July 26, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Ken Paxton now has to do the unthinkable: Try

Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Digital subscribers can listen to this article. Subscribe today for unlimited access to Texas Monthly. Already a subscriber? Log in. Say you woke up one morning and HaShem, with his infinite wisdom and his unknowable plans, had blessed you with extraordinary protection. No harm would come to you; no endeavor would truly fail. Each setback would set you up for greater success down the road. The normal laws of gravity wouldn’t apply to you. No weapon, or impeachment, formed against you would prosper. For an exceptional type of person, maybe, this would be an invitation to thrive—to do extreme sports, write a novel, fight crime at night. For most of us, it would probably result in a certain dulling of the senses. What makes the pickpocket develop his art, of course, is the fear of getting caught. With God’s protection, we could stop staying at work after five, walk out of any meeting that bored us. We could finally stop trying. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has received a similar kind of blessing, found himself in an unfamiliar position upon defeating John Cornyn to become his party’s candidate for Senate.

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He would finally have to work hard for something. He would have to start giving stump speeches for normal voters, speeches of the kind a candidate seeking high office gives often. By rights, he should have done this thousands of times already, and his oration should have been polished. But when he got up on stage the night he won the runoff, he revealed that, though the spirit may be willing, the flesh was weak. He just wasn’t very good at it. Paxton stared at the teleprompter a few feet away, in the way conservatives used to make fun of Uncle Brandon for doing, and mumbled his way through a half-hearted pitch about affordability. But in a sense he had lucked out again. In a recurring theme in Paxton’s career, his weaknesses, which might have provided an opportunity for humility and self-reflection, had become everyone else’s problem. Right now in Texas there is a team of people who wake up every morning stressed, conspiring to find ways to sell this man to the median voter. God bless, you know. Part of getting him over the hump is holding public events. The point of these, in the main, is to get little snippets of Paxton sounding tough and competent onto local news broadcasts. So it was, this week, that Paxton found himself in front of a passel of cameras in Fort Worth. The Sheriff’s Association of Texas was meeting nearby, and the Paxton campaign gathered more than twenty of them in a show of force, along with Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn and state Representative A.?J. Louderback, a former Jackson County sheriff. These events are a subgenre of political life in Texas. You get law enforcement officers together, dress ’em up nice, and have them bring the biggest, whitest hats they have. Big guns too, if they can. It’s a venerable version of what the kids call “aura farming.” The thing is, the strength of the men behind you is supposed to make the candidate look stronger.

Trump's tariffs are based on a forced-labor argument. Are they just a way to avoid Congress?

The Trump administration has imposed double-digit tariffs on more than 60 countries, using a legal justification that permits the president to levy import taxes and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices. The new tariffs announced in recent days take effect just as temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired, and critics say they are less about cracking down on forced labor than they are a way to replace those tariffs. The expired tariffs were themselves a temporary replacement for worldwide tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February. The tariffs were levied on countries that the U.S. says either don’t have or don’t effectively enforce a forced-labor import ban. The affected countries, which account for 99% of U.S. imports, were quick to protest, calling the Trump administration’s claims unfounded and arbitrary, as nations with vastly different records on forced labor received the same tariff level.

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The U.S. spent four months investigating but gave few details on how it arrived at the tariff rates, which are either 10% or 12.5%. The tariffs were levied under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on countries that the U.S. determined had failed “to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.” During President Donald Trump ‘s first term, he cited Section 301 to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports amid a dispute over the sharp-elbowed tactics Beijing was using to challenge America’s technological dominance. The U.S. is also using 301 powers to counter what it calls unfair Chinese practices in the shipbuilding industry. “The 301s allow a permanent tariff without going to Congress to settle the dispute,” said Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director of New York Law School’s Center for International Law. “That’s what all of this is about. The president doesn’t want to knock on the front door of Congress, so he’s trying every side door and every unlatched window to get in.”

Higher prices are rewriting grocery lists and family menus in 2026

What’s for dinner? Lately, at Apral Jack’s house, it’s whatever is on sale. Jack scouts an app for deals at her local supermarket before she buys groceries. When she reaches the store, she grabs the weekly circular to look for coupons she might have missed. If the shelf prices look too high, she scratches items off her list or tries to find lower prices someplace else. “The apples went up here, the ones I eat, so now I’m not going to get them here. I’ll go to Market Basket, where I can get them cheaper,” Jack, 50, said as she pushed a cart into a Stop & Shop near her home in Lexington, Massachusetts. Couponing, comparison shopping and cutting back on favorite foods are new habits for her and millions of other Americans as they absorb the biggest jump in grocery prices in a half-century. Buying food to eat at home has gotten 33% more expensive in U.S. cities since the beginning of 2019, according to government figures. In the 7 1/2 years before that, prices rose 6.4%.

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The historic increase happened for numerous reasons. The coronavirus pandemic snarled supply chains and raised labor and transportation costs. Droughts, hurricanes and diseases like bird flu drove down production. Tariffs raised prices on foreign products like coffee, tomatoes and chocolate. Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine disrupted oil and fertilizer supplies. With a fresh conflict in the Middle East accelerating food price inflation again this year, the cost of filling their refrigerators, freezers and pantries has become a frustration for Americans and made affordability a central issue in the fall midterm elections. By some measures, Americans are better equipped to handle the higher prices, if only slightly. The average weekly earnings of people with full-time jobs job have gone up a bit faster than the cost of groceries since 2019, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But consumers have long memories when it comes to food shopping, and they know their dollars aren’t going as far as they used to, said Jared Bernstein, a senior policy fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy.

Inside the phone-throwing drama at the troubled, broke Democratic Party

The Democratic Party is so short on cash that leaders at its headquarters have undertaken a new gambit to mask the severity of the problems: asking vendors not to send bills until after the midterm elections. The bookkeeping maneuver, which was described by three people briefed on it, is the latest sign of financial duress for the Democratic National Committee and its embattled leader as money troubles threaten to undercut Democratic momentum with 100 days until the midterms. So much is going politically right for Democrats these days. President Trump’s approval is down, gas prices are up and an unpopular war with Iran drags on. But dysfunction and debt inside one of the party’s key institutions — which is getting crushed in fund-raising by its Republican counterpart — are creating rising anxiety for top Democrats.

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At the center is Ken Martin, the 53-year-old party chairman, who has found himself increasingly isolated, gripped by the fear that he will lose his job and relying on a vanishingly small circle of people he trusts, according to interviews with more than two dozen Democrats, including current and former D.N.C. officials and members. Most of them spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the party’s troubled state of affairs. Mr. Martin’s fraying nerves are showing. In a pique of frustration in early July, he threw his phone at the desk of a junior aide while upbraiding the person. The phone-tossing incident resulted in a formal complaint to the D.N.C.’s human resources department. The fallout from the phone-throwing episode was described by half a dozen people familiar with the incident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal party matters. None of them witnessed the encounter, and there was some dispute over how aggressively the phone was tossed. Mr. Martin was said to have thrown the phone at the desk, rather than at the aide. Mr. Martin later met with D.N.C. human resources officials about his behavior, according to three of the people. The Democratic National Committee declined to comment on the incident. Mr. Martin declined an interview request.

Republicans see ‘scary’ lack of enthusiasm among core voters ahead of midterms

Republican pollsters and political groups are raising the alarm that their party faces a listless and demotivated base ahead of November’s midterm elections. A raft of discouraging data from polling, door knocking and focus groups is unsettling Republicans as their party heads into a midterm election season that would be challenging no matter what, given President Donald Trump’s low standing in polls and the fact that the party in control in Washington almost always loses seats. The lack of enthusiasm is reaching deep into Republicans’ loyal base, spreading to the party’s most consistent voters — who have shown up to vote in all of the past four primaries and general elections, according to an analysis done by Americans for Prosperity Action, a conservative super PAC that was founded by billionaire Charles Koch. This new issue with the base adds to the party’s more enduring problem of turning out less-frequent voters who support Trump but often skip midterm elections.

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About 1 in 5 reliable Republican base voters are at risk this November, according to Nathan Nascimento, executive director at AFP Action. Those voters in Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, Montana, New Hampshire and Michigan are either saying they may stay home or are weighing voting for Democrats, according to their data, which is based on polling and extensive efforts to engage targeted Republican voters by knocking on their doors. The voters are primarily worried about inflation and the economy. “This is a big chunk,” Nascimento said. “This is a scary number.” The group has found that reaching these voters at the door usually moves them toward Republican candidates — or at least away from Democratic ones and toward undecided, he said. The 20 percent of Republican base voters the group sees this issue with does not take into account low-propensity conservative voters who tend to turn out in general election years to support Trump but skip other elections. Motivating those Trump voters is a separate issue Republicans face in November.

State Stories

Congressional Democrats demand ICE reforms in wake of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s killing in Houston

Democratic members of Congress are signaling they plan to investigate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and enact changes if they regain control of Congress this fall. They held a forum in Houston on Friday to gather testimony on the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by ICE agents earlier this month in the city’s East End. U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, D-Houston, offered some of the strongest condemnation of ICE. "This is an agency that needs to be torn down to the studs and rebuilt into an agency that enforces immigration law, while recognizing the dignity of the people that it encounters," Menefee said. "But we all know that that will not happen under this administration, and it won't happen under this Congress that's currently controlled by Republicans."

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That, he argued, would likely change after November's midterm elections. He said one of the first orders of business if Democrats regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives will be an investigation with regards to the deaths of Salgado Araujo and others at the hands of ICE agents since Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025. Salgado Araujo, 52, was a Mexican immigrant who had lived in the U.S. for more than 30 years without legal status, according to his family. He was not the intended target of the ICE operation that resulted in his shooting death. "In January, new leadership will happen in the halls of Congress. And I know that every single person sitting up on this dais right now will be in full-throated support of an investigation," Menefee said. Salgado Araujo's two sons were among the first to testify, lending additional weight to such calls."There must be a thorough, truly independent investigation, not one where the agency under investigation also controls the evidence and is able to unilaterally clear its own personnel of any wrongdoing," said Ronaldo Salgado. "Congress should insist that federal, state, and local investigations all move forward with full federal cooperation and should demand answers on a public timeline."

Gov. Abbott confirms third fatality in July floods

State officials have confirmed a third death connected to this month’s flooding, while warning that dangerous conditions will continue for communities downstream along the Nueces River for days. Governor Greg Abbott announced at a press conference in Cotulla on Friday that a person died after driving into high water in Val Verde, bringing the statewide death toll from the July flooding to three. “On July the 20th, there was a report that in Val Verde County, a report of a death of someone who was driving through high waters and got swept away and lost their life,” said Abbott. Previous fatalities were reported in Kerr and Uvalde counties.

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Abbott made the announcement during a visit to the La Salle County Courthouse, where state and local officials reviewed damage and recovery efforts following widespread flooding along the Nueces River. The governor praised local leaders in La Salle County, saying early warnings and evacuation efforts helped prevent additional deaths as floodwaters rose around Cotulla. “They were knocking on doors 10 days in advance, letting local residents know they needed to either evacuate or to be prepared for the rising water and to take measures days before the water got there,” Abbott said. The Nueces River crested at more than 29 feet in Cotulla, flooding homes, businesses and roads. Although water levels have begun falling, much of La Salle County remains inaccessible, and damage assessments have been delayed. Abbott said an aerial tour revealed the extent of the flooding and will help support the state’s request for federal disaster assistance. “By being able to fly over in the air, we were able to observe submerged properties right now that we otherwise would not have seen,” said Abbott. That informs us about what needs to be done in response but also provides us information we need to make our full request to the federal government for their assistance.”

San Antonio Mayor Jones asks execs, philanthropists to help close city budget gap

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has asked local business and philanthropic leaders to financially support organizations that have counted on city dollars to trim a little from the city’s nearly $160 million deficit over the next two years. It’s the second such proposal Jones unveiled this week to cut city spending without affecting city services. On Tuesday, she suggested redirecting millions of sales tax dollars that were raised for the Ready to Work job-training program to other projects. Jones has said raising property taxes to generate more revenue is a “last resort.” City staff have proposed raising the tax rate from 54 cents per $100 of assessed property value to almost 58 cents. Both of Jones’ proposals have taken City Hall by surprise, with the mayor announcing them via memo or letter — her preferred way of conducting city business.

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Jones’ Friday letter is addressed broadly to “Business, Foundation, and Philanthropic Leaders.” Chief of Staff Andrew Fuentes has not responded to a request for the specific recipients. Jones asks whether the leaders would consider “a three-year funding commitment” to match what the city gave 15 organizations this fiscal year. The organizations received a combined $6.5 million this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. They include the San Antonio Botanical Garden, which Jones singled out during a June 18 budget briefing as an entity that should not receive city dollars at the expense of other services, such as city-run nutrition sites that provide free lunches to seniors. “If you charge a ticket fee, then you can figure it out,” Jones said at that meeting. The garden received nearly $1.1 million in this year’s general fund budget, which pays for city services such as fire and police protection, libraries, parks, and street maintenance and repairs. The nonprofit pushed back against the mayor’s comments, saying a funding cut would limit its ability to offer free or reduced-entry.

Texas GOP cuts ticket prices to Trump’s unconventional convention

The cost of getting close to President Donald Trump is falling. Texas Republicans have slashed the price of their premium convention packages, cutting thousands of dollars off the price of a coveted spot at the Trump-led September gathering in Dallas. D’rinda Randall, chair of the Republican Party of Texas, said in a July 14 video on X that the party had fielded “questions about the cost and the access” to its top-tier offerings for the Sept. 9-10 event at the American Airlines Center.

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The discounts offer one of the first public glimpses into how Republicans are building the gathering, and how state parties are taking markedly different approaches to deciding who gets in. When Trump announced the event, it carried the trappings of a national political convention. Weeks later, it increasingly resembles a hybrid rally and GOP fundraiser with convention-style branding. State parties are selling or distributing access through five-figure honorary delegate packages, premium tickets, raffles and applications, even though there will be no presidential nomination, delegate votes or official party business. At the same time, Republicans have not disclosed overall attendance projections, state-by-state participation estimates or the expected public cost to Dallas taxpayers. Randall, the Texas GOP chief, has said fundraising has been part of the concept from the outset.

U.S. resumes Mexican cattle imports as screwworm spread continues

The United States will reopen parts of the southern border to Mexican cattle imports in August after keeping it closed for more than a year to prevent the spread of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that infects calves and threatens the cattle industry. The port of entry for cattle in Douglas, Ariz., will reopen on Aug. 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Forty-two screwworm cases had been reported in the U.S. as of Friday, according to the USDA. All but one case has been in Texas. The Trump administration closed the border to cattle imports in spring 2025 in response to a rise in screwworm cases in northern Mexico. The Biden administration had cut off imports for the same reason in 2024 but President Donald Trump reopened it shortly after taking office in January 2025.

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They pose a major threat to Texas' $17 billion cattle industry, which produces more beef than any other state in the U.S. The flies can also infest any warm-blooded animals, including pets. “The closure of the Southern ports of entry for the last year has been a tough but necessary action to control the spread of NWS in Mexico and protect the American livestock industry,” Agriculture secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement. The plan to reopen the border to cattle is contingent upon Mexico adhering to a joint action plan to combat the screwworm outbreak, the USDA said in a statement. Every animal that crosses the border will be screened for screwworm. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller praised the move. “Resuming cattle importation from Mexico is the right move for ranchers and American consumers, but it’s a decision that should have been made sooner,” Miller said in a statement. “While I’m pleased to see this important trade relationship restored, the prolonged closure has already taken a toll on producers, disrupted supply chains, and created uncertainty that could have lasting consequences for the cattle industry.” The fight against the parasite is ongoing. The Texas Animal Health Commission has restricted the movement of cattle in 22 different Texas counties due to the parasite. Any warm-blooded animal in a so-called “Infested Zone” can’t leave the area without approval from the state.

Regina Lankenau: What Black voters say about James Talarico when he’s not there

(Regina Lankenau is an editorial writer, columnist and a member of the Houston Chronicle editorial board.) “Talarico’s got a Black people problem.” That was the frank analysis of Christian Alexander, a 36-year-old political podcaster and strategist for Houston Black American Democrats. I met him on Tuesday inside the Third Ward Multi-Service Center right past an abandoned convenience store and down the street from Texas Southern University. Alexander wasn’t the only one with a lot to say about the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. Already, James Talarico, the former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian, had gotten a tough scolding over the weekend. During a town hall in southwest Houston, he’d said all the right things: about protecting voter rights, supporting Black candidates and fighting for public education funding. He’d touted his efforts, showing up at a handful of Baptist churches and historically Black universities and stopping for a plate of smothered chicken at Mikki’s Soul Food.

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He’d even pledged to spend $25 million on Black voter outreach – a level of investment he said was a first in Texas' modern political history. But when Talarico’s campaign staff tried to wrap up questions after about an hour, Kandice Webber, a Houston nurse and political content creator, wasn’t impressed. “Our people don't trust you for this reason," said Webber, who is Black. "And you cannot win without us. So you stay here, you answer our questions, or you suffer the consequences." The tense moment went viral, of course, even if it didn’t reflect the prevailing cordial tone of the town hall. But what Webber said, about Black voters being the backbone of any winning Democratic campaign, is true – and Talarico knows it. He’d said as much in his opening remarks. And after the primary, where U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett won 8 of 10 Black votes in Houston and Dallas, Talarico also knows that he can’t take for granted that those voters will show up for him in the general election. Recent polling shows a majority of likely Black voters do plan to support him over his ethically challenged, dismally unfit opponent Ken Paxton. But to flip this seat, Talarico needs the unlikely voters – the young, the disaffected and the ones not quite persuaded yet. Webber, the influencer, later posted another video in which she said “real Black folks” were going to sit the election out to teach “white moderates” a lesson about earning the support of Black voters. I don’t doubt that Talarico’s earnest pitch – about fighting for the bottom and middle at a time of yawning inequality – resonates with many Black Americans. I think it resonates with many people, period. But what would it take for Talarico’s Black doubters to truly believe him, to want to head to the ballot box and give this self-described choir boy a chance?

Austin police fatally shoot unarmed teenager in what they say may be 'suicide by police'

Police officers killed an unarmed 17-year-old in Northeast Austin on Friday morning in what Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis characterized as “potentially a suicide by police.” The Austin Police Department responded to a 911 call at 3:51 a.m. Friday about a teen in a parking lot possibly brandishing a gun. Officers responded to the scene and found the 17-year-old, a Black male, on the playground at a community park in the 10100 block of Baden Lane, Davis said at a press conference on Friday afternoon. Body cam footage released by APD on Friday shows officers approaching the playground and telling the teen to keep his hands up repeatedly. Shortly after, the teen appears to lift his shirt and reach for his waistband, and officers immediately fire multiple times, causing him to fall to the ground. Officers shoot again in response to the teen apparently moving on the ground.

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After securing the scene, Davis said, the officers rendered aid until Austin-Travis County EMS arrived. The teen died on the scene at 4:25 a.m. APD said it will release the teen’s name after identification from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office. Officers didn’t find a gun on the scene. A water bottle was in the teen’s waistband, Davis said. APD said it determined that the initial 911 call came from the teen’s phone. Audio from the call shared by police starts with the dispatcher asking if the caller needs police, fire, EMS or mental health services. The caller responds with police. Police radio traffic audio released by APD indicates that the caller hung up and didn’t respond to a follow-up call. “All points are indicating that this was a suicide by police,” Davis said. Davis said APD has not had prior interactions with the teen. “A young man lost his life,” she said. “I cannot imagine the pain and the grief that his family is going through, and I want them to know that I am thinking about them. And I am very sorry about this incident.”

For CCISD students, Communities in Schools is giving students a lifeline, a future, and a fighting chance.”

The CCISD board of trustees held a special meeting on Monday evening, during which the upcoming budget for the 2026-2027 school year was discussed. Not on the budget this year is funding for Communities In Schools, which places a site coordinator on each campus, save for the prekindergarten campus. $200,000 partially funded the site coordinators. CIS has had a presence on CCISD campuses for more than three decades, according to CIS board member Bruce Vasbinder. During the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting, BrendaLiz Gomez addressed the board, sharing her concerns that without CIS reps on district campuses, counselors at CCHS will not be able to fill the need.

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“Our high school counselors currently serve approximately 550 students each, which is well above the American School Counselor Association and the Texas School Counselors Association recommended ratio of 250 students per counselor. While our counselors work tirelessly to support students, that caseload makes it nearly impossible to meet every academic, social, emotional, and family need,” Gomez told the board. “Communities In Schools helped fill the gap. Ms. Vines worked alongside counselors, administrators, teachers, local businesses, churches, and community organizations to meet the needs that often extended beyond the classroom. She connected families with food, clothing, hygiene items, and basic utilities during times of crisis. She helped students experiencing housing instability, supported families facing medical emergencies, and ensured students could remain focused on learning instead of worrying about their basic needs. She also helped students participate in milestone experiences like prom, giving many the opportunity to feel included and valued. “These services were not a duplication of existing roles; they were an expansion of support.” Winett Vines likewise addressed the board. Vines has been the CIS site coordinator at CCHS and appealed to the board regarding the students she has served. She acknowledged what she called a “riff” on social media about CCISD not continuing to contract with CIS in the upcoming school year.

Knocked down by yet another flood, can Kerr County get back up again?

As the July 4 fireworks exploded above the Guadalupe River, the crowd filling Kerrville's Louis Hays Park cheered, then marveled as a drone show lit up the sky. The city's annual Fourth on the River felt like more than a typical holiday celebration. It signaled the end of a hard-fought year of working to recover from the flood that struck last Independence Day, killing 119 people and cutting a swath of devastation along the Guadalupe River. Watching the fireworks from the Sidney Baker Bridge, Carra Gray said it felt like a milestone. People were still grieving, still struggling to get back on their feet, still weary. But that night, for the first time in a long while, “we all kind of had this big exhale,” said Gray, who lives in Hunt. Twelve days later, that feeling was ripped away.

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A second flood tore through Kerr County on July 16, as heavy rainfall sent creeks surging out of their banks and rushing through homes and businesses. State officials estimate about 500 homes and 100 businesses in the county suffered flood damage this time. The death toll was far lower than in 2025, as only one person died in Kerr County during the most recent flooding. But being hit with a second devastating flood on the heels of the 2025 disaster was a gut punch for Kerr County's residents. It shattered a fragile sense of progress and security that had begun to set in — and left many wondering how they could get back up after being knocked down yet again. “The damage to homes, businesses, streets and other infrastructure is staggering,” said Bill Blackburn, a former Kerrville mayor and local minister. “And there is real damage to hope."

Katherine McLane: Winning the conversation before breaking ground on data centers

(Katherine McLane is the founder and CEO of The Mach 1 Group.) Despite all the political and cultural changes the U.S. has experienced in recent years, one truth remains constant: When public opinion reaches critical mass, government has little choice but to respond. We're watching that play out with data centers. Demand for AI, cloud computing and digital infrastructure is driving an unprecedented wave of data center development. New facilities are being proposed across the country, and industry analysts expect demand for additional capacity to continue growing throughout the decade. As construction accelerates, so does public scrutiny. Across the country, familiar concerns are emerging at the local level: water consumption, tax incentives, infrastructure demands and energy use. Virginia experienced this first. Texas, now the nation's leading data center market, is following a similar path. Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently delivered a blunt message to the industry: Bring your own power and reuse your water.

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The lessons from Virginia and Texas are clear: Buying land and securing permits is no longer enough. From an industry perspective, data centers represent investment, high-paying jobs, tax revenue and America's leadership in the digital economy. At the local level, however, residents are asking a much simpler question: What will this mean for my community? No two communities evaluate projects the same way. In rural communities, where agriculture and groundwater are central to the local economy, concerns often center on water use, land impacts and long-term resource availability. Messaging built around innovation or national competitiveness may miss the issues residents care about most. In fast-growing metropolitan areas, the conversation is more likely to focus on grid reliability, transmission capacity, traffic congestion and how additional industrial development fits within broader growth plans. The communications challenge facing the industry is becoming increasingly local. The traditional development model — buy land, file permits and break ground — can leave communities feeling surprised, excluded or forced to react after major decisions have already been made. When that happens, organized opposition becomes far more likely, placing projects, timelines and investments at risk.

After a hometown soldier’s death, a Texas suburb wrestles with Trump’s Iran war

The “Wall of Honor” is just inside the entrance to American Legion Post 597 in this Dallas suburb’s historic downtown, an alcove covered with pictures of dozens of local service members killed in recent overseas conflicts. Now, they have another: U.S. Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, killed in an Iranian strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on July 17, according to the Pentagon. Russ Ganzer knows some of the others memorialized on the wall. The retired fishing guide didn’t know Gonzales, but said he’s a father of six, his youngest daughter just four years older than Gonzales. “Any loss of life is terrible,” Ganzer, 65, said. “But when it’s your hometown, it hits you. Especially when they’re so young.”

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The death strikes close for many in this diverse, politically divided Dallas suburb of about 135,000, which last lost a member of the military at war 16 years ago. Gonzales is one of 18 U.S. service members to have been killed since President Donald Trump ordered the first strikes in late February, four of them since the ceasefire collapsed July 7. Her death has prompted people here to reflect on the necessity of a war that has divided public opinion from its inception. Gonzales attended nearby Hebron High School, where she served in Junior ROTC and wore a U.S. Army stole to graduation last year. She enlisted last spring, was assigned as an air and missile defense crew member to the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany. “We’re just so proud of her. We were very proud of her when she went in and she paid the ultimate service,” said her mother’s aunt, Elizabeth Muniz, 58, of La Feria, Texas.

Texas among states in Federal “SIM Farm” raids tied to text scams

Texas was one of several states targeted in a nationwide ICE Homeland Security Investigations crackdown on illegal “SIM farm” operations. Authorities say the ‘SIM farms’ are used to flood phones with phishing and scam texts while disguising where the messages come from. “SIM farms” are collections of devices — called SIM boxes — that can hold hundreds or thousands of SIM cards, allowing criminals to route communications over the internet and disguise their origin, ICE said. The agency cited Federal Trade Commission estimates that these operations cost Americans about $15 million each year.

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Operation Signal Break, ran June 22nd through July 10th and included deployments to Texas along with California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. Since 2024, HSI says it has executed more than 116 federal search warrants, seizing more than 500,000 SIM cards, over 1,900 SIM boxes and more than $700,000 in alleged illegal proceeds. HSI also reported one criminal arrest, 11 administrative arrests, and the disruption of 68 SIM farms in 15 states. HSI said analysts will examine seized SIM data and network evidence to identify victims, measure losses and trace money allegedly linked to Chinese transnational criminal organizations, supporting potential future indictments, asset seizures and sanctions.

Ken Paxton touts his efforts to fight voter fraud. His Senate opponent is now accusing him of committing it.

The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas is trying to turn a key talking point of his Republican opponent against him — alleging Attorney General Ken Paxton is guilty of the same type of voter fraud he has spent years trying to eliminate. “As our state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton has gone on a voter fraud witch hunt,” state Rep. James Talarico, who is challenging Paxton in the race to replace U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, said during a campaign event in Houston. “Turns out, he was committing voter fraud the whole time, voting illegally in six elections in a row from the wrong address.” Talarico’s comments come after ProPublica and The Texas Tribune revealed that Paxton moved out of the home he shared with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, in 2024 but continued to vote using that address, including during the March Republican primary in which he beat Cornyn. Three election experts told the news organizations that Paxton may have broken state law.

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Last week, the Collin County Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Texas secretary of state, urging that office to investigate Paxton for election fraud. Paxton has repeatedly declined to answer the newsrooms’ questions about his voter registration and residency. On Tuesday, he held a rare news conference to tout the endorsement of nearly two dozen sheriffs and attacked Talarico as soft on crime. Talarico denied the charge at his own news conference Wednesday, saying he’d voted for billions of dollars in law enforcement funding as a member of the Legislature. When a Dallas Morning News political writer asked Paxton why he voted in Collin County, the attorney general shook his head as a campaign aide interceded. “We’re just going to answer questions on law enforcement today,” the aide said. Paxton’s office and campaign did not respond to similar questions on Thursday from ProPublica and the Tribune. They also did not answer questions about Talarico’s comments.

National Stories

AI chatbots know how to make deadly biological weapons. Some will teach you.

After OpenAI enhanced the brain power of its chatbot last summer, hundreds of users worldwide began asking it how to make and deploy biological weapons and poisons. The models, operating largely free of U.S. government restrictions, patiently answered, issuing step-by-step instructions described by company employees as simple enough for a high-school biology student to follow. Biology and terrorism experts later reviewed the exchanges for ChatGPT and judged some as deadly accurate, said people familiar with the matter. Most queries were about concocting poisons, according to OpenAI. OpenAI banned these and other user accounts that asked about how to make poisons and biological weapons, but it didn’t alert law-enforcement officials. The U.S. has no federal laws requiring AI companies to either restrict or disclose queries about making weapons or formulating plans that pose a safety threat.

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The absence of mandated safeguards coincides with a rise in queries from users asking AI models how to kill en masse—and chatbots responding with credible plans for mass-casualty attacks, according to current and former employees at the major AI labs, including OpenAI, as well as policy advisers and researchers who study biological weapons. The queries followed troubling exchanges earlier in the year: Users asked ChatGPT how to aerosolize pathogens, essentially converting infectious germs to a deadly, breathable mist. One wanted to know how to modify the measles virus to make an outbreak resistant to the measles vaccine. In those cases, the chatbot provided instructions. Another user wanted to know how to make ricin, a highly toxic poison banned under international treaties, according to people familiar with the matter. The chatbot gave detailed instructions, and the user said something about killing his parents. OpenAI banned these accounts but didn’t alert authorities.

Maine Democrats pick Troy Jackson to replace Platner as Senate nominee

With just over 100 days to go until the midterm elections, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson officially clinched the Democratic nomination for Senate at a party convention here Saturday, setting up a marquee fall matchup against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Jackson will replace Graham Platner, who withdrew as the nominee just over two weeks ago after an allegation of sexual assault, which he denies. “This process came together faster than any of us expected,” Jackson said in his victory speech before the gathered delegates and party officials at the Cross Insurance Center. “But this is important. The movement represented in this room did not just begin two weeks ago.” Delegates picked Jackson over pharmaceutical executive Saundra Pelletier by a vote of 566-5 during a roughly two-and-a-half hour party convention that also served as a fall campaign kickoff for the state’s Democratic faithful.

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“Power is never just given to working people. We have to band together and take it,” Jackson said earlier Saturday during his nominating address. “When the people in power refuse to listen, well, you have to organize. You have to stand together in solidarity together.” “That’s how we took on the companies exploiting Maine loggers, and it’s how we’re going to take on Susan Collins,” he said. Jackson’s pick wraps up a chaotic few weeks for Maine Democrats, who had to convene Saturday’s convention to pick a new nominee ahead of a Monday deadline. They’ve been seeking to move on from Platner, who easily defeated Gov. Janet Mills in a primary last month with a populist message that resonated with Democratic voters despite a series of negative headlines that dogged his nearly yearlong campaign. Jackson, who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year, came into the convention as the prohibitive favorite after securing the support of a vast majority of delegates elected across the state’s counties last weekend to serve at the convention. Eve Breedlove, a young delegate from Penobscot County, said she’d supported Jackson in the gubernatorial race because of his support for progressive policies, which she said were similar to what Platner had campaigned on. “People still had that momentum behind him, and just with all of this happening, it’s unprecedented,” she said. “But in a way, I’m only 20 years old, so everything that’s ever happened in my life is very unprecedented.”

Standout moments from Trump’s appearance at makeup WHCA dinner

President Trump was given a second chance Friday evening to deliver a speech before the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner — his first time addressing the crowd as president. Three months after the first event was derailed by an assassination attempt, Trump took to the podium at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, acknowledging he had to amend his remarks in light of the April shooting. His words were mixed with familiar jabs at the media, political opponents and even himself. Here are some of the standout moments. Following the dinner portion, which included steak and lobster, the event began on a somber note with a tribute to the U.S. Secret Service, law enforcement officers and hotel staff who responded to the April 24 incident. One Secret Service agent, Officer Victor Gonzales, was awarded the WHCA President’s Award for Exceptional Service. Gonzales was shot while confronting the gunman, but his bulletproof vest likely saved his life.

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One of the night’s most memorable visuals — aside from the stunning Czech crystal chandeliers overhead — was Trump’s signature red hat. Instead of the familiar “Make America Great Again” slogan, this version simply read: “Trump 2028.” “When I’m not around, you’re going to be broke. There’s not going to be anyone to report on,” he joked. “To show just how much I care about the press, and I want to save your ratings, I am pleased to announce my intention to, and this is somewhat of a scoop, my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States,” Trump said before producing the cap from behind the lectern and placing it on his head. “I won three times and now, I’m going to do it again,” he added later, likely including the 2020 presidential election which he lost to former President Biden. Though, he maintains without evidence that the race was stolen from him. “I’m gonna do it. It should be easy. I’m getting very good at running for president.” The quip was met with a room full of laughter. The president several times in the speech insisted the idea was just a ruse.

Vance, Caine raised concerns about escalating war in Iran, sources say as US pauses consecutive nights of strikes

Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine both raised concerns about escalating the war in Iran as President Donald Trump weighed the possibility during a White House meeting on Friday, a source familiar with the matter and a US official told CNN. On Friday night, the US appeared to pause its bombing campaign on Iran after nearly two weeks of consecutive nights of strikes. Operations are “on a hold,” a Department of Defense source told CNN on Saturday. On Friday, Caine specifically raised concerns about the US munitions stockpile and other potential negative implications, according to the sources. One of the sources said that Caine told Trump and the US military they could carry out the options available to him and be successful but then warned of the possible implications.

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The stockpile concern was one of many raised to Trump during the meeting, both sources said. It’s currently unclear if the stockpile concern or warning about escalation were the primary reasons why the US paused consecutive nights of strikes or whether it will continue to do so. “President Trump has always been consistent in saying he prefers a diplomatic solution, but he continues to retain all options if Iran continues terrorist activities in the (Strait) of Hormuz or against allies,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement. “Combined with successful sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy and 13 straight days of strikes against military targets in response to their repeated aggression, it would be wise for Iran to work towards a negotiated deal. Otherwise, they know what will happen.” CNN has also reached out to Vance’s office for comment. This comes as key US weapons stockpiles remain significantly depleted and could come under more pressure if strikes on Iran continue, as CNN has previously reported.

The shrinking world of former president Joe Biden

Joe Biden’s world has grown smaller. Eighteen months after leaving the White House, the 83-year-old former president moves within a narrowed circle of relatives, old friends and longtime aides as he undergoes treatment for metastatic cancer. The treatment appears to be working, according to five former aides and others close to Biden, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss his health and private life. But the disease — and the toll of treating it — has left him visibly frail. Those around Biden describe a post-presidency constrained by illness with his days increasingly organized around treatment, family and efforts to shape his legacy. Unlike some recent predecessors, Biden has maintained a limited public schedule, has yet to build a sprawling philanthropic or policy operation and has struggled to raise money for a presidential library, leaving him with fewer avenues to influence how his presidency is remembered.

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That frailty is likely to become harder to keep private this fall, when Biden begins promoting a memoir scheduled for publication on Nov. 17, two weeks after the midterm elections. The timing has unsettled some friends and former advisers, who worry not only about Biden’s well-being, but also about how much his visible health struggle could revive the bitter arguments of 2024 just as Democrats are trying to make the election a referendum on President Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly mocked Biden’s age and acuity and replaced his portrait along a White House colonnade with an image of an autopen, a visual taunt built on the unsupported allegation that aides used the device to exercise presidential authority for a debilitated commander in chief. Those close to Biden bristle at the way his illness and physical decline have become part of his critics’ case against him and his party. Hunter Biden gave voice to the family’s frustration last month after a critic attacked his father’s cancer diagnosis on social media. “Listen man — I understand if you don’t like my Dad’s politics and you hate me because you believe everything Fox News has told you,” he wrote. “I’m fine with that, but my Dad has cancer. How is that an issue you want to attack. What sickness is in you that makes that fair game?”

GOP leans into anti-communist messaging amid DSA surge

Republicans are increasingly leaning on anti-communist messaging as a cudgel against Democrats heading into the November elections. With only 100 days until the midterm elections, Republicans have launched repeated attacks tying the rise in socialism in the Democratic Party to communism. Democrats have seen a surge in socialist candidates in the 2026 cycle, with the socialist wing of the Democratic Party set to more than double its numbers after November. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI) held a roundtable last week on the “threat of communism,” and said during her opening remarks that “What my biggest concern is today is what we’re witnessing here in America, and what we’re witnessing is the rise of communism.

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Former ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent Cecilia Vega details claims CBS News brass wanted her to insert political bias in stories

Cecilia Vega, one of the 60 Minutes correspondents fired in a management overhaul of the show earlier this year, followed up on her claim that she was instructed to insert political bias into stories. Vega appeared Thursday at a session at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference in New Orleans. In her remarks, reported by Status newsletter, she told John Quiñones that, among other things, she was encouraged to insert footage of protesters attacking ICE officers in plain clothes, but could find no credible examples for a piece on the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, in which federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Per Status, Vega said another suggestion was made to find a clip of Minneapolis’ police chief rolling his eyes at Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s suggestion that local police confront ICE agents. No such moment was found, she said.

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On another piece about the war in Iran, Vega said she was told to introduce a story by saying, “Who is winning the war? Iran is totally outgunned by the United States and Israel.” Per Status, Vega called it an “administration talking point.” In another example, on West Virginians impacted by cuts to nutritional assistance programs, she said that she was queried why she did not interview JD Vance, who wrote Hillbilly Elegy, even though his account of his experiences in Ohio was published a decade ago. The proposed changes did not make it into her pieces. Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi were among those fired from 60 Minutes in May, with executive producer Tanya Simon replaced by Nick Bilton. Correspondent Scott Pelley was fired the next week after he challenged Bilton in a staff meeting and said that CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss was “murdering” the show. Vega issued a statement at the time saying, “In recent months, my producing teams and I have experienced efforts to insert political bias into our stories. Reporting teams have held back on submitting story pitches about important news topics out of fear of the internal repercussions.

Copyright July 26, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved