Lead Stories

Inside GOP’s big-money Dallas events

The Republicans’ “midterm convention” in Dallas begins Wednesday. The made-for-TV event is aimed at boosting GOP base turnout in the midterm elections. But this is also Texas — the Republican Party’s biggest ATM. So there’s a lot of big-money fundraising taking place on the sidelines of the main event at the American Airlines Center. House and Senate Republicans are competing for cash from a small group of big-time GOP donors who can dole out hundreds of thousands — or millions — of dollars. The goal of the party committees and super PACs is to convince the check writers that they’re the best investment to save the endangered GOP majorities on Capitol Hill with just 56 days to go. The White House. First, let’s talk about President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. This convention is Trump’s brainchild, designed to counter slumping GOP ratings, although it’s unclear how focusing even more attention on a widely unpopular president can do that.

Trump posted on Truth Social Monday night yet another promise that oil prices “will drop precipitously” when the United States wins the war with Iran. The war is now in its seventh month. Trump will appear at an RNC roundtable Wednesday. The get-in-the-door price is $250,000. If you want a photo with the president, that will run you $88,600. Vance has his RNC fundraiser Thursday. The roundtable for the VP is $75,000 per person. A photo will cost $35,000. But an event like this, and the confluence of big-money donors, means a lot more to candidates, congressional party committees and super PACs than it does to Trump and Vance. The Senate. The Senate map is increasingly competitive as Trump’s poll numbers sink. Republicans are trying to hold seats in North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, Texas, Iowa and Alaska, and are fighting to flip seats in Michigan, New Hampshire and Georgia. Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP super PAC, has a number of events in Texas, the cycle’s surprise battleground state. SLF has a suite both nights at the convention, as does the Congressional Leadership Fund, the House Republican super PAC. SLF’s brass is participating in the NRSC programming. Alex Latcham, the group’s executive director, will speak at an NRSC “battleground plan lunch” Wednesday.

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Canada imposes new tariffs on U.S. goods, as trade war intensifies

New Canadian tariffs targeting roughly $20 billion in U.S. imports officially snapped into place on Tuesday, the latest escalation in an increasingly costly trade war that has ensnarled two longtime allies. The duties apply to a variety of U.S. goods, including clothing, cheese, metal parts and wood products. The approach is meant to mimic the taxes that President Trump imposed on Canada after trade talks between the two neighbors collapsed in acrimony last month. For now, the economic effects of the tit-for-tat may be limited because the tariffs encompass only a small portion of the annual trade between the United States and Canada. The more pressing concern is a potential cycle of retaliation, one that results in even higher and more exhaustive duties that harm families and businesses on both sides of the border.

In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney has sought to position himself as a bulwark against Mr. Trump’s trade aggression, describing his nation as “at war.” Canadian officials generally have pledged to respond “dollar for dollar” to any U.S. duties. In Washington, the president and his aides have repeatedly mocked their Canadian counterparts and the size of their ally’s economy and military. Mr. Trump has already threatened additional tariffs on auto imports from Canada, and on Friday, he even suggested he could try to halt bilateral trade outright. Then, hours before Canada’s new tariffs took effect, Mr. Trump took to social media to continue his attack. He singled out Bombardier, a Canadian plane manufacturer, claiming there would be “NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!” Sign up for Your Places: Global Update. All the latest news for any part of the world you select. In doing so, the president accused Canada of blocking “our GREAT American Banks, and Companies,” and he encouraged U.S. consumers to refrain from buying some Canadian goods. “BUY AMERICAN. FLY ON AMERICAN AIRLINERS. ENJOY AMERICAN LIQUOR AND BEVERAGES. SAIL ON LAKE AMERICA,” Mr. Trump wrote.

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Farmers are going broke amid rising gas prices, while the Ag Secretary profits off them

As farmers grapple with soaring diesel and fertilizer prices and the Department of Agriculture yanks support for cheaper, renewable forms of energy, the agency’s chief, Brooke Rollins, is carrying millions in highly profitable oil and gas investments. In disclosure reports filed in July, Rollins indicated that she and her husband, Mark Rollins, an oil and gas industry executive, together hold as much as $2.5 million in fossil fuel investments. At least $1 million of that is in HKN II, a limited partnership with oil and gas interests in the Kurdistan region of Iraq; another $1 million, at least, is in Hillwood Energy New Ventures, which has interests in oil and gas operations in Texas, Rollins’ home state. Rollins also disclosed that she holds between $250,000 and $550,000 in investments in operating companies that own oil and gas assets in Texas. Since the beginning of this year and President Donald Trump’s launch of the war in Iran, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed, and so have industry profits.

Prices for diesel hit record highs this week, while prices of fertilizer, which are manufactured with natural gas and tied to the market, have also spiked this year, hitting an agriculture industry already battered by Trump’s tariffs and increasingly extreme weather events. “Farmers have spent a billion and a half [dollars] just on additional costs for diesel because of the Iran war,” said former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a former presidential candidate who campaigned on progressive climate policies. “American farmers are paying through the nose for this.” Inslee is currently working with Climate Power, a strategy and communications group that’s working to push climate and clean energy policies. According to a Climate Power analysis, the only other top Trump administration official with significant fossil fuel investments is Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, who held as much as $320,000 in oil and gas stocks as of the end of 2025. Trump himself has been the biggest beneficiary of his own war.

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As Social Security fund runs dry, some Republicans say it’s time to raise taxes

For decades, Washington has replayed the same fight over taming the soaring national debt: Democrats cite a need for more taxes. Republicans refuse. And anyone who suggests cutting the biggest source of spending — federal retirement benefits — gets attacked. But a coming crisis in Social Security appears to be pushing at least a few Republicans off the GOP’s long-standing pledge never to raise taxes. This summer, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) joined Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in proposing to raise the payroll tax cap so people with higher incomes pay more into the program. Now the idea is emerging as an acceptable fix among other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Cole, the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

“We’ve got too many people who say, ‘Well, we have to stay within the current income level or stay at the current tax rate,’” Cole (Oklahoma) said in an interview. “I’m willing to look at the tax rate. I am willing to raise the amount of income through tax.” The rare GOP concessions on taxes come as lawmakers begin to confront a Social Security shortfall so large and so imminent that the party’s traditional demand for curtailing benefits is unlikely to suffice. In just six years, millions of Social Security recipients will absorb a 22 percent cut in benefits unless lawmakers provide an immediate infusion of nearly $500 billion. “Twenty or thirty years ago,” when the shortfall was far in the future, “you could come up with a straight-faced solution” that solved the problem entirely by cutting future benefits, said Charles Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center who served from 2010 to 2015 as the Republican public trustee for Social Security. Now the problem is so big and urgent, Blahous said, “I don’t think you can look at it with a straight face and not do all of the above.”

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State Stories

Ted Cruz racks up private jet flights ahead of midterms

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been crisscrossing the country campaigning for Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections. And he isn't flying coach. Through the first six months of the year, Cruz's Jobs, Freedom and Security PAC spent close to $200,000 on private air travel for the Texas Republican, who spent among the most of anyone in Congress on private fights. Cruz spent twice as much as Senate Majority Leader John Thune's Heartland Values PAC, according to analysis of campaign finance records.

The flights come as Cruz attempts to fortify Republicans ahead of a midterm election in which the GOP is trying to hold control of the U.S. House and Senate amid flagging approval ratings for President Donald Trump. The flights appear to comply with federal rules, which largely bar members of the U.S. House from private air travel but not senators. Still, doing so can present a problematic image for politicians, said Bill King, a fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. "Both parties have the populist problem, where people don't like politicians making a lot of money and cozying up to business interests," he said. Cruz's private jet travel marks a significant increase from last year when his campaign committees spent close to $61,000 on private flights, far behind the $560,000 in flights U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders reported and the $178,000 reported by Thune's PAC. A spokesperson for Cruz declined to answer questions about the purpose of the flights, but Cruz has been eager to tout his efforts to boost the GOP. "In the last decade, there has not been another Republican who’s campaigned for more Senate candidates, more House candidates, more gubernatorial candidates than I have," he claimed on Meet the Press last week. "These are the most consequential midterms we have ever had," he said. "I’m going to be on the road non-stop from now to Election Day. If the Democrats take the Senate and House, we will see the entire Trump legislative agenda grind to a halt." The dates of Cruz's private jet payments largely correlate with a run of campaign appearances ahead of state GOP primaries, which run from March to September.

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TEA is pushing for more third-party groups to run struggling schools. Does it work?

With several public school districts in North Texas and across the state on the cusp of state takeovers, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath has increasingly encouraged them to turn to third-party organizations to run struggling campuses and avoid state intervention. Texas public districts are subject to a TEA takeover if one of their campuses receives five consecutive F grades in the state’s annual A-F Accountability rating system. That gives Morath the ability to name a new superintendent and replace the school board with a Board of Managers, a process that has already played out at both Fort Worth ISD and Lake Worth ISD in the last calendar year. But a Texas law passed nearly a decade ago could put takeovers on hold — and an increased number of districts in North Texas are using it to maintain control of their campuses.

Senate Bill 1882 made it legal for districts to partner with external groups to manage struggling campuses. By doing so, campuses get a two-year exemption from state takeovers, meaning a campus can get up to seven F ratings in a row and still not be subject to a takeover. Everman ISD is the latest Tarrant County district to turn to a third party organization to dodge a takeover. Last month the district announced it was partnering with Third Future Schools, a nonprofit educational management organization, to run two of its schools. One of the schools just received a fourth F grade. In a press conference last month, Morath said more districts should turn to third-party organizations, like Everman did. “What I think some school districts are thinking through is, are there partners that might have specialized or a higher degree of expertise in some areas of curriculum, instructional support, those sorts of things?” Morath said. “I think some districts are doing this. They may be doing this because of accountability issues, but like, if it’s a good idea for kids, you should do it. You should do it today. Period. You shouldn’t wait.”

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Judge declines to halt Texas THC ban, court records show

Possession of products containing delta-8 and other forms of THC are still a state felony after the Texas officials banned the substances earlier this year. A Texas judge has allowed a wide-ranging THC ban to stay in effect after a hearing last week. Delta-9 THC can generally be regarded as “regular THC.” When state and federal lawmakers legalized hemp, they defined it as cannabis with .3% delta-9 THC or less on a dry-weight basis. However, there are other forms of THC that were not originally regulated by state and federal hemp laws. So, manufacturers and retailers began making and selling products with other forms of THC such as delta-8, which exploded in popularity over the last few years. Now, those other forms of THC are banned in the state. A Travis County District Court judge recently ruled this ban can stay in effect as hemp businesses sue the state over it.

This is all the result of a Texas Supreme Court decision over the legality of delta-8 THC stemming from a lawsuit brought by hemp manufacturer Hometown Hero in 2021. That year, the Texas Department of State Health Services said all forms of the substance besides .3% delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis were schedule I controlled substances. Hometown Hero sued over the change. For a time, the ban on these other forms of THC was on pause while litigation was pending. The Texas Supreme Court ruled this year that the state could ban delta-8 and other forms of THC outside of delta-9. The state implemented that ban on July 31, adding other forms of THC to the state’s controlled substances list. Possession of these alternative forms of THC is now a state felony. The Texas Supreme Court decision, however, said trace amounts of these substances are allowed in hemp products. However, the court did not define what it meant by “trace amounts.” That’s why hemp businesses such as SS Distro USA LLC and Topps Distro filed suit against the state. Their attorney David Sergi argued in Travis County District Court that trace amounts must be defined if the state hopes to enforce this restriction, and it must be done through a rule-making process. The businesses hoped a judge would grant a temporary restraining order, putting a halt on the ban. The judge ruled otherwise. The businesses and their attorneys are still seeking halts on the bans in court.

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Federal crackdown hits CDL training schools, including 13 in Texas

More than 100 commercial driver’s license training providers are being removed from a federal registry as part of a nationwide crackdown on programs accused of failing to meet federal requirements, with 13 Texas schools included on the removal list. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the removals last week. Federal officials said they traced more than 5,000 commercial drivers who failed English-language proficiency requirements back to the providers being removed. According to the spreadsheet provided to KVUE by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the 13 entries where training was conducted in Texas are:

ASC Technical Institute LLC, Asere Transport, Brothers CDL Training LLC, CDL Aris Truck LLC, CDL Commercial Trucks Training LLC, Cultural Technical Institute LLC, EP Texas Trucking School, Mountain View Vocational Institute LLC, MT Training Center LLC, One Stop CDL Driver Training LLC, Prime Time CDL, Sun City CDL LLC, and Tony CDL Training. The federal action is part of a broader effort to scrutinize how commercial drivers are being trained before they get behind the wheel. Elyas Aboseid, CEO of Get Drivers Ed, said he supports efforts to hold training programs accountable. “It's our responsibility to make sure who actually is licensed on the road, so I support it,” Aboseid said. Get Drivers Ed is not among the providers on the federal removal list. The company offers the online portion of entry-level driver training nationwide and connects students with partner schools for behind-the-wheel instruction.

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State Rep. Venton Jones, Gregory Scott Jr. are married

Texas state Rep. Venton Jones, Texas House Democratic Caucus whip and vice chair of the Texas LGBTQ Caucus, on Saturday, Aug. 29, issued a statement announcing his marriage to Gregory D. Scott Jr. “With full hearts, immense joy, and deep gratitude, Gregory and I are proud to share that we are officially married. Surrounded by our families, loved ones and community, we have taken this sacred next step to build our lives, our family and our future together,” Jones said in that statement. “From the day I asked Gregory to marry me on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives, our journey has been grounded in the belief that love conquers all, “Jones continued. “In a time when the LGBTQ+ community and our families continue to see our rights and our very existence challenged — often within the halls of government itself — living, loving and celebrating our union openly and unapologetically is an act of resilience. “Gregory and I stand together as living proof that love wins, progress is unstoppable and no amount of hate can erase the truth of who we are,” he said.

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Busy City Council meeting awaits Mayor Guajardo after suspension

Mayor Paulette Guajardo is set to return to City Hall on Tuesday morning following a 30-day suspension. Guajardo was formally reprimanded and suspended Aug. 7 after a four-day hearing over a petition seeking her removal from office. Several major decisions involving Corpus Christi’s water supply were made during her absence. The city returned to Stage 1 water restrictions, and City Council voted 5-3 against moving forward with additional design work for the Inner Harbor desalination project. A busy meeting awaits Guajardo upon her return. The council’s agenda includes an ordinance adopting the city’s budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

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Dallas woman who protested Reagan in 1984 returns to challenge Trump

Mavis Belisle protested President Ronald Reagan’s policies outside the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas. Forty-two years later, she is preparing to return to the streets, this time to protest President Donald Trump. Next week, Trump and Republicans will gather at the American Airlines Center for the party’s first midterm convention. Demonstrators plan to challenge his administration and its policies, much as they did in when Reagan accepted the GOP's nomination for a second term. “The America that I grew up in hardly exists anymore, but it doesn’t make me want to give up,” Belisle said. “I’m ready to be back out there next week.”

The issues that brought protesters to Dallas in 1984 included Reagan’s military buildup and policies in Central America, poverty, unemployment, homelessness, corporate power, government contracting and gay rights. This year’s demonstrators are organizing around immigration, war, civil rights, economic hardship and concentrated political power. The language and targets have changed. But the question of whether government is serving ordinary people has not. Belisle, 82, an Oak Cliff resident, has spent decades protesting. She helped lead one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in Texas history at the Comanche Peak nuclear plant near Glen Rose. She later became executive director of the Peace Farm, a nonprofit focused on nuclear weapons and hazardous waste. In 1984, she recruited and trained demonstrators as a member of the Dallas March and Rally Committee. She rallied against Reagan’s military policies and the defense budget, which she believed contributed to poverty and economic inequality. Organizers worked out of a small office on Ervay Street, not far from the city convention center. The cramped space became a hub for organizing peacekeepers. “By being present at the same time and place that the Republican Party was, we could show those alternatives,” Belisle said. She spent long, hot days that August moving between rallies, marches and a nearby tent city.

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Dallas City Hall relocation debate stalls as August deadline passes without manager's report

The debate over whether to relocate City Hall appears stuck in a public standstill. Back in June, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert explicitly told the Dallas City Council she did not want the City Hall debate to drag on past August. In the same June 10 meeting, council directed Tolbert to return by Aug. 26 with specific information on relocation plans and possible leasing options. August has now come and gone, and Tolbert's report to the council hasn't happened. City staffers did not present any items to council members for consideration or approval by the Aug. 26 deadline. The reasons for the delay are varied, city council members say. One explanation is that estimates to demolish the current I.M. Pei-designed building are coming in higher than city officials expected — "astronomically" high in the words of one council member. If the city exits the site, it could sell the site as is or raze the building and clear the grounds. Creating a blank slate for the site's next incarnation would likely make it more marketable.

In the days since Aug. 26, Dallas Business Journal has repeatedly requested an update from the city on the timeline for City Hall decisions, but has not received a response. When asked where the City Hall process stands, Council Member Paula Blackmon said: "I have no idea." She added that she has asked Tolbert for the report but has not seen it. Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, who like Blackmon opposes moving out of City Hall, told the DBJ on Sept. 3 that she believes City Hall plans are not being presented to council because demolition costs are coming in "astronomically higher" than what city staff anticipated. To date, the city has not released any costs estimates for demolition or moving out of City Hall. Dallas City Council Member Gay Donnell Willis told WFAA in an interview that aired Aug. 30 that the council should get proposals on properties to consider "in the next week or so." She called the process a "thoughtful, exhaustive, public process," adding that the long-term savings of exiting the building could be upward of "hundreds of millions of dollars."

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Board approves $60M for Spurs arena site as McKee-Rodriguez calls vote a 'betrayal'

The city is closer to buying the land for a new San Antonio Spurs arena. The Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) board of directors voted 7-4 to allocate up to $60 million to acquire the former site of the Institute of Texan Cultures at Hemisfair. The city is still negotiating with the University of Texas Board of Regents for the site, and city staff said a deal is likely to close by the end of this year. City staff estimates that the total acquisition costs, including financing, will be $115.7 million. District 2 Council Member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, who was appointed to the now 11-member board this week, voted against the measure. Board members Seema Kairam, George Grimes and Joseph Bravo also voted against it.

Just before the vote was taken, McKee-Rodriguez said he requested to join the board to push for more funding for affordable housing projects, which he said is part of why the Midtown TIRZ was resurrected. He called Friday's vote a "betrayal of values." "I think the use of TIRZ dollars for an arena property for the Spurs deviates greatly from the intention of not just the reconstitution, but TIRZ as a whole and the purpose of using these public tax dollars," he said. A TIRZ collects projected future tax growth within a defined boundary. A board then takes applications from public and private developers to partially fund projects. District 1 Council Member Sukh Kaur, who chairs the board, said she backed the measure as an economic development tool and predicted the vote would split along Project Marvel lines. The vote comes as the city weighs extending the Midtown TIRZ lifespan, which expires in 2041. The city's financial team estimates that pushing that further out to 2060 would unlock about $580 million in additional funds for public and private development. The board also voted to earmark $10 million each for expansion projects at the San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio Botanical Gardens and the Brackenridge Park Conservancy. A city council vote on the TIRZ extension is due in the fall.

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Sources: Big 12 withdraws federal suit against Texas Tech

The Big 12 has withdrawn the federal lawsuit it filed against Texas Tech in June, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Monday. The suit was intended to allow the league to enforce its own rules amid former quarterback Brendan Sorsby's legal quest for eligibility. All issues related to the suit have been handled internally and the conference is moving forward, sources added. Sorsby was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA in April after he acknowledged placing more than 9,000 wagers totaling at least $90,000 on professional and college sports over four years. Sorsby was issued a temporary injunction by a Texas court to clear his path to play for the Red Raiders, but when the Big 12 filed in federal court with aims to punish the quarterback and Texas Tech, he withdrew his suit and declared for the NFL supplemental draft, which the league ultimately decided not to hold. He previously said he is preparing for the 2027 NFL draft.

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Texas native and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes subject of new shocking documentary

A new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder who was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for multiple counts of fraud, is set to be released next month. Holmes, who began her prison sentence on May 30, 2023, is seen speaking to filmmaker Nathan Fielder at her home in the trailer for A24’s You Can See Everything, which is expected to hit theaters in October. The clip, released on Sunday, Sept. 6, shows Holmes speaking to Fielder while sitting on a couch. “I’m not that person, I can promise you that. I don’t have anything to deceive you on, of course I’m not deceiving you,” she says in a close-up shot in the teaser. Holmes adds, “I’m engaging with you as a human being. Why would I deceive you? There’s no reason for me to do that.”

“Okay. Alright. Okay, good chat … You’re being real right now?” Fielder replies. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Holmes then insists, “I’m always being real,” before the camera panned back to reveal her baby in a bouncer. PEOPLE reported in February 2023 that Holmes had given birth to her second child with her partner, Billy Evans. It’s since been confirmed that the pair had a daughter, named Invicta (Latin for “invincible”), after welcoming their first child, son William Holmes Evans, in July 2021. The trailer’s release came as the documentary’s world premiere took place at the Telluride Film Festival on Sunday night, Deadline reported. The movie was unveiled at a top-secret screening, per the outlet.

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Central Texas is rejecting Flock cameras. What will Austin do?

At least five more Central Texas cities have moved to end or pause their use of Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader cameras in recent weeks, adding momentum to a backlash against the company — and the surveillance technology it sells — that has spread from local privacy advocates to the governor’s office. The latest wave began Aug. 25 in Pflugerville, where the City Council voted to cancel the city's contract with Flock after a resident requested logs showing which outside law enforcement agencies had searched the city’s data. The following week, after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to stop spending money on Flock cameras, officials in Bastrop, Elgin, Manor and Leander moved to sever ties with the company.

In Austin, officials had already decided to part ways with Flock. But leaders have also not ruled out contracting with another vendor—or rejected license-plate-reader technology altogether. The City Council approved new surveillance-technology protections in April, but in the months since, Police Chief Lisa Davis has not publicly said whether the Police Department will recommend another system. Any new agreement would require council approval. Meanwhile, Austin police continue to receive license-plate data from other agencies, even though the Police Department does not directly access an automated license plate reader database. As other Texas cities move away from Flock, Austin is confronting whether to replace its cameras, regulate its indirect access to the data or abandon the technology altogether. The unresolved question has divided Austin’s elected officials but only three Austin City Council members told the American-Statesman they opposed the use of license-plate-reader technology altogether. Six members, along with Mayor Kirk Watson, said they were open to a different system with tighter controls. (Two other council members did not respond.) "This isn't an all-or-nothing conversation," Watson said in a written statement. "Technology can be used in law enforcement to assist in protecting the public and, at the same time, protect the privacy of our people and avoid unintended negative consequences."

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National Stories

Could Vance’s soccer mom bonus nudge married women back to the GOP?

Every Republican is liable to give you a different answer if you ask them what constitutes their party’s “base.” But from a purely demographic standpoint, it’s indisputable: older, married, working-class white men. The picture of the 2024 GOP electorate from The Associated Press’s now defunct VoteCast (a loss sure to be long lamented) is plain about the party’s core: 84 percent white, 56 percent age 50 or older, 53 percent male, 60 percent without college degrees. That’s not a bad thing for the GOP. There are some problematic policy implications with persuadable voters, like, for example, being too blithe about how things like tariffs and mass deportations would play with the broader electorate.

There are some demographic cliffs out there, too — especially as the college-educated voters become a majority of the electorate in coming years. But if you had to pick a single bloc of the electorate as your core, the archetypal Republican stacks up pretty well against his Democratic counterpart from 2024: an older, college-educated, unmarried white woman. The two base groups are about evenly matched, but neither is sufficient to win elections on its own, so they have to start adding on. For Democrats, that tends to mean, most crucially, nonwhite voters (34 percent of the 2024 Democratic vote) and younger men (21 percent). The Democrats’ misadventure with Kamala Harris speaks to how even small shifts in coalition subgroups like those can cause a party to founder. It’s a lesson Republicans may soon learn themselves. The first and most essential addition to the Republican base is married white women. These voters were about a quarter of Donald Trump’s 2024 total, and as a whole, broke 56 percent in his favor compared with 43 percent for Harris.

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Trump officials strip military language criticizing Confederate memorial

The Trump administration has removed language criticizing a memorial to the Confederacy formerly located in Arlington National Cemetery, part of its ongoing effort to reshape portrayals of the Civil War. The Confederate Memorial, a 32-foot bronze statue commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and unveiled in 1914, was removed from the military cemetery in 2023. Its removal followed a congressional mandate to rid U.S. military property of names and symbols honoring the Confederacy and its leaders. The decision by the bipartisan Naming Commission to remove the statue was based on criticism and backlash over the memorial’s depictions, which included an enslaved woman carrying an infant child of a white officer and an enslaved man following his owner to war.

A Defense Department website and a marker at the memorial’s former site included contextual language describing the sculpture as portraying a “nostalgic, mythologized vision of the Confederacy, including highly sanitized depictions of slavery.” The website also described the two Black figures as enslaved people, including an enslaved woman depicted as a “Mammy,” and it remarked on how the portrayal of the “faithful slave” helped to shape American pop culture. Now, that language has been removed from the website, and the marker in the cemetery has been replaced by a new sign that omits wording critical of slavery and the Confederacy. The website also formerly featured additional context about the sculpture’s symbolism, including a Latin phrase inscribed on it. “An inscription … construes the South’s secession as a noble ‘Lost Cause,’” the website previously read. “This narrative of the Lost Cause, which romanticized the pre-Civil War South and denied the horrors of slavery, fueled white backlash against Reconstruction and the rights that the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments (1865-1870) had granted to African Americans.”

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Missouri group asks the Supreme Court to let former district maps stand

A citizens group fighting a Republican-led redistricting effort in Missouri is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a request from GOP state officials to allow new maps to go into effect ahead of the midterms. Last week, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that voters should elect members of Congress from a 2022 map, not the new map passed by the state legislature during a special session in September 2025. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule the state court’s decision. Missouri was one of the first states to take up President Donald Trump’s call to engage in mid-decade redistricting efforts ahead of the midterms. The new map would probably give Republicans seven of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, one more than they hold now, by slicing 11-term Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City district into three parts.

People Not Politicians Missouri, which sued the state over the redistricting plan and the state’s rejection of a petition to put the issue on the November ballot, responded Monday to a petition in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the state high court’s decision.That was the deadline the group had been given by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who covers this region for emergency appeals. “Now that the Missouri Supreme Court has rejected [Hoskins’] gambit, he asks this Court to deliver him the political victory to which he was never entitled under the Missouri Constitution,” People Not Politicians Missouri asserts in the filing. “This Court cannot and should not reward the Secretary’s scheme to outsmart Missouri voters, Missouri law, and the Missouri Supreme Court by granting Applicants the extraordinary relief they seek.” The citizens group — which collected over 300,000 signatures from Missouri residents to force a referendum on the November ballot — accused Hoskins of filing a last-minute appeal “in the hopes of running out the clock on the judiciary’s tolerance for a last-minute reversion to the 2022 districts.” The group argues that the Hoskins’ decision to block its “timely” referendum from the November ballot violated state laws that give “voters the power to suspend legislation through the referendum process.”

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New Hampshire voters pick nominees as Sen. Shaheen’s exit sparks a scramble for key seats

New Hampshire primary voters are choosing candidates for Congress, governor and the 424-seat state Legislature on Tuesday, and incumbents aren’t the only familiar names on the ballot. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s decision to not seek reelection created a cascade of competitive races. Two of the eight Republicans hoping to replace the three-term Democrat are former U.S. senators she previously defeated: John E. Sununu and Scott Brown. The five-way race for the Democratic nomination includes U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, whose departure from his 1st Congressional District seat in turn attracted a crowd of candidates. Shaheen’s daughter, Stefany Shaheen, is among those seeking the Democratic nomination for Pappas’ seat, along with former candidate Maura Sullivan. Several other candidates in top races also are making repeat appearances.

Sununu, who spent six years in the U.S. House and one term in the Senate before being ousted by Shaheen in 2008, has this time focused on themes including affordability for housing, healthcare and energy, holding Congress accountable and constituent service. “I’ve been out of politics for 17 years. I’m not worried about reelection,” he said during a campaign stop last month. “I don’t need an appointment or a job. I don’t need to make anyone happy. I need to do one thing: Stand up for the people of New Hampshire.” Brown previously represented Massachusetts, where he won a special election in 2010 after the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy before losing in 2012. He unsuccessfully challenged Shaheen in 2014 and served as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa during President Donald Trump’s first term. In a July interview, he said he decided to run again because New Hampshire Republicans have no representation in Congress and because, in his view, his experience as a veteran, lawmaker, ambassador and grandfather is unmatched.

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What to expect in Rhode Island’s state primary

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee faces a tough Democratic primary challenge Wednesday in his bid for a second full term. Ocean State voters will also choose nominees for a full slate of federal, state and local offices. McKee was elected governor by a wide margin in 2022 after first assuming the role in March 2021 when then-Gov. Gina Raimondo stepped down to become U.S. commerce secretary. He now is at risk of becoming the nation’s first elected governor since 2014 to lose renomination and the first in Rhode Island since 1994. His challenger is Helena Buonanno Foulkes, a former longtime executive with Rhode Island-based CVS. She placed a close second behind McKee in the five-way 2022 Democratic primary. She is the niece of former Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

A top issue in the campaign has been McKee’s handling and oversight of the reconstruction of the Washington Bridge, which connects Providence and East Providence and carries 100,000 vehicles per day. McKee closed the westbound bridge in December 2023 after authorities discovered critical structural flaws. Authorities then determined in March 2024 that the bridge would need to be demolished and replaced. State officials initially estimated the bridge would be reopened to traffic this year, but that has since been pushed back to Nov. 2028. Campaign ads have also referenced a 2024 joint investigation of McKee by the state Attorney General Peter Neronha and the state police that found that the governor “personally and directly intervened” in the awarding of a multimillion-dollar state contract, but that he did not violate the state’s bribery or campaign finance laws. Neronha endorsed Foulkes in March. McKee meanwhile has focused on Foulkes’ work at CVS and the company’s alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis. Foulkes’ campaign fundraising and spending has almost doubled that of McKee’s, according to state campaign finance records. Independent polling from the University of New Hampshire shows that Foulkes has maintained a lead over McKee throughout the year, although in the latest poll many voters remained undecided.

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Republicans are making Muslims a campaign issue in the 2026 US midterms

Republican Vice President JD Vance called Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim and a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, "very, very evil" at a rally last week, accusing him of defending terrorism because of remarks he made after a March attack on a suburban Detroit synagogue. In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, in ?a close race for another term, attacked a proposed Muslim-led development and called for an investigation into what he described as efforts to create “sharia courts,” a claim disputed by developers and civil rights groups. In Alabama, ?where Muslims make up less than half a percent of the population, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Republican running for governor, warned that “the enemy is inside the gates,” referring to what he called radical Islam.

The comments reflect an effort to make Muslims and Islam part of the election debate ahead of the November 3 midterms that will determine whether Democrats can wrest control of Congress from President Donald Trump's Republican Party. Critics say the rhetoric unfairly targets Muslims, while Republicans say they are raising legitimate concerns about security, extremism and the role of religion in public life. Abbott campaign spokesman Eduardo Leal ?said the Texas governor's actions regarding the development were aimed at alleged illegal conduct, not religious beliefs. Muslims number about 5.5 million people in the United States, up from 2.4 million in 2007, according to Pew Research Center. Over the past year, Muslims have gained more political power than at any point in recent memory. New York City elected its first Muslim mayor, Zohran Mamdani, ?while El-Sayed could become the first Muslim senator. Last year, Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office when she became Virginia's lieutenant governor.

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EverBank to combine with WaFd in $3.9 billion reverse merger

Florida-based EverBank Financial has agreed to acquire WaFd, a smaller ?bank in the Pacific Northwest, in a $3.9 billion reverse ?merger transaction, ?the ?companies said on Monday. The deal would create a regional bank with some $75 ?billion ?in assets, the Wall Street Journal ?reported earlier on Monday, citing a statement from the companies. Under the deal, EverBank will merge ?into WaFd, with the latter remaining a publicly traded company ?after changing its name to EverBank Financial Corp and trading under the new ticker ?symbol EVBK on the Nasdaq. Upon completion of the ?transaction, EverBank investors will ?collectively own about 59.2% of the pro forma combined company, with WaFd shareholders owning ?the remaining 40.8%. The companies said the merger, ?which is expected to ?close in early 2027, is projected to increase WaFd’s 2027 earnings ?per share ?by roughly 29% and recoup tangible book value dilution in less than two years.

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Lead Stories

An ‘albatross’ or a GOP turnout force: Trump’s role in Texas midterm elections

Navigating the politics of President Donald Trump is a balancing act for Texas Republicans in the November midterm. Trump is, without dispute, the face of the modern GOP: A powerful figure whom candidates and elected officials have gone out of their way to endear themselves to over the course of three presidential campaigns and two White House terms. He’s also a divisive leader whose popularity has waned in Texas and nationally in a midterm election year with Republican control of Congress on the line. Those opposing pulls will be front-and-center on Sept. 9-10 as the Republican midterm convention — deemed “Trump-a-palooza” by the party’s chair — sets up in Dallas. The president caps off the event with a speech Thursday night.

The convention, a novelty that doesn’t involve the party business typical of a gathering in a presidential year, is expected to contrast what the party sees as GOP wins, with Trump at the helm, against Democratic failures. Texas is playing a closely-watched role in that fight for Washington power as Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico vie in a tight U.S. Senate race. RNC spokesperson Zach Kraft says it this way: The midterm event puts “President Trump on the ballot across the country.” “He’s one of the strongest forces for turnout in Republican politics of all time, especially right now, and nowhere is that more true than Texas,” Kraft said. Democrats are — in their own way — capitalizing on his visit to the state. “Whatever role they’re going to try to play to prop him up, we intend to talk on the issues,” said Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder. “The actions of Donald Trump can speak for themselves.” Whether Trump helps or hurts a Republican candidate depends on the office. But in a political era in which traditional midterm strategies may be less effective, Texas candidates are walking a tightrope. Will they fall?

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Trump administration expands mass deportations with noncriminals

A surge in immigration arrests is sweeping up immigrants with no criminal record whatsoever, including many who were already known by the government, as officers push to meet quotas set by the Trump administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers broke records for the second Trump administration with back-to-back months of arrests topping 50,000 in July and August. But the data undercut a long-running claim by the Trump administration that it is targeting the “worst of the worst” by removing those with criminal records. In fact, more than half of those arrested — 55 percent — had no interaction with law enforcement whatsoever, while another 24 percent have faced charges but were never convicted, according to data obtained by the Deportation Data Project.

These statistics have raised reservations among some Republicans in Congress. “I’ve been telling the administration that do not conflate the gangster with the gardener, the nanny with the narco,” said Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who represents a district where more than half the population is foreign born. It’s a figure that reflects a growing dynamic in immigration enforcement under the Trump administration — going after those with pending asylum claims or are otherwise seeking to adjust their status who are already known to authorities. “What this shows is that the Trump administration is expanding its mass deportation operations away from people who are public safety threats or who have had some interaction with the criminal justice system and towards everybody else in an effort to hit the quotas put on them by the White House,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow with the American Immigration Council, told The Hill.

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Democrats have finally figured out their campaign message on data centers

Democrats want voters to see data centers as giant outposts of megacorporations that enjoy undue tax breaks and ill-begotten monstrosities that suck up precious water and hog electricity. After months of probing and message-testing, Democrats are aligning on a few key thematic attack lines as they figure out how to take advantage of a fast-moving issue riling up voters across the political spectrum. The two themes of costs and corruption have dominated politics during President Donald Trump’s second term, and new party guidance makes that strategy even more explicit. In recent days, House Democrats’ campaign arm updated the webpage it uses to quietly communicate with super PACs, signaling them to focus on data centers in 11 different battleground races, either by calling for negative ads that connect data centers with candidate corruption or resource scarcity or requesting more polling on the issue.

And an internal memo from the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting House Democrats, obtained by POLITICO, calls on allies to attack vulnerable Republicans with language that touches the “conspiratorial nerve that runs through the data center discourse among voters.” “The candidates and party that most effectively meets voters where they are on this issue stands to maximize their gains on election day,” HMP deputy director for independent expenditures Jon Bosscher wrote in the memo. “Rather than see this as a distinctive hit, it’s best to understand it as an effective proof point that marries the costs and corruption themes on a high salience issue.” The memo included the results of polling that tested negative messaging on data centers in 24 battleground House districts. The messaging resonated widely with voters, especially in top Democratic targets in the Midwest, including the Ohio seats held by Republican Reps. Max Miller and Mike Carey and the Michigan seats held by Republican Reps. Tom Barrett and John James, who is running for governor in the state.

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What Gina Hinojosa’s deeply personal new campaign ad doesn’t say

There’s something striking about Gina Hinojosa’s much-buzzed-about new campaign ad—in a story about loss, there is something missing. The ad starts off somber: Hinojosa tells us about her first pregnancy, 23 years ago, and how it turned tragic. “The doctor said, ‘I need you to understand she’s not gonna live,’?” she recalls, her voice catching. “And I did understand that I was making that choice. I chose her.” This segment is spliced against footage of the candidate with her husband, John; then, alone in a room, sunset pouring through the window, she tells us the baby died shortly after birth, just as her doctor said she would. Halfway through the ad, there is a distinct tonal shift. Her daughter, who didn’t make it, is the reason she fights now, she says. The music turns energetic, even jocular. “She is why I fight for every Texas family—for their right to send their kids to good neighborhood schools. For an economy where their kids can afford to stay. Where the powerful don’t get to tell the rest of us how to live.” Notably absent from this list of rights: the reproductive ones, now nearly nonexistent in the state of Texas, that two decades ago allowed Hinojosa to choose to bear her sick daughter, who was sure to die. Now, she would likely be forced to do so.

Hinojosa is, of course, excruciatingly aware of this fact. The first time she chose to publicly speak about the loss of her daughter, it was 2021, and Senate Bill 8—the so-called Texas Heartbeat Act, which banned abortion beginning at about six weeks of pregnancy—was making its way through the Legislature. On the floor of the Texas House, Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative, shared her story in much greater detail than her recent ad allows. She and her husband had learned late in the second trimester that their baby had trisomy 18, a genetic condition, and that she would not survive outside the womb. She took a week to pray, consult her priest, and discuss with her husband and family. She decided to continue the pregnancy. But she would never judge another woman for choosing differently. “It was in making that choice that I experienced God’s grace. It was in making that choice that I found my own strength. And why would we take that opportunity, that choice, away from anyone, from any woman in this state?” She noted she may not even have been “standing here today” had she not been permitted to make that choice. There was an implication, just as there is in the new ad, that the experience shaped her in some determinative fashion, making her the sort of person who wanted to run for public office and fight for the passage of bills that could improve the lives of others. It is a story of unimaginable loss and the grit that it takes to move through something unimaginable. This is the framing promoted by Hinojosa and her campaign, which did not make the candidate available for an interview, though it did send a statement to Texas Monthly.

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State Stories

Fear of deportations adding to Texas construction worker shortage

Veronica’s favorite part about being a construction worker is watching people’s reactions to the new house she helped build. She watched her late husband do drywall and demolition while she was pregnant with her middle child, having recently immigrated from Honduras to seek out a life free from violence. Veronica liked how every day was something different, so the Dallas woman decided to turn construction into her career. But today she is more afraid of being deported than ever before, and of what that would mean for her three children. “Day to day I live with an on-edge anxiety,” Veronica said in Spanish. “I can’t go to work because I’m a single mother. My children depend on me.”

Veronica — who asked to be identified by her first name because of her immigration status — is not the only construction worker who is afraid to come to work. The fear sparked by enhanced immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s administration has added pressure to a preexisting labor shortage in the construction industry. The shortage has led to delays, a decrease in building quality and an inability to meet the housing needs of a growing North Texas, according to labor and construction experts. Demand for data centers, housing and commercial and infrastructure projects pulls at North Texas construction firms. Meloni Raney, president and CEO of the Texas construction industry trade association TEXO, said she’s never seen the workforce stretched so thin. “The past two years have been extremely overwhelming,” Raney said. “We are very blessed to be in Texas with the economy and everybody moving here, but it has put a big strain on construction.” That trend holds true across the country. Even with the housing market down, the residential construction sector needs to add 740,000 workers a year to meet demand nationwide. Immigrants made up 38.6% of all construction workers in Texas in 2024, according to the American Community Survey, an annual survey conducted by the U.S. census. When it comes to blue-collar jobs, immigrants represent 50.2% of the Texas construction industry.

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Harris County commissioners may approve highest tax rate in 20 years

Harris County commissioners will consider a nearly 8% property tax rate increase next Tuesday in a bid to bridge a more-than $180 million deficit projected for the next fiscal year. The Office of Management and Budget is recommending commissioners approve a combined rate of 67 cents per $100 in appraised value, according to agenda documents published Tuesday. The rate would be the highest since at least 2006, and represents a roughly12% higher tax bill for the median homeowner, should commissioners approve the budget office's recommendation.

The proposed rate is 7.6% higher than last year, and coincided with a 1% decrease in valuations for existing properties, according to the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027. State law limits the property taxes the county can collect each year. Since this cap is calculated using last year's total tax revenue, a decrease in property values gives commissioners more room to increase the tax rate. Commissioners have authority over four distinct taxing entities: The county itself — which accounts for a majority of the combined rate — Harris Health, the Port of Houston and the Harris County Flood Control District. The county accounts for a little over 60% of the proposed increase, with Harris Health responsible for a majority of the remainder. At least some of the proposed increases stem from voter-approved bond initiatives for county projects, such as the $2.5 billion flood bond passed in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and another $2.5 billion bond approved by voters in 2023 to fund a new hospital for Harris Health, according to budget documents. The proposed tax rate increase alone would not bridge the county's budget deficit. Officials are also considering raising fees for various county services, including engineering permits, and selling underutilized property to help bridge the projected gap for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

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HISD strategic initiatives chief Orlando Riddick resignsq

Houston ISD Chief of Strategic Initiatives Orlando Riddick, who joined the district the day of the state takeover, has resigned. Riddick, who joined on June 1, 2023 when the state tapped Mike Miles as superintendent, served as a regional chief supervising different schools. In 2025, he was promoted to be the "Chief of Strategic Initiatives." In that role, Riddick was the point person for Miles' new vision for school autonomy, which allows schools to turn over their operations to outside nonprofits in exchange for greater decision-making authority — rather than HISD's central office making decisions for those schools. HISD did not respond to questions sent Aug. 20 about Riddick's departure, and Riddick did not respond to a request for comment. His resignation agreement, effective Aug. 4, does not detail why he left.

Riddick helped present details about the new school partnerships, which are allowed under a 2017 law, to the board of managers in spring 2026. HISD received state approval for partnerships for four high-performing high schools and a pre-K partnership with community child care centers. Under the resignation agreement, Riddick will receive the remainder of his salary for the month of August at his 2025-26 salary rate; a payout of his unused leave and vacation days; and any incentive compensation he earned for his performance last school year. Riddick earned $246,844 last school year; at that rate, he earned about $20,570 a month. In addition to Houston, Riddick has worked in Austin, Dallas and Cedar Hill ISDs, according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. He was Midland ISD's superintendent from 2017 through 2020. Under his tenure, Midland ISD's elected board agreed to partner with the charter network Miles started, Third Future Schools, allowing it to operate an in-district charter school in Midland. (Midland ISD has multiple partnerships with Third Future Schools and other external groups under a 2017 law, according to the Texas Education Agency.) Riddick was one of at least two former Midland ISD administrators hired by Miles.

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TWIA makes key decision on coverage for 53,620 second homes, beach cabins

On the same day Tropical Storm Edouard hit Southeast Texas, a Texas Windstorm Insurance Association committee has removed a proposal that could have changed wind-insurance eligibility for 53,620 second homes statewide — including 22,632 policies in Galveston, Jefferson and Chambers counties. The proposal would have required TWIA residential policies to be limited to owner-occupied homesteads, putting coverage for vacation homes, beach cabins, rental properties and other secondary residences in doubt. Instead, TWIA’s Legislative and External Affairs Committee voted Tuesday to remove the proposal from consideration for its Biennial Report to the Texas Legislature.

Among the proposals the committee voted to remove was one that would have limited TWIA residential policies to owner-occupied homesteads: Secondary Home Coverage: Modify the property types eligible for TWIA coverage to require residential policies to be owner-occupied homesteads. The committee’s action leaves current TWIA eligibility rules in place and means the secondary-home restriction will not move forward as one of its recommendations to the TWIA Board. The proposed restriction had been especially significant for owners of beach cabins and weekend homes on Bolivar Peninsula and on Crystal Beach, where many properties depend on TWIA for wind coverage. The committee forwarded five topics to the full TWIA Board for possible inclusion in its 2026 Biennial Report to the Texas Legislature. They involve multidistrict litigation, FORTIFIED home construction, changes to TWIA’s catastrophe-funding structure, its depopulation program and tort reform. The secondary-home coverage proposal is not among those five topics. The committee instead voted to remove it from consideration. TWIA must submit the report to the Texas Legislature, Texas Insurance Commissioner and Sunset Advisory Commission before the next legislative session. The association’s most recent Biennial Report was published in 2024, ahead of the 2025 legislative session. Under state law, the report must include proposed changes to laws regulating TWIA, the reasons for those changes and any information the Texas Department of Insurance asks the association to address.

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Developer Ray Washburne: mayor's race is enticing but no plans to run

Developer Ray Washburne says he would like to be Dallas mayor but does not plan to enter the 2027 race, at least for now. “I’d very much enjoy being mayor of Dallas, but I just don’t think that’s something that I need to be doing at this time,” Washburne said Sunday on NBC5’s Lone Star Politics. His comments come as he serves as co-chair of the Dallas Host Committee supporting the GOP convention opening Wednesday at American Airlines Center, putting him at the center of one of the city’s highest-profile political events.

The committee reported raising $45 million in private donations, and Washburne said in the joint interview with NBC5 and The Dallas Morning News that organizers expect to cover most of the city’s convention-related costs so Dallas isn’t “on the hook.” Washburne, a former national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, lives in Highland Park, where he and his family own the Highland Park Village shopping center. To run, he would first have to move into Dallas. The city requires mayoral candidates to have lived in the city continuously for at least six months before the regular filing deadline. Asked why he would consider seeking the city’s top office, Washburne pointed to his lifelong ties to Dallas, the thousands of people employed through his businesses and his investments downtown. Washburne was among business leaders urging Dallas to move municipal operations out of City Hall, saying redevelopment of the site could help revive the southern end of downtown. He proposed relocating city offices to his Founders Square property downtown.

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In race for Texas’ redrawn 35th District, Johnny Garcia says it all comes down to affordability

Riding high on good polling, Democratic candidate for Texas’ 35th Congressional District Johnny Garcia didn’t mince words about what he thought of the GOP’s redrawing last summer of the district he’s running to represent. “They came in, they tried to redraw this district to favor Republicans, and they’re starting to see that their gerrymander turned into a dummy-mander,” Garcia told the Current. The comments from the former Bexar County Sheriff’s Department public information officer came during a rally of progressives near UT San Antonio on Wednesday. Garcia’s remarks also came days after recent polling from the left-leaning House Majority PAC reported Garcia in a virtual tie with his Republican opponent, Carlos De La Cruz.

Garcia said he isn’t surprised by the polling, which puts him at 45% to De La Cruz’s 44%. In the end, he said the TX-35 race comes down to affordability. “We’re seeing Latinos that are fed up and frustrated,” Garcia said. “I’ve been saying it all along, folks just want to be able to make it to Sunday to buy their barbacoa and Big Red, and Republicans forgot that they redrew it as a Latino majority district.” Indeed, nonpartisan elections analysis publication Inside Elections shifted its forecast Thursday from Likely Republican to Lean Republican. “The 35th was redrawn to elect a Republican, but a rebound for Democrats among Latino voters and strong top-of-ticket campaigns … are keeping Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in the hunt against Republican Carlos De La Cruz.”

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‘Making private wealth work for public good’: Austin to start imposing new fees for private planes

Austin plans to charge new fees on private and other corporate planes touching down at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, a move city leaders say will make private aviation shoulder more of the airport’s infrastructure costs. The new fees and revenue, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes says, are intended to make “private wealth work for public good,” as an increasingly busy airport undergoes a multibillion-dollar expansion and renovation. But the new changes would extend beyond private jets Fuentes has targeted. They would also apply to smaller general aviation aircraft, raising concerns that an effort aimed at wealthy travelers could increase costs for recreational pilots, flight students, and other pilots paying out of pocket.

As early as Oct. 1, pilots of non-commercial aircraft could start paying a new landing fee, higher hangar rental fees and a higher fuel rate. The new fees are expected to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in new revenue for the airport, but general aviation advocates warn they could have unintended consequences for pilots of modest aircraft who lack the financial resources associated with luxury private jet owners. “Our folks don’t typically get to pass along those costs … The vast majority of our folks, it’s coming out of their own pocket each time,” said Tom Chandler, a regional manager with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. “It’s a cost of getting to Austin and choosing to do business there as well, or to come in and see a show.” The new fees stem from an Austin City Council resolution, authored by Fuentes, approved in August 2025. It directed the city manager to determine whether the city could raise fuel fees, collect landing fees based on aircraft weight and impose a “surge” landing fee during high-traffic events, such as South by Southwest and Formula 1.

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‘We will kill you’ North Texas man charged over threats to Gov. Greg Abbott

A North Texas man faces a felony charge after authorities said he left two threatening voicemails for Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, including one in which the caller said, “We will kill you,” according to court documents obtained by 3NEWS. Brandon Andrew Miller, 36, of Whitney, is charged with making a terroristic threat intended to influence the conduct of government or place the public in fear of serious bodily injury, according to court documents. The charge is a third degree felony. According to an arrest affidavit, the Texas Department of Public Safety began investigating after the Governor’s Office reported receiving two voicemails on Aug. 21. Investigators said the calls were placed about two minutes apart after regular business hours.

The arrest affidavit states that the caller said in the first voicemail, “You are fired, you worthless f***. Do not try to make our f***ing laws around you getting f***ing money, you worthless piece of sh**. We will kill you. You do not understand what you're putting yourself into. As a people, we are done with your goddamn bulls***. Learn your f***ing place, dog.” According to investigators, the caller left another voicemail about two minutes later. The affidavit states that the caller said, “When I called you a dog, it was not as a person speaking to another person -- I was speaking to you as the animal that you f***ing are! You worthless piece of s***! If you keep f***ing around, you will find out -- you are such a piece of s*** that if I could pull your entrails out through your throat while making you live through it, I would do so. In a f***ing heartbeat.” Denny Morgan, a communications supervisor with the Governor’s Office Constituent Communications Division, provided investigators with a sworn statement Aug. 26. According to the affidavit, Morgan said the voicemails caused concern and left him and other staff members in fear of serious bodily injury.

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Ross fire still burning 14 days later, with over 90,000 acres scorched and more than 150 structures destroyed

A wildfire that sparked near Ross in Palo Pinto County on Aug. 24 has burned at least 90,400 acres and is about 57% contained. It has destroyed more than 150 structures in the area, including homes, forced evacuations in neighboring Jack County and affected local schools, North Texas officials said. The National Weather Service said the Ross Fire is now the second-largest wildfire in North Texas. The Ross Fire has burned at least 90,400 acres in Palo Pinto and Jack counties, with the fire burning near U.S. 180 and FM 919. According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, the fire was 57% contained as of Monday, Sept. 7; 157 structures have been destroyed, 140 structures are damaged, and 453 structures have been saved.

Residents in Jack County along County Road 2210 toward Highway 281 were instructed to evacuate on Tuesday, Aug. 25; however, those mandatory evacuations were lifted a day later as conditions improved. Jack County Emergency Management warns returning residents to stay vigilant as the fire is still burning in neighboring Palo Pinto County. The fire began near Ross in Palo Pinto County just before 1:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 24, and was initially estimated at 25 acres, according to the Palo Pinto County Emergency Service District. It rapidly expanded to thousands of acres.

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Goldman Sachs exec touts Dallas' 'really bright future' as new campus takes shape

Goldman Sachs is making progress on its new 800,000-square-foot campus in Dallas as it deepens its presence in the city, which has emerged as a key regional financial hub. The firm has a longstanding presence in the Dallas metro area, where it has its second-largest base of employees in the U.S. behind only its New York City headquarters, and the new campus will allow Goldman Sachs to combine two offices into one facility where all the firm's various business units can be situated and collaborate. Ericka Leslie, chief administrative officer at Goldman Sachs, told FOX Business in an interview after visiting the new campus in Dallas as construction continues that "I can't say it enough, I think Dallas is a great place to do business, it really is. The building is beautiful."

"We're in two buildings now, we're going to be able to combine everybody into this state-of-the-art space, and it's right next to the Perot museum, and the city itself is very vibrant. So we're looking forward to it, and we're going to grow there," Leslie said. "It's a growth opportunity for us inside of the United States, and it's a really vibrant place to do business." The new campus will include an auditorium as well as a wide range of amenities, including a wellness center, fitness facility, a backup daycare, multiple spaces offering cafeteria or cafeteria-like services, a coffee bar and outdoor spaces with trees and shade. Employees will be able to park underneath the building and a retail space will be built across the street that offers additional options nearby for those working at the new campus. "I find people want to leave their desk, so to speak, and go to another place, but maybe they only have 30 minutes free, and they want to grab a coffee or have a conversation with people," Leslie said. "There are a lot of places where you can meet up and sit down and be outside or be inside. And I think that's really important to people because it gets hot there in the summer, people don't want to have to walk around outside, it's completely air-conditioned."

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National Stories

Democrats see wider path to take Senate as Trump backlash grows

Senate Republicans in Dallas this week for the party’s unusual midterm election convention could use a good show. Democrats see expanding opportunities with voters irate over the rising cost of living, the country mired in an unpopular war with Iran and President Donald Trump’s job approval polling at a low point. While House control has long been considered in play, the Senate increasingly appears up for grabs in an environment rife with parallels to 2006, a wave election that swept Democrats into power amid a backlash to the Iraq War. The stakes will be high for the president when he takes the stage. Democratic victories would leave him open to a barrage of investigations, a potential impeachment trial, struggles to confirm judicial and cabinet nominees and tough negotiations on budgets.

Trump’s interventions have added to Republicans’ challenges in retaining control. In Texas, his GOP primary endorsement tipped the scales in favor of scandal-plagued Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the Senate election in the usually reliable Republican state is now rated a toss up by nonpartisan analysts like the Cook Political Report. A trade war he just triggered with Canada threatens industries in border-state Senate battlegrounds including Maine, Michigan and Alaska. Still, Democrats face obstacles of their own, among them a Senate map tilted heavily toward the GOP. To gain a Senate majority, they would need to net four seats, including at least three in states Trump won in 2024. Republicans also have a huge financial advantage, including support from well-funded super political action committees, which will allow them to hammer away at Democratic candidates’ weaknesses. Democratic candidate James Talarico is leveraging scandals in Paxton’s record to raise doubts about his character. The Republican state attorney general has been plagued by accusations of infidelity, financial mismanagement and a state impeachment trial on charges approved by the Republican-controlled state House. The Talarico campaign fed the storyline with a cheeky ad featuring surveillance video of Paxton taking an expensive pen another attorney left at a courthouse security checkpoint. Talarico, a soft-spoken Presbyterian minister-in-training, is campaigning as a bridge-builder to independent and disaffected Republican voters. He even hired a former policy aide to current Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, who Paxton defeated in the party primary after securing Trump’s endorsement.

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Far-left Democrats had a huge summer. Now they have big demands for party leaders

The left wing of the Democratic Party flourished this summer as fed-up liberals in key races across the country have eschewed traditional, more moderate candidates in favor of hard-charging progressives. But behind the scenes, ultra-progressive House members and candidates are pushing their own party leaders to reflect more of that mood — arguing that Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and his allies are, so far, failing to grasp the demands of far-left voters who showed up in droves this summer. Those liberals watched in alarm in recent weeks as Jeffries publicly disavowed their marquee “Medicare for All” bill while a pro-Israel Democrat was elevated to a key foreign policy role within the caucus. They also argue his allies were working to undermine a pair of progressive candidates in Michigan and California.

“I was very confused and surprised by that,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a senior progressive and author of the House’s “Medicare for All” bill, told CNN about the leader’s comments about her signature bill. She added that she has been having “direct” conversations with Jeffries about it. The emerging frustrations on the left offer a preview of some of the pressures that await Jeffries if the party can flip the chamber next year, particularly as a new crop of far-left progressive candidates threaten not to support him for leader post-election. “I think what we’ve seen around the country is that people all over are dissatisfied. They’re not happy with the administration. They’re not happy with the current leadership in the Democratic Party — and are looking for a change,” Dr. Adam Hamawy, a progressive candidate who is likely to win a deep blue seat in New Jersey this November, told CNN. Hamawy is among several candidates fresh off primary victories who have not decided whether to back Jeffries. “Most Democrats, I think, agree that the current leadership is failing to face the moment,” Hamawy told CNN when asked if he’ll support Jeffries. “I have to see what the choices are and what the situation is.”

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Trump posts map that renames New Mexico 'New America'

President Trump posted a map showing New Mexico rebranded as “New America” during a rapid-fire Truth Social storm on Sunday. The post, one of 34 made in less than an hour, showed a map of the southwestern state with the word “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America.” The rebrand would be the latest America-themed name change by the president after he ordered that the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario be rechristened the Gulf of America and Lake America, respectively.

The president also changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America as a part of an executive order late last month amidst a trade war between the US and Canada, which the lake sits between. What do you think? Post a comment. The president’s Truth Social storm also included a photo of the commander-in-chief’s face superimposed over wrestler Hulk Hogan, with a “MAGA” bandana photoshopped onto his head. Another post showed the borders of Iran reshaped in an outline of the president’s head as the US’ war with the Middle Eastern country continued past the six-month mark. Also featured in the posting were a series of graphs showing purported economic gains made by the admin.

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Armed man charged toward Democratic Ohio governor candidate, law enforcement says

An armed assailant charged toward the Democratic candidate for Ohio governor, Amy Acton, on Sunday during a campaign stop at the Canfield Fair, injuring several people before he was stopped by troopers, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said in a statement that a man it identified as Patrick Havas, 38, forced his way through a crowd, knocking over multiple members of the audience as he moved toward Acton, the state’s former public health director. He had a taser and two pistols, the statement said. The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office said two handguns and a set of brass knuckles were recovered after his arrest, and “no weapons were ever brandished or even removed from their holsters.”

Havas was taken to the county jail and booked on charges of disorderly conduct and two counts of assault, the highway patrol statement said, adding that no other details were available pending an investigation. Online court records didn’t yet list the case, and it wasn’t clear as of Sunday night whether Havas has an attorney. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement.that the man “tried to forcefully push himself” toward Acton as she was speaking at the fair in Canfield, in northeastern Ohio. “Violence or the threat of violence at political or public events is always unacceptable,” he added. The attempted attack is the latest political violence to roil the United States. And the Ohio gubernatorial race is one of the most high-profile races this year as the campaigns enter the final six weeks of campaigning before the election in November. Acton is facing Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who has parlayed his national name recognition, tech industry connections and alliance with President Donald Trump into a record fundraising haul that he is tapping for advertising spots aimed at the November election. He is using campaign rallies and advertising to criticize Acton. Ramaswamy’s campaign called the incident Sunday unacceptable.

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Far-right AfD wins key German state election but falls just short of majority

The populist, far-right, anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has surged to a resounding victory in a crucial state election in Germany, but fell just short of winning a majority in its quest to form the country’s first far-right state government since the second world war. The party of Germany’s unpopular chancellor Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democrats (CDU), slumped to a disastrous result in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. AfD’s candidate for governor, Ulrich Siegmund, said “we have written history” and the party had a clear mandate to govern. He told public broadcaster ARD that voters had sent a signal that “things cannot carry on like this”. “A very good campaigner for us in this election campaign was Friedrich Merz,” Siegmund said.

AfD was seeking an absolute majority in the state legislature to govern alone and overcome the so-called firewall of mainstream parties’ refusal to work with the party. AfD in Saxony-Anhalt has been classed as “rightwing extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. Final results showed AfD falling three seats short, with 39 lawmakers in an 83-member parliament. Siegmund, 35, said it would not engage in “games” such as a minority government. But it was not evident how its divided opponents could assemble any stable government without it. AfD won 43.8% of the vote, more than double its showing five years ago in the region of 2.1 million people west of Berlin. That was far ahead of Merz’s CDU , which polled 17.2% – losing about half its support – and won 15 seats. The centre-left Social Democrats polled 9.3%, the Greens 8.9% and the Left party 8.6%, winning eight seats apiece.

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Five dead after an Amazon cargo plane veers off MIA runway and smashes into cars

An Amazon cargo plane skidded off the end of the runway at Miami International Airport Sunday afternoon, careening through a wire fence and smashing into several cars on a nearby road, killing five people, injuring five more and causing a full ground stop that halted all flights for hours. The Federal Aviation Administration said flight 7598 from Miami-based cargo transportation company 21 Air, a Boeing 767-300, departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, earlier in the day. It overran the runway after landing at MIA around 2 p.m. After crossing Northwest 67th Avenue, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said, the plane “struck multiple vehicles.” Photographs from the scene show crunched cars snarled in chunks of the wire fence that used to separate the airport from the road.

Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz confirmed Sunday evening in a press briefing with other officials that the crash killed five people. Five others were sent to the hospital, three of whom were in critical condition, said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Raied “Ray” Jadallah. Several of the casualties were on the ground. The plane crashed into “a couple” of vehicles, trapping people inside, Jadallah said. One of the victims was trapped underneath a car and had to be extracted by technical rescue personnel, the department said in a statement. It was a “complex” search and rescue, extraction and fire, the chief said, emphasizing that it was a “very complex situation.” There was an active fuel leak, which was being addressed as officials briefed reporters around 6 p.m. The pilot and co-pilot were also trapped in the plane, Jadallah said, although it was not clear how long — or the extent of crew members’ injuries. The resulting fire from the crash sent large puffs of black smoke into the air. A firefighter was heard on the radio telling his colleagues, “The plane is on fire. The plane is on fire. Put your game faces on guys.”

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Lead Stories

How Talarico is countering Trump’s midterms convention

James Talarico is planning to counterprogram President Donald Trump’s GOP midterms convention in Dallas with a focus on affordability. The idea from the Texas Democratic Senate candidate and seminarian: host a statewide “Love Thy Neighbor” food drive to offer a contrast with Republicans coming to town and highlight the high cost of groceries, according to plans shared first with POLITICO.

“Next week, billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians will gather at a convention in Dallas to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption. They’re paying $20,000 for entry to a Billionaire Ball celebrating corrupt tariffs, billionaire tax breaks, and a new forever war that are all driving grocery costs through the roof,” Talarico said in a statement to POLITICO. “We’ll be doing something different. We’re bringing Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together to collect groceries for our neighbors who have been screwed over by corrupt politicians.” The campaign said it will “mobilize volunteers to collect, sort, and donate groceries for middle class Texans struggling with the high price of groceries.” The event will last from Sunday, Sept. 6 through Wednesday, Sept. 9 — the same day the GOP convention kicks off. Talarico is also expected to field media interviews in a large warehouse near the convention. “Texans across the political spectrum will come together to build community, show up for their neighbors, and take power back for working people,” the campaign said in a statement. A recent poll conducted by Texas Public Opinion Research poll released last week showed Talarico leading ,his opponent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, 48 percent to 42 percent. Trump this week said he would campaign for Paxton soon.

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Trump’s first major midterm money move: A $10M Texas Senate ad blitz

The political group associated with President Donald Trump is spending $10 million on television and digital advertisements in the Texas Senate race, according to a Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission. This is the first significant spending in a premier general election contest by MAGA, Inc., and reflects how a once-safe Republican seat in Texas may be viable for Democrats with the candidacy of James Talarico , a 37-year-old state representative. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is the Republican nominee in the race. Trump’s endorsement helped Paxton to defeat the incumbent , Sen. John Cornyn, in a May primary runoff election. Public disapproval of Trump over the economy and the Iran war has been a headwind for many Republican candidates. Voters generally go against the party in control of the White House in midterm elections and Democrats are hoping to gain control of the House and Senate — with Texas being a symbolically powerful indication of how the political map might be expanding this year.

The ads seek to highlight taxes as a dominant issue at a time when many voters have expressed concerns about continued inflation. Talarico has favored higher taxes on wealthier households and the two ads seek to portray him as seeking tax hikes more broadly while claiming that Paxton would give tax breaks to first-time homebuyers and families with children. The key piece of legislation signed into law by Trump last year enhanced and extended many of his expiring tax breaks from his 2017 overhaul. But that measure also increased budget deficits, which has contributed to higher interest rates on the national debt. Trump has also hiked tariffs, which are taxes on imports, to try to raise revenue. “High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans’ pockets. MAGA Inc. is going to ensure Texas knows about Talarico’s radical policies and elects Ken Paxton to the U.S. Senate,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for MAGA, Inc., said in a statement Saturday. Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis pushed back against the ads’ claims that the Democrat seeks broad tax hikes.

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Republican House candidates tone down Trump on their campaign websites

Why did Mike Beltran, a Republican trying to unseat Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Florida), first decide to run for public office? Earlier this summer, his campaign website offered a clear answer: “Mike felt inspired by President Trump’s 2016 victory.” The former state lawmaker has “stood with President Trump every step of the way,” it said, and is running for Congress to “stand with President Trump to finish making America great again.” Ahead of the general election, that section of his website has been revamped. Now, it says, Beltran “felt called to public service” and is running to be a “champion for lower costs, lower taxes, and increased healthcare access.”

Images of Trump and mentions of “America First” have also been removed from his homepage. At least seven Republican House candidates in battleground races have de-emphasized or removed mentions of Trump and his priorities on their campaign websites ahead of the general election, according to a Washington Post analysis. Candidates from both parties have long shifted messages after a primary to appeal to a broader electorate. But changes this year highlight the particularly challenging balancing act some Republican candidates face. Trump’s unpopularity threatens to turn off independent and moderate voters that Republicans will need to win in competitive congressional districts. The president’s approval rating has hovered in the mid-30s, and he has faced pushback over an unpopular war in Iran. But Republicans also have an interest in not running too far from the president. Trump maintains a strong influence over the party base, with the overwhelming majority of his endorsed candidates winning their primaries. He is also sitting on more than $400 million in his super PAC, MAGA Inc., the lion’s share of which has not yet been allocated for the general election.

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Trump’s state capitalism comes to the oil industry with his unprecedented Venezuela deal

The Pentagon has received a big ownership stake in an obscure private oil company that will control crude reserves larger than ExxonMobil’s global portfolio if President Donald Trump’s Venezuela deal is successful. The deal comes eight months after Washington ousted former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military raid and co-opted the remaining regime led by interim President Delcy Rodríguez. The Rodríguez government has granted North American Blue Energy Partners, headquartered in Barbados, concessions to 17 oilfields in Venezuela for a century. NABEP’s CEO, Alejandro Betancourt, is a controversial figure who has faced investigations into his past ventures.

NABEP has in turn granted the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital a 35% equity stake at no cost to the U.S. taxpayer, according to deal details released by the White House this week. The Trump administration has taken ownership stakes in companies at an unprecedented pace, particularly for a Republican administration, outside major crises like the world wars and Great Depression and Recession. It has argued such deals are needed to secure resources critical to national security. But it is difficult to find a historical precedent for the U.S. government taking a direct ownership stake in an oil company, not to mention one that will operate fields in a foreign nation, said Tyler Priest, a historian of the oil industry at the University of Iowa. The deal gives the U.S. majority control over 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven crude reserves, the White House said. This is about 20% of the 303 billion barrels the country is thought to possess. If the White House figures are accurate, NABEP would be the second-largest oil company measured by proved reserves in the world behind Saudi Aramco, said Patrick Rutty, director of global intelligence at Enverus. It would be around four times larger than Exxon’s reserves, Rutty said.

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Without Charlie Kirk, Turning Point is building a future for his movement — and for JD Vance

Charlie Kirk sat before a Salt Lake City audience of restaurateurs last September 10, dispensing business advice drawn from his own unlikely rise. The conservative activist argued that a company needed a deep connection to the founder’s “energy and vision” to endure, but he also warned that “separating the brand from the founder” was among the greatest challenges an entrepreneur could face. “We have not done this successfully yet,” Kirk acknowledged of Turning Point USA, the organization he built to influence and mobilize young people.

Hours later, a gunman fatally shot Kirk on a Utah college campus. He was 31. In the year since his death, Turning Point’s leaders — including Kirk’s widow, Erika, and some of his closest friends and lieutenants — have confronted the very challenge he described that tragic morning: preserving and expanding a political movement that had been built, to an extraordinary degree, around the energy, instincts and celebrity of its charismatic leader. They have done so amid remarkable circumstances, including the criminal case against Kirk’s alleged killer; conservative influencers warring over his legacy; and far-right figures, led by former Turning Point employee Candace Owens, spreading baseless conspiracy theories about his death. The 2026 midterm elections present the biggest test yet of the question hanging over the organization: What is Turning Point without Charlie Kirk?

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State Stories

Fake RNC midterm convention website redirects to DOJ Epstein files

A fake website for the Republican National midterm convention, gopdallas2026.com, was redirecting visitors to the U.S. Department of Justice's Epstein Library on Friday. It is unclear when the redirect first appeared or who is responsible for the creation of the alternate webpage. The official RNC midterm convention website is gopconvention.com. According to the internet archive Wayback Machine, the fake website includes a statement at the bottom: "This website is an independent informational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the 2026 RNC Midterm Convention, the American Airlines Center, or any official convention entity. For official convention information, please visit the appropriate official websites."

The official website is intended to provide information about the Republican Party's first-ever national convention ahead of the midterm elections, which is scheduled to take place in Dallas on Sept. 9 and 10. The event is expected to draw about 20,000 visitors, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican leaders, as the party seeks to energize voters in races that will help determine whether Republicans retain control of Congress. The fake website currently redirects users to the Justice Department's online repository of records related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The files have been a persistent problem for the president, who has repeatedly denied knowing about Epstein's sexual abuse of girls. He and Epstein had been close, though Trump said the friendship had ended.

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Trump’s convention comes to Dallas. What will Eric Johnson make of it?

Mayor Eric Johnson declared himself a Republican three years ago in a county Democrats have dominated for two decades. Now, he is preparing to welcome his party — and President Donald Trump — to Dallas. The two-day, first-of-its-kind GOP midterm gathering gives Johnson more than a turn in the national spotlight. It offers him a chance to promote the city, strengthen his standing among Republicans and stoke speculation about what comes next. “Big moments don't intimidate Dallas. In fact, they inspire us,” Johnson said last month.

GOP organizers say Johnson will speak at the convention, which opens Wednesday, though they have not released the full schedule. The night before, he is hosting a “country casual” state Republican Party fundraiser at a craft brewery. For Johnson, the convention draws attention to key parts of his political profile: the party switch, his future after City Hall, the Republican Mayors Association he created and his record in Dallas. The former Democratic state legislator switched parties less than five months after he was elected to a second term as mayor, a nonpartisan post. The party swap made Dallas the most populous U.S. city led by a Republican. Johnson has often cited the 2020 protests after George Floyd’s death and calls by racial justice activists to cut police funding as reasons for his disaffection with the Democratic Party. He carried his criticism of Democrats on public safety into his 2024 Republican National Convention speech in Milwaukee, using Dallas’ declining violent-crime rate to contend that American cities need Republicans. This time, the question is whether he uses the midterm event to expand his message.

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Kelly Keel to lead Texas Association of Business as CEO and president

The Texas Association of Business has a new leader to advocate for business interests across the state. The organization announced on Sept. 4 that Kelly Keel is the new CEO and president. She officially takes the role on Oct. 2. Keel previously was the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. She has spent 25 years working for the commission. As the TCEQ executive director she managed the day-to-day operations of the commission which includes oversight of 3,200 employees, 16 regional offices and an annual budget of $665 million. The role had her working closely with Texas businesses on permits related water, air and infrastructure needed for projects in the state.

The TAB job was opened after the previous full-time TAB president and CEO, Glenn Hamer, resigned in 2025 after he was sued over allegations of sexual assault. Following Hamer's resignation, TAB had Megan Mauro serve as interim CEO. She previously was the group's vice president and chief of staff. "There is no better time to be leading the most dynamic and important business community in the country," Keel said in a statement.. "Texas employers are the driving force behind the world's 8th largest economy, and deserve a strong, unified voice at the capitol that can navigate the complex legislative and regulatory challenges our businesses face as Texas continues our unprecedented population and economic growth. I am honored to take on this role and look forward to working on behalf of Texas business to ensure our state remains a global leader and the national model for cultivating a pro-business environment." Keel is an Austin resident and earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Texas A&M University.

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Hinojosa promises to recover TX public schools from Abbott’s tenure as governor

Democrat state Rep. Gina Hinojosa stopped at a Dallas park Thursday, Sept. 3, to lay out her plan to fix Texas public schools if elected to the governorship on Nov. 3. With public school advocates of varying political leanings standing in support of her, Hinojosa said she will fire Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath on Day One and bring Texas public schools back to the basics of learning. Hinojosa promised to pause the A-F school grading system and replace it with an assessment that brings true accountability. She said she would audit TEA, wipe out all corrupt school vendors and reroute money to make Texas teachers among the highest paid nationally.

“When I’m governor, I will prioritize our kids in the classroom, not vendor contracts, not some corporation’s profits, not testing company profits, but our kids in the classroom and making sure we have a great teacher in the classroom,” Hinojosa said. Three supporters came up to the press conference microphone after the Democratic candidate to say she is the one to elect, not Republican incumbent Greg Abbott. Ashleigh Johnson, a mother of four in the Grapevine-Colleyville school district, said her kids were pushed into an overcrowded school when the district was forced to close its elementary school because of budget shortfalls and declining enrollment. “This time last year, I had no worry whatsoever that my kids’ thriving arts-integrated A-rated public school would be closed, which it was in May with very little warning,” Johnson said. “Now we’re suffering the consequences of over-functional schools. I saw teachers, remarkable tenured teachers, forced out because there was no spot for them.” A lifelong Republican, Johnson said the time has come to vote Abbott out.

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Shots fired at Brownsville commissioner’s home following disannexation vote

Police say someone shot at the home of a sitting Brownsville city commissioner early Saturday morning. In a statement Saturday afternoon, the Brownsville Police Department confirmed an active investigation but did not yet identify the commissioner whose home was in the vicinity of the shooting. “The investigation remains active, and investigators are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify suspects in the case,” police said via Facebook, adding later, “… When an investigation establishes that a criminal offense has occurred, the (d)epartment will pursue the appropriate criminal charges against those responsible.”

Mayor John Cowen Jr. in his own statement Saturday said he’s been briefed by police on the situation and acknowledged the current political climate in the city, which as of late has been tense due to a recent disannexation of land as part of a property swap for SpaceX in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in water infrastructure upgrades. Although the mayor stopped short of identifying any singular item of recent city business for the shooting, which he said “is being taken seriously,” he did reference “political disagreements.” “Political intimidation and violence — real or attempted — have no place in Brownsville,” he said on Facebook. “Our elected officials, city staff, and every resident deserve to feel safe in their own homes, regardless of political disagreements. “I have full confidence in BPD’s ability to run this investigation down to the facts and hold anyone responsible accountable. I’d ask the community to remain patient as this process unfolds and to share any information with BPD’s tip line rather than speculation on social media. Brownsville is a city that looks out for one another, and we will get through this together.”

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Texas doctor loses license for prescribing ‘abortive’ to patient

A Stephenville doctor’s medical license has been revoked, according to the Texas Medical Board, after he allegedly engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient and then prescribed that patient an “abortive.” Texas has a strict abortion ban that prohibits performing or attempting to perform abortion in nearly all cases. The Texas Medical Board on Friday revoked the medical license of William Rockwell Evans, according to an alert from the board. Evans’ physician profile on the medical board’s website lists him as an orthopedic surgeon who’s had an active medical license for 27 years. Evans did not immediately respond to requests for comment made to an email address and a phone number listed under his name.

A call to Evans’ practice — Cross Timbers Orthopaedics in Stephenville — went straight to voicemail on Friday evening. The practice’s website is currently dominated by a message notifying visitors that the office has “closed effective immediately.” Stephenville, in Erath County, is about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. The medical board released only a summary of the situation. The board found that Evans had engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient and, in December 2023, had prescribed that patient an “abortive.” Under Texas’ strict abortion ban, licensing boards are required to revoke the license of any “health care professional who performs, induces, or attempts an abortion” in violation of the ban. Texas’ near-total abortion ban, which allows abortions only in rare cases of medical necessity, has been in place since 2022. Attempting a prohibited abortion is considered a felony under Texas law. It also carries a penalty of at least $100,000 for each violation. It’s unclear if Evans is facing either criminal or civil penalties in addition to the revocation of his medical license. On Friday evening, Evans’ physician profile on the Texas Medical Board website did not yet include the change to his license status. His profile did include documents from 2020, when the board placed Evans on a remedial plan for allegedly operating on the incorrect knee of a patient and then attempting to cover it up.

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Months past first deadline, Abbott says Capitol ban lawsuit moot after bans expire

Gov. Greg Abbott, who also chairs the Texas State Preservation Board, on Monday filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought against the board by three women who were banned from the state Capitol following an anti-redistricting protest in Aug. 2025. In a May lawsuit, the plaintiffs said they were arrested at that protest, but that the Travis County Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the misdemeanor trespass charges against them. “Despite the dismissal of the charges, DPS’s one-year criminal trespass notice remains in effect against each of the women. The ban prohibits them from entering the Capitol complex,” the lawsuit says.

The notices are not criminal charges; rather, they’re warnings that DPS would charge someone with trespass if they return to the Capitol. The only apparent way to challenge them is via civil lawsuit. An assistant attorney general wrote Abbott’s response. It argues that, since the notices expired on Aug. 19, the case becomes moot as there’s nothing for a court to enjoin or rescind. “The CTNs expired by their own terms … that expiration moots Plaintiffs’ requested relief seeking to enjoin their enforcement and to rescind them,” the motion states. It’s important to note that the court, on May 27, extended its initial June 2 deadline for defendants’ response to the lawsuit until July 2, according to court records. On June 23, the Attorney General’s Office requested another extension on Abbott’s behalf. It was granted on July 1, which again pushed the deadline to Aug. 31. In total, Abbott and the board received nearly three extra months. During those months, several Texas Legislative committees held meetings and hearings related to interim charges of two of Abbott’s co-defendant board members, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows. The lawsuit argues that the bans would impair plaintiffs’ ability to perform their duties as political party officials and organizers. It’s possible those duties could include the interim public meetings. “Restricting access to this environment does not merely limit physical presence; it disrupts the full range of expressive activity that defines democratic participation in Texas,” the lawsuit says.

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Data center developer withdraws Taylor annexation request, still eyes big project there

Developers behind a 665-acre data center in Taylor have withdrawn an application to annex into city limits. But Taylor officials and the developers maintained they will continue to negotiate an agreement to avoid building under county purview with less regulations. What's been called "Project Mustang" from South Dakota-based Big Watt Digital LLC and Virginia-based PowerHouse Data Centers is still moving forward at 3301 Farm to Market Road 112, just east of the city's limits, about 30 miles northeast of Austin. The project was brought before the city's planning and zoning commission last month for annexation and zoning consideration, but a vote was tabled amid a wealth of opposition primarily from neighbors.

The project has been described as a "closed campus for data center buildings, substations, gas infrastructure for power generation and auxiliary buildings" and "includes data center facilities that would house computer servers and on-site power generation equipment to meet the facility’s electricity needs." Representatives said during the Aug. 18 special meeting it would use roughly 13,450 gallons of water per day after an initial 1.6 million-gallon fill for a closed-loop system, and would include ample setbacks and on-site power generation. It would also create up to 500 full- and part-time jobs at full buildout on top of thousands of construction workers. They also cautioned they would move forward with or without city participation. "This is such a good site that it would be difficult to walk away from it," Big Watt's John Stokes said during the meeting. City officials on Sept. 3 announced the developers had pulled back the requests for annexation and zoning and are still pursuing the development.

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Vikki Goodwin campaigns on support for marijuana reform at ‘Legalize It’ rally

The Democratic candidate running to become Texas’s next lieutenant governor is drawing a clear contrast with the Republican incumbent on the issue of cannabis. Vikki Goodwin, who is currently a state representative, will be holding what her campaign calls a “Legalize It” rally in Houston on Saturday. It will feature a performance from Grammy award-winning musician Kam Franklin and an update from an attorney helping to lead litigation against hemp THC product restrictions that were recently enacted by Texas officials. A press release from Goodwin’s campaign calls out “pharmaceutical and alcohol industry donations” to her opponent, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who oversees the Senate and has championed legislation to recriminalize many hemp products.

While the bill Patrick favored was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), the governor then issued an executive order on the issue and regulators have since enacted significant restrictions on derivatives from the crop. “Join us to Ban Dan and elect the only one who can stop the THC ban, Vikki Goodwin,” the campaign said of the Houston event, which is expected to be the first of several cannabis-focused rallies in major urban areas of the state. Meanwhile, Goodwin is also endorsing a local measure on Houston’s November ballot to make misdemeanor marijuana possession the “lowest possible enforcement priority” and ban no-knock warrants. “We should not be wasting public resources and ruining lives over low-level cannabis possession. We should not be barging into people’s homes with no-knock raids that escalate danger for both residents and law enforcement,” she said. “Houston voters have an opportunity to lead the state with a smarter, safer approach to public safety. I believe in local government, and communities should have the power to demand policies that reflect their values and prioritize safety and dignity.”

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Free Trump convention ticket text is legitimate, GOP says

A text message offering free tickets to see President Donald Trump at next week’s Republican convention in Dallas may look suspicious, but convention organizers say the offer is legitimate. The unsolicited message comes from an unfamiliar phone number, announces “FREE TICKETS” in capital letters and directs recipients to a shortened link — several characteristics commonly associated with scam texts. The destination page is hosted on GOPConvention.com and identifies the gathering as a “first-of-its-kind Midterm Convention.” It says Trump supporters may register for up to six tickets per mobile phone number for either day or both days. The registration form requests a person’s name, email address, mobile phone number, ZIP code and state. It does not request payment information. Registration, however, does not guarantee admission. Each attendee must appear in person, register a credential and comply with security instructions.

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A homeowner got $1 after Texas City demolished his home. Now a jury will reconsider that.

A federal court last week ruled that a Texas contractor who received $1 after Texas City demolished his home has the right to have a jury, not a judge, determine compensation. Michael Ramirez sued Texas City in October 2023 after officials demolished his fire-damaged house five months earlier. Ramirez argued that the city violated his due-process rights by demolishing the house without giving him additional notice. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday that a lower court incorrectly denied Ramirez a jury trial to determine whether he was entitled to compensation and sent the case back to the Texas Southern District Court.

Ramirez, a contractor who renovates and sells properties across the state, purchased the house with plans to renovate and sell it. The property was damaged in a fire in 2022, and Texas City officials deemed the structure substandard. He maintained that the house could still be repaired. According to Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm representing him, Ramirez hired an architect experienced in restoring fire-damaged properties and began working to obtain permits to renovate the house. Almost a year later, on May 9, 2023, the city demolished the property. Texas City officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. Ramirez argued he was not given notice or an opportunity to remove tools and construction materials from inside the house. Pacific Legal Foundation said the property was worth more than $167,000 at the time and contained an additional $15,000 worth of tools and construction materials. Ramirez later filed a lawsuit alleging that Texas City violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. The state’s Southern District Court agreed that the city violated Ramirez’s due process rights but denied his request for a jury trial. Instead, the court awarded him $1 in damages.

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City Stories

Terry Black's Barbecue to go toe-to-toe with Black's Barbecue

Austin-based Terry Black's Barbecue will open its newest location in New Braunfels on Sept. 15. Plans for the 8,649-square-foot space at 1310 E. Common St. were filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in November 2025. Renovations to the former Los Cucos Mexican restaurant included adding a 1,400-square-foot pit house and a two-story outdoor dining space with additional seating. Construction costs are estimated at $5 million, according to TDLR. San Francisco-based Gensler served as the project's design firm. Mike Black, co-founder of Terry Black’s Barbecue, said the company had its eye on New Braunfels for a while. “It’s a city with deep Texas roots, a strong sense of community and a lot of energy behind it. We’re proud to plant some roots here ourselves and can’t wait to start serving New Braunfels," he said in a prepared statement.

Like other restaurants in the area, Terry Black's can bank on hungry customers from the nearby Schlitterbahn water park. The new Terry Black's will be a stone's throw from Black's Barbecue, the oldest family-owned barbecue restaurant in Texas and the Black family's original business, founded in 1932. Mike Black split from the original operation in 2014, founding Terry Black's with siblings Christina and Mark Black. The split created two competing barbecue chains within the Black family. The New Braunfels site marks the eighth location that the sibling trio has opened since the chain's founding. Terry Black's operates locations in Austin, Dallas, Lockhart and Waco. In San Antonio, the city's first location is under construction on a vacant lot along the lower Broadway corridor. Work started in September 2025. The barbecue restaurant is just one piece of the Black family's plans to develop The Mandeville, a three-story hotel with a glass greenhouse dining structure, a spa called The Depths, a pool, and courtyards, according to architectural renderings submitted to the Historic and Design Review Commission in July 2026.

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National Stories

'Hidden tribunals': Immigration court due process in tumult with new locations

Immigrants are being told last minute about new in-person hearings at previously undisclosed courtroom locations. That's according to five immigration attorneys who reviewed notices or observed the hearings and spoke to NPR about them. The last-minute notifications appear to be another tactic in a broader strategy from the Trump administration to short-circuit immigrants' already limited due process options to speed up arrests and deportations. NPR has learned that over the past few weeks, immigrants who were scheduled to appear in coming months for hearings out of the Hyattsville and Baltimore immigration courts in Maryland and the Sterling court in Virginia have instead been rescheduled to two other buildings: one in Washington, D.C., and another in Falls Church, Va.

Neither of these buildings currently has an immigration court that's set up for in-person hearings. The D.C. location has no listed affiliation with the Justice Department. Instead, the building is listed as being occupied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to one source familiar with the project who was not authorized to speak publicly. Immigrants were notified about the change in location within days of the newly scheduled appointments — or were not notified at all, in at least two cases identified by NPR. Kel White, an officer of the D.C. chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, attended one such hearing this week. "The most unusual thing I've ever seen" in her more than 15 years of practicing the law is how she described having an immigrant appear in person at the unusual location before a judge and prosecutor who were remote-only. She also said the last-minute changes and lack of notice violates regulations as set by the Justice Department, which oversees all such immigration courts. "People need to receive at least ten days' notice in order for there to be a response," White said. She cited a policy manual that indicates immigrants should get ample notice of a new hearing date.

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Trump officials draft plan to pay at-home parents, using funds for working ones

The Trump administration is moving to allow married couples with a stay-at-home spouse to collect child care subsidies, a policy championed by Vice President JD Vance, using funds from a federal program intended to assist working parents, according to people familiar with the discussions. The change would create the only federal subsidy to pay parents to stay home and raise their children, one of the most significant efforts to date by the Trump administration to harness federal funds to promote a traditional view of families. To do so, officials are seeking to use a Health and Human Services Department fund that was created in the 1990s to help low-income and working-class parents afford child care so they could work or go to school.

Under the draft new rule, parents who stay home with their children could benefit from the program, which typically provides about $9,000 per child each year, potentially reshaping which families get federal child care money. The move could end up redirecting money away from working parents and their child care providers, causing some to raise their rates or even close, critics said, potentially worsening what many experts say is a child care crisis in the country. About 80 percent of the 870,000 families who currently get the child care subsidies have single working parents, most of them mothers, according to Health Department data. The policy change would effectively create a government incentive for parents to stay home with their children, an idea embraced as part of a broader conservative effort to advance policies that promote more mothers staying at home. The new rule being drafted would allow married couples with one stay-at-home parent in certain income brackets to collect a subsidy, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the plan before it is finalized. The change could be made without approval from Congress.

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The unlikely winner of Trump’s Canada trade war? MapQuest.

The most-downloaded free apps on the Apple App Store are pretty predictable: Claude, ChatGPT, and TikTok currently rank in the top ten. But this week there has been a surprise guest in first: MapQuest. The navigation app was dominant in the days before GPS-enabled smartphones were in everyone’s pockets, back when when printing out directions from the computer room and bringing them on the road was how you got to a new place. But when tech giants like Google and Apple took over the mobile game, the company — which was sold for more than $1 billion before the dot-com crash — was left behind by most users who just use the GPS apps preloaded on their phones. MapQuest’s unexpected rise began last Thursday — a “normal workday,” says general manager Doug Berger. Then President Donald Trump, amid his economic war on Canada, let it be known that he wanted to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Berger quickly conferred with his team in Denver and told the world in a post that the company was keeping the name used since at least 1639:

Web-mapping apps have been through all this before; in January 2025, Trump decided that the Gulf of Mexico would now be called the Gulf of America. But for “the sequel,” as Berger calls it, the company has seen a surge of popularity as Google Maps and Apple submit to the president’s whims, as they did with the gulf. “Around 1 million people have downloaded the app since Thursday,” Berger told me the following Wednesday. (In the previous month, some 40 million people used the app, he says.) “I think it’s just a much more loaded moment,” Berger says, explaining why MapQuest has been gaining users during this renaming controversy, but not the last one. The Gulf of Mexico situation did create a stir; Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum sued Google over the name change, as American authority extends only 12 nautical miles from the shoreline. But this time around, our closest —and most upset — ally to the north has been furious over the attempt to claim Lake Ontario. “I just don’t see the purpose, it’s absolutely backwards,” Canadian Prime Minister Doug Ford said over the weekend. Berger says that he tries to avoid politics in business decisions at MapQuest, which was acquired in 2019 by the web advertising company System1; its other properties include has-been search engines like Dogpile and the infotainment site HowStuffWorks. “Private entities are not required to make name changes like this, and so we haven’t,” he says. As for the capitulation of Apple and Google, he says “we are trying to stay focused on what we can control.” The million new users mark a huge opportunity for MapQuest and its 50 employees — and not just because of the chance to become a household name again. “This is a pretty surreal moment,” he says, “people are talking about geography again.”

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Behind closed doors, John Fetterman shows little interest in the work of a Senator

One morning in June, three paralyzed military veterans in wheelchairs from rural Pennsylvania arrived at the office of Sen. John Fetterman for a long-awaited meeting to discuss legislation that would improve their care. Fetterman’s staff greeted them with bad news: The Pennsylvania Democrat had to cancel. He’d told his staff he may have eaten something bad and wasn’t feeling well, according to people familiar with the matter. Less than an hour after his staffers met with the veterans in his place, Fetterman walked into his office, showing no signs of illness. He had an appointment he didn’t want to miss, he told staff: an interview on Fox News to discuss Israel and the war in Iran. With his hoodie-and-shorts wardrobe and working-class appeal, Fetterman occupies a unique place in a Democratic Party increasingly populated by leftist insurgents. Fetterman often portrays himself as a “regular Democrat” calling out aspects of his party’s progressive fringe—just the profile that past centrists have leveraged in a divided Senate to cut bipartisan deals and score big wins.

But behind closed doors, the first-term senator shows little interest in doing the job beyond cultivating relationships with conservative media figures and advocating for Israel, according to interviews with more than a dozen former staffers and lawmakers, as well as text messages and other internal records. With a pivotal election looming in November that could yield a split Senate and give Fetterman outsize influence, his office is staffed with a revolving door of aides who are constantly scrambling to keep up the face of a functional operation, the interviews and text messages show. Fetterman keeps a light daily schedule, often refusing to meet with constituents and fellow lawmakers, or canceling at the last minute, records and interviews show. Last September, when an aide told Fetterman that officials with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, known as CHOP, wanted to meet because they were worried about Medicaid cuts, he was dismissive. It marks a contrast to his 2022 campaign, when Fetterman spent long hours traveling to small rural communities, embracing people who felt left behind.

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How a Memphis gambling raid became a sweeping immigration operation

For the people dressed up in sparkly skirts and cowboy boots, Saturday nights were best spent at El Corralón. The cantina, tucked in the middle of Berclair, a heavily Hispanic neighborhood in Memphis, Tenn., was a rowdy joint where the mix of regional Mexican music and bachata was loud, the pool tables plenty and beer cheap enough. Gambling machines jangled by the wall. Then, in recent weeks, neighbors started spotting drones overhead. Suspicious vans parked by the dumpsters. Unfamiliar patrons came in and left quickly. Some in the neighborhood believed the gambling machines, illegal in Tennessee, might make the business a target. But the cantina remained open.

Last Sunday, a crush of agents raided El Corralón, searching for the owner, Marco Sabillon-Urbina, an immigrant from Honduras, but detaining anyone who was in the country illegally. In the end, the operation targeting illegal gambling and drugs spiraled into one of Tennessee’s largest sweeps of undocumented immigrants this year, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement escalates its operations across the country. More than 120 people were detained, inflaming tensions in Memphis, where many residents were already on edge over a separate federal anti-crime task force that, among other things, has also targeted immigrants. “This takes them back to being afraid and not wanting to go out again,” said Jose Salazar, a community organizer who assists the immigrant community in Memphis. “All those fears and concerns are worse now.” Arrests by ICE surged across the country this summer as the Trump administration pulled back from highly visible raids in Minneapolis and other cities earlier this year. The agency has carried out lower-profile operations, including targeting predominantly immigrant neighborhoods like Berclair last weekend.

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President Trump debuts new brown hairdo — and people are shocked

President Trump’s iconic hairdo has seemingly entered its dark age. The president, who is famous for his swooping golden-blond locks, was seen sporting an almost brunette look after Air Force One landed for his weekend getaway to Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on Friday. Trump’s darker mane set the internet ablaze, as it marked one of the few times when he has messed with his trademark hairstyle.

“The hair????” posted journo Yashar Ali. “If I hadn’t pulled the photos from Getty Images myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.” Jeopardy champ Hemant Mehta quipped that “If everyone keeps mocking this, there will be hell toupée.” One user mused that “Summer’s almost over,” and so it is “a natural time to switch from bottle blonde to brunette.” “I love it. So youthful. Very Pierce Brosnan,” author Annie Lamott remarked. On Saturday, he went out golfing with Fox News anchor Bret Baier and several others, but donned a red “Trump was right about everything” hat that obscured his new look, making it impossible to tell if Friday’s shocker was merely a one-off. It’s unclear how long the new look will last. While Trump rarely messes with his iconic look, there is precedent for the move. Back in 2019, the president visited a church service in Virginia and debuted a new slicked-back hairstyle, somewhat similar to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) look.

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The DSA is using "Coffee With Comrades" and "Socialist Softball" to convert the curious

On a recent Saturday morning, a youngish group gathered around a table in the sun-dappled garden of a Brooklyn coffee shop. Beneath a bright blue sky they were sipping drinks, chatting—and building socialism. The “Coffee With Comrades” was hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America. It was yet another in an endless buffet of social events the DSA uses both to attract new members and more closely bind existing ones to the movement. In Queens, DSAers were playing “socialist softball” at Queensbridge Park. “Bring your own glove if you can—but if you don’t have one, we’ll encourage folks to share as need be,” an invitation advised. Meanwhile, at Forest Park in Woodhaven, other socialists gathered for a “Desi, Afro and Latin” potluck picnic. The previous evening featured a DSA game night in Long Island City. The socialists, it turns out, are highly social.

In chapters across the country, they enjoy DSA barbecues, beach days, running clubs, happy hours, karaoke, prom nights, transgender rights and bodily autonomy game nights, reading groups, Marxist study circles and more. The DSA is even moving into affairs of the heart with a recent “Socialist Speed Dating” event in New York’s Lower East Side. (“In the era of late-stage capitalism, our dating and social lives are more and more controlled by for-profit companies,” read a flier.) “It’s a good way to be social,” Caroline Hill, a printmaker who had attended the Brooklyn coffee, said of her DSA activism. The 25-year-old estimated about half of her social life was tied to the DSA. For others, the DSA can become all encompassing, according to David Duhalde, a longtime member and writer. The movement, he argued, has stepped into a gap left by a withering civic society—particularly for a generation yearning for engagement after the isolation of the pandemic. “It really fulfills a social function that a church would,” said Duhalde, who plays pickup basketball with DSA chums, often finds himself at dinner parties with fellow DSA couples and whose phone is populated by various DSA message chains—the DSA Knicks Chat, the Socialist Majority Caucus Chat and others. “It becomes a way for people to hang out.”

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Lead Stories

Trump endorses Ken Paxton while also trashing his clothes, looks and TV presence

President Donald Trump went to bat for fellow Republican Ken Paxton on Wednesday, but not before taking a few vicious swings at the U.S. Senate candidate’s clothes, appearance and TV presence. Trump’s backhanded compliment, if you can even call it that, came during a meeting with GOP congressional candidates in Washington, D.C. Although Paxton wasn’t there, the Texas attorney general and his turbulent Senate campaign appeared to be on Trump’s mind. “Ken Paxton, you might not like the way he dresses,” Trump said. “And I say this, it’s so insulting to him, but I might as well say it. You might not … like the way he looks. You might not love his look. You might not love his television interviews. But he was the best attorney general in the country. He was one of the best in the entire country. And that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great.”

Trump’s not the only one who’s taken aim at Paxton’s choice of attire lately. Last week, Paxton’s Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, mocked him for flashing a $41,600 Hublot watch, an ill-fitting golf polo from the Four Seasons Orlando and shoes that appeared a couple of sizes too big during a San Antonio block walk. “Nothing says you understand the affordability crisis like wearing a $41,000 watch and a Four Seasons polo,” Talarico tweeted in response to clips of Paxton in his finery. Trump’s lukewarm praise for scandal-tarred Paxton comes as Republican operatives, including former Bush administration senior advisor Karl Rove, raise alarms about the possibility of a Talarico victory, which would give Dems their first statewide win in Texas since 1994. “[Paxton] was in Washington the week before the Fourth of July, on that weekend. No fundraiser that I can find,” Rove told Fox News on Wednesday. “And then on Tuesday, he was seen leaving for Iceland with his latest girlfriend, and then the two of them spent the Fourth of July celebrating in London, England … . If he wanted to go to London, he should have gone to London, Texas.” Rove continued: “If the president wants to have Paxton win, he needs to be tossing a lot of money Paxton’s way.” To that point, Talarico has out-fundraised Paxton 3-to-1, their latest campaign finance reports show. t Although Trump has said he’ll help pour millions into Paxton’s campaign, that pledge has yet to materialize. At the same time, Team Talarico has been spending freely on TV ads, last week dropping its first attack ad against Paxton. RealClearPolitics’ average polling shows Talarico leading Paxton by 2.4 points with just two months before the Nov. 3 election.

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Energy jobs fell in almost every sector last year

The energy industry’s workforce shrank last year. The energy sector lost roughly 86,000 workers — roughly 1% of its workforce — between 2024 and 2025, according to an annual report from the Department of Energy. The losses came from almost every part of the energy industry, the United States Energy and Employment Report said, amid increased automation and the Trump administration’s push away from green energy. Only the transmission, distribution and storage parts of the energy sector saw job growth in 2025, a trend DOE officials attributed to the expansion of data centers, growth in manufacturing and industrial activity and the increased adoption of electric vehicles and heat pumps. Enrollment in apprenticeship programs also increased.

The Trump administration’s efforts to increase coal- and nuclear-power generation led to employment bumps, with each of those industries adding about 2,500 workers. But as a whole, the power-generation sector lost about 15,000 workers from 2024 to 2025. Most of those losses were in the solar industry, with additional job losses in wind and hydroelectric power. Jobs in petroleum and natural gas also declined in 2025, dropping by 3% and 4%, respectively. Energy officials said that reflected a shift toward a “smaller, higher-paid workforce.” “Industry sources also point out the role of AI, automation, and digital technologies in improving operational efficiencies and reducing labor requirements,” the report said. About 50,000 jobs disappeared from the motor-vehicle industry in 2025, but wages in that sector also increased. Energy Department officials said “output-per-worker” increased over that time, too. The report found that higher-wage occupations added workers in 2025, while lower-wage occupations declined. The median salary in the energy sector in 2025 was $63,000, higher than the national median of $51,000. Across several energy industry sectors, employers reported having difficulty hiring workers and concerns about a lack of people available for technical positions like electric work or construction. Despite the drop in employment, the Energy Department report projected that demand for workers in the energy sector would increase as electricity demand rises and data centers expand.

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House GOP leadership cancels two weeks of votes ahead of the midterms

House Republican leadership canceled the last two weeks of September votes on Thursday, meaning that after members depart the Capitol later this month they will not return until after the November midterm election. “This is a change from House GOP leadership’s previously announced schedule,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) wrote in an update. House lawmakers are now set to leave Washington on Sept. 17 rather than Oct. 1 for their break before the midterm elections. The official House legislative calendar, maintained by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), shows that the House was supposed to be in session the week of Sept. 21 and Sept. 28.

When House lawmakers came back to Washington earlier this week after a monthlong August recess, they quickly passed a stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded until mid-December. The funding bill averts the threat of a government shutdown ahead of the midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson has frequently touted the 119th Congress as “one of the most productive Congresses in the history of the institution.” But last year under Johnson’s speakership, Congress set a 21st-century record for casting the least amount of votes, according to The Washington Post. The 362 votes the chamber held was half as many votes as in 2017, which was the first year of President Donald Trump’s first term in office with a Republican majority. With only a few months left of the year and more canceled in-session weeks on the horizon, the House has held less than 300 votes in 2026.

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Texas comptroller asks to double school voucher funding to $2B

The Texas comptroller is asking lawmakers for $2 billion to fund school vouchers for the next two years, which would double the program’s current biennial allotment. Don Huffines, who oversees the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, wants $916 million to continue funding participating students and $980 million to fund waitlisted students, according to the appropriations request for fiscal year 2028-29 filed this week. Lawmakers set aside $1 billion for the program's first two years. It offers families taxpayer money to offset private education costs. In its first year, nearly 110,000 students are participating, and 106,000 students remain on the waitlist.

“Comptroller Huffines recognizes the strong and growing demand from parents who are eager to have more options for their child’s education,” the request said. “The agency is requesting exceptional items that will further support greater choice in education.” So far, the office has handed out $270 million to participating students, according to the document. Private schools have received more than $127 million in tuition. Families have spent $36 million through the program’s online marketplace. The program is still awarding students on the waitlist, and families are still confirming their participation. More than 27,500 students have returned the voucher, according to records obtained by the Dallas Morning News through a request. In addition to the waitlist, Huffines wants to give participating students more money. The office anticipates 4,200 students will switch from homeschool to a private school, which would increase their award by at least $8,474.

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State Stories

Why Ken Paxton allies are attacking James Talarico on China

There’s one thing Republicans really want Texans to be thinking about as they prepare to cast their ballots for U.S. Senate – China. In the last week, several groups backing Attorney General Ken Paxton have dropped millions on broadcast advertisements that warn about the Chinese Communist Party buying land in the state. In an election where affordability has dominated voter’s concerns, the threat of Chinese land ownership may seem like a random topic. Even some Republican operatives think so, with one calling it the party’s “eighth best issue.” Others see it as an attempt to win back Republicans who aren’t sold on Paxton before the campaign enters its final stretch.

“It is pretty niche,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a former campaign manager for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. He said the message is definitely going for the core activist base, but that “Cornyn Republicans also care about this.” Republican enthusiasm dropped after the bruising primary between Paxton and Cornyn. A Fox News poll from July showed Paxton winning about 90% of Republicans when a candidate’s share of their own party is usually expected to be much higher. Paxton was only winning about 80% of Republicans in a Texas Politics Project poll from last month. These surveys also showed Talarico winning significantly more independent voters. “The most recent polling continues to indicate that Republican enthusiasm is lower than expected for Texas elections, and that not all Republicans have consolidated behind the top of the ticket candidate,” said Josh Blank, director of research at the Texas Politics Project. “What's going on right now is not a general election message. It's a message aimed squarely at Republican voters to get them reengaged and to get them mobilized.” Paxton’s PAC, Lone Star Liberty, dropped its first major TV ad buy last week in Dallas and Houston, and it, too, was focused on China. The PAC announced a new, even larger buy this week featuring two ads, one of which also centers on the country.

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Mike Miles' charter network Third Future Schools facing layoffs

One of Texas’ most high-profile charter school networks could soon begin laying off staff amid a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall, throwing its future into question just as more and more districts have turned to it to avoid a state takeover. The Texas branch of Third Future Schools, founded by Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles, is facing a $14 million deficit, forcing it to cut many of the 700 new employees it hired this year. The grim budget projection follows years of multimillion dollar deficits and a dire warning by its auditor — issues that might have forced other charter schools out of business. Instead, the nonprofit has seen its footprint more than triple this year, and state officials continue to allow school districts that hire Third Futures to avoid being taken over.

At a board meeting last month, its leaders said the nonprofit was experiencing the same problem as many of its traditional public school counterparts: fewer students. “As you guys know, districts across Texas are seeing a declining enrollment,” Third Future Schools Superintendent Zach Craddock told board members. “Some of that is passed on to us.” The Colorado-based nonprofit network is far from the state’s largest chain of charter schools, which are taxpayer-funded public schools operated by third parties. But it’s among the most scrutinized because of its ties to Miles, who was brought to Houston under a state takeover, and its unusual role. Rather than open its own campuses, school districts hire Third Future to turn around failing schools using a tool under state law that allows districts to avoid being taken over by the Texas Education Agency. To avoid takeover, districts have to have their plan approved by TEA, run by longtime education commissioner Mike Morath. Morath tapped Miles to lead Houston ISD in 2023, where he implemented Third Future’s rigorous learning model, which includes daily quizzes in core classes and requiring teachers to stick to provided curriculum rather than coming up with their own. The model employs high numbers of staff.

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ICE agent arrested in Texas federally charged with lying about Minneapolis shooting, AP reports

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who was arrested in Texas earlier this year has been federally charged with lying to investigators about a January shooting in Minneapolis, according to The Associated Press. ICE agent Christian Castro has been charged with making false statements to federal investigators, the AP reported Thursday, citing a person familiar with the investigation who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the case. The Texas Newsroom reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota on Thursday for confirmation and additional information but didn't immediately receive a response. Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, referred questions about the reported charge to the Justice Department.

"State law enforcement stands ready and willing to assist federal partners in facilitating Mr. Castro's arrest if needed," Mahaleris said on Thursday. The reported charge comes a week after Castro was released from a Texas jail amid an ongoing legal dispute between Minnesota and Gov. Abbott over whether Castro should be extradited to face separate state charges. Minnesota prosecutors charged Castro in May with assault and falsely reporting a crime over the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Prosecutors say evidence contradicted Castro's account that Sosa-Celis and others attacked him before he opened fire. Sosa-Celis was shot in the leg. Texas Rangers arrested Castro on May 29 after Minnesota issued a nationwide warrant. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz later requested his extradition, but Abbott hasn't approved or denied the request and has questioned whether Castro qualifies as a fugitive. Minnesota sued Abbott in an effort to force him to act, but a federal judge declined to intervene. Castro was released from jail last week after reaching Texas' 90-day detention limit for holding someone while awaiting extradition. The Minnesota charges and extradition request remain pending. The AP also reported Thursday that a federal prosecutor who worked on the case was fired. The prosecutor had previously told attorneys that Justice Department officials blocked an effort to pursue a more serious civil rights charge against Castro, according to previous reporting from ProPublica. But a person familiar with the investigation disputed that account and told the AP that the prosecutor is now under investigation for alleged obstruction of a grand jury investigation.

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Texas State Board of Education set to OK anti-Islam social studies curriculum

The 15-member Texas State Board of Education on Friday is expected to approve updated social studies and history lessons that portray Islam in a largely negative light, tying it to violence and slavery. Members have been meeting in Austin all week working through the last high school Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills updates, having completed K-8 changes earlier this summer. Over the course of hours public testimony, speakers praised and criticized the proposals, which also requires students to understand “that important tenets of Christianity during the time of the Roman empire influenced Western Civilization, America, and Texas.”

Speaker Chuck Allmon said he liked what the board had in mind, including references to Christianity’s role in the nation’s founding and rhetoric against Islam — among the largest faiths in the world. “This is a godly nation, the United States,” said Allmon. “The Supreme Court, 1892, proclaimed it as such. We don't need or want Islam teaching to indoctrinate our Texas school students. All they need to know is how evil Islam is.” Texas school lessons would mention radical Islam, not Al-Qaeda, as motivation for 9-11. They also depict Islam's founder as a warring, military and violent leader and require students to "explain early Islam in terms of the Prophet Mohammed's brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves." High school sophomore Hanifa Nayeemuddin recommended the board stop “using a broad indoctrinating term like 'radical Islam’. and explain the history without making students associate an entire religion with terrorism.” She said students deserve to feel safe without getting the wrong idea about an entire group of people. Speaker Bahia Amawi simply called the curriculum discriminatory, saying the lessons are “written intentionally to portray one faith in a positive light while deliberately casting another in a negative one.” The board earlier this year removed a standard that would have taught about “Muslim contributions to algebra and astronomy.” Friday’s vote comes after the board approved a new statewide reading list that includes numerous Bible passages, curriculum Southern Methodist University professor Marc Chancey said “privilege[s]” Christianity over other religions. With 10 Republican members and 5 Democrats, the board is expected to pass the new social studies curriculum. The changes would go into effect in 2030.

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Ex-girlfriend of Fort Worth billionaire Sid Bass sues him for $400 million

A former girlfriend of billionaire oil heir Sid Bass claims he backed out of financial promises made to her after he married another woman, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week. The 98-page lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court by Oona O. Sperr, seeks at least $400 million in damages from Bass, and also names Bass’ wife, Althea Viafora Kress, as a defendant. Sperr, 64, and Bass, 84, were partners for roughly a decade starting in 2014, and during that time, Bass bought her a diamond ring worth $2.1 million and the couple frequently held themselves out as married, according to the lawsuit. They owned several expensive properties, including one in Fort Worth, traveled together and “spared no expense on the lavish life” they shared, attorneys wrote.

At the start of their relationship, Sperr verbally agreed to give up her interior design career in favor of managing the pair’s homes, overseeing renovations, caring for Bass and representing the couple socially, according to the lawsuit. In return, Bass allegedly agreed to provide lifetime financial support and maintenance to Sperr. The couple were so entwined with one another that they shared the same bank account and planned their wills and end-of-life care together, according to the lawsuit. But, as Bass’ cognition and judgment deteriorated due to “excessive consumption of alcohol and early signs of Parkinson’s,” Kress began to groom him with the aim of gaining access to his fortune, attorneys for Sperr wrote in the lawsuit. When the relationship between Sperr and Bass eventually ended, Bass committed to continue providing financial support, care and property to her even though they were separated, according to the suit. Ultimately, though, the promised support was altered “beyond recognition,” and some aspects were repudiated altogether, Sperr’s attorneys claim.

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Fort Worth man threatened to castrate Talarico, drag his corpse, authorities say

A Fort Worth man who appeared in August to be furious with the political issue of slavery reparations threatened in writing to kill state Rep. James Talarico, according to law enforcement authorities. Billy McFatridge, 29, has been charged in a state district court in Travis County with making a terroristic threat against a public servant. McFatridge is accused of writing two messages to Talarico, a Democrat who is running for a U.S. Senate seat. Talarico told a Texas Department of Public Safety special agent who is investigating the case that he felt the need to enhance security for future campaign events, especially one in the Fort Worth area on Aug. 21. On Aug. 3, Talarico received an email to his campaign account from a Gmail account of which McFatridge later admitted ownership, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The email contained homophobic slurs and crude language. “I will slit your ... throat in front of the world and drag your body through the streets,” McFatridge wrote, according to the affidavit. On Aug. 11, McFatridge sent a direct message via Instagram to Talarico, according to the affidavit. “I will castrate your ... [expletive] and drag your corpse through the streets if you ever suggest such a weak minded idea again ...,” McFatridge wrote, according to the affidavit. McFatridge told DPS special agents that he had no intention of hurting anyone but wanted to scare the representative. In June 2018, McFatridge was accused of stabbing his mother with a spear, authorities have said. McFatridge was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A grand jury declined to indict McFatridge in the case. Talarico’s chief of staff reported the threatening messages to DPS.

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San Antonio's Greater Chamber taps interim CEO after leadership exodus

Former Frost Bank president Pat Frost is stepping in to lead the Greater Chamber of Commerce until it finds a new chief. The chamber’s current president and CEO, Jeff Webster, plans to retire Dec. 2. Webster announced his move last month, as two other top staffers were also leaving for other opportunities. The chamber’s board unanimously selected Frost to serve as an interim leader at its Aug. 31 board meeting. Frost is a previous Greater Chamber board chair, making an unusual transition to the frontlines of the organization’s policy efforts. He recently played a big role in the Spurs’ Win Together campaign last November, which secured the public funding for a new downtown NBA arena. Greater Chamber Chairman Kevin C. Dinnin said Frost will be volunteering his time while the chamber continues looking for a new permanent leader. “We owe a debt of gratitude to Pat,” Dinnin said in a statement Thursday. “I can’t think of anyone better to lead the organization during this transition.” Webster said he’d spend his remaining months helping help Frost navigate the new role. “As I prepare for my retirement, I am pleased to know that Pat will be assuming the interim leadership of this great organization,” Webster said.

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Independent Jason Wolff stays on Bexar County District Attorney ballot after failed GOP challenge

The Bexar County Republican Party and its nominee for district attorney Ashley Foster tried this week to remove independent candidate Jason Wolff from the November ballot, arguing that widespread problems with how his petitions were notarized should invalidate hundreds of the signatures he needed to qualify. After a daylong court fight that examined everything from Wolff’s TikTok videos to testimony from the people who collected his signatures, a Bexar County judge found that errors did in fact occur in the notarization process — but stopped short of removing Wolff from the ballot. The ruling leaves Wolff in a three-way race for Bexar County criminal district attorney against Foster and Democratic nominee Luz Elena Chapa, though Foster and the Bexar County Republican Party say their challenge isn’t over.

Foster and Bexar County GOP Chair Kris Coons sued late last month seeking to invalidate enough of Wolff’s petition signatures to disqualify him, while also requesting an emergency order preventing Bexar County Elections Administrator Michelle Carew from moving forward with his name on the ballot. Unlike candidates who secure a party’s nomination through a primary, Wolff had to collect signatures from at least 500 eligible Bexar County voters who did not participate in a party primary or runoff to qualify as an independent. Court records show Wolff submitted 1,147 signatures to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. The state accepted 710 after checking whether signers met the eligibility requirements, placing Wolff on the statewide ballot certified last Friday. Foster testified that she began scrutinizing Wolff’s signature drive after seeing videos he posted to TikTok. In one, Wolff told supporters they could drive behind his law office and honk their horns for someone to come outside with a petition. In another, posted days before the filing deadline, he encouraged people circulating petitions to bring them to him so he could file them.

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Oxfam index puts Texas near bottom for working families, women

Texas ranked 45th among U.S. states for working families, according to a newly released index by global nonprofit Oxfam. For working women, it ranked even lower at 47. Released ahead of Labor Day, the 2026 Best States To Work Index scores and ranks all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico on how their policies support working families through wages, worker protections and the right to organize. Texas was one of five states that scored zero on workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain, bringing its overall score down to less than 15 out of 100. By contrast, California ranked first, earning a total score of over 80 and scoring over 90 on organizing rights.

For the seventh year in a row, North Carolina sat at the bottom of the index as the worst state for workers, preceded by Alabama and Mississippi. In the current affordability crisis, labor policies such as minimum wage, paid leave and collective bargaining rights are essential to address deepening inequality, according to Abby Maxman, president and CEO of Oxfam America. “All workers deserve robust protections that ensure they can thrive and lead dignified lives, no matter where they live,” Maxman wrote, adding, “The policies we track are essential to the well-being of not only workers and working families, but also to the well-being of our communities and our economy.” Oxfam research shows women and workers of color are overrepresented in agricultural work, domestic work and tipped jobs. This is how they remain disproportionately excluded from fundamental worker protections such as full minimum wage, overtime and the right to bargain collectively, according to the report. Recent “overlapping economic shocks” such as the U.S. war with Iran and federal policies such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act have compounded the inequities, it added.

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The GOP’s game of chicken over Ken Paxton in Texas is getting testy

This spring’s Texas GOP Senate runoff was one of the costliest and ugliest Republican nominating contests in recent history. And more than three months after Attorney General Ken Paxton prevailed over Sen. John Cornyn with President Donald Trump’s backing, Republicans are still struggling mightily to move forward, despite how central the race is to the Senate majority. Pride appears to be winning out over common purpose, as the party engages in a high-stakes internal game of chicken. And things are getting increasingly testy. The big standoff, as CNN wrote over the weekend, is over who is going to help Paxton compete financially with Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, who is raising significantly more money than the GOP nominee.

Senate Republicans have left Texas out of their ad spending reservations in an apparent ploy to force Trump’s political operation to bankroll Paxton. And the message to the president seems increasingly unsubtle: You defeated an incumbent with a less-electable, scandal-ridden alternative, now you get to make sure he holds this red state. But Trump’s operation has yet to comply. That’s left Paxton outgunned for weeks, with potentially major implications. With two months left, polls show Talarico benefitting from a significant image advantage and the state looking more competitive than it has been in decades. And if Democrats win Texas, they’ve moved themselves significantly close to a Senate majority. In recent days, we’ve seen something rather remarkable: Congressional Republicans have stepped forward to more overtly tell Trump’s operation that it needs to pony up. “We need help from the president,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told Fox News on Sunday. “The president says he has $850 million in his campaign accounts. That’s a lot of jack. I’m hoping that the president’s going to spend $100 or $200 million in Texas, but he hasn’t committed to it yet.”

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National Stories

Missouri Supreme Court blocks gerrymandered map in major loss for Republicans

The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the state’s gerrymandered congressional map from being used in the November election, a seismic ruling that halts a Republican attempt to force Kansas City’s longtime congressman out of office. The unanimous decision found that Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was wrong to reject a campaign seeking to strike down the map, called HB 1. The ruling also makes it explicitly clear that the new map cannot be used in November. “The secretary and all of those acting in concert with him are restrained and enjoined from implementing, using, or mandating the use of the congressional redistricting in HB 1 for the November 2026 general election,” Judge Ginger K. Gooch wrote in the opinion released Thursday.

The court ruled that the campaign seeking to strike down the map must appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. The map can only be used if voters approve it, the opinion said. The ruling hands a key loss to President Donald Trump amid a bitter fight for control of Congress this year. Missouri Republican lawmakers redrew the map last year under pressure from the Trump administration. But hundreds of thousands of Missourians fought back. A campaign called People Not Politicians used a referendum, a mechanism for direct democracy that allows citizens to challenge laws, and collected more than 305,000 signatures to force a statewide vote on the map. Thursday’s ruling marked the culmination of that fight, making Missouri the first state in the country to use a referendum to block a Trump-backed map. The campaign survived a series of attacks from state officials and months of court battles to reach the Nov. 3 ballot. “BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!,” Chuck Hatfield, an attorney for the referendum campaign, wrote on social media after the ruling came down. Now, the decision is poised to scramble the upcoming November election. Missouri already held primary elections using the new map. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican whose office defended the map in court, vowed to file an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the decision.

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Maryland Supreme Court says redistricting ballot question can go to voters

A proposed ballot question that could set new standards for the way congressional maps are drawn in Maryland will go to voters in November, the Supreme Court of Maryland ruled Thursday evening. The order from a divided high court overturned two lower courts that had sided with state Republicans who challenged the proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution. The Thursday evening order came as an end-of-the-day deadline to finalize the ballot for printing approached.

The decision was anything but a full-throated victor for legislative Democrats who muscled the bill and a legally faulty question through a two-day special session. Even so, the end result is voters will be asked to weigh in on the proposed change this fall. In an eight-page order written for the majority, Chief Justice Matthew J. Fader agreed with judges in Anne Arundel and Dorchester counties who ruled that the ballot question as written by the Maryland General Assembly “is misleading and therefore violates due process requirements.” In particular, Fader said the majority found fault with the question’s reference to “applicable federal laws” as the criteria for determining congressional boundaries.

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Pentagon temporarily rescinds guidance on testosterone screening for US troops

The Pentagon ?is temporarily rescinding recently published clinical guidance for a new, mandatory testosterone deficiency screening policy for service members aged 30 and ?older, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Pentagon posted the "Clinical Guidance for Health and Human Performance Optimization" on its website. By Thursday, the memo and an accompanying statement from spokesperson Sean Parnell had been removed. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the award-winning Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. "The draft (document) published on September 2, 2026, has been temporarily rescinded to allow for updates," the official said, adding that interim guidance remains ?in effect.

Reuters was first to report the guidance being rescinded. The detailed clinical guidelines had laid out separate testosterone deficiency screening paths for ?men and women that were to happen during their annual health assessments. The guidance was set to take effect immediately, and ?the Pentagon said it is aimed at improving military readiness by identifying and managing hormonal and energy-availability issues. A "Page Not Found" banner appeared on ?websites for both the Pentagon and Defense Health Agency when clicking on the links for the memo and statement. Wednesday's guidance said men aged 30 and older ?would be screened through a questionnaire that could then trigger a blood test for testosterone levels and, if needed, testosterone hormone therapy. Women would also be screened through a questionnaire and could then move to treatment for conditions related to hormonal imbalance that can manifest as Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, or REDs. Testosterone hormone therapy is advised only for ?Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, which is characterized by a distressing level of low sexual interest.

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Former Labor Secretary stoked dysfunction and toxicity, Department report finds

Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer violated department policy repeatedly, a report released on Thursday by the department’s internal watchdog said, including tolerating harassment, spending public money on personal travel and conducting an “inappropriate relationship” with a member of her security detail. The 40-page report revealed new details of the dysfunction and toxicity at the top of the Labor Department under Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned in April after one year in the job as scandals and investigations closed in. More than three dozen witnesses described working in the secretary’s office as “toxic, intimidating and humiliating,” the department’s inspector general, Anthony D’Esposito, wrote.

The report followed a monthslong investigation into a whistle-blower’s allegations of misconduct by Ms. Chavez-DeRemer and her aides. The claims included that she was having an affair with a member of her security team, that she and her aides abused younger women on the staff and that they flouted federal spending limits on trips that mixed business and pleasure, including on fancy hotels, S.U.V. rentals and strip clubs. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer did not respond to a message seeking comment. She recently started a national political action committee aimed at electing Republicans who support organized labor. The report closes an embarrassing chapter for the department. Its acting leader, Keith Sonderling, is awaiting Senate confirmation to become the next secretary. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer, 58, served in local government in Happy Valley, Ore., before being elected to the U.S. House in 2022. Her father was a Teamster, and she had support from organized labor. Ms. Chavez-DeRemer lost her re-election bid in November 2024. Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters union, who had spoken at the 2024 Republican National Convention, urged President Trump to choose her as labor secretary. She took office in March 2025.

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Southeastern Conference sues LSU, Lane Kiffin

The Southeastern Conference is suing Louisiana State University (LSU) and its head football coach Lane Kiffin for what it contends is an effort to bring former NFL players to the school and gain an unfair competitive advantage over other schools. The LSU Tigers waged what the conference says is “a deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes to play football for LSU during the 2026-27 season, including players who had signed NFL contracts with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”

“Numerous reports have shown that at least two of these professional athletes are on campus and actively practicing with LSU’s football team,” the conference wrote as part of its suit, filed in Alabama and assigned to U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon, who was appointed by President Trump. “Defendants have also expressed their unequivocal intent to place those athletes on LSU’s official football roster and allow them to participate in football games during the upcoming season,” the conference added. The suit comes as a Louisiana judge was set to rule Thursday on a temporary injunction involving LSU’s football program that could clear the way for a number of players who were cut by NFL teams this fall to play for the Tigers this fall. The Southeastern Conference has previously said it would consider sanctioning LSU over the effort to recruit former professional players, floating options that included potentially expelling it from the conference. It also comes as Congress works to pass legislation that would grant the NCAA and its member schools antitrust protection and cap the amount of times an athlete can transfer between schools and earn through name, image and likeness endorsement money.

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Jaw-dropping reason Fox abruptly fired Maria Bartiromo revealed

Fox News fired one of its top stars due to a shady betrayal. Maria Bartiromo, 58, was fired from the network on Thursday because she had informed the White House about Fox’s secret instructions to not promote President Donald Trump’s election conspiracies on the air, according to Status. The particular incident happened in July following the president’s primetime address to the nation, in which he claimed that China had interfered in the 2020 presidential election. Status reported that Fox News had issued written instructions to senior employees to steer their coverage of Trump’s address away from his false claims, which the network largely abided by—to the White House’s surprise.

However, the outlet said Trump or a White House official pressed Bartiromo about the lack of coverage of Trump’s claims, and she revealed that her bosses had ordered the claims not to be covered. She even shared the text message that relayed the network’s guidance with the White House. Disclosing the network’s confidential information violated her employment agreement, Status reported. The Daily Beast has reached out to Fox News for comment. The bombshell update comes only hours after Fox announced Bartiromo’s departure from the network without explanation.

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Lead Stories

Edouard drenches parts of Texas and closes schools, roads

Texas authorities rescued dozens of people from stranded cars, homes surrounded by floodwaters and an assisted living facility Wednesday as former Tropical Storm Edouard lingered over rural parts of the state and dumped nearly 2 feet of rain in some places. Heavy rains from the storm, which weakened into a tropical depression after making landfall Tuesday, were expected to threaten the eastern part of the state through Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, a burst of tropical weather persisted in the Pacific Ocean, where three hurricanes were churning in open waters. In Texas’ hard-hit Hardin County, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northeast of Houston, officials said flooding, downed trees and powerlines, debris, and power outages were still creating hazardous conditions.

Between 18 inches (45 centimeters) and 20 inches (51 centimeters) fell in parts of the county over the last two days, the weather service said. The average local monthly rainfall for September is just 5.51 inches (14 centimeters), said Nick Slaughter, a meteorologist with the weather service. Across the area close to the Louisiana border, schools and municipal offices were closed, and residents were told to stay home. Hardin County’s office of emergency management said Wednesday afternoon that 12 motorists had to be rescued after driving into flooded roadways, two people had to be rescued from a flooded home, about 10 structures were damaged by trees and thousands were still without power. In Jefferson County, located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Houston, the main concern was restoring power after trees and limbs were brought down during the storm, which had wind gusts up to 90 mph (144 kph), said Robert Grimm, the county emergency management coordinator. About 22,000 customers in the county were without power as of late Wednesday afternoon, nearly half of the 50,000 utility customers affected statewide, according to poweroutage.com. Grady Leger said that as the storm moved through Hardin County on Tuesday evening, a powerline went down by his home near Lumberton, and he could feel the vibration coming up from the ground. “Some blue and yellow, white sparks caught part of my dead tree on fire,” Leger said. An assisted living facility was damaged in Hardin County, and 21 people were evacuated, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, whose game wardens assisted. Photos from the agency showed some officials wading in thigh-deep water in parts of the county. Edouard is expected to dissipate Thursday.

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Ted Cruz is testing the waters for a 2028 run—and taking swipes at JD Vance

Ted Cruz isn’t hiding his presidential ambitions—and he is taking some digs at the presumptive front-runner along the way. The 2028 contest hasn’t started yet, and there is still a midterm election in November. Vice President JD Vance, who is leading in early polls of potential Republican nominees, is campaigning for candidates in tough races and fundraising for the party. But Cruz, the Texas senator and firebrand conservative, is already putting in the legwork in Iowa, hitting the podcast circuit and embarking on a book tour. He is also quietly asking people if they would be interested in working on his 2028 bid, according to people familiar with the requests. A spokeswoman for Cruz declined to comment.

Cruz told MSNOW that the party hasn’t coalesced around Vance. “I’ll certainly be part of the discussion,” he said. Several times this year, he has condemned rising antisemitism on the right, and specifically targeted Republicans who, like Vance, haven’t separated themselves from conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, who has hosted Holocaust deniers on his podcast. Vance’s allies have privately dismissed and scoffed at Cruz running, arguing he wouldn’t be a serious threat to the vice president if he chose to run. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are seen as President Trump’s 2028 favorites, and the president has been known to poll staff and donors about whom they would like to see at the top of the ticket. When asked if he will pursue the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, Vance is coy. Those close to Vance say he is focused on the midterms and not talking about a presidential campaign. Some say they aren’t sure the 42-year-old, whose wife just had a fourth child, will even run for president in a year that might be more favorable to Democrats. Senior GOP strategists expect Vance to have much of Trump’s seasoned political apparatus behind him should he decide to run for president.

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As midterms Loom, Democrats feud over defections

A single vote on a routine measure that will never become law has touched off a firestorm of recriminations among House Democrats on Capitol Hill, offering a glimpse of simmering tensions within the party weeks before midterm elections in which they are pressing to win control of Congress. The drama began Tuesday afternoon, when two of the most conservative Democrats in the House broke with their party to pave the way for votes on a slate of Republican bills. By Wednesday, it had mushroomed into a full-on furor featuring accusations of betrayal, demands for punishment for the defectors and a quiet but intense round of whispers about what the episode said about the leadership of Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, who is in line to be speaker should his party win the majority in November.

Mr. Jeffries said he had been blindsided by the decision by the two lawmakers, Representatives Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, to side with Republicans on a procedural measure, and suggested that it had been the job of the chief vote-counter and No. 2 Democrat to be aware of such things. “You’ll have to talk to Katherine,” he told reporters after the vote on Tuesday, referring to Representative Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts. (Ms. Clark later said that she had not been apprised.) Top Democrats demanded that the renegades be disciplined for straying from the party line. “I think there should be a punishment,” said Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. “I think there should be consequences.” Facing an outcry from their members, House Democratic leaders said in a sharp statement on Tuesday night that Mr. Golden and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez had committed a “significant breach of trust” that required “a serious response.” Still, by Wednesday evening, no such action had come. Mr. Jeffries said that members were still debating whether and how to discipline Mr. Golden, who is leaving office at the end of the year, and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez, who is running for re-election in a competitive district.

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Ken Paxton went after gambling in Texas — but stays hands off on Kalshi

As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton has pushed for strict enforcement of Texas gambling laws, especially for fantasy sports sites and gaming machines. But after Paxton and his PAC took thousands of dollars from Kalshi and its CEO, the attorney general declined to sign onto several nationwide efforts by Republican and Democratic state attorneys general to rein in the prediction market platform. In May 2025, Kalshi donated $5,000 to Paxton’s Lone Star Liberty PAC and a month later, on June 13, the Republican Senate candidate accepted $7,000 from Tarek Mansour, the CEO of Kalshi, according to FEC records. As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton has pushed for strict enforcement of Texas gambling laws, especially for fantasy sports sites and gaming machines. But after Paxton and his PAC took thousands of dollars from Kalshi and its CEO, the attorney general declined to sign onto several nationwide efforts by Republican and Democratic state attorneys general to rein in the prediction market platform. In May 2025, Kalshi donated $5,000 to Paxton’s Lone Star Liberty PAC and a month later, on June 13, the Republican Senate candidate accepted $7,000 from Tarek Mansour, the CEO of Kalshi, according to FEC records. Four days later, 34 Republican and Democratic state attorneys general asked the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to allow states to regulate Kalshi. But Paxton didn’t join the bipartisan effort, which included Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Utah. Last December, Paxton also declined to team up on an amicus brief filed by 38 states and D.C., in a case between Kalshi and Maryland.

The decision to not sign on to these briefs was unusual, given Paxton’s position on fantasy sports a decade before when he was not running for office. At the time, he determined that operators of fantasy sports platforms DraftKings and FanDuel were taking illegal bets, which led to a fight in court between the DraftKings and Paxton that the company recently dropped. Texas is still one of the less than a dozen states that outlaw online sports betting. It also suggests that Paxton’s stance on the prediction markets — where users can wager on everything from sports and the temperature in Dallas to Paxton winning his Senate race this year — may be more aligned with that of President Donald Trump, a close Paxton ally, than of his fellow state attorneys general, who argue the platforms should be overseen by the states. Trump endorsed Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the GOP Texas primary. Trump has said he wants prediction markets to “thrive.” Paxton’s position has put him at odds with other Texas GOP leaders, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has worked with Paxton on enforcing other anti-gambling laws. In March, Patrick urged the Texas Senate to look for ways to close loopholes in state laws that let prediction markets operate in the state.

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State Stories

Middleton leads Johnson in race for Texas attorney general, but the contest is unusually close

Early voting for the general election begins in less than seven weeks, and while the U.S. Senate fight has drawn national attention, there's another contest on the ballot that's at least as consequential for Texans: the race to succeed Republican incumbent Ken Paxton as state attorney general, featuring state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, and state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas. Texas' attorney general serves as the state's top law enforcement official. The attorney general's office oversees a range of critical programs affecting ordinary citizens, including child support collection and enforcement. However, the office is perhaps best known for its role in litigation involving the federal government, as well as lawsuits by the state of Texas against private industries.

"In strict political terms, attorneys general going back, particularly to Greg Abbott’s term as attorney general in the early 2010s, have become very active players in how states engage with national politics," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. "The attorney general’s office is also being used as a springboard for higher office by a couple of generations of Texas leaders." The past two Texas attorneys general have mounted successful runs for higher office — John Cornyn for the U.S. Senate and Abbott for the governorship. Paxton is currently the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, having defeated Cornyn in a hard-fought primary runoff. The latest snapshot of the race comes from a poll conducted by the Texas Politics Project, released last week. According to the poll, some 40% of registered voters said they plan to support Middleton, compared to 35% who said they will vote for Johnson and 3% who back Libertarian candidate Tom Oxford. "This is a very dynamic race," Henson said. "At five points, it’s indicative of how the two parties are fairly competitive in this race and certainly more competitive than we usually expect them to be in Texas." A five-point lead is uncomfortably close for a Republican running statewide in Texas. Henson said that, ordinarily, a Republican candidate for statewide office should be leading the Democrat by between nine to 12 points. "I expect that this race will continue to poll pretty closely," Henson said. "And it’s a race that we’ll be watching as it unfolds, because we’ve got two very competitive candidates running for an office that's very important, and a lot of people that have not really started thinking about it yet, but they will have their attention drawn to it."

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As Republicans plan to gather in Bush's backyard, his influence is largely absent from the party

On Nov. 1, 2004, then-President George W. Bush stood onstage at Moody Coliseum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for election eve rally as he sought a second term. Voting was hours away. “Ten years ago, when I first ran for governor, I had my last campaign rally in Dallas, and we won,” he told the cheering crowd. “Tonight, after six other stops, I’m having my last campaign rally in Dallas, and we’re gonna win.” Dallas helped give rise to the Bush political dynasty — first, to 41st President George H.W. Bush, and later to his son, George W. Bush, who served as Texas governor from 1995 until he was elected president. “The Bush family has left a tremendous legacy in both the nation's politics and specifically in Texas and Dallas,” said SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson.

“[George W. Bush] did a lot for the Republican Party in Texas. In many ways, when Bush was president, those were the good old days for the Dallas GOP. That was when Republicans were riding high in Dallas County.” More than 20 years later, as Republicans prepare to gather in Dallas for an unusual midterm convention, Bush — and many of the policies he and his late father championed — are largely absent from today’s Republican Party. Wilson said after Bush’s re-election victory in 2004, his views defined the GOP. Like his father, Bush embraced the so-called three-legged stool of Reagan conservativism. He used American military power abroad, believed in free, global markets with a liberal immigration policy, and a faith-based social morality. “What we have seen since, Trump and the MAGA movement seems ambivalent, at best, about all three of those,” Wilson said. Similar to his father — who had been vice president to Reagan — George W. Bush ran to lower taxes and reduce government. But he also launched No Child Left Behind, administered by the federal Department of Education. And he supported humanitarian efforts abroad like the global distribution of HIV and AIDS treatments that saved millions of lives.

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Texas post-Roe study of maternal deaths won't be ready by midterms

Health officials say they need more time to complete a report on maternal deaths — likely punting the fullest accounting of pregnancy-related deaths since the state’s abortion ban took effect until after the midterms. The biennial report has historically been released on Sept. 1, but lawmakers were informed last week that it would not be completed by then. The Department of State Health Services said the report will be finished by Dec. 1 under a new deadline the state Legislature approved last year. Advocates and Democrats say that will give lawmakers little time to craft bills for the next legislative session, which starts in January — and it will likely keep voters in the dark ahead of the high-stakes midterms. The Texas House Women’s Health Caucus wrote to acting health commissioner Imelda Garcia on Wednesday urging her to release the findings sooner.

“The Department knows that releasing this report by September 1 is essential to the Legislature’s ability to act,” state Rep. Ann Johnson, a Houston Democrat, said in a statement. “Any further delay is not merely bureaucratic; it is an unconscionable dereliction of duty to Texas mothers and families.” Democrats say the timing is suspicious, given the Dec. 1 deadline is after Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans who supported the state’s abortion ban are up for reelection. It is only the second time the report has not been released by Sept. 1. The last time was in 2022, when Abbott was last on the ballot. The governor appoints the state health commission members. That report, which only included data through 2020, showed a higher rate of life-threatening hemorrhaging among Black women during childbirth. This year’s report would look at 2024, the first full-year look since the state’s abortion ban took place in 2022. Advocates have expected maternal deaths to increase as more women carry pregnancies to term. “It’s rather suspect it’s occurring at this point in time in the election time,” said state Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat. “In 2022, the report was delayed at the time that Abbott was at the top of the ticket. Now it’s being delayed again with Abbott in a competitive race.”

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Ken Paxton vows to outwork James Talarico as GOP worries mount

Ken Paxton sought to calm Republican fears Tuesday about losing a long-held Texas Senate seat, promising victory while pressing supporters for votes and money. Paxton hammered Democrat James Talarico as a “socialist” who favors raising taxes, allowing girls to compete in boys’ sports and destroying the state’s oil and gas industry. “I want you to tell them about James Talarico ... that he is a socialist Democrat,” Paxton said at a Parker County campaign stop. “As Donald Trump said, they just skipped socialism and went straight to communism.” The appearance at Willow Park Baptist Church came as Talarico’s vast financial advantage and aggressive advertising efforts have stirred Republican concerns about a race once considered safely theirs.

Paxton said he was doing his part to win, including stepping up fundraising and mobilizing volunteers. “I’m going to spend 18 hours a day campaigning,” he said. “I’m literally all over the state because I believe in what we’re doing here in Texas.” The reference to his work ethic was likely a response to recent criticism from his former primary rival, Sen. John Cornyn, who branded Paxton a “lazy” candidate and said he would not help him against Talarico. Paxton, the attorney general, said the Senate race would not only determine the balance of power in the Senate but also the course of the nation. “If we lose Texas, we’ve lost the country,” Paxton said. “And if we lose Texas, we’re going to lose the U.S. Senate.” Talarico, a state representative, campaigned Tuesday in San Antonio, where he called for a new kind of politics that involved Texans coming together, caring for one another and holding the billionaire class in check.

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Dallas City Council signals support for keeping Flock cameras funded

The Dallas City Council wants to keep the cameras rolling. A majority of council members on Wednesday signaled they agreed with Dallas police that Flock Safety’s network of license-plate readers across the city has become a key tool for solving crimes and tracking down suspects — and one that’s too valuable to cut. The nonbinding vote rejecting council member Adam Bazaldua’s suggestion to cut $1.5 million for Flock came during a lengthy debate over amendments to the city manager’s proposed $5.6 billion budget. It comes as the company’s AI-powered cameras face scrutiny from Gov. Greg Abbott, other elected leaders and privacy advocates.

Dallas police announced Tuesday that they would deactivate 321 cameras later this month after the governor paused state funding for the technology. Several council members voiced opposition to the amendment, citing the cameras’ value to police investigations and public safety. Some echoed concerns about privacy and highlighted a need for safeguards. In proposing the amendment, Bazaldua raised concerns about the department retaining Flock data for one year and how Dallas' camera network could be accessed by outside agencies, including for immigration enforcement. One council member, Bill Roth, initially signaled he would vote for the amendment. But after nearly an hour of remarks from his colleagues and Dallas police, he said he would support keeping the technology. He acknowledged he didn't fully understand how the cameras were being used or what guardrails were in place.

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Ted Cruz says threat to Texas has never been greater at O’Hare campaign event

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz headlined the fall campaign kick-off for Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare’s run for re-election Wednesday night. He said the stakes are high for the November midterm election, and if Republicans don’t show up to vote, they will lose Tarrant County and Texas. O’Hare is up against Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons. He is running on the same campaign promises from his 2022 election of cutting property taxes, maintaining an efficient budget and prioritizing public safety. As Cruz said, O’Hare “did DOGE before DOGE was cool.” Though it was an event dedicated to O’Hare’s race for the county judge seat, Cruz spent the most time talking about Republican successes in Congress and the threat of the U.S. Senate Democratic candidate, James Talarico.

Democrats have “lost their ever-loving mind,” Cruz said. The threats against the nation have never been greater than they are in the midterm elections, he told the Grapevine Convention Center crowd of a few hundred. “This is no longer a contest between left and right,” Cruz said. “This is no longer a contest between liberal and conservative. This is a contest between crazy and common sense.” Talarico is a dangerous man, and the stakes of this election are massive, Cruz said. Though Cruz never instructed the audience to vote for Republican candidate Ken Paxton by name, he did urge them to vote Republican down the ballot. “The men and women who will save Tarrant County and the men and women who will save Texas are right here in this room,” Cruz said. “I want to ask every one of you to go out and vote for Tim O’Hare and vote for Republicans up and down the ballot 10 times … if you get nine other people who wouldn’t have voted to show up and vote, you just voted 10 times.” Earlier in the night, O’Hare and the elected officials introducing him had a similar message for his supporters.

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Tarrant County sheriff says Flock cameras are their most valuable asset

Sheriff Bill Waybourn lauded Flock Safety’s license plate readers as the best tool in the county’s law enforcement arsenal. Flock cameras have recently replaced data centers as the lightning rod of local government. In response, Republican Commissioner Matt Krause asked Waybourn to brief the Commissioners Court about how they are being used in Tarrant County. Invasion of privacy is the primary concern over Flock cameras collecting photos of license plates on public roads. A handful of people spoke in opposition to Flock cameras during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas, which had a representative at the meeting, put out a statement saying the surveillance is a threat to constitutional liberties. The group was concerned with accuracy as well as privacy. Waybourn pushed back, citing legal decisions, and said Criminal Justice Information Services has far more personal information than Flock provides. “Courts have constantly recognized that there is a general no reasonable expectation of privacy in a license plate displayed on a vehicle traveling a public road,” Waybourn said early on in his presentation. Waybourn said technology like Flock’s has been around since 2000 and flourished after the 9/11 attacks. Tarrant County owns six cameras, but there are 949 total across the county owned by cities and homeowners associations. Any law enforcement agency using Flock Safety is able to access the database by searching for a specific license plate number with a valid reason for search.

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80,000 Entergy customers lose power in Wednesday storm

About 80,000 residents lost power Wednesday night in the Houston area following storms spawned by Tropical Depression Edouard, per Entergy Texas. In a news release, the company said it had restored electricity to 50% of its customers affected by heavy rain and thunderstorms, and that about 39,000 were still without power at 6 p.m. Entergy's service area covers 27 counties in the region, including Chambers, Liberty and Montgomery counties. "Some customers in the most heavily damaged or difficult-to-access locations may experience longer restoration times," the company said in a written statement. "Detailed estimated restoration times will be shared as assessments progress and crews gain safe access to impacted areas." Entergy said part of the challenge to restore power was working through severe weather conditions, especially with some residents living in heavily damaged or difficult-to-access locations. According to National Weather Service estimates, rainfall totals exceeded 10 inches across Tyler and Hardin counties.

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Dallas’ foster care system unraveled. Foster parents are living with the fallout.

(Editor’s note: To protect their identities, the names of the children in this story have been changed.) Shaking off the fog of exhaustion, Courtney Craig shuffled up the stairs of her condo and slowly opened the door to her bedroom. “Alexa,” she said, “play the 1978 Spider-Man theme song.” In seconds, her 3-year-old son, Elijah, was jumping on her bed, where he had slept a few restless hours with his hands clutching her hair to make sure she didn’t leave. As Elijah danced in his Spider-Man underwear and launched imaginary webs from his palms, Courtney’s 2-year-old daughter, Zoe, padded out of a bedroom down the hall and rubbed her eyes. “Good morning, bubby,” Courtney said. “Time to get dressed.” A logjam schedule of therapies, school drop-offs and pickups, work, and a few inevitable meltdowns awaited. Hair needed to be combed, milk poured, bags packed, and matching shoes located in the next 20 minutes to make it out the door on time, or as close to it as possible. Courtney has grown accustomed to the morning chaos and barrage of appointments since opening her 900-square-foot home to foster children in 2020.

On this July day, though, the 42-year-old shouldered it all not as a foster parent but a mother. A week earlier, Courtney stood in a Dallas courtroom before a judge who declared that the two small children clinging to her neck were forever hers to care for. Dressed in coordinated red outfits, Elijah and Zoe wriggled in Courtney’s arms as she took a vow of motherhood. “You do understand that the moment this paperwork is signed you have all the same rights and duties as any other parent, isn’t that right?” her attorney said, standing in front of Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon’s bench. “Yes,” said Courtney while she swayed to soothe the restless children on her hips. That court date came three and a half years after Elijah was placed in Courtney’s home as a malnourished baby who screamed most hours of the day and vomited the rest. His baby sister, weighing 6 pounds at 6 weeks old, joined them a little over a year later. The adoption hearing held the promise of a new beginning for Elijah and Zoe, who had been through much in their short, unsettled lives. For Courtney, it marked an end to what she said was a yearslong nightmare due to a system that failed to protect her children and shattered her well-being. Negligence on the part of Empower, the private contractor in charge of foster care cases in the Dallas area, led to the loss of their state benefits, Courtney said, and put Elijah and Zoe in dangerous situations that compounded their trauma.

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Somerset ISD cancels Friday classes due to 'severe' overnight storms

Somerset ISD canceled classes Friday after severe overnight storms caused power outages across the area, district officials announced early Friday. "The safety of our students and staff remains our top priority," the district said. "Due to power outages across the area caused by severe storms overnight, Somerset ISD classes are canceled today." All morning events and activities are also canceled. Coaches and staff will provide updates about activities scheduled for Friday afternoon, the district said. "Please stay safe and follow official Somerset ISD communication channels for updates."

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Investigators say Ross fire was 'human-caused'

State investigators have concluded that the Ross fire stemmed from equipment or vehicle use that was "associated with a roadside start," Texas A&M Forest Service spokesperson Lsaura Steven said Wednesday. The investigation was ongoing Wednesday, Stevens said, but investigators from the forest service and other local law enforcement agencies determined the fire was "human-caused." Generally, wildfires are started by nature, like lightning, or human activity, experts say. Earlier Wednesday, the forest service announced they concluded the Ross fire was started by a blown vehicle tire, but later, a spokesperson said information obtained by investigators determined that was no longer accurate. Stevens said in an email the wildfire could not "conclusively contributed to a tire blowout."

Investigators were searching for clues on how the blaze started for days. Officials previously said the wildfire started somewhere along Highway 180 in Palo Pinto County on Aug. 24 -- about 100 miles west of Dallas. The blaze grew and reached Jack County by the next day. It prompted evacuation orders for some residents in both counties, but those orders were lifted Friday. As of Wednesday evening, the fire scorched approximately 90,048 acres, making it one of the largest wildfires recorded in North Texas. Firefighters were working on increasing the containment, and they made some headway Wednesday. The fire was about 38% contained by the evening, which was an improvement from 31% reported earlier that day. No deaths or injuries have been reported, but the wildfire destroyed over 150 structures -- 18 of which were homes, according to the forest service. Another about 140 structures were damaged. Firefighters saved more than 450 structures, according to those same estimates. Throughout Wednesday, crews were constructing holding lines on the edge of the wildfire and putting out some areas of heat. Some of the efforts were focused on preventing the fire for growing toward Highway 16. Additional resources arrived to cover the emergency response and give rest to local firefighters ahead of the Labor Day Weekend, according to the forest service.

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Texas A&M considers cuts to race, gender and climate courses

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents will consider cutting dozens of courses from the core curriculum across 11 universities on Thursday, in response to a state law requiring all general education classes to be “foundational.” Among the proposed deletions are various courses about women and gender; climate and the environment; as well as Black and Latino history, literature and culture. Texas colleges have historically decided what courses count toward the core curriculum for all their undergraduates, but state lawmakers have asserted more oversight of that process. Senate Bill 37, passed in 2025, required public colleges and universities to review almost 13,000 general education courses, emphasizing that they should prepare students for life and work. Some institutions, like the University of Houston, have already pared down what general courses count toward a college diploma.

A&M's suggested cuts would reduce the core by 30%, from 260 courses to 182, interim provost Jerry Strawser said in a Wednesday email to faculty and staff. A committee of 20 faculty members, administrators, community leaders and industry representatives helped make the recommendations. "The courses recommended for removal may be relevant within specific areas of study; however, they did not meet the committee’s threshold for remaining part of the core curriculum," Strawser wrote. Texas requires all undergraduates to take 42 credit hours across specific subjects and learning objectives, which are set by the state. SB37 doesn’t explicitly ban any topics from the core. However, courses about diverse populations have been a frequent casualty of the reviews. Some conservative lawmakers and administrators have framed those courses as too niche for a core that is supposed to indicate what every student should know. The law largely left it up to universities to define what meets the new state standards of "foundational" and "fundamental." Some administrators have also framed the cuts as an effort to reduce the size of a bloated course catalog. Last month, the University of Houston cut about 40% of its courses from the core, from 241 courses to 144.

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National Stories

Why Washington’s ‘Economic D-Day’ against Iran faces steep odds

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled what it billed as an “Economic D-Day” aimed at forcing Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table. But the experience of Western sanctions and economic pressure on autocracies such as Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela and Syria shows the challenges facing Washington in trying to bend Tehran to its will. Indeed, the strongmen ruling such countries have historically used a mix of violence, economic adaptation and political suppression that enables them to withstand economic pain for years, if not decades. Autocratic countries adapt in various ways. Sanctions typically push activity underground, creating flourishing black markets for goods, services and even people. Dictators also use outside pressure to rally their populations, especially among elites. The government in Cuba has relied on the country’s diaspora to bring in food and medicine even as Washington raises pressure on Havana.

North Korea boosts its coffers by stealing cryptocurrency and even tricking Americans into working for them in U.S. companies. Russia has reoriented its trade flows toward China and other non-Western powers. Tehran, which has branded the U.S. campaign “economic terrorism,” has decades of experience adapting to sanctions. Its trade has grown with countries with which it shares a land border. Iran has also created an entire parallel financial system with China, bypassing the U.S.-led banking system and weakening Washington’s enforcement powers. “The fact that the U.S. can inflict pain is a given,” said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economist at Virginia Tech. “My feeling is that these pressures aren’t going to result in more pressure on the Iranian government to compromise.” Sometimes it requires direct military action to unseat autocrats, as when U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro in January or rebel forces in Syria pushed former President Bashar al-Assad from power in December 2024.

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Elon Musk unleashes first wave of spending on key races in the midterms

Elon Musk’s super PAC disclosed its first independent expenditures of the 2026 general election in a filing released late Wednesday, detailing roughly $800,000 across key House and Senate races. Musk’s America PAC targeted several key Senate contests, including races in Texas, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska.

Elon Musk’s super PAC disclosed its first independent expenditures of the 2026 general election in a filing released late Wednesday, detailing roughly $800,000 across key House and Senate races. Musk’s America PAC targeted several key Senate contests, including races in Texas, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska. The largest amount went to Texas — over $247,000 — where Republicans are expected to deploy a wave of party resources to bolster Attorney General Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico. Musk’s super PAC also put nearly $90,000 into eight House races: Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin; Rep. Mike Lawler in New York; Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia; Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey; Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania; Rep. Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania; Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania; and Scott Singer in Florida. The independent expenditures — Musk’s first of the general election — were disclosed days after he met with Speaker Mike Johnson in Texas last week.

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Gloria Steinem, personification of the women’s movement, dies at 92

Gloria Steinem, the feminist crusader who, in galvanizing the modern women’s movement, helped millions of women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at home, at work and in society at large, died on Wednesday at her home in New York City. She was 92. Her death was announced in a post on social media, which did not give a cause. Calling herself “an entrepreneur of social change,” Ms. Steinem helped usher in sweeping cultural transformations across virtually every facet of American life, from the boardroom to the courtroom to the bedroom. For more than half a century, she personified the women’s movement and became its most enduring symbol; her tinted aviator glasses and curtain of streaked-blond hair parted in the center made her one of the most recognizable women in the world.

She was an unlikely revolutionary. Growing up a transient in the Midwest, she was 10 when her parents divorced and she was left to mother her mentally anguished mother — a formative experience that reverberated throughout her life. She had scant formal education until sixth grade; her big dream, as a budding tap dancer, was to become a Rockette. But she read voraciously, graduated from college with honors and believed fiercely that women should be able to live whatever life they chose. Her own feminist awakening didn’t come until her mid-30s, when, as a journalist in 1969, she attended a “speak out” of women discussing their illegal abortions. Charismatic, articulate, media savvy, deeply empathetic and a workaholic, she evolved into a political and cultural force. She led protests and consciousness-raising sessions, wrote essays and delivered speeches, delved into political organizing, helped establish rape crisis centers and shelters for battered women, founded numerous groups that promoted women and had the Midas touch when it came to raising money for their causes. And she and a cadre of feminists had the audacity to start a publication that flew in the face of traditional women’s magazines, examining topics like abortion, domestic violence and equal pay for equal work.

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The renegade college football coach going to war with the entire sport

From the moment Lane Kiffin arrived at LSU, one thing was certain: College football’s most controversial coach would start making enemies. But what nobody knew at the time was that Kiffin’s target in his first year in Baton Rouge wouldn’t be a rival coach or an opposing fan base. Kiffin would be going to war with college football itself. In recent weeks, Kiffin has enraged nearly every stakeholder in the sport with an audacious plan. He was going to bring players back from NFL training camps to fill out the Tigers’ roster. And on Thursday afternoon, just two days before LSU’s marquee season opener against Clemson, a Louisiana judge will determine whether the former pros will be allowed to suit up.

“This is the most emotion-packed, high-profile, dramatic legal battle in the history of college sports,” said Tom Mars, an attorney who specializes in tussling with the NCAA but isn’t involved in this case. The particular issue in question on Thursday is the legality of an SEC rule—a direct response to Kiffin’s ploy—that deems players who have gone through the pro draft process ineligible to compete. But the broader reality is that college football’s power brokers have drawn a line in the sand, with institutions and conferences across the country insisting that players swapping NFL helmets for college ones is a bridge too far. On the other side of that line stands Kiffin, boldly sticking by his plan while the rest of the college football world heaps scorn on him. “If you want to win at the highest level,” a graphic posted at LSU’s team facility this week read, “you have to become a villain in someone else’s story.” The standoff between Kiffin and just about everyone else in the sport began in earnest just last week, when LSU agreed to sign Dae’Quan Wright, a former Ole Miss tight end who joined the Cleveland Browns for training camp. Kiffin was emboldened to do so when a restraining order from a Louisiana judge said players denied a fifth year of eligibility could return to college, even if they’d suited up for NFL preseason games.

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The Trump administration is taking stakes in more companies — and progressives are taking notes

The Trump administration is shaking up federal involvement in the mining, tech, energy and defense sectors by making the government part-owner of dozens of U.S. companies -- and sparking a conversation among progressives about how a future Democratic president might reboot the party’s approach to climate and labor policy. Starting with Trump’s surprise moves to take a “golden share” in U.S. Steel and then a 10 percent share in Intel more than a year ago, the administration is approaching $30 billion in equity stakes, warrants or similar plans in U.S. companies by most estimates, a fairly radical departure from orthodoxy outside of times of financial crisis — like the massive government bailouts of 2008-2009 — or world war. The Trump administration is shaking up federal involvement in the mining, tech, energy and defense sectors by making the government part-owner of dozens of U.S. companies -- and sparking a conversation among progressives about how a future Democratic president might reboot the party’s approach to climate and labor policy. Starting with Trump’s surprise moves to take a “golden share” in U.S. Steel and then a 10 percent share in Intel more than a year ago, the administration is approaching $30 billion in equity stakes, warrants or similar plans in U.S. companies by most estimates, a fairly radical departure from orthodoxy outside of times of financial crisis — like the massive government bailouts of 2008-2009 — or world war. That’s not counting some international arrangements, like the Trump administration’s Aug. 28 announcement that it would take a stake in the Venezuelan oil industry, which it said will be engineered by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.

The new approach has sparked a mixture of support, criticism and confusion across both parties, with libertarian conservatives pointing out the irony of Trump’s attacks on Democrats as communists and some elected Democrats pledging to investigate equity stake arrangements involving ties to Trump family or allies if they win back power in the midterms. Critics dispute the administration’s authority to take equity stakes in private companies at all. But many Democrats, including some former Biden administration officials working outside the government, also see an opening, now that Trump has managed to cross what was long viewed as a political red line: Putting the government in business with specific companies, influencing their governance and literally letting taxpayers share in the upside — or the downside. They’re encouraging Democrats to explore what an equity-stakes approach might look like — albeit with more guardrails and coordination and transparency, they say – particularly as they grapple with the aftermath of Trump’s dismantling of large chunks of the Biden climate agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Trump calls for boost to film, TV production with tax incentives

President Donald Trump is pushing for Congress to pass tax incentives for the entertainment industry to maintain production in the United States. Trump shared his thoughts in a post on Truth Social writing "I am going to ?suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together, and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America. Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create ?Entertainment Jobs in America." Trump reportedly met with actor John Voight, who has supported a federal tax credit to strengthen the film and television industry in the United States, during a meeting with Trump in February.

To prevent entertainment production from moving overseas, Voight is collaborating with a group that includes the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America and unions representing actors and writers. What they're saying: "We applaud ?President Trump’s ?support for this vital action, and we look forward to continuing to work with the White House and bipartisan leaders in Congress to enact a ?meaningful and ?effective national incentive into law," Charles Rivkin, ?Motion Picture Association chairman and CEO, said in a statement to Reuters.

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Bottom 90% of New Yorkers’ incomes stagnate as very richest see 58% gain since COVID

New York City’s richest earners have gotten richer since before the pandemic, while lower-income earners have struggled to keep up with high inflation, according to a new report on income inequality from the city comptroller. Wednesday’s report analyzed tax returns from 2019 to 2024, finding income inequality in the city increased over those years and New Yorkers face even more income disparity than the national rate. In 2024, the top 1% of city households held 37% of all income citywide, compared with 22% nationally. Comptroller Mark Levine’s report is the latest data point demonstrating what many New Yorkers have felt firsthand: In the city’s “K-shaped” economy, a few gain more every year, but most continue to struggle financially.

“New York City is generating enormous wealth, but the vast majority of that prosperity is flowing to those who already have the most,” Levine said in a statement. “We need policies that expand economic mobility, build the middle class, strengthen earnings and ensure more New Yorkers can share in the city’s growth.” New York’s wealthiest, like millionaires across the United States, tend to earn a larger portion of their income through means other than wages as they get wealthier. The report found those means — including capital gains, dividends, interest, rent and other profits — are the primary drivers of faster income growth at the top of the economic ladder. The city’s poorest residents, the comptroller said, are poorer than their peers in the rest of the country. In the wealthiest city in the world, New York’s bottom 90% of earners still made 9% less than the bottom 90% across the country in 2024, the most recent year in the analysis. The region’s cost of living is also steeper than elsewhere, with the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis estimating New York-area residents face prices 12.6% higher than the national average.

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Lead Stories

Despite outrage, Tarrant County approves 30% reduction in voting sites for November

Tarrant County will have 224 Election Day and 47 early voting polling locations for the November midterm election after numerous calls for more to be added to the original list. Last month, Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig presented a suggested list of polling locations that offered to use roughly half the number of sites that were used in the 2022 midterm election. The Commissioners Court entirely opposed the slash, saying it was far too drastic. In their marathon 10-hour meeting Tuesday, the commissioners voted along party lines to approve 29% fewer Election Day and 6% fewer early voting centers compared to the November 2022 lists.

In 2025, there was a record turnout of voters after the same Commissioners Court reduced the polling locations. A similar outcry happened then, but the average wait time was eight minutes on Election Day and just over a minute during early voting. While workshopping the polling list from Aug. 4, the elections administration reached out to each of the 479 locations that were used in November 2022 or 2024. Of those, there were 269 able and willing to host voters again this midterm. Ludwig said the team whittled down from that list to account for balance across the four precincts and reasonable proximity to another location. The approved list, Ludwig said, benefits Precincts 1 and 2 because they have fewer registered voters than the northern precincts but have just as many voting centers. It is not statutorily required to have equal numbers of polling locations across the four county precincts, though it was criteria given by a 2019 citizen advisory committee. Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons requested several sites be added to the early voting list and almost 150 be added to Election Day. The amendment was turned down because many of the early voting sites were unavailable or gave the southern precincts more locations than the northern precincts had.

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Trump wants Big Oil to build more refineries. That’s a tough sell.

President Trump urged a gathering of oil executives at the White House on Tuesday to build more refineries capable of pumping out fuel, part of his bid to bring down gasoline prices before the November midterms. That’s a tough argument to make. Owning an oil refinery is a profitable proposition in the U.S. right now. Building a new one? Not so much. The paradox helps explain why U.S. refinery operators that are making record profits in the midst of historic fuel supply disruptions in the Middle East, Russia and China have no plans to expand their fleet. Put simply, the oil companies don’t expect the boom times to last. At the meeting, the president and oil executives discussed other ways to expand the nation’s refining capacity, including cutting regulations, speeding up the permitting process and making additional investments.

“The President made clear that he wants lower gas prices at the pump for Americans. The refiners and distributors shared that goal and commitment,” a U.S. official said. The White House also said Trump’s surprise deal to take a direct stake in a large swath of Venezuela’s oil reserves means the country needs more refining capacity to absorb barrels as production comes online. Among those gathered were executives from Chevron, Valero Energy, Marathon Petroleum and PBF Energy, among others. ExxonMobil, the nation’s third-largest refiner, didn’t send a representative. Some companies were initially wary of attending, given Trump’s recent attacks on the industry for not cutting gasoline prices more quickly. Americans paid about $4.10 a gallon on average at the pump Tuesday, according to AAA, up from $2.98 before the start of the conflict in Iran. The problem: Much of what is driving fuel prices higher is beyond the control of both the president and what he has called his favorite industry.

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Hospitals say coming Trump administration rules are worse than GOP's Medicaid cuts

Hospitals thought losing hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding through GOP-led cuts last year was bad. But coming regulations from the Trump administration could slash their funding even deeper than Congress did. Two recently proposed rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would cost hospitals hundreds of billions of dollars more, hospital executives told POLITICO. The rules, which target taxes states use to get more federal Medicaid dollars — and which yield higher payments to hospitals — have prompted hospitals to launch another major lobbying blitz after record spending last year. Hospitals thought losing hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding through GOP-led cuts last year was bad. But coming regulations from the Trump administration could slash their funding even deeper than Congress did. Two recently proposed rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would cost hospitals hundreds of billions of dollars more, hospital executives told POLITICO. The rules, which target taxes states use to get more federal Medicaid dollars — and which yield higher payments to hospitals — have prompted hospitals to launch another major lobbying blitz after record spending last year. “Our core message to CMS is to stick to the statute. Congress cut enough,” said Robert Nelb, director of policy at America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents hospitals serving large Medicaid populations.

“There’s no need to cut any more out of the Medicaid system at a time when the safety net is really struggling,” Nelb added. If the rules are finalized and they lose hundreds of billions on top of Congress’ funding cuts, hospitals say they’ll be forced to reduce services, lay off workers, consolidate operations or shutter entirely. Some systems are already doing so, telling POLITICO they’ve cut staff, ended contracts and slashed hospital beds in response to predicted losses. States fund Medicaid by putting in some of their own money, which the federal government then matches. Congress cracked down on a practice in which states boost their federal matching funds by taxing hospitals to inflate the state portion of the Medicaid budget and then kick the money back to the hospitals in the form of higher payments. Congress also restricted how states directed payments to certain providers, such as boosting payments for those in rural areas. Hospitals say CMS’ rules restricting state taxes and payments go further than what Congress intended.

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ICE arrested 50,000 people in August, continuing record pace

ICE officers and agents arrested roughly 50,000 people in August, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official familiar with the preliminary arrest data. That number is on par with July’s number, which was the highest single monthly arrest total during the second Trump administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in the midst of a nationwide arrest surge that is not as visible as aggressive enforcement efforts from earlier in the year when Border Patrol was going city by city culminating in the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis. Arrests fell sharply in February and March but then began to rise in May. June and July both had record ICE arrests according to ICE arrest data.

In June, the Republican-controlled House narrowly passed a roughly $70 billion package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol through the end of President Donald Trump’s term. The sweeping tax and spending bill made ICE the wealthiest law enforcement agency in American history. That pool of money has been used to purchase new “turnkey” facilities for immigration detention, as well as the planned purchase of immigration enforcement tools such as electric gloves and robot dogs. ICE has also moved forward with some additional detention capacity including the recent signing of a new contractor to manage the operations of a new ICE warehouse in San Antonio, Texas, for $17 million, according to government contracting records.

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State Stories

Texas data centers broke law by not responding to water use inquiry

Scores of data center companies could face criminal investigations after most of the state’s known data centers failed to respond to state-mandated inquiries into their water usage. Information requests from state power and water regulators received responses from fewer than half of the data centers identified by the two state agencies. The dearth of information underlined a lack of transparency from data center developers that has fed growing public mistrust. Data centers' rapid emergence in Texas has become a potent issue in this year’s election cycle, especially in rural communities that tend to be Republican strongholds.

“There's not a bigger issue going on right now in Texas,” Rick Thompson, program director for the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, said at a Texas Senate committee hearing Tuesday, adding that much of the information fueling discussions on the local level “is misleading, and in many cases not true.” Temple McKinnon, water supply planning director at the Texas Water Development Board, said 97 of the 324 facilities they contacted responded to their inquiry, or fewer than 30%. Public Utility Commission Director Connie Corona said fewer than half of the data centers her agency contacted responded. Companies that failed to respond to the Water Development Board could face criminal charges, McKinnon said. Enforcement would be up to local law enforcement agencies and district attorneys. It was unclear if any criminal investigations were underway. The state also does not maintain a complete inventory of all data centers in Texas, Corona said, raising the possibility that many data center operators were never contacted.

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4 in 10 Texas homeowners now pay no school property taxes, study finds

Nearly 40% of Texas homeowners paid nothing in school property taxes last year after a decade of incremental increases to homestead exemptions, according to a analysis presented Tuesday by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston. The finding foreshadows a key focus for lawmakers in the coming months, as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in March directed the Senate Local Government Committee, which Bettencourt chairs, to assess the impact of the increased homestead exemptions with an eye toward raising them even further in the 2027 legislative session, which starts in January. Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has his own plan to eliminate homeowners' school taxes, leaving only businesses to foot that bill.

The Legislature last year raised the homestead exemption — the amount a homeowner can deduct from the taxable value of their residence — to $140,000 for most homeowners and to $200,000 for those over age 65 or with disabilities. It was the fourth time lawmakers have raised the homestead exemption since 2015, when it was just $15,000 for standard homeowners and $25,000 for seniors. Bettencourt's committee staff found that 39% of all homeowners did not pay any school property taxes following the latest hike to the homestead exemption, up from 28% in 2024. Among seniors and disabled Texans, 61% of homeowners paid no school taxes. These homeowners' school tax bills also have long been frozen at the amount they paid in the first year they qualified for either exemption. Property tax bills fell by about 14% for the most homeowners and 33% for seniors and disabled homeowners from 2024 to last year, according to the analysis Bettencourt presented. The average homeowner under 65 now pays $896 a year in school property taxes, the report states, while seniors and disabled homeowners pay an average of $380. "This is a hallmark of affordability," Bettencourt said at a Tuesday meeting of the Local Government Committee.

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‘Stop your b*tching!’ Ted Cruz slams Republicans who are ‘throwing rocks’ at Ken Paxton

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had a blunt message Tuesday for fellow Republicans “throwing rocks” at Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton: “Stop your b*tching!” Paxton, also the state’s attorney general, will face Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) in November. Yet as Cruz acknowledged on Tuesday’s edition of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, “This race is a very real fight. It is serious. The polling that’s coming out all shows the race basically tied.” Not to mention, polling released last week from Texas Southern University shows the Democrat with a solid lead over the Republican in three congressional districts, notably ones that President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024.

“I spend a lot of time in Texas,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham continued. “I’ve talked to a lot of voters, some friends, and some people who, you know, like Paxton, don’t think he’s a great campaigner, wondering when he’s gonna start really campaigning, wondering when Republicans are really gonna put big money into this, and kinda just annoyed by the whole thing.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) even appeared on the network earlier on Tuesday to urge Trump to “do more” with his super PAC, MAGA Inc., to help Paxton. Thune, though, backed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the state’s Senate Republican primary, as Paxton’s campaign has had no shortage of scandals. He’s faced questions about alleged voter fraud, lavish vacations with what some call his “mistress,” his office’s plea deal with child sex predator Adam Hoffman, and more. After Ingraham’s comments, Cruz launched into his attack, emphasizing: I’ve gotta say, some of the Republicans that are throwing rocks at Ken Paxton, my message to them is enough! Stop your b*tching! We had a $200 million primary, and Ken won. And one of the reasons the numbers are close is ’cause $200 million of attack ads were run against him, and that does damage. If you wanna complain, complain in the primary. It’s over, and by the way, I will say, every moderate Republican, when they win a primary, they tell conservatives, “Now shut up and support the nominee.” My answer to everyone whining — shut up and support the nominee, and don’t hand Texas over to a communist lunatic.

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Corpus Christi's Inner Harbor desalination project again struck down

Work will again cease on the Inner Harbor desalination project, following another Corpus Christi City Council vote striking down a contract to continue the plant’s design. That means the staff will no longer work on the project, City Manager Peter Zanoni told council members on Sept. 1. It was nearly a year to the day that the majority of the council rejected a similar contract — that one under a different firm — to move forward with the plant. The vote on the contract Sept. 1 nearly mirrored last year's. Supporting the contract were City Council members Everett Roy, Mark Scott and Roland Barrera, and voting in dissent were Carolyn Vaughn, Gil Hernandez, Sylvia Campos, Eric Cantu and Kaylynn Paxson. Mayor Paulette Guajardo was not present; she returns from a 30-day suspension next week.

What had been on the table was a roughly $78.6 million contract with Corpus Christi Desal Partners, which had picked up the mantle after the council dismissed continuing the design contract with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. last September. The proposed contract with CCDP was to cover the costs to complete 60% of the plant’s design and develop a guaranteed maximum price for the project. The estimate for development of a plant capable of producing as much as 30 million gallons of treated water per day rang in at about $979 million. The positions of council members, disclosed for months, did not change, despite an amended proposal that would develop the project in two phases — in the latter phase, expanding its capacity and incorporating a pipeline to the gulf for brine discharge. Cost estimates to construct it under the two-phase proposal were quoted around $4 billion. Generally speaking, opponents have cited concerns of cost, the environment and its location adjacent to a neighborhood. Proponents have asserted that studies have shown it would be safe for the bay and cited the project as playing a role in potable water production needed to support economic growth. Despite the council turning down the contract, the project isn't necessarily dead. Its permits, at least for now, are intact. Staff will begin contacting state agencies about the decision, including the Texas Water Development Board, Zanoni told council members. The board had awarded the city $757 million in low-interest loans to support the initiative.

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Controversial posts spark rally to remove Cheryl Bean, board chair of Fort Worth charter school

A group of around 20 students and parents rallied in front of the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts on Monday to call for the resignation of Texas Center for Arts + Academics board chair Cheryl Bean, following a string of racially motivated social media posts. During the school board meeting that followed the rally, a dozen parents and community members spoke in support of, and against Bean. Superintendent Anika Perkins spoke for 15 minutes before public comment addressing Bean’s social media posts, which she said were “characterized as racist.” Perkins said that she received numerous racist threats for not releasing a public response to Bean’s social media posts.

Flyers handed out at the rally had 13 of Bean’s social media posts printed out. One depicted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a plane flying into the twin towers on 9/11. Another was an AI generated image of Jasmine Crockett that called her “The Queen of the ghetto frontier.” Another showed a picture of Osama bin Laden saying “I won” following the election of Mamdani. The post that brought the most controversy was an AI generated image of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham depicting the “Washington crossing the Delaware” image. In the image, the Black players wore floaties and the white players did not. The photo was captioned “IYKYK A little humor for the day.” Bean later deleted her post, and Perkins issued a statement that said the intent of the post was to show support for female athletes. At the time of publication, over 2,000 people signed an online petition calling for the removal of Bean from her position as board chair. Bean said she wishes that parents that are unhappy with the problems at the school would become “part of the solution.” “They obviously love it here because the same parents have been complaining for years, and they never leave,” Bean said.

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Tina wanted another baby. She also needed an abortion. Texas made both harder.

Tina fixated on the tiny cross. She hated that she kept thinking about it. Months later, she’d hate that it made such an impression on her at all. But she couldn’t really blame herself. Tina, 35 at the time, was expecting her second child in five weeks. It had been more than four years of trying to complete her family: years marked by miscarriage, fertility treatment, another miscarriage, more fertility treatment and an ectopic pregnancy. She’d injected her body with hormones and undergone surgery to harvest her eggs for in vitro fertilization, hoping for an embryo to stick in her uterus. There had been a diagnosis, something called Asherman’s syndrome, in which repeated uterine scarring can make it difficult — in her case, maybe even impossible — to stay pregnant.

Tina, whom The 19th is referring to by a pseudonym to discuss her reproductive health history in detail, had enrolled in a clinical trial in Austin. She’d hoped fruitlessly for a drug that might help her stay pregnant long enough to have another child. Through all this, her doctor had been there. She prescribed medication and performed surgery to help Tina’s body expel the fetal tissue of her lost pregnancies. And she was there — offering support even if not literally present — when, after months of heartbreak, Tina’s sister-in-law offered a gift she still couldn’t quite comprehend: to carry a baby for Tina and her husband. He was a boy, the pregnancy now 34 weeks along and perfectly healthy. They bought a secondhand Snoo, the robotic bassinet supposed to help with baby sleep. They booked changeable tickets to California, where her sister-in-law would soon give birth. The couple never went too far from home. They wanted to be prepared in case the baby came early, in case they had to jump onto the four-and-a-half-hour flight it would take to be there when their son was born.

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More than 300 Flock cameras to shut down as Texas halts funding, DPD confirms

More than 300 Flock cameras in the City of Dallas will be shut off this month, according to the Dallas Police Department. In a statement Tuesday, DPD says the department got an official notification regarding the impact on the State of Texas' directive on grant funding used to support Flock Safety cameras. On Aug. 28, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras. “To the extent that cities get any funding for those cameras, most of it comes from the federal government. To the extent any funding comes from Texas agencies, those agencies are clarifying that those funds cannot be used for Flock cameras,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement shared first with the Texas Tribune.

"As a result, 321 Flock cameras currently supported through affected state grant funding will no longer be eligible for that funding," the statement reads. "To ensure compliance with the Governor’s directive, the Department will cancel those cameras effective September 15, 2026." Police say, despite the loss, DPD will continue to have more than 300 Flock cameras operating throughout Dallas. The department says the cameras remain an important investigative tool and are used daily by detectives and officers to assist in solving crimes. In early August, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux spoke with WFAA's Inside Texas Politics, where he expressed his support for Flock cameras. Records obtained by WFAA show that DPD queried the Flock database more than 63,000 times as they tracked down investigative leads, tried to find suspects' cars and looked for people with active warrants.

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Studies find 2 viable routes for passenger rail connecting Austin, San Antonio

There are two viable routes for the long-wanted passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio, but more work is needed to evaluate which is the best for the region. Recently, two studies on expanding passenger rail service between Austin and San Antonio were published. One study was commissioned by the Texas Department of Transportation that looked at improving the existing Union Pacific rail line that runs between the two cities, an idea that’s been looked at before. Another study, commissioned by Travis County, looked at the feasibility of building out a new passenger rail line that would roughly follow the same route as State Highway 130.

Both studies showed it’d be possible to create a passenger rail service along those routes. Travis County Judge Andy Brown said there is wide support for adding more passenger trains in Central Texas. He added that Austin, San Antonio and cities in between should put their resources together to get more passenger rail along one of these routes. “Nobody in these regions that I have talked to opposes it,” Brown said. “Everybody would like to see it. ... Every large company that I've talked to in this region loves this idea; the (San Antonio) Spurs love this idea.” Brown said his ultimate goal is for the region to add easily accessible passenger rail options from Williamson County all the way to San Antonio. That way, there can be solid mobility connections from the rest of the region to the massive Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. chipmaking factory that’s located in Taylor. “Passenger rail service between Williamson County, Travis County and Bexar County — and the regions in between — is very realistic,” Brown said. “Given our increase in populations and the fact that just having one highway, no matter how good it is in connecting people in this mega-region, it’s not going to be sufficient for people to get around quickly and reliably for commutes.”

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Abbott addresses Morgan Stanley speculation in Dallas

Gov. Greg Abbott loves to tout Y'all Street but he's staying mum on an expected huge addition to the state's financial sector. Asked on Aug. 27 whether Morgan Stanley planned to establish a major hub in Dallas, Abbott responded: "Only Morgan Stanley can make that announcement." The governor was speaking at a bell-ringing event for the New York Stock Exchange's Texas operation at Old Parkland. While it's been up and running for some time, NYSE Texas, a part of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., celebrated its progress at the prominent office campus with an event that drew scores if CEOs, investors and influencers from the world of high finance.

Whether Morgan is coming to Dallas has been the talk of the business world since Dallas Business Journal first reported in January that the company was considering a major office in the region. Morgan Stanley has declined to confirm those plans. But there has been plenty of evidence recently that the company has made a decision or is close to doing so. Dallas City Council authorized an $18.5 million incentives deal and additional tax breaks for Morgan in June — the biggest package of its type in city history. The firm also received approval from Dallas City Plan Commission in early August to set up signage at Fountain Place, where it would operate temporarily while awaiting completion of a planned $1.3 billion office tower in Uptown. Additionally, multiple publications recently reported that Morgan has signed a lease at Fountain Place. Morgan Stanley had been weighing Dallas and Alpharetta, Georgia for a hub. However, no incentives deals have been approved for the firm in Alpharetta.

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Fast-growing law firm Hogan Thompson Schuelke nearly doubles downtown Houston footprint

Houston-based Hogan Thompson Schuelke, a fast-growing energy litigation law firm, is preparing to nearly double its downtown footprint just a few years after moving. The firm inked a lease to add 6,506 square feet to its existing 7,541-square-foot space at 1001 Fannin St., bringing its total office to 13,957 square feet. As part of the expanded lease, Hogan Thompson Schuelke’s name will be added to 1001 Fannin’s exterior signage. “We’ve outgrown our original space in just three years, which is a great problem to have,” Managing Partner Christopher Hogan said in a statement. “Nearly doubling our office allows us to continue expanding our energy litigation team to accommodate a growing client roster and scale well into the future.” Hogan Thompson Schuelke is in the process of building out its new office space and expects to complete the project in early 2027. The firm’s expanded lease runs through July 2030.

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Texas sues Amazon over billions in alleged overcharges

Texas has filed a lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly deceiving businesses over the prices they pay for advertising on its platform. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office contends that Amazon rigged advertising auctions, overcharging businesses $4.5 billion in a single year, ultimately driving up consumer prices. The lawsuit was filed in Collin County. According to state officials, Amazon sells advertising space on its website through auctions that run in a fraction of a second each time a shopper searches, and advertisers were told they would pay only the lowest bid.

Paxton’s office contends that Amazon has stopped using the “second-price auction” model and instead has applied hidden surcharges and undisclosed soft reserve prices that push the winner’s cost toward its own maximum bid. “Amazon lied to Texas small businesses and charged them for an auction it never ran,” Paxton alleges. “Amazon must tell Texas job creators the truth about what they are buying and what they are paying for it.” Texas’ legal maneuver comes as the Federal Trade Commission and more than 20 other states filed a separate lawsuit against Amazon in federal court on Aug. 31 over similar concerns. Amazon disputes the claims. “The FTC today filed a misguided lawsuit claiming Amazon misled advertisers about its sponsored ads pricing and auction. Amazon strongly disagrees,” the company noted in a statement obtained by the Business Journal.

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Fort Worth council member owes Texas up to $1M, mismanaged food program: lawsuit

A ministry overseen by pastor and Fort Worth City Council member Chris Nettles is being sued by the state after officials alleged his ministry misused federal food program funding and owes more than $700,000 to the state. State officials filed a lawsuit Aug. 6 in Travis County District Court against Purpose Driven Ministries, alleging it owed the state $787,873 in “disallowed expenses” through the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Across Texas, there are 924 contract entities that participate in the program and provide meals at more than 9,900 sites, state data shows. At least 141 million breakfasts, lunches and snacks have been served in the program year.

The federal program — overseen by the Texas Department of Agriculture — reimburses the cost of nutritious meals and snacks provided to children at locations such as childcare centers and afterschool programs. The state is seeking monetary relief of $1 million or less, excluding interest, attorney fees and more. The state does not specify the “disallowed expenses” in its lawsuit. Nettles did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday afternoon. State officials alleged in the lawsuit that Purpose Driven Ministries failed to pay “the amounts determined to be due” to the Department of Agriculture “despite demand for payment.” “As a result of Defendant Purpose Driven Ministries’ failure to pay the amount due, the Department has referred the debt to the Office of the Attorney General of Texas for collection,” the lawsuit states. Nettles signed an agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture in 2018 to participate in the federal program designating that childcare centers would be served. Purpose Driven Ministries previously operated Haven of Purpose Child Care Center, at 3000 Vaughn Blvd., which opened the same year but closed in April.

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National Stories

Cost of a data breach reaches record $5 million on average

Artificial intelligence has “radically shifted” the cyber risk landscape, and the average cost of a data breach has reached a record of nearly $5 million. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, cyberattackers are using AI and attacking AI. AI-driven attacks increased 56% over last year’s study, adding about $1 million to the cost of a breach to reach an average $4.99 million—a 12% increase. “What’s changing is the economics of cyberattacks. AI is making attacks faster and cheaper, while breaches keep getting more expensive,” said Suja Viswesan, vice president, IBM Security Software. “When organizations have an extended gap between discovery and remediation, that imbalance shows up directly in breach costs. The priority now is to eliminate that lag—building remediation into development workflows, securing identity at runtime, and fixing risks at the speed attackers are already moving.”

The research was conducted by Ponemon Institute and sponsored, analyzed and published by IBM. Ponemon studied 602 organizations impacted by data breaches from March 2025 through February 2026 and interviewed more than 3,550 security and C-suite leaders. The research found 92% of organization that suffered an AI-related breach did not have proper AI-access controls. However, 85% of breached organizations said they plan to increase spending on security tools and governance. “The new threats have also caused organizations to rethink the use of AI agents in security,” IBM said in the report. “Three quarters said they will deploy agents at higher rates in alert triage, vulnerability management, and scans and penetration testing.” IBM said average breach costs are worse in the U.S., reaching a record of about $11.5 million thanks to traditionally higher business costs and regulatory fines. The amount is about double the global average. The healthcare industry holds the distinction as most expensive average data breach at about $6.4 million, which is actually down from an average $7.4 million. Costs of a breach for the financial services and energy industries were an average $6.3 million and $5.2 million, respectively. Malicious or criminal attacks accounted for 55% of all data breaches, up almost 8% from last year, according to the report. These types of attacks more than doubled those caused by IT failures or human error.

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Democrats are fuming at two moderates who helped bail out Republicans

Two moderate Democrats bailed out House Republicans from an embarrassing loss on the floor thanks to a revolt from House conservatives, leaving their Democratic colleagues fuming. Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state voted alongside Republicans to move forward with debate on several bills, including a provision to condemn socialism that Republicans are expected to tout on the campaign trail. Their “yes” votes caught Democratic leadership completely by surprise. Members of Democratic leadership said in a statement Tuesday night that they plan to take quick action against the pair. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said they have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules — which recommends changes for how the party handles legislative priorities — to take up the issue.

“The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” they wrote. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response.” Jeffries told reporters earlier in the day that he did not know that those Democrats, whose votes were decisive in advancing the procedural measure, were planning to vote with Republicans. A Democratic leadership aide told reporters that leadership does not whip votes on procedural rules as minority members. It’s extremely rare for a member to cross party lines to support the opposition’s agenda. “I am fucking livid,” another House Democratic aide, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told NOTUS. Golden is not running for reelection, while Gluesenkamp Perez is defending her seat in a race the Cook Political Report has deemed a “toss up.” Golden told reporters that he voted in favor of the rule in order to advance a bill he sponsored, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, that was part of the rule package.

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Case against suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing can proceed to trial, judge rules

The case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, can move to trial, a judge ruled, citing sufficient probable cause. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. Judge Tony Graf ruled Robinson will stand trial on all counts, including aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury. Robinson was arraigned and his attorney entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. Kirk’s family welcomed the ruling as an important step in the “pursuit of justice.” Erika Kirk, alongside her late husband’s parents, were in the courtroom today.

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CBS News head Bari Weiss hit with furious staff backlash

CBS News boss Bari Weiss drew intense backlash from her own staff after intervening in a story to tie Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Current and former staffers blasted to Status the “shameful” story the now-Trump-friendly network wrote about El-Sayed, who is bidding to be the first Muslim elected to the Senate, as well as an accompanying social media post suggesting he may be “facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack” ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Monday’s article was about how the Michigan Democrat had deleted two posts on X that he wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, noting that the virus had already killed more Americans than the 2001 terror attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.

In one since-deleted post, El-Sayed, a former epidemiologist and public health official, wrote that he hoped “we’ll spend the next ten years fighting a war for public health & against poverty ... like we launched a global #WaronTerror after 9/11.” In the other deleted post, which El-Sayed wrote on Sept. 11, 2021, he said, “Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith. Tomorrow, I’ll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my country.” The Democratic Socialist deleted the posts after scrubbing his entire social media output from before July 2023, with his campaign telling Politico that he did not want the posts to be “taken out of context.” However, Weiss, who had no experience in television news production before Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison parachuted her into the role of editor-in-chief at CBS News, believed the deleted posts were scandalous enough to report on. Sources told Status that Weiss even personally directed that the story’s headline be changed to specifically mention that El-Sayed had deleted posts referencing the 9/11 attacks.

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Takeaways from Massachusetts, where generational challenges fizzled

The anti-incumbent mood that has ousted veteran Democrats across the country spared them in deep-blue Massachusetts on Tuesday night. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D), a 71-year-old former ironworker and senior member of the House Oversight Committee, fended off a younger, progressive challenger. He beat lawyer and voting rights advocate Patrick Roath, 39, who ran to Lynch’s left and outraised him, while urging voters to embrace generational change. Incumbents hold a profound advantage, but an unusual number of challengers have succeeded in ousting other Democrats this year. They have mostly been more progressive or, like Roath, younger and more progressive than the veterans they took on.

Across both parties, 11 House incumbents have lost reelection bids this year, the second-highest number since 2012, and an unusually high tally for an election that did not follow nationwide redistricting. But deep-blue Massachusetts tangled the narrative that voters were ready to reject older incumbents: Sen. Ed Markey, 80, similarly defeated a younger challenger, moderate Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, in a race in which voters prioritized left-leaning values over the candidates’ ages. With the primary season winding down, there are no more generational nominating battles for Democrats this year. The three remaining House members with primary challengers were elected within the past four years. Here are four key takeaways from the primaries in Massachusetts, where Democratic winners typically hold an overwhelming advantage in the general election. Roath and Markey were markedly more progressive than their opponents, and each ran campaigns that focused on affordability and issues that resonated with younger voters and the party’s more liberal wing.

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‘Slap in the face’: Wisconsin dairy farmers brace for impact with imported beef

Sydney Flick works on her family farm in Lodi, Wisconsin, which is north of Madison. She works with her dad, younger brother and a team of 14 additional people. “We milk about 700 Jersey cows and farm around 1300 acres,” Flick said. Flick says selling beef has been important for her farm, as the price of milk remains low. “We have animals that we raise specifically to finish out and sell as beef, but then as a dairy farm, we also have animals that reach their end of their career as a dairy cow who will then also get sold for beef,” Flick said. “As our price that we’re getting paid for milk has been lower, those increased beef prices have been really important on our farm to really help balance out our income and expenses a little bit.”

The Trump administration is importing 300,000 tons of ground beef from other countries over the next three months in an attempt to lower grocery costs, as affordability remains a top concern among Americans. “This is a very short-term fix from the president’s perspective that he believed necessary to get lower-cost beef onto American plates,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Spectrum News. Hans Breitenmoser, a dairy farmer in Merrill, Wisconsin, has 460 cows and raises crops to feed them. He said he sells, on average, nine cows per week for beef: Six dairy-beef crosses and three cull cows. “When a dairy cow outlives her usefulness as a milk-producing animal, then she is culled, and that cow goes into the beef stream [as ground beef],” explained Breitenmoser. “The other thing that has been happening… a lot of our cows on our farm, and certainly a lot of cows on other dairy farms—are bred to beef semen to produce a beef cross calf, and those calves do end up in the fed beef market. So those are the ones that end up ultimately as your steaks and your roast.”

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Lead Stories

Texas hospitals expect to lose $27 million a day in Medicaid funding starting Tuesday

When the state’s new fiscal year begins on Tuesday, Texas hospitals expect to lose $27 million a day in additional Medicaid funding. The shortfall is the result of a decision by the Trump administration to withhold approval from Texas for about $9.8 billion in the next year from three programs, the bulk of which affects the Comprehensive Hospital Increase Reimbursement Program (CHIRP). This program gives hospitals additional funding to cover the difference between Medicaid rate payments and the actual costs that hospitals incur to provide services to Medicaid patients. Essentially, hospitals, which often are paid less than what they caspend on Medicaid patients due to outdated payment rates set by the state, are losing out on their additional reimbursement for 2027. Local governmental entities collect taxes from hospitals — about $4 billion a year, according to the Texas Hospital Association — and under CHIRP, the federal government matches those funds so that Texas hospitals can then use them to cover the actual costs of providing Medicaid services.

Hospitals say those CHIRP dollars are critical and if they lose that funding, they will likely have to cut services to patients. Four million low-income Texans are enrolled in Medicaid, most of them children. “It is impossible for a hospital to take a huge loss on a Medicaid side of their portfolio and not have that impact services across the board, regardless of what type of insurance a patient has,” said Sara González, a THA vice president of advocacy, public policy and political strategy. In Houston alone, the impact could mean at least $258 million less for the public healthcare system there known as Harris Health and as much as $1.4 billion less for the region overall next year. “The impacts would be catastrophic for Texas’ safety-net healthcare system,” said Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, president and CEO of Harris Health. “We are carefully monitoring every dollar and would be forced to make difficult decisions about maintaining critical services if this impasse continues.” The federal government is withholding these critical dollars because they are calling into question how local jurisdictions in Texas calculate the amount of taxes collected from hospitals. Robert Fries, the chief financial officer for Children’s Health in Dallas said in a statement that this type of funding is crucial for children’s hospitals like Children’s Medical Center. “Delays and uncertainty threaten access to critical pediatric specialty care, behavioral health services and the workforce needed to deliver that care,” Fries said. “If these delays continue, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the health care safety net that Texas children and families depend on every day.”

Read this article at Texas Tribune - Subscribers Only

Texas prepares for severe weather as heavy rain, outages threaten region

State officials are warning Texans to prepare for dangerous weather from Tropical Storm Edouard that could bring heavy rain, damaging winds, flooding and widespread power outages. Gov. Greg Abbott and emergency officials say crews are on standby and ready to respond, but residents must also take steps now to protect themselves and their families. “This is a good time for everybody to go through both the mental and physical exercise of getting prepared for a storm like this.” Emergency management teams are forecasting heavy rain and high winds that could threaten lives and cause widespread power outages. However, officials tracking the storm say the state’s power grid is expected to hold. Texans from Brownsville to Beaumont are being urged to remain weather-aware, follow instructions from local officials and be prepared.

Residents should follow any local evacuation orders, monitor forecasts and review their family emergency plans in case of flooding or a power outage. Officials also encourage people to be prepared to assist relatives and neighbors who may need extra help. “This is our first big storm of the season, and I’ll tell you, Texas is prepared,” said Orlando Alaniz with the Texas Division of Emergency Management. CenterPoint says it is closely monitoring conditions across Houston and 12 surrounding counties. Nearly 3,000 workers are on standby and ready to respond, along with 100 gas line workers. CenterPoint says all of its substations have been inspected and are ready. “We’re ready, we’re focused and we’re mobilized. We’re going to be responding as quickly and as safely as possible to any type of outages that come,” said Nathan Brownell with CenterPoint. Officials anticipate this will be a relatively short weather event but say it is still important to remain prepared. One final reminder: Officials say to assume any downed power line is energized and stay at least 35 feet away. CenterPoint is expected to provide another weather update at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

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Trump says communities that oppose data centers will end up ‘backwards and poor’

President Donald Trump came out strongly in favor of data center construction across the country on Monday, writing on Truth Social that those speaking out against the expensive and resource-intensive projects must want to “end up being backwards and poor.” His post comes at a time when data center popularity is plummeting. According to a survey this year by the Pew Research Center, “more Americans say data centers have a negative effect on the environment, home energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby than say they have a positive effect.” And a Reuters-Ipsos poll in June found that 77% of Americans worry that artificial intelligence will raise their electricity bills. Trump, however, disagreed with that assessment.

“If they want to be successful and rich, with far lower taxes and jobs all over the place, let Data Reign,” he wrote Monday. “The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.” Many lawmakers who support data centers have pitched their development as an existential struggle to defeat China, which is also working to create sophisticated AI technologies. Trump highlighted this framing in his message, saying that “China could not be happier” with the anti-data center stances that candidates for both parties have adopted, including some Republicans who previously championed the developments. For example, just last year Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared his state the “epicenter of AI development” — but this month, he abandoned the claim and halted approvals of about 1,800 new data centers, citing concerns that they use too much power and water. Nationally, progressive Democrats are pushing a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers. A bill introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) had faced bipartisan pushback when it was introduced in March, with elected officials from both parties arguing the United States must continue to develop the technology to stay ahead of rival nations.

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GOP soul-searching for life after Trump is ramping up

Republicans say their party will need to do a lot of soul searching to find its direction before President Trump leaves office in 2029, something that is coming into sharper focus with the approaching midterm election and the realization that Trump will soon become a lame duck. GOP strategists and political experts say the discussion about what comes next will begin to ramp up considerably after the November election. It’s a discussion likely to be impacted by how effective the GOP is this fall in defending its House and Senate majorities. “There will be a serious debate about the policy, about what the direction of the party is,” said Vin Weber, a GOP strategist and former member of House GOP leadership.

That debate will center on whether the Trump revolution on a host of issues, such as trade, will live on with the GOP. Weber said Republicans have embraced tariffs in recent years because they “respect Donald Trump as the negotiator,” not because they’ve embraced the concept of tariffs generally. “The traditional position of the Republican Party is anti-tariff. Tariffs are anti-trade, tariffs are taxes. The Republican Party that I grew up in was never the party of tariffs. The Democrats were the party of tariffs,” Weber said. He said Republicans embraced Trump as a bold fighter who won’t back down, but he said not everyone in the party is thrilled about some of Trump’s policy positions, including tariffs and federal meddling in the private sector. “In my view, much of the appeal of Trump to the Republican Party was that he was able to rouse the faithful against the movement to the radical left that we experienced under Barack Obama,” he added.

Read this article at The Hill - Subscribers Only

State Stories

Texas’ Medicaid application backlog grows to more than 210,000, state data shows

Texas’ backlog of Medicaid applications grew from about 1,600 in January to more than 210,000 in August. During the same period, the backlog for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, grew from about 3,700 to more than 150,000, according to data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, or HHSC, released by Texans Care for Children – a statewide research and advocacy organization. The group worries the backlog could continue to grow. “We’re very concerned that Texans are stuck waiting longer for healthcare and food,” said Diana Forester, director of health policy at Texans Care for Children. “We want to make sure pregnant women can start prenatal care quickly. We want to make sure that kids can see the doctor when they’re sick or need a checkup. We want to make sure people can eat.”

Forester’s group points to recent changes to SNAP as one of the key drivers of the increasing backlog. Last year, federal policymakers approved significant changes to SNAP as part of the massive federal tax and spending bill. Texas will already see millions of dollars in additional administrative costs later this year when states will have to take on more of the administrative costs of running SNAP – going from an even share with the federal government to covering 75%. In addition, Texas could be responsible for covering more than $700 million in benefits costs if it doesn’t improve the accuracy of its program. In order to avoid paying for part of the program, Texas would need an accuracy rate of 94%, but in fiscal year 2025, the state’s rate was 91%. In an email to KERA, HHSC said it continues to focus on helping eligible Texans receive food and healthcare benefits as quickly as possible. The agency issued a similar statement to KERA in May after Forester’s organization released data showing more than 40,000 pregnant people in Texas were waiting at least a month for their application to be processed.

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Matt Lanza: I’m a meteorologist who left Houston. Here's what the city needs.

(Matt Lanza, managing editor for Space City Weather and a former CenterPoint Energy meteorologist, will be leaving Houston for Connecticut after 15 years.) When the news came out this spring that I was leaving Houston, I thought it was interesting that some media reports framed it as a meteorologist fleeing climate change. That led people to ask, “If a meteorologist is leaving Houston because of climate change, what should I be doing?” It also produced humorous social media fodder. Everyone believes what they believe. But here’s the reality: Though I didn’t leave Houston because of climate change, it’s a reality that we need to build more resiliency in this city to manage the impacts. If anything, I’m bullish on Houston’s future more than most other Texas cities. Why? Houston works. It’s functional, and it has an attitude and culture to match. When I’m asked what I’ll miss most about Houston, I answer, “The people and the food.”

The people speak for themselves. Houstonians are some of the nicest, most charitable, coolest people in the country. Sadly, it often takes disasters for the world to see that. But living here, you get it. As for the food? I don’t care what magazine or website rankings say, Houston has the best food culture in America. I’ve gotten to know folks in the food and beverage industry in Houston, and I cannot profess my admiration for them enough. And when I think about the consequences of extreme weather, I think about the people who work in that industry, where margins matter so much. One storm can end it for them. When I write for Space City Weather, I think of a restaurant owner as my audience. They care deeply about weather impacts, and they just want to know what everything means to their business, employees and livelihood. When thinking about climate change and extreme weather, I don’t think of the politics or even the causes. What I think about is the impact. And outside of maybe Florida, Louisiana and California, I don’t think any place in the U.S. has seen more impact than Houston in the last 10 to 15 years. When we think about solutions, we need to think about mitigation and resilience. And yes, that stuff costs money. But you know what else costs money? People fleeing to other cities because they’ve flooded repeatedly. Amazing restaurateurs could well decide that though they love Houston, in order to function with fewer flood risks or power outages due to storms, they need to take their business to Austin or San Antonio or elsewhere. Maybe even a top-tier energy company could decide that to keep their operations functioning with fewer risks of disruption, they should set up shop in Austin or Dallas.

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Perry Fowler: Advancing Inner Harbor desal is responsible step for water

(Perry L. Fowler is the executive director of the Texas Water Infrastructure Network.) (Editor's note: The Corpus Christi City Council is scheduled on Sept. 1 to vote on whether to award a design-build contract to Corpus Christi Desalination Partners LLC for 60% design services for the proposed Inner Harbor seawater desalination project, as well as design and construction of a demonstration plant and developing and verifying the guaranteed maximum price, at a cost of up to $78.6 million. The council had tabled the vote in June.) Recent rainfall has given Corpus Christi welcome relief. Reservoir levels have improved, restrictions have eased, and the immediate pressure on the region's water supply is lower than it was just months ago. That relief should be used to make long-term decisions from a position of stability, not crisis.

The underlying challenge hasn't changed. South Texas will see another severe drought. Population and economic growth will keep straining limited supplies. Corpus Christi still needs a diversified water portfolio, one built on groundwater, conservation, reuse, regional projects, and desalination that can deliver reliably through both wet and dry years. The question isn't whether any one option should replace the others. It's whether the city should keep advancing one of the most developed major water-supply projects it actually controls: one with an effectively unlimited raw-water source, existing permits, substantial engineering already complete, and significant state financing available. It should. The first phase of the Inner Harbor desalination project is designed to deliver roughly 30 million gallons a day of potable water from the Gulf of Mexico, a source that doesn't depend on rainfall or watershed inflows. Corpus Christi has spent years advancing it through engineering, environmental review, and state and federal permitting. The permits are in hand. The project has received substantial support from the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas. It is significantly further along than most other large-scale alternatives now being discussed, and that head start matters.

Read this article at Corpus Christi Caller-Times - Subscribers Only

South Texas ranchers fear imported beef could drive more producers out of business

The price of ground beef has climbed sharply in recent years, but South Texas ranchers say they are not necessarily benefiting from the higher prices consumers are paying at the grocery store. Federal Reserve data shows the price of ground beef has increased by more than $3 per pound, or about 80%, since 2019. At the same time, ranchers are dealing with the lingering effects of severe drought and the New World screwworm outbreak. "We're struggling. If it ain't the cost of the fertilizer, the cost of the feed, the cost of the cattle meds is way up the roof," said Walter Mencias, division livestock foreman for Wyatt Ranches. Mencias said some ranchers have already been forced to sell their herds because of rising costs.

Now, ranchers are watching another potential challenge. President Donald Trump announced plans to bring more imported beef into the United States for 90 days in an effort to address high beef prices. The plan allows up to 661 million pounds of beef to enter the country tariff-free during that period. Mencias worries the additional imports could put even more pressure on cattle producers. "If this keeps up the way it's going, a lot of ranchers are gonna be forced to sell," Mencias said. "As it is, we're in a shortage of cattle." Mencias said if more ranchers are forced to sell their herds, it could make the nation's cattle shortage even worse. Consumer advocate John Breyault, vice president of public policy for the National Consumers League, agrees that the imports may not provide meaningful relief for shoppers. "Dropping tariffs on 661 million pounds of beef isn't going to fix those high prices," Breyault said. "It only represents a small percentage of the total amount of beef that we consume in the United States in a given year." Breyault also argues that a small group of large meatpacking companies, which he says make up over 80% American market, could benefit more than ranchers or consumers. "Who this really is going to help is the big meatpacking companies who control the industry," Breyault said.

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Here’s what you need to know about Texas’ voter suspense list

Multiple headlines recently have fueled confusion among Texas voters who have been placed on the state’s suspense list. Voters on the suspense list can still vote. Despite its name, being placed on the suspense list does not mean a voter’s registration was suspended, canceled, or that the voter was removed from the voter roll. The list is made up of registered voters whose local election officials have reason to believe they may no longer live at the address they used to register to vote. Texas voters move every day, and they often don’t update their address on their voter registration record. Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, said the number of voters on the suspense list now — 1.2 million out of more than 18 million registered voters — is consistent with what the state has seen in previous election cycles.

Voters on the suspense list can confirm their address by contacting their local voter registrar ahead of the Oct. 5 voter registration deadline and filling out a new voter registration form with their updated address. Voters can also update their address at the polls. What is the suspense list? It’s an address verification list. By law, if a county voter registrar “has reason to believe that a voter’s current residence is different from that indicated on the registration records,” the voter registrar “shall deliver to the voter a written confirmation notice requesting confirmation of the voter’s current residence,” according to the secretary of state’s office guidance. How are voters placed on it? Every two years, each county voter registrar mails a new voter registration certificate to all active voters, a move required by law to keep the voter roll up to date. If the U.S. Postal Service returns the certificate as nondeliverable, the voter registrar must then confirm that the voter still lives at that address. That’s when a voter is added to the suspense list. A voter registrar mails a notice of address confirmation to voters when: The voter’s registration certificate has been returned as nondeliverable. A jury summons or any mailing sent to the voter was returned as nondeliverable. The voter registrar has received information indicating the voter no longer resides at the address on file. For example, parents can notify their voter registrar if their children have moved, or a voter themselves can call the voter registrar to say they no longer live at that address.

Read this article at Votebeat - Subscribers Only

Secretive Texas housing group builds apartment empire 1,500 miles away

Earlier this year, residents of an upscale multi-family apartment complex in a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina, received an unusual letter. It advised them that their homes at the Otarre Pointe Apartments had been sold, recalled City of Cayce Mayor Pro-Tem Phil Carter. The new owners would be converting most of the 299-unit complex into affordable housing. The upshot: Residents who did not meet the new lower income requirements would have to leave when their lease was up. The demand struck Carter as odd. “It’s just wrong to put people out of their homes,” he said. Equally strange, he said, was the identity of the new owner: A mysterious nonprofit attached to El Paso HOME, a Texas public housing authority located more than 1,500 miles away. Carter said his attempts to reach officials there were met with silence.

Cayce isn’t the only distant place where the new entity, Sixteenth Floor Residential, has been scooping up property, either. Public records show that over the course of barely a year, the El Paso organization has acquired hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of multi-family real estate — about 2,000 apartments — in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. El Paso HOME’s foray into distant jurisdictions is unique, said Stuart Nicol, an S&P Global analyst who follows affordable housing. “This is the first public housing authority we’ve come across doing this,” he said. Why is a nonprofit operated by a far West Texas public agency, charged with providing affordable lodging for a mid-sized city, accumulating a large real estate portfolio on the other side of the country? Sixteenth Floor would prefer not to say. Executive Director Gerald Cichon declined several interview requests. In response to open records requests from the Houston Chronicle, Sixteenth Floor insisted that it is a separate nonprofit company that isn’t required to disclose financial details of its growing business.

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New Texas laws expand repair rights, regulate solar sellers and recognize gold as money

Texas laws taking effect Sept. 1 will change how consumers repair electronic devices, strengthen oversight of residential solar sales and allow certain forms of gold and silver to be used as legal tender. House Bill 2963 creates a limited “right to repair” for digital electronic equipment. It requires manufacturers to provide owners and independent repair businesses with the parts, tools and documentation available to authorized repair shops on “fair and reasonable terms.” “This law is a major step forward,” said Nathan Proctor, senior director of U.S. PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign. “It allows Texans to get access to parts, tools, and other things you need to fix modern electronics.”

The law covers consumer electronics with a wholesale price of at least $50 — but only equipment originally offered for sale in Texas on or after Sept. 1. Consequently, devices already on the market before that date are not covered. The measure also contains numerous exemptions, including many motor vehicles, farm equipment, medical devices, video-game consoles, large home appliances, heavy equipment and certain cybersecurity-related products. Small countertop appliances are not included in the home-appliance exemption. The Texas attorney general can enforce the law, but it does not create a private right for consumers to sue over violations. “We strongly advocate for the right to repair everything,” Proctor said. “In Texas, there was clear agreement on personal electronics.” He said Texas lawmakers could expand the right to repair, as in other states, if enough voters make it clear this is what they want. Another change arriving Sept. 1 is the registration requirement under Senate Bill 1036, the Residential Solar Retailer Regulatory Act. Residential solar systems salespeople must now register with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and work for a registered solar retailer. Retailers that employ or contract with salespeople must also register.

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Steve Sarkisian gives embarrassing explanation for Texas' College Football Playoff loss: 'We were tired'

Expectations for the Texas Longhorns football program have reached a fever pitch, with star quarterback Arch Manning heading into his second year as the starting quarterback. The Longhorns are expected to once again have one of the best defenses in college football, brought in a top six recruiting class, and some services believe Texas has the most talented roster in the sport. At least by recruiting rankings. They also finished out their 2025 season with wins over Texas A&M and Michigan, taking some momentum into a pivotal 2026. Unfortunately, despite all these factors aligning in their favor, the Longhorns also have arguably the toughest schedule in the country. They host Ohio State, play at Tennessee, have the traditional Red River Shootout against Oklahoma, host Ole Miss, play at LSU, and at Texas A&M. With that schedule, the Longhorns could be a significantly improved team from 2025 and still finish 9-3 without playing poorly.

But that might not be the biggest hurdle in head coach Steve Sarkisian's quest to bring a national title home to Austin. It's being mentally tired. Seriously. Sarkisian revealed on a recent podcast that their loss to Ohio State in the 2024-2025 College Football Playoff was due to the Longhorns being "tired." "I felt like the year we played Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, we were tired, and not necessarily physically tired," Sarkisian said. "We were mentally fatigued as well. That’s a long season. We had so many big games. So I think managing it this time around, how we manage their energy level, is as important as how we manage their legs and the physicality." Every team is tired at the end of a college football season. Every team deals with injuries and mental fatigue. And it's the job of a coach to prepare the players for each and every challenge. Specifically, if you can't overcome fatigue and being "tired" in the literal College Football Playoff semifinal, how can you ever? Not to mention, Ohio State was likely "tired" too. The Buckeyes finished their season with a top-5 Indiana team, rivalry game against Michigan, playing Tennessee in the first round, then the number one seed in the tournament, Oregon, in LA, then had to travel to Texas to play the Longhorns in what should have been an effective home game for Sarkisian just 200 miles from campus.

Read this article at Fox News - Subscribers Only

Sand Branch has waited 41 years for clean water. Then the fires came.

It’s been 41 years since the unincorporated community of Sand Branch has had clean water, despite being 400 feet from the City of Dallas’s Southside Wastewater Treatment Plant. In the intervening years, residents have made do with bottled water and the tenacity born from being told “no” a lot. Last night, 10 acres of Sand Branch caught fire, and when advocates and the fire trucks from neighboring towns and cities arrived, residents were using those bottles of water to try to put the flames out. There are no fire hydrants in Sand Branch. As of Sunday afternoon, fire fighters were still working to put out hot spots that continue to crop up. Sand Branch is a freedman’s town that sits in unincorporated land in Dallas County near Seagoville, roughly 20 miles south of downtown. Established in the 1800s, it was a thriving community for years. Until the mid 1980s, residents received water through wells dug throughout the community, and sewage went to septic tanks. In the mid-80s, people began to get sick. Testing revealed the wells were contaminated with E.coli. The residents of Sand Branch have relied on bottled water ever since.

There have been many efforts to get clean drinking water running through the taps of Sand Branch homes for years. More recently, Derek Avery and the Water for Sand Branch Coalition has been working with the community to not only bring water to the area, but also improve the homes and properties there. Only last night and today, they are working to help residents survive yet another blow. A list of needs has been compiled, including a need for volunteers to help bring in water. Danielle Chambless worked social media channels to put fire blankets in every home, and continues to source fire extinguishers for each home. “How are we letting this happen right in our own backyard?” she asked Sunday. “These people are my friends. They deserve the basics. They deserve to be safe in their own homes. And we should be furious that they have been left without the basic infrastructure most of us never have to think twice about.” Long term, the Coalition hopes to convince the county and other officials to finally bring running water to Sand Branch. In the shorter term, Avery would like to install two large water tanks in the community that can be filled up frequently. Just like last year, the Coalition will be among the nonprofits hoping to attract donors during North Texas Giving Day. Giving Day opened last week, and will culminate on September 17. In 2022, we wrote about the weekly efforts to help the community that we encountered while on a bus tour of the county’s most notorious environmental hazards. In 1985, just as the environmental disaster was unfolding, Richard West wrote about Sand Branch. (Or Sandbranch, as it is sometimes called.) Incredibly, nothing has changed in regard to rectifying the situation.

Read this article at D Magazine - Subscribers Only

What is sharia? Muslims and Texas Republicans have very different answers

In political campaigns and the party’s platform, Texas Republicans condemn “sharia law” as a dangerous system of extremist Islamic rules and restrictions that threaten democracy, religious freedom and personal liberty — an affront to American values that must be stamped out. But when Shaimaa Zayan considers what “sharia” means to her, the Austin resident doesn’t see a hot-button political issue or a legal code that undermines the U.S. Constitution. She sees a set of daily practices that gradually lead Muslims like her closer to paradise. Linguistically, she said, sharia means “a path to water.” Religiously, she added, the Arabic term describes “the path to success” or “how we should practice our faith.”

“It’s for Muslims, so thinking that this is something that Muslims are bringing for everyone is just so far from the understanding of sharia,” she said. As Texas Republicans escalate attacks on Islam based on opposition to what they call sharia law, Muslims are pushing back, saying the term has been distorted by ignorance, fear and political opportunism. It’s time, they say, to set the record straight on the meaning of sharia as a religious concept. State Rep. Salman Bhojani, the first Muslim elected to the Texas Legislature, said sharia is an “ethical and moral framework that governs your personal conduct.” It involves “giving, charity, praying consistently to God, being honest with your neighbors, with your friends, with everybody.” “It is a personal moral code, and not something that I can impose on anybody else,” said Bhojani, D-Euless. Republicans see a far different meaning, denouncing sharia law as an oppressive legal code that is incompatible with state and federal laws.

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Republicans look to hold Texas turf as midterm convention looms

Congress will get top billing when President Donald Trump brings the GOP’s political roadshow to Dallas. But farther down the ballot, his party has plenty at stake in the convention’s backyard. Republicans are defending two state House seats in Dallas County, where their influence has steadily fallen. They also are working to preserve control of major offices in Tarrant County, targeting a Democratic lawmaker in Collin County and seeking to recapture a state Senate district lost in a special election this year.

For the candidates, the MAGA doubleheader Sept. 9-10 at the American Airlines Center could be a boost or a burden. Republicans hope to energize supporters who might skip a midterm election. Democrats aim to turn Trump’s unpopularity into votes in close races. Republican National Committee officials described the event last week as a “primetime showcase for President Trump’s success, candidates and causes that have propelled the 2026 midterms to unprecedented focus.” State Reps. Angie Chen Button of Garland and Morgan Meyer of University Park are the only Republican legislators who live in Dallas County, where Democrats have dominated countywide elections since 2006. Meyer, an attorney first elected in 2014 in District 108, is being challenged by Democrat Allison Mitchell, a small-business owner and children’s book author. A national Democratic group focused on state legislatures has made both districts priorities as it targets 12 Republican-held Texas House seats. Republicans hold an 88-62 majority in the chamber.

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Elon Musk’s xAI sued over Grok child sexual abuse material

A woman repeatedly raped as a child by a man who put photos and videos of the crimes online says in a lawsuit that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence firm xAI allowed imagery of her abuse onto its X social media platform and that the company’s Grok chatbot generated additional child pornography from the images. The woman, identified as “Jane Doe,” is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Jose, alleging Grok produced child porn from imagery of her and thousands of other victims of child sexual abuse. The lawsuit claims xAI, aiming to add users to X and Grok, designed the chatbot “to respond to prompts to create and distribute sexual content using an identifiable person’s real image or video.”

Doe, who is described only as living outside California, is seeking unspecified damages and a court order barring xAI from generating, possessing or sharing child pornography showing her or other alleged victims. Her lawsuit came as Palo Alto-based xAI — merged in February as a subsidiary into Musk’s Texas rocket company SpaceX — fights another lawsuit in the same court by three women and one man claiming Grok created sexualized “deep fake” images of them. Judge Casey Pitts in July shot down a bid by xAI to have the identities of the four plaintiffs — who are seeking class action status for their case — publicly revealed. The legal cases arose after Grok — embedded in X and also a stand-alone app — sparked worldwide outrage after xAI added an image-editing feature to the chatbot in December. The UK-based Center for Countering Digital Hate reported that Grok generated 3 million sexualized images in the 11 days after image editing went live. Users digitally stripped real women in images — plus more than 20,000 apparent children — manipulating many into sexual poses, the group found. Musk responded to the furor by reposting an AI-generated image of a toaster in a bikini that he said he “couldn’t stop laughing” about. Doe’s lawsuit, overseen by Judge Nathanael Cousins, claims “xAI and its founder Elon Musk chose to capitalize and profit from predators’ appetite for non-consensual sexual images and videos of real people, including children.”

Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only

National Stories

Army Secretary resigns after months of friction with Hegseth

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation to President Trump following months of tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the direction of the service and the ouster of numerous senior Army officers. He is expected to leave the Pentagon in coming days. With Driscoll’s departure, the Army will lack top Senate-confirmed civilian or military leaders. Gen. Christopher LaNeve has served as acting chief of the service since Hegseth fired his predecessor, Gen. Randy George. Mike Obadal, the Army undersecretary, would be the highest ranking civilian after Driscoll departs. Driscoll didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Driscoll had been expected to step down this year from his role as the civilian leader of the Army after clashing with Hegseth, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. “Secretary Driscoll has been highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda to Make America Strong Again at the Department of the Army by providing outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality, assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The United States Army is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commander-in-Chief and Secretary of War,” she added. Last week, Driscoll attended the retirement ceremony at Fort Bragg for Gen. Chris Donahue, who served as the top Army officer in Europe until Hegseth downgraded his position, effectively bringing an end to his military career. Donahue’s abrupt departure was presented as part of Hegseth’s broader push to shrink the number of generals and admirals by 10% overall, plus a 20% cut to the number of four-star positions, the Journal reported.

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Want an animal shelter? A lazy river? Cash? Data centers want to know.

In a few years, the city of Saline, Michigan, will have renovated its recreation center’s locker rooms, tiled the pool deck, expanded the children’s play area, installed a waterfall and constructed a lazy river. Down the road, part of OpenAI’s Project Stargate, a 2.2 million-square-foot, $43 billion data center, will hum away, churning out the next generation of artificial intelligence. As public sentiment on data centers has soured, AI companies are leveling up their efforts to sweeten the deal for communities that host them. In Saline, that included a $10 million donation from OpenAI, Oracle and other companies for a new and improved recreation center. In Richland Parish, Louisiana, teachers got $50,000 bonuses from Meta. Compass Datacenters forked over $15 million for a new animal shelter in Ellis County, Texas.

In Florida, developers for the failed Project Tango offered to hide their building from view with a small forest of pines, palms and native shrubs. NorthPoint Development has proposed giving $10,000 to every household in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania, if it’s allowed to build a massive data center for Amazon — a dangling carrot some residents have characterized as a bribe. Politicians from both parties are pushing the deal sweeteners too. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s energy office told counties to make “wish lists” for data center developers, and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is pitching free electricity for towns willing to play host. This summer’s data center backlash has underlined a glaring lack of guidance from federal and state leaders on what tech companies owe the communities they’re building in; in Washington, a growing slate of proposals range from requiring developers to procure and pay for their own power, and taxing data centers to prepare for potential AI-related job losses.

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MAHA has arrived in Iowa — and Big Ag is reeling

There’s something in the water in Iowa. And Republican Zach Lahn has centered his gubernatorial campaign around it. Lahn is taking aim at fertilizers, pesticides and other farm chemicals seeping into drinking water supplies — and the agrochemical giants that make them. He believes Big Ag and Big Chemical are to blame for the state’s high cancer rates, a top issue for voters here. Once unimaginable for a politician of either party in Iowa, Lahn’s campaign is putting the state’s Republicans in the same bind that has bedeviled the Trump administration during its second term: stuck between the demands of Make America Healthy Again activists and the interests of agricultural and chemical companies that hold deep sway with the party.

“Many people in the primary said, ‘You can’t win an election in the Republican primary talking about the big agricultural conglomerates that are extorting our farmers, talking about clean water, and how we need to lower our cancer rates,’” Lahn said in a stump speech earlier this month at the Iowa State Fair, where the farm industry’s influence loomed large, in the form of corporate sponsorships, expansive exhibits and free swag. “We did talk about it, and we won,” Lahn said. It’s not the campaign the Republican establishment wanted in a state with some of this fall’s fiercest battleground elections, including an open Senate seat and three competitive House races. Lahn pulled off an upset in the June primary, besting President Donald Trump’s pick, conservative Rep. Randy Feenstra. Lahn won Trump’s endorsement a month after the primary election. Now, rank-and-file Republicans are left with little choice but to support a candidate running on ideas most don’t agree with, in a year where Democrats believe they have their best shot in two decades to reclaim the governor’s mansion.

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More mail ballots are arriving late this year, and they’re getting tossed

The rate at which mail votes have been rejected for arriving late has ticked up in primaries this year and general elections last year in roughly a dozen states, prompting election officials to worry that the U.S. Postal Service is ill-equipped to deliver ballots in the fall midterms. The states studied by The New York Times include some of the most critical battleground House and Senate seats where control of Congress will be determined, as well as key races for governor and secretary of state. The Times obtained data from California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington. In Wisconsin, which hosts an open race for governor, a competitive House election plus contests for both chambers of the state legislature, lateness accounted for about 5,000 rejected mail ballots in the spring primary this year, or 78 percent of all tossed ballots.

During the last spring election, in 2023, the figure was roughly 2,300, or 47 percent of all tossed votes. The increase is particularly striking when comparing primaries in 2024 and this year. In Michigan’s primary earlier this month, more than 10,000 mail ballots were rejected for arriving after the state’s deadline of 8 p.m. on Election Day. That is nearly double the number of ballots rejected in 2024. In Washington, the number of late-arriving mail ballots increased from about 16,000 to more than 20,000 in the same period. The rise in rejected ballots comes at a time of immense upheaval at the Postal Service, where a budget crisis has prompted widespread complaints about delivery delays. The increase also comes as President Trump and his allies are trying to transform the 251-year-old agency into a central player in their quest to restrict mail voting and otherwise overhaul the nation’s elections. Roughly two dozen states sued the government over the president’s executive order governing mail voting, which would require states to hand over voter information and would empower the Postal Service to block mail ballots from being sent or delivered in states that do not comply.

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Haitian immigrant in Ohio takes his own life after losing temporary protected status, family says

A Haitian immigrant who had grown increasingly distraught after losing his protection from deportation and being outfitted with an ankle monitor was run over and killed Monday in what his family believes was a suicide. Pierre Damas Bel, 20, parked on the shoulder of Interstate 70 in Springfield, Ohio, some time before 8:45 a.m., got out of his vehicle and walked into westbound traffic, the Ohio State Highway Patrol told local media outlets. He was hit by a tractor-trailer and pronounced dead at the scene. Like an estimated 350,000 Haitian immigrants, Bel had recently lost temporary protected status, which is given to people fleeing nations experiencing disaster. He had a pending asylum claim, but had been summoned to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with canceling the status for Haitian recipients.

Federal immigrant agents placed an electronic monitoring device on his ankle, which is one way the agency tracks immigrants it is seeking to remove from the country. “He felt like he was treated like an animal,” his father, Pierres Ronal Bel, 40, recounted in a handwritten statement. Ohio authorities said they are investigating the crash. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has been calling Haitian immigrants into ICE offices in order to be equipped with ankle monitors and sent two deportation flights to Haiti since temporary protected status was canceled for people from the troubled Caribbean nation. Advocates for the immigrants say the U.S. government is sending people back to a country where criminal gangs are responsible for massacres, kidnapping and extortion. Haitian leaders in Springfield and beyond said Bel’s death is symptomatic of the extreme stress many immigrants are under as they fear being detained and sent back.

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Roberts says Trump's ballroom 'likely unlawful' in SCOTUS dissent backed by liberal justices

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority, except for Chief Justice John Roberts, ruled Monday that the architectural historian who tried to block President Donald Trump from building a ballroom where the East Wing of the White House used to be didn't have standing to sue after all. Although the issuance of stay may not come as a surprise to those closely watching the Supreme Court's actions to this point and the proceedings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, it nonetheless stood out that Roberts penned a dissent that, in a rare occurrence, was joined only by the court's liberal wing.

Roberts, the circuit justice for Washington, D.C., had issued an administrative stay of a lower court injunction 10 days ago as the high court considered the DOJ's request for a stay. Thereafter, the Trump administration argued that a stay was warranted because Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon and the D.C. Circuit wrongly found the National Trust for Historic Preservation and architectural historian Alison Hoagland had standing to sue on "aesthetic injury" grounds. A D.C. Circuit panel, in a 2-1 decision, earlier rejected the "bold assertion that the Executive can act with utter lawlessness, destroying treasured national landmarks and harming the interests of individuals, and that no court can stop it flouts our constitutional order." But the lone dissenting appellate judge in that case, a Trump appointee, forecast the road ahead. U.S. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao criticized the D.C. Circuit for appointing itself as supervisors of the president's construction project by signing off on Leon's "blatant abuse of discretion." Rao wrote that the majority "elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby" over Trump's determination that the "ballroom is necessary for the overall security of the White House as well as to provide a secure space for hosting large presidential events."

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Kalshi hands George Santos its first lifetime ban

Former Rep. George Santos received a permanent ban and a fine of more than $71,000 from the prediction market Kalshi after he placed wagers on his attendance at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this year. The disgraced congressman publicly posted about plans to attend the annual address in February — even asking what kind of suit he should wear in a now-deleted post. From Feb. 2 to Feb. 25, Santos began placing large bets on his own presence at the address, and by the time he posted that he was watching it from an airport TV, the New York Republican had already allegedly switched his bet. “As a person capable of influencing the outcome of this underlying event, Santos was prohibited from trading in this market,” Kalshi wrote in a disciplinary notice released Monday.

Kalshi’s Compliance Department found that Santos had profited $17,839.57 from manipulating the “price of the Yes or No contracts that he intended to purchase.” The notice also cited Santos’ lack of cooperation with Kalshi’s investigation. A representative from Kalshi told NOTUS in an email that Santos “evaded discussions with our compliance dept[ment].” Santos is the first person to receive a lifetime ban from Kalshi, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ban went into effect Friday. The former congressman spoke out against his ban in a series of posts on X, calling Kalshi “an unserious company” that “violates its own notices and deadlines.” “On August 7th they gave us a 30 day notice and today they leaked/ announced once again their frivolous nonsense,” Santos wrote Monday. “Leaking and attention seeking seem to be the M/O of this organization. Pathetic!” Kalshi told NOTUS that Santos can appeal the ban and the monetary penalty against him to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, an independent federal agency that’s charged with regulating the prediction market.

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Copyright September 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved