July 27, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Tom Luce, one of the state’s most influential behind-the-scenes leaders, dies at 86

Tom Luce, a Dallas attorney and one of the state's most influential behind-the-scenes leaders in education, public policy, and civic philanthropy over the past half century, has died. He was 86. “We have lost a great Texan with the death of Thomas W. Luce, III,” said former President George W. Bush, in a statement on Sunday. “Tom was a champion of education reform. He believed that every child had potential and deserved the right to read and succeed. Without Tom, Texas would not be the powerhouse that it is.” Luce, a champion of public education, was born in Dallas and attended school in Highland Park. He earned his law degree from SMU. Luce was a long-time advisor and personal attorney to Ross Perot, Sr. Luce also chaired Perot’s 1992 campaign for president.

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In the early 1980s, Perot and Luce led the state’s school reform effort. It transformed public education in Texas by introducing higher academic standards, teacher accountability, statewide testing, and stronger graduation requirements. “I was one of so many people whose careers were shaped by Tom’s passion for education reform," said Margaret Spellings, the former U.S. Secretary of Education for President George W. Bush." He gave me my start in 1984 when he hired me to staff a special committee of the Texas legislature, which led to major education legislation. When I became U.S. secretary of education, I brought Tom to the department to help create a coordinated policy team to implement the No Child Left Behind act, laying the groundwork for improved math and reading skills for millions of students.” Luce served as the Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education in 2005 and 2006. He ran for governor in 1990 but placed third in the Republican primary. But he served in multiple roles for different Texas governors including chief justice pro tempore of the state Supreme Court. Luce later founded Texas 2036, a bi-partisan think tank to tackle the state’s most pressing problems in the coming decade. “Tom was a visionary leader whose dedication to public service transformed the lives and opportunities of millions of people across our state,” said David W. Leebron, president and CEO of Texas 2036. Circumstances of Luce’s death and arrangements have not yet been made public.

The DNC put up its headquarters as collateral to obtain its massive loan

The Democratic National Committee put its physical headquarters up for collateral last year in order to obtain a $15 million line of credit to help invest in off-year elections, according to D.C. deed records not previously reported. The building, located in Southeast Washington and partially owned by the DNC, has been used as collateral in the past, including in other election cycles. That the DNC had to do so again ahead of the 2026 elections to obtain its biggest-ever off-year loan raised concerns among some members that it was further evidence of its intensifying financial strain. The DNC did not explicitly declare the building as its collateral in its monthly or loan-related filings to the Federal Election Commission.

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“Ken gaslighting us about the DNC’s finances and not being transparent about the financial situation makes us doubt if he can oversee the DNC during the most important primary of our lifetime,” said a DNC member, granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly. The DNC is working toward two main goals: to help the party win back control of Congress in November, as well as gubernatorial and local elections across the country. And it’s also preparing for the 2028 presidential primary, which is expected to be wide open and have no clear front-runner. Those objectives have been complicated by the DNC’s current lack of money. Federal disclosures from June showed it only had about $16 million in its account and $18 million in debt. That’s a sobering amount of money compared to the Republican National Committee, which declared that it had $128 million in cash with no outstanding debts.

Baytown police investigates officer who may have misused Flock cameras

A Baytown police officer is being investigated for potential misuse of the Flock license plate reader system. Baytown Police Chief John Stringer on Friday announced the investigation via Facebook, where he said he authorized an internal affairs investigation for potential policy misconduct. He also said there will be a separate criminal investigation for potential criminal misconduct. For the criminal investigation, Stringer said he has requested the help of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. “The executive staff of the Baytown Police Department and I recognize our community's concerns for the protection and respect of individual privacy, as well as for police accountability,” Stringer said in the video. The department has not identified the officer.

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“If these allegations are sustained, then the employee involved will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and policy,” Stringer said. Flock Safety is a public safety technology company, and its license plate reader cameras provide 24/7 monitoring for police departments, businesses and neighborhoods. The company has been the subject of debate across the country and in Houston. The Harris County Commissioners Court voted in May to renew the county's contract with Flock Safety through June 2027, but Conroe residents voiced their opposition to the cameras at Conroe City Council last week. “The Baytown Police Department has worked very hard to build trust and establish strong relationships in our community,” Stringer said. “I value those relationships. They're important to the Baytown Police Department. And we want you to know that we hold fast to the standards and trust that our community has given to us, and that they expect from us.” The Baytown officer isn’t the first in the Houston-area to be accused of misusing the technology. A Pasadena officer resigned this month during an internal investigation in which he was accused of using the Flock camera systems to monitor and stalk a female officer.

Musk’s SpaceX tumbles back to Earth, dragging Tesla stock down with it

It seemed to be only good news for Elon Musk and investors in companies he oversees. SpaceX had marked a record-setting IPO, Musk was the first trillionaire in history, and the rocket company vaulted to an all-time high of more than $225 per share. That was last month. Since then, their fortunes have shifted. Musk has shed hundreds of billions in wealth, demoting him from trillionaire status, and SpaceX’s stock price has been cut practically in half. On top of that, electric vehicle maker Tesla has lost more than 18 percent of its value over the past week, in part after falling short of its quarterly earnings expectations, as investor patience for its artificial intelligence and robotics bets has worn thin. Musk cheekily nodded at the situation in a post on X on Friday. “(Former) Trillionaire,” he wrote.

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But while the world’s richest person could become a trillionaire again with a few big up days in the market, the challenges for SpaceX are deeper. It’s a new era for a company that was once on a glide path, that seemingly could do no wrong on its way to a historic $75 billion initial public offering. For SpaceX, “one of the benefits of being private is that there wasn’t a market to weigh in on and evaluate business decisions,” said David Meier, senior investment analyst at the Motley Fool. “Being publicly traded means everything will be evaluated and information transmitted through market prices. So every SpaceX launch, every Starlink decision and every xAI decision will be scrutinized by the market,” he added, referring to the company’s satellite internet service and artificial intelligence arm. Case in point: After SpaceX aborted a launch because of engine issues this month, the company faced another problem — a plummeting stock. SpaceX’s IPO documents had touted its plans to establish a colony on Mars and put data centers in space. Then SpaceX was dealt its latest setback in propelling Starship off the ground. The company is trying to power its data center and exploration bets by using a roughly 400-foot rocket to carry out missions including taking humans back to the moon.

State Stories

Texan Christopher Wingate, former Cruz aide and Heritage employee was caught with drugs trying to get into the Senate

A Heritage Foundation employee faces a drug-possession charge after a security screening at a Senate office building turned what tested presumptively positive as cocaine and fentanyl, according to court records. Capitol Police officers detained Matthew Christopher Wingate on July 14 after he entered the Russell Senate Office Building and placed his bag on the X-ray belt as part of routine screening, according to an affidavit filed in Washington, D.C., superior court. Wingate is the government-relations director for defense and foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation, and previously worked as a national security adviser for Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and a military legislative assistant for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to Legistorm.

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An officer observed an image consistent with a pistol magazine inside the brown briefcase, and a secondary screening found a magazine with 10 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, the affidavit states. Officers placed him under arrest, the affidavit states. That was apparently because of the magazine. Firearms and ammunition are generally prohibited from being carried into Senate office buildings. Officers ran a check through the Metropolitan Police Department’s Gun Registry Unit, which confirmed Wingate held a valid license to carry a firearm in D.C., the affidavit states. A crime-scene officer discovered a plastic sandwich bag in the exterior pocket of the briefcase containing four capsules and three blue-pressed tablets, the affidavit states. Field testing of the blue pills, which were imprinted with the letter “A” on one side and “7 6” on the other side, returned a presumptive positive result for cocaine and fentanyl, the affidavit states. Under questioning, Wingate said he forgot the magazine was in the briefcase and “explained that the drugs were his and were prescribed to him from a medical professional,” the affidavit states.

USMCA uncertainty threatens border investment, Cuellar says

President Donald Trump’s decision not to extend the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement for another 16 years is creating economic uncertainty along the Texas-Mexico border, where businesses depend on predictable trade rules. “I’m not looking to renew it,” Trump said in June. “We don’t need anything that Canada has. We don’t need anything that Mexico has, but they need everything that we have. They have to treat us better.” The Trump administration subsequently declined to extend the agreement in its current form, saying it wants to address the pact’s “shortcomings” and U.S. trade deficits. The USMCA, which Trump negotiated to replace NAFTA during his first term, remains in force until July 2036. The decision triggers annual reviews until the three countries agree to an extension or the pact expires.

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Democratic Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar said he views Trump’s threat as a familiar negotiating tactic and does not believe the president ultimately wants to eliminate North American free trade. “He took the same approach when he said he was going to not do this NAFTA,” Cuellar said. “But at the end of the day, Congress played a role in this.” Cuellar argues Trump cannot terminate the congressionally approved agreement without Congress, although the division of withdrawal authority between the president and lawmakers remains legally disputed. “The only thing he can do is just start a cycle of yearly renewals,” Cuellar said. “But this renewal causes a lot of uncertainty.” That uncertainty has immediate consequences for border communities, Cuellar said. “Being in the largest port of entry in the United States, I’ve seen that uncertainty of the trade agreement really freeze investment — new warehouses, the new money coming in,” he said.

Can Democratic Representative Jon Rosenthal flip the Texas Railroad Commission?

Democratic State Representative Jon Rosenthal (HD-135) is seeking to become Texas’ next Railroad Commissioner, saying it’s time for someone with firsthand oil and gas experience to lead the agency and bring meaningful change. Rosenthal has represented House District 135 for nearly eight years. A mechanical engineer, he spent more than 25 years working in the oil and gas industry before serving four terms in the Texas House. Now, the Houston-area lawmaker is taking his campaign statewide. Rosenthal said he decided to run following the widespread power outages during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, which exposed weaknesses in Texas’ energy infrastructure.

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“When the chairman of the Energy Resources Committee flatly refused to act on the problem, I was extremely frustrated. I used some coarse language… I had decided I was going to come back to address this problem, and this is me coming back to address that problem,” Rosenthal shared. “The first thing is weatherizing natural gas facilities, and we’re [the oil and gas industry] already working on it… In that, you want to make sure that your most critical production fields will stay up and operating if a massive winter storm happens again, and so I would just work with industry on reliability plans to weatherize our most critical natural gas facilities.” Rosenthal said the Railroad Commission oversees roughly 1,000 employees and operates with a biennial budget of about $500 million. He believes his engineering background sets him apart from the current commission. “I feel like you need that kind of experience to develop sensible solutions that work with our industry partners to move our state forward, keep our industry responsible and profitable at the same time. And I’ll just say, when a Democrat wins in the state of Texas for the first time in decades over 30 years, I think that’s an opportunity to shake up the status quo and really push for real change,” Rosenthal said.

China oil contracts at center of Texas Fuel Group fraud case

An oil deal in China was supposed to pay millions to a group of Texans, but one investor says the deal may never have existed. Round Rock-based Fuel Group Trading LLC said it had contracts with Chinese companies needing a combined 22 million barrels of fuel each month, according to court records. It sold equity in the company, saying $1 million could net an investor as much as $550,000 each month in return. Now the company is facing a lawsuit alleging fraud. It filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.

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“We are defending this action, and the Chapter 11 is part of that defense strategy,” Fuel Group Trading CEO Dennis Kruse said in an emailed response to questions. “I have no further comment.” Attorneys for the company did not respond to requests for comment. In his lawsuit, Houston eye surgeon Stephen Slade said that in 2021, his friend Tommy Soriero told him he had a line on a great investment and introduced him to another friend: Kruse. They told Slade that Kruse had “proprietary methods” and contacts high up in the Chinese military, along with contracts to deliver oil to several companies and potential deals with government agencies. Court documents say Kruse alleged he had contracts with Jiujian Refining/Sinopec Shandong Energy and Hainan Yingu Energy. Juijian appears to be a misspelled reference to Jiujiang Petrochemical or Sinopec Jiujiang Co. He also said it had prospective deals with a Chinese rail company. According to Slade’s suit, Kruse provided copies of documents showing that $200 million in credit from a Chinese bank was available to a company with which it apparently would do business.

Trump revives ‘Talafreako’ nickname in Talarico roast

James Talarico was one of the Democrats President Donald Trump mocked Friday night at a redo of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Trump’s remarks were delivered in his typical riffing style over about an hour. He roasted a series of prominent Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He also directed a few jabs at Talarico, who is running for Senate in Texas against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

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Trump referred to the Austin state representative as “James Talafreako” and accused him of hating guns, oil, sex, women and Christianity. “Other than that, I think his platform is quite good,” Trump said sarcastically. “And that means that he's not going to do very well against Ken Paxton.” The Talarico campaign has previously rejected similar Republican attacks as distortions of his record and religious faith. In his remarks, Trump said Talarico looks like Mad magazine’s fictional character Alfred E. Neuman, a resemblance Trump brought up when Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick visited Trump in June in the Oval Office. On the campaign trail, Paxton has tossed around a number of nicknames portraying Talarico as weak and radical, including the “Talafreako” sobriquet Trump deployed Friday night.

North Texas grew the state’s best wheat crop. Urban sprawl threatens what’s left

Rain levels and viruses led to a statewide nightmare for wheat farmers this season, though the Dallas-Fort Worth area had the best in Texas, according to a report from Texas A&M. The report found that DFW has the best non-irrigated wheat in the state due to rainfall at the right times and the fungal issues in the wheat crops in other parts of the state. Throughout the rest of Texas, triticum mosaic viruses took over wheat crops due to the lack of rainfall. In DFW, the crops faced fungal pathogens and insect pressure from pests like Hessian flies. Brandon Gerrish, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension statewide small grains specialist, performs variety testing for grains across Texas. He said that this year, a lot of the wheat won’t even be harvested because of “how bad it was.”

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Around 1.6 million acres of wheat is expected to be harvested throughout Texas this season, though that is only around 29% of the 5.5 million acres that was planted. This is the lowest harvested acreage since 2022, when 1.3 million acres were harvested. Despite the lower amount of Texas wheat, consumers shouldn’t see a noticeable price increase for items containing wheat at the grocery store. The European Union, China, India and Russia are all top producers of wheat. Though considered the best in the state, the DFW crop was “less of a tragedy than others,” according to Robert Braden, president and CEO of the Texas Grain and Feed Association, who noted that North Texas farmers still struggled significantly compared to previous years. Across Texas, farmers faced freezes, hail, heavy winds, rainfall and lack thereof. “Mother Nature is wreaking havoc from one end of the state to the other. We love rain, but there are times and amounts that are not that are just not helpful,” Braden said. “And we’re living that nightmare right now.”

Passenger rail between San Antonio and Austin? Two routes, major hurdles

Recent studies have found that expanded passenger rail service between Austin and San Antonio is possible, though getting trains on the tracks remains a long way off. The Texas Department of Transportation recently released its Austin-San Antonio Passenger Rail Study. A separate study commissioned by the Travis County Commissioners Court is expected to be released soon. The TxDOT study looked at using the existing rail corridor between the two cities near Interstate 35. The Travis County study examines a potential route along State Highway 130 and Interstate 10 east of San Antonio.

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Amtrak currently provides passenger rail service between the two cities, but its one round-trip per day offers limited scheduling options. An estimated 266,000 trips are made between the Austin and San Antonio areas on a typical weekday, most of them along the Interstate 35 corridor. The proposal using the existing rail corridor is estimated to cost between roughly $810 million and $1.9 billion. The alternative route could cost considerably more because much of it would need to be elevated. Neither proposal has secured construction funding.

Recent rains prompt Edwards Aquifer Authority to ease pumping restrictions

Recent rainfall has helped raise Edwards Aquifer levels, allowing the authority to ease pumping restrictions across the region. Permit holders in the San Antonio Pool, which includes Bexar County and parts of several surrounding counties, have moved from Stage 2 to Stage 1. Under Stage 1, they must reduce pumping by 20%. Conditions have also improved in the Uvalde Pool. Under the EAA’s Critical Period Management Plan, it moved out of Stage 4 last week for the first time since March 2024. The pool has since moved from Stage 3 to Stage 2, reducing the required pumping cut from 10% to 5%.

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The changes apply to municipal water utilities, including the San Antonio Water System, and other permit holders that draw large amounts of water from the aquifer. SAWS residential and commercial customers remain under Stage 3 watering rules. The utility relies on several water sources beyond the Edwards Aquifer, so its watering restrictions do not always change when the authority adjusts pumping limits. The Edwards Aquifer Authority is the groundwater conservation district that manages and protects the aquifer, which supplies water to more than 2 million people in the region. Its jurisdiction covers eight counties: all of Uvalde, Medina and Bexar counties and parts of Atascosa, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe and Hays counties.

Dallas mayor’s budget blueprint: Reduce taxes, shrink bureaucracy

Coffee shops in Dallas libraries. Higher prices for suburban visitors at the zoo, arboretum and other city attractions. A smaller city government. Mayor Eric Johnson proposed those ideas in a newsletter Sunday as ways to cut spending and raise revenue while Dallas confronts a projected $51 million gap in its next budget. In his most extensive prescription yet for confronting the shortfall, Johnson called for cutting excess spending and shifting some services to other government or private entities while protecting public safety and reducing the property tax rate.

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“The City’s bureaucracy is simply too large and too expensive,” Johnson wrote in a memo Friday to the city manager. He said spending has expanded over the past decade, and while some of it was necessary – such as in public safety – much of it has been “growth for the sake of growth.” Johnson’s suggestions come as most city employees are being asked to take unpaid leave to overcome a midyear gap in the current budget. City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert previously ordered hiring freezes and travel restrictions, saying rising costs, constrained sales tax collections and overtime expenses meant the city already was short nearly $30 million. Johnson’s recommendations are not binding. Tolbert will present her proposed budget to the mayor and City Council, which can revise the plan before it goes into effect Oct. 1. Her draft will be made public Aug. 11, kicking off town halls in every district where residents can weigh in. In his memo and newsletter, Johnson said Dallas should concentrate its resources on public safety, streets, infrastructure, parks, planning and development and code compliance. Services outside those areas should be examined to determine whether they could be handled by Dallas County, private businesses or other organizations, he said.

North Texas housing advocates say the affordability crisis has deep roots

Housing advocates say the affordability crisis North Texans are facing did not materialize overnight and that Dallas' housing challenges have been years in the making. Dallas Housing Coalition executive director Bryan Tony and historian Jerry Hawkins say the recently passed bipartisan federal housing package, called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, is an important first step but it's only the beginning of addressing the issue. "This will take time," Tony said. "We have built ourselves into a big hole in terms of our housing shortage and it's going to take time to build ourselves out of that hole." Tony and Hawkins partnered with the Dallas Free Press to create the zine, A People's Guide to Dallas Housing History. It outlines how the decades of housing decisions that continue to influence affordability, neighborhood development, and opportunity across the city.

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Hawkins traces Dallas' housing history back to the displacement of Native American communities. "Dallas, like many other American cities, started with the displacement of American Indian/Native American groups," he said. "They had housing here. They would build very sustainable housing." After Indigenous communities were removed, segregation quickly became embedded in how Dallas developed, according to Hawkins. Segregation laws were written into the city's 1907 charter. That, plus single-family zoning rules and other policies, deliberately separated Black and white residents. Hawkins also pointed to examples of intentional segregation, like the construction of highways through historically Black neighborhoods such as Deep Ellum.? He said eminent Domain was exercised to take over minority business districts that were thriving. Hawkins argues that public policy consistently shaped where people could live, and where wealth could be built. "The ability for people to own a house to gain equity and to build wealth in this country," he said. "Everyone wasn't allowed to do that." And that, Hawkins said, is contributing to the widening wealth gap.

Morales Shaw says school funding, immigration policies are key issues affecting youth

State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw said increasing school funding and protecting immigrant families should remain top priorities as Texas lawmakers work to address challenges facing children and young adults across the state. Morales Shaw, who represents House District 148 in northwest Houston, discussed education, immigration and youth issues during a recent conversation with Houston Community Media. The Democratic lawmaker argued that adequate school funding plays a critical role in addressing issues ranging from academic success to student mental health and school violence.

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“There are some schools that have more affluent students or families” and can raise additional money through their communities, Morales Shaw said. She said state and federal funding helps level the playing field for students who don’t have access to the same resources. Morales Shaw said while lawmakers approved billions of dollars for public education during the last legislative session, she believes it still wasn’t enough to meet the needs of Texas schools. She said lawmakers pushed for at least a $1,000 increase in per-student funding to help schools cover classroom supplies, teacher pay, building maintenance and other essential services. Without adequate funding, she said, schools struggle to provide students with the support they need. The Houston lawmaker also addressed concerns about how federal immigration policies and actions by Texas leaders could affect immigrant families. Morales Shaw said cuts to grant funding have impacted nonprofits and organizations that provide food assistance, housing support and other services many families rely on. She also criticized recent state directives requiring proof of lawful presence for certain professional license renewals and housing programs that receive government funding, saying the changes could disproportionately affect immigrant communities.

National Stories

An admiral’s rise reveals the politics driving Hegseth’s Pentagon

Adm. Daryl Caudle saw an opening to land the Navy’s top job last year, and he seized it. Before Pete Hegseth had even been sworn in as defense secretary, Admiral Caudle, then the head of a major Navy training command, offered to help Mr. Hegseth prepare for his politically contentious Senate confirmation hearing, according to current and former defense officials. Nothing came of the offer. But soon after Mr. Hegseth took office, he fired the first woman to lead the Navy: Admiral Caudle’s boss. Days later, a senior officer on Admiral Caudle’s staff contacted Mr. Hegseth’s team in another breach of protocol. The outreach was a breach of military ethics, the officials said. Senior military officers are supposed to avoid any hint of partisan bias or political activity.

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His pitch: Mr. Hegseth should choose Admiral Caudle to be the next chief of naval operations, the current and former officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. The officer described Admiral Caudle in terms that matched Mr. Hegseth’s view of the values that military officers should embody. There was “no one more in line” with Mr. Hegseth’s vision for remaking the military, he said, according to an official familiar with the exchange. The officer cast Admiral Caudle as a “warfighter” who wanted to remove “woke barriers” that he claimed were weakening the force, the official said. Even though Admiral Caudle was not on a list of candidates recommended by senior Navy officials, Mr. Hegseth chose him for the job. But before the promotion could be finalized, the admiral needed to address another problem. There was an unresolved inspector general investigation into comments he had made to sailors about the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevent and Response program, officials said. Some interpreted his remarks as blaming victims.

U.S.-Iran War pauses for 2nd straight day with both sides holding off on strikes

The war between the United States and Iran remained on pause for a second straight day on Sunday, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that there had been some movement in talks between Tehran and mediators over the Strait of Hormuz. No U.S. strikes on Iran have been reported since Friday, while Iran has similarly held off attacking American allies around the Middle East after about two weeks of skirmishes brought the two countries back to the brink of full-blown war. President Trump decided last week to put off plans to escalate the U.S. assault on Iran, at least for now, according to U.S. officials. Mr. Trump and his aides were motivated in part by dwindling stockpiles of interceptors to shoot down Iranian missiles, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

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Mr. Trump has struggled to decisively end the war on Iran that the United States and Israel started jointly five months ago, even as the global economic toll and number of American casualties have mounted. A cease-fire signed last month effectively collapsed after Iran continued to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for global oil and gas shipments. Two weeks of American bombing runs on southern Iran have failed to break the deadlock over the strait. Before the war, ships could freely travel through the waterway — but Tehran has since effectively blocked transit, throttling global energy markets and increasing the pressure on Mr. Trump to end the war. Esmaeil Baghaei, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that officials from the Gulf sultanate of Oman, which abuts the Strait of Hormuz, visited Tehran over the weekend for talks about the waterway. Oman has occasionally served as a mediator between Iran and the United States. “These talks were useful, and progress was achieved,” Mr. Baghaei said in remarks carried by state media, though he offered no further details.

America’s big cities are rapidly losing kids

When Fernando and Patricia Escobedo moved to the Willows, an affluent neighborhood in El Paso, Texas, 25 years ago, kids were everywhere. About half of the homes on their cul-de-sac had children. Growing up, the couple’s twin daughters used to ride their scooters outside with other neighborhood kids. At an annual block party, they jumped around in a bouncy house and climbed into the local firetruck. The twins are now in college—and the neighborhood feels a lot different. The Escobedos also have a 12-year-old at home, and Fernando said she is one of a few children under 18 on the block. The local elementary school has noticeably fewer kids. And Fernando said he’s more likely to see a retired neighbor gardening than a child on a bicycle. “It’s not the vibe it was 10 years ago when there were still kids here,” he said.

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With the nation’s fertility rate at record lows, the number of children under 18 is falling across the U.S. The decline is especially pronounced in big cities, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The number of children under 18 living in big U.S. cities is down 6% in the past decade, the Journal found, compared with a 1% decline nationwide. The drop is especially stark among families with little kids: The number of children under age 5 in big cities fell 15%, compared with a drop of 7% nationwide. Even cities that are gaining population are losing children. In all, the number of children declined in about two-thirds of the 38 U.S. cities with more than 500,000 residents. The Journal analyzed census data from 2015 through 2024, the most recent data available. Families with children cite concerns about costs, safety and quality of life in their move away from cities. Also contributing to the drop is a growing number of childless residents opting to stay that way, worried about the financial implications and lifestyle trade-offs of having a family. The drop is happening in cities across the economic spectrum.

NBA star rips socialist NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani as 'mayor playing president' after Netanyahu video

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's remarks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew criticism over the weekend from an unlikely source: Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma, who mocked the democratic socialist as a "mayor playing president." Responding to the mayor's video on X, the nine-year NBA veteran suggested Mamdani was more concerned with appearances than governing, labeling the mayor's talking points as performative.

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"This is 2026. People cosplaying as things they don’t have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be. Just for content," Kuzma wrote, quote-tweeting Mamdani's address. The response came after Mamdani released a video calling for the arrest of Netanyahu under an International Criminal Court warrant ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. "A mayor playing president. A founder playing operator. A content creator playing one-on-one, thinking he’s a pro. A 25-year-old with a ring light playing economist. Everyone auditioning. Nobody building. We're raising a generation that is learning the reward isn’t in doing the thing; it’s in looking like you did the thing.

New UK Prime Minister Burnham says he would be prepared to call out Trump

The U.K.‘s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, said he would be willing to call out U.S. President Donald Trump to defend the U.K.’s national interest, as he set the tone for the key trans-Atlantic relationship. Speaking to the BBC in an interview aired Sunday, Burnham said he had a phone conversation with Trump on Monday when he officially took on the role, describing it as “a good exchange” and that he found Trump “warm”. “We will continue to build the relationship as we go forward,” Burnham added. Asked if Burnham would place his trust in Trump, Burnham said: “it’s a changing world isn’t it, and you just obviously have to call things as they develop”. Trump has frequently criticized the U.K., among other European and NATO allies, for not pulling their weight in the U.S.-led war on Iran.

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But Trump has welcomed Burnham’s plan to fast-track oil and gas exploration in already-licensed fields in the North Sea. Writing on Truth Social last week, Trump called North Sea oil “invaluable,” adding it will take the U.K. from a “Poverty Stricken Disaster, to one of the Richest Countries anywhere in the World!” Trump had criticized Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, over the U.K.’s energy policy. In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper in April, Trump said: “All Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof.” Starmer announced last month that he would step down from his post. His two years in office were marked by a series of policy U-turns, scandals over staffing appointments and a dramatic loss in Britain’s local elections which sparked calls for his resignation from within his own ranks. Asked by BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg if he would call out Trump if it was the right thing to do, Burnham said, “of course”, and added: “You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly.” “I can’t at any point say that I won’t take a different opinion from him, that I will need to voice a different idea that is right for Britain,” Burnham said.

Big companies are starting to hire again, defying predictions of AI wipeout

America’s biggest companies say they might need more people after all. For months, major employers treated hiring as an expensive last resort. Now, a shift is emerging across industries. Companies ranging from railroad giant CSX to Google parent Alphabet have told investors in recent days that they plan to hire to meet growth goals or to seize on emerging technologies. The push to expand head count, at least modestly, is a reversal from the prevailing corporate messaging during much of the AI era. Major employers largely held back on adding people due to economic uncertainties or a belief that artificial intelligence could shoulder more tasks on the job. But some executives say the costs and limitations of AI now demand that more people be added; others want to hire people back following layoffs.

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“We actually need to accelerate hiring a bit. We’re a little bit behind right now,” Booz Allen Hamilton’s Chief Operating Officer Kristine Martin Anderson told investors Friday. “We’re addressing that now.” The government contractor cut thousands of jobs last year as the Trump administration slashed federal contracts and asked firms to justify their costs. Total head count stood at roughly 30,900 as of June 30, down 7.5% from a year earlier. But the company now sees healthy demand for its services, including in national security for workers who need security clearances. For much of the past 18 months, big employers were convinced fewer workers meant faster growth. U.S. public companies shrank their white-collar workforces. Now layoffs are shrinking. The most recent week of U.S. jobless claims was the lowest on record since 1969, according to federal data. Part of the change in hiring also reflects a recalibration among employers about what AI can do, said Sarah Franklin, CEO of the human-resources platform Lattice.

Inside the fights to maintain TPS status for thousands after the Supreme Court sided with Trump

Dahlia Doe is holding on to hope. A month after the Supreme Court curtailed lower courts’ ability to block the Trump administration from revoking temporary deportation protections, fresh efforts to halt the government’s plans for the Syrian national and thousands of others fleeing war and natural disasters are heating up around the country. “I feel so much stress and uncertainty,” Doe, who arrived in the US in 2015 as the civil war in Syria intensified, told CNN. “There’s nothing for us to do but to continue fighting and not give up.” Doe, a pseudonym, is one of several Syrians who sued to keep the government from revoking the humanitarian program, known as Temporary Protected Status for nearly 4,000 others from the country.

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The high court’s conservative supermajority said in late June that judges do not have the power to review challenges to the Homeland Security secretary’s decision to end TPS for a slew of countries based on claims the administration didn’t follow proper legal procedure. But the justices left the door open for TPS beneficiaries to bring constitutional challenges to the administration’s actions. In recent days, legal advocates representing Doe and migrants from a handful of countries have either repackaged their earlier procedural arguments into new constitutional claims or signaled plans to do so soon. For several of those countries, attorneys defending the TPS designations are also now pushing novel, non-constitutional arguments about whether the department has the authority in the first place to terminate the protections. Time is of the essence, said Shane Kadidal, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights who is challenging the revocation of TPS for migrants from Yemen. He pointed to an effort underway by the Justice Department to get judges who previously ruled against the administration to quickly lift those orders so officials can begin deporting scores of migrants from Haiti, Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Burma, Somalia and Yemen who have been living legally in the United States.

Copyright July 27, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved