March 10, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Trump is delaying Texas Senate endorsement to pressure GOP senators on SAVE America Act

President Donald Trump is delaying his endorsement in the Texas Senate GOP primary to ramp up pressure on Republican senators to pass his high-priority voting restrictions bill, according to two people close to the White House granted anonymity to speak candidly. Trump had been prepared to quickly endorse John Cornyn after the Texas senator outperformed expectations and finished ahead of Paxton, Texas’ attorney general, in last week’s primary, the people said. But Paxton managed to at least forestall that outcome when he announced Friday that if the Senate passes the bill he would drop his campaign. Paxton’s last-ditch gamble highlighted an area where he agrees with Trump while poking at a sore spot between the president and Senate Republican leaders who have been begging Trump for months to back Cornyn.

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And it changed the dynamics inside the White House, according to the two people, an operative close to the White House and an administration ally. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. “I think that was a very smart strategy because it bought time. Because now, if you’re the White House or Trump, why would you now weigh in?’’ said the Republican operative. “Trump has remained very steadfast that he wants this done, and that is a huge priority, and he’s getting pissed off at these members and at [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune.” Trump posted last Wednesday, the day after the primary, that he would endorse “soon” in the race — and wanted to see whoever he didn’t back drop out of the runoff. He told House Republicans Monday in a speech at their annual legislative retreat in Florida that SAVE America is his “No. 1 priority” on the congressional agenda this year. Paxton, a favorite of the far right with strong MAGA grassroots backing, initially said he would not end his campaign even if Trump backed Cornyn. Trump responded in an interview with POLITICO last week that the comment was “bad for him to say,” and reiterated he would announce his pick soon.

Most Texas voucher applicants have not attended public school before, data show

Nearly three in four applicants to Texas’ new voucher program are likely already enrolled in private or home school, new data shows, meaning the state subsidies could help offset costs families are already paying. Critics who released the new statistics say it undercuts Republicans’ pitch that the $1 billion program is meant to help low-income Texas families who are unsatisfied with public school afford alternative options. “Texas public schools are the backbone of our communities,” said Dee Carney, director of the recently formed Texas Center for Voucher Transparency, which obtained the figures through a public records request. “Early voucher application data suggests that the overwhelming majority of families continue to choose and trust their local public schools to educate their children.”

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The data shows only 36,000 applicants, out of more than 150,000 to date, indicated that they were enrolled in a public school during the 2024-2025 school year. The remaining 117,000, or 76%, reported they hadn’t attended public school that year. Travis Pillow, a spokesman for the Comptroller’s office, which oversees the program, said the number may be skewed because many applicants are in pre-K or kindergarten and were too young to qualify for school that year. The records, however, break out the number of students in grades 1-12, and 71% of that applicant group reported they had not been enrolled in a public school during the 2024-25 year. The comptroller’s office did not provide any additional data or a breakdown of how many students reported attending private and homeschool. The voucher program, which offers students roughly $10,500 a year to cover private education costs or $2,000 for homeschool, has proven popular. Already, more families have applied than there are spaces available.

City of Sinton denies proposed water meeting with Corpus Christi citing transparency issues

The City of Sinton announced on Monday it will not attend a proposed meeting with Corpus Christi city leaders regarding the Evangeline/Laguna Water Project citing concerns with transparency. The meeting proposed for Tuesday, was set to be hosted by Sen. Adam Hinojosa, District 27, and was meant to bring city leaders from Sinton and Corpus Christi together to find a solution both parties could agree upon. “Sinton and Corpus Christi are both vital parts of the Coastal Bend Region. Our goal is to provide a venue and facilitate discussion so that both Sinton and Corpus Christi may both benefit,” Hinojosa wrote in a press release on Tuesday.

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owever, the City of Sinton responded to the Senator's request saying no discussions will be had until, "the City of Corpus Christi (“CCC”) provides essential information and responds to a previously submitted proposal intended to resolve ongoing groundwater permit matters." The press release continued, "Sinton expressed appreciation for the Senator’s willingness to assist in facilitating discussions. However, the City emphasized that meaningful dialogue cannot occur without basic transparency and engagement from CCC." The City of Sinton announced today that it will not attend a proposed March 10 meeting regarding the Evangeline/Laguna Water Project until the City of Corpus Christi (“CCC”) provides essential information and responds to a previously submitted proposal intended to resolve ongoing groundwater permit matters. Sinton, represented by legal counsel who also serves St. Paul Water Supply Corporation (“SPWSC”), is currently participating in proceedings before the San Patricio County Groundwater Conservation District (“SPCGCD”) concerning permit applications filed by CCC and Evangeline/Laguna LP. These applications relate to the proposed Evangeline/Laguna Water Project, which Sinton and SPWSC believe may significantly and unreasonably impact their groundwater wells, including potential declines in water levels and degradation of water quality. Sen. Hinojosa learned of Sinton's response from KRIS 6 News. "Well, this is just the first time we've heard it right now," Hinojosa said. "This was an effort to bring everybody to the table face to face, get whatever they can laid out on the table and discussed and hopefully come to resolution, but that certainly wasn't a guarantee." The senator continued, 'So the whole purpose of the meeting was to bring them together to provide information that was asked for in front of others like our office to make sure that, hey, everybody is negotiating fairly and equally and that all sides are getting the information that they have asked for. That was the hope and the goal was to bring them together to start talking about that correspondences can get construed in different ways and you know there's been different things said about that." "I'm disappointed if Sinton's already decided that they don't want to come to the table, but we have given every opportunity that we can to try to bring the parties together too because Sinton has some very legitimate concerns, and it's very important to address those concerns, and Corpus Christi has some potential solutions that they're offering that may be able to answer those concerns and it may not be enough, but that's what the discussion is all about, is to try to get them to the table to work it out." In February, the San Patricio County Groundwater Conservation District voted to send formal protests filed against the proposed Evangeline groundwater project to a preliminary hearing process.

Exxon Mobil plans to move its legal home to Texas from New Jersey

Exxon Mobil plans to move its legal home to Texas from New Jersey, joining other companies that have flocked to the Lone Star state in search of a more business-friendly environment. Exxon, which has been incorporated in New Jersey since 1882, plans to ask its shareholders to vote on a proposal to redomicile in Texas. If successful, Exxon will follow Tesla, Coinbase Global COIN 1.30%increase; green up pointing triangle and others that have reincorporated in Texas. Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that the move is about protecting the company from shareholder “abuse,” a reference to what companies see as a proliferation of frivolous shareholder lawsuits in certain venues.

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“Texas is already our operating home, and we think it makes sense to make it our legal home,” Woods said. Exxon, which has a market value north of $630 billion, relocated its headquarters to Texas from New York City in 1989. Exxon hasn’t had any issues with New Jersey, Woods said, but believes Texas better understands the oil-and-gas industry and is more invested in its success. Woods said the more companies domiciled in Texas, and across different industries, the better. Texas has been a beneficiary as more executives voice frustrations with traditional corporate havens such as Delaware and New Jersey. Most large public companies remain incorporated in Delaware, which has specialized courts that handle business matters and ample legal precedents. Texas is also seeking to attract more stock listings, with the planned launch of Texas Stock Exchange, which aims to take on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. Musk, Tesla’s CEO, decided in 2024 to reincorporate Tesla in Texas, upset about a court ruling against his multibillion-dollar 2018 pay package. He also moved the legal home of his rocket company SpaceX to Texas, and that of his brain-implant company, Neuralink, to Nevada. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said late last year that it would leave Delaware for Texas, and Facebook parent Meta has been considering leaving Delaware for Texas or another state. Exxon rival Chevron moved its headquarters from San Ramon, Calif., to Houston at the start of last year, though it remains incorporated in Delaware.

State Stories

Two teen brothers in Texas mariachi band are released from ICE custody amid bipartisan criticism

A family whose two teen boys are in a nationally recognized mariachi band in South Texas was reunited Monday afternoon after bipartisan criticism that the Trump administration’s campaign for mass deportation overreached by detaining the family. Brothers Antonio Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, and Joshua, 14, were detained along with their 12-year-old brother and their parents Feb. 25. The teenage boys were prominent members of the McAllen High School Mariachi Oro band, which has visited the White House, performed at Carnegie Hall and won eight state championships. The two younger boys and their parents were released Monday from a family detention center in Dilley, Texas, said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat who visited them, marking his third visit to the detention center.

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Antonio was released on Monday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from a detention center in Raymondville, Texas. “They were ecstatic. They were crying. They were excited to be reunited with their son and brother, Antonio, who was being held separately in Raymondville,” Castro said at a news conference in San Antonio. “But their mom kept asking, ‘What did we do wrong? We followed all the rules. We went to court, we haven’t done anything wrong.’” The family had been checking in regularly with immigration authorities, as instructed, when they were detained, according to a relative and a girlfriend who organized a GoFundMe account for the family. The Department of Homeland Security said the parents, Emma Guadalupe Cuellar Lopez and Luis Antonio Gamez Martinez, were arrested by immigration authorities and “chose” to bring their three children with them. The department said they entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 near Brownsville, Texas. Efrén C. Olivares, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center representing the eldest son, Antonio, clarified that the family entered lawfully through the CBP One app, a legal pathway, in 2023. Olivares said Antonio was released after attorneys filed a parole request with ICE which ICE granted, and attorneys did not need to ask for a judge’s order. Elected officials from across the political spectrum voiced support for the family, who are from Mexico and had sought asylum in the U.S. and were going through their immigration proceedings.

Texas businesses could wait years for tariff reimbursements — if they come at all — despite court rulings

The Trump administration has yet to signal when — or whether — it intends to repay tariffs implemented by executive order just over a year ago. Many businesses may wait years for reimbursement. The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled last Wednesday that the administration must refund the tariffs, which it had been collecting under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), starting in February of last year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that use of IEEPA was illegal. Weston O'Black, a partner with the Houston office of the law firm Susman Godfrey, which is representing companies seeking refunds, said administration of President Donald Trump may challenge the international trade court's ability to order nationwide tariff refunds.

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"I don’t know yet whether that’s going to happen, and we are going to have to see in the coming days, but if that does happen, that’s just going to slow things down even more," O'Black said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said they are working on a system to begin processing refunds in 45 days. Dallas-based attorney Michelle Schulz said she’s skeptical the government will meet that deadline. Further, she said, companies that sue to try to force U.S. Customs to repay the tariffs run the risk of retaliation. "They will have a system whereby they’ll refund your money," Schulz said. "The problem is, Customs is also going to be looking in that same system to see if you made any mistakes, and they can go back five years." According to import and tariff data compiled by Trade Partnership Worldwide, the Trump administration collected more $126 billion dollars in tariffs nationwide from February through December 2025 under IEEPA, including more than $11 billion from Texas businesses.

Qilin Li: From science perspective, don't dismiss desalination

(Dr. Qilin Li is the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Co-Director of the NEWT Center, and Resilient Urban Water Infrastructure thrust lead of the WaTER Institute at Rice University.) Access to abundant, clean water is a foundation of modern life. It stands among the greatest public health achievements of the twentieth century and is a central reason why life expectancy in the United States increased significantly over that period. I remind my students often that this progress was not inevitable, and it is not something we should take for granted. South Texas’ historic drought is a cautionary tale for the fragility of our existing water supplies and exposes the limits of systems built for a different time. If left unaddressed, it exemplifies the potential tradeoffs between economic potential and quality of life for generations of South Texans.

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As a researcher at Rice University in Houston, I study technologies that can realistically deliver safe, clean, reliable water at scale, including desalination. In places like Corpus Christi, seawater desalination has been the subject of extensive public dialogue and technical review, reflecting the seriousness of the region’s water challenges. Because seawater desalination remains underutilized in Texas as a response to growing water stress, it is sometimes perceived as experimental. In reality, however, seawater desalination is a mature, well-studied technology that has been implemented at both small and large scales in many locations around the world to provide fresh water for both municipal and industrial uses. It can play a meaningful role in addressing water scarcity in the Coastal Bend and meeting the demands of the region’s economic and population growth. From a scientific perspective, desalination should not be dismissed on the basis of feasibility. Energy consumption and the associated overall costs are often major considerations in choosing alternative water supplies. Over the past two decades, advances in membrane materials, energy recovery devices, and engineering system design have greatly reduced the energy intensity of desalination.

Texas Governor orders cybersecurity audit of Chinese medical devices over data breach risks

Texas Governor Greg Abbot released a letter directing state agencies and state-owned medical facilities in Texas to review cybersecurity policies to potentially address cybersecurity concerns that are linked to medical equipment manufactured in China. In the letter, Abbott directed health agencies and public university systems to review cybersecurity and procurement policies to protect Texans from medical information data breaches. On Jan. 2026, the Trump Administration’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a series of notices describing security vulnerabilities found in Chinese-manufactured patient monitoring devices. One of the risks includes the possibility of unauthorized actors accessing protected health information remotely.

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It is the U.S. FDA's duty to regulate medical devices before and after entering the market. Once those devices are deployed, the FDA continues to monitor medical devices through post-market examination. When risks are identified, the FDA issues alerts and recommendations to reduce harm. According to Governor Abbott, these FDA and CISA notices underscore the need for state agencies and state-owned medical facilities to ensure they are continually operating in safe and secure environments. The governor warns that these notices confirm the warnings of experts who have elevated the "proliferation of Chinese-manufactured smart medical devices" across the Texas healthcare system as a serious data privacy concern. More specifically, on January 30, 2025, the FDA issued a notice raising Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities with Certain Patient Monitors from Contec and Epsimed: FDA Safety Communication, in which the FDA warned that certain patient monitors contained vulnerabilities that allow unauthorized access, manipulation of devices, and the exfiltration of sensitive patient data, creating meaningful risks for patients.

Southwest Airlines relaunches longest nonstop flight from Dallas Love Field

Goodbye Dallas, hello Emerald City. Southwest Airlines is once again offering nonstop flights from Love Field Airport, where it is the dominant carrier, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The route may offer aviation enthusiasts a little trivia nugget: At roughly 1,668 miles (exact distance may vary by a few miles), it is the airline’s longest nonstop flight from Love Field. (Another trivia fact: Southwest’s longest route overall is from Phoenix to Honolulu, which is over 2,900 miles.)

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Late last week, The Dallas Morning News was on the first nonstop trip when Southwest flight 173 departed Dallas and landed in SeaTac shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time. Southwest previously operated the route in a seasonal capacity, before it made the decision to make it a mainstay last fall. The airline also began nonstops between Dallas and Portland, Boston and San Francisco this week, stretching its formidable domestic network. The routes were announced in August, just three months after Southwest bolstered its commitment to Love Field until 2040. The airline operates out of 18 of the airport’s 20 gates. Recently, Southwest has been in the throes of major operational changes, including the start of assigned seating, extra legroom options and fees for checked bags. Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and network operations control, told The News in an interview that the new permanent routes are a “continuation of everything that we’re doing as a company.” He added that “we’ve always flown long flights like California to Hawaii and California to the East Coast. We’ve always had that but as we change our product it’s going to make them even more comfortable. And so you can see that going on nationwide to some extent. You see us trading a few of our short haul flights here and there.”

Fort Bend County Judge KP George '11th-hour' petition denied

A prosecutor for the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office is calling on a Texas Appeals Court to reject what he calls an "eleventh-hour" petition from Judge KP George ahead of his money laundering trial. On Monday, it was confirmed Judge KP George's action to disqualify Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office was denied by the appellate court.

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Hip hop icons tell justices that Texas turned rap lyrics into a death warrant

As a Texas jury deliberated over whether a Black man deserved the death penalty for two 2008 murders, it twice asked to see what prosecutors had said was a critical piece of evidence: 40 pages of the defendant’s handwritten rap lyrics. After examining the lyrics, which included violent themes, the nearly all-white jury sentenced him to death instead of life without parole. Letting prosecutors introduce that evidence exploited racial stereotypes to turn artistic expression into a death warrant, lawyers for the man, James Broadnax, told the Supreme Court last month. The lawyers asked the court to halt his execution, set for next month, and to hear his case.

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There is no particular reason to think the justices know their way around rap music and the culture that surrounds it. On Monday, they received expert assistance from towering figures in the world of hip-hop, including Killer Mike, T.I., Young Thug, Fat Joe and N.O.R.E. in the form of a brief supporting Mr. Broadnax. Travis Scott also filed a brief. The rappers argue that prosecutors mistook the fantasy that is gangster rap for a literal account amounting to a confession. “Tales of violence, sex and criminal behavior sell to a broad swath of Americans — and any would-be gangsta rapper must learn and practice these conventions of the form,” said one of the briefs, filed on behalf of artists, industry professionals, scholars and arts organizations. Killer Mike, the performer and political activist, said in an interview that the jury had been encouraged by prosecutors to confuse creative expression with real life. “No matter how beautiful it sounds, or how horrific it may sound, it’s still just art,” he said of Mr. Broadnax’s lyrics. “It’s an interpretation of the human spirit. It is not an admission of guilt.” Other musical genres, he said, do not get the same treatment. Nobody believes that Johnny Cash shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. Or that Neil Young shot his baby down by the river — “dead, oh, shot her dead.” Or that Bob Marley shot the sheriff even as he spared the deputy.

Epstein’s remote Zorro Ranch owned by Texas political candidate is searched by New Mexico investigators

New Mexico state investigators on Monday descended on the high desert ranch once owned by Jeffrey Epstein, beginning what may be the first thorough search of an overlooked but important part of the convicted sex offender’s empire. The examination of the property is part of a renewed effort by state leaders to scrutinize the deceased financier’s crimes in New Mexico, which they say have never been fully investigated. The state’s Department of Justice, which opened a criminal inquiry into the property last month, is carrying out the search along with a local sheriff’s office. A spokeswoman for New Mexico’s attorney general declined to comment further. It was not clear what parts of the ranch had been searched or how long the operation would last.

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Victims of Mr. Epstein have said they were abused and trafficked at the property he named Zorro Ranch. Yet New Mexico officials and recently unsealed documents indicate that the federal authorities may have overlooked the 30,000-square-foot mansion and its sea of surrounding grassland after they took over a state-level inquiry into his actions in 2019. In addition to the state attorney general’s criminal investigation, New Mexico lawmakers voted unanimously last month to impanel a bipartisan four-member “truth commission” in the State Legislature, equipped with subpoena power, to look into what might have happened at Zorro Ranch. “I’m very glad to know the N.M.D.O.J. is doing what should have been done years ago,” said Andrea Romero, a New Mexico state representative from Santa Fe who is leading the commission. “Finally we are able to take a look inside a property that has created a yearslong mystery.” The authorities have worried that the passage of time may complicate their efforts. The property has changed hands since Mr. Epstein’s death, and evidence may have been lost in the transfer. The ranch’s new owner, a Dallas real estate magnate named Don Huffines, has said he will comply with the state investigation. Mr. Huffines, who last week won the Republican primary for Texas comptroller, said in a statement to The New York Times that the search was “a welcome step toward truth and justice.”

New fire burns in Gray County amid critical danger in Texas Panhandle

First responders were battling another grass fire on Monday, March 9 in the Texas Panhandle — this time in Gray County. The Texas A&M Forest Service said the Gray 2299 Fire, now called the Cabin Creek Fire, was an estimated 2,000 acres at 8:54 p.m., and 20% contained. The blaze comes as much of the Panhandle, western Oklahoma and northeastern New Mexico were under a red flag warning through 9 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Amarillo. NWS issued a fire warning at 5:35 p.m. at the request of the Gray County Emergency Management for northeastern Gray County, noting the fire was located about five miles east of Lefors, or 14 miles south of Miami, moving rapidly northeast at 3 to 5 mph. The warning noted that smoke and fire would present a threat to life and property near State Highway 152.

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The Texas Department of Transportation said at 6:08 p.m. that FM 2857 from FM 1321 to Hwy. 152, and Hwy. 152 from Laketon to Mobeetie, were closed due to the area wildfire. People were asked to avoid the area. FM 2857 opened back up to traffic around 7:08 p.m., but no updates on the other roads had been given as of 9 p.m. NWS Amarillo earlier noted on Facebook that it continues to be warm, dry and windy in the area, making fire danger reach critical levels: "Two new fires in the past 20 minutes. One just east of Lefors, TX, and another east of Stratford, TX. Please continue to travel carefully, and limit outdoor activities that can create sparks." The fire near Stratford was quickly contained. A fire in Oldham and Hartley counties on Sunday, March 8 burned about 745 acres. According to the weather forecast, the region is set to have storms pass through Tuesday, but they could bring wind, thunder, and lightning without measurable rainfall. The region continues to see a very active fire season, with dry vegetation, warmer temperatures and strong winds adding to the risk.

AT&T CEO questioned 'effective governance' of Dallas

As early as May 2025, AT&T’s exit from downtown Dallas appeared likely as CEO John Stankey questioned the “effective/sustained governance” of Dallas and cited years of up-and-down efforts to make downtown more welcoming, according to emails reviewed by The Dallas Morning News. The firm issued a request for proposals focused on suburban sites around Highway 121 and the North Dallas Tollway with no options in the city of Dallas, according to a briefing document created by the Dallas Economic Development Corp. in September. The emails from Stankey to Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert undermine past statements from Dallas city leaders that the telecom giant left for the suburbs because it primarily wanted a more horizontal campus with significant acreage for development.

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AT&T announced its intention to leave Dallas’ Whitacre Tower in January for a 54-acre site at 5400 Legacy Drive in Plano — the culmination of a monthslong search and a failed effort by city leaders to keep the company within city limits. An AT&T representative and a city spokesperson did not respond to questions via phone and email regarding its downtown exit. The emails reviewed by The News were part of nearly 5,000 pages of communications among city leaders, consultants and others regarding key events over the past year, including AT&T’s exit and debate over the future of City Hall. The records show Tolbert and Dallas Economic Development Corp. CEO Linda McMahon emailed with Stankey and members of his staff at AT&T dating back to early 2025. In March 2025, McMahon told Tolbert, assistant city manager Robin Bentley and others on city staff that AT&T was looking for “a potential new HQ for the company” as McMahon and Tolbert worked to meet with CEOs of Dallas companies. Stankey met with Tolbert on May 6. Emails between the parties don’t indicate what was discussed, but Tolbert sent a letter to Stankey later that evening thanking him for engaging in a “crucial conversation about safeguarding the significant investment AT&T has made in Downtown Dallas.” “While the City of Dallas may not match AT&T’s level of investment, we are fully committed to protecting and supporting it — for your people and your facilities,” Tolbert said. “The blueprint I shared with you is not just a city initiative — it is my personal commitment to you and your team. We are steadfast in our efforts to foster a safe and thriving environment that supports AT&T’s continued growth and success. This means creating a workplace that your employees feel confident returning to every day.”

Will C. Beecherl: Why Highland Park is re-examining DART

As Highland Park approaches the May 2 special election, when residents will decide whether to continue DART membership, it is important to explain how we arrived at this point and why the Town Council placed this decision before the voters. For more than 40 years, the Town of Highland Park has been a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). That decision, made in 1983, reflected the realities of its time. The Dallas–Fort Worth region was smaller, municipal finance was more flexible, and DART was envisioned as the transit system to serve the greater region. Before DART was created, state law limited cities to a 1% local sales tax that could not be used for economic development.

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In 1983, the Legislature allowed an additional 1% sales tax to fund DART. Fifteen cities, including Highland Park, opted in to establish DART as an area transit system for its members—hence the name Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The expectation was that the system would evolve and deliver long-term value proportional to the cost. The challenge to grow is compounded by DART’s governance and regional imbalance. DART continues to rely on just 13 member cities, even as the region it purports to serve has expanded far beyond those boundaries. North Texas is projected to become the largest metropolitan region in the country by late-century, yet no other city has the economic appetite to join DART. Independent analysis shows significant disparities between what some cities contribute and what they receive. In fiscal year 2023, Dallas received service value from DART that equated to 169% of the sales tax it contributed, a $283 million surplus subsidized by other member cities. which to Highland Park, who received service value that equated to only 30% of the sales tax it contributed, and the disparities between “donor” cities like Highland Park and “recipient” cities like Dallas are crystal clear. Approximately 70% of Highland Park’s contribution to DART is being used to subsidize other cities.

Texas Democrats Goodwin, Vélez hope to keep voters engaged ahead of lieutenant governor runoff

After busting through turnout expectations for the party primaries, can Texas Democrats keep up that momentum for May’s runoff elections? Beyond that, will voters turn that attention and enthusiasm to races they hadn’t been following before? State Rep. Vikki Goodwin and labor organizer Marcos Vélez, the Democratic candidates vying to challenge incumbent Republican Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, certainly hope so. The pair face off in a May 26 runoff to decide who will be the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor this November. For the primaries, many of the state’s Democrats came to the polls focused on one race: The closely watched U.S. Senate primary between U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico.

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“What I found as I was standing at the polls is that a lot of people came knowing about who was in that race, but not necessarily knowing a lot of the other candidates,” said Goodwin, a four-term Texas House member from Travis County. “Including mine." That brings us back to the big question for Texas Democrats looking to May’s runoffs: Will voters show up without a high profile race — and names — on the ballot like Crockett and Talarico? While the party’s statewide runoffs are for important roles, Texas Lieutenant Governor included, there just isn’t the same star-power helping to turn out the vote. For Goodwin’s part, she may have served four terms in the statehouse, but she has little name recognition outside her Travis County Texas House district. Goodwin’s most recent campaign finance report shows she has around $160,000 in cash on hand. That puts her at a significant disadvantage against Patrick in November, but at an advantage over her opponent. Vélez, who's running as the union-friendly candidate, has significantly less in his campaign war chest. Many observers of Texas politics expected Goodwin to win the nomination outright. But the Houston-area candidate snagged the endorsement of the Texas AFL-CIO, something he credits with drawing more votes his way during the Democratic primary.

City Stories

Texas City officials defend level of force used on meeting disrupter

The arrest of a man during a contentious Texas City Commission meeting last week is drawing new attention after video of the encounter spread widely on social media, prompting questions about whether officers used excessive force. Juan David Rodriguez was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with disrupting a meeting or procession, according to arrest records. The arrest happened Wednesday during the meeting in which commissioners voted to recognize the Texas City Police Association, a newly formed labor union, as the department’s future bargaining representative.

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After Rodriguez repeatedly interrupted the proceedings, Police Chief Landis Cravens left his seat and escorted Rodriguez out of the meeting room, according to video and witnesses. Several police officers surrounded, subdued and handcuffed Rodriguez when he stepped out of the council chambers and into a hallway. Video of the arrest has circulated widely on social media, where some commenters have questioned whether the level of force used by officers was appropriate. Others have defended the officers, saying Rodriguez disrupted a public meeting and ignored instructions to leave. During the meeting, Rodriguez interrupted City Attorney Kyle Dickson while Dickson was presenting the agenda item related to certifying the new police union.

National Stories

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticizes Supreme Court emergency rulings

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson sharply criticized the Supreme Court on Monday for being quick to issue rulings that have temporarily allowed some of President Donald Trump’s controversial policies to stand while legal challenges against them play out in the courts. The justices have signed off on the administration’s ban on transgender soldiers in the military, the firing of independent agency heads and the gutting of the Education Department, among other rulings that cleared the way for the president’s priorities through the court’s emergency docket. “This uptick in the court’s willingness to get involved with cases on the emergency docket is a real, unfortunate problem,” Jackson told an audience during a talk with conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. “I think it is not serving our court or our country well at this point.”

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Jackson offered her public critique of the high court as she addressed lawyers and judges gathered for a rare opportunity to see justices from opposite ends of the court’s political spectrum exchange views during an annual lecture in a ceremonial courtroom at the federal courthouse in D.C. Jackson’s comments came in response to Kavanaugh’s assertion that the Supreme Court had treated Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden similarly on the emergency docket. Kavanaugh pointed out that the justices had allowed a number of Biden policies to go forward as well, including access to the abortion drug mifepristone and military vaccine mandates. “This is not a new phenomenon in the Trump administration,” Kavanaugh said. Jackson was quick to disagree, saying the Biden wins on the emergency docket largely upheld the legal status quo. The rulings for the Trump administration were fundamentally different, she contended, because the president was instituting new initiatives thatpotentially shifted the law.

Anthropic clash with Pentagon fuels government surveillance fears

Anthropic’s clash with the Pentagon is reigniting fears of government surveillance, as experts warn the capabilities of artificial intelligence, paired with the Trump administration’s sweeping data collections, pose new threats to individual privacy. Just over a year after President Trump welcomed AI firms into government, theWhite House’s unprecedented reach for personal data has left some technology leaders at odds with the administration. Anthropic and the Department of Defense (DOD) butted heads over the extent to which the company’s AI tools could be used to conduct surveillance and compile information about U.S. citizens and residents — a redline for the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei. The dispute cost Anthropic its government contract and spurred a legal battle over the company’s designation as a national security threat.

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“Froniter AI fundamentally changes the surveillance calculus,” David Bader, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, told The Hill. “Analyzing billions of data points to build profiles on millions of Americans used to be computationally impractical, but now it’s trivia with AI, and the law hasn’t caught up to that reality.” From the start of negotiations, Amodei said AI-driven mass surveillance is “incompatible” with democratic values, warning it presents “serious, novel risks to our fundamental liberties.” Anthropic, which worked with the Pentagon as a subcontractor of data analytics firm Palantir since 2024, pressed for specific restrictions on mass domestic surveillance, with the company suggesting some users are “outside the bounds” of what current technology can “safely and reliability.” The DOD insisted on using an “all lawful purposes” standard and leaders alleged Anthropic sought to “personally control” the U.S. military and jeopardize national security. Failing to come to an agreement, President Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a rare supply chain risk designation for the company.

Live Nation reaches settlement with DOJ in antitrust fight

Live Nation has reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in its high-stakes antitrust case less than a week after the trial began, according to three people familiar with the matter. The deal — expected to be announced Monday — requires Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, to pay roughly $200 million in damages to participating states. The centerpiece of the agreement is expected to be structural changes to Live Nation’s ticketing business. Under the settlement, Ticketmaster will be required to open parts of its platform to rival ticketing companies, allowing third-party sellers such as SeatGeek or Eventbrite to list tickets directly through Ticketmaster’s technology.

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The deal also places new limits on the long-term exclusivity contracts Ticketmaster has historically used to lock venues into its system, cutting those agreements down to four years and allowing venues to allocate a portion of their tickets to competing platforms. “This will revolutionize the ticketing marketplace,” said one of the people who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “These are innovative technological solutions to a very difficult problem with prying open the marketplace.” Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department and 40 state attorneys general first sued Live Nation under the Biden administration in May 2024, alleging the concert giant built and maintained an illegal monopoly over live events through its control of ticketing, venues and artist promotion. The government argued the company used that dominance to squeeze competitors and lock venues into exclusive arrangements that harmed artists and fans.

GOP Rep. Andy Ogles sparks backlash after saying Muslims 'don't belong' in America

Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00 A Republican congressman from Tennessee declared on social media Monday that "Muslims don’t belong in American society," prompting backlash largely from Democrats. "Pluralism is a lie," Rep. Andy Ogles continued in the bigoted post on X. Democratic politicians swiftly condemned Ogles and his post, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York calling Ogles a "malignant clown." "Disgusting Islamophobes like you do not belong in Congress or in civilized society," Jeffries wrote on X.

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Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., wrote in a separate post: "This disgusting s--- doesn’t belong in American society. And Republicans who support it don’t belong in Congress." Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., responded, as well, writing on X: "I don’t know how many Muslims are in this guy’s district. I know there are tens of thousands in mine. They are parents. Entrepreneurs. Police officers. The firefighter-paramedic giving CPR to save your life. They are us. They are American. This tweet is NOT American." The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the post from Ogles, who has a history of making outrageous comments about Muslims. One prominent Republican who criticized Ogles' post was Richard Grenell, a special envoy for President Donald Trump and the interim president of the Kennedy Center. One prominent Republican who criticized Ogles' post was Richard Grenell, a special envoy for President Donald Trump and the interim president of the Kennedy Center. "Stop attacking the First Amendment to the United States Constitution," Grenell wrote on X. A representative for Ogles did not respond to a request for comment. Ogles did not back down online, posting on X about "the high-ranking Democrats flooding X to condemn me" in one post and in another about the dozens of "Islamic countries in the world."

Republicans target public lands protections in a new way

Over the past year, GOP leaders and the Trump administration have used a law known as the Congressional Review Act to push for coal mining in Montana, oil drilling in Alaska and copper mining in Minnesota, while also attempting to reverse protections for a national monument in Utah. The rarely used act gives Congress a few months to revoke new federal regulations. Only in the past year has it ever been used to overrule land management plans. Conservation advocates say Congress is recklessly throwing out detailed plans, which are created after years of research, public meetings and local collaboration. They fear lawmakers’ intervention could upend the long-standing management system that governs hundreds of millions of acres of public lands — with consequences that could threaten endangered species and coal miners alike.

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But the fallout could be much more far-reaching than the rollback of protections for specific areas, some legal experts say. By using their review authority in a way that was never thought to apply to land management plans, lawmakers are calling into question the validity of well over 100 other such plans that were never submitted to Congress for review. If those plans are challenged, it could create legal uncertainty for tens of thousands of leases and permits for oil and gas, mining, cattle grazing, logging, wind and solar farms and outdoor recreation. “Using the Congressional Review Act (to revoke management plans) is really unprecedented and will have unforeseen consequences,” said Robert Anderson, who served as solicitor for the Department of the Interior during the Biden administration. “There’s a huge playing field of actions that would be forbidden if none of these management plans are lawfully in place. This could bring things to a screeching halt.” Republicans have argued that congressional action is necessary to unleash President Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum frequently refers to public lands as “America’s balance sheet,” and has pledged to increase returns by extracting more resources like oil, minerals and timber. Montana U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, a Republican who sponsored a resolution to revoke a management plan in his home state, argued during debate on the measure that Montana’s economy and energy demands rely on coal production. “When the federal government acts recklessly, it is the responsibility of Congress to step in and course correct. … The war on coal must end,” he said.

Young kids missed the pandemic's school disruptions. Their reading scores are still behind

When COVID-19 wrought havoc on society in early 2020, today’s youngest schoolchildren were infants or yet to be born. Now in their early school years, researchers are beginning to see how the pandemic years have shaped their education, even though many had yet to set foot in a classroom when it began. First and second graders continue to perform worse than their pre-pandemic counterparts on math and reading tests, according to a report published Tuesday by the education assessment and research group NWEA. But while math scores have inched up every year, reading scores remain stagnant, the report shows. The data suggests the slump in academic performance is not rooted only in instructional disruption. Broader societal shifts might be at play.

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In the youngest students’ failure to recover, “there’s something kind of systemic here happening ... within schools and outside of schools,” said Megan Kuhfeld, a researcher at NWEA. “We can’t pinpoint one specific cause.” The pandemic’s effects on older children’s academic achievement are well-documented. COVID-19 forced kids out of classrooms and into online learning. Students lost out on face time with instructors, their mental health suffered in the isolation, and their well-being deteriorated as some families endured hardship. Some schoolchildren stopped showing up to school altogether. The federal government gave billions of dollars to school districts to help students catch up — with mixed results. In 2024, reading scores for fourth- and eighth-graders continued a downward slide, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Math scores, however, trended upward. Testing for younger kids is less common, so the NWEA report offers insights into the depth of the academic disruption. It’s based on assessments given to students in the 2024-25 school year.

Trump is obsessed with these $145 shoes—and won’t let anyone leave without a pair

The hottest and most exclusive MAGA status symbol is a pair of leather oxfords. Prefer a wingtip, loafer or monk strap? Black or brown? President Trump’s got you. Trump has been gifting footwear to agency heads, lawmakers, White House advisers and VIPs. “Did you get the shoes?” he asks at cabinet meetings. Some people have laced up in the Oval Office. During a lunch meeting in January, Trump suddenly pivoted to his “incredible” new shoes and gave Tucker Carlson a pair of brown wingtips. “All the boys have them,” said a female White House official. Another joked, “It’s hysterical because everybody’s afraid not to wear them.” The shoe-salesman-in-chief is paying attention.

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Trump has fallen in love with Florsheim, the American brand that’s been pairing comfort and style for more than a century. They’re also affordable: many cost $145. The president has taken to guessing people’s shoe size in front of them. He asks an aide to put in an order and, a week later, a brown Florsheim box arrives at the White House. Trump sometimes signs the box or attaches a note of gratitude, according to people familiar with the ritual. The 79-year-old billionaire, known for expensive Brioni suits, long red ties and a penchant for aesthetics, late last year began searching for something that would feel better after a day on the job and settled on Florsheim. Trump liked them so much he started dispensing them. He pays for the shoes, the White House said. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have some. So do Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung, deputy chief of staff James Blair and speechwriter Ross Worthington. Fox News personality Sean Hannity and Sen. Lindsey Graham each have a pair.

Copyright March 11, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved