November 25, 2025: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Tornado leaves path of destruction across northwest Harris County

A line of strong storms moved through the Houston area on Monday, causing damage to several structures and setting off a string of Tornado Warnings. A Tornado Watch was in effect Monday for most of the Houston area and Southeast Texas. It was cancelled around 10:15 p.m. At one point, while the storms were passing through, CenterPoint's outage tracker reported more than 27,000 customers without power. There was also a ground stop issued at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. A string of Tornado Warnings went off beginning around 11:30 a.m. and lasted through 2:15 p.m. A storm spotter reported a funnel cloud in northwest Harris County that touched the ground as a weak tornado.

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KHOU 11 Chief Meteorologist David Paul said there were several photos and videos of a funnel cloud in the area on Monday afternoon, but it didn't appear to have touched down to the ground. Paul said the funnel cloud appeared to be at "tree-top level," which caused substantial damage. Paul said he believes we could have had an EF-0 or EF-1 funnel cloud that never touched the ground. A Klein Fire Department official said a tornado seemed to touch down around the Hooks Airport area. They said it went down Stuebner Airline and crossed over the Klein FD administration building, causing damage to a fence, a trailer and other structures. A Klein Fire Department deputy chief said the storms took down several "heavily rooted trees" that ended up blocking roads in the area. One house sustained heavy damage, while others had minor damage. Officials said it happened between 1:40 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. and there were no reports of injuries as of about 3 p.m. Several traffic signals were out in the area, and officials warned people to avoid the area.

Fed Chair Powell’s allies provide opening for December rate cut

Allies of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have laid the groundwork for him to push a rate cut through a divided committee at next month’s meeting even though it could draw multiple dissents. The unusual level of division inside the Fed means that, to an even greater degree than usual, the final call rests with Powell. To negotiate these stark divisions, Powell is likely to weigh two approaches, each with drawbacks. The first: cut rates, as markets now expect, and use the exquisitely negotiated postmeeting statement to signal a higher bar for further reductions. This “cut then hold” approach would mirror what Powell did in late 2019 when, like now, three cuts met meaningful resistance from his colleagues. This option would also likely trigger objections from officials who don’t support any cut. But it could end the soap opera of officials airing their disagreements in public by stitching together a new consensus that further cuts aren’t warranted if recent conditions persist.

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The alternative is to hold rates steady and reassess in January, when officials will have more of the employment and inflation data that was suspended by a federal government shutdown. But that approach could prolong the public discord for another seven weeks, with no guarantee the additional data will resolve the underlying disagreements. The divide reflects economic crosscurrents that have split the committee more than at any point in Powell’s nearly eight-year tenure: Job growth is stagnating but inflation is uncomfortably elevated, which carries a whiff of what economists call stagflation. Because the labor market is cooling but not collapsing and inflation is neither accelerating nor improving meaningfully, “it’s hard to declare victory” on either side, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said in an interview last week. Powell’s decision depends on what he considers the greater risk, and which would be harder to fix if he is wrong. Two consecutive cuts brought rates down to a range between 3.75% and 4% last month to guard against the risks of softening job-market conditions, even as inflation has run closer to 3% than the Fed’s 2% goal.

Trump’s perilous path on health care

President Donald Trump appeared ready to roll out a health care proposal intended to address an imminent Obamacare subsidy cliff — a sign the White House is eager to avoid the political blowback that would likely result from a sharp rise in health care premiums. But the White House’s decision to press pause on the rollout Monday just as quickly as they floated it underscores how difficult it’ll be, especially at this late stage, to get a bill over the finish line. The fact that the White House was even seriously working on a plan caught Hill Republicans by surprise when news of it leaked on Sunday. By Monday morning, the White House was preparing to unveil the proposal — before eventually backtracking amid resistance from conservatives and a general sense among Republicans that the White House was mismanaging the issue. It’s now unclear when — or even whether — the plan could see the light of day.

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The proposal, detailed below, amounts to a pared-back short-term extension of the Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits, the issue Democrats latched onto as they forced the longest government shutdown in history. During that shutdown, Republican leaders in both chambers said repeatedly that they didn’t support extending the subsidies despite modest support within the GOP rank-and-file. The plan, though, mirrors what some GOP senators, most notably Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), were privately pitching to Trump last week as a way to buy time for a larger health care fix and, simultaneously, prevent politically damaging premium hikes in the near-term, as we scooped. Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.) — all of whom voted to end the shutdown — issued statements welcoming Trump’s push. Shaheen, for example, called it “a serious proposal to begin negotiations” and expressed optimism that a bipartisan deal can be reached. Republicans were a lot less excited about the proposal, concerned about the overall policy and, perhaps more critically, whether it protects the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits taxpayer money from being spent on abortion.

Local property tax hikes faced an uphill battle this November, election results show

This year, voters in communities across Texas were skeptical of local property tax hikes and supportive of larger tax breaks for homeowners and businesses, results from the Nov. 4 election show. Voters in Community Impact’s coverage areas approved just over half of the local bond propositions and tax rate elections on the November ballot, according to previous Community Impact reporting. Statewide, 40% of tax rate elections and 45.9% of bond propositions passed, according to data from the office of Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican and property tax policy writer. Cities, counties, school districts and other local government entities use funding from tax hikes to build new schools and facilities; hire educators and first responders; and maintain local infrastructure. However, amid high inflation nationwide, more Texas residents are tightening their belts and asking local officials to do the same, fiscal policy experts told Community Impact.

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“Texas voters understand that our schools and local governments provide essential services for everybody—they pave the roads, they pay for police services, fire services,” said Shannon Halbrook, who leads fiscal policy research for the progressive think tank Every Texan, in a Nov. 21 interview. “Our school districts obviously educate our kids, and all that stuff needs tax dollars for it to operate.” Halbrook said that in “more uncertain [economic] times, like what we’re in now,” voters are more worried about paying their own bills than funding the construction of a new school building. “I think the way that schools and local governments have to respond to those kinds of things is just—they have to be more upfront about what they're spending the money on,” he said. “They have to make a better case, basically, for why they're asking for this additional money from voters.” From 2000 to 2024, local governments throughout Texas put over 8,000 individual bond measures before voters, who approved nearly 80% of them, according to data from the Texas Bond Review Board.

State Stories

Can AISD jump through enough hoops to avoid state takeover?

Five weeks into the school year, on a Monday morning at Lively Middle School, English teachers were called in for an unexpected training session with Austin ISD officials. They were soon informed that, starting that Wednesday, they had to trash the syllabi they were already teaching – Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills-compliant lesson plans that many of the teachers had crafted and used over several years – and begin to teach directly out of a textbook called SAVVAS myPerspectives, to which they previously had access but were not strictly limited. “One of the best parts of my job is the freedom to develop curriculum using texts that are personally meaningful and use them to design high-quality instruction for my students,” Elijah Benson, one of those teachers, wrote to the Chronicle a week later. “For all intents and purposes, I have to learn how to do my job anew. I’ve never taught from a textbook before.” The same thing happened around that time at eight other middle schools in AISD, including two that are now slated to be closed next year, Martin and Bedichek.

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The nine schools had been selected to “pilot” this change to using a uniform instructional material in every classroom, one designed for test prep – a move recommended by a third-party education consulting nonprofit partnered with AISD called TNTP (formerly known as The New Teacher Project) – in an effort to raise students’ scores on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam. “It’s not a secret that we have middle schools where we want to see students’ performance increasing,” Jessica Jolliffe, AISD’s secondary director of humanities who led the training, told the Chronicle. “We want to help support teachers in that work. And this work required a shift when we received our accountability rating [on Aug. 13]. It became really clear that we really needed to make some quick and fast adjustments to our curriculum.” Thus, the impromptu training for teachers five weeks later on Sept. 22 and 23. “And everyone knows this is an abrupt change,” Jolliffe acknowledged, later adding, “We can’t control when we get our accountability scores.” Jolliffe also said that her department, at the district level, had already developed curriculum for the entire year that they also needed to revise. Low scores on the STAAR exam since the COVID-19 pandemic in AISD (and across the entire state) have triggered an escalating cascade of “accountability” intervention from the Texas Education Agency, the state agency charged to hold public school districts accountable for educating students effectively. The TEA measures how effectively students are learning largely by one metric: standardized testing.

Texas data center expansion raises blackout risk during extreme winter weather

The rapid expansion of data centers in Texas is driving electricity demand higher during the winter, compounding the risk of supply shortfalls that could lead to blackouts during freezing temperatures. The Lone Star state is attracting a huge amount of data center requests, driven by its abundant renewable energy and natural gas resources as well as its business friendly environment. OpenAI, for example, is developing its flagship Stargate campus in Abilene, about 150 miles west of Dallas-Forth Worth. The campus could require up to 1.2 gigawatts of power, the equivalent of a large nuclear plant. The North American Electric Relibaility Corporation warned this week that data centers’ round-the-clock energy consumption will make it more difficult to sustain sufficient electricity supply under extreme demand conditions during freezing temperatures like catastropic Winter Storm Uri in 2021.

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“Strong load growth from new data centers and other large industrial end users is driving higher winter electricity demand forecasts and contributing to continued risk of supply shortfalls,” NERC said of Texas in an analysis published Tuesday. Texas faces elevated risk during extreme winter weather, but the state’s grid is reliable during normal peak demand, NERC said. During Uri, demand spiked for home heating in response to the freezing temperatures at the same time power plants failed in large numbers due to the same weather. Texas grid operator ERCOT ordered 20 gigawatts of rolling blackouts to prevent the system from collapsing, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission report. The majority of the power plants went offline ran on natural gas. It was the “largest manually controlled load shedding event in U.S. history” resulting 4.5 million people losing power for several days. At least 210 people died during the storm. Most of the fatalities were connected to the outages and included cases of hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and medical conditions exacerbated by freezing termperatures, according to FERC.

UT has not signed or rejected deal with Trump before deadline

Even though a key deadline has passed, the University of Texas will not say whether it plans to sign the Compact of Academic Excellence in Higher Education, a deal extended by the administration of President Donald Trump. In an email on Oct. 1, a member of the Trump administration made an offer — exclusive federal funding benefits in exchange for allegiance to conservative priorities. UT was one of nine universities extended the deal that the White House aimed “to have a signed agreement by no later than Nov. 21, 2025.” The federal official requested feedback “in writing” before Oct. 20. UT is the only institution that has not commented publicly on the compact and has denied multiple requests for comment from the American-Statesman.

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But some provisions, such as teaching that there are only two genders and banning or fixing departments that “belittle” conservative voices, could pose threats to academic freedom — a concept the university made a “nonnegotiable” commitment to earlier this month. Seven of the nine universities rejected the compact before Oct. 20, citing fears that their university’s independence would be infringed upon and commitments to base funding for academic research on merit alone. Meanwhile, UT Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said on Oct. 2 that his university system was “honored” its flagship received the offer and looked forward to reviewing and working with the Trump administration. UT’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, which has been leading the fight against the compact, celebrated UT’s recent silence on the compact in a statement, saying it was a “shared victory.” “The University of Texas backed down because students and faculty stood together to fight the compact at every step,” a statement on the SDS Instagram said. “They backed down because they know we will hold them accountable every time they try to undermine our academic freedom.”

Texas tightens car registration rules after backlash over immigrants

Hundreds of thousands of Texans without legal status can no longer register or renew vehicle registrations after the state quietly tightened ID requirements, a sudden policy shift that has left some county tax offices and motorists bewildered. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles alerted county tax offices on Nov. 18 that residents must now show current proof of legal status—such as a valid Texas driver’s license, unexpired U.S. passport or foreign passport with a visa—to register or renew a vehicle. The change came one day after Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison demanded that Gov. Greg Abbott direct his appointees on the DMV’s board to stop “issuing vehicle registrations to illegal aliens.” Harrison took credit for prompting the shift through the letter and a two-week-long social media campaign that blasted the agency, though the DMV has not confirmed that he played any role in the decision.

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The abrupt rule change, which took effect immediately, has left county tax offices unsure how to proceed. Texas already requires proof of legal residency for people seeking drivers’ licenses, but it hasn’t previously done so for registrations. “It’s going to be a big change,” said Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti. “There’s still a lot more information that needs to come out… it’s gonna be a learning curve.” Previously, counties could accept recently expired IDs, including passports or driver’s licenses, up to 12 months past expiration. With Texas’ months-long delays for driver’s license appointments, some residents may struggle to renew paperwork in time. “From everything we hear talking to people here, it takes about six months to get an appointment to get your driver's license renewed,” Uresti, the Bexar County assessor-collector, said. “So that's going to be the other impact… if you do not have a current driver's license, you're going to have to get it renewed.” The Migration Policy Institute estimates that two million immigrants live in Texas without legal authorization, including more than 600,000 in Harris County, 100,000 in Bexar County and 85,000 in Travis County. Many have lived in the U.S. for a decade or more.

Bobby Pulido on 'Desvelado' legacy, Congress run and never playing RodeoHouston

Three decades into a career that has delivered platinum albums, a certified Tejano classic and a Latin Grammy win earlier this month, Bobby Pulido is making a pivot. The singer who helped define the '90s Tejano sound is retiring from music at the end of his current Por la Puerta Grande Tour, a phrase used in bullfighting that translates to a "Triumphant Exit, often on the shoulders of the crowd, after a successful run. Pulido, 54, is leveraging the cultural platform he built on heritage and community to launch a Democratic campaign for Congress. "People think I might be crazy, but I want my life to have a bigger purpose than just music," Pulido says during a Zoom call. The boyish charm that made him a heartthrob is still apparent beneath his cowboy hat. He performs Friday at the Arena Theatre with his dad Roberto Pulido, who is "in good spirits" after a fall that broke five ribs.

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Pulido, who thought about entering politics for several years, is challenging GOP U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the 15th Congressional District of Texas, which goes from McAllen to Seguin. The former Democratic stronghold and largely Hispanic seat flipped Republican largely because of redistricting, but new maps have shifted it east to include all or parts of seven new counties, potentially weakening De La Cruz's advantage. Pulido must first defeat Ada Cuellar, a fellow Democrat and emergency room doctor, in the primary to secure the nomination. "I thought a lot about my kids. What kind of world do I want to leave them in? Right now, our younger generation is getting left behind," Pulido says. He has four sons, including one born in 2019. Pulido knows he's a dark horse in this process. And he's also drawn the ire of the "shut up and sing crowd" — people who think celebrities, including musicians, have no place in politics. The Chicks were banished from country radio and became the target of death threats after Natalie Maines told a crowd she was "ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." More recently, fellow Texan Maren Morris chose to separate herself from the country music industry because of its refusal to reckon with issues of misogyny, racism and anti-LGBTQ+ views. Nevermind the President of the United States is a onetime reality star who "fired" C-list celebrities.

Mickey Leland legacy: Where does it stand in 2025?

George Thomas “Mickey” Leland, born Nov. 27, 1944, in Lubbock and raised in Houston’s Fifth Ward, emerged as a trailblazer whose work transcended politics. A grassroots organizer at his core, Leland was reluctant to run for office until persuaded that his impact could stretch further from the halls of government. He ultimately served as a State Representative in Texas from 1973 to 1979. He then went on to serve in the U.S. Congress as the representative for the historic District 18, a position he held from 1979 until his death in 1989. Once he stepped into public life, he became a global force for good, battling hunger, poverty, and racial injustice across the U.S. and the world. Yet in 2025, his standing is complicated. Many Houstonians, especially Millennials and Gen Z, know little to nothing about one of the most influential leaders the city has ever produced. While Leland died tragically in 1989 during a humanitarian mission to Ethiopia, the loss of his legacy today is a tragedy of its own.

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So, where does the Leland legacy stand? It depends on whom you ask. For many Houstonians, Leland is still a giant. Alison Leland, Mickey’s widow and a University of Houston law and politics professor, notes that the love for her late husband continues to surface in unexpected places. She recalls her brother visiting a barbershop on Almeda where photos of her family hang beside images of Dr. King. “There is enormous love in Houston, and I feel it… for me, for my family, for Mickey,” she shared. She adds that the monuments matter—the federal building, the airport terminal, the statue in Hermann Park—but what brings her the greatest pride are her and Mickey’s three sons, along with “the students who bear his name as Leland interns.” County Commissioner Rodney Ellis agrees. “The fact that Mickey Leland died in 1989… for him to still reverberate with people is really pretty amazing. Rev. Darla Bolden knows Leland as a fighter for Black people and a member of Congress who died during a mission. Barry Coe, who moved to Houston in 2017, admits, “I have not heard that name before.” Millennial Houstonian Maurice Blandon echoed the same: “Nothing. I never heard the name before today.” Others have fragments. Psychologist Karen Hickman, a Houston transplant from Chicago, remembers him vaguely as “a fighter who was taken way too soon.” These mixed levels of awareness highlight a truth: legacy does not preserve itself. It must be taught, cultivated, and renewed.

Texas men charged with plotting coup on Haitian island to carry out 'rape fantasies'

The Justice Department on Thursday indicted two Texas men on charges they plotted to kill all the men on a small island off the coast of Haiti so they could enslave the remaining women and children as sex slaves. Prosecutors also allege the conspirators planned to sail to the island and overthrow the local government there with the help of a mercenary army made up of homeless people from Washington, D.C. Gavin Weisenburg, 21, of the Dallas suburb of Allen, and Tanner Thomas, 20, of Argyle, another North Texas bedroom community — are charged with conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography. They face life in prison on the conspiracy charge and 15 to 30 years on the child-porn charge.

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Prosecutors allege Weisenburg and Thomas hatched the bizarre plot in August 2024 and went to great lengths to turn what federal prosecutors described as their “rape fantasies” into reality. Attorneys representing Thomas and Weisenburg told NPR that the government’s allegations are overblown and that both their clients intend to plead not guilty. According to federal prosecutors, the men planned to pilot a sailboat to Gonave — a Haitian island of about 87,000 people located 30 miles off the coast of Port-au-Prince — and overthrow the local government. They planned to kill all the men and enslave the women and children, according to court documents. The pair planned to carry out the feat with the help of a mercenary army, in part, made up of homeless people recruited from the streets of Washington, D.C., prosecutors allege. Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and asked to be reassigned to Joint Base Andrews, near D.C., so he could recruit and learn necessary skills for the coup, the feds maintain. Meanwhile, Weisenburg enrolled in the North Texas Fire Academy to train in command-and-control protocols, skills he would need for the operation, according to authorities. He flunked out six months later. Weisenburg subsequently flew to Thailand to enroll in a sailing school so he could captain the boat to Gonave, prosecutors allege. However, that didn’t work out either, since the classes were too expensive. At some point, both Thomas and Weisenburg began learning Haitian Creole, according to the feds’ court document, which also accuse the pair of creating child pornography.

Jaynie Schultz: A great city keeps its landmarks

(Jaynie Schultz is a former member of the Dallas City Council.) As a former member of both the Dallas City Council and the City Plan Commission, I am often asked for my view on the growing debate over the future of Dallas City Hall. The current deliberation about selling the property demands real courage and real perspective. This is not simply a local land use scuffle. It is a decision about how we define our city and what we choose to value. Years ago, when I was serving on the Plan Commission, I introduced myself to a former council member. He looked at me and said, “I have heard of you. Stay out of my district.” I replied that this would be difficult, because his district was inside my city. That exchange comes to mind today as I listen to arguments about City Hall. It may sit in one district and it may fall under the current council’s authority, but it belongs to the entire city – past, present and future. It is not just an address on a map. It is an internationally recognized civic landmark created by I. M. Pei, one of the most celebrated architects of the modern era.

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We have a responsibility to protect it, not demolish it. This building is part of the visual identity of Dallas. It is photographed by visitors from around the world. It appears in textbooks and architectural tours. It is one of the few structures in our region that unquestionably rises to the level of national significance. We do not have the right to destroy something of such cultural and historical value simply because it requires investment. Some say that the sudden interest in redeveloping the site is tied to a desire to build a new sports arena. Perhaps. Perhaps not. What matters is that the public deserves full transparency and a real voice before any irrevocable step is taken. A decision of this magnitude must be made by the voters of Dallas, not by any temporary political majority and certainly not in response to pressure from wealthy interests. We should listen closely to the tourism community, to preservationists, to architects and urban planners, and to the thousands of residents who have already spoken up. Consider what is at risk. We have preserved the Texas School Book Depository. We have preserved the Old Red courthouse. What else have we protected in a city that is now almost 170 years old? Do we really want Dallas to be known as the place that erases its own history?

Church employee posed as ICE agent to extort victim for money, HPD says

A church safety director is under arrest after being accused of posing as an ICE agent to extort a woman for money. Donald Doolittle, 58, is charged with impersonating a public servant. He's listed as safety director on the Gateway Community Church of Webster's website and noted he's worked at the church for 10 years in an affidavit filed with the court. Eyewitness News has learned the victim of the alleged extortion plot is a massage therapist operating out of a northwest Houston office building. Police say Doolittle booked and received a massage Thursday, but that problems arose when he went to pay. Officers say Doolittle wanted to pay with a credit card, but that the victim told him she only accepts cash or Zelle payments.

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At that point, police say Doolittle pulled out an ID card labelled 'ICE,' identified himself as an ICE agent and said he needed to see the victim's ID. Police say she complied and showed him her temporary visa, but that he then demanded money. "He demanded she Zelle him $500 or he would take her away and she would never see her family or children again," a magistrate said during Doolittle's probable cause hearing Saturday. Zelle is a digital payment network that allows people to send and receive money between bank accounts. After the victim sent Doolittle the money, police say he texted her that she wouldn't hear from any other ICE agents because he had marked her case for non-prosecution. He also allegedly asked her to delete the text messages. Police say the victim told her story to officers whom she happened to run into the next day at a luncheon. When interviewed by investigators, police say Doolittle denied getting a massage or going to the victim's business, but police say surveillance video proved otherwise. Gateway Community Church didn't respond to a request for comment.

Amanda Tyler: The court case that could accelerate mixing religion and politics

Every faith tradition teaches that some things are too sacred to sell. The pulpit is one of them. Yet this week, a federal judge will hold a hearing in Dallas to consider a settlement that would invite politics into the sanctuary, eroding the wall of integrity that has long protected churches from partisan pollution. On Nov. 25, Judge Campbell Barker will consider whether to approve a consent judgment that would exempt two Texas churches from the long-standing provision of federal law that says that nonprofit organizations, sometimes also known as 501(c)(3) organizations, may not “participate in, or intervene in … any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office” without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. This law helps keep houses of worship and charities free from the grasp of politicians. The case, National Religious Broadcasters vs. Bessent, may appear technical, but its implications reach every congregation that values the freedom to preach without interference from candidates and their campaigns.

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(Amanda Tyler is executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.) For more than 70 years, this provision of the tax code, sometimes called the Johnson Amendment because it was Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson who sponsored the provision in 1954, has helped protect the integrity of tax-exempt organizations, religious and secular alike. Contrary to arguments from a vocal minority, the law does not silence faith. It simply draws a boundary between the work of houses of worship and the machinery of partisan electoral politics. Ministers remain free to speak on any moral or civic issue, to endorse candidates as private citizens, and to run for office themselves. What they cannot do, under the protection of this law, is turn the pulpit into a campaign platform funded by taxpayers. Some now seek to blur that line. The proposed settlement purports to create a new rule for the parties in this case that “[w]hen a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of faith” it does not violate the law. Rather, they argue, these communications should be regarded as “a family discussion concerning candidates.” This novel interpretation of the law could lead to political campaigns pressuring pastors for pulpit endorsements. While some pastors are already feeling that pressure — and a distinct minority are intervening in political campaigns now largely without legal repercussions — this change could result in a sizable intrusion of partisan politics into religious life, an outcome people of faith should resist.

Abbott’s reelection plan would ‘eliminate public education,’ Johnson warns

A reelection campaign pledge by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is a further attempt to “eliminate public education,” according to Charles Foster Johnson, executive director of Pastors for Texas Children. In announcing his unusual bid for a fourth term as governor Nov. 9, Abbott laid out an ambitious six-point plan for property tax reform. The sixth point of his plan calls for eliminating property taxes that fund local school districts. Currently, local property taxes are the largest single source of funding for Texas public schools, accounting for about 48% of total school funding. The remaining funding comes from state sources (about 34%) and the federal government (about 18%).

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Texas is one of nine U.S. states with no income tax, which means most local services must be funded by sales taxes, property taxes and user fees. Texas consistently ranks among states with the highest property tax rates in the country. The average property tax in Texas is 1.8%, higher than the national average of 1.1%. Property tax rates are set at the local level and vary widely. Proponents of the property taxes point out the countervailing benefit of living in a state with no income tax. Property tax reform is a perennial political topic in Texas and a favorite especially of fiscal conservatives who believe all government spending is overgrown. But Abbott’s call not just to reform but to eliminate property taxers that fund public schools is about more than tax policy, said Johnson, a longtime Baptist pastor and ally for public schools. “It is no surprise that Greg Abbott wants to eliminate property taxes,” he explained. “The unavoidable conclusion from his policies is that he wants to eliminate public education. His entire tenure has been marked by defunding classrooms, over-testing children, expanding charter schools, shifting local control to Austin and subsidizing private schools through vouchers.

Former Texas youth pastor facing reindictment, new charges

A former youth pastor at four Texas churches is facing a slew of new criminal charges as his long-delayed trial is now set to begin Dec. 1. The new indictment returned by a grand jury three months ago charges Luke Cunningham of Lubbock, Texas, with 16 counts of sexual assault of a child under a first-degree felony enhancement known as “sexual assault of a child — bigamy.” Cunningham’s case has drawn national attention since Baptist News Global first reported in June 2024 that he had been arrested by U.S. marshals on initial child sexual assault charges and was under federal investigation by the FBI for possible international and interstate sex trafficking.

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BNG’s original reporting revealed that federal investigators were examining allegations of abuse that occurred during out-of-state and overseas mission trips while Cunningham was employed by Turning Point Community Church, a Lubbock megachurch. The state of that federal probe remains unclear, as no publicly available records exist with Cunningham listed as a criminal defendant. In a follow-up story published July 5, 2024, BNG reported prosecutors characterized Cunningham as a “violent offender” who slapped and choked his victims and used church trips as opportunities to isolate and groom minors. At that time, he faced three felony counts and remained in custody on a $500,000 bond. According to court records obtained from the Lubbock County District Clerk, Cunningham’s Aug. 26 reindictment supersedes previous charges and adds significant enhancements under Texas Penal Code 22.011(f). This statute escalates sexual assault charges to first-degree felonies when the offender is accused of assaulting a person “whom the actor was prohibited from marrying or living with under the appearance of marriage,” as defined by Texas bigamy laws.

City Stories

Austin's Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems turns 50

What quickly emerges after sitting down to talk with co-directors Pliny Fisk III and Gail Vittori, during an afternoon lull in a hallmark season for the Austin-based Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS), is that 50 years of doing has not slaked its thirst for more of it. Its propulsive impulse to ask questions, generate ideas, and pitch schemes will remain one of the Center’s inspirational and lasting legacies. And its many achievements are proof its “commotion” is to be taken seriously. As Fisk remarked, “The commotion is deliberate and all about being consequential—it’s the opportunity for a small non-profit organization to gain visibility and have influence on the most compelling issues confronting the built environment. Whether it be constructing concrete structures with no Portland cement, operating a fully water-balanced building, or having an on-site wastewater treatment system.” Since its inception in 1975, the work of the Center, known colloquially as Max’s Pot, has expanded in influential and exploratory ways.

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Projects span sustainability consulting, ecological planning and design, education, policy, and combinations of all the above. As pioneers in the field of sustainability, the organization is rooted in a systems-based approach; it embraces and intertwines theory, practice, methodology, and data in its work and experimentations. For example, design prototypes have a strong theoretical undergirding; and conceptual frameworks, laid out in meticulously crafted graphic language and rich visual displays, bake measurable information into proof of concept. In true 1970s form, as the design community sought forward-thinking solutions, Fisk, and Vittori, who joined in 1979, forged Max Pot out of whole systems design, ecological awareness, a technological optimism grounded in ethics and human wellbeing, and a spirit of invention. A visit to the Center’s compound along FM 969 in East Austin feels like submersion into an alternative construction reality. At its core stands the Advanced Green Builder Demonstration Building (AGBD). Built in 1998, at the end of the decade that saw the development of the green building movement of which Fisk and Vittori were key players, the AGBD feels like the organization’s central brain.

National Stories

Study: Latino Christians disapprove of Trump, hit hard by mass deportation campaign

Though President Donald Trump’s gains with Hispanic Christians were a crucial part of his winning coalition in the 2024 election, those gains are showing signs of eroding. A year after the election, a majority of Latino Catholics and Protestants have mostly negative views on Trump’s job so far as president, especially when it comes to his immigration policies. A Pew Research Center report on U.S. Latinos’ views on the second Trump administration, compiled from two separate polls conducted in September and October and released on Monday (Nov. 24), revealed that the majority of U.S. Latinos (70%) disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president (55% very strongly disapprove and 15% not strongly disapprove), about two-thirds disapprove of his approach to immigration (65%, combined very strongly and not strongly) and 6 in 10 say his economic policies have made economic conditions worse (61%).

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The report found these perspectives heightened among Latino Catholics, three-quarters of whom disapprove of Trump’s job as president in his second term, and among religiously unaffiliated Latinos (76%). Latino Protestants are somewhat less likely to disapprove of the president’s work so far in 2025 (58% disapprove). Pew also found that about a third of Latinos reported struggling to afford different daily necessities, and 68% said the situation of Latinos in the U.S. today has gotten worse, compared to 26% in 2021. Among Latino Christians, disapproval of Trump’s immigration policies is significant: 7 in 10 Latino Catholics (70%) disapprove of how the Trump administration is handling immigration, while 55% of Latino evangelical Protestants also disapprove of the administration’s approach to immigration. (Among religiously unaffiliated Latinos, 72% disapprove.) Those opinions are being shaped as a majority of Latino Christians are witnessing the impacts of Trump’s mass deportation campaign in their own neighborhoods. In religion data provided to RNS, six in 10 Latino Catholics (62%) said they had seen or heard of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in their local area. Among Latino Protestants, 55% said that they had seen or heard about ICE raids in their local area.

Judge dismisses cases against James Comey and Letitia James after finding prosecutor was unlawfully appointed

A federal judge dismissed the criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, finding the prosecutor who brought the cases, former Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully appointed. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie said she agreed with Comey, who moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that Halligan's appointment was illegal. "Because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment," Currie wrote in finding that Halligan lacked the authority to present a case to a grand jury.

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A federal judge dismissed the criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, finding the prosecutor who brought the cases, former Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully appointed. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie said she agreed with Comey, who moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that Halligan's appointment was illegal. "Because Ms. Halligan had no lawful authority to present the indictment, I will grant Mr. Comey’s motion and dismiss the indictment," Currie wrote in finding that Halligan lacked the authority to present a case to a grand jury. Attorney General Pam Bondi reacted to the dismissal of the cases by saying during a news conference in Memphis that the Justice Department will "be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal." Bondi also defended Halligan, calling her "an excellent" attorney. After the ruling, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “Lindsey Halligan was legally appointed, and that’s the administration’s position.”

How right-wing superstar Riley Gaines built an anti-trans empire

At a White House ceremony last February, before President Donald Trump signed an executive order to defund schools if they permit transgender girls to play girls’ sports, he turned and looked over his shoulder. Behind him stood former college swimmer Riley Gaines, wearing suffragette white in a crowd of young female athletes and conservative activists. “You’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Trump told the 24-year-old. Almost three years, to be exact. Since tying for fifth place in a March 2022 championship race against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, Gaines has used the story of their matchup to leap to the vanguard of the anti-trans movement, campaigning not just to ban trans women from women’s sports, but to end public acceptance of transgender people. Gaines joined the political fray just as 14 states had already enacted restrictions on trans athletes and four more were on the verge of doing the same.

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With backing from GOP donors like the Amway billionaire DeVos family, she has crisscrossed the country with a simple message: Women’s sports need “saving” from “men”—that is, transgender girls and women. No matter that the NCAA president said in 2024 that less than 0.002 percent of college athletes at the time were openly transgender (the percentage of Olympians is about the same). Gaines and her allies argue that trans athletes are stealing opportunities from every woman and girl who competes with them. Alongside other athletes, she filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA seeking to ban trans girls from girls’ school sports nationwide, arguing that trans-inclusive policies are a form of discrimination against women. “She’s a perfect message,” says Ronnee Schreiber, a political science professor at San Diego State University who studies women in the conservative movement. Even voters who generally support transgender people, Schreiber adds, are “still a little anxious about the trans athlete thing.” Indeed, before Gaines arrived on the scene, right-wing politicos had sought for years to draw attention to transgender women in sports—a poll-tested wedge issue to stoke anti-trans outrage among voters across the political spectrum. Lia Thomas, tall and unapologetic, was the villain they’d been waiting for, and Gaines—feminine, poised, outspoken—the ideal victim. Within months of her race against Thomas, Trump was summoning Gaines onstage at CPAC: “Where’s our beautiful, great swimmer?”

Pentagon says it's investigating Sen. Mark Kelly over video urging troops to defy 'illegal orders'

The Pentagon announced Monday it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over possible breaches of military law after the former Navy pilot joined a handful of other lawmakers in a video that called for troops to defy “illegal orders.” The Pentagon’s statement, posted on social media, cited a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court martial or other measures. It is extraordinary for the Pentagon, which until President Donald Trump’s second term had usually gone out of its way to act and appear apolitical, to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation. It comes after Trump ramped up the rhetoric by accusing the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post days after the video was released last week.

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In its statement Monday, the Pentagon suggested that Kelly’s statements in the video interfered with the “loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces” by citing the federal law that prohibits such actions. “A thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or administrative measures,” the statement said. Kelly said he upheld his oath to the Constitution and dismissed the Pentagon investigation as the work of “bullies.” “If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work,” Kelly said in a statement. Kelly was one of six Democratic lawmakers who have served in the military or intelligence community to speak “directly to members of the military.” The other lawmakers are Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Reps. Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan, who are seen as possible future aspirants for higher office and elevated their political profiles with the video’s wide exposure. Kelly, who was a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut and then retiring at the rank of captain, told troops that “you can refuse illegal orders,” while other lawmakers in the video said they needed troops to “stand up for our laws ... our Constitution.”

Trump administration ends protected status for nearly 4,000 immigrants from Myanmar

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that she’s terminating deportation protections for immigrants from Myanmar, adding them to the hundreds of thousands of people whose reprieve has ended under President Donald Trump’s second term. Nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar currently have temporary protected status. Under TPS, some immigrants are granted authorization to live and work in the United States to prevent their removal to countries ravaged by armed conflict, humanitarian crises or natural disasters. In a notice, Noem cited the Myanmar military government’s end of a state of emergency in July — which it first declared after seizing power in 2021 — as a factor for ending the country’s TPS designation. DHS first granted immigrants from Myanmar, also known as Burma, TPS designation in 2021, and it was set to expire Tuesday.

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Noem wrote that TPS holders can safely return to the country because of a ceasefire China brokered in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war and its military chief’s announcement that the country planned to hold elections in December and January. The legitimacy of those elections has been widely rejected by human rights organizations. “While certain extraordinary and temporary conditions may remain, such conditions no longer hinder the safe return of aliens who are nationals of Burma to the country,” Noem wrote in the notice posted on the Federal Register. More than 150 human rights, civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups wrote a letter in June to Trump, Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pleading with them to extend the TPS designation for immigrants from Myanmar in light of a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country in March, as well as the armed conflict. The United Nations released a report earlier this month stating Myanmar is projected to soon reach famine or near-famine conditions.

Elon Musk’s worthless, poisoned hall of mirrors

Over the weekend, Elon Musk’s X rolled out a feature that had the immediate result of sowing maximum chaos. The update, called “About This Account,” allows people to click on the profile of an X user and see such information as: which country the account was created in, where its user is currently based, and how many times the username has been changed. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, said the feature was “an important first step to securing the integrity of the global town square.” Roughly four hours later, with the update in the wild, Bier sent another post: “I need a drink.” Almost immediately, “About This Account” stated that many prominent and prolific pro-MAGA accounts, which signaled that they were run by “patriotic” Americans, were based in countries such as Nigeria, Russia, India, and Thailand. @MAGANationX, an account with almost 400,000 followers and whose bio says it is a “Patriot Voice for We The People,” is based in “Eastern Europe (Non-EU),” according to the feature, and has changed its username five times since the account was made, last year. On X and Bluesky, users dredged up countless examples of fake or misleading rage-baiting accounts posting aggressive culture-war takes to large audiences. An account called “Maga Nadine” claims to be living in and posting from the United States but is, according to X, based in Morocco. An “America First” account with 67,000 followers is apparently based in Bangladesh. Poetically, the X handle @American is based in Pakistan, according to the feature.

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At first glance, these revelations appear to confirm what researchers and close observers have long known: that foreign actors (whether bots or humans) are posing as Americans and piping political-engagement bait, mis- and disinformation, and spam into people’s timeline. (X and Musk did not respond to my requests for comment.) X’s decision to show where accounts are based is, theoretically, a positive step in the direction of transparency for the platform, which has let troll and spam accounts proliferate since Musk’s purchase, in late 2022. And yet the scale of the deception—as revealed by the “About” feature—suggests that in his haste to turn X into a political weapon for the far right, Musk may have revealed that the platform he’s long called “the number 1 source of news on Earth” is really just a worthless, poisoned hall of mirrors. If only it were that simple. Adding to the confusion of the feature’s rollout are multiple claims from users that the “About” function has incorrectly labeled some accounts. The X account of Hank Green, a popular YouTuber, says his account is based in Japan; Green told me Sunday that he’d never been to Japan.

Copyright November 25, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved