May 29, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Tilman Fertitta set to acquire Caesars in $17.6 billion deal

Tilman Fertitta's Fertitta Entertainment is set to acquire Caesars Entertainment in a $17.6 billion deal that will yield one of the nation's largest casino, hotel and restaurant empires. The companies said Thursday morning that Fertitta Entertainment has agreed to pay $31 in cash for each outstanding Caesars share, amounting to approximately $5.7 billion, while also assuming about $11.9 billion in outstanding debt. The acquisition will significantly expand and diversify Fertitta's already sprawling holdings, giving the Houston billionaire an expanded coast-to-coast network of restaurants, casinos, resorts, hotels, aquariums and other entertainment destinations, including eight locations on the Las Vegas Strip.

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This is an all-cash deal, the companies said. The $31 share price represents a 49% premium over the share price Caesars traded at on Feb. 25, the last trading day before rumors about a possible acquisition surfaced. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, the companies noted, and includes a "go-shop" period through July 11, during which competing offers may be entertained. The companies described Fertitta Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment as "iconic and highly complementary platforms." Tilman Fertitta's Fertitta Entertainment, headquartered in Houston, began with a single seafood restaurant in Katy in 1980. It has grown into one of the nation's largest private companies, with about 47,000 employees and encompassing more than 600 restaurants, resorts, hotels and casinos, including Landry's, Morton's, Saltgrass Steak House and the Golden Nugget casino chain. Caesars, headquartered in Reno, Nevada, traces its roots to a single bingo club founded in that city in 1937. It opened its famous Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip in 1966, and has grown to operate more than 50 resorts, including the Harrah’s and Circus Circus brands as well as Caesars. Caesars does not currently have a presence in Texas, where casino gambling is limited to Native American reservations. The acquisition will mean that Houston consumers who participate in the Caesars Rewards program can use those rewards in Fertitta's existing network of restaurants and other destinations in the region.

At least 3 dead including child, multiple injuries in Dallas apartment explosion, officials say

Dallas Fire-Rescue said an explosion caused a massive apartment fire in Oak Cliff. DFR confirmed that three people have died and crews have moved from rescue to recovery mode. Crews were responding to a reported gas leak around 12:47 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, at a two-story apartment complex called The Clyde, located at the intersection of Patton Avenue and East 9th Street, Dallas Fire-Rescue said. While en route, the explosion occurred, according to DFR. During a Thursday 8:30 p.m. press conference, Dallas Fire-Rescue Public Information Officer Jason Evans said three people, including a child, were killed. Two adult females and one child were found in the debris.

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At least three people were taken to the hospital by paramedics, and one of them is in critical but stable condition, officials said. Two of them are expected to be released tonight, Evans said. Two other victims took themselves to the hospital and have since been released. There could be more victims, depending on the number of people home at the time, officials said. Some individuals have been accounted for, but the total remains unclear. Emergency crews will be on scene overnight using tools to dig through the debris in search of more victims, Evans said. Reports indicated a construction crew may have been working in the area before the explosion. City of Dallas officials said no city crews were actively working at the time. In a statement, Atmos Energy said that a construction crew unrelated to the company damaged a natural gas pipeline. "At 12:51 p.m., the fire department reported to Atmos Energy that a construction crew unrelated to Atmos Energy damaged a natural gas pipeline near 409 E. 9th Street in Dallas. Atmos Energy technicians are onsite working with Dallas Fire Rescue and other emergency management personnel. Natural gas service in the immediate area is off, an investigation is ongoing, and Atmos Energy crews remain on site to provide support." More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, DFR said.

Exxon warns oil inventories will hit dangerously low levels in weeks, forcing prices to shoot higher

Exxon Mobil warned Thursday that oil inventories will fall to record low levels in coming weeks, forcing prices to spike and curbing demand. “We’re approaching unheard of inventory levels,” said Exxon Senior Vice President Neil Chapman at a conference hosted by Bernstein in New York. “I mean really, really low levels,” Chapman warned. “You can debate whether that’s going to hit, those really low levels, in two weeks or three weeks. Once you get to that point, then you’ll see price shoot up.” The price of physical Brent oil cargoes will spike to $150 to $160 per barrel when inventories hit all-time lows in coming weeks, the executive said. “When the price gets to a certain level, demand destruction brings it back into balance,” he said.

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Brent futures for July delivery, the nearest contract, closed under $94 per barrel Thursday as investors once again held out hope for a settlement between the U.S. and Iran that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s closure of the strait has cost the market more than a billion barrels so far, the largest oil supply disruption in history, according to the International Energy Agency. Oil stockpiles have mitigated the impact so far, but that “can’t last forever,” Chapman said. The IEA warned earlier this month that inventories are being depleted at a record pace. The organization’s members agreed in March to release a record 400 million barrels to lessen the impact of the supply disruption. Oil industry executives have warned for two months that the crude futures market is not reflecting the scale of the disruption triggered by the war in the Middle East. “I don’t know, whether it’s two to three weeks or three to four weeks,” Chapman said. “What I’m really saying is, once you get to the minimum inventory levels and all-time low inventory levels, there’s only one way to go. That’s the situation.”

Dell inks $9.7 billion Pentagon contract after Trump acquires stock

Government ethics watchdogs are sounding the alarm after the Pentagon announced that the U.S. tech company Dell has been granted a $9.7 billion government contract, pointing to stock transactions that suggest President Donald Trump potentially stands to gain financially from the deal. Trump has repeatedly praised the company at public events, and government disclosure forms show that on Feb. 10 Trump’s portfolio acquired stock in Dell Technologies valued between $1 million and $5 million. Nine days later, at a rally in Georgia, the president encouraged supporters to “go out and buy a Dell computer.” Three additional purchases of Dell stock, all valued at or below $50,000, followed in March. Over the spring, Trump continued to praise Dell at public events, most recently giving the company a shout-out during a White House Rose Garden luncheon.

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Less than three weeks later, Dell’s stock surged in response to this week’s announcement that the Defense Department has awarded the company’s federal subsidiary a major contract to oversee the procurement of Microsoft software for the U.S. military. The Pentagon announcement said Dell’s work “will streamline and consolidate software acquisition across the [Defense Department], the Intelligence Community, and the Coast Guard.” Dell has a long-standing partnership with Microsoft and is a major buyer of Microsoft Windows PC licenses. The company’s founder, Michael Dell, has appeared at White House events during Trump’s second term and sits on the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Dell’s family foundation pledged more than $6 billion last year to help fund “Trump accounts,” which will seed investments for 25 million American children. “This absolutely does ring alarm bells with regard to conflicts of interest,” said Greg Williams, director of the Center for Defense Information at the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight. When asked about the potential conflict of interest, the White House responded with a statement praising Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, for their contributions to the Trump accounts.

State Stories

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Talarico for Senate: Texans deserves more than crooked Ken Paxton

The contest is set. The storyline, straight out of Hollywood. It’s as if, as President Donald Trump likes to say, the candidates came from central casting. An avowed lout versus a man who doesn’t just resemble a Sunday school teacher, but who practices politics like the seminarian he is. Ask Ken Paxton’s own supporters about his infidelities and indictments. Ask about that stolen $1,000 pen. Or how he fired his employees after they reported him to the FBI for corruption, prompting a whistleblower lawsuit that stuck taxpayers with a $6.6 million bill. Oh, and ask about that impeachment that, though it did not end in conviction, was led by members of his own party. Paxton voters know their guy reeks of moral rot. That he somehow earned millions while in public office. That his office delivered sweetheart deals in cases of child sexual abuse. His supporters know all that because his runoff opponent, Sen. John Cornyn, just spent tens of millions of dollars making sure that they know.

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Paxton won anyway. As one man at a Paxton rally told a reporter, “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.” The fish to be fried aren’t just Democrats but anyone who shows the slightest disloyalty to Trump. Or even a hint of bipartisan pragmatism. This one’s an easy call. The Houston Chronicle editorial board rejects Paxton’s self-serving depravity and his loyalty to Washington politics at the expense of everyday Texans. And we enthusiastically endorse his Democratic opponent, James Talarico. Talarico, 37, is a former middle school teacher from Central Texas. In 2018, he flipped a Republican state House seat. While serving in the House, he studied for a master’s degree in divinity from a Presbyterian seminary. He looks like a grown-up Opie from the Andy Griffith Show. If his vibe were any more retro — any more earnest, any more squeaky-clean — he’d be in black-and-white, filmed at Desilu Studios. He is exactly what our state and our country need right now.

Texas Education Agency rejects Austin ISD's plan for failing schools

The Texas Education Agency rejected a partnership proposed by the Austin Independent School District to buy the district more time to avoid a state takeover. In a letter sent to Superintendent Matias Segura on Thursday, the TEA denied the district's request to hand over three middle schools to an outside provider to run them under what is known as an 1882 agreement. In March, the district proposed partnering with the Texas Council for International Studies to run Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools as charter schools. The three campuses have received four consecutive unacceptable grades from the state's accountability system. A fifth failing grade could trigger a total takeover of the entire district, with the TEA replacing the school board with a board of managers.

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The letter sent to Segura explains the operating partner must comply with three criteria: have at least three years of experience before taking over a campus; have managed multiple campuses for multiple years; and have significantly improved the academic performance of campuses. The TEA says TCIS only meets two of those three criteria, and it "does not qualify as an operating partner with the capacity necessary to successfully turn around campuses." The TEA argues TCIS has failed to prove a track record of improving campuses' academic performance. TCIS has managed 16 campuses in San Antonio ISD, Longview ISD and Edgewood ISD. However, only five out of those campuses had a D or an F rating before being operated by the non-profit. AISD Superintendent Segura said in a written statement to families on Thursday evening that the district remains confident that TCIS is capable of lifting student outcomes. "While this response is disappointing, I want to assure you that this is not the end of the process," Segura said in the statement. "TEA has explicitly invited Austin ISD to submit additional information to support and reinforce our application, and we fully intend to do so."

‘Not yet’: Austin mayor comes out staunchly against 2026 bond

During Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting, Mayor Kirk Watson voted down two items relating to a potential 2026 bond and, for the first time publicly, came out against asking voters for more money at the end of the year. Watson said while he’s not against building parks and community spaces — which the bond could largely focus on — he doesn’t feel the city is following its own financial policies, and doesn’t think voters are ready for another tax hike. “I believe the better course is to continue rebuilding trust … and come back in a stronger and more responsible position in 2028,” Watson said.

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Watson pointed to the failed tax rate election in November and noted the city’s financial position hasn’t gotten better since, nor has the pinch on taxpayers. Watson said he compromised on last year’s tax rate election ask, but was unwilling to do that again with a bond just seven months later. “Our leaderships sometimes means saying ‘yes’, but our leadership sometimes also means being willing to say ‘not yet,'” Watson said. During Thursday’s meeting, a majority of the Austin City Council voted to move forward with the bond process. The body will take up specific bond proposals in July. “What we have asked staff to do through this item on Thursday is take some of your recommendations, take some ideas that we have and want you to kind of flesh out further and give us all those choices come July to decide what rises to the top,” Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter said. Mayor Watson and Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen voted no on moving that process forward. Council Member Krista Laine abstained from voting and Council Members Natasha Harper-Madison and Vanessa Fuentes were absent from Thursday’s meeting.

Cy-Fair ISD officer repeatedly used hogtie restraint on fifth grader

One Monday afternoon in October 2023, a Cy-Fair ISD police officer tracked down a fifth-grader who had run away from his school for students with behavioral challenges. The boy had left campus before. But this time when he wouldn’t get in the police car, the officer took an unusual step. He cuffed the boy’s hands, shackled his ankles and bound them together behind his back using a controversial technique known as a “hogtie,” according to internal district records obtained by The Houston Chronicle and The New York Times. Then, the officer left the boy face-down in the backseat of his car for nearly 20 minutes. The hogtie technique has been linked to breathing-related deaths, and many city police departments across the country have banned it. “He couldn’t move his arms. He couldn’t move his legs. He couldn’t roll over,” said Colleen Potts, an attorney with Disability Rights Texas who worked with the boy’s family. “He was in the backseat of a vehicle. That’s terrifying to think of.”

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The district’s general counsel, Marney Sims, said the episode prompted Cy-Fair ISD to ban hogties and provide additional training for officers on how to work with students with disabilities. “We’re not perfect,” Sims said in an interview. “If we don’t own the mistakes we make, and make them learning opportunities, then there’s no growth.” Still, the 2023 case, reported here for the first time, illustrates what can happen when school police officers use aggressive techniques to restrain children, and how children with disabilities are often particularly vulnerable. The child had a history of hitting, biting and spitting, among other challenging behaviors, according to the records. However, when students with disabilities act out, it's often a sign they need more support, not police intervention, said Shannon Rosson, director of a resource center for parents of children with disabilities. "That behavior is communication," she said. The hogtie incident stands out as an unusually dangerous and harsh treatment of a student, even as a recent New York Times-San Antonio Express-News investigation revealed the broad scope of school police officers’ use of force on students statewide.

'Lighter days': Exonerated men to get $35M settlement in Austin yogurt shop murders case

The Austin City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a record $35 million settlement with the three men — and the family of a fourth — who were wrongfully accused of murder in the 1991 yogurt shop killings. One of those men, Michael Scott, told the American-Statesman that his share of the record settlement — nearly $10 million — would give him something he hasn’t experienced much in the past four decades: “lighter days.” “That’s the best way I can put it,” Scott said shortly after the council vote. “It gives me an opportunity to go make happy memories with my family and my daughter.” Scott was arrested alongside Robert Springsteen, Forrest Welborn and Maurice Pierce in 1999 after investigators zeroed in on the four young men as suspects in the killings of four teenage girls at a North Austin "I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt" shop. Scott and Springsteen falsely confessed to the crimes.

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Though the path through the criminal justice system from that point was different for each man, they and their families described at an exoneration hearing in February how the wrongful accusations derailed their lives. Scott and Springsteen were the only two to face trial. Both were convicted of capital murder, with Scott receiving a life sentence and Springsteen sentenced to death row. Their convictions were overturned in 2008 after appeals courts found that their confessions were obtained improperly. Both men were released from prison the following year. Under the terms of the settlement approved Thursday, Scott and Springsteen will each be paid $9.85 million by the city while Welborn will be paid $4.85 million. Though Welborn was not indicted in the killings, he has said that the false accusations upended his life, making it harder to hold down employment and build lasting relationships. Members of Pierce’s family will be paid $10 million. Pierce spent three years in the Travis County Jail before prosecutors dropped charges against him. At a February exoneration hearing, Pierce’s daughter, Marisa Pierce, testified that her father never recovered from his incarceration. He was killed by Austin police officers in 2010 following a traffic stop, which his daughter described as “the result of a justice system that actively hunted” her father. In a written statement, she and Pierce’s widow, Kim Pierce, said words could not “encompass the depth of grief and injustice” they have felt since their father and husband was wrongfully accused of the killings.

One student dead, another injured in incident at Uvalde college campus

One student died and another was injured in an incident Thursday at Southwest Texas College's Uvalde campus, officials said. "The College is confirming that an incident occurred on the Uvalde campus earlier today that resulted in the death of one student and injuries to another," school president Hector Gonzales said in a statement. "Emergency responders arrived promptly, and the injured student was transported for medical care." The statement provided no details about the incident or the identities of those involved "out of respect for the students and their families." School officials said they are fully cooperating with law enforcement. "The safety and well-being of students, employees, and visitors remain a top priority," Gonzales' statement said, adding information will be made public "as appropriate."

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Blanche does not rule out Oath Keepers founder for $1.8B fund

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday that anyone can apply to a new $1.8 billion Justice Department “weaponization” fund, and wouldn’t rule out Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes as someone who could receive a payout. Rhodes, a Texas resident and leader of the far-right militia, was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and sentenced to 18 years in prison, one of the longest sentences handed down in the case. President Donald Trump commuted Rhodes' sentence on his first day back in office as part of a sweeping clemency order benefiting Jan. 6 defendants.

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The fund for people improperly targeted by the government is open to anyone who applies, said Blanche, who has faced growing questions from both parties about the fund since signing a memo establishing it. “Some people believe that, not just with January 6 but in all kinds of areas, that there was a punishment that was not normal, that was atypical of the crime that was committed,” he said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News during a visit to Dallas, adding, “that’s something … I would expect the commissioners to take into account.” He said appointed commissioners would set the rules for how claims are reviewed and who receives money, including what weight to give a person’s sentence or the conduct in their case. Ed Tarpley, an attorney for Rhodes, said Rhodes hasn’t decided whether to seek money from it. He said they were taking it “one day at a time” while awaiting a ruling on the Justice Department’s request last week to dismiss Rhodes’ indictment. “We’ll make a decision once we get the ruling from the court on the DOJ motion,” Tarpley said of the fund in an interview Thursday.

‘Same hate and vitriol.’ Treatment of Muslim principal compared to segregation

A mix of educators, interfaith leaders and community activists gathered Thursday to protest the reassignment of a newly appointed Fort Worth Independent School district principal who is Muslim. Shayma Alzubi was announced as the principal of Western Hills High School last week, but the school district reassigned her days later after online backlash over her old social media posts about the Black Lives Matter Movement and Sharia law and Pro-Palestine pictures she posted. A news conference was held at the Islamic Unity Center, 1205 Country Club Lane, in east Fort Worth, on Thursday morning. Nearly a dozen speakers criticized FWISD over its handling of the matter.

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The DFW chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the online backlash was an “anti-Muslim witch hunt” toward Alzubi, who was shown on FWISD’s Facebook announcement in a hijab, an Islamic headscarf. Mustafaa Carroll, CAIR-DFW executive director, said he has been a civil rights activist since the 1960s and described the use of bigoted conspiratorial smears toward an entire religion or racial group as a threat. He said the situation represents a clear parallel to the past and reflects another phase of segregation. “I’ve seen all this before, the same language, the same lame excuses, the same hate and vitriol, and the same responses given by government institutions to exclude qualified, upstanding teachers like Ms. Shayma Alzubi,” Carroll said. “Therefore it is incumbent upon us to all call for the immediate reinstatement of Ms. Shayma Alzubi to the position of principal of Western Hills High School.” Carroll says CAIR is talking with its legal team about possible legal action to have Alzubi reinstated. Carroll noted that CAIR received 8,683 anti-Muslim bias complaints nationwide in 2025, the highest single-year total since the organization recorded since its first civil rights report, covering 1996.

Al Green tells AIPAC to 'crawl back into your hole'

U.S. Rep. Al Green lashed out at the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee Thursday after the group accused him of being "anti-Israel" in a social media post cheering his election defeat. Green, a Houston Democrat, has opposed U.S. support of Israel in its three-year conflict with Palestinians in Gaza. In his statement Thursday, he accused Israel of "genocide." "I am not anti-Israel; I am anti-sending any more of hardworking American’s tax dollars to Israel," he said in a statement. "AIPAC, which has not denounced the genocide in Gaza, seems to perceive every person who denounces the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu as anti-Israel."

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AIPAC, a powerful lobbying group in Washington, wrote in a social media post earlier this week that Green was "one of the most outspoken anti-Israel voices in Congress." The post congratulated U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee on his victory over Green in the Democratic runoff for Houston's 18th Congressional District. Green, who is serving his eleventh term in Congress, is one of a number of Democratic and Republican members who oppose U.S. support for Israel's military, including U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. In his statement Green said AIPAC had "become persona non grata" before telling the group to "crawl back into your hole." He signed off: "Sincerely, your unbought, unbossed, unafraid, unelected, liberated Democrat.”

Bud Kennedy: If Ken Paxton wins Senate race in Texas, blame Trump’s pal Dan Patrick

Dan Patrick wanted to win. Ken Paxton is able to run for U.S. Senate for one reason: because Texas’ power-hungry lieutenant governor did not want Texas House Republicans to win a Capitol struggle and remove Paxton as state attorney general. No lieutenant governor in Texas history has held the entire state in an iron grip like Patrick, the most dominating official in state government and also the most stubborn. Three years ago, 60 Republicans in the Texas House voted to send Patrick and the Texas Senate 20 reasons to remove Paxton, an insolent and irresponsible state attorney general who used his office for personal gain and fired employees who turned him in. On May 27, 2023, Paxton was impeached. Three years to the day later, he woke up celebrating his nomination to run for U.S. Senate against Austin Democrat James Talarico.

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State Rep. Ann Johnson, D-Houston, is a former child trafficking prosecutor from Houston who was vice chair of the House impeachment team accusing Paxton. She did not hesitate when I asked whether anything kept prosecutors from successfully making their case. “Oh, absolutely,” she said. “Dan Patrick.” Instead of having a Texas Supreme Court justice preside over the trial, Patrick made himself judge. His strong-arm tactics began with the trial rules. The rules — invented totally out of thin air by a special committee under Patrick’s thumb — gave the lieutenant governor “near total control” and reduced the Senate to a “largely powerless and silent jury” under Patrick’s control, Austin Sen. Sarah Eckhardt objected right away in a complaint that turned out to be prescient. Patrick, obviously annoyed that the House sent the Senate this hot potato, undermined the effort every step of the way. For example, his committee wrote a rule that the accusations must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s the standard for a criminal trial, not for deciding whether to fire a selfish executive. “This is our third impeachment in Texas history, and if you go back and look at the other two, you know, [Patrick] made himself the ultimate judge on what could and couldn’t be heard,” Johnson said.

Wall Street gets new crypto rival after Texas bank completes regulatory pivot

A forty-year-old Texas bank is stepping onto the national stage to challenge Wall Street’s push to get a grip on the digital asset industry. United Texas Bank (UTB) secured approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to convert from a state-chartered financial institution into a nationally chartered bank on May 15, Scott Beck, the president and CEO of the firm, told CoinDesk on Wednesday. The conversion move, Beck added, is to position his crypto-friendly bank as the primary bridge between the cryptocurrency industry and traditional financial institutions and to provide digital asset services he said the UTB has years fully delivering, while “Wall Street continues to tiptoe.”

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The conversion granted by the OCC came with two conditions that Beck said have now been met. “Those conditions were satisfied as of today, May 27,” he said. Since 2024, the UTB operated under a Consent Order with the Federal Reserve, which related to its Bank Secrecy Act and compliance infrastructure. “Rather than viewing that as a setback, we treated it as a mandate to build something exceptional, and we did. The result is UTB PRISM SENTINAL, our proprietary BSA/AML compliance platform,” he said. The milestone makes the UTB one of the first banks in the U.S. to successfully complete an OCC conversion since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act 15 years ago, Beck added. He said the conversion also uniquely positions UTB as a bridge between crypto firms worldwide into the U.S. banking system, access that very few banks today are willing to give. "The concept for United Texas Bank is a centralized value hub," said the chair of UTB, a bank he himself said is unknown nationally, but widely sought out by crypto firms.

Talarico kicks off statewide tour as Texas Senate race with Paxton heats up

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and State Rep. James Talarico are already launching attacks against each other as the Texas Senate race begins to take shape following Tuesday’s primary election. Just hours after Paxton officially secured the Republican nomination, Talarico announced he would begin what he called “The People vs. Ken Paxton Tour,” traveling across Texas through June 1. Paxton also quickly responded online, signaling what could become a lengthy and closely watched campaign ahead of the November general election. Both campaigns released attack ads shortly after the primary results. One Paxton campaign ad targeted Talarico, saying: “This is Texas. This is not. Are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six.”

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Meanwhile, a Talarico campaign ad criticized Paxton, saying: “Remind us all, what is Attorney General Paxton accused of doing? The list is really long: bribery, dereliction of duty, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy.” Political science professors at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin said the race is already drawing attention because of the candidates’ sharp political differences and Paxton’s dominant primary victory. “The margin was a surprise to me,” Cal Jillson, an SMU political science professor, said. Sean Theriault, a political science professor at UT Austin, said Republicans rallied behind Paxton after receiving support from President Donald Trump. “The Republicans got the candidate they wanted. Boy, that margin last night was really big,” Theriault said. “And so now we have a Donald Trump-endorsed MAGA Republican candidate versus James Talarico, who's been in the state legislature and has been making some waves.” The campaign season ahead is expected to feature more aggressive messaging from both sides. One Talarico campaign ad says: “Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat and a lock on the door.” A Paxton campaign ad also describes Talarico by saying: “He's always been on the edge of sort of criminal activities.” Theriault said Talarico may try to appeal to voters outside the Democratic base.

Crypto lobby unseats Texas lawmaker. What’s next for Coinbase’s legislative push.

The industry poured millions of dollars into a Texas primary campaign that ultimately unseated a veteran congressman who has opposed the so-called Clarity Act, a bill setting rules for crypto firms. But that campaign cash still might not be enough to get the crypto-friendly bill over the finish line. Last year, Texas lawmakers redrew the state’s congressional map, leading to the primary clash between Democratic incumbent congressmen Al Green, who has served since 2005, and Christian Menefee, who took office this year. Menefee won the election on Tuesday, bolstered by $5 million in spending tied to the crypto political action committee Fairshake. Green had voted against crypto-friendly bills and said the industry sought to “control” Congress with its campaign spending. Stand With Crypto—a Coinbase-backed grassroots group that rates lawmakers’ crypto support—gives him an “F” rating.

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“Rep. Green’s defeat proves that anti-crypto hostility carries real electoral consequences, making him the first Democratic incumbent this cycle to lose his seat,” Fairshake spokesman Geoff Vetter said in a statement. “Fairshake was the difference-maker in this race, and we will continue to aggressively back leaders like Rep. Menefee across the country.” Fairshake, Coinbase, and other industry players are pushing hard this year for the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, which, among other things, would put most crypto trading under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Digital assets firms and banks have fought over the bill for months. Earlier this month, a Senate committee advanced the bill on a bipartisan vote, significantly raising its chances of passing the full Senate. The House passed its own version of the bill last year, but would have to vote again after the Senate’s revisions for it to reach President Donald Trump’s desk. Now, the bill’s main enemy is the clock and Congress’s jam-packed schedule this year. In addition to the crypto legislation, the Republican-led Congress hopes to pass a major housing bill, an extension of federal surveillance powers, and funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol, among other priorities. Congress’s time will be especially limited after the August recess, when many lawmakers’ attention will turn to the November midterm elections.

National PAC says Rep. Julie Johnson's runoff loss means less LGBTQ+ voices in Congress

A national LGBTQ political fundraising committee says U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson’s loss in this week’s Democratic runoff diminishes the community’s representation in Congress. Johnson was the first only LGBTQ+ person elected to federal office from Texas and from the South when she was first won a seat in Congress in 2024. She lost Tuesday’s primary run off against former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred to be the Democratic candidate for Texas’ 33rd Congressional district. Allred won the nomination with more than 50% of the vote. Equality PAC said in a statement that without Johnson, "Texas — and likely the entire South — will lose openly LGBTQ representation in Congress.”

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“Many in our community remain deeply hurt by Colin Allred’s decision to challenge one of our own,” the statement said. "As he moves forward, he bears a responsibility to help heal those divisions and rebuild trust with the communities impacted by this race.” Lee Daugherty, a community organizer and owner of Alexandre’s, a popular bar in Dallas’ Oak Lawn neighborhood, said Johnson being the first openly gay congressional representative from a Southern state “meant something.” “That is historic,” Daugherty said. “The community hates to lose.” He blamed the Republican-led move to redistrict the state’s congressional map mid-census for pushing Johnson into a primary against her predecessor. District 33 was redrawn during the 2025 legislative session. It covers parts of Dallas, Irving, Grand Prairie, Farmers Branch and Cockrell Hill. It also includes parts of Fort Worth, Arlington, Forest Hill, Haltom City and Saginaw.

National Stories

Iran, US reach deal to extend ceasefire, pending Trump's approval

The United States and Iran reached ?an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Reuters, though U.S. President Donald Trump has yet to approve ?it and Iranian state media said it had not been finalized. According to four sources familiar with the matter, the agreement would extend the truce for another 60 days and allow traffic to flow through the strategic waterway while negotiators tackle difficult issues such as Iran's nuclear program. If approved by leadership in Washington and Tehran, it would amount to the biggest step towards peace since the conflict began on February 28. News of the possible agreement came after a round of tit-for-tat attacks between the two ?countries, the latest such incident since the ceasefire took effect in early April.

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Trump has not yet approved the deal, the sources said. Iran has yet to comment on news of the proposed ?deal, which was first reported by Axios. Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said the text of the agreement had not been ?finalized or confirmed. "We're not there yet, but we're very close and we're going to keep on working at it," U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters in Washington. "I can't guarantee that we're going to get there, ?but right now I feel pretty good about it," Vance said. The Trump administration has several times said a deal to end the fighting was close, only to have Iran dispute or downplay the claims. The deal would ?specify unrestricted shipping through the strait and would require the U.S. also lift its blockade of Iranian ports. The U.S. would also lift some sanctions on Iranian oil sales. The reports prompted oil prices to fall on hopes of a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit route for roughly a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supply.

Trump administration prepares for proposed $250 bill with the president’s face on it

The Treasury Department is preparing to print $250 bills with President Donald Trump’s face on them and is just waiting for Congress’ green light, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday. Bessent said that as secretary, he has “two mandates” for currency: “At present, no living person can be on U.S. currency, and the currency must say ‘In God We Trust.’” Bessent added there is proposed legislation on Capitol Hill to “change the first requirement so that a living person, Donald J. Trump, could be on a $250 bill.” “At Treasury we prepare things in advance, so we have prepared in advance that if the legislation is passed, but we will stick to the law,” Bessent said while leading Thursday’s White House press briefing. The Washington Post was first to report on the plans to put Trump’s likeness on a $250 banknote.

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Bessent compared adding Trump’s face to the currency to the upcoming festivities for the country’s 250th anniversary and said the issue “bifurcated” from the growing affordability crisis as Americans struggle to buy gas and groceries. “I don’t think that there’s anything untoward about having the president of the United States, the person who was president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill,” Bessent told reporters during the briefing. The proposed legislation, introduced last year by Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., was referred in February 2025 to the House Financial Services Committee, where it has remained since. Legislation would have to be approved by the House and Senate before it could be signed into law by Trump. David Snider, a spokesperson for Wilson, said in an email that the congressman has spoken multiple times with Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., about moving the legislation forward. Snider added that Wilson had spoken with Bessent and Trump about their support on the bill “on multiple occasions.”

Chambers of commerce are at a crossroads. Some are closing. Some are shaking things up.

On April 23, the Texas-based Brush Country Chamber of Commerce announced it would be closing its doors in one week's time. The Frio-Nueces Current highlighted a withdrawal of funding from both the city of Cotulla, Texas, and the La Salle County government, with both having allocated local tax revenue to help fund the organization. It also noted that at the group's final board meeting, just 10% of its 80 members showed up. Last year, the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce abruptly announced its closure. A months-long investigation by the Baltimore Business Journal found the organization had become mired by a number of issues. It had pulled back services and resources and had its nonprofit tax exemption revoked. It also had reduced the size, frequency and variety of its events. CEO Brent Howard blamed the creation of additional business interest groups in the region for creating more competition.

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Those chambers in Maryland and South Texas are not alone. A review by The Business Journals of news reports since 2024 found 17 chamber of commerce closures that had drawn coverage. For those organizations that have continued to operate, financial headwinds have emerged. Chambers across the country are teetering on the edge of a financial cliff, with revenue growth failing to keep pace with inflation, according to an analysis of 4,813 chamber of commerce organizations and 22,290 Form 990 financial documents filed by those nonprofit chambers with the Internal Revenue Service from 2019 to 2024. Median revenue for those chambers of commerce was about $195,000 in 2019, growing to about $222,000 in 2024 — a 13.8% increase that falls behind the more than 20% inflation rate seen during the same time. Expenses grew at a slightly higher rate than revenue, 14.1%, during the time period. The share of chambers operating at a deficit inched up too, from 42.9% in 2019 to 45.2% in 2024. Net income dropped from a median of $2,691 in 2019 to $2,323 in 2024. The smallest chambers have been hit particularly hard, as 53% of chambers with less than $50,000 in annual revenue ran a deficit. That compares to 38% of organizations above the $1 million revenue threshold.

Nvidia is investing billions into this emerging technology that could change the AI industry

Nvidia has committed at least $6.5 billion into companies developing photonics technology in the past three months, as the company races to invest in solving one of the major bottlenecks to the rollout of AI. Photonics, the use of light to transmit data, is an emerging technology considered to be a more efficient alternative to the current process of transferring data using electricity. Electrical data transfer consumes more energy — a factor which is increasingly seen as a blocker to the broader deployment of AI. Since the beginning of March, Nvidia has announced $2 billion investments into Lumentum, Coherent and Marvell, all of which are developing photonics tech. The chip giant also said it would invest $500 million into Corning to develop advanced optical connectivity solutions, and participated in optics startup Ayer Labs’ $500 million Series E funding round.

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“Photonics represents a way for Nvidia to scale their AI infrastructure without the energy costs that staying with electrical and copper will incur,” Alvin Nguyen, senior analyst at Forrester, told CNBC. “By investing in photonics companies, Nvidia is making sure that advancements in photonics continue and it will prevent them from hitting a scalability and performance wall that will occur if they remain on electrical and copper.” Photonics can be used in AI infrastructure by using light to move data between graphics processing units (GPUs), memory, networking chips, servers and data centers, instead of relying only on electrical signals running along copper. While copper is the main connectivity standard today because of its lower cost and high reliability, photonics will become more prominent in AI infrastructure over time, Brian Colello, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNBC. “Nvidia’s roadmap of next generation AI rack-scale solutions will require an increasing amount of optical connectivity to process the exponentially rising bandwidth with new models and higher usage,” he said. The chip giant has already made some photonics tech available as part of its networking solutions offering, with the company announcing tools that it said will enable AI factories to connect millions of GPUs across sites while drastically reducing energy consumption and operational costs.

Blue Origin rocket blows up on Florida launchpad during test

A rocket built by the Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin blew up on the launchpad in Florida on Thursday night. The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. during a test being conducted in advance of an upcoming launch. “We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,” Blue Origin reported on social media. “All personnel have been accounted for.” The test was to fire the seven engines in the booster stage, while keeping the rocket firmly held down on the launchpad. Flames began rising up the sides of the rocket and a massive explosion enveloped the launchpad.

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The fireball badly damaged the launchpad and surrounding equipment at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It is the only launchpad that Blue Origin has for its 322-foot-tall New Glenn rocket, which is named after John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth. Repairs will most likely take months, at the least. The rocket had been set to carry 48 satellites for Amazon’s internet constellation, Leo, an acronym for “low-Earth orbit.” Leo is a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink network. The Amazon satellites were not onboard. “It’s too early to know the root cause but we’re already working to find it,” Mr. Bezos wrote on social media. “Very rough day, but we’ll rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and get back to flying. It’s worth it.” Mr. Bezos’ billionaire space competitor, Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, expressed sympathy: “Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly,” he wrote on X. The failure will affect NASA’s moon plans, which already include little margin for error.

Bari Weiss names Nick Bilton to lead CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’ in major shake-up

In a bid to remake the country’s top-rated news program, Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, on Thursday unveiled an overhaul of “60 Minutes,” replacing the show’s executive producer with a tech journalist and firing two of its on-air correspondents. Ms. Weiss named Nick Bilton, a former New York Times technology columnist and a filmmaker who has directed and produced documentaries for HBO and Netflix, as her pick to lead the 58-year-old Sunday show. Mr. Bilton, who has never worked in traditional broadcast news, will replace Tanya Simon, who had been at the show for more than three decades. CBS News also fired Cecilia Vega, the program’s first Latina correspondent, and Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled off the air abruptly last year by Ms. Weiss, who requested more reporting. It aired in full at a later date. Draggan Mihailovich, the executive editor of “60 Minutes,” was also fired, as was Matthew Polevoy, a senior producer.

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Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist with no prior experience in television, has made major changes at CBS since being appointed last year by the tech scion David Ellison. She has named Tony Dokoupil to helm “CBS Evening News,” hired new on-air contributors and personally booked some guests for interviews, a departure from the industry norm. But the overhaul at “60 Minutes” is by far the largest gamble of Ms. Weiss’s tenure. The program remains appointment viewing for millions every Sunday night, and its viewership this season rose 9 percent from the year prior, according to Nielsen. Ms. Weiss’s handling of “60 Minutes” has led to internal turmoil. Her decision to hold Ms. Alfonsi’s segment set off a firestorm, though it eventually ran with additional comments from the Trump administration. This week, Ms. Alfonsi told The Times that CBS was no longer separating editorial independence from corporate interests. Mr. Bilton, 49, will start his position with a staff already anxious about how the long-held traditions of “60 Minutes” might change. In a joint interview with Ms. Weiss on Thursday, he said that his experience in documentary film and TV was in keeping with the founding ethos of the program, which he called “the most important news brand in American life.”

More workers are raiding their 401(k)s as average balances fall, Fidelity says

Financial pressures pushed more savers to tap their retirement accounts in the first part of 2026, new data shows — potentially locking in losses during the early weeks of the Iran war. Amid severe market volatility earlier this year, the average 401(k) balance fell by 4% to $141,000, according to first-quarter data released Thursday from Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) savings plans. The average individual retirement account balance was also down 4% to $131,380 in the first quarter, Fidelity found. The drop was due to the outbreak of the Iran war, which sparked a stock selloff, according to Kirsten Hunter Peterson, vice president of workplace thought leadership at Fidelity Investments. “Luckily, a couple of months later, we are trending in a much better direction,” she said, referring to recent market highs.

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After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the S&P 500 lost 5.1% in March for its worst monthly performance since 2022. The Dow dropped 5.4%, snapping a 10-month winning streak. The Nasdaq declined 4.8%. Markets have since rebounded from earlier losses. As of Wednesday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up roughly 5.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 rose nearly 10% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 14.8%. However, more savers also tapped their accounts to free up cash during this time, which experts say is a sign of underlying financial strain. The share of workers with an outstanding loan at the end of the first quarter of 2026 was 19.2%, up slightly from 18.8% a year earlier, according to Fidelity. About 2.4% of workers took out a new loan from their 401(k) in the first quarter, up from 2.3% in 2025. The share of workers taking a hardship withdrawal, which is broken out separately, also rose year over year to 2.5% from 2.3%, Fidelity found. A hardship withdrawal can be taken from a retirement plan without paying an early withdrawal penalty for an “immediate and heavy financial need,” according to the IRS.

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