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Newsclips - July 26, 2024 |
Lead Stories
Kamala Harris outlines her vision in Houston speech: ‘We are not going back’
Vice President Kamala Harris outlined her vision for the presidency Thursday, rallying the American Federation of Teachers union behind her agenda to make life better for students and teachers while advocating for strong unions. Harris walked into the George R. Brown Convention Center to a raucous standing ovation from as many as 3,500 registered delegates and other visitors, with many holding “AFT votes Kamala Harris for president” signs or recording the moment with their phones. Loud applause repeatedly interrupted Harris’ remarks. “I told her earlier that her entry into the race has electrified this race and has electrified this hall,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said of Harris, warming up the crowd shortly before the vice president took the stage.
Harris thanked Weingarten for her support and AFT for being the first union to endorse her presidential bid in the wake of President Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to withdraw and back Harris as his replacement. Harris, who called herself “a proud product of public education,” praised public service workers and higher education faculty, crediting them for doing “God’s work.” She also highlighted the role her first grade teacher, the late Frances Wilson, played in her life. “It is because of Mrs. Wilson and so many teachers like her that I stand before you as vice president of the United States of America,” Harris said, “and that I am running to become president of the United States.” Harris said America must choose “between two very different visions — one focused on the future, and the other focused on the past. And we are fighting for the future.” She cast her vision as one in which Americans get ahead rather than get by, children don’t grow up in poverty, seniors can retire with dignity and every worker can join a union. That future, she continued, also includes affordable health care, child care with paid leave and continued reductions in student loan debt for millions of Americans.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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The US economy is pulling off something historic
The US economy is on the verge of an extremely rare achievement. Economic growth in the first half of the year was solid, with the economy expanding a robust 2.8% annualized rate in the second quarter, according to fresh Commerce Department figures released Thursday, which are adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings. Stocks surged in the morning after the economy’s powerful show of resilience, but later lost steam and closed the day mixed. The Dow rose 81 points, or 0.2%, after jumping more than 500 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%. That comes after the benchmark index and tech-heavy Nasdaq on Wednesday logged their worst day since 2022. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, was much stronger in the second quarter than economists had predicted.
The GDP report showed that businesses are continuing to invest and that consumers are still opening their wallets. That’s key, because consumer spending is America’s economic engine, accounting for about two-thirds of US economic output. As the economy continued to expand from April through June, inflation resumed a downward trend and seems to be on track to slowing further toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. America’s economy is about to stick what’s called a “soft landing,” which is when inflation returns to the Fed’s target without a recession — a feat that’s only happened once, during the 1990s, according to some economists. The latest GDP report showed that a key gauge of consumer demand picked up in the second quarter to an annual rate of 2.9%, matching the rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 for the strongest pace in two years. A measure of business investment also strengthened in the April-through-June period. The current health of the American economy shows that the Fed, with Jerome Powell at the helm as chair, has successfully handled inflation so far, with the finish line coming into clear view. The Fed beginning to cut interest rates indicates that central bank officials feel confident that inflation is under control just enough.
Read this article at CNN - Subscribers Only
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South Texas woman’s $1M lawsuit over self-induced abortion murder charge moves forward
A federal judge in McAllen on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Starr County officials brought by Lizelle Gonzalez, a South Texas woman who was unlawfully charged with murder after a self-induced abortion. Gonzalez spent two days in Starr County's jail, garnering national attention for the charges from behind bars — an experience that her attorney Cecilia Garza said changed her life forever. “She does suffer from anxiety. A lot of it related to the arrest and the incarceration,” Garza said. “She wasn’t able to be here today because she was just concerned about how it might affect her. But she’s very happy with today’s rulings.” The arrest happened just before the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade.
Even though abortions after six weeks were illegal at the time in Texas, state law doesn’t allow people to be prosecuted for their own abortions. Starr County District Attorney Gocha A. Ramirez and Assistant District Attorney Alexandria Lynn Barrera filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit in May, citing the legal principle "immunity doctrine." The immunity doctrine provides protections to public officials from legal repercussions, but with some exceptions for violations of civil rights. In the case of Ramirez and Barrera, attorneys for Gonzales said they intend to show that “prosecutorial immunity” cannot be granted in this case, since the allegations fall outside of the county officials’ work as prosecutors. On Wednesday, a federal judge agreed that discovery was necessary in any case that alleged wrongdoing that wasn’t protected by immunity. Gonzalez’s attorney’s still must provide proof for their allegations and show intent on the part of Starr County officials. Lauren Johnson, director of the Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative at the American Civil Liberties Union, represents Gonzalez. She said the ACLU is ready to address the legal claims to immunity raised by Starr County officials in order to continue with the case.
Read this article at Texas Public Radio - Subscribers Only
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Recent wave of illegal immigration could net the federal government nearly $1 trillion, study says
The recent surge in migration across the southern border could help slash the federal deficit by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, according to a recent report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimates the immigration surge will create $1.2 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade, mostly from income taxes and spending by the estimated 8.7 million migrants living in the U.S. during that time. Those same migrants would cost the federal government just $300 billion in health care and other costs, according to the estimate, bringing the net benefit to $900 billion. The new study builds on an extensive body of research showing immigrants are a boon to the economy, especially at the federal level. Immigrants have federal taxes withheld from their paychecks, and pay sales tax, property tax and more.
But it includes one big caveat: the total doesn’t factor in the costs of border crossings to state and local governments, which in some cases have spent heavily to accommodate the massive influx of asylum seekers. Texas has given hundreds of millions in grants to border counties that have at times seen packed jails, shelters and hospitals as crossings reached historic levels in recent years — in addition to billions more to voluntarily send state troopers and national guard to arrest migrants at the border Gov. Greg Abbott's border security crackdown. New York City, where Texas has been busing migrants for years, has spent more than $4 billion to accommodate them, the CBO report notes. The findings underscore a longstanding tension at the heart of Texas' many ongoing battles with the Biden administration on its handling of immigration: while the federal government oversees immigration enforcement, it is typically the states that bear the greatest costs for public schools, health care and more. Texas has argued repeatedly in court that immigrants are a drain on the state’s resources. In a lawsuit challenging an Obama-era policy, Texas argued the state spent $90 million to provide emergency Medicaid services to undocumented immigrants.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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State Stories
Dan Patrick calls Kamala Harris ‘queen of DEI,’ bucking guidance from party leaders
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, bucking guidance from Washington Republicans, called Vice President Kamala Harris — the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother — the “queen of DEI” in an interview Thursday. Patrick disparaged Harris’ rapid rise as the Democrats’ likely presidential nominee, calling it the result of diversity efforts. “She would be the queen of DEI if elected. She is DEI,” Patrick said to Chris Salcedo on Newsmax. Patrick is the chair of former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Texas and helped lead the effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Texas public universities in 2023.
Several Washington Republicans were quick to refer to the vice president as a “DEI hire” after she emerged as the top prospect to replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. In response, some Republican leaders such as House Speaker Mike Johnson have warned party members against alluding to Harris’ race or gender amid worries those attacks could push away key voters, including suburban women and people of color. “This election will be about policies and not personalities,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday after a private meeting of House Republicans. Patrick’s office did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment. Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, have called the DEI attacks a dog whistle for racism. “One of the things that they continuously push … are these unwarranted attacks on anyone that is diverse in any way, and they try to pretend as if we don’t have credentials,” Crockett, who is Black, said Wednesday on MSNBC. Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said Harris is focusing on the issues, not “B.S.” attacks.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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CenterPoint CEO apologizes for long Houston outages caused by Hurricane Beryl
The head of the power line company CenterPoint Energy publicly apologized Thursday to power grid regulators for failures in responding to Houston-area outages caused by Hurricane Beryl. Jason Wells, CenterPoint CEO, said he took “personal accountability” for the extended power outages that saw hundreds of thousands of customers without power for days amid sweltering heat in the coastal region. At least 27 people died because of the hurricane, with many deaths attributed to heat. “I want to apologize to our customers for the frustration we caused,” Wells said. “We will do better.” “While we cannot erase the frustrations or difficulties so many of our customers endured, I, and my entire leadership team, will not make excuses,” he added. “We will improve and act with a sense of urgency.”
CenterPoint has faced the brunt of the blowback in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall July 8 as a Category 1 storm and hit the Houston area with 6 to 8 inches of rain and sustained winds of 80 mph. It was the first hurricane to hit Houston since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. At its height, about 2.26 million CenterPoint customers were without power. The company restored power to 1 million customers within 48 hours, but power outages lingered for days for thousands. The Perryman Group economics firm estimated the storm caused $4.6 billion in damage. CenterPoint owns and maintains power transmission and distribution lines in the Houston area. Like Oncor in Dallas-Fort Worth, it is a government-approved monopoly with a guaranteed revenue stream that makes up a significant component of electricity bills. The company and Wells have faced withering criticism in the weeks since Beryl. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered electric regulators at the Public Utility Commission to investigate CenterPoint, which led to Wells and other officials addressing the commission Thursday in Austin.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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Texas A-F school grades expected to worsen under higher standards; lawsuit looms
The Texas Education Agency plans to release A-F accountability ratings for the 2023-24 school year on Aug. 15, the first official look at grades under the state’s highly contested, raised performance standards, an agency spokesperson said this week. Lackluster performance on revamped state testing has school districts across Texas anticipating worse grades and lost ground on pandemic recovery efforts under the new system. Similar expectations prompted a lawsuit a year ago that halted the release of the 2022-2023 rankings. Nick Maddox, the lawyer who pushed that case on behalf of more than 100 school districts, said this week that another such suit probably will be filed within weeks in a bid to prevent the latest TEA grades from being released, based largely on objections to the latest standardized tests administered in the spring.
School officials agreed that the TEA ratings will show a broad drop in grades and expressed a familiar mix of indifference, annoyance or pushback against the renewed state effort to toughen how they are calculated. “I would be really surprised if you saw any district increase (its state ranking this year), given not only the changes in testing but the changes in the accountability metrics of how they are determining campus and district ratings,” said Janis Jordan, the Northside Independent School District’s deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction. The Texas accountability system “has always been a moving target,” making year-to-year comparisons difficult, Jordan said, so Northside ISD regularly monitors student progress instead of waiting for standardized test scores to spot deficiencies. The TEA typically assigns scores to each public school district and campus every year based on standardized test performance, student growth and progress on closing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps, although it has not done so for all schools since 2019.
Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only
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Who will replace Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress? Here's a list of candidates
The campaign to replace the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress is playing out behind the scenes, with potential candidates calling precinct chairs and gauging interest ahead of an early August selection. The funeral for Jackson Lee, an icon of Houston politics who died Friday after three decades in Congress, will take place next week. She will be the second person ever to lie in state at City Hall on Monday, followed by public viewings at God’s Grace Community Church and Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church. Jackson Lee, a Democrat, had won a primary election in March and was set to cruise to re-election in November in her heavily Democratic district. Due to the timing of her death, state law says local Democratic officials called precinct chairs now will gather in early August to select a nominee to replace Jackson Lee on the November ballot. That means the race for her seat in Congress will be decided by party connections and relationships, not voters. Precinct chairs are the elected heads of individual voting precincts, selected by party members. The chairs of the precincts in Jackson Lee’s district will select the new nominee. There are 214 precincts in the district, though fewer than 90 have active chairs, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Former Mayor Sylvester Turner was the first candidate to publicly declare his interest on Tuesday. Several others have followed. Turner, who left City Hall in January due to term limits, said Tuesday he is giving a run “serious consideration,” suggesting the unique circumstances of this race are the only thing that could pull him out of retirement. Amanda Edwards, a former City Council member and Senate candidate, launched a campaign for Jackson Lee’s seat after the congresswoman entered the mayoral field. When Jackson Lee lost that race and pivoted back to Congress, Edwards stayed in to challenge her. Rep. Jarvis Johnson, a state representative who lost a bid to take Mayor John Whitmire’s former seat in the Texas Senate, announced he will pursue the nomination on Tuesday. Former Councilman Dwight Boykins, a former City Council member and mayoral candidate, confirmed he was interested in the seat but would hold off on an announcement out of respect for Jackson Lee.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Catholic Rio Grande Valley migrant shelter wins victory against Texas AG
In the latest legal defeat for a Republican-led investigation of Catholic migrant shelters, a Hidalgo County, Texas, judge on Wednesday (July 24) denied a request from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to depose a Catholic Charities leader in the Rio Grande Valley. District Judge Bobby Flores denied the petition after lawyers for Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the largest migrant shelters on the U.S.-Mexico border, argued that the nonprofit had already cooperated with the investigation by providing more than 100 pages of documents. The lawyers for Catholic Charities also argued that the attorney general’s request imposed “a significant expenditure of resources” on the Catholic agency and its ability to exercise its faith.
“We hope that we can put this behind us and focus our efforts on protecting and upholding the sanctity and dignity of all human lives while following the law,” Sister Norma Pimentel, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s executive director, said in a statement. Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 for her three decades of work with migrants. Pope Francis has also praised Pimentel and the work of the nonprofit. According to filings by both Paxton’s office and Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the attorney general’s office sent a notice to the nonprofit on March 25 demanding that a representative of Catholic Charities sit for a deposition. March 25 was the first weekday of Holy Week, when Catholic schedules are packed with events commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment. In explaining his request for the deposition, Paxton’s office cited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s December 2022 call for an investigation into the “role of NGOs in planning and facilitating the illegal transportation of illegal immigrants across our borders.”
Read this article at Religion News Service - Subscribers Only
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No more "A" group? Southwest Airlines plans to switch to assigned seating, other changes
After more than 50 years, Southwest Airlines is getting rid of its open seating policy. The Dallas-based airline announced Thursday it would be scrapping its open seating policy in favor of assigned seating. The shift aligns with the changing consumer preferences. The implementation of assigned seating is just one among the handful of changes Southwest detailed in its recent press release. In a press release Thursday, Southwest acknowledged "preferences have evolved with more customers taking longer flights where a seat assignment is preferred." The airline hopes moving to assigned seating and revamping its boarding process will broaden Southwest's appeal to both new and existing customers: Research found 80% of current Southwest customers, and 86% of potential customers prefer assigned seating. The airline did not provide an exact date for making the switch.
Read this article at Austin American-Statesman - Subscribers Only
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Arizona, Texas GCs complete spaceship plant for Virgin Galactic
Manufacturing work is heating up construction activity in the Arizona desert, ranging from EV battery plants to spaceship facilities. Tempe, Arizona-based Sun State Builders and Lewisville, Texas-based Parkway Construction are seizing this increased construction demand in the greater Phoenix area. Earlier this month, the general contractors completed Virgin Galactic’s new aerospace manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, the spaceflight company told Construction Dive. Mojave, California-based Virgin Galactic plans to use the facility for the final assembly of its next-generation Delta spaceships, with production set to begin in the first quarter of 2025, according to its CEO Michael Colglazier. Sun State Builders constructed the shell of the facility, while Parkway Construction handled tenant improvement work, such as specialized equipment installation and interior modifications.
Read this article at Construction Dive - Subscribers Only
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Texas gives funds to Corpus Christi to build desalination plant, lawmaker says
The State of Texas is helping with funds for a desalination plant to be built in Corpus Christi, a state lawmaker says. The Texas Water Development Board on Tuesday approved $535 million in multi-year financing for Corpus Christi’s Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant, State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, a Democrat who represents McAllen and Corpus Christi, said. The city asked for help funding the project as many communities in South Texas are worried about future drinking water and agricultural water supplies. “I commend the city of Corpus Christi for their proactive approach to ensure our families and businesses have a sustainable water supply for multiple generations. Converting our sea and brackish water into reusable water is just one key component to providing a reliable, sustainable water base for future economic development and jobs in the region,” Hinojosa said in a statement.
Read this article at Border Report - Subscribers Only
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James Morris, son of Gateway founder Robert Morris, resigns from church
The son of Gateway Church founder Robert Morris has resigned after previously being anointed to lead the megachurch, the organization said. Gateway said in a statement Thursday that church elders earlier this week met with James Morris and his wife Bridgette and made the decision for Morris and his wife to step down from their current positions and from leading the church in the future. “We as Elders affirm and believe that God has placed a desire in both Pastors James and Bridgette’s hearts to serve as senior pastors of a church at some point in the future,” the statement said.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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First Baptist Dallas gets approval to try to save walls of historic sanctuary
First Baptist Dallas has received approval from the city to attempt to preserve the exterior walls of its secondary chapel after it was severely damaged in a fire last week, the church announced in a video posted online Wednesday. “I can make no guarantees about how that work will go or even if it will be successful, but we do have approval to try,” executive pastor Ben Lovvorn said of the preservation efforts. The historic red brick sanctuary partially collapsed Friday during a four-alarm fire that firefighters say started in the building’s basement. The downtown chapel served as the church’s primary place of worship for over a century until First Baptist opened a new facility in 2013.
Read this article at Dallas Morning News - Subscribers Only
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H-E-B to support Communities in Schools of Houston with school supply donations
As a new school year approaches, Communities In Schools (CIS) of Houston, with the help of grocery giant HEB, is raising funds to provide free school supplies to underserved students and families who struggle to provide them. Since back-to-school costs can be difficult to meet for some families, CIS of Houston and HEB are ensuring students have what they need to be successful in school. The program is statewide for CIS affiliates. Customers shopping online or in store between July 31 and August 27 at HEB locations in the Greater Houston Area can donate any amount to ensure all students are ready for a great school year, regardless of their economic situation. Funds will go to Communities In Schools of Houston, which served students in 163 schools in six school districts and Lone Star College during the 2023-24 school year.
Read this article at Leander News - Subscribers Only
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What it’s like to swelter inside Texas’ un-air-conditioned prisons
Four blank white walls comprise a standard 6-foot by 9-foot solitary confinement mock prison cell. A metal toilet connects to a small sink and lies inches away from a rigid bed and steel door that closes shut to complete darkness. There are no windows and the only shred of light peaks from the bottom of the door frame. A thermometer on the wall shows 85 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn't unbearable but not necessarily cool, either. On another wall is the artwork of a red rose adorned with petals, a picture of a man in his prison uniform smiling during a visit with a loved one, and a handwritten note mimicking what someone who has to live in the small area might hang up to give the space more life. A few uncomfortable minutes inside this sticky cell comprise only a fraction of what Texans incarcerated across the state experience daily.
The prototype cell was created by organizers from the Texas Prisons Community Advocates (TPCA), which held a “Day of Mourning” at the Green House International Church in the Greenspoint neighborhood on Friday in the name of raising awareness around their "85 to Stay Alive" campaign, which highlights extreme conditions in the dozens of states' prisons that lack air conditioning. Conditions have turned deadly for some: a 2023 analysis by the Texas Tribune found that 41 people died in uncooled prisons during the state's record-breaking heat wave last year. Those lucky enough to survive serving their time often leave with long-term scars from the hot temperatures. A study by Texas A&M’s Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center found that roughly 70 percent of Texas’s prisons don’t have proper air conditioning in a state known for having multiple months where days routinely reach triple-digit temperatures—a figure TPCA President Amite Dominick said doesn’t exactly tell the whole story.
Read this article at Chron - Subscribers Only
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Kamala Harris and the Texas GOP are honing their attacks on abortion and border security
As much as Kamala Harris changes the presidential race’s dynamics on abortion, she also opens up new political fronts on immigration and the border. And Republicans are salivating. “The 'border czar' has been an utter failure,” Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday, previewing things come as Republicans work to tie the vice president to the record number of migrants who have crossed the border over the last three years. In March 2021, President Joe Biden tapped Harris to “lead our diplomatic effort and work with” Mexico and Central American countries to get a handle on what was causing mass migration to the United States and how to fix it.
Not once in his more than 1,000-word speech did he call her the border czar. Nor did the president ever appoint Harris to oversee border policies directly. But you wouldn’t know it from Republicans who have doggedly given her the border czar title and blasted her for not going to the Texas border until more than a year after Biden’s remarks, when crossings were surging. During a press conference in Houston on Monday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz accused Harris of being responsible for “chaos” at the state’s southern border by ignoring the issue altogether. Migrant crossings surged to their highest levels late last year but have dropped in recent months. On Thursday, U.S. House Republicans plan to go further. They are preparing a resolution that “strongly condemns” Harris as Biden’s “border czar.” The line of attack isn’t surprising, said Tyler native and veteran Democratic political strategist Chuck Rocha. “It doesn’t have to be truthful to be good strategy,” he said.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Many arrested in major FBI bust over alleged bail fraud scheme released on cash-free bail
Many of those swept up in a federal wire fraud bust, including the former owner of a Houston bail company, gained their freedom Thursday with a type of unsecured bail, common in federal courts, that doesn't require a bondsman. One of the defendants, Sheba Muharib, head of the now-defunct Aable Bail Bonds, was arrested early Wednesday in Missouri City as part of a massive pre-dawn federal bust that targeted her, two former employees and dozens of others accused of writing fraudulent bonds or using them to free jailed Houstonians pending trial. Police ferried Muharib and others to an NRG Park facility and then federal custody. During a four-hour stretch Thursday, many of the defendants, mostly women, walked into the court wearing the same clothes they were arrested in, including Muharib’s gray sweatshirt emblazoned with “LAW.”
Several of the accused said they were related to or in relationships with each other. Judge Christina Bryan spent the morning hours setting bail conditions and arraigning defendants, including Muharib, whose downtown office was searched by federal authorities in 2022 as judicial bail decisions and bail policies dominated news headlines. Unlike many arrested in the bail crackdown, Muharib’s charge stems from an allegation that she knowingly hired a man with a felony conviction stemming from dishonest actions, records show. The employee in question, Oscar Wattell, protested in court that he did not understand the charges against him. The magistrate urged him to remain silent.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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Texas hospital successfully implanted a valveless artificial heart, a 'groundbreaking' milestone
A new chapter in artificial heart development unfolded Thursday in Houston, where officials at the Texas Heart Institute announced they had successfully implanted a novel device that they hope can become the first long-term solution for patients with advanced heart failure. The device — a rotary-powered, hand-sized artificial heart — whirred inside a 58-year-old man’s chest for eight days, helping him maintain normal vital signs and organ function until he received a lifesaving heart transplant on July 17. The man, who had suffered from end-stage heart failure and was not available for interviews, became the first of five candidates who will test the device’s safety and feasibility as part of a Food and Drug Administration study. The trial run was hailed by Texas Heart officials as “groundbreaking” at a Thursday news conference, and not because the device served as a temporary option for a transplant candidate.
Current versions of the device already serve that function. Its use represented a major step toward loftier ambitions: replacing the need for a heart transplant at all. “That’s the only reason we did this,” said Dr. O.H. “Bud” Frazier, a renowned surgeon at Texas Heart and a pioneer in the development of artificial hearts. Heart failure, when the body can’t pump the amount of blood it needs, affects nearly 6.7 million adults over 20 in the United States. Roughly 10% of that population has an advanced form of the disease that requires a transplant. Shortages of donor organs, however, limit the number of transplants that can be performed, leaving thousands of patients relying on artificial pumps as a temporary option while they wait. Even then, heart transplants are not a long-term solution, with only about half of all heart recipients living 10 years. For decades, doctors have sought ways to build and improve artificial hearts — a history that winds through Houston. It was here, in 1962, that Dr. Domingo Liotta developed the left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, which takes over part of the heart’s function. And here, in 1969, Dr. Denton A. Cooley performed the world’s first total artificial heart implant, touching off one of the country’s most well-known medical feuds between Cooley and another giant of the field, Dr. Michael E. DeBakey.
Read this article at Houston Chronicle - Subscribers Only
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City Stories
Shutdown of South Texas immigrant detention center in Dilley leads to the loss of 600 jobs
The closure of the nation’s largest immigrant detention center, which is in South Texas, will cost at least 600 workers their jobs. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month said it would close the costly South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley so it could reallocate funds to increase overall detention capacity across its system. ICE had called it “the most expensive facility in the national detention network.” The agency said it would save $129 million by closing the 2,400-bed center, Reuters reported last year, citing an internal agency memo. The move comes at a price, though, as it’s displacing center supervisors, medical staff, those involved with handling accommodations and others.
The facility in Dilley, a town of about 3,300 people 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, was opened during the Obama administration in 2014 to hold a surge of Central American families who surrendered at the border and requested asylum. Tennessee-based CoreCivic Inc., which has operated the center, said its mission shifted to detention of single adults in 2021. As of June 9, the center held 1,561 detainees, CoreCivic reported. The bulk of the population was women with no criminal record, ICE records reviewed by Reuters showed The closing will free up resources for an additional 1,600 beds, ICE said. The shutdown is part of what ICE said are “new measures to increase the overall capacity of enforcement resources.” The efforts are intended to “speed removals” for people who are not lawfully in the U.S.
Read this article at San Antonio Express-News - Subscribers Only
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National Stories
Newsom orders California officials to remove homeless encampments
Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered California state officials on Thursday to begin dismantling thousands of homeless encampments, the nation’s most sweeping response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that gave governments greater authority to remove homeless people from their streets. More than in any other state, homeless encampments have been a wrenching issue in California, where housing costs are among the nation’s highest, complicating the many other factors that contribute to homelessness. An estimated 180,000 people were homeless last year in California, and most of them were unsheltered. Unlike New York City, most jurisdictions in California do not guarantee a right to housing. Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, called on state officials and local leaders to “humanely remove encampments from public spaces” and act “with urgency,” prioritizing those that most threaten health and safety.
Some of his own agencies are expected to take action immediately on state property. He cannot force local governments to sweep encampments, but can exert political pressure through the billions of dollars that the state controls for municipalities to address homelessness. His executive order could divide Democratic local leaders in California. Some have already begun to clear encampments, while others have denounced the decision from the majority conservative Supreme Court as opening the door to inhumane measures to solve a complex crisis. Despite extensive investment in homelessness programs, California still has a shortage of emergency housing. While the directive instructs state agencies to connect occupants of encampments with local service providers, it does not mandate that they relocate people to shelters. Nor does the order indicate under which conditions recalcitrant campers might be penalized. Republicans have frequently pointed to homelessness in California as an example of the state’s purported decline under Mr. Newsom and other Democrats. They are expected to do the same with Vice President Kamala Harris, a former senator and prosecutor from California, in the coming weeks, as Democrats unite around her to replace President Biden on the ballot this fall.California Republicans on Thursday accused Mr. Newsom of “trying to take credit” for the efforts of conservatives who had sought the Supreme Court decision, and they charged that his executive order had come only after prolonged inaction.
Read this article at New York Times - Subscribers Only
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Wind power can be a major source of tax revenue, but officials struggle to get communities on board
In Scott Saffer’s science classroom, kids bake cookies in a decked-out kitchen, care for fish, turtles and a snake, and have access to a workshop full of tools. As the gifted enrichment coordinator at Tri-Point School District, Saffer is living his teaching dream, one he knew he’d need money to accomplish. For a while, due to budgetary concerns in rural Ford County, Illinois, he moved to a neighboring school district. But when wind turbines came to town, Tri-Point had the funding to bring him back without a pay cut. There, he was one of 10 recipients of a prestigious statewide teaching award last year. “It made a huge difference in our budgets,” Saffer said of the nearby wind farm, which went online about five years ago, that added almost a million dollars to his school’s annual operating funds. “Those kinds of numbers, they’re the difference between us being here and not.”
An Associated Press analysis of county tax data from local governments in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska — states either with many wind farms or a high potential for wind power — found wind companies rank among the biggest taxpayers in many rural communities, with their total tax bills at times outstripping that of large farms, power plants and other major businesses. While that tax income from wind power does not represent a significant percent of counties’ budgets, it totals millions of dollars some local leaders say has translated into meaningful change. But the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, which tallies local opposition to wind power, finds efforts to block wind projects are “widespread and growing.” The center’s June report found 395 local restrictions that could effectively block wind or solar developments, up by 73% compared to less than a year ago. Local restrictions have made it harder for wind companies to find places to build even as the U.S. has committed to tripling renewables by 2030 in order to do its part in addressing climate change.
Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only
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How employers are taking steps to safeguard workers from extreme heat
At the start of every work day, construction worker Charles Smith puts on the essentials: hard hat. Safety glasses. A reflective vest. And a small, watch-like band for his wrist. But rather than track time, its purpose is to ensure he doesn’t overheat while working during sweltering summer days in Texas. The wristband monitors his heart rate, core body temperature, stress level and more. If it detects signs of overheating, it warns him and his safety manager, advising Smith to rest and hydrate. The device serves as an early warning system to prevent heat-related injuries and illnesses. The technology is one way that workplaces are setting up employee protections as summers grow hotter, longer and more extreme due to climate change. On Sunday, the Earth reached the hottest day ever measured, according to a European climate service group. And in the absence of federal heat rules for workers, which the Biden administration recently proposed, some employers in states without rules are taking it upon themselves to safeguard employees from extreme heat dangers.
“We can catch it before it happens,” said Seth Campbell, safety manager for the construction company Rogers-O’Brien, Smith’s employer, of monitoring signs of heat-related illnesses. Their team started using the technology last summer. UPS recently equipped delivery drivers with cooling hats and sleeves that provide relief from heat — and increased access to ice, cold water and electrolytes for employees, according to its website. They have also added more cooling equipment to its vehicles and facilities, said vice president of global communications Genny Bowman in an email. That includes installing exhaust heat shields to lower vehicle floor temperatures, as well as fans in package cars and more fans in its facilities. Some greenhouse companies, including Eden Green and Cox Farms, have said they adjust workers’ schedules to account for excessive heat, such as starting them earlier in the morning, breaking during peak heat, and returning in the evening as temperatures cool. During June’s record-breaking heat wave in the Midwest and Northeast, an organization in Columbus, Ohio, prepared frozen towels and cold water for their workers to stay cool and hydrated.
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CrowdStrike blames testing software bug for letting bad data slip through, leading to global outage
CrowdStrike is blaming a bug in its test software for not properly validating the content update that sent bad data to millions of customer computers, setting off a global tech outage that grounded flights, took TV broadcasts off air and disrupted banks, hospitals and retailers. In an update Wednesday, the Austin cybersecurity company also outlined measures it would take to prevent the problem from recurring, including staggering the rollout of updates, giving customers more control over when and where they occur and providing more details about the updates it plans. The details came in an online “preliminary post incident review” of the outage, which caused chaos last week for the many businesses that pay for the cybersecurity firm’s software services.
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France’s high-speed rail network hit by arson attacks, canceling trains ahead of Olympics
French train services were canceled and delayed on Friday, after the nation’s high-speed rail network faced a series of “malicious” acts overnight, including arson, just ahead of the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris. Railways operator SNCF said in a statement that its network had experienced several concurrent attacks early on Friday morning, as fire damaged its facilities and its fibre optic lines were affected. The high-speed LGV Atlantique line was hit, along with northern and eastern lines, causing knock-on disruption that SNCF expected will impact hundreds of thousands of people through the weekend. “Following this massive attack aiming to paralyze the high-speed line network, a large number of trains were diverted or canceled,” SNCF said, according to a CNBC translation, advising those who are able to not to travel to the station. Ticket holders on disrupted journeys will be contacted by email or text, it added.
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Anti-school-choice groups oppose Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro for VP: ‘Has supported policies mirroring Project 2025’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is a top contender for Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate this campaign season — but he’s not the choice candidate for the anti-school-choice crowd. That’s why teachers’ unions across the country are seeking to block him from becoming the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. Twenty-eight self-described “public education advocacy organizations” — though charter schools are also public schools — penned a letter Wednesday to Harris insisting Shapiro’s school-choice record should disqualify him from the No. 2 spot.
The missive accuses the popular Pennsylvania governor of supporting “education policies mirroring Project 2025,” referring to a bundle of policy proposals the conservative Heritage Foundation has put forth for a second Trump presidency — which former President Donald Trump himself has disavowed and called “abysmal.” “It is our fervent hope that your running mate will reflect your strong history of supporting educators and students, and commitment to building the middle class which will require strong public schools across our nation,” the letter reads. “For this reason, we respectfully ask you not to select Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.” The “urgent request” goes on to say Shapiro’s support for school choice is akin to “gutting public education and privatizing what is left via irresponsible voucher systems like those in Florida and Arizona.”
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Oil billionaires bet on Trump’s energy agenda
As Donald Trump accepted the GOP presidential nomination last Thursday, he reminded the megawealthy coterie of oil tycoons backing him why he is their man. “We have more liquid gold under our feet than any other country by far, we are a nation that has the opportunity to make an absolute fortune with its energy,” Trump said during his prime-time address. The speech was music to the ears of oil billionaires Harold Hamm of Continental Resources, Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer, Jeffery Hildebrand of Hilcorp, and George Bishop of GeoSouthern Energy. Since March, they, together with their spouses and companies, have contributed at least $9.9 million to Trump-aligned committees and the Republican National Committee, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Those donations make the magnates among some of Trump’s biggest donors and represent an increase from past election cycles. Their contributions and those of another oil billionaire, Tim Dunn of CrownRock, topped $16 million since October, compared with the more than $20 million the tycoons donated to fund Trump’s 2016 and 2020 bids combined. Energy policy is shaping up as a key campaign issue. Some of Trump’s allies immediately attacked Vice President Kamala Harris’s energy record this week as she moved to nail down the Democratic nomination following President Biden’s withdrawal from the race. Harris previously backed a ban on fracking as a presidential candidate in 2019, but was also part of a Biden administration that presided over record oil production. The oil executives are banking on promises from the former president and his allies for an energy agenda that is more stridently pro-fossil fuel than Trump’s first administration. Many of Trump’s top oil backers are openly skeptical about the effects of climate change, in contrast with the industry’s biggest companies, and want to slash regulations and subsidies for green energy.
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Newsclips - July 25, 2024 |
Lead Stories
How Kamala Harris took command of the Democratic Party in 48 hours
Late on Sunday morning, Vice President Kamala Harris summoned a small clutch of her closest advisers and allies to the Naval Observatory, where she lives and works, with little notice and even less information. President Biden had informed Ms. Harris earlier that morning that he was withdrawing from the race. The vice president had assembled her team so that the exact moment Mr. Biden formally quit, at 1:46 p.m. — one minute after the president had informed his own senior staff — they were ready to go. Time was of the essence. A sprawling call list of the most important Democrats to reach had been prepared in advance, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The vice president, in sneakers and a sweatshirt, began methodically dialing Democratic power brokers. “I wasn’t going to let this day go by without you hearing from me,” Ms. Harris had said over and over, as day turned to night, according to five people who received her calls or were briefed on them.
She phoned past Democratic presidents, many of her potential rivals — including Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania — the Democratic congressional leaders, Senator Bernie Sanders, the heads of the various influential caucuses and other top Democrats, a person with direct knowledge of the call list said. The blitz demonstrated exactly the kind of vigor and energy that Mr. Biden had lacked in recent weeks. Mr. Biden had reportedly made 20 calls to congressional Democrats in the first 10 or so days after the debate, while his candidacy hung in the balance. Ms. Harris made 100 calls in 10 hours. At the same time that Ms. Harris was dialing, a new whip operation was set up to wrangle delegates who will ultimately select the nominee, integrating her team and the pre-existing Biden-Harris campaign’s delegate operation. Within 48 hours, Ms. Harris had functionally cleared the Democratic field of every serious rival, clinched the support of more delegates than needed to secure the party nomination, raised more than $100 million and delivered a crisper message against former President Donald J. Trump than Mr. Biden had mustered in months. It amounted to a remarkable display of early dominance for Ms. Harris and an organic outpouring of enthusiasm. And it allowed a Democratic Party that had been holding its collective breath in the month since Mr. Biden’s uncomfortably inarticulate debate to finally exhale. “It was a very well-orchestrated cascade,” said Howard Dean, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a past presidential candidate himself. “I have to confess I am surprised myself how fast this has gone.”
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Biden speech features solemn call to defend democracy, lays out reasons for quitting race
President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country’s democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. Insisting that “the defense of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden used his first public address since his announcement Sunday that he was stepping aside to deliver an implicit repudiation of former President Donald Trump. He did not directly call out Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to democracy. The 10-minute address also gave Biden a chance to try to shape how history will remember his one and only term in office. “Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy,” Biden said, in a somber coda to his 50 years spent in public office. “And that includes personal ambition.”
It was a moment for the history books — a U.S. president reflecting before the nation on why he was taking the rare step of voluntarily handing off power. It hasn’t been done since 1968, when Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek reelection in the heat of the Vietnam War. “I revere this office,” Biden said. “But I love my country more.” Trump, just an hour earlier at a campaign rally, revived his baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Biden. His refusal to concede inspired the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, which Biden called “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” Biden skirted the political reality that brought him to that point: His abysmal performance in a debate against Trump nearly a month ago, where he spoke haltingly, appeared ashen and failed to rebut his predecessor’s attacks, sparked a crisis of confidence from Democrats. Lawmakers and ordinary voters questioned not just whether he was capable of beating Trump in November, but also whether, at 81, he was still fit for the high-pressure job. Biden, who said he believed his record was deserving of another term in office, tried to outlast the skepticism and quell the concerns with interviews and tepid rallies, but the pressure to end his campaign only mounted from the party’s political elites and from ordinary voters.
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Stock market has worst day since 2022 as Tesla, Google parent Alphabet sink
U.S. stocks had their worst day since 2022 on Wednesday amid a broad pullback in tech companies as Wall Street traders sought to reduce their exposure to firms that have made big bets on artificial intelligence. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index closed down 3.6%, while the broader S&P 500 index closed down 2.3% — both their worst performances in more than 18 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.25%. The rout was led by Tesla, whose shares fell 12.3% for its worst day since 2020, and Google parent Alphabet, which fell more than 5% for its worst day since January.
Tesla reported Tuesday afternoon that its auto revenues fell 7% compared with the previous quarter, and CEO Elon Musk said in a follow-up earnings call that the company's planned robotaxi rollout would be pushed back. Although Alphabet reported earnings Tuesday that were in line with analysts' expectations, traders appeared to seize on remarks CEO Sundar Pichai made on the company's earnings call that signaled the tech world's booming investments in artificial intelligence were not going to pay off in a short time frame. "I think we are in this phase where we have to deeply work and make sure on these use cases [for AI products], on these workflows, we are driving deeper progress on unlocking value, which I’m very bullish will happen," Pichai said. "But these things take time."
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Global investors scramble to dodge US election curveballs
Investors are scrambling to shore up global portfolios against wild market swings ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election and backing out of assets stuck in the crosshairs of uncertainty, from big tech stocks to European government debt. With Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Vice-President Kamala Harris in a neck-and-neck race, likely offering policies that create deeply divergent outlooks for geopolitics and world trade, money managers are braced for months of volatility. "Markets hate uncertainty and, as the polls head towards 50-50, this is about uncertain as it can get," said Ross Yarrow, U.S. equities managing director at investment bank Baird.
Trump is viewed as likely to lift U.S. corporate profits with tax cuts, but also to hike import tariffs which could be bad news for European and Asian exporters as well as U.S. inflation. Harris could crack down on banks, go easier on China and stick to President Joe Biden's cautious foreign policy play-book. Wall Street's S&P 500 share index dropped 2.3% on Wednesday, its largest daily fall since December 2022, as big tech stocks that dominate U.S. and global indices flailed, before the rout coursed through Europe on Thursday morning. Investors, on their guard for more selling, were looking to small cap stocks, UK assets and gold as possible havens. "We think there's the potential for markets to get more nervous about the U.S. presidential race," said Trevor Greetham, head of multi-asset at Royal London. Crucially for world markets, investors fear both competing for votes with big spending plans, driving potential U.S. debt market ructions and whiplash for global stocks and bonds whose valuations are underpinned by long-term Treasury yields. "We could find the U.S. Treasury market starts to get antsy towards November if both (candidates) are saying they will spend more," he added. "And that could upset stock markets." The yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury rose above its two-year equivalent last week as big investors swerved long-term U.S. credit risk and the budget deficit approached $2 trillion.
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State Stories
Joe Biden heads to Texas on Monday for event commemorating Civil Rights Act
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks in Austin on Monday as he returns to public life after his COVID-19 diagnosis last week, White House officials said Tuesday. Biden has not made any public appearances in the days after the diagnosis or since he announced Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid. He returned Tuesday to the White House from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he had been recovering. Biden will speak at an LBJ Presidential Library event commemorating 60 years since the historic passage of the Civil Rights Act. The event had been postponed after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. The Civil Rights Act, considered the most sweeping civil rights legislation since the end of slavery, banned racial discrimination in public places, schools and places of employment.
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Former Police Chief Troy Finner alleges he was pushed out to bury HPD scandal
has kept a low profile. The former Houston police chief has declined to speak with most members of the media and, aside from a small retirement celebration, rarely appeared in public. Meanwhile, a massive internal investigation continues into the department’s suspension of more than 200,000 cases – a scandal Finner first went public with earlier this year that eventually led to his ouster. But now, as city leadership prepares to name Finner’s permanent replacement, the 34-year veteran of HPD said he feels compelled to speak. In a series of exclusive interviews with the Chronicle, Finner said he’s concerned that the city and police department are trying to bury the full details of a disturbing truth he aimed to expose: That the police department in the nation’s fourth-largest city had for almost a decade been routinely shelving investigations into serious criminal activity by labeling them with the code “Suspended – Lack of Personnel,” or “SL.”
When Finner was still chief, he pledged to confront the issue head-on. He launched a sprawling internal probe in February and released bi-weekly updates about its progress to the public. He also committed to releasing a full report of the department’s findings, at one point indicating that could happen in early May 2024, shortly before he left. Finner is worried the department won’t keep those promises now that he’s gone. Updates have dried up, he pointed out. The commander of HPD’s internal affairs department has been reassigned to another division. And the report has yet to come out. “Agencies all across the country are watching us,” he said. “This is our opportunity to do something and lead the way. So I’m proud to take the blows. But tell the whole story.” In a brief interview Monday, Mayor John Whitmire rejected Finner’s concerns and insisted that the report would be released soon, though he did not commit to a firm date. “It’s coming,” he said. “It will be comprehensive.” The police department did not respond to requests for comment.
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Vice President Kamala Harris makes an early arrival in Houston for Hurricane Beryl recovery efforts
Vice President Kamala Harris made an early arrival in Houston on Wednesday to get a briefing on the region’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Beryl. Harris was already scheduled to attend the American Federation of Teachers' annual convention in Houston on Thursday at 10 a.m. but arrived Wednesday afternoon so she could meet with Mayor John Whitmire and other officials about their recovery efforts. It's Harris' first visit to Texas since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Harris spent more than 30 minutes meeting with city and county leaders in a closed-door briefing at the Houston Emergency Operations Center. Then she met with two dozen first responders directly to thank them for their work over the last two weeks. Harris did not take questions from the media. "It means a lot to city employees and the rank and file to see the vice president recognizing their hard work," Whitmire said as he left the meeting. "We're not burned out, but we are definitely stretched thin."
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A small Texas school district feels inflation squeeze with base state funding stagnant
The Sunnyvale school district paid just over $300,000 for property and casualty insurance in 2022. Now they’re bracing to pay more than half a million dollars. Everything from bus fuel to printing paper costs public schools more money. Their budgets increasingly are stretched thin as the base amount of state money they receive has remained stagnant for years. Texas funds its schools through a longstanding set of complex formulas, but the building block of it is called the basic allotment. That per-student amount sits at $6,160 — the same as it was in 2019. To have the same buying power today, based on inflation, it would need to be closer to $7,500. “We need to see that basic allotment increase,” Sunnyvale ISD Superintendent Matt Kimball said. “It’s just not sustainable.”
The rising cost of educating kids is one of the significant factors straining school budgets across the state. A survey from the Texas Association of School Business Officials, which included responses from more than 300 districts, found more than half expected to end fiscal year 2024 in a shortfall. More than half expected to institute budget cuts for next school year. Public education advocates point to political fights as a reason state funding hasn’t kept up with inflation. Texas school leaders from Richardson to Plano have cited inflation as one of several factors stretching their finances. While those two districts have turned to closing campuses as a way to cut costs, that would be difficult in Sunnyvale. The small district about 20 miles east of Dallas has four schools to serve less than 2,500 students. Dramatically trimming personnel could also be complicated. Already, officials say, Sunnyvale staffers wear several hats apiece. The superintendent directs traffic during school dismal. Maintenance crew members drive multiple bus routes. The assistant superintendent said he spends at least 10% of his time researching and applying for grants. Officials say they look for creative solutions to save money, not wanting Sunnyvale students to go without.
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Financial future of Marfa ISD bleak as new budget talks ensue
Marfa ISD School Board trustees met this week to review a preliminary budget for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Similar to last year, the district is anticipating adopting a deficit budget of $1 million or more, a situation that has administrators raising the alarm about the long-term financial viability of the district. Interim Superintendent Arturo Alferez as well as all school board members with the exception of Rene Gonzales were present to hear from Chief Financial Officer Rosela Rivera on the proposed budget for the upcoming school year. Based on the preliminary certified property values from the Presidio County Appraisal District (PCAD) and a tax rate of .8216, the district is anticipating earning around $5,035,000 in revenue, Rivera explained. But with the district’s expenses, and an estimated $1.7 million recapture payment — funds the district sends to the state because it is considered to have “excess wealth” per student due to the combination of low enrollment and high property values — MISD is likely to be left with an estimated $1,117,000 deficit.
Rivera said recapture payments are “the killer,” leading to the unbalanced budget, and have sharply increased the past few years. By comparison, the district paid $511,000 in recapture for the 2021-22 school year, she said. When asked by school board members how the recent $530,000 sale of the Blackwell School to the National Parks Foundation would impact their budget, Rivera said the sum was placed into the district’s fund balance, or savings account, so it could gain interest and was not factored into this year’s budget. In addition to its recapture payment — which local school leaders experiencing similar issues, including those in Alpine and Fort Davis, have lobbied the Legislature to fix, among other funding inequities — Marfa ISD will continue to pay Presidio ISD, a much wealthier district, $48,000 this year to educate children from Redford that attend Presidio but are technically zoned to go to Marfa. School board members also expressed concern about their quarterly payments to the PCAD increasing. The PCAD’s budget is made up of payments from local taxing entities including the cities, school districts, the hospital district, the Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District and the county.
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Operation Lone Star arrests overwhelming El Paso County
El Paso County is asking the State of Texas for millions of dollars to cover the cost of jailing individuals arrested through Operation Lone Star. County Commissioners Court on Monday voted unanimously to submit a grant application to the Office of Gov. Greg Abbott for detainee processing, housing, judicial processing and medical costs. The vote authorized a separate application to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission to provide legal assistance to those detainees. Commissioners also gave the green light to County Judge Ricardo Samaniego to send a letter requesting those detained by the Texas Department of Public Safety to be taken to a state jail, rather than the El Paso County Jail. “In order to apply for that we need to submit an emergency declaration. But I really want the community to understand we have been hesitant because we wanted it to be limited – not to have more DPS agents here but to focus on the fact that it has been a huge impact on the community, on the county,” Samaniego said.
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HSI warns against crossing South Texas border illegally in deadly summer heat
Officials with Homeland Security Investigations have launched a campaign to get the word out to migrants and their families not to rely on human smugglers to get across the South Texas border during triple-digit heat. Mark Lippa, deputy special agent in charge, says Mexican cartels that operate human smuggling chains do not care about the health or wellbeing of migrants. He said in days of 100-degree weather, officers find migrants abandoned, dehydrated, injured and assaulted throughout the Rio Grande Valley region. “The migrants are often found in conditions that are not worthy of humans,” Lippa told Border Report on Tuesday. “The message is human smuggling is very dangerous. If you or a family member are thinking of having a family member smuggled in, think again. Don’t do it. You are placing your family member in the hands of someone who is not going to care for that family member,” Lippa said. “We’ve had cases that have wound up in abusive situation, rape or even death.”
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Texas woman gets 15 years for stealing $109 million from military for mansions, luxury car
A Texas woman who pleaded guilty to charges of stealing nearly $109 million from a youth development program for children of military families and using it to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included multiple mansions, a fleet of luxury cars and designer accessories was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in federal prison. Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez after pleading guilty in March to five counts of mail fraud and five counts of filing a false tax return. Prosecutors say Mello, a civilian employee at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, stole the money and used it to purchase one lavish item after another, including $923,000 of jewelry in a single day in 2022.
Mello was a financial manager who handled funding for a youth program at the military base and determined whether grant money was available. She created a fraudulent group called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development, prosecutors said. “Janet Mello betrayed the trust of the government agency she served and repeatedly lied in an effort to enrich herself,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Rather than $109 million in federal funds going to the care of military children throughout the world, she selfishly stole that money to buy extravagant houses, more than 80 vehicles and over 1,500 pieces of jewelry,” Esparza said. Defense attorney Albert Flores said Mello is deeply remorseful. “She realizes she committed a crime, she did wrong and is very ashamed,” Flores said.
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Several Texas Democrats skip Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress
Several Texans were among the dozens of Democrats who boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Wednesday address to Congress as they sharply criticized his handling of the war in Gaza. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Austin said the United States must end “unconditional military aid to the Israeli government” and secure an immediate cease-fire, the return of hostages and long-term peace. “Not only has Netanyahu failed to safely return the hostages — he has killed, harmed, or displaced nearly every Palestinian in Gaza, has failed to keep Israelis safe, and is risking the United States’ own security by trying to drag us into another endless war in the Middle East,” Casar said in a news release.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations filled streets near the U.S. Capitol as Netanyahu delivered his speech, defending his country’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack and mocking the protesters outside as “useful idiots” for those attacking Israel. Other U.S. House Democrats from Texas who skipped the speech were Reps. Veronica Escobar of El Paso, Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Lloyd Doggett of Austin and Al Green of Houston. Those in attendance included U.S. Reps. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Colin Allred of Dallas, Lizzie Fletcher of Houston and Sylvia Garcia of Houston. It was not immediately clear whether U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, attended. Crockett did not respond to requests for comment through a spokesperson. Castro was isolating at home after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week but had not planned to attend Netanyahu’s address, he said in a news release. Instead, he had planned to meet with relatives of Hamas-held hostages and speak at an event hosted by the left-leaning Center for American Progress. Netanyahu, Castro said, has conducted the war in Gaza “with contempt for human life” and only cares about his political survival.
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Dreadlocks, other hairstyles illegally banned in some Texas schools, group finds
Tucked on page 56 of the Tolar school district’s student handbook was a rule that the ACLU of Texas believed violated state law. “Building administrators reserve the right to determine appropriate hairstyles,” the Tolar ISD handbook read. “For example, boys shall not wear … dreadlocks.” Texas’ CROWN Act prohibits race-based hair discrimination and bars schools from penalizing students because of hair texture or protective hairstyles that include braids, locs and twists. On Wednesday — shortly after the ACLU of Texas sent a letter to Tolar officials about the law — the superintendent of the small district about 50 miles outside of Fort Worth committed to changing it.
“We will be correcting our handbook immediately,” Superintendent Travis Stilwell wrote in an email to The Dallas Morning News. “We have no intention of discriminating against any student. With that, we apologize for the oversight and will have it corrected.” That’s the outcome the ACLU of Texas wants from its new letter-writing project, launched Wednesday. The organization, joined by other civil rights and education groups, sent letters to about 50 school districts — many of them small and rural. They wrote that those schools’ 2023-24 dress and grooming codes had provisions that appeared to break the law. “We are very heartened that Tolar ISD immediately pledged to update its outdated dress and grooming code rule,” said Chloe Kempf, staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “We urge all other districts to follow suit — we hope that many of these rules are simple oversights and can be updated before the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. “Let’s work together to make sure that students of all races, genders, religions, and backgrounds can show up to school as their authentic selves.”
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Sheila Jackson Lee will lie in state at City Hall on Monday, the second person to receive the honor.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee will lie in state at Houston City Hall on Monday, becoming the second person to receive that honor. Jackson Lee died Friday at the age of 74 after battling pancreatic cancer. She served Houston’s 18th Congressional District for nearly 30 years, developing a reputation for her relentless drive and her near ubiquitous presence at community events. Mayor John Whitmire, who defeated Jackson Lee in last year’s mayoral election, announced she would lie in state from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be a private arrival for Jackson Lee’s family, followed by a brief ceremony with Whitmire and City Council members. Afterward, City Hall’s rotunda will be open to the public.
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50 arrested in massive FBI bust in Houston as part of alleged bail bond scheme
The FBI and area law enforcement carried out a massive bust early Wednesday, arresting 50 Houston-area residents as the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced a series of wire fraud indictments stemming from an alleged fraudulent bail bond scheme. The arrests came after a first-of-its-kind investigation that had been in the works for at least two years, according to a news release. Staff involved with the investigation said AABLE Bonds falsified financial documents to secure temporary release for individuals who would not have otherwise met the requirements. “Utilizing the bail bond system in a fraudulent manner to allow the release of criminals is unacceptable,” said Houston police’s Acting Chief Larry J. Satterwhite. “We are proud to have joined with our local, state and federal partners in getting these individuals off the streets.”
Of the indictments issued, three individuals remain at large. Law enforcement officials are still searching for the remaining suspects and asked that anyone with information regarding their whereabouts contact the Houston FBI office. Authorities said AABLE Bonds recruited individuals who co-signed bond agreements and falsely stated they were employed or had incomes that met the threshold necessary to serve as a co-signer. According to the news release, these fraudulent documents resulted in at least 11 individuals receiving bonds they were not qualified for. “By allegedly falsifying financial reports related to bail bonds, the accused individuals secured their release back onto the streets of our community through an illicit revolving door within the bond system.” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. If convicted, each of the 53 individuals named in the indictments faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 maximum fine. It was not immediately clear when they will appear in court. AABLE Bonds CEO, 58-year-old Sheba Muharib of Missouri City, was one of the individuals named in the indictments. Muharib became the subject of scrutiny in February 2022, when a fellow bail bondsman accused her family of “doing things that they shouldn’t be doing,” during a Commissioners Court meeting.
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American Federation of Teachers rallies against HISD takeover during Houston conference
The American Federation of Teachers condemned the state takeover and backed the Houston local as union delegates from across the country meet in Houston this week. In a Wednesday rally at Discovery Green, union leaders reiterated their support for Houston and opposition to the state takeover, which reached its one-year mark with appointed leadership in June. The rally coalesces national support for the the district's largest teachers union, the Houston Federation of Teachers, led by President Jackie Anderson who vocally opposes the district's proposed $4.4 billion bond. The district said the bond would go largely to upgrading and rebuilding aging campuses, as well as co-locating schools to other existing campuses. Anderson brought up the bond to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
"And I don't say 'no.' I say 'hell no,'" Anderson said. She noted reports that began with Spectrum News reporting a charter school network founded by state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles charged its Texas schools fees that fed into a general fund that, in part, subsidized one of its Colorado schools. AFT's Houston convention is also in the public eye with Vice President Kamala Harris scheduled to speak there Thursday, days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and backed Harris to be the Democratic Party nominee. The 1.8 million-member union was the first to endorse Harris for president Monday, according to a union statement. AFT President Randi Weingarten reiterated support for the Houston local, as it opposes the bond and takeover. She decried Gov. Greg Abbott's push for school vouchers that would put public dollars toward students attending private and charter schools. "What's going on in Houston is really despicable and duplicitous," Weingarten said. "Before the takeover, Houston's schools were on the ascendancy. They had a really good superintendent. They were making progress in every one of the measures that these testing-maniacal people had put in their place."
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Gene Peterson, legendary voice of the Houston Rockets, dies at 83
Gene Peterson, the legendary voice of the Rockets for more than three decades as the team’s radio play-by-play announcer, died Wednesday. He was 83. Peterson was moved to home hospice care Tuesday, his son Todd said, following two weeks in the hospital after a fall. He suffered from lung cancer that metastasized in his liver and gall bladder, Todd Peterson said. “He loved his job, the Rockets, he was fiercely loyal to his family,” Todd Peterson said. “He loved golf, and his later years, fell in love with the Astros. Even in the hospital, they put it on for him. He really fell in love with them. He watched every game.”
Peterson described Rockets games for 33 of his 45 years in broadcasting. His call of Rockets games had become so familiar that games on any rec center or public outdoor court in Houston would feature someone describing a player “backing it in, backing it in, backing it in” in an imitation of Peterson’s perfect baritone, or punctuate a made shot with a shout of “Bingo!” Rockets wins could not be considered complete before Peterson declared, “How sweet it is!” “Today, we say goodbye to my friend and broadcasting legend, Gene Peterson,” Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said in a statement. “Gene devoted his life to the Rockets and brought passion and energy towards creating timeless memories for countless fans, including myself. I am forever grateful for the time I knew Gene and for the invaluable contributions he made to our city and franchise for over three decades.” Craig Ackerman, the Rockets’ television play-by-play announcer, succeeded Peterson on the radio broadcasts after Peterson retired in 2008 and spoke often about Peterson helping with the transition. “First and foremost, he should be in the Hall of Fame. I’m frankly surprised that he and Jim (Foley, Peterson’s longtime broadcast partner) are not at this point,” Ackerman said. “Gene had the quintessential voice for broadcasting, deep, baritone, everything you put in a textbook, he checked all those boxes.
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Texas oil field company blames litigation with San Antonio's Holt Cat, others for bankruptcy
The owner of a North Texas oil field services company is blaming San Antonio trucking and heavy-equipment company Holt Cat and others for landing it in bankruptcy. In a bankruptcy court filing five days after Southlake-based Oryx Oilfield Services LLC sought Chapter 11, owner Matthew Mahone cited a 4-year-old lawsuit against Holt Texas Ltd., which does business as Holt Cat, and other equipment suppliers for contributing to its situation. His July 17 filing says the defendants carried out a “years-long fraudulent scheme” that involved buying equipment from Oryx and affiliated companies at “below-market value” then charging them “top dollar” for equipment purchases.
The underlying circumstances of the lawsuit and an unrelated complaint contributed to a lack of liquidity for Oryx and three affiliated companies that also filed for bankruptcy, Mahone said. The cash shortage created “operational issues by increasing the costs to borrow money and thereby decreasing profitability of the enterprises.” Mahone’s companies are seeking more than $100 million in damages from the various defendants. He predicted both lawsuits will have “positive outcomes that would benefit the respective bankruptcy estates.” Zachary Fanucchi, the lead lawyer defending Holt Cat, said he could not comment on the case because it’s in private arbitration. “I can state that the allegations contained in Mr. Mahone’s declaration are denied by our client in full,” he said in an email.
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Delia’s, ‘best tamale maker in Texas,’ raided by FBI
The FBI raided several Delia’s locations in South Texas, including its restaurant on San Antonio’s Northwest Side. The popular Mexican restaurant touts itself as the “best tamale maker” in Texas. A large FBI presence was reported Wednesday at its locations in the Rio Grande Valley, where the chain is based, and at its restaurant in San Antonio at 13527 Hausman Pass. FBI spokeswoman Trista Moxley confirmed the FBI is performing a “court authorized law enforcement activity” in the vicinity of Loop 1604 and Hausman. She said no additional information was being released as of Wednesday afternoon.
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County Stories
Houston judge blasts colleagues in late-night message to reporter after being removed from cases
Top judicial leadership in Houston have effectively removed hundreds of pending cases from state district Judge Kelli Johnson and assigned them to other jurists in the wake of two recent DWI stops — one on June 25 that led to her arrest — and a judicial complaint filed by her court reporter. The reassignment of her docket, which officials said was finalized this week in an order to be filed Thursday, happened after the Democratic judge, who is seeking re-election in November, went to work at the criminal courthouse but failed to preside on the bench. The order, signed by Judge Latosha Lewis Payne, Harris County's local administrative judge, and Judge Susan Brown, a governor-appointee for the Eleventh Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, comes in the wake of her arrest on a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge.
The rare move to reassign cases strips the elected judge of her ability to preside over her docket without the State Commission on Judicial Conduct having to suspend her. A statement from Amanda Cain, spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the District Courts, noted that Johnson remains the elected official over that court. She could not provide a timeline on how long those cases would be handled by visiting judges. Johnson did not address the docket change in a Wednesday night phone call from the courthouse but said she did not know about the judicial complaint. In an unsolicited Facebook message to a Chronicle reporter in the early hours Wednesday, Johnson derided the decision to remove her docket and disparaged Brown as a "political hack."
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City Stories
Fair Park First CEO resigns amid leadership turmoil, financial audit
Fair Park First CEO Brian Luallen told The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday he’s resigning from the nonprofit after months of turmoil. In a resignation letter, Luallen told the board the past few months have been “very difficult and uncomfortable to navigate.” Luallen, who has led the nonprofit for five years, was at the forefront of commissioning a forensic audit into the park’s finances after a whistleblower sparked an investigation into the park’s operator, Oak View Group, for the possible mismanagement of restricted donor funds. Tasked with being the conduit between the city and the operator of the 277-acre South Dallas landmark, Luallan notified the board in an executive session this week. His resignation is effective Aug. 15.
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National Stories
Ten years of payment disclosure does little to curtail corporate influence over doctors
A decade of publicly disclosed data revealing the billions that doctors receive from pharmaceutical and medical-device companies each year has done little to shift the industry away from the practice. Studies have found evidence that the payments, which range from free meals to fees for speaking and consulting work, affect doctors’ prescription decisions, leading to increased use of companies’ drugs and devices. The Open Payments database, which launched in 2014 and traces its origin to the Affordable Care Act, was meant to bring greater transparency to the financial relationships between industry and physicians, and perhaps discourage some forms of influence. Instead, the amount of money and other benefits provided to physicians and other healthcare providers has slowly grown, new numbers show.
Companies paid $12.75 billion to medical providers last year, up from $6.49 billion in 2014, according to data published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last month. Some of that growth can be accounted for by inflation, and by the additional disclosure starting in 2020 of payments to a larger swath of medical professionals, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Anecdotally, many doctors say little has changed. “It’s breathtaking the amount of money that’s going to individual physicians,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, a clinical cardiologist and president of the Lown Institute, which ranks hospitals according to their social responsibility. Patients these days can use CMS’s Open Payments database to see whether their doctor is accepting big payments from companies. But the added transparency hasn’t materially changed the behavior of companies and physicians, said Saini. A deeper look at some of the more recent payments data continues to reveal expenditures by companies that range from merely eyebrow raising to ethically or legally suspect. Regulators have warned companies that making repeat payments to physicians for speaking engagements or for attending noneducation events, for example, could violate anti-kickback laws. But in 2023, one drug company paid more than $54 million for such services to 1,138 providers in 10 or more payments each—a total of about $47,000 per provider on average, according to a report released on Tuesday by healthcare analytics company Conflixis.
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Nephew says Trump suggested some disabled people ‘should just die’
In 2020, a few months before the last election, former President Donald J. Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, published a book about her uncle and how awful and psychologically warped she found him to be. At the time, her brother, Fred C. Trump III, put out a statement slamming his sister for such treachery. Now, he’s wielding the knife. Next week, he will publish “All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got to Be This Way,” a tell-all that puts the former president in a harsh light. The New York Times obtained a copy. Fred and Mary Trump are the children of Fred Trump Jr., Donald’s older brother who struggled with alcoholism and died of a heart attack in 1981, when he was 42. Fred Trump, 61, describes himself as fairly close to his uncle. He attended the 2017 inauguration (he writes that he had a better seat than John McCain) and visited the White House several times (the book includes a picture of its author sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office).
Once, while in the Oval Office, the elder Mr. Trump insisted that his nephew stay in the room for a phone call he was about to have with King Abdullah of Jordan. He put the call on speakerphone, so his nephew could hear the king thank Mr. Trump for killing an Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “I killed him,” the former president boasted in front of his nephew, according to the book. “I killed him like a dog.” But another White House meeting left the author with a chill, and, it is implied, the reason for writing the book. Fred Trump’s son was born with a rare medical condition that led to developmental and intellectual disabilities. His care had been paid for in part with help from the family. After Mr. Trump was elected, Fred Trump wanted to use his connection to the White House for good. With the help of Ivanka Trump, his cousin, and Ben Carson, at the time the housing and urban development secretary, he was able to convene a group of advocates for a meeting with his uncle. The president “seemed engaged, especially when several people in our group spoke about the heart-wrenching and expensive efforts they’d made to care for their profoundly disabled family members,” he writes.
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Max Burns: It’s time to talk about Donald Trump’s age
(Max Burns is a veteran Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies.) At 78, former President Donald Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in American history. If he wins re-election in November, Trump will end his term just a few months shy of his 83rd birthday, making him two years older than President Joe Biden is now. In short, Donald Trump has a serious age problem. The media and Republican political leaders should treat concerns about Trump’s advanced age every bit as seriously as they did in Biden’s case. Trump can put those concerns to rest by making good on his promise to take a public cognitive test. Is he still willing to “do it for the good of the country,” as he said back on July 12? After all, comparing footage from Trump’s 2015 presidential announcement to footage from earlier this year shows that Trump isn’t quite the man he used to be. The former president now routinely confuses names when speaking off the cuff — including the name of his own doctor — and struggled to finish his sentences during a Nashville rally earlier this year.
How can the American people be sure Trump’s stumbles aren’t part of a sustained pattern of cognitive decline? Trump has repeatedly said he believes all presidential candidates should be “mandated to take a cognitive test” regardless of age. There’s no time like the present, because the concerning evidence of Trump’s mental decline has been mounting for years. His memory problems are well-documented; the former president doesn’t seem able to recall what he was doing or who he spoke to for most of the day on Jan. 6, 2021. He also regularly forgets who the sitting president is, often confusing Joe Biden and Barack Obama during unscripted remarks. That seems pretty important. Concerns about how Trump’s age could weigh on the Republican ticket aren’t exclusive to Democrats like me. Sixty percent of voters now believe Trump is too old to serve, according to a post-debate ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. That’s up from 44 percent a little over a year ago. Of voters who watched Trump’s rambling debate performance last month, fully 50 percent believe the former president should withdraw from the race and focus on his mental health.
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World breaks hottest day record twice in a week
The record for the world's hottest day has tumbled twice in one week, according to the European climate change service. On Monday the global average surface air temperature reached 17.15C, breaking the record of 17.09C set on Sunday. It beats the record set in July 2023, and it could break again this week. Parts of the world are experiencing powerful heatwaves including the Mediterranean, Russia and Canada. Climate change is driving up global temperatures as greenhouse gas emissions released when humans burn fossil fuels warm the Earth's atmosphere.
"While fluctuations are to be expected, as the climate continues to warm, we are likely to keep seeing records being broken, and each new record is taking us further into uncharted territory," says Prof Rebecca Emerton, a climate scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The naturally-occurring climate phenomenon El Niño also added heat to the climate in the first six months of this year but its effects have now waned. Extreme heat is a serious health hazard, with thousands of deaths attributed to high temperatures every year. In 2000-2019, almost half a million heat-related deaths around the world occurred each year, according to the World Health Organization.
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Anti-Israel rioters burn US flag, attempt to breach Capitol Police line as Netanyahu addresses Congress
Anti-Israel rioters burned the US flag, flaunted blood-red paint-soaked effigies, and even attempted to breach the US Capitol Police line in Washington, DC, Wednesday — as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. The hateful demonstration got so out of control that Capitol Police were forced to deploy pepper spray and other defensive measures to beat back the aggressive mob. The rioters also tore down American flags flying outside of nearby Union Station before hoisting Palestinian flags up the poles and burning the Stars and Stripes.
US Park Police were able to rescue one of the flags before the mob could set it ablaze. The chaos began as Netanyahu was set to speak, with thousands of protesters flooding the streets of Washington, DC, just a few blocks away from the Capitol building. At least one Hamas flag was spotted in the crowd. Another pro-terror protester was captured with a chilling sign that read, “Allah is gathering all the Zionists for the final solution,” with a photo of a nuclear mushroom cloud over the Israeli flag.
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Republicans rethink DEI attacks on Harris
Republicans are grappling with how to politically attack the new Democrat poised to be at the top of the ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris, the first black and South Asian woman vice president, presidential nominee, and possibly president, roughly 100 days before the 2024 election. Harris’s record as a San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, Golden State senator, and 2020 presidential candidate before President Joe Biden tapped her as his vice presidential pick provides Republicans with fodder. But some GOP lawmakers have, instead, underscored her ethnicity and gender, resulting in them having to respond to allegations that they are being racist or sexist and undermining the party’s standing with centrist and independent voters.
The loudest congressional Republican amplifying Harris’s ethnicity and gender is Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who doubled down Wednesday on describing the vice president as a diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, hire. “When folks are explained that this was in fact a statement that the president had made and that it was one of his criteria for putting her on the ballot with him, then folks understand it,” Burchett told SiriusXM to explain his comments. “Actually members of Congress, both parties, have said, ‘Look, yeah, we get it, but this is what we’ve gotta do because this is what our base and our leadership’s demanding.’ So, yeah. Do I wish I’d said it? No, but it was the truth.” Earlier, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY), also criticized Harris for “intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel.” “I think she was a DEI hire,” Hageman told Gray DC. “I think that that’s what we’re seeing and I just don’t think that they have anybody else.”
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Netanyahu labels critics of war in Gaza ‘Iran’s useful idiots’ in speech to Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out against protests of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, broadly disparaging anti-Israel protesters as “Iran’s useful idiots” in an address to Congress on Wednesday. Netanyahu’s address to Congress comes at a crucial crossroads for the war. US officials have voiced optimism about the prospects of a deal that could free Hamas-held hostages and bring the conflict to an end. It also comes as many on the left have become increasingly dissatisfied with the way Netanyahu has waged the war, which has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians and left Gaza in the grips of a humanitarian catastrophe. The Israeli prime minister’s nearly hour-long address to Congress struck a bellicose tone as he vowed to “fight until we achieve victory.”
Netanyahu falsely downplayed and deflected on the role of Israel in causing the ongoing civilian strife in Gaza. Although he made some reference to efforts to bring the hostages home, significantly more of the speech focused on the ongoing war and took aim at his foes – Iran, the International Criminal Court and protesters. The US has seen protests across the country on college campuses and elsewhere in opposition to the war against Hamas. On the day of Netanyahu’s speech, there were protests both outside and inside the US Capitol complex. Additionally, the Secret Service is investigating reports that protesters gained access to the hotel building where Netanyahu is staying in Washington, DC, releasing bugs in the hotel and pulling fire alarms, according to a source familiar with the matter. Netanyahu painted protesters with a broad brush, claiming that “many choose to stand with evil” and that “they stand with Hamas” and “rapists and murderers.”
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Newsclips - July 24, 2024 |
Lead Stories
Biden will make a case for his legacy - and for Harris to continue it - in his Oval Office address
Even though President Joe Biden won't be on the ballot this November, voters still will be weighing his legacy. As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden’s accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail. How Biden’s single term — and his decision to step aside — are remembered will be intertwined with Harris’ electoral success in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration. Biden will have an opportunity to make a case for his legacy — sweeping domestic legislation, renewal of alliances abroad, defense of democracy — on Wednesday night when he delivers an Oval Office address about his decision to bow out of the race and “what lies ahead.”
And no matter how frustrated Biden is at being pushed aside by his party — and he’s plenty upset — he has too much at stake simply to wash his hands of this election. Biden endorsed Harris shortly after he announced Sunday that he would end his candidacy, effectively giving her a head start over would-be challengers and helping to jumpstart a candidacy focused largely on continuing his own agenda. “If she wins, then it will be confirmation that he did the right thing to fight against the threat that is Trump, and he will be seen as a legend on behalf of democracy,” said presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. “If she loses, I think there will be questions about, did he step down too late? Would the Democratic Party have been more effective if he had said he was not going to run?” Similar what-ifs play out at the end of every presidency. But Biden’s defiance in the face of questions about his fitness for office and then his late submission to his party’s crisis of confidence heighten the stakes.
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Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is considering a run for the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's seat in Congress
Former Mayor Sylvester Turner said he is seriously considering running for the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s seat in Congress. “I am giving it serious consideration,” Turner told the Chronicle, adding that he would make a final decision soon. Turner told KHOU, which was first to report Turner’s interest, that “only the passing of his friend at this critical junction would cause him to come out of retirement,” according to the station. The former mayor is expected to make a decision in the coming days. Jackson Lee, 74, died Friday after announcing earlier this year she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A lion in Houston politics, Jackson Lee had served the 18th Congressional District since 1995, known for her relentless drive and near ubiquitous appearances at community events in the district.
The Democratic congresswoman had defeated former City Council Member Amanda Edwards in a primary in March and was likely to cruise to reelection in November. Now Democratic Party precinct chairs in the district will select a new candidate for the November ballot. Gov. Greg Abbott could call a special election as well, to fill the rest of the congresswoman’s term through this year, though it is not certain he will do so. State Reps. Jolanda Jones and Jarvis Johnson are among the current elected officials who serve in districts overlapping with the late congresswoman’s district. Johnson announced Tuesday his bid for Jackson Lee’s seat. Bishop James Dixon, a longtime friend of Jackson Lee’s family whose church held a prayer vigil for the late congresswoman before her passing, told the Chronicle on Tuesday that many in his community have encouraged him to run for the seat. He said he is humbled by the possibility of continuing Jackson Lee’s legacy in the district and that he is “thinking about it very seriously and praying about it even more seriously.” Former City Council Member Dwight Boykins, a district resident and friend of the late congresswoman, also confirmed his interest in the race on Tuesday. He said, however, that he does not yet wish to make an official announcement out of respect for Jackson Lee and her family.
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K Street struggles to decode Trump VP pick Vance
In just two short years, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) went from winning a seat in the Senate in 2022 to securing his spot as former President Trump’s vice presidential pick last week. His meteoric rise leaves few clues for lobbyists looking to decode the junior senator’s policy positions and little footing to make inroads with a potential second Trump White House. A former senior White House official told The Hill that the decision to tap Vance “is likely a shocking pick to the D.C. establishment who were rooting for a more conventional VP pick.” Given Vance’s relatively short tenure in Congress, his former staffers haven’t made their way in droves down the well-trodden path from Capitol Hill to K Street, the term referring to the Washington influence industry that has spread far beyond the street for which it is named.
Vance has also raised eyebrows with some of his initial moves on Capitol Hill, including co-sponsoring legislation with progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to claw back compensation from executives whose banks fail and introducing in May a bill that would bar public health officials from working with drug, biologic and medical device companies after leaving office for eight years, among other provisions. He has also called the merger-busting Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan “one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job” and signed on to co-sponsor the Credit Card Competition Act, a bipartisan bill that financial institutions have been spending millions to fight. “Those are not business-as-usual-type arrangements,” Loren Monroe, a principal at the lobbying giant BGR Group, told The Hill. “We’re telling our clients that the traditional alliances and divisions of issues by party are being scrambled and political and policy engagement has to be more nimble and retrofitted to accommodate these changing political priorities,” Monroe added.
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Prosecutor vs. convicted felon: How Democrats believe Harris’ background changes the election
One candidate spent much of her career putting criminals behind bars. The other has been convicted of 34 felonies. Kamala Harris’ elevation to the top of the Democratic ticket against Republican Donald Trump sets the stage for a presidential contest unlike any other in American history in a campaign season already filled with unexpected twists and turns. The race to become the most powerful leader in the world is now coming down to this: A former prosecutor vs. a man convicted of felonies. Democrats, who worried that questions about Biden’s advanced age and mental acuity would cause him to lose to Trump, sense that if Harris becomes their nominee, they have a chance to shift the focus back to Trump and his complicated tangle of legal problems. “This changed the complete dynamics of the race, and it changed the campaign dynamics dramatically,” Democratic strategist Isaac Wright said.
If Harris is their nominee, age will no longer be the albatross that it was for Democrats when Biden, 81, was leading the ticket. If anything, Harris, 59, could enable Democrats to turn the age issue against the Republicans and Trump, who is 78 and now the oldest presidential nominee in history. Harris' prosecutorial skills, Democrats believe, will give her another big advantage in a head-to-head contest with Trump. Harris foreshadowed the line of attack she's preparing against Trump during a meeting with her campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday. Referencing her work as a prosecutor, Harris said she took on predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers and cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. "I know Donald Trump's type," she said. Republicans insist Democrats will gain nothing from having a former prosecutor lead their ticket. “The era of ‘tough on crime’ Democrats is long gone," said Steven Groves, who held several roles in the Trump administration during his presidency. "Harris’ time as a criminal prosecutor is a hinderance, not a help, to her candidacy.” Trump is unlikely to go to trial on any of the remaining cases before the November election. Which is one reason why Democrats see Harris’s background as a prosecutor as an invaluable asset in the coming crucial weeks of the campaign. Democrats believe that having Harris as their nominee will call attention to Trump’s criminal cases and boost their argument that his legal problems should disqualify him for office. “Her experiences as an attorney general, as a prosecutor, both lend strong credence to making the case against Trump that he is just too criminal, too corrupt, and doesn't share the values we need in a president,” said Wright, a veteran political strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton’s and Al Gore’s presidential campaigns. Clinton made essentially the same argument just hours after Biden withdrew from the race and Harris emerged as the frontrunner to replace him.
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State Stories
Kamala Harris will visit Houston Thursday to address national teachers union
Vice President Kamala Harris will come to Houston on Thursday in one of her first stops on the campaign trail as the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for president. The White House confirmed Harris will deliver the keynote speech to the American Federation of Teachers national convention on Thursday, marking her second visit to Texas this month. She spoke in Dallas two weeks ago to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. The AFT, with 1.8 million members, is among the nation’s largest teachers unions and a powerful bloc of Democratic voters. The announcement of the visit comes a day after AFT delegates voted to endorse Harris for the Democratic nomination for president.
“The educators, bus drivers, nurses, public employees, higher education workers, correctional officers and doctors of the AFT stand with Kamala,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement accompanying the endorsement. “We are fully committed to this fight: united, mobilized and ready to vote in this year’s election.” Harris is no stranger to Houston. She campaigned frequently in the city in 2019 and late last year took part in a forum on health care and attended a private fundraiser. While Harris already has the AFT support, the White House said the event shows her continued support for workers across America, noting she has spoken before big unions recently, including the SEIU and UNITE HERE, the largest hospitality union in America.
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Houston mayor John Whitmire missing from list of 250 Democratic Mayors supporting Kamala Harris
More than 250 past and present Democratic mayors nationwide have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States now that President Joe Biden isn’t seeking a second term. The list released Monday by the Democratic Mayors Association featured seven Texas officials but did not include Houston Mayor John Whitmire. “As Mayors, we are the closest to the people and understand better than most that too much is at stake for our communities to endure another Donald Trump presidency,” association officials said in a statement. “Our rights, freedoms and very democracy are on the line. With just over 100 days until the election, Democratic mayors remain fully committed to doing everything in our power to continue the momentum and legacy that President Joe Biden created.” Former Texas mayors Steve Adler, Sylvester Turner, Robin Mouton, Kenneth Barr and Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie appeared on the list.
Whitmire’s office did not immediately confirm whether he belonged to the Democratic Mayors Association. However, the office’s communication director, Mary Benton, told the Chronicle Whitmire had been looking forward to visiting with Biden this week. “Mayor Whitmire is focused on storm recovery following Hurricane Beryl and was making plans to see President Biden in person this week to talk about our storm recovery and needs for future storms,” Benton said. “The president has delivered on FEMA assistance.” Biden’s trip to Houston was canceled due to his COVID-19 diagnosis. “He looks forward to visiting with Vice President Harris about her vision for improving major cities including federal funding for homelessness, disaster recovery and other pressing issues,” Benton told the Chronicle. Mayors of several other major cities across the state such as Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have announced their support for either Harris or former President Donald Trump. Last week, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson spoke at the Republican National Convention, hailing the 78-year-old candidate as the one to “make America safe again.” Johnson, who served in the Texas Legislature as a Democrat for nearly a decade before running for mayor, changed his party affiliation last year, resulting in backlash from his constituents.
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Firm representing business owners files class action claim against CenterPoint over Beryl response
A firm representing 19 medical professionals and other business owners in Harris County filed a class action claim Monday against CenterPoint Energy, alleging the company’s response to Hurricane Beryl cost them millions of dollars. The suit, the third class action brought against CenterPoint in the past week, was filed on behalf of beauty, health and wellness businesses in Harris County. The plaintiffs are suing for damages in excess of $100,000,000. Representing the case are husband and wife duo Erica Rose and Charles Sanders of the personal injury practice Rose Sanders PLLC. Rose said they are not charging for their services, and have filed the case in the interest of bringing change to the Houston energy market.
“This is something I’m very passionate about,” Rose said Tuesday. “We’re not charging out clients anything up front. Many of the businesses we’re representing are run by women and other minorities and CenterPoint’s response to Beryl has left them in a pretty tough spot financially.” At least three doctors and dentists are named as part of the suit. They argued CenterPoint’s failure to promptly restore service resulted in the loss of sensitive medical equipment and supplies. Property loss and other damages, the suit claimed, disproportionately impacted minority and women-owned businesses. “This disruption likely will cause permanent irreparable harm to some of Houston’s most influential, devoted and successful business owners,” the plaintiffs’ original petition stated. “It had a disproportionate impact on doctors in the Asian community as well as other minority business owners and female doctors.”
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Alex Gajewski, David Auerbach and Fabrizia Faustinella: Medicaid expansion could have saved 2,050 Texans
(Alex Gajewski is a resident physician in Dallas. David Auerbach is an associate professor at UT Southwestern. Fabrizia Faustinella is a Doctors for America Copello Health Policy fellow.) Texas is one of 10 states still refusing to expand Medicaid. North Carolina recently expanded, and Mississippi appeared poised to do so earlier this year. Despite national momentum, too many Texas politicians still shy away from openly discussing expansion. They fear the wrath of state leadership and the threat of being primaried by someone further to the right. And yet we need to have the conversation. The expansion of Medicaid to the full extent permitted by the Affordable Care Act would provide health care coverage to a significant number of low-income individuals who are currently unable to afford private insurance or qualify for Medicaid, thus falling into the coverage gap. A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found a significant 0.132 percentage point decrease in annual mortality for adults age 55 to 64 in expansion states in just the first three years after implementation. Extrapolating to Texas’ population, we estimate roughly 2,050 preventable deaths have occurred in Texas since 2014.
In 2020, leading Texas economists estimated expansion would generate around $54 million per year for the state government through direct offset to other state programs. Moreover, extrapolating from average Medicaid spending on the expansion population nationally, we find Texas has refused the flow of about $5.25 billion in federal funding per year to Texas health care facilities, including to our ailing rural hospitals. Fourteen years after the ACA became law, the word expansion remains politically charged. The Texas Legislature’s aversion to the term is so pronounced that it borders on the absurd and prevents open advocacy for commonsense reform. We have seen our patients pay the cost. Maybe if we gradually introduce the terms “Medicaid” and “expansion” opposing political leaders will build up their immunity and not react so strongly to a policy favored by 70% of their constituents. By normalizing the discourse around Medicaid expansion we can create an environment responsive to the needs of our citizens. Let’s start talking seriously about expansion, preferably before Mississippi beats us to passing it.
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Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy admits it’s ‘a challenge’ entering training camp with no extension
A little before 4 o’clock Tuesday afternoon, Mike McCarthy was the first person off the bus at the club’s Southern California training site to preside over his fifth camp as the Cowboys head coach. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll return for a sixth. McCarthy has led Dallas to 36 regular season victories over the last three years. Kansas City’s Andy Reid is the only coach with more wins in that span. Yet McCarthy’s reward is to enter the final year of his contract with no extension in sight.
The veteran coach could blow smoke, talk about how his feet are firmly planted in the moment and declare his mind doesn’t drift to what may or may not happen down the road. He doesn’t. “This is a challenge,’’ McCarthy conceded. He just as quickly points out that challenges are what coaches and players in the NFL are paid to overcome. Rather than dwell on what he doesn’t have, McCarthy chooses to view this as an opportunity that could work to his benefit if he finally helps push this franchise past the divisional round for the first time in 29 years.
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Pet store’s opening draws opposition in Fort Worth suburb
Some Bedford residents are upset over the city’s decision to allow a pet store that they say gets its dogs from “puppy mills,” but the business said the animals come from ethical breeders. During recent City Council meetings, residents questioned why Bedford allowed the Pettito Puppy Store at 2112 Harwood Road to operate, arguing it is better to adopt animals from overcrowded shelters. But mayor Dan Cogan said the city’s hands are tied because of a new state law that regulates city governments can and cannot do when it comes to regulating zoning and businesses. “This is our city. We should be the ones the decide what goes here,” Cogan said. Cogan was referring to HB 2127, which prohibits cities from passing or overturning existing rules that go beyond state laws.
The bill requires that pet stores sell dogs and cats from animal shelters and rescue groups and not puppy mills. The Texas Humane Legislation Network is spearheading the effort, and stated on its website that pet stores often sell animals from out-of-state puppy mills and work through a “middle man” or distributor. Cara Gustafson, communications consultant for the Texas Humane Legislation Network said Texas has made “great strides” with passing animal welfare laws over the years, and now, legislators need to pass the humane pet store bill since cities that don’t have ordinances in place already can’t stop the stores from opening in their communities. “Legislators can’t run away from this problem anymore because in a sense, Texas’ own laws have caused this,” she said. She described how puppy stores open in cities without laws prohibiting them. “Animal shelters in the area are inundated with dogs, Stout said, and the puppy stores add to the overcrowding, she said
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What does Biden’s exit mean for Texas Senate race?
President Joe Biden’s exit from the presidential race raises more than just questions about who will succeed him on the Democratic ticket. It also prompts questions about what his absence means for down-ballot races, including the Senate race in Texas between Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. Republicans and Democrats think Biden’s departure befefits down-ballot candidates. But with months before Election Day and the top of the Democratic ticket not confirmed, it’s unclear exactly how Biden leaving the race will affect the Senate race. “We have to kind of wait to see this thing sort out for a few days,” said Jim Riddlesperger, a TCU political science professor. “There’s a potential, obviously, that having a new face in the election will add a level of energy and excitement that was notably lacking this year.”
Biden ended his reelection bid against former President Donald Trump on Sunday after weeks of calls from within his party for him to withdraw. Numerous House Democrats said Biden needed to step aside following a June 27 debate performance that raised questions about his age and fitness for office. Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president and urged Democrats to unite behind her. Since his announcement, Delegates have largely united behind Harris as their presidential pick, including the Texas delegation, which voted overwhelmingly to back Harris as the nominee on Monday. The Democratic nominee will be selected by delegates before or during Democrats’ national convention that begins Aug. 19, according to The Washington Post. Texas has 273 delegates. Allred, of Dallas, is supporting Harris for president. Cruz has endorsed former President Donald Trump.
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Jerry Jones’ paternity trial countersuit ends early Tuesday
A paternity trial involving Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came to a sudden conclusion Tuesday. The terms of the conclusion were not made immediately clear. It came on the second day of an expected week-long trial at a federal court in Texarkana. And it came on a day when Jones was expected to testify. Jones was countersuing a mother and daughter over a breach of contract of a settlement the mother had reached in 1998 regarding paternity. Alexandra Davis, 27, and her mother, Cynthia Davis, had been barred from “suing or supporting any suit” to establish paternity and to keep the terms of the settlement confidential. Judge Robert W. Schroeder III announced shortly after lunch Tuesday that the case — along with all other cases tied to it — had been dropped with the resolution that the contract at the center of it would continue to be enforced. According to court records, Jones had already paid more than $3 million to Davis since childhood.
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Houston icon Felix Fraga dead at 94 due to Alzheimer's complications, family says
Felix Fraga, who spent decades in public service in the Houston area, died at 94, his son said on social media. Fraga was a longtime Houston civil leader who grew up in the Second Ward, where he was born in 1929. He was a member of City Council from 1994 to 1999 and also served on the Houston ISD School Board. Fraga worked hard for those who were less fortunate until the end of his life. "He leaves a legacy of community service," his son, Bolivar Fraga, said. Bolivar said his father started helping the community when he was a teen working at Baker Ripley, which at the time was called the Settlement House. Later in life, he managed the Ripley House for 20 years and spent most of his adult life as an activist for Houston's East End.
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Robert Jeffress pledges to rebuild historic Dallas sanctuary after fire
After the fire that all but destroyed the historic chapel at First Baptist Dallas on Friday (July 19), senior pastor Robert Jeffress promised congregants that the church will rebuild. “It’s not the building, it’s what that building represents: It represented the bedrock foundation of God’s Word that never changes,” said the megachurch’s leader since 2007 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center at First Baptist’s Sunday service. While the fire did not damage the church’s primary modern worship space, the six blocks of the campus remained blocked Sunday morning for first responders. Executive Pastor Ben Lovvorn said Tuesday that the church campus will remain closed all week but teams are currently “making great, great progress” to reopen the worship space for services on Sunday. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined.
The damage to the historic sanctuary is extensive with a collapsed roof. The church still awaits repair estimates and expects insurance to cover the expense. Jeffress pledged to “rebuild and re-create that sanctuary as a standing symbol of truth.” The commitment to rebuilding is no surprise. The 134-year-old two-story red brick Victorian chapel symbolizes the church’s relationship with the city and has become a point of pride for congregants and preservationists alike. Jeffress’ commitment echoes previous leaders who have helped the church grow into one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the country, now boasting 16,000 members. The church was founded in 1868. Its 11 members initially worshipped in a nearby Mason Hall. According to the state historic marker at the site, an aggressive fundraising campaign “financed by weaving rugs, making hominy, preserves, and cheese to sell at fairs” eventually led them to build a one-room frame structure. The current chapel opened in 1890 on the same site. It was designed by Albert Ullrich, a Presbyterian architect who lived in Dallas before moving to New York. It was a notable presence in the growing downtown, along with the red brick county courthouse, which opened in 1892. Eventually the chapel expanded to seat up to 3,000 people. Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Dallas Church in 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Golden Pass has reached a settlement with Zachry. What will it mean for thousands of laid-off workers?
Golden Pass LNG and San Antonio-based construction firm Zachry have reached a settlement that could allow the massive gas liquefaction project at Sabine Pass to rehire thousands of workers and resume construction. The settlement, which requires court approval, would formally remove Zachry from the Golden Pass LNG project it was building for Exxon Mobil and Qatar Energy. Work began on the $9.25 billion terminal in 2019. If the settlement is approved, it would resolve a legal dispute playing out after Zachry filed for bankruptcy protection in May, blaming its financial struggles on Golden Pass. Zachry’s bankruptcy filing bars Golden Pass from terminating its construction contract, but the gas liquefaction project and its owners have argued that Zachry failed to fulfill its obligations and should be forced by the court to exit the project so it could proceed.
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Garion Frankel: Three things Texas A&M needs in its next chancellor
(Garion Frankel is a Ph.D student in PK-12 educational leadership at Texas A&M University. He is a State Beat fellow for Young Voices, and his work has appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, the Houston Chronicle and many other newspapers around Texas.) On July 1, Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp, who has guided and transformed the state’s second-largest university system for more than a decade, announced his retirement, effective June 30, 2025. Sharp’s tenure has not been without controversy, but I would argue that he found A&M a city of bricks and left it a city of marble. Among other accomplishments, Sharp oversaw 306 projects to the tune of $11.4 billion, grew a law school into one of the highest-ranking outfits in the state, and set the stage for the A&M system to become a national leader in more than just engineering. We even have the potential to rise above our “little brother” status in football! But now Sharp will pass the torch, and the A&M Board of Regents has no easy task in finding someone who can lead one of the nation’s most storied, dynamic and often rambunctious university systems.
They should have at least some experience in academia. When Sharp was first appointed Texas A&M chancellor, he had no previous experience in academia. At the time, this reflected a clear trend in Texas university governance — political and business leaders who could rise above academia’s often petty squabbles were seen as a necessary balance against academia’s excesses. For an A&M system in the midst of rapid expansion, a figure like Sharp was a natural choice. But perhaps the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Faculty, students and even A&M’s arch-conservative TexAgs message boards have all taken issue with Sharp over the years. Their most common complaint was that Sharp was not receptive to the university community’s feedback, and when he did listen, he did so on his terms. They should value academic freedom and free expression. Not too long ago the A&M system was known for being a free speech haven. Even now, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education gives the College Station campus a “green” rating, indicating that A&M’s policies at least nominally protect free speech. But two controversies from last year called this reputation into question. First, A&M hired Kathleen McElroy — a Black former managing editor at the New York Times — to head the main campus’ new journalism department. This invitation was soon revoked due to hysteria against “wokeness,” because of McElroy’s work on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Shortly after, another faculty member was temporarily put on paid administrative leave after she criticized Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s handling of the opioid epidemic. They should understand Texas A&M and its deep traditions. No offense to the other members of the A&M system, but College Station is undoubtedly the cornerstone. We Aggies are cultish in our commitment to our strong identity and traditions, much to the chagrin of the rest of the state. If our leaders are not or have never been Aggies, many of us consider that a strike against them. In other words, being the chancellor of Texas A&M is not like being the chancellor of other university systems. Whatever you may think of Aggie exceptionalism, we believe it, and that matters when a new university leader arrives.
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'Super Bowl or bust': Why Texans fans are more optimistic than ever about the 2024 season
It was 5 a.m. Tuesday and still dark outside when Pedro Aguilar and his father Armando, decked out in Texans gear, left their home in Blessing to make the two-hour trip to Houston. The Matagorda County residents wanted to get to the city early and beat traffic, so they could get in line for the Texans’ first open training camp practice of the 2024 season. But when they arrived at Houston Methodist Training Center across from NRG Stadium around 7:30 a.m., a line to get in had already formed. Some Texans fans arrived as early as 3 a.m. to watch practice, which began at 9 a.m.
Excitement surrounding this Texans team is high. The team announced Tuesday that they had sold out of season tickets. That was the first time that happened since 2019, a team spokesperson said, with only single-game and group tickets remaining. “A lot of enthusiasm,” Texans CEO/chairman Cal McNair said Tuesday. “The fans feel it. They feed off each other. We’re loving it and we’re a part of it. We’re the biggest fans. So we can’t wait to see the team as it comes together throughout the year.” The Aguilars have been Texans fans since the team’s first season in 2002. They’ve stuck with the team through the wins and (mostly) losses. “It’s just supporting Houston all the way — no matter what the record was — we’d always watch the games,” said 33-year-old Pedro Aguilar, who was wearing a white J.J. Watt jersey. “Going through the trials and tribulations over the last 20 years, it’s definitely been worth the wait.”
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Clark Hunt: Chiefs still haven’t heard from NFL on potential discipline for Rashee Rice
Now that training camp is underway in Kansas City, Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt offered an update on Rashee Rice’s playing status. The former SMU and Richland star could face discipline from the NFL following a series of off-the-field events that cast a shadow over his offseason. Rice turned himself into authorities and was booked into a DeSoto jail in April, more than a week after he was involved in a high-speed, multi-vehicle collision on a Dallas highway. In May, Rice was involved in an alleged incident with a photographer, also in Dallas. No charges against Rice are being pursued in that matter.
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Feds open audit into Southwest Airlines after series of close calls, safety issues
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Southwest Airlines after multiple incidents of close calls and other safety-related incidents. This year alone, Southwest flights have experienced a “Dutch roll,” jets flying dangerously low and instances of aircraft flying too close. Other airlines have also experienced similar situations, but Southwest’s high-profile issues have been stacking up in recent months. The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct a Certificate Holder Evaluation Process, an audit conducted by the agency’s safety analysis and promotion division. “The FAA has increased oversight of Southwest Airlines to ensure it is complying with federal safety regulations through the Certificate Holder Evaluation Process,” a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson confirmed in an email. “Safety will drive the timeline.” A spokesperson for Southwest said the airline is working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, noting the Dallas-based carrier has a safety program that includes an FAA-accepted safety management system to mitigate operational risks.
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Texas lawmakers say it’s time to ban hemp. The industry wants regulation.
The Texas Legislature doesn’t meet again until January, but a fight is already heating up over the state’s estimated $8 billion consumable hemp industry, pitting a usually business-friendly GOP against veterans organizations and others who say these products are used responsibly by millions and should be regulated — but not banned. What neither side disputes is that these products get users high, something lawmakers didn’t account for when they penned the 2019 law that legalized the hemp industry in Texas. At the time, CBD was the most common hemp-derived consumable, and it is generally not intoxicating or habit-forming. But as the industry grew, it discovered that other intoxicating compounds could be coaxed from hemp, leading to an explosion of legal products that offer users a similar high to marijuana. Under both current federal and state law, these products, which include candies, drinks, vape pens and even hemp flower, can legally be sold to minors, be shipped across state lines and purchased with credit cards.
“It looks like we inadvertently made cannabis legal in Texas,” said state Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio), who favors additional regulation of the industry as opposed to an outright ban. Doing so, he said, could bring Texas millions in tax revenue, which could be used to “fix public schools, fix our roads.” A majority of his colleagues across the aisle, however, seem to support Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who made banning these products one of his interim legislative priorities. But as demand for these products in states like Texas that have not legalized marijuana has exploded, the industry is fighting back, asking for additional targeted regulation that would keep it away from children and teens. “A state legislature is meant to reflect the will of the people,” said Cynthia Cabrera, director of the recently formed Texas Hemp Business Council. “Given the size of the market in Texas, it’s obvious that people want these products.”
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After struggling to get City Hall's attention, Missions owners win mayor's support for new ballpark
After struggling for months to get City Hall to pay attention to their quest to build a ballpark downtown, the owners of the San Antonio Missions have won the support of Mayor Ron Nirenberg — and the likelihood of public financing. The city of San Antonio plans to kick in funds to help pay for a stadium near San Pedro Creek Culture Park for the Double-A baseball team, which currently plays at the aging Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium on the West Side. “The ownership group is heavily invested in this development to ensure that we arrive at an agreement that is fair to our community, and we have benefited immensely from the partnership with the Missions’ new local owners,” Nirenberg said in a statement Tuesday. Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai plan to co-write a non-binding letter of intent for the county and city’s participation in funding the stadium.
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County Stories
Family of Anthony Johnson Jr. sues Tarrant County, fired jailers for wrongful death
The family of a man killed while in custody at the Tarrant County jail filed a lawsuit Monday against the county and individual jailers, seeking monetary damages and policy reforms. Anthony Johnson Jr., a 31-year-old Marine Corps veteran, was killed April 21, two days after he was arrested. His death was first declared a medical emergency but turned into a legal battle after a video showed a jailer kneeling on Johnson, who said he couldn’t breathe. Since then, the death has been ruled a homicide, and two jailers have been fired and ultimately indicted on murder charges. “[The family] knows that we can’t bring Anthony back, but the family does not want Anthony’s death to be in vain,” Daryl Washington, attorney for the family, said at a news conference Tuesday.
The suit alleges that a group of jailers used excessive force on Johnson, resulting in his death. It alleges the jailers ignored their responsibility to provide medical care to Johnson after he signaled he was in distress. It also argues Tarrant County failed to properly train its employees and lacks appropriate policies to prevent incidents of this kind. A spokesperson for the county declined to comment on the suit, as the litigation is pending. Attorneys for the two jailers named in the suit, Rafael Moreno and his supervisor sheriff’s Lt. Joel Garcia, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The suit did not specify the amount of damages the plaintiffs are seeking. Washington said at the news conference that the family hopes to see policy changes as a result of this suit, specifically unique procedures for people with mental illnesses who move through the Tarrant County jail.
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City Stories
Humble ISD superintendent fired for allegedly failing to maintain relationship with board
Show More Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen lost her job in a narrow vote Tuesday, a move that could cost the recently embroiled district as much as $1.5 million, according to one trustee. The board voted 4-3 to terminate Fagen’s five-year contract four years early for an alleged "failure to maintain relationship with the board," as read by board member Martina Lemond-Dixon. Fagen had been on administrative leave for undisclosed reasons since May. Lemond-Dixon said she adamantly disagreed with the reason behind the early termination, noting that a superintendent evaluation had not taken place in a year, and the superintendent evaluation committee had not met in a year either. "I think what we are doing is wrong," Lemond-Dixon said.
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FWISD school board rejects proposed five-year strategic plan
A proposed five-year strategic plan that Fort Worth school officials hoped would help students get back on track academically was voted down at a school board meeting Tuesday night. Among other things, the plan, which was months in the making, called for more teacher training, expanded academic support for students who are struggling and better communication with families. Some board members said they wanted time to gather more public input on the plan before adopting it. Board President Camille Rodriguez pressed for a vote Tuesday evening, saying it was crucial that the district have a plan approved before the first day of school on Aug. 13. She argued that Superintendent Angélica Ramsey needed to be able to take the plan to school principals to discuss the district’s direction as they prepare for the new school year.
But board member Roxanne Martinez said she worried that not enough parents had been able to weigh in on the plan. The district convened focus groups and community forums and placed a link to a survey on its website. But Martinez, who has children enrolled in the district, said she never got a text message about the survey. The district regularly sends texts and emails when it needs to get in touch with parents, and Martinez said many rely on those channels of communication for their information. Especially during the summer, when most families aren’t as engaged with school, it’s important that the district be intentional about reaching them, she said. “We have to reach our parents where they are,” she said. Board member Wallace Bridges said he thought it was important that the entire board be present for the vote. Members Anne Darr and Kevin Lynch were absent from the meeting. Having the full board vote on the proposal sends a message to the community about the importance of the plan. He also said he would have liked to see Ramsey take a larger role in communicating the proposal to the community, rather than leaving it to campus principals.
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National Stories
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigns
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has tendered her resignation amid scrutiny of security lapses related to the recent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, sources tell CNN. The move comes as lawmakers and an internal government watchdog move forward with investigations into the agency’s handling of Trump’s protection and how a gunman came close to the killing the 2024 Republican presidential candidate at a rally in Pennsylvania this month. Cheatle said in her resignation letter that she made the “difficult” decision to leave the agency “with a heavy heart” and that she doesn’t want her departure to distract agents from their mission.
“In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that, I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director,” Cheatle wrote. She acknowledged that on July 13, the day of the shooting, the agency “fell short” of its mission “to protect our nation’s leaders.” Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe has been tapped to lead the agency, the Department of Homeland Security announced. In a statement, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden are “grateful” for Cheatle’s decades of public service. “As a leader, it takes honor, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organization tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” Biden said of Cheatle. There have been bipartisan calls in Congress for Cheatle’s resignation and a push by Republican lawmakers to impeach her. Lawmakers were particularly incensed after her appearance in front of the House Oversight Committee on Monday, where she was unwilling to answer many of the committee’s questions.
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Republican leaders urge colleagues to steer clear of racist and sexist attacks on Harris
Republican leaders are warning party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, as they and former President Donald Trump ‘s campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before Election Day. At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., urged lawmakers to stick to criticizing Harris for her role in Biden-Harris administration policies. “This election will be about policies and not personalities,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the meeting. “This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” he added, “and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
The warnings point to the new risks for Republicans in running against a Democrat who would become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian decent to win the White House. Trump, in particular, has a history of racist and misogynistic attacks that could turn off key groups of swing voters, including suburban women, as well as voters of color and younger people Trump’s campaign has been courting. The admonitions came after some members and Trump allies began to cast Harris, a former district attorney, attorney general and senator, as a “DEI” hire — a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. “Intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel,” Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman said in a TV interview. “I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that’s what we’re seeing and I just don’t think that they have anybody else.” Since Biden announced he was exiting the campaign, Republicans have rolled out a long list of attack lines against Harris, including trying to tie her to the most unpopular Biden policies and his handling of the economy and the Southern border. Trump campaign officials and other Republicans have accused Harris of being complicit in a cover-up of Biden’s health issues, and they have been mining her record as a prosecutor in California as they try to paint her as soft on crime.
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Clip resurfaces of Vance criticizing Harris for being 'childless,' testing Trump's new running mate
Comments JD Vance made in 2021 questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ leadership because she did not have biological children have resurfaced, testing the young conservative senator in his early days campaigning as part of the Republicans’ presidential ticket. During Vance’s bid for the Senate in Ohio, he said in a Fox News interview that “we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats,” and referred to them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.” He said that included Harris, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat. “How does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?” asked Vance, who is now Donald Trump’s running mate.
Harris became stepmother to two teenagers when she married entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff in 2014. And Buttigieg announced he and his husband adopted infant twins in September 2021, more than a month before Vance made those comments. The clip has started to spread online, with Hillary Clinton sharing it in a Tuesday post on X and adding sarcastically “what a normal, relatable guy who certainly doesn’t hate women having freedoms.” The recirculated comment may be a sign of the GOP ticket’s troubles appealing to women voters, and on the issue of reproductive rights. It follows the explosive entrance in the race of Harris, who secured the support of enough delegates to become the official nominee in less than 32 hours after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid. It also lays out some of the fears expressed by strategists that Trump took a political risk in picking a running mate who has been in Congress less than two years and is largely untested on a bigger stage. Trump liked Vance’s telegenic qualities and said he reminded him of “a young Abraham Lincoln.” The Harris campaign contested Vance’s stance, saying “every single American has a stake in this country’s future.” “Ugly, personal attacks from JD Vance and Donald Trump are in line with their dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion, decimate our democracy, and gut Social Security,” said James Singer, a Harris campaign spokesman, referring to a policy and personnel plan for a second Trump term that was crafted by a host of former administration officials.
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Salt Lake City celebrates announcement that it will host the 2034 Winter Olympics
Salt Lake City was formally awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics following a Wednesday vote by the International Olympic Committee in Paris, which gives Utah its second Games after hosting in 2002. A watch party was planned at 3 a.m. local time — 11 a.m. in Paris — to celebrate the announcement. Large crowds were expected at the event that coincides with a state holiday marking the date Mormon pioneers discovered the Salt Lake Valley in northern Utah. Olympic fanatics were already starting to gather downtown and pitch tents before sunset Tuesday. Salt Lake City was the lone contender the Olympic committee was considering for 2034. Climate change and high operational costs have reduced the number of cities willing and able to welcome the Winter Games. Utah has capitalized on low interest elsewhere, pitching itself to Olympic officials as an enthusiastic repeat host if the committee goes forward with a proposed permanent rotation of Winter Olympic cities.
Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi had said Salt Lake City would be a prime candidate for such a plan. Local leaders had their sights set on hosting multiple times even before Salt Lake City welcomed its first Games, bid team spokesperson Tom Kelly said. Remnants of the 2002 Games are nestled throughout the city and have kept the Olympic fever alive for more than two decades. Organizers of the 2034 Games touted that enduring enthusiasm throughout the selection process and showed visiting Olympic officials how they have preserved the venues used in 2002. In their final presentation to the Olympic committee Wednesday morning, the bid team was expected to outline its plan for one of the most compact layouts in Olympic history, with all venues within a one-hour drive of the athletes village on the University of Utah campus. The plan requires no new permanent construction, with all 13 venues already in place and each having played a role when the city first hosted.
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Steve Bannon to go on trial in December for alleged fraud in We Build the Wall fundraiser
Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon will stand trial beginning Dec. 9 on charges he defrauded donors to an online effort to raise money for a wall along the U.S. southern border. During a brief hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors said they would take three to four days to present evidence. Defense attorneys expected their case to last two days. Bannon, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for contempt of Congress, did not attend the hearing. "Mr. Bannon was excused by the court," Judge April Newbauer said. Prosecutors sought a trial date in November, but Newbauer said that was too soon since Bannon will not be released from FCI Danbury until October.
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Labor unions unite behind Kamala Harris but concern emerges about potential VP pick Mark Kelly
Vice President Kamala Harris has received a flurry of endorsements from many of the nation's largest labor unions since she announced her candidacy for president. Concern has emerged within the labor movement, however, over the potential selection of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., as a running mate because he has not signed onto a key piece of labor reform legislation. Current and former union officials told ABC News that the possible selection of Kelly sounds alarm bells due to his unwillingness to back the PRO Act, legislation that would ease the path toward forming unions and winning labor contracts. Some officials outright oppose the pick, while others say the policy position should be part of a wider assessment of Kelly.
At least one labor leader who backs Harris said Kelly's position on the measure should not reflect on his support toward labor or deter his selection as vice president. Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro are the two leading candidates for the nod as vice president on a Harris-led ticket, a senior administration official told ABC News on Tuesday. Harris is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after receiving more than half of the party's delegates. "Why would the Democrats even consider a senator for the vice presidency if the senator doesn't support the PRO Act?" John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union and an ally of President Joe Biden, told ABC News. "It's the most important piece of national legislation workers have right now." The Transport Workers Union is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, a 12.5 million member union federation that endorsed Harris on Monday. Samuelson, who said he did not attend the meeting at which the AFL-CIO endorsed Harris, will not decide on his union's endorsement of Harris until after she selects her vice presidential nominee.
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Protests and politics as Israel's Netanyahu addresses US Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be greeted by deep divisions among U.S. lawmakers, a distracted U.S. public and large protests on Wednesday as he addresses the U.S. Congress for a record fourth time. The long-time Israeli leader will speak to a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives at 2 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), passing British wartime leader Winston Churchill, who made such addresses three times. Netanyahu's speech is expected to focus on coordinating the Israeli and U.S. response to the volatile situation in the Middle East, where there is a growing danger of the Gaza war spilling over into a wider regional conflict.
He is also expected to use his speech to call for stronger action against Iran, which supports Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters and has drawn increased U.S. condemnation over its recent nuclear advances. Though Netanyahu's visit was orchestrated by Congress' Republican leaders, it is likely to be less confrontational than in 2015, when Republicans sidestepped then-President Barack Obama and invited Netanyahu's to Congress to criticize the Democrat's Iran policy. This time, Netanyahu will seek to bolster his traditional links to Republicans but also look to ease tensions with Biden, whom he will rely on for the remaining six months in the president's term. He must also reach out to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has at times been more forward-leaning than her boss in criticizing Israel for heavy Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza.
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Trump says he is willing to debate Harris multiple times
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump walks off stage after speaking at a campaign rally at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20, 2024. Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would be willing to debate Vice President Kamala Harris multiple times if she is nominated, as expected, by the Democratic National Convention as the party’s presidential candidate. “I would be willing to do more than one debate, actually,” Trump said on a call with reporters, two days after President Joe Biden in a stunning move dropped out of the election contest and endorsed Harris as his replacement atop the Democratic ticket. “Yes, absolutely, I’d want to” debate Harris, the Republican nominee said.
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