June 5, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Senate passes party-line reconciliation bill, sidesteps attempts to kill ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

The Senate voted mostly along party lines to pass Republicans’ multibillion-dollar immigration enforcement package early Friday morning, after blocking multiple efforts to bar or limit President Donald Trump from establishing an “anti-weaponization” fund. The measure was approved 52-47, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) siding with Democrats in opposition after a nearly 18-hour series of votes. The House is expected to take up the bill next week and send it to Trump’s desk, blowing past his June 1 deadline. The bill would provide $70 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, agencies that were left out of a bipartisan deal to reopen most of the Department of Homeland Security in April following the longest-ever shutdown of a government agency.

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Republicans beat back a number of amendments that would have limited or done away with the “anti-weaponization” fund during the “vote-a-rama.” The $1.8 billion fund was announced last month as part of a settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax forms. But this week acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department would not move ahead with the fund amid bipartisan blowback. The “voting marathon followed a two-week delay after Senate Republicans abruptly dropped plans to vote on the immigration enforcement spending, expressing grave concerns about the “anti-weaponization” fund. Some senators had hoped to put guardrails or restrictions on it as part of the broader spending bill. However, a push by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to send the immigration enforcement bill back to the Senate Judiciary committee with instructions to nix the fund was open for more than three hours on the Senate floor. It had support from three Republicans up for re-election in 2026 –– Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Jon Husted (R-Ohio).

Has Texas ‘Death Star law’ gone too far? Lawmakers weigh changes

Lawmakers conduct a review of a law designed to establish statewide regulations among local governments. Opponents call it the “Death Star Law”, arguing it strips cities of autonomy and invalidates city laws. Republicans and Democrats are divided over how much power the state should hold over local governments. Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Governmental Oversight met to examine how the law is being implemented. The “Death Star law” – formally known as the Texas Regulatory Act– created a set of regulations that prevented local governments from enforcing laws or ordinances that exceed or conflict with state laws in broad areas, such as Business and Commerce, Finance, Insurance and Labor. When advocating for the bill in a Senate committee hearing in April of 2023, former State Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, described the bill as preventing “a patchwork of regulations that are popping up at the local level.” The bill advanced through the House and Senate and was eventually signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June 2023.

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James Quintero, the Policy Director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told lawmakers Thursday that urging states to repeal conflicting local laws has been challenging. “We don’t necessarily see cities and counties executing the law faithfully to rightsize their regulatory framework in the spirit of (the Act),” Quintero claimed while asking lawmakers to “empower the attorney general to ensure that localities are maintaining compliance with state law.” General counsel for the Texas Municipal League, Bill Longley, argues the opposite. “I don’t think cities are ignoring the law; cities call our legal department regularly to ask about how this law might apply to various ordinances that they are considering adopting,” Longley testified. If there is a challenge to a local law, Longley says the only way to know if it conflicts with a state law is to go through the courts. “That’s what the bill set up, if somebody thinks that the state occupies a field, they can notify the city, have three months, and then they can sue the city.”

Gov. Abbott's office blasts Corpus Christi city council after inner harbor desalination project delay

Less than 12 hours after Corpus Christi City Council voted to delay a decision on the Inner Harbor Seawater Desalination Treatment Plant, Gov. Greg Abbott's chief of staff sharply criticized the council's handling of the project. In an exclusive statement obtained by 3NEWS on Wednesday afternoon, Robert Black, Gov. Abbott's chief of staff, accused council members of failing to address the city's long-term water needs. "The moment for leadership arrived, but the Council met it with a whimper and a complaint," Black said. "For the second time in six months, the Council could have taken meaningful steps to meet the long-term water needs of their citizens. Instead, they chose to bicker, blame, and hide behind excuses and 'studies' rather than take action." The comments come after a marathon Corpus Christi City Council meeting that stretched from Tuesday morning until 2:20 a.m. Wednesday.

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After more than 15 hours of discussion, council voted 7-2 to postpone consideration of the Inner Harbor desalination project until Sept. 1. Mayor Paulette Guajardo and At-Large Councilman Roland Barrera were the only members to vote against delaying the item. Guajardo says that postponing the vote could impact state and federal funding for the city's water projects. "The outcome of yesterday's meeting was critical because everyone was watching," Guajardo said. "Credit agencies, state agencies, federal agencies, everyone was watching, and they wanted to see where we were going because it's been said we need to have a strong path forward and move forward." Guajardo says that the project is the only drought-proof option currently on the table, and delaying it again puts state and federal water support at risk. "Every delay creates more uncertainty. State and federal partners want to see commitment. They want to see progress and a clear path forward. So while tabling the item last night did not cancel it, it does slow momentum on a project that is critical to our long term water security and of course our economic future," Guajardo said.

Potentially explosive gas leaks reported thousands of times in Texas

Excavators in Texas have damaged pipelines more than 4,800 times since the beginning of 2026, frequently causing highly explosive gas leaks. That includes over 1,000 incidents in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. A KERA analysis of Railroad Commission of Texas “pipeline accident and incident reporting” data also found that many excavators had not contacted a notification center that arranges for the marking of underground utility lines free of charge. Investigations into the cause of Thursday’s explosion at an Oak Cliff apartment complex that killed three are in the preliminary stages, but initial reports point to damage to a natural gas line and a possible leak. Dallas Fire-Rescue Chief Justin Ball has said that a fire engine had arrived within two minutes of a gas leak being reported. As the firefighters were going through standard set up procedures, the building exploded right before they were about to enter.

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Atmos Energy told KERA in an email that the fire department had reported that “a construction crew unrelated to Atmos Energy damaged a natural gas pipeline near 409 E. 9th Street in Dallas." And the prospective purchaser of the apartment complex told KERA that her company had contracted with another company, Engineering Consultant Services, to provide a “geotech report,” which typically analyzes soil conditions, bedrock depth and groundwater levels. Reports indicate that a boring rig damaged the pipeline. A damaged truck that appears to be a boring rig could be seen near the apartment complex after the explosion. ECS told KERA in a statement that Texas 811 reported that utility locating was performed at the site before drilling was done. But the company also said its knowledge of the event is limited because none of its workers were there when the explosion happened. Accidental damage to underground pipelines and utilities in Texas frequently can be attributed to one of two factors. It can be difficult to determine the exact location of what may have been buried years — even decades — in the past. Even when excavators have followed the law and underground pipes have been marked, accidental strikes still happen. And in many cases, excavators start digging without taking those precautions.

State Stories

American journalist and son of Texas politician pleads guilty to acting as unregistered agent for China

An American who worked as an editor and commentator for state-run media in China, Thomas Pauken II, pleaded guilty Thursday to working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government in the U.S. During a roughly 40-minute hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken, 51, told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema he was unaware of the legal requirement to register before acting for a foreign government, but he also said he understood that his lack of knowledge was not a defense to the charge. The hearing shed no light on one of the mysteries of Pauken’s case: the identity of a Trump administration official Pauken helped connect to a Chinese government contact Pauken knew as “Cathy.” That U.S. official, described as “Person 1” in court filings, was still working in the government as of February, according to an affidavit an FBI agent filed in support of the criminal case.

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The agent alleged that Pauken gave a cell phone and a laptop to the administration official while believing there was about an 80 percent chance that person would share classified information with “Cathy,” although Pauken told the FBI he discouraged the U.S. official from doing so. As POLITICO first reported, the affidavit suggests Pauken took part in an FBI-monitored sting operation involving the official at a Washington hotel in February, shortly before Pauken’s arrest. Justice Department and intelligence community spokespeople have declined to comment on whether “Person 1” still works for the administration or is facing any consequences. As Pauken stood in a dark green jail jumpsuit and responded to Brinkema’s questions, he referred to one of the documents on the courtroom lectern as a “cooperation agreement.” The judge quickly cut in, saying: “We’ll strike that word.” She later sealed the hearing for about five minutes, ejecting reporters and other observers unconnected to the case.

Rep. Patterson pushes plan to rename Dallas North Tollway after President Trump

A North Texas State Representative says he wants to rename the Dallas North Tollway after President Donald Trump. In a social media post Thursday, Texas House Rep. Jared Patterson says he intends to introduce a resolution in the next legislative session to rename the 30.2-mile stretch of highway to the "Donald J. Trump Tollway." "Few places in America better represent the success of President Trump's pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-family agenda than the corridor stretching from Dallas through Collin and Denton Counties," Patterson says. "Naming this iconic roadway after President Trump would be a lasting tribute to a President whose leadership helped fuel unprecedented growth and prosperity across our region."

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Patterson represents Texas House District 106, which covers eastern Denton County, including Frisco, The Colony, Aubrey, Pilot Point, Sanger and parts of Denton. Earlier this month, Senator John Cornyn introduced new legislation to rename U.S. Highway 287 as "Interstate 47," or "Trump Interstate." The proposed interstate would run from Port Arthur through Texas and north to Montana. The Dallas North Tollway is owned and operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority, a political subdivision of the State of Texas. According to the NTTA's Roadway Naming Policy, its Board of Directors holds ultimate authority when it comes to renaming a roadway under its jurisdiction.

Jay Dean: Texas small businesses deserve real choice for health coverage

When I was mayor of Longview, we worked hard to make our city one of the best places in America to start and grow a business. That’s why Forbes magazine ranked Longview among the top 10 U.S. cities for cost of doing business while I was at this office. But one cost was always beyond what a city government could touch, and it's the same cost crushing Texas small businesses today: health care. This year, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows tasked the House Insurance Committee, which I chair, with studying that exact problem. Small employer insurance premiums in Texas are rising 15 to 20% in 2026, far above the national average. Texas is now the fifth most expensive state in the country for health care. Only about 38% of Texas small employers still offer health benefits to their workers.

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Behind those numbers is something we've done to ourselves over the past three decades. The Legislature has piled on more state insurance mandates than nearly every other state, far beyond what federal law already requires. And these state mandates only apply to a very small slice of the employer market. The largest employers in Texas operate under federal law, where state mandates don't apply. Four out of five Texas workers with employer coverage are covered by these plans. The benefit coverage is just as comprehensive as what small employers buy, but because of fewer regulations it costs about 19% less. Small businesses can't easily access these plans that are only federally regulated. Instead, they're stuck in the state-regulated market, paying for every Texas mandate in addition to every federal one. This overregulation is crushing. Texas itself as an employer doesn't even pay for these mandates. When the state buys coverage for state employees or for teachers, the state exempts itself and its own plans from most of these mandates. Texas recognizes that mandates drive up costs and makes sure its own coverage is protected.

CPS Energy announces interim CEO Frank Almaraz after Rudy Garza’s exit

CPS Energy named an interim CEO and started its official search for a new leader. In a short announcement at its Thursday afternoon board meeting, CPS Energy Board Chair Francine Romero thanked outgoing CEO Rudy Garza and named Frank Almaraz as the public utility’s interim head. Garza announced his retirement from CPS Energy on Monday. He will lead the Lower Colorado River Authority, a state-created water and power agency based in Austin. Almaraz has no plans for drastic changes, he said in a CPS Energy press release. “Our team is committed to continuing on the strategic path laid out by the board over the past several years,” he said. Almaraz has served as chief operating officer for five months when he was hired on from the private sector. He’s still a familiar face, though. It’s his second time working at CPS Energy, according to the utility’s website.

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Between 2011 and 2021, he served in a variety of leadership roles, focusing on financial and business planning and natural gas and power trades. He left the position of chief power, sustainability and business development officer at the end of 2021. Almaraz was CEO of Braya Renewable Fuels, a company focused on producing diesel from corn and soy oil at its refinery in Canada, until 2025. He then served as interim CEO for Young Brothers, LLC, an inter-island freight company in Hawaii between January 2025 and February 2026, before returning to CPS Energy. “The Personnel Committee has confidence that his background and experience make him the appropriate leader to serve in this interim role. We believe Mr. Almaraz will successfully continue advancing our strategic priorities,” Romero said. Romero said CPS Energy’s board had activated its CEO Search Committee, a part of its Personnel Committee which will head its leadership search. Romero and fellow board member Erika Gonzalez will lead that effort. “We will have a robust process that selects the right candidate to continue moving CPS Energy into the future,” Romero said. Romero praised Garza’s service to the utility, noting his work building CPS Energy’s executive team and crafting strategic plans that look as far out as 2050.

Constable seeks county-backed patrols for donor Tilman Fertitta’s River Oaks district

Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen wants to assign a sergeant and eight full-time deputies to patrol a ritzy Galleria-area shopping district owned by one of his top donors, billionaire Tilman Fertitta, in a proposal that would be subsidized by all Harris County taxpayers. Rosen first suggested dedicating deputies to the River Oaks District the month after Fertitta bought it in 2024, but commissioners did not approve the contract. Recent legislation Rosen and other elected constables supported, however, stripped commissioners of their authority to regulate patrol contracts.

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Policing and political experts said the proposal validated their concerns that the legislation would worsen existing inequities in the county’s long-controversial contract patrol program, granting constables limitless authority to direct public safety resources, including for the benefit of wealthy donors. “I am entirely against this, and always have been, because why should you be able to rent cops because you have money?” said Jay Coons, a Sam Houston State University criminology professor who retired as a captain at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in 2018. “The whole thing stinks to me.” The patrol contract will appear on the Commissioners Court agenda next week, but court members may have no say on it. None of them responded to requests for comment Thursday. The contract patrol program for decades has let homeowner’s associations and some other groups, such as school districts, pay 70% to 80% – and sometimes 100% – of the salaries of the deputies assigned to their area, with the remainder covered by the county. It has fueled the growth of the constables’ offices, which handle about two-thirds of the contracts; the sheriff’s office runs the other third.

Waymo robotaxi batteries to help power Texas grid

Some of Waymo's first Texas robotaxis are headed for retirement soon. Their batteries, however, will get a second life on the electric grid. The Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company announced a partnership with B2U Storage Solutions, a California-based energy storage company that repurposes old electric vehicle batteries to help power local electricity grids. Waymo, which is taking steps to cut costs and rapidly scale deployment of its driverless vehicle fleet, plans to retire some of its Jaguar I-Pace AVs later this year. The company currently operates more than 450 robotaxis in Texas, including about 300 in the Austin metro area, according to the company’s website.

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Those vehicles will be replaced with new Waymo robotaxis, according to a company blog post. Earlier this month, Waymo launched one of its new robotaxi models for select riders in California and Arizona. The minivan-like robotaxis, dubbed Ojai, are essential to the company's cost-cutting and scaling goals. Ojai and Waymo’s previously announced Hyundai Ioniq 5 will begin to replace Waymo’s Jaguar SUV robotaxis over time. The partnership is launching first in Texas and California, with the company saying it expects to “deploy hundreds of megawatts of storage capacity over time.” “Our shared fleet of EVs provide a massive opportunity to support the growth of clean energy on the electricity grid while expanding the circular economy,” Adam Lenz, head of sustainability and environment for Waymo, said. “Through this partnership, we can repurpose our batteries for local grid storage and ensure our batteries continue to provide economic and environmental value to the community long after they’ve retired from the road.” The battery packs from Waymo will plug into the grid and capture excess renewable energy flowing through the grid, B2U said. The batteries will store that energy and dispatch it back into the grid during times of peak demand, which typically occur in mid-to-late afternoon in the summer months.

Texas and the Smithsonian are locked in a custody battle over a space shuttle

NASA was winding down its space-shuttle program during the Bush administration when Houston realized it had a problem: None of the four retiring space shuttle orbiters were bound for Texas, even though the Lone Star State was home to Mission Control Center and had safely guided orbiters like Discovery. At the time, Space Center Houston submitted a bid. But NASA decided it didn’t measure up to some of its rival institutions, and in 2011 instead sent Discovery, which traveled 150 million miles during 39 missions to space, to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum. The rest went to museums in New York, Florida and California. Now, Texas is reviving its campaign for its own shuttle, led by a pair of Texas senators who earmarked $85 million in the federal budget to strong-arm the Nation’s Attic into forking over Discovery, which has long been on view at its auxiliary location in Virginia.

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The result is one of the strangest custody battles to ever roil the aerospace and museum industries. “They’re raiding the Smithsonian,” said Joe Stief, a Virginia-based investment firm associate who oversees Keep the Shuttle, a 4,000-member advocacy group opposed to the move. “What’s to stop North Carolina from taking back the Wright Flyer or New York from reclaiming the Hope diamond?” The fight is unprecedented because usually museums like the Smithsonian only forfeit pieces in their collection if they or courts find the art was stolen or unethically acquired. In this case, the U.S. government passed legislation that includes a provision for NASA to move a “NASA flown space vehicle.” Senate appropriations rules prevented federal funding from naming Discovery, nor Texas as its final destination, but Sen. Ted Cruz believes Texas is the ideal spot because of Houston’s ties to space history. To outgoing Sen. John Cornyn, who lost a grueling bid for a fifth term in last month’s Texas Republican primary, it’s also a legacy bid to avenge what locals call the Houston Shuttle Snub. Texas is overdue to “receive the recognition it deserves by bringing the Space Shuttle Discovery home,” Cornyn said.

RGV sees employment gains in professional and business sector; losses in government, education

Workforce Solutions released their April 2026 Labor Market Information (LMI) Report on Monday, showing a continuing downward trend in unemployment across the Valley. Since January, Hidalgo and Cameron counties have seen a steady decrease in unemployment, with Brownsville still leading at 6.6% (down from 6.8% in March), while McAllen stayed at the bottom at 4.4% (down from 4.5%). Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy and Starr counties, as a whole, displayed unemployment rates of 5.7%, 6.2%, 6.7% and 8.9%, respectively.

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While the decline is positive and was seen across all four counties, the rates remain above the Texas and national unemployment rate of 4.3%. The April 2026 Regional Employment Change Estimates, included in Workforce Solutions’ report, also highlighted major shifts in different industries. The government sector, which encompasses public education and law enforcement, saw the biggest loss at 800 jobs for the McAllen (-600) and Brownsville (-200) Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The second-largest loss was 200 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector reported for the Brownsville MSA. However, 800 jobs were gained in the professional and business service sector for the MSAs, and the McAllen MSA additionally saw 900 jobs added to the private education and health services sector.

How a police security leak turned into a San Antonio City Hall whodunit

The City Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday to revisit whether council aides must cooperate with internal investigations — along with a long list of other administrative directives that typically only apply to other types of city employees. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones made the request last month in response to allegations that a top aide to one of her council rivals, Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), declined to be interviewed about a leak involving the mayor’s personal security detail. Now the council will consider the changes on Wednesday in executive session — the latest chapter in a City Hall whodunit that may never be resolved.

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Last fall’s security detail leak revealed that Jones would be receiving more police security than past mayors, at the same time the city was discussing whether to fund more officers in the coming year. The change came after at least one credible threat was made on her life, however, and the leak made public details about police security protocols at Jones’ private residence. First San Antonio Police Chief William McManus blasted television media for publishing the reports, then called for an internal investigation to identify who on his team shared the details with the press. The city’s Internal Affairs Unit interviewed a total of 115 police officers in an effort that didn’t turn up a leak — but led one of them to identify District 7 chief of staff James Branch as having also had access to the information.

Parkinson’s disease is consistently linked to pesticide exposure. Farmworkers — and nearby communities — are at risk in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.

When neuroscientist Kelsey Baker hears the low buzz of planes over her home in the Rio Grande Valley, she grabs her dog and hurries indoors. The drone means the crop-dusters are back, spraying pesticides over the citrus, melon and other crops that surround her planned community. Baker is an assistant professor and assistant dean at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The city of McAllen, where she lives, and neighboring Edinburg, where she works, sit in the middle of one of the state’s most productive agricultural regions, covering more than 4,000 square miles and fed by the Rio Grande. Baker moved here in 2018, expecting to continue her research into stroke and spinal cord injury. But as she sifted through medical records, she was struck by how many people had Parkinson’s disease, a progressive, neurological condition that has been linked to pesticides and other environmental toxins for at least 30 years.

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Research shows that more than 80 percent of Parkinson’s cases have no genetic links and are likely explained by environmental factors. Studies have also shown that people exposed to pesticides have a greater risk of the disease. There is no cure for Parkinson’s. As the disease progresses, its most common symptoms — tremor, slow movement, stiffness and unsteadiness — can be accompanied by depression, difficulty concentrating and bowel and urinary problems. The disease is the world’s fastest growing neurological disorder, with more than 25 million people likely to be affected by 2050. A biomedical engineer by training, Baker started poring over maps of the Valley and found something striking. Homes and schools were often boxed in on all sides by crops, something she hadn’t seen in farming areas in other parts of the country where she had lived. Farmworkers are at special risk for Parkinson’s, because the fields where they work are frequently doused with pesticides. But people like Baker, who simply live near farms, are also in danger.

Wemby signals his politics as he’s spotted with dystopian novel 1984 at Finals

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has sent recent signals about his progressive political views, even if he’s shared some of them in a subtle way. In a move some might see as subtle act of resistance, he entered Game 1 of the finals in a sharp look while carrying a paperback copy of lifelong socialist George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. Eagle-eyed fans at the Bibliotech Public Library spotted the banned book in the 7-foot-4 forward’s hand and used the moment to introduce his fans to the classic novel via an Instagram post.

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“This book remains relevant despite its publishing in 1949 and continues to be a contested book in libraries across the world,” Bibliotech wrote in the post’s caption. Could Wemby influence his legions of fans to read a work warning about mass surveillance, thought crimes, Newspeak, totalitarianism and other themes that sound eerily familiar in the context of the present day? Who knows, but Wemby’s history of subtle — and not so subtle — political expression suggests that the choice is deliberate. After all, this isn’t Wemby’s first dance when it comes to making a political statement. Last week, the French-born player was spotted in an Arab garment called a thobe in celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, which some interpreted as solidarity with the Muslim community. Earlier this year, Wemby also spoke out against ICE, despite saying he’d received warnings not to from the Spurs’ public relations office. “PR has tried, but I’m not going to sit here and give some politically correct [answer],” he said at a January press conference. “Every day, I wake up and see the news, and I’m horrified.” “It’s crazy that some people make it seem like the murder of civilians is acceptable,” the star player said tactfully but unmistakably, after federal immigration agents killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Though not as outspoken as his mentor and former coach Gregg Popovich, it’s increasingly clear Wemby finds ways to take a stand. Seems as if the generation hoops talent is pulling off some intricate footwork, and we don’t just mean on the court. Perhaps he already knows that Big Brother is, in fact, always watching.

Austin brewery Hi Sign Brewing files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Austin-based Hi Sign Brewing is trying to avoid becoming a victim of the craft beer industry’s continuing struggles, going to court this week to seek protection from creditors. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy but its Shady Lane taproom remains open. Hi Sign's Escondido HSB LLC affiliate also filed for protection. Its struggles mirror those across the craft brewing industry, which suffers closures and bankruptcies in an industry roiled by plunging consumer spending, market saturation and skyrocketing costs.

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Production numbers have fallen across the craft beer landscape for the past two years and were down 4% in 2025, according to the Brewers Association, and nearly 3% of breweries called it quits. The number of U.S. brewers now sits at 9,578, with new openings not keeping up with closures. Several of those closures have been in Texas. Round Rock’s 3rd Level Brewing closed April 1, Texas Beer Co. changed ownership due to debts, San Antonio-based Alamo Beer filed bankruptcy well-known Austin brands like Independence Brewing have continued to struggle. Hi Sign, founded in 2017 by Marine Corps veteran Mark Phillippe, moved into its new headquarters in 2022. The 13,000-square-foot warehouse hosted RC Cola in the 1950s. Some of the debt it took on to make the move, which Phillippe said was the best decision the company made as a business, led to the debt servicing problems it faces today.

National Stories

Several women who dated Graham Platner recall ‘unsettling’ behavior

On Tuesday evening, after a whirlwind day in Washington, Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, rushed home. Rumors were spreading from Portland to the Potomac about Mr. Platner’s messy personal life, after news reports that he had sent sexual messages to women while married. Democratic senators were pressing him about whether more damaging revelations were coming. Journalists were swarming, staking out his hometown. Amid the turmoil, Mr. Platner worked the phones, rolling through calls to ex-girlfriends who might publicly acknowledge that while he may have been a bad boyfriend, he was, in fact, a decent guy. In interviews with The New York Times on Wednesday, several women did just that, describing Mr. Platner as a fun and caring partner, and saying they felt safe with him. Some remain friends with him to this day, years after their relationships ended.

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But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and “toxic” relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching. Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful. Mr. Platner, 41, a combat veteran, has spoken openly about grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drinking that he said resulted from his time in the military. As revelations about him have surfaced — including his dismissive remarks online about rape and derogatory comments about women, as well as a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol — he has said his past behavior does not reflect who he is today. Mainers, he has urged, should not judge him for “the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago.” The critical accounts provided by three of the women interviewed by The Times, who were each in romantic relationships with him for years, give a fuller picture of Mr. Platner’s life. They shed light on an earlier era, when he has acknowledged intense struggles, but also raise questions about his more recent years in Maine, which his campaign has presented as a period of healing and personal redemption.

‘Like two cats circling’: Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom weigh a 2028 showdown

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris have much in common, fellow Bay Area Democrats who insist they’re friends but don’t always act like it. They drew broad notice in the 2003 San Francisco election, leading an up-and-coming generation of California politicians—Newsom as mayor and Harris as district attorney—by turns bumping elbows over command of the microphone at news conferences. Newsom, 58 years old, and Harris, 61, have shared mentors, staffers, donors, friends and consultants for more than two decades, going neck and neck in the parochial world of Bay Area politics. They have exchanged endorsements and snubs, each wary of the other, according to people close to them. “They’ve been kind of like two cats, circling each other in an alley for years, politically speaking,” said Democratic strategist Garry South, who worked for Newsom.

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The conspicuously liberal politicians live in exclusive locales at two ends of the Golden State —Harris in Malibu, Calif., and Newsom in Marin County—and appear on a collision course for the keys to the big white mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “Their trajectories have been so fast and put them in places of such prominence, there’s only one step up electorally for either of them at this point,” said Brian Brokaw, a Democratic consultant who has worked for both. Newsom, who is wrapping up his second term as California governor, is widely expected to mount a 2028 presidential bid. People close to Harris say she is undecided, still stung by her 2024 loss to President Trump. In April, Harris got a warm reception in New York from Black activists who chanted Run again! Run again! “I might,” she said. “I’m thinking about it.” Most early Democratic primary polls show them holding top slots in the field of potential presidential candidates, in what would be their first head-to-head contest. In recent months, they have been on dueling book tours. Harris, promoting her book, “107 Days,” sold out event spaces around the U.S. more than six months after its publication. Newsom later released his own book, a memoir titled “Young Man in a Hurry.” He, too, made the rounds in a promotional tour that included New York, South Carolina and Georgia.

‘Unbelievable how accurate’: How paid influencers hype Polymarket’s odds

When far-right influencer Nick Shirley posted a viral video in January alleging fraud at Minnesota daycares, he showed his 1.6 million followers on X something else too: a gray hoodie emblazoned with the Polymarket logo. Polymarket had made other appearances in the 24-year-old’s content, like in a series of man-on-the-street interviews about the “current state of America” posted in December. The first post came after Shirley started to receive money from Polymarket’s chief marketing officer, Matthew Modabber; the second came after he had taken in a total of $3,100 from Modabber, according to records reviewed by POLITICO.

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Modabber, who once wrote that the key to growth is “a product people can’t shut up about,” was putting his money where his mouth is. The Polymarket executive used a personal PayPal account to send at least $350,000 to Shirley and other content creators between January 2025 and February 2026, an analysis of the transactions shows. That sum is almost certainly an undercount. Modabber used his personal PayPal account, which is registered to an email for a salad spot he co-founded, to send over $2.5 million to more than 800 people during the 14-month span, the analysis shows. POLITICO independently verified the identities of about two dozen content creators who received money from Modabber by using public records and analyzing their social media accounts. At least 20 of the content creators identified by POLITICO promoted Polymarket on social media after they started receiving money from Modabber, according to the payment records and POLITICO’s analysis of their social media activity.

Trump's 'big beautiful bill' has a 'double taxation' trap for top earners, tax experts say

The “one big beautiful bill” came with many tax benefits for top earners, despite limiting how much they can deduct. However, lawyers and accountants for the wealthy said they have discovered a surprise buried in the footnotes of a tax law guide released last week by Congress’ policy staff that could amount to double taxation. The deduction cap is imposed on trusts and estates, the experts said, which was unexpected. Even if a trust gave all its income to its beneficiaries, it would have to pay taxes on a portion of that income, according to their interpretation of the document. While the consequences are steeper for trusts and estates of the ultra-wealthy, trusts with as little as $16,000 in income would also be subject to additional taxes, the experts said.

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“There is potentially an element of double taxation,” said Dan Griffith, director of wealth strategy at Huntington Bank. “This is something that is going to affect somebody with a $400,000 special-needs trust. It’s not just going to be something that $100 million dynasty trusts suffer with.” Griffith said he is especially concerned about trusts that are obligated to distribute all their income. Trusts will either have to sell assets to pay the taxes, sacrificing future investment returns, or reduce their distributions to beneficiaries, he said. This provision creates a “mathematical nightmare” for tax lawyers and financial advisors, according to Justin Miller, national director of wealth planning at Evercore Wealth Management. Miller gave the example of a wealthy couple wishing to leave their estate to charity. “If I have to pay income taxes, that means I’m giving less money to charity because I’m giving money to the IRS. That means I now have to adjust my deduction even more because less money is going to charity,” he said. “Did Congress really intend to create an algebraic formula?”

Inside the UFC’s $60 million made-for-TV White House gambit

Dana White, the CEO of the MMA promotion, is betting that the unprecedented spectacle, sparked by a suggestion from President Trump, will deliver new fans to the sport and millions of eyeballs to Paramount+. The most audacious media spectacle in recent memory was hatched on the floor of Madison Square Garden, less than two weeks after the 2024 presidential election. On Nov. 16, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump walked into New York’s most famous arena to loud applause from a friendly crowd, as Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” played. Trump was there for UFC 309, and he was joined by Rock, Elon Musk and incoming Cabinet secretaries Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, among other dignitaries. But when he walked out, he did so alongside Dana White, the CEO of UFC.

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Amid the fights, Trump took a moment to make a suggestion to White, a longtime personal friend dating back to the early days of UFC. “He leaned over to me and says, ‘We should do a fight at the White House,’” White recalls in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I said, ‘Yes, we should.’ I didn’t know what he meant … I was thinking maybe there’s some room that he’s thinking about where we’d have it. He’s like, ‘No, we’re gonna do it outside on the South Lawn.’” “When [White] initially mentioned the idea of putting on a UFC event on the South Lawn of the White House, I truly did not believe him. I thought he was kidding,” says Craig Borsari, the chief content officer of the UFC. “He’s funny, but he’s not a joke around kind of guy,” White says of Trump. “Literally, when he says something, consider it done.” And so that offhand suggestion will become a reality on June 14, when the MMA promotion hosts UFC Freedom 250 in a custom-built arena on the South Lawn of the White House, a made-for-TV (or at least streaming) event, the likes of which has never been seen before, and probably never will be again. A series of literal cage matches, set in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world, for an audience expected to include some of the most powerful people on earth, among them political leaders, celebrities and global CEOs, with UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings (led by CEO Ari Emanuel) betting on “Super Bowl-level” media exposure, and a defining moment for the company’s nascent $7.7 billion deal with Paramount Skydance (led by CEO David Ellison).

In reversal from first term, DOD officially drops 180 faiths from military's recognized religion list

Military.com has learned that the Department of Defense, for the first time in almost 10 years, has dramatically reduced its number of recognized religious faiths and belief systems by approximately 180. The reforms mark the first time the list has been officially revised since a memo was issued March 27, 2017, decreasing the total number of faiths from roughly 211 to its new number of 31. The changes were iterated in a May 20, 2026, memorandum issued by the Under Secretary of War and signed by Anthony Tata, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness of the United States, and obtained by Military.com. This latest revision to the faith codes comes at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to the Tata-signed memo, done to “streamline the DoW collection of religious preferences collection for service members to enhance the delivery of targeted religious support from the Chaplaincy.” It calls for the previously instituted faith and belief codes to be revised within a 60-day period from the issuance of the memorandum.

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“The new list will provide chaplains with clear, readily available information that will better enable them to anticipate the religious support needs of service members and to provide religious support activities that align with service members’ personal faith and practices,” Tata wrote. He added that members will not be limited to the list of “religious affiliation codes” when selecting information for their dog tags. The revised list, according to documents obtained by Military.com, include Agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Islam (Muslims), Judaism, Sikh, and a wide range of Christian-based groups like Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists. This restructuring of faith codes, which help identity service members as well as the military in planning for appropriated religious coverage to include them, has now excluded minority faith/worldview groups including Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick, New Age churches, Pagan, Rosicrucianism, Shaman, Spiritualists, Troth, Unitarian Universalists and various Wiccans.

Jan. 6 rioter is hired to work in sensitive Pentagon office

The Pentagon’s Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict office is a sensitive Defense Department branch responsible for uncovering and defending against terrorism plots and asymmetric warfare, and making sure that U.S. commandos have everything they need to carry out their missions. The office now has a new asset: a Jan. 6 rioter who pleaded guilty to climbing through a broken window at the Capitol and to other offenses. Elias Irizarry, who was 19 on Jan. 6, 2021, eventually apologized for his actions. President Trump pardoned Mr. Irizarry on Inauguration Day last year when Mr. Trump began his second term by granting blanket clemency to Jan. 6 rioters.

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It was unclear who was responsible for the appointment of Mr. Irizarry, which was reported earlier by The Washington Post. But the Pentagon’s acting press secretary, Joel Valdez, said in a statement that Mr. Irizarry “is a qualified, patriotic young professional, and we are proud to have him as a political appointee.” Political appointees usually are selected by the office of the defense secretary or, in some cases, the White House. But one of the former leaders of the Special Operations office said the move could degrade public trust in the Pentagon. “The office he was hired for works with our most elite military units and on extremely sensitive national security issues,” said Michael Lumpkin, the assistant defense secretary for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in the Obama administration. “It used to be that any possible negative perception about a hire like this would prevent it from happening. Today, it seems fealty is often more valued than expertise, sound judgment, or a strong moral compass.” On Jan. 6, 2021, prosecutors said, Mr. Irizarry, a former student at the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina, entered the Capitol through a broken window on the Senate side, and roamed through the building armed with a metal pole. He found his way to a private conference room, where he was videotaped by one of his friends, Elliot Bishai, sitting in an armchair with the pole across his lap.

Copyright June 06, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved