February 12, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

El Paso airport grounding was in response to testing of U.S. military technology, sources say

The grounding of aircraft at El Paso International Airport in Texas early Wednesday was in response to the testing of U.S. military technology that can be used to take down drones, according to four sources familiar with the matter. The testing was taking place in the proximity of the airport, raising concerns within the Federal Aviation Administration, which responded by issuing a "Temporary Flight Restriction Notice," the sources said. Three of the sources said the testing, which was taking place near Fort Bliss, was of high-energy lasers that are designed to protect against drones from drug cartels that could cross over the U.S. border.

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The Federal Aviation Administration halted all flights out of El Paso International Airport in Texas for 10 days for what it said were “special security reasons” before abruptly lifting the order. It did not explain the about-face. A Trump administration official earlier told NBC News that Mexican cartel drones had breached American airspace and the Defense Department had disabled them. There is no confirmation from the Pentagon that any drones were shot down, despite the statement from the administration official. The military did recently shoot down a small party balloon, two of the sources said. Two of the sources said there was a miscommunication, or possibly a dispute, between the FAA and the Defense Department about whether the testing could affect commercial aviation that preceded the grounding of aircraft at El Paso airport.

‘Money being burned’: Donors fret over Cornyn primary as Trump sits back

The hundreds of donors gathered in Palm Beach, Florida, for the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm retreat on Saturday heard President Donald Trump’s political team outline how they plan to win the midterms. While no one at the Breakers resort publicly complained about Trump’s refusal to endorse Sen. John Cornyn, privately donors are furious, discussing over cocktail hour a looming and seemingly avoidable debacle, according to three people who attended the events. One of those donors, who like others interviewed was granted anonymity to discuss the gathering candidly, said an off-cycle election “was always going to be complicated, but this three-way primary is a self-inflicted wound.” Nervous donors watching a formerly safe Republican seat and high-profile special elections lost to insurgent Democrats fretted that Texas could also suddenly become unnecessarily competitive – and even more expensive for them – if Cornyn’s primary challengers, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton or Rep. Wesley Hunt, force a runoff.

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Those establishment GOP donors gathered at the Breakers were largely aligned behind Cornyn and want to pull Trump into that, thinking he can clear the field, despite the president keeping the incumbent twisting in the wind. Trump has explained his position as an issue of personal relationships, saying his “problem” is “I’m friendly with all of them.” “I like all of them, all three,” he said earlier this month. But donors, many of whom increasingly feel like they’re throwing good money after bad, are anxious for Trump to pick a side. “Seeing the deterioration in overall GOP numbers in recent weeks has Republicans loath to watch donor money being burned in a Texas primary,” said another one of the people. The White House did not offer any comment about mounting pressure on Trump to endorse Cornyn. Last week at a White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is “watching all of these races across the country quite carefully.” She added at the time that she wouldn’t get ahead of the president on potential endorsements.

Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years

Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings after more than eight decades doing so, the public opinion polling agency confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. The company said starting this year it would stop publishing approval and favorability ratings of individual political figures, saying in a statement it “reflects an evolution in how Gallup focuses its public research and thought leadership.” “Our commitment is to long-term, methodologically sound research on issues and conditions that shape people’s lives,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “That work will continue through the Gallup Poll Social Series, the Gallup Quarterly Business Review, the World Poll, and our portfolio of U.S. and global research.”

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The Gallup Presidential Approval Rating has for decades been the among the top barometers cited by media outlets measuring public opinion of the president’s performance. President Trump has seen his rating by the agency slip in recent months, peaking at 47 percent last February and dipping to less than 37 percent in its last poll taken in December. “This change is part of a broader, ongoing effort to align all of Gallup’s public work with its mission,” a spokesperson for Gallup said. “We look forward to continuing to offer independent research that adheres to the highest standards of social science.” When asked by The Hill if Gallup had received any feedback from the White House or anyone in the current administration before making the decision, the spokesperson said, “this is a strategic shift solely based on Gallup’s research goals and priorities.”

In rebuke, House votes to roll back Trump’s tariffs on Canada

Six Republicans joined Wednesday night with Democrats in the House in voting to end President Donald Trump’s stepped-up tariffs on Canada, rebuking the president in the first of what could be several congressional challenges to his trade policies. The measure is largely symbolic and is not likely to succeed in overturning tariffs on the major U.S. trading partner, because Trump could veto the resolution if it clears the Senate as well. It would require a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers to override his veto. But the action showcases the long-standing frustration some congressional Republicans have with Trump’s controversial trade policies, and it’s the latest evidence of the difficulties House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is having managing his razor-thin majority. Rep. Don Bacon (Nebraska), one of the Republicans who voted in support of the measure, said Congress has a responsibility to speak out on tariffs.

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“We cannot & should not outsource our responsibilities,” he wrote in a post on X. “As an old fashioned Conservative I know tariffs are a tax on American consumers. I know some disagree. But this debate and vote should occur in the House.” The resolution from Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-New York) would end the “national emergency” underpinning Trump’s tariffs on Canada, which were first announced in February 2025. Wednesday was the first time that the House has considered a challenge to Trump’s tariffs. The Republican-controlled chamber had used procedural moves to preemptively muzzle opposition to the administration’s trade policy since March. “We should have a vote. The Constitution says, Article One, tariffs belong to the United States Congress. It’s standing up for what our jobs are,” Meeks said after the vote, adding that “these tariffs are hurting the American people.” The latest prohibition on voting on legislation to challenge Trump’s tariffs expired at the end of January, and Johnson attempted to renew it through July as part of a procedural vote Tuesday night. The House rejected that attempt,opening the controversial policy up for reversals for the first time in nearly a year.

State Stories

Hood County’s proposed moratorium on data centers squashed by Texas senator

A proposal in Hood County for a moratorium on data centers and other large-scale industrial developments was stymied at the last minute Tuesday when a Houston lawmaker warned the county commission that it had no authority to even consider such a thing. The county was considering a six-month pause on any new projects to allow time to study regulations over air and water quality and pollution. Developers have multiple projects in the pipeline in Hood County, including a 2,600-acre data center complex called Comanche Circle that has triggered a tsunami of opposition from ranchers, landowners and conservationists near Glen Rose. The standing-room only Commissioners Court was hours into a public hearing on the issue Tuesday when a letter from Texas Sen. Paul Bettencourt arrived.

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Addressed to Attorney General Ken Paxton, with a subject line “Proposed Illegal County Moratorium on Development,” the letter said counties are merely political subdivisions of the state without any powers other than those specified by the constitution or state statutes. And a moratorium isn’t among those powers. The commissioners ended up voting 3-2 against the six-month moratorium . County attorney Matt Mills read Bettencourt’s letter following an impassioned public hearing where most speakers told commissioners that their quality of life, and livelihoods, were at stake. Bettencourt’s letter cited a law adopted last year that attempts to limit the ability of Texas cities to implement moratoria. He said the Senate Committee on Local Government “will be closely monitoring these situations” like with Hood County’s proposal. “I encourage your office,” Bettencourt told Paxton, “to investigate counties that implement such a moratorium and explore any necessary legal actions.”

Chair of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission removes member after heated hearing on antisemitism

The chairman of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission said Wednesday that he ousted a member of the commission after she sparred with fellow members during a contentious public hearing on antisemitism. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who chairs the commission, said on X that it was his call to remove Carrie Prejean Boller, a former Miss California USA, after tense exchanges during the hearing Monday over what constitutes antisemitism in the US. Boller, during the hearing, defended conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has boosted conspiracy theories and embraced antisemitic rhetoric to her millions of online followers.

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“Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission,” Patrick said. “No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue. This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision.” Boller challenged Patrick’s authority to oust her, insisting on X, “As the name states, this is President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, not yours. You did not appoint me to the Commission, and you lack authority to remove me from it. This is a gross overstepping of your role and leads me to believe you are acting in alignment with a Zionist political framework that hijacked the hearing, rather than in defense of religious liberty.” CNN has reached out to the White House and the commission to confirm that Boller has been removed from the commission.

Musk jumps back into political fray with big midterm donations

Billionaire Elon Musk is back in the political fray, giving Republicans a boost in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections. The Tesla CEO had injected hundreds of millions into the 2024 election but announced plans last spring to step back from political spending, a potential blow for the GOP ahead of the high-stakes midterms. Less than a year later, Musk had already given $20 million to two top Republican groups by the end of 2025, according to federal filings, and dropped $10 million into the Kentucky Senate race last month — signaling the tech mogul could again play a pivotal role in the fight for Congress this fall.

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“Musk as a donor is important [because] money in politics is important, but Musk himself is a politically polarizing figure,” said Cayce Myers, a Virginia Tech public relations professor who has focused on political campaigns. “As his money is needed, the fact that he is involved does create a complicated political situation for Republicans.” Musk, who is the world’s richest person, spent at least $250 million boosting President Trump’s 2024 campaign, making him by far the top donor of the cycle. Following Trump’s election win, the tech billionaire cemented himself in the president’s inner circle and secured a wide-ranging role in the new administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, the cost-cutting initiative proved highly controversial, as DOGE sought to slash large swaths of government funding and make steep cuts to the federal workforce.

She sued over her gender transition. Will the Texas Supreme Court decide it's too late?

The Texas Supreme Court will decide whether it’s too late for a woman to sue a therapist who recommended a double mastectomy as part of her gender transition. Soren Aldaco, a Fort Worth resident at the time, alleges various counselors and doctors recklessly pressured her into medical gender transition as a teen and were biased toward encouraging hormones and surgery as a remedy for gender dysphoria — psychological stress over one’s gender identity that is often the precursor to transitioning. The case is a test of how the statute of limitations should be applied when an act of alleged medical negligence and the resulting harm occur at different times. But it could also determine if and when mental health professionals are to blame for recommending transgender treatment that their patients later regret.

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“What was done to Ms. Aldaco and many people like her is a medical scandal,” Aldaco's attorney John Ramer told justices. “Kids and young adults suffering from severe psychological distress went looking for help and what they found is medical providers saying that what's going to liberate them from their distress is pumping them full of cross-sex hormones and cutting off their body parts.” Aldaco started identifying as a boy in eighth and ninth grade. According to her lawsuit, Aldaco had a troubled family life, struggled with her body image and started exploring her gender after interacting with transgender friends online. Aldaco was hospitalized for a manic episode in 2018, during which she alleges a Fort Worth doctor pressured her to identify as transgender. It was this and interactions with other people supportive of medical gender transition that led Aldaco to start taking testosterone, she said. Aldaco began telehealth counseling with Barbara Wood of Three Oaks Counseling in 2020. She said the therapy primarily focused on relationship issues with her partner at the time, not assessing or resolving her “gender curiosity.”

Ireland pushing to free citizen held by ICE in Texas

Ireland will do “everything we can” to free an Irish citizen who has been confined for nearly five months in a U.S. detention camp in Texas, Prime Minister Micheál Martin vowed Tuesday. The high-profile case of Seamus Culleton — who was seized by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September as he left a Home Depot hardware store in Boston — is complicating Ireland’s hopes of keeping relations with Washington upbeat ahead of Martin’s planned St. Patrick’s Day visit next month. Ireland prizes its exceptional political access to the White House and Capitol Hill tied to the annual March 17 Irish national holiday, when the Irish leader typically presents his U.S. counterpart with warm words and a bowl of shamrock.

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The festivities have become diplomatic minefields in Trump’s era, however, given the contribution of U.S. multinationals to Ireland’s economic strength and record-breaking tax revenues — benefits that Trump has threatened to roll back. Culleton has been Ireland’s top news story since the Irish Times on Monday reported on his case and on the allegedly appalling conditions he faces in Camp East Montana, the ICE facility inside Fort Bliss army base near El Paso. The same day, Culleton appeared live on air on Ireland’s RTÉ radio to describe conditions of overcrowding, filth, disease, hunger and violence — and a personal fear, now set aside, that speaking out might make matters even worse for him. “I definitely am afraid of rotting away here. It feels like I’m just stuck and there’s no way out,” Culleton told RTÉ in an hourlong broadcast that included live interviews with his American wife in Boston and his sister back in Waterford, Ireland. Culleton admitted having overstayed his U.S. visa two decades ago, but said he’s been pursuing legal residency via his ongoing application for a green card, buttressed by his valid work permit, his employment as a plasterer and his April 2025 marriage. He’s one of at least 10,000 undocumented Irish citizens who have lived, often for decades, in the United States.

Trump administration is sending pregnant migrant girls to South Texas shelter flagged as medically inadequate

The Trump administration is sending all pregnant unaccompanied minors apprehended by immigration enforcement to a singlegroup shelter in South Texas. The decision was made over urgent objections from the administration’s own health and child welfare officials, who say both the facility and the region lack the specialized care the girls need. That’s according to seven sources who work at the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which handles the custody and care of children who cross the border without a parent or legal guardian, or are separated from family by immigration authorities. All of the sources declined to be named for fear of retaliation.

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Since late July, more than a dozen pregnant minors have been placed at the Texas facility, which is located in the small border city of San Benito. Some were as young as 13, and at least half of those taken in so far became pregnant as a result of rape, sources said. Their pregnancies are considered high risk by definition, particularly for the youngest girls. “This group of kids is clearly recognized as our most vulnerable,” one of the sources said. Rank-and-file staff, the source said, are “losing sleep over it, wondering if kids are going to be placed in programs where they’re not going to have access to the care they need.” The move marks a sharp departure from longstanding federal practice, which placed pregnant, unaccompanied migrant children in ORR shelters or foster homes around the country that are equipped to handle high-risk pregnancies. ORR sources, along with more than a dozen former government officials, health care professionals, migrant advocates and civil rights attorneys, said they worry the Trump administration is putting children in danger at the San Benito shelter to advance an ideological goal: denying them access to abortion by placing them in a state where it’s virtually banned.

Five takeaways from North Texas lawmakers' panel on education

Two North Texas state lawmakers said during a town hall meeting Wednesday that state leaders have a duty to make sure public school districts have the financial support they need to educate the state’s students. Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, D-Farmers Branch, and Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, spoke at Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD’s Nancy Watten Technology and Events Center during a town hall meeting on public education. The event was organized by the education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas, as a part of a series of candidate forums in cities across the state. Both Anchia and Garcia Hernandez are running unopposed in next month’s Democratic primary. During the last legislative session, lawmakers sent $8.5 billion in new money to Texas schools, mainly for teacher pay raises. But Anchia said lawmakers didn’t raise the state’s per-pupil allotment enough to put districts on sound financial footing.

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Insufficient funding from the state, combined with declining revenue from enrollment losses, are leaving districts in a bind, he said. He noted that many districts are closing and consolidating schools in an effort to shore up their budgets. Texas lawmakers passed a $1 billion education savings account plan last year. Gov. Greg Abbott and other proponents have said the plan, which offers families public money to pay for private school tuition or other expenses such as homeschool costs, will create more competition, forcing school districts to improve their offerings. But Garcia Hernandez said that increased competition also forces districts to recruit students in a way they’ve never had to before, without a budget to do it. At a time when districts are losing enrollment due to declining birth rates and increased competition from charter schools, she said she worries about the impact the new education savings account program will have on public school budgets.

Dallas votes to give up DART majority in bid to keep suburbs in system

Dallas decided Wednesday to sacrifice some of its power to keep the region’s transit service alive. The high-stakes move is aimed at stopping a half-dozen suburbs from bolting from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The City Council, in a 13-2 vote, approved a proposed governance framework that would shrink the city’s voting power on the DART board to at least 45%, marking the first time in the agency’s more than 40-year history that Dallas would no longer hold majority control. The plan also would guarantee each of DART’s 13 member cities at least one board seat, replacing a structure that now gives only Dallas, Irving, Garland and Plano dedicated single-city representation, and would likely expand the current 15-member board.

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“I’m in support of the resolution, not because it’s going to solve the whole thing today, but because it’s necessary,” said Mayor Eric Johnson. “Not sufficient, but necessary.” The changes aren’t final yet. The proposal still needs the Texas Legislature next year to amend state law before any changes take effect. But the goal is to try to persuade six cities – Addison, Farmers Branch, Highland Park, Irving, Plano and University Park – to scrap May elections that could let voters decide whether to withdraw from DART. The six cities have until late February to finalize their special ballots and until March 18 to rescind their election plans altogether. Most council members framed the move as a rescue effort for the transit agency and for bus and rail service in Dallas. But the vote exposed sharp divisions. Council members Cara Mendelsohn and Chad West voted against the deal, saying it lacked tangible concessions from other cities or structural reforms within DART. Mendelsohn said Dallas, as DART’s largest financial contributor and ridership base, should not surrender majority control without concrete improvements in service, safety or accountability. West questioned whether other cities are truly committed to building the strongest possible system for Dallas.

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Hawk Dunlap in the Republican primary for Railroad Commissioner

It speaks volumes that Jim Wright, the chairman of the Railroad Commission, makes news when he recuses himself from voting on a permit for a company he has a financial stake in. Such is the state of affairs for one of Texas’ most important agencies, which, for years, has been reduced to a rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry. The agency, originally created in the late 19th century to regulate rates and operations of railroads, hasn’t had anything to do with railroads since 2005. Yet the Railroad Commission’s name has stuck by design. It’s easier to get away with ignoring its responsibility as the state’s oil and gas watchdog if the public doesn’t understand what they’re voting for. Yes, Texans should want our state’s oil and gas industry to be a successful engine for jobs and economic growth. We should also want to ensure operators don’t profit by dumping their waste and pollution into Texas’ water, air and public land.

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That’s hard to guarantee when commissioners are allowed to have a personal stake in that profit. Each of the three railroad commissioners routinely rakes in tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the companies they are supposed to regulate. The state’s lax ethics laws also permit commissioners to trade oil and gas stocks. Hence the surprise when Wright, the Republican incumbent in this race, declined to vote to renew a permit for an oilfield waste company he owns a small financial interest in during a November public meeting. It was reportedly the first recusal by a commissioner since 2020. Wright, who is running for his second term and did not meet with the editorial board, has deep financial ties to the industry. According to Commission Shift, a nonprofit watchdog organization, Wright owns stock in more than a dozen companies that handle oil and gas waste. Despite being named chairman of the Railroad Commission in June last year, he continues to serve as president of an oilfield waste company. His financial stake in these companies may have influenced some of his actions as a commissioner. For instance, one of his first official acts as commissioner in 2021 was to reissue waivers to rules that protect groundwater from industry waste pits. Months later, Wright voted to renew a permit for an oilfield waste company, Blackhorn Environmental, whose employees donated $3,000 to his campaign. To make matters worse, Commission Shift reported that two of Wright’s companies dumped their oilfield waste at Blackhorn’s facility 139 times over a roughly two-year period.

Texas AG Paxton files lawsuit against Snapchat over child safety concerns

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Snap, Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, alleging that the the social media platform fails to adequately warn parents and consumers about inappropriate content and the app's addictive design. The lawsuit claims that while Snapchat is marketed as being safe for children with a "12+" age rating on app stores, users of the platform are still exposed to mature and dangerous material. The suit alleges that the content includes profanity, sexual content, nudity and drug use. The filing also alleges that features such as “Snapstreaks” or other incentives for daily use of the app encourage addictive behavior, which the AG says can harm young minds.

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The case seeks to hold Snap, Inc. accountable for what it describes as misrepresenting the platform's safety to parents and consumers. “I will not allow Snapchat to harm our kids by running a business designed to get Texas children addicted to a platform filled with obscene and destructive content,” Paxton said in a Wednesday news release. “Parents have a fundamental right to know the dangers of the apps their kids are using and not be lied to by Big Tech companies. This lawsuit will hold Snapchat accountable for illegally undermining parental rights, deceiving consumers, and for putting children in danger.” A spokesperson for Snap, Inc. sent the following statement in response to the lawsuit: "We strongly disagree with the Texas Attorney General’s complaint, which fundamentally distorts how our platform works. There is no single safety measure or policy that can eliminate every potential risk online - just as there isn’t offline. That’s why we’ve implemented strong safeguards, introduced safety tutorials and resources, partnered with experts, and continue investing in features and tools that support the safety, privacy, and well-being of all Snapchatters." The lawsuit follows similar ones filed by Paxton over the last year against the parent companies of TikTok and Roblox over child safety on those platforms.

Higher Medicaid reimbursement rates could stabilize ambulance services, Texas providers say

Texas is considering new Medicaid reimbursement rates for ambulance services that providers say could help stabilize access to EMS across the state. During a public rate hearing Tuesday, providers applauded the higher Medicaid rates proposed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission that would raise reimbursement for certain ambulance services by up to 50%. “The proposed rates reflect the first meaningful adjustment to Medicaid reimbursement in nearly 17 years,” said Michael Furrh, president of the Texas EMS Alliance’s Board of Directors. “Adjusting Medicaid rates as proposed will improve the sustainability of EMS and ensure that most vulnerable Texans can continue to access high-quality, 911 medical response and ambulance transport.”

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The proposed increase comes as HHSC considers significant cuts to other Medicaid services, including dozens of medical supply services. Texas already has a gap in emergency medical and ambulance services. Almost 95% of Texas counties have areas known as “ambulance deserts,” meaning people or places are 25 minutes or more away from an ambulance station. In addition, EMS agencies are still recovering from significant staffing shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eric Maloney, a rural fire chief in Kerr County, said the Kerrville Fire Department provides emergency medical care across a 1,000-square-mile area. Over the past decade, the department has seen significant increases in operating costs, including staffing, fuel and medical equipment. “These rising costs did not get matched by reimbursement rates, placing strain on our ability to maintain reliable and timely emergency medical services,” Maloney said.

Austin American-Statesman Editorial: Berlanga is the most qualified GOP pick for Texas comptroller

Voters on both sides of the aisle largely agree on one pressing issue: Their property taxes keep risingas public school funding languishes. One Republican candidate for Texas comptroller offers a solution worth serious consideration. In our view, the most qualified candidate in the March 3 Republican primary is Michael Berlanga, a self-described “rare tri-licensed” certified public accountant, real estate broker and property tax consultant from San Antonio. Though less known statewide than his rivals on the GOP primary ballot, Berlanga brings credentials uniquely suited to the office. He and two other challengers aim to unseat acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, a businessman and former state senator appointed to the post last July.

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The comptroller is the state's chief financial officer, responsible for collecting revenue, providing payments and making financial projections for state agencies. That includes a little-discussed report that Berlanga argues has a big impact on Texans' high property tax bills for schools. Every other year, the comptroller conductsproperty value studies, assessments of the total property value in each Texas school district. The higher a district's total property value, the more local taxpayers are paying — and the less school funding comes from the state. But valuing property is not an exact science. Appraisals produce a range of possible values, andBerlanga argues the comptroller’s office has long assessed taxable property at the high end of those ranges, resulting in what he described as the state “offloading that responsibility” onto school districts.

Major San Antonio builder Darren Casey seeks bankruptcy for 31 businesses

Prominent San Antonio builder Darren Casey is in a world of hurt. With his various operations facing a cash flow crunch and pressure from lenders, Casey has sought bankruptcy protection for 31 of his businesses. All but three of the businesses filed last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth on its “Mega Docket,” which handles huge cases with assets or liabilities of $50 million or more. The other three were also filed in Fort Worth but not on the Mega Docket. All told, the 31 businesses have more than $50 million in assets and $25 million in debt, court filings indicate. Casey has developed millions of square feet of multifamily, industrial, commercial and office buildings, primarily in the San Antonio area, though he also has projects in the San Marcos and Austin areas.

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He's also a major donor to his alma mater, Texas State University. The school’s athletic administration complex was named after him after he made what was then the single largest gift to the athletics department in 2008. His flagship business, Casey Development Ltd., formed in 1989, did not file for bankruptcy protection. Its headquarters are at 200 E. Basse Road, the former home of radio behemoth iHeartMedia Inc. Neither Casey nor Davor Rukavina, a Dallas bankruptcy lawyer representing the businesses, responded to requests for comment Wednesday. Casey has filed an emergency motion asking the court to consolidate all of the bankruptcies into one case. A hearing on that and other requests is set for Friday before Judge E. Lee Morris. One of the court filings shows that various businesses collectively borrowed at least $217 million. Casey, who didn’t personally file for bankruptcy, is a guarantor on substantially all of the loans, the document adds. The loans also are secured by real estate in Bexar, Comal, Travis and other counties in Texas.

Ex-UT professor sought Epstein funding for conference on sexual consent

A former University of Texas professor in 2015requested thousands of dollars from child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to pay for an academic conference on the meaning of sexualconsent, new documents reveal. Professor Thomas K. Hubbard, who worked at the university from 1988 to 2021, wrote to Epstein on Aug. 18, 2015 seeking funding from Epstein’s foundation for a 2016 conference titled “Theorizing Consent: Educational and Legal Perspectives on Campus Rape,” according to records released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act last month. The conference, hosted at UT, aimed to gather scholars from different fields to question policies around consent and a university’s role in policingsexual assault. The conference was aimed at interrogating “the concept of sexual consent,” something Hubbard believed was too strictly defined.

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Hubbard confirmed in a statement that he was aware at the timeof Epstein’s 2008 conviction for the sexual solicitation of a minor. The former professor said that he thought the convictionmight make Epstein more likely to contribute to the UT conference. “Like over 1,000,000 Americans, he did have a conviction for a sex-related offense, but from what I could see in 2015, it was for something that would not even have been illegal in most European countries and resulted in a very short sentence,” Hubbard said. “Given his own brush with the law, I believed his Foundation might have been interested in furthering critical discussion of the contours of consent and rape. They weren’t.” In his letter to Epstein — written on university stationary — Hubbard asked for help raising between $10,000 and $20,000 to supplement his $12,000 budget, which was in part funded by UT through a fund Hubbard controlled. Hubbard wrote that Title IX regulations; the Clery Act, which mandates universities be transparent about violent crimes; and “attention to 'campus rape culture' in the media” put an “unprecedented” responsibility on university administrators to police student sexual conduct.

'Dawson's Creek' star and Austinite James Van Der Beek has died at 48

James Van Der Beek — best known for his role as Dawson Leery in the hit late 1990s and early aughts show Dawson's Creek — has died. He was 48. Van Der Beek announced his diagnosis of Stage 3 colon cancer in November 2024. His family wrote on Instagram on Wednesday, "Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend." Van Der Beek started acting when he was 13 in Cheshire, Conn., after a football injury kept him off the field.

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He played the lead in a school production of Grease, got involved with local theater, and fell in love with performing. A few years later, he and his mother went to New York City to sign the then-16 year old actor with an agent. But Van Der Beek didn't break out as a star until he was 21, when he landed the lead role of 15-year-old Dawson Leery, an aspiring filmmaker, in Dawson's Creek. Van Der Beek's life changed forever with this role. The teen coming-of-age show was a huge hit, with millions of weekly viewers over 6 seasons. It helped both establish the fledgling WB network and the boom of teen-centered dramas, says Lori Bindig Yousman, a media professor at Sacred Heart University and the author of Dawson's Creek: A Critical Understanding. "Dawson's really came on the scene and felt different, looked different," Bindig Yousman says.

National Stories

Democrats are field-testing new ways to talk about the Epstein scandal

Democrats have been publicly conflicted about how much to talk about Jeffrey Epstein on the campaign trail this year, with some worried a continued focus on the convicted sex offender and his political connections distracts from a winning platform centered on affordability. Now a growing faction in the party is asking: Why not discuss both? Some Democrats are now attempting to link the rolling Epstein scandal with the kitchen-table issues voters have traditionally prioritized. This wing of the party is pushing to establish the Epstein saga as emblematic of the Trump administration’s failure to address other issues the country faces.

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“We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. You remember that? But this is a government of, by and for the ultra-rich. It is the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class ruling our country,” Sen. Jon Ossoff, one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection this year, said at a Georgia campaign rally on Saturday. “They are the elites they pretend to hate.” Ossoff is known to walk on a purple-state tightrope. But his embrace of these us-versus-them talking points illustrates that the antiestablishment take on the Epstein scandal isn’t limited to his party’s progressive vanguard.Ossoff did not comment for this piece, but some strategists say his rhetoric offers a potent midterm message — if Democrats more broadly are willing to take it up. Faiz Shakir, a progressive strategist and former Bernie Sanders presidential campaign manager, said Democrats focusing on the legal process of file releases and the administration’s transparency failures “doesn’t do justice to what the main mission is.” “Ossoff is on the right track, which is to say, I need to connect this thing, this saga, to something deeper about who fights for you and who doesn’t fight for you, who understands your life, who doesn’t understand your life,” Shakir said. “It’s going to be critical that people are able to take this out of partisan terms and move it into a place of persuasion.”

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright visits Venezuela to assess oil industry overhaul

United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived Wednesday in Venezuela for a firsthand assessment of the country’s oil industry, a visit that further asserts the U.S. government’s self-appointed role in turning around Venezuela’s dilapidated energy sector. Wright met Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez at the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital, Caracas. He is expected to meet with government officials, oil executives and others during a three-day visit to the South American country. Wright’s visit comes as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump continues to lift sanctions to allow foreign companies to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild the nation’s most important industry.

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It follows last month’s enactment of a Venezuelan law that opened the nation’s oil sector to private investment, reversing a tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades. “I bring today a message from President Trump,” Wright told reporters as he stood next to Rodríguez with flags from both countries behind them. “He is passionately committed to absolutely transforming the relationship between the United States and Venezuela, part of a broader agenda to make the Americas great again, to bring our countries closer together, to bring commerce, peace, prosperity, jobs, opportunity to the people of Venezuela.” Rodríguez was sworn into her new role after the brazen Jan. 3 seizure of then-President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military attack in Caracas. She proposed the overhaul of the country’s energy law after Trump said his administration would take control of Venezuela’s oil exports and revitalize the ailing industry by luring foreign investment. Rodríguez on Wednesday acknowledged that Venezuela’s relationship with the U.S. has had “highs and lows” but said both countries are now working on a mutually benefiting “energy agenda.”

Homeland Security hires Labor Dept. aide whose posts raised alarms

The Department of Homeland Security has hired a social media manager from the Department of Labor for a key communications job, despite posts he made on Labor Department media accounts that raised internal alarms over possible white-nationalist messaging. Peyton Rollins, 21, was hired this month to help run Homeland Security’s social media accounts, which have become public bullhorns for President Trump’s mass-deportation efforts and come under scrutiny of their own for appealing to right-wing extremists. Tricia McLaughlin, the Homeland Security spokeswoman, said her public affairs office had “no personnel changes to announce at this time,” but Mr. Rollins has put his new position on his personal website. He is now digital communications director, according to screenshots of a Homeland Security staff directory reviewed by The New York Times. At the Labor Department, he was digital content manager.

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Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the Labor Department, said only, “The department does not comment on internal or personnel matters.” Mr. Rollins has spent most of the past year giving the Labor Department’s social media pages a makeover in Mr. Trump’s image. Current and former employees said career staff members had been pushed aside after Mr. Rollins’ arrival and rarely, if ever, crafted social media posts once he took control. Instead, Mr. Rollins personally posted social media content, which he has included on his personal website. Agency posts of late have used evocative imagery, some reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s, with phrases like “Restore American Greatness” and “the globalist status quo is OVER.” An image of Mr. Trump, with bombers flying overhead, was accompanied by the message, “One of one.” Mr. Rollins has also claimed credit for a massive banner with Mr. Trump’s visage that has hung from the Labor Department’s headquarters.

Immigrant surge helped boost GOP states’ population, and they may gain US House seats as a result

The millions of immigrants who have crossed the border with Mexico since 2020 could change the balance of political power in Congress — but in a way likely to boost Republican states that emphasize border security, at the expense of more welcoming Democratic states. That’s because many of the new immigrants joined state-to-state movers gravitating to the fast-growing conservative strongholds of Florida and Texas, boosting those states’ populations. California and New York also had large influxes from the border but ended up losing population anyway. The vastly different population changes threaten to scramble the Electoral College map. California and other Democratic states lost immigration-related population gains when residents moved away during the COVID-19 pandemic or while seeking jobs and housing. Where did those state-to-state movers go? Florida and Texas, in large measure.

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Republicans have long accused Democrats of encouraging immigration for their electoral benefit. But the shift is likely to help Republican-leaning states in the next decade: The Constitution allocates congressional representation by population — including noncitizens. Every 10 years, the country counts its people and then shuffles the number of U.S. House seats given to each state. In presidential elections, each state has the same number of electoral votes as it does congressional representatives. Several experts contacted by Stateline agreed that after the next decennial census in 2030, California is likely to lose four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Texas is likely to gain four. Adam Kincaid, president and executive director of the GOP-founded American Redistricting Project, said the changes could dramatically alter the Electoral College map, with the Midwest no longer a “blue wall” against Republican presidential victories if the region loses three seats, by his calculation. On the plus side for Democrats, he said, immigration helped stem population losses in many blue states. Three forecasts for 2030 — one provided to Stateline by Jonathan Cervas, an assistant teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University; one from Kincaid’s American Redistricting Project; and one from William Frey, a demographer at The Brookings Institution — all show Democratic states in the Northeast and West losing House seats while fast-growing, mostly Republican states in the South and West gain seats. In addition to the representation changes in California and Texas, Florida would gain either three or four seats in the U.S. House, depending on the forecast, while Illinois and New York each would lose either one or two seats.

Man pardoned by Trump for attacking US Capitol found guilty of child abuse

A man who took part in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol and later pardoned by Donald Trump was found guilty on Tuesday of multiple child sexual abuse charges in Florida, officials said. Andrew Paul Johnson was arrested in Tennessee this August and extradited to Florida. He pleaded not guilty. Johnson was found guilty of five counts this week, on charges such as molesting a child under 12 and another under 16, and lewd and lascivious exhibition, NPR first reported. A jury found him not guilty of one count of transmission of material harmful to a minor by electronic device or equipment. The Guardian has contacted an attorney listed for Johnson.

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“He is exposed to the possibility of life in prison,” said Walter Forgie, chief assistant state attorney for Florida’s fifth judicial circuit, of a possible sentence. “Sentencing will be at a later date.” The Hernando county sheriff’s office received a report in July that “two juveniles had fallen victim to lewd and lascivious acts over a many-month span”, according to a probable cause affidavit. This document claims that a mother of one of these children claimed she had discovered Johnson, her former boyfriend, who had lived with them, had sent “inappropriate” Discord missives to her son. She asked her child about these messages and whether Johnson had “done or said anything inappropriate”, the probable cause affidavit says. Her son allegedly said that “between April 1 2024 and October 2024” Johnson had “molested him three times”, starting when he was aged 11. The police document also claimed Johnson said “he was pardoned for storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and he was being awarded $10,000,000 as a result of being a ‘jan 6er’” and would put the boy “in his will to take any money he had left over”.

Bondi hearing devolves into shouting match over botched Epstein files release

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s defiant appearance Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee showed her contempt for any critique of her handling of the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein. She repeatedly refused to apologize to victims whose names were exposed, while simultaneously defending redactions that continue to hide the names of powerful men that may be implicated in Epstein’s crimes. At one point, Bondi caused an audible ruckus at the hearing when she deflected by changing the subject to the nation’s economic state. “The Dow is over 50,000 right now!” she said. “The S&P at almost 7,000! And the NASDAQ smashing records! Americans’ 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming. That’s what we should be talking about. We should be talking about making Americans safe … what does the Dow have to do with anything? That’s what they just asked? Are you kidding?”

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But Democrats and at least one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, pressed her on what they characterized as the Justice Department’s careless release of millions of records relating to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. Massie cosponsored a bill last year with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to compel the DOJ to release FBI documents about the network of men who partook in Epstein’s sexual abuse, while ensuring that victims’ names would remain redacted. Instead, the DOJ appears to have done the opposite, in some instances hiding the men’s names while publishing the women’s names — including one email clearly labeled “Epstein Victim List.” Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat, reminded Bondi that she’d already learned about the grave importance of protecting victims’ identities during her previous career as a state prosecutor who worked on sex crimes cases. “How many lives have been derailed because your department was either sloppy and incompetent or willfully tried to intimidate and punish these ladies?” he said as his allotted time neared its end. “Your time is up,” Bondi replied.

Trump lashes out at GOP Governor, ramping up criticism of fellow Republicans

President Trump lashed out at a Republican governor organizing a coming White House meeting with state leaders, the latest example of the president attacking a member of his own party. Trump’s target on Wednesday was Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican and chairman of the National Governors Association. In a social-media post, Trump disputed recent reports that he had limited invitations to next week’s White House meeting of the NGA to only Republican governors. “The RINO Governor of the Great State of Oklahoma…incorrectly stated my position on the very exclusive Governors Annual Dinner and Meeting at the White House,” Trump wrote, using the acronym for “Republican in Name Only.”

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Trump’s beef with Stitt was the latest example of the president feuding with fellow Republicans. In recent months, Rep. Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), who has pushed the Justice Department to release documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case, drew the president’s ire and a Trump-backed primary challenge. The president also criticized Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.), who left Congress last month after a public falling out with him. Last month, Trump slammed five GOP senators who sided with Democrats in advancing a motion aimed at blocking him from taking further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval, saying the lawmakers “should never be elected to office again.” He also called the senators directly to register his frustration. The senators included Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who faces re-election in a Democrat-leaning state. In a note to governors before Trump’s social-media post, Stitt wrote that the president was inviting all of the governors of the nation’s states and territories to a Feb. 20 breakfast at the White House, adding, “He was very clear in his communications with me that this is a National Governors Association’s event, and he looks forward to hosting you and hearing from governors across the country.”

Copyright February 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved