January 29, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

At least 9 dead, mostly children, in Texas as winter storm grips state

At least nine people have died in Texas as a winter storm continued to grip the state Wednesday, with a majority of the victims being children. Among the dead are three young brothers in North Texas who drowned after falling through ice on a private pond near Bonham, about 60 miles northeast of Dallas. The boys, all under 10 years old, were not publicly named by the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office. Police in the Dallas suburb of Frisco also confirmed two teenagers died after a sledding accident linked to the storm. Investigators said the teens, Elizabeth Angle and Gracie Brito, were riding on a sled being pulled by a vehicle when it struck a curb and a tree on Sunday. In Central Texas, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said at least one person died from exposure to the cold over the weekend. A man was found dead in the parking lot of a permanently closed Shell gas station, and officials said the death appeared to be related to the extreme cold.

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A Houston police spokesperson told The Texas Newsroom on Wednesday that at least three people were found dead during the cold snap — two under a bridge and another in a park — though investigators have not yet confirmed whether cold exposure was a factor in each case. Beyond the winter storm’s direct effects on Texas, six people tied to a Houston law firm were killed Sunday in a private business jet crash in Maine during snowy conditions. Federal investigators are still working to determine what caused the aircraft to go down during takeoff. Nationally, the storm system has killed at least 50 people, according to reporting from the Associated Press. Fatalities have been linked to hypothermia, traffic crashes and other weather-related incidents. The storm has disrupted daily life for millions across Texas and the country, closing roads, delaying travel and forcing cities to open warming centers as officials urged residents to limit travel and check on vulnerable neighbors. According to FlightAware, nearly 2,400 flights have been canceled at major Texas airport hubs in Dallas, Houston and Austin since Sunday.

Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady as a defiant Powell resists White House pressure

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday, taking a measured, wait-and-see approach to the economy. Sometimes doing nothing is an act of defiance. President Donald Trump has put the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, under intense pressure to lower borrowing costs, despite concerns about inflation. By refusing to cut rates, the central bank’s leaders asserted their independence from the White House. Wednesday’s move comes as Powell and the Fed face a criminal investigation launched by Trump’s close ally Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Powell has accused the White House of using the probe as a pretext to push the central bank to back Trump’s long-sought-after interest rate cuts.

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At the same time, the future of the Fed’s independence hangs in the balance at the Supreme Court. Justices are weighing whether Trump exceeded his authority when he moved to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook last summer. As Powell holds the line against the White House’s multi-pronged pressure campaign, Trump is actively preparing to unveil his successor. Powell’s term as chair ends in May, and Trump says he has whittled a list of potential nominees to just a few names. So while there was little suspense around what the Fed would do with interest rates, there is still plenty of drama around the next few hours. In its statement, the Fed said governors Waller and Stephen Miran, both appointed by Trump, dissented. Both governors were in favor of a 0.25% cut. But with no changes to rates, investors were looking for any signs of Powell’s attitude toward cuts later this year.

Julie Johnson’s flip-flop on congressional stock trading

The debate about banning members of Congress from trading stocks has jumped to the campaign trail. Former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who is in a heated primary against Rep. Julie Johnson, has bragged about how he never traded any stocks during his six years in Congress, Daniel L. reports. — His spokesperson said Johnson’s more of a Johnny-come-lately on the issue. “Colin Allred never traded a single stock while serving in Congress — not because anyone required it, but because he believes public service demands putting the people’s interests ahead of personal gain,” Sandhya Raghavan said in a statement. “Meanwhile, Julie Johnson has actively traded stocks throughout her six years in the Texas Legislature and continued to do so as a member of Congress.” At a Jan. 14 House Administration Committee markup for congressional stock trading legislation, Johnson said she chose to divest, “not because the law required it, but because earning the trust of my constituents demands it.”

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But Johnson, who was a successful small business owner and attorney before entering Congress last year, only fully started divesting her holdings in September after a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas), introduced the Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would ban congressional stock trading. Ocasio-Cortez recently endorsed Johnson. Johnson also gained attention last spring for making dozens of stock sales the day before President Donald Trump’s tariff “Liberation Day” which sent stock markets temporarily reeling. Her office didn’t respond to questions at the time about the sales. Her new vocal stance against stock trading in September was a reversal from Johnson’s practice of buying individual stocks the previous month; a spokesperson at the time called it an “ongoing process” to get rid of her holdings. She made almost 350 purchases, sales or exchanges of stock last year, which gave the lawmaker the unwanted distinction of being in the top 2 percent of all congressional traders. Johnson said in a statement to PI that her stock holdings are managed by independent third parties and that her divestment began last March and that she fully divested at the end of last year. “I came to Congress after years as a small business owner and attorney with complex, pre-existing financial holdings,” she added. “The law did not require me to divest—but I chose to do so because earning the trust of my constituents matters more than personal convenience. Divestment is a process, not a moment, and I completed it fully.”

Talks intensify to avert shutdown as White House and Senate leaders eye last-ditch deal

The White House and Senate leaders are moving closer to a deal to avert a government shutdown but are seeking to resolve final sticking points in eleventh-hour negotiations ahead of Friday’s deadline, according to several sources familiar with the talks. The sources indicated that the White House was moving closer to the Democrats’ demands to split funding from the Department of Homeland Security from a larger funding package in order to give them time to negotiate new policy measures on the deployment of ICE agents across the country. The deal in the works would provide funding for the rest of the agencies in the package through the end of September — including the departments of Defense, Labor, State, Transportation and Health and Human Services.

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But it would only temporarily extend funding for DHS. That would allow time for the two sides to negotiate over ICE, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out a list of demands that he says must be included in final legislation. The two sides are still trying to sort out the timeline for extending funding for DHS, the sources said, underscoring that a deal has not yet been reached. But the fast-moving talks are a clear sign that President Donald Trump and GOP leaders recognize that they need to respond to the public outcry over ICE agents’ harsh tactics following the deadly shootings of two US citizens in Minneapolis this month. Plus, it’s a sign that Trump is eager to avoid the second government shutdown of his second term, after the 43-day shutdown from last fall left him upset about the fallout. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. Earlier Wednesday, Schumer laid out a list of new restraints on immigration enforcement as a condition for Democratic support, including to restrict roving patrols, tighten parameters around warrants for searches and arrests, toughen use-of-force policies and require ICE agents to wear body cameras and remove their masks. Democrats, who have enough votes to sustain a filibuster in the 53-47 GOP-led Senate, say such changes must be in legislation — and that promises of executive action are not enough.

State Stories

AFL-CIO endorses challengers over incumbents in San Antonio primaries

One of the state’s largest labor groups — typically a formidable ally in Democratic primary races — endorsed challengers over longtime incumbents in three San Antonio-area Texas House races. The move comes as the leaders of the AFL-CIO say their members want change in the candidates they’re sending to a conservative-dominated legislature where Democrats continue to be marginalized from the legislative process. “We heard loud and clear from our delegates was that they want to see their electeds on the front lines with them right now, because working people are under such attack,” said Alejandra Lopez, president of the San Antonio AFL-CIO Central Labor Council. The long list of endorsements nominated local chapters and confirmed over the weekend at the AFL-CIO’s statewide gathering in Georgetown includes:

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Robert Mihara, an attorney and U.S. Army veteran running against state Rep. Philip Cortez (D-San Antonio) in Texas House District 117. Attorney Ryan Ayala, a political newcomer who is running against state Rep. Liz Campos (D-San Antonio) in Texas House District 119. And special education teacher Jordan Brown, one of two candidates challenging state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D-San Antonio) in Texas House District 120. “The big unions [under the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations] are the teachers, Communications Workers of America and the firefighters. The teachers have a lot of votes there,” said local Democratic strategist Laura Barberena, who isn’t working on any of those races, but stressed the value of the endorsement. “It comes often with money, which of course is a critical component to doing these campaigns,” Barberena said. “And then also other types of resources, like reaching out to their union members across all of the different trades to be able to get them to mobilize in the particular areas that the person is running in.”

Feds close civil rights investigation into Harvey relief fund distribution

U.S. Department of Housing and Development officials on Wednesday closed what they called a "politically motivated" and "baseless" civil rights investigation into how the Texas General Land Office distributed around $1 billion for flood mitigation. After Hurricane Harvey decimated the region in 2017, HUD sent the GLO $4.3 billion to give to Texas cities for flood mitigation projects. The GLO later created a program that required applicants to compete for funding. Even though the Houston region sustained the majority of the damage, the GLO's process resulted in less-populated areas receiving more money because those projects helped a higher percentage of their residents. Houston and Harris County got $0 from the $1 billion program.

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Northeast Action Collective, an advocacy group that works to mitigate flooding issues in north Houston, and Texas Housers, an advocacy group for low-income residents, filed a Fair Housing Complaint that was sent up the chain to the Department of Justice in January 2025. HUD initially found the land office had violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Houston's Black and Brown residents, adding that the funding process led the agency to participate in “discriminatory actions based on race and national origin" and compounded harm in minority communities. In a news release Wednesday, HUD officials wrote that the claims made by the agency were "baseless and unfounded," and that an investigation revealed the GLO complied with federal standards to create a "race-neutral" fund competition. "President Trump is ending weaponization of the federal government against the American people,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner wrote in a statement. “But the Biden administration politicized enforcement of federal civil rights law and deprived rural communities of essential disaster mitigation funds. This was an affront to all Americans. At HUD, we have a duty to provide all communities, whether urban, rural, or tribal, with timely support in times of need. I am proud to remedy a grievous wrong against the great people of Texas.”

After tour, Democrats say Liam Ramos languishes in Dilley facility

Hours after touring the Dilley detention center housing 5-year-old Minnesota boy Liam Ramos on Wednesday, San Antonio’s state and federal lawmakers gathered outside City Hall to update the public on his status — and to lay out their limited leverage for stopping such arrests under a Republican-controlled government. Ramos, who was photographed looking tearful in a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack as his father was being detained earlier this month, has quickly become the face of aggressive expulsion efforts that many Republican officials said would only apply to criminals. The child’s family immigrated from Ecuador by claiming asylum at a U.S. port of entry, but he and his father are now being held in a family detention center roughly 80 miles southwest of San Antonio.

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“We met with he and his father for about 30 minutes,” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro told reporters. “His father said that Liam has been very depressed since he’s been at Dilley, that he hasn’t been eating well …. [he] has been sleeping a lot, he’s been asking about his family, his mom and his classmates, and saying that he wants to go be back in school.” A federal judge said this week that Ramos and his father can’t be deported because they have a pending immigration case that still needs to be adjudicated. But Democratic lawmakers who recently toured the facility said it’s full of children and families who have legal authority to be in the country, and yet are being held for months while the U.S. government tries to make its case against them. They have no idea how long they’ll be there, the lawmakers said, and some report having been offered cash bribes to self-deport.

Coffee chain faces backlash after staff walkout tied to ICE discount debate

A Dallas-based coffee chain is facing backlash after an employee walkout over a first responder discount they believed included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. White Rhino Coffee has been steadily growing with 200 employees, promoting its 11 Dallas-Fort Worth locations as a welcoming environment for everyone, but Sara Escamilla, the company’s CEO, says the coffee chain is now facing severe online backlash and threats of boycotts. A handful of now-former employees walked off the job in a debate over whether ICE agents were entitled to first responder discounts. “Our first responder discount for a long time has been something very broad, and our shop managers have had autonomy to determine who receives it or not,” Escamilla said.

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Margot Stacy, the manager at White Rhino’s downtown Dallas location, quit last week during the furor over the discount. She posted a message about the decision on Facebook: “I was told that these murderous mercenaries are not only welcome at our table but encouraged to patron[ize] our shops by offering them a first responder discount. This put me in a position to either compromise everything I believe in or abandon my team. Considering this call from leadership, I gladly exit my position as shop manager.” However, White Rhino’s leadership insists that ICE agents were never formally included in the first responder discount, and they have now clarified the policy to not include any federal officers. Escamilla says the discount is intended to “reward local heroes, local police officers, firefighters, EMTs.” White Rhino believes the controversy and online backlash will negatively affect its business on top of the winter storm, which forced its cafes to close for nearly a week. “It’s been really difficult. To see so much hate spewed at us has been painful,” Escamilla said. “We want to be a place where everyone gets a seat at the table.”

Abbott calls for nation's largest Muslim rights group to be shut down in Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday demanded that Attorney General Ken Paxton move to shutter the Council on American-Islamic Relations' Texas branch, escalating his campaign against the country's largest Muslim civil rights organization. The Republican governor wrote in a letter to Paxton that CAIR, which he last year declared a foreign terrorist organization, is "masquerading" as a nonprofit, and that only the attorney general has the power to police it. "Regardless of the façade CAIR attempts to portray in press releases, CAIR cannot be allowed to use its 'nonprofit' status as a shield for sponsoring terror, advancing radical Islamism in Texas," Abbott said. "Under Texas law, ‘the Texas Attorney General is the only elected official charged with regulating’ nonprofits that may be violating the law, including by examining their records and stripping their corporate charters. You have used these tools before; I urge you to use them now to combat CAIR."

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The attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Muslim rights group has said it is anything but a terror organization and has actually helped federal officials thwart attacks, including alerting the FBI to a potential threat against President Donald Trump during his first term. CAIR is suing Abbott over the designation, calling it “unconstitutional” and “defamatory.” CAIR's Texas branch said in a statement that it sees Abbott's drive against them as an effort to "silence critics of Israel's genocide." CAIR is a vocal critic of Israel, accusing the Israeli government of human rights abuses against the Palestinian people, including occupation, ethnic cleansing and genocide. It has also sued Abbott and other state officials, including challenging the governor’s executive order directing universities to institute rules punishing students for criticism of Israel.

DART still considering proposals to stave off withdrawal elections

Dallas Area Rapid Transit board members are still considering how to respond to requests from cities looking to leave the system as a sixth member plans to hold a withdrawal election. Nearly half of DART’s member cities – Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving, Plano University Park, and now Addison – could soon vote whether to withdraw from the agency. Some have put forward proposals under which they would cancel the elections. On Tuesday, DART CEO Nadine Lee briefed a board committee on those requests. “The issues around service and funding equity have been around for a long time, but I think what's really striking here is that there are different perspectives on why all of these issues have arisen,” Lee said.

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At issue are how the agency will provide funding for each city in the system, and how much money each city needs to contribute to the agency. All 13 currently pay one cent from every sales tax dollar they collect. Lee said pressure on cities’ financial resources is “one of the reasons why we are having a lot of conversations about funding.” one of the reasons why we are having a lot conversations about funding.” DART and city leaders have been in negotiations since September over funding and governance disagreements. Anthony Ricciardelli, who represents Plano on the board, said the city’s proposal is fair to all 13 members and opens the door to new cities joining the agency. “That's what needs to happen for DART to be viable into the future,” he said. “I just hope we don’t write off these negotiations.” Each city has until late February finalize ballots and until March 18 to rescind the withdrawal elections scheduled for May 2. DART will hold a public hearing on March 24 over potential service changes if the elections are successful.

New state committee begins work to develop nutrition guidelines, education requirements for Texans

A new state committee has less than a year to produce a report that could have an effect on continuing education requirements for medical providers. The Texas Nutrition Advisory Committee is required to submit a report by September that includes its nutritional guidelines and recommendations. During the 2025 session, the state legislature established the TNAC to examine how nutrition affects health and how “ultra-processed foods” are connected to chronic diseases. The committee’s report would also establish educational requirements around nutrition across all stages of education, from kindergarten to medical education.

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“Texas is going to be setting a national momentum around addressing these issues with intention,” Dr. Jaclyn Albin, associate program director for UT Southwestern’s Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency and TNAC chair said Wednesday. “We want to engage as many fellow Texans who are passionate about this work as possible.” The committee’s first meeting this week highlighted the significant tasks they’ve been asked to complete. In addition to developing dietary and nutritional guidelines, it also has to provide education and an “independent review of scientific studies” analyzing the effects of ultra-processed foods on human health. Federal health agencies announced an effort to “address the health risks” of ultra-processed foods last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services released new dietary guidelines earlier this month that encourage people to “eat real food” and avoid processed food.

Charles Victor Thompson had message for victims' families just before he was executed in Huntsville Wednesday

A Texas man who once escaped custody and spent three days on the run after being sentenced to death for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend was put to death Wednesday, becoming the first person executed in the United States this year. Charles Victor Thompson, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CST following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the April 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her new boyfriend, Darren Keith Cain, 30, at the woman's suburban Houston apartment. In his final words, Thompson asked the families of his victims find it in their hearts to forgive him, adding “that you can begin to heal and move past this.”

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“There are no winners in this situation,” he said after a spiritual adviser prayed over him for about 3 minutes and shortly before a lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered. He said his execution “creates more victims and traumatizes more people 28 years later.” “I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry for what happened, and I want to tell all of y’all, I love you and that keep Jesus in your life, keep Jesus first,” he added. As the injection began taking effect, Thompson gasped loudly, then took about a dozen breaths that evolved into three snores. Then all movement ceased and he was pronounced dead 22 minutes later. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the execution brought long-awaited closure to the victims’ families. “This is an incredibly solemn moment when the state takes a life,” Teare said. “But the relief that this is over for them was palpable.” Prosecutors had said Thompson and Hayslip had been romantically involved for a year but split after Thompson “became increasingly possessive, jealous and abusive.” According to court records, Hayslip and Cain were dating when Thompson came to Hayslip’s apartment and began arguing with Cain around 3 a.m. the night of the killings. Police were called and told Thompson to leave the apartment complex. He returned three hours later and shot both Hayslip and Cain.

The Texas program closing the gap in American schools

On a chilly day before Christmas, Teresa Rivas helped a tween boy pick out a new winter coat. “Get the bigger one, the one with the waterproof layer, mijo,” she said, before helping him pull it onto his string-bean frame. Rivas provides guidance counseling at Owen Goodnight Middle School in San Marcos, Texas. She talks with students about their goals and helps if they’re struggling in class. She’s also a trained navigator placed there by a nonprofit called Communities in Schools. The idea behind CIS and other “community school” programs is that students can’t succeed academically if they’re struggling at home. “Between kindergarten and 12th grade, kids spend only 20 percent of their time” in a classroom, Rob Watson, the executive director of the EdRedesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, told me. If America wants kids to thrive, he said, it has to consider the 80 percent. Educators and school administrators in San Marcos, a low-income community south of Austin, agreed. “Tests and academics are very important,” Joe Mitchell, the principal of Goodnight Middle School, told me. “But they are secondary sometimes, given what these kids’ lives are like away from here.” Along with mediating conflicts and doing test prep, Rivas helps kids’ families sign up for public benefits. She arranges for the nonprofit to cover rent payments. She sets up medical appointments, and keeps refrigerators and gas tanks full.

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A new study demonstrates that such efforts have long-term effects. Benjamin Goldman, an assistant professor of economics at Cornell, and Jamie Gracie, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, evaluated data on more than 16 million Texas students over two decades, examining data from the Census Bureau and IRS, as well as state records on academic outcomes. They found that the introduction of CIS led to higher test scores, lower truancy rates, and fewer suspensions in Texas schools. The program bumped up high-school graduation rates by 5.2 percent and matriculation rates at two-year colleges by 9.1 percent. At age 27, students who had attended a CIS school earned $1,140 more a year than students who had not. The program’s impact is “quite big,” Gracie told me: Spending $1,000 on CIS increased student earnings at age 27 by $400, whereas spending $1,000 on smaller class sizes increased student earnings by $40. The researchers estimated that every $3,000 in CIS investment would increase income-tax revenue by $7,000. Although contemporary education policy has focused intently on standardized tests, student and teacher tracking, and other accountability measures, the CIS study suggests that the United States could bolster achievement by providing more social support too. “You could have the world’s greatest teacher,” Goldman told me. “It’s only going to matter so much if you’re not actually showing up to school.” Watson said he hoped the study would lead policy makers to finance community-school programs in every low-income neighborhood. “If you care about morals and social justice, there’s something here for you,” he said. “If you care about good fiscal and economic policy, there’s something here for you.”

Texas DPS troopers teargas protesters outside Dilley migrant detention center

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in riot gear used teargas to disperse a group of protesters demonstrating in front of the South Texas Family Detention Center immigrant detention center to demand the release of a 5-year-old taken into ICE custody. Members of the San Antonio media along with several elderly demonstrators were affected by the gas, which was used to clear the group of roughly 70 protesters who drove in from other Texas cities. Community organizer Tori Ramierez, who also came into contact with the gas, said she saw DPS personnel arrest at least two protesters during the chaos. Even so, Ramirez told the Current that she’s undeterred and will continue to protest against the Trump White House’s anti-immigrant crackdown.

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“Nothing has changed from before we were pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed,” she said between coughs to clear her throat of the chemical irritant. “I’m even more motivated to fight and organize.” The group of roughly 40 DPS troopers deployed the gas after tensions with protesters flared, Texas Public Radio reports. A haze lingered over the area outside the detention center, and protesters helped each other flush their eyes with water, according to the news outlet. The protesters were at the detention center to demand the release of Liam Conejo Ramos, a Minneapolis 5-year-old who’s being held there along with his father. ICE agents detained the pair last week, sparking a national outcry and street protests. On Wednesday morning, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, met with Ramos and his father for about 30 minutes. The congressman also said he spoke with some of the other 1,000 or so migrants being held at the center — the only U.S. detention site for migrant families caught up in the White House’s enforcement actions. “His dad said [Liam] hasn’t been himself and that he’s been sleeping a lot because he’s been depressed and sad,” Castro said in a clip posted to social media after the visit. Castro said other parents in the lockup said their children are experiencing anxiety and depression. Some are losing weight due to their deteriorating mental health, the congressman added.

Dallas community leader faces final immigration hearing on Friday

A Dallas community leader who was taken into immigration custody last September will learn this week whether he'll be allowed to stay in the country. For five months, Southern Methodist University graduate and Hunt Scholar Omar Salazar has been waiting for his release from the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, 200 miles west of Dallas. During a news conference Tuesday morning news conference, Salazar’s family members, attorney, friends and lawmakers called for his release ahead of a final immigration hearing on Friday.

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Salazar was brought to the U.S. from Mexico when he was 11 years old. He has no criminal history. "He has made the best of his life behind bars by volunteering, and helping other inmates, but it's been hard on him, and it's very hard on Ella, all because of a routine traffic stop,” said his attorney Jacob Monty, referring to Salazar’s wife, who is a U.S. citizen. Omar Salazar was taken into ICE custody after a traffic stop while visiting her in Lubbock. The two married in November. Monty said he expects the judge to rule at Friday’s hearing that deporting Omar to Mexico would cause undue hardship to Ella, a law student. "Imagine what Ella would have to face if she were to have to leave and go with her husband to Mexico. It would devastate her career,” Jacob said. “We believe that's why the judge will find that Omar deserves to stay in the U.S. as a permanent resident, and that's what we're anticipating, but certainly it's within the power of the judge to rule that way.”

Texas AG probes North Texas school district over Islamic Games event

State Attorney General Ken Paxton wants two Texas school districts — including Grapevine-Colleyville ISD — to turn over documents related to plans to rent facilities to the Islamic Games of North America for an athletic competition. The information demands are part of “an ongoing investigation regarding the schools’ ties to the athletic group Islamic Games of North America, which hosts events sponsored by a chapter of a designated foreign terrorist organization — the Council on American-Islamic Relations,” Paxton’s office said in a news release Wednesday.

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The Dallas-area Islamic Games were scheduled to be held at Colleyville Heritage High School in May, but district officials canceled rental negotiations with organizers. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD said it was made aware of potential ties between Islamic Games and CAIR on Jan. 19. That led to a “severing” of the negotiations over using the facilities. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD spokesperson said the district will “respond accordingly” with the law, regarding Paxton’s request. Paxton is also probing for communications, contracts and documents from Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, located outside of Houston. One of its schools was set to host the event in October. Paxton said that the Islamic Games hosts events sponsored by the CAIR — a claim that the sports festival’s organizers have pushed back on. Gov. Greg Abbott declared CAIR, the country’s largest organization focused on advocating for the civil rights of Muslims, to be a “foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organization” in November. “If school districts are continuing to promote or partner with organizations tied to an [foreign terrorist organization], that ends now,” said Paxton in the news release.

Former Cowboys coach curses out Hall of Fame voters after Bill Belichick snub

The NFL world was shocked to find out that former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first opportunity. Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson went on a tirade on X, decrying the situation. Johnson fired of a series of posts saying Hall of Fame voters should reveal their selections publicly, and called Belichick one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. “I would like to know the names of the [expletives] who did not vote for him .. they are too cowardly to identify themselves,” Johnson posted. Johnson was receptive to creating a new Hall of Fame when propositioned by Barstool founder Dave Portnoy.

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Johnson continued tweeting into Wednesday afternoon, saying anyone who voted against Belichick should be purged from the voter rolls. Johnson also pushed back on the idea that Belichick should be punished for Spygate, when the Patriots were penalized for illegally filming New York Jets defensive signals from the sidelines in 2007. Johnson said many teams did it, and it shouldn’t impact Belichick’s Hall of Fame chances. One of Johnson’s former Cowboys superstars, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, called voters who ignored Belichick ignorant. Voices from around the league also denounced Belichick’s snub. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he was shocked Belichick wasn’t selected.

National Stories

Musk's Grok generated 3M sexualized images in just 11 days, analysis finds

Grok, an artificial intelligence tool created by Elon Musk’s xAI, generated an estimated 3 million sexualized images in just days this month, including 23,000 of children, a new analysis found. Conducted by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, the study focused on images generated from Dec. 29 to Jan. 8, the day before X claimed access to the image editing feature had been restricted to paid users. In fact, non-subscribers are still able to edit images and digitally undress people without their consent. Center founder and CEO Imran Ahmed, said Musk has “enabled” creation of such images.

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“The data is clear: Elon Musk’s Grok is a factory for the production of sexual abuse material,” he said in a statement to the Austin American-Statesman. “Belated fixes cannot undo this harm. We must hold Big Tech accountable for giving abusers the power to victimize women and girls at the click of a button.” The new report comes with Grok facing condemnation over inappropriate images made without subjects’ consent and investigation and regulatory action under way in the U.S. and around the world. In Texas, House Democrats have called on Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate the issue. Last week, a bipartisan group of 35 attorneys general sent a letter demanding that xAI take additional action to prevent Grok from generating such nonconsensual images. On Monday, the European Union opened a formal investigation to examine whether Texas-based X is fulfilling its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s rules for keeping internet users safe from harmful content and products. UK regulator Ofcom had earlier launched an investigation. Several other countries are also investigating. Researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate said it reached its conclusions by analyzing a random sample of 20,000 images from the total of 4.6 million produced by Grok’s image-generation feature during the time studied. Researchers analyzed each of the sampled posts using an OpenAI model to assess sexualized imagery and age. The model was instructed to score the likelihood that the post’s image contained sexualized depictions, photorealistic depictions and minors. Images flagged by the tool as likely depicting a child were reviewed manually to confirm that the person appeared to clearly be under the age of 18. All sexualized images of children were reported to the Internet Watch Foundation.

ICE ends its surge in Maine, Susan Collins' office says

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge is over. That’s according to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ office, which announced the end of the surge in a Thursday morning press release. “While the Department of Homeland Security does not confirm law enforcement operations, I can report that Secretary Noem has informed me that ICE has ended its enhanced activities in the State of Maine,” Collins said in a statement. “There are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations here. I have been urging Secretary Noem and others in the Administration to get ICE to reconsider its approach to immigration enforcement in the state. I appreciate the Secretary’s willingness to listen to and consider my recommendations and her personal attention to the situation in Maine. ICE and Customs and Border Patrol will continue their normal operations that have been ongoing here for many years. I will continue to work with the Secretary on efforts to end illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and other transnational criminal activity.”

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The withdrawal comes amid the fallout from a fatal shooting by U.S. Border Patrol agents over the weekend in Minnesota that left ICU nurse Alex Pretti dead. The bipartisan backlash has raised the specter of another government shutdown as Democrats call for any funding package to exclude money for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE. ICE agents had been highly visible in Lewiston and Greater Portland since early last week as the Trump administration sought to arrest at least 1,400 immigrants. While the administration has claimed to be going after the “worst of the worst,” there have been numerous instances of immigrations without criminal records and with lawful permission to be in the country getting caught up in the sweeps, including an 18-year-old University of Southern Maine student, a civil engineer working for a Portland firm and a Cumberland County corrections officer recruit. That’s sparked criticism from public officials such as Gov. Janet Mills, who during a press conference last week called the arrest quota “pretty broad” and questioned whether the agency would find that many criminal fugitives here. She also used the press conference to raise concerns about ICE’s tactics and lack of transparency.

Iran: Trump warns 'time is running out' for nuclear deal as US military builds up in Gulf

Donald Trump has warned Iran that "time is running out" to negotiate a deal on its nuclear programme following the steady build-up of US military forces in the Gulf. The US president said a "massive Armada" was "moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose" towards Iran, referring to a large US naval fleet. In response, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country's armed forces were ready "with their fingers on the trigger" to "immediately and powerfully respond" to any aggression by land or sea. Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and has repeatedly denied accusations by the US and its allies that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons

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Trump's latest warning follows his promise that Washington will intervene to help those involved in the brutal and unprecedented crackdown on protests in the country earlier this month. Demonstrations began after a sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency, but swiftly evolved into a crisis of legitimacy for the country's clerical leadership. "Help is on the way," Trump said, before later changing his tune and saying he had been told on good authority that the execution of demonstrators had stopped. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says it has confirmed the killing of more than 6,301 people, including 5,925 protesters, since the unrest began at the end of December. HRANA says it is also investigating another 17,000 reported deaths received despite an internet shutdown after nearly three weeks. Another group, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), has warned that the final toll could exceed 25,000.

Greg Bovino was Trump’s rising star. Then he arrived in Minneapolis.

For six months, Gregory Bovino was the tip of the Trump administration’s deportation spear, a spiky-haired Border Patrol agent from the John Wayne school of law-and-order who commanded the rolling immigration raids in Los Angeles, Chicago and other Democratic-run cities that netted thousands of arrests. They also prompted public backlash and complaints from terrified immigrant communities. On Monday, nearly a month into Bovino’s Minneapolis campaign, he was pulled from the field less than 48 hours after referring to border agents who killed a 37-year-old nurse as “victims.” “Operation Metro Surge” was supposed to be Bovino’s most ambitious mission yet, a new kind of urban takeover by federal law enforcement. Instead, it descended into scenes of tear gas, pepper spray and civil unrest on the streets of a proudly progressive Midwestern city.

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It culminated on Saturday with the shooting death of Alex Pretti that shook much of the nation. It has also provoked a clash in the White House over the future of President Trump’s signature policy. With Bovino’s removal, some are anticipating an end to the maximalist enforcement strategy he championed alongside his boss, Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security chief. Rather than targeted raids on known criminals, they favored a wide net and aggressive tactics to catch and deport as many immigrants in the country illegally as possible. Minneapolitans cheered the departure of a man some top Democrats described as a “cartoon villain.” One indelible image of Metro Surge was of Bovino, emerging from an SUV into a wintry melee, like a general stepping onto a battlefield, and launching a canister that released green smoke at protesters. Bovino didn’t respond to a request to be interviewed for this story. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokeswoman, said Bovino would remain with the government, and called him “a key part of the President’s team and a great American.”

3 months after rapidly scheduled arguments, the Supreme Court has yet to decide on Trump's tariffs

When the Supreme Court granted an unusually quick hearing over President Donald Trump’s tariffs, a similarly rapid resolution seemed possible. After all, Trump’s lawyers told the court that speed was of the essence on an issue central to the Republican president’s economic agenda. They pointed to a statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning that the “longer a final ruling is delayed, the greater the risk of economic disruption.” But nearly three months have elapsed since arguments in the closely watched case, and the court isn’t scheduled to meet in public for more than three weeks. No one knows for sure what’s going on among the nine justices, several of whom expressed skepticism about the tariffs’ legality at arguments in November.

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But the timeline for deciding the case now looks more or less typical and could reflect the normal back-and-forth that occurs not just in the biggest cases but in almost all the disputes the justices hear. Several Supreme Court practitioners and law professors scoffed at the idea the justices are dragging their feet on tariffs, putting off a potentially uncomfortable ruling against Trump. “People suspect this kind of thing from time to time, but I am not aware of instances in which we have more than speculation,” said Jonathan Adler, a law professor at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The timeframe alone also doesn’t point to one outcome or the other. One possible explanation, said Carter Phillips, a lawyer with 91 arguments before the high court, “is that the court is more evenly divided than appeared to be the case at oral argument and the fifth vote is wavering.” Even if the majority opinion has been drafted and more or less agreed to by five or more members of the court, a separate opinion, probably in dissent, could slow things down, Phillips said. Just last week, the court issued two opinions in cases that were argued in October. All nine justices agreed with the outcome, a situation that typically allows decisions to be issued relatively quickly. But a separate opinion in each case probably delayed the decision.

Springsteen slams “King Trump’s private army from the DHS” in new anti-ICE song “Streets Of Minneapolis”

With a chant of “ICE Out Now!” Bruce Springsteen wasted no time condemning Donald Trump and the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents in Minnesota. In classic form from the the card-carrying anti-MAGA rock legend and a little audio addition from actual protests, the 4:35-minute “Streets of Minneapolis” calls out “King Trump and his private army from the DHS.” “I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” Springsteen said on social media Wednesday morning about “Streets of Minneapolis.” The Boss added in his posting: “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”

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FBI agents search election hub in Fulton County, Georgia

FBI agents were seen Wednesday carrying out a search at an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, a location that became ground zero for concerns and complaints about voter fraud beginning in 2020. Agents were seen entering the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center, a new facility that state officials opened in 2023 that was designed to streamline their election processes. It was not immediately clear what the FBI agents were investigating, but Fox News Digital is told the probe is related to the 2020 election. The bureau said in a statement that FBI Atlanta was executing a "court authorized law enforcement action at 5600 [Campbellton] Fairburn Rd." "Our investigation into this matter is ongoing so there are no details that we can provide at the moment," the bureau said.

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The Department of Justice did not provide comment. President Donald Trump lost the election in Georgia in 2020 by a wafer-thin margin and claimed various instances of fraud had tainted the results. Those claims did not survive court scrutiny. Fulton, which includes Atlanta and is the state's most populous county, drew significant attention at the time. A machine count and two recounts confirmed that former President Joe Biden had won the state, leading Trump to feud with Georgia's leaders for years. The DOJ sued Fulton County last month seeking access to ballots related to the 2020 election. The county is fighting the lawsuit, saying the DOJ has not made a valid argument for accessing them. Trump's grievances in Georgia were compounded when he and numerous co-conspirators were indicted by a grand jury in Fulton County Superior Court in 2023 over allegations that they engaged in a racketeering scheme involving illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. The case never made it to trial as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from prosecuting it. An independent entity called the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council decided to dismiss the indictment last year, saying it would not be in the interest of the state to continue with the case.

Amy Klobuchar announces run for Minnesota governor

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota formally announced her campaign for governor on Thursday with a call for unity and decency in her troubled state, which has been roiled by political violence, President Trump’s immigration crackdown and widespread protests after two killings of Minnesotans by federal agents. Ms. Klobuchar, a popular Democrat with a history of winning by double-digit margins, has spent nearly two decades in the Senate as a common-sense centrist with a folksy demeanor and a carefully cultivated history of bipartisanship. Now, with her run for governor, the self-proclaimed “senator next door” is gambling that her message of moving past partisan divides can still work even amid one of the most volatile domestic conflicts of the second Trump administration.

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In a gauzy, four-minute video introducing her campaign, Ms. Klobuchar praised the “resilience” of her home state, saying that she would not be a “rubber stamp” for the Trump administration but that she would also seek “common ground” to fix problems in the state. “Now is our moment to renew our commitment to the common good,” said Ms. Klobuchar, speaking directly to the camera. “I’m asking you to look to each other. I’m asking you to look up to the North Star and to see that there is a better future before us.” Her message of togetherness marks a striking contrast to the approach of many fellow Democrats, who have focused on demonstrating to their furious base that they are “fighters” ready to take on the president in the courts, the halls of Congress, protest marches and on social media. Ms. Klobuchar’s campaign may offer an early test of whether a message more focused on restoring calm and consensus can drive Democrats to the polls and expand their margins in battleground areas. She will, however, begin the race as the heavy favorite and is unlikely to face a serious primary opponent. Republicans, who have not won a statewide race in Minnesota since 2006, have grown more pessimistic about their chances in the wake of the unrest.

Copyright January 29, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved