS Evening News” anchor unnoticed. In a week, he’s issued a veritable manifesto for how he intends to fulfill the role, cast subtle shade on saintly predecessor Walter Cronkite, had an unexpected debut dominated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and posted a cringeworthy video of people mispronouncing his name. If attention is currency in trying to revive a television institution fallen on hard times, Dokoupil has earned some. The jury is out on whether it’s the kind he needs. The 45-year-old Dokoupil, a “CBS Mornings” host since 2019, inherited the chair once occupied by Cronkite, Dan Rather, Katie Couric, Scott Pelley and Norah O’Donnell. He was supposed to have started Monday with a two-week tour around the country, but his first broadcast instead came Saturday after the U.S. military action in Venezuela.

An estimated 27 million to 29 million people watched the “CBS Evening News” each night in Cronkite’s last full year as anchor in 1980, the most popular of the three broadcast evening newscasts. The show is now entrenched at No. 3. And with news habits far different now, its nightly audience of 4.04 million people last year was a little more than half of what David Muir gets at ABC. In video and printed messages posted last week, Dokoupil said he hoped to earn back the trust that many people have lost in legacy media institutions. “On too many stories, the press missed the story,” he said. “Because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates, and not the average American, or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.” He said his promise to viewers is that “you come first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.” It was unclear where Dokoupil felt the analysis by “elites” led the country astray. He broadcast from Miami on Tuesday, beginning his nationwide tour a day late, and wasn’t available for comment, CBS said.

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Federal immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say

Federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland on Thursday, a day after an officer fatally shot a woman in Minnesota, authorities said. The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor’s office if warranted. The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle’s passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting in the city.

When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop” in the afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a statement. “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” it said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.” There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants. During prior shootings involving agents from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns in U.S. cities, including the fatal one Wednesday in Minneapolis, video evidence has cast doubt on the administration’s characterizations of what prompted the shootings. Trump and his allies have consistently blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for being at the root of violence and drug dealing in some U.S. cities. The Portland shooting escalates tensions in a city that has long had a contentious relationship with Trump, including due to his recent failed effort to deploy National Guard troops there. The city saw long-running nightly protests outside the ICE building.

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Musk's Grok chatbot restricts image generation after global backlash to sexualized deepfakes

Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok is preventing most users from generating or editing any images after a global backlash that erupted after it started spewing sexualized deepfakes of people. The chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has in the past few weeks been granting a wave of what researchers say are malicious user requests to modify images, including putting women in bikinis or in sexually explicit positions. Researchers have warned that in a few cases, some images appeared to depict children. Governments around the world have condemned the platform and opened investigations into the platform.

On Friday, Grok was responding to image altering requests with the message: “Image generation and editing are currently limited to paying subscribers. You can subscribe to unlock these features.” While subscriber numbers for Grok aren’t publicly available, there was a noticeable decline in the number of explicit deepfakes that Grok is now generating compared with days earlier. The European Union has slammed Grok for “illegal” and “appalling” behavior, while officials in France, India, Malaysia and a Brazilian lawmaker have called for investigations. Related Stories Musk's AI chatbot faces global backlash over sexualized images of women and children These are the key AI players on the cover of Time's 'Architects of AI' magazine Disney invests $1B in OpenAI in deal to bring characters like Mickey Mouse to Sora AI video tool

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Mamdani’s first sit-down as mayor

Way back in March of 2025, when Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani was at 1% in the Democratic primary polls, he promised THE CITY’s FAQ NYC his very first sit-down interview as mayor. On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Mamdani made good on that promise joining, talking hosts Christina Greer and Harry Siegel in City Hall’s Blue Room for a wide-ranging conversation. He talked about what would happen if an ICE agent here committed a murder like the one he said took place on Wednesday in Minneapolis: "If you violate the law, then you have to be held to account. And there’s no amount of mischaracterizations of what we all saw happen in Minneapolis that can tell us to believe anything other than our own eyes. And the horror of what we saw is not just in that murder. It’s also knowing that this is just a glimpse into what has been a year of cruelty."

And Mamdani responded to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s appearance in New York this morning, where she said the new mayor and the NYPD “have not been productive” partners: "What I want my NYPD to do, and what I would also say my entirety of city government to do, is to follow the law. And the law here in New York City includes our sanctuary city policies. Going beyond NYPD, this extends to New Yorkers knowing that ICE agents don’t have the right to enter into a school unless they put forward a judicial warrant signed by a judge. It extends to any city property, in addition to properties that are owned or operated by city contractors. And for a long time, City Hall was not clear about the rights that New Yorkers had in those instances. And I’m unsurprised to hear that this would be described as being unproductive when, in fact, it is just being clear about the fact that we do not want our city government, our city officials, public servants, to be operating in violation to these laws." The interview closed with the new mayor’s message to the significant majority of Jewish New Yorkers who polls show have been largely unconvinced so far by Mamdani’s messaging: "For many New Yorkers, including many Jewish New Yorkers, rhetoric rings hollow when they hear it from politicians. And what’s so exciting to me is that I now say these things as the mayor, which means I can also do these things. You know, we were sitting at this exact table when we spoke about the Williamsburg Bridge bump, and I was sitting here, and I was saying, ‘Well, this is something I’ve been asked about, how quickly could we do it?’ And my Deputy Mayor for Operation said we could do it tomorrow. So we did it tomorrow. And to me, that also comes back to the heart of — when you talk about taking on the scourge of antisemitism across the five boroughs of New York City. I’ve talked about adding additional investments to hate crime prevention programs. Now, as the mayor, I can do it. And that is something that I think many are waiting for — to see, is it right to believe? Is it right to hope? And we’re going to show them that it is."

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As Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point pushes into high schools, dissension follows

In the months after the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated, the college-focused organization he left behind, Turning Point USA, has expanded its reach into hundreds of high schools, rousing gripes and accolades along the way. In a suburban Milwaukee high school, a straight-A senior was suspended after removing a poster advertising Club America, Turning Point’s high school branch. In Northern California, students demanded a Club America chapter shut down after its inaugural meeting in December included remarks from a Republican official on L.G.B.T.Q. issues that rankled some parents and students alike. And in Houston, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, celebrated a Club America chapter that had drawn the ire of a high school student’s mother. All of this friction has surfaced in both liberal- and conservative-run states and in urban and rural districts, as teens and their parents grapple with the confrontational politics that were Mr. Kirk’s hallmark.

“People are outraged,” said Rachel Ortiz, a parent in Northern California. “There’s a reason Charlie Kirk didn’t debate high school kids. He did it with college kids, who are adults.” Turning Point USA, founded in 2012, aimed its activism at teenagers with the July launch of Club America, calling it the “leading movement for freedom-loving American values,” such as capitalism and limited government. But Mr. Kirk’s death supercharged the effort; the number of Club America chapters has more than doubled since then, rising to over 3,000 from about 1,200, Nick Cocca, the Club America enterprise director for Turning Point USA, said in an interview. Public officials, past and present, in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma have pushed the expansion, vowing to discipline school administrators who try to block the organizations. “Any school that stands in the way of a Club America program in their school should be reported immediately to the Texas Education Agency, where I expect meaningful disciplinary action,” Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, said during a news conference on Dec. 8 in which he and the state’s lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, vowed to help Turning Point bring a chapter to every Texas high school. Mr. Patrick had already pledged $1 million of his campaign funds to the effort.

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Lead Stories

DHS says ICE officer shot and killed woman in Minnesota

An immigration agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, an act President Donald Trump and top administration officials insisted was self-defense and local Democratic officials said proved the dangers of the latest immigration enforcement surge. The shooting happened during protests over the 2,000 immigration agents deployed to the state this week. A DHS spokesperson framed the shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer as “defensive shots” fired by an agent “fearing for his life,” and claimed personnel were injured but expected to recover. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters the shooting was in response to “an act of domestic terrorism.” She said ICE officers were attempting to push their vehicle out of the snow when “a woman attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her vehicle.”

Later, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the “woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.” “It is hard to believe he is alive,” the president wrote. DHS did not answer additional questions from NOTUS. The FBI is investigating the incident, Noem said in a Wednesday evening press conference. Videos purportedly depicting the incident from multiple angles appear to show two agents exiting a truck to confront the woman, telling her to “get out of the fucking car.” One agent grabbed the driver-side door and pulled on the door handle. As the driver reversed and began to turn, another agent appeared to be in front of her vehicle. That agent is seen firing off three shots as the person starts to drive away. The agent who fired the shots remains standing. The car crashes soon after.

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Trump team works up sweeping plan to control Venezuelan oil for years to come

President Trump and his advisers are planning a sweeping initiative to dominate the Venezuelan oil industry for years to come, and the president has told aides he believes his efforts could help lower oil prices to his favored level of $50 a barrel, according to people familiar with the matter. A plan under consideration envisions the U.S. exerting some control over Venezuela’s state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, including acquiring and marketing the bulk of the company’s oil production, people familiar with the matter said. If successful, the plan could effectively give the U.S. stewardship of most of the oil reserves in the Western Hemisphere, when factoring in deposits in the U.S. and other countries where U.S. companies control production. It could also fulfill two of the administrations’ primary goals: to box Russia and China out of Venezuela and to push energy prices lower for U.S. consumers.

Trump has repeatedly raised the prospect of lowering oil prices to $50 a barrel, his preferred level, two senior administration officials said. But oil prices are already low, with the U.S. benchmark hovering around $56 a barrel Wednesday, and Trump has struggled to persuade U.S. oil-and-gas producers to crank out more crude and help him accomplish his political goals. Many companies see $50 a barrel as a threshold below which it becomes unprofitable to drill, and a sustained period of low oil prices could decimate the U.S. shale industry, which has been a key backer of the president. “The American energy industry and most importantly the American people and the Venezuelan people are going to hugely benefit from the president’s control of Venezuela’s oil, which was previously used to fund Maduro’s illegitimate narcoterrorism regime,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. PdVSA didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment. The company confirmed in a statement posted on social media that the U.S. and PdVSA have been holding negotiations for the sale of crude oil volumes, with those talks based on a commercial transaction. Trump and his team began privately engaging with the newly established Venezuelan government with the goal of taking control of their oil supply within days of U.S. forces capturing President Nicolás Maduro.

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Nearly 50 House Dems back Julie Johnson

op House Democratic leaders and some 40 other House Democrats endorsed Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) Thursday in her primary against former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu and DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene all backed Johnson. Among her other endorsers: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.). Check out the full list here. This race will be a brutal battle in what is already a particularly fractious Democratic primary season. Scores of younger candidates are primarying longtime incumbents, arguing for generational change.

In Congress, Allred was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition. Not many CBC members are on Johnson’s endorsement list but both Schneider and Stanton are leaders of the New Dems. Allred’s eleventh-hour decision last Decemberto exit the Senate race and challenge Johnson for Texas’ 33rd District sent shockwaves through the Democratic Caucus. Johnson replaced Allred in the House only to see that district erased under the GOP’s gerrymandered map. But Johnson had declared for the vacant 33rd District before Allred jumped in.

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Abbott: Dallas leaders at fault for AT&T’s downtown exit

Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday that Dallas leaders were responsible for AT&T’s decision to relocate its headquarters from downtown Dallas to Plano, blaming what he called the city’s failure to fully fund and staff its police department and “contain a homeless problem” downtown. Abbott, a Republican, made the remarks while taking questions from reporters at the Fort Worth Police Officers Association headquarters, where he appeared alongside Tarrant County officials and police union leaders — including the Dallas Police Association — to accept their endorsement in his race for a fourth term. “It’s the responsibility of local leaders to fully fund local law enforcement,” Abbott said in response to a question about voter-approved charter amendments requiring the police department to boost officer staffing. “Because Dallas did not do that, AT&T is now moving out of downtown Dallas.”

City and police spokespeople declined to rebut Abbott directly, instead deferring to the city’s previous statement that AT&T described the relocation as a preference for a suburban campus, not a judgment on public safety or city leadership. Police boosted downtown patrols last summer, and data through Dec. 28 shows an 11% dip in total reports of violent crime in the central business district. The same period saw a nearly 10% decrease in total reports of nonviolent crime, with reports of burglary of a motor vehicle up 22%. The city and private partners also moved to close downtown homeless encampments and housed more than 250 people, according to Housing Forward, the region’s lead agency serving unhoused residents. Abbott’s remarks sought to turn AT&T’s move into a referendum on the city’s public safety approach, as he warned the state would review whether the city’s police funding decisions comply with a 2021 law restricting cuts to police budgets.

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State Stories

Texas A&M blocks Plato readings on gender ideology in philosophy class

A Texas A&M professor has been told not to teach certain writings from Plato, a staple in introductory philosophy courses, because they may violate the university system's new rules against “advocating” race or gender ideology, or topics concerning sexual orientation, in core classes. “Plato has been censored,” said Martin Peterson, who clarified that he was speaking not on the university’s behalf, but as an individual. Peterson learned the decision Tuesday in an email, which was viewed by the Houston Chronicle. Philosophy department head Kristi Sweet told him that the directive stemmed from the Texas A&M System’s new policy. The email also directed him to remove course modules on race and gender ideology.

Peterson and other instructors have previously expressed concerns about the rules, particularly that the university would broadly interpret “advocacy” and ban topics outright. “My personal opinion is this is a clear violation of academic freedom," said Peterson. He also chairs the campus' committee on the principle, which holds that professors have the right to research and teach the topics they choose, so long as they are relevant to their expertise and their respective courses. The university and system did not return requests for comment by the time of publication. In November, the A&M Board of Regents passed a sweeping rule banning race, gender ideology "advocacy" in lessons without a university president's approval. The new policy came on the heels of a national controversy over a viral video of a professor teaching about gender identity in a children's literature course. That professor was later fired, and the university president resigned. Under the new rule, professors were told they needed their president’s approval for courses and any material that “advocate” race, gender or sexual identity-related topics. By mid-December, however, the regents narrowed it, saying advocacy on those topics was not allowed in any core curriculum class, but professors could be granted exceptions on a “limited” basis in non-core or graduate-level courses.

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Austin yogurt shop murders suspect tied to Kentucky cold case

After 27 years without answers, police in Lexington, Kentucky, have brought Linda Rutledge’s family closure. Kentucky detectives believe the 44-year-old woman’s death in 1988 is linked to Robert Eugene Brashers, the accused killer in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders case. The cold case dated back to November 1988, when the Lexington Fire Department was dispatched to the Nixon Hearing Aid Center on Malibu Drive. Heavy smoke plumed from the business as firefighters arrived, but inside, they made a grueling discovery. Rutledge, who was 44 at the time, had been shot multiple times in the head. Investigators said her body was found in the back hallway of the hearing aid center.

“Over the past 27 years, detectives and investigators continued working on the case, reviewing notes, reentering evidence, following up on leads and tips, and researching how new technologies could help further the investigation,” Lexington police said in an update on Jan. 7. In July 2025, Lexington detectives were contacted by the Austin Police Department in Texas after being alerted to a match in the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). According to a press release, the .380 shell casing that was recovered from the Nixon Hearing Aid Center was a match to one that was found in Austin in December 1991 after the “yogurt shop murders.” The Kentucky State Police Forensics Lab examined the spent shell casings from Austin and Lexington. Investigators said it was determined that the shell casings came from the same firearm.

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2025 State Fair of Texas review focuses on attendance, security and affordability

A 2025 State Fair of Texas recap from fair officials this week revealed a troubling drop in the event’s attendance. An area of focus was the 2 million people who attended. It was the lowest attendance numbers since 2021. Some of the attendance drop was due to high school students not being given tickets in 2025. Mitchell Glieber, president of the State Fair of Texas, spoke to city council members on the challenges the event faced in 2025. "The difficulty is finding what percentage is responsible for what. First economic factors, inflation and the labor market. Things like groceries and dining out," Glieber said.

He told council members they faced multiple hurdles this year - inflation, weather and in his words concerns about immigration enforcement. "The state fair controls admission and parking, outside of that vendors control food and beverage prices and games. We will be looking at that in our senior management meeting. That will be our priority going into 2026 is to do a deep dive into everything related to pricing at the state fair," Glieber continued. Aside from attendance — a big area of focus was security. Following a shooting at the 2024 fair, security measures were increased. "We had drone tech that was available to us in real time," Glieber said on improved security. "We did attempt a harder approach on that front (bags changes). So I can’t say enough about law enforcement and DFR."

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What to know about Texas oil and gas’ $27B tax impact in 2025

The Texas oil and gas industry paid a near-record $27 billion in state and local taxes last year, the Texas Oil and Gas Association said Wednesday in its annual tax impact report. The tax impact, down 1% from the record-breaking $27.3 billion the previous year, amounts to roughly $74 million per day toward state and local services including public schools, roads and emergency response. “Texas energy remains productive, reliable and the cornerstone of the Texas economy, and is globally essential, even in volatile markets,” TXOGA President Todd Staples said Wednesday during a media call.

The industry’s tax contribution declined slightly to $27 billion in 2025 from $27.3 billion the year before as market conditions deteriorated. Texas school districts received $2.6 billion last year in property taxes from the industry, compared with $2.92 billion in 2024, TXOGA said. Counties received an additional $1 billion in 2025; they received $1.03 billion in 2024. The state’s largest oil companies, based in Houston, announced a series of layoffs that rattled the industry. But oil and gas industry employment increased in 2025 compared to the prior year, TXOGA said. The industry employed more than 495,500 Texans last year — up slightly from 492,000 in 2024. “You've had some declines in the service industry side, but you've seen significant expansions in pipeline construction and in LNG construction,” Staples said. “So on balance, it's been positive for the year, and we think it'll be positive as the world's population continues to grow and the demand for oil continues to grow as well.” Average annual wages also increased to $133,095 a year compared with $128,255 in 2024, TXOGA reported.

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Uvalde trial to resume after judge rejects mistrial motion

A judge on Wednesday denied a defense motion for a mistrial in the case against a former Uvalde school district police officer charged over the law enforcement response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting. Defense attorneys for Adrian Gonzales argued the trial was compromised by testimony from Robb Elementary teacher Stephanie Hale that included details not previously disclosed during pretrial interviews. Hale testified Tuesday that she had seen someone who matched the description of the shooter — a man dressed in black with a rifle — on the south side of the school, which put him in closer proximity to the defendant. Defense attorney Nico LaHood has argued Gonzales was not close enough to the shooter to stop, delay or distract the mass shooter.

The objection halted testimony Tuesday evening and prompted arguments outside the presence of the jury. Presiding Judge Sid Harle ruled the disputed testimony did not warrant a mistrial. “It was negligent, and I don't believe what was testified to in front of the jury resonated enough to significantly affect your trial strategy. But what I am going to do is exclude her testimony,” Hale said. The defense objected again, arguing Hale’s testimony was so emotional that it was unlikely the jury will be able to ignore what she said. “We will go with whatever remedy the court decides that we can decide it. However, we do not believe that it's a sufficient remedy, and mistrial would be the opinion,” said defense attorney Jason Goss. Harle said that the statements did not fundamentally change the nature of the evidence against Gonzales and could be addressed through cross-examination and limiting instructions to jurors. The trial is being held at the Nueces County Courthouse following a change of venue from Uvalde due to concerns about pretrial publicity and the ability to seat an impartial jury. Gonzales is charged with 29 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child. Prosecutors allege he was among the first officers to arrive at Robb Elementary School but failed to confront the gunman despite hearing shots and receiving information about the shooter’s location. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty.

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Texas Senate primary pits white Social Gospel against Black Church tradition

The stage is set for a Democratic Senate primary in Texas with one candidate who is trying to convince fellow Texans to love all their neighbors and one who refuses to turn the other cheek. James Talarico is easygoing and noncombative. He has a smile to melt hearts. A Presbyterian minister, he embraces a Christian language of love and acceptance. He is a Social Gospel Christian. Jasmine Crockett is the trash-talking Democrat who loves to take on President Donald Trump toe to toe. Combative, in your face, she stands in the Black prophetic tradition and is a member of a Baptist church. Talarico and Crockett combine two of the most powerful religious spirits in American life: the white liberal Christian tradition rooted in seminary and scholarship, and the Black prophetic tradition rooted in activism and action. Now Democratic voters in Texas will have to choose between the two. Talarico currently is a state Democratic lawmaker. He says, “I really wanted to show up not as the politician, but as the pastor.”

People are hungry, he told the crowd, “for a different kind of politics. Not a politics of fear, not a politics of hate, not a politics of violence, but a politics of love.” He stands in the apostolic succession of Harry Emerson Fosdick, Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden, William Sloane Coffin and Will Campbell. As a Presbyterian he stands in the tradition of clergy in his denomination who were stalwarts in the Civil Rights Movement: J. Randolph Taylor, then pastor of Church of the Pilgrims in Washington, D.C., and Eugene Carson Blake, stated clerk of the UPCUSA and chairman of the NCCC’s Commission on Religion and Race. He was unrivaled as an American church leader in racial justice and as a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement. Crockett is the daughter of a Baptist preacher from the Progressive National Baptist Convention. She speaks the justice language of the Baptist denomination formed in 1961 to advocate for Civil Rights, but she doesn’t talk like a preacher. Her uphill battle is as complicated as that of women in every generation. Anne Richards is the last woman elected to a statewide office in Texas. She won the 1990 election for governor but only served one term after she was defeated by George W. Bush. How many pundits think Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 because a toxic masculinity edged her out at the finish line? How many people were not voting for Trump but voting against Clinton? Same with Kamala Harris, only with race throw into the equation.

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Austin airport’s new terminal will have 26 gates; Southwest, Delta will be AUS’ anchor tenants

The new terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will feature 26 gates, with Southwest Airlines serving as the anchor tenant, the airport announced Wednesday. Delta Air Lines will become the anchor tenant in the existing Barbara Jordan Terminal. After months of negotiations, the airport and various airlines have signed new use and lease agreements, which determine the rates, fees and charges that airlines must pay AUS to use the airfield and terminal areas, including runways, gates, ticketing and baggage areas. The agreements will be in effect for the next decade. The agreements “provide the necessary financial foundation” for revenue that will fund the airport’s expansion project, including a new terminal — known as Concourse B — a new arrivals and departure hall, redevelopment of the existing terminal and another new separate facility, called Concourse M.

“This is about preparing our region for long-term growth,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at a press conference Wednesday morning. “It’s about strengthening our economy and ensuring that Austin remains connected to the world in a way that reflects who we are and where we’re headed as a people and as a city.” Seven airlines signed the new agreements: Southwest, Delta, United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, FedEx and UPS. Airlines that use airport facilities but do not have signed agreements pay per use, as is standard industry practice. In total, 32 new gates will be added to AUS, with construction expected to be complete around 2030. The city’s Aviation department will seek additional spending authority from City Council, as the anticipated budget has increased from $4 billion — when only 20 new gates were planned — to more than $5 billion. Watson said that money will not come from taxpayers; rather, it’s money that comes from the operation of the airport. “The airlines are key to what it is we’re doing, and it’s wonderful to have partnerships with these airlines,” Watson said. “These airlines believe in Austin, Texas, and they’re willing and demonstrating that willingness to invest here. They’re willing to do that through workforce development, through community engagement and long-term commitments to this airport.”

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SpaceX, Blue Origin likely competitors for California launch site

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin may soon be sparring over a stretch of land along the California coast that the Space Force wants to see turned into a launch site for massive rockets. Officials at the sprawling Vandenberg Space Force Base about 150 miles north of Los Angeles have asked for proposals from space firms to build a launch complex for so-called heavy or super-heavy spacecraft on a desolate stretch at the base’s southern tip. Both Starbase-headquartered SpaceX and Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin are expected to submit bids to develop the future site for their giant rockets — Starship and New Glenn respectively.

Though it could be the first West Coast site for either of the vehicles, a competition over launch infrastructure wouldn’t be the first for the two billionaires and their space companies. Starship currently launches from its base in South Texas, but SpaceX is building launch facilities in Florida, as well. In 2013, Blue Origin balked at SpaceX’s plans for an exclusive lease for Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, a historic pad previously used for the Apollo and Shuttle programs. The Government Accountability Office denied the protest and NASA awarded a 20-year-lease to SpaceX for the site. Since then, SpaceX has retrofitted 39A for Falcon 9 rockets and has built a Starship launch tower at the site, which is part of the company’s plans for the giant spacecraft’s growing footprint. While SpaceX builds and launches the 400-foot-tall Starship at Starbase — where it has a manufacturing facility, test site and two launch towers — it’s also building another Starship factory, or Gigabay, at Kennedy, as well as two additional launch towers at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

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Houstonians spend more of their money on transportation than residents of any other major city, data show

Houstonians spent more of their incomes on transportation than residents in most of the other major urban areas in the country between 2023 and 2024, according to a new report from the federal government. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported residents in the greater Houston area allocated almost 20% of their spending on transportation, nearly 3 percentage points higher than the national average. That's also a higher percentage than any of the other 21 major metropolitan areas measured in the new BLS report, including Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco. Greater Houston residents are also spending marginally more on housing than the average American. Houstonians spent 33.9% of their budget on housing, compared to the nationwide average of 33.2%.

Dallas-Fort Worth area residents similarly spend more of their budget on transportation and housing, though not in such disparate proportions as Houston. In terms of spending on transportation, DFW is second only to Houston. "Individuals are moving into the Texas Triangle from other parts of Texas just because that has become a very, very high economic spot over the last 10, 15 years," said Edward Leps, an economist at BLS. "I mean, it’s always been a very bustling area in terms of economies." Though greater Houston residents are spending marginally higher shares of their incomes on housing, some other major U.S. cities are spending more, like Honolulu (36.9%), New York (38.2%) and Miami (40%). Houston residents’ average income during 2023 and 2024 was $105,800, about $2,800 higher than the national average. Yet, Houstonians are spending roughly $7,500 more in expenditures than the average American. One other key disparity between Houston and the national average in spending is entertainment. While the average American spent 4.6% of their budget on entertainment, Houstonians dedicated 6.1%. In certain categories, though, Houstonians are spending less of their money than the average American. That includes food, healthcare and education.

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$1B fraud on the backs of North Texas car buyers: ‘What are we going to do?’

Jazelle Gee felt excited after she bought a 2019 Honda Civic at Tricolor Auto in Fort Worth — and relieved she finally had a reliable ride after her last vehicle was labeled as a hazard. The car wasn’t perfect. The inside smelled like marijuana and the front seat had a cigarette burn, Gee said. But Tricolor Auto and its sister brand, Ganas Ya, made car ownership possible for many who couldn’t qualify for traditional auto loans. Tricolor, one of the largest used car companies in Texas, marketed specifically to Hispanic people with its in-house financing. Then came an unexpected bombshell.

Irving-based Tricolor Holdings filed for bankruptcy in September, listing 26,688 creditors. The company suddenly went dark, not responding to some 60,000 customers with outstanding car loans. In December, the CEO and other top executives were indicted in federal court on allegations they committed a nearly $1 billion fraud scheme on the backs of customers’ loans. “I wasn’t even surprised at all because the company had just seemed shady from the very beginning,” Gee told the Star-Telegram. “It’s hard to be shocked, but I was shocked by the number of people they victimized. I didn’t know they were as big as they were.” The collapse of Tricolor Holdings, based in Irving with 1,500 employees at its peak, is stunning in how prosecutors allege top executives brazenly deceived banks and asset-backed securities investors. Secret recordings detailed in the indictment describe how Tricolor leaders financed their business by lying about inventory and their customer base. When the scheme began to unravel, and Tricolor’s lenders grew suspicious, executives privately suggested they could blame the banks for ignoring the “red flags” of their fraud — like how banks fell victim to Enron in 2001 — to get them to settle quietly. “Enron obviously has a nice ring to it, right?” CEO Daniel Chu was recorded telling his team. “That Enron case is (expletive) perfect, I think.”

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Houston ISD’s proposal to shutter magnet programs sparks community outcry

Dozens of parents gathered in a Heights High School performance hall Tuesday night to ask questions and voice their concerns over Houston ISD's proposal to sunset several magnet programs across 10 different high schools in the district. "This plan has not had any community input and this meeting was only added when we made an uproar," said Latrice Ferguson, president of the Heights High School PTO. In December, HISD's state-appointed board of managers first introduced the idea to close several on-campus magnet programs, including graphic design, entrepreneurship and automotive courses, and instead shuttle affected students to the Barbara Jordan Career Center.

Parents first read about the proposal online in the December board meeting agenda, just days before the board was scheduled to discuss and vote on the closures. During the public comment portion of that meeting, several parents, students and teachers spoke out against shuttering the magnet programs, which offer specialized instruction and career training. "This isn't improving access. It's taking away opportunities and destabilizing schools," Micah Gabay said at the board meeting. "When these programs disappear, success becomes harder not because students are trying less but because the tools that help us succeed are gone." The board ultimately postponed a vote until Jan. 15 while expanding the proposed list of on-campus magnet program closures from three to 10. HISD also added a week of community information sessions aimed at addressing concerns and getting feedback.

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Mystery seeds from China: What Texans need to know

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is again warning Texans about mysterious packages of seeds being sent from China. Unsolicited packages of unidentified seeds began arriving in 2020 and continue to be sent to people across the state. The Texas Department of Agriculture is urging Texans who receive unsolicited seeds not to open the package, not to plant the seeds, and not to throw them into the trash, where they'll end up in a landfill.

Since February 2025, the TDA said it has collected 1,101 seed packages sent to more than 100 locations across the state. The TDA said the seeds could pose a serious threat to the state's agricultural and environmental safety. Although these deliveries may seem harmless at first glance, authorities insist they could conceal a much greater threat: the potential introduction of invasive species that could impact crops, gardens, natural ecosystems, and even the food supply chain. “At a glance, this might seem like a small problem, but this is serious business,” said Miller. “The possible introduction of an invasive species to the state via these seeds poses real risks to Texas families and the agriculture industry. We need everyone to report these packages when they arrive so the contents may be gathered and disposed of properly.”

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Former Texas football star Jordan Shipley hospitalized with severe burns after ranching accident

Former Texas star and NFL player Jordan Shipley was hospitalized after he suffered "severe burns" during a ranching accident, his family said Tuesday. The former Longhorns star was airlifted to a hospital in Austin, Texas, and was in critical but stable condition, the family said in a statement provided by the university. "Jordan was involved in an accident this afternoon near his hometown of Burnet. The machine he was operating on his ranch caught fire, and although he managed to get out, it was not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process."

"He was able to get to one of his workers on the ranch who drove him to a local hospital," the statement continued. "He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition." Shipley was a star receiver at Texas from 2006-09, when he finished his career as the all-time leader in receptions (248) and ranked second in yards (3,191) and touchdowns (33). A two-time All-American, Shipley also served as a special teams player, returning 30 punts for 375 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned 19 kickoffs for 468 yards and one touchdown. Shipley was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft and had 79 receptions for 858 yards and four touchdowns over three seasons with the Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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National Stories

CIA advised Trump against supporting Venezuela’s democratic opposition

A highly confidential CIA assessment produced at the request of the White House warned President Trump of a wider conflict in Venezuela if he were to support the country’s democratic opposition once its president, Nicolás Maduro, was deposed, a person familiar with the matter told The Times. The assessment was a tightly held CIA product commissioned at the request of senior policymakers before Trump decided whether to authorize Operation Absolute Resolve, the stunning U.S. mission that seized Maduro and his wife from their bedroom in Caracas over the weekend. Announcing the results of the operation on Sunday, Trump surprised an anxious Venezuelan public when he was quick to dismiss the leadership of the democratic opposition — led by María Corina Machado, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Edmundo González Urrutia, the opposition candidate who won the 2024 presidential election that was ultimately stolen by Maduro.

Instead, Trump said his administration was working with Maduro’s handpicked vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has since been named the country’s interim president. The rest of Maduro’s government remains in place. Endorsing the opposition would probably have required U.S. military backing, with the Venezuelan armed forces still under the control of loyalists to Maduro unwilling to relinquish power. A second official said that the administration sought to avoid one of the cardinal mistakes of the invasion of Iraq, when the Bush administration ordered party loyalists of the deposed Saddam Hussein to be excluded from the country’s interim government. That decision, known as de-Baathification, led those in charge of Iraq’s stockpiles of weapons to establish armed resistance to the U.S. campaign. The CIA product was not an assessment that was shared across the 18 government agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, whose head, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was largely absent from deliberations — and who has yet to comment on the operation, despite CIA operatives being deployed in harm’s way before and throughout the weekend mission. The core team that worked on Absolute Resolve included Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who met routinely over several months, sometimes daily, the source added. The existence of the CIA assessment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Signs have emerged that Trump’s team was in communication with Rodríguez ahead of the operation, although the president has denied that his administration gave Rodríguez advance notice of Maduro’s ouster. “There are a number of unanswered questions,” said Evan Ellis, who served in Trump’s first term planning State Department policy on Latin America, the Caribbean and international narcotics. “There may have been a cynical calculation that one can work with them.” Rodríguez served as a point of contact with the Biden administration, experts note, and also was in touch with Richard Grenell, a top Trump aide who heads the Kennedy Center, early on in Trump’s second term, when he was testing engagement with Caracas.

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U.S. reduces number of warships near Venezuela after Maduro raid

The fleet of U.S. warships assembled in the Caribbean Sea during the run-up to Saturday’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has begun to thin, officials said Wednesday, though the Trump administration is expected to continue military operations in the region. The shift includes the relocation of the USS Iwo Jima and the USS San Antonio to waters north of Cuba in the Atlantic Ocean, defense officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the movements. At least one of the vessels could return to its home port in Norfolk in coming weeks, one official said. The vessels remain assigned to U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in much of Latin America, and could be moved into the Caribbean again if required, a second official said. The moves reduce the number of U.S. troops in the Caribbean by a few thousand, to roughly 12,000, and come as it remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will deploy any ground forces to Venezuela to stabilize security there. He has left the door open to the possibility, while officials say that any such deployment would be temporary and focused on protecting oil infrastructure.

Still, the vessels’ shift to the Atlantic underscores that their principal mission has been completed and indicates that the Trump administration may rein in the number of ships it keeps in the region as it balances multiple national security priorities. Select Air Force assets — including Special Operations CV-22 aircraft used for combat search and rescue and MC-130s needed for aerial refueling — also have departed, a third U.S. official said. Both airframes were used to support the Maduro raid, that official said. Spokespeople for U.S. Southern Command and the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment. The naval buildup began over the summer, with a three-ship task force led by the Iwo Jima among the first to be dispatched. The vessel, carrying Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed with the San Antonio and the USS Fort Lauderdale, which was still in the Caribbean as of Wednesday. The buildup expanded significantly in October, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and several associated warships to redeploy from European waters to the Caribbean.

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House to vote on renewing ACA subsidies as a potential deal takes shape in the Senate

Against the wishes of House Speaker Mike Johnson, the House of Representatives is set to vote Thursday on a measure that would renew enhanced health insurance subsidies that expired at the end of last year. The three-year extension is expected to pass the House, but it may not go far in the Senate, where a similar measure failed in December. A bipartisan group of senators, however, say they are close to a deal on a compromise bill for the Affordable Care Act subsidies. While the debate over health care costs absorbed much of the oxygen in Congress in the final weeks of 2025, the rush to take action on the lapsed subsidies is now happening as members find themselves grappling with questions about the direction of U.S. foreign policy following President Trump's actions in Venezuela.

That includes an expected vote in the Senate on Thursday on a resolution to block U.S. forces from further engaging in hostilities against Venezuela without congressional authorization. Thursday's votes are part of a whirlwind start to the new year for lawmakers. Adding to their to-do list is a fast-approaching Jan. 30 deadline to fund the government or risk a partial shutdown. Republican leadership for weeks refused to allow a vote on extending the subsidies. Then just before the holiday recess, four swing-district Republicans joined with Democrats to force a vote on extending the subsidies for three years through what's known as a discharge petition. The once rare legislative tool allows 218 or more rank-and-file members to sidestep the speaker and force a vote. A procedural motion Wednesday to set up that final House vote won support from nine Republicans. But even many backers acknowledge a clean three-year extension is unlikely to pass the Senate. The hope has been that success in the House would recharge bipartisan negotiations in the upper chamber, and there are signs that may be happening. A small bipartisan group of senators have been negotiating this week, and several of them have told reporters they are nearing a deal. "We're in the red zone," said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, on Wednesday. "But that does not mean a touchdown. It could mean a 95-yard fumble."

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ownership announces it's shutting down paper in May

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's owners announced Wednesday the paper will be shutting down in a few months, citing financial losses. Block Communications Inc. announced it will cease publication on May 3. The paper is printed on Thursdays and Sundays and says on its website the average paid circulation is 83,000. A couple dozen union members returned to work at the Post-Gazette in November after a three-year strike. More than five years ago, the newspaper declared it had reached a bargaining impasse with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and unilaterally imposed terms and conditions of employment on those workers. The paper was later found to have bargained in bad faith by making offers that were not intended to help reach a deal and by declaring an impasse prematurely.

The announcement that Block was shutting it down came on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court declined the PG Publishing Co. Inc.'s emergency appeal to halt an National Labor Relations Board order that forced it to abide by health care coverage policies in an expired union contract. Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, said the paper's journalists have a long history of award-winning work. "Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh," Goldstein said. The union said employees were notified in a video on Zoom in which company officials did not speak live. The Post-Gazette said Block Communications has lost hundreds of millions of dollars over two decades in operating the paper, and the company said it deemed "continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable." The Block family said in a statement it was "proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century." A phone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at Block Communications headquarters in Toledo, Ohio. The paper traces its roots to 1786, when the Pittsburgh Gazette began as a four-page weekly, and became a leading advocate for the abolition of slavery in the 19th century. It went through a series of mastheads and owners before 1927, when Paul Block obtained the paper and named it the Post-Gazette.

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US will exit 66 international organizations as it further retreats from global cooperation

The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the U.N.'s population agency and the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations, as the U.S. further retreats from global cooperation. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, following his administration’s review of participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations, according to a White House release. Many of the targets are U.N.-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels that focus on climate, labor, migration and other issues the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives. Other non-U.N. organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

“The Trump Administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges comes as his administration has launched military efforts or issued threats that have rattled allies and adversaries alike, including capturing autocratic Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and indicating an intention to take over Greenland. The administration previously suspended support for agencies like the World Health Organization, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO. It has taken a larger, à la carte approach to paying dues to the world body, picking which operations and agencies it believes align with Trump’s agenda and those that no longer serve U.S. interests. “I think what we’re seeing is the crystallization of the U.S. approach to multilateralism, which is ‘my way or the highway,’” said Daniel Forti, head of U.N. affairs at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.” It has marked a major shift from how previous administrations — both Republican and Democratic — have dealt with the U.N., and it has forced the world body, already undergoing its own internal reckoning, to respond with a series of staffing and program cuts.

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US seizes Russian-flagged tanker, another tied to Venezuela as Trump widens oil push

The U.S. seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, one sailing under Russia's flag, as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela's socialist government to become an ally. After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a Saturday military raid on Caracas, the U.S. is escalating its blockade of vessels that are under sanctions and going to and from the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil producers group. The White House also said it plans to roll back some of the sanctions Trump placed on Venezuelan oil in 2019 during his first term. A weeks-long chase across the Atlantic ended on Wednesday morning when the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. military special forces, bearing a judicial seizure warrant, apprehended the Marinera crude oil tanker, which had refused to be boarded last month before switching to Russia's flag, officials said.

With a Russian submarine and vessels nearby, the seizure risked more confrontation with Russia, which has condemned U.S. actions over Venezuela and is already at odds with the West due to the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment on what is a public holiday in Russia. "It was a fake Russian oil tanker," U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News. "They basically tried to pretend to be a Russian oil tanker in an effort to avoid the sanctions regime." Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard also intercepted a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil, the Panama-flagged M Sophia, near the northeast coast of South America, the U.S. officials said, in the fourth seizure in recent weeks. The tanker was fully loaded, according to records of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA. The Marinera, formerly known as the Bella-1, was empty of oil, but the U.S. says it and the M Sophia belong to a "shadow fleet" of tankers used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. "The only maritime energy transport allowed will be that consistent with American law and national security," Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, said in a statement. "There is unlimited economic potential for the Venezuelan energy sector through legitimate and authorized commercial avenues established by the United States." Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the Marinera crew had made "frantic efforts to avoid apprehension" and "failed to obey" Coast Guard orders, and so faces criminal charges.

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Trump Administration endorses ‘real food’ — and saturated fats — in new dietary guidelines

The Trump administration announced dramatically transformed federal dietary guidelines on Wednesday, suggesting new limits on ultra-processed foods and endorsing the consumption of saturated fats in red meat and dairy products for the first time in decades. The changes to the dietary guidelines will shift standards for school lunches, food stamps, military food programs and prisons. They endorse the increasingly standard nutrition guidance to eat whole foods over processed ones, but also contradict widely accepted nutrition advice to limit saturated fats. “These are the foundation to all federal food programs in our country. These new guidelines are going to update the food that is served to America’s children in our public schools,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing, adding that the guidelines will also shape how food stamp programs are designed.

During the press conference, both Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins emphasized that people should “eat real food,” an idea widely endorsed by nutritionists and doctors as accessible, straightforward nutrition advice. Both Kennedy and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary spent significant time in Wednesday’s press conference defending the consumption of saturated fats. Both said the standard medical advice to avoid saturated fats had contributed to the rise in processed foods consumption. “We are ending the war on saturated fats,” Kennedy said. The American Heart Association is among the many medical establishments that recommend people limit their consumption of saturated fats because decades of research show that the consumption of saturated fats can increase cholesterol and risk of heart disease. “Today marks the beginning of the end of an era of medical dogma on nutrition. For decades, we’ve been fed a corrupt food pyramid that has had a myopic focus on demonizing natural, healthy saturated fats,” Makary said. Makary is the author of a book that challenges existing guidance about saturated fats.

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Copyright January 15, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved