June 15, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Iran, US agree to halt war and reopen Hormuz, sending oil prices tumbling

U.S. and ?Iranian officials said they had reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran's ?nuclear program to further negotiations. While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough towards resolving the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in February. "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform at around 5:30 p.m. in Washington (2130 GMT) on Sunday. His post came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck early on Monday ?local time.

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The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland. The precise terms were not immediately known. Sharif said in a post on X that the pact called for "the immediate and ?permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon." Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the conflict, with thousands of people killed ?and some 1.2 million people uprooted by an Israeli offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2. The country has been a sticking point in negotiations, with Israel and ?Hezbollah ignoring calls from Trump and others to stop their attacks on each other in recent weeks. The secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, would end permanently starting on ?Monday night. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there must be a complete halt to Israeli attacks against Lebanon and wrote on Telegram that the U.S. bears responsibility for implementing the framework deal.

Southeast Texas placed under flood watch through Wednesday

A flood watch has been issued for much of Southeast Texas, including the Houston metro area, as multiple rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to move across the region through Wednesday morning. The flood watch was issued late Sunday morning as a slow-moving weather pattern sets up across Southeast Texas, bringing repeated rounds of showers and thunderstorms capable of producing several inches of rain. Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches are expected through Wednesday morning, though isolated locations could receive 6 to 8 inches where storms repeatedly track over the same areas. Rainfall rates could reach 2 to 4 inches per hour at times, raising the risk of street flooding and quickly rising water in low-lying areas.

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The watch covers more than two dozen counties across Southeast Texas, including Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, Liberty, Waller, Austin, Washington, Wharton, Colorado, Grimes, Madison, Walker, San Jacinto, Polk and Trinity counties. Coastal communities from the Bolivar Peninsula to Matagorda Bay are also included in the watch area. The heaviest rainfall is expected in areas where thunderstorms repeatedly move over the same locations. Those heavier bands could overwhelm drainage systems, especially in urban neighborhoods and areas that typically flood during intense downpours. Even areas that receive lower rainfall totals could see brief flooding if rain falls quickly enough to outpace drainage. Excessive runoff could trigger flooding along rivers, creeks, streams and bayous across Southeast Texas. Low-lying roads, underpasses and other flood-prone locations could also experience high water as heavier rain bands develop. Drivers should avoid flooded roadways and never attempt to cross water-covered streets. The flood watch remains in effect through Wednesday morning.

Oil executives are sounding the alarm over dwindling stockpiles

President Trump’s deal with Iran is set to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but how quickly it can arrest a steep decline in oil stockpiles will determine the trajectory of energy prices in the coming weeks. For more than 15 weeks, the U.S. and other countries around the world have had to dip into oil tanks, salt caverns and strategic reserves to make up for the millions of barrels of oil trapped behind the strait. Now, the stocks are nearing critical levels, and energy executives say without an influx of more oil, prices will have to surge to stop the run on supplies. Mike Wirth, chief executive of Chevron has repeatedly warned on television that the supply crunch will soon manifest itself around the world. Neil Chapman, the No. 2 at Exxon Mobil has said the U.S. is approaching “unheard-of inventory levels.” Other executives, such as Wil VanLoh, of Quantum Capital Group, say “it’s going to get ugly.”

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“The world has never had to destroy 10 million barrels a day of oil demand,” VanLoh added, referring to the crude production not making it to global markets. Relief could be on the way. The U.S. and Iran agreed Sunday to a deal—set to be signed Friday in Switzerland—that would quickly reopen the strait, through which 20% of the world’s petroleum typically passes. But even if that deal holds, it would likely take months for the oil market to return to normal. Since late March, the U.S. has drawn about 66 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a system of salt caverns on the Gulf Coast that was created in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo. The Trump administration authorized the release of 172 million barrels—and if drawdowns continue at the current pace, that allotment could dry up in early September. The current release—if fully exhausted—is set to bring inventories down to 243 million barrels, a historically low level. Drawing further from the stocks after that would limit the U.S.’s ability to respond to new oil disruptions on the world’s stage, or natural disasters such as hurricanes that can damage fuel supply chains. The SPR peaked at more than 700 million barrels in 2009.

One year of Mayor Jones: Narrow accomplishments, a lot of pushback

From the outside looking in, Gina Ortiz Jones is a mayor on the move. She’s in Taiwan, trying to convince company executives to open shop in San Antonio. She’s being interviewed on the nationally distributed radio program 1A about how cities can use artificial intelligence to improve basic services, which she spoke about at a conference in Madrid. She’s at center stage at events across San Antonio. Jones is beaming in photos posted on her official social media accounts. She’s shaking hands, fist bumping and hugging everyday San Antonians who are grinning or laughing, matching their mayor’s energy. It’s a curated and polished look at her administration — which, by most accounts, has struggled since her swearing-in a year ago. Inside City Hall, Jones has made little effort to build relationships with City Council members, who are key to turning her vision for the city into policy.

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Indeed, friction between the mayor and the 10-member council came to a head in February, when the council censured Jones for what they described as her “unacceptable” conduct. As part of the censure, the council required Jones to undergo leadership training. Jones has also struggled to retain staff, many of whom abruptly resigned, leaving key positions unfilled. That’s one reason business and civic leaders continue to privately question whether Jones can effectively lead the city. Since she took office on June 18, Jones has devoted time and energy to actions that excite her grassroots, Democratic supporters — many of whom have cheered her since she first ran for Congress in 2018 — but that have only remote chances of success. That includes asking Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse himself and allow the state to join a federal summer lunch program for low-income kids, and writing to the Department of Homeland Security asking it to scrap a planned immigration detention center on the East Side. Neither Abbott nor homeland security leaders were likely to respond positively to the mayor’s publicly released letters. Jones’ policy agenda includes increasing affordable housing, expanding access to early childhood education, promoting economic development and improving infrastructure, such as flood prevention and mitigation projects.

State Stories

Houston airports anticipate 4.5 million travelers for World Cup

The Houston Airport System is already experiencing the start of an influx of international passengers. On Monday, the airport system said in a press release that it expects 4.5 million travelers at both the Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports from mid-June to early July. AAA corporate spokesperson Daniel Armbruster told Houston Public Media that he recommends Houstonians consider the major sporting event's impact on air travel ahead of time. "If you're trying to plan a last-minute trip, that's going to be really tough," Armbruster said. "A lot of flights are full and sold out. So, it's really important if you have a vacation coming up within the next month or two that you go ahead and lock down all of your plans."

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Armbruster suggests that any Houstonians planning on flying in the near future should arrive at the airport two to three hours before boarding the plane, avoid checking any luggage and keep any documentation on their persons at all times. Armbruster also said to expect increased wait times when reaching security checkpoints. "It's so important that you plan ahead, and of course whether or not you're traveling to a host city or you're going to be in a host city, it's very important to just make sure that safety comes first," Armbruster said. The airports include options such as TSA PreCheck, Touchless ID, CLEAR and CLEAR+ e-gates for departing travelers looking to reach their gate quicker than the standard screening line. In a pre-recorded video, Houston Airport System Director Jim Szczesniak said that the airports will not implement any major changes to the security process during the World Cup. "We've been working with CBP and TSA leading up to this to make sure that we can give the traveler the normal kind of experience that we'd expect," Szczesniak said. "It's still going to be normal summer busyness, and again, we're not changing our standards. We want people to get through the lines as quickly as they normally do."

Last year, a Corpus Christi cryptomine guzzled over 11 million gallons. Now, its water usage is being kept secret.

The drought-stricken City of Corpus Christi is withholding how much water a controversial cryptocurrency mine is siphoning away from surrounding residents. The Texas Observer reported on the facility’s water burden last year in a series examining the cryptomine and artificial intelligence data center boom unfolding across the state. From May to August last year, the Bitcoin mine consumed 11,563,000 gallons, according to water utility records that the Observer previously obtained via a local resident’s public information request. Together, the records pointed to an average of about 127,500 gallons a day, well over the 100,000-gallons daily rate that the city uses to label a “high-volume user.” Moreover, records obtained last year showed the city already added a new 4-inch water pipe to the site to help the mine cool its computing hardware with a technique known as liquid immersion.

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City Council member Roland Barrera, in whose district the mine is located, said city staff told him the mine is still guzzling about 100,000 gallons a day, or about 3 million gallons a month. Other industrial users, like the city’s petrochemical refineries, use as much as 90 million gallons monthly. But now, as Corpus Christi faces an ever-deepening water crisis, in response to the Observer’s public information request, the city is refusing to release the latest 2026 records of the mine’s water usage. The city is appealing the Observer’s request for those records to the Texas Office of the Attorney General, citing a section of the Texas Utilities Code that allows nondisclosure of an individual customer’s account. That’s a change from just last year, when the city provided water-usage records. In February, the city also refused to provide information on commercial car wash water use in response to a request made by KRIS 6, a local TV station covering the water crisis. The attorney general upheld the city’s decision in that case to withhold the information based on its use of an advanced metering system for the business, something the city didn’t specify was at issue for the cryptomine. Instead, the city argued that it needs written consent from the mine’s operators to disclose the information, citing a statute originally designed to protect residents’ privacy that has since been applied to industrial commercial accounts. The attorney general now has 45 business days to affirm or reject the city’s decision to withhold the records. City Council member Sylvia Campos was outraged to learn the city was withholding water usage records. “Oh my God, that pisses me off,” she told the Observer. “This is public information. This is water.”

'Cruel and archaic': Texas GOP's convention elephant draws scrutiny beyond viral moment

The 8,600-pound elephant in a feathered headpiece that paraded through the Texas GOP convention brought a grand finale to Gov. Greg Abbott’s speech, but the animal’s backstory is less uplifting. Paige came to the convention Friday from Trunks and Humps near Houston, one of only half a dozen traveling elephant menageries remaining in the United States. The business run by Bill Swain has federal Animal Welfare Act violations going back decades for risking human and animal safety, including in December when a woman was kicked in the head by a camel at a church nativity event.

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A 2004 undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International identified Swain’s son as the man pulling an elephant to the ground with a sharp bullhook and kicking her in the face – and beating other elephants with a golf club and electric prod. By bringing an elephant to their Houston convention, Texas Republicans elevated the party's longtime symbol. But it renewed scrutiny of a long-fading practice condemned by animal welfare advocates for cruelty inflicted on one of the world’s most intelligent animals. A viral moment came Friday when Paige paused on the convention center floor and urinated in front of GOP delegates and guests, drawing widespread banter across social media. Video shows a handler pushing Paige along by poking her in her front left leg mid-stream with a bullhook, a steel-tipped rod used to force elephants into submission. The tool, painful enough to bring a four-ton elephant to her knees, is one reason why 12 states and hundreds of jurisdictions have banned elephant performances and other traveling animal acts amid growing public opposition to cruelty inflicted on exotic animals in entertainment.

What Knicks' Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns had to say about Spurs after winning NBA title

Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks had plenty of praise for the Spurs after winning the NBA Finals in a hard-fought five games for their first title since 1973. "That's a hell of a group," Brunson said after pumping in 45 points to lead the Knicks to a 94-90 victory Saturday night at the Frost Bank Center. "That's a well-coached (team)," he added. "The culture they have is clearly evident. And so a lot of respect to them and what they brought to the table. I'm just happy we were able to find ways to win four games." New York center Karl-Anthony Towns, who had 10 rebounds but just two points in a foul-plagued performance in Game 5, joined the Finals MVP in tipping his hat to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.

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"He's going to be something special for a lot of years to come," Towns said of Wembanyama. "Once-in-a-generation athlete. Shout out to the Spurs, too. They're the real deal." Towns also singled out Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper, who had a team-high 25 points to go with five rebounds, four assists and a block in 31 minutes off the bench. "Shout out to Jersey's own, Dylan Harper; he's the real deal," Towns said of the 20-year-old New Jersey native the Spurs selected second overall out of Rutgers last June. The Spurs, likewise, had plenty of praise for the veteran, tough-minded Knicks. "That was a good team," Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said. "I mean, we lost. Super tough. That’s a credit to them. They’ve got a great superstar in Jalen Brunson that gets the job done. OG Anunoby. Guys who get it done. Credit to them. We’ll be back again next year."

Knicks fans say they were assaulted at River Walk hotel after Game 5 of NBA Finals

Fans who were visiting San Antonio for the NBA Finals on Saturday says he was assaulted by two people wearing Spurs gear at a River Walk hotel. A spokesperson for Hotel Valencia Riverwalk confirmed to KSAT on Sunday that two people allegedly assaulted a guest returning from the Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals game. The alleged assault happened around 12:30 a.m. Sunday at Hotel Valencia Riverwalk at 150 East Houston Street. The victim told KSAT he and his father were wearing Knicks jerseys as they were returning to the hotel from the Spurs-Knicks game when they were assaulted. The spokesperson said the guest was allegedly assaulted by two people driving by.

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Authorities responded to the scene, and a police report was filed, the spokesperson said. The guest was taken to a local hospital for treatment and has since been released, according to the spokesperson. Recently, videos circulating on social media have shown Spurs fans were attacked in New York following the team’s Game 3 win. In other cases caught on camera, there have been verbal conflicts. A 17-year-old was also assaulted during celebrations outside Madison Square Garden after the Knicks’ Game 4 victory. The teenager suffered a seizure and was in a coma following the assault. The teen was approached by a group of people and engaged in an argument over the Knicks, the New York City Police Department told KSAT, though it was unable to confirm what was said between the people involved. During the Spurs-Knicks Game 5 on Saturday, a woman was also hospitalized with critical injuries after a shooting downtown. However, it is unclear if the shooting is related to Sunday’s assault. Additional information was not immediately available. KSAT has reached out to the San Antonio Police Department for more information in connection with Sunday’s assault.

10 D-FW hospitals face federal price transparency complaints

In the last two months, the Trump administration has warned over 500 U.S. hospitals that their price transparency isn’t up to snuff, The Associated Press reported. Ten of them are in Dallas-Fort Worth. But representatives for some of the affected hospitals said their complaints reflected technical issues, not a failure to make pricing data available to patients. Multiple said the issue had already been resolved. Each of the 519 hospitals on the list, published this week by The Associated Press, either received a letter of warning from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or was asked to submit a strategy for improving how accessible their price information is to consumers, known as a corrective action plan. Failure to comply could result in penalties of just over $2 million per year for each hospital.

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Of the 10 D-FW hospitals on the list, six were issued warnings: Carrollton Regional Medical Center, Hickory Trail Hospital in DeSoto, Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas Surgical Hospital in Plano, University Behavioral Health of Denton, and USMD Hospital at Arlington. The remaining four were asked to submit corrective action plans, indicating the government believes they committed a more serious violation: Acute Rehabilitation Hospital of Plano, JPS Health Network — Trinity Springs North in Fort Worth, Perimeter Behavioral Hospital of Arlington, and White Rock Medical Center in Dallas. Parkland’s violation turned out to be a formatting error in its document upload process. The issue was corrected as of Thursday, according to a letter to the CMS from Parkland’s chief compliance and ethics officer.

Moving out of Dallas City Hall is on this week’s City Council agenda

Late Thursday night, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson signaled just how serious he is about leaving the City Hall building behind. The mayor has called for a special meeting of the Dallas City Council to convene Wednesday to deliberate on next steps in abandoning the I.M. Pei-designed facility. A public notice of the agenda shows the horseshoe will gather at 8 a.m. on June 17 and vote on two resolutions that authorize the city manager to “negotiate and execute pre-acquisition agreements” with up to four sites for a new City Hall building and a new 911 call center. Up to $3 million may be used to conduct “due diligence for the sites,” or to reimburse property owners for delivering the relevant information on matters such as “terms, responsibilities, and cost sharing between the property owners and the City of Dallas.”

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The agenda item is a dramatic step toward departing the 48-year-old building on Marilla Street, which is reportedly in need of up to a billion-dollars in investments to address years of deferred maintenance. On Wednesday, the council formally voted not to fund those repairs in a 9-6 split. Johnson led the majority of council members, which included Council members Chad West, Zarin Gracey, Maxie Johnson, Jaime Resendez, Gay Donnell Willis, Kathy Stewart, Lori Blair and Jesse Moreno. Council members Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, Cara Mendelsohn, Bill Roth, Laura Cadena and Paul Ridley have stood staunchly opposed to any talk of selling or redeveloping City Hall. In a statement, Johnson lauded the decision as a step that will save a significant amount of taxpayer dollars from being flushed into the “obsolete building.” “The City Council was also briefed on several occasions in executive session about potential new locations for City Hall, and it is overwhelmingly clear that relocation will be not only a far more prudent use of taxpayer dollars but will also be a better long-term solution for our government, city employees and all Dallasites,” Johnson said. “Instead of delivering the Dallas taxpayers a billion-dollar invoice for a dilapidated government office building that is impeding the growth of a large section of our urban core, the City Council took an important step toward realizing my vision of a downtown teeming with life, with community and with social and economic activity.”

Contractor says 525-acre data center won't create noise issues, researcher urges public scrutiny

Questions remain about water use, power demand and economic impacts as Florida-based contractor Hut 8 moves forward with its proposed Beacon Point data center campus in Nueces County. Now, a researcher who studied communities living near large concentrations of data centers says another issue should be part of the conversation: noise. Beacon Point is a planned 525-acre artificial intelligence data center campus near Robstown. Earlier this year, Hut 8 announced a 15-year lease agreement valued at $9.8 billion for the project's first phase, making it one of the largest developments proposed for the Coastal Bend. Hut 8 maintains that noise from the facility should not be a significant issue for nearby residents.

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"We take any kind of concerns or issues regarding sound very seriously, and we're ensuring that any building that we are doing is going to be up to all applicable standards and regulations, so that there's minimal noise disruption for residents nearby," Hailey Miller, Hut 8's senior director of regulatory and government affairs, told 3NEWS in a June 3 interview. Still, Neha Gour, a Ph.D. candidate at George Mason University and lead author of a recent peer-reviewed study examining the impacts of data center development in Virginia, said communities should understand the potential effects of facilities that operate around the clock. "Residents living near some of these facilities have reported concerns about persistent low-frequency humming sound, which is generated by cooling and mechanical systems because these facilities are currently operating 24/7," Gour told 3NEWS. "Even moderate noise levels can become a concern for nearby communities over time." According to Gour, that constant operation is unlikely to change anytime soon. "Every time we send an email, the email goes to a data center somewhere in the world and actually goes back to the person who the email was supposed to be sent," she said. "Because of the urgency of our reliance on the internet today, we can't afford to not have data centers operate 24/7."

Lockheed Martin union workers ratify new contract

Union workers who assemble F-35 aircraft at Fort Worth-based Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. voted Sunday to ratify a new contract. About 4,000 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 776 approved the new contract that includes wage increases between 4% and 6%, increased vacation time, and no mandatory overtime schedules. The contract includes a $6,000 bonus and improvements to retirement benefits. The agreement also covers IAM Union members at Edwards Air Force Base in California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. Contract negotiations have continued since mid-March. The new agreement starts June 15 and is in effect through June 18, 2030, according to a news release.

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Union officials said members fought hard for a worthy contract. “Our members made it clear what the purpose and goal for these negotiations were,” said Doyle Huddleston, IAM’s District 776 directing business representative. “No takeaways and make improvements on the top issues. We did what our members asked us to do, and they made the decision with their votes.” Jody Bennett, IAM general vice president, said Lockheed Martin offered an agreement to keep the company thriving. “Our membership made their wishes clear from the start,” Bennett said in a statement. “The negotiating committee took those wishes to heart and worked to bring a solid proposal to the membership for consideration. Today, the membership voted to accept.” Last month, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics received an $879 million order from U.S. defense officials. The order is one of four major defense contracts — totaling more than $1 billion — awarded to the company or its parent Lockheed Martin Corp. in late May, months after U.S. and Israeli forces launched an attack on Iran on Feb. 28. The F-35 program supports more than 254,000 jobs through 1,800 suppliers across 48 states and Puerto Rico.

U.S. Congressman sends stern message to Texas Tech, TX AG

If there’s one controversy that has united the college football world, it is the bizarre handling of Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby. In an unprecedented and baffling decision, a Texas court granted Sorsby an injunction that makes him eligible for the 2026 season because the trial date falls after the season concludes. The ruling has sparked widespread criticism from fans, media members, and even politicians. After the Big 12 met to consider sanctions against Texas Tech, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened to sue the conference for antitrust violations. One U.S. congressman publicly pushed back. Representative Hakeem Jeffries took to social media with a sharp message aimed at Paxton and Texas Tech.

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“So let me get this straight. The corrupt, impeached and criminally-indicted Texas Attorney General is vouching for the integrity of the Texas Tech football program,” Jeffries wrote on X. “Maybe they should find a better character witness.” Jeffries joins a growing group of voices criticizing the stance taken by Texas Tech officials and supporters. Outside of those closely tied to the university, few appear to believe Sorsby should play college football in 2026. Critics are not blaming Texas Tech for supporting its player. They are criticizing the school for pushing to play him and threatening legal action against those who disagree. The injunction has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly because of reported involvement from influential Texas Tech athletic boosters. It remains unclear what action the Big 12 will ultimately take. Several programs outside the conference have reportedly paused future scheduling discussions with Texas Tech or canceled planned games altogether. Additional meetings involving conference leadership and key decision-makers are expected next week. For many across college football, the conclusion seems straightforward: Sorsby should not be on the field. He violated established gambling bylaws, and precedent suggests a significant punishment should follow. The larger controversy now centers on how a judge agreed to grant an injunction that effectively bypasses those established rules.

Harris County judge absent from court for most of 2026

A Democratic judge without a Republican challenger in November has been absent from her family law court for most of 2026, according to Harris County records. This year, Judge Angela Graves-Harrington used her county-issued badge to swipe into the civil courthouse or any other county building on 13 weekdays — including just once in April, according to badge swipe data through May 13 obtained through an open-records request by the Houston Chronicle. Outside of court, she has made public appearances in her capacity as judge. But her presence in the 246th District Court, which handles divorce, child custody and other family proceedings, has been sporadic since around the time of her husband's death in October 2025. Her absence has continued as recently as May.

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Graves-Harrington, whose annual salary consists of $192,500 in state funds and an additional $25,000 from the county, attributed her absence to “medical leave” and declined to elaborate in a brief phone call. She's still collecting a paycheck, according to Texas Comptroller officials. Amanda Cain, a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the Harris County District Courts, declined to comment on the judge's "personal health matters" or when she would return to the bench. The badge swipes from Harris County Universal Services show the number of times Graves-Harrington entered a county building. The time and location of the badge swipes were redacted. She had last used her badge on May 3 — a Sunday — when Universal Services pulled her records for the Chronicle. Concerns about her infrequent attendance in the civil courthouse escalated on June 1 when an administrative judge, Susan Brown, ordered Graves-Harrington's cases to be transferred to other family courts and to block her court from receiving new cases until further notice. Brown, a governor appointee for the Eleventh Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, did not explain in her order why the transfer of cases was necessary.

Harris County expands subsidies for ‘boutique’ police program

Harris County commissioners have approved a policy that could increase county subsidies for the controversial “contract deputy” program, which lets neighborhoods cover most of the cost of hiring a deputy to patrol their areas, with all county taxpayers covering the rest. The county’s eight elected constables and county leaders have been in a delicate standoff over the program since last year, when Republican lawmakers passed a bill last year stripping the commissioners’ authority to approve the contracts.The program is popular in contract areas, but critics say it ties up some 1,200 deputies handling mostly mundane calls in typically wealthy, low-crime neighborhoods. Most of the contracts have neighborhoods pay 70% of the cost while the county covers 30%, with the expectation that deputies spend 30% of their time outside the contract area — though county officials do not verify that.

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But the new law in theory meant constables — or the sheriff, who handles about a third of the contracts — could unilaterally decide the terms of each contract. County officials said it would kill the budget. On its face, the new policy approved Thursday caps the county subsidy only slightly higher than the typical arrangement, at 35%. But given the new state law, the measure is essentially a handshake deal, not an enforceable policy, and will only hold as long as officials adhere to the terms. And the subsidy is, in fact, far higher than 35%. This is partly because the contract rates don’t account for county administrative expenses such as legal counsel, information technology or human resources. Officials have said in the past that including these costs would increase contract patrol rates by 11%. The county also has raised all deputies’ pay 32% since last year, but has so far passed on only 8% of that increase to contract patrol neighborhoods, whose rates are driven primarily by deputies’ salaries. Commissioners were concerned that passing the full cost of the raises on to contract areas would lead to mass cancellations, forcing the county to fully foot the bill for all of the affected deputies or risk violating a Texas law prohibiting big cities and counties from “defunding” law enforcement.

National Stories

Mitch McConnell hospitalized with mystery ailment

Sen. Mitch McConnell was admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning, his spokesperson said, without revealing the Kentucky Republican’s condition or prognosis. “He is receiving excellent care,” Stephanie Penn, a spokesperson for McConnell’s office told NOTUS. It is unclear where the senator was hospitalized or how long he is expected to remain there. The Senate is scheduled to be in session on Monday, and it remains unclear whether the hospitalization will force McConnell to miss any official business. McConnell is chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, which is currently tasked with approving funding for President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Iran.

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McConnell, 84, has served in the chamber for over 41 years, making him the second-longest serving senator behind Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has a tenure of over 45 years. McConnell has experienced several concerning episodes during press conferences in recent years. In August 2023, McConnell paused for over 30 seconds at an event in Covington, Kentucky, when he was asked if he was considering running for Senate in 2026. McConnell also froze for around 20 seconds before being escorted away by his fellow Republican senators at a press conference on Capitol Hill one month earlier. As a survivor of childhood polio, McConnell has struggled with mobility as a result of the lingering effects of the disease — causing him to fall and occasionally use a wheelchair.

Blood, sweat and corporate sponsors: Trump hosts White House cage fight

President Trump hosted a cage match at the White House on Sunday, turning the historic South Lawn into a sporting arena where fighters pummeled each other, surrounded by paid advertisements and thousands of fans. The unprecedented event used some of the most iconic symbols of American power—the U.S. military, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial—to promote the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a company that stands to profit from the fight’s far-reaching exposure. Critics decried the event as gruesome and unbecoming. But the crowd—a mix of military service members, administration officials and Trump allies—reveled in the unabashed masculinity of the scene, cheering on fighters as they bloodied each other’s faces and invoking patriotic chants.

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Taken together, the spectacle symbolized the style of politics Trump has brought to Washington, breaking norms and snubbing elite sensibilities. After delivering a flurry of strikes that lead to a knockout, middleweight fighter Bo Nickal credited Trump for having “the balls” to put on the show. Another fighter, Diego Lopes, leapt to the top of the cage after a win, facing the White House with arms spread wide, the audience erupting. Some winced later in the night when heavyweight Josh Hokit made a crass remark in a post-fight interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, a longtime UFC announcer. “Lastly, Michelle Obama is a man,” Hokit said, referring to the former first lady. “Am I right, America?” After winning his fight, Hokit, wearing an American-flag bandana and sunglasses, presented Trump with his gold-chain necklace. The fights took place in an octagon-shaped ring surrounded by a metal cage. Towering overhead was a 92-foot-tall, 600-ton steel arch called “the claw.” Trump had a front-row seat for the action, sitting next to first lady Melania Trump and UFC Chief Executive Dana White, a close ally. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Paramount CEO David Ellison, Republican lawmakers and members of the president’s family were also in the crowd.

Trump at 80: A president ‘really uncomfortable’ with aging

He stays up late, phoning lawyers and lawmakers, while posting up to 150 times a night on Truth Social. His mornings involve calls with world leaders about the war in the Middle East, or talks with landscapers about replanting a bothersome tree. When he arrives in the Oval Office, his unstructured days unfold like a time-lapse video, with people zipping around him as he stays seated at the center of the frame. As President Trump turns 80 on Sunday, he is so intent on projecting an image of relentless energy that he has installed a massive, mixed martial arts octagon on the South Lawn to mark the occasion. After watching the fight, Mr. Trump will depart Washington in the middle of the night and cross an ocean for a diplomatic summit in France. It is a schedule that seems devised to ward off questions about age and stamina as he begins his ninth decade. But even for a president known for imposing his own reality on every situation, Mr. Trump is facing scrutiny over his age that has grown more intense with each passing year. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in February showed that nearly six in 10 Americans think Mr. Trump is growing more erratic.

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On Monday, Mr. Trump appeared to doze off during a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. That episode prompted such intense speculation that James Dolan, a prominent ally and the team’s owner, felt compelled to weigh in publicly, saying the president “was very much awake.” On June 4, during an hourlong appearance in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump leaned to the side in his chair, closing his eyes for a few seconds as Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, spoke about the importance of coal. Earlier this month, legions of online observers speculated, as they had before, that Mr. Trump was ailing when his public schedule contained no public events for nearly a week, a streak that began just after a physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Three days after that evaluation was completed, the president’s physician, Dr. Sean P. Barbabella, declared in a summary that the 79-year-old Mr. Trump “remains in excellent health, demonstrating strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function.” So the oldest president ever to be inaugurated and his advisers spend a lot of time hitting back at people who have drawn a different set of conclusions about his health based on what they believe they can plainly see. This week, senior White House officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk about Mr. Trump’s health, said that when the president appears to slump or lean over at his desk in the Oval Office, as he did during an event earlier this month, he is doing it to lean closer to better hear someone speaking. (He leaned away from Mr. Zeldin and closed his eyes during the event on June 4th.)

Venezuelans sour on Donald Trump

President Donald Trump has said Venezuelans are “dancing in the streets” because of the money entering the oil-rich country since this year’s ousting of Nicolás Maduro. Many Venezuelans are not so sure. Polls show that the US president’s star, which soared after the January military operation to capture Maduro, has started to wane among Venezuelans frustrated with the slow pace of change. A survey by Meganálisis last month found that Trump’s approval rating had dropped from 75 points in March to 47 points in April, while an Atlas Intel and Bloomberg poll found it fell from 53 per cent in February to 45 per cent in May. Trump said on Wednesday that Venezuela “has become a happy country” but Carlos Salazar, co-ordinator of a coalition of trade unions, said: “Here in Venezuela, we have to tell President Trump that nobody is happy.”

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Hours after Maduro’s arrest, the Trump administration backed his deputy Delcy Rodríguez to shepherd through reforms to open up the country’s vast oil and mineral reserves to private investment. During pro-democracy marches in Caracas in February, some demonstrators waved banners thanking Trump. In return, Washington has begun unwinding sanctions and allowing Venezuela to sell its crude at market prices via US-based intermediaries. But beyond the release of about 600 political prisoners and an increased tolerance for public demonstrations, many Venezuelans say they are yet to see material change in a country where annual inflation is running above 600 per cent. Oil production has started to take off, and executives have flown around the country in the hope of signing deals, but many ordinary Venezuelans have yet to see living standards improve. “There have been no economic improvements in the country,” said Oscar Montero, a taxi driver in Caracas. “Even if more money has come in from oil revenues, it hasn’t reached us.”

Germany's big win shows pros and cons of expanded World Cup

Curaçao played the David role well for a while in their 7-1 loss to mighty Germany. Livano Comenencia scored a historic goal -- the first World Cup goal ever for the smallest nation to qualify -- and Curaçao briefly gave Germany reason to doubt themselves and remember the recent World Cup group-stage failures of 2018 and 2022. The Goliaths kept their heads, however, and eventually established harsh control in front of a crowd of 68,021. Nico Schlotterbeck's 38th-minute header from a corner put them ahead for good, and a deluge followed all the way through Kai Havertz's second goal in the 88th minute. "After the game there was a song, 'The Train Has No Brakes' ('Der Zug hat keine Bremse')," Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann said. "We tried to do that to move on, move on, move on with no brakes."

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Comenencia's early equalizer gave Germany a chance to prove their resilience. "[Curaçao] got the equalizer with I think the first shot on our goal, and then it was interesting to see how we can deal with that," Nagelsmann said. "We tried to find our lucky moments in the offense, tried to score more goals, and then we had a very important set piece to get the lead again." A number of German players put together stat lines worthy of man-of-the-match honors. Havertz scored near the end of each half, knocking in a penalty to make it 3-1 in the first half, then finishing the scoring on a breakaway in the 88th minute. Meanwhile, Felix Nmecha scored the opening goal and drew the penalty converted by Havertz. He put three shots on target, completed 36 of 38 passes and made three tackles. Facing criticism from German legends such as Thomas Müller and Jurgen Klopp for recent form concerns, Jamal Musiala was at his best, scoring a goal early in the second half, creating a pair of chances, winning nine of 14 ground duels, drawing a pair of fouls and even completing three tackles as Germany snuffed out most of Curaçao's counterattacking attempts after the 20th minute. "I thought he played very well," Nagelsmann said. "He had several promising moments that were blocked, but he kept trying, was constantly available, and scored after halftime with an excellent run and finish."

Kevin Warsh wants the Fed to stop explaining everything

Kevin Warsh boiled down his advice for the Federal Reserve before an audience of investors last year. “Stop talking so much,” he said. “More thinking, less talking.” For more than a decade, Warsh has argued that the Fed should say less. How much a central bank reveals about its thinking shapes mortgage rates, markets and the cost of borrowing for everyone. Wall Street will parse Wednesday’s meeting, his first as Fed chairman, for any sign of where he’ll take it. As a Fed governor through the 2008-09 crisis, Warsh had a front-row seat watching Ben Bernanke pioneer two of the central bank’s biggest innovations this century—a far larger holding of bonds and a more systematic practice of explaining its moves. Bernanke was extending a shift Alan Greenspan began in the 1990s, when the Fed first started announcing its rate decisions and signaling where they might head.

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Warsh quit in 2011 after souring on the bond buying and has spent the years since arguing the Fed took both innovations too far. Now that he’s in charge, the question is whether he proceeds as a revolutionary, a diplomat or both. Whatever Warsh hoped to do on interest rates will have to wait. Inflation is running hot after the war in Iran sent up energy prices. The conversation at the Fed has shifted toward hikes, not cuts. It would be a near-impossible setup for a new chairman to override, even if he wished to. That leaves two ambitious projects, which are moving at different speeds. Shrinking the bondholdings could take years, and communications is where he can move first. Being fenced in on rates, with no fight to wage there, frees him to spend his energy on it. In Warsh’s view, the central bank has buried itself in its own communication. It produces forecasts that markets fixate on and that box the committee in. Officials give speeches or interviews on every side of every question. Warsh wants the Fed to say less and let markets do more of the work. With no action expected on rates on Wednesday, the attention will be on him: Will he submit a forecast for rate projections he disdains? How much will he say at a press conference he’d rather not hold?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard ends her tenure spreading a bioweapons conspiracy

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is promoting a long-disproven conspiracy theory about the U.S. secretly supporting bioweapons manufacturing in Ukraine, just before she leaves her post at the end of the month. In a video posted on X by her official government account, Tulsi echoed claims that have previously been circulated in Russian propaganda to support Russian military action in Ukraine — and by followers of the QAnon movement as evidence of the “deep state.” “Until now, evidence regarding the full existence and funding of these laboratories had been knowingly withheld from you, the American people,” Gabbard said in the video, in which she announced the release of documents she claimed supported the theory that the U.S. had secretly funded bioweapons manufacturing in Ukraine.

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“This release today breaks new ground as the information surrounding the existence, history, locations and funding of these U.S.-funded bio labs has been intentionally covered up by very powerful people who falsely claimed that these bio labs didn’t exist, that they accuse anyone who says otherwise to be foreign assets and traitors to America,” Gabbard continued. But the documents released by her office — a total of four pages — appear to rehash already publicly available information about U.S.–supported research facilities in Ukraine. The first page of the release, which focuses on the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine in Kharkiv, even states that the facility’s funding from the Department of Defense was previously public information. Much of the information contained in the release appears to be drawn from information publicly available on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, on a page about the Biological Threat Reduction Program — a long-running U.S. funded program that was created to “reduce legacy threats from nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons left in the Soviet Union’s successor states, including Russia,” according to a 2022 DOD fact sheet.

Kennedy Center exterior remains covered after Trump’s name is removed

Large striped tarps remained on the Kennedy Center’s exterior Sunday, prompting confusion and frustration from some visitors who arrived to the renowned arts venue to see President Donald Trump’s name removed. Stephen Caken, a New York resident visiting Washington, DC, for an internship, told CNN he was puzzled why the tarp was still up after the president’s name had been removed on Saturday in compliance with a federal judge’s order. “It seems like they’re trying to just kind of take away attention from this whole charade,” Caken said. Much of the exterior portion of the building where the metal letters marking Trump’s name were installed in December was covered Sunday afternoon, preventing many from viewing what remains. John Mathew Smith, a Maryland resident who made the trip to the Kennedy Center, argued that Trump was “trying to weaken America’s symbols.”

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“To me, he’s trying to deface America’s symbols before he starts finishing defacing the country itself,” Smith said. Tim Terpstra, a Washington resident who lives nearby, arrived at the center for the second time this weekend, hoping that the tarps had been removed. “It would be nice to be able to see to make sure that it is down, and no vestiges of what was up there still remain,” he said. CNN has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment about why the tarp is still up. The removal occurred after an appeals court declined to pause a ruling from US District Judge Christopher Cooper that found the venue acted unlawfully when it added Trump’s name to the building, part of the president’s effort to remake the nation’s capital. The installation of Trump’s name to the building, which was named for assassinated President John F. Kennedy, struck a deep symbolic chord among residents who’ve cherished the center, which has long served as a cultural hub in the deep-blue city. The center took steps last week to reverse the change in some places but kept the president’s name on the building as it sought to stave off compliance with Cooper’s ruling.

Copyright June 15, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved