September 22, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Man shot by ICE agent speaks from detention as bullet remains lodged near his spine

The Austin DoorDash delivery driver shot during an encounter with federal immigration agents on Sunday remains in custody and says the bullet is still in his body, lodged near his spine. 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez spoke by phone during a news conference Monday afternoon from the Pearsall Detention Facility. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, translated portions of his remarks, describing his physical condition and treatment following the shooting. “He’s saying that he’s in a lot of pain, that they did not take out the bullet because it was close to his spine, but that they had him in a very cold room without a bed,” Wilber said during the phone call.

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed Wilber was in federal custody pending removal from the country. In a statement, DHS said he entered the United States illegally. However, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said Wilber entered the country legally through the now-discontinued CBP One program. His attorney acknowledged that he later missed a court date, resulting in a removal order. Wilber’s wife, Elizdar, told their attorney that she wanted to spend Sunday with her husband, but he chose to work to earn money for the family. According to Elizdar, she received a phone call from Wilber telling her he had been shot and was in pain, but she was given little information about where he was being treated. She said hospital security personnel told her her husband was not there. Supporters at Monday’s news conference said the family’s experience has only added to the uncertainty surrounding the shooting and Wilber’s detention. “This is about a wife and a mother that is suffering,” Casar said. “This is about a husband and a father who is in pain without pain medication in a prison in the desert right now.”

Much of Trump’s promised midterm election spending has yet to surface, new filing shows

President Donald Trump’s flagship super PAC grew its $400 million-plus war chest again in August, even as Republican candidates press him to put more of it to work with six weeks to go before the 2026 midterm election. MAGA Inc. ended August with about $415.8 million in cash after modest spending, more than $12 million above the $403.5 million it held at the beginning of the month, according to a Federal Election Commission filing posted late Sunday. The super PAC took in more than twice as much as it spent in August, reporting raising about $23.7 million while spending $11.4 million. Among those replenishing its coffers were cryptocurrency billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who contributed $10 million combined; NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who gave $2 million; and venture capital firm Trousdale Ventures CEO Phillip Sarofim, who gave $1 million.

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That left MAGA Inc.’s cash pile still growing just days before Trump said on Sept. 4 he planned to deploy $400 million to $500 million from MAGA Inc. to help Republicans in November. Yet, more than two weeks later, MAGA Inc. itself has publicly disclosed only a fraction of that amount in spending. The FEC’s reporting requirements generally require disclosure within 48 hours when independent expenditures reach $10,000 for a political race. So far in September, the super PAC has reported about $15 million in spending in the Texas Senate race. However, a much larger Trump-linked advertising blitz is instead being booked through two super PACs created Sept. 1: No Going Back PAC Inc. and Safety & Affordability PAC Inc. The groups have reserved at least $126 million in advertising — about $98.5 million from No Going Back and $27 million from Safety & Affordability, according to AdImpact data and federal filings. No Going Back PAC also shares a treasurer, address and phone number with MAGA Inc. The spending follows months of public pressure from Republicans who questioned why Trump’s massive political war chest remained largely on the sidelines.

Wall Street is growing skeptical of the data center boom

The backlash against data centers that is shaping elections and kitchen table debates across the country is now spilling onto Wall Street. Companies that house the data centers or supply them with energy and land for construction were expected to dominate the initial public offering market over the coming months, feeding investors’ seemingly insatiable appetite for everything related to artificial intelligence. But some investors are voicing increasing skepticism about the growth expectations for data centers and the risks associated with their build-out, forcing industry executives and their advisers to recalibrate their plans to raise tens of billions of dollars in public markets. SB Energy, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank that has proposed to build the largest data center project in the world in Ohio, had originally planned its I.P.O. for this month.

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But the offering has been delayed, as investors question the company’s sought-after valuation of $50 billion or more, according to interviews with four people familiar with the deal’s marketing efforts. So far, bankers have struggled to find enough buyers of SB Energy stock within price ranges the company and its bankers had sought. SB Energy’s struggles to win over investors come as Holtec, a company serving the nuclear energy industry that is looking to supply power for A.I., said last week that it was pausing its I.P.O. plans indefinitely, citing several factors that have “impaired investor confidence in the market for new public offerings.” Holtec pointed to the “uncertainty of data center development” as the primary reason for the postponement, according to a company release. Holtec Nuclear owns and operates one main nuclear power site and builds small nuclear reactors that can be used to power data centers. The company, which had planned to start trading on Nasdaq last week, was seeking to raise as much as $900 million at a valuation of up to $10 billion.

New Texas rules require deposits for data center grid connections

Texas’ utility regulators are requiring new data center and other large industrial projects to pay up when asking to hook up to the state’s grid. The Public Utility Commission approved new rules aimed at weeding out speculative projects in an effort to get a better handle on how much energy demand is expected to grow. The rules require developers to provide a security deposit of $50,000 per megawatt of requested capacity before the state will even begin an interconnection study of the project’s application. In addition, developers will have to pay a $100,000 study fee.

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Commissioner Kathleen Jackson called the security deposit requirement “a huge, heavy lift,” that will help the grid meet the unprecedented energy demand forecast by the state’s grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT is projecting demand growth to quadruple by 2032, driven by industry and residential growth and increasingly severe weather. “This is a tremendous work product,” Jackson said. “It really will help to position us to do the kind of things we know that we need to do for the grid for reliability as well as to be able to accommodate the large amount of load that’s coming.” The goal of the new rules is to continue supporting growth while taking steps to offset the costs of expanding infrastructure to meet projected demand when a developer reserves substantial amounts of grid capacity but then abandons a project. The new rules for large industrial projects also require developers to demonstrate that they control the project site, whether through ownership or leasing. Developers will be required to share more details, such as load-ramping schedules and expected water usage.

State Stories

George W. Bush and Cornyn leave out Paxton as they raise cash for Senate candidates

Former President George W. Bush and Senator John Cornyn, two top Texas Republicans, are rallying conservative donors behind the party’s Senate candidates — except for the one running in their own state, Ken Paxton. Mr. Cornyn is hosting a fund-raiser on Monday evening in Dallas for six Republican nominees in battleground states, according to an invitation to the event that was obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Bush, listed on the invite as a “special guest,” is attending the event, his spokesman confirmed. The event will benefit Maintain the Majority, a new joint fund-raising committee supporting the Senate candidates, who are defending Republican-held seats in Maine, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa and looking to flip seats in Michigan and New Hampshire. An email sent to attendees on Sunday and viewed by The Times also said that Michele Tafoya, the Republican nominee for Senate in Minnesota, was a late addition to the event.

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But Mr. Paxton, the Republican nominee in Texas, who defeated Mr. Cornyn in a costly and bitter primary, was not included. His campaign declined to comment on the fund-raiser. The fund-raising omission of Mr. Paxton is another escalation in the standoff between old-guard Bush Republicans and the fiery insurgent wing represented by Mr. Paxton, President Trump and their allies. And it comes as the parties battle for cash and advertising time in the Texas Senate race, one of this year’s top contests. Mr. Paxton has badly trailed his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, in campaign fund-raising, but super PACs tied to Mr. Trump and Senate Republicans have come to Mr. Paxton’s aid, reserving more than $80 million in outside advertising in Texas. Mr. Paxton, the state attorney general, has long been a polarizing figure among Texas Republicans. He was impeached by the Republican-dominated Texas House on corruption charges in 2023, though he was acquitted in the State Senate, and he pushed to oust Republican lawmakers and judges who disagreed with him in his party’s primaries in 2024. This year, Mr. Cornyn and establishment Republican donors spent more than $130 million on advertising backing the senator and bashing Mr. Paxton in their contentious primary. (Mr. Bush chipped in $5,000 for Mr. Cornyn.) In the months since, Mr. Cornyn has continually criticized Mr. Paxton’s character and campaign.

Harris Co. Judge Lina Hidalgo said she won't vote for fellow Democrat, Commissioner Lesley Briones

After losing the budget battle, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is eyeing the November elections and said she won't be supporting one of her democratic colleagues. Last week, after one of the largest tax rate increases in recent county history passed, Hidalgo encouraged people to vote. "As the composition of the court changed, I'm afraid it has put the county down a problematic financial path," Hidalgo said. "I hope people get out and vote on November 3rd." At the time, ABC13 asked Hidalgo, a Democrat, if that meant she was advocating for republicans. She told ABC13 to circle back. On Monday, ABC13 did. Not only did Eyewitness News learn who she won't vote for, but also the efforts she made to try to block the tax rate vote. Hidalgo isn't on the ballot this November, but it doesn't mean she's shying away from those who are. "I'm going to get in that voting booth, and you better believe I'm not going to vote for Commissioner Briones," Hidalgo said.

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Hidalgo wouldn't say if she's voting for Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones' Republican opponent. Hidalgo said she won't support Briones over her blocking a proposal to have voters decide whether to fund childcare programs and how the commissioner has spent other money. ABC13 reached out to Briones' office after our interview. They pointed us to her campaign team. ABC13 didn't receive a response. Last week, commissioners approved a $3.1 billion budget that budget officials said will increase the average homeowner's property taxes by around $190 a year. The three Democratic members of the court approved the tax rate. Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican, did not. During the vote, Hidalgo walked away. Four years ago, Ramsey and a former Republican commissioner didn't show up for the tax rate vote. Knowing this, Hidalgo said she hoped Ramsey would do something similar to deny a quorum, making a vote on the tax rate impossible. "At some point, I passed him a note," Hidalgo recalled. "My note said, 'Have you spoken to anyone else about the tax rate vote? If not, can you and I speak?' He said, 'I did speak to somebody about it.' The thing is, it's not lawful for more than two of us to speak about a topic." ABC13 reached out to Ramsey's office regarding the note and whether he considered a quorum break with Hidalgo. ABC13 didn't receive a response.

Internal GOP poll shows Republicans getting annihilated in Trump +17 Texas district

Polls have been looking grim for President Donald Trump and Republicans as the midterm elections have loomed ever closer, but a new internal poll from a Texas legislative district is a five-alarm fire for the GOP. The polling numbers for President Donald Trump and the GOP have been brutal as his second term has progressed, with Americans’ views on his handling of the economy and immigration — topics on which he had previously outpolled Democrats — taking a dive. The president’s war in Iran has been another issue dragging down his polling, specifically because of its impact on gas prices. Republican woes are even evident in Texas, threatening to shatter decades of GOP majority control.

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In the Texas Senate race, scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is lagging badly behind Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D) in both polling and fundraising. Paxton defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the primary with Trump’s endorsement, but it required a runoff, burned through campaign funds, and put a spotlight on the series of scandals, lawsuits, a bitter divorce from his state senator wife, and other controversies that have dogged Paxton for years. Texas State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D) has long been viewed as much more of an underdog against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), who, unlike Paxton, does have a substantial fundraising lead, plus far higher name recognition from years as governor and previously as the state’s attorney general. But several recent polls have shown Hinojosa within the margin of error with Abbott. And one district in particular is looking like a bellwether for Republicans’ fate in Texas and nationally this November: Texas State Senate District 9, which covers parts of Tarrant County including a large portion of Fort Worth. The district already rattled GOP nerves this January when it flipped blue for the first time since 1991 in a special election runoff that Democrat Taylor Rehmet won, defeating Republican Leigh Wambsganss by over 14 points. In 2024, Trump won Texas SD 9 by 17 points, making Rehmet’s win an upset. But a January primary runoff has far lower turnout than a November general election with multiple races drawing major media attention, so was this race an outlier? A new poll reported by Quorum Report editor Scott Braddock may shed some light on that question.

Ken Paxton donations tied to Chinese real estate investment firm

Ken Paxton and his allies have spent millions this election cycle on ads that accuse his Democratic U.S. Senate challenger, James Talarico, of helping Chinese investors buy up Texas land. But before unleashing the attacks, Paxton’s campaign took in $40,000 from donors who work for companies that facilitate the exact kind of Chinese investments he has criticized, according to a review of campaign finance documents by Hearst Newspapers. The donations, all made before the most recent June 30 filing deadline, were far from the largest to Paxton’s campaign. They are significant, however, given how heavily he and the GOP at large have gone in on making Chinese influence a marquee issue in the race.

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A spokesperson for Paxton did not address questions about the donations, but said in a statement that the attorney general has spent “more than a decade fighting the Chinese Communist Party’s influence and protecting Texas from foreign threats, including suing CCP-aligned companies.” “Meanwhile, James Talarico picked a side, and it was decidedly pro-Chinese Communist Party and anti-Texas,” the spokesperson, Madison Cercy, said. Most of the donations are linked to a U.S.-based real estate development company called Wan Bridge, which solicits foreign investors for its housing developments in Texas. Cofounder Ting Qiao donated nearly $30,000 to Paxton and PACs affiliated with him from June of last year through April. Danting Li, a cofounder and the company’s chief operations officer, donated just over $10,000 through two donations last year. Both are based in Texas, according to their social media profiles. A third donor, John Chiang, works at a U.S. development firm that contracts with Wan Bridge, along with a U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company connected to the Communist Party of China.

Judge dismisses Burnam's request seeking to remove Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare

A petition to remove Republican Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare from office was dismissed Monday morning by a district court judge. The ouster request was filed by former state Rep. Lon Burnam, who O’Hare’s campaign called a “radical activist,” after he was kicked out and arrested for disturbing an Aug. 4 Commissioners Court meeting. Judge James Johnson, of the 431st Judicial District Court, dismissed the petition because the facts presented by Burnam were not “sufficient to constitute official misconduct or incompetency,” according to the legal document. Burnam has a related lawsuit against O’Hare and the county in federal court as well as a request to dismiss the charges placed against him for disrupting a meeting and disorderly conduct.

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The 73-year-old was ejected from the Commissioners Court meeting by O’Hare for picking up the public comment microphone during his allotted minute. Burnam did so as a form of protest because O’Hare kicked out another speaker, Base Mego, shortly before for picking up the microphone as a soothing tactic. Mego has autism and claimed he had gotten prior permission to hold the microphone. O’Hare said Mego was granted the ability to use a handheld microphone after the fact.” When O’Hare told sheriff’s deputies to remove Burnam, he laid on the floor and the deputies had to carry him out by his limbs. The Monday dismissal does not require O’Hare to respond to the filing, as requested by Burnam. O’Hare’s campaign called the decision a win for the county judge. Burnam’s defense attorney, Tiffany Burks, did not respond to the Star-Telegram’s request for comment. Burks is running against Republican District Attorney Phil Sorrells for his county seat in the November election.

Kerr County businesses struggle to recover eight weeks after flooding without state or federal aid

More than eight weeks after floodwaters swept through parts of the Hill Country, some Kerr County businesses are still trying to recover without state or federal assistance. For many owners, reopening has meant relying on savings, grants and community support to keep employees working. Texas Power and Controls, a generator company on Goat Creek Road near Interstate 10, was among the businesses hit hard when nearby creek water rose rapidly and became a raging river. Kathryn Stafford, the company’s office manager, said the damage has been difficult to watch, especially for her boss, who is determined to keep the business going. “I’ve been with the company for almost two years now, and it’s just heartbreaking to see how hard this hit him,” Stafford said.

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Eight people depend on the company’s survival. To avoid taking chances with another flood, the business moved out of its damaged location and shifted operations. “We moved a lot of stuff out of here, whatever we could save,” Stafford said. “We used my home for about a month to put the office, to set us up to try to get us back going so that way we could get our guys back out as soon as possible.” Texas Power and Controls is one of dozens of local businesses damaged in the July flooding. The Kerrville Chamber of Commerce said 119 Kerr businesses were damaged, including 102 within city limits. Of those, 25 were destroyed or had major damage. For many business owners, recovery has been slowed by the lack of state and federal money. Stafford said Texas Power and Controls was able to secure a grant, but before that, the company was struggling. “There has been nothing,” Stafford said. “We were barely thinking that we would be able to make payroll.” Texas Power and Controls received a grant through LiftFund, a nonprofit distributing $5 million to businesses affected by the flooding. The Kerrville Chamber of Commerce has also provided money to 32 of the 70 businesses that applied for assistance. “All of us are in it together, so we’re going to keep pushing forward,” Stafford said. Some businesses have used savings to reopen while waiting for possible state or federal help. Others remain closed and may not be able to reopen. One way the community can help is by supporting affected businesses through purchases or by becoming clients as recovery continues.

American exec teases new gates, restaurants at DFW Airport's Terminal A

American Airlines Group Inc. plans to open 10 new gates at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport's Terminal A before the end of the year, adding new restaurants, shopping and passenger amenities as the carrier continues expanding at its largest hub. The Fort Worth-based airline on Sept. 18 provided an update on the terminal's ongoing construction during its Forever Forward online video series. Derrick Proffitt, managing director of customer care, said the 10 gates will open before the end of the year, with Terminal A becoming the busiest for the airline at DFW Airport. Currently, Terminal C is the busiest for American.

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Proffitt also teased some of the new concessions planned for the expanded terminal. Alongside familiar brands such as McDonald's and Auntie Anne's, travelers can expect a P.F. Chang's and Chick-fil-A, as well as "really cool local Dallas and Fort Worth flavors coming into the terminal as well," he said. Those additions will join a lineup that includes Mesero, Ciao & Go, Salad and Go, Mozart's Bakehouse, Olivella's Pizzeria and Minute Suites, Dallas Business Journal previously reported. "When this opens, our team members and customers are going to want to come to this terminal just for the concessions and the shopping," Proffitt said. Proffitt said the new gates are being "built with the customer in mind" and will have a "modern feel" with "open, bright and airy comfortable seating" similar to Terminal C's newly opened gates. DFW Airport and American in June opened the first phase of a $3 billion expansion at Terminal C. American has also improved the roadway leading into Terminal A for improved traffic flow, Proffitt said.

Democrat drops out of Texas House election for north Tarrant seat, citing eligibility

Democrat Ericka Lomick announced Monday that she is suspending her Texas House campaign for a northern Tarrant County seat, seemingly clearing the way for Republican Alan Blaylock’s victory in November. Lomick made the decision after a political action committee supporting Blaylock questioned her eligibility as a candidate, accusing her of “federal convictions, unpaid taxes and deceptive statements.” Without confirming or denying the accusations, Lomick said in a statement that she wanted to “allow the people of HD 93 to elect someone who can serve the district without the burden of defending against attacks that would threaten to derail the business of the people.”

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Last week, the Protect and Serve Texas PAC published records showing Lomick was indicted and pleaded guilty to three federal felonies: mortgage fraud conspiracy, bank fraud related to a mortgage fraud scheme and money laundering conspiracy. “After careful consideration, I have made the decision to suspend my campaign for House District 93,” Lomick said in the statement. “Although this was not an easy decision, I am convinced that it was the right one for the people of HD 93.” Lomick appears to have since deleted her campaign accounts on social media. She did not return requests for comment. Allison Campolo, chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said via text message that Lomick notified the party of the plan to suspend her campaign, and the party was assessing the situation. Campolo declined to comment further, deferring questions to Lomick’s statement.

Texas Stock Exchange CEO explains luring $115 billion in corporate listings during monumental week

The Texas Stock Exchange's recent week of achievements and announcements felt a lot like a watching a football team rack up touchdowns on its way to a victory. Between Sept. 10 and Sept. 18, several companies currently trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq announced plans to transfer their listings to the upstart Texas Stock Exchange with $115 billion in combined market capitalization. It started with a slew of energy companies, including Energy Transfer LP and Sunoco LP, followed by Texas Capital Bancshares Inc. and Origin Bancshares Inc. Dillard's Inc. capped the week on Sept. 18 when it announced its planned transfer, a $10 billion corporate listing on its own. TXSE also hosted two bell-ringing ceremonies to celebrate key achievements. First, Dallas-based Texas Capital became the first company to establish primary listings in Texas on Sept. 16 after transferring two exchange-traded funds to the new exchange. The following day, on Sept. 17, Dallas-based Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s Salient Enhanced Power & Infrastructure ETF became the first new ETF launched on TXSE.

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All together, the monumental week shows how far TXSE has come in a relatively short period of time as it seeks to disrupt the status quo of the U.S. capital markets. And TXSE is just getting started. In another analogy to football, TXSE CEO James Lee said the "transfer portal is full." He said during a Sept. 17 interview with Dallas Business Journal to expect a "steady series of announcements that will run through the end of the year and all the way through the spring" across in Texas and the country. "This is not just a Texas exchange with Texas adoption with Texas companies," Lee said. "All through the rest of this month in October, you're going to see movement from around the country towards the Texas Stock Exchange. ... You're just seeing a little bit. This is the tip of the iceberg." The new Dallas-based exchange, a subsidiary of TXSE Group Inc., publicly launched in 2024 and received regulatory approval in fall 2025. It has raised more than $275 million in funding from Wall Street giants like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Kelcy Warren, a billionaire who is tied to the oil companies that are moving their listings to TXSE, owns a 28% stake in the exchange, according to a federal filing.

State Rep. Gary VanDeaver to step down after decade in Texas House

After serving public office for more than a decade, State Rep. Gary VanDeaver, announced his resignation, effective at the end of day Monday. In a letter directed to the citizens of House District 1, VanDeaver (R-New Boston) wrote he delivered his resignation letter to Gov. Greg Abbott notifying him of the decision. “Serving in the Texas House has been one of the great honors of my life,” the state representative wrote. VanDeaver wrote that his reasons for leaving before his term expires in January is “two-fold.” “First, the constituents of HD1 remain the priority and this decision will provide the opportunity for my successor to be better positioned to serve the great people of HD1,” he wrote. “Secondly, this decision will allow me to better prepare for life after the legislature as I continue to search for ways to make Texas a better place.”

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VanDeaver went on to thank his staff and the friendship and support of “so many others.” A retired lifelong educator, VanDeaver was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2015 after working for several school districts in Northeast Texas. VanDeaver ran in the 2024 Republican primary against Chris Spencer and Dale Huls, eventually winning in a run-off against Spencer with 53.5% of the vote while Spencer received 46.3%. Last December, VanDeaver announced he would not seek re-election to a seventh term, stating he would serve out the remainder of his term until Jan. 1, 2027. Spencer won the 2026 Republican primary against Josh Bray with 50.9% of the vote opposed to Bray’s 49.1%. He faces Democratic candidate Sean Huffman in November. He was one of few Republicans to oppose the statewide school voucher program and one of five representatives censured by the Republican Party of Texas for opposing its priorities and supporting then-Texas Speaker Dade Phelan. “May God continue to bless the great state of Texas!” he concluded in the letter.

An old idea with new drive: Takeaways from the alliance uniting ATX-SATX region leaders

What began at a barbecue joint on San Antonio’s East Side only months ago progressed Friday to hosting its inaugural event with representation from 13 counties covering over 11,000 square miles and a population of 5.4 million. In the Student Union at Texas State University-San Marcos, a spectrum of disparate needs coalesced around a single goal: collaborating as a mega region under the banner of the Central Texas Alliance. On issues ranging from light rail to water, civic, business and academic leaders met to form a consensus and commit to working together.

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Formed earlier this year to support the Austin-San Antonio corridor, the Alliance seeks to enable the region’s leaders to act with one voice. The upcoming 90th Texas Legislative Session was on all their minds. A year ago, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros published “The Austin-San Antonio Megaregion: Opportunity and Challenges in the Lone Star State,” with authors Robert Rivard and David Hendricks. The book outlines how projected growth will put demands on housing, energy and water resources, mobility infrastructure and the workforce along the I-35 corridor. Texas is considered the fastest growing economy and population in the nation. The Austin-San Antonio corridor, with a population of 5.3 million, is on target to add 3 million more residents by 2050, according to census data. As a region, Austin and San Antonio are catching up to Houston in the share of jobs, said Roberto Coronado, senior vice president and senior economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Unlike other major metropolexes in the state, the rapidly growing region is not served by one entity that works to develop consensus around priorities for the region, despite previous attempts. Until now. “This was a concept in a book in February,” said the nonprofit’s CEO, A.J. Rodriguez. After an unexpected meeting with Cisneros while at Reese Bros Barbecue, he accepted the charge to lead the Alliance.

Texas bishop denounces ICE shooting in Austin, says people ‘living in terror and fear’

After a man was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 20, Bishop Daniel E. Garcia denounced the shooting and called for “a viable immigration policy that respects the rule of law while recognizing the dignity of every person.” The individual who was shot was delivering for DoorDash at the time of the encounter with ICE, his lawyer said. A video obtained by CNN showed officers cutting off the man’s shirt after the incident, revealing a bullet wound in his back.

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In a Sept. 20 statement, Bishop Garcia, who leads the Diocese of Austin, said he was “deeply saddened and disturbed” by the shooting. “We find ourselves in a time in this country and city, when people are living in terror and fear because of the increased activity of ICE agents on our streets. Many people are often being detained only due to the color of their skin or the language they speak,” he said. “Today the credibility of a federal agency that is supposed to protect us has been weakened by incidences such as the one that took place today. “I ask the faithful of the Diocese of Austin to pray for this man who was shot, his family, for all those who have been affected, all who have been involved and for our entire community,” Bishop Garcia continued. “As an investigation begins, let us pray that the Federal, State and City authorities will be transparent and honest about what occurred this afternoon, so that confidence in our governmental entities may be strengthened, not weakened.” Austin city officials have called for an independent investigation of the incident.

National Stories

Sylvester Stallone reveals what he said to Trump after surprise Hollywood ambassador appointment

Sylvester Stallone revealed that he was blindsided when President Donald Trump announced his appointment as a special ambassador to Hollywood. Days before his second inauguration in January 2025, Trump shared a post on his platform Truth Social in which he named Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as "Special Envoys," describing the role as a way for the three actors to serve as his "eyes and ears" in Hollywood and advise him on efforts to bring film and television production back to the U.S. During a recent interview with The Sunday Times, the 80-year-old "Rocky" star recalled that he found out about the appointment while watching television.

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"I was watching TV one night, and they go, ‘So Stallone and Mel Gibson and Jon Voight will be …’ And I went, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Excuse me? Really?’ Because if they had asked me in the beginning, I would have said, ‘This is not possible,'" Stallone said. Stallone told the outlet that he was hesitant about taking on the role because he didn't believe it was feasible. When asked if he had reservations after Trump's announcement, Stallone said, "Yes. Yes, because Hollywood, I guess it’s like feudal states." "They have their little kingdoms," he continued. "You don’t go in and tell six studios how to do things. And Mel Gibson and Jon Voight, we’re kind of do-our-own-thing people. No, it won’t work." The "Tulsa King" star recalled that he later explained his reasoning to Trump. "I said thank you and ciao, because it’s impossible," Stallone said. "Hollywood works, and it will evolve." "It’s corporate, and corporate people won’t want to hear me tell them about finance," he added. In his original post on Jan. 16, 2025, Trump wrote, "It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California." "They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!" he continued. "These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!"

How David Ellison ended his stalemate with California

Earlier this month, there were few signs that California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison were moving any closer to resolving their differences. Paramount and the coalition of states Bonta was leading in an antitrust suit seeking to block the company’s $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery were having on and off settlement negotiations, but little progress had been made, according to people close to the discussions. The clock was ticking for Ellison. He had spent a year fighting for the merger and was staring down the prospect of costly fees the company had agreed to in order to clinch the deal. Paramount would have to pay $650 million a quarter to Warner shareholders, or $7 million a day, starting Oct. 1 if the deal wasn’t closed.

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Bonta was under pressure, too. Paramount, the studio behind “The Godfather” and “Titanic,” had threatened to leave its home state, which would be an economic and symbolic blow to a city already suffering from a leaner Hollywood. Paramount held talks with officials in Tennessee, people familiar with the discussions said. In conversations with the attorney general, California Gov. Gavin Newsom reiterated concerns that losing Paramount would hurt the state’s economic engine. Newsom was concerned Bonta would lose at trial and at times acted as an unofficial mediator between the two sides, people familiar with the matter said. Then, last week, Ellison made his biggest concession yet: to spend at least $1.5 billion more on domestic production over five years, people familiar with the offer said. He flew between Los Angeles and Northern California to meet with Bonta, his staff and other attorneys general to complete settlement terms, from the editorial independence of CBS and CNN to allocating money for entertainment worker benefits and the potential sale of cable channels.

Republican support for Trump’s handling of war in Iran shows cracks in new CNN poll

Americans’ opposition to the war in Iran has hardened, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with almost two-thirds saying the US is not winning the conflict and more saying President Donald Trump isn’t doing enough to end it. Americans have never held positive views about the war, and nearly seven months after it began, broad majorities say the conflict has hurt US interests, has not been worth the costs and that the president lacks a clear plan to handle it. The findings come as Trump prepares to address the United Nations and meet with Gulf leaders about the future of the Iran war. They also come as he is confronting a metastasizing crisis with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.

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Overall, 29% of US adults approve of Trump’s handling of foreign affairs, a new low in CNN polling across both of his terms as president, while 71% say they disapprove. More see his foreign policy decisions this term as harming America’s standing in the world rather than helping it. Only 26% say they approve of the president’s handling of the situation in Iran, down from 33% a month after the war began. Much of the decline in approval of his handling of Iran comes among Republicans. Views among Democrats and independents have been steadily negative throughout the conflict. In March, though, 73% of Republicans approved of the way Trump was handling it. Now, that figure stands at 60%. Among Republican and Republican-leaning adults, approval of Trump’s handling of Iran dips into negative territory among those younger than 45 (53% disapprove) and those who say they are not members of the Make America Great Again movement (54% disapprove). Republicans are also less positive now than they were earlier this year about the impact of Trump’s foreign policies more broadly: About half of Republicans now say that his decisions have helped the US’ standing in the world, down 13 points since March.

Democrats fume after Jared Golden endorses a Republican in a key race

Democrats are fuming at outgoing Rep. Jared Golden of Maine after he deepened the rift between himself and his party by endorsing a swing-district House Republican. In an op-ed published Monday, Golden endorsed Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) for reelection, calling him one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. It’s bad news for Democratic candidate Cait Conley, who is heavily backed by House Democrats’ campaign arm. Some Democrats were swift to condemn the choice. “Doesn’t sound like a Democrat to me. And his voting record doesn’t show he’s a Democrat either,” said one House Democrat who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Golden often votes with Republicans. Another said Golden was undercutting Conley.

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“It’s a winnable seat that he’s helping to make more difficult,” the second House Democrat told The Washington Sun. “Also what is he doing to help us elsewhere?” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement dismissive of Lawler, the endorsement and Golden, but did not say Golden would face any sort of punishment. A spokesperson also did not say whether the Maine congressman would face any consequences for breaking with the party. “Mike Lawler is a partisan hack and Trump sycophant who Cait Conley will defeat in November. In desperation, he is peddling an 11th hour endorsement from a retiring Congressmember who represents an out of town district more than 400 miles away,” Jeffries said. “This smoke and mirrors ploy will do nothing to change the outcome of the race. The election will be decided by the people of Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley.” Lawler’s seat is one of the most coveted by Democrats as they look to regain the majority in November. Golden is already on thin ice with the Democratic Party: In September alone, he helped advance two procedural votes with Republicans along with Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Washington). Golden is retiring, but Gluesenkamp Perez is still running for reelection.

Apartment landlords have a $2 trillion debt problem that is only getting worse

Few investors are feeling more pain from rising interest rates than America’s apartment landlords. These property owners face a bill of more than $1.8 trillion in debt over the next decade. From this year to 2028, about $757 billion of those loans are coming due, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That is the most of any commercial real-estate sector. Nearly $300 billion of those loans are maturing in 2026 alone. This follows a record-setting 2025, when $310 billion in loans came due, the highest the sector had seen in a single year since the Mortgage Bankers Association started tracking. Another $223 billion is due next year. Now, after the Federal Reserve raised rates a quarter point and with bond yields rising, that debt is about to become a much bigger burden. Landlords are having to refinance when borrowing rates are roughly twice the level of five years ago, when many of these loans were made.

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When apartment-mortgage rates tumbled to historic lows of around 3% in 2020 and 2021, multifamily buildings were the hottest investment in commercial real estate. Office and retail properties suffered after urban downtowns were hollowed out by remote work. The lodging business took a hit when travel activity drooped during the pandemic, while soaring operating costs and plunging occupancy rates caused hundreds of senior housing facilities to close. Apartment rents, meanwhile, were surging at double digits nationwide. Multifamily became a refuge for real-estate investors amid the doom spiral in other sectors. “There was a sense of relative euphoria,” said Mike Wolfson, Newmark’s managing director for multifamily capital-markets research. “But things turned very quickly.” New apartment construction flooded the market, mostly concentrated in the Sunbelt region. Cities such as Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta and Austin, Texas, were inundated with new luxury apartments and not enough people to fill them. Fast forward, many of the same apartment landlords riding high are now preparing to sell at a loss, hand back the keys to their lenders or reconfigure their balance sheets to shoulder millions more in mortgage payments after refinancing.

Trump heads into a week of diplomacy, hampered by a lack of allies

When President Donald Trump treks out to Joint Base Andrews to greet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, it will be as a leader who increasingly stands alone as he engages with his biggest geopolitical counterpart. A decade ago, Trump swept into his first term with a sharp approach to China. He abandoned years of a strategy in which Washington and its allies deepened trade with Beijing and hoped that greater political openness would follow. Trump said China was a strategic rival and needed to be confronted more directly, and Europe and other allies moved in his direction. In his second term, though, Trump has eased his rhetoric on China while setting his sights on allies. Canada is unsettled about his rhetoric about turning it into the 51st state.

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Europeans rushed troops to Greenland this year amid fears of a potential U.S. effort to take the Danish territory by force. Taiwan has worried about a possible shift in long-standing U.S. policy supporting it. Those allies have been forced to change their calculations about Washington. And as Trump has alternated between wooing Xi with trade deals and blasting him with tariffs, he has found few countries lining up to join him. Those strains will be very much at the center of attention as Trump dives into a week of international engagement capped by a day of meetings with Xi on Thursday. “We get along well. We’re doing very well with China,” Trump told reporters Friday. “I would say others maybe not so well, but we’re doing very well with China. And President Xi and I have a good relationship.” The diplomacy will begin in New York, where he is scheduled to speak Tuesday to the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

Mamdani and Trump advance giant housing plan in friendly Gracie Mansion meeting

Mayor Zohran Mamdani hosted President Donald Trump on Monday at Gracie Mansion, where they discussed funding for counterterrorism security and the planned Sunnyside Yard housing development, along with immigration enforcement. In a wide-ranging meeting convened by the mayor while the president was in New York City for the U.N. General Assembly, the pair focused on the city’s success — despite their differences. “Each time the president and I speak, it is about the same topics: how to improve the lives of New Yorkers and how to use the power of government to take on the cost of living crisis, to grow our economy and to build a better, stronger New York,” Mamdani said as he stood alongside Trump in the backyard of Gracie Mansion after their meeting.

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“I have said time and again that I will work with anyone, no matter what party they belong to, no matter how much we may disagree on other topics,” the mayor said. The president praised New York’s democratic socialist mayor, saying he’s “off to a start” toward being a “great” mayor. They acknowledged their differences, particularly over immigration. During their meeting, which was also attended by the mayor’s and president’s chiefs of staff, Trump agreed to ramp up consultations about funding for Sunnyside Yard, which could bring up to 12,000 new homes built over a 190-acre Queens railyard. “We’ve agreed to set up a new level of that conversation between our housing and operations team at City Hall and the White House team,” Mamdani said. The project, Trump said, is “going to need a lot of federal approvals and probably some federal money to do it. But it’s always been a great location.”

Copyright September 22, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved