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.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KOSA - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - 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.

Read this article at Texas Public Radio - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

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.

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

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.

Read this article at Bloomberg - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at CBS News - Subscribers Only

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.

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

‘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.

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

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.

Read this article at ABC 13 - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at NOTUS - Subscribers Only

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."

Read this article at Reuters - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at CNBC - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at NOTUS - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at WAFB - Subscribers Only

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."

Read this article at Houston Public Media - Subscribers Only

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.).

Read this article at Punchbowl News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KXAN - Subscribers Only

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."

Read this article at Fox News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Spectrum News - Subscribers Only

‘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.”

Read this article at Dallas Observer - Subscribers Only

‘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."

Read this article at Houston Public Media - Subscribers Only

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."

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at San Antonio Report - Subscribers Only

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.”

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.”

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

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.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Baylor Lariat - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Texas Observer - Subscribers Only

County Stories

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Reuters - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Reuters - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

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.

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

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at El Paso Times - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at WFAA - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Chron - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Religion News Service - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Spectrum News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at MyRGV - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at CBS News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Fox News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Bloomberg - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Fox News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Houston Public Media - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at The Real Deal - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Baptist News Global - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Fort Worth Report - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Dallas Business Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Texas Public Radio - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at CNBC - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Washington Examiner - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

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?”

Read this article at KXAN - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Fort Worth Report - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KERA - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Rio Grande Guardian - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at The New Yorker - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at KHOU - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Reuters - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at San Antonio Report - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Fox News - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Los Angeles Times - Subscribers Only

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.”

Read this article at Politico - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at Texas Observer - Subscribers Only

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.

Read this article at NOTUS - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

Trump picks top Texas health official for CDC deputy director

President Donald Trump has chosen Dr. Jennifer Shuford, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, to serve as deputy director and chief medical officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trump announced Shuford’s selection among a slate of CDC hires in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, including his pick for CDC director, Dr. Erica Schwartz. “These Highly Respected Doctors of Medicine have the knowledge, experience, and TOP degrees to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC,” Trump said in his post. Schwartz, who served as deputy surgeon general during Trump’s first term, must have her nomination confirmed by the U.S. Senate before she can assume the role. As deputy, Shuford will not have to undergo a Senate confirmation process.

Shuford has led DSHS in Texas since 2022 after serving as the state’s chief epidemiologist and helping to lead the COVID-19 response here. She trained as an infectious disease physician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and has a Master of Public Health from Harvard University. In a news release, representatives for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), of which Shuford is a board member, praised her appointment. "Dr. Shuford has demonstrated exceptional leadership and a steadfast commitment to evidence-based public health," said Dr. Joseph Kanter, CEO of ASTHO. "Her experience leading one of the nation's largest and most complex state health agencies — particularly her work as a frontline infectious disease physician and chief state epidemiologist — makes her uniquely qualified to help lead CDC." As commissioner of DSHS, Shuford oversaw the state’s response to the West Texas measles outbreak of 2025 and publicly spoke about the importance of vaccination to prevent the disease’s spread. Schwartz, too, has been a vocal supporter of vaccines — in contrast to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has questioned the efficacy and safety of vaccines. KUT News has reached out to HHS for additional comments on Shuford’s selection and a timeline for her transition into the role. KUT News has also reached out to Shuford for comment. The executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will be responsible for finding a new DSHS leader once Shuford leaves her post.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

Behind Trump’s public bravado on the war, he grapples with his own fears

It seemed like Donald Trump’s appetite for risk had run out, and his fears were ramping up. It was Good Friday afternoon in a nearly empty West Wing soon after the president learned that an American jet had been shot down in Iran, with two airmen missing. Trump screamed at aides for hours. The Europeans aren’t helping, he said repeatedly. Gas prices averaged $4.09. Images of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis—one of the biggest international policy failures of a presidency in recent times—had been looming large in his mind, people who have spoken to him said. “If you look at what happened with Jimmy Carter…with the helicopters and the hostages, it cost them the election,” Trump had said in March. “What a mess.” Trump demanded that the military go get them immediately. But the U.S. hadn’t been on the ground in Iran since the government overthrow that led to the hostage crisis, and they needed to figure out how to get into treacherous Iranian terrain and avoid Tehran’s own military.

Aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful, instead updating him at meaningful moments, a senior administration official said. One airman was recovered quickly, but it wasn’t until late Saturday that Trump received word that the second airman had been rescued in a high-stakes extraction. What could’ve turned into the lowest point in Trump’s two terms, wouldn’t. After 2 a.m., Trump, too, went to bed. Six hours later, the chest-thumping president was back with another audacious gamble to loosen Iran’s grip on its most powerful point of leverage, the Strait of Hormuz. “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” he blasted on social media Easter morning from the White House residence, adding an Islamic prayer to the post. A president who thrives on drama is bringing an even more intense version of his unorthodox, maximalist approach to a new situation—fighting a war. He is veering between belligerent and conciliatory approaches and grappling behind the scenes with just how badly things could go wrong. At the same time, the president sometimes loses focus, spending time on the details of his plans for the White House ballroom or on midterm fundraisers—and telling advisers he wants to shift to other topics.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

Dallas Police Association calls Gov. Abbott's threat to pull funding because of immigration orders 'deeply concerning'

Two days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold public safety funding from the city of Dallas, the Dallas Police Association has issued a statement calling the threat "deeply concerning." In the statement, DPA President Sean Pease said the threat to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding isn't just concerning for Dallas police officers, but for the safety of Dallas residents as well. "Let me be clear: the men and women of the Dallas Police Department have always supported our federal partners, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, every time they have called upon us," Pease wrote. "However, our primary responsibility is, and must remain, responding to the residents of Dallas who call 911 for help."

Currently, Pease wrote, the Dallas Police Department is about 700 officers short, even as officers work to improve emergency response times. And any priority shift that pulls officers away from those emergency calls, he said, puts the community at risk. Threatening critical funding, Pease says, creates unneeded strain on DPD, which is already facing serious staffing shortages. "The current general orders of the Dallas Police Department are designed to ensure officers can focus on local public safety — responding to violent crime, protecting victims, and maintaining trust with the community," Pease wrote. "These policies do not prevent cooperation with federal authorities; they ensure that Dallas officers are not diverted from their core mission during routine policing." Pease said DPD remains committed to working with all of its partners, including federal, state and local, but that the department's most important duty is helping the people of Dallas.

Read this article at WFAA - Subscribers Only

In red states, anti-immigrant bills are failing as businesses push back

In Tennessee, a bill championed by White House adviser Stephen Miller would allow public schools to deny enrollment to undocumented children. In Idaho, employers would have been forced to use the government E-Verify system to stop undocumented immigrants from getting jobs. In Utah, undocumented immigrants would have been denied public assistance for vaccines or food for pregnant mothers. But businesses and Christian groups helped block each of those proposals from becoming law. “Business leaders across various industries are nervous about the many immigration-focused bills being proposed or that have recently passed at the state level, which negatively impact the workforce,” said Jennie Murray, president of the National Immigration Forum, an advocacy organization that represents Fortune 500 companies.

In fact, of the roughly 200 bills targeting legal and undocumented immigrants in state legislatures this year, fewer than two dozen have made it into law so far, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the American Immigration Council. More than 80 of the measures have died, multiple were vetoed, and dozens more have made little progress this spring legislative season, although several state legislatures are still in session. Many of the bills share common goals and similar texts, and they reflect the immigration enforcement priorities of the Trump administration. But much of the most aggressive legislation has stalled after failing to gain traction, even in red states such as Alabama, Florida, Mississippi and Idaho. “Still crazy that Idaho legislators are killing every single bill we got on illegal immigration,” Republican Idaho state Sen. Brian Lenney wrote on X on March 17. In Utah, Republican state Rep. Cheryl Acton called a bill that would have denied public services to undocumented immigrants a “violation, really, of the Sermon on the Mount.”

Read this article at Washington Post - Subscribers Only

American Airlines pours cold water on talk of United merger

Speculation about a merger between Fort Worth-based American Airlines and Chicago-based United Airlines can be put to rest — at least according to one of the parties involved. On Friday evening, American issued a statement addressing the merger rumors, saying the airline isn’t considering joining forces with its competitor. “American Airlines is not engaged with or interested in any discussions regarding a merger with United Airlines,” the statement read. Earlier in the week, Reuters reported that United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby had floated the merger idea during a meeting with President Donald Trump in February.

American is the second-largest airline in the U.S. by market share behind Delta Airlines, and United is fourth behind Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, though there’s a relatively small gap between first and fourth place. But American ranks far behind Delta and United in terms of profitability. A United spokesperson declined to comment when asked about Kirby’s pitch to the president. Any potential merger likely would have met antitrust opposition. Still, during an April 7 interview with CNBC, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an airline merger when asked if it could happen. A merger would be subject to regulatory approval, but Duffy said the president “loves to see big deals happen.” American’s statement Friday went on to say that a merger with United would hurt competition and negatively affect customers. “Our focus will remain on executing on our strategic objectives and positioning American to win for the long term,” the statement read.

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

State Stories

Dallas GOP pushes to undo runoff voting shift. Election officials say not so fast.

With Dallas County GOP Chair Allen West’s resignation, party leaders still want to overturn his decision to allow countywide voting in the May 26 runoff and reinstate precinct-based voting for all voters. But Dallas County’s elections chief has already said there is not enough time to do that. After thousands were turned away at polls on March 3 due to confusion tied to precinct-based voting forced by Republicans, West amended the party’s contract with the elections department to let voters cast ballots at any vote center, regardless of address.

West said he did so to protect the party from potential litigation, but the unilateral action was counter to a vote 200 members of his executive committee took last year to use precinct-based voting for the 2026 primary cycle – and set off fury that led to calls for his ouster. West stepped down Wednesday, days before a planned vote by the committee to call for his resignation over backlash to his handling of runoff voting. Members of the county Republican Party’s executive committee say the amendment signed by West without their authorization is invalid and precinct-based voting should stand for the runoff for federal, state and local offices. Precinct Chair Stan Woodward told The Dallas Morning News last week party members “are evaluating all legal options” to require the county to honor the original contract for precinct-based voting. While a party chair signs the agreement, he pointed to Texas election code that states county election officers contract with a county party’s executive committee to perform election services. “They’re over there operating with essentially an illegal contract,” Woodward said. “That’s why we are looking to have this reversed in any way.”

Read this article at WFAA - Subscribers Only

Toby Neugebauer departs as Fermi America’s CEO

Fermi America CEO Toby Neugebauer departed his role as the company’s CEO on April 17, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fermi’s board of directors has created an interim office of the CEO, which will include Jacobo Ortiz, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, and Anna Bofa, an observer on the company’s Board. In its first year, Fermi America raised around $1.8 billion in capital, around $785 million from IPO gross proceeds on NASDAQ and the London Stock Exchange, and around $885 million in equipment financing.

During Fermi’s most recent earnings call on March 30, Neugebauer announced that the company would pursue a potential expansion. The Project Matador site has expanded from its planned 5,769 acres to around 7,570 acres through adjacent land acquisitions, which Fermi said are either closed or under contract. Fermi’s filing with the SEC said the company expects to release additional information on Monday. We’ve reached out to Fermi America and will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Read this article at Amarillo Tribune - Subscribers Only

Houston's Friedkin outbid in MLB-record shattering $3.9 billion sale of San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres are nearing a deal to be sold to private-equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal values the Padres at around $3.9 billion—the highest valuation ever achieved by a Major League Baseball team, the people said. The previous record was Steve Cohen’s $2.4 billion purchase of the New York Mets in 2020. The deal for the Padres, which have been owned by the Seidler family since 2012, is expected to be announced early next week, the people said. Jones and Feliciano, a co-founder and managing partner of Clearlake Capital, beat out a group of bidders that included Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob and businessman Dan Friedkin. Several bids were over $3.5 billion, some of the people said.

Born in Puerto Rico, Feliciano has a net worth of around $3.9 billion, according to Forbes. He worked at Goldman Sachs before starting Clearlake in 2006 with fellow managing partner Behdad Eghbali. While most of the firm’s investments have been in traditional technology, industrial and consumer businesses, Clearlake also has experience in sports. In 2022, it teamed up with investor Todd Boehly to buy Chelsea Football Club for more than $5 billion. Jones is the CEO of Supercharged, a media and personal development company. She is the co-founder of the Kwanza Jones & José E. Feliciano Initiative, an investment and philanthropic platform that has committed nearly $500 million. She and Feliciano met when they were both students at Princeton where Jones was a track-and-field athlete. Feliciano and Jones will be the first Puerto Rican and African-American majority owners in MLB. The two will each have an equal economic stake, but Feliciano will be the MLB-recognized controlling owner, according to people familiar with the matter. Merchant bank BDT & MSD advised the Padres on the sale.

Read this article at Wall Street Journal - Subscribers Only

State politics shape rarely-contested Alamo Heights ISD races

“We are a consensus board,” is a phrase Ty Edwards often uses to describe the Alamo Heights Independent School District Board of Trustees, in which he’s served on for three years. Covering nine square miles in the cities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, Olmos Park and a sliver of San Antonio’s North Side, AHISD serves around 4,800 students and has a B-rating from the state for “recognized performance” in student achievement. Less than 20% of students are considered economically disadvantaged, and enrollment has stayed consistent for years, even as other neighboring districts keep losing students. Alamo Heights ISD is what education experts call a “destination district,” consistently attracting families from outside of its boundaries.

Usually untouched by contentious elections or board disagreements, the AHISD board could face shakeups from two races on the general May election this year. The two trustees up for reelection — Edwards in Place 3 and Hunter Kingman in Place 4 — both drew challengers from a group of parents concerned with AHISD’s handling of new “parents’ rights” laws. In January, district officials canceled an author’s visit to its two elementary schools after a handful of parents complained about the mention of the LGBTQ+ community in one of the writer’s other books. The cancellation quickly drew backlash from families concerned that the complaints had an outsized effect on all students. But officials said they were being cautious in response to Senate Bill 12, a parent choice bill passed during the 2025 state legislative session that limits classroom discussion of gender identity, sexual orientation, race and topics of diversity, equity and inclusion. Unsatisfied with the district’s response, parents informally picked two moms from their ranks to run: Lindsey Saldana for Place 3 and Bianca Cerqueira for Place 4, who have been supporting each other’s campaigns.

Read this article at San Antonio Report - Subscribers Only

2nd lawsuit against border wall construction in Big Bend region

An environmental watchdog group on Thursday filed another lawsuit to stop border wall construction in the Big Bend region of Texas. The Center for Biological Diversity filed Thursday’s lawsuit in federal court in El Paso against the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This came a week after the nonprofit had filed a lawsuit to stop border wall barrier construction in Big Bend in the same Western District of Texas Court.

Thursday’s lawsuit was filed with the nonprofit group Friends of the Ruidosa Church, and a Big Bend river guide and landowner alleging the Trump administration unconstitutionally waived dozens of environmental laws to fast track border wall construction through the Big Bend region. It also says the administration exceeded its power legally granted by Congress. And violated the Constitution, including the major questions doctrine, which requires clear congressional approval for actions with vast economic and political consequences. “Because Congress did not clearly authorize DHS or U.S. Customs and Border Protection to create a complete, cross-continental border-length wall, the Secretary’s efforts to do so through serial waivers, and particularly the Big Bend Waiver, violates the major questions doctrine and thus the Constitution’s separation of powers principles,” the 38-page lawsuit says. The lawsuit says the “unconstitutional repeal of bedrock environmental and historic protections and dozens of other federal laws to expedite massive border wall construction on the Texas Mexico border will destroy iconic sections of the Rio Grande corridor.” On April 7, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Texas Civil Rights Project filed a complaint in the same federal court against CBP for more information on border wall plans. That complaint charged the government was withholding public records on construction plans for border barriers through Big Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park, as well as the surrounding region.

Read this article at Border Report - Subscribers Only

Growing Fort Worth suburb tangled in lawsuit heads toward critical election featuring a few familiar Capitol characters

Willow Park, a growing city west of Fort Worth, is heading toward an election that could flip the balance of its five-member City Council — as it grapples with crumbling roads, new home developments and a lawsuit filed by neighboring cities. Three at-large City Council seats in Willow Park — a city of nearly 7,000 along the lucrative I-20 corridor — are up for grabs on May 2. The three incumbents, Nathan Crummel, Scott Smith and Buddy Wright, are aligned against Marci Galle, Houston Wingard and Roy Kurban. Early voting starts Monday, April 20. The city, which Crummel calls “the gateway to Parker County,” took in around 2,000 new residents in the last six years.

Just shy of 800 voted in the city’s last election, making low voter turnout a concern on both sides. “We’re not looking to keep things the same,” Wright said of himself and fellow incumbents. “We see potential ... and their side seems to be afraid of growth. They’re afraid of development. They’re afraid of change.” The challengers have the support of prominent conservatives and the city’s relatively fresh mayor, Teresa Palmer. Palmer’s tenure, which began in May 2025 after she defeated Doyle Moss, has seen the resignation of two city council members and the city attorney last year. The city manager was also voted out. The election could flip the way the city is governed. Palmer is a fierce advocate of Willow Park becoming a home rule city. Texas cities can either be general law, meaning state statutes dictate its powers and duties, or home rule, meaning a city operates based on its own charter, as long as that charter does not conflict with state law. She appointed 12 people, including Wingard, Kurban, Galle’s daughter Gwendolyn, and former Republican state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, who represented suburban Fort Worth from 2013-21. The committee proposed adding a sixth council member and giving the mayor voting power. “It’ll get more citizens involved in managing our city,” Wingard said. “Not just a small group at city hall.” While the charter will not be voted on in the upcoming election, the slate of challengers said, if elected, they will make it a priority. Wingard, a Lockheed Martin retiree, said part of what riled him up to run was what he believed to be coordinated mistreatment of the mayor by City Council and staff. Palmer has faced harsh critics.

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

Dallas man convicted of threatening judges in Texas and New York

A federal jury convicted a Dallas man of sending letters threatening to kill federal judges and mailing a white powder intended to resemble biological weapon to a Fort Worth courthouse. Donald Ray McCray, 67, was found guilty Wednesday on three counts of mailing threats to federal courthouses in North Texas and New York, and one count of sending a hoax biological weapon to the federal courthouse in Fort Worth. The trial lasted two days and jurors deliberated for just one hour before convicting McCray.

Prosecutors said McCray sent the letters while incarcerated in a Texas state prison. In March 2025, he mailed letters to clerks at federal courthouses in Fort Worth and Amarillo threatening to kill state and federal employees, including judges. The letters contained white powder. In one instance, one of McCray’s letters containing white powder triggered an emergency response at Fort Worth’s federal courthouse. The building was shut down, and authorities enacted an emergency response to make sure the substance was safe. McCray appeared at a federal court hearing shortly after the indictment in June 2025 and made additional threats against government employees and judges. “With this verdict, North Texas residents held the defendant accountable for his threats and attempts to undermine our judiciary,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement.

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

‘La Gordiloca’ lost at the Supreme Court but won in Laredo

It’s the day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive her lawsuit against the local officials who orchestrated her arrest nearly a decade ago, and Laredo citizen-journalist Priscilla Villarreal is on Facebook Live to deliver a much-awaited statement. For several minutes, viewers are treated to little more than the radio playing in the background and a scowl that would be the envy of an old-school cop shop reporter. The delay is a tactic; Villarreal is waiting until enough people have started watching to begin her stream-of-consciousness diatribe. Then, the music changes to English band Chumbawamba’s 1997 hit “Tubthumping,” with its on-the-nose refrain of “You’re not ever gonna keep me down.”

Despite the dire concern about press freedoms that the ruling in her case has created among mainstream journalists and First Amendment experts, the social media personality and provocateur known as “La Gordiloca” is defiant, as she explains the prosecution had only managed to raise her profile. “I’m already in the lawbooks; that’s enough for me,” Villarreal said on the March 24 livestream before switching into expletive-filled Spanish. “This was a fucking nine-year squeeze that had everybody shitting themselves. And if you mess with me again, we’ll go back to fucking court.” Villarreal’s oft-recounted origin story is that in 2015, she livestreamed the aftermath of a murder-suicide on her Facebook page, garnering her attention across Laredo and unexpectedly launching her journalism career.

Read this article at Texas Observer - Subscribers Only

Crypto-powered payment option MegPrime introduced by D-FW homebuilder

A platform tied to a Dallas homebuilder launched a crypto-backed payment and rewards program that could be a pathway for homebuilders into the world of cryptocurrency. MegPrime, a payment platform powered by its own digital currency, launched its app and incentive program on Wednesday. The incentive program offers incentives up to $15,000 to homebuyers while their home is under construction. The program uses cryptocurrency as an interface in one of the first instances of cryptocurrency being used by a homebuilder in this way. MegPrime’s launch was sparked by the Dallas homebuilder Megatel Homes, which will be the first builder to use the payment program. Zach Ipour, the CEO of MegPrime and Megatel Homes, said that while a home is being built, Megatel will offer $1,500 per month through MegPrime in the form of its own cryptocurrency to customers.

Depending on the size of a home, it can take four to 12 months to build a home. During that time, buyers may be making rent or mortgage payments on their current home using the MegPrime app. “You’re already paying that rent regardless, you just choose to pay that through the MegPrime pay and receive $1,500 incentives for that,” Ipour said in an interview. The cryptocurrency token can be converted into dollars or other forms of currency, which Ipour said is part of the benefit of using cryptocurrency. He also said the platform is designed for people who aren’t necessarily crypto savvy. “We didn’t build this because the world needed another cryptocurrency,” Ipour said in a news release. “We built it to solve a real need, and we used homeownership as our starting point. Crypto is just the architecture of the solution.” Megatel is the first builder to use the platform and Ipour said he hopes the platform is used by more builders, eventually becoming a regularly used platform, similar to PayPal. MegPrime is working with other builders to have them use MegPrime, he said. MegPrime is basing its ability to create its cryptocurrency-powered platform on a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The January letter signaled the staff of the regulatory body would not recommend enforcement action against the company. Companies can request a no-action letter if they are unsure if a product or service would be a violation of federal securities law and want clarification from the commission.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Lockheed Martin lands $4.7B PAC-3 missile production deal

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $4.7 billion contract by the U.S. government to accelerate production of its PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors. “With the right tools, proven processes and skilled employees in place, we are positioned to deliver a record number of munitions in support of the warfighter and our allies,” said Tim Cahill, president, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. The contract supports increased output of the air defense system, which intercepts incoming missile threats and protects U.S. and allied forces. It follows a January framework agreement to ramp up production capacity under the Department of War’s acquisition strategy.

Lockheed Martin said it has invested more than $7 billion in recent years to expand munitions production, including the construction of new facilities and workforce development. The company is working to increase the output of PAC-3 systems and other missile programs, such as THAAD and Precision Strike Missiles. TPG, a global alternative asset manager, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Learfield, a media and technology company empowering college athletics programs. “Through its deep network and quality offering, Learfield has positioned itself as a trusted partner to colleges across the country, and we look forward to working with Cole and the team to support the company’s next chapter,” said Kris Wong, business unit partner at TPG. Learfield works with more than 1,200 collegiate institutions and 12,000 brands, providing services across sponsorships, ticketing, licensing, and name, image, and likeness strategy. The platform is built on a dataset of more than 125 million fan records and supports major conferences, including the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to approvals. Separately, TPG said the investment will support Learfield’s continued growth across digital media, fan engagement, and sports commercialization.

Read this article at D Magazine - Subscribers Only

Texas Medical Board sanctions doctors for delayed care in the deaths of 2 pregnant women

The Texas Medical Board has disciplined three doctors ProPublica previously investigated whose patients died after receiving delayed or inappropriate pregnancy care under the state’s strict abortion ban. Two of the doctors failed to properly intervene as a pregnant teenager repeatedly sought care for life-threatening complications, the board found. The third did not provide a dilation and curettage procedure to empty a miscarrying patient’s uterus, and she ultimately bled to death. As ProPublica investigated those preventable deaths and five others across three states in the past few years, reporters found that abortion bans have influenced how doctors and hospitals respond to pregnancy complications.

Facing risks of prison time and professional ruin, doctors have delayed key interventions until they can document that a fetus’ heart is no longer beating or that a case meets a narrow legal exception. Some physicians say their colleagues are discharging or transferring pregnant patients instead of taking responsibility for their care. Doctors and lawyers have questioned why medical boards, which oversee physician licensing and investigate substandard care, have not played a more active role in guiding doctors on how to uphold medical standards within the constraints of the law. When asked by ProPublica in 2024 what recourse miscarrying patients had when a doctor denied them necessary treatment, the president of the Texas Medical Board said it had no say over criminal law but that patients could file a complaint and “vote with their feet” to seek care from another doctor. Since then, the Texas board has taken more steps than those in other states, publishing guidance this year that provides case studies on how doctors can legally provide abortions to patients with certain medical complications. The state Legislature ordered the board to create the training materials as part of the Life of the Mother Act, which was passed after ProPublica’s reporting and made modest adjustments to the state’s abortion restrictions in an attempt to prevent additional maternal deaths.

Read this article at ProPublica - Subscribers Only

New San Antonio ICE detention site to open in September, letter says

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention site planned for San Antonio’s East Side will open by Sept. 30 and lock up as many as 1,500 people, the Express-News reported Friday, citing a letter the agency sent to local officials. The massive warehouse the agency bought at 542 SE Loop 410 will serve as a holding site for 500 to 1,500 detainees at a time as their immigration proceedings play out, acting ICE director Todd Lyons told San Antonio officials, according to the daily. Once those legal proceedings are done, the prisoners will be sent to a more permanent detention sites, he added.

Despite informing San Antonio officials of the prison’s opening date, Lyon wrote that ICE hasn’t yet selected contractors to outfit the 600,000-square-foot building as a detention facility. The site is one of several the Trump administration purchased nationwide this spring to facilitate what it’s calling the largest mass deportation in U.S. history. Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group sold the East Side warehouse to ICE in February for $66 million, despite public outcry and opposition from members of City Council. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and the council recently voted 7-2 to amend the city’s zoning code to prevent the opening of new private detention centers without city approval. However, that change doesn’t give the city authority to stop the federal government from opening detention centers here.

Read this article at San Antonio Current - Subscribers Only

Detained citizen minors remain in limbo when parents deported, judge says

The extensive ICE raids have hit the Valley hard. The raids hurt businesses and impacted classrooms, and now another problem is showing itself. Many local children whose parents are deported find themselves without any support. The kids are U.S. citizens as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, but there is now a gap in the legal system. It is a gap that no one foresaw before the ICE raids began, but Judge Adela Kowalski-Garza of the 484th state District Court has been seeing it very well recently. New laws governing immigration and stricter enforcement of existing laws have created an urgent need regarding the children of parents who have been deported, she said.

“In Cameron County, we are confronting a growing problem that the law has not yet caught up with — and children are paying the price,” said Kowalski-Garza, who handles juvenile cases. One of those children was V.M., a U.S. citizen by birth whose mother was deported to Matamoros about a year ago. MyRGV.com is using a pseudonym for V.M., who was a minor at the time his mother was deported. V.M’s attorney, Louis Sorola, worked closely with Kowalski-Garza who was presiding over the case. “The judge was like ‘I can’t let him go in the street, he’s a kid,” Sorola recalled. “So, she called Child Protective Services and said, ‘Hey, I have an abandoned child here, he’s in jail, I can’t keep him, I’ve already had him for month.’” CPS would not take him because of laws and policies which have not caught up to the current situation. Kowalski-Garza said that as immigration enforcement has increased, so too have the number of parents who have been deported.

Read this article at MyRGV - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Traders placed over $1bn in perfectly timed bets on the Iran war. What is going on?

Suspicious wagers on the US-Israel war in Iran are creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers Sixteen bets made $100,000 each accurately predicting the timing of the US airstrikes against Iran on 27 February. Later, a single user would make over $550,000 after betting that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would topple, just moments before his assassination by Israeli forces. On 7 April, right before Donald Trump announced a temporary ceasefire with Iran, traders bet $950m that oil prices would come down. They did. These bets and other well-timed wagers accurately predicted the precise timing of major developments in the US-Israel war with Iran, creating huge windfalls and raising concerns among lawmakers and experts over potential insider trading.

Betting – once largely siloed to sporting events – has now spread to include contracts on news events where insider information could give some traders an advantage. The proliferation of online betting markets like Polymarket and Kalshi has allowed bets on virtually any news event. It’s also easier than ever to buy commodity derivatives like oil futures, where traders gamble on what the price of oil will be in the future. Leaders of some US federal agencies and some members of Congress said they want to crack down on suspicious trading taking place across different marketplaces, but it’s unclear how much headway regulators will make. “Is the problem that we don’t have legislation or that we don’t have enforcement capabilities?” said Joshua Mitts, a law professor at Columbia University. “To have a law that can’t really be enforced effectively given the technological limitations, it’s sort of putting the cart before the horse.”

Read this article at The Guardian - Subscribers Only

The FBI director is MIA

On Friday, April 10, as FBI Director Kash Patel was preparing to leave work for the weekend, he struggled to log into an internal computer system. He quickly became convinced that he had been locked out, and he panicked, frantically calling aides and allies to announce that he had been fired by the White House, according to nine people familiar with his outreach. Two of these people described his behavior as a “freak-out.” Patel oversees an agency that employs roughly 38,000 people, including many who are trained to investigate and verify information that can be presented under oath in a court of law. News of his emotional outburst ricocheted through the bureau, prompting chatter among officials and, in some corners of the building, expressions of relief. The White House fielded calls from the bureau and from members of Congress asking who was now in charge of the FBI. It turned out that the answer was still Patel. He had not been fired.

The access problem, two people familiar with the matter said, appears to have been a technical error, and it was quickly resolved. “It was all ultimately bullshit,” one FBI official told me. But Patel, according to multiple current officials, as well as former officials who have stayed close to him, is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy. He has good reasons to think so—including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking. My colleague Ashley Parker and I reported earlier this month that Patel was among the officials expected to be fired after Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ouster, on April 2. “We’re all just waiting for the word” that Patel is officially out of the top job, an FBI official told me this week, and a former official told my colleague Jonathan Lemire that Patel was “rightly paranoid.” Senior members of the Trump administration are already discussing who might replace him, according to an administration official and two people close to the White House who were familiar with the conversations. In response to a detailed list of 19 questions, the White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told me in a statement that under Donald Trump and Patel, “crime across the country has plummeted to the lowest level in more than 100 years and many high profile criminals have been put behind bars. Director Patel remains a critical player on the Administration’s law and order team.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told me in a statement, “Patel has accomplished more in 14 months than the previous administration did in four years. Anonymously sourced hit pieces do not constitute journalism.”

Read this article at The Atlantic - Subscribers Only

Potential 2028 Democrats audition in Michigan, with a focus on Trump

Former Vice President Kamala Harris accused the Trump administration of being historically ineffective and unethical. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey urged Democrats not to be derailed by their internal disagreements. And Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said the party could lure back working-class voters by focusing on kitchen-table issues. The 2028 presidential shadow primary arrived in the swing state of Michigan on Saturday, with several potential Democratic candidates test-driving their pitches before a crowd of party activists eager to turn the page on President Trump. The Democrats’ remarks at a Women’s Caucus luncheon hosted by the Michigan Democratic Party are part of a weekend of programming in Detroit that will culminate with the state party’s convention on Sunday. Michigan has been pivotal in recent Democratic presidential primaries and general elections.

A week ago, the three potential candidates — and many more — gathered in New York for a convention that was the first of many Democratic auditions before what is expected to be a wide-open 2028 race. As they travel the country, these Democrats are delivering stump-speech-style messages that often include sharp criticisms of the president and his party. “We are dealing with the most corrupt, callous and incompetent presidential administration in the history of the United States — period,” Ms. Harris, the 2024 nominee, said at the luncheon Saturday, decrying a war with Iran that “the American people do not want” and that she said had eroded the nation’s global standing. Mr. Booker, who ran for president in 2020, called for Democrats to unify going into the midterm elections, saying that the Trump administration was inflicting a “terrible storm” on Americans through its handling of immigration, the economy and the Iran war. “Our kryptonite is division,” Mr. Booker said, adding that the party should have a “robust dialogue” during the primary season but should not allow its disagreements to bleed into the general election. “I’ve seen it too much in our party.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Trump accelerates research on psychedelic treatments and asks, ‘Can I have some?’

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an executive order aimed at encouraging expanded research into psychedelic drugs, part of a broader push to explore emerging mental health treatments. “In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans,” Trump said during a signing event in the Oval Office. The president also announced that the federal government is making a $50 million investment for further research into the psychedelic drug ibogaine. Trump, ahead of signing the order, pointed to initial research he said demonstrates the drug’s potential and quipped that he wanted some himself.

“Can I have some, please? I’ll take some,” Trump said, adding that he would “take whatever it takes,” prompting laughter in the Oval. “I don’t have time to be depressed. You know, if you stay busy enough, maybe that works, too. That’s what I do.” The president invited Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others, including podcast host Joe Rogan, a supporter of ibogaine, to speak about the initiative. Rogan, who backed Trump in 2024 but has recently made headlines for his opposition to some of the president’s policies, including his handling of the Iran war, said his outreach to the president helped spark the policy move. “I want to tell everybody how this happened,” Rogan said from the Oval Office. “I sent President Trump some information.” “The text message that came back,” Rogan said, “’sounds great, do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it,’” he added that it was “literally that quick.” Kennedy said the move is part of a broader effort to address the nation’s mental health crisis.

Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only

Paul Rudd, Brad Pitt, 'R.J. Decker.' Is Florida's film industry back?

Is Florida getting its close-up moment again? After years of losing big-screen productions to states with lucrative tax incentives, a surge of new film and TV projects is bringing Hollywood back to the Sunshine State, from Miami’s neon-lit streets to West Palm Beach's sunny beaches and Tampa Bay’s coastal backdrops. Paul Rudd was filming a movie in St. Petersburg this month. In December, the Hallmark Channel brought its cameras to Disney World to shoot a holiday movie scheduled for later this year. The ABC show "R.J. Decker," which premiered in March, shot scenes in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum were here in 2023, filming scenes for "Fly Me to the Moon" at the Kennedy Space Center. Brad Pitt's "F1," partially shot at the Daytona International Speedway and a restaurant in New Smyrna Beach in 2024, even picked up four Oscar nominations this year, including Best Picture (it won for Best Sound). Is Florida's film industry back?

In the early 2000s, Florida was a film powerhouse. Think "Bad Boys II," "Dolphin Tale," "Magic Mike," "Spring Breakers," "Moonlight," "The Florida Project," and numerous reality shows and Nickelodeon productions that cemented the state's reputation as a versatile, sun-soaked location. But in 2016, the state’s film tax incentive program expired, prompting big studios to go shoot in Georgia instead. For years afterward, even movies and shows that took place in Florida weren't filmed in Florida. The 2024 "Road House" remake starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which brought the fabled fighter to the Florida Keys, was shot almost entirely in the Dominican Republic. The 2016 Ben Affleck film "Live By Night," based in Ybor City, was shot in Georgia, as was most of the Tampa-based 2023 Netflix movie "Pain Hustlers" starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans. Even the Netflix show "Florida Man" was mostly shot in North Carolina. (MTV kept shooting "Siesta Key" around Sarasota, though.) Now, thanks to local and regional action, the cameras are rolling again. Cities like Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Palm Beach have introduced their own production incentives, while widespread promotion from local film commissions and marketing and development organization Film Florida swings the spotlight back in our direction.

Read this article at Palm Beach Post - Subscribers Only

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani describes his relationship with Trump as 'honest, direct and productive'

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday called his relationship with President Donald Trump “honest, direct and productive” in an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” one day before Trump said Mamdani is “destroying New York” by proposing a new property tax on wealthy New Yorkers. “He’s the president of the United States of America. I’m the mayor of New York City, and we know that so much of what the city needs is also dependent on a relationship with the federal administration,” Mamdani said in an interview marking his first 100 days in office that aired Sunday. He added that he partially credits their at times chummy relationship to the fact that “New York City holds a very special place for him as well as for me. We’re both from the same city.”

“Our conversations are not just of the scale that is typical with the president, but also granular about even the things as specific as zoning law changes in midtown Manhattan, and that, I think, speaks to the fact that Donald Trump is not just the president of this country, he’s also someone who’s been a New Yorker for his entire life, and there is an investment in this,” the mayor added. Though the two have worked together and met in the Oval Office at least twice since Mamdani was elected last November, the mayor declined to comment on how often he speaks with Trump. Still, the mayor was the subject of the president’s ire this week when Trump criticized Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to institute a pied-a-terre tax on properties in New York City worth over $5 million whose owners do not primarily reside there. “Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance! The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG. People are fleeing. They must change their ways, AND FAST. History has proven, THIS ‘STUFF’ JUST DOESN’T WORK,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Thursday.

Read this article at NBC News - Subscribers Only

'Mission accomplished': US breaks hiring record for air traffic controller applicants

More than 8,000 qualified candidates applied to be air traffic controllers in record time, according to U.S. officials. "Mission accomplished," U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted Friday night on X along with a video clip of "Super Mario Bros." The clip is a nod to the Federal Aviation Administration's latest hiring campaign, inviting video game players to "level up" and apply to become air traffic controllers. The splashy new campaign featured an ad targeted at video game players and launched ahead of the annual hiring window, which opened at midnight April 17. Within 13 hours, the FAA reportedly received more than 8,000 applications, and roughly 7,250 of those applications were qualified, according to Duffy.

By 7 p.m. Eastern, the number of qualified applicants rose past 8,000, was the agency's goal. As of Saturday morning, the job posting was no longer open. Duffy said that it was the "fastest application pace in American History for air traffic controllers" in the FAA's 67 years of recruiting. The FAA has been battling a stubborn shortage of air traffic controllers, hit by retirements and pandemic slowdowns. The FAA highlights skills gamers already use, including quick thinking, focus and managing complex situations under pressure. On the hiring website, the FAA leans into the gaming tactics, reframing job requirements as "mission requirements" and dangling "high score rewards" for joining the team. To become an air traffic controller, the agency says one must be a U.S. citizen, under 31 years of age and speak fluent English. As the "high score rewards," the FAA touts a six-figure salaries totaling more than $155,000 after three years of Academy graduation, paid academy training and a "legendary" benefits package.

Read this article at KHOU - Subscribers Only

Lead Stories

The cost to meet Texas' future water demand just skyrocketed to $174B

The cost to stave off future water crises in Texas just went up – by a lot. According to a draft 2027 State Water Plan approved on Thursday, Texas will need to invest $174 billion over the next 50 years if it wants to keep up with demand. That’s more than double the cost of the previous state water plan, published in 2022. That higher price tag, captured in 2023 dollars, comes as parts of the state have already begun to experience water shortages and experts warn that droughts will become more frequent and severe. Thursday’s draft report, issued by the Texas Water Development Board, said the higher price tag is due to inflation in construction costs and a growing backlog of projects that have been approved but not built. But it also reflects the fact that as water becomes scarcer, accessing new sources becomes more and more expensive.

Existing water supplies are projected to decline by 10% by 2080, largely due to the depletion of the state’s aquifers, which supply the state with half of its water. If nothing is done, Texas faces potential water shortages of 3.6 million acre-feet per year as soon as 2030, according to the plan, more than half the total municipal use across the state. (An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover an acre of land to the depth of a foot, or about 325,000 gallons.) By 2080, potential water shortages rise to 5.8 million acre feet. The hefty price tag of the new water plan is raising some alarm among experts, who question whether state lawmakers allocated enough resources last year to the problem when they earmarked $20 billion over the next two decades for water infrastructure and supply projects.. “This figure validates concerns that $1 billion a year is not going to be sufficient to meet the infrastructure needs to ensure our water supply,” said Perry Fowler, the executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network, a construction trade coalition for water projects.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Israel and Lebanon agree to 10-day ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah

A 10-day ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump and agreed on by Lebanon and Israelstarted at midnight local time. The Israeli and Lebanese governments agreed to the ceasefire following more than a month of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Nearly 2,200 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli air strikes. Israel’s hardline Defense Minister Israel Katz warned on Friday that Israel’s attempts to completely disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon “is not yet complete.” Katz said that Israel would continue to hold all the places it is currently stationed. “We defined the goal: disarming Hezbollah by military or diplomatic means, was and remains the goal of the campaign to which we are committed.” Trump also said he’s inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to the White House for the leaders’ first direct talks in over 30 years.

Aoun had refused to speak with Netanyahu on Thursday. Israel’s and Lebanon’s respective ambassadors to the U.S. held their first direct diplomatic talks in decades earlier this week. Pakistan’s army chief met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday in a bid to extend the separate ceasefire between Israel, the U.S. and Iran. Uncertainty remains whether the frantic diplomacy can lead to a deal. A second round of US-Iran talks hasn’t been scheduled yet, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday. Israel Katz said Israeli forces would continue to hold all the places they are currently stationed, including a buffer zone extending 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Israel into southern Lebanon. He added that many homes in the area would be destroyed and no Lebanese residents could return to the area. Katz said the rest of Lebanon south of the Litani River must also be cleared of Hezbollah’s presence, either through diplomatic means or continued Israeli military operation. “Disarming Hezbollah by military or diplomatic means was and remains the goal of the campaign to which we are committed –- with significant political leverage now also due to the direct involvement of the U.S. president and his commitment to this goal -– while applying pressure to the Lebanese government,” Katz said. Israel occupied a similar area in southern Lebanon between 1982 to 2000.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

Texas restaurant owners call for work permits as immigration crackdown strains industry

On a recent Friday afternoon at Revolver Taco Lounge in Dallas, business was slow. Many seats at the restaurant were empty, and only a few customers were waiting for their orders. An art festival down the street was not generating much foot traffic. For Regino Rojas, the owner, the day was not an anomaly but almost a new norm. “I think this, right now, is worse than the pandemic,” he said. About 50 percent of Texas restaurants reported that they were not profitable last year, up from 38 percent in 2024, according to the Texas Restaurant Association. Some of that has been a consequence of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration: In Texas, where by some estimates nearly 10 percent of the work force is undocumented — compared with about 4.5 percent of the U.S. work force — restaurant owners have said that the crackdown has created a chilling effect among their workers, regardless of their immigration status.

Now as they feel the strain, the Texas Restaurant Association and business leaders across the country have started a coalition, called Seat the Table, demanding that Congress and the White House create work permits for “long-term, law-abiding immigrants playing critical roles from farms to restaurants.” Across the country, roughly 42 percent of restaurant operators said they were not profitable last year, according to the National Restaurant Association, a slight uptick from 2024 as food and labor costs have steadily increased for years. In backing the coalition, the Texas Restaurant Association, in a state with strong conservative roots, made clear that it was not calling for amnesty, nor was it asking for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants. “I think the vast majority of Americans recognize that there is a large group of undocumented immigrants who have been literally keeping food on our tables,” said Kelsey Erickson Streufert, the chief public affairs officer for the Texas trade group. “And if we remove those people, it is going to hurt everyone in terms of higher prices.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Texas law firm headcount grows slowly with historic demand

For the first time, Texas has a corporate law firm with 500 attorneys working in the state. A second firm is just two lawyers shy of that mark. Four law firms now have 400 or more attorneys, and 11 have 200 or more business lawyers operating in Texas, according to new data research by The Texas Lawbook. Even so, the number of business lawyers in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio is not growing fast enough to handle the increased demand for legal services from corporate clients, especially when it comes to the most complex mergers and acquisitions, bet-the-company litigation and major regulatory matters. The result: The best and most successful lawyers in Texas are now demanding annual compensation packages exceeding $12 million — and some reaching $23 million — while hourly rates being paid by Texas businesses are approaching $3,000.

“It’s a simple matter of supply versus demand,” said Kent Zimmermann, a law firm consultant with Zeughauser Group. “The work is there because so many new companies are moving into Texas, and Texas-based companies are growing. Law firms are struggling to find lawyers who have experience and expertise to do the work.” The 50 largest corporate law firms employed 8,400 attorneys in Texas in 2025, a 2.9% increase over the prior year, according to the Texas Lawbook 50, an annual survey of the top law firms in Texas, tracking their lawyer headcount, revenues and profits. “I’ve never seen so many good things coming together all at once, giving us the best year ever,” said Joe Coniglio, managing partner of the Dallas office of Greenberg Traurig, a Florida-founded firm. “Our hard work and investment in Texas are giving us a significant advantage.” The two law firms with the largest lawyer head count declines in Texas were Holland & Knight — formerly Dallas-based Thompson & Knight — and Vinson & Elkins. Across the board, law firm leaders in Texas say they want to hire more lawyers — especially those with experience handling private equity transactions, corporate fundings and high-stakes litigation — but there is a shortage of such attorneys currently practicing in Texas.

Read this article at Texas Lawbook - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Abbott threatens to pull millions from Dallas over immigration policy

Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday warned Dallas that he would pull $32.1 million in state funds if the city does not repeal police department rules around collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a letter to Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, Andrew Friedrichs, the executive director of Abbott’s Public Safety Office, said the Dallas Police Department’s internal rules regarding immigration may violate the city’s agreement with the state for the funding. The threat to Dallas is part of a broader push by the Republican governor to force major cities into closer alignment with federal immigration enforcement. Abbott issued similar warnings this week to Houston and Austin for their respective immigration-related policies.

A spokesperson for Johnson’s office did not respond Thursday afternoon to requests seeking comment. City and police spokespeople did not answer a list of questions about Abbott’s letter or the rules at issue, issuing a joint statement saying the city would respond by the April 23 deadline in the letter. “We remain committed to complying with all applicable state and federal laws while continuing to prioritize public safety for the residents of Dallas,” the statement read, “and ensuring our officers have the resources and support necessary to effectively serve the community.” Police’s general orders — the department’s internal rules that guide officer conduct — may also “imperil” the city’s ability to receive $51.5 million in federal funds to help cover public-safety costs tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Friedrichs wrote in the letter. Article continues below this ad “A city’s failure to comply with its contract agreement with the state to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws makes the state less safe,” Andrew Mahaleris, an Abbott spokesperson, said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. “It can have deadly consequences. Cities in Texas are expected to make the streets safer, not more deadly.” The city has until the letter’s deadline to “confirm that the City will not enforce, and will act to repeal” the general orders on immigration. Failure to do so would see the city repaying the funds it has already received.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

Gov. Abbott threatens to pull $2.5 million in grants to Austin over APD's ICE rules

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening to terminate roughly $2.5 million in state grants awarded to Austin because of the city's policies on police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. This comes just days after Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into the city’s policies on how it works with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Austin Police Department announced new rules in March for how officers interact with ICE agents if they suspect someone is in the country without authorization. Those rules require officers to clear any communication with ICE with a supervisor if the suspect has a civil "administrative warrant" — or noncriminal warrant — flagged by ICE. APD is required to communicate with ICE for suspects facing criminal charges, according to the guidelines.

Abbott said the department's policies “impede or restrict the notification” to ICE and may be in breach of the grant agreements. Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott's press secretary, said this is a safety issue. "A city's failure to comply with its contract agreement with the state to assist in the enforcement of immigration laws makes the state less safe," Mahaleris said. "It can have deadly consequences. Cities in Texas are expected to make the streets safer, not more deadly." City officials said the grants at risk of being pulled provide mental health services to police officers, help survivors of sexual assault, help protect and prepare the community against cybersecurity attacks and terrorism threats, and improve the ability to respond to violent crimes against women. In a letter to Mayor Kirk Watson and council members, Abbott said the city should respond by April 23 to confirm that it will move to repeal the new rules or risk the grants being terminated. If the grants are terminated, the city will be required to repay the entire amount within 30 days.

Read this article at KUT - Subscribers Only

Harris County commissioners appoint Houston City Council’s Abbie Kamin to serve as interim county attorney

Harris County commissioners on Thursday appointed Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin to serve as interim Harris County attorney, a position she is seeking full-time in the November election. Kamin’s appointment will be effective June 15. She said in a statement she’ll continue to serve on the city council until her successor in sworn in, likely in late May, as Joe Panzarella and Nick Hellyar are headed to a runoff for Kamin’s District C seat on the council. Her appointment came after a lengthy executive session during commissioners court on Thursday, and after Commissioner Tom Ramsey said Jonathan Fombonne — who had served as interim county attorney since January — submitted his resignation from the position.

Ramsey and Commissioner Rodney Ellis said they were taken aback when they saw a potential appointment appearing on the agenda for Thursday’s commissioners court meeting. “I think it matters how you do something,” Ramsey said. “I don’t think this is the correct way to do this. I don’t think putting something on the agenda last week and then surprise surprise, Jonathan resigns this week.” Commissioners approved the appointment after commending Fombonne for his work serving a brief stint as county attorney. Commissioners in January selected Fombonne to serve as the county's interim chief legal advisor, after delaying an appointment for months. The January appointment was prompted by then-County Attorney Christian Menefee's run for Houston's 18th Congressional District. The county attorney position is set for an election in November. Kamin, who edged civil court Judge Audrie Lawton-Evans in the Democratic primary in March, is facing Republican Jacqueline Lucci Smith, a former civil court judge who once worked in the county attorney's office. Kamin will begin serving in the position on June 15. The commissioners court voted 3-2 to appoint her, with Ramsey and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo voting against the appointment.

Read this article at Houston Public Media - Subscribers Only

John Cornyn pushes crackdown on cities after Abbott's Houston ICE threat

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is pushing to crack down on cities that limit local police cooperation with federal immigration officers, the latest GOP response to Houston’s new ICE policy. The Texas Republican filed legislation Thursday to strip some federal funding from so-called “sanctuary” cities, allow states to sue cities and counties that do not cooperate with ICE and bar states from prosecuting local police who help with immigration enforcement.

It’s a beefed-up version of a bill Cornyn led in 2016 that drew 53 votes in the Senate, but fell shy of the threshold needed to pass. Republicans in the Senate still do not have the numbers to overcome a potential Democratic filibuster. Texas lawmakers passed a law in 2017 requiring local police to cooperate with federal immigration officials. Still, some cities across the state have sought to manage how much local police interact with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive. Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to strip $110 million in grants from Houston after the city council last week voted to scrap a policy that requires officers to wait 30 minutes for ICE officers to pick up someone with a civil immigration warrant. The city’s new policy also requires the department to make reports to the council about its cooperation with ICE. A spokesman for the governor said this week that his office is also investigating other cities, but did not specify which ones.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Austin airport delays drop but remain among longest in U.S.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is among the worst airports in the nation for long flight delays, a new study suggests. The study, by travel-tech company AirAdvisor, found the average flight delay at Austin-Bergstrom was about 163 minutes in the first quarter of 2026, ranking the airport No. 3 in the U.S. for delay length. AirAdvisor analyzed flight performance data from 200 major U.S. airports to find the average duration of long delays — meaning one hour-plus — from Jan. 1 to March 26.

The same study found that Austin’s delay time dropped by almost 55 minutes from the same period in 2025, marking significant year-over-year improvement. Still, long delays put extra strain on passengers, AirAdvisor CEO Anton Radchenko said. “Even with some easing, disruption at that level can still lead to missed connections and significantly longer travel days,” Radchenko said. Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas topped the list with an average long delay of 181.63 minutes, the analysis found. Close behind is San Diego International Airport, at 181.34 minutes. Behind Austin at No. 4 is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which averaged about 165 minutes. Los Angeles International Airport rounds out the top five with an average long delay of roughly 148 minutes. Last year, an AirAdvisor analysis found Austin to be the worst in the nation for delays exceeding three hours, with routes to Dallas, Chicago and Boston among the most affected.

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

Former Arlington mayor Robert Cluck dies at 87, city officials announce

Former Arlington mayor Robert N. Cluck, whose leadership helped bring the Dallas Cowboys to the city, died Tuesday at age 87, city officials said in a statement. Cluck, a former obstetrician-gynecologist, was elected to two terms on the Arlington City Council before serving as mayor for 12 years, from 2003 until 2015. “Dr. Cluck’s tenure was defined by bold milestones,” city officials wrote in an online obituary. “He was known as a champion for public health and economic revitalization, steering the city through the development of the Arlington Highlands shopping center, Viridian masterplan community in north Arlington, and the rebirth of Downtown.”

Cluck was born in Cisco, Texas, on March 20, 1939. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and later attended medical school at UT-Southwestern, completing his residency at John Peter Smith hospital. A two-year Air Force veteran, Cluck served as a general medical officer at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, according to his obituary. Cluck originated the idea of moving the Dallas Cowboys to Arlington in 2001, when he was serving on the city council. He reached out to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after hearing the team might be in the market for a new location. Jones named the stadium’s atrium after him in 2015, and a city park east of the stadium also bears his name. “During his time as mayor, Dr. Cluck was instrumental in the growing city’s vision for development and redevelopment,” city officials said. “He saw the community’s potential as a thriving and competitive city of the future, and it was his ability to build collaborative partnerships that helped the city be a part of developments such as The University of Texas at Arlington’s College Park, the Levitt Pavilion and Downtown Arlington redevelopment. He also worked on economic development initiatives to keep the Texas Rangers and General Motors Arlington Assembly Plant.” Cluck is survived by his wife, Linda, daughters Katherine and Jennifer, son Robert and four grandchildren.

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

Harris County commissioners table ICE proposal over legal concerns

Harris County commissioners took no action Thursday on a proposed plan to develop guidelines for law enforcement interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during traffic stops. Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who added the item to the agenda, instead requested the county attorney look into the issue and come back at an unspecified date with guidance. The Precinct 1 commissioner said his colleagues had legal concerns regarding the proposal. “I won't give them a deadline, but I’ll just say, do it with all deliberate speed. That’s my request,” Ellis said.

Ellis previously said he was inspired by a recent 12-5 Houston City Council vote that eliminated a requirement that police wait 30 minutes for ICE agents if they pull someone over with a civil immigration warrant. But the city’s vote prompted Gov. Greg Abbott to threaten to pull $114 million in public safety grant funding in response. Mayor John Whitmire, who voted for the measure, called a Friday special session at which City Council members were to consider revoking the ordinance, then on Thursday delayed that vote to Wednesday, saying the governor had extended the city's deadline. Ellis had intended to have county staff develop a set of voluntary guidelines regarding interactions with ICE agents that the sheriff and constables could sign onto, should they choose. Unlike the Houston Police Department, which reports to the mayor, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and the county's eight constables are independently elected officials.

Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Austin proposes daily homeless camp sweeps

Austin officials are planning to dramatically increase the number of homeless camp sweeps the city conducts, starting this summer. These sweeps – in which police and Austin Resource Recovery workers descend on camps, give their residents an hour to gather possessions, and then throw their remaining belongings into dumpsters – are controversial. Advocates for the homeless community say they are cruel, expensive, and actually perpetuate homelessness. The plans for the sweeps are summarized in a leaked six-page draft document which surfaced last week. The document, the legitimacy of which has not been disputed by the city’s Homeless Strategies and Operations Department, begins by stating the rationale for the sweeps, saying that Austin’s 311 call center takes over 700 requests a month for camp cleanup services, far more than the city can handle.

It recommends the creation of six teams to clean camps daily, Monday through Friday, each consisting of two APD officers and several ARR personnel. Altogether, 42 people would work on the sweeps. The document proposes that three teams be assigned to clear out camps in parks, green spaces, and neighborhoods. Two more would clear camps near highways, bridges, and waterways. A sixth would collect litter. The document emphasizes the city will prevent homeless people from returning to camps that have been cleared. Paulette Soltani of the homelessness advocacy group VOCAL-TX told us it feels like HSO is shifting its resources toward criminalizing homelessness, since the department has said it will no longer embed outreach workers in the groups conducting the sweeps. “I wish our community understood that there’s no way for us to solve this problem through the enforcement of sweeps,” Soltani said. “People come back to camps because they need access to services. They need access to food.”

Read this article at Austin Chronicle - Subscribers Only

Tremaine Jackson, Prairie View staff earn raises, $200K NIL boost

It has been no secret on The Hill that Prairie View is enjoying the success of football coach Tremaine Jackson. Prairie View has put its money where its appreciation is. Tremaine Jackson confirmed to the Defender that he has received a 35% pay increase, his staff is getting a similar uptick in the assistant coaches’ pool, and Jackson will have at least $200,000 in NIL money to lure recruits. “I believe schools show how much they value you by what they do contractually. Everybody says, `We are so glad Coach Jack is here,’” Jackson said to the Defender. “In my profession, there is only one way to show me you are glad to see me. Pats on the back don’t spend at HEB. Now I believe them when they say, `We’re glad to see you.’”

But more than the increase Jackson received for himself, the reigning SWAC Coach of the Year after just one season at Prairie View, is most proud that his coaches have been taken care of to the level that their pay is now competitive with most FCS programs. Jackson and his staff came from Division II Valdosta State pretty much under the same contracts that former coach Bubba McDowell and his staff had. Jackson said negotiations between his agent, athletic director Anton Goff, and the administration began in January and were finalized recently. “I feel really good about the fact that we were able to come to an agreement to get our assistants paid,” Jackson said. “For me, any dollar you pay Tremaine Jackson once I left Valdosta State was more money than I’ve made coaching football. “It really didn’t matter to me. I don’t need no money. I’ve been good for a while now, thankfully. I wanted to make sure that we were competitive from an assistant coach standpoint and assistant coaches pool and that I wouldn’t be losing coaches because somebody got five more thousand dollars for them. Thankfully, our administration got that done to where we can come with an agreement.”

Read this article at Houston Defender - Subscribers Only

After years of ‘chronic’ bottlenecks, JPS gets started on a new hospital

JPS Health Network is breaking ground on two hospital towers, one of the most pressing needs of the aging public hospital system. The construction will begin in the coming weeks, nearly eight years after voters first approved an $800 million bond to finance the hospital and numerous other projects. “We are here today not just to break ground on a new hospital, but to fulfill a promise,” said Dr. Karen Duncan, the health system’s president and CEO. “Everyone in Tarrant County, no matter what their circumstance, their ZIP code or their story…they deserve access to exceptional and compassionate care.” As a public hospital, JPS is partially funded by local tax dollars, and cares for a disproportionate amount of Tarrant County residents who lack health insurance and have limited means to pay for their care.

For years before voters approved the bond, consultants, hospital leaders, and county officials identified a new hospital tower as a priority for JPS. The new hospital will bring more beds for patients. There are “chronic bottlenecks” in the JPS emergency room while patients wait for beds to become available, according to a report from 2018. These bottlenecks have forced JPS to transfer out hundreds of patients to other hospitals because they did not have enough beds. “The size of these existing facilities do not meet the current demand and will certainly not be able to meet expected increases in future demand,” according to the report. There are 582 beds in the existing hospital. The new towers will have 740 beds when they open, and capacity to have more than 800 beds, said Jill Farrell, the chief operating officer for JPS. In addition, the new hospital will have private patient rooms. Some of the rooms in the existing hospital are semi-private. The new hospital will also replace the outdated and aging infrastructure of the existing tower, built in 1970. The mechanical and electrical systems for the hospital are “well past their usable life and minimally functional for any current form of use,” according to a long-range planning and facilities analysis done in 2017.

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

NASA awards private astronaut mission To Voyager

NASA has awarded its seventh private astronaut mission to Voyager, one of a handful of companies also vying to provide NASA’s microgravity research and astronaut flight services in low Earth orbit (LEO) after the International Space Station (ISS) is retired. Voyager looks at the Private Astronaut Mission (PAM) as an opportunity to get a practice run at ground operations, training and flight control ahead of the launch of its planned Starlab space station, Starlab CEO Marshall Smith told Aviation Week April 15 on the sidelines of the 41tst annual Space Symposium. Voyager and Airbus are primary partners on the commercial space station Starlab project.

The PAM mission to Voyager, announced April 15, follows four private U.S. charters to the ISS by Axiom Space, the award of a fifth Axiom mission and the award of a sixth PAM mission to startup Vast, another contender for a commercial space station to succeed the ISS. “With three providers now selected for private missions, NASA is doing everything we can to send more astronauts to space and ignite the orbital economy. Each new partner brings fresh capabilities that move us closer to a future with multiple commercially operated space stations and a vibrant, sustainable marketplace in low Earth orbit,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. Voyager’s PAM-7 mission, named VOYG-1, is targeted to launch no earlier than 2028 and spend up to 14 days at the ISS. Transportation services are expected to be provided by SpaceX, which currently operates the only U.S. crew transportation system to and from the ISS. Voyager said it would submit four proposed crewmembers to NASA and the international ISS partners for review. “Once approved and confirmed, they will train with NASA, international partners, and the launch provider for their flight,” Voyager said in a statement.

Read this article at Aviation Week - Subscribers Only

Dallas looks to regulate churches, nonprofits distributing free food to homeless people

Dallas City Council members were divided Wednesday over a city proposal to prevent street vendors without a permit from offering free food to people experiencing homelessness. For years, faith-based groups and nonprofits have hosted food drives to assist those who experience heightened food insecurity on the streets. Several of the groups have set up tables and pop-up tents in the parking lots behind City Hall to help nearly hundreds of people at a time. City officials have raised concerns about the safety and hygiene of the drives, saying there’s no way to ensure food is handled safely and the trash left behind negatively impacts nearby neighborhoods. Food providers told The Dallas Morning News last year that the city’s crackdown unfairly targets those who are just trying to help the most vulnerable.

At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, some council members wanted the city to redo its proposed regulations to address legal concerns, while others wanted the council to hash out changes when they finally vote. Council member Adam Bazaldua said the current proposal was too broad, and ran the risk of overregulating groups if the city interpreted their actions as an “imminent threat to public safety or public health.” This, he said, could set the city up for future lawsuits under the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. “This ordinance raises serious concerns, especially when it comes to religious freedom,” Bazaldua said. “For many people, feeding the hungry is not just charity.” Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Moreno, whose district includes parts of downtown where these drives regularly occur, said the proposed regulations were specific to the city government’s efforts to improve food regulation. Moreno asked Chris Christian, the code compliance services director, who was responsible for paying for the cleanup after food distribution events. Christian said a lot of the cleanup was done by the city’s Department of Transportation and Public Works and the city’s clean sweep team that’s funded by a yearly $36 fee for taxpayers. Downtown Dallas Inc., the nonprofit overseeing downtown, has paid contractors some bills exceeding $100,000 to clean up, he said. The city’s code currently does not outline safety standards for street vendors to prevent contamination and food-borne illnesses. Council member Cara Mendelsohn said the current homelessness data did not show whether this was an actual issue. She said food-related illnesses and emergency visits would have better explained a need for regulation. But she had not seen that.

Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Sports betting industry spends $41 million to influence elections

Some of the country’s biggest sports betting platforms are pooling tens of millions of dollars into a new super PAC that is expected to focus primarily on state legislative races, the latest example of an industry-funded special interest seeking to play a big role in the midterm elections. DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics have put $41 million into a new group, Win for America, according to a Wednesday filing with the Federal Election Commission. The striking total signals that the group is likely to be one of the biggest spenders in the 2026 election cycle. Win for America operates two other outside groups: American Future, which will engage in Democratic primary races, and American Conservative Fund, which will focus on Republican ones. Sports betting has been largely regulated by state governments since the Supreme Court in 2018 overturned a national ban on such wagers (except in Nevada casinos and a few venues in other states).

The industry has spent heavily on lobbying state legislatures to legalize sports betting and to limit taxation and some regulation, leading to the fastest expansion of legalized gambling in American history. More than 35 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized some form of sports betting. New filings show that the three Win for America groups are sending their money to affiliate groups that appear to be spending on state legislative races in Georgia and Texas — two of the largest states that have not approved sports betting. In Pennsylvania — another state where the Win for America operation is directing money — lawmakers have considered raising taxes on sports betting. The group’s state-focused approach is different from the paths taken by other industry-funded super PACs this cycle, such as those backed by the artificial intelligence and crypto industries. Those super PACs are largely engaging in federal races as they try to shape the membership of the next Congress, and are some of the cycle’s biggest spenders. An exception to that is the social media giant Meta, which has pumped $65 million into its own A.I.-focused super PACs centered on state lawmakers.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Trump to pick ousted FEMA head to lead agency again

President Trump intends to nominate Cameron Hamilton to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency after he was pushed out as acting leader nearly a year ago, according to two people briefed on the matter. Mr. Hamilton, who has limited disaster management experience, is a former Navy SEAL who worked for a defense contractor and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Virginia before taking over FEMA. Mr. Hamilton was ousted from that position after he told members of Congress that the agency should not be eliminated. Mr. Trump had said early in his second term, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away.” But when Congress pressed him on the agency’s future in a hearing last May, Mr. Hamilton contradicted that outlook. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Mr. Hamilton said on May 7.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Mr. Hamilton. Mr. Trump has not yet formally nominated him for the role, and as with all personnel matters, aides caution that Mr. Trump could change his mind before officially announcing Mr. Hamilton. His nomination could raise concern among emergency managers because of a federal law passed after Hurricane Katrina requiring that the FEMA administrator carry extensive experience managing disaster response. Mr. Hamilton previously worked as an emergency management specialist in the State Department and as a division director in the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed emergency medical technicians on the southern border. He would take over an agency that has lost thousands of employees since Mr. Trump took office, and whose future has appeared in flux as Kristi Noem, the former homeland security secretary, explored eliminating or dramatically reshaping it. The FEMA administrator must be confirmed by the Senate, but Mr. Trump has not formally nominated anyone for the job in his second term. Three people have led the agency on an acting basis over the past year, including Mr. Hamilton. But Markwayne Mullin, who was confirmed as homeland security secretary last month, told senators in his confirmation hearing he planned to name a permanent administrator to take over.

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons resigns

Todd Lyons, the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is resigning from the agency later this spring, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to MS NOW. He will remain in his role until May 31. The circumstances surrounding his departure were not immediately clear, and officials have not publicly identified his replacement. “Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer.”

Lyons, a longtime immigration enforcement official who assumed the acting directorship in 2025, has overseen ICE during a period of expanded deportation operations under President Donald Trump. His tenure has coincided with a sharp increase in enforcement tactics under the administration, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers in Minnesota in January. ICE has cycled through multiple acting leaders in recent years and has lacked a Senate-confirmed director. Lyons’ departure comes at a pivotal moment for the agency as it navigates ongoing legal challenges and political divisions tied to the administration’s hardline immigration crackdown agenda. In recent months, Lyons has faced growing scrutiny, including a court order requiring him to appear before a federal judge over concerns that the agency failed to comply with directives related to detainees’ rights. Earlier Thursday, Lyons testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee, where he faced questions from lawmakers over ICE’s budget, enforcement priorities and compliance with court orders.

Read this article at MSNOW - Subscribers Only

How Gavin Newsom boosted his book sales with $1.5 million from his PAC

In November, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California rolled out an intriguing offer to his formidable email list of supporters: Donate anything to his political group, and he would send them a copy of his forthcoming book: “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery.” “Make a contribution of ANY AMOUNT today and I will send you a copy,” he wrote. It turned out about 67,000 supporters did just that. The books those donors received account for roughly two-thirds of the print copies of the memoir that have been sold. On Wednesday, new federal records revealed that Mr. Newsom’s political action committee paid $1,561,875 to buy and distribute copies of his book through the donation program. A spokesman for Mr. Newsom, Nathan Click, said his PAC, the Campaign for Democracy Committee, wound up netting more money from contributors attracted by the book offer than the cost of 67,000 copies of the book that the PAC provided. Mr. Newsom does not receive royalties for books sold through the program, he said.

“We were thrilled with the response,” Mr. Click said. “Our goal was to deepen the relationship between him and the millions of folks who have already expressed support for Governor Newsom’s work. And as it turns out, the tactic more than paid for itself.” The Newsom team said that the 67,000 books that supporters received after sending donations were part of the 97,400 print copies of Mr. Newsom’s memoir that have been sold since publication, a total provided by Circana BookScan, a book industry sales tracker. Mr. Newsom’s team had hailed his book sales back in March, including a map in a news release showing all the sales by location across the country. “With more than 91,000 copies sold through organic, in-person and online, non-bulk purchases in the United States, the memoir surged on bestseller lists within hours,” the release said. The book also appeared on the New York Times best-seller list. Danielle Rhoades Ha, a Times spokeswoman, said: “When The Times has reason to believe that sales of a book include a mix of organic and bulk sales, the book’s best-seller ranking is accompanied by a dagger. That’s what we did with the Newsom book.”

Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only

House extends surveillance powers until April 30 after late-night revolt sinks GOP plan

The House early Friday approved a short-term renewal until April 30 of a controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies in a post-midnight vote after Republicans revolted and refused President Donald Trump’s push for a longer extension. GOP leaders rushed lawmakers back into session late Thursday with a series of back-to-back votes that collapsed in dramatic failure, before they quickly pushed ahead the stopgap measure as they race to keep the surveillance program running past Monday’s expiration date. First they unveiled a new plan that would have extended the program for five years, with revisions. Then they tried to salvage a shorter 18-month renewal that Trump had demanded and Speaker Mike Johnson had previously backed. Some 20 Republicans joined most Democrats in blocking its advance.

Shortly after 2 a.m. they quickly agreed to the 10-day extension, which was agreed to on a voice vote without a formal roll call. It next goes to the Senate, which is gaveling for a rare Friday session, as Congress races to keep the surveillance program running. “We were very close tonight,” said Johnson after the late-night action. But Democrats blasted the middle-of-the-night voting as amateur hour. “Are you kidding me? Who the hell is running this place?” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., during a fiery floor debate. At the center of the standoff that has stretched throughout the week is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which permits the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI and other agencies to collect and analyze vast amounts of overseas communications without a warrant. In doing so, they can incidentally sweep up communications involving Americans who interact with foreign targets. U.S. officials say the authority is critical to disrupting terrorist plots, cyber intrusions and foreign espionage.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

RFK Jr. grilled over vaccines, MAHA in back-to-back hearings: Key takeaways

House members got their first opportunity Thursday to grill Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he kicked off a marathon series of seven congressional hearings in seven days with back-to-back hearings in the Ways and Means and Appropriations Committees. In the two appearances, his first before Congress in 2026, Kennedy defended his record in leading the nation’s health agency as Democrats sought to push back against proposed budget cuts and changes to vaccine policy. Kennedy faced a very different political environment from the one in which he appeared before Congress seven months ago, when his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement seemed to be at its most politically powerful. Kennedy and his allies last year overhauled the childhood vaccine schedule to recommend fewer shots while also shaking up key leadership positions across health agencies.

But with an eye on the 2026 midterm elections, the White House wants Kennedy to stop talking about vaccines and focus on other MAHA “wins.” The administration sees him as an asset, so long as he avoids talking about unpopular changes to vaccine policy. Thursday was the first high profile test of that strategy. Here are key takeaways: In his opening remarks in both hearings, Kennedy touted the administration’s moves on food and nutrition as well as drug pricing. He highlighted new dietary guidelines and partnerships with companies to eliminate artificial food dyes. He also defended the administration’s proposed budget for the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department, which would slash $16 billion from the current fiscal year’s appropriated amount. The proposal includes substantial cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “Am I happy about the cuts? No, I’m not happy about the cuts,” Kennedy said. But, he added, “we got a $39 trillion debt.”

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

Trump slammed the first US pope. The country’s bishops now appear more united than ever.

After President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV and his foreign policy on social media this week, U.S. Catholics, and especially bishops, have largely reacted with condemnation and dismay. While it’s not new for U.S. presidents and the popes to disagree — especially on matters concerning war — what’s surprising about the recent spat between Leo and Trump is how much it has unified the Catholic bishops and faithful behind the pontiff, after years marked by division and internal conflict. “The attack on Pope Leo has united the American hierarchy with particular zeal,” said Christopher White, author of the 2025 book “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.”

The bishops’ unity has been strengthened by the election of an American pope and the “general sense of obligation that they need to support him and have his back,” he said. From the moment Leo walked out on the loggia after his election last May, he laid out his mission, entrusted to him by the cardinals who elected him, to “walk together with you as a church, united, ever pursuing peace and justice.” His motto “In Illo uno unum” (“In the one Christ we are one”) is a manifesto of what the new pope wants to prioritize in what he considers a fractured church and society. During Pope Francis’ papacy, U.S. bishops only occasionally criticized him in public, but their United States Conference of Catholic Bishops organizing body rarely threw its weight behind his priorities, like the environment and dialogue, known as synodality. And their attempts to weigh in on former President Joe Biden’s policies were marred by division as disagreements about denying Democrats who supported abortion rights Communion spilled into public view.

Read this article at Religion News Service - Subscribers Only

Copyright April 25, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved