September 2, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Despite outrage, Tarrant County approves 30% reduction in voting sites for November

Tarrant County will have 224 Election Day and 47 early voting polling locations for the November midterm election after numerous calls for more to be added to the original list. Last month, Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig presented a suggested list of polling locations that offered to use roughly half the number of sites that were used in the 2022 midterm election. The Commissioners Court entirely opposed the slash, saying it was far too drastic. In their marathon 10-hour meeting Tuesday, the commissioners voted along party lines to approve 29% fewer Election Day and 6% fewer early voting centers compared to the November 2022 lists.

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In 2025, there was a record turnout of voters after the same Commissioners Court reduced the polling locations. A similar outcry happened then, but the average wait time was eight minutes on Election Day and just over a minute during early voting. While workshopping the polling list from Aug. 4, the elections administration reached out to each of the 479 locations that were used in November 2022 or 2024. Of those, there were 269 able and willing to host voters again this midterm. Ludwig said the team whittled down from that list to account for balance across the four precincts and reasonable proximity to another location. The approved list, Ludwig said, benefits Precincts 1 and 2 because they have fewer registered voters than the northern precincts but have just as many voting centers. It is not statutorily required to have equal numbers of polling locations across the four county precincts, though it was criteria given by a 2019 citizen advisory committee. Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons requested several sites be added to the early voting list and almost 150 be added to Election Day. The amendment was turned down because many of the early voting sites were unavailable or gave the southern precincts more locations than the northern precincts had.

Trump wants Big Oil to build more refineries. That’s a tough sell.

President Trump urged a gathering of oil executives at the White House on Tuesday to build more refineries capable of pumping out fuel, part of his bid to bring down gasoline prices before the November midterms. That’s a tough argument to make. Owning an oil refinery is a profitable proposition in the U.S. right now. Building a new one? Not so much. The paradox helps explain why U.S. refinery operators that are making record profits in the midst of historic fuel supply disruptions in the Middle East, Russia and China have no plans to expand their fleet. Put simply, the oil companies don’t expect the boom times to last. At the meeting, the president and oil executives discussed other ways to expand the nation’s refining capacity, including cutting regulations, speeding up the permitting process and making additional investments.

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“The President made clear that he wants lower gas prices at the pump for Americans. The refiners and distributors shared that goal and commitment,” a U.S. official said. The White House also said Trump’s surprise deal to take a direct stake in a large swath of Venezuela’s oil reserves means the country needs more refining capacity to absorb barrels as production comes online. Among those gathered were executives from Chevron, Valero Energy, Marathon Petroleum and PBF Energy, among others. ExxonMobil, the nation’s third-largest refiner, didn’t send a representative. Some companies were initially wary of attending, given Trump’s recent attacks on the industry for not cutting gasoline prices more quickly. Americans paid about $4.10 a gallon on average at the pump Tuesday, according to AAA, up from $2.98 before the start of the conflict in Iran. The problem: Much of what is driving fuel prices higher is beyond the control of both the president and what he has called his favorite industry.

ICE arrested 50,000 people in August, continuing record pace

ICE officers and agents arrested roughly 50,000 people in August, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official familiar with the preliminary arrest data. That number is on par with July’s number, which was the highest single monthly arrest total during the second Trump administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in the midst of a nationwide arrest surge that is not as visible as aggressive enforcement efforts from earlier in the year when Border Patrol was going city by city culminating in the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis. Arrests fell sharply in February and March but then began to rise in May. June and July both had record ICE arrests according to ICE arrest data.

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In June, the Republican-controlled House narrowly passed a roughly $70 billion package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol through the end of President Donald Trump’s term. The sweeping tax and spending bill made ICE the wealthiest law enforcement agency in American history. That pool of money has been used to purchase new “turnkey” facilities for immigration detention, as well as the planned purchase of immigration enforcement tools such as electric gloves and robot dogs. ICE has also moved forward with some additional detention capacity including the recent signing of a new contractor to manage the operations of a new ICE warehouse in San Antonio, Texas, for $17 million, according to government contracting records.

Hospitals say coming Trump administration rules are worse than GOP's Medicaid cuts

Hospitals thought losing hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding through GOP-led cuts last year was bad. But coming regulations from the Trump administration could slash their funding even deeper than Congress did. Two recently proposed rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would cost hospitals hundreds of billions of dollars more, hospital executives told POLITICO. The rules, which target taxes states use to get more federal Medicaid dollars — and which yield higher payments to hospitals — have prompted hospitals to launch another major lobbying blitz after record spending last year. Hospitals thought losing hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding through GOP-led cuts last year was bad. But coming regulations from the Trump administration could slash their funding even deeper than Congress did. Two recently proposed rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would cost hospitals hundreds of billions of dollars more, hospital executives told POLITICO. The rules, which target taxes states use to get more federal Medicaid dollars — and which yield higher payments to hospitals — have prompted hospitals to launch another major lobbying blitz after record spending last year. “Our core message to CMS is to stick to the statute. Congress cut enough,” said Robert Nelb, director of policy at America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents hospitals serving large Medicaid populations.

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“There’s no need to cut any more out of the Medicaid system at a time when the safety net is really struggling,” Nelb added. If the rules are finalized and they lose hundreds of billions on top of Congress’ funding cuts, hospitals say they’ll be forced to reduce services, lay off workers, consolidate operations or shutter entirely. Some systems are already doing so, telling POLITICO they’ve cut staff, ended contracts and slashed hospital beds in response to predicted losses. States fund Medicaid by putting in some of their own money, which the federal government then matches. Congress cracked down on a practice in which states boost their federal matching funds by taxing hospitals to inflate the state portion of the Medicaid budget and then kick the money back to the hospitals in the form of higher payments. Congress also restricted how states directed payments to certain providers, such as boosting payments for those in rural areas. Hospitals say CMS’ rules restricting state taxes and payments go further than what Congress intended.

State Stories

Texas data centers broke law by not responding to water use inquiry

Scores of data center companies could face criminal investigations after most of the state’s known data centers failed to respond to state-mandated inquiries into their water usage. Information requests from state power and water regulators received responses from fewer than half of the data centers identified by the two state agencies. The dearth of information underlined a lack of transparency from data center developers that has fed growing public mistrust. Data centers' rapid emergence in Texas has become a potent issue in this year’s election cycle, especially in rural communities that tend to be Republican strongholds.

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“There's not a bigger issue going on right now in Texas,” Rick Thompson, program director for the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas, said at a Texas Senate committee hearing Tuesday, adding that much of the information fueling discussions on the local level “is misleading, and in many cases not true.” Temple McKinnon, water supply planning director at the Texas Water Development Board, said 97 of the 324 facilities they contacted responded to their inquiry, or fewer than 30%. Public Utility Commission Director Connie Corona said fewer than half of the data centers her agency contacted responded. Companies that failed to respond to the Water Development Board could face criminal charges, McKinnon said. Enforcement would be up to local law enforcement agencies and district attorneys. It was unclear if any criminal investigations were underway. The state also does not maintain a complete inventory of all data centers in Texas, Corona said, raising the possibility that many data center operators were never contacted.

4 in 10 Texas homeowners now pay no school property taxes, study finds

Nearly 40% of Texas homeowners paid nothing in school property taxes last year after a decade of incremental increases to homestead exemptions, according to a analysis presented Tuesday by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston. The finding foreshadows a key focus for lawmakers in the coming months, as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in March directed the Senate Local Government Committee, which Bettencourt chairs, to assess the impact of the increased homestead exemptions with an eye toward raising them even further in the 2027 legislative session, which starts in January. Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has his own plan to eliminate homeowners' school taxes, leaving only businesses to foot that bill.

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The Legislature last year raised the homestead exemption — the amount a homeowner can deduct from the taxable value of their residence — to $140,000 for most homeowners and to $200,000 for those over age 65 or with disabilities. It was the fourth time lawmakers have raised the homestead exemption since 2015, when it was just $15,000 for standard homeowners and $25,000 for seniors. Bettencourt's committee staff found that 39% of all homeowners did not pay any school property taxes following the latest hike to the homestead exemption, up from 28% in 2024. Among seniors and disabled Texans, 61% of homeowners paid no school taxes. These homeowners' school tax bills also have long been frozen at the amount they paid in the first year they qualified for either exemption. Property tax bills fell by about 14% for the most homeowners and 33% for seniors and disabled homeowners from 2024 to last year, according to the analysis Bettencourt presented. The average homeowner under 65 now pays $896 a year in school property taxes, the report states, while seniors and disabled homeowners pay an average of $380. "This is a hallmark of affordability," Bettencourt said at a Tuesday meeting of the Local Government Committee.

‘Stop your b*tching!’ Ted Cruz slams Republicans who are ‘throwing rocks’ at Ken Paxton

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) had a blunt message Tuesday for fellow Republicans “throwing rocks” at Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton: “Stop your b*tching!” Paxton, also the state’s attorney general, will face Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) in November. Yet as Cruz acknowledged on Tuesday’s edition of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, “This race is a very real fight. It is serious. The polling that’s coming out all shows the race basically tied.” Not to mention, polling released last week from Texas Southern University shows the Democrat with a solid lead over the Republican in three congressional districts, notably ones that President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024.

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“I spend a lot of time in Texas,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham continued. “I’ve talked to a lot of voters, some friends, and some people who, you know, like Paxton, don’t think he’s a great campaigner, wondering when he’s gonna start really campaigning, wondering when Republicans are really gonna put big money into this, and kinda just annoyed by the whole thing.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) even appeared on the network earlier on Tuesday to urge Trump to “do more” with his super PAC, MAGA Inc., to help Paxton. Thune, though, backed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the state’s Senate Republican primary, as Paxton’s campaign has had no shortage of scandals. He’s faced questions about alleged voter fraud, lavish vacations with what some call his “mistress,” his office’s plea deal with child sex predator Adam Hoffman, and more. After Ingraham’s comments, Cruz launched into his attack, emphasizing: I’ve gotta say, some of the Republicans that are throwing rocks at Ken Paxton, my message to them is enough! Stop your b*tching! We had a $200 million primary, and Ken won. And one of the reasons the numbers are close is ’cause $200 million of attack ads were run against him, and that does damage. If you wanna complain, complain in the primary. It’s over, and by the way, I will say, every moderate Republican, when they win a primary, they tell conservatives, “Now shut up and support the nominee.” My answer to everyone whining — shut up and support the nominee, and don’t hand Texas over to a communist lunatic.

Corpus Christi's Inner Harbor desalination project again struck down

Work will again cease on the Inner Harbor desalination project, following another Corpus Christi City Council vote striking down a contract to continue the plant’s design. That means the staff will no longer work on the project, City Manager Peter Zanoni told council members on Sept. 1. It was nearly a year to the day that the majority of the council rejected a similar contract — that one under a different firm — to move forward with the plant. The vote on the contract Sept. 1 nearly mirrored last year's. Supporting the contract were City Council members Everett Roy, Mark Scott and Roland Barrera, and voting in dissent were Carolyn Vaughn, Gil Hernandez, Sylvia Campos, Eric Cantu and Kaylynn Paxson. Mayor Paulette Guajardo was not present; she returns from a 30-day suspension next week.

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What had been on the table was a roughly $78.6 million contract with Corpus Christi Desal Partners, which had picked up the mantle after the council dismissed continuing the design contract with Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. last September. The proposed contract with CCDP was to cover the costs to complete 60% of the plant’s design and develop a guaranteed maximum price for the project. The estimate for development of a plant capable of producing as much as 30 million gallons of treated water per day rang in at about $979 million. The positions of council members, disclosed for months, did not change, despite an amended proposal that would develop the project in two phases — in the latter phase, expanding its capacity and incorporating a pipeline to the gulf for brine discharge. Cost estimates to construct it under the two-phase proposal were quoted around $4 billion. Generally speaking, opponents have cited concerns of cost, the environment and its location adjacent to a neighborhood. Proponents have asserted that studies have shown it would be safe for the bay and cited the project as playing a role in potable water production needed to support economic growth. Despite the council turning down the contract, the project isn't necessarily dead. Its permits, at least for now, are intact. Staff will begin contacting state agencies about the decision, including the Texas Water Development Board, Zanoni told council members. The board had awarded the city $757 million in low-interest loans to support the initiative.

Controversial posts spark rally to remove Cheryl Bean, board chair of Fort Worth charter school

A group of around 20 students and parents rallied in front of the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts on Monday to call for the resignation of Texas Center for Arts + Academics board chair Cheryl Bean, following a string of racially motivated social media posts. During the school board meeting that followed the rally, a dozen parents and community members spoke in support of, and against Bean. Superintendent Anika Perkins spoke for 15 minutes before public comment addressing Bean’s social media posts, which she said were “characterized as racist.” Perkins said that she received numerous racist threats for not releasing a public response to Bean’s social media posts.

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Flyers handed out at the rally had 13 of Bean’s social media posts printed out. One depicted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a plane flying into the twin towers on 9/11. Another was an AI generated image of Jasmine Crockett that called her “The Queen of the ghetto frontier.” Another showed a picture of Osama bin Laden saying “I won” following the election of Mamdani. The post that brought the most controversy was an AI generated image of WNBA player Sophie Cunningham depicting the “Washington crossing the Delaware” image. In the image, the Black players wore floaties and the white players did not. The photo was captioned “IYKYK A little humor for the day.” Bean later deleted her post, and Perkins issued a statement that said the intent of the post was to show support for female athletes. At the time of publication, over 2,000 people signed an online petition calling for the removal of Bean from her position as board chair. Bean said she wishes that parents that are unhappy with the problems at the school would become “part of the solution.” “They obviously love it here because the same parents have been complaining for years, and they never leave,” Bean said.

Studies find 2 viable routes for passenger rail connecting Austin, San Antonio

There are two viable routes for the long-wanted passenger rail between Austin and San Antonio, but more work is needed to evaluate which is the best for the region. Recently, two studies on expanding passenger rail service between Austin and San Antonio were published. One study was commissioned by the Texas Department of Transportation that looked at improving the existing Union Pacific rail line that runs between the two cities, an idea that’s been looked at before. Another study, commissioned by Travis County, looked at the feasibility of building out a new passenger rail line that would roughly follow the same route as State Highway 130.

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Both studies showed it’d be possible to create a passenger rail service along those routes. Travis County Judge Andy Brown said there is wide support for adding more passenger trains in Central Texas. He added that Austin, San Antonio and cities in between should put their resources together to get more passenger rail along one of these routes. “Nobody in these regions that I have talked to opposes it,” Brown said. “Everybody would like to see it. ... Every large company that I've talked to in this region loves this idea; the (San Antonio) Spurs love this idea.” Brown said his ultimate goal is for the region to add easily accessible passenger rail options from Williamson County all the way to San Antonio. That way, there can be solid mobility connections from the rest of the region to the massive Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. chipmaking factory that’s located in Taylor. “Passenger rail service between Williamson County, Travis County and Bexar County — and the regions in between — is very realistic,” Brown said. “Given our increase in populations and the fact that just having one highway, no matter how good it is in connecting people in this mega-region, it’s not going to be sufficient for people to get around quickly and reliably for commutes.”

More than 300 Flock cameras to shut down as Texas halts funding, DPD confirms

More than 300 Flock cameras in the City of Dallas will be shut off this month, according to the Dallas Police Department. In a statement Tuesday, DPD says the department got an official notification regarding the impact on the State of Texas' directive on grant funding used to support Flock Safety cameras. On Aug. 28, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras. “To the extent that cities get any funding for those cameras, most of it comes from the federal government. To the extent any funding comes from Texas agencies, those agencies are clarifying that those funds cannot be used for Flock cameras,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement shared first with the Texas Tribune.

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"As a result, 321 Flock cameras currently supported through affected state grant funding will no longer be eligible for that funding," the statement reads. "To ensure compliance with the Governor’s directive, the Department will cancel those cameras effective September 15, 2026." Police say, despite the loss, DPD will continue to have more than 300 Flock cameras operating throughout Dallas. The department says the cameras remain an important investigative tool and are used daily by detectives and officers to assist in solving crimes. In early August, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux spoke with WFAA's Inside Texas Politics, where he expressed his support for Flock cameras. Records obtained by WFAA show that DPD queried the Flock database more than 63,000 times as they tracked down investigative leads, tried to find suspects' cars and looked for people with active warrants.

Texas sues Amazon over billions in alleged overcharges

Texas has filed a lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly deceiving businesses over the prices they pay for advertising on its platform. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office contends that Amazon rigged advertising auctions, overcharging businesses $4.5 billion in a single year, ultimately driving up consumer prices. The lawsuit was filed in Collin County. According to state officials, Amazon sells advertising space on its website through auctions that run in a fraction of a second each time a shopper searches, and advertisers were told they would pay only the lowest bid.

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Paxton’s office contends that Amazon has stopped using the “second-price auction” model and instead has applied hidden surcharges and undisclosed soft reserve prices that push the winner’s cost toward its own maximum bid. “Amazon lied to Texas small businesses and charged them for an auction it never ran,” Paxton alleges. “Amazon must tell Texas job creators the truth about what they are buying and what they are paying for it.” Texas’ legal maneuver comes as the Federal Trade Commission and more than 20 other states filed a separate lawsuit against Amazon in federal court on Aug. 31 over similar concerns. Amazon disputes the claims. “The FTC today filed a misguided lawsuit claiming Amazon misled advertisers about its sponsored ads pricing and auction. Amazon strongly disagrees,” the company noted in a statement obtained by the Business Journal.

Fast-growing law firm Hogan Thompson Schuelke nearly doubles downtown Houston footprint

Houston-based Hogan Thompson Schuelke, a fast-growing energy litigation law firm, is preparing to nearly double its downtown footprint just a few years after moving. The firm inked a lease to add 6,506 square feet to its existing 7,541-square-foot space at 1001 Fannin St., bringing its total office to 13,957 square feet. As part of the expanded lease, Hogan Thompson Schuelke’s name will be added to 1001 Fannin’s exterior signage. “We’ve outgrown our original space in just three years, which is a great problem to have,” Managing Partner Christopher Hogan said in a statement. “Nearly doubling our office allows us to continue expanding our energy litigation team to accommodate a growing client roster and scale well into the future.” Hogan Thompson Schuelke is in the process of building out its new office space and expects to complete the project in early 2027. The firm’s expanded lease runs through July 2030.

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Fort Worth council member owes Texas up to $1M, mismanaged food program: lawsuit

A ministry overseen by pastor and Fort Worth City Council member Chris Nettles is being sued by the state after officials alleged his ministry misused federal food program funding and owes more than $700,000 to the state. State officials filed a lawsuit Aug. 6 in Travis County District Court against Purpose Driven Ministries, alleging it owed the state $787,873 in “disallowed expenses” through the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Across Texas, there are 924 contract entities that participate in the program and provide meals at more than 9,900 sites, state data shows. At least 141 million breakfasts, lunches and snacks have been served in the program year.

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The federal program — overseen by the Texas Department of Agriculture — reimburses the cost of nutritious meals and snacks provided to children at locations such as childcare centers and afterschool programs. The state is seeking monetary relief of $1 million or less, excluding interest, attorney fees and more. The state does not specify the “disallowed expenses” in its lawsuit. Nettles did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday afternoon. State officials alleged in the lawsuit that Purpose Driven Ministries failed to pay “the amounts determined to be due” to the Department of Agriculture “despite demand for payment.” “As a result of Defendant Purpose Driven Ministries’ failure to pay the amount due, the Department has referred the debt to the Office of the Attorney General of Texas for collection,” the lawsuit states. Nettles signed an agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture in 2018 to participate in the federal program designating that childcare centers would be served. Purpose Driven Ministries previously operated Haven of Purpose Child Care Center, at 3000 Vaughn Blvd., which opened the same year but closed in April.

Tina wanted another baby. She also needed an abortion. Texas made both harder.

Tina fixated on the tiny cross. She hated that she kept thinking about it. Months later, she’d hate that it made such an impression on her at all. But she couldn’t really blame herself. Tina, 35 at the time, was expecting her second child in five weeks. It had been more than four years of trying to complete her family: years marked by miscarriage, fertility treatment, another miscarriage, more fertility treatment and an ectopic pregnancy. She’d injected her body with hormones and undergone surgery to harvest her eggs for in vitro fertilization, hoping for an embryo to stick in her uterus. There had been a diagnosis, something called Asherman’s syndrome, in which repeated uterine scarring can make it difficult — in her case, maybe even impossible — to stay pregnant.

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Tina, whom The 19th is referring to by a pseudonym to discuss her reproductive health history in detail, had enrolled in a clinical trial in Austin. She’d hoped fruitlessly for a drug that might help her stay pregnant long enough to have another child. Through all this, her doctor had been there. She prescribed medication and performed surgery to help Tina’s body expel the fetal tissue of her lost pregnancies. And she was there — offering support even if not literally present — when, after months of heartbreak, Tina’s sister-in-law offered a gift she still couldn’t quite comprehend: to carry a baby for Tina and her husband. He was a boy, the pregnancy now 34 weeks along and perfectly healthy. They bought a secondhand Snoo, the robotic bassinet supposed to help with baby sleep. They booked changeable tickets to California, where her sister-in-law would soon give birth. The couple never went too far from home. They wanted to be prepared in case the baby came early, in case they had to jump onto the four-and-a-half-hour flight it would take to be there when their son was born.

Abbott addresses Morgan Stanley speculation in Dallas

Gov. Greg Abbott loves to tout Y'all Street but he's staying mum on an expected huge addition to the state's financial sector. Asked on Aug. 27 whether Morgan Stanley planned to establish a major hub in Dallas, Abbott responded: "Only Morgan Stanley can make that announcement." The governor was speaking at a bell-ringing event for the New York Stock Exchange's Texas operation at Old Parkland. While it's been up and running for some time, NYSE Texas, a part of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., celebrated its progress at the prominent office campus with an event that drew scores if CEOs, investors and influencers from the world of high finance.

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Whether Morgan is coming to Dallas has been the talk of the business world since Dallas Business Journal first reported in January that the company was considering a major office in the region. Morgan Stanley has declined to confirm those plans. But there has been plenty of evidence recently that the company has made a decision or is close to doing so. Dallas City Council authorized an $18.5 million incentives deal and additional tax breaks for Morgan in June — the biggest package of its type in city history. The firm also received approval from Dallas City Plan Commission in early August to set up signage at Fountain Place, where it would operate temporarily while awaiting completion of a planned $1.3 billion office tower in Uptown. Additionally, multiple publications recently reported that Morgan has signed a lease at Fountain Place. Morgan Stanley had been weighing Dallas and Alpharetta, Georgia for a hub. However, no incentives deals have been approved for the firm in Alpharetta.

National Stories

‘Slap in the face’: Wisconsin dairy farmers brace for impact with imported beef

Sydney Flick works on her family farm in Lodi, Wisconsin, which is north of Madison. She works with her dad, younger brother and a team of 14 additional people. “We milk about 700 Jersey cows and farm around 1300 acres,” Flick said. Flick says selling beef has been important for her farm, as the price of milk remains low. “We have animals that we raise specifically to finish out and sell as beef, but then as a dairy farm, we also have animals that reach their end of their career as a dairy cow who will then also get sold for beef,” Flick said. “As our price that we’re getting paid for milk has been lower, those increased beef prices have been really important on our farm to really help balance out our income and expenses a little bit.”

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The Trump administration is importing 300,000 tons of ground beef from other countries over the next three months in an attempt to lower grocery costs, as affordability remains a top concern among Americans. “This is a very short-term fix from the president’s perspective that he believed necessary to get lower-cost beef onto American plates,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told Spectrum News. Hans Breitenmoser, a dairy farmer in Merrill, Wisconsin, has 460 cows and raises crops to feed them. He said he sells, on average, nine cows per week for beef: Six dairy-beef crosses and three cull cows. “When a dairy cow outlives her usefulness as a milk-producing animal, then she is culled, and that cow goes into the beef stream [as ground beef],” explained Breitenmoser. “The other thing that has been happening… a lot of our cows on our farm, and certainly a lot of cows on other dairy farms—are bred to beef semen to produce a beef cross calf, and those calves do end up in the fed beef market. So those are the ones that end up ultimately as your steaks and your roast.”

Democrats are fuming at two moderates who helped bail out Republicans

Two moderate Democrats bailed out House Republicans from an embarrassing loss on the floor thanks to a revolt from House conservatives, leaving their Democratic colleagues fuming. Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state voted alongside Republicans to move forward with debate on several bills, including a provision to condemn socialism that Republicans are expected to tout on the campaign trail. Their “yes” votes caught Democratic leadership completely by surprise. Members of Democratic leadership said in a statement Tuesday night that they plan to take quick action against the pair. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said they have asked the Committee on Caucus Rules — which recommends changes for how the party handles legislative priorities — to take up the issue.

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“The decision by two of our colleagues to blindside the entire House Democratic Caucus and join with the Republican majority to pass a procedural rule on the brink of failing represents a significant breach of trust,” they wrote. “It is an action that necessitates a serious response.” Jeffries told reporters earlier in the day that he did not know that those Democrats, whose votes were decisive in advancing the procedural measure, were planning to vote with Republicans. A Democratic leadership aide told reporters that leadership does not whip votes on procedural rules as minority members. It’s extremely rare for a member to cross party lines to support the opposition’s agenda. “I am fucking livid,” another House Democratic aide, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told NOTUS. Golden is not running for reelection, while Gluesenkamp Perez is defending her seat in a race the Cook Political Report has deemed a “toss up.” Golden told reporters that he voted in favor of the rule in order to advance a bill he sponsored, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act, that was part of the rule package.

CBS News head Bari Weiss hit with furious staff backlash

CBS News boss Bari Weiss drew intense backlash from her own staff after intervening in a story to tie Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Current and former staffers blasted to Status the “shameful” story the now-Trump-friendly network wrote about El-Sayed, who is bidding to be the first Muslim elected to the Senate, as well as an accompanying social media post suggesting he may be “facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack” ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Monday’s article was about how the Michigan Democrat had deleted two posts on X that he wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, noting that the virus had already killed more Americans than the 2001 terror attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.

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In one since-deleted post, El-Sayed, a former epidemiologist and public health official, wrote that he hoped “we’ll spend the next ten years fighting a war for public health & against poverty ... like we launched a global #WaronTerror after 9/11.” In the other deleted post, which El-Sayed wrote on Sept. 11, 2021, he said, “Today, I mourn the 3K lives, 6K injuries, & infrastructural devastation in NYC, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my faith. Tomorrow, I’ll mourn ~1M lives, millions of injuries, & infrastructural devastation in 3 countries, perpetuated ignorantly in the name of my country.” The Democratic Socialist deleted the posts after scrubbing his entire social media output from before July 2023, with his campaign telling Politico that he did not want the posts to be “taken out of context.” However, Weiss, who had no experience in television news production before Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison parachuted her into the role of editor-in-chief at CBS News, believed the deleted posts were scandalous enough to report on. Sources told Status that Weiss even personally directed that the story’s headline be changed to specifically mention that El-Sayed had deleted posts referencing the 9/11 attacks.

Cost of a data breach reaches record $5 million on average

Artificial intelligence has “radically shifted” the cyber risk landscape, and the average cost of a data breach has reached a record of nearly $5 million. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, cyberattackers are using AI and attacking AI. AI-driven attacks increased 56% over last year’s study, adding about $1 million to the cost of a breach to reach an average $4.99 million—a 12% increase. “What’s changing is the economics of cyberattacks. AI is making attacks faster and cheaper, while breaches keep getting more expensive,” said Suja Viswesan, vice president, IBM Security Software. “When organizations have an extended gap between discovery and remediation, that imbalance shows up directly in breach costs. The priority now is to eliminate that lag—building remediation into development workflows, securing identity at runtime, and fixing risks at the speed attackers are already moving.”

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The research was conducted by Ponemon Institute and sponsored, analyzed and published by IBM. Ponemon studied 602 organizations impacted by data breaches from March 2025 through February 2026 and interviewed more than 3,550 security and C-suite leaders. The research found 92% of organization that suffered an AI-related breach did not have proper AI-access controls. However, 85% of breached organizations said they plan to increase spending on security tools and governance. “The new threats have also caused organizations to rethink the use of AI agents in security,” IBM said in the report. “Three quarters said they will deploy agents at higher rates in alert triage, vulnerability management, and scans and penetration testing.” IBM said average breach costs are worse in the U.S., reaching a record of about $11.5 million thanks to traditionally higher business costs and regulatory fines. The amount is about double the global average. The healthcare industry holds the distinction as most expensive average data breach at about $6.4 million, which is actually down from an average $7.4 million. Costs of a breach for the financial services and energy industries were an average $6.3 million and $5.2 million, respectively. Malicious or criminal attacks accounted for 55% of all data breaches, up almost 8% from last year, according to the report. These types of attacks more than doubled those caused by IT failures or human error.

Takeaways from Massachusetts, where generational challenges fizzled

The anti-incumbent mood that has ousted veteran Democrats across the country spared them in deep-blue Massachusetts on Tuesday night. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D), a 71-year-old former ironworker and senior member of the House Oversight Committee, fended off a younger, progressive challenger. He beat lawyer and voting rights advocate Patrick Roath, 39, who ran to Lynch’s left and outraised him, while urging voters to embrace generational change. Incumbents hold a profound advantage, but an unusual number of challengers have succeeded in ousting other Democrats this year. They have mostly been more progressive or, like Roath, younger and more progressive than the veterans they took on.

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Across both parties, 11 House incumbents have lost reelection bids this year, the second-highest number since 2012, and an unusually high tally for an election that did not follow nationwide redistricting. But deep-blue Massachusetts tangled the narrative that voters were ready to reject older incumbents: Sen. Ed Markey, 80, similarly defeated a younger challenger, moderate Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, in a race in which voters prioritized left-leaning values over the candidates’ ages. With the primary season winding down, there are no more generational nominating battles for Democrats this year. The three remaining House members with primary challengers were elected within the past four years. Here are four key takeaways from the primaries in Massachusetts, where Democratic winners typically hold an overwhelming advantage in the general election. Roath and Markey were markedly more progressive than their opponents, and each ran campaigns that focused on affordability and issues that resonated with younger voters and the party’s more liberal wing.

Case against suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing can proceed to trial, judge rules

The case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah, can move to trial, a judge ruled, citing sufficient probable cause. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. Judge Tony Graf ruled Robinson will stand trial on all counts, including aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury. Robinson was arraigned and his attorney entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. Kirk’s family welcomed the ruling as an important step in the “pursuit of justice.” Erika Kirk, alongside her late husband’s parents, were in the courtroom today.

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Copyright September 02, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved