April 10, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Texas House Republicans struggling to go after quorum-busting Democrats for unpaid fines

Republicans in the Texas House will meet to determine how to shake down Texas Democrats who still haven’t paid fines levied against them for breaking quorum to delay the summer’s redistricting vote. The GOP-controlled House Administration Committee will gather for a public hearing Friday morning, according to a meeting notice. Fort Worth Republican Charlie Geren, who chairs the panel, notified the Democrats of the fines they owe in January. The penalties are for their absence in House chambers during the August special session, which was scheduled at the behest of Texas Governor Greg Abbott to pass a mid-decade redistricting map favoring Republicans ahead of the midterms.

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More than 50 of the 62 House Democrats owe $9,200 each in fines or other penalties for fleeing the capital while the session was in progress. The charges include a $7,000 fee for being absent, plus another $2,000 to cover the $125,000 the state spent allegedly staking out Democrats’ homes with Department of Public Safety officers and tracking their movements in order to bring them back to Austin. San Antonio Rep. Josey Garcia even took to wearing disguises to evade DPS. After they returned to the capital, Democrats were placed under constant surveillance to ensure they wouldn’t depart again before the vote was passed. The fines faced by Texas Dems can’t be paid with campaign dollars, meaning members must dig into their own personal funds — all on a $7,200 annual paycheck. Democrats dispute how the penalties were calculated and are exploring legal options for resisting or reducing the fines, according to Democratic State Rep. Ramon Romero, who chairs the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

U.S. oil climbs above $100 as U.S.-Iran ceasefire fails to boost tanker traffic via Strait of Hormuz

Oil prices were higher on Friday amid persistent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, with the vital shipping lane still largely closed despite a ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery gained 2.2% to $100.04 per barrel at around 5:25 a.m. ET, while international benchmark Brent crude futures for June delivery were up 1.7% at $97.59 per barrel. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Iran to "stop now" if it was charging tankers to transit the strait, a move that risks undermining a two-week ceasefire agreement that was contingent on reopening the waterway. Shipping flows through the chokepoint, which handled about 20% of global oil supply before the war, remained severely restricted, keeping markets on edge.

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"Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said in a Truth Social post. Trump's top economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Thursday that getting even one oil tanker across the strait would provide a "huge chunk of what's missing." Adrian Beciri, CEO of DUCAT Maritime, a Cyprus-based logistics firm specializing in dry bulk, said the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and the behavioural attitudes of shipowners and operators are "exactly the same today" as they had been at the peak of the conflict. "Quite frankly speaking, the situation is extremely chaotic. There is no known or established way to transit the Straits of Hormuz. There is even not a clear way to contact the Iranians on how to do it, which seems to be the only way at the moment," Beciri told CNBC's "Europe Early Edition" on Friday.

Developers pitch data centers’ benefits to Texas lawmakers in committee hearing

Data center developers pitched state lawmakers on the benefits of the industry during the Texas House’s first data center-focused hearing. The Thursday meeting was the House State Affairs Committee’s first on the subject since receiving the interim charge late last month from House Speaker Dustin Burrows. It’s one of several data center-related topics being studied by lawmakers ahead of January, when the elected officials return to Austin for the next legislative session. The committee heard from several data center developers and energy industry officials about the current and projected data center landscape.

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Speakers, including developers with North Texas data center projects and representatives from electric companies Oncor and Vistra, touched on subjects such as connecting to the ERCOT power grid, water consumption, workforce development and community involvement during the roughly five-hour meeting. “I think we can see this as the next iteration of, kind of, the oil boom that happened in Texas,” said Haynes Strader, chief development officer at Dallas-based Skybox Datacenters, which has a project in Wichita Falls. As projects across Texas face pushback from residents, the data center industry professionals assured the lawmakers that they were working to be good community partners and would be beneficial to the economy. Lawmakers asked developers and industry representatives about how much water and power the centers require and what types of systems they use to cool their facilities. Many Texans have raised questions about the amount of power and water it takes to keep large data centers up and running.

Democrats are sticking with embattled ActBlue but exploring other fundraising options

Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue is under fire from Republicans — the subject of inquiries from both the Department of Justice and Congress — and fraught with internal drama in part chronicled this month in the New York Times. The thousands of left-leaning campaigns, party committees and political action committees that use ActBlue’s digital fundraising services are mostly sticking with the company — for now. But some argue that ActBlue’s legal and operational issues necessitate a more diverse digital fundraising strategy. ActBlue, after all, has a de facto monopoly on Democratic digital fundraising: The platform processes billions of dollars in donations every year from millions of individual donors and it’s become the default way left-of-center campaigns raise money online.

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“ActBlue has done a tremendous job, and I hope they continue to and I hope this is a blip for them, but I still think we should have a fallback for sure,” said Betsy Hoover, founder of Higher Ground Labs, a venture fund for progressive political technology, and President Barack Obama’s 2012 online organizing director. “In this moment it’s important to not have a single fail point anywhere in our infrastructure, particularly because the Trump administration is running a vengeance campaign and so no one is safe from that.” President Donald Trump singled out ActBlue in an April 2025 presidential memorandum regarding illegal donors and foreign contributions in elections. In Trump’s second term, ActBlue has also faced scrutiny from the Justice Department and Republicans in Congress. Even President Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign reportedly considered ditching ActBlue. (It didn’t.) More recently, a New York Times report indicated ActBlue may have misled Congress in its responses to inquiries in 2023. “We knew ActBlue’s fraud prevention measures were wholly inadequate,” Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, wrote on X. “Now we know ActBlue likely misled Congress.”ActBlue declined to comment on questions about competition and the investigations. Democratic campaign operative Jack Yao said while he believes the Republican investigations are “blatantly partisan,” he advises his clients to utilize multiple fundraising platforms in part because of the Trump administration’s scrutiny of ActBlue.

State Stories

Rising Dem Talarico denies anti-cop label after 'culture of violence' comments exposed

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is pushing back on the idea that he supports defunding the police, calling it a "flat-out lie." Republicans are confronting Talarico with resurfaced comments from a 2019 episode of the Trey Blocker Show, in which he suggests that a heavy police presence in schools without sufficient mental health professionals contributes to a "culture of violence." Democrats believe they have a shot at flipping the critical Senate seat blue for the first time in decades. But the GOP hopes to defend its Senate majority by highlighting Talarico's more controversial stances to undermine his moderate appeal. The latest to be unearthed is from the 2019 interview, in which Talarico decried plans to increase police officer presence in schools without also placing more emphasis on mental health.

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"We’re all concerned about school safety and recent school shootings, and that concern, in some ways, has been channeled unproductively toward militarizing schools and toward kind of leaning into a culture of violence and adding more law enforcement officials into campuses," he posited. As a solution, Talarico, a former middle school teacher,touted the first bill he introduced as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, which would have mandated a set ratio of mental health workers for every police officer placed in a school. He stressed that "if a crime has been committed, a law has been broken or there’s an immediate danger to students, of course, we want our law enforcement officials to address it," but emphasized that "law enforcement officials shouldn’t be conducting behavior interventions." Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft called the bill "a scary combination of two of James Talarico's favorite things," which he said are "defunding the police and pushing his woke agenda on kids." Kraft told Fox News Digital that "Texans will have the same answer for Talarico at the ballot box that he had for police: 'We don't want you here.'" However, JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign, characterized the GOP criticisms as a falsehood. "James opposes defunding the police and has a proven track record voting to send billions of dollars to support law enforcement," Ennis told Fox News Digital.

Democrats push to halt social studies overhaul, citing expert's outside funding

Democrats are raising concerns about one of the outside experts helping overhaul the state’s social studies standards after it was revealed this week that he was paid to consult for a conservative think tank that is trying to influence the outcome. Donald Frazier, a history professor who runs the Texas Center at Schreiner University, received a $70,000 grant for the center from the group, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in 2024. The next year, Frazier was reappointed by the GOP-led State Board of Education as one of nine content advisers for the overhaul. Democrats on the SBOE called for an investigation this week into whether the foundation was directly imposing its views into the process by paying or influencing an advisor. It said the rewrite process should be halted in the meantime.

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“The failure to disclose this funding to the entire SBOE is deeply troubling, raises serious ethical concerns, and casts doubt over the integrity of the entire review process,” the five members wrote in a letter to their colleagues. The incident highlights what appears to be a lack of ethics rules for the panel of content advisers, who have taken on a bigger role in the process this year that will determine what the state's 5.5 million public school students learn about history and major events. The state pays advisers a flat $10,000 stipend for their work, and does not require them to make any financial disclosures. It’s unclear whether others on the panel have received outside funding from groups or individuals with a stake in the outcome. Frazier described the grant as a one-time payment and part of a “consulting” project that his center provided to the foundation’s lobbying strategy on the overhaul. He denied that TPPF has played a role in his own involvement in the overhaul process, and said his work has drawn from his independent thinking and a 250-video series known as “E Pluribus Texas” that he developed prior to the consulting work. “We helped them get some of their Texas thinking fine-tuned,” Frazier said in an interview on Wednesday. “That’s the relationship, it was work-for-hire.”

Lisa Falkenberg: For this renowned Houston lawyer, beating Meta and Google was a family affair

All great trial lawyers have their thing: sharp elbows and sharper tongues, Shakespearean theatrics, homespun storytelling, superhuman powers of synthesis and, sometimes, a darn-near clairvoyant ability to read the furrows and fidgets in the jury box. Renowned Houston trial lawyer Mark Lanier has nearly all of these. After his epic performance against Meta and Google in a Los Angeles courtroom secured a $6 million verdict last month, news reports credited Lanier’s winning track record, his deft use of props and his pastor’s prowess with parables. (A recent Sunday school class he taught drew about 900 virtually and in person.) The 65-year-old Lubbock native with a bright, toothy smile has something else that few in his profession can boast: two lawyer daughters doing battle with him at the counsel table.

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Rachel Lanier, 35, based in Los Angeles, handled the casework and trial prep, and started the case before persuading her father to try it before a jury. Sarah Lanier, 27, who wanted to be a lawyer since the first grade and finally earned her license a little over a year ago, had interned for her father in the past and came on board to handle the five bankers’ boxes of documents and exhibits. “They see things I don’t,” Lanier, 65, says of his daughters. “They bring a value that I’d be a fool to ignore.” About a month into the high-stakes trial testing whether Silicon Valley goliaths can be held liable for harmful social media addiction on their platforms, Mark says his daughter Rachel picked up on something in a psychiatrist’s testimony. The Laniers’ 20-year-old plaintiff, referred to by her initials or her first name, Kaley, to protect her privacy, started using YouTube at age 6 and Instagram at age 9 for hours on end, often in the middle of the night when her mother was unaware. She blamed habitual use during childhood for her symptoms of depression, anxiety, social withdrawal and diagnosis of body dysmorphia.

Bud Kennedy: Dan Patrick blames Republicans for Fort Worth loss. Will that work this fall?

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick thinks he knows why Fort Worth elected a Democrat to the Texas Senate. He knows exactly whom to blame: Republicans. To Patrick, you are a Bad Republican if you don’t vote for any hardline MAGA candidate chosen by the party poobahs or backed by the two West Texas guys who spend their oil billions trying to impose Christian theocracy. On the other hand, if you march to the polls in November and vote for every Republican, even the ones who want the government to round up and deport one-third of the U.S. or prosecute in vitro fertilization as if it’s mass murder, then you are an Official Dan Patrick Good Republican. In recent speeches, including a major appearance in Austin, Patrick has repeatedly blamed Republican voters and a third-place Republican candidate for the party’s Jan. 31 loss in a special election runoff to fill the Fort Worth state Senate seat.

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If you’re one of the 21,699 voters who chose one of two Republican candidates in the Nov. 4 special election but then either didn’t show up in the runoff — or, like 1 out of 5 Republicans, outright rejected the party’s candidate — then to Patrick, YOU are the problem. YOU are what’s wrong with the Republican Party, Dan says. Not the party’s choice of flawed candidates. Not its ongoing MAGA lurch. Not its insistence on teaching Bible scripture in public schools and hanging Ten Commandments posters as political force-fields, but not showing living witness for love, grace or Christian faith. Patrick continues to single out Southlake Republican Leigh Wambsganss’ loss to Fort Worth Democrat Taylor Rehmet on Jan. 31 in a Senate district dominated in 2024 by President Donald Trump.

US withheld Big Bend border barrier plans, lawsuit alleges

Two nonprofits are suing U.S. Customs and Border Protection for information on border wall construction through Texas’ Big Bend region. The Center for Biological Diversity, and Texas Civil Rights Project on Tuesday announced the federal lawsuit that alleges the government withheld public records on construction plans for border barriers through Big Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park, as well as the surrounding region. “The records at issue document the planning, proposed construction, and stated justifications for a project that will build hundreds of miles of border wall through irreplaceable wilderness along the Rio Grande River,” the 14-page lawsuit says.

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“This lawsuit seeks to expose the federal government’s plans to rip away the livelihoods of rural Texas families with a wall that no one here wants,” said Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Big Bend Border Patrol Sector encompasses over a quarter of the entire 1,954-mile Southwest border with Mexico and is an area that draws eco tourism for its rugged natural beauty, trail hiking, water rapids and outdoor sports. In 2024, Big Bend National Park had over 561,000 visitors and generated $57 million to the local economy, and $63 million in economic output to the region, according to a March 12 letter by the Center for Biological Diversity and 131 other organizations and nonprofits sent to several lawmakers to garner their support for putting a stop to the wall Jordahl appeared on an episode of Border Report Live last month in which he said even if the government amends its original plans and converts to installing technology, instead of physical steel wall barriers, that it would likely hurt eco-tourism because outfitters and sports enthusiasts won’t want to be recorded while enjoying nature. And he says wildlife will still be affected.

Erica Kouros: What people get wrong about virtual school — and why it matters

(Erica Kouros is the Executive Director of the Digital Academy of Texas and a former brick-and-mortar classroom teacher based in Katy, Texas.) When Katy ISD announced plans to launch a virtual high school this fall, I wasn't shocked. I was gratified — because it confirmed what those of us already working in virtual education have known for years: this is not a trend. This is a transformation. I spent years teaching in traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms in Texas. I loved it. I also watched students fall through the cracks — kids whose talents, circumstances, or schedules simply didn't fit the structure we put them in. When I joined the Digital Academy of Texas, a tuition-free, fully accredited online public school serving students in grades 3–12 statewide, I wasn't walking away from teaching. I was finding students whose potential just needed a different environment to thrive. Katy ISD's entry into full-time virtual education is part of a much larger shift happening across Texas, accelerated by the legislature's passage of Senate Bill 569, which opened the door for districts to expand virtual learning options statewide.

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More families are choosing virtual school every year. And with that growth comes a surge of misunderstanding about what virtual school actually is — and isn't. As someone who lives in this community and works in this field every day, I want to address a few of them directly. Claim: Virtual school is a COVID invention. No. Virtual schools have operated in Texas for a quarter century. COVID didn't create them — it introduced millions of families to them for the first time. Many of those families never went back. That's not inertia. That's a preference worth respecting. Claim: Virtual school is not academically serious. Virtual schools offer AP courses, dual enrollment, honors classes, and career and technical education pathways. Our students at the Digital Academy of Texas win national competitions, earn college credits, and enroll in four-year universities. Academic rigor doesn't require a physical building. It requires great teachers and high expectations. We have both. Our curriculum is TEKS-aligned, and students still take the STAAR in person — the same assessment as every other Texas public school student. And as funding has shifted from completion-based to Average Daily Attendance (ADA), virtual schools are now accountable for consistent, day-to-day participation, not just whether a student finishes a course.

Thomas Graham: Texas is now a national leader in biosciences. Here’s how we keep winning

(Thomas Graham is the CEO of Crosswind Media & Public Relations. He facilitated a discussion with economic development leaders from Texas’s major cities during the recent Texas Healthcare & Bioscience Institute Life Sciences Summit.) Just over three years ago, Texas did something few thought possible. In securing a national investment from the newly launched federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, or ARPA-H, our state outmaneuvered competitors not just with assets, but with something far more rare: alignment. As The Dallas Morning News reported at the time, Texas “licked partisan politics and regional rivalries” to land one of the most coveted bioscience hubs in the country, which now calls Pegasus Park home. That moment should not be viewed as an exception. It should be understood as a model. Earlier this month, at the Texas Healthcare & Bioscience Institute Life Sciences Summit in Austin, the state’s rising stature as a biosciences powerhouse was on full display. And notably, Dallas continues to lead the way.

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When asked to highlight recent developments in the Dallas economic development landscape, the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Kelly Cloud paused and responded with a telling question: “How much time do I have?” It was not a throwaway line. It was a reflection of momentum. From advanced pharmaceutical logistics and cold-chain infrastructure to major expansions from global companies and a deep bench of research institutions, North Texas has become one of the most dynamic life sciences markets in the country. According to the latest statewide data, Texas now ranks among the top states in bioscience investment, with North Texas playing a central role in that rise. But what stood out most in Austin was not any single announcement or statistic. It was the tone of the conversation. Across Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, there was a clear recognition that Texas wins when it acts as one. “We compete, but we also collaborate,” Cloud said, noting that major projects like Eli Lilly’s $6.5 billion investment were pursued by multiple regions but ultimately represent a win for the entire state.

Granbury hid data center details, residents’ lawsuit alleges

Four Granbury and Hood County residents are taking legal action over the city’s handling of a data center proposal that has ripped at the fabric of public trust in the idyllic North Texas town along the Brazos River. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Hood County in Texas’ 355th District Court against Granbury Mayor Jim Jarratt, City Manager Chris Coffman, Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Wadley and the members of the Granbury City Council. The suit claims the city violated the Texas Open Meetings Act after Granbury leaders took a tour of a data center in Dallas days before a contentious meeting Jan. 6, where the city council approved the annexation of nearly 2,000 acres that straddle Meadow Wood Road, south of U.S. 377 and north of Paluxy Highway.

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On Tuesday, the Granbury City Council voted to rezone the acreage for a data center power plant. At that meeting, Jarratt and Coffman denied that the City Council knew about Dallas-based developer Bilateral Energy LLC’s plans before the annexation request went to the council. Coffman told the Star-Telegram this week that although the city was interested in a data center development he dubbed “Project Patriot” and had spoken with representatives from Bilateral, he said he did not know what company they were with, and the city didn’t formally cinch a deal. The lawsuit, filed by attorney Steven Dias with the firm Dias Hall, seeks a permanent injunction, a temporary restraining order, and a jury trial, in addition to reversing the annexation of the acreage and compensating residents for the loss of property values and the “enjoyment of their homes.”

Texas school district CFOs sound alarm on funding crisis

The numbers coming out of the Texas School Districts’ Perspectives at this year’s Houston Investor Conference were stark. Across four of Texas’s largest school districts, Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Cypress-Fairbanks ISDs, chief financial officers gathered at the event organized by City Controller Chris Hollins’ office. They described a system under financial strain, underfunded by the state and forced into increasingly hard choices about staffing and the future of public education. For HISD, the infrastructure crisis is waiting to be resolved. Dr. James Terry, Chief Finance and Business Services Officer at HISD, said the district is on track to balance its budget this year, a significant turnaround after facing a deficit that once reached $528 million. The progress, however, comes with difficult decisions, including school consolidations tied directly to financial realities.

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Additionally, HISD’s $4.4 billion bond proposal failed at the ballot in November 2024. But if HISD were to seek another bond, public support would be crucial to pass one, Terry added. “The bond’s going to have to rise from the people,” Terry told the Defender. “That’s the only way. Somebody’s got to become kind of the hero and say, ‘the school district needs a bond.’” In reality, he added, HISD’s needs far exceed that bond amount. “We have $10 billion worth of need,” he said. “We use duct tape to keep our HVAC systems together. And we’ve got portables. The need truly is there.” Per Terry, most school districts seek a bond every five years. But HISD has not had one since 2012. In a similar move, Eduardo Ramos, Deputy Superintendent of Business Services for Dallas ISD, said his district has also proposed a $6.2 billion bond package for voter approval on the May 2 ballot. This measure, if passed, would become the largest school bond request in Texas history. He said Dallas ISD had spent a year building a facility scoring system that evaluated every building on physical condition and educational relevance, then structured the program across phases to minimize tax rate impact. The bond funds would be used to upgrade safety systems, expand physical education and athletic facilities, and purchase new school buses, among other things.

Dallas investigating two IT officials who were also employed in Austin at the same time

Two Dallas officials are under investigation for moonlighting at Austin City Hall, according to the inspector general’s office. Employeesfrom the city’s IT department also held jobs in Austin, the office said. Dallas officials began investigating the case in November after the city’s inspector general office received a tip through its whistleblower line. Interim Inspector General Baron Eliason had also notified Austin about the allegations. “City Manager Tolbert directed the IT department to take appropriate action. Officials have found no breach of the Dallas IT system or loss of data, and an outside firm performed an inspection to ensure the system is secure,” a statement from the inspector general’s office said.

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The case is now with the Dallas Police Department’s public integrity unit, since the current state law does not give the inspector general the regulatory power to go after criminal cases. The city did not disclose the names of the officials implicated. Austin officials told The News they were still reviewing the case. “This was not related to any known cybersecurity threats or issues with information security,” said Erik Johnson, a city of Austin spokesperson. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gay Donnell Willis, chair of the ad hoc committee on general investigating and ethics, said while the investigation was still underway, the revelation was “a win for voters.” In November 2024, a year before the inspector general began investigating the issue, residents overwhelmingly voted to separate the inspector general’s office from the city attorney’s supervision and make it independent. The city was also searching for a new inspector general, but officials ended up hiring a former federal official who did not have a background as an attorney, a requirement in the ballot measure voters approved. The executive was later let go. Since then, the former inspector general, Bart Bevers, sued the city for wrongful termination and the city is still looking for a permanent head.

Attorneys rally at Harris County courthouse as viral judge backs down

All eyes were on a Harris County courtroom Thursday after a judge who recently went viral for his courtroom behavior ordered an attorney to appear before him — but ultimately took no action when that attorney didn’t show up. The controversy centers around Harris County Civil Court Judge Nathan Milliron, who drew widespread attention after videos surfaced showing a tense exchange with an IT worker and attorneys inside his courtroom. Following that incident, attorney James Stafford emailed the judge, urging him to apologize. In response, Milliron ordered Stafford to appear in court at 8 a.m. on April 9. Stafford refused, saying the order was not legally valid. “The email is not a valid order, it has no legal enforcement,” Stafford previously told KPRC 2.

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While Stafford did not attend Thursday’s hearing, more than a dozen attorneys — including members of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association (HCCLA) — showed up in support and to monitor the situation. KPRC 2’s Jaewon Jung was at the courthouse as events unfolded. At 8:09 a.m., the courtroom doors remained locked, despite the judge’s directive for an 8 a.m. appearance. The courtroom eventually opened around 8:30 a.m. Attorneys said their presence was intentional. “If the judge wanted to do something because Mr. Stafford didn’t show up, we wanted to be here because there are certain procedures that would have to be followed,” said Brent Mayr, president of the HCCLA. No action was taken against Stafford. “It appears that no action is going to be taken, no further action anyway,” said Wade Smith, chair of the organization’s Strike Force Committee. “I think our purpose is largely done.”

Cowboys extending lease with City of Arlington to 2055, mayor says

In a meeting with the Star-Telegram editorial board on Thursday, Arlington mayor Jim Ross announced that the city is finalizing a lease extension for the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T Stadium to 2055. The original lease signed in 2009 was set to expire in 2039, but that has now been extended out by 16 years. Here is the quote from Mayor Jim Ross to the Star-Telegram: “A huge project that will hit the agenda next week is we’re extending the Cowboys’ lease here in Arlington to 2055. That is a phenomenal deal, because that means the small business around the entertainment district, and everybody else, has now 30 more years of having the Cowboys here in Tarrant County and the Cowboys here in Arlington. We are super stoked about what’s going on, and we have tremendous momentum.”

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“We are always working with the city to make great things happen,” Dallas Cowboys senior vice president of communications Tad Carper said. He declined to comment any further citing respect for the review process that is still taking place regarding the extension plan. Effectively, this extension gives AT&T Stadium a lifespan that will last at least 46 years, as long as the Cowboys decide not to tear down and rebuild on the same site. However, the stadium has stood up to the test of time over its first 17 years of existence and is still viewed as one of the marquee venues around the NFL and in the United States. This summer, the venue will host nine matches in the FIFA World Cup, more than any other venue in the tournament. It has also hosted a Super Bowl in 2011, NBA All-Star Weekend in 2010, the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2014, a College Football Playoff National Championship in 2015 and has become the new permanent home of the Cotton Bowl since 2010. In anticipation of the World Cup, the Cowboys made a nine-figure renovation to the stadium to upgrade suite areas and to enhance video boards. The facelift has allowed the venue to bring the high-dollar standard of newer stadiums around the league back to AT&T Stadium.

Mavericks CEO: Decision on new Dallas stadium site expected by July

The CEO of the Dallas Mavericks confirmed Thursday that the looming deadline is the month of July for the team and the City of Dallas to come to terms on a new home and entertainment complex site for the team. But the NBA Hall of Fame inductee did not tip his hand, which site his bosses prefer. Mavs CEO Rick Welts was the guest of honor at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce at the Hilton Anatole. In a Q&A session with Ollie Chandhok, president and publisher of the Dallas Business Journal, Welts agreed to talk about the future of the organization in limited detail.

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"We want to be the team that actually wears Dallas on the jersey and is in Dallas somewhere, right," Chandhok asked as the crowd of business leaders and Dallas-area politicians applauded the question. Welts who, among his 40-plus years of NBA accolades, guided the Golden State Warriors ownership in the development of the Chase Center in San Francisco, confirmed again that the site of the former Valley View Center property in North Dallas (Preston Road and LBJ Freeway) that the Adelson/Dumont families already own, is a potential location for a new 50-acre stadium and entertainment complex. So is the current site of Dallas City Hall, a location he prefers to call the "downtown site." "We love the idea of a downtown site," Welts said. "And, you know, we are on the clock. And whether or not that's going to come to fruition is really going to be where we can get with the city between now and July, and trying to figure out if there's a path forward there." July because the Mavs ownership needs five years to have a new stadium built by 2031, the year their lease ends at the American Airlines Center. They want the Mavs to play in a sports complex the company owns and operates, along with hotels, restaurants, retail space, and an additional performance venue.

California or Texas? Drone shipbuilder narrows field for $3B factory search

A big defense-tech startup that develops autonomous ships for the military is zeroing in on a location to build a shipyard for its naval drones. Austin-based Saronic Technologies Inc. had been looking across the nation for a site to build its primary factory, Port Alpha, which could bring thousands of jobs and an economic impact greater than $3 billion. Sources told the San Francisco Business Times it is seriously considering both Texas and California. The startup met with senior leaders at California Forever, county officials, the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and other regional stakeholders Monday to discuss potentially establishing Port Alpha in Solano County. The site in question is near Collinsville, part of the 1,400-acre stretch of land along the Sacramento River delta’s industrial waterfront where California Forever wants to build the nation’s largest shipyard.

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"We did meet with Saronic, we are in contention for Port Alpha,” Chris Rico, CEO of the Solano Economic Development Corporation, told the Business Times. “It's been reported that it’s down between us and Brownsville, Texas, and it's a potential $3 to $5 billion investment.” Saronic said in a statement to the Business Times that its nationwide search for a location to build Port Alpha “remains active and ongoing." A California Forever spokesperson confirmed that it had met with a “major shipbuilder” to discuss a major new project in Solano County alongside the governor’s office, Cal Poly Maritime Academy, Napa-Solano Building Trades Council and the Solano Economic Development Corporation. “While the details remain part of an active RFP process, the level of engagement reflects growing momentum around a significant economic development opportunity for Solano,” the spokesperson said. Saronic in February filed economic incentive applications in Texas, where it is also looking at the Port of Brownsville in South Texas, near Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch site, Starbase. Those applications detail potential plans for a $3.2 billion project that would create 10,000 jobs in four phases over a 10-year period.

Eyes on the election: Corpus Christi could see entirely new City Council next year

As drought conditions continue to dominate state and local headlines, attention is turning to the Corpus Christi City Council and how it is handling the city’s worsening water situation. “Incumbents are going to have a case that they're going to have to make as to why they should be kept in office with the situation being so dire,” said political analyst Dr. Bill Chriss. Chriss says that for those running for City Council in the upcoming general election, industry experience will play a major role in determining who wins a seat. “Prior connections to city operations and can demonstrate some credibility -- with respect to solving problems. (That person) is going to have a leg up,” he said.

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With mounting pressure from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and a recent drop in the city’s credit rating from stable to negative, there is uncertainty surrounding Corpus Christi’s ability to secure water resources in a timely manner. Chriss says voters are looking for stability. “I think we're going to have a relatively high turnout this year because I think people are motivated to vote,” he said. Former Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha has officially announced his run for the District 3 seat. With 12 years leading one of the city’s largest departments, Rocha says his experience sets him apart. “I was the Fire Chief during Hurricane Harvey, during the ice storm, during the water shortages before, during the water boils -- I was part of the executive team making decisions," he said. "I've got experience making decisions, I don't have any problem doing that." Chriss says it is still too early to determine who may have a solid advantage in the general election. He also expects the mayoral race to be a close one.

National Stories

White House warns staff not to place bets on prediction markets amid Iran War

The day after President Trump announced a sudden pause of strikes against Iran last month, the White House warned staff against improperly leveraging their positions to place well-timed bets in futures markets. The warning came in a staff-wide email from the White House Management Office on March 24, according to people familiar with the matter. The day before, Trump had announced the pause via Truth Social. About 15 minutes before the sudden shift in policy, a mysterious flurry of activity kicked off in the futures markets. More than $760 million worth of oil futures contracts changed hands in less than two minutes, according to Dow Jones Market Data. More recently, three accounts on Polymarket earned more than $600,000 by correctly betting on the timing of this week’s Iranian cease-fire. Critics of the president, including many Democrats, promptly inferred that someone was profiting from advance knowledge of the policy shift.

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The White House confirmed the authenticity of the warning, with Trump spokesman Davis Ingle telling The Wall Street Journal that “the only special interest that will ever guide President Trump is the best interest of the American people.” There is no evidence of leaks or that anyone within the administration is using inside information for well-timed bets. But federal employees and the politically connected now face a new temptation in the form of crypto-based prediction markets. Prediction markets allow users to bet on everything from sports to world events, and cash out, anonymously. Ethics rules already prohibit executive workers from gambling while on federal property, and there are rules on the books barring the use of government information for private gain. A senior administration official who received the email described the warning as a timely “refresher” given the fact that suspicious monster bets in futures markets are “hot in the news.”

DNC panel rejects AIPAC-specific resolution, advances broader measure condemning dark money

A Democratic National Committee (DNC) panel voted on Thursday to reject a resolution condemning “the growing influence” of dark money and corporate-backed outside spending in Democratic races, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). At the DNC’s spring meeting in New Orleans this week, the resolutions committee voted to kill the push, which would have been nonbinding, as scrutiny over the pro-Israel lobby grows amid the midterms. “The use of massive outside spending to support or oppose candidates based on their positions regarding international conflicts or foreign governments raises concerns about undue influence over democratic debate and policymaking, potentially constraining elected officials’ ability to represent the views of their constituents,” reads the resolution, submitted by Florida DNC member Allison Minnerly, pointing out AIPAC in particular for spending some $14 million in the Illinois Democratic primaries last month.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), who was once an AIPAC donor, condemned the group after the primaries — joining a growing number of Democrats once supportive of AIPAC who have turned on the political powerhouse over its involvement in elections this year. While the panel on Thursday voted to recommend a broader resolution condemning the influence of dark money in the 2026 Democratic primary elections, it did not specifically call for AIPAC contributions to be rejected, though the attitude was largely implied. The resolution calls for “robust” campaign finance transparency and says the DNC “reaffirms its commitment to campaign finance practices that align with the Party’s core values.” It further adds that the aspects of the resolution “shall inform the development of the 2028 Democratic Party Platform.”

Trump attacks Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly over Iran War criticism

President Trump on Thursday assailed Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and two other leading conservative podcasters who oppose the war in Iran in a blistering 482-word Truth Social post that insulted his critics in starkly personal terms. The president reserved some of his sharpest attacks for Candace Owens and Alex Jones, two conspiracy-minded conservatives who in recent days have called for Mr. Trump to be removed from office. The president had faced weeks of criticism from all four media figures, but had largely ignored them until Thursday. “They have one thing in common, Low IQs,” the president said of the four media figures. “They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!”

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Mr. Trump set off a fresh round of criticism from the group with a profane post on Easter Sunday in which he declared that Iran would be “living in Hell” if it did not move to open the Strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route that has been shut down during the war. Mr. Carlson, who appeared particularly bothered by the Easter statement, described Mr. Trump’s threats to Iran as “evil” and called on members of the Trump administration to stand up to him. “Now is time to say no, absolutely not, and say it directly to the president: No,” Mr. Carlson said on his podcast. On Tuesday, after Mr. Trump threatened to wipe out the Iranian civilization, Mr. Jones posted that Mr. Trump sounded “like an unhinged super villain from a Marvel comic movie.” Ms. Kelly asked: “Can’t he just behave like a normal human?” In his post on Thursday, Mr. Trump described Mr. Carlson as a “broken man,” saying he has “never been the same” since his dismissal from Fox News in 2023. He revived a long-running feud with Ms. Kelly over a question she asked during a debate in 2015 regarding statements he had made about women, writing that she had treated him “nastily.”

Trump once talked tough with China. Now he’s playing nice.

When Pentagon officials last fall briefed President Trump on a draft of a bureaucratic defense strategy document, it framed China the same way it had for a decade: as the top security threat facing the U.S. Trump balked and ordered his Pentagon deputy to rewrite it, according to three officials familiar with the exchange. When the administration’s revised National Defense Strategy published in January, it offered instead a conciliatory tone toward Beijing. “President Trump seeks a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China,” an unclassified version of the document declares.

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While every administration crafts its own defense strategy, Trump’s second is making the unusual move of discarding a policy that was formulated by his first. That bipartisan approach sanctioned by Trump 1.0 characterized China as the most consequential U.S. adversary. The Trump 2.0 framework is instead a seismic shift in U.S. policy, trade practices and rhetoric toward Beijing driven by a new mantra: Don’t rock the boat. Since Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the South Korean city of Busan in October, the administration has paused hefty tariffs planned on Beijing’s most prized industries; abandoned plans to penalize Chinese companies determined to be security risks to the U.S.; curbed investigations into Beijing-linked hackers; waved through Chinese investment in the U.S. with little scrutiny; and told officials to tone down their comments on China, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the changes said.

Red states are pausing their gas taxes to blunt the impact of Trump’s Iran war

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun announced Wednesday that he would temporarily suspend his state’s gas tax, making it the latest red state to take action to lower prices at the pump after oil costs skyrocketed amid the war in Iran. “I am declaring a gas tax holiday to give Hoosiers relief from the pain at the pump from high gas prices. Affordability is my top priority,” Braun said in a press release. Gas prices in Indiana hit an average of $4.14 per gallon on Wednesday. Braun said his emergency declaration to suspend the 7% usage tax on fuel for 30 days is expected to save residents a combined $50 million, according to IndyStar. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a state House bill into law March 20 that suspended the collection of motor fuel excise tax until May 19.

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“Hardworking Georgians know best how to spend their money, not the government,” Kemp said in a press release. “That’s why I’m proud to sign these bills and, along with the General Assembly, deliver meaningful tax relief on top of the other measures we’ve taken in recent years. Because we budget conservatively, we can take steps like these that actually deliver on affordability issues for families in our state.” Utah also reduced the state’s gas tax by 6 cents per gallon, lowering it from 38 cents to 32 cents starting July 1 until the end of this year. “Utah is choosing an abundance mindset,” Gov. Spencer Cox said prior to signing the tax cut into law. “That means we don’t wait for problems to hit families at the pump or communities in a dry year. We build the partnerships and the infrastructure that keep life affordable and our state resilient. We owe our kids a future that is reliable, affordable, and firmly in our hands.”

Trump posts graphic video of deadly hammer attack in Florida, putting renewed focus on immigration debate

An undocumented Haitian man has been charged with murder after repeatedly striking a woman with a hammer outside a convenience store in Florida last week, the latest immigration case thrust into the national spotlight by President Donald Trump. Rolbert Joachin, 40, is in custody and accused by authorities of killing the woman, who has not been publicly identified, during an interaction at a gas station in Fort Myers on April 2, according to court documents. The victim was working as a store clerk at the gas station, according to the documents. A man who knew the victim told CNN affiliate WBBH she was a member of the Bangladeshi community in Fort Myers.

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In a post on Truth Social Thursday evening, Trump shared shocking surveillance footage of the killing, calling it the result of immigration policies under former President Joe Biden and reiterated inflammatory rhetoric associating immigrants with crime. Trump’s amplification of the video is the latest in a yearslong campaign to use certain killings as apparent evidence for stricter border enforcement. “The video of her brutal slaying is one of the most vicious things you will ever see,” Trump said in his post, referring to the suspect as an “animal” and criticizing humanitarian protections previously granted for Haitians. Gruesome video of the interaction, also shared online by the Department of Homeland Security, shows a man repeatedly hitting the hood and sides of a car parked in the gas station’s parking lot with an object – an apparent hammer – in his hand.

David Zaslav’s $886 million Warner sale pay day under fire from proxy advisor suggesting shareholders vote “no”

The influential shareholder proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders reject the golden parachute pay packages for CEO David Zaslav and other top executives at the company, noting the “extraordinary” nature of the agreements. But ISS also urged shareholders to approve WBD’s sale to Paramount Skydance, writing that “the proposed transaction is the result of a competitive sales process and public bidding war between NFLX and PSKY, which provides shareholders comfort that the proposed deal is the best available.”

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With regard to the golden parachutes, shareholders have an advisory vote, meaning that even if they reject it, the payments may still go through. That said, companies are often responsive to shareholder concerns around pay. ISS notes that the cash severance for top executives other than Zaslav are “reasonable,” in both their size and in the fact that they are “double trigger,” meaning that two things have to happen in order for them to receive the payments: a sale triggering a change in control, and the executive leaving for “good reason” or terminated without cause. Instead, ISS focuses on Zaslav’s potential $886 million payout, a big chunk of which is composed of what ISS calls a “problematic” excise tax gross-up approved by the board last month. “Excise tax gross-ups represent an extraordinary cost that are inconsistent with common market practice, and most companies have eliminated such entitlements as a matter of good governance,” ISS writes in its recommendation. “The value disclosed in the golden parachute table for CEO Zaslav at over $886 million represents one of the highest golden parachute estimates ever observed,” though the proxy notes that this value may decline depending on merger timing.

‘Hard to not feel scammed’: World Cup fans say FIFA misled them with ticket allocations, seat maps

World Cup ticket buyers are accusing FIFA of “misleading” them with stadium maps that misrepresented the potential location of seats they were purchasing. Throughout the fall and winter, FIFA sold more than 3 million tickets to the 2026 World Cup. It priced the tickets in four categories, with each category corresponding to a range of sections at each stadium, per color-coded maps embedded in the ticketing portal and published online. The maps appeared to suggest that Category 1 tickets, the most expensive, could yield seats anywhere in a stadium’s lower bowl or, at some venues, in prime 200-level sections. But last week, when FIFA converted tickets to specific seats in specific sections, many fans received unfavorable placements, in corners or behind a goal. Some Category 1 ticket holders were placed in sections that, at one point, were color-coded as Category 2. And seat-selection maps on FIFA’s ticketing portal and resale site show nothing available in the most coveted sections — a strong indication, fans suspect, that no seats in those sections have actually been assigned to Category 1 buyers for at least some of the World Cup’s 104 games.

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Separate maps, meanwhile, suggest that many of those lower-level sideline sections supposedly within Category 1 are actually being reserved for hospitality packages. “A lot of people feel misled, or confused, or maybe just generally let down about the way seats were assigned,” Jordan Likover, one of the many aggrieved fans, told The Athletic. He said he scored Category 1 tickets in FIFA’s third lottery phase, but the seat assignments he received last week for two matches at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, were in sections assigned to Category 2 at the time of his purchase. “You can’t change the rules of the game after someone’s played,” he said. “Like, people paid expecting to be seated in one place. And then when they were assigned [seats], it’s changed.” FIFA, in an emailed response to a variety of questions, told The Athletic that its “indicative category maps” were “to help fans understand where their seats could be located within a stadium. These maps were designed to provide guidance rather than the exact seat layout, and reflect the general extent of each ticket category within the stadium.” It did not say why those maps did not reflect the hospitality allocations.

Copyright April 10, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved