Lead Stories

At least 2 dead, hundreds rescued as major floods hit Texas Hill Country for second year in a row

At least two people have died in dangerous overnight flooding that prompted evacuations and damaged homes, schools and roads in the Hill Country. This week's floods came almost exactly a year after some of the worst flooding in state history struck the Kerrville area. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a 5 p.m. Thursday news conference that a man died after he was swept away in an RV in Comfort, a city located southeast of Kerrville. The Uvalde Police Department said a man also died about four miles north of the city Thursday morning after his vehicle was swept away by floodwaters. Multiple rounds of storms have hit Texas this week, resulting in "catastrophic flooding," according to the National Weather Service. The agency's preliminary data shows that Uvalde received more than 21 inches of rainfall from Monday to Thursday, while Kerrville received more than 19.

Since Wednesday, more than 1,300 people helped respond to the recent floods, Abbott said. More than 230 people have been rescued. Abbott said flooding of the Guadalupe River was more severe downstream from Kerrville than upstream, where many summer camps are located. "Right now, I am informed that none of those camps are facing any type of danger," he said at an 11 a.m. press conference on Thursday. The area around Comfort, Texas, is experiencing the brunt of the flooding, Abbott said. Less than two weeks after the anniversary of the July 4, 2025, floods, residents in the Hill Country found themselves in familiar territory: scrambling for higher ground and rushing to protect lives and property. The 2025 floods killed more than 130 people in Texas on the Fourth of July weekend, including 25 campers, two counselors and the owner of Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River.

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Greg Abbott to appoint adviser Robert Howden as secretary of state

Gov. Greg Abbott plans to appoint Robert Howden, his senior adviser and director of legislative affairs, to succeed Jane Nelson as the next secretary of state, according to a state senator briefed on the matter. State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt said Howden — who lives in her Austin district — called her to discuss the appointment on Wednesday. It's unclear when Abbott will make the announcement; Nelson's last day is Friday. Howden will take over just months ahead of this year’s high-stakes midterm election. His long history in state government means he has relationships with many lawmakers, including senators who would vote on his confirmation next year. He previously served in former Gov. Rick Perry’s office and led the National Federation of Independent Business Texas.

Nelson's decision to step down stunned several local election officials, given its proximity to the November midterms. The shakeup comes as President Donald Trump has increasingly called election protocols into question since taking office. Late last year, Nelson agreed to hand over the names, addresses and partial social security numbers of almost all of the 18.6 million Texans registered to vote, presumably part of an effort by the Trump administration to identify problematic voters. Abbott said in a press briefing on Wednesday that he hopes the next secretary of state will ensure that “only legal votes are cast.” “Texans deserve an election system they can have trust and competency in,” Abbott said. “And that’s exactly what the next secretary of state will be responsible (for).” Abbott has been silent for weeks on a successor. The only name election officials say they heard floated was former state Rep. Nate Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican who has called for closing the GOP primaries and has denied the results of the 2020 presidential election. Abbott tapped Schatzline earlier this month for a new role as his senior adviser leading policy development on election integrity efforts. It’s unclear what he will specifically oversee, or whether it will work directly with the secretary of state’s office.

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Texas Tech donors gave big to Paxton as he defended QB Brendan Sorsby

Attorney General Ken Paxton received more than $650,000 dollars in campaign contributions from donors tied to Texas Tech the same month he used his office to defend the school’s star quarterback Brendan Sorsby amid a betting scandal, according to new campaign finance records. Quarterback Brendan Sorsby was barred from playing in the NCAA earlier this year after being accused of placing at least $90,000 in impermissible bets, including on his own team. The saga has ignited college sports and produced at least four major lawsuits over the NCAA’s decision. On June 11, Paxton sent a letter to the Big 12 Conference threatening to pursue up to $200 million in legal damages if it followed through with sanctions on Texas Tech for playing Sorsby.

One day earlier, Texas Tech Board of Regents Chair Cody Campbell donated $274,300 to a fundraising committee supporting Paxton in his U.S. Senate bid. On June 12, a Texas Tech alumnus named Larry Franklin gave Paxton’s committee $108,600. And later that month, on June 26, Campbell’s business partner, John Sellers, made a donation of $274,300. Sellers and Campbell played football together at Tech, according to a profile of their company. The donations, which totalled $657,200, were among the largest in Paxton’s latest fundraising haul, according to campaign finance report data published Wednesday. Neither Texas Tech, Campbell, nor Sellers immediately responded to a request for comment. Franklin could not immediately be reached for comment. Paxton did not respond to a request for comment on whether the donations and the letter were connected. The Campbell donation was first reported by the Texas Tribune. Campbell is an active political donor and has given thousands of dollars to conservative groups, including those associated with President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee. He’s also been an active defender of Sorsby, who has sought treatment for a gambling addiction.

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Takeaways from Trump’s address claiming election vulnerabilities

President Trump said his address on Thursday night was about building public confidence in American elections, but he spent much of his speech undermining them. A broken election system is one of Mr. Trump’s most common refrains, dating to early 2016. “Great damage has been done to our country,” the president said. “Our elections were left vulnerable to being rigged and stolen, and the trust of the American people was lost. This cannot be allowed to continue.” But documents Mr. Trump released to support his claims — and previous assessments from the intelligence community — do not back up his most aggressive statements about election security. In fact, some of the documents reach the opposite conclusion.

They also do not contain significant new revelations about vulnerabilities in election systems. One of the documents posted on the White House website was blunt: “We assess that vote tabulation systems would be difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to compromise election results.” Mr. Trump called for fixing vulnerabilities in electronic voting system so that “we can never watch a stolen election again.” “If you look at voting today, it’s in such bad shape in so many states,” Mr. Trump said. “And we are committing to fix it, and we are also committing to be working with those states and local jurisdictions to help them fix and patch known technical vulnerabilities before the midterm elections.” But Mr. Trump has spent the first part of his second term dismantling the election protections built up over previous years. The F.B.I.’s task force on foreign influence was shut down, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence sharply cut back a task force that warned against foreign meddling and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has been gutted. And Mr. Trump has appointed an heir to a housing fortune with no relevant experience as the interim director of national intelligence.

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State Stories

Gov. Greg Abbott rolls out initiatives to limit growth in home, car insurance costs

Gov. Greg Abbott is proposing measures to help rein in rising home and car insurance costs for Texas residents. Abbott spoke Wednesday following a campaign stop in northwest Houston to meet with residents to discuss their concerns about affordability. "Texas has what may be the highest home insurance cost of any state — if not the highest, we are one of the highest," Abbott said. Abbott noted that Texas ranks number one in the United States for the most hail damage and the most hail-related home insurance claims. Coupled with that, the state suffers an abnormal amount from wind damage, as a result of hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, and other wind-related disasters.

To address the problem, Abbott proposed adopting a roof fortification plan, following in the footsteps of southeastern coastal states from North Carolina to Louisiana, as well as Kentucky and Oklahoma. "Where this has been done, it leads to about an 8% reduction in premiums and, over the life of the roof, savings of about more than $15,000," the governor said. "And this is a proven strategy that I say is time that we adopted in Texas to ensure that we are reducing the leading cause of home insurance rates going up." Abbott also proposed changing Texas law to let insurers take moving violations into consideration when calibrating car insurance costs, with the aim of rewarding drivers for good behavior. "In states where that has been done, if you look at what the auto insurers say themselves, it could reduce your auto insurance policy by as much as 30%," Abbott said. "So, when you combine this auto insurance reform as well as the home insurance reform, it will lead to at a minimum hundreds of dollars a year, more likely thousands of dollars a year, in savings to homeowners and auto owners in the state of Texas."

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As flooding returns to Hill Country, Texas lawmakers say new safety laws already making a difference

A year after catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country prompted lawmakers to overhaul the state's flood preparedness laws, Texans are once again watching rivers rise. This week's widespread flooding has become one of the first major tests of legislation passed during last summer's special sessions, when Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers promised changes that would better prepare communities before the next disaster struck. The flooding that swept through the Hill Country last July killed more than 130 people and prompted lawmakers to approve new safety requirements for youth camps, fund flood warning sirens, expand weather monitoring infrastructure and invest hundreds of millions of dollars in flood mitigation and disaster preparedness. On Wednesday, Abbott told the press that Texas was “better prepared than we have ever been to deal with weather events in general, but rainfall events and flooding events in particular.”

Abbott said Thursday that flood warning sirens installed around campgrounds along the Guadalupe River, one of the major investments lawmakers approved after last year's disaster, functioned as intended during the latest flooding. "I am told the sirens have worked," Abbott said, adding that one siren experienced a brief delay before sounding several minutes later. One person has died in overnight flooding from a storm that has already brought more rainfall to parts of Texas than the Hill Country received during last summer's deadly floods, Abbott said. State Sen. Paul Bettencourt wrote on social media Thursday that flood warning sirens in Kerr County “gave those that heard them and others downstream notice to get to higher ground immediately.”

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Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's family: Substance FBI suspects was drugs, was 'homemade electrolyte mix'

After the Federal Bureau of Investigation had filed to obtain a search warrant to look through 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's van, the family confirmed that the substance that officials claimed they found was a homemade electrolyte drink mix, their attorney says. Additionally, U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz released a statement outlining what his office says is the version of events under investigation.

Following the deadly July 9 shooting of Araujo, an FBI special agent said he "inspected the vehicle and observed in plain view several plastic bags with what appeared to be white crystal-like substances packaged in small plastic bags" from outside the van, according to a search warrant filed July 14. "Searches of the target vehicle will yield evidence of the crimes committed and violations of drug offenses," the warrant states. Just one day after the filing, the family of Araujo confirmed through their attorney, Ruby Powers, that the substances were not drugs but a drink mixture. "After consulting with my client and his family, our understanding is that this was granulated salt, which is paired with lemon and water as a homemade electrolyte mix used by outdoor workers in extreme Texas heat," Powers said in an official statement. The Harris County District Attorney's Office also shared that it didn't suspect the substances collected were drugs. On Thursday, DA Sean Teare shared on social media that "based on what we've learned about the passengers, it's inconsistent that drugs were in the van." Powers also said they are requesting immediate testing of the substance to clear Araujo's name, in addition to a request for Araujo's brother, Victor, to be released from ICE custody.

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Questions about Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger opposition campaign

Something odd recently showed up in the San Antonio Express News: a column opposing the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. The piece warns about competitive risks and consolidation concerns. Standard merger opposition stuff, except for one thing: it's entirely about Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania workers. Pennsylvania steel. Pennsylvania grain. Pennsylvania chemical plants. Nothing about Texas. Nothing about San Antonio. Nothing about how the merger might affect freight operations across the state or port operations in Houston and Corpus Christi. The author is Bob Comeaux, listed as a contributor. There is a real Bob Comeaux in San Antonio, a former VIA transit board member who writes occasionally about local issues. But his published work doesn't typically focus on federal railroad policy or Pennsylvania agriculture.

That's the first oddity. The broader opposition campaign against the merger contains several more. Across the country, opposition to the UP-NS merger is popping up in remarkably coordinated ways. State attorneys general are sending letters. Industry groups are releasing statements on synchronized timelines. Opinion pieces are appearing in newspapers across multiple states using similar arguments. For Texans, this matters. Union Pacific operates across Texas. The merger would affect freight movement through Houston, Dallas, and across the state. More efficient rail networks could mean lower shipping costs for Texas manufacturers, petrochemical companies, and agricultural shippers. It could also mean more freight stays on rail instead of trucks on Texas highways. But understanding who benefits from blocking this deal matters more than the merger's hypothetical benefits. And a lot of people benefit from stopping it.

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Diana Forester: Texas mothers wait months for prenatal care. Lawmakers can change that.

(Diana Forester is director of Health Policy for Texans Care for Children.) When a woman finds out she's pregnant, one of the first things she should be able to do is schedule a prenatal appointment. Too often in Texas, that simple step turns into weeks — or even months — of waiting. I recently spoke with a Texas mom who learned she was pregnant in December. Since she didn't have health insurance, she applied for Medicaid for Pregnant Women. Then she waited for the state to process her application. After that, she waited for the next available appointment with a provider in her area. By the time she finally saw a doctor, it was March, and she was already in her second trimester. Her story isn't unusual.

Parents want to start prenatal care early. They know it matters. And this is one of the rare issues that draws broad agreement at the Texas Capitol. Lawmakers across the political spectrum understand that early prenatal care helps identify health risks, helps manage chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes, and helps connect women to critical supports, such as nutrition assistance and behavioral healthcare. When prenatal care is delayed — or doesn't happen — the risks increase. Late or no prenatal care is associated with higher rates of preterm birth and low birth weight. Improving access to prenatal care is also an important strategy for reducing infant mortality, an issue the Texas House Committee on Public Health is studying. Unfortunately, after years of improvement, the share of women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester started to decline. Nationwide, first-trimester prenatal care fell from 78.3% in 2021 to 75.5% in 2024. The challenge is even greater in Texas. In 2024, 11.3% of Texas mothers began prenatal care in the third trimester or did not receive prenatal care at all, compared to 7.3% nationally.

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Andrew Fuentes will be Mayor Gine Ortiz Jones’ new permanent chief of staff

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ new chief of staff is Andrew Fuentes, who was hired as her communications and policy director in February, but was named acting chief after Jenise Carroll resigned from that role in April. Fuentes will be Jones’ third chief of staff since taking office just over a year ago, in an office that’s experienced much turnover. Jones has yet to replace her deputy chief of staff Pat Wallace who also left the office in April. Carroll seemed to cite work-life balance issues as a reason for her departure, while Wallace hinted at a lack of respect for her many years of policy-making experience.

Fuentes comes to the role after a lengthy run on Capitol Hill, where neither are commonplace. He worked for former U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) for nearly 10 years, ending as a senior policy advisor focused on child welfare issues and healthcare. Later he worked as a senior legislative officer at the U.S. Department of Labor during the Biden administration. Fuentes is an Air Force brat who spent time here in his youth, and his parents now live in San Antonio. His position became official on July 4. Jones hired an additional communications advisor, MarkAnthony Ball, in June. Ball is a U.S. Army veteran, real estate agent and social media personality who participated in the Greater Chamber’s Leadership San Antonio program.

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Fort Bend Democratic commissioners weigh extending boycott, raising questions about August tax vote

With a civil lawsuit brewing between interim County Judge Daniel Wong and County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson, the absence of Fort Bend County’s Democratic commissioners could continue into future commissioners court meetings as the county heads toward its August tax rate process. “As I have said from the beginning, I will not participate in a meeting presided over by someone who has been found not to be legally authorized to serve as County Judge,” Commissioner Dexter McCoy said in a July statement. McCoy made the statement after commissioners court recessed early on July 9 due to a lack of a quorum, where both he and Commissioner Grady Prestage were absent. The county courthouse only had two members sitting at the dais that Thursday, Wong and Republican Commissioner Vincent Morales. Commissioner Andy Meyers appeared on a virtual call.

According to the Texas Government Code, at least three members of a county commissioners court must be physically present to constitute a quorum needed to conduct county business, except when levying a tax. Wong called a special meeting of commissioners court on July 16 due to the absences. The two Republican commissioners are expected to attend. Prestage and McCoy’s continued absence comes after both commissioners publicly walked out of what they called an illegal meeting on June 25, with Wong still presiding over court. The day before the July 16 meeting, McCoy filed a formal notice with Fort Bend County Clerk Laura Richard. He said the letter is a public record of why he’s continuing to be absent on the grounds of legal guidance provided by Smith-Lawson. The county attorney filed her own lawsuit on behalf of the county government and the State of Texas, arguing there is no legal basis for Wong to serve as county judge and preside over the county's commissioners court.

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Michelle Cruz Arnold resigns from Houston ISD's Board of Managers

The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday that Michelle Cruz Arnold, a member of Houston ISD's state-appointed board of managers, has resigned. Cruz Arnold was among the state's initial appointees when it took over Houston ISD in June 2023. The TEA has appointed Karen Duffy, a former teacher and parent of two HISD students, to replace her on the nine-member board. “Stepping into this role, my goal was to lend my time and energy to support our district through a critical and unprecedented chapter, and I am deeply grateful for the privilege it has been to serve the students and families of Houston," Cruz Arnold said in a statement. "As the district continues to make meaningful progress, I have decided that this is the right and natural time for me to conclude my journey on the board."

This is the second change to the appointed board of Texas' largest school district since the TEA replaced half the Board of Managers in June 2025. At that time, the TEA removed then-board Vice President Audrey Momanaee, Cassandra Auzenne Bandy, Rolando Martinez and Adam Rivon. An HISD parent, Arnold has led government relations and advocacy for College Board — a national nonprofit best known for its SAT and Advanced Placement exams. She also has experience leading public policy for the Greater Houston Partnership, which serves businesses across the region, and managing government relations for the Texas Education Agency, according to HISD's website. The Texas Education Agency did not immediately respond to questions regarding the selection of Cruz Arnold's replacement. In a statement, HISD's board president Ric Campo welcomed Duffy to the board and thanked Cruz Arnold for her service. Duffy is an appointed member of HISD's District Advisory Committee. “I am humbled by the opportunity to serve on the Houston ISD School Board, and I would like to acknowledge and thank outgoing member Michelle Cruz Arnold for her incredible service to the district," Duffy said in the TEA announcement. "As an HISD parent, this role is deeply personal for me, and I look forward to working with my fellow members, district leadership team, and our community as we maintain a relentless focus on student outcomes."

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Houston megachurch Second Baptist wins major victory in lawsuit filed by church members

The messy legal battle dividing Houston’s Second Baptist Church tilted sharply in the megachurch's favor Wednesday after a judge dismissed nearly every claim filed against it by a group of congregants. Judge Grant Dorfman said religious liberty protections barred him from determining whether the church broke the law in 2023 when it removed the right of members to vote on church business. At the time, Second Baptist said it was changing its bylaws to “protect our ability to continue operating as a biblical church,” according to court documents. A secular court can’t determine whether that was a fair characterization, Dorfman ruled, without trying to determine what “biblical church” means.

The court also lacked authority to kick out the church’s new senior pastor, Ben Young, the judge ruled. Young’s father, longtime senior pastor Ed Young, tapped his son as his successor in 2024 without a congregational vote. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, John Strawn, attorney for the plaintiffs, argued the judge had misinterpreted the doctrine of church autonomy. “Just using a word like 'biblical' in an announcement does not give you a get-out-of-jail free card,” he argued. The case is no longer moving to a jury trial that had been scheduled for July 27 in the Texas 11th Division Business Court, according to a court manager. Throughout the legal battle with a group of current and former members, Ben Young has maintained that the church, which boasts $1 billion in assets and counts Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and leading oil executives as members, did nothing wrong. In a statement on the Second Baptist website, Young said the church was “deeply grateful” for the ruling. “We remain committed to the work God has called us to,” he wrote. The church has declined to comment throughout the trial.

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DART CEO finalist has history of spending controversies at prior transportation agency

A finalist for CEO and president of Dallas Area Rapid Transit has a history of spending controversies at the transportation agency he currently leads in Florida. Nathaniel Ford was president and CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority for 13 years, but he announced this month he would resign in January after becoming one of three finalists to lead DART. His time at the Florida transit agency was marked by accusations of financial mismanagement. Action News JAX, a Fox station in Jacksonville, began reporting in 2023 that Ford spent tens of thousands of dollars on travel.

The investigation found Ford, who was paid more than $625,000 a year, was frequently out of the office traveling, having taken 140 trips total since 2016. He also spent more than $40,000 on travel in 2023, including a 14-day trip to Spain and a five-day visit to Hawaii, the station reported. The station reported in 2024 that the transit agency’s card was used to purchase massages, resort hotel bookings and photo booths, prompting scrutiny from the Jacksonville City Council. Ford did not respond to multiple texts and calls on a cell phone number listed under his name over the last two days. KERA also reached out to the JTA, and will update this story with any response. Ford addressed the spending allegations to a Jacksonville City Council finance committee in 2024.

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More border buoys ready to go into Rio Grande in South Texas

Dozens of giant orange border buoys have been put near the Roma International Bridge, ready to be placed in the Rio Grande. Border Report Live: Soldier’s death helped spark a civil rights movement for Mexican-Americans Border Report on Wednesday saw the buoys, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to put up and down the Rio Grande in South Texas to stop illegal immigration from Mexico.

A worker told Border Report that the buoys are on leased land that is located almost under the bridge that connects to the northern Mexican city of Miguel Alemán. Last week, the Eagle Pass City Council unanimously rejected a lease request by Gibraltar Construction Company Inc., of Maryland, to use Shelby Park — it’s public park on the river — as a staging area for the installation of the 12 to 15-foot-long buoys in the Rio Grande. CBP plans to put 533 miles of waterborne barrier in the Rio Grande, according to the agency.

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MS NOW plans major live event in Arlington

MS NOW is planning a roadtrip to Texas, taking its annual fan gathering on the road to the Lone Star State, in what the cable news channel says will be its biggest live event yet (you know what they say about Texas, after all). The channel will host MS NOW Live: Together In Texas, Sep. 26, taking over College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington, and inviting thousands of its fans along for the ride. Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Jen Psaki, Stephanie Ruhle, Ali Velshi, Ari Melber, Chris Hayes, Symone Sanders Townsend, Alicia Menendez, Jacob Soboroff, Texas native Eugene Daniels, Michael Steele, Luke Russert, and Rev. Al Sharpton are among the talent expected to participate. The event was announced in a memo to staff Wednesday by MS NOW president Rebecca Kutler.

“Texas sits at the center of many of the defining conversations shaping this election cycle and our country, from democracy and voting rights to immigration, education, and the economy,” Kutler wrote. “As those conversations continue to unfold, we want to be there, not only to cover them but to bring our community together in the places where those stories are happening.” MS NOW launched its live franchise as MSNBC Live in 2023, and held its first event in New York in 2024, drawing thousands of attendees to Brooklyn. Last year it moved it to Manhattan. The Texas event will be the first flagship event to be held outside of the New York area (the channel held a smaller event in Philadelphia earlier this year). But Dallas-Fort Worth is nonetheless a gamble, a bet that MS NOW’s audience spans the entire country, not just the coasts, and that they will want to participate.

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Texas billionaire money flows into Waikiki Democratic primary race

A Texas oil billionaire is pouring money into a Democratic primary race in Waikiki — but the money isn’t going toward a Republican. It’s supporting a newcomer trying to unseat an incumbent. In the Democratic primary for House District 24, covering Waikiki, McCully and Moiliili, challenger Bulla Eastman is facing incumbent Rep. Adrian Tam. Eastman received a sudden wave of support from Texas billionaire Douglas Scharbauer, who also owns thoroughbred racehorses. Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission documents show Scharbauer and the Patriot Action Political Action Committee spent $30,000 on ads supporting Eastman at a local media outlet. Tam questioned the mainland money.

“He has supported candidates like Ken Paxton and Donald Trump. He has supported politicians that have tried to roll back environmental regulations, who have tried to limit a woman’s access to reproductive health care, and have tried to roll back policies advancing rights for LGBT folks,” said Tam, who is openly gay. “I’m curious as to why this super PAC with conservative right-wing ties is supporting someone in the Democratic primary,” he added. Eastman told Hawaii News Now he does not know Scharbauer, but is grateful for the surprise support. “I said, wow, this is kind of interesting,” Eastman said. “It’s amazing because you have a very successful businessman in the mainland who’s taken quite an interest here in this race, and I don’t think it’s so much for supporting me as it is he’s trying to get the incumbent out of office,” Eastman said. “It’s interesting for me because it’s a Republican supporting a Democrat running against a Democrat,” he added.

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National Stories

White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump's speeches: Sources

President Donald Trump's longtime teleprompter operator is believed to have made tens of thousands of dollars by placing bets on more than a dozen of Trump's speeches on the prediction market Kalshi, federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president who has been operating Trump's teleprompter since 2016, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations he used his inside knowledge of the president's speeches to win more than $100,000, the sources said. According to the sources, Kalshi alerted its regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), to the suspicious activity on its "Mentions" market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases or topics are uttered during a public speech.

"Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC, and we are cooperating and assisting regulators," Kalshi's head of enforcement, Bobby DeNault, said in a statement provided to ABC News. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday afternoon, following ABC News' report, that Perez has been put on unpaid administrative leave. Leavitt said she spoke with President Trump about it, and he thought it was a "disgrace" and made the decision himself to put Perez on unpaid leave. Leavitt said she was unaware of any other White House staffers who have made such trades. "The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow," said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle when contacted by ABC News.

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GOP concerns grow after 2 ICE shootings in a week

Congressional Republicans and administration officials are demanding answers about the latest killings involving federal immigration officers, bemoaning a lack of bodycam footage and a failure to properly train officers for dangerous confrontations. Congress has been clamoring for more information after two ICE-involved shootings in Texas and Maine, where officers attempted to serve warrants and fatally shot two foreign nationals who were behind the wheel. None of the officers involved in the shootings had body cameras, despite pledges from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in February that those devices would be distributed to the ICE workforce with funds allocated by Congress. Congressional Republicans and administration officials are demanding answers about the latest killings involving federal immigration officers, bemoaning a lack of bodycam footage and a failure to properly train officers for dangerous confrontations. Congress has been clamoring for more information after two ICE-involved shootings in Texas and Maine, where officers attempted to serve warrants and fatally shot two foreign nationals who were behind the wheel. None of the officers involved in the shootings had body cameras, despite pledges from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in February that those devices would be distributed to the ICE workforce with funds allocated by Congress. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in a brief hallway interview called it a “mistake” that the officers lacked body cameras to document the scene and said “it would be wise” for DHS to distribute them to the workforce as fast as possible.

Republicans — including top officials in the administration — are concerned that the lack of video evidence of the shootings will end up damaging President Donald Trump’s ambitious crackdown on unauthorized immigration by making it difficult to set the narrative or identify issues in tactics. Lawmakers also said more training may be needed to ensure ICE officers understand when they can and cannot use deadly force. The shootings pose a test for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who has pledged to keep his agency out of the headlines even as he steps up enforcement under Trump’s direction. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a sometimes critic of the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement, said “something has to change” and emphasized that the deaths of civilians could not continue. Frustrations are also growing in the administration. One administration official, who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak freely about the response to the shootings, said more training is needed for vehicle stops. The official also expressed concerns about how the lack of that footage could hurt DHS’ ability to explain what happened in the shootings or potentially defend officer conduct.

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Newsom hires prominent litigator Abbe Lowell to fight DOJ probe

Gavin Newsom has retained prominent defense lawyer Abbe Lowell to represent him as federal investigators probe the California governor’s circle, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. The Democratic governor hired Lowell to represent him and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom in a private capacity, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the hiring. A representative for Newsom declined to comment and a representative for Lowell did not respond to a request for comment. Gavin Newsom has retained prominent defense lawyer Abbe Lowell to represent him as federal investigators probe the California governor’s circle, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. The Democratic governor hired Lowell to represent him and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom in a private capacity, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the hiring. A representative for Newsom declined to comment and a representative for Lowell did not respond to a request for comment. The hiring of Lowell, who for years has represented some of Washington’s highest-profile figures, speaks to the politically explosive nature of the Department of Justice’s investigation, which Newsom has slammed as a baseless act of retribution — and a continuation of Trump’s history of targeting political opponents.

Many of those foes are also Lowell clients, including Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — a roster that has cemented Lowell’s status as the go-to lawyer for people under Trump administration scrutiny. Newsom has accused Trump of targeting him because he is exploring a presidential bid. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche brushed off that claim earlier this month. “I’m not sure his words are in any way grounded in fact,” Blanche told reporters. A person familiar with the multi-pronged investigation said it originated in California and has examined Newsom’s former chief of staff, who pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges this year, and Siebel Newsom’s finances. No one is known to have been indicted in the latest probe. The Newsom administration has accused the administration of a fishing expedition, saying federal investigators have subpoenaed or questioned numerous people connected to the governor or the first partner and sought business records.

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Reflecting Pool peeling probably caused by application flaws, experts say

The lining of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool peeled away in at least seven places along seams that were created when the material was applied in large rectangular sections, indicating likely problems in how it was installed, according to a Washington Post analysis of visuals and interviews with experts. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said vandals are to blame for the damage that appeared just two weeks after the $14 million renovation was completed in early June. “The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday. On Tuesday, photos emerged on social media that showed the pool had been drained in preparation for repairs. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made similar claims in television interviews in early July, saying on Fox News that vandals left gashes totaling 350 feet. “[The lining] didn’t peel off,” he said on CNN, adding that people were “literally trying to destroy part of a monument.”

Post reporters visited the Reflecting Pool on June 25 and identified seven locations where the lining — a waterproof membrane that was painted onto the concrete basin — had partially or entirely peeled away. The peeling occurred in irregularly shaped patches that stretched alongside the long edges of the pool. The pieces ranged in size from a few inches to as long as six feet. In one case, the concrete was visible underneath. (Reporters could not see the condition of the lining in the middle of the basin.) By comparing the seven locations with satellite imagery, photos and videos taken during the renovation process, the analysis found that all of the failures occurred at the seams — lines between two areas that were painted at different times. Four experts in waterproofing materials — who have decades of experience and have served as educators and expert witnesses in pool-related construction lawsuits — reviewed The Post’s findings and said the failure pattern strongly suggested errors in the application process. They said that while a precise cause cannot be determined without on-site examination and lab testing, such seams require careful attention and are especially prone to failure. When The Post shared its findings with the White House and the Interior Department, spokespeople disputed that the surface had been improperly applied. “There were no missteps during the initial repairs to the pool,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers. “Unfortunately, deranged individuals made several gashes in the side of the pool and destroyed over 300 feet of the pool’s siding. Once the necessary repairs to fix the vandalism are complete, the Reflecting Pool will be restored to all its glory.”

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Wildfire smoke will worsen in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through Friday

Dangerous wildfire smoke is filling the skies from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. And in some areas, conditions are expected to worsen. Through Friday, more than 115 million people are forecast to be exposed to air quality levels that are unhealthy or worse as winds funnel smoke south from out-of-control fires in Canada and Minnesota — and a heat dome traps that smoke near the ground. From late Wednesday into early Thursday, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and New York had some of the worst air quality of the world’s major cities, according to data from IQAir. In Detroit, the air quality index reached a value of 728 late Wednesday, far worse than the peak of 465 in New York during the apocalyptic June 2023 fires.

The smoke drifted into Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, during the early hours of Thursday morning and was tracking southward along a path that roughly followed Interstate 95. However, shifting winds closer to Baltimore and D.C. may keep the worst of the smoke out for most of the day Thursday — but not Thursday night. That’s when unhealthy air quality levels are forecast to abruptly develop, as the smoke plume accelerates south, engulfing much of Virginia and parts of North Carolina — conditions that are forecast to last through Friday night. Meanwhile, a second strong smoke plume is also forecast to waft toward New York and Boston on Thursday afternoon and evening, with the New York City Emergency Management Office warning that “this could become the most significant smoke event in New York City since 2023, and conditions will be closely monitored for any deterioration.”

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ICE officer who killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero has a violent history, family and records say

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press. David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years, and one shared a voicemail with the AP from last winter in which he told her that he thought someone should slit her throat. Brouillette’s troubling past further challenges how thoroughly the Department of Homeland Security has vetted recruits as it went on a hiring spree to help carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the crackdown after retaking office, including 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was shot and killed by Brouillette on Monday while in his car near his home in the coastal Maine city of Biddeford. DHS, which hasn’t released the name of the officer who killed Durán Guerrero, has said the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.” Brouillette didn’t respond to text messages or an email seeking comment. Three relatives who said they had spoken to him since the shooting, including an ex-wife and daughter, said he told them he acted in self-defense. When reached for comment about Brouillette’s record and his role in Monday’s shooting, ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that, “We will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers,” and that “The ICE officer in question has nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training including use of force training.” The White House referred all questions about the shooting and Brouillette to ICE.

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House Dems’ midterm windfall

House Democrats are rolling in cash with just 109 days until the midterms. A new trove of campaign-finance reports released this week showed a concerning reality for the GOP: Democratic candidates raked in gargantuan amounts of money last quarter in key battleground districts. In fact, at least 25 GOP incumbents — and Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) — were outraised by a Democratic challenger during that critical period, per a Punchbowl News analysis of FEC data. The majority of that GOP group hold competitive districts. And 11 of the Republicans had less cash on hand than their Democratic challenger. Tea leaves. This is a real danger sign for the GOP. Some of these House Democratic challengers raised more money last quarter than Senate candidates. And lackluster fundraising by Republican candidates is stretching the House map in Democrats’ favor.

“Numbers don’t lie, and they are all saying one thing: Democrats are poised to take back the majority,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene told us Thursday. Yet candidate fundraising is only part of the overall House landscape. Republicans have gained a slight edge in the redistricting wars. Democrats aren’t very popular. GOP super PACs are flush with cash, including MAGA Inc., which is sitting on $382 million. And the Supreme Court decision that nixed coordinated spending limits makes it exponentially easier for the NRCC to bail out underfunded campaigns. But two big factors are working against House Republicans heading into the late stages of this cycle: a terrible political environment and the striking Democratic fundraising edge. The two are related. Anti-Trump, small-dollar donors are fired up and expressing their frustration by funding campaigns. The Democratic base senses that winning the House majority is in reach. Democratic Senate candidates are also thriving financially. But it’s easier for them to raise money, and it’s a lot more difficult for first-time congressional candidates.

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Political text messages could get more effective and annoying. Blame AI

AI-powered platforms are training bots to sound like political candidates in text messages, holding personalized conversations with thousands of potential voters simultaneously. The bots are also gathering data, learning what each voter wants from their representatives and using that information to shape future campaign messaging. Aaron Sheeks, the CEO of Akillion, an AI platform that lets people run their own Large Language Models or bots, said many of his current clients are running for political office. "Our goal is to put the microphone back in the hand of the voter," said Sheeks. "We're giving agencies and political campaigns the ability to have a trained AI employee that can go back and forth and answer questions on police reform or education or tax changes."

Some in the broader political text messaging industry say generative AI's ability to answer voter's questions and gather data about their concerns is going to be revolutionary for campaigns; others say political text messages are a limited — and annoying — tool and using AI won't improve it. While it's difficult to ascertain how many campaigns are using generative AI to text voters this election cycle, experts say Republicans have been adapting to AI faster than Democrats. "My belief is that this is going to make campaigns more interactive, more responsive and more personalized," said Eric Wilson, a Republican strategist and the director of the Center for Campaign Innovation, a nonprofit that encourages conservative campaigns to adopt new technology. He said that generative AI "helps campaigns do more with less." In almost all cases the first text message sent to voters is written and sent by a human, Wilson said. The AI steps in when the recipient engages.

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Lead Stories

Flooding forces evacuations in parts of South Texas as slow-moving storms swamp the region

Widening evacuation warnings and high-water rescues in Texas mounted Wednesday under relentlessly heavy storms that turned roads into rivers, washed away vehicles and spun up a tornado across a busy interstate in San Antonio. Texas Game Wardens have participated in rescues of more than 40 people so far in the flooding, mostly in the Uvalde County area, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson. Forecasters warned that already dangerous conditions were likely to worsen in some hard-hit communities. The deluge dumped nearly a foot of rain in some counties and put people in dozens of counties under flood watches, including parts of the Texas Hill Country where last summer’s devastating floods killed more than 100 people. Some of the flood watches were expected to remain in effect through Friday evening.

As much as 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain was possible in some places before the storms move out, the weather service said. As of Wednesday evening, just over six million Texas residents in 57 counties were under a National Weather Service flood watch that was scheduled to continue through early Thursday night. Watches for 34 of those counties were scheduled to expire Friday evening. The highest rainfall totals so far — up to 16 inches (40 centimeters) — have been in Uvalde County, where officials tallied 25 rescues as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, and said more people needed help as river levels rose. Highways and roads were closed across the region because of high water. The county normally gets about 23 inches (58 centimeters) of rain a year, according to the Uvalde County Extension Office. The Uvalde Police Department said on Facebook at 1 p.m. that a dam in the northern part of the county was still intact, but the Leona River was still expected to rise another 15 feet (about 4.6 meters). Police warned people along the river to get to higher ground. State Rep. Don McLaughlin said that despite a “little lull,” the rainfall wasn’t done and waterways could become more dangerous. “The rivers and the creeks are going to be coming up, and they’re going to be coming up again with a vengeance,” McLaughlin said.

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Trump overturns pause of ICE vehicle stops implemented after Maine, Texas shootings

President Trump overturned a suspension of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement traffic stops that multiple law enforcement sources said had been implemented after fatal shootings in Texas and Maine over the last week. ICE agents had been instructed to immediately suspend most vehicle stops during immigration enforcement operations nationwide, except in cases involving serious criminal targets. In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, however, Mr. Trump wrote that "we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.'s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP! Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal's hands." But he told ICE to "be judicious, fair and smart."

The White House confirmed to CBS News that the president's Truth Social post was intended to overturn Tuesday's memo from DHS temporarily suspending vehicle stops by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO. Later Wednesday, ICE sources confirmed to CBS News the agency's deportation officers can again make vehicle stops. A law enforcement official and a DHS official said that ICE field offices issued verbal clarifications to personnel, and agents were told that traffic stops are "not off the table" and remain "a tool in the toolkit." DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote on X that he and the president are "on the same page." "We want our [ICE] officers to have all options available to keep them safe while executing our mission of deporting as many illegal alien criminals from our country as possible," Mullin said.

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Texas Tech chair donated $275K to Ken Paxton day before AG intervened in Brendan Sorsby saga

Last month, Attorney General Ken Paxton waded into the explosive college football saga involving Brendan Sorsby, the Texas Tech University quarterback who had admitted to placing thousands of improper sports bets, including on his own team’s games, resulting in the NCAA declaring him ineligible to play. In a June 11 letter, Paxton’s office warned the Big 12 Conference on behalf of Texas Tech that any move to sanction the university for fielding Sorsby would be “unlawful” and potentially expose it to $200 million in damages. One day before he sent that letter, Texas Tech Board of Regents Chair Cody Campbell, one of Sorsby’s most public defenders, donated $274,300 to a fundraising committee supporting Paxton in his bid for U.S. Senate, according to campaign finance records newly filed with the Federal Election Committee Wednesday.

Campbell declined to comment on the record for this story. Paxton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment or to questions about whether Paxton indicated to Campbell that his office would send the letter if he made the donation. Texas Tech also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Campbell, a former Texas Tech lineman who has donated at least $25 million to the school’s athletics program, was appointed to the board of regents in 2021 and became chair in 2025. Throughout Sorsby’s eligibility drama, Campbell and Texas Tech vocally defended his right to play, casting him as a student in recovery from addiction and his situation the “outcome of a broken system.” Campbell is also a major GOP donor. From 2016 onward, he gave $30,000 to Paxton’s state-level campaigns, and in this year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, he donated to both Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. His June 10 donation to Paxton Victory, one of Paxton’s joint fundraising committees, appears to be among his largest contributions over the years. Campbell also previously gave almost $700,000 to Trump 47 Committee Inc. and $500,000 to MAGA Inc., President Donald Trump’s principal super PAC.

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Dems have a big cash advantage in key Senate races

Democrats continue to rake in cash across some of the nation’s most pivotal Senate races, outpacing their Republican counterparts several times over. In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has 20 times as much cash on hand as his Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins. In North Carolina, perhaps Democrats’ best pickup opportunity, former Gov. Roy Cooper outraised former RNC Chair Michael Whatley $8.2 million to $2.9 million. And in Texas, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico ended June with $21.5 million in the bank compared to $1.8 million for his GOP opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. But Republicans have a leg up in a handful of states that have gotten messy for Democrats, including Michigan and Maine, where the GOP has built up a cash advantage while primaries have prevented Democrats from sending their resources to a single candidate. That could challenge Democrats’ narrow path back to Senate control heading into the fall.

The Senate battle map is nearly solidified with a handful of critical states left on the primary calendar. Democrats face a steep climb against Republicans, who benefit from a more favorable map and campaign-arm cash advantage. But Democrats’ pipe dream to seize the upper chamber has become more realistic as the party fields a slate of star recruits with proven fundraising prowess — and as Republicans continue to grapple with high costs and an ongoing war in Iran. Democrats’ hopes were further buoyed Wednesday by their candidates’ second-quarter campaign finance reports, filed with the Federal Election Commission. “In key battleground races, Democrats are out-raising and out-polling many of their Republican counterparts,” said Adrienne Elrod, a national Democratic strategist who has advised numerous Senate and presidential campaigns. “All of this bodes well for a strong midterm for Democrats.”

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State Stories

In reversal, Mayor Whitmire says ‘HPD is conducting an investigation’ into ICE shooting

According to Mayor John Whitmire, the Houston Police Department is investigating the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by a federal immigration agent last week. "We're doing everything possible at HPD to investigate this tragic death, and anyone that says different is just wrong," Whitmire said. Whitmire's remarks on Wednesday came one week after he and Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said the department lacked jurisdiction to investigate, a claim disputed by legal experts. Since then, Whitmire said, the city turned over 911 audio and METRO bus video footage to the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which is investigating the shooting in addition to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General. HPD also offered assistance last week to the FBI, which is probing the incident as a potential assault on a law enforcement officer.

“My police chief, former Texas Ranger, has been conducting investigations, sharing everything we have as an HPD office with this district attorney — METRO tape, 911 video," Whitmire said. "I can't tell you how we continue to dialogue with the district attorney. But the jurisdiction is federal. They control the evidence. We're asking them to release that to the Texas Rangers.” Diaz said last week that HPD officers were not independently gathering evidence, and Whitmire did not clarify on Wednesday whether that has changed. An HPD spokesperson could not immediately say whether officers were seeking evidence. Whitmire said the FBI was slated to execute a search warrant on the van driven by Salgado Araujo at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and the DA's office would be present. In a statement, a spokesperson for the DA's office said it would not discuss details about a pending investigation. The FBI declined to comment, including whether or not this was the first time the agency has looked at the van since the July 7 shooting, referring back to the mayor’s office for clarification. Whitmire announced the new stance under pressure from council member Edward Pollard. "People want answers, people want some type of clarity, and people are frustrated with some of the actions of the city," Pollard told Whitmire. Before the meeting, Whitmire instructed Diaz to request the Texas Rangers conduct their own investigation into the shooting. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which includes the Rangers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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FBI obtains warrant to search Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's van for drugs. How it became public is unusual.

A federal search warrant obtained by the FBI shows that investigators are searching the van driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo for evidence of drugs after he was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent. An FBI agent requested a warrant from a U.S. magistrate judge on Tuesday, according to court records. The agent sought permission to search a white Ford Transit van, which he said has not been entered or searched since the July 7 shooting. The warrant marks an unusual development in the shooting investigation. Federal search warrants out of the Southern District of Texas are usually unavailable for public viewing so early in an investigation. Court records as of Tuesday label the document as sealed, despite it being available to be downloaded.

Federal officials didn't immediately explain why the court record was available publicly. Salgado had no criminal history in Harris County, and the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement told U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia that ICE agents had intended to target someone else — not Salgado. Houston defense attorney David Adler, who has practiced for 30 years, said he's never heard of a federal warrant being open to the public so quickly. "I have not seen this before," Adler said. "Typically these things are filed under seal and they remain under seal until there's an order to unseal." The agent, who is assigned to the FBI's Houston field office, wrote that he was investigating a case involving possession of a controlled substance. The warrant briefly describes the chase and Salgado's shooting. The FBI investigator wrote that the ICE agents attempted to pull the van over at 6:45 a.m. and claims that Salgado "refused to stop and instead drove over a median in an apparent attempt to flee." The agent wrote that officers didn't initially pursue the vehicle, but later located the van on Canal Street, where the shooting happened.

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Prominent Southeast Texas attorney Buddy Low dies at 93

Gilbert I. "Buddy" Low, a nationally recognized trial lawyer whose legal career spanned decades and earned him recognition as one of Texas' top attorneys, died Tuesday, July 14, 2026. He was 93. Low practiced law in Beaumont with Orgain Bell & Tucker LLP, where he handled major litigation involving a wide range of legal issues throughout his career. While he emphasized personal injury law, his practice also included insurance coverage disputes, antitrust litigation, patents, trademarks, criminal RICO violations, environmental cases, class actions, contract disputes and general business litigation. He represented both plaintiffs and defendants. His work earned numerous honors over the years. Low was listed in The Best Lawyers in America every year beginning in 1993.

In 1999, Texas Lawyer magazine recognized him as both the best defense lawyer and the best plaintiff's lawyer in Jefferson County. He was also named among the state's top 100 attorneys in the 2003 and 2004 editions of Texas Super Lawyers. Beyond the courtroom, Low played a significant role in shaping the legal profession in Texas. He served as chairman of the Texas Supreme Court Professional Ethics Committee for more than 25 years and later became vice chairman of the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee. He also served as president of the Jefferson County Bar Association and was a fellow of the International Society of Barristers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates. A graduate of Stephen F. Austin College, Low earned his bachelor's degree in 1954 and received the university's Hall of Fame Award in 1994. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1960, where he served as comment editor of the Texas Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif and Phi Alpha Delta. A gathering of family and friends will begin at 5 p.m. Friday, July 17, at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 4090 Delaware St. in Beaumont, followed by a service of remembrance at 7 p.m. His funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18, at Geneva Methodist Church at Texas 21 and FM 330 in Geneva. Interment will follow at Myrtle Springs Cemetery in Geneva. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Broussard's Mortuary in Beaumont.

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Texas Gov. says dozens rescued during floods so far, urges continued diligence

In a news conference Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said dozens of people have been rescued from floodwaters across the state this week. He said there have been no reports of deaths so far. “We are dealing with and responding to a flood that is likely going to break records,” Abbott said in the press conference. “Our primary focus right now is saving lives.” Abbott and state leaders urged Texans to avoid driving if possible, to keep an eye on rivers and creeks and to be ready to act, if necessary. The governor said some parts of the state may get additional rain, something the state is monitoring. Abbott said more than 800 vehicles, 75 boats, 20 aircraft and 30 state agencies have aided in the state’s response to the severe weather, adding that he believes the state is “better prepared than we ever have been.”

The state said it was in contact with all of the emergency management offices for all of the cities and counties impacted so far and said no needs have gone unmet. The briefing and press conference comes as heavy rain continues to impact parts of Central Texas. Kendall and Medina counties have been heavily affected by the severe weather, with the National Weather Service placing them under a Flash Flood Emergency. A Flash Flood Warning will be in effect for southwest Kendall County until 8:15 p.m. Medina County is under the same bulletin until 8:30 p.m. A Flood Watch remains in effect for most of Central Texas until 7 PM Thursday with the potential for life-threatening flash flooding. Remember, never drive through flooded streets, and make sure you have multiple ways to receive weather alerts. Additionally, many roadways are being affected in the Texas Hill Country due to the heavy rainfall. Many of the affected roads are in Gillespie County.

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Blanche faces Cornyn-size hurdle in AG confirmation fight

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hasn’t yet won over Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and his confirmation hearing to permanently lead the Justice Department did little to quell concerns about the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization” fund. Blanche came into his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with a clear objective: win over Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and lock down the panel’s approval before getting a full vote on the floor. Tillis told reporters afterward that he is “leaning yes” on the nomination. That leaves Cornyn as Blanche’s main obstacle. Cornyn made clear he was still undecided after Blanche gave what he viewed as insufficient assurances that the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is dead. He was also concerned about a related tax immunity deal struck with President Donald Trump and his family.

“It seems to me, particularly … on the tax case, he certainly leaned in to help the president more than what was necessary to resolve the case,” Cornyn said. “I’m just listening. I’m a sponge. I’m soaking it all up,” he continued. “I don’t have to decide now. … I’ll make a decision when I need to, but not before.” Cornyn’s questioning focused largely on the twin issues, which have given Senate Republicans a significant amount of consternation in recent months. The Texas Republican, who will leave the Senate at the end of the year after losing his May primary, asked about the acting AG’s decision to green-light a deal that “forever barred” the IRS from auditing Trump’s previous tax returns. “There’s so much that’s unusual about this,” Cornyn told the AG nominee. The deal was born out of the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss the president’s $10 billion suit against the IRS for leaking his tax return — prompting creation of the much-derided “anti-weaponization” fund that has since been scuttled. Members were particularly worried that the fund could be used to pay rioters who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

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Camp Mystic moves flood lawsuit to federal court, citing bankruptcy

Camp Mystic's owners have successfully moved a wrongful death lawsuit filed by six families from Texas state court to federal court, arguing the case is tied to the camp's ongoing bankruptcy. The move adds another layer of uncertainty to five lawsuits filed by families which accuse camp operators of failing to protect their children during last year's catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country. In a notice filed Monday, the camp's owners argued the lawsuit is connected to its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and should therefore be handled in federal court. The case, originally filed in Travis County state court, centers on the deaths of six girls at Camp Mystic during the July 2025 flood.

They were among 25 campers and two counselors killed when floodwaters swept through the century-old summer camp for girls near Hunt. Camp owner and executive director Dick Eastland was also killed. More than 130 people died across the Texas Hill Country. The camp's filing came just two days before a status hearing on the case. Wednesday's hearing was canceled after the case was moved to federal court, according to Kyle Findley, an attorney representing the six families. In a statement, Findley accused Camp Mystic's owners of trying to keep the cases out of a public state courtroom. "These families aren't asking for anything extraordinary — they're asking for a public trial, in Texas state court, in front of a jury as is their right in this country," Findley said. Findley pointed to the camp's earlier effort to force some families into private arbitration, which would have moved the disputes out of court and avoided jury trials in five cases scheduled for next year. He also criticized the timing of the camp's bankruptcy filing and its latest move to federal court.

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The hard ceiling over Texas cities’ climate plans

In 2015, a 25-year-old flooring installer named Roendy Granillo collapsed and died of heat stroke on a construction job in Melissa, a small town northeast of Dallas, after his family said he was denied a water break. They carried his story to Dallas City Hall, and the council passed an ordinance on a 10-5 vote, guaranteeing construction workers a 10-minute rest break every four hours. Austin had passed a similar rule in 2010. The rules stood for more than a decade. Then, in 2023, a single state law erased them both and barred any other Texas city from passing one. Over the past decade, in a state whose leadership has broadly resisted any sort of climate mandates, a string of Texas cities moved the other way. The four largest, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin, each wrote a climate plan and committed to cutting emissions to zero by mid-century. Austin moved its target up to 2040, San Antonio adopted its plan in 2019, Houston pledged a 40 percent cut by 2030, and Dallas wrote money for its plan into the city budget. Smaller places joined in, from San Marcos and Smithville to El Paso, which approved its own plan in early 2026. The cities can still set the goals, but the practical tools to reach them—from building codes to worker protections to transportation funding—have increasingly been relegated to the state level.

The clearest case is buildings, where moving new construction off gas and onto electricity is one of the most direct ways a city can cut emissions. Austin’s first plan would have nearly eliminated gas hookups in new buildings by 2030. It never happened. The provision was softened after the local gas utility pushed back, and in 2021 the state settled the question for everyone, barring cities from banning natural gas as a fuel source in new construction. Atmos Energy, one of the state’s largest natural-gas distributors and a major operator in the cities where these plans were written, defends the arrangement on grounds of cost. “Affordable energy leads to affordable housing,” the company said in a statement to the Texas Observer, arguing that keeping natural gas in the mix and preserving consumer choice holds down housing costs while still cutting emissions. It backs the case with its own figures: In Texas, the company said, natural gas is “about half the cost of electricity,” and a home with gas “produces 13 percent less carbon emissions than an all-electric home.” That carbon figure is Atmos’s own, and gas-versus-electric comparisons turn heavily on how methane leakage is counted and on what powers the grid. But the consumer-choice argument is real. In 2021, the Legislature made it law, guaranteeing builders the right to choose natural gas.

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In debate over AI data centers in Texas, it's "rural Texas is dying" vs. "preserve this land"

Opposition seems to be growing - particularly against data centers that will be built to support the increasing demand for artificial intelligence. Gov. Greg Abbott has said he wants to prohibit AI data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods. State Representative Shelley Luther agrees with the Governor, while Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian disagrees. Rep. Luther lives near Sherman and says that others who live in the area aren't thrilled with the idea of data centers moving in. "I think it's huge for the governor to come out and say that we need to protect, really, the Republicans that live in these rural areas [who] are his voters, and we're pretty easy going," said Luther. "We don't ask for much, but when people try to come into our property rights, it's frustrating."

"Honestly, a huge eyesore for those of us that live in this rural area because of the beauty. Green land, rolling, rolling hills. I don't think that we should tear that up for data centers," Luther added. "Steaks don't come from H-E-B. It's like what I like to say. They've got to come from somewhere in rural Texas. You've got to preserve this land and not put a big industrial footprint on it. The Texas Legislature is who needs to step in, make the laws. I think Governor Abbott's letter to the PUC chairman was a big move to say, 'Hey, let's take a pause.' And he knows that they shouldn't just come in and take our water, electricity." When asked about the political stakes if the governor didn't do this, Luther responded, "Well, I think that Governor Abbott is very good at reading and polling what's going on in Texas, and he wants to do what conservatives want him to do. And so he wouldn't have put that statement out if he wasn't feeling the pressure. I don't think." Luther told CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink about the freedoms of living in rural Texas. For people living in unincorporated counties and unincorporated areas of counties, there is no zoning. "The reason why we moved out here is to have complete liberty of whatever we wanted to do," said Luther. She mentions her ability to have animals, including kangaroos, on her property as an example of this. Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian told Jack Fink he disagrees with the Governor's idea of prohibiting AI data centers in rural Texas. "Rural Texas is dying," said Christian. "In the United States of America, rural America is decaying, going away."

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At this Dallas clinic, birth control isn’t a 7-minute conversation

The final day that nurse practitioner Micaela Sanchez worked in a traditional women’s clinic, she was scheduled to see 52 patients. She had woken up before dawn, feeling pretty lousy. Grinding through her morning routine, she dropped her 4-year-old at pre-K and headed from Oak Cliff to the low-cost clinic in Pleasant Grove. By the end of her 20-minute commute, she couldn’t ignore the flu-like symptoms. When Sanchez told her supervisor she was sick, the woman handed her a mask and two Tylenol and assured the 37-year-old she’d be fine. The directive “we can’t manage without you” bounced inside Sanchez’s aching head as she struggled through the day’s wall-to-wall appointments, a workload that limited her to spending no more than seven minutes with each patient.

Sanchez understood the business model. But even on her best days she yearned for the freedom to devote more time to those who needed it, especially the many women seeking birth control options. A single mother herself, Sanchez had picked women’s health as her specialty to provide others, especially younger patients, the knowledge and options to make better choices than she had. She also knew abortion restrictions made contraception conversations more critical than ever, especially for lower-income women whose futures were already fragile. Every day Sanchez sensed their urgency and worried she was falling short as a provider. Her throat and heart were tight as she walked to her car after finishing her shift that November 2022 evening, symptoms not of her illness, but of suppressing her concerns for so long. Adding to her despair were worries about her two girls, who deserved better than the sunbaked dish rag of a mother she felt herself to be when she got home. Sanchez left the office that day and never returned. A conventional clinic focused on reproductive health — open only from 9-to-5 on weekdays, designed to see as many women as possible — wasn’t what she wanted for herself or her patients. All the way home, and for months afterward, she considered the same question: “How can I create something better?”

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Austin budget reaction: Social service cuts, police spending and taxes draw fire

Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax and his staff will present their $6.6 billion budget proposal to the City Council on Thursday, opening a debate over a spending plan that would cut social service contracts, boost police spending and raise taxes and fees for residents. The plan proposes closing a projected $26 million deficit through spending cuts, reallocations and additional revenue. It also boosts funding for some priority initiatives such as homelessness, parks and employee raises. Residents would pay more through higher utility and drainage fees and a 3.5% tax increase – the maximum allowed under state law without triggering a voter-approval election. Together, the increases are estimated to cost the average Austin homeowner nearly $346 a year, or about $29 a month. But the proposal is a starting point. City Council members can make changes to the spending plan before adopting a final budget Aug. 12. In the days since Broadnax released the plan, the American-Statesman asked community groups, union leaders and City Council members for their thoughts on the proposal.

Marc Duchen, the most fiscally conservative council member, said he firmly opposes the tax hike and thinks Austinites won’t go for it, either. He cited voters’ overwhelming rejection last November of a city tax hike known as Proposition Q. “I appreciate the effort the city manager’s staff put into their initial proposal, but passing it as-is would require a major tax increase, something I firmly oppose,” he said in a statement. “That’s why my team and I are going through it line by line, looking for ways to reduce unnecessary costs.” Duchen said the council should be able to protect essential services without imposing another increase that struggling residents cannot afford. Mayor Kirk Watson said in an interview that he thinks city officials owe it to the public to look at all aspects of affordability, especially as council weighs whether to have a bond election in the fall. Watson said he started the budget process by asking for a no-new revenue forecast so that he and council could be more transparent.

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Texas says foster care is improving. Monitors are still raising alarms over child safety.

Texas may be trying again to end eight years of costly court-ordered oversight of its troubled foster care program. It’s a battle with roots in a federal court decision from 2015 — in a case that was filed in 2011 — when a judge declared children were leaving the state’s child welfare system in worse shape than they entered. Federal oversight began in 2018 and, since then, reports have both shown progress and exposed failures. Now, the state could be seeking relief from the supervision that has cost it $80 million through February. The content of a new motion Texas filed in the case is sealed, but the last time it filed a similar motion, the state was asking U.S. District Court Judge Janis Graham Jack to stop monitoring its progress on a dozen court orders.

She scoffed at the idea, pointing to the state’s numerous documented failures, for which she had repeatedly found the state to be in contempt and assessed $100,000-a-day fines. “To have the hubris to file a motion for relief is just beyond me,” she said. But Jack is no longer overseeing the case. Texas was able to have her removed with the help of the 5th U.S. Circuit court of Appeals, which also vacated the contempt fines and narrowed the court’s supervision. Since then, the state has been on a campaign to further reduce the court’s role under a different judge. The move to reduce or remove the court from the system comes despite new court monitors’ reports filed last month that highlight some of the state’s continuing failures to keep children safe in its custody — especially in its attempts to privatize its foster care system. Earlier this year, the state was forced to take over one of the nonprofits it had contracted with because of child deaths. “Private providers need to meet the same high standards (as the state), but some are falling short,” said Paul Yetter, an attorney who represents the current and former foster children who sued the state.

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National Weather Service confirms 100 mph EF-1 tornado damaged northwest San Antonio; no injuries reported

The National Weather Service's preliminary damage survey found that a tornado with peak winds of 100 mph reached EF-1 strength as it struck northwest San Antonio Wednesday morning. The same storm system also triggered flooding, evacuation orders and water rescues across South Central Texas. Survey crews determined the tornado was on the ground for about eight minutes, from 7:44 a.m. to 7:52 a.m., traveling about 4 miles. It began roughly 2 miles southwest of the Interstate 10 and Loop 1604 interchange before tracking northeast through the city's Northwest Side and dissipating just north of The Rim.

Despite carving a path through one of San Antonio's busiest commercial corridors, damaging homes and businesses and tearing part of the roof from an apartment building, the tornado caused no reported injuries. The tornado affected areas near the University of Texas at San Antonio, The Rim, Camp Bullis, Crown Ridge and The Dominion. Across the area, crews reported downed trees, damaged roofs and storefronts, damaged signs and scattered debris. The most significant structural damage occurred at the Oasis Apartments, 6023 UTSA Blvd., where a large section of the roof was torn from the building, damaging three fourth-floor apartments. The American Red Cross is assisting displaced residents with immediate needs. UT San Antonio students, shoppers and workers describe taking cover as the 100 mph EF-1 tornado ripped part of the roof from an apartment building and scattered debris across the Northwest Side.

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National Stories

Inside Maine Democrats’ search for a new Senate nominee after Graham Platner’s exit

Standing between a video camera and a crowd of protesters, Troy Jackson, a logger and former Maine state lawmaker, was trying to find his footing in a Senate race he had not planned to run in, and to respond to a tragedy he had not anticipated. Hours earlier on Monday, a federal immigration agent had fatally shot a young Colombian man in Biddeford, a blue-collar town outside Portland. Mr. Jackson was seeking to channel Democratic outrage over the event and hit Senator Susan Collins, the five-term Republican he hopes to challenge, for voting to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Let’s tighten that up,” Aren LeBrun, a videographer working for his campaign, said to Mr. Jackson before coaching him on a more succinct script. “This is the big time now.” Mr. Jackson and several other Maine Democrats are indeed entering the political big time — jockeying to become the party’s new Senate nominee after Graham Platner dropped out last week in the face of a rape allegation he has denied.

To do so, they have to reinvent themselves at breakneck speed for an unusual campaign that will be decided not by the primary electorate, but by 601 delegates who will vote at a convention in Bangor on July 25. The strange sprint has rendered many traditional campaign tactics, like door-knocking and television advertising, irrelevant. Instead, the candidates must decide whether their time is better spent trying to appeal to voters through public events and videos, or by making their case directly to the small number of delegates who get to choose the next Democratic nominee. To do the necessary outreach, the candidates have hastily revived dormant campaign operations they used this year to run for other offices, calling up former staff members and hiring new hands. “It’s kind of minute by minute,” Dan Kleban, who is running for the nomination, said in an interview on Monday at the brewery he founded with his brother. “It’s just like: ‘All right, there’s this press opportunity. Do we do that or do we call delegates?’ Because we only have so much time.” So far, the only people known to have votes at the convention are 101 members of the Democratic Party’s state committee, while 500 at-large delegates will be chosen this weekend by Democrats in Maine’s 16 counties. Before those meetings, candidates are racing to recruit people who will support them as delegates, and to pack county meetings with their backers.

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House GOP’s budget bill to fund Iran war and U.S. farmers could be in trouble

House Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan for a $95 billion budget bill that would send money to the Pentagon for the Iran war and help for American farmers is in danger of failure amid pushback from Republicans worried about deficits and skepticism in the Senate. Fiscally conservative Republicans have said they wanted any new spending in a third spending package to be offset by budget cuts. But leadership decided not to pursue any cuts. Lawmakers are trying to pass the bill through a process known as reconciliation that allows them to bypass Democratic opposition; they have already used it twice this Congress to pass tax cuts and fund immigration enforcement agencies. But unresolved concerns from House Republicans displeased with the additional spending, as well as weakened components of a bill championed by President Donald Trump that would impose restrictions on voting — plus a lack of buy-in from multiple Senate Republicans — could prevent that from happening.

Vice President JD Vance met with House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon to rally lawmakers behind the framework. In their slim majority, House leaders need the support of nearly all Republicans to pass. Vance’s visit to the Capitol seemed to do little to sway fiscally conservative Republicans. When Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) emerged from the meeting, he told reporters there were still “concerns and problems” with the plan. “We need more work,” Roy said, adding that he was undecided on whether he would support the resolution. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia) was also noncommittal when asked whether he would support the budget resolution. Roy and Clyde, who both called for new spending to be offset with budget cuts, play a crucial role in the process as members of the House Budget Committee.

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How Trump transformed the DOJ’s Civil Rights Office

Julia Haller worked with the since-indicted Sidney Powell to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election in what a federal judge called a “historic and profound abuse of the judicial process.” Now, she’s a staff attorney at the Justice Department. Haller works in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, an office currently threatening top election officials with criminal prosecution if noncitizens vote this November. She’s part of a divisional transformation that current and former staff tell NOTUS is causing deep tension within the office, which was established via the 1957 Civil Rights Act and traditionally tasked with enforcing a wide swath of laws that prohibit various forms of discrimination.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has seen dramatic changes since President Donald Trump came back into office last year and installed Harmeet Dhillon, a former Republican Party operative in California, to lead it. Dhillon has fired employees in droves, pushed out others through separation incentives tied to pressure campaigns, reassigned staff and rewritten the mission statements for each section in the division. She has vastly reshaped the types of cases the office pursues to include constraining voting access, reducing punishments for allegedly abusive police officers and expanding Second Amendment rights. “It’s been a radical shift,” said one civil rights attorney who just recently left the department. Haller’s hiring earlier this year came after a federal judge in Michigan sanctioned her and her colleagues, including Powell, for one of their lawsuits, requiring them to pay attorney fees incurred by the state and the city of Detroit and sending them to 12 hours of continuing legal education courses. An appeals court largely held up the ruling and the Supreme Court subsequently declined to intervene.

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Oil companies are making billions. In the U.S., calls to tax their windfall are growing

Oil prices have surged in recent days amidst renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran. Higher oil prices have meant U.S. consumers are paying more for gasoline at the pump. And oil and gas companies are profiting. The world's top 100 oil and gas firms made $30 million every hour in excess profits during the early days of the U.S-Israeli war with Iran. That's according to an analysis by the environmental nonprofit Global Witness and the Guardian. "That's as a direct result of oil prices spiking globally," says Dominic Eagleton, who researches fossil fuels at Global Witness. Yet for many oil companies the cost of actually producing oil hasn't changed that much since the beginning of the war, according to the American Petroleum Institute, a trade organization for the U.S. oil and gas industry. This has led to windfall oil profits — unexpected profits as a result of the war.

Global Witness found that the top six European oil companies have made at least $22 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2026. That's 43% higher than their profits in the first quarter of 2025, the nonprofit tells NPR. The U.K. and the European Union started taxing windfall oil profits after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That tax continues to this day in the U.K. Now some U.S. lawmakers want to tax excess oil profits here. Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island proposed a windfall oil profit tax earlier this year. "?We're actually somewhat generous about letting [the oil companies] keep half of the excess profits," Whitehouse says, "but we want at least half of it to go back." The U.S. oil industry is largely not a fan of this tax proposal, says Dustin Meyer, senior vice president with API. "For investment in any industry," Meyer says, "you need certainty. And proposals like this erode exactly the sort of certainty that is needed to make the investment that has brought the United States to such an unparalleled position of American energy leadership."

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‘I’m staying out of Maine’: Chuck Schumer sidelines himself with the Senate majority on the line

The fate of the Senate majority could lie in the hands of 601 yet-to-be-chosen Maine Democrats. And Chuck Schumer, known for working every possible angle to give his party’s campaigns an edge, is largely helpless to do anything about it. The sidelines are an unusual place for the longtime Senate Democratic leader. Known for his heavy-handed interventions during his successful tenure leading the party’s campaign arm, his well-documented recruiting in key battleground races this year and penchant for near-constant backchanneling via his signature flip phone, Schumer is well aware he is now facing a new political reality. If he were to publicly back a candidate ahead of the party’s nominating convention later this month, it would likely be used against that candidate by his or her opponents. Instead, with a truncated primary timeline, Schumer is keeping his focus on the general election in November — and on defeating a longtime nemesis, veteran Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Asked in a brief interview Tuesday if he would endorse a candidate before the July 25 convention, Schumer said, “I’m staying out of Maine.” Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democratic leader, said in an interview Schumer’s reticence makes sense: “At this point, there are so many nominees and possibilities, I can see why he’s holding back.” One person with knowledge of Schumer’s thinking said the New York Democrat is leaving the 11-hour primary battle up to Mainers. Two other people close to Schumer, who were also granted anonymity to speak candidly about his approach, said he would stay far away from the race to replace Graham Platner and not pick a favorite — at least not publicly — in part out of concern that if he picks a candidate it could backfire. “He doesn’t want to put his thumb on the scale,” said a fourth person, a Democratic strategist. “Anyone he wants would be toxic.”

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More than half of House Democrats vote to cut $3.3 billion in aid to Israel

More than half the House Democrats voted Wednesday to strip $3.3 billion in U.S. aid from Israel, the most substantial signal yet that once rock-solid bipartisan support for the country is disintegrating in the aftermath of its war in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians. The vote tally, 104-314, was not enough to attach the amendment to a broader national security spending bill, but stands as a stark accounting of the shifting attitudes that are dividing the Democratic Party and the nation over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war strategy, now approaching its third year. The House’s Democratic leadership split over the issue in what was largely seen as a test vote ahead of the U.S. midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

More than 100 Democrats voted for the amendment to strip the foreign military aid money, and almost as many voted against. Most Republicans voted to preserve the Israel aid. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who announced he opposed the measure that would zero out the aid, nevertheless said “that for the good of Israel and the Palestinian people, American policy in the Middle East must change.” Jeffries said in a letter to colleagues, ahead of a private caucus meeting this week where he spoke on the issue, that he believes “there are more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary when it comes to the far-right Netanyahu government.” The deepening divide over Israel threatens to upend the Democratic Party as it faces an energized left flank that is promoting self-proclaimed democratic socialists in a handful of marquee House races, particularly last month in New York. While more traditional Democrats have stood with U.S. support for Israel, a growing number have distanced themselves from Netanyahu’s strategy as the war has dragged on in a prolonged response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

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NRCC adds 7 more candidates to MAGA Majority program

The National Republican Congressional Committee on Wednesday named seven new House hopefuls to its program for top candidates seeking to flip seats this fall. The additions to the MAGA Majority program, as Republicans have rebranded what had long been known as its Young Guns effort, include four candidates who recently won primaries in battleground districts and three who must still face GOP primary voters. Republicans are seeking to defend and grow their narrow House majority this fall in the face of historical trends that depict midterm elections as typically challenging for the party in power.

The new additions include: Barb Regnitz, a Porter County commissioner who is challenging Indiana Rep. Frank J. Mrvan; Former Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin, who won a Republican primary in May to set up a rematch with longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur; Jeanine Driscoll, the receiver of taxes in Hempstead, N.Y., who is challenging first-term New York Democrat Laura Gillen; Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz, the brother of Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz, who faces Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in a seat redrawn to favor Republicans; The latest MAGA Majority recruits also include three Republicans who face primaries next month: Navy veteran Amir Hassan, who is seeking to challenge Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet in Michigan’s 8th District Mike Bouchard Jr., an Army veteran who is running for Michigan’s open 10th District Businessman Anthony DiLorenzo, who is vying for the GOP nomination in New Hampshire’s open 1st District

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Officials asked to turn over phones at the White House as Wiles, Patel lead intensifying leak probe

Chief of staff Susie Wiles, President Donald Trump’s closest aide, and FBI Director Kash Patel helped personally orchestrate a sprawling investigation last week at the White House aimed at determining who in the government leaked information about the security deficiencies of a Qatari-gifted airplane meant to be used as Air Force One – with some officials being asked to turn over their phones to investigators on White House grounds, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump had fumed over disclosures about the new plane, sources said, and his government quickly stood up an intense leak probe that roiled the government. As the investigation unfolded, at least one federal agency emailed employees warning that if they were contacted by outside agencies requesting information and devices, they needed to immediately contact their own agency’s attorneys, one source told CNN.

The sources said Patel — who had been preparing to travel to Chicago — was diverted to the White House on Friday to take a hands-on role in running the probe, which became public early the next morning when the New York Times reported that the Justice Department had issued subpoenas to four of its journalists who reported on security concerns surrounding the new plane. Patel posted up in an office next to Wiles’ for roughly seven hours, as the two established what one source referred to as a “war room” in the West Wing. In addition to asking for cell phones, investigators sought information from those who were traveling with Trump or had a role in the trip, including officials across various agencies. Not all officials who were asked to turn over their devices did so, one of the sources told CNN. The effort reflects the extent to which the White House was willing to exert control over a law enforcement investigation — a significant breach of the Justice Department’s historic independence, though one that has become somewhat common in Trump’s administration. CNN has previously reported that Trump also talked with Patel on the phone about the leak investigation. CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment. A White House official said: “Leaks that jeopardize the safety of the President, his staff, and the traveling press pool are dangerous and a threat to national security. The White House takes these leaks seriously and will do everything legally to ensure the individual or individuals are caught and it does not happen again.”

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Lead Stories

Trump administration orders ICE to suspend most vehicle stops after 2 deadly shootings

Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday. The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. In Florida on Tuesday, a third man in roughly a week died during an encounter with immigration officers. This time, a 28-year-old man was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.

The suspension of vehicle stops allows room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator’s office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending stops. DHS said Monday that an officer, “fearing for public safety,” shot and killed Durán Guerrero while officers were watching the home of someone they believed was in the U.S. illegally and facing a final order of removal from the country. It said in a post on X that when ICE tried to stop a car driven by someone who came from the home, the person attempted to flee in the vehicle and the officer fired. That was a shift from how King earlier described the encounter, when he said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon. King said Mullin told him the officers were trying to serve an arrest warrant, but not for the man who was shot.

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Hundreds protest ICE operations at Houston City Hall as Whitmire says city shared evidence with DA’s office

Hundreds came to Houston City Hall on Tuesday, many to speak out against immigration enforcement operations in the city and last week's fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by a federal agent. Jennifer DeLatte, who lives in the East End neighborhood where the shooting happened July 7, arrived just after 1 p.m. and waited nearly four hours for her chance to speak to city officials. "I woke up last Tuesday morning to hear another person was extrajudicially executed by ICE – this time, it was my neighbor Lorenzo," DeLatte said. "I bought my house in the East End because it was a safe place to live, because of people like Lorenzo, hardworking, law-abiding families to look out for one another."

Sasha Monterroso urged the city council to launch its own independent investigation of the shooting death – one of several across the country during the last two years at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Arrests and deportations have surged during the second term of President Donald Trump. "Justice cannot depend on who pulled the trigger," Monterroso said. "Accountability cannot disappear because a federal badge was involved. An independent investigation is not an attack on the law enforcement. It is a commitment to transparency, accountability, and the principle that no one is above scrutiny." Each speech inside the council chambers was echoed by the raucous chants of dozens of protestors outside who stood for hours during the public comment session, making demands for accountability and transparency.

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ERCOT nowhere near meeting Texas goal for residential demand reduction

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is far from meeting its goals for residential demand response, barely making a dent in the total reduction regulators had hoped the program would achieve. The statewide grid operator told the Public Utility Commission that it achieved only a sliver of the sought-after 20% reduction from customers who have given their utility the ability to reduce their usage during “rush hour” periods of peak demand. The reality was a 2.5% average reduction — just 10% of what the commission sought. Grid experts have said such programs can cut costs by reducing the need for construction of new generation and transmission infrastructure as demand soars.

The demand response effort fell short despite efforts like CPS Energy’s WiFi Thermostat Rewards and Austin Energy's Power Partners programs to reduce residential demand. It comes as ERCOT, which is projecting demand growth to quadruple by 2032, braces for an influx in demand driven by industry and residential growth and increasingly severe weather. The goal of a 20% reduction was set in 2023 by state lawmakers as part of legislation aiming to increase grid reliability while reducing costs for consumers. In January 2025, the grid operator began tracking demand response participation and its deployment during peak demand periods to evaluate the programs' statewide effectiveness. Ramya Ramaswamy, the PUC's director of energy efficiency, told commissioners that ERCOT's failure to meet the demand reduction goal was due to the relatively short study period, the novelty of such programs in many parts of the state, overlapping initiatives and the effects of lower wholesale market prices. She also emphasized the need to “take a comprehensive look at demand response as a whole, of which residential demand response is a portion."

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White House to rally utilities, data centers for AI power cost pledge, sources say

The White House plans to ?bring together utility companies and data center developers to make a voluntary pledge designed to ensure that rapid growth in electricity demand from artificial intelligence does not drive up power bills for households and businesses, according to three people familiar with ?the plans. An event to announce the initiative is expected in the coming weeks, with several companies ?taking part and vowing to protect current ratepayers from shouldering all the costs of ?AI expansion. The guest list is still being finalized, the sources said.

Surging demand from power-hungry data centers ?has prompted regulators, consumer advocates and lawmakers in several states to warn that households could end up subsidizing grid ?upgrades needed to serve some of the world's largest technology companies, raising questions over whether the pledge will deliver concrete commitments or remain largely symbolic. As President Donald Trump's administration pushes to accelerate the expansion of AI infrastructure, it hopes to avoid ?a political backlash over rising electricity bills. Earlier this year, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle and xAI signed a ?voluntary "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" at a White House ceremony, committing to finance the electricity infrastructure needed for their AI projects rather ?than passing ?those costs on to existing utility customers.

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State Stories

Sen. Charles Perry: AI data centers have benefits, need vetting

The water Texans rely on today isn’t there by accident. It is available to us now because previous generations had the foresight to invest in water infrastructure long before the need for that water arose. That's the mindset that guided historic investments in the Texas Water Fund. As chairman of the Texas Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, I've spent years focused on a simple question: How do we ensure future generations have the resources they need to thrive? That same long-term thinking should guide our conversation about artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers. I believe many of these projects present infrastructure development opportunities for communities already in need of new or expanded water, transportation, and other infrastructure—who too often struggle to afford it on their own.

More than 20 AI-related projects are being discussed across West Texas, including major investments in Taylor County, Childress County, Haskell County, Lubbock, Amarillo, and surrounding areas. In many cases, the data center developers and operators advancing these projects are working with local leaders to address community concerns while creating new economic opportunities. For example, a company building a data center in Carson County is also drilling two new wells as part of its project. Near water-scarce Childress, a data center developer publicly committed to building a brackish water desalination plantthat will meet community and agricultural water needs across at least three Texas counties in addition to the data center’s water needs—all at the developer’s expense. In Stamford, local officials are exploring how new tax revenue can support long-term investments in streets, water systems and other community priorities. Each of these projects substantiates the potential for data center development to mean infrastructure development for the surrounding community—at little or no cost to local residents. It is fair to say that without addressing the real issues regarding water, electric and applicable infrastructure capacities, AI data center industry will find itself on the wrong end of the politics.

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Paxton feuds with the appeals court he said Texas needed

The three justices on Texas’s GOP-created new appeals court had been deciding cases for almost a year when they received some very public feedback from an unexpected critic. Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) turned to X to rip the justices after they ruled against him in a case his office brought against Democrat Beto O’Rourke. Paxton accused the one-time congressman of unlawfully raising money to help Texas lawmakers flee the state to delay a vote on a gerrymandered congressional map favoring Republicans. The justices had merely paused a lower court’s discovery order, not handed O’Rourke a decisive win. Still, Paxton was incensed. On X he wrote that the “activist judges” on “the Beto-loving Fifteenth Court of Appeals” were orchestrating “a constitutional crisis.”

The Aug. 27 post generated a million views and caught the justices off guard. Justice April Farris, a regular poster on X, subsequently deactivated her account. “It was shocking,” Justice Scott Field said in a recent interview with Bloomberg Law. “I’ve been a judge for a long time and never had a public official openly come after me.” Paxton’s X post stood out because he supported the creation of the court, and the justices were chosen specifically to hear cases with state agencies or officials as a party, most of them represented by attorneys from his office. Twice following the blow-up, Chief Justice Scott Brister scolded Paxton’s lawyers in court for what he saw as questionable strategies for how and where the office presents its cases, creating a deeper divide that he conceded isn’t healthy. “On both sides there’s reason to counsel professionalism and what we say about each other because we have to keep working together, even when we don’t agree,” Brister said recently.

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Flash flood warnings issued across Texas Hill Country as heavy rain moves through region

Several areas throughout the Texas Hill Country are under flash flood warnings as heavy rain raises the threat of life-threatening flooding across the region. The warnings came just hours before Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties across Texas. "As severe storms and the threat of dangerous flash flooding continue across the state, this disaster declaration ensures we can rapidly deploy state resources to support local communities," Abbott said. "Texas is positioned to respond quickly and effectively." The National Weather Service issued the flood warnings Tuesday as rounds of heavy rain moved across South and Central Texas. Flash flood warnings are issued when dangerous flooding is either very likely or already occurring.

In social media posts Tuesday morning, the Kerrville Police Department shared photos of cars stuck in high water, tow trucks pulling out stranded vehicles and downed trees blocking roadways. "We can't stress this enough: do not drive around barricades, and do not drive into high water on the roadway even if no barricades are present," the department said in one post. "Low riding vehicles will flood out." The latest flood threat could also test new warning systems installed after last year's deadly flooding. A new network of gauges, available to the public through an online platform called RiverHub, tracks rainfall and river conditions. As of Tuesday afternoon, data from the gauges showed areas near the Guadalupe River had received more than 3 inches of rain over the last 24 hours. Flood sirens have also been installed in parts of the Hill Country. In Ingram, a city of fewer than 2,000 people just west of Kerrville, local officials had not activated sirens as of Tuesday morning.

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Janice McNair, Houston Texans co-founder, dies at 89

Janice McNair, co-founder and senior chair of the Houston Texans, died on Tuesday at the age of 89, the Texans announced. McNair became the principal owner of the NFL team upon the death of her husband, Bob McNair, in 2018. Since then, their son, Cal, was named principal owner of the team. Forbes estimated Janice McNair’s worth to be more than $7 billion.

“Mom was exceptional,” Cal McNair said in a statement. “It’s impossible to describe the profound gratitude that my sisters, Ruth and Melissa, and I feel for having her as our mom. Outside of our family, nothing mattered more to her than her beloved Texans. I remain honored to lead this franchise and build on the foundation my parents set when they brought football back to Houston." McNair is survived by four children, 16 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. Details of a funeral were not immediately shared by the Texans. “Mrs. McNair was an incredible woman who will be deeply missed," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said in a news release. "As a player, she and Mr. McNair built an organization that felt like a family and it was a true honor to play for them. I will always remember the day I came home to Houston in 2023. Mrs. McNair welcomed me back into the Texans family with open arms and her signature warm smile. We shared the same vision of bringing the organization to new heights and I will continue to work every day to accomplish that goal. My thoughts and prayers are with Cal, Hannah and their family during this time.”

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Monty Bennett sued for self-dealing

Monty Bennett has become a major Trump donor and one of Ken Paxton’s biggest financial backers, making him a MAGA figure of renown in Texas. Campaign finance records reviewed by The Swamp show he has contributed more than $3.2 million to Texas political candidates and their associated PACs since 2015, including $410,000 to Ken Paxton, $510,000 to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, $325,000 to Gov. Greg Abbott and $492,000 to Texans for Educational Freedom, a leading school-choice organization.

Where does he get the cash? Bennett is a billionaire thanks to his Braemar Hotels & Resorts, whose portfolio has included franchises of hotels including the Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, and Hilton. But the MAGA donor’s day job is not all upgrades and turn-down service. The Swamp learns that he faces a lawsuit from his company’s major shareholder for allegedly engineering a series of hotel sales designed to trigger a payout of more than $480 million to the advisory firm Bennett controls. The shareholder, Al Shams Investments, has vowed to pursue “every available legal remedy” and hold Bennett and Braemar’s directors personally accountable, describing the transaction in a scathing letter as “one of the most brazen acts of self-dealing” it has seen at a public company. Bennet has denied wrongdoing, describing Al Sham’s attacks as “sanctimonious” and an “attempt to mislead shareholders.” Watch out, Texas Republicans, if this court case becomes a problem for Bennett, you may have to cash in those hotel points.

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SpaceX growth, data center plan fuel push to oust Texas mayor

The debate over data centers on Earth has landed in a small town outside of Waco that’s crucial to Elon Musk’s vision to move the technology to space. Concerns over the closed-door approval of a new data center project and years of water violations tied to SpaceX rocket engine testing have some in McGregor calling for changes at City Hall. More than 60 people have signed a petition to change or remove Mayor Jim Lilley, according to Dennis Fehler, a fourth-generation native of the town who’s leading the recall effort. “It’s not personal,” said the retired landscape architect who keeps tabs on McGregor’s dealings with industry. “He’s the captain of the Titanic, and that’s why we’re going to get rid of him.”

The movement needs at least 100 signatures for further action that could lead to new city leadership. Fehler said he will keep at it for as long as it takes. “I’m going to do it until Christmas if I have to,” he said. The dustup puts the rural town about 20 miles west of Waco at the forefront of the debate over the giant warehouses of computers that have been derided as noisy and can consume vast amounts of energy and water. They have been getting more scrutiny from communities and, as they face rising voter backlash, state leaders also have begun looking to rein in the developments across Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott recently called for blocking new data centers in rural parts of the state. He also has directed the Public Utility Commission and Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the statewide grid, to take steps to reduce the impact of data centers.

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Texas lawmakers examine the state’s fragmented response to homelessness

For decades, Texas has largely treated homelessness as a local responsibility. Cities operate shelters and fund outreach programs. Counties run jails and public hospitals. Police officers respond to disturbances, while nonprofit organizations provide housing, treatment and other services. Now, state lawmakers are questioning whether the fragmented system contributes to a costly cycle in which some of the most vulnerable Texans move repeatedly among the streets, emergency rooms, county jails and short-term treatment programs. The Texas House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs has been directed to study how the state can treat and prevent homelessness before the next legislative session.

At a June hearing, lawmakers heard that local governments are already spending billions of dollars responding to people in crisis but often without producing long-term stability. Republican state Rep. David Spiller said lawmakers first must understand the different problems that fall under the broad label of homelessness. “We are really talking about three separate issues: homelessness, mental illness and systemic recidivism. They’re all related, but they’re all separate,” Spiller said. “I don’t think we can adequately fix it unless we understand fully what’s causing it.” The testimony underscored that people become homeless for many reasons. Some lose housing because of a job loss, rapidly increasing rent, domestic violence, a medical emergency or another financial shock. They may need rental assistance, temporary shelter or help finding another home.

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Protesters demand change in Tarrant County jail system following 4 deaths

A crowd of 60 people peacefully demanded change in the Tarrant County Jail in downtown Fort Worth on Tuesday morning. Rally leaders argued that voting Democrats into office is needed to fix the system. A speaker from the group read the names of 80 people who have died either in custody or shortly after being released since Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in 2017. Only 77 people have died in custody, which is lower than other large urban counties in Texas, even when accounting for differences in jail capacity, a spokesperson from the sheriff’s office said.

The demonstrators marched by the Tarrant County Jail, courthouse and criminal courts behind red signs that stated “too many deaths, free the innocent.” As rush hour traffic stood still waiting for green lights, the protesters chanted for justice, no more deaths in the jail and a new sheriff. Four Democratic candidates for county offices spoke before the march and described the jail system as a humanitarian crisis being neglected by the Republican majority elected to Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Cindy Stormer, a Democratic judiciary candidate, highlighted about a dozen of the Tarrant County inmate deaths. She said their deaths were due to thirst, medical neglect and pepper spray. Many of them happened under suspicious circumstances, she said. The inmate who died of dehydration had access to a functioning water fountain inside their cell and repeatedly refused to drink, said Robbie Hoy, a spokesperson from the sheriff’s office. Detention staff cannot force an individual to eat or drink without a court order. The spokesperson also highlighted that many people come into the jail already sick or struggling from addiction and the leading cause of death is cardiac disease.

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Texas funds abortion pill reversal despite doctors' concerns

As abortion medication has become the sole way women are able to access the procedure in Texas, a fringe medical intervention is gaining traction – reversing the effects of the pills. So-called abortion reversals were developed to try and combat the effects of the first half of a two-pill regimen that induces a medication abortion. And in Texas, their use appears to be on the rise. But physicians say the method is ineffective, and others say it could be dangerous. One doctor who started a study of abortion pill reversals in 2019 abandoned the effort after a third of patients showed up to the emergency room with severe bleeding.

“We have zero evidence it works, because the one report that the anti-choice groups rely on is completely unreliable,” said Dr. Mitchell Creinin, an OB-GYN at the University of California - Davis who carried out the study. No one is tracking how many abortion reversals are being done across Texas. While the state requires data collection on abortions, there is no standard to report anything about reversals, including any negative side effects. Several crisis pregnancy centers, which are run by anti-abortion groups, told the Houston Chronicle they've had a growing number of requests, and are working to expand access to abortion reversals with help from the Republican-controlled Legislature. This year, lawmakers have poured nearly $100 million into the Thriving Texas Families program, which gives grants to crisis pregnancy centers with little oversight. Sylvia Johnson, executive director of the Houston Pregnancy Health Center, told the Houston Chronicle that the center didn’t do very many abortion reversals when they started providing the option around 2018. Now, the center does about three a month.

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Whitmire asks Texas Rangers to investigate fatal ICE shooting

Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Police Chief Noe Diaz on Tuesday asked the Texas Rangers to conduct an independent investigation into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo last week, hours after the mayor and council faced public criticism for the city's response to the shooting. The request, outlined in a letter from Diaz posted on social media Tuesday night, marks the latest development in the city's response to the July 7 shooting that has outraged Houstonians, prompting residents to hold vigils and protests over Salgado’s death at the hands of ICE agents during a traffic stop in Magnolia Park last Tuesday.

Diaz's letter also was sent hours after Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin disclosed that the rangers had not been asked to investigate the shooting in a way that would prompt their intervention. In a letter released Tuesday, Martin told a group of Houston-area lawmakers that while DPS investigates officer-involved shootings involving federal agents when asked, it "has not received a request from any local law enforcement agency or prosecutor to assist." "Mayor Whitmire and I are asking for the Texas Rangers to conduct their own investigation, which will ensure it is independent and transparent," Diaz wrote in the letter posted Tuesday night. "This has been done in previous cases." Diaz said he met Tuesday with FBI officials at Whitmire's direction and facilitated the attendance of the rangers, describing the meeting as an effort to enhance transparency and collaboration among local, state and federal authorities.

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LNG company one step closer to building on Galveston’s Pelican Island

A liquified natural gas (LNG) company is one step closer to building a facility on Pelican Island in Galveston. Power LNG is seeking to lease 30 acres on Pelican Island to build a $250 million facility that will initially produce 400,000 gallons of liquified natural gas per day, primarily used to fuel cruise ships coming in and out of the region. The Galveston Wharves Board — whose board members are appointed by the Galveston City Council — on Tuesday approved the basic terms that will be used to create a lease and development agreement with Power LNG Ventures, LLC.

"I just consider this to be the first step and a vote of confidence in moving this project forward, but this is not in any way a final deal," board trustee Sheila Lidstone said during the meeting. "It's not a contract. It's not a lease. It's none of those things. It is a first step in moving this project forward." Trustees said Power LNG wants to build a small-scale facility that will provide fuel to cruise ships. According to the Galveston Daily News, city leaders have also expressed interest in building the facility to attract more cargo ships, which increasingly rely on LNG. The company anticipates that the plant will begin LNG production in December of 2028 and plans to design the facility to produce up to 800,000 gallons of LNG per day. Galveston is home to many major cruise ships, including the Carnival Jubilee. The Carnival Tropicale will also sail from the city when it's completed in 2028, and Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas is planned to begin sailing from the port next year. Each ship is designed to consume an estimated 500,000 and 800,000 gallons of LNG per week, according to documents from the wharves board.

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Dallas council members drop lawsuit over City Hall vote

Two Dallas City Council members have dropped their lawsuit over a potential City Hall vote, saying the court order blocking it gave them the relief they sought. The dismissal ends a legal fight over one of Dallas’ biggest civic questions: whether to spend hundreds of millions repairing the nearly 50-year-old I.M. Pei-designed City Hall or move city operations and redevelop the 12-acre downtown site. Council members Paula Blackmon and Adam Bazaldua filed a notice July 2 voluntarily dismissing their claims against the city, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and City Secretary Bilierae Johnson, Dallas County court records show. State District Judge Eric Moyé dismissed the case four days later.

“We certainly don’t want to waste the city’s resources or anyone else’s in continuing litigation when there’s nothing left to fight about,” attorney John Adams, who represented Blackmon and Bazaldua, said Tuesday. Blackmon and Bazaldua confirmed by text to The Dallas Morning News that Adams accurately characterized why they dismissed the case. It wasn’t clear Tuesday how much the litigation cost the city or how Blackmon and Bazaldua’s legal fees were billed. Bazaldua said the council members were represented by outside counsel already retained by the city, but he didn’t know how much the litigation cost or how the legal fees were handled. A city spokeswoman declined to comment. Blackmon and Bazaldua filed the lawsuit June 8 with fellow council member Cara Mendelsohn, who later withdrew, challenging the agenda for a June 10 specially called council meeting on City Hall’s future.

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National Stories

They welcomed 37 data centers to town. Now their schools have to dim the lights to cut energy costs

Henrico County, Virginia, has spent years courting data centers. Now it’s asking public employees to help shrink the power bill. Beginning July 1, Henrico’s electricity rate will rise nearly 25 percent, adding about $5 million in annual costs across county government and school facilities. In a June 26 email, County Manager John Vithoulkas asked employees to turn off lights, shut down computers, unplug chargers, adjust blinds, and avoid space heaters, which he said can cost the county $150 to $300 a year each to run. Henrico says the message was not just about cost-cutting. Ben Sheppard, the county’s communications director, told Inc. the email reflected “good fiscal stewardship and good environmental stewardship,” both of which he said are core values of the county.

The request landed in one of Virginia’s fast-growing data-center hubs. Henrico is home to 37 data centers, according to a county planning staff analysis, with major facilities clustered around White Oak Technology Park. The rate increase comes through a new electricity contract negotiated by the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association, which buys power for local governments, school systems, towns, cities, and public authorities in Dominion Energy territory. VEPGA has said members will see a 24.9 percent overall increase beginning July 1, followed by at least another 12 percent increase in July 2027. Dominion Energy told Inc. the municipal rates reflect “inflationary pressures and rising costs of fuel, purchased power, grid equipment, and the necessary investments to maintain a reliable grid to serve growing demand.” That “growing demand” is now the big issue. Monitoring Analytics, the independent market monitor for grid operator PJM Interconnection, said wholesale power costs across PJM rose 62.7 percent in the first five months of 2026 compared with the same period last year.

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IBM stock craters 25%, the worst day on record, after company issues second-quarter earnings warning

International Business Machines shares plummeted 25% on Tuesday after the hardware, software and consulting provider released preliminary second-quarter results that fell short of expectations. The stock logged its worst day on record, sinking further than its previous worst day of Oct. 19, 1987, when shares fell 23.7%. Records track trading activity back to 1968, though IBM has been a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange since 1916. The tech company reported adjusted earnings of $2.93 a share on revenue of $17.2 billion, below analysts’ expectations for earnings of $3.01 a share and revenue of $17.86 billion, according to FactSet.

CEO Arvind Krishna blamed the shortfall on weakness in the software and infrastructure business, as clients shifted spending toward hardware purchases such as memory chips. “In the last few weeks of June, we saw clients shift their quarterly capex spend toward servers, storage, and memory purchases to secure supply-constrained infrastructure ahead of expected price increases,” Krishna wrote in a letter to IBM investors. “While we anticipated some supply chain related impact in our expectations, we did not anticipate the magnitude of the capex reprioritization.” “These conditions require our teams to execute perfectly, and this quarter we faltered. We did not adapt and move quickly enough, and numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall,” Krishna added. In IBM’s previous quarter, the company’s software revenue grew 11% to $7.05 billion in the first quarter, helping lift the company to report stronger-than-expected results that returned an adjusted $1.91 per share versus $1.81 expected by analysts.

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Amy Coney Barrett details anonymous packages, swatting incident in Congressional hearing

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told lawmakers in a hearing Tuesday that the threat level to the federal judiciary across the country had reached new heights, and detailed security incidents she’d personally experienced. Barrett was joined by Justice Elena Kagan in a rare appearance by members of the Supreme Court at a congressional hearing. The duo delivered the court’s request to the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees for a significant increase in funds to bolster security. Barrett said the number of threats against Supreme Court justices has increased by 38% this year, statistics that she noted “sound abstract,” but “being on the receiving end of them is not.”

She described having to explain to her young son why she brought home a bulletproof vest in 2022 after Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson was leaked. “I didn’t know how to respond,” Barrett said, “because, maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one.” She also recounted a swatting incident in late May, when law enforcement received a false report of gunshots and raised voices coming from her home. Barrett said one of her sons opened the front door to see a street full of police cars. “I was very very grateful that I had Supreme Court police outside my home, because they were able to stop and meet with and explain to the county police that it had been a false alarm, and so the police did not actually attempt to enter our home,” Barrett said. Barrett also talked about receiving anonymous packages sent in the name of Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas. Anderl was fatally shot by a disgruntled lawyer aiming to kill his mother.

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US military reimposes its blockade of Iranian ports

The U.S. reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified its airstrike campaign Wednesday in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The American strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killed at least seven troops and wounded more than 260 people across the country, Iranian officials said. Days of back-and-forth strikes by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East — and renewed threats to the waterway crucial to global energy supplies — have shredded the interim deal to end the conflict and the region could tip back into all-out war. The U.S. first imposed a blockade in April and then lifted it last month after signing the interim deal that paused the fighting and set a 60-day period for negotiations over issues like Iran’s nuclear program. Those talks have stalled as fighting over the Strait of Hormuz has intensified.

When the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran effectively closed the waterway to shipping traffic — a move that sent the price of oil, fertilizer and many other goods soaring far beyond the region and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations. Those rising prices pose a particular challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump and his Republican Party, which hopes to retain control of Congress in elections in November — but Washington has struggled to successfully reopen the waterway. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade. “The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” it said. The U.S. carried out a wave of strikes, hitting dozens of targets over seven hours overnight, the military’s Central Command said Wednesday. Later, it resumed striking Iran during daylight — an usual move that further signaled the increasing tempo in attacks. One strike targeted a barracks for Iran’s 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which operates tanks and armored vehicles, in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iranian state television reported. The report said the Americans fired at least 13 missiles in the attack and that the seven dead included conscripts and career soldiers. A number of troops were wounded.

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Outbreak of diarrhea from parasite expands to more states as US cases soar beyond last year’s level

There have been 1,645 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis acquired in the United States since May 1, and more than 5,100 additional cases are being investigated, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday — a sharp increase in cases compared with recent years. A growing outbreak in Michigan and Ohio has also been linked to cases in West Virginia and Kentucky, the agency said. People with cyclosporiasis may have symptoms, including watery diarrhea, cramping and bloating, for weeks. Since May 1, cases have been identified in 34 states. Federal health officials said there are multiple investigations underway, some tied to the large outbreak in the Midwest, some involving single states and some involving cases not yet tied to any cluster.

Cyclospora activity tends to increase during the spring and summer, but the number of confirmed cases since May 1 is already more than six times higher than it was by this time last year, according to a health alert sent by the CDC. If the more than 7,000 possible cases that are confirmed or under investigation are included, this year’s total is 27 times higher than last year’s total at this time. “This is much, much higher than what we’ve seen last year or the year before,” said Dr. Gwen Biggerstaff, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, calling it “a very big shift” from previous seasons. About 1 in every 11 cases has been hospitalized, according to data available to the CDC. No deaths have been reported. An additional investigation notice published by the CDC on Tuesday notes that at least 400 cases across at least four states — Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky — “appear to be epidemiologically linked, suggesting that there could be a common source of these infections.”

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Spain moves on to World Cup final after shutting down France 2-0 in last North Texas match

Spain will move on to the World Cup final after a 2-0 victory over France, sending the team that many thought the favorite to win the championship home early. Dallas Stadium was packed for the match with more than 70,000 people in the stands for the last match in Arlington. Fans of Spain were largely quiet early in the game but came alive after the team’s first goal, scored by forward Mikel Oyarzabal from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute. Chants of “Sí se puede” and songs about the team echoed throughout the stadium, along with trumpets and drums being played by fans in the stands after that first goal and didn’t stop until well after the contest was over and both teams left the pitch. The second goal came from defender Pedro Porro in the 58th minute.

Fans said after the match that Spain’s ability to keep possession of the ball and dominate the midfield made a big difference in the outcome. Spain is advancing, but the team it will face is yet to be determined. England and Argentina will take the pitch Wednesday, with the winner of that match headed to the title game. One fan, Joel Maldonado, said he expects to see England there but still hopes the game will see Argentina and Spain compete. “I think we'll face England, but I'm hoping Argentina wins to have a Hispanic final, right? Argentina, Hispanic country, and Spain, a Hispanic country as well,” Maldonado said. “It would just be amazing because it's always a non-Spanish-speaking country and it's amazing to just see both teams leading up, you, know, showing out for the Hispanic people.” The last time two Hispanic nations faced each other in the World Cup was 1930, when Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-0.

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E. Jean Carroll is paid $5.6 million in Trump sex abuse and defamation case

The writer E. Jean Carroll has collected over $5.6 million that a jury awarded in her sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, court records and her lawyers said. The payment — representing the $5 million jury award, plus interest — was made Monday from an account where it had been held in escrow since the 2023 verdict, according to court records. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed the payment Tuesday. “We are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment,” Kaplan said in a statement. Carroll herself later wrote on Substack that “the eagle has landed.” Trump’s lawyers have vowed to continue appealing.

Trump deposited the money in an escrow account shortly after the jury ruled against him. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money. Trump’s lawyers then sought but were denied an emergency order to block the payment. The one-sentence denial set no conditions on how Carroll may use the money. Her lawyers have said in court papers that she plans to put it in a retirement account. Trump’s attorneys have since filed another appeal seeking to stop or reverse the payment. The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in a New York luxury department store dressing room and defamed her after she told the story publicly in a memoir in 2019, during his first term as president. Trump insisted nothing sexual happened between him and Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. Trump claimed she was “totally lying” and “ not my type ” in a 2019 interview. He said he didn’t know her, dismissing a 1987 photo of them and their then-spouses at a party as inconsequential, and he accused her of harboring political motives and trying to sell books at his expense.

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Lead Stories

Talarico unveils border security plan, criticizes Biden policies and Trump's Big Bend wall

Border security has become a critical issue in politics and is seen as a weakness for Democrats, but James Talarico, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, is making it evident he isn’t avoiding the issue. Talarico was critical of former President Joe Biden’s border policies, yet he also condemned President Trump's plan to build a border wall through Big Bend calling it “a monument to corruption.” During a campaign stop Monday in Terrell County, Talarico presented what he described as a “common-sense” border security plan. Talarico’s proposal would hire more Border Patrol agents, expand surveillance technology and add immigration judges to reduce the asylum backlog.

He also wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus its resources on people who pose serious public-safety threats rather than on families, children and longtime residents without serious criminal records. The Texas state representative blasted the Trump administration’s plan to build a $1.7 billion border wall through the environmentally sensitive Big Bend area. He called the Big Bend border wall “useless,” and said it is the result of “no-bid contracts and backroom deals.” “I think Joe Rogan said it best. They're doing this for a nice contract. We need more Border Patrol agents,” Talarico said. Talarico, however, is not opposed to the construction of border walls but he said the government should “focus our resources on physical barriers where they're actually needed.”

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The AI infrastructure boom is coming to Texas. Are counties ready for what comes next?

Texas has spent the last decade winning economic development battles. From semiconductor manufacturing and energy investment to advanced computing and artificial intelligence, companies continue to choose Texas because of its business climate, abundant land, energy resources, and comparatively predictable regulatory environment. Now the state appears poised to become one of the largest destinations for artificial intelligence infrastructure investment in the country. The question is whether local governments are prepared for what comes with it. The proposed Colchis AI campus in Tom Green County offers an early glimpse into what may become one of the defining infrastructure debates of the next decade. The project, being pursued by Cipher Digital, is envisioned as a large-scale AI and data infrastructure campus outside San Angelo.

The company has attracted additional attention following a transaction involving AI infrastructure provider Fluidstack that resulted in Google acquiring an ownership interest in Cipher Digital, raising the visibility of a project that was already generating local interest. The debate surrounding Colchis, however, is not really about artificial intelligence. It is about infrastructure. And increasingly, it is about water. For years, data centers were viewed as ideal economic development projects. They generated tax revenue, required relatively few public services, created limited traffic impacts, and rarely generated the kind of public controversy associated with refineries, manufacturing facilities, pipelines, or power plants. Artificial intelligence is changing that equation. The facilities being proposed today are dramatically larger than those built even a decade ago. Some campuses are expected to consume hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Others are being designed at scales approaching gigawatts. As projects become larger, communities are beginning to ask different questions. Where will the water come from? How much electricity will be required?

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Deadly ICE shootings in Maine and Texas put renewed scrutiny on immigration crackdown

Officials are calling for transparent investigations after a man was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Biddeford, Maine, yesterday – just days after a federal agent fatally shot a Mexican immigrant during a traffic stop in Houston. The man killed in Maine was identified by a neighbor as 26-year-old father Joan Sebastian Guerrero, who was from Colombia. The Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition said Guerrero was authorized to work in the US and was issued a social security number. Maine Sen. Angus King said he wasn’t the target of the immigration operation. The Department of Homeland Security said an ICE officer opened fire “fearing for public safety” as the victim “attempted to flee the scene” in a vehicle. The department didn’t provide details on why the officer believed Guerrero was a public safety risk.

Biddeford resident Daniel Boucher was in a home near where 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero was fatally shot by an ICE officer Monday morning, when he heard a “pop, pop, pop” sound. Thinking he had heard fireworks, Boucher looked out from a third-floor window and saw a small car “turned 90 degrees to the curb” with an SUV behind it. “The small car “started coming down the street again, driving, and I don’t know how, and then the SUV hit him again … And then that’s when he stopped,” Boucher told the Associated Press, adding that an ICE agent then opened the car door and pulled Guerrero out to the ground. “His face was bloody, his head was bloody,” Boucher said. “I clearly heard the victim say: ‘I tried to stop’,” Boucher added. The Department of Homeland Security says federal immigration agents were conducting a “targeted surveillance” operation when the driver of a vehicle was shot and killed in Biddeford, Maine on Monday. But much of what unfolded between the driver, identified by a neighbor as 26-year-old Joan Sebastian Guerrero, and the federal officer who opened fire remains unclear.

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The U.S. is set to reinstate a blockade over the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. military announced it will begin its blockade of Iranian ships over the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, as Iran vowed to assert its own control over the critical international waterway. CENTCOM said the blockade would begin on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET. The U.S. military last worked to block maritime traffic to and from Iranian ports from April 13 to June 18. The announcement came after an intensified exchange of strikes over the weekend, testing a shaky ceasefire and threatening a return to all-out war in the region. On Monday, the U.S. launched another wave of strikes on Iran. The U.S. military said it struck Iranian defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities to "degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Tuesday that it had struck "two non-compliant" supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement in Iranian state media. Iran also said it launched missiles and drones against U.S. military infrastructure in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, and U.S. military outposts in Jordan. The United Arab Emirates' defense ministry said two of its tankers were targeted by Iranian cruise missiles while transiting the shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani waters, killing one person. Bahrain authorities reported that sirens were sounded and urged citizens to head to safe places. Jordanian state media said the country's air defenses intercepted four Iranian missiles early Tuesday as they entered its airspace. The escalation comes as the U.S. and Iran reach a halfway point in the 60-day ceasefire agreed in June, when the two sides signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding to work out the terms of a final deal and open the Strait of Hormuz. During a NATO summit in Turkey last week, President Trump declared the ceasefire "over," but didn't rule out further talks.

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State Stories

“Who do I vote for?”: Cornyn voters weigh Paxton, Talarico or sitting out in November

For months, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn battered each other in a nasty and expensive race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Texas. Now that Paxton has emerged victorious, GOP leaders from Texas to Washington are urging intraparty peace and unity, warning that a divided GOP could lose the seat. But some Cornyn voters aren’t ready to move on — or look past Paxton’s history of scandals. State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, wasted no time courting those voters after Paxton won the May 26 GOP runoff. The next day, the Austin lawmaker hit the road for a five-city bus tour that he spent attacking the attorney general over allegations of corruption and extramarital affairs, punctuated by his new refrain, “I have a legislative record. Ken Paxton has a criminal record.” Whether that message will prove effective in peeling off right-leaning moderates may help decide the election.

Now that the dust has settled on the primary, recent polling has found most Republican voters have moved on and plan to vote for Paxton, with a clear shift from earlier surveys conducted in the heat of the bruising primary. Still, Talarico has held on to a chunk of support from moderate Republicans. In interviews with The Texas Tribune in the weeks after the runoff, a handful of primary voters who backed Cornyn described a range of emotions, with varying plans for how they would vote. Some have decided they are supporting Talarico. Others said they would skip the top of the ticket or are still unsure what to do. Others still are embracing Paxton out of party loyalty. Todd Shade, a 62-year-old who moved to the Austin area in 1995 after growing up in South Dakota, said he has been “very happy” with Cornyn. The self-described traditional conservative said he favors letting the free market flourish with minimal business regulations, yet is opposed to some of the socially conservative priorities that have dominated the Texas GOP as insurgents like Paxton rose to lead it. Shade also believes at least some of the accusations against Paxton are true, including the charge from his former deputies that he abused his office to help a friend and campaign donor. Still, Shade said he plans to vote for Talarico.

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Flood risk increases for the Austin area this week with up to 6 inches of rain possible in spots

The Austin area is under a flood watch from 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday evening. A wide area of Texas is under the threat of heavy rain, leading Gov. Greg Abbott to activate state emergency response resources, including rescue boats and Black Hawk helicopters, according to the governor’s press office. “The State of Texas will deploy all necessary resources to help local officials respond to potential severe weather and flash flooding across the state,” Abbott said in a press release.

“I urge all Texans to monitor local forecasts, heed guidance from state and local officials, and always remember: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Texas will support our communities as these threats develop.” Heavy rains may swell rivers, creeks, and low-water crossings. Streets may also flood, according to an advisory issued by the National Weather Service. The storms may bring rainfall of 2-6 inches, with some isolated areas of the state potentially getting hit with 10 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service website. The areas with the highest possible rain totals are the Rio Grande Plains and the southern Edwards Plateau.

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Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer: Texas legislators must manage data center development with thoughtful planning

If you’re like me and you read this newspaper most mornings, you’ve seen a lot of front-page articles about data centers. Each new report leaves me with more questions than answers about what this means for our water supply and electric grid, not to mention our infrastructure and land use. When state lawmakers head to Austin in January for the next legislative session, we have to carefully consider how we are going to balance all these demands to make sure everyday Texans aren’t footing the bill. More than 10 years ago, Texas began offering a tax break to attract new data centers to Texas. At the time, state leaders believed data centers might be the next chapter of the Texas Miracle, bringing jobs, growth and prosperity. Data centers built today, however, aren’t like ones from a decade ago.

There’s been an exponential increase in the need for processing power with artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and all the massive technological advances that put the AOL days of the internet to shame. That increase requires more and more energy, water and infrastructure. When communities have to compete for their basic resources, that Texas Miracle starts to look like a Texas Mirage. The San Antonio Water System says that in 2024, two data centers in San Antonio consumed hundreds of millions of gallons of water, while the rest of us were asked to conserve. Sometimes when we have a solution that sounds good, we also have unintended consequences. For example, more and more data centers are building their own power plants, but the increase in emissions could lead to devastating health and environmental impacts. Texas already suffers from high rates of chronic respiratory disease, receiving an “F” rating from the American Lung Association.

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Study: It now takes more than 7 years to save for a home down payment in Texas

Despite remaining one of the nation's more affordable housing markets, a new study found it now takes more than seven years to save for a 20% down payment on a home in Texas. The study, published July 6 by financial technology company SmartAsset, analyzed home values, minimum wage rates, median household income and other factors across all 50 states. Researchers estimated how many years it would take households to save for a 20% down payment if they set aside 10% of their annual income. Over the past decade, the typical Texas home value has risen from about $181,000 to more than $302,000, while the state's median household income has increased from roughly $56,600 to just over $84,000.

Despite those income gains, the time needed to save for a 20% down payment has grown by nine months since 2016, reaching 7.2 years for households earning the state's median income. For Texans earning the state's minimum wage, the outlook is far more challenging: Saving enough for a 20% down payment would take an estimated 40.1 years. The findings highlight a growing challenge that would-be home buyers face across the nation: as home values continue to rise faster than household incomes, the dream of owning a home is becoming increasingly difficult to reach — and for many minimum-wage earners, increasingly out of reach altogether. Compared with states such as Idaho, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, the time needed to save for a down payment in Texas has remained relatively stable over the past decade. For comparison, it takes just over 11 years to save for a down payment in New York and nearly 15 years in California, according to the study.

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Ben Abbott using law firm's TV ads to advance possible run for Dallas mayor

Personal injury lawyer Ben Abbott has spent years building one of Dallas' most recognizable legal brands through catchy TV commercials. Now he's using a new series of ads to reintroduce himself as a community leader ahead of a possible run for mayor. While the latest television spot includes the signature line, "Hello, Ben," after a familiar jingle, most of the ad is devoted to Abbott making the case that he's ready to lead Dallas. Abbott has not officially announced he's running, though he's making the rounds seeking support. He said the advertising campaign is intended to reshape his public image from trial lawyer to city advocate, even describing it as a "media stunt."

He said he believes Dallas wants a more engaged, hands-on approach focused on solving the city's biggest challenges. "It's technically a law firm ad," Abbott said in an interview. "Obviously, it's posturing to change from Ben the lawyer to Ben the community leader." The commercials are the first phase of a broader media effort that will include radio, newspaper and digital advertising. Abbott is one of several prominent figures weighing a run for mayor in the November 2027 election to replace Mayor Eric Johnson, who will leave office because of term limits. Abbott has been considering a run since at least 2023, when he said he became increasingly disenchanted with Johnson and the city’s direction.

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MP Materials sues competitor over trade secrets in Texas Business Court

A manufacturer with a large and growing presence in Fort Worth is suing a rival company over rare earth magnet technology. Las Vegas-based MP Materials (NYSE: MP), which makes neodymium-iron-boron magnets at a factory in north Fort Worth, is suing Stillwater, Oklahoma-based USA Rare Earth Inc. (Nasdaq: USAR) over trade secrets it says are key to making the magnets. The lawsuit, filed May 22, represents a developing feud between two companies attempting to lead an emerging industry that's long been dominated by another country. Rare earth magnets are used in making everything from electric vehicles to everyday electronics, but China dominates 90% of the industry. Both companies have similar goals. MP Materials' mission statement is to "restore the full rare earth supply chain" in the U.S., according to its website. USA Rare Earth's is to "build the world’s leading rare earth value chain."

According to a lawsuit filed in the Eighth Division of the Texas Business Courts, located in Fort Worth, MP Materials alleges USA Rare Earth and former MP engineer Kevin Elkins misappropriated trade secrets related to technology that improves the magnet's resistance to demagnetization without reducing its strength, called grain boundary diffusion. The company states in the lawsuit that the technology took years of work and millions of dollars of research to develop. The company is seeking at least $5 million in damages and a preliminary and permanent injunction. "These compositions, and the methods in which they are used, are among the most important and closely guarded technologies used in producing permanent magnets," the company stated. MP Materials alleges USA Rare Earth "is engaged in an unlawful trade secret raiding campaign," hiring employees from other companies to advance the company. MP alleges USA Rare Earth hired several of its employees, including Elkins, who "were valuable primarily because of information they received from MP Materials, not pre-existing expertise." Elkins and USA Rare Earth denied the allegations in a June 22 filing. USA Rare Earth alleges the lawsuit is "nothing more than an attempt by MP to slow USAR's bold vision and significant momentum, as we build out U.S. and Allied rare earth value chains." "We are making significant strides in furthering America's strategic interests and will remain focused on our mission," a statement provided by the company said. "MP should do the same and compete on its own merits rather than assert baseless claims.”

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World Cup worth millions to Arlington, says mayor — possibly with more to come

In one month, the World Cup generated roughly half as much revenue for Arlington as AT&T Stadium does in a year, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross said Monday, declaring that the tournament had a “substantial” economic impact on his city. While it will probably take months to get a full picture of how much money was generated for the entire region, Ross said the projections he’s seen show the games have brought roughly $160 million to Arlington, or nearly half of the $340 million AT&T Stadium brings annually to the city. That includes an estimated $31 million in hotel revenue in June — which topped the previous high of $23.5 million in hotel revenue in November 2024, a month when AT&T Stadium hosted three Cowboys home games and a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, Ross said.

He was among several local sports and civic leaders who detailed the gains at a news conference in Dallas on the eve of the ninth and final World Cup match at AT&T Stadium. Anecdotal evidence indicates the World Cup has been a boon for Arlington’s hospitality industry, with some restaurateurs and tavern owners saying revenue has exceeded their expectations. Ross, who owns the Arlington steakhouse Mercury Chophouse and Hearsay, a restaurant located inside Choctaw Stadium, agreed that soccer fans have been good for business. While the short-term income has been welcome, Ross is taking a long view of how the World Cup might benefit Arlington economically. He said he’s met with ambassadors, consul generals — even royalty — from nations that competed in Arlington, and Ross said those dignitaries have talked about how they might partner with Arlington in future business ventures. “I’ve gotten letters from all kinds of them saying, ‘Thank you so much for the hospitality, we want to continue this relationship. We invite you to come to our country and let’s see what we can do further together.’ ”

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Lockheed Martin settles on terms with union workers as military buildup boosts production

A major Fort Worth employer and its union workers are celebrating a new five-year, mutually beneficial contract now in effect. Highly skilled workers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. feel valued after about 5,000 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 776 ratified the contract, union representatives said. The contract — which started on June 15 and continues until June 18, 2030 — calls for wage increases between 4% and 6%, increased vacation time and no mandatory overtime schedules. It also includes a $6,000 bonus and retirement benefit improvements. Lockheed Martin, which produces the military’s F-35 fighter jet aircraft at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, is ramping up production to fulfill billions of dollars worth of defense contracts for military aircraft and munitions.

Company officials negotiated with union representatives for about three months, a process that “was not easy by any means,” said Doyle Huddleston, IAM District 776 president and directing business representative. “There was a lot of stress on both sides,” he said, adding that recent strikes between other aerospace companies and large unions aided their cause. Roxanne Schell, Lockheed Martin’s labor and employee relations director, said it was important to be good partners with the IAM union since it helps position the company to fulfill its government contracts. “It was good. Tough negotiations, as usual,” she said. “Both parties (had) an interest in making improvements to the collective bargaining agreement.” The agreement also covers IAM members at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland as well as Lockheed Martin’s firefighters at the Fort Worth base.

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Richard Linklater urges Houston to preserve Garden Oaks Theater ahead of Wes Anderson visit

Ahead of Wes Anderson's Friday visit to Houston to support the historic Garden Oaks Theater, organizers released an audio interview in which filmmaker Richard Linklater urged the city to value its history instead of its long-standing "out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new" mentality. In an interview with PaperCity in June, Linklater was outspoken about his support for preserving the theater after Arthouse Houston, formerly the Friends of the River Oaks Theatre, proposed to buy the venue, built in 1947, from the current owners, Heights Investment Fund, for $7.1 million. "You learn that when the community speaks up, the economic threats are always very real, cause that's just the way the world goes," Linklater told PaperCity reporters in a recently shared audio interview. "But it takes a little more thoughtful, committed passion to go 'Hey, this is our history. This almost 80-year-old theater that had a long life and has a future, if we allow it to have it, is important. That's important to the fabric of our city. When it's all gone, it's not coming back.'"

The Art Deco Garden Oaks Theater, which was converted into a house of worship in later years, had been under threat of demolition after Grace Church acated the premises last year. Since then, Arthouse Houston has proposed turning the property at 3732 North Shepherd Drive into a new Arts & Film Center. "In the long run, having a cool, old theater in the neighborhood is really better, but you have to make it work out economically," Linklater said. "And at some point, you need a nonprofit model of people, with donations and support. But really, it's just the community support. You need everybody to make it important to the city." Linklater described Houston as a "forward-thinking" city that has always been an "out with the old and in with the new" kind of city post-war. "But Houston's old and established enough now," he said. "It's not the new post-war city that it was. It should be proud of its own heritage is what I'm saying. And to see value in that history in the past." PaperCity and Arthouse Houston shared an audio interview with Anderson last month, in which he shared the same sentiment. The Houston-born director is expected to come home on July 17 to introduce several short films at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall as part of a fundraiser sponsored by Arthouse Houston to save the theater. Those who want to attend still have an opportunity, with tickets priced between $345 and $1,000.

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Former Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa enters 2027 mayoral race

Michael Hinojosa, the former superintendent of Dallas Independent School District, is launching a run for mayor and planning a formal announcement on Tuesday morning. He filed the paperwork this afternoon to appoint a Campaign Treasurer, naming real estate developer Amanda Lake to the position. “We’re at an inflection point. The city needs proven leadership. The city needs a plan to move forward and get things done,” Hinojosa told WFAA Monday afternoon. Hinojosa is the first candidate to launch a mayoral campaign and immediately becomes the frontrunner in a race that’s full of speculation but hasn’t yet formed. “He has a record here and other places. It’s all school district-related but that’s a big entity with a lot of employees,” said former Dallas Council Member Philip Kingston, “I think the consensus opinion is he did a pretty good job.”

Twice, Hinojosa served as Dallas ISD superintendent from 2005 to 2011 and then again from 2015 to 2022. He resigned before his last contract ended as he considered challenging incumbent Eric Johnson for mayor in 2023 but decided against it. Johnson is term-limited now and cannot run again. Now, launching his first political campaign, Hinojosa’s first challenge could become fundraising. A Facebook page is online for Hinojosa but his campaign website has not yet been activated. He did reveal plans to spend the next 15 months – starting next Tuesday in District 1 – going to each part of the city, listening to residents and discussing three of his own priorities. Hinojosa grew up in Oak Cliff and attended Sunset High School. He taught in DISD before eventually becoming Superintendent. Despite Dallas being more than 42% Hispanic, the city has never elected a Latino mayor. Election Day is Nov. 2, 2027.

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Bastrop County says DOJ grant request is for sheriff's equipment, not ICE detention

Bastrop County commissioners on Monday said they are applying for a federal Department of Justice immigration-related grant to buy sheriff's office safety equipment, not to support ICE or detention centers. The item on the agenda had three categories of funding available from the Justice Department. The first was for money to be used to hire law enforcement and civilian personnel, the second category was for technology and equipment and the third was for ICE detention facilities. "Awards from this program should be used to support significant participation in and support of Homeland Security Task Force activities, and other DOJ efforts to combat gangs, cartels, and other violent crime," the agenda item said.

Dozens of people in the packed courtroom, which was standing room only, said they were worried that the application for a program called "Bridging Immigration-Related Deficits Experienced Nationwide," or BIDEN, would beef up ICE's presence in the county. "We are using this for safety equipment for our sheriff's office period," said Commissioner Butch Carmack. "It's got nothing to do with detention centers." Nicole Moore, the county's assistant auditor, said at the beginning of the meeting that the county was only seeking money for equipment. Several people then spoke about their opposition to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. "They are unsupervised and most important they are unidentified," said Karen Sterling, who said she was a former police officer. "When I was in uniform I had a name tag, and if anybody asked I had to tell them what my name was, and that's the way it should be."

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Rodney Ellis says Harris County should earmark funding for local investigation into fatal ICE shooting

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said Monday he would ask commissioners court to fund the district attorney’s independent investigation into the fatal shooting of a Houston man by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer last week. Ellis did not provide details regarding how much funding he would ask the county government to provide, but said he and his office were exploring options. "It would be a guess at this point,” Ellis said at a news conference Monday. “Wherever it leads us, whatever it costs — within reason — it's important enough for us to do it. I know we have a [budget] shortfall, but you always have to prioritize."

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three, was shot last Tuesday morning during what ICE has called a “targeted enforcement operation" in Houston's East End, a predominantly Latino neighborhood. He was traveling to work with three other men in his car. In a statement to Houston Public Media, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not specify whether any of the people in the vehicle were intended targets, saying one of the individuals in the van “resembled the target.” An ICE spokesperson said during the stop, Salgado Araujo was attempting to evade arrest and allegedly rammed his van into an ICE vehicle, causing an ICE agent to fire his weapon in self-defense. Salgado Araujo's family and the attorney representing two of the three other men in the vehicle dispute that claim. The ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras. Salgado Araujo is one of multiple people in Texas and across the U.S. to be fatally shot by ICE agents or die in ICE custody during the second term of Republican President Donald Trump, whose administration has ramped-up immigration-related arrests and deportations. On Monday, an ICE agent shot and killed a motorist in Maine, according to officials there.

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Austin Energy’s planned outages downtown necessary to prevent future unexpected outages

A late-night power outage in downtown Austin Sunday and into the early hours of Monday was a necessary step for Austin Energy to make sure the power stays on, according to the utility. “We planned this critical maintenance work overnight when temperatures and the heat index are lower and have provided customers with advance notice and tips for the outage,” said an Austin Energy spokesperson in an email to KXAN ahead of the outage. This “step” was another in the Repowering Downtown Initiative, which started in 2018. David Tomczyszyn, Austin Energy vice president of electric system engineering & technical services, has been with the utility since 2007. In that time, Austin’s downtown and its skyline have expanded rapidly.

“It’s just growing leaps and bounds, but not just there, all over the city. And every day, I think we have more and more people moving here. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a slowdown,” he said in a July 9 interview with KXAN. More residents mean more construction and buildings. It’s how a city grows. These also place a greater demand on the city’s electrical infrastructure. According to the spokesperson, that project has already made big strides with upgrades to the city’s Seaholm Substation and distribution network and more transmission lines. Austin Energy also built an electrical substation on Rainey Street, which increased capacity for downtown by 33%. The substation’s design was revealed in 2021, and it was built in 2023. Seaholm, Rainey and Brackenridge are the substations powering downtown. That last one was built in the 1970s and will be replaced as part of the initiative. “Over the next six months, we’re doing some switching to move some of the grids over to the [Rainey] substation. And the reason for it is we’re going to rebuild [Brackenridge],” Tomczyszyn said. “It’s nearing end of life. We want to get ahead of it…we want to offload it, and then we’re going to completely rebuild it.”

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National Stories

South Carolina governor taps Lindsey Graham's sister to serve as interim senator

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has tapped Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, to fill her brother’s Senate seat through the rest of the year. McMaster, a Republican, made the announcement Monday afternoon at a press conference at the South Carolina statehouse in which he reflected on Graham’s life and service. In brief remarks at the event, Graham Nordone said her brother “dedicated his life to this country.” “It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work, and I promise to work hard over the next several months to support the president and carry forward the efforts of my brother on behalf of the citizens of South Carolina,” she said. Graham Nordone’s term will end on Jan. 3.

Graham, 71, died unexpectedly on Saturday, leaving an opening for the seat through the end of his term. His death was the result of aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to preliminary findings from the medical examiner of the District of Columbia and released by Graham’s office. Graham Nordone’s appointment came hours after President Donald Trump recommended her for the job. “I recommended, to Governor Henry McMaster, Lindsey Graham’s wonderful sister, Darline, to serve as interim Senator from the Great State of South Carolina. This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday morning. In a post to X later Monday morning, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also logged his support for Graham Nordone. “Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, would be a fantastic pick to serve out the reminder of the senate term. After speaking with Darline, there is no one better who understands Lindsey’s love for family, our state, and our country,” Scott wrote.

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June CPI: Inflation expected to slow but remain high

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to report the consumer price index for last month at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Many economists expect to see a decline in the overall headline number thanks to falling energy prices. But some warn that the issue is nowhere close to over, and price declines may take more time to happen than consumers would like — especially if energy prices surge again. After the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June, oil prices declined from the mid-$90s to around $70 per barrel. However, that decline has started to come undone, at least partially. Both U.S. crude and Brent oil benchmarks are trading much higher than their recent low, with Brent touching $80 per barrel on Monday.

“With the MOU on life support and tensions escalating in the Middle East,” inflation expectations are facing “renewed pressure,” Société Générale strategists said in a note. Compounding the issue, critical oil storage hubs have been drawn down in a bid to keep a lid on prices, but those storage facilities have reached decades-low levels. They will need to be refilled with hundreds of millions of barrels of oil, which could again cause prices to rise. Gas prices, the most visible sign of inflation to consumers, are tracing a similar trajectory. In recent weeks, prices declined sharply from the highest level of the year. However, in the last week, that decline came to a halt at $3.79 per gallon, and prices have risen 8 cents since, as of Monday. Those rising gas prices come at the same time as slowing wage growth. In June, average hourly earnings increased by 3.5%, far below May’s inflation reading of 4.2%.

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Justice Dept. shares Minneapolis shooting evidence with state authorities

After months of withholding the information, the Trump administration has shared evidence with Minnesota authorities related to three shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis in January, local officials said Monday. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office has begun to download and categorize the terabytes of information gathered by federal investigators that was provided in hard drives. The evidence will help local authorities decide whether to bring charges against the federal officers in the incidents, including the fatal shootings of Renée Good, a writer and mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, both U.S. citizens. The other case involved Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan immigrant who was shot in the leg and survived. All of the shootings occurred during an immigration enforcement blitz in Minneapolis as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

“It’s been clear that the U.S. attorney’s office and other local federal agencies wanted things to get back to the way they were,” Moriarty said in an interview, referencing greater collaboration, “and they certainly understood there had been a tremendous amount of damage done to how it had been handled.” The Trump administration’s handling of investigations into shootings involving immigration officers in Minneapolis and other cities has outraged state and local officials, who said they have been sidelined. The Department of Homeland Security has justified the actions of its immigration officers, saying they fired their weapons defensively and painting the victims as threatening officers. However, video footage and witness testimony have contradicted the department’s accounts in some cases. The Harris County district attorney in Texas said last week that the federal government has blocked local authorities from its investigation of the fatal shooting of a Mexican man in Houston by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Maine’s attorney general said Monday that his office would seek to investigate the fatal shooting of a Colombian man by an ICE officer in the small city of Biddeford.

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Trump’s attorneys, Justice Dept. leaders misused courts in IRS case, judge says

A federal judge on Monday denounced President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS as an improper attempt to “manipulate” the court process and legitimize a controversial deal that afforded him significant tax protections and sought to establish a nearly $1.8 billion fund for alleged victims of politicized prosecutions. In a blistering ruling, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams suggested that Trump’s attorneys and top Justice Department officials who signed off on that agreement could face professional sanctions. She barred them from citing any provision of their private resolution in future official proceedings. “In sum,” the judge wrote, “the facts before this Court demonstrate that there was never adverseness between the Parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail.”

The extraordinary order from Williams, an appointee of President Barack Obama, came in response to concerns raised by 35 former federal judges, who had petitioned her to reexamine the deal the Justice Department struck with Trump in May to resolve the suit he filed earlier this year over the leak of his personal tax returns by a government contractor. They argued that the suit was improper and the deal to resolve it was negotiated in bad faith as attorneys on both sides of the case ultimately reported to Trump — working for him either in his personal capacity or as government employees at the Justice Department. Department officials have defended the agreement, saying it did not require sign-off by Williams, who was overseeing the case. “There was no collusion,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement Monday responding to the judge’s ruling, “and the partisan judge who speculated otherwise has disregarded decades of precedent.

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GOP Sen. Ron Johnson says he’s not sure McConnell photo with Chao is new

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisc.) on Monday cast doubt on the recency of a photo Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) shared of himself in the hospital alongside his wife. “I’ve just heard from some other sources that was an older photo. So I really don’t know,” Johnson told host Eric Bolling on Real America’s Voice’s “Bolling!” The Wisconsin Republican noted he has not spoken to McConnell, hopes he can recover and will “come back and vote” in line with President Trump’s agenda. Later Monday, Johnson backtracked from his remarks to Bolling. The Wisconsin senator wrote on social platform X, “Beware of clickbait — watch the full clip. Most importantly, I hope @SenMcConnell makes a full recovery and returns to the Senate.”

On Sunday, McConnell provided an update on his condition after weeks of silence in the wake of his hospitalization on June 14. The 84-year-old senator, who is retiring, said he went to the hospital after a fall left him “briefly unconscious.” “My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” McConnell wrote on Facebook. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.” He added, “While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.” McConnell also shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed alongside his wife, former Labor and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. In the picture, McConnell is holding a copy of Sunday’s frontpage of the Washington Post’s sports section.

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'Nobody underwrote for that': Private credit faces a key test as higher rates squeeze borrowers

Higher-for-longer interest rates were once heralded as an attractive yield driver for private credit investors, but industry professionals say tighter monetary policy is becoming the sector’s next major stress point. Global central banks are grappling with renewed inflation pressures, following the energy squeeze caused by the Middle East war, which is raising the prospect of further interest rate hikes. That’s a problem for private credit, where debt is typically floating-rate — meaning debt-servicing costs for underlying borrowers in many portfolios are likely to stay higher, while lenders are forced to distinguish between temporary flexibility and deeper credit stress. It comes as the $2 trillion private sector is already contending with ongoing redemption pressures in retail-focused business development companies, fears of an AI-driven ‘SaaSpocalypse’ upending software-heavy portfolios, and individual corporate blow-ups.

Anant Kumar, managing director, global investment strategist, head of U.S. credit research and portfolio manager at Benefit Street Partners, said the current private credit lending landscape was built on the assumption that the interest rates spike of 2022 and 2023 was a peak that would quickly decline. “Three years later, borrowers are still paying near-peak coupons,” Kumar said. “In fact, the market is now pricing hikes, not cuts. Nobody underwrote for that.” Core annual U.S. inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, jumped to 2.9% year-on-year in May, its highest level since September 2025, and is expected to remain around that level when June’s figure is released Tuesday, according to consensus forecasts. The latest minutes of the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting under new chairman Kevin Warsh showed officials were split over the direction of rates, with the dot-plot grid tilting towards one rate hike this year. Kumar said higher base rates typically help in the short term because yields rise. But if rates stay high for an extended period, more marginal borrowers can be squeezed by interest servicing costs. “If rates go up from here, many levered companies won’t survive in their current capital structures. That doesn’t mean the businesses die. It means restructurings,” he told CNBC via email.

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Trump's HHS abandons threat to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding over trans care

The Trump administration is abandoning its most aggressive attempt to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally, according to an official document obtained by NPR. The document shows that the Department of Health and Human Services will not be finalizing a proposed rule that would have blocked all Medicaid and Medicare funding for hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told NPR in a statement: "CMS does not comment on future rulemaking or speculate on potential actions. The Trump Administration rejects ideologically driven surgical interventions on vulnerable children." (Surgery is very rare among transgender people under age 18, and the rule applied to all gender-affirming care, which is mainly therapy and medications for children.)

The fact that the Trump administration is backing off from this action is "a victory for people who are defending the rights and interests of trans people," says Sam Bagenstos, a professor at Michigan Law who served as general counsel at HHS under the Biden administration. "But I don't think it indicates a more general retreat from the aggressive posture of the Trump administration." Bagenstos notes that this type of leverage — a "conditions of participation" rule for the Medicare and Medicaid program — has historically been used by HHS to compel states and hospitals to meet basic health and safety standards. Things like "making sure that you have stockpiles of certain kinds of equipment, making sure that you have certain kinds of emergency protocols, making sure that you have certain staffing ratios," he explains. The proposed rule was unprecedented, Bagenstos says, because it instead would have prohibited certain kinds of treatments for a certain population. He says it seemed unlawful in a variety of ways. For one, "it violates the Medicare Act, which says that Medicare and Medicaid can't be used to control the practice of medicine within the state — states get to regulate the practice of medicine," Bagenstos says.

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Lead Stories

Texas Hispanics swung hard to Trump. A new poll shows they’re furious at his deportations.

Benny Melendez voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. But since Trump returned to the White House, it has been increasingly difficult for Melendez to run his small construction company in south Texas. He says immigration officers have detained workers at his job sites and while driving his company trucks. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 10 of those workers have been deported. The chaos of the past year-and-a-half has convinced Melendez to abandon his support for Trump and Republicans, and instead back the Democrat in this year’s U.S. Senate election, state Rep. James Talarico. “How can we continue voting for someone that is targeting our community?” Melendez said. “There’s no way possible we’re going to support that. No way.”

Melendez is not alone. One in five Hispanic business owners in Texas say they’ve had an employee deported in the past year, according to a new survey commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and shared first with POLITICO. Seven in ten said their businesses had been impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Among those surveyed, Talarico holds a seven-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, even though a plurality of the over 1,000 respondents self-identify as Republican. Almost one quarter who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary now say they’ll back Talarico, while over half say they’ll back Paxton. The survey is the clearest sign yet of Paxton’s vulnerability among Texas’ robust Hispanic business community amidst broader signs that Hispanic voters around the country are swinging hard against him, thanks to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the shaky economy. The survey was conducted from June 2 to 15 and included 1,012 Texas-based USHBC members. Respondents included business owners in construction, food services, retail, manufacturing and other industries. Those business owners pointed to the fear the deportation push created in the community, as well as their bottom lines, for why they were turning on Trump and toward Talarico.

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Massive AI buildout poses latest inflation threat as consumers pay more for laptops and electricity

American consumers — and the Federal Reserve — are being hit with another high-cost headache. The gusher of investment in data centers — likely topping $700 billion this year — to power artificial intelligence has made memory chips, computer processors, and other equipment, as well as electricity more expensive, and economists expect it will continue to push up inflation at least through the end of this year. While it won’t be as large a spike as occurred in 2021-2023, when inflation peaked at 9.1%, massive AI spending is likely to keep prices rising more quickly than the Federal Reserve would like. Such increases could lead the central bank to lift its key interest rate later this year to cool spending and bring down inflation. Higher rates from the Fed often boost borrowing costs for auto loans, mortgages, and business loans.

Fed officials will closely watch June’s inflation report, to be released Tuesday, for further signs of AI’s impact on prices. Inflation last month likely cooled as gasoline prices have fallen after a cease-fire was reached between the U.S. and Iran, though whether that trend continues is now unclear as the U.S. and Iran have resumed fighting. Just four large tech companies — Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft — are expected to invest $720 billion this year, mostly on data centers. Those data centers use a lot of semiconductors, and chip supplies have run low. As a result, economists at JPMorgan Chase estimate that the cost of some computer memory chips will have soared by as much as 400% between 2024 and the end of this year. Americans are already seeing higher prices for a range of consumer electronics, including laptops, smartphones, video game consoles, and computers. Electricity prices are also jumping as data centers absorb a growing share of new electrical capacity. In a high-profile announcement last month, Apple announced it was boosting prices for laptops and iPads by about 15% to 25%. A topline MacBook will now cost $1,999, up from $1,699. Many analysts expect price hikes will come for iPhones next. “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage,” Apple said in a statement. “We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.” On the same day, Microsoft announced that the price of its XBox video game console will increase $100 by Aug. 1, citing higher prices for memory chips. Sony is also charging more for the Playstation, while Dell Computer and HP have raised prices for their laptops.

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Lindsey Graham died of aortic dissection, preliminary medical report says

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) died suddenly on Saturday night at age 71, his office said, prompting tributes from President Donald Trump and lawmakers from both parties who recalled his record as a foreign policy hawk and deep friendships he forged during his three decades in Congress. In a statement, Graham’s office said preliminary findings from the D.C. medical examiner’s office found that Graham suffered from an aortic dissection, in which a tear occurs in the inner layer of the main artery. This was caused by arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the statement said. These tears usually occur when there is high blood pressure. A death certificate remains pending until all toxicological and microscopic tests are finalized, according to Graham’s office. “At that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death,” the statement said.

Graham’s death narrows Republicans’ majority in the Senate, where they had held a 53-47 edge. He had been running for reelection this year. Emergency medical responders worked to stabilize a man at Graham’s home on Saturday night and transport him to a hospital, according to witnesses and police scanner audio obtained by The Washington Post. Graham, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, died hours after returning from a trip to Kyiv, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. State law allows South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, to make an immediate appointment to fill Graham’s seat for the remainder of his term, which expires in January. Trump praised Graham in a social media post as a “true American Patriot” and said details on the funeral would follow. The White House flag was lowered to half-staff. The president, appearing on several Sunday news programs, said that he spoke with Graham on Saturday evening — shortly before emergency personnel were called — and that the senator told him he was “tired.”

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Corpus Christi gave $100M in water discounts to industry giants. Locals picked up the bill

For at least a decade, Corpus Christi sold water to a handful of large industrial plants at a steeply discounted rate, according to documents and interviews with city officials. Residents and businesses paid more than $100 million to subsidize water for some of the world’s richest energy companies, the city’s rate models show. Three years ago, Corpus Christi doubled the companies’ water rates in an effort to correct the imbalance. But the companies, including Valero, Citgo and LyondellBassell, protested to state regulators, sparking a legal battle that will come to a head today as a public hearing over the matter begins in front of an independent state agency in Austin. The outcome will have major implications for Corpus Christi, which is facing an unprecedented water supply crisis, as well as the energy companies that have long dominated its economy. If the companies prevail, Corpus could be forced to refund them tens of millions of dollars even as it desperately seeks funding for new water projects and raises rates on the rest of the region’s consumers.

“I’m holding my breath,” said Sylvia Campos, a city council member who campaigned on raising industrial water rates. “Let’s hope that we don’t have to pay them back.” Valero, which is leading the effort to dispute rates through a coalition called Affordable Water for Corpus Christi, did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did Citgo or LyondellBassell. The companies all buy water directly from Corpus Christi’s water utility to operate oil refineries and petrochemical plants just outside the city limits. “They know very well how long they’ve gotten away with not paying their fair share,” Campos said. The industry group’s arguments for lower water rates are spelled out in thousands of pages of documents filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, a state regulator headed by a panel of gubernatorial appointees. In one filing, a consultant wrote that the group’s members should get a discount for water because they shouldn’t have to pay for “distribution infrastructure they do not own, maintain, or benefit from in the same way as inside-city users.”

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State Stories

Mariachi no longer in ICE custody after calls for his release, Rep. Castro says

The man who sang the national anthem on July 4 at a South Texas immigrant detention facility has been released, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio. Hebert Kaleth Ibarra Castro, 20, was reunited with his wife, Marisol Pantoj, after being arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 25 while driving in China Grove. An ICE spokesperson told KSAT that Ibarra Castro “entered the United States illegally,” but Pantoj said he entered the U.S. legally on a B-2 visa. “He came with a B-2 visa when he was 4 years old,” Pantoj said. “He was fleeing violence from (Monterrey) Mexico.” Pantoj said that the visa expired in 2020, and they have been working on obtaining his green card, but it has taken a long time, calling the process “very overwhelming.”

“The packet itself was 178 pages,” Pantoj said. ”Sponsorship, birth certificates, IDs, passports, pay stubs, we had to develop a marriage evidence folder.” While being held in the South Texas detention facility, Pantoj said Ibarra Castro was asked to sing the national anthem. “He had said, ‘I don’t understand why they asked me to sing a song of the land of the free when they chained me up like an animal,’” Pantoj said. ICE said Ibarra Castro “volunteered to perform the national anthem for other detainees and contract staff at the detention center during a Fourth of July talent contest.” “The performance was part of broader efforts to promote positive engagement through voluntary activities,” ICE said. “Castro received no compensation and participated simply because he enjoys singing.” Rep. Castro announced Ibarra Castro’s release Saturday in a Facebook post. “In a country that stands for freedom and opportunity,” Rep. Castro said, “he deserves a fair chance at the American Dream.”

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Gov. Greg Abbott activates Texas emergency resources as heavy rain, flash flood threat continue

As rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms continue to threaten much of Texas this week, Gov. Greg Abbott has activated state emergency response resources ahead of the increased risk of flash flooding. The announcement comes as a moisture-rich weather pattern is expected to bring multiple rounds of heavy rainfall across large portions of the state through the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

“The State of Texas will deploy all necessary resources to help local officials respond to potential severe weather and flash flooding across the state,” Abbott said in a statement. “I urge all Texans to monitor local forecasts, heed guidance from state and local officials, and always remember: Turn Around, Don’t Drown. Texas will support our communities as these threats develop.” The National Weather Service says slow-moving thunderstorms could bring heavy rainfall and flash flooding to parts of North, West, Central, South and East Texas beginning Sunday night, with the greatest threat expected through the middle of the week. In addition to flooding, some storms could produce damaging wind gusts and large hail.

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Texas Republicans celebrate Lindsey Graham as a 'patriot'

Leading Texas Republicans are taking to social media after the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, celebrating the native South Carolinian as a great conservative leader. “He was a kind and funny man who loved our country and loved serving it,” Former President George W. Bush said in a statement posted to X. “South Carolina was fortunate to have such a committed public servant in its corner.” Graham, 71, died on Saturday night after a “brief and sudden illness,” according to his office. A former Air Force lawyer, Graham spent three decades in the U.S. Senate. He was seeking a fifth term at the time of his death.

Sen. Ted Cruz frequently collaborated with Graham, co-sponsoring a bill to restrict Birthright Citizenship just a few months ago. He remembered Graham as a “fearless patriot, a devoted public servant, and one of the fiercest advocates for America’s national security” in a Sunday post on X. “For years, I had the privilege of serving alongside Lindsey in the Senate,” Cruz wrote. “We fought shoulder to shoulder for conservative judges, stood together with our allies, and never wavered in confronting America’s adversaries.” Graham was also praised as a “great patriot” by outgoing Sen. John Cornyn, who served with him on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Graham voiced his support for Cornyn during his competitive primary challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Like millions around the world, my thoughts are with Senator Graham’s family today,” Cornyn wrote in a post on X. “He was a fierce advocate for our nation’s military and our federal judiciary.”

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The most useless border barrier in Texas

Perhaps Raymond Skiles should be relieved. A few months ago, the Trump administration was laying the groundwork to take part of his 550-acre ranch near tiny Langtry to build a border wall—part of a wildly unpopular plan to wall off much of West Texas, including Big Bend National Park. But then, in March, the government backed off the proposal without explanation. Skiles, a 71-year-old retired Big Bend National Park wildlife biologist, was pleased that a thirty-foot wall wouldn’t split his place. But he didn’t exactly rejoice. In June, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of Border Patrol, awarded a staggering $2.6 billion contract—the largest upfront award for physical border infrastructure ever—to build a four- to six-foot-tall steel “vehicle barrier” and pave new patrol roads for a 156-mile stretch from Sanderson to Lake Amistad. Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., a North Dakota–based contractor with ties to the Trump administration, won the bid. The new proposal will still tear up Skiles’s land, destroying important archaeological sites and polluting what is one of the last wild places in Texas. And if anything, the latest plans may constitute an even more pointless waste of taxpayer money than a thirty-foot wall.

Skiles Ranch, like almost the entirety of the Lower Canyons stretch of the Rio Grande below the national park, is characterized by a deep river gorge, with natural canyon walls typically soaring from one hundred to three hundred feet. It’s remote, harsh, and seldom trafficked by migrants. A border wall might, in theory, keep some of the small number who do cross there from entering Texas. But a vehicle barrier makes no sense for the simple reason that vehicles do not and cannot cross an impassable river gorge. As of now, smugglers have not figured out how to drive cars or trucks down vertical cliffs, across a river (or giant Lake Amistad), up vertical cliffs, and subsequently onto private property that’s surveilled and patrolled by Border Patrol, enclosed within fences, and watched over by heavily armed private landowners. Why would they? There are far easier and better places to traffic drugs and people. “It’s impossible” to get a vehicle across the Rio Grande in the Langtry area, said Skiles. “There hasn’t been a vehicle, since the mule-and-wagon days, come down on the Mexican side.” Even if a “coyote” (a smuggler) could get a car down to the river, he would then encounter fifteen to fifty feet of mud in the Langtry area—the result of the muddy Rio Grande hitting the still waters of Lake Amistad, which has since receded. “So the idea of even driving across the canyon, even if you could get to the bank, is ludicrous,” Skiles said.

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Austin startups land $6.5B in first half of 2026, climbing into elite tier, surpassing Atlanta, Chicago and Denver

Austin area startups attracted about $6.5 billion in venture funding during the first six months of 2026. That's enough to rank us among the nation's leading startup ecosystems and more than what a lot of big metros bring in through an entire year. That's according to the latest data from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. And it fits an ongoing trend both locally and nationally of a few high-flying startups carrying the lion's share of funding through huge rounds that exceed $100 million. The data helps make a case for Austin to be flirting with becoming a first or second tier city when it comes to venture backing for startups. San Francisco, New York, Boston and Los Angeles still easily lead the pack. But Austin has climbed the ladder to be in league with Seattle, San Diego and Washington, D.C., and surpassing big markets such as Chicago, Atlanta and Denver.

The latest numbers, from Q2, show Austin area companies landed about $1.5 billion across 100 deals. That's down from Q1, which was the metro's best quarter ever when we saw nearly $5 billion in deals land across 122 funding rounds, the PitchBook-NVCA data shows. Among the funding rounds that fueled the big numbers in the first half of 2026 are the $400 million raised by NinjaOne, $330 million brought in by Ollin Biosciences and $200 million secured by defense tech startup Allen Control Systems. Meanwhile, the city has seen some solid exits as well. That includes IPOs for Mobia Medical and Vida Global, and Literati and FemiClear being acquired. The data shows plenty of dry powder in the ecosystem, as well. VC firms including Saturn Five, Banner VC and Scout Ventures all have raised $100 million-plus funds so far this year. Though none will be surprised to see AI companies leading the way, the scale of AI's dominance in the VC world is still astounding. "AI continued to define the venture market in H1 2026. The total AI deal value of $355.9 billion made up 86% of all venture dollars in the period," the report said.

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Former SpaceX engineers open robotics company headquarters in Buda

Two former SpaceX engineers opened the doors of their robotics company’s new Buda headquarters Friday. TerraFirma Inc. moved from Austin to the 40,000-square-foot facility, which the construction technology firm will use as a research, design and testing facility. It welcomed stakeholders, employees and members of the Buda community to the grand opening of its “Robot Ranch” at Tower Business Park. Buda attracted the firm, which hopes to one day send its technology to Mars, with $412,500 in giveaways approved in March. The company intends to hire hundreds of employees over the next few years, according to city documents.

“(TerraFirma) is exactly the type of innovation-focused, high-wage employer we aim to recruit to Buda, strengthening our reputation as a location for advanced industrial and robotics-focused businesses and helping attract complementary employers and investment over time,” Mayor Lee Urbanovsky said. The company was founded in 2023 by Noah Schochet and Noah McGuinness, both former engineers at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which also a significant presence in Central Texas. TerraFirma designs and manufactures robotics for construction uses like excavation, site work and demolition, with a long-term goal of sending its technology to Mars.

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Dallas County DA argues elections official should be dropped from LULAC lawsuit over voter purge

Dallas County has asked a federal court to drop its top elections official from a lawsuit filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens. Dallas district attorneys recently filed a motion to remove Elections Administrator Paul Adams from the suit, arguing that he "has not violated any federal or state law, and has complied with the procedures set out in Texas Election Code." LULAC, Texas LULAC, LULAC's Dallas chapter and Common Cause alleged in a federal lawsuit that Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and elections administrators across the state violated the National Voter Registration Act. The lawsuit, filed in March, says that Texas adopted a “troubling voter purge program that relies on unvetted, outdated citizenship data to remove voters from rolls in ways that are discriminatory and non-uniform across counties.”

The voter purge program in question is the process Nelson implemented last October, which compared registered Texas voters against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database. LULAC said in its complaint that the state, and by extension local counties, relied on outdated or unreliable data that can incorrectly identify voters — especially naturalized U.S. citizens — as noncitizens. More than 2,700 voters were identified as "potential noncitizens." Nearly a quarter of them are from North Texas — 277 from Dallas County and 338 from Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties, according to Secretary of State data. Elections officials from those counties were also named in the lawsuit. Other Texas counties with high numbers of voters who were flagged included 362 from Harris County, 201 in Bexar County and 165 in El Paso County. Brazoria County's county clerk was dismissed from the suit last month, while Collin County Elections Administrator Kaleb Breaux and Secretary of State Jane Nelson have also filed motions to be dropped.

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How the 2026 FIFA World Cup impacted Houston's restaurants

For months, Houston restaurant owners prepared for a World Cup windfall, with some people comparing the tournament's expected economic impact to hosting seven Super Bowls. Now, with Houston's seven World Cup games over, results are in. And they're a mixed bag. At Tomball’s Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue, sales climbed an estimated 15% to 20%, owner Scott Moore Jr. said. But road closures and barricades for the FIFA Fan Festival slashed business at EaDo bakery Koffeteria to a crawl. Craft Pita founder Rafael Nasr said he redecorated and brought in some soccer fans — but saw only a minimal lift to his bottom line. Restaurants “didn't really see, as a group, any increase whatsoever,” said Mike Shine, the executive director of the Texas Restaurant Association’s Greater Houston Chapter. “When you're talking about the community as a whole, we didn't really see a lot from it.”

But Shine said some restaurants capitalized on World Cup fever far more than others. Businesses in the right locations, like J-Bar-M Barbecue, had a built-in advantage. More than 650,000 domestic visitors came to EaDo between June 11 and June 30 — up 215% from the same period last year — according to East Downtown Management District Executive Director Elizabeth Whitton. Others created reasons for fans to gather, like Jethro's Cocktail Lounge in Montrose, which brought in a projector for watch parties. Another subset, like the Kolache Shoppe, catered celebrations. And still more restaurants drew in tourists with must-try Houston foods, barbecue first and foremost. At Tejas Chocolate + Barbecue in Tomball, Moore said international visitors flooded in for brisket, sausage and ribs, while others ordered takeout to watch at home. One group of Norway fans drained his Scotch and most of his beer. “We were caught off guard a little bit by the volume,” Moore said.

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Rodeo announces $10.8M in scholarships for incoming college students

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced on Saturday that it would provide more than $10.8 million in scholarships to 541 students looking to attend college. The award is part of a larger $15 million investment by the Rodeo to distribute as scholarships, and a $30 million initiative designated for educational programs and advancing student education opportunities. Each student will receive $20,000 in scholarship money. "Education has the power to change lives, and we're proud to help open doors for these remarkable students," said Chris Boleman, Rodeo president and CEO. "Together, we're investing in future leaders who will shape the future of our state."

Among the awardees, nearly a third are first-generation high school graduates and more than half will be first-generation college students through the scholarships. About 66% of the awardees are women and 34% are men, the Rodeo said, and the top chosen majors among them are animal science, biology, psychology, mechanical engineering and nursing. The organization said scholarship recipients will attend 49 universities across the state, including Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, Texas State, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. Every year since 1932, the Rodeo gives out scholarship funding to Texas students, totaling about $660 million. "Every scholarship represents an opportunity to invest in the potential of a Texas student," said Wesley Sinor, chairman of the board of the Rodeo. "On behalf of our 36,000 volunteers, there's no greater reward than knowing our year-round work helps students pursue their dreams and create opportunities that will impact families and communities for generations."

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TCEQ proposes a six-figure penalty against Odem over wastewater treatment plant violations dating to 2023

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing a $162,650 administrative penalty against the city of Odem for 18 alleged violations at its wastewater treatment plant — the same facility at the center of concerns first reported by KRIS 6 News nearly three years ago. The proposed agreed order stems from a 2023 TCEQ inspection. Among the findings: E. coli levels in discharged water were more than six times the legal limit. Inspectors also documented sewage — including grease balls and floating sludge — in a nearby receiving stream, along with several other violations. TCEQ proposes a six-figure penalty against Odem over wastewater treatment plant violations dating to 2023

Odem Mayor David Maldonado gave Neighborhood News reporter Stephanie Molina a tour of the facility, pointing out equipment cited in the inspection. "This is a system that was out, and chemicals were being used without approval from TCEQ," Maldonado said as he pointed towards the UV disinfection system. At that time, the city had switched to chlorine tablets for disinfection without state approval. The city requested a compliance plan that would give it more time to address the violations. But Maldonado said that request cannot move forward until a separate compliance plan from 2019 is closed out. He said working to fix the system has been frustrating. "So here we are, years later, and we're looking back and going, 'Well, this was supposedly fixed already, so why are we still working on it?'" Maldonado said.

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Muslim advocacy group fights for trust after Texas brands it a terrorist group

It was just past 9 p.m. on June 22, during the Texas State Board of Education meeting, when Shaimaa Zayan, operations manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations’s Austin chapter, was called up to testify. She braced herself, knowing what was coming. “Can we have a leader of a foreign terrorist organization testify for the state board of education?” Brandon Hall, a Republican board member, asked the chairman, just as Zayan rose to the podium. Hall was referring to an order by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designating CAIR a terrorist group last November. The group, one of the country’s largest Muslim advocacy organizations, however, is not listed on the U.S. Department of State’s list of terrorist organizations, which is officially responsible for such designations. The chairman said Zayan had a First Amendment right to speak.

“OK, I won’t listen to it,” Hall said, before walking out of the room. CAIR has spent decades positioning itself as the country’s leading Muslim civil rights organization. But state and federal Republican leaders’ attempts to brand it as a terrorist front in recent months has tested CAIR’s legal standing and cast suspicion on the group or anyone who associates with it. The organization, which has chapters around the country, is now also fighting fraying trust inside some Muslim communities as mosque and nonprofit leaders decide whether standing by CAIR is worth potential risks — notably, in Texas. Since Abbott’s foreign terrorist designation, Imran Ghani, operations manager for CAIR’s Houston chapter, said his office has dealt with stigma in some Muslim communities. While some Texas mosques and other groups have continued to invite CAIR speakers and collaborate on events, as they have regularly in the past, Ghani said at least a dozen Muslim groups in Houston have privately made it clear they are no longer willing to host the civil rights group. “That’s exactly what the governor is intending to do: separate CAIR from the Muslim community, despite being a grassroots organization from within the Muslim community, and punish anybody that supports CAIR,” he said.

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Texas history curriculum overhaul expands state control over textbooks

Last month, Texas overhauled what the state’s 5.5 million public school students will be expected to learn about history and literature, embedding Christianity and biblical readings into the standards on a scale no other state has matched. Now, the Texas Education Agency is capitalizing on those changes, spending millions to develop new textbooks and lesson plans that districts will be incentivized to use. The move could edge out private publishers and further cement the agency’s role in dictating how and what public schools teach, industry observers and critics said. “There’s a time in the future where Bluebonnet will no longer be optional,” said State Board of Education Member Evelyn Brooks, a Frisco Republican, referring to the state’s materials. “That is where it's heading, just whatever the state puts in front of you.”

Texas is the only state in the country to own and publish its own line of textbooks and lesson plans. The program, called Bluebonnet, rolled out in 2024 and is currently optional for districts, though those that participate receive extra state funding. Just under a third of the state’s 1,200 districts are using Bluebonnet, which so far covers elementary-level math and English. The TEA confirmed to Hearst Newspapers this week that a $67 million contract it signed last year with Florida-based company MGT Solutions includes the development of new Bluebonnet materials for reading and social studies aligned to the new standards, as well as other subjects. Any textbook publisher is free to make their own materials that cater to Texas’ new standards, which become mandatory in 2030. But experts say many will be reluctant to invest because the social studies overhaul is so drastic. Unlike other curriculum rewrites, this process produced a top-to-bottom overhaul, reordering history and inserting brand-new lessons on Western civilization, religious history and biblical concepts.

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National Stories

McConnell says after weeks of speculation that hospitalization was due to a fall

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Sunday announced, after weeks of speculation, that he had a fall last month that landed him in the hospital. “My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,” he said in a statement. McConnell also provided a photo showing him smiling next to his wife, Elaine Chao. He appears to have a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section on his lap.

McConnell said he’s moved from a hospital to a rehabilitation center to continue regaining his strength. His doctors have run through “every test they can think of” to try to determine what caused the incident. The former Senate majority leader said he “won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet” but he’s “been working closely” with legislative staff in the meantime. The statement comes after weeks of questions over McConnell’s health, as aides for the 84-year-old were fiercely protective about releasing information on his condition. The lack of information sparked speculation and rumors online that his health had significantly deteriorated. McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, has faced a series of health issues in recent years, including multiple falls. In 2023, he froze midsentence during a news conference. Along with his own statement, McConnell included a note from the attending physician of Congress, who described the injuries after the fall at his Washington, DC, home as “minor.”

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Lindsey Graham’s career of contradictions

Lindsey Graham had reached the end of his rope on the night of Jan. 6, 2021, declaring his alliance with Donald Trump over. “Trump and I, we’ve had a helluva journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my god, I hate it,” the South Carolina Republican senator said during a floor speech after the Capitol riot had been subdued. “All I can say is, count me out, enough is enough,” Graham concluded. Except no journey with Lindsey Graham was ever really over. In more than three decades in Congress, Graham constantly maneuvered across the political spectrum in search of relevance and influence. True to form, he returned to Trump’s side later in 2021 and was an early endorser of his 2024 presidential campaign, at a time when Trump seemed beatable.

That ingratiation led Graham to an influential role as an informal adviser on national security. On Saturday he spoke by phone with the president to discuss the senator’s trip to Ukraine and his long effort to pass tough new sanctions against Russia. The call took place, according to Trump, not long before paramedics were called to Graham’s Capitol Hill home. His aides announced Graham’s death in an early Sunday morning social media post. “If I had a problem, a real problem, I wouldn’t often ask. But if I had a problem with a Democrat, he could work it out,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “He was a great, he was a great politician, actually.” It’s debatable how much Graham could work out with Democrats in his last few years in the Senate. His ideological maneuvering left him increasingly isolated when it came to the sort of dealmaking he’d learned as a sidekick to John McCain (R-Arizona) in his first 15 years in the Senate.

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US has no 'dead man's switch' to attack Iran if it kills Trump

President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran “ at levels they’ve never seen before ” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him. But the U.S. government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized “dead man’s switch” that would prompt immediate retaliation. Instead, if Trump were killed, the transfer of power to his successor is governed by the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Vice President JD Vance instantaneously would become commander in chief and have authority for any retaliation. Under such a scenario, Vance could do exactly what Trump called for, though there also is a chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor’s orders — or offer a direct response in a different way.

“The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,’” said Garrett M. Graff, author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself -- While the Rest of Us Die.” The United States does have extensive contingency plans for continuity of government in the event of a nuclear attack or other major catastrophe that wipes out most or all of Washington. But those plans also do not allow for immediately launching retaliatory strikes upon the death of a president, even if that president had demanded that the military be ready to do so. Trump nonetheless posted on his social media website Saturday that Iran had made threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him and he said 1,000 “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat.”

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States prepare lawsuit to block Paramount’s merger With Warner Bros.

A group of states are preparing to file a lawsuit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery as soon as this week, according to four people briefed on the plans, a legal challenge that would create a major obstacle for one of the biggest media mergers in history. A draft of the lawsuit currently circulating argues that the $111 billion deal would harm competition in the market for so-called tent pole films, the expensive blockbusters that make up a large portion of studio revenues, among other claims, two of the people said. California has taken the lead on the lawsuit, and states including New York, Washington and Connecticut have said they will join the effort, according to three of the people, as well as another person familiar with the states’ plans. All of them spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive legal matter before it was public.

Once the lawsuit is finalized, the states could decide to delay filing it or scrap it completely. Reuters earlier reported states could sue as soon as this week. A spokeswoman for Paramount said in a statement that the company was prepared to address “legitimate antitrust issues,” adding that its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery “raises no such concerns.” “We are confident the facts and the law support this transaction, and we will continue to defend it vigorously,” she added. Paramount has said it plans to close the deal in the third quarter of the year. As part of its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount has said it would pay the company’s shareholders about $650 million in cash for each quarter the deal doesn’t close, starting in October. The lawsuit would disrupt efforts by the billionaire Larry Ellison and his son, David Ellison, to create a Hollywood colossus. The combined company would include two major movie studios, multiple streaming services and the news networks CNN and CBS News, expanding the father-son duo’s influence over the flagging entertainment and media industries.

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U.S. launches new strikes on Iran and Tehran attacks U.S. allies in the Gulf

The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire for the third weekend in a row, with strikes stretching into Monday as Iran responded to U.S. attacks by targeting U.S. allies in the region. The back-and-forth attacks came as Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and days after President Trump declared that the ceasefire between the two countries was "over." The latest volley of strikes began on Saturday, when Iran fired at and disabled a commercial ship passing through the strait and said it was closing the vital waterway completely. The U.S. retaliated, striking multiple sites in Iran overnight. Iran responded to those U.S. attacks on Sunday launching strikes against Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. The United Arab Emirates also said it came under missile fire.

That prompted another round of U.S. strikes on Iran Sunday evening, which the U.S. Central Command said it had completed by 10.30 p.m. ET. In a string of statements carried by Iranian state media, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said Monday it targeted U.S. bases and outposts in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones. On Monday morning, missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Kuwait's army said its air defense systems were intercepting "hostile attacks." There was no immediate word on damage. Trump on Sunday rejected Iran's claim that the strait was closed. "It's open. We bombed the hell out of them last night," he told NBC's Meet the Press. He said that Tehran had agreed to "a perfect deal for us" in negotiations on Saturday, without giving details. "No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything," he said. "And then after that, they left the room. And then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship."

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17 Mexican nationals have died in ICE custody or enforcement operations, Mexico says, announcing legal action

Mexico plans to pursue criminal and civil action in the United States over the deaths of Mexican nationals in ICE custody and enforcement operations, President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday. The announcement comes after an ICE agent fatally shot 52-year-old Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during an enforcement operation in Houston's Magnolia Park neighborhood on July 7. Salgado had lived in the United States for decades and had a work permit application pending. Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said Mexico has recorded 17 deaths of Mexican nationals linked to ICE since the start of the current U.S. immigration crackdown: 14 in detention centers and three during enforcement operations, including Salgado Araujo.

Sheinbaum said her government would no longer rely solely on diplomatic protest notes. "We are going to do everything in our power," she said, adding that Mexico could not fail to act in response to the deaths of Mexicans during ICE enforcement operations or in detention centers run by private companies contracted by ICE. She said Mexico would continue providing consular support to families and detainees, especially Mexicans "whose only crime is working honestly in the United States." Velasco said the Foreign Ministry will ask Mexico's Attorney General's Office to refer the cases to U.S. state prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Justice, seeking criminal investigations. He said the referrals would be filed "against whoever is responsible." U.S. authorities said agents were carrying out an operation when Salgado Araujo tried to evade arrest and used his vehicle as a weapon, prompting an officer to fire in self-defense. But witnesses and relatives have challenged that account. El País reported that neighbors heard him cry, "¡Me están matando!" after the shooting, and his family said they first learned of his death through videos and social media, not from authorities.

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Democratic pastors run to reclaim Jesus from Trump's Republicans

A band of white Democratic pastors have a striking message ahead of November's US midterm elections: Republicans have hijacked Jesus for political gain, and we're not going to stand for it. For decades, it's been a truism that Republicans have cornered the Christian market -- at least when it comes to white voters. But these ministers are so fed up with President Donald Trump, and particularly his policies against immigrants, that they're running as Democrats in November to rein him in. "The Christians we're hearing in Washington don't reflect the Jesus of the Gospels," one of the insurgents, Adam Hamilton, told AFP.

As the head of a 24,000-member Methodist megachurch in a deeply conservative, rural area of Kansas, Hamilton would typically fit the profile of a right-wing Republican Christian. However, along with support for fiscal responsibility and a strong military, the 62-year-old Hamilton backs legal access to abortion and protecting LGBTQ rights in his campaign for the US Senate. Citing the "crassness and mean-spiritedness" of Trump's presidency, he said what's happening in Washington is "inconsistent with the values that I've preached for 36 years." "I want to stand up and be heard saying: 'This is not OK.'" Democrats have a long tradition of clergy in politics, but predominately among African Americans. In Congress now, there's Senator Raphael Warnock, who leads Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr was pastor. But the last white, Democratic pastor in Congress was Bob Edgar, a Methodist minister representing Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1987.

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Lead Stories

Sen. Lindsey Graham dies at 71 after ‘brief and sudden illness’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was elected to the Senate in 2002 and was a close political ally of President Donald Trump’s, has died, his office confirmed early Sunday. He was 71. Graham died Saturday night “from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” the statement said. President Donald Trump led tributes Sunday to “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known,” describing Graham as a “true American Patriot” in a Truth Social post.

Graham was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was seeking a fifth six-year Senate term in November. He was one of the most well-known members of the chamber and a key voice within the party on defense and foreign policy. Emergency personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News. EMS audio later indicated CPR was in progress. Photographs from the scene reviewed by NBC News show paramedics carrying a person on a stretcher from Graham’s home to an awaiting ambulance. Police cars and fire trucks were also on site. A top staffer to Graham told NBC News early Sunday that there was no indication the lawmaker was feeling unwell prior to his death. He had been scheduled to appear on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Graham was a frequent guest on the broadcast, appearing a total of 63 times over the years.

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A new foe has emerged for data centers: Farmers

About 30 miles from Clint McRae’s southeastern Montana ranch, a local utility company bought roughly 6,000 acres of cattle grazing land. After scouring job postings online and talking with local ranchers, he’s deduced that the land might soon be transformed into one of the many large-scale data centers moving into Montana over the past year. McRae’s primary concern is water. It is essential for cattlemen in the western plains who have for years been shrinking their cattle herds in response to droughts. The local water supply will have to keep flowing to the new data center projects, rather than to ranchers who need it to keep the pasture healthy and calves hydrated, according to McRae. Montana’s cattle herd could experience a more permanent decline as a result, he said.

“If we have a dry year like we’re having now, who’s going to cut back?” McRae, a fourth-generation rancher, said. “It’s going to be agriculture.” At town hall meetings, McRae is trying to sound the alarm and rally other local ranchers to speak out against new data center projects. A spokeswoman for the utility, NorthWestern Energy, said no decisions have been made and no timeline set regarding the site. “Securing land now helps ensure we have options later, without rushing decisions that could impact reliability or costs,” she said. America’s farmers and cattle ranchers are raising red flags about the potential drain on local resources that the data-center construction boom poses to rural regions of the farm economy. The agriculture industry is warning that the AI-focused facilities are gobbling up farmland acreage, electricity and water needed to raise livestock and grow crops. “It’s almost like the wild west to see who gets there first,” said Philip Nelson, president of the Illinois Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer in Seneca, Ill. Tech companies are investing unprecedented sums of money to finance a construction boom across the U.S. of huge data centers to fuel America’s AI ambitions, largely in rural areas. Data center projects have been touted as a new source of growth for small towns and flyover country.

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Mark Cuban takes legal action against Dallas Mavericks ownership over potential new arena deal

Mark Cuban has gone to court over frustrations that he’s being kept in the dark about the Dallas Mavericks moving forward in their quest to build a new arena. Cuban’s lawyers have filed a petition in Dallas County district court seeking sworn testimony from a corporate representative of the Arena Development Institute, a company formed by Mavericks ownership in Delaware. In June, the Mavericks announced that they had entered into an option agreement for the potential purchase of 104 acres of land at the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas. The Mavericks’ lease at American Airlines Center expires in 2031, and the team hopes to move into a new building ahead of the 2031-32 season. Cuban claims that this potential new arena deal could violate contracts he already has in place with the Mavericks’ owners in Texas.

In the document Cuban filed, he outlines his version of how he sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont, the Sands Corporation CEO who also serves as the Mavericks governor. Cuban said he began working with them in 2019 to pass gambling in Texas. Their goal at the time was to build a “Venetian style destination resort” somewhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. In 2023, Cuban officially sold his majority stake in the Mavericks to Adelson. Cuban said that they had a handshake agreement in place where he would remain in control of the Mavericks’ basketball decisions while Dumont would be in charge of the team’s business side. “This handshake agreement was reiterated in multiple emails and orally in the presence of Dumont, Miriam Adelson, another NBA owner, and Mavericks employees,” Cuban’s legal action read. The Athletic asked Cuban if he could produce these emails. Cuban replied, “Can’t say anything at all.”

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One U.S. visa program is growing rapidly. No one is happy with it

The Trump administration is focused on an immigration crackdown. But agriculture employers and some moderate Republicans want to start negotiating at least one aspect of legal immigration: expanding a visa program that brings foreign workers to America's farms. Dozens of farmers — including dairy farmers and blueberry, apple and peach growers — and lobbying powerhouses like the American Farm Bureau Federation took to Washington this month to advocate for their labor needs. At the center of discussions is a bill introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson that would expand access to the H-2A visa for seasonal agricultural labor. "While this may not be in our jurisdiction, it is certainly in the interest of the farmers and ranchers, and foresters that we represent," Thompson, R-Pa., told reporters and gathered farmers. He nodded to the fact that the House Judiciary Committee, not his, must approve any bill related to immigration and visas.

The H-2A visa program provides workers, primarily from Mexico, for farms that need someone to pick, fertilize and prune crops on a seasonal and temporary basis. Historically, farms with year-round needs such as dairies have been excluded from the program. But use of H-2A visas has jumped more than 500% since 2012 — from 62,743 to nearly 400,000 in 2025, in part because other programs have strict caps and other limits. Despite its growing popularity and farmers' reliance on the program, employers, labor advocates and both political parties agree that it is far from perfect. But there are strong ideological and practical differences on what needs to be changed. Labor organizations and conservatives are skeptical of any program that expands the use of foreign labor. Labor groups have long criticized the H-2A program for the potential of workplace abuses, and conservatives take issue with any program that could grandfather in workers currently working in the U.S. illegally. Farmers and other businesses warn of immediate consequences to their labor supply without expanding the program, given the administration's deportations and continued record-low crossings at the southern border.

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New housing law targets affordability — what it means for homebuyers and sellers

Bipartisan legislation intended to increase the U.S. housing supply and improve affordability is now law — but experts say homebuyers and sellers shouldn’t expect fast relief. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act automatically became law on Saturday after President Donald Trump neither signed it nor vetoed it within a set timeframe. The legislation combines dozens of housing measures aimed at encouraging home construction, expanding access to financing and restricting purchases by large institutional investors. The legislation “will help expand the nation’s housing supply by reducing regulatory barriers and encouraging local governments to reform zoning and land-use policies that have limited home building,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, in a statement after the measure cleared Congress on June 23.

The new law arrives as housing affordability remains strained. Home prices are near record highs and 30-year fixed mortgage rates continue to hover above 6.5%. The median price of an existing home in the U.S. reached $440,600 in June, up 49.2% from June 2020, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. There’s also an estimated housing supply deficit of about 4 million homes, according to Realtor.com. “This bill directly targets some of the biggest drivers of housing costs: land-use restrictions, permitting delays, financing constraints and regulatory hurdles,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at Cotality, a real estate data company. “Unfortunately, homebuyers should not expect immediate relief,” Hepp said, adding that “housing development takes time and many of the benefits would likely materialize gradually rather than overnight.” Among the new law’s many technical and policy changes, several provisions are likely to matter most to consumers. A key provision would prohibit large institutional investors that own at least 350 single-family homes from purchasing additional single-family homes, subject to several exceptions. Those exceptions include certain build-to-rent and renovate-to-rent projects, as well as programs that help renters build credit and eventually purchase homes.

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State Stories

Father files lawsuit against Atmos after son and wife's death in Oak Cliff apartment explosion

A man whose 1-year-old son and wife were killed in a gas explosion and fire at an Oak Cliff Apartment in May has sued Atmos Energy for allegedly failing to mark a gas line struck by a driller. It’s at least the fifth lawsuit to be filed against Atmos over the incident. The lawsuit, filed by Erik Perez Sr., alleges Atmos frequently failed to properly mark its gas pipes in the area leading up to the explosion. It claims Atmos has thousands of leaking pipes and frequently fails to locate its own pipes. “They just don't know where their lines are,” Ted Lyons, Perez Sr.’s lead attorney, told KERA. “They don't know what the heck's going on with their gas system – it's amazing.” The explosion killed Marisol Perez, her 1-year-old son Erik Perez Jr. and Democratic activist Sylvia Collins. Collins’ daughter, Michelle, has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Atmos.

Perez Sr.’s then 9-year-old daughter was found crawling through the debris before being rescued by a bystander, according to the lawsuit. “They're devastated. They can barely deal with this,” Lyons said of the Perez family. “It's unbelievable.” “The safety of our communities and employees is our first priority,” Atmos told KERA in a statement. “We are grateful to Dallas Fire Rescue and all first responders who bravely responded to this incident. Our hearts go out to the people who were lost, their families, and everyone who has been impacted by this tragedy.” The lawsuit alleges a gas leak was reported at the apartment a month before the explosion. JF Construction notified 811 — the number anybody digging must call to request a utility line locate — of a gas leak at The Clyde apartments on March 20, according to the lawsuit. The gas meter at the apartment was replaced on May 15. A gas leak at Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary School blocks away from the apartment was also allegedly due to an improperly marked gas line, according to the lawsuit.

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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo to be ‘less visible’ due to mono diagnosis, she says

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced she has contracted mononucleosis and will be stepping back from public duties as she recovers. On Thursday, Hidalgo shared a statement on social media announcing she had contracted the contagious viral infection commonly referred to as mono. She made the announcement to explain why she may have a less visible role as the county’s top elected official over the next several weeks. "I've been dealing with a lingering sore throat and intense fatigue," she wrote in her post. "At around 8 p.m. tonight, I received lab results confirming a mono diagnosis. The only treatment for mono is rest. ... I share this because I will be less visible around the community for the next several weeks while I recover."

As county judge, Hidalgo presides over a five-member commissioners court, which serves as the executive decision-making body for the county government. Harris County, which includes Houston, is the most populous county in Texas and among the most populous in the United States. Hidalgo said her staff will represent her "when necessary." "I remain fully available and reachable, especially in the event of an emergency,” Hidalgo wrote. “... I expect to be back to normal after a few weeks of limited engagements." In 2023, Hidalgo took a two-month leave of absence to receive treatment for clinical depression at an inpatient care facility outside of Texas. Commissioner Rodney Ellis, a fellow Democrat and the longest-tenured county commissioner, presided over commissioners court during her absence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mono can last 4-6 weeks and has symptoms including extreme fatigue, fever, sore throat, headaches and body aches. There is no vaccine to protect against mono, according to the CDC. Hidalgo said she initially thought her symptoms were caused by "exhaustion." "Thinking my diagnosis was exhaustion, I have recently interacted with community members as usual," she said. "Thankfully, mono is not spread through casual contact."

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'Unusual vibration' felt before plane crash that killed Austin tech leader Joshua Baer, NTSB says

New details have emerged about the June 16 plane crash in Laredo that killed Austin tech entrepreneur Joshua Baer. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board details how pilots noticed early in the flight that there was an “unusual vibration." "It sounds like a fan is on ... you can feel it in the dashboard," a pilot said. The pilots contacted NetJets, which co-owns the plane, and noted that the humming noise had gone away. The instruments on the plane then indicated that it was caused by a cooling fan. The crew continued speaking with a maintenance controller and the flight operations duty manager, and it was decided that the flight could safely proceed to the destination in Austin.

Once the plane was approaching the U.S.-Mexico border, the pilots received another message indicating low fuel pressure in the right engine. Within minutes, three more messages displayed, including a message indicating low fuel, and the pilots prepared for an emergency landing. The plane received permission to land in Laredo, but as they approached, both engines lost power. A pilot then asked for possible fields to land in nearby before ultimately crashing on a highway. Doorbell cameras showed fire flaring up around the plane as it was approaching the road, the report said. The plane, which departed from Los Cabos, Mexico, was over 40,000 feet in the air before descending over the span of 30 minutes. It ultimately crashed on Loop 20, several miles short of the airport. Baer’s dog, Stormy, also died following the crash, according to the Laredo Police Department. The main pilot suffered serious injuries while the co-pilot and three other passengers received minor injuries. The driver of a car that was hit by the plane on the highway also received minor injuries, according to the report.

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New Dallas County GOP chair vows to rebuild in Democratic stronghold

As the newly elected Dallas County GOP chair, Monty Montanez said he’s focused on engaging with voters and trying to restore the Republican Party’s weight in a county that has been solidly blue for two decades. He’s less interested in talking about turmoil that came before him after the party's demand for precinct-based voting on the March 3 primary day. That shift from the vote-anywhere system ended with thousands of confused Republicans and Democrats showing up to wrong locations. And it led to the resignation of then-chair Allen West, who restored countywide voting for the runoff to avoid repeat chaos but drew ire from much of his party. Montanez declined to say whether as chair he will push for precinct-based voting in the 2028 primary, because the party's plan “is still being put together.”

But after being elected by Republican precinct chairs June 25 to serve West’s abandoned two-year term, Montanez, 46, has laid out a goal of boosting the party's reputation as his long game. He said he’s looking to move the party past recent dysfunction by rebuilding the GOP’s grassroots base, finances, candidate pool and election turnout — an uphill battle in a county where Democrats dependably win elections. “My goal is to build a stronger, more united party that supports our volunteers, earns the trust of our community and works every day to elect Republicans,” Montanez said. He started his tenure by touring the Dallas County elections department and meeting with Elections Administrator Paul Adams, whom Montanez said he has “complete confidence in.” West, who became chair in 2024, repeatedly questioned the integrity of Dallas County’s voting machines and pushed unproven allegations of election fraud. Montanez said he doesn’t share the same concerns about Dallas County’s voting equipment or countywide voting system, though he prefers precincts and hand-marked paper ballots. “Being there and walking through and asking all the questions and listening to everyone, I felt completely comfortable that our elections are secure,” he said.

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Secret Texas Capitol vault reveals hidden treasury history

All this time, there’s been a secret vault in the basement of the Texas Capitol, and few living souls have seen it. During a recent tour of the magnificent building with Kevin Koch, the Architect of the Capitol, we discussed discoveries made during efforts to preserve the building's granite, limestone, mortar, plaster, paint, terrazzo, iron, oak, pine and, in decorative flourishes, polished mahogany, walnut, cherry and cedar. All these materials have been fashioned and refashioned as the “People’s Palace” has been restored and renovated repeatedly since it opened with a grand party in 1888. As a person whose case of acrophobia has only escalated with advancing age, I skipped parts of the private tour that might have taken me high above the Great Seal of Texas, which is rendered under the ribbed dome in terrazzo collected from all over the state.

Yet when Koch mentioned a rarely seen subterranean treasury vault built in 1936, my response ran along the lines of, “Yes, please, with all my curiosity ablaze!” Why a new state treasury during the 1930s? Recall that this was the era of headline-grabbing gangsters, some of them local or regional, others national figures roaming Texas. Let’s just start with the Barrow and Newton family gangs, the first better known by its charismatic duo, “Bonnie and Clyde,” the second as the “Newton Boys.” In addition, every big city in Texas seemed to generate tight-knit crime families, such as the Maceo syndicate in Galveston and the Piranio network in Dallas. These gangsters staged spectacular crimes: celebrity kidnappings, daylight bank robberies, mad jailbreaks, mass shootings and mob assassinations. For safe cracking, mobsters used explosives and torches to defeat the escalating defenses of safe makers, which included multiple, thick layers of metal, inventive locks and anti-explosive devices.

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Pressure mounts on Texas to address brutal heat crisis in prison cells

Texas, the state with the largest prison population in the US, is coming under mounting legal pressure to address the ongoing crisis of brutal heat in its cells, as extreme summer temperatures expose inmates to suffering, illness and even death. The Texas department of criminal justice (TDCJ), the state agency that runs dozens of prisons, has been hit by a new wrongful death lawsuit by the family of Jason Wilson. The inmate was found dead in his solitary confinement cell at the Coffield unit in July 2024. The family’s civil complaint, lodged in a federal district court in Houston, accuses the state of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment on the prisoner “that led to his death in a brutally hot, un-airconditioned cell”. Refusal to provide Wilson with cool water and regular showers, combined with the lack of air conditioning and a failure to check routinely on his wellbeing, “caused him immense suffering and death”.

His plight was the result of “deliberate indifference” and “intentional discrimination” on the part of the Texas authorities, the suit says. The new wrongful death lawsuit comes as Texas is already awaiting the outcome of a separate federal court action in Austin over the heat crisis. An alliance of advocacy groups is calling on a federal judge in the western district of Texas to order the state to introduce air conditioning in all its prisons over the next three years. A ruling in that case is expected within months. The legal crunch is coming to a head just as searing summer heat yet again pummels Texas prisons. Of the state’s 141,000 prisoners, more than 85,000 are held in cells without air conditioning where internal temperatures regularly exceed 115F (46C) in summer months. A high of 149F has been recorded. At such extremes, individual inmates can experience physical and mental breakdown, and those who are particularly vulnerable as a result of co-morbidities can suffer fatal heatstrokes.

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Texas Rangers investigating City of Trinidad after water issues, controversial arrests, firings

After controversial arrests, alleged retaliatory firings and a litany of water issues, the Texas Rangers are investigating the City of Trinidad. What we know: The Texas Rangers confirmed to FOX 4 they have begun an investigation into the City of Trinidad. "We can confirm the Texas Rangers are investigating. As this is an active investigation, we have no further information to provide," the Texas Rangers said to FOX 4 in a statement. The law enforcement agency's investigation comes as multiple lawsuits have been filed against the city over retaliatory firings and controversial arrests related to the city's water quality issues.

This week, former Trinidad City Administrator and Secretary Lindsey Patterson filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming she had "no record of discipline" when she was terminated in Feb. 2026. Patterson's suit claims she was fired after reporting to the Trinidad Police Department that "public funds belonging to the city were being held by private individuals." Trinidad's current City Administrator, Cynthia Dosier, has been listed as a defendant in several of the lawsuits. She has not returned FOX 4's request for comment since our first report. On Friday, FOX 4's David Sentendrey attempted to speak to Dosier at her office in Trinidad. Dosier had no comment when asked about the Texas Rangers' investigation. What they're saying: Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws previously called for an investigation by the Texas Rangers into the city's now-public issues. He tells Sentendrey he's glad that's finally happening. "I wanted people here to know that there is going to be transparency at the end of this," Haws said. "We need to know that our office is in order and I think the best way to do that is with a third party having eyes on it and finding out what really is going on here."

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‘It doesn’t get easier’: Candlelight vigil honors Lorenzo Salgado Araujo

More than 200 people gathered Saturday morning to honor Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the man shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents (ICE) this week. Holding lit candles and "ICE OUT" signs, the group said prayers and mourned Salgado Araujo's death as well as others like Renee Good and Alex Pretti — who had lost their lives during ICE encounters in Minnesota earlier this year. "It doesn't get easier, and of course I'm still looking for answers," Ronaldo Salgado, the victim's son, said. "I've been looking for answers since 7 o'clock a.m. Tuesday."

Two of Salgado Araujo's sons, Ronaldo and Lorenzo Jr., spoke to the crowd. They described their father as a shy, hardworking individual who loved the Chivas Mexican soccer team and raised his sons to value and prioritize their education. Ronaldo said the family has still not received his father's belongings, including his wallet, phone and lunchbox. "Which I imagine is just sitting there in that van at the FBI facility just rotting away," Ronaldo said. "It was the last meal my mom made for him, and she just wants that lunchbox back." Salgado Araujo was shot Tuesday morning during what ICE has called a "targeted enforcement operation” in Houston’s East End neighborhood. He was traveling to work with three other men in his car. In a statement to Houston Public Media, a DHS spokesperson did not specify whether any of the people in the vehicle were intended targets, saying one of the individuals in the van "resembled the target." An ICE spokesperson said during the stop, Salgado Araujo was attempting to evade arrest and allegedly rammed his van into an ICE vehicle, causing an ICE agent to fire his weapon.

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The Onion hasn't taken control of Infowars yet, but it's relaunching the conspiracy site anyway

Infowars is back. But if you're looking for content about lizard people controlling the highest levers of power or chemicals turning frogs gay, you'll likely be disappointed. The Onion said Thursday it's forging ahead with its takeover of the Austin-based, conspiracy-peddling website formerly run by Alex Jones. Onion CEO Ben Collins said that the "real" Infowars will stream Thursday night with comedian Tim Heidecker hosting an inaugural broadcast. Heidecker previewed his take on Jones and Infowars in May, parodying Jones' sale of supplements by claiming he could turn viewers' urine into gold while drinking what he claimed to be blood in a Satanic ritual. The launch comes as lawyers for the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting are still wrangling in a Travis County court to finalize the satirical publication's takeover of Infowars.

In a statement, Collins said The Onion would launch its parody of Infowars Thursday night and that it planned on donating $100,000 to Sandy Hook families. "From the beginning, this has been about the Sandy Hook families and making sure something better comes from a platform that caused so much harm," Collins said. "We got into this because we saw an opportunity to take one of the most evil things on the internet and turn it into something funny, creative, and actually useful. The premiere is the first real look at that vision, and we're excited to finally put it in front of people." Judges in Connecticut and Texas ruled Jones regularly defamed Sandy Hook families on Infowars, calling them crisis actors and suggesting the massacre was staged. He was ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages, declared bankruptcy in 2022 and was forced to sell off assets, including the Infowars site. The Onion emerged as a potential buyer in 2024, but Jones has successfully fended off a takeover in Travis County courts. Last week, the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals sided with Jones, sending the case back to its Travis County trial court and delaying the transfer of the Infowars domain name to The Onion. Collins said The Onion would continue its takeover while the lawsuit is waylaid in court. "We have too much to do to wait around," he said. Meanwhile, Jones launched a new platform after he was shut out of the Infowars site in May. KUT reached out to Jones' attorney for a comment but has not yet heard back.

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Grapevine's Wally Funk, who went to space, has died at the age of 87

The City of Grapevine has announced the death of Wally Funk, 87. Funk passed away last night in her Grapevine home, the city said. Funk, then 82, reached her lifelong dream when she flew aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket on July 20, 2021, alongside company founder Jeff Bezos. In a release, the City of Grapevine says "Wally was a beloved Grapevine resident whose extraordinary accomplishments and generous spirit left an enduring legacy. The City of Grapevine proudly recognizes Wally Funk, whose extraordinary career has inspired generations by breaking barriers in aviation and space exploration. Funk continues to serve as a global symbol of determination, perseverance and excellence"

For Funk, the journey was decades in the making. In 1961, she was the youngest participant in the privately funded "Women in Space Program," later known as the Mercury 13. Neither Funk, nor the other women ever became astronauts because NASA didn’t want women representing America in the space race with the Soviet Union. "She did better on many of the tests than the men astronauts," said Duff O'Dell, a longtime friend and Grapevine City Councilwoman. "That didn't stop her. She was determined." Funk was known to break barriers as the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. Author Loretta Hall, who wrote a book about Funk, said her drive was never about seeking recognition. "I don't think she really set out to be the first woman to do this or that or the other thing," Hall said. "She just wanted to do what she wanted to do, what she knew she was capable of doing." Hall called Funk "the most positive and most persistent person I ever met."

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New EPA rule could weaken Texans' voice on air pollution: critics

A proposed change to a federal rule could eliminate Texans' right to weigh in on permits for facilities considered "minor" air polluters, critics say, including small industrial operations like concrete batch plants, rock crushers and some power projects that fuel data centers. The change would remove a federal requirement for public feedback and leave it to states to decide whether to include members of the community before officials approve or deny facilities' air pollution permits that fall below "major emissions" thresholds. This includes air pollution permits linked to a number of AI data centers in Texas, which have used minor emissions applications to permit diesel generators and gas turbines to power their facilities.

The EPA has emphasized that it is not proposing to weaken environmental protections, but rather to give states more leeway to define their own public-input processes. Texas environmental groups have sounded the alarm, saying the change would likely undermine the few avenues everyday Texans have to influence air pollution levels. The nonprofit Public Citizen said the change would allow the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to eliminate its public notice and participation processes for smaller-scale polluters. The TCEQ has not responded to repeated requests for comment on this concern. Currently, communities are required to be notified with enough time to submit comments or request hearings that can get their input on the record for the state's consideration before new permits are granted. Advocates expect that to change if the new federal rule goes through. "The TCEQ consistently demonstrates its inability to consider the needs of communities across Texas and works to limit public transparency and opportunities for meaningful public input," said Kathryn Guerra, campaign director at Public Citizen and former regulator at both TCEQ and EPA.

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Hundreds of Texas teachers were investigated for posting about Charlie Kirk. Here’s what happened next.

In her 28 years as a teacher working at schools in the Harris County area, Jennifer Courtemanche felt most at home at Lee High School. That changed for the 54-year-old English teacher on September 10. Hours after conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Courtemanche made a series of posts on Facebook about the right-wing influencer’s death and was met with dozens of comments, texts, and voicemails from strangers attacking her positions. Someone—it’s unclear who—reported her to the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District, while others attacked her directly. “I hope you’re next,” one read. “I hope you die by violence in front of your family,” said another. “Kill yourself,” said a third. Courtemanche, who was born in Dallas and has lived in Texas for her whole life, had made four posts about Kirk that day. The first, in response to Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s statement that Kirk’s assassination was a tragedy, read, “I’ll bet if the victim had been Black or Brown or a Democrat influencer he’d have been singing a different tune. Could Kirk have baited just ONE too many people? Could this have been the consequences of his actions catching up with him?” That night, Courtemanche recalls furiously searching for the settings to make her account private. A half hour before midnight, she received another voicemail.

“I found your address. Someone is going to come to your house and f— you up, bitch,” an anonymous caller said. As messages continued to pour in, she worried about how people in the community might react. Courtemanche said she and her husband didn’t even go to church that Sunday, despite being regulars. Scared, Courtemanche reached out to her school principal, asking what she should do. He told her to call her local police department and to contact the district’s Human Resources. She did. The next morning, the HR department rang her back. The district told her not to come in and that she was being put on administrative leave. By the next Monday, Courtemanche received an email from the district notifying her that it had reported her to the Texas Education Agency. In the wake of Kirk’s assassination, there was a wide push by the Texas GOP to discipline teachers who’d made posts about his passing that it deemed offensive. Two days after Kirk died, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath instructed ISDs to report instances of educators sharing inappropriate content online to his agency. In total, 350 complaints were levied, including those against Courtemanche. According to documents obtained by Texas Monthly via public-records requests, some school districts, like Goose Creek, chose to terminate employees after conducting investigations. Others simply reported the complaint for a state investigation into the matter. But more than six months after Kirk’s death, it appears the discipline Texas politicians promised hasn’t gone very far. All but two of the 350 complaints against teachers had been dismissed as of an April, according to the testimony of Keith Ingram, an attorney with the Office of the Attorney General. Courtemanche’s case is an instructive one outlining how the state attempted to crack down on anti-Kirk speech. On September 22, less than two weeks after her original posts, the Goose Creek school board voted to terminate her contract by a vote of 2–0 with four abstentions. Mercedes Renteria III, one of the two members who voted for Courtemanche’s termination, gave an interview with the town’s local paper, The Baytown Sun. “[S]he is an incompetent teacher, and she shouldn’t have crossed the line and spoken publicly on social media and every other venue to say bad things about Charlie Kirk,” he said. “I think she should be fired, and karma’s a bitch. How about that?”

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National Stories

‘Islamic Republic of Japan’: Trump’s verbal flubs are piling up

President Donald Trump has not been charitable about politicians’ verbal gaffes. He once played a video of Joe Biden’s verbal stumbles at a 2022 rally. During the 2024 campaign, he ridiculed Biden for mixing up Trump and Kamala Harris, saying, “Great job, Joe!” And in 2018, Trump joined in the longstanding conservative lampooning of Barack Obama’s misstatement that he had visited 57 states. “Can you imagine if I said that,” Trump posted on X, adding: “story of the year!” In fact, Trump has now said things like that over and over again. That was perhaps best exemplified by an appearance Wednesday at the NATO summit in Turkey, in which Trump made three significant errors — including calling Iran “the Islamic Republic of Japan” — in less than 10 minutes while speaking next to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. But he’s had plenty of other gaffes recently.

A recap of some of his biggest recent flubs and mix-ups: While recounting a clash in Iran, Trump inadvertently referred to the “Islamic Republic of Japan” — which isn’t a thing. “I told this story yesterday: We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan,” Trump said. “They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about one hour.” Trump has made a big show of decrying the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, which was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. But at the same event, he flubbed the acronym. “They picked the wrong country, JCPOC,” Trump said. “What a terrible — what a terrible deal.” While seated next to Zelensky, Trump asked the reporters assembled if they had “a question for President Putin.” (Biden did much the same thing during his own visit to a NATO summit in 2024.)

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‘No one planned for this’: The rapidly-evolving 18-day primary to replace Platner

Nirav Shah’s first event back on the campaign trail was coming together quickly. Staffers shepherded supporters into a nearly-empty office space, and an intrepid group of volunteers, armed with masking tape and markers, put the finishing touches on familiar campaign signs that suddenly needed an update. Forming in a makeshift assembly line, they methodically taped over the word “governor” and wrote “Senate” in its place. Erin Evans, 56, of Portland, arrived with her own handmade poster: she had used colored duct tape to mask what once was her “Graham Platner for Senate” yard sign, covering the oysterman’s name with an all-caps “NIRAV.” The DIY-campaigning is a symptom of the moment in which Maine Democrats now find themselves. Platner, who ended his campaign Wednesday night, had energized voters who were hungry for a fighter to unseat GOP Sen. Susan Collins. But support for Platner’s campaign crumbled after POLITICO reported a woman he used to date accused him of sexual assault — an allegation which he denies.

His old supporters are now trying to find a new political home in the two-and-a-half short weeks during which Maine Democrats must name a replacement for their former Senate hopeful. And voters’ options, for the most part, are a flurry of familiar faces who unsuccessfully mounted campaigns for office already this year and are now scrambling for a second chance.“Campaigns are always like building the plane while you’re flying it, but this is like building it while falling out of a helicopter,” said a staffer working on one of the campaigns who was granted anonymity to candidly discuss the situation. The homemade signs at Shah’s event were just one example of how fast things are moving in Maine: the WiFi network available at his kickoff event was still labeled “ShahForGovernor.” Several of the Democrats vying to replace Platner have already run against each other in a nearly-identical field in this year’s June primaries. Whoever emerges will face Collins, a battle-tested five-term incumbent with more than $10 million cash in the bank who won her last race by eight points even as President Donald Trump lost the state by nine. The race’s result will play a pivotal role in Senate control. Three of the unsuccessful candidates for governor are vying for the open spot on the ballot, including former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and Shah, who was the former top Pine Tree State public health official. All three won at least 20 percent of the primary vote just one month ago. Two other candidates, Jordan Wood and Paige Loud, fell short in the Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) in his battleground seat.

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Knives out at US Supreme Court as justices’ squabbles go public

Justice Amy Coney Barrett has compared sitting on the US Supreme Court to “being in an arranged marriage with no option of divorce”. After a politically fraught term marred by infighting, its nine members may need couples therapy. Over the course of a term dominated by President Donald Trump’s controversial second-term agenda — from his immigration crackdown to his bureaucratic takeover — the knives have come out at the nation’s top court. In pointed remarks and fiery written opinions, its justices have traded barbs in a manner typically kept out of the public eye. The hardening of ideological lines at the once collegial top court could have profound consequences for public support of the nation’s third branch of government. “It’s a very ideologically divided, very conservative court,” said Carolyn Shapiro, co-director of Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Given how fast and how destructive of tradition, precedent [and] practice the court’s actions have been for the majority — it’s not surprising?.?.?. that emotions are probably running high on both sides,” she added. One in five of the court’s decisions this term was decided 6-3 along ideological lines — a significant jump from the 11 per cent average for the last five terms, according to data from SCOTUSBlog. There are signs that the divisions are already affecting approval for the court. A YouGov poll this month found that half of Americans disapproved of the way it is handling cases, with concerns largely divided along partisan lines. The divide was on show at the end of last month. As the court handed down its final opinions, Justice Samuel Alito read the majority’s decision allowing the federal government to turn away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. When he finished, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor began to read her scathing dissent — a move signalling strong opposition to a ruling. She referred to Jewish refugees who fled Nazi Germany but were turned away by the US government, many of whom later died in the Holocaust, adding that more people would die as a consequence of the court’s ruling. It “regrettably and tragically extinguishes the light of the torch of the Statue of Liberty”, she said. In a highly unusual turn, Alito took the floor again and, appearing frustrated, he said there was “much” he “would have added” to his statement had he known Sotomayor planned to speak.

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Times journalists subpoenaed as Trump escalates pressure on media

The Trump administration issued subpoenas on Friday to several journalists for The New York Times, after the news outlet reported this week on security concerns involving President Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One. The subpoenas — which seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan on Wednesday — were an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations. In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters’ homes. The Times denounced the administration’s actions. “The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, The Times’s top newsroom lawyer, in a statement on Friday evening.

“Our journalists report the facts and advance the American public’s right to know how their government is operating and their taxpayer dollars are being used,” Mr. McCraw wrote. “This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.” The subpoenas contain few specifics, asking only that the journalists testify “in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law.” They were issued by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Mr. Clayton, who leads one of the country’s most prominent law enforcement offices, was recently nominated by Mr. Trump to serve as director of national intelligence. Representatives for the White House did not respond to inquiries on Friday evening. In a statement on Saturday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.” “We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country, but D.O.J. also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information,” said the spokeswoman, Emily Covington. She added, “We recognize there may always be natural tension there, but we are not going to ignore the law.”

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How Candace Owens became TPUSA’s worst enemy

Less than one month after Charlie Kirk’s death, Candace Owens made an incendiary claim: Kirk came to her in a dream and told her he had been betrayed. Owens, a conservative podcaster who worked for Turning Point USA from 2017 to 2019, had taken it upon herself to investigate Kirk’s death, homing in on potential betrayers. On her popular podcast, she denied that Tyler Robinson, the troubled 23-year-old from Utah who is standing trial for allegedly murdering Kirk, had acted alone. She suggested Israel somehow played a role. And she said Kirk’s former colleagues at Turning Point — including his wife, Erika Kirk — should face scrutiny. “Everything Turning Point is doing is wrong,” Owens said on her podcast a little over a month after Kirk died. “I want war with all of you, OK? All of you.”

At first, Turning Point did little to push back. Then Owens dialed in on two of Charlie Kirk’s confidantes who were present when he was killed: Turning Point chief of staff Mikey McCoy and contracted camera operator Terryl Farnsworth. McCoy had appeared on video holding his hands to his ears moments after Kirk’s death — something Owens found suspicious. And Farnsworth drew her attention over a selfie video he recorded in shock as Kirk’s body was whisked away. Owens said she found their actions “to be quite strange”: “There is no way you are going to convince me and the rest of the world that all of this is normal.” On a late October episode of the Charlie Kirk Show, producer Blake Neff called claims that Turning Point staffers were part of some sort of conspiracy “utterly vile.” (McCoy declined to comment.) It was one of the first times Turning Point acknowledged the conspiracies publicly. But privately, mayhem was unfolding inside the organization. Following Owens’ conspiratorial videos, staffers received a series of threats, and Turning Point ramped up security at its Phoenix headquarters and the homes of several employees, according to three people with direct knowledge of the arrangements, who — like others in this piece — were granted anonymity to discuss private matters. One of those people took their family into hiding multiple times and eventually moved into a rental property so their name would not appear on public documents; the home they own is now rented out. This person also told POLITICO Magazine they spent thousands of dollars scrubbing their children’s images from the internet.

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How Marco Rubio is running Venezuela from afar

President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office earlier this year with Secretary of State Marco Rubio when an idea came to him. Maybe he should dispatch Mr. Rubio permanently to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, where U.S. commandos had carried out the proudest foreign policy achievement of Mr. Trump’s second term: the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president. Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested. And while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is that Mr. Rubio does not need to move to Caracas. He already runs Venezuela from Washington. In the six months since U.S. forces blew open Mr. Maduro’s bedroom door and snatched him in the dead of night, Mr. Rubio has become the de facto viceroy of Venezuela, holding sway over a sovereign nation in a way that no American official has since L. Paul Bremer III arrived in Baghdad in 2003 to run U.S.-occupied Iraq.

Mr. Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials and people close to both governments in Washington and Caracas, who provided details about his involvement in steering the country’s policies. Many spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private interactions and internal discussions. While he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over, the secretary of state is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodríguez, who was Mr. Maduro’s vice president and now leads her country on an acting basis, with the imprimatur of the United States. The two exchange messages in Spanish on WhatsApp, trading gossip, birthday greetings and selfies. Despite the banter, the relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodríguez is far from a partnership. It is a manifestation of Trump-era American power, in which the winner takes all regardless of sovereignty and international law. The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration did not address detailed questions about Mr. Rubio’s authority in Venezuela. Mr. Rubio has downplayed his role, and largely avoids discussing his work. He declined multiple requests for an interview. Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that “with renewed cooperation and sound economic stewardship, Venezuela can re-emerge as a stable, prosperous partner whose citizens benefit from its vast natural wealth and strengthened ties with the United States.”

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Matthew Continetti: Bet on Democrats’ midterm enthusiasm

(Matthew Joseph Continetti is an American journalist and Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.) Making sense of the 2026 election isn’t easy. History and polling put Democrats on track to take the House and gain Senate seats. Yet unusual structural advantages—gerrymandering, money and negative partisanship—have Republicans thinking they have a shot to retain Congress. Count me skeptical. The fundamentals in a midterm election favor the opposition, even if a Democratic wave has yet to be spotted offshore. The reason is simple: enthusiasm. Democrats have it. Republicans don’t. Engagement and intensity matter more than dollars and cents. And Democrats and independents seem ready to crawl over broken glass to vote against President Trump. To reverse the trend, Mr. Trump and the GOP will have to provide Republican voters reasons to turn out in November. They better come up with something, stat. Democrats have history on their side.

The president’s party has lost House seats in all but three midterm elections during the past century. The exceptions—1934, 1998 and 2002—were during extraordinarily popular presidencies. Though the Gallup poll debuted after the 1934 midterm, we can infer Franklin Roosevelt’s popularity from his landslide election and re-election. Bill Clinton’s job approval rating in November 1998 was 66%, according to Gallup. George W. Bush’s approval rating in November 2002 was about the same. Gallup no longer measures presidential job approval. But at this writing the Real Clear Politics polling average has Trump’s approval rating a tick under 41%. And in midterm elections since 1946, the party of a president with job-approval ratings below 50% has lost an average of 34 House seats. For Mike Johnson to retain the speaker’s gavel, Republicans can lose no more than two seats. Senate results are slightly less tied to presidential approval. Much depends on the state and candidates. Think of the difference between 2014, when Barack Obama’s job approval was at 42% and Democrats lost nine Senate seats, and 2022, when Joe Biden’s approval was also 42% and Democrats gained a seat.

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Lead Stories

Migrants who saw man killed by ICE in Houston say he did not ram officers

The three men who were arrested during an immigration operation that resulted in the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo said a federal officer fired at them almost immediately after exiting his vehicle and that at no point did the driver veer in his direction. The migrants are disputing key elements of the Department of Homeland Security’s account of what transpired during a chaotic traffic stop in a predominantly Mexican American neighborhood in Houston on Tuesday. They spoke from immigration detention with attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, who shared their written and oral accounts with The Washington Post. DHS released a statement hours after the deadly shooting saying that Salgado Araujo had rammed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle and “weaponized” his white work van “in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.”

“That is a lie,” wrote Jose Trinidad Rojas, 51, in a handwritten statement. “It is impossible for them to say that they were going to get run over … there were no officers in front of or behind the vehicle. They were on the sides.” Balderas-Ibarra spoke to Rojas, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, 43, and the shooting victim’s brother, Victor Salgado, 44, and said he heard the same story from each as he interviewed them separately. The men are not being housed together, the attorney said. All three are undocumented Mexican immigrants who are now facing removal proceedings. “All of them reiterated that there were never any ICE agents in front of the van,” Balderas-Ibarra said. “They came in and started shooting from the sides.” The incident has sparked fresh anger in one of the nation’s largest cities over the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. Salgado Araujo’s family said he was a father of three and a business owner who had lived in the United States as an undocumented immigrant for more than three decades and had no criminal record. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), who represents the district where the shooting took place, said in a television interview on Thursday that an ICE official told her that Salgado Araujo was not the intended target of the traffic stop.

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Democratic AG candidate targets Musk grants in anti-corruption plan

Democratic attorney general candidate Nathan Johnson on Friday called for a review of recent state grants giving Elon Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink about $110 million. Johnson, a Dallas state senator, said the Starlink broadband awards should face additional legislative scrutiny as he unveiled an anti-corruption policy plan that he is making a centerpiece of his statewide campaign. "I am not declaring that corruption was at work in this instance. I am saying that it sure looks like it,” Johnson said in an interview.

Starlink parent company SpaceX did not return messages seeking comment. His plan comes after Starlink received 99% of the state grants in a government program designed to improve rural broadband access. Johnson said the company received an estimated $110 million. Testimony at a recent Senate committee hearing indicated that awards to Musk’s satellite internet company came after Gov. Greg Abbott’s office revised the grant qualifications to favor low Earth orbit internet providers. Starlink currently dominates the market for low Earth orbit satellite internet service, though an Amazon-backed provider also submitted grant proposals. Johnson’s campaign said that the lopsided award was steered to Musk because of his Republican political connections. The governor’s office has defended the process, saying that low Earth orbit satellite service is essential for reaching the most remote areas, where traditional fiber connections are too costly and time-consuming to build.

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Experts warn Gov. Greg Abbott’s property tax plan could bankrupt Texas, hobble cities

As the Texas gubernatorial race heats up, Gov. Greg Abbott last week introduced a new plan that calls for eliminating school property taxes and putting severe restrictions on cities’ ability to tax and provide basic services. “Texans shouldn’t be taxed out of their homes,” the Republican governor said in a statement about his five-plank tax plan. “Working with Texas representatives and senators, we will overhaul the system to deliver lasting relief, creating a brighter, more prosperous future for all. It’s time for greater predictability and lower tax burdens. Next session, we will ensure that local governments cannot raise property taxes without people’s votes.”

Abbott’s proposal may sound appealing to voters struggling with property taxes. However, experts warn it could bankrupt the state, further defund already struggling public school districts and force cities to rely on meager state funding and grants to provide basic services. “It’s purely ideological and wishful thinking,” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Mathematically speaking, Texas’ economy would have to sustain average to exceptional growth in perpetuity for Abbott’s numbers to work without implementing a state income tax, Taylor said. Complicating matters, a state constitutional amendment passed in 2019 made it illegal for lawmakers to institute a state income tax. Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson told the Current the governor has a “zero-percent chance” of getting all his proposals passed — even though his own party controls both houses of the Texas Legislature.

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Texas Dream Act remains unenforceable after appeals court ruling

With one dissenting vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied students' request to intervene in a case that ended enforcement of the Texas Dream Act, upholding the decision to bar thousands of non-U.S. citizens residing in Texas from receiving in-state tuition benefits. In June 2025, the United States sued Texas over its 24-year-old Dream Act, which provided students without legal documentation access to in-state tuition if they graduate from a Texas high school, have lived in the state for at least three years, and sign an affidavit stating their intent to pursue citizenship at the first opportunity.

The U.S. argued that the law violated federal law that bars special benefits for non-U.S. citizens, and Texas declined to fight the suit. Within hours, a district judge ruled students without legal presence could not access in-state tuition. Exactly a year later, Austin Community College, a student group and the nonprofit La Union Del Pueblo Entero argued before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans that a judge should let them represent students impacted in Texas’ place and restore the Dream Act. The appeals court ruled 2-1 that it could not intervene because federal law successfully blocks the Dream Act, according to the decision filed Thursday. Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said her organization was "extremely disappointed" in the decision and that it would continue working for undocumented Texans.

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State Stories

Dallas business, civic leaders named to guide GOP convention

A team of prominent business and civic leaders will lead fundraising and planning as Dallas moves to host the first Republican midterm convention, one of the city's biggest political events in decades. The Dallas 2026 Host Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization formed to welcome visitors, support local businesses, offset costs for local governments and promote the region. The announcement marks the most significant step since President Donald Trump picked Dallas for the Sept. 9-10 convention at the American Airlines Center. It is expected to draw thousands of Republican delegates, donors, elected officials and activists ahead of the November elections.

In a news release Wednesday, the committee named its co-chairs: former Republican National Committee finance chairman and Dallas developer Ray Washburne and his wife, Republican fundraiser Heather Washburne; Dallas entrepreneur and investor Kenny Troutt and his wife, philanthropist Lisa Troutt; and former Trump administration official Trent Morse. Former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will act as a senior adviser as the group leads efforts to raise money for the Host Committee. "Our city has a long tradition of hosting major events, and we look forward to welcoming guests while highlighting the businesses, people, and hospitality that make Dallas such a special place,” said Ray Washburne, chairman of Sunoco and vice chairman of Dallas-based family investment company Gillon Capital. The co-chairs also said the convention will showcase Dallas to the nation while boosting local businesses.

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Families can buy Bible studies, AI classes, more with private school vouchers

Texas families can now use state tax dollars to pay for Bible studies, faith-based curriculum, online courses taught by artificial intelligence, and much more using their new private school vouchers. The Texas Comptroller’s Office has accepted over 102,000 students to receive vouchers through Texas Education Freedom Accounts, ranging from about $10,000 to $30,000 for homeschool and private education, costing the state $1 billion in its first school year. Almost 1,200 vouchers have been awarded to families within Austin ISD as of June 24. On July 1, the first voucher payouts went to almost 73,000 accounts. And on the same day, the TEFA marketplace opened, where parents can spend their child’s voucher funds at-will to privately hire tutors, special education (SPED) and therapy service providers, and purchase textbooks and curriculum. They can use the funds to pay for extracurriculars, like horseback riding and Christian summer camp.

Parents can also purchase Bible studies from providers like Driven by Grace, the Scripture Memory Fellowship, and The Gospel Project; AI-taught homeschool classes from the Delaware-based software company LittleLit AI; and the Philadelphia-based AI parenting coach HeyKiddo. The comptroller’s office could not provide the Chronicle with data about the religious affiliation of vendors. The TEFA program is also abruptly changing leadership. Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock sent the governor his notice of resignation on July 1, months after losing the Republican primary against Don Huffines for the position in March. On July 2, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Huffines to become the third comptroller to lead the program since July 2025, set to take office Aug. 1. Democrat Sarah Eckhardt will still run against Huffines for the comptroller seat in November, with the promise to audit the TEFA program a centerpiece of her campaign. The comptroller’s office did not reply to a request for comment about the transition of TEFA leadership to Huffines.

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Harris County DA says his office is investigating fatal ICE shooting in Houston

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told Houston Public Media on Thursday that his office is conducting its own investigation into a federal immigration agent’s fatal shooting of a man in Houston earlier this week. Speaking on the Hello Houston show, Teare said his office is “running an investigation” into the shooting despite not being invited to participate in an investigation by federal authorities. He acknowledged that his office does “not have the same level of access that we do in almost any other officer-involved shooting,” adding, “I can tell you unequivocally, we don't have everything." “If a state crime was committed, be it a murder, be it a manslaughter, be it tampering with evidence, we are going to investigate it,” Teare said. “And if someone committed that crime, you don't get to hide behind a badge.”

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a longtime Houston resident originally from Mexico, was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Tuesday morning in Houston’s predominantly Latino East End. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that Salgado Araujo did not have legal status in the U.S. and attempted to evade arrest. A department spokesperson also said Salgado Araujo tried to run over an ICE agent with his vehicle, prompting the agent to shoot Salgado Araujo in self-defense. The man’s family has disputed that account while calling for an independent investigation. Local Democratic elected officials also have called for an independent investigation. The FBI said Tuesday that DHS’ Office of Inspector General is investigating the shooting death, while the FBI is investigating whether a federal law enforcement officer was potentially assaulted during the encounter. Teare said that typically, his office would conduct an investigation alongside other agencies in the event of an officer-involved shooting, but that his office has not been invited to do so. The DA’s office investigates and prosecutes crimes in Harris County, which includes Houston.

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More Houston license plate-reading cameras found damaged as police investigate

More license plate-reading Flock cameras have been cut down in Houston. Earlier this week, ABC13 reported on two Flock cameras vandalized near Washington Avenue and Westcott. Now, two more have been found on the ground near Memorial Park. The damage comes as questions continue over the growing use of this surveillance technology in public spaces. Houston Police confirmed an investigation into this. While the motive is unknown, the technology itself has drawn criticism in the past from people concerned about the data it's collecting. "What level of frustration have we encountered?" asked Texas Southern University Professor Howard Henderson.

Henderson, the founding director of the Center for Justice Research, said the backlash reflects broader concerns over privacy and who ultimately has access to the information these cameras collect. "For many in society, they're looking at what the negative unintended consequences may be if this information gets leaked or someone uses it and finds themselves in the wrong hands," Henderson said. A crowdsourced map from DeFlock showed thousands of Flock cameras across the Greater Houston area. Because anyone can submit locations, ABC13 cannot independently verify the data shown, but we know that multiple law enforcement agencies use the cameras. Houston expanded its use of the technology through a multi-million-dollar agreement with Flock in 2022. In that contract, HPD described the cameras as an investigative tool, writing that "All data from vehicles observed will be provided to HPD for further assessment in detecting vehicles wanted in suspicious or post-event investigations for law enforcement purposes."

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Harris County grants Kamin wide authority to file elections lawsuits

Commissioners voted 4-1 on Thursday to grant recently appointed County Attorney Abbie Kamin broad authority to file lawsuits and take legal action related to the 2026 elections. Kamin said the move was a necessary measure that would allow her office to take prompt action should federal or state leaders seek to curtail local control of elections. Otherwise, she said the county attorney’s office would be forced to wait days or weeks for the next court meeting to get approval from commissioners — time that could be spent taking immediate action.

“In the past few years, we have astonishingly watched attempts to overturn legitimate election results, undermine confidence in our democratic process and keep eligible voters from casting ballots,” Kamin said. “They're happening without notice and require the ability to rapidly respond.” The decision came two days after the U.S. Department of Justice sent letters to all 50 states warning them that local elections administrators could face prosecution should they allow undocumented residents to vote. Kamin said the letters were just the latest in the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to shake public faith in elections. Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the court’s lone Republican, was the only member to vote against Kamin’s proposal. Ramsey said the item was overly broad and delegated too much authority to the county’s top civil litigator, who typically must seek approval from commissioners before pursuing any litigation.

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Bell County family fights proposed data center

A Bell County family says they learned crews were clearing land behind their home to make way for a proposed data center only after smoke filled their house and ash fell from the sky. Their opposition sparked a community response that led to a two-year moratorium on data center construction in the county. Randy Gibson has lived on his land in Bell County for 68 years. It’s where he was raised, and where he chose to raise his children. The property is also where his son Adam, who died of brain cancer last year, is buried outside his bedroom window. “This is not just my home, it’s home to a lot of people,” Randy Gibson said. “This is hallowed ground to us now.” His daughter Emily Diaz said the family had no advance notice of the project.

“When the smoke entered their home and ash was falling, that’s how we found out that something was happening and that our home and our lives and our health was in danger,” Diaz said. Diaz took to social media to alert neighbors after crews began clearing the land with plans to build a data center. “Pretty much since the first or second day of this month, June, it’s been hell living here,” Gibson said. The full scope of the proposed project remains unclear. Gibson said he believes the facility would be approximately 660,000 square feet, though WKYT has not been able to independently confirm that figure. The family said they did not receive that information from the developer and had to gather it themselves through the community.

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Bell County Water Control and Improvement District No. 2 appears to operate in violation of state law, records show

Bell County Water Control and Improvement District No. 2 (WCID2) continues facing transparency issues and may be operating in violation of state law, according to records obtained by the Telegram. Texas Water Code Section 49.199 requires district boards to adopt an investment policy, a professional services selection, monitoring and evaluation policy, a travel expenditure policy, a uniform method of accounting and reporting for industrial development and pollution control bonds, and a board and employee Code of Ethics. When the Telegram filed a public records request May 12 seeking copies of those policies, Office Manager and Public Information Officer Bridjet Gillis emailed the Telegram: “After a diligent search, no documents responsive to this request were located. If they are located or if the Board adopts policies responsive to your request by June 9th, we will supplement the response.”

Meeting agendas posted since then show the board has not adopted those policies. District records posted online also continue to show inaccurate and significantly delayed agenda notices. “The company who handles our website is in the process of uploading the minutes to the website,” Gillis emailed the Telegram. Metadata reviewed by Telegram shows district agenda notices uploaded to the district website happened months after the new website was created Jan. 13. Records show the January 12 through May 13 meeting agendas were all uploaded on May 15. Additionally, most agendas available online lack posting certifications or signatures showing when they were physically posted, leaving no documentation available to independently verify the district complied with physical posting requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Only the June 2 meeting agenda was uploaded before the meeting date, according to metadata showing it was posted May 28, and has a signature.

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Taylor rejects citizens' effort to temporarily ban data centers

The Taylor City Council was set to consider a proposed ordinance Thursday night that would temporarily ban data centers. But 15 minutes after the council meeting began, the city released a statement on its Facebook page saying council members would not be taking any action on the proposed ban. "State law does not allow a city to enact or change its zoning by popular vote," Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Cmerek said at the meeting. "This is a determination about the legal process made available to the city. It's not a judgment about a policy issue — about the concerns you guys have voiced." The decision and the way it was communicated caught many people attending the meeting off guard. Multiple residents inside the council chamber gasped as they learned about the Facebook post from organizer Sarah Winters' public remarks criticizing it.

"After this meeting started, y'all posted this on Facebook, knowing we were all coming here?" Winters told council members. She pointed out that the mayor wasn't at the meeting, adding: "Tell me this is not shady, shady business. Shame on all of y'all." Cmerek said Mayor Jim Buzan was not at the council meeting because he was out of the country on vacation. The citizen-initiated ordinance was submitted to the city last month, along with more than 1,400 signatures from residents. The hope was that if council members didn't take action on the proposed ban themselves, they would place it on the ballot for voters to decide. Cmerek said council members made the determination to not take action on the proposed ban or place it on the ballot after speaking with outside counsel. He also apologized for the way the council's decision was communicated. "Obviously, this information was put on the website inappropriately. I do apologize for that," he said.

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Inside the investigation that ousted the Judson ISD superintendent

As superintendent of the Judson Independent School District, Milton Fields mishandled district finances and academics, jeopardized student safety and fostered a hostile work environment, school board attorneys concluded in an investigation that led to his termination. The findings, included in a 143-page report by the district’s legal adviser, JCA Law, offer the most detailed account yet of the turmoil that marked Fields’ final months leading the district. The law firm’s investigation found that Fields violated district policies and ethical standards, as well as state-mandated procedures for reporting suspected child abuse, among other failings. In interviews with JCA Law, several district staff members said they witnessed Fields clash with employees, in some cases threatening their jobs.

After two years leading Judson ISD, Fields was put on leave by trustees in January pending the results of an investigation. That same month, the board hired JCA Law to conduct the inquiry. Based on the firm’s findings, the board fired Fields in February on a 4-3 vote. He waived his right to appeal the decision, and trustees ended his employment with the district in April. JCA Law interviewed district administrators and trustees and reviewed emails, financial plans, board evaluations of Fields, communications with the Texas Education Agency and other records. Lawyers included in their report excerpts of interviews with five trustees — including four in the board majority that voted to fire Fields. The investigation found that Fields put unqualified people in key positions and was unable “to hire and maintain” a chief financial officer to help deal with the district’s deteriorating budget. Instead, he appointed a deputy superintendent with no background in finance to oversee the CFO, a position that was a revolving door during his tenure. “Further, the HR department was run by an Assistant Superintendent who had no background in HR,” the lawyers wrote. That caused a spate of problems, including the district’s failure to do proper background and reference checks on job applicants and run their names through the state’s Do Not Hire Registry, the investigation found.

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Next week's FIFA World Cup semifinal is sending D-FW hotel prices skyward

Next Tuesday, the winners of Thursday’s France-Morocco and Friday’s Spain-Belgium quarterfinals will face off at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, marking the end of North Texas' FIFA World Cup era, and visitors to the region will pay accordingly at local hotels. Surveying nightly rates as of Thursday morning for a sample stay from Friday, July 10 to Wednesday, July 15, prices at local hotels are significantly elevated. Comparing a stay from Friday, July 10, to Wednesday, July 15, against the same length stay from Friday, Aug. 21, to Wednesday, Aug. 26, the nightly rate was an average of 85% higher across a sampling of 12 hotels in Dallas, Arlington and nearby Dallas Stadium along Interstate 30. And that’s before the teams playing in Arlington have even been decided.

Some hotels, particularly luxury hotels, were more than double the price per night this weekend versus in August. For example, the swanky Hotel Swexan in Victory Park is $1,143 per night from July 10-15, compared with $521 a night from Aug. 21-26. Marriott Dallas Uptown is $722 versus $260 over the same periods. Arlington’s two entertainment district luxury stays, Live! by Loews and Loews Arlington, are 167% and 136% more expensive per night, respectively, with Live! by Loews costing $768 for a last-minute stay this weekend. There are still comfortable stays to be had for less eye-popping prices. Omni Dallas Hotel is $262 this weekend, $100 a night more expensive than in August, while the JW Marriott in the Arts District is $394 a night this weekend, pricey but only $50 more than normal. Similarly, budget hotels are still available at elevated but affordable prices. Though the Holiday Inn Arlington NE-Rangers Ballpark is $280, double its August price of $142, Extended Stay America Suites — Arlington — Six Flags is at $120, up from $85. Staying in Arlington near the stadium comes with a premium, as evidenced by the difference in price between Motel 6 in Arlington ($150) per night and its sister property just up Interstate 30, Motel 6 Grand Prairie, which is at $90 a night. Both are significant premiums over their usual price, with the equivalent stay in August at both going for a round $70 a night. This trend is in line with research from Visit Dallas, which said that hotel revenues on nights around the semifinal are pacing 80% ahead of this time last year. The tourism organization noted that, because the teams playing in the semifinal are still unknown, “the next two days will have significant impacts,” in how final hotel demand and revenue works out.

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THLN, Austin Pets Alive!, others on how to keep your pets safe from New World screwworm

Animal welfare leaders and veterinarians across Texas are warning pet owners to remain vigilant as the state battles an escalating outbreak of the New World screwworm. New World screwworm is a flesh-eating parasite that has disrupted shelter operations and triggered strict interstate transport bans. What they're saying: The Texas Humane Legislation Network hosted a live panel discussion on Wednesday to address the operational and health implications of the outbreak. As of July 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed 32 domestic cases of the parasite nationwide, with 31 occurring in Texas and one isolated case involving a dog in New Mexico.

While the parasite primarily affects livestock, officials emphasize that any warm-blooded animal—including companion pets—is vulnerable. "West, Central, and South Texas are affected by this," said Mia Bendixsen, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network. "That’s where the quarantine areas are." The rapid reemergence of the pest has caused immediate logistical gridlock for Texas animal shelters, many of which rely heavily on out-of-state transport to manage local pet populations. While state animal health officials race to contain the New World screwworm, federal officials confirmed the first case of the parasite in a dog. FOX 7 Austin's Alec Nolan has more on what pet owners might want to be aware of. States including New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania have instituted total bans on animal shipments originating from Texas. Other states, such as Alabama, Maryland, and Massachusetts, have established strict and varying execution windows for Certificates of Veterinary Inspection.

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DHS might spare historic chapel from fast-tracked border wall, Cuellar says

Congressman Henry Cuellar on Wednesday visited two Rio Grande Valley sites where new border wall is slated to be built, and he had good news for opponents at one, and not-so-good news at the other. Cuellar, D-Texas, began his border tour at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on a hot Wednesday afternoon in Alamo, Texas. Several environmentalists met with him at the border levee at the refuge, where just a quarter-mile to the west, surveyors already were hammering and painting stakes to indicate where U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to put new border wall.

Earlier this week, Border Report saw contractor crews cutting grass and clearing debris along the border levee. The surveyors told Border Report on Wednesday that the pink stakes indicate where the center of the 30-foot tall steel border wall will be built. The orange stakes on the side indicate 5-foot offset areas. They didn’t call it a border wall, however, but referred to it as a “vertical barrier.” “They’re trying to beat the clock. So we gotta talk to them and see if we can get them to slow down but they are purposely trying to beat the clock and I don’t appreciate that,” Cuellar told Border Report. Cuellar is ranking member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, and he says that he is trying to get language written into the 2027 Homeland Security appropriations bill that would exempt Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, as well as La Lomita Chapel, Bentsen-State Park, the National Butterfly Center, SpaceX and historic cemeteries from border wall construction. Congress had exempted these areas in the past, but new border wall is being built by the Trump administration with $46.5 billion from the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which had no exemptions.

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5 Fort Worth City Council members call for data center moratorium

Five members of the Fort Worth City Council called for a data center moratorium on Thursday following feedback from two public meetings. Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Flores, District 6 council member Mia Hall, District 8 council member Chris Nettles, District 9 council member Elizabeth Beck, and District 11 council member Jeanette Martinez signed a letter calling for the pause. The group acknowledged the potential economic benefit of data center development, citing their role in supporting industries like healthcare, finance, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. At the same time, the group argued there are legitimate concerns about the impact of data centers on water, energy, noise and neighborhoods.

The letter comes as the city is in the midst of a push to update its rules around data center development. On July 8, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission voted against recommending that the City Council approve a sweeping proposal that would bring data centers into the city’s zoning code and establish development standards for them. The city held an open house on June 30 with proposals for ways to regulate data center land use, water use, noise pollution, and economic development incentives. Those proposals were first presented during a Fort Worth City Council work session meeting in June. Several residents who attended said the open house event was helpful, while others described the city’s efforts as “half-measures.” During the Zoning Commission meeting on July 8, commissioner Jacob Wurman remarked that the city’s push to approve the new rules by the Aug. 11 council meeting felt rushed.

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National Stories

Trump ousts remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump has ousted the remaining commissioners from a bipartisan federal agency charged with helping state and local officials conduct elections in an apparent move to assert control over voting ahead of the midterms. The president removed the two Democratic members of the Election Assistance Commission on Thursday while a Republican was allowed to resign, according to a White House official and three other people familiar with the dismissals. The White House’s move leaves the commission, which was created by Congress in 2002, without any leaders heading into the midterms. The EAC, which is headquartered in Washington, does not handle ballots or voter rolls, generally does not communicate with voters and has no authority over election officials in the states. But it has worked to improve balloting across the country.

It serves as a clearinghouse for election officials, helping to train them and provide information about the latest voting technology. It also manages the national mail voter registration form — which Trump sought to change via executive order last year — and oversees a voluntary testing and certification program for various voting machines. The EAC also distributes election security grants. The two Democratic commissioners — Chair Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — were fired from their roles, according to the three of the people familiar with the dismissals, who were granted anonymity to discuss the news. Republican commissioner Christy McCormick was allowed to resign. VoteBeat first reported the dismissals. Hicks declined to comment, and McCormick and Hovland did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House official defended the move when asked about it. “The President, and head of the Executive Branch, reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America’s elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss what the White House sees as an internal matter.

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Grocery stores lower prices as consumers pare spending

Competing for strained consumers, America’s grocery stores are cutting prices on some key products. That doesn’t mean overall grocery bills will be lower. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, said Monday that it would lower the price of ground beef rolls, fresh corn, cherries, potato chips and Coca-Cola as part of a slew of summertime discounts. It’s the latest grocery chain to do so, increasing competition in a relatively low-margin industry reliant on people buying shopping carts packed with items, including some at more profitable prices. The grocery industry has struggled over the past 18 months as higher food bills, reductions in food-stamp programs and the rise in the use of weight-loss medications have led shoppers to buy less. On top of that, elevated gas prices due to the war with Iran are also hitting shoppers’ wallets.

A May CNN poll found that 61 percent of Americans had changed which groceries they bought in order to stay within their budget. High grocery prices have been a political issue for several years, so much so that President Trump sought to take credit for Walmart’s announcement, posting on social media that the retailer “will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my administration’s request to celebrate our great country’s 250th birthday.” Walmart did not mention Mr. Trump or his administration in its press release. But while shoppers may get better deals on some items, their overall grocery bill is unlikely to fall. Prices across all food categories are expected to rise 3.2 percent in 2026, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. While egg prices have dropped from last year’s record levels, the U.S.D.A. predicts that prices for beef, pork, poultry, sweets, nonalcoholic beverages, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit will increase this year. That comes on top of the 18 percent price increase in food consumed at home since the beginning of 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Beef prices continue to hit record levels this year; Walmart said it would reduce the price of its one-pound log of ground beef to $5.94 from $6.74.

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Inside Trump’s Oval Office decision to ditch the Iran ceasefire

President Trump was preparing to leave the White House for Turkey on Monday evening when his top national-security aides walked into the Oval Office with reports of new Iranian attacks. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told him that Iran had fired antiship cruise missiles and one-way attack drones at vessels seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz through a southern route, according to people familiar with the discussion. Three ships had been struck within hours of each other, including a liquefied-natural-gas tanker, they told the president. Angered by the strikes, Trump pressed them on whether they believed Iran was serious about reaching a final deal. In the end, after discussing it with his senior aides, the president decided they weren’t.

The surprise attacks triggered a fierce response from Trump that stripped away some of the accord’s remaining incentives, leaving little of the peace framework he had signed at the Versailles palace in France two weeks ago to much applause. The president revoked Iran’s oil-selling license, ordered several rounds of strikes on Iranian targets in and around the strait on Tuesday and Wednesday, and threatened to hit civilian infrastructure in the country, including desalination plants that supply drinking water. An Iranian diplomat said Wednesday that the U.S. had violated the peace deal by setting up a shipping lane that wasn’t coordinated with Tehran, contending that it justified the Islamic Republic’s decision to fire at traffic. The sudden breakdown left the ceasefire framework in limbo, with foreign leaders trying to determine whether Trump’s declaration signals a return to all-out war or another violent detour back to negotiations. As Gulf allies brace for more retaliation, energy markets steeled themselves for another economic hit, and traffic through the strait is once again stalling. “To me, I think it’s over,” Trump said of the ceasefire at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Ankara, Turkey. “I don’t want to deal with them…They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.”

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Trump seeks do-overs at a Supreme Court that rarely grants them

When it comes to the Supreme Court, President Donald Trump has become a believer in unlikely second chances. In the days since the court’s term ended last week with a flurry of high-profile opinions, the president and his legal team have floated the idea of invoking a longshot request to have the justices reconsider decisions they just made — a procedure that, in some cases, hasn’t worked in more than half a century. Trump’s lawyers have already filed for a rehearing of the court’s decision to deny an appeal over a $5 million verdict finding that he sexually abused and defamed magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll. And on Wednesday, Trump vowed to ask the court to re-do its decision shutting down his birthright citizenship order.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling is wrong,” Trump posted on social media. “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY. This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.” Supreme Court rules technically allow parties to file for a rehearing within 25 days of a decision. But in practice, the court usually only grants such requests when a significant development comes to light in the aftermath of a ruling, not because the losing party simply disagrees with the outcome. “The court essentially never grants those motions,” said Daniel Epps, a law professor at Washington University who closely follows the Supreme Court. “It only would do so in a case where a party could bring to the court something material, like a critical fact, that the justices were unaware of.” “I think what’s happening is that Trump is very mad about the decisions and he is going to order the solicitor general’s office to take all possible measures but there is no hope of success here,” Epps said.

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Rubio tries to enlist other nations in antifa fight, but some allies recoil

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invited senior ministers from more than 60 countries to a meeting next week about what the Trump administration views as a major peril: the “resurgence of transnational far-left terrorism,” according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The meeting has prompted consternation among career and political U.S. officials, some European allies and independent analysts who do not see the threat in the same terms. Some U.S. officials told The Post that they worry it is part of a Trump administration effort to use powerful counterterrorism tools to crack down on U.S. activists they view as left-wing extremists. The administration’s counterterrorism czar, Sebastian Gorka, has had discussions with colleagues about using foreign terrorism labels for antifa to justify going after Americans with links to the movement, a loosely knit association of far-left activists who militantly oppose fascism and right-wing ideologies, three current and former U.S. officials said.

A linkage to foreign terrorist groups “can unlock certain investigative tools,” such as surveillance, said one U.S. counterterrorism official, who like several other officials interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions and to avoid retribution. Gorka did not respond to a request for comment. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the event was organized because far-left terrorism is “an old threat re-emerging with strong transnational links and new convergences.” “Because this threat has not been adequately addressed in the past, each engagement, designation, or security assistance program creates a compounding effect supporting countermeasures at home and abroad,” Pigott said in a statement.

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France brush Morocco aside at World Cup — but Mbappe injury scare raises concern

France brushed Morocco aside with another hugely impressive World Cup performance — but there was concern for Kylian Mbappe after he was forced off late on. Mbappe bounced back from having an early penalty saved to curl France into the lead with a fine finish. It was his eighth goal of the tournament, drawing him level with Lionel Messi in the Golden Boot race. Mbappe then turned provider for France’s second, setting up Ousmane Dembele to finish low into the bottom corner. France will next face either Spain or Belgium for a place in the final, with all eyes now on whether the 27-year-old can overcome that late injury scare.

France’s spot in the semi-finals is secured and tomorrow we will find out who they will face in Dallas on Tuesday. Spain and Belgium face off in Los Angeles for that honour, with kick-off at 3pm ET in the second quarter-final of this World Cup. Will Spain finally concede a goal? With the United States’ victors defy the odds once again? We find out tomorrow! Then on Saturday we have a double-header to decide the second semi-final line-up: Norway vs England (Miami) — 5pm ET; Argentina vs Switzerland (Kansas City) — 9pm ET. In short, we have an incredible 48 hours of World Cup football on the way — and we will be here with you for every kick and whistle.

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Kennedy allies sour on Trump's EPA over missing MAHA agenda

Last December, after Make America Healthy Again activists drew up a petition to get him fired, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin pledged to release a formal agenda of MAHA priorities that his agency would pursue, including protections against harmful chemicals and other health concerns. But eight months after its first mention and after repeated promises it was being drafted, the so-called MAHA agenda is nowhere to be found. When asked for a status update this week, an EPA spokesperson said MAHA is an ongoing effort, not a single report. The apparent reversal on release of a formal environmental health agenda is the latest in a cascade of disappointments for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA movement, who say they’ve lost faith that the Trump administration will take any significant action on pesticides, chemicals or other issues they view as key to address America’s chronic disease epidemic.

It also reflects the EPA’s relentless rollback of environmental regulations even in the face of pressure from an important voting bloc that has supported President Donald Trump. “I had really hoped that there would be specific steps that were taken through a MAHA agenda,” said activist Kelly Ryerson, whose social media account “Glyphosate Girl” focuses on nontoxic food systems. “We haven’t had any of the wins that we were requesting.” Many in the diverse coalition of MAHA activists that Trump credits for helping him win back the White House say they plan to vote on issues over party in November’s congressional elections, raising the political stakes of their increasingly public tensions with the Republican administration. “People are done with the profits of corporations being prioritized over public health,” said Alexandra Muñoz, a molecular toxicologist who collaborates with activists on certain issues. “And I think that will have an important role in the midterms.”

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The red flag that led to Graham Platner’s implosion was hiding in plain sight

The red flag that led to Graham Platner’s collapse was hiding in plain sight. For months, a 2024 Facebook post cautioning women against dating Platner, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Maine, had been circulating among the political class in the state and in Washington, D.C. The post was written by one of Platner’s former romantic partners, and her name was attached. It was one of many signs overlooked by a set of upstart political activists who recruited Platner and ran his campaign. They had set out to prove that they knew better than Democratic leaders how to win elections, but they failed to reckon with the flaws in the candidate they had backed for one of the party’s most important elections of the year. On Wednesday, Platner abandoned his candidacy after the woman who had signaled her cautions about him, Jenny Racicot, said publicly that he had sexually assaulted her in her home in 2021.

Platner has denied the accusation. Yet within hours, a candidate who had built a dominating presence in his party saw his endorsements and funding options evaporate. A campaign official said there were no allegations mentioned in Racicot’s Facebook post. Platner’s collapse shows the challenges facing a theory of politics that the activists behind his campaign have been pressing in races around the U.S. It rests on the belief that the Democratic Party’s leadership has betrayed wage-earning Americans and that populist outsiders new to politics, many with working-class profiles, can generate the excitement the party lacks. Now, the party is left to sort out not only how to replace Platner on the ballot but also how to prevent another costly miscalculation from an upstart faction that has captured voters’ attention. Activists who believe political outsiders carry more authenticity with voters had managed to force the party to bank on someone who had never been tested. Some argue that Platner was a flawed messenger for a winning message.

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Copyright July 18, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved