September 5, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

How Talarico is countering Trump’s midterms convention

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

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

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

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

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

Republican House candidates tone down Trump on their campaign websites

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State Stories

Fake RNC midterm convention website redirects to DOJ Epstein files

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Texas doctor loses license for prescribing ‘abortive’ to patient

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

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

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

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

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

Free Trump convention ticket text is legitimate, GOP says

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

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Shots fired at Brownsville commissioner’s home following disannexation vote

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

City Stories

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

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

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

National Stories

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

President Trump debuts new brown hairdo — and people are shocked

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How a Memphis gambling raid became a sweeping immigration operation

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

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

Copyright September 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved