September 3, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Edouard drenches parts of Texas and closes schools, roads

Texas authorities rescued dozens of people from stranded cars, homes surrounded by floodwaters and an assisted living facility Wednesday as former Tropical Storm Edouard lingered over rural parts of the state and dumped nearly 2 feet of rain in some places. Heavy rains from the storm, which weakened into a tropical depression after making landfall Tuesday, were expected to threaten the eastern part of the state through Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, a burst of tropical weather persisted in the Pacific Ocean, where three hurricanes were churning in open waters. In Texas’ hard-hit Hardin County, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) northeast of Houston, officials said flooding, downed trees and powerlines, debris, and power outages were still creating hazardous conditions.

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Between 18 inches (45 centimeters) and 20 inches (51 centimeters) fell in parts of the county over the last two days, the weather service said. The average local monthly rainfall for September is just 5.51 inches (14 centimeters), said Nick Slaughter, a meteorologist with the weather service. Across the area close to the Louisiana border, schools and municipal offices were closed, and residents were told to stay home. Hardin County’s office of emergency management said Wednesday afternoon that 12 motorists had to be rescued after driving into flooded roadways, two people had to be rescued from a flooded home, about 10 structures were damaged by trees and thousands were still without power. In Jefferson County, located about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Houston, the main concern was restoring power after trees and limbs were brought down during the storm, which had wind gusts up to 90 mph (144 kph), said Robert Grimm, the county emergency management coordinator. About 22,000 customers in the county were without power as of late Wednesday afternoon, nearly half of the 50,000 utility customers affected statewide, according to poweroutage.com. Grady Leger said that as the storm moved through Hardin County on Tuesday evening, a powerline went down by his home near Lumberton, and he could feel the vibration coming up from the ground. “Some blue and yellow, white sparks caught part of my dead tree on fire,” Leger said. An assisted living facility was damaged in Hardin County, and 21 people were evacuated, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, whose game wardens assisted. Photos from the agency showed some officials wading in thigh-deep water in parts of the county. Edouard is expected to dissipate Thursday.

Ted Cruz is testing the waters for a 2028 run—and taking swipes at JD Vance

Ted Cruz isn’t hiding his presidential ambitions—and he is taking some digs at the presumptive front-runner along the way. The 2028 contest hasn’t started yet, and there is still a midterm election in November. Vice President JD Vance, who is leading in early polls of potential Republican nominees, is campaigning for candidates in tough races and fundraising for the party. But Cruz, the Texas senator and firebrand conservative, is already putting in the legwork in Iowa, hitting the podcast circuit and embarking on a book tour. He is also quietly asking people if they would be interested in working on his 2028 bid, according to people familiar with the requests. A spokeswoman for Cruz declined to comment.

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Cruz told MSNOW that the party hasn’t coalesced around Vance. “I’ll certainly be part of the discussion,” he said. Several times this year, he has condemned rising antisemitism on the right, and specifically targeted Republicans who, like Vance, haven’t separated themselves from conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, who has hosted Holocaust deniers on his podcast. Vance’s allies have privately dismissed and scoffed at Cruz running, arguing he wouldn’t be a serious threat to the vice president if he chose to run. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are seen as President Trump’s 2028 favorites, and the president has been known to poll staff and donors about whom they would like to see at the top of the ticket. When asked if he will pursue the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, Vance is coy. Those close to Vance say he is focused on the midterms and not talking about a presidential campaign. Some say they aren’t sure the 42-year-old, whose wife just had a fourth child, will even run for president in a year that might be more favorable to Democrats. Senior GOP strategists expect Vance to have much of Trump’s seasoned political apparatus behind him should he decide to run for president.

As midterms Loom, Democrats feud over defections

A single vote on a routine measure that will never become law has touched off a firestorm of recriminations among House Democrats on Capitol Hill, offering a glimpse of simmering tensions within the party weeks before midterm elections in which they are pressing to win control of Congress. The drama began Tuesday afternoon, when two of the most conservative Democrats in the House broke with their party to pave the way for votes on a slate of Republican bills. By Wednesday, it had mushroomed into a full-on furor featuring accusations of betrayal, demands for punishment for the defectors and a quiet but intense round of whispers about what the episode said about the leadership of Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, who is in line to be speaker should his party win the majority in November.

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Mr. Jeffries said he had been blindsided by the decision by the two lawmakers, Representatives Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, to side with Republicans on a procedural measure, and suggested that it had been the job of the chief vote-counter and No. 2 Democrat to be aware of such things. “You’ll have to talk to Katherine,” he told reporters after the vote on Tuesday, referring to Representative Katherine M. Clark of Massachusetts. (Ms. Clark later said that she had not been apprised.) Top Democrats demanded that the renegades be disciplined for straying from the party line. “I think there should be a punishment,” said Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee. “I think there should be consequences.” Facing an outcry from their members, House Democratic leaders said in a sharp statement on Tuesday night that Mr. Golden and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez had committed a “significant breach of trust” that required “a serious response.” Still, by Wednesday evening, no such action had come. Mr. Jeffries said that members were still debating whether and how to discipline Mr. Golden, who is leaving office at the end of the year, and Ms. Gluesenkamp Perez, who is running for re-election in a competitive district.

Ken Paxton went after gambling in Texas — but stays hands off on Kalshi

As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton has pushed for strict enforcement of Texas gambling laws, especially for fantasy sports sites and gaming machines. But after Paxton and his PAC took thousands of dollars from Kalshi and its CEO, the attorney general declined to sign onto several nationwide efforts by Republican and Democratic state attorneys general to rein in the prediction market platform. In May 2025, Kalshi donated $5,000 to Paxton’s Lone Star Liberty PAC and a month later, on June 13, the Republican Senate candidate accepted $7,000 from Tarek Mansour, the CEO of Kalshi, according to FEC records. As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton has pushed for strict enforcement of Texas gambling laws, especially for fantasy sports sites and gaming machines. But after Paxton and his PAC took thousands of dollars from Kalshi and its CEO, the attorney general declined to sign onto several nationwide efforts by Republican and Democratic state attorneys general to rein in the prediction market platform. In May 2025, Kalshi donated $5,000 to Paxton’s Lone Star Liberty PAC and a month later, on June 13, the Republican Senate candidate accepted $7,000 from Tarek Mansour, the CEO of Kalshi, according to FEC records. Four days later, 34 Republican and Democratic state attorneys general asked the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to allow states to regulate Kalshi. But Paxton didn’t join the bipartisan effort, which included Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Utah. Last December, Paxton also declined to team up on an amicus brief filed by 38 states and D.C., in a case between Kalshi and Maryland.

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The decision to not sign on to these briefs was unusual, given Paxton’s position on fantasy sports a decade before when he was not running for office. At the time, he determined that operators of fantasy sports platforms DraftKings and FanDuel were taking illegal bets, which led to a fight in court between the DraftKings and Paxton that the company recently dropped. Texas is still one of the less than a dozen states that outlaw online sports betting. It also suggests that Paxton’s stance on the prediction markets — where users can wager on everything from sports and the temperature in Dallas to Paxton winning his Senate race this year — may be more aligned with that of President Donald Trump, a close Paxton ally, than of his fellow state attorneys general, who argue the platforms should be overseen by the states. Trump endorsed Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the GOP Texas primary. Trump has said he wants prediction markets to “thrive.” Paxton’s position has put him at odds with other Texas GOP leaders, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has worked with Paxton on enforcing other anti-gambling laws. In March, Patrick urged the Texas Senate to look for ways to close loopholes in state laws that let prediction markets operate in the state.

State Stories

Middleton leads Johnson in race for Texas attorney general, but the contest is unusually close

Early voting for the general election begins in less than seven weeks, and while the U.S. Senate fight has drawn national attention, there's another contest on the ballot that's at least as consequential for Texans: the race to succeed Republican incumbent Ken Paxton as state attorney general, featuring state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, and state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas. Texas' attorney general serves as the state's top law enforcement official. The attorney general's office oversees a range of critical programs affecting ordinary citizens, including child support collection and enforcement. However, the office is perhaps best known for its role in litigation involving the federal government, as well as lawsuits by the state of Texas against private industries.

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"In strict political terms, attorneys general going back, particularly to Greg Abbott’s term as attorney general in the early 2010s, have become very active players in how states engage with national politics," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. "The attorney general’s office is also being used as a springboard for higher office by a couple of generations of Texas leaders." The past two Texas attorneys general have mounted successful runs for higher office — John Cornyn for the U.S. Senate and Abbott for the governorship. Paxton is currently the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, having defeated Cornyn in a hard-fought primary runoff. The latest snapshot of the race comes from a poll conducted by the Texas Politics Project, released last week. According to the poll, some 40% of registered voters said they plan to support Middleton, compared to 35% who said they will vote for Johnson and 3% who back Libertarian candidate Tom Oxford. "This is a very dynamic race," Henson said. "At five points, it’s indicative of how the two parties are fairly competitive in this race and certainly more competitive than we usually expect them to be in Texas." A five-point lead is uncomfortably close for a Republican running statewide in Texas. Henson said that, ordinarily, a Republican candidate for statewide office should be leading the Democrat by between nine to 12 points. "I expect that this race will continue to poll pretty closely," Henson said. "And it’s a race that we’ll be watching as it unfolds, because we’ve got two very competitive candidates running for an office that's very important, and a lot of people that have not really started thinking about it yet, but they will have their attention drawn to it."

As Republicans plan to gather in Bush's backyard, his influence is largely absent from the party

On Nov. 1, 2004, then-President George W. Bush stood onstage at Moody Coliseum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for election eve rally as he sought a second term. Voting was hours away. “Ten years ago, when I first ran for governor, I had my last campaign rally in Dallas, and we won,” he told the cheering crowd. “Tonight, after six other stops, I’m having my last campaign rally in Dallas, and we’re gonna win.” Dallas helped give rise to the Bush political dynasty — first, to 41st President George H.W. Bush, and later to his son, George W. Bush, who served as Texas governor from 1995 until he was elected president. “The Bush family has left a tremendous legacy in both the nation's politics and specifically in Texas and Dallas,” said SMU political science professor Matthew Wilson.

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“[George W. Bush] did a lot for the Republican Party in Texas. In many ways, when Bush was president, those were the good old days for the Dallas GOP. That was when Republicans were riding high in Dallas County.” More than 20 years later, as Republicans prepare to gather in Dallas for an unusual midterm convention, Bush — and many of the policies he and his late father championed — are largely absent from today’s Republican Party. Wilson said after Bush’s re-election victory in 2004, his views defined the GOP. Like his father, Bush embraced the so-called three-legged stool of Reagan conservativism. He used American military power abroad, believed in free, global markets with a liberal immigration policy, and a faith-based social morality. “What we have seen since, Trump and the MAGA movement seems ambivalent, at best, about all three of those,” Wilson said. Similar to his father — who had been vice president to Reagan — George W. Bush ran to lower taxes and reduce government. But he also launched No Child Left Behind, administered by the federal Department of Education. And he supported humanitarian efforts abroad like the global distribution of HIV and AIDS treatments that saved millions of lives.

Texas post-Roe study of maternal deaths won't be ready by midterms

Health officials say they need more time to complete a report on maternal deaths — likely punting the fullest accounting of pregnancy-related deaths since the state’s abortion ban took effect until after the midterms. The biennial report has historically been released on Sept. 1, but lawmakers were informed last week that it would not be completed by then. The Department of State Health Services said the report will be finished by Dec. 1 under a new deadline the state Legislature approved last year. Advocates and Democrats say that will give lawmakers little time to craft bills for the next legislative session, which starts in January — and it will likely keep voters in the dark ahead of the high-stakes midterms. The Texas House Women’s Health Caucus wrote to acting health commissioner Imelda Garcia on Wednesday urging her to release the findings sooner.

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“The Department knows that releasing this report by September 1 is essential to the Legislature’s ability to act,” state Rep. Ann Johnson, a Houston Democrat, said in a statement. “Any further delay is not merely bureaucratic; it is an unconscionable dereliction of duty to Texas mothers and families.” Democrats say the timing is suspicious, given the Dec. 1 deadline is after Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans who supported the state’s abortion ban are up for reelection. It is only the second time the report has not been released by Sept. 1. The last time was in 2022, when Abbott was last on the ballot. The governor appoints the state health commission members. That report, which only included data through 2020, showed a higher rate of life-threatening hemorrhaging among Black women during childbirth. This year’s report would look at 2024, the first full-year look since the state’s abortion ban took place in 2022. Advocates have expected maternal deaths to increase as more women carry pregnancies to term. “It’s rather suspect it’s occurring at this point in time in the election time,” said state Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat. “In 2022, the report was delayed at the time that Abbott was at the top of the ticket. Now it’s being delayed again with Abbott in a competitive race.”

Ken Paxton vows to outwork James Talarico as GOP worries mount

Ken Paxton sought to calm Republican fears Tuesday about losing a long-held Texas Senate seat, promising victory while pressing supporters for votes and money. Paxton hammered Democrat James Talarico as a “socialist” who favors raising taxes, allowing girls to compete in boys’ sports and destroying the state’s oil and gas industry. “I want you to tell them about James Talarico ... that he is a socialist Democrat,” Paxton said at a Parker County campaign stop. “As Donald Trump said, they just skipped socialism and went straight to communism.” The appearance at Willow Park Baptist Church came as Talarico’s vast financial advantage and aggressive advertising efforts have stirred Republican concerns about a race once considered safely theirs.

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Paxton said he was doing his part to win, including stepping up fundraising and mobilizing volunteers. “I’m going to spend 18 hours a day campaigning,” he said. “I’m literally all over the state because I believe in what we’re doing here in Texas.” The reference to his work ethic was likely a response to recent criticism from his former primary rival, Sen. John Cornyn, who branded Paxton a “lazy” candidate and said he would not help him against Talarico. Paxton, the attorney general, said the Senate race would not only determine the balance of power in the Senate but also the course of the nation. “If we lose Texas, we’ve lost the country,” Paxton said. “And if we lose Texas, we’re going to lose the U.S. Senate.” Talarico, a state representative, campaigned Tuesday in San Antonio, where he called for a new kind of politics that involved Texans coming together, caring for one another and holding the billionaire class in check.

Dallas City Council signals support for keeping Flock cameras funded

The Dallas City Council wants to keep the cameras rolling. A majority of council members on Wednesday signaled they agreed with Dallas police that Flock Safety’s network of license-plate readers across the city has become a key tool for solving crimes and tracking down suspects — and one that’s too valuable to cut. The nonbinding vote rejecting council member Adam Bazaldua’s suggestion to cut $1.5 million for Flock came during a lengthy debate over amendments to the city manager’s proposed $5.6 billion budget. It comes as the company’s AI-powered cameras face scrutiny from Gov. Greg Abbott, other elected leaders and privacy advocates.

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Dallas police announced Tuesday that they would deactivate 321 cameras later this month after the governor paused state funding for the technology. Several council members voiced opposition to the amendment, citing the cameras’ value to police investigations and public safety. Some echoed concerns about privacy and highlighted a need for safeguards. In proposing the amendment, Bazaldua raised concerns about the department retaining Flock data for one year and how Dallas' camera network could be accessed by outside agencies, including for immigration enforcement. One council member, Bill Roth, initially signaled he would vote for the amendment. But after nearly an hour of remarks from his colleagues and Dallas police, he said he would support keeping the technology. He acknowledged he didn't fully understand how the cameras were being used or what guardrails were in place.

Ted Cruz says threat to Texas has never been greater at O’Hare campaign event

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz headlined the fall campaign kick-off for Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare’s run for re-election Wednesday night. He said the stakes are high for the November midterm election, and if Republicans don’t show up to vote, they will lose Tarrant County and Texas. O’Hare is up against Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons. He is running on the same campaign promises from his 2022 election of cutting property taxes, maintaining an efficient budget and prioritizing public safety. As Cruz said, O’Hare “did DOGE before DOGE was cool.” Though it was an event dedicated to O’Hare’s race for the county judge seat, Cruz spent the most time talking about Republican successes in Congress and the threat of the U.S. Senate Democratic candidate, James Talarico.

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Democrats have “lost their ever-loving mind,” Cruz said. The threats against the nation have never been greater than they are in the midterm elections, he told the Grapevine Convention Center crowd of a few hundred. “This is no longer a contest between left and right,” Cruz said. “This is no longer a contest between liberal and conservative. This is a contest between crazy and common sense.” Talarico is a dangerous man, and the stakes of this election are massive, Cruz said. Though Cruz never instructed the audience to vote for Republican candidate Ken Paxton by name, he did urge them to vote Republican down the ballot. “The men and women who will save Tarrant County and the men and women who will save Texas are right here in this room,” Cruz said. “I want to ask every one of you to go out and vote for Tim O’Hare and vote for Republicans up and down the ballot 10 times … if you get nine other people who wouldn’t have voted to show up and vote, you just voted 10 times.” Earlier in the night, O’Hare and the elected officials introducing him had a similar message for his supporters.

Tarrant County sheriff says Flock cameras are their most valuable asset

Sheriff Bill Waybourn lauded Flock Safety’s license plate readers as the best tool in the county’s law enforcement arsenal. Flock cameras have recently replaced data centers as the lightning rod of local government. In response, Republican Commissioner Matt Krause asked Waybourn to brief the Commissioners Court about how they are being used in Tarrant County. Invasion of privacy is the primary concern over Flock cameras collecting photos of license plates on public roads. A handful of people spoke in opposition to Flock cameras during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.

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The Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas, which had a representative at the meeting, put out a statement saying the surveillance is a threat to constitutional liberties. The group was concerned with accuracy as well as privacy. Waybourn pushed back, citing legal decisions, and said Criminal Justice Information Services has far more personal information than Flock provides. “Courts have constantly recognized that there is a general no reasonable expectation of privacy in a license plate displayed on a vehicle traveling a public road,” Waybourn said early on in his presentation. Waybourn said technology like Flock’s has been around since 2000 and flourished after the 9/11 attacks. Tarrant County owns six cameras, but there are 949 total across the county owned by cities and homeowners associations. Any law enforcement agency using Flock Safety is able to access the database by searching for a specific license plate number with a valid reason for search.

Texas A&M considers cuts to race, gender and climate courses

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents will consider cutting dozens of courses from the core curriculum across 11 universities on Thursday, in response to a state law requiring all general education classes to be “foundational.” Among the proposed deletions are various courses about women and gender; climate and the environment; as well as Black and Latino history, literature and culture. Texas colleges have historically decided what courses count toward the core curriculum for all their undergraduates, but state lawmakers have asserted more oversight of that process. Senate Bill 37, passed in 2025, required public colleges and universities to review almost 13,000 general education courses, emphasizing that they should prepare students for life and work. Some institutions, like the University of Houston, have already pared down what general courses count toward a college diploma.

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A&M's suggested cuts would reduce the core by 30%, from 260 courses to 182, interim provost Jerry Strawser said in a Wednesday email to faculty and staff. A committee of 20 faculty members, administrators, community leaders and industry representatives helped make the recommendations. "The courses recommended for removal may be relevant within specific areas of study; however, they did not meet the committee’s threshold for remaining part of the core curriculum," Strawser wrote. Texas requires all undergraduates to take 42 credit hours across specific subjects and learning objectives, which are set by the state. SB37 doesn’t explicitly ban any topics from the core. However, courses about diverse populations have been a frequent casualty of the reviews. Some conservative lawmakers and administrators have framed those courses as too niche for a core that is supposed to indicate what every student should know. The law largely left it up to universities to define what meets the new state standards of "foundational" and "fundamental." Some administrators have also framed the cuts as an effort to reduce the size of a bloated course catalog. Last month, the University of Houston cut about 40% of its courses from the core, from 241 courses to 144.

Investigators say Ross fire was 'human-caused'

State investigators have concluded that the Ross fire stemmed from equipment or vehicle use that was "associated with a roadside start," Texas A&M Forest Service spokesperson Lsaura Steven said Wednesday. The investigation was ongoing Wednesday, Stevens said, but investigators from the forest service and other local law enforcement agencies determined the fire was "human-caused." Generally, wildfires are started by nature, like lightning, or human activity, experts say. Earlier Wednesday, the forest service announced they concluded the Ross fire was started by a blown vehicle tire, but later, a spokesperson said information obtained by investigators determined that was no longer accurate. Stevens said in an email the wildfire could not "conclusively contributed to a tire blowout."

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Investigators were searching for clues on how the blaze started for days. Officials previously said the wildfire started somewhere along Highway 180 in Palo Pinto County on Aug. 24 -- about 100 miles west of Dallas. The blaze grew and reached Jack County by the next day. It prompted evacuation orders for some residents in both counties, but those orders were lifted Friday. As of Wednesday evening, the fire scorched approximately 90,048 acres, making it one of the largest wildfires recorded in North Texas. Firefighters were working on increasing the containment, and they made some headway Wednesday. The fire was about 38% contained by the evening, which was an improvement from 31% reported earlier that day. No deaths or injuries have been reported, but the wildfire destroyed over 150 structures -- 18 of which were homes, according to the forest service. Another about 140 structures were damaged. Firefighters saved more than 450 structures, according to those same estimates. Throughout Wednesday, crews were constructing holding lines on the edge of the wildfire and putting out some areas of heat. Some of the efforts were focused on preventing the fire for growing toward Highway 16. Additional resources arrived to cover the emergency response and give rest to local firefighters ahead of the Labor Day Weekend, according to the forest service.

80,000 Entergy customers lose power in Wednesday storm

About 80,000 residents lost power Wednesday night in the Houston area following storms spawned by Tropical Depression Edouard, per Entergy Texas. In a news release, the company said it had restored electricity to 50% of its customers affected by heavy rain and thunderstorms, and that about 39,000 were still without power at 6 p.m. Entergy's service area covers 27 counties in the region, including Chambers, Liberty and Montgomery counties. "Some customers in the most heavily damaged or difficult-to-access locations may experience longer restoration times," the company said in a written statement. "Detailed estimated restoration times will be shared as assessments progress and crews gain safe access to impacted areas." Entergy said part of the challenge to restore power was working through severe weather conditions, especially with some residents living in heavily damaged or difficult-to-access locations. According to National Weather Service estimates, rainfall totals exceeded 10 inches across Tyler and Hardin counties.

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Somerset ISD cancels Friday classes due to 'severe' overnight storms

Somerset ISD canceled classes Friday after severe overnight storms caused power outages across the area, district officials announced early Friday. "The safety of our students and staff remains our top priority," the district said. "Due to power outages across the area caused by severe storms overnight, Somerset ISD classes are canceled today." All morning events and activities are also canceled. Coaches and staff will provide updates about activities scheduled for Friday afternoon, the district said. "Please stay safe and follow official Somerset ISD communication channels for updates."

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Dallas’ foster care system unraveled. Foster parents are living with the fallout.

(Editor’s note: To protect their identities, the names of the children in this story have been changed.) Shaking off the fog of exhaustion, Courtney Craig shuffled up the stairs of her condo and slowly opened the door to her bedroom. “Alexa,” she said, “play the 1978 Spider-Man theme song.” In seconds, her 3-year-old son, Elijah, was jumping on her bed, where he had slept a few restless hours with his hands clutching her hair to make sure she didn’t leave. As Elijah danced in his Spider-Man underwear and launched imaginary webs from his palms, Courtney’s 2-year-old daughter, Zoe, padded out of a bedroom down the hall and rubbed her eyes. “Good morning, bubby,” Courtney said. “Time to get dressed.” A logjam schedule of therapies, school drop-offs and pickups, work, and a few inevitable meltdowns awaited. Hair needed to be combed, milk poured, bags packed, and matching shoes located in the next 20 minutes to make it out the door on time, or as close to it as possible. Courtney has grown accustomed to the morning chaos and barrage of appointments since opening her 900-square-foot home to foster children in 2020.

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On this July day, though, the 42-year-old shouldered it all not as a foster parent but a mother. A week earlier, Courtney stood in a Dallas courtroom before a judge who declared that the two small children clinging to her neck were forever hers to care for. Dressed in coordinated red outfits, Elijah and Zoe wriggled in Courtney’s arms as she took a vow of motherhood. “You do understand that the moment this paperwork is signed you have all the same rights and duties as any other parent, isn’t that right?” her attorney said, standing in front of Judge Cheryl Lee Shannon’s bench. “Yes,” said Courtney while she swayed to soothe the restless children on her hips. That court date came three and a half years after Elijah was placed in Courtney’s home as a malnourished baby who screamed most hours of the day and vomited the rest. His baby sister, weighing 6 pounds at 6 weeks old, joined them a little over a year later. The adoption hearing held the promise of a new beginning for Elijah and Zoe, who had been through much in their short, unsettled lives. For Courtney, it marked an end to what she said was a yearslong nightmare due to a system that failed to protect her children and shattered her well-being. Negligence on the part of Empower, the private contractor in charge of foster care cases in the Dallas area, led to the loss of their state benefits, Courtney said, and put Elijah and Zoe in dangerous situations that compounded their trauma.

National Stories

Why Washington’s ‘Economic D-Day’ against Iran faces steep odds

Last week, the Trump administration unveiled what it billed as an “Economic D-Day” aimed at forcing Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table. But the experience of Western sanctions and economic pressure on autocracies such as Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela and Syria shows the challenges facing Washington in trying to bend Tehran to its will. Indeed, the strongmen ruling such countries have historically used a mix of violence, economic adaptation and political suppression that enables them to withstand economic pain for years, if not decades. Autocratic countries adapt in various ways. Sanctions typically push activity underground, creating flourishing black markets for goods, services and even people. Dictators also use outside pressure to rally their populations, especially among elites. The government in Cuba has relied on the country’s diaspora to bring in food and medicine even as Washington raises pressure on Havana.

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North Korea boosts its coffers by stealing cryptocurrency and even tricking Americans into working for them in U.S. companies. Russia has reoriented its trade flows toward China and other non-Western powers. Tehran, which has branded the U.S. campaign “economic terrorism,” has decades of experience adapting to sanctions. Its trade has grown with countries with which it shares a land border. Iran has also created an entire parallel financial system with China, bypassing the U.S.-led banking system and weakening Washington’s enforcement powers. “The fact that the U.S. can inflict pain is a given,” said Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, an economist at Virginia Tech. “My feeling is that these pressures aren’t going to result in more pressure on the Iranian government to compromise.” Sometimes it requires direct military action to unseat autocrats, as when U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro in January or rebel forces in Syria pushed former President Bashar al-Assad from power in December 2024.

Elon Musk unleashes first wave of spending on key races in the midterms

Elon Musk’s super PAC disclosed its first independent expenditures of the 2026 general election in a filing released late Wednesday, detailing roughly $800,000 across key House and Senate races. Musk’s America PAC targeted several key Senate contests, including races in Texas, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska.

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Elon Musk’s super PAC disclosed its first independent expenditures of the 2026 general election in a filing released late Wednesday, detailing roughly $800,000 across key House and Senate races. Musk’s America PAC targeted several key Senate contests, including races in Texas, Maine, Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Alaska. The largest amount went to Texas — over $247,000 — where Republicans are expected to deploy a wave of party resources to bolster Attorney General Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico. Musk’s super PAC also put nearly $90,000 into eight House races: Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin; Rep. Mike Lawler in New York; Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia; Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey; Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania; Rep. Rob Bresnahan in Pennsylvania; Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania; and Scott Singer in Florida. The independent expenditures — Musk’s first of the general election — were disclosed days after he met with Speaker Mike Johnson in Texas last week.

Gloria Steinem, personification of the women’s movement, dies at 92

Gloria Steinem, the feminist crusader who, in galvanizing the modern women’s movement, helped millions of women develop a sense of self-worth and gain a measure of equality at home, at work and in society at large, died on Wednesday at her home in New York City. She was 92. Her death was announced in a post on social media, which did not give a cause. Calling herself “an entrepreneur of social change,” Ms. Steinem helped usher in sweeping cultural transformations across virtually every facet of American life, from the boardroom to the courtroom to the bedroom. For more than half a century, she personified the women’s movement and became its most enduring symbol; her tinted aviator glasses and curtain of streaked-blond hair parted in the center made her one of the most recognizable women in the world.

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She was an unlikely revolutionary. Growing up a transient in the Midwest, she was 10 when her parents divorced and she was left to mother her mentally anguished mother — a formative experience that reverberated throughout her life. She had scant formal education until sixth grade; her big dream, as a budding tap dancer, was to become a Rockette. But she read voraciously, graduated from college with honors and believed fiercely that women should be able to live whatever life they chose. Her own feminist awakening didn’t come until her mid-30s, when, as a journalist in 1969, she attended a “speak out” of women discussing their illegal abortions. Charismatic, articulate, media savvy, deeply empathetic and a workaholic, she evolved into a political and cultural force. She led protests and consciousness-raising sessions, wrote essays and delivered speeches, delved into political organizing, helped establish rape crisis centers and shelters for battered women, founded numerous groups that promoted women and had the Midas touch when it came to raising money for their causes. And she and a cadre of feminists had the audacity to start a publication that flew in the face of traditional women’s magazines, examining topics like abortion, domestic violence and equal pay for equal work.

The renegade college football coach going to war with the entire sport

From the moment Lane Kiffin arrived at LSU, one thing was certain: College football’s most controversial coach would start making enemies. But what nobody knew at the time was that Kiffin’s target in his first year in Baton Rouge wouldn’t be a rival coach or an opposing fan base. Kiffin would be going to war with college football itself. In recent weeks, Kiffin has enraged nearly every stakeholder in the sport with an audacious plan. He was going to bring players back from NFL training camps to fill out the Tigers’ roster. And on Thursday afternoon, just two days before LSU’s marquee season opener against Clemson, a Louisiana judge will determine whether the former pros will be allowed to suit up.

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“This is the most emotion-packed, high-profile, dramatic legal battle in the history of college sports,” said Tom Mars, an attorney who specializes in tussling with the NCAA but isn’t involved in this case. The particular issue in question on Thursday is the legality of an SEC rule—a direct response to Kiffin’s ploy—that deems players who have gone through the pro draft process ineligible to compete. But the broader reality is that college football’s power brokers have drawn a line in the sand, with institutions and conferences across the country insisting that players swapping NFL helmets for college ones is a bridge too far. On the other side of that line stands Kiffin, boldly sticking by his plan while the rest of the college football world heaps scorn on him. “If you want to win at the highest level,” a graphic posted at LSU’s team facility this week read, “you have to become a villain in someone else’s story.” The standoff between Kiffin and just about everyone else in the sport began in earnest just last week, when LSU agreed to sign Dae’Quan Wright, a former Ole Miss tight end who joined the Cleveland Browns for training camp. Kiffin was emboldened to do so when a restraining order from a Louisiana judge said players denied a fifth year of eligibility could return to college, even if they’d suited up for NFL preseason games.

Bottom 90% of New Yorkers’ incomes stagnate as very richest see 58% gain since COVID

New York City’s richest earners have gotten richer since before the pandemic, while lower-income earners have struggled to keep up with high inflation, according to a new report on income inequality from the city comptroller. Wednesday’s report analyzed tax returns from 2019 to 2024, finding income inequality in the city increased over those years and New Yorkers face even more income disparity than the national rate. In 2024, the top 1% of city households held 37% of all income citywide, compared with 22% nationally. Comptroller Mark Levine’s report is the latest data point demonstrating what many New Yorkers have felt firsthand: In the city’s “K-shaped” economy, a few gain more every year, but most continue to struggle financially.

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“New York City is generating enormous wealth, but the vast majority of that prosperity is flowing to those who already have the most,” Levine said in a statement. “We need policies that expand economic mobility, build the middle class, strengthen earnings and ensure more New Yorkers can share in the city’s growth.” New York’s wealthiest, like millionaires across the United States, tend to earn a larger portion of their income through means other than wages as they get wealthier. The report found those means — including capital gains, dividends, interest, rent and other profits — are the primary drivers of faster income growth at the top of the economic ladder. The city’s poorest residents, the comptroller said, are poorer than their peers in the rest of the country. In the wealthiest city in the world, New York’s bottom 90% of earners still made 9% less than the bottom 90% across the country in 2024, the most recent year in the analysis. The region’s cost of living is also steeper than elsewhere, with the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis estimating New York-area residents face prices 12.6% higher than the national average.

Trump calls for boost to film, TV production with tax incentives

President Donald Trump is pushing for Congress to pass tax incentives for the entertainment industry to maintain production in the United States. Trump shared his thoughts in a post on Truth Social writing "I am going to ?suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together, and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America. Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create ?Entertainment Jobs in America." Trump reportedly met with actor John Voight, who has supported a federal tax credit to strengthen the film and television industry in the United States, during a meeting with Trump in February.

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To prevent entertainment production from moving overseas, Voight is collaborating with a group that includes the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America and unions representing actors and writers. What they're saying: "We applaud ?President Trump’s ?support for this vital action, and we look forward to continuing to work with the White House and bipartisan leaders in Congress to enact a ?meaningful and ?effective national incentive into law," Charles Rivkin, ?Motion Picture Association chairman and CEO, said in a statement to Reuters.

The Trump administration is taking stakes in more companies — and progressives are taking notes

The Trump administration is shaking up federal involvement in the mining, tech, energy and defense sectors by making the government part-owner of dozens of U.S. companies -- and sparking a conversation among progressives about how a future Democratic president might reboot the party’s approach to climate and labor policy. Starting with Trump’s surprise moves to take a “golden share” in U.S. Steel and then a 10 percent share in Intel more than a year ago, the administration is approaching $30 billion in equity stakes, warrants or similar plans in U.S. companies by most estimates, a fairly radical departure from orthodoxy outside of times of financial crisis — like the massive government bailouts of 2008-2009 — or world war. The Trump administration is shaking up federal involvement in the mining, tech, energy and defense sectors by making the government part-owner of dozens of U.S. companies -- and sparking a conversation among progressives about how a future Democratic president might reboot the party’s approach to climate and labor policy. Starting with Trump’s surprise moves to take a “golden share” in U.S. Steel and then a 10 percent share in Intel more than a year ago, the administration is approaching $30 billion in equity stakes, warrants or similar plans in U.S. companies by most estimates, a fairly radical departure from orthodoxy outside of times of financial crisis — like the massive government bailouts of 2008-2009 — or world war. That’s not counting some international arrangements, like the Trump administration’s Aug. 28 announcement that it would take a stake in the Venezuelan oil industry, which it said will be engineered by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.

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The new approach has sparked a mixture of support, criticism and confusion across both parties, with libertarian conservatives pointing out the irony of Trump’s attacks on Democrats as communists and some elected Democrats pledging to investigate equity stake arrangements involving ties to Trump family or allies if they win back power in the midterms. Critics dispute the administration’s authority to take equity stakes in private companies at all. But many Democrats, including some former Biden administration officials working outside the government, also see an opening, now that Trump has managed to cross what was long viewed as a political red line: Putting the government in business with specific companies, influencing their governance and literally letting taxpayers share in the upside — or the downside. They’re encouraging Democrats to explore what an equity-stakes approach might look like — albeit with more guardrails and coordination and transparency, they say – particularly as they grapple with the aftermath of Trump’s dismantling of large chunks of the Biden climate agenda, including the Inflation Reduction Act.

Copyright September 03, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved