August 31, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Cruz dismisses Cornyn’s warnings that Paxton is ‘lazy’ and a ‘poor campaigner’

Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday dismissed fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s increasingly dire warnings about Republican Ken Paxton’s campaign, saying the criticism came from “hurt feelings” over their bitter primary. Cruz predicted Paxton will defeat Democrat James Talarico in November, even as polls show a close race and Cornyn refuses to use his formidable fundraising network to help his former rival. “I understand their hurt feelings,” Cruz said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “That is human nature.”

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The race could help determine control of the Senate, where Republicans are defending their majority. Cruz predicted his party would keep control, saying a Democratic-led Congress would bring investigations, subpoenas and “nonstop impeachment circus” targeting President Donald Trump. Cornyn, who lost the GOP primary runoff to Paxton by nearly 28 percentage points, said last week that Paxton has not built a strong general election campaign. Cornyn called the Senate race “close” and potentially “disastrous” for Republicans in November. “Paxton’s a poor campaigner,” Cornyn told The Texas Tribune. “He’s lazy and doesn’t raise money. And he basically is not offering a very compelling case for his election.” Asked by moderator Kristen Welker whether he agreed with that assessment, Cruz said the remarks reflected lingering “hurt feelings.” “Primaries can often be bitter. …That’s part of the process,” Cruz said. He did not directly address Cornyn’s complaints about Paxton’s campaigning and fundraising. He instead described Paxton as “a strong conservative” who would support low taxes, fewer regulations, border security, law enforcement and constitutional rights. “This is not about how any one particular person feels about any one particular candidate,” Cruz said. “This is about the people of Texas.”

‘This is an all-out war’: Inside the casino industry’s fight to stop prediction markets

It’s been a rough summer on the Strip. In addition to sizzling 115-degree days, Las Vegas’ famous resorts and casinos are plodding through a tourism slump. This year, a new and possibly existential threat has emerged: the meteoric rise of prediction markets. Prediction platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket – where users wager on sports, politics, culture, and the weather – have transformed from a niche space for superfans to a seemingly ubiquitous multibillion-dollar industry. With the Trump administration’s blessing, these startups are structured as financial markets for trading, not casinos or sportsbooks for gambling. Under this system, prediction companies bypass state gaming boards and instead get licensed by an obscure federal commodity regulator to offer “event contracts.”

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This setup also means they aren’t taxed like gambling, which generated nearly $18 billion in revenue for states last year. Analysts blame Vegas’ slowdown on rising consumer costs, not prediction sites. But the casinos aren’t taking chances. They mobilized for “all-out war,” and have now become a driving force in the nationwide fight to rein in prediction markets, according to nearly 20 sources who spoke with CNN. “A couple nerds came up with this idea to avoid paying taxes,” says Derek Stevens, who owns three Vegas casinos and Circa Sports, with sportsbooks in seven states. “Just because they’re shrewd doesn’t mean they should be exempt from the law. These are thieves. They’re pirates. They’re marauders.” The anti-prediction campaign picked up momentum this summer. A casino-backed lawsuit secured the most consequential courtroom victory yet for prediction opponents. On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that states can regulate prediction platforms as gambling, siding with Nevada officials and an association of Vegas casinos.

How Trump’s policy agenda runs through one federal court, in Texas

President Trump’s Justice Department had a problem. Judge after judge was rejecting its demands that hospitals across the country turn over internal records of transgender care provided to children. By the end of April, federal judges in Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Seattle had either quashed or substantially pared back the administration’s demands that hospitals send patient records to the federal government. But the administration did not give up. Instead, in April, it went to the Northern District of Texas’ Fort Worth courthouse, where nearly all cases go directly to the district’s chief judge, Reed O’Connor, or a second judge, Mark T. Pittman, who was appointed by Mr. Trump. There were no hospitals in Texas that offered the transgender care at issue — state lawmakers banned gender-affirming care for minors in Texas in 2023. But the Justice Department asked the Texas court to enforce a subpoena to the Rhode Island Hospital, arguing that its nationwide investigation of such medical care was “being carried out in the Northern District of Texas.”

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That was enough for Judge O’Connor, an appointee of President George W. Bush who has built a reputation as a conservative stalwart and became the district’s chief judge last August. He granted the motion, clearing the way for the hospital to turn over a variety of personal data, including the names and Social Security numbers of minors who had received treatment. “The subpoena’s demands are reasonable,” he wrote. Most of the country’s 94 district courts assign cases randomly across all of their judges. Northern Texas, where Judge O’Connor sits, does things its own way. It assigns cases to judges based on the courthouse within the district where the lawsuit is initially filed. Some courthouses are staffed by just one or two judges, meaning litigants can easily engage in “judge shopping” — filing their case in a particular courthouse and knowing to a certainty or near-certainty which judge will decide it. In four of Northern Texas’ seven courthouses, one judge appointed by Mr. Trump hears all of the cases. In a fifth courthouse, all the cases go to Judge O’Connor. In a sixth — Fort Worth — 90 percent of the caseload is split between Judge O’Connor and Judge Pittman. Of the district’s nine active-status judges, eight were appointed by Republican presidents — six of them by Mr. Trump. There are other districts in the country where more of the judges are Trump appointees, but very few assign cases the way Northern Texas does. And most fall outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, widely considered to be the country’s most conservative appellate court, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

How Trump's beef plan, tariffs risk alienating farmers, GOP voters

Matt Ubel, a farmer based in rural Wheaton, Kansas, says that high diesel and fertilizer prices driven by the war in Iran were already hurting his bottom line. Now, he says he expects his profit margins will take another hit after President Donald Trump approved a temporary lift on tariffs for foreign inputs of 300,000 metric tons of beef to take effect in September. "This wasn't about making cheaper groceries for the American people," Ubel told ABC News. "They need to invest in their farmers -- not import beef from other countries. They need to make farming sustainable here in the United States."

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Ubel, the vice president of the Kansas Farmers Union who is also running for Pottawatomie County commissioner, cares for some 120 cattle. His frustrations reflect the ways Trump's trade policies could complicate GOP messaging on affordability just months out from the November midterms as Republicans fight to maintain control of Congress. Ubel said he voted for former President Barack Obama in 2012, but went for Trump in the last three presidential elections. Some districts in agriculturally dominant states with the largest volume of cattle sales are the most competitive this election cycle, U.S. Department of Agriculture data from 2022 shows. Those include Kansas and Nebraska, but also Iowa -- home to a highly contested gubernatorial race and a slate of congressional races -- and Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, which could help determine control of Congress. The White House defended Trump's move, saying it's about both short-term and long-term needs. "The U.S. beef market is currently grappling with insufficient supply to meet consumer demand, and the President’s action is helping meet short-term beef needs while the Administration works with American ranchers to expand domestic production and grow the American cattle herd, which is currently at a multi-decade low," said Kush Desai, a spokesman for the White House.

State Stories

Sandbranch fire supression continued after initial containment

Late Sunday afternoon, in sweltering 99 degree heat, firefighters were still working to suppress smoky hotspots and lingering flames from a brush fire that was initially contained the night before in Sandbranch, an unincorporated Dallas County community with no fire hydrants or water infrastructure. A massive fire burned for roughly three hours in a section behind the residential streets filled with two vacant trailers and other debris before it was contained around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, said Dallas County Fire Marshal assistant chief Michael Barber. Crews from about 15 volunteer, municipal and county fire departments responded to or hauled water into the area Saturday, including from hydrants two miles away near the Southside Wastewater Treatment Plant.

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There were no injuries or fatalities in the blaze that covered 10 acres of land, said Jason Evans, spokesperson for Dallas Fire Rescue, which responded for the county as mutual aid but led in equipment and personnel. Sandbranch, a rural, impoverished pocket of roughly 80 residents in campers and aged homes, has never had running water, sewer or fire hydrants despite nonprofits and volunteers working on solutions for years. Residents were allowed back to their homes after being evacuated the night before, but the day-long ordeal underscored residents’ ongoing push for water. While Dallas Fire Rescue worked to quell lingering flames Sunday afternoon, resident Christina Parks stood in a neighbor’s backyard on Burns Drive and poured water from gallon jugs on a small, smoky flame threatening to creep up the tree line separating the fire scene and the residential block. “I didn’t sleep last night because of these hotspots,” Parks said. “My mind is distraught.”

Talarico, Simmons speak against proposal to cut almost a 3rd of Tarrant County voting sites

Tarrant County could slash 92 voting sites for November's midterm Election Day, raising concerns from democratic county commissioners and state Rep. James Talarico. Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons and Talarico, the democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, held a press conference outside the University of Texas at Arlington's Mavericks Activity Center on Sunday, a former voting location. It comes as a proposed map for November's election includes 224 locations, cutting almost a third of the 316 sites used during the 2022 midterm elections. Three early voting sites would also be slashed. Talarico told reporters cutting these sites could cause longer commutes, longer lines and lower voter turnout on election day. "We're here fighting for the rights of everybody," Talarico said. "The problem is when we let voting rights become a partisan issue. That's when we walk down a very dangerous path in this country."

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Simmons said county leaders should be figuring out how to make voting easier for a county as big as Tarrant County — the 3rd most populous county in Texas. "Dropping 92 Election Day polling places is crazy," Simmons said. "We should not compare this proposal to the worst proposal. We should compare it to access that Tarrant County voters actually had in 2022." The new proposed cuts come after commissioners unanimously agreed to table their vote on Election Day sites during this month's meeting. Nearly half of all voting sites were proposed to be cut, sparking outrage from several residents and disapproval from all commissioners during August's meeting. Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig, who proposed both maps, said during August's meeting the proposed map was made without any input from commissioners after residents accused Republican commissioners of coordinating the cuts and attempting to suppress voters, which they all denied.

Penske Media acquires full ownership of SXSW

The South by Southwest festival is now fully corporate-owned. Penske Media Corp. announced on Aug. 28 that it acquired a 100% ownership stake in SXSW. Previously, the Los Angeles- and New York City-based media company owned a 50% stake in SXSW, which it acquired in 2021. That was after the festival faced significant financial pressure due to the 2020 iteration being cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Penske bought its initial stake from SXSW LLC, which was led by the festival's founders. Penske's full acquisition of SXSW marks the end of local ownership for the beloved and iconic festival that was founded in 1987 by Roland Swenson, Nick Barbaro, Louis Jay Meyers and Louis Black. It was born as a music festival and a way to provide a boost to Austin’s clubs and music scene during spring break, which used to be a slow period for the city.

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“Premium live experiences are central to Penske Media’s future, and we are thrilled to increase our stake in SXSW, and provide the company with further backing and together write the most expansive chapter in its history,” Jay Penske, chairman and CEO of Penske Media, said in a statement. The announcement didn’t share how much Penske Media paid for the full ownership of SXSW. Penske Media didn’t immediately respond to questions on the announcement. The company also operates several other high-profile media brands, such as The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Variety. Penske Media said SXSW’s headquarters will remain in Austin and the festival will “continue to be led from Austin, with a focus on preserving the deep community relationships that have long defined the event.” SXSW has been looking for a CEO for several months.

Texas hemp businesses say new delta-8 rules leave them facing raids, uncertainty

Saying a decision could exceed her authority, a judge has delayed ruling on a request by four Texas companies for a restraining order to keep the state from enforcing new rules on the sale of hemp-derived products. State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said during an emergency hearing in Austin that she could not immediately decide whether the temporary restrictions would be appropriate given the technical nature of a consumable hemp market that already has been the subject of Texas Supreme Court rulings, state agency statements and law enforcement actions. “I don’t think a district court judge is allowed to do that,” she said Friday. “That sounds like I’m rulemaking. That’s my problem.”

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The four companies that filed the suit — San Antonio, Dallas and Rio Grande Valley firms that produce, distribute and sell hemp products — said they are not trying to relitigate the law or earlier court decisions. Rather, they argue the state overstepped with rules that expanded the list of barred substances beyond what the Legislature intended. Their suit comes after the state in late March began enforcing new rules that changed how delta-9 THC is measured in hemp products. The state separately classifies concentrated manufactured delta-8 THC as a Schedule I controlled substance. The new schedule was challenged in court but eventually allowed by the Texas Supreme Court to go into effect July 31. The testing regimen and enforcement standard, the companies say, endanger their businesses. “People are being raided on a regular basis, including in Dallas and San Antonio, based on the term ‘trace amounts’ and no one knows what trace amounts mean,” attorney David Sergi said during Friday’s hearing. The confusion stems from the fact that while the state has barred delta-8 products, trace amounts of delta-8 occur naturally in other THC products that are still legal. The state says more than trace amounts of delta-8 THC can be considered illegal, and products and sellers can be referred to law enforcement.

As Texans’ electricity costs soar and temperatures rise, a public health crisis brews

When Alek Micklethwait received his electricity bill in May, he was stunned. It was $545, more than double what his family had been paying during cooler weather, since moving into a 1,600-square-foot home in Central Texas last September. It must be a mistake, he thought. But it wasn’t. Micklethwait, who lives with his fiancée and her grandmother, was left wondering how they would afford to pay it, along with their mortgage, car insurance, groceries, gas, and a growing pile of medical bills. But they would have to figure it out. Getting disconnected wasn’t an option. Micklethwait’s fiancée has a heart disease, inappropriate sinus tachycardia, a rare disorder that causes her heart rate to exceed 100 beats per minute while resting. When she gets too warm, her heart pumps faster, adding stress to an already racing organ. So they set the thermostat between 70 and 75 degrees.

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Facing unaffordable electricity bills, yet needing consistent air conditioning, Micklethwait called their electricity provider, Chariot Energy, hoping the private company would work out a deal with them. “We were told they don’t offer any discounts,” he said, “not even for low-income, seniors, disabled or military customers — nothing.” Electricity costs are rising across the country, but in Texas, which leads the nation in disconnections for nonpayment, these costs have risen on average by 30% since 2020. It’s the sharpest rise in rates in the country and an upward trend that is expected to continue. Texas is unique in that it runs its own grid in a largely deregulated market that rewards scarcity, not reliability. Power companies make higher profits when supply is low and demand is high. And surging demand, largely driven by data centers and other industries, has left residential electric customers footing rising bills. On August 4, Gov. Greg Abbott blamed public utilities for rising electricity costs, calling out Austin and San Antonio’s. Abbott offered a solution: Invite private providers to compete with public utilities, of which there are 72 in Texas. Increased competition, he said, would lower costs. But an investigation by Public Health Watch found that Texans like Micklethwait and his family, who live in deregulated markets, paid more on average — sometimes significantly more.

San Antonio storm recovery: Two deaths investigated as outages and cleanup continue, some schools adjust Monday plans

San Antonio police said Sunday they are investigating two deaths related to Friday night’s severe storm. In one incident, two people were caught in rushing water in San Pedro Creek north of downtown. One made it out safely. The other, a 46-year-old woman, was found dead Saturday night after emergency crews searched the area. Acting Police Chief Jesse Salame said the medical examiner is reviewing the circumstances of her death, which is being investigated as a drowning. Police are also investigating a possible drowning involving a man in his 50s who was found at Woodlawn Park Sunday morning. Recovery efforts continued Sunday as crews cleared storm damage and CPS Energy worked to restore electricity.

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As of 11:00 p.m. Sunday, 6,030 customers remained without power, down from tens of thousands on Saturday and 112,000 at the height of the storm. City and CPS Energy crews reported significant progress Sunday, including more than 100 downed wires repaired overnight, 290 fallen trees removed or picked up, and 82 traffic signals restored. City officials extended resilience hubs, which offer cooling, power, device charging, Wi-Fi, basic supplies, medication refrigeration and space for pets, until at least noon Monday. VIA continued offering free rides to the hubs. The city also announced extra garbage collection Monday in two storm-affected neighborhoods and extended its waiver of brush-disposal fees through Saturday, Sept. 5. Meals and cold water were being provided Sunday at the San Juan Brady Center, 2307 S. Calaveras St. Our Lady of the Lake University canceled Monday classes and closed its San Antonio campus because of storm-related outages, damage and cleanup. The university said it will announce by 3 p.m. Monday whether campus operations and classes will resume Tuesday. San Antonio College said it will be open Monday.

Third witness to fatal Houston ICE shooting released from federal custody

The third witness of the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at the hands of federal agents was released from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention Sunday morning, according to his attorney. Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo, the deceased's brother, was in the passenger seat during the shooting and was detained the same day, July 7, alongside two other witnesses, Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego. Tirado and Pliego have already been released under orders from two federal judges.

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"It’s just been so wonderful – a lot of different emotions when I first heard it might be happening," his attorney, Ruby Powers, said. "So I first didn’t believe it, and then when I received an email from ICE that I knew it was real, so then it was about making sure he got out physically as soon as possible." Ronaldo Salgado, Lorenzo’s son, shared on social media the family reunited with Victor just before noon. “Today is a key step in justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo,” Ronaldo wrote. Powers told Houston Public Media the exact reason behind Victor's release was unclear. "I don’t know what was the final thing that made it happen, but I don’t have a judge’s order or any definitive answer on what it was," Powers said. "I don’t have a definitive answer as to what was the final straw."

Corpus Christi withholds water to wetlands while lifting restrictions on lawns

Environmental regulators in Texas issued an emergency order on Tuesday evening suspending requirements for the drought-stricken city of Corpus Christi to release water from its reservoir system in support of coastal wetlands. On the same day, Corpus Christi lifted restrictions on watering lawns that had been in place since 2024, when its reservoirs remained below critical levels until a dramatic rebound in July. “The city has chosen lawns over the bay,” said Larry McKinney, a former senior director of aquatic resources for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who lives in Corpus Christi. “Without freshwater inflows, the bay becomes basically a giant sewage treatment pond.” The emergency suspension of requirements for environmental flows is the latest episode in a fight over water that has consumed Corpus Christ, an industrial hub on the semi-arid South Texas coast, during years of intensifying drought.

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Corpus Christi hasn’t released water into the Nueces River Delta and Nueces Bay since 2024 while its reservoirs remained below 30 percent full, the trigger point for environmental flows established in a 2001 administrative order by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Epic rainfall in July refilled the Nueces River reservoirs above 40 percent, but Corpus Christi delayed releasing water and requested a suspension of the rule. “Without emergency relief, Applicants could be required to release as much as [11.9 billion gallons] of inflows,” the city wrote. The TCEQ granted Corpus Christi’s request on Tuesday, suggesting that the region’s water crisis isn’t over yet. “Although the reservoir system is above recent lows, long-term data and weather forecasts suggest a return to critical levels is foreseeable,” wrote TCEQ Executive Director Kelly Keel in the Aug. 25 emergency order. “The region is not expected to experience relief from persistent drought conditions and drought conditions are expected to worsen.” If below-average rainfall continues, reservoirs could fall back below 30 percent in April next year, said Corpus Christi Water Chief Operating Officer Nick Winkelmann in a presentation to City Council on Tuesday. Regardless, the city opted to lift restrictions limiting automatic sprinkler system use to once weekly, which had been in place since March 2024. “Why do we have to let the residents suffer? They want to water their grass,” said City Council member Eric Cantu at a City Council meeting last week. “Let them water their grass.”

County treasurers, tax assessors ask Texas lawmakers for guidance on the end of penny production

They can be found hidden between couch cushions, littered in car ashtrays, and if you’re lucky, one may even be facing heads up on the street. The penny — that bronze-colored coin emblazoned with the nation’s 16th President — will soon become a relic. Last year the U.S. Department of Treasury directed the U.S. Mint to suspend the production of new pennies indefinitely because of cost. It cost more than three times the worth of a penny to produce and distribute it, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Mint. Soon pennies will drop in demand and fall out of circulation, no longer in cash registers across the country. Private companies have adapted to the change and are either rounding up or down to the nearest nickel when someone pays in cash at checkout.

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But the suspension of penny production has produced a headache for local government officials who are dealing with cash transactions with Texans. Some county tax assessors and treasurers shared their concerns with Texas lawmakers during a sparsely-attended subcommittee hearing in mid-August. “It’s not necessarily a payment issue,” Ronnie Keister, the Lubbock County tax assessor, testified. “It’s a change issue.” Texans can still make cash payments to local government entities for things like car payments, fines and fees, and property taxes. But if you overpay, even by a penny, government entities in Texas must make change for you. For example, Keister, who said a taxpayer overpaying by even two cents can become a relatively expensive and drawn-out procedure. The Texas property tax code requires the county to send a letter to the taxpayer to notify them they are entitled to a refund. “Now for two pennies, we have to send a letter that’s going to cost us several dollars,” Keister said. “A surprisingly large number of residents still utilize cash transactions,” Travis County Treasurer Dolores Ortega Carter testified. According to Ortega Carter, 19% of all property tax payments made to her county last year were made in cash. The local government officials who testified to lawmakers said the Texas Constitution requires them to make exact change on cash transactions.

Austin retains No. 5 ranking for tech talent as AI specialists reach 17% of workforce

When tech companies and venture firms talk about Austin, the city's pipeline of tech talent is almost always among the first attributes mentioned. And with good reason. Austin retained, for the third year in a row, its No. 5 ranking among cities in the U.S. and Canada, according to the 2026 CBRE Scoring Tech Talent report. The Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto and New York were ahead of us. Washington, D.C., took the No. 6 spot. The report showed the metro had about 103,000 tech workers in 2025, a roughly 10% increase since 2022. It also showed tech talent accounts for 8% of the city's total employment. That's an outsized share. The U.S. and Canada average is 5.5%. Of local tech workers, 17% specialize in AI, which puts us just behind the Bay Area (26%), Seattle (20%), Boston (17%) and New York (17%).

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Woman dies at Tarrant County Jail — the 6th jail death this year

A woman has died at the Tarrant County Jail this weekend — marking the 6th death at the county jail this year. Gemma Leigh Swingle, 36, died at the county jail Saturday at 2:19 a.m., according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's website. Her cause and manner of death were pending as of Sunday. KERA News reached out to the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office and will update this story with any response. Swingle was booked into Tarrant County Jail Aug. 25 on a prostitution charge, court records show. The Haltom City Police Department is investigating her death, according to the medical examiner's website. There's been more than 80 jail deaths since 2017 when Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office. The county jail and sheriff's office have faced increased scrutiny over jail deaths this year, demanding more accountability and details surrounding other deaths this year.

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Ed Kilgore: Plenty of states have flipped. Texas could too.

(Ed Kilgore has been a political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015.) For a data-driven number cruncher of the highest order, Nate Silver is refreshingly honest in admitting his skepticism about the Senate candidacy of Texas Democrat James Talarico is a “gut” hunch that may even reflect a bit of superstition. In a piece this week, Silver went through all the reasons his election model rates Talarico as a slight favorite over Republican Ken Paxton and refuted some misconceptions about the Texas Senate race (e.g., that recent Democratic Senate losers like Beto O’Rourke did just as well in polls as Talarico). “Would I still be surprised if Talarico carries Texas a few months from now? Absolutely,” Silver concluded. “I just don’t know that you ought to give that gut feeling much weight.” This is a common feeling among political observers and, particularly, Democrats. In recent years, the prospect of turning Texas blue has seemed tantalizingly close yet always just out of reach.

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Democrats can’t help but keep hoping as the state is so large (with 40 electoral votes) and so significant both economically and culturally. And there are many aspects of Texas demography, with the state’s rapidly growing and very diverse big cities and suburbs, that suggest a brighter future for the Democratic Party. Recent Republican success among Texas Latinos probably isn’t sustainable. And the Texas GOP’s steady slide into extremism on issues like abortion and public education will alienate many swing voters. But the fact remains that no Democrat has won a governor’s race in Texas since 1990 or a Senate race there since 1988. No Democratic presidential candidate has carried Texas since 1976, when a lot of white conservatives still identified as Democrats and were especially attracted to Southern Baptist Jimmy Carter of Georgia. Is this the year all that changes, and is James Talarico the candidate to push open a door long closed to members of his party? It’s good to remember that the political stereotypes we carry around in our heads about particular states can become out of date very quickly. Iowa and Ohio, for example, were among the preeminent dead-even swing states of the early 21st century. Then in 2016 Donald Trump carried Iowa by 9 percent and Ohio by 8, and we’ve come to see them as red states (albeit red states where Democrats could win some key races in 2026).

National Stories

The House is back in session. Many Republicans hope it won’t be for long.

House GOP leaders could also put a Senate-passed Russian sanctions bill on the floor before the end of the month, though it is unclear whether it can pass. Many House Democrats — including Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the party’s leader on the Foreign Affairs Committee — believe the bill would give too much authority to Trump. But with many other House priorities currently in Senate limbo, there could be little incentive for members to hang around to wait to see if the Senate will act once it returns Sept. 14 for a brief three-week session. House Republicans rushed before their summer recess to adopt a budget blueprint for a fresh party-line spending package, but it’s currently stuck across the Capitol amid competing demands from defense hawks, fiscal conservatives and some GOP senators who aren’t convinced another such bill is needed at all.

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Senate Republicans don’t expect the budget measure to be brought to the floor before the election, according to five people granted anonymity to disclose private discussions. House Republicans appear to be acknowledging that reality. When asked if he was confident the Senate would take up a third reconciliation bill, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) told reporters this month that “‘confident’ is probably the wrong word.” Instead, the Senate is expected to focus in September on confirming Trump’s nominees and holding a vote on cryptocurrency legislation, as well as trying to advance a bill to overhaul college athletics and the Senate version of the farm bill. Some House Republicans, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer, have been trying to build public pressure on the Senate to pass the crypto bill known as the Clarity Act for months. But a mid-September vote on that measure is likely to fail. And while negotiations continue over the Senate’s college sports bill, a bill on the same topic in the House has stalled out, giving lawmakers little reason to stay to see if a Senate deal comes together. As for the farm bill, the House passed its version earlier this year largely along party lines, while the Senate version failed to advance in committee earlier this month due to GOP absences and Democratic opposition. Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.)said he plans to try again in September.

Trump calls for NBC’s Kristen Welker to face ‘rebuke or punishment’ from the FCC

Treating the Federal Communications Commission like his own personal enforcer, President Donald Trump said on social media Sunday that NBC’s Kristen Welker would be “reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment” over a TV segment he didn’t like. In a separate post, Trump complained in all caps about “fake polls” and said “something must be done about it,” adding, “FCC to the rescue!” The posts were Trump’s most explicit efforts yet to direct the FCC to carry out his wishes. FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee and close ally, did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the matter. Trump posted a long missive Sunday about what he described as mischaracterizations of his endorsement record in primaries.

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He wrote: “Kristen Welker, the Unpopular ‘Hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press, now considered Meet the Fake Press, just stated that Donald Trump has ‘mixed results’ on his Endorsements of Candidates, when the recent WINS of Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei, stand at 100% for the U.S. Senate, and 98% for the U.S. House, recently and over the longterm. How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?” The FCC has limited power over issues like this, and its own website states the agency “cannot prevent the broadcast of any particular point of view,” so the notion of “punishment” for Welker, the moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” would historically be a nonstarter. But Carr has been quick to respond to Trump’s requests to go after media organizations. And he has taken aggressive action against some FCC licensees, particularly ABC, whose parent company, Disney, filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the commission earlier this month.

JD Vance set to address Jewish conservatives, as some Jews in GOP share concerns about his recent Israel remarks

Vice President JD Vance is set to address a major gathering of Jewish conservatives on Monday, with some Jews in the GOP raising concerns that the vice president is breaking with them on Israel -- and others saying his attendance at the event is a positive sign. Vance is set to speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) annual leadership summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, just hours after a campaign stop in Michigan. But while the RJC is staunchly supportive of Israel, the vice president has made sharp and skeptical comments toward Israel in recent months, contrasting with the party faithful's traditionally supportive line toward the Jewish state.

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While delivering a press briefing in the White House in June, for instance, as the United States was working on a deal to pause the war started by the U.S. and Israel with Iran, Vance told reporters that he had seen Israeli Cabinet members criticize the deal and would tell them that "Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time ... If I was in the Cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world." In a later interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Vance also said that "there are some people" in the Israeli government "we know beyond a shadow of a doubt who are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitel. ... what I would say to the Americans who sort of see this and are frustrated by it, my attitude would be: you should be frustrated at American leaders who are persuaded by this, affected by this." Vance also said other governments run similar influence campaigns. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later told ABC News he spoke with Vance about those comments "and I think we straightened that out because we're not. That's not our policy."

Meet the ex-Republicans running as Democrats in the midterms

Democrats have struggled to win over Republican voters in recent elections. This year, some Democratic candidates argue they can change that — because they were once Republicans. These party switchers say that they have unique insight into the concerns of voters distrustful of party politics, as well as those who feel they have no real home in either party, and that this knowledge will give them an edge in the upcoming midterm elections. “It is a big tent, right?” said Nancy Lacore, who is looking to flip Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R) seat in South Carolina and who left the GOP for the Democrats a decade ago. “There is room … in there for everybody.” There are at least three Democratic House candidates running in this year’s general election that are former registered Republicans.

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While the phenomenon isn’t new, in a midterm year where President Donald Trump’s popularity is slipping among some Republican and independent voters, it is indicative of what polling suggests is broader dissatisfaction with partisan politics. In past cycles, party switchers sometimes have struggled in general elections. But Democrats hope that Lacore and other ex-Republicans such as former TV anchor Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania and Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett in New Jersey can help their party win in districts where the odds are against them — and perhaps, in the case of Florida gubernatorial candidate David Jolly, manage to find a way to take a statewide seat that has eluded them for decades. Part of the hope is that these party-switching candidates can reach Republicans who, like they did, have soured on Trump. Lacore, who left the GOP in 2016, said she constantly runs into voters at Democratic events who go up to her and say, “I [am] a former Republican, too.”

Summer a ‘near lock’ to become warmest and most humid across U.S.

This summer has broken so many temperature records that each new one can feel almost routine. But the biggest record of all may be about to fall. Five out the 10 warmest summers on record in the contiguous United States have occurred in the past decade, pushed along by the tailwind of climate change. And summer 2026 is on track to not only join that list but to surpass the country’s average temperature record set during the notoriously hot Dust Bowl summer of 1936 — during a deadly, multiyear period of drought, dust storms and extreme heat that unfolded in the 1930s.

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This year, average temperatures from June 1 to Aug. 29 have been around 2.05 degrees Fahrenheit above average across the contiguous states, nudging 2026 just beyond what was experienced in 1936 — and the highest, considering records dating back to 1895. “Remember that summer 1936 was fairly cool globally, even by the standards of the day. There was one notable exception,” said Alaska-based climate scientist Brian Brettschneider, who described it as a “near lock” that summer 2026 in the contiguous U.S. would finish as the warmest on record. Brettschneider also mentioned the scorching summer of 1976 in Britain — a benchmark against which hot, dry summers are measured there, including the current one — as an example of extreme regional heat that’s meaningful to the locals but that didn’t translate to extreme heat across the globe. In the U.S., one of this summer’s most consequential trends unfolded while most people slept. Nighttime temperatures smashed records, reaching their highest levels — 2.37 degrees above average — across the U.S. as a whole, on track to beat the previous record set in 2021 by almost half a degree.

Dolly Parton laid to rest in private Nashville burial

Dolly Parton was laid to rest in a private burial in Nashville on Friday, three days after the country music legend died at age 80. Parton's niece Lainey Mae Parton shared news of the burial Saturday in an emotional social media post remembering her aunt. "This is a really hard post for me to make. I wanted to wait until after my granny was laid to rest yesterday before I tried to put any of this into words," she wrote in an Instagram post alongside photos of Parton. "From the time I was little, my granny always had a way of making me feel like I was enough," she continued. "She believed in me before I even knew how to believe in myself."

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Google Maps changes Lake Ontario's name to 'Lake America' for US users

Google has updated its maps application to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for users in the United States, reflecting a recent order by President Donald Trump that changed the name of the lake, the global technology giant says. Ontario Premier Doug Ford answered President Donald Trump’s “Lake America” decree Saturday with a billboard-sized message on the Canadian shoreline — “Lake Ontario. Now and Always” — as Canadian leaders met the move with ridicule rather than outrage. The Google Maps update comes days after Trump’s order amid an escalating trade war with Canada that has led both countries to impose billions of dollars in added tariffs on each other’s goods. It echoes what Google did in 2025 when Trump issued an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

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Google said in a blog post Saturday that the decision was based on its practice of using names assigned by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, also known as GNIS. “People using Maps in the U.S. will see ‘Lake America,’ those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario,’ and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names,” Google said in a brief statement. “These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now.” Trump’s decision Thursday to rename the lake was met with mockery and indifference in both Canada and the United States. On Saturday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to Trump’s order with a billboard-sized message on the Canadian shore: “Lake Ontario. Now and forever.” The White House, the office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ford’s office did not immediately comment Sunday ?on Google’s decision.

Copyright August 31, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved