December 14, 2025: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Trump leans into isolation as challenges mount at home

The Trump administration, amid a series of foreign and domestic challenges, is redoubling its efforts to blame an array of outside forces for America’s problems and enact policies that block those influences from crossing U.S. borders. Last week, the United States halted immigration applications from 19 countries. Shortly after, the administration announced an expanded travel ban covering more than 30 countries — “every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies,” in the words of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. And on Wednesday, Border Protection officials proposed requiring visitors from U.S. allies to provide up to five years of their social media history, a move that could discourage tourists. The actions come on the heels of a 33-page National Security Strategy stressing the administration’s opposition to multilateralism and immigration, while scolding European allies that they risk “civilizational erasure” for taking a different approach. “Who a country admits into its borders — in what numbers and from where — will inevitably define the future of that nation,” the paper says.

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These moves — accompanied by a bolstering of tariffs and President Donald Trump’s often racially tinged anti-outsider rhetoric — suggest a goal of sealing off the United States from many foreign people, products and cultures. They also signal that the U.S. is refocusing its attention on its immediate neighborhood in the Western Hemisphere, rather than the broader global landscape that has long been its horizon. “We are isolating ourselves in a very dangerous way that I don’t think this administration understands,” said former senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), who served as defense secretary under President Barack Obama. “We will find ourselves isolated — dangerously isolated — in a world where you do not want to be isolated. Once you go down that road, you will not get that back. That is not the way it works.” Several experts said Trump’s language increasingly echoes the isolationism and anti-immigrant sentiment of the 1920s and 1930s, which downplayed the threat of authoritarianism before World War II. But White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is trying to protect what is great about America. “America’s culture and way of life is worth defending and preserving. Full stop,” she said. “Aliens who come to our country en masse and refuse to assimilate to American society only recreate the same conditions that are destroying the nations they fled from. We cannot allow their problems to become America’s problems.”

The deeply personal reasons why many Indiana Senate Republicans said no to Trump

Jean Leising spoke at a breakfast this fall at her 8th grade grandson’s school. Hours later, when she was set to give him a ride home from basketball practice, he bashfully told her that his entire team had received text messages about her that day — “and they were all bad.” Recounting the moment to CNN shortly after she joined 20 other Republican state senators in rejecting President Donald Trump’s redistricting push, Leising said she laughed the moment off with her grandson — but that it ultimately led to her opposing the president. “Boy, when I got home that night, that’s when I decided,” said Leising, a 76-year-old grandmother of eight, first elected to the Senate in 1988. “I was angry. So the next day, I said, ‘I’ve got to talk about this.’ Because this is over the top. This shouldn’t be the way it was.” “But that was the beginning,” she added. “It only got worse from there.”

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It was clear on Thursday that a pressure campaign waged by the White House and its allies had backfired. A state that Trump won by nearly 20 points in 2024 gave him a massive political black eye, rejecting a push to create two more GOP-friendly US House seats that could have helped Republicans retain the House majority in next year’s midterms. Several Republican senators noted on Thursday that constituents opposed a mid-decade redrawing of US House maps and that they questioned the wisdom or the precedent of joining the national redistricting battle. But a number of Republicans, including people who voted for the president three elections in a row, also gave deeply personal reasons over the last several weeks. Sen. Mike Bohacek has a daughter with Down syndrome. He was offended by Trump’s use of a slur for people with disabilities, in a Truth Social post deriding Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and said that Trump’s “choices of words have consequences.” Sen. Greg Walker, who represents former Vice President Mike Pence’s hometown of Columbus, said he was among the senators targeted by swatting attempts in the weeks leading up to Thursday’s vote. While law enforcement has not publicly linked the swatting or other threats to a political motive, Walker said he felt voting yes would reward wrongdoing and set a dangerous precedent.

T.S.A. is providing air passenger data to immigration agents for deportation effort

The Trump administration is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, substantially expanding its use of data sharing to expel people under deportation orders. Under the previously undisclosed program, the Transportation Security Administration provides a list multiple times a week to Immigration and Customs Enforcement of travelers who will be coming through airports. ICE can then match the list against its own database of people subject to deportation and send agents to the airport to detain those people. It’s unclear how many arrests have been made as a result of the collaboration. But documents obtained by The New York Times show that it led to the arrest of Any Lucía López Belloza, the college student picked up at Boston Logan Airport on Nov. 20 and deported to Honduras two days later. A former ICE official said 75 percent of instances in that official’s region where names were flagged by the program yielded arrests.

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ICE has historically avoided interfering with domestic travel. But the partnership between airport security and the immigration agency, which began quietly in March, is the latest way the Trump administration is increasing cooperation and information sharing between federal agencies in service of the president’s goal of carrying out the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history. “The message to those in the country illegally is clear: The only reason you should be flying is to self-deport home,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security. Airline passengers have long been subject to some federal scrutiny. Airlines typically provide passenger information to T.S.A. after a flight is reserved. That information is compared against national security databases, including the Terrorist Screening Dataset, which includes the names of individuals on a watch list of known or suspected terrorists. But the T.S.A. previously did not get involved in domestic criminal or immigration matters, said one former agency official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the issue freely. Among the concerns, the former official said, has been that enforcement activities at airports could distract from airport security and contribute to longer passenger wait times.

Democrats Julie Johnson and Colin Allred spar in District 33 primary

U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred aren’t holding much back as they compete for the Democratic nomination in Congressional District 33, kicking off their campaigns with a flurry of rhetorical haymakers. Johnson says Allred blindsided everyone by switching races at the last minute – and that Texas women can relate to having a man try to take back a position after failing to advance in his own career. Allred says he’s shown he can deliver for the Dallas area and that Johnson is not entitled to represent a newly drawn, majority-minority district that needs an effective advocate who truly understands the community. The two have been sparring since filing day drama last week scrambled the party’s primary landscape and thrust them into a head-to-head contest heavy with overtones of gender and race.

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“This is going to be a primary election that lots of people will be watching for the show as well as for the result,” said Cal Jillson, professor of political science at Southern Methodist University. The unusual primary battle between a sitting congresswoman and the man she succeeded in office stems from a mid-decade Republican redistricting and a decision by U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, to seek a Senate seat rather than reelection. Democrats have such a solid advantage in the newly drawn District 33 that whoever wins the primary will be heavily favored to win the general election and represent a key part of the Dallas area. Johnson is a freshman member of Congress, building her brand on Capitol Hill in an era of unified Republican control in Washington, as Democrats are increasingly optimistic they can retake the House next year. Allred served three terms in the House before making an unsuccessful 2024 bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, losing by about 9 percentage points. Johnson wasted no time opening up on Allred, denigrating his effectiveness during his time in Congress and saying he disappeared from the scene after losing to Cruz.

Legendary Houston news anchor Dave Ward passed away

ABC13 Anchor Emeritus Dave Ward has died. For more than 50 years, Dave was Houston's anchorman. He began each newscast with his signature line, "Good evening, friends." That's how the legendary newsman felt about the viewers who shared his love for the city he was so proud to call his home. His name was David Henry Ward, but he was known to thousands of Eyewitness News viewers simply as "Dave." Born in Dallas in 1939, Dave grew up in Huntsville and began his radio career with KGKB Radio in Tyler while attending college. Three years later, he joined the staff of WACO Radio as a staff announcer and quickly climbed to Program Director the following year. Dave moved to Houston in 1962 where he worked for KNUZ Radio as a News Reporter and News Director for four years. He made the move to Channel 13 in 1966 as the station's only on-the-street news reporter and photographer, coming "inside" in early 1967 to anchor Channel 13's weekday 7 a.m. newscast.

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Later that year, he became the first host of the wildly popular "Dialing for Dollars" program, which later evolved into "Good Morning Houston." Houston viewers flocked to see him and hear him and by January 1968, Dave became the anchor of Eyewitness News at 6 and 10 p.m. Dave hit a historic milestone when he celebrated his 50th year at KTRK-TV. His long tenure at the station was acknowledged in June 2016 when he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records by breaking the record as the longest-running local TV news anchor in the world at the same station, in the same market. After signing off from his role anchoring ABC13 Eyewitness News in May 2017, Dave continued to tell the legendary stories of Houston, as only he could. "Dave Ward's Houston" celebrated the iconic places, people and moments that help weave the unique fabric of the Bayou City. Over five decades, Dave covered topics from space walks and the Vietnam peace talks to natural disasters and politics, including a one-to-one interview with President Obama. Getting the facts right, consistently -- that's what defined Dave Ward. A true Texas original, Dave has made his mark as one of the nation's most respected news anchors for the past five decades. In his trademark down-to-earth style, he began every newscast with "Good evening, friends." It was that candor and dedication to getting every side of the story that helped him become the most trusted newsman in Houston.

State Stories

In Texas, a former Chinese official targeted by Beijing's surveillance finds refuge

The Chinese government is using an increasingly powerful tool to control and monitor its own officials: Surveillance technology, much of it originating in the United States, an Associated Press investigation has found. Among its targets is Li Chuanliang, a Chinese former vice mayor hunted by Beijing with the help of surveillance technology. Li’s communications were monitored, his assets seized and his movements followed in police databases. More than 40 friends and relatives — including his pregnant daughter — were identified and detained back in China. Deep in the Texas countryside, Li has now found refuge with members of a Chinese church living in exile after fleeing from China like Li.

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Here, the Chihuahuan Desert unfurls as a stark, flat expanse of sand, punctured by phone poles and wind turbines. Tumbleweeds roll across roads, past ranches flying the Lone Star flag and pumpjacks extracting oil. Li and members of the church are building a new life, thousands of miles from China. They cook, eat, and study together. They plant olive trees and design new homes for their budding community. On Sundays, they attend church, singing hymns and reading the Bible. But even in the United States, Li worries he’s being watched. Strange men stalk him. Spies have looked for him. He carries multiple phones. Surveillance technology powers China’s anti-corruption crackdown at home and abroad — a campaign critics say is used to stifle dissent and exact retribution on perceived enemies. Beijing has accused Li of corruption totaling around $435 million, but Li says he’s being targeted for openly criticizing the Chinese Communist Party. He denies criminal charges of taking bribes and embezzling state funds.

Margaret Scarbrough Wilson, pioneering Austin retailer, dies at 95

Retail pioneer Margaret Scarbrough Wilson, once head of the iconic Austin department store Scarbroughs, died Dec. 6 at Hospice Austin's Christopher House. She was 95. The granddaughter of Emerson Monroe Scarbrough, who founded a general store that served far-flung rural customers, Wilson was the first woman to lead the family firm. She expanded the Scarbroughs brand beyond the handsome downtown anchor store at Congress Avenue and West Sixth Street to suburban malls, and finally to its last hurrah in the Central Market Shopping Center.

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"She was so nice!" Austin author J.F. Margos said. "My little sister was a buyer in that store for a long time, and I had the good pleasure of meeting Margaret once. That was such a fantastic and special store! It was so beautiful, and such a wonderful, almost fairytale place to go as a kid. I miss it a lot." Born Aug. 7, 1930, Wilson, like her relatives, played as a child among the aisles of the posh downtown store. Her parents, Margaret Ann Caldwell Scarbrough and Lemuel Scarbrough, not only helped steer the retail business, but served as civic leaders and charity donors. Wilson grew up in the family's grand old house at Whitis Avenue and West 27th Street. She attended Wooldridge Elementary and graduated from Austin High School in 1948. She attended Smith College in Northhampton, Mass., and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Texas. She married Bayard Spence Wilson on Dec. 20, 1964. They had a daughter, Nancy S. Garrison, who helps run a different kind of family business, Garrison Brothers Distillery near Hye in western Blanco County.

James Carville: Crockett broke ‘first rule of politics’ with Senate campaign launch

Democratic strategist James Carville mapped out on Thursday what he sees are possible problems with Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s (D-Texas) announcement to run for Senate, saying she broke the “first rule of politics.” “First of all, she seems like she’s well-educated,” Carville told his “Politics War Room” podcast co-host Al Hunt. “Seems like she’s got a lot of energy. But she, to me, she violates the first rule of politics and that is, in politics, you always make it about the voters and never about yourself.” Carville added that “if you listen to her talk, it’s a lot more about herself than it is about the voters.” He suggested that she help more vulnerable Democrats in Texas keep their seats while also staying in Congress. “We know what wins elections,” he continued. “We just do, and what wins elections is not sitting there talking incessantly about yourself. Winning elections is not about how many clicks you get or how much overnight fundraising you do. Winning elections is being part of framing issues and understanding where people come from.”

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He concluded that he doesn’t “think Congresswoman Crockett is very good at that, I’ll be very frank.” Carville and Hunt praised her primary opponent in the race to take Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) Senate seat, state Rep. James Talarico (D). Carville said Talarico “has potential.” “He talks about voters more than himself, which is a big thing here,” Carville said, to which Hunt replied, “That’s what it’s all about.” Crockett, a rising star in the Democratic Party, announced her Senate bid Monday and addressed people’s concern over her intended exit from the House to the upper chamber. “There are a lot of people that said, ‘You got to stay in the House. We need our voice. We need you there.’ And I understand, but what we need is for me to have a bigger voice,” Crockett said at her campaign launch event. Her campaign launch followed former Rep. Colin Allred (D) dropping out of the race earlier in the day. Allred’s departure clears the way for a showdown between Crockett and Talarico, another Democratic Party rising star. Republicans relished the launch of her Senate campaign. Cornyn, who is already facing primary challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), told Semafor in an interview, “Am I hiding my glee? I’ll try to wipe the smile off my face, I would say it’s a gift.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) rubbed his hands together and gave a wide smile after a reporter asked for his thoughts on Crockett’s campaign. “I’m absolutely delighted that Jasmine Crockett is running for Senate in Texas,” Johnson said. I think it’s one of the greatest things that’s happened to the Republican Party in a long, long time.” Johnson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) separately called her “the face of the Democratic Party.“

Abraham Quintanilla, father of music icon Selena, has died, family announces

The father of music icon Selena Quintanilla, Abraham Quintanilla, has died, his family announced on social media. In an Instagram post, Quintanilla’s son, A.B. Quintanilla III, shared the news along with a photo of his father. “It’s with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my Dad passed away today…” the post read. His cause of death was not shared to the public. Quintanilla was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and gained recognition in 1956 for his group, the Dinos. He later became known as the father of Selena and founder of Selena y Los Dinos.

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Quintanilla was instrumental in launching Selena’s career, managing her early performances and helping build the family band that would take her to international fame. After Selena’s death in 1995, he remained a fierce guardian of her legacy, overseeing her music, brand, and continued influence across generations. Quintanilla was also recently featured in the Netflix documentary, “Selena Y Los Dinos: A Family Legacy.”

Texas sues Wisconsin-based Epic Systems, accusing it of running a monopoly

The state of Texas in a new lawsuit claims Verona-based Epic Systems is running an illegal monopoly and restricting parents’ access to their children’s medical records. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit against Epic on Wednesday, accusing the company of using its outsized influence over electronic health records to snuff out competition and limit access to data. The suit accuses Epic of running an “anticompetitive playbook” to maintain its health records “monopoly.” The suit says its goal is to “dismantle Epic’s monopoly” and hold the company accountable for restricting competition.

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“We will not allow woke corporations to undermine the sacred rights of parents to protect and oversee their kids’ medical well-being,” Paxton said in a statement announcing the Epic litigation. “This lawsuit aims to ensure that Texans can readily obtain access to these records and benefit from the lower costs and innovation that come from a truly competitive electronic health records market.” But an Epic spokesperson says Texas’ action is “flawed and misguided” because it fails to understand the company’s business model and position in the market. The company maintains it doesn’t determine parental access to health records. Paxton, a prominent Republican who is running for U.S. Senate in Texas, previously filed at least 100 lawsuits against the Biden administration and tried to overturn 2020 presidential election results in other states, including Wisconsin. He was acquitted in an impeachment trial in 2023 after allegedly abusing his office to protect a political donor. The Texas lawsuit comes as Epic has faced antitrust lawsuits over the last year, in which competitors have accused the company of trying to prevent competition. The suit says patient data is the backbone of the U.S. health care system and that Epic has “amassed control over patient data” by locking hospitals into the company’s electronic health records system. That’s allowed Epic to “insert itself as a gatekeeper,” controlling who can access patient data, when they can access it and the terms they can access it under, the suit says. According to the lawsuit, Epic’s database houses more than 325 million patient records, representing more than 90 percent of all U.S. citizens. Once a hospital is in an Epic database, the suit alleges “it is almost impossible to get out” because switching electronic health records providers can take up to a decade and cost more than $1 billion.

Future for Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum unclear after WTAMU announcement

The future of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum remains uncertain after an announcement made by West Texas A&M University’s president last month. West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler announced November 18, in a meeting with Panhandle-Plains Historical Society board members, that the university is unable to provide long-term funding and maintenance for the museum. NewsChannel10 reached out to WTAMU, which provided the following statement: This comes after the university closed the doors to the museum back in March due to the building being deemed unsafe by fire marshals.

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“The building is not safe to operate as a museum right now,” said Mark White, PPHS board of trustees. “In 1932 there was a lease agreement requiring the state of Texas, working in conjunction with the A&M Board of Regents, to maintain that building, but it has not been maintained.” White says while the news came as a shock and is disappointing, the society has begun having conversations with local institutions in order to keep the over two million artifacts in our region. “We want to keep the museum local, absolutely important to the people in this area. So, we will be doing that. The other thing I want to mention is that the employees that we have at the museum, the wonderful employees that we have at the museum, they will continue to be employed by the society,” said White. White says they are excited for the future and anticipate a museum that is even larger than the original.

Ector County judge rules against TGAA in Odessa lawsuit

An Ector County judge has ruled that an agreement at the center of a lawsuit involving the Texas Government Accountability Association (TGAA) and the City of Odessa is not valid and cannot be enforced. The ruling means the agreement carries no legal authority, according to the City of Odessa. Earlier this year, TGAA tried to compel the City into arbitration so the dispute would be heard by an arbitrator instead of a judge.

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The City opposed that effort and sought to have the matter decided in a court of law. A temporary order had paused the arbitration process. With the new ruling, the judge has made that pause permanent. TGAA, along with anyone acting on its behalf, is no longer permitted to pursue arbitration against the City. This decision resolves the final outstanding issue in the lawsuit. The judge denied all remaining requests in the case and stated that the order is final unless appealed. The City of Odessa said it is pleased with the outcome and remains committed to transparency, fairness and responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources.

Alejandra Salinas wins Houston City Council runoff race

Houston lawyer Alejandra Salinas won the runoff election Saturday for the at-large seat on City Council by clinching more than 57% of the vote, according to unofficial results. Dwight Boykins, a lobbyist and former City Council member, trailed with 43%. Salinas and Boykins were the two top vote-getters, with 21.9% and 21% of the vote, respectively, in a crowded Nov. 4 general election for the seat that opened when Council Member Letitia Plummer resigned to run for Harris County judge. "Tonight is a night to celebrate. Tomorrow, we get to work," Salinas wrote in a statement. Salinas' wife, Elizabeth, stood beside her as she told a crowd at her watch party the reason she decided to run: Their fear of what they were seeing across the county, and how they wanted to do more. "We wanted to create a campaign of hope and joy and inclusivity, and send a message that right here in Houston, we're going to stand up to the hatred, we're going to stand up to the fear and show them that with love and inclusivity and hope and whole lot of hard work, we can make the city better for everyone," Salinas said as the crowd cheered.

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Salinas dominated fundraising throughout the race, which she ran – literally and figuratively – on foot. The power of block walking helped her collect more than $210,000. Salinas’ most recent campaign finance report showed she had a little more than $87,000 on hand. Boykins, by comparison, earned nearly $30,000 throughout the race and had more than $32,000 on hand, according to his most recent campaign finance report. At her watch party at Side Peace Sports Bar on Washington Avenue Saturday night, Salinas milled around a packed room of supporters that included state Rep. Christina Morales, Council Member Abbie Kamin and former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who's now running for the Democratic nomination for Harris County judge. Salinas told the Chronicle she couldn't be prouder of the campaign she ran as a first-time candidate reaching 2.4 million Houstonians. She said she'll prioritize making sure the city delivers essential services well and push to create strong infrastructure.

DeeJay Johannessen: There will be a Pride event in 2026

(DeeJay Johannessen is CEO of Help Center for LGBTQ+ Health, the organization that produces Arlington Pride.) Thank you all for the support, concert — and yes, the anger and disappointment. I want to address those opposing the decision to suspend Arlington Pride. “Let me be clear: There will be a Pride event in 2026. My strong hope is that it will be in Arlington — just not on June 6th. The majority of this city believes in basic civil rights for everyone, and they are joined by city leaders and council members who are fighting alongside us. “What we will not do is play along — smile, entertain and hope you like us while our rights are stripped away. Those days are over. Arlington Pride will not be used as a political prop to validate that everything “is fine” in Arlington.

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Additionally, I expect this issue to be well resolved before June, but I will not gamble with the safety of 10,000 people by hosting an event at the steps of City Hall and hoping nothing goes wrong. That’s exactly the chaos some would like to see. Arlington Pride has always been — and will remain — a safe, welcoming and powerful event, where families can celebrate without fear. “Thank you to everyone who spoke up. You made it clear that Pride is far more than a party — it matters. And for those who know me, this will come as no surprise: I will never stand down when it comes to our civil rights. Failing to fight would be a personal, moral and ethical failure — and I will not fail the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth who are watching to see if someone will protect them.

Kyle, Pflugerville voters choose new mayors in runoff elections

Voters in Travis, Hays and Williamson Counties cast their ballots in a few runoff elections on Saturday, choosing their next mayors and council members. The bigger elections on Saturday were the runoffs for Kyle and Pflugerville’s mayors and four other races held in Central Texas, are below.

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Kyle voters chose between the top two candidates from November’s mayoral election after none of the four candidates received more than 50% of the vote. Of those four, Saturday’s runoff election came down to Yvonne Flores-Cale and Robert Rizo. Preliminary results from Saturday’s election have Flores-Cale as the winner of the race, with 50.83% of the vote Saturday. A runoff election for the position of Mayor of Pflugerville was called on Nov. 18, 2025, after none of the candidates in the Nov. 4 election won more than 50% of the vote, according to the city. The two candidates who received the most votes in the November election and advanced to the runoff on Saturday were Pat McCord and Doug Weiss. Some voters in Buda, Kyle, Leander, and San Marcos chose their next city council representative. For Buda City Council District C, Kimberly Goodman and Jeffrey Morales both received about 43% of the vote in the November election and advanced to the runoff. Voters chose Goodman as the winner in Saturday’s runoff election. She had 50.79% of the vote. For Kyle City Council District 1, incumbent Bear Heiser advanced to a runoff with challenger Courtney Goza. Heiser received about 40% of the vote in November, while Goza received 27%. Voters chose Goza as the winner in Saturday’s runoff election, with 50.80% of the vote. For Leander City Council Place 3, Natomi Blair and Anna Yelaun moved ahead to a runoff in this race. Blair received about 48% of the vote in November’s election, while Yelaun picked up 40%. Voters chose Blair as the winner in Saturday’s runoff election, with 53.78% of the vote. For San Marcos City Council Place 2, Josh Paselk and incumbent Saul Gonzales advanced to the runoff. In November’s election, Paselk received 35% of the vote, while Gonzales won 27%. Voters chose Paselk as the winner in Saturday’s runoff election. He got 54.50% of the vote.

Renee Patterson wins Houston City College trustee runoff

Renee Jefferson Patterson won the race for Houston City College's District II trustee, representing portions of northeast and east Houston, according to unofficial results. Patterson secured 55.6% of the vote, while Kathleen "Kathy" Lynch Gunter had 43.4%, according to preliminary results. The runoff election came after Patterson led with 49% of the vote to Gunter's 33% in the Nov. 4 general election. A third candidate, Desmond Spencer, earned nearly 18%, preventing Patterson from securing the majority. Patterson led by around 500 votes as of 11 p.m. Saturday, with around 3,800 votes cast. Around two-thirds of Harris County voting centers were reporting as of 11 p.m. Saturday.

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Patterson was first appointed in February to fill a vacancy left when previous trustee Charlene Ward Johnson won a seat in the state Legislature. Since then, Patterson, a former Houston City Council candidate and interior designer, has been an advocate for HCC's VAST Academy for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. An HCC alumni, Patterson said she hopes to expand the university's North Forest campus and bring more resources to her home neighborhood of Acres Homes. "It's been a very emotional journey for me ... but I'm excited. I'm grateful," Patterson said. "I'm just excited about being able to give students in the community the opportunity that was given to me." The winner will help oversee one of HCC's largest and diverse trustee districts, which stretched from northwest Houston near Spring Branch to North Forest in the city's far northeast. The board leads one of the nation's largest community colleges, with 95,000 students enrolled in 2024-25, chancellor Margaret Ford Fisher said. The community college's enrollment gains have neared pre-COVID levels, and it has seen recent improvements under a state funding model that ties allocations to student outcomes like graduation.

John Whitmire unveils party support amid 'civil war' for Houston Democrats

Several top Houston elected officials and community advocates are attempting to rally support for Mayor John Whitmire as precinct chairs with the Democratic party weigh whether to deny him future endorsements, according to a letter leaked to the Houston Chronicle. Whitmire, a Democrat who spent 50 years in the Texas Senate before stepping into the mayor’s seat in 2024, caught heat from the party when he appeared as a special guest at an April fundraiser for GOP U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw. Whitmire and his team reasoned at the time that the mayor worked with everyone who helped the city accomplish its goals, and experts said it wasn’t unusual for mayors of large cities to build bridges among members of the opposite party. Notably, the office of Houston mayor is also nonpartisan.

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A swath of more than 100 Democratic precinct chairs, though, begged to differ. They penned a series of resolutions shortly after the Crenshaw fundraiser that called for ending the Harris County Democratic Party’s future endorsements of Whitmire, and to hold elected officials to the same fundraising standards as precinct chairs. Precinct chairs take an oath when they are sworn in to not raise funds for members of the opposite party. The resolution regarding fundraising failed in September. The resolution to deny Whitmire future endorsements will be voted on this Sunday. A version of the letter obtained by the Chronicle highlights some of Whitmire’s accomplishments as mayor and during his time in the statehouse. It points out how Whitmire stood with workers at the Hilton Americas as they went on strike for fair wages. Denying the mayor's future party endorsements, it states, would be “deeply harmful” to the Democratic party’s “unity and strength” as they looked toward securing victories in the 2026 election cycle. “Not everything we see in headlines or online tells the full story,” one version of the letter reads. “The mayor is currently engaged in complex, high-stakes negotiations behind the scenes to protect our city, including navigating challenges with the state and federal governments. These efforts may not always be highly visible or political theater, but they are essential to defending Houston’s interests in the difficult political climate we face.”

North Texas layoffs top 10,000 in 2025, but experts say DFW's economy remains strong

North Texas faced a wave of layoffs this year according to the Texas Workforce Commission. As of December, employers across the Metroplex announced over 10,000 layoffs. The largest sectors impacted are in logistics, retail technology and corporate administrative operations, according to Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification, also known as WARN notices Most recently, FedEx announced it will layoff 856 employees in the coming months at its Coppell distribution center. The company is closing the center in favor of a third-party partner. These layoffs come on the back of FedEx’s announcement it would layoff over 500 more people at its Fort Worth distribution center in May. Meanwhile, Dallas County saw the largest amount of layoffs at 4,721. The biggest of those was the Coppell FedEx closure, but layoffs at the Chewy Fulfillment Center and Southwest Airlines added a significant amount as well.

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Chewy’s Fulfilment Center saw a reduction of 647 employees as of June. The center did not close, but the company told the TWC it would remain open in a significantly lower capacity. In April, Southwest Airlines eliminated 626 positions at Love Field in order to “fund the right work, reduce duplicative efforts, and have a lean organizational structure that drives clarity and pace.” The largest layoff in Tarrant County came after the City of Fort Worth ended its partnership with MedStar earlier this year. MedStar, a private ambulance company, ended its operations in the city. That prompted 589 layoffs in July. However, according to MedStar, most employees were able to find similar roles with the city. Most recently, the Sheraton Arlington Hotel, LeeMAH Electronics, S&S Activewear, CRST Expedited and Transportation Solutions announced their own layoffs totaling 231 employees to start off December. Economists like SMU's Dean Stansel say the region has historically withstood labor disruptions better than most major metros, thanks to rapid population growth and diverse business base.

National Stories

12 killed in Sydney beachside Chanukah event shooting

Twelve people were killed and at least 29 injured in a terrorist shooting that targeted a Chanukah party on Bondi Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Sunday afternoon, according to Australian authorities. The attack involved two gunmen, one of whom is believed to be among the fatalities, according to a New South Wales Police statement. The second shooter sustained critical injuries, it added. Shortly after the shooting occurred, police located a vehicle nearby which they believe contained several improvised explosive devices. Bomb disposal units worked to neutralize the devices, police said. The attack took place at a Chanukah celebration attended by thousands of people and organized by the Chassidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, according to Amichai Chikli, Israel’s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism.

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“I am in continuous contact with leaders of the Jewish community in Australia,” stated Chikli. “There are many casualties, including fatalities. I will provide updates as soon as additional details become available.” According to Chabad spokesman Motti Seligson, one of the organization’s rabbis was among those murdered. The slain rabbi was identified as Eli Schlanger, a U.K.-born Chabad emissary in Sydney. Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese told a press conference following the attack, “This afternoon, there has been a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi at the Chanukah by the Sea celebration.” “This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Chanukah—which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith,” continued the premier. “An act of evil antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation,” he said. “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”

Brown University shooter in custody, officials say

A shooter dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded nine others at Brown University on Saturday during final exams on the Ivy League campus, authorities said, and police now appear to have apprehended the suspect. University President Christina Paxson said she was told that 10 people who were shot were students. Another person was injured by fragments from the shooting, but it was not clear if that victim was a student, she said. Officers scattered across the campus and into an affluent neighborhood filled with historic and stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, backyards and porches late into the night after the shooting erupted in the afternoon.

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The suspect was a man in dark clothing who was last seen leaving the engineering building where the attack happened, said Timothy O’Hara, deputy chief of Providence police. Authorities said Sunday morning that the suspect they believe is responsible for the shooting is now in custody. Security footage showed the suspect walking away from the building, but his face was not visible. Some witnesses reported that the man, who could be in his 30s, may have been wearing a camouflage mask, O’Hara said.

Poll: Trump's MAGA base is still behind him — but cracks are showing ahead of 2026

President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains steadily underwater among adults as he nears the end of his first year back in the White House, and he has lost some ground among his “Make America Great Again” base, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. Trump’s approval has inched down in 2025 amid concern about the economy, while Americans remain worried about inflation and costs after Trump’s campaign promises to ease those anxieties. Respondents’ concerns were apparent in everyday spending decisions like grocery shopping, holiday spending and more, the poll shows. Other high-profile Trump decisions, including his handling of the controversy over the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files, have scored negatively with Americans. Trump initially opposed a congressional move to force the release of the files before relenting to pressure from both parties last month.

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Overall, the poll underlines how the intense support that Trump rode to a second presidential term has weakened — and how the intensity of the opposition to him has grown. American adults largely disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with his approval rating at 42% and disapproval at 58% in the new poll. That’s a slight approval rating drop of 3 points (from 45%) over the course of four polls since April, the first time the survey was conducted. The new poll surveyed 20,252 adults online, including people registered to vote and not registered to vote, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points. But underneath this modest decrease in approval are more subtle shifts in the intensity of feelings about the president — both positive and negative. The share of people who strongly approve of Trump (21%) has dropped over the course of the year (26% in April). Slightly more people now say they strongly disapprove of Trump (44%) compared to April (42%).

The eerie parallels between AI mania and the dot-com bubble

Is it karma? Coincidence? Either way, the ghost of the dot-com bubble is back 25 years later. Shares in Cisco Systems CSCO -1.85%decrease; red down pointing triangle, the dot-com-era champion that became the world’s most valuable company at its peak in March 2000, this week reached that level again for the first time. It’s a cautionary tale of how far stock prices can depart from reality. Bulls spend a lot of time denying that there’s a 1990s-style bubble inflating again in artificial intelligence. But it’s worth going through a few of the striking similarities, and some notable differences.

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There are lots of ways of valuing stocks, and pretty much all of them make U.S. shares look the most expensive since the dot-com bubble. The forward price-to-earnings ratio, price to cash flow, the “Fed model” calculation of the extra reward offered by stocks compared with bonds and the cyclically adjusted PE ratio all scream that stocks are expensive. The reason is common to them all: Investors are, just as in 1999-2000, betting on a new technology to deliver much faster than usual profit growth. If it happens, it justifies higher valuations. Just as the dot-coms were priced based on hope that the internet would deliver a new era of profits from business models that were yet to be proven, so with AI. Generative AI has delivered chatbots and image generation that seem to be not far from magic—but is, for now, priced well below what it costs to produce, leading to big losses at AI businesses. One difference: Many of the pure-play dot-coms didn’t even have revenue, while the AI companies are at least making some sales.

Another blue wave? Meet the Democrat trying to make it happen and the Republican trying to stop her

ven though Republican Brian Jack is only a first-term congressman, he has become a regular in the Oval Office these days. As the top recruiter for his party’s House campaign team, the Georgia native is often reviewing polling and biographies of potential candidates with President Donald Trump. Lauren Underwood, an Illinois congresswoman who does similar work for Democrats, has no such West Wing invitation. She is at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue working the phones to identify and counsel candidates she hopes can erase Republicans’ slim House majority in November’s midterm elections. Although they have little in common, both lawmakers were forged by the lessons of 2018, when Democrats flipped dozens of Republican-held seats to turn the rest of Trump’s first term into a political crucible. Underwood won her race that year, and Jack became responsible for dealing with the fallout when he became White House political director a few months later.

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Underwood wants a repeat in 2026, and Jack is trying to stand in her way. For Republicans, that means going all-in on Trump and his “Make American Great Again” agenda, gambling that durable enthusiasm from his base will overcome broader dissatisfaction with his leadership. “You’re seeing a lot of people very inspired by President Trump,” Jack said about his party’s House candidates. “They’re excited to serve in this body alongside him and the White House. That’s been a tool and a motivating factor for so many people who want to run.” Underwood said she is looking for candidates with community involvement and public service beyond Washington politics. A registered nurse, she was a health care advocate before she ran in 2018, joining a cadre of Democratic newcomers that included military veterans, educators, activists and business owners. “It’s about having ordinary Americans step up” in a way that “draws a sharp contrast with the actions of these MAGA extremists,” she said.

Trump wants the U.S. shipbuilding industry to be great again. Here's what it will take, and what's at stake

President Donald Trump has vowed to lead a revival in U.S. shipbuilding, but the success of this manufacturing renaissance in a key sector for national security will rely on the expertise from overseas. The administration’s goal of a shipbuilding boom is a part of Trump’s “Make America Great” policy agenda. Trump signed an executive order in April to bolster the shipbuilding industry, but many industry executives have warned it won’t be easy given the current state of the domestic industry, and foreign investment and collaboration are key. The Trump administration’s “Make American Shipyards Great Again” initiative is looking to build out liquified natural gas tankers, polar ice-breakers, and Navy vessels. “The American shipbuilding industry saw a boom twice in the past 110 years,” Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at Xeneta, tells CNBC. “The first boom was during World War I, the second, World War II,” he said.

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global commercial shipbuilding industry. The U.S. presently has eight active shipyards. China has over 300. The Trump administration’s shipbuilding plan is an extension of an investigation into Chinese shipbuilding by the United States Trade Representative under the Biden and Trump administrations. The USTR 301 investigation found the Chinese government has bolstered its shipbuilding dominance through the use of significant subsidies and designating the industry as strategic. The investigation said the acts, policies, and practices were “unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” The U.S. recently began to charge fees on ships built in China visiting U.S. ports, which led to retaliatory measures from China, but the two nations agreed to a one-year pause as part of a November trade truce. In 2008, China surpassed Japan in shipbuilding output. In 2010, China overtook South Korea to become the world’s largest shipbuilder, both in production capacity and new orders. Since then, China’s lead has continued to grow. Its global market share in shipbuilding stands at 53%, followed by South Korea and Japan.

Copyright December 14, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved