Lead Stories

A shooter throws Trump’s night with the press into chaos

President Trump was ready to put on a show. On his way to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday evening, the president told associates that he was excited to deliver his speech, calling it the “hottest ticket in town,” according to a person familiar with the matter. He and his advisers had packed his prepared remarks with jokes, including jabs at members of his own cabinet such as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump’s attendance, his first as president, marked an uneasy truce with a press corps that his administration had spent years antagonizing and sometimes even threatening with rhetoric and legal action. The dinner—known in media circles as “nerd prom”—is an annual black-tie event at the iconic wing-shaped 1960s-era Washington Hilton that brings together some of the biggest names in journalism and politics. While past presidents had routinely attended, Trump didn’t participate during his first term.

Instead of taking the mic as planned, Trump would be whisked offstage by Secret Service agents after shots rang out near the cavernous ballroom. Suddenly, what was meant to be an evening of celebration devolved into chaos. Some in the room, from cabinet secretaries to aides and reporters who had been shaken by two prior assassination attempts on Trump, left grappling with the new reality that such violence has become a regular occurrence. High-profile guests walked the red carpet and posed for photos Saturday evening, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and her husband, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. The entourage of administration attendees included Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel and multiple cabinet members, who mingled with business executives, lawmakers and celebrities. Traffic was limited on the streets surrounding the hotel, made famous as the site of an attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and a common meeting place for world leaders and D.C.’s elite. Guests in tuxedos and gowns entered the hotel through checkpoints on the surrounding streets by showing a dinner ticket or a copy of an invite to one of several predinner receptions. Attendees were able to access the Hilton’s lobby and lower levels without going through security scans, only passing through magnetometers as they entered the ballroom where the dinner was held.

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The Hormuz billion-barrel oil shock is about to crash demand

The Strait of Hormuz oil shock has yet to crash demand as the rich world borrows from its stocks and pays up to secure supply. Traders are now sounding the alarm that a harsh adjustment is coming. The longer the vital oil channel doesn’t reopen, traders say, the more consumption is going to have to recalibrate lower to align with supply that’s dropped at least 10%. And for that to happen, people will have buy less, either through prices they can’t afford, or government intervention to force consumption down. A billion barrels of supply loss is already all-but guaranteed — more than double the emergency inventories that governments released not long after the conflict began at the end of February. Buffers are being used up fast, helping to keep a lid on oil prices for now. But with the closure now in its ninth week, demand destruction that started in less obvious sectors like petrochemicals in Asia, is quietly spreading to everyday markets the world over.

“Demand destruction is happening in places that are not visible pricing centers,” Saad Rahim, chief economist of trader Trafigura Group, told the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne this week. “That adjustment is already happening, but if this continues, it has to get larger and larger. We’re at a critical inflection point.” The most dependent industries and markets — including petrochemicals plants in Asia and the Middle East, and shipments of liquefied petroleum gas, a vital cooking fuel in India — saw an immediate hit when the US and Israel first attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Now, with a stalemate between US President Donald Trump and his Iranian adversaries dragging on, the impact is increasingly shifting west — and to products that are central to consumers’ everyday lives. Airlines in Europe and the US are cutting thousands of flights. Analysts are warning of weakness in consumption of gasoline after prices hit $4 a gallon in the US, and diesel — used to power everything from trucks to construction equipment.

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Texas Democrats attempt to avoid distractions following internal fight over party leadership

Democrats in Texas are excited and engaged for the general election in November and actually have hope that the party will be able to make some gains. Even Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has warned that the GOP could have a tough time holding the Texas House if Republicans don’t stick together and show up at the polls. That’s why many Democrats were surprised when a handful, three dozen or so, signed onto a public letter demanding party chair Kendall Scudder not run for reelection. It seemed to backfire and led to hundreds of others to sign another letter coming to his defense. “I will say after that came out, the letter that seems to be largely disgruntled former staff members, the grassroots of this party really rallied. And I’m so grateful that nearly 1,000 folks signed on to a letter, precinct chairs, county chairs, SEC members, elected officials, party leaders across the state, basically saying that it’s undeniable that the party is in a better spot now than it was a year ago,” Scudder told us on Inside Texas Politics.

When Scudder was first elected chair, one of his first steps was to “decentralize” the party by downsizing the headquarters in Austin. That meant some staffers were asked to move to other areas in the state, thought to be one of the main reasons some folks were upset. The party now has offices all over Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, Amarillo and Eagle Pass. “This party, the Democratic Party, has to be a 254-county party. It cannot be a party that just camps out in urban areas and tries to call it a day. Doesn’t matter how many consultants you lock into a room in Austin, they cannot buy their way out of this problem,” Scudder explained. And Scudder stands by his – and the party’s – recent accomplishments. Since he was elected, the party has paid off its debt, flipped a state Senate seat, placed a Democrat on the ballot for every federal and statewide office, the first time that’s happened since 1972, and they also have around 80 staff members involved in a $30 million coordinated campaign. Scudder has already filed to run for reelection, so he’s hopeful to stick around for a while. “I think if you go up and down our ballot, we have great candidates this year, lots of excitement, and finally, we have some infrastructure. And I think that Republicans should be scared,” said the chair.

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‘Come and make the ask’: Talarico faces a test with Black voters in Texas

Friendship-West Baptist Church is a stronghold for Black politics, where candidates pass through cycle after cycle to win over its 13,000 congregants. It’s the church Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) calls home; her pastor, the Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, is now running to succeed her in Congress. Even Beto O’Rourke visited last week to encourage people to register to vote. But several congregants can’t help but notice a continued absence this year: James Talarico. The Democratic Senate nominee has a long road ahead if he wants to flip the Texas seat blue — one that requires winning over the state’s nearly 3 million Black voters, who largely broke for Crockett in the March primary and many of whom remain skeptical of his candidacy.

“Come and make the ask. Come and try to earn the vote,” said Alan Williams, a Crockett voter and Friendship-West congregant. “I think he thinks our vote is just a default and he doesn’t have to earn it.” In the month-and-a-half since he won the nomination, Talarico has begun criss-crossing Texas, including visiting some Black churches, holding meetings with faith leaders and elected officials, and block-walking in majority-Black cities. But frustration from worshippers at Friendship-West — who have yet to hear from him directly — and interviews with Black power brokers across the state reveal the pressure Talarico faces to move faster to heal open wounds from a contentious primary and convince voters to turn out. David Malcolm McGruder, the church’s executive pastor, said Talarico has to do more to sell his vision to voters — and convince them he’ll follow through: “We have people who show up in our churches during the election season, but who don’t show up for us at the level of policy beyond November.”

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Republicans are worried the redistricting fight is backfiring

Republicans are increasingly worried that a battle President Trump started last summer to redraw congressional district lines has backfired and may hand more seats to Democrats. At best, some Republicans say, the effort will produce only a small gain in the number of GOP House seats instead of the firewall the party was hoping to build to stave off defeat in the midterm elections. Some in the party said on Wednesday that Trump and his aides had miscalculated by pressing Texas last year to undertake an unusual, mid-decade effort to draw new House district lines to the GOP’s advantage, which prompted several Democratic-leaning states to redraw their own maps in response. And some questioned why Trump’s political machine didn’t spend more resources on Tuesday’s election in Virginia, given the narrow outcome.

Voters in Virginia on Tuesday passed one of the nation’s most aggressive gerrymanders that, should it survive court challenges, would put Democrats in position to win 10 of the state’s 11 House seats and leave the party with a slight overall advantage in the nationwide redistricting war, which so far has yielded new House maps in seven states. A redistricting approved by California voters last November could add up to five Democratic seats. “We should have anticipated and played three or four moves ahead. We should have known that there was going to be a response to Texas,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.), who is retiring after this year. He added: “We’ll pay for it in November.” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, a Virginia Democrat who championed the new districts in the state, said: “People are fed up with this administration, especially in Virginia. Trump is historically unpopular there.” He said the vote reflected “the desire to even the playing field.” The chess match isn’t over, and it is impossible at this point to predict exactly how many seats will change hands. The battle turns next to Florida, which is slated to take up a redistricting plan next week that could add Republican seats. Louisiana and potentially other GOP-leaning states could also draw new maps if given the green light under a Supreme Court case regarding racial considerations in redistricting, for which a ruling is expected by the end of June. But the state of the redistricting battle, as of now, has left many in the GOP frustrated.

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State Stories

Why Greg Abbott is still declaring a border emergency under Trump

Border crossings have ground to such a halt over the last year that President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, recently said “we have the most secure border in the history of the nation.” But last week, Gov. Greg Abbott quietly renewed a border disaster proclamation — a version of the same order he has issued monthly since 2021, when migrant crossings were at decades-long highs. The now five-year-long disaster declaration has provided the foundation for Abbott’s $11 billion security crackdown and is now allowing the state to help Trump’s mass deportation effort. “The effects of four years of failed border policy under the Biden Administration did not go away overnight,” said Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for the governor. “Illegal crossings, cartel smuggling, fentanyl trafficking, and related criminal activity continue to threaten public safety in Texas.”

The lasting nature of the declaration underscores how Abbott — who is seeking a record fourth term as governor this fall — has leveraged his executive authority and consolidated power over the past decade in office. The border disaster appears to be the longest standing since at least the 1990s, surpassing even Abbott’s yearslong COVID-era proclamations, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston who studies governors. The order is “a testament to the core power of Texas governors: longevity,” Rottinghaus said. “The political ramifications are significant too — the governor can continue to brag about being on the front lines of the front lines of the border crisis.” The governor’s use of such emergency orders has previously chafed some in the Legislature, who see it as shifting the balance of powers in the state. The COVID orders pushed some in Abbott’s own party to seek to curtail the governor’s ability to issue such proclamations indefinitely, arguing it tips the balance of power in Austin away from the Legislature. State Sen. Brian Birdwell, a Granbury Republican, pushed a constitutional amendment last year that would require the governor to call a special session if a declared disaster or emergency that affects most of the state exceeds 30 days. Birdwell’s legislation easily cleared the Senate and unanimously passed a House committee. But it never made it to the House floor.

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Dallas Republican’s petition to force precinct-based runoff rejected by Texas appeals court

A North Texas appeals court rejected a petition from a Dallas County republican trying to force the county to hold a precinct-specific Election Day for the upcoming primary election. The petition came after former county GOP Chair Allen West agreed to countywide voting for upcoming runoffs — in the wake of a chaotic March election marred by confusion and legal challenges. The filing from petitioner Barry Wernick, a Republican Party precinct chair and commissioners court candidate, requested the Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals order the county elections administrator to conduct the upcoming runoff Election Day with precinct-based polling places. The judges declined Friday, finding they had no jurisdiction to do so. They also found Wernick had no standing for relief, in part because he won his primary race outright and wasn’t in a runoff.

He also was not a party to the election services agreement between the GOP's County Executive Committee and the county, the court said, calling Wernick "a stranger to the contract." "(Wernick) is a party precinct chair and, therefore, a member of the CEC. He also serves as a chair of a committee of the CEC," Friday's opinion said. "But he is not the county executive committee, nor is he chair of the CEC." The court did not weigh in on the merits of the challenge itself — namely, whether the contract to go back to countywide voting between the county and the GOP under West was valid. KERA News reached out to Wernick for comment and will update this story with any response. Dallas County is in charge of early voting locations, and its rules stipulate Democrats and Republicans can vote at any location throughout the early voting process. The process for primary Election Day itself is controlled by the parties.

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Austin Police will adjust ICE policies following Gov. Abbott funding threat

The Austin Police Department will adjust its rules on how officers engage with federal immigration authorities after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to block the city from receiving state grant funding. Earlier this year, APD released new rules for how officers interact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under those rules, an officer had to first clear any communication with ICE with a supervisor if an individual had a civil administrative warrant — a noncriminal charge. Austin officers are required to communicate with ICE if a suspect is facing criminal charges. Now, the rules will be updated to clarify that if someone has an ICE administrative warrant, the officer or supervisor “should, when operationally feasible,” contact ICE.

Officers should consider urgent public safety needs in the city first, and whether they are needed elsewhere, the city said. The orders also clarify “officers shall not take an unreasonable amount of time assisting in these matters.” Last week, Abbott threatened to pull $2.5 million in state grants from Austin over its rules on how police cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Houston and Dallas are facing similar threats from the governor. Abbott said restricting any notification to ICE agents could be in breach of the grant agreements the city entered into. Just a few days before, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he had launched an investigation into APD's policies over the same concern. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said public safety and community policing are the main focus. “Allocating resources in a way that protects public safety is vitally important and these updated General Orders allow for that," she said in a written statement. Mayor Kirk Watson said the new rules were a rational approach that maximized APD's limited resources to adequately address Austin’s public safety needs.?

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The Texas Legislature bowed to Trump. It screwed him in the process.

Back in August, state Representative Mitch Little, Republican of Lewisville, had an admirably masculine sound bite for CNN’s Brianna Keilar. The TV anchor had asked Little why Texas Republicans were trying to redraw the state’s congressional map in the middle of the decade to deliver the president more seats in the upcoming midterm. “Because we can,” Little said. “We have the votes.” Little, to his credit, and unlike many of his colleagues, didn’t hide the ball. He explained to Keilar that his party wanted a handful of congressional districts it currently couldn’t win. This had a whiff of Thucydides about it—“the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”—and apart from the general preference Panera Bread–frequenting state lawmakers have for a little classical grandeur from time to time, it had the added benefit of making the Texas Legislature look like the tough-guy mover in the equation. This bluster obscured what had actually happened. Texas Republicans had received, and submissively obeyed, marching orders from the political arm of the White House to find five more Republican congressional seats, even though at least some of them knew mid-decade redistricting in this political environment was a bad idea for them.

It was hard not to remember the Republican legislative braggadocio of last summer when President Trump spoke to a Virginia radio station on Monday before that state’s redistricting referendum. (Citizens got to vote on it—isn’t that cute?) Virginia was about to approve maps that are designed to give Democrats four seats currently held by Republicans, and Trump offered mewling and uncharacteristically beta complaints about our wonderful Norms and the integrity of the Process. “I don’t know if you know what gerrymandering is, but it’s not good,” he told the host. Not good, he says. Won’t Mitch Little have egg on his face? When it comes to taking a whole pile of busywork hypothetically aimed at making things better and then producing no substantive forward motion, the Texas Legislature is God’s own machine, perfect and sublime. Not infrequently, months of effort put into making something better will end up making it worse. This is the gang, you may remember, that accidentally legalized dirty, lab-prepared THC products while keeping the real thing, God’s green herb, illegal. The White House probably did not know about the deeply ingrained hopelessness that pervades the Texas Legislature, or it probably would not have ordered state leaders to spearhead the gerrymander charge. It was hoping to encourage red states across the country to follow in Texas’s wake. It was hoping Texans would start a prairie fire, and it asked the state to move first and early—which is significant in part because the president’s approval rating was much healthier-looking than it would be six months down the road.

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A looming execution raises questions of race, responsibility, and rap

Curtis Riser had some concerns about the problem of wrongful convictions. He wasn’t the only potential juror to raise this point ahead of the 2009 capital murder trial of James Broadnax, in which the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office was seeking death, but attorneys for the state used one of their limited peremptory strikes to keep Riser off the jury. Prosecutors for the state have said they struck him from the jury pool because of his stated concerns, but their notes tell a different story. “Only concern … age + race,” an attorney for the state wrote on his jury questionnaire. Aqwana Long said her feelings about capital punishment were mixed, but she clarified she meant it should only be applied in some cases. Rating her approval of the death penalty on a scale of one to 10, she chose seven. Still, the state rejected her.

Dedric Morrison, who said he believed the death penalty was appropriate in “some murder cases,” seemed to prosecutors like he might be sympathetic to a defendant who was intoxicated at the time of the crime. This, according to the state, was enough to exclude him from the jury pool. Riser, Long, and Morrison are all Black. They had similar answers and beliefs to potential jurors who were white, yet they were struck while their white counterparts were not. Attorneys built an all-white jury to try Broadnax, a Black teenager, until the trial judge defied protocol and reinstated one of the other previously struck Black jurors. The judge didn’t go so far as to imply that the prosecution was racially profiling, but stepped in after prosecutors had used almost half of their allowed challenges to cull all seven of the potential Black jurors from the pool. In front of what ended up as a nearly all-white jury, prosecutors would argue that Broadnax and his cousin had robbed two white men—26-year-old Stephen Swan and 28-year-old Matthew Butler, both producers of Christian music—and that Broadnax had shot and killed the pair outside of a recording studio in Garland on June 19, 2008. Broadnax had confessed to shooting the men, and the jury returned a guilty verdict. One juror recently stated, “It seemed to be an open and shut case.”

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Texas' quiet city west Of Houston is now the fastest-growing boomtown in the country

It's no surprise that the Houston area is an appealing place for those looking to relocate. Space City has it all, from walkable neighborhoods with fantastic dining to affordable living and a lively, diverse culture. However, there's one particular area west of Houston that's seeing explosive growth. GO Banking Rates reports that Fulshear, a city suburb just 35 miles outside the city, has experienced a 736% growth in total population between 2015 and 2023, making it the fastest-growing town in the United States. In 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the area had more than 54,000 residents, an increase of 26.9% from the previous year. So, how does a once-tiny town like Fulshear turn into a magnet for working professionals? For one, Fulshear's location makes it a fantastic option for those who need to commute into the city for work in tech or healthcare.

Just outside of Katy, itself an ideal weekend destination, Fulshear has designed itself to be nothing short of a residential paradise. From being one of the safest towns in Texas to an excellent school system and several master planned communities, it's the quality of life that sets this town apart from all the others. Here's what the research says. One of the most important things about Fulshear is its reputation for safety. The area is widely considered one of the safest and most welcoming cities in Texas, and the data agrees. Neighborhood Scout gave Fulshear a score of 86 on its total crime index, making it considerably safer than national and state-wide medians. Safewise also conducted a study of the safest cities in Texas for 2026, and Fulshear made the top 10. Even students feel safe here, as polls on Niche revealed that 79% felt that the police were very visible and responsive, and 73% reported feeling completely safe and having no safety concerns. That peace of mind is priceless. Don McCoy, the mayor of Fulshear, told Fox 26 Houston that this exponential growth reflects the high quality of life in the area. The massive influx of people has naturally increased stress on infrastructure, but the good news is that the Fulshear area is flat enough to easily accommodate needed expansions, unlike towns near mountain ranges that have to navigate difficult terrain to expand. Fulshear has the space for additional road and housing projects, which keeps the cost of living down for those looking to purchase homes in the area.

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In billionaire space race, Bezos gaining on Musk's SpaceX

SpaceX, which was fast off the launch pad in the private race for space business, may be feeling some heat. Though the Texas-based builder of rockets and satellites led by Elon Musk is easily the global leader, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been ramping up the rivalry with recent strides by his Blue Origin space company. The latest move, Amazon.com Inc.’s $11.6 billion deal to buy satellite operator Globalstar Inc., comes along with decisions by the U.S. military and NASA favoring Blue Origin over SpaceX.

Bezos’ global technology and retail company said this month it’s buying Globalstar to launch a direct-to-device service that would compete with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service. Starlink, which has fast-growing operations in Bastrop County, is the biggest moneymaker for SpaceX and the current leader in an industry that’s expected to be worth $200 billion in the coming years. The Globalstar deal came the same day the U.S. Space Force announced it had selected Blue Origin to build a new launch site for super-heavy rockets at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, beating out SpaceX’s bid for a site for Starship, which is in development at Starbase in South Texas. Delays in the troubled Starship program, which saw multiple testing failures last year, contributed to NASA changing its plans for the next moon mission, Artemis III, which has already been pushed out to next year. NASA scrapped the original plan, which called for a SpaceX Starship to land astronauts on the moon, opting for a scaled-back mission to practice docking maneuvers between an Orion capsule and Starship — and a Blue Origin lunar lander.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Austin man deported by ICE says he is a U.S. citizen

Federal immigration agents deported an Austin man who says he is a U.S. citizen after detaining him during a traffic stop near Fredericksburg earlier this month. Brian Jose Morales Garcia, 25, said he was born in Denver but grew up in Mexico and lived there until last year, when he legally crossed into the U.S. Despite having documents at home that he said show he is a U.S. citizen, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported him four days after his arrest. The American-Statesman reviewed copies of Garcia’s Colorado birth certificate, hospital records and a baptismal record from a few months after his birth, which he and his attorney provided to the newspaper. The Statesman independently corroborated the existence of the birth certificate and baptismal record.

“There just is no dispute about whether he is a U.S. citizen,” his lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said. “What happened here was not that they reviewed those documents and decided that they didn't care. What happened here was that they immediately assumed that he was lying.” Morales Garcia was being driven to a worksite on April 3 when his boss’ truck was stopped by Texas state troopers for what the officer said was a window tint violation. The officer contacted ICE, which asked the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office to hold Morales Garcia in jail. Morales Garcia, whom authorities identified as a Mexican citizen, was eventually picked up by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and deported four days later. During those four days, friends of Morales Garcia said they tried to provide authorities with a copy of his birth certificate. In a statement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that it had determined Morales Garcia’s lack of authorization to be in the country “through record checks” and pointed to an admission by Morales Garcia that he had entered the country illegally, a statement that Morales Garcia said he made after being intimidated. “They didn’t believe me; they were intimidating me so that I’d sign,” Morales Garcia said. “I figured that I’d come back with my birth certificate.” Border Patrol did not provide the Statesman with proof of its claims or evidence to dispute Morales Garcia’s account. In its statement, the agency wrote: “CBP did NOT arrest a U.S. citizen.”

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San Antonio courts strained as immigration detention cases spike

On a typical day in his federal courtroom in San Antonio, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia might preside over a drug trafficking trial or sentence someone for human smuggling or oversee a civil case. But on a recent Thursday afternoon, Garcia's docket was filled solely with back-to-back habeas corpus cases — all of them filed on behalf of immigrants seeking to get out of federal detention. A habeas corpus petition allows someone in government custody to challenge their detention. The number of habeas corpus cases has skyrocketed in recent months as federal agencies have ramped up enforcement of immigration law during President Donald Trump’s second term. More than 38,000 petitions have been filed nationwide since January 2025. More than 7,600 of them were filed in Texas.

The filings have come from people in a variety of different situations — some seeking asylum, others who overstayed their visas or have expired work permits, and some who crossed the border years ago without permission and never left. Some of the filings are high-profile cases such as that of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy who was detained with his father in Minnesota and brought to the Dilley Family Detention Center in South Texas. The surge in filings is creating backlogs in the federal court system, slowing down immigration cases and diverting resources and court time from other criminal and civil matters, according to judges and attorneys. Normally, criminal cases take precedence, “but when you have a habeas corpus case, that case needs to be dealt with because someone’s liberty is at stake," Garcia said. More than 4,000 of the habeas corpus petitions are in the Western District of Texas. About 2,100 of them have been assigned to federal judges in San Antonio. Those courts handle about 1,500 cases of all kinds in a typical year, said U.S. District Judge Fred Biery. Biery said that since January, his court has recorded 401 habeas corpus filings.

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Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig: Texans will decide if Jesus was a lefty

While some might pray for hope or peace in such dark times, others are praying for the death of Texas Democrat James Talarico, who is running for the U.S. Senate. During a recent episode of the right-wing Protestant podcast Reformation Red Pill, host Joshua Haymes told the pastor Brooks Potteiger that he prays that “God kills” Talarico, given that the politician seems to be possessed by demons. Potteiger agreed, offering that Talarico should be “crucified with Christ.” Both Haymes and Potteiger later insisted that their remarks were not sincere expressions of violent intent, but rather metaphorical calls for Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, to find salvation in their brand of Christianity. Talarico shrewdly responded by offering forgiveness: “You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you. I love you more than you could ever hate me.” A cherubic and well-scrubbed 36-year-old state lawmaker, Talarico seems lately to invite such vitriol. This despite the fact that he has run a generally positive campaign. Born and raised in Texas, he is campaigning on a fairly standard Democratic platform: He supports higher wages, labor organizing, comprehensive immigration reform, and increasing firearm regulations. Talarico’s sermonic speeches are largely about inclusivity and justice.

What has made his candidacy so controversial is what he says about God. An avowed progressive, Talarico argues that the country’s powerful Christian conservatives have distorted the lessons of their faith. The words of Jesus, he insists, endorse policies the left embraces. In deep-red evangelical Texas, does his brand of Christian politics have a chance? In a 2021 debate on transgender issues in the Texas House of Representatives, Talarico said that “God is both masculine and feminine, and everything in between. God is nonbinary.” In a 2025 conversation with Joe Rogan, Talarico argued that “this idea that there is a set Christian orthodoxy on the issue of abortion is just not rooted in Scripture,” explaining (somewhat confusingly) that because God sought Mary’s consent before the conception of Jesus, Christians ought to conclude that creation requires permission—and therefore that women should have access to legal abortion. As soon as Talarico’s primary victory over Jasmine Crockett was certain, conservatives called on those remarks and others to swiftly and uniformly deride his Christianity as blasphemous and insincere. “Talarico is a leftist atheist’s idea of a good Christian,” Allie Beth Stuckey, a Texas-based evangelical-conservative influencer, wrote in The Daily Wire.

Read this article at The Atlantic - Subscribers Only

Former detainees report water price-gouging at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center

Amanda Aguilar is a staff attorney at American Gateways in San Antonio. She represents multiple families detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center and said her clients claim the tap water there is foul. “The water that they have smells like bleach and it’s not really drinkable," said Aguilar. “So, for them to have water that they can drink, they have to pay $3 per bottle of water. Or $39 for a 12-pack of water." Aguilar said one thing that's consistent between all of her clients, whether they were detained out of San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, or another check-in office, is that they were all concerned about the water situation. She said it was causing stomach issues for many of them, emphasizing that people who have medical conditions are much worse off than healthier detainees, considering the lack of available medical care at the facility.

One of Aguilar's clients spent more than $ 900 in 20 days on water, food, and phone calls. All of a detained person's cash is put into a commissary, and direct access to their bank account is cut off, so they have to depend on friends and family to receive money they need while in detention. Aguilar files habeas corpus petitions and is challenging the legality of initial detention and adequacy of conditions for children at Dilley. She says the only thing they can do right now is sue ICE. "I plan to keep suing them, and hopefully just keep educating people on what's going on there so we can have humanity and dignity for all families," said Aguilar. In a February 2026 news release from ICE, titled "Debunking the mainstream media lies about South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas," ICE Director Todd M. Lyons states that detainees receive "medical care, educational services, recreational opportunities and essential daily living needs." Federal contractor Core Civic operates Dilley. Their website states that the facility gets the same clean?drinking water supplied to the town. Dilley’s water department hasn’t released a water quality report since 2024.

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Dallas is (almost) broke

Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert announced that the city is essentially broke. A budget shortfall means that the city will begin “immediate cost containment measures.” The press release gives three main reasons: Expenses are forecast to exceed this year’s budget by $16.4 million, “primarily due to Police and Fire pay and overtime.” Revenues are $3.8 million below budget because of declining sales tax revenue. The city self-funds its employee health insurance. It will exceed its budget by $13.8 million because of increased medical and pharmacy claims.

The city is now freezing all hiring, with the exception of police and fire, seasonal positions, and jobs in departments outside the general fund. All non-uniform overtime has been halted and discretionary overtime for uniform positions is suspended. Departments are asked to delay all non-essential purchases, and travel is paused. The City will continue monitoring revenues and expenditures closely,” the announcement says. “Additional cost containment measures may be implemented as needed.” The City Council will vote on next year’s budget by the end of September. The city has grand plans for its convention center redo. In the meantime, its existing portfolio is crumbling—and nobody knows what it will cost to fix.

Read this article at D Magazine - Subscribers Only

National Stories

A new worry for Republicans: Latino Catholics offended by Trump

When Stuart Sepulvida arrives at St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Parish in Tucson, Ariz., for Mass, which he attends most mornings, he passes a display honoring local soldiers and encouraging parishioners to pray for their safety. Hundreds of small cards record their names: Robles, Arenas, Grajeda. A portrait of Pope Leo XIV hangs across the lobby. Mr. Sepulvida, 81, is a Vietnam veteran whose patriotism and Catholicism are deeply intertwined. He voted for President Trump three times but has never felt more betrayed by an American president than when Mr. Trump denounced Pope Leo as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.” “It was very disturbing to me to hear both of them clashing like they did,” Mr. Sepulvida said, standing outside the church one morning this week. Now, he is reconsidering whether he will vote Republican this year.

The Republican Party is struggling to hold onto the support from Hispanic voters who helped propel Mr. Trump back into the White House in 2024. Yet as many party leaders have acknowledged the urgent need to stop the backsliding among Latinos, the president has enraged many of even his strongest supporters by clashing with the pope. On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, spoke of the need to “abandon every desire for conflict, domination and power, and implore the Lord to grant his peace to a world ravaged by wars.” Within days, Mr. Trump, who has led the United States into a war with Iran, said the pope was “catering to the radical left” and posted an AI-generated image portraying himself as a Jesus figure. Mr. Trump later deleted the image, saying he thought it depicted him as a doctor. “It just isn’t what a president should do,” Mr. Sepulvida said. “The pope speaks for his people. He is beyond politics.” Mr. Trump won 55 percent of Catholic voters in the 2024 election, compared to 43 percent who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Pew Research Center. The most sizable gains came from Hispanic Catholics. While Joseph R. Biden Jr. won their votes by a 35-point margin in 2020, the Democratic advantage shrunk to 17 points in 2024. Now, just 18 percent of Hispanic Catholics said they support most or all of President Trump’s agenda, according to a poll from Pew released earlier this year. If the president’s quarrel with the pope sours more Latinos on the Republican Party, it could affect midterm races across the country, including in South Florida and South Texas, where Republicans have notched important victories in predominantly Hispanic districts in recent years.

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‘He has the market in a chokehold’: Stocks swing as Trump posts

There are lots of things that can move the stock market, from economic data, to Federal Reserve pronouncements, to corporate developments. But for the past 15 months, traders’ fortunes have been largely tethered to the whims of a single person: President Donald Trump. Since taking office last January, Trump’s comments to reporters in extemporaneous gatherings in the Oval Office and at formal press conferences, as well as his posts on social media, have been the primary driver behind the five best and worst days in the S&P 500 Index, according to an analysis from Fundstrat Research. It’s a grip unmatched by any modern American leader. No other president has orchestrated this many best and worst days in a dozen administrations going back to President Ronald Reagan in 1981. “He has the market in a chokehold,” said Hardika Singh, economic strategist at Fundstrat. “The president isn’t supposed to have such an extraordinary amount of control over the fortunes of the stock market. It’s completely unprecedented.”

The war in Iran is providing a perfect backdrop to see how much Trump can move US stocks. The S&P 500 just posted its fastest V-shaped drop and recovery since 2020, tumbling 9% from a Jan. 27 peak to the cusp of a technical correction on March 30, before rallying back to all-time highs over the course of 11 trading days. The impact of the president’s words is even clearer when examined session-by-session. For example, the S&P 500 sank 1.5% on March 20, as Trump said in a White House briefing that he didn’t want a ceasefire with Iran. Then, on March 31, the index jumped 2.9% for its best day since May and rallied through the rest of the week after Trump told reporters at several different news outlets that negotiations with Iran were going well and the war was close to ending. There are numerous similar examples from before and since then. It isn’t just equities that are seeing these moves either. Commodity prices have also swung wildly, with oil market volatility rising to levels last seen at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In essence, Trump’s wavering positions on the war have made him the market’s “arsonist and firefighter,” said Alexander Altmann, head of global equities tactical strategies at Barclays.

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Every Black Republican is leaving the House, erasing diversity gains

Eight years ago, Kevin McCarthy, then the House Republican leader, embarked on a push to recruit more Black Republicans to run for Congress, arguing that the G.O.P. needed to diversify to survive. By 2022, his efforts had yielded modest success, helping pave the way for four Black Republicans to be elected to the House that year, which boosted the total number of Black Republicans serving in Congress to five, including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. That progress is about to be erased.

All four Black Republicans in the House are leaving Congress next year: Three are seeking statewide office, and one is retiring because redistricting in his state effectively boxed him out of his seat. The exodus is a reflection of the striking and persistent lack of diversity in the G.O.P. ranks of Congress, something that Mr. McCarthy has acknowledged is still an issue even years after his efforts to address it. “When you look at the Democrats, they actually look like America,” he said shortly after leaving Congress in 2023. “When I look at my party, we look like the most restrictive country club in America.” Republican leaders who for a time focused heavily on recruiting and electing more Black candidates appear to have allowed those efforts to flag during the second Trump presidency, as the president has denounced and eliminated diversity programs, fired Black officials while installing an overwhelmingly white senior team and presided over an administration that routinely circulates material echoing white-supremacist references, including a racist meme he posted himself. With the president’s gains with Black men dwindling, there are few Black Republicans running for Congress this year, and none regarded as likely to win.

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‘Hyperscale’ data center project in Utah — expected to generate and consume more power than entire state — nears final approval

Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary plans to build a massive hyperscale data center project in Box Elder County — which state boosters say will fund modern buildings at Hill Air Force Base while generating all of its own power, cleaning the water it uses so it can be sent to the Great Salt Lake and creating 2,000 high-paying jobs in the rural area. The board that oversees the state’s Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA, approved a series of resolutions Friday to move the multibillion-dollar project forward, agreeing to move fast and charge far lower taxes than usual to help O’Leary “lure the hyperscalers” to Utah. “There’s only five hyperscalers in America, OK, so it’s pretty easy to know who they’re negotiating with,” Paul Morris, MIDA’s executive director, told the board Friday. “You can look those up and you know who they’re talking to.”

Amazon, Microsoft and Google are the country’s top-tier hyperscalers — tech giants that run vast cloud computing networks. Analysts typically list Meta and Apple right behind them. The project is awaiting only a final approval from the Box Elder County Commission, which postponed a planned Friday afternoon meeting until Monday. The head developer of the project is O’Leary Digital, owned by O’Leary, a Canadian tycoon and one of the investors on the reality show “Shark Tank,” where his nickname is Mr. Wonderful. O’Leary also made his movie debut last year, co-starring with Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.” In February, O’Leary posted on Facebook: “Luckily, in Utah, I found … three senators and Governor [Spencer] Cox, pro-business, pro-data centers, but the ball’s back in their court now. We’ve announced that we need every incentive we can get out of that state because we have to raise billions to build this power, and then the data centers that come afterwards.”

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The MAHA revolt threatening the farm bill

Republican infighting between two important constituencies — the agriculture sector and the MAHA coalition — is threatening passage of a bill leaders are counting on to help woo rural voters ahead of the midterms. House GOP leaders hope this week to advance a long-stalled farm bill that would secure a slew of industry and rural investments. They see a political incentive to move quickly now to shore up farm country support in advance of the November elections, plus heed calls from President Donald Trump to “PASS THE FARM BILL, NOW!” The farm bill traditionally comes to the floor with bipartisan support. But House Democrats this time are largely opposed to the package because it does not reverse the massive cuts to the country’s largest food aid program enacted by last year’s GOP megabill. That’s putting extra under pressure on Republicans to see it over the finish line amid intraparty disagreements over provisions related to pesticides, livestock laws and ethanol sales.

The farm bill traditionally comes to the floor with bipartisan support. But House Democrats this time are largely opposed to the package because it does not reverse the massive cuts to the country’s largest food aid program enacted by last year’s GOP megabill. That’s putting extra under pressure on Republicans to see it over the finish line amid intraparty disagreements over provisions related to pesticides, livestock laws and ethanol sales. The biggest source of conflict is over a provision that would shield pesticide makers — a powerful lobbying force with agriculture state Republicans — from lawsuits. It comes as the Trump administration has also moved to protect access to a key pesticide after chemical manufacturers told the White House they were concerned about regulatory uncertainty or MAHA-driven crackdowns. Removing the measure would stoke backlash from Trump officials and farm state Republicans. MAHA activists feel betrayed after voting for Trump in hopes that his administration would crack down on chemical exposure they blame for driving up chronic illness and disease. And now these activists are so fed up that they’ve turned to working with a group of House Democrats to strip out the language, according to four people granted anonymity to share private discussions.

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Pope Leo reiterates opposition to death penalty on same day U.S. approves firing squads

The Trump administration announced Friday that it will authorize firing squads as a federally permitted method of execution, deepening its push to revive the death penalty — underscoring a sharp divide with Pope Leo XIV and recent Catholic teaching. Hours after the Justice Department made its announcement, the pontiff condemned the death penalty as an attack on human dignity. In a prerecorded video message shared with DePaul University in Chicago to mark the 15th anniversary of Illinois' abolition of the death penalty, Pope Leo declared that the Catholic Church has consistently taught that each human life, from conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves protection. "We affirm that the dignity of the person is not lost even after very serious crimes are committed," Leo said.

Hours earlier, the pontiff had condemned capital punishment aboard the papal plane, when asked about executions carried out by the Iranian government. The timing comes amid a widening divide between the Trump administration and Catholic leaders, who have also opposed the administration's immigration tactics, including widespread arrests of undocumented immigrants. In February, as part of a case contesting the administration's position on birthright citizenship, U.S. bishops filed an amicus brief outlining its opposition. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department is also reauthorizing lethal injection using the sedative pentobarbital, which was withdrawn by the Biden administration after a government review found the injection may cause unnecessary pain and suffering. The changes reflect a broader directive from Trump, who since returning to office has ordered the Justice Department to prioritize pursuing and carrying out death sentences. The pentobarbital protocol was originally developed during Trump's first term – with the reintroduction of the federal death penalty – under then-Attorney General Bill Barr. It replaced a three-drug mixture last used during the early 2000s. The Trump administration's report released Friday pushes back on the Biden administration's finding, arguing the review misread the science and that pentobarbital renders a prisoner unconscious rapidly enough to prevent pain.

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DOJ drops investigation into Fed’s Powell

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday that she is dropping her investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the cost for renovations at the central bank, a move that could clear a path for the Senate to confirm Kevin Warsh as Powell’s replacement. “I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro said in a post on social media platform X. “Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.” She said the Federal Reserve’s inspector general has been asked to scrutinize the renovation, saying the cost overruns ran into “the billions of dollars.”

Pirro is the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Her investigation into Powell and the cost overruns led Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, to say he wouldn’t support any Fed nominee until the probe was dropped. His opposition would leave the committee tied if all the Democrats also oppose Warsh, which would prevent the nomination from advancing. Tillis also said he considers Warsh a qualified nominee. Powell’s term as chair ends on May 15. “Let’s get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation,” Tillis said at Warsh’s hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Wednesday that the Banking Committee would provide “accountability” for the investigation into the Fed renovations in an attempt to move the Warsh nomination ahead.

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Lead Stories

Dallas police change ICE policy after Abbott threatens to pull public safety, FIFA funding

The Dallas Police Department changed its immigration policy Thursday in response to pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott. The new rules affirm police officers are allowed to provide enforcement assistance to immigration officers, ask a detained or arrested person’s immigration status and share that status with ICE. The change includes removing a provision that prevented officers from detaining someone longer to investigate the person's immigration status or contact ICE. Under the original policy, an officer was required to release someone after they had been processed for the initial reason they were stopped. The change came after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened in a letter to pull nearly $90 million in state funding if the police department did not change General Order 315.04, which outlines how officers can handle immigration.

That funding includes more than $55 million in security funding for the FIFA World Cup — which is less than two months away — and more than $32 million in public safety grants. City Manager Kimberly Tolbert responded in a letter Thursday the changes align DPD policy with state law while maintaining trust with the community. “Although your letter does not specifically identify the portions of General Order 315.04 you find problematic, DPD has completed a review of General Order 315.04 and has revised certain provisions in the general order to further clarify DPD's continued compliance with state law regarding immigration enforcement,” Tolbert wrote. Abbott wrote in his letter General Order 315.04 violates a certification Tolbert agreed to last year as a condition to receive a $32 million public safety grant. Abbott took issue with parts of the order that made it voluntary for police to ask someone about their immigration status or inform ICE about that status. He also targeted the part of the order that prevented Dallas officers from detaining someone longer to investigate the person's immigration status or contact ICE. Under the order, an officer was required to release someone after they've been processed for the initial reason they were stopped.

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West Texas rancher raises alarm over abandoned well blowouts impacting water supply

Well blowouts have become a common sight on land near the Pecos County and Crane County border, causing damage to property, threatening livestock and raising concerns about water. Schuyler Wight, a landowner near the Pecos County and Crane County border, has experienced multiple well blowouts on his property. But after reporting the blowouts to the Railroad Commission, he said nothing has been done. “They’re underfunded, they’re understaffed, they’re undermanned,” Wight said. “They don’t have the personal to take care of it and basically, they don’t care.” These blowouts are leaving an uncontrolled amount of oil, natural gas or other fluids above the surface. Specifically, hydrogen sulfide or H2S, a toxic gas with a rotten egg odor that creates to air quality and life.

It can even become fatal if inhaled too much. “When wells are allowed to sit for a long time, rust happens,” Wight said. “Rust causes casing to break down, the cement breaks down, and they break lose and flow to the surface.” Wells also produce saltwater, which Wight said his cattle needs and craves to survive. But with these blowouts, the chemicals are posing fatal risks to both ranchers and cattle. “It can cause health problems for the cattle. They can die from drinking this water,” Wight said. “The bottom line is you don’t want to be eating beef that comes from a cow that drinks produced water do you?” According to Wight, he visited Austin in February and March to speak to the Railroad Commission about this ongoing issue. He said there are over 11,000 orphan wells in Texas with no responsible operator, leaving the state responsible for plugging them. “This orphan well count keeps growing. It’s over eleven thousand now and it just keeps growing,” Wight said. “They’ll never get ahead of it at the rate they’re going.” First Alert 7 has reached out to the Railroad Commission for a statement but has not received a response.

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Big Bend National Park could see vehicle barriers, patrol roads under latest changes to border wall plans

The Trump administration is once again planning to install physical border barriers within Big Big National Park in West Texas, according to an updated map of "Smart Wall" projects that now shows plans for a "vehicle barrier system" and "patrol roads" in the park. The change appeared on a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) website sometime Tuesday, and came just weeks after CBP backed away from plans for border barriers in the national park in favor of a "detection technology" only project. A CBP spokesperson did not immediately comment on the change. It was first noticed by anti-wall advocates who are closely monitoring the agency's border wall projects map.

"As we've warned – the map can and will change with no public notice, no Congressional approval, no nothing," Laiken Jordahl, an advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, wrote in a post on X noting the updated map. It's not clear whether the vehicle barriers would be temporary or permanent. As of Wednesday morning, the CBP map showed a new plan for 17 miles of "vehicle border barriers" along different segments of the Rio Grande within the national park. The map shows the vehicle barriers would go up at a river access point near Lajitas on the park's western boundary and near the remote Mariscal Canyon area within the park, among other locations. The updated map also shows CBP is now planning to build vehicle barriers along the border across southeastern Brewster County and through Terrell County to the Del Rio area. Some stretches of the project would be built a few miles north of federally protected portions of the Rio Grande. In addition to the vehicle barriers, CBP on Tuesday added plans for "patrol roads" across the southern portions of Big Bend National Park and neighboring Big Bend Ranch State Park.

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Rowlings, West Virginia U.S. Senator feud over The Greenbrier Resort

The billionaire Dallas family who owns the Omni hotel chain and a sitting U.S. senator have fired the opening salvos in a contentious legal feud over the fate of West Virginia’s “crown jewel” — the landmark Greenbrier Resort. Robert and Blake Rowling, the father-son duo who lead Omni Hotels’ parent company TRT Holdings, purchased the first lien debt on assets, including the resort, for nearly $290 million. They’ve asked a federal court to take control of the resort away from Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., who has owned it since 2009. Facing a request to turn over property, the Justice family is fighting back. They’ve filed a lawsuit in a West Virginia court, accusing the Rowlings and others of conspiring to seize the historic resort by “unlawful and deceptive means.”

The parties met at The Greenbrier earlier this month, but they reached no agreement regarding Justice’s debt. The deadlock sets the stage for legal proceedings, and the issues may not be resolved for years. A federal judge will hear evidence May 11 to determine if the Justice family must turn over the 11,000-acre luxury property to a third party, or hold off until a state court rules on Justice’s lawsuit. Attempts to contact representatives for the Justice family were not returned before publication. “I don’t foresee a partnership coming together after the way the first meeting went,” Blake Rowling told The Dallas Morning News in a recent interview. “It was not fruitful. …We bought a piece of debt. If we get paid off, we’re no longer a lender, which is fine. But at this point, they’re in breach of the forbearance agreement. We’re moving forward with the rights we have.”

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State Stories

Talarico hopes to bolster Black support after defeating Crockett

Sheniqua Jones hoped her March 3 vote would help make history, sending U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett to the Senate as the first Black woman nominee from Texas. When state Rep. James Talarico won instead, it left many of Crockett’s Black supporters wrestling with disappointment, even as they look toward November. “As a Black woman, it feels like voters think we can’t run the country,” Jones said. “We are needed in today’s world and one day we’ll win these races, if we are allowed.” Now Jones, 40, a mother and small business owner, said she’s willing to give Talarico a chance, but only if he connects with what matters most to voters like her. “He has to speak to the issues that we care about,” she said. “That’s how to get more people on his side.”

That’s the case Talarico now has to make. To win in November, he must maximize Democratic turnout in a state where Republicans still hold the advantage, starting with Black voters, the party’s most reliable base. That may not come easily. Talarico’s victory over Crockett left hard feelings among many of her backers in North Texas and beyond. In the primary, some of Talarico’s supporters said Crockett’s combative style wouldn’t work statewide, clashing with Democrats who saw her as the kind of fighter needed to take on President Donald Trump. At the Dallas County Democratic Party Convention last month, Talarico struck a conciliatory tone. “To the congresswoman’s supporters, I know I wasn’t your first choice, but I hope to earn your trust and earn your support,” he said. Party leaders say words alone won’t be enough.

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HISD board of managers votes to fire union leader after hearing

Houston ISD's appointed board of managers voted Thursday to terminate a teacher union leader even though an independent hearing examiner initially recommended that the district reinstate the longtime educator. All six members who were present voted in favor of terminating Michelle Williams, president of the Houston Education Association and third grade teacher. The attorneys' arguments showed that questions went beyond the individual case, such as whether a teacher can deviate from the curriculum, including when they believe it is necessary to accommodate student needs. The board's decision goes against a February recommendation from a state-appointed independent hearing examiner, who found that Williams was wrongfully terminated after a two-day hearing.

The examiner decided HISD "did not provide a preponderance of credible, admissible evidence" and therefore "has not established any of the reasons for the proposed termination" with enough evidence. But Wednesday night, HISD submitted a brief to the board, asking members to approve a modified recommendation that would reverse the examiner's recommendation to mean there was sufficient evidence to fire Williams, said Williams' attorney, Giana Ortiz. She questioned how the board could make that change after the independent examiner found no wrongdoing. "We're going to be exploring that and really diving into what they've asked," Ortiz said. "Because we just got it last night. And so we've not had a chance to fully digest it, nor has the board." HISD's outside attorney, Ellen Spalding, said Williams' case was about whether a teacher can opt not to use HISD's instructional model. Spalding pointed out that Benbrook's accountability rating dropped, requiring the adoption of the district's curriculum.

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Austin ISD is under state investigation for celebrating Pride Week

The Texas Education Agency launched an investigation into the Austin Independent School District for celebrating its annual Pride Week. A TEA spokesperson confirmed with KUT News the state has opened an investigation, but declined to comment since “the matter remains ongoing.” The investigation comes after conservative State Board of Education member Brandon Hall, from the Fort Worth area, raised concerns in March about AISD breaking the law and working to "indoctrinate" students by celebrating Pride Week. “It's time to defund AISD and criminally investigate Superintendent Matias Segura,” Hall said in a social media post.

During an interview with the conservative nonprofit Texas Values, Hall said taxpayers in his district were concerned about state funding going into a district where “instead of focusing on education they are focusing on gender identity and celebrating pride and things like that.” “[If] we don’t stop it in Austin ISD, we are going to see more of this across the state,” Hall said. “We need to make a statement and set an example. We will not put up with you breaking the law.” Hall stated that AISD was not complying with Senate Bill 12. The law passed in 2025 and prohibits “diversity, equity and inclusion duties,” including activities that reference gender or sexual orientation, at K-12 public schools. The law also bans the creation of clubs based on gender identity or sexual orientation. AISD held Pride Week from March 23 to 27 with the theme “beYOUtiful.” Students’ participation was voluntary, and activities took place outside instructional time, including before or after school or during lunch.

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Texas Capital beats earnings, gives shareholders dividend

Texas Capital Bancshares is entering a new era, rung in with a new leadership structure and the company’s first ever quarterly common stock dividend. The Dallas-based firm, whose subsidiary Texas Capital Bank is one of the largest banks headquartered in the Lone Star State, announced its first-quarter earnings Thursday, beating expectations. Texas Capital also announced a slate of leadership appointments to facilitate the company’s next phase of growth, having completed its years-long transition into a full-service financial institution.

“Success going forward requires us to move from a transformation-focused structure to one engineered for speed of decision making, commercial agility and frontline empowerment,” said Texas Capital Chairman, President & CEO Rob C. Holmes in a release. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.58 in the first three months of 2026, a year-over-year increase of about 70% and better than consensus estimates of $1.41, per S&P Global Market Intelligence. Quarterly revenue, coming in at $324 million, also exceeded estimates. The company recently underwent a transformation into a full-service financial institution, marked by hitting a series of quantitative and qualitative goals it set for itself in 2021 in late 2025. In a vote of confidence in its future, Texas Capital is initiating a quarterly common stock dividend of $0.20 a share, the first such dividend in Texas Capital history.

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Former detainees report water price-gouging at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center

Amanda Aguilar is a staff attorney at American Gateways in San Antonio. She represents multiple families detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center and said her clients claim the tap water there is foul. “The water that they have smells like bleach and it’s not really drinkable," said Aguilar. “So, for them to have water that they can drink, they have to pay $3 per bottle of water. Or $39 for a 12-pack of water." Aguilar said one thing that's consistent between all of her clients, whether they were detained out of San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, or another check-in office, is that they were all concerned about the water situation. She said it was causing stomach issues for many of them, emphasizing that people who have medical conditions are much worse off than healthier detainees, considering the lack of available medical care at the facility.

One of Aguilar's clients spent more than $ 900 in 20 days on water, food, and phone calls. All of a detained person's cash is put into a commissary, and direct access to their bank account is cut off, so they have to depend on friends and family to receive money they need while in detention. Aguilar files habeas corpus petitions and is challenging the legality of initial detention and adequacy of conditions for children at Dilley. She says the only thing they can do right now is sue ICE. "I plan to keep suing them, and hopefully just keep educating people on what's going on there so we can have humanity and dignity for all families," said Aguilar. In a February 2026 news release from ICE, titled "Debunking the mainstream media lies about South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas," ICE Director Todd M. Lyons states that detainees receive "medical care, educational services, recreational opportunities and essential daily living needs." Federal contractor Core Civic operates Dilley. Their website states that the facility gets the same clean?drinking water supplied to the town. Dilley’s water department hasn’t released a water quality report since 2024.

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Kalshi fines Texas congressional candidate for betting on his own race

A Republican congressional candidate in Texas placed a bet on the May 3 primary on an online prediction market platform. Ezekiel Enriquez came in 10th place, and now faces a more than $700 fine. Kalshi, a federally regulated exchange service that lets users wager on the outcome of real-world events, said in a public filing with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission that the Congressional District 21 hopeful risked "less than $100 worth of contracts related to his own candidacy" during the run up to the primary. Under its guidelines, no one who has a stake or "any influence, directly or indirectly," in the outcome may enter into a trade.

The filing said Enriquez cooperated with the company's disciplinary panel and agreed to pay a $748.20 fine. He may not use the platform for five years. Enriquez, a Marine Corps veteran who sought to align himself with the policies of President Donald Trump during his campaign, did not dispute Kalshi's account of the matter, but declined to comment further. He was one of three candidates nationwide named by Kalshi who had placed wagers on their own races. Former Major League Baseball player Mark Teixera won the Distrct 21 Republican primary and will face Democrat Kristin Hook, a biological scientist, in November. The Republican-leaning district touches nine counties across the Texas Hill Country, including Bexar and Hays, and covers Fredericksburg and Kerrville. In San Antonio, it includes Castle Hills, Alamo Heights and Terrell Heights, and a small portion of South Austin in Travis County.

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Texas leads the nation in utility shut-offs, federal report finds

Texas leads the nation in utilities shutting off electricity and natural gas services to customers who can’t afford their energy bills, according to a first-of-its-kind report released recently by the federal government. The report, prepared by the Energy Department’s data wing, reflects how difficult it has become for many Texas residents to make ends meet as utility bills and other costs have risen over the last several years. Without intervention, Texas’ utility shut-off problem could worsen, especially since the state’s residential electricity rates are expected to keep climbing in the coming years, said Margo Weisz, director of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute. “We're seeing a problem that is out of control,” Weisz said. “When you look at what's happening to our rates, and you pair it to (the fact) we’re already No. 1 in shut-offs, it's kind of terrifying, actually.”

The Energy Department report was based on data collected in 2024, before electricity costs spiked last year and became a hot-button political issue. Even so, it found that utilities across the country shut off power to households more than 13.4 million times that year. More than 3 million of those shut-offs — by far the highest number of any state — were recorded in Texas. In fact, only one other state reported a six-figure disconnection statistic: Florida, where utilities shut off power nearly 2.2 million times in 2024. As for natural gas, utilities shut off this service nearly 1.7 million times nationwide, according to the Energy Department report. Texas accounted for 200,000 of those disconnections, once again the highest of any state. The high number of utility shut-offs can’t just be attributed to the fact that Texas is the second-most populous state. The Lone Star State has one of the highest rates of electricity disconnection — second only to Oklahoma, according to the Energy Department data. Texas is also in the top third of natural gas shut-off rates nationwide.

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American Air explores Alaska Air revenue-sharing deal

American Airlines Group Inc. and Alaska Air Group Inc. are pursuing potential revenue-sharing agreements and other strategic partnerships, people familiar with the matter said, in a push for scale as the US carriers grapple with higher costs and fierce competition. The idea of a merger was raised as part of the talks around a stronger partnership, but did not get off the ground, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is confidential. The discussions include adding Alaska into American’s existing joint business arrangements, principally its transatlantic partnership with IAG SA’s British Airways, as well as its Pacific joint business with Japan Airlines, the people said.

“As we go forward, we’ll make sure that anything that we do complies with our scope clauses,” Chief Executive Officer Robert Isom said on a Thursday call with analysts. “I feel good about where our relationship is and what happens next.” Alaska Air said it doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation. Such partnership agreements allow airlines to coordinate schedules and pricing on certain routes and share revenue on those flights once approved by the US Department of Transportation. Expanding those arrangements could give American greater reach on the US West Coast and strengthen connectivity through Alaska’s Seattle hub, while providing the smaller carrier with deeper access to lucrative long-haul markets as it pushes global growth.

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Teen charged in conspiracy to attack Texas synagogue and 'kill as many Jews as possible': Prosecutors

An 18-year-old woman was being held on a $10 million bond on Thursday after authorities alleged she conspired with two men to attack a Texas synagogue and "kill as many Jews as possible," according to court records. The suspect, Angelina Han Hicks of Lexington, North Carolina, was charged with felony conspiracy to commit murder and felony conspiracy to commit assault with a deadly weapon, according to court documents She allegedly plotted with two men to attack the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Houston, Texas, according to court records.

"The conspiracy is to kill as many jews as possible by driving through a congregation at the synagogue," North Carolina prosecutors alleged in the court documents. Hicks was arrested on Wednesday in North Carolina and made her first court appearance later that day in Davidson County District Court in Lexington. Two men, only identified as "Angel" and "Teegan," allegedly plotted with Hicks to commit the attack in 2028. The two co-conspirators, according to the court records, have not been arrested and remain unidentified. A Davidson County judge set Hicks' bond at $10 million, noting the two co-conspirators remain at large. "Allowing a co-conspirator a chance to communicate with either of those individuals or those who could relay a message puts lives at risk," the judge wrote in his court order, according to the court documents.

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Bud Kennedy: Why are Texas, Tarrant officials sponsoring extremist group’s banquet?

Nearly 60 Texas and local elected officials, including 22 judges, helped pay for a recent banquet for a Grapevine-based patriot-movement group that promotes white Christians as superior and says conservative Christianity should be the law of the land. Nine state and Tarrant County officials, including County Judge Tim O’Hare of Southlake, Commissioner Matt Krause of Keller and District Clerk Tom Wilder of Bedford, paid from $1,000 to $10,000 to sponsor tables at the event for the True Texas Project. The group virulently campaigns against American Muslims and Islam and has for years supported Christian rule and opposed immigration and “foreign people.” Only two years ago, some Republican Party officials denounced the group and pulled out of a conference in Fort Worth.

Speakers that day warned of a “war on white America” and called for forced “top-down” government under biblical “natural law.” The sponsorships of the recent event indicate how Texas and Tarrant County Republicans have changed under a new administration. Republican state attorney general candidate Mayes Middleton of Galveston was listed in the program as a $2,500 table sponsor for the banquet April 18 at the River Ranch events center in Fort Worth. Other $2,500 sponsors included state Rep. David Cook, R-Mansfield; Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, who represents far north Fort Worth in Denton County; and elected local District Judge Andy Porter. O’Hare, Krause and Wilder are listed as $1,000 table sponsors, along with Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, R-Center, and Texas House candidate Cheryl Bean of Fort Worth.

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‘Work ahead of us’: New Lake Worth ISD leader shares goals for improvement

Lake Worth ISD’s state-appointed Superintendent Ena Meyers promised to partner with parents, improve community engagement and focus on literacy and math as she steps into the role this week and attempts to turn the struggling district around. Meyers addressed the media hours after the Texas Education Agency announced her as Lake Worth’s next leader, alongside a new five-person Board of Managers to replace the former elected school board. Meyers said her focus right now is making sure teachers know how to teach and keep kids engaged.

“We want to look at curriculum,” Meyers said. “What is in front of our students, and what are they learning? And is that aligned to the work that we have to do, the work that is ahead of them? And do our teachers feel supported and able to deliver high quality instructions?” Meyers, who most recently served as deputy chief of strategic initiatives at Houston ISD, also acknowledged that there are numerous parents who believe that state intervention was not the correct course of action for Lake Worth. But Meyers vowed that she will come in and do everything she can to guide the district toward improvement. “I am here to partner with you in the education of our students and our community to improve student outcomes,” Meyers said. “So we want to make sure we are reaching achievement levels for literacy and math.” Lake Worth schools struggled mightily prior to the state takeover. TEA data shows that schools in the district, which has about 3,300 total students, only have 22% of students currently meeting grade level on the most recent STAAR exams across all grades and subjects.

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County Stories

Former Liberty Co. housing official arrested again after being indicted on new charge, records show

A former Liberty County housing official was arrested again Wednesday after being indicted on a new charge related to misuse of public money. Klint Bush was released from the Liberty County Jail on a personal recognizance bond after being booked on a misappropriation charge stemming from his time as chairman of the Liberty County Housing Authority. Records show a grand jury indicted him on the latest charge on April 15.

He was already facing charges of theft and abuse of official capacity filed in 2023. At the time, prosecutors said he directed $33,000 of CARES Act funds to fictitious businesses. The latest indictment details 14 transactions totaling more than $163,000. Several involve five-figure checks to an entity called Liberty County Housing Dev Corporation, whose bank account, the indictment alleges, Bush withdrew money from. Prosecutors also flagged an almost $12,000 check from the Housing Authority to Liberty Technologies and a more than $16,000 check to an entity called County Healthcare.

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National Stories

Karl Rove: Democrats in peril, from Barcelona to Boise

The Republican Party faces problems. The Democratic Party is a mess, too. In September 2018, before Democrats flipped 42 House seats, Gallup found that 44% of Americans approved of the Democratic Party while 52% disapproved. Today, the RealClearPolitics average says 36% approve of the Democratic Party while 56% disapprove. For Republicans, 39% approve and 54% disapprove, while President Trump’s numbers are 41% approve, 56% disapprove. Why are Democrats less popular than Republicans and Mr. Trump? The answer was on display Saturday at the Global Progressive Mobilization conference in Barcelona. The confab of leftists from across the world featured speeches by Gov. Tim Walz (D., Minn.) and Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.). American politicians used to feel restrained in criticizing the U.S. president even if he was from the other party. No longer. Mr. Walz called Mr. Trump “feeble-minded” and “trigger-happy” and described the Iran war as “fascism.” Mr. Murphy called the president “the most significant threat to American democracy since the Civil War.”

Those remarks undoubtedly pleased the socialists and progressives at the conference. But they won’t add a vote to the Democratic column. The more the party’s messaging follows the Walz-Murphy line, the less attractive its candidates appear. Anyone who thinks Mr. Trump is a Nazi is already voting Democratic—or leaving the country. If that were a winning message, the party’s approval rating would be more than 36%. Some Democratic leaders understand their party is unpopular, especially in right-leaning areas. So they’re trying different tactics. In four heavily Republican states, Democrats are running “independent” candidates for the U.S. Senate. If the independents win, they’ll caucus with the Democrats like Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine have done. In Nebraska, the state Democratic chairman, Jane Kleeb, is working to keep any Democratic candidate off the fall ballot, and some Republicans allege she is trying to stop the state’s Legal Marijuana NOW Party from running a candidate who would split the non-Republican vote. Her aim is to elect independent Dan Osborn, a leftie who came within 7 points of beating Republican Sen. Deb Fischer two years ago. He’d clearly caucus with Senate Democrats. His chances of winning are probably less than they were in the spring of 2024. Sen. Pete Ricketts won’t be caught off-guard.

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U.S. soldier involved in Maduro raid accused of betting on the operation

A U.S. special forces soldier who participated in the U.S. raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was arrested and charged for using classified information to bet on the ouster via the prediction market company Polymarket. The Department of Justice announced Thursday that Gannon Ken Van Dyke faces several charges for using insider information gleaned from his participation in “Operation Absolute Resolve.” These charges include unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction.

“Our men and women in uniform are trusted with classified information in order to accomplish their mission as safely and effectively as possible, and are prohibited from using this highly sensitive information for personal financial gain,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in the announcement. “Widespread access to prediction markets is a relatively new phenomenon, but federal laws protecting national security information fully apply.” Prosecutors alleged that Van Dyke used information about the operation to make timely bets on Polymarket that netted him upwards of $400,000 — specifically that Maduro would lose power by the end of January. Maduro was captured on Jan. 3. The DOJ announcement alleges that Van Dyke tried to cover his tracks by sending most of his earnings to a foreign cryptocurrency account before depositing it into a newly created online brokerage. He also tried to delete his PolyMarket page by claiming he lost access to his email account.

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Up, or down? War scrambles financial markets' signalling efforts

The traditional global asset correlations that collapsed when the war in the Middle East erupted remain broken, leaving investors to piece together strategies to trade the road to resolution with a faulty instrument panel. Record highs for Wall Street stocks belie concerns about fraught ?geopolitics, how long energy supplies might be disrupted for and long-term economic damage. BMO chief FX strategist Mark McCormick reckons the next three to six months will not ?resemble the "pre-conflict normal". "The growth factor is recovering, but remains below late-2025 levels, the rates (monetary policy) factor remains elevated, correlations are shifting, and drawdown risk is rising. Something new is forming," he said in a note. Here's a look at the disruption to classic correlations in stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities that have traditionally provided a steer on economic trends.

Stocks and bond yields usually move together, as investors tend to hedge economic growth worries, which hit ?stocks, by buying bonds, sending yields lower and vice versa. That relationship has been more erratic since the pandemic, as higher inflation and government debt undermine the ability of bonds to ?act as a hedge against equity risk. The International Monetary Fund, in a pre-war blog in February, warned that investors and policymakers must rethink risk management for "a new ?era" where traditional hedges fail. Two-year bonds, sensitive to inflation and interest rate expectations, have been in the eye of the storm. The one-month rolling correlation between two-year Treasury yields and the S&P 500 has ?collapsed to around -0.8 from an average of 0.23 over the last five years. Since the war started, that metric is at -0.63. A near-identical pattern emerges for two-year German yields and European stocks. "There definitely wasn't ?a move into sovereign fixed income in March, which, at least at the front end, you might have expected," said State Street head of macro strategy Michael Metcalfe. "This was a hard test for fixed income, because it was an inflation shock and also potentially a growth shock, which doesn't help the long-term fiscal concerns."

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What the Trump administration's move to reclassify marijuana means for investors

The Trump administration on Thursday moved to reclassify marijuana under federal law. In a release, the Department of Justice said it will immediately move FDA-approved marijuana products, along with items regulated by a state medical marijuana license, to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, a demotion from its current Schedule I status. That puts medical cannabis in the company of regulated drugs with recognized medical uses, such as Tylenol with codeine and testosterone, rather than Schedule I drugs, such as heroin, which are considered to have no medical use and high potential for abuse. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will evaluate whether to extend Schedule III status to cannabis broadly — not just to medical marijuana — in a hearing scheduled for June 29.

The changes haven’t and will not legalize the drug at the federal level. But for an industry that has historically feared executive authority could deal a major blow to the drug’s legality, the moves are a step in the opposite direction, says Ben Kovler, founder and CEO of cannabis firm Green Thumb Industries. “Since Nixon’s Controlled Substances Act 50-plus years ago, this is the first major step towards opening up the product that’ll make it much more investable,” he says. In the near term, Kovler says, the move could remove what amounts to a huge tax burden on cannabis firms. Over the long-term, continued progress could see pot firms embraced by major banks and brokerages, he says. For now, though, the industry still faces major obstacles that retail investors should be aware of before putting money into pot stocks, says Gerald Pascarelli, a consumer equity analyst at investment firm Needham & Company. “It’s important to note that this industry still has its fair share of challenges,” he says. “For most people interested in this space, stock price movements over the near term are going to be largely dictated by optimism or pessimism around regulatory reform.”

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The for-profit education company scooping up millions of welfare dollars

John Alvendia’s for-profit education company seemed to have flopped in West Virginia. The four public school districts that were testing his Star Academy program, which promises to turn around the performance of struggling middle-school students, had stopped using it. One school reported worsening behavior and less improvement in English and math for Star Academy students than for other kids. That didn’t stop West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey from sending more business to Alvendia, who earlier had donated nearly $42,000 to his campaign and affiliated political committees. In January, the Republican governor announced plans to tap the state’s unspent funds from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare program, called TANF, to expand Star Academy. The deal would pay Alvendia’s New Orleans-based company, NOLA Education, as much as $16 million to put the program in 16 other schools.

Elected officials from both parties have steered millions of taxpayer dollars to no-bid contracts for the Star Academy program in several states, records show. Some school districts and state officials have expressed misgivings about the program’s cost and effectiveness. Wall Street Journal interviews with local officials and an examination of school performance data show Alvendia and his company have overstated its results in some of those places, including claims it freed an Arkansas school district from state oversight and boosted a Chicago area school’s graduation rate by 65 percentage points. NOLA Education said since 2018 it has operated in more than 150 sites, which typically pay $1 million for the program. It is one of many for-profit companies that have carved out businesses vowing to help turn around troubled public schools, often by tapping public money. “We’ve got a lot of kids out there that are in very high-poverty areas with no hope,” Alvendia said in an interview. “And we’re bringing hope to these kids.” He said his company’s own data on the schools where Star Academy operates shows his program works.

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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are learning to love AI

Sen. Angus King was in the middle of a hearing this week with U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright when he pulled out his phone to consult with Claude, an artificial intelligence chatbot that has surged in popularity in the United States recently. King wanted details about wind and solar energy capacity before he pressed Wright on the Trump administration’s decision to cancel renewable energy projects around the country, and Claude, built by the company Anthropic, instantly delivered. “You have to be careful with it, particularly when it’s talking about analysis. But for data, it’s very useful,” the independent senator, who caucuses with Democrats, told NOTUS. “I use it all the time.” King isn’t the only AI-curious member on Capitol Hill, though at age 82, he’s certainly one of the oldest.

Many Democrats are warming to AI in a personal and professional capacity despite deep concerns in their party about its impact on job security, the environment, human relationships and society writ large. Progressive critics of the industry, for example, have called for major regulations cracking down on AI and gone on the attack against construction of massive energy-hogging data centers used to power it. In interviews on Capitol Hill this week, over a dozen Democratic senators described how they are actively experimenting with AI chatbots, most commonly Claude, in their daily lives and for help with official duties. Some rely on them in a casual way, using AI as a souped-up search engine to do research, draft memos and speeches, organize their schedule, and even plan their family vacations. Others have relied on AI for more complicated tasks. Sen. Adam Schiff used it to draft a living trust for him and his wife. Sen. Brian Schatz used it to analyze the many nonprofit grant funding requests he reviews as part of his job on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Mark Kelly went so far as to use Claude to try to build his own stand-alone applications, which is perhaps not that surprising for a former astronaut.

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Trump’s dreams for a battleship led to his Navy Secretary’s ouster

President Trump wanted one thing, more than anything else, from his secretary of the Navy, John Phelan: a new class of battleships. “They’ll be the fastest, the biggest and by far — 100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built,” Mr. Trump boasted at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate and resort in Florida a few days before Christmas. Mr. Phelan, a billionaire investor who has a home near the club, stood next to the president as he made the announcement. Mr. Phelan’s job was to deliver the first of Mr. Trump’s battleships by 2028. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump fired Mr. Phelan, who had struggled to come up with a plan to deliver the ships on the nearly impossible timeline that Mr. Trump has demanded, senior defense and administration officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters.

Mr. Phelan is the first service secretary to be forced from the Defense Department during this administration, though he is far from the only senior Pentagon official to be dismissed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired or sidelined more than two dozen generals and admirals over the past year, including the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, earlier this month. Mr. Hegseth has also butted heads with the secretary of the Army, Daniel P. Driscoll, over promotions and a host of other issues. The churn of senior Pentagon officials at a time when the U.S. military is engaged in war with Iran has alarmed top Republican and Democratic members of Congress. The Pentagon did not respond to questions regarding the circumstances surrounding Mr. Phelan’s dismissal. Mr. Phelan could not immediately be reached for comment. The breaking point for Mr. Phelan, who often said that he and Mr. Trump texted and talked on the phone regularly, came in the last two weeks as the president’s frustration over Mr. Phelan’s management of his prized battleship program grew and Mr. Phelan’s enemies in the Pentagon, including Mr. Hegseth and Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A. Feinberg, mounted a campaign to force him out.

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Teen killed, 5 wounded in Mall of Louisiana shooting

Six people were wounded and one of them, a 17-year-old, died after gunfire rang out in the food court area of the Mall of Louisiana on Bluebonnet Boulevard in Baton Rouge about 1:22 p.m. Thursday. Signi Dreyer, who works at the carousel inside the mall, said she was cleaning when she heard gunshots and saw a gunman “turning in circles and shooting.” She said it appeared the person was “shooting randomly.” “I heard a loud bang and then another loud bang,” Dreyer said. “At first, I thought someone was shooting fireworks in the food court. I turned around, and I saw people dropping to the ground, and I immediately saw the gun.”

Police said the gunfire was the result of a confrontation between two groups and not a random shooting. Within hours, authorities announced five suspects were in custody, including one arrested in Livingston Parish. Sheriff Jason Ard with the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office said investigators cannot confirm the person detained earlier in Watson, now identified as Marcus Washington, 18, was involved in the shooting. Ard said Washington was arrested and booked into the Livingston Parish Detention Center after investigators found him in possession of Schedule II narcotics and a firearm. Ard also added that the investigation remains ongoing and questions about the mall shooting should be directed to the Baton Rouge Police Department. Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse said all six victims appear to have been innocent bystanders and not part of the confrontation. “The incident that transpired today is completely unacceptable,” Morse said.

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Lead Stories

Houston City Council revises HPD-ICE policy change after threat from Texas governor

In a 13-4 vote on Wednesday, the Houston City Council revised a measure intended to limit the police department's coordination with federal immigration enforcement. Only two weeks earlier, the city council approved an ordinance prohibiting officers from detaining people or prolonging traffic stops due to civil immigration warrants issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office threatened to revoke about $114 million in public safety grants unless Mayor John Whitmire reversed the measure. Attorney General Ken Paxton also launched a lawsuit seeking to stop the ordinance. Whitmire said the city faced a "crisis situation" as the potential loss of funding would affect a wide range of initiatives, including police overtime.

“We have no alternative for Houston to survive, prepare for FIFA, patrol these neighborhoods, deal with sound ordinances … across this great city,” Whitmire said. Under the revision, City Attorney Arturo Michel said, police officers will still be expected to not detain people or prolong traffic stops solely due to civil immigration warrants. Officers should "comply with the Fourth Amendment," Michel told Houston Public Media. "A person can be detained for the time needed to conduct the state law criminal investigation. So, in that sense, the original ordinance — that purpose remains the same." On Wednesday, Whitmire framed the revision as necessary to maintain a working relationship with the state government. Before the meeting, his office passed out papers to city council members outlining the more than $260 million in appropriations from the Texas Legislature to Houston in 2025. He said the change “reinforces the Fourth Amendment and protects our funding.” "Austin is listening," Whitmire said. "Austin is watching."

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The Congressional GOP’s $153 mil fall ad blitz includes $14 mil in South Texas

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Speaker Mike Johnson-aligned super PAC, is booking $153 million-plus in its first wave of fall ad buys, a massive investment as House Republicans seek to save their endangered majority. This is CLF’s largest-ever initial reservation. It will span 38 media markets across broadcast, cable, streaming and digital. The planned reservations sketch out a roadmap of how top House Republicans see the House battleground with 194 days to go until Election Day. Which incumbents need the most protection? Which Democratic targets are the easiest to knock out? The biggest spends: $13.9 million in South Texas; $20.4 million in Michigan; $18.6 million in New York City; and $12.6 million in Central California.

These early reservations lock in lower rates before the airwaves get crowded with candidates, committees and other advertisers. They’re also subject to change. CLF will make additional rounds of ad buys as more seats come into play and will likely slash some from this first round. “This initial reserve reflects the reality that this cycle, again, will be fought on a narrow map,” CLF President Chris Winkelman said. We estimate the CLF buys cover roughly 30 districts. Let’s run through them. Offense. A whopping $11.9 million is reserved across two markets that cover the Texas 34th District of Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez. Gonzalez’s Gulf Coast seat got tougher for him following GOP-controlled redistricting last year. — Another $2 million is slotted in Laredo, Texas, home of Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, another top GOP target. House Majority PAC, the Democratic super PAC, is reserving a whopping $272 million in ads, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning. Roughly 80% of HMP’s buy is offensive, the WSJ reported. One big takeaway. The list of GOP reservations is roughly evenly split between offensive and defensive, with a tad more defense. In some places, it’s hard to know exactly which members the buys are intended to target. The New York City media market, for example, covers the districts of Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.), Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Nellie Pou (D-N.J.). In others, it’s easy to see what’s happening. The $2.9 million set aside for Harrisburg, Pa., can only be for Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.).

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More than 42,600 students with a disability, including their siblings, accepted into Texas Education Freedom Account program

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts announced every single student in the top priority tier who applied to be in the state’s new education savings account will be awarded money for the next school year. The top priority tier includes children who have a qualifying disability and live in a household with an income level at or below 500% of the federal poverty level. The program rules allow the siblings of students who were accepted into the program to also be looped in. The Comptroller’s office said the number of children in the top priority tier, including their siblings, totaled 42,644. All of those children will be notified this week that they will be awarded money in the Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) program. The program provides public dollars to families to help offset the costs of sending kids to private school or home schooling services.

The state legislature allocated $1 billion for the program’s first year. Students with a disability can each receive up to $30,000 per year in the program. Other students going to private school will receive $10,474 for the upcoming school year, and students who will be homeschooled are eligible to receive $2,000 a year. “School choice funds being distributed to Texas families paves the way for Texas to become the No. 1 state for education,” said Governor Greg Abbott in a news release. “These accounts will give parents the freedom to choose the best learning environment for their children, regardless of their income or location.” There are still additional slots open in the TEFA program for the next school year. The Comptroller’s office will now move on to applicants in the next priority tier which include students in a household with an annual income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. However, there are more applicants in the second priority tier than available dollars in the program. That means the Comptroller’s office, along with an independent agency, will conduct a lottery next week to see who will be awarded the remaining dollars. The lottery will also assign waitlist numbers for the remaining applicants who did not get a spot in the program.

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Senate GOP rams through blueprint to bankroll ICE, Border Patrol through end of Trump era

Senate Republicans pushed their immigration funding plan forward early Thursday, adopting a budget blueprint after an all-night vote series that sets up billions for ICE and Border Patrol while sidelining Democrats. Senate Republicans adopted their budget resolution, which tees up funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, and effectively cuts congressional Democrats out of the process entirely. It’s the first major step toward unlocking the budget reconciliation process, which Republicans are diving into once again after Democrats refused to fund ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without stringent reforms. Despite Republicans largely being on the same page on the approach, Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against the budget blueprint.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., panned Republicans for moving to spend billions in taxpayer dollars rather than addressing rising costs. "America is crying out for relief from high costs, and you're here adding $140 billion to an agency that nobody — two groups — Border Patrol and ICE, that nobody respects in this country," Schumer said. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., countered that ICE and Border Patrol agents weren't the problem, "Democrats are." "Today’s Democrats are a rogue and radical party," Barrasso said. "You deserve better than reckless Democrat hostage-taking. You deserve the tools and support from Congress necessary to carry out the mission Congress has given you. Our country depends on you."

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State Stories

Texas Democratic Party chair responds to calls for him to step aside

Kendall Scudder is undaunted by calls for him to step aside and let someone else take the helm of the Texas Democratic Party — so much so that he’s already filed for reelection and said he’s looking forward to continuing the work he’s done in his first year. “In just a year, we’ve created financial solvency for the state party, we’ve recruited a Democrat for every state and federal office in Texas, we flipped a seat in the Texas Senate, we outvoted Republicans in the primary,” he told Capital Tonight. “Democrats need to be focused right now on the prize at hand, and that’s November.” Scudder, who was elected chairman last March, came under fire Friday after dozens of Texas Democrats accused him of managing the party poorly and creating a “hostile work environment.” In the letter signed by a congressional candidate and former party staffers, the group asked Scudder to step aside and let someone else lead the party.

On Monday, an opposing letter with nearly 800 initial signatures backed Scudder, saying a change in direction could undermine the progress the party had made during his tenure, including a $30 million commitment to fund Democratic campaigns in this year’s midterms. That letter, signed by state lawmakers and members of the party’s executive committee, also said more time was needed to assess Scudder’s stewardship of the party. Scudder said the letter calling for his dismissal came from “disgruntled former staffers” who did not like the changes he was implementing. He said a vast majority of party members, donors and stakeholders across the state agreed with him. “I’m sorry that 24 people feel that way,” he said, noting that several of the signatories were anonymous. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of people around the state that are ready to move in a new direction.” Scudder’s detractors said the state party was not prepared to help voters in Dallas and Williamson counties during the March primaries after Republicans forced those municipalities to use precinct voting on Election Day, causing mass confusion and leading hundreds to be turned away from the polls.

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‘Stop threatening to defund our police’: Dallas leaders push back on Abbott’s threats

Dallas leaders gathered Wednesday morning to push back on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s threat to withhold public safety funding over city policies governing police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. On April 16, Abbott’s office sent letters to officials in Dallas and Austin saying the cities may not receive millions in state and federal funding if they do not repeal policies governing local police departments’ role in immigration enforcement. Houston received a similar letter earlier in the week, in which Abbott’s office threatened to withhold $110 million in public safety funding if a recent city council-approved ordinance restricting officers’ cooperation with federal immigration agents is not repealed.

Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux has said DPD officers will not conduct immigration investigations and told the Community Police Oversight Board in October that he had refused a $25 million partnership with ICE to detain undocumented Dallasites. City council members affirmed that decision at a contentious November meeting that hosted over 70 public speakers. One of the press conference’s first speakers, Democratic state Rep. Rafael Anchía, opened his remarks with a message for Abbott. “First thing I want to say is something directly to Gov. Greg Abbott: stop playing politics with the public safety of the people of Dallas,” Anchía said. “Also, stop threatening to defund our police, and that is really the main message here today.” The letter to Dallas threatens $32.1 million in state funding and also said the city may “imperil” over $50 million in federal public safety grants for the World Cup this summer if it does not change its policies. “The governor is characterizing DPD’s local policy as interference with immigration enforcement, but that characterization is false. General Order 315.04 is a commonsense measure that provides clear guidance on stops, detentions and arrests,” Democratic state Rep. Venton Jones said. “It does not violate state law, it does not prohibit cooperation with federal authorities. What it does do is that it protects constitutional rights, it builds community trust and it reduces liability.”

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‘Unusual’ appointments put GOP candidates in high-profile positions in Fort Bend County

Two Republican nominees for elected offices have been placed in high-ranking interim roles in Fort Bend County. Trever Nehls, the GOP nominee for Texas’ 22nd Congressional District — a seat currently held by his twin brother, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls — was recently named chief of staff for interim Fort Bend County Judge Daniel Wong. Wong was appointed earlier this month by a Republican district court judge who ordered that embattled County Judge KP George, who was convicted of felony money laundering last month, be removed from office in response to a civil lawsuit filed by a resident. Both Wong and Trever Nehls will be on the general election ballot in November, with Wong seeking the county judge position on a full-time basis.

Craig Goodman, an associate professor of political science at Texas A&M University-Victoria, called the two appointments “unusual.” "To see someone who's seeking a congressional seat and having to introduce himself to a bunch of voters, decide to take on this responsibility working for an interim county judge, it's definitely not something I've ever seen before," Goodman said. Nehls, a former Fort Bend County constable, is looking to succeed his identical twin brother, Troy Nehls, as the next representative of Texas' 22nd Congressional District, centered in Fort Bend and Brazoria counties. The heavily Republican district also includes parts of Harris, Matagorda and Wharton counties. Trever Nehls called his appointment as Wong’s chief of staff an honor. "My focus will be on ensuring that the judge's vision is carried out effectively across the county government," Nehls said in a statement, "with a commitment to professionalism, coordination and results that benefit the community."

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Court: Adrian Garcia to remain in office despite illegal appointment

resilience board was illegal, but he won’t be forced to resign from Commissioners Court, an appeals court ruled April 16. The decision came after Mark Goloby and Richard Vega, the Republican nominee facing Garcia in November, sued Harris County in August 2024 alleging Garcia's 2021 appointment to the Gulf Coast Protection District constituted a "conflicting loyalty," and should by law trigger an automatic resignation from Commissioners Court. Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne argued in court that Garcia’s appointment was illegal to begin with and therefore void from the start.

The First Court of Appeals agreed, ruling the move violated a “common law incompatibility” prohibiting officials from appointing themselves to other offices. Therefore, Garcia’s appointment was ”void and did not affect his resignation as a county commissioner,” according to the court’s opinion. Vega said in a statement that he plans to appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court. “Our legal team is examining this matter at the highest level of the state judiciary, and we intend to continue forward with this process because we believe strongly that we have a legitimate case on behalf of the people of Harris County,” he said. A spokesperson for Garcia's campaign said the lawsuit was nothing more than an attempt to overrule the will of Precinct 2 voters. "Republicans have tried for years to unseat Commissioner Adrian Garcia," Grant Martin said. "After losing again and again at the ballot box, they’re now wasting taxpayer dollars by filing frivolous lawsuits. Voters know and trust Commissioner Garcia's steady, responsible leadership – and they will continue to keep him in office."

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Deputy Chief of Staff Pat Wallace exits Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ office

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has parted ways with her deputy chief of staff, Pat Wallace. Wallace was previously the longtime chief of staff for former Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8), who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2025. She was also the mayor’s most seasoned City Hall navigator in an office that’s experienced much turnover. Wallace worked in Jones’ office for about seven months, and alerted colleagues Wednesday afternoon that she’s leaving May 1. “I’m thankful for Pat’s contributions while on my team and for her many years of service to the City of San Antonio,” Jones said in a statement. “Her willingness to mentor young staffers was invaluable, and she played a critical role in ensuring appointments to boards and commissions reflected the diversity and depth of talent and lived experiences in our city.”

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As contract negotiations drag on, Texas Starbucks workers have learned the power of organizing

Victoria Hernandez, 23, was brought into work at the Blanco Road San Antonio Starbucks location in August 2025. She’d begun working for the company at 17, while still in high school, dutifully weathering the often thankless rush of caffeine-seeking customers for just $10 an hour—even throughout COVID. Soon, Hernandez was helping the $115-billion company open up new stores and train employees. Since December 2021, Starbucks workers began unionizing nationwide—demanding an end to understaffing, pay raises, and an end to union-busting practices—but the stores she worked at hadn’t joined in the organizing wave. Using common union-busting tactics, managers had told her that union workers would get less benefits and were “just trying to stir up trouble.” She said management thought she could help tamp down organizing at the Blanco Road location.

Things didn’t go that way. Less than three months later, in mid-November, Hernandez was leading her coworkers in a strike at the store as part of a national “Red Cup Rebellion” after negotiations between Starbucks Workers United and the company broke down. “I made connections with my other coworkers … and it made me realize this is actually empowering and unifies us,” Hernandez said. “I was very excited for the opportunity to show that you can exercise your right and it should be normal to organize your workplace and show your strength as a worker.” In Texas, workers at 29 Starbucks stores have unionized since June 2022. Nationally, that figure stands at 582, out of nearly 17,000 nationwide, according to a spokesperson at Starbucks Workers United. It’s the fastest-growing union campaign in modern history, part of an organizing wave that’s recently halted organized labor’s statistical decline nationwide and even, in Texas, reversed the downward trend. But forming a union is just the first step in using federal labor law to improve working conditions, and the next step—collective bargaining—has proceeded at a glacial pace as the company stonewalls workers. Nearly five years in, a first contract is still nowhere in sight, though the corporation did agree in 2024 to work on a framework that would cover all union stores and negotiations did resume earlier this month.

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Joint Base San Antonio lands nuclear reactor, a first for a Texas military base

Joint Base San Antonio will be the first military base in Texas to be powered by its own nuclear reactor. The Pentagon said Wednesday it selected Antares Nuclear Inc. of Torrance, Calif., to build a prototype nuclear microreactor on the base as part of its Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program. Sources said several sites across JBSA are under consideration for the reactor, which the company said is about the size of an F-250 pickup and could be operational by 2028. Though some other microreactor projects are on the drawing board across the state, it could be the first reactor built in Texas in 33 years.

“It’s a huge win for Joint Base San Antonio, but also for our city, for our state,” said Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody, a co-chair of the county’s Military Transformation Task Force, adding that JBSA has “critical and essential missions that require certainty in their power source.” “That is addressed with this nuclear microreactor,” he said. “Beyond that, this gives us and CPS an opportunity to really explore the possibility for commercial nuclear production and leveraging this microreactor into something bigger for our community over the mid to long term.” CPS Energy, San Antonio’s city-owned utility, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Government efforts to expand the nation’s nuclear industry have accelerated under President Donald Trump, who signed four executive orders last year to speed up regulatory approvals, expand testing, develop a domestic supply chain and call for reactors on military installations to strengthen national security. One of the orders said advanced computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence and mission critical resources at federal installations and national laboratories “demands reliable, high-density power sources that cannot be disrupted by external threats or grid failures.”

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Why did former President Bill Clinton interrupt a Cowboys press conference?

Never a dull day in Frisco with the Dallas Cowboys. Roughly 25 minutes into Wednesday’s pre-draft press conference at The Star, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones interrupted a reporter while he was asking a question to notify him that a special guest was walking in. “Here’s our president coming through right here to say hello to us,” Jones said. As the crowd of reporters turned around, former President Bill Clinton walked in amid a sea of U.S. Secret Service agents. The 79-year-old 42nd president of the U.S. walked straight into the press conference room. “I’ve always wanted to be here,” Clinton said as he walked in. Jerry Jones stood from his seat at the press conference and almost fell off the stage, stumbling his way over, to shake Clinton’s hand. Fortunately, he recovered and did not hit the ground. A big smile hit his face afterward as he reunited with a fellow Arkansas native.

“Let me tell you something,” Jones said. “This guy was recently named the second-most American to have started with very little and have accomplished a lot. Look at it, it’s in Forbes. There’s a great story about him in Forbes. But he’s been a wonderful not only president but a friend over the years. I’m really happy to have you here today.” “I’m glad to see you,” Clinton said. “Have a good draft day.” The two exchanged more pleasantries over the course of three minutes before Jones followed Clinton out to have lunch at the Cowboys’ in-house club restaurant. Here is the full video of the interaction. When the Dallas Cowboys won their three Super Bowls under Jones in the 1990s, Clinton was in office for all of the White House visits that ensued. Throughout the years, they have shared an affinity for Arkansas Razorbacks athletics and once again shared a memory in the press conference room about Jones’ playing days at the university in the 1960s. Clinton departed the facility after roughly an hourlong meeting with Jones.

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Fort Worth ISD eyes more staff cuts, school closure for refugee campus

More staff cuts and the closing of another school is slated for the Fort Worth Independent School District as new leadership continues to shake up district operations amid a state takeover. District staff in the departments of Talent Management, Communications and Community Partnerships and Financial Services are positioned to be impacted by a reduction in force, pending a Board of Managers vote at its April 28 meeting. The meeting agenda, posted Wednesday evening, also shows staff at the International Newcomer Academy campus being impacted by the reduction in force after district leaders announced the campus’ proposed closure during a community meeting on Tuesday night; the school in southeast Fort Worth serves refugee and immigrant students in sixth through ninth grade.

Tuesday’s meeting will be the second time in a month that the Board of Managers votes on staff cuts and restructuring decisions. “This program change is part of the ongoing efforts to address the decrease in student enrollment, improve efficiency, and redirect resources to positively impact students. This restructuring will result in changes to a number of positions within the district,” school district records state. As of Wednesday, there were 15 employees listed on the district’s webpage for the Communications and Community Partnerships Department, including coordinators, directors and specialists. The webpage also listed one vacant position for a web coordinator for marketing and creative communications. The Financial Services Department webpage shows six employees while the Talent Management Department webpage lists about 50 employees. A separate agenda item for the Tuesday meeting also notes the proposed closing of the International Newcomer Academy for June of this year, as an update to the district’s facility master plan that includes more than 18 school closures districtwide through 2029. The Board of Managers will also discuss Peter Licata’s superintendent contract.

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Hood County County commissioner says Granbury officials mislead public about data center

Hood County Commissioner Nannette Samuelson has accused the Granbury city manager and other city officials of deception and misrepresenting facts concerning power a plant designed for a future data center on over 2,000 acres annexed by the city in January. Samuelson, who has been critical of a growing number of proposed data centers in her precinct, said during a specially-called commissioners court meeting Tuesday afternoon that the county received documents in June 2025 from Granbury’s economic development department describing the power plant project, called Project Horizon (now Project Patriot), from Dallas-based Bilateral Energy LLC. In July, Bilateral Energy received a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to build the power plant.

As she spoke, Samuelson displayed the documents on the screen. “I put this agenda item on here because the public needs to know the sequence of events regarding Project Patriot,” she said. She pointed to wording found in the document, “Bilateral Energy, powering the future of Granbury, a data center campus and power generation development.” On April 7, the council voted to rezone roughly 2,000 acres that straddle Meadow Wood Road, south of U.S. 377 and north of Paluxy Highway to allow industrial development, which includes power plants and data centers. During that meeting City Manager Chris Coffman and Mayor Jim Jarratt denied knowing about Bilateral Energy’s plans before the land was annexed. When asked about Samuelson’s accusations, Coffman said in a text message to the Star-Telegram, “As you know, this matter is under litigation and no comments are advised by legal counsel.”

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How Frisco became ground zero for wave of hate against Indian Americans

They arrived with cameras and agendas, filming shoppers at Costco and at the town’s Hindu temple, stopping strangers to ask where they were born. Online, they mocked a predominantly Indian boy scout troop and derided the names of Indian city council candidates. The Dallas suburb, they warned, was being invaded. Saahas Kaul watched all of this unfold on social media, perplexed. Kaul grew up in Frisco, playing high school soccer and attending Sunday school at the temple. Frisco was his home. In all of his years, he had never witnessed the sort of coordinated hatred now shaking the city. “I was in shock. For a lot of us, it felt like this came out of nowhere,” Kaul, 22, said. “This was not the Frisco I knew.”

A relentless campaign, waged largely by influencers, has placed Frisco at the center of a bitter national debate over identity and immigration, community and belonging. City Council meetings, once devoted to navigating budget and zoning issues, have transformed into a sort of stage, where speakers warn of an “Indian takeover” and unleash racist tirades that later find audiences on platforms such as X. Those messages have been further amplified by national political figures and allies of President Donald Trump, including political strategist Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, who alleged without evidence that Indians were committing widespread visa fraud. The tumult has left Indian Americans like Kaul grappling with their place in a city they helped make one of the fastest-growing and thriving suburbs in the country. Frisco’s Asian population has soared in recent decades, from 2% of the city’s population in 2000 to one-third in 2026. Recent weeks have been baffling, painful and alarming, Indian American residents said in interviews with The Dallas Morning News. Some feel nervous to run errands or go to the grocery store for fear of being harassed or recorded without their permission. Others said they were unafraid, but that family members feared for their safety. Several said they worry the hate-filled discourse may breed violence.

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University responds to TPUSA’s blaming Baylor for student-only event, denying media access

Turning Point USA announced that it will only allow Baylor students to attend Wednesday night’s event in Waco Hall. TPUSA sent out an email in the late afternoon that attendance for the “This is The Turning Point” tour, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., would be limited to Baylor students only after originally being marketed for the broader community. “We made every effort to open this event to the broader Waco community, but unfortunately, the administration has denied our attempts to do so,” the email reads. “We reserved Waco Hall, a venue large enough to be able to accommodate the broader community, because we know how important Baylor University is to Waco, and we strongly believe this is the wrong decision by school administrators.”

A statement from Vice President for Student Life Dr. Sharra Hynes emphasized the original agreement set between Baylor and TPUSA. “The University was very clear with event organizers from the beginning that the event would be for students, faculty and staff only, with the addition of 125 invited guests from the organizing group(s),” the statement reads. The original ticket request website included a location for general attendees on a waitlist basis, but according to Hynes’ statement, it was not previously approved by the university. In the email, TPUSA said “over 1/20th” of the Baylor student body reserved tickets for the event, with an additional 4,500 reserved by the broader community. Waco Hall has a seating capacity of 2,200 people, per Baylor’s website. Recent stops on the tour include George Washington University, Ohio State University and the University of Georgia, which made national headlines after CEO Erika Kirk canceled her appearance due to security concerns. Additionally, TPUSA’s stop in Georgia took place in Akins Ford Arena, which has a capacity of 8,500. According to Baptist News Global, only around 1,000 were in attendance. According to The Lantern, Ohio’s student publication, only about 850 students gathered for Ohio State’s leg of the tour at a venue that accommodates up to 1,700. Earlier today, TPUSA denied all press passes to the event, citing it was a “closed event.” The Lariat, KWTX, the Waco Bridge and The Waco Tribune-Herald were among outlets denied passes. A university spokesperson told The Lariat that the event is exclusively a TPUSA event, not a Baylor one. Additionally, all denied media passes were decided by TPUSA members, not the university. “Baylor University had absolutely no role in that process,” they said over email.

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County Stories

Tarrant County Jail inmate, who was found unresponsive in cell, dies at hospital

A 36-year-old Tarrant County Jail inmate died Sunday after three days of imprisonment, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The man, identified by the medical examiner’s office as John Barr, was found unresponsive in his cell. Lifesaving measures were administered by medical staff from JPS Correctional Health. Barr was then taken to JPS Hospital in Fort Worth, where he died, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Barr arrived at the Tarrant County Jail on April 16 and had been arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety on a parole violation, officials said. Deaths in the jail are investigated by Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office jail staff, the TCSO Criminal Investigations Division, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, an outside law enforcement agency, JPS medical staff, the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, according to the release.

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Inmate found dead in Bexar County jail cell from apparent suicide, says sheriff's office

A male inmate in his 20s was found dead inside a Bexar County jail Tuesday in what authorities say appears to be a suicide, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. The inmate was discovered unresponsive during routine security checks conducted by a BCSO supervisor, the agency said. On-site medical personnel responded immediately and attempted to save his life. San Antonio Fire Department emergency responders arrived at the jail, where they pronounced the man dead. Officials said early indications suggest the death was a suicide and that all jail policies and procedures appear to have been followed. The man’s identity has not been released pending notification of his family. Authorities said additional details will be provided once that process is complete. This inmate's death marks the second death at the jail in 2026, and the 88th inmate death since 2020. In February, Tammy Suzette Hovland, 59, died weeks after she was attacked by her cellmate during a psychosis episode at the jail. During that same month, the Bexar County Jail passed its annual compliance review — a benchmark it struggled to stay in compliance with in both 2025 and 2024.

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National Stories

Air war in Iran gives way to crippling stalemate in Hormuz

The conflict with Iran has entered a damaging new phase—a crippling limbo between war and peace that leaves the Strait of Hormuz closed and the prospect of escalation looming. The missiles and bombs that the U.S. and Israel rained down on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory salvos might have stopped with President Trump’s indefinite extension of a cease-fire. But the battle for control of the strait, one of the most important conduits of global commerce, is raging, leaving commodity traders on edge and helping push international oil prices above $100 a barrel on Wednesday. Iranian forces attacked three cargo ships on Wednesday, said people familiar with the fighting. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy sought to keep Iran from exporting oil—the country’s main revenue source—or receiving supplies.

Arab mediators working to restart talks between the two sides said they feared the situation would deteriorate. Iran’s negotiating team has toughened its tone since deciding at the last minute to skip talks this week in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, vowing not to return to the table until the blockade is lifted, mediators said. “Diplomacy is a tool for securing national interests and security,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Wednesday. “This cease-fire is inherently unstable,” said Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran project at International Crisis Group. “At sea, neither Washington nor Tehran is de-escalating so much as testing the limits of coercion. As long as the double blockade stays in place, every interdiction, warning shot or ship seizure becomes a possible trigger for a wider relapse into conflict.” Trump said Tuesday on social media that the blockade would remain in place to keep pressure on Iran until talks between the two countries end. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said it would keep the strait closed to what it calls hostile shipping.

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Trump administration in advanced talks for Spirit Airlines rescue package, sources say

The Trump administration is in advanced talks for a financing package for Spirit Airlines as the carrier is facing the risk of a liquidation, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could include $500 million in financing from the government, which could provide a path to give the government an equity stake in the carrier, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks. The senior financing would put the government ahead of other stakeholders in the airline, one of the people said. The iconic discounter Spirit has been challenged for years by rising costs, changing consumer tastes, an engine recall and a court-blocked plan to be acquired by JetBlue Airways two years ago. The surge in fuel prices since the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran in February has added to Spirit’s challenges.

“Spirit Airlines would be on a much firmer financial footing had the Biden administration not recklessly blocked the airline’s merger with JetBlue,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement to CNBC. “The Trump administration continues to monitor the situation and overall health of the U.S. aviation industry that millions of Americans rely on every day for essential travel and their livelihoods.” Spirit had been facing a potentially imminent liquidation, people familiar with the matter told CNBC last week, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters that had not yet been made public. The Dania Beach, Florida-based carrier in August filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a year, after it struggled to increase revenue to cover rising costs. President Donald Trump hinted at potential government aid on Tuesday, telling CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “Spirit’s in trouble, and I’d love somebody to buy Spirit. It’s 14,000 jobs, and maybe the federal government should help that one out.” The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the talks were in an advanced stage.

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Protein-maxxing, GLP-1s have US farmers betting on peas and lentils

Aaron Smith, a fifth-generation pea and lentil farmer in northern Idaho, says the dizzying rise of GLP-1 medications and a social media-fueled protein craze may be his farm’s only path to profit this year. The farm economy has been pummeled ?by low crop prices caused by a grain oversupply, tit-for-tat tariffs triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and skyrocketing prices of fertilizer and diesel. But pulses - which include ?peas, lentils and chickpeas - have been a bright spot due to rising demand for protein-infused foods beyond traditional sources like meat, poultry and fish.

Growers of the protein-rich crops see planting them as a way to weather an agricultural economy that has been in a yearslong downward spiral. U.S. farmers are facing the fourth straight year of low-to-negative profit margins despite near-record government payouts, and farm bankruptcies increased by 46% from 2024 to 2025, court records show. “We’ve been waiting for this moment to happen,” Smith ?said, noting that he is swapping wheat acres for pulses this year with prices of the former so low. "This can be a gamechanger.” These foods are at the center of an innovation boom that ?has taken off since the pandemic, led in part by social media influencers, some of whom are making dubious claims that raise concerns that this is another ?fad-driven diet due to expire. Still, planted acres of yellow peas have risen 55% over the past 15 years, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. At the same time, U.S. yellow pea exports dropped 81% ?between 2021 and 2025, according to U.S. Customs data, showing that the additional crops are being consumed in the U.S., experts said.

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Pentagon abruptly says Navy Secretary John Phelan is departing

Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his job, the Pentagon abruptly announced Wednesday, the first head of a military service to depart during President Donald Trump’s second term but just the latest top defense leader to step down or be ousted. No reason was given for the unexpected departure of the Navy’s top civilian official, coming as the sea service has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and is targeting ships linked to Tehran around the world during a tenuous ceasefire in the war. Another Trump loyalist is taking over as acting head of the Navy: Undersecretary Hung Cao, a 25-year Navy combat veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and House in Virginia. Phelan’s departure is the latest in a series of shakeups of top leadership at the Pentagon, coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth also has fired several other top generals, admirals and defense leaders since taking office last year.

The firings began in February 2025, when Hegseth removed military leaders, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the No. 2 leader at the Air Force. Trump also fired Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Showing how sudden the latest move was, Phelan had addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals on Tuesday at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington and spoke with reporters about his agenda. He also hosted the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee to discuss the Navy’s budget request and efforts to build more ships, according to a social media post from his office. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X that Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately.” Phelan had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service before Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024. He was seen as an outsider being brought in to shake up the Navy.

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F.B.I. said to have investigated Times reporter after article on Patel’s girlfriend

The F.B.I. began investigating a New York Times reporter last month after she wrote about the bureau’s director, Kash Patel, using bureau personnel to provide his girlfriend with government security and transportation, according to a person briefed on the matter. Agents interviewed the girlfriend, queried databases for information on the reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, and recommended moving forward to determine whether Ms. Williamson broke federal stalking laws, the person said. Those actions prompted concerns among some Justice Department officials who saw the inquiry as retaliation for an article that Mr. Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, did not like, and who determined there was no legal basis to proceed with the investigation, according to the person briefed on the matter.

In response to questions from The Times this week, the F.B.I. said that “while investigators were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking,” the F.B.I. is not pursuing a case. The scrutiny of Ms. Williamson is an example of the Trump administration examining whether to criminalize routine news gathering practices that are widely considered protected by the First Amendment. Journalists are more often caught up in criminal investigations as potential witnesses when the authorities are trying to determine who leaked them classified information. In preparing the article about Mr. Patel and Ms. Wilkins, Ms. Williamson followed normal procedures for a journalist working on a story, which typically involve reaching out to the subject and seeking a variety of perspectives. In this case, Ms. Williamson contacted numerous people who had worked with or knew Ms. Wilkins.

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Former congressman Devin Nunes departs as CEO of Trump media company

Former congressman Devin Nunes is leaving Trump Media & Technology, which operates the social media platform Truth Social, after more than four years as its chief executive. Nunes announced his departure from the company in a lengthy statement Tuesday night, saying he planned to focus on his role as chairman of Trump’s intelligence advisory board — which advises on U.S. security matters — and other ventures. President Donald Trump controls a majority of shares in the publicly traded company. Nunes, a Republican and staunch Trump supporter, announced his resignation from his California congressional seat in December 2021, a few months before Truth Social was publicly launched.

Trump started the social media platform as an alternative to Facebook and Twitter, which had banned Trump from posting after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Facebook and Twitter have since reinstated Trump’s accounts, but the president has almost exclusively posted on Truth Social during his second term. Still, Trump Media so far has not lived up to its vast ambitions. At its founding, it had planned to compete with tech giants, from Amazon Web Services to Disney+. In projections shown to investors and included in Securities and Exchange Commission filings in 2021, the company said it might have 81 million users and $3.6 billion in revenue by 2026. Instead, the company has lost money since it went public, despite a spike in its stock prices before Trump was elected to a second term in November 2024. It lost about $58 million in 2023, about $400 million in 2024 and about $712 million last year, according to its financial filings. The company said in a past filing that it expected to continue to incur “operating losses and negative cash flows” as it worked to expand its user base but that it anticipated growth would come from “the overall appeal of the Truth Social Platform.”

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Lead Stories

Virginia voters back mid-decade redistricting effort pushed by Democrats

Virginia voters approved a mid-decade redistricting plan Tuesday that could boost Democrats’ chances of winning four additional U.S. House seats in November’s midterm elections that will decide control of the closely divided Congress. The constitutional amendment narrowly backed by voters bypasses a bipartisan redistricting commission to allow the use of new districts drawn by Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly. But the public vote may not be the final word. The state Supreme Court is considering whether the plan is illegal in a case that could make the referendum results meaningless. The Virginia redistricting referendum marked a setback for President Donald Trump, who kicked off a national redistricting battle last year by urging Republican officials in Texas to redraw districts.

The goal was to help Republicans win more seats in the November elections and hold on to a narrow House majority in the face of political headwinds that typically favor the party out of power during midterm elections. But the Virginia redistricting referendum could help nullify Republican gains elsewhere. “Virginia just changed the trajectory of the 2026 midterms,” Democratic state House Speaker Don Scott said in a celebratory statement. “At a moment when Trump and his allies are trying to lock in power before voters have a say, Virginians stepped up and leveled the playing field for the entire country.” Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who campaigned for the new map, quickly shifted her attention to the November election. “I understand the urgency of winning congressional seats as a check on this President, and I look forward to campaigning with candidates across the Commonwealth working to earn Virginians’ trust,” she said in a statement.

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Texas jobs market seen slowing down in 2026

The Texas economy is now expected to add jobs at a rate of 1.4% in 2026, according to a model-based forecast from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas — a significant downshift from the bank’s forecast just a few weeks ago. The bank’s previous 2026 employment forecast, released in early April, had projected a growth rate of 1.9%, implying an addition of nearly 280,000 jobs and a significant upswing from earlier estimates for the year. The latest forecast, released on Friday, implies an addition of around 206,000 jobs. “Texas employment growth slowed sharply in February,” Luis Torres, a Dallas Fed senior economist, said in a statement, “and year-to-date growth is now more aligned with earlier forecasts for 2026.”

Those figures, though, are the midpoints on a wider statistical range the bank’s modeling system projected. Even a few weeks ago — after the unexpectedly rosy 1.9% projection — researchers were cautioning that they expected the year-end number to land closer to the low point of the range because of several more lasting economic challenges, especially labor market constraints stemming from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Torres reiterated that sentiment with the release of the new projection. “Given several headwinds, our expectations are for this year’s growth to come in at the lower end of the forecast’s confidence band, at around 1.0 percent,” he said in the release. “Declining immigration is constraining labor supply, and higher productivity is suppressing labor demand.” State business activity, meanwhile, has recently moderated, the bank’s monthly surveys of executives around the state have shown, and labor demand has been low. In February, the information, manufacturing and professional and business services sectors recorded jobs gains, the Dallas Fed’s report noted, while trade and transportation, other services and oil and gas all notched employment losses. Construction and education and health services also recorded job losses — representing a reversal from those sectors’ recent solid gains.

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State legislators tour Camp Mystic to learn more about July 4 flood

State legislators who serve on special committees investigating the July 4 flash flood that devastated the Texas Hill Country toured Camp Mystic on Monday to get a better understanding of where and how 25 children and two counselors were swept to their deaths during the disaster. It marked the first time the Texas Senate and House investigating committees visited the privately operated Christian camp for girls, located on the south fork of the Guadalupe River near the village of Hunt, about 18 miles southwest of Kerrville. The committees’ meeting agenda said media was not allowed to accompany the legislators on the tour due to a restraining order restricting access to the site.

The order stems from a lawsuit filed by one flooding victim’s parents against Camp Mystic, some members of the Eastland family who own and operate the camp and other parties. The tour followed a withering court hearing last week that explored Camp Mystic directors' delay in responding to alerts and warnings about the approaching flash flood and their flawed evacuation effort. The Senate committee is examining the circumstances surrounding the July 4 flash flood in the Texas Hill Country, including actions that were taken at youth summer camps. The House committee is looking into factors contributing to the devastation at Camp Mystic and will identify steps to strengthen the state’s preparedness and response to flooding and other natural disasters. The committees are expected to issue a report on their findings this summer. The Texas Department of State Health Services also is investigating Camp Mystic, examining whether directors broke any laws in their response to the July 4 flood. The agency also is exploring rules governing youth camps. The agency has received more than 600 complaints and requests to not renew Camp Mystic’s state license this year, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has said.

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Key moments from Kevin Warsh’s congressional testimony

Kevin Warsh, President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Reserve, fielded questions at his confirmation hearing Tuesday about his commitment to an independent monetary policy, his pre-nomination argument that AI-driven productivity gains would give the central bank room to cut interest rates and his plans to divest more than $100 million in financial holdings he has declined to fully disclose. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) used her opening statement to brand Warsh as both a “sock puppet” for Trump and an opportunist whose views on rates have tracked the availability of the Fed chairmanship rather than the state of the economy. When her questioning turn came, she tried to force Warsh to prove she was wrong. He mostly declined to play. “Independence takes courage. Let’s check out your independence and your courage,” she said before asking if Trump lost the 2020 election. Warsh wouldn’t answer directly. “I’m just asking you a factual question,” she said. “I need to measure your independence and your courage.”

After Warren tried a third time, Warsh pivoted, pointing to how the Fed had sowed the seeds of a “huge inflation problem” that year. Warren’s point was that a Fed chair who can’t bring himself to state plain facts that might displease the president who nominated him isn’t going to stand up to that president when it matters. It was a theme Democrats returned to throughout the hearing. Asked by committee chairman Tim Scott (R., S.C.) about how he would address affordability, Warsh provided a stiff indictment of the institution he hopes to lead. “The Fed missed its mark,” he said. “The fatal policy error” of 2021 and 2022 “is still a legacy that we’re dealing with.” What he said is needed now is “a regime change in the conduct of policy,” which he said includes a new inflation framework, new tools and a new approach to communicating its messages. It was just the opening salvo of a sustained critique that ran through the hearing. Warsh described the institution as one that has “lost its way,” that “wandered outside of its remit” and that is “in the business of politics” because of its own choices. He mocked “FedNow,” a real-time payments network the central bank launched several years ago, by calling it “Fed Yesterday.” He was no gentler on the culture. Warsh said he preferred “messier meetings” where “people don’t show up with rehearsed scripts,” a critique aimed squarely at how the Federal Open Market Committee now operates. He complained that “too many Fed officials past and present opine in advance about where they think interest rates should be,” a shot at the forward-guidance practice that has defined Fed communication for more than a decade.

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State Stories

Federal court of appeals rules in favor of Texas' Ten Commandments law

A federal appeals court has ruled against a number of Texas families who sought to block school districts from displaying the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. In a split opinion filed Tuesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state of Texas and reversed a ruling by a federal judge that prohibited some Texas schools from displaying the Ten Commandments. "Yes, Plaintiffs have sincere religious disagreements with its content," Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote for the nine-judge majority. "But that does not transform the poster into a summons to prayer." Senate Bill 10, which was passed into law last year, requires public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

Several families, both from religious and nonreligious backgrounds, brought the lawsuit against a number of Texas school districts, including Plano ISD, in July 2025. A federal judge in August issued a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing the school districts named in the case from displaying the Ten Commandments. Tuesday's opinion reversed that injunction. The ACLU of Texas, which is representing the families in the case, said in a statement that it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Tuesday's decision. "The First Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state, and the freedom of families to choose how, when and if to provide their children with religious instruction," the statement said. "This decision tramples those rights." The districts, represented by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, appealed the preliminary injunction. Paxton asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to evaluate the case along with a challenge to a similar law in Louisiana and the court heard arguments in January. According to the Associated Press, the court ruled in February that it was too soon to decide the constitutionality of the Louisiana law. In a social media post, Paxton called the opinion a "major victory for Texas and our moral values." "The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it’s important that students learn from them every single day," he said.

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Cornyn slams Paxton over sex offender's 'sweetheart deal' in Texas US Senate race

Incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's campaign is lashing out at his Texas runoff opponent over a "sweetheart deal" for a sex offender. Adam Hoffman, a lawyer in Waco, Texas, was facing a life sentence for the sexual abuse of a child that lasted three years. Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, reduced the charges last week so that Hoffman will serve only 30 days in jail and will not be required to register as a sex offender, according to reporting from KWTX in Waco. The initial plea offered by Paxton's office would not have required Hoffman to serve additional jail time, but it was rejected by the judge.

“Crooked Ken Paxton took a horrific first degree felony case and reduced it down to two class A misdemeanors, initially suggesting it would accept no additional jail time,” said Cornyn campaign senior advisor Matt Mackowiak in a news release. “A child was sexually abused for three years, and Ken Paxton thinks that should be a misdemeanor with no jail time and no requirement to register as a sex offender." "This is one of the most outrageous examples of leniency towards a violent criminal in modern Texas history," he added. "The only person (in) Texas that thinks this sentence is appropriate is Ken Paxton.” As has been the case throughout the U.S. Senate race in Texas, Paxton did not respond to a request for comment. Paxton is set to face Cornyn in the May 26 Republican primary runoff for a U.S. Senate seat. Despite Cornyn's continuous efforts to highlight Paxton's failures, both professionally and personally, Paxton continues to swing polls in his favor. The winner of the Republican runoff will face Democrat state Rep. James Talarico in the November 3 General Election.

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UT announces new Dell Medical Center, research campus after $750 million gift

After a historic $750 million gift from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, The University of Texas at Austin’s future hospital has a name: The UT Dell Medical Center. It will be part of the newly announced UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research, which will focus on clinical care and research in combination with advanced computing and artificial intelligence. At a press conference Tuesday, the Dells, along with state and university officials, emphasized the opportunity to build a world-class university medical center that integrates modern technology from the ground up. “By bringing together medicine, science and computing in one campus designed for the AI era, UT can create more opportunity, deliver better outcomes, and build a stronger future for communities across Texas and beyond,” said Michael and Susan Dell in a news release.

The Dells' gift is one of the largest ever given to a United States university, and the couple are now the first donors to surpass $1 billion in lifetime giving to UT Austin. They were also integral in launching the university’s medical school — also named for the Dells — with a $50 million donation in 2013. In addition to the new university hospital and research campus, the Dells’ latest investment will also support undergraduate scholarships, student housing and UT’s Texas Advanced Computing Center. Michael Dell, a UT alumnus, joked at the press conference that his parents had sent him to the university decades ago to become a doctor — a plan that "got derailed" when he founded Dell Technologies from his dorm in the Dobie residence hall. "So far, it's worked out," Dell said. "But Susan and I never lost our connection to medicine and our belief that this university can do great things for this community." That dorm building is now set to be renamed "Dell House," UT officials announced. Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti, dean of the Dell Medical School, said the Dells’ gift represents "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to define what the future of health should look like." “We are building an integrated, patient-centered model powered by AI and advanced technology that shifts the focus from treating sickness to advancing health itself through prevention, prediction and precision,” Lucchinetti said. “This will transform how we care for patients, how we train the next generation of physicians, and how we accelerate life science innovation to improve lives at scale.”

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Dallas County canceled Domingo Garcia's voter registration, saying he died. Still alive, he's working to get it reinstated.

Dallas attorney and politician Domingo Garcia is sounding the alarm about potential voter suppression now that he's received a letter from Dallas County Elections telling him that his own voter registration has been canceled. The letter, signed by Dallas County Elections Administrator Paul Adams, says Garcia's voter registration is canceled as of April 10, 2026. The letter cites Section 16.031(a) of the Texas Election Code, which, according to the Texas Secretary of State's Office, includes registrations canceled due to death or mental incapacity, or someone identified as registered to vote in a different county or state. Garcia says he has been told that the state informed Dallas County that he was dead.

"I sent a letter requesting that I have a hearing over the next 10 days to prove that I'm alive and that I should be reinstated," Garcia told WFAA. "You know, too many people have fought. And whether it was women during suffrage or Hispanics and Blacks through the civil rights movement to have that right to vote and for it to be just taken away, via letter, that's just not right. And we're going to make sure it doesn't happen to me, and it does happen to any other Texan or American." "And I'm just wondering how many other votes are getting these letters without the proper protocol," Garcia said. "And we're just trying to get the word out in case other people are facing similar problems like mine." He says several people have contacted him after his social media post, indicating that they are in similar situations. Garcia says he has voted in every election since 1976, when he was 18 years old, and voted in the most recent March primaries. In a statement, the Secretary of State's Office said, "We are reviewing this case to determine what may have caused the issue. Our office is not currently doing any large-scale voter list maintenance." The Secretary of State's Office also said that voters can check their registration with the "Am I Registered" tool on VoteTexas.gov. "If a voter is mistakenly removed, they can notify the voter registrar, and their registration will be reinstated with immediate effect," the office said. WFAA has also reached out to Dallas County Elections for comment.

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Cuban says ‘no’ when asked if he wants Harris to run for president in 2028

Investor Mark Cuban on Tuesday said “no” when asked if he wants to see former Vice President Kamala Harris run for president in the 2028 election. Cuban was once one of Harris’s surrogates in 2024 when she ran against President Trump. But at Politico’s Health Care Summit on Tuesday, when asked by Politico’s senior executive editor Alexander Burns what Harris’s message on health care was, Cuban added, “Don’t remember, don’t care.” “Those days are gone,” he said. “… I don’t care at this point in time. Right now, we’ve got until 2028. I don’t care who the candidates are. I’m not trying to pick a candidate. I’m not trying to promote a candidate. I’m trying to change how f—ed up this health care industry is right now, and that’s all I care about.”

When Burns pressed Cuban further about his “no” answer, Cuban replied, “There’s time for a lot of new s— right now.” The former “Shark Tank” star said he was open to supporting a Republican supportive of Trump and of the president’s Department of Health and Human Services, citing lowering drug prices and speeding up drug trials. Cuban referred to legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that would crack down on health care conglomerates that own multiple parts of the industry. “Until you break those companies up and make them divest their non-insurance assets, they own your health care,” Cuban said, later telling the Federal Trade Commission to “do your job.” He praised the possibility of an independent running on a health care affordability platform, but dismissed any possibility he would run a campaign on that platform, adding that “it won’t be me.”

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TCEQ can withhold documents related to cancer-causing emissions for now, Texas Supreme Court rules

Texas' top environmental regulator does not have to produce thousands of documents related to carcinogenic emissions limits after the agency was accused of delaying their release, the Texas Supreme Court ruled. In its ruling, the high court reversed a decision that found the Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality violated a deadline to ask the attorney general’s office whether more than 6,000 files could be withheld after a public records request from the Sierra Club, and environmental nonprofit. The court found the commission didn't blow the deadline for two reasons: The commission put its request to the attorney general's office in "interagency mail" within the timeframe, and TCEQ reset the 10-day period by sending an email to the Sierra Club for clarification on their information request.

Justices Brett Busby and Debra Lehrmann dissented. While the ruling doesn't end the case — a trial court must now decide whether or not the files are protected from being released at all — the nonprofit said the decision was a disappointing. "While it's not a total loss because they're remanding it back to another court, it certainly isn't the ruling we were looking for," said Cyrus Reed, the legislative and conservation director for the Texas chapter of the Sierra Club. The case dates back to 2019, after the commission requested the Environmental Protection Agency raise the limit for how much ethylene oxide can be emitted into the environment. Ethylene oxide is a colorless gas used mainly to make other chemicals like antifreeze, according to the National Cancer Institute. In small quantities it is used as a pesticide and sterilizing agent. The Sierra Club requested documents related to how TCEQ determined the ethylene oxide emissions limit could be raised.

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Arlington approves $273M deal to keep Dallas Cowboys in city through 2055

The Arlington City Council voted Tuesday, April 21, to approve a $273 million agreement to keep the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys’ lease of the stadium, enacted after a voter-approved ballot measure and extended for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to run until 2040 with an option to extend toward the end of the lease. Under that lease, the city owns AT&T Stadium, but the Cowboys take care of the maintenance and upkeep. Arlington paid $325 million for the construction of the stadium, with the rest financed by the Cowboys. Under the agreement approved on Tuesday, the Cowboys would extend their lease for another 15 years and invest at least $750 million into “maintenance, operation, and improvement of the complex” through 2055, while the city of Arlington would invest that $273 million over a 20-year period into a “maintenance and operation account.”

When voters approved the city’s contribution to AT&T Stadium in 2004, they also agreed to pay a half-cent sales tax increase, a 2% hotel room tax, and a 5% rental car tax. Those taxes allowed the city to pay back its debt 10 years early. In 2016, Arlington voters also approved a ballot measure to give $500 million in tax revenue to fund a new Texas Rangers stadium. The council approved the proposal 7-2, with District 3 council member Nikkie Hunter and District 7 council member Bowie Hogg voting against it. Hogg previously told the Star-Telegram that although the deal would be a positive outcome for the city, he wanted the council to debate whether voters should have the right to re-approve it, as they did in 2016. Local business owners told council members that the Cowboys bring vital money and visitors to the downtown corridor.

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Gateway Church founder officially registered as sex offender in Palo Pinto County

Former Gateway Church senior pastor Robert Morris is officially registered as a sex offender, according to online records from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Morris was released last month from an Oklahoma prison after serving six months on charges related to his sexual abuse of Cindy Clemishire in the 1980s. The former spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump is registered and serving his probation in Palo Pinto County, where he owns a lakefront property on Possum Kingdom Lake, according to the online records. Morris will be required to verify his registration quarterly for the rest of his life.

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Texas agriculture commissioner candidate calls for moratorium on data centers

Dozens of communities across the state have been pushing back against data centers, and farmers are weighing in. Concerns continue to grow over the amount of water these projects require. Spectrum News has reported on county judges pushing for moratoriums to limit the growth of data centers. Now, the Texas Farmers Union is also calling for a halt to data center growth. Texas farmers say they’ve been enduring many hardships, particularly over the past five years. Between higher production costs and low commodity prices, many have not been able to break even. With data centers popping up throughout the state, some are worried these projects could exacerbate the problems affecting the already strained industry. “I love the business,” said Clayton Tucker, a rancher in Lampasas. “I love being with the animals. I just don’t love the economic situation.”

Seeing the challenges farmers have been facing led Tucker to run for agriculture commissioner. He’s the Democratic nominee on November’s ticket, and the data center boom in Texas is one of his top issues. “We are calling for a full moratorium on all data center construction in Texas,” Tucker said during a news conference while representing the Texas Farmers Union. He is particularly concerned about the amount of water data centers require, and with droughts already affecting Texas farmers, he fears these projects could strain the industry even more. “On day one, I will start issuing ag impact studies to slow them down, to gunk them up and to really put the brakes on them because we need to study what’s actually going on,” Tucker said. His opponent, Republican candidate Nate Sheets, points to other factors he says are affecting farmers more than data centers. “As it relates to agriculture in Texas, the real issue that I feel is the greater issue than just the encroachment of data centers, is the continued loss of agriculture in Texas due to the consolidation in agriculture,” Sheets said.

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RGV leaders mourn banking pioneer Robert C. ‘Bobby’ Norman

Valued McAllen Economic Board Of Directors member Robert C. “Bobby” Norman died unexpectedly on Tuesday, April 14. Norman is described by his colleagues as a pioneer who was committed to advancing economic opportunity in McAllen and the broader Rio Grande Valley region. He was a mentor, a friend, and a warm, but also a strategic, teaching leader. In addition to his service to the McAllen Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Norman dedicated 30 years of his life to developing banking and business in South Texas. The impact of his knowledgeable perspective will be a lasting fixture in his passing, as Rio Grande Valley leaders look back on his teachings.

Norman’s community minded work reached many corners of the Valley, from Mission to Weslaco to McAllen. He served on the boards of the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce, Mission Boys & Girls Club, the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Development Board. In addition, he served as both a board member and the chairman of Mission Regional Medical Center and South Texas Higher Education Authority, Inc. A community staple, according to Suarez, Norman was the reason many bankers came to McAllen, highlighting the profound and lasting mark he left on the local finance world. “You could ask him anything and he really would give you a good opinion, good advice, and he was great at listening and trying to understand different points of view,” she recounted. Suarez believes Norman will go down in McAllen history as a community leader that led the Chamber of Commerce and MEDC through a transition that left them in full alignment with the city. As a result of this, a flurry of opportunities continue to rise. He’s recognized as a key player in the ongoing development of a $225 million Valeo manufacturing plant within the city.

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Cruz: Schumer will shut down government weeks before midterms

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) predicted Tuesday that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would shut down the government shortly before this year’s midterms. “On Sept. 30, funding for the federal government will end. Chuck Schumer is not a creative guy, he’s not hard to predict. Last year, right before the election, what did Schumer do? He shut the whole government down, and the Democrats believe that shutdown helped them politically, and it benefited them in New Jersey and Virginia,” Cruz said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” referencing a shutdown surrounding health care issues that lasted more than a month. “I will wager, right now, $100, that Schumer intends — on Oct. 1 — to do the same thing, to shut the whole federal government down for a month, so that on Election Day … the government is shut down, you have four-hour lines again in airports, and the Democrats can say, ‘See, the Republicans are in charge, they don’t know what they’re doing,’” he added.

Republicans are facing a rocky road to the midterms, with issues such as low approval ratings for President Trump, concerns around affordability and dissatisfaction with the recent U.S. conflict against Iran dogging the GOP as it approaches November. According to a polling average from Decision Desk HQ, Trump’s approval rating is sitting at 40.8 percent, while his disapproval is at 56.3 percent. Earlier this month, former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany warned that the upcoming midterms “will be hard” for the GOP. “Not to put too rosy a picture on it though, midterms will be hard for Republicans. It’s just historically difficult to win when you’re in power, but I would like my odds more with this president than prior presidents,” she said on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” During his CNBC interview, Cruz also discussed the ongoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown, with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warning on Tuesday that the department is going to be unable to pay out employee salaries beginning early next month. The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.

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A TPUSA tour stop triggered a pro-LGBTQ event at Baylor. Then came the Baptist blowback.

When the conservative political group Turning Point USA scheduled a campus tour stop at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, for Wednesday (April 22), organizers advertised it as “a chance to honor Charlie’s mission” and as a venue for enacting free speech. But though free speech was part of their program, TPUSA, which was led by activist Charlie Kirk until his assassination in September, probably didn’t expect to be the catalyst for an event welcoming LGBTQ activists to speak at the Christian university. The competing event, called “All Are Neighbors,” is the result of grassroots activism from progressive student leaders. “They’re (TPUSA) pushing a message that is aligned with Christian nationalism,” said J.W. LaStrape, president of Baylor’s College Democrats chapter. “We’re going to push back on it by celebrating the marginalized folks that the Christian nationalist vision excludes.”

Baylor has maintained that hosting the duel events is part of its commitment to open discussion and said the events will be aligned with institutional policies. “Historically, Baylor has opened its doors to a wide range of student-invited speakers with differing viewpoints on theology, politics, research and many other subjects,” a spokesperson told RNS in a statement, adding that Baylor doesn’t “institutionally endorse” the views of event speakers. But the events have generated controversy among stakeholders, including the Baptist General Convention of Texas, a group of Texas churches that announced Friday they would be reviewing their historic relationship with the university. Event participants told RNS the tensions surrounding the events are emblematic of larger religious and political trends. “It’s two very different visions of the future, and (of) what is possible, and the kind of America, as well as college campuses that we want,” said the Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president and CEO of Interfaith Alliance who is speaking at the “All Are Neighbors” event.

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Texas lawmaker targets JetBlue over alleged customer spying claims

The internet is in an uproar after viral posts raised questions about a major airline's pricing methods—prompting one Texas congressman to act. On April 18, an X user known as NuggetSince94 said the price of a JetBlue flight jumped by $230 in just a 24-hour timeframe. "I love flying @JetBlue but a $230 increase on a ticket after one day is crazy," NuggetSince94 wrote. "I’m just trying (to) make it to a funeral." In a now deleted comment, JetBlue replied: "Try clearing your cache and cookies or booking with an incognito window. We're sorry for your loss." Screenshots of the exchange quickly spread online, alleging that the sixth-largest airline in the U.S. quietly admitted to surveillance pricing—or dynamic, algorithmic pricing based on personalized data.

"Crazy, Did JetBlue just admit to raising prices when they know you're tracking the price?" one user wrote. In response to Chron's request for comment, JetBlue said the reply from the JetBlue's crewmember on social media was incorrect, and apologized for the "error." "JetBlue fares on JetBlue.com and our mobile app are not determined by cached data or other personal information," the company wrote. "Pricing is based on real-time availability and is managed through our reservation system. Fares can change at any moment as seats are purchased or as inventory is adjusted based on demand, and are not guaranteed until a purchase is completed." However, this is not the only post that has garnered widespread attention. On Feb. 23, a user named Sarah Zimmermann posted on X, complaining that she was unable to buy points on the JetBlue website during a limited-time special deal and received an error message.

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Texas AG sues California kratom retailers for selling products he says violate state law

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued two California-based online kratom companies for allegedly selling products to Texans that contain an illegal amount of a controlled substance, he announced Tuesday. The lawsuit, filed in Collin County district court last week, accuses Pure Leaf Kratom and Outcast Distribution of selling products that contain nearly 50 times the legal limit of 7-hydroxymitragynine — also known as 7-OH — an alkaloid found in kratom products the suit says can cause life-threatening symptoms or even be fatal when chemically manipulated. “I will not allow California-based companies to illegally ship their potentially deadly substances into Texas,” Paxton wrote in a statement. “Synthetic kratom products can be incredibly dangerous, and my office will continue to work to protect Texas consumers from the harms of adulterated kratom products.”

KERA News has reached out to Pure Leaf Kratom and Outcast Distribution for comment and will update this story with any response. It comes about two months after Paxton sued North Texas kratom retailers operating under the name Smokey’s Paradise in Midlothian. An Ellis County judge granted the state a temporary injunction last week preventing Smokey’s from selling kratom products. Kratom is a leafy plant that can be consumed in capsule or powder form or mixed into food or drinks, producing opioid-like effects, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Food and Drug Administration has not approved kratom for any use, but some people use it to manage drug withdrawal symptoms and cravings. In 2023, state lawmakers passed the Texas Kratom Consumer Health and Safety Protection Act. It limits the 7-OH level of any kratom product to 2% of the product's total alkaloid content and bans synthetic alkaloids.

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National Stories

Iran seizes ships in Strait of Hormuz after Trump extends ceasefire

Iran attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz this morning, saying its Revolutionary Guard seized two of them and further inflaming tensions over the key waterway. It comes after U.S. forces seized an Iranian ship and boarded a tanker linked to Tehran’s oil trade. President Donald Trump said last night that he was extending the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely so its leaders “can come up with a unified proposal,” but that the naval blockade Tehran considers an act of war will continue. The truce was set to expire today, and Trump had vowed not to extend it.

Trump said he was prolonging the ceasefire until peace talks have reached a conclusion one way or another. Vice President JD Vance had been expected to lead a delegation to Pakistan, but a second round of negotiations is now uncertain. Iran’s forensics chief said nearly 3,400 people had been killed in the country since U.S.-Israeli strikes began Feb. 28. More than 2,200 people have been killed in Lebanon, 32 have been killed in Gulf states, and 23 have died in Israel. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed, and two more died of noncombat causes.

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Justice Department charges Southern Poverty Law Center with fraud over investigations into extremist groups, Blanche says

A federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts of wire and bank fraud-related charges on Tuesday, the Justice Department announced, accusing the group of paying members of extremist groups as part of its efforts to investigate them without disclosing the practice to donors or banks. The SPLC has denied the allegations. "The SPLC is a nonprofit entity that purports to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups with the goal of dismantling these groups," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference announcing the charges. "The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred."

Blanche said the group was charged with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The SPLC is a nonprofit that tracks white supremacist and other hate groups across the U.S., and has been a frequent target of President Trump's allies. It is best known for its work investigating the Ku Klux Klan. The charges came hours after the center's interim president and CEO Bryan Fair said in a video that the organization was being investigated by the Justice Department in connection with a now-defunct program that used paid confidential informants to infiltrate far-right groups. Blanche said the paid informant program at the Southern Poverty Law Center went through at least 2023. He also claimed that the investigation into the group started years ago, but was shuttered during President Joe Biden's term, until the Trump administration revived it.

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D.H.S. will run out of money for paychecks in May, secretary says

Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, said on Tuesday that his department would run out of money to pay employees the first week of May if Congress failed to reach a deal to reopen the department. “The money is going extremely fast,” Mr. Mullin said during an interview with “Fox & Friends.” “The president can’t do another executive order for us to use money, because there’s no more money there.” Missed paychecks could renew chaos at airports as lawmakers remain divided over a deal to end the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

The threat of them also ramps up political pressure on Congress to unlock funding, which had eased after President Trump signed memos calling on his administration to use existing money to pay all department employees, including Transportation Security Administration officers. Mr. Mullin said the money to fund paychecks was drawn from a portion of Mr. Trump’s signature domestic policy bill, which gave the department more than $170 billion over four years to carry out the president’s immigration crackdown. But he said that payroll costs were amounting to more than $1.6 billion every two weeks, and that available funding for salaries would dry up after this month. The dysfunction has frustrated many department employees who have been dealing with financial uncertainty since the shutdown began. More than 90 percent of the department’s roughly 260,000 workers are considered essential, meaning that most employees continue to work without pay.

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Patel gets in shouting match with reporter as he defends job performance

FBI Director Kash Patel got into a shouting match with a reporter amid questions over his job performance following an explosive article from The Atlantic alleging excessive alcohol use by the director. The outlet reported that while in charge of the bureau, Patel has consumed alcohol “to the point of obvious intoxication” in front of White House officials and other Trump administration staff. On multiple occasions within the past year, the article said, members of his security detail have also “had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.” Patel fielded a number of questions about the article in his first appearance before the Justice Department press corps since its publication. “I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia, and as when they get louder, it just means I’m doing my job,” he said.

When asked about video showing Patel partying and drinking with the U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, he said, “I’m on the job. I’m the first one in. I’m the last one out. I’m like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate. I’ve never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on, I’ll see you in court.” Patel then erupted at a reporter who narrowed in on a specific detail of the story mentioning that at one point the director was unable to log into FBI systems. The Atlantic reported that Patel “panicked, frantically” as he believed his job to be in jeopardy. Patel claimed Tuesday that the detail was untrue, though his $250 million defamation suit against The Atlantic confirms he had “had a routine technical problem logging into a government system.” Patel was asked by NBC’s Ryan Reilly what he was thinking on the day he was unable to log in to his government computer. “The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie. It was never said. It never happened. And I will serve in this administration as long as the president and the attorney general want me to do so,” Patel said, telling Reilly, “you are off topic.”

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CDC won’t publish report showing covid shots cut likelihood of hospital visits

A report showing the efficacy of the covid-19 vaccine that was previously delayed by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been blocked from being published in the agency’s flagship scientific journal, according to three people familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The report showed that the vaccine reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations among healthy adults by about half this past winter. The move, which has not been previously reported, has raised concerns among current and former officials that information about the vaccine’s benefits is being downplayed because they conflict with the views of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been an outspoken critic of the shots. Kennedy’s vaccine agenda has received pointed questioning from lawmakers during budget hearings that began last week and conclude Wednesday.

The Washington Post reported two weeks ago that Jay Bhattacharya, who is temporarily overseeing the CDC, delayed publication of the report over concerns about methodology. The report had been scheduled for publication March 19 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. In recent days, a decision was made that the report would not be published, according to two of the people who spoke to The Post. Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, confirmed the delay two weeks ago. At that time, he said it was “routine for CDC leadership to review and flag concerns about MMWR papers, especially relating to their methodology, leading up to planned publication.” Nixon said that Bhattacharya had raised concerns about “the observational method used in the study to calculate vaccine effectiveness” and that the scientific team was working to address them. Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, is leading the CDC while Erica Schwartz, a top health official during President Donald Trump’s first term, awaits Senate confirmation. On Tuesday, Nixon described the decision differently: “The MMWR’s editorial assessment identified concerns regarding the methodological approach to estimating vaccine effectiveness and the manuscript was not accepted for publication,” a characterization that differs from accounts by people familiar with the report’s review.

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Johnson touts ‘bipartisan’ path for FISA reauthorization, but obstacles remain

Speaker Mike Johnson is raising the possibility of a “bipartisan” path forward on extending a key spy authority after negotiations among House Republicans blew up late last week. “We’re confident that we’ll be able to find strong bipartisan consensus that builds off of the really meaningful reforms that we included in the legislation the last time we reauthorized it,” Johnson said during a news conference Tuesday morning. The emergency short-term reauthorization Congress cleared last week expires April 30, putting pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal quickly. Among the options GOP leaders are discussing: If the Senate can advance a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with policy changes, the House could then pass it with a majority of Republicans and some Democrats, according to three people granted anonymity to share direct knowledge of ongoing conversations.

It’s also possible Johnson could put that measure on the House floor under an expedited procedure that does not require prior adoption of a party-line rule, but would need a two-thirds majority voting in the affirmative to secure passage. House GOP leaders still need to appease hard-liners who have very specific demands for new guardrails on warrentless surveillance practices as part of any reauthorization measure. House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, aren’t promising cooperation — and they’re skeptical Johnson is as close to a deal as he might suggest. “His confidence meter was always pretty high, and then he put a bill on the floor that had zero consensus among his caucus, and looked like the disaster that it was after midnight,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California told reporters Tuesday. He added that he has not had “any discussions” yet with Republican counterparts on next steps for Section 702, and “absent those conversations, it’s going to be hard to find bipartisan consensus.” Aguilar also said that Democrats would follow the leads of House Intelligence Chair Jim Himes of Connecticut and Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Johnson is planning to meet Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Darin LaHood of Illinois later Tuesday as the pair of Republicans works with Democrats on a bipartisan FISA extension plan, according to two people granted anonymity to share private scheduling.

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Indicted Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigns from Congress amid expulsion threat

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., announced Tuesday she is resigning from the House of Representatives after Republicans vowed to force a vote to expel her from the chamber. "Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida's 20th District," she wrote on social media Tuesday afternoon. "I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately." "This fight is far from over," Cherfilus-McCormick, who was indicted by a grand jury last year for allegedly stealing COVID-19 emergency funds, added in her statement. She is facing 53 years in prison as part of a separate criminal indictment.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s abrupt announcement came after Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., pledged to file a motion to expel her, teeing up a vote later this week. It takes two-thirds of the House to remove a lawmaker, but a growing number of Democrats have voiced support for the expulsion effort. It also came just minutes prior to a House Ethics Committee hearing that was slated to recommend sanctions against her for committing a bevy of violations involving financial misconduct. House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., announced the panel lost jurisdiction with Cherfilus-Mccormick's eleventh-hour decision to quit Congress. The committee panel found "clear and convincing evidence" in March that the Florida Democrat misused federal disaster relief money that was improperly paid to her family’s healthcare company, among other misconduct.

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Lead Stories

What we learned from a secret deposition of Ken Paxton

In 2019, hostile attorneys questioned Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about his conduct as a lawyer: Had he turned over a former client’s communications to an attorney suing that client? Paxton acknowledged that he had, one of the nuggets in an old deposition, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, that sheds new light on his legal behavior, past business dealings and blind trust that has shielded his rapidly expanded assets. Paxton, a prominent conservative firebrand, is seeking to unseat Sen. John Cornyn in an ugly Republican primary showdown set for a May runoff. Cornyn has sought to showcase past Paxton controversies, including abuse-of-office accusations by top aides, an impeachment and later acquittal and securities-fraud charges resolved with a pretrial deal. Paxton denied wrongdoing in each of the situations and has accused Cornyn of not adequately supporting President Trump’s agenda. Paxton’s campaign and lawyer protested the Journal’s reporting on the deposition, calling it out of context and a violation of a court order.

A spokesman for Paxton, Nick Maddux, called the Journal’s reporting “blatant lies” but didn’t offer specifics. “The Wall Street Journal has spent the last year bending over backward to be an extension of the Cornyn campaign, but this one takes the cake,” Maddux said. Paxton, in his second term, was made to sit for the six-hour questioning for a lawsuit involving a falling-out between two of his former friends. Charles Loper III, trustee of Paxton’s blind trust, sued Byron Cook, a former business associate, claiming fraud by Unity Resources, an energy investment company. Paxton wasn’t a defendant in the suit, but was Unity’s former lawyer, board member and investor. The deposition marked a rare instance of Paxton being made to answer questions under oath. It remained effectively sealed when the case’s judge, a donor to Paxton’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, delayed ruling on its sealing for more than four years until the case was settled in 2023. Attorneys pressed Paxton on having given Unity records to his own attorney Mitch Little—who was also representing Loper in suing Unity—but not to Unity itself. “I’m sure I did,” Paxton said of giving the communications to Little, saying that he had done so to see if they were privileged. Legal ethics experts declined to read the deposition because it is under a protective order, but said giving former client communications to anyone—especially someone suing the client—is a violation of attorney-client privilege. And, records belong to the client and can’t be withheld, they said. “That’s a violation on his part on two counts,” said Randy Johnston, a Dallas lawyer specializing in legal malpractice.

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Paxton sues ActBlue, alleging it allowed illegal donations to Democrat

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the national Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue on Monday, accusing it of allowing fraudulent and foreign donations through its system. The suit alleges the platform – which raised more than half a million dollars in the first three months of this year – knowingly permitted untraceable prepaid cards and “straw donations,” and misled investigators about safeguards meant to block illegal contributions. Leaders at the platform, which has processed more than $16 billion in donations since it launched in 2004, denied any wrongdoing and called the suit “a thinly veiled attempt to distract from Ken Paxton’s numerous legal and ethical issues ahead of next month’s runoff.” Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn are in a heated GOP runoff May 26, with the winner taking on Democratic nominee James Talarico in November.

Foreign political donations are barred in American elections, and Paxton suggested those who favor candidates supported by ActBlue are complicit in efforts to circumvent laws and ethics around secret donations. “The radical left has relied on ActBlue as a way to funnel foreign donations and dark money into their political campaigns to subvert our laws,” Paxton said in a statement. “ActBlue…has blatantly ignored state law that prohibits deceptive practices.”ActBlue spokesperson De'Andra Roberts-LaBoo disputed that, saying: “Our platform has done more than any other, regardless of party, to prevent improper donations and protect donors. Full stop.” The filing in Tarrant County is the latest in a string of legal actions by Paxton on partisan and consumer protection issues.

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Stock of Rick Perry-backed Fermi sinks as CEO exits

Fermi Inc. plunged more than 20% Monday after a management shakeup that included the abrupt departure of its chief executive officer, potentially threatening its plans to build the world’s biggest private power grid for a data-center campus. The company co-founded by former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry is developing an AI campus in Texas that would initially be powered by natural gas, with plans to add as many as four nuclear reactors. But Fermi has been dogged by challenges in recent months, including the loss of a key anchor tenant for the site. Those issues have now been compounded by the exit of co-founder and CEO Toby Neugebauer, along with the company’s chief financial officer. Changes at the top indicate “there was friction between customers and Mr. Neugebauer, and negotiations could be simpler going forward,” Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Stephen Gengaro said in a note.

Fermi is seeking to capitalize on booming power demand from data centers running artificial intelligence. Initial designs for its Project Matador site near Amarillo called for delivering as much as 11 gigawatts of gas, nuclear and solar power. In March, the company said it secured additional land to expand that to as much as 17 gigawatts. Lining up tenants will be critical to keeping the project on track. Fermi said in December that a potential user had terminated a $150 million deal. Fermi shares tumbled as much as 23% on Monday, the most intraday since March 30 when the company said on an earnings conference call that it still hadn’t signed up customers. Fermi slumped 69% as of Friday since last year’s initial public offering, reducing the company’s market value to about $4.1 billion. “Fermi’s ability to ink a contract from hyperscalers who are scrambling to secure scarce available power has been perplexing,” Gengaro wrote in the research note. “Some potential customers could be taking a ‘prove-it-to-me’ approach to Fermi’s power campus.”

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Trump says he’s ‘highly unlikely’ to extend fragile Iran ceasefire as clock ticks down

President Donald Trump said that it’s “highly unlikely” he will extend the current U.S.-Iran ceasefire, which is set to end on Wednesday. The 2-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was reached on April 7, and went into effect the following day. Trump told Bloomberg on Monday that the ceasefire expires “Wednesday evening Washington time” and it’s “highly unlikely that I’d extend it” if no deal is reached with Iran before then. “I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world,” Trump also told Bloomberg. He said Iran “desperately” wants the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened, but “I’m not opening it until a deal is signed.” A U.S. delegation planned to travel to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday for another round of face-to-face peace talks with Iran, a source familiar with the plans told Fox News Digital.

The White House said this weekend that Vice President JD Vance will lead the delegation, joined by envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law. Trump told Bloomberg that the negotiations will take place “either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.” “There’s going to be a meeting. They want a meeting, and they should want a meeting. And it can work out well,” Trump also said to Bloomberg about Iran.

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State Stories

Roy unveils immigration bill dubbed ‘MAMDANI Act’

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Monday introduced an immigration bill he dubbed the “MAMDANI Act.” The Measures Against Marxism’s Dangerous Adherents and Noxious Islamists Act proposes amending the Immigration and Nationality Act, which dictates federal immigration law, to allow for the deportation, denaturalization, denial of citizenship or entry to any migrant that is a member of a socialist party, communist party, the Chinese Communist Party or Islamic fundamentalist party. It also proposes imposing such restrictions on any migrant who “advocates” for socialism, communism, Marxism or Islamic fundamentalism, a sweeping term that includes “writing, districting, circulating, printing, displaying, possessing, or publishing any written, electronic, or printed matter” in support of those ideologies, according to the bill’s text.

The acronym for the bill is a reference to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), a democratic socialist who was born in Uganda and moved to the city as a child. Mamdani, who is Muslim, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018. The Hill has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. In a press release, Roy asked why the U.S. continues “to import people who hate us?” in reference to those who support the ideologies targeted by his bill. “Not just for the last six years, but for the last 60 years, our immigration system has been cynically used to disadvantage American workers’ competitiveness in favor of mass-importing the third world,” added the Texas Republican, who is running for state Attorney General. “This has not just led to higher crime and lower wages, but also the promulgation of hostile ideologies fundamentally opposed to American values.” “By targeting the Red-Green Alliance, this legislation deploys new tools to fight back against the Marxist and Islamist advance that has devastated Europe and has now arrived on our doorstep, especially in my home state of Texas,” he added. Under the bill, migrants who can establish that their advocacy for one of the listed ideologies occurred before they turned 14 years old are exempt from the restrictions. As for those deemed part of an “Islamic fundamentalist party,” the bill lists the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic State, the Al-Nour Party, Hamas, Hezbollah, Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab as falling under that category. There were an estimated 3.45 million Muslims in the U.S. as of 2017, according to the Pew Research Center. Back in October, Roy introduced the Sharia-Free America Act, which proposes preventing foreign nationals who observe Sharia law from entering the U.S. or remaining in the country.

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Richard Flowers, Houston's celebrity event planner, dies at 75

Richard Flowers had a magic touch, an unmatched eye for detail and a serendipitous last name for his chosen profession. Flowers, who became one of Houston’s most prolific event planners, died Friday morning. He was 75. Today, his business, the Events Company, is synonymous with many of the city’s toniest gatherings. It grew out of humble beginnings. Flowers got his start in the oil fields of East Texas and later moved to Houston as a partner of an oil and gas exploration venture. The year 1990 brought reinvention when Flowers became a flower shop owner. One day, Lynn Wyatt walked in. She asked if he would help her with decor for the Houston Ballet Ball. Flowers accepted, and the rest is history.

“I could walk into a ballroom or any event, and immediately tell that the room was created by none other than Richard Flowers,” Wyatt said. “From the light to the flowers to the table settings, you knew right away it had to be Richard Flowers.” Flowers meticulously planned Wyatt’s Truman Capote-themed, black-and-white 80th birthday bash, which doubled as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s 2015 Grand Gala Ball. The party was attended by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, actor Shirley MacLaine and then-Oscar de la Renta creative director Peter Copping, who also designed her dress, and was covered by Vanity Fair and Town & Country. Wyatt appeared at Flowers' side in February, when Houston Ballet Ball 2026 honored him, the Events Company and Houston First Corporation for their respective decades-long contributions to the professional dance organization. “Richard had one of the most creative minds that I’ve ever known,” Wyatt said. “He also became one of my dearest friends in life.” Stanton Welch, artistic director of Houston Ballet, met Flowers through Wyatt. Upon arriving in Houston in 2003 for his current role and attending various fundraising events across the state, whenever Welch inquired about the planner behind some of the more elaborate gatherings, the name that was often mentioned was the same.

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Hutto data center developer withdraws rezoning request, effectively ending the project

The developer of a proposed data center in Hutto has withdrawn its rezoning application with the city, effectively ceasing the project. Zydeco Development had requested the city rezone a parcel of land to allow for "heavy industrial" development for its proposed data center. The site, located on Ed Schmidt Boulevard, is currently zoned for "multi-family residential" development. Zydeco's request would have required the city to change both its future land use map and comprehensive plan. Howard Koontz, the director of development services for Hutto, recommended the city deny Zydeco's application at a public meeting on April 7.

"Our comprehensive plan reflects the community's vision for how Hutto should grow, and that vision guides how we evaluate every item that comes before us," Koontz said. "As submitted, this proposal was not consistent with that vision. Thoughtful planning is a priority for the city, and we remain open to continued dialogue." Several community members also opposed Zydeco's rezoning request, raising concerns about noise, impacts on the local power grid and possible long-term risks associated with having a data center near residential neighborhoods. Organizing through a Facebook group called "Stop the Hutto Data Center," these community members had been working to file a formal protest within the Texas Local Government Code against Zydeco and its rezoning request. If that protest was successful, Zydeco's application would have required a three-fourths supermajority vote from the Hutto City Council to move forward, rather than the usual simple majority. "This is what happens when neighbors work together and get organized," said Katie Martin, co-organizer of the group, in an email to KUT. "We will continue to be vigilant so that no other developer tries something like this in the future. We also hope to share what we’ve learned with other communities facing similar challenges. But for now, we are celebrating the success of our efforts!" KUT News reached out to Zydeco for comment, but has not heard back. It's estimated that Texas could have more data centers than anywhere in the world by 2030, and state lawmakers look to be gearing up to tackle the topic during the 2027 legislative session. Here are four takeaways from their most recent meeting.

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Harris County has a higher rate of tuberculosis than the state and the nation, report finds

Harris County leads the state in rates of tuberculosis, and has nearly double the rate of active cases compared to the rest of the county, according to a new report from Harris County Public Health released Monday. Tuberculosis, an airborne disease that affects the lungs and other parts of the body. In 1900, the disease was a leading cause of death, with 194 deaths per 100,000 people. Although tuberculosis may seem like a disease of the past, Harris County reported a rate of 5.5 active cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people in 2024, the most recent year of data.

"Tuberculosis is a serious but preventable disease, and this report helps us better understand where and how it is impacting our community," Dr. Jo Ann Monroy, with the HCPH Office of Epidemiology, Surveillance and Emerging Diseases, said via a statement. "Our goal is to use this data to guide action, improve access to care, and protect the health of all Harris County community members." Texas had a tuberculosis rate of 4.1 per 100,000 in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Of the lower 48 states, only California and New York had higher rates — Alaska and Hawaii surpassed them all, according to the CDC. The nationwide rate of tuberculosis cases was 3.0 — nearly half that of Harris County. In 2022, the most recent year on record for the Texas Department of State Health Services, Harris County had more cases of tuberculosis than any other county. Though the rates of tuberculosis have remained stable in recent years — and are far below the rates in previous centuries — the fact that it still remains in Texas and Harris County is remarkable. Since the 1950s, the United States has had an effective treatment of the disease, which has significantly lowered rates. However, the disease still pervades across the globe. The World Health Organization reported 10.8 million people developed tuberculosis in 2023, 1.25 million of whom died.

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Georgetown election begins to decide if city will stop managing water for neighboring areas

Early voting has begun for Georgetown's May 2 election that will determine if the city will sell a portion of its public water system to a new, private water provider. The city has said it wants to sell parts of the water system that extend into neighboring cities, so it can better plan for future growth and manage rising costs. "The City of Georgetown Water Utility was created to serve city residents," Mayor Josh Schroeder said in a press release in February. "Today, our water service territory extends far outside of our city limits into the ETJs of several neighboring communities. The proposed sale would significantly reduce our long-term needs and expenses as both water and infrastructure become increasingly expensive for all Texas cities."

About 40% of Georgetown's water utility customers currently live outside the city. Those customers in Florence, Liberty Hill and Salado joined the utility's service area after the city acquired the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District in 2014. These areas are expected to rapidly develop in the coming years, and right now, Georgetown is legally obligated to provide water to residents and businesses that request service in those areas. City leaders said the utility can save hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming decades if they can sell these portions of its water service area and consequently reduce water and infrastructure needs. "The proposed sale will help stabilize rates for Georgetown residents and businesses long-term," Schroeder said. National Utility Infrastructure is the city's "preferred buyer" of the water service area it plans to put up for sale. “NUI has proven experience and the financial resources needed to secure water, build new infrastructure and stabilize rates for customers in the transferred area," City Manager David Morgan said. The city said it is prepared to provide water to NUI for up to 10 years while it establishes a water supply. "We are confident all customers will be in good hands," Morgan said. If the sale is approved by voters on May 2, the Texas Public Utility Commission would also need to give its approval before the project moved forward. That process, city leaders said, could take up to two years. Water customers of Georgetown can determine if they are eligible to vote on the sale by using the city's interactive "Address Lookup" map. If they live within city limits, they are eligible.

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Nancy Saustad, who raised millions of dollars for KERA, has died

As a fundraiser, Nancy Saustad’s biggest projects ranged from a new home for public broadcasting in North Texas to a new habitat for elephants and giraffes at the Dallas Zoo. The former chief philanthropy officer for KERA and lifelong North Texan died Sunday from ovarian cancer. She was 61. “I think more than anything else, I think we just all remember her with a great deal of gratitude,” said KERA President and CEO Nico Leone. “We're fortunate to have known her, fortunate to work with her, and incredibly grateful for everything she did, not just for KERA, but for so many organizations in the community.”

Her development efforts helped make it possible for KERA to break ground on a new headquarters at a time when other public TV and radio stations were forced to make cuts amid a loss of federal funding. Prior to joining KERA, she raised money to help bring the Dallas Zoo's “Giants of the Savanna” habitat to life. The 11-acre exhibit was first to make space for various species of African animals like elephants, zebras and impalas. Without a doubt, those were her proudest professional accomplishments, her husband, David Carl Saustad, said. Outside of work, she loved animals, art and skiing in Colorado. “But I would think her favorite title would have been mother, for sure. There was nothing that would stop her from doing anything for her kids.," Saustad said. "She would stop whatever she was doing to give them her ultimate attention because even though she loved her work, mother was her first priority, always.”

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The Onion says it's finally acquired Alex Jones' Austin-based Infowars

Alex Jones' Infowars, a decades-long source of conspiracy theories, has been acquired by The Onion. The satirical media outlet said Monday it finally acquired the controversial show hosted by Jones after roughly 18 months of back and forth in a Texas bankruptcy court. Jones was sued for defamation by victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, which killed 20 children and six adults, for referring to them as "crisis actors." Courts in Texas and Connecticut ordered the conspiracy theorist to liquidate his assets to pay back roughly $1.5 billion in liability. The Onion CEO Ben Collins told journalist Pablo Torre that the company would follow through on its plans to take over the show, while also sharing profits with victims of the Sandy Hook massacre.

"We want them to be able to get paid for real at some point with actual human dollars as part of this process," he said. "We have taken over the Infowars studio and the IP and the website and all of that stuff." Collins said the transition would be finalized "within a couple of days." KUT News reached out to The Onion and Jones' bankruptcy attorney for confirmation on the sale but hasn't yet heard back. Jones teased the acquisition last month on a podcast. "We've beaten so many attacks," Jones said. "But, finally, we're shutting down in the middle of next month." Jones' assets are being sold off in a Texas bankruptcy court, including the South Austin studio that hosts Infowars and any equipment used to produce content for the website. Jones tried to block the sale of Infowars to The Onion in 2024, and last year, a judge rejected his attempt to throw out the defamation judgment. Since then, Free Speech Systems, the Infowars parent company, has been slowly selling off property to pay plaintiffs over the last few months. Collins told Torre he plans on continuing programming as Infowars with some rebranding and reshuffling. The site plans to replace the "o" in "Infowars" with The Onion's logo, and Collins said the show will bring on comedian Tim Heidecker as a potential replacement host.

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Dallas-Fort Worth leads nation in corporate HQ relocations

Dallas-Fort Worth ranked No. 1 in the nation last year for corporate headquarter relocations and continues to dominate longer-term as company mobility accelerates overall, according to a new analysis by CBRE. DFW had the most net interstate or international HQ relocations in 2025, with 11, followed by Miami, with 8, according to the report from the Dallas-based commercial real estate services firm that moved its own headquarters to Big D from California a few years back. DFW tacked on an additional seven intrastate or intra-metro HQ moves. Dallas-Fort Worth has secured more than 100 headquarters relocations since 2018, the most of any metropolitan area in the now seven-year timeframe tracked by CBRE. The company counted 725 public headquarters announcements from 2018 to 2025 from company disclosures and news sources. The data revealed relocation patterns, corporate motivations and evolving real estate strategies, CBRE said. Companies are increasingly using intra-metro strategies, weighing benefits of various submarkets within the same region, as return-to-office and hybrid work change location priorities and drive demand for more flexible, efficient footprints, CBRE’s report notes.

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NY comptroller urges eXp shareholders to reject Texas reincorporation

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is calling on eXp Realty shareholders to block the company’s plan to move its state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas, arguing that the brokerage should address internal culture issues rather than seek a more favorable home base. The pushback comes after allegations of sexual assault and related shareholder litigation put the cloud-based brokerage under intense scrutiny, according to the New York Times. DiNapoli framed the brokerage’s move as an attempt to sidestep accountability. eXp, one of the largest residential brokerages in the country, has faced three separate lawsuits tied to conference and recruiting-event conduct. Two filed in California in 2023 and another filed in Florida last year saw women allege the company enabled a pattern of drugging and rape around those events.

The allegations largely center on two former agents — Michael Bjorkman and David Golden — who were reportedly high earners generating significant revenue for the firm. The lawsuits allege the company allowed them to remain affiliated with eXp well after leadership was alerted to complaints about them. The controversy spilled into corporate governance when two shareholder pension funds filed suit in Delaware, where eXp’s parent company is incorporated. The complaint accuses the company of risking investor value through a “purposeful decision to ignore reports of criminal abuse.” After a judge allowed that case to go forward, eXp founder and chief executive officer Glenn Sanford announced the company would reincorporate in Texas, which is widely viewed as a friendlier jurisdiction for companies facing shareholder challenges than Delaware, long the default for corporate domiciles. In a statement urging shareholders to vote down the move, DiNapoli said investors have an obligation to hold eXp accountable. That includes the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which held nearly 27,000 shares of eXp’s parent company at last glance.

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BGCT executive wants another study of relationship to Baylor

The Baptist General Convention of Texas announced April 17 it will launch another study of the relationship between the BGCT and Baylor University. This follows a recent dialogue that concluded in 2023 without any changes proposed. Baylor’s relationship to the BGCT has been a regular item of concern since the university’s regents in 1991 declared themselves a self-perpetuating board. Before then, the BGCT had total control of naming university trustees. Since then, the state convention nominates only 25% of trustees in consultation with the current board.

Today, the BGCT contributes only 0.001% of Baylor’s $995.8 million annual budget but controls 25% of the board. Some Baylor insiders think that’s not fair and want to eliminate the BGCT’s role entirely. But the BGCT wants to exert more influence — especially over matters of human sexuality. The latest study has been sparked by Baylor administrators allowing a student group to bring two gay Christian speakers to campus next week for an event that will counter the Turning Point USA rally the administration also approved. BGCT leaders have not raised concerns about the far-right TPUSA event but have focused instead on the “All Are Neighbors” event planned in response. They first expressed those concerns the previous Friday afternoon. Texas Baptists Executive Director Julio Guarneri told the Baptist Standard he had “conversations” with Baylor leadership, the chair of the BGCT Institutional Relations Committee, the chair of the Texas Baptists Executive Board and “several Texas Baptists pastors.” “Hosting speakers who are Christian, identify as gay and practice LGBTQ advocacy at a university-approved event is inconsistent with the convention’s long-standing views on biblical sexuality,” Guarneri said. “It is likely that the viewpoints to be shared at this event and others may not represent either BGCT’s or Baylor’s official positions, and convention messengers have made it clear that the traditional view of biblical sexuality is a matter of fellowship and harmonious cooperation.”

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Inside the push for a business-savvy candidate for north Fort Worth City Council seat

The question to Mayor Mattie Parker was succinct: Why all the fervor around a May 2 special election for a far north Fort Worth City Council seat? First-time candidates Chris Jamieson and Alicia Ortiz are vying to fill the unexpired term of Alan Blaylock, who is running for the Texas House. The race has featured a slew of high-profile endorsements for Jamieson, including from Mayor Parker and County Commissioner Manny Ramirez, and the city’s two public safety associations. And he’s gotten campaign donations from some traditional heavyweight supporters in Fort Worth law offices and the Alliance development area. Ortiz, who served as district director for former City Council member Cary Moon, said she’s been shut out of contributions she might have secured, had the mayor and other traditional city leaders not gotten so heavily involved.

“I feel for her,” Moon said of Ortiz. “She’s run into a juggernaut.” Parker and Ramirez confirmed to the Report that they led an informal group that began searching for a business-savvy candidate after Blaylock announced he was leaving the seat. Parker said she had an interest in ensuring continuity in the office — one of four council districts that cover the fast-growing and sprawling Interstate 35W corridor north of Loop 820 — after Blaylock’s departure. “I have so much respect for council member Blaylock; I had a vested interest in helping find a great candidate,” Parker said. Jamieson, 47, an entrepreneur and homeowner association president in north Fort Worth, was little known in local political circles before he filed to run. Parker said she appreciated Jamieson’s business background and lack of partisan history. The search turned to Jamieson after better-known prospect Travis Clegg, a business development executive for the Westwood Professional Services design and engineering firm, decided against running, the mayor, Ramirez and Clegg confirmed. “Travis was my first person,” Parker said. Once he declined, “then we kind of pivoted.”

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Leadership shakeups at UT continue as LBJ School dean departs for Duke

In another leadership change at the top of a University of Texas college, Dean JR DeShazo will leave the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the end of this academic year. DeShazo has led the LBJ School for five years. Starting July 1, DeShazo will lead the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University as dean, UT officials announced Monday in an email. DeShazo — one of the longest serving leaders at UT — is one of several deans to leave in the past year. More than one-third of UT’s dean positions — 7 of 18 leaders — are currently in flux. He leaves at the conclusion of his contracted term, and it is unclear whether Provost William Inboden decided to offer him a renewal. Per the university’s policy, UT leaders have until the end of a dean's six year appointment to evaluate their performance.

When a dean’s term is up, top UT leadership can then choose whether to offer a contract renewal or find new leadership, according to the current policy. UT faculty members described DeShazo Monday as an excellent, thoughtful leader who made the LBJ School stronger. “I’m shocked, and I’m devastated,” said Kate Weaver, who has worked at the LBJ School for 17 years as a professor and associate dean. “He’s the best dean I’ve ever seen. He’s just utterly transformed the school.” As dean, DeShazo doubled the LBJ School’s degree offerings from three to six and launched the college’s first undergraduate degree. He also increased enrollment, grew research activity and supported alumni and current students in job placement as opportunities for work among federal agencies have declined. DeShazo declined to comment. University spokesperson Mike Rosen did not respond to questions about DeShazo’s departure.

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County Stories

Bexar County judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez resigns under agreement that dismisses charges, imposes lifetime ban

Bexar County Court at Law No. 13 Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez resigned Monday under an agreement that dismisses criminal charges stemming from a late 2024 courtroom incident and permanently bars her from serving as a judge in Texas. The charges stem from a December 2024 incident in which Gonzalez was accused of having defense attorney Elizabeth Russell handcuffed and placed in a jury box after Russell objected to a plea from her client in a domestic violence case. The argument escalated, and Gonzalez ordered bailiffs to detain Russell. Gonzalez was indicted in January on charges of official oppression and unlawful restraint and later turned herself in. The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office recused itself from the case, and a special prosecutor was appointed.

Gonzalez was suspended without pay by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct and later lost her bid for reelection in the March primary. Her opponent, Alicia Perez, won 65% of the vote for Bexar County Court at Law No. 13. The charges were dismissed under the agreement. Special prosecutor Brian Cromeens of DeWitt County said dismissing the charges was “in the interest of justice.” Gonzalez did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the agreement. The unlawful restraint charge is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The official oppression charge is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Gonzalez presided over a court that specializes in domestic violence cases and includes programs that combine treatment and strict supervision.

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National Stories

Virginia voters to decide whether to allow a new Democratic-drawn map for the midterms

Virginia voters on Tuesday will decide the fate of a constitutional amendment that would pave the way for a new congressional map designed to allow Democrats to pick up as many as four seats in this year’s midterm elections. The special election marks the latest fight in the mid-decade redistricting war that has unfolded across the country as both parties vie for control of the narrowly divided House. Under the proposed map in Virginia, Democrats would be in position to hold up to 10 of the state’s 11 districts, rather than the current six. Virginia Democrats have framed their aggressive effort as a response to President Donald Trump pressuring GOP-led states to redraw their district lines last summer. Republicans have accused Democrats of a power grab after winning full control of Virginia’s government in last fall’s elections.

While Democrats have maintained a clear spending advantage, Tuesday’s contest is shaping up to be close. Virginia has leaned Democratic in recent elections, with Gov. Abigail Spanberger winning by 15 points in November and then-Vice President Kamala Harris carrying the state by 6 points in 2024. But Democrats have acknowledged the messaging challenges they have faced as the party that had previously opposed such partisan gerrymandering moves. And a springtime special election where only the redistricting referendum is appearing on the ballot makes turnout unpredictable. The constitutional amendment seeks to temporarily bypass the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission — which voters overwhelmingly approved a few years ago — to enact a new congressional map for the rest of the decade. It would also return mapmaking duties to the commission after the 2030 census.

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House braces for next wave of potential expulsions focused on Cherfilus-McCormick, Mills

House lawmakers are bracing for the next wave of expulsions. Former Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) avoided the boot only by quitting their seats in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct with staffers. Now, the expulsion battle is poised to enter its second round, as lawmakers in both parties eye plans to remove Florida Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D) and Cory Mills (R), who are both accused of violating campaign finance laws, among other offenses. “If they’re doing this s---, then they need to go,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said. The debate is set to erupt Tuesday, when the Ethics Committee is scheduled to make its disciplinary recommendations in the case of Cherfilus-McCormick, who is accused of stealing millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to help finance her campaign. The Justice Department filed federal charges last November, and an Ethics subcommittee earlier this month found she violated 25 rules of congressional standards.

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied any wrongdoing, saying she’s the victim of a partisan witch hunt by the Trump administration. But even many Democrats are ready to push her out the door given the Ethics findings. “The Ethics Committee has the material,” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) said. “So I think it needs to move quickly.” “We’re moving if the Ethics Committee brings it to the floor,” echoed another Democratic lawmaker, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. Yet those same Democrats are also demanding the expulsion of Mills, who is the subject of a separate Ethics investigation into allegations of “dating violence,” campaign finance violations and using his perch in Congress to steer business to the weapons and defense companies he continues to operate. (He has denied the charges.) The Democrats are arguing the importance of parity: Like offenses demand like consequences. But the unspoken political dynamic underlying the debate is that, in a House with razor-thin margins, neither party wants to advantage the other by expelling only one of their own — a concern that’s generated support for the idea of pairing the removals. That was the case with Swalwell and Gonzales, and now it’s the case with Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills.

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Apple taps John Ternus as CEO to replace Tim Cook, who will become chairman

Apple said on Monday that John Ternus is succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, with Cook assuming the role of executive chairman on Sept. 1. Ternus, a senior vice president of hardware engineering, will join Apple’s board of directors when he becomes chief. Apple’s nonexecutive chairman Arthur Levinson will become the iPhone maker’s lead independent director at that time. “Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition,” Apple said in a press release. The company said in a filing that the board made the appointment on Friday.

It’s the first CEO transition for Apple since Cook, now 65, succeeded Steve Jobs at the helm in 2011, shortly before Jobs’ death. Ternus will become Apple’s eighth CEO. “It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.” Apple also said that Johny Srouji will become chief hardware officer, taking over for Ternus in an expanded role. Srouji, who most recently served as the company’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, will also lead hardware engineering. Apple’s market cap increased by more than 20-fold on Cook’s watch, closing on Monday at $4 trillion. Cook took home $74.6 million in total compensation last year, including a $3 million base salary and millions more in stock awards, according to recent regulatory filings. Forbes estimates his net worth at close to $3 billion.

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Trump is quietly seeking allies to fix Gaza, says Norway

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is quietly engaging with international partners including the EU and the Palestinian Authority to stabilize Gaza and prepare for post-conflict governance, Norway’s foreign minister told POLITICO. The U.S. president set up the Washington-led Board of Peace, which held its first meeting in February, as the main vehicle for overseeing reconstruction and governance of the Gaza Strip. But Norway’s Espen Barth Eide, who was in Brussels on Monday for back-to-back events focused on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, said the Board of Peace is increasingly liaising with international institutions that have long experience in Gaza — including the Palestinian Authority.

“The Americans who have been tasked with the Board of Peace … are also discovering that the established institutions are quite useful. The World Bank, the [United Nations], different agencies actually have a lot of experience,” he said in an interview at Norway’s representation to the EU. Trump’s administration has kept the Palestinian Authority somewhat at arm’s length in plans to govern Gaza, notably denying entry to the United States to anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport. But chief EU diplomat Kaja Kallas welcomed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Brussels as a special guest — and Eide said that relations between Mustafa and the Board of Peace were better than they publicly appeared. “The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority tells me that the conversation with the U.S. has been going much better, and that there is practical cooperation,” he said, adding that Trump’s plan for the governance of Gaza includes a long-term role for the Palestinian Authority after it has carried out reforms.

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Uncertainty reigns at DOJ in the aftermath of Bondi’s departure

Since President Donald Trump tapped Todd Blanche, his former defense attorney, to temporarily lead the Justice Department this month, the message from those familiar with the president’s thinking has remained consistent: A permanent shot at the job of attorney general is Blanche’s to lose. But that hasn’t stopped a frenzied competition to push other candidates for what has become one of the most important Cabinet-level posts in the president’s plans for his second term. And the uncertainty around top leadership roles has prompted concern from some in a department already struggling with claims of politicization and the abandonment of long-held norms over the lengths to which Trump’s next pick may go to impress him. Following Trump’s decision to fire Blanche’s predecessor, Pam Bondi, various factions of the president’s MAGA coalition have rallied around figures like Harmeet K. Dhillon, currently head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Jeanine Pirro, the sharp-tongued former Fox News host and current U.S. attorney in D.C., as alternatives.

Neither Dhillon nor Pirro has been so forward as to openly suggest an interest in the job. But both have taken steps in recent days that are viewed by insiders as efforts to raise their profile and jockey for the president’s attention. Blanche, meanwhile, has quickly moved to leave his own mark on the Justice Department’s downtown Washington headquarters in his new role, pushing out Bondi’s top spokespeople and installing a key ally in a top deputy position. Others within Trump’s orbit have seized on the department’s shake-up to push their own favored candidates for influential jobs. Some have urged Dhillon and Ed Martin — the president’s pardon attorney and a veteran of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” effort, with whom Blanche has clashed in the past — for top spots, according to multiple people familiar with those efforts. Those people, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid assessments of current dynamics. Trump has given no indication of when, or if, he intends to formally nominate a permanent replacement for Bondi. Either option carries risks: Nominating Blanche could result in a fiery confirmation fight, but leaving him as an unconfirmed attorney general gives him less stature and legitimacy.

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Dan Hannan: Donald Trump is losing his mind

(Daniel Hannan is a member of the House of Lords and a former Conservative MEP.) Imagine it was someone other than President Donald Trump. Suppose a different leader were posting deranged rants in the small hours, insulting the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics, threatening entire civilizations with annihilation, and comparing himself to God. What would be the reaction? We all know the answer. Both parties would be rushing to bundle him out of office before he did irreversible harm to the republic. Yet, as we all also know, different rules apply to Trump. Democrats, having had their fingers burned by two failed impeachment attempts, are reluctant to try again, for they know that there is no surer way to boost his support. Republicans, who privately despair at the electoral damage he is doing, let alone the constitutional damage, are paralyzed by fear of upsetting their primary voters.

Harold Macmillan, the suave British postwar leader, liked to quip that there were three institutions that no sensible man challenged: the Brigade of Guards, the National Union of Mineworkers, and the Roman Catholic Church. Yet Trump, in one of his nocturnal forays, decided to conjure a fight with the Bishop of Rome out of thin air, calling him “WEAK on crime and terrible on foreign policy,” and adding that “if I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.” The president, whom critics accuse of having a God-complex, then followed up with an image of himself as Jesus healing the sick. This image was offensive, not only to Catholics, but to almost every practicing Christian and, come to that, to almost every Muslim. The Iranian ayatollahs used one of the Lego videos with which they have been trolling the president to condemn what they sincerely saw as blasphemy. They were not alone. CatholicVote.org, which turned out millions of voters for Trump in three successive elections, condemned the post as impious. At the same time, according to its president, Kelsey Reinhardt, “President Trump’s post insulting Pope Leo crossed again a line of decorum.”

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Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will resign amid misconduct allegations

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, President Donald Trump’s labor secretary, is resigning from her position amid professional misconduct allegations, becoming the third Cabinet member to depart during Trump’s second term. White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X on Monday that Chavez-DeRemer would leave the Cabinet to take a position in the private sector, though he did not say where she was going. Cheung said the deputy labor secretary, Keith Sonderling, would become the acting head of the agency. Accusations that Chavez-DeRemer had engaged in misconduct, including personal travel during taxpayer-funded trips, surfaced in a complaint filed with the Labor Department’s inspector general that was first reported by the New York Post. The complaint led to the suspension of several top aides and surfaced sexual misconduct allegations against Chavez-DeRemer’s husband, Shawn DeRemer.

Chavez-DeRemer, in her own post, wrote on X: “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this historic Administration and work for the greatest President of my lifetime.” She said that she is “looking forward to what the future has in store as I depart for the private sector.” The Labor Department referred The Post to Chavez-DeRemer’s post on X. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chavez-DeRemer’s resignation follows a New York Times report from last week that she and her top aides, as well as her father and husband, sent personal messages to young staffers, which has been under investigation by Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito. The outlet also reported that Chavez-DeRemer and her aide asked employees to bring them wine during work trips. D’Esposito told his employees in an email after news of the investigation broke that the office “takes all allegations of fraud, waste, abuse and misconduct seriously” and that the complaint against Chavez-DeRemer “was likely to be of interest to our many stakeholders.”

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Lead Stories

Texas lawmakers to visit Camp Mystic in first meeting of Independence Day Floods investigatory committee

On Monday, ten Texas lawmakers will visit the Camp Mystic site where 25 campers and two counselors died during the Independence Day Floods. The lawmakers are members of the Texas House and Senate general investigating committees on the July 2025 flooding events. It will be the first time the two committees have met since their formation in the fall of last year. The goal of the committees is to examine the facts of what happened in the early morning hours of the July 4 floods, including the actions taken by youth camps, and identify ways to strengthen the state’s response to flooding and other natural disasters, according to a joint statement from Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

The campsite visit comes a week after a three-day evidentiary hearing in Travis County civil court, where owners and operators of the camp, the Eastland family, testified about their actions on the night of the flood. The hearing was part of a lawsuit filed by Cile Steward’s family, the 8-year-old camper who died in the flood and is still the only camper whose body has not been recovered. A judge in that lawsuit ordered the camp to stop all renovations to the campsite near the Guadalupe River. The hearing this past week centered on Camp Mystic’s challenge to that order. Attorneys representing the Steward family said in a statement they are grateful the committee members are visiting the campsite, and have a request for the lawmakers. “We would ask the Committee to stand outside Cile’s cabin, Twins II,” the statement reads. “Then look to the left at the loud speaker less than 50 feet away. Then look to the right at the two-story building less than 20 paces from her door. And then ask: if the Eastlands had used that speaker at any time to tell Cile to run to up those stairs to safety, would she still be alive?”

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Greg Abbott leans into his ties to Elon Musk. What will it mean for the midterms?

Gov. Greg Abbott told business leaders gathered in Fort Worth last month a familiar tale about how he helped lure Elon Musk to Texas. It was 2020, and the world’s richest man wanted to build a massive Tesla factory somewhere far from California’s onerous regulations. So the Republican governor got to work, directing agency appointees to speed up permitting processes for Tesla and waiving some all together. Musk later moved to Texas and recently assured the governor that “everything that he's going to be doing is going to be located in the state of Texas,” Abbott said.

The Republican governor, who is running for a record fourth term this year, has repeated a version of the spiel multiple times in recent months, holding Musk up as the state’s “leading economic developer.” According to Abbott’s office, Musk has invested more than $11.6 billion in his businesses here and is set to create more than 22,000 jobs. But Musk is more than just an eye-popping example of the success of the state’s business-friendly policies for Abbott to tout on the campaign trail. Their growing relationship comes as Musk has supercharged his political activity, becoming one of the biggest political benefactors in the nation. The upcoming midterms in Texas could provide a test of how much the tech titan is willing to engage in the politics of his new home state. While he spent nearly $300 million to help President Donald Trump claim the White House in 2024, Musk’s giving in Texas has so far been more limited — though it has begun to grow in the last couple of years. “At a moment in which Republicans are expressing some public concern about the outcome of the November elections in Texas, staying close to Musk and his resources is an essential activity for the leader of the state party,” said Joshua Blank, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. “They want to know they’ve got more artillery waiting for them if they need it.”

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U.A.E. asks U.S. about a wartime financial lifeline

The United Arab Emirates has opened talks with the U.S. about obtaining a financial backstop in case the Iran war plunges the oil-rich Persian Gulf state into a deeper crisis, U.S. officials said. U.A.E. Central Bank Gov. Khaled Mohamed Balama raised the idea of a currency-swap line with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasury and Federal Reserve officials in meetings in Washington last week, the officials said. The Emiratis emphasized that they had so far avoided the worst economic effects of the conflict but might still need a financial lifeline, the officials said. The talks highlighted the U.A.E.’s concern that the war could inflict major damage on its economy and its position as a global financial hub, depleting its foreign reserves and scaring away investors who once saw it as a stable and secure place for their money.

The conflict has damaged Emirati oil-and-gas infrastructure and shut off their ability to sell oil using tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz, depriving it of a key source of dollar revenues. Emirati officials haven’t made a formal request for a swap line, which would give the U.A.E. central bank inexpensive access to dollars to support its currency or shore up its foreign reserves in case of a liquidity crisis. In talks with the U.S. in recent days, they have portrayed the proposal as preliminary and precautionary, the U.S. officials said. But they have also argued that it was President Trump’s decision to attack Iran that entangled their country in a destructive conflict whose effects may not be over, some of the officials said. Emirati officials told the U.S. officials that if the U.A.E. runs short of dollars, it may be forced to use Chinese yuan or other countries’ currencies for oil sales and other transactions, some of the officials said.

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Trump Administration to begin refunding $166 billion in tariffs

When President Trump unveiled his sprawling global tariffs last spring, he boasted that they would generate windfall profits and “make America wealthy again.” But after suffering a significant Supreme Court defeat, Mr. Trump is about to pay the money back. The Trump administration on Monday is set to take its first steps toward returning more than $166 billion collected from tariffs that were struck down in February. Just over a year after imposing many of the duties, the government is expected to begin accepting requests for refunds, surrendering its prized source of revenue — plus interest. For some U.S. businesses, the highly anticipated refunds could be substantial, offering critical if belated financial relief. Tariffs are taxes on imports, so the president’s trade policies have served as a great burden for companies that rely on foreign goods. Many have had to choose whether to absorb the duties, cut other costs or pass on the expenses to consumers.

By Monday morning, those companies can begin to submit documentation to the government to recover what they paid in illegal tariffs. In a sign of the demand, more than 3,000 businesses, including FedEx and Costco, have already sued the Trump administration in a bid to secure their refunds, with some cases filed even before the Supreme Court’s ruling. But only the entities that officially paid the tariffs are eligible to recover that money. That means that the fuller universe of people affected by Mr. Trump’s policies — including millions of Americans who paid higher prices for the products they bought — are not able to apply for direct relief. The extent to which consumers realize any gain hinges on whether businesses share the proceeds, something that few have publicly committed to do. Some have started to band together in class-action lawsuits in the hopes of receiving a payout. Many business owners said they weren’t sure how easy the tariff refund process would be, particularly given Mr. Trump’s stated opposition to returning the money. Adding to the uncertainty, the administration has declined to say if it might still try to return to court in a bid to halt some or all of the refunds.

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State Stories

Demand tsunami: Energy leaders foresee exponential need as Texas economy expands

Could nuclear energy be key to Texas data center boom? Driven by economic growth, data centers and an increasingly urban population, industry leaders in Texas foresee energy demand increasing exponentially over the next decade. “We’ve had this relatively flat growth for the last two decades,” said Tony Robinson, president and CEO of nuclear power company Framatome. “That’s changed, and I think we’re using the wrong term. I don’t think it’s a surge in demand. I think it’s a tsunami.” Robinson cited the amount of power needed by data centers, for cloud computing and crypto mining, the state’s growing population along with all the electronic devices used by consumers as major contributions to this increase in energy needs. “The amount needed on a daily basis is astronomical,” he said. Robinson was one of several speakers at the Texas Christian University’s Ralph Lowe Energy Institute’s Global Energy Symposium on April 15, an annual event that looks at the state of the industry.

A year ago, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the nonprofit corporation that operates the state’s power grid, said the current power demand record for use in Texas was 85.5 gigawatts, set in August 2023. The organization now expects an estimated peak demand of 218 gigawatts by 2031. One single type of energy source is not going to provide the kind of power needed in the state or the nation, Robinson said. The state will need wind, solar, natural gas, geothermal and other forms of energy, he said. “It’s not going to be just oil and gas, it’s not going to be just nuclear,” he said. “We need all of the above.” Nuclear power can produce clean, fast and renewable energy, but can be hampered by public perception, said Brian Gitt, senior vice president of business development for Oklo Inc., a firm that designs fission reactors. Gitt compared a reactor to “a big tea kettle” that boils water to produce energy. Opponents said nuclear projects have significant issues to consider, including a lengthy approval process. “High up-front costs and first-of-a-kind deployment make advanced nuclear designs economically risky,” officials with environmental group CleanWisconsin said in a statement. “Although the Trump administration recently announced an $80 billion-plus commitment to help fund new reactors, there are plenty of reasons to be skeptical that these projects will materialize.”

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After ICE detentions, Elgin families find relief from surprise donor

In the final days before a court judgment threatened to push her property closer to foreclosure, Bricia felt hopelessness. Efforts by the 43-year-old Elgin resident, who has cancer, to sell her land to pay thousands in back property taxes had gone nowhere. Like many other residents of Elgin, a Hispanic-majority town 30 miles northeast of downtown Austin, Bricia had watched her household’s finances crumble after the detention of her husband, a Mexican immigrant and construction subcontractor who had lived in the country without legal authorization. Immigration arrests have continued to rise in Central and Southern Texas, leaving many without their primary source of income, as detailed in an April 12 American-Statesman story. But just before Bricia’s Wednesday court hearing, she and the other families featured in the Statesman’s story about the economic fallout following deportations became the recipients of unexpected help. A Houston businessman, Lee Ackerley, has pledged to give $10,000 to each featured family.

“Just felt sympathy for the people and wanted to reach out,” the soft-spoken Ackerley told the Statesman. “I don’t want to get into politics, but they seemed to be in need and I thought I could help.” Donations from Ackerly and others helped Bricia gather the money this week to pay Bastrop County for overdue property taxes under a payment plan. Although she still owes taxes, she’s no longer at immediate risk of the county moving to foreclose her house. Bricia asked the Statesman to withhold her last name due to fear of retribution. Ackerley’s support also helped Margarita, a Mexican baker who has remained in the United States after her husband was detained by immigration agents earlier this year because her 2-year-old-son has severe digestive health issues. (The Statesman is withholding Margarita’s last name because of her legal status.) A week ago, she was still $800 short on her April rent and unable to pay her electric and water bills. News of the donations “surprised me a lot,” Margarita said Wednesday. “It provides for everything that I had due today, the light, the water. Everything was due today.”

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2026 school bond elections include Texas' largest ever. Here’s what’s in it

Early voting starts Monday, and on the ballot in Dallas ISD is the state’s largest ever school bond package. The district’s $6.2 billion election is nearly twice the size of the last record- setter, when Dallas ISD put forward a $3.7 million package in 2020. Voters approved $3.5 billion. The bulk of this year’s package is the $5.9 billion Proposition A. If approved, it would build 26 replacement schools, including safety and security upgrades; add science labs, buses, technology, playgrounds and more; and renovate hundreds of other buildings and replace hundreds of portable classrooms. “I started my career in a portable, and I hope to end my career with zero portables in this district,” said former Dallas ISD chief of operations David Bates, who has since moved onto El Paso ISD. “We want to create additions at our campuses to eliminate all portable buildings."

Prop B, for $144.7 million, would add and upgrade technology for classrooms, staff, students. Prop C, for $143.3 million, would fund debt service refinancing. Prop D, for $23.25 million would repair and renovate district pool facilities. The district had considered putting forward a smaller package worth $4.9 billion but opted for the larger one. If approved, the total package would raise the average homeowner’s taxes by about $3 a month, or $30-$35 a year. Trustees argued the need for such a large bond is there. School board member Byron Sanders, who represents the area that includes South Oak Cliff High School, said it was losing students as grades slipped beforea2015 bond renovated and nearly completely modernized the school. “We went not only from building a new school and bringing back new kids, our academic trends started to rise over time too,” he said at a news conference earlier this year. “You also have the school that has the highest school effectiveness index score in the entire school district.”

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Dallas County leaders expect smoother city, school district elections after chaotic March primary

Early voting for May municipal elections begins Monday, and Dallas County leaders say they’re confident this election will go smoothly — a stark contrast to the chaotic, location-specific March primary Election Day. This election, voters can choose from 68 vote centers throughout early voting and on Election Day for 46 Dallas County city, school district and proposition elections. Elections Administrator Paul Adams said voters can feel comfortable casting their ballot. "Voters should not be worried," he said. "If they happen to be at lunch or out at work and not close to the vote center that's near their house, they will have an opportunity to vote at any location, whether that be near work, whether that'd be near where they're shopping, out for the day."

The election process will run similar to last November's general election — and all previous elections for more than a decade — instead of the recent separate, precinct-based primary elections. That’s because municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan — meaning there is no required party affiliation on the ballot, which is why there’s no primary like there is for state, congressional and U.S. senatorial races. "When you walk in ... you sign in and you cast your ballot," Adams said. "There will be no division by party like we saw back in March because none of these elections are partisan races.” The confusing March 3 voter experience came as a result of changes to that partisan primary process. Republican and Democratic parties have legal authority to conduct their primary Election Day jointly or separately, countywide or precinct-specific based on a voter's registered address. After the Dallas County Republican Party's decision for separate, precinct-based voting on Election Day, Dallas County's Democratic Party had to align their voting process. County officials estimate at least 30,000 voters showed up at that wrong location to vote on Primary Election Day. The county has authority over early voting operations, which was countywide for the primary election.

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GOP battle over Salazar’s Dignity Act immigration bill has Republicans lashing out, with Gill leading the way

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) has a message for those attacking her and her signature Dignity Act immigration reform and border security legislation: Bring it on. The South Florida congresswoman has faced an onslaught of criticism from right-wing commentators and from fellow Republicans in Congress over the bill over the last few weeks — complete with calls for primary challengers to end not only her career, but that of any GOP co-sponsor. “I welcome it,” Salazar said Thursday of the primary threats. “Those are the rules of the game.” “I like that game. It’s better than the Cuban game or the Venezuelan or the Iranian,” Salazar said. “It’s not pretty, it’s not perfect, it’s not comfortable, but it’s the American way of doing business.” Days earlier, she approached one of the fiercest Republican critics of her bill, Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), on the House floor. “I said, why don’t you explain to me what is it that you know that I don’t about immigration?” Salazar said of their conversation, adding it was “very nice” and that Gill had “some legitimate points.”

Salazar said that she pitched Gill on doing a public, perhaps televised, debate over her legislation. Asked about that conversation, Gill — first correcting a question about the measure by noting its official name is the Dignidad Act — said he had good conversations with both Salazar and Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), another one of the bill’s cosponsors. “We’re just diametrically opposed on this issue. I’m taking the conservative side and they’ve taken the Democrat side,” Gill said. “We are so wildly divergent on this issue. It’s hard to imagine how we reach some form of consensus.” As for a public debate about the bill, Gill said he would be open to doing something like that. “I think that the bill needs to be scrapped entirely. And we can start with something fresh, and maybe we can discuss that, but I think we’re pretty far off from the Dignidad Act being something that’s actionable,” Gill said. “I don’t think that anybody seriously thinks that I’m going to vote for this under any circumstances with any amendments to it whatsoever.” Under the legislation, those migrants in the country illegally prior to 2021 — who do not have criminal records — could pay $7,000 in restitution and any back taxes owed and get a new legal status. They would also not be eligible for welfare programs, and the legal status would not provide them a path to citizenship.

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LaMantia reviews RioPlex's high-level strategy meeting in Brownsville

Following lessons learned from a presentation by William Dietrich, CEO of the Port of Brownsville, RioPlex wants to start running workshops for contractors wishing to do business with tier one companies operating at the port. This was confirmed by Morgan LaMantia, a board member of RioPlex, at the conclusion of a high-level strategy meeting held by board members and visionary partners at the offices of Texas National Bank in Brownsville. One of the two top speakers was Dietrich. “It was a great meeting,” LaMantia said. “I think his (Dietrich’s) remarks were incredibly insightful and useful for it gives RioPlex a new goal that we need to start striving for. That is, creating workshops where we can bring in contractors and service providers that can service these tier one companies that are coming to into the Port of Brownsville and having workshops to be able to train them (the contractors and service providers) on how to respond to requests for services, for quotes, how to conduct themselves in interviews.”

LaMantia gave an exclusive interview to the RGG Business Journal at the conclusion of the strategy meeting. “We want to bring those groups together, those tier one businesses, with our local businesses, so that it is our local architects, our local contractors, our local subcontractors that are getting those jobs and getting those contracts (from the tier one companies),” LaMantia said. “So that we're keeping that value here in the (Rio Grande) Valley, and it's not leaving by going to companies out of San Antonio or Corpus.” It was put to LaMantia that Dietrich successfully walked a fine line in giving advice to the RioPlex board members on what local contractors should be doing to secure contracts from the tier one companies while also explaining that as a government official, he had to adhere to certain rules and regulations. But it was clear Dietrich wanted local contractors to do well.

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The Spurs are the most exciting team in the N.B.A.

Last June, Victor Wembanyama, a young center for the San Antonio Spurs, went to Zhengzhou, China, to study martial arts and meditation. Wembanyama, twenty-one at the time, was already known for his unconventional training methods. Even at seven feet four inches tall, with an eight-foot wingspan, he did handstands. He played speed chess in between bursts of cardio exercise to hone his pattern recognition and decision-making while under intense physical stress. He practiced (really) high kicks, astonishing his teammates. Wembanyama astonished people easily and often. He could dunk without jumping, and he blocked shots so easily that before long all it took to stop an opposing ball handler was an intimidating glare. But he could also dribble the ball up the court and drain step-back threes, or toss elegant little lobs to his high-flying teammates—not the sort of stuff associated with seven-footers. When he arrived in the N.B.A., in 2023, he was the most heralded rookie in recent memory, and the salient thing about him wasn’t his size. It was his audacity. But, last February, a little more than halfway through his second year in the league, he’d been diagnosed with deep-vein thrombosis in his shoulder, and he’d missed the rest of the season.

The narrow, specialized life of a professional basketball player had taxed his body past its limits. And so Wembanyama decided to expand those limits, any way he could. That June, he quietly went to the Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of the ancient discipline Shaolin kung fu, for ten days, to see what he could learn. His first question for the monk who oversaw his stay was whether he would have to shave his head in order to become “a true kung-fu practitioner.” Yes, the monk answered. And so Wembanyama sat down on the temple’s stone steps, and the monk got a razor and shaved off the center’s soft brown curls. “There was no ritual, no audience,” the monk later wrote, in an account of Wembanyama’s time at Shaolin. The monk was struck by the seriousness of his commitment. “When it was done, he touched his head and smiled.” Without Wembanyama last spring, the Spurs cratered, losing nineteen of their remaining thirty games. Once the paragon of consistent excellence—from the late nineties to the late twenty-tens, the Spurs made the playoffs every year, twenty-two seasons in a row—the team now seemed oriented toward the future, toward Wembanyama’s prime. But Wembanyama was not the type to wait around. The Spurs began this season 5–0, and even thrived for a time without Wembanyama, who sat out twelve games in November and early December with a strained calf. Things seemed different in San Antonio.

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Beyond inspiring, Cruz says moon missions are also a race against China

If you found yourself looking to the sky in awe during the Artemis II mission, you weren’t alone. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was right there with you. But geopolitics here on Earth is also joining our missions into space, as Sen. Cruz made it clear, America is in a race with China. "China has stated their intention to go to the moon, to land an astronaut on the surface of the moon by 2030. And we are going to beat China back to the moon. And we’re in the middle of what is, essentially, a land grab,” the Republican told us on Inside Texas Politics. Sen. Cruz says the most critical territory on the moon is near the southern pole, where there would be access to water. He says they’ve also mapped craters high enough to provide access to solar power that could power a lunar base.

“It is American policy,” Cruz said proudly. “We are going to create a lunar base, a base on the surface of the moon to engage in exploration, to engage in discovery. The funding is there.” The lawmaker says there won’t be a major cut to NASA’s budget, so these missions are expected to move full steam ahead. Artemis II was the first crewed flight that took humans the farthest we’ve ever been from Earth. The four astronauts used the 10-day mission to successfully fly around the moon and back using the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Artemis III, expected in mid-2027, will test our ability to rendezvous and dock between Orion and a private commercial spacecraft that will be used to land astronauts on the Moon. SpaceX and Blue Origin developed the commercial landers, and one or both will be tested during this docking mission in low Earth orbit. Artemis IV is the big one, with a target date of early 2028. This is when American astronauts will head back to the surface of the moon. The crew will transfer from Orion into the chosen lunar landers that will take them to the surface and back.

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San Antonio leaders eye long-term future for Pre-K 4 SA

Some San Antonio City Council members are pushing for an early renewal of Pre-K 4 SA, the city-funded early childhood education program. Pre-K 4 SA leaders laid out a budget for the upcoming fiscal year at a Wednesday City Council meeting that will maintain its current staffing and services. There are several more steps before that budget is approved, but council members were generally impressed with the program that educates 3- and 4-year-old children. Pre-K 4 SA proposed spending $62.3 million in its 2027 fiscal year budget, which will run from July 2026 to June 2027.

Council members proposed asking voters to renew the program for an even longer period of time before its 2029 expiration. A report published in January showed a strong need for more affordable early child care in San Antonio. The nonprofit will launch an online family search tool and assist early child care providers in extending child care to weekends and non-traditional hours for military families and other workers in the upcoming year, Baray said. Pre-K 4 SA is also a partner in the construction of Educare San Antonio, an early child care center for 200 children that will open at Texas A&M-San Antonio in August. Much of its work next year will stay the same. Sarah Baray, Pre-K 4 SA’s CEO, highlighted the addition of a new South Education Center in October 2025 and the launch of more robust planning and support for families that need to be connected to additional services, like housing, transportation and employment. The South Education Center has been more successful than anticipated, Baray said. “One of the data pieces that we collected is around instructional quality, which we thought might be a little lower than in our preschool programs to start, because it’s a new program,” she said. “Actually the baseline scores are very high. We’re very excited about that.” Pre-K 4 SA will maintain the exact same staffing levels as it had in the previous year — 502 employees. A majority of those will work at its preschools.

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Magnolia mayor facing assault charge has bonded out of Tarrant County Jail

Magnolia Mayor Matthew Dantzer was released from jail Friday after paying bond, days after he was arrested and accused of assaulting the city secretary in October. City Secretary Christian Gable in November filed a human resources complaint against Dantzer in which she claimed that he assaulted her when they were on a work trip in Fort Worth for a convention in October. Gable was pregnant at the time. Following an investigation by the Texas Rangers, Dantzer was arrested Tuesday on charges of assaulting a pregnant person and official oppression.

Dantzer's attorney, Douglas Atkinson, released a statement last month denying the allegations. “Mr. Dantzer maintains his innocence and looks forward to the opportunity to defend himself in the appropriate legal process. Mr. Dantzer remains dedicated to faithfully serving the citizens of the city of Magnolia,” Atkinson said in the statement. The mayor was arrested in Magnolia on Tuesday and taken to the Montgomery County Jail before being transferred to Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth. A Tarrant County Jail representative said that after Dantzer's $15,000 bond was paid, he was released on Friday. Gable has also filed a lawsuit against Dantzer and the city, alleging sexual harassment dating to 2021. When Gable filed her complaint last year, the city ordered an investigation into it. City officials, however, said no action was taken afterward as the outside firm looking into it determined the evidence was inconclusive. Gable's lawsuit alleges the city failed to adequately investigate the incident and that it violated the Whistleblower Act after she accused Dantzer of assault. Gable also alleged that she suffered bodily injury from the assault and that it led to the delivery of her baby two weeks early. The case will be prosecuted by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office.

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Tesla's robotaxis come to Dallas, Houston as Musk's vision takes shape

Tesla is rolling out its robotaxis in Dallas and Houston, the electric vehicle maker said on ?Saturday, marking further expansion of its nascent service in the ?United States since its Austin, Texas, launch last year. The company's official robotaxi account on X ?announced the launch and posted two videos showing its best-selling Model Y SUVs running in the two cities with no human driver or monitor in the front seats. It posted two map images outlining service ?boundaries, but did not ?disclose further details such as fleet size or pricing. "Try Tesla Robotaxi in Dallas & Houston!" CEO Elon Musk said ?reposting the X post. Tesla's move comes as the robotaxi business has regained momentum with Alphabet (GOOG)'s Waymo and Amazon' (AMZN)s Zoox speeding up expansion.

Expanding the ?robotaxi service ?and wider adoption of its ?full self-driving software, a version ?of which underpins the technology, is key to Tesla's growth strategy as Musk has pivoted the company's focus to artificial intelligence and robotics from EVs. Much of the company's $1.3 trillion valuation hinges on that bet. Tesla first deployed a small group of self-driving taxis in an area ?of Austin with human safety monitors ?and other restrictions. The company has since ?widened the service area ?and started removing the monitors. Last year, Tesla also started ?a ride-hailing service in the ?San Francisco Bay ?Area. Musk has promised to expand the robotaxi service rapidly in the U.S., but missed earlier predictions of its robotaxis operating ?widely in multiple ?U.S. metro areas by the end of 2025.

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John Whitmire calls Greg Abbott ICE fight futile; experts disagree

Mayor John Whitmire says the city must walk back its new policy limiting Houston police officers’ cooperation with federal immigration agents after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to pull $114 million in grants over the measure, saying fighting back would be “a waste of time.” But some council members are calling on the mayor to challenge state leaders – particularly since Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the city over its policy. Legal experts say Houston could have a good case, and that a judge could block Abbott from following through on his threat. Houston’s new policy eliminates a requirement that officers wait 30 minutes for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrive when they encounter someone with an immigration warrant. These are civil documents that do not on their own give officers the authority to make arrests.

Legal experts and the authors of the ordinance argue Houston’s new policy brings the city in line with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits officers from detaining people excessively. For instance, once the original reason for a traffic stop is addressed, a driver with an immigration warrant must be released even if federal agents have not reached the scene. But the measure – and similar policies in the cities of Austin and Dallas – has come under attack from Republicans. Paxton’s lawsuit alleges Houston’s policy violates a 2017 state law prohibiting cities and counties from “materially restricting” cooperation with ICE. And Abbott says the ordinance falls afoul of the terms of Houston’s agreements to receive federal public safety grants that are passed through the state. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld that 2017 law, called Senate Bill 4, after a lawsuit questioned whether parts of the bill were unconstitutional. But that case did not set a clear precedent, said Marc Levin, the Houston-based chief policy counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice. “A court hasn’t ruled on whether or not SB 4 is in conflict with the U.S. Constitution,” Levin said. “There hasn’t been a ruling on the points at issue here.”

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National Stories

Vance heads to new talks with Iran. At stake: peace and his own standing.

The vice president is scheduled to lead an American delegation back to Islamabad, Pakistan, this week for another round of in-person negotiations with Iran after failing to secure a deal just over a week ago. Whether the talks even occur seems in dispute. Hours after President Trump announced the trip on Sunday, Iranian state media said that Tehran had not yet agreed to any such meeting. Later, Mr. Trump announced that a Naval destroyer had attacked an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to skirt the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. The conditions for a new round of diplomacy were, at best, imperfect, and the stakes for a second failure high, both for ending a war that neither side seems to want to prolong and for Mr. Vance himself.

As a two-week cease-fire nears an end, and as Mr. Vance prepared for another long journey to Pakistan, Mr. Trump again threatened maximalist consequences if Iran failed to agree to his terms. “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” the president wrote on social media on Sunday. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” While Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, will also be at the talks, Mr. Vance is center stage, tasked with finding a way out of a war that is increasingly unpopular with Americans and that has continued to weaken the global economy and the vastly complex energy supply chain. It is also a conflict that Mr. Vance told Mr. Trump, during deliberations on whether to attack, could be seen as a betrayal to loyal voters who did not want more wars. He has nonetheless defended it publicly Mr. Vance spent 21 hours in Pakistan last weekend negotiating with the Iranians, only to walk away with no deal. Allies and adversaries alike say that if he is unable to make any progress this time, it will be the latest political setback, as the world watches, for a man who wants to succeed Mr. Trump.

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Authorities identify 8 young children shot and killed by a Louisiana father

Eight children, ranging in age from just 3 to 11 years old, were killed early Sunday morning in Shreveport, Louisiana, in a shocking act of violence that marks the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in more than two years. A father, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, fatally shot his seven children and a cousin, and critically wounded two women, including his wife, in a rampage across at least two locations before sunrise. After the shooting, which authorities described as “domestic in nature,” the gunman fled the area in a carjacked vehicle and was pursued by police, who shot and killed him. The Caddo Parish Coroner’s office identified the victims as Jayla Elkins, 3; Shayla Elkins, 5; Kayla Pugh, 6; Layla Pugh, 7; Markaydon Pugh, 10; Sariahh Snow, 11; Khedarrion Snow, 6; and Braylon Snow, 5.

As the shooting unfolded, some children tried to escape out the back door, said state Rep. Tammy Phelps during a news conference with other city officials. A 13-year-old boy escaped from the roof and was injured, police said. Much about the circumstances and the motive of the shooting remains unclear. “This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” Mayor Tom Arceneaux said in a news conference. As police continue to piece together what led to the massacre, here’s what we know so far. Police first responded to reports of shots fired in the Cedar Grove community of Shreveport, a northwestern Louisiana city with about 180,000 residents, just after 6 a.m. local time Sunday morning, according to Shreveport Police Cpl. Chris Bordelon. Police believe Elkins first shot his wife at a residence on Harrison Street. Then he went to another home on West 79th St., where he shot the eight children and the other woman, the mother of the eighth child killed.

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Meet Tony Lyons and his $100 million quest to boost RFK Jr.’s MAHA movement’s midterms clout

Tony Lyons, longtime book publisher for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seems to be everywhere in the Make America Healthy Again movement. He has raised what he said would be as much as $100 million toward Republicans in the midterms and convened scientists at a hotel near the White House to discuss vaccine injuries and other health topics. His efforts also include spending millions on a Super Bowl ad on nutrition featuring Mike Tyson, and bringing together representatives from Google, Walmart and other firms for a “MAHA Summit” that offered corporate sponsorships at rates from $250,000 to $1 million. The end goal: proving to the White House that the MAHA coalition is a reliable voting bloc, and that it would be wise to give more priority to Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy’s agenda after the midterms.

“If Secretary Kennedy is going to complete the mission of really trying to stand up to these corrupt companies, to these corrupt agencies…he has to have more time,” Lyons said in an interview. The challenge for Lyons, a member of Kennedy’s inner circle who runs the political operation behind the MAHA movement, is motivating a growing group of Kennedy fans who are sharply critical of the administration’s recent moves on pesticides and other actions and want MAHA groups to amp up their criticisms. Worries at the White House about the unpopularity of Kennedy’s vaccine agenda led to a recent shake-up at the top ranks of his department. MAHA “needs to distinctly be its own thing that will eventually transcend MAGA when this term is over,” said Alex Clark, an influencer whose “Culture Apothecary” podcast was an introduction to MAHA causes for many conservative women. “Tying it to one admin is a mistake and could cut the legs off its longevity,” said Clark, who was recently among the activists invited to the White House in a bid to win back MAHA support. Lyons—who wears many hats in the movement without getting paid, he says—wrangles a long list of groups, influencers and donors and urges them to support the administration and make MAHA a deciding factor in the coming midterm elections.

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Comer warns ‘something sinister’ may be behind deaths, disappearances of 11 nuclear, space-linked scientists

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., warned Sunday that "something sinister could be happening" after 11 scientists mainly tied to the U.S. nuclear and space research programs reportedly died or went missing under mysterious circumstances, raising urgent national security concerns. Comer said on "Fox & Friends Weekend" that when he first heard about the disappearances, they sounded like "some kind of crazy conspiracy theory." But the details of the case changed his mind and prompted him to alert multiple government agencies. "We've put a notice out to the Department of War, to the FBI, to NASA, to the Department of Energy, that we want to know everything that they know about what happened with these scientists, because those four agencies were predominantly the agencies that those 11 individuals were affiliated with. And we want to try to piece this together."

Comer plans to bring the leaders of these offices before Congress, but said he sent the letters first to allow them time to ensure their testimony would not compromise any potentially classified investigations. He said he hoped anyone with information would bring it to the Oversight Committee, and that anyone affiliated with America's nuclear program should be on alert, given the possible security risks to the nation. "We know there are many countries around the world that would love to have our knowledge and nuclear capabilities. And these are the people that were at the forefront of it, and they're either dead or missing." Missing or deceased figures include experimental propulsion researcher Amy Eskridge, 34; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. William "Neil" McCasland, 68; NASA scientist Monica Jacinto Reza, 60; contractor Steven Garcia, 48; astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, 47; Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Nuno Loureiro, 47; NASA engineer Frank Maiwald, 61; Los Alamos–linked employees Melissa Casias, 53, and Anthony Chavez, 79; NASA researcher Michael David Hicks, 59; and pharmaceutical scientist Jason Thomas, 45.

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Hegseth recites 'Pulp Fiction' speech at Pentagon prayer service

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, leading a Pentagon prayer meeting, quoted a fictional Bible verse taken from a violent monologue in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film “Pulp Fiction,” originally delivered by actor Samuel L. Jackson just before his character shoots a helpless man to death. Hegseth told the audience at a monthly Pentagon worship service Wednesday that he learned the prayer from the lead mission planner of the “Sandy 1” team that recently rescued downed Air Force crew members in Iran. Hegseth said the verse frequently is spoken by combat search-and-rescue crews, who call the prayer “CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17” from the Bible.

“And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother,” Hegseth recited. “And you will know my call sign is Sandy 1, when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” The infamous Ezekiel 25:17 speech from “Pulp Fiction” is almost entirely a screenwriter’s creation; only the final refrain is loosely inspired by the actual biblical verse. The majority of the monologue in Tarantino’s film is adapted from the opening of the 1970s Japanese martial arts film “The Bodyguard,” with action star Sonny Chiba. Hegseth’s minute-long prayer closely followed those scripts, with only the last two lines resembling language from the Bible. In Hegseth’s version, he replaced “and they shall know that I am the Lord” from the book of Ezekiel with the call sign for a U.S. A-10 Warthog aircraft. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said some outlets accused Hegseth of mistaking Jackson’s performance with actual Scripture, and called that narrative “fake news.”

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Republicans stare down a growing, neverending FISA crisis

Hill Republican leaders are finding themselves in a never-ending crisis over the fate of a government spy law that has unleashed a bitter, intraparty battle within the House while also threatening to derail a host of other GOP priorities. Republicans now have scant legislative days to build new plans to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. But President Donald Trump, GOP leaders and White House officials have failed to come up with a workable framework for months — and there is no agreement yet on the path forward. Some House Republicans hope they’re in the final stages of massaging a multi-year extension that would incorporate some minor changes intended to pacify privacy hawks. Others are already predicting they’ll face the same internal schisms come April 30, when the current short-term extension runs out.

For many Republicans, the high-drama meltdown in the House was entirely predictable and has been months in the making, after Trump demanded a clean extension of the surveillance law despite well-documented skepticism within his own party. “A trainwreck,” was how Tennessee Republican Rep. Andy Ogles described it, as he walked off the House floor in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning. Speaker Mike Johnson had just tried and failed to secure a long-term reauthorization after days of ultimately fruitless negotiations across his conference. “I don’t know how we solve it,” said one House Republican of the current impasse, granted anonymity to speak candidly. It’s gotten to the point where Senate Republicans, who have until now largely taken a back seat on FISA, are warning they are prepared to grab the wheel if the House can’t figure it out. “We’ve just got to have optionality here,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Friday of the path forward, shortly after clearing the House-passed, 10-day emergency Section 702 extension to avert a looming expiration. “I don’t know what the House is going to be able to do, and so we’ll be preparing accordingly.”

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Lead Stories

Mike Miles cancels moonlighting contract with his former charter school network

Houston ISD pays its state-appointed superintendent, Mike Miles, a base salary of $462,000, and the district also gave him a bonus of $173,660 approved by its state-appointed board in September. Yet, all along, the leader of Texas’ largest school district has also been moonlighting—earning another $190,000 over the past three years, according to receipts obtained by the Texas Observer, as a consultant for Third Future Schools (TFS), the Colorado-based charter school network he founded and previously led. In February, he renegotiated his TFS consulting contract to receive $30,000 per quarter—a 58 percent raise over his prior pay, based on documents the Observer obtained from a source. Miles’ contract with Houston ISD allowed him to do outside consulting. But his February agreement may have violated a 2025 state law that restricts moonlighting by administrators.

House Bill 3372, which took effect June 22, 2025, bans public school administrators from moonlighting for companies that do business with their districts. It also bans superintendents and assistant superintendents from moonlighting for other school districts, charter schools, or education companies that provide curriculum or administration services to any district. (The law allows lower-level administrators to moonlight for the latter group of entities if their school board approves.) In response to a question about Miles’ February consulting agreement with TFS, an HISD spokesperson initially told the Observer in an April 7 email that Miles had complied with the new law: “Superintendent Miles has disclosed his prior affiliation with Third Future Schools, and all related matters have been reviewed to ensure compliance with HB 3372, District policy, and applicable legal requirements, with no impact on his duties leading Houston ISD.” But after the Observer emailed questions to members of Houston ISD’s appointed school board, including a copy of the February agreement, the Houston ISD spokesperson emailed again, saying that Miles had cancelled the contract after it had “been carefully reviewed for compliance with HB 3372.” On April 8, the spokesperson wrote: “Following that review, Superintendent Miles proactively canceled his contract and will not accept any financial benefits from Third Future Schools, ensuring full alignment with the law. He remains fully focused on leading Houston ISD and delivering results for students.” No member of the Houston ISD board responded to the Observer’s questions.

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National Stories

Gov. Josh Shapiro doubles down on his fight against rising electricity prices

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is picking fights with the country’s largest power grid operator and the state’s biggest utility company over rising costs — and he’s already notched some wins. In an exclusive interview with NOTUS, Shapiro doubled down on his threat to pull Pennsylvania out of PJM Interconnection, which currently serves 13 states including Pennsylvania. “Pennsylvania is no longer going to be held captive to PJM,” Shapiro said. “We put forth some very specific proposals I wanted to see them do to reform themselves. They have not yet adopted those, and I’ve been very clear that they’re either going to adopt them or they’re going to lose Pennsylvania.”

Shapiro, who was at a bipartisan energy-focused meeting with other governors Thursday, declined to provide a specific deadline on his ultimatum, but said “the ball is in their court.” PJM is facing extensive criticism from state leaders and power developers, who say that the organization has failed to properly plan for rapidly increasing electricity demand. Shapiro’s tactics show how grid operators and utility companies have become increasingly appealing targets for politicians looking for someone to blame in the developing electricity price crisis. Utility companies are also facing heat. On Thursday, just after the meeting, Shapiro’s office announced that the governor convinced Pennsylvania’s largest utility to voluntarily withdraw a large planned rate hike — an exceptionally rare occurrence. PECO, the state’s largest natural gas and electric company that serves Philadelphia and most of the surrounding counties, requested a 12.5% hike in electricity rates last week, which Shapiro called “pure greed.” On Thursday, just eight days after it announced the rate hike request, PECO withdrew its plans for the increase, citing “conversations with Governor Josh Shapiro” as part of the reason for changing course.

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Copyright April 26, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved