December 12, 2025: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan

Indiana lawmakers voted 19 to 31 against the congressional redistricting called for by President Donald Trump in his attempt to help Republicans win the 2026 midterm elections.The defeat today in the Indiana Senate, where 40 of the 50 members are Republicans, is the first time Trump’s redistricting campaign has been voted down by members of his own party. Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have answered his call for an unusual mid-decade redistricting scramble. Sen. Greg Goode (R-Terre Haute) was the first lawmaker to face a swatting attempt and has been called out on social media by Trump himself. Goode, who has held a town hall on the bill, relayed what he said he’d heard from constituents, reading off direct quotes. He said constituents were largely against it, to cheers from protestors outside the chamber.

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Goode called on lawmakers to focus on what really matters to constituents – issues of affordability and job creation. “My vote on this legislation will reflect just that: common sense,” he said. Senator Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) said he felt mid-decade redistricting would undermine the people’s faith in the electoral process and was not in line with conservative principles. “My opposition to mid-cycle gerrymandering is not in contrast to my conservative principles, my opposition is driven by them,” Deery said. “As long as I have breath, I will use my voice to resist a federal government that attempts to bully, direct, and control this state or any state. Giving the federal government more power is not conservative.” The move was also opposed by Indiana Democrats, who currently hold just two of the state’s nine U.S. House seats and said it would dilute the voting power of minority communities. Democrats each took time to speak out against the bill on Thursday. J.D. Ford (D-Carmel) called on the Senate to use common sense and fairness. “We have a real opportunity to be a national leader,” Ford said. “We can rise above the political noise and say no to this map.”

Jasmine Crockett leads James Talarico in first poll post-announcement

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, may have just entered the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Monday, but according to a new poll she’s already the favorite to win. The Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey center at Texas Southern University polled 1,600 likely Texas Democratic Primary voters between Dec. 9 and Dec. 11, releasing their results on Friday morning. Among those responses, 51% of respondents indicated support for Jasmine Crockett, while 43% showed support for State Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock. The pollsters said that the results have a margin of error of +/- 2.45%. While Crockett leads by eight points among all likely Democratic primary voters, she excels in three major demographics. Crockett leads Talarico amongst women 57%-36%, amongst those 55 or older 59%-34% and among black voters 89%-8%.

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Conversely, Talarico leads with white voters 53%-40%, with men 52%-42% and with Latino voters 51%-41%. His strongest demographic is young voters, leading 63%-34% among eligible voters under the age of 34. According to the poll, Talarico lags behind Crockett heavily in name recognition, with 21% of likely Democratic primary voters saying they don’t know enough to have a favorable or unfavorable opinion about him. On the other hand, the outspoken U.S. congresswoman only has 6% of voters who say they don’t know enough. To close the poll, voters were asked two questions about how each candidate could help the Democratic party break a 30-year dry spell of statewide races. Voters overwhelmingly (53%-34%) said they believe Crockett would be the candidate to galvanize the base and mobilize Democratic-leaning non-voter to actually turn out in the 2026 General Election. On the other hand, voters overwhelmingly (58%-29%) said they believe Talarico would be the best candidate to flip the vote of Texans who consistently support Republican candidates. Both candidates have 81 days to make their case to Texas Democrats before the March 3 election.

Texas employment mostly flat in September before shutdown

Texas’ main economic indicators were mostly flat in September as escalating fears of an economic slowdown weighed on economists and American households, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Texas Workforce Commission shows. The report is the last snapshot of the state’s economy before the federal government shutdown, which started Oct. 1 and lasted a record 43 days, resulting in at least 67,000 furloughs and other economic pressures due to a lack of services. For the month, the state added a net 4,600 nonfarm positions, according to the Workforce Commission, representing a statistically negligible change from August. Texas, with a population of around 31 million, recorded a record high civilian workforce of around 15.9 million, the TWC report notes. For the year, the September report brought the state’s job growth to 168,000, representing a year-over-year seasonally adjusted nonfarm growth rate of 1.2%.

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That year-over-year growth rate was significantly better than the corresponding national rate, which was 0.8%. But for years, Texas’ economy has been growing much faster than the national average, with the 1.2% rate representing something of a cooldown from the state’s recent trajectory. “Historically, the Texas economy grows around 2%,” Luis Torres, a senior economist at the San Antonio Branch of the Dallas Fed, said in an interview with The News earlier this fall. The 1.2% year-over-year rate is on par with modeling produced by the bank in September, when the Dallas Fed forecast the state’s employment would grow by 1.3% in 2025. “So yes, it’s below trend,” Torres added, “and it’s also weaker than 2024.” The data released Thursday showed that in September, Texas counted 14,343,800 nonfarm jobs, up from 14,339,200 in August and 14,175,800 in September of 2024. The state’s biggest monthly increase came from the construction sector, which added 4,300 jobs. The trade, transportation and utilities sector saw a monthly gain, as did Texas’ two million plus-worker government sector, which grew by nearly 6,000 workers.

Trump seeks to cut restrictions on marijuana through planned order

President Donald Trump is expected to push the government to dramatically loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, reducing oversight of the plant and its derivatives to the same level as some common prescription painkillers and other drugs, according to six people familiar with the discussions. Trump discussed the plan with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) in a Wednesday phone call from the Oval Office, said four of the people, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The president is expected to seek to ease access to the drug through an upcoming executive order that directs federal agencies to pursue reclassification, the people said. The move would not legalize or decriminalize marijuana, but it would ease barriers to research and boost the bottom lines of legal businesses.

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Trump in August said he was “looking at reclassification.” He would be finishing what started under President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, which followed the recommendation of federal health officials in proposing a rule to reclassify marijuana; that proposal has stalled since Trump took office. “We’re looking at it. Some people like it, some people hate it,” Trump said this summer. “Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana because it does bad for the children, it does bad for the people that are older than children.” Trump cannot unilaterally reclassify marijuana, said Shane Pennington, a D.C. attorney who represents two pro-rescheduling companies involved in the litigation on the topic. But he can direct the Justice Department to forgo a pending administrative court hearing and issue the final rule, Pennington said. “This would be the biggest reform in federal cannabis policy since marijuana was made a Schedule I drug in the 1970s,” Pennington said. The president was joined on the Wednesday call with Johnson by marijuana industry executives, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services chief Mehmet Oz, three of the people said. Johnson was skeptical of the idea and gave a list of reasons, including several studies and data, to support his position against reclassifying the drug, two of the people said. Trump then turned the phone over to the executives gathered around his desk, who rebutted Johnson’s arguments, the people said.

State Stories

Henry Cuellar will retake key spending post after Trump pardon

Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to return Rep. Henry Cuellar to his leadership position on a powerful spending panel following his pardon on federal corruption charges. “We got ratified,” Cuellar told reporters following the vote. The veteran Texas lawmaker overcame private concerns inside his party about restoring him as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security subpanel after President Donald Trump granted him clemency in a surprise move last week. But Cuellar remains popular in the Democratic Caucus, particularly among longtime colleagues — some of whom argued that with the pardon wiping away his bribery indictment, the legal process had run its course and there was no reason to bar Cuellar from the post under caucus rules.

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“Just look at the rules,” said Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.). “There’s nothing more to say.” Still, the fact that the vote even happened meant that at least one Democratic appropriator privately objected to reappointing Cuellar by acclamation. If his party retakes the House majority next year, Cuellar would be in line as subcommittee chair to directly oversee more than $60 billion in annual spending on agencies including Customs and Border Protection and ICE. Democrats have made a high-profile push in recent weeks to police ethical transgressions in the party’s ranks. Nearly two dozen Democrats led by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington broke ranks to reprimand Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.) for apparently engineering his retirement announcement to ensure a favored ally would succeed him. Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood has served as the top Democrat on the subpanel since Cuellar’s indictment last year alleging he took some $600,000 in bribes from foreign entities. Cuellar has denied wrongdoing and cast his indictment under President Joe Biden as political retribution for his moderate immigration stances.

U Can Share: Food bank partnerships help address student hunger in West Texas schools

Student hunger is becoming more visible in West Texas classrooms, prompting schools to partner with local organizations to ensure children can focus on learning rather than empty stomachs. The South Plains Food Bank collaborates with several organizations to address this growing need, including Communities in Schools, which helps identify students who depend on school-based food support. Amanda Graham, Chief Growth Officer for Communities in Schools, reflects on the impact of addressing basic needs. “I think often about the fact a cup of noodles can change a student’s entire day,” she said. Communities in Schools stations trained site coordinators at 87 campuses across the region. These coordinators witness daily challenges students face, particularly when hunger affects their ability to learn and participate in school activities.

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Chase Head, Chief Development Officer for the South Plains Food Bank, acknowledges the financial commitment required to maintain these programs. “Children are our future for us to fill a pantry it’s 200 to 500 dollars for us to take the mobile market out it’s about 2,500 dollars every time we take that out,” Head said. “It’s expensive and that’s where the community is so important to us a lot of this is coming straight from donations.” The campus food resources serve more than emergency supplies. They provide coordinators with opportunities to connect with students, build trust, and understand additional challenges families may be experiencing. Graham explains that many families work hard but still struggle financially. “A lot of families are working really hard and they’re still not able to make ends meet,” she said. “We want to alleviate that stress and burden at home, when we can. It can carry over to a student and stress at school, we want to be there for the students and family.” The food bank emphasizes that partnerships like this one are crucial for effective food distribution. While they can provide food at reduced costs, they rely on school-based organizations to connect resources with students who need them most. “We’re in the business of resourcing food at really low cost so that’s where we come in but we’re not always in that school or community to identify who needs stuff and that’s where we partner with agencies like CIS to make sure we’re filling the pantry and they’re able to help the people that need it,” Head said. Together, these organizations create consistent food access for students, addressing hunger one pantry, one snack, and one student at a time.

TEA will take over Beaumont ISD, district and board member confirm, as commissioner orders new board of managers

The Texas Education Agency will take over the Beaumont Independent School District, a move confirmed Thursday by both the district and BISD school board member Joe Evans, who told 12News that “the entire district will be taken over.” The confirmation came the same day TEA Commissioner Mike Morath issued a formal letter ordering the installation of a board of managers and a conservator to govern the district. In the December 11, 2025 letter addressed to Superintendent Dr. Shannon Allen and all seven trustees, Morath said state intervention is required because two BISD campuses—ML King Middle School and Fehl-Price Elementary—earned a fifth consecutive unacceptable academic accountability rating. State law under TEC §39A.111 mandates the appointment of a board of managers or the closure of any campus that fails for five straight years.

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Morath wrote that ML King Middle School received its fifth consecutive unacceptable rating with the 2023–24 school year, marking 11 years since it last earned an acceptable rating. Fehl-Price Elementary reached the same threshold with the 2024–25 ratings; according to the letter, it has never met an acceptable academic standard since opening in 2011–12. Both campuses received “F” ratings in their most recent review. The commissioner described the district’s challenges as a “fundamental failure,” citing chronic academic deficiencies and a long-standing inability to support student success. Only 30% of BISD students are meeting grade level—20 percentage points below the state average, he wrote—calling the intervention compulsory rather than discretionary. According to 12News file reporting, this marks the second time in just over a decade that state-appointed oversight will replace locally elected leadership. The TEA first confirmed a takeover on April 14, 2014, when then-Commissioner Michael Williams removed the elected board following investigations into special education, finance, and governance. Williams cited the “magnitude of the findings,” “systemic operating deficiencies,” and the need to prevent “further harm to students.” Some trustees objected at the time, arguing the action disenfranchised voters. Local control was restored in 2020 after years under a board of managers. Morath informed Superintendent Allen and the board of the transition, and Board President Thomas Sigee said the decision restored trust in the voters who elected district leaders. But renewed state scrutiny intensified after BISD received a “D” accountability rating and seven failing campuses in the prior school year. During a September 2025 visit, Morath toured Fehl-Price, Pietzsch-MacArthur and Vincent Middle School, noting he saw both “great practices” and “very problematic practices.”

Lake Worth ISD will be taken over by the state, TEA officials announce

The Texas Education Agency is taking over the Lake Worth Independent School District after Marilyn Miller Language Academy received five consecutive F ratings, state education officials announced Thursday. The takeover means Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will name a replacement for district Superintendent Mark Ramirez and appoint a board of managers to temporarily replace the district’s school board. Lake Worth ISD is the second Tarrant County school district to be taken over by the state in the past year. TEA officials announced in October that they would take over Fort Worth ISD after a similar series of consecutive F ratings at a middle school in the district. Texas law requires the state education commissioner to do one of two things anytime a single campus receives a fifth straight F rating: order that campus closed, or take over the entire district, replacing its elected school board with an appointed board of managers.

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In an enforcement letter sent to Lake Worth ISD officials and school board members, Morath said he planned to appoint a board of managers and a conservator to oversee the district. The board of managers temporarily replaces the district’s elected school board. The conservator oversees turnaround plans at low-performing schools. Morath said the board of managers will remain in place until no campuses in the district have consecutive years of F ratings. Ideally, the district will reach a point where no campuses receive an F rating at all, he said. Although a fifth consecutive F rating at Miller Language Academy triggered the takeover, the district’s problems go beyond a single campus, Morath said: Only 22% of students across all grades and subjects met grade level on the most recent STAAR exam. That’s 28% lower than the statewide percentage. “Lake Worth ISD’s low level of student achievement is a long-standing issue, predating the COVID-19 disruptions, and has gotten worse recently,” he said.

TEA announces takeover of Connally ISD

The Texas Education Agency announced the state agency is taking over Connally Independent School District, 25 News confirmed. State Takeover: Texas Education Agency announces takeover of Connally ISD Mike Morath, TEA Commissioner of Education, tells 25 News' Bobby Poitevint that they delivered the letter, notifying Connally ISD of the takeover Thursday afternoon. In the letter obtained by 25 News, it reads that two of the five Connally ISD campuses earned a fifth consecutive unacceptable academic accountability rating for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. This requires the TEA Commissioner of Education to either order the closure of those two campuses or appoint a board of managers to govern the district.

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"I am hereby ordering the appointment of both a board of managers to govern the district and a conservator," Morath said in the letter. The two campuses at the center of the state takeover are Connally Junior High and Connally Elementary. According to the letter, Connally Junior High earned an 'F' in 2023, an 'F' in 2024, and a 'D' in 2025, and Connally Elementary earned three consecutive 'F' ratings for 2023, 2024, and 2025. Mike Morath on Texas Education Agency announces takeover of Connally ISD State law requires that the commissioner appoint a superintendent, which Morath says in the letter he will decide at a later time. An informal review is scheduled for Dec. 17 at 1:45 p.m.

Appeals court rejects lawsuit over Texas foreign land-buyers law

A federal appeals court has allowed Texas’ new foreign land-ownership law to remain in effect — not because the judges weighed in on whether it’s constitutional, but because they ruled the person challenging it isn’t actually affected by it. On Thursday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit against Senate Bill 17, a new law that restricts people with citizenship, permanent residence or political ties to China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from acquiring most types of real estate in Texas, including farmland, homes and commercial property. Supporters say the measure is a safeguard against national security threats repeatedly highlighted in the federal government’s annual threat assessment.

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The plaintiff in the case, Peng Wang, is a Chinese citizen who’s lived in Texas for 16 years on a student visa. Wang argued that the law discriminated against him and others like him, making it harder to rent long term or eventually buy a home. But the appeals court on Wednesday ruled that SB 17 doesn’t apply to Wang at all. To fall under the law, someone must be domiciled in a designated country, meaning that country is their permanent home. The judges noted that Wang considers Texas his home, plans to stay after school and has “no real plans to return to China.” “Wang is asking this court to find that his true, fixed, and permanent home and place to which he intends to return is an unknown place somewhere in China at which he has never lived and to which he has no intention to ever return,” the ruling read. “We refuse the invitation.” Because Wang didn’t meet those requirements, the court refused to move forward on the bigger constitutional questions, leaving SB 17 fully in effect. Justin Sadowsky, legal director at the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance and Wang’s attorney, said he was disappointed in the decision, but believed future legal challenges would be taken against what he described as a “blatantly discriminatory law.”

Jason Berry: Confronting abuse cases in Dallas, survivors and Jesuits take path of reconciliation

(Jason Berry achieved prominence for his reporting on the Catholic church crisis in Lead Us Not Into Temptation (1992).) In 1965, just shy of my junior year at Jesuit High School of New Orleans, with good potential as an offensive end, I had an epiphany in the muddy slog of August football practice. Why are you doing something you don't like? Soon, I quit. And was trailed by guilt for a dereliction of duty. Jesuit vaunted student achievements of all kinds. I played on the golf team and did some pieces for the school paper. Jesuit fostered a fraternal culture, molding friendships I carry to this day. For a writer, the Jesuits' stress on Socratic thinking was a gift. Question seeks answer, answer sparks new questions, yielding synthesis as the wheel of learning turns. Picture Kevin Trower, the cerebral basketball coach, a layman teaching Latin, pacing the floor with furrowed brow, book in hand on Caesar's Gallic Wars. "Alea iacta est. The die is cast! What does this tell us? Think, boys! Think!" In 1966, on certain nights, I sat in a school parlor with my religion teacher, troubled by a loving father who, after work, downed a few stiff ones, watched Vietnam War protests on TV, then drifted off to bed. Ashamed to tell Fr. Pat Koch how Dad was there-but-not-there. I brooded over quitting football. "Think of yourself in five years, Jason. What difference will football make?"

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Koch (pronounced Coke) entreated me to pray for a closeness with Jesus. He blessed me when we finished. I left feeling clean, a burden lifted. A few years later, Dad got sober, bounced back as a benevolent paterfamilias. By then, Koch had gone to Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. Today, I wince on reading about Koch in a 2021 deposition of Fr. Philip Postell, the Dallas Jesuit Prep president from 1992 to 2011. Nine men alleged they were sexually abused as teenagers, with the cases involving five priests in the '70s and '80s. Four men accused Koch, who died in 2006 at 78. His Legacy obituary is full of praise from people with memories like mine. Postell, 20 years younger than Koch, testified they were not close. I recall Postell, who taught at my high school: a scholastic, not yet ordained, easygoing with a wry sense of humor. Postell in testimony was 83, questioned by Brent Walker, an adroit attorney among several lawyers suing the Dallas Diocese, Jesuit Prep and the Jesuits' Central and Southern Province, among others.

Joe Holley: Democrats face a mess in Texas

(Joe Holley, a speechwriter for former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, writes columns and editorials for the Houston Chronicle.) Whenever I hear the name Jasmine Crockett — she’s the bold and brash Democratic congresswoman from Dallas — I can’t help but think of the other Crockett, the one most folks around the country know. That would be Davy Crockett, of course. Also a politician, Davy was a congressman from Tennessee until he got his coonskin cap handed to him in his 1835 bid for reelection. The disgusted future Disney hero decamped to Texas, but not before he got off a parting shot at Tennessee voters: “You all may go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” The latter-day Crockett, now that she’s a declared candidate for the U.S. Senate, may not bring hell to her fellow Texas Democrats but she has already stirred up turmoil. She made the announcement Monday, just hours after former Rep. Colin Allred, who ran a respectable U.S. Senate race in a losing effort last year against incumbent Ted Cruz, dropped out of the 2026 Democratic senate primary race.

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Saying he wanted to avoid “a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff,” Allred announced he’ll run for the House from the newly drawn 33rd congressional district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Crockett’s candidacy may also have cast a worrisome shadow on the glow many Texas Democrats were beginning to see in her remaining Democratic primary opponent. James Talarico, a young state House member from the Austin area, is not only uncommonly eloquent, but he’s also a part-time ministerial student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Although he may be a tad bit Mr. Rogers-earnest, he’s adept at framing progressive ideals and policies within the context of his Christian beliefs, not unlike Sen. Raphael G. Warnock of Georgia. Democrats across the country have noticed, particularly after the 36-year-old politician/preacher spent nearly three hours on the Joe Rogan podcast in July. Rogan told him he ought to run for president. The Talarico boomlet — also fueled by over 1.5 million followers on TikTok — has the makings of a Beto O’Rourke-style love affair. (The Beto boomlet fizzled after the former congressman lost his two statewide races and flamed out in his quixotic run for president.) And as Talarico is well aware, his party’s three-decade-plus exile from statewide office in Texas approaches the Israelites’ epic wilderness sojourn.

TCU offers new course inspired by hit TV series ‘Landman’

In the first episode of Taylor Sheridan’s hit TV series Landman, lead character Tommy Norris, played by Billy Bob Thornton, is held prisoner by the Mexican cartel and a massive oil tanker and airplane collide in a fiery explosion. While Tom Seng, an assistant professor of energy finance at Texas Christian University, admitted those scenes were entertaining, he said they don’t reflect what life is actually like as a landman. “I have yet to run into a landman who said he was battling cartels in West Texas,” he said with a chuckle.

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What is a landman? Someone who negotiates land rights on behalf of energy companies. That’s part of what 25 undergraduate students will learn in the spring in a new eight-week seminar at TCU called “Land Management and Land Administration.” The course, while inspired by Landman, is not exclusively about the show. Instead, Seng will teach students what it means to be a landman and prepare them for a certification exam through the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), which is headquartered in Fort Worth. Seng said students will hear about the profession from Midland and Fort Worth landmen, including a TCU alum couple who own a mineral management company. During his 30 years as a trader in the natural gas industry, Seng said, he worked with several landmen. He said there are certain stereotypes about old-school landmen — like “the guy with the Cadillac with the longhorns on the hood.” But he said the face of the modern landman has changed as younger generations join the ranks and the number of women in the profession increases.

Steve Phillips: Here’s what it takes for a Democrat to win in Texas

(Steve Phillips is a best-selling author, columnist, podcast host, and national political expert.) Contrary to what Democratic elites think is conventional wisdom, Representative Jasmine Crockett is not just a viable candidate for the Texas US Senate race next year—she’s the strongest one. Pundits and Democratic politicians haved failed to appreciate her potential, clinging instead to outdated theories about “moderate candidates” and mythical Republican “crossover voters.” But the path to flipping Texas has already been illuminated: most notably by Beto O’Rourke’s near-miss in 2018 and, more recently, by Zohran Mamdani’s stunning ascent to victory in New York City. The closest any Democrat has come to winning statewide in Texas over the past three decades was O’Rourke’s 2018 Senate campaign, when he lost by just 2.6 points, falling just 215,000 votes short.

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O’Rourke’s unapologetic progressivism—his courage to staunchly defend NFL players protesting police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem—separated him from the pack and attracted support from across the country. His campaign demonstrated that inspiring, galvanizing leadership resonates in diverse states with large populations of voters of color. This same dynamic propelled Stacey Abrams within a hair’s breadth of the Georgia governorship and Andrew Gillum to a near-win in Florida in 2018. The pattern is clear: bold, progressive candidates who refuse to run from their values come closest to victory in these former slave-holding states. What too many political strategists fail to understand is that Texas is a majority-minority state. People of color are 61 percent of the population and 51 percent of eligible voters. The challenge in Texas is not changing the minds of conservative voters but tackling the low levels of voter participation among communities of color. While not all people of color in Texas are Democrats, the upside is considerable in those communities in light of Republican hostility to racial justice and inequality. Most applicable to Crockett’s candidacy is the fact that O’Rourke won the support of 89 percent of Black Americans and 64 percent of Latinos, according to exit polling data. In that 2018 contest between O’Rourke and Ted Cruz, 5 million eligible people of color did not cast ballots.

Invasive pest never before seen in North America threatens Texas food supply, officials warn

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller discusses efforts to help farmers and ranchers with supplies and the opening of an agriculture mental health hotline to all Texans. Texas agriculture officials issued an urgent alert this week after confirming that a newly identified invasive pest is spreading quickly across more than 20 counties, threatening grazing lands, hay production and livestock operations across the state. The insect, Helicococcus summervillei – known as the pasture mealybug – has never before been reported in North America. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the pest is already causing visible damage in multiple regions. "This is a completely new pest to our continent, and Texas is once again on the front lines," Miller said. "If the pasture mealybug spreads across Texas grazing lands like it has in eastern Australia, it could cost Texas agriculture dearly in lost productivity and reduced livestock capacity."

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The Texas Department of Agriculture says it is working with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to evaluate how far it is spreading and to determine the best emergency response strategy. The pasture mealybug was first described in Australia in 1928, according to AgriLife Extension publications, and was known to be responsible for millions of acres of lost pasture due to "pasture dieback." The publication describes the condition as when the insect feeds at the soil level and within plant tissues, weakening and eventually killing grass essential for grazing and hay production. While the species is believed to be new to North America, researchers suspect the insect has been present since before 2022. So far, state and extension experts have documented the following 20 counties as being infected, with possibly more: Brazoria, Galveston, Wharton, Matagorda, Colorado, Austin, Washington, Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Refugio, Calhoun, Victoria, Goliad, Dewitt, Lavaca, Fayette, Jackson, Burleson, Brazos and Robertson.

‘Human trafficking behind prison walls’: women jailed in Texas allege rampant sexual abuse

Women at FMC Carswell – long a focus of sexual abuse investigations – say prison officials have turned a blind eye Eleven women incarcerated at a federal prison in Texas allege they have been subjected to rampant sexual abuse by staff members in the past seven years. The allegations are the latest accusations of abuse within a federal prison system rife with claims of inhumane conditions. The allegations at FMC Carswell, a federal medical women’s prison in Fort Worth, Texas, are particularly troubling because the facility has been the focus of sexual abuse investigations for years, with 13 staff members convicted of abuse and misconduct since 1997 and promises of reform at various times. Now, 11 women have filed fresh lawsuits alleging they have been sexually assaulted by prison staff in recent years.

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The lawsuits have been filed since 1 May in federal District of Columbia court and list Beth Reese, the chief of the office of internal affairs for the BoP, and the United States as defendants. The suits each lodge 10 civil claims against the US, including negligence, sexual battery and trafficking victims. In the lawsuits, the women identify six staff members at the facility as perpetrators, including a doctor, chaplain and three officers. Several women say they have been assaulted by the head of the BioMed office. Over the past months, the Guardian spoke with six women alleging abuse. They say sexual assault is common at FMC Carswell, and an issue that staff and administrators turn a blind eye to. “Coming into the system, whether you’re guilty or not, it’s like you’re punished over and over again,” said Priscilla Ellis, an army veteran incarcerated at Carswell who said she was abused for more than a year by a Carswell staff member. “It’s like human trafficking behind prison walls.”

Support Texas animal initiatives with new license plate design

The Texas Humane Legislation Network unveiled a new design for the Animal-Friendly license plate in a news release Monday. The network partnered with Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of State Health Services to develop and release the plate design. The plate features updated language from the previous design, adding the word “adopt” to read “Spay. Neuter. Adopt.” This is meant to emphasize the importance of adopting from local shelters, according to the release. During the 89th Texas Legislature this year, Senate Bill 1568 was passed, which enabled DSHS to diversify license plate designs to boost public interest and awareness of the Texas Animal-Friendly Program.

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The plate is available for purchase for $30, with $22 going toward supporting spaying and neutering initiatives across Texas, the release said. The funds raised from the original plate design reached over $6 million, according to the release. The design is part of the Animal-Friendly License Plate Program, which was established in 1997. The program set up the Animal-Friendly Fund, which supports spay and neuter initiatives at local shelters and nonprofit organizations across Texas, the release said. “These new plates are more than just a design update — they’re a reminder of what Texans can accomplish when compassion meets action,” Shelby Bobosky, executive director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network, said. “Every plate purchased helps reduce shelter overpopulation and supports local organizations working tirelessly to provide spay, neuter and adoption services across the state.” To order the new plate, visit MyPlates.com.

County Stories

Judge throws out perjury charge against embattled Johnson County sheriff

A Johnson County district judge on Thursday threw out one of the indictments against the county’s embattled sheriff, according to court documents. Sheriff Adam King had been indicted on the charge of aggravated perjury on Oct. 1, hours before the same judge granted King’s request to return to work while his case is pending. The indictment for the charge was “illegally obtained,” according to the court documents. King, who was in August charged with abuse of office and witness retaliation, was accused of lying under oath while testifying before a grand jury in those cases, according to the original indictment. The sheriff perjured himself when he told the grand jury he did not change the schedule of a female employee after she reported that King sexually harassed her. King’s attorneys could not specify why the indictment was illegal, they said in a statement Thursday. “At this time, it can’t be said whether the indictment was a mistake, negligence, or simply not knowing state law,” the statement reads.

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City Stories

When Mom can't come home

On a chilly Saturday in downtown Dallas, a curly-haired woman dashes between rows of wrapped gifts arranged in the back room of an Italian restaurant. Her name is Angelica Zaragoza, and today, she refuses to forget anyone. Dozens of children watch as she and a few volunteers call out the names scrawled on multi-colored boxes. The kids sit cross-legged in front of a 7-foot-tall paper gingerbread house decorated with coffee-brown, white, and red balloons. Zaragoza turns to them, drawing their attention as if she is conducting a choir. “Who else needs somethin’?” she yells over Christmas tunes. She won’t let anyone leave without a present. Many of these kids are here because their mothers can’t be. This is the second Christmas event since Zaragoza, 47, took the reins of Janie’s Angels, an organization that supports incarcerated mothers and their children. The nonprofit, once called Girls Embracing Mothers, transports sons and daughters from North Texas to Gatesville to visit their imprisoned moms for four hours every month and do an activity—crafts, painting, even dodgeball.

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It also offers monthly parenting classes, a yearly summer camp and mentorship for the kids, and support for families throughout the woman’s re-entry into society. Since 2013, the program has served around 300 women in North Texas, and to Zaragoza’s knowledge, only five have returned to jail. As the group’s only full-time staffer, Zaragoza spends her days like she did this past Saturday, rushing around to ensure no child is forgotten. It previously allowed only daughters, but this fall, the group admitted sons, increasing enrollment to 23 mothers and 45 kids. (The state prison system caps the visits at 45, she says.) The number of incarcerated women has exploded in the U.S. since the 1980s, growing at twice the pace of men. More than half are mothers to children younger than 18, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Mothers are more likely to have been the sole or primary caregiver for the child before incarceration, the bureau found. While men typically rely on the mother to care for the children while they’re away, women turned to other relatives—and their kids were five times more likely to end up in foster care. Most women in the criminal justice system report childhood abuse or trauma. They are more likely than men to be arrested for low-level offenses, and while locked up, have more significant behavioral health needs that often go untreated. When they return home, their stress is exacerbated by navigating childcare while finding housing and a job.

SAPD officers stand by their chief, stopping no-confidence push against McManus

San Antonio police are standing by their chief. The police union’s board has decided not to pursue a no-confidence vote against SAPD Chief William McManus. The decision comes after weeks of mounting tension in the department after three San Antonio police officers charged with murder or other offenses in the 2023 shooting of Melissa Perez were swiftly acquitted last month. Many in the SAPD ranks saw the charges as unwarranted and the not-guilty verdicts as proof of their flimsiness. The officers contended they acted in self-defense. The union acknowledged the board’s decision against a no-confidence vote in a statement released Thursday night.

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“After careful deliberation and input from our members, the San Antonio Police Officers’ Association has decided not to move forward with a formal vote of no confidence against Chief William McManus,” San Antonio Police Officers’ Association President Danny Diaz said in a statement. A total of 35 of the union’s 50 directors, who represent every SAPD substation and shift, were present at Thursday’s meeting, which was held at the Barn Door restaurant. The final tally was 34–1, with only one director voting in favor of a no-confidence vote. Diaz said a detective made a motion not to hold the vote, prompting an emotional discussion that lasted several minutes. Six union directors stood up to speak, and the consensus emerged that this wasn’t the time to take a vote against the chief. Some expressed concern about expected voter apathy, Diaz said. Others argued that even if a no-confidence vote were held, it would be only symbolic, noting that a near-unanimous no-confidence vote in 2016 did not affect McManus’ job status.

National Stories

Trump signs executive order blocking states from enforcing their own regulations around AI

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that blocks states from enforcing their own regulations around artificial intelligence and instead aims to create a “single national framework” for AI. “This is an executive order that orders aspects of your administration to take decisive action to ensure that AI can operate within a single national framework in this country, as opposed to being subject to state level regulation that could potentially cripple the industry,” White House aide Will Scharf said of the executive order in the Oval Office. The order could have far-reaching effects on US efforts to dominate the nascent technology, which has already become a significant part of the economy and the stock market but which also still remains untested in many ways.

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David Sacks, the White House crypto and AI czar, said during the signing ceremony that the executive order would have the administration create a “federal framework” on AI in conjunction with Congress. “In the meantime, this EO gives your administration tools to push back on the most onerous and excessive state regulations,” Sacks said. Notably, Sacks emphasized that the administration will not push back on state-level regulation around child safety and AI. He later wrote in a social media post that the EO “does not mean the Administration will challenge every State AI law.” Congress killed an earlier attempt by Republicans to prevent states from regulating AI in July. The US Senate voted nearly unanimously to remove a 10-year moratorium on the enforcement of state artificial intelligence regulations from Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill before the bill passed. Lawmakers also declined to add an AI moratorium to the National Defense Authorization Act, despite Trump’s suggestion that they do so.

US seizure of rogue oil tanker off Venezuela signals new crackdown on shadow fleet

The oil tanker was navigating near the coast of Guyana recently when its location transponder showed it starting to zigzag. It was a seemingly improbable maneuver and the latest digital clue that the ship, the Skipper, was trying to obscure its whereabouts and the valuable cargo stored inside its hull: tens of millions of dollars’ worth of illicit crude oil. On Wednesday, U.S. commandos fast-roping from helicopters seized the 332-meter (1,090-feet) ship — not where it appeared to be navigating on ship tracking platforms but some 360 nautical miles to the northwest, near the coast of Venezuela. The seizure marked a dramatic escalation in President Donald Trump’s campaign to pressure strongman Nicolás Maduro by cutting off access to oil revenues that have long been the lifeblood of Venezuela’s economy.

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It could also signal a broader U.S. campaign to clamp down on ships like the Skipper, which experts and U.S. officials say is part of a shadowy fleet of rusting oil tankers that smuggle oil for countries facing stiff sanctions, such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran. “There are hundreds of flagless, stateless tankers that have been a lifeline for revenues, sanctioned oil revenues, for regimes like Maduro’s, Iran and for the Kremlin,” said Michelle Weise Bockmann, a senior analyst at Windward, a maritime intelligence firm that tracks such vessels. “They can no longer operate unchallenged.” Since the first Trump administration imposed punishing oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2017, Maduro’s government has relied on scores of such oil tankers to smuggle their crude into global supply chains. The ships cloak their locations by altering their automated identification system — a mandatory safety feature intended to help avoid collisions — to either go entirely dark or to “spoof” their location to appear to be navigating sometimes oceans away, under a false flag or with the fake registration information of another vessel. The dark fleet expanded following U.S. sanctions on Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Experts say many of the ships are barely seaworthy, operate without insurance and are registered to shell companies that help conceal their ownership.

Tesla is the most unreliable used car brand in America, even behind Jeep and Chrysler

According to Consumer Reports' 2025 used vehicle reliability study, Tesla is the most unreliable used car brand in the US. It placed last among 26 automotive brands with a reliability ranking of 31 – below Jeep (32), Ram (35), and Chrysler (36). The study evaluated the reliability of 5- to 10-year-old models on the second-hand market. While the results may seem like a damning indictment of Tesla, the report notes that the company has improved the build quality of its vehicles. All of its latest models now offer "better-than-average reliability," and Tesla ranks among the top 10 brands in Consumer Reports' new car predictability rankings, surpassing established automakers like Ford, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Volkswagen.

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While newer Teslas are more reliable than older models, the company has issued several recalls across most of its lineup, including the flagship Model S and the all-new Cybertruck. Earlier this year, Tesla recalled more than 46,000 Cybertrucks to fix an exterior panel that wasn't properly secured and could detach while driving. In January, the company recalled over 200,000 vehicles due to a software glitch affecting rearview cameras. In recent years, Tesla has recalled millions of cars for issues ranging from autopilot bugs, brake fluid detection problems, and faulty seat-belt warning systems, to malfunctioning touchscreens and power steering failures. Used Tesla prices have fallen sharply since the pandemic years, when federal tax credits helped fuel demand for EVs in the US. Since those credits were rolled back under President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, demand has softened, with consumers increasingly opting for traditional internal combustion vehicles or plug-in hybrids.

Always on my mind: Trump’s enduring focus on Joe Biden

Of all the statistics that came out of President Trump’s economic address on Tuesday night in Mt. Pocono, Pa., surely one of the most striking was this: He mentioned Joe Biden 30 times. That would be 31 times, if you count “sleepy son of a bitch,” which the audience surely did. “Sleepy Joe Biden — have you heard of him?” Mr. Trump asked at one point. At various other points: “So you have Biden food price increases … You know what you did during the Biden era for Thanksgiving? … I had a news conference, unlike Biden … Stupid Joe … Sleepy Joe … Crooked Joe.” Joe. Joe. Joe. Hardly a day goes by that Mr. Trump does not talk about his predecessor. Even still, his performance at Mt. Pocono seemed to represent some kind of new summit being reached. According to a review of all his speeches throughout the year, Tuesday’s was the one in which he mentioned Mr. Biden the most.

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Mr. Trump has been in office for nearly 11 months, but his fixation with the guy who had the job before him has not diminished as time has gone on. It actually seems to be growing more intense. An analysis of his first 50 days in office conducted back in March by The New York Times found that Mr. Trump mentioned the name “Biden” 6.32 times a day on average. At a cabinet meeting last week — 316 days into his second term — he spoke about Mr. Biden eight times during one 20-minute window. It’s also notable that this fixation has become more acute as Mr. Trump has started facing scrutiny over some of the same issues for which he attacked Mr. Biden — namely, his handling of the economy and his age. It’s like a rhetorical Chinese finger trap: The more that Mr. Trump’s troubles resemble Mr. Biden’s troubles, the more Mr. Trump talks about Mr. Biden. “He’s like a bad gambler who just can’t stop doubling down on the same bet, and that bet was that cost of living and age was killing Biden,” said James Carville, the veteran Democratic strategist.

At least 254 quarantined in SC over 'accelerating' measles outbreak

Hundreds of people, including children, are quarantined in South Carolina on the heels of an upstate measles outbreak, which health leaders said stems from a lack of vaccinations and recent holiday travel. At least 111 people have contracted measles since the outbreak began in early October, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH). Of the cases reported in the state's northwest region, 105 people were unvaccinated, state epidemiologist Linda Bell announced during a Wednesday, Dec. 10, news briefing. The remaining six included three people who received only one of the two recommended MMR doses, Bell said, while another person was vaccinated and the vaccination status of the other two is unknown.

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At least 254 people have been placed in quarantine - 16 of them in isolation, Bell said. "This significant jump in cases is unfortunate," Bell said. "Vaccination continues to be the best way to prevent the disruption that measles is causing to people's education, to employment and other factors in people's lives in our communities." Bell said authorities traced 16 infections to the Way of Truth Church in Spartanburg County in the northwest part of the state. The church, in the city of Inman, is part of South Carolina's Upstate region which also includes Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, and Union counties. Since Dec. 5, Bell said, 27 new cases had been reported, bringing the total number reported to the DPH this year to 114. Declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, measles recently made a comeback as vaccination rates have dropped. Earlier this year, two children ages 6 and 8, died from measles amid an outbreak in Texas where Department of State Health Services data revealed more than 94% of cases were in unvaccinated people, USA TODAY previously reported. "If people are willing to be vaccinated, receiving an MMR vaccination within 72 hours of exposure has been shown to prevent measles infections," Bell said.

Noem left a hearing early for a meeting. Turns out it was canceled before it began.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem left a House hearing on worldwide threats early on Thursday to attend a meeting about the future of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, drawing the ire of Democrats in the hearing room who were grilling her on President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The FEMA Review Council meeting was then abruptly canceled minutes before it was set to begin. FEMA referred questions about the meeting’s cancellation to the White House. “Noem said she had to go chair the FEMA review council meeting. BUT I’m told that meeting was canceled,” Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz said on X. One source inside FEMA said they received a message that the meeting had been postponed until further notice.

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The meeting’s cancellation comes amid growing tensions between the White House and Noem over her handling of FEMA, according to several sources familiar with the issue. The task force created by Trump to remake FEMA was supposed to deliver on its final recommendations Thursday. The review council was expected to recommend that FEMA drastically shrink its size and scope, cut the size of its workforce in half and raise the bar for states to qualify for federal emergency help at all, according to CNN. Those expected recommendations do not reflect the original conclusions of the task force, two FEMA employees with knowledge of the matter told NOTUS. The FEMA Review Council initially concluded that the agency needed to be strengthened and made independent from the Department of Homeland Security. Noem reportedly intervened to shorten the report and alter its conclusions, preserving its status as an agency within DHS and beholden to her leadership, according to The Washington Post.

A grand jury again resists Trump’s push to reindict Letitia James

A federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., declined on Thursday to indict Letitia James, the New York attorney general, the second time in a week that jurors had rejected the effort — a rebuke of President Trump’s bid to order up prosecutions against his political enemies. The jury refused to charge Ms. James, who had brought a civil case against Mr. Trump, in connection with making false claims on a mortgage application, according to people familiar with the matter, exactly one week after another set of jurors did the same. The back-to-back failures by prosecutors to secure an indictment amounted to a striking rejection of the administration’s retribution campaign. It highlighted the Justice Department’s unusual strategy of pursuing second indictments despite earlier failures in court and suggested the department would face major hurdles in bringing charges against President Trump’s foes.

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Nothing bars the U.S. attorney’s office in Eastern Virginia from trying again to indict Ms. James, though a judge might look askance at multiple juries’ having rejected the charges. A former White House aide whom Mr. Trump had named U.S. attorney in Eastern Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, succeeded in securing charges against Ms. James in October. But late last month, a judge ruled that Ms. Halligan’s appointment had violated a federal law that dictates the procedure of filling high-level federal vacancies. That ruling led to the dismissal of the case against Ms. James, as well as another against the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey. Bruce Green, who teaches legal ethics at Fordham Law School in New York, said there was no constitutional provision forbidding the repeated presentation of the same case to different grand juries, though he added that most prosecutors “would take a hint” after being rejected once or twice. “If a grand jury isn’t indicting and you don’t even have a lawyer on the other side presenting a defense, that’s a pretty strong sign that you don’t have a tryable case,” he said.

Copyright December 13, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved