August 17, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers critical over new border wall Big Bend region construction

Construction is underway in the Big Bend region of Texas amid public concern, following months of rumors. Residents in the area first reported contractors with heavy machinery moving into the area in early August. Video and pictures taken by Terlingua resident Natalie Newman and shared widely on social media show bulldozers clearing brush in Big Bend National Park near Santa Elena Canyon, one of the park's most recognizable and visited spots. The crews are working for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which says this video shows them doing survey and design work. CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement that they are working to preserve the landscape and protect the access that visitors and local businesses depend on.

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"Big Bend belongs to the American people, and our job is to keep it safe. So, let's be clear about what is - and is not - happening there. CBP is building one new access road, improving existing roads, installing detection technology, and placing vehicle barriers in limited, strategic locations. We are NOT building a 30-foot wall or stadium lighting through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, or the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area," Scott said. Even so, concerned residents gathered at Big Bend National Park last week to protest the Trump administration's actions. Also, last week, Sen. John Cornyn sent a letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security, asking him to meet with Texas stakeholders before any additional construction takes place within Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. CBS News Texas spoke with residents in the area who are upset about what's happening. "The roadways they want to put in require almost as much destruction as would be necessary to put in a vertical wall, especially some of the areas that they've proposed putting the roads," said Natalie Newman, a Terlingua resident whose video of construction crews was shared widely on social media. "I'm glad Cornyn is doing what a true Texan should do, especially one who's elected to his office. Stand up for the rights of the landowners in the state, and stand up for the parks that are America's playground, our playground," said Charlie Angell, who runs a business as a river guide. Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, also spoke out against the construction work in an interview for Eye On Politics.

James Talarico’s campaign is refunding over $1 million in excess contributions

James Talarico keeps raising too much money. The Texas Democrat has already raised more than $70 million in his bid to defeat state Attorney General Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate — more than any other non-incumbent candidate has raised this cycle nationwide and millions more than his Republican rival has amassed. But scores of Talarico donors are exceeding federal donation limits, with regulators at the Federal Election Commission identifying 143 such donors who exceeded the legal limit, according to a 24-page letter they sent to the Talarico campaign this month. It’s not the first time Talarico, who is attempting to become the first Texas Democrat elected to statewide office since 1994, has received such a missive: Every quarter since its inception, Talarico for Texas has received warnings about accepting donations beyond the legal limit.

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The campaign, in turn, has to date reported 534 refunds totaling $844,347. Another quarter-million dollars or so worth of refunds or reattributions are expected after the FEC’s latest letter. Among the flagged Talarico donors is Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who made two donations in March for $2,000 and $2,500 designated for the general election — $1,000 over the legal limit. (Polis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.) One of the largest reported contributions came from Robert E. Price, the son of Sol Price, who founded the companies that would become Costco. He donated a lump sum of $14,000 to Talarico’s campaign, well above the federal limit. Unlike Price, many of the donors who exceeded the FEC limit on contributions didn’t make a single large contribution. Rather, their small-dollar donations added up to more than the $3,500 individuals are allowed to give per election. Sharon Freeto, a retiree from San Antonio, had 20 of her Talarico campaign contributions flagged this month by the FEC for giving over the contribution limit — 10 of which were made on April 24, according to federal records. “I have no memory of how that happened. That’s a lot of money,” Freeto said of the April transactions. She added that she agreed to make monthly donations to the campaign. Freeto said she had already received a refund for some of her contributions.

Democrats face a potential Tea Party moment

A movement of young, progressive outsiders has stormed Democratic politics this year, sparking a wave of contentious primary contests across the country and fueling a fraught debate over whether these new, left-wing candidates are remaking the party in their image. But as primary season winds to a close, the results reveal not only the strength but also the potential limitations of this insurgent movement. In Minnesota last week, Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor, won a Senate primary by a double-digit margin, pressing a fiercely progressive message to defeat a more moderate opponent. Just a week earlier, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a left-leaning Democrat, won a Senate primary in Michigan despite being vastly outspent. And Francesca Hong, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, came close to winning a primary for governor in Wisconsin, falling short by less than one percentage point.

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The results marked a new level of political strength for candidates affiliated with a resurgent, activist left, showing that their movement can be competitive in statewide primaries, well beyond deep-blue House districts. Yet while a vocal group of strategists, activists and college-educated voters have raced to embrace these pugnacious, boldly liberal — and in some cases untested — candidates, some of the voters who have historically been most crucial to the party’s fortunes remain skeptical. In Michigan and Wisconsin, both pivotal battleground states, the progressive candidates appeared to have struggled to sway voters who have long been the backbone of the party — including Black, more moderate and older Americans who vote reliably. As left-wing candidates have notched victories in primary after primary, many progressives hope they will be able to move the Democratic Party further to the left — mirroring, in some ways, how the rise of the Tea Party movement nearly two decades ago pushed the Republican Party much further to the right. But the results raise questions about whether these candidates can piece together a broad enough coalition of Democrats, independents and moderates to win general elections in swing states that could determine whether Democrats are able to regain power in Congress and, eventually, the White House.

‘Uncharted territory’: Second-largest reservoir in US plunges to a record low

Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the United States, provides water and electricity to millions in the West. It has now has shrunk to its lowest level on record, in the latest sign of the alarming crisis unfolding on the drought-stricken Colorado River. The reservoir’s levels dropped to 3519.91 feet on Saturday, breaking the record low of 3,519.92 feet set in April 2023, according to data from the US Bureau of Reclamation published Sunday. It is now just under 30 feet away from the point at which its dam will no longer be able to generate hydropower. The record comes nine days after downstream Lake Mead, the US’s biggest reservoir, dropped to its lowest level since it was first filled nine decades ago. “We are in uncharted territory,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University.

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Lakes Mead and Powell, which are essentially one gigantic reservoir separated by the Grand Canyon, hold just under 60% of the total water currently stored in the Colorado River basin. The unprecedented decline of these vast bodies of water, which have been shrinking for more than 20 years, drives home the perilous state of the river that feeds them. Known as the lifeblood of the Southwest, the Colorado River starts in the Rocky Mountains, fed by melting snowpack, and ends in the Gulf of California in Mexico. It provides water to roughly 40 million people and irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland across seven states: California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Climate change-fueled drought and increases in temperature, combined with years of heavy water use, have caused the crucial waterway to shrink by roughly 20% since 2000. And Mead and Powell have been heavily affected. Spanning parts of Arizona and Utah, Lake Powell formed behind the Glen Canyon Dam, which was constructed in the 1950s. The vast reservoir started filling in 1963 and took 17 years to reach its full pool level of 3,700 feet above sea level.

State Stories

CyrusOne wants to earn Texans’ trust amid data center boom

Amid the uncertainty surrounding data centers, one Dallas-based company aims to earn the trust of Texas residents. CyrusOne has 15 data centers in Texas, located on campuses in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. It’s also planning to add facilities in Castroville, Clifton and Fairfield. It’s part of a boom that’s set to make Texas the world’s largest data center market — surpassing Virginia — amid the growth of artificial intelligence and cloud-based technologies, according to a recent report from real estate firm JLL. There are at least 335 operational facilities in the state and more than 248 planned projects. But amid this new wave of development, the industry remains shrouded in mystery, with several companies keeping mum about specific details of their centers. Nearby residents, city officials and even state leaders have expressed concerns about the industry’s lack of information.

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Katy Hancock, the company’s vice president of community affairs, said that while CyrusOne can’t invite guests into its facilities, it wants to be transparent about its operations in Texas and beyond. “We are doing everything we can to show up earlier, come into the community, introduce ourselves, share details of our projects and meet with community leaders and neighbors before we make final plans,” Hancock said. “We want to take the time to explain who we are and how we do things in those conversations and hope to assuage some concerns.” Not only does CyrusOne want to provide information to educate concerned parties about its new development, but it’s now required to do so. On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott halted the approval of data centers until the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas can audit proposed projects seeking to connect to the state’s electric grid. “As a company proudly headquartered in Texas, CyrusOne shares Governor Abbott’s commitment to responsible data center development,” a spokesperson said. “We support the goals he has outlined, and we are confident that we already reflect the best-in-class development and operating principles his directives are designed to encourage. We believe transparency, accountability and thoughtful planning are essential, and remain committed to working collaboratively with state leaders, regulators, utilities and local communities to help create economic opportunities and lasting local benefits.”

UT Austin overhauling core classes but hasn’t detailed how new center relates to the courses

Future UT Austin students would have fewer classes to choose from to meet graduation requirements under a proposal university leaders presented Thursday. The plan to remake the flagship campus’ core curriculum replaces the sprawling menu of classes students can now take to meet core requirements with a more structured core curriculum organized around the humanities, social sciences and science, technology, engineering and math. But how the overhaul connects to UT Austin’s new Center for the Humanities remains unclear. A report from a 22-member faculty task force appointed by UT Austin President Jim Davis proposes 12 requirements across the core areas, compared with the current 10.

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Davis described the existing core to the University of Texas System regents as a “haphazard grab bag of classes,” pointing to a course on the history of college football as an example of a specialized class that may be a worthwhile elective but, in his view, should not fulfill half of a student’s U.S. history requirement. UT students would have to take courses focused on Western civilization, great questions of human life, the principles of American politics, world politics and cultures, great ideas in science, and computer science and artificial intelligence, according to the proposal. Recommendations include creating a “Texas 40: Great Thinkers” list for courses on great questions of human life and three separate 40-author lists for British, American and world literature courses. Great questions courses would have to draw at least two-thirds of their content from the thinkers list. Faculty members would have a chance to shape their own courses with their creativity and expertise, one of the task force members, Richard Reddick, told The Texas Tribune. “Academic freedom is a big piece of this,” Reddick said. “I can’t imagine telling our faculty colleagues, ‘Here’s your syllabus, teach this.’ It’s not going to work.”

Texas barbecue is getting a halal makeover

At 9 a.m. on a scorching Saturday in June, nearly 100 people were already lined up outside Goldee’s BBQ, a small, wooden-shack restaurant. First in line was 30-year-old Thanh Huynh, who had been sitting in a lawn chair on the joint’s rustic porch since 6:30 a.m. “I have, like, a whole list, and I’m going to spend lots of money here. It’ll be worth it,” he said, laughing while rattling off a long order of meats and sides from his phone’s Notes app as a sweet, smoky scent from nearby pits hung in the air. Opened in 2020 by a group of his friends, the restaurant was named the No. 1 barbecue spot in the state by Texas Monthly a year later, and then won a Bib Gourmand award from the prestigious Michelin Guide, given for “great food at a great value.”

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The restaurant serves classic Texas barbecue like craft pork belly, sausage and ribs. But it also offers halal brisket, turkey and lamb — meat raised and butchered in accordance with Islamic guidelines. At a time when Republican leaders are increasingly targeting the state’s growing Muslim communities, halal barbecue joints like Goldee’s are thriving in Texas. Across the state, Muslim pitmasters are gaining recognition for putting their own spin on one of Texas’ most iconic culinary traditions. At least a dozen barbecue spots now serve halal meats, including Yearby’s Barbecue & Waterice, run by Black Muslim couple CJ and Sabrina Henley, soon-to-be in Plano, and Levant Mediterranean BBQ, a restaurant with locations in Houston and Frisco and whose all-beef menu includes a brisket shawarma sandwich. “Now there are so many options, and for us to have highly rated barbecue, it’s a blessing,” said Haris Ghaffar, who drove an hour from Celina and stood in 90-degree weather for nearly two hours with a friend for the halal options at Goldee’s. Growing up in the 1990s, Ghaffar said a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich was one of the few halal meals he could eat while dining out. Back then, halal food was seen as serving a small community. Today, it’s a multibillion-dollar industry that’s part of the American culinary mainstream, said James Beard Award-winning food writer Farhan Mustafa, who wrote about the rise of American halal barbecue for Bon Appétit magazine in 2025.

Multistate controversy highlights ‘gray areas’ around surrogacy, bioethics expert says

A multistate surrogacy controversy poses significant ethical questions about the practice, according to a leading medical ethics and surrogacy expert. The case centers on an Alaska woman acting as a surrogate who traveled to Texas to give birth to a baby with a severe heart defect after she said his biological parents had declined treatment and asked that she get an abortion. McKenna West gave birth in Dallas last week. The child was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome – a rare congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart doesn’t develop fully about 20 weeks into the pregnancy. After learning about the diagnosis, the couple allegedly demanded West “undergo an abortion,” according to a statement from Texas Attorney Ken Paxton. Paxton’s office said she refused and came to Texas for “protection.”

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Arthur Caplan, a professor emeritus of bioethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, said there are so many ethical issues at the center of this case, he could spend a semester long course on just it. “You’ve got three states,” he said, “a fight between the couple that paid this woman to carry their baby and issues around the legitimacy of abortion and whether anybody could force someone to have an abortion who doesn’t want to.” Caplan recently retired after 45-year-long bioethics career, which included writing the first paper on ethical issues around infertility treatment. His latest publication on the ethics of surrogacy was published in the most recent issue of Fertility and Sterility – an international, peer-reviewed journal for OB-GYNs and other medical providers who treat issues related to human reproductive disorders. “[The] public should be paying attention to the many, many gray areas or just absolutely dark areas that this case is triggering,” he said. West said the couple wanted to end the pregnancy at 20 weeks after consulting with doctors about the diagnosis, according to AP reporting. West’s lawyers alleged the couple spent weeks pressuring West to seek an abortion after learning of the diagnosis, but court filings show they had sought medical opinions and care, the Dallas Morning News reported.

McKinney voters move to recall mayor, council after mosque vote

A group of McKinney residents has launched an effort to recall the mayor and three city council members, a week after the city council unanimously approved a contentious proposal for a new mosque. Organizers cited a “loss of public confidence” in the ability of the elected officials to represent the city’s residents in filings submitted this week to the city. The recall effort seeks to remove from office Mayor Bill Cox and council members Justin Beller, Geré Feltus and Ernest Lynch. In a statement, the mayor said residents have “every right to make their voices heard and to participate in the processes available to them.”

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“Upholding the law and the constitutional principles that guide our government is a fundamental responsibility,” he said. “Our focus remains on serving the people of McKinney and continuing the important work before us.” The three council members did not immediately respond to phone calls, text messages or emails from The Dallas Morning News. Council members Rick Franklin, Patrick Cloutier and Michael Jones are not named in the recall petition but are up for re-election next year. John Aselton, who is helping to organize the recall, said the effort is not only about the mosque but reflects broader concerns about city spending, transparency and infrastructure. He pointed to the city’s plans to expand the airport and build a new amphitheater over the objections of some residents. “There’s a long string of personal grievances from the citizens,” said Aselton, who has lived in McKinney for about a decade. “This is not about one single issue. It’s an ongoing pattern of the city council not listening to its citizens.” Recall organizers must return the completed petition within 45 days of filing the affidavit, which would be 5 p.m. Sept. 26, according to the city’s charter. To trigger a recall election, they must obtain about 5,800 signatures from registered McKinney voters — equal to at least 30% of the votes cast at the last regular municipal election.

Tom Luce remembered at Dallas funeral for lifetime of service

Across Texas, Tom Luce was known as an influential lawyer and public servant. To his family, he was simply “Pawpaw.” Family members, friends and civic leaders gathered Saturday for his funeral at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas. Luce died of cardiac arrest July 25 in Telluride, Colorado, where he had traveled for his grandson’s wedding. He was 86. The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata, rector of the church, welcomed mourners before reflections from Luce’s daughter, Ellen Luce Tucker; his grandson, Thomas Luce IV; and former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican who led the chamber from 2009 to 2019.

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Among those attending were Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Companies, and members of his family. Luce was a longtime adviser and personal attorney to Perot’s father, Ross Perot Sr., and worked closely with both generations on business and civic endeavors. Pam Luce, his wife of more than 66 years, attended with their family. Looking across the church, Tucker recalled one of her father’s rules: Show up for funerals and weddings, and arrive early. “My dad’s faith was the foundation of everything,” Tucker said. His faith shaped his family life and the causes he pursued, she said. Tucker remembered a father who helped her recognize gifts she could not see in herself, then showed her how to use them in service to others. “My dad never sat me down and had a gospel conversation with me,” she said. “Rather, he gave me a vision of the gospel day in and day out.” Straus described Luce as a trusted counselor who could turn ambitious ideas into lasting institutions.

James Talarico revives Ken Paxton’s $1,000 pen ad in Senate race

Both sides in the Texas race for U.S. Senate are running environmentally correct campaigns when it comes to recycling. But we're not talking about diverting spent cardboard pizza boxes and empty soda bottles from the state's landfills. Instead, it's about reusing old video clips and resurfacing past charges of misdeeds. By now, we've all seen years-old footage of Democratic state Rep. James Talarico questioning whether God has a biological sex or noting that some in the science community have suggested that there might be as many as six genders within the human race. Talarico has more recently acknowledged such remarks as "cringey" attempts to make larger points.

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Anyone who has listened to more than a snippet of a Talarico stump speech has been reminded that Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton had been under indictment for years on securities fraud charges filed more than a decade ago and had been impeached by the Texas House in 2023 on 16 articles of impeachment, including bribery and misuse of office. Less mentioned is that the indictment did not result in a conviction after Paxton entered into a pretrial intervention agreement that included 100 hours of community service, 15 hours of legal ethics training and $271,000 in total restitution. The impeachment did not result in Paxton’s removal from office, either. Although two Republicans joined the Senate's 12 Democrats in voting to convict Paxton on 12 articles, the GOP-controlled chamber acquitted him on all charges. But who among us recycles everything? While the above examples are usually delivered in tones both serious and stern, the race's most memorable example of recycling comes with a generous dose of whimsy. This one dates back to the 2018 election cycle, when Paxton was seeking his second term as Texas' top lawyer. A few years earlier, when he was a state senator, Paxton was passing through the metal detectors at the Collin County courthouse, where he sometimes practiced law. In one of the trays sat a pricey ink pen that Paxton tucked into his pocket. The matter was more or less forgotten until Fort Worth Democratic operative Matt Angle obtained the security video through an open records request as part of routine political research. From there, it landed in the hands of Justin Nelson, the Democratic candidate who challenged Paxton's reelection in 2018. Nelson's camp used the clip to make a lighthearted ad that strongly implied that Paxton had sticky fingers.

Greg Abbott says IAH, DFW could lose grants over Muslim accommodations

Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday threatened to revoke state grants to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston over religious accommodations for Muslim travelers. The governor referred both airports to the Trump administration for investigation and said his office was reviewing their grants after it was reported that DFW Airport was exploring plans to install Islamic foot wash stations inside its international terminal restrooms. IAH has had an ablution station connected to its Interfaith Chapel since 2024. The facilities are used by Muslims who wash their bodies before prayer five times a day. Abbott called the accommodations “religious discrimination."

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“Unlike nondenominational interfaith chapels, these ablution facilities appear designed to single out one subset of the population for special treatment based on religion,” Abbott wrote in a letter to DFW Airport CEO Christopher McLaughlin. “I am unaware of either airport installing standalone facilities to meet the particular needs of the many other religious groups represented across Texas.” A spokesperson for DFW Airport said Friday night that the project was being scrapped. "Like all proposed projects, the airport ultimately considers the operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs before approving them," Heath Montgomery, vice president of communications and marketing, said in a statement. "While that evaluation was planned, the airport accelerated its review due to elevated public interest this week and has determined not to proceed with the project as it would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits." IAH did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governor and other Republicans have spent months targeting what they call Sharia law, accusing predominant nonprofit group Council on American Islamic-Relations of having ties to foreign terrorists and entertaining right-wing conspiracies of an Islamic takeover in Texas. CAIR has denied the allegations. Muslims maintain that Sharia just refers to a moral and spiritual framework that guides them on matters like prayer and fasting. When IAH opened its ablution room and prayer room in 2024 it said in a statement “the calming and welcoming prayer room provides another option for passengers of all faiths and beliefs.”

Galveston County voters ask Texas Supreme Court to block new map

Two Galveston residents and a constable are asking the Texas Supreme Court to stop the county from using a newly redistricted map in the November general election, They argued in an emergency petition that that because a different map was used in the primary election, the county's actions violate equal protection and the election code — and set a bad precedent for the rest of the state. Lawyers for Precinct 3 Constable Derreck Rose and county residents Wilma Green and Diane Merchant filed the emergency petition for writ of mandamus, which is a type of legal remedy that asks a higher court to order a public official to correct an abuse of discretion. The Justice Department has called this type of petition an "extraordinary remedy, which should only be used in exceptional circumstances of peculiar emergency or public importance."

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"If this is not stopped, the precedent set will be horribly damaging to democracy," the petition states. "It will make Texas’s primary elections an empty exercise. The voters’ choices just cast aside on the whim of the government—the 4 very governmental officials on the ballot in the ongoing election. If polling against their general election opponent is looking bad, they can just change the map—up to the very eve of the election—to evade the voters’ judgment." Galveston County commissioners unanimously passed a motion in June to redraw boundaries for commissioner, justice of the peace and constable precincts. Galveston County Judge Mark Henry told the Chronicle in June the redrawing was done to align precincts for the "most efficient and beneficial setup," helping keep the county Republican. But because a different map — one that sparked a federal lawsuit over claims of racial discrimination — was used in the primary elections earlier this year, the emergency petition argues the change violates various parts of state election code. The petitioners argue that while the constitution allows commissioners to redistrict from time to time, they have to redistrict in accordance with state law.

Texas regulators prepare fraud case against TEXITcoin as founder denies wrongdoing

The Texas State Securities Board will begin presenting its enforcement case Monday against TEXITcoin, a Texas-themed cryptocurrency that blends digital money, multilevel marketing and the rhetoric of the Texas independence movement. The four-day evidentiary hearing is scheduled to begin Aug. 17 at the State Office of Administrative Hearings in Austin. Administrative Law Judge Katerina DeAngelo will consider whether to affirm, modify or set aside an emergency cease-and-desist order issued in February. The proceeding is an administrative case, not a criminal trial. TEXITcoin promotes itself as a digital currency created in Texas for people seeking an alternative to banks and government-issued money. Its slogan is “Built in Texas. Mined in Texas. Owned by Texans.”

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But TEXITcoin, its mining partner MineTXC, its marketing arm Blockchain Mint and founder Robert J. “Bobby” Gray, face allegations that they violated the Texas Securities Act. The Feb. 11 emergency order alleges MineTXC’s “Mining Packages” were unregistered securities offered through a multilevel marketing operation. Buyers paid for a share of computing power and received allocations of coins generated by the mining network. Participants could also receive commissions and bonuses for recruiting additional buyers. Regulators describe the packages as passive investments that Gray promoted as “seats on the TEXITcoin rocket ship.” The Securities Board alleges the respondents were not registered to sell securities and failed to disclose information that prospective purchasers needed to evaluate the risks, including details about company finances, mining operations, custody of funds and Gray’s earlier business history. “They wanted us to stop offering these alleged securities in Texas,” Gray said.

The real estate kernel of Texas Republicans’ mounting legislative attack on Muslims

The Texas Legislature is convening in January, and a slice of the state’s Republican majority has settled on a new target: Muslim Texans. The far-right True Texas Project hosted a conference earlier this month in which lawmakers proposed legislative responses to what they’re calling a “Muslim invasion,”which seems to an echo of the white supremacist “great replacement theory.” The Dallas Morning News reported on the conference and detailed the proposals, including regulations specifically intended for Muslim organizations, banning hijabs and halal foods and denying professional licenses to Muslims. It’ll be the first legislative session for the new “Sharia Free Texas” caucus, launched by state Rep. Brent Money of Greenville in March. There’s a national version, the “Sharia Free America” caucus, started by U.S. Reps. Keith Self and Chip Roy, both Republicans from Texas.

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This particular wave of anti-Muslim sentiment in Texas coalesced around the kernel of a proposed Muslim-centric master-planned community, originally pitched as EPIC City, now known as the Meadow. The 400-acre project proposed by developer Community Capital Partners sparked the ire of Texas’ top Republicans, namely Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton, when plans became public in the spring of 2025. Since then, Abbott and Paxton have unleashed state investigations, lawsuits and new legislation targeting the project’s ownership structure, prompting the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations to call the actions of state officials “Islamophic witch hunts and politically driven regulatory harassment.” Multiple lawsuits are ongoing, even after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped its inquiry into the development in June 2025 and a Travis County judge recently sided with the developer in its legal battle with the Texas Workforce Commission. Community Capital Partners continues to move forward with the development, which is set to include a mosque, school, single-family homes, apartments and senior living facilities. The community will be located in Collin and Hunt counties near Josephine.

Trump backed sway from a wall at Big Bend. But the bulldozers are here.

Texans were caught off-guard several months ago when the Trump administration appeared poised to construct a 30-foot wall through Big Bend National Park, a rugged expanse of moon-like desert that is a point of pride for many in the state. But after bipartisan opposition grew, the wall was removed from the federal government’s border construction map. Many exhaled, believing that the West Texas park, with its towering mountains and cliffs, would be spared. Then the bulldozers arrived this month. The sight of these earth-moving machines along the Rio Grande near the Santa Elena Canyon, one of the park’s major attractions, pointed to the most significant evidence of border barrier construction in the park. Contractors ripped through mesquite trees and brush and leveled the ground for more than a mile of what appeared to be a future roadway.

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Big Bend is beloved by Texans and many across the country, even those who are not among its more than 500,000 annual visitors. It is a place to feel the immense and inhospitable wilderness of West Texas, where the stars at night actually are big and bright. The construction sparked a fresh wave of anger and outrage from all sorts of people — environmentalists, former park officials, local sheriffs — who again insisted that such infrastructure was unnecessary in a border region so remote and dangerous that people have rarely tried to cross there, even at the peak of unauthorized migration. Both John Cornyn, the state’s outgoing Republican senator, and James Talarico, the Democrat running to replace him, expressed concern this month about the start of construction inside the park. “My constituents believe that the 1,000-foot riverbank cliffs and remote Big Bend terrain offers its own source of deterrence,” Mr. Cornyn said in a letter last week to the Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin. Other Republican state leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Mr. Cornyn in the Senate primary, have not weighed in directly on the construction.

National Stories

Republicans are attacking Democrats as vegans on the campaign trail

Republicans think they’ve found a winning message in some battleground races: calling their opponents vegans. In Colorado’s 8th District, where beef production is a major industry, Democratic nominee Manny Rutinel is being attacked for “a decade of pushing veganism” and “hurling disgusting insults at the agricultural community,” as Alexandria Cullen, spokesperson for GOP Rep. Gabe Evans, put it. As an undergrad, Rutinel posed shirtless draped in a PETA banner, and at Yale Law, he said animal agriculture is a “horrific, exploitive industry,” the Colorado Sun reported. In since-deleted 2017 Reddit posts, he suggested veganism as a solution to high food prices and voiced support for a movement that opposes the slaughter of animals for food.

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Rutinel says he was vegan earlier in his life, but no longer is. “The views that Manny posted nearly a decade ago are not his views today,” said Clay Volino, his campaign manager, who noted Rutinel is “laser-focused on lowering costs for families.” Republicans are making similar attacks elsewhere, trying to wage a new meat-fueled culture war. The push to point out Democrats’ veganism is often about the local economy — but it’s also cultural red meat, and comes at a time as some Republicans and MAHA activists are pushing for more Americans to embrace a more meat-centric diet. “There’s a masculinity aspect: Being a vegan is viewed as soft,” said Anang Mittal, a Republican strategist who eats meat. “If you’re trying to portray your opponent as left-wing, it’s an easier hit than arguing the policies against the person.” In Iowa’s 2nd District, home to plenty of cattle and hog farms, Republicans are exuberantly resharing an old social media post from Democratic nominee Lindsay James in which she expressed support for “Meatless May,” a solidarity movement for meat processing workers and farmed animals.

Data centers are defining the Wisconsin governor’s race

Wisconsin hates data centers. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the state’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, wants voters to think his Democratic opponent doesn’t. Tiffany entered the general governor’s race this week by claiming in a series of social media posts that Democratic candidate David Crowley wants to subsidize artificial intelligence facilities — even as the House Republican avoids supporting an all-out ban, instead calling for modest reforms and ending state subsidies for tech corporations. Crowley says he doesn’t back a full moratorium on building AI facilities, instead supporting guardrails on the centers that already exist in the state. But Tiffany’s opening argument reflects a political reality: While data center protests are popping up and disrupting campaigns across the country, there are few places where the issue is currently as salient as it is in Wisconsin.

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How the race plays out could be a sign of Republicans’ ability to tap into growing national concerns about the spread of AI facilities and their use of natural resources — a position that up until recently has been dominated by Democrats, largely due to the White House’s emphasis on developing AI in the U.S. “I don’t believe him,” Kelly Gallaher, Racine Democratic Party chair, laughing while speaking about Tiffany’s promises to address the data center issue. “It was a politically expedient thing to say. … There’s nothing in his past that shows that he’s not amenable to influence from businesses or from the White House. So I just flat-out don’t believe him.” It’s not surprising data centers have entered the general race so early, Gallaher said. Developers have swarmed the state, including Microsoft’s recent investment of more than $7 billion in “the world’s most powerful AI data center” in Mount Pleasant, located in Gallaher’s Racine County. Residents of the county she calls “Data Center Central” have voiced concerns about AI facilities for years — particularly after an infamous 2017 effort to build a Foxconn manufacturing plant there eventually failed, despite President Donald Trump’s heavy support at the time. “We have seen this become a topic of conversation that really pre-exists this particular election,” Gallaher said. “It’s been building, and the candidates have been responsive to the talk on the ground, the temperature of the people who have really big concerns about them.”

Rural economic pain tests the GOP’s grip on a Trump stronghold

The arrival of late-summer state fairs, like the one here that features a prizewinning boar weighing 1,246 pounds, signals to the political world that the midterm campaign’s final chapter is just ahead. As Iowa’s 11-day extravaganza started late last week, the state’s Republicans found themselves in an unfamiliar position: trailing Democrats in a top race and facing serious challenges in several others. Some GOP candidates didn’t mention President Trump—viewed more unfavorably than favorably in a recent Fox News poll of Iowa voters—during their highest-profile fair appearances. Democrats, meanwhile, are pouring millions into the state’s races, as rural economic pain from Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran erodes GOP support amid stagnant grain prices and higher fuel and fertilizer costs.

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Iowa, which backed Trump by 13 percentage points in 2024, is now an unexpected battleground despite years of GOP dominance. All six members of its congressional delegation are Republicans, and the Democratic National Committee was so disillusioned with Iowa, it ended a roughly five-decade tradition of Iowa hosting the party’s first presidential nominating contest. (Republicans are expected to keep it first for 2028.) Just three years ago, Trump dominated the fair as a presidential candidate. His Boeing 757 circled overhead several times even before he arrived on a day when four other presidential candidates were there competing for attention ahead of the state’s leadoff nominating caucuses. This year, Iowa’s Republican nominee for governor didn’t mention the president in his appearance on the Des Moines Register’s political soapbox, where candidates speak to fairgoers and a throng of media.“I talk about Iowa,” Zach Lahn, who is endorsed by Trump, said later when asked about the omission in his Friday speech. Joe Mitchell, the GOP nominee for a northeast Iowa congressional race, also didn’t mention Trump during his soapbox appearance. His district is rated as “lean Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Lahn has trailed his Democratic opponent, state Auditor Rob Sand , in every public poll this summer.

Donald Trump has committed too many high crimes to count. But should Democrats really impeach again?

If, as seems likely, Democrats win control of the House of Representatives in November, there will be tremendous pressure from the Democratic base to start a third round of impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. If Democrats also win the Senate, the pressure will be still greater. Trump himself has predicted that if Democrats win the midterms, “I’ll get impeached.” Would another impeachment of Donald Trump make sense? Would it be constitutionally supportable, and would it be in the best interests of the country? I attempt to answer those questions in a new book—Great and Dangerous Offences: The Case For (and Against) Impeaching Trump a Third Time—due out in early 2027. In this end-of-summer series, “Try, Try Again?,” I will lay out the case for impeachment that is most likely to earn buy-in from American voters and also consider the best arguments against another Trump impeachment. Anyone considering a third Trump impeachment has to answer two questions: First, has Trump engaged in impeachable conduct in his second term? Second, even if so, what is the purpose of a third impeachment effort, and is that purpose achievable?

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The clear answer to the first question is yes. Indeed, the perverse difficulty confronting any Trump impeachment project is that he has committed so many impeachable offenses that categorizing and explaining them all in ways the public can easily digest is a daunting challenge. Unlike the British, from whom the America’s founders adapted impeachment, the Framers wrote a definition of impeachable conduct into the Constitution—“treason, bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” That definition has often fomented debate in prior presidential impeachments, primarily because the meaning of high Crimes and Misdemeanors is not immediately evident from the words themselves. Whatever else this enigmatic phrase may cover, it is plain from British constitutional history, the statements of those involved in drafting and ratifying the U.S. Constitution, and subsequent American practice that it reaches corruption in office for the personal gain of oneself or one’s family, serious criminality, and direct violations of significant provisions of the Constitution. More importantly, it covers an effort by the president to subvert the constitutional order by evading its structure of interbranch checks and balances, undercutting democracy, degrading the rule of law, and setting himself up as an elected autocrat.

AI has plunged the book publishing industry into utter chaos

Shortly after scoring a multimillion-dollar book deal for a debut author, the novelist’s agents pulled the plug. They could no longer support the project, they said, because they couldn’t verify that the book had been wholly written by their client. “This raises so many questions about authorship and what AI means for this industry,” the agency, Europa Content, told the publishers in a July letter after allegations of AI use swirled around “Call Me, I’ll Hide the Body,” a crime novel by Jerry Falade. “But those are questions for another day.” Yet with a new AI scandal engulfing publishing seemingly every month, it’s become more difficult to punt questions about its impact into some distant future. The spectacular implosions of big book deals over suspected AI use—and fears about who might be next—are forcing a reckoning over the nature of authorship, the relationship between writers and publishers and the industry’s long-term survival. But nobody can seem to agree who exactly is responsible for solving this problem, or even how much a problem it actually is.

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Last year, 70 authors including Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Franzen signed an open letter to publishers voicing concerns about generative AI and asking them to make “a pledge that they will never release books that were created by machines.” Yet the Big Five—Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan—have largely been reluctant to make sweeping pronouncements about a technology that is both potentially lucrative and increasingly ubiquitous. (Many of them are also involved in lawsuits against tech companies for training their models on copyrighted books.) Instead, they find themselves running to put out fires when scandals over AI use become too reputationally damaging to ignore. Falade, a Southern Methodist University graduate student, has denied the accusations about his novel, calling them racially motivated. “This has just been so terrible for me,” he said in an interview on Thursday. “I haven’t been able to sleep well, I haven’t been able to eat.” In March, Hachette Book Group canceled the U.S. release of Mia Ballard’s book “Shy Girl,” a horror novel about a woman held captive by a man she met online and forced to live as his pet, amid allegations that the author had used AI in the writing process. Ballard, who originally self-published the novel before Hachette acquired the rights, has denied these claims, saying AI was used by an acquaintance who had edited the book. “Hachette remains committed to protecting original creative expression and storytelling,” the publisher said in a statement at the time. Last month, the Atlantic wrote that “Daggermouth,” a self-published dystopian romance whose rights were snapped up by Simon & Schuster, and which has consistently topped bestseller lists, contained hallmarks of AI use. The piece cited a research paper from Stony Brook University professor Tuhin Chakrabarty that ran the book through the AI detection tool Pangram. The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed, and the author has denied the allegations, publicly saying she does not believe that generative AI belongs in the writing process.

Trump orders military to reduce joint exercises with South Korea

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has directed the Defense Department to scale down joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the U.S. ally’s refusal to join the war in Iran and his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Trump said the large, annual military drills sent a “signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, a nuclear-armed state with which the U.S. has no formal diplomatic ties but which Trump says has been “unthreatening and respectful” as long as he has been president. “Based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote on social media. His announcement came just hours before the drills were set to start.

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“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote. It was not immediately clear what a scaled-down version of the training would look like. The South Korean defense ministry said Monday that the drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield and scheduled to last until Aug. 27, were “proceeding as planned.” In a statement on Monday, the office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said the U.S. and South Korea had “maintained close coordination” on joint exercises and training and would continue to do so. Like Trump, Lee has expressed support for the resumption of talks with North Korea, which remains technically at war with South Korea after the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The government “hopes that the friendly relationship between the leaders of the United States and North Korea will lead to meaningful U.S.-North Korea dialogue, thereby opening discussions aimed at advancing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” Lee’s office said. “To this end, the government will make the necessary diplomatic efforts as a ‘pace-setter,’ in close coordination with the United States.”

Haley Stevens urges El-Sayed to ditch Hasan Piker affiliation after Michigan primary

Democratic anxiety rises in the Michigan Senate race as a new Fox News poll shows Republican Mike Rogers leading Abdul El-Sayed. Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens joins Jacqui Heinrich to defend the party's platform, address demographic underperformance and outline strategies to mobilize key voters ahead of the crucial upcoming election. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., urged Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in Michigan's fierce Democratic primary election, to sever ties with controversial, far-left streamer Hasan Piker on "The Sunday Briefing," saying the party's nominee should now turn his attention toward Michigan voters as he pivots to the general election. Stevens maintained her primary-season criticism of Piker even while backing El-Sayed, describing herself as still committed to the party.

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"It certainly makes sense to get rid of this Hasan Piker affiliation," she said, also asserting that the Democratic plans for healthcare, democracy and Black-owned businesses are better than those of Republican Mike Rogers, who will oppose El-Sayed in the Senate race. Asked whether El-Sayed had said or done anything other than winning the Democratic nomination to earn the support and assuage the concerns of groups that voted for Stevens, such as Jewish voters, Black voters or Reagan-era Democrats, Stevens pointed to her own good performance with those demographics, identifying herself as a Zionist Democrat and asserting that her party had room for all those communities. "I came really close [to winning the primary] and I'm still a Democrat. I'm still out here talking about my views and values. I want the people who share my views and values to feel safe and to feel heard in the Democratic Party." The face-off to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who backed Stevens, is a must-win contest for Democrats and one of roughly a dozen general election Senate races expected to determine whether Republicans retain their narrow majority.

Copyright August 17, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved