August 24, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Paramount may move operations to Austin amid California exit

Austin could soon be home to more film and television productions as a major Hollywood studio eyes Texas for a potential move. Paramount is considering relocating some of its operations out of California as the company fights to close its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Austin has emerged as a possible destination. The potential move is far from a done deal. But according to the New York Post, Paramount CEO David Ellison and his partners are in discussions about establishing a movie and television studio at the Bluebonnet Business Center at 9219 Old Manor Road in East Austin. If Paramount follows through, the move could give Austin a new role as an operations base for one of the entertainment industry’s largest companies.

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Austin already has a long history with filmmaking, from the independent movies that helped put the city on Hollywood’s radar to a growing network of production facilities. And if Paramount ultimately chooses the reported East Austin site, it would be joining a particularly film-heavy stretch of Old Manor Road. The proposed location on Old Manor is just down the road from Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios at 4900 Old Manor Road. Some of the productions filmed at Rodriguez’s studio include “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” “Machete” and “Machete Kills.” The project at 9219 Old Manor Road is filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation as “IDI Office” and lists Houston-based Powers Brown Architecture as its designer. The Austin Film Society’s facilities have also helped establish Austin as a production center, while filmmakers including Richard Linklater have made the city part of their work.

State Stories

Suit says FCC targeted Houston's ABC13 over James Talarico interview

When ABC took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission over the early review of its broadcast licenses, it thrust Houston's ABC affiliate, KTRK/ABC13, into the spotlight. In its lawsuit, filed in federal court last Tuesday, the TV giant says the Trump Administration’s review of eight ABC-owned local news stations is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. ABC also says the FCC repeatedly singled out ABC13 as part of its probe, including demanding thousands of pages of documents on the local station's hiring practices and internal communications. The FCC scrutinized activities at ABC13 far beyond any other ABC-owned station, according to the lawsuit. The FCC’s scrutiny has included ABC13’s decision to air an interview from “The View” with State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat running for Senate in Texas against Republican Ken Paxton.

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“It is noteworthy that many stations in KTRK’s market aired interviews with select candidates prior to the recent primary election without provoking any apparent interest or inquiries from the Commission,” ABC13 wrote in a May FCC filing defending its decision to air the interview. KTRK News Director Keaton Fuchs referred questions to a spokesperson for ABC’s parent company, Disney, who declined to comment. In FCC filings this spring, ABC13 claimed to be the leading station by audience share in the Houston media market. "Suing the government is always a dangerous thing," Jim Speta, a telecommunications law professor at Northwestern University, said. "Given that ABC has made that decision, it seems to me that it has decided to stand up and fight." ABC’s suit asks Judge Loren AliKhan of the District Court in the District of Columbia to halt early license reviews initiated by the FCC, saying they pose an "existential threat" to the company. "The Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts," the lawsuit claims. In a statement, the FCC described ABC’s lawsuit as an attempt by Disney to halt an investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices the agency says may be discriminatory.

Brian Kendall: A rumble in Tarrant County

It was last fall that I ran into EJ Carrion one night on the back patio of Tulips. He and I frequent some of the same spots, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. But rather than simply exchanging pleasantries, on this particular night, the local activist had a bone to pick with me. In fact, I recall him literally saying, “I have a bone to pick with you.” Though he might disagree with specifics, when I asked him what he’d been up to, he slyly said something akin to, “Oh, you know, partaking in activist stunts.” Knowing we had recently published a column by my colleague, John Henry, that referenced “activist stunts” — an opinion piece, I’ll note, that mainly targeted those who placed a casket on Mayor Mattie Parker’s front lawn — I knew exactly what he was getting at. EJ, in case you’re unaware, also hosts the popular 817 Podcast with Wesley Kirk and former city councilmember Ann Zadeh. Perhaps it’s because I follow him and his podcast on social media and my algorithm is knee deep into my recent obsession with Commissioners Court meetings, but EJ has, in many ways, become the face of a growing willingness to challenge local elected officials.

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Granted, when elected officials take it upon themselves to conduct an unprecedented mid-decade redraw of precinct boundaries (gerrymandering for the politically initiated); cut their number of official meetings in half — giving local residents less opportunity for public comment — and propose a significant decrease in voting sites despite an increase in population, one doesn’t have to be a liberal or conservative to acknowledge they’re dabbling in repressive tactics and creating an atmosphere ripe for the very thing they seem hellbent on curbing: dissidence. While it’s understandable and on brand for the Republican-led Commissioners Court to slash spending and cut property taxes — something they have admittedly done by 0.85 cents over the last four years — their priorities also show that they’re equally determined to wage war on activists, dissenters, and, well, Democrats. It’s an old and obvious adage, but it’s something I find especially relevant for the moment: If one kicks a hornet’s nest, they should expect to be swarmed. Yet, like an overstimulated novice at soccer practice, the powers that be within the Tarrant County Commissioners Court seem to make a habit of round-housing the hive and feigning shock by the subsequent swarm. Surely they know it’s coming, so one can only suspect the agitation is purposeful.

The Texas activist putting the Ten Commandments back into American classrooms

The vault lies inside a grassy hill, next to the rolling Texas prairie. In the windowless room, climate controls ensure the humidity remains constant, while a suppression system stands ready to snuff out fires. A bulletproof steel door guards the contents. One recent August afternoon, a burly security guard pried it open, and David Barton, a sprightly 72-year-old conservative political activist, strolled inside to his prized collection: tens of thousands of founding-era American documents and artifacts he values at millions of dollars. Barton darted among glass cases and rattled off the highlights of his trove: a Revolutionary War-era shot flask, a 1795 handwritten prayer proclamation from Samuel Adams, and what he says is a lock of George Washington’s hair. A former math and science teacher with no academic training as a historian, Barton has used this vast collection to position himself as the intellectual architect of a movement advancing a conservative agenda in policy and education. “I own the stuff,” Barton said. “So I know more about this history than most of the professors.”

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Writing books and speaking in state legislatures, he champions a controversial narrative: that America’s founders established a Christian republic and wanted the church to influence the state. The “separation of church and state,” he argues, is a myth. Now, bolstered by a favorable political climate and Supreme Court rulings, Barton’s stature is rising. He and his nonprofit have helped facilitate legislation in more than a dozen states to mandate the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. He also helped craft social-studies curricula for the nation’s second-largest statewide public-school system, advises hundreds of state lawmakers, and helped the White House plan exhibits for America’s 250th anniversary. “David is one of the most impactful individuals in the faith arena that I have ever met,” said former U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, of Virginia. “When David speaks, people really are going to listen because they know most of the time he’s going to be right.” Many historians and academics accuse him of twisting history to fit his agenda. “He is a very accomplished collector, but that does not make one an expert, a scholar, or historian, no more than collecting stamps would make me a postal worker,” said Mark A. Chancey, a professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University. In 1988, he founded WallBuilders, named for a biblical passage in which the Jewish people rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. The goal: teach the public that America was “overwhelmingly rooted in Christian ideology.” He quit his job and spent more than a decade crisscrossing the country with his family in a 15-passenger van, visiting churches, civic clubs and military bases to propagate his theory, while home schooling their three children. “We called it van school,” his wife, Cheryl, said.

What Texas' surging wealth, new Dallas hub mean for Goldman Sachs in Lone Star State

There's perhaps no greater symbol of how far Dallas has come as a financial center and the wave of wealth that has flowed to the region than the new Goldman Sachs building rising on Field Street next door to Victory Park. The 800,000-square-foot building, located on 3 acres on the southeast corner of the North End development, represents a roughly $700 million investment by New York-based Goldman in North Texas. Expected to open in 2028, the campus will serve as a regional base for the financial giant, housing more than 5,000 employees across a wide range of functions and roles. While Dallas-Fort Worth's ascendance as a financial hotspot was already well underway, many financial and commercial real estate insiders point to Goldman's decision in 2022 to build a hub in Dallas as a tipping point. The campus broke ground the following year, before the "Y'all Street" term was a part of the daily vernacular.

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Since that time, the Texas Stock Exchange was formed and launched, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq set up local arms and other financial behemoths like Scotiabank followed Goldman's lead by setting up a regional headquarters. Morgan Stanley could be next. For Scott Mueller, managing director and head of private wealth management for the Southwest region at Goldman, the wealth wave the region has experienced has exceeded everyone's expectations, save for maybe Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson. "He was very bullish," Mueller said of the mayor. "But I think the way things have played out has really been remarkable, and it's a little bit of lightning in a bottle, right? There's changes that happen like this around the world or around our nation every so often and it so happens that one of them is happening here in Dallas and in North Texas right now." Mueller worked at Goldman for years before serving a stint as Oklahoma's secretary of commerce and workforce development. He returned to Goldman in 2022. In his role, he oversees a seven-state region that includes Texas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, part of Arkansas and part of Louisiana.

Tony Buzbee buys $15.5 million Houston mansion just to tear it down

Prominent trial attorney Tony Buzbee is expanding his River Oaks footprint after buying a mansion listed for $15.5 million in one of Houston’s priciest purchases in July. Buzbee wasn’t drawn to the 15,000-square-foot mansion for its design. Instead, he plans to demolish the entire structure at 1708 River Oaks and donate the materials, worth about $4 million, to Habitat Humanity, Buzbee said in an email. “I’ve never liked that house and over the years have made several attempts to acquire it,” Buzbee said. The former mayoral candidate already owned a 12,000-square-foot home next door at 1722 River Oaks. Buzbee listed that property for sale at $27.5 million in 2022, but eventually pulled it from the market in 2024, according to the Houston Association of Realtors.

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“I never wanted to leave the street. I love this house,” he said of his current home. “We just wanted more space.” Now Buzbee and wife, Frances, plan to combine both parcels into a single 2-acre compound, he said. They hope to build an English garden and pool house in the place of the demolished home. “More green space is always good,” he said. Buzbee’s new property wasn’t the only high-profile luxury purchase in July. One of the most expensive homes to hit the market in Texas this year, 603 W Friar Tuck, also sold last month. Originally listed for $14 million, the Memorial-area estate was owned by Houston surgeon Richard J. Andrassy, a professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, the Chronicle previously reported. The asking price was later slashed to $6.15 million, according to HAR.

National Stories

Nvidia is spending $6 billion to build a powerful U.S. alternative to Chinese AI

Nvidia is planning to use a $6 billion deal it struck this week to build one of the world’s most powerful open-weight AI models, one that would compete with Chinese heavyweights like DeepSeek and Kimi K3, according to people familiar with the matter. The chip giant’s licensing deal with the AI startup Poolside is also set to present a direct challenge to frontier U.S. AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic, since open-weight models are generally far cheaper to operate and allow easy customization. Although Nvidia counts big labs like OpenAI and Anthropic as some of its closest partners, the move reflects Chief Executive Jensen Huang’s efforts to position Nvidia for success in multiple AI battlegrounds simultaneously, ensuring the company is able to hold on to its dominant market position.

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Poolside, which was founded in 2023 by Eiso Kant, a software developer, and Jason Warner, the former chief technology officer of GitHub, sent a letter to shareholders Thursday announcing a dramatic restructuring of its business. Nvidia will invest $1 billion in the company at a pre-money valuation of $12 billion, and more significantly, will pay $6 billion to license Poolside’s technology and hire the bulk of its engineers, according to a copy of the letter reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Poolside’s founders wrote that the Nvidia deal was meant to secure a future where artificial general intelligence, or humanlike computer reasoning, “would not be a closed technology controlled by few but one built by many out in the open.” The startup’s leadership—including Kant, Warner and operations executive Margarida Garcia—won’t join Nvidia and will continue working on unspecified research projects. The deal was first reported by Newcomer, an independent tech newsletter. More than 100 Poolside employees, including engineers, will join Nvidia and will work on the chip-designer’s Nemotron project—an effort to develop open-weight models that Nvidia debuted in 2023—according to people familiar with the matter. The Poolside engineers will help improve Nemotron’s largest and most sophisticated models under development, these people said.

Baby Boomers are smoking more pot. Their neighbors are fuming.

Senior citizens are at a record high for getting high. For Fiorella Terenzi, it’s been…not cool, man. The 64-year-old astrophysicist started to notice wafts of marijuana coming into her home from a nearby unit in her Miami-area high rise. Her neighbors, a married couple in their 70s, told her it was medical marijuana used in small amounts. Terenzi wasn’t buying it. She set out to stop the fumes. To argue her case, she held a piece of toilet paper by the crack in their front door to test the skunky draft and found it strong enough to make the tissue “wave like a flag.” She placed multiple calls to police but said officers were reluctant to knock on the couple’s door late at night. She had intense conversations with the neighbors that felt straight out of high school.

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“It was actually always that kind of smirk,” Terenzi said. “Like, ‘Oh, come on. If you’re stoned, it’s cool.’” Seniors are among the fastest-growing demographics for marijuana use in the U.S., taking the drug to manage pain, fall asleep and have fun. But it’s not all bliss. Tensions are rising as the scent perfumes senior centers and retirement communities. Some elderly adults blame secondhand pot smoke for a host of medical problems, from depression to headaches to breathing issues. There are social pressures, too, with a number of baby boomers saying their peers make them feel like narcs and nerds if they complain. About 10% of respondents to a recent study of marijuana use by seniors in New York said they use cannabis to “fit in,” said Joseph Palamar, a professor at NYU Langone Medical Center who co-wrote the report. “If Edna is the one that has the gummies, then it might be like, ‘Oh, I want to be cool like Edna. I don’t really want it, I’m scared, but she’s the cool one and I feel like I have to try it now,’” Palamar said. Many senior pot smokers are loud and proud. San Antonio grandmother Sandra Bomar, 63, who goes by “Stoner Granny” online, posts pot memes on Facebook to her like-minded community. One recent item features a doctor in a white coat and the line, “In my professional opinion, you should smoke a fatty.”

Copyright August 24, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved