July 9, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Graham Platner ends U.S. Senate campaign in Maine

Graham Platner, the populist political newcomer who Democrats had hoped could flip a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine, ended his campaign Wednesday night after a woman he previously dated publicly accused him of sexual assault. “We believe for the movement to continue, it can’t be me and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said Wednesday night. The development, a month after Platner won the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, injects fresh chaos into Democrats’ uphill battle to retake the Senate in November. Democrats need to win four seats held by Republicans, and hold their own, to win control of the chamber.

click here for more

Democratic Party leaders have until July 27 to decide on a new standard-bearer in one of the marquee races of the midterm elections, as Collins tries to hold on for a sixth term representing a state that Democrat Kamala Harris won by 7 percentage points in 2024. The selection process remains unclear — but jockeying to replace Platner began before he even dropped out. Several candidates have already publicly expressed interest in running, while Platner allies urged Democrats to choose a new nominee who aligned with his politics and Platner privately sought influence over the decision. Democratic unease about Platner had been growing for months. The 41-year-old oyster farmer faced an escalating series of scandals since launching his challenge to Collins last summer, including old social media posts dismissive of sexual assault, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he later had covered up, sexually explicit text messages he sent to other women after he married in 2023, and allegations of physical violence by ex-girlfriends. Nevertheless, many high-profile supporters — including Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) — initially stood by Platner. He attributed the revelations about his behavior to poor mental health and post-tramautic stress from his service in the Marine Corps and denied any violence.

Pulido responds to reports about former accordionist

Grammy Award-winning Tejano music star and Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido is responding to reports about a 2018 school benefit concert he performed at with a former bandmate who is a registered sex offender. The performance in question occurred on May 24, 2018 at a fundraising event for Harwell Middle School in Edinburg. At the time of the performance, Frankie Caballero played the accordion for Pulido’s band. Prior to the performance, Caballero had been convicted of a felony offense of indecency with a child on May 8, 2014. He was released from prison in 2017. According to Pulido, he first met Caballero in 1995 when he was recruited to join his band for the recording of his debut album.

click here for more

“He used to play with a group called Grupo Mazz, who I was a big fan of,” Pulido recalled. “When I was starting my career, I wanted my music to be accordion driven, and I was a very big fan of his work with Grupo Mazz’s ‘Polkitas del Tigre,’ so I reached out to him early ’95 or mid-’95 around that time to record my first CD. And then he joined the band and he was gigging with me.” Pulido said that Caballero was a member of his band for about a year before being let go in 1996 for what he described as substance abuse issues. He said that following Caballero’s departure from the band in 1996, he did not have any communication with the accordionist until 2017. He said he had no knowledge of criminal history in the 21-years between Caballero’s tenures with his band. “All my musicians that I’ve ever worked with have never been employees, they’re contract labor,” Pulido said. “So it’s not a traditional custom to do a background check on somebody. That’s just not something anybody in the industry does.”

Relatives of Houston man fatally shot by ICE agent describe him as ‘hard-working family man’

The day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston's East End, his son spoke about his father's dedication to his family and said he did not deserve to die. "He was a hard-working family man who never wanted his name to be known by anyone outside of his family," Ronaldo Salgado said at a news conference Wednesday morning. "He wanted nothing else in life but to provide for his wife and see his sons become great people." In a statement Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said an agent shot Araujo at approximately 6:50 a.m. Tuesday during a "targeted enforcement operation.” According to DHS, Araujo was from Mexico and did not have legal status in the U.S.

click here for more

Federal officials claimed Araujo attempted to evade arrest and tried to run over an ICE agent with his vehicle, prompting the agent to shoot Araujo in self-defense, DHS said. In light of other fatal shootings by ICE officers during the second term of President Donald Trump, whose administration has ramped-up enforcement of immigration laws, local elected officials and civil rights groups have called for independent investigations into the shooting of Araujo. So has his family. "You [could] find him every evening after work, resting on his porch, listening to music, petting his dog," Salgado said. "I am deeply heartbroken to see that the man who taught me the value of hard work, family values, and education will no longer spend an evening on that porch. … He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE.'" Araujo had lived in the United States for over 30 years and was working his way through the process of obtaining legal immigration status, according to his family.

What AI companies want for the millions they're spending on elections

AI executives and companies are betting that spending millions in the 2026 midterm elections will allow them to influence AI bills being developed in Congress. As of the end of June, the two biggest artificial intelligence political action committees have dropped at least $44 million into 40 House and Senate candidates, per a CNBC analysis of Federal Election Commission data. That’s an early taste of how the groups will spend the more than $200 million they’ve raised on the rest of primary season and into the general election, according to fundraising totals provided by groups.

click here for more

The spending by the burgeoning AI industry makes it an increasingly powerful player in the Washington influence space. The companies — through their PACs — are setting themselves up to shape how the first national legislation to regulate AI use takes form. Brad Carson, who heads Public First Action, a nonprofit organization with several PACs, said he’s seen more bills introduced and discussion around AI legislation, especially as concerns about the capabilities and risks of powerful AI models like Mythos and Claude Fable have come into the spotlight. While any legislation is unlikely to cross the finish line this year, given the limited number of days lawmakers are in session, both parties have signaled AI will continue to be a priority in coming years. “They have a lot of benefits. They have a lot of dangers. And you can’t just release them into the wild with no government concern,” Carson told CNBC. “Everybody from the right to the left, from pro-Trump to anti-Trump recognizes that.”

State Stories

Mayor Whitmire: No Houston police involvement in fatal ICE shooting

More than 24 hours after a federal immigration enforcement officer fatally shot a man in Houston, Mayor John Whitmire said the Houston Police Department was not involved in the incident. "I wish it was something that we just didn't have to deal with, but I do recognize the good training of HPD and the policies of Chief [Noe] Diaz that there was no involvement of HPD," he said during a city council meeting on Wednesday. In his first public remarks on the shooting, Whitmire also labeled the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as "brought to us by our federal officials," calling for communication with the Texas congressional delegation.

click here for more

Whitmire also spoke about a "chase that ICE was involved in" two days prior that did not involve the Houston Police Department. On Tuesday, an ICE officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Houston resident whom federal authorities have said was a Mexican citizen without legal status in the U.S. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security alleged he was attempting to evade arrest and "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer." The shooting has sparked an outcry from immigration advocacy organizations and elected officials. Other Houston City Council members spoke about the shooting on Wednesday, with some calling for an independent investigation of what led up to the shooting and how ICE responded to it. Council member Joaquin Martinez, who serves the East End area where the shooting took place, stressed that HPD was not involved in the shooting, saying it is "important to ensure that we're not conflating the two [agencies]."

Women share surrogacy stories as Texas lawmakers weigh new regulations

A Texas Senate committee hearing Wednesday centered on examining the potential exploitation of surrogacy in Texas and was met with mixed responses as women shared personal stories with lawmakers. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services took up an interim charge from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, which asked state senators to, "examine the unethical and foreign interests exploiting the surrogacy and fertility industries in Texas." Public testimony included women who have had children through surrogacy. "When I look at my son, I see the greatest blessing in my life. A deeply loved, little Texas boy whose life was made possible through ethical gestational surrogacy," Miriam Shahab told lawmakers during a public comment period on Wednesday.

click here for more

Shahab explained she and her husband used surrogacy after learning she would be unable to carry a child herself. Women who served as surrogates themselves also shared stories about why they chose to do so, and urged lawmakers to consider the impacts of any future regulation. "I am here because I watched my sister struggle with infertility for years," Whitney Scheibner, a gestational surrogate, told lawmakers. "I ask that any future legislation be narrowly tailored to address exploitation while preserving access to safe, ethical fertility treatment." Another former surrogate, Christian Ross, shared a much different experience with the committee. She explained that after contracting with a surrogacy agency in California, she became pregnant with a donor embryo belonging to a foreign couple. She said she was misled about who the couple was, however, and the child ended up in the foster care system in England. "It ruined my life, and likely, that baby's life as well," Ross said.

Employee of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo detained at Conroe ICE facility

A 43-year-old worker from Houston was one of multiple employees who were taken into custody after an ICE agent shot and killed a man from Mexico in Magnolia Park on Tuesday, according to family members and an immigration attorney. Daniel Tirado Pantoja was one of the workers detained after the shooting that killed his boss Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, his attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra said. U.S. officials have described the shooting as an act of self-defense after Araujo allegedly rammed an ICE vehicle following an attempted traffic stop and tried running over an officer.

click here for more

Family members have rejected any notion that the shooting was warranted, and local leaders have pressed for an independent investigation. "They were just men going to work to provide for their families," Tirado's stepdaughter Juana Degollado said. "That's all they were doing. They were not committing any crimes." Monserrat Cardoso, the stepdaughter of Tirado, told the Houston Chronicle Tuesday that she believes ICE agents racially profiled the men when they attempted to pull them over. “They just saw a couple of Hispanic men going to work, so they decided to chase them down and follow them,” she said. “They were targeted because they're Hispanic men.” Degollado, a 27-year-old Houstonian, said Tirado has lived in Texas for 30 years, had a clean record and was in the process of getting his green card. He's been married to her mother for 12 years and has a teenage son who's a U.S. citizen, she said. He's now in custody at ICE's Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Balderas-Ibarra said. He he hopes to visit Tirado on Wednesday and believes his arrest constituted racial profiling.

One of Austin's best restaurants, Michelin-starred Olamaie, to close

One of Austin’s most celebrated restaurants of the 21st century will soon turn out its lights permanently. Olamaie, the Southern fine dining restaurant from chef-owner Michael Fojtasek will serve its final meal on July 19.

click here for more

One of Austin's best restaurants, Michelin-starred Olamaie, to close

One of Austin’s most celebrated restaurants of the 21st century will soon turn out its lights permanently. Olamaie, the Southern fine dining restaurant from chef-owner Michael Fojtasek will serve its final meal on July 19. The only restaurant named No. 1 in the city by the American-Statesman on three separate occasions (first in 2017) was the first Southern restaurant in America to earn a Michelin star, joining six other Austin restaurants that received stars in the influential food guide’s inaugural 2024 Texas edition.

click here for more

“I'm sad. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone that's come through those doors and for all the contributions. When you open a restaurant, you want to accomplish all these things, you want to live forever and making it 12 years is pretty impressive,” Fojtasek said. "I'm really proud of this team and what we’ve accomplished." Dallas native Fojtasek, who returned to Austin to open Olamaie with co-executive chef Grae Nonas in 2014, after working in celebrated restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles, said the economics of running the restaurant in a difficult Austin market became untenable. He pointed to the dreadfully slow summer months — Olamaie’s sales are currently down 40% from March — as one of the biggest challenges. “I think everybody's out of town, especially the people who can afford to dine in the types of restaurants we're talking about,” Fojtasek said, referring to upmarket restaurants like his. “It’s been a hard business forever. I think that the general population thinks the more expensive things are, the better the margins are, and unfortunately, the more expensive things are, oftentimes the margins are worse.”

North Texas AI boom fuels electrician shortage

Dalton Andrews is wiring his way into North Texas’ AI future one motor control board at a time. Inside CEC Facilities’ apprenticeship school in Irving, the 31-year-old electrical apprentice walks through a control panel he built for a statewide skills competition, tracing wires and relays as if explaining his own career pivot from odd jobs into one of the region’s fastest-growing trades. CEC Facilities, an electrical contractor that builds infrastructure for data centers and other large industrial projects, created CEC University to train the electricians.

click here for more

North Texas’ race to build AI infrastructure is colliding with a shortage of skilled workers. Economists and business leaders warn labor shortages in skilled trades could hinder North Texas’ ability to expand data centers and advanced manufacturing capacity fast enough to meet demand. The Texas Workforce Commission projects the Dallas, Tarrant and North Central workforce regions will need nearly 3,000 additional electricians by 2032, a roughly 15% increase from 2026 staffing levels. In the Dallas region alone, the state projects roughly 1,035 electrician openings annually, driven less by explosive growth than by retirements and worker turnover. The shortage extends beyond electricians. Welders, HVAC technicians, plumbers and other skilled trades are also needed to build and maintain North Texas' fast-growing infrastructure economy, contractors and workforce leaders say. Data centers, semiconductor plants and advanced manufacturing campuses all require large numbers of specialized workers. Yet older workers are retiring faster than younger people are entering the field. "This boom is definitely increasing the demand for craft workers within the industry," said Matt Terry, president of construction at Dallas-based TDIndustries. "The core of that business is heavy mechanical, heavy electrical, and heavy controls." Terry said data centers and other high-tech industrial projects require large numbers of pipe fitters, welders, plumbers and HVAC specialists, intensifying what has long been a shortage of experienced craft workers. Companies are responding by expanding apprenticeships, internships and partnerships with schools to recruit and train the next generation of tradespeople.

Tarrant County reports cases of foodborne parasite causing explosive diarrhea

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating cluster cases of a parasitic illness across 17 states, including Texas. Tarrant County has reported fewer than five cases of the sickness, called cyclosporiasis, this year. The illness is caused by eating food or drinking water that may have feces in it. When ingested, the parasite causes explosive diarrhea that lasts roughly one week but can last up to a month. Symptoms may seem to subside and then return one or more times. While cyclosporiasis may cause hospitalization, it is not considered life-threatening.

click here for more

Typically, the parasite is acquired by people who ate or drank water outside the U.S., but 100 of the 145 nationally documented instances were people who had not recently travelled out of the country. Kennedy Sam, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County Public Health Department, said none of the reports received over the past month seem to be connected to an outbreak. “Cases of foodborne illnesses like cyclospora often increase during the summer, so we encourage residents to wash their hands with soap and water before handling or preparing food, and to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before cooking or eating,” Sam said. “We advise anyone experiencing symptoms of foodborne illness to contact their healthcare provider for guidance.” According to the CDC, Texas has between 11 and 30 known cases. New York, which has the most reported cases, has seen between 31 and 80 cyclosporiasis instances.

Commissioner Brett Yormark has intense interaction with Texas Tech media member at Big 12 media days

The Big 12 kicked off media days for the 2026 college football season in the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday. To open Big 12 Media Days, commissioner Brett Yormark delivered a 15-minute address about the state of the conference heading into the 2026 football season. Some highlights included the announcement of a partnership with Monster Energy that includes jersey patches and on-field logos, and the reiteration of his stance on College Football Playoff expansion and sports gambling. Following the address, Yormark fielded questions from media members regarding items in his address and other topics of importance across the Big 12. Sean Dillon of Rockin' Pregame asked Yormark a question about the league's treatment of Texas Tech over the last year, which evolved into an intense altercation between the two.

click here for more

"Let me come closer, stand up. Ask that question again, and I'm going to give you the answer I want to give you," Yormark told Dillon. "Texas Tech got fined for tortillas, and tortillas were banned outright," Dillon repeated. "Oklahoma State has paddles that were given a noisemaker exemption back in 2012. (Brendan) Sorsby never played a snap for the Red Raiders, and yet there's a lawsuit. Cincinnati has yet to be touched. You're selling "greater than 12," why should Texas Tech fans believe it?" "No, I didn't say greater than 12, you misquoted me," Yormark responded. "I said we're going forward as 16 strong, and that's my answer to your question, but thank you for that question." Texas Tech is being painted as a new villain by many in college athletics. Now that paying for players is fully legal and players can transfer at will, Texas Tech is taking full advantage of the resources it possesses. Billionaire oil CEO and Red Raiders booster Cody Campbell is using the transfer portal to assemble the best teams possible, creating a competitive advantage no other Big 12 program boasts. The second incident Dillon referred to involved the Red Raiders' efforts to circumvent the coming NCAA punishment of quarterback Brendan Sorsby for his gambling habits, which the Big 12 sued them over in June. In addition to the lawsuit, other Big 12 athletics directors threatened to not play Texas Tech if Sorsby remained on the team. The Sorsby incident is not isolated; Yormark and Texas Tech have quarreled over other matters in the past year. In April, Campbell and Yormark got into a social media spat over the league's decision to schedule Texas Tech's game against Houston on a Friday night, a night that is important for the state's rich high school football tradition. Yormark responded to Campbell's complaint by saying Campbell does not control the Big 12. That provoked a response from Campbell that involved bringing back the banned tortilla-throwing tradition that the Big 12 banned in October of 2025.

Mark Cuban goes to court for records on Dallas Mavericks' Valley View arena deal

Mark Cuban has taken his increasingly public dispute with Dallas Mavericks majority owner Patrick Dumont to court, accusing his business partner of shutting him out of the team's plans for a new arena and other lucrative development opportunities. A new court filing alleges Dumont engaged in “adversarial business practices” and asks a Dallas County judge to force the Mavericks' ownership to disclose details about its planned Valley View arena development, financing and corporate structure. Cuban believes he still has a right to be involved in the Mavericks’ business opportunities, despite selling his majority stake in the team to Miriam Adelson and Dumont, her son-in-law, the filing shows.

click here for more

The billionaire businessman filed a petition in Dallas County this week to review the contract to buy the former Valley View mall site to build a new basketball arena. Cuban also requests details on how the arena project will be financed and to see the corporate structure behind the team’s real estate deal. The Adelson and Dumont families declined to comment. Cuban’s attorneys also did not respond to a request for comment. Cuban’s petition escalates what has been more than two years of dysfunction between the Mavericks’ largest shareholders and possibly complicates the team’s plans to build an arena at the site. The court filing details Cuban’s allegations, including what he called Dumont’s push to “gain leverage” over the Dallas Stars to seek control of the American Airlines Center. Cuban said Dumont’s dealings also shut him out of any development opportunities related to a new arena or casino development.

One state under whose God?

If Texas is, as its pledge of allegiance states, “one state under God,” this begs a question. What God? Whose God? For many Texans, it’s undoubtedly the Christian God, because (so they say) we’re a Christian nation. They can point, for instance, to the 190-foot-tall “Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ” near the Panhandle town of Groom, or the Ten Commandments monument recently installed at the Tarrant County Courthouse in my hometown of Fort Worth. (Not to mention the Ten Commandments poster now required to be displayed in Texas public school classrooms.) But that’s far from the only answer.

click here for more

Last year, my spouse Eleanor and I traveled to Houston to visit the multifaith Rothko Chapel. We also stopped by the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple in nearby Sugar Land to check out the recently erected statue of the Hindu god Hanuman. Truly Texas-sized at 90 feet of shimmering bronze, it’s breathtaking. And just up the road, at a Buddhist temple, stands a slightly less gargantuan statue of Quan Am, the “Goddess of Compassion,” 72 feet tall. During our visit, Eleanor and I rubbed shoulders with South Asian and East Asian Texans and visitors from overseas, drawn to these spectacular icons of religious devotion. Attracted by economic opportunity, Asian Texans have brought their religions with them—just as the Spanish brought Catholicism in the 1500s and Anglo-Americans imported Protestant denominations after independence from Mexico. Yet when we arrived at the Sri Ashtalakshmi gates, we had to stop and have our trunk inspected by a security guard. The temple, we learned, had ramped up security in the face of hostility from local Christians. A pastor had proclaimed Hanuman a “demon god,” and ex-Senate candidate Alexander Duncan asked on X why “a false statue of a false Hindu god [is allowed] to be here in Texas? We are a CHRISTIAN nation.” Of course, there’s a simple and very American answer to Duncan’s question: religious liberty, constitutionally guaranteed. But that apparently makes little difference to those who embrace what University of North Texas historian Joseph L. Locke terms “militant Christian faith.”

Texas looksmaxxing influencer Connor Murphy drowns after jumping in lake to avoid cops: reports

Texas looksmaxxing influencer Connor Michael Murphy has drowned in Thailand after he was seen acting erratically and jumping in a lake to avoid cops, according to local reports. Murphy — who has 2.36 million subscribers on YouTube — was pulled from a lake Tuesday near his rental home in Samut Prakan, around 16 miles south of Bangkok, the Bangkok Post reported. The 32-year-old self-proclaimed “giga chad,” or alpha-male, had earlier sparked alarm with his erratic behavior as he argued with a security guard at the estate, according to the report.

click here for more

The chiselled content creator tried to flag down a car to get a ride, but the guard told the driver not to let him into the vehicle. Murphy then shouted at the guard and rolled on the ground — then fled the scene when cops arrived. He then jumped into the 32-foot-deep lake before disappearing under the water, according to local media. Divers searched the water for around 30 minutes before finding his body around 66 feet from the bank. There were no signs of assault and investigators suspect he died from drowning, the reports stressed. His 22-year-old girlfriend said she had no idea what caused the outburst — but claimed he had previously splattered paint in the property while she was sleeping. The furniture and decor had been damaged, Thai outlet ThaiRath reported. Murphy had been renting the home for around two months. He last posted on YouTube six days before his death, where he claimed he was “absorbing the spirit of Elon.” He previously uploaded a video titled, “A Day in the Looksmaxxing Life of Mandibleus Zygomidus,” which racked up just shy of 120,000 views. Just last month, he shared a now-chilling video where he was “mirin the view” from the rental home, which overlooked the lake. The US Embassy in Thailand has reportedly been notified of his death.

In major move, Fort Worth Zoning Commission votes against data center restrictions

After a discussion that lasted more than two hours, the Fort Worth Zoning Commission voted 7-4 at its July 8 meeting to recommend denial of a sweeping and controversial proposal that would bring data centers into the city’s zoning code and establish development standards for them. The proposed zoning rules are part of a larger package of rule changes aimed at protecting residents from the potential impact of data centers, while still ensuring the city can capture some of the economic benefit of new development. The Fort Worth City Council is expected to weigh both the zoning rules at its meeting on Aug. 11 after council members received a briefing on the proposal from Fort Worth Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern in June.

click here for more

The proposed zoning rule changes include prohibiting cryptocurrency mining and changing certain development standards. Commissioners took issue with several aspects of the proposal, including that 250-foot setback, language that would allow data centers in all of Fort Worth’s industrial zoning districts, and considered whether it was simply too soon for them to make a sound decision. Several hours after the meeting began, as the sun began to sink toward the horizon, commissioner Jacob Wurman raised his hand for a point of order. “We spent four months deliberating the Stockyards amendments, and we’re going to do this in five minutes,” Wurman said. “I do feel like we’re being asked to do this rather quickly … it just feels a little bit under the gun.” Commissioners weighed voting to continue the item to a later meeting to allow more time to process the information presented by McEachern and residents who spoke, but ultimately voted to deny recommending that the city council approve the proposal.

National Stories

Trump declares Iran ceasefire 'over.' So what happens now?

President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he’s not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should “finish the job.” But he also insists that continued attacks do not mean a return to war or long-term action. The confusion and uncertainty in Trump’s mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries. The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

click here for more

Whether it is a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions — which could spell problems for Republicans in November’s midterm elections if gas prices stay high. Trump warned Wednesday that a new round of U.S. attacks was coming, even as he attempted to shrug off suggestions of a return to full-scale war. Hours later, the military announced it was carrying out new attacks on Iran that were meant to “further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.” “Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” Trump said earlier. “We’re not looking for a long time.” A regional intelligence official involved in the mediation efforts said the conflict had reached a critical stage as mutual mistrust rises. But high-level communications are happening around the clock to salvage the ceasefire, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations.

Security precaution led Trump to use old Air Force One in leaving Turkey

President Trump flew out of Turkey on Wednesday night on the old Air Force One instead of his new Qatari-donated Boeing 747-8 as a security precaution related to the resumption of hostilities with Iran, according to people briefed on the plans, who said the change came at the urging of the Secret Service. The swap deepens questions about whether the new plane, which the president had pressed to be ready as soon as possible, was retrofitted with sufficient security measures over the last year. Lawmakers and some officials have raised concerns about whether the expedited timeline allowed for the addition of an advanced missile defense system and other modifications used to protect the president. In a statement, Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said that “the new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff.”

click here for more

“As the president has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats,” he added. But people briefed on the new plane’s capabilities, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues, said the new plane does not have all the features of the older plane. The switch in the president’s aircraft when he departed Turkey was a precautionary measure made at the advice of the Secret Service and not because of a specific threat, they said. Mr. Trump, who has marveled at the luxury touches of his new jet, flew on it on Monday night to go to Turkey for a NATO summit. After his arrival, the conflict with Iran reignited, and the United States launched a series of strikes against that country while Mr. Trump and NATO leaders were about 1,000 miles away in Ankara.

DOJ issues nationwide threat to prosecute local election officials

The Department of Justice sent a letter to dozens of state and local election officials threatening to prosecute them if any noncitizens are found to have voted in the upcoming midterms, sharply escalating the Trump administration’s attacks on local election oversight across the country. The letter was signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a staunch Trump ally who is serving as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division. It’s the latest in a series of attempts by President Donald Trump’s administration to exert control over state-run elections.

click here for more

Trump has pushed for Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID verification when voters cast their ballots. The SAVE America Act received bipartisan pushback from lawmakers and is currently at a standstill in the Senate because it lacks the support needed to advance the bill. The president’s efforts to crackdown on states’ administration of elections have also faced multiple courtroom losses, which prompted Department of Homeland Security officials to consider using grant funding allocated to states — and the threat of withholding it — to “advance core national security priorities.” “Any election officer, including the chief election officer of the state, who knowingly retains noncitizens on the state’s SVRL [State Voter Registration List] or facilitates noncitizens in receiving and casting ballots could be subject to criminal liability,” Dhillon wrote in the letter. It’s unclear how many officials were targeted by the administration. Election workers have five days to respond to the Justice Department with plans to comply with the federal, state and local election laws. The Justice Department confirmed in a statement that it sent letters to officials of all states and Washington, D.C., “asking for voluntary compliance in a timely manner with their obligations under federal law to ensure only citizens vote in federal elections.”

How Northern Virginia became ‘Data Center Alley’

“Faithful Servant, now at Peace,” reads one heart-shaped headstone in Tippets Hill Cemetery. But in the background of this final resting place, there is an incessant whirring sound and a shrill beep that blares again and again. That’s because the small, historically Black burial ground in Loudoun County, Virginia, is surrounded on all sides by data centers. The cemetery’s few parking spaces had construction vehicles parked in them when NOTUS visited in early June. The cemetery — and Northern Virginia at large — didn’t always look like this. At the turn of the century, there were a handful of data center campuses in Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties — a region now known as data center alley.

click here for more

Today, those counties are home to more than 300 data centers. Almost 200 more are expected to go up in the coming years. Loudoun specifically has the highest concentration of data centers in the world. But that title may be in jeopardy. Public sentiment towards data centers has soured, with opponents pointing to rising household utility bills and environmental concerns. Politicians are weighing how to balance constituent demands with a behemoth industry those same constituents rely on for cloud computing and county revenue. “Virginia has our biggest concentration, but as the old saying says, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’” a senior executive at a data center company told NOTUS. “Based on what happened this year, it’s further emphasis that we clearly have to spread our business around. Our customers are going to be looking for the lowest cost of occupancy — that’s just math.” A big part of Northern Virginia’s appeal is its geography. Loudoun County’s proximity to D.C., CIA headquarters and the Pentagon made it an early hot spot for the technology contractors that intelligence agencies and the military have increasingly depended on since World War II, said Ali Fard, an assistant architecture professor at the University of Virginia who wrote a book about “grounding” cloud computing.

A Florida airport is officially renamed for Trump. What does he stand to gain?

It's official: President Donald J. Trump International Airport is open for business. The South Florida facility was called Palm Beach International Airport for over half a century until Thursday, when a months-old state law took effect, adding the airport to the growing list of places and things that now bear President Trump's name. Trump flies in and out of this airport relatively often, as it's mere miles from his oceanfront estate, Mar-a-Lago. The lifelong New Yorker declared Palm Beach his permanent residence in 2019, and travels there regularly from the White House. More than 8 million passengers fly through its airport each year, on over a dozen airlines.

click here for more

"Florida, get ready to take the exit for President Donald J. Trump International Airport," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X earlier this week, alongside a photo of an updated airport sign on the interstate. Separately, a 4-mile stretch of the main road linking Mar-a-Lago to the airport was renamed for Trump in January. The Federal Aviation Administration authorized the name change to take effect Thursday, meaning it now officially identifies the airport as "DJT" instead of "PBI." The airport said in an online FAQ that the transition — including updates to signage, branding and public-facing materials — "will occur in phases." For example, passengers should still search "PBI" when booking flights and checking bags, until the International Air Transport Association (IATA) code changes on August 18. The airport says ownership and operations will not be affected, describing it as a "branding change only."

Judge orders E. Jean Carroll be paid $5.8 million from Trump case

The writer E. Jean Carroll can collect $5.8 million held in escrow since a jury found that President Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed her, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Trump’s lawyers immediately appealed but were denied an emergency order to block the payment from being made. Trump deposited the money in an account shortly after a jury ruled against him in 2023. The U.S. Supreme Court recently let the civil verdict stand, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to release the money. The initial $5 million award has grown with interest. The jury found Trump attacked Carroll in 1996 in the dressing room of a luxury Manhattan department store, and defamed her after she described it publicly in a 2019 memoir, during his first term as president. Trump called her allegations false and said “ she’s not my type ” in an interview.

click here for more

Trump’s lawyers said Wednesday they would continue to appeal and accused his political opponents of using the legal system against him. They argued in appellate papers that Kaplan’s decision shouldn’t be allowed to take effect because Trump has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. Late Wednesday, Judge Eunice C. Lee of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request to stop the money from being transferred to Carroll. “It is time for this case to come to an end,” Carroll’s lawyers wrote in a filing with the appellate court. “Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid,” they wrote. “She should not have to wait any longer.” The jury had reached its verdict — in a trial that Trump did not attend — after Carroll testified that their flirtatious and friendly chance encounter at the department store turned violent. Trump insisted he never knew Carroll, now 82, a former advice columnist. He accused her of trying to sell books at his expense and of having political motives. Carroll sued Trump after New York changed its laws to give sexual abuse survivors a fresh chance to sue over attacks that happened in the distant past. Trump “has been stalling this case for years,” Kaplan wrote in a memorandum detailing his decision. “It is time for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment.”

To justify his arch, Trump cites a 1925 plan. That vision was very different.

President Donald Trump wants to build a towering triumphal arch at Memorial Circle, a traffic roundabout tucked inside Washington’s boundaries, arguing that it carries out a century-old congressional vision for the site. “People pass that circle, they say, why isn’t something built here?” Trump said in the Oval Office in May. The plan Congress authorized in 1925 called for a new bridge spanning the Potomac River and a pair of columns at its westward side, near where Memorial Circle is today. The bridge was built, but the columns never were. “This large empty space directly contradicts the original vision,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is helping oversee the project, told a federal commission reviewing the proposed arch designs in April.

click here for more

The Justice Department has also repeatedly argued that Congress’s past support for columns gives them authority to build a structure there now. “Neither the underlying Congressional authorization to build the columns — nor the discretion to modify column design — have expired,” Trump administration lawyers wrote in a court filing last month. The National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency reviewing the project, is set to review and potentially approve the administration’s arch plans in a hearing Thursday. But the 166-foot-tall columns that Trump and his deputies cite to press their case differ significantly from the 250-foot-tall monument they plan to construct, which would more dramatically alter pedestrians’ views and reshape the historic skyline near the Lincoln Memorial. The century-old discussions and plans “are now being used as some sort of justification for the monumental arch,” Priya Jain, who chairs the heritage conservation committee at the Society of Architectural Historians, said last month at a meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission. “But historic renderings and descriptions show clearly how materially different they are,” Jain added.

How Mitch McConnell’s absence complicates the Senate’s business and war funding

Sen. Mitch McConnell’s current health condition and ongoing absence threatens to complicate the U.S. Senate’s return to business next week. Congress is returning from recess on Monday and faces a limited number of days left before the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government for fiscal year 2027. McConnell (R-Kentucky) plays a crucial role as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Republicans and Democrats on the committee have been at a stalemate that began over disagreements about defense funding. If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, Republicans will likely need McConnell’s support to advance any spending bills out of the committee amid Democratic opposition.

click here for more

The Trump administration has requested Congress provide an additional $87.6 billion in supplemental funding for the Pentagon and other agencies, largely to cover needs related to the war with Iran, which reignited this week. McConnell, 84, leads the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over that military spending. He has not cast a vote on the Senate floor since June 11. He was admitted to the hospital on June 14. While members of Senate leadership said they have since spoken to him, McConnell’s office has offered limited details about his condition and he has not been seen publicly. Democrats have refused to support the increase in defense funding Republicans have put forward without a comparable boost for domestic programs. That disagreement is part of the reason the committee, which normally advances these measures on a bipartisan basis, has not yet advanced any legislation for fiscal year 2027.

Copyright July 09, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved