Lead Stories

Senate passes party-line reconciliation bill, sidesteps attempts to kill ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

The Senate voted mostly along party lines to pass Republicans’ multibillion-dollar immigration enforcement package early Friday morning, after blocking multiple efforts to bar or limit President Donald Trump from establishing an “anti-weaponization” fund. The measure was approved 52-47, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) siding with Democrats in opposition after a nearly 18-hour series of votes. The House is expected to take up the bill next week and send it to Trump’s desk, blowing past his June 1 deadline. The bill would provide $70 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, agencies that were left out of a bipartisan deal to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security in April following the longest-ever shutdown of a government agency.

Republicans beat back a number of amendments that would have limited or done away with the “anti-weaponization” fund during the “vote-a-rama.” The $1.8 billion fund was announced last month as part of a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax forms. But this week acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would not move ahead with the fund amid bipartisan blowback. The “voting marathon followed a two-week delay after Senate Republicans abruptly dropped plans to vote on the immigration enforcement spending, expressing grave concerns about the “anti-weaponization” fund. Some senators had hoped to put guardrails or restrictions on it as part of the broader spending bill. However, a push by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to send the immigration enforcement bill back to the Senate Judiciary committee with instructions to nix the fund was open for more than three hours on the Senate floor. It had support from three Republicans up for re-election in 2026 –– Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Jon Husted (R-Ohio).

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Has Texas ‘Death Star law’ gone too far? Lawmakers weigh changes

Lawmakers conduct a review of a law designed to establish statewide regulations among local governments. Opponents call it the “Death Star Law”, arguing it strips cities of autonomy and invalidates city laws. Republicans and Democrats are divided over how much power the state should hold over local governments. Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Governmental Oversight met to examine how the law is being implemented. The “Death Star law” – formally known as the Texas Regulatory Act– created a set of regulations that prevented local governments from enforcing laws or ordinances that exceed or conflict with state laws in broad areas, such as Business and Commerce, Finance, Insurance and Labor. When advocating for the bill in a Senate committee hearing in April of 2023, former State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, described the bill as preventing “a patchwork of regulations that are popping up at the local level.” The bill advanced through the House and Senate and was eventually signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2023.

James Quintero, the Policy Director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told lawmakers Thursday that urging states to repeal conflicting local laws has been challenging. “We don’t necessarily see cities and counties executing the law faithfully to rightsize their regulatory framework in the spirit of (the Act),” Quintero claimed while asking lawmakers to “empower the attorney general to ensure that localities are maintaining compliance with state law.” General counsel for the Texas Municipal League, Bill Longley, argues the opposite. “I don’t think cities are ignoring the law; cities call our legal department regularly to ask about how this law might apply to various ordinances that they are considering adopting,” Longley testified. If there is a challenge to a local law, Longley says the only way to know if it conflicts with a state law is to go through the courts. “That’s what the bill set up, if somebody thinks that the state occupies a field, they can notify the city, have three months, and then they can sue the city.”

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Gov. Abbott's office blasts Corpus Christi city council after inner harbor desalination project delay

Less than 12 hours after Corpus Christi City Council voted to delay a decision on the Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant, Gov. Greg Abbott's chief of staff sharply criticized the council's handling of the project. In an exclusive statement obtained by 3NEWS on Wednesday afternoon, Robert Black, Gov. Abbott's chief of staff, accused council members of failing to address the city's long-term water needs. "The moment for leadership arrived, but the Council met it with a whimper and a complaint," Black said. "For the second time in six months, the Council could have taken meaningful steps to meet the long-term water needs of their citizens. Instead, they chose to bicker, blame, and hide behind excuses and 'studies' rather than take action." The comments come after a marathon Corpus Christi City Council meeting that stretched from Tuesday morning until 2:20 a.m. Wednesday.

After more than 15 hours of discussion, council voted 7-2 to postpone consideration of the Inner Harbor desalination project until Sept. 1. Mayor Paulette Guajardo and At-Large Councilman Roland Barrera were the only members to vote against delaying the item. Guajardo says that postponing the vote could impact state and federal funding for the city's water projects. "The outcome of yesterday's meeting was critical because everyone was watching," Guajardo said. "Credit agencies, state agencies, federal agencies, everyone was watching, and they wanted to see where we were going because it's been said we need to have a strong path forward and move forward." Guajardo says that the project is the only drought-proof option currently on the table, and delaying it again puts state and federal water support at risk. "Every delay creates more uncertainty. State and federal partners want to see commitment. They want to see progress and a clear path forward. So while tabling the item last night did not cancel it, it does slow momentum on a project that is critical to our long term water security and of course our economic future," Guajardo said.

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Potentially explosive gas leaks reported thousands of times in Texas

Excavators in Texas have damaged pipelines more than 4,800 times since the beginning of 2026, frequently causing highly explosive gas leaks. That includes over 1,000 incidents in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. A KERA analysis of Railroad Commission of Texas “pipeline accident and incident reporting” data also found that many excavators had not contacted a notification center that arranges for the marking of underground utility lines free of charge. Investigations into the cause of Thursday’s explosion at an Oak Cliff apartment complex that killed three are in the preliminary stages, but initial reports point to damage to a natural gas line and a possible leak. Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Justin Ball has said that a fire engine had arrived within two minutes of a gas leak being reported. As the firefighters were going through standard set up procedures, the building exploded right before they were about to enter.

Atmos Energy told KERA in an email that the fire department had reported that “a construction crew unrelated to Atmos Energy damaged a natural gas pipeline near 409 E. 9th Street in Dallas." And the prospective purchaser of the apartment complex told KERA that her company had contracted with another company, Engineering Consultant Services, to provide a “geotech report,” which typically analyzes soil conditions, bedrock depth and groundwater levels. Reports indicate that a boring rig damaged the pipeline. A damaged truck that appears to be a boring rig could be seen near the apartment complex after the explosion. ECS told KERA in a statement that Texas 811 reported that utility locating was performed at the site before drilling was done. But the company also said its knowledge of the event is limited because none of its workers were there when the explosion happened. Accidental damage to underground pipelines and utilities in Texas frequently can be attributed to one of two factors. It can be difficult to determine the exact location of what may have been buried years — even decades — in the past. Even when excavators have followed the law and underground pipes have been marked, accidental strikes still happen. And in many cases, excavators start digging without taking those precautions.

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State Stories

American journalist and son of Texas politician pleads guilty to acting as unregistered agent for China

An American who worked as an editor and commentator for state-run media in China, Thomas Pauken II, pleaded guilty Thursday to working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government in the U.S. During a roughly 40-minute hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken, 51, told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema he was unaware of the legal requirement to register before acting for a foreign government, but he also said he understood that his lack of knowledge was not a defense to the charge. The hearing shed no light on one of the mysteries of Pauken’s case: the identity of a Trump administration official Pauken helped connect to a Chinese government contact Pauken knew as “Cathy.” That U.S. official, described as “Person 1” in court filings, was still working in the government as of February, according to an affidavit an FBI agent filed in support of the criminal case.

The agent alleged that Pauken gave a cell phone and a laptop to the administration official while believing there was about an 80 percent chance that person would share classified information with “Cathy,” although Pauken told the FBI he discouraged the U.S. official from doing so. As POLITICO first reported, the affidavit suggests Pauken took part in an FBI-monitored sting operation involving the official at a Washington hotel in February, shortly before Pauken’s arrest. Justice Department and intelligence community spokespeople have declined to comment on whether “Person 1” still works for the administration or is facing any consequences. As Pauken stood in a dark green jail jumpsuit and responded to Brinkema’s questions, he referred to one of the documents on the courtroom lectern as a “cooperation agreement.” The judge quickly cut in, saying: “We’ll strike that word.” She later sealed the hearing for about five minutes, ejecting reporters and other observers unconnected to the case.

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Rep. Patterson pushes plan to rename Dallas North Tollway after President Trump

A North Texas State Representative says he wants to rename the Dallas North Tollway after President Donald Trump. In a social media post Thursday, Texas House Rep. Jared Patterson says he intends to introduce a resolution in the next legislative session to rename the 30.2-mile stretch of highway to the "Donald J. Trump Tollway." "Few places in America better represent the success of President Trump's pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-family agenda than the corridor stretching from Dallas through Collin and Denton Counties," Patterson says. "Naming this iconic roadway after President Trump would be a lasting tribute to a President whose leadership helped fuel unprecedented growth and prosperity across our region."

Patterson represents Texas House District 106, which covers eastern Denton County, including Frisco, The Colony, Aubrey, Pilot Point, Sanger and parts of Denton. Earlier this month, Senator John Cornyn introduced new legislation to rename U.S. Highway 287 as "Interstate 47," or "Trump Interstate." The proposed interstate would run from Port Arthur through Texas and north to Montana. The Dallas North Tollway is owned and operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority, a political subdivision of the State of Texas. According to the NTTA's Roadway Naming Policy, its Board of Directors holds ultimate authority when it comes to renaming a roadway under its jurisdiction.

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Jay Dean: Texas small businesses deserve real choice for health coverage

When I was mayor of Longview, we worked hard to make our city one of the best places in America to start and grow a business. That’s why Forbes magazine ranked Longview among the top 10 U.S. cities for cost of doing business while I was at this office. But one cost was always beyond what a city government could touch, and it's the same cost crushing Texas small businesses today: health care. This year, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows tasked the House Insurance Committee, which I chair, with studying that exact problem. Small employer insurance premiums in Texas are rising 15 to 20% in 2026, far above the national average. Texas is now the fifth most expensive state in the country for health care. Only about 38% of Texas small employers still offer health benefits to their workers.

Behind those numbers is something we've done to ourselves over the past three decades. The Legislature has piled on more state insurance mandates than nearly every other state, far beyond what federal law already requires. And these state mandates only apply to a very small slice of the employer market. The largest employers in Texas operate under federal law, where state mandates don't apply. Four out of five Texas workers with employer coverage are covered by these plans. The benefit coverage is just as comprehensive as what small employers buy, but because of fewer regulations it costs about 19% less. Small businesses can't easily access these plans that are only federally regulated. Instead, they're stuck in the state-regulated market, paying for every Texas mandate in addition to every federal one. This overregulation is crushing. Texas itself as an employer doesn't even pay for these mandates. When the state buys coverage for state employees or for teachers, the state exempts itself and its own plans from most of these mandates. Texas recognizes that mandates drive up costs and makes sure its own coverage is protected.

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CPS Energy announces interim CEO Frank Almaraz after Rudy Garza’s exit

CPS Energy named an interim CEO and started its official search for a new leader. In a short announcement at its Thursday afternoon board meeting, CPS Energy Board Chair Francine Romero thanked outgoing CEO Rudy Garza and named Frank Almaraz as the public utility’s interim head. Garza announced his retirement from CPS Energy on Monday. He will lead the Lower Colorado River Authority, a state-created water and power agency based in Austin. Almaraz has no plans for drastic changes, he said in a CPS Energy press release. “Our team is committed to continuing on the strategic path laid out by the board over the past several years,” he said. Almaraz has served as chief operating officer for five months when he was hired on from the private sector. He’s still a familiar face, though. It’s his second time working at CPS Energy, according to the utility’s website.

Between 2011 and 2021, he served in a variety of leadership roles, focusing on financial and business planning and natural gas and power trades. He left the position of chief power, sustainability and business development officer at the end of 2021. Almaraz was CEO of Braya Renewable Fuels, a company focused on producing diesel from corn and soy oil at its refinery in Canada, until 2025. He then served as interim CEO for Young Brothers, LLC, an inter-island freight company in Hawaii between January 2025 and February 2026, before returning to CPS Energy. “The Personnel Committee has confidence that his background and experience make him the appropriate leader to serve in this interim role. We believe Mr. Almaraz will successfully continue advancing our strategic priorities,” Romero said. Romero said CPS Energy’s board had activated its CEO Search Committee, a part of its Personnel Committee which will head its leadership search. Romero and fellow board member Erika Gonzalez will lead that effort. “We will have a robust process that selects the right candidate to continue moving CPS Energy into the future,” Romero said. Romero praised Garza’s service to the utility, noting his work building CPS Energy’s executive team and crafting strategic plans that look as far out as 2050.

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Constable seeks county-backed patrols for donor Tilman Fertitta’s River Oaks district

Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen wants to assign a sergeant and eight full-time deputies to patrol a ritzy Galleria-area shopping district owned by one of his top donors, billionaire Tilman Fertitta, in a proposal that would be subsidized by all Harris County taxpayers. Rosen first suggested dedicating deputies to the River Oaks District the month after Fertitta bought it in 2024, but commissioners did not approve the contract. Recent legislation Rosen and other elected constables supported, however, stripped commissioners of their authority to regulate patrol contracts.

Policing and political experts said the proposal validated their concerns that the legislation would worsen existing inequities in the county’s long-controversial contract patrol program, granting constables limitless authority to direct public safety resources, including for the benefit of wealthy donors. “I am entirely against this, and always have been, because why should you be able to rent cops because you have money?” said Jay Coons, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor who retired as a captain at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in 2018. “The whole thing stinks to me.” The patrol contract will appear on the Commissioners Court agenda next week, but court members may have no say on it. None of them responded to requests for comment Thursday. The contract patrol program for decades has let homeowner’s associations and some other groups, such as school districts, pay 70% to 80% – and sometimes 100% – of the salaries of the deputies assigned to their area, with the remainder covered by the county. It has fueled the growth of the constables’ offices, which handle about two-thirds of the contracts; the sheriff’s office runs the other third.

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Waymo robotaxi batteries to help power Texas grid

Some of Waymo's first Texas robotaxis are headed for retirement soon. Their batteries, however, will get a second life on the electric grid. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company announced a partnership with B2U Storage Solutions, a California-based energy storage company that repurposes old electric vehicle batteries to help power local electricity grids. Waymo, which is taking steps to cut costs and rapidly scale deployment of its driverless vehicle fleet, plans to retire some of its Jaguar I-Pace AVs later this year. The company currently operates more than 450 robotaxis in Texas, including about 300 in the Austin metro area, according to the company’s website.

Those vehicles will be replaced with new Waymo robotaxis, according to a company blog post. Earlier this month, Waymo launched one of its new robotaxi models for select riders in California and Arizona. The minivan-like robotaxis, dubbed Ojai, are essential to the company's cost-cutting and scaling goals. Ojai and Waymo’s previously announced Hyundai Ioniq 5 will begin to replace Waymo’s Jaguar SUV robotaxis over time. The partnership is launching first in Texas and California, with the company saying it expects to “deploy hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity over time.” “Our shared fleet of EVs provide a massive opportunity to support the growth of clean energy on the electricity grid while expanding the circular economy,” Adam Lenz, head of sustainability and environment for Waymo, said. “Through this partnership, we can repurpose our batteries for local grid storage and ensure our batteries continue to provide economic and environmental value to the community long after they’ve retired from the road.” The battery packs from Waymo will plug into the grid and capture excess renewable energy flowing through the grid, B2U said. The batteries will store that energy and dispatch it back into the grid during times of peak demand, which typically occur in mid-to-late afternoon in the summer months.

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How a police security leak turned into a San Antonio City Hall whodunit

The City Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday to revisit whether council aides must cooperate with internal investigations — along with a long list of other administrative directives that typically only apply to other types of city employees. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones made the request last month in response to allegations that a top aide to one of her council rivals, Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), declined to be interviewed about a leak involving the mayor’s personal security detail. Now the council will consider the changes on Wednesday in executive session — the latest chapter in a City Hall whodunit that may never be resolved.

Last fall’s security detail leak revealed that Jones would be receiving more police security than past mayors, at the same time the city was discussing whether to fund more officers in the coming year. The change came after at least one credible threat was made on her life, however, and the leak made public details about police security protocols at Jones’ private residence. First San Antonio Police Chief William McManus blasted television media for publishing the reports, then called for an internal investigation to identify who on his team shared the details with the press. The city’s Internal Affairs Unit interviewed a total of 115 police officers in an effort that didn’t turn up a leak — but led one of them to identify District 7 chief of staff James Branch as having also had access to the information.

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Austin brewery Hi Sign Brewing files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Austin-based Hi Sign Brewing is trying to avoid becoming a victim of the craft beer industry’s continuing struggles, going to court this week to seek protection from creditors. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but its Shady Lane taproom remains open. Hi Sign's Escondido HSB LLC affiliate also filed for protection. Its struggles mirror those across the craft brewing industry, which suffers closures and bankruptcies in an industry roiled by plunging consumer spending, market saturation and skyrocketing costs.

Production numbers have fallen across the craft beer landscape for the past two years and were down 4% in 2025, according to the Brewers Association, and nearly 3% of breweries called it quits. The number of U.S. brewers now sits at 9,578, with new openings not keeping up with closures. Several of those closures have been in Texas. Round Rock’s 3rd Level Brewing closed April 1, Texas Beer Co. changed ownership due to debts, San Antonio-based Alamo Beer filed bankruptcy well-known Austin brands like Independence Brewing have continued to struggle. Hi Sign, founded in 2017 by Marine Corps veteran Mark Phillippe, moved into its new headquarters in 2022. The 13,000-square-foot warehouse hosted RC Cola in the 1950s. Some of the debt it took on to make the move, which Phillippe said was the best decision the company made as a business, led to the debt servicing problems it faces today.

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Wemby signals his politics as he’s spotted with dystopian novel 1984 at Finals

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has sent recent signals about his progressive political views, even if he’s shared some of them in a subtle way. In a move some might see as subtle act of resistance, he entered Game 1 of the finals in a sharp look while carrying a paperback copy of lifelong socialist George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Eagle-eyed fans at the Bibliotech Public Library spotted the banned book in the 7-foot-4 forward’s hand and used the moment to introduce his fans to the classic novel via an Instagram post.

“This book remains relevant despite its publishing in 1949 and continues to be a contested book in libraries across the world,” Bibliotech wrote in the post’s caption. Could Wemby influence his legions of fans to read a work warning about mass surveillance, thought crimes, Newspeak, totalitarianism and other themes that sound eerily familiar in the context of the present day? Who knows, but Wemby’s history of subtle — and not so subtle — political expression suggests that the choice is deliberate. After all, this isn’t Wemby’s first dance when it comes to making a political statement. Last week, the French-born player was spotted in an Arab garment called a thobe in celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, which some interpreted as solidarity with the Muslim community. Earlier this year, Wemby also spoke out against ICE, despite saying he’d received warnings not to from the Spurs’ public relations office. “PR has tried, but I’m not going to sit here and give some politically correct [answer],” he said at a January press conference. “Every day, I wake up and see the news, and I’m horrified.” “It’s crazy that some people make it seem like the murder of civilians is acceptable,” the star player said tactfully but unmistakably, after federal immigration agents killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Though not as outspoken as his mentor and former coach Gregg Popovich, it’s increasingly clear Wemby finds ways to take a stand. Seems as if the generation hoops talent is pulling off some intricate footwork, and we don’t just mean on the court. Perhaps he already knows that Big Brother is, in fact, always watching.

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RGV sees employment gains in professional and business sector; losses in government, education

Workforce Solutions released their April 2026 Labor Market Information (LMI) Report on Monday, showing a continuing downward trend in unemployment across the Valley. Since January, Hidalgo and Cameron counties have seen a steady decrease in unemployment, with Brownsville still leading at 6.6% (down from 6.8% in March), while McAllen stayed at the bottom at 4.4% (down from 4.5%). Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy and Starr counties, as a whole, displayed unemployment rates of 5.7%, 6.2%, 6.7% and 8.9%, respectively.

While the decline is positive and was seen across all four counties, the rates remain above the Texas and national unemployment rate of 4.3%. The April 2026 Regional Employment Change Estimates, included in Workforce Solutions’ report, also highlighted major shifts in different industries. The government sector, which encompasses public education and law enforcement, saw the biggest loss at 800 jobs for the McAllen (-600) and Brownsville (-200) Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The second-largest loss was 200 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector reported for the Brownsville MSA. However, 800 jobs were gained in the professional and business service sector for the MSAs, and the McAllen MSA additionally saw 900 jobs added to the private education and health services sector.

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Texas and the Smithsonian are locked in a custody battle over a space shuttle

NASA was winding down its space-shuttle program during the Bush administration when Houston realized it had a problem: None of the four retiring space shuttle orbiters were bound for Texas, even though the Lone Star State was home to Mission Control Center and had safely guided orbiters like Discovery. At the time, Space Center Houston submitted a bid. But NASA decided it didn’t measure up to some of its rival institutions, and in 2011 instead sent Discovery, which traveled 150 million miles during 39 missions to space, to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. The rest went to museums in New York, Florida and California. Now, Texas is reviving its campaign for its own shuttle, led by a pair of Texas senators who earmarked $85 million in the federal budget to strong-arm the Nation’s Attic into forking over Discovery, which has long been on view at its auxiliary location in Virginia.

The result is one of the strangest custody battles to ever roil the aerospace and museum industries. “They’re raiding the Smithsonian,” said Joe Stief, a Virginia-based investment firm associate who oversees Keep the Shuttle, a 4,000-member advocacy group opposed to the move. “What’s to stop North Carolina from taking back the Wright Flyer or New York from reclaiming the Hope diamond?” The fight is unprecedented because usually museums like the Smithsonian only forfeit pieces in their collection if they or courts find the art was stolen or unethically acquired. In this case, the U.S. government passed legislation that includes a provision for NASA to move a “NASA flown space vehicle.” Senate appropriations rules prevented federal funding from naming Discovery, nor Texas as its final destination, but Sen. Ted Cruz believes Texas is the ideal spot because of Houston’s ties to space history. To outgoing Sen. John Cornyn, who lost a grueling bid for a fifth term in last month’s Texas Republican primary, it’s also a legacy bid to avenge what locals call the Houston Shuttle Snub. Texas is overdue to “receive the recognition it deserves by bringing the Space Shuttle Discovery home,” Cornyn said.

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Parkinson’s disease is consistently linked to pesticide exposure. Farmworkers — and nearby communities — are at risk in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

When neuroscientist Kelsey Baker hears the low buzz of planes over her home in the Rio Grande Valley, she grabs her dog and hurries indoors. The drone means the crop-dusters are back, spraying pesticides over the citrus, melon and other crops that surround her planned community. Baker is an assistant professor and assistant dean at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The city of McAllen, where she lives, and neighboring Edinburg, where she works, sit in the middle of one of the state’s most productive agricultural regions, covering more than 4,000 square miles and fed by the Rio Grande. Baker moved here in 2018, expecting to continue her research into stroke and spinal cord injury. But as she sifted through medical records, she was struck by how many people had Parkinson’s disease, a progressive, neurological condition that has been linked to pesticides and other environmental toxins for at least 30 years.

Research shows that more than 80 percent of Parkinson’s cases have no genetic links and are likely explained by environmental factors. Studies have also shown that people exposed to pesticides have a greater risk of the disease. There is no cure for Parkinson’s. As the disease progresses, its most common symptoms — tremor, slow movement, stiffness and unsteadiness — can be accompanied by depression, difficulty concentrating and bowel and urinary problems. The disease is the world’s fastest growing neurological disorder, with more than 25 million people likely to be affected by 2050. A biomedical engineer by training, Baker started poring over maps of the Valley and found something striking. Homes and schools were often boxed in on all sides by crops, something she hadn’t seen in farming areas in other parts of the country where she had lived. Farmworkers are at special risk for Parkinson’s, because the fields where they work are frequently doused with pesticides. But people like Baker, who simply live near farms, are also in danger.

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National Stories

Several women who dated Graham Platner recall ‘unsettling’ behavior

On Tuesday evening, after a whirlwind day in Washington, Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, rushed home. Rumors were spreading from Portland to the Potomac about Mr. Platner’s messy personal life, after news reports that he had sent sexual messages to women while married. Democratic senators were pressing him about whether more damaging revelations were coming. Journalists were swarming, staking out his hometown. Amid the turmoil, Mr. Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy. In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women did just that, describing Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended.

But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and “toxic” relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching. Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful. Mr. Platner, 41, a combat veteran, has spoken openly about grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drinking that he said resulted from his time in the military. As revelations about him have surfaced — including his dismissive remarks online about rape and derogatory comments about women, as well as a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol — he has said his past behavior does not reflect who he is today. Mainers, he has urged, should not judge him for “the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago.” The critical accounts provided by three of the women interviewed by The Times, who were each in romantic relationships with him for years, give a fuller picture of Mr. Platner’s life. They shed light on an earlier era, when he has acknowledged intense struggles, but also raise questions about his more recent years in Maine, which his campaign has presented as a period of healing and personal redemption.

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‘Like two cats circling’: Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom weigh a 2028 showdown

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris have much in common, fellow Bay Area Democrats who insist they’re friends but don’t always act like it. They drew broad notice in the 2003 San Francisco election, leading an up-and-coming generation of California politicians—Newsom as mayor and Harris as district attorney—by turns bumping elbows over command of the microphone at news conferences. Newsom, 58 years old, and Harris, 61, have shared mentors, staffers, donors, friends and consultants for more than two decades, going neck and neck in the parochial world of Bay Area politics. They have exchanged endorsements and snubs, each wary of the other, according to people close to them. “They’ve been kind of like two cats, circling each other in an alley for years, politically speaking,” said Democratic strategist Garry South, who worked for Newsom.

The conspicuously liberal politicians live in exclusive locales at two ends of the Golden State —Harris in Malibu, Calif., and Newsom in Marin County—and appear on a collision course for the keys to the big white mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “Their trajectories have been so fast and put them in places of such prominence, there’s only one step up electorally for either of them at this point,” said Brian Brokaw, a Democratic consultant who has worked for both. Newsom, who is wrapping up his second term as California governor, is widely expected to mount a 2028 presidential bid. People close to Harris say she is undecided, still stung by her 2024 loss to President Trump. In April, Harris got a warm reception in New York from Black activists who chanted Run again! Run again! “I might,” she said. “I’m thinking about it.” Most early Democratic primary polls show them holding top slots in the field of potential presidential candidates, in what would be their first head-to-head contest. In recent months, they have been on dueling book tours. Harris, promoting her book, “107 Days,” sold out event spaces around the U.S. more than six months after its publication. Newsom later released his own book, a memoir titled “Young Man in a Hurry.” He, too, made the rounds in a promotional tour that included New York, South Carolina and Georgia.

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‘Unbelievable how accurate’: How paid influencers hype Polymarket’s odds

When far-right influencer Nick Shirley posted a viral video in January alleging fraud at Minnesota daycares, he showed his 1.6 million followers on X something else too: a gray hoodie emblazoned with the Polymarket logo. Polymarket had made other appearances in the 24-year-old’s content, like in a series of man-on-the-street interviews about the “current state of America” posted in December. The first post came after Shirley started to receive money from Polymarket’s chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber; the second came after he had taken in a total of $3,100 from Modabber, according to records reviewed by POLITICO.

Modabber, who once wrote that the key to growth is “a product people can’t shut up about,” was putting his money where his mouth is. The Polymarket executive used a personal PayPal account to send at least $350,000 to Shirley and other content creators between January 2025 and February 2026, an analysis of the transactions shows. That sum is almost certainly an undercount. Modabber used his personal PayPal account, which is registered to an email for a salad spot he co-founded, to send over $2.5 million to more than 800 people during the 14-month span, the analysis shows. POLITICO independently verified the identities of about two dozen content creators who received money from Modabber by using public records and analyzing their social media accounts. At least 20 of the content creators identified by POLITICO promoted Polymarket on social media after they started receiving money from Modabber, according to the payment records and POLITICO’s analysis of their social media activity.

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Trump's 'big beautiful bill' has a 'double taxation' trap for top earners, tax experts say

The “one big beautiful bill” came with many tax benefits for top earners, despite limiting how much they can deduct. However, lawyers and accountants for the wealthy said they have discovered a surprise buried in the footnotes of a tax law guide released last week by Congress’ policy staff that could amount to double taxation. The deduction cap is imposed on trusts and estates, the experts said, which was unexpected. Even if a trust gave all its income to its beneficiaries, it would have to pay taxes on a portion of that income, according to their interpretation of the document. While the consequences are steeper for trusts and estates of the ultra-wealthy, trusts with as little as $16,000 in income would also be subject to additional taxes, the experts said.

“There is potentially an element of double taxation,” said Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy at Huntington Bank. “This is something that is going to affect somebody with a $400,000 special-needs trust. It’s not just going to be something that $100 million dynasty trusts suffer with.” Griffith said he is especially concerned about trusts that are obligated to distribute all their income. Trusts will either have to sell assets to pay the taxes, sacrificing future investment returns, or reduce their distributions to beneficiaries, he said. This provision creates a “mathematical nightmare” for tax lawyers and financial advisors, according to Justin Miller, national director of wealth planning at Evercore Wealth Management. Miller gave the example of a wealthy couple wishing to leave their estate to charity. “If I have to pay income taxes, that means I’m giving less money to charity because I’m giving money to the IRS. That means I now have to adjust my deduction even more because less money is going to charity,” he said. “Did Congress really intend to create an algebraic formula?”

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Inside the UFC’s $60 million made-for-TV White House gambit

Dana White, the CEO of the MMA promotion, is betting that the unprecedented spectacle, sparked by a suggestion from President Trump, will deliver new fans to the sport and millions of eyeballs to Paramount+. The most audacious media spectacle in recent memory was hatched on the floor of Madison Square Garden, less than two weeks after the 2024 presidential election. On Nov. 16, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump walked into New York’s most famous arena to loud applause from a friendly crowd, as Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” played. Trump was there for UFC 309, and he was joined by Rock, Elon Musk and incoming Cabinet secretaries Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, among other dignitaries. But when he walked out, he did so alongside Dana White, the CEO of UFC.

Amid the fights, Trump took a moment to make a suggestion to White, a longtime personal friend dating back to the early days of UFC. “He leaned over to me and says, ‘We should do a fight at the White House,’” White recalls in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I said, ‘Yes, we should.’ I didn’t know what he meant … I was thinking maybe there’s some room that he’s thinking about where we’d have it. He’s like, ‘No, we’re gonna do it outside on the South Lawn.’” “When [White] initially mentioned the idea of putting on a UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House, I truly did not believe him. I thought he was kidding,” says Craig Borsari, the chief content officer of the UFC. “He’s funny, but he’s not a joke around kind of guy,” White says of Trump. “Literally, when he says something, consider it done.” And so that offhand suggestion will become a reality on June 14, when the MMA promotion hosts UFC Freedom 250 in a custom-built arena on the South Lawn of the White House, a made-for-TV (or at least streaming) event, the likes of which has never been seen before, and probably never will be again. A series of literal cage matches, set in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world, for an audience expected to include some of the most powerful people on earth, among them political leaders, celebrities and global CEOs, with UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings (led by CEO Ari Emanuel) betting on “Super Bowl-level” media exposure, and a defining moment for the company’s nascent $7.7 billion deal with Paramount Skydance (led by CEO David Ellison).

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Jan. 6 rioter is hired to work in sensitive Pentagon office

The Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office is a sensitive Defense Department branch responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots and asymmetric warfare, and making sure that U.S. commandos have everything they need to carry out their missions. The office now has a new asset: a Jan. 6 rioter who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol and to other offenses. Elias Irizarry, who was 19 on Jan. 6, 2021, eventually apologized for his actions. President Trump pardoned Mr. Irizarry on Inauguration Day last year when Mr. Trump began his second term by granting blanket clemency to Jan. 6 rioters.

It was unclear who was responsible for the appointment of Mr. Irizarry, which was reported earlier by The Washington Post. But the Pentagon’s acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, said in a statement that Mr. Irizarry “is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee.” Political appointees usually are selected by the office of the defense secretary or, in some cases, the White House. But one of the former leaders of the Special Operations office said the move could degrade public trust in the Pentagon. “The office he was hired for works with our most elite military units and on extremely sensitive national security issues,” said Michael Lumpkin, the assistant defense secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in the Obama administration. “It used to be that any possible negative perception about a hire like this would prevent it from happening. Today, it seems fealty is often more valued than expertise, sound judgment, or a strong moral compass.” On Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said, Mr. Irizarry, a former student at the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, entered the Capitol through a broken window on the Senate side, and roamed through the building armed with a metal pole. He found his way to a private conference room, where he was videotaped by one of his friends, Elliot Bishai, sitting in an armchair with the pole across his lap.

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In reversal from first term, DOD officially drops 180 faiths from military's recognized religion list

Military.com has learned that the Department of Defense, for the first time in almost 10 years, has dramatically reduced its number of recognized religious faiths and belief systems by approximately 180. The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from roughly 211 to its new number of 31. The changes were iterated in a May 20, 2026, memorandum issued by the Under Secretary of War and signed by Anthony Tata, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness of the United States, and obtained by Military.com. This latest revision to the faith codes comes at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to the Tata-signed memo, done to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.” It calls for the previously instituted faith and belief codes to be revised within a 60-day period from the issuance of the memorandum.

“The new list will provide chaplains with clear, readily available information that will better enable them to anticipate the religious support needs of service members and to provide religious support activities that align with service members’ personal faith and practices,” Tata wrote. He added that members will not be limited to the list of “religious affiliation codes” when selecting information for their dog tags. The revised list, according to documents obtained by Military.com, include Agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Islam (Muslims), Judaism, Sikh, and a wide range of Christian-based groups like Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists. This restructuring of faith codes, which help identity service members as well as the military in planning for appropriated religious coverage to include them, has now excluded minority faith/worldview groups including Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick, New Age churches, Pagan, Rosicrucianism, Shaman, Spiritualists, Troth, Unitarian Universalists and various Wiccans.

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Lead Stories

New World screwworm infestation detected in South Texas cattle: USDA

Officials with the Texas Animal Health Commission confirmed that an infestation of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite was detected in South Texas cattle, they said Wednesday. Officials explained on a call earlier Wednesday that the case was a ‘presumptive positive,’ which means preliminary tests were positive but that results needed to be confirmed, according to Reuters. A sample taken from two calves on a ranch in La Pryor, Texas, was tested at a federal government laboratory. The New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that feeds on the tissue of warm-blooded animals and people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The feeding can create large wounds on animals that result in “serious, often deadly” damage.

The fly is typically found in South America and the Caribbean, but the species has been tracking northward through Mexico since 2023, according to the USDA. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller on Wednesday criticized the USDA for a “slow, bureaucratic, and incomplete response that allowed the pest to advance unchecked through Mexico and reach American soil,” according to a statement from his office. Miller urged President Donald Trump to deploy the Screwworm Adult Suppression System (SWASS) to combat the bug in Texas. The system uses bait and EPA-approved pesticides to cut down on the insect population, and was developed by the USDA. “Mr. President, I am asking you to take direct control of this response,” Miller said. “Cut through the bureaucracy, deploy SWASS immediately, and throw every available federal resource at this threat before it becomes a full-blown agricultural disaster.”

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Texas leads nation in flood insurance cancellations as costs rise ahead of hurricane season

As hurricane season begins, Texas is losing flood insurance coverage faster than any other state in the nation, raising concerns among flood experts and researchers in a state with a long history of devastating floods. Data from the National Flood Insurance Program shows more than 45,000 flood insurance policies were canceled across Texas over the past 12 months, a decline of roughly 7.2%, according to figures reviewed by KPRC 2. Nationwide, flood insurance policies also declined, but at a significantly lower rate. The trend comes despite repeated flood disasters across Texas in recent years and as many homeowners continue to face rising housing, insurance and living costs. “We know it’s raining more. We know it’s raining more intensely and that rain is more unpredictable now than ever,” said Emily Woodell, chief external affairs officer for the Harris County Flood Control District. “That’s why flood insurance is more important now than perhaps ever before.”

Flooding has long been one of Texas’ most persistent natural hazards. Houston alone has experienced numerous major flood events, including Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, the Tax Day Flood of 2016 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The region’s extensive network of bayous was designed to move water away from homes and businesses, but flood officials say no system can eliminate flood risk entirely. “If you live in the Houston area, you are at risk of flooding,” Woodell said. She said flood control projects completed since Harvey have significantly reduced risk for many residents. “If that were to happen today, hundreds of thousands of homes would be in a better position than they were then,” Woodell said, referring to Harvey. “However, that risk still exists.” Woodell said periods without major flooding can lead some residents to become less focused on the threat. “Unless you’ve been hit recently, you’re right. You become complacent and it becomes much more of a comfortable issue versus one that you think you need to take action on,” she said. Still, she believes flood insurance remains essential for families across Harris County.

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H-1B crackdown on Indian workers erodes a Texas real estate boom

Zach Schneider points to a room just off the foyer of a $1 million model home north of Dallas. The 40-year-old builder has staged it with shelves and a dark wooden desk, done up like a typical study. But its tall, north-facing windows hint at the use it was designed for — as a puja room, a traditional Hindu prayer space. Down the hall there’s an area that could one day be redolent with turmeric, cumin and cardamom. “A spice kitchen,” he says, highlighting an optional upgrade that could appeal to a buyer from India. For almost a decade, South Asians have been the driving force behind this region’s building boom, one of the biggest in the US during the pandemic. They once accounted for 70% of sales at Schneider’s Tradition Homes. But in the past year they’ve dropped below 30%, leaving his family-owned company with a backlog of 125 luxury properties to sell. Since 2018 the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area has attracted more corporate headquarters relocations than anywhere else in the US, according to real estate company CBRE Group Inc., with manufacturing and tech firms leading the way.

Visa holders flocked to the new subdivisions spreading north through the suburbs of Prosper, Frisco and, most of all, Celina, where the population more than tripled in just five years. That helped make Collin and Denton the fastest-growing US counties among those with a population of at least 1 million, the most recent census data show. Collin also had the biggest percentage jump in Indian residents among large counties, climbing to an average of more than 116,000 in the five years through 2024, from 70,000 in the preceding five years. But the momentum is quickly reversing. Indian buyers are disappearing from the market as federal and state governments tighten H-1B restrictions and many of the tech companies that employed the new arrivals fire workers in favor of artificial intelligence. Prices in the Collin County suburbs north of Dallas in February dropped almost 9% from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 4% in the metro area as a whole, according to data from brokerage Redfin. The shift has knocked down home prices, slowed population expansion and risks eroding the tax base needed to fund schools and roads planned during a five-year growth streak. The changes also take a personal toll on immigrants because many have lived in the US for years and have established families and communities. Those on H-1B visas who lose their jobs not only face financial hardship but also risk having to return to their home countries if they can’t get sponsored for another position within 60 days.

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SpaceX’s IPO is set to be the biggest ever and could make Elon Musk a trillionaire

SpaceX says it plans to raise up to $75 billion when it goes public this month, setting the stage for the largest-ever stock market debut and putting Elon Musk on course to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said Wednesday it will sell 555.6 million shares at $135 a piece in an initial public offering. The estimated proceeds would easily top the $26 billion raised by oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019. The offering would also give SpaceX a market value of $1.77 trillion. Only six companies in the S&P 500 are currently worth more, with Nvidia tops at $5.2 trillion. Besides the size of the offering and the expected proceeds, SpaceX’s amended prospectus updates details about how much control of the company Musk will have. As SpaceX’s CEO, chief technical officer and chairman, Musk’s voting power will come primarily through his ownership of 5.22 billion Class B shares, which give the holder 10 votes for every share held. According to the filing, Musk would have 82.4% of the voting power in the company.

Forbes currently values Musk’s net worth at $826 billion and his stake in SpaceX at $542 billion. The estimated value of his SpaceX holdings was based on an overall value for the company of $1.25 trillion. Based on those numbers, a $1.77 trillion valuation for SpaceX would boost Musk’s net worth by $223 billion, making him a trillionaire. However, much of Musk’s worth is in stock that he has yet to cash in. Even as it makes a bid for a blockbuster market debut, SpaceX is currently losing billions of dollars a year. The filing shows that the company lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and the losses kept piling up at the start of this year, too. Time will tell how SpaceX fares on the market. Musk’s plans for the company are as fantastical as the money he hopes raise in the sale. Colorful, even frightening in parts, the IPO document strikes a contrast with the typically dry, technical prose in IPO documents, detailing plans to use proceeds from the sale to help put men on the moon again and perhaps even Mars. In one section, it talks of a need to build “a permanent human colony” on the red planet with “at least one million inhabitants” as existential threats loom that could consign man to “the same fate as the dinosaurs.” Musk has almost equally ambitious plans for his other publicly traded company, Tesla. His goal is to transform the maker of electric vehicles into a producer of robotaxis and humanoid robots. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities wrote in a research note that he expects Tesla and SpaceX to merge next year.

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State Stories

After 53 years in Travis County, Margaret Gómez retires with a call to learn from one another

Margaret Gómez, the longest-serving Travis County commissioner in history, is retiring early. She will continue her post overseeing Precinct 4 until June 11, when George Morales, who won the Democratic primary election for the seat last month, will be appointed to take over, Gómez said. Gómez, 81, said she is ready to step down after serving as a Travis County employee for nearly 53 years. Gómez originally planned to retire in December when her term ends, but she said after suddenly losing her ability to walk, it was "time to turn it over to somebody else."

“That was kind of something I couldn't really deal with because my love is to walk door to door,” she said. “If I can't walk anymore, it's just kind of like, well, what am I in this for? Because that was the way I always campaigned.” Gómez said she’s looking forward to listening to music, reading and “learning how to relax.” “Not jumping every time the phone rings, that kind of thing,” she said. Gómez began her career in Travis County in 1973 working for former County Commissioner Richard Moya, who was the first Mexican-American elected to public office in the county. In 1980, she became the county’s first elected female constable after defeating a 14-year incumbent. She was reelected three times, and in her tenure, cleared a backlog of more than 30,000 criminal warrants. Gómez was sworn in as the first female Mexican-American commissioner in 1995 and has held the position since.

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Google announces $10 million Water Impact Fund for Texas projects

Google on Wednesday announced its intentions to invest $10 million into Texas water as part of its broader commitment to manage water resources in the communities where it builds and operates data centers. The company said its Water Impact Fund would support water stewardship and restoration in the state, including protecting already existing water sources and developing or improving infrastructure. “Our goal is to minimize our local impacts so that our growth does not come at the expense of the communities we call home,” the company said in its announcement. The investment is part of Google’s larger announcement of $17 million for seven new projects across the country. Other states receiving funding are Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.

Water is critical to developing and operating data centers. As data centers generate heat from the servers and chips, companies will often rely on water to cut back on energy use needed for cooling. Water cooling can reduce data center energy use by about 10% compared with air cooling, according to Google, which said the aggregate water consumption of U.S. data centers is less than 1% of the water that Americans use on their lawns annually. “The science is showing that water can just have this really, really remarkable ability to reduce the energy consumption of data centers, which helps to support grid constraints and energy affordability in the communities where we operate,” Ben Townsend, Google’s head of infrastructure strategy and sustainability told The Dallas Morning News in an interview. “But, we also know that water is a vital resource, and it is plentiful in some areas and very scarce in others, and because of this, we know that water has to be prioritized.” Google’s new water stewardship commitments include replenishing more water than it consumes at its sites by 2030, helping to modernize water and wastewater infrastructure, protecting at-risk watersheds with air-cooled solutions, reporting its annual water use transparently and pursuing alternative and reclaimed solutions to protect water sources.

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Republican candidate for Harris County commissioner escalates effort to remove incumbent from office

A Harris County commissioner candidate has elevated efforts to remove Commissioner Adrian Garcia from office, arguing in a Texas Supreme Court filing that Garcia’s seat should have become vacant when he was appointed to the Gulf Coast Protection District. The filing in the state’s highest court came after the First Court of Appeals denied Republican candidate Richard Vega’s legal effort in April and ruled that Garcia can keep his seat on the Harris County Commissioners Court. Vega, who is facing Garcia in November’s election, is seeking a ruling to vacate Garcia’s position on commissioners court. He said such a vacancy could allow a special election to be called before a vote on the county budget and taxe rate in mid-September — potentially adding another Republican vote to the Democratically-held commissioners court during fiscal year 2027 budget discussions.

“The partisan split on Commissioners’ Court is currently 4-1, but if the election is held, it could again yield a 3-2 split,” according to the recent filing. “This is a choice for the voters to make. But it reflects how important it is for the Court.” According to state law, however, the county judge is charged with appointing a commissioner’s successor if their seat suddenly becomes vacant before the next general election. Similarly, commissioners court is charged with appointing interims when other county officials vacate their seats — including the recent appointment of former Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin to the county attorney's position. Scott Spiegel, a spokesperson for Garcia’s office, called the latest legal filing a last-ditch effort and a waste of taxpayer money. "It should be noted that two courts have already dismissed these baseless and ludicrous claims,” Spiegel said Tuesday. “The relief the plaintiff seeks is not allowable under the Texas Constitution. We will be having no further comment at this time." A spokesperson for the county attorney’s office said there is no provision in state law for filling a commissioners court seat by special election. The county clerk’s office, which manages elections, deferred questions to the county attorney’s office.

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Policy expert exits Mayor Jones’ office, upping total departures to 8

Policy expert Sophia Alejandro has become the latest staffer in Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ office to leave, bringing the total number of staff exits within the past year to eight, Jones’ office confirmed Wednesday. Even so, the mayor’s office declined to discuss the reasons behind the departure by Alejandro, a Baylor University alum with a master’s in public administration from George Washington University. Alejandro joined the office in October to help Jones implement her agenda. Word of Alejandro’s exit comes less than 24 hours after Jones’ office announced the hiring of TikTok realtor MarkAnthony Ball to help with the mayor’s social media presence. The departure also comes after both Jones’ chief of staff, Jenise Carroll, and deputy chief of staff, Pat Wallace, left within a week of one another.

Other staffers who have left Jones’ office within the first year of her four-year term include: Jordan Abelson, who served as chief of staff from June 2025 until July 2025; Anna San Miguel, who served as special assistant from August 2025 until October 2025; Rory Vance, who oversaw event services from June 2025 until September 2025; Gary Cooper, who briefly served as communications director in August 2025; Carlos de Leon, who briefly served as communications director during October 2025 Former staffers have complained about difficult working conditions on the 2nd floor of City Hall. One former staffer, who spoke to the Current on condition of anonymity after leaving the office, said Jones was disrespectful to staff and created a toxic work environment. Meanwhile, an ex-campaign staffer, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity after signing an NDA, maintained Jones was difficult to work with and often ignored her staff’s advice. Separately, a person familiar with City Hall matters recalled an incident in which Jones hastened a staffer’s resignation by publicly dressing the person down for taking a seat at a meeting.

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Zapata County landowners say border wall contractors bulldozed property before agreements were signed

Landowners and border wall opponents in Zapata County say contractors bulldozed property near San Ygnacio this week before landowners signed right-of-entry agreements or went through condemnation proceedings, raising new questions about property rights and the pace of border wall construction in South Texas. Elsa Hull, who lives near San Ygnacio and has been involved in opposition to the project, said she went to the riverfront Tuesday after receiving reports of bulldozing near the Rio Grande. "I received a message that border wall contractors were dozing on private property without permission. That came as a big shock to me," Hull said.

Hull said an elderly landowner showed her where contractors had bulldozed through an irrigation line and cleared vegetation on his property. "He has a boat ramp, and he had an irrigation line, and they dozed right through his property, severed his irrigation line," Hull said. "Now he can't get water up there, he can't withdraw water, and they destroyed all these trees, cut a huge swath through his property." Hull said she later observed similar activity on two nearby properties and that two of the three affected landowners had received right-of-entry requests from the federal government but had not signed them. "Neither one of them had signed," Hull said. "No one had been taken to court to condemn the property, and nobody's received compensation." Hull said federal officials asserted that the land being cleared was already government property because it falls within a floodplain along the river. "They come back and they say that anything in the flood plain along the entire length of the river is federal government property," Hull said. Hull said the landowners possess deeds showing their property extends to the Rio Grande and questioned why right-of-entry requests had been sent if the land was already federally owned.

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Bell Textron lays off hundreds of Fort Worth and Texas employees

Bell Textron has laid off approximately 285 employees across its Amarillo, Fort Worth and Wichita sites, according to a letter from Bell Textron CEO Danny Maldonado. Bell Textron is an American helicopter and aerospace manufacturer based in northeast Fort Worth near Hurst. The letter says that these layoffs affect the members working on the MV-75 programs the most. The MV-75 is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell. The Star-Telegram reached out to Bell about the exact number of employees affected and no one responded immediately. According to Bell’s website, “The MV-75 strengthens every mission soldiers execute — speed and range cut medevac timelines to save lives, deliver long-range assault forces from safer launch points, and bring agility to humanitarian operations in the toughest terrain.”

Maldonado said as the company moves from design to production, it has to make “additional adjustments to align our overall cost structure with current funding and business needs.” Company officials shared that getting clarity from the government on the funding for this fiscal spending year showed them that layoffs were necessary to align with “current funding and budget realities.” The CEO made it clear that these decisions were based on funding and not employee behavior. “These decisions are not a reflection of the value of the team or the importance of the mission,” Maldonado said. “They are about ensuring we stay aligned to the program, protect long-term success, and position ourselves to deliver what matters most.” In addition to layoffs, Bell is entering a four-week furlough period for certain staff on the MV-75 team that begins June 14. Employees affected by the furlough are expected to receive notice within the next few days, according to Maldonado. Maldonado wrote that it’s “incredibly difficult” to watch colleagues leave who have made such an impact. “The first flight of the MV-75 remains paramount, and long-term prospects for 2027 and beyond remain strong. This is not about stopping momentum; it is about responsibly managing our resources to ensure we can deliver on our commitments,” he said.

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Here is who gave Mayor Jones her playoff tickets to see the Spurs

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones cheered on the Spurs just a few rows away from the court last week thanks to Tullos Wells, co-chair of the Tobin Endowment and former outside legal counsel for Spurs Sports & Entertainment. A season ticket holder since the 1990s, Wells gave Jones two tickets to the Spurs' Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder last week. He said he couldn’t make the game because he was visiting Boston. He had two tickets behind the Spurs' bench every playoff game, but he said he gave most of his tickets to friends. He said he doesn’t recall giving any to other elected officials during the Spurs' playoff run.

Wells, an attorney, said he has spoken to Jones only a couple of times. Jones reached out to him last month to pick his brain about San Antonio’s business community. They talked for more than an hour in the lobby of a downtown hotel. They didn’t talk about the Spurs or plans for a publicly financed downtown arena for the team. Jones has had a tense relationship with the Spurs organization. She unsuccessfully fought last summer to slow down City Council’s adoption of arena financing agreement with SS&E and Bexar County, and she has argued the team owner should share revenue generated from a new facility — which SS&E has called a non-starter. Wells offered Jones his tickets for Game 6 during their conversation. He recalled telling her that “the mayor needs to show up at a Spurs game and show the flag.” “I think it’s important that the mayor be there and understand better what role the Spurs play in this community,” he added.

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'A lot of concern': Mark Cuban expresses worry over future of Victory Park, downtown Dallas

Mark Cuban's transformative impact on the Dallas-Fort Worth multiplex could be most felt in the area of downtown Dallas known as Victory Park, in which Victory Avenue runs through, tucked snuggly between I-35E and the Woodall Rodgers Freeway. The crown jewel of this once-ascendant mix of business development, upscale entertainment choices, and high-priced retail became the American Airlines Center upon its opening in 2001. One of the people most involved in that stadium's development, and its earned status as the home for major league sports in Dallas, was the former Dallas Mavericks principal owner Cuban, now a minority owner, meaning he's basically in the same position as anyone else who is searching for answers in the wake of the Mavs' decision this week to purchase land at the former site of the Valley View Mall in North Dallas.

In an email exchange with WFAA, Cuban spoke of his concern for the future of what is expected to now be the former site of both the Mavs and the Stars, who right after the Mavs' announcement, made public their plans to develop a new arena in Plano at the former Shops at Willow Bend site. "A lot of concern," Cuban wrote to WFAA about his main reaction to the news. "And (concern) for the people that have businesses down there. Who live down there to be close to games." Even with his reduced influence on the Mavs' future plans, Cuban has remained an endorser of the Mavericks remaining in Dallas, he reaffirmed that belief in 2024 while at the same time stating that the chances of the Mavs staying at the AAC being "less than 50%." As news of the Valley View development choice emerged this week, Cuban told the House of Haymaker podcast that it was a "great choice" and an option he considered before selling his majority share of the team. Overall, Cuban sees the eventual choice made as potentially transformative for another area of Dallas, but he still tells us that he hopes both his team and the Stars retain some connection to the Victory Park area. "I hope both teams do something to help (Victory Park)," Cuban tells WFAA.

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Patrick joins GOP leaders in lining up behind Bo French

Roughly a year after Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Bo French's inflammatory comments did not reflect Republican values, he is now backing French for the Texas Railroad Commission. French, a hard-right conservative who last week won the GOP runoff for the three-member commission that regulates the state's oil and gas industry, said he spoke with Patrick by phone Monday night. “The takeaway is that Republicans are unified and working together to defeat the slate of radicals the Democrats have offered up,” French, the former Tarrant County GOP chairman, posted Tuesday.

Patrick had backed Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in the runoff. French narrowly defeated Wright and will face state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, D-Houston, in November. The call is another sign Republicans are rallying behind their nominees after a bruising primary season. French earlier announced endorsements from GOP commissioners Christi Craddick and Wayne Christian, who also supported Wright in the runoff. Despite opposition from much of the Republican establishment in the runoff, French attracted strong support from Texas' MAGA base. His social media posts have often featured anti-Muslim rhetoric, calls for mass deportations and slurs targeting people with disabilities and LGBTQ people. Neither Patrick's campaign nor French responded to requests for comment about the call. Over the weekend, Patrick's campaign issued a statement endorsing the Republican ticket but did not mention French by name. “I said that if voters whose candidates lost the primary refuse to support the winners in November, Texas will turn blue,” Patrick said. “These races were tough on all sides. But we must come together as one party to defeat the crazy left, who are a threat to our great state.” Patrick's history with French is unusual. Last year, he called on French to resign as Tarrant County GOP chair after French posted a poll asking whether Jews or Muslims posed a greater threat to the country. French did not resign but he later deleted the poll and said he regretted posting it.

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Nearly 180 ICE detainees quarantined at Camp East Montana for possible measles exposure

Nearly 180 detainees are under quarantine for possible measles exposure at Camp East Montana, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Fort Bliss, city health officials told El Paso Matters on Wednesday. The facility initiated quarantine after 16 detainees were identified as contacts of two confirmed measles cases at a detention facility in Arizona, city officials said. The detainees arrived at Camp East Montana before the Arizona measles cases were confirmed, Dr. Hector Ocaranza, city and county health authority, said in an email statement to El Paso Matters. City, state and federal officials didn’t say when the quarantine began.

But it appears the quarantine started at the detention center several days before state and local health officials were notified of possible measles exposures. A Catholic group was turned away Sunday from a planned Mass and told there was a quarantine to protect against measles spread, said a person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified. The chain of communication among federal, state and local authorities raises questions about whether ICE delayed notification on potentially serious public health matters. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, there were no detainees at Camp East Montana showing symptoms of measles, and no indication of measles spread in the El Paso community linked to these exposures, Ocaranza said. Chris Van Deusen, a spokesperson for the state health department, said a group of detainees were also quarantined for measles exposure at the West Texas Detention Facility in Sierra Blanca. The detention centers are quarantining because of different possible exposures to measles cases in other states, he said in an email.

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David Brockman: ‘Fake’ Christian? or Faithful?

“One of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian.” That’s how conservative New York Times columnist David French recently characterized James Talarico and the Texas Democrat’s “faith-forward” campaign for the U.S. Senate. It should come as no surprise that Talarico walks the Christian walk: He’s currently on leave from his training for the ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (APTS). However, given the MAGA Christian response to the young politician-seminarian, you might think it was the Antichrist running for the Senate. He’s been called “demonic,” a “fake Christian,” and “blasphemous,” with “very, very radical and extreme views.” One Newsmax host accused him of using “fake passages from the Bible, tortured and misrepresented.” Talarico has drawn fire for characterizing God as “nonbinary,” though he later explained he meant God is “beyond gender” (a common theological notion). U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson, an Amarillo Republican, said the statement showed Talarico is “a full-on RADICAL LEFTIST!!”

Such over-the-top rhetoric is a sad fact of life in this age of post-truth hyperbole. But the ferocity of anti-Talarico invective reveals a deep and very public clash between two distinct ways of being Christian. While MAGA Christians insist that the Bible dictates their anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant Christian nationalism, the Mainline Protestant tradition—of which Talarico’s Presbyterian Church (USA) is a part—has a very different understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, one that leads to a politics precisely opposite from that of MAGA Christians. Within this Mainline tradition, Talarico is quite orthodox. His campaign, then, and the shrill attacks it provokes from right-wing Christians, is a vivid reminder of just how varied Christianity is. And paradoxically, Talarico’s unabashedly biblical politics also underscore the imperative of defending our nation’s venerable, but now vulnerable, tradition of church-state separation. So strongly does Talarico’s campaign foreground his Christian faith that The New Yorker claims his platform is basically the New Testament. That’s a bit of an overstatement.

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Lisa Falkenberg: Mike Miles’ HISD reforms are hurting my daughter’s school: ‘Mom, I don’t even have an English teacher’

Stuck in traffic one morning in October, I tried to make small talk with my 13-year-old daughter in the back seat. “What are you reading these days?” I asked. “Nothing,” she said. Nothing. I felt a thud in my soul. This was the same big-eyed girl, the same consummate straight-A student who, just a few years earlier, had to have her nose physically dislodged from a book several times a day so the family could reacquaint ourselves with her face. In elementary school during the pandemic, she finished “Little Women” in two days. If you had asked her if she loved reading, she might have responded similarly to Scout Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”: “I never loved to read. One does not love to breathe.”

“You’re not reading anything?” I prodded the middle-schooler. “Not even in English class?” She paused, giving me a look that said I should know better. “Mom,” she said. “I don’t even have an English teacher.” Ah, yes. I had forgotten. For months, I had written about other schools within Houston ISD, scrutinizing superintendent Mike Miles’ reforms in the state’s takeover, his closure of libraries and sidelining of storybooks, all the while harboring some relief that my own three kids’ campuses had been somewhat insulated from the changes. Until this year, that is, when the district’s instability, fluctuating expectations and teacher exodus hurt my kid, too. Some like to pretend that Miles’ move-fast-and-break-things approach is only affecting students at the poorest-performing schools for whom any change must be better than what they had. That's not true. The Houston Chronicle has reported that aspects of Miles’ controversial curriculum or instructional model have seeped into virtually all of HISD’s 274 campuses. That includes some of the highest-performing schools that never needed academic rehabilitation in the first place. These are schools for which families sweat lottery admissions to gain entry, and some even buy houses or rent apartments just to be zoned to them.

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Grimes County approves tax break for SpaceX chip facility

Grimes County officials approved a tax break for a SpaceX chipmaking facility on Wednesday, supporting a $55 billion project that could create 1,800 jobs and transform this rural area outside of College Station. More than 100 people attended Wednesday’s public hearing. They largely expressed concerns about their rural way of life, impacts to property values and local businesses, SpaceX’s lack of transparency and potential effects to the environment. A handful of people spoke in support of the project.

After hours of public comments, four of the five county commissioners, including the county judge, voted in favor of providing SpaceX with a tax abatement agreement. The deal waives the company’s property taxes in exchange for SpaceX paying $10 million to the county upfront and then $20 million a year for the 35-year period. The proposed facility, which SpaceX is calling Terafab, is still in its early stages. But Grimes County is poised to become home to a major chipmaking facility. “Texas is where the integrated circuit was born and where the future of the semiconductor industry is being built,” Andrew Mahaleris, press secretary for Gov. Greg Abbott, said in a statement released before Wednesday’s hearing. Chips, also commonly called semiconductors, are found in nearly all electronic devices. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is building Terafab to create chips for its Starlink broadband internet satellites and the data centers it plans to launch into space, according to John Federspiel, who said he’s leading the Terafab project for SpaceX.

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National Stories

AI data center demand “larger than we’re prepared for” despite “existential investment” - report

Data center demand “could be larger than we’re prepared for,” with vacancy entering record lows of two percent, and global AI usage surging, according to a report from Newmark. Newmark’s 2026 Data Center Market Outlook report showed that, in a scenario where AI usage reaches levels similar to Internet or smartphone adoption, an additional 250GW of capacity would be required, far exceeding currently planned AI-data center capacity. While conceding that this is an “aggressive but still plausible scenario,” the report argued that this prediction doesn’t even account for increases in enterprise workloads, Edge compute, or AI training, which Newmark said is forecast to grow by 3x annually through 2030.

“This scenario leaves the market in a catch-22: the binding constraint on mass AI adoption is new capacity coming online, and the binding constraint on new capacity is power,” the report said, “In the meantime, hyperscalers, developers, and their partners continue to pour capital into the buildout at an accelerating pace, considering it an ‘existential investment.’ As constraints sharpen and demand rises, the goalposts for spending continue to move higher.” Various firms and organizations have tried to put an estimate on the amount of investment required to meet rapidly growing data center demand, with some suggesting staggering sums of up to $3 trillion over the next five years. Last year, data center investment topped $580 billion and beat investment in new oil supply for the first time. And in 2026, hyperscalers alone are expected to spend $700bn to meet their data center commitments. Newmark’s report also examined the boosted demand for core industrial real estate driven by the level of spending on data center construction, termed the “halo effect.” Spending on data center construction is now up by nearly 400 percent since 2020, significantly boosting demand for warehouses, industrial outdoor storage, and manufacturing facilities.

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The meltdown inside ‘60 Minutes’

Emotions were running high again at CBS News. Longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley had delivered a rebuke of CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss at a staff meeting Monday, accusing her of “murdering” the storied news show. He also criticized her choice of Nick Bilton as a new executive producer. In the hours after his remarks, Weiss and other senior leaders debated how to proceed, people familiar with the matter said. The executives believed Pelley’s behavior was insubordinate and a fireable offense, but decided to speak with him to discuss his future at the network. David Ellison, CEO of CBS parent Paramount spoke with Weiss about how she would approach that conversation, people familiar with the situation said. The fraught circumstances of Pelley’s departure illustrate a broader moment of crisis within CBS News and its signature show.

So went another wild week at CBS News. In the past six days, “60 Minutes,” its signature show, parted ways with three high-profile correspondents, turned over its top editorial and producing ranks and sparked a staff mutiny. Just three of the show’s correspondents, who introduce themselves to viewers at the start of each episode, remain: Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker. Weiss has made significant changes to CBS News’ roster of talent, programming and operations since taking over last October following Paramount’s purchase of her news and opinion platform, the Free Press, for $150 million. In the process, her editorial choices and growing pains as a new TV executive have drawn the ire of many longtime staffers, particularly at “60 Minutes.” Spats between Weiss’s roster of deputies and the show’s stars have morphed into a fight over the future and soul of the program. The most recent season of “60 Minutes” had a 9% increase in viewership from the year prior, according to Nielsen data. Weiss’s supporters see her strategy at CBS as a painful but necessary retrofitting of a stultified news operation to compete in a modern era, one in which waning audience trust and splintering viewership are challenging broadcasters. Her detractors say the decisions are politically motivated and have further eroded the credibility of a long-successful network.

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Senators privately ask Platner whether new allegations will emerge

In a private meeting Tuesday with some Senate Democrats, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner attempted to quell growing concerns from some in the party that a string of negative revelations about his life had jeopardized his candidacy. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders asked Platner if any additional allegations would emerge against the embattled Democratic candidate, according to people familiar with the discussion. Platner said there weren’t any. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who also attended the meeting, followed up and said there is a big difference between marital issues and allegations of sexual assault, the people said. Platner agreed and denied any credible allegations of assault were forthcoming. “It’s not a secret I’ve had a messy, complicated life,” he told the senators, one of the people said. “The worst of the rumors we’ve all heard are not true.”

The meeting with some of Platner’s biggest supporters in the Senate (Sanders and Warren have both endorsed him), ended with most of the group continuing to express support for the neophyte politician. But the gathering also underscored that Platner’s campaign had entered crisis mode. Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported Platner engaged in sexually explicit texts with other women while married, prompting concerns among Democrats that his personal life could imperil the party’s shot at flipping one of the Senate’s most competitive seats. “I have no idea” if more shoes will drop, Sen. Peter Welch (D., Vt.) said a day after attending the meeting. Asked if Platner had been reassuring, Welch said, “He was very explicit that he accepts the right of Maine voters to ask him questions about his personal life and his responsibility to answer those questions.” Others who attended the meeting said they remained convinced Platner was the right candidate. “I didn’t go in needing assurance and I left feeling confident,” said Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.), who described herself as “excited” about Platner’s candidacy.

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Senate GOP leaders’ rough day ahead

President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday night that he’ll formally nominate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the post full-time. This will be a difficult nomination for Senate Republicans. There’s no guarantee that Blanche — Trump’s formal personal lawyer — can even get through the Judiciary Committee, much less get confirmed by the full Senate. More on Blanche and Senate Republicans below. Reconciliation now. It’s going to be a really long day for Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso. The GOP leadership duo is in for a marathon of twisting arms and whipping votes on two pieces of legislation that have little in common except for this: Trump has made passing them much harder than it needed to be. Trump is causing Senate Republicans a ton of heartburn right now. GOP senators really want to wrap up the reconciliation bill funding ICE and Border Patrol, find a long-term solution for FISA Section 702 and move on to other priorities, like the long-stalled bipartisan affordable housing bill.

Vulnerable Republicans are desperate to show they’re trying to address the high cost of living, the top issue for voters. And GOP leaders want to be talking about their economic program — mostly the One Big Beautiful Bill’s tax cuts — amid a Democratic barrage over affordability. Instead, Trump is lobbing problems at Senate Republicans in the middle of crucial legislative fights. Just in the last few weeks, the Trump administration tried to secure $1 billion for White House ballroom security, unveiled the “anti-weaponization” fund as the reconciliation bill was about to pass and tapped Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence days before another FISA deadline. All of these moves derailed elements of the GOP’s agenda while heightening tensions between Trump and Senate Republicans. The Pulte standoff is far from solved and could tank FISA reauthorization altogether. Yet Trump isn’t showing any signs he cares much at all about Congress. Now Trump wants to formally confirm Blanche as the nation’s top law-enforcement official. This comes just weeks after a hostile meeting between Blanche and Senate Republicans over the “anti-weaponization” fund that left GOP senators fuming and delayed the reconciliation bill. And for Senate Republicans, Trump’s move on Blanche could pave the way for the president to further erode their power on nominations. Floor action. First up today is the GOP reconciliation bill, which has been stalled for two weeks over the weaponization fund fiasco. Despite assurances from Blanche that the fund won’t move forward, some GOP senators want to codify that promise into law, especially as Trump is still actively defending the fund. Several Republicans have indicated they’d oppose the bill on final passage if it doesn’t include such language. GOP leaders can’t lose more than three votes on final passage. “We need to take action here. It’s creating headwinds that we don’t need,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who told us it’d be “hard” for him to support the reconciliation bill without language on the fund. “If we’ve got the acting AG saying it’s done, then let’s just stick a fork in it.”

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Trump says he plans to nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he planned to formally nominate acting attorney general Todd Blanche for a full term as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, signaling confidence in his former personal defense lawyer’s leadership of a department over which the president has sought to exert unprecedented control. Trump announced his intention to move forward Thursday with the nomination during a White House dinner Wednesday evening, according to a video of his remarks posted to social media by deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino. “We are going to make him permanent attorney general,” Trump said. Blanche has held the job on a temporary basis since Trump fired former attorney general Pam Bondi earlier this year.

Trump’s decision to back Blanche for a permanent term will kick off a Senate confirmation process that could face tough headwinds. Some Republican senators have already expressed hesitation about supporting Blanche for the job, raising questions about recent comments in which they believed he appeared to excuse violence committed during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. More recently, Blanche faced open revolt from some portions of the Republican caucus in the Senate, as he unsuccessfully sought to defend a deal struck to settle legal claims Trump had filed against the government with the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who believe they have been victims of politicized prosecutions. Facing bipartisan backlash, Blanche returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to announce that plans for the fund had been scuttled. Trump has repeatedly expressed approval for Blanche’s performance in his temporary post, including the day after Blanche‘s reversal on the settlement deal. “Todd’s doing a very good job at DOJ,” the president said during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the New York Post podcast, Pod Force One. Trump added, “I wanted to see how he’s received. ... We put him as acting, and he’s done a very good job, but I’ve known him a long time.”

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House passes Iran war powers resolution in bipartisan rebuke to Trump

The House on Wednesday voted to direct President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the conflict with Iran or win approval from Congress to continue the war, after four Republicans sided with Democrats in a striking sign of growing opposition to a military campaign now in its fourth month. Adoption of the resolution was a remarkable rebuke to Mr. Trump and his handling of the conflict, after he has repeatedly dismissed any effort by Congress to curb his power and as the G.O.P. has largely ceded its prerogatives to do so, deferring to him time and again. Republicans had abruptly postponed the vote two weeks ago, recognizing that they did not have sufficient votes to defeat the measure and wanting to spare themselves and the president the affront. But they made no headway over the ensuing days in winning converts, as the conflict has dragged on and Mr. Trump has made little progress toward ending it.

G.O.P. leaders were unable to delay the vote any longer because Democrats had invoked the War Powers Resolution, which requires consideration of such measures within a limited period of time. The move was also the latest reflection of divisions between Republicans in Congress and the president on a range of issues as their interests diverge in the run-up to the midterm congressional elections. It came after Senate Republicans have in recent days forced Mr. Trump to abandon his request for $1 billion in security funding for his ballroom project and a plan that the Justice Department announced to create a federal fund to pay claimants who accuse the government of having victimized them. The vote was 215 to 208 to adopt the war powers resolution, sending it to the Senate. Even if it were to pass both chambers, the ability of lawmakers to force a president to withdraw troops remains a contested legal question, and Mr. Trump and his senior aides have dismissed any effort by Congress to limit his war powers as unconstitutional.

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New York Democrats give preliminary approval to redistricting amendment

New York Democrats gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a constitutional amendment allowing them to redraw the state’s congressional lines in advance of the 2028 elections. The state Legislature’s vote formally kicks off what’s likely to be several years of bitter partisan feuds over whether blue New York should join the national redistricting wars. “You have Black members of Congress being specifically targeted,” Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris said during the floor debate, referring to new maps that have been drawn in Republican-dominated states. “Of course Republican members of this body will say, ‘No, don’t fight fire with fire, don’t respond.’” The amendment to allow mid-decade changes to the maps can’t be finalized unless the Legislature approves it again next year and voters pass it as a referendum in November 2027.

Republicans and Democrats are expected to pour tens of millions of dollars, if not more, into that vote that could move up to four GOP seats to the Democratic column. And Democrats are doing everything they can to ensure that goes as smoothly as possible — they’re poised to approve a separate bill on Thursday that would give them the power to determine the wording of the referendum. “There is going to be a rigging of the system,” Republican Sen. George Borrello said. “We’re going to say the words just right, pour a ton of money into the propaganda, and try to convince people this is in their best interest.” Democrats decided to take an aggressive approach with the amendment after months of debating how far they should go. Not only would it allow for new lines before the next Census, but it’d permanently remove the state’s restrictions on maps drawn to benefit parties or incumbents. Wednesday’s state Senate debate was largely an argument over history. Republicans repeatedly dusted off quotes from Gianaris and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins from when they worked with former New York City Mayor Ed Koch 15 years ago to call for more independent redistricting. Lines like “voters choose their elected officials rather than elected officials choose their voters” repeatedly resurfaced.

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Republicans rocked by Trump’s midterm approach

Republicans hoping to keep control of Congress in a tough election year have been thrown off-balance by President Trump’s focus on foreign policy, pet projects, and statements dismissing the importance of the midterms and cost-of-living issues. To be sure, Trump’s team is putting its shoulder into the midterm operations. The president has helped to catapult fundraising and clamp down on primary infighting that could distract from a unified message. But as Republicans were trying to roll out messaging on tax cuts, Trump’s actions in Iran dominated the headlines and national attention. And Trump in recent weeks has outright said cost of living and keeping control of Congress are not a part of the calculus in his approach to Iran — saying “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” and “I don’t care about the midterms.”

That’s left some Republicans scratching their heads. “Of course, that was frustrating,” one GOP operative said. “There is going to be a need to talk about the economy no matter what, because that’s always going to be the top issue.” Trump’s defenders note the president made the comments in the context of U.S. negotiations with Iran, and Republicans publicly insist his team is active in the 2026 fight. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that Trump is “absolutely” focused on the midterms. In a three-hour meeting with the president Monday, Johnson said, “we talked about domestic policy almost the entire time.” “This president is more laser focused and more dialed in on domestic issues here in the homeland than any president in memory,” Johnson said. “He spends more time working on domestic issues in one day than Joe Biden did in four.” The Republican National Committee (RNC) referred to Trump as “the party’s strongest messenger, biggest turnout driver, and the key to Republican success in the midterms.”

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Lead Stories

ERCOT votes to streamline process for data centers looking to join the power grid

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) voted Tuesday to streamline its process for data centers looking to connect to the power grid. The vote comes as ERCOT is wading through a massive backlog of data centers and other large energy users — such as cryptocurrency miners and industrial facilities — looking to join the grid. In the past, these so-called "large loads" would go to their local utility company and ask to join the power grid. However, with so many data centers looking to connect, that’s no longer feasible. It’s hard to evaluate whether there’s enough transmission equipment — such as power lines and transformers — to connect a data center to the grid in a given area, when other nearby projects are constantly being proposed.

"That sequential evaluation of projects was growing untenable," said Bryan Clark, a partner at the global energy law firm Bracewell LLP's Dallas office. Now, ERCOT is planning to evaluate data centers in batches, rather than individually. Its board voted to move forward with the first combined study of data centers, known as "Batch Zero," on Tuesday. The new process will now go to the Public Utility Commission of Texas for approval on June 18. "Batch Zero is necessary as ERCOT intends to transition the large load interconnection process from an individual study-based approach to a batch study-based approach that allocates available transmission capacity for studied and committed large loads," ERCOT said in a statement to Houston Public Media. The new process has drawn widespread interest from technology leaders looking to develop in Texas, who have provided hours of public comment to ERCOT.

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$8.4B boost did not shield Texas schools from budget cuts, educators say

Nearly $8.4 billion in new state funding was not enough to save Texas public school districts from budget shortfalls and campus closures, school administrators said June 1. During a nearly 10-hour public hearing at the state Capitol, school district leaders spoke of efforts to stretch their budgets amid high inflationary costs as teachers explained their decisions to leave the classroom due to pay cuts and large class sizes. Last year, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 2, a sweeping school finance bill designed to increase educator salaries, create a new pot of money for fixed costs, provide more training for teachers and boost special education resources. HB 2 sent approximately $8.4 billion to public schools after six years of largely stagnant state funding.

The measure also included a $55 increase to the base amount of per-student funding schools receive from the state, known as the basic allotment. That increase fell short of what some school leaders requested to keep up with inflation, although many groups lauded the passage of HB 2 as a whole, Community Impact reported. At the time, lawmakers said they hoped HB 2 would help offset growing financial pressures faced by some districts, and help schools recruit and retain experienced educators. Roughly one year later, districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are cutting staff and closing campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Austin ISD faces a $181 million shortfall for FY 2026-27 and is closing 10 campuses, while Judson ISD plans to close four schools to reduce its $37 million budget shortfall. Plano ISD recently announced a $44 million shortfall. “We live, figuratively speaking, paycheck to paycheck,” said Alejos Salazar, superintendent of Lasara ISD in South Texas. “We depend on you all to educate our kids.”

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Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announces resignation after nearly four years in office

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced Tuesday that she is resigning effective July 17, closing a nearly four-year tenure as the state’s top election official. “It has been an honor to serve the people of Texas in this role,” Nelson said in a statement. “My time as Secretary came at an important moment for Texas, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as an agency in under four years.” Elected to the position in 2023, Nelson presided over seven statewide elections totaling 27 million ballots cast and oversaw grants to counties aimed at strengthening election integrity, according to a press release. “It has been my goal to ensure that voting in Texas is secure, accessible and fair,” she said in a statement.

Gov. Greg Abbott praised Nelson’s service and called her a “true champion for the people of Texas” and said, “Texas is better because of it.” A press release also touted record business activity during her tenure, with 3 million active business filers and the launch of Texas Express, an expedited filing service for the state. Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Nelson served three decades in the Texas Senate, where she became the first woman to chair the Senate Finance Committee.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton and Sen. Angela Paxton's divorce trial cancelled, officials say

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – who is running for U.S. Senator against James Talarico in November – and his wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, have had their divorce trial canceled and taken off the docket, WFAA has learned. The Paxtons filed for divorce in July 2025 amid allegations of Ken Paxton committing adultery, WFAA previously reported. In a statement posted to X at the time, Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) wrote: "I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage."

In December 2025, they unsealed their divorce records, and WFAA reviewed the 50-plus pages of court documents. The divorce documents had little detail about Ken Paxton's infidelity, which played a role in his unsuccessful impeachment trial in Austin in 2023. "Respondent has committed adultery," Angela Paxton's lawyers wrote in her petition for divorce she filed against the AG on July 10. Now, the court has told WFAA that Judge Bob Brotherton had canceled the trial, citing that "the parties are not ready to proceed with trial at this time." In a statement to WFAA, Ken Paxton's lawyers, Laura Roach and Jared Julian, said "the parties have jointly agreed that a trial setting is no longer necessary and the Court has removed the case from the trial docket." "The parties have made substantial progress toward an amicable resolution of all issues and remain engaged in productive discussions. We are optimistic that a final agreement will be reached in the near future," the statement from Ken Paxton's lawyers continued. "Out of respect for the family and the ongoing process, no further comment will be made at this time.” Ken Paxton recently won the Republican primary runoff on May 26 against longtime incumbent John Cornyn. Ken Paxton will square off against Talarico in the November election for Cornyn's U.S. Senate seat. Ken Paxton's term as Texas Attorney General runs until Jan. 1, 2027. Angela Paxton was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2018.

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State Stories

Are Texans ready for Talarico’s kind of Christianity?

On a recent Sunday morning at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, Jim Rigby asked his congregation to share what came to mind when he mentioned the Apostle Paul, the major Christian figure to whom 13 books in the Bible are attributed. They cheerfully complied: “Villain!” “Homophobic!” “He’s a jerk.” Paul’s attributed writings include passages seen as encouraging wives to submit to their husbands and instructing them to be quiet in church, and others condemning same-sex sexual behavior as sinful. Mr. Rigby acknowledged the trouble. But in a sermon that also cited the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddha, he nudged his congregation to reconsider the apostle, one of the most important in the early Christian church. “Aristotle and Plato, they were creeps, too, in modern times,” Mr. Rigby said. “But do we want to learn from our ancestors or not?”

One longtime member of St. Andrew’s was not there, although he had attended the previous weekend: James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate. Mr. Rigby, who has led St. Andrew’s since the 1980s and is a well-known activist locally, has suddenly become a key to understanding Mr. Talarico, a candidate who aims to be the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in a generation. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Talarico described Mr. Rigby and St. Andrew’s, along with his grandfather, who was the pastor of several Baptist churches in South Texas in the late 1960s, as “the biggest influences on me as a Christian, as a human being.” Mr. Rigby baptized Mr. Talarico as a toddler, and married his parents. “He is my pastor in every sense of the word,” Mr. Talarico said of Mr. Rigby. “Not that we agree on everything.” He added: “I think every Christian disagrees with their pastor. And the beautiful thing about Dr. Jim is that he welcomes and encourages that.” At 37, Mr. Talarico has become one of the Democratic Party’s fastest-rising stars in part by talking about his identity as a Christian. Unlike some politicians who forge politically strategic relationships with faith leaders deep into their careers, Mr. Talarico has an authentic lifelong relationship with a local pastor, and speaks easily about his personal faith. Mr. Rigby does not use male pronouns for God, for example, because it is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is, he said in an interview after the service. He does not use the word “Lord,” because it conjures a wealthy, European, male God, he said. For that matter, he added, he does not much care for the word “God.” He uses it on occasion, he said, but he tries to use synonyms, because “it’s going to mean something different to everybody.” In his sermon that morning, he had referred to “the creative impulse of the universe,” which “can be called God, but it doesn’t have to be called God.”

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Pressure on Paxton builds after local plea deal

(Editor's note: This piece was originally published online May 16 by The Texas Tribune and has been updated by local editors.) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is under fire for a plea deal his prosecutors offered in April to a Waco man charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a young boy. The deal in the case, which Paxton’s office took over about three years ago after the McLennan County district attorney recused himself, would have let the man plead guilty to two misdemeanors and serve a total of just one day in jail. Paxton has faced criticism from political opponents who say his office was too lenient toward the man, who admitted that he molested the victim as part of the deal. This comes even as Paxton has built a reputation attacking local district attorneys for being too soft on crime.

Rep. James Talarico, Paxton's Democratic general election opponent in November, said in a May 27 Facebook post that "Ken Paxton just gave an Epstein-style deal to a pedophile." “Predators who commit these crimes tend to repeat them over and over again, until stopped,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Paxton's primary opponent who lost the May 26 runoff election, posted on X last month. “Paxton could have stopped this one, but instead cut him loose to reoffend over and over again, putting more children at risk.” State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican who endorsed Cornyn’s reelection, sent a letter to Paxton’s office in May calling the deal “incomprehensible” and demanding answers. Paxton’s office did not respond to emailed questions for this story. A spokesperson pointed to a letter that two of his prosecutors who worked on the case sent to Leach last month, in which they explained that the case went to trial last year but ended in a 7-5 hung jury, and the young victim did not want to testify a second time after the mistrial. “The child emphasized that he preferred to move on with his life and prioritize his mental and emotional health,” wrote the prosecutors, Brenda Cantu and Dorian Cotlar. Beyond Paxton’s immediate political rivals, the deal has attracted criticism from local officials in Waco, including the McLennan County district attorney, a state representative from the area and even the judge presiding over the matter.

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Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Just one day after the Montgomery Supreme Court decision set off speculation that the case could open the doors to shipper liability on top of widening the legal exposure of brokers, a Texas court slowed down that talk in the Lone Star State. The case of Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II, which widened broker liability in safety-related incidents, came down on May 14. A day later, the Texas Supreme Court said in a case involving Home Depot and tangentially Werner Enterprises, “one who hires an independent contractor is generally not liable for the contractor’s torts.” Home Depot (NYSE: HD) hired Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to move freight. (Although in trucking terms Werner would not be considered an independent contractor, it is for this case because it was hired by Home Depot to move its freight).

The crash that launched the case occurred in April 2024 near Houston, on a frontage road of the Katy Freeway, just west of the interstate 610 loop around Houston. Juwan Smith, an employee driver at Werner, was transporting freight for Home Depot. Smith crashed with Natalio Garcia at an intersection along the road after reportedly running a red light. Garcia was killed. Home Depot was not initially named as a defendant in the case but was added later. The various arguments in the case focus on the term “duty,” and what was Home Depot’s “duty” to ensure a safe driver. “An existing duty already applies to the carrier and its employee,” Home Depot argued in an earlier legal filing. “A new duty, or the extension of an existing one involving the shipper’s selection of a carrier, is unwarranted.” In that same argument, Home Depot said “attempts elsewhere to impose liability against the shipper have failed.” “There is an existing remedy available to the injured motorists, and it lies against the driver and his employer, not the person who hired the independent carrier,” Home Depot said. The Texas Supreme Court agreed.

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Will new school district takeovers follow the model—and ‘chaos’—of Houston ISD?

No state has taken over as many local public school districts as Texas. Just since 2020, the state education agency has installed its own hand-picked leaders in eight districts. Four of those came this spring. At least another 10 are at risk of takeover, including, as of last week, the Austin Independent School District (ISD). And to lead some of these districts, Texas is turning to a cadre of officials with ties to Mike Miles, the man the education agency chose in 2023 to oversee the Houston school district, the state’s largest. Miles is also a close ally of Mike Morath, Texas’ powerful education commissioner. Already, at least two of these new district leaders have started to adopt policies similar to the contentious reforms Miles has pursued in Houston. He has touted improved test scores under his charge. Houston ISD had no F-rated campuses and fewer D-rated campuses in the state’s latest ratings compared with previous years.

But Miles has also sparked widespread protests in response to the district’s rigid adherence to scripted lessons and repetitive testing, the firing of principals and teachers, mass school closures, and the conversion of schools into charters. Miles did not respond to requests for comment from the Texas Observer. Houston ISD officials, in a statement to the Observer, said the district did not achieve better ratings by maintaining the status quo but “made difficult decisions” to improve academic performance, noting the majority of its campuses are now rated A or B. The school districts whose new leaders have connections to Miles should prepare for “upheaval and chaos,” warned an elected Houston school board member. “If anything doesn’t align with improving test scores, it will be taken away,” said Maria Benzon, who was elected in November to the Houston ISD board but is not permitted to serve under the ongoing state takeover. Under Miles, for example, Houston ISD eliminated librarian positions and turned some libraries into what Benzon called “detention centers,” because they are being used, in part, for students with behavioral issues. Morath, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) commissioner, has said the centers are used for more than just punishment.

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Dallas Stars announce plans for new arena in Plano

A day after the Dallas Mavericks announced their potential new home, the Dallas Stars said they’ve taken a “major step” toward a new arena in Plano. The organization said in a statement Tuesday it’s signed a non-binding letter of intent to build an arena and entertainment district at The Shops at Willow Bend. “This project would present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our franchise,” Dallas Stars owners Tom Gaglardi said. Plano confirmed in February it had been in "earnest discussions" with the team for the past year regarding the potential move. The Shops at Willow Bend is a 1.4 million-square-foot indoor shopping center located off of the Dallas North Tollway and George Bush Turnpike. The Stars’ letter of intent outlines plans for a mixed-use development including retail and dining spaces in addition to the new arena.

The letter will go before the Plano City Council next week for consideration. In a statement Plano Mayor John Muns called the Stars an “iconic North Texas organization." “We are encouraged by their interest as conversations move forward,” he said. The Stars’ lease at American Airlines Center ends in 2031. In a statement, Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua called the news "disappointing," but said it's not a "setback" for the city. "We have to work with the circumstances before us, and some factors are simply beyond our control," Bazaldua said. The Mavericks were awarded full control of AAC earlier this year in a dispute with the Stars over arena maintenance and improvements. The hockey team's headquarters and practice facility is in Frisco. "I know our City Manager worked diligently to keep the Stars in Dallas," Bazaldua said. "Unfortunately, following their split with the Mavericks, the organization apparently did not believe it could sustain the American Airlines Center on its own." On Monday the Dallas Mavericks announced they’ve chosen the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas as the team’s potential new home when their lease ends, also in 2031, after ongoing speculation they were considering City Hall as a possible location. In a statement, the Mavericks said the long-vacant mall site "meets most of the criteria established at the outset of our evaluation process" and provides an opportunity to keep the team within Dallas city limits.

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Grand Prairie residents demand answers after canceled Muslim celebration at Epic Waters

More than a dozen speakers used Tuesday night's Grand Prairie City Council meeting to criticize the city's decision to cancel a private Eid celebration at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark. Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to withhold more than $500,000 in state funding after the celebration was announced. The June 1 event was organized by local Muslim families to celebrate Eid al- Adha, one of Islam's holiest holidays. The celebration was canceled in early May after Abbott accused organizers of promoting religious discrimination based on an early promotional flyer that described the gathering as a "Muslims only" event. The governor publicly threatened to pull approximately $530,000 in state funding from the city if the event was not canceled.

During public comment Tuesday, several residents and community advocates questioned why city leaders reversed course after initially indicating that organizers had followed the park's rental policies. Mohammed Abdullah, one of the event organizers, told council members that the city first stated all procedures had been followed before later canceling the event after what he described as political pressure from Austin. "Tonight we're asking for honesty," Abdullah said. "Grand Prairie proudly speaks about community, diversity, inclusion, respect and being a welcoming city for all people." Abdullah called on the city to provide a public explanation of how the decision was made and whether it was influenced by the governor's office. Other speakers echoed those concerns, arguing the cancellation sent a message that Muslim residents were not welcome in the community. Dr. Angela Lucky, a longtime Grand Prairie resident and community activist, said residents deserve transparency if state officials played a role in the decision. "Decisions affecting community events should be made locally and guided by the needs and values of the people who live here," Lucky told council members. Several speakers urged city officials to meet with Muslim community leaders and work toward hosting a future Eid celebration. Others said the cancellation was especially disappointing for children and families who had planned to attend the event. The controversy began in May when Abbott demanded the city cancel the event, citing concerns about religious discrimination. Organizers said the gathering was intended to create a family-friendly environment centered on modest swimwear and was never intended to exclude people based on faith. City council members did not publicly respond to the comments during the meeting. No action regarding the canceled event appeared on Tuesday night's agenda.

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Gina Ortiz Jones evades council vote, creates voters task force

When City Council tried to slow Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ drive to create a voting commission, she took the decision out of council’s hands by simply calling it into being. Jones said she forged ahead without a City Council vote “to make sure that process doesn’t get in the way of progress.” She relied on a technicality to launch the task force, whose mission is to advise her office on how to boost voter turnout in San Antonio. Municipal boards and commissions, such as the longstanding Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, must be created by council approving either an ordinance or resolution, according to city code. Not so for task forces, which mayors can create with the stroke of a pen.

Jones can decide what the task force will explore and who will sit on it without City Council weighing in. Task forces also require far less public access than city commissions — and the group is working out its recommendations to increase voter participation in private, without publicly available agendas or public meetings. Despite the differences, Jones continues to call the group the voting commission, as she’d originally pitched it. Jones put an ordinance creating such a commission to a council vote on April 2, a month after proposing it. But council members tabled it, saying they needed more information and time to consider it. The task force has met twice since May 22 and is under pressure to submit its recommendations in a matter of weeks. The mayor said she set an early July deadline for the group “to help us prepare for the November 2026 election.” Federal, state and county races will be on that midterm ballot, all of which are partisan races. The mayor and City Council are nonpartisan offices.

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Watchdog accuses Brandon Herrera’s congressional campaign of breaking campaign finance law

A watchdog group has filed a regulatory complaint accusing San Antonio congressional candidate Brandon Herrera’s campaign of funneling $2.7 million in contributions into a shell company so it can avoid reporting how it’s actually spending the cash. In a letter filed late last month with the Federal Election Commission, the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center alleged the Republican candidate, his principal committee, his leadership PAC and an authorized joint fundraising committee together skirted rules requiring them to show how they spent cash raised from donors. Campaign officials for Herrera, who’s running to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, were unavailable Tuesday afternoon for immediate comment on the complaint.

The FEC, as a matter of policy, doesn’t comment on complaints. “The overall goal seems to be concealing their how they’re spending their money in a way that’s not only illegal but fundamentally undermines the transparency voters have a right to,” Campaign Legal Center Director of Federal Campaign Finance Reform Saurav Ghosh told the Current. Indeed, federal filings show 99.4% of Herrera’s 2026 campaign expenditures have gone to Texas Strategy Group, an entity that’s not registered to legally do business anywhere in the United States and doesn’t even have a website, according to the nonprofit’s complaint. During Herrera’s failed 2024 campaign for the same seat, 92% of funds were directed to the shell company, the document also states. Herrera, a YouTube gun influencer who’s never before held public office, landed the Republican nomination this spring after U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales ended his reelection bid. The incumbent for the South Texas district faced mounting pressure from the GOP to drop out over an affair he had with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

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James Talarico's latest response to GOP attacks? Barbecue

After weeks of Republican taunts that he's a vegan, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico sat down Tuesday to a platter piled with brisket, ribs, sausage and brisket boudin. Then he dug in. "It’s so good," Talarico declared at Smokey Joe's BBQ in Dallas, saying it rivals some of the best barbecue back home in Central Texas. The lunch stop at Smokey Joe’s was equal parts meal and message. Talarico's taste in food has become an unlikely campaign issue in his Senate race against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Republicans have mocked him as a vegan and culturally out of step with Texas, an attack that gained traction after Talarico joined former President Barack Obama at Austin's Taco Joint last month. Talarico, a state representative from Austin, ordered two potato, egg and cheese breakfast tacos, which an employee later said was his usual order. "He's a vegan and you can't get elected as a vegan in Texas," President Donald Trump said. Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X, "Potato egg and cheese? Homi is not beating the vegetarian allegations." Talarico repeatedly has said he is not a vegan, though he has added there’s nothing wrong with that. His campaign has spent days pushing back on the GOP jabs. Tuesday, he offered a highly visible rebuttal at Smokey Joe’s, joined by state Sen. Royce West of Dallas. The large meat platter included Texas Twinkies, bacon-wrapped jalapeño pepper stuffed with cream cheese and chopped smoked brisket. Talarico dismissed the vegan attacks as a distraction. "Ken Paxton doesn't have anything to run on," he said. "He doesn't have solutions to lower people's costs or unrig this economy, so all he's got is name-calling."

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Fort Worth to weigh local data center regulations as residents call for moratorium

Will Fort Worth join cities across Texas and the United States in implementing development standards for new data centers later this year, or perhapsenact a temporary moratorium on the projects? That was the question that Fort Worth City Council members began the process of weighing on June 2, during a long-awaited presentation on data centers from Fort Worth Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern during the city council’s work session meeting. Data centers have become an increasingly prominent topic at Fort Worth City Council meetings as the developers behind multi-billion dollar projects have come to the city for rezoning requests and tax agreements.

Meetings on the southeast and southwest edges of Fort Worth have been filled with residents expressing concerns about the environmental and health impacts of data center projects, as leaders in nearby cities struggle to get a seat at the table with developers. The presentation was put together at the request of city council member Michael Crain earlier this year, with the goal of paving a path forward to balance potential economic development with those concerns from residents. The company Edged has been developing a data center near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Chapin School Road, located in Crain’s council district. McEachern outlined the economic impact of data centers before detailing current city regulations that pertain to them, then outlined new proposals for amendments to the local zoning code, noise regulations, water requirements, and a new strategy for economic development proposals for data center developments.

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Mansfield school trustees investigating residency claim made by board president

The Mansfield school board is looking into questions about whether the board president meets district residency requirements following a Star-Telegram report on Tuesday. In March, board president Jandel Crutchfield signed a non-homestead affidavit saying she does not reside in the Mansfield home she gave as her primary mailing address when she ran for school board in 2024. In the sworn statement, which was filed in Tarrant County, Crutchfield declared she had never lived in the Mansfield home and had no intention of doing so in the future. The affidavit characterized the home as an investment property.

In the same affidavit, Crutchfield designated a property in Itasca, some 40 miles from Mansfield, as her homestead, or primary residence. According to property tax records, though, Crutchfield does not own that home. Her husband, Johnoson Crutchfield, was the real estate agent who listed the Itasca property for sale. It sold in February. Stu Madison, a lawyer for the Mansfield school district, told the Star-Telegram via email the board had asked an outside attorney to examine the issue. “This matter is being thoroughly investigated by independent legal counsel on behalf of the Mansfield ISD Board of Trustees,” Madison wrote. He added that the board would release a statement once the investigation concludes. Jandel Crutchfield did not respond to a voice message or a text message requesting comment.

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Wylie principal resigns after backlash from Islam event

The principal at Wylie East High School resigned following backlash from a “Why Islam” event that occurred at the school in February. Tiffany Doolan, who had worked for Wylie ISD for 19 years, notified the district of her resignation on May 26. In a statement, the district said Doolan had been a victim of targeted online attacks and public hostility. In February, an outside group called “Why Islam” set up a table at WEHS during lunch. The group was on campus to meet with the Muslim Student Association for World Hijab day. However, school officials said they did not approve the tabling during lunch.

Following the event, the district placed a staff member on leave who they say did not verify the guest speaker approval process was completed. The event went viral after the president of the WEHS Republican Club, Marco Hunter-Lopez, posted a video to social media, in which he said the group was handing out information about Islam to students. Rep. Chip Roy invited Hunter-Lopez to testify to Congress. In his testimony, he called the event an “ideological promotion under the guise of diversity and inclusion.” WISD said in a statement that the district does not promote religion, politics, or ideology and that assertions that the district intentionally promoted a religion are false. Photos of Doolan wearing a hijab for World Hijab Day in previous years were resurfaced and also received criticism on social media after the “Why Islam” event. The district said the photos circulating were weaponized and taken out of context.

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Southwest Airlines just hinted at its biggest change yet—but it’s still 3 years away

In a nod to shifting consumer demands, Southwest Airlines is considering adding long-haul international flights to its offerings. If implemented, the change would be one of the biggest in the carrier’s 55-year history of flying. During a recent appearance at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Bob Jordan, the carrier’s CEO, said that significant changes are currently in the works at the company, including the addition of long-distance routes and new destinations. Long-haul flights are typically classified as nonstop flights that last between six and 12 hours. Some major carriers, like American Airlines, define long-haul routes by distance, classifying them as flights over 3,000 miles.

“We’ll have far more domestic destinations that we can provide for you,” Jordan said at the conference. “We just opened acreage a couple of weeks ago—the Caribbean. We’re continuing to add destinations at a very swift pace here in 2026. And we’ll also offer you access to destinations that we don’t serve today. I think it’s likely that we’ll, over that period of time, delve into long-haul international.” However, the CEO noted that the integration of such longer flights may not start for another three to five years. He emphasized that plans for long-haul routes are in very early stages; no destinations have been finalized. “We don’t have to be Delta, American, and United in terms of that huge, wide, long-haul network,” he noted. “But through the right destinations, we can be highly relevant in our customer base in terms of where they want to go.” Southwest, which considers itself a low-cost carrier, has made significant changes to its business model over the past year, with the introduction of assigned seating and checked bag fees. The company is now looking to invest in more premium features for its guests. In February, Southwest integrated SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi into its flights for seamless connectivity for passengers’ devices when they travel. The new partnership launches this summer and will be available on more than 300 aircraft by the end of 2026. As part of a larger effort to modernize the customer experience and improve financial performance, Southwest has also added extra-legroom seating and new fare bundles.

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National Stories

CBS News fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes’

CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, jettisoning one of the network’s best-known journalists in a clash over the future of “60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program. Mr. Pelley, 68, a “60 Minutes” correspondent and a former anchor of “CBS Evening News,” joined the network in 1989. At a staff meeting on Monday, he accused the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” citing the ouster last week of the program’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents. “We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Nick Bilton, the tech journalist who was hired last week as the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, wrote in a memo to the show’s staff on Tuesday night.

CBS News declined to comment. In a formal letter to Mr. Pelley, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Bilton wrote that the correspondent had been “terminated for cause effective immediately.” Mr. Pelley, in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening shortly after he was fired, said he had devoted decades of his life to “60 Minutes,” which he said he still cared about deeply. “I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Mr. Pelley said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.” The firing of Mr. Pelley is among the most consequential moves of Ms. Weiss’s rocky tenure at CBS. And it is almost certain to spike tensions that have coursed through the network for months. It also raises the stakes of Ms. Weiss’s surprising decision to replace the entire leadership team at “60 Minutes,” CBS News’s most successful franchise, and hire Mr. Bilton, who has no experience in broadcast TV, to oversee the show. The program’s viewership was up 9 percent this past season from a year prior, and the show is routinely among the nation’s highest-rated weekly broadcasts, according to Nielsen.

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Takeaways from Tuesday's primaries as Democrats try to make Iowa inroads and defend California

The contours of a premier U.S. Senate race took shape Tuesday night in Iowa, while President Donald Trump’s endorsement streak ran into a roadblock there. Democrats chose a nominee for a U.S. House race in New Jersey that could decide control of the chamber. But much of the focus is on California, home to Hollywood but not a governor’s race packing much star power. Here are takeaways from primary elections in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Democrats stunned by how Trump has remade American politics have spent the past decade debating which type of candidate is best positioned to energize voters and win elections, not moral victories. Iowa marked the latest stop in this sometimes agonizing conversation.

The party’s establishment supported Josh Turek, a state representative who presented a compelling personal biography that included competing for the U.S. in four Paralympics. State Sen. Zach Wahls, meanwhile, offered himself as a more disruptive player, refusing to back Chuck Schumer as Democratic leader if he were elected. Democratic voters united behind Turek, who will face Republican Ashley Hinson in the fall. At this point, many of the party’s most fractious races are behind them. But Turek’s win could be closely watched in Michigan, where one of the last major Democratic primaries will unfold on Aug. 4. Rep. Haley Stevens is emerging as the establishment candidate there vying against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and progressive Abdul El-Sayed. In just the past month, the power of Trump’s endorsement helped end the political careers of two senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. But the president was unable to lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s Republican primary for governor. Trump jumped in with his backing last week but Feenstra narrowly lost to Zach Lahn.

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GOP senators balk at Trump’s pick of Pulte to head national intelligence

Republican senators are expressing bewilderment at President Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as the acting director of national intelligence, with some calling him “unqualified” because of his lack of national security and intelligence credentials. Trump’s pick of Pulte, a loyal deputy who has raised allegations of mortgage fraud against some of Trump’s political adversaries, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), to oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies while the nation is embroiled in a conflict with Iran, caught Republican senators by surprise Tuesday. Republican senators say they have no oversight over the president’s choice of people to serve as acting Cabinet-level officials, but they signaled Pulte could have a tough time getting 51 votes to be confirmed as intelligence director for a longer term.

“The Senate doesn’t have any role to play in terms of confirming acting officials, but I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said of Trump’s pick of Pulte to serve as intelligence director for the foreseeable future. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he doesn’t know much about Pulte but remarked he doesn’t appear to be qualified to serve as the president’s principal adviser on all matters related to national security. “The best I can tell you is he’s not qualified, but I don’t know anything about him other than that,” he said. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also raised questions about Pulte’s qualifications to take charge of the nation’s intelligence agencies in a role overseeing the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and elements of the FBI. “I was surprised to see the name. I am not familiar whether he has any intelligence background, so obviously I’m going to have to learn a little bit more,” she said.

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Greg Abel puts his stamp on Berkshire Hathaway with pair of megadeals

Greg Abel spent the past year trying to reassure investors that Berkshire Hathaway is still the willing and opportunistic dealmaker it had been under his predecessor, Warren Buffett. He said the right things, but a prolonged slump in the company’s stock showed that shareholders wanted action. In one weekend in late May, they got it. Abel, who succeeded Buffett as Berkshire’s chief executive officer in January, agreed over the weekend to pay $6.8 billion for the home builder Taylor Morrison Home

while also in pursuit of a second multibillion-dollar transaction. On Monday, he delivered his encore: a $10 billion purchase of shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company. “He’s unbelievably efficient, and that’s probably dramatized by the fact that I’m slow and inefficient,” Buffett said of his successor, in an interview. “Even in my prime, I did not get as much accomplished in a day as Greg does.” The deals rank among the biggest Berkshire has pursued in recent years and reveal how Abel is willing to borrow from Buffett’s successful playbook while putting his own stamp on how to organize Berkshire. “It signals to the market that Greg Abel is—no pun intended—ready, willing and able to allocate capital to deals and not afraid to venture into an out-of-favor industry in keeping with the Berkshire MO,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research. Since Buffett announced plans in May 2025 to cede his CEO title at year-end, Abel has been working to persuade Berkshire’s shareholders that he would maintain what has made the company such an unusual fixture among U.S. corporations: a conglomerate of unrelated businesses from railroads to energy to children’s toys, a dominant insurance arm and a sizable portfolio managed by the CEO. The new CEO came into the role as an operational maestro who would bring a critical eye to that vast portfolio of businesses.

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Tennesee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles deletes anti-Pride Month tweet

Rep. Andy Ogles made a social media post Tuesday saying “homosexuality has no place in America,” and then deleted it after drawing criticism from at least one fellow House Republican. The tweet from Ogles (R-Tenn.) wished his followers “Happy Nuclear Family Month” in an apparent reference to Pride Month, which began Monday. Rep. Mile Lawler (R-N.Y.) condemned the message as “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post. “Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”

Ogles said in a statement later Tuesday that the original post was written by a member of his communications staff and he only learned about it after the fact when he started getting calls about it. “The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus,” he said. “The employee has been reprimanded.” House leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, which served as a major catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights. Ogles has been called out for his social media posts in the past. Earlier this year, he faced backlash for posting that “Muslims don’t belong in America.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the time called the Tennessee Republican a “malignant clown and pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story.”

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Trump aims new tariffs at 59 countries and the European Union

President Trump has proposed tariffs of at least 10 percent on 60 American trading partners, his most aggressive effort yet to enact new import duties after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s sweeping tariffs. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said on Tuesday night that investigations found that the 59 countries, along with the 27-nation European Union, had failed to enact or effectively enforce laws prohibiting imports made with forced labor. The administration, invoking a legal provision known as Section 301, proposed a 12.5 percent duty on imports from countries including China, Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Goods from the European Union, Canada and Mexico would face 10 percent import taxes.

Mr. Trump has signaled he intends to use Section 301 to rebuild his tariff agenda after the Supreme Court ruled that he exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose duties without congressional approval. After the court struck down those tariffs, Mr. Trump sought to revive them partially with a global 10 percent duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a never-before-used provision. A trade court ruled in May that the move violated the law. The tariffs were initially scheduled to expire at the end of July. Mr. Greer’s office has also opened an investigation into what the Trump administration has described as “excess manufacturing capacity” among 16 of America’s largest trading partners. “Following the Supreme Court overturning the IEEPA tariffs, a legal basis was needed to rebuild Trump’s tariff wall, and this was a convenient way to do so,” said Steve Okun, chief executive of APAC Advisors, a geopolitical consulting firm. Mr. Okun added: “Tariffs are here to stay under the Trump administration.” Mr. Greer’s office is scheduled to hold hearings on July 7 about the proposed tariffs, which would take effect sometime after that.

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DOJ is investigating former congressman George Santos for insider trading on Kalshi

In February, four months after being released from federal prison, former Republican congressman George Santos took to social media to express his enthusiasm about attending President Trump's upcoming State of the Union address. "I'm going to be there for the State of Union in the gallery, guys," Santos said in a video he posted to X a day before the president's remarks. At the time, traders on the prediction market site Kalshi were placing millions of dollars worth of bets on who would attend. Santos' video confirming his presence sent odds soaring. But he didn't show up. "Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML," Santos wrote on X, using slang for a more coarse way of saying, "screw my life."

He posted the message as Trump was speaking, making those same odds in the Kalshi market plummet. What Santos didn't say was that he had already placed bets on Kalshi that he was not going to appear at the State of the Union address, according to three people with direct knowledge of his trades who were not authorized to speak publicly. They say Santos misled the public and turned a profit based on that deception in the tens of thousands of dollars. Kalshi detected Santos' trades, froze his account and referred the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice, which both opened investigations into Santos, according to two people familiar with Kalshi's investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Neither the CFTC nor the Justice Department returned requests for comment. Kalshi declined to comment. Reached by NPR, Santos said, "Well, that's news to me," when asked about the insider trading probe underway into his activity on Kalshi.

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‘I thought I had my future wife’: The Florida woman catfishing America’s political class

Rob Field wondered if he had finally met the one. In December 2024, Field — then a top aide to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey — swiped right on the dating app profile of a woman named Leah. When the self-described Florida transplant arrived for a winter date without a coat, Field purchased one for her. The two, who shared an affinity for left-leaning politics, grew closer over homebaked peanut-butter cookies and even talked of weekend trips to out-of-state football games. Over months of texting, Field came to believe that the woman who identified herself as Leah Andrews might be his “forever person.” But just over five months after they first met, surreptitiously recorded videos of their dates and calls were posted online by conservative influencer Steven Crowder.

Field watched himself on tape — his private observations on fellow Democrats and Republicans suddenly available for public consumption, just days before New Jersey’s contested 2025 primary election for governor. When he heard her voice in those videos it became clear to Field that she had never been who she said she was. She was not Leah Andrews, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Field, but a Florida woman named Alysia Gamble. According to public records and online videos we have reviewed, Gamble — who is married with kids — was a former QAnon organizer. Gamble’s five-month pursuit of Field wasn’t an isolated project: We have identified at least three other instances in which the Florida woman went undercover to court men in an attempt to capture a few moments of viral content later published online by Crowder or conservative activist James O’Keefe. Crowder’s media company, Louder with Crowder, did not respond to a request for comment, and O’Keefe, who is not named in the lawsuit, declined to comment for this article.

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Lead Stories

John Cornyn stands by criticism of Ken Paxton as unfit for office

Sen. John Cornyn will support the “Republican ticket” in November, but he said Monday he still believes Attorney General Ken Paxton is a crook who is unfit for office and will put the seat at risk in November. “I stand by everything I said during the whole campaign,” Cornyn told reporters as he returned Monday to the Capitol where he has represented Texas for nearly a quarter century. Cornyn lost to Paxton by a wide margin in last week’s Republican runoff, the end of a year-long primary battle featuring brutal attacks between the two rivals. Cornyn and his allies spent heavily on ads hammering Paxton over alleged personal and professional misconduct.

Paxton, who has denied wrongdoing, ran a campaign that leveraged his support among the conservative grassroots. He focused on criticizing what he said has been Cornyn’s disloyalty to President Donald Trump, who endorsed Paxton in the final days of the runoff. Paxton faces Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin, in the general election. Paxton is expected in Washington this week to meet with leading Republicans and raise money for what is likely to be an expensive campaign. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Talarico has shown he can galvanize his base and raise massive amounts of money – including $27 million in the first three months of 2026. Raising money could be a challenge for Paxton, who was vastly outspent in the primary. Cornyn has functioned as a kind of gatekeeper to many deep-pocketed Republican donors in Texas. He said Monday he will look to help with races in states such as Maine, Alaska and Michigan.

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Ballroom? Weaponization funds? Battleships? The Trump losses keep piling up

President Donald Trump is suddenly taking losses from his own friends and allies, especially on Capitol Hill. GOP lawmakers are bucking Trump on his White House ballroom, shelving plans to spend $1 billion to secure the new facility and other areas of the presidential compound. The “Trump battleships” are steaming into a wave of skepticism at the House Armed Services Committee as lawmakers prepare to mark up the FY2027 defense authorization bill this week. (All puns intended.) The House may vote this week on a discharge petition for a Ukrainian aid bill that Trump is certain to oppose. Several dozen House Republicans could back the measure anyway. And after Trump — bogged down in negotiations to end the war with Iran — said Israel had agreed to halt its military assault against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he’d continue IDF operations in the southern part of the country. Trump reportedly yelled at Netanyahu over the offensive.

Most prominently, Republicans are also in the process of killing Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, a direct rebuke to the president. Trump and Hill Republicans are trapped in a dangerous paradox. Trump’s political endorsement is worth more than ever in GOP primaries, yet his legislative agenda and fixation on personal projects are growing more toxic heading into the fall campaign season. As more Republicans move past their primaries, they’re suddenly finding it advantageous to oppose him. Senate Republicans remain far short of the votes needed to begin floor consideration of their $70 billion reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol. GOP leaders will make a decision today about whether it’s possible to pass the bill this week, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. At least a dozen GOP senators said Monday that the White House’s attempt to quell the uproar over Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund wasn’t enough to win their support for advancing the immigration-centric package — something that should unify them. In a statement, the Justice Department vowed to honor a federal judge’s approval of a temporary restraining order that paused the fund until June 12. But the statement said nothing about how the administration would handle the fund beyond that deadline.

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Abbott campaigns against Talarico as he tries to lift Texas GOP ticket

In the days after the primary runoff, Gov. Greg Abbott was urgently working to mend fences among the state’s fractured GOP and sounding the alarm to supporters that they need to take this cycle seriously. He called on Republicans to back the entire party slate — even candidates he had campaigned against in the hotly contested primaries. “This year is unlike any other, and we MUST unite,” Abbott wrote in a fundraising memo. It is the latest example of how the Republican governor has cemented himself the leader of the state party as he has amassed a campaign war chest unlike any seen before. In a campaign cycle that is widely expected to be bruising for Republicans, as voters have soured on President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and war in Iran, Abbott will likely be relied upon more than ever.

The governor is already setting the tone for the GOP. Abbott faces state Rep. Gina Hinojosa as he seeks a record fourth term in the governor's mansion. But since March, he has focused his fire on James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, and rarely, if ever, mentioned his own opponent. The Republican governor has said Talarico “doesn’t share Texas values,” “needs to learn the definition of ‘humanity’” and suggested the Austin Democrat “could win in Minnesota, but not in Texas.” “Talarico can run for U.S. Senate. But he can't run from his record,” Abbott wrote in a recent post on X. It’s part of a strategy aimed at lifting an entire GOP ticket with at least a couple statewide candidates who Democrats think they have a real shot at beating — including Attorney General Ken Paxton right at the top. By focusing on Talarico, Abbott avoids drawing attention to his lesser-known opponent, while making the case to voters that Democrats on the ticket are too extreme. Talarico “is a piñata that is just such an easy target,” said Dave Carney, Abbott’s political consultant. “He is the leader of their band of misfits and they are just totally out of step.”

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Democrats fret Graham Platner could cost them — and not just in Maine

Graham Platner’s latest scandal has Democrats questioning whether the once-hyped candidate could end up weighing down their midterm chances. Platner is all but certain to be Democrats’ Senate nominee to face Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)after next week’s primary, with Gov. Janet Mills having suspended her campaign in April. But the litany of potentially damaging stories keeps growing, with new reporting over the weekend that Platner exchanged sexual text messages with other women while he was married. The revelation, which follows scandals related to his offensive old Reddit posts and his tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, are leading some Democrats to question whether Platner undermines their credibility in going after Republicans on issues of moral character. Even as Democratic senators publicly defend him, strategists worry whether Platner will be able to keep withstanding the ongoing drip of revelations about his controversial past — and about what might come out next.

“Up until now, the things that have come out, most Mainers have been pretty forgiving — enough to force out a sitting governor in a primary,” said Chuck Rocha, a longtime Democratic strategist who is advising multiple Senate campaigns but is not involved with Platner’s bid. “The thing that bothers me about Graham is every week it seems like it’s something else. … I worry because I have the scars of trying to beat Susan Collins for many cycles.” In Maine, where Democrats are also hoping to hold onto the GOP-friendly 2nd Congressional District and the governor’s mansion, strategists fret that the Senate candidate — who has appeared on the campaign trail with other Democrats this spring — could harm more than he helps come November. “Is he going to be an albatross to run with? Absolutely,” said one Maine Democratic strategist, who, like others in this article, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “He’s going to lose. All these polls showing him up against Susan Collins — people forget that the voters who decide this race make their decisions in the last two weeks.”

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State Stories

Nate Cohn: A blue Texas may be more than a dream for Democrats

Could Texas really turn blue in 2026? While it’s tempting to be skeptical, a blue Texas is increasingly easy to imagine. It’s even easier to imagine after Ken Paxton’s victory over John Cornyn, the incumbent senator, in the Republican primary runoff on Tuesday night. That’s partly because Mr. Paxton, the state attorney general, has distinct political liabilities. He’s faced investigation, indictment, impeachment and a messy public divorce. But there’s another reason Democrats might pull off a statewide win for the first time in three decades: demographics. Texas is one of the most diverse states in the country, and national polls show Democrats surging back in support among young and nonwhite voters — and especially Hispanic voters.

On paper, these national demographic trends ought to send Texas racing toward the left and into contention. Add in Mr. Paxton’s nomination and you can start to see how Democrats could flip Texas this fall. After a decade of big talk from Democrats about Texas, it’s understandable that people could harbor some doubt about flipping the nation’s largest red state. Judging by presidential election results, Democrats barely made any progress at all: President Trump won Texas by almost 14 percentage points in 2024. But beneath the state’s stable Republican voting record, extraordinary demographic shifts have put Texas Republicans in a much more vulnerable position. To an extent few would have imagined a decade ago, Texas’ status as a reliably Republican state now depends on elevated levels of support among Hispanic voters. In the latest national polls, Mr. Trump’s gains among Hispanic voters have vanished — and the Republican grip on Texas is in danger as a result. The latest New York Times/Siena poll is representative: It shows Democrats ahead by 30 points, 54 percent to 24 percent, among Hispanic registered voters nationwide. That’s better than Joe Biden’s margin in 2020 and getting close to Hillary Clinton’s margin in 2016.

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U.S. House Democrats target Texas AG Ken Paxton over ActBlue lawsuit

The top Democrats on three U.S. House committees are going after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing him of ignoring consumer complaints about the Republican organization WinRed's online fundraising tactics, while filing a lawsuit against the site's Democratic counterpart ActBlue. The lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Robert Garcia of California and Joseph Morelle of New York — have demanded his office turn over any documents related to complaints about WinRed's use of a pre-checked box to draw repeated campaign donations from donors without their knowledge. "While you have done nothing to investigate dozens of such complaints from Texans about being defrauded by WinRed, the platform used to process campaign contributions to Republican candidates and political committees, your office has opened an investigation into an unrelated entity, ActBlue, which processes donations to Democratic candidates and causes," the lawmakers said in a letter to Paxton, who on Tuesday became the Texas Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.

The letter cites a May 12 report by Hearst Newspapers that 27 complaints had been filed with Paxton's office against WinRed, a platform he and other Texas Republicans use to raise campaign funds. Several complainants told Hearst that they had received no acknowledgement from the attorney general's office, despite some saying that the fundraising platform had siphoned much of their life savings from their bank accounts. The letter, signed by Raskin of the House Judiciary Committee, Garcia of the Oversight and Government Reform and Morelle of the House Administration Committee, asks Paxton to turn over complaints and related internal communications by June 8. However, because Democrats are in the minority in the House, they have no formal power to force compliance by Paxton or his office. Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The letter comes as the Texas race for U.S. Senate shifts into high gear. Talarico, a state representative of Austin, has acknowledged that his remarks might come off as "cringy," and has hammered Paxton over his 2023 impeachment by the Texas House on grounds that he used the attorney general's office to help a campaign donor. Hearst Newspapers found that Paxton's office had received dozens of complaints over recent years about WinRed from Texans, or family members on their behalf, who suspected the pre-checked box had allowed the platform to continue charging them for months, or even years. One donor said $15,000 had been taken from her account without her knowledge; another said nearly $11,000 had been taken from his account before he had noticed the missing funds.

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At largest rally yet, James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa up attacks on opponents

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa joined James Talarico on the campaign trail Monday evening in Plano for the only time on his “The People vs. Ken Paxton Tour.” The event touted over 4,000 attendees — the most yet at any of Talarico’s rallies. During her 15 minutes with the microphone, Hinojosa drove home two points: Governor Greg Abbott is corrupt and public schools are overdue for proper government support. Hinojosa was elected to the Texas House in 2016 to represent part of Travis County, though she never meant to run for anything. She was a mom who was angry about her son’s school being shut down.

“I was compelled to run for the school board to save our neighborhood schools. I ran, I won. We saved our schools in that fight for our public schools,” Hinojosa told the cheering Plano crowd. “That took me to the House, where I’ve been fighting Greg Abbott’s corrupt agenda for our schools and for our state ever since.” Hinojosa will be on the Nov. 3 ballot against Abbott, the 10-year Republican incumbent. She’s running because the promise of Texas she was raised knowing is not the reality Texans are living today. The last time Talarico rallied in the area was February, before he beat Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic bid. A few hundred people were in Dallas’s Longhorn Ballroom under the disco ball that night. The first bill Talarico said he would draft as senator would be an anti-corruption bill to achieve six main goals. The bill would overturn the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commissioner supreme court case that allows corporations and other outside groups to spend an unlimited amount of money on elections. It would also ban super PACs, bar politicians from insider trading, create term limits, overhaul the supreme court and end all gerrymandering. Talarico said the next action would be to “unrig this economy” in order to make the American Dream attainable again. Trickle-down economics is theft, he said. The theory suggests that financial benefits to corporations and the wealthy would ultimately benefit the working class.

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Drilling company sought clearance to drill four locations near Oak Cliff apartment complex before explosion

The City of Dallas, with the help of Austin Street Center and multiple other agencies, began moving the former residents of The Clyde Apartments to new temporary housing on Monday while a clearer picture emerged of the events that led to last Thursday's deadly explosion and fire. "I'm still waking up thinking it's not what it is. But it's real," said Aleya Montana, who lost two dogs in the blast and subsequent five-alarm fire that destroyed the two-story structure and killed three residents. Montana is among the families in 19 apartment units temporarily housed at the Comfort Inn & Suites on Inwood Road in Dallas. With the help of Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul, the Red Cross, and Mission Oak Cliff, Austin Street Center is finding new apartments in the same general area of Dallas with 6-months free rent.

At the site of the explosion on E. 9th in Oak Cliff, Atmos Energy crews are still working to repair the gas line and restore service to the entire block, which remains closed between N. Denver St. and N. Patton Avenue. Most of the apartment debris has been piled into a corner of the lot where the building used to stand. The charred remains of the drilling rig suspected in the deadly explosion sit in a southeast corner. Online records from Texas811 show that "ECS" - Engineering Consulting Services - got clearance to drill soil tests at four specific GPS locations. As previously reported on WFAA, the current owner of the property was in discussions to sell the site for a larger development. The soil testing was being conducted at the request of the prospective buyer. Of the four drill locations identified, evidence of previous drilling can be found in the parking lot of the adjoining "Bonnie" apartments, a round asphalt patch surrounded by red spray paint that clearly denotes "ECS." Texas 811 records also show that at 12:57 pm Thursday that a "nicked" gas line with leaking gas was reported at the GPS location in front of The Clyde Apartments: BARBA Drilling identified as the contractor. The four soil test drill sites are identified by GPS as 1: 32.748976, -96.81924, 2: 32.74852, -96.81914, 3: 32.74911, -96.81973, and site 4: 32.74920, -96.82001. Online records show that "damage to gas line took place" a "nicked" gas line at GPS 32.74852, -96.81914, directly in front of the apartment complex.

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Most Texas companies are using AI — and some say it’s decreasing their need for workers

Texas executives say certain business tasks are being replaced by artificial intelligence, and 10% of the companies across the state using AI attribute it to a decreased need for human workers, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The survey results, which were published in late May and came as part of a supplemental feature to the Dallas Fed’s widely watched monthly business outlook surveys, were based on responses from more than 300 executives across the state and offer rare insight into how the new AI reality is unfolding in one of the world’s largest economies. The survey also showed that two-thirds of Texas businesses are using AI to at least some degree, with executives overwhelmingly reporting productivity gains from employees who do.

“I think the big question in terms of the labor market is, ‘Is AI automating or augmenting workers?’ ” said Emily Kerr, a senior business economist at the Dallas Fed. “ ‘Is it replacing or enhancing workers?’ That’s like the big, open question. And from our survey over the past couple years, as we’ve been asking about this, the answer continues to be both.” The Dallas Fed survey’s release comes at a seemingly pivotal moment for the world-changing technology. Three-and-a-half years since the public release of ChatGPT, AI has remade stock markets, led to broad GDP gains and rearranged aspects of daily life for millions of people around the world. Yet in recent months so much exuberance has given way to what’s been dubbed an “AI backlash,” prompted largely by fears about widespread job losses as some corporate executives cite the technology for manpower reductions. Last month, days after Meta cut 8,000 workers as part of a larger pivot to AI, the pope published a 42,000-word encyclical calling for the technology to be “disarmed.” Big name tech founders have been getting booed at commencement speeches. A flurry of polling has shown Americans are increasingly more AI-pessimistic than optimistic.

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Laura Miller: Dallas must go strong mayor

I have seen City Hall inside and out. I have witnessed the best and worst of public service. I have both admired many of the people I wrote about and served with, and I have testified against others in criminal court and the court of public opinion. I have worked with the city’s most selfless business leaders and others who would suck the marrow out of their mother’s bones if it made them another dollar. I have marinated in this dysfunction for 40 years. And I have three conclusions: First, the council-manager form of government doesn’t work anymore. Second, our 14-1 City Council configuration, ordered by a federal judge in 1991 to increase minority representation, no longer works. Third, as a direct result of this, developers have filled the vacuum and are currently running our city. They build wherever they want, whenever they want to, no matter how inappropriate. They do it by flattering the people inside City Hall and by demonizing the ones outside of it. And the current sports arena pursuit is only the most brazen example.

We need wholesale change. AT&T is leaving downtown Dallas for Plano, and it’s not just the homelessness, lack of police presence, and general unresponsiveness to the company’s needs that sent it fleeing. Buried in the mountain of 5,000 emails released to the public several months ago was one from AT&T CEO John Stankey to the city manager, Tolbert, who was trying to convince him to stay: “My concerns transcend the immediate issues and moment, and extend to the ongoing and cyclical nature of our challenges with effective/sustained governance of the City … ,” he wrote. I will make my case for restructuring Dallas’ government with anecdotes. I have thousands of them, all neatly stacked in boxes containing dated reporter notebooks, scrapbooks, and old newspapers going back to 1983. They’re in my attic, where a pest control man recently removed a mother raccoon and her six babies. Digging through those notebooks, I chose carefully for this article.

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How the Dallas Mavericks' arena decision changes the fight over City Hall's future

The Dallas Mavericks announced Monday they're heading to North Dallas — leaving Downtown — ending months of speculation and clearing the way for what supporters and critics alike say could finally be an honest conversation about the future of Dallas City Hall. The team confirmed it has entered into an option agreement for 104 acres at the former Valley View Mall site near Preston Road and LBJ Freeway, where it plans to build a new arena and entertainment district. The announcement landed the same day the city published a long-awaited repair study showing what it would cost to keep City Hall standing — somewhere between $531 million and $611 million in construction costs alone, with 20-year occupancy costs climbing to roughly $1.5 billion.

The two issues had become inseparable in recent months, with some prominent voices pushing to demolish City Hall and hand the downtown site to the Mavericks. District 7 Councilmember Adam Bazaldua said that debate was never clean. "What we were initially given was meant to have a sticker shock, a shock value, and it did it," he said of an earlier repair estimate that drew headlines with figures as high as $1.4 billion. "What it wasn't was an honest discussion." With the Mavericks gone from the conversation, Bazaldua says the building can finally be evaluated on its own terms. "Now we can talk about City Hall just being City Hall," he said. Not everyone agrees repairs are the right call. "Say Yes to Downtown," a consortium of business owners and civic groups, has argued the site represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-energize the urban core.

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Denton sued by Texas over upcoming ‘Big Gay Swim Day’ at city pool

The Texas Office of the Attorney General sued the city of Denton last week, seeking to have a court prevent a “Big Gay Swim” event from being held at a city swimming pool. The lawsuit arose from a statement in the event’s online description, which said the pool would have “gender neutral changing rooms” during the event. However, the organizers removed that statement after the city notified them about the state law. “Prior to any action by the Attorney General, staff proactively took all necessary measures to ensure full compliance with state law in advance of PRIDENTON’s rental of the Civic Center Pool on June 7, including informing the organizers that certain elements of their advertising conflicted with state law and advising them of the requirement to comply,” the city said in a Monday afternoon statement.

The event’s hosts, Denton-area nonprofits PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton, released a joint statement Monday. In it, the groups called the lawsuit “frivolous.” They also noted that they removed any mention of restrooms from the event’s promotional material on May 21 after a conversation with city officials. “We removed this language from all posts and advertisements about this year’s events, in compliance with these expectations,” the groups’ statement says. The statement also criticized SB 8 for lacking “guidance regarding its enforcement while assigning severe penalties for perceived violations.” “This legislation gives license to harass and surveil any person who does not present or conform within the narrow limitations of an oppressive gender binary,” it says. “Ken Paxton’s history of protecting predators instead of prioritizing the safety of children is well-documented and does not align with this lawsuit’s alleged motivation.” Inside a child sex abuse case that Paxton’s office offered a plea deal of 1 day in jail The lawsuit could mark the first legal test of SB 8’s standard of “every reasonable step.”

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Houston Rockets: Former coach Rick Adelman dies at 79

Former Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman died at 79 Monday, the National Basketball Coaches Association announced. A cause of death was not specified. He ranks 10th all time among coaches in wins, with a career regular-season record of 1,042-749. Only four other coaches — Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan and George Karl — coached more games and had a better winning percentage than Adelman, who took the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals twice and also was head coach in Sacramento, Houston, Minnesota and Golden State. Adelman was drafted by and played two seasons, 1968-70, with the San Diego Rockets. He coached the franchise — since moved to Houston — from 2007 to 2011.

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Bexar County election takeaways: GOP purges moderates, Democratic centrists skate by

A still-raging U.S. Senate primary between Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton fueled big upsets all the way down-ballot in last week’s runoff elections. Meanwhile, Democrats didn’t have a big-ticket race on the ballot and saw a return to normal among their voters, who rejected some of the potentially problematic candidates who advanced from the March primary. Republicans’ U.S. Senate race was rocked by a last-minute Trump endorsement for Paxton, but Cornyn’s 28-point loss was still quite shocking considering that national Republicans broke spending records trying to help him over the line. “I think the margin in that race surprised everyone, including me,” said San Antonio political strategist Kelton Morgan, who got his start working for Arizona Republican John McCain.

The result was a number of losses for moderates in GOP primaries all the way down the ballot — from Trump-backed Carlos De La Cruz‘s win over state Rep. John Lujan (R-San Antonio) in the 35th Congressional District, to a longtime incumbent knocked out by his far-right challenger in a race to serve on the state’s Railroad Commission. Just three months ago, Democrats were in a similar position. A divisive matchup between U.S. Senate hopefuls James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett rocked that party’s March primary and fueled many surprises and upsets in races down-ballot. But Democrats’ Senate nomination was decided outright in March, yielding a much smaller turnout and more predictable choices in last week’s Democratic primary runoffs. “Democrats had many low-information voters turn out in the first round,” said San Antonio Democratic strategist Bert Santibañez. “Whereas, the Democrats who showed up for a runoff without there being a top-of-ticket highlight, they’re going to be more queued-up on the candidates, so you’re going to see a lot more informed decisions.” On Tuesday, Democrats on the West Side, for example, overwhelmingly chose labor-endorsed Adrian Reyna over a former Bexar County Constable with a long history of scandal in reliably blue Texas House District 125.

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SpaceX wins another $4.16B for Golden Dome satellites

SpaceX has landed another multi-billion deal with the U.S. Space Force — this time it’s $4.16 billion to build a satellite network to spot enemy attacks as part of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense project. The contract came days after Elon Musk’s space firm got a $2.29 billion contract to build a satellite data network for the military, also for the Golden Dome system. The new deal eclipses that one as the company’s largest military satellite contract to date and comes weeks before the Starbase-based company is set to go public in what could be the largest-ever initial public offering.

The work in both cases will likely go to SpaceX subsidiary Starlink, which provides satellite internet service around the world and is the company’s biggest moneymaker. Starlink already operates Starshield, a secure network for the U.S. government and military. The newest deal calls for SpaceX to create a system to “sense and track airborne targets from space” by 2028 as part of a program called the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program. It’s to include “space-based sensors, secure and rapid communication links, and resilient ground processing,” the Space Force said. It’s meant to augment the network of airplanes, drones and radars that are always watching for threats but that are more at risk from new weapons systems. “By focusing these capabilities to the space domain, we are providing the Joint Force with sustained battlespace awareness of contested airspace,” Space Force Col. Ryan Frazier said in a statement.

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Cathy McHorse, Austin child care advocate, dies at 57

Cathy McHorse, an Austin educator whose advocacy helped reshape early childhood policy and laid the groundwork for the passage of a landmark child care funding initiative, died May 23 after suffering a sudden brain bleed. She was 57. For more than 30 years, McHorse worked as a teacher, nonprofit leader and policy advocate, becoming one of Central Texas' most influential voices on early childhood education. Friends, colleagues and elected officials described her as a humble but determined force whose expertise and persistence helped push the needs of young children and working families from the margins of local policy debate toward the center of it. "Cathy was an amazing human being," former Austin City Council member Alison Alter said. "Her brilliance, sweetness and humanity touched people."

Born May 15, 1969, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, McHorse grew up in Rockville, Maryland. She earned a bachelor's degree from Duke University in 1991 and moved to Austin with Edward McHorse, who she married the following year. She earned a master's degree in early childhood special education from the University of Texas in 1993, a credential that would anchor a career spent arguing that children’s earliest years deserve far more public attention and investment. She began her career teaching special education at Graham Elementary School in Northeast Austin before stepping away from the classroom in 1996 to raise the couple’s three children. From 2007 to 2011, she worked as a math and reading intervention specialist at Highland Park Elementary School where she also served on the PTA. Her work later shifted to advocacy. At United Way for Greater Austin, where she worked from 2017 to 2023, McHorse emerged as one of the region's leading experts on child care and early childhood development.

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Texas ‘detransition clinic’ to offer surgery, counseling, fertility treatment

The nation’s first “De-Transition Clinic” will provide a multidisciplinary array of medical treatment, including surgery, fertility counseling, psychotherapy and speech pathology to patients who have received gender transition care before the age of 21, according to a previously unreleased settlement agreement with the Texas state attorney general’s office. The agreement between State Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, coordinated with the Justice Department, ended a three-year investigation into the hospital’s treatment of transgender youth. Under the terms of the settlement, announced last month, the hospital will pay $10 million to the state to resolve allegations of improper billing to the state’s Medicaid program, ban five doctors from practicing at the facility and “permanently and irrevocably cease providing ... any sex-rejecting procedures.”

The 10-page settlement, obtained Monday by The Washington Post through a public records request to the attorney general’s office, details how the detransition clinic must be run. Under the agreement, Texas Children’s, the nation’s largest pediatric hospital, will create its detransition clinic within 90 days of the settlement. Its “multidisciplinary services” — provided at no cost for five years — will include a patient navigator to coordinate care across departments, endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, psychiatry, speech pathology and social work to assist with insurance and legal name changes. Care will be provided to patients who have received gender transition care before age 21, and obstetric-gynecology care for those over age 21. “The detransition clinic will formalize the supportive, multidisciplinary services we already deliver to all patients who need our care,” Texas Children’s said in a Monday statement. “This simply provides structure and a name for the services we currently provide.” The agreement requires that the hospital’s medical staff amend their bylaws within 90 days to require that staff and prospective appointees be evaluated on compliance with the new ban on “sex-rejecting procedures” and that anyone who violates it automatically relinquishes their position, according to the agreement.

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National Stories

Scott Pelley accuses CBS News boss of ‘murdering’ ‘60 Minutes’

CBS News faced a fresh wave of turmoil on Monday after Scott Pelley, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, laced into the show’s newly hired executive producer during a staff meeting and accused Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief, of “murdering” the longstanding Sunday news program. In an extraordinary exchange, Mr. Pelley, his newscaster’s baritone sometimes shaking in anger, told Nick Bilton, the new executive producer, that he had “slender” qualifications for his new job and questioned the network’s commitment to the future of the program, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times. The 10 a.m. gathering, held at the program’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters, was intended as a formal introduction to Mr. Bilton, a tech journalist and filmmaker who was appointed last week as part of a major shake-up at “60 Minutes.”

CBS fired Tanya Simon, the previous executive producer, and her deputy, along with Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, two of the show’s correspondents — an event that Mr. Pelley referred to as “Black Thursday.” Mr. Bilton, who had never worked in traditional broadcast news, opened Monday’s meeting by trying to assuage the anxieties of staff members who believed he might fundamentally change the decades-old DNA of the country’s top-rated news program. “For me, the journalism is the journalism,” Mr. Bilton said, according to the recording. “That is why I am here. That is why we are all here.” He added: “The rumors people are spreading, that I’m going to turn the show into 60 one-minute episodes, that it’s going to be like TikTok, that is not changing. The show is going to stay exactly like it is for now.” He also warned that the broadcast television industry that incubated “60 Minutes” would soon be obsolete. “Broadcast is an ice cube that is melting, OK?” Mr. Bilton said, saying the show had to adapt. “Bari loves this institution,” he added. “She loves ’60 Minutes.’” At that, Mr. Pelley interrupted. “She is murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” the correspondent said. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”

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Inside a big primary day

Today is a huge primary day, spanning six states: California, New Jersey, Montana, South Dakota, New Mexico and Iowa. Both parties will land nominees in key House districts. Democrats will settle a contentious Senate battle in Iowa. The large field vying to replace former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her San Francisco-based seat will winnow down to two. Today will also settle a host of questions. Will a mysterious super PAC successfully meddle in the Democratic primary for Rep. Tom Kean’s (R-N.J.) seat? Can the DCCC get its preferred candidate to take on Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.)?

Here’s what we’re tracking. California. The California gubernatorial primary is the most important race of the day, with former Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) in a strong position to advance to the general election. Republican Steve Hilton and billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer are battling to finish in the top two. House Democrats are eager to flip the 22nd and 48th districts, but they have bitter primaries in both seats. In the Central Valley, the DCCC is backing state Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains over progressive Randy Villegas, a move that has angered Latino leaders. One of them is likely to join Valadao in the top two. Real Change PAC, a mysterious pop-up group with ties to the GOP, has spent some $650,000 to try to thwart Democrat Rebecca Bennett in the 7th District primary and boost her rivals, Tina Shah and Brian Varela. Bennett is likely still the favorite to take on Kean. Trump endorsed Kean on Monday night despite the GOP lawmaker’s mysterious absence from public view for months. And in the open 12th District, a crowded field is competing to replace Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.). The top contenders are surgeon Adam Hamawy and organizer Sue Altman. State Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls are facing off in the Democratic Senate primary for a chance to take on Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) in the general election. Turek has had millions of dollars in outside help and is the favorite here. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) faces a right-wing primary challenge but is expected to survive. And there’s a crowded Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary, but Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa) got Trump’s endorsement and is in the driver’s seat.

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The Trump Administration is taking a strict approach to Medicaid work requirements

The Trump administration signaled Monday it’s taking a muscular approach to one of its signature and most controversial health initiatives: new work requirements that could force millions of low-income people off Medicaid. The new regulation — anxiously awaited by states who are due to implement the work requirements Jan. 1 — takes a stricter stance on verification and exemptions than state officials and patient advocates had hoped for. Administration officials said they sought to minimize enrollee paperwork and ensure everyone eligible for a work exemption receives it, while closing the door to fraud. “We’re forgiving but we’re not foolish,” Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said at a press briefing.

The regulations, while weedy, will affect how many millions of Americans could drop off Medicaid under a raft of new requirements included in President Donald Trump’s tax bill that congressional Republicans passed last year. Starting next year, those on expanded Medicaid — about 20 million people who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty line — will have to work, go to school or volunteer at least 80 hours a week to remain qualified for the program. They can be exempted if they’re pregnant, disabled, medically frail, in substance-abuse treatment or are full-time caregivers for a family member. “If your condition significantly impairs your ability to engage in work … then you are likely not subject to the work requirements,” Dan Brillman, the director of Medicaid, said at the briefing. Patient advocates had been especially concerned about the details around the medical frailty exemption — what qualifies and how people must prove they are medically frail before being allowed to enroll.

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Anthropic files to go public in blockbuster year for IPOs

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence lab recently valued at nearly $1 trillion, said Monday it has filed confidentially for an initial public offering, setting up a blockbuster year for IPOs. The filing could put the company behind the Claude AI model on a path to go public this fall. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing to stage what is likely to be the largest IPO ever next week. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Anthropic’s chief rival, OpenAI, was preparing to submit its own IPO filing imminently. Banks have told both Anthropic and OpenAI that whoever makes it to market first will get to define the new industry and have first dibs on the large pools of cash eager to back new AI companies. If both file initial paperwork with regulators around the same time, either would still have a chance to stage an offering before the other.

Anthropic said in a blog post that its plans will depend on market conditions and other factors. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a CNBC appearance Monday that he didn’t think there was a race to go public. “We will do it when it makes sense,” he said. The year could end up being the biggest ever for money raised through IPOs if Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX all make their debuts. SpaceX is aiming to raise as much as $80 billion or more in an offering next week. It had a valuation of $1.25 trillion after its combination with Musk’s AI company xAI, and could see its valuation rise further. Anthropic has recently emerged as a front-runner in the AI wars after a period of staggering growth. The company, founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI employees including Anthropic’s now-CEO Dario Amodei, was once a scrappy underdog that investors were uncertain could pull ahead of the ChatGPT maker. That changed with the release of hit products like its AI-coding tool Claude Code, which became a viral hit across Silicon Valley and helped position Anthropic as a real competitor to OpenAI.

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Pentagon bans journalists from press office, designating it a classified space

The Defense Department has designated its press office a classified space and banned journalists from accessing it to meet with the public affairs officers who have traditionally answered their questions. The change in security status, which took effect in recent weeks, was confirmed by four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the nonpublic matter. While Pentagon reporters are still largely barred from the building, as litigation over the agency’s press rules continues, the change would have an outsize impact on them upon a possible return — restricting access to a space they have for years been able to walk freely.

People familiar with the change said it was driven in part by a shift that moved Pentagon speechwriters into the public affairs office. The office will be equipped with SIPRNet, the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, so personnel can use the tool without decamping for a separate secured room. “The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said in a statement to The Washington Post. “These speechwriters routinely handle classified material and require SIPRNet access,” he said. “As a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space,” he added. “Access to the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and to the Press Secretary remains available by appointment only.” The move comes amid a months-long legal battle over whether journalists should have unescorted access to unclassified spaces in the Pentagon. Members of the media traditionally have been allowed to access public spaces in the Defense Department, talking to sources and attending regular briefings.

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This GOP congressman is running unopposed in Tuesday’s primary. He’s been missing from Washington for nearly three months

GOP Rep. Tom Kean is running unopposed in his primary on Tuesday, seeking a third term in one of the nation’s most competitive seats. But voters haven’t seen or heard directly from Kean in months — and it’s still unclear when he might return to work on Capitol Hill. Kean has yet to offer a date for his return to House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team, who have been navigating their reed-thin margins without him since early March, according to three GOP leadership sources. The New Jersey congressman said in late April on social media that he’s dealing with a “personal medical issue,” without specifying what it is, and said he would be back “very soon.” Late last month, he told The New Jersey Globe that he’d be back in the “next couple of weeks.”

His absence, though, is now increasingly rattling House Republicans. Kean’s colleagues say they are worried about his health — and how the unexplained absence could complicate the GOP’s ability to hold onto a critical swing seat in an already difficult midterm cycle, according to multiple sources. Some Republicans, too, are frustrated by what they see as a massive public relations failure, sources say, with the congressman’s team unable to answer specific questions about his return — and then drawing national scrutiny for the lack of responses. Multiple aides in Kean’s office did not respond to requests for comment from CNN. Kean has spoken privately to Johnson since his last vote on March 5. But if the speaker or others in leadership are aware of Kean’s medical condition, they have not disclosed it to their colleagues or their own staff, sources said. Kean’s absence has mystified many of his House Republican colleagues. Some have been privately raising questions about what happens if Kean is forced to drop out of the race after the primary. Under New Jersey law, a post-primary vacancy would be filled by the state’s GOP county committee leaders. (Kean told the Globe last month that he is planning to run for reelection.)

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Federal appeals court rules that Trump’s trans military ban appears discriminatory

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., said Monday that the Trump administration’s transgender military policy appears motivated by "the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group," delivering some of the strongest appellate criticism yet of a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s campaign against transgender rights. Writing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Judge Robert Wilkins concluded that key portions of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's policy likely violate the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection because they appear rooted in hostility toward transgender people rather than legitimate military concerns.

"The sharp contrast to the Mattis Policy ... appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender," wrote Wilkins, an appointee of former President Barack Obama. "As such, at this preliminary stage, I conclude that the Hegseth Policy is both arbitrary and based upon animus." The remarks came in a fractured ruling that partially upheld and partially narrowed an injunction against the policy. The court preserved protections for the named transgender plaintiffs currently serving in the military while allowing enforcement of portions of the policy affecting prospective recruits. But the most striking aspect of the 107-page opinion was Wilkins' repeated focus on what he described as evidence that the administration's policy targets transgender identity itself. The judge opened his opinion by recounting language used by Trump and Hegseth to justify the policy.

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Israel and Hezbollah trade new attacks despite Trump promise of de-escalation

The Israeli military launched deadly new strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday after reporting attacks from Hezbollah overnight, despite President Donald Trump saying both sides had agreed to de-escalate after Iran threatened to pull out of peace talks. Trump said Monday night that he had spoken with both sides and that they agreed “all shooting will stop” after Tehran signaled that Israel’s intensifying military operations in Lebanon could derail efforts to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Talks with Tehran were ongoing, Trump said. The Lebanese Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah had accepted the terms of a U.S. proposal for a “mutual cessation of attacks,” which would also block Israel from attacking Beirut. Its threat to do so had sparked panic in the Lebanese capital, after the U.S. ally’s deepest incursion into its neighbor in 26 years.

But despite the claims of a renewed ceasefire, clashes continued Tuesday morning. Israel continued to launch its own strikes on Lebanon, with the Lebanese Civil Defense agency saying on its Facebook page Tuesday that six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on Monday night in the village of Marwaniyeh in southern Lebanon. It was not clear exactly when that strike was launched. Lebanon’s civil defense said Tuesday that one of its centers, in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, had been subject to “direct targeting as a result of a hostile Israeli airstrike.” It said the building was damaged, along with equipment inside of it. The Lebanese Army later reported that two soldiers had been moderately wounded as a result of being targeted by an Israeli hostile drone in Nabatieh. The Israeli military told NBC News that it had launched at least one strike in Nabatieh, but said it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

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Lead Stories

Data centers need water. Could Texas oil companies help?

Thirsty data centers are cropping up all over Texas, as the state contends with a water shortage so severe that entire communities are running dry. But data center developers in parched areas of the state may end up banking on a little-known solution from Houston’s oil industry: oilfield wastewater, known as produced water. Deals involving the treated wastewater are already taking shape behind closed doors. After reaching a $43 million land deal for a power plant to support data center operations in an undisclosed location, Texas Pacific Land Corp. said it was “in talks” to supply the project with treated oilfield wastewater.

Using the waste stream as a water source is a solution that not only allows data center development to move forward more freely in Texas as water supplies dwindle, but could also solve an existential problem for oil companies. Their oilfields are drowning in wastewater. The longstanding practice of injecting this water underground has turned into a critical problem for Houston's oil companies as a rash of earthquakes, leaking wells and toxic geysers prove the wastewater they are sending underground is not staying put. State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, is aiming for a “twofer,” as he advocates for cleaning and reusing the wastewater for data centers and agriculture, and for recharging drying rivers – instead of injecting it underground into “pore space.” “Texas is out of water in some areas today,” Perry told a packed ballroom at the Produced Water Society Conference in Sugar Land in February. “Oil and gas industry will be out of pore space in two years. For those that are familiar, we can't inject anymore.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, charged with developing treatment and testing standards for oilfield wastewater, has yet to finalize a permit process for its release into rivers or for irrigating crops. But data center use could leapfrog this stalled process.

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Republican Party of Texas expects $600 million to be spent on campaigns in Texas

Now that the bruising primaries are over, both major political parties in Texas are trying to unify as early as possible before November. For Republicans, it’s repairing the rift between supporters of U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton and John Cornyn, who lost to Paxton in the GOP runoff. Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico in November. “We always have very brutal primaries. I mean, this is not a new thing,” Abraham George told us on Inside Texas Politics. “But, you know, at the end of the day, they will look at Talarico and go, well, there’s no way we can get behind that guy,” Abraham George is chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

He tells us the state party has had conversations with both camps in an effort to mend fences and transfer support. George tells us that because Paxton won, and he needs all the support he can get, he’s ready to work with everyone. And George expects Cornyn to eventually get behind Paxton because he understands how dangerous Talarico is as an opponent. “We should take him seriously. I mean, he is probably more dangerous than Beto (O’Rourke),” George said. “He’s a weird, weird dude. But I’ll tell you the truth, he is very charismatic for a lot of people, very beta male, which helps with a great group of people. And so, we are taking him seriously.” The chairman tells us the GOP is focused on two areas of the state: South Texas, where Republicans are trying to keep the border counties they flipped during the last election. That cost the party millions, and it is already trying to raise more this cycle. They’re also paying closer attention to Harris County. George says GOP candidates have been performing better there in recent elections, and they’re looking to move the needle even more this cycle. George says Governor Greg Abbott, who is on the ballot against Democrat Gina Hinojosa, has promised to spend $20 - $25 million in Harris County alone. And those dollars will be just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall spending expected in Texas as both national Republicans and Democrats invest in the state. “We were told by RNC (Republican National Committee) a couple of days ago, a few days ago, we’re expecting about $600 million total spent in Texas between Democrats and Republicans. That’s a lot of money,” George explained.

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Records link soil analysis to nicked gas line at Oak Cliff blast site

Sparse but chilling details in an alert sent Thursday show that the firm overseeing a soil analysis at the site of a deadly Oak Cliff apartment explosion earlier this week reported a drilling company damaged a gas line near the building. Texas811 records reviewed by The Dallas Morning News indicate the damage was caused by a rig boring for soil samples. ECS Limited, a national engineering consulting firm with an office in Carrollton, reported the issue. Austin-based O-SDA Industries had plans to buy the Oak Cliff property to build low-income housing for seniors. Megan Lasch, the company’s president, said she hired ECS to provide a geotechnical report, in which engineers analyze soil, rock and groundwater conditions before designing foundations.

An ECS Limited spokesperson told The News in an email that none of its employees were on site at the time of the explosion. They declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation. Authorities have connected the explosion to a gas leak but have not provided further details. The records said the line was damaged with a drill rig by Barba Drilling, and a charred truck at the scene was registered to Barba Drilling Co. Manuel Barba, listed in records as the company’s manager, did not respond to phone calls, text messages or voicemails seeking comment. Officials said three people were killed and at least five others were injured in Thursday’s blast at The Clyde apartments in the 400 block of East 9th Street, near Patton Avenue. The tragedy is the worst gas explosion in the city since 2018, when a leak and subsequent explosion in northwest Dallas claimed the life of a 12-year-old girl. “This is absolutely catastrophic,” said Geoff Henley, a Dallas attorney representing the current property owner, who was not involved in the digging work. “A variety of things had to go wrong for this to happen.”

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Iran and US trade strikes, Kuwait comes under fire as diplomacy drags on

Iran and the United States said they had both carried out strikes on military targets, and each accused the other of acting aggressively as ?diplomatic efforts to end three months of war drag on. The U.S. military said it had at the weekend struck Iranian air defences, a ground control station and two drones that were threatening ships after "aggressive Iranian actions", including shooting down a U.S. drone over international waters. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday it had targeted an air base used by the U.S. in response to an attack on southern Iran. It did not ?identify the base, but Kuwait activated air defences on Monday and denounced Iranian missile and drone attacks, which it said were undermining efforts to reduce tensions in the ?region.

Oil prices, which have risen sharply since the start of the war, gained more than 3% on Monday after ?the strikes. Tensions were also fuelled by Israel ordering troops to move further into Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah, in a conflict that was reignited by the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. The ?U.S. and Iran have sporadically exchanged strikes since a ceasefire took effect in early April, while Pakistan has been mediating efforts to secure a more durable agreement. An exchange of strikes ?last Thursday was described in similar terms by each side. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has also caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global supply route for oil and liquefied natural gas. In a late-night social media post, U.S. President ?Donald Trump did not mention the exchange of hostilities, repeating his assertion that Iran "really wants to make a deal". He berated critics, including what he described as "seemingly unpatriotic Republicans", for negative “chirping” about ?negotiations to end the conflict. "Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end - It always does!" he said.

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State Stories

Abbott: Texas GOP will help raise what Paxton needs to beat Talarico

Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Republicans’ most prolific fundraiser, says Senate nominee Ken Paxton will have no trouble raising the money he needs to win in November. But Abbott made clear Paxton won't be on his own. Get the latest political news, analysis and policy decisions shaping Texas and the nation. The governor said well-funded Republicans up and down the ballot will help ensure Democrats don't "hijack" Texas. “We're all going to come together and make sure we have the resources capable of winning this election cycle, just like we have for more than 30 years now,” Abbott said Thursday at an event with law enforcement officials in Arlington. In the GOP Senate race, incumbent John Cornyn outspent Paxton nearly 2-to-1, funding a barrage of negative ads and attacks against him. Still, Paxton won the runoff Tuesday in a landslide and now heads into the general election against Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin.

Questions remains about whether Paxton, whose legal troubles and personal controversies have bitterly divided the GOP, can raise what's needed for what could become one of the nation's most expensive Senate fights. Talarico pulled in $27 million in the first quarter of 2026, the largest first-quarter haul ever reported by a Senate candidate in any state during an election year. And he said Thursday his campaign had collected more than $3 million in the first 24 hours after Paxton clinched the nomination. Article continues below this ad Even in victory, Paxton was looking ahead to November and asking for donations. “I know how critical it is for our party to come together, and that's what we must do now,” he said. “Without a shadow of a doubt, I will be the Democrats' No. 1 target in November.” Abbott cannot directly transfer money from his sizable campaign account, which topped $100 million earlier this year. He can donate to other statewide and legislative races, but federal law prohibits money raised in state races from going directly to Senate candidates.

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Energy giant switches on first phase of $1.1 billion Texas solar farm set to power AT&T and Toyota

Sequoia Solar, in Callahan County, Texas, has officially brought its first 400 megawatts of capacity online. That first phase is now operating, while a second 415-megawatt phase is due online before the end of the year. Together, the two phases will bring the project to 815 megawatts, placing it among the continent's largest solar developments, according to Electrek. Power from the project is being sold under long-term purchase agreements to AT&T, Toyota, PepsiCo, and Donaldson Company. The project's launch also reflects a broader shift across the energy sector. Even companies with long ties to fossil fuels are investing more in renewable energy as utilities and major businesses look for stable, long-term sources of cleaner electricity. Texas is at the center of that growth, as solar and battery projects continue to spread while statewide electricity demand rises.

Adding hundreds of megawatts to the grid can help meet rising electricity demand and ease strain on power systems, especially in fast-growing states such as Texas. Solar can also make energy costs more predictable over time because sunlight is free and not subject to the same fuel-price swings as coal or gas. For companies like AT&T, that translates into lower operating costs and less pollution tied to their operations.

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Meta data center expected to become city of El Paso’s largest property taxpayer

The artificial intelligence data center that Meta Platforms Inc. is spending $10 billion to develop in Northeast El Paso will be the city’s biggest property taxpayer when the campus is fully built. The city of El Paso estimates Meta’s data center will pay around $15 million a year in city property taxes alone – not including what it may pay to other taxing entities. El Paso Electric is currently the city government’s biggest taxpayer, paying about $4 million last year, according to Robert Cortinas, the city’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager. “We’re talking about a large influx of property tax dollars in the very near future,” Cortinas told El Paso Matters.

The city and county governments in late 2023 awarded economic development incentives to Meta. Those consisted mainly of an 80% break on property taxes for 35 years. The city also committed $12.5 million to repair the road infrastructure immediately around the data center. That $12.5 million is the biggest outlay so far of an $80 million fund El Paso Electric committed to the city in exchange for City Council’s support of the utility’s 2020 sale to a J.P. Morgan-owned investment fund. The main reason the city courted Meta to establish a data center here, Cortinas said, was to increase local tax revenue from a multi-billion-dollar private investment that would lower the tax burden on existing El Paso property owners. The city recognized the project wasn’t a massive job creator, Cortinas added.

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Georgetown poised to expand water supply as city plans for long-term growth

The city of Georgetown is taking another step to secure its future water supply, announcing plans in May to significantly increase the amount of groundwater available to the city. Georgetown city leaders signed a term sheet with Recharge Water LP that would provide up to 34,800 acre-feet of groundwater per year, sourced from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Bastrop and Lee counties. Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder called the agreement a major milestone, as cities across Central Texas face growing concerns about water availability. “Water is one of the major issues in Central Texas,” Schroeder said.

If finalized, the agreement would span 30 years and is expected to begin delivering water to the city by 2031. There are also options for two additional 30-year terms according to the city. KXAN reached out to the Texas Water Development Board on the impact the agreement would have on the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer and will update this story if a response is given. The move comes as Georgetown faces rising demand driven by population growth. City data previously projected a need for tens of thousands of additional acre-feet of water annually to meet long-term demand. To address that gap, voters earlier this month approved a plan to sell off portions of the city’s water utility outside city limits, a move leaders say could reduce overall water demand by about 60%. City officials say the combination of reducing demand and securing new groundwater will help cover most of Georgetown’s future water needs.

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CDC finds that most of those hospitalized with measles in West Texas were children or pregnant adults

A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that more than 90% of the people hospitalized during the first two months of the 2025 measles outbreak in West Texas were children. More than half were under the age of four. Of the five adults who required hospital care for measles during that period, four of them were pregnant. Two of them delivered their babies while they were in the hospital for measles, and both babies tested positive for measles within two days of birth. The CDC gathered this information from the available medical records of 54 of the 60 people who were hospitalized between January 20 and March 18, 2025. More than 70% of those hospitalized during these two months had pneumonia. Nearly 70% had hypoxia. 70% required supplemental oxygen. Four children were admitted to the intensive care unit; two required intubation and mechanical ventilation, and one child died. All of the people included in this report were either unvaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The West Texas measles outbreak continued through August 18 of that year. Of the 762 people with confirmed infections between January and August 2025, 99 were hospitalized. Another child died, bringing the total number of people killed by measles during the outbreak to two.

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Dallas builder shutting down, laying off 150-plus as bankruptcy, misconduct allegations roil owners

About 150 employees of a Dallas-based specialty construction company appear to be collateral damage in a legal battle between an out-of-state private equity firm declaring bankruptcy and its founders accused of financial misconduct. In a WARN notice dated May 19, Auzmet Architectural notified the state that it would be laying off 152 workers at its 1444 North Cockrell Hill Road headquarters. Most would be separated from employment immediately, with a select few assisting with wind-down until mid-July, the notice said. Auzmet designs and builds custom facades for buildings and has provided services at Dallas’ First Baptist Church, Atelier Flora Lofts, Ross Tower and more. The company has several ongoing projects in the city, notably Uptown’s under-construction Bank of America Tower at Parkside, and it is unclear what will happen to those projects.

On May 22, Auzmet, alongside owners Illinois Avenue Partners and a host of IAP’s other subsidiaries, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. A few months ago, IAP sued departed founders Richard Gifford and Michael Winton alleging a “pervasive scheme of financial misconduct, manipulation of IAP’s books and records, self-dealing, and concealment of company liabilities and financial status.” “The magnitude of Winton and Gifford’s malfeasance is substantial and has been debilitating to the Company,” reads the complaint, filed in Delaware Chancery Court in January. Winton and Gifford founded IAP, headquartered in Philadelphia, around 2018, and the firm initially targeted small custom signage companies and other commercial real estate contractors, according to the complaint. IAP then acquired Auzmet in 2021, its first major acquisition and the largest company in IAP’s portfolio by far, seeking outside investment to do so. The lawsuit then alleges that though the revenue of IAP’s portfolio companies couldn’t support additional acquisitions, the pair continued to seek outside investment and debt financing to acquire more companies while representing to IAP’s board and lenders that its portfolio companies’ financials were strong. Winton and Gifford then approached the board multiple time for cash infusions, citing cash shortfall emergencies, unexpected due to IAP’s purportedly strong financials, the lawsuit says. They also allegedly took out two loans totaling more than $1 million to fix cash problems and make payroll that they never disclosed to the board.

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Austin Pets Alive! gets $10K donation, pet beds

Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) received a $10,000 donation and 30 pet beds on Thursday. The donation was from Robert Thiele, an Amazon delivery driver and owner of Clark Courier Services, which was named in honor of his late bulldog, Clark, who passed away this spring after a battle with cancer. “I named Clark Courier Services after Clark because just like our drivers, he delivered smiles every single day. In a world full of best friends, Clark was the bestest,” said Thiele.

According to Amazon, the donated pet beds were given a second life through Amazon Re:Turn, which repurposes textiles from customer returns that could not be resold or donated. As a surprise for Thiele, APA! unveiled memorial plaques dedicated to Clark on shelter kennels, which were inscribed with his name and the words “forever delivering.” “Our Delivery Service Partners are local, small business owners embedded in the communities they serve. Robert’s been delivering in Austin for nearly seven years, and he’s not just moving packages. He’s showing up for the people, the pets, and the neighborhoods around him. That’s what this program is about,” said Emma Crowley, Amazon spokesperson. “Today, we got to give a little back to someone who has and will continue to give so much to others.”

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Sudden death playoff decides winner of Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial

Russell Henley birdied the final four holes, including in a sudden death playoff, to win the PGA Tour’s Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday at Colonial Country Club. Henley tracked down third-round leader Eric Cole to earn his victory. Henley shot 3-under 67 in the final round to finish at 12-under 268. Cole shot even-par 70 in the final round. After the win, Henley talked about when he knew he’d have a chance to pull off the victory. “When I made it the putt on 17,” he said. “I knew that I had a chance to put a little pressure if I played 18 well, and so just seeing those putts go in. Just kept fighting, and just got a little bit of momentum, and hard to believe I’m sitting here.”

It was the sixth win of Henley’s career and his first since winning the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. Henley talked about what it took to get the win, and how he kept his momentum heading into the playoff hole. “I was still kind of running on pure adrenaline at that moment,” he said. “I was glad I got to go hit a few balls off one tee while I was waiting, just to kind of swing my arms a little bit and just kind of try to get into a little bit of a rhythm, because I was very excited. So that was huge for me, and then just continued on into the last hole, and, yeah, crazy finish. I’m just over the moon.” For Henley, a Georgia native, it was his fourth top-10 finish of the season and his first since finishing third at the Masters.

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ACA enrollment is dropping nationwide, but not in Texas.

Cuts to federal subsidies for health insurance are driving people across the country to drop plans they bought through the Affordable Care Act marketplace — but not in Texas. A recent report by the think tank KFF found that 4.2 million Texans signed up for health insurance this year through the ACA, known as Obamacare, 5% more than last year and one of the largest increases in the country. It comes as the number of enrollees nationwide declined 5% to 23.1 million. States including Arizona, Oklahoma and North Carolina saw declines of 15% or higher. The upheaval in healthcare plans follows a decision by congressional Republicans last year to cut federal spending by letting expire what are known as enhanced premium tax credits.

Those credits were created during the COVID-19 pandemic to further lower premium costs for low-income families, while also expanding access to working-class families who had not qualified for subsidies when the original Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. The difference in Texas seems to be a bipartisan law passed in 2021 that gives the state's Department of Insurance the power to limit how much insurance companies raise rates on certain plans bought through the ACA marketplace. So while costs on middle-tier "silver" plans might have increased sharply in Texas, premiums for so-called gold and bronze plans have stayed relatively stable. The bureaucratic maneuver is known as "silver loading," said Alec Mendoza, a policy advisor with the non-profit Texas 2036. "Our preliminary data showed 75% of enrollees in Texas are still eligible for low cost plans and the numbers bear that out," he said. "We've been preaching for people to go and shop around." Texas is one of nine states to see enrollment increase this year for one reason or another. Some states like New Mexico and Massachusetts chose to help make up the loss of federal subsidies for their residents. Others, like Texas and Louisiana, not only have "silver loading" laws but also more uninsured residents because the state didn't expand access to Medicaid.

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Houston police add officers after major pay raise, matching U.S. trend

A year after Mayor John Whitmire secured city council approval of nearly $1 billion in police raises over five years, the Houston Police Department has more officers in its ranks than at any time in the last two decades. Whitmire and police union leaders have praised the uptick, tying it to improved morale and the lucrative new contract, but experts say rising staffing levels are a trend in law enforcement agencies across the country. “Our new contract appears to be bringing people in,” said Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, in a previous interview with the Houston Chronicle. He declined to comment for this story.

But public safety agencies nationwide are reporting improved staffing numbers – including departments that haven’t handed out 36.5% in raises to officers, as Houston did. “We’re seeing incremental increases the last few years, things are stabilizing,” said Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington D.C.-based police think tank. “Overall, staffing is better than it has been in years.” Seven of the 10 biggest Texas police agencies saw an increase in officer headcounts between 2024 and 2025, state data show, led by Fort Worth. HPD’s headcount reached 5,364 in March. That’s the highest in at least 20 years, according to city records. The department actually recruited more officers in its 2024 fiscal year – before the raises were approved – than in the last fiscal year or as of April in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, city data show. But the number of officers leaving the department has dropped significantly, from 269 in 2024 down to 149 as of April in the current fiscal year, records show. That dynamic also is nationwide, Wexler said: Recruiting is improving at the same time that retirements and resignations are slowing. Still, Wexler praised the data out of Houston specifically, saying the officer headcount is the best in 25 years.

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Marvin Forland, who helped build San Antonio medical school, dies at 93

Dr. Marvin Forland, a founding faculty member of the UT Health San Antonio medical school, has died at age 93, university officials announced Thursday. An internist, nephrologist and educator, Forland established what was then the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio — now the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine. He helped shape the school from its earliest years “as a community devoted to forming humane and morally serious healers,” officials with UT Health, the academic health center of UT San Antonio, said in a release. Forland died Tuesday while in hospice care.

A native of northern New Jersey, Forland served in the military in the Renal Branch of the Army’s Surgical Research Unit at Brooke Army Medical Center and on the faculty at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. He returned to San Antonio in 1968 to help build the new medical school. The push for a medical school arose from public health needs in San Antonio, including care for indigent residents and demand for specialists, he told the Express-News in 2015. “Polio in ’49 and ’50 was a major problem and received a lot of national attention,” Forland recalled in an interview. “Tuberculosis and diarrhea diseases in children were far, far greater problems. So there were a lot of public health needs.” The opening of the medical school “provided a whole new tier of expertise,” he said.

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How the Spurs have arrived at the NBA Finals, well ahead of schedule

Late Saturday night, Keldon Johnson stood inside a still-buzzing visitors locker room in Oklahoma City, surveyed the bedlam surrounding him and tried to fathom the unfathomable. Atop his head, the Spurs forward was wearing one of his trademark Stetson cowboy hats. Almost everyone else in the room – starters, benchwarmers, G Leaguers and team staffers – had donned crisp black ballcaps bearing the Spurs’ logo that proclaimed the next stop in the team’s magical mystery tour of a season: “2026 NBA Finals.” “This is one of the most emotional, rewarding nights I’ve ever been a part of,” said Johnson, the only player in franchise history to endure six seasons without a playoff berth. “Starting with last year, coming in this year, believing in ourselves. It takes a village to be where we’re at.”

One season after finishing with the third-worst record in the Western Conference, two seasons after posting a second consecutive 22-win campaign, the Spurs are headed to the Finals for the seventh time in franchise history and first time since 2014. The Spurs face the New York Knicks, in a rematch of the 1999 Finals that produced the first of five title banners hanging in the Frost Bank Center rafters. Game 1 is Wednesday in San Antonio (7:30 p.m., ABC). Supposedly too young, too callow, too inexperienced for any of this, the Spurs got here by knocking off defending champion Oklahoma City in Game 7, on the road, by way of a brutally professional 111-103 victory Saturday. It was the type of triumph authored by a defiant team bent on bucking basketball history, in no mood to wait its turn. “Words like competitiveness, resolve, togetherness, execution, habits,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “They don’t give a damn about the word ‘experience.’ ”

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National Stories

Why it matters if OpenAI or Anthropic wins the IPO race

In the bitter rivalry between AI heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic, it will mostly be who has the best technology that determines the ultimate victor. But which one of them gets to its public offering first matters a great deal, too. The window for initial public offerings is decidedly open, with a receptive market. Cerebras, an AI-chip company, rose 68% on its first day of trading last month. Only digital-design platform Figma’s absurd 250% rise last year was bigger for a company valued at more than $10 billion at listing in the past five years, according to FactSet data. Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to follow up this summer in what may well be the largest IPO in history—with a targeted valuation of $1.5 trillion. That will add more heat to the IPO cauldron. This is all the more reason for OpenAI and Anthropic to try to be the first big artificial-intelligence-model developer to go public.

There are some clear advantages to being first out of the gate. Just as importantly, there are major disadvantages in being second. Academic research has shown that IPOs tend to come in industry clusters, and that companies listing later in a cycle don’t tend to perform as well. That stands to reason, given that higher-quality companies with deeper moats tend to go public early, triggering a barrage of followers that might not be as strong. And even in a hot market, there isn’t an infinite amount of money to go around. Investors may rotate out of other stocks to pile into SpaceX, then do more reshuffling to make bets on OpenAI and Anthropic later this year or next. The one that goes first is likely to gobble up more of the increasingly scarce capital. And both OpenAI and Anthropic are looking for sky-high valuations. Anthropic raised money recently at a valuation approaching $1 trillion. OpenAI was last valued in March at $852 billion.

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DHS backs off its demand for Green-Card applicants to leave US

The Department of Homeland Security said that highly qualified and skilled green-card applicants will see no noticeable impact from a controversial policy announced last week that most people seeking permanent legal residency would have to apply from outside the US. The clarification, which appeared aimed at reassuring employers and immigrants that the process won’t become restrictive, came in a statement Saturday, which said the guidance issued last week by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services merely reiterated longstanding law and policy. At the time, a USCIS spokesperson said immigrants temporarily in the US who wanted green cards “must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances.” This would have changed the decades-long practice of allowing immigrants sponsored by relatives or employers to remain in the US while waiting for green cards.

The latest DHS statement suggested that the requirement to apply from outside the US would not affect those who can serve US national interests or provide economic benefits, and that the policy won’t prevent any qualified person from obtaining a green card. Immigration lawyers said they received many worried phone calls after the initial USCIS statement from clients worried that the Trump administration was trying to restrict legal immigration. The new rule is “another way to try to deport people I believe are not deportable,” Elizabeth Goss, an immigration lawyer in Boston, said of the earlier policy. “It’s another way to force people out.” At the same time, DHS said that some applicants will need to begin the process in a US embassy or consulate outside the US. It won’t impact any current permanent legal residents, DHS added. The statement was reported earlier by the New York Times and CBS News.

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Blue states pitch 100 percent tax on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ payouts

Democratic state leaders around the country have an unusual strategy to stymie President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion settlement fund for people who claim they were wrongly investigated by the government. Their plan: Tax the payouts at 100 percent. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has endorsed the idea, saying, “It’s an action we look forward to taking.” State legislators in New York and Wisconsin are crafting bills on the topic. And Democratic candidates are rallying behind the tactic in blue states. “The slush fund is a blatantly corrupt theft of taxpayer dollars, and we need to do everything we can to stop it,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) said in an interview with The Washington Post. Bennet is the leading Democratic candidate for governor in Colorado. “I actually think this won’t wear well with Republicans or Democrats in America,” Bennet said of the politics of Trump’s fund.

The issue is particularly relevant in Colorado, where Gov. Jared Polis (D) recently granted clemency to Tina Peters, a former county clerk who helped secretly copy voting machine hard drives in an effort to bolster Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance said it was “reasonable” that Peters “get some compensation” from the fund. The Trump administration drew backlash from Democrats as well as some Republicans when it announced this month that it was establishing a fund to pay people who claim they were wrongly investigated or prosecuted, echoing the president’s claims of a “weaponized” justice system. Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax records in exchange for creating the $1.776 billion pool of money. A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with the fund as critics question how the money will be distributed and worry that it will go primarily to Trump allies. Democrats in Congress reacted to the fund with outrage but have limited options to respond while they are in the minority. At the state level, however, Democratic officials have more options to try to block the payments. In California, Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel (D) said Democrats are planning to put a tax on the payouts in the state budget. “That money belongs to taxpayers, and we’re going to make sure it stays with taxpayers,” Gabriel said.

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Hard-liners balk at GOP’s failure to enshrine anti-transgender laws

GOP hard-liners who promised voters they’d use their new majority in Washington to enact anti-trans legislation are increasingly frustrated their leaders don’t seem to share the same commitment. A record number of bills that would roll back access to health care, sports participation and military service for transgender individuals have been introduced over the last year and a half after Republicans spent tens of millions of dollars campaigning on the issue in 2024. The party has struggled, however, to get more than a handful to President Donald Trump’s desk, and some Republicans worry the weak showing could deflate red state voters come November as the GOP fights to keep control of Congress.

These members are now looking toward legislative packages — like the annual defense policy bill or party-line budget reconciliation bills — as their last chance to codify restrictions on the trans community this year. But leaders are still not making the issues a priority, they say. “It just amazes me that they aren’t listening on this issue, I really don’t understand that,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said in a recent interview. Hawley has failed to convince leaders to attach a provision in the current immigration enforcement-focused reconciliation bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, which offers gender-affirming care he called “risky” and “dangerous” for children. While he successfully zeroed out Medicaid funding for the health care provider in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — one of the few anti-transgender measures Congress has enacted — that provision will expire in July, upping the pressure to get it reauthorized. “I’ve absolutely been telling [leaders] I want this in the next bill because taxpayer money shouldn’t be funding transgender treatment for minors,” added Hawley, who is now looking ahead to the potential third reconciliation bill the party could advance later this year.

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Mexico's Sheinbaum accuses U.S. of political interference after DOJ indicts Mexican domestic officials

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum launched her strongest criticism to date against what she says are blunt U.S. attempts to interfere in Mexican domestic politics. What had been a recurring theme in her recent speeches became on Sunday a rallying cry to stir up her supporters at a rally in Mexico City, where she claimed that since the deaths of two CIA agents on April 19, efforts by U.S. authorities and far-right groups to destabilize her government have intensified. The most serious attempt at intervention to date, according to her, came days after that incident when the Department of Justice indicted 10 Mexican officials — including Rubén Rocha Moya, the governor of Sinaloa state — on charges of alleged drug trafficking offences.

“An incident of this magnitude is unprecedented in our bilateral relations,” she said. “Is this really a legitimate, genuine interest in helping Mexico? Or are we perhaps seeing sectors of the U.S. far right positioning themselves ahead of their 2026 elections?” The president assured that Mexico is open to and committed to maintaining security cooperation in order to prevent drug trafficking, but this does not mean that the U.S. can determine who is guilty of a crime or not. “When pressure is applied to our institutions from outside, when it becomes accepted that another country can intervene in matters that are the responsibility of Mexicans, we’re no longer talking about cooperation; we’re talking about interference,” said Sheinbaum. The case involving the 10 indicted individuals has become the main point of tension between Sheinbaum and President Donald Trump’s administration, as it marks the first time a U.S. authority has requested the arrest and extradition of a sitting, elected Mexican official.

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Federal transportation board pauses proposed Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway merger

The Surface Transportation Board is pausing a decision on an $85 billion merger between Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway. The federal agency — which regulates the nation’s railroads — announced its unanimous decision May 28 to allow both companies to submit more information, including the merger’s potential effect on competitiveness, by July 27. Board officials said the railroads provided incomplete information when the application was first submitted and that a revised application didn’t fix the problem. The revision, submitted April 30, included an environmental review. Public comments about the application are considered in the completeness of the revised application, according to the agency.

“The board finds that there are several aspects of the revised application that are unclear or underdeveloped,” the agency said in a news release. Additional information is required “so that the board (can) thoroughly evaluate — and the public has an adequate opportunity to comment on — whether the transaction is in the public interest,” the agency said in a news release. The merger, if approved, would create a single-line railroad across the country, linking the East and West coasts. On May 18, Eric Gehringer, Union Pacific’s executive vice president of operations, told attendees of the 22nd Annual Southwestern Rail Conference that the federal agency was expected to make a decision on the proposed merger by early 2027. Gehringer said the merger would not create a behemoth railroad company. “I’m not going to integrate the two railroads right away,” he said at the Hurst event. “We’ll have a plan, it will be well thought out. We’ll have all of the changed management in place and we will make one adjustment after the next in line with safety, in line with service, in line with growth. We’ll make sure those changes, as we make them, demonstrate the outcome that we expected. If we have to adjust, we’ll adjust.”

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'At what point does it make sense to ditch a gas car for an electric vehicle?'

Rising gasoline prices have some Americans thinking about buying an electric vehicle. It's a big financial decision, especially since Republicans ended federal subsidies last year worth up to $7,500. Guadalupe Higuera, 30, of Phoenix, Ariz., bought his Chevrolet Equinox EV before that incentive ended. But he still wonders if it was a smart choice. Higuera responded to NPR's request for questions about reducing your climate impact and saving money. "At what point does it make sense to ditch a gas car for an EV?" he asked. "Does it make sense to replace it at a certain age or mileage? Or do we just drive it until the wheels fall off?" Higuera says his question is motivated by both saving money and reducing his contribution to the greenhouse gases that are warming the climate.

After investigating his question, the answer, as far as climate pollution is concerned, is clear: it makes sense to switch to an EV now. On saving money, the answer is more complicated. But Higuera concludes that switching to an EV was a good financial choice, too. One reason Higuera questioned his decision was that nothing was wrong with his previous car, a 2016 Jeep Wrangler. And his family has owned an auto repair shop, north of downtown Phoenix, since before he was born. So, he grew up with the idea that it's wasteful to get rid of a car that still runs fine. "I remember having that conversation with my parents [and] my older brother, before I got my current car," Higuera says. "And they're like, 'your car — we can keep fixing it. It's still good. There's nothing wrong with it.'" Americans are keeping their vehicles longer. The average age of cars and light trucks on the road increased to 12.8 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Often, a big factor in deciding whether to get a new car is repair costs, according to AAA. And not everyone has the benefit of getting the family discount for repairs, as Higuera does. There are lessons for everyone considering an EV in answering Higuera's question. We set out to compare the costs of keeping his Jeep with buying his EV. And we used a tool that calculated typical repair costs (not his family discount), so the comparison can be useful to others.

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Cory Booker admits Graham Platner 'has questions to answer' following latest scandal

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., admitted to having "concerns" on Sunday over the latest scandals surrounding Graham Platner, the presumptive Maine Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. While appearing on ABC's "This Week," Booker was asked about the latest scandal plaguing Platner's campaign after it was reported that Platner had sent explicit messages to at least six women despite being married. "Do you have concerns with the weight of all these controversies that it may jeopardize Democratic hopes to get that Senate seat in Maine?" host Jonathan Karl asked Booker.

"Yes, I have concerns," Booker said. "That guy has questions to answer, and that’s what campaigns are for." Booker then pivoted to discussing his concerns over the Democratic Party failing to take back the Senate in 2026. "I know that so much is riding on Democrats taking control of the Senate," Booker said. "That this election, if we do not get the votes necessary to take care of the House and the Senate, we will continue to have an out-of-control president." Platner’s campaign confirmed the text exchanges to Politico following a report from the Wall Street Journal that claimed his wife, Amy Gertner, told a campaign aide about the texts after he launched his senate bid as they began looking into potential political liabilities. After the story went viral, Gertner released a five-minute video statement defending her husband and his campaign. "So it makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there's a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on — like healthcare and education and childcare," Gertner said.

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Lead Stories

Texas Democratic chair calls for party to abandon GOP House Speaker Dustin Burrows

Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder is calling on members of his party in the state House to drop their support of Republican Speaker Dustin Burrows, who won the gavel with mostly Democratic support last legislative session over an insurgent candidate favored by the hard-right. In a nod to the wave of conservative policies Burrows subsequently green-lit, Scudder authored a resolution “condemning the Shameful Leadership of Speaker Dustin Burrows and Declaring No Future Democratic Support for His Speakership.” The measure was submitted in March to the Dallas County Democratic Party, Scudder’s home base, and is set to be considered by the broader state party at its convention next month. Burrows’ leadership, the proposal reads, “caused profound harm to millions of Texans across this vast state” and “stands in direct opposition to the Democratic values that define our party across Texas.”

“The Democratic members whose votes gave him the gavel must now acknowledge the consequences of that decision and must be held to account,” the resolution continues. “No Democratic vote should be cast for Dustin Burrows for Speaker of the Texas House in the next speaker election.” Burrows won the speakership last year after a bitter power struggle within the Texas GOP, whose hardline faction had sought to shift the chamber further to the right and elevate a rival speaker candidate who vowed to strip all power from the House’s minority party. Most Democrats went for Burrows, who promised to protect the chamber’s independence and the minority party’s voice. He then presided over perhaps the most conservative legislative session in modern Texas history, overseeing the passage of long-sought GOP priorities that had previously died in the House, including a school voucher program championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and a “bathroom bill” aimed at transgender people initially pushed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. In the resolution, Scudder faults Burrows for having “betrayed the very coalition that elevated him to power, weakened the independence of the Texas House and surrendered the authority of the speakership to the political agenda of” Abbott and Patrick. He also said Burrows “quickly discarded the bipartisan governing traditions that helped place him in power” when the GOP majority voted to ban Democrats from chairing committees.

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Why the internet won't stop talking about James Talarico's girlfriend

Less than a week after the May runoff election, the Texas GOP and much of the internet are still slinging mud, and now James Talarico's girlfriend has become the latest target—much to the chagrin of the internet, and perhaps his girlfriend as well. After conservative commentators and media outlets spent days speculating about Talarico's relationship status, attention shifted to his girlfriend, Brianna Menard, who was recently identified in a New York Post story that placed unusual emphasis on the fact that she's vegan. To some talking heads, that apparently became a political talking point. The internet, however, has largely responded in typical fashion: by pointing out she appears to be a relatively normal person and joking that critics are grasping at straws.

Others have drawn comparisons between Talarico's seemingly normal relationship and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's headline-making personal life, which would put most soap operas to shame. Last week, conservative commentator Tomi Lahren posted an Instagram reel saying, "James Talarico claims he has a girlfriend. You wouldn't know her though, she goes to a different school ??" Meanwhile, one Facebook user in a Talarico supporters group posted: "Ken Paxton divorce trial begins June 24 at Collin County Courthouse in McKinney. Anyway, here's a pic of James Talarico and his girlfriend." Most online reactions have focused less on politics and more on the fact that people seem to be talking about her at all. "So relieved that James Talarico has an attractive girlfriend, otherwise he clearly would not have been qualified to be a senator from Texas," one X user joked. The internet arguably hasn't talked this much about a couple since Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson, and we all know how that turned out. For the record, Talarico has also pushed back on claims that he's vegan. "Ken Paxton is throwing everything he has at us," Talarico wrote in a recent post on X. "I'm an 8th generation Texan — I've been eating BBQ since before Ken Paxton's first indictment."

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How James Talarico is working to win over Black voters who strongly backed Jasmine Crockett

At James Talarico’s first rally after Ken Paxton became his opponent in their US Senate race, one of Texas’ most prominent Black leaders, Rodney Ellis, acknowledged he had supported Talarico’s opponent, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, in their hard-fought Democratic primary. “That was then, this is now,” Ellis said on Wednesday. “There’s too much at stake to be petty.” It was a notable vote of confidence from Ellis, a Harris County commissioner and former state senator from Houston. Yet it also showed how Talarico is still building inroads with Black voters nearly three months after they overwhelmingly favored Crockett, a bloc that the state representative desperately needs if he wants to have any chance at a historic breakthrough for his party in Texas.

After losing to Talarico, Crockett called on Democrats to unite behind all their nominees. But she has not campaigned with Talarico yet, and her team made clear in a new statement to CNN that she believes Texas Democrats have considerable progress to make if they want to end Republican rule. The statement, from Crockett spokesperson Karrol Rimal, said it would be “foolish to underestimate” Paxton and that there is “still a long road ahead to November.” “Tough decisions will need to be made about where Democrats are prioritizing their spending – do they invest in a Texas longshot or double down in states where they’ve won statewide such as Alaska and Georgia?” the statement said. “Texas Democrats have nominated a slate of candidates where the top three spots are filled with lawmakers from Austin. They’ll have to do a lot of work outside of Central Texas and to resonate with constituencies across our state which is one of the largest and most diverse in the world.” The statement added that Crockett still believes turning Texas blue “lies in energizing the Democratic base,” including voters of color. Democrats “can chase disaffected Republicans all day but there simply is not enough of them to change the outcome,” the statement said.

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Republicans are gutting southern Dem districts. Dems might front-load the South in its 2028 primaries to respond.

Democrats are weighing whether they can use their 2028 primary calendar to try to rebuild their party’s strength in the South amid aggressive GOP gerrymanders. As Democratic National Committee members meet in D.C. this week to discuss which states will lead the next presidential nominating contest, the GOP push to dismantle majority-Black districts and dilute Democrats’ power across the South is ratcheting up the selection stakes. Some members are now advocating for two southern states to make the cut as the Callais ruling adds fresh urgency to Democrats’ long-running debate over how to amplify the voices of Black voters who have long been the party’s backbone. “As we consider how we draw the map for 2028, we need to also take into consideration the impact of the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act,” Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic strategist who sits on the Rules and Bylaws Committee that runs the state selection process, said in an interview.

“I’m also of the view that if we can have maybe two southern states, maybe this is time to rebuild the Democratic Party across the South,” she added. “The fact that we only could play in one or two southern states last presidential cycle — that is just not acceptable.” Brazile, a Louisiana native who twice served as acting DNC chair, is also pushing each of the 12 states jockeying for positions in the early window on what steps they’re taking to protect voting rights and access. At least one southern state is guaranteed a spot in the early lineup given the RBC’s regional approach to the 2028 calendar. But there are four regions and up to five slots, leaving one spot as a true wild card. Multiple RBC members on Wednesday expressed an openness to having two states from the South in the early window, as a way to both bolster the party’s standing with Black voters and better align with the nation’s population shifts. “It would be really important to send a message that the South is a real battleground,” said Susan Swecker, a RBC member and former Virginia Democratic Party chair. Prioritizing two states from the South, she said, would send a “strong message to [President] Donald Trump and his cronies that we’re not going to take it anymore.”

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‘Why are we talking about this?’: Democrats are furious that the Bidens won’t go away

Democrats want to move on from 2024. The Bidens won’t let them. Former first lady Jill Biden put a glaring spotlight back on the debate that ended her husband’s political career while promoting her new memoir. Former President Joe Biden is drawing attention again to his audio interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur as he sues the Justice Department to prevent their release. And his scandal-ridden son Hunter Biden, whose past Republicans repeatedly weaponized on the campaign trail, is making headlines again — this time for appearing on a podcast with flame-throwing conspiracy theorist Candace Owens. Jill Biden’s stunning admission this week that she thought her embattled husband was having a stroke on the debate stage in June 2024 stood in stark contrast to her positive spin and staunch defense in the moment. And it ripped open barely healed wounds from Democrats’ disastrous effort to hold the White House, setting off a fresh round of backward-looking fingerpointing less than a week after the party’s botched autopsy of the 2024 presidential election.

Leading Democrats say it’s an unnecessary distraction as they push to keep their party focused on a critical midterm — and what voters truly care about. “We don’t need to be distracted by what the DNC says about the autopsy. I don’t need to be distracted about anyone’s book,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, told reporters on the sidelines of a Democratic National Committee meeting in Washington on Thursday. “What I need to do is to focus on making a difference in the lives of people. And that’s what I think they’re getting really frustrated about, is all this nonsense. I don’t think the average Democratic voter, honestly, particularly in New Mexico, gives a damn about that book or the debate anymore.” Lujan Grisham, who sat on the national advisory board for the 2024 Biden-Harris campaign, stressed that she didn’t mean “any disrespect” to Jill Biden and later said she is a “big Joe Biden fan.” Still, Jill Biden’s confession that she was “frightened” by her husband’s debate performance landed with a thud among former Biden White House and campaign staffers who were told in the moment to treat the then-president’s halting and haphazard debate performance as little more than a blip.

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State Stories

Texas data center developer sues Hill County over moratorium

A Texas data center developer is suing Hill County and local elected officials who recently voted to pass a yearlong moratorium on data center and power plant construction in unincorporated areas. In the more than 60-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court, RCM Hill LLC argued the moratorium is illegal and unconstitutional and that the county commissioners knew so before enacting it.

The developer asked a judge to declare the moratorium void and block its enforcement, alleging liabilities and damages could total at least $100 million. RCM Hill spent nearly a year-and-a-half and $1 million to acquire contractual rights to buy more than 800 acres in Hill County at a price tag surpassing $80 million with the intention of developing a 1,235 megawatt data center, according to the lawsuit. The company said the moratorium is “causing and will continue to cause immediate and irreparable harm” by either delaying or “sinking” its development known as Project Aquila. The defendants include Hill County, County Judge Shane Brassell, and County Commissioners Jim Holcomb and Larry Crumpton as defendants. Brassell, Holcomb and Crumpton voted in favor of the moratorium in a 3-2 vote on May 12, despite raising questions before the vote about whether county governments have the legal authority to temporarily suspend projects. This was the first county-level moratorium of its kind in Texas and drew national attention.

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1.9 million Texans voted in Tuesday's runoff elections, shattering state records

More Texans voted in the Tuesday runoff elections than in any previous runoff election in state history. The red-hot GOP Senate primary, combined with a slate of statewide Democratic races, lured 1.9 million voters to the polls for what are typically tragically low-turnout affairs. The number shattered the previous voter turnout record in 2022 when both parties had competitive statewide runoff battles. Just over 1.4 million Texans voted in that race. The Republican primary runoff on Tuesday was the main driver of the record turnout. Almost 1.4 million people voted in the Republican battle between Sen. John Cornyn and Ken Paxton. That surpassed the previous record of 1.1 million in 2012, the battle that launched U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's career in politics. Cruz knocked off then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to secure his first GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

For Democrats, who had statewide battles for attorney general and lieutenant governor on Tuesday, over 550,000 people voted, well short of their previous record set in 2020 when Democrat MJ Hegar defeated State Sen. Royce West for the U.S. Senate nomination. Nearly 1 million voters cast ballots in that race. Still, despite the record-breaking numbers, the turnout was just 10% of the state’s 18.7 million voters. That is vastly lower than the 24% turnout in the March primaries and the 61% of voters who cast ballots in the November 2024 presidential election. All voters are eligible to vote in the primary runoffs, but still, few do. Texas doesn’t register voters by party, allowing anyone to vote in the primaries and runoffs regardless of past voter history. The only prohibition is that voters who cast a ballot in one primary in March couldn’t switch in May to the other party's primary runoff. The time of the late-May election is likely one of the big culprits behind low turnout in runoffs. Before 2012, Texas runoff elections were held in April, the month after the initial primary elections. But the state pushed them to late May so there was enough time to send and receive overseas and military ballots.

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Lina Hidalgo spars with commissioners over Flock surveillance contract

A contract renewal for Harris County’s network of license plate-reader cameras drew criticism from residents and sparked a dust-up between County Judge Lina Hidalgo and her colleagues on Commissioners Court Thursday. Commissioners voted to renew a roughly $860,000 annual contract with Flock Safety Group during a brief but contentious meeting. Dozens of residents criticized the item, with some labeling the technology “fascist.” Hidalgo, who abstained from the vote, sparred with commissioners over what she viewed as a failure to adequately discuss residents’ concerns.

Thursday's meeting was a procedural gathering, intended for commissioners to approve mundane items without discussion. When residents objected to the Flock item, Hidalgo tried to allow discussion on the contract, a motion that initially was voted down. "I represent all the voters in Harris County, unlike my colleagues, and I oppose a lack of discussion," Hidalgo said. The commissioners are elected in precincts, whereas the judge is elected countywide. Among residents’ criticisms were concerns about mass surveillance and the security of the data the cameras gather, as well as the perceived risk that the information could be used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “When corporations and the government come together to surveil neighbors and communities, especially low-income Black and brown communities, it is abhorrent, it is vulgar and it is inherently fascist,” resident Sara Rehman told the commissioners. Law enforcement agencies nationwide can grant each other access to their system of Flock cameras that they can then use to search for license plates that might be connected to a crime. But Maj. Anthony McConnell of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office pushed back on residents' concerns, saying ICE doesn't have a contract with Flock and that the sheriff's office must approve outside agencies' requests to access local cameras.

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San Antonio Spurs knock off the defending champs, will play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals

The San Antonio Spurs went into Oklahoma City and knocked off the defending champs on their home court in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday. They’ll play the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, which begin on Wednesday, a rematch of the 1999 Finals – the last time the Knicks had a chance to win the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. The Spurs outlasted the reigning champions, Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103 in a tense deciding game. “Back in October, we knew we had a chance to be pretty good,” said head coach Mitch Johnson after the game to the NBC broadcast. He praised his team for “giving themselves to each other, to the program, and everything that we’ve done. Oklahoma City’s a helluva organization, and what a series.”

He alluded to the youth of his team, in their first playoff run since 2019, when he said it wasn’t experience that got them to the Finals. “There’s been a lot being talked about, just words like competitiveness, resolve, togetherness, execution. … I don’t give a damn about the word experience,” he said. Led by Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, the Spurs clinched a spot in the Finals for the first time since 2014. It was the kind of dramatic Game 7 that a classic series deserved – one that saw both teams eke out close wins and run away with blowouts as the Spurs and Thunder established their matchup as the premier rivalry in the NBA right now. The physical, rollicking deciding game in OKC on Saturday showed that it might be the rivalry to watch in the league for years to come. The Spurs came out of the gates hot, quickly taking a 14-point lead, leaving the raucous Continental Coliseum crowd stunned.

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Texas Supreme Court orders Dallas judge to stop requiring masks in her courtroom

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ordered a Dallas County judge to stop requiring people to wear face masks in her courtroom despite the judge’s rare autoimmune disorder that she says puts her at high risk of infection. In an advisory order issued Friday afternoon, justices wrote that state and federal law does not allow Dallas County Court at Law No. 1 Judge D'Metria Benson to impose a mask mandate in her courtroom. The court said the policy is “an unfair and unduly burdensome imposition” on people in her court, which violates a state rule on judicial administration. That's despite Benson saying she put the policy in place because she’s immunocompromised, and her doctor advised the mask mandate.

"The Court has carefully considered Judge Benson’s responses and expresses its sympathy for her health challenges," justices wrote. "Nevertheless, the facial visibility of courtroom participants is an essential feature of a properly functioning justice system." The order was prompted by Dallas attorney Scott Frenkel submitting a complaint May 4 to Judge Ray Wheless, who oversees administrative issues in a judicial region that includes Dallas County. The complaint — first obtained and reported by the Texas Lawbook — alleged Benson has a standing order requiring people entering her courtroom to wear masks and "divulge intimate information about their health." Benson put her policy in place March 2, 2023, just after the Texas Supreme Court ended its emergency order allowing judges to impose mask mandates, the Texas Lawbook reported. Frenkel was allegedly not allowed inside Benson’s court to represent clients in two different cases — including in a trial — because he declined to wear a mask. Wheless told the Texas Supreme Court he had cautioned Benson against such a policy. According to the letter, Benson herself wasn’t wearing a mask, the Texas Lawbook reported. Frenkel's attorney Brian Hail told KERA News Benson has been seen at large gatherings outside the courtroom without a mask.

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‘Tonight we pray for Oak Cliff’ — Neighbors gather at vigil for victims of apartment explosion

Hundreds of neighbors gathered, with their fists held high to honor the victims of a gas explosion at an Oak Cliff apartment earlier this week, including longtime activist Sylvia Collins. Collins is one of the three people killed in the explosion, outgoing Democratic U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson confirmed online. The names of the two others have not been shared publicly. Collins served as a Democratic Party chair and was a champion of many causes in the community. A post on the Dallas County Democratic Party's Facebook page Thursday ndescribed her as "a tireless advocate for our community."

“Sylvia is one who we knocked on doors with, we walked the pavement with, and she's one that was there to serve our people. In whichever progressive campaign that you put in front of her, she lit up the room and she held her fist high, fighting for justice,” said Ramiro Luna, co-founder of Somos Tejas. “That was always the image that I'm always gonna take with me whenever I think of Sylvia. She reached for the sky, and today she's in the sky. She's in the heavens, and I know she's still organizing looking down with us.” Several leaders at the vigil outside W.H. Adamson High School shared their condolences with all of the victims, deceased and displaced. They also encouraged others to show up and help their neighbors, just as Collins would have. State Rep.Cassandra Garcia Hernandez fought back tears while giving a tribute to Collins. “We can't just let a week pass by and think that just showing up here today was us doing our duty,” Garcia Hernandez said of her mentor and friend. “We have to continue to keep showing up for each other. "

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ICE agent accused of shooting man and filing false report arrested in Texas

A federal immigration agent accused of shooting a man during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis — then falsely claiming he was attacked by men armed with a shovel and broom — was arrested in Texas on Friday. Christian Castro is accused of firing his service weapon into a Minneapolis home on January 14, striking a man in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro later lied to investigators, claiming he opened fire after being attacked by several men. Castro was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of filing a false police report last week. He was taken into custody in North Texas on Friday.

According to court records, Castro was attempting to arrest Alfredo Aljorna after a vehicle pursuit ended outside of Aljorna’s Minneapolis home. Aljorna’s roommate, Julio Sosa-Celis, was standing outside the home holding a snow shovel when the chase came to an end. After a brief struggle, the two men ran inside the house, where four adults and two children were present, according to court records. Prosecutors allege Castro then raised his gun and fired a shot through the front door. “Mr. Castro fired his service weapon at the front door of the home knowing there were people who had just run inside that presented absolutely no threat to him or anyone else,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty last week. The bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg, according to court records. Castro later told investigators he was attacked by three men wielding a shovel and a broom for several minutes, according to court records. Federal prosecutors subsequently charged Aljorna and Sosa-Celis with assaulting a law enforcement officer based on that account. But prosecutors say surveillance footage contradicts this claim. According to court records, the video shows Sosa-Celis dropping his shovel before Castro reached the home and that it remained on the ground throughout the incident. Federal prosecutors later dropped the charges against both men about a month later. The shooting was one of several controversial encounters involving federal immigration agents during the administration’s enforcement surge in Minneapolis. Earlier that month, ICE agents fatally shot two people in separate incidents, triggering widespread protests and calls for investigations into the agency’s use of force.

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South Texas farmers face new concerns after heavy rains follow prolonged drought

For 72-year-old San Patricio County farmer Charles Ring, watching the weather comes with the territory. "The only reason I would stop what I'm doing is so I wouldn't have to get up in the morning and look at the weather," Ring said. Ring's family has farmed in San Patricio County since the mid-1800s, giving him decades of firsthand experience with South Texas' unpredictable climate. But even he was surprised by the dramatic shift from severe drought conditions to recent heavy rainfall. "Been dry forever, and then all of a sudden it comes up to 17 inches of rainfall," Ring said. "The water ran through the barn. That's only happened three other times I can remember." The rapid change has created a new challenge for local farmers who spent months struggling to establish crops in dry conditions.

"We fought trying to put seed in dry ground trying to reach moisture to get a crop up," Ring said. "Then trying to get the water off before the crop dies." According to Alicia Jimenez with Texas A&M University-Kingsville, drought conditions followed by intense rainfall can create significant problems for agricultural producers. "One, we had drought. Then we had water that rained fast and removed all of the nutrients," Jimenez said. "Eventually, because we had about four to five days of rain, we had that soil oversaturated with water and we don't have those nutrients anymore." Both Ring and Jimenez said the timing of rainfall is critical for crop production. "I can have a huge cotton crop, corn crop, sorghum crop and lose it all in a rain like this," Ring said. "Thank goodness it came now instead of during harvest, and that's still a possibility." While the recent rainfall may provide some relief from drought conditions, Ring said farmers remain at the mercy of the weather as the growing season continues. For South Texas producers, the challenge has shifted from finding enough moisture to making sure crops can survive too much of it.

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Texas parents want more childcare flexibility, time with kids, survey says

Parents want more time with their children, and most are also unsatisfied with their current work and childcare schedule, according to a new national survey that includes insights from Texas parents. The National Parent Survey released this week shows a 2026 snapshot of what parents’ work, parental leave and childcare arrangements look like, and what their ideal scenarios would be. The survey included responses from almost 5,500 parents from every U.S. state with children under 6 years old. Money is the main barrier that’s preventing this quality time with children; more than half of the respondents earn under 200% of the federal poverty level, or just under $55,000 for a family of three. The survey was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago on behalf of New America’s New Practice Lab. New America is a left-leaning policy think tank based in D.C.

“Too many parents are forced to choose between showing up for their kids and making enough to provide for them. There is a gap between what families actually say they need and the public policies we are offering to support them in raising their kids,” said Tara Dawson McGuinness, executive director of New America’s New Practice Lab. Some of the findings of the survey include: 72% of parents surveyed want more quality time with their children, such as traveling, playing and enjoying the outdoors; 52% of parents said lack of affordability to do such activities and working longer hours to support their household both get in the way of quality time; 59% of parents took six weeks or fewer of paid or unpaid parental leave after the birth of their youngest child; 55% said they wanted more parental leave time; 54% of parents said money is the top obstacle that’s preventing them from accessing their ideal childcare arrangement. “Higher wages are the single most-requested change that parents say would improve their ability to have their ideal work situation, making it easier to manage their time, care for their families and do more of what matters to them,” according to the survey. Texas experts said the survey emphasizes the importance of asking parents what they need and then using those insights to create solutions, especially for childcare. “The survey makes clear that childcare is a real challenge for families. Parents need options. We’re glad the (Texas) Legislature has taken steps in the right direction, including the childcare funding they approved last year. But there’s clearly more work to do. We’re hopeful that more policymakers are realizing that affordable childcare should be a priority,” said Stephanie Rubin, CEO of policy nonprofit Texans Care for Children.

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Pete Gallego: Cornyn's loss is a cautionary tale

In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy warned against trading one form of tyranny for another. “Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” On Tuesday night, the establishment wing of the Republican Party found out once more what that feels like. John Cornyn, the 23-year incumbent U.S. senator from Texas, lost his Republican primary runoff to state Attorney General Ken Paxton — a man impeached by the Republican-controlled Texas House on bribery and corruption charges just three years ago. The margin was not close. The message was not subtle. Formed from the Tea Party — fed and groomed for years by the party’s leaders — the tiger of Trumpism turned on another of its loyal keepers.

It is worth remembering what things looked like before any of this began. Under President George W. Bush — first as governor, then as president — Texas Republicans understood something important: you govern by building coalitions, not by stoking grievances. When I was in the Texas House in the 1990s, Democrats and Republicans argued hard all day, sometimes bitterly, but they knew that governing required the other side. Bush drew bipartisan support. That wasn’t weakness; it was the source of his strength. With the rise of the Tea Party, politicians like Bush were considered too willing to govern across the aisle and to acknowledge that the other side even existed. What the Tea Party wanted was a different kind of Republican — one who fought, inflamed, and never compromised. Republican politicians obliged. They fueled the movement and rode the wave, telling themselves they were at the head of the Tea Party and could control its direction. They were wrong. At some point, the Tea Party movement became the Trump Party. The transformation did not happen by accident. The Tea Party’s energy was real — rooted in frustration with government spending and a sense that Washington had stopped listening. But GOP politicians provided the amplification. They embraced the rhetoric and calculated that a more energized base meant bigger margins. What they did not calculate was that movements have their own momentum. The question stopped being “are you conservative enough?” and became “are you loyal enough?” Those are very different tests, and the second one has no floor. Donald Trump did not create this dynamic. He inherited it, recognized it and mastered it. The GOP establishment had already spent a decade building the engine. He simply got behind the wheel and stepped on the gas.

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Study: Kindergarten-ready students do better in school, but Bexar County is behind

Children who are kindergarten-ready will probably be proficient in math and literacy by the time they take the STAAR in third grade. This is according to a new study, with a special focus on Bexar County, that shows the direct correlation between kindergarten readiness and third-grade success. “Every dollar invested before kindergarten entry produces greater academic gains than the same dollar spent on reading intervention after kindergarten,” the report states. “This is not merely a correlation.” Early Matters San Antonio and UP Partnership, two local groups who advocate for more investment in education, commissioned the study and released the report on Thursday, along with the call on state, city and school district officials to invest more in early education.

The study followed 66,800 students across randomly selected Texas schools, comparing their kindergarten readiness scores with their math and reading STAAR scores in third grade. Upon entering kindergarten, Texas requires students to take early learning assessments that track literacy and numeracy — that’s how “readiness” is measured. Boosting readiness isn’t just about enrolling kids in preschool. Early childhood experts want to expand the number of early learning programs for infants to 3-year-olds. This would get more children kindergarten-ready, which then sets them up for success in third grade, advocates say. Third grade is a big deal for educators because it’s one of the more consistent indicators on how students will perform for the rest of their academic journeys. Kindergarten-ready students outperformed similar students by 22 points in reading and 21 points in math. They also showed smaller, but significant, gains in attendance. In practice, this means only about 4 out of 10 students without kindergarten readiness would be proficient in math and reading in third grade, compared to more than 6 out of 10 students who were kinder-ready.

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San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones gifted premium tickets to Spurs-Thunder Game 6

As the San Antonio Spurs forced a Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night, photos obtained by KSAT Investigates show Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones sitting just rows away from the action. Viewers could catch glimpses of Jones sitting in the lower level behind Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson. KSAT rewatched the broadcast and saw that the seats were empty during the first half of the game. “The tickets were gifted to her in accordance with the City’s ethics and gift rules,” Jones’ acting chief of staff, Andrew Fuentes, told KSAT Investigates Friday. Tickets to get inside the Frost Bank Center for Thursday night’s game started at approximately $220, according to ticketdata.com. Tickets for the lower-level came with a price tag of at least $1,130.

KSAT Investigates asked Fuentes who gifted the Spurs tickets to Jones and who attended the Thursday night game with her. KSAT also asked if Jones had been given tickets or attended any other Spurs games during the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Fuentes has yet to answer those questions. KSAT has called, emailed and texted him to follow up. This story will be updated when Fuentes sends a response. The city’s ethics and gift rules state that a city official or employee should not accept any gifts that “reasonably tends to influence or reward official conduct.” The rules also state that a city official or employee may not accept any gifts from anyone doing business or hoping to do business with the city, lobbyists, public relations firms or anyone seeking zoning changes or other development approvals from the city. Last year, KSAT Investigates found that the city spent $20,000 on VIP tickets for council members and their guests to attend the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four at the Alamodome. KSAT also uncovered other perks given to city leaders, including tickets to several A-list concerts and sporting events.

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Republican election judge assaulted Democratic judge, Tarrant County Dems say

A Tarrant County Democratic election judge says she was assaulted by a Republican election judge while working at her polling place for the primary runoff election Tuesday morning. When the Democratic election judge, who has run her polling location for 15 years, arrived at the polls Tuesday morning, she found that a Republican election judge had removed the official seal from and opened the Democratic voting equipment, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Democratic Party. The seal on the voting equipment is used to show it has not been tampered with after leaving the elections office. Because the Tarrant County Republican Party votes to hold separate primaries, Democratic and Republican election workers have different sets of election equipment.

According to the news release, when the Democratic election judge confronted the Republican judge to inform him he was wrong in his actions, he forcefully poked her in the neck and shoved her. The Tarrant County Republican Party declined to comment on the situation. The release from the Democratic Party did not identify the election judges, the polling location, or the municipality it is in. Following the incident, the Tarrant County Democratic Party sent advocates to check on the Democratic judge, the release said. The advocate called the police, who took statements from all parties involved, but no charges have been filed. “A day which was otherwise calm and marked by bi-partisan efforts to run a smooth primary runoff election was marred by an act of violence and unacceptable election equipment tampering,” said Allison Campolo, Tarrant County Democratic Party chair, in the news release. The release from the Democratic Party said the party does not believe the Republican election judge’s actions represent all the Republican election judges in Tarrant County and called on voters, poll workers and elected officials to “promote an environment of peace and fairness.” “We are fortunate enough to have a dedicated Tarrant County Elections Office that holds election workers to the highest standards, as well as a tri-partisan ballot board that carefully and digitally counts mail-in and provisional ballots,” Campolo said.

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National Stories

Is JD Vance the 2028 front runner? Trump has questions.

In recent conversations with aides and allies, President Trump often interjects with a question about his vice president: Does JD Vance have what it takes to go all the way? He usually answers his own question: He’s not so sure. It is not that Mr. Trump is abandoning Mr. Vance. He involves him in major decisions, has given him high-profile opportunities to position himself for 2028 and trusts the 41-year-old vice president to wage partisan warfare on his behalf. In a cabinet meeting this week, Mr. Trump compared Mr. Vance to Eliot Ness, the mob-busting federal agent, for working to ferret out fraud in mostly Democratic controlled states. Mr. Trump has long conducted running focus groups on his closest aides, and appears to enjoy needling them and keeping them off balance as a way of asserting his dominance. Several people in the president’s inner circle have been subject to his quasi-public questioning of their performance and their future.

But when it comes to Mr. Vance, the stakes are higher. As the default front-runner for the Republican nomination and would-be inheritor of the president’s political movement, Mr. Vance’s fortunes ride to a substantial degree on the enthusiasm of the support he gets from Mr. Trump. And Mr. Trump’s regular polling of people on whether they prefer Mr. Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio has become one of the most closely watched early indicators of how power in the Republican Party might pass to the next generation. When he conducts those polls in private, Mr. Trump often compares Mr. Vance’s performance to his own achievements. He has told several allies that Mr. Vance has never won a tough race without his help. (Mr. Trump’s endorsement got Mr. Vance over the finish line in a tight race for an Ohio Senate seat.) He has brought up the number of vacations Mr. Vance has taken as vice president. (Mr. Trump does not generally take them.) He has repeatedly mentioned the vice president’s initial opposition to starting a war with Iran and has done so in front of Mr. Vance. (“I’m more of a peace person than you are — but I had to do it,” he has said to him.) The president has also questioned his decision to send a Vance-led delegation to a negotiation session in Pakistan that failed to end the war. Mr. Trump, always keenly attuned to the optics of the presidency, has zeroed in on moments when Mr. Vance might not look the part. He has repeatedly brought up a moment from last spring, when Mr. Vance fumbled Ohio State’s national football championship trophy on the White House South Lawn. (Mr. Trump has said he is happy it wasn’t him.)

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Factions inside the Trump administration wrestle over how to handle AI

President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to scrap an AI executive order on May 21 has exposed a rift within the White House on how to regulate the emerging technology. There are three main camps in the West Wing, per two senior White House officials, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal dynamics. The first, which includes former AI czar David Sacks, favors less regulation to help the industry compete against China. It was Sacks who called the president last week and derailed the EO at the last minute due to industry concerns that the order could be too onerous for the relatively nascent industry. On the go-slow side: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his undersecretary Emil Michael, a former Silicon Valley executive. They are pushing for greater barriers to Mythos-type models, according to the senior White House officials, over concerns that the technology could be used by rivals such as China. Hegseth and Michael are among the “AI hawks who are afraid of it, who think that it could be exploited for nefarious purposes, who want to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure it [doesn’t] go to China,” the first senior White House official said.

Then, according to the White House officials, there’s the middle ground camp involving chief of staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who have pushed for a regulatory framework in which AI companies voluntarily provide the U.S. government first glance at its new models. These disparate camps underscore the degree to which Trump administration policy is being shaped in real time, trying to respond to a rapidly-developing technology. Despite the chaos of Trump’s last-minute decision, the order doesn’t appear dead – at least not yet. Now administration officials have another chance to make the case that their viewpoint should win the day. The executive order that Trump almost signed called for a voluntary oversight system for AI companies to consult with the U.S. government on their latest models. It offered a framework for the federal government to preview the products before they are released to the public without the burden of a mandate. “It wasn’t government telling these companies what they could and couldn’t do, but it requested that the U.S. government get a first look at any new models, just to be sure that they couldn’t be exploited by bad actors,” the first senior White House official said.

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Trump suggests canceling music performances at the ‘Great American State Fair’ after several artists back out

President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested canceling planned performances by musicians for the Great American State Fair later this summer in Washington, after several artists pulled out of the event. “We should have a giant MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN RALLY, for 250, instead of having overpriced singers, who nobody wants to hear, whose music is boring, and yet who do nothing but complain,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Saturday afternoon. “Cancel it,” Trump said, before launching into a separate criticism of a federal judge who on Friday temporarily blocked his planned closure of the Kennedy Center. Trump is slated to speak at the opening ceremony for the fair in June as part of the United States’ 250th-birthday celebrations. Danielle Alvarez, a spokesperson for the Trump-backed Freedom 250 group behind the event, said Saturday that the president would “personally kick off this historic celebration” on June 24.

Trump had posted on Truth Social earlier Saturday that he would look into hosting an “America is Back” rally at the “same time, same location” after multiple recording artists pulled out of a series of concerts meant to take place during the fair, scheduled for June 24 to July 10 on Washington’s National Mall. “I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance ... so I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists,’ and give a major speech, rallying the Country forward like I have done ever since being President!” Trump wrote in his post. A person familiar with planning for the event said Trump was always expected to headline a July Fourth event at the fair, and now he’ll do the opening ceremony too. Freedom 250, a public-private partnership backed by the Trump administration that is organizing events to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday, last week announced a slate of artists that would perform on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays during this summer’s Great American State Fair.

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Pentagon chief says U.S. ready to restart strikes on Iran if no deal

The U.S. is ready to restart attacks on Iran if a deal cannot be reached, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ?said on Saturday, as negotiators from Washington and Tehran worked ?to bridge major differences blocking an agreement. "Our ability to recommence if necessary...we are more than capable," Hegseth said in Singapore. "Our stockpiles are more than ?suited for that, both there and around the globe, ?so we're in a very good place," he added. Hegseth, ?speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier forum for defence leaders, ?militaries and diplomats, said the U.S. has not turned its back ?on the Asia-Pacific region despite being engaged in conflict with Iran.

"We can do two things at one time. We're super-charging our defence industrial base so ?that we're building 2X, 3X, 4X the munitions very soon ?to ensure that all of our (operations) plans are properly funded throughout the world," ?he ?said. The Pentagon chief said President Donald Trump was "patient" and wants to make a "great deal" that ensures Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. On Friday, Trump said he would meet in a secure ?White House room ?to make a "final ?determination" on a proposal to end the Iran war, which would extend an early-April truce for ?another 60 days, giving negotiators time to forge ?a ?permanent end to the conflict. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in ?Iran and ?Lebanon, and caused global economic pain ?by pushing up energy prices due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of ?Hormuz.

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Graham Platner’s wife flagged sexually explicit texts to his Senate campaign

Days after Graham Platner announced his Maine Senate bid, his wife informed the campaign about a potential political problem she had previously discovered on the oyster farmer’s phone: sexually explicit texts with several women, according to people familiar with the matter. Amy Gertner, who married Platner in 2023, told the campaign about messages she had found early in their marriage in the spring of 2025. In late August, as some aides were conducting opposition research on their own candidate, Gertner disclosed the texts to a campaign aide to make sure they didn’t pose a risk to her husband’s nascent campaign, those people said. The campaign had been preparing for a major rally over Labor Day weekend last year with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was set to officially endorse Platner at the event. Aides ultimately decided the texts were a private matter that was being handled by the couple in marriage counseling, a campaign official said. The rally proceeded as planned, with thousands in attendance.

In a statement provided by Platner’s campaign, Gertner said she believed she was confiding in an aide she considered a friend. “We did the hard work that marriage requires. We went to counseling. We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy,” she said. “And we came through it, not in spite of how much we’ve been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we’ve built. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before.” “I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.” The previously unreported deliberations last year over sexually explicit texts discovered on Platner’s phone come as the veteran has exploded onto the national political scene, kindling Democratic hopes that they can unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins and gain control of the Senate. Platner has recently faced disclosures about controversial posts from his now deleted Reddit account. They have included comments from his account playing down sexual assault and crude posts about sex workers and masturbation. Platner has already admitted to having covered up a Nazi-linked tattoo.

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A new ‘Wounded Bear Caucus’ in the Senate means more trouble for Trump

The congressional recess is typically a cooling-off period that helps ease tensions between the White House and Capitol Hill. But this time, Senate Republicans are staying just as hot. GOP aides characterized the mood as one of raw fury at President Trump over how he has treated senators, after he kneecapped Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s re-election bid while reaching a controversial deal to benefit himself and supporters. They see Trump’s behaviors as potentially paralyzing most action in the Republican-led Congress for the rest of the year and bruising the party’s efforts to hang on to the Senate in the midterm elections. “The president does not understand functionally that you cannot get things done unless you have some sense of unity with the people who you must work with,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) in an interview. Cassidy lost his primary after Trump endorsed an opponent.

Senate Republicans have continued to make clear to the White House that they won’t act on a $70 billion, multiyear immigration-enforcement package until the Trump administration changes or cancels a $1.8 billion fund created to compensate people claiming that the federal government weaponized the legal system against them. If Democrats remain united, Trump can afford to lose only three GOP votes on any partisan measure—and more than half of the conference has expressed opposition to the fund, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump’s top aides have discussed whether he should kill the fund in exchange for getting the immigration-enforcement funding passed, according to people familiar with the matter. A federal judge on Friday directed the administration to pause efforts on the fund while she weighs a legal challenge to it. Even if the standoff over the fund is resolved, Trump also faces an expanded group of intraparty foes with little to lose in crossing him on contentious policies such as the war in Iran or pet projects including his White House ballroom. Within the business community and among some Senate Republican aides, the expectation is that all legislation outside of the most basic functions such as funding the government this fall and setting defense policy is on hold, caught up in the new dynamic between the Senate and the White House. The tension could stall work on measures that include housing legislation and permitting reform.

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Karen Bass appears to liken Spencer Pratt to Trump amid tightening LA mayoral race

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and her challengers spent the final weekend before Election Day crisscrossing the city as a surprisingly competitive mayoral race heads toward a likely runoff. Bass, who is seeking a second term, is up against former reality star Spencer Pratt and city council member Nithya Raman in Tuesday’s primary election. Recent polling has shown a competitive race as no candidate is expected to receive more than 50% of the vote. The top two finishers would then advance to a November runoff. On Saturday, Bass — who is backed by high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — stopped at Yosemite Recreation Center in Eagle Rock.

She was seen serving tacos while wearing an apron bearing the slogan "Common Sense and Carne Asada." During an Instagram livestream Saturday, Bass also took aim at Pratt. "You have a failed reality TV star who wants to be famous," she said while speaking with two actresses before appearing to reference President Donald Trump. "We know what it means if you put somebody who is a reality TV star in a seat of power." Pratt spent part of Saturday criticizing Raman on X, including attacking her recent campaign advertisements. In a video posted to Instagram, Raman pointed to a recent poll and urged supporters to vote. "After millions of dollars of spending against us, we are still here and we are still competitive," she said.

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Lead Stories

Tilman Fertitta set to acquire Caesars in $17.6 billion deal

Tilman Fertitta's Fertitta Entertainment is set to acquire Caesars Entertainment in a $17.6 billion deal that will yield one of the nation's largest casino, hotel and restaurant empires. The companies said Thursday morning that Fertitta Entertainment has agreed to pay $31 in cash for each outstanding Caesars share, amounting to approximately $5.7 billion, while also assuming about $11.9 billion in outstanding debt. The acquisition will significantly expand and diversify Fertitta's already sprawling holdings, giving the Houston billionaire an expanded coast-to-coast network of restaurants, casinos, resorts, hotels, aquariums and other entertainment destinations, including eight locations on the Las Vegas Strip.

This is an all-cash deal, the companies said. The $31 share price represents a 49% premium over the share price Caesars traded at on Feb. 25, the last trading day before rumors about a possible acquisition surfaced. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, the companies noted, and includes a "go-shop" period through July 11, during which competing offers may be entertained. The companies described Fertitta Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment as "iconic and highly complementary platforms." Tilman Fertitta's Fertitta Entertainment, headquartered in Houston, began with a single seafood restaurant in Katy in 1980. It has grown into one of the nation's largest private companies, with about 47,000 employees and encompassing more than 600 restaurants, resorts, hotels and casinos, including Landry's, Morton's, Saltgrass Steak House and the Golden Nugget casino chain. Caesars, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, traces its roots to a single bingo club founded in that city in 1937. It opened its famous Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 1966, and has grown to operate more than 50 resorts, including the Harrah’s and Circus Circus brands as well as Caesars. Caesars does not currently have a presence in Texas, where casino gambling is limited to Native American reservations. The acquisition will mean that Houston consumers who participate in the Caesars Rewards program can use those rewards in Fertitta's existing network of restaurants and other destinations in the region.

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At least 3 dead including child, multiple injuries in Dallas apartment explosion, officials say

Dallas Fire-Rescue said an explosion caused a massive apartment fire in Oak Cliff. DFR confirmed that three people have died and crews have moved from rescue to recovery mode. Crews were responding to a reported gas leak around 12:47 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, at a two-story apartment complex called The Clyde, located at the intersection of Patton Avenue and East 9th Street, Dallas Fire-Rescue said. While en route, the explosion occurred, according to DFR. During a Thursday 8:30 p.m. press conference, Dallas Fire-Rescue Public Information Officer Jason Evans said three people, including a child, were killed. Two adult females and one child were found in the debris.

At least three people were taken to the hospital by paramedics, and one of them is in critical but stable condition, officials said. Two of them are expected to be released tonight, Evans said. Two other victims took themselves to the hospital and have since been released. There could be more victims, depending on the number of people home at the time, officials said. Some individuals have been accounted for, but the total remains unclear. Emergency crews will be on scene overnight using tools to dig through the debris in search of more victims, Evans said. Reports indicated a construction crew may have been working in the area before the explosion. City of Dallas officials said no city crews were actively working at the time. In a statement, Atmos Energy said that a construction crew unrelated to the company damaged a natural gas pipeline. "At 12:51 p.m., the fire department reported to Atmos Energy that a construction crew unrelated to Atmos Energy damaged a natural gas pipeline near 409 E. 9th Street in Dallas. Atmos Energy technicians are onsite working with Dallas Fire Rescue and other emergency management personnel. Natural gas service in the immediate area is off, an investigation is ongoing, and Atmos Energy crews remain on site to provide support." More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, DFR said.

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Dell inks $9.7 billion Pentagon contract after Trump acquires stock

Government ethics watchdogs are sounding the alarm after the Pentagon announced that the U.S. tech company Dell has been granted a $9.7 billion government contract, pointing to stock transactions that suggest President Donald Trump potentially stands to gain financially from the deal. Trump has repeatedly praised the company at public events, and government disclosure forms show that on Feb. 10 Trump’s portfolio acquired stock in Dell Technologies valued between $1 million and $5 million. Nine days later, at a rally in Georgia, the president encouraged supporters to “go out and buy a Dell computer.” Three additional purchases of Dell stock, all valued at or below $50,000, followed in March. Over the spring, Trump continued to praise Dell at public events, most recently giving the company a shout-out during a White House Rose Garden luncheon.

Less than three weeks later, Dell’s stock surged in response to this week’s announcement that the Defense Department has awarded the company’s federal subsidiary a major contract to oversee the procurement of Microsoft software for the U.S. military. The Pentagon announcement said Dell’s work “will streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the [Defense Department], the Intelligence Community, and the Coast Guard.” Dell has a long-standing partnership with Microsoft and is a major buyer of Microsoft Windows PC licenses. The company’s founder, Michael Dell, has appeared at White House events during Trump’s second term and sits on the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Dell’s family foundation pledged more than $6 billion last year to help fund “Trump accounts,” which will seed investments for 25 million American children. “This absolutely does ring alarm bells with regard to conflicts of interest,” said Greg Williams, director of the Center for Defense Information at the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight. When asked about the potential conflict of interest, the White House responded with a statement praising Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, for their contributions to the Trump accounts.

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Exxon warns oil inventories will hit dangerously low levels in weeks, forcing prices to shoot higher

Exxon Mobil warned Thursday that oil inventories will fall to record low levels in coming weeks, forcing prices to spike and curbing demand. “We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” said Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman at a conference hosted by Bernstein in New York. “I mean really, really low levels,” Chapman warned. “You can debate whether that’s going to hit, those really low levels, in two weeks or three weeks. Once you get to that point, then you’ll see price shoot up.” The price of physical Brent oil cargoes will spike to $150 to $160 per barrel when inventories hit all-time lows in coming weeks, the executive said. “When the price gets to a certain level, demand destruction brings it back into balance,” he said.

Brent futures for July delivery, the nearest contract, closed under $94 per barrel Thursday as investors once again held out hope for a settlement between the U.S. and Iran that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s closure of the strait has cost the market more than a billion barrels so far, the largest oil supply disruption in history, according to the International Energy Agency. Oil stockpiles have mitigated the impact so far, but that “can’t last forever,” Chapman said. The IEA warned earlier this month that inventories are being depleted at a record pace. The organization’s members agreed in March to release a record 400 million barrels to lessen the impact of the supply disruption. Oil industry executives have warned for two months that the crude futures market is not reflecting the scale of the disruption triggered by the war in the Middle East. “I don’t know, whether it’s two to three weeks or three to four weeks,” Chapman said. “What I’m really saying is, once you get to the minimum inventory levels and all-time low inventory levels, there’s only one way to go. That’s the situation.”

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State Stories

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Talarico for Senate: Texans deserves more than crooked Ken Paxton

The contest is set. The storyline, straight out of Hollywood. It’s as if, as President Donald Trump likes to say, the candidates came from central casting. An avowed lout versus a man who doesn’t just resemble a Sunday school teacher, but who practices politics like the seminarian he is. Ask Ken Paxton’s own supporters about his infidelities and indictments. Ask about that stolen $1,000 pen. Or how he fired his employees after they reported him to the FBI for corruption, prompting a whistleblower lawsuit that stuck taxpayers with a $6.6 million bill. Oh, and ask about that impeachment that, though it did not end in conviction, was led by members of his own party. Paxton voters know their guy reeks of moral rot. That he somehow earned millions while in public office. That his office delivered sweetheart deals in cases of child sexual abuse. His supporters know all that because his runoff opponent, Sen. John Cornyn, just spent tens of millions of dollars making sure that they know.

Paxton won anyway. As one man at a Paxton rally told a reporter, “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.” The fish to be fried aren’t just Democrats but anyone who shows the slightest disloyalty to Trump. Or even a hint of bipartisan pragmatism. This one’s an easy call. The Houston Chronicle editorial board rejects Paxton’s self-serving depravity and his loyalty to Washington politics at the expense of everyday Texans. And we enthusiastically endorse his Democratic opponent, James Talarico. Talarico, 37, is a former middle school teacher from Central Texas. In 2018, he flipped a Republican state House seat. While serving in the House, he studied for a master’s degree in divinity from a Presbyterian seminary. He looks like a grown-up Opie from the Andy Griffith Show. If his vibe were any more retro — any more earnest, any more squeaky-clean — he’d be in black-and-white, filmed at Desilu Studios. He is exactly what our state and our country need right now.

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Texas Education Agency rejects Austin ISD's plan for failing schools

The Texas Education Agency rejected a partnership proposed by the Austin Independent School District to buy the district more time to avoid a state takeover. In a letter sent to Superintendent Matias Segura on Thursday, the TEA denied the district's request to hand over three middle schools to an outside provider to run them under what is known as an 1882 agreement. In March, the district proposed partnering with the Texas Council for International Studies to run Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools as charter schools. The three campuses have received four consecutive unacceptable grades from the state's accountability system. A fifth failing grade could trigger a total takeover of the entire district, with the TEA replacing the school board with a board of managers.

The letter sent to Segura explains the operating partner must comply with three criteria: have at least three years of experience before taking over a campus; have managed multiple campuses for multiple years; and have significantly improved the academic performance of campuses. The TEA says TCIS only meets two of those three criteria, and it "does not qualify as an operating partner with the capacity necessary to successfully turn around campuses." The TEA argues TCIS has failed to prove a track record of improving campuses' academic performance. TCIS has managed 16 campuses in San Antonio ISD, Longview ISD and Edgewood ISD. However, only five out of those campuses had a D or an F rating before being operated by the non-profit. AISD Superintendent Segura said in a written statement to families on Thursday evening that the district remains confident that TCIS is capable of lifting student outcomes. "While this response is disappointing, I want to assure you that this is not the end of the process," Segura said in the statement. "TEA has explicitly invited Austin ISD to submit additional information to support and reinforce our application, and we fully intend to do so."

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‘Not yet’: Austin mayor comes out staunchly against 2026 bond

During Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting, Mayor Kirk Watson voted down two items relating to a potential 2026 bond and, for the first time publicly, came out against asking voters for more money at the end of the year. Watson said while he’s not against building parks and community spaces — which the bond could largely focus on — he doesn’t feel the city is following its own financial policies, and doesn’t think voters are ready for another tax hike. “I believe the better course is to continue rebuilding trust … and come back in a stronger and more responsible position in 2028,” Watson said.

Watson pointed to the failed tax rate election in November and noted the city’s financial position hasn’t gotten better since, nor has the pinch on taxpayers. Watson said he compromised on last year’s tax rate election ask, but was unwilling to do that again with a bond just seven months later. “Our leaderships sometimes means saying ‘yes’, but our leadership sometimes also means being willing to say ‘not yet,'” Watson said. During Thursday’s meeting, a majority of the Austin City Council voted to move forward with the bond process. The body will take up specific bond proposals in July. “What we have asked staff to do through this item on Thursday is take some of your recommendations, take some ideas that we have and want you to kind of flesh out further and give us all those choices come July to decide what rises to the top,” Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter said. Mayor Watson and Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen voted no on moving that process forward. Council Member Krista Laine abstained from voting and Council Members Natasha Harper-Madison and Vanessa Fuentes were absent from Thursday’s meeting.

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Cy-Fair ISD officer repeatedly used hogtie restraint on fifth grader

One Monday afternoon in October 2023, a Cy-Fair ISD police officer tracked down a fifth-grader who had run away from his school for students with behavioral challenges. The boy had left campus before. But this time when he wouldn’t get in the police car, the officer took an unusual step. He cuffed the boy’s hands, shackled his ankles and bound them together behind his back using a controversial technique known as a “hogtie,” according to internal district records obtained by The Houston Chronicle and The New York Times. Then, the officer left the boy face-down in the backseat of his car for nearly 20 minutes. The hogtie technique has been linked to breathing-related deaths, and many city police departments across the country have banned it. “He couldn’t move his arms. He couldn’t move his legs. He couldn’t roll over,” said Colleen Potts, an attorney with Disability Rights Texas who worked with the boy’s family. “He was in the backseat of a vehicle. That’s terrifying to think of.”

The district’s general counsel, Marney Sims, said the episode prompted Cy-Fair ISD to ban hogties and provide additional training for officers on how to work with students with disabilities. “We’re not perfect,” Sims said in an interview. “If we don’t own the mistakes we make, and make them learning opportunities, then there’s no growth.” Still, the 2023 case, reported here for the first time, illustrates what can happen when school police officers use aggressive techniques to restrain children, and how children with disabilities are often particularly vulnerable. The child had a history of hitting, biting and spitting, among other challenging behaviors, according to the records. However, when students with disabilities act out, it's often a sign they need more support, not police intervention, said Shannon Rosson, director of a resource center for parents of children with disabilities. "That behavior is communication," she said. The hogtie incident stands out as an unusually dangerous and harsh treatment of a student, even as a recent New York Times-San Antonio Express-News investigation revealed the broad scope of school police officers’ use of force on students statewide.

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'Lighter days': Exonerated men to get $35M settlement in Austin yogurt shop murders case

The Austin City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a record $35 million settlement with the three men — and the family of a fourth — who were wrongfully accused of murder in the 1991 yogurt shop killings. One of those men, Michael Scott, told the American-Statesman that his share of the record settlement — nearly $10 million — would give him something he hasn’t experienced much in the past four decades: “lighter days.” “That’s the best way I can put it,” Scott said shortly after the council vote. “It gives me an opportunity to go make happy memories with my family and my daughter.” Scott was arrested alongside Robert Springsteen, Forrest Welborn and Maurice Pierce in 1999 after investigators zeroed in on the four young men as suspects in the killings of four teenage girls at a North Austin "I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt" shop. Scott and Springsteen falsely confessed to the crimes.

Though the path through the criminal justice system from that point was different for each man, they and their families described at an exoneration hearing in February how the wrongful accusations derailed their lives. Scott and Springsteen were the only two to face trial. Both were convicted of capital murder, with Scott receiving a life sentence and Springsteen sentenced to death row. Their convictions were overturned in 2008 after appeals courts found that their confessions were obtained improperly. Both men were released from prison the following year. Under the terms of the settlement approved Thursday, Scott and Springsteen will each be paid $9.85 million by the city while Welborn will be paid $4.85 million. Though Welborn was not indicted in the killings, he has said that the false accusations upended his life, making it harder to hold down employment and build lasting relationships. Members of Pierce’s family will be paid $10 million. Pierce spent three years in the Travis County Jail before prosecutors dropped charges against him. At a February exoneration hearing, Pierce’s daughter, Marisa Pierce, testified that her father never recovered from his incarceration. He was killed by Austin police officers in 2010 following a traffic stop, which his daughter described as “the result of a justice system that actively hunted” her father. In a written statement, she and Pierce’s widow, Kim Pierce, said words could not “encompass the depth of grief and injustice” they have felt since their father and husband was wrongfully accused of the killings.

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National PAC says Rep. Julie Johnson's runoff loss means less LGBTQ+ voices in Congress

A national LGBTQ political fundraising committee says U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson’s loss in this week’s Democratic runoff diminishes the community’s representation in Congress. Johnson was the first only LGBTQ+ person elected to federal office from Texas and from the South when she was first won a seat in Congress in 2024. She lost Tuesday’s primary run off against former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred to be the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 33rd Congressional district. Allred won the nomination with more than 50% of the vote. Equality PAC said in a statement that without Johnson, "Texas — and likely the entire South — will lose openly LGBTQ representation in Congress.”

“Many in our community remain deeply hurt by Colin Allred’s decision to challenge one of our own,” the statement said. "As he moves forward, he bears a responsibility to help heal those divisions and rebuild trust with the communities impacted by this race.” Lee Daugherty, a community organizer and owner of Alexandre’s, a popular bar in Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood, said Johnson being the first openly gay congressional representative from a Southern state “meant something.” “That is historic,” Daugherty said. “The community hates to lose.” He blamed the Republican-led move to redistrict the state’s congressional map mid-census for pushing Johnson into a primary against her predecessor. District 33 was redrawn during the 2025 legislative session. It covers parts of Dallas, Irving, Grand Prairie, Farmers Branch and Cockrell Hill. It also includes parts of Fort Worth, Arlington, Forest Hill, Haltom City and Saginaw.

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‘Same hate and vitriol.’ Treatment of Muslim principal compared to segregation

A mix of educators, interfaith leaders and community activists gathered Thursday to protest the reassignment of a newly appointed Fort Worth Independent School district principal who is Muslim. Shayma Alzubi was announced as the principal of Western Hills High School last week, but the school district reassigned her days later after online backlash over her old social media posts about the Black Lives Matter Movement and Sharia law and Pro-Palestine pictures she posted. A news conference was held at the Islamic Unity Center, 1205 Country Club Lane, in east Fort Worth, on Thursday morning. Nearly a dozen speakers criticized FWISD over its handling of the matter.

The DFW chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the online backlash was an “anti-Muslim witch hunt” toward Alzubi, who was shown on FWISD’s Facebook announcement in a hijab, an Islamic headscarf. Mustafaa Carroll, CAIR-DFW executive director, said he has been a civil rights activist since the 1960s and described the use of bigoted conspiratorial smears toward an entire religion or racial group as a threat. He said the situation represents a clear parallel to the past and reflects another phase of segregation. “I’ve seen all this before, the same language, the same lame excuses, the same hate and vitriol, and the same responses given by government institutions to exclude qualified, upstanding teachers like Ms. Shayma Alzubi,” Carroll said. “Therefore it is incumbent upon us to all call for the immediate reinstatement of Ms. Shayma Alzubi to the position of principal of Western Hills High School.” Carroll says CAIR is talking with its legal team about possible legal action to have Alzubi reinstated. Carroll noted that CAIR received 8,683 anti-Muslim bias complaints nationwide in 2025, the highest single-year total since the organization recorded since its first civil rights report, covering 1996.

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Bud Kennedy: If Ken Paxton wins Senate race in Texas, blame Trump’s pal Dan Patrick

Dan Patrick wanted to win. Ken Paxton is able to run for U.S. Senate for one reason: because Texas’ power-hungry lieutenant governor did not want Texas House Republicans to win a Capitol struggle and remove Paxton as state attorney general. No lieutenant governor in Texas history has held the entire state in an iron grip like Patrick, the most dominating official in state government and also the most stubborn. Three years ago, 60 Republicans in the Texas House voted to send Patrick and the Texas Senate 20 reasons to remove Paxton, an insolent and irresponsible state attorney general who used his office for personal gain and fired employees who turned him in. On May 27, 2023, Paxton was impeached. Three years to the day later, he woke up celebrating his nomination to run for U.S. Senate against Austin Democrat James Talarico.

State Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, is a former child trafficking prosecutor from Houston who was vice chair of the House impeachment team accusing Paxton. She did not hesitate when I asked whether anything kept prosecutors from successfully making their case. “Oh, absolutely,” she said. “Dan Patrick.” Instead of having a Texas Supreme Court justice preside over the trial, Patrick made himself judge. His strong-arm tactics began with the trial rules. The rules — invented totally out of thin air by a special committee under Patrick’s thumb — gave the lieutenant governor “near total control” and reduced the Senate to a “largely powerless and silent jury” under Patrick’s control, Austin Sen. Sarah Eckhardt objected right away in a complaint that turned out to be prescient. Patrick, obviously annoyed that the House sent the Senate this hot potato, undermined the effort every step of the way. For example, his committee wrote a rule that the accusations must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s the standard for a criminal trial, not for deciding whether to fire a selfish executive. “This is our third impeachment in Texas history, and if you go back and look at the other two, you know, [Patrick] made himself the ultimate judge on what could and couldn’t be heard,” Johnson said.

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Wall Street gets new crypto rival after Texas bank completes regulatory pivot

A forty-year-old Texas bank is stepping onto the national stage to challenge Wall Street’s push to get a grip on the digital asset industry. United Texas Bank (UTB) secured approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to convert from a state-chartered financial institution into a nationally chartered bank on May 15, Scott Beck, the president and CEO of the firm, told CoinDesk on Wednesday. The conversion move, Beck added, is to position his crypto-friendly bank as the primary bridge between the cryptocurrency industry and traditional financial institutions and to provide digital asset services he said the UTB has years fully delivering, while “Wall Street continues to tiptoe.”

The conversion granted by the OCC came with two conditions that Beck said have now been met. “Those conditions were satisfied as of today, May 27,” he said. Since 2024, the UTB operated under a Consent Order with the Federal Reserve, which related to its Bank Secrecy Act and compliance infrastructure. “Rather than viewing that as a setback, we treated it as a mandate to build something exceptional, and we did. The result is UTB PRISM SENTINAL, our proprietary BSA/AML compliance platform,” he said. The milestone makes the UTB one of the first banks in the U.S. to successfully complete an OCC conversion since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act 15 years ago, Beck added. He said the conversion also uniquely positions UTB as a bridge between crypto firms worldwide into the U.S. banking system, access that very few banks today are willing to give. "The concept for United Texas Bank is a centralized value hub," said the chair of UTB, a bank he himself said is unknown nationally, but widely sought out by crypto firms.

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Blanche does not rule out Oath Keepers founder for $1.8B fund

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that anyone can apply to a new $1.8 billion Justice Department “weaponization” fund, and wouldn’t rule out Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes as someone who could receive a payout. Rhodes, a Texas resident and leader of the far-right militia, was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and sentenced to 18 years in prison, one of the longest sentences handed down in the case. President Donald Trump commuted Rhodes' sentence on his first day back in office as part of a sweeping clemency order benefiting Jan. 6 defendants.

The fund for people improperly targeted by the government is open to anyone who applies, said Blanche, who has faced growing questions from both parties about the fund since signing a memo establishing it. “Some people believe that, not just with January 6 but in all kinds of areas, that there was a punishment that was not normal, that was atypical of the crime that was committed,” he said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News during a visit to Dallas, adding, “that’s something … I would expect the commissioners to take into account.” He said appointed commissioners would set the rules for how claims are reviewed and who receives money, including what weight to give a person’s sentence or the conduct in their case. Ed Tarpley, an attorney for Rhodes, said Rhodes hasn’t decided whether to seek money from it. He said they were taking it “one day at a time” while awaiting a ruling on the Justice Department’s request last week to dismiss Rhodes’ indictment. “We’ll make a decision once we get the ruling from the court on the DOJ motion,” Tarpley said of the fund in an interview Thursday.

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Talarico kicks off statewide tour as Texas Senate race with Paxton heats up

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and State Rep. James Talarico are already launching attacks against each other as the Texas Senate race begins to take shape following Tuesday’s primary election. Just hours after Paxton officially secured the Republican nomination, Talarico announced he would begin what he called “The People vs. Ken Paxton Tour,” traveling across Texas through June 1. Paxton also quickly responded online, signaling what could become a lengthy and closely watched campaign ahead of the November general election. Both campaigns released attack ads shortly after the primary results. One Paxton campaign ad targeted Talarico, saying: “This is Texas. This is not. Are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six.”

Meanwhile, a Talarico campaign ad criticized Paxton, saying: “Remind us all, what is Attorney General Paxton accused of doing? The list is really long: bribery, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy.” Political science professors at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin said the race is already drawing attention because of the candidates’ sharp political differences and Paxton’s dominant primary victory. “The margin was a surprise to me,” Cal Jillson, an SMU political science professor, said. Sean Theriault, a political science professor at UT Austin, said Republicans rallied behind Paxton after receiving support from President Donald Trump. “The Republicans got the candidate they wanted. Boy, that margin last night was really big,” Theriault said. “And so now we have a Donald Trump-endorsed MAGA Republican candidate versus James Talarico, who's been in the state legislature and has been making some waves.” The campaign season ahead is expected to feature more aggressive messaging from both sides. One Talarico campaign ad says: “Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat and a lock on the door.” A Paxton campaign ad also describes Talarico by saying: “He's always been on the edge of sort of criminal activities.” Theriault said Talarico may try to appeal to voters outside the Democratic base.

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Al Green tells AIPAC to 'crawl back into your hole'

U.S. Rep. Al Green lashed out at the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee Thursday after the group accused him of being "anti-Israel" in a social media post cheering his election defeat. Green, a Houston Democrat, has opposed U.S. support of Israel in its three-year conflict with Palestinians in Gaza. In his statement Thursday, he accused Israel of "genocide." "I am not anti-Israel; I am anti-sending any more of hardworking American’s tax dollars to Israel," he said in a statement. "AIPAC, which has not denounced the genocide in Gaza, seems to perceive every person who denounces the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu as anti-Israel."

AIPAC, a powerful lobbying group in Washington, wrote in a social media post earlier this week that Green was "one of the most outspoken anti-Israel voices in Congress." The post congratulated U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee on his victory over Green in the Democratic runoff for Houston's 18th Congressional District. Green, who is serving his eleventh term in Congress, is one of a number of Democratic and Republican members who oppose U.S. support for Israel's military, including U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. In his statement Green said AIPAC had "become persona non grata" before telling the group to "crawl back into your hole." He signed off: "Sincerely, your unbought, unbossed, unafraid, unelected, liberated Democrat.”

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One student dead, another injured in incident at Uvalde college campus

One student died and another was injured in an incident Thursday at Southwest Texas College's Uvalde campus, officials said. "The College is confirming that an incident occurred on the Uvalde campus earlier today that resulted in the death of one student and injuries to another," school president Hector Gonzales said in a statement. "Emergency responders arrived promptly, and the injured student was transported for medical care." The statement provided no details about the incident or the identities of those involved "out of respect for the students and their families." School officials said they are fully cooperating with law enforcement. "The safety and well-being of students, employees, and visitors remain a top priority," Gonzales' statement said, adding information will be made public "as appropriate."

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Crypto lobby unseats Texas lawmaker. What’s next for Coinbase’s legislative push.

The industry poured millions of dollars into a Texas primary campaign that ultimately unseated a veteran congressman who has opposed the so-called Clarity Act, a bill setting rules for crypto firms. But that campaign cash still might not be enough to get the crypto-friendly bill over the finish line. Last year, Texas lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional map, leading to the primary clash between Democratic incumbent congressmen Al Green, who has served since 2005, and Christian Menefee, who took office this year. Menefee won the election on Tuesday, bolstered by $5 million in spending tied to the crypto political action committee Fairshake. Green had voted against crypto-friendly bills and said the industry sought to “control” Congress with its campaign spending. Stand With Crypto—a Coinbase-backed grassroots group that rates lawmakers’ crypto support—gives him an “F” rating.

“Rep. Green’s defeat proves that anti-crypto hostility carries real electoral consequences, making him the first Democratic incumbent this cycle to lose his seat,” Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter said in a statement. “Fairshake was the difference-maker in this race, and we will continue to aggressively back leaders like Rep. Menefee across the country.” Fairshake, Coinbase, and other industry players are pushing hard this year for the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, which, among other things, would put most crypto trading under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Digital assets firms and banks have fought over the bill for months. Earlier this month, a Senate committee advanced the bill on a bipartisan vote, significantly raising its chances of passing the full Senate. The House passed its own version of the bill last year, but would have to vote again after the Senate’s revisions for it to reach President Donald Trump’s desk. Now, the bill’s main enemy is the clock and Congress’s jam-packed schedule this year. In addition to the crypto legislation, the Republican-led Congress hopes to pass a major housing bill, an extension of federal surveillance powers, and funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol, among other priorities. Congress’s time will be especially limited after the August recess, when many lawmakers’ attention will turn to the November midterm elections.

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National Stories

Iran, US reach deal to extend ceasefire, pending Trump's approval

The United States and Iran reached ?an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Reuters, though U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to approve ?it and Iranian state media said it had not been finalized. According to four sources familiar with the matter, the agreement would extend the truce for another 60 days and allow traffic to flow through the strategic waterway while negotiators tackle difficult issues such as Iran's nuclear program. If approved by leadership in Washington and Tehran, it would amount to the biggest step towards peace since the conflict began on February 28. News of the possible agreement came after a round of tit-for-tat attacks between the two ?countries, the latest such incident since the ceasefire took effect in early April.

Trump has not yet approved the deal, the sources said. Iran has yet to comment on news of the proposed ?deal, which was first reported by Axios. Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said the text of the agreement had not been ?finalized or confirmed. "We're not there yet, but we're very close and we're going to keep on working at it," U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters in Washington. "I can't guarantee that we're going to get there, ?but right now I feel pretty good about it," Vance said. The Trump administration has several times said a deal to end the fighting was close, only to have Iran dispute or downplay the claims. The deal would ?specify unrestricted shipping through the strait and would require the U.S. also lift its blockade of Iranian ports. The U.S. would also lift some sanctions on Iranian oil sales. The reports prompted oil prices to fall on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

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Trump administration prepares for proposed $250 bill with the president’s face on it

The Treasury Department is preparing to print $250 bills with President Donald Trump’s face on them and is just waiting for Congress’ green light, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday. Bessent said that as secretary, he has “two mandates” for currency: “At present, no living person can be on U.S. currency, and the currency must say ‘In God We Trust.’” Bessent added there is proposed legislation on Capitol Hill to “change the first requirement so that a living person, Donald J. Trump, could be on a $250 bill.” “At Treasury we prepare things in advance, so we have prepared in advance that if the legislation is passed, but we will stick to the law,” Bessent said while leading Thursday’s White House press briefing. The Washington Post was first to report on the plans to put Trump’s likeness on a $250 banknote.

Bessent compared adding Trump’s face to the currency to the upcoming festivities for the country’s 250th anniversary and said the issue “bifurcated” from the growing affordability crisis as Americans struggle to buy gas and groceries. “I don’t think that there’s anything untoward about having the president of the United States, the person who was president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill,” Bessent told reporters during the briefing. The proposed legislation, introduced last year by Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was referred in February 2025 to the House Financial Services Committee, where it has remained since. Legislation would have to be approved by the House and Senate before it could be signed into law by Trump. David Snider, a spokesperson for Wilson, said in an email that the congressman has spoken multiple times with Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., about moving the legislation forward. Snider added that Wilson had spoken with Bessent and Trump about their support on the bill “on multiple occasions.”

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More workers are raiding their 401(k)s as average balances fall, Fidelity says

Financial pressures pushed more savers to tap their retirement accounts in the first part of 2026, new data shows — potentially locking in losses during the early weeks of the Iran war. Amid severe market volatility earlier this year, the average 401(k) balance fell by 4% to $141,000, according to first-quarter data released Thursday from Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) savings plans. The average individual retirement account balance was also down 4% to $131,380 in the first quarter, Fidelity found. The drop was due to the outbreak of the Iran war, which sparked a stock selloff, according to Kirsten Hunter Peterson, vice president of workplace thought leadership at Fidelity Investments. “Luckily, a couple of months later, we are trending in a much better direction,” she said, referring to recent market highs.

After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the S&P 500 lost 5.1% in March for its worst monthly performance since 2022. The Dow dropped 5.4%, snapping a 10-month winning streak. The Nasdaq declined 4.8%. Markets have since rebounded from earlier losses. As of Wednesday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up roughly 5.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 rose nearly 10% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 14.8%. However, more savers also tapped their accounts to free up cash during this time, which experts say is a sign of underlying financial strain. The share of workers with an outstanding loan at the end of the first quarter of 2026 was 19.2%, up slightly from 18.8% a year earlier, according to Fidelity. About 2.4% of workers took out a new loan from their 401(k) in the first quarter, up from 2.3% in 2025. The share of workers taking a hardship withdrawal, which is broken out separately, also rose year over year to 2.5% from 2.3%, Fidelity found. A hardship withdrawal can be taken from a retirement plan without paying an early withdrawal penalty for an “immediate and heavy financial need,” according to the IRS.

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Blue Origin rocket blows up on Florida launchpad during test

A rocket built by the Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin blew up on the launchpad in Florida on Thursday night. The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. during a test being conducted in advance of an upcoming launch. “We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin reported on social media. “All personnel have been accounted for.” The test was to fire the seven engines in the booster stage, while keeping the rocket firmly held down on the launchpad. Flames began rising up the sides of the rocket and a massive explosion enveloped the launchpad.

The fireball badly damaged the launchpad and surrounding equipment at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is the only launchpad that Blue Origin has for its 322-foot-tall New Glenn rocket, which is named after John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth. Repairs will most likely take months, at the least. The rocket had been set to carry 48 satellites for Amazon’s internet constellation, Leo, an acronym for “low-Earth orbit.” Leo is a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink network. The Amazon satellites were not onboard. “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Mr. Bezos wrote on social media. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.” Mr. Bezos’ billionaire space competitor, Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, expressed sympathy: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” he wrote on X. The failure will affect NASA’s moon plans, which already include little margin for error.

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Nvidia is investing billions into this emerging technology that could change the AI industry

Nvidia has committed at least $6.5 billion into companies developing photonics technology in the past three months, as the company races to invest in solving one of the major bottlenecks to the rollout of AI. Photonics, the use of light to transmit data, is an emerging technology considered to be a more efficient alternative to the current process of transferring data using electricity. Electrical data transfer consumes more energy — a factor which is increasingly seen as a blocker to the broader deployment of AI. Since the beginning of March, Nvidia has announced $2 billion investments into Lumentum, Coherent and Marvell, all of which are developing photonics tech. The chip giant also said it would invest $500 million into Corning to develop advanced optical connectivity solutions, and participated in optics startup Ayer Labs’ $500 million Series E funding round.

“Photonics represents a way for Nvidia to scale their AI infrastructure without the energy costs that staying with electrical and copper will incur,” Alvin Nguyen, senior analyst at Forrester, told CNBC. “By investing in photonics companies, Nvidia is making sure that advancements in photonics continue and it will prevent them from hitting a scalability and performance wall that will occur if they remain on electrical and copper.” Photonics can be used in AI infrastructure by using light to move data between graphics processing units (GPUs), memory, networking chips, servers and data centers, instead of relying only on electrical signals running along copper. While copper is the main connectivity standard today because of its lower cost and high reliability, photonics will become more prominent in AI infrastructure over time, Brian Colello, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC. “Nvidia’s roadmap of next generation AI rack-scale solutions will require an increasing amount of optical connectivity to process the exponentially rising bandwidth with new models and higher usage,” he said. The chip giant has already made some photonics tech available as part of its networking solutions offering, with the company announcing tools that it said will enable AI factories to connect millions of GPUs across sites while drastically reducing energy consumption and operational costs.

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Bari Weiss names Nick Bilton to lead CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ in major shake-up

In a bid to remake the country’s top-rated news program, Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, on Thursday unveiled an overhaul of “60 Minutes,” replacing the show’s executive producer with a tech journalist and firing two of its on-air correspondents. Ms. Weiss named Nick Bilton, a former New York Times technology columnist and a filmmaker who has directed and produced documentaries for HBO and Netflix, as her pick to lead the 58-year-old Sunday show. Mr. Bilton, who has never worked in traditional broadcast news, will replace Tanya Simon, who had been at the show for more than three decades. CBS News also fired Cecilia Vega, the program’s first Latina correspondent, and Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled off the air abruptly last year by Ms. Weiss, who requested more reporting. It aired in full at a later date. Draggan Mihailovich, the executive editor of “60 Minutes,” was also fired, as was Matthew Polevoy, a senior producer.

Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist with no prior experience in television, has made major changes at CBS since being appointed last year by the tech scion David Ellison. She has named Tony Dokoupil to helm “CBS Evening News,” hired new on-air contributors and personally booked some guests for interviews, a departure from the industry norm. But the overhaul at “60 Minutes” is by far the largest gamble of Ms. Weiss’s tenure. The program remains appointment viewing for millions every Sunday night, and its viewership this season rose 9 percent from the year prior, according to Nielsen. Ms. Weiss’s handling of “60 Minutes” has led to internal turmoil. Her decision to hold Ms. Alfonsi’s segment set off a firestorm, though it eventually ran with additional comments from the Trump administration. This week, Ms. Alfonsi told The Times that CBS was no longer separating editorial independence from corporate interests. Mr. Bilton, 49, will start his position with a staff already anxious about how the long-held traditions of “60 Minutes” might change. In a joint interview with Ms. Weiss on Thursday, he said that his experience in documentary film and TV was in keeping with the founding ethos of the program, which he called “the most important news brand in American life.”

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Chambers of commerce are at a crossroads. Some are closing. Some are shaking things up.

On April 23, the Texas-based Brush Country Chamber of Commerce announced it would be closing its doors in one week's time. The Frio-Nueces Current highlighted a withdrawal of funding from both the city of Cotulla, Texas, and the La Salle County government, with both having allocated local tax revenue to help fund the organization. It also noted that at the group's final board meeting, just 10% of its 80 members showed up. Last year, the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce abruptly announced its closure. A months-long investigation by the Baltimore Business Journal found the organization had become mired by a number of issues. It had pulled back services and resources and had its nonprofit tax exemption revoked. It also had reduced the size, frequency and variety of its events. CEO Brent Howard blamed the creation of additional business interest groups in the region for creating more competition.

Those chambers in Maryland and South Texas are not alone. A review by The Business Journals of news reports since 2024 found 17 chamber of commerce closures that had drawn coverage. For those organizations that have continued to operate, financial headwinds have emerged. Chambers across the country are teetering on the edge of a financial cliff, with revenue growth failing to keep pace with inflation, according to an analysis of 4,813 chamber of commerce organizations and 22,290 Form 990 financial documents filed by those nonprofit chambers with the Internal Revenue Service from 2019 to 2024. Median revenue for those chambers of commerce was about $195,000 in 2019, growing to about $222,000 in 2024 — a 13.8% increase that falls behind the more than 20% inflation rate seen during the same time. Expenses grew at a slightly higher rate than revenue, 14.1%, during the time period. The share of chambers operating at a deficit inched up too, from 42.9% in 2019 to 45.2% in 2024. Net income dropped from a median of $2,691 in 2019 to $2,323 in 2024. The smallest chambers have been hit particularly hard, as 53% of chambers with less than $50,000 in annual revenue ran a deficit. That compares to 38% of organizations above the $1 million revenue threshold.

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Copyright June 05, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved